Chapter 2: The Bound Book


In the head of a Treeko shaped home, one with a recently added bandage over one of the eyes, two Pokémon eagerly stare down at their prized possession.

In the head of Treeko, his cool exterior was contrasted by the array of a thousand different possibilities coalescing throughout his mind. "It could be all kinds of possibilities!" He thought to himself. "The secrets to the human disappearance, it could be historical documents that links my lineage back to the days of Mew, it could be-!"

"Hey, buddy" Torch interrupted. "It's now or never, I'll let you do the honors." He handed Treeko the key he risked his tailfeathers to obtain. Of course, there may have been alternate methods of acquiring a Key, but stealing from the Kecleon brothers was a much better alternative to what happened to those caught stealing from the Expansion.

"R-right." Treeko stuttered, getting his train of thought back on track. Taking the recently cleaned of spit key into his hand and placing it into the keyhole with a resounding..!

THUNK

The Key certainly went into the keyhole alright, but instead of the expected click noise of it finally being unlocked, it seems even a powerful dungeon Key was no match for the craftsmanship of this lock, snapping the key in two, along with Treeko's hopes.

"What?!" Torch shot up from his chair in outrage. "That no good, cheap, dirt, rotten, color-changing bastard, he sold me a rip-off! A phony, a fake!"

Treeko sighed. "He didn't sell you anything Torch" Treeko explained, standing up from his chair in the process. "You stole a rip off. If anything, you just helped someone else from getting scammed. I don't have the energy to argue the semantics. I'm tired, thanks for trying, I guess."

Treeko gave a nonchalant wave as he departed to his room for the evening, which happened to be left-most eye of the Treeko shaped home, the eye that Torch just so conveniently crashed through an hour prior.

Torch felt awful, he stuck his neck out, or at least, what little of a neck he has, out for Treeko. It had been three years to the date since they'd met, and he thought to surprise his friend with a gift that'd cheer him up. But if anything, he only made his friend feel worse.

"Way to go Torch" he mumbled to himself, resigning himself to his own room not much later. Perhaps he could sleep off this bad day, and start off fresh the next day.


Torch couldn't sleep, not too surprising if you knew him. The boundless bird required little sleep, and usually performed meticulous exercises until he grew tired enough to usually fall asleep standing. Some would call this training, and in part it was helpful to Torch's overall endurance, but if anything it mostly served as a sleep aid. The repetitive motions involved in the exercise helped to calm his mind, like count Mareep, or in Torch's case, counting how many squats they could do.

"Two hundred and one, Two hundred and two, Two hundred and three-!" Torch whispered to himself, keeping a mental note of how many squats he had done. His personal record was two hundred and fifty five, quite the feat for a Pokémon that is barely a foot tall. Although, that night in particular was a long night indeed. This night felt quite similar. In fact, he had been working out for a solid hour at this point, and yet it felt as if the night hadn't progressed at all!

"Two hundred and eight, two hundred and nine, two hundred and- woah!" Torch gasped, their leg muscles suddenly giving out underneath them as they tripped on their own two feet. Their face struck the ground with a resounding thud, temporarily lodging their beak in the floorboard! They grumbled, knowing that they had nobody to blame but themselves.

"Stupid Torch, you know Treeko's trying to sleep. What am I thinking, trying to wake him up?" they thought to themselves. The Key not working was quite the downer to an already mediocre day. Crossroad Town's security had been ramping up lately, so normal thefts became brain teasers, and stealing even from comparatively lower threats compared to The Expansion, like the Kecleon Brothers, became true tests of quick-witted ingenuity and stealth tactics.

Stealth and tactics were always Treeko's strong suite anyhow, even now, Torch can hear Treeko nagging at him about 'following the plan' or 'not making stuff up as you go!'. Whereas Treeko was a meticulous planner, Torch's mentality was primarily 'wing it till you make it', which had its pros and cons.

For one, Torch's unpredictable planning greatly helped to keep the Magnezones' off of their backs. After all, how can you predict the patterns of a criminal who didn't even know what their own next move was? This clash in mindsets, while leading to the occasional argument, overall led to exceptionally positive results for the under-evolved duo.

Torch sighed, taking a seat next to the windowsill. The night was still, the midnight sky having a grey hue as the starry sky gave what illumination it could. Torch looked up, seeing a shooting star zip across the horizon. "Hmm, I'd never do this, but this ain't me I'm thinking about" Torch mentioned to himself. He had no hands with which to pray, so he merely sat down and closed his eyes, hoping the intention would count. "Dear Jirachi, who's stars yet fall, only to rise in the morning, please grant my wish. I wish for Treeko to be able to open his book, and have his satisfaction."

Torch thought he heard Treeko moving, so, a little embarrassed, he gave a quick apology; yet received no reply. "Could he still be sleeping?" Torchic thought. "His hearing is pretty sensitive, I'd be shocked if he didn't hear my beak make a new indent in the floor." Torch got up to go apologize to Treeko, even if he risks upsetting him further.

Torch used his beak to push open the door to his room, and walk down the hall to Treeko's. He lightly tapped on Treeko's door, seeing if his friend would respond. Yet, Treeko didn't show any signs of responding. Seems either he really is out cold, or ignoring Torch purposely. While likely the former, Torch believed the latter. If Treeko wanted time to himself, he'd give him it.


Crossroad Town was quiet tonight, not a creature was stirring, not even a Rattata; just what Torch needed to clear his mind. He quietly left the house, making sure not to make much noise in the process. He hoped that the Kecleon that pursued him earlier, the green one, whatever his name was, wasn't still on the lookout for him.

Torch wasn't looking for anything in particular, maybe a miracle way to open up the Bound Book maybe, but he was mostly just looking to go on a run. Something about the beating of his heart, the freedom of running wherever he please spoke to something in the back of his mind, though he couldn't quite put his claw on it.

Torch ran, purposely running across the edge of Crossroad Town as to avoid waking anyone up unnecessarily. He was small enough to where the pitter-patter of his feet across the nearby fields wouldn't attract any attention, at least not to the average Pokémon.

"I really must be up in the middle of the night if nobody is out and about, not even the outlaw district seems to be busy" Torch thought to himself. Crossroad Town was a normally busy town, with a high population; that is, if you consider travelers and traders as apart of the population. As for people who actually lived here, well, it was called Crossroad Town for a reason.

'Crossroad Town: From One Town to the Other' was its official unofficial slogan; a town built out of necessity and less so for any wonderous location. The trek from one side of the continent to the other was too much strain for the average Pokémon, and there were only so many exploration teams ready and willing to assist those looking for safe passage. As such, Crossroad Town was founded a few years after the 'Gear Disaster' right when the Human Rush began.

"I've certainly made some fair coin off of those schmucks, that's for sure" Torch thought to himself "As soon as rumor spread about the one who defeated Dialga to be a human, suddenly the Grass Continent was the place to be. Thankfully for me, The Expansion provides double the profit that the Kecleons' do for even useless TMs, so they can't be that bad.."

When The Expansion, who had quickly risen to power and notoriety a few years after the 'Gear Disaster', started paying Pokémon handsomely for human artifacts and ruins; it was a no-brainer that prospecting Pokémon would flood to the Grass Continent, especially populating the southern area of the continent, near Aegis Cave. In fact, from what Torch has heard, Crossroad Town was only founded so The Expansion could have first dibs on any future ruins discovered on the continent, so they aren't beaten to the punch a second time.

"Treekos' gotta' be from around here" Torch surmised. "Considering how him and the rest of the folks around here are obsessed with humanity for various reasons, although I'm not complaining; the more Pokémon that travel in and out, the more Pokémon I can get easy money from. Man, what am I doing rambling in my head about boring stuff like this? It's putting me to sleep!" Torch stopped his running, realizing that getting put to sleep was the point of this run in the first place. Torch looked down at the field under him, realizing that he'd at least ran three laps around the large town while stuck in his train of thought. He'd have time to run around more tomorrow night, even he had to admit it was time for rest...


Treeko was restless, his mind felt like a file cabinet, its papers scattered across the floor. Yes; Treeko's body was asleep; but his mind felt as if it was being twisted and contorted like rubber. Ever the calm and rational Pokémon, they attempted to metaphorically pull their mind together and process the dream they were having.

Treeko felt like it was a dream at least, yet, not quite. For one, even now, they were not fully 'awake'. They felt as if they were physically incapable of focusing on the situation, to do so, they thought, to be antithetical to the very state they were in. The closest definition they could come up with in the moment was an out of body experience. Before they could further attempt to gain an understanding of the situation, they heard the faintest of whispers.

"You, who..?" The voice spoke, a definitive whisper yet with the slightest hint of age; tiredness even. Treeko initially believed they were speaking to him, yet, this conclusion was proven to be incorrect when another responded.

"You do not recall who I am, but I more than remember you." Another voice responded, this voice powerful, direct and to the point. "What are you talking about, how did you find me? I was promised asylum!". Treeko was currently incapable of perceiving their surroundings, if he were even somewhere that could be perceived that is. What he could tell, is the mannerisms of the two voices present.

The first voice, the one who sought asylum, they spoke with with curiosity, yet fear. From what Treeko could surmise, they appeared to not know the other voice; yet feared them regardless. The second voice was quiet, yet spoke with a volume of certainty behind their voice that told Treeko that they simply didn't need to raise their voice to get the point across.

"I have been waiting for this opportunity. The opportunity...to make you disappear!" The voice replied, with the slightest hint of venom behind their words. "Please!" The other voice pleaded "I do not know what I've done to anger you, but surely this can be dealt with-"

"G-GYAAHHHHHHH!"


In the dead of night, a star fell and along with it, fell hope. They struck the earth hard, yet left no crater. Quickly brushing themselves off, they grabbed a nearby tarp from the adjacent booth they landed near and used it as a makeshift cloak. They were torn between the desire to flee, and the desire to exercise caution.

Staying low to the ground, they floated along one of the adjacent alleyways, staying clear of any main roads if possible. They were confused, injured, and most importantly drained. If their enemy found them, they were unsure if they could muster any more attempts to flee. They already learned the hard way what happens when you try to fight him.

"Focus, survival first, crying later." They told themselves. They were unfamiliar with this town, although with how many towns have suddenly sprouted up since The Expansion began; it wasn't all too surprising for a Pokémon to be unsure of what town they were in. Caution wasn't really their strong suite, but they had no time for complaints. One of the most powerful Pokémon in the planet was after them, or at least after what they possessed. They needed to formulate a strategy, a way to recover and plan accordingly, a way to- PANIC!

Footsteps, fast approaching began to come their way. Judging on the speed they ran, as well as the weight behind their steps, it could very well be him; they did not want to find out. "Who else could be capable of pursuing me right now?!" They thought. "Using a move, like Teleport, would be pointless, he'd just be able to detect the energy..I've got it!"

Thinking quickly, they used as little power as possible, harnessing their psychic energy to phase through the adjacent brick wall and into a Pokémon's home! Thankfully, with the item they currently possessed, there was no way the owners of said home would be awake. They weren't able to breathe a sigh of relief just yet however, no, that would come later. For now, they needed a plan.

"I can't run, I can't fight. As much as I hate to say it, hiding may be my only strategy at this moment." They surmised. Taking a moment to think it over, they used their mental powers to project an illusion of a different Pokémon altogether, the most unassuming, yet not obviously weak Pokémon they could think of. Keeping the cloak on just in case, they floated out of the home they hid in once, the coast was clear. They used the odd, but helpful, hole in the roof of the Pokémon's home to make their departure.

As they floated above the city, their thoughts dwelled again on their allies, and they resisted the urge to cry. "I can't believe its come to this." They mumbled aloud. "To think, after so much time has passed, darkness is slowly enveloping the skies once again. All our struggles, just for ten years of peace; is the future really inevitable?"

They finally found a place they felt comfortable enough to rest, it reminded them of an old friend. Tomorrow, they would prepare and plan; but for now, they would sleep.


Author's Notes:

I had a nice, encouraging paragraph typed out. But I've since had to re-edit this chapter at least three times because the website would fail (somehow?) and not save any of my progress. Fun all around. Either way, I'd expect most chapters to have about this amount of length. Chapter 1 and the Prolog were much shorter to make getting into the story a lot quicker. I'm not here to do the whole "whoa, I'm a Pokémon?" shtick that every other story on here has to go through, I want to get to the good stuff just as much as you all want to read it. So, any complaints, suggestions, or feedback in general would be appreciated. My inbox is open, see you in Chapter 3!