Chapter 3 – Morally Black
A/N: This is an original Pokémon Fan Game made by Amethyst. If you wish to check it out and play the game, download it at Reborn Evolved. Search for it on your web browser to get to the website.
Edited/Rewritten as of 12/3/2024: A new take on the black Demon of Reborn.
Location: Lower Peridot Ward
Men and Women in blue scoured the streets, searching for a clue as to who may have sabotaged the train station. It had been nearly a week since a train had crashed into the Reborn City Train Station. Most of the chaos had died down, but with traveling between wards being shut down, the streets were still very crowded. The crowds showed expressions of agony, fear, despair, and the typical melancholy of the city's atmosphere.
"Tch… I thought things would be easier with how everything went." A boy with black hair clicked his tongue to no one in particular. Sticking close to the building edges, he walked through the crowded streets.
The boy was neither tall nor short; his height was perfect for maneuvering the crowds without issue, causing no alarm to the police present, just as the boy intended. In simple terms, the boy looked like nothing much: simple black clothes, dirt scattered across his white skin. His black hair was messy and relatively short, the front of it combed downward. With it styled like this, the boy's silver eyes became difficult to see. Though if one were to spot his eyes, all they would see was a perpetual glare, fitting his natural foul mood.
Since travel between wards became restricted, his bitter mood only soured further. He could push his luck if he wanted to, but that would probably only end up with him getting arrested. While his known crimes were minuscule, he'd be sentenced to some petty punishments if caught. However, it would be undoubtedly troublesome if that happened.
"*Yawwwnnn*" Unconsciously, his mouth extended open. As he realized he yawned, the boy wondered when he last tried to sleep. "Gah… things are just getting worse and worse… judging from the clouds, it's gonna downpour soon… Why don't I find a hole to sleep in for the next while? If Siri… nah, screw him; he's been running me like a slave as of late. If it's really important, Ace will call me."
As he walked through the crowded streets of injured, fearful souls, avoiding the gazes of the Officers around him, the boy avoided hitting up a Pokémon Center; they were much too crowded as it was, opting toward the abandoned railnet system. Sure, as of late, wild pokémon had made their home there, but they were no threat to the boy.
He walked under the bridge, entering the Underground Railnet. Some pokémon eyed the boy before deciding to skitter away from him. Most Pokémon would try to protect their territory. Still, the hidden aura of this boy intimidated them instead, forcing them to scurry away. The boy heard them scurry away and shrugged. It was no skin off his back, if anything, just a loss of a potential annoyance.
Turning a corner, the boy was met with a wall with a small slit. For most, only small pokémon would be able to enter. But the boy had learned to bend his body to fit through even smaller spaces. On making it through, the boy smiled. "Nice, no place like a secret hideout!"
Aside from the odd child or pokémon, not many could squeeze through the crack in the wall, making it to the collapsed room of the Railnet. The boy never figured out what this room had service to; perhaps it was once a storage room due to the number of broken and decaying wooden crates. Still, with no entry door visible, he was unsure. However, that didn't stop him from using it as his own room.
Snatching a sleeping bag that he's hidden away in one of the rotting crates. Wrapped in the warm bag, he started to doze off. But before he could, he quickly realized. "Right… never know what could happen… Hela."
Grabbing one of his six Pokeballs, the boy released his pokémon named Hela. It was a black fox with red claws and a mane flowing from the back, a mixture of red and black. Her pointed snout always made this Zoroark appear to be smirking mischievously. She looked at her trainer, who seemed ready to fall asleep at a moment's notice. "Zor?"
"Guard… wake up… trouble…" The boy told his Zoroark to guard him before drifting off into sleep.
"Help…N… Help me…" a young voice called through the distance.
The boy found himself in a darkened city. Shadows clung tightly to all objects. The sky was an ominous twilight blue, the red sun fading over the horizon. The area was dusty, buildings crumbling, and an ugly roar echoed in the distance. It was that night, again…
"Nero! Help me!" A girl's voice shouted at the boy, Nero.
"Grrrrrrrr…" Nero heard a monstrous growl overhead.
"...No…" it was barely a whisper as he saw the sight again. A girl stood before a ledge, cornered by a raging three-headed beast. Nero never felt smaller than he did that day…
"Nero!" The girl shouted for him. The girl was obscured, with only a shadowy outline on the edge.
"No…" Nero's eyes filled with fear and worry. He tried to move his legs… but to no avail. By an unseen force, he was glued in place, unable to move towards the girl.
"Grrr…" Nero could only watch in horror as he saw purplish energy glow from the monster's maws. He desperately tried to move, but nothing worked; he couldn't even shut his eyes. "Grraaaaaaaahhhhhh!"
"Scrrrraaaaaaaahhhhh!" A loud screech through the Railnet echoed right into Nero's hidden base.
"Na…" Nero jumped up from his sleeping bag, ripping it from the force… he desperately tried to forget the nightmare that just played before him… to no avail, just as that scene had burned into his eyes.
"Zor…" Hela aspirated before Nero. Appearing from nothingness. This Zoroark had mastered its illusion capabilities long ago, making it easy to hide in plain sight. However, she looked at her trainer with worry. Nero was usually plagued by nightmares, not always bad, though of late, he'd been tormented by his worst one… the fatal sin that tormented him the most.
"..." Nero sat, clutching a gold pendant from his neck, forcing himself to stop shaking. He mentally repeated that it was just a dream, another reminder of his failures. Before long, he slowly snapped out of his stupor, looking at Hela with a glare. "What the hell was that screech?"
"Zor…" Hela looked at Nero sheepishly. He had asked her to guard him while she slept, but that loud screech woke Nero up from his nightmare. With a sigh, Hela's fur blurred and became that of a flying bat with two large purple ears, similar to that of a music speaker, imitating a false screech before she shifted to another form, that of a tiny hedgehog with green spikes and a brown face.
"Pokémon fighting… not wild… that's a Chespin, ain't no way one of those is walking around this area without a trainer…" Hela nodded to Nero's comment. He was right that a new trainer appeared in the area. Nero dragged his hand across his face in annoyance. "You should have woken me up when that trainer appeared."
"..." Hela looked at Nero with worried eyes. It had been days since Nero had even sat down to rest. And with how quickly he had fallen asleep, nearly forgetting to release one of his pokémon to guard, she knew he was exhausted, probably still alive.
"I can take it…" Nero trailed off at the end. "They could have had bad intentions. You could have been hurt! You-"
"Scccrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeee!" Another deafening screech echoed through the Railnet. It was likely another screech from the Noibat fighting that trainer.
"Sigh… just return for now. I should get out before someone finds this hiding spot." Nero bruskly stated, firing a red beam from a Pokeball and sending Hela back inside. He held his head in pain, a headache forming from the noise of the battle. "Arcues… please don't let whoever I meet be trouble." Nero paused a second before face-palming. "Who am I kidding? It'll be trouble regardless."
With an annoyed sigh, Nero crept out of his secret base. Down towards the entrance, he saw two trainers. A blonde girl was preoccupied with catching one of the many Noibat living in the Railnet rafters. Judging from the use of her Chespin, she had acquired it not too long ago. The other stood watching, cheering her on with a smile. Nero could tell at a glance that the boy with white hair was an experienced trainer.
Nero pondered who they could be before realizing the air of naivety surrounding the duo. Nodding his head, Nero muttered, "Must've been the two that survived the train explosion…"
"Hmm?" The white-haired boy's ears perked, turning toward Nero. His white braid swayed as the blue eyes met Nero's Silver eyes. "My, I didn't expect to see anyone down here."
"My words exactly." Nero tilted his head, leading to an audible crack of his neck. "*Yawn…* Thought I heard the horrific screeching of a Noibat."
"Oh, did you choose to sleep here?"
"Better than those overcrowded Pokémon centers. With the travel restrictions, if you were unlucky to be in Peridot… well, this is home for a while."
The white-haired boy scratched the back of his head with an awkward expression. "Um… You know it's in the best of intents."
"I know the intent… I just want to do my own things." Nero shrugged, hugging the sidewall as he tried to close the distance, hoping to just pass them by with this conversation.
Wiggle, wiggle, Pop!
The sudden popping caught both boy's attention. They looked at the blonde girl, smiling as she managed to catch a Noibat. She cheered with the chespin before collecting the Pokeball on the ground. She looked back over to her human companion. "Percival, I caught it! I actually- Oh, ahem… hi there."
"..." The White-haired boy, Percival, covered his mouth to hide a snicker. "That you did."
"..." Meanwhile, Nero passively observed; a twinge in his heart raced, but he quickly killed the feeling. Trying to ignore the need to clutch his gold pendant."(She had to be blonde.)"
"Hi, I'm-" The Blonde girl walked toward Nero, hoping to greet him, but she was interrupted by a loud ring coming from Nero's jacket.
"...Well, nice seeing you. Hope never to meet you again!" Nero raced out of the Railnet as he took his pokegear from his pocket. While running, not knowing who was calling, Nero answered. "Yeah, what is it? … Are you serious? He sent him?! … … … Yes, I'm still here. I'll deal with Sirus's damn mistake. … Yeah, yeah, an alley near the corner of Cinderton and Crystal Street… Lord, he had to be spotted near Blackstream."
Click.
"Fuck… Fuck me." Nero cursed, kicking off the side of a building, grabbing onto the edge of a fire escape pulling himself up. On his way to the building's roof, he continued to complain, with good reason. "I go comms quiet for a few hours… Sirius sends a grunt, inexperienced in stealth and relaying information between bases… Only for that Grunt to get spotted as a suspicious character. Now, I have to deal with these consequences."
The sky was dark, and it was hard to tell if it was either day or night. Clouds filled the sky as Nero climbed to the top of the building. Nero smiled as he knew it was about to downpour, unsure if he should be thankful or annoyed. Taking out a wood mask, painted black with large white teeth engraved across it. It may only cover Nero's mouth and nose. Black hair was exceedingly common. It was more than enough to hide his identity. Without a second thought, Nero looked north, plotting his route across the rooftops.
Krooom! Psssssshhhhhhh!
The downpour started with a loud rumble. Visibility was reduced to a minimum for those on the streets. While it could be dangerous for someone running on the open roofs, it was second nature to Nero. Even still, this was the least dangerous thing Nero had done this week.
"Listen, I'm only gonna ask this one more time!" A boy with green hair soaked from the rain had a man cornered in an alley.
The man being questioned wore a strange outfit, a black suit with red lines all around it, and what was worse was the unmistakable "m" emblem on the side. He was very conspicuous, and the man's attitude to not be seen even more so.
The boy questioning the man was shorter than him but accompanied by a bulky grey rhinoceros, a Rhyhorn. The boy readjusted his blue-framed glasses once more. "Talk, or you'll be tasting a rock blast instead. What do you know about the-"
"Rhy!" The Rhyhorn suddenly shoved its trainer to the side, raising its thick stone hide in defense.
Shhiiiiinnnnng!
The obtrusive sound of metal scraping against stone nearly drowned out the rain. The Rhyhorn pulled back, nursing an injured shoulder as it glared at a masked man wielding two metal swords with purple stashes attached. "..."
"N-...D-demon…" The cornered man looked at the masked figure in shock and fear.
"Out…" Not even looking at the cornered grunt, the Masked Demon growled. Signaling him to leave. Without another word, the grunt bolted past the distraught youth.
"H-Hey! What the hell?!" The boy with green hair quickly scrambled to his feet. He looked in shock at the masked Demon, thoroughly soaked with rain. Biting his lip, removing any semblance of shock from his face, the boy shouted at the Demon. "So what's your problem, huh? Are you with that guy? Are you in cahoots?"
"..." The Demon's face, covered by a fanged mask, showed no remorse or feeling. Just a blank stare, raising the left blade towards his opponent."
"I don't think you know just who you're messing with. Name-"
"Fern Sevilla." the Demon answered, his voice scratchy and muffled from the mask. "You don't know what you're messing with."
"As if! I'm the one sitting at the top of this social hierarchy! It's my job to make a difference and clean up others' messes. Make a difference, give people a reason to smile!" Fern yelled in annoyance at the Demon. "Unlike you and that damnd train station terrorist! If I can't haul his ass in, I'm surely taking yous! Rhyhorn!"
"Tyrfin, finish it." The Demon released his blades; they quickly flew, one blocking the Rhyhorn's movements with its sheath, the other slashing down with ghastly energy. Combined with the force of the earlier strike, the Rhyhorn was down in no time flat.
"..." Fern glared at the attack, switching and Returning his Rhyhorn from the field. Throwing out a tan-brown crocodile with black stripes all over its body, its moxie attitude made it look arrogant over the two floating blades. "Alright, Krokorok, Crunch those damned blades out-"
"Grassknot."
As soon as the demon ordered, vines shot from the ground, ensnaring the Krokorok's arms, legs, and snout. There was a dull thud as the creature was forced to the ground. A dull laughter rang out in the air. "Zor… zor.. Zor…" Almost invisible in the shadows, the movements of a black and red fox were visible. Hela the Zoroark sneered at Fern for not realizing the battle he was in for.
"A two vs one…" Fern blinked. This was not what he expected. He thought the Demon only had one Pokémon out and acted accordingly, but Fern was sorely mistaken.
"Hidden in the dark is the cruelest of realities." The black Demon, Nero. raised his arm as he scratched the underchin of Hela's neck. While Tyrfing scraped its blades across each other, sharpening their edges against each other. Nero, if anything, was cunning and cruel; why play fair when the world was never fair to him? "Fern Sevilla, you know not what you face. You watch as the Black Demon of Reborn will strike you down."
"Tch… way to get lucky…" Fern muttered. He had heard the legends of something patrolling the streets. Those unlucky enough to meet this Demon rarely got away unscathed. "Dartrix! Roserade! Go! GigiaDrain! Ominous Wind!"
"Extrasensory. Aerial Ace cut down that Roserade." The Demon's eyes glistened, and he made his opponent shake. Fern was outmatched, surprise attack or not.
"Zor!" Hela's blue eyes shifted into gold, holding its paws in a multi-colored ball of energy, launching it at the Roserade. Forcing it to lose focus as it prepares to drain the energy from Hela.
"Dar!" The Dartrix crowed, trying to defend its flowery friend. Flapping its wings at the Doublade, releasing a purple haunting whirlwind.
"..." It blasted into the left blade of Tyrfing, blasting it back. The other one dropped its sheath, catching the other with its sash, using its momentum to swing it down onto the Roserade.
"Ro!" The Roserade cried out in pain, falling to the ground.
"..." Fern was quiet; he was down to one Pokémon against someone who had only shown two pokémon.
"Well then, time to finish it. He-"
"Razor leaf!"
"Terrraaa!" A rain of sharp green leaves swept where the Black Demon stood, hitting him and his pokémon.
"Geh… Retreat!" The Black Demon threw down a pellet exploding with smoke. Though the rain quickly dispersed the smoke. The Demon was no longer there, and no Zoroark nor Doublade was left behind. A surprisingly clean away as the fire escapes above shook.
"Fern, it has been advised to proceed with caution. Such recklessness nearly resulted in unnecessary injury." A monotone voice resounded at the green-haired boy. The voice owner was a female with characteristics similar to the boys'. However, she was older than the boy.
"Tch. Whatever, sis." Fern clicked his tongue, avoiding eye contact with his older sister. "We've gotta find that guy before he gets away."
"No need." His sister responded casually.
"Excuse me?" Fern glared at his sister. What was the whole point of this venture into Peridot Ward? It was to try to discover the whereabouts of those who destroyed the train station. And now they simply didn't care?!
"While you were battling with this masked individual, I met and caught the original suspect. Before handing the suspect to Inspector Maelstrom, the suspect slipped a possible base location." She explained concisely. "From the description, conclusive results lead to Mosswater Factory. We will inform Julia and prepare to investigate."
"Julia, really—Fine. I guess her gym was threatened to explode... not that she would've cared." Fern rolled his eyes as he heard someone else would be joining them. "C'mon, let's go. I'm sure that Demon is expecting us."
As he would be. Rolling from the rooftop, Nero stifled a groan. The Razorleaf hit from that Torterra hit harder than he expected. A few cuts here and there, some chipping on his mask. But other than that, he was fine, if not annoyed, for the holes in his clothes.
Having overheard the conversation. Nero gave an annoyed sigh. "This is exactly why Sirius isn't allowed to coordinate messages between bases… I guess I'll report this to Ace then. How fun… But the guests… great. I'll need a change of clothes."