The third of the four Exquisite Corpses! This one was a Pokémon Mystery Dungeon tale, so no humans allowed. Normally, anyway.
The order is evident from the spreadsheet, but nonetheless, I wager many don't remember, so I've put the names of the authors for each part in a spoiler tag. Then you can see who wrote each part, including who gave rhyming a start!
Light swearing at moments.
Temporal Tower reverberated under Dialga's weight where he rested. It was a suspicious sensation, for normal earthquakes typically weren't felt at the pinnacle. But whatever those tremors were about, it was disturbing not just his nap but the Time Gears behind him. And after he had just finished renovating the place, too...
“DIALGA, YOU FEEL IT, TOO?”
Trying to avoid rolling his eyes, he responded, “Why else am I awake at this time? And can you lower your voice a bit? Let the whole continent hear you, why don't you?”
Not that he, himself, didn't have a booming voice either, but he at least knew how to keep it down.
Appearing before him from a dimensional rift, Palkia scowled at his counterpart as he stuck a claw in an earhole. “SPACE WIND IS LOUD, YOU ASS.”
Dialga tried to comprehend what he meant by that, but ignored it. “Have you confronted the others about it?”
“RAYQUAZA'S A *****, LIKE ALWAYS—there we go!” Wincing at the glob of earwax stuck on the tip, Palkia flicked it away. The Temporal dragon's eye twitched, but it went unnoticed. “Cresselia's off doing her own thing, but if anyone's on top of it, I'd wager it on her.”
Meeting his visitor's gaze, he put aside the minor annoyance to ask, “Do you have any suspicions to spill?”
“I'm suspecting you've been the one rearranging my living space around, but that's not what we're here about, now are we?”
It wasn't him who had been doing that (but he wasn't telling), but the pun, intentional or not, hurt too much to ignore. “This is hardly the time to joke, Palkia.”
He snorted, hands on his hips. “I don't believe it's Darkrai causing a ruckus, I can say that much. Giratina's been in a pissy mood, but since when is he not?”
The spatial dragon had a point. Dialga looked to the skies, though the spiraling clouds weren't ominous. “It feels like it's something out of this world, but should Giratina do anything, things would be more warped.”
“Could it be Arceus' doing?”
It was a daring statement to make, but “the Boss Man” (as the Alpha had often been affectionately referred to by so many mortals that they subconsciously adopted the term) was much too crafty to let anything slip through the cracks. “Who's to say? I just don't like it one bit.”
Palkia scratched at the base of his tail as he glanced around at the pillars and the pulpit. “So... got any renovation plans scheduled?”
The Time Guardian just sighed, glancing up at the thrumming Time Gears.
*~*~*
“YOOOOM-TAAAAAH!”
Chatot discreetly wiped the spittle off his face, his own breakfast plans ruined. “Mind your manners, sir,” he reminded Wigglytuff as the rabbit sat back to pat his bloated belly.
“Arceus almighty, Chimecho makes the best apple dishes in all the guilds!” he crowed, on the cusp of another Hyper Voice belch. “Alright, what's the schedule for today, Chatot?”
As if reciting from memory, the Chatter Pokémon cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “First order of business, sir, is to assign cleaning duties to—”
“Booor-ring!” Wigglytuff yawned out.
Chatot was hardly amused. “If you would just let me finish, you would learn that you aren't doing any cleaning today.”
“Oh, thank Arceus!” he sighed. “I was going to up-and-quit if I got the bathrooms this time around! We need to do something about that, I don't think it's sanitary for all of us to share the same toilets!”
“Sir, you have your own personal lavatory.”
Wigglytuff absentmindedly scratched at his curl. “Really? Has it always been so noisy and smelling like flowers?”
The Music Note Pokémon did a double-take. “Wha... Why're you using the female restroom?!”
“'Cause the door's pink,” was the response. “And I'm pink, so clearly pink Pokémon like myself have to use it.”
Chatot could feel his soul leaving his body. “Sir... the color-coding isn't about the color of your skin,” he managed a mumble.
The Balloon Pokémon didn't seem to hear him for he suddenly sat up and lightly bumped his fist in recollection. “Oh, I just remembered! There was talk about some suspicious activity going on at one of the dungeons! I should send our top rescuers out there to check it out when they return!”
“If you would just let me finish reviewing the to-do list, sir...”
Still oblivious to the Chatot, Wigglytuff put his hands to his chin in thought, and mused, “Say, where did those two run off to, anyway?”
Realizing Guildmaster Wigglytuff wasn't going to listen to his previous inquiry at this rate, Chatot let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I'll go get them."
--------------
Chatot looked around the bustling Treasure Town, looking for his targets. They couldn't have gone far, he thought. Oh, no he might be jinxing himself. If he didn't find them Wigglytuff would be furious. He's doomed, doomed he tells yo-
It was then that he caught eye of two figures, not the ones he was looking for but they stood out like a sore thumb anyway. One was a Noibat, with rather unusual red tufts of fur on its neck. The other was a Morpeko? Or at least looked like one.
Chatot crept closer, trying to evade the notice of the two for now. With his fine hearing he could pick up what they were saying:
"Are you sure about this, Kratos?" said the Morpeko. "We don't... We don't belong in this dimension..."
"Looking back now will get us nowhere," said the Noibat. "We must stick to our mission."
"And what exactly is that mission?" said Chatot, stepping in.
"Hey!" said the Morpeko. "Mind your own business."
"Are you so foolish as to pick a fight when you do not know our goals?" said the Noibat, apparently known as Kratos. "I knew you were there, for one."
"Hmph," said Chatot. "I am supposed to report all suspicious activity to Guildmaster Wigglytuff. Nothing personal kids."
Kratos gave a bemused chuckle upon being called a "kid."
"Wait!" said the Morpeko. "It's not what you think..."
The Morpeko shimmered and disappeared, revealing a Zorua.
"I'm Edbark. He's Kratos. We're trying to find something in a nearby Mystery Dungeon. Your world could be in danger!"
"W-world?" said Chatot, suddenly wide-eyed. "This needs to be addressed immediately!"
"Let's go then," said Kratos. "The Mystery Dungeon should be this way..."
And he led the group off.
-----------
The group eventually arrived at a strange, eldritch area in the forest. The vines and branches twisted and turned, and the area gave off a dark aura.
"This... This Mystery Dungeon hasn't been documented before!"
"Simple!" said Edbark. "Because it wasn't there before!"
"Ssh," said Kratos. "Something's coming."
Before long Edbark and Chatot could hear voices as well.
"What... what is..." said Chatot.
A shadow loomed.
"Brace yourselves!" said Edbark.
The Chatot, Zorua, and Noibat stared in awe and horror at what had emerged from the Mystery Dungeon entrance.
It was a big jellyfish-like Pokémon with several white tentacles, the shape and differing lengths of the tentacles giving it a vaguely humanoid shape. It was floating in the air, and didn’t seem to have any visible facial features.
“See! That’s the strange Pokémon I saw!” the Noibat said. “I knew I wasn’t imagining things!”
“What… is that?” the Zorua nervously asked.
The Chatot suddenly pushed the other two Pokémon into the bushes nearby, where the three of them continued to observe the strange Pokémon.
“Phew… I don’t think it’s noticed us yet,” the Chatot said, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Chatot, do you know what kind of Pokémon that is?” the Noibat asked.
“No… I’ve never seen anything like it before!” the Chatot replied.
“Ah!” the Zorua let out a gasp as the realization hit him. “Could it be one of those Pokémon from other worlds that Porygon-Z was talking about?”
“Whoa! That’s a Pokémon from another world!?” the Noibat exclaimed. “No way!”
“Ssh, keep it down!” the Chatot whispered, gesturing with his wings for the two to be quiet.
The three of them watched the strange Pokémon still hovering around near the entrance to the mystery dungeon.
“… It doesn’t seem to be doing anything,” the Noibat commented.
“So… What should we do?” the Zorua asked, looking over at the Chatot.
“Well, we can’t just leave that thing alone!” the Chatot responded. “After all, we have no idea what it’s capable of!”
“Yeah…” the Zorua replied, nodding his head. “But we should also let Porygon-Z know about this, right?”
“Oh, right! Porygon-Z’s research team might know what to do!” the Noibat said.
“Okay, then… You two hurry back to town and let them know about this situation,” the Chatot said, looking over at the Zorua and Noibat. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on that Pokémon.”
“All right, but… will you be okay on your own?” the Zorua asked.
“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself,” the Chatot responded. “Just hurry!”
“If you say so…” the Zorua replied, before looking over at the Noibat. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Okay!” the Noibat responded, nodding her head.
The two of them began moving carefully through the tall grass to avoid being noticed by the strange jellyfish-like Pokémon. Once they were certain that they had gotten far enough away to not be noticed by it, they began running back towards town as fast as they could.
Zorua hoped that Porygon-Z would indeed have an idea about what to do about the strange Pokémon.
But once again, Porygon-Z itself was a strange Pokémon, who probably knew more than anybody else about how it felt like to be… different than the others.
“So, what’s the plan?” Zorua asked.
“PHASE ONE: GENETICOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF PORTION OF THE BIOLOGICHIMIC MASS OF THE SUBJECT,” Porygon-Z replied.
Zorua blinked, totally at a loss of what Porygon-Z just said. “Genetiwhat?”
“PURPOSE OF ANALYSIS: ENCODING SUBJECT’S STRUCTURIFICATION TO BETTER AID THEM IN ACQUIRING TOP SPEED HEALTH BENEFITS.”
“…Huh, Pory-Z? Can you talk Pokémonese, please?” Zorua sweatdropped. “I still don’t get what your plan is…”
“…” Porygon-Z beeped a couple of times. “OBSERVE SUBJECT TO HEAL SUBJECT.”
“Oh! Now I understand! You should have said so from the beginning!”
Porygon-Z rolled its eyes before floating closer to the creature. It looked… alien, like nothing either Pokémon had seen before. The strange Pokémon looked back, its eyes shining faintly.
“So, how are you planning on observing this Pokémon, Pory-Z?” Zorua said, walking close to Porygon-Z. “And do you think an Oran Berry could work?”
However, before Porygon-Z could even reply, a blue beam exploded in front of them, making all Pokémon fall back to the ground in shock.
Zorua shivered. “Aah! What the…!?”
“Stay away from that Ultra Beast.”
Zorua and Porygon-Z looked around, wondering where that voice came from, before a red and green Pokémon with a crystal in its abdomen teleported in front of them, its black eyes narrowing. The so-called Ultra Beast stared at the red Pokémon in shock.
“W-What the…?” Zorua stammered, before frowning at the newcomer. “Who are you?”
The red Pokémon simply glared at the duo, forcing Porygon-Z to fill in for Zorua.
“DEOXYS, PSYCHIC LASER-IMBUED SUBJECT FROM SPACE,” Porygon-Z explained, looking at Zorua.
Zorua looked back at Porygon-Z, showing a puzzled expression. “Deoxys…?”
Deoxys glared at the Ultra Beast, who merely stared back at it with a blank and confused expression. “We must leave.”
Zorua blinked and stared at Deoxys. “Huh? Wait! What’s happen—” Zorua exclaimed a bit too late, as Deoxys teleported away with the Ultra Beast in tow.
Porygon-Z beeped, before tilting its head. “…UNEXPETICABLE SITUATION DETECTED. DEOXYS LEFT THE SURROUNDING PERIMETER WITH TELEPORTICATING ENERGIES. REASONING… UNKNOWN. LACKING INFORMATIVE BACKGROUND TO ELABORATE INTENTIONS.”
Zorua turned to Porygon-Z. “So, what should we do now, Pory-Z? Do you think we should track down Deoxys and that Ultra Beast, or…?”
Porygon-Z buzzed. "Affirmative," he then said. "Strong Pokémon of unknown motivations in the environment increase risk of destruction."
"Alright," Zorua said, taking steps towards the cavern's exit. "Let's go ask around in town if anyone's seen either."
"Suboptimal strategy."
Zorua looked over her shoulder. Porygon-Z hadn't moved an inch.
"What do you mean?" she said, sighing in the same breath.
"Search and inquiry is a time-costly algorithm. Recommended instead is usage of zorrine illusion to mimic an extraterrestrial entity. Reactions from inhabitants will draw out information as law enforcement seeks to secure situation."
Zorua held a stare with her mouth ajar until she finished processing what she'd heard.
"I'm not turning into an alien to make everyone freak out," she replied. "That is an awful plan."
Porygon-Z buzzed in a way that almost sounded angry, though Zorua wasn't sure if he could actually feel that emotion… or any emotion. "Then, in place of zorrine illusion, this unit will utilize its holographic features and execute the mimicry operation itself."
Before Zorua could reply, the Virtual Pokémon lit up with a white glow. Triangles of light began to appear around him, forming into a continuous shell with a short humanoid form. Once fully closed in, the triangles bent into smaller triangles, rendering the surface smoother with each iteration. The white faded into green except for the creature's big eyes, which appeared dark and shiny, like those of a ponyta.
"That's your alien?" commented Zorua. "Doesn't look very scary."
"This is a model generated with this unit's neural network," said Porygon-Z from within his large-headed illusory shell. "According to training data, this is an accurate depiction of an extraterrestrial."
Zorua shook her head and continued her walk. This time, Porygon-Z followed.
"To produce sufficient implication of threat," he spoke, "it would be best for you to keep a distance to this unit to avoid being associated with it."
"Don't mind if I do," grumbled Zorua, and the two left the cave.
---
By the time Zorua reached town, she'd lost sight of Porygon-Z. Losing an ally was usually a bad thing, but in this case Zorua knew the mon may have ended up only being trouble, and so not a considerable loss. She pushed the thoughts of him aside and sprinted for the first townsmon she saw, that being a lone sunflora sitting on the root of a mudbrick house, soaking in the sun.
“Excuse me,” she began, “would you have happened to see any strange-looking creatures lately? Something you would describe as… alien?”
The sunflora wiggled her petals in thought. “Strange creatures? Well, this morning I was walking through the woods...”
Zorua’s ears perked. A sighting? “Yes?” she encouraged.
“I decided to take the longer path to enjoy the view,” the sunflora continued. “The right turn from the fork in the road once you go into the woods west of here, right? Right, so I go in there, and I look around, and there’s grass and moss and oaks and maples and so on around me, pretty usual. Under one bush I saw some rawstberry flowers. Then something rustled in the branches above, and I looked, and I think it was some kind of bird. Then it cawed and I realized it was a murkrow. Anyway, I keep going onward and I come across this stream...”
Zorua’s paw had begun to tap impatiently while she was listening. Noting this and the long timed it seemed to be taking to get to the point, she cleared her throat. ”Um, not to be rude, but could you describe the strange creature first? I wanna know if it’s what I’m looking for to begin with...”
“Strange creature?” the sunflora said. “Oh, no, I didn’t see any strange creatures. I just had this thought while looking at the stream and its lapping water, ‘What if this was a big deep river and a monster rose up? Like a gyarados, but like, green or something? And it had horns?’ Haha, that’s just crazy, right? I’ve always been a little crazy, haha. But I’m nice, I swear.”
Zorua’s claws clasped the dirt beneath her paws. “So… you were just imagining a strange creature?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I didn’t actually see it or anything, haha! I’m not a nutjob, you know.”
Zorua huffed. “Thanks for answering,” she forced out of herself, and walked past the unhelpful citizen.
“You’re welcome!” she could hear before turning the corner and heading deeper into the city.
She found and questioned more mon, but none seemed to have anything of consequence to say. Only negatives and insults of rival neighbors’ looks. She groaned to herself after yet another dead end conversation and decided to take a small break on the outskirts of town to recharge her mental energy.
Briefly, she wondered where Porygon-Z had gone, but ejected him from her mind once again. She had enough to worry about.
She lay down on the green grass a little off from the road. She spotted a shiny, black beetle climbing from blade to blade before her forefeet and decided to unwind my mindlessly watching it fumble about.
It was calm, but before long, the gentle whistling of the wind gained other noises beside it - steps and frantic huffing.
Zorua looked up, and her eyes caught a brown rabbit-like mon rushing along the dirt road. A Buneary, she recognized, and the mon spotted her as well, judging by how he swerved off the road and came to her.
"What's wrong?" Zorua asked, getting up on her feet.
The Buneary leaned onto his knees to catch his breath, then finally spoke up. “U-um, please don’t think I’m crazy, but I think I just saw Deoxys!”
Zorua’s tail shot up. “Tell me more!”
“W-well, I was walking by the river, and then something started shining in the distance, slowly approa--”
A high-pitched scream cut his sentence off. A mudkip scrambled over the hill in the horizon, followed by a strong, green glow and an eerie, lingering noise. Zorua squinted her eyes to see through the light, and she saw… a small green humanoid with big black eyes, walking forwards while stiffly performing some kind of dance.
Zorua’s eyes widened, staying glued to the odd humanoid figure that was sauntering after the terrified Mudkip. The green glow grew fainter as the creature’s odd dance continued, arms jutting out wildly and legs flailing as it continued it’s pursuit. She blinked slowly, trying to determine if what she was seeing was truly real. Afraid, but undeterred by the unknown, Zorua stood up. She shook the nerves out of her body, smoothing out her fur and shuddering slightly on her small legs as she slowly padded after the Mudkip and the odd green creature. In her hesitation, she had lost sight of the pair --- however, the terrified screams of Mudkip drew her back in. Her slow pad turned into a quick jog, scrambling towards the terrified Pokemon and the strange glowing creature.
She arrived to where the pair had ended up. Mudkip had fallen, backing himself up slowly as his wide black eyes focused on the creature. Now that she was closer, Zorua could also get a closer look at the strange creature in front of her. It’s shape was not exactly what she would call abnormal… actually, it looked similar to a Hitmonchan. It’s head was much more bulbous, not to mention the tremendous black eyes that seemed like spacial voids resting atop it’s head.
“D-don’t come any closer!” Screamed Mudkip. His hands raised above his face in an attempt to block out the sight of the horrific creature… or maybe simply to get that awful glow out of his eyes. Zorua was also terrified. She had never seen anything like the monster in front of her. Not only was it strange looking, but that dance it kept doing was nothing short of erratic. Arms would flail out at random intervals, legs kicking in a spasmic rhythm as it took shaky steps on them. However, now was not the time for hesitation.
Zorua steeled her courage, dashing forward with her claws extended. She leapt from the hill she was standing on, closing the gap between herself and the creature. She stood in front of Mudkip bravely, eyes narrowing as she contorted her face, trying her best to catch the creature off guard with a Scary Face. Its expression remained unmoved, and the erratic dancing continued, beads of sweat formed on Zorua’s face as she shut her eyes, lunging forwards with a Fury Swipes attack.
Zorua knew she had to attack;
Before she became a tasty snack.
Its bizarre dancing was unnerving;
And the way its three feet were swirling.
She knew that her type disadvantage;
Would prove to be a major challenge.
She swiped her paws with blazing fury;
Her foe she knocked out in a hurry.
Sweet relief, then fear, came over her;
What if a second attack occurred?
She bolted out of the cavern entrance;
Trying to flee a phantom menace.
Outside, she put a plan together;
To get away from this displeasure.
She’ll disguise herself as someone else;
Right down to their rapid, beating pulse.
On the other hand, perhaps she’d be;
Something rather like a rock or tree?
Yes, she should wait there without moving;
Her odds of living are improving;
Zorua’s faith is quite unmoving;
Though her hesitation is proving;
That lingering doubt is removing;
Her confidence that is approving;
Of this plan that’s really not grooving;
To a beat she’s comfortable with.
No, she fled to the nearby river;
To wait for all of this to simmer;
To wait for the red-eyed Pokémon;
To forget about her and move on.
“Shadow Pokémon” he’d darkly said;
The Porygon-Z who’d wished her dead.
She concluded they had been brainwashed;
Their good will and nature had been quashed.
She couldn’t face them, not one on one.
But she knew something had to be done!
Yes, she will have to face the music;
Fight while less than enthusiastic.
Now perhaps she could, if it came up;
Transform into a mighty Prinplup?
No, something that is even stronger;
Like a Machamp or even Gengar!
If she defeats them in a battle;
Then her foe’s plan will become rattled;
And maybe they will snap out of it;
And fight with her, if she gives permit.
So back into the fray she must go;
Will her plan succeed? Nobody knows!
She will fight with all her strength and might;
And hope to find some sagely insight.
So she’ll find a way to save them all;
Or else everyone around will fall.
Atop his tower, made of brick and stone,
Zacian gathered power, all alone.
The Wishing machine was an ancient tech.
With its power, the world was his to wreck.
But for now it was too weak on its own.
“Once the beasts are gathered,
And the core is powered,
I’ll have completed the last part of the mission!
And the world’s destruction will come to fruition!
A Psyduck arrived, and Zacian spoke.
“About time! Your as late as a bad joke!
Did you bring what I needed?”
And he said: “Yes, I did.”
...
Zacian coughed. “Ahem! That rhyme was terrible!”
“Oh, uh, sorry, er, wait I mean… uh... I didn’t know it was that terrible?”
“Ugh, you’re pathetic! Just bring them in!”
A Machoke and Duraludon came out into the den,
Machoke pulling behind him a cart carrying covered cages three.
“Finally, they’ve been gathered! Reveal them all to me!”
Machoke uncovered cage one, and inside…
“Zamazenta?! You’re not the Pokémon I specified!”
The wolf sighed. “You need not phrase it in poetic form. Not with me, at least.”
“Oh shut up! You’ve been like this since I left the sword for the pen!
Zacian turned. “Psyduck!”
“Yes?”
“This is not the beast!”
“Well, you said to look for Entei, and I didn’t really know what he looked like, just being legend and all. You said he’s really bukly, so I made a guess…” A pause. “Er, it was a bad guess.”
“I swear to Arceus, you best not disappoint me again.”
And inside cage number two…
It was, luckily, Raikou.
“If only you’re sidekick were more incompetent,” the thunder beast grumbled. His look widened at the Pokémon in front of him. “Wait, who are you?!”
“Tch. One right. I swear the moon is blue.”
And with no hesitation, he tore the cloth off the final cage. Psyduck visibly winced.
It was a Cradily.
Zacian did not move. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked, breaking character for just a moment.
Psyduck idly kicked the ground. “I… don’t really have an excuse for that one.”
“About time!” exclaimed the fossil Pokémon. “I s’pose I better plead my case now. Y’see officer, I didn’t commit any crimes. Unless going out in all this mess is a crime, but I swear, it was just to stop and smell the roses one last time before it all gets sent to the Abyss. I’m too old to go to jail, y’know, so if you’ll kindly let me out I’d appreciate it.”
Zacian turned to his other subordinate. “Machoke?”
“Yes?”
“How close is the Chosen One to the top of this tower?”
“About halfway, and climbing.”
“Good.”
He grabbed the beefy Pokémon by the arm and set him flying off the tower.
“Your Swordlineeeeesss..!”
“Wow, that was harsh,” said the Cradily. “I hope that doesn’t mean-”
And with freakish strength, he threw Cradily off too, cage and all.
“You know what, it’s fine!
Only one beast out of two,
But it’s fine!
Yes, it’s too good to be true!
One beast is enough to bury this continent.
I just need more time to feel fully confident.”
He looked to the remaining bulky dragon.
“Duraludon! Go keep those annoying brats busy for me!”
The subordinate huffed in confirmation.
“In just a few moments, my dreams will become reality!”
Psyduck just watched, relieved he wasn’t the one taking an air route off the tower. As Zacian ran off to appraise his machine, the whisperings of the yellow legend caught his attention. “Hey, what in the name of everything sacred is going on here?”
“You don’t know?” Psyduck wasn’t prepared for that. Weren’t legendaries supposed to be knowledgeable about everything?
“I’ve never seen these Pokémon before in my life,” said Raikou, gesturing to the large wolf with a shield for a face trapped beside him.
Zamazenta spoke up before Psyduck got a chance to. “We’re from before your time, young beast. A time long forgotten to the Pokémon of this world.”
Raikou couldn’t hide the disdain on his face from being called ‘young,’ but his interest was peaked. “Tell me more. I deserve that right if I’m to be used like a tool.”
The ancient Pokémon snorted. “Arrogance like that will get you nowhere with me. I endure enough of it from my brother.”
“Then you tell me.” Raikou looked ready to try an attack from his cage if Psyduck didn’t oblige.
Admittedly, the poor Psyduck felt bad about the whole thing. This mess was his fault after all, not to mention he unrightfully took Raikou from his home. “Okay, so here’s the deal,” he began. “A long time ago, there was this ancient civilization of Pokémon, right? They were very advanced, much more than we are now, and they were able to create this thing called a Wishing Machine.” Psyduck pointed to the large, stone contraption sitting near the edge of the tower. “That’s the conduit, but the machine is actually the tower itself, and-”
“Get to the point,” Raikou growled.
“It’s low on power, needs a power source, and that’s why you’re here. Oh, and Zacian wants to destroy the world.”
“Someone always is. And who is he?”
Zamazenta decided humor him this time. “Me and Zacian are guardians from that time period, engaged in perpetual battle with an ancient, immortal evil. We were sealed away so that we may live to battle it when it next appeared, but this Psyduck here woke us up early. Zacian took it badly, to say the least, though to think he’d go this far...”
Raikuo turned his glare back on Psyduck. “And after screwing up colossally, you decided the best course of action was to help him destroy the world?”
“Look, I’m just an archeologist. I don’t wanna die, and-”
“You’re going to die!”
“Psyduck! Don’t talk with the prisoners, or you’re next to fly!
Psyduck winced. This was all his fault, but he did have a plan. There was an old prophecy, created by the machine’s very first wish. And the most important part was on her way here.
Wishing machine, should you ever be used for evil,
Let a Chosen One come, and aid in your retrieval!
~~~
It was the tower’s final stretch.
The Litwick and her partner Exeggcute
Hopped up the spiral staircase to the top.
“Why stairs?!” complained Exeggcute. “They’re too much for us to bear!”
“Just hold on!” said Litwick. “We’re almost there!”
But on the way there, Duraludon appeared,
Right on the stairs, growling menacingly.
“We don’t have time for you! Pincer attack!”
Litwick gave the order,
And phased through them into position.
From one side: Flamethrower!
And the other: Confusion!
The Pokémon roared, then collapsed, tumbling down the stairs as they went. Exeggcute had to hug the wall to avoid getting crushed.
“Too close!”
“Keep moving!”
Finally they reached the top of this place.
“Zacian!” Litwick exclaimed. “This ends here! Accept your fate!”
Raikou’s cage was already in place.
“So you finally made it, Chosen One! But you’re too late!”
“Not if we have anything to say! Exeggcute!”
Exeggcute rolled towards her tiredly. “Yeah… we won’t let your plan… execute.”
“But wait!”
Psyduck came running in to stand in between the two glaring ‘mon. “What now, Psyduck?! We’re having a moment!”
“The machine only works if you speak to it in rhyme.
And only one can use it at any given time”
Zacian looked surprised. “That was better than I expected.”
“Just shut up and let him talk!” Raikou yelled, his aggression hiding his stress.
“As I was saying, only one of you can use it, but you have to be worthy. So to prove that worth, you two should engage in a poetic duel!”
“What?!”
Her partner seemed wary, but Litwick understood.
Zacian can’t be beat in a straight fight,
So there’s no better way to save the world!
“Ha! A poetic duel? That’s hardly fair!”
“I accept, and need no time to prepare!”
Zacian glared. “I can see you’re at least decent.
But for how long can you keep up?”
“I should be saying that, you are no achievement!
Know that you can always backup!”
“I’m sure you’ve not noticed, but I’m a master of swords,
Of which the pen is mightier! I’m a master of words!
“Your logic? Flawed! Your sayings? Outdated!
Poets like you are always overrated!”
“Sadly mistaken, to dream of a chance which does not exist, you know.”
Litwick almost fell. “To try dactylic hexameter on the fly?! To be that confident, he must know his stuff!”
Zacian gloated. “Of course I know the classics!”
Exeggcute commented. “Of course you’re older than the Jurassic.”
She winced. “This’ll be tough…”
Now Exeggcute grew worried. “You’re rhythm’s off, are you sure you’re okay?”
“He came out guns blazing.” Litwick shook her head. “I don’t know how to counter that.”
“Well, come up with something, we don’t have all day!”
And so she thought.
An old poet to beat.
For a long time, asleep.
To old forms did he keep.
But what if she just…
Didn’t?
In the face of Zacian, Litwick stood up and stood straight.
“Well now, have you finally accepted your fate?”
And Litwick said: “No.”
…
“...No?
And?”
She smiled. It worked. “No.
You have had your fun,
But now it’s my turn.”
Zacian was already seething. “This is grounds for disqualification, so I suggest you… learn.”
“It is clear, you’re struggling.
Like I thought, you’re no real poet.
You know a little because you were there,
But you’re not prepared for what happened after!”
“What-?!”
“Poetry is art, and art is free!
It flows, it moves, it does what it wants!
But over all, it comes from the heart!
You don’t understand this a bit.
Your misuse of form, and insistence on rhyme,
They make me sick!
Form is all well and good,
But it must be properly understood.
And you show that you don’t get it at all!”
Zacian shuddered and seethed. “That non-standard form, it makes my skin crawl!
You know what, forget the pen! Perhaps the sword is mightier after all!”
He opened his mouth, and an ornate sword materialized out of thin air. Maybe pushing him wasn’t the best idea. Abandoning all pretense of grace and sophistication, Zacian rushed Litwick, taking a calculated swing right at her. She just barely had enough time to run. “Exeggcute! Help!”
But they did one better. After all, they proved themselves worthy enough to try it. Thinking quickly, they spoke:
“Wishing machine! We can’t get past his offenses!
Hear our plea! Bring Zacian back to his senses!”
Suddenly, the ground began to glow brightly. The stone monument whirred, and Raikou and Zamazenta both stood apprehensively. Everything faded to white.
And when the light was gone, Zacian was on the ground, a small, dark force hovering above him before dissipating into nothing.
“Is he dead?” Psyduck asked.
Litwick slowly approached, and tried to listen to his heart. “It’s still beating! I think we did it!”
~~~
Everyone was soon freed, yet Zacian was still out. “Don’t worry about him, he’s gone through worse,” Zamazenta assured. “More importantly, I must thank all three of you for your wit and bravery today.”
“I’m just glad it’s over.” Psyduck sighed. “I’m really sorry.”
“You better be,” growled Raikou. “I have half a mind to do away with you right now… but I suppose it all went well.”
Litwick nodded. “All in a day’s work for a Chosen One!”
“Yeah, but this is what we were chosen to do, right?” Exeggcute pointed out. “Now what?”
She pondered the question. “Well, normally this is the part where I get to go home…”
“I don’t know where you live,” said Zamazenta. “But if that’s a problem, then you can always use the machine.”
“Uh, wait, isn’t that a bit abrupt? I mean I’m not sure if it’s okay-”
“You can go,” said Exeggcute. “I know you really want to.”
“Well… yeah. No offense, but I kind of have responsibilities at home, and I don’t know what’s happening over there. So if I could right now…”
Exeggcute rolled up and surround Litwick with their eggs. “Just go already!” They chanted. “If you drag this out, you’ll just make us sad!”
Psyduck chimed in. “I kind of have archeologist stuff to do…”
“Ho-oh is probably wondering where I am right now, so please just go already.”
“I don’t have a home anymore, but I do have other concerns...”
And I, the author, kind of desperately need sleep right now, so if you would...
Litwick rolled her eyes. “Wow, glad I’m wanted here. Fine, I’ll go.” She thought of a rhyme, and pat the egg in front of her. “Goodbye, Exeggcute.”
“Yeah, goodbye!” They rolled out of her way and let her go.
Litwick took a breath, then spoke:
“Wishing machine! While this land was been fun to roam.
My journey is at its end! Please, let me go home!”
And just like that, she awoke.
The order is evident from the spreadsheet, but nonetheless, I wager many don't remember, so I've put the names of the authors for each part in a spoiler tag. Then you can see who wrote each part, including who gave rhyming a start!
Light swearing at moments.
The Serebii Exquisite Corpse
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Fic
Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Fic
Temporal Tower reverberated under Dialga's weight where he rested. It was a suspicious sensation, for normal earthquakes typically weren't felt at the pinnacle. But whatever those tremors were about, it was disturbing not just his nap but the Time Gears behind him. And after he had just finished renovating the place, too...
“DIALGA, YOU FEEL IT, TOO?”
Trying to avoid rolling his eyes, he responded, “Why else am I awake at this time? And can you lower your voice a bit? Let the whole continent hear you, why don't you?”
Not that he, himself, didn't have a booming voice either, but he at least knew how to keep it down.
Appearing before him from a dimensional rift, Palkia scowled at his counterpart as he stuck a claw in an earhole. “SPACE WIND IS LOUD, YOU ASS.”
Dialga tried to comprehend what he meant by that, but ignored it. “Have you confronted the others about it?”
“RAYQUAZA'S A *****, LIKE ALWAYS—there we go!” Wincing at the glob of earwax stuck on the tip, Palkia flicked it away. The Temporal dragon's eye twitched, but it went unnoticed. “Cresselia's off doing her own thing, but if anyone's on top of it, I'd wager it on her.”
Meeting his visitor's gaze, he put aside the minor annoyance to ask, “Do you have any suspicions to spill?”
“I'm suspecting you've been the one rearranging my living space around, but that's not what we're here about, now are we?”
It wasn't him who had been doing that (but he wasn't telling), but the pun, intentional or not, hurt too much to ignore. “This is hardly the time to joke, Palkia.”
He snorted, hands on his hips. “I don't believe it's Darkrai causing a ruckus, I can say that much. Giratina's been in a pissy mood, but since when is he not?”
The spatial dragon had a point. Dialga looked to the skies, though the spiraling clouds weren't ominous. “It feels like it's something out of this world, but should Giratina do anything, things would be more warped.”
“Could it be Arceus' doing?”
It was a daring statement to make, but “the Boss Man” (as the Alpha had often been affectionately referred to by so many mortals that they subconsciously adopted the term) was much too crafty to let anything slip through the cracks. “Who's to say? I just don't like it one bit.”
Palkia scratched at the base of his tail as he glanced around at the pillars and the pulpit. “So... got any renovation plans scheduled?”
The Time Guardian just sighed, glancing up at the thrumming Time Gears.
*~*~*
“YOOOOM-TAAAAAH!”
Chatot discreetly wiped the spittle off his face, his own breakfast plans ruined. “Mind your manners, sir,” he reminded Wigglytuff as the rabbit sat back to pat his bloated belly.
“Arceus almighty, Chimecho makes the best apple dishes in all the guilds!” he crowed, on the cusp of another Hyper Voice belch. “Alright, what's the schedule for today, Chatot?”
As if reciting from memory, the Chatter Pokémon cleared his throat and puffed out his chest. “First order of business, sir, is to assign cleaning duties to—”
“Booor-ring!” Wigglytuff yawned out.
Chatot was hardly amused. “If you would just let me finish, you would learn that you aren't doing any cleaning today.”
“Oh, thank Arceus!” he sighed. “I was going to up-and-quit if I got the bathrooms this time around! We need to do something about that, I don't think it's sanitary for all of us to share the same toilets!”
“Sir, you have your own personal lavatory.”
Wigglytuff absentmindedly scratched at his curl. “Really? Has it always been so noisy and smelling like flowers?”
The Music Note Pokémon did a double-take. “Wha... Why're you using the female restroom?!”
“'Cause the door's pink,” was the response. “And I'm pink, so clearly pink Pokémon like myself have to use it.”
Chatot could feel his soul leaving his body. “Sir... the color-coding isn't about the color of your skin,” he managed a mumble.
The Balloon Pokémon didn't seem to hear him for he suddenly sat up and lightly bumped his fist in recollection. “Oh, I just remembered! There was talk about some suspicious activity going on at one of the dungeons! I should send our top rescuers out there to check it out when they return!”
“If you would just let me finish reviewing the to-do list, sir...”
Still oblivious to the Chatot, Wigglytuff put his hands to his chin in thought, and mused, “Say, where did those two run off to, anyway?”
Kutie Pie
Realizing Guildmaster Wigglytuff wasn't going to listen to his previous inquiry at this rate, Chatot let out a long, drawn-out sigh. "I'll go get them."
--------------
Chatot looked around the bustling Treasure Town, looking for his targets. They couldn't have gone far, he thought. Oh, no he might be jinxing himself. If he didn't find them Wigglytuff would be furious. He's doomed, doomed he tells yo-
It was then that he caught eye of two figures, not the ones he was looking for but they stood out like a sore thumb anyway. One was a Noibat, with rather unusual red tufts of fur on its neck. The other was a Morpeko? Or at least looked like one.
Chatot crept closer, trying to evade the notice of the two for now. With his fine hearing he could pick up what they were saying:
"Are you sure about this, Kratos?" said the Morpeko. "We don't... We don't belong in this dimension..."
"Looking back now will get us nowhere," said the Noibat. "We must stick to our mission."
"And what exactly is that mission?" said Chatot, stepping in.
"Hey!" said the Morpeko. "Mind your own business."
"Are you so foolish as to pick a fight when you do not know our goals?" said the Noibat, apparently known as Kratos. "I knew you were there, for one."
"Hmph," said Chatot. "I am supposed to report all suspicious activity to Guildmaster Wigglytuff. Nothing personal kids."
Kratos gave a bemused chuckle upon being called a "kid."
"Wait!" said the Morpeko. "It's not what you think..."
The Morpeko shimmered and disappeared, revealing a Zorua.
"I'm Edbark. He's Kratos. We're trying to find something in a nearby Mystery Dungeon. Your world could be in danger!"
"W-world?" said Chatot, suddenly wide-eyed. "This needs to be addressed immediately!"
"Let's go then," said Kratos. "The Mystery Dungeon should be this way..."
And he led the group off.
-----------
The group eventually arrived at a strange, eldritch area in the forest. The vines and branches twisted and turned, and the area gave off a dark aura.
"This... This Mystery Dungeon hasn't been documented before!"
"Simple!" said Edbark. "Because it wasn't there before!"
"Ssh," said Kratos. "Something's coming."
Before long Edbark and Chatot could hear voices as well.
"What... what is..." said Chatot.
A shadow loomed.
"Brace yourselves!" said Edbark.
The Chatot, Zorua, and Noibat stared in awe and horror at what had emerged from the Mystery Dungeon entrance.
Umbramatic
It was a big jellyfish-like Pokémon with several white tentacles, the shape and differing lengths of the tentacles giving it a vaguely humanoid shape. It was floating in the air, and didn’t seem to have any visible facial features.
“See! That’s the strange Pokémon I saw!” the Noibat said. “I knew I wasn’t imagining things!”
“What… is that?” the Zorua nervously asked.
The Chatot suddenly pushed the other two Pokémon into the bushes nearby, where the three of them continued to observe the strange Pokémon.
“Phew… I don’t think it’s noticed us yet,” the Chatot said, letting out a sigh of relief.
“Chatot, do you know what kind of Pokémon that is?” the Noibat asked.
“No… I’ve never seen anything like it before!” the Chatot replied.
“Ah!” the Zorua let out a gasp as the realization hit him. “Could it be one of those Pokémon from other worlds that Porygon-Z was talking about?”
“Whoa! That’s a Pokémon from another world!?” the Noibat exclaimed. “No way!”
“Ssh, keep it down!” the Chatot whispered, gesturing with his wings for the two to be quiet.
The three of them watched the strange Pokémon still hovering around near the entrance to the mystery dungeon.
“… It doesn’t seem to be doing anything,” the Noibat commented.
“So… What should we do?” the Zorua asked, looking over at the Chatot.
“Well, we can’t just leave that thing alone!” the Chatot responded. “After all, we have no idea what it’s capable of!”
“Yeah…” the Zorua replied, nodding his head. “But we should also let Porygon-Z know about this, right?”
“Oh, right! Porygon-Z’s research team might know what to do!” the Noibat said.
“Okay, then… You two hurry back to town and let them know about this situation,” the Chatot said, looking over at the Zorua and Noibat. “I’ll stay here and keep an eye on that Pokémon.”
“All right, but… will you be okay on your own?” the Zorua asked.
“Don’t worry, I can take care of myself,” the Chatot responded. “Just hurry!”
“If you say so…” the Zorua replied, before looking over at the Noibat. “Come on, let’s go.”
“Okay!” the Noibat responded, nodding her head.
The two of them began moving carefully through the tall grass to avoid being noticed by the strange jellyfish-like Pokémon. Once they were certain that they had gotten far enough away to not be noticed by it, they began running back towards town as fast as they could.
Zorua hoped that Porygon-Z would indeed have an idea about what to do about the strange Pokémon.
DarkerShining
But once again, Porygon-Z itself was a strange Pokémon, who probably knew more than anybody else about how it felt like to be… different than the others.
“So, what’s the plan?” Zorua asked.
“PHASE ONE: GENETICOMETRIC ANALYSIS OF PORTION OF THE BIOLOGICHIMIC MASS OF THE SUBJECT,” Porygon-Z replied.
Zorua blinked, totally at a loss of what Porygon-Z just said. “Genetiwhat?”
“PURPOSE OF ANALYSIS: ENCODING SUBJECT’S STRUCTURIFICATION TO BETTER AID THEM IN ACQUIRING TOP SPEED HEALTH BENEFITS.”
“…Huh, Pory-Z? Can you talk Pokémonese, please?” Zorua sweatdropped. “I still don’t get what your plan is…”
“…” Porygon-Z beeped a couple of times. “OBSERVE SUBJECT TO HEAL SUBJECT.”
“Oh! Now I understand! You should have said so from the beginning!”
Porygon-Z rolled its eyes before floating closer to the creature. It looked… alien, like nothing either Pokémon had seen before. The strange Pokémon looked back, its eyes shining faintly.
“So, how are you planning on observing this Pokémon, Pory-Z?” Zorua said, walking close to Porygon-Z. “And do you think an Oran Berry could work?”
However, before Porygon-Z could even reply, a blue beam exploded in front of them, making all Pokémon fall back to the ground in shock.
Zorua shivered. “Aah! What the…!?”
“Stay away from that Ultra Beast.”
Zorua and Porygon-Z looked around, wondering where that voice came from, before a red and green Pokémon with a crystal in its abdomen teleported in front of them, its black eyes narrowing. The so-called Ultra Beast stared at the red Pokémon in shock.
“W-What the…?” Zorua stammered, before frowning at the newcomer. “Who are you?”
The red Pokémon simply glared at the duo, forcing Porygon-Z to fill in for Zorua.
“DEOXYS, PSYCHIC LASER-IMBUED SUBJECT FROM SPACE,” Porygon-Z explained, looking at Zorua.
Zorua looked back at Porygon-Z, showing a puzzled expression. “Deoxys…?”
Deoxys glared at the Ultra Beast, who merely stared back at it with a blank and confused expression. “We must leave.”
Zorua blinked and stared at Deoxys. “Huh? Wait! What’s happen—” Zorua exclaimed a bit too late, as Deoxys teleported away with the Ultra Beast in tow.
Porygon-Z beeped, before tilting its head. “…UNEXPETICABLE SITUATION DETECTED. DEOXYS LEFT THE SURROUNDING PERIMETER WITH TELEPORTICATING ENERGIES. REASONING… UNKNOWN. LACKING INFORMATIVE BACKGROUND TO ELABORATE INTENTIONS.”
Zorua turned to Porygon-Z. “So, what should we do now, Pory-Z? Do you think we should track down Deoxys and that Ultra Beast, or…?”
Cresselia92
Porygon-Z buzzed. "Affirmative," he then said. "Strong Pokémon of unknown motivations in the environment increase risk of destruction."
"Alright," Zorua said, taking steps towards the cavern's exit. "Let's go ask around in town if anyone's seen either."
"Suboptimal strategy."
Zorua looked over her shoulder. Porygon-Z hadn't moved an inch.
"What do you mean?" she said, sighing in the same breath.
"Search and inquiry is a time-costly algorithm. Recommended instead is usage of zorrine illusion to mimic an extraterrestrial entity. Reactions from inhabitants will draw out information as law enforcement seeks to secure situation."
Zorua held a stare with her mouth ajar until she finished processing what she'd heard.
"I'm not turning into an alien to make everyone freak out," she replied. "That is an awful plan."
Porygon-Z buzzed in a way that almost sounded angry, though Zorua wasn't sure if he could actually feel that emotion… or any emotion. "Then, in place of zorrine illusion, this unit will utilize its holographic features and execute the mimicry operation itself."
Before Zorua could reply, the Virtual Pokémon lit up with a white glow. Triangles of light began to appear around him, forming into a continuous shell with a short humanoid form. Once fully closed in, the triangles bent into smaller triangles, rendering the surface smoother with each iteration. The white faded into green except for the creature's big eyes, which appeared dark and shiny, like those of a ponyta.
"That's your alien?" commented Zorua. "Doesn't look very scary."
"This is a model generated with this unit's neural network," said Porygon-Z from within his large-headed illusory shell. "According to training data, this is an accurate depiction of an extraterrestrial."
Zorua shook her head and continued her walk. This time, Porygon-Z followed.
"To produce sufficient implication of threat," he spoke, "it would be best for you to keep a distance to this unit to avoid being associated with it."
"Don't mind if I do," grumbled Zorua, and the two left the cave.
---
By the time Zorua reached town, she'd lost sight of Porygon-Z. Losing an ally was usually a bad thing, but in this case Zorua knew the mon may have ended up only being trouble, and so not a considerable loss. She pushed the thoughts of him aside and sprinted for the first townsmon she saw, that being a lone sunflora sitting on the root of a mudbrick house, soaking in the sun.
“Excuse me,” she began, “would you have happened to see any strange-looking creatures lately? Something you would describe as… alien?”
The sunflora wiggled her petals in thought. “Strange creatures? Well, this morning I was walking through the woods...”
Zorua’s ears perked. A sighting? “Yes?” she encouraged.
“I decided to take the longer path to enjoy the view,” the sunflora continued. “The right turn from the fork in the road once you go into the woods west of here, right? Right, so I go in there, and I look around, and there’s grass and moss and oaks and maples and so on around me, pretty usual. Under one bush I saw some rawstberry flowers. Then something rustled in the branches above, and I looked, and I think it was some kind of bird. Then it cawed and I realized it was a murkrow. Anyway, I keep going onward and I come across this stream...”
Zorua’s paw had begun to tap impatiently while she was listening. Noting this and the long timed it seemed to be taking to get to the point, she cleared her throat. ”Um, not to be rude, but could you describe the strange creature first? I wanna know if it’s what I’m looking for to begin with...”
“Strange creature?” the sunflora said. “Oh, no, I didn’t see any strange creatures. I just had this thought while looking at the stream and its lapping water, ‘What if this was a big deep river and a monster rose up? Like a gyarados, but like, green or something? And it had horns?’ Haha, that’s just crazy, right? I’ve always been a little crazy, haha. But I’m nice, I swear.”
Zorua’s claws clasped the dirt beneath her paws. “So… you were just imagining a strange creature?”
“Yeah, that’s right. I didn’t actually see it or anything, haha! I’m not a nutjob, you know.”
Zorua huffed. “Thanks for answering,” she forced out of herself, and walked past the unhelpful citizen.
“You’re welcome!” she could hear before turning the corner and heading deeper into the city.
She found and questioned more mon, but none seemed to have anything of consequence to say. Only negatives and insults of rival neighbors’ looks. She groaned to herself after yet another dead end conversation and decided to take a small break on the outskirts of town to recharge her mental energy.
Briefly, she wondered where Porygon-Z had gone, but ejected him from her mind once again. She had enough to worry about.
She lay down on the green grass a little off from the road. She spotted a shiny, black beetle climbing from blade to blade before her forefeet and decided to unwind my mindlessly watching it fumble about.
It was calm, but before long, the gentle whistling of the wind gained other noises beside it - steps and frantic huffing.
Zorua looked up, and her eyes caught a brown rabbit-like mon rushing along the dirt road. A Buneary, she recognized, and the mon spotted her as well, judging by how he swerved off the road and came to her.
"What's wrong?" Zorua asked, getting up on her feet.
The Buneary leaned onto his knees to catch his breath, then finally spoke up. “U-um, please don’t think I’m crazy, but I think I just saw Deoxys!”
Zorua’s tail shot up. “Tell me more!”
“W-well, I was walking by the river, and then something started shining in the distance, slowly approa--”
A high-pitched scream cut his sentence off. A mudkip scrambled over the hill in the horizon, followed by a strong, green glow and an eerie, lingering noise. Zorua squinted her eyes to see through the light, and she saw… a small green humanoid with big black eyes, walking forwards while stiffly performing some kind of dance.
canisaries
Zorua’s eyes widened, staying glued to the odd humanoid figure that was sauntering after the terrified Mudkip. The green glow grew fainter as the creature’s odd dance continued, arms jutting out wildly and legs flailing as it continued it’s pursuit. She blinked slowly, trying to determine if what she was seeing was truly real. Afraid, but undeterred by the unknown, Zorua stood up. She shook the nerves out of her body, smoothing out her fur and shuddering slightly on her small legs as she slowly padded after the Mudkip and the odd green creature. In her hesitation, she had lost sight of the pair --- however, the terrified screams of Mudkip drew her back in. Her slow pad turned into a quick jog, scrambling towards the terrified Pokemon and the strange glowing creature.
She arrived to where the pair had ended up. Mudkip had fallen, backing himself up slowly as his wide black eyes focused on the creature. Now that she was closer, Zorua could also get a closer look at the strange creature in front of her. It’s shape was not exactly what she would call abnormal… actually, it looked similar to a Hitmonchan. It’s head was much more bulbous, not to mention the tremendous black eyes that seemed like spacial voids resting atop it’s head.
“D-don’t come any closer!” Screamed Mudkip. His hands raised above his face in an attempt to block out the sight of the horrific creature… or maybe simply to get that awful glow out of his eyes. Zorua was also terrified. She had never seen anything like the monster in front of her. Not only was it strange looking, but that dance it kept doing was nothing short of erratic. Arms would flail out at random intervals, legs kicking in a spasmic rhythm as it took shaky steps on them. However, now was not the time for hesitation.
Zorua steeled her courage, dashing forward with her claws extended. She leapt from the hill she was standing on, closing the gap between herself and the creature. She stood in front of Mudkip bravely, eyes narrowing as she contorted her face, trying her best to catch the creature off guard with a Scary Face. Its expression remained unmoved, and the erratic dancing continued, beads of sweat formed on Zorua’s face as she shut her eyes, lunging forwards with a Fury Swipes attack.
Hydrangea
Zorua knew she had to attack;
Before she became a tasty snack.
Its bizarre dancing was unnerving;
And the way its three feet were swirling.
She knew that her type disadvantage;
Would prove to be a major challenge.
She swiped her paws with blazing fury;
Her foe she knocked out in a hurry.
Sweet relief, then fear, came over her;
What if a second attack occurred?
She bolted out of the cavern entrance;
Trying to flee a phantom menace.
Outside, she put a plan together;
To get away from this displeasure.
She’ll disguise herself as someone else;
Right down to their rapid, beating pulse.
On the other hand, perhaps she’d be;
Something rather like a rock or tree?
Yes, she should wait there without moving;
Her odds of living are improving;
Zorua’s faith is quite unmoving;
Though her hesitation is proving;
That lingering doubt is removing;
Her confidence that is approving;
Of this plan that’s really not grooving;
To a beat she’s comfortable with.
No, she fled to the nearby river;
To wait for all of this to simmer;
To wait for the red-eyed Pokémon;
To forget about her and move on.
“Shadow Pokémon” he’d darkly said;
The Porygon-Z who’d wished her dead.
She concluded they had been brainwashed;
Their good will and nature had been quashed.
She couldn’t face them, not one on one.
But she knew something had to be done!
Yes, she will have to face the music;
Fight while less than enthusiastic.
Now perhaps she could, if it came up;
Transform into a mighty Prinplup?
No, something that is even stronger;
Like a Machamp or even Gengar!
If she defeats them in a battle;
Then her foe’s plan will become rattled;
And maybe they will snap out of it;
And fight with her, if she gives permit.
So back into the fray she must go;
Will her plan succeed? Nobody knows!
She will fight with all her strength and might;
And hope to find some sagely insight.
So she’ll find a way to save them all;
Or else everyone around will fall.
The Teller
Atop his tower, made of brick and stone,
Zacian gathered power, all alone.
The Wishing machine was an ancient tech.
With its power, the world was his to wreck.
But for now it was too weak on its own.
“Once the beasts are gathered,
And the core is powered,
I’ll have completed the last part of the mission!
And the world’s destruction will come to fruition!
A Psyduck arrived, and Zacian spoke.
“About time! Your as late as a bad joke!
Did you bring what I needed?”
And he said: “Yes, I did.”
...
Zacian coughed. “Ahem! That rhyme was terrible!”
“Oh, uh, sorry, er, wait I mean… uh... I didn’t know it was that terrible?”
“Ugh, you’re pathetic! Just bring them in!”
A Machoke and Duraludon came out into the den,
Machoke pulling behind him a cart carrying covered cages three.
“Finally, they’ve been gathered! Reveal them all to me!”
Machoke uncovered cage one, and inside…
“Zamazenta?! You’re not the Pokémon I specified!”
The wolf sighed. “You need not phrase it in poetic form. Not with me, at least.”
“Oh shut up! You’ve been like this since I left the sword for the pen!
Zacian turned. “Psyduck!”
“Yes?”
“This is not the beast!”
“Well, you said to look for Entei, and I didn’t really know what he looked like, just being legend and all. You said he’s really bukly, so I made a guess…” A pause. “Er, it was a bad guess.”
“I swear to Arceus, you best not disappoint me again.”
And inside cage number two…
It was, luckily, Raikou.
“If only you’re sidekick were more incompetent,” the thunder beast grumbled. His look widened at the Pokémon in front of him. “Wait, who are you?!”
“Tch. One right. I swear the moon is blue.”
And with no hesitation, he tore the cloth off the final cage. Psyduck visibly winced.
It was a Cradily.
Zacian did not move. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked, breaking character for just a moment.
Psyduck idly kicked the ground. “I… don’t really have an excuse for that one.”
“About time!” exclaimed the fossil Pokémon. “I s’pose I better plead my case now. Y’see officer, I didn’t commit any crimes. Unless going out in all this mess is a crime, but I swear, it was just to stop and smell the roses one last time before it all gets sent to the Abyss. I’m too old to go to jail, y’know, so if you’ll kindly let me out I’d appreciate it.”
Zacian turned to his other subordinate. “Machoke?”
“Yes?”
“How close is the Chosen One to the top of this tower?”
“About halfway, and climbing.”
“Good.”
He grabbed the beefy Pokémon by the arm and set him flying off the tower.
“Your Swordlineeeeesss..!”
“Wow, that was harsh,” said the Cradily. “I hope that doesn’t mean-”
And with freakish strength, he threw Cradily off too, cage and all.
“You know what, it’s fine!
Only one beast out of two,
But it’s fine!
Yes, it’s too good to be true!
One beast is enough to bury this continent.
I just need more time to feel fully confident.”
He looked to the remaining bulky dragon.
“Duraludon! Go keep those annoying brats busy for me!”
The subordinate huffed in confirmation.
“In just a few moments, my dreams will become reality!”
Psyduck just watched, relieved he wasn’t the one taking an air route off the tower. As Zacian ran off to appraise his machine, the whisperings of the yellow legend caught his attention. “Hey, what in the name of everything sacred is going on here?”
“You don’t know?” Psyduck wasn’t prepared for that. Weren’t legendaries supposed to be knowledgeable about everything?
“I’ve never seen these Pokémon before in my life,” said Raikou, gesturing to the large wolf with a shield for a face trapped beside him.
Zamazenta spoke up before Psyduck got a chance to. “We’re from before your time, young beast. A time long forgotten to the Pokémon of this world.”
Raikou couldn’t hide the disdain on his face from being called ‘young,’ but his interest was peaked. “Tell me more. I deserve that right if I’m to be used like a tool.”
The ancient Pokémon snorted. “Arrogance like that will get you nowhere with me. I endure enough of it from my brother.”
“Then you tell me.” Raikou looked ready to try an attack from his cage if Psyduck didn’t oblige.
Admittedly, the poor Psyduck felt bad about the whole thing. This mess was his fault after all, not to mention he unrightfully took Raikou from his home. “Okay, so here’s the deal,” he began. “A long time ago, there was this ancient civilization of Pokémon, right? They were very advanced, much more than we are now, and they were able to create this thing called a Wishing Machine.” Psyduck pointed to the large, stone contraption sitting near the edge of the tower. “That’s the conduit, but the machine is actually the tower itself, and-”
“Get to the point,” Raikou growled.
“It’s low on power, needs a power source, and that’s why you’re here. Oh, and Zacian wants to destroy the world.”
“Someone always is. And who is he?”
Zamazenta decided humor him this time. “Me and Zacian are guardians from that time period, engaged in perpetual battle with an ancient, immortal evil. We were sealed away so that we may live to battle it when it next appeared, but this Psyduck here woke us up early. Zacian took it badly, to say the least, though to think he’d go this far...”
Raikuo turned his glare back on Psyduck. “And after screwing up colossally, you decided the best course of action was to help him destroy the world?”
“Look, I’m just an archeologist. I don’t wanna die, and-”
“You’re going to die!”
“Psyduck! Don’t talk with the prisoners, or you’re next to fly!
Psyduck winced. This was all his fault, but he did have a plan. There was an old prophecy, created by the machine’s very first wish. And the most important part was on her way here.
Wishing machine, should you ever be used for evil,
Let a Chosen One come, and aid in your retrieval!
~~~
It was the tower’s final stretch.
The Litwick and her partner Exeggcute
Hopped up the spiral staircase to the top.
“Why stairs?!” complained Exeggcute. “They’re too much for us to bear!”
“Just hold on!” said Litwick. “We’re almost there!”
But on the way there, Duraludon appeared,
Right on the stairs, growling menacingly.
“We don’t have time for you! Pincer attack!”
Litwick gave the order,
And phased through them into position.
From one side: Flamethrower!
And the other: Confusion!
The Pokémon roared, then collapsed, tumbling down the stairs as they went. Exeggcute had to hug the wall to avoid getting crushed.
“Too close!”
“Keep moving!”
Finally they reached the top of this place.
“Zacian!” Litwick exclaimed. “This ends here! Accept your fate!”
Raikou’s cage was already in place.
“So you finally made it, Chosen One! But you’re too late!”
“Not if we have anything to say! Exeggcute!”
Exeggcute rolled towards her tiredly. “Yeah… we won’t let your plan… execute.”
“But wait!”
Psyduck came running in to stand in between the two glaring ‘mon. “What now, Psyduck?! We’re having a moment!”
“The machine only works if you speak to it in rhyme.
And only one can use it at any given time”
Zacian looked surprised. “That was better than I expected.”
“Just shut up and let him talk!” Raikou yelled, his aggression hiding his stress.
“As I was saying, only one of you can use it, but you have to be worthy. So to prove that worth, you two should engage in a poetic duel!”
“What?!”
Her partner seemed wary, but Litwick understood.
Zacian can’t be beat in a straight fight,
So there’s no better way to save the world!
“Ha! A poetic duel? That’s hardly fair!”
“I accept, and need no time to prepare!”
Zacian glared. “I can see you’re at least decent.
But for how long can you keep up?”
“I should be saying that, you are no achievement!
Know that you can always backup!”
“I’m sure you’ve not noticed, but I’m a master of swords,
Of which the pen is mightier! I’m a master of words!
“Your logic? Flawed! Your sayings? Outdated!
Poets like you are always overrated!”
“Sadly mistaken, to dream of a chance which does not exist, you know.”
Litwick almost fell. “To try dactylic hexameter on the fly?! To be that confident, he must know his stuff!”
Zacian gloated. “Of course I know the classics!”
Exeggcute commented. “Of course you’re older than the Jurassic.”
She winced. “This’ll be tough…”
Now Exeggcute grew worried. “You’re rhythm’s off, are you sure you’re okay?”
“He came out guns blazing.” Litwick shook her head. “I don’t know how to counter that.”
“Well, come up with something, we don’t have all day!”
And so she thought.
An old poet to beat.
For a long time, asleep.
To old forms did he keep.
But what if she just…
Didn’t?
In the face of Zacian, Litwick stood up and stood straight.
“Well now, have you finally accepted your fate?”
And Litwick said: “No.”
…
“...No?
And?”
She smiled. It worked. “No.
You have had your fun,
But now it’s my turn.”
Zacian was already seething. “This is grounds for disqualification, so I suggest you… learn.”
“It is clear, you’re struggling.
Like I thought, you’re no real poet.
You know a little because you were there,
But you’re not prepared for what happened after!”
“What-?!”
“Poetry is art, and art is free!
It flows, it moves, it does what it wants!
But over all, it comes from the heart!
You don’t understand this a bit.
Your misuse of form, and insistence on rhyme,
They make me sick!
Form is all well and good,
But it must be properly understood.
And you show that you don’t get it at all!”
Zacian shuddered and seethed. “That non-standard form, it makes my skin crawl!
You know what, forget the pen! Perhaps the sword is mightier after all!”
He opened his mouth, and an ornate sword materialized out of thin air. Maybe pushing him wasn’t the best idea. Abandoning all pretense of grace and sophistication, Zacian rushed Litwick, taking a calculated swing right at her. She just barely had enough time to run. “Exeggcute! Help!”
But they did one better. After all, they proved themselves worthy enough to try it. Thinking quickly, they spoke:
“Wishing machine! We can’t get past his offenses!
Hear our plea! Bring Zacian back to his senses!”
Suddenly, the ground began to glow brightly. The stone monument whirred, and Raikou and Zamazenta both stood apprehensively. Everything faded to white.
And when the light was gone, Zacian was on the ground, a small, dark force hovering above him before dissipating into nothing.
“Is he dead?” Psyduck asked.
Litwick slowly approached, and tried to listen to his heart. “It’s still beating! I think we did it!”
~~~
Everyone was soon freed, yet Zacian was still out. “Don’t worry about him, he’s gone through worse,” Zamazenta assured. “More importantly, I must thank all three of you for your wit and bravery today.”
“I’m just glad it’s over.” Psyduck sighed. “I’m really sorry.”
“You better be,” growled Raikou. “I have half a mind to do away with you right now… but I suppose it all went well.”
Litwick nodded. “All in a day’s work for a Chosen One!”
“Yeah, but this is what we were chosen to do, right?” Exeggcute pointed out. “Now what?”
She pondered the question. “Well, normally this is the part where I get to go home…”
“I don’t know where you live,” said Zamazenta. “But if that’s a problem, then you can always use the machine.”
“Uh, wait, isn’t that a bit abrupt? I mean I’m not sure if it’s okay-”
“You can go,” said Exeggcute. “I know you really want to.”
“Well… yeah. No offense, but I kind of have responsibilities at home, and I don’t know what’s happening over there. So if I could right now…”
Exeggcute rolled up and surround Litwick with their eggs. “Just go already!” They chanted. “If you drag this out, you’ll just make us sad!”
Psyduck chimed in. “I kind of have archeologist stuff to do…”
“Ho-oh is probably wondering where I am right now, so please just go already.”
“I don’t have a home anymore, but I do have other concerns...”
And I, the author, kind of desperately need sleep right now, so if you would...
Litwick rolled her eyes. “Wow, glad I’m wanted here. Fine, I’ll go.” She thought of a rhyme, and pat the egg in front of her. “Goodbye, Exeggcute.”
“Yeah, goodbye!” They rolled out of her way and let her go.
Litwick took a breath, then spoke:
“Wishing machine! While this land was been fun to roam.
My journey is at its end! Please, let me go home!”
And just like that, she awoke.
JFought
