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Heroes After All

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
This fic is rated a hard Teen for death, blood, mild gore, vomiting, and adults doing adult things like drinking, swearing, and having heavily implied offscreen... ahem.


This... This is a fic I've been meaning to write for far too long. In developing it there was a lot of blood and sweat and tears before I finally decided to stop making excuses and, as the meme goes, just do it.


Because from deep within the bottom of my heart this is a story very personally important to me.


This is based heavily on the lore introduced in the eighth Pokemon movie, but said movie is very much not required viewing for this fic, as I'm basically rebuilding everything from the ground up. So enjoy!


What I'm looking for feedback on: Characters, worldbuilding, plot, what i'm doing right, what to improve upon in future chapters, that kind of thing


What i'm not looking for feedback on: Prose, description, etc. other than typos I can fix easily. Feedback on that end has gotten repetitive and frustrating and don't worry I'm working on it.

That said you're free to ignore this if not ignoring it means you wouldn't review. Feedback is feedback. :V


(Banner by Sworn Metalhead)


mZxCTT6.png



Heroes After All


Foreword


This is one of the greatest love stories our world has ever known.


Not a ROMANTIC love story though. One between friends. A human and a Pokemon, destined to meet and do great things. The famous parts have been told many times before with a few... additions but I figured I'd start from the very beginning.


Who am I and why am I qualified to tell this story you say? Name's Polly Pteryx and let's say I was involved...


Chapter 1: Introductions


Somewhere in Johto, around 2005 After Skybreak (around 1000 years before the present)


A blue-haired, blue-eyed boy dressed in simple clothes was reaching for a ball stuck in a tree. No dice. He sighed and started climbing up. He was almost there. He could almost feel it in his fingers.


Then he slipped.


He fell, and something glowed with power in his throat. He let out a yell, and the yell turned into a sonic boom that echoed all around.


Then he landed, with a thud, leaving the boy panting in exhaustion on his back.


He lay there a while, waiting for one of the village's adults to find him, when he heard a strange noise.


He weakly turned his head and saw a yellow Pokemon with small wings and a drill-like tail staring intently at him.


"H-Hello?" the boy said softly.


The Dunsparce hissed and used its tail to bury itself underground in reply.


The boy sighed and slowly started to get to his feet when he noticed a young woman approaching his location.


The woman was blonde with green eyes and was wearing strange clothing unfamiliar to the boy, a uniform with what seemed to be a two-part coat and a wide-brimmed hat with a spiky end and decorated with a symbol resembling three claw marks arranged in a triangular fashion. Upon further notice she also carried a staff of some sort in her left hand, both hands being gloved.


The boy backed away from her quickly.


"Y-you aren't from the village, miss..."


The woman blinked, then sighed and put a hand to her forehead.


"Kid, look, I'm not here to hurt you. You had a nasty enough fall there."


The boy stood and stared at her before tilting his head.


"How do you know about the fall?"


He yelped as the Dunsparce from earlier slithered up from behind him and up to rest at the woman's feet.


"My Dunsparce told me. Don't worry, she's friendly... If a bit odd."


The Dunsparce nodded in affirmation to both statements.


"She... did?" said the boy.


He looked up at the woman in wonder. "You can talk to Pokemon?"


~Yep. Like this.~


The boy jumped, looked at the woman in bewilderment, then looked around wildly. That was her voice, but her mouth hadn't moved at all, where-


~Kid, it's me. I'm talking to you with my head, it's called telepathy.~


The boy looked up at her again, eyes widening. "You.. You..."


The woman gave a small smile. "Kid, you aren't the only one out there with 'magic powers'."


The boy grinned, and bounced up and down excitedly. "You have powers like I do! And you're big and strong and that means I'm not a freak! Like, I can do the talaplethy thing too!"


He closed his eyes and scrunched his face in. ~Se... wh... mea...~


He stopped, opened his eyes, panted profusely, then looked up at the woman with a nervous chuckle and grin. "I-I'm still working on it, miss..."


The woman raised an eyebrow. "...I can tell."


The Dunsparce gave a "sparce" and a snicker-like hiss before the woman nudged her with her boot.


"But wait, you've got better powers than I do," said the boy, "and you've got that really nice outfit..."


His eyes lit up. "You're a wizard!"


The woman blinked. "I'm a what?"


She blinked and sighed with a hand to her head again as what the boy said more fully clicked. "Kid, no no no, not really, I'm an Aura Guardian. A group of people with powers like us. This outfit - the hat, the coat, the boots the staff the cape - that's our uniform.


She gestured to her "coat".


"...Well on my end, I had to convince them to make the cape an extension of my coat since it suited my fighting style better..."


"You fight evildoers?!" said the boy, jumping up and down in excitement.


"Wha-"


The woman shook her head. "When we need to yes, whenever they threaten the peace of civilians or those on the Auri-"


She threw her hands up in the air and groaned.


"Kid, I'd already been on patrol duty long enough both time and distance-wise before I found you. I can answer all your little questions later. Right now I've got a question for you - where the hell are your parents?"


The boy blinked, then shuffled a bit. "Me and my mom live further in the village. I used to have a dad but..."


He shook his head. "You can still see my mom, though! Follow me!"


He started running off. The woman headed after, her Dunsparce slithering and fluttering after.


------


A different woman with blue hair and blue eyes like the boy's was tending to her house when she heard a knocking at her door.


She opened it to see said boy and the blonde woman standing before her.


"Ma'am?" said the latter, clenching her right fist and crossing it over her chest. "Poly Pteryx of the Genesis Mountain Aura Guardians. I'm here about your son's... condition."


The boy's mother gave a small gasp but moved to let Polly and her own son in, giving a small yelp as the Dunsparce slithered in after then rushing over to her son and hugging him.


"Dear, are you OK?! Did something happen?!"


"Yeah Mom, the bullies put my ball in a tree and I fell trying to get it, but then this lady and her Dunsparce came to help!"


"Oh, ma'am, I can't thank you enough!"


Polly nodded. "You're welcome. But your son's power is still something to be discussed."


"...Go on?"


"Well, let him have a say first. Kid, what happened when you fell?"


The boy thought for a second. "Well... I got scared and something in my chest started moving and I screamed so loud it exploded!"


The boy's mother blinked. Polly nodded.


"That sounds about what my Dunsparce told me probably happened. She can pick up a lot by scent and vibrations."


Her Dunsparce gave a hiss and "Dun!" of gratitude.


Polly turned to the boy's mother. "Your boy has one hell of an Auric Scream."


His mother blinked. "Auric what?"


Polly sighed. "Your son has power over the force known as Aura that flows through every living thing. All Pokemon can tap into it to some extent, but only a rare few humans, like your son..."


She rolled up her sleeve to let a pink, scythelike blade of energy extend from a slit in the middle of her glove around her ulna.


"...And me."


The boy, enraptured, moved a bit closer to the blade. Polly quickly noticed and dissipated it.


"Careful, kid, that thing's sharp. I'm on the quadrant with powers closest to a Psychic-type Pokemon, that thing's basically my equivalent of a Psycho Cut."


The boy shifted again. "Sorry, ma'am..."


He immediately perked up. "Wait, what does that mean I have? Dragon type powers? Steel type powers?"


Polly frowned slightly. "Sorry kid, they sadly aren't quite that varied in us humans. Tell you what, if you want to find out, why don't you try making something with your powers like I did?"


The boy beamed, and cupped his hands, only to notice all three of his mother, Polly, and Polly's Dunsparce moving back noticeably.


"...Why are you all doing that?"


"I-It's so we have a good view, sweetie!" said his mother.


~Nice save,~ said Polly to her telepathically.


D-Don't get in my head like that!


~You're welcome.~


The boy concentrated, grit his teeth as a ball of blue-green energy formed between his hands and grew larger and larger until-


It exploded. The house rattled, the mother flinched and yelped as a pot fell off a table and shattered right next to her. The boy was blown back, knocked to the floor and lay there breathing heavily a while before muttering:


"...I'm OK..."


"Well," said Polly. "There we have it."


She turned to the boy's mother again.


"Your son has the most potential with the brand of Aura closest to that of Fighting types I've ever seen in someone his age; that would've been a damn good approximation of a Focus Blast if he'd managed to fully charge it."


She looked back to the boy and furrowed her brow.


"...The bad news is he also has the least refined powers of anyone on that part of the power spectrum I've ever seen."


The boy's mother blinked. "And that means...?"


"We can train him."


"...What?"


"The Aura Guardians seek to hone the potential of everyone with the power of the Wave to live their lives to the fullest. That includes your son."


"I..."


The boy's mother paused. "I... I'm not sure what to do... After we lost Issac..."


"Mom... I... I want to."


The boy's mother turned to see him getting to his feet.


"If they're gonna accept my powers... Make me stronger... I want them to help me.


His mother stared, then nodded and smiled.


Polly smiled as well. "Good; we'll get you up to the monastery in a few months."


Her brow furrowed again.


"Though... Geez, sorry it slipped my mind until now, but what's your name, kid?"


The boy smiled softly.


"It's Aaron!"


------------


The forest was dim at sunset; the Pidgey and Starly were retreating to their roosts as the Hoothoot and Murkrow were emerging from theirs. Amid it all, however, in a small clearing, one avian Pokemon stayed groundbound and vigilant - A Blaziken with an X-shaped scar on his forehead watching over a small, blue-and-black egg nestled in a shallow burrow.


The Blaziken raised his haunches as he sensed something approaching, but relaxed upon his sharp eyes seeing it was a familiar female Lucario and gave a beaky smile.


"...Hey honey. It's not your turn yet."


"I know, Ginji," said the female Lucario, "I just wanted to check in."


"Well, I think it's doing all right... I don't have Flame Body or Magma Armor or anything, but I'm keeping it warm."


He stood up and looked at her, rubbing the back of his head.


"Though, could you use those Aura powers of yours to check? Mine are only good for ol' punches and kicks and such..."


She nodded, her eyes closing and the feelers on the back of her head raising as she focused on the egg. She suddenly opened her eyes and gasped.


"It's close! Very close! It could hatch any-"


"Hey!" said a third voice, "Sis, you're supposed to be on hunting du-"


The source of the voice, a second, male Lucario, entered the clearing and sneered at Ginji.


"Why are you with him right now?"


She scowled back. "He's my mate. Our egg is about to hatch."


The male Lucario rolled his eyes. "Right. Tell that hybrid thing when it hatches it's no more a real part of our pack than his wingless chicken-eagle of a fa-"


He was cut off mid sentence by said chicken-eagle standing right in front of him, looming over him and giving his own scowl.


"Okay, listen, buddy," said Ginji. "You nepotist canines can literally dogshit on me anytime you want normally, but me and my mate are having an important moment here. So **** off, unless you want all that Taurosshit about me being a threat to the pack to not be such Taurosshit for you specifically."


The second Lucario backed away, stooped with raised haunches, and gave a defiant snarl before dashing off.


"G-Ginji..." said the female. "He's going to tell the others about this..."


"Eh, they always come up with something, this makes zilch difference," he said. "Let's just focus on-"


Suddenly, they heard a loud cracking. The two rushed over just in time for the egg to fall apart and reveal a small, undeveloped and yipping Riolu pup, its eyes closed.


"They made it!" said the female Lucario. "We did it!"


"Heh, we did! Now let's check on the little fella more closely..."


He scooped up the yipping pup in his foretalons and held him up to inspect his hindquarters.


"It looks like a male. We might find out otherwise later, but for now he's our little boy."


The female Lucario smiled and looked up to Ginji. "Will he have a human name like yours?"


"I'm debating it. Might be a good idea, might not be."


The Riolu pup snuggled up to Ginji's chest as he gave another beaky smile.


"For now, I don't care what the rest of this pack says. This little guy's going places."


***

And there we have it, a story I am very glad to finally get out there. For now updates are gonna be... monthly to bimonthly-ish, alternating with Rude Awakening until that's completed, allowing me to devote to this story completely on the chapterfic front.

...

This feels so hecking good.
 
Last edited:

Negrek

Lost but Seeking
Welcome back! It's awesome to see you posting around here again, and also posting a project you've been hoping to get rolling for so long.

And this is an interesting start! I spent a while going back and forth on whether I thought the protagonist here was Aaron (I knew this story involved canon characters, although I wasn't sure to what extent. I wouldn't have thought of him coming from a poor background, given his place at the court and everything, but there isn't actually anything that says he had to be born into nobility to end up as an aura guardian.

Some quick notes as I go along.

But the pain and fear caused a strange power to build in his lungs and throat, enough for a distinct blue-green glow to emanate from his mouth. The power intensified rapidly until it came out as an unnaturally powerful scream, a scream that knocked the other children back and echoed throughout the village.
I'm curious what attack he used here, if it was an official attack at all. Roar? I don't generally think of roar being glow-y... The colors make me think dragon pulse, but although lucario learns that it's certainly not a fighting-type ability!

The boy sighed and slowly started to get to his feet when he noticed a young woman approaching his location.
This is redundant in a way that sounds oddly formal. Just "approaching" already implies that she's coming towards/closer to him, and tacking on "his location" almost sounds like military parlance or something.

Upon further notice she also carried a staff of some sort in her left hand, both hands being gloved.
It seems kinda weird that he wouldn't notice the bigass staff immediately.

And you are rather fond of the one-two sentence paragraphs. I think it would read a bit less choppy if you combined some of them. For example:

She blinked and sighed with a hand to her head again as what the boy said more fully clicked. "Kid, no no no, not really, I'm an Aura Guardian. A group of people with powers like us. This outfit - the hat, the coat, the boots the staff the cape - that's our uniform.

She gestured to her "coat".

"...Well on my end, I had to convince them to make the cape an extension of my coat since it suited my fighting style better..."
Is there any reason this is three paragraphs instead of one?

The woman shook her head. "When we need to yes, whenever they threaten the peace of civilians or those on the Auri-"

She threw her hands up in the air and groaned.
I'm not clear on why she broke off in the middle of a word there. If you don't want us to have that info right now, why not just have her say she's too tired to answer his questions, rather than having her start and break off in the middle?

rushing over to her son and fondling him.
You DEFINITELY meant something other than "fondling."

The Blaziken raised his haunches as he sensed something approaching, but relaxed upon his sharp eyes seeing it was a familiar female Lucario and gave a beaky smile.
The word you're looking for throughout this chapter is "hackle," not "haunch," although I don't know that it makes a lot of sense for bipedal animals to do the whole raised-hackle thing: that's hair/feathers on their spine rising up, which you wouldn't really be able to see from the front. Maybe think of a different way for these sorts of pokémon to express their emotions--a bird like blaziken would probably be more likely to emote with its crest-feathers, for example.

I thought it was a neat detail that riolu hatches with its eyes closed, though, like a real-world puppy. Common for all canine pokémon, or just a riolu line thing, if perhaps they can use aura senses until their

I found Lucario's brother showing up just to be a jerk at her kind of gratuitous. Usually social exclusion is a little more subtle than someone stopping by to literally call your child a freak and go on about how no one likes you, and he basically has no role but to show up, spout a couple villain-lines, and then dash off again.

Interesting that Lucario asks about giving Riolu a human name. I've encountered some PMD 'fics with "nickname vs species name" things going on, where a human name means something special, but I don't think I've seen it outside that context. I'm curious to find out what's going on there, why having a human name could be a good idea, or not.

One thing that threw me a bit is how modern all the characters sounded for having lived a thousand years ago. I'm not saying they should all be talking in ye olde style, but a lot of the vocabulary and sentence structure is very modern. The thing with calling Aaron "Kid," for example, or expressions like "evildoer," "geez," "buddy," etc. And overall the way Poly interacts with Aaron reads more like an older sibling talking to a younge one than someone who's way higher in rank--even someone casual who's way higher in rank--talking to someone they've never met. Like I said, you don't need to go full-on medieval up in here, but it would be nice for the story to feel a little more like it's taking place a thousand years ago. Other than the existence of aura guardians, you could have said this was set in modern-day Kanto or something and I wouldn't have batted an eye.

You do a lot with a little space in this chapter: we get to meet both (I'm assuming) main characters and get briefed on their situations, we meet Poly, who I'm guessing will be a major character here, and we get a sense of where the story is going with Aaron in particular. My impression is there's going to be a lot of stuff going on in this fanfic, and it's great to see you getting straight into it with the first chapter.

I'm also interested by the fact that we might get some pokémon-centric stuff in here, considering what we've seen to do with Riolu's family. Presumably Riolu's going to end up as something of an outcast, like Aaron, and they might end up bonding over that. But what exactly is the lucario tribe like? And how is Riolu ever going to end up coming into contact with Aaron? One way or another I'm looking forward to seeing that happen; I'm guessing their relationship is one of the things you're most looking forward to writing about, and I know that friendships are kind of your specialty!

Also, I must take a moment to appreciate the dunsparce in this story. Dunsparce are great, and this one looks like a fun character!
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
really really really late review reply!

Welcome back! It's awesome to see you posting around here again, and also posting a project you've been hoping to get rolling for so long.

Hehe, thanks! The comeback's been slower than expected due to distractions and writer's block but I'm glad to keep working on it.

And this is an interesting start! I spent a while going back and forth on whether I thought the protagonist here was Aaron (I knew this story involved canon characters, although I wasn't sure to what extent. I wouldn't have thought of him coming from a poor background, given his place at the court and everything, but there isn't actually anything that says he had to be born into nobility to end up as an aura guardian.

Yeah, I'm going with that being earned with how I interpreted the Aura Guardians but you'll see more of that in subsequent chapters

Some quick notes as I go along.


I'm curious what attack he used here, if it was an official attack at all. Roar? I don't generally think of roar being glow-y... The colors make me think dragon pulse, but although lucario learns that it's certainly not a fighting-type ability!

It is indeed not an official attack; think a Fighting-type version of Hyper Voice.


This is redundant in a way that sounds oddly formal. Just "approaching" already implies that she's coming towards/closer to him, and tacking on "his location" almost sounds like military parlance or something.

Whoops, will tone that down.

It seems kinda weird that he wouldn't notice the bigass staff immediately.

...This is true, will keep that in mind.

And you are rather fond of the one-two sentence paragraphs. I think it would read a bit less choppy if you combined some of them. For example:


Is there any reason this is three paragraphs instead of one?

Ditto. I tend to do that a lot instinctively.

I'm not clear on why she broke off in the middle of a word there. If you don't want us to have that info right now, why not just have her say she's too tired to answer his questions, rather than having her start and break off in the middle?

Excellent point.


You DEFINITELY meant something other than "fondling."

Ack ack ack, fixed.

The word you're looking for throughout this chapter is "hackle," not "haunch," although I don't know that it makes a lot of sense for bipedal animals to do the whole raised-hackle thing: that's hair/feathers on their spine rising up, which you wouldn't really be able to see from the front. Maybe think of a different way for these sorts of pokémon to express their emotions--a bird like blaziken would probably be more likely to emote with its crest-feathers, for example.

True. I should probably focus on more visible displays of emotion, yeah.

I thought it was a neat detail that riolu hatches with its eyes closed, though, like a real-world puppy. Common for all canine pokémon, or just a riolu line thing, if perhaps they can use aura senses until their

It's common with mammalian Pokemon in the Yangverse!

I found Lucario's brother showing up just to be a jerk at her kind of gratuitous. Usually social exclusion is a little more subtle than someone stopping by to literally call your child a freak and go on about how no one likes you, and he basically has no role but to show up, spout a couple villain-lines, and then dash off again.

I coulda been more subtle with that, yeah...

Interesting that Lucario asks about giving Riolu a human name. I've encountered some PMD 'fics with "nickname vs species name" things going on, where a human name means something special, but I don't think I've seen it outside that context. I'm curious to find out what's going on there, why having a human name could be a good idea, or not.

There is indeed some important subtext there and you will find out next chapter!

One thing that threw me a bit is how modern all the characters sounded for having lived a thousand years ago. I'm not saying they should all be talking in ye olde style, but a lot of the vocabulary and sentence structure is very modern. The thing with calling Aaron "Kid," for example, or expressions like "evildoer," "geez," "buddy," etc. And overall the way Poly interacts with Aaron reads more like an older sibling talking to a younge one than someone who's way higher in rank--even someone casual who's way higher in rank--talking to someone they've never met. Like I said, you don't need to go full-on medieval up in here, but it would be nice for the story to feel a little more like it's taking place a thousand years ago. Other than the existence of aura guardians, you could have said this was set in modern-day Kanto or something and I wouldn't have batted an eye.
This is admittedly something I do a lot; apply a Translation Convention to not only the language but the style of speech of characters in ancient times to avoid the "ye olde" bullcrap. Ican pronbably afford to tone it down though.

You do a lot with a little space in this chapter: we get to meet both (I'm assuming) main characters and get briefed on their situations, we meet Poly, who I'm guessing will be a major character here, and we get a sense of where the story is going with Aaron in particular. My impression is there's going to be a lot of stuff going on in this fanfic, and it's great to see you getting straight into it with the first chapter.

I was kinda subconsciously going for this so it's good to hear!

I'm also interested by the fact that we might get some pokémon-centric stuff in here, considering what we've seen to do with Riolu's family. Presumably Riolu's going to end up as something of an outcast, like Aaron, and they might end up bonding over that. But what exactly is the lucario tribe like? And how is Riolu ever going to end up coming into contact with Aaron? One way or another I'm looking forward to seeing that happen; I'm guessing their relationship is one of the things you're most looking forward to writing about, and I know that friendships are kind of your specialty!

I will say I'm planning on touching on all of that! And they are? Huh. :p

Also, I must take a moment to appreciate the dunsparce in this story. Dunsparce are great, and this one looks like a fun character!

Writing this review reply months later I am still incredibly, incredibly tickled and pleased that you consider that a high point, as Dunsparce are kind of a running gag with some of my other friends. Snakebees for the win~

Anyway there have been Delays due to horrible, horrible writer's block on my other chapterfic, but I'm dropping Chapter 2 of this thing soon. See you then!
 

DreamSayer

Name's Adam.
I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't intrigued by your take on the whole Aura Guardians concept. I'm sure there's nothing I can say here that wouldn't have been said a lot better by Negrek, but anyway, let's get to the good things about this.

For one, the characters appear to be endearing enough to get me a bit invested. We have Aaron who's the kid with untapped potential, and I can't wait to see how you develop his character.

If I have any criticisms, it's that the chapter seems to go by too fast. We could've spent more time learning about Aaron and seen more interactions with him. Right now, the whole bullied kid introduction feels generic and you could've subverted it in some way. It's honestly not too big of an issue, but I can see it hurting your story in the long run. After all, if the first chapter leaves only a so so impression on the reader, they won't exactly be thrilled to continue.

Anyway, I hope to see how you improve and polish this story of yours. Until then, keep writing. :)
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
I'd be lying if I said that I wasn't intrigued by your take on the whole Aura Guardians concept. I'm sure there's nothing I can say here that wouldn't have been said a lot better by Negrek, but anyway, let's get to the good things about this.

For one, the characters appear to be endearing enough to get me a bit invested. We have Aaron who's the kid with untapped potential, and I can't wait to see how you develop his character.

If I have any criticisms, it's that the chapter seems to go by too fast. We could've spent more time learning about Aaron and seen more interactions with him. Right now, the whole bullied kid introduction feels generic and you could've subverted it in some way. It's honestly not too big of an issue, but I can see it hurting your story in the long run. After all, if the first chapter leaves only a so so impression on the reader, they won't exactly be thrilled to continue.

Anyway, I hope to see how you improve and polish this story of yours. Until then, keep writing. :)

Aaaah, thank you! I think people are liking how I write Aaron, which is a good sign.

I guess I could have slowed down a little, yeah... and it's not the first time I've had someone complain about that intro. I guess I should have had Aaron practicing by himself before Polly came along... when I revise this story down the line I'll probably change it to that. But thank you again for the review!

Anyway here's Chapter 2! It's alas also a bit scrawnier than it could be because I had writers block trying to update Rude Awakening first and decided to get this out of the way, but I hope you enjoy what's there.


Chapter 2: Initiation


The cart rattled and shook, and Aaron braced himself. He took a deep breath, and looked around at the other children, about as nervous and confused as he was. He was about to ask where exactly they were going, but got the feeling from more than just his Aura senses that most of the others didn't know either. What he could tell was that many came from far from his home, and far from theirs as well.



And then the Rapidash pulling the cart finally stopped. The kids quickly but nervously filed out. Aaron was last, and gazed up at where they had arrived.



Before them was a huge stone monastery, built into the mountain. Its spires and columns loomed over Aaron and made him feel small - not that that was a foreign feeling. He cowered slightly as they were led inside, through winding hallways, and finally into a courtyard, where the woman who had recruited him stood. Once all the children had gathered there she paced stoically before them.



"Before you kids all crawl off to your barracks and attempt to get comfy," said Polly, "I've been put in charge of giving you a rundown of what you're here for, so sit your asses tight until I'm done!"



Aaron gulped.



"She said a bad word..." whispered one of the children.



"So," said Polly. "Can any of you kids tell me what Aura is?"



A child raised their hand. "It's a kind of life force, right?"



"Correct," said Polly. "All living beings have it in some form, and in particular in combination with other forces it's what gives Pokemon their powers! Their individual Auras express themselves in tandem with the Pokemon's biology to give them their typings and attacks."



She held up her palm and conjured a pink orb. "But sometimes, certain humans, like me and all of you, can tap into those same forces. The only known ways they crop up correspond loosely to the powers of certain Fighting, Ghost, Psychic, and Dark types. Now can anyone tell me what the terms for these powers in humans are?"



Another child raised their hand. "Aura, Psychokinesis, and the two kinds of Obscura, right?"



"Correct," said Polly. "Aura is just called Aura because among most people it's thought to be the only "real" kind of Auric power. Any actual Aura Guardian or even hedge Auric knows that's bullshit."



She sighed. "Of course, we're here to educate you. But that's not all we're doing."



She brandished her staff. "We're Aura Guardians, who use our powers to defend the weak and innocent! Granted, we can't really go it alone..."



She tapped the staff on the ground. A sphere of light emerged from the crystal at its tip, growing and stretching to congeal as a Metagross. The children gasped, murmuring among each other as the Metagross looked them over.



"This is Metagross, one of my Pokemon partners. Your powers alone won't be able to get out of every scrape. For the rest, you have your Pokemon. And they're especially helpful because if it comes to a human against a Pokemon, the Pokemon always wins."



One of the kids piped up. "I can take your Metagross!"



"Really?" said Polly, smirking. "Come up here."



The child did so, fists swinging eagerly.



"Now hit him," said Polly. "With your powers, preferably."



The child, without hesitation, yelled and rushed Metagross, their hands glowing. Without removing his eyes from Aaron, Metagross immediately sidestepped, knocked the child over with one of his legs, then pinned them to the ground telekinetically. The child just kind of stared upward, slowly registering their defeat, before Metagross let them go and they ran hurriedly and sheepishly back into the crowd.



"And that is why you kids need training! This is why you need partners!" said Polly. "Sure you could make it on your own if you got lucky, but as you are?" You'd be dead the moment you cross any human or Pokemon enough, powers or no. And I nor anyone else here could bear to have that happen."



The children had fallen into stunned silence. Aarons stared in horror. The Metagross kept watching.



"Anyway, that is your first lesson," said Polly.. "I'll take you to Vince and he'll show you to your dormorotories."



She walked off. The children silently shuffled after. Aaron remained where he was a long while before realizing he should probably get going and started to head after.



It was then he noticed the Metagross was still staring at him.



"Uh... Hi?"



He almost jumped out of his boots upon hearing the voice of a reply in his head.



~Hey. Are you OK, kid?~



"Uh, y-yeah, I'm OK... Wait, you can talk? But you're a Pokemon!"



~All Pokemon can talk. Just only some of them in a way most humans can understand.~



"Woah, that's so cool!" said Aaron, eyes sparkling. He paused, then looked in the direction Polly went. "Why was Polly so mean? She was nice before..."



~Polly's like that. I've known her since she was a child.~



"Really? You gotta tell me more!"



~Not right now, kid,~ said Metagross, starting to trudge off. ~I have things to do.~



"Wait! But there's so much I wanna know!"



~Due time, rookie, due time.~



And Metagross walked away. Aaron paused, sighed, then scurried off after the others.



---------------



In the forest, the trees swayed, the branches shook. On a clearing the Riolu stood with his father.



"Alright, then!" said Ginji. "Today I'm going to teach you some important things, things the rest of the pack would rather I not."



The Riolu shuffled nervously. "What, Dad?"



Ginji made a dramatic flourish with his claws.



"About humans !"



Riolu blinked. "What are those?"



Ginji shrugged. "On the immediately visible end, not much. Weird two-legged apes that aren't even Pokemon and only rarely even know any attacks of like... Four types. Some more cynical Pokemon say Arceus messed up some perfectly good monkey mons."



Riolu tilted his head. "Then why do I have to learn about them, Dad?"



"Because despite all that, they're special! They create things and ideas it takes ages for most Pokemon to figure out! They're masters of tactical thinking! And most importantly of all we Pokemon made a special promise to them! One of friendship!"



"A... Promise?"



Ginji grabbed a stick and started drawing in the dirt. "Long ago, humans first came to this world, and they and Pokemon were divided. Then one day, in the Sinnoh region, there was a great meeting! One where humans and Pokemon came to terms, and decided to help and not hurt one another."



By now he had drawn a circle in the dirt.



"This agreement was known as The Vow; a promise to work toward humans and Pokemon being stronger together than apart."



He drew a line through the circle, then a smaller circle in the center.



"Wow..." said Riolu.



He then noticed the top half of the bigger circle was somehow red.



"...Dad? How did you get color with a stick?"



Ginji winked. "I learned it from my old Trainer."



"Trainer?"



"That's part of the Vow, son. Human Trainers use their quick wits to coach teams of Pokemon in sporting battles and other activities! It's really fun!"



"Wow!" said Riolu.



He frowned. "Why don't you have a Trainer anymore?"



Ginji looked at him for a minute, then sighed.



"The Vow's not perfect, son. My old Trainer, he... He died trying to protect me from another Pokemon."



"Oh..." said Riolu.



He paused, then cautiously went up and hugged his dad's leg. "I'm sorry, Dad..."



Ginji smiled. "Heh, thanks, son. Now come on, we've got to go do hunting and battle practice with your mom."



"Okay dad!"



And they headed off.


***

Well, that's that for now. I'll hopefully get a meatier update once I finally friggin update Rude Awakening. See you then!
 
Last edited:

Marika_CZ

Well-Known Member
Hello! I am here with your MMM prize. I've read Prologue and Ch1 and it is time for a review.

My usual disclaimer when I am reviewing first chapters as opposed to entire act/arc or the whole fic: Please take it with a pinch of salt. Obviously your story is just beginning so a lot of my points will be guesses and assumptions (which you can potentially subvert in following chapters - or there may be justifications later on etc.)

I have mixed feelings on your Prologue. It feels like that could have been replaced by short Author's note (basically it says "Romance" and "OC but AU") to make the intoduction more convenient, on the other hand I like you are trying to be creative here. I suppose it is Aaron or Riolu/Lucario? Or is that a different character? In Ch1, you switch to third person perspective so it is hard to tell. I wonder if there is a reason for this, or if you simply wanted to directly address the audience to make them hooked by involving them immediately?

Then we go to Ch1. It is split in two parts, each introducing (from what I quickly looked up on bulbapedia because I have long stopped following animé continuity) the main characters and future partners. We don't learn too much about that tbh, but it is just Ch1 so it is fine. You kick off the plot at least right there - the boy has powers and an organisation who is familiar with those took notice. It happens pretty fast tbh (especially if you plan on long chapterfic). It is kinda related to my other point - we get to meet Aaron and Polly, but we barely got to know them. We get to see their powers, looks and clothing, but not much of their personalities (which would be more interesting to me).
So what is Aaron's dream besides joining Aura Guardians? What is his opinion on his current life? Does he have any friends (or just enemies and bullies)? Does he have any plan on leaving the village/town, or is he stuck and meeting Polly was a miracle to get him out?

If you are planning on long chapter fic I would advise to spread things out. You could have the first day end up without meeting Polly. Explore aftermath of being bullied and discovering some scary new powers. Allow us to see what is going on inside Aaron's head when he tries to get in terms with this reality. He could meet Polly later, when tries controling his powers again (maybe in next chapter). Same for Polly; it would be nice if I could see what is she like and what is her normal day looks like before she notices "Auric scream" (or until her Dusparce reports to her about it) and goes to investigate, meeting Aaron in the process.

On the other hand, maybe you plan to do that later when they actually spend some time together (I assume) in the monastery that Aaron seems to be heading for.

In the second part of Ch1 the other protagonist is born. Here you did better job with introducing the characters. We cna easily tell from the dialogue and reactions what is going on, and what are these Pokemon like. Apparently hero's mother is part of a pack/clan that doesnt appreciate other species; the father of Riolu is very protective of his new family and so is the mother. The mother's sibling is resentful of their relationship, foreshadowing future conflict or long term rivalry (and I suspect our lil' Riolu can become an orphan if things escalate from here... that would explain teaming up with Aaron later on).

Things are definitely looking promising enough for a grand adventure with some usual supernatural elements :)

Oh I also had a couple of nitpicks, but negrek already mentioned strangely modern way of talking. That is not neccsarily a bid deal, depending on what comes next (is the entire story going to happen in the past -not likely given the first sentence in ch1-, is there going to be a time skip after a certain event? Or is this just Act 1 which will be followed up by modern day setting?).
My point being, if your story is split between 1,000 years in the past and the present, people and Pokemon speaking the same will be a bit jarring (if the entire story took place in the past however, I am willing to label it "Acceptable break from reality" because it will be still better than randomly attempting Ye Olde Butcherade Englishe) - so it depends.

I hope this was useful; I would like to finish with a promise to read the rest of it, but I am not sure anymore if I will be able to keep such promise (already following quite a few fics and reviewing all of them on regular basis).
At any rate, good luck and have fun writing your story! Thanks for sharing it with us ;)
 

Sike Saner

Peace to the Mountain
Okay, first of all. Hissing dunsparce is a freaking adorable image, one I never knew I needed in my life this much up until now. So cute!

I can all too easily imagine would've happened if Aaron had touched that psycho cut thingy. And his mom would've witnessed it. Yeah, good thing Polly put that away in a timely manner. Also yeah, judging by what I saw, I'd say focus blast practice is best done outdoors (or at least in a spacious place) from that point forward. :p

I wonder what Aaron's glowing hands attack most closely corresponds to, meanwhile. (Drain punch, maybe?) At any rate, I have to wonder how much it would've actually accomplished if it'd been allowed to connect. I mean yeah, he is but a wee guardian-in-training at the moment, but he can still make explosions of sorts.

Anyway yeah! Aaron fic. :D #8 was one of my favorite Pokémon movies, so I'm interested to see how this unfolds, especially since this is AU. Always neat to see what kind of consequences adding or subtracting something to the mix--in this case, the presence of several characters--can have on the outcome. Enjoying the backstory so far, too. :D
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Hello! I am here with your MMM prize. I've read Prologue and Ch1 and it is time for a review.

My usual disclaimer when I am reviewing first chapters as opposed to entire act/arc or the whole fic: Please take it with a pinch of salt. Obviously your story is just beginning so a lot of my points will be guesses and assumptions (which you can potentially subvert in following chapters - or there may be justifications later on etc.)

I have mixed feelings on your Prologue. It feels like that could have been replaced by short Author's note (basically it says "Romance" and "OC but AU") to make the intoduction more convenient, on the other hand I like you are trying to be creative here. I suppose it is Aaron or Riolu/Lucario? Or is that a different character? In Ch1, you switch to third person perspective so it is hard to tell. I wonder if there is a reason for this, or if you simply wanted to directly address the audience to make them hooked by involving them immediately?

Then we go to Ch1. It is split in two parts, each introducing (from what I quickly looked up on bulbapedia because I have long stopped following animé continuity) the main characters and future partners. We don't learn too much about that tbh, but it is just Ch1 so it is fine. You kick off the plot at least right there - the boy has powers and an organisation who is familiar with those took notice. It happens pretty fast tbh (especially if you plan on long chapterfic). It is kinda related to my other point - we get to meet Aaron and Polly, but we barely got to know them. We get to see their powers, looks and clothing, but not much of their personalities (which would be more interesting to me).
So what is Aaron's dream besides joining Aura Guardians? What is his opinion on his current life? Does he have any friends (or just enemies and bullies)? Does he have any plan on leaving the village/town, or is he stuck and meeting Polly was a miracle to get him out?

If you are planning on long chapter fic I would advise to spread things out. You could have the first day end up without meeting Polly. Explore aftermath of being bullied and discovering some scary new powers. Allow us to see what is going on inside Aaron's head when he tries to get in terms with this reality. He could meet Polly later, when tries controling his powers again (maybe in next chapter). Same for Polly; it would be nice if I could see what is she like and what is her normal day looks like before she notices "Auric scream" (or until her Dusparce reports to her about it) and goes to investigate, meeting Aaron in the process.

On the other hand, maybe you plan to do that later when they actually spend some time together (I assume) in the monastery that Aaron seems to be heading for.

In the second part of Ch1 the other protagonist is born. Here you did better job with introducing the characters. We cna easily tell from the dialogue and reactions what is going on, and what are these Pokemon like. Apparently hero's mother is part of a pack/clan that doesnt appreciate other species; the father of Riolu is very protective of his new family and so is the mother. The mother's sibling is resentful of their relationship, foreshadowing future conflict or long term rivalry (and I suspect our lil' Riolu can become an orphan if things escalate from here... that would explain teaming up with Aaron later on).

Things are definitely looking promising enough for a grand adventure with some usual supernatural elements :)

Oh I also had a couple of nitpicks, but negrek already mentioned strangely modern way of talking. That is not neccsarily a bid deal, depending on what comes next (is the entire story going to happen in the past -not likely given the first sentence in ch1-, is there going to be a time skip after a certain event? Or is this just Act 1 which will be followed up by modern day setting?).
My point being, if your story is split between 1,000 years in the past and the present, people and Pokemon speaking the same will be a bit jarring (if the entire story took place in the past however, I am willing to label it "Acceptable break from reality" because it will be still better than randomly attempting Ye Olde Butcherade Englishe) - so it depends.

I hope this was useful; I would like to finish with a promise to read the rest of it, but I am not sure anymore if I will be able to keep such promise (already following quite a few fics and reviewing all of them on regular basis).
At any rate, good luck and have fun writing your story! Thanks for sharing it with us ;)

Thanks for the MMM prize!

First off I should probably clarify this story is about friendshipping, not romance. If you somehow want actual romantic relations between Sir Aaron and his Lucario this is not the place for it, lol.

I do see where you're coming from with the prolouge being a bit dense. I wanted to give it a bit more in-character flavor, but I can see where that might backfire. Also the aforementioned confusion about romance.

I also see where you're coming from on kinda... rushing some of the earlier scenes given this is a longer chapterfic. I am planning on slowing down as updates get hopefully more frequent and I do have a plan and outline for how this fic is going to go down. I'm glad you thought the Riolu bit is better in that regard though!

And it's fine if you can't make time to actively follow this story. Events like MMM tend to lead to reviewing more than you can follow at once lol. Glad you mostly enjoyed what you did read though!

Okay, first of all. Hissing dunsparce is a freaking adorable image, one I never knew I needed in my life this much up until now. So cute!

I can all too easily imagine would've happened if Aaron had touched that psycho cut thingy. And his mom would've witnessed it. Yeah, good thing Polly put that away in a timely manner. Also yeah, judging by what I saw, I'd say focus blast practice is best done outdoors (or at least in a spacious place) from that point forward. :p

I wonder what Aaron's glowing hands attack most closely corresponds to, meanwhile. (Drain punch, maybe?) At any rate, I have to wonder how much it would've actually accomplished if it'd been allowed to connect. I mean yeah, he is but a wee guardian-in-training at the moment, but he can still make explosions of sorts.

Anyway yeah! Aaron fic. :D #8 was one of my favorite Pokémon movies, so I'm interested to see how this unfolds, especially since this is AU. Always neat to see what kind of consequences adding or subtracting something to the mix--in this case, the presence of several characters--can have on the outcome. Enjoying the backstory so far, too. :D

I am very glad the Dunsparce shenanigans continue to appeal to people. And yes if Polly had actually Psycho Cut Aaron it would have been ugly. Good thing she wasn't actively aiming to kill. :V

As for Aaron's techniques... The first one in the house was a Focus Blast, the second when he was rushing Polly was probably a Force Palm. He's not too good at doing specific attacks due to not knowing this Aura stuff well.

I appreciate the premise has gotten you interested! I'll definitely be trying to do intresting things with it.

Anyway I'm finally making progress on Rude Awakening Chapter 7, so the next chapter of this should be up shortly after.
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
And here's Chapter 3! Sorry it took a few months, haha, I needed to update Rude Awakening first. But anyway, here's a chapter where our protagonists discover they've got a long hill to climb:


Chapter 3: Freaks


As Aaron entered the barracks, he looked around to find the other kids bunched together, being directed by an Aura guardian with scruffy blonde hair and dark skin.


"Alright kids, single file line while I sort you into your dorms, and no funny business! I've got enough bullshit to deal with."


Aaron quickly complied, disappearing within the crowd.


The mass grew smaller and smaller as more and more kids were sorted. Finally it was Aaron's turn. The Aura Guardian - who Aaron assumed was Vince - looked him over oddly before thumbing to a nearby room.


"M8."


Aaron's eyes drifted over to a room labeled M8. Silently wondering why he didn't get one of the higher-up rooms, he quickly headed towards it.


Inside he found a pale. black-haired boy staring off into space and grumbling, a Scyther observing him.


"Hello?" said Aaron.


The boy looked over. "What do YOU want?" he said. The Scyther took notice and chittered, pacing the flat a scythe on his knee. The boy noticed and sighed. "Sorry..."


"It's... All right?" said Aaron. "Are we gonna live together now?"


"Yeah duh. We aren't the only ones though."


"Not the only ones...?"


"Boo!"


Aaron yelped and whipped around. Behind him was a girl with maroon hair and decently dark skin, in particularly ragged clothing. Her teeth seemed unusually sharp, and she was giving him a manic look.


"Ha! Got you good!"


She also had the strangest accent Aaron had ever heard. What could ever-


"In case you're wondering," said the boy. "Callie was raised by Necrozma cultists."


"For Necrozma!" Callie said in response. A small, gray and black salamander-like Pokemon skittered up her body to her shoulder and gave a hissy chuckle.


"Anyway," said the other boy, "I'm Louis. "The Scyther's Rook, the Salandit is Munchkin."


"I'm Aaron!" said Aaron. Nice to meet you all!"


"Just be glad you haven't met the other two residents of this dorm yet," said Louis.


"Other two?"


At that point there was a roar, and a girl with wild hair and broken glasses leaped at Aaron. Aaron yelped and leaped out of the way, and was faced with the girl and a Pawniard that was waving its blades wildly in no particular direction.


"You're in my territory," said the girl.


"Atta! Stabby! He's just the new kid!" said Louis.


Atta looked Aaron over and snarled. "You live."


Stabby moved his blades in an "I'm watching you" motion.


Aaron gulped.


"Anyway!" said Callie to Aaron. "Do you have a Pokemon?"


"Me?" said Aaron. "I don't... Always wanted one but could never make friends with one..."


"Mabye they just don't like your personality," said Louis.


"You're one to talk," said Atta.


"H-Hey!" said Louis. "I have Rook, don't I?"


The Scyther gave a buzzy sigh.


"Okay!" said Callie, pointing. "Your bunk is over there."


Aaron looked over to a ragged old bed, and lay down in it to get some rest, which translated to staring upward as his roommates bickered.


So much for making friends.


--------------


It was mealtime in what Aaron assumed to be a mess hall. Bored-looking Aura Guardians served food of varying quality to the hungry children and Pokemon, who quickly moved to their seats. Aaron moved to sit with his bunkmates and their Pokemon, only to see they were a ways off from the others.


"What's going on?" said Aaron, blinking.


"People don't like sitting next to us," said Louis, Rook chittering in confirmation.


"Except her!" said Callie.


"Her...?" said Aaron, looking over.


A black-haired girl approached the table, looking around nervously, before sitting down with the group. A Gligar followed shortly after.


"Hey guys..."


"Hi!" said Aaron.


The girl blinked. "You're new."


The Gligar snickered.


"I'm Aaron, and yep I'm new!"


"...I'm Eve. Guess I'm not the new kid at the freak table anymore."


"Huh? Why are we freaks?"


"It's a long story, but seems you've already been marked as one by association," said Louis. "Also what happened with you and Polly."


"Huh? I can't be a freak! I was always a freak at home! I came here to not be a freak!"


"Tough luck," said Atta.


"Kids are cruel," said Callie, shrugging as Munchkin snuck bits of food.


Aaron groaned, and the Gligar chuckled at him further."Cut it out, Iuroidea," said Eve to the Gligar. Iuroidea reluctantly stopped.


"Now what do I do?" said Aaron.


"Do what we do. Survive." said Louis.


"Or join Necrozma!" said Callie.


"You don't really need to convert every new person, Callie," said Eve.


Callie tilted her head. "I... Don't?"


"This is the tenth time I've told you this."


Callie just stared. Her eyes glazed over. A whip from Munchkin's tail snapped her back to reality. "Isn't this food great?" she said.


Aaron looked at his plate and then Callie's. His had decent-looking vegetables and potatoes, but hers... What even was that?


~Don't question it,~ said a voice in Aaron's head.


Aaron blinked, then looked over to Eve. She winked.


Right, Aaron thought. Everyone has powers here. I'm at least not alone in that sense. Though...


"Uh..." said Aaron. "Weird question, what powers do you guys have?"


In response, Louis held up a ball of orange Aura. Callie wove wisps of Spectral Obscura through her fingers. Atta snarled and conjured Dark Obscuric claws. Eve sent a telepathic message of ~You already know.~


"Right," said Aaron. My powers are more like Louis', here, watch..."


He started charging a ball of Aura between his palms. He focused on it, containing it.


Then the power suddenly swelled. The sphere swelled. Aaron couldn't contain it any longer.


BAM!


Aaron was knocked to the ground. His food was sent flying. Everyone stared.


Everyone then laughed.


"Well, if you weren't with us in the freak club before you certainly are now," said Louis.


Aaron just lay there panting.


--------------------


That night, Aaron lay in his bed, listening to the others in his bunk. Lewis muttered obscenities in his sleep. Callie muttered incantations to Necrozma. Atta simply snarled. Their Pokemon seemed to be the only ones who slept normally.


Aaron thought to himself. His first day here... Hadn't gone so well. Polly had humiliated him, her Metagross had refused to help, he was immediately lumped with the "freak" kids, and he humiliated himself again trying to bond with them. Was the entire time going to be like this?


No. He couldn't let that happen. He'd find a way to improve things. He just needed to figure out a way how.


~~~~


In the forest, light dappled in the trees as a Riolu approached a Lucario.


"Hey mom," said the Riolu.


"Hello, son," said the Lucario. "Today you're going to learn how to hunt."


Riolu rubbed his paws together awkwardly. "That means I have to... Kill, right?"


"Yes. It is what we must do to survive. However... Your Auric abilities will make it painful to bring harm to another without training. So getting practice in this early is essential."


Riolu nodded and looked around. "So... What do I have to do?"


"There is a Buneary denning further into these bushes. You must kill it and bring it back to me."


Riolu looked over hesitantly to the bushes in question and headed in.


------------


It was quiet except for the rustling leaves. Riolu could sense life with the feelers on the sides of his head, and it drew him further in. Eventually, he reached a burrow nestled in the fallen foliage, and he stood and waited.


Eventually a Buneary poked their head out, sniffing the air with their small, moist nose. They slowly, cautiously crept out and looked around.


That's when Riolu lunged with a Force Palm.


The Buneary gave a yell and tried to dodge, but the Force Palm managed to connect, causing them to fall over. Riolu recoiled from the empathic feedback, but pounced on the Buneary as they screamed, attempting to bite their throat. The Buneary suddenly gave a kick with their powerful legs and flipped the grappling Pokemon over so the Buneary was on top.


Instinctively, Riolu tried to kick the Buneary's side. Suddenly, Riolu's leg erupted into flame as he kicked the Buneary's torso with a sickening crack. The Buneary was sent flying with a pained scream before crashing, and trying to crawl and limp away. Riolu recovered from the empathetic shock and wondering what it was he'd even done before dashing over and giving a Force Palm straight to the Buneary's neck. He recoiled. The Buneary fell limp.


Riolu gasped and panted, clutching his body from the amount of feedback aches he felt. It was a while before he had recovered enough to slowly drag the Buneary out of the bushes.


---------------


Eventually Riolu managed to drag the dead Buneary out to his mother. She smiled.


"Good job! Excellent you got it on your first try."


"Thanks... Now what do I do with it?"


"Shouldn't it be obvious? You eat it."


Riolu stared down at the dead Buneary. Then at his mother. Then at the dead Buneary. Then at his mother. Then at the dead Buneary. Before finally digging in.


It was... Good. Better than the dry scraps he usually got, or even his mother's milk. He had blood all over his face but he was enjoying it.


His father approached. "Oh hey, I see you got one!"


"I did," said Riolu, looking up from his meal.

Seeing them both, he was reminded of something. "Mom, Dad? When I was kicking that Buneary to kill it, my leg caught on fire! But it didn't hurt at all! What does that mean?"


His mother's eyes widened. Ginji gave a beaky bird grin. "Well then! You learned one of my moves!"


"...I... Did?"


"Pokemon can learn moves passed down from their parents," said his mother. "Even if they're of different species."


"Yes! And you got my Blaze Kick!" said Ginji.


"...Huh, wow," said Riolu. "Guess I'll do it again sometime!"


He then resumed digging into the Buneary while his parents conversed.


"Should he use that move around the pack?" said his mother.


"He'll be alright." said Ginji. "If anyone gives him trouble they'll have to deal with me."


"You can't intimidate them forever."


"...I know. But I'll do whatever it takes to protect you both."


Eventually Riolu finished his meal and joined his parents, who headed back to the pack.


--------------


Riolu sat by himself, poking at rocks. It's usually what he had to do when his parents weren't immediately available - all the other Riolu avoided him for some reason. Every time he tried interacting with them they'd just move away or mutter something about their parents not letting them. Or both.


His ears perked up. Was that his mom?


He headed over, clambering over a few rocks and pushing through a few bushes to get there. When he found his mother, however, he saw she was facing another Lucario - an old, scarred individual most of the rest of the pack knew to stay away from.


"You! You've been a burden for as long as this pack's existed! You hunt less, you keep watch less, you train less!"


Hey! That wasn't true. Riolu checked, his mom did all those more than everyone else!


"And now you're cavorting with your birdbrain mate and your freak offspring!"


His dad wasn't a birdbrain. He wasn't a freak.


...Was he?


"Your overgrown pile of feathers you call a mate can't protect you two forever! Someday judgement's gonna come down! Hell, it may very well be from me! Ha!"


That does it.


Riolu's leg erupted into flame. He rushed forward and began kicking the old, scarred Lucario in the legs as he howled in agony. His mother quickly grabbed him and started running away as the old, scarred Lucario yelled after them clutching his leg.


"Freak! Freak! Freak!"


---------------


"And you what?" said Ginji, in a forest clearing with his family a bit later.


"I... I used your move... I just didn't want him to hurt you and mom..."


"That bag of bones? He's too old and lame to do anything but make threats. If I was aware he was harassing your mom I would have busted him in short order, so you should have gotten me."


"Dear," said Riolu's mom, "You really don't have to deal with every member of the pack who-"


"Yes I do!" said Ginji. "I care about you two! You're the only family I have after what happened to my Trainer!"


He paused, panted heavily. "I... I'm sorry, I got ahead of myself..."


"...Dad? Thank you."


"Thank you for everything Ginji."


Ginji paused. Then carefully pulled the other two into a hug.


------------


The old, scarred Lucario was limping back to the rest of the pack.


"Oh, just wait until the alphas hear about this!" he said. "That damn bird will be history!"


It was then he noticed a distinct glow in his Aura senses, but couldn't ascertain its exact location.

"Eh? Who's that?"


His Aura feelers flared as he tried to pinpoint the source.


It was then he realized the source was right on top of him.


Claws and teeth dug in, rending limbs in spurts of blood. Fire burnt into flesh, loosening it from bone.


The old Lucario screamed.


***

Gruesome.

Also! I should note here some of the fic's characters are inspired by those from the We Are All Pokemon Trainers community, and these characters have been loosely based on some of those from said community, with the gracious permission of their owners. While these characters themselves are mine they are still close enough to cameos I ought to credit the ones I based them on. In order of debut:

-Vince, based on Vierr by BittersweetNSour

-Louis and Rook, based on Lucius and Bishop by Herbert40k

-Atta, based on Jetta by Pres_Stalkeyes

-Eve and Irodea, based on Lillith and Sasorina by DarkerShining

Callie and Munchkin are also based on things but not from WAAPT. I presume people will kill me when they figure out who.
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Forgot to add this last time but have a Ginji by DeliriousAbsol!


----------------------


Have a bonus chapter! This is a tie-in to the Missing Mod Madness event on the Serebii.net forums. It is, however, designed to be understandable to those outside said forums. It is also 100% canon. Seriously.


Bonus Chapter 1: Missing Polly Madness


Carol was having a good day.

The Psychic Aura Guardian was carrying some books, getting ready to teacjh her students about Pokemon and Aura matchups, and had several things in mind. Grass vs. Poison, Ice vs. Flying, and oh, her favorite, Psychic vs. Fighting... She needed to show her friend Polly!

She looked around. Wait, where was Polly?

She put down her books and got to searching. She looked in empty domrorotories, in the cafeteria, in the library... Nothing.No sign of her.

This was bad. She needed to find someone.

Quickly she located Vince, who had just finished sorting some kids into their dorms. ~Vince?~ she said telepathically, ~Have you seen Polly?~

"Last I heard she was giving these kids their initiation," said Vince. "Why?"

~Well she's not anywhere now. I checked.~

Vince shrugged. "Check more?"

~Vince you terrible wizard I already did,.~

Vince winced at the "terrible wizard" moniker. "Are you ever going to let me live that down?"

~No.~

Vince sighed. "Fine, I'll help you look."

Carol dragged Vince everywhere around the massive monastery, and they checked and double-checked everything. Still nothing.

"This is bad," said Vince.

~Indubitably so.~, said Carol.

"We need backups."

From their staffs they summoned a Honchkrow and Gothitelle.

"Henry!" said Vince. "Scan the area from the air!"

~Lovegood!~ said Carol. ~Scan the area psychically!~

Lovegood the Gothitelle nodded. Henry the Honchkrow gave a shrill cackle. The two Pokemon searched the area around the monastery much as their Trainers did. Still, they returned to said Trainers empty-handed.

"Ah ****," said Vince.

~Language,~ said Carol.

"Look, that's not the point," said Vince. "Maybe Ryan knows where she went to."

Carol thought to herself a bit. Ryan was the leader of the Genesis Mountain Aura Guardians. If anyone knew where Polly was, it would be him.

~Yeah, we should ask him.~

They made their way to Ryan's quarters. Ryan, a dark-skinned man with short, curly hair, sat writing notes on some document while his loyal Swampert slept nearby. Upon the arrival of Vince and Carol, the Swampert yawned and stretched while Ryan looked up and raised an eyebrow.

Dragon Pulse"Let me guess, need something?" said Ryan. "That's about all anyone talks to me for these days."

"Er, yes, actually." said Vince. "You see-"

~Polly's missing,~ said Carol.

"...Polly? She was always a free spirit but I wouldn't expect her to disappear so suddenly," said Ryan. "Something's up."

"That's what we're saying!" said Vince, before Carol nudged him.

"We need to work together. You two and your Pokemon come with me."

The group left the monastery side-by-side, heading into the mountain forests as Lovegood and Ryan scanned the area with their Psychic and Auric senses. Henry needled Ryan's Swampert with taunting jeers, which the Swampert ignored.

Suddenly, the group leaders stopped.

~I sense something big up ahead,~ said Lovegood telepathically.

"So do I." said Ryan. Prepare yoursel-"

the A Dragon Pulse was shot in Ryan's direction. Ryan quickly used Detect to get out of the way, and the group turned toward the source.

A glowing blue and white webbed portal lay before them, and emerging from the portal was a purple, almost insectoid dragon. The dragon gave a literally unearthly screech and charged.

Immediately Lovegood threw up a Protect. Henry dived in for a Night Slash as Vince conjured his own Night Slash blades. Carol hit the dragon's brain with a psychic assault while Ryan's Swampert and Ryan himself both hit it with Brick Breaks.

The dragon was pummeled by the group assault and let out another screech. Through the portal came several smaller purple creatures with spouts on their heads, and all sprayed toxic sludge in the direction of the Aura Guardians.

Vince cut through the incoming sludge with his blades, while Carol and Lovegood deflected it with psychic power. Ryan, his Swampert, and Henry weren't so lucky,being doused in sticky fluid.

"This is going to be a pain to clean off," said Ryan, who quickly fired an Aura Sphere at the flock of small purple creatures. His Swampert roared and tackled the dragon, the two wrestling as Henry divebombed the smaller purple creatures.

Suddenly another portal opened and from it emerged Polly and her Metagross and Dunsparce. Metagross immediately blasted the dragon and its companion creatures with a Psychic while Dunsparce fired Thunderwaves and Polly herself fired small projectile Psyshocks.

The dragon screeched and finally gave in, diving back into the portal from whence it came, the smaller purple creatures following. The portal closed after them.

"You all alright?" said Polly.

"More or less," said Vince. "What happened to you?"

"Got drafted into solving some weird crisis in another world. Stuff about living stories and people called "mods.""

~It's a long story we'll have to explain when we get back,~ said Metagross.

Dunsparce gave a hiss and a nod.

~Other worlds?~ said Carol. ~Do those even exist?~

"They do," said Ryan. "I suspect Polly leaving our world temporarily weakened the boundaries between worlds long enough for those creatures to break through."

~Well at least we scared them off,~ said Lovegood.

"Anyway," said Vince. "Now that that's over can we just go back to the monastery and hear Polly's side of the story?"

"I'm happy to tell it," said Polly.

~Okay! Afterwards we can talk lesson plans!~ said Carol.

"Let's go home," said Ryan. "We could all use a break."

The Aura Guardians and their Pokemon all headed off.

Shortly after they left a purple creature popped its head out of the bushes and proceeded to follow their trail.

***

Carol and Lovegood based on Psyche and Selene by ConflictedPsyches


Ryan and his Swampert based on Tagg and Muddy by rmctagg09
 
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Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Some old art I haven't shared in this thread yet:

Our protagonists by autobottesla, ordered by @Spiteful Murkrow (I imagine Aaron doesn't have the cape yet but everything else is 100% accurate and 200% adorable)

Polly and co. by the same artist except ordered by me

and Polly and her Dunsparce by our very own @Dragonfree !

Well! Here's Chapter 4! In which we get to some worldbuilding on the Aaron end and peril on the Riolu end!

Chapter 4: All In The Type



It was time for the first day of training.


Aaron kept staring at the training dummy. It seemed to stare back. He looked around at the other kids and their Pokemon preparing. He was alone. He looked back at the training dummy and his hands glowed with Auric power. He yelled, rushed at the training dummy... and tripped, falling flat on his back.


"...Good grief," he said.


He hesitantly got back up and rushed the dummy again. This attempt was more successful, doing decent damage to the dummy. Smiling, he looked around for his companions. Louis and Rook were slicing up a dummy, Callie and Munchkin were pelting one with Obscura bolts and fire, Atta and Stabby were gnawing and stabbing at one, and Eve... Weird. She was lying on the ground clutching her head, with Iuroidea tending to her. Did she trip too? Maybe-


It was then Aaron noticed a shadow looming overhead. With dread he looked up. There was a blonde boy with spiky hair standing on the head of a massive Onix above him, crossing his arms and giving a not exactly friendly smug smile down.


"You! You're the new freak kid, right?" he said.


"Uh... No?"


"Bah! You think you can fool the mighty Gabriel? I'll show you!" He snapped his fingers. An explosion of Psychic power happened at Aaron's feet, knocking him back as he yelped. "Ha! Too easy," said Gabriel. "Let's try some more." A strange construct that seemed to resemble a Psyshock but spear-shaped appeared by his shoulder and fired down at Aaron, with Aaron yelping and rolling over to avoid it. "You're a fun one. Most people just run away and I have to bother chasing them. Not that that isn't funny either."

His Onix gave a strange whimper.

"Easy, Patricia, we're almost done with this one," said Gabriel. "Lean down a little will you girl?"

Patricia slowly moved her head down to ground level so Gabriel could get off, upon which he picked up Aaron by the scruff of his neck and held up his other hand, crackling with Psychic explosions, in Aaron's face. "You're just like the rest of them. Worthless. If you think you came here to have a good time, I'm here to teach you otherwise. Not any kid on the Auric Spectrum can be an Aura Guardian, and I'm gonna weed out the ones who can't. Like you."

He dropped Aaron and stormed off, Patricia looking at Aaron oddly for a few moments before following after. Aaron was hyperventilating on the ground until he saw Callie and Munchkin peering down at him.

"You okay?" said Callie. Or at least Aaron thought she said that, her accent was still always odd and unplaceable.

"No."

"Good! The Necrozmaists say adversity builds character!"

She helped him up. "But yeah, Gabriel is mean. He makes the Aura Spectrum look bad!" Munchkin hissed at her in agreement.

"What's wrong with him anyway?" said Aaron.

"Apparently he was from a rich family and got protected from how people usually treat us. And his powers are really strong! So he thinks he's better than everyone else!" said Callie. "I'd like to teach him the might of Necrozma!"

"Let's just try to avoid him for now..." said Aaron.


"Aww, okay," said Callie. "Come on, Ms. Carol is gonna teach us about type matchups! Maybe Munchkin can show off!"


Munchkin gave an excited hiss, and they all headed off.

----------------

The Aura Guardian trainees and their Pokemon gathered around a young adult woman Aura Guardian with a dark uniform, long wavy red hair, and green eyes. She surveyed the group until all had settled and then spoke up... telepathically.

~Alright kids! Carol here, and I'm going to teach you how to deal with type matchups! Who here has a Pokemon partner?~

Everyone but Aaron gestured to their partner or held them up. Aaron fidgeted nervously before addressing Louis.

"Why does she only talk like that?"


"She's mute," Louis said, whispering. "Can't speak with her mouth. Can't hear that well either. Something about an incident with a Pangoro. Don't know the rest, don't really care."

Aaron nodded before his gaze shifted back to Carol.

~Okay then!~ said Carol. ~Now, as you may know, Pokemon have different attributes called Types. These affect the sorts of Aura Spectrum powers Pokemon can produce - way more of them and with way more power than humans on the Auric Spectrum! This is helped by the fact that Pokemon produce an additional energy called Infinity Energy to power up their Auras, which can only be sensed in trace amounts in humans. Pokemon types are strong and weak against other types, depending on the type and type combination, and to demonstrate that...~

She paused, holding stock-still. There was a roar, and a Salamence descended from the air and approached Polly.

~Good girl,~ said Carol exclusively to the Salamence, scratching the dragon's cheek as she purred. ~Can you show off for these kids again?~

The Salamence winked and gave a quiet "Sal!"

~Alright,~ said Carol. ~Now I need, hmmm...~ She combed her finger through the audience until she reached a boy and his Cleffa. ~You! Bring me your Pokemon.~

The boy's eyes widened in shock. He looked around. Then, very hesitantly, he passed the squealing Cleffa to Carol. Carol placed the Cleffa down across from the Salamence, ignoring his "Clefs!" of protest. She quickly backed away.

~Becky! Use Outrage!~

Becky the Salamence roared as her entire body glowed green with dragonfire and she charged the Cleffa. The Cleffa covered his eyes and braced himself for impact. The dragon pummeled the Cleffa with claws and bites and headbutts. When the dragonfire died down and the dust cleared... nothing. The Cleffa was totally unscathed. He uncovered its eyes, looked up, gave a "clef!" of surprise at Becky still being there, and ran back to his Trainer, who hugged him.

~As you can see,~ said Carol, ~Type matchups - as well as things like Trainer and Pokemon creativeness and cleverness - are what really makes a battle. Not Pokemon strength.~

The gaggle of Trainees and their Pokemon started a bit before nodding. Carol smiled.

~But!~ said Carol. ~You will learn more in subsequent lessons! For now, you've got a history lesson with Polly! I'll take you to her!~

She and Becky, along with a Gothitelle she summoned from her staff, herded the kids toward the mountain.

----------------

Eventually the group of children were directed to Polly, alongside her Dunsparce and Metagross. Polly looked them over, then looked at Carol and her Pokemon. "You're good to go."

~Thanks!~ said Carol, and she, Becky, and her Gothitelle Lovegood exited.

"Alright," said Polly. "Time to teach you new kids some stuff about this place. Kids who have heard it before, don't try to sum it up please."

A few hands lowered.

Polly started leading the kids up the mountain, going on some winding pathways with tall trees and various signs of wild Pokemon. Eventually, the group came across a cliff overlooking something Aaron couldn't make out at first. When he got there, however, he stared in awe.

In the distance stood a mountain unlike anything Aaron had ever seen. It was massive, and shaped like a tree, clouds swirling around it. Aaron could barely make out glittering green crystals decorating the mountain's rocks.

"Say hello to the Tree Of Beginning," said Polly.

"Why is it like that?" asked Aaron.

"Long ago, the people and Pokemon of Kanto and Johto suffered a great famine. They begged the gods for help, and their calls were heeded by a Legendary from another land, who created the Tree to ward off famine and pestilence. Its crystals absorb energy from sunlight, and its roots as a result fertilize Kanto, Johto, and beyond. The ecosystem around here depends on it."

"Wow..." said Aaron. Some of the other kids oohed and aahed as well.

"But don't dare venture inward; there are monsters inside the tree, and you know what they do to any human that visits?"

"...What?"

Polly suddenly got in Aaron's face with a wicked grin. "They eat them!"

Aaron screamed. And screamed, and screamed, and screamed for an unusually long time until Polly said "Kid, relax, relax, they're not going to get you."

"...Okay," said Aaron. The other kids giggled.

~Told you you shouldn't have done that~ said Metagross. ~Even if it was funny.~

Dunsparce snickered.

Polly sighed. "Anyway, the other hazard of the Tree is the Mew that lives there. The Tree can't sustain itself, so the Legendary created a lesser Legendary, a Mew, to keep it in balance. But the Mew is... Mischievous. It's known to cause a ruckus and spirit objects and even Pokemon away to the Tree."

~Legendaries in general aren't to be trusted.~

Dunsparce gave a hissy, irritated "sparce".

~For your information I do not mention that every time Legendaries come up, thank you very much.~

Polly sighed again and gestured with her staff to the region beyond the Tree. "Beyond the tree is the kingdom of Rota. It was founded by refugees from the great war in Kalos about 2000 years ago, or 0 Skybreak. Since then they've grown to thrive, and are a valuable ally to us Genesis Mountain Aura Guardians. Any questions?'

The children were silent. Aaron tried to think of something to say, but couldn't just yet.

"Alright, back to the monastery, so you kids all can have lunch."

She and her Pokemon headed down the mountain, the children and their Pokemon heading after. Aaron followed along quietly for a while, then noticed another kid didn't have a Pokemon partner either. Aaron moved closer to him and noticed he not only had pink hair but pink clothes as well.

"Excuse me-"

The other child turned his head toward Aaron, holding a finger to his lips and winking. Aaron blinked. A Pokemon made a noise in the forest, causing Aaron's attention to turn to it briefly; when he turned back the other child was gone.

----------------------

"How long has it been stalking us?"

"Days, now. Ever since it first killed one of our own, possibly further."

"It seems to have acquired a taste for our kind's flesh..."

"What do we do, Grandfather Alpha?"

"Give me a moment to think..."

Riolu was listening in to all of this from behind a nearby boulder. There was a predator stalking the Lucario pack and he wanted to know more about it. He also wanted to do something about it but he also knew he wasn't strong enough... Maybe if he could-

"I sense an aura!"

"Behind that boulder!"

Oh no. Quickly he tried to get out of there, only to be grabbed by a Lucario and held aloft.

"Okay, whose pup is this?"

"...That would be ours."

Riolu awkwardly gestured to his parents. His mother sighed while Ginji shook his head.

"How much do you know, kid?"

"There's a predator killing pack members... we need to stop it..."

"Let him go," said Grandfather Alpha. "There is no harm in him knowing the truth; we were going to tell the other pups eventually."

The Lucario placed Riolu down, and he shook himself off. Grandfather Alpha sighed. "Now where were we?"

"The predator?" said a Lucario.

"Right. By the time anyone sees or Aura Senses it it's too late, but scorch marks on the remains it leaves behind indicate it's a Fire type. Therefore..."

He pointed toward Ginji. "You're probably our best bet for taking it down."
Ginji pointed to himself. "Me? And I thought you all didn't want me doing anything important."

"Those are the ignorant words of my children and their mates. This pack is family. No matter what."

Rilou's mother beamed.The other Lucario mumbled amongst themselves.

"You shall lead a team to take this predator down for the sake of our pack," said Grandfather Alpha. "I wish you luck."

"Don't worry, that predator's as good as gone."

Riolu looked between his father, mother, and Grandfather Alpha and then the other packmates, the latter of which were still grumbling among themselves, with concern.

----------------

That night, in a small cavern, Riolu was nestled up with his mother while Ginji was keeping watch. Riolu slowly got up and approached his father.

"Dad?"

"Yes, son?"

"Are you gonna be OK?"

"Well, I never know for sure. What exactly do you mean?"

"With this predator. Do you really think you can take it on?"

"Oh, that thing? Sure I can! It's just another Pokemon, and we Pokemon have strengths, weaknesses, all that that can be advantages and disadvantages. If you know how to use those, you're golden." He paused. "At least, that's what my old Trainer always taught me."

"Did you trust your old Trainer?"

"...Yes. While he was alive, more than anyone in the world."

"That's a lot."

"Yes. Yes it is."

"I trust you, Dad."

Ginji gave a bird smile. "Thanks, so-"

A yell echoed. Ginji stood at attention. Riolu's mother bolted upright.

"Riolu! Stay here!" said his mother.

"We'll take care of this!" said Ginji.

They bolted off.

Riolu, naturally, waited a bit before following.

---------------------------

He came across his parents in a battle for their lives. Nearby was a cowering Lucario. Before them was a large reptilian Pokemon, orange scales, large wings, and flaming tail illuminated by the moonlight. The Pokemon breathed jets of flame at Riolu's parents, Ginji zipping out of the way keeping him distracted with Speed Boosts, and his mother lobbing Aura Spheres at his head.

The predator roared and rushed the two. Riolu's mother lept aside while Ginji vaulted and delivered a kick to the predator's face. The predator roared in pain, and deciding his quarry wasn't worth the pursuit anymore, flew off into the night. The young Lucario the couple had saved ran back off into the night.

"Do you know what that is?" said Riolu's mother.

"****. It's a Charizard." said Ginji. "Powerful critters. Think they're apex predators of wherever they claim territory of. Suspect he's as much showing the pack who's boss as he is claiming meals."

"Do we tell the Alpha?" said Riolu's mother.

"Certainly." said Ginji.

They ran off into the night as well. Riolu quickly headed back to the cave, where the rest of the pack would be nearby.


***
 
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Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
And here's Chapter 5! Do note this chapter is... kind of dark, and deals with subjects like vomiting, eye mutilation, and general blood and death.



Chapter 5: Don't Fear The Reaper



Aaron waited for the ball. And waited, and waited. The other kids and their Pokemon seemed intent to keep it away from him, the "freak" kids, and their Pokemon, but he certainly tried to get it. Finally, it sailed his way, and he reached, stretched, grabbed -



And it sailed down the mountain, bouncing down a gentle slope until it was out of sight amid the trees. Aaron started. Then looked at the other kids, who were staring at him. One piped up.



"You go get it!"



Aaron looked to the other "freak" kids and their Pokemon, who shrugged or did the Pokemon equivalent. Aaron groaned and started making his way down.



The bushes and shrubs seemed to claw at his face. He heard wild bird Pokemon squawk and fly away at his approach. Finally he found the ball and reached down for it.



It was then he noticed the ball had landed next to the disfigured corpses of an Aura Guardian and his Sawsbuck. The corpses had suffered various forms of abuse - fire, crushing, acid - and seemed relatively fresh. A Murkrow was in the process of plucking an eye from the Aura Guardian's skull and promptly swallowed it before eyeing Aaron warily.



Aaron stared in horror before vomiting the contents of his lunch earlier that day, forming a puddle next to the bodies, and after regaining his bearings slightly grabbing the ball and racing back to the monastery. As soon as he got back he haphazardly tossed the ball back to the other children - much to their confusion- before going to find Polly. Polly was reading on a bench in the monastery when Aaron found her. "Kid, what's up?" she said. "Why are you out of breath?"



"Dead Aura Guardian... In the woods... His Pokemon too..."



Polly's look grew grave. "Show me."



Aaron took Polly out to the woods, down the slope and through the trees, until they reached the dead bodies. Polly looked at them in shock. "Dale... No..." She looked around. "No sign of Melissa but we'd have to search... Kid? You're going back to the monastery."



Aaron nodded and headed back once again, but the image of Dale and his Sawsbuck's dead bodies were thoroughly burnt into his mind.



---------------



Polly now had two other Aura Guardians gathered with her around the corpses with their Pokemon: Vince, a Dark Obscuric, with his Honchkrow Henry, and Ryan, leader of the Genesis Mountain Aura Guardians, with his Swampert. Polly's Metagross was there too, analytically scanning the bodies. Henry tried to peck at Dale's Sawsbuck's remains when Vince gave him a stern look and he backed off with a disappointed coo.



"Did Aaron see any sign of who did this?" said Ryan.



"Not at all," said Polly. "Kid just stumbled upon them playing ball."



"Can you track them, Ryan, Metagross?" said Vince.



"I would," said Ryan, "But someone's been good about covering their tracks."



~It's likely they teleported out somehow,~ said Metagross.



"And Melissa and her Luxray are missing too..." said Polly.



~No sign of them either,~ said Metagross. Ryan's Swampert shifted uneasily.



"****," said Vince. "This isn't good. At all. Someone's after us and we don't know who."



"We need to fortify our defenses in case whoever did this strikes again," said Ryan. And we're going to have to investigate this event as much as we can." He turned to Polly and Vince. "We three will head the investigation team. I will ask Nightjar for help as well."



"I'll ask Carol and Hannah then," said Polly.



Vince groaned. "Hannah? Really?"



Polly frowned. "She's perfectly qualified for this," said Polly. "Plus she's our friend."



"You and Carol's friend, maybe," said Vince. "She's too bubbly and picks on me and gets on my nerves."



"Be mature, Vince," said Ryan. "I trust Polly's judgement and so should you."



"Alright, fine," said Vince.



Henry snickered. So did Ryan's Swampert. Even Metagross joined in. Vince gave them all harsh looks.



It was then, however, that Metagross turned to the others. ~There is one thing I sensed I should note.~



"What is it?" said Polly.



~One of the murderers had powers like your own.~



---------



Aaron had spent all day thinking about the bodies and being pestered by the other about the interruption of the ball game and subsequent involvement of Polly and further subsequent security lockdown of the monastery for several hours. He wanted to sleep. He ignored the noises made by his bunkmates as he climbed into bed.



Was he gonna be okay? His mother said Dialga would always protect him, and he believed that with all his heart. But his father had believed the same thing and... and...



He tried to push the memories out of his mind and as always they came back stronger and stronger until exhaustion claimed him.



---------



Aaron woke up in a place that was definitely not his room. He looked around to find himself in a red cavern of sorts, with black veins crisscrossing it. He immediately froze when he saw what was perched at the end of the cavern.



There before him, with massive wings, crooked talons, and sharp beak, was her. The dread Yveltal, death and destruction goddess of Kalos.



~Well,~ she said. ~Isn't this a wonderful first meeting?~



She can talk like Metagross does? thought Aaron. Probably because she's a goddess...



~You are correct,~ said Yveltal.



Aaron gulped. "I-I guess you can hear me no matter what..."



~Also correct!~



"What are you here for?"



~To warn you my dear...~ She leaned in close - uncomfortably close - and gave a beaky grin. ~You know full well your first encounter with death wasn't with the corpses in the woods. And those will be far from your last encounters either.~



"I... I..."



~You have a long road ahead of you, Aaron. Just remember - Death is inescapable. Even if it doesn't find you... You'll just find it.~



She suddenly lunged, talons bared. Aaron screamed and tried to shield himself with his arms.



-----



He woke up in a cold sweat, not bolting upright but panting, feeling paralyzed. Eventually the numbness wore off and he sat up, staring off into space, before collapsing again and waiting for dawn to come.



-----------



The next morning, Aaron was sitting by himself, exhausted, despite the insistence rom the other members of his group to join them.



"Are you sure you don't wanna have breakfast?" said Callie.



"We know you like grits," said Eve.



"I'm... Fine," said Aaron.



"Whatever then," said Louis.



"Let's just go," said Atta.



The four left, their Pokemon looking back and chittering amongst themselves with concern. Aaron just kind of stared after until he heard a telepathic voice in his head.



~You okay kid?~



Aaron jumped before realizing that the voice was not Yveltal's but that of Polly's Metagross next to him. ~Polly wanted me to check up on you after yesterday and, well, I always feel sorry for you humans easily.~



"Er yes, I'm totally, absolutely... Not okay. I had a nightmare last night."



~After seeing what you did I don't blame you. That said you probably should eat. Not eating's hell on the anxiety, I should know after knowing Polly all her life.~ He paused. ~Don't tell her I said that.~



Despite himself Aaron managed a snicker. "I won't!"



~Good. Now come on, let's go eat with your friends. I can definitely convince them to give you food if they say you're late.~



Aaron smiled. "Thanks."



He followed Metagross out.



---------



The small purple creature watched the small biped and large quadruped head off from their hiding place. It couldn't understand the words of the creatures of this dimension, though was starting to pick up a few. What they did know was that the place the two were going had food.



Stealthily, the purple creature floated after them. It floated through a gap in a window and looked around a small room. Suddenly, a noise. The purple creature hid as a biped entered the room, looked around, picked something up, and left. In its wake the creature noticed it had dislodged a small, green and red sphere from a nearby box. They inspected it, then tasted it. It was edible, success. The purple creature nibbled happily on their newfound prize.


---------------



A number of Lucario were gathered around Ginji.



"What's the plan, birdbrain?" said one.



"We're going to corner the thing in its den," said Ginji, "and I'll be at the center holding it off while we all take it down."



"What if it goes after us?" said another Lucario. "With those fire attacks we're toast! Literally!"



"My job is to make sure that doesn't happen," said Ginji. "Now come on."



The group stalked off into the forest, Ginji keeping his sharp eyes peeled while the Lucario had their Aura feelers flared. Eventually, the group reached what appeared to be a den. They stood stock still and silent while Ginji scanned it.



"Okay," he said, whispering. "We're going to quietly go in there and-"



"Look out!" shouted a Lucario.



Ginji looked over just in time to see the Charizard ram into him from the side rather than from the entrance to the den. The Charizard attempted to bite down on Ginji with a Crunch and managed to injure his shoulder, but not before Ginji could sock him in the jaw with an Aura-infused punch. The Charizard was further annoyed by being pelted with Aura Spheres from the assorted Lucario, before flying upward and launching a Heat Wave, which caused the Lucario to quickly fall back. Ginji wasn't so phased and hurled a rock at the Charizard, hitting him badly and causing him to swoop out of view.



"Yeah, that's right, run away, you overgrown reptil- urk!"



A wicked sharp blade of air left a massive, bleeding gash across Ginji's chest. As he fell over, bleeding out, the Charizard lunged at the Lucario group, as they attempted to dart out of the way. One took advantage of the chaos to hurl another rock at the Charizard's wing with a sickening crack, causing him to roar in pain and trample off for real this time. The Lucario then turned to the badly bleeding Ginji.



"Oh no... What the hell do we do?"



"Do we just... Leave him?"



"Father Alpha would be furious... We bring him back. See if he can be saved..."



They picked up the still-bleeding Ginji and hauled him, dripping with blood the whole way, back to the pack. Riolu and his mother noticed their return and gasped in horror.



"G-Ginji!"



"Dad!"



They rushed over to his side, Ginji looking at them weakly.



"Honey... Son... it'll be alright..."



Tears fell down Lucario's mother's face. "Ginji, no..."



"D-Dad?" said Riolu. "Are you..."



Ginji placed a talon on Riolu's paw. "Son... You're gonna do big things beyond this pack... I just know it.... Do... Me... Proud..."



"D-dad..."



Ginji said no more. He fell limp.



----------------


It had been a few days since Ginji's death. Riolu's mother was sitting away from the pack, staring off into space.



Eventually she felt an Aura behind her, felt a forepaw touch hers. She looked to see it was her son.



"Mom?" he said.



"Yes, sweetie?"



"Now... Now that dad's gone I worry I don't belong in the pack anymore. That I'm not safe..."



"What? No, of course you're-" The words got caught in her throat.



"I... I want to find someplace else. Anyplace else. And I want you to come with me."



"I... I can't."



"Why not?"



"Grandfather Alpha... I can't leave him..."



"The pack doesn't love me. You do."



"I do. And... I think if you want to do this you are strong enough to go on your own."



"But... I can't leave you..."



Riolu's mother nodded. "I'll be OK. The pack will re-accept me before long. Your father was right. You can do better."



"I..."



There was a pause. Then Riolu embraced his mother, careful to avoid her chest spike. She embraced him back.



"Take care... It's a dangerous world out there, but you're smart, and brave, and I know you'll find safe haven eventually."



"I know you're right Mom."



Riolu stared at her a while longer.



Then turned and broke off into a run.




***
 
Last edited:

The Walrein

Well-Known Member
Hello Umbramatic! I've been quietly following this fic for a while, so I thought I'd finally post my thoughts on it.

This is one of the greatest love stories our world has ever known.

Now hold up there for a minute! I saw that look in your eyes. You think this is one of those over-lovey-dovey romance stories no one can stand. Open your mind a little! Love is a spectrum, one that kind of thing is a bastardization of an itty-bitty bit of! No, this is a different breed of love story than that. What kind of breed? The breed you'll have to sit and stay for me to tell you what properly!

This is a charming introduction! It kinda reminded me of the narration style of The Princess Bride.

As I'm doing so, you'll probably be a wise guy and mention you've seen this all before with a bunch of kids and a few adults and their Meowth and Pikachu getting roped into the mess. That'll give you some context at least, but even that tale told only part of one world's version of this story - and plot twist, this is another world's version, and I'm gonna be generous and tell you the whole damn thing. Some things will change, some things will stay the same, many things will go deeper into this whole tale than you've likely seen before, but I'm not telling which you'll get until I get to it.

So, I guess this is the point in the review where I admit that I've never seen Lucario and the Mystery of Mew before, but it seems like things are different enough anyways that that might not matter too much.

"I know, Ginji," said the female Lucario, "I just wanted to check in."

It feels a little awkward for Riolu's mother to only be referred to as "the female Lucario" in this section, and for her brother to be referred to as 'the second Lucario' or 'the male Lucario'. I get that you want Ginji having an actual name to hint at how he had a human trainer at one point, (and maybe to serve as something that further separates him from the Lucario pack), but I feel like it might've been more natural to just let the wild Lucario have names with a clearly different naming convention. As it stands, this isn't too big a deal in the first five chapters, since there haven't really been scenes with multiple distinct Lucario to keep track of aside from this one.

"Okay, listen, buddy," said Ginji. "You nepotist canines can literally dogshit on me anytime you want normally, but me and my mate are having an important moment here.

'Nepotist' doesn't feel like quite the right word here, given that Riolu is literally this Lucario's nephew (unless he was just calling his mother 'Sis' informally?) and he's getting rather the opposite of favorable treatment from him.

She held up her palm and conjured a pink orb. "But sometimes, certain humans, like me and all of you, can tap into those same forces. The only known ways they crop up correspond loosely to the powers of certain Fighting, Ghost, Psychic, and Dark types. Now can anyone tell me what the terms for these powers in humans are?"

Another child raised their hand. "Aura, Psychokinesis, and the two kinds of Obscura, right?"

"Correct," said Polly. "Aura is just called Aura because among most people it's thought to be the only "real" kind of Auric power. Any actual Aura Guardian or even hedge Auric knows that's bullshit."

I think it's an interesting detail how messy the naming conventions for the different Auric powers are - it gives it more of a realistic vibe and the sense that there's a bit of history behind it, like perhaps Ghost and Dark powers were only recently recognized as distinct phenomena which is the reason why they're both called 'Obscura'.

The children gasped, murmuring among each oter as the Metagross looked them over.

Typo with "oter" here.

"You'd be dead the moment you cross any human or Pokemon enough, powers or no."

I think a word got dropped here.

"Anyway, that is your first lesson," said Polly, removing the staff from Aaron's throat. "Go find Vince and he'll show you to your dormorotories."

Typo with "dormorotories".

He then noticed the top half of the bigger circle was somehow red.

I think I recognize this symbol...

Aaron's eyes drifted over to a room labeled M8. Silently wondering why he didn't get one of the higher-up rooms, he quickly headed towards it.

And I feel like the choice of 'M8' for the room number wasn't entirely coincidental, heh. On a side note, the assumption that even young commoners from backwater towns like Aaron can read feels like another of those things that isn't really helping with the idea that this is taking place a thousand years ago - although I guess to be fair all he has to do is recognize a single number and letter.

The Scyther took notice and chittered, pacing the flat a scythe on his knee.

A few typos with the latter part of the sentence.

Louis, Callie, and Atta seem like fun characters! I hope we get to learn what exactly Necrozma cultists believe in at some point.

That night, Aaron lay in his bed, listening to the others in his bunk. Lewis muttered obscenities in his sleep. Callie muttered incantations to Necrozma. Atta simply snarled. Their Pokemon seemed to be the only ones who slept normally.

You have "Lewis" instead of "Louis" here.

The Buneary gave a yell and tried to dodge, but the Force Palm managed to connect, causing them to fall over. Riolu recoiled from the empathic feedback, but pounced on the Buneary as they screamed, attempting to bite their throat. The Buneary suddenly gave a kick with their powerful legs and flipped the grappling Pokemon over so the Buneary was on top.

Instinctively, Riolu tried to kick the Buneary's side. Suddenly, Riolu's leg erupted into flame as he kicked the Buneary's torso with a sickening crack. The Buneary was sent flying with a pained scream before crashing, and trying to crawl and limp away. Riolu recovered from the empathetic shock and wondering what it was he'd even done before dashing over and giving a Force Palm straight to the Buneary's neck. He recoiled. The Buneary fell limp.

Riolu gasped and panted, clutching his body from the amount of feedback aches he felt. It was a while before he had recovered enough to slowly drag the Buneary out of the bushes.

So, I don't think I've ever seen the Riolu line have this empathetic feedback thing before in fanfiction - their aura ability is usually just portrayed as a pure strength without any drawbacks - so that's pretty neat. However, I'm not sure this little scuffle does a particularly good job of showcasing it, as the fight would've gone exactly the same way had that element not been there, given that Riolu immediately shrugs off the feedback in the first two instances without it affecting the flow of the battle in any way.

Also, it might have been interesting if we got to see some of Riolu's thoughts or emotions at having killed a fellow sapient Pokemon, especially given his initial apprehensiveness. (At least, I'm assuming the Buneary was sapient based off of Metagross' line about all Pokemon being able to talk.)

Aaron kept staring at the training dummy. It seemed to stare back. He looked around at the other kids and their Pokemon preparing. He was alone. He looked back at the training dummy and his hands glowed with Auric power. He yelled, rushed at the training dummy... and tripped, falling flat on his back.

Dummy tires of your aimless shenanigans. YOU WON! You earned 0 XP and and 0 gold.

Louis and Rook were slicing up a dummy, Callie and Munchkin were pelting one with Obscura bolts and fire, Atta and Stabby were gnawing and stabbing at one, and Eve... Weird. She was lying on the ground clutching her head, with Iuroidea tending to her. Did she trip too? Maybe-

It's kind of implied that Gabriel was the one who did this to Eve, but I wonder if her headache might've been caused by her telepathic powers backfiring somehow. In either case, it feels a little weird that she's never mentioned again in the rest of the chapter.

Polly suddenly got in Aaron's face with a wicked grin. "They eat them!"

Aaron screamed. And screamed, and screamed, and screamed for an unusually long time until Polly said "Kid, relax, relax, they're not going to get you."

Doesn't really seem realistic to me that Aaron would have quite that extreme a reaction to a simple jump-scare. If you wanted to show him as being unusually jumpy, I think just a single scream and a startled leap backwards would suffice. (Or maybe his Auric scream ability somehow makes him more likely to respond to surprises with extended screaming fits?)

Rilou's mother beamed.The other Lucario mumbled amongst themselves.

Missing a space between 'beamed' and 'The'.

It's just another Pokemon, and we Pokemon have strengths, weaknesses, all that that can be advantages and disadvantages."

Duplication of 'that' here.

He came across his parents in a battle for their lives. Nearby was a cowering Lucario. Before them was a large reptilian Pokemon, orange scales, large wings, and flaming tail illuminated by the moonlight. The Pokemon breathed jets of flame at Riolu's parents, Ginji zipping out of the way keeping him distracted with Speed Boosts, and his mother lobbing Aura Spheres at his head.

It's nice to see a member of the Charmander line being used in a role outside of a starter Pokemon or PMD protagonist.

It was then, however, that Metagross turned to the others. ~There is one thing I sensed I should note.~


"What is it?" said Polly.


~One of the murderers had powers like your own.~

Hmm, I'm wondering how exactly Metagross can sense this. Does using aura powers leave behind some sort of detectable residue?

There before him, with massive wings, crooked talons, and sharp beak, was her. The dread Yveltal, death and destruction goddess of Kalos.

I wonder if the idea that gods are associated with specific regions is just a human conceit and the gods don't consider themselves bound to specific nations; after all, Yveltal seems to be concerning herself with a Johtonian who, at least in the canon version of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, doesn't go on to have any impact beyond their own region, as far as I can tell from the Bulbapedia summary of the movie.

On another note, I don't feel like there's really a lot going on in this scene, aside from Yveltal being vaguely ominous. There's confirmation that Aaron has seen death in his past, but the line about Aaron's father believing in Dialga but having something bad happen to him anyways already suggested that. One question which doesn't get addressed in this scene is why Yveltal would want to contact Aaron in particular; presumably loads of people experience a lot of death in their lives but never get dream-visions from Yveltal.

The next morning, Aaron was sitting by himself, exhausted, despite the insistence rom the other members of his group to join them.

Typo with "rom".

The small purple creature watched the small biped and large quadruped head off from their hiding place. It couldn't understand the words of the creatures of this dimension, though was starting to pick up a few. What they did know was that the place the two were going had food.

I'm guessing this is the Poipole (?) introduced in the Missing Polly Madness bonus? It'll be interesting to see what effect they end up having on the narrative, as I'm guessing they weren't originally planned to be part of the story.

Ginji wasn't so phased and hurled a rock at the Charizard, hitting him badly and causing him to swoop out of view.


"Yeah, that's right, run away, you overgrown reptil- urk!"


A wicked sharp blade of air left a massive, bleeding gash across Ginji's chest.

I'm not entirely sure what happened here - I'm guessing the Charizard flew behind some sort of cover to get out of view, circled around, and attacked Ginji from behind. But it's hard to tell given the lack of scenery description in this part. It seems to me like it'd be really improbable for the Charizard to be able to turn around and get the drop on Ginji immediately after he flies out of his view, which is what the text seems to imply is happening.

It had been several days since Ginji's death. As was customary with pack deaths he had been left in a quiet spot in the forest for nature to do the rest, but the impact of his death more than lingered.

This custom doesn't strike me as being a wise idea. In some historical cases of leopards attacking humans, it's because they became accustomed to the taste by eating unburied corpses (according to famed hunter Jim Corbett, at least), and it seems to me that something similar might've happened here with the Charizard.

She couldn't even take care of her child anymore. Riolu would barely look at her anyway.

When I first read this, I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be Riolu's mother's warped perception, or if Riolu was actually barely looking at her anymore for some reason. Looking at it a second time, I'm pretty sure it's the former, but I think this could still be a little clearer in the text, as it's a little disorienting how suddenly the narration switches from general summary to being from Riolu's mother's perspective.

It was night. It was dark. She walked far and out until she reached the tallest cliff on the mountain.


And jumped.

So, you mentioned wanting feedback about the suicide scene. I wouldn't say it's offensive, but it does come off as a little gratuitous to me. It seemed like it was only there to get Riolu's mother out of the way so he can go off and have adventures, which I think could've been accomplished without killing her off. Probably the biggest thing contributing to this feeling was how Riolu's mother's feelings of depression and subsequent suicide are just summarized in a few quick lines, which makes it seem like the text is treating her in a sort of disposable way. Especially in contrast to how Ginji's death was treated, which felt like it was given a lot more narrative weight (and the fact that he has an actual name whereas Riolu's mother doesn't contributes to this discrepancy).

Time for some overall thoughts! It does seem like the narrative is really starting to get going at this point, what with Dale's murder and Riolu leaving his pack. My only complaint about the pacing is that it feels like it's a little too fast - it might've been nice to see more of Aaron's life in his home village, to get a better contrast between that and his new life at the monastery. Then I feel like you could've expanded some of the scenes at the monastery to give us a better idea of Louis, Calliem, and Atta's characters, as they're still pretty one dimensional right now. And on the Riolu front, I wouldn't have minded seeing more of what life was like in the Lucario tribe.

Moving onto the main characters, one interesting contrast between Aaron and Riolu is how passive the former is in comparison to the latter. Aaron really just goes with the flow and lets events wash over him, which makes his character a little uninteresting to me. Almost all the events that have happened to him have been the result of other people's choices - It's Polly's idea that he comes to the monastery to train as an Aura Guardian, he's chosen by Polly for the demonstration with Metagross rather than volunteering, he's assigned to the room with the other 'freaks' rather than choosing to be with them, Gabriel just chooses to target Aaron rather than him doing something to get Gabriel's attention, and he's sent to go get the ball in chapter five rather than volunteer to do it (which he might have done as a way of earning the respect of the other kids if the woods are considered a dangerous place to go into). Riolu on the other hand appears to have more agency, choosing to blaze kick the elder, follow the Charizard-hunting group, and then leave the pack on his own.

It's certainly a valid choice to have a timid and passive main character, but I think they can be challenging to pull off well, given that you have to rely more on the character's inner thoughts for characterization than their actions. One other thing is that I really have no idea how old Aaron's supposed to be - I'm guessing around 8 or so but it's hard to say. If he was on the younger side, I guess it would help explain his general timidity, especially if everyone around him was older.

Something that's similar about Aaron and Riolu is their status as social outcasts. I thought this was a nice way to link them together, but I feel like their ostracization wasn't always portrayed with as much nuance or depth as you might expect given how it seems to be one of the major themes of the story. In particular, the scenes where Riolu's mother's brother and then that other old Lucario show up specifically to insult Riolu, his mother or Ginji feel rather blunt. Especially given that the old Lucario is immediately eaten by a Charizard afterwards. Another thing is that I still don't really understand how Aura users are treated in society at large. It's mentioned that Obscurics have a bad reputation, but what about the other types of Aura? Was Aaron's home village an anomaly in not knowing about Aura guardians? Did everyone in Aaron's village consider him to be a freak, or just a few kids? Were they jealous of his powers, or afraid of him?

Regardless of my criticisms, I'm still interested in seeing what'll happen next in the story. I'm especially eager to see more of Callie and Atta. Who knows? Maybe Aaron will end up converting to become a Necrozma cultist!
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Hello Umbramatic! I've been quietly following this fic for a while, so I thought I'd finally post my thoughts on it.

Aaah! Thanks, I really appreciate it!



This is a charming introduction! It kinda reminded me of the narration style of The Princess Bride.

Ahaha, thanks, glad you got that vibe. I don't remember exactly what I was intending to ape with that intro. Maybe Big Fish.



So, I guess this is the point in the review where I admit that I've never seen Lucario and the Mystery of Mew before, but it seems like things are different enough anyways that that might not matter too much.

Yeah, this is meant to be acessible to people who haven't seen the movie, as I'm well aware not everyone follows the anime.



It feels a little awkward for Riolu's mother to only be referred to as "the female Lucario" in this section, and for her brother to be referred to as 'the second Lucario' or 'the male Lucario'. I get that you want Ginji having an actual name to hint at how he had a human trainer at one point, (and maybe to serve as something that further separates him from the Lucario pack), but I feel like it might've been more natural to just let the wild Lucario have names with a clearly different naming convention. As it stands, this isn't too big a deal in the first five chapters, since there haven't really been scenes with multiple distinct Lucario to keep track of aside from this one.

Yeah, I kinda wanted to justify Riolu not having a name, and to kinda highlight the cultural divide between the pack and Ginji. Those Lucario did have a substitute for names but... I never worked the explanation in. My bad. It's showing up later though.



'Nepotist' doesn't feel like quite the right word here, given that Riolu is literally this Lucario's nephew (unless he was just calling his mother 'Sis' informally?) and he's getting rather the opposite of favorable treatment from him.

There is probably a better word for that but I don't know what.



I think it's an interesting detail how messy the naming conventions for the different Auric powers are - it gives it more of a realistic vibe and the sense that there's a bit of history behind it, like perhaps Ghost and Dark powers were only recently recognized as distinct phenomena which is the reason why they're both called 'Obscura'.

Hehe, that is indeed the case! The concept and naming conventions aren't 100% mine - I adapted it from an RP I've been running with for years. Same RP the homage characters come from actually.



Typo with "oter" here.



I think a word got dropped here.



Typo with "dormorotories".

-insert all the other typos here-

why do i do this



I think I recognize this symbol...

Good. It will be important later.

And I feel like the choice of 'M8' for the room number wasn't entirely coincidental, heh. On a side note, the assumption that even young commoners from backwater towns like Aaron can read feels like another of those things that isn't really helping with the idea that this is taking place a thousand years ago - although I guess to be fair all he has to do is recognize a single number and letter.

He can recognize enough yeah.



Louis, Callie, and Atta seem like fun characters! I hope we get to learn what exactly Necrozma cultists believe in at some point.

You will find out!


So, I don't think I've ever seen the Riolu line have this empathetic feedback thing before in fanfiction - their aura ability is usually just portrayed as a pure strength without any drawbacks - so that's pretty neat. However, I'm not sure this little scuffle does a particularly good job of showcasing it, as the fight would've gone exactly the same way had that element not been there, given that Riolu immediately shrugs off the feedback in the first two instances without it affecting the flow of the battle in any way.

Yeah, I'll try to explore the implications a bit better in later chapters.

Also, it might have been interesting if we got to see some of Riolu's thoughts or emotions at having killed a fellow sapient Pokemon, especially given his initial apprehensiveness. (At least, I'm assuming the Buneary was sapient based off of Metagross' line about all Pokemon being able to talk.)

See, Yangverse Pokemon are sapient, but still noticeably animalistic in their thought process and behavior, and this shapes their morals - such as killing another Pokemon for food being no big deal.



Dummy tires of your aimless shenanigans. YOU WON! You earned 0 XP and and 0 gold.

Too bad this isn't a Pacifist Run.

It's kind of implied that Gabriel was the one who did this to Eve, but I wonder if her headache might've been caused by her telepathic powers backfiring somehow. In either case, it feels a little weird that she's never mentioned again in the rest of the chapter.

It will be revealed next chapter which of your theories are true.

Doesn't really seem realistic to me that Aaron would have quite that extreme a reaction to a simple jump-scare. If you wanted to show him as being unusually jumpy, I think just a single scream and a startled leap backwards would suffice. (Or maybe his Auric scream ability somehow makes him more likely to respond to surprises with extended screaming fits?)

Well, so much for that gag. *crumples up paper, tosses into rubbish bin*



It's nice to see a member of the Charmander line being used in a role outside of a starter Pokemon or PMD protagonist.


Yeah I thought "wouldn't a Charizard antagonist be fun?" This will be explored later.


Hmm, I'm wondering how exactly Metagross can sense this. Does using aura powers leave behind some sort of detectable residue?

They do, yeah.



I wonder if the idea that gods are associated with specific regions is just a human conceit and the gods don't consider themselves bound to specific nations; after all, Yveltal seems to be concerning herself with a Johtonian who, at least in the canon version of Lucario and the Mystery of Mew, doesn't go on to have any impact beyond their own region, as far as I can tell from the Bulbapedia summary of the movie.

It is indeed a puny human conceit!

On another note, I don't feel like there's really a lot going on in this scene, aside from Yveltal being vaguely ominous. There's confirmation that Aaron has seen death in his past, but the line about Aaron's father believing in Dialga but having something bad happen to him anyways already suggested that. One question which doesn't get addressed in this scene is why Yveltal would want to contact Aaron in particular; presumably loads of people experience a lot of death in their lives but never get dream-visions from Yveltal.

I hate having to say this in this instance, but this will be elaborated on later.


I'm guessing this is the Poipole (?) introduced in the Missing Polly Madness bonus? It'll be interesting to see what effect they end up having on the narrative, as I'm guessing they weren't originally planned to be part of the story.

-looks surreptitiously at outline rewrites partially to accommodate said Poipole- ...Maybe.

I'm not entirely sure what happened here - I'm guessing the Charizard flew behind some sort of cover to get out of view, circled around, and attacked Ginji from behind. But it's hard to tell given the lack of scenery description in this part. It seems to me like it'd be really improbable for the Charizard to be able to turn around and get the drop on Ginji immediately after he flies out of his view, which is what the text seems to imply is happening.

I assume cover yeah, sorry if that was unclear.



This custom doesn't strike me as being a wise idea. In some historical cases of leopards attacking humans, it's because they became accustomed to the taste by eating unburied corpses (according to famed hunter Jim Corbett, at least), and it seems to me that something similar might've happened here with the Charizard.

...You have a point but I dunno what else they'd do with bodies. I skipped burials for being too human.



When I first read this, I wasn't sure if this was supposed to be Riolu's mother's warped perception, or if Riolu was actually barely looking at her anymore for some reason. Looking at it a second time, I'm pretty sure it's the former, but I think this could still be a little clearer in the text, as it's a little disorienting how suddenly the narration switches from general summary to being from Riolu's mother's perspective.

It's perspective yeah. I'll be careful about that next time.



So, you mentioned wanting feedback about the suicide scene. I wouldn't say it's offensive, but it does come off as a little gratuitous to me. It seemed like it was only there to get Riolu's mother out of the way so he can go off and have adventures, which I think could've been accomplished without killing her off. Probably the biggest thing contributing to this feeling was how Riolu's mother's feelings of depression and subsequent suicide are just summarized in a few quick lines, which makes it seem like the text is treating her in a sort of disposable way. Especially in contrast to how Ginji's death was treated, which felt like it was given a lot more narrative weight (and the fact that he has an actual name whereas Riolu's mother doesn't contributes to this discrepancy).

Alright. That's a little embarrassing. Definitely being way more careful next time.

Time for some overall thoughts! It does seem like the narrative is really starting to get going at this point, what with Dale's murder and Riolu leaving his pack. My only complaint about the pacing is that it feels like it's a little too fast - it might've been nice to see more of Aaron's life in his home village, to get a better contrast between that and his new life at the monastery. Then I feel like you could've expanded some of the scenes at the monastery to give us a better idea of Louis, Calliem, and Atta's characters, as they're still pretty one dimensional right now. And on the Riolu front, I wouldn't have minded seeing more of what life was like in the Lucario tribe.

Yeah, I can often afford to slow down... You will be seeing more of the other characters on Aaron's half of the story next chapter though!

Moving onto the main characters, one interesting contrast between Aaron and Riolu is how passive the former is in comparison to the latter. Aaron really just goes with the flow and lets events wash over him, which makes his character a little uninteresting to me. Almost all the events that have happened to him have been the result of other people's choices - It's Polly's idea that he comes to the monastery to train as an Aura Guardian, he's chosen by Polly for the demonstration with Metagross rather than volunteering, he's assigned to the room with the other 'freaks' rather than choosing to be with them, Gabriel just chooses to target Aaron rather than him doing something to get Gabriel's attention, and he's sent to go get the ball in chapter five rather than volunteer to do it (which he might have done as a way of earning the respect of the other kids if the woods are considered a dangerous place to go into). Riolu on the other hand appears to have more agency, choosing to blaze kick the elder, follow the Charizard-hunting group, and then leave the pack on his own.

It's certainly a valid choice to have a timid and passive main character, but I think they can be challenging to pull off well, given that you have to rely more on the character's inner thoughts for characterization than their actions. One other thing is that I really have no idea how old Aaron's supposed to be - I'm guessing around 8 or so but it's hard to say. If he was on the younger side, I guess it would help explain his general timidity, especially if everyone around him was older.

You raise a good point... Aaron's definitely younger than the other kids (he's 8, they're about 10-12) and rather timid, but I will definitely make him more active, and have some good opportunities next chapter.

Something that's similar about Aaron and Riolu is their status as social outcasts. I thought this was a nice way to link them together, but I feel like their ostracization wasn't always portrayed with as much nuance or depth as you might expect given how it seems to be one of the major themes of the story. In particular, the scenes where Riolu's mother's brother and then that other old Lucario show up specifically to insult Riolu, his mother or Ginji feel rather blunt. Especially given that the old Lucario is immediately eaten by a Charizard afterwards.

Yeeeeah I will work more on the nuance in later chapters.

Another thing is that I still don't really understand how Aura users are treated in society at large. It's mentioned that Obscurics have a bad reputation, but what about the other types of Aura? Was Aaron's home village an anomaly in not knowing about Aura guardians? Did everyone in Aaron's village consider him to be a freak, or just a few kids? Were they jealous of his powers, or afraid of him?

This is another thing that will be answered later!

Regardless of my criticisms, I'm still interested in seeing what'll happen next in the story. I'm especially eager to see more of Callie and Atta. Who knows? Maybe Aaron will end up converting to become a Necrozma cultist!

You'll see! After the next chapter of Rude Awakening is done. Which will be after Let's Go Eevee has stopped taking over my life.

But glad you're enjoying!
 

Sike Saner

Peace to the Mountain
"Right," said Aaron. My powers are more like Louis', here, watch..."


He started charging a ball of Aura between his palms. He focused on it, containing it.


Then the power suddenly swelled. The sphere swelled. Aaron couldn't contain it any longer.

No aura spheres at the table! :p

His mother's eyes widened. Ginji gave a beaky bird grin. "Well then! You learned one of my moves!"


"...I... Did?"


"Pokemon can learn moves passed down from their parents," said his mother. "Even if they're of different species."


"Yes! And you got my Blaze Kick!" said Ginji.

With a little practice, maybe he could have roast rabbit next time!

A glowing blue and white webbed portal lay before them, and emerging from the portal was a purple, almost insectoid dragon. The dragon gave a literally unearthly screech and charged.

Naganadel! :D Those are nifty. Also, I seem to recall having read somewhere that apparently their brains are in their butts?? If that's true that makes them at least five times better. :B

Through the portal came several smaller purple creatures with spouts on their heads, and all sprayed toxic sludge in the direction of the Aura Guardians.

On the one hand, poipole are cute. On the other, that's an entire swarm of stabby-headed things that shoot poisonous glue. Hmm.

Henry tried to peck at Dale's Sawsbuck's remains when Vince gave him a stern look and he backed off with a disappointed coo.

Henry pls

A Necrozma cult, hmm? Hopefully they're not staring at the sun trying to absorb the light. :p

Stabby is such a great name for anything to have. I find myself wanting to believe that's short for Stabby McGee.

Riolu cared about his family; that much is certain. (I'm sure he still does, of course.) I wonder how far he might've gone if that old fart had been able to do more than just badmouth and vaguely threaten them.

Inclined, meanwhile, to think pink-haired kid isn't actually a kid. Or at least not a human kid?? Maybe a couple of thousands of years still constitutes childhood for pink kittycat monsters.
 

NebulaDreams

A Dense Irritating Miniature Beast of Burden
Alright! I’ve seen you a lot around the Serebii Discord server, and I’ve followed your updates pretty closely, so I thought it was high time I got around to reading some of your work! While I’m not familiar with Lucario and the Mystery of Mew’s specifics, I got the gist of this story just fine, and seeing how it takes place in the past 1,000 years before the present, this can easily stand alone as its own self contained story. I know as much that this fic features a Young Sir Aaron and Riolu before they met, so I had some context for this. Now, let’s get into my general thoughts.

There is potential with this story. The parallel narratives between Aaron and Riolu are an interesting stylistic choice, as not a lot of fics take place from both the human’s and Pokemon’s perspective. Making most of the Pokemon sapient with their own personalities instead of window dressing is a step in the right direction that more fics should follow an example of. There are a lot of neat side characters, as well a sense of mystery that shows promise in the future chapters, and I’m curious to see how the two will eventually cross paths. However, I felt the execution left much to be desired, but I’ll get into something I really liked first: the supporting cast.

I have a lot of praise for the side characters, as most of them felt unique, especially the pack of misfits in M8 with both the trainers and their Pokemon partners. Gabriel was delightfully assholish as well. The supporting character I liked the most was the Metagross, since he had the most defined personality, having a sagely air to him, but not above a bit of banter either. He serves as a great comedic foil to the other Pokemon and the aura guardians. The dialogue between them was consistently great, and was the highlight of this fic for me.

While there were good elements at play here and good story ideas in general, the way they were delivered could be improved on immensely. The first core problem I found was the pacing.

The chain of events moved way too fast for me to properly get invested in the characters. The introduction to Aaron felt too sudden without much scene setting, and after that, most of Chapter 1 felt like exposition, which is something else I should address. You put a lot of focus on the Aura Guardians conveying exposition about their powers in subsequent chapters, and while it’s probably important to set up the rules for the rest of the story, some of the scenes, particularly the ones with Carol and Polly explaining Types and the Tree Of Beginning felt too reliant on it in lieu of what could’ve been good character development for Aaron. Sure, it’s true to the games and the anime as far as I know, but it isn’t conveyed in the most natural way.

As well as that, the prose felt a bit too sparse for me to immerse myself in the setting, especially with the Lucario tribe.

Speaking of characterization, for all my praises towards the side characters, I felt both of the protagonists were lacking. Both of them have interesting baggage. Aaron has to deal with his unrefined aura powers as well as his status of being a freak, and Riolu is the ugly duckling in his tribe because of his mixed parents, and is cut out from most of it. That would’ve made me emotionally invested if you delved deeper into their emotions, their actions, some of the minutiae of their ordinary lives as well as their psychology, but it wasn’t explored as much as it should’ve been.

I agree with Walrein in that Aaron felt rather passive with Riolu feeling more active, but even without that element, there’s not much to Aaron that makes him unique, as he virtually gets outshined by the supporting cast. With what Riolu has to go through, particularly his first hunt with Buneary, you could’ve banked a lot more on his thoughts about having to kill for sustenance, especially when you’ve established Pokemon are sapient (or maybe that wild Buneary wasn’t fully sapient). This would’ve driven home what’s at stake for his kind, and the harsh reality of his situation contrasted with the love of his family who provides solace for him.

The faults with the fast pacing and the lack of characterization in the important places all came to a head at the end of chapter 5 with both of Riolu’s parents dead and him setting off. To me, that really left a sour taste in my mouth after reading it, for multiple reasons.

Firstly, there wasn’t much of an emotional reason to care about either characters. There is potential for good character drama, as they have to deal with their pack shunning them, but we rarely got to know anything about them aside from the stuff about Ginji’s trainer, which is vague at best. We don’t see what their normal lives are like in the pack, not enough for me to find comfort in it before crap eventually hits the fan. We don’t know much about their interests, goals or ambitions outside the story, aside from raising Riolu, I guess. We don’t even know why Riolu is so emotionally attached to them, given that the pacing doesn’t allow them time to develop and have a chemistry that makes you believe they’re in the same family.

When Ginji’s death happens, I got the feeling it was meant to be a tragic scene and a major turning point for Riolu with those last words of his, but again, they rang hollow because Ginji wasn’t a well fleshed-out character of his own. When he says something like “You’re gonna do big things beyond this pack,” what things? I have no idea about what any of their ambitions or interests are, or what Ginji really wants him to do once he’s outside the pack. Make a vow with a trainer? Forge your own path and find your own inner strength? Although that had some heavy narrative weight, tying it together with more specific details about the characters would’ve made for a more effective scene.

With the mother’s suicide as well, not only did that come completely out of left field, since we didn’t know enough about her or how she built up such a bad reputation with the tribe for it to make the most narrative sense (there are parts about her not hunting enough, but it’s told instead of shown), it was really tonally jarring and brought me out of the story, even though the chapter had its fair share of grisly moments beforehand.

With the aftermath, what should’ve been an emotional gut punch for us felt rushed, and came across like the deaths of his parents were just an inciting incident for him to set off on his own and give him an excuse to meet Aaron later. Since we didn’t get to know his psychology that well either, which is important for a main character, it felt like all of the drama with his parents and his upbringing had built up to nothing.

When writing character death in this manner, you really need to make it feel earned if you’re trying to invoke sympathy for the protagonist. Otherwise, it comes across as cheap and pointless. I learned this lesson the hard way by doing something much more disastrous. There's still potential to add in more depth in a later chapter, when the grief does eventually catch up to Riolu. Just anything that makes him remember his parents fondly and yearn for the good old days would add a lot that felt absent from previous chapters.

I apologise if the tone of this review leaned on the negative side of things. I know you said this story felt very personally important to you, and I applaud that. Overall, you did a decent job here. There is a solid premise. There’s a wellspring of great ideas for the worldbuilding and the scenarios the characters will eventually get involved in.

I don’t want you to come away from this review feeling discouraged. You’ve already got the building blocks for a great story here. You just need to expand on what you’ve built up and make the later chapters count so there’s a payoff for sticking through this. Having Riolu and Aaron meet up would be an excellent opportunity to finally get to know both of their characters better. Plus, since the story is already picking up momentum at the end of both character’s first arcs, there’ll be a lot more to look forward to. I know you can do this.

I hope you found this review helpful, and good luck with your future writing endeavours.
 
Last edited:

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Overdue review replies!

No aura spheres at the table! :p

If you're a Ghost type or some kind of aura vampire aura spheres are a delicious meal though!



With a little practice, maybe he could have roast rabbit next time!

Mmmmm, roast buneary

Naganadel! :D Those are nifty. Also, I seem to recall having read somewhere that apparently their brains are in their butts?? If that's true that makes them at least five times better. :B

Weird alien biology is super fun

On the one hand, poipole are cute. On the other, that's an entire swarm of stabby-headed things that shoot poisonous glue. Hmm.

A dilemma of the ages

Henry pls

He's a raven. Ravens gotta eat.

A Necrozma cult, hmm? Hopefully they're not staring at the sun trying to absorb the light. :p

Alas that is not one of their rituals, as much as I'd like it to be.

Stabby is such a great name for anything to have. I find myself wanting to believe that's short for Stabby McGee.

That on the other hand is canon.

Riolu cared about his family; that much is certain. (I'm sure he still does, of course.) I wonder how far he might've gone if that old fart had been able to do more than just badmouth and vaguely threaten them.

He's not sure, so he's outta here.

Inclined, meanwhile, to think pink-haired kid isn't actually a kid. Or at least not a human kid?? Maybe a couple of thousands of years still constitutes childhood for pink kittycat monsters.

You'll find out next chapter. ;)

Alright! I’ve seen you a lot around the Serebii Discord server, and I’ve followed your updates pretty closely, so I thought it was high time I got around to reading some of your work! While I’m not familiar with Lucario and the Mystery of Mew’s specifics, I got the gist of this story just fine, and seeing how it takes place in the past 1,000 years before the present, this can easily stand alone as its own self contained story. I know as much that this fic features a Young Sir Aaron and Riolu before they met, so I had some context for this. Now, let’s get into my general thoughts.

Good to see this story stands on its own without knowing the source material! I had a problem balancing that with that in Rude Awakening haha

There is potential with this story. The parallel narratives between Aaron and Riolu are an interesting stylistic choice, as not a lot of fics take place from both the human’s and Pokemon’s perspective. Making most of the Pokemon sapient with their own personalities instead of window dressing is a step in the right direction that more fics should follow an example of. There are a lot of neat side characters, as well a sense of mystery that shows promise in the future chapters, and I’m curious to see how the two will eventually cross paths. However, I felt the execution left much to be desired, but I’ll get into something I really liked first: the supporting cast.

I have a lot of praise for the side characters, as most of them felt unique, especially the pack of misfits in M8 with both the trainers and their Pokemon partners. Gabriel was delightfully assholish as well. The supporting character I liked the most was the Metagross, since he had the most defined personality, having a sagely air to him, but not above a bit of banter either. He serves as a great comedic foil to the other Pokemon and the aura guardians. The dialogue between them was consistently great, and was the highlight of this fic for me.

Glad those elements at least made things more enjoysable, they're some of my favorite parts to write. You'll definitely be seeing more of Metagross especially.

While there were good elements at play here and good story ideas in general, the way they were delivered could be improved on immensely. The first core problem I found was the pacing.

The chain of events moved way too fast for me to properly get invested in the characters. The introduction to Aaron felt too sudden without much scene setting, and after that, most of Chapter 1 felt like exposition, which is something else I should address. You put a lot of focus on the Aura Guardians conveying exposition about their powers in subsequent chapters, and while it’s probably important to set up the rules for the rest of the story, some of the scenes, particularly the ones with Carol and Polly explaining Types and the Tree Of Beginning felt too reliant on it in lieu of what could’ve been good character development for Aaron. Sure, it’s true to the games and the anime as far as I know, but it isn’t conveyed in the most natural way.

UMBRA HAS A HABIT OF RUSHING THINGS, MORE AT 11

More seriously, I know this is a problem of mine, and I'm trying to improve, and would like advice on improving.

As well as that, the prose felt a bit too sparse for me to immerse myself in the setting, especially with the Lucario tribe.

Prose is something I'm also bad at and m open to advice on

Speaking of characterization, for all my praises towards the side characters, I felt both of the protagonists were lacking. Both of them have interesting baggage. Aaron has to deal with his unrefined aura powers as well as his status of being a freak, and Riolu is the ugly duckling in his tribe because of his mixed parents, and is cut out from most of it. That would’ve made me emotionally invested if you delved deeper into their emotions, their actions, some of the minutiae of their ordinary lives as well as their psychology, but it wasn’t explored as much as it should’ve been.

I agree with Walrein in that Aaron felt rather passive with Riolu feeling more active, but even without that element, there’s not much to Aaron that makes him unique, as he virtually gets outshined by the supporting cast. With what Riolu has to go through, particularly his first hunt with Buneary, you could’ve banked a lot more on his thoughts about having to kill for sustenance, especially when you’ve established Pokemon are sapient (or maybe that wild Buneary wasn’t fully sapient). This would’ve driven home what’s at stake for his kind, and the harsh reality of his situation contrasted with the love of his family who provides solace for him.

I recognize this issue from Walrein's review and have been working on making Aaron at least a more active intresting character in Chapter 6, and will continue to do so for both Aaron and Riolu in future chapters.

The faults with the fast pacing and the lack of characterization in the important places all came to a head at the end of chapter 5 with both of Riolu’s parents dead and him setting off. To me, that really left a sour taste in my mouth after reading it, for multiple reasons.

Firstly, there wasn’t much of an emotional reason to care about either characters. There is potential for good character drama, as they have to deal with their pack shunning them, but we rarely got to know anything about them aside from the stuff about Ginji’s trainer, which is vague at best. We don’t see what their normal lives are like in the pack, not enough for me to find comfort in it before crap eventually hits the fan. We don’t know much about their interests, goals or ambitions outside the story, aside from raising Riolu, I guess. We don’t even know why Riolu is so emotionally attached to them, given that the pacing doesn’t allow them time to develop and have a chemistry that makes you believe they’re in the same family.

When Ginji’s death happens, I got the feeling it was meant to be a tragic scene and a major turning point for Riolu with those last words of his, but again, they rang hollow because Ginji wasn’t a well fleshed-out character of his own. When he says something like “You’re gonna do big things beyond this pack,” what things? I have no idea about what any of their ambitions or interests are, or what Ginji really wants him to do once he’s outside the pack. Make a vow with a trainer? Forge your own path and find your own inner strength? Although that had some heavy narrative weight, tying it together with more specific details about the characters would’ve made for a more effective scene.

With the mother’s suicide as well, not only did that come completely out of left field, since we didn’t know enough about her or how she built up such a bad reputation with the tribe for it to make the most narrative sense (there are parts about her not hunting enough, but it’s told instead of shown), it was really tonally jarring and brought me out of the story, even though the chapter had its fair share of grisly moments beforehand.

With the aftermath, what should’ve been an emotional gut punch for us felt rushed, and came across like the deaths of his parents were just an inciting incident for him to set off on his own and give him an excuse to meet Aaron later. Since we didn’t get to know his psychology that well either, which is important for a main character, it felt like all of the drama with his parents and his upbringing had built up to nothing.

When writing character death in this manner, you really need to make it feel earned if you’re trying to invoke sympathy for the protagonist. Otherwise, it comes across as cheap and pointless. I learned this lesson the hard way by doing something much more disastrous. There's still potential to add in more depth in a later chapter, when the grief does eventually catch up to Riolu. Just anything that makes him remember his parents fondly and yearn for the good old days would add a lot that felt absent from previous chapters.

Yeah, I noted from Walrein's review I handled the deaths of Riolu's parents... Poorly. I will attempt to treat later deaths in this fic with the gravitas they deserve, and I will follow your advice for how later chapters deal with the subject of Riolu's parents.

I apologise if the tone of this review leaned on the negative side of things. I know you said this story felt very personally important to you, and I applaud that. Overall, you did a decent job here. There is a solid premise. There’s a wellspring of great ideas for the worldbuilding and the scenarios the characters will eventually get involved in.

I don’t want you to come away from this review feeling discouraged. You’ve already got the building blocks for a great story here. You just need to expand on what you’ve built up and make the later chapters count so there’s a payoff for sticking through this. Having Riolu and Aaron meet up would be an excellent opportunity to finally get to know both of their characters better. Plus, since the story is already picking up momentum at the end of both character’s first arcs, there’ll be a lot more to look forward to. I know you can do this.

I hope you found this review helpful, and good luck with your future writing endeavours.

Thank you so much for the feedback and encouragement. I've already taken some of it into account in Chapter 6... Which will be dropping soon. Very soon.
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
And here's Chapter 6! Sorry this got delayed so much - by life, finishing up Rude Awakening, and starting up a special secret project.

Anyway, this chapter is an experiment in multiple things, particularly in dealing with two bits of feedback I've gotten: showing off and expanding on the side cast and making Aaron a more active and intresting character. There are also some characters and scenes I've been really been looking forward to introduce for a while, so here we go:

Chapter 6: Strength


Aaron was staring down the dummy. It seemed to stare back. Desperate, he sized it up, looking for a weak point. The dummy did not yield.


Finally Aaron's fist charged with Aura, and he yelled, barreled toward the dummy. The dummy broke... But the recoil sent Aaron flat on his back.


"Really trying to show off, huh?" said a voice.


Aaron looked up to see Lewis and Rook approaching.


"You don't get it!" said Aaron, sitting up. "I have to do this!"


"Why?"


"Dangerous stuff is happening! If I don't get stronger people will get hurt!"


"You talking the weird stuff you saw the other day? The stuff the senior Aura Guardians were all worried about?"


"...Y-yeah."


Rook clicked his scythes together awkwardly.


"I hate to say it but you don't stand a chance," said Lewis. "Whatever killed that guy's not to be messed with by kids like us. So don't be stupid and leave it to the adults."


"But I'm the one who found the dead guy! It's on me! And I'm tired of being weak!"


"Listen. You're just gonna get yourself killed. Give up like I did."


"...Like you did?"


"...You heard nothing. Absolutely nothing. Stop making things up."


"But you just said-"


"Yadayada I can't hear you! I'm out of here."


Lewis stormed off. Rook turned to Aaron and uttered a "Scyther scythe..." in an attempt to tell Aaron something, then chittered sadly and loped off after his human companion.


"I gotta find someone else to help..." said Aaron.


----------


Aaron was looking around the monastery, trying to find someone who could help him in his quest. Those he did find, however, either did not acknowledge him or said "sorry"or the like before moving on. Finally, however, he found Callie and Munchkin.


"You guys! I need your help!"


"What with?" said Callie, her perpetually slurred voice distinct as ever. Munchkin gave a curious hiss.


"I need to find a way to get stronger!"


"Stronger huh?" said Callie, scratching her chin. "Stronger how?"


"Uh, I don't know, however."


"I have just the thing!" said Callie.


She grabbed Aaron's arm and started pulling him along, Aaron looked on worriedly as Munchkin snickered. They eventually reached a dark, musty room of the monastery that smelled like... wait, what was that smell?


"Now where is it..." said Callie, rummaging around.


"Where's what?"


Callie eventually pulled out a bottle of swirling black liquid.


"It's my special Necrozma tonic! Made it myself."


"...This will help me get stronger?"


"Yep! Improves the cons... cons... Constitution!"


"Okay..."


Aaron opened the bottle, tasted it... and immediately gagged.

"What's in this thing?"


"Oh, ground up Beedrill thorax, Goodra slime, essence of Oddish leaf, eye of Sobble... you know, the works!" said Callie, grinning and displaying her unusually pointy teeth.


"...Why?"


"For Necrozma!"


"I uh, think I might need to find some other way," Aaron said, heading off.


"Okay, take care!" said Callie!


Munchkin simply snickered again.


---------------


Aaron looked further around the monastery, trying to find someone who at least looked helpful. In the process he did not notice two shapes sneaking behind him, until it was too late.


A roar echoed out as the two shapes lunged toward Aaron, one tackling him as he screamed.


After a second, realizing he wasn't dead, he looked up to see Atta snarling and breathing in his face, as Stabby waved his arms around nearby.


"Uh, hi?" said Aaron.


Atta just snarled more. Stabby continued waving his arms about.


"Is there a... reason for this?"


"Practice."


"For what?"


"Hunting. Getting... stronger."


Stabby gave some clicks and an "ard!" of affirmation. Aaron's eyes lit up.


"Really? Maybe you could help me!"


"With what?"


"Getting stronger!"


"No. You're too weak."


"I can change that!"


Atta raised an eyebrow. Stabby chuckled.


"The laws of the wild are cruel little one."


It was Aaron's turn to raise an eyebrow. "You... know those kinds of words?"


"Sometimes."


"...What happened to you anyway?"


"Not your business. Don't ask."


"Okay. But will you teach me the whole getting stronger thing?"


"No."


"...Okay."


Aaron got up and left, glancing worriedly at Atta and Stabby the whole while.


-------


Aaron was glancing around one of the courtyards of the monastery when he noticed Eve and Iuroidea. Perking up, he approached them, and tapped Eve on the shoulder.


"Eve? Do you know any advice for getting stronger?"


~...How so?~


"Like... Just... Stronger."


Iuroidea faceclawed.


~That's awfully vague..." said Eve. "You need a more coherent goal than that. Like how I don't want my powers to-~


She stopped.


"To what?"


"Never mind."


Aaron blinked. Why wasn't she using telepathy anymore?


"Anyway..." said Eve. "You could probably start by standing up for yourself?"


"Standing up for myself?"


"Yeah. Like... Showing people who's boss."


"Ryan's the boss though."


"Not literally. Just... Be more assertive."


"Insertive?"


"No. Like... If someone gives you a hard time, don't just take it. Give them a hard time back and make them back off."


"I can do that?" said Aaron, his eyes lighting up.


"Well yeah but it takes some practice..."


"Practice... I can do that! I know just the thing!"


He rushed off.


"...He's doomed," said Eve.


Iuroidea nodded sternly.


---------------


Gabriel was content. He was resting on a mat he'd stolen from the monastery, Patricia curled up beside him.


And then the pebble hit him.


He wasn't even hurt. He almost didn't react. But the words that came immediately after made his eyes snap open.


"Hey loser!"


Gabriel stood up, glowering, then turned to the source of the voice. There, standing proudly, was Aaron. With a pile of pebbles.


"You... You smell! You're the smelliest! Yeah!"


Gabriel gave a mirthless chuckle. "Pathetic."


He snapped his fingers twice. The first caused a blast that sent the pebble pile flying, some striking Aaron and leaving gashes. The second sent Aaron himself sprawling.


Aaron groaned, before Gabriel stomped on his chest.


"Let's face it. I know why I'm top of the food chain. I know why you're not. Know your place."


"Why... though?" said Aaron.


Gabriel gave an uncharacteristic frown. "That's my buisness. Not yours."


"You're not... Like the bullies that used to bug me." said Aaron. "You don't... do it out of fear. You seem to do

it... for some other reason... Why?"


"Shut up before I Psyshock you again."


By now Patricia was looking over them with concern.


"Come on Pat. The weakling's learned his lesson. We're done here."


He headed off. Patricia, on the other hand, seemed to slither off in a completely diffrent direction. Aaron just lay where he was, trying to ignore the pain of the gashes.


Then Patricia returned, and this time she was accompanied by the mysterious child Aaron saw before.


"Thanks Pat!" said the child. "I'll take it from here."


Patricia nodded, and slithered off after Gabriel. The child started looking Aaron over, and from there Aaron could get a better look at his appearance.


He looked about fourteen, with very fine clothing, all in various shades of pink. Long pink hair framed blue eyes and a yourhful face. And... was that a tail? It looked illusory, like it wasn't even there.


"Hey! Need help there?"


"Well... duh," said Aaron.


"Okay, gimmie a second..."


Before his eyes Aaron watched the boy transform into a large, blue shrimp-like Pokemon that blasted a pulse of pink energy at his wounds. Within an instant, they healed, and the boy reverted to normal.


"Wow! That was incredible!" said Aaron, sitting up. "You gotta teach me how to do that!"


"Uh, I'm not sure Transform is a move you Auric humans can cover."


"Aw really? Thanks though."


"No problem! In return... You got any toys?"


"Uh... Not really no. Never had any of my own."


"What? Ah geez. You Aura Guardian kids usually have some good stuff."


Aaron raised an eyebrow. "Really?"


"Yeah! Though not as good as the Rotan kids. Those guys are loaded! Like my Rotan noble getup by the way? They're suckers for it." The boy started for a second. "Oh, by the way? Name's Mithos."


"Why do you collect toys, Mithos?"


"Where I live? I get bored. Real bored. Human toys are my go-to for fixing that."


"Oh, neat!" said Aaron.


He looked over at where Gabriel went. "Why is he like that?"


"Some people... are just... Jerks? Damn kid keeps getting away with being the way he is, even with more powerful Psychics around he's good at playing innocent and getting people not to talk."


"No it's not that! I saw his Aura when I was sneaking up on him! It was different from my old bullies but not like that!"


"...Huh. Kid, you're smarter than you look."


"Than- Hey!"


Mithos snickered.


~You.~ said a voice.


Aaron and Mithos turned to see Metagross leering at the latter.


"Well well well!" said Mithos. "If it isn't Mr. No Fun Allowed!"


~Get away from the kid.~


"I was helping him! This bully roughed him up, see, and I healed him! Simple as that."


~I shouldn't have to ask twice.~


"I shouldn't have to ask twice!" Mithos repeated mockingly. "Fine, fine." He turned to Aaron. "You owe me one toy." And with that, he turned back to Metagross, stuck out his tounge at him, and teleported away.


"Why'd you yell at him like that?" said Aaron.


~He is not to be trusted, Aaron.~ said Metagross. ~Stay away from him.~


"But-"


Too late. Metagross was trudging off. Aaron hmphed, sighed, and headed back to his room.


The quest to get stronger would have to wait another day.


-------


Polly was looking around the monastery carefully when a pink-haired Aura Guardian with a Musharna companion approached her.


"Oh! Hello Nightjar, LazyBones," said Polly. "Have you seen Metagross?"


"We have not," said Nightjar, "but that's not what we're here for."


~It's a message from Ryan,~ said LazyBones, floating idly as mist drifted from his head.


"...What kind of message?"


"Regarding the murders and disappearances. In addition to our efforts we will also be seeking... outside help."


"What? We're doing perfectly fine on our own."


"And you have how much new evidence of the culprit?"


"Ha ha.We'll get there."


"This is a serious matter, Polly."


"Well you and Ryan aren't taking me seriously! We can handle this."


"Don't be so stubborn. This will be beneficial to all of us."


~You're getting awfully defensive,~ said LazyBones.


"...Fine. But we'll get it done, without this outside help or not."


She stormed off, only then running into Metagross.


"There you are! Where were you?"


~Dealing with... a nuisance,~ said Metagross.


Polly sighed. "Same."


--------------


Riolu wandered through the forest, lost, seeking a place to stay. The trees and rocks seemed to stretch on forever, but he knew he had to keep going.


It was then he heard a noise.


His head turned to see a very familiar Charizard stomping through the bush. he didn't notice Riolu at first, but Riolu was frozen in fear, and soon their eyes locked. There was a long moment of silence before the Charizard spoke.


"...You'll do."


The Charizard lunged. Riolu bolted and ran.


He zigzagged through the underbrush, the Charizard charging behind him all the way. He ran past trees and boulders and then straight into a pair of Furret.


"Hey! What's the rush?" said one Furret.


The other Furret pointed and screamed, and the two and Riolu darted out of the way as the Charizard charged.


Riolu kept going, not caring how sore his legs got, fear of his impending demise keeping him going. Then he came across a ravine.


He paused, quickly judging if he could make it over the gap. Then, knowing he'd be doomed anyway if he didn't, he leapt, sailing far and far and - just barely grabbing the ledge and hoisting himself up.


He almost paused to congratulate himself but heard stomping behind him and remembered Charizard could fly.


So he kept running, running that intensified as he heard wingbeats behind him, until he came across a cave barely visible in the undergrowth and darted inside.


Riolu darted along the corridors and stalactites, eventually hiding behind one of the former to catch his breath. He heard the Charizard enter behind him.


"Heh, you've been giving me good exercise kid. But you're going down."


More stomps.


"You see, I'm not just doing this for a meal. Mons like you are competition. And I want to be absolute alpha of my territory."


The stomps grew closer. Riolu could see the light of the Charizard's tail, hear his breathing.


"And if it means killing every last one of you here than so be i-"


A massive shape lunged out of the depths of the cavern, past Riolu and right at the Charizard. Riolu could just make out the form of the Charizard being clutched in the massive jaws of a huge creature, before the Charizard was dragged screaming into the darkness, its tail light winking out.


Riolu stood completely still as the mincing of flesh and the crunching of bone grew quieter and quieter until it faded to silence. He stayed completely still even after that until a booming, feminine voice echoed throughout the cavern.


"Relax, child... I do not wish to harm you. That Charizard was intruding on my domain for a while now... You are not."


A metallic, serpentine creature slithered out from within the depths of the cave. Riolu stood still for just a bit longer before speaking.


"Your... Domain?"


"Call me the Mountain Keeper. I have been hearing about this Charizard that has been intruding on my lands and being a bully to the populace via the Zubat that roost in this cave. About time I did him in."


"Th-thank you?"


"Doesn't seem the sort of thing I should say "you're welcome" to but I appreciate the sentiment," said the Mountain Keeper. "Now... What's a Riolu like you doing away from your pack? You'd be safer with them."


Riolu paused, then hung his head.


"I don't belong in my pack," he said. "Especially... Not anymore."


"Hmm, I see... Are you looking for a new pack then?"


"...Yes. Yes I am."


"There is a human settlement down the mountain to the east filled with many different humans and Pokemon. Perhaps you can find a new pack there."


"...You can do that?"


"Of course. I sense you are strong, young Riolu. Your strength will find you friends in time."


Riolu nodded, then moved to go.


"Oh, though," said the Mountain Keeper. "I do have a favor to ask of you."


"What is it?"


"I have a daughter that lives with the humans... Do try to find her for me."


"I will. I promise."


Riolu then headed out.


--------


Riolu headed through the trees and rocks, following the sun to try and stick to the Mountain Keeper's directions. Eventually, the trees thinned, and Riolu was met by a sight unlike any he'd ever seen before.


Strange nests stretched out before him, made of stone, clay, and plants. Moving between these nests were Pokemon the likes of which Riolu had never seen before and -


...What were those? They were so strange, were so lanky - save the few that were chunkier or bulkier - had so little hair, had such flat faces. Were these really the humans his father held in such reverence? The creatures that held such a special bond with Pokemon?


Only one way to find out, he thought.


And he headed in.


***

Before I go, a few commissions:

Ryan by CidFox: https://i.imgur.com/KNN9Lg2.png

Carol by edlinklover: https://i.imgur.com/PoZx3yD.png

Vince by prayforelves: https://i.imgur.com/zsHhc6F.png

Nightjar by Goldieclaws: https://i.imgur.com/W0d6N5e.png

Mithos by CidFox: https://i.imgur.com/NTxnFaS.png

Nightjar and Lazybones based off of Maggie and SleepyHead by CorvusAtrox
 
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Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Surprise! You thought I was DONE with Fire Emblem crossovers after Rude Awakening?! Well think again! This fic is going in a whole new direction with more FE characters than Smash Bros, starting... Now!


Bonus Chapter 2: Fire Emblem Heroes After All


Polly was resting on a bench outside the monastarey. It was a peaceful day - the sun was shining, Butterfree were flying about, there was a soft breeze blowin-


A noise. A specific noise Polly didn't recognise. She saw Metagross trudging toward her.


~Polly! Soldiers. They're approaching a village to the south.~


"What? We should evacuate the citizens right awa-"


~There's something else.~


"What?"


~They came out of a portal.~


------------


A young girl in elaborate royal attire looked out over the landscape, curious.


She was pretty sure she had set her sights on the World Of Blazing. Her troops were ready to conquer and make contracts. But something seemed... off.


It wasn't until she noticed a very strange brown and gray bird perch nearby that she realized how off.


She tapped a soldier on the shoulder. "Do you know what bird that is?"


The soldier looked over. "Er, no, your highness."


"Doesn't look like anything native to the World Of Blazing."


The bird gave a chirp and a "star, staravia."


"...We seem to be far from our intended destination," said the soldier.


"...Keep going," said the girl. "Perhaps we can find something useful here."


She ordered the troops onward.


----------


Aaron was idly scratching doodles in the dirt with a stick when he noticed the older Aura Guardians scrambling around in a panic. For a second he considered heading inside, where he'd be safe.


But then he thought a bit. If he couldn't really help with the dead and missing Aura Guardians back then, he could stand to benefit from helping now...


He quietly placed his stick down and started following the senior Aura Guardians.


----------


The purple creature noticed a rush in activity in its new home. Curious, they quietly hovered over the hurried bipeds and their companions, evading notice.


Then they saw a strange, pink creature hovering nearby.


~Heh... They're really in a hurry! Looks like fun.~


The purple creature eyed the pink one quizzically. The pink one looked at them and smiled.


~Wanna watch them with me?~


The purple creature gave a chitter of affirmation.


~Alright! Let's go.~


The pair headed off after the bipeds.


-----------


Polly, Vince, and Carol all hid behind some trees, watching the strange enemy soldiers walk by.

"This is so weird," said Vince. "These soldiers are like nothing in the Genesis Mountains."


"Well they did come out of a portal," said Carol.


"We need to find out what their deal is," said Polly. She turned a bit. ~Dunsparce?~


Dunsparce slithered out of some nearby bushes and toward the soldiers, burrowing underground when she got close. After a bit Polly could pick up on Dunsparce's thoughts.


~Woah,~ said Dunsparce. ~They're some... Embian Empire, they came from another realm, and, uh, they don't know what Pokemon are? Weirdos.~


Polly relayed the information to her companions.


"This is... concerning," said Vince.


"We need to report this to Ryan," said Carol.


Dunsparce slithered back to the group and they snuck back off to camp.


------------------


Aaron trudged through the forest after the senior Aura Guardians, trying to find where they'd gone. He had no clue what was going on, but he'd be darned if he couldn't-


He bumped into a leg coming out of some bushes and fell over.


"Ow..."


A boy noticeably older than him with blue hair looked down at where he lay. "Are you all right?"


"Ugh, yeah..."


"Oh, he's so cute!" said a blonde girl peeking over. "Is he one of the Heroes of this world?"


"Calm yourself, Sharena," said another, redheaded girl. "He's probably just a civilian."


"N-no I'm not!" said Aaron,sitting up. "I'm an Aura Guardian!"


"Hmmm, Aura Guardian?" said the redhead. "That sounds impressive... and marketable."


"Anna knowing you you'll just bring it up as a side thing and forget about it completely later."


"Don't question my strategies! Well at least not more than Kiran's. But Kiran has the flu so you all will have to listen to me!"


"Point is, can we keep him?" said the blonde girl, holding up a squirming Aaron.


"Sharena we can't just adopt every Hero we find," said the blue-haired boy.

Sharena pouted and put Aaron down. "A girl can dream Alphonse."


"Wait, so who are you guys?" said Aaron.


"We're the Order Of Heroes!" said Alphonse. "Dedicated to protecting the multiverse from the Emblian Empire and similar threats!"


He looked around. "Though, uh, this seems a bit far from home multiverse-wise...."


Aaron's eyes were sparkling. "That sounds so cool! I totally wanna join!"


"Well, normally, Kiran has to summon you," said Anna. "But we could let you meet the team we brought along if you'd like!


"Sure thing!" said Aaron.


He followed the three away.


---------------


Mithos and the purple creature were hovering over the advancing Emblian army, ogling them curiously.


~Man these guys look like bad news,~ said Mithos.


The purple creature gave a chirp of agreement.


~Wanna mess with them?~


Another chirp.


~Good. Now...~


There were telepathic whispers, and the two separated to wait.


----------------


Polly, Vince, and Carol were talking to Ryan and Nightjar in the camp the group had set up.


"So yeah. They're extradimensional, they're here to conquer, but they have no idea what this world really is," said Vince.


"If that is the case, we may be able to convince them to look elsewhere with minimal casualties," said Nightjar.


"Are you sure diplomacy is the best idea in a situation like this?" said Polly.

"When we're potentially outgunned, certainly," said Ryan. "And at the very least we have our Pokemon if worst comes to worst."


"Very well," said Carol. "Let's get ready."


They started preparing.


-------------


Aaron was lead to a camp populated by four people - a girl in a blue dress clutching a gemstone, a man with two large wings sprouting from his back, a green-haired man in blue with a book, and a green-haired woman tending to a Mudsdale.


"Hello there," said the girl in the dress. "I'm Ninian."


"I'm Tibarn," said the winged man.


"I'm Merric!" said the green-haired man.


"I'm Lyndis, but you may call me Lyn," said the green-haired girl.


"Nice to meet you all!" said Aaron. "I'm Aaron."


"I still think we should have brought Ballista Wolt on this mission," said Anna.


"No," said Alphonse, fear in his voice. "He's too powerful."


"But we use Grima and Duma on missions all the ti-"


"TOO POWERFUL."


Meanwhile, Aaron was inspecting Ninian and Tibarn in particular.


"So, what are the wings and stone for?"


"Oh, for this!" said Ninian.


Ninian raised the stone and suddenly transformed into a Hydreigon. Tibarn similarly transformed into a Braviary. Aaron's jaw hit the floor.


"That's so cool! I wish I could do that!"


"Their forms do look... different here," said Merric. "As does my magic." He cast an Air Slash.


"My horse looks different too..." said Lyn.


"Huh... You're not from here?"


"None of us are," said Tibarn, shifting to his normal self. "We're from other realms."


"So that's why you can do all this cool stuff?"


Lyn chuckled. "Pretty much."


"Attention!" said Anna. "Emblian troops are heading this way! We need to engage!"


The people in the camp immediately began to move. Sharena picked up a protesting Aaron and carried him following the others.


-----------------


The Emblian army's journey was almost at an end. They had almost reached the village.


"Halt."


The girl's head turned. There was Ryan, flanked by Polly, Vince, Carol, Nightjar, and several other senior Aura Guardians, as well as their Pokemon.


"We wish to negotiate."


"With what?" said the girl.


"This world is not the one you wish to intrude upon. It has nothing for you. Turn back and avoid wasting your time."


"Bah, you think I, Princess Veronica, am so easily swayed? The strange creatures of your world have so much potential... If we can fully harness it then-"


"Princess Veronica! We aren't going to let you do that!"


Saying this was Alphonse, who was leading his party up to the front lines. Veronica simply scowled.


"You all are interfering again? Very well. Troops, charge them both!"


Veronica prepared her dark magic spell, but since the author of this segment forgot what her personal tome is, let's say she left it at home and cast Fenrir instead.


The Aura Guardians managed to evade the blast of magic, and they and their Pokemon fired back with their powers. Shades of blue, pink, black, and lighter pink flew across the battlefield, knocking down a few soldiers and causing Veronica to scowl further.


From above, Ninian (in her new Hydreigon form) fired off a stormy Draco Meteor, the thunderbolts and lightning causing many enemy soldiers to be very frightened, scampering off the battlefield screaming “Galileo, galileo figaro, magnifico!” (hey they were from the Italian localization of FEH, don't blame me)


Tibarn swooped in and used Brave Bird, a move which disrupted the enemy formations enough for Merric and Lyndis to come in with an Aeroblast and a couple of Murgleis shots. Soldiers soared through the air like dragons and their dragon mounts crashed to the ground like humans.


Aaron had been sticking behind Sharena the whole time. Then he noticed Veronica nearby and got an idea.


He hid behind a small tree near her and started charging a Focus Blast right next to it. There was a crack and a flying of splinters as Aaron fell and so did the tree, straight toward Veronica. Veronica wasn't crushed due to the tree being small, skinny, and dead but it knocked her asunder, sending the troops into a panic.


It was then a booming laugh echoed across the battlefield and a Zekrom descended.


~Foolish mortals! I am the dragon god Morkrez, patron deity of this world! All who interfere shall suffer two punishments - one the sticky threads of fate!"


The purple creature flew around, leaving a poisonous glue that bound the panicked troops in place.


~And two... THE RAIN OF DEATH!~


“Surprise **********ers!” announced Ballista Wolt, who began firing Arrowspate bolts from the heavens. He then launched some Hoistflamme shots and some BlizzardBlasts, scorching and freezing the battlefield. Zaps of electricity from the brave-effect magic-based Zap Cannon ballista rained down from the sky. And to top off the siege of doom with the icing on the cake of increasingly potent siege weapons, Wolt loaded a trebuchet full of hatchets and fired, thus finishing with the very same weapon that slew the Demon King Fomortiis: the AxeLauncher.


Everyone stared in equal measures shock, awe, and horror, except Anna and Lyn, the former of whom grinned.


"I knew bringing him was a good idea!"


"My hero!" said Lyn, sighing wistfully.


Veronica got up, glowering at the others


"Imbecles! I'll be back for this world! And I'll have backup!"


She opened a portal and stormed through it, the remaining troops following. The Zekrom disappeared and a pink wisp was vaguely visible exiting the area.


"We... We did it," said Vince.


"Woo!" said Aaron. "...Ow, splinters."


"Your world is threatened no longer," said Ninian.


"Whee!" said Sharena, picking up Aaron and spinning him around. "You did great! One of our healers can probably fix up those splinters-"


"And after that you are giving him back because he's ours," said Polly. "Kid how did you get here?"


"I followed them!"


Meanwhile Ryan was conversing with Alphonse.


"The Genesis Mountain Aura Guardians are grateful for your support," said Ryan.


"And the Order Of Heroes is grateful for yours," said Alphonse.


"I'm not certain our respective groups will cross paths again but I have a feeling our worlds might."


"Well, the multiverse is pretty big, and we've got a lot closer to home to defend," said Alphonse, grinning, "but I certainly wouldn't mind coming here again. These Pokemon are fascinating!"


"Indeed they are," said Ryan. "I guess only time will tell."


-----------


Riolu, making his way through the human town he'd encountered, felt like he'd missed something.


He decided it was probably nothing.


***


April fools. :p


You can blame both Fire Emblem being my second-favorite Nintendo franchise after Pokemon, Fire Emblem Heroes being the one mobile game to ever hold my attention for long, and my friend Vanillite the Dragonslayer/Purple Mage - this whole shebang was his idea and he even wrote some of the fight scenes. The all-powerful monstrosity known as Ballista Wolt also originates from a FE8 romhack he did.


Anyway yeah this is canon but has no effect on the rest of the story so don't worry I'm not pulling any permanent crossover plots.
 

Umbramatic

The Ghost Lord
Okay so um... You remember that scene at the end of Chapter 5? The one with the suicide? Well yeah that's been replaced with something more wholesome after considering the feedback from @The Walrein and @NebulaDreams and doing some self-reflection. What started as a honest attempt to vent my own feelings with suicidal ideations turned into grossly inappropriate fridging and I deeply apologize and aim to do better with sensitive topics the rest of the fic.

On a more minor note I also adjusted the prolouge because @Marika_CZ thought we were dealing with a romance fic and I didn't wanna take any chances with anyone else lol

Good news tho! I'm starting Chapter 7 as soon as I edit my Kanto contest entry, Palette! That should be out... soon-ish.
 
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