Avenger Angel
Warrior of Heaven
The Trial of Juno Saga
Foreword
This story's old, but I've been continuously requested to post it in full in one location, and right now the only place where the completed version is hosted is on an inactive forum that constantly experiences technical issues. Also, it's in fragmented parts, which makes it hard to locate and read in full. I've also felt the need to refreshen it by cleaning it up a bit and swapping in some of the newer Pokémon, as this was written just before and during Diamond and Pearl's era.
The Trial of Juno Saga is in four parts, detailing the trials and tribulations of a human schoolyard bully named Jake Kossak entering a world of Pokémon as a Pikachu named Juno, a gifted Pikachu made possible only through the dreams and desires of one of Jake's bullied victims. What starts off as a squabble between classmates and bullies plunges into a dark, twisting rabbit hole where Juno, foreseen as the savior of the tormented Pokémon world of Kivistal, must fight not only through the dark wastelands of this new, ravaged world, but also through the agonizing depths of the Abyss (the Pokémon rendition of Hell) and journey through the high heavens of Utopia (Pokémon rendition of Heaven). Throughout his dark journeys, not only must Juno fight his corrupted fellow Pokémon, but also the sickening horrors of the Abyss, and one of the most intimidating and menacing enemies of all: himself, the selfish, heartless human that he used to be. The question is can Jake/Juno overcome all of these dark obstacles, and what really lies at the final end of it all?
The Trial of Juno Saga is rated PG-13. While there is some harsh language, most of the rating comes from the violence and graphic themes (especially with the Abyss). Also, I plan on posting roughly one chapter every other day, so hopefully that's a manageable amount for people to keep up with it.
So sit back and enjoy the story.
Chapter Directory
THE TRIAL OF JUNO I
THE DAWN OF HOPE
PART I – THE GRAY BATTLEGROUNDS
Chapter 1: Enemy of the School
Chapter 2: Out of Nowhere
Chapter 3: The Unexpected Challenge
Chapter 4: The Scare
Chapter 5: Foreign Encounters
Chapter 6: Grim Reunion
Chapter 7: Against Odds
Chapter 8: Turning Back
Chapter 9: The Separation
Chapter 10: The New Dawn
Chapter 11: The Alter Ego
Chapter 12: The Arrival
Chapter 13: A Sickening Turn
Chapter 14: Into the Breech
Chapter 15: Restless
PART II – THE TWISTED FIELDS
Chapter 16: Odd Reoccurrence
Chapter 17: The Meeting
Chapter 18: The Only Solution
Chapter 19: The Midnight Struggle
Chapter 20: The Hostile Conflict
Chapter 21: Crossing the Threshold
Chapter 22: The City of Symarix
Chapter 23: The Last Prison
Chapter 24: Boot Camp
Chapter 25: The Last Call
Chapter 26: A Whisper in the Dark
Chapter 27: Cold Underground
Chapter 28: Eyes of the Enemy
Chapter 29: Loss of Security
Chapter 30: The Jade Sword
Chapter 31: Time Crisis
Chapter 32: The Passage Home
Chapter 33: Allies and Enemies
PART III – THE BLAZING SKIESChapter 34: The Binding
Chapter 35: Breaking the Threshold
Chapter 36: Tattered Trust
Chapter 37: Reconstruction
Chapter 38: Unexpected
Chapter 39: A Call to Arms
Chapter 40: Defiant Stand
Chapter 41: The Longest Walk
Chapter 42: No Answer
Chapter 43: Beyond the Shadow
Chapter 44: The Unknown Blessing
Chapter 45: A Change in Direction
Chapter 46: The Clairvoyance
Chapter 47: The Journey's End
THE TRIAL OF JUNO II
THE SECOND PROMISE
Prologue
PART I – THE LAST REQUIEM
Chapter 1: The Lost Message
Chapter 2: The Passing
Chapter 3: The New Homecoming
Chapter 4: The Second Departure
Chapter 5: Dark Surroundings
Chapter 6: Harsh Misery
Chapter 7: The Flight of Shame
Chapter 8: A Voice From the Outside
Chapter 9: The Unexpected Act
Chapter 10: Inner City Pursuit
Chapter 11: The Gray Hour
Chapter 12: A Solemn Path
Chapter 13: The Bleeding Shadows
PART II – THE SHADOWS THAT WALKChapter 14: The Call of the Night
Chapter 15: The Search in the Depths
Chapter 16: The Path Revealed
Chapter 17: Shadows of Memory
Chapter 18: Diving Underground
Chapter 19: The Bleeding Depths
Chapter 20: The City of Shattered Souls
Chapter 21: Under the Veil
Chapter 22: The Underworld Search
Chapter 23: The Celestial Transition
Chapter 24: Boundless Jubilation
PART III – THE BLADE OF RETRIBUTION
Chapter 25: The Reawakening
Chapter 26: Reflections of a Destiny
Chapter 27: Frontline Bound
Chapter 28: Uprising's Dawn
Chapter 29: Infernal Injection
Chapter 30: The Celestial Convergence
Chapter 31: Shadows Revealed
Chapter 32: The Steadfast Commander
Chapter 33: Dead Legacies
Chapter 34: Darkest Sacrifice
Chapter 35: Anarchy Unleashed
Chapter 36: Hour of Shadowfall
Chapter 37: A Promise Kept
Chapter 2: Living Confirmation
Chapter 3: Dark Insertion
Chapter 4: Proving Grounds
Chapter 5: The Desert Whisper
THE DAWN OF HOPE
PART I – THE GRAY BATTLEGROUNDS
Chapter 1: Enemy of the School
Chapter 2: Out of Nowhere
Chapter 3: The Unexpected Challenge
Chapter 4: The Scare
Chapter 5: Foreign Encounters
Chapter 6: Grim Reunion
Chapter 7: Against Odds
Chapter 8: Turning Back
Chapter 9: The Separation
Chapter 10: The New Dawn
Chapter 11: The Alter Ego
Chapter 12: The Arrival
Chapter 13: A Sickening Turn
Chapter 14: Into the Breech
Chapter 15: Restless
PART II – THE TWISTED FIELDS
Chapter 16: Odd Reoccurrence
Chapter 17: The Meeting
Chapter 18: The Only Solution
Chapter 19: The Midnight Struggle
Chapter 20: The Hostile Conflict
Chapter 21: Crossing the Threshold
Chapter 22: The City of Symarix
Chapter 23: The Last Prison
Chapter 24: Boot Camp
Chapter 25: The Last Call
Chapter 26: A Whisper in the Dark
Chapter 27: Cold Underground
Chapter 28: Eyes of the Enemy
Chapter 29: Loss of Security
Chapter 30: The Jade Sword
Chapter 31: Time Crisis
Chapter 32: The Passage Home
Chapter 33: Allies and Enemies
PART III – THE BLAZING SKIES
Chapter 35: Breaking the Threshold
Chapter 36: Tattered Trust
Chapter 37: Reconstruction
Chapter 38: Unexpected
Chapter 39: A Call to Arms
Chapter 40: Defiant Stand
Chapter 41: The Longest Walk
Chapter 42: No Answer
Chapter 43: Beyond the Shadow
Chapter 44: The Unknown Blessing
Chapter 45: A Change in Direction
Chapter 46: The Clairvoyance
Chapter 47: The Journey's End
THE TRIAL OF JUNO II
THE SECOND PROMISE
Prologue
PART I – THE LAST REQUIEM
Chapter 1: The Lost Message
Chapter 2: The Passing
Chapter 3: The New Homecoming
Chapter 4: The Second Departure
Chapter 5: Dark Surroundings
Chapter 6: Harsh Misery
Chapter 7: The Flight of Shame
Chapter 8: A Voice From the Outside
Chapter 9: The Unexpected Act
Chapter 10: Inner City Pursuit
Chapter 11: The Gray Hour
Chapter 12: A Solemn Path
Chapter 13: The Bleeding Shadows
PART II – THE SHADOWS THAT WALK
Chapter 15: The Search in the Depths
Chapter 16: The Path Revealed
Chapter 17: Shadows of Memory
Chapter 18: Diving Underground
Chapter 19: The Bleeding Depths
Chapter 20: The City of Shattered Souls
Chapter 21: Under the Veil
Chapter 22: The Underworld Search
Chapter 23: The Celestial Transition
Chapter 24: Boundless Jubilation
PART III – THE BLADE OF RETRIBUTION
Chapter 25: The Reawakening
Chapter 26: Reflections of a Destiny
Chapter 27: Frontline Bound
Chapter 28: Uprising's Dawn
Chapter 29: Infernal Injection
Chapter 30: The Celestial Convergence
Chapter 31: Shadows Revealed
Chapter 32: The Steadfast Commander
Chapter 33: Dead Legacies
Chapter 34: Darkest Sacrifice
Chapter 35: Anarchy Unleashed
Chapter 36: Hour of Shadowfall
Chapter 37: A Promise Kept
THE TRIAL OF JUNO III
THE CRY OF EGATEPT
PART I – HOLOCAUST OF THE DAMNED
Chapter 1: The Darkest InterrogationTHE CRY OF EGATEPT
PART I – HOLOCAUST OF THE DAMNED
Chapter 2: Living Confirmation
Chapter 3: Dark Insertion
Chapter 4: Proving Grounds
Chapter 5: The Desert Whisper
THE TRIAL OF JUNO I
THE DAWN OF HOPE
PART I – THE GRAY BATTLEGROUNDS
Chapter 1
Enemy of the School
THE DAWN OF HOPE
PART I – THE GRAY BATTLEGROUNDS
Chapter 1
Enemy of the School
Randy was a loser. Not just any ordinary loser, but Randy must have been the king of losers. Plus he was the only reason why I found interest at school. Whenever I got angry or frustrated because of stupid teachers or homework, all I had to do was find Randy Ferguson and release my stress upon him. It always made my day.
Randy’s Pokémon were also losers, and they’d always be that way since they always got beat up badly every time he battled. I must have made Randy’s Pidove and Nidoran kiss dirt at least twenty times, but I’ve lost track of how many times I’ve really beaten him. Randy also had a Growlithe and a Sewaddle, and I had knocked their lights out plenty of times. Obviously, Randy was too stupid to know how to really battle, but the way he kept on trying rather than giving up kept renewing the fun.
Alex and David, two of my best friends, also hated Randy’s guts. While I liked to slowly torture Randy’s Pokémon in a battle, Alex wiped out Randy’s Pokémon so fast it was hilarious. David on the other hand liked to just outright pound the stuffing out of Randy’s Pokémon with his Rhydon and his Zoroark until there was barely anything left to identify them. The amount of overkill was just so funny that it was almost obscene. Randy said he’s been a trainer for nearly two years. To me, he was practically on the same level as a beginner who only just started yesterday. If that’s not pathetic, then I don’t know what is.
We only got caught once picking on Randy, and it was in the hallway between classes. It ended with nothing more than a slap on the wrist by one teacher we didn't even remember the name of. But all the other times, Randy pointed blame at us, but just had nothing to prove it and teachers couldn't give a student detention over a Pokémon battle. One day, Alex put a stink-bomb in Randy’s desk while he was away, and when Randy came back and threw his books in, he broke the glass and the whole classroom smelled like something died in there for the entire day. Of course, we only did it once, just like everything else we did to him. Otherwise he’d begin to catch on, and honestly, I preferred being original.
Another amusement came from my birthday. Normally, whenever someone’s birthday comes up, their mom makes cupcakes for everyone in the class. My mom did the same thing, and I sprinkled them all sorts of colors, red, yellow, blue, and purple. Each cupcake was its own color, but for Randy, I sprinkled his green to indicate to me which one I would hand to him. After I made sure mom wasn’t looking, I slipped a laxative tablet into the green-sprinkled cupcake. When I handed it to Randy the next day, he ate it so fast and it was a struggle not to burst out laughing. After a hilarious series of events, Randy’s new nickname was “poopy-pants” for the rest of the school year. Still, he didn’t have an ounce of proof that I had anything to do with it. Again, it was pure genius.
Since my allowance was small, I needed to rely on Randy’s lunch money as a considerable income. I never felt guilty about taking it either. Heck, I figured I was doing Randy a favor by preventing him from having the disgusting school lunch every day. If I did nothing, he’d become just as fat as Frank Meyers, who we’d always call “shirt-burster” on a regular basis. If we hadn't intervened, his stomach would be subjected to such crappy food loaded with grease and saturated fats that day. I then considered that his lunch money was income for my services. It wasn’t much, but a dollar a day ended up being thirty bucks a month. Then count that all up for each day of the school year… hell, I was making out well.
We got a big surprise May 14th. It wasn’t during school like most of our pranks took place, it was after. And it didn’t start with Randy this time…
Alex, David and I had been walking down the stairs out of the back entrance of Scottville Middle School when we saw it. There he was, Frank Meyers lying down in the mud by the stairs in that little ditch that accumulated water from the rain last night. His short, blonde hair and his pudgy face were soiled with wet filth and his shirt (or what was left of it!) was completely soaked with mud. We didn’t even need to do anything to begin laughing hysterically.
“Hey Frank!” David shouted out over a hard laugh. “What happened to ya!?”
“Chill man,” I told David casually. “The pig just wanted to cool himself down.”
Frank was in a cross between crying and becoming furious. We laughed even further. Someone who’s in the seventh grade really should have learned to stop crying like an infant long ago.
Alex then made the situation more hilarious. He found the backpack that Frank had dropped and opened it up. Alex then threw out Frank’s folders and his books and each of them landed in the mud, effectively soaking the pages full of sludge. Frank was getting even worse. Then I saw something that made me laugh even further. Frank had Pokéballs in his backpack that also landed in the mud after Alex threw them out. I never realized Frank was a Pokémon trainer. I really just couldn’t picture a fat, worthless piece of flesh like Frank being a trainer…
Then, as if it couldn’t even get better, out of nowhere came Randy Ferguson in the flesh. He was standing before us like he was all high and mighty, with his frizzy orange hair blowing in the wind, probably because he still hadn't figured out what a comb was or how to get a haircut. He was just watching everything in disgust, furrowing his brow and squinting those beady brown eyes of his. Alex had dumped everything that was in Frank’s backpack before turning around and seeing our special victim.
“Well, if it isn’t poopy-pants himself in living color,” Alex smiled at Randy, giving him that special glare. “If you’re looking for the bathroom, it’s inside, stupid.”
“The three of you are going to pay for picking on Frank,” Randy told us, trying to sound tough and totally ignoring Alex’s comment.
The three of us laughed even further. Here was Randy, acting like a big hero for shirt-burster. That idiot had no clue what he was getting into. Exactly how was this day going to be any different from all the others?
“Randy,” David told him honestly, “even you should be aware that Frank isn’t worth the dirt he’s laying in.”
“You’re wrong!” Randy wailed, again trying to play the hero here. “And I’ll prove it to you.”
Then, Randy reached for his belt and pulled out one of his Pokéballs. I could see where this was going…
Did that idiot really expect to win a battle against us? I couldn’t believe it. All this time, Frank seemed to become more hopeful now that Randy was here to defend him. Frank was just about to learn that his guardian angel wasn’t the sharpest tool in the shed.
“Go Nidoran!” Randy shouted, tossing his Pokéball forward.
The Pokéball landed on the asphalt of the parking lot, and a moment later, Randy’s worthless Nidoran emerged from its Pokéball in a flash of white light. The three of us looked at each other to decide how we wanted to beat the stuffing out of Randy’s Pokémon. It was then decided that I should be the one to do it. To us, time plus torture equaled amusement.
I then removed one of my own Pokéballs, pressed the central button to prep it for release, and threw it on to the asphalt as well. Out came my fantastic Raichu. After Raichu set his gaze upon his opponent, he realized it was the same worthless Nidoran he had crushed so many times before. Even Raichu looked like he was tired of Randy’s brainless attempts to beat us.
“Raichu!” I shouted, “Use your Thunder Wave against Nidoran!”
It was getting to the point where Raichu didn’t even need commands to kick the stuffing out of Nidoran. It had become so systematic and routine that Raichu could fight almost completely on his own like we actually rehearsed for this on an everyday basis.
Raichu then sent out his Thunder Wave, and when the bright pulses of electricity hit Randy’s Nidoran, the small, purple poison rabbit Pokémon was rendered helpless, completely paralyzed from the shock and left there, twitching and curled up in a fetal position. All that Nidoran could do now was quiver on his back as sparks of electricity surrounded his body.
“Slam that Nidoran with a Brick Break attack, Raichu.” I told him, knowing this would finish the job with no problem at all.
Raichu then charged at Randy’s Nidoran, and all Nidoran could do was just watch as Raichu rushed up to punish it for existing. When Raichu reached his target, he threw a bone-cracking punch right into his side, sending Nidoran tumbling out of control before lying on his back with his tongue hanging out. Alex and David were snickering again as Randy was effectively slapping yet another epic failure on his already comical losing streak.
“Nidoran, return.” Randy moaned in frustration as a red beam shot out from his Pokéball and landed on the sacked Nidoran. The pathetic Pokémon was then returned to Randy’s Pokéball, leaving Raichu tapping his foot impatiently.
He then threw out a second Pokéball, and it also landed on the parking lot. Then, out came Randy’s Pidove. Randy didn’t even need to lose yet and we already began cracking up hysterically.
“Randy,” David told him, trying to fight the hard laughter for a moment, “don’t you know anything about type-alignments? Flying types don’t do very well against electric types like Raichu…”
“I don’t care,” Randy responded. “My Pidove is faster than Jake’s Raichu.”
You wish. Raichu’s signature attribute was his speed, and it was ten times faster than Pidove’s. This time I showed no mercy.
“Raichu, use your Thunderbolt,” I smiled to Raichu, knowing it would be more than enough to send Randy’s little Pidove screaming into the oblivion.
As if to help Raichu even further, Pidove took flight. Raichu’s cheeks flared up with electricity and just as Pidove realized what was happening, a massive fork of lightning emerged from the shining Raichu and struck Pidove dead-on, blasting him with a bright flash. Pidove was thoroughly cooked for ten seconds as electricity coursed through him before Raichu released his power, and let the hopeless Pidove fall from the sky just before the nice, hard asphalt broke his fall. The only smart move Randy made after that was giving up.
“Fine, Jake,” Randy spat with frustration as he returned the pulverized Pidove to his Pokéball. “I give up. But some day, I’ll become so strong that the three of you combined won’t even beat me!”
“Randy…” Alex said, nearly laughing, “…in your dreams. There’s no way you’ll ever become strong enough to beat us. You can try all you like, but you’ll never do it.”
That normally would have been a very typical day that the three of us tortured Randy. But something else happened that day that we won’t soon forget…
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