Your Memories Are Not Enough (PG to PG-13 rating)

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 12: Delivery​

Without Annox with them, both Hurdy’s and Draconis’s hearts felt as empty as the grassy plains around them. Empty, with the same thing repeating, over and over.

“It doesn’t feel right, with only the two of us,” Hurdy muttered.

“Yeah, I just seem a bit down,” Draconis answered. “On the bright side, we are moving faster, but I’d rather have Annox back.”

“It was his decision. No use dragging along someone who doesn’t have their heart in the mission.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. Maybe the solitude of these grasslands is just getting to us. There’s barely a few pokemon for miles.”

“That could be it, Draconis. Let’s just move forward and keep our hopes high. Only a few more days left.”

The two continued pressing forward. Soon, farmlands and grazing cattle began to dot the landscape. The next day, the massive city of Midern, at the side of the Wandering River, came into view. From afar, Draconis and Hurdy could see the carts, people, and pokemon coming and going from the city. They kept some distance, but had to hide as a patrol passed by.

Many of the soldiers in the group looked to be recent recruits, and the older soldiers seemed to have a look of grim determination, as if preparing for what they wished to avoid. After the thudding of boots on the hard road grew distant, Draconis and Hurdy slowly put Midern behind them.

The next day, they awakened early in anticipation of the days events. After a quick breakfast, they set off for the ruins of Pokemon Square, which lay on the horizon.

“I’ve been thinking, Draconis,” Hurdy said. “Neither of us has been to where Pokemon Square once stood, yet it holds so much of our history. When only pokemon lived in the world, it was the only organized community. It was also much more than that. It was where our ancestors once saved the world.”

“It seems that you’re in a thoughtful mood.” Draconis chuckled. “Of course it is that, but now it’s just some old ruins. Things change, and the world moves on.”

“True, and it’s how we face that change that makes us who we are.”

Hurdy and Draconis reached the outskirts of the ruins, where the stone paths remained with grass growing in every available cranny. They reverently moved forward, passing by the mossy piles of stone where bases and buildings once stood. Against a cliff to the North stood an ancient pond, where, nearby, a large stone slab was the only remaining thing that had not fallen down.

“It don’t remember this being mentioned,” Hurdy stated. “It doesn’t look as old as the rest of this.”

“It looks like there is writing on it, why don’t we go check it out?” Draconis suggested.

The large slab of granite stood about 10 feet high, and Hurdy and Draconis tried to make out the faintly engraved lettering. Hurdy did most the work, since Draconis could barely read even pokemon writing, but the engravings were too faint to be made out.

Draconis noticed a small metal circle at the lower center of the slab. “I wonder what this does?” He pressed the button inwards.

Suddenly Draconis and Hurdy were blinded by a brilliant light coming from the slab. “What did you do?” Hurdy yelled as they covered their eyes.

“Nothing. I just touched the small metal circle.”

“I hope this isn’t anything dangerous.”

They both cautiously opened their eyes, and gasped as the slab was now surrounded by Unown. The letter pokemon orbited the slab for a moment before they began spelling out a message on it.

“Hurry, read it Hurdy,” Draconis said as he pointed at the Unown.

“Okay, here is what it says.” Hurdy began reading. “In memory of Ben, the human who became a pokemon, Draconis, the one who guided him, and Absol, who joined them when all others had turned against them. May they always be remembered for saving the world from the meteor.”

When Hurdy had finished, the Unown flew off of the slab, and began circling it once again. After a moment, they formed a new message, which Hurdy read aloud to Draconis. “In memory of all the heroes who helped defeat Nerezzik, and reconnected humans and pokemon.”

At that moment, the Unown moved off of the slab, and formed into a sphere. Their combined power built in the center of the sphere before a beam of light shot out and spread across the entire slab. The light formed into images, the first of which was a Charmander finding an unconscious Mudkip. The scene then showed the two leaving Pokemon Square, fleeing from many pokemon. Next, it showed them meeting Absol. After that came the meeting with Ninetales, and tears of joy streaked down the Charmander’s face. The images now moved to epic battles. The Mudkip, Charmander, and Absol fought against Groudon and then Rayquaza. Rayquaza destroyed the meteor after his defeat, and then the images went blank.

Hurdy was in awe at what he just saw. “Draconis, I think that we just saw our ancestors in those images!”

“I was thinking the same thing. They looked just like us!”

Further discussion was interrupted as the Unown began showing a second series of images, this time about the war against Nerezzik. It began with a blonde-haired young man and a Gardevoire. The young man turned back into the Mudkip from earlier as he went with Gardevoire from his world. Meanwhile, Charmander fought alongside a Gengar, Ekans, and Medicham against many enemies. When all seemed lost, the Mudkip appeared. Soon, a pokemon unlike any other appeared to face the Mudkip. Nerezzik was his name, and he was a pokemon made from the twisted magic of ancient sorcerers. He controlled the pokemon that fought the Charmander, and was about to beat the Mudkip, who used an escape orb at the last moment. The pictures skipped ahead, to where the heroes, which included the earlier ones, now evolved into a Charizard and Swampert, fought against Nerezzik and his strongest recruits. Mewtwo also had joined Nerrezik, and the battles shown were unlike any Hurdy or Draconis had seen. Pokemon against pokemon clashed, but to Hurdy and Draconis’s surprise, human and pokemon fought. After a long time, the battle was over, but several were dead.

The Unown now broke formation and the images disappeared. The Unown vanished back to wherever they came from, leaving Draconis and Hurdy to be alone. They sat in silence for a moment, but Draconis could bear it no longer.

“Hurdy, those battles were vicious. We’re not even close to our ancestor’s powers. I also noticed that your ancestor was actually a human. I never knew that before.”

“It said that in the first message that appeared, but I guess it took some time for it to sink into your head. It is true. My ancestor was once a human, but became a pokemon and decided to stay that way. At least now we see why both humans and pokemon follow the rule of not fighting against the other.”

A new voice, both commanding and intelligent, spoke inside both their heads. “I’m glad you enjoyed the memorial. I set it up when Pokemon Square became like it is now.”

Both Draconis and Hurdy looked around in confusion, trying to see where the voice came from.

“If you’re looking for me, then look up high,” the voice hinted. “From what I saw of your thoughts and conversation, you both are descended from some of the heroes that I made this memorial for.”

Hurdy finally looked on top of the slab, where one of the pokemon they had just seen in the images floated. Draconis noticed where Hurdy was staring, and also turned to look. For a moment, the tall pokemon, with his long purple tail, thick legs, and fierce eyes just watched them. After a moment, he floated down to their level, but they had to crane their necks just to see his face.

“So, you found me. I am Mewtwo.”

Both Hurdy and Draconis shouted at the same time. “Mewtwo!”

“From your thoughts, it seems like you’ve been looking for me for some time. To what may I owe the pleasure of your company?”

“We’ve brought a message for you,” Hurdy replied.

“And it’s from Forde? This ought to be interesting. Why don’t we head to my home, where we won’t have to worry about being interrupted?”

Mewtwo flicked his hand at Draconis and Hurdy, who vanished, and then Mewtwo followed the two. They all appeared on a small island in the middle of the ocean. Groves of fruit trees covered the island’s outer edges, and in the center of the island, a circular tower of rock rose about 20 feet, and a spacious cave entrance led to the inside of this formation.

“Before you ask,” Mewtwo began, and Draconis was stopped from beginning his question. “This is my home, Western Cave, which is on Western Island, which I also consider to be my land. I live here with Mew, but she’s gone at the moment, observing some of the human kingdoms. Now, let me see that message.”

Hurdy got out the letter from their small supply pouch, and Mewtwo seemed to read it in an instant. “Zapdos also sent a message for Forde,” Hurdy declared.

“Will you let me see that one also?” Mewtwo requested.

“It’s not like it would matter. You could just read our minds if you wanted,” Draconis said, with a hint of annoyance.

“I do like to be polite when I can afford to be.”

Hurdy handed Mewtwo the second letter, which Mewtwo read over in a few seconds.

“The first letter isn’t too shocking of news. The observations of Mew and myself easily found a few deviations that I was going to discuss with Forde anyway. The second one is interesting. Mew also found a similar group, and placed them under the care of Latias and Latios in a small valley in the Northern Mountains. We’ve made no progress in restoring their memories, but like the group Zapdos found, they seemed to remember a short fragment. The one we found said:

Of crumbled inn few reminisce
Its faulty beams will not be missed

Now this is all rather curious, but I doubt any of us have a clue to unlocking its secrets. Perhaps Uxie could help, but I haven’t seen Uxie in ages.”

“Uxie? Who’s that?” Draconis questioned.

“It’s the being of knowledge,” Hurdy answered.

Mewtwo seemed to watch the two with an amused interest. “You both are quite like your forefathers in many ways. I guess some things never change. Anyways, help yourselves to the fruit, and I’ll be in my cave, trying to contact Kita, who will tell Forde about this. This might take anywhere up to a few hours, so don’t interrupt me.”

Mewtwo left for his cave, and Hurdy and Draconis gazed up at all the fruit around them, which included many kinds they had never seen before. After knocking down a few pieces with water gun, the two settled down in the shade.

“Mewtwo kind of creeps me out,” Draconis said between bites. “He seems to know what I’m thinking right as I think it.”

“He is one of the most powerful psychic pokemon,” Hurdy explained. “It seems odd that neither him nor Forde have figured out what is changing the humans.”

“Maybe it’s just human nature. They aren’t always the best of creatures.”

“I don’t think all of it could be due to that. Whole groups of people don’t just lose their memories, like with Zapdos’s village or the one Mewtwo mentioned. Whatever it is, it must be something unusual for neither of those two to find it yet.”

“I’d rather not think about all of that right now. I just want to enjoy this food, and maybe take a nap if Mewtwo is really going to take a few hours.”

“I think I’ll join you on taking a nap, I’m pretty tired.”

So, hours later, near sunset, both Draconis and Hurdy found themselves being shaken awake while floating. Mewtwo promptly placed them on their feet after they awakened.

“I got through to Kita, who spoke with Forde,” Mewtwo explained. Forde has learned that Eltanah plans to attack Midern, so he is headed North with a few others to help defend Midern. He requests your help, if you wish to give it, and also mentions that if you go see him now, he will have your rewards ready. If you decide not to help, he gave me permission to return you home, where he may have your reward whenever he has time to travel that way again.”

“Midern? Isn’t that the people that Annox joined with?” Draconis announced.

“Yes, it is!” Hurdy gasped. “If a war is going to break out, we’d better go help Annox!”

“I think your decision is quite clear then,” Mewtwo concluded. “We are to wait here until Forde is near the city of Midern, and then join him. That gives us a day or two to prepare, so we’ll do some practice tomorrow.”

At that moment, Mew appeared to the side of Mewtwo. She was much smaller and pink with a long, thin tail. She took in the two unknown pokemon, and she and Mewtwo seemed to be sharing some unspoken communication for a few minutes. Afterwards, she turned to Draconis and Hurdy to share the news.

“A formal greeting will have to be cut short,” she began. “I was in Deltan for some time, but decided to check on Rinn. Upon arriving, I found out the Kingdom of Rinn had sent out its army to attack Midern several days ago. The army itself has already begun its push into Midern’s lands, and will be at the capital sometime tomorrow! Mewtwo told me that Eltanah has also sent its forces, which further increases the danger of this situation. If we do nothing, Midern will surely fall to this two-pronged attack. We need to leave for Midern now!”

“I guess that erases our day or two of preparation, but we’re needed,” Mewtwo added. “Now let’s be going.”

Mewtwo and Mew began glowing with psychic energy, and soon the four pokemon warped to the dark inside of a building in Midern.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 13

Chapter 13: Border Crossing​

After two days of avoiding patrols, Leon and Corvon were weary. The rapid pace was exhausting them. On the other hand, Forde seemed to be as strong as ever, showing no sign of weariness.

The pokemon were more hardy than the humans. Elomir, Lucario, Kita, and Chiro all kept up (although for Chiro, that meant staying on Forde’s shoulder). Elomir was less distracted now. Each day that passed, each mile he traveled, and every foe that he fought meant he was that much closer to returning to Allia.

Behind them, the lights of Eltanah’s advancing army could be seen where they had been only the night before. Even after this arduous journey was over, they wouldn’t have much time to rest. But for now, their goal was to get past the large fort near the border.

This large garrison had frequent patrols, and flat ground offered no cover from the sentries on the walls. After studying it from a distance for a short time, Forde revealed his plan.

“When the sun begins to set,” he explained, “that is when we make our move. You two will move into the shadows on the Eastern side of the fort, while I’ll go on the West, providing a distraction.”

Corvon seemed worried. “Why must you always be the one in danger, while we run or stay in the shadows? We’d like to help.”

Forde just gave an amused sigh. “Just look at yourselves. Both you and Leon are exhausted. Your pokemon could help if you want them to, but they’ll have to be careful.”

Leon thought the plan over. “Forde’s right. Neither of us could escape as well as he can. I do wish to help, though. Elomir, you wouldn’t mind giving some air support to Forde, would you?”

“If it gets us through faster, then I’m all for it,” Elomir replied.

As the few hours passed before sunset, they rested and went over the plan several times. The advancing army behind them gave them something to be nervous about, but they would be gone soon enough. At last, the time had come.

Forde, along with Chiro and Kita, took off at a light run. The group moved quickly, and the sentries soon spotted them. The alarm was sounded, and a regiment of soldiers moved to block Forde. Since he didn’t show any sign of slowing, some archers on the wall began taking shots at him. The fort also sent out some pokemon to capture him.

“Remember, this will be a running battle,” reminded Forde. “Just slow them down and move on. Elomir will provide enough cover for us.”

Forde never broke stride, but Kita slowed as she placed a barrier in the way of the first attackers. Chiro shot thunder waves from Forde’s shoulder, stopping several attackers in their tracks. Even with these attacks against them, several enemies still began to catch up.

Kita broke out into an all out run, and an Arcanine was right behind her. It seemed to be gaining on her with each stride, and it leapt to block her way. In the air, the Arcanine was knocked aside by a diving green blur, which turned out to be Elomir.

“I’ll cover you. Catch up with Forde,” Elomir stated.

Elomir began blasting foes with his dragonbreath attack. Kita continued running towards Forde, who had slowed down to allow her to catch up. Arrows began to thud into the ground near Forde, and right as Kita reached him, she saw an arrow heading right for him. In a barely visible motion, Forde caught the arrow. He dropped it as Kita moved past him and stayed at her pace.

With the entire fort distracted, Leon, Corvon, and Lucario had made their way past the fort, and now were running away from it. Forde and his group joined them a minute later.

“Now for Elomir to pull of the final part of the plan,” said Forde, not even out of breath.

At the moment, Elomir was engaged in battle with a Crobat that had been tailing him. After getting hit by its supersonic waves, he couldn’t seem to fly straight. The Crobat scored a few hits with wing attacks. Sporting a few fresh bruises, Elomir recovered and whipped his tail to meet the Crobat. His tail slammed right into the center of its face, and it was spiked down to the ground below.

Elomir found the others soon, and torched a large line of grass with his breath. The grass burst into small flames, and the large amount of smoke would cover their escape. Luckily, the grass wasn’t dry enough for the fire to spread far, but it would block the troops long enough.

Leon called from below. “Good work, Elomir. It’s been decided that you’ll carry me and Corvon. Forde and Lucario will take the supplies and travel on the ground.”

Elomir landed, muttering as the two humans climbed on. “This is going to be heavy. I think I can manage if it’s for a short time.”

Leon patted Elomir’s head as the dragon took off. “It won’t be long. Just to that next fort up there, which is where Midern’s official border begins.”

Elomir seemed to be having trouble gaining height, but leveled out. Below them, the small figures of Forde and Lucario could be seen, moving at a brisk run. They kept this up for about an hour and, under the faint blue light of twilight, they reached the border fort of Midern.

The guards at this fort, in their green and blue colors, stopped them briefly as the commander arrived. Once Forde had explained the situation to the commander, they were let in and given a simple but filling meal and given the guest rooms to sleep in. After the long day, they all fell right asleep.

The next morning they were given another good meal, but the soldiers of this fort seemed on edge after Eltanah’s army had been spotted on the horizon. “Farewell,” said the commander as the group left. “Take word of this to the capital as quickly as possible. They‘ll need you more there. The last messenger had some troubling news about Rinn moving its armies, but after that we’ve lost all communication. We’ll hold this fort as long as possible.”

Once again they were off on another day of walking along the dusty road in the hot sun. The night at the fort had given them a bit more rest and food than usual, so everyone was ready to travel the final stretch to Midern.

The first day gave Leon plenty of time to think. He and Elomir were doing much better now that they could speak to each other. Leon realized he didn’t really know much about Corvon, Lucario, or Forde and his pokemon so he decided to ask them that night.

Once they had set up the fire, Leon made his move. “Corvon, Forde, I realized that I never really got to know about where you’re from. Would you mind telling me?”

Corvon poked at the fire a minute before responding. “I was young when the collapse occurred. In the resulting cataclysm, I lost both parents. I had lived in a remote area and wandered, finding food where I could. Lost and hungry one day, I collapsed. A Riolu, who is now this Lucario, found me and took care of me. The two of us lived in the mountains for a time, taking care of each other. Once evolved, Lucario wanted a bit more adventure than wandering the mountains provided, so we made our way to what remained of civilization.”

Corvon adjusted the cooking meat over the fire and continued. “We both made a decent living as mercenaries, and Lucario would only allow us to take the jobs with no injustice involved.”

“I’ve got my pride and reputation to uphold,” Lucario cut in.

Corvon gave his partner a pat on the back. “At times this meant some hardship for us, but eventually we found Forde, who offered us a permanent job working for him. Until recently, we would keep an eye on things were Forde could not be. With this war beginning, it looks like we may be getting back into fighting once again.”

“Thanks for telling us,” Leon complimented. “What about you, Forde?”

“Dinner is ready,” Forde declared. “I’ll tell you after that.”

They each took their share of the food, but Forde walked off with his. Kita and Chiro accompanied him, as always.

“I’ve noticed that Forde doesn’t like to eat with others,” Leon stated.

Corvon shrugged. “That’s how it’s always been. I’ve learned not to question it.”

When they were both done, Forde returned. “I’m ready to tell you a little bit of my past, but keep in mind that I’m older than I look. I also lived before the collapse. Back then, I had teachers who taught me in many things. They knew the collapse was coming and were teaching me how to carry on the secrets of technology and society that might have been lost otherwise. Right before the collapse, I was sent to a place called Relic Academy, where the effects of the collapse were the least.”

Elomir, who had been listening with his eyes closed, perked up and interrupted Forde. “Relic Academy? Me and Leon met three pokemon from there. We freed them from a trap in the forest. Apparently they were delivering a message for you, Forde.”

Leon seemed to be trying hard to remember. “You mean that Charmander, Mudkip, and Turtwig we met were from there? What kind of a place is Relic Academy?”

“It is the closest thing pokemon have to a city,” Forde explained. “If you met those three you described, then you did me a favor by saving them. I was having them take a message for me. That’s just one of the things I’ve been able to do with these translators. Once you get to know pokemon, you’ll find out that most of them are just as complex as people. But let’s get back to my story. After the collapse, I began to help the emerging kingdoms. I helped establish the trade routes used now. I also introduced some basic technologies to make their lives easier and ease the suffering. And until now, I’ve been able to keep peace.”

“I never would have imagined that you did all that,” Leon said. “Thanks for telling me. It’s getting pretty late now, so I think I’ll be going to bed.”

“Me, too,” Corvon added.

Soon, they were all resting, and the pokemon would take turns on the watch. Leon was not quite asleep, and so he whispered quietly to Elomir, who sat next to him, taking the first shift for the night watch.

“Hey, Elomir, do you think Forde was telling the whole truth?”

“I’m not really sure, Leon. We’ve all been together only a few days, so they probably left parts out. Everyone has sensitive or embarrassing moments they don’t like to talk about.”

“Like that time you got stuck in a tree when learning how to fly?”

“If you’re going to go there, why don’t I mention the time you spilled the drinks all over the place at that ball, including on your father’s fancy clothes?”

“Okay, I’ll drop it.”

“Me, too.”

Both Leon and Elomir began laughing at the embarrassing memories, but after a few minutes Corvon yelled at them to be quiet. As he stopped laughing, Leon settled down to sleep.

Later that night, when it was Kita’s turn to be on watch, Forde stayed up with her as usual.

“Kita, do you think I should ever reveal the entire truth? I know I look like them, but the differences become obvious if we stay with them too long. I think they both have noticed a few odd things about me already.”

“No, I don’t think you should. Perhaps once things are settled again, but I think you won’t ever need to reveal it. Me and Chiro are meant to be your company and keep your secret.”

“Yes, I will wait, then. For now. We need to worry about what is causing this war first, not to mention the coming battle we face at Midern. If Rinn also moved its armies in, then we’ll be facing a long siege, hedged in by two armies. I only hope there will be enough supplies to last through such an event. Otherwise, we may need to intervene more directly than ever before.”

“It won’t come to that, Forde. I’ll be your sword, and Chiro can be your… whatever. Anyways, with us you won’t need to pick up a weapon. Now or ever.”

“I only pray that is so.”

The following morning came, and another day of traveling passed. By the end, they could see the city of Midern in the distance, and another army on the horizon.

Forde frowned at this turn of events. “Just as I feared. Rinn’s army is almost upon Midern. We won’t get much rest tonight. We must travel until it’s dark.”

Leon sighed and picked up his pack. The few hours of traveling brought them much closer to Midern, and the fires of the two armies dotted the horizons on the South and Northeast, glittering like eyes watching them. Forde allowed them all to rest, setting no watch after the long day.

Around noon, they finally arrived, and the guards let them in with smiles, since Midern could use all the help in the coming battle. As soon as they entered, a man, in a brown cloak that covered his entire body and face, approached Forde. The man whispered a few things and Forde’s mood suddenly brightened.

“I’ll see you at the base,” Forde told the man. “First I must go see the king.”

The cloaked man nodded and walked off, and had disappeared a few moments later.

“Who was that? I’ve never seen him before,” Corvon questioned.

“An ally of mine,” Forde replied. “With his help, we’ll have a few less things to worry about. You’ll meet him soon, but I must go to the king. Corvon, you know the way to my base, so take Leon there. We only have a few short hours before battle.”

“I will,” Corvon answered. Corvon led Leon down some side streets before pausing in a dark alley. He cautiously looked around before moving a barrel aside and lifting up a thin stone covering that concealed a ladder leading down.

The four of them made their way down, but for Elomir it was a tight squeeze through the entrance. Once down, they were in a base much like the one in Eltanah, with storage rooms and a meeting hall with a table. The lights had already been powered up, despite Chiro not coming to this base for a long time. Waiting for them, at the head of the table, was the cloaked figure from earlier.

“Forde sent you here while he went to the king,” the figured stated, already knowing what had gone on. “Very well, we shall wait, but let’s get introductions out of the way first. Be prepared. I am not a man, as I may seem.”

The figure’s last statement explained why the voice seemed to be in their heads. That was little cushioning to the next shock. The cloak around the figure disappeared, revealing large creature with a long purple tail and thin body.

“I am Mewtwo, a pokemon that works with Forde. You all arrived faster than expected, which is for the best.”

These statements washed over Leon, Corvon, Lucario, and Elomir much like the shock from the appearance. Before them was the mysterious Mewtwo, who they had only heard about in legends.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 14: Survivors​

Leon, Corvon, Lucario, and Elomir were about to introduce themselves, but Mewtwo held up a hand, as if signaling them to stop.

“I already can sense who you are from your minds. Leon is the banished prince from Alagarde, Corvon is a mercenary now working for Forde, Lucario is Corvon’s partner, and Elomir is Leon’s partner.”

Mewtwo’s eyes swept over them, as if he already knew each of their deepest secrets and desires. Under such a gaze, they remained silent, which left Mewtwo to continue the one-sided conversation.

“I think it’s time to introduce a few others you’ll be working with. Mew, you may bring in the others.”

The door opened and a pink pokemon with a long tail floated in. Behind it was a Charmander and Mudkip. The pink pokemon also revealed that it spoke through telepathy as she began.

“I hope Mewtwo didn’t intrude too deeply into your thoughts while I was gone. It’s a bad habit of his. Anyways, I am Mew.”

“I’m Draconis,” the Charmander added. “I think we’ll be working together in this coming battle.”

“I’m Hurdy,” the Mudkip stated. “I think we already met two of you before.”

Elomir recognized the two. “Yes, we saved you in the forest, but where did the Turtwig go?”

Hurdy looked down at the floor. “We don’t really know. I was hoping to find him, but Rinn’s army must have already captured the fort he was at. I only hope he’s okay.”

“Forde’s here,” Mewtwo interrupted.

A moment later, Forde, Chiro, and Kita entered the small meeting room. Forde motioned everyone to take their places at the table before beginning his explanation. “Okay, I’ve spoken with King Verault. He’s prepared all available men to help defend the city. Against two armies, his best hope is to hold them off until their supplies, morale, or numbers run low. With the extra refugees that have been coming in, the city only has enough food for a few days. If the siege lasts any longer than that, can I count on you, Mewtwo and Mew to help?”

“Food will be easy to teleport in,” Mewtwo stated.

“What else will we be doing during the siege?” Mew asked.

“I’m glad you asked,” Forde said. “I think we need to get to the bottom of why the nations are attacking Midern. You both will go and do some mind-reading for me. See if you can discover anything from Queen Iridia of Eltanah or King Zeidhelme of Rinn. One of you will also need to search for Uxie, who may hold some of the information we need. Keep in contact with me daily to see how we are faring here.”

“Sounds fun,” Mewtwo responded as he gave a bow and vanished.

“I hope we can find what you’re looking for,” Mew replied before going as well.

“What about us?” Draconis demanded.

“The time for battle is nearly upon us,” Forde answered. “You and Hurdy will join Leon, Corvon, and their partners in the battle. All of you will help on the main front, unless I have some other need for you. I will be moving around, helping King Verault command the troops in battle, so you’ll be seeing me from time to time.”

“What about the reward for delivering the message to Mewtwo?” Hurdy inquired.

“Oh, yes, I do have that. Let me get it.” Forde pulled two objects out of his pack. “Here, catch.”

Forde tossed the first item to Draconis. It was a claw of some kind, attached to a string that was to be worn around the neck.

“That is a quick claw,” explained Forde. “It will make you move faster in battle. Perfect for someone like you, right?”

“I can’t wait to try it.”

Forde turned to Hurdy. “For you, I have this.”

Since Mudkip can’t catch well, Forde slid the item over the tabletop to Hurdy. It seemed to be a pair of glasses with a few odd markings on the rims.

“Those are called the wise glasses. Besides making you look smart, they’ll increase the power of your special attacks.”

Hurdy slipped on the glasses. “Hmm, I see.”

Forde resumed giving the orders. “The time to move out is upon us. You’ll be defending the Eastern wall near the gate. Good luck.”

Forde led them out to their post. Beyond the walls, the army of Rinn was closing the last few miles between them and Midern. However, there seemed to be something running in front of Rinn’s army.

“What is that?” wondered Hurdy.

“Elomir, why don’t you check it out?” Leon suggested.

Elomir took off towards the creature. It seemed something yellow-green was draped between the two bushes on a rounded yellow shell that was on top of a light green creature. Elomir hovered in the air above it, and discovered it was a Grotle, carrying an unconscious Bayleef that had a vicious wound on its side.

“I need help!” the Grotle pleaded. “Get them to open the gates!”

That the Grotle needed help was obvious. The Bayleef had a serious injury that trickled blood down onto the shell of the Grotle. The Grotle itself also had a few burns and cuts, mostly on its tail and lower legs.

“But who are you?” Elomir questioned.

“We’re on your side. We used to be at the Northwestern Fort, until it was destroyed.”

“Keep coming. I’ll get help.”

Elomir returned to the wall and reported. “It’s a Grotle carrying a Bayleef. We need to let them in. He said Northwestern Fort has been destroyed, and both of them have injuries that need care.“

Forde started to head down to the gate. “Draconis, Hurdy, you both had better come with me.”

Forde had the gate opened just enough for the Grotle to fit through, which arrived shortly after this arrangement was made.

“Take her!” the Grotle gasped. “She needs help!”

Several small trails of red ran down the side of Grotle from the Bayleef. Draconis and Hurdy both looked at one another and then back to the Grotle.

“Annox is that you?” Hurdy questioned. “Your voice sounds a bit deeper, but much like before.”

“Yes, but I must get Peoria help now!” Annox replied.

“Follow me,” commanded Forde.

Annox stayed right behind Forde as they headed towards the medical hall in the center of town. Draconis and Hurdy had to hurry to keep up with the two.

“You look much tougher, Annox,” Draconis stated, trying to lessen the tension. “When did you evolve?”

“Not now, Draconis. I must help Peoria. After that I’ll tell you.”

They went the rest of the way in silence. Soon they arrived at a building full of medical staff and clean white beds.

“Has the battle started?” the head medic inquired after seeing the injured Bayleef.

“Not yet,” Forde replied. “But it will have begun by the time I get back to the walls. These two are survivors from the Northwestern Fort. From the looks of it, they are the only ones.”

“We’ll give them the best treatment. We’ve preparing all day for this.”

Peoria was lifted from Annox’s shell. On her side was a large cut, running from her shoulder to her back leg. The medics set about cleaning and bandaging the wound.

“Her pulse is faint from loss of blood, but it looks like she was brought here in time. Luckily the cut wasn’t too deep,” the medic explained to Annox.

“Ah, yes, I made it,” Annox muttered in relief, almost fainting.

The medic noticed Annox’s swaying and watched him carefully. The medic now turned his attention to the cuts and burns on Annox.

“We’d better take care of you, too,” the medic stated.

The medic applied a paste made of berries to the burns and cuts before wrapping them in bandages. All the while, Draconis and Hurdy waited to ask Annox what had happened.

“You should rest and heal,” the medic announced. “Oh, the man who brought you in said to give this to you after we dealt with the injuries. Said it was some kind of reward, a miracle seed.”

The medic placed a string around Annox’s neck. At the end was a small pouch that held the seed. After giving this, the medic walked away to help the first victims from the siege. This left Draconis and Hurdy alone to speak with their friend.

“I’m so tired, but I finally made it,” Annox weakly stated.

“It’s good to see you again,” Hurdy said. “What happened?”

“I’d like to know, too,” Draconis added. “We leave you for a week and you come back like this, so much stronger.”

Annox took Draconis’s last words darkly. “I am stronger, but I wasn’t strong enough.” Tears now began to trickle down from Annox’s eyes onto the small yellow spikes above the corners of his mouth. “The first three days we trained. Peoria, Petal, and the others pushed me hard, hard enough that I evolved. It was a happy time, spending each day with Peoria, but it didn’t last. Rinn’s army came upon us. Despite being a small outpost, we held them off for a day. After that, they broke through the wall, and…”

Annox shuddered and began to cry harder. “And… they showed no mercy. The soldiers all fell, and many of the pokemon as well. Me, Peoria, and Petal managed to break out of the fort, but Peoria was seriously injured. Petal told me to take Peoria and run for Midern while she held them off. That was the last I saw of Petal. At least I saved Peoria.”

“That’s awful!” Hurdy stated. “Me and Draconis will do our best to make sure that doesn’t happen here.”

“No! Don’t fight!” Annox yelled out. “I’ve had enough of war! I don’t want to lose anyone else, especially you two!”

“Get a hold of yourself!” Draconis snapped at Annox. “We have to fight! Midern may not be able to hold on without us! It’s not like we could get out, now that Eltanah’s going to be joining the fight soon. We must fight together, or we’ll die! Don’t let the sacrifices of those you fought with at the fort be for nothing! Recover and join us in battle!”

Annox shook the tears from his face. “ I guess… you’re right. I will keep fighting. For Peoria and for everyone else, but for now… I’ll rest.”

Annox passed out from exhaustion. He had been running for a whole day, and was finally getting a well deserved rest. Draconis and Hurdy quietly left him and Peoria to their rest and healing.

As they approached the wall, Draconis and Hurdy could hear the sounds of battle. The setting sun dyed the clouds above blood red. The clash of weapons became the background, and shrieks of injured or dying pokemon could be heard from time to time. Upon arriving Draconis and Hurdy witnessed Corvon dispatch a few soldiers with his sword, which was a single handed but had a long sturdy blade. Lucario used his aura sphere to drive off attacking pokemon.

“Nice of you to join us,” Corvon greeted. “They’re just testing our defenses at the moment. None of these soldiers or pokemon are highly trained, but it’s no reason to let your guard down.”

Above them, Leon rained arrows down upon the ranks of enemy soldiers as Elomir chased after any flying enemies.

“You seem a bit young to be in a battle like this,” Lucario said. “I hope you are prepared. Don’t take on more than you’re ready for.”

“Thanks for the advice,” Hurdy stated as he and Draconis went to take on a couple of pokemon that had gotten onto the wall.

“After what they did to Annox and Peoria, I’m itching for battle!” Draconis stated in excitement.

Adrenaline building, both of them rushed the Sneasel and Slugma. Draconis went for the Sneasel with his claws, but it jumped to the side and countered with its own claws. Draconis tried moving back, but the tips of the claws still raked Draconis, leaving him with two small cuts. Draconis now shot a flamethrower at the Sneasel, and the direct hit caused it to fall from the wall.

Beside Draconis, Hurdy was taking on the Slugma. He shot his water gun at it, drenching it in water. The water turned to steam around the magma slug, and it shot its flamethrower at Hurdy. Hurdy dodged a direct hit, but his back leg and fin were scorched by the flame, which didn’t do much to Hurdy anyways. Hurdy used another water gun, and the Slugma collapsed.

“What do we do with fainted enemies?” Hurdy pondered.

“Just leave it, I’m sure the soldiers or pokemon of Midern will take care of it.”

The two continued fighting together. Draconis‘s tail seemed to flare larger and more violently with each enemy he defeated, but Hurdy seemed to just be wearing down. Soon the sun set, and the enemy retreated to their camp. Draconis and Hurdy sported a few minor cuts and bruises, but had avoided any enemies that looked too strong for them. Lucario seemed untouched, as did Corvon. Elomir landed, and looked like he had gotten into a few too many fights with bird types, the scrapes from talons covering his wings and sides. Leon was a bit sweaty, but otherwise unchanged from earlier.

“Not too bad of a battle, how did it go down here?” Leon greeted.

“Easy for me and Lucario,” Corvon answered. “They were just testing our defenses. The serious fighting will begin once Eltanah comes in tomorrow. It seems like there was few casualties on our side. They’ll need much better soldiers or much greater numbers to breach the defenses we have.”

“I was just getting into the fighting,” Draconis added. “Once I get going, I find it hard to stop. It just seems too calm now.”

“I don’t miss the fighting one bit,” Hurdy said. “I don’t mind reading about it, but fighting for this long was wearing me out.”

“You two have gotten much better since the forest,” Elomir complimented. “The foes here were about the same training or better, and you fought much more of them.”

“Crossing the mountains must have strengthened us,” Draconis replied. “We had to fight many wild pokemon there. This is the first battle that’s really gotten my blood boiling! I’ll be ready and willing to take on anyone tomorrow! But, there is one thing I want more than that, and that’s dinner!”

Everyone laughed, and now Forde approached them. Kita beside him looked much like Lucario, a little tired, but untouched. Pachirisu seemed to be excited and jumpy.

“I can see your spirits are good, and that you all are unhurt,” Forde observed. We’ll be staying at the castle, since I am one of the king’s top strategists in this battle. They’ll have plenty of food there.”

As they walking Chiro began talking. “Exciting battle, wasn’t it? I zapped so many birds out of the sky! Any of you have any cool battles?”

Kita just sighed. “Don’t mind him. Battles get him wound up. Sometimes it can be tiring just listening to him.”

“That Sneasel had some nasty claws,” Draconis stated. “They left these two scratches on me, my worst wounds of the day.”

“Just a few bruises, but nothing major here,” Hurdy added.

“You must have been on the other side, Chiro, because there were flocks of birds in my skies,” Elomir said. “They couldn’t get much more than scrapes against me, but look at all of them.”

Elomir fanned his wings out, just to show the numerous scrapes he was talking about.

“I’ll help you take care of those,” Leon said. “My arms are sore, but that’s about it.”

“Hopefully tomorrow ends with us all in such good condition,” Forde declared as they arrived at the castle.

The castle of Midern was near the center of town. It had much higher and thicker walls than those around the town, and could be used as a last defense if the town itself were broken into. Hopefully the battle would not get that vicious. It was made of brown stone, taken from the cliffs of the nearby river. On the tops of it were the green and blue banners.

They entered into the gateway, and the elite soldiers and pokemon could be seen as guards here. Soon, they went through the large wooden doors that made up the entrance to the inside of the castle. Once inside, the royal chamber was set for dinner. The carpets were all the blue and green or Midern. The king himself sat at his royal table with a few other members of the royal family and his top commanders.

King Verault was a man with an honest face and short red hair. He wore a small but elegant crown, and sported a small waxed moustache. He still had on some parts of his armor from the battle, and looked to have a strong and able body. Behind the king was his Scizor, silent and cold.

Beside the king was a thin woman with graying red hair, the king’s mother. The sisters of the king all had red hair as well. The queen sat on the right of the king, and had long black hair and a thin frame.

“Ah, Forde, so nice of you to bring your friends,” the king greeted. “I know that you eat alone, so your food as well as your pokemon’s is in your room. I would like your guests to eat here, if they don’t mind.”

Forde thanked the king with a bow. Leon and Corvon approached the king, bowed, and then were seated at a table, both facing the king. The pokemon were to eat on the side of the room, except Lucario who could handle human silverware. Ornate bowls piled with food awaited them, and they took their places over there.

“Forde didn’t really tell me much about you two,” explained the king. “I would appreciate if you would tell me about yourselves as your dinner is brought in.”

Currently, only the silverware was on the table, and the ornate cutlery reminded Leon of home.

Corvon chose to go first, seeing that Leon was caught up in remembering home. “I’m Corvon, a mercenary that Forde has hired to work for him. My partner is Lucario.”

“What about you?” the king now watched Leon. “Your cape bears the symbol of Alagarde, and I am curious how one from such a far kingdom got here.”

Leon prepared to reveal himself. “I’m Leon, well, actually Prince Leon of Alagarde. My father didn’t want my dissent against his war on our peaceful neighboring kingdom of Farna, and so I was banished. My Flygon, Elomir, is over there.”

“Prince Leon, a pleasure to have you here in our kingdom,” King Verault said. “If I had known it was you, I would have given you a more proper greeting. How fares the Eastern Kingdoms? I don’t get much news from that area, except from the occasional trader that comes in from there.”

“My father has probably started his war with Farna by now, but before I left, the kingdoms of Alagarde and Farna were doing well. Despite some troubles with bandits, the kingdoms were growing and prospering.”

“It sounds much like my kingdom then, prospering before this war that seems to have come without reason. Once we break the siege of Midern, I hope Forde can find out why all this is happening. Oh, there’s dinner. I hope you’ll enjoy it, even if it is a bit simple due to saving food to last us through the siege. If you had come in better times, then I surely would have had much more for guests.”

Despite the king’s words, they had plenty of food. They all ate and shortly afterwards, all went to bed. The chambers had soft beds, as well as large pillows for their pokemon to sleep on. Draconis and Hurdy were staying in Forde’s room, since they had no human partners. Everyone but Forde was asleep quickly, and so Forde headed out to the castle walls for a short walk, knowing to expect an update from Mewtwo and Mew soon. Halfway around the castle walls, Mewtwo and Mew appeared in front of Forde.

“Good evening,” greeted Forde.

“Good evening,” answered Mew. “I searched for Uxie, but found Azelf instead. They have such similar psychic energies. Anyways, when I asked if Azelf had noticed anything odd, the being of willpower said that something was making so the leaders were more willing to go to war. Something has some hold on them that warps their natural willpower. Azelf also said that it had not seen Uxie for some time, but that its sibling, Mesprit, had seen Uxie much more recently. I’ll continue looking tomorrow.”

“I decided to go to the desert and look into Queen Iridia,” Mewtwo explained. “Most of her thoughts were on the war, but the strangest thing was that her memories were missing. The only thing I know can do that is Uxie, but I don’t think Uxie would mess with humans unless it had to. Strange thoughts, seemingly from somewhere else also seemed to be in her head. One of these was clear, and so I thought I would tell it to you. It seems to be part of the earlier message I discovered. Anyways, it goes:

Lonely mushroom bursts to flame
In the land that quicksands claim.”

“This poem seems to be leading to something,” Forde suggested. “Anyways, good job, and I’ll see you tomorrow, around the same time. Remember to bring in some food supplies as well, although we don’t need much yet.”

Mewtwo and Mew both disappeared, and Forde went back to bed. Although unnecessary, shutting down most his physical and mental activity felt good sometimes, particularly after a busy day. Only the small part, calculating the next day’s strategy, remained going.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 15: Lost in Chaos​

Before the sun had risen, Draconis and Hurdy found themselves being shaken awake. Hurdy blinked his eyes a few times before hopping off the pillow he was sleeping on. Draconis just flicked his flaming tail at whoever it was, pretending to still be asleep.

“If that hits me again, I’ll have to bite you,” came the irritated voice of Kita.

“Fine, fine. I’m up.” Draconis stood up and stretched while yawning.

“So what are we doing now?” Hurdy asked.

Chiro hopped down to the floor from Forde’s bed. “Breakfast time, sleepyheads! Time to go!”

“Man, he has a lot of energy for it being so early…” Draconis muttered.

“Chiro is right,” Forde added. “Time for breakfast, and then we’ll be heading off. I believe the battle will start again shortly after sunrise.”

Hurdy started to head out. “It’ll be a tough day. So we’d better eat a good breakfast.”

Once again they ate in the king’s hall. Leon, Corvon, Lucario, and Elomir were there, all looking tired, and didn’t seem inclined to speak much. This left Forde and King Verault to speak on the upcoming battle.

“Estimates are in,” Verault declared. “The Rinn army measures around 4000, with an almost even split in numbers of humans and pokemon. Reports also show that Eltanah’s army is about the same in size. Unfortunately our own army did not have time to fully gather. We have around 3000 here, but many more soldiers are still stationed in some of the far villages and forts, since they have not had time to return here. If we had our full army, then we would also have around 4000. Let us hope my messengers reached them, and that they come swiftly. There is some good news, though. Our food supplies seem higher than anticipated. The soldiers and citizens will still have large rations of food. This will certainly boost morale.”

“At least there is that good news,” Forde replied. “Your estimates match what I believed the two armies to hold. Now the question is how the armies will deploy themselves. I think today they will begin using their siege pokemon, so be sure to have soldiers ready to protect the city. Powerful pokemon can easily knock a hole or two in the wall.”

“I’m well aware of that. I’ve put many of our aerial pokemon on locating how many such pokemon they have. That way we’ll be able to keep track of them.”

Suddenly, the sound of a horn being blown from outside could be heard.

“The call to battle,” Forde explained. “Once again, you will all be at the Eastern wall. Also, I checked Annox and Peoria. They are recovering. Annox may join the fighting by tomorrow, but Peoria will still need a few days of healing. She has not awakened at all.”

They headed out. Leon and Corvon packed food for later for themselves and the four pokemon. During the battle they could only hope for a short break to eat such food. On the streets, soldiers marched with pokemon to their positions. The marketplaces were quiet, but children and mothers could be seen watching from doorways as their fathers or husbands headed off to battle.

At the Eastern Wall, they could see Eltanah’s newly arrived army getting in position for battle. Rinn’s army was to the north now. To the south, the large river provided protection, and prevented most enemies from crossing.

Forde surveyed the army beyond the walls. “Before I go, I have a few warnings to you. Eltanah’s army will be focusing most their power on this wall, so the fighting will be much more intense that before. Keep together, and if you get separated, be sure to stay with Midern’s forces. Getting separated in battle is one of the surest ways to get killed. Also, Elomir, expect their air forces to be much stronger today. Now I have other soldiers to go command, so stay alive.”

Forde walked off. Leon and Elomir took to the skies. The enemy now was in range of arrows, which started raining down upon them. Up in the sky, Leon took a few shots, but stopped as a Gligar attacked Elomir. The smaller pokemon darted around quickly, stinging Elomir twice before he finally knocked it away with a slash attack.

Down below, the enemy reached the walls, and began trying to scale it with ladders and grappling hooks. Draconis set a few of the ladders and ropes on fire, preventing any from getting up nearby. Hurdy shot water at the pokemon below the wall. Lucario took out a few pokemon below with aura sphere. Corvon had out a crossbow, which he fired at the soldiers below.

“None of them can get up,” Draconis boasted. “Wooden ladders and rope just won’t last against my flame.”

“Yes, good work Draconis,” Hurdy complimented.

“Don’t think that they don’t have a few other weapons,” Lucario admonished. “Wait! Something’s coming!”

A path in the soldiers below was cleared, and a Rhyhorn was building up speed, heading for the wall right where they stood.

“We have to stop that!” Lucario yelled. “Focus all attacks on it!”

Lucario shot an aura sphere at it, hitting it directly. The attack slowed the Rhyhorn down a little, but it kept coming. It was coming closer and closer to the wall. Lucario shot another aura sphere at it, and Hurdy launched a water gun at it. The two attacks hit it right as it neared the wall, and knocked the Rhyhorn unconscious. The momentum it had built up did not stop, however, and so it flew forward, slamming into the wall.

Crack! The wall trembled, and a few pieces began to crumble. At first it seemed to be stopping, so Draconis continued shooting flames at the enemies. Once again the cracking of stone could be heard a minute later.

“Draconis! Get off there!” Corvon yelled, but too late.

A section near the Rhyhorn’s impact began collapsing. Hurdy ran towards Corvon, the stone crumbling right behind him. Draconis was further behind, and tried scrambling up the falling stone, but slipped.

Hurdy turned around, seeing if his friend was safe. His friend disappeared into the dust and debris that shot up from the falling wall. “No! Draconis!” Hurdy yelled in desperation.

The wall finished falling, leaving a pile of rubble about half as high as the original wall. The Rhyhorn from earlier was completely buried, and Draconis could not be seen anywhere.

“Draconis, can you hear me?” Hurdy called out as he began rushing to the pile.

Corvon and Lucario also headed down to the pile of rubble, but that was because Eltanah’s army was now sending a large group of soldiers and pokemon to take advantage of the hole in Midern’s defenses. Before Eltanah’s army arrived, a group of Midern’s forces came to help hold the line.

“Hurdy! You’d better check on the side inside the wall for now!” Lucario yelled out since Hurdy had gotten out past where the soldiers had gathered. He didn’t want another one of the young pokemon hurt, if it could be avoided.

Hurdy glanced around the fallen stone for the familiar flame of his friend before heading up the pile and to the other side inside the wall. He seemed to have lost interest in the battle, and was solely concentrated on moving stones around while calling out the name of his friend. Eltanah’s forces charged for the gap now, and Corvon and Lucario became engaged in vicious close combat.

From the distant walls, Forde had seen the dust from the collapsing wall. He hurried over, knowing that Corvon and the others had been near where the wall collapsed. When he finally arrived, the fighting had already begun, but he spotted the lone Mudkip, desperately searching the wreckage.

“Kita, can you sense if Draconis is alive?” Forde asked. “I see everyone else, so he’s the one to be worried about.”

“It will be difficult with so many pokemon around, but I should be able to do it,” Kita replied. “Just give me a minute.”

Kita began focusing and the red gem on her forehead glowed. Chiro shot a few electric bolts at enemies below the walls, hitting most of his targets.

“He’s alive at least,” Kita announced. “At the moment I think he is knocked out. I couldn’t sense any thought from him.”

“We’d better go tell Hurdy that.” Forde began to head down from the wall.

Hurdy was too involved in his search to notice Forde approaching. His friend had disappeared, and he wasn’t going to stop until he found him. Suddenly, a purple paw tapped his shoulder, so he turned to see who it was.

“What?” he snapped before he saw that it was Kita.

“Don’t worry, Draconis is alive,” Kita assured him. “I used my psychic powers after we saw that he was missing. He is alive but unconscious.”

Hurdy breathed a sigh of relief. “That’s good, but I’m still not resting until I find him! He should be right around here somewhere.”

As Kita spoke with Hurdy, Forde had gone up to help rally the troops at the top of the pile of rubble. Seeing that they would be facing fierce combat at that location all day, Forde headed back into the city to get some more support from archers, as well as replacement troops to help hold the breach in the defenses.

Corvon and Lucario were dirty from the dust kicked up in the battle on the rubble. Corvon had a nasty cut on his arm from one enemy that had surprised him, but was still in fighting condition. Lucario now also sported a burnt patch of fur, which he had gotten when a Magmar shot a flamethrower at him when he was already fighting another opponent. Everything seemed to be chaos, with enemy soldiers and pokemon rushing up to face them.

For hours, the fighting raged on. On the far side of the pile of collapsed stone, off to the side, something stirred under a small pile of rock. Draconis wondered where he was for a moment before remembering what had happened. His head hurt, and it felt like he had many other bruises. With a mighty effort he slid out from under the heavy stone that had him pinned down. The sounds of battle were all around him, so Draconis kept low. He glanced around, and saw the pile of stone where the wall had been. Enemies rushed past him, towards the gap, so he kept hidden behind the stone around him. Up in the gap, Draconis suddenly spotted the familiar black hat of Corvon, as well as the pointed blue tips of Lucario’s ears.

It was then that Draconis decided he was going to make it back up to his friends. Gathering his courage, he jumped from his hiding spot and made a run for the top. Like all pokemon in the battle, Draconis wore a band to show which side he was on. Although dusty, it was obvious he was with Midern, so he wasted no time in letting his enemies notice this. He flamed a Cacturne that was climbing the stone, and slashed a Sandshrew that had his back to him. Just 20 yards ahead was the line between enemy and friend, but several enemy pokemon all turned to face him.

Surrounded by the burned Cacturne, the slashed Sandshrew, and a Doduo that had decided to join the fight, Draconis would have to give it his all to win. The Doduo rushed in first, pecking Draconis twice on his leg. The sharp beaks cut into his scales, causing Draconis to bleed. Draconis whipped the Doduo in the face with his tail, before slashing it across the chest with his claw. The bird had low stamina, and so it collapsed from the blow.

The Sandshrew attacked next, and Draconis had to dodge backwards to avoid the swipes of its claws. Soon, he was backed up against a large piece of stone, the Sandshrew still coming at him. He tried dodging to the side, but was hit across the chest and arm with two of the Sandshrew’s swipes. Draconis retaliated with another slash, but this time one of his claws got stuck in the Sandshrew’s thick hide. Draconis shot out his fiery breath to incapacitate the Sandshrew, but his claw was still stuck. The Cacturne took advantage of this, and sprayed him with needles using its pin missile attack.

The needles all stuck into Draconis’s shoulder. The pain was driving Draconis into a rage, and his claw being stuck in the Sandshrew was becoming increasing aggravating. He tried pulling his claw out once more, but had to jump as the Cacturne attacked with a needle arm. Draconis heard a snapping sound and his claw was free. Below him, the Cacturne’s attack had chipped the stone behind him. Suddenly, his claw that had been stuck flared in pain. Draconis looked and saw that instead of getting free, his claw had broken off, and his finger was now bleeding. His tail flared larger and brighter than ever, and Draconis used his pain and anger to launch a flamethrower that finished off the Cacturne. Panting and exhausted, Draconis continued moving up the pile of rock.

It seemed luck didn’t like Draconis today, as a Skorupi suddenly grabbed the leg that had been injured by the Doduo. The little scorpion pierced his skin with one of its stingers, and injected its poison. Draconis knocked it away, but began to shiver as the poison took effect. He tried moving on, but was growing weak, and once again the Skorupi approached him. The poison was now so bad, it caused him to collapse.

“I can’t fall here…” Draconis muttered to himself as everything went blurry. Sure, he was in pain and bleeding from the scratches, pecks, and missing claw, but that wasn’t going to stop him. Suddenly, the sight of the Skorupi preparing to sting him again filled him with an uncontrollable rage and power returned to him.

“I’m not going down!” Draconis shouted. His tail flared twice as bright, and his whole body began to glow white. Suddenly, everything seemed a bit smaller than before, and Draconis laughed at how pathetic the Skorupi looked now. He blasted it with a flamethrower more powerful than any he had ever done, and then crushed it beneath the large claws on his red foot. Strange, his foot used to be orange and have small claws. Draconis looked at his hand that used to be missing a claw, just to find it replaced with a new and larger claw. Draconis suddenly realized he had evolved, and it felt good to defeat opponents with his new power.

Only a few weaklings stood in his way now. Draconis came up from behind an enemy Pikachu, and slashed it across the throat before it noticed him. Draconis threw the Pikachu to the side, before unleashing a flamethrower at a Sentret that tried to stop him. Seeing that he was on their side, the Midern soldiers let Draconis through. He immediately spotted Hurdy, who was rooting around in the rocks.

“Hurdy, why aren’t you fighting?” Draconis asked.

Hurdy stared at the Charmeleon for a second. It looked intimidating, with blood on its claws, but Hurdy soon realized who it was.

“Draconis? I’ve been looking for you all day!” Hurdy shouted joyfully. “I thought you were buried under the rock somewhere.”

Hurdy ran up and would have rubbed his head against his friend in affection, but stopped since his friend’s leg seemed to be splattered with the dark blood of some pokemon.

“Oh, that’s from a Skorupi that crossed me,” Draconis casuallly explained. “It’s not around anymore, as you can tell. Since you found me, why don’t we join the battle? It looks as if they could use some help holding the line.”

“Okay, let’s go help Lucario and Corvon!” Hurdy suggested as they ran up the debris.

Lucario finished off a foe with a powerful punch before glancing at Hurdy and Draconis. He returned to fighting opponents, but also spoke with the two.

“I take it you found Draconis,” Lucario stated, as he dodged an attack. “He looks a bit different. There’s plenty of opponents, so feel free to join in.”

“Don’t mind if I do!” Draconis shouted as he rushed forward to slash an enemy.

“I’ll hold this spot,” Hurdy announced as he jumped on one of the pieces of stone at the top of the pile and shot water and mud down at the approaching enemies.

Corvon took interest in Hurdy’s attacks. “Hurdy, why don’t you spread mud over the side of the pile our enemies are on?” he suggested after finishing off an enemy soldier.

Hurdy used his mud-slap attack to cover the other side of the pile in mud. Enemies began to slip while coming up the hill, slowing them down. As a result, less enemies now engaged the defenders at the top of the hill.

“I see!” Hurdy said. “I can slow down the enemies! I’ll keep this up!”

It was late afternoon now, and they all continued fighting for a few more hours. After the sun had set, Forde came around once again, and noticed that all of them were still fighting.

Forde approached and waited for a pause in the fighting. “Corvon!” he shouted to get his attention. Corvon noticed him so he moved closer. “Corvon, you’ve been fighting long enough. We have other soldiers ready to take care of it during the night.”

“Now that you mention it, my arms are pretty sore,” Corvon stated. “Lucario, that’s enough! We’re going now. Get Draconis and Hurdy.”

Lucario left the line, and Hurdy was eager to leave. Draconis, on the other hand, almost had to be dragged away from the fighting.

“I was enjoying that,” Draconis complained. “Well, I am hungry. Nothing to eat since breakfast.”

“Wait, Draconis?” Forde questioned. “You’ve evolved?”

“Yeah,” Draconis stated. “I awoke on the other side of the wall and had to fight my way back here. As a Charmander, I was too weak to face all the enemies, but now that I’m a Charmeleon, most of them were no match for me.”

“It’s good that you’re back,” Forde said. “Last I had heard, you had disappeared, so I’m glad you’ve returned. Now, let’s head back to the castle. Elomir and Leon should already be there. I spoke with them during the battle, and told them to turn in when it got dark. Elomir agreed, since he isn’t good at flying in the dark.”

“How is the rest of the battle going?” Corvon inquired as he remembered and got out the food he had packed for lunch. Corvon handed it out to the pokemon as he waited for an answer.

“There have been a few breaches like the one you all fought at,” Forde explained. “Some parts of the wall collapsed even more than yours. We’ve taken heavy losses defending a few of these holes in our defense, but it seems like we’re holding them off.”

“Good to hear,” Corvon stated.

They returned to the castle, where Leon and Elomir were waiting. They had both finished their food, and Leon was speaking with the king, but stopped as they arrived. They got seated and got their food, but had to wait as Draconis washed the blood off his claws. Soon, they were all speaking of the battle.

“So how did your battle go?” Draconis asked Elomir.

“I was about to ask you the same thing,” Elomir stated. “I’m sure you have an interesting story. Anyways, I flew around the skies with Leon. At first, it was bird pokemon again. They got a few scratches on me from time to time, but nothing major. Rinn had a group of electric pokemon that began shooting our other forces out of the sky, so me and Leon went to go stop that. A few dragonbreath attacks stopped them. Good thing I’m mostly immune to electric attacks. Later on I had to face a Salamence. That’s where I got this burn and this scratch.”

Elomir pointed out a large bandage on his side, as well as a burn on the side of his wing. “Anyways, it was a vicious battle. The Salamence was tough, and I probably would have lost if I faced it alone. The king’s Scizor, Crim, came to help me, though. Man, is that Scizor fast! With the two of us, the Salamence was down in a short time. I had to go to the medics after that, and then avoided intense fighting the rest of the day.”

Draconis now eyed the Scizor, which stood over by the king. “I didn’t think the king would join the battle,” Draconis stated.

Crim, the Scizor, approached upon hearing Draconis. “You’re telling me that you don’t know that the king is a master with the halberd? Everyone that can fight is doing so.”

The stern tone of the Scizor seemed to keep everyone quiet. “I’m only kidding,” Crim joked. “Most people don’t know about the king’s combat skills unless they face him. By then, it’s usually too late for them to spread word.”

They all laughed a little, but Chiro laughed the hardest. “I shocked and amazed all my foes,“ Chiro began. “When Forde let me go fight by myself, I was dodging left and right, and no one could hit me!”

“I have a bit of a headache after using so many psychic attacks,” Kita admitted. “At least I remain untouched. Forde’s training really pays off in tough battles like this.”

Draconis and Hurdy also told their stories of battle for the day. On the table where the humans sat, talk was also focused on the battle.

“King Verault and I were just sharing about how we picked up our weapon skills,” Leon explained. “I chose the bow because it allows me to remain with Elomir, and attack my enemies from the skies.”

“And I,” Verault added. “Chose the halberd because of its versatility and power. In my hands it can deal with almost any weapon my opponents might have, much like my Scizor, Crim, is able to deal with almost any pokemon my opponents have. What about you, Forde and Corvon, why do you use the weapons you do?”

“As a mercenary, I need both quick and effective weaponry,” Corvon explained. “That’s why I use a sword up close, and a crossbow for long range. They both need to be kept well-maintained to be fully effective, but that’s easy for me.”

“Have you forgotten that I don’t fight?” Forde asked. “Anyways, if it ever comes to it, I’d use this dagger.” Forde pulled out a dagger with a one foot blade from a hidden sheath. “With a dagger like this, the weapon would be completely under my control. If I ever had to fight, I’d want control above anything else in a weapon. Anyways, I’m heading off to my room.”

Lucario joined in the conversation, breaking his usual silence. “He left quickly. Must be a touchy subject. My body is the only weapon I need. Must be hard not to be a pokemon.”

The king smiled. “Well, it does have its disadvantages, but being a human also has its own advantages.”

With Forde gone, the others all finished their meals with light conversation. They bid King Verault and Crim good night before retiring to their respective rooms. Forde noticed that it was time to meet with Mewtwo and Mew, and so he went to an unoccupied part of the castle. Right on time, Mewtwo and Mew appeared.

“So, how are things going?” Mewtwo questioned.

“Our side is doing well, but not too much better than expected,” Forde declared. “They’ve broken down parts of the wall, and we’re doing our best to hold them.”

“What about those people and pokemon we met earlier? How are they doing? Some of them seemed a bit young for heavy battle,” Mew questioned.

“They are doing fine. Leon shoots arrows from Elomir’s back, so he isn’t in much danger unless Elomir falls. Elomir did take a few injuries today, but nothing that will stop him. Corvon and Lucario only got minor injuries. The young ones, Hurdy and Draconis, probably had it the toughest today. They were on part of the wall when it collapsed, and Draconis went missing for some time. Hurdy was distraught and stayed out of the fighting to look for his friend. Later on, Draconis came back to us, evolved and more powerful than ever after a difficult fight back to the walls. Hurdy then joined the fighting, and proved most useful by slowing down the enemies with mud.”

“Sounds like everything is good then,” Mew said with a smile.

“I think it is, but I do worry a little about Draconis. His evolution seems to have brought a new lust for battle. His claws were covered in blood by the end. As long as he doesn’t let it get out of hand, then its alright, but I do worry.”

“Well, how about our reports then?” Mewtwo interrupted.

“Fine, what have you got?”

Mewtwo went first. “King Zeidhelme was also focused on the war, but had similar oddities like Queen Iridia. Another fragmented thought, one that didn’t really belong, stood out. It was another fragment of the poem:

Three rocks await the winter’s kiss
One by one, receive its bliss

I couldn’t find much else.”

“I guess it’s my turn,” Mew began. “I met with the being of emotion, Mesprit. It was really happy to see me. Mesprit then grew sad and almost cried when I told it about the war. Once I calmed Mesprit down, it told me where it had last seen Uxie. I stayed and chatted and had some fun with Mesprit, because I didn’t want to make it angry by leaving so soon, and so that took up most my time. I do believe I’ll find Uxie tomorrow.”

“That’s good,” Forde stated. “Also, the extra supplies are helping to boost both the king’s and the soldiers’ morale, so I thank you for bringing those in.”

“That’s the easiest part of what we’re doing. It’s nothing,” Mewtwo said in mock modesty. “Anyways, have a good night.”

“See you tomorrow, same time,” Mew added.

“Thank you, and good night,” Forde concluded.

The two teleported away, and Forde returned to his room. Kita was waiting, and Chiro was curled up on the bed, asleep. Draconis and Hurdy slept peacefully. Forde had the pillows that Hurdy and Draconis slept on replaced with something they might like more, so Hurdy slept in a basin full of water, and Draconis slept on a tray of heated sand, kept warm by some glowing coals underneath it.

They all seemed to be deeply asleep, but Kita whispered anyway. “So, Forde, what did Mewtwo and Mew have to say?”

“How did you know I met with them?”

“I could sense their energies miles away, especially when they aren’t even trying to hide them. I also figured that they would need to talk to you now and then, since they are on important missions for you. Perhaps you should have had them just join the battle. It would have been over already.”

“First of all, battling is very painful for them. They avoid it if they can, much like I do. It has something to do with their pasts, that’s all I know. Most legendaries avoid interfering in human affairs anyways. Part of their pride or something. They haven’t found much yet, so you should just get your rest. The battle will be just as fierce, if not more, tomorrow.”

“Do you think the wall will hold on much longer?”

“Why are you asking me that?”

“If the battle is going to be worse tomorrow, and today they knocked out several portions of the wall, then will it really last another day?”

“Don’t tell the others, but I don’t think it will. Our defense will frustrate the enemy, who will resort to more drastic measures. They haven’t used any exploding pokemon yet, but I think they’ll bring those out tomorrow. Once the walls fall, our casualties will rise as fighting moves to the streets of the city. Hopefully we can keep any civilians out of the way.”

“Oh well, I suppose I’m just giving myself things to worry about. Sometimes I’m a little jealous of Chiro. He’s always so carefree. Anyways, good night.”

“I value both of you for your different qualities. I’m not sure having an Espeon that acts like Chiro would be that good. Sleep well, Kita.”

Forde put out the light, and soon everyone was resting. They would need all their strength in the continuing battle.

 

[FocusPresenceEndurance]

Oh yes. I remember this chapter. You described the battle very very well, and there was plenty of action to keep me on the edge of my seat.

In this chapter I especially liked when Draconis evolved, and that in evolving not only his appearance changed, but his personality too slightly changed (I can't see how I like how he turned out though, being all blood-thirsty. Oooooh not someone I'd want to meat in battle!) Of course the entire chapter was great though.

Well that's my bit on this. I'm still open to a beta chapter if you have one. I really like those.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 16: Hope
​

Forde was up first, as always. Outside the small window, the sun’s approaching light brightened the far horizon but the rest of the sky was dark. A chill breeze blew this morning. Forde shut the window just as quickly as he had opened it. The cold wind from outside had awakened Kita, and Chiro was beginning to stir.

“Why is it so cold?” Kita muttered as she stretched.

“Sorry, I just opened the window a second,” Forde answered. “It seems like fall is coming fast. There may even be a bit of frost on the ground.”

“I don’t mind winter. It’s the only thing that slows Chiro down. As soon as he gets a hint of winter weather, his hibernation instincts become hard to fight.”

Chiro’s eyes popped open at the mention of his name. “Whatcha talking about?” he chattered as he hopped on Forde’s shoulder.

“I just thought I felt a cold breeze when I opened the window,” Forde explained. “Fall is quickly coming.”

Kita couldn’t help trying to sense Chiro’s thoughts. The little squirrel had a sudden desire to gather nuts, berries, and other food into little hiding spots. Even the mention of Fall set him off this bad.

“We’d better get going then!” Chiro shouted, waking up Draconis and Hurdy. “If it’s almost Fall, we can’t afford to waste time! Let’s get up and going, there’s a battle to be won!”

Draconis yawned and sat up. “What’s got him going so early? The sun hasn’t even risen.”

“It’s almost Fall!” Chiro stated, a hint of a desperate plea to action in his voice. “We must get going!”

“Fall?” responded Hurdy, who had just been floating calmly in his water. “I’ve read about the seasons. Back home we just had a wet and dry season. I guess since we are further North, there must be four seasons here. I think I might like seeing what seasons can be like.”

“Don’t mind him,” Kita offered. “Even the slightest seasonal shifts set him wild. Let’s go to breakfast.”

“That’s just what I had in mind,” Forde said as he opened the door.

Out in the castle corridors, the stone walls and stone floors gave little warmth. They quickly made their way to the dining hall and took their places. An early messenger was reading off a report to the king.

“Sire,” began the messenger. “After yesterday’s battle, we only have around 2000 fighting men and pokemon. Around 500 dead and 500 injured. The medics are working as fast as they can to get any injured back to battle. Estimates of enemy casualties are also in. Both Rinn and Eltanah lost 1000 from each of their armies from death or injury. I would also like to report that food supplies are once again higher than expected.”

The king dismissed the messenger, and then turned to Forde. “You got all that, right? We seem to be fighting them off well. I would be happy, but my scouts report that the elite units of both armies haven’t moved in yet. They seem to be waiting for the time when our defenses are weak. That’s when they’ll strike the hardest. The food supplies are unusually high, which is the only good news. At least we haven’t had to start rationing the food among the soldiers yet.”

“A little good news gives us hope,” Forde answered. “King Verault, I expect that the walls will not last even half the day today.”

“Neither did I, to tell the truth,” King Verault declared. “From all the reports I get, I could tell they were preparing a strike to shake our control of the outer defenses. I’ve told all my generals to have a plan to organize fighting in the streets, if it comes to that. Even without the walls, we still have this castle, which we can defend much more tightly than the outer walls. I only hope this battle will end soon. At most we have 2000, and they still have 6000. I still have hope for Midern. I will never fall as long as I have my kingdom to protect. There is still the hope of my other soldiers coming.”

“Yes, it seems hope will have to win today’s battle,” Forde declared. “Where’s Leon and Corvon? They should be down here by now.”

Corvon walked in a minute later with Lucario. “Good morning,” he greeted. “What’s today’s battle plan?”

“I’ll tell you soon, but first tell me where Leon and Elomir are,” Forde declared.

“I thought they’d be down here by now,” Corvon responded. “I think at least one of them was awake when I headed down here. The hallways all seemed a bit cold.”

“All the stone doesn’t keep the cold out that well,” explained Verault. “It hasn’t been cold enough to light the fires yet, so I guess we’ll all have to endure a little morning chill.”

They all paused as they heard noises from the hallways. Leon came into view, and he seemed to be pulling something forward.

“Can’t you move any faster?” Leon yelled at something in the hall. “We’re going to miss breakfast!”

Soon, it became apparent that Leon was trying to help Elomir move faster by pulling him forward. The dragon took slow steps, and finally the two were in the hall.

“See Leon… that didn’t take so long,” Elomir drawled.

“They are all waiting for us, it took forever,” Leon argued.

“Let me explain,” offered Forde. “Dragon types are much more sensitive to cold than most pokemon, especially a Flygon. The cold makes their heart beat slower and so their body and mind follow along. Once it warms up, he’ll be fine.”

“That does explain a lot,” Leon said as he took his place at the table. “Winters in Alagarde are usually mild, with only cold rains, but during those times, Elomir would hardly move around. I thought it was just because we had to stay inside most of those days, but now I see what really happened.”

“Well, Prince Leon, winters here are not bad, but we get a fair amount of snow,” King Verault added. “Anyways, finish eating quickly, the battle is continuing. It slowed down during the night, and the enemy retreated to their tents, but as soon as it got light enough to recognize between friend and foe, they began to attack. Just follow Forde’s orders, since you all are under his command. I trust he’ll put you where we need you.”

Leon finished off his food as fast as he could and was ready to head out. Elomir seemed to be moving a little faster, since he was warmed by sitting near Draconis’s tail flame. They all followed Forde out, who led them to a side door of the medical hall. This side seemed to be for injured pokemon, and Forde led them right to two beds, where Annox and Peoria were sitting, having just finished their breakfasts as well.

“Hurdy, Draconis, it’s good to see you!” Annox greeted cheerfully. “I see that Draconis has evolved. It must be a tough battle out there, but I think I’m ready to face it. They said I’m fit to return to battle. Peoria’s healing well, too, but she still can’t fight.”

Peoria seemed a little disappointed. “I’d like to help,” she began. “But my injury needs time to heal. They said I need to not move around much or the wound could open again. We’ve heard from some of the other pokemon how the battle is going, and it sounds like you could use all the help you can get.”

“You just concentrate on getting better, Peoria,” Annox said softly. “I’ll come see you again when I get time again.”

“That would be kind of you,” Peoria agreed. “It might get a bit depressing here with all the injured, so seeing a healthy face is good for me.”

They bid Peoria farewell, and headed out to take their position. Instead of being led to the Eastern Wall as they had been before, Forde led them West. This wall of the city had the least damage, but still had one portion knocked down. Fighting was already going on at the gap.

“This is where you’ll be fighting today,” Forde commanded. “I expect that the rest of Midern’s army may be coming from this direction later today. Hold on until they arrive. Once they are here, make sure that they can get in the city without taking heavy losses. You may hear distant explosions and see parts of the wall collapse, but just hold on to your ground here. Leon, Elomir, provide air support and keep an eye out for the reinforcements.”

“Sure thing,” Leon stated as he and Elomir took off. The sun had risen and so it was warming up, which meant that Elomir was moving much faster.

“Ah, it’s good to be warm again,” Elomir said as he circled upwards into the sunny sky.

“I’ll get some blankets to keep you warm tonight, so you won’t end up that way again,” Leon suggested.

“That would be nice. I don’t like the cold.”

“Then you’re just lucky we haven’t been targeted by any ice pokemon. I think I’ve seen a few in Rinn’s army from afar.”

“I’d better keep an eye out to make sure I don’t fly too close to them.”

Back on the ground, the others made ready to join the battle. This part of the wall had collapsed differently. It looked like whatever made the hole had punched cleanly through, and the resulting debris was spread out over a wide area instead of piled up.

Draconis dove right into the battle, his inner flames raging to be released. Lucario and Corvon followed, also taking positions where the battle was fiercest. Hurdy and Annox both stood for a minute, looking reluctantly at the battle. The first sight of battle after recovering made Annox feel a bit queasy, like his gut was against battle.

“Are you sure you’ll be alright?” Hurdy asked, worried about his larger friend. “You seem reluctant, and I’ll admit that I am, too.”

“It’s just that seeing battle again brought back a few bad memories,” Annox muttered. “I’m fine now. Let’s go help Draconis. He almost seems to be enjoying this.”

“Sitting here won’t do much. Okay, I think I’ve got the courage now.”

The two ran up next to Draconis, who had just knocked over an enemy Breloom. Draconis finished it off with a slice of his claws, causing Annox to gasp in shock.

“Draconis! Why did you do that?” Annox demanded as he knocked an enemy away with a vine whip. “There was no reason to kill it if it can’t fight anymore!”

“This is war, Annox,” Draconis stated. “Any enemy that lives could come back tomorrow, so I’d rather not take that chance.”

“That’s not what you said the other day,” Hurdy protested after using a water gun attack. “We left those one pokemon on the wall to be captured by Midern.”

“All the fighting has changed my view on the war,” Draconis explained after slashing an approaching enemy. “I don’t see why you two still hold on to such childish views. This is war, and you two need to grow up!” Draconis concluded his comment by striking a killing blow to another enemy. He grinned and added one more comment. “You might even enjoy it.”

Annox looked away from the pokemon his friend had just killed, feeling sick again. To his side, one of Midern’s soldiers was fighting against one from Rinn. The two traded blows, until the Rinn soldier got the upper hand and finished off the other. Annox looked back at Draconis, who was already surrounded by blood and death. Did war really mean throwing away all compassion, and showing no mercy?

No, Annox decided. That wasn’t the way it had to be. He didn’t have to enjoy fighting, but if it meant protecting his friends, then he could do it. Annox once again charged, facing an enemy Quagsire. Annox unleashed his razor leaf attack, and the Quagsire collapsed, covered in small cuts.

Annox stopped by the downed foe. “Sorry we had to be on opposing sides,” he whispered before moving on.

Meanwhile, Corvon and Lucario fought brilliantly. Only a few scratches were on either of them. Hurdy fought nearby, having a little trouble against the opponents. His attacks just didn’t seem strong enough, nor his legs fast enough. Enemies would not go down easy, unlike when Draconis would finish them in one or two blows. Even his powerful water gun didn’t bring them down most of the time, and so Hurdy was beginning to take a few hits.

In the distance, the sounds of explosions could be heard, and many more parts of the wall fell. The sounds seemed to be drawing closer. Corvon looked up at Leon, who tried to convey some message with gestures. It became apparent that he was trying to say that the explosions were going to be nearby soon.

“Lucario, we need to warn the others,” Corvon said with a bit of desperation. “The explosions are going to be nearby. Tell them right away!”

“Okay, I’ll tell…” Lucario was suddenly cut off as a section of wall just a short distance away exploded. Through the gap, they could see the red and white of an Electrode approaching. As it neared, Lucario shot an aura sphere, but the attack didn’t finish off the Electrode. Instead, it kept rolling before stopping against the wall that was right by them. The pokemon glowed for an instant before releasing a massive explosion.

Pieces of the wall flew all over. The gap was now so large, they would need three times the number of defenders that they had to cover it. To make matters worse, an enemy battalion approached, filled with heavily armored soldiers and evolved and powerful pokemon.

“That’s Rinn’s elite forces!” Corvon gasped, but then turned to all of Midern’s forces nearby as he shouted his next commands. “Everyone gather together! We may not have the wall of stone, but if we make a wall of soldiers, they’ll be sorry they ever fought with us! Stay together!”

The defense gathered. Corvon and Lucario were at the front. Draconis and Annox were right by them, but Hurdy was missing. Up in the sky, Leon signaled again, pointing West. That was the signal that the expected reinforcements were coming.

“Okay, men!” Corvon commanded. “Reinforcements are coming from the west! We must hold on until they come!”

Up in the sky, Elomir and Leon watched as the reinforcements made their way towards the city. Suddenly, a beam from below almost hit Elomir, and left the air freezing cold in its wake.

“An ice beam!” Elomir growled. “We’d better get out of here.”

“Those look tougher than the other forces,” Leon observed. “It looks like an Abomasnow is the one shooting at us. Watch out, here comes another!”

Elomir tried banking to the side, but the attack still hit his lower legs. He winced and lost control of flying as he almost blacked out from pain.

“Elomir! Elomir, snap out of it!” Leon yelled. “You’re going to crash!”

Elomir was heading towards the ground as he regained his focus. He bent his wings, forcing himself upwards again, just in time to avoid the ground.

Leon wiped a bit of sweat from his forehead. “That was close! Let’s head over and help the reinforcements before we get shot down.”

“I’ll be glad to be out of range of any ice beams,” Elomir added.

Back at the collapsed wall, Hurdy had gotten out from under the piece of stone that had fallen on him, just as Rinn’s army began to surround the smaller group that Corvon led. He was separated, that much was true. Hurdy pondered the next course of action. Charging the group would just get him hurt or killed. All the pokemon looked like they would be a tough match by themselves, and Hurdy doubted that he could even beat some of them at all. Instead, Hurdy decided to sneak away and rejoin his group from another direction.

Hurdy kept low in the pieces of rock that had been blasted from the wall. So far, no one had seen him. He kept moving, but the rocks got smaller and smaller as he neared where he wanted to go. A final stretch where no cover would be available was before him. Hurdy prepared himself and took off at the fastest run he could manage.

Suddenly, Hurdy was knocked aside by a charging enemy. It was a Lairon that had broken away from the group to deal with him. Hurdy got up and blasted it with a water gun, but the Lairon just shook the attack off.

“Such a weak attack,” the Lairon snorted. “You won’t be a challenge for a member of Rinn’s elite forces, like I am.”

The Lairon stomped the ground before charging again. Hurdy dodged to the side, hitting the Lairon with a quick mud-slap. The Lairon took a moment to shake the mud from its face, which gave Hurdy another chance to use water gun as the enemy charged. The Lairon made it through his water gun, and hit Hurdy with its iron head. Hurdy slid across the ground from such an attack, badly bruised and scraped. The Lairon kept coming. Hurdy hit it with a few more attacks, but the Lairon finally got another hit in. Hurdy could barely stand from the pain, and as soon as he did, he was knocked down again.

Hurdy feared for his life. His opponent was relentless, and he was almost finished. He only had the strength to get up one more time. He would have to get away while he still could. He got on his feet again, and tried to run past the Lairon. He seemed to have made it, and the Lairon was turning. Suddenly, Hurdy found himself on his back.

“You forgot my tail,” the Lairon taunted. “Now it’s time to finish you.” The Lairon raised a foot to crush the Mudkip. He launched it downward with all his power. Hurdy raised his small legs to try and block the clawed foot from crushing him. He caught the Lairon, but felt like his legs were going to break. The Lairon kept pressing downward, and Hurdy’s legs began to hurt. The Lairon was too strong, Hurdy couldn’t stop it.

Hurdy soon reached a point were the pain in his legs was unbearable. It seemed he would pass out, but then it seemed his legs had gone numb. Hurdy tried pushing back, and suddenly he felt different. It seemed like he wasn’t even trying anymore. Hurdy now realized what to do. He used his newfound strength to throw the Lairon aside. Hurdy got up and found himself standing on two legs.

Perplexed, Hurdy looked down at himself. His front legs were wider and stronger now, almost like arms. His lower legs had also changed to better support standing. Hurdy could waste no more time looking at himself as Lairon rolled over and prepared to charge. The Lairon charged once more, and Hurdy unleashed a water gun and mud bomb. The water and mud flew with much more force than Hurdy had managed earlier, blasting the Lairon back as it collapsed from damage.

Hurdy jumped in triumph, and began going to meet with his friends again. After a few steps he tripped, falling on his still large head. He dusted the dark blue fin on the back of his head off as he got up and continued on. Walking on two legs seemed so awkward, but Hurdy knew he would get used to it eventually.

As Hurdy got back to his friends, he yelled to them. He tried to run, but tripped again. They separated from the fighting as he walked up to them.

“Where have you been?” Annox said. “We’ve been worried ever since you disappeared!”

“I was separated during the explosion,” Annox explained. “These opponents were too tough for me, so if I didn’t evolve, I would be dead.”

“Your evolution has certainly made you graceful,” Draconis teased.

“Walking on two legs is at least twice as hard as walking on four,” Hurdy declared.

“You’ll get used to it,” Draconis said. “Now back to battle!”

The circle of defenders had grown smaller as it lost numbers. Only about half of the forces that started were left. Corvon and Lucario both looked like they had been through some difficult battles, and they continued fighting. Now that Hurdy looked closer, Draconis and Annox looked like they had been through quite a bit as well. It wasn’t just him that was having a tough time against Rinn’s elite.

Suddenly, Elomir landed on a part of the wall that remained standing. Draconis shot a flamethrower that took out an Abomasnow that aimed at the two. The reinforcements finally arrived, and began driving off the enemy.

“I’ll find Forde and ask what to do next,” Leon yelled from above as Elomir took off again.

With the reinforcements, the weary defenders that had fought with Corvon took a brief and much needed rest. Soon Leon was back with news of the rest of the battle.

“Forde says that all forces need to make their way to the center of town. The enemy has already gained most of the outer parts of the city on the Northern and Eastern sides. We risk being cut off and surrounded if we don’t join the rest of Midern’s army now!”

The reinforcements stayed to fight as the rest of them made their way towards the castle. Soon, they were fighting as they retreated to the center of town. Before long they had joined the rest of Midern’s forces, who defended the center of town as the injured were moved from the medical center into the castle. The sun began setting, the clouds taking on the same color as so much of the blood that had been spilled that day. They made their way to the castle, where Forde was waiting.

“Take a well deserved rest,” suggested Forde. “As troop numbers get lower, we may not be able to afford giving anyone more than a few hours of rest, so enjoy it while you can. The reinforcements should help, but I don’t think they’ll cover the amount of troops we lost. We’re going to have a meeting with the king soon, so wait there.”

“Oh, I’d better go check on Peoria first,” Annox said as he rushed off to where the injured were being taken.

“We’ll come too,” Hurdy followed, now a little better at walking and running on two legs.

“I better go wash up first,” Draconis stated, examining the blood on his claws and arms.

As the three headed off, Forde, Corvon, Lucario, Leon, and Elomir all went inside the castle. The king looked exhausted from fighting and issuing orders all day, as did Crim, his Scizor. He motioned for them to take their seats, his arm covered in bandages. Several of the commanders also joined them.

After they had done so, he began. “I’m thankful you all survived the fierce battle today. The reinforcements number around 800, so that will be helpful. Without the walls, our losses were heavy. With the reinforcements, our forces should number around 1500. Rinn’s and Eltanah’s normal ranks took heavy losses, but their elite units only took small losses. Reports show about 5000 total enemies left. Staying in the city would cost us too many men and pokemon, so I’m withdrawing all troops to the castle. The injured have also been moved here. As long as we hold the castle defenses, they will have to sacrifice too many men to have a sure victory over us.”

Soon all the troops were inside the castle, and the enemy took positions in the city, surrounding the castle. They sent two messengers, which demanded to see the king. The king took his place on the walls to hear the messengers.

“We have been sent to deliver this message,” they began. “King Verault, you have fought honorably. Our countries demand your surrender, if you wish to live. If you surrender, the treasures of your kingdom will be split between Rinn and Eltanah, and a tax will be laid upon your people, amounting to one-third of their production. You will retain control over your kingdom, but be subject to the wills of Queen Iridia and King Zeidhelme.”

“I’ll only surrender when Queen Iridia and King Zeidhelme both come and can tell me face to face why they wanted this war!” King Verault said from the wall of the castle.

“You have until dawn to reconsider.” The messengers bowed as they left.

The king returned inside the castle. Dinner was distributed to all the soldiers and pokemon. Afterwards, the king invited Forde, Leon, Corvon, and the pokemon to a private meeting to be held in his throne room.

As they arrived, the king looked over Forde and his companions. “Forde, you have served me well as tactician in this battle and advisor throughout my reign. Most of you are not bound to my kingdom, so I’m not forcing you to stay if you believe this to be a lost battle.”

Leon was the first to answer. “I’m staying as long as Forde is. He’s the only one who can help me solve the problems back in my own kingdom.”

Corvon was next. “I work for Forde, so unless he tells me to go, I’m staying.”

All eyes now rested on Forde, who gave his answer. “I’m staying as long as you are alive, King Verault. Should you fall, escaping might be difficult, but I can manage. As long as I’m free, nothing else matters.”

The king smiled. “It’s good to know that I can count on you. As I said, I’m not surrendering unless the leaders of Rinn and Eltanah can convince me they had just cause for this war. We have until dawn, so until then, get your rest.”

They all went to their separate quarters after the meeting was over. Leon and Elomir were walking through the hallway when they thought they heard something singing faintly up ahead. They continued on, and were almost to reach their room, when a familiar looking man with a Jigglypuff passed by.

“Mellano?” Leon questioned.

The man seemed startled by Leon, but calmed down as he saw who he was. “Yes, it’s me, Mellano the merchant.”

Mellano seemed to be wearing a bit more dull clothes than his usual ones with the flashy buttons. He also looked more worried than usual, and was carrying something rectangular in his hand, draped in cloth.

“What are you doing here? Did you get caught up in this war, too?” Leon inquired.

“A little bit,” Mellano answered. “An inconvenience, that’s all. I had set anchors before I knew this battle would occur, and couldn’t leave after it started. I finally got the clearance to leave, and since I’m from Deltan, none of the armies will bother me. In fact, I was just leaving now.”

The cloth over the thing Mellano was holding slipped, revealing a thick purple plate made of some metal. Mellano quickly wrapped it back up and headed off down the hallway.

“Farewell, Mellano,” Leon called after him. “Say hello to Tark and the crew for me.”

Mellano disappeared just as quickly as he came, and Leon and Elomir entered their room. After searching a bit, Leon found some extra blankets to keep Elomir warm. Leon had to admit that it was cold at night here, colder than it had ever been anywhere else in their journeys. It must have been something in the weather patterns, because Midern wasn’t really any further North than Alagarde. Elomir was already asleep after flying all day, and Leon soon followed.

Back in Forde’s room, space was running a little low. Annox had begged Forde to move Peoria up, and succeeded. That meant four pokemon had to sleep on the floor, while Forde and his two would take the bed. Hurdy told them of his day’s battle that resulted in his evolution, but even after one day, Hurdy was a bit clumsy on two feet. Draconis and Annox also recounted their day to Peoria, who wanted to hear about the battle. Kita added her highly accurate version of the day’s events, and Chiro added his story that seemed to jump around and was a bit exaggerated at parts. Soon, they all were asleep, but Forde left to a dark part of the hallways. On time, Mewtwo and Mew appeared.

“With both of us, it didn’t take long to find Uxie,” Mewtwo explained. “It was much easier than remaining hidden while reading minds, at least.”

Mew now added her report. “Uxie didn’t like the fact that someone was tampering, and agreed to help us. As the being of knowledge, Uxie said that it should be the only one with the power of erasing memories. However this happened, not even Uxie knows, which does worry me.”

“We didn’t even have to try to convince Uxie to return both leaders to their original memories.”

“We started with Queen Iridia, since we found Uxie down near the desert anyways. It took all day, but she’s back to normal. She immediately pardoned you, and sent her fastest messenger to tell the troops to come back.”

“Unfortunately, only bad news travels fast,” Mewtwo joked. “It will take the messenger at least until the end of tomorrow to reach here. Uxie is already working on King Zeidhelme as we speak. By tomorrow he should be normal again, and also withdraw his troops.”

Forde seemed impressed. “Good work, you two. I knew I could trust you. Once Zeidhelme is free, go check King Xanos in Deltan, and I’ll discuss with Leon about restoring his father to normal.”

“As long as you can hold on another day, then it will all be over,” Mewtwo stated.

“How is the battle going anyways?” Mew asked.

“As expected, which means that Midern is losing. Today we lost the advantage of the outer walls, and so all troops are now in this castle. Still, 1500 against 5000 isn’t good odds. As long as we keep them from breaking through any of the castles defenses, we should be fine. The moat will slow them down for a little bit, until they fill it in. If the castle is breached, then we’ll have a tough battle. I’m not entirely sure of the outcome if that happens. Among the pokemon and humans you met, the only change is that Hurdy became a Marshtomp. He’s still getting used to his new form.”

“What about Draconis? Did he calm down?”

“From what I heard from Corvon, he still has quite a bit of bloodlust. His friend Annox rejoined him, and seemed to calm him down a little. If I remember, it may just be the nature of a Charmeleon to be a bit hot-headed and seek battle. Once this war is over, I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Well, I guess we’ll see what’s left when the war’s over,” Mewtwo said as he teleported.

“Make sure that everyone stays safe,” Mew added as she went away.

Safety was the last thing Forde could guarantee now. Forde knew he could count on Corvon’s and Lucario’s strength. Only the best could even get a scratch on either of those two. Even Kita or Chiro had trouble beating Lucario, even with Forde’s training. Those four would be fine. Leon and Elomir seemed to have trained well enough to be above most danger, but Annox, Draconis, and Hurdy were the ones he was worried about. They had already had a few close calls, and tomorrow would be the worst fighting of it all.

 

[FlamingRuby]

You asked, and here I am.

This is based on my first impressions after reading your prologue:

Description: Very good! I especially like the dream sequence/nightmare at the beginning.
Characters: I love how you've designed the Pokemon here...by making them "speak", we can treat them almost as human.
Plot: It's not every day someone can blend Pokemon, Final Fantasy (the jet made me think of an airship), and science fiction and make it work.

(stretches to think of something that needs work)

(fails)

I think you deserve a Raichu for this! ;026;

 

[Apotheosis]

Thanks for responding to my request FlamingRuby. From your impressions, it seems like I'm doing things right, so maybe my readers just don't like to respond or something. Maybe I need more publicity or something...

Anyways, thanks again, and as a general announcement to everyone:

You can respond to and review the chapters. I'd love to hear from you!

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 17: An Uncertain Closure​

Before dawn, Forde was preparing to head to a final meeting with the king. He would have to wake the others, so he first awakened Kita.

Kita did her usual stretching as she rose. “So, Forde, did Mewtwo and Mew bring any good news?”

“Yes, Kita, but I’d like to reveal it to everyone, so help me wake them.”

Kita prodded Chiro, who hopped to his feet once awake. “Morning, Kita. Ready for another day of battle?”

“I am,” Kita responded. “But first, help wake everyone.”

“Alright!” Chiro responded while climbing on Annox’s head. Chiro jumped up and down a few times while shouting “Wake up!” As soon as Annox began stirring, Chiro retreated to one of the bushes at the top of Annox’s shell.

“Huh? Who’s on my back?” Annox muttered as he yawned. Annox looked back, and saw Chiro in the leaves on his back. “Oh, good morning, Chiro.”

“These bushes on your back are very nice,” Chiro complimented.

“Thanks, as long as I’m healthy they should stay that way. They also need plenty of sun.”

Forde had already awakened Hurdy, who relaxed in his water before he would have to leave it. Kita had awakened Draconis, who was sitting up on his bed of heated sand. Only Peoria remained asleep now.

“I suppose we should just let her rest,” Forde suggested. “Now, everyone, I have some important news. Today will be the final day of fighting. Give it your all and stay alive. Once the fighting is over, I may even have a way to get you home much faster.”

“That’s great!” Annox exclaimed. “We’ll finally be going home! I think Peoria would want to hear this.”

Annox’s shouting had already interrupted Peoria’s sleep. She got slowly on her feet, and walked over to Annox. “What’s so important that you’re yelling about it this early?”

Annox seemed a bit embarrassed about being scolded by Peoria, but then gave an answer. “Forde says today is the last day of battle. I thought that you would like to know. Do you want to come home with us after this is over?”

Peoria thought for a moment. “Yes, there isn’t much left here for me. Those I knew are gone. I’ll come as long as we make one extra stop, back where the fort was. If I don’t go back there, I’ll never really feel that I paid proper respects to my comrades.”

Annox seemed cheerful, despite the solemn tone Peoria took. “That’s fine. As long as you come with us, that’s all that really matters.”

“It’s getting close to dawn,” Forde interrupted. “The king wanted a final meeting with me and all of you, so we had better get going. Leon, Elomir, Corvon, and Lucario are probably waiting for us.”

Forde headed out first, and the others followed. Annox stayed a moment. “Peoria,” he began. “Have a good day, and get better soon.”

“I will, Annox. I’m feeling better each day, especially once I know you’re safe.”

Annox blushed and ran off to catch up with the others. Peoria sighed and sat on the pillow that made up her bed. She would have fallen back to sleep if it had been any other day, but she was worried about the others, Annox most of all.

At the king’s hall, commanders rushed in and out, getting their initial orders from the king. The king looked worn down, like many of the soldiers. Corvon and Lucario stood, talking while waiting for the others.

“Another day of battle, Lucario,” Corvon said. “I wonder how it will end? Things aren’t looking too good.”

“We’ll be fine,” Lucario replied. “I’ve seen few enemies that could match me. I take it none of your injuries are slowing you down?”

“No, they’re just scratches. I’m a bit tired after the tough fighting yesterday, but that’s normal.”

“Yes, everyone looks a bit tired. Even I’m wearing out.”

“That must be saying something, then. You usually aren’t slowed down by anything.”

“I want to focus my mind for the battle now. I’ll still hear everything that is said, so don’t disturb me.”

“Okay, Lucario. I was done talking anyways.”

Leon and Elomir entered a short time later. They seemed in good spirits, and looked to be in good shape.

“You’re always up early, Corvon,” Leon greeted.

“It’s the time I always woke up when I lived in the mountains. I’m used to it.”

“That must be nice. I’m used to getting up after the sun rises, rather than before. I’m pretty sure Elomir feels the same, right?”

Elomir hadn’t been paying much attention to the conversation. “Yeah,” he muttered. “I don’t really like the cold of the morning before the sun is up. We should be done with this battle before long, and then we can get back to the real quest.”

“Do you mean our quest to help my father, or your quest to return to Allia?” Leon teased. Elomir gave him an angry look, so he quickly apologized, and then grew silent.

Soon, Forde and the pokemon had arrived. With their arrival, the king beckoned them over, and they all stood before the throne. “I wanted a final meeting with all of you,” King Verault explained. “Again, I thank you all for sticking with Midern during these times. Now, Forde, is there anything you’d like to say before I begin?”

“Yes,” Forde answered. “I’d like to announce that today will be the last day of this battle. As long as Midern can last through today, everything will turn out fine.”

“What makes you so certain of this?”

“As you know, I have numerous contacts. Two of them have been helping me, and sent word that both Queen Iridia and King Zeidhelme should be changing their minds shortly.”

“That is good news. As always, your mysterious ways prove to help my kingdom. Anyways, I do have a minor matter that arose during the night. The toxic plate was stolen from the castle last night. Whoever did it put the guards on duty to sleep. Our main suspect is Duke Arville of Deltan, who was rumored to have been in the castle with his Jigglypuff last evening.”

“Wait, is Duke Arville’s first name Mellano?” Leon inquired.

“Yes, he frequently goes by only that name when going about trading goods at various ports. Have you met him before?”

“Actually I met him last night. And is the toxic plate a rectangular purple object? I saw him with that, too.”

“Then he did take it!” Verault exclaimed. “I wonder why? It isn’t too powerful of an object, and was kept more for its historical value than its worth. We have collected all the different plates here at Midern, but I wonder why only that one would be taken, and by a respectable person like Duke Mellano Arville! This is shocking news, and I‘ll have to send word to King Xanos later. Right now, we need to be focused on the war. You are all dismissed.”

They headed up to the battlements of the castle, which were already packed with soldiers. Dawn was quickly approaching, and the sun could be seen peeking over the horizon. An enemy messenger approached, requesting the king’s final decision.

“We will not surrender!” King Verault shouted from the top of the walls. “We will defend the sovereignty and honor of this kingdom!”

The messenger made a hasty retreat back to his commander, and the trumpets declaring the beginning of battle were sounded.

“Leon, Elomir, you two fly up to the towers, and then help out wherever the defense is having trouble,” Forde commanded. “Corvon, Lucario, I trust your judgement, so fight when and where you think will help the most. Annox, Hurdy, Draconis, you had better stick with me. This is going to be a tough battle. If the enemy breaks through the walls, then we’ll head to the inside of the castle to drive off the enemy.”

Soon, the arrows began to fly from both sides. Pokemon also began to shoot at each other from afar. As the enemy got closer, this exchange grew more intense. In the air above, flying pokemon on both sides fought. Leon and Elomir had joined this battle.

Elomir headed for a flock of enemy birds, and unleashed his dragon breath. The attack cut through the flock, downing a few of the birds. Elomir then rushed forwards, hitting birds with both wings and claws. Elomir couldn’t get all of them, so some counterattacked with their own beaks and claws, leaving many small scratches on Elomir. Some of Midern’s other aerial forces came and finished off the flock. This left a little free time for Leon to shoot several arrows at the enemy, most of which found their marks.

Down below, Lucario and Corvon were launching their own ranged attacks at the enemy. Corvon’s crossbow pierced many foes with its bolts. Lucario’s aura sphere downed a few. Over with Forde, Draconis, Hurdy, and Annox each shot their attacks. Kita divided her energy between defeating foes with psychic blasts and using her abilities to keep the grappling hooks and ladders of the enemy off of the nearby wall. Chiro remained on either of Forde’s shoulders, and was going all out today. Bolts of electricity shot from the small squirrel, defeating or paralyzing many of the enemies that were in range.

For the first few hours, the battle continued in this way. Very few enemies ever reached the top of the walls, and those that did were swiftly dealt with. A few times, the enemy tried to bring out pokemon that could explode, but a focused effort by the defense quickly dealt with anything that threatened to break through the castle walls. The moat around the castle had been completely filled in by this time by stone placed by ground and rock pokemon.

Elomir and Leon had continued fighting other pokemon in the air. A lightning-fast Pidgeot had given Elomir a nasty slash on his side. Elomir retaliated with a dragon claw attack. The Pidgeot turned and began approaching for another attack, but Elomir retaliated with a dragon breath. The Pidgeot went down, spiraling towards the ground. This battle had drawn them out above the enemy troops, and they tried to make their way back to the airspace above the castle. From below, a powerful ice pokemon shot an ice beam that came too quickly for Elomir to evade. The ice attack completely knocked out Elomir, who started plummeting.

“No, Elomir!” Leon shouted. “Wake up!”

Leon tried all the methods he knew to wake up Elomir, but none of them worked. In desperation, he knew he had to land inside the castle walls. Leon pulled on Elomir’s wings, trying to gain altitude needed to reach the castle. Leon’s attempts worked, and they slowed down a little before hitting the top of the castle walls. The impact separated the two, who both crashed down into the courtyard. Leon landed in a tree, which slowed his fall before hitting the ground. Elomir was not as lucky, and fell on his side. One of Elomir’s wings was caught under him, and Leon heard a snapping sound right before he hit the ground and was unconscious from the impact.

Forde and Corvon had seen the crash. “Corvon, you take charge of the pokemon!” Forde commanded. “It’s obvious that Elomir was injured, and I’m not sure about Leon. I’ll need to see.”

Forde rushed down to the courtyard. He checked Elomir first, and felt sorry for the dragon as soon as he rolled him off of his side. The wing he had landed on was broken badly, an injury which would take months to heal. Medics arrived, and Forde told them to take care of the Flygon first. Forde checked Leon next, and it looked like he would be alright once he woke up. He would probably have a serious concussion from his landing, but that would heal.

In Forde’s absence, Corvon took charge of the younger pokemon. Lucario could fight well without help, so Corvon focused on pointing out targets for the three to take out. Suddenly, a group of soldiers emerged from the enemy ranks that looked stronger than the rest. Among them was a man who had the air of command about him. He wore no armor, had long black hair tied in a ponytail, and was clad in light clothing in the colors of Eltanah that did not restrict his movement. He wielded a long curved sword, and beside him was a massive Tyranitar. This man looked to be the general of Eltanah’s forces.

Contrasting to the thin swordmaster that led Eltanah was the general of Rinn. This man also led an elite unit of troops towards the castle. He was massive, and wore a single plate of armor, preferring to leave his arms free. He wielded a great axe that was almost as wide as he was. Beside him was an Empoleon, which blasted away many defending pokemon on the walls with its powerful streams of water.

The two generals led their troops forward. The troops advanced and were focusing all their attacks on the defenders while the two generals approached the walls. Soon, they had reached the wall, and the general of Eltanah signaled to his Tyranitar. The pokemon pulled its arm back before hitting the castle wall with a shattering blow. The stone broke apart, leaving an opening into which the generals and their troops advanced.

“Head down!” Corvon commanded. “We’ve got to stop them!”

Draconis, Hurdy, and Annox all headed inside.

“Wait, don’t fight those two generals until I get there!” Corvon called after them, but they didn’t hear his call over the roar of battle. Corvon and Lucario both headed after the three, but were slowed by others who moved to stop the enemy from getting further inside the castle.

Draconis, Hurdy, and Annox were some of the first to arrive where the generals had breached the wall. They turned a corner and saw the enemy approaching.

“I’m going in,” Draconis stated as he began to rush towards the Tyranitar and Empoleon.

“Wait, they might be too powerful!” Hurdy yelled after Draconis, but his friend did not stop.

Draconis ran forward, unleashing his metal claw attack at full force on the Tyranitar. The Tyranitar made a small grunt of pain, but then pulled back his fist.

“What?” Draconis uttered in disbelief. “My attack didn’t do anything!”

Draconis tried unleashing a flamethrower, but his attack was cut short since the Tyranitar hit him squarely in the chest with a punch. Draconis was rocketed backwards from the force of the blow, and Hurdy and Annox could only stare, dumbfounded, as their friend slammed into the wall they were standing right next to. Draconis had hit the wall so hard the stone had cracked. He fall down onto his face, but it was obvious that the blow had dealt serious injury to Draconis.

“This isn’t good,” Annox said in despair. “There’s no way we can take them if they can do this to Draconis!”

“Draconis needs help, we’d better get him out of here!” Hurdy panicked after seeing his friend injured.

Annox and Hurdy had no time to move Draconis, as the generals and their pokemon were now getting close. Some of Midern’s troops and pokemon had come, and they all tried to fight the enemy. The generals cut down any troops. The swordmaster dodged any blows, making Midern’s soldiers look like clumsy fools as he sliced them to pieces. Rinn’s general knocked the swords of his enemies aside, before finishing them with single blows. The Tyranitar and Empoleon were just as effective. The Tyranitar would take out any challengers with brute force, while the Empoleon would use its razor sharp wings to slice enemies. Soon, Midern’s forces began to fall back under the power of the enemy generals.

By the time the fighting reached them again, Hurdy and Annox had gotten Draconis on top of Annox’s shell. It looked like their friend had most of his ribs broken, so they were very careful in loading him on the shell.

“Annox, they’re here!” Hurdy shouted as the Tyranitar and Empoleon approached. “You get Draconis to safety, and I’ll hold them off!”

“But you might get hurt, too!” Hurdy argued.

“It’s better than both of us getting hurt! Just go!”

Annox started down the hallway, but paused after he got halfway. The Empoleon approached Hurdy, and battle began. Hurdy led with mud-slap, blinding the Empoleon for a second. Hurdy then forced the Empoleon back a few steps with consecutive mud bombs. The Empoleon raised its head, and shot water into the ceiling. The water formed a mist and removed the mud, making so the Empoleon could fight at full power again. Empoleon rushed forwards, slicing at Hurdy with its wings. He tried dodging, but received nasty cuts each time, despite avoiding most of the attack. The Empoleon continued forward as it used its drill peck. Hurdy raised a hand to try and shield himself, but felt agonizing pain. He looked down at his arm, which hung limp and was bleeding heavily. The combined stress of the pain and injuries overcame Hurdy, who fainted.

Annox had been watching the battle from a safe distance down the hall. He gasped as Hurdy collapsed. Suddenly, Corvon and Lucario rushed down the hall, giving Hurdy hope again. Lucario jumped in and retrieved Hurdy, before jumping back to avoid the Empoleon’s attacks.

“Here, you’d better take him,” Lucario said to Annox, as he placed Hurdy next to Draconis on the back of his shell.

“I feel like such a coward, always running away,” Annox replied.

“I don’t think you are. You always save your friends. Being brave and dead won’t help anyone. These enemies are too strong for you, so just go!”

Annox took off down the hallway, and was soon passed by King Verault and Crim going the other direction. In the hall, Corvon and Lucario had engaged the generals, but since it was two against one in both the human and pokemon battles, they had to focus only on avoiding attacks.

Corvon thought he heard the sound of more soldiers in the hall as King Verault arrived. “Corvon, fall back! We’ll let my troops handle them.”

Corvon and Lucario did as the king commanded, but watched as the first of the king’s personal guards fell to the enemy generals. The king’s personal guard was good, and so they lasted much longer than normal soldiers, but they still were not on the same level as the two generals.

“I hate to say this,” King Verault said to Corvon. “But it looks like you and I will have to fight them ourselves.”

The king signaled for his troops to fall back, and he and Corvon stepped in. Crim and Lucario were going to face the Empoleon and Tyranitar.

“I never thought we’d meet in battle, General Stiles of Rinn and General Kalen of Eltanah,” the king stated.

Stiles gripped his axe more tightly. “It’s nothing personal, but I have my orders.”

“Iridia has deemed your kingdom an enemy, and I’m here to carry out her will,” Kalen added, with a flourish of his sword.

Corvon chose to face the General Stiles of Rinn. As long as he watched the movement of the axe, he would be fine. Corvon faked an attack with his sword, stepping back just in time to not get cut in half. Corvon flicked his sword out, catching the general across the arm. Stiles swung his axe again, this time with only one arm. Corvon avoided the attack but was caught by a punch from the general that sent him to the floor. Corvon had to roll to avoid a few hits from the axe, and then lashed out with his sword as he jumped to his feet. He hit the general on the side of his face, giving him a nasty cut. Stiles retaliated with another swing of his axe, which nicked Corvon’s leg as he stepped backwards.

King Verault was showing his true skill with his halberd. He kept General Kalen at a distance with the tip of his weapon. At times, the general would try to move in, but the king blocked his attacks with the reinforced pole of his weapon before driving back Kalen. The two seemed at a stalemate, only getting the smallest of scratches on each other.

The pokemon were faring much worse. Lucario had chosen to face the Empoleon. He had hit it with an aura sphere at first, but then the enemy moved in too close to give him time to unleash another. Lucario traded blows with the Empoleon, but its razor-sharp wings had already cut him several times. He was wearing down, but the Empoleon seemed to keep going. He hit it with a force palm attack, but it retaliated with a hydro pump that blasted Lucario to the ground. The Empoleon was instantly after him, and cut his left arm deeply. The injury slowed Lucario down, and he was forced to take a defensive stance to keep the opponent from winning.

Crim and the Tyranitar went head to head. Scizor hit Tyranitar several times with its metal claw before the enemy countered with a stone edge attack. Scizor was smashed into the wall by the power of the attack, but quickly regained his composure. Scizor was once again attacking the Tyranitar, but it didn’t seem to be going down anytime soon. It waited again until the perfect opportunity to strike, and then lashed out at the Scizor. Scizor was dazed from the blow and also was forced to defend or risk being defeated.

The fight against the generals continued, and they were slowly losing. Corvon had scored a few more hits on Stiles, who was wearing down. King Verault had finally scored a good hit and Kalen now had an injury on his sword arm that was slowing him down. The two generals backed off, reassessing the situation.

“Man, you two are strong to be able to force us to fall back,” Stiles stated.

“Your mastery of your weapon, King Verault, is impressive,” said Kalen. “It was the best fight I’ve had in this entire war.”

“It looks like our troops will just have to fight you, while our pokemon fight for us,” Stiles concluded.

Kalen gave a mischievous smile. “It looks like that battle is going to be the reverse of ours.”

Forde, along with Kita and Chiro, ran down the hall to meet the King and Corvon. “My pokemon will take it from here. Call back Lucario and Crim.”

“Crim, return to me,” King Verault called out.

“Lucario, that’s enough,” Corvon declared.

It was up to Kita to beat Empoleon. A blue glow surrounded her as she focused on creating a barrier to help block attacks. The Empoleon tried to use this moment to attack, but she hopped backwards and hit it in the face with a psybeam. The Empoleon reeled from the attack, giving Kita another opening to attack. After getting knocked down by the second attack, the Empoleon got up and was greeted by a third attack from Kita. Kita already had the advantage, and wasn’t going to let the Empoleon have a chance to recover. It endured the third attack, and moved to attack Kita. She used another psybeam to try and stop it, but the Empoleon broke through the attack, and managed to slice Kita with one of its wings. The Empoleon swung its second wing at Kita, but found it couldn’t move as Kita unleashed the full power of her psychic attack. The Empoleon was flung backwards into the wall with incredible force, and it collapsed.

Chiro battled with Tyranitar. Using the move Forde had taught him from something he made called a technical machine, Chiro spat up a powerful poison on the Tyranitar. The toxic attack badly poisoned the enemy, which now rushed its small opponent. Tyranitar wanted to end this quick, and tried to stomp on the squirrel. The squirrel disappeared for a moment, and Tyranitar thought it had won, but then had an intense pain on the back of its neck. Chiro had unleashed his super fang, biting through the Tyranitar’s thick skin. The Tyranitar tried to grab Chiro, and finally succeeded. Chiro struggled in its grasp, but then unleashed a discharge attack. The electricity caused Tyranitar’s hand to go limp and Chiro was freed. Chiro protected himself, and avoided the Tyranitar’s next attack as it collapsed from the poison that had been coursing through its system.

The two enemy generals commanded their troops to cover them as they retrieved their downed pokemon and retreated. Midern’s troops slowly drove the enemy back out of the castle, where they fought them for the few remaining hours of the battle. The enemy generals never returned to battle that day, and so Forde accompanied Corvon and Lucario to the part of the castle where the medical staff and supplies were.

Corvon took a roll of bandages. “Forde, I’ll take care of me and Lucario. Thanks for your help in the battle.”

Corvon took care of Lucario first. He applied the healing paste made of berries and then bandaged the cuts. He took special care with the deep cut, making sure it wouldn’t get infected. Once this was done, he bandaged the gash on his leg, and then handed the supplies to Forde.

“Well, it looks like you finally found someone that could beat you in this war,” Corvon said to Lucario. “It looks like we might have to go do some more training when we have the time.”

“Those generals had strong pokemon,” Lucario agreed while testing his bandaged arm. “Good thing Forde was there to back us up. Kita, Chiro, you both fought in excellent form.”

“Not good enough, I still got hit.” Kita winced as Forde cleaned her wound and put bandages on it.

“Forde’s strategy never fails me,” Chiro added, a bit pridefully. “I didn’t even get hit this time.”

“Well, that Tyranitar almost had you, except your shock paralyzed it,” Kita stated. “But still, I have to admit you fought perfectly. The look on its face when you used super fang was priceless. I’d also like to thank you, Lucario, for weakening the Empoleon. Even after fighting you, it was pretty tough. Alone, it would have been an unpredictable match.”

“Well, I think I’ll go check on the others,” Forde stated. “They were the first to go up against the Tyranitar and Empoleon, even though they shouldn’t have.”

Forde led the group over to Annox, who had not left the side of his friends. “I stayed here, like you said I should, Forde,” greeted Annox. “Neither of them has shown any signs of waking up. The medics explained their conditions. Draconis has many broken ribs, and Hurdy has a broken arm. I must be lucky to have avoided any major injuries during this war, which allowed me to help my friends. I never really liked fighting much anyways.”

“Thanks for the report, Annox,” said Forde. “Injuries like this will take months to heal. You should be by their sides and support them. That will help them the most. Now, what about Leon and Elomir?”

Leon and Elomir were a bit further down. They both seemed to be unconscious, but Leon opened his eyes as they approached.

“Hello, Forde,” he said faintly. “Oh, you’ve brought Corvon and Lucario, too. How’s Elomir doing? Is he going to be okay? They said his wing was broken.”

Forde walked over to Elomir, and looked at the work the medics had done. Elomir’s wing was encased in an intricate cast that kept it from moving. It looked like the wing would recover, but it would be a long time.

Forde returned to Leon. “His wing is broken, but I think it will heal. It’s going to take a few months, but it will heal.”

Leon closed his eyes in relief. “Thanks you, Forde. I didn’t know if he would be okay. The medics have been so busy, they never had time to tell me about his condition. My head hurts, and everything still is a bit blurred, but I think I’m recovering well. I’ll rest now, while you go finish the battle.”

“Yes, that would be for the best, Leon,” Forde said as he got up and walked away. Forde and Corvon returned to the walls, attacking enemies from the top for a few more hours. Soon, the clouds in the sky had turned orange from the setting sun, and a new trumpet call issued from the enemy camp. The call was for the battle to cease, and so the weary troops on both sides breathed sighs of relief. Soon, a messenger came to the castle gate.

Once the king had come, the messenger divulged his message. “King Verault, both King Zeidhelm and Queen Iridia have decided to call a cease to the war. They are both traveling here to meet with you in person to decide what to be done next.”

The king smiled and thanked the messenger before sending him on his way. The brief but vicious war that would later be known as the Siege of Midern was over. It had cost many lives, but the king still knew his people had their freedom. The meal that evening was extravagant, in celebration of the war ending. Now that crops and food could be brought into the city again, it meant that the rationing of food for the citizens had ended.

Forde waited in with Annox until Draconis and Hurdy awakened. Hurdy was first, and didn’t seem to be in too bad of shape except for his broken arm.

“So, the battle is over now?” Hurdy asked.

“Yes, it is,” Forde answered. “Mewtwo, Mew, and Uxie pulled it off. Even with this war over, there is still so much left unanswered. I’ll have to investigate how this all started in the first place. I may even need to visit each legendary again, just to see how much each one knows. It’s been a while since I did that.”

“Well, it sounds like you have your work cut out for you,” Hurdy replied. “I’d like to meet the legendaries, but I won’t be in shape to do much until this heals. I’m also beginning to miss my home and my family. I often find myself wondering how they are doing when I’m not busy.”

“You’ve all done so much more than you had to. The king may have some reward for you before you leave. As it stands, I don’t think you, Draconis, or Elomir will be leaving for some time.”

“Well, at least I’ll get to see what fall and winter are like,” Hurdy joked. “Now, it looks like my arm is broken, but anything else?”

“No, Hurdy, that’s your main injury,” Annox answered. “Draconis has it much worse.”

Soon, Draconis had awakened. The slightest movement, even breathing, was painful. He seemed happy to have his friends around him and to be alive. “I guess rushing into battle was a mistake that time,” he said, barely in a whisper. “I’ll have to become stronger. The battle is over, right?”

“The battle is over,” Annox said. “Draconis, you’ve broken most of your ribs. You’ll be healing for a few months.”

“What? A few months? Do I have to stay here the whole time?”

“No,” Forde replied to calm Draconis. “After a few weeks of healing, you might be able to move around, but until then, you’d better get used to this bed.”

“It does hurt to do anything, so I think I’ll try to sleep.”

“Goodnight, then,” Annox stated.

Forde and Annox walked down to Leon and Elomir. Leon was resting again after having dinner, but Forde wanted to talk with Elomir, so he dismissed Annox to head up to the room and go talk with Peoria while he waited. After about an hour, Elomir finally awakened for the first time, moaning in pain.

“Elomir, it’s me, Forde” Forde said quietly.

“Forde? What happened to me? I can’t move my wing.”

“This may be a shock, but you were shot down. Your wing is broken, but it should heal. Also, the battle is over now and Leon is fine.”

“A broken wing? That’s no good. How long will it take to heal?”

“A few months. You and Leon will probably have to stay here until winter is over. You weren’t the only one with serious injuries. Draconis and Hurdy also have broken bones and will have to stay here and heal.”

“Sometimes I think it was a mistake to join this war, but if me and Leon had stayed home, we would have ended up in a war anyways. At least here we didn’t have to fight those we considered our friends.”

“Yes, that is true. Mewtwo and Mew have convinced Uxie to help us, and that’s how the war ended. Uxie could also be used to restore Leon’s father, so please discuss that with him once he is awake again. For now, you should get your rest so that you can heal.”

“Okay, thanks for telling me all this. Leon will be happy to hear that you can restore his father. I’m also glad, because it means I’ll get to go do what I want. Goodnight, Forde.”

Forde left Elomir and went to his own room. Kita and Chiro both looked exhausted and so they went to their sleeping spots as soon as they arrived in the room. It felt a bit empty without Draconis and Hurdy in the room. Annox had already fallen asleep, and Peoria had cuddled close to him, but was not asleep yet.

“It must have been a tough day,” Peoria spoke softly to Forde. “He talked for a little, but fell asleep. He told me about Draconis, Hurdy, and Elomir. It’s sad that they got hurt. I know from experience that having an injury that puts you out of the action is no fun. Their injuries are even more serious than mine. I feel sorry for them. I’ve also been missing my old buddies back at the fort. I was happy there, but now that’s gone forever. Oh well, I guess I’ll just try to fall asleep.”

Forde just listened in silence to Peoria, and once she was asleep he headed off to meet with Mewtwo and Mew. The two appeared on time, and had anxious expressions.

“How did the battle go? Is everyone doing alright?” Mew asked right away.

“No deaths, thankfully,” Forde answered. “Two close calls, though. The first was when Elomir was shot down. His wing is broken now. The second is when the enemy generals broke through the walls. Draconis had several ribs broken, and Hurdy had an arm broken.”

“It could have been worse,” Mewtwo stated. “Anyways, we’re wondering where you want me, Mew, and Uxie to go next.”

“I think that I’m going to have you go restore the king of Alagarde next. I’ll need to talk to Leon about this, so come see me around mid-morning.”

“That’s fine,” Mew said. “Uxie is getting a little worn out, anyways. Restoring all these lost memories isn’t easy on Uxie.”

“Even legendaries have their limits,” Mewtwo added. “Goodbye.”

Mewtwo warped away, and Mew followed after. It was going to be up to them to do most the work now. Forde had to make sure that no influential people remained under this strange amnesia that seemed to change their very natures. Mewtwo and Mew would be needed to see if any such people were in Deltan. King Xanos seemed unaffected, but Forde had to be certain. There was also the unsolved mystery of why Mellano, the Duke of Arville, had taken the toxic plate. Forde knew quite a bit about the man, and couldn’t come up with a reason why he would take it. That would have to be dealt with later.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 18: Forde’s Departure​

Forde woke Leon early the next morning. Leon was feeling back to his usual self again. The sun was shining through the windows, but the chill in the morning air was creeping into Leon’s heart. Forde must have noticed, since he looked concerned.

“Leon? Are you doing okay? I have something very important to discuss.”

“I don’t know, but something seems to be bothering me. Now what did you want?”

“This may be a surprise, but I can restore your father.”

“Really? How soon can you? Elomir might have to stay here, but I can help!”

“Calm down, you both will stay here. I have friends who found out the way to do this.”

“Send them to my father as fast as possible!”

“Okay, that’s the answer I was expecting. There is one other matter. Now that your father will be free, didn’t you promise Elomir something?”

Leon felt as if his heart had vanished. He had promised Elomir that he could go to the desert after Leon’s father was back to normal. This meant that his friend and partner would soon be leaving. Leon held back his tears, trying to keep a strong face.

Kita took this chance to fill the silence. She put a paw up on Leon’s arm. “Don’t worry, Prince Leon. Elomir still loves you as a friend. Leaving will be hard for him as well. Cherish the few months you still have together while we are gone.”

Leon looked at Forde. He was in his traveling cloak again, with all his supplies. Chiro was nestled in the hood, peering anxiously at Forde.

“Let’s go, Forde!” Chiro pestered impatiently.

“You’re leaving?” Leon asked.

“Yes,” Forde quickly answered. “There is too much to do. I need to visit many places to make sure nothing like this will happen again. Corvon and Lucario are coming with me, but they are busy preparing their own supplies. I’m leaving the others in your care. Take good care of Draconis, Hurdy, Annox, and Peoria. They might need some guidance and protection on their way home.”

Forde began walking away as soon as he concluded his last statement. Leon got up off the hospital bed, and followed a few steps before stopping.

“But I barely know them! And where is their home anyways?” Leon yelled after Forde.

Forde paused in the doorway at the far end of the room. “Just take them to the Western edge of Farna and they can take care of themselves. You’ll have a few months to get to know them while you spend the winter here. I must be going now, so goodbye!”

Forde was gone the next instant. Leon grew cold, and quickly put on his shirt. He winced as it pressed on a few of his bruises, but once it was on completely, it was comfortable. Leon walked over to Elomir, who was still sleeping. Leon brushed his hand lightly over the dragon’s back, who muttered something in his sleep contentedly. Leon kept doing this for a few minutes, thinking of how much he was going to miss his friend when he would finally have to go. Annox awakened a short time later, and so Leon went to go explain the situation to him.

“Annox? I know I never have really spoken to you much before.”

“I guess that’s another thing the war got in the way of. I still don’t even see why everyone had to fight and kill each other in the first place.”

“Yes, it was a confusing war, wasn’t it? Your friends got to talk to me a little bit, but when we first met you, you were running for the wall. I never really saw you much after that.”

“Well, I know that you’re a good human. You’ve helped me and my friends.”

“It’s good that you trust me, because I’m in an unexpected role now. You see, before you woke up this morning, Forde told me he was leaving and that I was to take care of you and your friends.”

“What? Forde left, after all that we did for him?”

“I’m afraid so. He said he couldn’t sit around here for months while the rest of us heal.”

“Maybe I should have just stayed home after all, if Forde isn’t going to keep helping us.”

“Calm down, Annox. It will be fine. Elomir and I can help you all to get home in the Spring.”

“Do you promise?”

“Yes, I will do all I can to see that you and your friends make it home safely.”

“That’s great! I’ll go tell Peoria. She’ll probably be fine with this. Draconis might be a bit mad, though. Hurdy usually never gets mad, so telling him will be easy.”

“Okay, perhaps it’s best that your friends hear it from you. I’m counting on you to tell them.”

Annox ran off to tell Peoria. Once he was done telling her, she voiced her opinion. “I don’t really like that he left so soon. He could of at least said goodbye to all of us.”

“That’s what I thought, too! We fought for him and he just leaves us!”

“Oh well, nothing we can do about it. Since we‘re going to be stuck here, why don‘t we just lighten up?”

Peoria began tickling Annox with the tip of the large green leaf on her head. Annox burst into laughter as she continued playing with him.

“That’s… that’s enough…” Annox panted between bursts of laughter. Peoria soon stopped, and Annox was thankful they had been alone up in Forde’s room. It would have been embarrassing if the guards saw them acting so silly. The two returned down to the room full of the injured, where Leon and the others were, but they both sported large smiles.

Leon glanced at the two as they entered, thinking it strange for them to be in such high spirits. While they had been gone, Leon had got breakfast for them all, and so he gave the two their share. Annox and Peoria chatted playfully, but Leon was deep in his own thoughts, only taking a few spoonfuls from his bowl of oatmeal. It began to lose its heat quickly, and Elomir seemed to be stirring, so Leon finished it off as fast as possible.

Elomir blinked his eyes, and adjusted his back legs. His tail twitched in annoyance since most of his body had to remain motionless for his wing to heal properly. Leon held a bowl of food for him to eat, and Elomir took a few bites before pausing.

“Thanks, Leon. You’ve always been my best friend.”

“I’m always here when you need me. Now finish your breakfast.”

Elomir ate the bowl of fruit and then slurped up all the water from a bucket Leon had filled. Leon just watched his friend, trying to get the courage to say what he had to.

“So did you enjoy your breakfast?” Leon asked.

“Yes. It was good.”

“Is there anything else you want?”

Elomir must have noticed something in Leon’s voice, because he gave him an odd look. “Just say what you mean,” Elomir suggested. “I can tell there’s something you don’t want to talk about.”

“Okay. Well, um…” Leon fumbled about where to begin. “Forde left but before he did he told me something important.”

“Forde left? I thought he was the only way we were going to get your father back!”

“Yeah, well, he left, but said he had friends who will restore my father.”

Elomir’s eyes seemed to glimmer with a new, hopeful light. “That’s great! Once I heal, we’ll get you home, and then I’m going back to Allia!”

“Your feelings haven’t changed at all, have they?”

“No! I still love Allia! I even dream about her sometimes.”

“I guess I can’t compete with love. At least we still have some time together.”

“Well, I’ll miss you, too. I just feel that this… this is something I have to do. It just feels like I’m not supposed to be away from my own kind now that I’ve met them.”

“Okay, it’s your choice. We’re supposed to look after the others now, but you’ll have to rest and get better first.”

“Fine. How about we find something I can do without moving? If you don’t, I’ll be really bored.”

“Okay, I’ll go see if the king has anything we can borrow to amuse ourselves.”

Leon walked out of the room just as Draconis and Hurdy were waking up. Annox and Peoria told them of Forde’s departure.

“What? How could he leave?” Draconis raged weakly before collapsing into a fit of coughing.

“Don’t lose your temper, I’m sure he has his reasons,” Hurdy stated to calm Draconis down. “Being angry doesn’t look good for your health.”

Draconis finished his coughing, and now looked in pain. “I guess I went overboard,” he said in a wheezy voice. “It feels like I’m being stabbed all over my chest each time I cough. I better stay calm.” Draconis breathed in and out a few times in silence. “Okay, there. I’m not as angry now, but I still think Forde owes us a bit more after all we did for him. Was he just using us in his larger goals? Maybe we were wrong to trust him.”

“It was our decision the entire time,” Hurdy stated. “We were free to choose to leave whenever we wanted. If you don’t like Forde, then just don’t follow him again.”

“I guess I’ll do that,” Draconis stated.

“Oh, Forde also said that Leon was to take care of us,” Annox added.

Draconis laughed weakly. “That must be easy. All me or Hurdy can do is lay here as we heal. Man, this is going to be boring!”

Meanwhile, Leon had made his way to the king’s chamber. The king was busy, so it took quite a while to speak with him. The king already knew of Forde’s departure, and had made some preparations.

“Prince Leon,” King Verault began. “Since you and your friends will be staying here for several months and have provided valiant service to my kingdom, the best of my hospitality will be open to you all. As we speak, I’m having a few servants prepare your room to hold all the pokemon. Since you seem to be in need of entertainment, I’ll have some games sent. If you need anything else, just ask my servants. I wish all your friends a quick recovery.”

As the king commanded, Leon’s room was prepared, and all the pokemon were moved up to it. Leon looked over the games provided, and picked up the familiar looking chess set. It had been ages since he played, but Leon remembered how the game worked. Elomir had played the game with Leon before, but didn’t really like it. Hurdy found it enjoyable, and actually ended up beating Leon after a few games. Draconis also took a similar attitude to Elomir, and didn’t enjoy the game. Annox and Peoria grew bored, and so they left the room to walk around the castle together.

After a day of chess, everyone but Hurdy was tired of it. Over the next week, Leon tried a few other games, and finally found one that everyone liked. It was a tactical strategy game played on parchment. It had been designed by one of the king’s strategic advisors. It was an intricate game with many aspects and could last for months, which was perfect for the situation they were in.

Soon fall came in full force. The plains of grass began to yellow and the few trees turned crimson or gold. Annox and Peoria didn’t go out much anymore, and instead stayed inside the warm room with the others. After about two months, everyone had healed well enough that they could move around. Draconis and Elomir still had to be careful and not exert themselves, but they enjoyed being able to move around again. Hurdy’s arm had completely healed, too.

Along with their healing came the first snow. Since none of them had ever seen snow before, they all walked outside in the castle courtyard to enjoy it. Hurdy ran out and jumped in a pile of fresh snow.

“Snow!” Hurdy shouted as his head popped up from beneath the white pile. “It‘s so fun to play in.”

Draconis seemed to eye the falling flakes warily. A few hit the large flame on his tail, evaporating into steam. He raked his claws through the snow, but then pulled them back. “It’s different, but I like warm sand more,” he said.

Annox and Peoria barely ventured outside for a brief moment. Neither of them liked the snow, and they both wanted to go somewhere warm. They both retreated back inside the castle and huddled for warmth.

“Peoria,” Annox said quietly. “Do you remember what we used to do when we lived in the forests North of here?”

“Yes. As soon as fall hit, all the grass pokemon buried themselves partially in the ground and hibernated until Spring. Lucky for us, we have the warm fireplaces of this castle. Without them, both of our leaves would dry out and fall off from being exposed to the cold.”

“It was strange back then, to just go to sleep and then wake up just as the cold Spring rains began. I’d rather spend my Winter inside with you than hibernating.”

“That‘s sweet of you to say.”

Elomir had ventured outside, wearing a large brace that kept his wing and shoulder motionless. He grabbed some snow with his arm that wasn’t impeded by the brace, but the cold soon began making him slow and groggy.

Leon walked out through the snow for a minute, but then noticed that only Hurdy seemed to be enjoying himself.

“We’d better head in,” he suggested.

Everyone but Hurdy eagerly followed his suggestion. Noting Hurdy’s reluctance, Leon allowed him to stay out until he got tired.

Now that it was winter, King Verault and Crim had much less to do. The king invited them to plays, music performances, and other amusements put on in the castle’s small theater. Crim sometimes joined them for mock battles that got them back in shape. By mid-winter, everyone was fully recovered, and only the snow kept them from leaving.

There were the traditional winter festivities that had been passed down through the ages. Elomir finally got the brace off of his wing, and flew around as much as possible in the cramped castle. When King Verault had a large pine tree brought in, both Elomir and Crim flew the decorations to the top, while the others were left to decorate the bottom. Before long, the tree was decorated and the king had a Winter Festival held at the palace.

Word must have gotten out about who Prince Leon was, because many of the upper class came to see. At the festival, Leon was frequently busy explaining about himself and his kingdom. Once the dances began, Leon found many families presenting their daughters his age for him to dance with. As a result, he had a very busy night, and was exhausted by the time he returned to his room around midnight. All the others were already there, asleep and stuffed from the holiday foods that were given freely to all.

Leon took off his shoes and rubbed his sore feet. There had been many beautiful girls at the festival, so perhaps he would have to visit Midern again in some future year. Leon wrapped himself tightly in the quilts and immediately fell asleep.

The rest of the winter season went uneventfully. They all gave one another small gifts during the proper day, and the king also made their stay as comfortable as possible. Soon, the snows were beginning to melt, and the time to return home drew near. King Verault gave them plenty of supplies and maps of all the routes that led back, and soon, it was the morning for their departure.

Verault and Crim met them early that morning as they gathered up the last of their supplies. “I’m glad that I could have you all as guests,” Verault said. “If you ever need anything, Midern will be here to help.”

“Thank you, good king, for giving us the finest accommodations in your castle,” Leon said as he bowed.

“It was the least I could do after you helped in my country’s most desperate battle,” Verault answered. “Now, I wish you all luck on your journey home. Midern will always be open to the people of Alagarde.”

Crim, usually silent, stepped out to say a few words to the others. “I also bid you all farewell. You fought well and with honor. I can tell you will make it home safely.”

“Now that my wing’s healed, I’m ready to fly in the open skies again!” Elomir said with enthusiasm. “It’s been nice to know you, Crim, and maybe we’ll see each other again someday.”

“Maybe I’ll travel again some other time, but I think I want to stay home once I get there,” Hurdy said. “Goodbye, Crim.”

“My father will be proud of how strong I’ve become,” Draconis added. “I’m still nowhere near as strong as you are, Crim, but if we meet again, then we might have to see.”

Annox and Peoria also bid a brief farewell to Crim, and the group headed off. After they made their way out of Midern, the roads were muddy, but the flowers, grass, and vitality of Spring was all around.

“Perfect time for travel!” Annox eagerly said. “Don’t you think Spring is the best time of year?”

“Yes, I do,” Peoria agreed. “Now I’ll race you to that rock up ahead!”

Annox and Peoria ran ahead playfully. Elomir was up in the sky, looping and twisting as he flew. Hurdy was enjoying the muddy road, splashing through any puddles that they passed by. Draconis preferred to stay dry, and so he walked in the grass. Leon was also in a good mood, and walked quickly along. It was the perfect start of a journey that led home.

* * *

As Leon and the others spent their winter at Midern, Forde and Corvon had made their way to Deltan, the northernmost kingdom in the entire land. A light snow was already covering the ground when they first approached the kingdom after a week’s travel from Midern. After another week, they finally reached the city of Deltan.

Deltan was an imposing city. Known as the city of snow, the buildings all had thick stone walls to keep out the cold. Its people were also like the ice and snow that surrounded them for half the year. Many were cold and quiet, but others reflected the calm and surreal beauty of the icy land. From the first group came many of the soldiers of Deltan. Hardened by the cold and rigorous training, Deltan had an army as formidable, if not more, than any of the other kingdoms. It was a good thing they had not joined the war, or else it would have been hopeless.

From the second group came the mystics of Deltan. These people lived lives of meditation, art, and learning. The main place to find these people was at a building known only as the Spire. The Spire was actually several buildings. A large library and classrooms filled most of the smaller buildings. The main reason it was called the Spire was the massive tower that the smaller buildings were built around. The wisest of the mystics lived at the top of this tower, and were said to be able to see things no others could.

Forde, Corvon, Kita, and Lucario walked down the stone streets towards the Spire. King Xanos lived at the bottom of the Spire, so that he could have the advice of the mystics readily available. At this time of year, the people on the street hurried to and from whatever destinations they had. The whole city was rather quiet.

Forde reached inside his coat to check on Chiro. The Pachirisu was sleeping inside one of the inner pockets, as he had been since they came into this cold land.

“I really wish to speak with Duke Arville, but we must speak with the king first,” Forde said.

“We are visitors to his kingdom, so seeing Xanos first will be for the best,” Corvon said. “As long as he has good food and a warm fire, I won’t mind.”

“Cold travel food is getting old,” Kita added.

“Something warm would be nice,” Lucario said. “Let’s get going.”

After walking down a few long streets, they finally arrived at the Spire. They went through the smaller door that was used during the winter and into a waiting area. There were many people in the waiting area, and a few fires warmed the place. The king’s officials dealt with the people, making sure only the matters worth the king’s attention got to him. Forde and Corvon had to wait in a short line before seeing the first of these officials.

As they got to the front of the line, a stout man with red hair sat behind a table. The table had many papers on it, with various records, complaints, or other information written on them. The man looked at Forde and Corvon as if they were just two more things to check off some list. “State your business,” the man said.

“Tell the king that Forde has arrived, and do so quickly.”

“I’ll be sure to pass it along,” the man said as he wrote this down.

Soon, another bureaucrat came by and took a paper from the man. After a few more minutes, the same man came and told Forde and Corvon to enter the king’s room. They stepped into the king’s room, which was at the center of the Spire. It was a circular room, with the throne at the very center. King Xanos, who sat upon the throne, was a middle-aged man. Although he wasn’t that old, his hair flowed down to his shoulders and was as white as the snow which fell so often upon Deltan. Xanos was a thin man, but taller than either Forde or Corvon. His face was sharp, and his eyes bright.

After Forde and Corvon gave the customary bow, King Xanos spoke. “I wasn’t expecting you, Forde, to come to my kingdom so soon. I thought you would be in Midern, helping to rebuild after that long battle. You must have some reason, but I’m sure your companions are tired. Glint!”

Xanos snapped his fingers and his Glaceon came bounding up from some corner of the room. “Glint, take the others to the kitchens,” Xanos commanded.

Xanos watched as Glaceon led Corvon, Kita, and Lucario to a door at the other side of the room.

“Wait, don’t forget Chiro,” Forde said as he pulled the squirrel out of his coat.

The sudden loss of the warm pocket woke Chiro up, but he was confused for a moment.

“Follow Glaceon if you want food,” Forde said to guide Chiro.

“We must have got to Deltan,” Chiro said, now fully awake. “I’m starving! Wait for me!”

Chiro scampered over to the others, and they all left. Now, Xanos and Forde were free to talk, with only the king’s personal guard in the room.

“You know, Glint is still enamored of Kita, although she never shows any interest in him,” Xanos began. “Anyways, what are you here for?”

“Two reasons,” Forde said. “First, I would like to know if there has been anything unusual happening in your country. Second, I wish to speak with Duke Arville, since it is thought that he stole the toxic plate from Midern in the middle of the battle.”

“Duke Arville stole something? That’s more strange than anything else that’s happened around here. Perhaps it does have to do with that new group.”

“What group do you speak of?”

“An odd group that calls itself the Bringers of Judgment has been operating in my kingdom for about a year. I’ve been watching them, and Duke Arville may be involved with them somehow. As soon as Mellano Arville returned from his most recent voyage, they all vanished. There was only about 10 people in the group that my spies knew of.”

“That’s strange. It sounds like I’ll need to go talk with Mellano.”

“That will be fine. I’ll make sure you won’t have any trouble in meeting with him. Report back to me once you are done.”

“As you wish, King Xanos.” Forde concluded with a bow before going off to get the others.

Glint had led the others to the kitchens, where they were given a warm stew and some bread to eat. Glint disappeared for a moment before returning with a small tray of berries. He approached Kita and presented the tray to her.

“Here you go,” Glint said. “All your favorite kinds of berries. I had them specially preserved for you.”

Kita ate them silently, not wanting to encourage Glint anymore. It was like this each time she came here. Glint would always go all-out to please Kita. She had to admit that the Glaceon had a certain charm and polite manner, but she still treated him coldly. She was the one that had to protect Forde, and getting in a relationship with Glint would just get in the way.

“Is there anything else you want, Kita?” Glint asked. “Did you like the berries?”

“They were good, but that will be all,” Kita said.

Corvon, Lucario, and Chiro didn’t say anything as they ate their food. Chiro watched Kita with an amused grin when he wasn’t busy with food. Chiro always would laugh at Glint’s efforts to please Kita, and he did this time as Glint had a perplexed look on his face after Kita’s response to his gift.

Soon, Forde came and told them they were heading to Mellano’s villa. They all finished up their food, and readied themselves for the cold again. Glint seemed disappointed that Kita wasn’t staying longer, and returned to his place with the king.

They walked the cold stone streets of Deltan again and made their way to the villa, which was built on a hill near the sea. Mellano’s ship was anchored at his private dock, but the crew had all headed to their own homes. They walked slowly up the winding stairway that led to the house. Forde reached out and gave a booming knock on the door, and they waited.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 19: A Road of Farewells​

Soon, a servant came to the door. “What might I do for you, sir?”

“I’m here to ask Duke Arville a few things,” Forde said. “I was sent by the king.”

The servant’s eyes widened, and he quickly let them in. “This way, sir. Duke Arville is in his study.”

The servant led them to a set of stairs in the center of the large entry hall. Artifacts from before the collapse were placed on a few pedestals, which amused Forde because some were next to worthless when they were being produced. On the second floor, they made their way past some large paintings and tapestries, which must have been made by Deltan’s artists, from the snowy landscapes they showed.

The servant knocked on one of the large wooden doors. “Master, a guest is here to see you. He was sent by the king.”

“Let him in, then,” Mellano said from inside the room.

The servant led Forde into the study, which was a small room filled with bookshelves and maps. Mellano sat at a desk, with an old book open before him.

“Greetings, I am Mellano Arville.” Mellano rose and shook Forde’s hand before returning to his chair. He dismissed the servant with a wave of his hand. “I know I did something that was a bit outside of my honest work as merchant and informant for the king, so I’ll be completely honest. Ask me anything, but first tell me your name.”

“I’m Forde.”

“The same as Prince Leon was searching for?”

“Yes, the same. Now, tell me why you stole the toxic plate from Midern.”

“I figured that’s why you were here. I wouldn’t have stolen it if I had any choice. A small band called The Bringers of Judgment was holding my fiancé captive and would kill her unless I got the toxic plate for them. I didn’t know how I would get it at first, so I sailed around as a merchant for some time. On the return trip, I found Midern to be engulfed in chaos, and took my chance to steal the plate. Once I gave it to the group, they left.”

“Tell me a bit more about this group. Do you know how many people are in it? Why did they want the plate?”

“I know little about the group. It had ten members and they never really said much. Never found out why they wanted the plate. My crew tracked them, and all I know is that they headed out of the Eastern gate of this city. I’ve been doing a little research on the plate, just to see if it was important. All that I could find was that it increases poison moves by a small amount.”

“I think I’ll go after this group myself, if they went East. I need to go visit Rinn anyways.”

“I wish you luck in finding them. Please tell the king about why I had to steal the plate. If I could have avoided it, I would have.”

“I will tell him.”

Forde headed back down the stairs and the servant handed him his coat as he left. Once again, they were on the icy streets. “That was quick,” Kita said as they reached the main road. “I didn’t sense that he was hiding anything, either.”

“I think this group may be under the same influence that caused the war,” Forde said. “I don’t know why they need the plate, though. Like Mellano said, it boosts poison moves and is an ancient item, but that’s it.”

Chiro poked his head out from the hood of Forde’s cloak. “I thought the plates did one more thing, but I can’t remember.”

“Try to remember Chiro, it might be important,” Forde said.

“Okay, I think I remember a little. Didn’t the plates also have something to do with the origin myths? Something was in there about the rightful bearer of a plate draws from the plate it holds.”

“So the plates have something to do with Arceus? Who is the rightful bearer of a plate?” Forde asked.

“Actually, no one really knows,” Kita said. “Arceus has not been seen in the world for ages. Remember when we went to see all the legendaries? Arceus was one of the six we couldn’t find.”

“Even through all our travels, we still don’t know everything,” Forde said. “It looks like we still have more journeys to go on and much more to learn.”

They arrived again at the castle, and Glint was there waiting for them. “Kita! I’ve been waiting for you. If you have need of anything, don’t be afraid to ask.”

Kita gave Glint a cold glance as she walked by him. He followed right behind her as Forde was let into the throne room.

“So, you’ve returned,” Xanos said. “Did Mellano have anything to say for his actions?”

“Yes,” Forde said. “He told me that The Bringers of Judgment were holding his fiancé hostage until he got them the plate. Once he gave it to them, they left and headed East.”

“This is troubling, but why would they want an object of so trivial a nature?”

“I’m going to be looking into that tomorrow. If it was not close to nightfall already, I’d be leaving today.”

“So, you’ve decided to follow them?”

“Yes, and I regret not being able to stay longer. I meant to go see Lady Vanni, but now I may not be able to.”

“If you want, I could clear up some time for you to visit her.”

“That would be helpful. Should I head up there right now?”

“Go get your friend first, and I‘ll have things sorted out by then.”

Forde went to the rooms the king was providing for him and Corvon. While Forde went to Mellano’s villa, Corvon and Lucario had been training outside. They had just recently come in and were both sitting near the fire.

“How did your visit go?” Corvon asked.

“We learned some interesting things,” Forde said. “Mellano stole the plate to get his fiancé back from a mysterious group. We’ll be following them tomorrow, and just now, I got us an audience with Lady Vanni. Come along. It will be sure to be interesting.”

Corvon and Lucario both got up a bit reluctantly and followed Forde to a set of stairs that spiraled upwards out of sight.

“Just who is Lady Vanni?” Corvon asked.

“She is the head of the mystics,” Forde said. “It is said that she even has limited powers of seeing the future. She lives at the top of this tower.”

“That’s going to be a lot of stairs,” Corvon said.

They began going up the stairs, ignoring the other floors that they could have got off on. Instead, they continued upwards. Glint stayed next to Kita the whole time.

“Do you have to follow us everywhere?” Kita asked Glint, annoyed.

“Since the king himself can’t be with you, I am here instead,” Glint said. “It is my job to offer you any hospitality that he would.”

Kita decided not to say anything else, and so they all went up the stairs in silence. After a few minutes, they finally arrived at the top of the ten story tower. At the top, one of the lady’s attendants guarded the door, but knew that they were the ones the king had sent.

Inside was a small room, but one filled with the results of skill. Paintings sat along one side, and one that wasn’t quite done was on an easel. Against another side were many sculptures, carved in both crystal, stone, and wood. The other side had a small bed, and the final wall was a single sheet of glass.

An old woman, with curled gray hair, stood looking through an orb that she held up to the window. From where she stood, the Northern Isle was visible. The fields of fire, thunder, and ice each lay covered in weather fitting to their element. Beyond these fields was Mt. Faraway, where Ho-oh, the keeper of the spirit realm, lived. It was there that Lady Vanni held her orb up to.

“Yes, I think I’ve got it now,” Lady Vanni said. “Now, all of you have a seat, and I will tell you what Ho-oh and the spirits told me.”

A few chairs were over by the bed, and Forde, Corvon, and Lucario sat in these. Lady Vanni turned around, revealing a face that had seen many years of the world.

“Stay silent as I reveal what the spirits have told me,” She said. “A few of you are new here, and I’m sensing the most about you two.” She pointed to Corvon and Lucario. “Your name is Corvon, isn’t it? A great burden will be put upon you soon. Some roles that we are thrust into can be difficult. You will need Lucario, if you are to make it through. Learn well from Forde while you can.”

“Now I’m getting something for you.” Lady Vanni pointed at Forde. “You’ve been here before, but this time is different. The spirits usually show that you have great power and responsibility. This time they show me that some other power is at work that you will have to defeat to accomplish your goals. Beware when the time comes to face this power.”

“Now, the Pachirisu and Espeon. You two have relied on your master for so long, but I can sense that you will need to rely on yourselves soon. That leaves only one more. Glint, you’ve been here quite often, and not much is changed. Pursue what your heart tells you to, and there is a chance you may have it. You will still have a long time to wait. That is all.”

“Thank you, Lady Vanni,” Forde said. “It’s always a pleasure to hear what you see in the future.”

“Your future has always been an interesting one,” Vanni replied. “It always seems to grow more turbulent each time you come.”

“The world itself is becoming turbulent. I’m one of the few that tries to calm it. Farewell.”

Lady Vanni went back to the window. “Farewell,” she said.

Going down the stairs was much easier than going up, but nothing was said as each thought about the predictions. As they returned to their rooms, dinner was provided. Glint joined them, especially since the meal given to Kita had a few extra touches provided by him.

Chiro kept glancing over at the rare and delicious food on Kita’s plate. “Kita, you’re lucky to have a boyfriend that gives you all that nice food.”

Kita looked ready to pounce on Chiro. “He is not my boyfriend!”

“I think that he thinks he is, don’t you Glint?”

“I wish only for Kita to be happy,” Glint said with a smile.

Kita just turned her back on everyone after that and kept silent. Glint kept staring at her while she ate, and Chiro didn’t want to draw out her anger anymore. In the past he had done so, and he still remembered just how sharp an Espeon’s claws can be.

The next day, they were all up early and ready to leave. It was cold and a light snow was falling, and Glint followed them to the edge of the city. “Goodbye, Kita!” Glint said. “I hope you come back soon! With you here, even the winter feels warm.”

“I thought Glaceon hated warm places,” Kita yelled back.

They all went down the Eastern road that led to some smaller settlements and then to Rinn. It would be a slow road in the winter, but Forde was determined to have no doubts about the threat to the world being gone.

* * *

As Leon and company came close to the fort where Peoria had lived, she seemed to be taking each step reluctantly.

“Peoria, I’m here if you need me,” Annox said, trying to cheer her up.

Peoria said nothing as they approached the fort. Rinn had turned it back over to Midern, but Midern had not sent any soldiers back up here yet, since they were all busy repairing the walls of Midern. From both the battle and the winter, the fort was in disrepair. As they entered the fort, they could see that a mass grave had been dug for the soldiers and pokemon killed there.

Peoria wandered around in silence, and the others just watched and waited. Soon, she found a large flat stone and placed it on top of the grave. She approached this time with tears in her eyes.

“Could you all help me in making a gravestone?” Peoria asked.

“We’re here to help you,” Annox said. “Draconis could heat the stone, and then carve something into it.”

“Yes, I’d be glad to help,” Draconis said. “Honoring brave fighters is important.”

Draconis took a deep breath and put everything he had into the longest flamethrower he had ever done. The rock glowed red with heat and soft enough that Draconis could easily scratch something into it.

“What should it say?” Draconis asked.

“In memory of my friends who fought bravely, may they rest in peace,” Peoria said, now calm.

Draconis scratched the words into the stone, which took several minutes. As he was done, Peoria took one last look around, and then walked out of the broken gate. They all followed.

The rest of the day everyone was quiet. Soon, it was time for bed and everyone but Peoria and Annox were asleep. Peoria stood a ways off from the group, crying again. Annox could sense this, and so he walked over to her.

“Peoria, you can lean on me. I know it hurt, to see that place again.”

Peoria leaned on Annox, her tears dripping down his shell. After a while, she fell asleep, and then Annox joined her.

The next day Peoria seemed fine again and they made their way into the mountains. This time they had a better map, but the trails were rough so it took a long time. In the middle of Spring, they finally could see Mount Thunder again, and it was as stormy as ever. As they walked past the mountain, the storm grew more intense and the lightning came closer to them. Out of the shadows of the storm came Zapdos.

“Welcome back,” Zapdos said. “I noticed you were passing by again, and thought I’d check up on you. It looks like you’ve all been through a lot. It seems you’ve picked up a human, Flygon, and Bayleef. Why don’t you tell me about it?”

Elomir, Leon, and Peoria introduced themselves, and they all shared their tales of the war. Zapdos listened attentively.

“I sure Forde never meant for you all to get drawn into that war,” Zapdos said afterwards. “I hope you all have safe trips home.” With this final statement, Zapdos returned to the top of his mountain.

“I’m never working with Forde again, that’s for sure,” Draconis said. “Even if he didn’t mean to, he used us for his own ends.”

“It was tough and dangerous, but I’m glad we went on this journey,” Hurdy said. “I learned and saw a lot.”

“I wasn’t even sure I wanted to go,” Annox said. “But I found Peoria again, so it was all worth it. All I want when I get home is some peace.”

“Yes, it seems like Relic Academy is a quiet place from what you’ve told me,” Peoria said. “I can’t wait to see it.”

“My parents will probably be thrilled to see you again,” Annox said.

“I think I’ve seen enough of the world that I want to go off and make my own decisions,” Elomir said. “I’ll miss you, Leon, but I have to do this.”

“Home won’t be the same without you,” Leon said.

They headed Southeast to Alagarde, and soon arrived. As soon as one of the guards spotted Elomir in the sky, he ran to tell King Desmond. The king and General Berose both waited at the gate as Leon drew near.

When Leon drew close, he ran forward and greeted his father with a brief hug. “Father! You’re back!”

“My son, you’re back!” Desmond answered joyfully. “I’m not sure what came over me, but it is gone now. I apologize for any actions I did then.”

“You didn’t go to war with Farna, did you?” Leon asked.

“For a brief time, we did. A series of battles broke out in the forest, but neither side gained much of an advantage. Once I came to my senses, I slowly withdrew our own troops, and then sent The Crows a notice that I was no longer supporting them. Now they hide in the forest, preying upon travelers. General Berose has led a few groups to try and get rid of them, but they know the forest too well.”

“I’m glad that Forde’s friends could restore you. It’s good to have you back.”

“I’ve been worried about you ever since I was restored, as you say. I know Forde, but which of his friends restored me?”

“Actually, he never told me. Whoever it was must have done so undetected.”

“The castle did have a full guard, and yet no one strange was ever spotted. Why don’t you tell me everything as we eat? I’m sure you’re tired from your journey.”

“It’s good to be home. I still have to escort these friends of mine back to their home, but I’m sure they won’t mind staying as royal guests.”

“No, we won’t mind at all,” Hurdy said.

Draconis’s stomach growled. “If there’s good food, then I’d be happy to stay a few days.”

Desmond was astonished. “How can you speak to them?”

Leon pulled out the translator from beneath his cloak. “Forde gave me this device so that I could talk with Elomir. He never said to give it back, so I guess I get to keep it.”

King Desmond eyed the device. “A translator? Those are supposed to be rare and very valuable. It certainly is a great gift if he meant you to have it. Now, let’s go inside.”

They all headed in and told about their travels. As they did this, a feast was prepared for the return of Prince Leon to Alagarde. Food and festivity abounded as the feast commenced. King Desmond even had the court troubadour write a song of their adventure, which was played a few nights into their stay.

Soon, the celebrations died down. Elomir was growing impatient to leave to the desert, but the others had to be escorted home first. With this in mind, Leon set out for the short trip that remained. They all walked down the road and into the forest. Leon had refused an escort of soldiers, and so they walked through the forest alone.

On the shady path, a group of men in familiar chainmail and leather outfits surrounded them. There were only about 15 of them. The despicable leader, Lasrev, stepped forth. He seemed to have some fresh scars and his black hair was matted and dirty.

“It’s you!” he said. “I ought to kill you for what your father did to us! Now we can barely survive, and both Farna and Midern always are trying to hunt us down. Men, I think we can take this lone prince.”

The Crows readied their weapons, and Leon and the others all faced separate directions. Leon’s hand inched up towards his quiver, and as he suddenly pulled a few arrows from it, the enemies charged. Leon’s hand moved quickly as he released arrow after arrow. His aim was sure and each enemy that charged was down. Compared to the war, this was going to be easy.

As about thirty pokemon approached, Draconis charged them. They were easy foes, and Draconis was an expert with his claws. Elomir used his dragonbreath to drive back enemies, while Hurdy made it difficult for anyone to approach as he created a field of mud around them. Annox and Peoria each shot razor leaf attacks, downing a few more opponents.

Soon, the attack stopped, and around five men were dead from Leon’s arrows. A few more lay wounded. Draconis also had shown no mercy, killing several and coming close to killing many more.

Lasrev looked furious. “You aren’t the same kid that left here! You and your pokemon fight like demons! How did you become so powerful?”

“You had a small war here, right?” Leon asked. “The war I was in was easily ten times the size of that. Compared to Rinn’s and Eltanah’s troops, you are all pathetic. I would let you go, but my father wants to be rid of bandits in the forest. I guess I can’t let you live.”

Leon quickly raised his bow and shot the arrow strung in it. It landed true and pierced Lasrev through the heart. With their leader gone, the remaining men scattered. A Grumpig and Camerupt remained behind.

“You two are free now,” Elomir said to them. “I’m not sure if you cared for that man, but you should at least bury him. Now I must be going.”

The Camerupt and Grumpig nodded, taking their former master’s body into the forest. Leon and the others continued down the path and arrived at Farna shortly afterwards. King Willis came to greet them.

“I see you are back,” Willis said. “It’s good to see you again.”

“Yes, I’ve returned,” Leon said. “I had a long and difficult journey, but I’m much stronger now. The Crows attacked me in the forest, but I killed their leader and they fled.”

“That’s great news! With their leader gone, they probably will disband. You can spend a day here, if you want. Your news of the intentions of your father spared many lives.”

They all spent the night at Farna, and Leon told Willis all about his adventure. The next day they set off early, since Draconis, Hurdy, and Annox were anxious to get home. They reached the Eastern edge of Farna, and it was time to say goodbye.

“Thanks for bringing us back home,” Annox said. “It was nice to know you. We don’t get much human visitors down at the ruins, but I’m sure you could come.”

“Actually we don’t get much humans there because my dad drives them away,” Draconis said. “I think I might want to join him on patrol, because there won’t be any action at the academy. I‘m sure I could convince him to let you come visit.”

“My family would probably be thrilled to have you as well,” Hurdy said. “My dad would probably ask you a ton of questions, but my mom makes excellent food.”

“I think it would be nice to see you again, too,” Peoria said. “I’ve gotten used to seeing people, so I might miss them after a while.”

“You have all been great friends,” Leon said. “I hope you all do well in whatever you decide to do. Goodbye.”

“I also think you all are great Pokemon,” Elomir said. “If you ever come to the desert, then I’ll be willing to help you out.”

They all bid farewell, and the four pokemon went on their way, leaving Elomir and Leon alone again.

“Man, all these goodbyes take forever!” Elomir said. “I want to be at the desert as soon as possible, so hop on.”

Leon and Elomir took off into the skies for the first time since Elomir’s wing had healed. Leon always felt happy in the skies, but soon, he would no longer be able to fly with his friend. Leon shed a single tear despite trying to hold it in, and it blew away in the wind. After this, he hugged Elomir tightly and the wind whipped past them.

Elomir dropped Leon off at Alagarde, and the two stood staring at each other for a long time before saying anything.

“I’m going to miss you,” Leon said as he gave his friend a tight hug.

Elomir wrapped his short arms around Leon. “I’m going to miss you, too. You never know, I may drop in for a visit from time to time.”

“I‘ll always keep an eye out for you. Ah, well, you‘d better go now. I‘d bet Allia‘s waiting…” Leon’s voice trailed off until it was too quiet to hear.

Elomir held Leon a moment longer before backing away. “She probably is, and she’s going to be angry. Stay strong, Leon.”

Elomir took off into the sky, and Leon sat watching, rubbing his eyes from time to time. Elomir slowed and looked back a few times as he went away. Once Elomir was gone, Leon walked inside the castle to go be with his father.

Meanwhile, Elomir flew swiftly to the desert. The sandstone cliffs and sand dunes all felt like home already. Elomir landed at the oasis near Allia’s cave to get a drink before meeting with her. He looked at his reflection and made sure he was looking good, but then saw that Allia was behind him.

Allia pushed him into the water. “You have some nerve to come back to me! I thought you might, so I waited for months!”

Allia splashed water at Elomir, who splashed some water back at her. Soon, the two were laughing and playing in the oasis. The two hunted down some of the sparse food growing in the desert and went back to Allia’s cave to enjoy it. After dinner Elomir explained all about his journey to Allia.

Allia yawned after his long story. “That was wonderful Elomir. I’m glad you decided to come live with me. I’ll teach you the ways of the desert, and we will both be happy here.”

“Yes, Allia, that would be wonderful. I think life here in the desert is going to be great...”

Allia rested her head on Elomir’s side, and soon the two were both asleep.


Hurdy, Draconis, Annox, and Peoria all made their way through the jungle quickly. Soon, they arrived back at Relic Academy.

“It’s great to be back,” Hurdy said. “I’m off to see my family.”

“It feels like it’s been forever,” Draconis said. “My dad should be home for lunch soon, so I’d better be there when he comes back.”

“Peoria, are you ready to meet my parents?” Annox asked. “I’m sure they are down tending the plants, like always.”

“They probably haven’t changed much from when we were kids, have they?”

“No, not really. After we see them, I’ll have to give you a tour of this place.”

Hurdy walked through the hallways of the academy again. He remembered the books and scrolls well, but now knew that seeing the world was far better than just reading about it. He made his way to his family’s quarters, and opened the door.

“Mom, guess who’s home?” Hurdy yelled as he entered.

“Hurdy! Oh, come here! Let me see you!” his mother replied. “My you’ve grown! You’re a Marshtomp now!”

As Hurdy’s mom embraced and kissed him, Hurdy’s father and brother both ran in from outside.

“Hurdy, you’re back!” his father said. “You’ll have to tell me all about what you saw.”

“Brother! You’re so tall now!” Hurdy’s younger brother said. “I missed you!”

“I missed you all, too,” Hurdy said.

All of Hurdy’s family gathered in one big group hug around him, and then he told them all about his travels over lunch.


Draconis walked over the ancient stone building where his family lived. His mother was outside, preparing lunch.

“It smells good, Mom. What are you making?” Draconis asked.

His mother looked away from her cooking and glided over to Draconis, picking him up in a big hug. “You’re back!”

Draconis’s father landed a few moments later, noticing the Charmeleon at his home. “Draconis, is that you?”

“Sure is, Dad.”

Draconis’s Dad gave him a hug twice as tight as his mother. “It’s good to see you. You’ve grown so much stronger. You should be able to join me on patrol now, like you wanted to do before you left.”

“That’s great, I’ll have to tell you about all my battles as we eat.”

Draconis’s family settled down to eat, and Draconis told them all about the many opponents he fought.


Annox and Peoria both went down to the orchards and gardens on the edge of the jungle. Annox’s mother was humming, as she usually did as she gathered some fruits and vegetables for lunch. Annox and Peoria made their way to Annox’s home, which consisted of a flat grassy area under a large tree. Soon, Annox’s mother, father and two sisters returned from the gardens, but dropped the food they had gathered as they saw Annox. They all ran up and nuzzled him in affection. After this, they noticed Peoria.

“Who’s the girl you’ve brought home with you?” One of his sisters asked.

“I bet it’s his girlfriend,” the other said.

“I suppose she is,” Annox said. “Her name is Peoria. Mom and Dad knew her back in the old forest.”

“Peoria, how nice to see you again!” Annox’s mother said.

“How’s your parents?” Annox’s father asked.

“I haven’t seen them in years,” Peoria said. “I joined the army and was with them until the recent war Annox and I were just in.”

Annox‘s mother gasped. “What? You were in a war?”

“Yeah, we’ll have to tell you about it over lunch,” Annox said. “I hope you brought enough fruit for all of us.”

Annox and Peoria joined Annox’s family for lunch, munching on the freshly picked fruit and telling their tale.

Everyone found happiness at home. For a few months, they all had peace. But all of that was to change when Leon received some unexpected visitors as the middle of summer passed.

 

[Apotheosis]

Part 2: Beyond the Gods’ Sight

Chapter 20: Atrocity’s Invitation​

The sun blazed down on Leon as he stood on the town walls. He looked at the people in their fields, working hard to keep the crop successful. Right before he turned back to the castle, he looked at the empty sky, but saw nothing except an approaching thunderstorm.

Three months had passed, and Leon had yet to hear anything about Elomir. He considered going to visit the desert, but he knew that there was so much left to do during the rest of the Summer. Returning to the castle, Leon waited as Desmond finished settling a dispute between two of the townspeople.

“Leon, are you ready to meet with the ambassador from Midern? They should be arriving today,” Desmond said.

“Actually, they might be delayed.” Leon pointed to the dark skies outside the window. “There is a bad thunderstorm approaching from the South.”

“We’ll just have to wait and see. Be ready in case they arrive.”

Leon went to his room to put on more formal attire. He waited around the castle for a few hours. The expected guests didn’t arrive, only the thunderstorm. The rain came down in furious bursts and the flashes of lightning could be seen in the distance. Suddenly a guard ran up and saluted. “Some guests are here to see you, prince.”

“Is it the ambassador?” Leon asked.

“No. It is a man in a black hat. It looks like he’s been traveling for quite a while.”

“It must be Corvon! I wonder what he’s doing here?”

Leon dismissed the guard and ran down to meet with the visitors. Corvon stood there, water still dripping from his hat and cloak. Lucario took a moment to shake the water out of his fur. Kita and Chiro also took a moment to do the same.

“What are all of you doing here?” Leon asked. “Where’s Forde?”

Both Kita and Chiro looked down at the stone floor. Chiro’s usual grin changed to a worried scowl. It may have just been the rain dripping of her, but it looked as if Kita was crying.

“He’s gone,” Corvon said. “We were investigating some men who held Mellano’s fiancé captive until he gave them the toxic plate. We tracked them as far as the bottom of Mount Freeze, but then…”

* * *

Forde and Corvon had easily followed the ten men this far. These men were traveling with speed in mind, not concealment. Up at the top of the winding trail, the ten men were almost to reach the cave near the summit of the mountain.

“If we can catch up to them in there, they won’t be able to escape,” Forde said. “Let’s get after them.”

“We still don’t even know who they are, and yet they obviously have some important mission,” Corvon said as he wrapped his cloak tighter around him. “I’d like to find out what drives them onwards, even in such extremes as this place. We’d better get moving ourselves or we’ll freeze.”

Both Kita and Lucario were shivering, while Chiro had remained inside Forde’s coat for days. They moved quickly up the mountain, which warmed up their feet. The deep snow and icy paths made for dangerous travel, but they navigated their way up the mountain as quickly as possible. Just as they reached half-way, a purple mist began to flow slowly downwards from the cave.

Lucario squinted to get a better view. “What is that?”

“I’m sensing something in that cave unlike anything else I’ve ever felt,” Kita said.

“We’re almost there, and then we’ll see,” Forde said.

The mist spread into the air, but formed the thickest around the top of the mountain. Soon, they reached the threshold of the mist. Forde took a step into it. “I’m going first. Don’t come in unless I say so.” The rest of them watched as he disappeared into the purple cloud. The few minutes Forde was gone seemed like hours, but then he stepped back out. “I’m not sensing anything harmful to pokemon in here, but I think you should stay out, Corvon.”

A small amount of the miasma flowed down to where they were standing. Lucario and Kita didn’t notice anything, but Corvon started coughing. His coughing continued and he had a pained look on his face.

“Lucario,” Forde commanded. “Get Corvon down from here. Wait at the bottom of the mountain for us. If the fog reaches you, keep moving further away.”

Lucario said nothing as he supported Corvon and began helping him down the mountain. Forde now turned to Kita and pulled Chiro from his pocket.

“Whatever is making this has to be stopped,” Forde said. “This fog contains poisons that will slowly kill any humans caught in it. It will be up to us now.”

Forde, Kita, and Chiro made it up the last stretch of mountain, despite the fog obscuring their sight. From the mouth of the cave, more miasma came seeping out. They took a few cautious steps, and could see a few figures sprawled on the floor. Forde kneeled down to examine one.

“This is one of the men we were following!” Forde said. “He’s dead now.”

Kita had taken a few more steps forward and then gasped. “Forde, there’s something else here. I think it’s making the fog.”

Forde got up and stared at the ten foot tall figure enshrouded in fog. “Kita, clear some of this away.”

Kita focused and cleared a small patch of the clouds away, but then lost focus as soon as she saw the glowing red eyes on the black and white head. “It can’t be,” she muttered in disbelief.

“This is Arceus?” Chiro said.

“Arceus! Why are you doing this?” Forde yelled.

Arceus said nothing.

“Why don’t you answer us?” Forde asked. “Answer or we may have to attack!”

“Attack Arceus?” Kita said. “Are you insane?”

They waited a few minutes in silence, but then Forde issued his command. “Kita, Chiro, use your strongest attacks!”

Kita and Chiro both braced themselves and gathered energy. Right as they unleashed their attacks, the fog stopped and a barrier blocked both.

“Try again!”

They charged again, but their attacks were repelled by the barrier once more. Forde circled around Arceus, pondering what to do.

Forde pulled out his dagger. “I never thought I’d have to use this, especially on a pokemon. It is breaking the agreement that all but the vilest of humans and pokemon uphold. A human and pokemon should never battle. That was decreed so long ago, after the war of the heroes, and now I must break it. I’d ask Arceus to forgive me if it wasn’t the one I was attacking. Now everyone attack!”

Both Kita and Chiro unleashed their attacks, which did no damage. Forde jumped forwards, slashing right near the center of Arceus’ chest, where the toxic plate was now embedded. Forde’s dagger sank to the hilt, and Arceus roared in pain. Arceus reared up, but Forde had kept hold of his weapon, causing a nasty slice down the entire length of Arceus’ chest.

Forde jumped back as Arceus slammed its hooves down, causing the whole mountain to shake. Forde now reached for the plate, and began to tear it off. It looked as if he would succeed, but he suddenly vanished.

Kita and Chiro ran to where Forde had been, but only Arceus stood, dripping a few drops of blood on the floor. The wounds closed and Arceus stood silent again.

“Where’s Forde?” Chiro said.

“He’s… gone,” Kita answered. “Forde’s gone! What will we do without him?”

Chiro glared at Arceus before shooting a bolt of electricity. The attack was shielded, doing nothing.

Kita began to cry as she never had before. “Forde! Why did you attack Arceus? I thought you were smart…”

Chiro tried attacking Arceus a few more times, but got the same results. Exhausted, he returned to Kita’s side. “There’s nothing more we can do here. Let’s go tell Corvon.”

“No, I won‘t leave here!”

“Forde would have wanted us to continue his mission. We have to help stop this.”

With some reluctance, Kita finally left. The two slid down the mountain, trying to get to Corvon as fast as possible. Corvon and Lucario noticed them, and looked questioningly at them. Finally they reached the bottom.

“Corvon, Lucario! Forde disappeared!” Chiro frantically said.

“Slow down and tell me what happened,” Corvon said.

“Arceus is at the top, making these poison clouds,” Chiro said. “All three of us attacked, but only Forde did any damage. After he almost pulled off the toxic plate, Forde vanished.”

“So Forde’s gone? Did he tell either of you what to do next?” Lucario asked.

“No,” Kita said. “I think he would want us to stop this. The fog is lethal to humans. Mewtwo, he’s the one we need to see.”

Corvon pulled out his map. “Where does Mewtwo live?”

“On an island, but we can contact him from where Pokemon Square used to be,” Kita said.

“That’s pretty far away,” Corvon said. “If we head South we can meet up with Leon at Alagarde and maybe get Draconis, Annox, Hurdy, and Peoria to help us.”

“What good would they do?” Kita asked.

“We’ll need anyone we can get and the Southern way is the fastest way through all the nearby mountains. Maybe we could even get Elomir to fly ahead and contact Mewtwo.”

Kita was still glancing up at the mountain, as if expecting Forde to return. “Whatever.”

“Let’s go then,” Lucario said.

The four all left the mountain, but both Kita and Chiro looked back every few minutes.

* * *

“That was a week ago,” Kita said. “If you were ever a friend of Forde, then you’ll join us.”

“This is all very grave news,” Leon said. “I’ll have to go tell my father.”

Desmond listened patiently to the awful events and then added his suggestion. “Leon, if you feel you are needed to stop this threat, then you must go.”

“I will go. It seems an impossible task to stop Arceus, but we must try.”

“Your pack will be ready in a few minutes. Go safely and return victorious.”

“Thank you, dad. I’ll do my best. It looks like you’ll have to cover the ambassador for me.”

“Don’t worry about that. This is far more important! The guards will have your supplies by the gate. I’ll take care of everything here.”

Leon bid farewell to his father and returned to the others.

“I’m ready to go,” he said.

“Do you know where Elomir is?” Corvon asked. “He could be helpful.”

“He left for the desert as soon as he could. I haven’t heard anything from him since.”

“That changes plans. Kita, Chiro, do you think you could go and get the others from Relic Academy and catch up to us? We’ll head north from the desert and meet you at Zapdos’s lands.”

“We should get there right around when you two do,” Kita said. “Either group will only wait at Zapdos two days. After that, move on.”

“I agree,” Corvon said. “We need to do this quickly. The more we wait, the more the poison will spread.”

“Why don’t I just head to the desert?” Leon asked. “If anyone can get Elomir to come, it will be me. Kita and Chiro can go get the others, while Corvon and Lucario head straight to Mewtwo.”

“That will save some time, but smaller groups means we might be at risk from attacks,” Corvon said. “Especially you, Leon, since you don’t have any pokemon.”

“I’ll avoid any people I’m not sure of,” Leon said. “I can look out for myself.”

“If you want to take the risk, then fine,” Corvon said. “I guess that means it’s time we all head out.”

They all went their separate ways with haste towards their destinations. Kita and Chiro arrived at Relic Academy a few days later. They walked right in, unannounced, and met with Hurdy’s father.

“What brings you two here without Forde?” the Swampert asked.

“Something happened to Forde,” Kita said. “We need to see Hurdy, Draconis, Annox, and Peoria right now.”

“Fine, I’ll get them.”

Within a few minutes, all four had been gathered.

“Kita, Chiro, so good to see you again,” Hurdy said. “Where’s Forde?”

“I don’t really care that he’s not here,” Draconis muttered.

Kita tackled Draconis in a flash, her claws out and ready above his neck. “Don’t talk about Forde like that!” After a few tense moments, Kita backed off and allowed Draconis to get up.

“Hey, don’t fight!” Annox said. “What’s all this about?”

“I’ll tell you,” Chiro said.

After Chiro told the story, all four seemed to be thinking hard.

“So, are you going to come?” Kita asked.

“No, not unless I know exactly what I’m getting into and what I’m getting paid,” Draconis said. “I don’t care about the humans anyways.”

Hurdy gave his friend a pleading look, but then gave his response. “I’ll go. I don’t want to see all the humans dead.”

“I think I’ll need some more time to think about it,” Annox said.

“Come on, Annox,” Peoria said. “We can’t let all the humans die. If we do nothing, it will be partly our fault.”

“Fine, if you are going, then I’ll come,” Annox said. “It’s only because you want me to, though.”

Peoria nuzzled Annox. “Oh, how sweet of you!”

Annox began blushing. “You’re embarrassing both of us.”

“Okay, let’s go,” Kita said. “There isn’t any time to waste. We’re supposed to go meet up with Mewtwo as quickly as possible.”

Draconis walked away as the others prepared to go. Hurdy and Annox both met with their families to say goodbye, and then they all met at the trail that led back to the North. They had just set out, when Draconis came running after them.

Kita glared at him. “What do you want?”

“I’ve decided to come along,” Draconis said. “All my friends are going, and staying here isn’t making me any stronger. I’m not doing this for Forde, though.”

“As long as you are with us, then you’re welcome,” Chiro said.

* * *

Leon traveled straight out of Western Farna into the desert. He had mapped out where he thought Elomir would be, and used this to track where to go. After a few days, he finally saw the familiar oasis in the distance.

After walking through the hot sun all day, Leon stopped at the oasis for a drink. He got up and started going the way he remembered Elomir had flown last time. Soon, he saw a cave up in some cliffs and headed towards it.

A shadow covered the sun suddenly, but before Leon could look up, he found himself pinned to the ground underneath a growling Flygon.

“Elomir, is that you?” Leon asked after looking at the Flygon for a second.

“Leon? What are you doing here?” Elomir said. “You’re lucky I’m the one on guard duty. Allia would probably have ripped your head off the moment she saw you.”

“Guard duty? What are you guarding?”

Elomir began scratching the back of his head nervously. “I guess I can tell you. You see, I’m here guarding our egg while Allia is hunting.”

Leon‘s eyes widened in surprise. “So you’re a father now?”

“Almost. The egg will hatch soon. You’d better be going soon before Allia gets back. Why are you here anyways?”

Leon told Elomir of the poison Arceus was creating. Elomir seemed saddened by the news, but didn’t look determined to do anything.

“If things were different, then I might have joined you again, Leon. I’m needed here more than anywhere else. I wish you luck on the rest of your trip.”

“I guess I’ll be going. I never thought you and Allia would have an egg yet, and you need to stay and watch over it. If you ever want to find me, just go to the old ruins of Pokemon Square and meet with Mewtwo.”

“I’ll keep that in mind, but don’t expect any help from me.”

“Goodbye again, Elomir.”

“Goodbye Leon.”

Leon set off to the North and Elomir watched him go from his perch among the cliffs. Although part of him wanted to go, more of him wanted to stay, so Elomir remained motionless. Soon, Allia returned and sniffed the air.

“Someone’s been here,” she said.

“It was my old human,” Elomir said. “He wanted me to join him for another quest, but I refused.”

“It must have been desperate for him to come all the way here. What did he want?”

“Arceus is creating a fog that will kill the humans if it gets to them.”

“I don’t talk to humans, but surely they can’t have invoked that judgment yet. The ancient prophecy states that when hearts and minds become full of venom, Arceus will poison the world. It is one of the ancient judgments, but from what you’ve said, the humans aren’t that evil yet.”

“Perhaps something is making Arceus do this, like something made the human leaders act different and start that war I was in.”

“That could be true, but we have to worry about our family. We have one egg that will hatch soon, and perhaps more on the way.”

“Yes, so much to do…”

Allia flew back to the cave, but Elomir sat and thought for a moment. There was nothing he could do to help Leon, but perhaps there was some other way.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 21: Gathering of the Chosen​

For a lone human the desert is not a safe place. Leon was well aware of this as he spent another night in solitude. There had been a group of Cacturne that may have spotted him, and they were notorious for attacking travelers.

Leon tried to settle down and get some rest, but then heard something scratching at some rocks not far from his camp. He immediately got up and looked. The Cacturne from earlier, several of them; Leon packed his remaining gear as fast as possible before setting off at a quick walk.

Cacturne were known to follow travelers until they either caught up with them, or the traveler collapsed from exhaustion. Leon was now in such a situation and could think of nothing to do but keep moving. Unfortunately, the Cacturne blocked his way back to Elomir, so North was the only option.

The desert night was cold, but the moon was bright, revealing the barren landscape. Some Sandshrew and Sandslash foraged in some of the scrubby bushes not too far off, and Leon headed that way. All night Leon walked, and by the time dawn came again, his steps were slowing. Now and then he’d stop paying attention to anything around him and then snap back to attention when he realized he was zoning out.

The Cacturne were as relentless as ever, following Leon through the scorching day. Step after weary step, Leon kept going. Night came again, but Leon could not afford to rest. The Cacturne were following, and every short break Leon took brought them closer.

By the dawn of the next day, Leon was stumbling from time to time. This forced march was taking a serious toll on him, and he knew he couldn’t keep it up much longer. He glanced at the landscape for some place to escape from his pursuers; the hills of sand and wiry bushes offered nothing. The mountains were ahead of him, but they were still days away.

In late afternoon, Leon’s fatigue took its toll. He collapsed in the hot sun, and the Cacturne eagerly approached their prey. Leon reawakened, but found himself surrounded by the Cacturne. He got to his feet and strung an arrow in his bow.

“I guess it’s come down to this,” Leon said. “I won’t go down without a fight.”

Leon tried shooting an arrow at one, but it deflected the arrow with a pin missile attack. Several of the fired needles also rained down on Leon, knocking him to the ground. He staggered to his feet again, and tried to shoot again. Again Leon ended in pain on the ground. He sighed in disappointment and listened to the approaching steps. The wind started to blow fiercely, so Leon shut his eyes. What a pathetic way to end. He should have listened to Corvon’s warning.

The wind became stronger and the footsteps stopped. It sounded like something new was going on. Leon opened his eyes and saw that the Cacturne were retreating. The winds calmed down and two small Flygon landed.

“Palak at your service,” one said with a bow.

“And I’m Malak,” the other added.

Leon tried to stand, but fell down. “Thanks for rescuing me. I‘ve been walking for days.”

“Those nasty Cacturne like to do that,” Palak said.

Malak seemed to pick up his twin’s sentences right where they left off. “Elomir sent us to guide you through the desert.”

“Lucky for you, his worries brought us.”

“Yes, I am lucky to have a friend like him,” Leon said. “Do you think we could find a good place to rest? I need some sleep.”

“Oh there’s an oasis right over that way,” Malak said.

“Just follow us!”

The two young Flygon took to the sky. They began flipping and whirling around each other playfully. Leon smiled at their antics, since it reminded him of when Elomir had first evolved. They were too little to carry him, so Leon walked slowly along until he arrived at an oasis surrounded by a ring of trees.

Leon took a deep drink from the cold water and lay down in the shade of the trees. Within moments, he was asleep. Palak and Malak continued playing in the water, but their noise didn’t disturb Leon in the slightest.

Leon slept through the afternoon and night, and was awakened by a rustling noise in the morning. He stretched his stiff muscles and looked over to where the noise was coming from. Both Palak and Malak sat rummaging through his supplies.

“Hey!” Leon yelled out as he walked over to them.

They both looked up with guilty expressions and backed a few steps away.

“We were just curious,” Palak said.

Malak lowered his head. “I don’t think we messed anything up, so don’t be mad.”

Leon was annoyed, and set about repacking his things. “It’s fine, but you could have just asked to see my stuff.”

As Leon packed everything away, Palak and Malak watched and asked about what most the objects did. After about an hour, everything was back in its place and the three continued on in silence.

Malak’s curiosity broke through the awkward silence. “Why do humans need and wear so many clothes?”

Leon thought for a moment how to explain this. “It’s usually been required by law, tradition, and decency that everyone wear clothes. Without them we’d get scratches, sunburns, heat, and cold. Since you aren’t humans, it might seem strange, but most of us would have difficulty without clothes.”

“How silly,” Palak said. “We Flygon can just go about without clothes, and we’re fine. It also gives us a chance to show off our fine bodies to the females.” Palak puffed up his chest and assumed an intimidating posture.

Malak rolled his eyes at his brother. “Not that there are any our age near this part of the desert.”

Palak deflated. “Yeah, I guess you’re right.”

The rest of the day and the next few passed in banter about similar things. Leon soon began to tune out most of the chatter between the two. Soon, they had reached the edge of the desert.

“I guess we’ve fulfilled our promise to Elomir,” Malak said.

Palak looked back at the desert. “I wonder what Elomir will have for us when we get back. He did promise to give us something nice for doing this.”

Leon scratched both of them in the spot right behind the horns, where Flygon liked to be scratched. “Thank you both for bringing me here. If I’m in the desert again, I’ll be sure to bring you something. Good luck on your return trip.”

The two flew South and Leon headed to a nearby road that led North. After about a week of travel, Leon arrived at the base of Mt. Thunder. The others were all waiting. After a short greeting, it was time to share news.

“I couldn’t get Elomir to come,” Leon said. “He and Allia are just about to have their first egg hatch.”

Kita walked forward. “Unfortunate but expected. If you could sense emotions like I can, then you would have known how Elomir felt about her. I’m just glad I didn’t try to sense thoughts, or I might have gotten something truly shocking from that Flygon.”

“My parents had been hinting about taking me to the old clan grounds to get to know the females, but this journey must have interrupted any plans they had,” Draconis added.

“I think mine were also planning something similar,” Hurdy said. “I don’t think Annox and Peoria will have that problem, though.”

Everyone now looked at Annox and Peoria, who were both close to the other. The two blushed and separated by a step.

Corvon cleared his throat to get everyone’s attention. “Well, that means all the help we can expect is here. We should set off immediately.”

There was no packing to do, so after a short meal they headed out. Lucario and Corvon led the way, since they knew a short path through the mountains.

Soon, Chiro scampered up to Lucario. “Lucario, I was wondering, have you or Corvon ever had anyone you liked?”

Lucario stayed silent for a few moments, but Chiro kept pestering him. “Grr, I guess you won’t go away without an answer, will you?”

“Nope.”

“Okay, I’ll tell you. There was once when I met a female Lucario.”

“What happened with that?”

“What do you expect happened?”

“Were you rejected?”

“No, of course not! I raised a litter of pups and they matured and so I went on my way. Corvon was patient as my love played its course.”

Corvon drew closer to the two. “I do recall that staying for a few months in the same place seemed a bit strange in those days. Unfortunately I’ve never connected with women, being such a wanderer as I am. If I settled somewhere, I’d probably have a better chance. Now, fair is fair, so what about you and Kita?”

Kita glared at them. “Don’t draw me into this!”

Chiro was unaffected by Kita’s anger and gave a happy explanation. “I’m like Lucario. Forde waited when I fell in love with a female Pachirisu years ago. Young Pachirisu grow so fast, and after they set out on their own, I also went my way. That only took about two months. And since Kita won’t tell you, I’ll say that I have never known her to spend much time with any males of her type. The closest you’ll get is probably Glint, and I don’t see why Kita doesn’t like him.”

Kita just walked away in silence, leaving everyone to guess at an answer. Days passed on their travels, and soon they reached Midern. They had a short stay with King Verault, who graciously gave them more supplies. Finally they arrived at the ruins where they would meet Mewtwo.

They approached the slab, but as soon as the display started, Kita stepped forward. “Mewtwo, cut this sappy show. We’re in a hurry!”

Mewtwo did not oblige, and so they were forced to watch the entire story of the heroes again. Everyone but Kita and Chiro watched with interest, and they both talked quietly.

“My favorite hero was Absol,” Kita whispered. “I would have liked to know him.”

“That’s because you’re just like him,” Chiro whispered before breaking into his squeaky laughter.

Kita made a fake swipe at Chiro, and he rolled backwards to avoid. Soon the show ended, and Mewtwo appeared at the top of the slab.

“Why didn’t you end it like I asked?” Kita said. “We need your help and this is very important.”

Mewtwo adjusted into a more daunting position. “I can’t just end the show when someone in the audience hasn’t seen it. That’s just not my style. Now, off to my island.”

Mewtwo focused and they all warped the island. Mew was waiting there for them and floated closer as they appeared. “Oh, how nice to see you again. I can see most of you have grown, but where are Forde and Elomir?”

“Elomir’s in the desert, watching over his egg with his mate,” Leon explained quickly.

Mewtwo landed on the ground, looking over the group. “I can sense Forde is somehow lost. Something to do with Arceus? You all have been busy.”

Mew gave Mewtwo a reproachful look. “Don’t read their thoughts like that. Let them explain.”

After explanations, even Mewtwo and Mew seemed thoughtful. Mew was the first to speak. “We’ll have to do something, of course. We can’t let the world be ruined. How about we talk with the other legendaries while you wait here?”

“How long will you be?” Corvon asked.

“Only a day or two,” Mewtwo said. “I’m sure most will cooperate. Forde never should have told us to come back here if he was going to get into such trouble.”

Kita suddenly grew fierce. “I’m sure he didn’t know! He’s too good to be stopped by anything expected!”

Mewtwo smiled as he replied. “Anger will solve nothing. We’ll do what we can. See you in a few days.”

Mewtwo and Mew vanished, leaving everyone to wait while their nervous emotions built. The serene island with its plentiful food calmed them a little, but everyone was still relieved when the two returned.

“We’ve seen what’s going on now,” Mewtwo said. “The others have many opinions.”

“We persuaded them to contain the toxins as much as possible,” Mew explained. “Rayquaza, Lugia, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres were most helpful in this matter.”

Mewtwo now made a floating tablet appear in the air. “We also have a new mission for the rest of you.” A map appeared on the tablet. “You are to go here and speak with Ho-Oh. She thinks this may have something to do with some recent disruptions in the spirit world that she is the keeper of, so she wanted a group to go investigate. Good thing all of you can provide such a group. I told her you’d all be willing to go.”

Draconis’s flame burned larger. “You didn’t even ask us!”

“There was no need to. Me and Mew will be helping to contain the poison, so all of you are naturally the best choice. Of course I can see that you don’t care if the humans live, but don’t you want an adventure with your friends? As a bonus, you may even see a few old ancestors or dead friends in the spirit world.”

Draconis was taken aback by Mewtwo’s reply. “Huh?”

Mew now stepped in to explain. “Ho-Oh controls the gateway to the spirit realm, and that’s where she wants to send you. Spirits can easily be spoken with once you are in their realm, so seeing such things will be normal.”

“It seems another fascinating opportunity,” Hurdy said. “I hope there isn’t much danger involved.”

“No of course not,” Mewtwo said, reassuringly. “The gateway at Mt. Faraway distorts things so that we can only take you to the beach of the island, so there will only be the fire fields, the thunder fields, and the ice fields to cross.”

Kita looked doubtful. “So we’ll have to get past the extremely territorial Entei, Raikou, and Suicune? That’s not exactly safe.”

Mewtwo folded his arms. “I never had any trouble with those puppy dogs, so it’s perfectly safe.”

“Dear, that’s not a good way to judge things,” Mew said. “How about we give them some things to help.” Mew glowed with energy and two large bags of seeds appeared. “The first is full of quick seeds. They will make you faster. The second is full of invisibility seeds to make so they can’t see you, although they can probably still smell you. Leon, Corvon, I’m sorry, but the seeds won’t work for you.”

“So it will still be a battle,” Leon said.

Corvon picked up the two bags. “At least we have some major advantages now, but how are we going to get back?”

“Ho-Oh is nice,” Mew said. “She’ll bring you back after your job is done. Now it’s time to go.”

Mewtwo and Mew both glowed with energy and they all found themselves on a sandy beach. To the North were the fire fields, where glowing cracks in the ground spouted forth numerous flames. Beyond that a scarred and hilly grassland was struck by lightning bolts every few minutes. Even further it looked like snow was falling. Behind all this a large mountain stood. At the top was their destination.

Lucario took a few of the seeds from Corvon. “Let’s get this mission started.”

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 22: Gateway to Eternity​

They trekked into the rocky wasteland known as fiery field, carefully avoiding the burning cracks in the ground. Smoke and the smell of sulfur made breathing difficult at times, but any wild pokemon were scared away by their large group.

A large crevasse blocked the way, and the only path guarded by Entei. The large dog stood, brown and white fur billowing in the wind. It seemed as if it was waiting. They approached with caution, and soon it’s deep booming voice broke upon them.

“Why are you here?”

“I’ll handle this,” Kita said quietly as she stepped forwards. “Hello, Entei. It’s been a while, hasn’t it?”

“Ah, it’s you. Where’s that human you travel with?”

“Something happened to him, so it’s up to us to carry on his mission. Will you let us by without a battle?” Kita tried to look fierce as she made this request.

Entei gazed at her for a moment, and then looked at the others. “That still doesn’t say why you are here.”

“Ho-Oh needed someone to investigate something in the spirit world, and so Mewtwo volunteered us to go.”

Entei stepped to the side of the path. “If both Ho-Oh and Mewtwo want you to go through here then I’m not stopping you. Watch out for Raikou and good luck.”

They all stepped past Entei. Most of them gave a word of thanks as they walked past, but Draconis just stared at Entei without saying anything. After a short distance they arrived in thunder fields.

“I can’t believe we didn’t have to fight,” Draconis said.

“Isn’t that wonderful?” Annox asked.

Draconis’s tail twitched nervously. “I’m not sure-”

A bolt of lightning hit a nearby hill, silencing them. Draconis wasn’t inclined to continue speaking as the group moved forwards. They kept in the low areas, seeing as how the hills were barren and blasted with the many strikes of lightning. No rain fell and a tense atmosphere filled the air. A sudden bolt hit the side of the hill right behind them.

Hurdy suddenly cried out in pain. Raikou, stormy mane billowing, was holding him up by biting the fin on his head. Raikou shook him around before tossing him to the side. The others all ate the seeds, turning invisible and gaining speed.

Such an unexpected tactic caught Raikou off-guard, and the dog paused for a moment until the first blows began to hit him. He unleashed a wave of electricity, stunning everyone but Chiro and Lucario. Chiro hit Raikou with a super fang and Lucario followed with aura sphere.

These attacks, combined with earlier blows, seemed to take their toll on Raikou. The dog backed up a few steps, glaring at them before it vanished in a flash of lightning. Suddenly it charged, surprising them with its speed. It tackled Lucario while placing a paw to hold Pachirisu down.

Lucario was using all his strength to keep its jaws from his throat. He was just as helpless as Chiro. If he let go, it would be over for him. Raikou saw that it wasn’t getting anywhere with Lucario, and started pressing harder on Chiro instead. Chiro let out a distressed squeak as it became hard to breathe. Lucario spun, kicking Raikou in the neck while keeping hold on its jaws. It shot another blast of electricity, and Lucario was stunned for a moment.

The brief moment was enough for Raikou to nearly tear out Lucario’s throat. He barely raised his arm in time, so only the tips of Raikou’s teeth grazed his neck. His hand was already bleeding heavily from the powerful bite, but his other one was from. Lucario hit Raikou in the side of the head with a force palm and kicked the leg that was holding Chiro down. Chiro sprang up, biting deeply into Raikou’s neck with his large teeth. The dog coughed and fell to the ground in a submissive pose.

“Grr, I give up. You may pass,“ Raikou said.

Chiro released his bite. Another lightning bolt hit nearby and Raikou vanished, leaving everyone in silence. Hurdy was moaning in pain. Lucario held up his hand and a few droplets of blood fell from it.

“That looks bad,” Corvon said as the paralysis wore off. “Let me get the healing supplies.” Corvon got out some berries and bandages. He first treated Lucario, squeezing the juices of a few berries into the wound before wrapping it. Next, Corvon gave Hurdy an oran berry as he wrapped a few bandages around the bite. After a moment he was done. “Does that feel better?” Corvon asked.

“It’s bothersome, but I’ll live,” Lucario said.

Hurdy rubbed his fin. “It stings a bit less, but it still hurts a ton. My fins are very sensitive.”

Peoria came over to take a look. “Raikou was vicious. Good thing we drove it off.”

Annox was at Peoria’s side, as always. “These seeds really helped. I’ve never felt so fast!” Annox ran a short ways away and returned, showing how much the seed had increased his movement.

“Let’s go. We shouldn’t waste time,” Lucario said.

The thunder faded into the background as they entered a snowy area at the foot of the mountain. A cold wind accompanied the falling snow, chilling everyone.

Chiro hopped through the snow since it was too deep for him to walk. His teeth began to chatter in the chill. “Brr, it’s cold. Where’s Forde’s warm pocket when I need it?”

Annox and Peoria were both shivering uncontrollably. They followed as closely behind Draconis as possible, staying near his fiery tail. After trudging through the snow for about an hour, a lone figure could be seen atop a distant hill. It watched them as they moved forwards, until finally it blocked their path.

Suicune stood, cold and unmoving. It gazed contemptuously at them all, but at Chiro in particular. “Intruding again upon my land?” Suicune said, addressing Chiro and Kita.

Kita took a few steps forward. “We have an important mission and you won’t stop us.”

“Then go quickly. I don’t want to mess with you today. That Pachirisu fights dirty.” Suicune bounded away into the falling snow, leaving the way open.

They kept walking, but Draconis kept looking at Chiro before approaching him. “So, someone as small as you has Suicune worried? Can you really fight that well?”

“Yeah, Suicune’s pretty good but I’m really fast. Why don’t you try to hit me?”

“Are you sure? You might get hurt. My claws are sharp.”

Chiro readied himself a few feet away. “I’m fine. Just try your best slash on me.”

Draconis ran forward, trying to hit Chiro. The squirrel flipped into the air right before the attack hit and landed on the top of Draconis’s head. “See? Agility can really help a small guy like me. It would even help a larger pokemon like you. Hey, would you mind carrying me up here?”

Draconis shook Chiro off his head. “No! You can’t ride on my head.”

Leon, who had been rather silent the entire time, lowered his hand towards the ground. “You can ride on my shoulders. I’m sure you probably miss Forde carrying you around.”

“Thank you so much!” Chiro scurried up Leon’s arm and began burrowing in the folds of the cloak around Leon’s neck.

Leon laughed loudly as Chiro got comfortable. “Your fur tickles. Are you ready?”

“Yeah, this is much better.” Chiro said before yawning. Chiro curled up tightly and was asleep after a few more minutes.

The snow and clouds began to thin, leaving them at the base of a massive granite mountain. Mt. Faraway, long a mysterious and far-off mountain, was before them. Erratic winds blew on its slope, carrying either warmth or cold, depending on which of the three fields they originated from. A rough trail wound up the mountain and they climbed to a nice ledge to camp on.

Peoria and Annox huddled close to the small fire and each other for warmth. Annox sneezed messily.

“Bless you!” Peoria said.

“Thanks. I hope going through all that snow didn’t give me a cold.”

Peoria leaned more on Annox. “I’m filling really tired after all that cold, too. As soon as dinner is done, I’m going to sleep.”

“Yeah, I agree.”

Corvon pulled out an old blanket from his pack. “Do you want this? I’m sure it will help you stay warmer.”

“Yes, please.” Peoria said. Corvon spread the blanket over her and Annox. Dinner was ready shortly, and as said, Peoria and Annox were immediately asleep afterwards.

Leon helped himself to another helping of the stew. “This is pretty good. Corvon, you and Lucario are great cooks.”

“Years in the wilderness helped teach us that,” Corvon said. “Lucario is fine with raw meat, but I need mine cooked. At first we weren’t much good, but we’ve learned to work together to make great things.”

Lucario gazed into the fire. “At first I thought cooking made the food worse, but once we got good enough, I enjoyed it more than raw meat. I still do enjoy a freshly killed Bidoof from time to time, though.”

“Uh, well… that’s nice,” Leon said, not wanting to imagine Lucario killing and eating other pokemon. Leon finished his second bowl of stew and was asleep before long.

Draconis and Hurdy finished their food and sat near the fire. Draconis grabbed a few more sticks and lit them on fire for fun before tossing them in the actual fire. “Only one short battle today, and I was expecting three difficult ones.”

Hurdy rubbed the bandages on his fin. “Fighting three legendaries would have slowed us down quite a bit. Someone might have been seriously injured. Battle was better to avoid today.”

Draconis poked at the fire with his claws. “I know, but I’m trying to get stronger. One short battle isn’t enough!”

“There may be battles ahead, so calm down, Draconis. Who knows what we’ll find in the spirit world?”

“At the very least we know we’ll get to see the spirits. I’m sure my ancestors will have some good advice on fighting.”

“I’d much rather have their advice on life. Why don’t we get some rest, so we’re ready for meeting them tomorrow?”

Draconis curled right next to the fire, so that his tail was directly in it. “Sure.” He shut his eyes, and Hurdy soon followed.

Now only Lucario, Kita, and Corvon were awake. Corvon was polishing his sword and cleaning up after the meal, but approached Lucario. “Lucario, I think Kita needs someone to talk to her. She hasn’t been eating much and she’s just been off alone. Why don’t you go try to cheer her up.”

Lucario slowly got to his feet, reluctant to leave the warm fire. “I’m not sure how much good I’ll do, but I’ll try.”

Kita was off by herself near the edge. She seemed to be staring out into the distance. Her half-eaten bowl of stew had gone cold. Lucario picked it up as he sat down beside her, dangling his feet over the edge.

“So you aren’t hungry? You haven’t eaten much since we’ve been traveling with you.” Kita did look more bony than a few months ago and her skin seemed to be more tightly stretched.

“Oh, I haven’t felt much like eating… it just isn’t the same without Forde.”

“Taking grief too far isn’t what he would want. You need to remain strong so you can finish his last mission he gave you.”

“Yes, but what will I do after that? He’s been the one that’s led me through my whole life. I volunteered to be one of his companions because I didn’t know what to do with myself, back when I was an Eevee.”

“I know I’d feel pretty lost without Corvon, but I’m sure I’d go back to my old ways. I guess you never really had much before Forde, though. Perhaps you could raise a family?”

“Hmm… do you promise to keep what we’ve been talking about a secret?”

Lucario raised an arm across his chest. “I won’t tell anyone, you have my word of honor.”

“Ah, okay, I suppose I’ll tell you this.” Kita paused for a long time. “I won’t deny I haven’t desired to start a family. It’s in my very instincts. I’ve held them off out of duty for Forde, but once this mission is done, I suppose I could follow your suggestion. I secretly did like Glint, but kept him at a distance out of duty.”

“I’m sure he would be happy to see you. Now why don’t you warm up the rest of your food and finish it?”

“Okay, thanks for talking with me, Lucario. You’re quite a good listener. You know, maybe I’d like you as my mate instead of Glint.”

Lucario’s face turned a deep red and he quickly took Kita’s bowl to warm it up over the fire. That talk certainly ended unexpectedly, and when Kita returned to the fire the two stared at each other before Lucario handed over the bowl of reheated stew. Kita ate the stew quickly before curling up right next to Lucario. Lucario edged away. Corvon was asleep by now, so Lucario threw a little more wood into the fire as he thought. Perhaps knowing Kita better wouldn’t be such a bad thing. She was strong and powerful. Lucario didn’t know if she had much of a soft side, but she seemed to have shown a little of it tonight. Lucario walked back near her and laid down to sleep.

The next day was filled with climbing Mt. Faraway. Corvon led the group, while Leon brought up the rear. A few times they had to climb over slippery piles where rockslides had been through. Annox and Peoria helped each other and got over quickly. Everyone else struggled by themselves, slipping and sliding a bit as they made their way across. Kita accidentally dislodged a key rock, and all the rocks around her started to slide. She jumped, but not far enough. Instead of falling into the tumbling rocks, a strong hand caught hold of her.

“You should be careful.” Lucario set her back on stable ground. “But I’ve got your back.”

“Thanks.”

Everyone crossed the area of broken rocks safely and they continued up the trail. Lucario and Kita walked much closer together now, each glancing at the other from time to time. As the sun was setting, the group finally reached a flat area near the top of the mountain. A sheer stone wall with strange markings led up to a massive nest where Ho-Oh was sitting. Ho-Oh glided down from her perch, and stood tall and powerful as she landed. Her rainbow feathers shimmered in the setting sun.

“So, Mewtwo’s group arrives,” Ho-Oh said. “I have much to explain, so have these fruits for your dinner as I talk.”

Ho-Oh indicated a pile of strange fruit, probably gathered by her from some of the trees and bushes of the mountain. They each grabbed a few and settled down to hear Ho-Oh.

Ho-Oh spread her wings wide. “Listen as I explain the task that is before you! You are going into a place much different than our own, so every detail I say will help you from being lost. I hope you are prepared to enter the spirit world.”

“I’m ready,” Draconis said quietly.

“Hmph, you may think that now, but you do not know the slightest thing about where I’m sending you. In the realm of spirits, your pasts and emotions play very strongly into what you find. If you slip too deeply into dark thoughts, then you will surely meet dark spirits. Any spirits connected to you will be free to find you as you journey through the spirit world. Be prepared, for I will be sending you there at tomorrow’s dawn.”

Hurdy raised his hand out of old habit. “I have a question. The spirits won’t be able to do any harm to us, right?”

“The spirits can’t do physical harm, but seeing the dead again can sometimes be painful on the heart. With a strong heart, you will have nothing to worry about. Now if there are no other questions, I will retire to my nest for meditation. Opening the gate requires being in tune with the energies of the spirits.”

“No, we have no other questions,” Leon said after a moment of waiting.

Ho-Oh returned to her nest, and everyone finished the remainder of the fruit Ho-Oh had gathered for them. The view from the mountaintop was spectacular, so they all took their time walking about. The entire island was stretched out below and off in the distance was Deltan. Corvon and Lucario eventually got away from the others enough to talk quietly and not be overheard.

“Did speaking with Kita go well last night?” Corvon said. “The both of you seem much closer today. I’ve seen the way you’ve been looking at each other.”

“It went well, but there was nothing you need to know,” Lucario said quickly.

“I understand if Kita wants you to keep her feelings secret. She wouldn’t want them known to everyone. It’s nothing I mean to pry in, so I won’t mention it again.”

“Yes, that would be for the best.”

Soon it grew too dark to see much, but the view of the stars from the peak was amazing. They all looked at the bands and swirls of twinkling stars for a while as they drifted off. Lucario was laying next to Corvon and was about to drift off when he was awakened by Kita laying next to him. He opened one eye a moment, and looked at her before shutting it and going to sleep.

Ho-Oh awakened them as she sang a strange song. She completed it and turned to them. “I hope you all slept well last night. Now, it is time for me to open the gateway to the spirit world. Stand clear!”

Ho-Oh began to chant and dance about. The markings of the cliff began to glow. Ho-Oh continued her shrill cries and after a few more minutes of chanting, shot her sacred fire straight at the stone wall with the markings. The wall seemed to melt away in a great circle. Now the gate led to somewhere else. Mist shrouded the entrance and the edges of the gate glowed with a ghostly light.

“Go now and return safely,” Ho-Oh said.

They each took a deep breath before stepping into the gateway to the realm of spirits.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 23: Lost Inside the Soul​

They entered the realm of spirits. The ground was flat and grey, at least until it faded away into the fog that surrounded them. There was no sun or moon, yet a dim light shone over everything. They continued on until they grew weary. They stopped and slept for a few hours, but were awakened when Draconis began yelling.

“Stay away from me!” Draconis slashed at the air, but the others saw nothing. “I’ll show you!” Draconis then ran off into the fog.

“Wait, Draconis! Come back,“ Hurdy said as he ran after the fading glow of Draconis’s tail.

Corvon kept the others together, calling out to the two. After a few minutes of getting no reply, he led them in the direction the two disappeared.

“Hey, what’s that?” Chiro said before dashing off into the fog. Kita ran after to try and stop him, but then was lost in the fog, too.

“Gather around and watch each other!” Corvon said. The remaining four stayed close, but suddenly they each began to see something in the fog. They called out the names of the others, but received no response. Instead, the images grew clearer for each of them.

“It looks like some grass pokemon are out there in the fog, waiting for me,” Annox said.

Peoria was also looking closely. “Hmm, that’s also what I see. Do you think we should go to them?”

Lucario suddenly stepped closer to them. “No, stay here. If the spirits want to talk to us, they’ll have to do it while we’re together. Besides, I don’t even see the same thing. I see another Lucario, beckoning me to join him. Perhaps this is all just a trick.”

“It’s a good trick, then,” Leon said. “I see something else. It looks like my mother.”

Corvon squinted and tried to make out the shape he saw. “Hmm, all I see is a lone swordsman with a strange blade.”

They stood and waited for a while, but got nowhere. Each felt the compulsion to walk off into the fog alone. Corvon and Lucario held the group together, but their will began to crumble. “This isn’t getting us anywhere,” Corvon said. “I suppose we’ll have to face the spirits on their terms.” Corvon walked forwards and vanished. Everyone else soon followed.

* * *

In the fog, Draconis kept seeing the figures of pokemon. They all looked familiar, then he recognized them as those he had killed. They all seemed to be whispering different things. “Killer… Murderer… Demon…” Their whispers angered Draconis, who swiped at them with his claws. The forms vanished and reappeared further away. He tried a few more times, wearing himself out. The forms slowly drew closer and Draconis resisted them until he had no more strength. He collapsed and each figure walked by, brushing through Draconis.

As each spirit went through him, Draconis felt the pain he had caused them. In his mind he felt the burns and slashes he had dealt to so many. He screamed in agony and collapsed on the ground, just wanting it to end.

* * *

For the others, the fog held no malice. Peoria and Annox found that as soon as they had walked away from the group, the figures began to solidify. The spirits of many kinds of grass pokemon surrounded them, but Meganium and Torterra were particularly common. A massive Torterra stepped forward. “Ah, it is good to see some of our living descendants come visit. What brings you here to the spirit realm?”

“Ho-Oh needed someone to check something out for her,” Peoria said.

A Meganium stepped out of the crowd. “Ah, we are well aware of that problem. If you mean to face it, you will need to learn all the grass techniques that we know. Even that may not be enough. What lies ahead is a mysterious and unknown danger.”

“We’d be glad to learn from you, honored ancestors, but will you tell us what happened to our friends?” Annox said.

The Torterra now spoke. “They each should be having experiences similar to your own here. Spirits are free to speak with the living here. They will be fine, and you should focus on what we will teach you.”

The Torterra and other spirits around each took turns explaining many grass techniques. Annox and Peoria both practiced as they were taught. It seemed like weeks passed, yet sleep seemed to be the only necessity here, as neither Annox or Peoria grew hungry or thirsty


Chiro was also having a similar experience. His ancestors spoke to him, saying a little about a mysterious danger ahead. Instead of strict training, the spirits that came to Chiro had some ingenious games that helped improve his abilities a little over the weeks he spent with them.


When Espeon wandered off, she thought she had seen Forde in the mist. It seemed his outline was always just ahead of her in the fog, and she chased after it for days. Slowly she became aware of a mischievous laughter that sometimes came from the outline as it vanished. With this, she finally realized that some spirits had just been playing tricks on her. It was when she came to this realization that large rock appeared with an Absol on it.

The Absol smiled. “I see you’re dealing with losing Forde well.”

“What? How do you know that?” Kita said, glaring at the Absol.

“Oh, we spirits are completely ignorant to what happens to our descendants. It’s not like they aren’t involved in a struggle to save the world.” This Absol just oozed sarcasm as he said these words.

Kita thought a moment. “You must be the Absol that was one of the heroes… and I’m your descendant? Interesting…”

“Ah, yes, you have both beauty and brilliance. I can see why Glint and Lucario like you so much. You’ve grown strong, but against an unknown force, strength may not be enough. I have a few things to teach you before I send you on your way. Oh, another great thing about this place is that only your spirit matters, so your body will not need food or water.”

Kita stood attentively before the rock. “I see there are no secrets here, so I’ll listen to whatever you say.”


Hurdy quivered in excitement when he saw the spirit that stood before him. “You’re… no it can’t be… are you… Ben?“

“I am,“ the Swampert said. “It’s good to be able to meet my descendant. Now I’m sure you have plenty to ask, so what do you want to know?“

“Well, umm, I’d like to hear your story. Even if it is legend now, I want to hear it from you.”

“Let’s see… okay, I shall tell you. Feel free to ask any questions. It began when…” Ben continued to tell his story for a few hours, answering many of Hurdy’s questions along the way. After the story was over, Ben allowed Hurdy to rest.

Hurdy awakened a bit later. Ben was looking off into the distance before turning to face him. “Now it is time for you to listen to me. Ahead of you lies something we spirits can’t get near, so we have no information on it. It appeared rather recently, too. Though we may not know what it is, I’m going to train you and teach you as much as I can. If you just give this your best effort, everything should work out.”

“Okay, I’ll listen to every word you say,” Hurdy said. “If I had paper I’d take notes. Before we begin, I think I‘d like to ask a few more things.”

“Well, what do you want to know?”

“Do you think you could teach me how to change from pokemon to human like you could?”

“No, I don’t think I can. I was a special case, a person between two worlds. None of my descendants have ever had that power. Besides, there’s a lot more to being a human than just looking like one. You’d stand out immediately.”

Hurdy seemed a bit sad. “Well, I just thought it would be fun if I could be one for a while. Their world is so different than ours.”

“True, but you should be happy with what you are. You’re a strong and smart Marshtomp, so I’m going to train you how to be better with what you have now. Are you ready?”

“Yeah! Let’s get started!”

“I’m glad you’re excited. To be honest I never really trained much. Most my strength came from the tasks I had to do. Now let’s begin.”

* * *

Another day passed, and Draconis sat alone, waiting for his torment to begin anew. He was beginning to know each spirit. Many of them had been like him when he had killed them, merely caught up in a war they didn’t understand. The first spirit of the day, a Pikachu, appeared and walked through him, making Draconis relive its last memories.

Draconis shuddered, since he had already seen the scene several times. The Pikachu was commanded to charge the breach, and it slowly climbed the rocks, hesitant to battle. Suddenly a cold claw touched its neck. It was then tossed away, unable to breathe and sputtering in unthinkable pain. Everything went black and the memory ended.

Looking around, Draconis saw some other spirits approaching. Would it be better just to end this? To turn back and leave his friends? He wasn’t getting anywhere here. Another spirit passed by Draconis, bringing a fresh dose of pain and remorse to him. He awakened from the memory, and gathered his energy again.

“I won’t let my friends down, and none of you will stop me!” Draconis shouted as he blasted fire at the nearest spirit. Draconis continued running, trying to get away from the spirits again. As he ran, it grew warmer and the spirits stopped coming. Draconis paused for a second and noticed the ground now radiated with a calming warmth. A voice called out to him from the fog ahead.

“Draconis.” It seemed almost like his father’s voice, yet not quite the same. Draconis walked forwards towards it. A large Charizard stood waiting. “Ah, at last you’ve made it. So young, yet you’ve killed so many. You’ve already felt the pain from them, so its time I teach you what fighting is really about.”


Meanwhile, Leon met and spoke with his mother. She knew what had gone on in his life, and it gave Leon great comfort knowing that she still watched over him. After a few days, she led him to a gateway and said that beyond it he would meet his companions and find the disturbance. Leon bid farewell and walked through the portal.

As he did, he found himself in a place that resembled a home, but with no windows. The only ways in or out were the portal he had come through and an ominous black door. Corvon, Lucario, and Kita were already waiting comfortably on a couch. The two pokemon were cuddled together, asleep.

Corvon seemed in a good mood. “Well, that didn’t take long, just as my ancestor said. Did you have a good time with the spirits that came to you?”

“It was my mother,” Leon said. “It was nice to get to speak to her again. At least I know now how much she watches over me.”

“It seems your spirit has a more direct connection to you than mine did to me. I met with Eridel, the ancient hero. We’re related in some way, although it’s been many generations. He had some advice for me and trained me a little in sword technique before releasing me to wait here. He said the others would be along shortly, no matter how much time had seemed to pass for them.”

“It seemed a few days to me,” Leon said. “The strange thing is that we don’t have to eat here.”

“Yeah, that makes it easy to lose track of time, doesn’t it? A few days went by for me like nothing. Someone else seems to be coming.”

The portal flickered and Chiro came through. Chiro told them all about his wild games, waking Espeon and Lucario as he talked. After listening to Chiro a few moments, everyone was beginning to grow tired, and Lucario decided to tell his story, providing the perfect change of subject.

Lucario began. “I met the old Lucario talked about in the legends. He analyzed my fighting technique, revealing a few of my weak points. I worked most of them out by the end, and he sent me here.”

Lucario stopped explaining as Annox and Peoria stepped through the portal. They looked much stronger than the last time the others had seen them. Peoria was the one to offer the explanation first. “Nice to see you all again. After nearly a month of training, me and Annox have gotten a lot better.”

The others all had confused looks, so Annox tried to fill in the silence. “Didn’t the spirits you meet train you for a few weeks?”

“It seems each of us had our own unique encounters,” Leon said. “For some of us it seemed only a few days. Why don’t we share stories while we wait for Hurdy and Draconis?”

Annox and Peoria agreed, but before anyone could begin talking, Hurdy came into the room. “Good to see you all,” Hurdy said. “It’s been a while. My time was well spent, though. I understand so much more after talking with Ben.”

Lucario seemed impressed. “So, you also met an ancient hero? They seem to have taken a particular interest in our endeavors, haven’t they?”

Kita, who had been silent, finally spoke. “I met Absol.”

“Hmm, that’s an interesting hero. It wouldn’t be easy to guess that you’re descended from him,” Hurdy said. “I suppose the lines crossed somewhere with some Umbreons and then…”

Espeon gave Hurdy a look that quieted him. “Well, he didn’t explain the specifics. What worries me is the mysterious force he mentioned.”

“Hmm, I was also wondering that,” Hurdy said.

They all shared information, but it seemed that no one knew any more than the others. A mysterious force that the normal spirits couldn’t approach was ahead, and each had been warned not to continue through the black door without the entire group.

“Draconis sure is taking a long time,” Hurdy said. A short time later, a Charizard walked through the portal and smiled.

“At last, I’ve made it,” Draconis said. “If I had known how terrible this place is, I would have not come.” Draconis told them of the torment he faced until he finally found the spirit of his ancestor. “With his training, I evolved. It wasn’t just getting stronger, though. I had to learn to fight with pride and honor.”

“After our training, I think the rest of us aren’t too far away from evolving, either,” Peoria said.

“Regardless of our strength, we’ll have to face whatever lies ahead with what we now have,” Leon said.

Corvon stood up. “We can expect no help in facing whatever lies behind that black door. We shall rest and hope for the best when we set out tomorrow.”

The others agreed and shared more of their stories over the day of rest and waiting. Now and then, someone would walk by the black door, but then would back away. The area near the black door seemed to unnerve anyone that stood near it for any amount of time.

The next day Corvon and Lucario stood at the front of the group. Corvon turned to address everyone. “Now we face what is behind this. Losing is not an option.” Corvon reached out and slowly turned the handle to open the door.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 24: All That Lives Shall Succumb​

Beyond the black door lay only a path of black stone. It floated in the air, leading forwards. All else around them seemed an infinite and endless blue sky. Chiro went and looked over the edge. “Whoa! There isn’t anything holding this up. We‘re floating!”

“It looks like the only path is forwards,” Corvon said, leading the way.

They continued walking for hours and the path slowly widened until they could no longer see the edges. They soon noticed something up ahead. As they got closer, they could make out the figure of Arceus, fallen and engulfed in a ball of some strange ooze. As they got closer, neither Arceus nor the gel stirred. Whatever it was that covered Arceus, it looked about the color and consistency of syrup.

“So this is the spirit of Arceus,” Kita said. “This slime must be what’s causing it to act strangely in the real world. We’d better try and get it off.”

Kita used her psychic energy, blasting away a chunk of the slime. As soon as the slime was separated from the rest, it faded away into nothing. The attack did not go unnoticed, however. The ooze started shifting, forming into a strange web between them and Arceus.

“What’s that?” Draconis pointed to the center, where a large eye opened in the middle of the web.

“It’s an eye?” Hurdy said as the eye began to move, noticing each of them. “It sees us!”

Lucario suddenly pushed Corvon aside as a strand of the slime lashed out at his friend. Corvon was knocked down and out of the way, but Lucario was engulfed by the gelatinous tentacle. Corvon watched as Lucario struggled a moment and then went limp.

Corvon swung his sword. “No, Lucario!” The blow sliced through, and the gel that held Lucario vanished. Corvon caught his friend. He was still alive, but just sat, unresponsive. Corvon dragged him away from the battle. “Lucario! What happened?” Corvon shook his friend, trying to awaken him. “Answer me, Lucario!”

The others were busy fighting their own parts of the thing. When their attacks hit it, parts would vanish, but it regenerated as quickly as they were destroying it. Chiro and Kita stood, destroying strand after strand.

“I’m going in,” Chiro said. “Super Fang!”

“No! Don’t touch it!” Kita shouted, but too late.

Chiro jumped forwards, hitting the gel with his teeth. A small portion vanished, but another caught Chiro before he landed. Once surrounded by the gel, Chiro had enough time to send out a wave of electricity before going limp. His final attack freed him from the slime, so Kita rushed over and picked him up in her mouth. Kita looked around. The others were barely holding it off, and Corvon sat a little ways off, still trying to get Lucario to wake up.

Kita ran next to Corvon. “Lucario!” She paused a moment, but then dropped the unconscious squirrel. “Watch over Chiro. That thing got him. I‘ve got to get the others out of there.”

Corvon looked at Kita. “This thing is far beyond our abilities. I don‘t know what it did to Lucario, but make sure the others don‘t touch it.”

Kita ran off to the others. Draconis flew in the sky, blasting it with flame and staying far enough away that he seemed to be out of range. Leon also kept his distance, aiming for the eye with his bow. His shots always seemed to get blocked by strands that moved to cover the core. The other three stood together, fending off attacks from nearly every direction. A strand slowly slid behind them and escaped their notice. It suddenly lashed out, but Kita blasted it away at the last moment. “Get out of there!” Kita yelled.

They began to back up as they fended off the lashings of the strands. Peoria tried a vine whip, but as soon as the attack hit the creature, it sent its own strands down the vines, and Peoria was suddenly surrounded by the ooze.

Annox yelled in rage, suddenly bursting with a white light. He was no longer a Grotle, but had become a Torterra. He unleashed a maelstrom of razor leaves, cutting away the ooze from Peoria. This did not stop whatever effect the ooze had from taking hold. Peoria slumped over.

Draconis dived from the sky to pick up the unconscious Bayleef. “Annox, I’ve got her. You and Hurdy get out of there.”

Draconis flew off to where Corvon waited. The others slowly fought their way out of the range of the creature, which was unable to follow them. The creature resumed its vigil over the captured spirit of Arceus, but its eye continued to watch them.

“They aren’t dead, are they?” Annox asked.

Corvon checked the three more carefully. “No, they are alive. Alive… but not waking up.”

“How are we ever going to beat this thing?” Leon asked. “It grows back just as fast as we injure it. Maybe the eye is a weak point, but it blocked every shot I took before it could hit the center.”

Kita licked Lucario‘s face, try to awaken him as her tears dropped on his face. “Why? Why did this have to happen now? Now you won‘t be around to help me with…”

“Unless this thing took Arceus by surprise, then not even the strength of a god was enough to fight it,” Draconis said. “We need something, I don’t know what, but something else if we ever hope to fight this.”

Hurdy turned from looking at their distant foe. “Our only other option would be to consult the other legendaries again.”

“We have no other options,” Corvon said, looking down at Lucario. “Maybe they’ll be able to awaken our friends. Let’s get out of here.”

The group now departed the strange land in the depths of the spirit realm. Annox carried Peoria on his shell, Draconis carried Lucario over his shoulder, and Leon carried Chiro. They went back through the door and the portal, but this time their trip through the misty area only took a few minutes. Soon they were back at the entrance.

They stepped back into the physical world. Ho-Oh had been up in her nest, but immediately noticed them and flew down. She looked over their defeated expressions and fallen comrades. “What happened?”

“That disturbance you sensed,” Kita said, “It was… terrible. Some beast made up of a dark slime. It has captured Arceus’s spirit, and when we tried to fight it, any hit by it ended up like them.”

Ho-Oh now looked closer at the fallen. “Impossible! Their very souls have been damaged. It must be a terrible abomination if it can do that. Forgive me for sending you.”

“Can we do anything for them?” Annox asked.

“Perhaps with several of the legendaries, we could. We have a meeting planned right now, for when your group returned.”

“Let’s go then,” Corvon said.

Ho-Oh and Draconis took a few trips carrying everyone down to the shore and once they were all there, Mewtwo and Mew appeared. They both looked exhausted, yet they teleported everyone with ease back to their island.

“Okay, now everyone’s here,” Mewtwo said as he floated over to his spot in the circle of legendaries that was gathered and then slumped to the ground.

“Your spots are here,” Mew said before she also took her spot.

Most the other legendaries looked worn down, like Mewtwo and Mew. Uxie, Mesprit, Azelf, Lugia, Rayquaza, Zapdos, Articuno, and Moltres all were there. Ho-Oh stood up, beginning the meeting. “During the two weeks that they were gone in the spirit realm, we made the crystals to protect the human cities. It took much of your energy, but I ask again for your help. In the battle against the creature they found in the spirit realm, Lucario, Chiro, and Peoria have had their souls damaged. I think we have enough power to restore one of them. We’ll leave it to them to decide.”

“I believe Lucario will be the most helpful,” Kita said. “ I… no wait, we need him back.”

Annox suddenly shouted. “I want Peoria back!”

“We must not let feelings decide,” Hurdy said. “Peoria is the weakest of the three. Between Lucario and Chiro, it’s difficult to tell, but I also vote Lucario.”

The others agreed and so Lucario was brought to the center of the group. Each legendary concentrated and an immense power filled the air. A light shown from within Lucario, and he awakened.

Lucario got up, and both Kita and Corvon stepped forwards and embraced him. “Lucario, I thought I might have lost you for a second,” Corvon said. “If we hadn’t been able to bring you back…”

“If we hadn’t been able to… then I would have been alone while…” Kita said as Lucario scooped her up in his arms in a warm hug.

“No, you don’t need to dwell on that,” Lucario said. “I’m back for you Kita. We need to focus on what we do next.” Lucario set Kita back down and sat down next to her.

Mewtwo spoke. “So what did you find out in the spirit realm? The poisonous fog spreads further every day, despite our best efforts. Alagarde, Zapdos’s village, and Rinn would be gone if we did not make the crystals to protect the villages. Is there anything you learned to help stop this?”

They each told of their experiences in the spirit realm, ending with their hopeless fight against the strange entity. The legendaries each listened carefully. They had no response to the terrible revelation.

Mewtwo sighed. “So now we have to defeat something that has captured the soul of Arceus? We need more power. Having Forde back would be nice. I propose we find and awaken Dialga and Palkia. They will be our best hope to end this.”

Uxie, Azelf, and Mesprit spoke among themselves a moment before Azelf floated forward. “We could help find those two, but are you sure you’ll be able to convince them to help? They don’t like to be disturbed.”

“I think we should find Forde,” Moltres said. “He has a strength and understanding that we won’t get from gathering legendaries.”

Articuno suddenly caused a cold wind to blow. “What a foolish plan. We have no idea what happened to him. We’d need Dialga and Palkia just to find him.”

“Just think, though,” Zapdos said. “He might be able to defeat that thing by himself. It damages the soul, right? But Forde’s different than any of us. He could win.”

Rayquaza growled. “You put too much faith in one person. I say we attack the thing ourselves after resting a bit to restore our energy.”

“No, that wouldn’t work,” Lugia said. “They said it didn’t seem to be hurt, no matter how much their attacks did. I say we get everyone we can, try to find Forde, and then have him help us with our plans.”

The legendaries broke down into arguing. Each always wanting shifts in the plans, or some not even wanting to compromise with the others. Mew shook her head, and then shouted for silence. “What about the strange energy we sensed in the desert?” Mew said. “Shouldn’t we send someone to look into that?”

“Oh, yes, that. We could send our helpful little group there.” Mewtwo gestured towards Leon, Corvon, Kita, and the others. “We’ll work on reviving the other two or whatever other plans we make, but I‘m not sure if we‘ll be able to do much for them for some time. Only reviving Lucario took almost all our remaining energy and we still need to help protect some other places. We‘ll send them along if we can revive them, but don‘t count on it happening for a long time. For the rest of you, it‘s off to the desert. You‘ll need this.” Mewtwo made two small white crystals suddenly appear and float over to Corvon.

Corvon grabbed it out of the air. “What’s this?

“You’ll need that to drive off the fog,” Mewtwo said. “Without it, you’d die quickly.”

Leon grabbed his crystal and pocketed it. “I’m anxious to see Elomir again, so let’s get going.”

Annox went over and looked at Peoria one last time. Kita did the same for Chiro before turning to Annox. “Well, it looks like we’re fighting for our friends. Don’t lose hope, Annox.”

“That’s easy for you to say… you got Lucario back. I know he was the best choice on who to revive, but I’ll miss Peoria every second I can’t be with her.” Kita didn’t have anything to say to this, so the two of them went back to the group.

Mewtwo looked them over. “You seem to have enough supplies, so now just focus on somewhere in the desert and I’ll send you there.”

Leon thought of the scrawny palm trees of the oasis near Elomir’s den, and closed his eyes. A feeling of nausea briefly went over him and he opened his eyes as he felt the hot desert sun on his head.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 25: New Creatures​

Looking around, they were back in the desert. The strange fog obscured things further away, but it didn’t seem to block out the sun at all. The crystals Mewtwo gave did their job, creating a small pocket of fresh air for Corvon and Leon.

“Elomir and Allia live just up this way.” Leon led the way, looking quickly at any shadow or movement around them, hoping each was Elomir.

They began walking, but soon a Flygon circled above them. Leon waved. When it landed they saw it was Elomir. Leon ran up and embraced his old friend. “Elomir! It’s great to see you! You seem to have trimmed down a little while you’ve been here.”

Elomir licked Leon‘s face. “It’s good to see you, too! What brings you to the desert? Your numbers seem a little thin, too. What happened to Forde, Chiro, and Peoria?”

“Well… Forde disappeared in a fight with Arceus. Chiro and Peoria were hurt in a battle. I’ll explain it more later. We’re here because the legendaries sent us to look into a strange energy they sensed here.”

Elomir paused and thought for a second. “Hmm, maybe it’s related to those strange monsters that appeared West of here. Why don’t we discuss it over lunch up in my cave, where it‘s safe?”

“Won’t Allia get angry if we come up there?” Leon asked.

“No, she’s more worried about the creatures than you. I’ll just tell her you’re here to try and do something about them. Now, it looks like we’ll have to fly up to my cave. That Charizard could help. Is that you, Draconis?”

“Yes, it is,” Draconis said. “So we’re going up to that cave? This will take a few trips.”

Hurdy was scratching his rapidly drying skin. “Draconis! Take me first. It’s too dry out here in the sun.”

Draconis picked up Hurdy gently. “I’m still not sure if I give the most stable of flights, but off we go.”

Leon hopped onto Elomir’s back. It didn’t feel quite as sturdy as before. “Just like old times, isn’t it Elomir? You seem a little more bony now. Have you been eating enough?”

Elomir thought a moment. “Well, we’ll get to that later. Now off to the cave.”

Leon, Draconis, and Hurdy stayed at the entrance while Elomir went in. He soon returned. “It’s okay to go in. Me and Draconis will go get the others.”

Leon and Hurdy walked into the back, where Allia sat, curled around one egg and playing with a small Trapinch. She looked up as the visitors entered. “Ah, come have a seat, Elomir says you’ve come to help,” Allia said.

Leon sat on a outcrop of the rock. “Nice to meet you, Allia. I’m Leon, I’m sure Elomir told you many things about me.” Leon only hoped it hadn’t been the embarrassing ones.

“Yes, he does talk about you quite a lot. And you must be Hurdy?”

“Yes, I am,” Hurdy said. “Nice to meet you.”

“So what’s the little one’s name?” Leon asked.

The Trapinch had hid behind his mother, but could be seen peeking out from Allia’s side. Allia hugged it gently and set it down. It went back to hiding behind her as soon as it was on the floor.

“Yes, our first egg hatched. Since it was a boy, Elomir wanted to name it after you, but I didn’t want it to have a human name, so I made him change it a little. His name is Leonill.”

“He looks cute,” Leon said, thinking how the little Trapinch didn’t even look like the Flygon it would grow up to be.

Outside, Elomir and Draconis had got the others up, but everyone was wondering how to get Annox up to the cave. Not an easy thing to do, considering he was now over 600 pounds. They had been stuck without a solution for a little while. Kita looked down at the two dragons struggling to pick up Annox. “Why don’t I had my own psychic powers to your efforts? Then we might get him up.” Everyone agreed that it was a great idea, so they tried to lift Annox again. Annox was set down in the cave with a thump.

“Next time, we should just leave you outside,” Draconis said with a smile as everyone headed in the cave.

Elomir went over and sat by Allia. “Would it be alright if you share some of your food? We’re rather low on our own supplies. Hunting’s been so difficult with those creatures around.”

“Sure, we have plenty of supplies and you‘re both looking pretty skinny,” Corvon said. “I’ll get the food ready, but would you mind explaining what these creatures are?”

“Well, whatever they are, they only appeared when the fog spread to here. They’re vaguely shaped like humans. Two arms, two legs, no hands. Instead of a head they have a strange mask with glowing circles and lines drawn on it.”

Allia now added her voice. “They attack anything that gets too close to them. Their attacks pack quite a punch. I got a nasty bruise the other day when I ran into one when I was gathering food. I still have it, right here.” Allia pointed to a discolored spot on her belly. “I killed the one, and it just vanished in a puff of smoke.”

“At least they aren’t like the thing in the spirit realm,” Annox said.

Lucario shuddered. “That thing was terrible…”

Elomir looked at Annox. “Spirit realm? I thought only the dead went there.”

“Ah, well, it’s a long story, but it looks like we have time,” Leon said. Leon then proceeded to tell Elomir all that had happened with Ho-Oh, the spirits, and the other legendaries. During the course of the story, they finished lunch.

Once it was all over, there was a long silence. Elomir sighed. “That’s quite a lot to think about. Maybe there’s a connection. I heard Palak and Malak had traveled a bit more into the area where the creatures live, so maybe we should go find them. Let’s do it after a nap.”

“A nap? Are you joking?” Draconis said.

Allia smiled. “You might be fine with the heat, but I’m sure your friends would quickly get exhausted. It’s best to wait until the sun starts to set before doing much, so that’s why we have a long nap after lunch. Now just settle down and you can go out when it cools down.”

“Yes, that sun was really drying me out,” Hurdy said. “A nap will be for the best.”

They all lay down and got comfortable. Elomir curled up around his son and wife. Leon sat next to them and smiled before going to sleep. They looked happy together. A while later, Leon was awakened by a small tugging on his cloak. He rolled over and saw that Leonill was attacking it.

“Hey there little guy,” Leon said in a soft voice. “Do you want something?”

The little Trapinch growled and continued attacking the cloak. Leon laughed, and the others started waking up. The nap was over; everyone was refreshed.

“I see that he likes you,“ Elomir said before picking up the now feisty Leonill. Elomir handed him to Allia before licking the side of her face. “Take care, we’ll be back before too long.“

“We’ll be waiting for you. Stay safe.”

In a few minutes they were back outside. Elomir led the way, leading them over to where Palak and Malak lived. They stopped at the oasis and Hurdy took an extra large drink, since he was getting dehydrated much faster than any of the others.

They set out over the sand and rocks. The land seemed even more devoid of life than before. No pokemon could be seen. They continued on, but soon ran into one of the creatures. It looked like a person had started melting and then been covered in tar. The mask that took the place of it’s face and partial circles joined with lines that glowed with an ominous green light.

The creature noticed them and began running, flailing its arms like two thick whips. Leon pulled out his bow, seeing an easy opening. Striking it squarely in the chest, the shot seemed to have little effect; the creature continued forward.

“Leon, they’re tough creatures,” Elomir said. “Keep firing and it should go down.”

Corvon also pulled out his crossbow, and soon the creature was full of arrows from the two weapons. It collapsed and vanished in a puff of smoke, leaving a pile of the ammunition that brought it down. Leon and Corvon picked up their ammo.

“Hmm, strange creatures,” Lucario said. “Do they have a name?”

Elomir looked at where the creature had died. “We started calling them darklings.”

Lucario looked around cautiously. “At least these Darklings can be killed. Do they ever travel in larger groups?”

“Yes, they do, usually more towards the center of the land they now infest. I’m leading us around that area, so we shouldn’t run into more than one or two at once.”

The group continued on, and Kita walked close to Lucario. He looked at her from time to time, until he decided to talk with her. “Kita, are you doing alright? You’ve lost both Forde and Chiro now.”

“It seems so quiet without him, doesn’t it?” Kita said. “The legendaries should be able to revive him, so I’m not worried. I’m much happier that they chose to bring you back first.”

“Ah, yes, you were the first to suggest it, I’m told. And after our time together while waiting for everyone in the spirit realm, I‘d be surprised if you didn‘t.”

Kita laughed. “Shh, the others don‘t need to know about that yet.”

Lucario thought for a moment. “It’s going to be hard to hide it as more time passes.”

“I‘ll tell them when the time is right.”

“It was our decision, and I‘m glad we made it.”

“That’s one thing I like about you, firm and quick decisions.”

Kita and Lucario rejoined the group after their private discussion. It was getting dark now, so they traveled away from the area where the darklings were and set up camp.

“I forgot how long it takes those who can’t fly to get around,” Elomir said. “We should be able to reach Palak and Malak’s lair by mid-morning tomorrow, before it gets too hot. I’ll take the morning watch, so I’m going to sleep.”

“Lucario and I will take the middle two,” Kita said.

“We spoke about it earlier,” Lucario added.

Corvon got out his sword and started polishing it. “I guess I’ll take the first one, then.”

The next morning, as a dim light appeared on the horizon, Elomir decided that it was time to get the others up. As he had been on watch, he noticed that Kita and Lucario had slept embracing one another as their watch ended. He decided to wake them up first.

“Good morning, how are you two doing?” Elomir said as they got up.

Lucario smoothed his slightly tangled fur. “We’re fine.”

“Did you two become lovers or something during the time I was gone?” Elomir asked.

“I guess it‘s obvious now, so I‘ll tell you,” Kita said. “We’ve decided we love each other. In fact, we decided that back in the spirit realm.”

“Ah, yes… love.” Elomir looked off the way they had come. “I hope Allia and Leonill are alright without me.”

They awakened the others, and were off. They crossed a patch of dunes, and reached a new set of yellow sandstone cliffs. Elomir led them up a wash that had cut a narrow divide between the cliffs. In a few of the shadowy bends of the wash, small pools of water could be seen. After going past a few narrow spots, the slot canyon widened and up near the top of the cliff was a large cave.

“Well, that’s where Palak and Malak live,” Elomir said. “Let’s hope they know something useful.”

They climbed the cliff to get up to the cave. Immediately they noticed this cave wasn’t nearly as clean as Elomir’s and Allia’s cave. Piles of bones were against the wall, most likely leftovers from successful hunts. As they stood at the entrance, the two Flygon came to greet them.

“Why do you have to come so early, Elomir?” Malak said, half-asleep.

Palak looked around. “Oh! It’s not just Elomir. Leon’s here, too, and some others. Who are all these people?”

“I brought them here because you two know more about the darklings than I do,” Elomir said. “These are my friends and they are looking for something here in the desert.”

Palak growled. “Yeah, we know the area where the darklings are.”

Malak continued the thought. “It used to be our best hunting ground until they came. What do you want to know?”

“We’re looking for an unusual energy, as Mewtwo put it,” Draconis said.

Annox walked forward. “That seems rather vague, though.”

“Has anything new besides the darklings appeared?” Hurdy asked.

Palak and Malak talked quietly between themselves a moment before Palak spoke. “Now that you mention it, there have been a few unusual things.”

Malak added in his voice. “Right when the darklings came, there was a huge sandstorm.”

“When it was over, there was these strange new cacti growing in one area.”

“And in another, it looked like some strange rocks and some old ruins were uncovered.”

“We also found a new plant growing near one of the old water holes in the area, but that part was particularly full of the darklings.”

“Would you mind taking us to where these things are?” Elomir asked.

Malak smiled. “Of course. Each day we go kill a few anyways.”

“Yeah, we’re trying to get rid of them all, but it doesn’t seem to be working,” Palak said.

“At least it makes us stronger. After all, we need to be in top shape to impress Carthia and Selene.”

“So things are going well between you two and them?” Elomir asked.

“Yes, thanks for introducing us to them,” Palak said. “Anyways, let’s get going.”

They started heading out of the cave. Leon stayed close to Elomir, and asked, “Who are Carthia and Selene?”

“Oh, they are Allia’s younger cousins that live up in the North desert. I introduced Palak and Malak to them in return for when I sent them to help you.”

Leon finished climbing down the cliff. “Oh, I was going to give something to Palak and Malak for helping me when I came back here, but I didn’t quite expect to come back so soon. Maybe I have something they’d like.”

“I think the main thing they’d like would be anything they could give as a gift to help them impress Allia’s cousins.”

“But you didn’t need anything to impress Allia.”

Elomir chuckled. “Well, having a good body and an even better history worked well for me.”

They began walking again as everyone finished climbing down. They headed back through the narrow canyon and then headed South. A large open area of desert lay there, mostly filled with sand dunes and the occasional set of cliffs. Black figures could be seen in the area, both near and far.

“You must be excited to fight these,” Hurdy said to Draconis.

“Fighting just to get stronger doesn’t mean as much to me anymore,” Draconis said.

Annox smiled as Draconis said this. “When you were a Charmeleon, you used to scare me.”

“Yeah, I was quite terrible back then, wasn’t I? My time in the spirit realm changed me, and not just because I evolved. I’m a much better person now. I fight with honor.”

“We’re going to have to go back to the spirit realm again, though,” Hurdy said. “We still have to free Arceus, but I still don’t see how we will be able to.”

“That’s for the legendaries to worry about.”

Suddenly, a familiar voice came from behind them. “We’re working on it, so all of you just do what I sent you here to do.”

Draconis spun around. “Mewtwo!”

Mewtwo floated above the sands. “I came to check if you were doing alright. Hmm… those creatures look interesting. I think I’ll take one back with me for the legendaries and me to examine. Now I came here to give you this stone. Use it to contact me if you find anything.” Mewtwo suddenly looked over at Kita and Lucario. “I must have been too tired to sense this at the meeting, but you two have become mates now, haven’t you?”

Kita looked up at Lucario. “I suppose now’s as good a time as any to tell them, isn’t it?” Lucario nodded, so Kita continued. “I’ve chosen Lucario as my mate.”

“I knew something was going on, but I didn’t expect this,” Corvon said quietly.

“It’s not something you have to make a big deal out of,” Lucario said. “We have a mission to get done, so let’s focus on that.”

Mewtwo began to float ahead of the group “Yes, focus on that. I must be off, but I suppose I’m taking a souvenir.” Mewtwo floated towards one of the darklings. He picked it up with his psychic powers and both him and the creature vanished a moment later. Everyone stood in silence a moment.

“Corvon, you seem unhappy with my decision?” Lucario said after thinking over what he had heard earlier.

“Is it really going to work between a Lucario and an Espeon?”

Lucario turned away from Corvon and went back over by Kita. “It works. Now just stay out of it.”

“I didn’t really mean it like that.” Corvon looked at Lucario, who didn’t even look back at him.

“Well, uh… the strange cacti are over near there.” Malak pointed to the closest set of cliffs.

“And if we kept going that way, we’d find the strange rocks and ruins.” Palak pointed out an area in the center of the many sand dunes. “Although the ruins are really just some fallen blocks and such.”

“Not to mention the other rock formation over near those other cliffs.”

“And even further South is the oasis with the strange plant. So which place should we go first?”

“We’re running low on water, so the oasis sounds good,” Leon said. The water in his almost empty canteen swishing as he took each step.

“I’m sorry that I used it all up,” Hurdy said. “Even with all of it, I still feel like I’m drying out.”

They set off towards the South, easily picking off the lone darklings that came to attack them. The number of darklings was increasing the further they headed. Soon, they drew near to the rocks and ruins that had been mentioned earlier. They found themselves suddenly surrounded by twenty of the darklings.

“Stay together and we’ll fight them off,” Corvon said as he readied his sword.

Elomir, Draconis, Palak, and Malak took wing and launched their breath attacks at the darklings, bringing down a few. Leon shot a few arrows into the oncoming swarm of enemies. The darklings now were close enough that the others engaged them. Kita sent a few flying backwards with her psychic attack. Lucario was by her side and blasted a darkling away with an aura sphere. Corvon parried the swing of another, but his arm nearly went numb from the force of the blow. He dodged another blow before striking true with his blade.

Guarding the rear, Annox charged and rammed one of the darklings with his wood hammer attack. The mighty blow caused the darkling to vanish, but Annox felt dazed afterwards. Hurdy, unable to lose much water, could only use his physical attacks. He landed a solid blow with his arm, but the darkling shrugged it off and retaliated with one of its own. The blow struck Hurdy directly in the chest, and he was sent flying backwards.

Leon helped Hurdy back up and remembered Forde telling him to look over the pokemon. “Be careful.” Leon then proceeded to shoot a two arrows at the darkling as it drew nearer. Hurdy hit it with another blow and this time it went down. Hurdy suddenly glowed with an inner light. Another darkling approached, but this time Hurdy sent it flying with a single blow.

A darkling got through the outer line and headed towards Leon. Leon was forced to jump backwards as he avoided a few of its swings. There was no time to get an arrow in. He dodged one too slow and was knocked down. The darkling kept coming, but Elomir swooped down, clawing it from behind with his back legs. The creature fell and vanished and Leon got to his feet again, his heart still racing from the fear. “Thanks, Elomir,” he shouted.

As the battle ended, Hurdy looked over himself, he was now taller. His arms and legs were more steady and stronger than before. His fins had also gotten bigger and his coloring had changed towards a darker blue than before.

“Hey, you’re a Swampert now,” Draconis said.

“Yeah, I feel a lot stronger. This desert still is drying me out, but I think I’ll be able to last longer than before.”

Annox walked up slowly. “Ugh, my head hurts. Wood hammer is a strong attack, but it takes a lot out of me.”

Corvon sheathed his sword. “Is everyone alright? Those things pack quite a punch.”

Leon massaged a large red mark on his arm where the darkling had hit him. “I think this will be a nasty bruise, but other than that, I’m okay.” He didn’t want to sound weak, but the bruise stung so much it was distracting.

Everyone else was fine, but the sun was getting hot, so they passed by the ruins and strange rocks so that they could reach the oasis faster and replenish their water supplies.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 26: Darkling Battle​

“I think that’s it… up ahead,” Hurdy said. The hot sun and fighting off groups of darklings had worn him out. “But look at all those darklings. There’s even some bigger than any we’ve fought before.”

Leon put his hand on Hurdy‘s shoulder. “There’s nowhere to rest besides that oasis that’s nearby. One more battle and we can stop for a while. Elomir, why don’t you go see what we’re up against?”

Elomir nodded and did a circle above the oasis before returning. “About thirty darklings are around the oasis. Five of the larger ones, but the rest are the same as the ones we fought already.”

“We’re in for a rough battle,” Corvon said. “We need a plan before we arrive.”

“If we can break through to the water, then I could fight a lot better,” Hurdy said.

“Okay, that sounds like a good first move, then.”

They walked closer, stopping behind a sand dune so the creatures wouldn’t notice them. Corvon made a diagram of the oasis in the sand. “Okay, here’s the oasis. Those who can fly will circle around to this side and draw away the darklings. Leon, you’ll fly with Elomir, since you’ll be safer off the ground than on it. Everyone else will wait until they are distracted and then rush over this hill and get to the edge of the water. Since the creatures don’t swim, the water will provide at least one direction they won’t attack from. Does everyone get the plan?”

Leon as the fliers took off with Elomir, circling high above the other side. Leon shot an arrow, hitting one of the creatures directly in the face, and suddenly getting an idea. “They seem ground based. Why don’t we just stay up here and attack them?”

“I’ve missed your good battle plans, even if I really didn’t do any battles,” Elomir said before unleashing a dragonbreath attack onto the crowd of darklings below. Draconis nodded in agreement with the plan, blasting each target for several seconds before it vanished. Palak and Malak twisted through the air, throwing in some acrobatic dives that almost put them in reach of the enemies.

Corvon peeked over the top of the sand dune on the other side of the oasis. “Maybe they can just take them out without our help. The enemy doesn’t seem to have a plan to counteract flying creatures. Let’s just watch for now.”

For another minute, Leon, Elomir, Palak, Malak, and Draconis were untouchable in the sky. The flames of their breath attacks and Leon’s arrows defeated a good number of enemies, but the rest seemed to be watching and waiting for something. Leon saw no way for them to win. Victory would just be a short time away. The glowing colors of the masks had changed to red, not a good sign. The creatures waved their arms through the air, launching several black spikes that had somehow grown at the tips of their arms.

“Everyone, watch out!” Leon yelled.

The first volley filled the sky with the inch-long spikes. Each of the fliers twisted, shielding their vital spots, but were hit with the projectiles. The spikes pierced their scales easily. As soon as the spikes got as deep as they would go, they vanished, causing a flare of intense pain. Malak was caught in the thickest part of the attack, and began faltering as the spikes began to vanish. Palak caught him before he fell. “I’ll get him out of here. Kill as many of those darklings as you can for us!”

“Elomir are you alright?” Leon asked, looking at a trail of blood dripping from Elomir‘s shoulder.

Elomir growled. “It hurts, but I’ll manage.”

“We’ll have to watch out,” Draconis said. “Now I really wish I’d practiced more flying maneuvers.”

“It’s time, move out,” Corvon said as he stood up and readied his sword for a forward charge. The enemy had all drawn over near the fliers, so they jumped and slid down the steep sand dune and reached the oasis.

Hurdy dived into the water. “You have no idea how good this feels! I’m ready to take them on now!”

“Watch out Draconis!” Leon warned. Draconis dodged part of a large spray of spikes, but many caught him, a few directly in his chest. Draconis growled as pain flared through him. Suddenly another spike, one shot by one of the larger darklings, caught Draconis near his wing joint.

Draconis shrieked in pain this time, his wing quickly losing strength. Each movement caused extreme pain and brought more blood dripping down his side. “Ah! I’m going down!” Draconis glided down, twisting out of the way of another storm of spikes that was aimed at him. Elomir had to suddenly drop, causing Leon’s shot to miss as he also dodged another attack.

Kita led the group on the ground, shielding them from the spikes that were thrown. Lucario was right at her side, taking down any that drew too close. Corvon guarded Kita’s other side, slashing the darklings with his sword. Hurdy stayed in the water, diving down into the muddy depths whenever an attack came his way. He’d pop up a moment later, blasting the enemies with powerful blasts of mud and water.

“Hey, wait for me!” Annox said, finally rolling back over after flipping upside down on his charge down the hill. Annox built up speed, slamming into a darkling. Draconis landed next to Annox, crushing an enemy that was about to attack beneath his back claws while burning up another, his hot breath melting part of the sand.

“I’m going to kill them for messing up my wing!” Draconis said before blasting another wave of searing flames at an approaching enemy.

The darklings, reduced in number to about ten normal ones and four large ones, paused again except for two smaller ones that continued firing at Elomir and Leon. Their spikes retracted and their arms lengthened before they charged at Corvon’s group. The transformation gave them much more strength and stamina. They dealt with a few of the small ones with a little trouble. Two of the larger ones ran forward, whipping their arms around. Lucario jumped over the attack and Corvon jumped back, but Kita was sent flying backwards, twisting in the air and yelping in pain. Draconis and Hurdy also faced a similar attack. Hurdy braced himself and took the hit, feeling dazed. Draconis jumped back, but the massive blow caught his leg, which twisted at an odd angle with a sickening pop.

Draconis moaned and didn’t move from the spot he was knocked back to. A smaller darkling got past Annox, heading straight for the vulnerable Draconis. Suddenly a blur of green tackled the darkling. Palak was back and right behind him was Malak, ignoring the earlier injuries with a rush of adrenaline. The two slashed at the darkling, finishing it off quickly.

“Hold position!” Corvon said as Lucario jumped backwards and ran to where Kita had fallen. Lucario did not return, so Corvon dived forwards, stabbing the darkling with his blade while avoiding its flailing attacks. Corvon was quickly tiring, the sand giving him poor traction for his rolls and jumps. He started backing up, trying to find another way to continue avoiding blows. A blast of mud hit the darkling, distracting it a moment for Corvon to strike a blow directly to it’s chest. It vanished and Corvon looked over and nodded at Hurdy in thanks.

“Ha! In this water, I’m invincible!” Hurdy boasted before almost getting hit by a spray of spikes. “Oops… need to stay focused.”

Lucario reached Kita, who sat on the ground moaning. “Kita, are you alright?”

Kita became silent a moment, glowing with energy. After a moment she looked better. “I’m okay. I landed so that it wouldn’t hurt me or our…”

“We wouldn’t want to lose that. Be a little more careful, Kita. They‘re in trouble. We should get back in the battle.” Lucario helped Kita up and the two ran back to help the others.

With Draconis down, Annox faced the large darkling alone. He backed up a few steps before unleashing a storm of razor leaves and charging the enemy. The leaves distracted it, and Annox slammed directly into it with his powerful wood hammer attack. The darkling was knocked on its back, leaving Annox enough time to focus and drain it with giga drain. Annox could feel for a moment the energy that held the creature together as it broke down and flowed into him. The energy stopped flowing and the creature vanished, leaving Annox feeling almost like he hadn‘t been fighting yet.

Elomir and Leon evaded most of the spikes from the two remaining enemies. They soon defeated them, leaving them free to harass the enemy from behind. They combined their attacks with Hurdy’s, killing the last of the smaller darklings. Now only two of the larger ones remained.

“Everyone take down the one on the left!” Corvon yelled. A barrage of attacks hit the darkling, taking it down. Corvon held his sword up to face the final darkling, but as he dodged a swing of its arm, the attack caught his sword, snapping it in half and sending the broken piece flying off into the side of a distant sand dune.

“Shoot!” Corvon was put off guard by his weapon breaking and was hit directly with the next attack. He hit the sand and rolled with a painful thump.

“I’ll kill you!” Lucario ran and unleashed a fully-charged aura sphere, knocking the darkling back. Lucario unleashed a flurry of spheres after the first, defeating the final enemy. He stood, panting from his furious assault, and ran over to check Corvon.

Corvon moaned. “I’m alright Lucario, well, except for maybe my shoulder.” Corvon’s arm hung loose, his shoulder dislocated. “Help me put it back in place.”

“Okay, but it’s going to hurt.” Lucario grasped Corvon’s arm tightly. Corvon groaned as it popped back in place.

“Ow… thanks Lucario. You and Kita are good together and I shouldn‘t have doubted that. Let’s check on the others.”

“Okay, I’ll make sure Kita is fine.” Lucario walked back over to Kita, hugging her for a moment as he fell to his knees.

“I’m okay, only my side got hit, not my belly. Although maybe I should avoid fighting for the sake of…”

“Yes, I want you to keep back. It’ll be easier for it to be harmed as it comes along, so I beg you to stay back.”

Kita licked Lucario’s face before he set her back down and they approached the others. The fliers all had many bleeding injuries from the spikes, and Draconis looked to be in the worst condition of all of them.

“Hmm, it looks like we’ll have to use the plants at the oasis to help heal and splint his injuries,” Malak suggested.

“We’ll help move him,” Palak added.

 

[Apotheosis]

Chapter 27: Aftermath​

“Okay, how’s that feel?” Corvon asked, tightening up the wrappings on the splint for Draconis’s leg. It reminded Leon a little of a time when Elomir had been hurt.

“Stiff… but that’s how it should be,” Draconis said.

Elomir licked a few of his smaller wounds before looking up. “Well, we can’t really move. Your wing is hurt and your foot is hurt.”

“We were going to rest here anyways,” Leon said. “That should give us plenty of time to see the strange plant. Is that it over there?” Leon pointed to a shoulder-high green bush with thin blade-like leaves on the other side of the oasis. It had one large bud that looked tightly closed.

“I think Kita and I will stay here. She needs to recover after the battle.” Lucario sat and brushed a hand through Kita’s fur.

“I’m not feeling up for much either. My shoulder needs some rest, and I need to think about what to do with this.” Corvon looked down at his broken blade, rubbing a finger over each of the little nicks in the blade. He seemed not to be listening anymore.

“Hmm, I guess only a few of us need to go, and I’m good with plants,” Annox said. “Why don’t just me, Leon, and Hurdy go over?”

“As long as I get to stay in the water, then I’m happy. I’ll race you over there!” Hurdy dove under and the ripples of his movements quickly went over to the other side.

“Hey, no fair!” Annox began stomping around the oasis to the other side.

Leon looked at the bandaged Elomir. “Are you coming or do you want to rest here?”

“It’s just a plant, so I’ll just rest here. We’ll yell if we need anything.”

“Okay, I’d better go see what’s over there. Have a nice rest.” Leon walked off quickly after Annox, who was almost to the plant. He moved pretty fast for a turtle. By the time Leon got there, Hurdy and Annox already seemed deep in discussion.

“…and I’ve seen plants like this. They need something to trigger their blooming,” Annox said.

Hurdy turned to Leon. “Well, here’s Leon, maybe he might know. Have you seen any plants like this before?”

Leon bent down, examining the fuzzy leaves of the bud. He turned over the waxy blades of the plants main branches and then ran his thumb over the waxy root tendrils that ran along the ground. “Hmm… I’m not too much of a plant person, especially desert plants. I’d say you two know way more than me.”

“Well, I can name similar species of plants,” Hurdy said. “And Annox can tell a little about the growth and blooming habits of this particular one, but we don’t know the exact trigger for the bloom.”

“If it’s based on sunlight or moonlight, we may have to wait weeks or even months for it to bloom,” Hurdy said.

“But why is it important that it bloom?” Leon was perplexed by why that matter seemed so important.

Annox smelled the plant and closed his eyes. “You’ll have to trust me… but I feel a certain energy locked inside this blossom. I think we’ll find something important if we can make it bloom.”

“But we don’t know how…” Hurdy said.

Leon looked over the plant some more before standing up. “I’m going to think over this and go rest with the others. Want to come along?”

“Well, I want to stay here and think over this some more, I think I’ll go ponder it while I sit in the mud. I always seem to think better there.” Hurdy walked out into the water, burrowing down into the bottom of the oasis a little.

“I’m feeling tired after running over here and I have a headache from the battle, so I’ll just stay here too. That mud does look very tempting, so I’ll join Hurdy.” Annox went and sat in the water next to his friend, looking like a little island with the tree sticking out of his shell.

Leon left the two to their relaxations in the water. He was tired himself and as soon as he reached the shady area where the others were, he sat down next to Elomir and rested against his friend. It felt comforting to be next to his friend again and soon he was asleep.

Leon awakened in the late afternoon, with the sun low on the horizon. Some of the others seemed to have been awake for some time. Hurdy swam in the oasis with Palak and Malak. The three of them seemed to be having fun. Elomir was awake, looking interested in the water. “Shall we join them?” Leon said, smiling.

“Ah, it’s like the old pond during summers. Let’s go!” Elomir ran into the water, creating a large wave that splashed the others.

Leon took a little longer as he stripped down to his underclothes and then ran and jumped in, creating a smaller but higher splash than Elomir did. “Ah, this feels great. Swimming after the heat of the day, just like we used to.” Leon repeated his old trick, diving under and grabbing Elomir’s tail.

Elomir squirmed and tried to reach behind him, but Leon had already come up a few feet away. Elomir growled and pounced at Leon, dunking him under. Leon came back up, sputtering and laughing. He looked over to the others on the beach. “Do you want to join us?”

“Does it look like I enjoy the water?” Draconis said before closing his eyes again.

Corvon experimented with his hurt shoulder, wincing as he moved it a little. “I’d better stay out. This arm of mine still hurts.”

Kita and Lucario sat in the shade on their own and didn’t seem to have noticed Leon’s call, so he just gave up and dove back in. Hurdy joined in the fun, spraying both Leon and Elomir. Leon and Elomir looked at each other and nodded. Their target was now Hurdy, who swam away and popped up again.

Hurdy grinned. “Are you both after me? Let’s see if you can catch me. Annox is on my team.”

Annox slowly drifted away from the group. “Umm… you’ll just catch me anyways, so I’m staying out of this. Hurdy, you’re on your own.”

“Well, they’ll still never catch me. In fact, I can probably play a few tricks on them.” Hurdy dove back under the water.

Leon suddenly was flipped under the water when something pulled at his legs. He was back up almost instantly, but looking downwards. “Hey, my shorts!”

Hurdy came to the top of the water twenty feet away. “Oh, what’s a human going to do without his clothes? You’ll have to catch me to get them back.”

“Hey! Give those back!“ Hurdy stuck out his tongue and swam backwards. “I’ll get you back for this, Hurdy! Elomir, you go left.” Leon swam to the right of Hurdy. They tried to close in on him, but the water pokemon was too fast. They continued chasing Hurdy for almost an hour. They finally caught him as he became more reckless.

“Alright, you can have these back,” Hurdy said, handing back Leon’s clothes. “I have to admit, humans do look pretty silly without clothes. I can see why you wear them over those parts.”

Annox laughed. “I agree with Hurdy. Humans are silly without clothes.”

Leon blushed and put on his shorts again under the water. “Well, we’d better use up the last of the warm sun to dry off. And if you really want to know about people, there’s plenty of books back home I could give you.”

“Books? I love new books! You could give me any books anytime.”

They reached the shore and everyone but Hurdy left the water to go sunbathe and get warm and dry again. After all his swimming Leon fell asleep in the sun almost as soon as it began to warm him. When he was awake again, he was completely dry. He stood up and brushed the sand off before putting on the rest of his clothes. The others had already gone back over by Corvon, who seemed to have somehow made dinner, even with his hurt arm.

Corvon handed Leon a bowl of food. “I saved this for you. With all these pokemon, I probably could easily make any amount and not have any to spare.”

“They do eat a lot, don’t they?” Leon said before he took a bite out of a biscuit. He chewed carefully, finally speaking to Kita and Lucario after his mouth was clear. “How are you two doing? I haven’t heard much from you today.”

“Oh, we’re fine,” Kita said. “We had a little scare, but our egg should be fine.”

Lucario played with Kita‘s tail. “We’d both be devastated if we lost that. I don‘t even like thinking about it.”

“We’ve been thinking about names while we rested today. Our little Eevee will sure be a cute one.”

Leon felt nervous talking about something he didn’t really know anything about. “Uh, maybe you should ask Elomir for advice now that he’s a parent.”

“We’re making you nervous, aren’t we?” Kita asked. “Any particular reason why?”

“No, not really.” Leon didn’t really feel like explaining the complications with royalty and marriage.

“Well, okay,” Kita said.

Elomir walked closer. “Leon, are you going to finish that?”

“Of course I am.” Leon sat down and looked over the lake. Even if adventuring was hard, it was simple in its own ways, and Leon liked that. Life was going to be more complicated after this was over, that much was certain. The only complicated thing now was the puzzle of Arceus, the spirit realm, and the puzzle here in the desert. Mysteries without an answer.

“Hurdy can do the dishes,” Corvon said. “He’s perfect for the job.”

“Okay, I’ll have them cleaned up in no time.” Hurdy took the bowls and pot and went to clean them. He returned about five minutes later and handed them to Corvon.

Corvon packed the dishes away. “Okay, now anything else to discuss before we decide who gets what watch?”

“Not really,” Leon said. “When we find something important, I sure we’ll know.”

The others volunteered for their watches and the night seemed almost too quiet after the long journey and battle they had been through. Leon was up early, making the breakfast. As Leon got some water, he noticed Hurdy was still out in the oasis, so he called out to him.

“Didn’t you get any sleep after your watch?” Leon asked.

Hurdy swam up slowly. “Well, no… I didn’t. I’m not tired though. I wanted to stay awake because I was thinking about things. Nothing important, though.”

“Well, breakfast is just about ready, so why don’t you come help me finish it?”

Hurdy agreed and soon the breakfast was done. Everyone ate quickly, and Corvon stood up. “My shoulder is feeling much better, but my sword is still broken. I don’t have the right tools to fix it. I think we should try to get some help from Mewtwo before trying to take on any more large groups of darklings.”

“My wing bled again when I tried stretching it a little. I don’t think I could fly with it yet,” Draconis said. “I feel ashamed to be holding the group down, but we’ll have to stay here for at least another day.”

Lucario stood up. “Actually, we have a second problem. Kita’s injury was worse than she thought after we checked on it some more. We’re worried about our egg. What if it got hurt?”

“We decided that I should move as little as possible, in case something did happen,” Kita said from where she was lying on the ground.

Palak looked over Kita. “That sounds terrible… a damaged egg…”

Malak was right next to him, as always. “Is there anything that can be done if it is?”

“Looks like resting will be for the best. I wished I knew more to help you,” Elomir stated.

“Looks like all we can do is pray that the egg is okay,” Lucario said. “With my aura sense, I at least can tell there is some life.”

“At least we have a little hope with that.” Kita closed her eyes.

It was agreed to rest for at least one more day, so the injured spent most the day sleeping. The younger and less injured once again enjoyed some games in the water. Night came and dinner passed uneventfully. Only when everyone was getting ready to sleep did Mewtwo and Mew finally appear.

“Ah, here you are!” Mew seemed relieved. “We sensed that your group hadn’t moved all day, so we were beginning to worry. Yet here you are, safe and sound!”

“But not uninjured…” Mewtwo muttered. “Seems like it was a tough battle.”

Corvon pulled out the two pieces of his sword. “Yes, it was. We could use your help and knowledge to fix a few things, like this sword.”

Lucario jumped up. “Wait, first, me and Kita need your help.”

“And I guess I’ll just wait…” Draconis said.

Mew looked over all of them. “Well, the sword will be easy enough, but we can’t do quite so much for injuries here. Maybe we should head back to the island a bit and get some of our medicines there?”

“Those aren’t easy to get, though. Are we sure they need them?” Mewtwo asked.

Mew frowned. “Oh, quit being difficult, Mewtwo. We need them as healthy as possible, especially with all the things the other legendaries have been finding.”

“Oh, fine then, let’s go.” Mewtwo waved a hand through the air, creating a glowing circle on the ground.

“We’ll deal with things at our island, and then can return you here if you wish.” Mew closed her eyes, adding her own power to the circle. Everyone felt a sudden jolt and a pulling feeling and the desert vanished in an instant and was replaced with the island.

“Okay, now what exactly is wrong with Kita?” Mew asked.

Kita remained laying on her side, even after the teleport. “We’re worried about my egg. It may have been harmed during the battle. That’s why I haven’t been moving.”

Mew landed and placed a paw on Kita. “Well, I’d better deal with this then. Mewtwo wouldn’t nearly be as good with things of this nature. He can help the others.”

Mewtwo smiled in a strange way. “I thought you taught me enough about such things so I could do things like this.”

Mew glared back at Mewtwo. “That’s only for emergencies, now shoo! Go help them instead of arguing with me.”

Mewtwo turned to look at the others, leading them a little ways away from Kita, Lucario, and Mew. He silently looked over Draconis’s wing and placed an arm to his leg for a moment and then moved on the look at the two pieces of Corvon’s sword. Finally he spoke. “Well, the sword is easy to fix, although I could just get you a new one. I can help speed up Draconis’s own healing with my powers, which should fix his wing quickly, but not his leg. I should also go get those medicines.”

Corvon looked coldly at Mewtwo. “I have a lot of history with this blade. I’d never feel comfortable with a replacement.”

“It was custom-made for you… you paid for it with your own money, too…” Mewtwo said. “Okay, I can see why now after looking through you mind a bit.”

“What about me? ?With your healing I could at least move around, so let’s get started!” Draconis said.

“Okay, but it will take a while and you’ll have to rest.” Mewtwo began, and both he and Draconis glowed. Draconis curled up on the ground and fell into a deep sleep. With this done, Mewtwo turned to Corvon. “Okay, fixing this is easier. Just give me both halves.” Corvon handed the blade to Mewtwo who concentrated again. The blade floated in the air. “Hmm… this will be easier if we borrow some fire from our friend…” Mewtwo focused on Draconis again, who stirred a little and shot a jet of flame out with a yawn before settling down again. Mewtwo caught the fire, forming it into a sphere that he placed around the break in the sword. The middle of the sword began to glow white hot and Mewtwo held both his hands out, twisting them as he began to sweat a little. The fire slowly vanished and the blade was whole again.

The blade landed in front of Corvon. “It’s done, but wait for it to cool down,” Mewtwo said. “I’m going to need to rest a little bit myself. Been doing too much, lately. We’ll have to tell you more about that later. I can’t go too far from Draconis if my powers are going to help him, so I’ll rest right here I guess. Have Mew get medicine for your smaller injuries once she finished over there.” Mewtwo landed on the ground, resting against a tree, keeping one hand on Draconis.

“Thanks, Mewtwo. I’d feel a bit empty without this blade. You earned this rest.”

Mewtwo, not quite asleep, made a grunt of acknowledgement.

“Not much for us to do either, I suppose,” Leon said. “Let’s get some rest.”

 

[firefox56]

hey, this is a really great fanfic man. i've been reading it since nsider, but i just got an ac**** here