EVERYONE: Fashion and Fyre[ Y Nuzlocke ]

[CronusNuzlocker]

A vagrant on the streets of Kalos battles the deadly team flare in his casual stroll across the countryside. As hilariously out of place as that sounds, it is actually a serious story and I hope you enjoy reading along with our odd protagonist. Comments are always welcome!
There will be swearing, but not excessive.


Updates will be Saturday's Weekly until I run out of motivation to write this story
Feel free to comment at any time. Even if you've not caught up. Though it would be appreciated if you preface with the number of the last part you read, so I have some context


Fashion and Fyre:
Part 1: You wanna go?
Part 2: A cry for help.
Part 3: The Alpha.
Part 4: Santalune.
Part 5a: Shauna's Shadows.
Part 5b: Ryan's Shadows.
Part 6: Another morning.
Part 7: Not the Hero.
Part 8: Snorlax.
Part 9: Aluminum Candles
Part 10: Took a little tumble off
Part 11: Fyr E
Part 12: I promised
Part 13: Tower of Lies
Part 14: Fourrage Road

Spoiler: Part 1: You wanna go?

Through the Southern entrance to Aquacorde Town, a quaint little settlement in southern Kalos, wandered three youths. Two young women and a single young man, the two girls had recently finished their schooling, and the young man had moved to the nearby town of Vaniville only the day before. As they walked past, the one girl knelt beside a considerably older looking man sitting slumped against the wall and draped in tattered and dirty rags. With a smile she poured a small amount of water into a little paper cup which she handed to him. The man nodded his thanks and held the cup down for his small, gold and crimson dog to drink from. It barked happily and returned to sleeping on the man's lap. After she patted the small dog, the young woman returned to her companions and kept walking. "There's the meeting place" the other, slightly older, girl said pointing to a table at a cafe nearby. The one who'd offered water skipped happily along, the other two shaking their heads at her as the three joined two boys sitting at the table. "Let me introduce everyone." The older lass remarked. "Everyone, this is Ryan. Ryan, this is Tierno-" She gestured to the rather large boy who had been waiting for them. "-He's got some serious dance moves. This is Trevor-" The smaller boy she gestured to reached across the table to shake the new guys hand. "He never misses a single question on his tests, but he's a little shy..." She was interrupted by the larger boy, who boisterously remarked on his pleasure to meet this new friend, whom he insisted they give a nickname to immediately. Nicknames are an organic thing though, usually not given on a first meeting. A point that the elder girl immediately brought up "Take Justice over there" She motioned to the man in rags, who sat at the wall of the building nearby, silently scratching the back of the neck of the canine draped across his legs "No-one just started calling him that, it's just the name people call him. I don't even know why."

"Hey! Can we see the Pokemon now? I want to meet my new partner soon!" The younger girl interjected excitedly, resulting in a round of laughter from her friends, even the nervous but calming new boy. At this point, the large boy Tierno pulled from under the table a small box, from which each of the three newcomers drew a pokeball. The boy released from his pokeball, in a flash of red light, a small blue toad creature with large eyes and a mane of clear to white bubbles. The older girl, Serena, followed suit; revealing a bipedal mammalian creature about the same size as the large toad, but in possession of a large green shell that extended up it's back and over it's head. The younger girl was last to see what she'd received, unveiling in a flash of red light; a small gold and crimson dog. The canine was in in excellent physical shape and quite happily bowled over the young lady, nuzzling her face in excitement. "Wow! My partner is Fennekin!" She exclaimed, clamouring to her knees where she could pet it on her own terms before seizing it's head in her hands and nuzzling it back. "We go together great! The two of us are just way-ay-ay too cute!" She looked up and over at the man at the wall, noting that the man's Fennekin was watching with interest. It was obvious that the pokemon wanted to come investigate, maybe even play. But without it's masters command, it would not leave his side.

As the smallest boy, Trevor, handed out the pokedex's he'd brought along and started explaining the concept of a pokemon trainer adventure; Two people in red clothing approached. The clothes they wore were an interesting hybrid of both fashion and function, being excellent protection against most weather, being very cool to wear, but also quite stylish and attractive. "Do you know why parents actually send their kids out as pokemon trainers?" The man in red asked, though he continued before Trevor could respond. "It's to get rid of them" He smiled, his sunglasses tilting as he did so. "They take children who have no other prospects in life and simply shunt them off with pokemon, let the outside world handle them" The children began to protest, but quietened when both people in red drew pokeballs from their hips. "How about we take them off your hands, so you don't have to worry about such a harsh life" he remarked in a tone that sounded to be half an order, half an offer. The kids refused, lining up with their pokemon in front of them. Tierno's large Lobster, and Trevor's electric rodent, joined the line; standing resolute against the two in red. The resulting battle was between the the line of young pokemon trainers, against two well organised individuals; who's pokemon were a strange assortment including a black dog with bones outside it's body, and a small purple bat. It was a minute, perhaps less, before the children were kneeling beside their battered and bruised pokemon. In flashes of red light the injured were gone, and only the five children remained. The taller man in red pulled out a small, elegantly designed, handgun; which he levelled at the children. "Now we aren't asking" continued the man, a wicked grin across his face, "We're ordering you."

Two of the pokemon of the people in red turned, growling at something behind their owners. The talled man turned to see a shabby, bearded man in ragged clothes standing swaying behind him. "Ex-excuse m-meh surr, k-kan ewe n-nut threaten ch-chirrin?" He stammered, swaying there somewhat hazily. His dog standing beside him growling at the man in red and the other pokemon.

The gunman smirked and turned to point the gun at the vagrant. "Get lost bum, this isn't your business!"

The man developed a confused and slightly offended look. "A bumm?" He swayed a little, looking at the children "Guy called me a bum!" Shauna stifled a giggle at the obviously fake shock in the man's tone, watching as he turned back to the fellow in red. "A bum is a col-colloquialism though" He smiled a little as two in red exchanged glances "A word for a p-pershon's buthoks; you know, two cheeks with a hole between them that spills pointless and unwanted garbage" it grew more and more apparent that the slurred words were a ruse, they dropped away as sharply as the man's swaying. "Like the garbage you're spewing that you'll shoot someone" He grinned, taking a step closer to the fellow who moved back in response; the gun levelled directly at him, he barked in cynical laughter. "Ha, you won't shoot me! I'm too close, if you fire a shot you'll be sprayed with blood" He grinned, looking up and down. "And we wouldn't want such a pristine and perfect outfit to be ruined with the impossible to remove brown stains of dried blood would we." His hand snapped upward, grabbing the other's arm and moving it to place the gun against his upper chest. "Shoot here, right here! Straight through, all blood will go out my back" The vagrants eyes locked onto his, an intense and heavy glare that unnerved the man in red and had him pulling at his arm to try and himself free. "No, You're going to shoot me." He looked to his associate, who on attempting to move closer was intercepted by the snarling golden dog. "You threatened kids" The vagrant's voice grew louder, more aggravated. "You would shoot kids? Well shoot me!" He began to yell at him, their faces not a foot apart as he pulled himself closer. "Well shoot!" He yelled at him, the crowd around them growing nervous and several people moving backward to avoid a potentially stray bullet. The gunman looked at his colleague but was promptly slapped across the back of the head. "No! Look, at, me! I want you looking at me when you shoot me" He grabbed the back of his head and pulled it forehead to touch his own. "Do it! Shoot!" He yelled down at the now shaking man, his height seeming to stretch on forever "It's not a threat unless you follow through, Shoot!" He continued. The shaking fingers pulled the trigger, blasting a hole through the filthy man, sending blood spraying out his back but not a drop from his front. Without missing a beat, the large man in ragged clothes ripped the gun from the now weak hand. Placing the muzzle near the ear of the man in red, and pointing at the ground behind them he fired, repeatedly. Each time he flinched, recoiling and shuddering, finally moving hands to his ears when the firing stopped.

The vagrant, holding the gun, turned to point it at the standing man in red. "How many shots did he fire? How many shots did I fire?" He said, quieter but still quite aggravated. "Did you count?" his stare was unflinching and steady. Slowly the other man returned the remaining pokemon and gathered his associate from the ground, carrying him alongside as they fled the town. As they left, the vagrant stashed the gun into a small sack at his belt and knelt down to look at the children at the level they found themselves. "Are you all right?" He asked, calmly and quietly, watching as they all nodded shakily. "No-one's injured?" He was answered by a group of shaking heads, and a slowly encroaching crowd. After telling the children to visit a pokemon centre to get their pokemon some help, he slapped his leg twice and rushed through the crowd that parted at his approach. His fennekin dashing after him as he went.

Once outside the town, and across the bridge over the small river, the man dropped to his knees. Running his hand over his chest and back, he ascertained the presence of two holes, and from the angle was certain that nothing important had been hit. From his sack he drew a small kitchen knife, which he handed to the dog. The gold and crimson pooch happily took the end of the knife in it's mouth, being careful not to cut itself. After a couple minutes it whined and looked up at him, opening its mouth as he gently grabbed the knife's handle. The vagrant made sure not to touch the white hot parts of the metal with his fingers, instead pressing it against the edges of the bullet wound on his chest, and then again on his back. "Well, that was interesting, wasn't it boy?" he smiled and patted the small pokemon on the head once he'd finished grinding his teeth in pain. "Don't let me shoot myself again, ok?" The dog barked, to which the vagrant laughed and handed it a stick.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 2: A cry for help

The bridge from Aquacorde Town spanned over a canal; eighty meters wide, fourty meters deep. The public on either side of the old clay brick bridge were held from plunging into the current below by a meter tall fence running along the banks. Standing at the fence, the vagrant placed the pointer finger of each hand on the top of the railing, pressing down with his hand and bending the fingers back painfully against the fence. After bending his fingers back for about a minute, the man swapped to pressing his centre fingers instead. Taking a minute on each finger, paying little attention to the tattoo numbers at the knuckle of each. He knew the sequence like, well, the back of his hand. working from left to right on his right hand were the simple symbols; One, Four, Sixteen and Sixty Four. Seemed the oddest things to get etched permanently on the skin at the back of his hand. His left hand was more detailed than his right, consisting of; 256, 1024, 4096 and 16384. By spending ten minutes forcing his fingers to bend back individually, or in each possible combination, the man had plenty of time to notice the young woman approaching across the bridge. Though she was the sort to bounce as she walked, or perhaps even skip most the time, she walked calmly and solemnly. Even without the occasional glimpses of small gold and red ears by her side, he recognized this girl. Shauna was a sweet child, if often a little naive, when she pays attention or is interested she can be quite intelligent, though she rarely acts it.

Arriving at his side of the canal, Shauna approached the older man, head hung down. She stopped at the railing beside him, hands gripping the wooden bar as she looked down at the water silently. The man could see some officers of the law moving about the streets in the town across the canal, they were speaking to a collection of people near where the two men in red suits had attacked the children. "Thank you" She muttered, not looking up from the water as she kicked a small stone over the edge. "Don't worry Mr. Cabberin" Their reflections below rippled silently, blurring their images in the wake of the small stone.

"I'm surprised you recognized me Ms. Armeniox. A lot has changed in the last few years" He responded, turning away from the water to watch as the two red and gold canines tugged on either end of the stick he'd given his, the healthier looking one growling playfully.

"I don't think anyone could forget you sir. But I'm finished that part of my life, please call me Shauna?" Shauna knelt by the two canines, slight watering could be seen in her otherwise smiling eyes.

"In that case, call me Ryan" He offered the young lady his hand, both to help her stand and as a typical greeting. She took it and welcomed the aid in standing, though she did not need it. "I assume they're asking about me then?" He asked, nodding to the police across the river.

"Kinda" Was her shaky response, taking care not to glance across the river. A flash of mechanical red light, and Ryan's Fennekin was left alone holding its stick. It's ears lowered before it's head. "Some people called them because of those people that attacked us" She sat on the edge of the bridge, kicking her legs as she looked at him, a ragged and visually broken man. "They were right though." A strange comment given the ambiguous pronoun. "The men in red." She continued, "They said that parents send off kids with no other options, idiots, just to get rid of them." He intended to stop her, try and explain that she's not an idiot, that the people in red just wanted to demoralize them.

She stared at the ground, taking a long time to draw a small envelope from her pocket, which she offered to the man. Ryan took it, noting that it was already opened. With a nod from Shauna he removed the folded letter from inside and began to read. The general sense was that Shauna had been selected to take part in a special study of new pokemon trainers. Each trainer would be given a rare pokemon and sent to collect research information on pokemon all across the country. The letter called it a great honour, though the wording did strike him as peculiar. Once he'd read the note twice he folded it back up and returned it to the envelope before handing it back. In return she handed him another sheet, this one crumpled in obvious frustration. After carefully peeling the page open, he understood precisely why. It was a printing of an email, from one 'Professor Augustine Sycamore', the same name that signed the bottom of the letter. To a 'Mr. Joseph Armeniox', Ryan had met him before; Shauna's father. The printed email contained both the original message, and Sycamore's response. Mr. Armeniox had reached out to the professor, explaining his daughters grades; including her failing school. She showed interest in almost nothing, having almost no attention span or care for anything beyond the ground she stood on. The things he said about his own daughter disgusted Ryan, such that the printout in his hands shook almost too violently for him to read from it, but he continued. Sycamore's response was as bad, if not worse; detailing how this was a common issue among parents, so much so that a system had been devised to handle such problem children. Often they were given little more than a single starter pokemon and set off on some false quest, usually seeking some pointless goal. The pokemon league sport had grown so much in popularity recently that the problem children have had to stop being sent after it. A new 'knowledge seeking' quest had been devised, requiring children to search for information about Mega Evolution. Perfectly safe and it gets the children out of the house, that was the promise. That promise is what sickened Ryan most. She spoke again when it was clear he had finished reading "When I arrive at the Professor's Lab in Lumiose city, he'll send me off and call my parents to tell them it's done". He shook his head and started to walk past her, heading across the bridge, as he passed the young woman her hand grabbed his arm. "I want to go. I do. But with those people in red out there I'm worried I won't be able to get to Lumiose. I could always trust you Mr. Cabberin, will you help me?"

Drooping his shoulders, Ryan turned to face the lass sitting beside him. "If you're sure?" She nodded her response, hopping off the wall of the bridge and taking a couple steps north. Returning back to town would also mean confronting the police. Ryan had no issues with the police, but prison is something he would much rather avoid. He returned to walk with the young lady north through the grassland and trees to a small forest. The forest leads to Santalune city, which lay between here and their destination. Passing under a tree, Ryan was greeted by a small feathered critter. No bigger than the palm of his admittedly large hand, the tiny bird had a red head and black tail. It landed on his shirt, investigating with interest the recently seared flesh of his shoulder. Shauna asked what it was, watching as Ryan slid a finger under its feet and lifting it away from his shirt. "Looks like a Fletchling" he responded, the little red robin tweeting at him. It whistled a little song, bobbing up and down as he moved his finger around. "Here, don't move" He smiled as he lowered the little bird onto Shauna's shoulder, she giggled as it hopped around for a moment. After a little time on her shoulders, the small bird fluttered up to sitting on Ryan's shoulder once again. When he grabbed it around the body with two fingers, it sung happily. It's singing was more pleasant as he moved it through the air, though it ended on a sudden and sharp note when he released it onto a tree branch nearby.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 3: The Alpha

After a little time on her shoulders, the small red robin fluttered up to sitting on Ryan's shoulder once again. When he grabbed it around the body with two fingers, it sung happily. It's singing was more pleasant as he moved it through the air, though it ended on a sudden and sharp note when he released it onto a tree branch nearby. The young lady beside him perked up, excitedly ready to catch the little bird, pulling a pokeball from her belt and readying for battle. "Woah, wait a second" Ryan interrupted, gently pushing her hand down with his own. "She's not bothering anyone." He pointed out "You don't know if she has baby's hiding somewhere. It's not fair to snatch her up and take her away against her will now is it?" He continued, watching as the young girl became slowly depressed before responding with a meek 'no'.

"How do I know when I can catch a pokemon?" She queried, a question that caught him off guard but he endeavored to answer as best he could.

"There is no way to know really. It's best not to catch a pokemon that you don't already have a bond with." The red and gold fox brushed against his leg as he spoke, ushering them to continue along the road to Lumiose City. "Pokemon don't exist when inside a pokeball" She looked confused at this so he continued "When a pokeball captures a pokemon it turns them into data. and it stores the data." She nodded as he spoke, it was usually quite difficult to get her to pay attention to things like this, though if it's to do with pokemon perhaps she'd listen. "So if the pokeball's memory is damaged or corrupted while the pokemon is in there-"

"The pokemon will be changed" She interrupted, clearly she was understanding. "Or maybe even killed?" He nodded, an action which prompted her to unleash her new partner in a flash of light and grab it tightly in a fearful embrace. "I'm sorry! I don't want you getting hurt. Do you want to come with me?" She asked, letting the small pokemon go. Ryan stopped to watch as the small pokemon yipped excitedly and licked her cheek. "Okay! If we find any pokemon who want to be friends, they can come too!" She said excitedly, springing to her feet. A confused look passed over her face though and she looked to Ryan. "But Mr. Cabberin. How can I make sure no-one steals my friends?"

Ryan smiled and nodded a moment before responding. "And that is the only reason to place pokemon in pokeballs. Once a pokemon is tied to one ball, no other pokeball can claim them. You catch them and then let them spend their time outside the ball for safety"

Further along, the road passed between a collection of trees and began to wind into an ever darkening forest. Cutting beside the forest was a fast running river, stepping in would likely whisk even a man Ryan's size away. "So here's your first decision on the road of new life" he began, not looking down at Shauna beside him. "Go through the forest, which though faster is much darker and likely has hidden dangers" Out of the corner of his eye he watched her turn from looking at him to the path ahead. "Or, along the riverside, which is slower, but every danger is visible."

"So you want me to choose between the known and the unknown?" She looked up at him, the two canines sitting between them staring upward. "I guess I'll take the known? But let's walk together! I feel like something exciting will happen if I stay by you!" Was her final remark, a comment that had the vagrant grumble his hope on the negative.
============
It had been a little over an hour, with perhaps another two to go along the riverside before they could reach Santalune city, the first stop before Lumiose, when something caught Shauna's eye. Ryan had noticed her watching something about the dirt and rocks in the area as they sunk each step into the sandy riverbank. "Oh! Hang on a second, Mr. Cabberin!" She excitedly chirped before rushing up to the trees, her Fennekin happily dashing after her. As the Vagrant was about to follow her he noticed a little red robin plomp down on a tree branch to watch them. It's head tilted as he tilted his looking at it. "Look what I found, Mr. Cabberin! I'll give it to you! I love puzzles, so I watch everything more closely than you might think!" Ryan shook his head and looked down at the young woman who held a battered and old pokeball up for him. Surprised he looked around for where it came from or how she noticed it. "There was a fight, someone got really hurt and hid the pokeball. Maybe you can find the owner?"
============

With the city of Santalune looming in the distance and the sun creeping toward horizon, Ryan's thoughts turned to where his young charge would stay the night. As he was about to ask her what she planned to do, a small clump of brown, stuff, hurtled from near the trees at them. Grabbing Shauna's shoulder he quickly pulled her out of the way, looking over to see who their attacker was. A small red ape stood at the treeline, cackling and scooping up another handful of mud that heated in its hand before it hurled it at them once again. Patting the young woman's shoulder the vagrant grabbed her hand and began to run. Narrowly avoiding the heated, almost liquid, balls of dirt. Glancing over his shoulder Ryan noticed the small robin flitting around the apes head, prompting the large man to skid to a halt. The small ape's hands were alight as it swung at the robin that frightfully pecked at its face. Ryan knocked his knife from his belt to the ground "Annwn, gimme heat" he ordered before running back the way he came to the small fight. A heated paw slammed across his leg, which Ryan ignored as he dropped to his knees and grab the small ape by the throat and forced it to the ground. He could feel it's hands burning through his thick shirt and searing his skin, but the vagrant simply blocked the pain from his mind until a little white hot knife was dropped by his side. Snatching it up he held the edge of the blade to the apes throat before turning it so the heated blade was pressed against the fur. He let out a growling 'ook' as he did so, which immediately send the ape limp. Through the whole moment, Ryan's eyes didn't leave the Pansear's, not even looking at burning red fur or clawed pale yellow arms. When he was sure it had submitted fully, Ryan moved to kneeling over it, and after a moment stood up and allowed it to follow him to standing. The little monkey shifted to stand behind the large man, where it hung it's head in respect to the alpha.

The large man caught up with Shauna again at the entrance to Santalune city; Annwn, the meek ape, and the little red robin in tow. "Oh! You have some more Pokémon!" Shauna commented, looking up from the table where she sat with a couple of her friends he'd seen her with earlier that day. At his arrival the group began to whisper amongst themselves. As he entered the nearest Liquor store, Ryan overheard the young lady come to his rescue. "So what? He'd never hurt someone he's protecting, that's why they didn't call it murder"

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 4: Santalune

It was a quiet little store, the man behind the counter looked up at Ryan's entrance. Obviously content Ryan was of age, the man returned to his reading as the homeless man began to quietly browse the store. With three fire pokemon following him, the clerk appeared about to raise an objection, but quietened down at Ryan's quick glare. Itching slightly, Ryan stopped to bend each finger back on the shelves, as he had done at the bridge. With the time to think he decided that a simple bottle of whiskey would likely be the easiest. Snatching a rather high proof bottle from the shelf, the vagrant began to hobble from the store. At this display of blatant theft, without even the sense to hide what he was taking, the clerk finally spoke up. His quiet but demanding tone rang through the vacant store, only to be met by a whisper from the man in filthy clothes. "Gimme fire" words quiet enough to be a whisper, but loud enough the clerk could hear them. Small flames began to flit from the mouth of the man's gold and red dog. "Fire in a liquor store, not a good mix. Ciao" Ryan waved over his shoulder, leaving quietly with his single bottle of whiskey. "Good boy" he whispered once outside, the Fennekin's fire fading as Shauna spotted them.

The young brunette skipped over to the door of the liquor store, her friends nearby gossiping amongst themselves. Ryan considered asking how everything was with them, but if she wanted to tell she would. Smiling, he cracked open the bottle and took a small gulp as she approached. Shauna didn't notice the man in the store behind her friend lock the door quite shakily. Ryan only heard it, and found it somewhat amusing. What else was he to do? He needed something to drink and there was nothing else safe around, even the river was dirty. The young lass, smiling up at him, chimed happily "I'm staying at the pokemon centre tonight. Apparently that's where all the pokemon trainers stay!" Ryan sighed and nodded, shuddering secretly at her misplaced enthusiasm. "The letter acts as a Trainer ID until I can get to the lab. Where are you staying?" Ryan looked around a moment before pointing to the wall of a building under an awning. The young lady was horrified, he couldn't be serious could he? A heavy cloud was drifting from the south. He could sleep in the main room of the center, surely? Why would anyone choose to spend the night in the cold rain? As she began to raise her objections, the tall man lifted his hand, this conversation was over. He would speak to her in the morning.

Once Shauna had passed through the doors of the pokemon center, Ryan slumped down at the edge of the building, right where he had indicated. The small gold and red canine, Annwn, curled up at his feet. The red robin continued to sit on his shoulder, though moved to his finger when it approached. "You're not going to leave me alone now are you" he whispered to the small bird, which hopped down from his finger to investigate his cauterized wound. "Since you tried to help me by the river, if you stick around I'll call you Strix" The robin tweeted happily in response, likely simply happy he was talking to it. After he stroked the little birds head a couple times it settled in to snooze on the large shoulder despite the sounds of a number of people shouting at the small red monkey running around. With a clap of his hand and a slap of the ground beside him, Ryan summoned the monkey back to him. "You're going to either stay close to me, or go home. No middle ground here" At his tone, the small red monkey plopped down beside him quietly, eying everyone who appeared interested in approaching. Accustomed to resting on hard stone, no sooner had he placed his head against the wall with his eyes closed, had Ryan succumbed to sleep.

He stood upon the stone path, a thousand people lined up before him. Each person faced the same way, with the others standing to their left and right. The tall man held out his bag to each person as he walked down the line. Many people; young and old, men and women, dropped letters into the bag. Thousands of envelopes drifted peacefully down to lay upon the pile within. One man fought, he refused to release his envelope, struggling in place as chains formed on his ankles and wrists, binding him where he stood. The pain and fear in the man's eyes were as clear and bright as the midday sun, tears began to form as Ryan snatched the letter, dropping it in the bag before continuing down the line. At the end of the thousands of men, women, and children, stood a single little girl. She was not part of the line, but stood at the end of it all the same, her brown hair and giddy smile, not to dissimilar to Shauna's, blinked up at him. The wandering vagrant lay the bag of letters on the ground before her, smiling as the very land around them dissolved to nothing. Much blood was on his hands, blood and pain he had to live with.

A hand gently shook Ryan awake at the shoulder. Opening his eyes, the vagrant looked up at both a happily panting dog and a young woman standing higher than it. Shauna's grin was immense, a little plastic bug's head between three of her fingers. It's two large green eyes more reflective than it's bronzish carapace, it's pincers formed a loop designed to hang the small plastic token off a button or necklace. When she let it go, the little beetlehead swung down on the loop she stored it on. "I beat the gym" she chittered excitedly, "It wasn't the kind of rush I was told. But I can understand the appeal". Ryan smiled and nodded, denying the young ladies outstretched arm. "Are all gyms themed like that one? It was so cute!" She plonked down beside him smiling and obviously quite proud of herself. "Why don't people like bug pokemon? They're cute!" Ryan chuckled, taking the offering the small ape passed to him, chewing on the toasted apple as the young girl beside him continued. "I won money from those fights, they called them 'trainer dollars', they can only be used for trainer supplies, food and drink right?" She seemed to prattle excitedly.

After the quick breakfast, Ryan stood, pulling Shauna up beside him. The next leg of the journey to Lumiose was the northern road from Santalune. Again the path should take about a day. A woman at the exit gate smiled and offered Shauna a pair of roller skates upon seeing the badge hanging on her neck. Commenting on her lack of balance she giggled and turned the offer down. The northern path was flowery and well maintained, the many pokemon a symbol of the thriving ecosystem. "So how did you enjoy the Trainers room in the center?" The tall man snickered, looking down at the lass beside him.

"It's a big room with little hammock looking things on the floor. I couldn't sleep" She shrugged, following the comment with a mumble how she couldn't sleep, whilst petting the little red robin sitting on her shoulder.

"I've always prefered the street myself. Never set foot in a pokemon center." Ryan shrugged, the small red monkey climbing his back to sit on his shoulders as they passed a large garden filled with purple and orange flowers.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 5a: Shauna's Shadows

The day was long and tiring. The two of them; Shauna and her companion, Mr. Cabberin, trudged pathetically along the long road north to Lumiose city. The day wasn't a complete waste however, running her hand through the flowers as they walked, Shauna found after a while that one blue flower she had brushed against before had continued to drift along with her. Gripping the top of the flower was a small white and green creature with a small crown of yellow dots around it's head. Knowing the Flabébé having seen one before, Shauna squealed in excitement. Her squeak startled the large man beside her, with the small flower hovering above the palm of her hand she turned to face him. The small Pokemon looked up at the faces, drifting closer to her chest at the appearance of the tall man. "If it happily comes along, no argument here." He said with a smile, making her bounce excitedly in place with the flower above her hand.

As the sun set, the two companions breached the gate into the 'city of light', the great and famous Lumiose City. The great city seemed as if it were day, no matter how the sky hated them. An odd smell, ever present but less pungent than Mr. Cabberin, hung about the city. The large stone buildings had beautiful arched windows and often small balconies. An enormous spired building rose from the center of the city, shedding light as a beacon around it. The large man tapped Shauna's shoulder and pointed to the building, explaining that it was Lumiose's Pokemon gym, should she want to try her hand at it. However for now she had an appointment down the road from where they entered, a very old, quite classical building with a sign declaring 'Sycamore labs'. With a pat on the back, Mr. Cabberin left Shauna to enter the building of her own motivation.

The professor's laboratory was certainly once a house, though it's interior maintained gave it a distinctly clinical feel. As the door swung closed it was caught, Serena pushing it open again to allow herself access "Sorry I'm late" She remarked, shutting the door quietly behind her. "Was visiting my aunt, she's letting me stay the night tonight" Shauna nodded, commenting that it was a better idea than the Pokemon center. The two laughed, Serena taking this momentary reprise to show Shauna the many Pokemon she had already caught. Shauna was quite embarrassed to admit that though she had traveled the same distance in the same time, and even had a gym badge, she only owned one Pokemon. The little flower creature sticking to her blouse simply being a random passenger.

After a moment adoring each others cute little Pokemon, Serena asked the woman behind the counter for directions to where they could find the Professor. Her simple response was to request their invitation, their letter of acceptance from the Professor, which Serena proudly presented, while Shauna politely placed hers on the counter. After reading each, the quite distracted receptionist pointed down the only obvious hall. "Take the stairs to the fourth floor and it's the door on your right." The two girls smiled at each other before racing down the hall, Shauna's red and gold dog barking excitedly as it chased them along. The beautiful oak staircase was quickly bounded up despite it stretching four floors. The door on their right at the top of the stairs was open already, from inside they could hear things being hurtled about during what could easily be noticed as a Pokemon battle.

"Ha ha! You're too much for me! You're really something, aren't you?" The taller man in the room panted, leaning back against a desk after a flash of light signaled the end of a battle. As the two girls entered, he waved them closer "Fantastic! You're here! You are Shauna and Serena right?" The man smiled, straightening his shirt as he stood from the desk. The two girls nodded, Shauna admittedly getting somewhat excited to be in the same room as Professor Sycamore. "Many thanks for coming all the way from Vaniville Town! I'm Professor Sycamore! It's a pleasure to finally meet you! How is your Pokemon journey going so far? Have you met many different Pokemon? Fantastic! Let me have a quick look at your lineup and see!" The man wandered around the room a little, a warm smile and gentle hand gestures as he spoke. As he requested, both Serena and the young boy; Ryan, presented their Pokeballs. Each were proud to show they had five in their possession, embarrassing Shauna greatly when she held out the one Pokeball her Fennekin had come in, the canine in question sitting by her side. The professor's eyebrows narrowed as he looked her up and down, keeping the calming smile all the while. "Haven't you had much luck? It'd be fantastic if you took another Pokemon with you! Here! Pick one!" Shauna was shocked and slightly bewildered. She stuttered as three flashes of mechanical red light revealed three Pokemon; A lizard with a bulb growing from it's back, a bipedal lizard with fire on it's tail, and a large turtle. Looking at the three people in the room with her she blinked for a moment, unsure if they were joking.

"I don't know which one to pick! It's so difficult!" Shauna whispered confused and slightly upset. The older girl's hand rested on her shoulder as Serena encouraged her. Being told she'd be with this Pokemon for a long time both frightened and excited Shauna as she knelt down in front of the Pokemon. Looking at each of them she holds out her arms by her side, palms facing away and shoulders lowered. After about a minute, the bipedal lizard wandered forward and placed it's arms around her waist. Avoiding the fiery tail, Shauna wrapped her arms around the little lizard's back. "Hello, Charmander. I'm glad to meet you. I hope you'll come to trust and like me. I promise that I'll take good care of you." She hugged it tight, only letting go when a little nose nudged her side. "Oh, this is Kinglii. I hope you too get along!" After wiping a couple tears from her eyes she wrapped her arms around both of them, a little flower sitting in her hair. Looking up she watched as Ryan took the Pokeball for the turtle and Serena took the one for the final Pokemon.

After a few minutes getting to know the new Pokemon, the four people were met by two more. Tierno and Trevor strolled through the door excitedly. Both boys greeted the professor, and were met by a warm smile and handshake. Trevor looked around at the others as the professor hopped up to sit upon his desk. "Wonderful! Everyone's all here." The professor grinned at them triumphantly. "So now that we're all here, I'd like to say a few words." Shauna watched as both Tierno and Trevor rolled their eyes, grabbing nearby chairs for each person. She politely declined hers, preferring to sit on the floor with the two Pokemon hugging her. "Be the best Trainer you can be!" He rubbed his hands together, eager to begin his speech. "At the same time, remember to have fun traveling with your Pokemon!" The Charmander and Fennekin shuffled to watch where Shauna was watching, remaining in her arms. "Also, I want to ask for your help in solving the Kalos region's biggest Pokemon mystery: the secret and potential of Mega Evolution, a new kind of Evolution that occurs in battle!" Shauna sighed quietly to herself, this is where it ceased to be as amazing or whimsical. This was something that was already quite well understood, it wasn't a mystery or an enigma. Professor Sycamore figured a lot of this out many years ago, there was even rumours of a human who could mega evolve. This was simply some simply little quest to send the kids accepted into this 'program' on, if they didn't want to do the Pokemon league challenge.

The professor's spiel continued for a further half an hour, the darkness outside almost impossible to note for the lights of the city. He spoke whimsically and excitedly, many of the others sharing his enthusiasm as the time drew on. When finally he declared the lesson over, he handed each one of them a small card with their picture on it, apparently taken during his talk. Shauna's Pokemon license showed the Charmander, Fennekin and Flabébé, along with her name; date of birth and several other details. As they left, Serena approached her excitedly "I can't wait to be a Pokemon master", her excitement instantly rubbing off on Shauna. "Oh, do you have a place to stay tonight?" She asked suddenly, as the two walked through the well lit streets. At the shaking of Shauna's head she smiled "Great! Come with me and stay in my aunt's spare room. It'll be better than the pokemon center!"

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 5b: Ryan's Shadows

The day was long and tiring. The two of them; Ryan and his young companion, Shauna, trudged pathetically along the long road north to Lumiose city. The day wasn't a complete waste however, as she had run her hand through the flowers while they walked, Shauna found after a while that one blue flower she had brushed against before had continued to drift along with her. Gripping the top of the flower was a small white and green creature with a small crown of yellow dots around it's head. Knowing the Flabébé having seen one before, Shauna squealed in excitement. Her squeak had not startled him, only hurt his ear, with the small flower hovering above the palm of her hand she turned to face him. The small Pokemon looked up at the faces, drifting closer to her chest at the appearance of the tall man. "If it happily comes along, no argument here." He said with a smile, making her bounce excitedly in place with the flower above her hand.

As the sun set, the two companions breached the gate into the 'city of light', the great and famous Lumiose City. The great city seemed as if it were day, no matter how the sky hated them. An odd smell, ever present but less pungent than Mr. Cabberin, hung about the city. The large stone buildings had beautiful arched windows and often small balconies. An enormous spired building rose from the center of the city, shedding light as a beacon around it. The Ryan tapped the young girl's shoulder and pointed to the building, explaining that it was Lumiose's Pokemon gym, should she want to try her hand at it. However for now she had an appointment down the road from where they entered, a very old, quite classical building with a sign declaring 'Sycamore labs'. With a pat on the back, the man left Shauna to enter the building of her own motivation.

Only one store near the professor's laboratory seemed to still be open at this time. A fabric awning covered the entrance as a somewhat bored man stood inside the door. Having only a little money to his name, and not seeing many other places he could get food for those following him, Ryan entered the Café Soleil. The elegant store was small but well lit, a collection of stools stood at the counter, while more personal two person tables were scattered around the room. Only about six people were in the café, four of them were staff, and one of the remaining was Ryan. He stuck out like a sore thumb, a long ragged and filthy trench coat over a tattered hoodie and burnt and torn slacks. The only other patron in the place was a woman not much younger than Ryan, with green and brown hair and a large black and gold serpent wrapped around the legs of her stool. The man by the door turned to the vagrant, a hand over his nose and mouth in both disgust and surprise. "Sir, I'm going to have to ask you to leave." The man shakingly whispered up at him. The vagrant was actually insulted by this, demanding to know why he had to leave despite not starting any sort of issue. "I am sorry sir" the fellow stuttered "But we have a standard we must maintain." This only enraged the towering man who began to shout about indecency and discrimination.

Hearing the commotion, the woman at the counter slipped from her stool to stride over to them. She was taller than average, though the top of her head still barely reaching Ryan's eye level. "Hey. Hey!" she growled, her footfalls light but vicious and striking. "That is my wallet you're messing with here, kid." She grumbled to the staff member, placing her arm around behind Ryan to grab his far shoulder. He didn't know this woman, they'd never met before, so her coming to his defense made no sense at all. "He's with me. I told you when I came into this lovely little cafe that I was expecting company - and you're denying your customer?" Her words seemed to attack the man, she hissed and spit, but to be honest; Ryan found it quite interesting. The canine beside him was unsure whom it should be growling at? The woman with the viper words or the man she was spitting at? "If you aren't careful, you're bound to lose quite a few customers with that attitude and policy. There've been worse people in here besides." The Serpent from the stool she had been sitting at, unwrapped itself to slither over. "You're wearing those shoes with that pair of pants? Who taught you how to judge other's clothing and appearances?" she was on eye level with this man, but his stance and posture definitely showed her well above him. In a quick hiss of red light, a large black and white ursine creature joined the room with them. Ryan, the woman, the snake and Ryan's Pokemon all took a moment to stare at this huge imposing beast as the waiter once again demanded Ryan's exit. With a word of command the woman's serpent retrieved her bag that she may leave also. The man asked her about her bill, only to be shot down one final time by the woman. "As far as I'm concerned, I am not a customer, as you are forcing me to leave. That and the shoddy excuse for service you gave hardly counts as worthy of a tip. Therefore, I am leaving." A brush of the pads of her fingertips against her denim shorts was all it took to encourage a menacing hiss from her serpentine companion, sharp bladed tail glint in the soft sunlight coming through the glass window. "I understand there isn't a problem, sir?" the woman asked quietly with a hint of a threatening growl barely masked by cold politeness.

Ryan's hand moved to the small of the woman's back, gently turning her. He watched her green hair leave the building before he did, patting the red ape's head while it held the door for them. "I appreciate that, but you didn't need to disturb your own meal for me." he commented once the door had swung loudly shut behind them. She laughed, petting the small red robin that had landed on her shoulder. It had been her pleasure, she told him, her day would have been nothing but boring if he had not wandered into that cafe. With a smile she handed him a canteen from her pocket, commenting that he'd not eaten or drunk anything for a while from what she could tell. "Boring is never my intention. Thank you tremendously" Ryan took a single swig before handing the drink back, his hand returning to the small of her back. "So what are your plans now, and may I escort you?"

She paused in her footsteps abruptly, the dirtier of the two almost bumping right into her shoulder. "I also can't stand the smell of Trubbish - which is exactly what you smell and look like." The short but sly woman grinned at the vagrant's taken expression at the comment. "Tell ya what. You can crash at my place and shower, and then you can keep me company at dinner or something in return. Sound good?" She paused before continuing, cutting off his response. "Oh, and I greatly dislike being told 'no.' Just thought I'd throw that out there." She said lightly with a dismissive flick of her wrist, grinning a little

Across the road stood a man in a long rigid suit, a strange blend of a a tuxedo and a trench coat that had almost no movement in it at all. The neck and chest line of the vest was lined with a thick fur pelt that coiled under itself. The red trimming of the collar, sleeves and hem, being both the primary contrast of the jet black suit, and perhaps the exact colour of his hair. The man's mane was tongues of fiery hair, whipped back in an impressive explosion. His facial hair was the greatest testament to this man's sheer attention to detail, a perfect line of hair reaching from his jawline to create a red arrowhead beneath his skull. A horrible tragedy that despite this man's efforts to appear the best he can; he was cursed with perhaps the most phallic nose possible. Every muscle in Ryan's arms tensed when he noticed the man, who was quite confused at seeing Ryan standing near him. "Well, well. Ryan Cabberin. Quite a surprise to see you here, has it been two years already?" The man maintained as calm a tone as he could, approaching the group who stood opposite him. A concerted effort to create the most intimidating and masculine walk he could, and prevent it turning into a crease-less waddle. Snarling, Ryan simply spat the number three before the man continued. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?" He bowed to the woman at Ryan's side, "My name is Lysandre-" she cut him off, snarling with slightly less malice than her companion that he, the man in black, owned possibly the brightest and most obnoxious cafe in the entire city. A feat in and of itself. After basically spitting back at the woman to keep unfashionable opinions like that to herself, the man fixed his outfit before turning back to the filthy vagrant. "My offer still stands Ryan. My R and D department could always use a mind like yours" he smiled warmly. The mans hand, embraced by a fingerless glove, waited expectantly for Ryan's to join it. The moment looked almost frozen in time for a couple seconds before Lysandre continued "You're only qualified for two things Cabberin and with your recent history, one of them isn't really an option anymore is it?"

Ryan's eyes moved from the hand, to the piercing blue eyes on level with his own. "I'd rather spend my life rolling in the gutters than work for you Lysandre." the left of his mouth twitching to prevent curling in a snarl. He didn't need to growl, the Fennekin between his feet was doing enough of that. The songbird on his shoulder made not a note, and the ape stood meekly to Ryan's right, staring up at the man whose hair made the shape of a toothy maw attempting to swallow his face. "Now leave, before I decorate your face with a natural red paint" His fist clenched, an act that easily drew the eye of many around as the distinct cracking of glass could be heard between his fingers. Though no drop spilled from the splintering bottle. "I mean it Lysandre. I expect Mable won't be too thrilled to hear why you need thirty minutes more makeup." The man's uneasy glare broke away as he adjusted his plumage and strutted away silently, head held high as he waddled. Suppressing a smile, Ryan turned to his female companion. "Sorry about that, if my company is still desired-" he bowed with one hand stretched to the side, pointing the way they had been heading "- then please lead the way". The woman laughed openly, strutting down the street with the tall man in tow.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 6: Another Morning

The apartment was trashed; the couch had been tilted on the arm rather the back as expected, glass littered the floor around the entry to the bathroom and the few chairs that existed in the building were strewn about haphazardly. As Ryan finished the two bowls of porridge, spiced with whiskey as little other food was present in the place, the young woman with brown and green hair picked herself up from the windowsill. With a towel wrapped around her, the woman staggered into the kitchen, leaning over the counter to begin on her bowl of breakfast. Ryan's grin would not be hidden as he looked the woman over. "That's probably going to scar you know." he chuckled, the woman's face reddened in response.

"Good" She grinned back, eyes locking with his. Her spoon traced small circles through the thick alcoholic broth. "Oh" She smirked, Ryan's eyebrows raising in response "You still owe me for that mirror." the woman, Chuey, pointed over her shoulder with the spoon at the fragments of glass littering the floor.

Ryan chuckled, looking past the lady's towel covered rump to the shards in the doorway behind her. The black serpent slithering half confused through the fragments making him chuckle even more. "Well" Ryan ate a bit more of his odd porridge before properly responding, pointing with his spoon. "Your ass, not mine." The two smiled, looking away from each other for the remainder of the meal. With two fingers, Ryan pointed to the small ape and little red robin, then to the glass fragments, which the two Pokemon set about shuffling into a small pile.

A small wooden stick poked Ryan's hip, prompting him to look down. The first thing he noticed though was that one of Annwn's paws was on the counter beside him. The canine beside him was standing on it's rear legs, wobbling slightly as it looked up at him. The creature's fur was just as matted as always, jutting out at bizarre points and creating the illusion of a grand Dracula-esc collar or electric parachute pants. The fiery fur spouting from the creatures ears seemed alight despite it's darker shade. The Pokemon barked twice, happily grumbling as it's masters hand came down to playfully ruffle the fur atop it's head. But when Ryan's hand pulled back, the Pokemon pointed its stick at the ground behind him and barked again. Looking around, all he could see was his shadow, stretching long for the low angled light through the window. The vagrant shrugged, watching his shade turn back to the dark shape of the bowl before he did so himself. Eyes furrowing a moment as he looked at the bowl of whiskey and oats.

Ryan blinked dismissively, certain he hadn't just seen what he was sure he'd just seen. Chuey was too busy leaning forward to try and see Annwn by the man's side to care what was confusing him. However, both became quiet confused at the sudden darkness they found themselves in. The intense light that always streamed in from outside her window had suddenly shut off, not even sunlight was shining into the room. By the light of small flames leaping from the Braixen's mouth, the two staggered to the window. An enormous storm had rolled over Lumiose city, many rapid bolts of current jumping from the sky to the rooftops lighting the city for the briefest of moments. For perhaps a second or less between two flashes, the window was lit solely by the fires behind them, turning the glass into a mirror. For the instant between strikes, Chuey stood beside a tall gold and brown creature, four wicked horns jutting from it's head and strange brown shapes across it's torso. This peculiar image never again appeared when the sky was dark again. Without wanting to wear out his welcome, Ryan smiled and thanked the viper lady for the shower and meals, before leading his small band of Pokemon out of the apartment. Neither he nor his hostess could remember where the spoon he'd eaten with had gone. Indeed, even the spoon was not use to these strange fabric surroundings it bounced around in.

Stepping from the apartment building, Ryan looked left and right down the bizarrely dark city streets. The faces in the windows had a strange expression, as if some of them had never seen the shade before. The silence of the city was soothing, broken only by the occasional rumbling of thunder. But it wouldn't be so peaceful for long, either the storm would leave or the power would return, in either case people would swarm the streets of light once again. Following the street to the large central tower, Ryan circled it looking for light in any of the exit gates from the city. Of course the gates were quite a distance from the tower, but any light would be a beacon in this storm. All the gates had their own light source, and only one of them was not on. The alley that led to the gate was among the narrowest in the city, but brought him out directly opposite the large entryway, where the young lady he'd been traveling with was talking with a friend of hers. Spotting him, Shauna waved Ryan over. She gave her friend a goodbye hug before skipping over to the tall vagrant. Seeing her there confused him, prompting Ryan to ask how she knew he would come to this gate. Shauna laughed before replying "The powers out! Any trainers entering or leaving the city would prefer a gate with a little light" He nodded affirmation, still not sure how she knew he would come to the light-less one. "You don't like crowds. You'd want to leave the city to avoid the crowd, while avoiding crowds. See, I do pay attention!" He didn't argue, she certainly knew him better than he expected for only two days outside of school. "Oh. The professor gave me a new Pokemon" The small bipedal lizard poked its head out from behind her leg. The large man did his best to ignore the little creature as it was nervously ducking its head back behind the young girls leg, doing a terrible job of hiding itself. Annwn too hid himself behind Ryan's leg, either mimicking or teasing the young Charmander by copying it's nervous peeking, Ryan was unsure exactly which.

Once Shauna had finished fawning over Annwn, the small group passed through the only dark passage into Lumiose city. Well, the only public one at least. On the other side of the great wall, Shauna and Ryan were stopped in their tracks by a pair of large cyan wolves. The wolves stood upon their rear paws, with a large spike jutting from their forepaws. "Today the day of two feet or something?" Ryan grumbled, the little red ape beside him leaning forward with it's hands on the ground in response. The wolves only stood about four feet off the ground, though still they towered over many of the other Pokemon around them. As the two wolves approached the small group, a woman's call stopped them in their tracks.

"Wait! Lucario!!!" She shouted, a woman of average build and height. She had long blonde hair leaking out of a horned white riding helmet. One of the two wolves stepped closer, it's head lowering and sliding forward as it sniffed loudly. Annwn stepping out from behind the vagrant's recently cleaned legs. "Sorry about that! Are you OK?" the woman in white brushed her hair out of her face. "I was doing some special training with my Lucario when all of a sudden they dashed off." Ryan nodded, explaining that it wasn't a problem. The one wolf stepped closer, eying the Braixen moving from behind the large man to behind the young lady. "Hey, Lucario!" The woman became distracted, looking at the cyan canine's intense stare. "What's going on with you? Did you get drawn in by this girl's aura or something?" The simple act of Ryan looking down at the wolf seemed to startle it. The creature snarled as viciously as it could, though something about the man's glare simply cut the snarl short. "Huh. Well, it seems Lucario likes you!" The woman commented, Shauna asking if she was really sure. "See, Lucario can read people's auras. I guess something in your aura has made this one take a liking to a stranger!" She smiled, though the tall man didn't appreciate her tone, she had this strange condescension. "Oops! I was on such a roll, I forgot to even introduce myself! I'm Korrina, the Shalour City Gym Leader." Shauna laughed commenting that they may see each other again, not noticing how close the canine's snout was getting to Annwn, its stare intense. As Annwn lent away, the creature leaned in closer. The cyan head flew back however after being wholloped on the snout by a fire hardened stick.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 7: Not the Hero

Contrary to what he suspected, it had only taken a gentle snarl to have the strange and pretentious woman skate away frightened. With that over, Ryan and his young charge continued along the road. With Shauna standing on his right, Ryan's first thought was that it was she who held his hand. Sighing, he looked over, ready to explain to eighteen year old girl standing more than an arm length away from him- His eyes narrowed in confusion for a second before Ryan gradually lowered his head. He blinked a couple times, the small fox Annwn barking happily up at him, gripping his hand in it's paw. His thick glove masking the shape of the hand holding it, but being thin enough that he could tell it was being held. Shauna however was blushing, suppressing the 'naww' he could see almost etched on her face. "Oh hush you" his eyes narrowed, hiding his small smile as he looked back to the road. "So." He searched for some way to move the focus away from Annwn. "Where'd you sleep last night?" She laughed again, drifting off to just a pleasant smile, commenting that she spent the night with a friend. When pressed, she revealed it was just a sleepover with her friend Serena. The two chatted and hung out, very little sleep apparently occurred as they were having just too much fun talking about pokemon and where they plan to go or do. Ryan didn't pry, as this conversation didn't involve him, but it was nice to see he wasn't the only one to have a good time the night prior.

Ryan was somewhat confused, not even two hours had passed and already they were nearing the edge of a small town. The town was surrounded by either half a stone wall, or a large and unfinished rock fence, Ryan was unsure what to call it. Passing through the- gate? hole? into the town, the vagrant suppressed a laugh. This was Camphrier Town. He'd read about it and it's rich history, but had never seen the place. For a town with five centuries of history, the twelve buildings looked a little meager to him. The only impressive landmark was the large mansion set upon a small hill and surrounded by a moat. The large gothic building towered above anything else, the top of the front door being higher even than the pile of rocks that surrounded the village. "Mr. Cabberin?" Shauna refused to call him by his name, sweet but a little annoying. Without releasing the little paw, the tall man looked over with a questioning 'humph'. "I've wanted to ask, when did you get all cleaned up" He laughed tiredly at her remark, glancing into the water of the moat to see what she saw. For the first instant, not even the blink of an eye, it wasn't Ryan looking up at him from the surface of the water. But shaking his head he knew he'd just been seeing things.

The image of a man walking along the small wooden bridge toward the manor reflected up at Ryan from the water's edge. Looking over he watched as an excited man, about half the size of the other, sprinted from the other side of 'town' toward the fellow. Glancing around, Ryan noticed Shauna watching the man as well. Shauna's Fennekin and Ryan's Pansear were ahead, already approaching the two men, being followed shortly by the two humans. "Sir!" The man called, getting close enough to the bridge to be heard. "Sir! It's back" he wheezed, the other man looking confused for a second before his eyes widened in understanding. "It's that time of year" the obviously exhausted man continued, waving for the portly fellow to follow him, unwittingly signalling for the vagrant and lass to follow as well.

A little west of the town, the river that passed Vaniville town finally reached a large lake. But the meandering flow was drying up, a large weight had simply slammed itself in the mouth of the river, damming it up. After drawing nearer, Shauna was the first of the two to understand what they were looking at. The huge mass was mostly black with two large white spots. What might have seemed to be cracked rocks or maybe thick moss was instead fur. A creature the size of a semi truck, was slammed down in the start of the river. "Here we go again." The portly man growled, looking down from the now pointless bridge. "It's sleeping so soundly, the end of the world wouldn't wake it." The man simply closed his eyes, pressing his head into his crossed arms on the rail of the bridge. "It's practically a mountain, right?" His mumbling could barely be heard over the creature's rumbling snores. "I can't even use the Pokeflute" The man's hands grabbed the rails and his head lifted slightly. Seeing this man getting more aggravated, Ryan stepped in, asking exactly why the man cannot use the Pokeflute; an instrument who'se playing is known to wake anything. "I had to sell it to the king of Parfum Palace. To pay off my debts to him" The man's voice shook, in many way's Ryan recognized. The vagrant could see the use of a river, and if this creature refused to move it would cause a serious problem in very little time.

The Pokeflute, a musical instrument that can wake anything, had been sold by it's owner to pay his taxes. The driveway to the building where it now resided was longer than Camphrier Town itself. Large trees hung their long branches over the road, creating a long green hallway, walled by large and well maintained hedges. The gate sitting at the end of this road was grand and gold, a glimmering light in the darkness of the passage leading to it. The guard standing beside the gate snapped his head back up and eyes open, struggling to keep them there as he lent on the wall at the side of the massive gold structure. Ryan's appearance, in his long and tattered trench coat, was an amusing contrast to this short man in well pressed black and gold clothes. The man yawned, mumbling something about the great Parfum Palace serving as a museum or something or other. "Need to talk to the man in charge" Ryan said, looking at the windows of the grand castle behind the shimmering bars. Without missing a beat, the guard requested the entrance fee, one thousand dollars. "Two questions. First, how much do you get paid?" Ryan hadn't turned his head away from the castle, watching as the robin that had been following him this far glided around the parapets before swooping back toward him. The guard's reply was something meager, little more than a grocery packer in Ryan's experience. "Second, does the entry fee cover your medical care?" Shauna was shocked at what she was hearing, and appalled at her compatriot when the gates swung open at the guard's button press. Holding out his arm in front of him, Ryan was not surprised at the significantly heavier weight of the red eagle now perched upon him. As the lass beside him began to express her distaste, Ryan cut her off. "Stay here. Annwn, keep her outside." The little Braixen saluted the tall man, edging close and taking Shauna's hand in it's own.

As the large wooden doors swung shut loudly behind him, Ryan was greeted by a frightened and quite portly older gentleman who rounded the corner to him. At first shuddering at the simple sight of Ryan, the man began to beg him. He pleaded to the tall man for help. "What's wrong" Ryan's eyes furrowed, hands on the man's shoulders as he looked around. The terrified man cried out, explaining how horribly worried he was, he could not find his precious Furfrou, a breed of canine Pokemon. With an eyebrow raised, Ryan looked into the man's eyes. "Are you the owner of this place?" The man nodded, pressing his head into Ryan's recently cleaned shirt to wipe his tears away. Leaning to the right on one foot, Ryan could see out the window and into the huge acreage this man would call his back yard. A small white canine with a large fluffy tail and blink collar was bounding through the grass. Turning the man around forcefully he pointed out the window. "That your dog?" He sighed, the short man's muscles relaxed and he smiled. With a sigh of relief, the man regained his composure and subsequently ordered Ryan to retrieve the animal. "It's a dog" He snarled back. "In your back yard" the man was startled to be shoved by this unnamed guest. "Where he belongs!" The wide eyed expression was different this time, not fear but shock. How could someone be so indignant? How could someone- When Ryan roared his distaste, the man stumbled backwards over his feet, running through the courtyard door and out toward the canine.

After the man rounded the corner out of sight, Ryan approached the small display case marked 'PokeFlute'. Smashing the glass, he drew the flute from it's display, dropping it and a spoon that had been laying in the case, into his pocket.  Though there was a significant amount of blood, Ryan didn't care, the cuts weren't deep. Hiding his cut hand behind his back he stepped back out the entrance. Shauna immediately asked what happened, Annwn releasing her hand with a wave of Ryan's good hand. "A little difference of world view. I just didn't want the people in there to associate us and form an unjust opinion of you" He smile courteously, even bowing slightly. The slightly narrowed eyes told him she didn't buy it. "Go on in, it's really very nice in there, you'll like it." He smiled, waving as she entered the large building with her three Pokemon tagging after her. As the tall man marched down the road back toward Camphrier, the lowering sun set a golden glow upon the east wall of the alley, Ryan watching as his shadow walked ahead on it, looking around nervously. His arm had slowly stopped bleeding, much due to the help of the small ape, who'se hands ran across the scars when told "Gimme Heat". One thing great about training Pokemon with similar abilities, many can learn simply by the example of others. Arriving at the bridge, the vagrant shook his head as he watched the young boy, also called Ryan, tossing pokeball after pokeball at the huge creature. "That won't work" He yelled, noticing the young lady standing near him shaking her head. Serena sighed, whispering that she'd been telling him that. "Pokemon with enough bulk have to be physically injured and psychologically drained before the pokeball can even begin to process them."

It was only when the young man commented on it that Serena noticed. Before he knew it, Ryan was being grabbed at by the arms of three Pokemon and one young woman. Annwn and the ape attempted to pull the assailants off, but backed off at Ryan's order. "What happened?" Serena growled, gripping Ryan by his collar and staring up into his eyes. "Where is Shauna and what happened to your arm?" She shook him slightly. "Tell me!" The tall man smiled, gently prying her hands off his collar with his unblemished arm. He explained that the wounds have nothing to do with her, but that Shauna was likely happily enjoying Parfum Palace. Withdrawing her Pokemon, Serena jogged off up the road to the 'museum'.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 8: Snorlax

A portly man, the owner of the PokeFlute, lent over the railing of the bridge. His head in his hands as he stared infuriated at the sleeping giant below him. Turning slowly, the man looked over at Ryan. "Oh it's you" the man seemed somewhat disoriented in the setting sunlight. "Did you actually manage to borrow the Poke Flute?" he mumbled back, perking up only slightly at the appearance of the small instrument in the vagrants hand. "Thanks" he sighed, taking the flute from the elder Ryan's extended hand. "Snorlax can be grumpy when it wakes up-- it might attack!" Ryan nodded, Annwn and the Ape stepping up on his sides. "I'll play the flute right now, but are you ready to stop it?" The man stepped off the bridge, the young Ryan taking his place watching over the huge creature below. "Feels nice to have this flute in my hands again. OK, I guess I'll start by playing Chinese Twilight by Klaus Schønning" The flute had a strange echoing sound that relaxed every muscle in the vagrant's body. The tall man watched as the red eagle lowered to sit upon his shoulder, and the little hand holding his slacked away slightly.

After about three minutes, the huge mass began to stir. Its eyes fluttered open and its mouth stretched wide. The echoing yawn almost drowned out the melody being played right beside the fellow in the trench coat. When the creature roared though, the portly man dropped the flute as he fell back in fright. The large beast pulled itself to standing, apparently ignoring the tremendous force of the water rushing around it. Though its eyes hadn't opened, the beast looked straight at the boy on the bridge, growling and reaching for him with it's massive paws.

The creature's roar rocked the bridge, its huge claws ripping through the young boy's chest. The lad coughed hard, every breath he took bringing bloody bubbles to the surface through the cuts. In a quick flash of light from the lad's pokeball appeared a taller somewhat humanoid looking toad, with long arms and a longer mane of clear bubbles. The boy grasped at the blue amphibian which immediately wrapped its arms around him and began to drag him off the bridge. As they moved, it was only narrowly able to avoid some downward strikes by the huge creature, saving it's master from the fate of the splintering and shattering wooden bridge. The huge hairy monster attempted to pull itself up onto the walkway, crushing and splitting the bridge as it did. With the wood simply peeling away under the paws the creature moved to a bank, lifting itself up onto the rocky edge. Leaving it's massive form looming over the small boy, who lay clutching at his bleeding chest. Ryan's attention snapped away from the battle for a moment, almost yelling at the two men from Camphrier. "Get a doctor or something, don't just fucking stand there!" He roared, not quite as intimidating as the beast, but fairly close.

Only one of the two men ran. The flutist remained, staring at the horrifying image of the creature bending over to rip the boy apart. "Hold this" Ryan commanded, shoving the bottle of whiskey into the flutist's arms. The man blinked confused for a second, looking down at the bottle in his arms. Ryan didn't wait for any answer, clicking his fingers once and pointing at his feet before charging across the rickety and breaking bridge. Annwn, on two legs and holding the stick out as a weapon in front of him, and the Fire headed red ape ran beside him. "Gimme him, over there" Ryan shouted, pointing to the boy on the ground in front of the huge beast and then to the flutist across the river. While Annwn and the Ape grabbed the boy, Ryan's whistle grabbed the attention of the bird. "Leveyr. Distract the frog" the eagle rushed away, swooping and rushing around the head of the long armed amphibian, keeping it from stopping the other two taking the young boy away. The beast however was not so accommodating, reaching down to snatch any of the banquet of pokemon in front of it. Its arms were halted though, as the skin on its back was pulled taut. Ryan's hands gripped the fur on the creature's back as it writhed and pulled away. Many pokemon in the grass around them shuddered and recoiled back into the grass at the massive beasts roar of pain. The fur on the back of the Snorlax pulled more the more it moved. Ryan was thrown about as it shook him, furiously trying to toss him away. Two pokeballs lept from his coat in the swinging, a red and white one, and a strange and somewhat unique and scratched up bronze and black one.

With it's massive paw wrapping around his chest, the Snorlax ripped the vagrant off it's back. Bringing him up to it's mouth, the huge hairy beast bit down on the man's arm, swallowing most of it's length into it's huge maw. Letting out a strange growl that didn't sound overly pained, Ryan bit down on the back of the huge furred neck. The harder the beast bit down on his upper arm, the harder Ryan bit into its neck. As blood began to trickle from the side of Ryan's mouth, the huge beast let out a painful cry. With the opportunity presented, Ryan yanked his arm from it's mouth and jumped down off the creature's chest. With a glance at the bridge, Ryan noticed the ape getting close to him and Annwn still toddling along across the rickety planks toward him. The young boy was safe on the other side, whiskey being poured onto his wounds by the portly flutist. In some grass nearby sat the red and white pokeball, but Ryan ignored it; frantically searching for the black and bronze one. A lion cub stood nearby, the metallic pokeball sitting in it's mouth as it happily stared down at him. Without a word the large man snatched the ball back, stuffing it in his pocket. The massive paw that had almost struck him instead being set alight by ball of fire hurtled by the ape nearby.

With the eagle gliding back, having apparently lead the frog to it's master, an idea sparked in Ryan's mind. "If this works, something tells me I'm going to have to come up with a faster way" He pointed to each of the pokemon; the crimson eagle, the ape and Annwn, saying 'you' each time. "Gimme fire" he smiled, rolling onto his back. Ryan pointed up at the face of the huge Snorlax looming over him. Even the creature above him seemed to know something was the matter with the tone the final word was spoken in. "There" the vagrant grinned. Annwn reacted immediately, hurtling small balls of fire at the creature. The eagle understood the quickest after, circling above and dropping burning spitballs down on the creature's fur. Seeing the others act, the ape and the lion cub began to send their own bouts of flame at the creature. "That's it, next lesson is bombardment" The vagrant chuckled to himself, scurrying across the grass to grab the red and white pokeball and store it with the bronze one in his coat.

The beast snatched Ryan up, holding him out as a shield against the bouts of fire from his pokemon. Three fireballs singed the vagrant's back before the bombardment was silenced at his moans of pain. The Snorlax's roar was almost a triumphant laugh. "That's it" the vagrant growled, reaching his arm in to slice the palm of his hand on the creature's  sharpest tooth. Pulling out only an instant before the jaws slammed shut, Ryan reached around and slammed his palm down on the bite mark across the furry neck. "I've had about enough of you" he snarled, glaring into its eyes. "Sorry big guy, but down you go" The beast shook its head wearily, it's eyes fluttering shut and then snapping open again. Ryan was dropped like a sack of bricks, crumpling onto the ground and drawing his knife. The large creature staggered backward, clutching at its neck and grumbling painfully. The footsteps shook the ground around it as the beast staggered to the lake, slumping down on the grassy bank. Ryan held his knife out by the handle toward Annwn "Gimme heat." he exhaled, watching as the bipedal fox took the blade into its mouth for a moment. When the knife was handed back, the blade was pressed against the slice on his palm, searing the flesh.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

A return with part 9. Sorry, Life has been hard.

Spoiler: Part 9: Aluminium candles.

Holding his arm in pain, Ryan looked to the east and west. The rising moon silhouetting the group of paramedics and police heading from the small town toward them. Certainly he needed medical attention, but the police are also looking for him. Wincing, the large man rose, whistling once before turning to stagger westward. At the whistle, the small group of pokemon that had been following him, joined Ryan's side. Even the little lion cub followed intrigued. The large lake to their right sported a strange castle nestled upon an isle in the center, a large bridge reaching to the mainland. The castle bore no banners or signs, but Ryan recognized it. That was the Battle Chateau, a highly exclusive club for the fabulously wealthy. The better a pokemon trainer you were once you obtained membership, the higher your rank. Rank was often measured using antiquated noble titles, just as the Battle Barracks used antiquated military ranks. Remembering his pain and almost collapsing for it, Ryan felt Annwn's little arms propping him up, struggling against the weight. After the Braixen barked to the others, the Ape held the man from the other side, and two large talons grabbed his shoulders to pull him up. He could feel the heat on Annwn's hands as they rubbed over his cut's and bruises. The warmth helped his blood to flow more naturally, and seared his wounds where they were open to the air.

After stumbling up some small stairs, Ryan collapsed only a couple meters into a small cave. The sign nailed to the rock beside the entrance read 'Connecting cave/Zubat roost'. It was darker than when most people passed through, with the moonlight shining very dull and only about a meter in the entrance. Slumping down against the rock, Ryan pulled a small cord from where he'd found himself. The small golden coin spun on the end of the short but thick cord. "Annwn, Come" he whispered, the fox trotting over more steadily on it's little legs. It lowered its head as the vagrant silently slid the amulet coin over it's ears to sit on it's neck. The Braixen gave a happy little bark before settling to sit on Ryan's right side, eying the other pokemon as the man did. The Lion cub watched Ryan curiously for a moment, the mane atop it's head glowing red and shedding a small ring of light around it. It almost looked like furry fire. With his legs outstretched in front of him and his back against a wall, Ryan tapped his thigh. The hawk settled down between his knees and the cub inched a little closer, sniffing at the man's outstretched hand; covered partially by fingerless wooly gloves. After he pet it a little, the small pokemon curled up by his leg. "Tomorrow, I'll have a go at seeing how hard it is to teach each of you things. But first I need to rest."

Standing by the lake edge, Ryan peered over at his reflection. In the water, looking up at him was not his own face. The face of a creature unique and strange, thin and yellow. The longer he stared the more it seemed to distort, becoming more and more like the vagrant looking down. Ryan watched as the ripples passing the creature shimmered clothes onto it. At first a white button shirt, then a simple prisoners outfit followed by rags and finally a trench coat. Frustrated with the horrible reflection, Ryan slapped the water, waking him instantly.

His eyes snapped open as quickly as always. The morning sun was breaching the cave entrance enough that the smoother stones inside lit the entire entryway. There Ryan sat, back against the wall with a large fire red hawk curled between his legs, a warm lion cub curled against his left leg. Annwn the fox quietly snoozed to his right, and a gorgeous young woman with green streaked brown hair, slumbered against his left shoulder. It took the vagrant a moment, rubbing his eyes and yawning, before he realized what was going on. Chuey, the viper woman from Lumiose city, was leaned against him in the damp and warming cave known as 'Zubat Roost'. It was difficult to squeeze his way out of the cluster, holding both Annwn and Chuey where they were as he shifted his legs from around the hawk and cub. The red ape stared at him for a moment, before moving over to help reposition Annwn and the lass. Once Ryan was finally standing, the two were left laying on the stone floor, heads pressed against each other gently.

The large man ran a long fingered hand through his hair. Bringing his hands together to press fingers against each other. First the pointer finger of each hand was pressed against each other, the other fingers forming fists that were painfully pushed together. Then his middle finger of each hand was pressed together, followed by the ring and finally the pinkie fingers. Each of his slightly more than five inch long fingers bent somewhat painfully as he absentmindedly worked them, his thoughts elsewhere. "You don't make this easy do you?" the corner of his lip curled in frustration. "If you wake and I'm here, I'm a creep" he shivered silently, his fingers aching as he repeated the process. "If you wake and I'm here asleep, I'm lazy" The vagrant glanced left and right, looking to both entrance and exit of the small tunnel. "If you wake and I'm not here, I'm an asshole" His tongue ran across his teeth as he silently glared at the woman. "Oh let's not forget, if I leave you here; something may attack you in your sleep" The man's shoulders tensed as he lowered to crouching for a moment, finishing his finger exercises. "And if I take you with me, it's kidnapping. I can't win here can I?" Annwn's eyes flitted open, tongue lolling happily out the side of it's mouth when it noticed Ryan standing nearby. "shh, come here" he smiled, whispering as he stroked the air with one finger.

The pokemon woke and shifted a little while Ryan knelt down and scooped the exhausted young woman up in his arms. Draping one of her arms over his shoulder he held her with his arms as a seat. Moving slowly and gently he headed to the rear exit. "I'll have to settle for moving you. Not far of course, but somewhere safer" His foot kicked a small aerosol can as he walked. Pulling his hand away from holding the lass in his arms, Ryan pointed to it, and was quickly handed it by the small Ape. 'Pokemon Repellent' it read. An idea almost instantly sprang to mind, the vagrant handed the small can back to the ape and whispered "Find more", hoping that even if it didn't understand, Annwn would. Thankfully the red ape did understand the command, it happily collected seven more empty cans of repellent from the surrounding area.

When he emerged from the exit of the small tunnel Ryan was faced with a fence guarding a small cliff edge. The main path ran off to his left and along the cliff side. A rusted metal fence, many pieces falling off it, ran along the edge of the path. It appeared more likely to give an infection than any protection. Following the path a ways, the vagrant encountered a small alcove. The crevice was sturdy and large enough for a person to curl up and sleep in. Gently he lay Chuey down in the alcove. The large man then looked amongst the pokemon following him, to the hawk. He held an empty can out sideways, taking one of Leveyr's talon's in hand to slice the top off it. "People use these until they stop spraying. But that doesn't mean they're empty" he smiled, cutting three more open before laying them out in a little border around the alcove where the sleeping lass lay. "A little of the liquid will still be coating the inner wall. Annwn, gimme heat" The Braixen's head cocked lightly to the side as it warmed it's hand. With the vagrant's direction, the small fox pressed it's hot little hands against the sliced tins for a moment. "Heating the tins starts the residue evaporating. Annwn, gimme fire" he grabbed a small blade of grass, holding it out to Annwn. When the blade was alight, the large man gingerly used it to light the gas beginning to flow from each can. With the four little metal candles guarding the young woman, he straightened himself and carried on down the path.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 10: Took a little tumble off

The sun hung high in the late noon sky, wave after wave crashing on the thin beach before a cliff in the low tide. A large wave placed the large man down on the sand. His clothes now stinking of salt, fish and booze rather than just the latter. With Annwn and the Ape shaking him, Ryan pulled himself to standing, brushing the sand off himself. Lifting his head he took note that if the waves had been any stronger, his head would have been smashed into the cliff face. With little other option, Ryan began to stagger left along the cliff face, hoping to find it branch out somewhere nearby.

At the sand bank ahead widened enough for a place where the tide was not reaching, Ryan witnessed an amazing and gorgeous creature laying on it's back on the sand. Recognizing Chuey instantly he smiled. The green and brown haired vixen was laying at the base of the cliff obviously enjoying the sun. She wore little more than a creamy white bikini that stood out from her skin only barely. She didn't appear injured, and didn't look up at the vagrant's approach.

It didn't take much for his imagination to fill in the blanks. He'd seen this woman laying like this before, so it was little work to strip away the small amount of fabric hiding what should remain hidden. Admiring her figure for a second, Ryan's mind had him sinking to his knees beside the woman. Sliding her sunglasses up to see her eye he wrapped his arm around her. She smiled silently and accepted the kiss as he pressed his lips against hers. Their tongues entwined as he lifted her slightly into the kiss. "Hey" Chuey's voice rang through his head after a couple moments, shaking Ryan from his considerably private fantasy. "What happened to you?" She removed her sunglasses, sitting up and looking the man over. "Are you alright?"

The large vagrant grumbled, annoyed both by what happened, and that his personal time had been interjected into. Shaking the thoughts from his head, the man smiled at Chuey as warmly as he could. "I had a run in with a group that calls themselves 'Team Flare'" he began, his left hand rubbing a point on his leg that had become particularly painful. "I've met them before. A group of stuck up fashion obsessed assholes" His mind drifted a little, recalling the groups strange red uniform that appeared to be something from a fashion show. "Four of them this time, their Pokemon were a lot stronger. But again they were threatening kids." Ryan lifted his left foot, balancing on his right as he examined what remained of his shoes. They'd be sliced through and ripped apart, his feet were bleeding from cuts that had gone a little too far. "I see them attacking this little girl, demanding her Pokemon and any money she had. Well of course I lost it. I didn't realize how sharp the stone road was until now" he chuckled, wincing slightly as he placed the foot back on warm glass. "I demanded they leave her alone, they bitched about something to do with gathering fossils. And apparently since we were in the way they were going to deal with us" Ryan could remember moving Shauna behind him as Leveyr and the Ape, the only two who kept up with his sprint across the rocks, moved in front of him. Annwn and the lion cub; Embeee as Shauna had called it at the time, arrived shortly before it happened. "I remember moving her to a safe place, where she wasn't being pushed back toward the cliff like I had been." He thought hard for a moment, muttering dialogue to himself to refresh his memory. 'Leveyr, Gimme her, there' He had said. The Eagle had lifted Shauna onto it's back and climbed up the cliff before racing off with her down the road. "I remember a popping sound, just one loud pop. I think I got shot?" His hand moved a little at his thigh, finding the bullet wound. "I wasn't expecting it and fell backward." Annwn had dived after him, the vagrant's arms around it before they hit the water, where he used almost all his strength to hold the small Pokemon above the waves. "I landed in a river, the tide was going out and I was pulled out to sea" he rubbed the head of the fox beside him before continuing. "This little wise guy decided to leap after me. So did an ape and a lion cub."

Ryan looked down at his feet, the hot glass sitting in the sand has scolded his soles. Though his feet still hurt, they weren't bleeding. Annwn was sitting beside his feet on the sand, playfully blowing spouts of fire into the beach, creating little glass trails. Thinking for a moment, the large man felt the back of his leg, becoming quite uncomfortable at being unable to find the exit wound. The lass became confused and then slightly concerned when the large man pulled out his knife. Ryan didn't hold the weapon in any threatening manner, instead turning it in his hand and using it to dig into the small wound. Ignoring Chuey as she grew more and more concerned, the man finally dug out the bullet, gripping his leg in pain once it was free. Annwn's paws immediately moved to grabbing the sliced open flesh. The vagrant groaned in pain as the heat from the little hands burnt at his skin. Looking around for the other Pokemon to distract him, Ryan only spotted the eagle, being chased around then chasing in turn, another Eagle he had seen at Chuey's apartment.

Watching the poor man mutilate his own leg to remove a bullet, the bikini clad lass rose from the sand. Once she wrapped her towel around her waist, Chuey approached the large vagrant. The bloody bullet was pulled out, and she looked concerned from it to him. "I could have done that for you. I have a lot of experience removing bullets." She shook her head a moment "You did the right thing though. Protecting her" She wrapped her arms around the large man. His mind instantly moved to a place that should not be written, or at least read. His arms moved around her to hold the lass close to him, as pathetic as it may seem, this was something Ryan had not had in several month, perhaps years. Though the simple embrace only lasted a short time, it was something he wished would last forever. Their moment was ruined however, by the loud squawking of both eagles as they flew out toward the sea. Looking across the water, Ryan could barely see the problem. Both the fiery ape and the lion cub were drifting in the water, shouting frightened as a strong current appeared to be pulling them out further and further into the large ocean. Each time the birds tried to seize and move the other Pokemon, the frantic fire creatures slipped from their talons.

The water was cold, very cold. He didn't want to go back in, but if he didn't, there was a good chance both those Pokemon would die. As he swam, he could feel the weight of his clothes pulling him down into the thick water. Ryan never liked to swim, he always sunk like a stone. But these two were following him, it's his fault they're in the water, if they died it was his fault. The water seemed thick and heavy, almost as if it was trying to pull him down within it. A shape, covered with lights but yet un-discernible, swam alongside him. The vagrant reached out, snatching the arm of the small ape and swinging it over his shoulder. The frightened creature clung to him painfully, it's fingers digging into his shoulders as he looked for the cub. It wasn't far, but he was tired and heavy. If he reached out to it, if he grabbed it, the weight would drown them all. Scrunching his eyes, Ryan turned back and began swimming to shore. Glancing over his shoulder he watched as the cub was dragged along behind him by the lighting shape. Glad it was going to be okay, he focused on getting back to the sand. Keeping himself as high in the water as he could, letting the waves move him and only paddling enough to fight the current under the surface. No sooner had he landed on the sand, than Embeee was deposited beside him. The cub growled and snapped at the creature that had been carrying it. struggling to his knees, Ryan lurched to the side, pinning the feline down and growling his dominance. It licked and nuzzled his neck in submission, causing the large man to roll off, slightly confused before blushing at a memory.

The shape that had been swimming, didn't actually swim. It was an odd entity, about as big as Annwn was before he learned to stand on two legs. It was a collection of tentacles extending from a strange translucent pink helmet. It had large eyes and a sharp beak, small spots of light glowing and shifting inside it's pointed helm. It seemed to bob in the air as a jellyfish bobs along in the sea. Holding his hand out, palm facing away from him, Ryan watched as it bobbed over to press itself against his long fingers. Chuey approached slowly, commenting that it was a creature known as an Inkay. Ryan knew this of course, but didn't respond as he simply stared at it's shifting and fading lights. Their movements were random but hypnotic, dizzying the vagrant as he continued to look at them. Once he moved his hand away, the little creature bobbed around until it noticed the ape holding it's hand the same way. It drifted over and nuzzled the pyro primate's palm, leading to the two chasing each other around the sand nearby.

The warm sun and sand eventually dried the group off as they trudged along the beach northward. Chuey had opted to stay and bake a while, enjoying the secluded area she'd found for herself. During the walk, Ryan realized that the small squid or jellyfish esc creature was following him. Turning around and looking at the thing that was floating directly in his sight, Ryan chuckled. "You're going to follow me then hmm?" the Inkay did a flying flip, twisting itself over backward before hovering in front of him once again. "Guess I should name you. And the rest of you too for that matter." He grinned, turning back north and continuing on his way. "Well you all know Annwn" the small Pokemon trotted beside him, holding his hand. "He's in charge after me when you are following me. Then I suppose Leveyr there is next" the bird squawked happily as it gently cruised on the wind beside him. "Mentally I've been calling you Ape, so if that's okay with you I'll continue" the Fiery monkey ook'd it's appreciation. "Shauna called you Embeee, and you seem to like that. And if you are following I might as well call you Leyte" he finished, addressing the lion cub and the Inkay in turn. Ahead he could see another small town on the edge of the cliff, knowing immediately Cyllage City.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 11: Fyr E

Cyllage city is a city on the beach side, the buildings had been thrown up on the stone inland. But the beach seemed ever present throughout the streets, the smell of salt and the rush of the ocean breeze. The sun rose late in the city, obscured until nearly midday by a giant cliff to the east. The same cliff Ryan had followed to reach the town. Waves rolled across the sand and slapped against the stone foundations of the streets leading out. As the tide swept out though, the sandy beach would become an impressive expanse, twenty or thirty paces from the edge of high tide to the edge of low. The large vagrant took a moment, sitting down to rest in the high tide. Annwn and the Ape sat beside the man, all three uncomfortable in the water. Small waves rushed back and forth around the group; the lion cub Embeee sat on the dry rock with the floating squid and large eagle beside it.

Much of the day had already swung past. The sun was already reaching it's rays down to stroke the distant waves on the ocean of the horizon. Long orange and purple clouds stretched across the sky, reflected in the water reaching all the way to Cyllage city. A tall vagrant, clothed in tattered rags and a long trench coat, stood upon the shoals west of the city, a collection of pokemon around him. "Gimme Fire" he barked hoarsely, the mouths of each of the creatures around him, with the sole exception of a hovering squid, grew alight with fire. The assorted beasts held the ball of fire in their mouths as long as they could, many snuffing it out in order to breathe. Only Annwn, who held himself up using a long stick, could hold the fire indefinitely. The vagrant mostly ignored the young woman with long brown hair that sat down on the edge of the shoals. It was unclear if Shauna was watching him, the pokemon, or the sunset. "Gimme Fire" He declared again, a ring of glowing mouths surrounded him once more. After bringing his hand to his mouth, Ryan pretended to take something from it and hold it out away from himself. "Gimme Fire" He looked at his hand, then all of a sudden hurtled the nothing away toward the sunset. A volley of fireballs instantly followed his launch. "Bombardment" The vagrant smiled. "Ape, Gimme Fire, There" He pointed at a rock not far away. The small crimson chimp hurtled a small fireball at the point, to receive a stroking on the head as a reward. "Bombardment, There" Each of the creature's that could, launched a small fireball at the point Ryan had now gestured to. "Volley" Was the last command he'd explained so far today, each of the various animals were getting tired but understood the command well enough. Volley was simply an order to continue to fire at the last place ordered.

After a long day, the vagrant sat down on the rocks at the edge of Cyllage city. The Ape and Eagle immediately curling up beside him as the Lion Cub and squid became more acquainted. Ryan drew a small bottle of a hard liquid from his coat, taking a couple gulps as the girl began to speak. "I thought you died" She looked out at the half of the sun still breaching the line of the horizon. "I'm glad you're okay Mr. Cabberin." The large man shrugged, wiping his mouth but not yet capping the bottle. "Serena said you would be fine. She remembers what you were like back in school too" Ryan chuckled, taking another swig before passing the bottle to Annwn. "I took the gym challenge here too. It was easy and got me lots of money" The pokemon staggered for a moment, having difficulty holding the bottle as it stood on it's hind legs. After taking a couple small sips, it handed the whiskey back to the vagrant.

The young lady turned away from the smell of the whiskey and to the north. "I was thinking of taking a walk along Menhir Trail tomorrow." She mumbled half to herself. "I've read that the stones there give off some strange radiation" Ryan nodded in response. Menhir Trail was a famous road lined with enormous stones taller than a single story house. Much of it's fame came from the odd energy the stone's released into the air around them. Many pokemon who would change form usually only at the touch of certain mystical gemstones, could simply will themselves to change in the presence of these great Menhir's. Ryan happily told the lass about them, recounting that when he was younger than her; he would spend time playing amongst the stones with his family Eevee. While he played, young Ryan would often witness trainers from the world around, let their pokemon from their pokeballs to play in the stones as well. He'd never forget a near sacred line many of these tourists would say on their knees to the creatures before them. "Here, it is your choice to evolve. If you want to, I won't stop you. If you don't, I won't be mad"

Shauna raised a point, curious that this was the only place she'd ever heard of where the pokemon 'Eevee' could be found in the wild. An astute observation actually. Eevee are a very fluffy canine creature, typically dark brown with lighter bands. The very popular creature originated on the Menhir trail in fact. The earliest known were seen around two and a half to two thousand years ago. Since their appearance, humans have bred them into dozens of shapes and sizes. But the essence of what an Eevee is remains. It was interesting that the fluffy pokemon came about on the Menhir Trail, those befriended by humans in the area could use the power of the stones to transform into variants more suited to help in certain ways. The original five that could be found were Vaporeon, Flareon, Jolteon, Glaceon and Leafeon. Vaporeon, Flareon and Jolteon could all be reproduced in Eevee that had been taken from the area, by exposing them to a water, fire, or thunder stone respectfully. When humans domesticated the creature, it's adaptive nature took effect. From the love and care of humans, Eevee's could evolve into three new forms; Umbreon, Espeon and Sylveon. To this day many Eevee trainers or simply Eevee owners, bring their beloved pokemon to the Menhir Trail and Geosenge city beyond, to give them the opportunity to choose what their future selves would look like.

The night was silent, but warm. Ryan peeled the warm bodies off of him, each one waking happily to skip a couple steps away from the vagrant. A small meal of berries and Whiskey before he started north to meet up with the young lass seeking to visit the ancient Geosenge town at the end of the Menhir Trail. She was not alone when he arrived, accompanied by her lass friend whom had shouted at Ryan two days prior. The girls chattered quietly amongst themselves as Ryan led them north along the path. So many times had he played with the family Eevee out here. It was traditional for those living in Geosenge town to have a pet Eevee, and many of the children around the age of ten would begin to play with the Eevee out amongst the great monolithic stones.

With his legs following a path they had long long ago, not needing his mind to tell them where to go, Ryan enjoyed running his hands through the grass. Shauna's two legged lizard with a fiery tail danced up ahead. It's body shed a strangely brilliant glow as it expanded slightly, as the glow faded it was clear the creature was about a foot taller with longer arms and a strange red horn protruding from it's head. Looking down to his right, the vagrant was surprised to see that the Ape had grown taller also, and though not by much the shape of the tuft of hair on its head had changed also. Shaking his head and smiling, Ryan looked back at the path his feet were bearing him. The little road ahead led to the home of his grandparents, his childhood home. When he'd moved away, he'd come home every weekend to visit and play with that Eevee. Every weekend that he could. The vagrant was close to his thirtieth year, to expect such a creature to live nearly as long was cruel. That family Eevee was dead, it died when he couldn't visit anymore. And nothing could change that.

"Ryan?" An older voice croaked from nearby, ending a rhythmic chopping of wood. The man was elderly for sure, but in no way infirm. Aspe Cabberin approached his grandson, looking the boy up and down. "Been some time lad. How've you been" he slapped a hand down on the vagrant's shoulder.

"I've been a little out of luck Grandad" Ryan replied. "The school wouldn't take me back. I've had no-where to go" he mumbled, looking down at Annwn holding his hand, the fox's eyes staring up at him.

"You could always come home. Your Grandma and I would be happy to give you some shelter while you found a job. Do you remember Abigail?" Ryan almost groaned and rolled his eyes. Abigail Symp was Ryan's neighbor as he grew up, they played together a couple times but he'd never been interested in her. "Oh, here she comes now" His grandfather gestured down the path. A young red head, garbed in the white coat of the pokemon center, strolled toward them with two pokemon by her side. "She's been an angel" the old man continued, but something had caught Ryan's attention.

To Abigail's left trotted a happy and healthy canine with sleek pinkish-purple fur, long ears and a long tail, the Espeon was not his concern. A couple paces in front of her, weakly half-trotting half-walking, was red and white furred canine. It's mane and tail weren't as fluffy as other Flareon, its pointed ears hung down and it's dark eyes were glazed a milky white. The woman took a couple steps, placing her hand on the canine's back and quietly urging it to slow down. Ryan approached with long, deliberate strides until the old pooch was rubbing against his leg. He knelt down and scratched around it's head, the little creature unable to decide whether to sit and enjoy or sniff wildly. Catching it's collar in his hand the vagrant saw perhaps the most familiar tag, 'FYR E'. The 'E' was scratched on by a child, to make those reading the tag mispronounce it's name. "Fear?" He whispered, stroking the head of the now weakly purring creature. It nuzzled it's old face into his hands and licked wildly, clearly unable to see at all. Ryan could barely hear his grandfather explain that Abigail had been keeping Fyr in good health. She agreed, squeaking in surprise when the Flareon dropped to it's side. It continued to attempt to nuzzle Ryan, while apparently begging for it's stomach to be rubbed. Abigail used Espeons to help her, they let her hear a pokemon's thoughts, and with how long she'd worked with the little Flareon, she felt that was a gift Ryan had to experience. "Ryan, Ryan, Ryan, missed you." The large man felt water burning at the edges of his eyes as he petted the canine in front of him, a strange but familiar voice in his head. "I missed you too Fyr" it yipped happily, licking at his hand and wriggling itself as close as it could to him. "I ready Ryan. We can go now" Ryan wiped a thread of water from his cheek "Go? Go where?" his grandfather shook his head slowly. "You promised one day we could go see new places" Fyr rolled tiredly back onto his belly "meet new people. I'm ready" a pink tongue lolled out the side of it's mouth excitedly. "I can't. You're not well" the Flareon whined, pulling itself closer to the large man and pawing at him while he rubbed its back."But you promised. I'm ready" the large man shook his head "You can't see, you can't see the new places" the canine suddenly barked happily, pointing it's milky white eyes in the direction of Ryan's face. "I can smell!" it's nose wiggled excitedly as it stared up at him. "I promised"

Fan art courtesy of cutevulpix56 from deviantart. Original can be found here

Spoiler: Fan Art

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 12: I promised

The large vagrant, sitting on folded knees on the ground, looked up from the happily barking little crimson and cream canine. Two people stood over him, both his grandfather and Abigail shook their heads. Fyr, the Flareon currently coiled up on Ryan's lap, was too old to travel any more. Many Eevee and their evolutions live at most fifteen or sixteen years. The twenty year old Flareon was well past due, he couldn't see; he could barely hear or move on his own. And yet it skipped happily around the large man on the ground. "I promised" Ryan muttered, scratching behind the ears of the happy pooch. "He kept going because I promised. He's been waiting for me" The words were more to himself than either of those looking down on him. Fyr barked happily, grumbling almost like a purr as Ryan began to scratch one spot a ways down his neck. Finally his grandfather spoke up, mentioning that the dog would be happy as long as Ryan was with him for his last days. Fyr could move on if Ryan was there. "But then I would have broken my promise." a wet tongue slathered across his cheek. "Even if he's content to die here. It's not what he wants." The large man shifted a little, patting his thigh and gaining the attention of the little fox that was using a stick to hold itself on two legs. "I'd rather his last days be what he's always wanted, than to simply let him curl up and die here."

Annwn stumbled over to the large man in response to the slapping of his thigh, the lion cub and strange flying squid watching from a distance. "Annwn, this is Fear" the large man stroked the blind dogs head slowly. Lowering down onto it's front legs, the fiery fox sniffed at the old canine. Fyr sniffed back a moment before taking a grumbling snap at the younger creature. Instinctively Annwn brought it's stick round. Shocked, Ryan had no time to react, though he was confused immediately after when the stick stopped short of the elderly pooch. "I understand. This one is in charge of the team" the sound of Fyr's thoughts still rippled through his mind."But I'm not part of the team" Ryan nodded, smiling slightly as Annwn lifted himself to his feet with the stick. The young fox lent forward and licked the neck of the old Flareon before stepping back. With Annwn out of the way, Embeee and the Ape scooted forward, leaving the tentacled creature to hover over near the Espeon. The two young Pokemon skipped around the elder. Fyr's head kept turning slowly but surprised each time one came closer than Ryan's arm's reach. After growling and grumbling each time, the fourth time the lion cub bounded near Fyr launched from the large man's arms and onto the younger creature. His milky white eyes could not focus on cub beneath him, but Fyr growled deeply, his paw on the furry neck on the ground. Every muscle in Embeee's body seemed to relax as it slumped against the dirt ground, glancing meekly up at the crimson snarl above it. The little ball of fire that had been tossed by the fiery ape, slapped into the side of the milky eyed canine. Snapping his head to the side, Fyr's open mouth launched a twisting torrent of heat that picked up and threw the small chimp across the dirt road.

Placing his hands under the armpit's of Fyr's front legs, Ryan gently pulled the canine off the small lion cub. "You're not taking him" the old man above the vagrant ordered down. "He's too old and weak. He doesn't have long left" Ryan looked up at his grandfather, the Flareon in his arms barking quick but deeply at the old man. Ryan shook his head, placing Fyr by his feet as he rose to look the old man in the eyes.

"You may not want to move in your old age" Ryan stared at the older man. "But Fear wants to go, and I'm taking him with" Annwn's stick gently guided the old pooch to stand at the vagrant's side. It was about three minutes of silent staring before Ryan looked aside, slapping his thigh twice before following the road eastward. When his feet began to move, a set of four little paws trotted slowly beside him. Ryan looked down to his right, where Annwn would stand was the crimson and cream canine. Though Fyr couldn't see, it happily walked along beside its friend. Annwn stood proud, stick offsetting each step, as he walked behind the Flareon.

The road east of Geosenge Town passed under a large collection of stones that served as a massive gate. A fruit tree stood not far from the exit, big yellow fruits; about 10 centimeters in length, hung from its branches. As they passed, Ryan watched the shadow of the crimson chimp scamper up the trunk and into the limbs of the tree. It plucked one of the nearest fruits and chomped eagerly into it. Chuckling, Ryan slapped his thigh and waited a moment for the Ape to catch up. But it didn't move. The long armed creature simply sat in the tree and stared at the vagrant for a moment. Ryan watched as it slowly plucked another, larger, fruit from a higher branch. It tossed the yellow food in the air a couple times before suddenly launching it with full force at Ryan. The hard fruit struck his chest, had it been any firmer, it may have broken a rib. The large man blinked a couple times before turning away and following the path on east into a cave marked "Reflection Cave"

The cave was lit well, sun light from the outside should have shone only a couple steps into the rocky path. The walls were so smooth and polished, sheets of crystal embedded into the rock, to create the effect of giant mirrors. Every passage and room in the catacombs were lit by light that bounced from the crystalline walls. Fyr's nose worked only slowly, this place was familiar from years gone by. On the second floor down, chiseled marks could be found in the huge Crystal walls. Flakes had been cut away as people tried to sell them. Many of the would be millionaire's were targeting the wrong stones, several gems lining the crystal mirrors produced their own light when none else is present. Stopping by a large and almost untouched sheet, Ryan chuckled. "Mirror Mirror, Set in stone" he began reciting. "Who sits upon, the Amber Throne?"

"I don't think it'd answer that question, but rather ask 'Why the hell are you talking to a mirror?'" A voice from behind him startled the large man. Fyr lowered his front end as Ryan jumped a little. Looking over his shoulder in the crystal, the vagrant noticed two things; the viper lady "Chuey", and a glass bottle tucked under a stone near her feet. Greeting her with a smile, Ryan stroked the tense dogs back, calming it quickly. After wrapping his arms around the woman for a moment, and introducing her to Fyr. Ryan watched as she quietly let the Flareon sniff her fingers, grabbing the bottle of Absinthe from the ground as he watched. The trundle through the crystalline caverns was faster with Chuey accompanying him. It wasn't long before the group emerged into the setting sunlight shining across a large seafront city.

As Chuey headed to the Shalour City hotel, Ryan instead took an earlier turn in the streets. Three blocks away from where they entered the city, the vagrant arrived at the gate to the Shalour University. A large set of sprawling buildings that took about a quarter of the cities size. Straightening his trench coat and cracking his back, Ryan weaved his way through the many streets of the miniature city within a city. One building stood out to him, a building he'd made a direct path to. To his surprise, a young woman was standing outside the building already. Shauna smiled at the vagrants approach, eagerly chattering about wanting to meet a famous researcher. Fyr's reaction as she began to faun over him had her recoil and turn her attention away from the white eyed canine. Leaving the lass to her search for her researcher. The receptionist of the building was at first shocked at Ryan's appearance, immediately covering her nose and looking away. "Ryan Cabberin, Masters in Engineering" he recited as succinctly as he could. The woman clacked away at her keyboard a moment with her hand over her nose. Her eyebrows raised as she looked from the monitor to the man before her. "I was wondering if I could use lab seventeen" he asked calmly, the woman nodded, indicating to the hall and stating that the door should be open.

Once inside the computer room, the large man sat down at a terminal and hooking the old and battered pokeball into the machine. It took about an hour to extract some basic information on the owner of the sphere. A man named 'Terry Ison' was found dead in the river near Aquacorde Town, almost twenty years ago. The pokemon's data was in tact, it was 'alive' but the mechanics that materialized the creature were ruined. Hoping not to overstay his welcome, Ryan detached the ball from the terminal and returned it to his coat pocket, along with several tools he knew he'd need to work on the device.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 13: Tower of Lies

Stepping out of lab seventeen, Ryan led the small group from the building and through the streets of the university. Unlike the large vagrant leading the way, many of the pokemon were not use to walking for such long periods of time. The hawk sat on Ryan's shoulder and the odd tentacled creature drifted along easily, but the creatures confined to the ground grew weary and had trouble walking. Scooping the old Flareon up into his arms, and lifting Annwn up to hang off his back, Ryan looked about for a place to stay the night and rest. A large tower to the north of the city, an ancient lighthouse, stood out above every other building. The Tower of Mastery it was called, the Vagrant had been there before when he was much younger. It was a large building with several large rooms, each free to stay in. At least it was when he last visited. Patting his thigh, Ryan looked from the tentacled creature to Embeee, who weakly dragged her legs along the ground as she walked. "We're going there." He pointed to the tower not far in the distance, speaking to the tentacles. "Are you able to carry her that far?" the large man asked, looking from the creature to the lion cub. It bobbed down, wrapping it's many appendages around under the pits of the front and rear legs.

The Tower of Mastery was once a lighthouse. It sat on a small island with a collection of buildings surrounding it, led to by a long sand bridge. One half the tower was peaked by large pillars that rose almost the length of the tower again above it. A grand arch entrance stood proudly above the vagrant as he wandered through; A Braixen hanging from his neck and down his back, A Fletchinder perched on his right shoulder, and a Flareon cradled in his arms. Fyr's nose began sniffing interestedly. A mixture of the ancient stone and mortar, the sea breeze and the smell of trees and flowers on the small island must have been an amazing new experience. It barked happily and rolled over in Ryan's arms to get a better position to smell the world around him. Annwn lowered himself down onto the sandy road, signalling to the Inkay to place Embeee back down as well. Knowing how close they were to a place to stay, many of the creatures took to carrying themselves the last stretch.

Ryan and his group were not the only to arrive at the tower at that moment though. Somehow, Shauna and Mr. Cabberin have a habit of showing up at the same place at the same time. The lass with the long brown hair let go of what she was holding, smiling and waving to the older man and the many pokemon surrounding him. Serena raised her hand, instead of letting it swing by her side, to push open the large oak door leading into the building. Inside the tower was lined with an enormous winding ramp. In the center stood a four story tall statue; of a black banded, spiked arm bipedal jackal. The giant statue was of a Lucario, though it looked different to normal, and no-where near as wolf-like as those the skating woman had shown. Shauna skipped in, calling out for the 'Mega Evolution Guru' as she went.

As if in answer to her calling, a door beneath the great statue swung open, an old man walking through to stand in the main hall. The man was followed by four others, most being the other children Ryan remembers being attacked by the men in red suits back in Aquacorde town. The fourth little duckling was a woman with a helmet and roller skates, she was very up herself from their meeting a couple days prior. "Hmm! Looks like everyone is finally here." The man began, ignoring the vagrant that edged along the wall to sit near the beginning of the ramp. The large man in a tattered trench coat whispered to the pokemon around him to take a short rest before they climbed to a room for the night. "This is my granddaughter Korrina. She's Shalour City's Gym Leader." The old man gestured to the roller skate woman. Many of the kids grew quite interested, though the vagrant could tell Shauna's interest was not as sincere. She already knew this woman. "So, Sycamore's pupils. Now that you're all here" the greying man continued. "I suppose I should explain Mega Evolution to you." He grinned, even if the kids couldn't hear it, the old teacher could almost smell the script the old man was reading from. "I assume you all know about Pokemon Evolution?"

Shauna perked up, her hand shooting into the air. Ms. Armeniox was always a good student, she really did love to learn, and if what she was learning interested her; she would put her all into understanding. Sitting by the railing of the ramp upward, the vagrant began pressing his fingers each in turn against the bars, bending them unnaturally and painfully. Shauna explained as best she could her understanding of Pokemon Evolution, a process that changes a creature's form as they grow stronger. Her friend Serena cut in, adding that they might change based on pure friendship or the area they inhabit too. "Exactly! And it's likely that Pokemon evolve in a lot of other ways as well." the old man responded, the curled lip and tense hands behind his back signs he did not appreciate an actual answer. "Mega Evolution is a transformation of Pokemon that were thought to be unable to evolve any further!" He continued, returning to the script he had many times recited. Fyr lay beside the tall man, sniffing at the stone and licking at his best friends leg. "It's a whole new level of power!" The script seemed designed to be organic, to seem as if the old man was truly interested. "So in an Evolutionary line like Charmander, Charmeleon, and Charizard, Charizard would be able to evolve even further" He smiled, stretching his back and reveling in the expected awe of the children in front of him. At his final remark, Shauna knelt and turned to her right. Her body and those of the other children blocked the vagrant's view of what she was doing. But the flickering shadows cast in that area told him she was facing her Charmeleon, maybe even petting it.

"But not all Pokemon have a Mega Evolution." the man smiled, of all the children, the lass 'Serena' and black haired boy 'Ryan' seemed most interested. "There's a reason why I used the word 'transformation' a moment ago." Mr. Cabberin rolled his eyes, his mouth moving in sync to the man's very next sentence. "Mega Evolution differs from Evolution because it ends after a certain amount of time." He didn't know much about Mega Evolution himself, but from everything that had been said, he could simply assume that. Just as he could assume the look on the face of the two other boys. "In other words, it's a temporary Evolution." Shauna was surprised, looking up from her little red leather friend. That a Pokemon would return to it's previous state wasn't a new concept to her; Ditto, Rotom, Shaymin and Castform all change shape for an amount of time. What surprised her was that this was considered special or new.

"Yes... Mega Evolution is a special kind of Evolution." The Gym leader interjected. "That said, we still know very little about it."She lied, She was learning her grandfathers script, and was not particularly good at the blatant lies spattered through it. "What we know now is that it requires special items." She continued, more comfortable with the weaker lies as she drifted slightly on her roller blades. The vagrant scoffed, coughing lightly before grabbing the bottle from his trench coat. Absinthe, powerful stuff. "And the most important element is the trust between Pokemon and Trainer." She continued, many of the people ignoring the group by the base of the ramp, only the young boy 'Ryan' taking note of the strange fellow. "To make Mega Evolution work, you need two items: a Mega Stone for the Pokemon and the Mega Ring, which has a mysterious stone set in it, for the Trainer." The pile of rags poured a couple drops of the alcohol onto his hand, offering it to each of the creatures around it in turn. "Since Professor Sycamore entrusted each one of you with a Pokedex, I would like to give these items to all of you" She finished, her head lowering as she mumbled the ever famous 'but'. Well done, the vagrant thought, a way to slim down the number of people continuing the quest.

"Sorry, but presently, I have only one Mega Ring" the old man took over, his apprentice looking quite strained after everything."It's a very precious item." He held up a single ring with an oddly coloured green, red, or maybe brown, stone set in it. It was impossible to tell from where the vagrant sat, though at this point he was more interested in the fact that only Annwn didn't appreciate the taste of the Absinthe. He didn't hate it, it simply wasn't his taste. "So, I want all of you to decide among yourselves which one of you will be the one who challenges the Mega Evolution Successor" The old man finished his script, gesturing to his granddaughter and watching the children react. The largest boy pirouetted before claiming that battling was not his scene. Shauna backed away, it would make a nice memory, but wasn't for her. The vagrant chuckled, she figured it out too, this was a way for her to step out on her own without any 'quest' watching her. The shortest boy, the red haired child Mr. Cabberin knew as Trevor, claimed he'd rather finish the Pokedex first, obviously an adventurer by nature. Of all the children that left only Shauna's friend Serena, and the young boy 'Ryan'.

Stepping to the side, the lass Serena smiled. "Ryan, let's battle for it!" The wicked light in her eyes and half grin were both serious and excited. The black haired boy swept his hand through his hair before nodding his agreement. "Whatever the reason, a battle gives us an opportunity to compete and see who Vaniville Town's best Trainer really is!" She continued, pulling a pokeball from her hip. His reply was less than humble, and perhaps slightly chauvinistic, making the may by the ramp who was still stretching his fingers, shake his head in pity. The boy was easily outmatched, Serena carried with her only three pokemon, but none of the boy's five could stand against them. The longest struggle was between a lion cub that growled, bit and even seared it's opponent, and the lass' oddly armoured plant-mammal creature. Even then, the grass- type pokemon conquered the fire- type, against which it had a distinct disadvantage. The vagrant chuckled to himself, taking a small swig of Absinthe as the boy with the jet-black hair stormed over to him.

The boy lent down over Ryan, insulting the way he was dressed, asking what was just so amusing. "Y-yu-you didn't stam a kanse" The vagrant intentionally slurred his words, the child's nose wrinkling and his lips curling in disgust. What gave him the right to judge, he was nothing more than a filthy fucking bum. "Y-You don, dun, dunt remimba mii. Du ya" Shauna covered her mouth to hide the snicker and the smile. Cabberin's slurred words were convincing to most, but humourous to her. The boy didn't remember him, he didn't need to. The boy grabbed the taller man's trench coat, lifting him slightly to bring their faces closer together as he insulted the poor man. "Ya knu why you lost to her kid?" the man on the floor's slurr melted away as he grabbed the young man's shirt just as his own coat had been seized. "You don't pay attention" his head cocked to the side, a toothy grin leaking Absinthe that sat in his cheeks. "You're this close to a man with Absinthe in his cheeks, and four fire breathing pokemon around him." The boy looked around, apparently only just realizing his mistake. "It's no wonder you lost"He pulled the boy closer, swallowing the alcohol still sitting in his mouth. "He who knows all, sees nothing." he threw the lad off him, smiling as he staggered a couple steps before rushing out the main door.

The old man and Korrina appeared quite taken aback. An elderly arm moving to block the skating woman as she intended to intercept the vagrant, whom now began climbing the ramp with his collection of pokemon. The Flareon hung in the man's arms, it's front paws over one arm and it's back ones sitting on another. The little black nose sniffed furiously at the air as the group trudged up the very long but gentle slope. A door on the second flat area was unlocked. Stepping in, Ryan found a group of beds and some very concerned looking people. Annwn's hands raised and lowered in a calming motion as Ryan spoke. "I'm so sorry to intrude upon your abode. We simply require a place to rest. We won't take up much space, and if you have any food you could spare for my companions, it would be greatly appreciated." He bowed, moving to a corner to sit in silence.

 

[CronusNuzlocker]

Spoiler: Part 14: Fourrage Road

The view from the top of the grand tower was amazing. Ryan stood upon one of the grand pillars that rose high above the conventional peak of the tower. Below stood trees and rocks and the steeple of a church, but beyond that was a great and endless ocean. Raising his arms at his sides, the vagrant felt lighter without his trench coat. The wind across his back caressed his bare skin. Stone dust had been injected into the flesh of his back, much like a tattoo that ripped and stabbed at the skin as he moved. Each letter of the large print tattoo stung as the cold breeze ripped across it. Only the stone dust font felt any pain, making the large print 'FYRE' stand out against his flesh. With his arms raised at his sides, Ryan stepped up to the very precipice of the pillar. With his eyes closed and a deep exhale, the large man lent forward. His hands above his head and his feet gently leaving the stone as he fell tumbling downward. Down, with the air rushing past him, falling from his dream.

The vagrant's body lurched from where sat, every muscle jolting as he was thrown awake. The lion cub, fox and canine that lay draped across various parts of his legs and lap bounced to standing. Two of the three looked around startled, seeking the danger and finding only three filled beds. The third, Fyr, simply sniffed at the suddenly awake man. Ryan's hand ran through the hot strands of fur on the canine's head, scratching at the skin on the back of its neck. The milky eyed, slightly wrinkled face tilted forward at the scratching, stretching it's neck and making strangely happy whimpering noises. After pulling away his slightly burning hand, Ryan stroked the necks of both the cub and the fox. At the touch, the slightly jumpy Annwn and Embeee both started, turning around only to see the large man in a ratted trench coat sitting behind them. Once they were calmed significantly, Ryan noted Leveyr perched atop a nearby wardrobe. The red hawk had a sizable violet furred rat stashed in its paws. "Come" Ryan whispered before leading the group from the room and down to the main chamber of the tower. Sitting in the large central chamber, the vagrant took his knife to the large rodent. After slicing away the skin of the already long dead creature, he prepared it for cooking. Breakfast was good, Breakfast was small. It surprised Ryan, once he left the tower after breakfast, to find the green haired woman Chuey standing on the stairs upward.

The viper lady, with her serpentine companion, walked alongside the trench coated man. He promised Fyr new smells, new places and a long journey he told her. The group would travel east along the seaside, enjoying the smells of the beach and anything they encounter along the way. The Flareon in question trotted along happily at the large man's right, sniffing at flower patches and fire hydrants as they passed on the street. Annwn walked more confidently now, using a large stick as a pretend cane in an almost parodying posh gait behind the elderly canine. The stick was not purely for spoof purposes though, the bipedal fox using it to press the sides of the blind creature ahead, gently steering it straight and ensuring it didn't collide with anything or stray away from the group. Along the path through the city, stood a large skate park with the sign 'Shalour city gym'. Both Shauna and Serena stood at the edge looking in at the collection of people gliding about on the concrete waves. Despite his feelings on the alleged sport of the pokemon league, Ryan found himself wishing the lass' the best of luck as he passed.

On the eastern edge of the city, after a small boundary field of flowers, ran a river. A thick mouthed river just as it reached the ocean. A man sat on a large stone by the water's edge, something strange about the man caught Ryan's eye though he was unable to pin it. The man wore a large hat, with a flap at the back that stretched down his neck and wet and torn clothes. In front of him was a long necked creature, it's back a hardened shell with several long spikes. But it did not seem in any way vicious as the man scratched under its chin. Without turning away, the man waved the two over, many of Ryan's companions refraining from moving too close to the waters edge as they followed him. The man upon the rock said nothing, turning to look at a strange treelike creature a little ways along the bridge before turning back to smile at the couple. After waving his hand in front of the creature's eyes he directed it to look down at the two. It's long neck swung the odd shaped head down to rest on Chuey's shoulder. While the two laughed, the man simply smiled and gestured first to it's back and then the other bank of the river. "Your pokemon wouldn't want to swim, and it would be a nice experience for Fear right?" Chuey asked, Ryan nodding his head in a rolling acceptance. With a quick thank you to the man, the group climbed onto the back of what Ryan only now remembered was called a Lapras. Fyr hung in the large man's arms, and Leyte drifted along behind the ferry creature as they crossed the wide river. With a glance back toward the man, Ryan watched as he stroked the head of a large four winged bat before nodding to him.

It was only when the creature stopped on the opposite bank that Ryan realized what had been bothering him. "Did you notice what that guy was wearing?" He asked the woman with the green streaked hair. She shrugged, helping him lift each of the pokemon from the creatures back and onto the sandy bank. "Look" he nodded across the river "a singlet and pants. He's soaking wet" She shrugged, the man swinging his legs round to the other side of the rock, the strange tree creature helping him down onto the sand. "He should be freezing." But the vagrant's train of thought was interrupted by a sudden squeal of pain and quick crunching sound. Snapping his head to the side he watched as the last few tentacles were sucked into the large creature's mouth. The lion cub began angrily growling at the long necked creature, yipping and snarling. The large man dropped to his knees, rubbing the neck of the slightly larger than average cub. It grumbled and continued to snarl at the creature, fiery drool leaking from the sides of its mouth. Without a word, Chuey pressed a red and white sphere against the large creature, causing it to vanish in a flash of red light. "Everyone has to eat" Ryan whispered to the cub, looking from it to Chuey, the small ball making a distinct dinging sound. "It's horrible, but everyone has to." he held the small furry creature close, stroking it gently for a moment. When all seemed calm, Ryan stood before Chuey. "Could you not let that out while she's around?" The woman nodded, understanding exactly why but turning to look at something behind her compatriot with wide eyes.

Turning around, Ryan was impressed to see the change Embeee had undergone. Her body was longer and raised higher from the ground. Her legs were longer and her mane, composed of fire like hair, was as long as her body. The lioness stood proud, ignoring the fluffy blind canine sniffing at her side. Annwn seemed to be measuring the large creature with his stick. Finding her to be almost 1.7 meters tall at the top of her head, as tall as most horses. Plunging his hand into her mane, Ryan scratched at Embeee's head before leading the group away from the beach. Up a slight hill from the sandy path was a long wooden fence. Penned into the large yard were a collection goats, each with a grassy back and long curved horns. One of the largest goats, paced along the fence line near Chuey. The woman was standing beside a strange ostrich-esc animal with three heads. Each of the heads watched the pacing creature, it's legs stamping in anticipation. With a wicked smile, the lady leaped onto the back of the tri-headed bird, grabbing at some fur behind one neck and ushering it over the fence. As soon as it landed upon the other side, both the bird and the goat were off. A quick dash around the perimeter. But seeing the prey flee, triggered a primal urge in the lioness, who bounded over the fence and after the two racers. Unwitting of the situation, or perhaps too old to care, Fyr simply sat by the fence sniffing some dandelions, sneezing as he sucked some of their fluff into his nose.

There are collars on each of the grass-backed critters, a house nearby and a boundary fence. Ryan would happily let her chase down and kill wild game. It's simply the natural way. But these aren't wild, they're someone's family, someone's lively hood. Throwing himself over the fence, the large man began bounding across the field after the other three. Annwn stood at the fence, hands on one of the wooden beams as he peered through at the spectacle. Ryan was fast, but really only as fast as the average man. He trailed far behind the chase ahead, watching smoke billow from the lioness' hungry mouth. Chuey's bird kept pace with the goat, reaching back and pecking at Embeee whenever she got close enough. Two large sets of talons clamped down on the vagrant's shoulders. Strong, powerful wings lifted him off the ground. The same speed feels so very different without the ground beneath your feet. The tips of each claw dug into his skin as he was hurtled through the air and finally dropped onto the Lioness' back. She staggered under his sudden weight during her lunge. He wasn't fast, he wasn't overly strong, but he was heavy enough to stop her should he choose. Ahead he watched Leveyr, almost the size of a man, gliding away with small drops of blood glistening on it's talons. Annwn smiled, watching as the Flareon beside him began running in circles, yipping excitedly. He'd heard the whole scene, even if he couldn't see it.

Forcing all his weight down, his hands burning as he pulled on Embeee's hair, the vagrant grinded the lioness to a halt. Almost as one would ride a horse, Ryan gently kicked her sides and turned her head by moving the fiery mane. A small ledge nearby was not guarded by the wooden fence, instead acting as a natural barrier. The equine sized lioness easily mounted the ledge, being slowly steered away from the paddock of grassy goats. Once certain they were far enough away, Ryan swung his left leg over her side, sliding down onto the ground beside the lioness. With the weight suddenly lifted from her, Embeee grumbled, nudging the vagrant's side with her muzzle. "It's okay" he scratched at her cheeks. "You were doing what came natural" his hand ran through her mane.

Looking back at the ranch, Ryan watched as Annwn trotted across the field. The enormous Leveyr, once such a small red robin, glided gracefully toward him, a happy bundle of fur held gently in its claws. Fyr's nose was going crazy, sniffing wildly at the air rushing past him. Annwn was the first to reach Ryan and Embeee, a large smile on his face as he pointed his stick up at Fyr. The canine glowed oddly for a moment, Leveyr's claws releasing him midair. The happy Flareon rolled in the wind as he slowly drifted down into Ryan's arms. "Good Boy" the vagrant smiled, reaching down to scratch the fox's head between it's ears. The lioness nuzzled his side with her muzzle again, springing a thought to mind. "You liked being ridden didn't you?" he asked, looking into her large eyes. Her long, very hot tongue, slathered across his face. "It could be dangerous for me to ride you, I might be too heavy" he looked down at Fyr in his arms. "But if you promise to be careful, you can carry Fyr?" he held up the milky eyed canine, who barked eagerly at the mention of his name.