MATURE: Project Toaster: Legacy (Pokemon)

[jasonwolf]

POKEMON: LEGACY
For Monster and Master​

Author's note: This is within the same universe as other Project Toaster stories, and could in some ways be considered a prequel, but no events relate to other plots. It can be read without any knowledge of other stories in this series.

Art/photo Gallery:

Mark's team

Spoiler: Team Update 1

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“Birthright is the crutch of the feeble. The only blood that gives you the right of king is the blood on your blade.” - King Arnor Hyvan, First of his Line

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Prologue​

“Reaper, Eviscerate!” I roared.

My scyther leaped from the shadows crossing his blades before locking them around our prey’s chest His scythes cloaked in pure darkness he cleaved our target in half. The other men began to try and flee, but there was no escape. Any that weren’t shredded by Reaper’s blades I shot dead with my crossbow. The blood sparkled in the light of the inferno that was once my home.

I stood by the fire, but even then I felt so cold. The last things that gave me warmth were burned up, and only the hunter remained. Without a past, all I have to gain is my legacy.


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Chap: 1
Of Monsters and Men​

I stared into the abyss, blinked, and continued staring bored. Slowly a wooden bucket began to rise up partially filled with water. Once in reach, I grabbed it and hauled it back to the tents. Canvases were stretched over sticks and between trees in a haphazard fashion. With the limited resources it was the best we could muster for the refugees. Even then the loyalists' conditions were better here than in the cities.

I set down the bucket near the central cooking pit before taking another empty one and repeated the process. The days at the camp were often filled with monotonous labor. Most of the refugees were desperate and starving. They weren’t able to tend to themselves so anyone capable had to fill the part. Usually, Jayce was around tending to the food, but I hadn’t seen him all day. I finished my tasks remaining silent and stoic to the refugees. I wasn’t here for them. I was here for me.

I left the camp and walked up to Saul’s tower. Made of crimson brick and standing over the surrounding forest the structure dominated the area. The first floor was just a simple kitchen, but heading up the spiraling stairs you’d reach his library and eventually his laboratory. Saul was standing over a number of maps with some of the other delvers, Yeit and Kala. Yeit was a bear of a man who could easily be mistaken for one if he were to wear a pelt. His mother was a Northern woman, and while it was certainly not something everyone was ok with I was glad he was with us instead of joining Xarvin’s raiders. He even called them disloyal because they were fighting for Xarvin’s coin. Kala was a street magician and performer up until Xarvin demanded all aeron mages swear fealty or be executed. I personally would have quite liked to see one of her shows. From what I had heard it was less about her magic and more about her “working her magic”. I’d much prefer it to working with her at least.

“Alright I slopped the peasants,” I announced stepping up to the table.

I could feel glares on me, but I didn’t care. I inspected the maps noting landmarks and comparing them to my experience.

“I could add trapper trails to these if you wanted. Might make it easier.” I suggested tracing lines on the map with my finger.

“I’ll get you another one for that. I prefer to keep these clean and sorted. Kala, you said that you had never seen the runes before?” Saul said dismissing me to speak with Kala.

“Never. Here I sketched a few so you could compare them.” Kala said producing a small book from her drawstring purse.

Kala placed it on the table open to the rune sketches. I recognized them almost instantly. I pulled a capture crystal from my bag.

“Those runes are used to infuse capture crystals. Well some of them at least.” I explained.

“Yes, but these two are alchemical.” Saul rebutted pointing to two other runes.

“There were also runes for ground and grass magic,” Kala added.

“Great so it’s magical. My plans out.” Yeit scoffed walking away absolutely disgusted with magical nonsense.

“Fine then send Elizibith up. She was in the garden last I saw.” Saul told him not looking away.

We all began debating why these runes would be together. Alchemy, magical script, and trappers charms all were magic certainly, but they didn’t normally overlap. We argued our sides back and forth making no real ground.

“Ahem.” A voice interrupted.

We turned to see Elizibith.

“Great we need a tie breaker. Lizi you’ve been doing magical study for a while now. Tell these two that the trapper runes indicate we’re dealing with a containment shield.” I told her pushing the book in her direction.

“It’s not gonna be a containment shield if there are the alchemical symbols for air and water. It’s got to be a shielded alchemical star.” Kala pointed to the alchemy runes as she spoke.

“But these are casting runes for a fire spell. So together it’d become a wall of greek fire.” Saul insisted.

Elizibith raised an eyebrow looking at the runes and then at us.

“It all looks like it doesn’t mean anything.” Elizibith said, “As in they actually don’t work with each other. These runes are probably from different ages. Different people did different things to seal the area. We’ll have to see which ones are still active.”

Saul grumbled, “Well that means I’ll need to send all three of you. I can’t abandon the tower, so Elizibeth you’ll have to act in my stead. This way no matter which set of runes is active someone can disable them. Then we can finally get the lexicon.”

The lexicon was one of the greater goals of the delvers. It was a tome of massive knowledge. With it, we could track down hundreds of other artifacts easily. Finding this one had been a project of Saul’s for over a decade. Once we had the book the work could be done in a couple months.

“Alright. You all pack up then. I’ll get Dudley ready for travel.” I said dismissing myself.

I headed back down the tower to the small lean-to we called a stable. It was currently occupied by Saul’s Mudsdale, an old Miltank, and Dudley my Doduo. He was a stocky southern ridge breed with a lot more muscle on him than the agile common breed. He craned his heads both fighting to see what was going on.

“It’s alright. We’re gonna be headin out in a bit.” I told him patting his heads.

He squawked and lowered his heads so I could put on his saddlebags. I buckled them on and let him out into the yard.

“You stay here. Be back in a moment.” I told him.

He squatted down sitting comfortably. I went out to my tent, which was pitched a fair distance away from the tower. I liked having my space. I packed it all up and hauled it back to Dudley. Before loading him up I took out my traveling gear: a mottled brown and green cloak, my crossbow, and a small brass whistle on a cord. I tested the whistle and heard nothing, but Dudley clearly did. Satisfied I hung it around my neck and sat down with my Doduo. Lizi and Kala came down from the tower dressed for travel.

“Sun’s rising right now so that’s east.” I pointed.

“Thank you, Galileo. It’s at least three days away so let's get moving.” Kala huffed rolling her eyes.

I shrugged and started heading off towards the sun. Dudley got up and started marching after me. Three days of traveling with a couple of witches. How had I gotten so lucky? I was mentally growling as I realized just how long this would be. Lizi wasn’t the worst, but Kala definitely was. What could I expect from a bitch like her though? I set a pace and just stared forward.

Those first few minutes of silence were precious once Lizi and Kala started talking I felt like I was carrying twice as much as I heard them go on and on about nonsense. Here we were working for a rebellion in a war and somehow they felt it was right to discuss the current fashions of Kalos. My expectations and already minimal respect for them continued to be lowered as the hours went by. I found great solace in lunch as they didn’t speak while they ate. Even the trail-bread tasted better for it. As we walked right through lunch we broke camp early near a small creek and set up for the possibility of real food. I left the women to make the camp while I got us something to eat.

I slowly went off into the brush hands gripped on my crossbow. This was years of practice at work. Many men and women had taught me over the years in multiple skills for trapping. All of it came together into making me an apex hunter. I was like the wind in the grass, moving swiftly, but not seen. Even in with the light filtering down through the canopy I was a shadow. My heavy cloak let me blend in with the rich greenery and roughage all around.

After a time I came to spot a Deerling wandering out alone. Normally I’d prefer a Sawsbuck, but even with feeding my pokemon that’d be wasting a lot of food, and I didn’t want that much food lying around over night. May as well just invite every predator in the forest to come after us. I raised the crossbow and stared down the bolt shaft.

“Thanks,” I whispered as I fired off the bolt. It dug deep into the deerling dropping it a few seconds later.

Giving a second to make sure nothing else was around I waited before going and grabbing the body. I pulled the bolt out and wiped it off on the grass. The Deerling was probably a couple years old it would be tender and juicy. I was quite fond of the hint of fruitiness in their meat from their grass typing. Once it was hauled back to camp I took to cleaning and butchering it. Grabbing a small black crystal from my pocket I raised it and fired off a black ray of energy. My Scyther, Reaper, appeared. I let him chow down on the less tasty entrails so that they didn’t sit out or get mixed in with the good food. Everything else was either sliced into steaks or thrown into a stew. I let Lizi take over cooking once I had the carcass all taken care off. With all the giblets and bits left over, I sent out my two remaining pokemon: Skitter, a yanma, and Huch, a Croagunk. They both were happy to chow down on the left overs. Dudley, however, was an herbivore, so I just let him graze under the watch of Reaper.

With all of them tended two I fed myself. Pretty much anything that Lizi or Kala didn’t eat I would. Again we were all silent to eat, but that like all good things came to an end.

“So Elizibith, did you really enjoy it at the academy? I feel like I’ve learned far more about magic living as a gypsey.” Kala asked putting aside his emptied bowl.

“Well, I think we learned very different things. I learned a lot about theory and history. You learned more about the application. I’m certainly happy with what I learned.” Lizi replied smiling.

“Well, I’ve also had much more time to apply it. I’ve been doing this since I was younger than you.” Kala admitted.

“So what's that forty years now?” I asked mocking her.

“Shut up. If it was my choice you wouldn’t even be with the delvers.” She said with disgust


“Too bad I’m so far one of the best. I’ve brought in three artifacts. How many do you have? One?” I laughed knowing I was right.

“You’ve been lucky.” She insisted rolling her eyes.

“No, I’ve been doing work while you spend time trying to sleep with Saul.” I taunted.

“Oh, that is it.” She lept to her feet raising a hand that glowed with purple energy.

“Reaper!” I shouted.

My scyther was in front of me near instantly. He crossed his scythe arms ready to chop off Kala’s hand.

“Don’t test me. Better yet don’t test him.” I warned her entirely serious.

She withdrew begrudgingly taking a seat again. Lizi who had watched the whole thing remained silent, not sure where to join in. I nodded to Reaper to tell him he was dismissed.

“You mages always look down everyone else. One day you’ll be surprised by someone coming from above.” I said before climbing up a nearby tree to sleep.

My pokemon were taking night watch as they got to rest during the day, so I was able to just nod off. The next morning we packed up and moved on. It felt like an almost exact repetition of the previous day. We hiked through acres of forest and only stopped for meals. I had taken some pot shots at small game, but didn’t get anything, so that night we stuck with rations.

The third day was when things became interesting. We finally hit the Anitor plains. A huge grassland that stretched from one side of Aeron to the other. We were up in the north western part of the nation. We were heading northeast up to a set of ruins dating back to the rule of King Ernor centuries ago. The hope was to collect some ancient weapons from his armory. Ernor was legendary for taking back most of Aeron after it was invaded by the northern tribes, so it was more than likely we would be able to find quite a few rather powerful weapons in the ruins of his fortresses, and of course his lexicon. It supposedly held the record of all of his treasures, so we’d be able to track the rest down easily.

Out on the plains was a very different kind of travel. Everything was exposed making raw speed the difference between life and death. I kept my crossbow in hand the whole time. When we broke for lunch we found a nice hill with a couple trees on it. Climbing up to the tallest branch I scanned the sea of grass. Green and gold as far as the eye could see. The winds and gentle hills making waves in the vegetation. That wasn’t all though. In the distance, a herd of bouffalant was grazing. Even one of those would be worth a small fortune if I could take it down and sell it. Sadly there was no way to get it to market right now. Not that there even was a market right now. I jumped down from my perch and rummaged through my bag. I took out a small clear trapper crystal and glanced back at the Bouffalant.

“How much you wanna bet I can catch one of those?” I said with a chuckle.

Both Lizi and Kala stared at me confused by the suggestion.

“Be a heck of a pack animal. No offense Dudley.” I added.

“We don’t have time to waste on you running after pokemon.” Kala scoffed.

“What if we were running from pokemon?” I asked my tone suddenly filled with terror.

Something had spooked the herd as it was now running our direction. Scanning the horizon I spotted the cause. There were riders on pokemon rounding up the herd.

“It’s Xarvin’s trappers!” I shouted.

“We can’t run they’ll see us, or worse we’ll be caught in the stampede,” Lizi said terrified.

“Then we stay and fight. Either way, we’re in trouble so let's get the drop on them.” Kala sighed.

“My god, for once, I actually agree with you.” I gasped

“Don’t get used to it. Just get down and be ready.” She actually smiled as she said it.

I took everything off Dudley so he’d be ready for a fight then made him hide in the brush. After that, I lied flat on the ground my cloak draped over me. From a distance, I’d be a lump of dirt. Kala helped Lizi up a tree before hiding herself. The bouffalant thundered past hundreds of them running as quickly as they could to escape. The trappers weren’t far behind though. Four riders on different pokemon were ready with all sorts of trapper gear: nets, stun vials, and more. The one in the lead was riding a large ponyta and moving far too fast to get a good shot at. The second was traveling on a staravia making him too high up. The third was on a second smaller ponyta that was slower, but he was sticking too close to the herd to give me a clean shot. The last one was plodding along on a Rhyhorn. Perfect. I grinned as I fired off a bolt nailing him in the gut. He felt off his mount and rolled into the grass. The riders were instantly onto us. The one on the staravia caused a whirlwind shaking all of the trees and blowing Lizi and me out of cover. He dove down jumping off his pokemon and drawing a knife.

“Really you’re gonna use that little thing?” Kala laughed stepping out from her hiding place before throwing a glittering fireball at the rider.

The spell exploded into a rainbow of colors. The rider was badly burned and bleeding on the ground. The two horseriders broke from the herd and charged up the hill. Both ponyta spewed fire as they ran making all of us run for new cover. I blew my whistle and Dudley came running. I jumped on him and we started heading down the other side of the hill.

“Come on ya bastards. Let me show you how a real trapper works!” I taunted as Dudley picked up speed.

He wasn’t the fastest thing, but we had a solid lead on them. I turned glanced over my shoulder and saw both riders pulling out weapons. One had a spear while the other had a net. I couldn’t grab my crossbow or my trapper crystals since I was holding onto Dudley. The riders were making ground on us. I started making a wide arc to try and circle back, but they caught on very quickly and split up to make sure I couldn’t turn. Dudley wouldn’t tire easily, but he wasn’t really a riding pokemon. These ponyta would be on us soon enough. I needed something anything. In a desperate crackpot plan I grabbed my whistle and blew it as loud as I possibly could.

Dudley skidded to a stop, but so did the ponyta throwing their riders off. In that pause, I grabbed my trapper crystals and sent out Reaper, Skitter, and Huch. The riders got to their feet as my pokemon were appearing.

“You son of a whore!” The one with a spear roared.

“Yeah like I haven’t been called that before.” I replied, “ Reaper shut them up.”

My scyther hissed as he dove towards them. He engaged the one with a spear and began slashing away. Skitter and Huch went for the other one with a net. It didn’t take long for them to be dealt with. Reaper broke the trapper’s spear and cut him down with ease. Skitter and Huch overwhelmed the other taking turns drawing his attention and attacking his openings.

“Pathetic. This is the filth Xarvin is hiring?” I said disgusted, “You can’t just give any yahoo a net and think they’ll be a good trapper.”

I searched through their belongings while my pokemon rounded up their ponyta. I took all of their hunter gear, their money, and a particularly nice leather bracelet. I lead the ponyta back to the girls who had done their best to contain the rhyhorn. The staravia had already flown off. Lizi and Kala were currently channeling a sort of forcefield around the rhyhorn to keep it from running off. It kept bashing into the sides in a frenzy.

“Hey let him go you’re just pissing him off!” I shouted to them.

“Let him go? He’ll trample us!” Kala yelled back.

“Just do it and run. Huch round him up.” I ordered.

Kala glared at me but nodded. Both witches sprinted for the hill as soon as they dropped the shield. Huch jumped towards the Rhyhorn and began to taunt it. Already furious the Rhyhorn charged towards him, but Huch simply jumped over. The Rhyhorn kept trying over and over throwing its whole weight towards Huch and never catching on. Eventually, Huch guided the rhyhorn into a tree. While unphased by the initial impact the tree began to topple and fell on top of the rhino pokemon. It collapsed exhausted.

“Good job,” I told Huch.

“How’d you two know to do that?” Lizi asked seeing the fight was over.

“I grew up on ranches. I did a lot of work with pissed off livestock. You could say this wasn’t my first rodeo. That and no offense to rhyhorns, but they're dumb as mud.” I said proud of my work.

I went over to the Rhyhorn and started petting it just behind the frill. He didn’t seem to have any bond to his trapper nor did the ponyta. Bonding wasn’t really necessary for training. Many actually considered it a waste of time. It was easier to treat your pokemon as tools. I much prefered having allies though. That night I started working with the pokemon I had taken from the trappers. I particularly liked the Rhyhorn and started thinking about a name for him. Meanwhile, I tried to get the ponyta used to Lizi and Kala. They were already saddled up and ready to travel so it could make things much easier for all of us.

At daybreak, we all mounted up and headed northward. Rork, my new rhyhorn, became my mount while the girls took the ponytas. Rork wasn’t exactly fast, but his trot was comparable to our walking speed so we weren’t losing any time. The whole day all I could think of was how easily I had turned these pokemon. To not bond with a pokemon is to expect a wild animal to obey without reason. Sure for cattle and beasts of burden maybe, but it was just pathetic to see strong pokemon so easily swayed. If this was how most of Xarvin’s trappers were then everything was going to be far easier than expected.

It was afternoon when we came across the ruins. Kala had found them last week, but of course, we were concerned about the defenses set up to protect it and its treasures. I stored Rork and the ponyta in crystals before we began to explore the area. For its age, the structure was in good condition. Ernor built numerous forts all along the northern borders. As far as we could tell this was also his Castle. While Alstan was the capital Ernor was not like the royalty today. He was a conqueror warrior king who cared not for parties and fashion. The royal coffers were used to build the frontier and make the nation strong. As such he lived on the front lines a sign that the frontier would be Aeron’s land.

Lizi and Kala went off one way while I started searching with Reaper. We found a window that had long since lost any glass or bars. Inside was empty. The castle had likely been emptied by the royalty when they moved back to Alstan, but we weren’t here for the finery. I jumped inside my boots echoing on the stone floor.

“Ok. We have to find the armory.” I reminded Reaper.

Ernor’s forts had gone into disuse centuries ago, but even then there were treasures still sealed within. Much of it was abandoned as the knowledge of how to access it had been lost. Ernor’s success wasn’t because of himself alone. He produced one of the strongest military forces of history as well as being the student of the great wizard Nolminion. His magic became the basis of all studies. With luck, Lizi would be able to understand some of it, and anything we couldn’t understand we would improvise. We weren’t the typical sort of tomb raiders after all.

We walked through the dark corridors lookings for anything out of place. I had been in a few ruins before, but there was an empty cold feeling, unlike anything I had felt before. The entire place was silent save for my footfalls. Even Reaper didn’t make a sound. In some ways, I felt entirely alone. Eventually, we came across a staircase spiraling downward into complete darkness. I pulled out a star shaped stone, a sunstone, and rubbed it between my hands. It began to glow like a warm coal before becoming comparable to a torch. I carried it in front of me as we descended. It was slow goings, but we reached the bottom to find a cavernous room dug out of the earth. Like the rest of the castle, it had been cleared out. Small stalagmites and stalactites had begun to form to refill the empty space. They looked like a thousand tiny teeth in a massive stone maw. I lifted the light trying to get a better view. There was a hallway on the opposite end of the room.

“Deeper into the beast,” I muttered.

Even those words echoed here. I grimaced at the sound of my own voice bouncing off the walls becoming distorted by the angled rock walls. With no other good options, we crossed the room and headed down the hall. I was starting to think we had found the dungeons. The rough raw stone walls began to smooth and straighten as we went further. This part of the tunnel must have been newer than the chamber. Ernor’s ideals were carried on by his son and grandson, so more than likely they added to the castle. We kept going until the hall opened up into another clean cut room maybe five men wide. This room was amazingly untouched. The first thing I noticed was the large sarcophagus in the center of the room. It was a brilliant piece of stone carving. Jewels and gold were inlaid making it glisten in the sunstone’s light. I fought every desire to go and grab it. Ruins didn’t stay pristine on their own. I scanned the room and looked for the runes Kala mentioned. I saw a peculiar set of armor and a sword rack with a gleaming bronze greatsword against the far wall. I realized there were also runes on the sarcophagus itself. I inched closer trying to translate some. I slid my fingers over the symbols desperate to remember. An otherworldly chill began to climb up my hand. I pulled it back and cradled it trying to bring back warmth. The runes began to glow and I knew we were in trouble.

Reaper and I bolted for the tunnel and made it to the rough stone room, but we weren’t alone this time. In front of the stairs stood a lone pokemon, a gallade. His crest and blades were a brilliant red and he was dressed in the same armor as we had seen in the previous room. He didn’t make a sound but stared us down with a fury in his eyes.

“Reaper, ready up,” I said flight turning to fight.

Reaper hissed stepping in front of me showing off his gleaming white blades. The Gallade dashed forward engaging with Reaper. The two matched blades and it was on. They both were wickedly fast making the fight a flurry of slashes and dodges as they moved around the room trying to find an advantage. I headed back to the tomb and searched for anything I could. The armor was entirely useless for anything but a Gallade, and I wasn’t a swordsman really. Even from down the hall I could hear the two roaring and their blades striking each other. There was only one place left to look. I took the broadsword, which I found to be amazingly light, and began to try and pry the sarcophagus open with it. Eventually, the seal was broken and I pushed the lid aside. Inside was a skeleton, a gallade’s, and two tomes.

“The Lexicon. Then…” I cut myself off stowing both and dashing back up the hall.

Reaper and the Gallade were throwing each other across the room in a mad brawl both evenly matched.

“Reaper, it’s a ghost. Use your night slash!” I shouted.

The ghost knight turned to me, but this left him open. Reaper lunged forward his claws surrounded by a dark energy. He slashed right through the Gallade making the ghost vanish for now.

“Come on. It won’t stay away for long.” I told him as I bolted up the stairs.

We raced for daylight. Even once we were topside we kept running. Ghosts typically weren’t seen in daylight, but they weren’t unheard of. I jumped out a window into the courtyard hoping to make a break for the main gate. Alice and Kala should have been somewhere around there. They’d probably have a better idea of how to deal with spirits. I could handle ghost pokemon but a pokemon ghost was new to me.

“Lizi! Kala! I’ve got a problem!” I shouted as loud as I could.

There was no response. They were probably deep into the castle the stone walls blocking my calls. I had to stop to catch my breath. I looked back seeing only Reaper behind me. If there was anywhere to make a stand it was gonna be here. The courtyard was largely empty even if it was overgrown with grasses and weeds. I released my pokemon and got them organized. Even with the numbers, I disliked the odds. This ghost was amazingly strong. Most relied on magical abilities, but this one had gone toe to toe with Reaper as though it was still here. Even though Reaper held up well I felt like it was toying with us.

The gallade appeared striding out into the sunlight. A black aura surrounded its ghostly visage. Playtime was over now. Reaper stepped forward ready for round two.

“This is just the start of my story. It isn’t ending here. Engage!” I ordered.

Huch and Skitter lept out of the grass to surround the Gallade. Rork had lied down in a pile of rubble blending in like a boulder. He stepped up in front of me. Reaper grinned with manic glee at the prospect of another fight.

“Attack!” I shouted pointing to the Gallade with the broadsword.

Reaper lunged forward trying to get in a sneaky stab before the fight even really started. The Gallade deflected the strike to make an opening before moving in close to Reaper and delivering a number of quick blows. Skitter fired off a concussive wave at the Gallades back while Huch went low with a sweeping kick. The Gallade was unphased by both. He continued to push Reaper back without even acknowledging the other pokemon.

“He’s entirely immune to normal attacks. Use elemental strikes.” I called doing my best to remain calm for my team despite being terrified by the Gallade’s abilities.

Huch smiled wide as he raised his fists. They began to faintly glow purple. He delivered to quick jabs to the Gallades lower leg. It glanced down, pointed at Huch, and flicked his hand sending my croagunk flying off into the grass using some kind of psychic power. Skitter hissed before emitting a brilliant array of colors from his mouth. The beam hummed like the sound of a billion bug wings. The gallade grabbed his head pained greatly by the sound. Reaper recovered and began to hack and slash at the gallade his claws black as night with the energy that filled them. The Gallade reeled falling to its knees. Just as things looked up everything was flipped upside down. The Gallade screamed a ghastly wail that physically pushed my pokemon back. Even I felt the force. The armor fell of the Gallade a and He was fully revealed. His red crest and golden eyes making it clear that this was Krimson, Ernor’s most dear pokemon partner.

“None steal from my master! You are not prepared!” Krimson roared filled with anger.

“I’ll admit not used to the dead fighting back when I take something.” I half laughed, but by this point, the terror was clear in my voice.

Krimson rushed towards me, but Rork stood his ground intercepting the gallade. The rhyhorn wasn’t fast, but he knew how to throw his weight around. Even when Krimson tried to maneuver around Rork would kick up stones to force him back. Huch burst out of the grass running to my side.

“Your pokemon are nothing but pests.” Krimson cackled his ghostly voice echoing despite where we were.

“You take that back,” I growled, my fear took a backseat as my ego stepped up.

Krimson raised a brow quizzically. He stepped back amused by the moment.

“No one insults my pokemon. We’re gonna make you eat those words.” I shouted impetuously.

Reaper and Skitter joined us and we surrounded Krimson. He chuckled looking around at us.

“Don’t underestimate us,” I said simply.

We all rushed him. He expertly blocked all of the attacks his two tonfas like arm blades a red blur as his whipped around deflecting our strikes. He smiled and I grimaced. We continued the onslaught not letting him have a moment to stop. There was no way he could keep up forever. Slowly he began to weave counter attacks in. He knocked out Skitter, Rork, and Huch with little effort. Reaper and I kept the fight going. Somehow even though I was not trained with a sword I somehow felt entirely right with the blade in my hands. Reaper made a risky lunge and Krimson dedicated to knocking him out giving me and opening. I sunk the blade deep into his shoulder. The gallade went rigid before falling to his knees.

“You don't insult my partners.” I laughed high on the adrenaline surging through me.

“This form is slow…Bested by raiders...I’ve fallen far.” Krimson gasped his form beginning to fade.

“Not exactly. Yes I will be taking these,” I nodded towards my bag, “but you don’t know what’s happened to Aeron, do you? Ernor’s golden kingdom is now under the reign of Xarvin the archmage.”

“Aeron could never fall. Ernor built the greatest nation.” Krimson hissed dismissing my words.

“And that nation grew fat on the riches of war. Xarvin murdered the king, took the crown, and took the land all within a month. There’s only a few left loyal to his line.” I sighed remembering the odds stacked up against the rebellion.

Krimson looked up at me his eyes glowing purple. His expression changed to rage and then sorrow.

“I wish I could deny what you’ve told me, but I see the truth.” Krimson cried his voice shaking as he continued to vanish.

I knelt down to him not quite sure what to do. It was a depressing thought to consider how one's legacy would eventually crumble and be destroyed. My pokemon and I were in this to build a legacy for ourselves. To make ourselves history was the greatest goal we had and yet that would one day fall to ruin. Off in the distance, I heard echoing footsteps on the castle’s stone floors.

“Lizi? Kala?” I called out cautiously.

“Markiel?” I heard lizi call back

“Come to the courtyard. I uh found something.” I told them.

When I turned back to Krimson he had faded away entirely. I shivered still not entirely recovered from the encounter. It was something strange and impossible, yet nothing was strange in a world of wizards and pokemon. Kala and Lizi came running.

“Oh good a sword. That will..” Kala began to insult me.

“I have the lexicon.” I interrupted not in the mood for shit.

“What? How? Lizi and I were only half way through ruins. We were coming up to get food.” Kala asked extremely flustered.

I handed her the tome before explaining the situation.

“There was a tomb on the other side of the castle. Ernor hid it there. The sword as far as I can tell is magic.”

“What makes you say that?” Lizi asked

“Well it weighs almost nothing and I hit a ghost with it so probably.” I shrugged.

Both looked at me strangely but took my word. While they inspected the tome I looked over my pokemon. They had only been knocked out and beat up. Some rest and everything would be alright. I got everyone go into their crystals before joining the witches.

“This is definitely the book. Ernor’s Pokenomicon.” Kala said filled with awe.

“A collection of all of his journeys, treasures, and everything he knew about pokemon. The academy has spent years tracking it down. They were so close before Xarvin arrived. To think another month or so and they’d have found it.” Lizi pondered.

“Well, we’re all glad they were. We couldn’t have found it without those research notes.” Kala reminded Lizi.

“Even if Xarvin reconnects the dots he’ll just think the book was stolen long ago. Once we get this to Saul we are in the clear.” I said, “This is just the start of an even greater story. I hope Ernor left some blank pages for me to fill.”

“You? Have you lost it? Saul wouldn’t entrust the pokenomicon to you. You’d probably pawn it when you got bored of all the big words.” Kala taunted.

“What just because I’m a trapper I can’t be well read? I was a guild member. I learned all of my sciences and maths. I may not be a mage, but I’ve done my studies.” I growled my grip tightening on the broadsword.

“Oh please. You memorize what parts of an animal are edible and that makes you a scholar? You’re just muscle and should leave the thinking to the magicians.”

I growled not even bothering with words and stabbed the broadsword into the ground. I grabbed the front of her cloak and was ready to throw her to the ground. Lizi ended it all quickly with a concussive wave. Kala and I were thrown across the courtyard.

“Will you two just be quiet! I have dealt with your bickering for days now. We finally get the lexicon and you somehow turn that into an argument. Kala you know Markiel is just as well studied as any of us. Markiel you know bloody well that this is serious so stop thinking about yourself for one minute.” Lizi yelled putting her foot down once and for all.

I had almost forgotten how dangerous her magic could be. This was her restraining herself. Kala had some strong magic, but Lizi was trained at the academy. Even the novices were trained to use magic to fight. If Xarvin hadn’t been in charge it’d have made his coup into one of the greatest challenges ever. I slowly began to stand up and walk away. I wasn’t dealing with this.

“Sod this. I’m done.” I said before blowing my whistle.

Dudley came running and we both headed out on our own.

“Markiel! Mark come back here.” Lizi shouted trying to sound commanding, but she just couldn’t.

I halted Dudley for a moment.

“I’m done. Xarvin is no worse than any other king, and this rebellion was never going to change anything. I thought maybe I’d find other people who wanted to do something and make something more of this pitiful life, but no I found a bunch of fools without a clue.”

I dug in my heels and Dudley started trotting.