TEEN: The Trials of Mysteria

[Jewel the Quaxly]

“She had a goal in mind, after all. To prove everyone in Hearthome wrong, she was going to become a Mage Master, and make everyone regret their actions.” Esther Charon is a buneary from the village of Hearthome in the Stellia Kingdom who's life changes entirely upon being gifted a magical amulet that grants her a mysterious power. With a goal in mind, she sets off to join the Dragon's Oath, a well-known magic guild in all of Mysteria, to work on becoming a Mage Master. Little did she know just how in over her head she was...
​

I swear, I swear, I WILL finish Unknown: Escape. I'm actually about a third of the way done with chapter four right about now, but you know what...this story is dedicated to my sister, so I had to post it anyway. That, and, no anime ties here-just complete, free, unrestricted creative freedom, so I'm going to have fun with this one.

This story is rated TEEN for:

Spoiler

-Mild language
-Depictions of blood
-Abuse(psychological and physical)
-Torture
-Trauma within many characters

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

Prologue
The Girl From Hearthome
​

For as long as Esther had known, she was absolutely terrible at almost everything. She couldn't even take pride in her rarest accomplishments, for they were so pitiful and mundane that it made her other “achievements” look worse by default.

Her grandfather had told her not to dwell on it very much. That someday, she would find what she was good at, and excel at it. That someday, maybe, she could take pride in a skill that no other child in Hearthome Village could boast. She wanted that “special skill” now, like other kids seemed to have.

“Don't compare yourself to others, Esther.” The buneary in question watched intently as the elder umbreon led the way through the forest. The sky was orange, reflecting in the dark type's weary eyes as a frustrated seven year old hopped after him. “You'll get nothing out of it.”

“But then how will I prove Gil Carveman wrong?” Esther replied. “He made fun of me cause I couldn't fly.”

Her grandfather chuckled. “My dear, you can't fly. Tell that Gil Carveman to focus on his own skills before questioning the abilities of others.”

“But why can't I fly? If I could fly, then maybe I wouldn't be stuck with unimpressive accomplishments anymore...”

“Because you need to be born that way, that's why you can't fly. And if you want to talk about unimpressive accomplishments, then you should consider how Little Mister Carveman here boasts about being able to do something every member of the gligar species can do: flying.”

Esther considered that for a moment. “So, do you think it would be impressive if I learned something my species wouldn't be able to do?”

“Esther, my dear, you're missing the point...Carveman boasts about a skill that doesn't only belong to him and you want that skill because you feel you don't have anything to match up to it, is that it?” Esther nodded, so the elder pokemon took that as a sign to continue his lecture. “But you should be proud of your own skills, one that isn't brought on by biology or innate advantages given by birth. This is why I'm telling you to be patient. You'll find what you're good at, soon enough.”

Esther told her grandfather that she would take his advice and not compare herself to other pokemon, or let her lack of talent get the better of her. A few months passed, until the warm months of the year arrived, and the now eight year old fell back into her old habits again.

“Shut up!” Esther spat. “I can too win a game of tag.”

Gil Carveman put his light purple colored claws on his hips and smirked. “Yeah, right. We've been playin' ever since the beginnin' of the school year, and there ain't been a single time you've won. Summer's almost over an' you still haven't won a single game.”

“Until now!”

The chorus of laughter rang in Esther's ears as she blinked back the tears starting to form. “It's true! Watch, I'll catch all of you when I'm it, and when one of you are it, you'll never be able to catch me! I'll prove you all wrong...”

“Did you hear that, friends?” Gil said. “It sounds like lil' lagomorph here wants to challenge all of us to a good ol' game of tag. Whaddya say we teach her a lesson about messing with the big kids?”

The other children snickered in agreement as Gil exchanged a high five with a furret. Or, as well, as the two could with their different appendages.

Esther felt her face burn as she clenched her fists. “You're not that bigger than I am, you know! And I'm pretty sure you're not that older either, so shut up! You probably don't even know what a lagorph is anyway!”

“It's called a lagomorph, idiot.” Gil said proudly. “And it's what you are. My daddy said so.”

“Your daddy is stupid!” Esther shot back. The gligar's eyes narrowed, while the other pokemon children wearily began to back away. Esther would've too, but she had her pride to defend, and she wasn't going to go down without a fight.

Gil stomped towards her, each stomp sounding like a miniature earthquake in her ears. He stopped when he was toe-to-toe with Esther and leered over her. “Are you insultin' my daddy?”

Esther put on a brave face and stood tall. “Yeah,” she said, causing some kids to gasp. “Everybody knows that your daddy is the dumbest guy in town. Pokemon just don't say anything because they don't want to hurt your feelings, since your mommy left your daddy because of how stupid he-”

“Shut up!” Gil screamed in her face. Esther didn't relent, even when the other children started to whisper.

“Why, if your daddy even had half a sense to know that he wasn't able to use magic, then maybe he could've gotten the respect of all the pokemon here in Hearthome. But instead, he spent all his time studying and studying to enter an academy that everyone and their mother knew he couldn't enter-”

“I said, shut up!”

“-nobody said anything to him, either. Nobody said to him that the only way for him to enter the academy was to prove he wasn't able to use any moves. But of course, the poor idiot was in denial, so he just threw himself into pointless studying again...”

At some point, though Esther didn't realize, she began to enjoy seeing the horrified expression on that stupid gligar's face. It was a form of revenge, she supposed, and also a form of relief. She was never able to keep her mouth shut for too long, and had she had a better attitude, her honesty would've made her more likable.

But nobody would notice the honesty of somebody they didn't even get to know in the first place.

“I never knew my parents, but at least I have two pokemon with fully functioning brains looking after me. All you have is your dead-brained daddy and your half-wit-”

Esther never saw the blow coming.

A gasp chorused through the children as they backed away further than they had before as Esther was slammed to the ground with a solid-hit from the move Slash. Her eyes widened as she stared up at the sky. Gil entered her vision, a less than pleased look on his face. She noticed that his claws were glowing.

“You're gonna regret that.” Gil said darkly, and he advanced.

Esther wasn't even sure what the fight had been about anymore, but she didn't care. Right now, she had a chance to regain the pride she lost when Gil knocked her to the ground, and she refused to get beat-up and ruin her satisfaction from making Gil so upset in the first place.

So, naturally, she rolled out of the way when the gligar's glowing claw smashed into the ground where she previously lay. She slowly pushed herself up, ignoring the ringing sound in her ears and the blood rushing to her head, and charged at Gil with her ears held in a punching position, preparing a Dizzy Punch.

Dizzy Punch was her best move, and as pathetic as it was, her only move. The other move she had, Bounce, was so useless and unneeded that she never felt the need to declare it as one in the first place. All buneary could bounce, after all, but she just happened to be the buneary who was worst at it.

One of the other children let out a scream as Esther's Dizzy Punch collided with Gil's Slash. The two kids stood locked in place, trying to push each other back with their moves, trying to overpower each other, trying to prove who was better...

She choked when she felt a blow from behind her, throwing her into the ground and giving her the taste of dirt once more. She sneered at her assailant, the furret that Gil had high-fived from earlier, with his claws drawn and glowing brightly. “What, you want to fight me too? Bring it on, then...I'll prove who's stronger-”

Esther yelped as she tumbled into the ground once more, feelings scratches form all over her body and face. She glared at her third attacker, a cubone, who had struck her with his club. The cubone gave her a hard stare. “You messed up bad when you mentioned Gil's family. I can't stand by, especially when you hurt my friend.”

“You coward!” Esther shouted. “You're only attacking me because I'm on the ground!”

“Good,” a mankey declared, stepping on Esther's back, preventing her from standing up. He pushed her face into the dirt. “Why don't you stay that way?”

She growled, trying to push herself up desperately, but failing. Each time brought on more laughter from the other pokemon, who seemingly moved past their fear of the fight in favor of an old but rather popular activity: beating up Esther Charon.

Esther wasn't sure how much time had passed before her body had gone completely numb. It must've been a while, as the sky had gone completely dark by the time the other children had dispersed. Gil was the last to leave, continuing to grind her face into the dirt like a psychopath, until the furret had urged him to hurry home before they got caught.

Then Esther was left all alone. She stared blankly at the sky, not even showing an ounce of expression on her face.

It wasn't until she heard a distant call, the familiar and worried-sounding voices of her grandparents in the distance, along with another voice she didn't recognize. But she didn't care. Because her grandparents were here.

Without realizing it, she had started to cry. Her loud wails alerted her position to her grandparents and the pokemon following them and she sobbed harder when her grandmother dashed towards her, despite her old age, and gently picked her up from the ground.

Esther wrapped her arms around the stunned espeon and began to sob uncontrollably. She cried until she fell asleep. And then nothing but stunned silence reigned among the three pokemon who had arrived on the scene.

***

“So, what are you saying?” the espeon glared. “You knew who Esther's parents were? You still haven't explained how you know them.”

The croagunk rocked back and forth on the rocking chair, sitting in a squatted position, despite the odd looks he was receiving from Esther's grandparents. “As I've been saying for the past ten minutes, yes. I know who you are, as well, Lady Chrysanthemum. Or should I call you by your better known name, Chrysa?”

The espeon tensed and her gaze darkened. “You're not just a traveling doctor after all, are you?”

The croagunk's lips curled into a smile, but he didn't say anything. Esther's grandmother, or known better as “Chrysa”, turned to her husband, who was sitting next to her on the couch in the living room. Esther had fallen asleep as soon as they arrived at the house, with the stranger that they met while looking for their granddaughter following them.

He called himself Mephisto. The croagunk was apparently a traveling doctor, going from village to village in search of an apprentice willing to travel with him to study medicine. It wasn't until Chrysa and her husband, Azalea, had brought Esther back to the house when Mephisto decided to casually bring up the fact that he knew Esther's parents.

Naturally, Chrysa and Azalea were stunned by this revelation, and demanded Mephisto explain himself. But he had yet to say anything of value. At least to Azalea.

“You're a mage, aren't you?” Azalea said calmly. Chrysa looked over to him in alarm, her ears and tail twitching in panic. “That's how you know Esther's parents, correct?”

Mephisto smirked, “and the mon gets a prize! My apologies, Lady Chrysanthemum, your husband is simply too smart for you.”

Chrysa growled, about to lunge at the poison type, but was stopped by Azalea. “Calm down, my dear,” the umbreon said softly. “It won't do you any good to get angry.”

Mephisto chuckled, “you got that right. I suppose I can't drag this out for any longer, so I'll cut straight to the chase.” He straightened his posture as his gaze settled on the two elderly pokemon. “I'm a Mage Master from the Magic Guild Association. I am traveling around and I am looking for an apprentice. Just not one to study in medicine.”

“You want someone to learn magic under you,” Azalea guessed. “And considering how you've taken the time to sit with us and tell us this, you want it to be Esther.”

Chrysa let out a soft gasp and whipped her head around to face Azalea, stunned at how calm he was acting. Mephisto merely let out a chuckle at this. “Now, now, Mr. Charon. When did I ever suggest such a thing?”

The umbreon didn't flinch and continued to stare, similar to how Mephisto's smirk refused to waver in the slightest. It was almost as if the croagunk's face was permanently stuck in a maniacal smile.

Eventually, he sighed and his smile took on a more sly look. “Well, no point in beating around it any further. Yes, I want Esther to learn magic under me. But fret not, this can work for everyone involved, I assure you.”

“How?” Chrysa glared. “How are we supposed to trust you? How can she even learn magic if she hasn't reached her Awakening? If she even has the ability in the first place?”

Mephisto shrugged. “You don't. Esther, however...this should be her choice, don't you think? And as for how she'll learn magic...I can tell you know that she doesn't have the magic ability.”

“So, then why...?”

“But see, all I'm really asking for is for her to bear a certain amulet: one that carries half of my powers. Through that amulet, she'll reach her Awakening, and it'll become her own magic in due time. However, the amulet cannot be given to one who doesn't except it personally, which is why I'd like to ask Esther if she herself would like to hold on to this amulet for me.”

“And why, pray tell, are you giving away half of your magic?” Azalea questioned. “Let alone ignoring how you were able to transfer it to an object in the first place...” he trailed off before narrowing his eyes.

Chrysa paled as the realization struck her at the exact same time. “You're one of them, aren't you?” she asked. When Mephisto's smirk did not waver, she paled even further. “Oh, God...”

“Before you kick me out of your home, I would just like to say that your granddaughter has a right to choose whether or not to accept my gift. I already have ties to the Magic Guild Association, so its not as if they're completely oblivious to my activities, if it feels shady to you.” Mephisto assured the two. “So, how about we ask your lovely granddaughter listening in near the banister?”

Azalea and Chrysa looked at each other in alarm before Azalea called out to the stairs, “Esther? Are you there?”

There was no reply. Then Chrysa's ears twitched upon hearing some small shuffling noises growing louder as they neared. Then into the living room stepped Esther, who still looked a little worse for wear, but looked on with morbid curiosity.

Mephisto looked at the two frightened pokemon in triumph before asking Esther how much she had heard.

Esther mumbled in reply. “From when you explained you were a Mage Master to now...”

“I'll keep it simple then. Do you want to accept my amulet?” Mephisto asked.

Chrysa immediately began to protest, but Azalea held up a paw to silence her. He narrowed his eyes, deciding to give the faux doctor a chance, much to his wife's chagrin. “Well, Esther? It's your choice.”

Esther looked befuddled and largely torn on how to reply. But of course, as young as she was, she didn't have to think twice about the chance to learn magic of all things.

Even though a small part in the back of her mind told her no, even though a small part of her didn't want to learn magic because of how it reminded her of that stupid old Gil Carveman and his idiotic father, even though she knew that the reason why she suddenly wanted to change her mind about magic was because she finally found something she could use to one-up the other kids at school...

“I'll take it!”

And that was just the beginning.

***

The next few months passed by in a blur for Esther. The day after she had met Mephisto, he just handed her the amulet and told her to wear it. She had expected there to be some ritual involved in transferring his magic to her, but apparently there was none.

“All the magic is already finished,” Mephisto said proudly, much to Esther's clear disappointment. “Now all we have to do is wait until you turn ten and reach your Awakening, and then the amulet will activate for you. Of course, nobody has the exact same magic signature, so you'll probably be able to learn your own within time.”

Esther had asked Mephisto on multiple occasions what his magic was, but he refused to disclose any information. All he had to offer her was the amulet and that she needed to wait till her “Awakening”, a rite of passage, of sorts.

Awakenings typically happened to pokemon under the age of ten or on their tenth birthday, although the latter was much more rare. This was all basic stuff that everyone knew about magic, something that she had been taught in school. But as Esther had lived in the countryside of the Stellia Kingdom, she had only learned the bare minimum. Had she grown up near one of the bigger cities near the capitol of Stellia, than perhaps she would've known more about the magic world.

All she knew was that pokemon who were able to use magic sacrificed their moves in exchange, pokemon had to be born with the ability in the first place, and that there were three kinds of magic users, dictating what type of magic they were “fused” or born with.

Mephisto, irritatingly enough, never elaborated on what those three types were. It frustrated Esther, as she had only learned about it in some throwaway discussions at school-there were three types of magic users: Solarians, Stellians, and Lunalians. But that was the extent of which Esther's knowledge of magic ended.

At some point, just before her tenth birthday, Esther had almost forgotten how long it had been since Mephisto had been staying at Hearthome. He had made himself known by the other townspeople as a cheerful lad who was always willing to give a hand and entertain the children. Even her grandparents had begun to lighten up around him, though they still seemed oddly tense around him for some reason.

Esther remained alone. The only ones she confided in were Chrysa, her grandmother, Azalea, her grandfather, and Mephisto, her irritating and incredibly unhelpful “mentor”.

She had complained about this to her grandfather on more than one occasion, to which he simply just shook his head and said, “just be patient, Esther.”

She tried her best to keep the magic training a secret at school, but when Gil Carveman and his lackeys opened their big mouths again, all bets were off, and she declared, without a shred of doubt, that she was going to become a mage. Not just any mage, but a Mage Master-and the best of the best, as well.

She was beaten up again.

And again. And again. And again.

And one day, after a “game” of tag-which was really the children of Hearthome chasing after Esther and taking turns throwing her into the dirt-in the forest, Esther had snapped. She wanted to hurt them. For causing her so much pain and grievance over the years, and leading her to be so abused for all these years.

She hated them. And wanted them to suffer.

“G-Gil?” that grating furret spoke in terror, shakily pointing behind the gligar. “S-she's...”

“What?” Gil demanded in irritation, then turned around. The blood drained from his face. “What the-”

Esther stepped shakily towards them, her eyes dilated eyes glazed over. She had lost conscienceness at some point, leaving only her brewing anger behind. And, without warning, a switch was flipped inside her.

She charged forward, the soulless husk ready to extract her revenge, her attack nailing its target right on the face.

Only she hadn't used Dizzy Punch.

The other pokemon stared in terror at her glowing aura, matching her glowing purple amulet, as they watched her pound Gil's face into a tree.

There was nothing else they could do except watch, frozen in terror.

***

When Esther had come to, she had no memory of what had happened. Except something felt different. And it amazed her enough that she had taken to ignoring the clear issue of what had happened to lead to the complete desecration of the forest clearing around her to run home, with nothing but excitement dancing in her eyes.

Esther Charon had finally reached her Awakening.

And the only question remains is if it was really a good thing after all.

Esther didn't know. But to her, the world lit up around her, right at that moment. That moment she lost control, right when she first discovered her magic. Mephisto had instantly bailed the next morning. Azalea wanted Esther to get rid of her amulet, but she had refused.

She had a goal in mind, after all. To prove everyone in Hearthome wrong, she was going to become a Mage Master, and make everyone regret their actions.

And to do that, she was going to join a guild upon turning sixteen. Six years was a long wait, she supposed, but it gave her plenty of time to figure out what kind of magic she had.

After all, what was the worst that could happen?

 

[Greninjaman]

Is this a PMD story by any chance?

 

[Jewel the Quaxly]

Is this a PMD story by any chance?

Not...really? I guess you can consider it one, but it doesn't take place in the PMD universe. The only similarities it shares is that the world just consists of pokemon, but the society it lives in is very similar to humans.

 

[Welkamo]

Oooh new story let's read.

• I see you've edited the opening lines. Edits for the better.
• Oh no Esther don't bring up parental emotional baggage ESTHER NO—
• The image of a Croagunk in a rocking chair is a very whimsical one. I like it, sort of Chuck Jones/old children's book-esque.
• Just looked up Mephisto because it sounded like a Biblical or literature reference (and I'm a sucker for those), and uh oh this Croagunk is up to no good.
• Pokémon with magic? Interesting. I wonder if the Pokémon's type affects their magic skills.
• Uh oh, Esther snapped (well, she sort of did back when she called out Gil's parents, but this seems more extreme).

Interesting premise. I like where this story is going so far.