POKéMORPH
This
is a fanfiction idea that I’ve had on the back burner for a while, but I
figured, as well as Heroes of the
Multiverse is going for me, I might as well give this a try, see how far it
goes. This will be my first “true”
Pokémon fanfic, so stay tuned.
Usual
disclaimers apply. These characters do
no belong to me.
“We’re lost, aren’t we? Don’t tell me we’re lost, Brock.”
“…I don’t know what to tell you then, May.”
The more things change, the more things stay the same.
In an unfamiliar part of the Hoenn region, four young
Pokémon enthusiasts, the oldest no more than 15 years old, were traveling
around the world on their Pokémon journey.
Each journeyman has their own goals, which they have made quite clear to
one another and to the people they have met in their travels. The goal of the first – the proverbial star
of the show – has made it perfectly clear he wants to be a Pokémon Master; he’s
been saying that since he started out on his journey. The second kid, the aforementioned oldest at
15, wants to be the world’s foremost Pokémon breeder. The third, the only girl in the group, wanted
to be a Pokémon trainer, but soon changed her mind and wants to become a Pokémon
coordinator. Finally, there was a small
child of 8 years old, who just so happened to be a super genius.
“I don’t understand how we could’ve gotten lost,” Ash
said, looking at Max. “That little GPS
navigator-thing you’ve got is foolproof, right?
“It’s not a ‘little GPS navigator thing’,” Max
corrected. “It’s called a Poké-Nav and it
is indeed infallible.” Max fiddled with
a few knobs, trying to bring the device back online. The others crowded around him.
“So…where are we?” May asked.
“Good question…see…”
Max held up the navigator to the others, letting them see what he was
seeing. “I don’t know.”
“What are you talking about?”
“This thing’s not getting a signal.”
“Why not?” Ash asked.
As stated earlier, the Poké-Nav relied on GPS tracking to
give trainers an exact location of where they were in the world. All a user had to do was find their blip on
the map, and zoom in to the desired resolution.
It could only give a reading on the navigator itself, so if one was
traveling with a group of people and someone got lost, that was on them to find
one another. These devices relied on satellite
signals relayed via an array of satellites in orbit around the planet. The signal would be beamed down to a broadcast
tower, which would then be picked up by the individual unit.
This particular unit, however, was retrieving no such
signal. Instead of being told where they
were, the screen just gave a flashing NO SIGNAL message.
“It keeps saying ‘no signal’,” Max sated.
“I can see that, but why?” May asked.
“Maybe it’s broken?” Ash suggested.
Max turned the device over, looking at the antenna and
other receivers. “No, everything appears
to be in order.” He then shook the
device. Nothing rattled inside. But when he looked at the screen again…
“Well that’s just great,” Brock grumbled. The NO SIGNAL message would be a pleasure
compared to the Blue Screen of Death the little device displayed.
“Fucking Windows M.E.,” Max groaned. May punched him hard on the top of his head,
knocking him down.
“You watch your language, you!” she shouted. Max had stars in his eyes as he lay
semi-conscious on the ground.
Brock picked up the Poké-Nav and dusted it off. He turned it off, and, once Max got his
senses about him, gave it back to the foul-mouthed little genius. “It’s no use,” he mused. “We can’t rely on that thing to get us out of
this forest.” He saw the downtrodden looks
of his friends, and quickly put on a happier demeanor. “Besides, Ash and I have been getting lost in
the forests since way back in the
day! It’s a walk in the park—er,
forest. This is nothing new to us, right
Ash?”
“More times than I care to remember,” Ash said.
“Pika,” {“Don’t remind me…”} Pikachu added.
“So what do we do now?” May asked.
Brock looked around.
He looked at the path they had taken.
The forest was thick and unusually dark, even during this the day. There was light in the direction they were
going, so he figured it was best to push forward. The high hanging branches with their
thousands of leaves could probably explain the loss of signal. But they couldn’t block the signal
forever. Right?
They pressed onward, at Brock’s direction, further into
the forest and towards the fleeting light.
They marched forward, not speaking much except for an occasional question
as to where they were going. No one
could provide an answer. On their blind traveling,
they ran into no Pokémon, which wouldn’t have mattered. Now wasn’t the time for capturing new Pokémon
anyway. Personal safety is the number
one priority right now.
However, if it were more as important to the kids as it
should’ve been, they would’ve noticed two shadow figures stalking them a
distance away…
* * * * *
Gradually, the thick canopy grew less thick, and more
light shone down upon the weary travelers.
They wandered from the forest into a clearing overlooking a valley. Judging by the position of the sun in the
sky, it was about half-past five. It was
still the summer, so there were no worries about it suddenly becoming dark.
“Hey, alright!” May started. “We’re finally out of that forest!”
“That was fun,” Max grumbled.
Ash stepped forward, almost to the edge of the
cliff. He held the straps of his
backpack tight as he looked over the valley.
“Wow, this is a great view, isn’t it Pikachu?”
“Pika, pika!” {“Magnificent!”} the mouse answered.
“Yeah. Almost
reminds me of
“Great,” Brock said.
“This means we can get a nice place to rest and stock up on supplies. We’re running kind of low.”
“So come on; what’re we waiting for? Let’s go!” May told the boys. They took no more than two steps before they
were stopped.
“That’s as far as
you go, trespassers!” The two people
that were stalking them earlier made their presence known at that very
second. At least, they should’ve been
people. Right now, they certainly wished they were people. They were…different. The first, the one who shouted at the four,
looked like a damned centaur! The top
half was human, and the lower horse half looked to be Rapidash, given the fire cascading
down his back and the fiery tail. The
second looked more human but with white fur all over its body and Vigoroth-like
arms, longer and with long claws in place of fingers. They both stared at Ash and his friends with
a look that could turn them all to ice.
“T-trespassers?” May stuttered. She stammered further, unable to find the
words to describe her surprise, her wonder, and mostly…her fear.
“What the hell are those?!” Brock shouted.
“That’s none of your concern!” the centaur shouted. “This area is forbidden to outsiders! Leave this place at once!”
“What is this place?” asked Max. He was hiding behind his sister, hoping she
would protect him from these…things.
“That’s none of your concern!” the Vigoroth-man barked.
“Look,” Ash started, his hands up in defense, “we’re not
here to cause any trouble! We just got
lost in the woods and are looking for a place to stay for the night, that’s
all! We just need to rest for a while!”
“Well you won’t find it here,” snarled the fiery centaur.
“But…what about that town—”
“That town is forbidden!” the Vigoroth-man roared. “No one may enter the valley, regardless of
their condition!”
“The hell with it, I’m getting tired of all this banter,”
the centaur snapped. He reached behind
his back and pulled out a long bamboo tube.
Ash only saw him reach for the weapon, not the weapon itself, until after he sent Pikachu on him.
“Pikachu! Use your
Iron Tail on that centaur!” Ash shouted.
Pikachu yapped and jumped off his shoulder, his tail glowing with
energy. He got about five feet before
falling to the ground, unconscious. “Pikachu? What…”
He picked up his Pokémon and turned him over. A wooden dart with a red feather on the end
was sticking out of the little mouse’s body.
“It’s a tranquilizer dart!” Max shouted, running to Ash. Seconds later, a dart was shot at his neck,
and with a dull groan, he collapsed at his sister’s feet.
“Max!” May shouted, feeling the body collapse against
her. “Okay, I’ve had enough! Beautifly…I…chuuuunh…” May fared no better. Her hand barely got to the Pokéball on her
hip before she too was struck with a dart.
Ash looked at the scene in a panic. Two of his friends were down, and his Pikachu
was decommissioned. He and Brock were at
the mercy of two…freaks of nature and
they knew that if they so much as flinched they would be tranq’d without so
much as a second thought. The wheels in
Ash’s head began to turn, and slowly he conjured up an idea how to get out of
this mess.
If he was older, it would be classified as “vintage Ash
Ketchum”.
“What have you done to my friends?!” he shouted. “I’ll make you pay for this! Graaaaaaaah!” His fists balled tight, Ash charged straight
at the centaur with the blowgun.
Shrugging, the centaur loaded another dart and fired, catching Ash right
in the shoulder. Whatever drugs were
used in that thing went right to work, and Ash’s charged slowed to a shuffle,
then completely, as Ash’s hand went to his wounded shoulder. His arms felt like they weighed a ton and his
vision immediately turned cloudy.
“Ash!” Brock shouted.
He went to aid his wounded friend.
He got three steps before the half-man-half-Pokémon shot him. The aspiring breeder staggered back several
harsh steps before falling over unconscious with a loud crash.
“Why do they always resist?” the centaur mused. A light groan drew his attention to the kid in
the blue sleeveless hoodie. He was still
standing, the dart having been yanked out, but not before its effects kicked
in. “It really gets on my nerves!” he
shouted, raising his fist.
“Joshua!” the Vigoroth-man shouted. The centaur’s fist froze, and then hung
limply from his body.
“Very well, Michael,” Joshua grumbled. He felt a tap against his stomach. Ash, tranq’d up and dopey, was still fighting
back. With a sigh, Joshua loaded another
dart and shot it at the kid. This time,
he went out before he even hit the ground.
“I must say I’m impressed. This
one resisted a lot more than usual.”
“Yes,” Michael said.
“Of course since you shot him twice he’ll be out longer than his friends
will.” He shrugged. “The others will be out for a good twelve
hours, but he’ll be out longer. Perhaps
eighteen. Perhaps even a day or two.”
“What shall we do with them?”
“We’ll load the prisoners up and take them back to
town. The Master will surely want to
have a word with them once they recover.”
He began loading Ash and May onto Joshua’s horse back, while hoisting
Brock onto his own. Joshua bent down and
grabbed Max and Pikachu in one arm before turning to his partner. Once the prisoners were secured, they headed
down a hidden trail down into the village below.
* * * * *
The village had a sturdy wall around the perimeter of it,
and two gates with thick doors at the north and south ends. The walls were made of oak and mahogany,
making it nearly impossible for any would-be intruders to break in. Guards were stationed in towers at the tops
of the gates, their Pokémon beside them, just in case.
“We have returned,” Michael announced, “and we have with
us four trespassers into the valley.”
Joshua turned to the side to show the guards the unconscious bodies of
Ash and May slumped over his back.
One of the guards turned around and made a hand motion,
and moments later, the heavy mahogany doors creaked open, allowing the two sentries
in.
In this village, it is not unusual to see creatures that
look to be half human, half Pokémon. By
contrast, it’s more unusual to see full-fledged human beings than it is to see
these disturbing hybrids. However, given
the context of this unusual civilization and its inhabitants, nothing unusual
or out of place. It wasn’t uncommon to
see fighting-type hybrids building or farming, or to see fire-type hybrids
cooking. This is the way people have
lived for a long, long time, and they would be damned if someone on the outside
would force their way in here and change everything.
The buildings look like they belong in the medieval
Japanese period. They were neatly built
and arranged with numerous dirt roads crisscrossing through the town. The Master’s home sat dead in the middle of
town and looked like a Shinto temple.
Two human-Kadabra hybrids armed with spears stood guard outside. As Joshua and Michael approached, they
themselves were approached by an older woman with a live Furret worn around her
shoulders like a stole.
“Hi, mother,” they said, one after another.
“Aren’t you two supposed to be on patrol?” the woman
asked.
“We were,” Joshua explained, “but we managed to catch a
handful of prisoners and were bringing them in.” The old woman, known as Kate, looked over the
unconscious interlopers.
“Very well. I’ll
have someone fill in for you at once.” She turned and walked away, leaving her
boys to carry out their task.
They stopped at the steps to the building and announced
themselves. “Lords Joshua and Michael
reporting,” Michael stated, “We request an audience with the master. We have prisoners.”
Before the guards could respond, the door slid open, and
The Master stepped out. His four arms
and gray complexion made it clear he was a fusion of a human and a
Machamp. He was smaller than a normal
Machamp, but was just as fierce looking and had hard muscles up and down his
arms and underneath his gi. He stood
with all four hands behind his back as the two brothers bowed before him.
“Fresh from Synergy Wood,” Michael declared as he and
Joshua set the bodies down before them. “We
caught them spying over the valley.”
The Master walked around the unconscious ones, his upper
left hand rubbing his chin. They didn’t
look too threatening, but in their part of the world they cannot take any
outsider lightly, even if they appear to be “just children.” “Very well then,” he said. “That will be all. You are dismissed.”
“Yes sir!” they both shouted. They bowed to the Master, turned and walked
off.
Now alone with the captured, he looked more closely at
them. What do we have here…?
TO BE CONTINUED……………