A New World, A New War

You ever get those days where you just do not want to wake up? That you feel like everything will be better off if you just stayed asleep? This was one of those days. More so than others.

"No... D'wanna... get up..." I mumbled, still very much half asleep. Unfortunately, the bright blue Arcanine next to me did not agree.

"Arrr..." It, Inigo, playfully growled, still nudging me with his wet nose. When I still did not get up, my assailant walked away. I heard a flash from one of my Pokéballs, and I braced myself. Sure enough, a psychic voice yelled in my head. 'GET UP!'

That woke me up. "Okay, okay, I'm up. Did anyone ever tell you how loud you are, Sofia?" Sofia is my Medicham. She was with me since I set out on my journey just two years ago. Literally, when I opened my front door, an empty pokéball in hand, a Medicham collapsed on it, drunk as all distortion, and did not resist capture.

She giggled in my head again. 'Yes. Plenty of times. Did anyone ever tell you how much you sleep?'

"Point taken." I deadpanned. "Let's get moving, before a Ranger finds us or something." The Rangers wanted me for Pokephilia. I tried arguing that we were cold and needed to preserve heat, but they wouldn't have any of it. Most of those Rangers were more stubborn than... well, me. Asleep.

"I suppose I'd better let the rest out of their balls." As of right now, I have a total of twelve active balls. It's technically breaking federation rules... but, eh. I am wanted for several crimes already. Besides, it's a feature pokeballs have. Why would Silph design them to override the federation if they didn't want people abus- using that feature?

So, out came my team. They're an... interesting sort.

First, there was Hoth. He's my Marowak, and more than anything he loves to fight. No sooner than he had been sent out, he immediately had his bone drawn, looking for targets.

Next, Arissa, a Liepard. She happened by when a collector with questionable mental stability came along and demanded I give him Inigo. I think he’s still recovering from those Shadow Claws.

And then Sass, my Lucario. He and I have been best friends since I hatched him. Technically you could say he was my first Pokémon, since I received the egg before Sofia, but it didn't hatch until later.

And then there was Gaia, a Roserade. If there was one thing she loved, it was looking good. I thought about taking her to Hoenn, once, when she was a Roselia, but I also knew she wanted to evolve. I only had enough money for a Dawn Stone or a trip to Hoenn, and she chose the stone. I don't blame her, honestly. There’s too much water there.

Next was Spectre, my Gengar. She could definitely do a lot of damage. But the best thing about her isn't her power, it's how friendly she is. She'd take my soul out of my body and we'd go flying through the ghost world together. She'd grab hold of me and use Phantom Force to get us away from Rangers. If Pokephilia wasn't a thing… well… that hasn’t stopped me before.

And then Nega, my Minun. That little ball of literal energy always cheered us on, always made us smile no matter what, always made friends out of anyone. But more than that, he loved to run. He and Vex were the best of friends, always racing.

Which leads me onto Vex, the Skarmory. Not long after I captured Nega, this Skarmory divebombed me, glaring at me for having 'taken' her friend. I sent Nega out, and let them talk it out. Nega told Vex that he wanted to see the world, and that he wanted her to come along to see it together. I didn't have any objections to that, and she hopped into the ball.

And then there is Mitre, a Mightyena. There’s not much can be said about him, save that he loves to protect his friends, and bite his enemies. Him and Inigo constantly fight over 'ownership' of me, but whenever that happens I take out their balls and tell them that if they keep fighting over me, I'll have to remind them who their owners are.

The last 'mon of note is Strife, my Absol. There’s not much that can be said about him, either. He doesn't want to do much, except keep watch all night, and he wakes me up if there are rangers nearby. He is the only one who can wake me up in less than a minute, which is quite a feat. I think he just wants to prove himself to me. I wish he wouldn't, I love all my Pokémon.

I say the last Pokémon of note, because there is technically another. There is a Yanmega that follows Inigo almost everywhere. When I asked Sofia about it, she told me it either has a very strong psychic defence, or has no memory and thinks Inigo is its master or something, I don't really know.

And that is our happy little family, fresh out of their balls. Now, to resume our trek to the Celestial Tower.

We resumed our depressing little march over the mountains, through the forest, over the forest, through the mountains, over the mountains, we just kept on walking, only stopping for brief periods to get a snack or a quick drink. We didn't stop until we saw it on the horizon. We'd just arrived at sunset, and I have to say it looked quite magical. Nega looked hopeful when he saw my legs tense. I nodded and he shot off, with me after him.

"Let's go!" I yelled, ordering everymon to run after me. And we kept running, except when Inigo stopped short.

“What is it?” I asked, sliding to a standstill. He growled in response.

‘Rangers.’ Mentally spat Sofia, pointing into the distance. I could indeed see flashes of red hiding in the bushes. I nodded to Hoth, and he burrowed underground.

So I walked calmly forward, right into an ambush. Several Rangers came out of the bushes, as did some police officers, and a short, chubby man in a suit so tight he looked like might asphyxiate.

The Ranger started talking first. "Cooper Jacobs. You are wanted for several crimes, including Pokephilia."

'Oh, Arceus.'

The Officer Jenny next to her continued. "There have also been reports of underage drinking, and supplying your Pokémon with alcohol."

'Not this again.'

The midget concluded. "Not to mention several violations of the Pokémon Federation's rules! Hacking a PC, using more than six Pokémon, assaulting a champion!" He exclaimed, as though he'd never met Alder.

"What say you in your defence?" The Jenny asked. I felt a faint rumbling underground and instantly knew that Hoth was ready for a fight.

I folded my arms. “Okay, first off? It was cold. Second? My brother died, how was I supposed to cope? Third? It was Alder. Fourth?” I smirked. “Earthquake.”

Instantly all distortion broke loose, all present lost their balance, and several tendrils of psychic energy whisked out of the bushes and put several people to sleep. The ones remaining instantly sensed their inevitable fail.

"Retreat!" Yelled some Rangers, running away, only to receive a metal-clad bird crash into all of them. At once.

The chubby man from before was now seething with rage, and yelled at me. "Do you want me to add misuse of Pokémon to the list?"

I glared at him. “Oh, so now you dictate how all Pokémon should act?”

He shrieked in blind rage, before composing himself and tossed his own Pokémon into the fray, an Aggron. It hadn't been out for two seconds before receiving a sassy Power-Up Punch to the stomach, sending it crashing through several trees.

"You will be brought to justice, one day, criminal scum." He spat, before turning and running away, red with anger, while leaving his injured Pokémon there. Gaia immediately darted over.

I scoffed. "Right. Justice. That's all I've gotten from you bastards." The nerve of those... they dare attack me at a cemetery? At my brothers resting place? I utterly despise people who think they're in the right because they have a badge and a piece of paper that says so. "Come for me again, I won't hold back!" I yelled after him.

Now, for what I came here for. "Come on, guys. Let's go." I said, walking into the tower. I ignored the dozens of psychics that wanted rematches, and all the Gastlys and Litwicks that wanted to fight me, and I kept walking until I got to the top. I approached my brothers grave, in front of the big bell.

I began to tear up. "Stuart, I..." That was all I managed before Strife tackled me, everything became blurry, and the next thing I see is the ground approaching at a rapid pace. And then the voice.

“Rest now my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home.”

Goggari: A solid chapter to start a story with.