The Ruins, The Tree and The Start of a New Journey!
"No matter how many times I look at it..." Said a female Meganium carrying a bag full of berries, apples, seeds and other basic items for exploration and adventuring, "Those are the funniest and cutest Ponyta statues that I've ever seen!"
"Are ya sure these things are Ponytas? 'Cause these things got horns... And wings!" Argued a male Feraligatr, "I mean, I even doubt these are Rapidashes... Or any species of Pokémon at all!"
"Oh Jaws! Stop being a party popper!" The voice of the Meganium was like a giggle, it was obvious she was teasing her scaly friend, "All that matters that they are cute!"
Anyhow, Jaws answer was:
"I'm just worried that those stupid ruins could bring us some sort of curse!"
"Hum... Well, it wouldn't be the first tiiiii~iiime!" The Meganium kinda singed the last word. Also she started to sing afterwards.
The Feraligatr frowned his brows, closed his eyes and touched his forehead with his claw. He let out a stressed sigh. How many times have their team fell under century old curses? How many times their team had to deal with crazy prophecies and/or the return of some stupid villain whose great ambition was either take revenge on someone and/or take over the world? And how many times whatever they discovered buried deep in some Arceus forsaken ruins where actually history's most powerful and violent Pokémon or a lost civilization's world changing artifact?
These kind of events happened SO OFTEN that Jaws couldn't remember a single time in his whole life that their team didn't had to deal with every cataclysmic aftermath that their explorations would bring upon Earth... Except, perhaps, for the time that they were NOT a team. Yet those were not better times, life was still rough, maybe even rougher, and they hated each other to their guts! But that's a story for another time.
"How about ya Axel? Any ideas?" Jaws, after returning his thoughts to the present, asked their team's leader: a Typhlosion wearing a sky-blue non-flammable scarf.
"Lemme see... Neither Laharl nor Yakumo wanted to come with us..." Axel was rubbing his chin with his left arm while thinking, "We all know that Yakumo can predict not just natural disasters, but unnatural ones as well, such as death traps. And she was scared as hell from this place... Sooooooo... That means it could become our burial place at any minute."
"Yet Laharl called it 'Boring' after scanning it with his aura sensor, which means it's not inhabited... A strange fact, 'cause older the ruins, more Pokémon make it their home."
"I say..."
However, Axel never finished whatever he was planning to say, because the Meganium's head popped out the ruins entrance and asked:
"Are you guys coming or not?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're going Tsubaki" Was Jaws answer.
"Alright" Axel sighed, "Team Chasers! Onward!"
Barely 30 minutes have passed and the first trap was activated by Tsubaki, a loose stone that triggered a volley of crossbows' bolts! The trio avoided most of the projectiles, but they still were caught by surprise and suffered light damage.
"TSUBAKI!" The other teammates shouted at the easygoing Meganium.
"My bad! I wasn't paying attention!" Tsubaki apologized rubbing her neck with a vine that sprouted from her petals, "These pictures... I-I mean hieroglyphs! These hieroglyphs looks just so cute that I can't pay attention on the floor!"
"Just... Just do not activate any other traps, shall we? Let's remember Yakumo it's not here! Even rather, she was afraid of coming here!" The Feraligatr talked in a enraged and stressed tone.
"I believe some traps wouldn't make Yakumo become a scared Skitty."
"Axel, I know I promised to not argue with you but... That statement doesn't help us in nothing!" Now Jaws shouted, he didn't want to hear the obvious, or anything that could make their situation look even more dangerous.
"Well... We could sing a song!" Tsubaki suggested, "I don't know how about you guys, but some of those cutesy Ponyta-like things seem to be singing in those pictures and statues! AND DANCING!
"T-T-That's the stupidest idea I've heard all day!" Jaws made the complain blowing some air from his nostrils and shaking his head, "But it could light some tension. Just remember to pay attention for traps!"
"Hai hai"
And so Tsubaki and Jaws began to sing random musics from their childhood. Axel, on the other hand, stayed quiet. He didn't like to sing. Or dance. Reason? No one knows. He was not bad at either. Perhaps the Typhlosion simply didn't liked to sing and/or dance. Although he liked music, especially folk music, good for him that his teammates knew lots of folk songs.
Their exploration proceed normal... Or what you could consider "normal" for investigating ancient ruins. More traps were activated: spears coming from the ground; poison darts being shot against them; falling rocks; rolling gigantic boulders; other cliche stuff. After a couple of hours, they were exhausted! When the trio reached what seemed the bottom floor, they finally decided to take a break.
"What part of 'Just remember to pay attention for traps' you didn't understand?" Complained the Feraligatr.
"Hey! You activated some traps as well! That last rolling boulder was YOUR fault!" The Meganium talked back with a scowl while pointing to her friend with a vine.
"STOP! Both of you! We're now having a lunch break. And mealtime is sacred! So, let's calm down and eat something." After lecturing his friends, Axel sat down and throwed some Red Gummis at his mouth. He chewed them happily, "Tasty!"
"Er... My bad Tsubaki... I just..."
"Meh. I'm fine Jaws. I got used to your grumpy pants attitude, also I know you're the kindest Feraligatr alive! Like that time that baby Azurill got lost and you was the first to begin looking for him and when we found the poor fella you were the only one who was gentle enough to calm him down." Answered Tsubaki.
"I-I-I just did what was right the thing to do! Nothin-"
"Or when the Sensei from Marowak Dojo had a back pain and he was on a trip to see he's late wife and child grave, you were the one who carried the old guy all the way to it's family rest place."
"Geez... The Sensei taught us how to use some very impressive moves it was the least I coul-"
"Or when that Gothita wanted to impress her idols, Team Charm, you helped her to come with a presentati-"
"I GOT IT!" Jaws shouted with the scales of his cheeks turning hot red, "You Arceus dammed Meganium, how in the hell can you always say so carelessly whatever pops in your mind?"
"I dunno. I guess I just took to heart mommy's very first teaching: Always talk the truth!" Tsubaki gave Jaws a toothy happy smile.
"I would appreciate some tact in whichever subject ya bring up during a conversation! I do take pride in what I did in the past... But when someone else says it... I-I-I just got embarrassed!" Now Jaws' entire head was red.
"Tee hee" Tsubaki giggled.
Axel was silent, but he had a pleasant grin on his face. Seeing his friends so lively always made him happy. Making a small chuckle, he stretched his body and left a loudly yawn come out his mouth.
"It's getting late, we should rest here for today. It's most unlikely that any wild Pokémon will come down to this floor, after all, this ruins were deserted when we entered them." Said the team leader.
The Typhlosion got up and searched for a nice place to lay down, when something caught his eyes.
"What's this?" He asked himself, "Jaws, Tsubaki, take a look at this!"
The team leader showed his companions a different set of hieroglyphs: There were two taller Ponyta-like creatures with wings and a horn, one white, one black. Under them was two smaller Ponyta-like creatures: One purple, who also had wings and a horn, wearing a crown, one with a flaming mane. Alongside these other two creatures were 5 more Ponyta-like life forms: One with a cowboy hat, one wearing some kind of jewelry, one with a rainbow colored mane, one that looked terrified by something, and one with... A cotton candy for a mane? And beneath these 7 beings, was a... Charmander? Well... It was a creature very close to one in terms of appearance. The most peculiar feature in the picture, however, was a small "rift" in the middle of the wall.
"So... PRETTY!" Squeaked Tsubaki, "But... This "rift"... Does it mean those poor Ponyta creatures are falling apart? A-Are they becoming e-enemies!?"
"Who knows? Maybe some sort of feud begun between them?" Jaws scratched his head with his claw, he was just as much confused as Tsubaki, "I mean, we Pokémon fight for countless reasons, but the most common is that we like to fight each other... But, as I said before, I even doubt these things are Pokémon at all! Perhaps for their society fighting is something nothing but dreadful?"
"Actually that's a simple crack in the wall." Said Axel arching a brow.
"WHAT!?"
"See? You can hear the wind coming through it." Axel made a gesture to his friend put their heads near the wall so they could hear the faint breeze that came out the crack in the stone wall.
"It's true! I can hear it!"
"That means there is another room behind this wall. No! Even rather! An exit!" Said Jaws now understanding his leader point of view.
"We just need to take it down. The wall seems to be made of a very brittle material, I believe a Body Slam from Tsubaki will be enough." Axel finished his analysis taking some steps back, "It's your turn Tsubaki!"
"Leave it to me! HAAAAAAYYYYYAAAAAAAAA!" And Tsubaki charged against the wall using her very weight as a weapon!
The frail bricks crumbled over to the force from the impact of Tsubaki's Body Slam. A cloud of light brown dust emerged from the debris of the wall. The trio coughed hard until the dust was gone. Behind the now gone wall was an underground lake with a small isle on it's center. Before the Meganium could proceed, her Feraligatr friend stopped her with one of his claws and said:
"My turn now, if the waters are too deep I will come back to carry both of you. First Axel of course, since he can't swim." And so Jaws left, yet no matter how much he advanced through the lake, it was still shallow, "Okay, I guess we can all walk straight to that isle."
The isle was made of small marble stones covered by moss. It was very slippery at first, but Jaws, with his clawed feet, maintained his balance and helped his team members do so. Although Tsubaki could use her weight to get balance on her own and Axel also had clawed feet, of course his feet were not as efficient as Jaws', but he could have gained his balance on his own as well.
At the center of the isle was a floating star shaped magenta crystal. A soft humming could be heard from the crystal. A weak magenta aura was emanating from the mysterious oversized gem.
"When was the last time we saw a spiritual/magical floating colorful stone?" Asked Axel.
"During our adventures in Almia?" Said Tsubaki looking for the answer in her memories, "Yup. Almia."
"The first crystal had a Lucario guard that dropped from the ceiling..." As Jaws was speaking all the three looked to the ceiling of the cave, yet the only thing they saw was a hole in the underground ceiling that allowed that pale moonlight come through.
"The second crystal had a Heatran for a defender. And that one I remember well at least! That one as an epic battle!" Axel was daydreaming while reminiscing one of his favorite fights in his lifetime, "I mean, I may not be a battle maniac, that's more Laharl's stick, but I sure appreciate a fierce heated fight with another Fire-Type... IN A VOLCANO!"
"Yeah yeah, whatever... If I recall correctly, that Heatran came from the underground..." Now the trio looked to the moss covered marble stones, they waited for a while, but nothing came from the rocks, so Jaws continued, "The third crystal was protected by a Cresselia..."
"And she came flying from the horizon!" The group looked to their left, then to their right... And there was no signal that a Pokémon flying at an unbelievable speed would pass by. Tsubaki was disappointed.
"The last crystal was guarded by Mr. Dante, the Darkrai. And he materialized from our shadows..." Axel took a look at his own shadow, "But I can't see ghostly figures nor glowing azure eyes on my shadow, neither in yours guys."
"So this crystal was only guarded by those traps and the fake wall." Jaws said rubbing his chin with his left claw, "I bet 30 Pokés that this stupid crystal is a cataclysm starter that may or may not trigger a very crazy quest/journey/adventure for us that will decide the fate of our world!"
"And I bet nothing! Yakumo was terrified from this place! And if past experience taught us anything is we should just turn our backs to this way too colorful rock and do not even think in to-"
"Touch!" And Tsubaki just touched the star shaped crystal with one of her vines, "Sooner or later someone would touch it! And come on guys! We become a explorer team so we could have adventures!"
A blinding bright white light erupted from the magenta crystal star. Tsubaki was bouncing from excitement. Jaws was sighing, then just smirked, another adventure wouldn't hurt... Would it? Axel said:
"I just wish Yakumo and Laharl could be here with us!"
Light enveloped and devoured everything in the cavernous room. Slowly it faded away, taking with it the magenta crystal star and the three present member of Team Chasers.
Far away from there, at Team Chasers HQ
Yakumo looked at the window, beneath her chess themed blanket. She saw a brightly weird colored shooting star crossing through the night sky. The female Absol blinked twice and said in a low voice:
"Axel?"
A white light came from nowhere and blinded the Absol, slowly making her disappear, slowly making her sleepy. Yakumo fell asleep and dreamed of her friends and a far away mysterious land, full of magical creatures.
Laharl, who was outside the HQ, sensed a unknown presence, rushing inside his team base, carrying a bone staff made of pure energy, all he could see was a blinding white light. He didn't fell asleep like Yakumo, yet his consciousness seemed to "stop working", his mind become foggy and his surroundings were taken by the growing white glow.
Soon they both were vanquished from their world.
Unknown location at sometime later
Axel vision was blurry, his eyes were trying to adapt after that crazy and unspeakable light show. He had a terrible headache, he felt nauseous and confused. But one thing he was sure: He was alone. Eventually his senses were returning to normal, it took some minutes... But he felt little by little more awake. With a heartily and loudly yawn, Axel finally felt better.
"Okay I don't feel tired anymore, so that means I've slept for quite some time. Which is good, because I was needing some rest... But... I'm alone. I'm more than sure Jaws and Tsubaki were right beside me. Whatever that light did to us it must have separated us... So this must be one of those alternative world travel adventures!" Axel was talking to himself, that always helped him to keep calm. With a sigh, he said to himself again: "Better not waste time!"
Can you... Hear me?
A feminine and soft voice called for the Typhlosion.
Noble adventurer from another world...
I am the one who summoned you and your companions to this world...
Axel looked around for the owner of that voice. All he could spot was a tree made of pure crystal. He let a small "Wow" when got closer to the tree. It was a magnificent being... Axel could tell that what was in front of him was a living being not just some sort of clear and shinny stupid rock... Yet, for some reason, he felt that he knew that tree from the past... Could that tree be a Xernas? Like Yggdrasil? That would mean the voice was from the tree?
I am the Tree of Harmony.
Noble adventurer, you and your companions possess the very virtues that upholds this worlds Harmony...
I beg you! Please! Save my world from it's lurking threat...
"What kind of threat?"
I've no means to fight this creature, nor the peaceful inhabitants of this world...
Only you and your companions, whose bond is more powerful than the very magic that created this world, can save it...
"O-Okay! We will help! I promise! But I need to find my friends! Alone I cannot accomplish nothing!"
My blessing, the only help I can truly offer, shall guide you to your companions
From each branch of the crystal tree a different colored light shined. 4 of then went outside the cave Axel was with the magical being. The fifth light, a light red and bright, as the Typhlosion's very flames warped around him, then the light become smaller. Until it was completely absorbed by Axel's scarf.
Now the sky-blue scarf had bright red flares and flame tongue patterns all around it. In the middle of the scarf was a brooch, it was shaped like a golden sun. The center of the sun was a ruby, so was it's rays. Axel become mesmerized by his new scarf, when he touched the ruby he said, for apparently no reason, the word:
"Loyalty."
Now you must go noble adventurer and bearer of the Element of Loyalty...
Your companions wait for you... My blessing shall guide you...
"Soooooooooo... I just need to follow those lights?"
But no answer came.
Axel dropped to four legs, took a deep breath and begun to run. Outside the cave entrance was a cliff. The Typhlosion just let the gravity pull him downward. When he felt the rocky soil under hes feet and hands/claws, Axel speed up. In a few seconds, the small mountainside turned into a deep forest.
Bushes, trees, twigs, rocks... Axel was dodging any obstacle at high speed, like it was nothing. His ears were alert, his eyes moved quickly from left to right and from down to up. More and more he advanced through the woods. Axel could hear other living creature nearby... Were them Pokémon? Their sounds... Were... Awkward... Those things didn't sound like any Pokémon at all, on the other hand his eyes were too focused in the road to take a look to confirm.
And that was when...
"LOOK OUT!" A scream came from the skies!
"What the hell?" Axel stoped to see who... Or what, just screamed, when he was hit by a purple and orange blur.
