Electric blue hooves galloped across the grassy plane, leaving noticeable indents in their wake. The sound they made was accompanied by heavy breathing as he ran through the forest, weaving past trees, bushes and occasionally, other pokemon. He looked back to check if he was still being followed and saw that his pursuer was nowhere to be found.
‘Ha! Lost him! I knew I'd-’
His thoughts were cut off when something tackled him from the side, sending both him and his attacker to the ground. The force of the attack caused them to roll on the ground before coming to a complete stop, with him on his stomach and his attacker on top of him. He tried to struggle out of his grasp but it was all in vain. His attacker smirked in amusement at his attempt to free himself.
“Blitzle: one. Sword of justice: zero,” Blitzle declared, chuckling at the glare the swordsmon was sending him.
“Yeah yeah, now get off of me already will ya! You weigh a ton!” Keldeo yelled and, as got to his feet, pushing the zebra pokemon off of him in the process.
“Don't be like that man. Come on, I'll race ya to the twins. The loser owes the winner an oran berry.” Blitzle said as he got up.
“That's a scam and you know it! I'd have a better chance at outrunning an actual lightning bolt!”
Blitzle chuckled innocently at his friend's accusation. “I have no idea what you're talking about. See ya at the finish line!”
And just like that, he was off, leaving nothing but a small dust cloud and some sparks. Keldeo groaned as he followed him, not in nearly as much of a rush as the zebra pokemon, grumbling along the way.
“Whatever. The only thing he's getting from me is a hoof up his-”
In a clearing not far from the location of our heroes, three pokemon were were waiting for them to arrive. Two of them had green grass-like fur. One of those was bulky, sporting two horns on the top of his head. The other was slender and had two large ears. Between said ears was a yellow flower.
“Come on Deerling! Please~?”
Deerling scoffed and looked away, knowing full well not to stare into his brother's infamous Jigglypuff eyes. “No way! Get your own berries, Skiddo!”
“But I'm hungry~!”
As the two brothers squabble, a flaming maned horse pokemon lying under the shade of a tree suddenly perked his ears at the sound of leaves crunching under hoofs. Lazily opening one of his eyes, he turned to the direction of the sound and saw Blitze walking past the treeline with a triumphant smirk on his face, followed by a frowning Keldeo. This caused the equine pokemon to roll his eyes. He already knew where this was going.
“Looks like I win again, Keldeslow,” The zebra pokemon declared as they made their way towards the brothers.
“You used Quick Attack!”
“All's fair in love and war my good mon.”
“This is neither!”
Blitzle ignored his outburst and sat down with the brothers, greeting Ponyta with a nod before addressing them. “Sup guys.”
“Hey Blitzle,” Skiddo greeted.
Deerling raised an eyebrow at Keldeo, who had sat down next to Ponyta. “Aren't you supposed to be training with Terrakion today?”
“Oh, he gave me the day off.”
If Deerling’s eyebrow had risen any higher, it probably would've fallen off his head. “Just like that? No argument?”
Keldeo’s eyes darted around as he nervously pawed at the forest floor. “Well…”
Elsewhere
“Terrakion…”
The burly swordsmon yelped before shoving his prize into a nearby bush. He quickly wiped the juice off of his face before turning around, putting on his best “it-wasn't-me” smile as he addressed his comrade.
“Virizion, how may I help you?” He asked, smiling nervously.
Virizion raised an eyebrow at her comrade's odd behavior but simply shrugged it off. Terrakion always was the oddball of the group. “I know it's your turn to train Keldeo today, but I just thought I'd come by and see how he's doing.”
“W-Well as you can see, everything is perfectly fine. Yep, totally normal. Hey, here's an idea! Why don't you go to that hot spring you like and-”
“Say…where is Keldeo?”
Dammit, so close.
“He's uh…” His eyes darted around furiously as he looked for something - anything - to get him out of this situa- Hello!
“He's behind that rock!” He said - perhaps a little too loudly - pointing at a conveniently placed boulder.
“Okay….why?”
“Training exercise.”
“But why-”
“Don't question my teaching skills lady!” He snapped, causing her to jump back in surprise.
“Oh, well….alright.” She turned and began to make her way towards the boulder. “I’ll just go check on him and-”
“Woah woah woah there little lady!” Terrakion exclaimed and jumped in front of her. “I don't think that's a good idea.”
“Why not?”
“Because he's…..going through some guy stuff right now. He has recently reached that age after all.”
“What age?”
“You know...that age.”
“Oh….oh!” He swore he had never seen Virizion’s face get so red so fast in his entire life. It was all a lie of course, truthfully he had no idea how old Keldeo was. “I-I see. I-I’ll j-just….come back later then.”
“That's probably not a good idea either. Puberty seems to have hit him hard, if you know what I mean.” Okay, he'll admit; he may be enjoying this a little too much and Keldeo was probably going to kill him later. Oh well, the look on Virizion’s made it all worth it.
“O-Oh. I-I see. I-I’ll just...leave then…”
“That would be best. Feel free to ask all about it tomorrow though.” He said as she left. He waited until she was no longer in view before letting out a relieved sigh. Moving back to his earlier spot, he reached into the bush and pulled out his prize: a basket filled with pecha berries. As he stared down at the basket of Arceus blessed goodness, he briefly wondered if this made him a bad teacher….
...Nah!
(Line)
“....yeah, I just asked and he said yes,” He chuckled nervously under Deerling’s deadpanned stare.
Skiddo, who was stealthily munching on his brother's berries (that sounded less wrong in my head), looked up and sent Keldeo a raised eyebrow. “Are you sure that's a good idea? You're having trouble using your Sacred Sword as it is.”
That statement prompted a sigh from the colt pokemon. He hated it when they brought that up. It was true that his Sacred Sword was a bit….glitchy, but it wasn't his fault! He didn't know why, but every time he tried to summon the mighty weapon, all he ever got was a few sparks and a flash before it blew up in his face - sometimes literally. Virizion said he was just a late bloomer and that Cobalion had the same problem when he was still learning. That little piece of knowledge would've caused Keldeo to die of laughter if Cobalion hadn't promised to make him run one hundred laps around the forest if he did….dead or not.
“I've been training my butt off for weeks. I doubt one day off will hurt, right?”
“Speaking of butts,” Blitzle said as he looked around the clearing. “Anyone seen Butthead?”
Then, as if Arceus himself was listening in on their conversation, a distant shriek echoed through the forest. They all turned their heads to see a flock of Pidgey scatter in the distance. As the sound got closer, it increased in volume until it became so loud that even Ponyta was put on edge.
“What the….?” Deerling trailed off.
“GUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUYS!!”
Suddenly, a yellow and black blur jumped past the treeline, nearly trampling Ponyta in the process. The figure jumped around like a Rotom on a sugar rush, spouting some unintelligible dribble that not even an Alakazam would understand.
“Nevermind,” Blitzle muttered.
“Guysyouwontbelievewhati’vefoundyougottaseethisit’s-” He was cut off by the zap of a Thunderbolt, his body stiffening before collapsing to the ground in a pile of singed fur.
“....thanks...” He whimpered.
“Anytime Girafarig,” Blitzle said, smirking as he walked over to the downed pokemon. “Now try again but slowly this time.”
“Huh? Oh, right!” Then, as if he hadn't just been zapped with enough gigawatts to make a lamp explode, he jumped to his hooves and shook the soot off his fur. “You guys gotta see this! Come on!”
“Wait, what do we have to see - and he's gone,” Keldeo muttered as Girafarig ran back into the forest. He sighed as he got up. He let out a satisfied groan as he stretched his muscles until he heard his joints pop before following the two headed pokemon, his friends following close behind.
They followed the giraffe pokemon deep in the forest. The deeper they went, the darker the forest became. Most of them ignored this, focusing on following Girafarig and not really paying attention to much else. Deerling, however, was slightly unnerved by this. They had never wandered this deep into forest before, and it was starting to look more and more like a bad idea to keep going.
“A-Are you s-sure this is a g-good idea?” Deerling stuttered, moving closer to his brother for safety.
“What's wrong? Ya scared~?” Blitzle taunted.
“Y-Yes….”
“Don't worry, it's not much farther,” Girafarig reassured, not at all bothered by the creepy forest. To him, it was just another stroll through the woods. Then again, when you have two pairs of eyes on look-out, there isn't really much for you to worry about.
“And just what would ‘it’ be?” Asked Keldeo, who was looking around the seemingly deserted forest. Where were all the pokemon?
“Well, it's a - there it is!” Girafarig cut himself off as he ran ahead, leaving them clueless and slightly frustrated at not knowing his motives. They followed him into a small clearing, much smaller than the one they started at. The grass here seemed more brittle than the rest of the forest and was a mess with twigs and branches. At the center of the clearing is Girafarig, a blanket of leaves laid out before him. He appeared to be staring down at something (and at them. An advantage of having a creepy second head) but they couldn't see what it was.
“Well we're here. Now where is this ‘awesome’ thing you wanted us to see?” Blitzle asked as he walked over to the him.
“Right here.” He moved aside, revealing a….stone?
“What is that?” Deerling asked, hesitantly moving closer for a better look.
“It looks like some kind of stone,” Skiddo added, sticking close to his brother.
Blitzle stared down at the stone with a bored look on his face before turning to Girafarig. ”A stone? You brought us all the way here for a stone?!”
Whether Girafarig noticed his frustration or not a was unknown. He just smiled at the electric-type pokemon and spoke with words of oblivious joy. “Yeah. Pretty neat huh?”
Ponyta inched closer, eyeing the stone with interest. It certainly was an odd looking stone. It was smooth and round, like an oval stone, only bigger. About the size of a Mankey’s head...body...whatever. The top half was navy blue while the bottom was red. At the center of the stone, lying between the two colours, was a stripe of light blue that went all the way around the stone and….wait, did it just move?
“You think it's an evolutionary stone?” Keldeo asked, leaning closer to get a better look.
“I'm more concerned about the leaves it's sitting on. They look like Exeggutor leaves,” Said Deerling.
“Look more like Tropius wings to me,” Skiddo added. He leaned in and took a bite out of one of the leave. He chewed on it for a bit before swallowing. “Yep, definitely Tropius wings.”
“I'm not even going to ask how you know what that tastes like,” Deerling said, sending his brother a deadpanned stare before looking at the stone again. He then saw something that made his eyes widen.
“Why would anyone leave a stone in a place like this anyway?” Blitzle asked as he eyed their surroundings.
“Guys…”
“Maybe they lost it,” Skiddo added.
“Guys…”
Keldeo watched as Ponyta leered at the egg suspiciously, as if the fire pokemon was waiting for something to happen. He raised an eyebrow at the fire-type’s antic before shaking his head and addressing the others. “We should probably just leave it alone. If someone is looking for it, they'll probably come back here at some poi-”
“GUYS!!” They all looked at Deerling was staring at the stone, his eyes wide and his ears folding back.
“What is it bro?” Asked Skiddo.
He slowly raised his hoof and pointed at the stone. “The stone is moving.”
They all blinked in confusion before looking at the stone. Sure enough, the egg was moving. It bounced and wiggled in place, causing Ponyta to jump back in shock. They warily backed away as it's movements became more and more frantic before it suddenly….stopped.
All was silent. None of them dared move a muscle, as if doing so would….wake it up. After a short moment of awkward silence, Blitzle was the first to snap out of his daze. “Is...is it over?”
“I...don't know,” Keldeo replied, taking a tentative step towards the stone. One step, two steps, nothing. It just sat there like….well, a stone.
“Okay, I think it sto-”
He was cut by the sound of a loud ‘crack’, as if someone had stepped on a twig. The noise caused him to jump back in fright. He instinctively got in a battle stance, crouching his body and pointing his horn at the stone, and waited.
Still nothing.
He sighed and relaxed his body. A snicker heard from behind caused him to turn and send a glare at his companions. “Not funny guys.”
“Hehehe...wasn't me,” Blitzle replied, still chuckling at him. Keldeo was about to argue when another ‘crack’ echoed through the air. Slowly turning his head, he watched in shock and disbelief as a river of cracks began to form on the stone's surface. It wobbled in place, causing small pieces of it to fall off.
“W-What’s happening?” Deerling stuttered, backing behind Skiddo for protection. Skiddo got in a battle stance, pawing the ground and lowering his horns, determined to protect his brother.
As Ponyta backed away from the breaking stone, a sudden snap, much louder than the noises coming from the egg, snapped him out of his daze. He looked down and saw that he had stepped on a twig.
No, wait…
He peered closer to the twig; finding something off about it. Its shape didn't seem right, it was large than your average twig and slightly curved. It beared no nubs from broken off sticks either. He raised his hoof and gently, tentatively kicked it. A hollow sound bellowed from the twig as it bounced across the hard ground, nearly making him jump. Twigs don't make that sound; not unless…
Realization hit him like a Machamp’s Bullet Punch, causing his eyes to widen. Looking around the clearing, he saw many similar ‘sticks’ littering the ground, especially around the leaves where the ‘stone’ sat. Accompanying them were large intents in the hard soil. It didn't take long for him to put two and two together, though it was the first time doing math nearly made him shit himself. They weren't sticks.
They were bones.
Gulping in fear, he practically jabbed his hoof in Keldeo’s repeatedly, snapping the water-type out of his daze.
“Hm?” Snapping out of his, Keldeo turned to the fire-type pokemon, who looked like he was about to have a panic attack. “Uuuh...you okay Ponyta? You look a little...pale.”
Ponyta gave no verbal response - which wasn't really surprising - he merely gestured to the area around them, an expression of critical distress painting his muzzle. Keldeo looked around but couldn't find anything. Sure, the place was odd and a little creepy - the still breaking stone was proof of that - but other than that, it was a pretty okay place. So why was Ponyta panicking? Just as he was about to ask him however, a loud ’snap’ was heard, followed by a bright white light. It was so bright, it nearly blinded Blitzle, who was standing directly in front of the stone, while causing Deerling and Skiddo to jump back in alarm. Girafarig didn't seem affected at all, yet another advantage of having a second pair of eyes.
The light lasted only a few seconds before fading, though it took another few second for them to blink their vision back into focus. Once they got their bearings straight and the world finally decided to stop being blurry, they turned their attention back to the odd stone, though what they found was definitely not a stone.
Sitting where the ‘stone’ once was, was a baby Gible, hardly any bigger than their heads which, in retrospect, is still kinda big.
“Oh my Arceus!” Said Deerling, parting from his brother and walking up to the child. “You are so adorable! What are you doing out here all by yourself, little guy?”
“So...it was an egg?” Asked Blitzle as he and the others snapped out of their daze.
“Apparently….” Keldeo replied, taking a cautious step towards the baby Gible. “But why would anyone leave an egg by itself in a place like this?”
As they began to surround the newly born pokemon, none of them noticed a pair of yellow eyes watching them from within the dark forest nor the hungry growls that accompanied them.
“You know, it's kinda cute,” Skiddo said the little land-shark tried to take a bite out of his hoof, only for it to move out of reach.
“Can we keep him?” Asked Deerling.
“That's not a bad idea,” Blitzle agreed, liking the idea of having a Garchomp as mascot. Nothing looks more badass than having a pseudo for best friend.
“Yes it is, and for two reasons,” Keldeo said before explaining, “First off, it's not a ‘him’. It's a girl.”
Blitzle raised an eyebrow at him. “How do you-”
“Spend enough time with Virizion and ya start to pick up a few things,” He explained but refused to go any further. Some things were best kept a secret.
Forever.
“Second of all, her mother is probably worried sick about her. Do you want to get in between a mother Garchomp and her child?”
Everyone gulped. Yeah, that wasn't a fun image.
Deciding that it had seen enough, a figure walked into the light of the clearing, its navy blue scales almost glistening in the sunlight. It began to lumber towards them, its feet making some familiar intends in the soil. It growled menacingly as it got closer to its soon-to-be dinner. They were so focused on the baby landshark that none of them was able to note the danger literally stalking towards them.
None of them expect a certain second head.
The eyes on Girafarig’s second head widened as it watched the monster walk towards them at a leisurely pace which, in turn, caused the the eyes on his original head to widen as the image was sent to his brain. He gulped in pure, utter fear and stuttered, “Uh...g-g-guys?”
“So...where is her momma?” Skiddo asked as he used his Vine Whip to tickle the baby Gible.
“Hell if I know,” Blitzle replied.
“G-G-Guys…..”
Ponyta, who was already panicking even before he noticed Girafarig’s odd behavior (even for him), turned around and immediately remembered why he was so scared. If he wasn't a pokemon of such few words, he probably would've let out a squeak with a pitch so high, even a male Lopunny (those poor bastards) would've laughed at him. For now though, he'll just have to settle for paralysis by fear.
“Maybe she left her here by accident?” Skiddo said.
Blitzle scoffed, sending the leaf-goat pokemon a deadpanned expression before replying, “On this conveniently made bad of leaves? Yeah, I don't think so.”
Deerling opened his mouth to add his own theory, but was cut off by a deep growl that sounded anything but friendly. He gulped nervously and stuttered, “S-Skiddo, was t-that your s-stomach?”
“Was what my stomach?”
“T-That’s what I thought,” Deerling stuttered, turning around. Skiddo did the same and nearly shit pokeblocks when he saw the giant load of death stalking towards them.
“Well, we can't just leave her here,” Blitzle stated, not noticing his friends’ terrified expressions.
“I don't know. She seems pretty happy here and I'm sure her mom is somewhere close by,” Keldeo said. “I mean, what kind of mother would just-”
“Grrrgggh....”
Both pokemon went stiff (not like that!). Neither of them moved, except for Keldeo, who sent him a look that screamed “please tell me that was you.” His response was a head shake that said “we are so fucked!”
And they were, they really were.
Slowly, so so much so that one could swear that they could almost hear their joints creaking, they turned, only to come face to face with a wall of red, yellow and navy blue. Following up said wall, they saw what could only be the biggest Garchomp in existence, whose sheer size could only be described in such simple words as freaking huge! It was nearly bigger than the forest trees, meaning that it was very old, and was practically covered in scars, probably obtained while defending its territory - a territory they were in - and that wasn't even the worst part. Nope, that title went to a more deserving fact.
It was a female.
So, to summarize, they were quite literally standing between an old, battle hardened, territorial female Garchomp and its newly hatched child.
They all turned and sent Girafarig, who still hadn't turned around, a glare that said "I blame you, asshole."
“So, uh, this must be your daughter,” Keldeo stated nervously, praying to Arceus and Giratina that she didn't smell the pokeblocks he was shitting. “She’s very cute. You must be so proud. She has your....uh,” He looked at the baby Gible, who seemed to be enjoying the show, then back at her “teeth! Why, you must be- we're boned are?”
She sent him a deadpanned glare.
“Yeah, that's what I thought,” He sighed.
The pleasantries now ended, the Garchomp let out a mighty roar as she raised a brightly glowing claw.
Dragon Claw.
Keldeo yelped and jumped to the right, pushing Blitzle out of the way in the process while the rest of them scattered. The sound of the ground breaking under the force of the Garchomp’s attack echoed as unicorn and zebra pokemon rose to their hooves. Enraged that she had missed, Garchomp let out another roar before charging at them.
Blitzle, finally snapping out of fear induced daze, got in battle stance. “Don't worry, I got this!”
“Wait don't-”
Keldeo tried to stop him but it was too late. He activated his Thunderbolt, sending a large amount of electricity at the raging mother and paralyzing her, allowing them to escape.
Or at least, that was the idea.
The attack hit her dead on, but didn't stop or even slow down the raging beast. She just shrugged it off and charged even faster, the killer intent in her eyes as clear as day.
“Oh right. Ground type. Forgot about that.” Blitzle muttered.
At this point the Garchomp was way too close for them to even think about dodging. Practically right on top of them, she let out her loudest roar yet and raised her Dragon Claw high causing the lives of the two equine pokemon to flash before their eyes, during which Keldeo came to the conclusion that he seriously needed to get laid.
“Look out!”
Just before the mighty Dragon Claw could grant them a terrible fate, something wrapped itself around their hooves, causing them to yelp as it literally dragged them out of the attacks range. When they finally stopped, they looked up to see Skiddo retracting his Vine Whips into his leafy coat. Deerling stood next to him, a concerned expression on his face.
“You two alright?” Skiddo asked.
“Yeah, thanks for the save,” Blitzle said as he shakily got back on his hooves.
“You can thank him later! Big momma's not done yet!” Keldeo exclaimed as he watched Garchomp violently rip her claw out from the ground. She sent them a death glare and growled angrily before opening her maw, forming a blue-ish sphere.
Dragon Pulse.
Just before she could unleash her attack however, she was suddenly hit in the face with a stream of fire, enveloping her head in a small explosion and dispersing her attack. Shaking away the smoke, she turned to the direction of the attack and saw Ponyta, who's mouth was still on fire, and Girafarig.
“One more time Ponyta!” Girafarig exclaimed.
Ponyta didn't need to be told twice. Opening his mouth, he unleashed another Flamethrower at Garchomp. Being more prepared this time, she used her Dragon Pulse to intercept the attack, causing a second explosion. Growling angrily, she opened her maw, preparing to launch another (and mostly likely, final) Dragon Pulse, only to be interrupted by a voice calling out, “Hey, Fat Momma!”
She turned her head to the direction of the voice, only to be caught off guard when a bright blue ball of energy suddenly slammed into her like an enraged….well, her. While the attack didn't cause any serious harm, it did surprise her enough to knock her off her feet, sending her to the ground.
“Nice shot Kel!” Blitzle cheered.
Keldeo, however, didn't not look as relieved as his striped companion. “Don’t praise me yet, that Focus Blast won't keep her down for long. We've got to get out of here, NOW!” He said before turning tales and running, his friends following close behind.
They ran deeper into the forest, nearly tripping several times. Their hearts pounded against their barrels and their legs threatened to quit on them at any moment. Fortunately (or unfortunately) the roar of an angry mother was just the motivation they needed to ignore all that.
“She still chasing us?!” Deerling called.
“Like mad Tauros!” Girafarig called back.
“Well how close is she?!”
“Too close!”
True to his words, the angry dragon was hot on their tales. Like an unstoppable juggernaut, she crashed through boulders and knocked trees over in her rampage.
“How can something so big move so quick?!” Skiddo asked.
Keldeo grit his teeth, forcing himself to keep moving but for how long, he didn't know. He could feel his legs going numb from exhaustion. He looked around, desperately hoping to find some way to shake the dragon off.
It seemed that fate was on his side that day, for just up ahead was a cave. The entrance was sealed off by a large boulder, but if they could get past that then they'd be safe! They just needed to hurry, otherwise getting past a boulder would be the least of their worries.
“Guys, I have an idea! Follow me!” He called, narrowing his eyes in determination. He was not going to die today, not when he still had so many things to do like learning to use his Sacred Sword and getting laid and becoming a hero and....well, he was sure there was more to that list but for now, not dying was at the very top of it.
It took about a minute to reach to reach the cave, but once they did, Keldeo wasted no time putting his ‘let's-not-die’ plan into action. “Girafarig, think your Psychic could move this thing?”
Girafarig looked at him like he sprouted a second head….uh bad example. “Are you nuts? That thing is huge! There's no way I'm-”
“GRAAAAGGGGHHH!!!”
“....on second thought, it's always good to test one’s limits.” With that being said, he turned his concentration to the boulder. He supposed it probably wouldn't be too hard. After all, he did have two brains. What's the worst that could happen? You know, besides his head exploding, resulting in his corpse and his friends getting painfully mauled and eaten by a Garchomp.
So, yeah. No pressure.
“Y-You might w-wanna hurry….” Deerling sputtered, trembling in fear as he watched Garchomp get closer and closer.
“I'm trying…” Girafarig grunted in response.
“Well can you try a little faster?!”
“No one likes a backseat psychic!”
Noticing that her prey had stopped, she growled hungrily and quickened her pace. She wasn't even relying on her brain anymore, just pure dragon instinct.
Oh, and rage. Let's not forget rage.
“She's getting closer!” Skiddo exclaimed.
“How's that boulder coming along, Butthead?!” Blitzle asked.
“Working...on it…”
Girafarig grit his teeth, putting all his focus into the rock to move it, but the boulder was huge and, let's not forget, extremely heavy. It took all his concentration just to get a grip on the thing, and the roaring, pissed off pile of death charging towards them wasn't helping.
‘Come on...come on….!’ He thought as he scrunched his eyes and grit his teeth in concentration. A bright blue aura began to surround the boulder, making it twitch slightly.
‘Almost got it….’
“Girafarig, buddy, I don't want to rush you or anything…,” Keldeo said as he backed away from the charging dragon. “but if you could move that boulder now, that'd be great!”
‘There!’
Girafarig opened his eyes, unleashing their bright blue glow. The aura around the boulder intensified as it took hold. With a mere thought, he dragged the boulder across the ground until there was just enough for them to squeeze through. Once he was sure there was enough room for all of them, he dispersed the aura.
“I did it!” He cheered, ignoring the small tingle in his head that would surely turn into a splitting headache later.
Blitzle however, was quick to ruin his mood. “Good, because here comes Momma!”
Garchomp let out what had to be the fifth or sixth roar that day as she opened her maw and prepared another Dragon Pulse.
“Quick, everyone inside!” Keldeo yelled as he ushered them into the cave. Once they were all inside, Girafarig used his Psychic to move the boulder - which was somewhat easier the second time around - back into the place, sealing the entrance. Sure that they were safe, they didn't even wait a minute before collapsing in exhaustion.
“Phew, that was close,” Blitzle said.
“My legs hurt…” Deerling whimpered.
Girafarig, who was still near the caves entrance, groaned. “I can't feel either of my brains….”
“We're alive, that's all that matters,” Keldeo stated, though with less enthusiasm than deserved. “All we have to do now is wait until-”
“GRRRAAAAAGGGGGHHHH!!!!!”
The roar was enough to scare the energy back into them. They jumped in fright and moved away from the boulder, which was being bashed ruthlessly from the outside.
“Oh come on! Doesn't she ever quit?!” Blitzle yelled in frustration as they backed away from the cave entrance.
Skiddo, suddenly hearing faint whispers, turned to his brother. The deer Pokemon’s eyes were scrunched tight, and he appeared to be muttering something under his breath.
“Uh, Deerling? What are you doing?”
“Praying.”
“To whom?
“Arceus, Giratina, Magikarp. There's no time to be picky!”
“Any ideas now, Mister Sword of Justice?!” Blitzle yelled, trying (and failing) to keep his fear from showing in his voice.
Keldeo didn't respond, he was too busy racking his brain so hard he could swear he felt it overheat. The boulder shook from the force of Garchomp’s blows, causing to crack little by little. It wouldn't be long before it gave way. They needed a plan and fast, or they were done for.
In a dark room, a figure slept. It was small, no bigger than a buneary and looked very fragile. If one were to stumble upon it, they'd most likely mistake it for a defenseless newborn. However, that couldn't be any farther from the truth as this being was far from defenseless. Even as it slept, the massive amount of psychic energy within the figure produced a faint pink glow that lit up the whole room.
“GRAAAAAAAAAGGGGHHHH!!!”
‘Hm?’
The being stirred from its slumber, opening its sky blue eyes and looking towards the ceiling. It could've sworn it heard something, as absurd as that may be. No one had entered the cave in millennia. The being was naturally surprised, no one knew it even existed.
“Grraaaahhh!!!”
And yet, that roar sounded so real. While the being was confused as to why anything would enter its lair after so many years, it did feel refreshed at the sound of something other than its own voice. But who or what had entered, and why now? The being found itself wishing there was a way for it to find the answers to those questions.
‘Oh wait, there is,’ It thought.
Closing its eyes, it concentrated the power within itself. It couldn't do much due to its….situation, but it could sense the life forces of others and even communicate with them if they were close enough. It just took a little effort and…
‘One...two…three....four?’ I thought. ‘No wait, there's more. Six of them? Six and a half?’
Now it was curios. Not only was there more than one intruder, but one of them seemed….odd. Like there was two of them but, at the same time, just one. A psychic-type perhaps?
‘So they're pokemon huh? They don't feel very strong, but then again, compared to me, who is,’ It thought, mentally laughing at their lack of power. ‘Still….maybe if can use this…’
Its face scrunched up as it focused on the dual headed pokemon, mentally reaching out to it.
“Huh?”
Girafarig blinked in confusion. He felt...funny. Not ‘haha’ funny, more like...weird funny. Like his brain was being tickled with a feather.
The head on Girafarig’s tailed looked left and right, search for the source of the odd tickle. It was faint and fading fast but it was there. It looked left, its unblinking stare focused on one of the large rocks that were scattered around the cave, and began rapidly biting the air.
‘What is that?’ He thought, turning his real head to stare at the rock in curiosity and...something else that he couldn't describe. At first glance, it didn't look any different from all the other rocks on the cave floor. It was just another large piece of stone laying around, nothing special about it at all. So why did he feel so...drawn to it? He looked at his tail, which was reaching for the rock. It paused and looked back. They stared at each other for a second before it began tugging towards the rock again, as if it were telling him to move closer.
And move closer he did.
“Alright, I got it!” Keldeo exclaimed. “As soon as she breaks through, we hit her together and make a run for it while she's off guard!”
“Wh-What?!” Deerling sputtered. “You want us to fight an angry Garchomp?! One that's resistant to almost all of our attacks?!”
“Well, do you have any better ideas?” Keldeo asked, “You know, besides ‘close your eyes so you don't see it coming’?”
Deerling opened his mouth to respond, but the rage filled roar of an angry dragon followed by the sounds of stone breaking was enough to make him think really hard about his words.
“Uh, on second thought, carry on.”
Keldeo sent him a smug look that screamed “That's what I thought” before relaying the rest his plan. “Blitzle, get ready to use the toughest nonelectrical attack you've got.”
Blitzle chuckled, somewhat but not entirely forgetting about his fear of death. “Aye aye captain!”
“Ponyta, prepare to light this place up.”
Ponyta nodded and got into a stance, his eyes narrowing at the cracking boulder.
“Deerling, Skiddo, ready your Safeguard and Protect, we may need it.”
Skiddo smiled and pawed the ground, lowering his head and putting his horns on display.
‘’Go deeper into the forest’, they said. ‘It'll be fun’, they said. Yeah, totally not regretting my life choices right now,’ Deerling thought as he stood nervously next to his brother.
“Girafarig, get your Mirror Coat ready.”
He got no response.
“Did you hear me, Girafarig?”
Still nothing.
“Girafarig?”
He turned to the spot where Girafarig previously stood, only to find his friend no longer there.
“Uh, Girafarig?” He looked left and right for the long necked Pokémon but found no sign of him. Odd, you'd think finding a Pokémon with two heads in an enclosed space would be easy.
Feeling something nudge at his side, Keldeo turned and saw Ponyta looking at something. Following his gaze, he found Girafarig staring at large rock by the cave wall. He had a distant, glazed over look in his eyes, as if he were in a daydream. Even the head on his rear looked out of it.
“Girafarig…?”
Girafarig gave no response. He just continued to stare at the rock like it was a naked Gardevoir: without blinking or noticing anything around him.
Blitzle walked up to Girafarig’s side. He looked at the oh-so-interesting rock before glaring at Girafarig. “Seriously, what is it with you and stones?!”
Again, Girafarig did not respond.
“I-Is he okay?” Deerling stuttered in concern.
Keldeo opened his mouth to try and talk his friend out of whatever trance he was in when Girafarig’s eyes started to glow again. They all watched in confusion and worry as he mentally grabbed hold of the large rock and began moving it to the side. Once the rock was out of the way, they were shocked to find a tunnel dug through the cave wall, large enough for them to walk through two at a time.
“A tunnel…?” Keldeo muttered, peering into the dark tunnel.
“Alright, way to go Butthead!” Blitzle exclaimed as he nudged Girafarig’s. The contact snapped snapped him out of his trance, causing his eyes to dim back to their original colour.
“Huh?! What?! What happened?!” He asked frantically, unceremoniously dropping the rock in his confusion.
“Dude, how'd you know there was a tunnel here?” Skiddo asked happily.
Girafarig gave him a look of confusion. “Tunnel? What are you….?”
He looked back at the rock he was staring at, only to find the tunnel in its place. He blinked in confusion before smiling at his new discovery.
“Cool, when did this tunnel get here?” He asked his friends. Now it was their turn to look confused.
“You mean you don't -”
“GRRRAAAAAGGGGHHH!!!”
The roar accompanied by the bashing of the boulder reminded them that they had more important things to worry about.
“Doesn't matter. We have to move NOW!” Keldeo exclaimed. “Ponyta, you and I will go in first, we could use the candlelight. Girafarig, you go in last and keep lookout at the rear. Skiddo, stay next to him in case he needs protection.”
They nodded and got into formation. Once they were all inside, Girafarig used his Psychic to place the rock back in its original place, sealing the tunnel’s entrance. From inside the cave, they heard a loud crash followed by the sound of rubble hitting the cave floor.
Garchomp growled hungrily as she entered the cave. Her eyes scanned her surroundings, searching for the six pokémon that dared enter her territory. All she found however was the rubble from her entrance. Angered by the absence of her dinner, she let out a rage filled roar before leaving the cave in search of a more…. compliant meal.
Inside the tunnel, our heroes sighed in relief. At last they were safe, for real this time.
“Finally, I thought she'd never leave,” Blitzle sighed
“Tell me about it,” Skiddo agreed. “Do you think she'll come back?”
“I don't know, but I don't want to stick around to find out,” Keldeo said, eyeing the path ahead of them. “Maybe this tunnel leads to a way out.”
With that being said, they began their trek through the secret passage, unaware that while they may have escaped one danger, another had them in its sights.
The being smirked; it had them right where it wanted them. Now all it had to do was play its cards right.
‘Soon, I'll finally be free….’
“Argh, how much longer do we have to keep walking?” Blitzle whined, his voice echoing off the tunnel walls.
Keldeo cringed at the sound before looking over his shoulder at the zebra-pokémon. “Blitzle, we've only been walking for a few minutes.”
“Exactly! I'm a Blitze! I don't do ‘walking’!”
“Well, do you do shutting up?! You're giving me a migraine!”
“Oh yeah?” Blitzle growled. “Well how about I give ya a Thunderbolt up your -”
“Hey guys, look!” Girafarig intervened, much to everyone's relief. They’d ran for their lives from an angry dragon and just seen their lives flash before their eyes while escaping said dragon. Suffice to say, no one was in the mood to hear their friends argue. “I think I see a light up ahead!”
Keldeo, who had already prepared a comeback, shut his mouth and looked ahead. Indeed, there was a light up ahead. It was dim, barely noticeable from their distance but hey, anything was better than nothing.
“It must be the way out.”
“Well it's about time! Let’s move!”
And move they did. As they got closer, the light began to shine brighter. They quickened their pace, eager to get out of the cramped cave and into a wide open forest. Their gallop slowed into a trot as they finally exited the tunnel.
What they found was not a forest.
Their excited smiles morphed into confused frowns as they found themselves in a large room. Numerous carvings of odd looking pokémon covered the walls and even the roof. Three pillars stood on either side of the room, each displacing a different pokémon, though they couldn't tell which. These symbols were different from the others, as they emitted a faint barely-there glow.
“Woah….” Skiddo muttered in awe.
Blitzle nodded in agreement. “Far out, man…”
Ponyta stared at the carving with his jaw dropped in amazement. It was almost as if they were telling a story, though a story about what, he couldn't tell.
While his friends were observing the strange carving, Keldeo’s attention was on something of much more interest. At the far end of the room was a pink barrier of some sort. Around it, strange symbols were carved into the ground that shined with the same pink light as the barrier.
‘That must be the light we saw,’ He thought as he slowly moved closer to investigate. As he got closer to the barrier, he began to make out an odd silhouette inside. It looked small - smaller than any of them - and was lying on it's side and…..moving?
The swordsmon’s eyes widened in shock at this discovery. It was moving. Its chest - or what he thought was its chest - moved up and down in a steady rhythm.
‘It's….. asleep?’
“Guys…” He called. “I don't think we're alone in here.”
That got their attention. Taking their eyes off the carvings, they followed Keldeo’s gaze onto the weird pink barrier or, more specifically, what was inside the barrier.
Blitzle, being the blunt pokémon he is, was the first to speak up. “What the heck is that thing?!”
Once again, his voice echoed off the cave walls, making them wince. And they weren't the only ones who heard it. The figure inside the barrier visibly stiffened, making them pause. They watched as it opened its eyes and slowly, almost hesitantly, stood up. They were surprised to find that it was….. Adorable?
While the others stated at the being with wide eyes, Deerling gasped and with speed that made even Blitzle dizzy to think about, ran forward until he was standing right in front of the small creature and immediately starting gushing over it.
“Oh my gosh, you are so cute!”
“Deerling, what are you doing?!” Skiddo yelled as he rushed towards his brother. “You don't even know what it is!”
“It looks like a mutant blue Rattata mixed with a Skitty,” Blitzle commented as he mover closer.
“Well, let's ask him then,” Deerling said before turning his attention back to the little bundle of cuteness. “Hi there little guy. I'm Deerling, what's your name?”
Blitzle shook his head at Deerling’s antics. “Deerling, as cute as this scene is, I doubt it's gonna wor -”
“Please, you must leave!”
Well, if their eyes weren't wide enough when the first saw the thing, they sure as reverse world are now. All their jaws, including the one on Girafarig’s butt, practically hit the floor.
“W-Wh-What the…?” Blitzle sputtered hopelessly as he tried to figure out what was going on.
“Telepathy….”
They looked at Girafarig in confusion as he slowly walked over.
“Tele-what-now?”
“Telepathy. It's talking with its brain,” Girafarig explained.
“Please, leave this place before it's too late!” The creature urged, bringing their attention back to it.
“Too late?” Keldeo said. “Too late for what?”
“You don't want to know,” It said in a grim tone.
“I would like to know actually,” Keldeo said. “What are you talking about?”
“Yeah, start making sense, buddy!” Blitzle demanded.
It sighed, the disappointment clear on its face, before speaking. “Very well. My name is Mew, and the reason you must leave is because I doubt you wish to be trapped here for the rest of your short lives.”
“T-Tr-Trapped?” Deerling stuttered. This thing was starting to look a lot less cute.
“Wait a second, you're a Mew?” Keldeo asked, his eyes no longer wide in shock but in awe. Virizion had told him about many legendary pokémon - usually as bedtime stories when he couldn't sleep - and from what she told him, Mews were the ancestors of all pokémon, able to use any and all moves.
One thing struck as him odd though….
“Aren't Mews supposed to be pink?” He asked.
Mew sent him a deadpanned stare which probably would've been more effective if it wasn't so tiny. “Haven't you ever heard of shinies?” It asked as if it were the most obvious thing in the universe, and to Mew, it probably was. “But enough about that. You must leave!”
“No need to tell me twice. Let's go, guys,” Blitzle said with a tone of finality as he turned to leave.
“But what about him...her….it?” Asked Deerling, earning an I-hate-you-glare from Mew.
Blitzle looked at him with a raised eyebrow. “You heard….it. You wanna be trapped here forever?”
“But we can't just leave…..it here!”
“I don't see why not? It's been fine down here for who cares how long, I'm sure that….it will be fine on….its own.”
“I hate you all so much.”
“But we've got to do something! Tell him Keldeo!”
All eyes turned to the colt pokémon, who just stared back cluelessly. He was at loss here. On one hand, Deerling had a point. Just leaving….it (“fuck you!”) here would be a douche move. On the other hand though, being trapped forever didn't sound very fun. His lifespan wasn't exactly, you know.
“Uh...well….” He shifted nervously under their gazes. Deerling was looking with those sad Lillipup eyes that looked way too big for his head and Blitzle was sending him a death glare that was literally producing sparks. He nervously coughed into his hoof before looking at Mew. “How about we find out why you're trapped here to begin with?”
Mew stroked….its chin in thought for a minute, unintentionally making itself even more adorable, before replying. “I suppose that's fair. You see, I was once part of a proud clan of Mews who came to this region in hopes of finding a new home. We stumbled upon this cave and thought it was perfect and so, we began living here. All was well until….he came.”
“He? Who's ‘he’?”
“An evil pokémon who wanted to use our power to defeat Arceus and take over the pokémon world.”
“Defeat Arceus?!” Keldeo yelled. “That's impossible! There's no power that can defeat Arceus….right?”
Mew looked at him with pity in its eyes before speaking. “Normally, that is true. But with enough power, one can do anything.”
“Yikes,” Said Girafarig. “I definitely wouldn't want to meet that guy.”
Blitzle rolled his eyes and huffed. “That still doesn't explain why you're trapped here.”
“I'm getting to that. Since I was the only shiny Mew in my clan, he tried to take my power first. Fearing for my family, I stood my ground and fought while the others escaped.”
“Wow, talk about hardcore,” Skiddo muttered in awe. “Then what happened?”
“I held him off for as long as I could and bought the others enough time to escape, but he fought dirty and trapped me in this barrier. He then went after my family and I've been stuck here ever since,” Mew finished with a depressed sigh. It let out a sniffle as it wiped away a stray tear from its eyes.
“You see, we have to help….. it!” Deerling exclaimed.
Ponyta glared suspiciously at Mew. Something just didn't smell right about that story.
“And just what can we do?” Blitzle asked harshly. “Fight some big bad pokémon? Yeah, I don't think so.”
“That won't be necessary,” Mew intervened. “I can handle fighting him, myself. I just need to get out of here to do it.”
“We can help you with that!” Deerling exclaimed with an excited smile. However, that smile soon turned into a frown as one important factor came to mind. “How do we help you with that?”
“You see those six pillars?” Mew asked, pointing at the pillars against the walls. “They're powering the barrier. There is an aura flowing from one to the other that's holding it in place. They are also nullifying my abilities. The fact that I'm able to talk to you via telepathy is in itself, a miracle. Destroy one of them and the connection will be broken, and I will be free.”
Keldeo looked at the pillars, then back at Mew. “That seems like an awfully complicated trap for someone to set up in the middle of a battle.”
Skiddo nudged him in the side. “Aw, don't be like that man! You know how often someone actually asks me to break something without any consequences?”
“I'm with Kel on this one,” Said Blitzle. “I don't trust this….thing.
“Well, I say we do it!” Deerling exclaimed with a tone of finality. “I refuse to let another pokémon suffer, not while I can do something about it!”
“Please, guys.” Deerling then unleashed his ultimate weapon…
‘Deerling used Fake Tears!’ Girafarig thought as he watched on from the sidelines. He wasn't entirely sure what was going one but it sure was entertaining. ‘A cool looking stone, a secret passageway and now a battle of will. This is the best day of my life!’
Now, in Keldeo’s defense, he did know that it wasn't real and he did try to look away, but those eye, they just….. They looked into his very soul. It was as if his conscience was being stabbed with a very sharp blade made entirely out of guilt, and for those of you who don't know, that's not a pleasant feeling.
‘It’s super effective!’
“Well I...guess we can try something…”
“Yaay!!!” Deerling cheered in joy. Blitzle and Ponyta sighed in disappointment. They couldn't say they didn't see that coming.
“Thank you, young heroes,” Mew said, bowing in thanks. “After I save my family, I will personally spread word of your heroic actions today.”
‘Heroes?’
Blitzle groaned when he noticed the borderline creepy grin on Keldeo’s face. “Oh no, dude. Don't tell me that you're actually gonna -”
“Don't worry, little Mew!” Keldeo exclaimed as he raised his horn and struck a ‘heroic’ pose, doing a complete one-eighty from reluctance to determination “The Sword of justice and his sidekicks are here to save the day!”
Blitzle let out a groan as he facehooved so hard, he was sure that he left a hoofprint on his forehead. Everyone knew how Keldeo got when the H-word was mentioned, so he knew that there was no way he'd be able to - wait a minute!
“What do you mean ‘sidekicks’?!” He yelled, though Keldeo, being as deep in Hero-land as he was, was already making his way over to one of the pillars with Girafarig, Deerling and Skiddo following his example.
Blitzle sighed before turning to Ponyta. “This won't end well, will it?
Ponyta looked at him with a blank stare and shrugged, his nonverbal way of saying, “Eh, probably not.” before following the others.
Blitzle stood there for moment, thinking about how stupid his friends were being and how they were probably going to regret this before groaning in frustration. “Fine! But I swear if we get turned to stone or something….”
Keldeo rolled his eyes as the electric-type walked over. “Blitzle, I highly doubt destroying a stone pillar will get us turned into one.
“Oh yeah, because ‘stones’ never caused anything bad to happen,” Blitzle replied, sending a pointed look to a certain psychic-type who looked away and whistled innocently.
“I'm sure everything will be fine, Blitzle.”
“Famous last words…”
Keldeo rolled his eyes again. “Whatever. Can we just do this already? This chapter is long enough as it is.”
Blitzle sent him a deadpanned stare before suddenly smirking in mischief.
“Ya know, I'm sure your Sacred Sword could take care of this, no problem. In fact, why don't we all just hang back while you -”
“OR! Or we can all attack it at once!” Keldeo said quickly. “You know…. For practice.”
Though the embarrassed blush on Keldeo’s face prompted joyous laughter from Blitzle, much to Keldeo’s ever growing embarrassment, he didn't press the issue any further, deciding to poke more fun at him later. Preferable, after this plan went to hell.
They all got into position, standing in front of a randomly selected pillar. Keldeo gave it a quick look over. It depicted a vicious serpent-like pokémon and emitted an emerald glow. Keldeo was thankful that it was only a carving, Acraeus knows the amount of pokéblocks he'd shit if he were to be standing before that thing in person.
‘Well, that's not going to haunt my nightmares forever at all,’ He thought as he pointed his horn forward and summoned a Focus Blast.
“You sure this will work, Mew?” He asked, not taking his eyes off the pillar. Last thing he needed was another move exploding in his face due to lack of concentration, though the scary pokémon carving - he could swear it was staring right at him - was not helping in that regard.
“Yes yes, of course!” Mew replied with haste.
Keldeo raised an eyebrow at Mew’s quickened speech but shrugged it off, simply regarding it as excitement. After all, if he were stuck in a cramped barrier for Giratina knows how long, he'd probably be eager to leave too.
“Okay then. Everyone ready?”
They all got into a stance and prepared an attack. Deerling and Girafarig opened their mouths and summoned a Shadow Ball, Blitzle’s entire body crackled loudly as he charged up enough electricity to blow out the streetlights of an entire city block, and Ponyta prepared his ever so famous Flamethrower. Skiddo summoned his Vine Whips since they were the closest thing to a long distance attack he had and charging head first (quite literally) would just be plain stupid.
Awesome with a touch of badass, yes, but still stupid.
“Alright, on my mark!” Keldeo exclaimed as he took aim.
“NOW!”
And just like that, they proceeded to unleash all hell on the unfortunate stone pillar, specifically on the carving. Each attack hit it dead center, and the force of their combined was enough to kick up enough dust to hide the pillar from view. They all (Mew included) stood there anxiously and waiting for dust cloud to clear so that they could see the result of their work. When the dust finally cleared, the gasped at what they saw.
The pillar was still there, damaged yes, but for the most part perfectly fine.
“Damn, that's one tough pillar,” Skiddo said.
“I don't get it,” Keldeo said as he moved closer to the pillar. “All that power should've been enough to destroy at least a section of it.”
Blitzle scoffed. “Well it didn't. So can we go now?”
Deerling frowned at his friend's eagerness to abandon Mew but didn't say anything. He walked up to the pillar until he and Keldeo stood side by side and began to examine it. They definitely did some damage but apparently, it wasn't enough.
They needed something stronger.
“Maybe…” He hesitated, not entirely sure he should continue. He looked at Mew. The little blue pokémon looked so disappointed. Not in them but in the fact that their plan didn't work. That it might have to stay in that barrier for the rest of its life. That it might never be able to save its family or at least know of they were okay. That may never be able to feeling the rays of the warm sun on its skin or never smell the many beautiful flowers that resided in the forest or eat a delicious berry or -
‘Okay, I get it already! No need for the freaking guilt trip, yeash!’
“Maybe…..maybe we do need Sacred Sword.”
Keldeo’s reaction was immediate and exactly what Deerling was expecting.
“W-WHAT?!” Keldeo looked at him like he just used Flamethrower. “N-No way! You know I can't do that without,” He looked at Mew, then back at Deerling and whispered, “You-know-what happening.”
“But you have to try,” Deerling insisted. “I mean, it's worth a shot right?”
“B-But I…”
“Come on Keldeo! Didn't you say that you want to be a hero?”
“Well…” The floor suddenly looked very interesting to Keldeo. “Yeah, but -”
“Well now's your chance! Come on, just think about how proud your mentors will be.”
Deerling wasn't going to lie, he knew that playing the hero card on Keldeo was probably a bit unfair, but hey, as long as it works.
Keldeo shifted uncomfortably on the spot. The thought of his mentors praising his skills did seem pleasing….
“Well… I guess I could try…” He muttered as he rubbed his left forehoof. He then looked up and saw Deerling using his Fake Tears again.
Suffice to say, he folded quickly.
“Alright alright! I said I'll try, didn't I?! Just put those eyes away before you hurt someone, dammit!”
Their purpose fulfilled, he dispelled his Fake Tears and smiled innocently, as if he hadn't just manipulated on of his best friends into doing his bidding.
‘Yeah you keep smiling, you conniving little…’ Keldeo thought as he moved closer to the pillar, not stopping until he stood right in front of it. He looked back at his friends in uncertainty. His responses were…..diverse. Deerling gave him an encouraging smile, Skiddo looked on excitedly, eager to see something get broken, Blitzle looked bored out of his mind, Girafarig looked like he didn't know what was going on (no surprise there) and Ponyta just….sorta stared at him with the blankest expression he'd ever seen.
Keldeo sighed before turning his attention to the pillar. Once again he found himself caught in the emerald pokémon's fierce gaze. It glared down at him, as if daring him to strike it and promising fierce punishment if he did.
Why was he doing this again?
He looked at his friends again and saw Deerling breaking out the Fake Tears again.
‘Oh yeah, that's why.’
Turning back to the pillar, he took a moment to remember the lessons of his mentors. He took a deep breath, then exhaled before closing his eyes and concentrating on his aura. He imagined himself grasping it and began to direct it into his horn.
His friends watched in awe as his horn began to glow. It got brighter and brighter as he put more of strength into it. He could feel it getting sharper, he just needed to add a little more power.
‘Come on...I can...do this….’ He thought as his horn started to straighten itself. However, just as it was about to reach its peak, something went wrong. His horn crackled with orange energy before suddenly exploding. The force of the explosion sent him flying, promoting concerned gasps from his friends.
“Keldeo!” They exclaimed in unison as they galloped over to their downed friend.
“Dude, are you okay?” Skiddo asked, using his Vine Whips to help him get back on his hooves.
“Y-Yeah,” He muttered, standing shakily but otherwise unharmed. He tentatively touched his horn with his hoof and winced. “My horn is gonna be sore for a while though….”
Deerling was in hysterics and began apologizing profusely. “Keldeo, I'm so sorry! I didn't mean for that to happen, I just -”
“Deerling, it's cool, really. I'm fine.” He sighed. “Told you I couldn't do it though….”
Blitzle, despite his reluctance with this plan in the first place, seemed to disagree. “Are you kidding? That was awesome!”
“That's the closest you've ever gotten to a full sword before! That means you're getting better right?” Said Skiddo.
Keldeo smiled gratefully at his friends. “Yeah, I guess I am.” His smile then turned into a frown. “Still wasn't enough to damage the pillar though….”
“Well, I wouldn't say that.”
They all turned their attention to Girafarig, who was looking at the pillar with a smile on his muzzle. They followed his gaze and gasped in shock and joy at the site of the pillar. Where the carving once was, was now replaced by a small crater, no doubt put their by Keldeo’s attempt at summoning his sword.
“Well buck me sideways and call me a Bidoof,” Blitzle muttered.
Keldeo smiled at his handiwork. It wasn't exactly master swordsmanship but eh, whatever works right?
“It…. It worked…”
They snapped out of their daze and turned their attention to Mew. They were surprised but happy to see that the barrier was down and Mew was now free.
Deerling trotted up to the little blue pokémon with a smile on his face. “Look Mew, we did it! You're free now!” He said happily.
“I'm…. I'm free…?” Mew looked down at the circle of runes that held it prisoner for so long and found that their glow had diminished. Blinking shock and disbelief, Mew hesitantly placed its foot on the circle before suddenly jerking back, as if the now powerless circle had burned it. Realising that its foot was fine, Mew stepped on it again. It didn't jerk back this time, it stared down at the circle with an unreadable expression.
“I'm really free.” A smile slowly grew on Mew’s face as realisation sunk in. “I'm really free!”
Suddenly, Mew took to the air, startling everyone in the room. “I'm free! I'm free!” It chanted as it darted around the room at blurring speed. Its saviors watched in mild amusement as it zipped from one section of the room to another, laughing and enjoying its newfound freedom.
“Slow down, little fella,” Keldeo laughed. “You just got out. You don't wanna tire yourself out already do you?”
Mew blinked and abruptly stopped its fliet. Levitating on the spot with its back facing the pokémon who freed it, it stared down at its paw in thought.
“You know, you're right,”
Keldeo frowned at it's statement. Something about it didn't sound right. “I am?”
“Yeah, you are. I've been stuck in that stuffy barrier for a very long time. I'm afraid that I might be a little rusty.” It lifted its other paw and stroked its chin in thought. It suddenly snapped its fingers. “Oh! I know! I'll just test it!”
“Test what?”
“My power, Silly.” Though they couldn't see it, a devious smirk began to form on Mew’s face. “And I know just how to do it.”
“Really?” Asked Girafarig. “How?”
Mew’s smirk grew as its paws began to light up with ice blue energy. “Like THIS!”
It suddenly turned towards them and threw its paws forward, launching a very powerful Ice Beam at them. They yelped and jumped out of the way. When the turned around, a literal chill ran through them at the sight of very sharp spikes of ice protruding from the spot they once stood.
“What the heck, man?!” Blitzle yelled in anger. “What do you think you're doing?!”
Mew laughed at his rage like it was the funniest thing it'd ever seen and given the circumstances, it probably was.
“Why, I'm showing my appreciation of course!” It replied as it activated its Stone Edge attack, summoning six sharp rocks that circled around it. “Here, have some more!”
It launched the rocks at the electric-type. Blitzle yelped and jumped out of the way, making Mew laugh even louder.
“Dance for me, Sparky! Dance!” It laughed as it continued its barrage of Stone Edges, all of which were dodges, albeit just barely.
Before it could continue its ‘fun’ however, an odd sound made it pause. It was definitely not the kind of sound one would normally hear in a cave, and it would know, it spent an uncountable amount of years stuck in one. It kind of sounded like….
“.....Running water?”
Mew turned in time to see two massive jets of water heading straight towards it. However, they were moving way too fast for it to stop them and already way too close to dodge. Without any way to defend itself, Mew had no choice but to take it like a mon as they slammed into it with tremendous force, sending it flying.
Keldeo smiled in victory as his Hydro Pump sent Mew crashing into the nearest wall, a smile that changed to a frown when Mew fell to the floor and suddenly exploded in a cloud of white smoke. When the smoke cleared, Mew was nowhere to be found, leaving no trace of its presence other than the wet mark on the wall made from Keldeo’s attack.
Before Keldeo could even begin to question the logic behind what just happened, a familiar voice rang through his head, sending an ominous chill down his spins.
“Pretty neat huh?” He turned and immediately wished he hadn't as he came face to face with a very smug looking Mew floating literally two inches away from his muzzle. “Not my best Substitute, but you know, we can't all be perfect.”
Without giving him a chance to respond (not that it cared what he had to say anyway), it spun around and slammed a hard Iron Tail into his face, sending him crashing into a wall, just as he had done to Mew.
“Keldeo!” Yelled Blitzle. “That's it! This punk is going DOWN!!”
Mew scoffed. “Is that so? Well then, bring it on, Sparky.”
Blitzle glared at the psychic-type as he used Charge, storing as much electricity he could, causing his body to emitting yellow light. Then, yelling in righteous anger, he let loose a powerful Thunderbolt, probably the most powerful he had ever used. Mew rolled its eyes and extended its paw forward, directly in the attacks path. To a normal pokémon, this would be foolish as the amount of electricity in the attack would surely cause some serious damage.
But Mew was not a normal pokémon.
A loud ‘BOOM’ echoed through the cave as the attack collided with Mew’s paw, nearly making everyone's eardrums explode. However, Mew was unfazed. It simply floated there with its paw out, keeping the attack in place as if it were leaning on a wall. A brilliant light filled the cave as all that electricity pushed against Mew’s paw. Blitzle’s muzzle scrunched up as he put more power into the attack, trying very hard to push past Mew’s defences and give the bastard a lesson it won't soon forget. It was all in vain though. Every time the attack inched forward, Mew’s paw simply pushed it back again and the one-sided deadlock would continue.
Mew scoffed as Blitzle growled in foolish determination before raising its other paw, stopping a stream of fire that seemed to come out of nowhere, just as it did with Blitzle’s Thunderbolt. Raising its eyebrow, Mew looked towards the direction it came from. It snickered when it saw Ponyta glaring at it as he spewed fire from his muzzle, as if his attack actually made a difference.
Both equine pokémon stood their ground, refusing to disperse their attacks until Mew paid for hurting their friend. As this went on, Girafarig and Skiddo were in the process of rousing a still downed Keldeo, with little success.
“Come on man! Wake up!” Skiddo yelled as he used his Vine Whips to try and shake him awake.
“Hrm...Virizion...not so rough….”
Skiddo froze, not entirely sure how to respond to…. THAT. Not a word was said as the psychic-type and grass-type stared at their unconscious friend, who was still groaning and writhing in Skiddo’s vinny grip.
Girafarig, being the lovable dolt he his, was the first to state his opinion on the matter.
“AWKWARD!!”
Well said indeed.
Skiddo blinked himself out of his….awkward induced daze and dropped Keldeo as if he were on fire. He shuddered as he tried to forget what just happened before turning to Girafarig.
“So...uh...I'm outta ideas. You?”
“Hmm….” Girafarig stared at Keldeo as he came up with an idea before turning back to Skiddo “Just one.”
“Well then, do it because I'm not touching him again.”
“Alright.”
And with that, he stared down at Keldeo as a soft blue glow enveloped his eyes. It only lasted for a second before they faded back to their original colour.
“There, all done.” He said with an innocent tone, as if they weren't in the fight of their lives.
Skiddo regarded Keldeo with a raised eyebrow. Nothing. He was still as unconscious as when they started.
“Nothing’s happen-”
“WOAH MAMA!!” Keldeo yelled as he suddenly jumped into the air, scaring the crap out of the goat pokémon. He frantically looked, his head moving in every direction fast enough to give himself whiplash. “Huh? What? Who? What happened?”
“I kicked you in the brain,” Girafarig replied with the tone of someone talking about the weather. “You might not want to solve any difficult problems for a while, by the way.”
“YOU WHA-”
“Ahem.” They all turned to Mew who now held two very exhausted equine pokémon in its psychic grip. “As funny as this is to watch, I'm kinda on a tight schedule here so if you guys hold still so I can kill ya, that'd be great.”
Before they could respond, they suddenly found themselves lifted into the air against their will. Mew, being the adorable little sadist it was, flailed them in the air for a bit, making them do loops and flips, all the while listening to the sweet music in the form of their screams.
“I missed this,” Mew sighed in content before putting on a serious expression. “But again, tight schedule. So, time to di-”
“Mew, STOP!”
Mew blinked before turning to address the one daring to tell it what to do. To say it was surprised to see that it was Deerling, who look pretty close to tears as it is, would be understatement.
“Huh, I was wondering where you went.”
“Mew, please,” Deerling urged, moving closer to the psychic-type. “Please, you don't have to do this. You're free now. You can-”
“Ugh, are you still not getting this?!” Mew sneered at him in disgust. “Fine then,” It said before teleporting in front of Deerling’s face.
“Hey, leave him alone!” Skiddo yelled as he tried to struggle out of Mew’s Psychic.
Skiddo’s struggle went unnoticed as Mew began to explain the situation. “I guess I'll just have to spell it out for you, won't I.” It said as it etched away at the already short distance between them,making Deerling back away as it got closer and closer. “Okay, here's the deal, kid. There is no ‘bad pokémon’. I lied to you! I used you to get what I want because I knew that pee brained little ‘heroes’ like you and puddle boy over there-
“Hey!”
“Would do anything to help a ‘poor, innocent little pokémon’ in distress, like moi.”
“But...but I...I trusted you…”
“And whose fault is that?” Mew asked. “I swear, all you ‘heroes’ fall for the same trick every time. ‘Oh help me! I have to save my family from an evil pokémon!’ Ha! What a bunch of dopes!”
As Mew continued to laugh at that their folly, Deerling stared at him in horror and disbelief. “I trusted you...I defended you…” Tears that were held back now flowed freely from his muzzle. “And you betray me…”
Mew stopped laughing and looked down at the crying pokémon. “Again with the roaming commentary. Man, you’re really slow on the update, aren't ya?”
“How could you?!” Mew raised an eyebrow before turning to look at Keldeo who was sending it a glare filled to the brim with hate. “I believed in you! He looked up to you! How can you just betray him like that?!”
Mew scoffed. Why some pokémon were so fixated friendship and togetherness was beyond it.
‘Hmm...friendship and togetherness...that gives me an idea.’ It thought as a devious smirk grew on it's face.
“Ya know what? You're right.”
The “huh?!” that escaped everyone was so loud, Mew was sure that some Pidgey were scared away.
“I mean, you guys did free me so I guess I do owe you some kind of boon in return right?” Mew said as it scratched its chin in thought. It then snapped its fingers as it struck brilliance. “Oh, I know what to do!”
It turned to them with a smile on its face as it used its Psychic to lift Deerling. Deerling didn't even try to struggle. He just floated there and stared blankly at nothing, as if he were dead to the world.
“You see, not only am I going to let you live,” It lifted its paw and summoned a dark purple sphere. “But I'm also going to give you a first hand taste of my power.”
“A what of your what now?” Asked the ever so oblivious Deerling. Bless his naive soul.
“You heard me. Now how about we get this show on the road huh?”
With that, it threw the sphere into the air. Just before it hit the roof, it exploded in a blinding purple light, forcing everyone but Mew to shut their eyes. When the light faded their vision returned, they stared up in awe at a menacing purple vortex. They could feel the air around them getting sucked in, dragging in rocks and other items unfortunate enough to get caught in the current.
Mew, who seems to be the only one not affected by the vortex’s pull, smiled as it brought them closer. They tried to move away, but all they managed to accomplish was making Mew laugh. If was about to throw them in when it suddenly remembered something.
“Oh and before we go any further, I'd just like to point out the fact that I'M A GIRL!!”
With that, she tossed them into the vortex, laughing as they screamed. She waited until their cries of terror faded away before turning to you… somehow.
“I know you're watching this. Don't worry, I don't mind. In fact, I hope you enjoy this because it's going to be one hell of party,” She said before diving head first into the vortex, her being the last thing heard before the vortex disappeared and the cave was once again dark and silent.
Author's Note
To.....many.....words. Now that this is done, I can finally work on the next chapter of " The Merchant of Equestria!"
I was half asleep when I finished this so if you find any mistakes, feel free to let me know.
Special thanks to Koekelbag for editing this!