Something the researchers had warned me about was that crossing dimensions came with some hazards especially in the improvised manner we had done it in. As such when I crossed the portal many things went wrong. For one thing I was blasted by a force of energy right in the chest which took me off course from the agreed upon time and space coordinates I was set upon.
The blast also interfered with the pokeballs containment fields and released all 9 of my pokemon into the hyperspace tunnel. At the very same moment the pokeballs malfunctioned another bolt of energy hit all of us causing me immense pain which made me black out for a second but when I opened my eyes I saw that all of my pokemon had been devolved with some even outright changing appearances. Thankfully the trip did not last long and we were out of the portal a few seconds after.
I blinked, finding myself in darkness save for the light shining off Drax's tail. What the hell was that I said massaging my chest. Looking around I saw that my eyes weren't playing tricks on me and everyone had changed and not just devolution. They also seem to have turned different colors but not the color of a regular shiny. For example instead of being golden Drax turned into a black charmander with his stripes turning from their original dark orange to purple. "Where the hell even am I? '' I said looking down at my poketch only to find it was completely dead.
"Virus link us all up please" I said unslinging my bag and rummaging through it till I found a lantern. Immediately i was overwhelmed by voices ``What happened to my wings/Wings look at me i have no arms anymore/I feel so small/Same and I don't have any of my old spikes/I am not as fluffy anymore/My berries are all gone i'll starve now/Query:Why has my processing power decreased/Human where are the others you promised".
"Everyone quiet what have we discussed about talking over each other" I chastised over the link holding my head from all the voices. "Sorry" sounded a couple of them in unison over the link.
"Now then let's address the Donphan in the room as you can see the machine was a success. We are definitely somewhere else the problem is in doing so you all somehow got devolved back to your baby forms except for Virus he's still as tall as ever" I said, reaching up and clapping him on the shoulder to which he deadpanned and did not respond.
I then awkwardly coughed into my hand and continued "I don't know where we are but that doesn't matter right now. First let me take a look at you guys to see what the devolution did to you exactly" I said rummaging in my bag looking for my journal but I was interrupted before I found it.
"Human, where are the others of my kind you promised" spoke up virus for the first time since arriving looking down at me.
"Oh yeah Virus I'm sure we'll find another Deoxys in time don't you worry buddy'' I said, patting his shoulder. "Now please protect us from anything that might attack us"
"Understood" came his monotone voice over the link as it turned facing toward the only doorway in the room..
With that I got out a journal and began inspecting everyone starting with my starter Drax now turned into a Charmander. I found that he could still use the same moves he had been capable of before but with much less power. He also did not have access to any of his flying moves as his wings were gone.
Another member that took the biggest power dive was Puffy who had devolved all the way down to an Igglybuff. That didn't change her fighting spirit though as when Drax tried to bully her he received a savage thrashing of double slaps from her. I laughed at the sight and called puffy over giving her a pat on the head. Which promptly caused a blinding white light to emit from her as she revolved into a Jigglypuff which left me confused till I remembered they evolved based on happiness which would be maxed out for her. The real curious thing however was that instead of the regular jiggly puff i had remembered her hair grew out and her teeth turned into fangs making her look like a small vampire. I was momentarily confused till a distant memory tugged at my mind about paradox forms. I inspected everyone else but no one really looked any different apart from the coloring except Puffy.
Closing my notebook I sighed this would make the mission much harder. "Ok now where are we?" I said, scanning the room with the lantern.
The lantern and Drax's tail illuminated the surroundings enough for me to see that we seemed to be in some kind of room built into a cave. Getting up I inspected the ground and saw that there were lines etched into the ground. Seems were in some sort of ritual room or something I thought. To the left and right of the circle I found myself in I saw two golden statues depicting some sort of pokemon which I couldn't really recognize. Roaming around I found a table which held a chalice and a rusted knife but nothing else. There was also no door out here however just a stone indent in the shape of a doorway.
"I wonder how to make this work" I said trying to feel around for any secret brick button or a minute of not being able to figure it out however I gave up "Virus move the door with psychic please".
With my command the stone gained a purple outline as it came free from the wall sliding to the side. "Ok everyone i dont know whats out there so it will just be me Virus and Boo for right now it would be bad if Virus had to worry about protecting you all"
"What how come that stupid ghost gets to stay out" complained Reptar stomping his gray foot angrily. I turned around to see Boo floating around blowing raspberries at Reptar from above. "You're just mad because youre a small fry now no more big bad Tyranitar", he taunted.
"What did you just say you-". "Ok ok enough of that everyone in your balls" I said recalling everyone. I thanked Arceus I had enough foresight to bring along everyone's custom pre evolution balls out of sentimentality. The only one who i didn't have a nice custom ball for was Virus but id remake that soon enough for now id just have him in an ultra ball.
With everyone returned save for Virus and Boo ,who I commanded to go into my shadow , we stepped past into the doorway seemingly in some sort of hallway. We stood at the end of a large corridor with 6 more smaller doorways ,a total of 3 on either side.
All were sealed in a similar manner as the one we just got out of which was weird. I had Virus open the rest of the doors but in them there were only dusty beds and desks, some of which had journals which I gathered to read for later. Leaving the hallway we stood before a large central room with other offshoots to other corridors.
As I pondered which route to take I was alerted by Virus "Entity approaching". From one of the hallways emerged a large floating yellow construct and as soon as it saw us it immediately attacked shooting at us with a beam of white energy. I didn't even need to say anything as Virus quickly switched to his defense form and absorbed the blow. "Virus use psychic just grab it and hold it" Deoxys eyes glowed blue as the construct glowed purple speeding toward us for what looked like a Giga impact until the Psychic stopped it in the air completely , although its eye still seemed very hostile.
"Thank you, now we mean no harm we got teleported into that room back there and have no idea where we are so lets just dial back the aggression" I said holding my hands up in a non aggressive manner.
The pokemons eyes lost some of the aggression as it narrowed "Sig Sigilyph Sig". "Deoxys". "Sigilyph".
"What did it say?'' I asked, watching the exchange between the two seeing the will to fight seemingly leave its body. .
" It asked if what you said was true and then said if we were brought here in that room we are not trespassers we are the masters it's been waiting for" spoke Deoxys via the mind link.
"Wait what? '' I questioned as Virus' eyes glowed blue as he released the construct from his telepathic hold. The pokemon then flew over to us animatedly circling around us "Sig sig Sigilyph" it said. "What's it want now?" I said still watching it warily. "It requests to be linked psychically to you to speak , it does not harbor any ill will toward us currently" spoke Virus again. Hmmm I hummed "Ok granted link us please" I said nodding towards it..
Within moments I felt a new psychic presence touch my mind. "My apologies for attacking you, the previous masters asked me to guard the temple from all intruders" it said apologetically.
"Yes hello uh first could you tell me where i am exactly?" I said still very much confused about the situation.
"Why of course young master this is the Sacred Temple of Knowledge" it spoke as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Yes of course silly me i forgot" I said trying to play it off. "But uh where is everyone? All the rooms i've seen have just been empty"
This tale has been unlawfully lifted without the author's consent. Report any appearances on Amazon.
"I'm afraid all the masters were taken one day and never returned leaving only me , Nomad left in the temple" it said and I detected a hint of sadness in its voice.
"Taken ? Taken by what?" I questioned.
The pokemon turned around as it sounded in my mind "Please follow me I will show you where it took place". The construct then led me down multiple corridors and as it did I took the chance to inspect it properly. The construct seemed to be a Sigilyph as evidenced by its own repeating of its name but it was very different to the ones I remember from the games all those years one thing it was huge, and its head had a motif of a pharaoh something I don't remember it having in the games. I was brought from my thoughts as we came upon a very large room with another gigantic red circle carved in the middle surrounded by 4 more of those weird statues from before. "Before I begin my story I realize I have forgotten to ask the young master his name as well as his companions' names" said Nomad as it spun around to face us.
"Oh yes I'm Jake , the one in my shadow is Boo and to my right is Virus" I said pointing toward everyone as Boo emerged from my shadow floating around Nomad. "Well met all of you" it said doing a very weird mid air bow "Now let me tell you the tragic story of the Cult of Knowledge".
—-
"Years ago I was in Unova in some ancient ruins when an explorer discovered me. The man was a kind and adventurous spirit claiming his goal was to seek out knowledge to better the world. Seeing his noble goal I joined him. Years passed as we went on many more missions to ancient ruins seeking out knowledge, even gaining more members who added upon our knowledge to amass the greatest library I dare say this world has ever seen. The thing was as you humans say knowledge is power and power corrupts".
"The man became obsessed with gaining knowledge, forgetting his goal to better the world and just hoarding knowledge away with the other members for their own selfish gains. Eventually they turned their eyes to a bigger goal: the embodiment of knowledge itself, Uxie. On one of the missions they found an ancient scroll containing information on how to summon the being. I pleaded with him to not do it for it was too dangerous but my cries fell on deaf ears.
Then on the day of the Winter Solstice they succeeded somehow summoning the being into this very room you stand in. "Uxie we the followers of knowledge have summoned you here to grant us all with true knowledge" stated my trainer.
The god of knowledge looked around the room as its eyes and gem glowed speaking directly into all of our minds. "I have looked into your minds and judged all of your intentions to be foul , you use knowledge to only further yourselves . You are undeserving of my knowledge or that which you have collected." With that its eyes glowed once more and every person and pokemon fell unconscious save for me.
"Wait please what have you done to them!?" I said, rushing toward my trainer as I tried to plead with Uxie.
Its eyes turned to me "They were wicked people. I have erased all their memories of me and this place. I give you a choice now you may stay here within these halls or I can take you elsewhere".
I looked down upon my fallen trainer before steeling myself "I shall stay here this knowledge is valuable i'm sure someday a master will return".
"So be it,'' spoke Uxie as it disappeared along with everyone else in a flash of light.
—-
"I have waited years since that day for someone to find us and now that you have it would be my honor to serve you" Said the Sigilyph as it stopped levitating, positioning itself upright on the floor in front of me.
"I would also be honored to have you as my pokemon" I said, reaching for the construct resting my hand on its body. As my fingers touched its torso I felt a rush of energy within me as I felt raw emotion come surge through me. I quickly let go of the pokemon and backed up "What the heck was that" I asked Nomad.
"That was not my doing master , I assumed it was your own innate power?" it said floating back up from the ground.
"Wait hold that thought: I said reaching into my bag grabbing an ultra ball capturing him and sending him back out again.
"Now then what was that you were saying about a power?" I questioned.
"I sense it as well your signature has changed there is something within you not psychic energy but something different" spoke Virus. I didn't really know what to make of this at all with a bunch of random possibilities flooding my mind but I was interrupted when Nomad spoke out once again.
"I'm sure the library is sure to have an answer to your question. How about I take you to it" he said.
"Oh yes" I said, clapping my hands together. I mean a cult of knowledge was sure to have some juicy books to read.
I followed him down several halls as I admired the sheer amount of time and resources it must have taken to create this veritable underground labyrinth. I made sure to light each torch I passed to bring some light back to the area. When we finally came upon the library I was blown aback. It was huge with rows upon rows of bookshelves everywhere. I let out a whistle . Temple of knowledge indeed. I set my bag upon a table as I inspected all the shelves till I saw in the middle of the room sat one book upon an altar of sorts. Going up to it and picking up the book I read the first page. "Knowledge is sacred Knowledge is power and all knowledge belongs to us". As I kept reading I found out that this place truly was a cult worshiping the the book and setting it back down good riddance.
"I still have a few more questions such as where exactly are we located" I asked as I perused the shelves for anything interesting to read.
"I am unsure of the exact location but we are in Hoenn currently" it said floating behind me with Boo.
"Ok at least we got that right" I said happily.
"May I inquire how it is you arrived here young master? From what it sounds like you got in through one of our teleport portal rooms but the magic on how to access it should have been stripped from all minds and recorded solely in this library" Said Nomad in an intrigued voice.
"Well actually i have quite the story see.." and with that I told him my life story and my mission.
"How noble, to stop a world-ending meteor is a worthy goal but I am afraid without a legend or demigods' help such a feat would be near impossible" it said.
"Huh, what do you mean by demigod?'' I asked.
"Oh, were there no demigods in your world? Well a demigod refers to a pokemon born from one of the legends resulting in a mutated pokemon that retains some of the legends characteristics and strengths they are incredibly rare and dangerous I have only encountered one in my adventures with my previous master and narrowly escaped with our lives from an offspring of Registeel and Rhyperior".
"That sounds crazy, definitely gotta get me one of those" I said mind racing with ideas.
"I admire your goal but I doubt you understand just how powerful they are" Nomad spoke, voice full of doubt.
"Oh no i do i mean look at Virus he is a legend". I said grabbing a book I saw on Z moves. I did see Nomad inspecting Virus as he turned back to me.
"While he is strong the power I feel radiating from him does not compare to that of a legend" It spoke with a doubtful voice.
"Virus stop suppressing your presence for a second" I said leaning on a bookshelf for support.. In an instant the room became steeped in an aura of danger causing my knees to buckle and Nomad to fall out of the air , but just as quickly as it came the presence retreated.
"I take back my previous statement about his power but it still is not as strong as a demigod it is more on par with a Mythical level" Nomad spoke flying back up.
"Wait, walk me through the levels" I said, picking up another book that caught my eye.
"The levels are Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Elite, Champion, Mythical,Demigod,And finally Legendary. For example, I myself am at an advanced level but all these years with no one to spar with has left me at a plateau" it said, voice full of insecurity.
"I'm sure I can find a solution to that. I'm a pretty decent trainer myself."
. With that I set my books down back at the table and turned letting everyone out to wander the palace.
"Ok before you go running around some rules: Absolutely no fighting anywhere near here as all this information is priceless. Actually just no fighting period" I said, hardening my gaze at each of them, especially Reptar. This caused a few of my battle hungry pokemon to deflate but they were quickly saved by Nomad speaking up.
"Actually the palace has its own battle area where some of the members would use their knowledge to fight. I can take those that wish to fight there" he said. With that, Reptar and Drax practically started jumping up and down looking at me with puppy dog eyes.
"Fine i said those that want to fight go with him just don't go too far puffy can't heal you as much as she once could have". With that, most of my pokemon left with Nomad save for Cyber and Virus who didn't really have any interest in battling.
I quickly got to work reading different books and scrolls. The ones I was the most interested in were different accounts on certain legends and demigods and where to find them but there was no way to authenticate the information for right now. I was not the only one interested in the books as Cyber began using his psychic to lift books and flip pages reading books as well, storing the information in his memory banks for later.
"How long will it take to scan everything in here?" I asked him as I looked around at the troves of books within the library.
With all the books in the library and his Quote:Reduced processing power he estimated it would take him 156 hours to read and store every book in the library.
In the end we waited 6 days to leave the palace. In the 6 days we were forced to eat our way through the dried poke food and berries I had packed within my bag. The time however proved to be well worth our time as Nomad showed me to the treasury room and within were some goodies. Inside the vault were a plethora of evolution stones but the real treasure was the Key Stone, and 2 Mega Stones. The mega stones however did not belong to any pokemon i had sadly as it was a Lucarionite and a Galladite still could maybe trade them for the stones i there was 1 singular Z Crystal for Snorlax. I cursed my luck but pocketed it anyway. The downtime also allowed Galvan to somehow respark my pokedex and poketch back to life although it seemed the memory was reset and it wasn't connected to the local satellites of course. In the morning of the last day we packed up and left through the stairs which led out into a random cave in the middle of a mountain range. Before we left I had Deoxys set up a teleportation beacon with its powers so that we could teleport back one day if need be. With that we set the bolder that blocked the stairs back as we walked out of the cave toward some actual adventure.
======================================================================================================================================================
Jon's Team
Virus: Deoxys
Gaea: Turtwig
Boo: Gastly
Drax:Clone Charmander
Reptar: Larvitar
Cyber: Porygon
Puffy: Screaming Tail
Song: Swablu
Galvan: Alolan Geodude