Just a refresher on the ages. Also, even though Riley isn’t currently in possession of any of his pokémon, his lineup has been added to my profile on FFN.
Ash : 19
Sabrina : 18
Riley : 23
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PARAGON
Hisui Incursion Arc [1]
Chapter 53 : Journey to the Past
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Hisui Region - Prelude Beach
This is Hisui…?
Although he didn’t know much about it, it was a name Ash had heard before. But…Hisui doesn’t exist anymore. At least, it hasn’t for centuries… He didn’t know when exactly Hisui became Sinnoh, but it wasn’t recently. And the man’s reaction to seeing Pikachu all but confirmed it.
They were in the past. Hundreds of years before the present, where the violence of the Age of Carnage still lingered and the scars of the Great War were still fresh and raw.
Ash looked up. The mountain that towered above them, with its peak cloaked in dark clouds, was Mount Coronet. Given the snow he’d seen on the other side of the mountain while he was falling, this seemed to be what would later become southern Sinnoh.
Ash, Sabrina, and Riley’s eyes all flicked between each other, none of them able to formulate a verbal reaction. Ash opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He swallowed, his throat dry. What were they supposed to do? Tell him they were from the future?
The man had smiled at his declaration, but upon seeing their reaction, it began ebbing away. “I suppose this was not your intended destination, then. I see.” He shifted awkwardly, glancing out at the beach behind them. “The stories I’ve heard of the Guardians of Rota make you all out to be seasoned heroes, unfettered by the ails of the common man. Forgive me for saying so, but seeing you all disoriented is a first for me.” He smiled sympathetically.
It took Ash a second to understand. Ah. He thinks all three of us are Guardians.
“I’m sorry we couldn’t live up to your expectations,” Riley said, cracking a stoic smile. He looked back at Ash and Sabrina, and his eyes alone communicated his message. Let’s go along with it for now.
“Ah, of course, I’m only joking. You seem to be in quite the conundrum, good Sirs.” He glanced at Sabrina, unsure if the address applied to her, but when she didn’t react, he continued. “This Laventon will help you in any way that he can,” he declared, placing a proud hand on his chest.
“Laventon,” Riley said. “Thank you for your offer. I am Riley. This is Ash and Sabrina.” He motioned to them.
“Though it’s a shame it happened under such unfortunate circumstances, I’ll say it’s a pleasure to meet you all the same!” Laventon said. “Now, we were just on our way back home. Why don’t you come with us and we can get you into some dry clothes, to begin with?”
Just as he said it, Riley shivered where he stood, water dripping from his spiky hair, and Sabrina turned her head and sneezed.
“Did you say ‘we’?” Ash asked.
“There you are, Professor!” a voice came from behind him.
“Please don’t run off by yourself!”
Two figures wrapped in clothes of thick dark fabric jogged up from behind him. They were short and young, likely not much older than Ash when he first began his journey at age ten, by the look of it. One was a boy with a red cap and a resolute expression. The other was a girl with a white bandanna, whose black hair swung in a ponytail behind her as she ran. Both wore crimson scarves.
Immediately, they noticed Ash and the others, and Pikachu peeking his nose out from atop Ash’s shoulder. Their eyes instantly flared aggressively.
“Get away from the professor!” the boy shouted, tearing a pokéball off his belt.
“Wait, Rei!” Laventon cried.
Riley took a step back, clearly not wanting to unleash his Aura against children. Sabrina didn’t even bother with the courtesy, simply staring at them nonchalantly and remaining motionless as they charged her.
The boy—Rei’s—pokéball snapped open and a quadruped red okémon tumbled out, already bounding across the grass toward them the moment it appeared. It was canine in appearance and the white mane around its head looked stiff, almost stony.
Ash frowned. He recognized the pokémon, but also didn’t. “Growlithe?” he said incredulously.
As the Growlithe neared, it opened its mouth, and fire burned within.
Pikachu leaped from Ash’s shoulder, and his tail stiffened behind him. Without waiting for a command, he swung his tail around, batting the Growlithe across its face and sending it flying back.
It landed in front of Rei with a pained yip, and the young boy recoiled at how easily it’d been dealt with. He frowned painfully, seemingly torn between worrying about his partner or the creature that had beaten it. He crouched down and laid on hand on his partner’s forehead, then glared over at Pikachu.
Pikachu prowled between him and Ash, electricity sparking dangerously on his cheeks.
“Stop this right now!” Laventon shouted, running in front of Rei.
“Who are these people, Professor?” the girl asked, walking up beside him as she eyed the newcomers suspiciously. She clutched a pokéball in her hand as well, yet it seemed she had a bit more restraint than her friend, albeit barely.
As Laventon caught his breath, he glanced warily behind him at Pikachu. Ash noticed his concern and motioned for Pikachu to stand down. The mouse obliged, scurrying back up Ash’s shoulder, though his eyes never left Laventon or the two children.
“Put away your pokémon, boy,” Laventon said. “These folk are in enough trouble without you attacking them out of the blue.”
“But that pokémon—!” Rei started.
“Is far stronger than ours, as I’m sure you can plainly see,” Laventon finished. “If they wanted me dead, I’d already be.”
Pikachu’s nose flared with pride and Ash had to stop himself from rolling his eyes. He was such a sucker for praise.
Rei scowled but recalled the Growlithe-looking creature. As he stood up, Ash could see the girl gripping her pokéball tightly, as if resisting the urge to release whatever was inside.
Riley relaxed and Laventon turned back around.
“I apologize for that. I have some…precocious assistants.” He smiled softly as he glanced over at Rei.
With the conflict defused, Ash cracked his own smile. “Nah, no worries about that. I think we’re all just a little on edge. Let’s start over. My name’s Ash, that’s Sabrina, and this is Pikachu. He’s a total softie once you get to know him!”
Pikachu protested, but Ash twitched his shoulder, telling him to knock it off.
Rei and the girl both seemed unconvinced, but they seemed to lower their guard ever so slightly.
“I’m Akari,” the girl said. “I don’t know what happened to you all, but I’m sorry if we made things worse.” She bowed apologetically.
“Not at all,” Riley said. “My name is Riley. And…we’re Guardians. We truly mean you no harm.”
“Guardians?” Rei perked up. He glanced at Riley, then at Ash and Sabrina. Shame seemed to bubble up on his face as he turned an embarrassed red. “Sorry about that. It’s just…”
“These two are quite overprotective of me,” Laventon explained. “So much so that it can impede my work at times. But, they both have good hearts. I do hope we can all get along.”
Akari padded closer to the professor. “So what happened?” she asked, eyeing their soaked bodies with concern.
“Actually, we’re trying to figure that out ourselves,” Riley said, shaking some water off of his clothes. He glanced back at his two companions, wondering what, or how much he should say.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
Ash stepped forward. “Did Sir Aaron ever come here to Hisui?”
It was probably safe to ask about that. But mentioning the Plates… He wanted to be cautious about that. Back when he’d spoken to World Champion Albrecht in Saffron City, before meeting AZ, he’d impressed upon Ash the risk of sharing the existence of the Plates with others. These three seemed harmless enough, but this was an unfamiliar land, and an unfamiliar time. He didn’t intend to stay here, or now, for long, but until they could figure out what went wrong, he’d play it safe.
Rei and Akari looked at each other in confusion.
“Sir Aaron?” Akari said.
“They came here looking for Sir Aaron?” Rei said.
Riley’s brows furrowed involuntarily as he awaited their answer, clearly interested.
“I’m sorry, I think I’m a bit confused now,” Laventon said. “The ‘King Aaron’ you asked about earlier… I hadn’t realized you were asking about the great hero. After all, he’s been dead for nearly five hundred years now, has he not? Unless you Guardians know something we don’t?”
Ash couldn’t stop his eyes from widening. “Five hundred years,” he breathed.
He glanced over at Riley, whose eyes had frozen. It looked like he was reliving the pain of Sir Aaron’s death all over again, though trying to hide it as best as possible.
But five hundred years… That meant they’d gone back about two thousand five hundred years…
Ash couldn’t help but swallow. He’d thought retrieving Sir Aaron’s Plates would’ve been a relatively simple endeavor. This morning, he’d fully expected they’d be back at Rosen’s gym for dinner later tonight. But now… If Sir Aaron was already dead, then how in the world were they supposed to find his Plates? And how in the world were they supposed to return home?
“R-Right,” Sabrina stammered, realizing that Riley and Ash were both paralyzed by shock. “Of course we know that. We were just…” She glanced at the other two and Ash met her gaze.
Can we tell them? she asked telepathically.
Ash shivered upon hearing her unexpected voice in his head, but luckily he could play it off as being soaked from head to toe. It’s fine if we keep it vague, I think, Ash thought back. They don’t seem to know much about the Guardians anyway.
Sabrina swallowed. “We’re actually looking for…something. Something Sir Aaron may have left behind.” She looked back at Ash, and he gave an inconspicuous but approving nod.
“What?! That’s so cool!” Rei exclaimed. “I’ll help you guys look!”
“Rei,” Akari scolded. “What about the professor?”
Rei wheeled around. “Oh, ha ha. Uh…right.” He blushed and cleared his throat. “Not to worry, Professor Laventon. I’m not going anywhere.”
Laventon chuckled sarcastically. “Thank you for your consideration.” He eyed the other three. “So, if you’re Guardians, did you fly here on pokémon, then?” His eyes trailed down to their waists, where not a single pokéball was clipped.
Ash could feel himself begin to sweat. They hadn’t done anything wrong, yet for some reason he felt horribly guilty about the circumstances of their arrival. They were from twenty five hundred years in the future! They were not supposed to be here!
“Or not,” Laventon murmured, casting a suspicious look at them.
Akari and Rei both seemed to catch his concern, because they seemed to steel themselves and move protectively toward the professor.
Sabrina and Ash locked eyes but neither could conjure up a convincing explanation. The story that they were Guardians who came to Hisui intentionally in search of Sir Aaron’s relics didn’t mesh well with an amnesia explanation.
Ash’s heart hammered in his chest, but just as he thought he’d have to give in and tell the truth, Laventon frowned and crossed his arms.
“I see… Then perhaps I wasn’t seeing things.”
“Professor?” Akari said.
Sabrina looked over at him hopefully.
Laventon turned slowly. “Apologies for running off like that, children. But it was because I saw something that can only be described of as extraordinary.” He pointed up at the dark Mount Coronet. “I saw those three fall from that.”
Ash squinted up at the stormy clouds obscuring the peak. They were drifting across the sky slowly, but now, there was a break in the fog. Ash’s eyes widened.
The skies above the peak appeared shattered, and in the void, a blinding light glimmered down from on high, burning through the darkness of the clouds. The rift in reality seemed to flicker, casting ethereal light on the summit below it, and with the clouds no longer hiding it, a low thundering seemed to rumble out from on high.
“What in the world is that?” Riley breathed. He’d been despondent just a moment ago, but now, that spatial rift appeared to have him in a trance.
“We’ve been asking ourselves the same question ever since it appeared,” Laventon responded.
“And when was that?” Ash asked.
“Several months ago,” Rei replied. “But the freaking Survey Corps won’t let us go anywhere near it.”
“It’s not like they ever let us near the Coronet Highlands before, though,” Akari muttered.
“I thought I was seeing things when I looked up and saw three tiny forms tumbling out of that rift,” Laventon said. “Surely my eyes are playing tricks on me, and those are just meteorites, I thought. But no matter how many times I blinked, you were still there, and after a short while, I could make out your limbs! And then, just before you hit the sea, a mysterious green light surrounded you! I’ve never seen anything like it! Before I knew it, my legs had carried me to this beach in a desperate attempt to witness the anomaly.”
Ash, Sabrina, and Riley all listened intently.
“This is why we stick to you like honey, Professor,” Akari said, shaking her head.
The three ‘Guardians’ all looked at each other. Did that rift somehow cause them to end up in Hisui? And more importantly, was that their ticket out?
“Do you know anything about that rift?” Laventon asked. “Perhaps the Guardians cast some sort of spell, or…?”
“We don’t,” Ash said flatly. “We’re just as in the dark as you, unfortunately.”
Laventon frowned. “Hm. I figured that to be the case given how lost you all seemed. Well, it was worth asking.” He shook his head and clapped. “Now! Let’s return home. We can continue to chat on the way, but I’m getting cold just looking at you.”
He turned his back on them all too quickly and started his stroll away from the beach from whence he came, earning a pair of scowls from Rei and Akari at his back because of it. They eyed the others with suspicion, but soon dropped their guard. Since the professor had decided to take them in, they knew there was little they could do to change his mind.
Akari sighed. “C’mon. She motioned them to follow. “It’s not too far.”
Though the walk back was cold as they trudged across hills of dark grass, made even colder by the callous coastal winds, it was nice to have an objective to put their minds to. In this unfamiliar place, in this unfamiliar time, they were able to turn their anxious minds off and bask in the woody scents that drifted from the trees beside them. Frost seemed to waft down from the towering Mount Coronet, instilling the air with an icy tinge, yet it was somehow relaxing, soothing their inflamed psyches.
“So? What is it you guys are looking for?” Rei asked excitedly, trotting up beside them like he was one of them. “How’d you end up falling out of that hole in the sky?”
“Er, it’s difficult to explain to a non-Guardian,” Ash said.
Pikachu snickered on his shoulder and Rei glanced up at him curiously. Despite the fact that he’d considered Pikachu an enemy just a short while ago, he didn’t shy away from the chance to study the golden mouse up close.
“Oh, yeah, I bet,” he said. “So how’d you tame this little guy so well anyway? He kinda acts like a pet, but he’s so strong! What was it called again?”
“That’s Pikachu,” Ash explained. “Me and him have known each other since I was ten. That’s my best buddy right there.”
Pikachu grinned and nuzzled Ash’s neck.
“Aw, yeah! Spoken like a true Guardian! Man, this is awesome!” Unlike Ash, Sabrina, Riley, and even Akari and Laventon, Rei was full of energy, and all of his prior trepidation seemed to have evaporated.
“Why don’t you leave them alone, Rei,” Akari said, walking behind them. “They just fell out of the sky into a place they’ve never been before. I don’t think Mr. Ash wants you talking his ear off right now…”
A Staravia paced beside her, its beady eyes never leaving the backs of the three unfamiliars. Rei had recalled his pokémon and, engrossed in conversation like he was, it seemed Akari had taken it upon herself to protect the group. From the back, she could see them all.
“Nah, I don’t mind at all. And just Ash is fine. I don’t think I’m that much older than you guys.”
“We’re twelve,” Rei said.
“Okay, yeah. I’m nineteen.” Or should I say, negative two thousand four hundred and eighty-one. “By the way Rei, what’s that pokémon of yours? I’ve never seen a pokémon like that.”
“Oh, this?” Rei unclipped his pokéball from his belt and smiled at it. “This is Growlithe. He’s a mean one! He’ll burn up any enemy that crosses our path faster than they can blink!” He glanced at Pikachu. “Er, at least most enemies.”
So it is a Growlithe. I guess it’s a regional form that’s extinct in the present. I know Hisui was said to have some regional variants, like Alola, Galar, and Paldea, but this is the first time I’ve actually seen one in person.
Ash’s eyes narrowed curiously at Rei’s pokéball. It looked slightly different from the modern kind he was used to. Its colors were far less vibrant, its sides weren’t glossy and smooth, and metalwork lined its edges, making it look like some sort of steampunk contraption. He wanted to ask Rei if he could see it, but that was probably crossing a line. Maybe once they got to know each other better. Plus, if they were going to continue this charade that they were Guardians of this age, then taking an interest in pokéballs of all things was probably too suspicious. Ash didn’t know much about Guardian history, but he was pretty sure that they, like the rest of the world, were using pokéballs by now.
The wind thinned the further they got from the coast, and ten minutes later, when they reached the flat apex of a short hill, the air was still and smelled of flowers and smoke.
“There we are,” Laventon declared proudly. “Our sanctuary.”
A short ways away down the hill, nestled in a valley of cold grass sat what appeared to be a small town. A border wall of thick logs lashed together and sharpened at the top encircled the town, but from this vantage point, small huts and houses, as well as people, could be seen within. Torches dotted the entire wooden fortress, burning away the mountain fog.
Ash hadn’t noticed but at some point, the ground beneath them had turned to road, or something close to it. The dirt they stood on was flattened and smooth, likely from years of use. It led down the other side of the hill right up to a large gate. However, flanking the sides of the gate atop the walls were two watchtowers, and from here, he could see guards posted within.
Riley seemed to be shaken from his malaise for a moment as he gazed down at the settlement. Sabrina too watched curiously, no doubt wondering how they’d be received.
“Now then,” Laventon said. “I’ve smuggled a number of pokémon inside without detection, but three humans will be a first. Let’s see what we can do.”
Next — Chapter 54 : The Sanctuary
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I feel like the pacing could’ve been better…