Unceremoniously, Lucario dropped the now groggy Electabuzz on its back once the group of Pokémon arrived in the Stantler’s clearing, the loud thud of the electric-type hitting the ground earning the attention of the herd as the thunder cat let out a weak hiss. It looked up from its position on the ground with clear confusion, the Pokémon still delirious from its fight.
It was fortunate that the feline hadn’t the energy to do anything after it had first woken up, as the jackal that had been carrying it had gotten increasingly annoyed from being the sole carrier for the burden on its back. Apparently possessing a modicum of wisdom, the once aggressive Electabuzz realized it may not be in its current interests to try anything stupid, especially given the state it was currently in.
For some reason, Zoroark doubted that Lucario would take issue with her knocking the Pokémon out again if it tried to attack them. Not that she particularly wanted to, oddly enough – her exhaustion from the battle mixed with the rest of the day’s activities were catching up to her.
What was once supposed to be a retreat from the world had turned into a full-on venture that was pushing at her physical limits. Admittedly, this was a more welcomed experience than the mentally draining effect being among humans had been, but she’d still have preferred resting. She had no one else to blame but herself for this one, though, as she could have walked away at any moment.
She’d make sure to take it easy later. After she confronted Volo as, barring fighting them off, she doubted Lucario would leave her alone until then, the jackal having been sent to keep an eye on her by its annoying human master. She doubted anything would be relaxing with it around.
The Electabuzz shakily turned its head with evident confusion as the herd closed in, the elder Stantler at the forefront of them all. It examined the feline with more intensity than Zoroark had expected, looking over the electric-types bruised and battered body.
Fearlessly, the Stantler stepped closer until its hooves were little more than a hair’s breadth from the dazed thunder cat, who squinted up at it with clear worry as eyes filled with judgement stared back it.
A part of her thought the feline would try to attack, but she easily dismissed that thought. She doubted it would even be able to fight, considering its injuries. Not just the ones she caused, of course, though she wouldn’t say she didn’t contribute – but the constant fighting had done more to Electabuzz than she alone could. It had likely been able to keep fighting by sheer momentum and adrenaline. It’s a wonder that Electabuzz was even still alive, all things considered, as its days were as good as numbered had they not intervened.
Well, Electabuzz’s days may still be numbered. It was now at the mercy of the Stantler herd, Lucario and Zoroark herself stepping away so they may choose to enact ‘justice’ as they saw fit.
There wasn’t quite a heavy silence weighing them down, yet there was an intensity to the air as the elder Stantler stared down at the one that had caused so many issues for the denizens of the forest.
“Stan,” the deer-like ‘mon let out to Zoroark’s confusion as the Stantler kept its gaze on the electric-type, a member of its herd moving to obey its command, quickly trotting off to wherever they stashed their items.
After leaving her sight for but a moment, the other Stantler quickly returned, carrying a spotted yellow berry in its mouth. It approached and dropped it by the Electabuzz’s downed form before stepping back while the feline made efforts to get up on its own. It failed, of course, as the Pokémon was far too weak and exhausted in its current state.
Despite that, the yellow cat eyed the fruit suspiciously, as though it were a trick of some sort. Even though the feline’s apprehension was clear, it seemed to understand it had little choice but to take the Stantler’s gift if it wanted to survive.
As the Electabuzz gingerly ate the Sitrus Berry, yet another Stantler approached Lucario with the same bag as they had seen earlier in the day. Lucario moved to grab it and immediately moved to verify its contents as though the plate inside would somehow vanish. Not that she blamed it, of course, she just hadn’t expected it to show anything that so much as resembled paranoia.
While Lucario was busy, Zoroark chose to question the elder on something that had been bothering her. “Shouldn’t you be worried about the Electabuzz getting aggressive?” she asked the elder out of curiosity, earning its attention momentarily.
She understood that the deer likely had a gentle nature. Still, this seemed extremely risky. It was feeding a known hostile Pokémon a berry that helped recovery, which was not only putting themselves at risk, but also putting their herd at risk. The mere thought of doing something like that herself was unfathomable, as the pack came above all else.
Yet the elder snorted derisively, as though her worries were ridiculous. “Stantler,” it replied, as though that had anything to do with her question. “Stan,” it then added, seeming to not notice or care about the doubt Zoroark openly expressed.
Likewise, Lucario seemed to agree with the sentiment as it nodded at the Stantler’s words while shutting the bag closed, seemingly satisfied that nothing was missing from it. Even Cyndaquil, who had mostly remained quiet while watching things unfold, piped up from next to her to agree, which surprised her.
Personally, she didn’t believe the Electabuzz had ‘learned its lesson’ and that all it needed was a ‘gentle instructor,’ the old Pokémon almost sounding like Volo of all things with his friendship madness. The fact Lucario agreed didn’t surprise her, yet Cyndaquil doing so did make her second guess herself for a moment.
However, her own thoughts didn’t seem to matter here, as the electric-type in question kept a steady gaze on the Stantler standing in front of it, clearly listening to what it had said and seeming to have an almost thoughtful expression on its face. Zoroark rationalized that it was just a concussion making the Electabuzz confused. It was likely it’d just return to its old ways when given the chance.
Regardless, this wasn’t her problem anymore, so she’ll let the Stantler do whatever they want. She got her revenge on the feline that had attacked her in Hisui – which was all she wanted – so she could finally move on from here.
Even if getting that revenge left her less satisfied than she thought it would.
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The sight of the setting sun to the west signaled the end of yet another strange day in these familiar yet unfamiliar lands. Sinnoh, they apparently called it, which was somewhat amusing. Sinnoh had once been the name humanity – himself included – used to refer to the almighty Arceus, the Original One and likely creator of all, though some had used it to refer to the lesser Dialga and Palkia. Fortunately, that last issue had been corrected before he left Hisui.
Still, Volo wondered what prompted the confusing name change. How frustrating it was that the ‘Internet,’ for all it offered, documented so little of the distant past, people seemingly content to only have intimate knowledge of the last few centuries at best. There were no signs of many of the clans or guilds of the ‘Hisuian Age,’ the period apparently surrounded in mystery.
Yet Hisui’s still had presence here, even after so long. After all, barring it being a coincidence, Galaxy Team was still around under the guise of ‘Team Galactic,’ so it was only natural other things followed a similar trend. It was odd how they were now a ‘terrorist organization’ that had mostly been disbanded and were involved with an astoundingly high number of legendary Pokémon, yet he hadn’t the opportunity to delve too deep into that subject without possibly arousing Klara’s suspicion.
That woman was sharp, despite her appearance and behavior. She was no Commander Kamado – who somehow had a near identical descendant in the form of Professor Rowan – but she most certainly wasn’t as dull and shallow as she pretended to be.
Volo frowned. There were far too many people with near identical appearances to their ancestors here. He understood they were descendants, of course, yet countless generations had no doubt passed since then. Kamado’s face on Rowan’s, Pesselle’s on Joy’s – even Volo’s own was being worn by Cynthia, the ‘champion of Sinnoh’. It was as though Arceus itself was taunting him, reminding him that no matter where he went, the same sort of people would be there, presenting similar obstacles. As though he was destined to fail time and time again, just as he had at the Temple of Sinnoh.
It was grating, yet Volo knew better. That was not how Arceus played its games. There were rules the Almighty One had to obey. Rules that dictated both its world and its influence on it.
And Volo felt confident he was privy to the first of the divine’s secrets. Friendship. Such a ridiculous thing to govern a world with, yet he had little doubt that it served an important purpose in this world. Indeed, it was the most feasible explanation for how he had failed and, after coming to the future, he was more than convinced that his theory was correct.
Of course, he knew it was merely one piece of Arceus’ puzzle. One he failed miserably to master, despite how much effort he put in.
He tried to comprehend it, of course, taking the steps necessary to ‘befriend’ each one of his Pokémon. Yet there were no results, no visible signs of improvement. He was even trying to bond with a Zoroark of all things, thinking its twisted and similar way of thinking would make it somehow easier to prove himself right, yet even there he failed.
If he didn’t know better, he would have thought the Original One was directly intervening to prevent him from making any progress. Yet Arceus could not intervene unless it was called upon, or so he believed. It had to send a teenager of all things to stop his plan from coming to fruition, so the rules Arceus abided by did not leave it completely helpless, but it showed its options were limited. Volo would keep an eye out for any meddling kids, but he doubted the divine being would use the same sort of trick twice.
The only one Volo knew he could entirely trust to not be an agent of Arceus – beyond his team, to an extent– was Giratina, the living shadow being the one to enable, approve and encourage all his plans so far. Even Kora, for all her similarities, was difficult to trust beyond the bare minimum. He was willing to be honest, but he couldn’t tell her everything.
After all, it was unlikely a coincidence that the distortion would just so happen to drop the Zoroark right where he had arrived. All things considered, the Pokémon that appear and disappear with the distortions should be spread out across the entire timeline of existence. Furthermore, even should a Pokémon arrive in the same period as him, there was the entire span of the world for them to appear in. It was absurd to believe that Kora hadn’t been placed there on purpose by a guiding hand.
This content has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
The question was whether it was his legendary ally that had intervened, or an even higher power.
Volo let out a thoughtful hum. Perhaps this was a test for him. He didn’t trust anyone and, therefore, could not tap into the illogically logical potential of friendship. Not in the same way Arceus’ chosen had. Trust played a key role in forming a bond and, because it was one-sided or limited, one could not tap into friendship.
It was possible. It would be like the divine to put that sort of rule in place. That said… Under no circumstances could he inform Kora of his part in creating the distortion. He knew that could not go over well.
The sound of the crackling fire pit was heightened by Arcanine blowing more flames into it, the hound tending to the flames to keep its master warm and musing him out of his thoughts. Volo, who was sitting on a log by the fire, reached forward and placed a hand on the red-orange fur beneath the igneous rock that matted the fur on Arcanine’s head. He patted and scratched the massive canine, offering enough ‘affection’ to keep it satisfied without burning himself.
They had created a small clearing further into the woods and off the road after making their way through most of the forest. They still needed to await Lucario and, hopefully, Kora’s return. It’d be useful to see if he could prove more of his theories by testing them with her.
Roserade, content to sit on one of the logs they felled for firewood, merely kicked her legs back and forth as she kept watchful eyes open for any unexpected visitors. She did occasionally glance at Togekiss, who had a scowl etched into her face as she looked at their environment curiously from the branch she had claimed, clearly wanting some distance from anyone and everyone.
It was unfortunate that Togekiss was unsatisfied with their current circumstances, his first Pokémon having taken their defeat the hardest. It was difficult to help the avian, who had been absolutely crushed once their shared dream was taken from them right before it could be realized. Volo thought coming to the future to try again would have helped her, yet there was little improvement to Togekiss’ mood. There were some, but not enough to say she would be back to her old self any time soon.
Hopefully, time would help. Yet he doubted time alone would be enough.
Before Volo could try and brainstorm something to cheer his starter up, Roserade caught his attention with a wave of her rose-covered hand. She directed his gaze to the emergence of three familiar Pokémon a distance away.
Well, mostly familiar. Volo eyed the Stantler behind the three he recognized, the lesser form of Wyrdeer seeming content to stand back and watch as the Pokémon he recognized approached. Once Lucario, Zoroark and the Cyndaquil in her arms approached, the Stantler seemed satisfied and left hastily, retreating further into the forest.
Odd. He was certain Stantler’s kind preferred living in more mountainous regions, but one more thing changing with time wasn’t too abnormal. The contrast between the world he lived in a week ago and the world he lives in now always caught him flat-footed, but he was slowly getting used to it.
What was most interesting, however, was the bag Lucario was holding, the jackal immediately stepping forward in Volo’s direction to hand it to him. It looked identical to the sort he had seen in the PokéMart, both in color and design, yet this one had been worn down by its time spent in nature. It was clear the craftsmen of the future were skilled in their ways, given how well made the items he had seen were so far. It was odd how many of them were perfectly identical, as though the same method and material was used time and time again to exacting standards that were imperceivable to the human eye. Volo understood molding and other techniques, to an extent, yet the precision that was on display in the consumables of this period was baffling for the quality he had seen.
Somehow, Volo doubted Lucario handed the bag so he could appreciate it. He grabbed it and eyed it critically. “Where did you find this?” the blond man asked as he slowly unzipped the main compartment of the bag, keeping his eyes on the jackal.
Lucario shifted its head in the Zoroark’s direction, who had just let Cyndaquil down on the ground. The fire mouse Pokémon seemed intimidated by the presence of the others currently around and, from what Volo could see, he had only seen Arcanine and Roserade. Briefly, Volo’s eyes turned to glance at Togekiss, who looked at Cyndaquil with a slightly softer expression. She was still scowling, but she always had a weak spot for small Pokémon. Arcanine had also taken an interest, the giant dog now approaching the much smaller fire-type and seeming to think it had just found a new possible playmate.
As for Zoroark… she was staring at him, albeit from a distance. He stopped himself from shivering at the baneful fox’s expression, her head tilted forward so she could intensely stare at him with both of her yellow eyes, wisps of gray fur from her body and white hairs from her massive mane erratically moving on their own. One might look at her and think that it was merely a windy day, yet there was a certain wrongness to their movements, as though each strand of fur and hair had a mind of their own.
Briefly, Zoroark glanced at Cyndaquil – who was frozen on the spot as Arcanine sniffed at him – to ensure he was safe, which was typical behavior its kind would show for other members of their pack. It was odd how much the ghost-type cared for others it had accepted, even if he knew she was likely doing so to cope with her current circumstances. She also didn’t actively seek to harm others, though whether that was due to good self-control or a lack of desire to do so, he didn’t know.
Volo had no doubt he’d learn that with time. For now, however, he’d put that aside. Lucario was clearly eager to show off what he had found, given the way his tail was slightly wagging behind him despite his mostly neutral expression, the fighting-type always wanting to seem tougher than it actually was. Volo pried the bag open and peered inside.
His eyes widened. Well… This was a welcomed surprise. A very welcomed one, at that.
With delicacy, Volo reached into the bag to pull out the object that was at the top of the mostly empty sack, the blond having ignored what appeared to be food and possibly a Full or Paralyze Heal that lay beneath the item he pulled out. What caught his attention was far more valuable than anything else, as far as he was concerned. It was an item that he would recognize anywhere, having chased after them in the past.
Slowly, he pulled the item out with evident wonder, the blond-haired man turning it over as he admired it. It was a simple white rectangular prism with words sketched into one side of it. ‘Three beings whose power can hold both time and space fixed’ were the words, confirming that what he was holding was the real thing.
This was the Blank Plate. One of Arceus plates. He hadn’t been expecting to have one fall into his lap like this.
“The Stantler had it,” Volo said, as it was the only viable explanation he could think of for how they found a plate. He glanced in Lucario’s direction and received a nod of confirmation followed by the canine once more directing his attention to Zoroark.
Volo furrowed his brows in thought for a moment. She found it…? He didn’t understand how that was relevant to- Ah.
Realization struck. Volo nearly dropped the plate as he began to understand what Lucario may be implying and, following that, what exactly it meant. One thought led to another as the man began to piece together the puzzle that only he could comprehend.
He laughed with shaking shoulders as he placed his face into his palms to try and contain it. Of course. Of course! This might explain everything. Everything had been thought out and intricately designed.
He laughed unlike he had in a long time, abandoning any illusion of rationality and normalcy, earning the attention of the Pokémon around him. He ignored them, no matter how worried Arcanine seemed or how oddly Zoroark looked at him, as he couldn’t help himself.
Eventually, though, he managed to calm himself down despite his amusement. His maniacal outburst slowly died down, yet a grin remained on his face to remind everyone of it.
The Great Pokémon Wielder raised his eyes to Zoroark. He had a lot he needed to confirm and say to her.
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Volo was insane. He was absolutely, beyond a doubt, crazy.
Zoroark was disappointed that all they got was an odd plate, some decent food and a useless item after they left the Electabuzz with the Stantler herd, yet somehow the curious but ultimately useless plate had the human laughing like the most sadistic of Pokémon.
“How did you get it? I want to- No, I need to know everything,” Volo asked before Zoroark could form a proper escape plan. Drat, Cyndaquil was near Arcanine. She doubted he’d be harmed by the other fire-type, but… That complicated things.
“They wanted us to fight an Electabuzz,” Zoroark carefully replied, and went on to explain the rough outlines of what happened earlier today, from the Beedrill encounter to encountering a herd of wild Stantler. she avoided unnecessary details as she looked around, finding that most of the attention of the other Pokémon were on her. “I recognized the Electabuzz from the space-time distortion from Hisui and, like back then, he was aggressive here and disturbing the Beedrill. He recognized me too since I fainted him in the distortion, so the Stantler- “ She was adding on with a half-lie, only to be interrupted by Volo.
“That’s enough. I think I finally have an answer to your question,” he said, seeming pleased with her explanation, and she frowned in confusion. It took her a moment to realize he meant the question she had from this morning about why he still wanted her to accompany him.
“These plates belong to a powerful Pokémon,” Volo held up the plate as he began to explain, drawing her attention to it. "A very powerful one named Arceus. It is, without a doubt, the most powerful Pokémon in existence. It is all but confirmed to have created the world that we live in, though there have been some debates on the matter. Either way, I want all its plates,” he explained to a perplexed Zoroark.
Wait. Was he talking about the Almighty One? It seemed… Odd, to say the least, that one of its ‘plates’ was lying around. She didn’t particularly care what it was used for, however.
“I firmly believe Arceus has a hand in all things relating to fate,” Volo immediately added before Zoroark could fully absorb the absurdity of what the human was saying. “By coming to the future through a space-time distortion that was created by… certain legendary Pokémon, we may have created certain issues that transcend time and space,” he continued to explain, seeming to search her face for a reaction.
All Zoroark had was a blank look on her face. She didn’t understand where Volo was heading with this, but for some reason she had a feeling she wouldn’t like it.
“For example, Electabuzz did not belong here and may have never ended up here had you not beat him in the past,” he further explained, Zoroark now sorely tempted to lay the blame for that at a certain Scizor’s feet. “Furthermore, he was disturbing the mostly peaceful ecosystem of Bewilder Forest. I believe Arceus set-up circumstances to make it so you would intervene on its behalf, enticing you to do without you even realizing it.”
Zoroark frowned as doubts about that idea came to the forefront of her mind. It was too far-fetched to believe that the Almighty would take an interest in them, regardless of what they’ve done. “None of this answers my question from earlier,” she decided on replying, not wanting to argue on the man’s eccentric beliefs.
“But it does,” Volo retorted immediately. He leaned forward, the smile he had been wearing since he started speaking still firmly in place. “You were the one that befriended Klara, who informed us of alternative maps and routes we could take. I would have likely missed this place entirely and never found this first plate were it not for you, which I believe is the point.”
The spiteful fox didn’t like where this was going. If she understood correctly… “You think I’m here to help you find plates?” she half-stated and half-questioned, finding the mere implication outrageous for a variety of reasons.
Fortunately, Volo shook his head. “No, that would be ridiculous,” he dismissively said to Zoroark’s visible relief. “Arceus merely put into place mechanisms to reward you and, by extension, me for doing good,” he went on to add, Zoroark stopping herself from screaming at the man’s insanity.
This sounded like more friendship rhetoric and nonsense. That was not a subject she wanted to broach under any circumstances, at least not now. She needed to take the conversation somewhere else before she lost her mind. “Why do you even want the plates?” she decided to question, thinking that changing the subject would be better for her mental state.
Volo paused and the smile he had been holding onto for so long finally vanished. He looked at her with a considering look, as though her simple question had far more weight to it than she expected, which almost made her regret asking. The man began to look around the area he had claimed for his camp, looking at the many Pokémon present and searching for any unwanted listeners.
Was he not going to answer? This was getting ridiculous. It was just a simple question-
“The plates play a key component in earning an audience with Arceus,” he eventually replied and Zoroark held onto her breath, not having expected that. She blinked a few times in disbelief and Volo pressed on. “Or so I believe. I’ve personally witnessed them turn a Celestica flute into a divine instrument that can be used to meet the Original One, so no matter what I know they’re important.”
Ah. This… Was beginning to make sense, in a twisted way. What Volo was saying went against all forms of common sense. This was no mere legend he was seeking – this was the one that had created the legends. And yet… Only a man as mad as he would go on such a stupid venture.
“You’re going to ask the Almighty to fix this world,” she said aloud after a moment of silence, announcing the only conclusion she could think of to all those present. Yet Volo laughed, almost making her feel relieved, were it not for the way he laughed.
“No, no,” the man denied while shaking his head with a worrisome grin. “I’m not merely going to ask, I’m going to make it fix the world,” he blasphemously corrected, freezing Zoroark on the spot with his words alone.
…What? She understood the man was mad, but that went above insanity. That wasn’t a plan, it was assisted suicide.
…But it did explain why he was followed by so many Pokémon, each one likely seeing the merit to his psychotic plan and having their own desire to see a better world. Indeed, it wouldn’t be wrong to say every Pokémon – at least those from Hisui, for she still didn’t know enough about the inhabitants of this age – likely knew the unfairness of the world and would see it changed in a variety of ways if it could be, whether it was for the better or for the worse.
If she weren’t so pessimistic herself, she would see the merit to the idea, having her own desires for a world where the pack had guaranteed safety. If that safety was ensured by the Almighty, well… that was something one could only dream of.
Zoroark turned to Cyndaquil and, seeing the complicated expression on its face, it clearly didn’t know what to think of what Volo was saying.
“…Why tell me all this?” she eventually asked. She did ask for him to be honest, but… Some things you should keep to yourself. Like when you steal a berry from another Zorua, or when you intend to fight the divine.
“Because I want you to join me,” Volo replied and Zoroark let out a short groan. She really shouldn’t have asked. “I understand your doubts and I don’t expect an answer immediately. I merely ask you to consider it,” he quickly added, somewhat easing Zoroark’s worries, were it not for the idiotic blasphemy he was asking for her to consider.
Oh, good, so she wouldn’t have to help the man end himself against her will. Very nice. Though if he wanted her help, she could make it easier for everyone by finding a nice tall cliff and tossing Volo off it.
Who knows, maybe he’ll find one of his ‘plates’ on the way down.
Still, for all the blasphemy Volo had shared, it was technically him being honest with her, even though she was still suffering for it. At least if anything he said was true and not some form of prank. Yet even the unruliest of Zorua wouldn’t stoop this low.
With a creeping headache and many other worries, Zoroark nodded her head to acknowledge what Volo had shared and asked. She’d think about it. That much, she could do, for what little it would change.
She briefly considered running off, the option still viable, yet it would lead to even more complications. Besides, she still needed to learn more about humanity and the fate of her pack before deciding what she should do.
Oddly enough, Zoroark suddenly had the urge to be around humans again, if only to stop Volo from spouting more nonsense that was driving her crazy.