1/2
Venia Silente
For your ills, I prescribe a cat.
Hello everyone. I'm here with a new crosspost from my archives. This I wrote back in 2019 (before hte pandemic! imagine!) as a celebrational. In this story set in the past of a fanon region, Cobalion (not the same Cobalion as in the movies) investigates rumours about humans and one of their new machines.
Nighttime – Night 17 of investigation – Late Summer
A few Rhyhorn and Wooloo marched alongside a dirt road. In the almost complete darkness their most immediate protection were the line of lawan cypress trees planted by the side of the road, offering some minimum protection and markers for the road, and the three humans walking behind the troop, one of them accompanied by two Pokémon.
The three humans, young in age, were talking about various subjects as they escorted the group of Pokémon towards a town far ahead, the lights of civilization visible some distance to the south. Likely incapable of defending themselves at young age, their own defense was the Manectric and the Shuppet flanking them, observing the surroundings every once in a while.
The teens counted on the help of their Pokémon to reach town before it was far too dark. They entertained themselves talking about various subjects…
“...when Dad said they were going to make the school bigger…!”
“Bigger? But the classroom is huge!”
Their voice was just as well a measure of protection against predators attempting to strike at the group of Pokémon.
“Three. I saw them once! Mother always says they have a penacho orondo.”
Yet no Pokémon would be so foolish to strike tonight. Not only were these wild Pokémon just adopted by some random humans, but the little troop themselves were being watched from the dark. A metallic sheen that would otherwise give the observer up in the middle of the day, became an impassable and invisible mantle of protection in the night.
Hidden in the tall grass, Cobalion trailed the group carefully. He breathed carefully and only moved when absolutely necessary. Above all, he kept an eye on the conversation the teens were having.
Intently waiting, in particular, to hear more of some news the humans had and that one of the girls in the group was being asked about.
“Did your sister say anything more about the machine of la guerre?”
“Nah, just what we read in class. It could capture anything, last forever, blah blah.”
The boy in the group kicked the dirt. “Really…? That sucks, no one says anything more.”
The girl crossed her arms. “She insists we can make money off the stuff.”
“Well what do I know?”
“Bah. Manectric and I can make all the money the family needs. How about that?” asked the girl to the Pokémon in front of her.
<One Rattata down, one coin up!> was the Manectric’s joyful answer as he focused on herding the group of Pokémon in front of them. Not that the humans would have understood the exact words as Cobalion did; still, even if what they got from their partner was little more than an excited “rawr”, the message was clear.
“You should fight at the plaza. The travellers are always watching!”
The group of humans carried on with their conversation and increased their pace, eager to return to civilization before it was way too dark, way too cold.
Cobalion narrowed his eyes and decided to fall behind them and trail off. Unsatisfied in the results of his venture that the subject of la guerre and the new machine had not been discussed further.
The Legendary sprung across the tall grass until he had left the road well behind; after that he calmed down and walked for a few minutes in the general direction of a forest to the east.
After a long while he stopped randomly. Puzzled at the recent developments, he muttered something about the realm of the valley not ready for the war.
He turned to the north, recalling another town in the vicinity, and darted off.
Noon – Day 74 of Investigation – Autumn
It was rare that the three Guardians of the Realm were to coincide in one location; let alone a human settlement such as the one Cobalion sped into through a dirt passageway, accompanied by a few Rock and Water types such as Graveler and Floatzel that made his current entourage.
Soon after the group entered town they noticed the strong winds and the chaos abound, with most people having moved to buildings closer to squares and parks. Above them the winds raged, the clouds pooled; a vortex of natural rage had descended from the sky several kilometres away earlier in the day and, by fickle pettiness of chance, had wandered about the crops until it had managed to hit tow town right at its main entrance.
Cobalion dismissed his entourage, warning them to focus only on helping local people and Pokémon to move out through the passageways and head away from the river. He did not wait for their answer; he rushed across the emptied streets in the direction of the pernicious winds, for he knew at least one of the other two Guardians would be there. Only a few of the accompanying Pokémon remained behind him while the others spread about.
Howling and screeching the wind tore about town, uprooting power poles and tossing about carriages and smaller constructions.
Cobalion reached a crossing where some people and Pokémon were gathered. They did not show up that much surprise at his presence, which the Legendary took a good sign.
Still, he observed the situation from a distance. Wind this strong was not to be denied and it certainly was not part of the Three Guardians’ element – control over the element of air was always tuned to overcome their own fighting energy.
Cobalion reared his head as a log flew right by him. He turned around and signaled the few Pokémon behind him to get moving, to move the people there to the south, but the ferocious wind didn’t allow for his call to reach further. He resorted to point a hoof in the general direction of the school, the sturdiest building around, gesture that the lead human and Buizel down the street echoed as indication of acknowledgement.
The sound of cracking wood and falling stone did reach the oryx in his pedestal however, and he turned around to watch as the tornado twisted around, destroying a few more houses in its wake. It would still take it a few minutes to clear the area of the town’s main exit and, if everything went well, down the way of the nearby river.
A moment later, a bright jade light glowed from the area the water towers and the food stores were in. Cobalion hurried and climbed up a tilted power pole and saw in the distance the figures of Virizion atop one of the water towers and Terrakion in the middle of a street with some workers. The verdant Legendary was just done charging up a colossal amount of elemental power in an attempt to strike; Terrakion on the other hand was steadily and measuredly spending his own, coercing the smaller bricks and stones flying around so that at least those would not hit the area where people were evacuating.
With the tornado raging just in front of the town’s main access, Cobalion was glad that the town was not located in the northern mountainside; from some wild Rock-types he knew there was at least one dormant volcano there. He knew as well that Virizion’s attempt to strike would surely be useless, but still he was bound to his place in admiration as he watched the Guardians’ de facto leader from afar.
Virizion assumed a fighting position, even if this was an opponent he could not really hit. He aimed his head at the blocks ahead where the tornado was raging, and with a loud cry he summoned from his forehead the blade of energy that was renowned signature of the Guardians; about three houses in length yet still swift and precise in its turns as Virizion moved his head, thanks to the blade being made from raw energy.
Cobalion looked down to where Terrakion and the workers were; while he could not hear given the distance and the strong winds, he did some people expressing genuine excitement at the display of power and the fact that they would get to watch the Guardians act.
Terrakion did not seem to share the workers’ enthusiasm, instead he seemed to be warning and chastising Virizion on how inadvisable fighting a tornado was for Fighting types. For a response, and still holding the energy blade in place, Virizion breathed in and fired two Grass-type balls of energy at the lower part of the whorl; the projectiles barely got any close before they were sucked in by the tornado, thrown off course and dispelled into feeble strands of coloured energy within the vicious column of air.
The tornado raged further, moving towards the edge of the town. Probably feeling favoured by the situation, Virizion gathered himself quickly and gave his counterparts notice he was about to attack.
Cobalion of course could not hear it but only see it in the Grass-type’s stance. He leapt to the closest rooftop, dug his heels deep to make sure he would not slip on the curved roof slabs. Quickly he turned around just in time to watch Virizion’s dance, the Legendary springing about in place, tilting and craning his head as the energy blade shimmered about.
With a few turns Virizion was done, and with an angered cry he drew an horizontal arc with his head, releasing a blade-shaped current of energy that flew right at the heart of the tornado.
Afternoon – Day 74 of investigation – Autumn
The houses and streets were damaged or, in the worst case, turned to debris wherever people turned. An entire third of the town had suffered various degrees of devastation from the unexpected event.
Over several minutes people gathered around some of the few buildings in the main access area that had managed to remain operational: a few offices and the police checkpoint. Mothers had not much trouble reuniting with their children – the tornado had gone the opposite way of the schools. Everyone was content to have survived and surprised at having witnessed a relatively rare phenomenon – not just the tornado but also the presence of the Guardians.
Counting heads was important, as was fetching the people with the expertise needed to check and repair the main road into the town. As such, and much to the pleasure of the Guardians, their presence quickly fell out of notice.
Virizion was already gone with an entourage of Pokémon to check the crops and the riverbed ahead, and with the winter coming would not be seen again for months. Cobalion had disappeared without anyone noticing not more than half an hour ago, or that much old stationery man Caronás swore, that the Legendary had been nosing around the mayoral house watching as the city officers pulled up every machine and printed record they could to assist in checking for casualties and damages.
As for Terrakion, the Rock-type was busy with his own entourage some streets away, finishing his own part in helping the local humans and Pokémon.
The inhabitants of the town, resourceful as they were, saw the event as quite an adventure. Tornados were not even that frequent a thing; as one of the now former food workers commented to his fellows while dragging a dispensary with spices from the remains, there had been less than ten in his lifetime.
This time, the town happened to be just as unlucky as lucky.
Some of the other people who were listening to the older man nodded and continued their working on the damaged houses, trying to salvage whatever they could before nigh time came. They did not comment on the presence of the three Guardians during the event.
No, that happenstance was for others to discuss, and try to take advantage from.
Far from there and closer to the edge of the town where the tornado had first burst into the settlement, Cobalion paced about. Hidden from the rest of the populace by a wall that had survived the day almost intact, listening to the humans passing by the street every once in a while, the Legendary awaited for Terrakion’s return before they could depart each their own way. He ventured a peek out the street; Terrakion had dismissed his entourage and was now marching up the street presumably to meet with Cobalion, or to leave town alright.
Moving out of the house, Cobalion noticed movement a few edifices ahead. It was a long house painted in white and with a small garden on the front. The edification had two floors and it was in the second floor that Cobalion noticed two humans carrying some boxes up and mounting them on a balcony.
The boxes somehow caught Cobalion’s attention. He promptly hugged a nearby wall and moved about slowly, finding an open garden he could use from his position to reach for another house, from which he could watch those humans.
It took him a few minutes only to navigate a house that was currently unoccupied – save for an Umbreon that didn’t seem to give Cobalion even the time of the day – to reach a slanted rooftop.
From that position, Cobalion could watch through a window into the next house and the humans who were in the balcony to the other end of the floor. They were unpacking a machine from the boxes and, from the looks of it, one of the two humans was reading the instructions to assemble it from a book.
Taking his chance, the oryx leapt down to the next house and from there gracefully to a platform from where he could watch and hear more closely, still without daring to enter the house. From his new position Cobalion watched as one of the humans was assembling some machinery while the other was washing some metal plaques in a dish using a strange liquid that did not seem to be water, although Cobalion could not recognize the scent from anywhere.
He remained still, listening as the humans discussed the workings and adjustments of the machine in terms the oryx was not familiar with.
The humans spoke of “composing” some sort of event and that they needed their target to be “properly exposed”, wondering in uncertain terms if there was a way to render it “immobile”.
Cobalion had seem these kinds of humans before, though he was still not familiar with the machines they were now operating. He was sure he had seen similar machines in a few places before, aimed at random things the humans seemed to find of interest.
The machine itself seemed to be some sort of adorned box mounted on wooden legs; while the oryx could not distinguish clearly the intricacies of the device, he noticed the humans were quick to cover it with a black veil.
The oryx watched, still as stone, while the two men prepared the machine. Cobalion’s attention was drawn by the unveiling of the machine as the black drapes were cast off, and could now take more notice of the box. A box in which one of the humans introduced the plates they had been carrying.
It was then that one of the humans mentioned that everything was ready for testing. Reading from the book, he specified to his acquaintance that the machine, a machine of “la guerre”, had to be fixated on the target for the capture to be optimal and that they still needed several minutes of “exposure”.
Cobalion approached behind them and tracked their movement carefully, trying to align himself with the machine as the men were shuffling it about the wooden supports. The oryx’s eyes dilated as the humans moved the machine to track Terrakion’s steps coming from the street ahead.
It lighted upon the Legendary that he would have just found the machine he was looking for. If he understood everything correctly, a machine with which the humans would try to strike.
At the Guardians.
The oryx sprung to action instantly. He jumped down to the garden and from there headed to the passageway heading to the street. As soon as he reached there and saw Terrakion in the distance, he bellowed a warning at his counterpart, who inquired back.
No time for any niceties, Cobalion dashed past his counterpart who, taking notice of the sudden outburst, turned tail and ran off after Cobalion. The oryx could hear some voices and callings far back but neither of the two Legendaries did stop.
Taking the same passageways that Cobalion had first used to get into the town, the two Guardians left the town in a rush, and as soon as they found some calmer ground they parted ways.
The oryx did not stop running and did not turn back. There was time to find out more later, now that he knew what to look for and what the face of the enemy was.
Yet he was unsure still. Something did not match in the careful setup of the machine, with supports and a mounting procedure not much unlike the ones the various “painters” he sometimes saw across the valley would take time to assemble for their work as well.
Cobalion increased his pace. Something had to have changed.
The wind carried a name, Cobalion had heard the calling but could not fully understand what it was. Time and again humans would warn and instruct each other, even in the vicinity of the Guardians, and now they had even attempted to strike.
Was this how they described what was approaching? The future of the humans’ interactions with the Three?
Was this La Guerre?
Thinking of his life and that of his brethren first, Cobalion had chosen to flee. He missed out on the events later during the day, as some other humans assembled a similar apparatus near the mayoral house and aimed it at the townspeople fetching food and supplies for the evening.
Morning – Day 126 of investigation – Early Winter
Autumn had just fallen out of favour with nature and the first, cold-breeze days of winter took its place.
Virizion found himself sheltered in a forested hill a fair distance from the larger forest and lake that had for long made the more “permanent” residence of the three Deer. To his own admission he had taken a liking to the place because it was part of a line of hills separating the crops the humans tended for from the rest of the valley. It was that much easier to look for food and entertainment, and as far as he was concerned he only had to turn his ear in one direction to detect trouble.
The trees, mostly barren from foliage that was now turned to a misshapen carpet of noisy leaves, made a safe scenario to meet other Pokémon in, which was good because after these days Virizion would barely see any company for several weeks.
Accompanying the verdant Legendary were three Sawsbuck does, one of them still in a fading autumn coat. The three were busying themselves foraging and extracting some small leaves and branches to decorate their whitened antlers with; all the while trying to ignore the Sovereign’s vain bursts of energy and the tales of the fights he and his “siblings” used to have.
It was during such a lull in activity that the ears of the four Pokémon suddenly turned to the surroundings; the three Sawsbuck stiffened their necks and listened to their surroundings while Virizion turned to the forestline behind him, tensed. Sure as he was someone was approaching, even he could not ascertain who or what it was. Whoever it was their steps were firm yet their path idle and their wandering adamant and, more curious to Virizion’s perception, the intruder’s presence did not reveal any pressure for confrontation.
Just as Virizion sniffed the air, the branches below ruffled soundly; the three does tensed, their hearts probably skipped a beat; Virizion could not tell, his own hearing was strongly focused on the bushes and his muscles were already tensing in preparation for a fight.
Virizion leered back at the three females; they remained attentive to his movement as they inched closer to the ledge with minute, calculated movements, ready to flee. The male returned his attention to the bushes and raised a hoof, pondering for a moment if a warning stomp was in order.
There was more shuffling of brambles and Virizion could finally ascertain the Fighting-type aura of the Pokémon nearby, a creature that inched closer with calculated steps. Virizion craned his neck carefully and could finally make out a figure with a dirtied, feeble metallic shine, in between the branches.
Virizion stepped ahead and assumed a more haunched posture, hind legs well secured on the ground as he readied to spring at the invader. He let out his aura only slightly as a warning to the incoming Pokémon.
Yet a moment after and without much fanfare the oryx-like figure of Cobalion emerged from the thickets, the Pokémon shifting about measuredly just so he could make it through the foliage without dropping from his stern, upright posture.
The three females now in the presence of two Legendaries packed together even more tightly now and watched without further moving a muscle. The two Legendaries meanwhile stared at each other and snorted a few times in a sort of greeting, without relaxing their postures.
Cobalion tasted the air for a moment and noticed the three Sawsbuck. He eyed them each for a moment and finally stepped forward to stand by his metaphorical sibling. “Are you with our entourage?” He asked the females.
The females flinched and one of them eyed Virizion for a moment, noticing the fellow Grass-type’s irritated reaction.
“W-we are of the local colonies,” ventured one of the females without much reverence.
Cobalion raised an eyebrow and huffed. As if on cue, the three females stepped back and bowed to him. Virizion rolled his eyes though Cobalion could not see the gesture.
Cobalion and Virizion remained still for a moment then turned to face each other; for a while they exchanged some accusing stares, hoof stomps and grunts that only they seemed to understand, with the Grass-type slightly shuffling his position to come in between Cobalion and the three females; still all the while Cobalion’s attention remained focused on his fellow Legendary and not in the three visitors, who glanced nervously at the event.
After what seemed to be an uneasy deliberation, Cobalion turned to the three does and looked them down. “Colonia del Lake Barcan colony, maybe?” he asked in a half threatening, half disdainful tone.
The three does yelped. One of them lowered her head and replied. “N–no, of the n-northern sunwalk, O Guardian.”
Cobalion tilted his head, eyed his counterpart for a moment and then leaned his head towards the does. “You are dismissed,” he announced.
Virizion sprung in front of Cobalion. “Hey wait a minu-” he spat, stopping himself as he heard the heavy shuffling of dirt and leaves behind him. He turned to see the three females had pranced past the duo fast and exited hastily through the thickets to turn downhill.
Muscles tense and cut from the action he wanted to take, the Legendary tracked the three deer’s tail flashes of retreat downhill for a while and only after they were a safe distance away he turned to his counterpart giving him an offended stare.
Cobalion’s lack of response was met with some angry pacing around by Virizion which lasted for a while until Cobalion relaxed his posture. Now that seemed to rub salt in Virizion’s metaphorical wound and the Grass-type let out an angry laugh. Cobalion approached a nearby branch not seeming to mind his brother.
Annoyed, Virizion went to his sibling and paced a full round of heavy steps around him. In the end he looked straight at Cobalion.
"Behold! The azure guardian finds cause to wander from his nest!" he announced with an air of haughtiness. “What ails thee?”
Cobalion nudged one of the nearby trees with his horns and offered no answer.
“More landslides? A Vow-breaker?” inquired Virizion, making motion to meander about. “When no less than famine or war draw thee from thy seclusion,” he added next, with a tone that slowly grew in hints of mockery, “am I to expect this visit means yet another end to the realm?”. He put some dramatic stress on the last word.
Cobalion looked away from the other Pokémon. “Word was that you would be around here,” he stated flatly, as he eyed an imaginary figure just off to the left of Virizion’s shoulder. Without breaking the gaze at his imaginary foe, he approached the Legendary of greenery. “Heeded the winds’ directions, that I could watch you embarrass yourself.”
Virizion approached Cobalion’s flank menacingly and the two Pokémon almost butted heads, yet in the end Virizion merely walked past and around Cobalion sliding in some barely audible comments on Cobalion’s impertinence, which of course Cobalion heard perfectly even if he feigned to not care.
Virizion buffed and straightened his posture, eyed his counterpart for a while. In the end, he just kicked the ground behind him and trailed off, eyeing the direction the three females had departed into for a moment.
“I had them right there,” Virizion spat without turning to look at his counterpart. “Thou best have good justification for this; I itch for winter’s opening fight.”
The Steel-type oryx stood his gaze for a moment and remained still. Only before Virizion walked out of the thicket and to the ledge nearby did Cobalion stomp on the ground twice.
“I’m heading into the town by dirt-water creek,” he stated.
Cobalion had barely finished stating his intentions when his antelope companion turned and barreled around to come to face Cobalion again, releasing a burst of Grass-type energy that shook and tore some of the foliage around them.
“That town!” Virizion screeched. “Their homes and lots, the cages they built for their solitude and ours!”
Cobalion leaned his head to one side and made no motion to reply. Virizion inched closer, body tensed.
“Have some… decorum!” the Grass-type continued as he moved closer to Virizion again. “Erstwhile our kind left them. Only the Shrine stays the site of parlay!”
Cobalion snickered. “Decorum you say.”
Virizion struck a tree with his head. “Watch it.”
Cobalion sighed and walked away from the tree and closer to the ledge, with Virizion following. “I would go seek parlay and proof on a suspect progression.”
Cobalion made further attempt to speak but Virizion raised a hoof and motioned for him to stop. Unamused, the oryx complied and stared at the agitated antelope for a moment.
For his part Virizion shook his head and paced about, getting closer to Cobalion every once in a while, eyeing him carefully and sniffing the air every once in a while not seeming to mind much the cooling breeze; at every little stop his tail and shoulder tuffs flared and his front hooves anxiously tilled the ground.
Virizion spoke indignantly. “Thou would rather not… summon them to the shrine? They are our subjects.”
“Were,” Cobalion pointed out curt. “We forsook them.”
Virizion instantly arced and barreled to Cobalion’s side, ever so slightly but dominantly shoving him and kicking some loose dirt around. Cobalion did not cede his position, instead he held his place firmly and swivelled around his place as if to guide Virizion to move around him, their dance making the dried leaves on the dirt below them crack and shuffle.
“They labour these lands” Virizion cried, pushing against the other Legendary’s flank and breathing out heavily, “and nurture the Pokémon here, that they may be allowed to live here under our watch as their ancestors did!”
This time it was Cobalion who pushed back. “Yet despite the Protector’s Lament we watch over them today,” he stated, digging his heels to the ground.
The two Pokémon frowned and gazed past each other; finally Cobalion let go and stepped besides the form of Virizion, who contented himself with shaking his head and walking around Cobalion to complete a full circle. Virizion pranced ahead of the oryx once again, coming to stop at about the same place he had first lashed out at Cobalion from, his eyes now closed.
Cobalion sighed at Virizion’s apparent indifference and let out a grunt as if to complain. Still, not desiring further confrontation, he dejectedly presented his flank at his fellow Legendary, who seemed to track Cobalion’s movement by sound and lowered his head in apparent response.
“Thou dost think them in danger?” the Grass-type asked. “Or us maybe?”
“I am not sure.”
“If disgrace or rebellion besmirches their path, we would find out from the Pokémon around.”
“I presume so.”
“If illness or ravaging comes to them, we will hear them flee or cry for help.”
Cobalion turned his head. “The likes of which have happened before.”
Virizion opened his eyes and turned his head to gaze at Cobalion.
Cobalion shifted about, somewhat seeking to shield himself from the breeze. “Yet if disgrace or illness befell them,” he inquired with a degree of hesitation, “before they could know it, could also we?”
Now Virizion raised an eyebrow and more purportedly examined Cobalion’s posture. He stepped a bit closer.
“So you hold such suspicion of them,” he stated, in a tone that even if he didn’t want to seemed to be accusing.
The oryx’s eyes wandered about he found it hard for a moment to come to terms with what dwelled in his mind. Finally he moved closer to Virizion as well and announced, shaking his head. “I suspect they move to praise a bringer of change, one that will betray them.”
Virizion seemed to perceive Cobalion’s uneasiness; he craned his head and chased the oryx’s line of sight. “Thou hesitate?” he inquired in a more definitively accusing tone this time. “Be upfront, name thine enemy.”
Cobalion turned around and walked to the corner of the ledge, looking at the grounds below. The breeze brushing the hillside buffeted him and shook his chest fur; the Legendary remained impassive otherwise.
After a moment, Cobalion motioned for Virizion to come closer, which he did, and the two Pokémon remained in silence for a moment as they watched over the realm they were responsible for; the green Legendary’s eyes ever so slightly darting to track the movement of the females that had left downhill, while Cobalion’s eyes finally found their focus and kept it on the lands to the north.
“’La guerre’,” Cobalion hissed. “The war.”
Virizion reared his head somewhat surprised. He seemed to ponder the information before dismissively stomping on the dirt.
“Have heard not their name, have seen none of their forces,” the antelope replied. “The human settlements have been calm.”
“You remember the humans that would create records of us?” asked Cobalion without letting his focus falter.
Virizion straightened his head. “The ones with long paper, whom we used to see for longer,” he spat.
Cobalion continued. “They have been replaced by new humans, with a new machine. These humans… they seem to seek out war.”
Virizion turned to his companion and gave him a somber look. “Would they truly? What do you know?”
“They talk, and the Pokémon around them listen.” Cobalion shook his head. “They want to follow a man, this La Guerre. A bringer of new tools for their kind, if I understood them proper.”
That said, the two Pokémon moved away from the edge and moved closer to the thickets.
“...Tools?” asked Virizion.
“Tools with which they intend to catch us.”
Cobalion proceeded to explain what he had heard in the conversations of men, and what other Pokémon had relayed to him; then he went on about the artists that had come after them, and compared them to the humans and their machines that he had seen in more recent instances such as some months ago during a tornado.
Virizion paid more attention at the part about the new machines they had tried to use, and Cobalion’s concern that the Guardians would fall captive to humans who had disregarded the ancient rites and with them the protection of the realm. All the while Virizion listened he remained quiet, allowing Cobalion to finish his case. Only at the end he paced around for a moment and his expression betrayed an imperfect mixture of vindictiveness and respite.
“Mounting such an attack on the Three… would they really dare?” Virizion asked.
Cobalion waited and blinked. “I have only one way to know.”
“This more reason to have them summoned to the Shrine!” Virizion bellowed. “It can’t be all of them in arms. We must focus our strike on those who bring up this agitation.”
Cobalion shook his head. He turned and idled near Virizion. “That won’t work. Absent and uninformed we have been, for generations. What would we understand from those who come forth among them?”
Virizion's eyes seemed to wander for a moment, and he found no immediate answer to that prodding. He watched intently as his counterpart idled about, his mind half made. A few minutes went and Virizion frowned more as Cobalion made motion to leave through the thicket he had first come from. The antelope hummed: Cobalion’s mind was already made, he knew who to ask and he knew it had to be done.
Still, before Cobalion left, Virizion half-heartedly interrupted his departure with a hoof stomp.
“No machine Humans have shown us,” assured Virizion, “can topple you, or bind me, or resist Terrakion. But if there is one, they ought to test it on us, before it strikes their own kind.”
Cobalion contemplated Virizion’s words for a long while. In the end he gave a curt nod.
The two Pokémon sized each other and Virizion huffed before turning away. He spat some parting sounds carrying rather clearly the intended message of he wouldn’t be coming to help his counterpart were Cobalion to find himself in trouble.
Cobalion let out a stern grumble, dismissive but not disrespectful in tone, as if daring Virizion to stay unmoved at the promise of battle; then he pranced past Virizion and leapt off the thicket to go on his way.
» To be continued...
Nighttime – Night 17 of investigation – Late Summer
A few Rhyhorn and Wooloo marched alongside a dirt road. In the almost complete darkness their most immediate protection were the line of lawan cypress trees planted by the side of the road, offering some minimum protection and markers for the road, and the three humans walking behind the troop, one of them accompanied by two Pokémon.
The three humans, young in age, were talking about various subjects as they escorted the group of Pokémon towards a town far ahead, the lights of civilization visible some distance to the south. Likely incapable of defending themselves at young age, their own defense was the Manectric and the Shuppet flanking them, observing the surroundings every once in a while.
The teens counted on the help of their Pokémon to reach town before it was far too dark. They entertained themselves talking about various subjects…
“...when Dad said they were going to make the school bigger…!”
“Bigger? But the classroom is huge!”
Their voice was just as well a measure of protection against predators attempting to strike at the group of Pokémon.
“Three. I saw them once! Mother always says they have a penacho orondo.”
Yet no Pokémon would be so foolish to strike tonight. Not only were these wild Pokémon just adopted by some random humans, but the little troop themselves were being watched from the dark. A metallic sheen that would otherwise give the observer up in the middle of the day, became an impassable and invisible mantle of protection in the night.
Hidden in the tall grass, Cobalion trailed the group carefully. He breathed carefully and only moved when absolutely necessary. Above all, he kept an eye on the conversation the teens were having.
Intently waiting, in particular, to hear more of some news the humans had and that one of the girls in the group was being asked about.
“Did your sister say anything more about the machine of la guerre?”
“Nah, just what we read in class. It could capture anything, last forever, blah blah.”
The boy in the group kicked the dirt. “Really…? That sucks, no one says anything more.”
The girl crossed her arms. “She insists we can make money off the stuff.”
“Well what do I know?”
“Bah. Manectric and I can make all the money the family needs. How about that?” asked the girl to the Pokémon in front of her.
<One Rattata down, one coin up!> was the Manectric’s joyful answer as he focused on herding the group of Pokémon in front of them. Not that the humans would have understood the exact words as Cobalion did; still, even if what they got from their partner was little more than an excited “rawr”, the message was clear.
“You should fight at the plaza. The travellers are always watching!”
The group of humans carried on with their conversation and increased their pace, eager to return to civilization before it was way too dark, way too cold.
Cobalion narrowed his eyes and decided to fall behind them and trail off. Unsatisfied in the results of his venture that the subject of la guerre and the new machine had not been discussed further.
The Legendary sprung across the tall grass until he had left the road well behind; after that he calmed down and walked for a few minutes in the general direction of a forest to the east.
After a long while he stopped randomly. Puzzled at the recent developments, he muttered something about the realm of the valley not ready for the war.
He turned to the north, recalling another town in the vicinity, and darted off.
Noon – Day 74 of Investigation – Autumn
It was rare that the three Guardians of the Realm were to coincide in one location; let alone a human settlement such as the one Cobalion sped into through a dirt passageway, accompanied by a few Rock and Water types such as Graveler and Floatzel that made his current entourage.
Soon after the group entered town they noticed the strong winds and the chaos abound, with most people having moved to buildings closer to squares and parks. Above them the winds raged, the clouds pooled; a vortex of natural rage had descended from the sky several kilometres away earlier in the day and, by fickle pettiness of chance, had wandered about the crops until it had managed to hit tow town right at its main entrance.
Cobalion dismissed his entourage, warning them to focus only on helping local people and Pokémon to move out through the passageways and head away from the river. He did not wait for their answer; he rushed across the emptied streets in the direction of the pernicious winds, for he knew at least one of the other two Guardians would be there. Only a few of the accompanying Pokémon remained behind him while the others spread about.
Howling and screeching the wind tore about town, uprooting power poles and tossing about carriages and smaller constructions.
Cobalion reached a crossing where some people and Pokémon were gathered. They did not show up that much surprise at his presence, which the Legendary took a good sign.
Still, he observed the situation from a distance. Wind this strong was not to be denied and it certainly was not part of the Three Guardians’ element – control over the element of air was always tuned to overcome their own fighting energy.
Cobalion reared his head as a log flew right by him. He turned around and signaled the few Pokémon behind him to get moving, to move the people there to the south, but the ferocious wind didn’t allow for his call to reach further. He resorted to point a hoof in the general direction of the school, the sturdiest building around, gesture that the lead human and Buizel down the street echoed as indication of acknowledgement.
The sound of cracking wood and falling stone did reach the oryx in his pedestal however, and he turned around to watch as the tornado twisted around, destroying a few more houses in its wake. It would still take it a few minutes to clear the area of the town’s main exit and, if everything went well, down the way of the nearby river.
A moment later, a bright jade light glowed from the area the water towers and the food stores were in. Cobalion hurried and climbed up a tilted power pole and saw in the distance the figures of Virizion atop one of the water towers and Terrakion in the middle of a street with some workers. The verdant Legendary was just done charging up a colossal amount of elemental power in an attempt to strike; Terrakion on the other hand was steadily and measuredly spending his own, coercing the smaller bricks and stones flying around so that at least those would not hit the area where people were evacuating.
With the tornado raging just in front of the town’s main access, Cobalion was glad that the town was not located in the northern mountainside; from some wild Rock-types he knew there was at least one dormant volcano there. He knew as well that Virizion’s attempt to strike would surely be useless, but still he was bound to his place in admiration as he watched the Guardians’ de facto leader from afar.
Virizion assumed a fighting position, even if this was an opponent he could not really hit. He aimed his head at the blocks ahead where the tornado was raging, and with a loud cry he summoned from his forehead the blade of energy that was renowned signature of the Guardians; about three houses in length yet still swift and precise in its turns as Virizion moved his head, thanks to the blade being made from raw energy.
Cobalion looked down to where Terrakion and the workers were; while he could not hear given the distance and the strong winds, he did some people expressing genuine excitement at the display of power and the fact that they would get to watch the Guardians act.
Terrakion did not seem to share the workers’ enthusiasm, instead he seemed to be warning and chastising Virizion on how inadvisable fighting a tornado was for Fighting types. For a response, and still holding the energy blade in place, Virizion breathed in and fired two Grass-type balls of energy at the lower part of the whorl; the projectiles barely got any close before they were sucked in by the tornado, thrown off course and dispelled into feeble strands of coloured energy within the vicious column of air.
The tornado raged further, moving towards the edge of the town. Probably feeling favoured by the situation, Virizion gathered himself quickly and gave his counterparts notice he was about to attack.
Cobalion of course could not hear it but only see it in the Grass-type’s stance. He leapt to the closest rooftop, dug his heels deep to make sure he would not slip on the curved roof slabs. Quickly he turned around just in time to watch Virizion’s dance, the Legendary springing about in place, tilting and craning his head as the energy blade shimmered about.
With a few turns Virizion was done, and with an angered cry he drew an horizontal arc with his head, releasing a blade-shaped current of energy that flew right at the heart of the tornado.
Afternoon – Day 74 of investigation – Autumn
The houses and streets were damaged or, in the worst case, turned to debris wherever people turned. An entire third of the town had suffered various degrees of devastation from the unexpected event.
Over several minutes people gathered around some of the few buildings in the main access area that had managed to remain operational: a few offices and the police checkpoint. Mothers had not much trouble reuniting with their children – the tornado had gone the opposite way of the schools. Everyone was content to have survived and surprised at having witnessed a relatively rare phenomenon – not just the tornado but also the presence of the Guardians.
Counting heads was important, as was fetching the people with the expertise needed to check and repair the main road into the town. As such, and much to the pleasure of the Guardians, their presence quickly fell out of notice.
Virizion was already gone with an entourage of Pokémon to check the crops and the riverbed ahead, and with the winter coming would not be seen again for months. Cobalion had disappeared without anyone noticing not more than half an hour ago, or that much old stationery man Caronás swore, that the Legendary had been nosing around the mayoral house watching as the city officers pulled up every machine and printed record they could to assist in checking for casualties and damages.
As for Terrakion, the Rock-type was busy with his own entourage some streets away, finishing his own part in helping the local humans and Pokémon.
The inhabitants of the town, resourceful as they were, saw the event as quite an adventure. Tornados were not even that frequent a thing; as one of the now former food workers commented to his fellows while dragging a dispensary with spices from the remains, there had been less than ten in his lifetime.
This time, the town happened to be just as unlucky as lucky.
Some of the other people who were listening to the older man nodded and continued their working on the damaged houses, trying to salvage whatever they could before nigh time came. They did not comment on the presence of the three Guardians during the event.
No, that happenstance was for others to discuss, and try to take advantage from.
Far from there and closer to the edge of the town where the tornado had first burst into the settlement, Cobalion paced about. Hidden from the rest of the populace by a wall that had survived the day almost intact, listening to the humans passing by the street every once in a while, the Legendary awaited for Terrakion’s return before they could depart each their own way. He ventured a peek out the street; Terrakion had dismissed his entourage and was now marching up the street presumably to meet with Cobalion, or to leave town alright.
Moving out of the house, Cobalion noticed movement a few edifices ahead. It was a long house painted in white and with a small garden on the front. The edification had two floors and it was in the second floor that Cobalion noticed two humans carrying some boxes up and mounting them on a balcony.
The boxes somehow caught Cobalion’s attention. He promptly hugged a nearby wall and moved about slowly, finding an open garden he could use from his position to reach for another house, from which he could watch those humans.
It took him a few minutes only to navigate a house that was currently unoccupied – save for an Umbreon that didn’t seem to give Cobalion even the time of the day – to reach a slanted rooftop.
From that position, Cobalion could watch through a window into the next house and the humans who were in the balcony to the other end of the floor. They were unpacking a machine from the boxes and, from the looks of it, one of the two humans was reading the instructions to assemble it from a book.
Taking his chance, the oryx leapt down to the next house and from there gracefully to a platform from where he could watch and hear more closely, still without daring to enter the house. From his new position Cobalion watched as one of the humans was assembling some machinery while the other was washing some metal plaques in a dish using a strange liquid that did not seem to be water, although Cobalion could not recognize the scent from anywhere.
He remained still, listening as the humans discussed the workings and adjustments of the machine in terms the oryx was not familiar with.
The humans spoke of “composing” some sort of event and that they needed their target to be “properly exposed”, wondering in uncertain terms if there was a way to render it “immobile”.
Cobalion had seem these kinds of humans before, though he was still not familiar with the machines they were now operating. He was sure he had seen similar machines in a few places before, aimed at random things the humans seemed to find of interest.
The machine itself seemed to be some sort of adorned box mounted on wooden legs; while the oryx could not distinguish clearly the intricacies of the device, he noticed the humans were quick to cover it with a black veil.
The oryx watched, still as stone, while the two men prepared the machine. Cobalion’s attention was drawn by the unveiling of the machine as the black drapes were cast off, and could now take more notice of the box. A box in which one of the humans introduced the plates they had been carrying.
It was then that one of the humans mentioned that everything was ready for testing. Reading from the book, he specified to his acquaintance that the machine, a machine of “la guerre”, had to be fixated on the target for the capture to be optimal and that they still needed several minutes of “exposure”.
Cobalion approached behind them and tracked their movement carefully, trying to align himself with the machine as the men were shuffling it about the wooden supports. The oryx’s eyes dilated as the humans moved the machine to track Terrakion’s steps coming from the street ahead.
It lighted upon the Legendary that he would have just found the machine he was looking for. If he understood everything correctly, a machine with which the humans would try to strike.
At the Guardians.
The oryx sprung to action instantly. He jumped down to the garden and from there headed to the passageway heading to the street. As soon as he reached there and saw Terrakion in the distance, he bellowed a warning at his counterpart, who inquired back.
No time for any niceties, Cobalion dashed past his counterpart who, taking notice of the sudden outburst, turned tail and ran off after Cobalion. The oryx could hear some voices and callings far back but neither of the two Legendaries did stop.
Taking the same passageways that Cobalion had first used to get into the town, the two Guardians left the town in a rush, and as soon as they found some calmer ground they parted ways.
The oryx did not stop running and did not turn back. There was time to find out more later, now that he knew what to look for and what the face of the enemy was.
Yet he was unsure still. Something did not match in the careful setup of the machine, with supports and a mounting procedure not much unlike the ones the various “painters” he sometimes saw across the valley would take time to assemble for their work as well.
Cobalion increased his pace. Something had to have changed.
The wind carried a name, Cobalion had heard the calling but could not fully understand what it was. Time and again humans would warn and instruct each other, even in the vicinity of the Guardians, and now they had even attempted to strike.
Was this how they described what was approaching? The future of the humans’ interactions with the Three?
Was this La Guerre?
Thinking of his life and that of his brethren first, Cobalion had chosen to flee. He missed out on the events later during the day, as some other humans assembled a similar apparatus near the mayoral house and aimed it at the townspeople fetching food and supplies for the evening.
Morning – Day 126 of investigation – Early Winter
Autumn had just fallen out of favour with nature and the first, cold-breeze days of winter took its place.
Virizion found himself sheltered in a forested hill a fair distance from the larger forest and lake that had for long made the more “permanent” residence of the three Deer. To his own admission he had taken a liking to the place because it was part of a line of hills separating the crops the humans tended for from the rest of the valley. It was that much easier to look for food and entertainment, and as far as he was concerned he only had to turn his ear in one direction to detect trouble.
The trees, mostly barren from foliage that was now turned to a misshapen carpet of noisy leaves, made a safe scenario to meet other Pokémon in, which was good because after these days Virizion would barely see any company for several weeks.
Accompanying the verdant Legendary were three Sawsbuck does, one of them still in a fading autumn coat. The three were busying themselves foraging and extracting some small leaves and branches to decorate their whitened antlers with; all the while trying to ignore the Sovereign’s vain bursts of energy and the tales of the fights he and his “siblings” used to have.
It was during such a lull in activity that the ears of the four Pokémon suddenly turned to the surroundings; the three Sawsbuck stiffened their necks and listened to their surroundings while Virizion turned to the forestline behind him, tensed. Sure as he was someone was approaching, even he could not ascertain who or what it was. Whoever it was their steps were firm yet their path idle and their wandering adamant and, more curious to Virizion’s perception, the intruder’s presence did not reveal any pressure for confrontation.
Just as Virizion sniffed the air, the branches below ruffled soundly; the three does tensed, their hearts probably skipped a beat; Virizion could not tell, his own hearing was strongly focused on the bushes and his muscles were already tensing in preparation for a fight.
Virizion leered back at the three females; they remained attentive to his movement as they inched closer to the ledge with minute, calculated movements, ready to flee. The male returned his attention to the bushes and raised a hoof, pondering for a moment if a warning stomp was in order.
There was more shuffling of brambles and Virizion could finally ascertain the Fighting-type aura of the Pokémon nearby, a creature that inched closer with calculated steps. Virizion craned his neck carefully and could finally make out a figure with a dirtied, feeble metallic shine, in between the branches.
Virizion stepped ahead and assumed a more haunched posture, hind legs well secured on the ground as he readied to spring at the invader. He let out his aura only slightly as a warning to the incoming Pokémon.
Yet a moment after and without much fanfare the oryx-like figure of Cobalion emerged from the thickets, the Pokémon shifting about measuredly just so he could make it through the foliage without dropping from his stern, upright posture.
The three females now in the presence of two Legendaries packed together even more tightly now and watched without further moving a muscle. The two Legendaries meanwhile stared at each other and snorted a few times in a sort of greeting, without relaxing their postures.
Cobalion tasted the air for a moment and noticed the three Sawsbuck. He eyed them each for a moment and finally stepped forward to stand by his metaphorical sibling. “Are you with our entourage?” He asked the females.
The females flinched and one of them eyed Virizion for a moment, noticing the fellow Grass-type’s irritated reaction.
“W-we are of the local colonies,” ventured one of the females without much reverence.
Cobalion raised an eyebrow and huffed. As if on cue, the three females stepped back and bowed to him. Virizion rolled his eyes though Cobalion could not see the gesture.
Cobalion and Virizion remained still for a moment then turned to face each other; for a while they exchanged some accusing stares, hoof stomps and grunts that only they seemed to understand, with the Grass-type slightly shuffling his position to come in between Cobalion and the three females; still all the while Cobalion’s attention remained focused on his fellow Legendary and not in the three visitors, who glanced nervously at the event.
After what seemed to be an uneasy deliberation, Cobalion turned to the three does and looked them down. “Colonia del Lake Barcan colony, maybe?” he asked in a half threatening, half disdainful tone.
The three does yelped. One of them lowered her head and replied. “N–no, of the n-northern sunwalk, O Guardian.”
Cobalion tilted his head, eyed his counterpart for a moment and then leaned his head towards the does. “You are dismissed,” he announced.
Virizion sprung in front of Cobalion. “Hey wait a minu-” he spat, stopping himself as he heard the heavy shuffling of dirt and leaves behind him. He turned to see the three females had pranced past the duo fast and exited hastily through the thickets to turn downhill.
Muscles tense and cut from the action he wanted to take, the Legendary tracked the three deer’s tail flashes of retreat downhill for a while and only after they were a safe distance away he turned to his counterpart giving him an offended stare.
Cobalion’s lack of response was met with some angry pacing around by Virizion which lasted for a while until Cobalion relaxed his posture. Now that seemed to rub salt in Virizion’s metaphorical wound and the Grass-type let out an angry laugh. Cobalion approached a nearby branch not seeming to mind his brother.
Annoyed, Virizion went to his sibling and paced a full round of heavy steps around him. In the end he looked straight at Cobalion.
"Behold! The azure guardian finds cause to wander from his nest!" he announced with an air of haughtiness. “What ails thee?”
Cobalion nudged one of the nearby trees with his horns and offered no answer.
“More landslides? A Vow-breaker?” inquired Virizion, making motion to meander about. “When no less than famine or war draw thee from thy seclusion,” he added next, with a tone that slowly grew in hints of mockery, “am I to expect this visit means yet another end to the realm?”. He put some dramatic stress on the last word.
Cobalion looked away from the other Pokémon. “Word was that you would be around here,” he stated flatly, as he eyed an imaginary figure just off to the left of Virizion’s shoulder. Without breaking the gaze at his imaginary foe, he approached the Legendary of greenery. “Heeded the winds’ directions, that I could watch you embarrass yourself.”
Virizion approached Cobalion’s flank menacingly and the two Pokémon almost butted heads, yet in the end Virizion merely walked past and around Cobalion sliding in some barely audible comments on Cobalion’s impertinence, which of course Cobalion heard perfectly even if he feigned to not care.
Virizion buffed and straightened his posture, eyed his counterpart for a while. In the end, he just kicked the ground behind him and trailed off, eyeing the direction the three females had departed into for a moment.
“I had them right there,” Virizion spat without turning to look at his counterpart. “Thou best have good justification for this; I itch for winter’s opening fight.”
The Steel-type oryx stood his gaze for a moment and remained still. Only before Virizion walked out of the thicket and to the ledge nearby did Cobalion stomp on the ground twice.
“I’m heading into the town by dirt-water creek,” he stated.
Cobalion had barely finished stating his intentions when his antelope companion turned and barreled around to come to face Cobalion again, releasing a burst of Grass-type energy that shook and tore some of the foliage around them.
“That town!” Virizion screeched. “Their homes and lots, the cages they built for their solitude and ours!”
Cobalion leaned his head to one side and made no motion to reply. Virizion inched closer, body tensed.
“Have some… decorum!” the Grass-type continued as he moved closer to Virizion again. “Erstwhile our kind left them. Only the Shrine stays the site of parlay!”
Cobalion snickered. “Decorum you say.”
Virizion struck a tree with his head. “Watch it.”
Cobalion sighed and walked away from the tree and closer to the ledge, with Virizion following. “I would go seek parlay and proof on a suspect progression.”
Cobalion made further attempt to speak but Virizion raised a hoof and motioned for him to stop. Unamused, the oryx complied and stared at the agitated antelope for a moment.
For his part Virizion shook his head and paced about, getting closer to Cobalion every once in a while, eyeing him carefully and sniffing the air every once in a while not seeming to mind much the cooling breeze; at every little stop his tail and shoulder tuffs flared and his front hooves anxiously tilled the ground.
Virizion spoke indignantly. “Thou would rather not… summon them to the shrine? They are our subjects.”
“Were,” Cobalion pointed out curt. “We forsook them.”
Virizion instantly arced and barreled to Cobalion’s side, ever so slightly but dominantly shoving him and kicking some loose dirt around. Cobalion did not cede his position, instead he held his place firmly and swivelled around his place as if to guide Virizion to move around him, their dance making the dried leaves on the dirt below them crack and shuffle.
“They labour these lands” Virizion cried, pushing against the other Legendary’s flank and breathing out heavily, “and nurture the Pokémon here, that they may be allowed to live here under our watch as their ancestors did!”
This time it was Cobalion who pushed back. “Yet despite the Protector’s Lament we watch over them today,” he stated, digging his heels to the ground.
The two Pokémon frowned and gazed past each other; finally Cobalion let go and stepped besides the form of Virizion, who contented himself with shaking his head and walking around Cobalion to complete a full circle. Virizion pranced ahead of the oryx once again, coming to stop at about the same place he had first lashed out at Cobalion from, his eyes now closed.
Cobalion sighed at Virizion’s apparent indifference and let out a grunt as if to complain. Still, not desiring further confrontation, he dejectedly presented his flank at his fellow Legendary, who seemed to track Cobalion’s movement by sound and lowered his head in apparent response.
“Thou dost think them in danger?” the Grass-type asked. “Or us maybe?”
“I am not sure.”
“If disgrace or rebellion besmirches their path, we would find out from the Pokémon around.”
“I presume so.”
“If illness or ravaging comes to them, we will hear them flee or cry for help.”
Cobalion turned his head. “The likes of which have happened before.”
Virizion opened his eyes and turned his head to gaze at Cobalion.
Cobalion shifted about, somewhat seeking to shield himself from the breeze. “Yet if disgrace or illness befell them,” he inquired with a degree of hesitation, “before they could know it, could also we?”
Now Virizion raised an eyebrow and more purportedly examined Cobalion’s posture. He stepped a bit closer.
“So you hold such suspicion of them,” he stated, in a tone that even if he didn’t want to seemed to be accusing.
The oryx’s eyes wandered about he found it hard for a moment to come to terms with what dwelled in his mind. Finally he moved closer to Virizion as well and announced, shaking his head. “I suspect they move to praise a bringer of change, one that will betray them.”
Virizion seemed to perceive Cobalion’s uneasiness; he craned his head and chased the oryx’s line of sight. “Thou hesitate?” he inquired in a more definitively accusing tone this time. “Be upfront, name thine enemy.”
Cobalion turned around and walked to the corner of the ledge, looking at the grounds below. The breeze brushing the hillside buffeted him and shook his chest fur; the Legendary remained impassive otherwise.
After a moment, Cobalion motioned for Virizion to come closer, which he did, and the two Pokémon remained in silence for a moment as they watched over the realm they were responsible for; the green Legendary’s eyes ever so slightly darting to track the movement of the females that had left downhill, while Cobalion’s eyes finally found their focus and kept it on the lands to the north.
“’La guerre’,” Cobalion hissed. “The war.”
Virizion reared his head somewhat surprised. He seemed to ponder the information before dismissively stomping on the dirt.
“Have heard not their name, have seen none of their forces,” the antelope replied. “The human settlements have been calm.”
“You remember the humans that would create records of us?” asked Cobalion without letting his focus falter.
Virizion straightened his head. “The ones with long paper, whom we used to see for longer,” he spat.
Cobalion continued. “They have been replaced by new humans, with a new machine. These humans… they seem to seek out war.”
Virizion turned to his companion and gave him a somber look. “Would they truly? What do you know?”
“They talk, and the Pokémon around them listen.” Cobalion shook his head. “They want to follow a man, this La Guerre. A bringer of new tools for their kind, if I understood them proper.”
That said, the two Pokémon moved away from the edge and moved closer to the thickets.
“...Tools?” asked Virizion.
“Tools with which they intend to catch us.”
Cobalion proceeded to explain what he had heard in the conversations of men, and what other Pokémon had relayed to him; then he went on about the artists that had come after them, and compared them to the humans and their machines that he had seen in more recent instances such as some months ago during a tornado.
Virizion paid more attention at the part about the new machines they had tried to use, and Cobalion’s concern that the Guardians would fall captive to humans who had disregarded the ancient rites and with them the protection of the realm. All the while Virizion listened he remained quiet, allowing Cobalion to finish his case. Only at the end he paced around for a moment and his expression betrayed an imperfect mixture of vindictiveness and respite.
“Mounting such an attack on the Three… would they really dare?” Virizion asked.
Cobalion waited and blinked. “I have only one way to know.”
“This more reason to have them summoned to the Shrine!” Virizion bellowed. “It can’t be all of them in arms. We must focus our strike on those who bring up this agitation.”
Cobalion shook his head. He turned and idled near Virizion. “That won’t work. Absent and uninformed we have been, for generations. What would we understand from those who come forth among them?”
Virizion's eyes seemed to wander for a moment, and he found no immediate answer to that prodding. He watched intently as his counterpart idled about, his mind half made. A few minutes went and Virizion frowned more as Cobalion made motion to leave through the thicket he had first come from. The antelope hummed: Cobalion’s mind was already made, he knew who to ask and he knew it had to be done.
Still, before Cobalion left, Virizion half-heartedly interrupted his departure with a hoof stomp.
“No machine Humans have shown us,” assured Virizion, “can topple you, or bind me, or resist Terrakion. But if there is one, they ought to test it on us, before it strikes their own kind.”
Cobalion contemplated Virizion’s words for a long while. In the end he gave a curt nod.
The two Pokémon sized each other and Virizion huffed before turning away. He spat some parting sounds carrying rather clearly the intended message of he wouldn’t be coming to help his counterpart were Cobalion to find himself in trouble.
Cobalion let out a stern grumble, dismissive but not disrespectful in tone, as if daring Virizion to stay unmoved at the promise of battle; then he pranced past Virizion and leapt off the thicket to go on his way.
» To be continued...
