Chapter 1: The First Lifetime
It is said that long ago Pokemon were born with the innate knowledge of their own deaths. That in ages past, when a Pokemon hatched the first thing they saw was not what was right in front of them, but a psychic vision of their last moments. Supposedly this vision was a blessing by the creator, a blessing inherent to all Pokemon. Supposedly this vision was a blessing because it taught Pokemon not to fear death. By knowing the exact moment they would die at birth, a Pokemon would have a lifetime to come to terms with death, and by coming to terms with death, could come to terms with their life.
My first memories were of a light in the darkness. I remember darkness, struggle, and then… crack. The first lines of light against a tapestry of inky blackness. I remember pounding against those lines of white starlight so that they grew… and grew… and grew. Until finally a piece of the darkness that cocooned me gave way revealing the night sky. From the hole in my egg an entire galaxy opened up to me. I remember seeing twinkling stars, falling comets, a shining moon, silver clouds traveling across the night, and off to the side, a massive scar in the sky. In that scar were unknowable movements, strange colors, bizarre objects, things that did not make sense. Together they made a picture, and that picture was beautiful. I did not sleep that night. I did not even leave my egg. I just stared at the night sky. Looking at it in wonder. Looking at it, alone and not alone, all at the same time.
That is how my parents found me. Staring at the night sky, unmoving, and still in my egg. They decided to name me Datura, after the night blooming flower that grew around our house. I remember only when the sun rose that I started to feel sleepy. The last thing I remember of that night is the dawn, coloring the sky with its light, and me slowly nodding off to sleep, while my parents took me out of my egg and carried me to the cradle they had prepared for me.
-o-
It is said that long ago Pokemon did not fear death. That long ago death was seen as a natural end to a life well spent. It is said long ago Pokemon lived their lives with gusto, living their lives to the fullest, living their lives not wondering when they would die, but what they would leave behind when they did. That was the age of heroes, when Pokemon performed great deeds and acted with valor. That was an age of friendships and harmony between all living things.
As a young Budew I loved the stories from the age of heroes. All of us young ones did. We would spend hours listening to elder Alakazam as he recited these stories around the crackling campfire. We would learn about the legendary rescuers of yore, Pokemon famed for their tenacity, who would never give up until their job was done. We learned of legendary Explorers, great adventurers who delved into the deepest dungeons, no matter the peril. We learned of various societies of Pokemon, some dedicated to creation, interesting in growing and building great societies and cities. Some dedicated to cartography and connection, interested in seeing the sights of the world already there and bringing harmony to the various Pokemon of the world.
I remember that these Pokemon inspired us. At recess we would always play games pretending to be the heroes of the past. My favorite was Roserade of team Raider. I liked to pretend that I was always on some top secret mission. One day I was saving a lost Pokemon, another I was delving into some recently found dungeon.
It was during this time I met Ember, a Growlithe. I was in the forest surrounding the village pretending to be on one of my "missions", when I tripped over a root. Unfortunately the tree happened to be next a small ravine, so my little tumble didn't send me to the ground, but rather into a 6 foot tall ditch. However my fall wasn't broken by rocks and dirt liked I feared, but rather something warm and fuzzy that gave a rather loud yelp when I landed.
"Hey watch where you're going!"
"Sorry," I moaned, rolling off of her.
"Sorry!? You almost break my back and the most you have to say is sorry!?
"I didn't mean to fall on you! I was looking for something and didn't see the root up there." I gestured toward the top of the ravine. "I'm really sorry, I didn't want to hurt you, honest."
She gave me a suspicious glare, but seemed to begrudgingly accept my statement.
"So what were you looking for?"
"I dunno… Treasure I guess?"
"Treasure… you guess? What's that supposed to mean? Were you looking for treasure or not?"
"I think so? I mean isn't that what Roserade of Team Raider did? Just sort of wandered off and found treasure?"
"Just sort of wandered off…? Didn't Alakazam tell you anything? He didn't just stumble into treasure, he had to look for it! According to Alakazam he used his senses to find clues and stuff, which led him to all these ruins! That's what I'm doing, I'm looking for clues, just like Team Frontier did when they found the Shaymin Village."
"I don't remember Alakazam telling us about that…"
"Wait, what class are you in, I don't think I've seen you before?"
"I'm in the blue section."
"Oh that explains it! I'm in the red section. Alakazam probably hasn't told you that yet. I'm Ember by the way."
"Oh, my name is Datura. So you're also looking for treasure?"
"Yeah! I'm hoping to find gracideas, I think that's what Alakazam said Team Frontier found that lead them to the Shaymin Village."
"You think the village has treasures?"
"Maybe, I don't think Alakazam said whether the village had treasure or not. But to find out we have to find the village first."
I pondered her point for a while. It was true that my wandering around the forest hadn't led me to any treasures. Maybe I needed to look for clues like Ember said. But I didn't know how. Maybe she could teach me how?
"Hey, you know what? Maybe the village has treasure. Show me how to look for clues and I'll help you find the village, and then when we find it you can help me look for treasure!"
She thought about it
"That sounds fair, you have a deal."
So with that we went off looking for the Shaymin Village (not too far though, we still stayed within earshot of our hometown), the beginning of a new friendship.
Of course we didn't find any gracideas.
Or any village.
Or any Shaymin.
The legendaries had long abandoned this cursed world.
-o-
It is said long ago that the age of heroes ended with the arrival of the millennium star. Bringing with it the curse of eternity. No one remembers the exact sequence, the history of the world has long since been forgotten. But every story pinpoints its coming as the point when the end began. No one knows whether the curse came first, or the sky-scar, if the two were connected, or just two calamities that happened to visit the world at the same time. Regardless they came, and the age of heroes ended, and the war against the things-that-should-not-be began.
The things-that-should-not-be came from the dimension in the sky-scar. No explanation has been given for their existence, no explanation has been given for why they came, and no explanation has been given for what they want. They just are, twisting reality, without a care in the world. They spilled into our world soon after the sky scar opened, and when they came they overran an entire continent in a single day. Rumor has it it's still there. That anyone willing to brave the oceans may stumble upon it, a twisted wreck of a continent. Warped beyond recognition of what it once was, breaking all known rules of the physical universe. Legend has it a massive campaign was taken by the Pokemon of the world to contain them. Obviously if they did, they failed, and with their failure the age of heroes ended.
Every Pokemon remembers their first encounter with a thing-that-should-not-be. Some are fortunate and encounter a relatively benign one. Most however are not so lucky. Most experience the same thing I did. Pure and unadulterated destruction. I remember the first time I experienced a thing-that-should-not-be. It was a foggy day, and the mist was thick in the little valley in the mountains our town inhabited. Probably why nobody saw it coming. Our first indication was not some shadow in the mist, but sounds in the distance. It sounded like tearing, followed by the faint sound of clattering. I remember I was in the house having breakfast with my parents. At first the sounds were far away, so we paid them no mind. But as the sounds got closer and closer we started to get nervous. I remember my father kept looking over his shoulder as the sounds grew closer. I remember my mother kept muttering "what is that?" under her breath. Then we heard it.
The bells.
The bells that only wrung when the town was in danger.
The bells that indicated that something was coming our way.
Everyone froze.
The bells chimed once…
Twice…
Three times…
Then the panic began.
Three bells meant only one thing. A powerful thing-that-should-not-be was coming our way. Something that the scouts at the edge of town had decided was well beyond the town's capacity to fight. Our only hope was to hide and hope that it would not cause too much damage. My parents grabbed me and started hurrying towards our basement. But we were too late. The mist had obscured its approach. The watchers on the tower had spotted it too late. We were just about to reach the basement doors, when out of the corner of my eyes I saw the mist rise. Slowly it diverged from the ground, and with it small stones started rising in the air. A fine sheen of dust rose with it. Then it hit us. We were launched into the ceiling, the earth literally rejecting us. It-that-reverses-gravity had come. We were plastered against the ceiling, the loose dust from the floor joining us up there. We could hear the thunk of various pieces of furniture lifting and hitting the ceiling as well. We could hear the wood slowly being split as the foundation deep within the earth held the house down, and gravity pushed the house up. I heard the screams of the Pokemon caught outside as they were launched into the air, no ceiling to stop their rise. At one point we even heard a massive tearing sound, clearly some house had not had a deep enough foundation, and the force of gravity had managed to push it out from the earth. For two whole minutes we were stuck on the ceiling. Unable to move as the force of gravity pinned us. Then we heard a clattering as thousands of small stones came tumbling back to earth, and then the gravity returned to normal, and we fell back to the floor. For the next minute we huddled there, listening. We heard the screams of the Pokemon return to earth. Then a thud. Then no more screaming. We heard the clatter of various small things come back down. Stones, furniture, whatever had been caught outside. The finally a massive crash as whatever house had been torn out of the ground came crashing back to earth.
I remember going outside and seeing the devastation. Shingles littered the streets. Body parts painted the houses as the Pokemon had fallen with such force that they had burst upon impact with the ground. To top it all off, at the end of the street, was a wreck of wood of stone. The house that had been torn out from the ground had landed. Needless to say the Pokemon inside did not survive.
Cleaning up took all week. Houses were repaired, tallies had been done to see who survived, and the bodies were burned. The house that had landed was burned. We all knew what would happen if we didn't.
-o-
It is said that when the curse came there was celebrations in the world. No one had realized what had happened. No one had realized what it truly meant. All that Pokemon knew was that Pokemon stopped dying, that Pokemon didn't age, and that Pokemon had nothing to fear from disease, from malnutrition, from the elements. How naïve they were. Then rumors began to spread. Newborns could not recall their final moments. Not that they couldn't remember, they just didn't receive visions at all. Then they found the first of the undying. Supposedly a rescue team had found it deep within the Sinister Woods. It was a wild Ariados. Supposedly it had been nearly cleaved in two, two of its legs was missing, one of its mandibles torn off. Clearly it had gotten into a fight with a wild Pokemon, and lost, lost badly. Before the curse that Pokemon would've died, but now its soul clung to the body, animating its wretched shape. It attacked without warning, driven mad by something. No matter what the team did, not matter how many attacks were launched its way, the Ariados still fought on. No amount of damage could stop it. Eventually the team managed to break its other legs, and the Ariados was stuck there, unable to move, unable to speak, body too broken to do anything. But it did not die, its soul remained in this world.
The news spread like wildfire across the world. Only aided by similar reports from other continents. Pokemon with grievous wounds continued to walk as if nothing had happened. Pokemon shattered beyond recognition stalked the Mystery Dungeons, some barely able to move. The only reported way of dealing with one of these Pokemon was a decisive blow to wherever the brain was. As long as the brain remained intact, the soul could control the body, and no amount of damage would stop the Pokemon otherwise. The Mystery Dungeons became more hostile, only the strongest dared enter, as hordes of undying began to sprout up. Various ghost Pokemon reported that they could no longer enter the spirit world. Psychics noted that even in bodies that had been entirely mutilated, the souls still remained inside, their minds continued to function.
Then the worst of the news came, old Pokemon slowly became more and more mad. Their bodies still remained intact, but their minds continued to degrade. Slowly but surely old Pokemon around the world lost their cognitive functions, slowly but surely they became more and more primal. Pokemon that were functionally immortal avoided this, their minds remained intact, but unfortunanetly for most this was their fate. For those who were supposed to die natural deaths, the end looked not like a peaceful sleep, but a slow descent into madness, as the mind succumbed into primitiveness.
Thus the practice of exiling was born.
When a Pokemon reached a certain age, or suffered a grievous enough wound that death would normally set in, they were forced to leave the community and seek out the nearest Mystery Dungeon. There they would degrade away, inevitably joining the primal Pokemon within. The magic of the Mystery Dungeons keeping them in. Keeping them away from civilization.
Exile had always been a part of our town. It was always done with a celebration. The soon to be exiled Pokemon would go around the town and say their last goodbyes, a solemn feast would be held at their house with family and friends, and the next morning they would leave. Never to be seen again. It was a natural part of life for us.
I remember the day the exiling came to our house. A strange disease we did not recognize hit our plants, particularly our roses. My parents spent countless hours trying to figure out what was going on, cutting wilted flowers, changing the soil around the plants. Anything to try to stop the spread of the disease, but nothing worked. Then one day my mother woke up, and realized that one the flowers on here hand was wilting. The disease had crossed the species barrier. It had infected my parents. I was still a budew so it didn't affect me, having no sprouted flower yet. But my parents were devastated. I remember watching as they slowly wilt away in front of my eyes. The village healer, a young Chansey, tried everything to help them, but she too had no idea how to cure the disease.
I don't think I wanted to admit it, but even then I knew what that meant. I remember the day it happened. The village elder came, looked at them, and took me to one of the rooms. I didn't remember what exactly he said. I was numb and exhausted. His words just sort of washed over me. I wasn't really paying attention.
I had seen enough exiles to know what was going on.
My parents weren't getting better. Their flowers had completely wilted. Petals had begun to fall. Had it not been the curse of eternity, they would've been dead. After Alakazam had finished saying his bit, he went to my parent's room. There was some murmuring. Then I heard crying.
That night was the worst in my life.
The next day I didn't even leave my room. The elder came by, but I think he understood my position. He left me be. I remember at some point there was a knock on the door. It slightly opened, and some cookies were shoved into my room. The door closed and I heard scampering. I recognized those cookies, they were from Ember.
The day after that my parents came into my room, sickly and weak. They explained that they had to go somewhere. That I would never see them again. That I had to be strong. That I had to be brave. That no matter what happened they would be with me in my heart. They said that Ember's parents had agreed to host me. That I would live with them. I sat there for a while, and then just cried. Cried for what seemed to be an eternity. My parents stayed with me, hugging me, letting me cry. That day I cried myself to sleep.
The feast of the exile came the third day. Family friends came over, including Ember. There were sweets, heaps of fruits, foods I hadn't ever seen before. Even though they were weak, my parents had a good time. I don't remember much of it, but I think I had a good time too. I think I had let out all the bottled up emotions the day before, I had come to terms with what was going to happen.
The next morning we went to the edge of the forest at the edge of the town. I hugged my parents. They gave me one last smile. Then left.
That was the last I ever saw of them.
-o-
It is said that even after the collapse of civilization, that not all Pokemon had lost hope. That when the world had ended, a secret group had formed to bring back the world to what it once was. Rumors abounded in our village. Despite being isolated we still got some visitors. Some were lost from the other various hidden villages throughout the world. Some were adventurers, born and grown up in the harsh wilds outside the secluded parts of the world. They brought stories, and some of them brought stories of this group.
They claimed that this group called themselves the Death-Seekers. That they sought to bring true death back into the world. No one knew what they looked like. No one ever claimed to have met one. The only thing known was that they lead by some enigmatic Ninetales, and that any Pokemon that joined the group had a mark. Supposedly it looked like a red Y. It was said that they had been able to retain the knowledge of the world. That they had been able to resist the calamities to some extent, and knew something about how to end it. Supposedly they had a plan to save the world.
Many people doubt their existence. But I don't. I met one. Ember did too.
We were in the forest just generally hanging around. I had recently evolved into a Roselia, and had grown testy due to puberty. I had become mildly resentful of the watchful eyes of my adaptive Arcanine parents. They always lectured me on the dangers of the outside, always tried to coddle me, I think they felt pity for me. But I didn't want their coddling, I wanted to explore. So I began adventuring farther away from the village, seeing what was out there.
More often than not Ember joined me. She too was getting tired of the over protective care of her parents and wanted to see what was out there with me. Like me she still valued the stories from the age of heroes. While some of our classmates had settled into roles they wanted to fill. Smith, healer, baker, we still held onto our dreams. We wanted to be scouts. The Pokemon that went off into the wild, either saving lost villagers or just generally exploring the area. We still dreamed of finding treasure, or some long lost paradise that had managed to avoid the ravages of the world. Occasionally we even dreamed of saving the world.
One day we were adventuring along the forest that was nestled at the outskirts of the town. The inner section was a Mystery Dungeon, and was the only way in or out of the town from that direction. We were just wandering aimlessly, we had more or less explored every nook and cranny of that section of the forest at that point. When we heard a rustle. Then a louder rustle.
Then a Magmar burst out of the bushes running past us at full sprint. I nearly fell over trying to step out of the way. The Magmar hadn't even acknowledged our presence and was running full sprint down the road towards our village.
For three seconds we stood there. Blinking. Trying to comprehend what we just saw.
Then a loud screech echoed throughout the forest. We turned our heads and saw what the Magmar had been running from. A blighted Dragonair was flying towards at full speed. Silently floating through the forest. Had it not given a sound we wouldn't have heard it. This was the first battle I ever had against a blighted.
Ember and I quickly realized that we couldn't outrun the thing so we assumed battle positions. We had done some mock battles in class, but never had to face the real deal. My heart was pounding. I could hear excited breathing to my left.
Just as the Dragonair burst into the clearing we were in. I let loose a stun spore into its face. The Dragonair came crashing down, but quickly picked itself up with whatever flying magic it had, and faced us down. Ember had also been preparing for this moment and let loose a powerful flamethrower right at it. I saw it try to twist out of the way, but the paralysis had slowed it down. It got hit full broadside.
But the blighted were a special type of undying. Stronger than normal. Some mere burns weren't going to stop it. It wasn't going to even slow it down. Only one way to stop an undying completely. Either you burned it to ashes or you destroyed the brain.
We both knew this. Ember and I. That was the problem. So when we both saw it get hit by the flamethrower, and try to twist out of the way. We both jumped for the head and collided mid air. With us dazed the Dragonair finished twisting itself in midair. Angry, mad, and just a little singed, it let loose a powerful dragon breath in our direction. The flames engulfed me. I screamed.
My rose petals were alight with blue ethereal dragon fire.
I desperately stamped them against the ground trying to put it out. Stop the pain coursing through my hands. It wasn't until a minute later that I was able to put out the fire. By that point I regained awareness of my surroundings and heard the growling and screeching off to my side. Ember it appeared had been able to dodge the attack and had used the opportunity to jump on the Dragonair. She had latched on to the squirming serpent and was trying desperately to climb her way back up to the head. The Dragonair was not making it easy, it squirmed and twisted midair trying to shake the Growlithe off. I realized what I had to do. I started throwing razor leafs at the Dragonair to distract it, to maybe draw its attention away from the Growlithe and back onto me, maybe allow Ember some breathing space to reach the head. But it had no effect. It completely ignored my attacks. I switched over to some poison moves, hoping the caustic acids might get its attention. This fortunately had the desired effect. When the acid hit the Dragonair its flesh starting to sizzle, causing the Dragonair to cry out in pain. However in my haste some the acid had hit Ember as well. She gave a loud yelp. The sudden pain had been too much for her and she lost her grip. She was thrown off the Dragonair and landed besides me. The Dragonair stared us down. Opened its mouth and a bright ball of light started to form.
Hyper Beam.
No way were we going to survive such an attack. I saw Growlithe start to prepare a flamethrower, and I prepared an acid, hoping to maybe stop the hyper beam with our own attacks. But I think we both knew that wasn't going to be enough. A hyper beam from a dragon Pokemon? That was going to be far too strong for us to handle.
We were goners.
Or at least so we thought. Suddenly a massive Fire Blast hurtled by overhead, and hit the Dragonair's hyper beam head on. The fire blast was apparently strong enough to detonate hyper beam the Dragonair had been forming. The resulting shockwave from the explosion rippled across the battle field. Sending us flying back. When we sat up, we saw the Dragonair fall to the ground. The explosion tearing its head apart. Destroying the brain. That Dragonair could do no more harm. Its soul was stuck in a body it could no longer move.
We looked over our shoulder at who sent the Fire Blast and saw the Magmar from earlier. He was still heaving from his sprint earlier, it was clear by the limped pose and heavy breathing he had been running for a while.
He sat down on the grass and we crawled over next to him.
"Thanks," he said
"Who are you?" I asked.
"Me? I'm a nobody, just a traveler passing by. I was going through that there Mystery Dungeon when that Dragonair musta seen me and started chasing me. I'm strong but even I didn't think I could fight a Dragonair on my own. Heck had it not been for its own hyper beam detonating, it might have won agaisnt all three of us. I owe you a great deal friends."
"Oh, you're a traveler? Where you from?"
"Oh nowhere in particular, you know how it is. I go from place to place. Avoiding the blighted. Avoiding the things-that-should-not-be. I recently heard rumors of a crystal cave in the area, and thought that might be a pretty sight to see. Not much of those left in the world, not since the blight took over. You know anything about a crystal cave?"
I looked over at Ember. She gave me a small shrug.
"No, I don't think we have any crystal caves in the area."
"Shame. Might be farther along the valley." He stood up. "If you do find something, an Electabuzz might come by here shortly. Please tell him if you find anything, it's of much greater importance than you might realize."
He pulled his cloak over his shoulder, set the corpse of the Dragonair on fire, and left. It was from this angle we saw what was on his cloak.
A red Y.
-o-
It is said that the things-that-should-not-be were a punishment sent upon the world by the Legends. That they had decided that the world was wicked and needed to be taught a lesson. Others believe that it was the hubris of Pokemon. That in some vain attempt to reconnect with the spirit world, that some Pokemon accidently opened the sky-scar. Others say that the sky-scar is actually an opening into the abyss. That the things-that-should-not-be are a manifestation of the darkness within the hearts of Pokemon. That the things-that-should-not-be are a manifestation of the world's evil.
I don't think that they are truthfully. Nobody in our village does. The only Pokemon that seem to believe this are travelers that come by. It is true that a lot of the things-that-should-not-be are terrifying, a lot of them can kill you if you aren't careful, and a lot of them can drive you insane from their mere presence. But very few are malignant.
Honestly I just think that they're living their lives just like us. That they can't really control what they do, that they don't go out of their way to make our lives a living hell. It's funny, they've been around for so long that Pokemon just got used to them. Maybe back in the day mon saw a need to rid the world of their presence, but outside of a few really nasty ones I could definitely see a world with both Pokemon and things-that-should-not-be.
Some of them aren't even that bad. One of the better ones even graced our town for our graduation. Ember and I had pursued our dreams and had attached ourselves to some of the local scouts the town had. We learned their trade, how to pay attention, how to explore dungeons, how to fight the undying and the blighted. We learned the difference between an undying and the blighted. We learned what to look for to determine what a thing-that-should-not-be did, whether we could fight it or not. We learned of the world outside of our town. We learned of our trading partner, a town hidden deep within the mountain. We learned of the trade routes that passed through our town. How our town fit into the last remnants of civilization, barely holding on.
Our last test was a rescue mission that we had to complete on our own. In our case one of our fliers had noted a group of travelers being harried by the ferals in the dungeon. Our flier had gone to contact them and discovered that they were lost. Apparently they had been sidetracked and had no idea where they were. The flier noted that we were a safe haven nearby, and had come back to contact us. It was a tough mission, but doable. Ferals weren't undying, they were living like the rest of us, so they could be more easily dealt with. We learned that the group had been beyond the mystery dungeon that hemmed in our town from the south. They were currently somewhere on a hill, camping out, waiting for us. It took us awhile to get to them. We had to be sneaky through the mystery dungeon. We were strong at this point, but the first thing you learned is that while undying where not that powerful, there was enough of them to wear you down. You wanted to avoid fights or the ruckus might attract more undying, causing you to enter a never ending cycle of undying and ferals coming after you. After making our way through the Dungeon we made it onto the plains and managed to locate the group. The hardest part came next. Sneaking through a dungeon with a large group was next to impossible, so we just had to make a beeline for it. We led the charge hoping that we wouldn't encounter a big enough group of ferals to challenge us. Fortunately we didn't, and we made it out the other side.
With a successful rescue under our belt, we were formally invited to join the rescue division of the scouts. Our graduation was held back three days to make it align with the summer solstice. An interesting event to be sure, but made special by a certain thing-that-should-not-be visiting our town. For as long as anyone can remember it-that-is-the-shadow-of-the-forgotten passed through our town every summer solstice. It was something of a minor celebrity, and its coming was actually a minor holiday for us. See it-that-is-the-shadow-of-the-forgotten is just that, a shadow. Each Pokemon sees something different as it passes by, for it has the outline of things we had forgotten. So every year mon lined the streets and watched it pass by, looking at the shadowy outline and trying to puzzle out what it represented. If you remembered what it was you were looking at, that part of the shadow disappeared. It was something of a game to see if anyone could remember everything, and thus make the entire shadow disappear. So far no one had claimed success.
I remember that time, Ember, recently evolved into an Arcanine, and I had dutifully lined the streets and watched the shadow pass through the center of town. Some things I remembered, the root I had tripped over, our old flower bushes. Other things I couldn't remember, one appeared to be a stone, another was an outline of a Pokemon. An Amoongus maybe? I couldn't remember where I had seen an Amoongus before. I think I did quite well that year, the shadow had significantly reduced in size when I saw the last of it leave.
I think it was a poetic end. Watching the past leave, and with my new status as a scout, a new future coming in.
-o-
It is said long ago that the legends walked among us. That despite their rarity it was not unheard of for the legends to grace the worlds with their presence. It was said that long ago they joined Pokemon in the world in the fight against the undying and the things-that-should-not-be. It is not known what happened to them. Some say that they fell just like the rest of the Pokemon who opposed the initial waves. Some say that they lost hope and abandoned this world, living in some hidden paradise, free from the ravages of the world. Some, however, say that they are responsible for the blighted.
Some say that they are a disease sent by the legends to punish a wicked world. Some say that they are merely agents of the legends, there from preventing the horrors of the world finding their hidden utopia. Some even claim the blighted are our guardians, sent by the legends to defend the world from the things-that-should-not-be.
All that is known is that when the world lost touch with the legends, the blighted came upon the world. That they came from the ocean. That they overran the holdouts that had stood against the things-that-should-not-be. Worst of all they were seemingly immortal. The blighted were special. They were undying, but had some sort of special disease. They were distinguished by putrid yellow lines that crisscrossed their bodies. Some say it was a fungus, some say it's a mutation. All that's known is that the blighted are special. For they can regenerate. Even a blow to the brain does not stop them, for that regenerates as well. The only way to stop a blighted is to burn it to ashes.
Finally, rumor has it their still somewhat intelligent. Whatever mental degradation affects the other undying, affect the blighted less. Some have even said that the blighted can talk, that they can be reasoned with, negotiated with. They say that they are actually organized.
They say they have a god.
They call her the Blight Queen.
This is of course all dangerous lies, the blighted attack on sight, no one I knew had ever seen a blighted speak, let alone act in a reasonable way. I have seen them for what they really are.
I remember.
I remember that cursed day.
I remember walking through that cave. Ember and I. A recent rockslide had revealed it, no one had any idea it was there. Everyone else was on a mission, so it was up to us to go check it out. The cave was uninteresting, but it went on for a quite some time. A small river flowed through it, probably the river that gouged it out of the mountainside over the years.
We followed it, and followed it, and followed it. Truthfully we had lost track of time. But we were curious, certainly something had to be at the end of this cave? So we kept going. I remember starting to question how much farther we should go. I was starting to get tired from all the walking, and it seemed like the rock walls and the river was the only thing here. I was about to recommend we turn back, when suddenly a noise. The wind. There was an opening up ahead! With renewed energy we ran forward.
A light!
We rushed towards it, nearly tripping over ourselves. We reached it, and with eyes still adjusting to the light, stared out at the valley. We were on a cliff, the river hurtling out into a small waterfall on the mountainside.
We could see the town below. The mountains in front of us. The plains that surrounded the town. The never-ending forest that stretched from the edge of the plains down the valley. I never really appreciated how big the forest was until I could see from above. I couldn't see the other edge, it truly went on forever.
"It's beautiful" Ember said, sitting down next to me.
"I know" I said sitting down as well.
It truly was. We sat there, soaking in the landscape before us. Not saying a word. The fatigues of the cave trek and the horrors of the world forgotten. Respite. If only for a moment. I do not remember how long we sat there.
I only remember what happened next.
The valley was always prone to small tremors. They weren't really a big deal. But sometimes they shook loose little rocks, which in turn loosened bigger rocks, and if it happened enough times, you'd have a rock slide. Much like the one just opened up the cave.
We should have known better to stay on that ledge. Tremors followed tremors after all. We were sitting there, and then we felt the shaking start, and then we were falling.
The ledge had given out.
It happened so fast I barely recall. I remember tumbling through the air, hitting the cliffside as I went down. I remember big furry paws grabbing me, holding me close. I remember stabilizing as Ember held me. I remember starring up at the sky as Ember flipped facing up. Then impact.
We hit the slope of the mountain and started tumbling down. We kept rolling. Ember holding me tight as we went tumbling down. Then Ember hit a tree.
We came to a sudden halt. The impact knocked the wind out of me. But I could hear the yelp of pain Ember gave. She had hit it full on with her back.
We rested there for a moment, letting the pain and bruises subside. Then I got up. Ember tried to get up with me. She tried to get up on all fours, then gave a yowl of pain, and then collapsed back down. That's when I saw it. A massive stone was lodged in one of her hind legs. It was clear even from where I was standing, that leg had shattered somewhere along the tumble.
I rushed over and started to inspect it.
"Datura what are you doing?"
"Your leg…"
"Yeah, I know. I'm fine just give me a moment."
I could hear the wince in her voice, she was not fine.
"Just give me a second, I can walk on three legs, I can get it fixed in the village."
"No wait here, it could get worse if we try to move."
"Datura, I know what I'm doing, hold on."
She again tried to stand up, this time putting all her weight into her un-shattered hind leg. I could hear her sucking in air. I could hear the rapid breaths. She was still clearly in pain.
But she stood.
One second passed, two seconds passed, three seconds passed. Then she took a tentative step forward with her front paw. Then a little jump with her back leg. When her back leg landed I could see her wince. I could see her bite her tongue. We stood there for another few seconds. Then she tried another step. Another wince. Then another step, and another, and another. The going was slow but she was starting to get used to the pain. Was starting to figure out how to walk on three legs.
So slowly but surely we started walking, Ember hobbling along while I walked slowly besides her.
Every once in a while she accidently landed on her shattered foot, and was either able to bite her tongue or give out a startled yelp.
It was tortuous going, Ember in pain, and me not able to do much about it but keep her company. We walked along the woods, going deeper in. It was going well until we reached a small river and Ember, not paying attention, stepped on a particularly smooth rock, and slipped. She fell sideways, right on to her injured leg. She gave such a yowl of pain I had to cover my ears. I rushed over to her and then stopped.
Then I heard rustling. Then something crashing through the woods towards us.
Please not here. Please not now.
I looked at Ember.
I saw the fear in her eyes.
I took up a defensive posture. Standing between Ember and whatever was coming our way. She saved me, so now it was time to return the favor.
I could feel my heartbeat increasing again. Time slowed down. I could feel every second crawling by. No sounds but my breathing and the crashing in the forest. It was somewhat surreal. We were standing there silently one moment, and then kicking into action the next. The Pokemon burst out of the bushes, it was a blighted Exxegutor. I immediately let loose a stun spore, which latched onto the Exxegutor. The stun spore affected it immediately, and the forward momentum and its muscles tensing up in paralysis caused it to trip and crash into the ground. I immediately got into action, and started spraying it with acid. Ember doused it in a flamethrower. We did good damage. But it wasn't enough. Even with some of its palm leaves on fire and acid eating into its bark, it was clearly still in good shape to fight. Clearly enraged it stampeded towards us. I sent another acid, but it didn't do enough. It slammed into me, sending me flying. I saw another flamethrower pass under me as I was flying through the air. The flamethrower set the Exxegutor even more on fire. Its palm leaves being burned away. I slammed into the ground, tumbling a good 8 feet before coming to a stop. I stood up and winced. The bruises were starting to add up. My arms were sore. So were my legs. The Exxegutor seemed to be momentarily paralyzed, probably the effect of the stun spore. I pointed my arms towards the Exxegutor and started absorbing from it. It didn't do much damage, but it refilled my energy a little. I was feeling better and better. But then the Exxegutor seemed to overcome its paralysis, and its eyes started glowing. I felt myself being lifted into the air, and I saw Ember do the same. Psychic. We were stuck there, in midair, floating helplessly. Then what felt like a vice grip started to squeeze my body. It felt like the pressure around me increased tenfold. I started to feel a migraine. I tried to move but the psychic was too strong. Even on fire, the Exxegutor was more than a match for us. Then the Exxegutor tensed up, the stun spore working its magic once more.
We dropped to the ground. Me with an oof, and Ember with another loud yelp. I got up, but felt tired and bruised. The migraine hadn't gone away. I could see tears of pain in Embers eyes. I noticed a slim trickle of blood coming out of her mouth. She had been biting her tongue this entire time.
Then the Exxegutor regained its mobility, and still on fire, ran into the nearby stream, extinguishing the flames. The blight that crisscrossed its body started to glow, and the bark that had been eaten through by the acid and the palm leaves that had burnt off began to regenerate.
We would have to faint it and then burn it. Or somehow destroy its body in prolonged combat.
I readied another acid. But then I heard more rustling in the bushes. The battle had attracted attention. More ferals, and even some undying were prowling the edge of the battlefield. We were no longer alone.
The fight was becoming more dangerous. I readied another acid
"Datura."
I stopped and looked over at Ember.
"You should go home, I can handle this."
What?
"What? We're barely beating this Exxegutor together! There's ferals prowling on the edge of the forest. There's no way you can handle this on your own! Who's going to help you if you slip again. You're in no…"
"Datura, I know what I'm doing."
"No you clearly d…"
An egg barrage hit us. Sending us flying again. We both landed near a bend in the river.
"Datura, please, I know what I'm doing. Let me handle this."
"What no! Come on you remember the training, you never leave anyone…"
"Datura, I remember the training, please I'm begging you. I can handle this."
"No you can't. Not in your condition."
"Datura, I know the position we're in. Go. I. Can. Handle. This."
I remember it was at this moment I figured it out. She had been putting on a brave face. Doing a pretty good job at it too. But it was this point I saw the tears in her eyes. It was at this point I realized that there had been a slight warble in her voice.
She knew.
She knew that we weren't going to win this. We were too worn out. Too many enemies closing in.
She knew she couldn't run in her condition. She could barely walk before.
She knew that there was no scenario that she made it out of there in one piece.
This was her way of making sure I did.
Time slowed down. I knew she was right. The last and hardest lesson they teach you when joining the scouts is to not be the martyr. They would rather have one mon come back then none at all after all. Didn't make doing it any less easy.
A million thoughts flew through my head. Maybe I could fight it out? Should I try to cover for her while she limps away? She's right though the situation is hopeless. Would I ever forgive myself if I left her? Would she ever forgive me if I didn't go?
I took a deep breath. She had my back for 30 long years. She never second-guessed me when she wanted to do something. She was right, we couldn't make it, but I could. The least I could do for her is put on a brave face, and make her final moments worth it.
I swallowed, and put on a smile.
"Alright. I just want to say, thank you, you truly were the best partner one could've wished for."
She smiled.
"I don't think" *sniffle* "I could've asked for a better partner myself Datura. Now go."
I ran.
Through the river and into the woods.
My eyes blurry with tears. I stumbled a few times from tripping over roots. Tripping over rocks. I could hear the battle in the background growing fainter as I ran. The fire crackling. The roars of the blighted. The cries of the ferals.
Then I hear a loud crack.
A loud yelp.
Then nothing.
I fell on my knees.
Curled up on the ground, and cried.
Eventually I picked myself up, and made it back to the village. My eyes were puffy. I walked with a noticeable limp. I didn't even stop to give a report to the scouts. I just went straight to bed, and cried myself to sleep for the second time in my life.
The next day I returned to the scouts. I don't think anyone had the heart to ask me what happened. They knew. Stuff like this happened all the time. So they quietly reassigned me a new partner. A Lombre that had recently joined, and gave me a card for the local healer.
Afterwards I heard rumors of an Arcanine undying with a broken leg that wandered that section of the forest near the mountain.
In maybe the one sign of acknowledgements from the Scouts of what had happened, they never assigned me to that section of the woods ever again.
I'm grateful. I want my last memories of her to be the proud and upstanding partner that I knew. Not the mindless beast that every undying inevitably becomes.
-o-
The town had great respect for elders. Between the things-that-should-not-be, the undying, and especially the blighted, the world is unkind to the living. Thus, those that make it 60 years of age are given the title of Elder. There's a big celebration, making it to 60 is rare after all, and that means that the Pokemon in question was either extremely lucky, or incredibly skilled.
Elders in the town were the leaders. They formed a council for the town and made decisions and provided expertise when necessary. After all the world is an unforgiving place and only those that had survived it could be trusted to make the right calls.
My eldership confirmation ceremony was a festive affairs. A lot of my scout comrades showed up. We traded old stories, talked about the future, gave our thoughts on the current batch of scout recruits.
I had a good time.
I remember stealthily leaving the party when it got too rowdy and went to the edge of the plains and stared out across it.
The stars were twinkling in the night sky, and the full moon casted a beautiful silver sheen on the forest. I reflected on my life.
I had some regrets. I had always had doubts about whether I should have left Ember. Occasionally I would dream about it. The fire. That blighted Exxegutor. The ferals at the edge of the forest, closing in. I knew I made the right choice, but it certainly didn't feel that way.
I wished she were here.
Despite that I had some good moments. I enjoyed my time as a scout, and I had very few regrets in joining them. Although the high point was definitely my time with Ember, the Lombre was a chill dude, and although we never quite got that deep friendship, I thoroughly enjoyed his company.
All in all, I had a good run. I think Ember and my parents. Wherever they may be would be proud of what I did with my life.
I poured some Pinap wine into a cup I brought with me.
I held it up to the moon.
"This one's for you Ember. This one's for you mom and dad."
I drank it, and spent the rest of the night staring at the night sky, content with what I had, content with what I had done.
Then I went to bed before sunrise, after all I had a town to help lead.
-o-
I remember.
I remember that day.
I remember that feeling I woke up with.
Like my body wasn't quite there. I could still feel my body, but it was like I was a stranger occupying it. Like my body and soul had disconnected.
I looked down at my hands. Some of the petals had begun wilt. I looked in the mirror.
My normally green sheen had begun to dull. Some brown and grey had started to creep in.
I had died.
The curse of eternity would keep my body and soul connected, but soon my mind would begin to deteriorate.
The time for my exiling had come.
It was like a blur. The festivities and goodbyes had all happened. But it all felt meaningless to me. I would be trying to "kill" them soon. I would be the enemy. I knew that this day would inevitably come. But I still didn't know what to do.I merely walked down the road. Devoid of thoughts, after all what good would they do me now? I wonder if this how my parents felt, walking down the road. Not sad, just resigned. I stopped at the edge of the forest that became a mystery dungeon.
So this was it?
This was the meaning of my life? Be a scout, then turn into a mindless undying?
Part of me wanted to turn back, but deep down I knew that was impossible. I would be attacked on sight. Might as well as go as deep as possible, get as far away from the living as possible.
I took a deep breath
Took a step forward.
Then a portal opened up above me and a screaming Shuppet carrying the biggest book I had ever seen came dropping out, right on top of me.
Datura's Field guide to Outsiders: it-that-is-the-shadow-of-the-forgotten
Not much to say about this one. Everything you need to know is in the name. It is an entity that is composed of the shadows of everything you had forgotten. If you forgot about your favorite plushy, its shadow will show up in this outsider when you look at it. As a two dimensional being this thing is completely harmless, and should you ever ever come across it, you should take the time to reflect on your past. See how much of your life you can rediscover.
