Meryl the Minun's Story

"Any sign of anyone?"

Crimson watched Sarik analyze, the lower the Power Scope. "Nope. No sign of anyone."

"This is bunk," Tag walked up to Crimson. "Why are we moving so slow?"

"Because this isn't normal," Crimson responded, looking around at the rest of the group. "I have no idea where we are, but it's certainly not the Isle. So I don't know who or what we're going to encounter. And if we do have to fight, I want to be ready for it. Wouldn't you all?" Sarik, Pert, and Meryl nodded their heads. Tag sighed.

"Okay, I guess so," Tag answered.

"Do you think the rest of the Guild know where we are?" Sarik asked, uncertainty filling his voice. Sarik went back to looking through the Power Scope as they trekked.

Crimson thought for a moment. "I don't know, but we did tell them where we were heading. Seema will send a rescue party, don't worry. For now, we have to focus on getting back."

"Well I hope that it's not Dooma and his group," Meryl muttered. "They'll probably brag about it."

"Wait, hold on," Sarik stopped the group. Crimson made a motion for them to stay here and went up to where Sarik was. "What's up?"

"Group of six humans, up ahead," Sarik reported, keeping his Power Scope trained up ahead. Luckily for Crimson's group, the five were out of sight. "And they look gritty."

"Hmm..." Crimson looked around at the rest of the group, then back in the direction of the humans. "What are they doing?"

"It appears they're having an altercation of some sort," Sarik responded. "The entire group is tense. They have tech that I've never seen or begun to contemplate before. And they have a LOT of it."

"What?" Crimson motioned for the Power Scope so that he could see. Sarik gave it to him. Tag, Pert, and Meryl approached, but slowly. "What's going on?" Tag called out. "You guys okay?"

"Yeah, we're fine," Crimson called back and examined the group. Sure enough, the amount of tech he could see on them was immeasurable. He wanted to learn all of it. "So, any plan of action?"

"I say we stay out of it," Sarik immediately retorted. "It's not our fight. We shouldn't get involved."

Crimson lifted a brow. "Come on now. We've been in the same group for this long and you think that I'm gonna let this opportunity go? We could learn from that batch of tech they have there."

Sarik shook his head. "I'm as curious about it as you are, but we don't know what it does. For all we know, it could be some extremely advanced Pokeball thing. I am NOT becoming a slave, I promise you that. It's not worth the risk of the group's safety."

Crimson pondered the thought for a moment. "You're right. It's not worth losing the entire group over. So you guys stay behind and hidden. I'll give you the signal if I need your help. I'm going to at least give it a shot."

"Crimson..." Sarik started.

"Don't worry," he reassured. "I can handle it. It's not like I haven't done something like this before. It just takes a little elusiveness." He winked at Sarik and turned to the rest. "Stay hidden for a little while. I'll be back soon."

With that, he tapped into the shaded region of his mind and transformed. Suddenly, his fur was black, his fire-lit tail becoming sleek and whip-like. His eyes were a dark gray, thank goodness. He didn't want them to turn red again.

"Do any of you have a PT, just in case I need to talk to them?" Crimson asked. The group shook their heads. "Alright, then I'm off."

"Go get 'em!" Pert called as Crimson left. Crimson smiled. Never can get used to that optimism, he thought.

Tag, Sarik, Pert, and Meryl left the path and went into the trees, hidden from view. Sarik still had his Power Scope on the group. Crimson also stayed in the trees, using his fur and the shadows to keep hidden. As he approached the group, he could hear the voices.

"I don't see so what is so strange about to partially naked human adults in the middle of the woods. I mean given that she just referred to my tool as a perfect specimen that she raised of course. Also as you earlier saw I fell from the sky so I doubt I've been here too long trying to seduce this lass right here." Merek's voice stood firm hiding his would be laughter as held the most serious of faces.

His hand however did rest on the pommel of his blade at the arrival of the man. He eyed the man and his power weaponry with little disdain he had his own tricks to deal with such things.

Grapple chuckled slightly. "Raise... the perfect... specimen." He then shook his head, though he had still not gone for the trigger of his weapon. What he did do is surreptitiously toggle the setting to wide.

When it came down to it he wasn't familiar enough with non-chaos Necromancers to make the distinction. As far as Grapple was concerned, this was going to go bad before it got any worse. Directing his attention to the babbling man, he took another long drag of his lho-stick.

"No need for that, sir," he intoned, gesturing lightly to the naked man's waist. "I've no intent of bringing death here just yet."

Directing his attention back to the woman, his expression turned serious. "Does the name..." he shuddered. "Nurgle.. mean anything to you?" The word left an awful taste in his mouth, judging by his disgusted expression and tone.



Tiger was watching from the underbrush; as far as he knew, completely undetected. Grapple had left his comm-bead on, with its secure channel linked directly to Tiger's own. Once the talk of specimens and raising was initiated, Tiger realized the situation might be cause enough for him to actually prepare to fire if either of the strangers advanced on Grapple.

Although he was very much focused on the goings-on, he intended to ensure that the situation remained secure for Grapple. The two were possibly enough to take out a surprised Nurgling and... whatever the hell the man was, but if they had allies in the area it could go bad quickly.

Nikita was completely taken back at the idea that her mention of raising the dead meant this man’s…’tool’. She gagged, her face going an even brighter shade of crimson as her shoulders hunched over for a moment. Nikita could hardly keep herself from actually vomiting at the idea of laying with the male who had fallen from the sky and, as such, missed the male turning his weapon onto wide Not that it particularly mattered. IF need be she still had enough residual power left over to o a few quick spells that may help her from the worst effects of his gun – since she could see it right in front of her.

At the question, the name, her face fell into confusion, blue eyes wide, “Nurgle?” she asked, confused. She had never heard of it, of him.

“Is he a necromancer as well?”

"I don't see so what is so strange about two partially naked human adults in the middle of the woods. I mean given that she just referred to my tool as a perfect specimen that she raised of course. Also as you earlier saw I fell from the sky so I doubt I've been here too long trying to seduce this lass right here."

Crimson watched as the man with the cross on his chest talked with the man with the blinking projectile contraption, ignoring the girl wearing black for a moment. She was the only one not wearing metal. Who were these guys?

"Raise... the perfect... specimen." the Blinking Man responded, "No need for that, sir. I've no intent of bringing death here just yet."

Crimson looked down and saw that the Cross Man had his hand on his weapon, what looked like a flat, pointy version of his Power Bat. Crimson looked at his sash, making sure his own tech was still in there.

"Does the name..." he shuddered. "Nurgle.. mean anything to you?" He was speaking to the Woman in Black.

The Woman in Black looked uncomfortable, as if she was embarrased to be here right now, surrounded by all these people in metal clothes. Was it all tech? Crimson wondered. Did the metal actually have a purpose or were their clothes made like that?

"Nurgle?" the woman answered, confused. “Is he a necromancer as well?”

What was a Necromancer? A Guild, a type, an occupation? Crimson had so many questions and no real way to ask them.

It was then that he spotted another metal man from across the path, surveying the situation, like he was. He was well disguised. Crimson wouldn't have seen him had a gleam not come from the place the other metal man was hiding. The luster metal had gave him away, but from what it appeared, only he saw it. He wondered if Sarik could see this man as well. He wonder what his purpose was. He wondered if the hiding Metal Man even saw Crimson.

No, he trusted his black furred self. In this state, very few could detect him in the shadows. And this forest was dense and thick, unlike the open forests he was accustomed to seeing. It was eerie, but conventional.

He continued to watch the group from up close. Meanwhile, Sarik and the others hung back, feeding off of Sarik's reports.

"Okay, it looks like they're all focused on one man, who's eye is covered with something," Sarik reported. "It looks tense,"

"What's Crimson doing?" Pert asked.

"I don't know," Sarik replied. "I can't see him."

"I wish I could change types..." Meryl whined.

"As well," Grapple mimicked. "So you're a.. Necromancer?" He pondered the word; it sounded heretical, to be absolutely certain. Certainly, if what he knew about it was true, it was a Nurglitchian thing to do.

He had begun to circle the pair of them, knowing at this point that remaining static and at ease could potentially get him killed. He needed to ensure that Tiger had an optimal shot if either of them decided to cause problems.

"You could say... he... is the greatest Necromancer known to the Imperium," he said decisively.

He stopped his patrol, placing his foot unknowingly just within the drawn circle. "Which means we may be slightly at odds."

A few blissful moments from the torment that spewed from Merek’s mouth allowed Nikita to compose herself. Sure, she was nearly naked on a path leading into a spooky forest, with power still tingling in the air, and two armed men around her. It didn’t matter though because she was calm and in control, for the moment. Fixing Grapple with her pale blue eyes she felt a white brow arch along her forehead. The ultimate necromancer? That sounded pretty horrible, to be honest.

Nikita was still very low level – she could do zombies and skeletons, a few spells to leech energy and help to protect her, but she wasn’t able to raise armies or much more – yet. That, of course, was one of the reasons she was out here perfecting her ritual. She was trying to raise more and more of her power in a concentrated form, to make perfect specimens, store her power and grow as a necromancer to do more and more – without, she hoped, many more trade-offs, her hair had already turned white from the power that

“Well, tha—“

Nikita’s face went white, her eyes went wide and a pitiful half-whimper fell from her parted lips. She physically felt him stepping on the circle, and the stored power, still locked in the circle, flung her backwards towards Merek and an awaiting tree. The air was suddenly hot, the wind suddenly howling in their small clearing – and only in their small clearing, surrounding the three. It was magic, heavy, evil, magic – tangible in the air.
“You broke the circle!”

Nikita screamed the words at Grapple, face pale.

“Something’s coming!”

Something indeed was coming.
Something deadly and ancient that was simply awaiting a chance to break free of certain bonds; an opportunity granted by the mis-step of one ill-fated man.

The ground around the group began to rumble, trees groaning in anguish as the ground in the circle began to buckle, as if being sucked into a hole. This force radiated outwards, growing to consume a radius of, roughly, twenty-some feet, in a miniature earthquake. If the inhabitants did not move quickly, they may well have been consumed by what came next.

Roiling flames licked up from the cracks torn in the earth. A deep, rumbling laughter began to sound, as one immense, clawed hand jutted forth from the center of what used to be the circle. It extended to the edge of the mass of flame and crippled ground, one impossibly long limb, and another broke free of its earthy prison to go towards the other side.

"Freedom," murmured a deep, menacing voice; it sounded as if it came from all sides, below, and yet another place entirely, muffled and all-too clear at the same time. "At long last... FREEDOM!"

Finally the soil and stone relented, trees were toppled and the immense form began to heave itself from the detritus. And an immense creature it was, covered in black, chitinous scales. Its eyes and teeth were a bloody, deep red, burning with fury as if made of molten steel.

It fixed its gaze on Nikita, the foul visage spreading into a most unsettling grin. "Little thing," it said, its tone impossible to recognize as mocking or coddling. "You are to blame, to praise... to sacrifice."

With these words it broke free massive wings from the earth, spreading them to a truly immense span, and starting to heave itself even further from the chasm it had torn on arrival to this plane. And it laughed, deeply and darkly, echoing in the night as if walls were closing around to forsake them all.

Crimson noticed the blinky person with the blinky eye get a little too close to the Necromancer, whatever that was. Was it another breed of human that also gave them Pokemon type abilities? Crimson was open to anything, really. After all, he was an experiment of sorts.

Suddenly, wind was rushing all around him.. Crimson went behind the tree shaft and held on. The wind picked up. It wasn't too terrible and he was able to block out most of it, but the tree shifted and swayed as the howling wind blew around him, almost making him fall out. Suddenly, it was still.

Crimson peeked around the corner. The air was much hotter than before, almost suffocating. The wind had stopped for him. All was quiet. Something told Crimson that in the clearing, it was a different story.

The ground was falling beneath the group. Not waiting to see if they got out of the way, Crimson darted a little further away from the clearing, moving down towards the path he'd traveled up. He heard Freedom...At long last...FREEDOM!" He stopped when he thought he was a safe distance and turned back.

What he could only describe as the largest Pokemon he's ever seen in his entire life was shooting up from the earth with unholy glory and slow, menacing speed. The monstrosity turned and looked at the Necromancer. "You are to blame, to praise... to sacrifice."

And it continued to rise, higher and higher. It had wings, scales, and demonic looking eyes that was sinister enough without his form. Ugh.

"WOAH!" Sarik backed out of his Power Scope and stared at the thing that could easily be seen from the distance they were.

"It's...massive..." Tag couldn't contain the surprise in his voice.

"What is that?" Pert's jaw dropped.

"I don't like it," Meryl cried, "I can't watch it!"

Crimson looked back at where his group lay, then towards the direction of the beast. At this point, tech was out of the question, but something was sticking out in his mind.

Save the Necromancer...

He'd grown accustomed to his gut instinct and he'd never been wrong before. It was like a secret power he had, along wit the rest of his far fetched abilities. He'd learned to trust it.

It also wanted him to go fight that demonic looking Pokemon that overtook the majority of buildings from first glances.

How was he going to defeat a thing like that?

Well, he'd learn.

Sticking to the shadows, he observed the scene, planning exactly when he could jump into the fray. He wanted the Pokemon to expose itself and it's moves a little more before he just jumped right in. Everyone did a little research every now and then. Sorry gang, he thought, I'm going to be a little longer.

Grapple was confused by the shrieks of the woman, as he had not felt any danger up until that moment.

As was common on the battlefield, things could change with deadly swiftness, however.

When the thing first began to make its presence known, by destroying the ground around them, Grapple booked it to get out of the destroyed landscape. He would not risk being consumed by the very ground, if nothing else.

Tiger was now intently watching down the sights of his Las-gun. Whatever had occurred would not end well for the lot of them, he thought.


They both had the same thought in unison when the thing appeared; Daemon.

"You summoned a fething Daemon," Grapple exclaimed. He had made a good distance sprinting away from the destruction, but now further backed himself into the swaying trees to try and get to a more defensible position, if any such thing existed against a creature of this size. He was also the only one he knew of that might be able to deal true harm to it, with his Melta- but that was without knowing the capabilities of either the Necromancer or the man, both of whom he hoped would at least form a temporary alliance to take this thing down.

Assuming the Necromancer did not manage to gain control of it, and use it to kill him. But Grapple was not going to let anything happen without getting the first shot out.

He quickly toggled his Melta back to 'point' and let loose a blast, crying out, "The Emperor Protects," as he did so. It was an incredibly powerful weapon for an infantryman to be carrying. Twenty meters in front of him- up to and including the Daemon, and anything past it- would be consumed by a bolt of super-heated plasma. In essence a centralized fusion reaction that was pointed directly at the Daemon. Assuming it did not manage to dodge the blast, it could presumably suffer immense damage.

If nothing else the trees, rocks, and earth itself in the path, all were reduced to flames or slag in the half-second it took for the weapon to do its work; with a great 'hissing' sound as the traces of water in the air were boiled away, the following blast of energy would certainly be enough to draw some attention to Grapple.


Tiger did not fire yet. He was terrified; despite his training as a Storm-Trooper, he would not deny that fear gripped his mind. But his refusal to fire was not due to fear, but a remnant of his training.

The larger threat would be handled by the heavy-weapons team. His Lasgun, even with hot-shot, would do little more than annoy such a beast, he thought. If necessary he would do his damndest to draw its attention away from Grapple, but for now he had more specific targets in mind.

The man and the woman were both unknown. The Daemon had an obvious interest in the Necromancer, but that did not mean she would not try to barter favor with it by attacking Grapple. The man was a wild card, as well.

And Tiger was the counter-card. If either of them turned on Grapple, he had good intent to take them down with a swiftness.

Merek laughed heartily at this turn of events as the conversation was completely interrupted with the new threat and as Merek saw it a challenge to prove himself as a better warrior. His footing was good as he easily cleared the new made chasm not being weighed down by any of the bulkier armor that was on him even though it wouldn't of done much to affect his athleticism.

"Now this is what I call a fun surprise! Let us taken on this beast and parade it's body through towns." Merek's voice rising above the uproar of wind as his magic imbued his vocal chords.

In a flash of light he was suddenly in his set of phalanx armor made out of overlapping plates and larger pieces over those. For the most part the armor is a fog white with the leather straps being a dark brown and tinges of blue marking various small ornaments on the helm and armor. The sword on his hip changed to taking on the look of a two handed 16th century blade that glowed with a bit of white light. Merek was now ready to fight and he pushed off from the ground with immense power leaving his own tiny crater as he did so. His soon be attack was for not though as another voice entered above the tempest of wind.

"Seal of the Nine Sanctums: Solomon's Retort!" Aesons voice was clear and rather angry as a large swathe of clouds in the sky were suddenly pushed away from the vortex of magical energy measuring at a diameter of eight meters that sailed at the scaled beast. The magic came from Aeson who was floating in the sky with nine different seals in front of him his staff spinning before him as his magic flowed into it and from his well.

The ground rolled and buckled, dropping beneath Nikita’s feet while she, furiously, back pedaled, nearly tripping and falling upon her ass. As the demon spoke to her – spoke of sacrificing her - she had to swallow bile that climbed up her throat. Nikita was dimly aware that her entire body was shaking as fear clouded her mind, her breath starting to slip from between her pale lips in soft pants. The demon made her so afraid, and images of being sacrificed – of how he’d peel her skin from her bones, drain her of her power – nearly incapacitated her.

Seal of the Nine..

The spell shocked Nikita out of her fear, and she could think again. Pale eyes narrowed at the demon, her lips curling back from her teeth so that she could bare them at the hideous monster. She was sure it was pathetic to such a creature – that this five foot four, hundred and ten pound humanoid would dare to stand up to it. She waved a hand in front of her, quick to gather magic in her palm, allowing the magic to glow a light blue.

“We have to bind it! If you can distract it I may be able to make a new circle and trap it inside!”

There was little that could be done to distract the creature from its target; still rending the earth to ease its passage into their realm, it had no real 'legs' to speak of. In fact, it did not seem to be wholly corporeal at all. As it rose from the earth and began to move closer to the Summoner, it glanced skyward in time to see the immense beam of energy thundering towards it.

By comparison, the blast of heat and slag from the side was paltry. Neither, however, would trouble it long; the Demon's concern was the girl, and this sky-fire threatened to destroy her before it had a chance.

A shadowy fog began to form over Nikita. Centered on her and expanding to eventually encompass the Demon, it did not absorb or block the energy; no, to do such a thing would be too taxing. It simply displaced it, sent it into another realm. Suffice to say that anyone or anything attempting to pass through the veil of shadows would end up in a most unpleasant place.

But it was not large, and could be bypassed; and certainly it would not extend to the man with the gun, or any of the others in the area.

By the time the Demon had gotten under the expanding cloud, the damage could be seen; a chunk of molten gore, bone and muscle, contracting and oozing, both present and at the same time scarcely visible, from its side. The effects of the Guardsman's weapon, no doubt.

Its wings were similarly in a sorry state, practically incapable of movement anymore. Its back was charred, but still mostly intact. Somehow it had survived both attacks with little more than cosmetic damage, its shadowy form flickering and licking at the air around it, reforming even. Its laughter began to bubble up once again, resounding in the heads of all those near.

"Your paltry attempts will not keep me from my prize," it bellowed. It did not care for the airborne; they would have to pass its barrier and engage closely. It similarly did not care for the men, or the as yet unseen beasts; all of them were beneath its gaze, and would likely be wiped out by the energies of the man above.

No, its focus was almost solely on the girl. "Kind of you, Little Thing, to speak of your intent," it mocks. "But it shall avail you nothing. Submit to my law," it demanded. Its words affected the mind; any nearby could be influenced by it, and those who succumbed would feel an intense urge to allow this thing to command them further.

But it did not rely on that alone. One of its immense hands began to reach for Nikita, the shadowy appendage difficult to see, even though it would consume her sight. It did not grab to crush; but to control.

"You summoned a fething Daemon!"

Crimson heard the blinky man call out. So that's what I call this thing, he thought, carefully examining behind the safety of the trees and shadows.

Suddenly, they were on the offensive. A bold move, Crimson decided. He heard the cry of the man as he pulled out his weapon and fired a mighty blast on Daemon. In an instant, Crimson knew that the blast was heading in his direction. As of natural instinct, he leaped to the right, branch over branch. He felt the heat of the blast behind him. Then he felt the wind. It almost threw his timing off, causing him to miscalculate the jump and begin to plummet. He held his hand out and caught a lower branch, swinging himself on to it. He turned back to the battle, catching a glimpse of the newly created clearing behind him.

The metal man with a cross used what appeared to be "Armor" and spawned more metal on his body. Dang, how does he even take that weight? Crimson wondered as the man lunged forward to attack Daemon. It would actually be another voice, this one from up high, who would make the next attack. This attack came at a downward diagonal angle, was very wide and very powerful.

“We have to bind it! If you can distract it I may be able to make a new circle and trap it inside!”

The voice of the Necromancer could be heard. They had an objective. All they needed to do was enact upon it.

However, it looked like it wasn't going to be easy. Daemon summoned a cloud vortex, causing the two attacks to dissipate mid-stream. They did some damage though. It took a chunk out of the Daemon's side and also rendered his wings unusable. That mean he was less mobile and slowness was always an easy exploit for Crimson.

"Your paltry attempts will not keep me from my prize," Daemon spoke. His words were earthquakes, slightly shaking the ground around them.

"Kind of you, Little Thing, to speak of your intent. But it shall avail you nothing. Submit to my law,"

Crimson felt the familiar tug of mind control and pulled against it easily. One of the advantages of being human once was that it evolved his mind. He was more resistant to simple tricks. He wasn't invulnerable, but he did have an easier time managing through them, recovering quicker and having less impact from them. It was why status effects weren't as bad on him as they were on other Pokemon. It was why he was able to fight this with ease.

Crimson's mind began to race. He probably couldn't damage the beast until he a) reached his ultimate form and b) eliminated the cloud vortex. He could use Psychic Transmission to get himself within the cloud barrier with no incident, but how was he going to become his ultimate form? It required a massive boost of energy, either by physical means or by his own emotional adrenaline. And he'd prefer to not have to rely on the latter.

Advantages: Daemon wasn't slow, but slower. Plus, it seemed Daemon was single-minded, leaving him distracted on one single goal and thus open for a majority of attacks. What's more, he was big and Crimson was probably agile enough to maneuver and dodge around him without being hit.

Disadvantges: Daemon had immense power and resistance. He could probably take a few more of those massive blasts from the other two before he fell. He also would not be distracted easily, meaning it would take a lot of effort for Daemon to even flinch.

Could Crimson paralyze him? Not without being within the barrier, since ranged Paralysis would only go where the other beams went. He had to distract him.

Then suddenly, he got it. He would use Flatter. Since he was in Dark-form, he could use it in his current state. Also, it involved no projectiles or bodily contact meaning it would pass through the cloud vortex. So long as he was visible to Daemon, the effect would confuse him, causing him to potentially mistake the Necromancer for someone else and then shift his attention to someone else, mistaking them as the Necromancer. It wouldn't last long, but it would give the Necromancer the chance she needed to create the binding thing to trap Daemon.

So Crimson leaped out of the trees rolling on the ground and charging to Daemon and the Necromancer. He used what limited electric abilities he had in Dark-form to boost his speed, making himself a blur. When he was at the outer limits of the clouds, he used Flatter on Daemon, then quickly bounded back into the trees. If everything worked right, all they would see is a black figure moving to and away from the group, possibly getting a glimpse of his figure, but no clear look. He still didn't trust any of them.

Once more in the safety of the darkness, he strafed to the right just in case someone decided to take aim at him, turned around and looked back on what he accomplished.

Sarik pulled the Power Scope out once more just in time to see the black blur move towards the big beast.

"Crimson's doing something!" he called out.

Before anyone had the chance to respond, Sarik saw what Crimson did and turned back to everyone. "He used Flatter. He's confusing the thing."

"But why though?" Tag wondered.

"Did it work?" Pert pressed.

Sarik looked back on the scene.

"Emperor preserve us," Grapple intoned. His first blast was overshadowed by an immense orbital-grade bombardment; and even that failed to kill the creature, despite almost taking Grapple's arms off.

He staggered back away from the blast while it lasted, and then watched in horror as the Daemon continued to march forward, intent on its prize. As much as he hated to admit it, their survival may have hinged on the woman not being sacrificed for Daemon's power.

Once the initial blast from above ended, Grapple made a decision he would probably not survive to regret; but if they couldn't kill this thing, the liklihood of it hunting down the rest of the regiment seemed rather high.

"For the Emperor," he muttered, charging forward across the scorched earth. "For the Emperor," he then shouted, with much more conviction. He stopped short just inside the fog- he would not walk further under that if he could help it- and unleashed another blast from his Melta. This time, he aimed for the arm of the beast, most specifically the one out-stretched to grab the woman.

With luck and the Emperor's guidance, it would shear the limb off cleanly.


Tiger watched the events proceed from his point of cover. For a brief moment, his vision shadowed over; the words of the Daemon infected his mind, veiled the true threat. But then he returned to full clarity. He would not be so easily swayed.

It was still a matter of concern that the new arrival, flying as it was, had little care for the others' survival. If he hadn't seen Grapple charging back into the fray- like a bloody mad-man- he would have thought him dead, by the burst of energy.

As such Tiger decided that keeping his sights on this new arrival was prudent.

Mereks mind clouded momentarily at the words before he shook it off. He was a semi holy being after all it would be in bad taste for him to be taken over by a demon. Then in an instant Aeson popped into existence beside him.

"You do seem to find trouble quite a bit these days, Merek." Aeson's tone was rather stoic as he talked even in the rapidly developing situation.

"I'd like to think of it as winning the lottery. It makes the possibility of death seem less certain." Merek chimed in after Aeson.

Aeson chose not to respond as his hand raked through the open air and a ball of white fire headed towards the demonic beast. Mereks own attack was simply to dive in head first sword at the ready as it took on a red blaze of it's own. Merek was coming in slightly above the ball of white fire Aeson threw aiming to strike the beast and spread his own flames onto the hide of the creature.

Thwock! Thwock! Thwock!

At the edge of the mountains on the north side, right where the forest began, was a Chimchar. The Chimchar wasn’t acting like any ordinary Chimchar. In fact, it didn’t even seem to belong here. And he certainly didn’t seem to blend in. He seemed…odd at first glance, given what he was doing. But knowing his story would clue a bystander in on why that may be. It would appear to a great shock to any who’d heard his tale about how he came to existence, what adventures he’d already gone on, and what kind of enemies he’d fought and beaten (or been defeated by in some cases). In a sense, he just might be one of the most powerful Pokemon in existence…

And here he was…cutting down a tree.

He took a couple more practice swings against the tree with the Power Bat before truly taking aim. He aimed at the base and calculated. The tree wasn’t that thick, nor did it seem that heavy. It didn’t even look sturdy enough for climbing. And it would be perfect for firewood for the rest of the group. His Power Bat would have no problem with this one.

He swung. He put some power into the bat and watched with a giant whoosh! as the flames emanating from the bat went straight through the trunk. The tree began to fall, making a dull thud as it hit the ground. He quickly grabbed it and started dragging it towards base, away from the forest and into the mountains.

As he walked, he began to think about this world he inhabited. This was nothing like the Island of Mohka. While that island contained as much diversity on it as this one, the diversity itself was much larger and more spread out compared to here. But when an island is small, Mother Nature just makes due, he figured. Not too long a walk and he was at the camp they were setting up.

It was actually a very serene setting, one of the reasons why he’d chosen it. At the head of their camp was a spring sprouting from the rock. The water flowed straight through the camp and speared to feed off into some lake at the southern end. It was slightly enclosed with a couple exits leading north, west, and east. The south was cut off by the flowing river in between the rock walls, making a possible fourth exit should they need it. The actual base part of it was getting there. It was evident that Tag put his signature touch on the place, seeing the vines growing across the walls, and that five leaf beds were all in the corner, looking as comfortable as ever. A chest was set up on the opposite side of the room, in case they found something of worth.

They had only arrived yesterday and Crimson was already starting to call this place home.

He set down the Power Bat and grabbed a few stones in the corner, building a fire ring with them right next to the water’s edge. Chopping off the twigs first, he then proceeded to dismantle the tree stick by stick, log by log, until it was all in nice refined pieces. By that time, he heard footsteps coming from the east entrance. Looking back that way, he smiled when Tag came bursting through the entrance, carrying a pack. He’d obviously ran everywhere.

“Hey buddy. You look like you’ve been busy.”

“Yeah…” he managed between breaths, “But look…I got some…good food!” Opening the pack, he spilled out the contents, which were around seven apples, a couple Oran Berries, and a Pecha Berry.

Nodding in approval, Crimson motioned over for Tag to help him stack the firewood in the corner. As they were, they talked. “The place looks great, by the way.”

“Thanks!” the Turtwig smiled as he stacked a log and grabbed another stick, throwing it in its separate pile. “I couldn’t get Pert or Meryl to help me though. They were too busy being excited about exploring the island.”

“Where are they right now?”

“Well, it’s like I said. They couldn’t wait to start exploring the island.”

Crimson paused, a little disappointed. He was hoping they could make their first trek into the place together. But he dismissed the feeling. “They’ll be fine. They’ve got each other. That’s when they’re most powerful anyway. And Sarik?”

“Still on the mountain, keeping an eye out for anything heading our way.”

Still? Crimson stopped what he was doing at the mention of this. How long had he been at it? Granted, Sarik was the one with Power Scope, but even he needed to take a break at points. “I’ll go get him. He’s been at it a bit long. Keep an eye out here.”

He left the base by the east entrance, then made an immediate right. He started rounding his way up the mountain until he spotted the Squirtle, his eyes in the Scope, scanning the place below. When Crimson spoke, it was enough to make Sarik jump. “Y’know, you shouldn’t be up here too long. I mean, this view is a killer.”

Sarik squinted at him, “Har har. And who’s gonna watch the place in case we get ambushed or something?”

“Well we’ve been here a day. Perhaps there is no one who wants to ambush us…not yet anyway.”

“That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be prepared.”

“True,” Crimson sat down next to him, “But everyone deserves rest, Sarik. Even you.”

The squirtle thought for a moment before setting the Power Scope down next to Crimson. Looking at Sarik’s face in the sunlight, Crimson could definitely tell he was tired.

“It’s still a great view, though,” Crimson commented.

Sarik nodded in agreement, “A look to die for.”

The two stared off at the scenery below them for a couple minutes, enjoying the moment. It was warm and breezy up there. The sun beat down from a horizontal angle, telling Crimson it was already afternoon. He sighed and patted Sarik on the knee. “Go down. I got this for now.”

“Alright,” the squirtle finally relented, scooting past Crimson’s position and started making his way down the mountain. Once Sarik was out of sight, Crimson reached for the Power Scope and started looking around the mountains. Immediately regretting his decision, Crimson began fumbling with the Power Scope controls, trying to make the image a little less grainy. It was hard since it wasn’t his device nor had he been taught the mechanisms or the switches or the hoo-dads and ting-thingys.

I guess Dr. Eckels was right when he said each piece of Tech he made was fine tuned for the individual…

Giving up on the project, he decided he would try to make out whatever he captured with his own eyes and logic. He kept searching through the Scope and immediately came across something.

“What in the…” Crimson let his words fall off as he tried to find the thing again. Retracing, he came back to the original point of view. Something blurry was moving across the mountainside. He couldn’t tell what. He pushed a few more knobs and levers and miraculously it made the image clearer.

It was Dobro and Domingo. They appeared to be running their way. And from what he could tell, Dobro was holding something. Crimson couldn’t quite make out what, but from the way they were running, it had to be something good.

He scaled down the mountainside, reaching the base in less than a quarter of the time it took to climb the place. Sarik was already taking a nap in his bed. Tag was putting some sticks into the makeshift fire pit. Pert and Meryl were back too, talking to each other in the corner. The two stood up when Crimson walked into the room.

“Sorry we ran off an explored without you, Crimson!” Pert chimed, “We couldn’t resist!”

“That’s okay, Pert,” he replied, “No harm, no foul.”

“But you’ve got to check out the island. Its soooooo cool!”

“It wasn’t that cool,” Meryl called from the back, “It was alright.”

“We will all explore together later,” Crimson explained, “Right now, we may have some guest coming.”

Sarik sat up at this. “Guests?” Everyone looked Crimson's way in interest.

Crimson nodded, “Dobro and Domingo. And it looks like they found something.”

A couple of murmurs and shocks spread through the group.

“Huh?”

“Already?”

“Wow! Good for them!”

Sarik made his way over to the rest of the group. “Were you able to find out what?”

Crimson could only shrug, holding the Power Scope out to him for taking. “No, sorry. It’s your device, not mine.”

A disgruntled squirtle yanked the Power Scope out of his hand and started moving levers and controls around. “Why didn’t you have it set to the AUTO function?”

“Wait, it has one of those?”

Rolling his eyes, Sarik went back to fixing his device while the other four eagerly awaited Dobro and Domingo’s arrival. Finally, they could hear footsteps running down the west entrance pathway.

“Here they come!” Crimson told the rest.

---

“Look out! He’s crazy!”

Those were the first words to appear from Dobro’s mouth as he ran in and started running around the base. Domingo appeared right behind him with the look of pure dark determination in his eye, chasing quickly behind. “Give it BACK, Dobro!”

The rest of the team was speechless as the two started making laps around the others. It was evident that Domingo was catching Dobro.

“Guys, what is going on?” Crimson called out to them.

At that moment, Domingo managed to hit Dobro in the foot, causing him to let go of whatever he was holding and have it go flying in the air. Crimson ran to the edge of the room and caught the thing before it smashed into the wall. Examining it closely, he realized it was a Pokeball. He could only assume what he saw.

“Did…did you guys actually go and take a human’s Pokemon?”

Dobro was panting, but he could manage words. “Yeah…we did…all his…idea…something…wrong with…” his voice trailed off.

It was Domingo, despite running, spoke with a clear voice. “Yeah. We did. But if only you were there to see how brutal they were being with it. It wasn’t right.”

Crimson stared into Domingo’s eyes. That black ring around them wasn’t familiar to him. “That shouldn’t matter. It’s not our place to interfere with the human activities. You know this. Besides, it may have been over exaggerated what you saw.”

“She said…friend…I couldn’t…” came Dobro weak interjection from the other end.

“No,” Domingo kept shaking his head, “I did a good thing. I promise you that.” With each step Domingo took towards Crimson, the warning bells got louder and louder. “It was all for him, I promise.”

“Domingo, are you okay? What's wrong, buddy?” was all Crimson could reply with.

And with that, Domingo seemed to explode. Ramming at Crimson full speed he’d managed to knock the Pokeball out of Crimson’s hands before Crimson could sidestep out of the way. Luckily, a moment before, he had called to Tag “Trip him up! Now!” The log had smashed into Domingo’s leg, tossing him back as he tried to catch the airborne Pokeball and failed.

The Pokeball itself flung across the room and hit the floor on the east side, hitting the button and releasing the Pokemon from beneath. Crimson was surprised to see a Charmander pop out of the ball and was curious as to what it would do in this situation. Looking over to Domingo to see that Tag had already effectively taken care of him by tying him up with one of the "decorational" vines. "You are fast, aren't you?"

The smile on Tag's face was all confirmation Crimson needed to hear. Now he could focus. Crimson approached the Charmander...slowly...

"Hey, buddy. You alright?"

Cinder was resting peacefully in her pokeball. The battle could have gone way better but there was no way for Seraphine to know that the Jellicent was a water/ghost type. She hoped they did well enough to get into the academy. Cinder felt some turbulence in the pokeball but that was to be expected. Seraphine probably put her in her backpack. After a few hours, Cinder was taken out of her pokeball. Opening her eyes, she expected to see Seraphine, probably obsessing over how they did at the battle in a dorm room. Instead, she woke up in a cave in the mountains with a bunch of other Pokemon, most of which she didn't know the species of. The first words out of her mouth were, "where am I? And where is Seraphine?"

"Grimsley? Nandeyanen?" Touko was incredulous. One of the very same Trainers she defeated en route to the League championship, only to give it right back to Alder and continue her journey. "We'll have to catch up later. Right now, my red-headed student had her Pokemon stolen. Let's get it back. She's got my Volcarona, so she should be okay, but we can't fall too far behind!"

Touko decided that traveling on foot would be inadvisable here. So out came the collapsible bicycle, letting the taller man get a bit of a head start before attaching the chain and proceeding to stand on the pedals for some quick acceleration, easily surpassing the Elite before skidding to a practiced and sudden halt.

So many wild Pokemon. Not even Volcarona could take this many. "Seraphine! Get back! There's way too many of them for you to handle, even with my loaner!" She turned back to the Dark-type League member. "First we battle together. Then we can battle each other after this is over, okay? Katsu zo!"

Crimson was filled with concern and thought for the little Charmander. It appeared this one had barely even battled, much less knew. It might as well have been a child.

"Seraphine...I'm assuming that's your human, right?" Crimson half thought out loud, half talked to the little Charmander. "Well, uh, you see...things may have happened. I'm going to be honest with you. We may have accidentally taken you from your owner."

"What's this we thing?" Sarik chimed in, "Domingo did it." he motioned over to the tied up and now gagged Samurott.

Crimson sighed, "Yes, our friend Domingo had taken you from your home. Something happened to him that spurred this emotion to take you and we're trying to figure that out right now. We believe he was controlled. Luckily for you, our other good friend Dobro," he motioned towards the Pangoro sitting next to Domingo, "Saved you and brought you here. Now we're going to do everything we can to get you back to where you belong, buddy." He added a reassuring smile at the end.

Pert perked his ears up. "I could be wrong, but I thought I just heard someone screaming about defeating the local cuisine?"

Meryl waved him off, "Sounds like a Mankey."

Sarik walked up to Crimson. "So what do we do now?"

Crimson thought for a moment before coming up with a decision. "We split into two groups. Me and Tag will take our buddy here back to the people he was taken from. Sarik, Pert, Meryl, and Dobro stay behind and figure out why Domingo is acting the way he is."

The sudden screech of bike brakes stopped any further word that came from Crimson's mouth.

The group of five could only look and stare as three humans entered their domain. It appeared the Brunette was the leader of the pack. Crimson could only assume what this meant...

Yeah, okay, or they can come find us too...that works...

"Seraphine! Get back!"

Crimson heard these words and immediately looked towards the red-haired girl who he assumed must be Seraphine. She was the one missing her Pokemon.

"Guys, get into a fighting stance, but do NOT attack! I'm going to try something. Be prepared!"

"No enemies today, huh?" he heard Sarik mutter as he got into a combat stance. "Only you, Crimson..."

Tag stood hunched over, ready to charge if need be. Pert and Meryl stood together, side to side, amplifying their abilities. He could already feel their power resonating through the air. They would be mighty together.

Then again...they all were...even himself. They were powerful as a team...that's why they were the best Guild Team on the Island Defenders.

Dobro made a defensive stance in front of Domingo. "I don't care what he did. I won't let these guys hurt him."

"Dobro," he called to the Pangoro, "I'm going to try to make peace, but if they still attack us, if things get dicey, I want you to untie Domingo. As unpredictable as he is right now, he would need to help fight. But only as a last resort. Hopefully, we got this just the six of us."

All seemed fixed...like characters on a board. The wind blew through the space lightly, almost like nothing was alive in there. Nothing but tension.

Crimson was the only mobile soul among their entire cavalcade, walking up to the Charmander. "I guess your owner is here. Let's get you back to her."

Taking the Charmander's hand and picking up the Pokeball with the other, he walked through the room, heading straight for the three humans. "By the way, I never got your name. What was it?"

Cinder looked up at the fire monkey, still unsure about whether she should trust him. He did say that they were going to try to get her back to Seraphine. She looked over at the one that was tied up to a tree. That must be Domingo, the one that took her away. She looked at the bear beside him. At least they didn't all want to capture her. She felt a sense of relief that she would be with her human soon. "Yeah, Seraphine's my human. We were doing our entrance exam for the trainer's academy and we fought really hard." Cinder heard voices approaching. More pokemon? She turned her head. It was Seraphine and the girl they battled with! They also had a boy with them with a pokemon she didn't recognize. The other pokemon immediately tensed up as the girl told Seraphine to stay back. Seraphine summoned another pokemon, a weird, fire-flower bug thing. For a split second, Cinder felt sad. Had she been replaced? But then Seraphine looked at her, and she knew she hadn't. Cinder gave a huge smile. She noticed the fire monkey approaching her and turned towards him. "I guess your owner is here. Let's get you back to her." She happily took his hand and walked towards her human. When the fire monkey asked for her name, she answered, "Cinder!"

______________________________________________________________________________________________________


Seraphine wasn't sure she liked riding a bike tied to a pokemon she didn't recognize. She did admit though, it was faster than walking. They came up on a cave deep in the mountains. "Get back, Seraphine!" she heard Touko shout. On instinct, she summoned the volcarona. She should be prepared in case she had to fight. She looked past Touko to see a few wild pokemon, including a bulbasaur and squirtle and... Cinder! She looked around at the ones she didn't recognize until her gaze finally shifted to the one tied up to the tree. That looked like the only water type she didn't recognize, it must be the Samurott. She was filled with anger at that moment. She didn't want to "Stay back". But as she was about to protest, she noticed the monkey, which looked like a fire type, take Cinder's hand and start approaching. She made a mental note to see what kind of pokemon that was back at the academy. It looked pretty awesome. Cinder let out a cheerful "Char!" and all her anger disappated. Cinder was safe, and happy. "Wait!" she said to Touko and the boy, whose name was Grimsley apparently. She told Touko's volcarona to stay back and she started approaching the two pokemon.

"Cinder huh? That's a cool name. I'm Crimson," the Chimchar introduced, "And while I would introduce everyone on my team...well now might not seem like the best time." As he talked he saw the one called Seraphine approaching. Good, he thought.

"Well, that's a bit rude!" Tag called from his place.

"Yeah, honestly," Meryl added.

Even Pert gave a slight nod in agreement with the rest of them.

Crimson shook his head in good spirits. "Oh fine." He pointed at each Pokémon as he cycled through the bunch. "Tag, Sarik, Pert, Meryl. Are you guys happy now?"

"I thought we weren't the type who made a big deal about who we were," Tag responded. Crimson was about to give him a really? look when he saw that unmistakable grin on the Turtwig's face and realized he was being played with.

Crimson couldn't help but laugh, "Seriously? Right now you do this?"

A comical shrug was Tag's response. Guess that meant yes.

At least Seraphine was in front of Crimson and Cinder by the time their banter was finished. Crimson gave Cinder a pat on the back. "Go say hi, buddy. It was nice meeting you, even if only for a little while."

With that, he held out the Pokeball for Seraphine to take.

Cinder smiled. She could be friends with these guys, they seemed pretty cool. Well, except for Domingo. "It was nice meeting you guys too! Maybe I'll see you around sometime." She watched as Seraphine took her pokeball and put it away. Then, she closed the gap between her and Seraphine quickly as Seraphine bent down to pick her up. She could feel Seraphine hug her tighter than normal, and for a few seconds longer. She hugged back, although her short arms could not envelope Seraphine like Seraphine's could her. Seraphine said, "I missed you so much. I was so worried." Cinder replied "I missed you too. There was no need to be worried though. These guys are awesome." She hoped they got into the academy. She was excited to meet other pokemon, especially if they were as awesome as these guys.

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________


Seraphine heard some chatter among the pokemon, and while they all seemed guarded, it seemed like good-natured chatting. Cinder seemed to enjoy the conversation, as she even participated a little. The pokemon that was leading Cinder to her held out Cinder's pokeball. She smiled, took it, and put it away. She wasn't going to put Cinder up for a little while. Then, she bent down to give Cinder a hug, who came rushing towards her. She hugged her pokemon for quite a few seconds. She even felt tears come to her eyes. "I missed you so much. I was so worried." Cinder gave a heartfelt "Char cha charmander!" which she could only interpret as she felt the same. "I think we've had enough commotion for one day. Let's get back to the academy to await the results." She turned to the pokemon that had given Cinder back. "Thank you so much for giving Cinder back. It was awesome meeting you all." She continued to hold Cinder as she turned around and walked back towards Touko and Grimsley.

Crimson smiled as the reunion took place right in front of him. It was that warming feeling that gave him all the gratitude of being an Isle Defender...the ability to help others. Every Pokémon he saved, every wrong they righted in the world...well, in any world. It was what he lived for nowadays.

Well, that and the cool powers and abilities he had so many of...that was also a nice perk.

He stared Seraphine straight in the eye as she spoke, finding sincere gratitude there as she spoke to him. If only he could respond...for the zillionth time of this journey, he wished he'd brought a couple of Dr. Eckel's prototype communicators just so he could speak to the humans. The Pokespeak barrier was really annoying at times.

He winked at Seraphine before walking back to his position on the field, awaiting what the others would do now that they got their Pokémon back.

"So, you guys still up for fighting?" Crimson called to the rest of the group.

"I was in the middle of a nap before all this stuff started going on. No!" Sarik's response was immediate.

"I could use a fight...haven't seen one in a while," Tag remained poised.

Crimson chuckled, "You just want an excuse to run around a bit more."

"So what if I do? Besides, doesn't that legendary look exciting?"

Crimson stared at the boy's Pokémon he was riding for the first time. "While I wouldn't say fighting it is ideal, it looks cool."

"Oh come on! You've beaten harder."

"I've lost to easier."

"Still, don't you think so?"

Crimson could only smirk. The truth was the challenge excited him, just like it did when he'd fought Zane or Mewtwo or Neeko. The barrier was he always had a job to do and he put it first. In this case, he had a job to do...bring Cinder back.

Now that he'd done that, the legendary looked more enticing than ever. But he wouldn't provoke a fight. It just wasn't in him.

So he would wait, and he would make sure the rest of his teammates waited until the humans decided what they wanted to do. Most likely, they got what they wanted...they would leave.

"We've gotten what we came for. Good job, team. Let's head back. I'll just ask for my Volcarona back, thank you...and Grimsley, return that...THING this instant! Just seeing it gives me the creeps! We need to talk. Badly." A storm cloud practically accompanied her as the three humans walked back, successful in their mission.

Back at the Academy, Touko was positively livid after taking a peek at her Pokedex. "You did WHAT?! You caught a fucking GOD OF DEATH? Grimsley, have you completely lost your damn mind? You're supposed to challenge Trainers that get that far, not completely obliterate them! If Grand Champion Iris knew what you've done, I'm sure she'd call you up to League HQ and give you the beatdown you deserve for getting all high and mighty! Unless you intend to take her throne for yourself?"