//------------------------------// // Letters and a Hunter's new companion (Day 1) // Story: A New World, A New Conflict // by Evowizard25 //------------------------------// Commander Sev is what to many creatures would call, an opportunist. Actually, they call him a lot of things, behind his back and too his face, but that doesn’t matter to anyone right now. What matters was that General Ag was standing triumphantly over a downed Gigalith, which was currently being tied up by the guard. Sev couldn’t but rejoice at his luck. ‘Arceus be praised,’ he thought to himself. He was assuredly Arceus’s chosen warrior. Luck was with him yet again. “What the hay is going on?” Ahmos shouted, obviously perturbed by the scene. “Isn’t it obvious?” Sev spoke up. “I was so sure the general of our fair king would understand the scene before him. You must see the glorious victory MY army has achieved. Yes, praise the army that I created. No, just praise me. FOR NOTHING….” “SEV!” Ag roared in anger, stomping over to him. Her footsteps shook the ground. “What is going on here?” Sev didn’t back down when faced with her anger. He feared nothing. “We have been…relocated. Obviously this is the work of humans.” “Humans?” Ag growled. “Are you sure? It could be one of your experiments. Remember that anti-human ray?” “Installing a self-destruction button is a necessity,” Sev hissed in agitation. “What if it wound up in human hands?” “A weapon that can only harm humans, if it even worked, would be useless to them,” Ag threw her arms up in exasperation. “That again shows how little you know of the human menace,” Sev chortled. “Oh my dear general, I still have so much to teach you.” Ag sighed and didn’t say anything more. “Commander Sev,” King Trotankhamun called out. Sev’s smile grew. ‘No doubt the king is coming over to congratulate my efforts. A parade in my honor will….’ Sev’s eyes widened when he saw the sight before him. His general of technology and intellect, Loom, was being pushed towards him at the end of a spear held by the king himself. A large bulging sack lay over his shoulder. “One of your soldiers was caught stealing,” the king glared at the Commander. “Stealing is the wrong word…” Loom sweat-dropped in nervousness. “Oh now you can talk,” Trotankhamun growled. “Why weren’t you doing that a minute ago? Afraid to come clean? Were you playing stupid?” “Because he couldn’t talk to you,” Lia spoke up. “I’ve been translating everything we’ve been saying. They were just out of range.” “Translating?” The young king sighed. “Oh that’s delightful. Now we have a language barrier to worry about.” “I’m sure your kind will learn Pokémon in no time,” Commander Sev said. ‘Yes, for it shall be soon the number one language of the area. No longer will these…non-Pokémon have to endure the human tongue upon their lips. AND I SHALL LEAD THIS MOVEMENT! Because I need to lead everything, or else someone’s going to get into their head that they’re almost as good as me. May Arceus curse the foolish fool’s soul for such foolish thoughts of foolishness. Of course, I know he will. He loves me far more than any other being on the planet. Any that dare challenge my awesomeness are sure to be considered vermin, whether I know of them or not. He is most definitely smiling down on me right now.’ “Hey,” Crusty stomped up to Loom, causing the grass Pokémon to cower. “That’s my stuff!” “I….” Loom gulped. “I was only trying to study…” “Steal,” Ag put in. Loom glared at her. “’Study’ them. I mean, such fine craftsmanship. I’ve never seen anything like it.” “Honeyed words aren’t going to work on me,” Crusty folded up his arms and glared at him. “Give me them back and I’ll forget about this whole thing.” General Loom sighed. “Fine,” he handed the sack back to Crusty. “Does that mean we don’t get a reward for helping you, General Loom?” Zig and Zag spoke up. “Helping you?” Crusty asked. “I DIDN’T….” Loom started. Ag cut him off. “He used them to lure you away so he could pilfer your wares.” “Using kids like that?” Crusty held up his hammer. “I ought to pound some sense into you.” “I swear I did it with the best intentions,” General Loom whimpered. “I was just trying to help ‘the cause’. Surely Commander, you must see where I came from.” He looked over at Sev with a pleading expression. “I do,” Commander Sev nodded. “You are forgiven,” Loom sighed in relief. “But you must aid this Crusty in his workshop. He will be making armor for us.” “Like we need it,” Ag muttered, more to herself really. Loom’s eyes sparkled. “A chance to watch a new metal working technique?” He actually squealed and started hopping about. “I would like nothing better.” Crusty growled. “Fine, but if he so much as snatches a nut, I’m skinning his hide.” “I think we can live with that,” Commander Sev said. “We only need his brain after all.” Loom’s eyes widened in fear. ___________________________________________________________________________________ King Trotankhamun watched the exchange in silence. That was odd for him, since he usually loved to converse with others, but now….He had far too many things on his mind to worry about. ‘This is all happening to quickly for me to hoofle. How the hay am I going to deal with this situation?’ He sighed. ‘If only Celestia were here. She’d know what to do.’ Suddenly his ears perked up. “Of course. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?” He bolted inside a nearby tavern. It was abandoned. No doubt the original patrons and work left in all the commotion. Taking out a pen and paper from his tunic, which he kept just in case he needed to remember a mare’s address, he started to write down. Dear mom Princess Celestia, Trotankhamun scolded himself for making that mistake. His real mother had…died giving birth to him. He hated himself for it, but his father had just told him to keep his chin up. She wouldn’t want me upset. So, naturally, the young king, then a prince, had latched on to another: Princess Celestia. She had always been kind to him, helping him grow up and get his bearings for ruling. She had read him bedtime stories when he came to visit and played with him in the gardens. He had it made. But life wasn’t exactly fair, what with having his father die off while he was just a young teen. But Celestia had been there, through the pain and sorrow. The young king doubted he would ever be the kind of king his father was, but he didn’t have to. Celestia had warned him of that path. That he should make his own way. I know it hasn’t been that long since I last wrote you and I apologize if my frequency has been annoying, but this is urgent. I have come across a problem, a great problem, that I am unsure of how to handle. Pokémon! I hope in all your years of knowledge you’ve heard of these creatures, because they are new to me. Several different kinds have appeared in the town of Bridleton and I fear that the rest of my country has had this happen as well. For the most part, they seem calm, but there have been…incidents. No one has been hurt so far, but I can’t be one hundred percent sure of that. This is a big country and I’ve only gotten a taste of the power these creatures possess. I have received help, however. A group of these Pokémon, calling themselves the ‘Pokémon Liberation Army’ have decided to lend me their support. It has proven beneficial, but I have my doubts. Some of their actions have been…questionable. If you perhaps have any knowledge of them as well, that would be great. Actually, I was wondering of what I should do? I mean, a new species has just came into my country and I have no idea on how to properly handle them. I’m…scared, to be honest. Please, if you can, I would very much enjoy your advice. Suddenly, the Rhyhorn from earlier came charging in, with General Rio’s body being shoved backwards. The duo charged through the other wall….before the Rhyhorn was sent flying back out in the streets. “SOMEONE TIE THAT THING UP!” The young king could hear Ahmos shout in rage. Rio came through the second whole, covered in dust. He growled in anger, his fist covered in a reddish aura. “Varmint doesn’t know when to give up. Might have to beat some sense into his skull...Again.” He stomped back out into the street. King Trotankhamun sighed. Please hurry. Signed your biggest fan, King Trotankhamun _________________________________________________________________________________ *elsewhere in town* Crowland Tempo had never seen any of these creatures before and that irked him. As he wandered through Bridleton, strange and fascinating creatures flew and ran about. Most of them were little interest, barely worth the effort to hunt. Still, having all these creatures just pop out of nowhere was disconcerting. He already had one predator to worry/hunt, something new could throw off everything. Of course, that didn’t matter. He was in town for a reason, other than to replace his elephant skull. He couldn’t help but sigh in agitation over the reason. He was a hired gun in pretty much every sense of the word. Usually, it was to help on a safari or something like that. Some rich entrepreneur wishing to bag a tiger or something like that. This time however, it was a much more unscrupulous client: Dr. Caballeron. A known pony who liked to dabble in pretty much every black act and group that he could get his hooves on, just so he could make a quick buck. He had worked with him a couple times before and he hated him. Hay, he even helped Daring Do escape once. Behind the ‘good’ Doctor’s back, of course. He still needed the money and Daring Do was a foe that deserved better than an execution. She was a free spirit, like the old bird himself. ‘She reminds me of, well, me when I was that age.’ He chuckled, stroking some of his graying feathers. ‘I just hope I wasn’t that bull headed.’ Still, money was money, so he had to wait in town for his current client to come. Which shouldn’t have been long. So, he stopped by an outside café and took out his lunch: salted pieces of pork. Meat was impossible to get from the locals, given that they were herbivores. So he either hunted his dinner or bought it on his travels through his griffin homeland. He unfurled the brown package, revealing his lunch. Taking up a piece, he plopped it into his mouth. Savoring the taste, and making a couple passing zebras sick in the process, he started to chow down. Not like a barbarian, mind you, but one piece at a time. However, his dinner was interrupted when a small, brown bird plopped itself on the table. It had reddish wings and a pale underbelly. “Spear-Spearow.” It squawked. Crowland tilted his head in confusion. “Why hello there, little lady,” given his hunting prowess and bird heritage, he could definitely say it was female. “New around here, I see.” The bird, to his amazement, nodded. “Row.” It hopped over to the meat. Glaring, he quickly wrapped up his lunch. “Little lady, this is mine. I suggest you find your own.” The bird glared at him and ruffled her feathers in attempt to seem intimidating. “Row Spearow.” “That’s not going to work on me,” Crowland snorted. “I’ve face down hungry tigers with nothing but my bare claws and a broken wing. You’re going to have to try harder.” Unfurling his meal again, he started to eat. The bird sighed and looked down sadly. Crowled sighed himself. “Fine,” he held out a piece of pork out to it. Squawking in gratitude, the bird snatched up the piece of meat. The two ate their lunch happily and quick as ever. Crowland realized that it had been too long since he last just sat down and ate with someone, even if it was a strange bird. He made a note to possibly track down his friend later. “Time for me to go, little lady,” Crowland stood up, throwing his trash away in a nearby dumpster. “I have a hunt to prepare for.” The bird quickly fluttered her wings and landed on his shoulder. “You want to come with me?” The bird nodded. “Spear.” Crowland chuckled. “Suit yourself.” With everything ready, and a new companion, the duo set off for his lodging.