King Trotankhamun couldn’t possibly hate Arceus anymore than he did now. His was slumped over his desk, tired and ragged. Said desk was filled to the brim with papers and complaints. He had complaints from the citizenry about Hyena Dog raids and the Pokemon ‘invaders’. He had documents up to his eyes with orphan pokemon, or those who were looking for their lost loved ones and friends. His army was one step away from mutiny as well as a large part of the nobility. It had been bad before Arceus’s decision, but now it was worse.
It didn’t help that now the little sister of Commander Sev, a snake who he considered a good friend, was kidnapped in HIS CAPITAL CITY! ‘Oh yes. Build trust between the races and then have one of the leading members of one of said races kidnapped right under my muzzle. I’m sure this isn’t going to backfire in any way possible.’
He gripped his head in exasperation. If he did something to help in the search, the nobles would think he was squandering resources. They would cut off much needed resources and make his life a living Tartarus. If he did nothing, he suffered the rage of Commander Sev. That was a much more potent threat, but also meant that his whole country would be thrown into an avoidable war. ‘Damned if I do. Damned if I don’t.’
Honestly, he wanted to find Lia. She was a good girl and in no way deserved this fate that had been thrust upon her. He just….
“Troubled, sir?” Khaba, his most trusted advisor, quietly walked in.
“Yes,” Trot sighed. “It’s just….everything. It’s all too much: The pokemon, the nobles, this kidnapping.” He picked up a pamphlet. “I have houses filled with orphans. ORPHAN POKEMON! What am I supposed to do with them, huh? I’ve suggested giving some of our childless families one of them, but I know this won’t fly. My people don’t like the pokemon. They hate them almost as much as the ponies and the least said about griffons the better.” Not that he hated griffons, mind you. “I’m drained, Khaba. I just don’t know what to do. Celestia would know. She always knows.”
“You cannot always rely on her,” Khaba sighed. “She wouldn’t want you to. You’re our king. You are supposed to lead us through troubled times, just as your father did before you.”
“I am not my father,” King Trotankhamun answered. “I will never be my father. My people will not listen to me like they did him. I am alone in this.”
“You have me, sir.” Khaba put in. “And you have the PLA as well as a number of loyal citizens. Zebrica does not hate you.”
“Oh you are wrong,” Trot chuckled, but there was no mirth in it. “I am hated and you know what, I deserve it. Look at me. I’m wasting away during my first real crisis.”
“You are not wasting away. You are just stressed. Anyone would be under these circumstances.”
Trotankhamun slammed his hoof down onto his desk, scattering a number of files. “I SHOULDN’T BE IN THESE CIRCUMSTANCES! I AM KING! I’M SUPPOSED TO STOP THINGS LIKE THIS FROM HAPPENING! WHAT RIGHT DID ARCEUS HAVE TO DO THIS WITHOUT MY SAY SO?”
“We can’t know the inner-workings of gods,” Khaba recoiled from his king’s rant. “He did what he thought was right.”
“Right?!!! Right?!!!!” Trotankhamun sat back into his desk and breathed in a deep breath to calm himself. “I want to tell you something.” His voice was leveled and emotionless. “I want to you what I saw when I walked among the pokemon. You know what I saw? Fear.”
He leaned forward. “They are afraid and confused. They are so afraid that. The others kept begging me to help find some loved one. I’m the king of this country. I should know more than anyone else, or at least have it done…..And then I found the orphans. Children are not meant to be ripped from their parents. They aren’t meant to be left alone.”
“They are not alone,” Khaba put in. “We have a number of nurses and maids looking after them. Why, I’ve heard a couple of them think of adoption.”
“You didn’t see them,” Trotankhamun cut him off. “You didn’t see how miserable they are.” His eyes began to moisten. “You didn’t have a little Ponyta filly pull on your robe….She was so beautiful, that little filly. She wanted to know where her mommy and daddy was. I didn’t know what to tell her….I didn’t know. I just said that we were looking for her. She smiled at me. An honest to Celestia smile. She said it was okay. That she trusted me.” He put his hooves over his eyes. “She trusted me to find her parents, Khaba. How can she just trust me like that? HOW?!!!”
“Perhaps we could sent word to this Arceus for….”
“TO TARTARUS WITH ARCEUS!” Trotankhamun cut him off again. His voice went calm and his ragged, blood shot eyes stared right through Khaba. “I hate him. With every fiber of my being, I hate him. He has hurt way too many for me to ever enjoy hearing his name. I don’t care what his reasoning is. I don’t care if he’s their god. I don’t care at all. He is not welcome in my country. He is not welcome to even speak to any of these pokemon! Do you hear me?!!! We will take care of our own. These pokemon are now and forever citizens of Zebrica and we will not abandon our kind. We will find that filly’s parents, just as we will find Lia. Assemble my guards! We are going to go get her back!” He had made up his mind. He was going to do this now.
“But sir,” Khaba interjected. “The nobles….”
“Be damned,” Trotankhamun walked out from behind his desk. “I’m on a rescue mission. It’s high time I actually went on an adventure.” He actually felt a little giddy at the thought.
“TROT!” Sev burst into his office. He was glaring daggers at everything. “I have need of your army. I will have it, or so help me….”
“I’m coming with you,” Trot cut him off.
Sev blinked in confusion. “Well…..that was easy.”
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*Bridleton*
Crusty’s hammer struck the sword at just the right angle, causing sparks to fly. The anvil that the sword was laying on was rather old, dating back to his ancestor, over six hundred years ago. He had come from a long line of black smiths and he was happy to continue the tradition.
“It’s almost done,” Crust held up the blade and examined it for a second. He frowned. “A little lopsided and it’s too thick in the middle.” He sighed. “What I wouldn’t do for some good ol’ steel from home. That stuff was much easier to work with.”
“Zigzagoon?” He heard two voices chip in questioningly.
He looked down to see the two young pokemon under his employ. Crusty was agitated that he couldn’t understand them anymore and honestly wished he had one of those magic pokemon to translate. “It’s fine. Nothing I can’t fix. Why don’t you two go fetch us some snacks?”
“Zig Zag,” they said before running off.
Crusty chuckled. ‘Nice boys.’ They had been a great help these last few days.
Something rummaged through his scrap pile.
He sighed. If only his other employee was as helping. “Loom, you best get your ass out of my things.”
He heard some grumbling, before the Breloom backed up and walked into another room. Crusty caught sight of another armful of scrap in his arms, but he didn’t feel like confronting the pokemon about it now. He had more important things to worry about, like this sword for example.
__________________________________________________________________
‘Why did the Commander leave me under the employ of such a barbarious simple minded dog?’ Loom pondered as he laid the scrap on his working table. ‘I would be much more productive at his side with the full resources he must surely possess. I will never understand his thought process.’
The Breloom began his work in no time. He was the PLA’s sharpest mind and boy oh boy did he love to tinker. This whole world was just so new, so refreshing. It gave him so many ideas and possibilities. ‘I mean, they have magic. Do you they know what one could possibly do with that power? Such possibilities.’
One of his latest findings was the unique quality of the stones here. He picked up what appeared to be a saphire. ‘Such beauty. Such perfection. Such power. To think, the locals treat these as common jewels. They even wear them. Oh, if only they knew….Maybe it’s best they didn’t.’ He slyly smiled. ‘It will give us the edge. The opponent with the best technology is always the victor.’
One of his discoveries was how the crystals here could absorb and hold energy. They were also perfect conductors. That combined with his genius had led him to a breakthrough.
Loom fidgeted with a small, square device. It looked like a cube of white plastic, except for a small, round, crystal in one of the sides. He opened a compartment on the side and checked the inner workings. ‘Everything seems fine.’ He sighed. ‘Primitive but fine. What I wouldn’t give for some electronics right now.’ Oh yeah, he could eventually build some, but that would take time. He had to make do with what he had. So, he simply had to install some rather primitive versions of motion trackers into the device at hand. Closing it, he put it on the table. Loom walked over to a small ornate pendant. It had a green gem in the center of a flowery yellow metal form. He had procured it from a wandering pony.
She had said it held magical qualities, such as giving oneself an energy boost. It was said to be used by athletes and farmers to keep working when they tired out. It was perfect in Loom’s eyes.
He took it in his claws and pointed it at the little cube. With a single thought and firm press of his claws, the gem shot a beam of energy into it. Automatically, the little cube burst into life and fire a beam of energy that fried a hole several centimeters into the wall.
Loom put down the pendant and walked over to the damage. He stuck a claw into it. “Not strong enough. Ag could easily block this.” He doubted that he would have to turn his inventions on other pokemon, but it was better safe than sorry. “Maybe I need to put a sort of stun mode on it, just in case.”
The little lasers could easily be hardwired into walls and hulls of ships. They’d make for great deterrents, but nothing major as of yet.
As he walked back to the table, he passed by the blueprints of one of his other creations. It was a much simpler beast and something he no doubt could pull off with ease. However, his time had been more focused on the cube to actually finish it. Now, he had a working laser. He could focus his efforts elsewhere. He already had some working parts strewn on the table and the materials for most of the rest.
What he had in mind would revolutionize warfare on this world. Spears and swords were about to become absolute. Honestly, he couldn’t help but laugh at the primitives. Well, he could laugh as long as they weren’t pointing those spears and swords at him.
“What the Tartarus is going on in here?” Crusty, the old buffoon, blundered into the room in rage.
“The future, my doggy comrade.” Loom chuckled ominously. He kept his gaze on the blueprints. “The future.”
On the table was the blueprints for an AK-47.