//------------------------------// // Chapter One: Betrayal // Story: Injustices New and Old // by Serperior //------------------------------// Sinnoh Route 217 A lone human stood in the snow, dressed in a heavy coat, and shivering heavily. ‘Why did he have to piss off my boss’ he wondered to himself. ‘I knew this fucking storm was going to blowing in tonight, why would I eat his lunch?’ He brought his shaking hands up to his mouth and exhaled on them, trying to return some warmth to his freezing fingers. ‘I swear as soon as we’re done here I’m taking my paycheck and leaving. If I hadn’t eaten his damn Tauros steak he wouldn’t have even assigned someone for guard duty in this weather. It’s not like anyone would be out in a storm like this. Unbeknownst to the watchman, there were, and suddenly he felt a hard pain on the back of his head, and he was out like a light. The attacker searched the man's pockets until he dug out a key ring, containing about seven different keys. “We have our way in” the attacker announced mentally. Out of the woods nearby six more Pokemon exited, a Bisharp, an Infernape, an Electivire, a Weavile, a Skarmory, and a Audino. They approached the attacker, a Gallade. “What next sir? The Weavile asked. The Gallade looked to the Dark-Type, “You take these keys, and scout out the compound. Keep us informed through the link.” The Weavile nodded, took the keys and dashed off into the snow towards a faint light. The Gallade looked back to the rest of the group, “Tina," he looked to the Audino, “standby in case of injuries.” for the Skarmory he commanded, “Skream, you stay outside and make sure no poachers get away, and standby for emergency evacuation.” He pointed to he Bisharp, “Doki, you and Jugger take them head on through the front. Phil and I will attack through the side door," he held up a remaining key. The Weavile from before spoke up over the link, Gallavant, I have good news, and bad news. It looks like most of the poachers are in their cafeteria area, looks like some sort of celebration. Bad news, they have Pokemon working with them, a Tyranitar and a Garchomp. They both look pretty tough, but they may just be the only ones out of their Pokeballs currently.” The Gallade nodded to himself, “Understood, thank you Scout. We can take those two easily. Allow me into your mind so I can receive the layout of the compound please.” The Weavile allowed the Gallade in, and he transmitted the layout to the rest of the group. “Scout, hide in that broom cupboard next to you. When we reach your position you will join us in releasing the Pokemon, unless we are found, in which case you will be in charge of the Garchomp, and I the Tyranitar.” “Understood, sir.” The Gallade looked back to the group. “Same plan as before, Phil and I will go through the side, and release the Pokemon in their storage area. We will all avoid the mess hall to the best of our ability. Doki, Jugger, you will create a distraction at the front. I think knocking down their front door with a Wild Charge will suffice, but afterwards try to avoid direct conflict until the prisoners have escaped. Once the Pokemon are all released we will take down and capture as many of the poachers as possible. Their leader is main priority. Understood?” All present nodded their understanding, and went to their respective positions. “Ready… Now!” From Gallavant’s position he could hear the sound of two heavy metal doors being broken down, and he quickly unlocked the entrance and advanced. They met little resistance on the way, only two or three humans which were quickly engaged and incapacitated. Along the way they retrieved Scout, who tagged along behind them silently. They came to the door that Scout had informed them led to the holding area. Before the Infernape could open the door Gallavant shook his head in the negative. He closed his eyes and touched his hands together, sensing the humans on the other side. “Hmm… yes they’re all fine to take out. Just don’t make it too painful. “Now, for the explanation of our enemy. Just beyond the door are three guards, all together at a table. Playing some form of poker I think.” “Ok, so the usual? You kick down the door, I launch a Fire Blast through the door to surprise and disorient them, and wing it from there?” “Of course! Ready when you are.” Phil groaned and gave a thumbs up. BANG The door was kicked down, and the attack went through, wounding two of the men beyond. The one remaining reached for his belt but was stopped by a slap to his hand. The poacher looked up to find a Gallade, who simply shook his head disapprovingly, and then knocked him out with his other hand. Gallavant gave a hearty laugh “Heh, that was easy. C’mon, let’s get the prisoners.” The three retrieved some keys from the guards and began unlocking the cages around them, letting out all of the Pokemon that had been captured. “Phil, go open that garage door to let em’ out.” “Yeah, sure.” The Infernape used Rock Smash on the wall several times and created a hole large enough for some of the larger Pokemon to go through. Just after all of the captives had been evacuated, a Garchomp burst through the door, looked at his fallen comrades, and roared in fury. Gallavant’s eyes narrowed. “It’s unforgivable what you have done to your brethren. You hast a one last to surrender yourself.” He pounded his fists together, “Or we won’t allow any mercy.” “Fat chance. Bring it on.” The Garchomp rushed forward, his jaws emitting a dark energy, “Crunch!” Gallavant sidestepped the move easily. “You form is poor. You require practice in the art of battle.” The Gallades arms glowed a purple-blue color, and he used a double Dual Chop attack, alternating with each hand and striking the the Garchomps knees, causing them to buckle. The Garchomp attempted to strike the Fighting-Type, but was parried and struck in the jaw with an Ice Punch. Before the Garchomp could attack again he was hit with a Low Kick, causing him to fall over. Gallavant used another Ice Punch and the Garchomp was down for the count. The Gallade snorted at the easy battle. “These guys only really on brute strength, they don’t have any brains at all.” Scout grunted in acknowledgement. “Yeah, and here I was hoping I could actually do some fighting today. Oh well. Think I could lead the next mission?” “Don’t you remember how the last time I allowed that went.” “Well it’s not my fault that they decided to use Earthquake on the side of a mountain! I had it under control until that stupid Metagross…” the Weavile was cut off as the door to the room exploded, revealing a Tyranitar. It looked to the Garchomp, unconscious on the floor, and gave an irate, and surprisingly feminine roar. “Garchy! You’re going to pay for that!” Phil just sighed. “I got this one if you wanna go ahead and start rounding up poachers.” “Good idea. Scout and I will go on while you fight the pebble.” “What’d you call me?” The Tyranitar roared. “He called you a pretty rock monster,” Scout snarked. The Tyranitar let out another bellow, and rushed the Gallade, but was diverted from her target by a powerful Mach Punch to her rocky cheekbone. “You’re gonna pay for that, monkey!” The Rock-Type then lumbered after the Infernape, who continued throwing several attacks at her. “Let’s go, Doki and Jugger may need help.” The Weavile nodded and followed the Gallade back through the building, which now seemed to be strangely empty. “Do you think that they beat Doki and Jugger?” “Hmm… It’s possible I guess, but unlikely. Something here uneases me, proceed with caution.” The two finally reached the front entrance, and were met with a shocking sight, Jugger was lying in the snow, a large pool of blood collected around the Electivire. Gallavant and Scout quickly rushed forward to tend to the Electric-Type. “Tina! We need you here!” “I’m busy with Skream, you know Heal Pulse, use it!” The Gallade frowned, Heal Pulse was not a move he knew well, but his comrade would die if he didn’t try. He closed his eyes and focused as hard as he could, and he felt as if it was working for a moment, but he then heard a coughing noise, and he opened his eyes to find Jugger turning his head towards his leader. “It… it was…” The Electric-Type faltered, and spit up some blood. “It was who?” The Gallade demanded. “It was… Doki…” Gallavant’s eyes widened. How could Doki have done this? He was his oldest friend, his most trusted ally. “There must be some mistake! Some accidental friendly fire!” Jugger coughed up more of his fluids, “No, he stabbed me in the back! You need to find him! Go!” Just then Skream touched down with Tina riding on her back. “Has Jugger already told you?” The Skarmory demanded darkly. “Yes… but… there must be some mistake! Doki wouldn’t-” “He did! Now are you gonna help me catch that literal backstabber or not?” The Gallade nodded his head slightly and climbed onto the Steel-Types back, only barely registering Tina beginning work on Jugger and Skream’s liftoff. The Skarmory soared some distance through the storm, which was now becoming thinner, until she finally reached a caravan of trucks, all driving along in a line through the snowy road. “Drop me down in front of the first truck.” Skream obliged, and flew ahead of the procession, and slowing down enough for the Gallade to jump from her back. Just before he hit the ground, he yelled out “Stone Edge!” and a number of large jagged stones breached the concrete, blocking the way of the leading truck, which crashed into the crags, causing all of the trucks behind it to become stuck in a pileup. The driver of the lead truck stumbled out of his seat, but was met with a powerful punch to the stomach, and was thrown back twenty feet into several other poachers he rushed forward and struck several more humans coming to save their cargo. He continued to fight off more and more of the poachers, dodging and weaving between them, and striking them down one by one. He vaguely noticed Skream helping him on the sidelines, but his focus was on finding Doki. He needed and explanation for what his allies were saying. There must be something else going on, maybe Doki was trying to lure them in by pretending to be with them? Or something of the like? He didn’t have to wait too long as he suddenly felt a sharp pain is his side, and something cold and hard poking between his ribcage. The object twisted hard and he felt something yank his head and shove him down to the ground, the blade pulling out of his side. He rolled over as best he could to see his attacker, and found to his horror, a Bisharp. “What are you doing?” The Gallade demanded, still in denial. “Really? You haven’t figured it out? I betrayed you and stabbed you, and you’re still continuing on with your immature act? Pathetic.” The Bisharp sneered. “Wha- what do you mean?” The Dark-Type rolled his eyes and grunted. “I’ve already told you? I betrayed you! I’m working with the poachers!” “But… But why?” Doki snorted. “Do I really have to spell it out to you? I’m sick of working with you and your band of misfits! You do nothing but go around and do feel-good bullshit!” “But we're partn-” “We are nothing. I’ve wanted to leave ever since that old coot made you the leader! He was supposed to choose me!” “I,,, I made you my second in comm-” “That’s not enough! All of the glory, all of the thanks, it always goes to you!” The Bisharp then smirked, “So I figured, since you get all the reward, why not make a little on the side when we’re not on missions.” The wounded psychic attempted to stand, “You… you won’t get away with…” He was met with a knee to the face, sending him sprawling on the ground. “It may sound cliche, but I already have. Fiona’s with me too, and she’s already taking care of little ol’ Skream.” “F-fiona!” Gallavants was more shocked at the Talonflame’s teamwork with Doki than the betrayal, the two had never gotten along. The Bisharp smirked. “You should learn to ‘check our hearts’ more often you prick. I can understand since I’m a dark type, but c'mon, she doesn’t even have that going for her.” Gallavant was out of things to say, and his eyes were growing heavier with the blood loss, seeing this, Doki extended the blade from his hand, preparing for a final strike. “I’ll make it quick for…” The Bisharp faltered, and stumbled, something seeming to overtake him. Gallavant too could feel himself becoming suddenly even sleepier, despite the bloodloss. In the back of his mind, just before he was fully gone he heard a voice, “Rest now my children, for when you awake a whole new world shall be your home” Ten years ago, in the Kalos Region. A lone Kirlia wandered through the flowery meadows just north of Santalune. He picked a few flowers and sniffed them, and his eyes widened. Not from the flowers, but because he heard something. Whipping around he Teleported just in time to dodge an attack from a Quilladin, appearing again several feet away. “Nice try, but I could hear you coming!” About ten feet away, a form lifted up out of the flowers, brushing pollen off of itself, and the Kirlia was greeted with the sight of a human girl, about ten years old, probably just starting on her journey. “Ok, so sneaking up on it didn’t work… Chester, use rollout!” The Quilladin obeyed immediately, and brought in his arms, throwing himself to the ground and rolling speedily towards the Kirlia. He dodged easily, and then used a Confusion attack, causing the Grass-Type to trip up in his attack and painfully tumble on the ground. “Use Pin Missile!” The Quilladin leaned forward, and began launching a barrage of his spikes are the Kirlia, who took most of them head on. The Psychic type quickly regained his footing, and used Disarming Voice, the powerful fairy sound waves damaging Chester and knocking him out. “Chester, return!” A red flash lit up and returned the Grass starter to his Pokeball, and another of the orbs was thrown out, “Go, Doki!” Another flash lit up the field, and a Pawniard appeared. “Ok Doki, use Metal Claw!” The Pawniard rushed forward, and landed a powerful hit on the little psychic, wounding him. “Now follow up with a Fury Cutter!” The glowing green arm slammed into the Kirlias side and send him sprawling. “Go Pokeball!” The ball bounced off of the Kirlia’s shoulder, and enveloped him in a red light. The Kirlia simply accepted his fate, the trainer seemed strong, and a journey didn’t sound like a bad idea. A “ding” sound could be heard, and after a few moments he was let out again. “Hi there! My name is Amy. What’s yours?” “Kirlia” was the response she received. “Heh, of course. Well we can’t leave you with a name like that can we? A special mon’ needs a special name to help separate them! What do you think?” The Psychic type nodded happily in agreement. “Kirlia!” “Ok, hmm… how about… Lia?” He sighed and shook his head, not only was he male but it just sounded unoriginal. “How about Belle?” The Kirlia puffed out his chest indignantly, “Kirlia Kirlia!” “Oh, I get it sorry, you’re a guy aren’t you! Sorry. How about… Gallavant?” The Kirlia almost shook his head in the negative, but stopped, that sounded like a pretty good name actually. He nodded in affirmation of his new name. “Great! it’s nice to meet you Gallavant!” She held out a hand, which was happily accepted. “Welcome to the team, speaking of…” She pulled out three more Pokeballs and opened them up, and the Quilladin from before, a Honedge, and an Audino came out. “Okay guys, meet out newest member, Gallavant!” The Pokemon before her all voiced their greetings. “Gallavant, I’d like you to meet Tina,” she motioned to the Audino, “Aphex,” she pointed to the Honedge, “and Chester, but you two have already met, hehe.” “Hi there! I’m Gallavant now I guess. It’s nice to meet you guys.” There was an awkward pause after, and Amy, seeing this, took off her backpack and pulled out some food. “So how about some lunch guys?” The Pokemon all happily agreed to the girls suggestion, and were each given their own bowl and a two different types of food was poured into different ones. Gallavant was summoned by the girl, who had an empty bowl right next to Doki. “I checked my Pokedex and saw your dietary needs, but I thought I’d let you decide for yourself, she held out four different bags, each with writing on it that the young Kirlia couldn’t read. He sniffed the openings to each of them, until he gestured to two at once. “So you want two kinds at once?” The Kirlia nodded, “Alright,” she poured some into the bowl, half and half, “There you go. If you decide you want something different next time just tell me. Oh, and here,” She pulled out a few Oran Berries. “Eat these to get your strength back up, that was a tough battle.” Gallavant accepted the berries and voiced his thanks, then popped them into his mouth, savoring the flavor, until he finished with those and began digging into his food bowl. He heard the sound of someone clearing their throat, and looked up to find Doki, rubbing his shoulder with his blade hand. “Sorry if I went a little overboard there earlier. I’m used to battling with other Pawniard, and we usually go farther than other Pokemon do when we spar.” Gallavant smiled and nodded. “It’s alright, I understand. You were just following your trainer's commands, or our trainers commands now I suppose,” He popped another bit of the Poke-Kibble in his mouth. “Alright, thanks. You seem pretty tough yourself, I was sorta aware of the battle you had with Chester prior to me, and he’s pretty strong. Maybe you would’ve beat me if he hadn’t already worn you down first.” Gallavant smiled, “Ya think so? I never really battled that much myself to be honest. I only actually evolved because my dad was so set on me learning to defend myself.” He continued to eat. “Yeah, same. My pops was pretty hard on all of us back at the breeding farm. Most Bishard are that way though. Was your dad a Gallade?” The Kirlia shook his head. “Nah, he was a Dusklops. My mom’s a Gardevoir. I left home not too long ago to live on my own, and I’m pretty sure they split up after I left.” “My dad was a Bisharp, and my mom a Kadabra. Their trainer was trying to breed a better Pawniard. I think they did since my parent’s stopped making kids eventually. I have fifteen siblings, and I can’t stand a single one of them. Gallavant laughed. “I’m an only child, so I wouldn’t really know where you're coming from. So how is it that you ended up traveling with Amy?” The Pawniard smiled “There was some trouble at the farm, some nearby Swirlix kept causing trouble and stealing food, and she helped take care of it. I helped, and when the owner of the farm saw how we’d gotten sorta close he offered me as a gift. So here I am.” Gallavant looked around at the mon surrounding him. “What about the others?” Doki swallowed and began. “Tina and aphex were both caught in battle like you on route six. Chester is her starter. Like I said I was a gift, and you were caught just now.” The Kirlia nodded along with each explanation. “So how long have you all been together?” “I’ve been here about a month. Tina and Aphex a little less, Aphex one day more than Tina. Chester I think is more like one and a half or two. But I’m not entirely sure.” He stopped and ate some more. “So… how about an even battle later?” Gallavant smirked, “You’re on!” “I think we’re gonna be good friends,” Doki Smiled. Unknown Location Present Gallavant jumped up, slamming his head on something hard above him. “Gah! What the?” After cradling his head for a few moments, he opened his eyes back up, revealing the bottom of a bed. The Gallade looked around more, and found himself to be in what appeared to be some sort of guest bedroom. When he glanced back up he realized he was in a bunk bed, and had slammed his skull into the bottom of the top bunk. He rubbed his head again and pulled the sheets off of him, revealing a bandage, slightly tainted red. “So it wasn’t a dream... “ He stopped getting out of the bed, and lied back down, crossing his arms and looking up at the metal bars above him. “What could cause him to do this?” Before he could ponder it further, a door was opened across from him in the room. He quickly stood up and readied himself, but found Tina carrying a tray of bandages and medicine. “Oh good, I thought I heard you wake up. Our hosts will be bringing in some food for you shortly.” Gallavant nodded, and lifted up his arms for the Audino to remove the previous bandage. As Tina began cleaning the wound, which was much smaller than he had previously thought, he pondered further on the betrayal. There was no way the only reason Doki betrayed him was for money. Could there be others? He couldn’t think of any likely ones, but there must be something more substantial than that. How could he have just stabbed- “JUGGER!” The sudden exclamation surprised the Audino, and she fumbled with the bottle of rubbing alcohol in her hands for a moment. “Sorry… But what happened to Jugger? Is he alright?” Tina sighed, “I- I don’t know. He didn’t look good when we were teleported.” Gallavant raised an eyebrow, “Teleported?” The Audino facepalmed. “I forgot, you’ve been unconscious all day. It seems like all of earth has been taken somewhere different. I don’t know where, but I don’t think it’s even the same world. Instead of humans there are these weird Ponyta-like creatures that call themselves ponies.” The Gallade looked around some in the room, it looked just like a human house, were these “ponies” so similar to humans? “So how did we get in here?” “We both appeared in the backyard of this house. I managed to communicate to the owners that you required medical attention, and they let us in, that was four hours ago.” Tina finished applying the new bandage, and stepped back. “You should be good to stand and move around, just try not to lift anything heavy or get into any fights, kay?” “Alright, got it. So do you know if any of the others are here?” Tina shrugged, “I don’t know. There are lots of other Pokemon outside, causing quite a bit of chaos I might add. I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the others are off trying to calm everyone down or something. Maybe you could find em’ with your psychic powers.” “Yeah, that could work I guess.” His stomach growled then, “You mentioned lunch?” Tina nodded, “Come with me, I told them to make you beans and Sweet Potatoes, those are good for trying to recover from a surgery… or a stab wound.” The Audino led him through the house, which he noticed was rather bare, almost as if they had recently moved in. There was little furniture, and what was there seemed new. The walls had few pictures, but there were quite a few boxes sitting around. They finally came to the kitchen, and Gallavant was finally answered in his question of the appearance of the locals. They were definitely similar to Ponyta, but only in their basic body shape and hooves, beyond there, they were very different. One of them was black, which a tall faded looking blue mohawk for a mane, and eyes of a similar color. Gallavant was fairly sure he was male judging by how large he was compared to the other, a yellow mare with a turquoise mane and eyes. Both possessed wings, which looked too small for them to fly, but remembering Skarmory and Dragonite he decided to pass it off as a quirk of the species. The black one turned around first, holding a pan filled with four tin foil wads, which likely contained sweet potatoes. He set them on the counter and looked to the two Pokemon in his doorway. “Ah! Audino! You’re friend is up! You mentioned he could translate for us?” Gallavant nodded, and his eyes glowed for a moment, allowing for a translator to be set up between them. “Can you understand us now?” The stallion nodded and held out a hoof. “Yeah, nice to meet you… uh…” The Gallade accepted the shake, “Gallavant. It’s a pleasure as well. But Tina hasn’t had a chance to introduce me to either of you.” The stallion nodded, “My name is Thunderlane, and this is my marefriend Raindrops.” The mare at the stove looked back and waved. “Has… Tina did you say? told you about what’s going on.” Gallavant sat down at the table. “Yeah, honestly I have no more idea than any of you. Last thing I remember I was… in the woods, and the snow.” Thunderlane quirked an eyebrow, “So nothing about a betrayal?” At Gallavant’s surprised expression he just chuckled, “Tina told us about that. We weren’t about to let some strange wounded creature into our home without at least knowing what happened first.” His eyes softened some, “I’m sorry to hear about what your friend did. I’d like to say I can relate, but I don’t think your best friend going out with your crush really counts as the same thing,” he chuckled. Gallavant’s eyes narrowed. “No, it doesn’t.” Tina, sensing the tense situation came over and began unwrapping the potatoes. “Okay, so who’s up for some food?” The two males at the table both nodded, and grabbed a plate from a stack on the corner, and put a potato on their plates. Thunderlane began adding salt and butter, but Gallavant was looking left and right, searching for a certain topping. Tina noticed this and gave a knowing smirk. “Looking for the hotsauce Gal?” The Gallade grinned, “You know me too well.” Raindrops came over and set a pan of fried beans on the table. “We have some Rainbow Sauce if you’d like. But I’m warning you, it’s the hottest in Equestria. The only reason we have any is cuz’ Thundey here lost a bet before we moved.” Gallavant crossed his arms in confidence. “Bring it on! No fire is too hot for Gallavant!” The mare giggled, “Well I did warm you.” She opened up the fridge and pulled out a small bottle. “Here ya go.” She poured two or three drops on the potato. Gallavant looked up, slightly irked. “Is that all?” “Oh it’s all you’ll need.” “You underestimate just how much I’ve killed my tastebuds over the last few years!” He mixed up the potato, adding a bit of salt and pepper. “Now for the moment of truth!” He picked up a spoonful of the root, and put it in his mouth. “Hmm… It has a nice tang I guess.” Thunderlane burst out laughing, “A little tang? I dunked my head in the toilet and jugged a whole gallon of milk after a drop of that stuff!” Tina gave a little smile. “He always had a supply of Mount Chimney Lava Sauce. Hopefully one of the old ladies that made the stuff is here too or else he’s gonna forever have an unsatisfied fire tooth.” The table laughed at Gallavant’s expense, and finished their meal. Once they were done Gallavant stood up and stretched, before flinching in pain and putting a hand to his side. “Gaah. Gotta remember not to do that.” He looked to Thunderlane. “Tina and I are going to go out on the town and see if we can find any of our friends. You think one of you could come along?” Thunderlane stood up, “Sure, I gotta walk off that meal anyway.” The Gallade nodded. “Good, give me a moment to see if I can sense any of our number nearby, I only have about a mile radius,but we can check periodically.” His eyes glowed blue, and he touched his hands together for a moment, before the glow faded and he shook his head. “No one nearby. Let’s walk about a half mile and try again.” The trio exited, Tina mostly tagging along to keep an eye on Gallavants injury. “I don’t know whether to hope we find Doki or not… I don’t know if I could fight him like this... ” The Gallade shook himself. He wouldn’t need to. He would show Doki the light again.