A New World, A New Family

by Lance Skyes

20. Awakening

”You don't really think you can fight me, do you? You're just as incapacitated as your brother there, trying to crawl away like he is.”

“…I'll save… him…”

”Please. Just one strike, and I could kill you both.”

“…can't… let you… hurt him…”

”Well, as much as I'd love to get this over with, I guess I could toy with you if you so desperately want me to. Maybe I could do the same for the other one…”

“NO!” Breeze shouted as he suddenly leapt up into the air, awakening from his nightmare in a cold sweat and heavy breaths. He looked around, trying to find the Froslass that had appeared in his nightmare, but he didn't see her. In fact, he couldn't even see the setting his nightmare took place in: a forest. Breeze's present location was more of a huge, white, sterile room where the light was just a bit too bright. “Huh…? Where am I?”

“Oh good,” a mysterious voice said from behind Breeze, sending a chill throughout his body, “I was wondering when you'd wake up.” Breeze turned around to see the source of the voice, a Chandelure. “Sorry about letting you sleep so late. I'd have woken you up myself, but waking Pokemon up from nightmares has gotten me my fair share of… let's say 'bumps and bruises,' even though that's not very possible, now is it?” The Chandelure giggled a little. “But I'll hope you know what I mean.”

“Um…” Breeze said in a confused tone.

“Ah, sorry. I tend to get a bit chatty,” Chandelure said. “The name's Lord. Pleasure making your acquaintance.”

“Nice… to meet you?” Breeze said, still rather confused. Suddenly, the events of his nightmare struck him again, and he went into a panic. “BUTTERS! Where's my brother? Where's Aria? Where's the forest!?”

“Woah, try to calm down!” Lord said, moving his candle arms down in a calming manner. “Your brother's safe, I can tell you that much.”

Hearing that, Breeze paused for a moment before catching his breath. “How do you know that?” he asked.

“Because he's not here with you,” Lord replied, his tone getting oddly grim. “I'll explain that in a moment. You said something about a Pokemon named 'Aria,' correct? And was she a Froslass?”

“I… yes,” Breeze said with a nod. “How'd you know she was a Froslass?”

“Let's just say I know her from somewhere…” Lord replied, looking down and growing an angry expression. “Six years ago, did we meet…”

“What happened?” Breeze asked, curious.

Lord shook his head. “She took something from me, but that hardly concerns you right now,” he said. “Back to your questions, you were asking about a forest?”

Breeze nodded. “My brother, Butters, and I went out looking for her after she ran away,” he explained. “But when we found her, she attacked us. I don't know if she was quite in her right mind. Something really messed up happened to make her run away. She tried to… to kill Butters and I. We were both weak because she froze our wings with really cold air, but I knew I had to keep Butters safe, so I fought her so that he could run away.”

“So you fought her, eh?” Lord asked. “Interesting. Tell me what happened after that.”

“Well, I…” Breeze started, but he trailed off. “I… I guess I… beat her, or something? I mean, I don't know how else I'd have escaped.”

“But you said you were too weak to fight, didn't you?” Lord inquired.

“I was,” Breeze replied with a nod. “That's what's throwing me for a loop.”

“Hmm… a bit of a head-scratcher, now isn't it?” Lord said. “Do you want a hint?”

“Why would I need a hint to explain how I got away?” Breeze asked.

“Maybe you have amnesia,” Lord replied. “Or maybe… you're asking the wrong question.”

“What's that supposed to mean?” Breeze asked. “I mean… of course I got away… because then…” A wave of dread started washing over Breeze. “Where did you say I was, again?”

“I'm afraid that's not so easy to say,” Lord replied. “But, if you'd take a look around you, you'll find that you're not still in that forest, now are you? Sterile, bright light, seeming to go on forever… the feeling of being watched from all sides?”

Breeze began looking all around, and suddenly, he could feel hundreds of thousands of eyes watching them, even though there were none to be found. He also found the temperature of the room beginning to slowly rise. “No… you're not saying…?”

“I'm sorry, Breeze,” Lord said in a solemn tone. “I really, truly am.”

“No…” Breeze said, trying to back away from the Chandelure. “No, this can't be happening! G-get away from me! No! NO!”

“NO!” Butters shouted as he awoke from a terrible nightmare, likely one similar to the one Breeze had. This sudden outcry awoke Pinky, who was sleeping upright on the floor in front of the couch Butters was on.

“Butters!” Pinky said as she got up. “Are you alright?”

Butters took a moment to regain his composition before looking over at Pinky. “I think so,” the Butterfree said. “I just had a nightmare, that's all.”

Pinky reached into Butters' mind to see just what the nightmare was. But… something was blocking her. “Are you willing to talk about it?” The Slowbro inquired.

“I… I don't think I can,” Butters replied. “I don't remember it very clearly. I just saw…. Darn it, I'm drawing a blank.”

”This has happened before,” Pinky thought to herself. ”When we first met Tartar, and I tried to get a read on him. He was still a Pupitar, so it wasn't his Dark-type giving me problems. His mind was intentionally trying to block something off, and it kept me out as an added result.” Pinky paused for a moment before adding, ”That catch you up, Shelly?”

“Sorry about waking you up,” Butters continued.

“Oh no, it's perfectly fine,” Pinky replied. “I wasn't sleeping very well anyway. I've been sitting on bad news all night. I needed to stand.” The Slowbro then started approaching the front door.

“Bad news?” Butters asked as he got up and followed Pinky. “Can you tell me?”

Pinky sighed. “I need to get it off my chest,” she said as she opened the door and started walking outside. “But when Blitz and the others come by later this morning, you'll have to leave town. It's some pretty heavy stuff.”

Lyra could have sworn when she woke up that she was awoken by Roo screaming, but upon glancing outside, she realized that it was the sound of a screaming Pokemon outside. Upon closer inspection, she saw Butters and Pinky outside. “Must be some more Pokemon stuff,” Lyra said to herself with a shrug. She then turned around and was about to walk outside when Bon Bon caught her attention.

“Hey Lyra?” Bon Bon called from the bed, causing Lyra to turn around. “Can I talk to you for a moment?”

“What is it, Bon Bon?” Lyra asked.

“Are you alright?” Bon Bon asked in reply.

“Well, why wouldn't I be?” Lyra asked, backing away from the door and walking towards Bon Bon, who sat up in the bed.

“You spent half the night shaking and sweating,” Bon Bon replied. “Have a nightmare?”

“Did I?” Lyra asked. “I can't remember.”

Bon Bon moved the sheets on Lyra's side of the bed to reveal that most of it was, indeed, wet with sweat. “You sure?”

Lyra rubbed her chin for a moment. “Now isn't that peculiar…?”

Aria woke up groggily, her thoughts hazy and vision fuzzy, but how else would one wake up? She got up and rubbed her eyes before looking around the cave. Immediately, she realized that she hadn't woken up in Tiny's arms like she'd gone to sleep in. “Tiny, wherever you are, you can come out. I'm awake,” Aria called with a chuckle. However, when she stopped rubbing her eyes and looked around, she realized that Tiny wasn't there. Not only that, but Marcus and Blitz were gone as well. “Tiny? Marcus? Blitz?” She floated around the cave and found no trace of the three. “Alright, what's the big play today?” Aria asked as she made her way to the cave entrance. However, when she made her way to the opening, she found that it was frozen over. A solid wall of ice, easily four inches thick, had blocked the way. Aria placed her hand on the ice wall. “How…?”

“Why are you questioning it?” a familiar voice asked from the other side of the wall asked as another Froslass hand paralleled Aria's from the other side. Aria looked up to see her reflection, only it wasn't her reflection.

“It's you…” Aria said as a look of horror entered her eyes.

“Oh Aria…” Lassie replied with a sinister expression. “How I wish I could reply with 'It's you,' like I'd always wanted to. But alas… it no longer is you, is it?”

Aria awoke with a loud scream, tearing herself away from Tiny's arms and propelling herself into the ceiling, where she bumped her head, then slowly descended while rubbing the spot where she impacted. “Ow…” she complained.

“Aria!” Tiny called as he flew up to Aria's side. “Are you alright?”

“I'm… I'm fine…” Aria replied. “Just had a weird dream, that's all.”

“It's ok, Aria,” Tiny said while hugging the Froslass and stroking the back of her head consolingly. “Everything's fine. I'm here for you.”

“Thank you, Tiny,” Aria replied. “You're right. Everything's fine…” Suddenly, a thought occurred to Aria. “How come my loud scream didn't wake Marcus and Blitz up?”

“Oh, they already left,” Tiny replied, breaking the hug. “They wanted to get an early start, and with how rough your week's been, they wanted to let you rest.”

“Oh…” Aria said. “Well, should we follow them?”

“If you want,” Tiny replied. “But I mean, if you wanna stay and rest…”

“No!” Aria said in an almost shouting tone. “I mean… let's not make them wait. Sure, let's… go.”

Meanwhile, far away from everyone else, Lancer was slowly waking up. Okay, “slowly” wouldn't be the right word. More like “opened his eyes and suddenly jolted awake in a bad mood.” “Your Highness!” he called as he arose and looked around. Sure enough, there was Princess sitting in front of him, looking down with a smile.

“Good morning to you, as well,” the Empoleon said as she got up herself.

“H-how could you let this happen?” Lancer asked. “I requested specifically that you wake me up at first light. I intend no disrespect, but Ho-Oh has risen his boat to the point where it is entirely visible over the horizon!”

“Maybe I assumed you needed your rest,” Princess replied with a shrug. “I mean, if you want to save lives, you cannot so much as droop your eyes. Don't our families deserve a well-rested hero?”

Lancer was about to reply, but words escaped the Escavalier. “Very well,” Lancer said in a defeated tone. “Your logic is as sound as your integrity.”

“Now then, shall we continue our quest?” Princess asked.

“Of course not!” Lancer replied. “Oversleeping is inexcusable, but skipping breakfast is a far more heinous offense!” Lancer then raised his left lance and gave it a shake, causing two Sitrus Berries to fall out, where he caught them both with his other lance. “Fortunately, I am eternally prepared.”

“You keep Sitrus Berries in your lances?” Princess asked, a little stunned.

“But of course,” Lancer replied as he handed one of the berries to Princess. “I must apologize for the small rations, but it's imperative that I prepare for the worst at all times. Six days worth of Sitrus Berries left in one lance, three days worth of Lum Berries in the other.”

“Why only three days worth of Lum Berries?” Princess asked as she at the Sitrus Berry.

“They are rarer and strangely harder to farm,” Lancer replied. “But do not worry. I learned from a human called Emile how to farm berries at optimal efficiency. I had numerous secret farms across the world back on Earth. But here… I may be in trouble.”

“Don't worry about it,” Princess said. “I believe you'll be able to single-handedly – or… single-lancedly? – restore Earth's berry trees.”

“Of course!” Lancer proclaimed rather in a rather haughty tone. “Within my armor, I have two of every kind of berry!”

“That… sounds uncomfortable…” Princess said.

“It's part of my training,” Lancer replied proudly. “But, uh… between you and me, it's even more uncomfortable when one of them bursts. It's not impossible for a part of my armor to be suddenly impacted and a berry to be right on that spot.”

“Uh-huh…” Princess replied with a nod as she finished her Sitrus Berry. “Why don't we stop talking about this and get moving, eh?”

“Of course!” Lancer replied as he popped his entire Sitrus Berry into his mouth, chewing and swallowing it with great speed. “Let's go! Further north! And I sense more Pokemon shall join our quest this day!”

“Really?” Princess asked as the two began walking. “Do you know who?”

“I do not,” Lancer replied. “But! I do know that we will know them.”

Ki was the first to wake up in her group. The Leafeon looked around to find that Nana, Alonzo, and Gatsu were still asleep. However, Kunoichi was no where within Ki's vision. Ki closed her eyes and connected with the forest to search for the Greninja for a moment before finding her. Standing on a branch above the group. “Huh. Wonder what her deal is…” Ki thought as she looked up at the Greninja.

Kunoichi, meanwhile, was meditating atop the branch, every single one of her senses at their peak. However, she had to stop. “Need something, Ki?” the Greninja asked calmly.

“Huh!?” Ki asked, almost slipping from where she was climbing. “I'm not even halfway up this tree! How did you-?”

“Talk quieter,” Kunoichi said, not raising her voice. “My trainer, one of my friends, and a new acquaintance are trying to sleep.”

Ki shook her head before climbing the rest of the way up the tree and joining Kunoichi at the branch that almost grazed the forest canopy. “Did you ever sleep?”

“As far as Alonzo knows, I never sleep,” Kunoichi replied. “Though I must confess that I accidentally rested my eyes for twenty minutes at one point during the night.”

Ki wasn't convinced. “I'm not Alonzo, remember,” she said. “You can be honest.”

Kunoichi sighed and sat down. “I told the truth, if that's what you're asking,” the Greninja said. “I only slept for about twenty minutes. But such is the bar that is set for me. Alonzo accepted me as his first partner for his adventure, and I've tried so hard to be the partner he deserves. But… it's been so difficult. What I do is not an act, I want to make sure that's clear, but the stress gets to me.” Suddenly, Kunoichi looked over at Ki and stared with a confused expression. “Why am I telling you this?”

Ki shrugged and smiled, “Maybe it's just been too long since you've had a sympathetic ear?” she asked, edging closer to Kunoichi.

“Maybe…” Kunoichi started, but she couldn't find any other words.

Ki edged a little closer. “Maybe you need someone to… help you out,” she said.

“Or maybe…” Kunoichi continued, “just maybe, you're rather bad at pickup lines.”

“What!?” Ki shouted, almost falling out of the tree. However, before she fell, Kunoichi caught the Leafeon with her tongue. Ki dangled a foot below Kunoichi, the latter's tongue wrapped around the former. “Uh… thank you.”

Kunoichi pulled Ki back up onto the branch before wrapping her tongue back around her own neck. “You're a charming 'Mon, Ki,” Kunoichi said, “and you don't have to do much for me in the way of either of us coming out, but… you need a spirit stronger than that to equal mine.” With a wink, Kunoichi added, “Do give it another shot sometime, though.”

Ki was silent for a moment before sighing and shaking her head with a smile. “You know what?” the Leafeon asked. “Even just that made this Leafeon really happy. Thanks.”

“Now don't get cocky now,” Kunoichi said, picking Ki up by the tail and dangling her over the open air. “Remember… I want you eventually.” With a chuckle Kunoichi dropped Ki, sending her plummeting straight into the ground face-first right next to Nana's head. Nana woke up and looked over at Ki with a worried expression.

“Ki?” Nana asked. “Did you just wake up?”

“Nah,” Ki replied, not really paying attention. “I got up and went for a walk.”

“Some walk it must've been,” Nana said. “I could have sworn you just fell from a great height. Are you okay?”

Ki sighed and smiled. “Indeed I am…”

Author's Note:

Yeah... EX chapter 4 isn't coming anytime soon. Hit a writer's block. So why halt the story just for that?
*followers of SSB: Harmony Rising glare at me*
Eh... that being said... NEW CHAPTER! Yay...?
...
Alright, so a lot of individual stories are inching closer to their inevitable collision, and just when you thought all was said and done, this guy Lord shows up.
Excuse me?
OH MY ARCEUS, uh... Arceus. I didn't think you'd show up. Don't worry, I'm not trying to replace you.
Or is he?
Alright, who the fuck is this?
The evil shipper in your head? Remember? From near the beginning of Harmony and Darkness?
...I could have sworn you used a different font back then.
Whatever, I was just here to throw another ship into the story. I'll take my leave now.
...can I get my line in now?
No, we've already dragged this AN out longer than it should have been. UNTIL THE NEXT CHAPTER, EVERYONE!