I

“This is all your fault!” the Glaceon screamed, her teeth bared and glowering at the considerably taller Pokemon.

On the receiving end was a large Charmeleon, a proud Pokemon and he did not take his teammate’s accusation lightly. “What did you say?” he growled, his voice low and subconsciously standing in such a way that made him look bigger, to intimidate.

The Glaceon, named Sigma, jabbed a paw at the fire lizard, not intimidated in the least. “The only reason we’re here in this Arceus damned forest is because of you! I said we should take our trainer and get the hell out of there. But you? You insisted we stay and help that waif of a girl and her pitiful Dragonair get out of the deities’ way!”

“Where you would simply leave them to die,” the Charmeleon retorted scornfully.

“Don’t act all high and mighty with me,” Sigma hissed. “Since when do you care what happens to a random Pokemon, mister selfish? You didn’t want to help that overgrown Ekans out of your own kind heart, you wanted to help her because she was your own personal little fuck toy!”

Charmeleon saw red. His blood boiled with fury and he made it known by unleashing a nightmarish roar that would have sent lesser Pokemon running for the hills. “You take that back!” he howled and took two steps towards the Glaceon, who for her part regarded the enraged Fire-type with unabashed disdain, a malicious smirk in her face.

“What, you think nobody noticed you making goo-goo eyes at her the past two weeks? Oh, I’m sorry, that was mean,” she said mockingly.

Charmeleon glared through his one good eye and it took all his self restraint from giving in to his primal urges and tear apart the Glaceon, team member or not. “You don’t know what you’re talking about,” he growled, his voice thick with rage.

Sigma scoffed and rolled her eyes. “Please, the whole team knew. The only ones who didn’t are Sugarplum and the newbie, and that’s because they’re dumber than a Slowpoke. You think I didn’t notice you cozying up to that little weakling during nighttime? Ha! I bet you thought you were so sneaky. Well, I hope you’re happy. We are now stuck here, away from our trainer and who even knows where he is. All because you were stupid enough to risk all our lives for your little squeeze!”

The air around Charmeleon shimmered, and the flame at the base of his tail grew, steadily becoming a whitish blue. This alone would be enough to cow most Pokemon. A Charmeleon’s fiery temper was very well known, induced by the onset of hormones that flooded their system after evolution. It spurred them to constantly seek out battles and new opponents to test their strength and power. Barbaric and hot headed by nature, Charmeleon were born for battle. Razor sharp claws on their forearms and hind legs could split apart lesser Pokemon with ease. Their jaw strength was sufficient to crush bone and their musculature, while still developing, enabled them to trade blows with the likes of Machoke and Primeape. As if that wasn’t bad enough, Charmeleon possessed an ability that, when hurt or enraged enough, enabled them to undergo a trancelike berserker state, able to ignore pain and fatigue while increasing the already considerable strength of their flames to unbearable levels, not stopping until either their injuries were too severe to ignore or until their opponent lay defeated. To actively infuriate a Charmeleon was something most Pokemon and humans considered to be reckless, suicidal and just plain stupid. “That does it! If you don’t shut up I will--”

“You’ll do what? Growl me to death? I guess it’s inevitable. Violence is the last resort of the stupid and ignorant.” Sigma was defiant to the end. At nearly twice the size of a normal Glaceon, she had taken on her share of bigger, tougher opponents that, had she been a normal Glaceon, she would have certainly lost.

The atmosphere was beyond tense. The air around Charmeleon shimmered erratically and was heavily blurred, his maw was shut tight, his fangs bared and through them escaped wisps of fire. Sigma was crouched, ready to strike, her face set in a mask of cold arrogance and the area around her was steadily enveloped in a thin layer of frost.

Neither Pokemon would back down, and both were powerful in their own right. A battle here and now, without their trainer's supervision and their tempers running high, could end with one or both of them severely injured. Before anything else could happen, a deep, reverberating wave of sound crashed against them, not causing any harm, but rattling their bones and their skulls in such a way that completely lifted the setting haze of battle from them.

“Be quiet, both of you. You’re giving me a headache,” growled a deep, bass voice not too far.

Charmeleon was the first to recover, holding both paws to his head in an attempt to stop the disorienting sensation. Sigma took longer, her eyes closed and shaking her head in order to get the ringing out of her ears.

Sitting at the base of a tree was a massive Pokemon, older than them by a good many years. Blue in color, with a mouth wide and big enough to swallow small creatures whole and various tube-like protrusions jutting out his body. The Exploud fixed them with a bored yet stern gaze.

“Or what?” Glaceon snapped.

“Or I’ll make you,” Exploud responded with a vaguely disinterested tone.

Sigma gnashed her teeth and seethed. She’d gone up against the more powerful Normal-type before. Needless to say, it was an experience she did not wish to repeat. Not because she was afraid of getting hurt, but because she did not want to subject herself to the humiliation of getting completely trounced. The massive Normal-type was a powerhouse in his own right and by far the oldest, most experienced battler among them. Even squaring off against Charmeleon was a fairer fight, despite her type disadvantage.

Charmeleon seemed to be of the same mind, as he shared a look with her before both rivals decided it best to save their spat for when no one was around. They went their own way, Sigma climbing a nearby tree with surprising deftness and agility, she nestled herself amidst the branches while Charmeleon settled atop the flat surface of a large stone.

Exploud paid it no mind, whether oblivious or disinterested, it was uncertain. So long as his unruly teammates didn’t cause trouble he was content to let them stew. He looked to the sky and noticed that the sun was about to set, if the coloring was an indication. His thoughts drifted back, trying to make sense of what exactly happened.

Palkia and Dialga. Two Pokemon deities and two of the most powerful in existence. What exactly happened he did not know. It all went down so fast and sudden. There was no time to think, only to react. He remembered a town, nothing really special about it. It was as typical as they came and yet, the deities of space and time appeared all of a sudden, their titanic battle completely swallowing up the unprepared town. Buildings fell, the earth was rent and the sheer force and power of the deities’ attacks was of such intensity to send devastating shockwaves that crushed stone with ease, even from hundreds of feet away. In the confusion and chaos, they were separated from their trainer and that’s when it happened. Somehow, someway, they and others found themselves literally caught between the deities. Simultaneously, they unleashed attacks that were unknown to him, but when met midair created a colossal explosion of foreign, otherworldly energies that completely engulfed those unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle. There was light, pain, then numbness. A feeling of weightlessness and being adrift on nothing. When he came to, when they all came to, they were in this strange forest, away from the town, away from the deities and away from their trainer.

It was not something he was used to. He had stuck with his trainer throughout the young man’s life, ever since he was a humble Whismur, meeting his lifelong friend for the first time on the day of his fifth birthday. He knew that fretting was a waste and his trainer was capable enough to fend for himself, but still, the thought gnawed at his mind.

He shook his head irritably, trying to clear his thoughts and waited. Not long after, the fifth member of the group arrived, a Crobat, his wings beating rapidly and on his fangs was the dead body of some unfortunate creature. Glaceon and Charmeleon noticed the bat Pokemon’s arrival. They converged from their stations around him and Exploud stood. “Find anything?”

The Crobat, nicknamed Orlok dropped the dead creature unceremoniously and answered. “There’s a town at the other end of the forest.”

“How far?” grunted Glaceon.

Orlok might have shrugged. It was impossible to tell when he was constantly flapping his wings and bobbing up and down. “Minutes for me. For you, maybe a day or two.”

“You gonna eat this?” Charmeleon asked, nudging the dead creature.

Orlok bared his fangs in a grin. “You can have it, I already drank all its blood. Tasty stuff, whatever it is.”

The fire lizard bent down and sniffed. “Hmm, not like any Pokemon I ever saw.” The dead creature’s head was avian with white plumage and it sported talons like a bird. The rest of its body, however, was reptilian in nature, complete with a tail and dragon-like wings. Picking it up with a clawed paw, Charmeleon bit the head off the corpse and chewed, easily crushing its bones. “Tastes like Pidgey,” was the final verdict.

“Well, don’t hog it all, I’m starving here,” Sigma cut in.

With a slashing motion, Charmeleon severed the body in half, swallowing his morsel in a single, massive gulp, his earlier altercation with Sigma seemingly forgotten. Sigma worked on her half with gusto, tearing off whole chunks and swallowing, though at a more sedate pace.

Exploud rolled his eyes, the decibels of his grumbling could be felt reverberating the air. His teammates didn’t mind, though. They were long since used to such things. “What way’s the town?”

Orlok nodded vaguely to a direction left of him. "That way, and that's not all I found. There's some ruins about halfway. Probably a human city, but it looks like it's abandoned."

Exploud considered this for a moment. "Then that's where we'll go. We can spend the night there and go to the human settlement in the morning."

"And then what," asked Charmeleon.

"Yeah, how are we even gonna find our trainer," asked Sigma.

"Auto has an idea," Exploud said. In unison, the Pokemon looked upwards, where their fifth member had been lurking amidst the branches of a tree. He descended as if on cue, a Magneton and it surveyed its teammates with a set of three unblinking eyes.

"The tin can has an idea? This should be good," remarked Sigma.

"Quiet," grumbled Exploud. "What's the plan, Auto?"

The Magneton did not respond. Rather, it manipulated its magnetic field to levitate a pokeball that had been hiding behind it, placing it in full view of the others.

"A pokeball?" Crobat asked, echoing the others thoughts.

Auto spoke for the first time. "Correct." His voice was low, guttural and mechanized. "In conjunction... with his pokedex... our supreme leader... can activate... a signal... in excess of... two hundred meters... to ascertain... this pokeball's... location."

Glaceon snorted. "This is your so called plan?"

"Do you find... fallacies... on my proposed... course of action?"

Glaceon did not particularly care for the automaton's halting speech. She thought it made him sound like a dweeb. A robotic dweeb. "You're damned right I do. We have no idea where our trainer is. What, we're just supposed to wander around and hope we get close enough that he can find us with his doohickey? We don't even know where to start looking and last I checked, the world is a very large place. We go the wrong direction, we'll end up even farther from him."

"She does have a point..." Charmeleon muttered grudgingly.

"There is... another... alternative."

"Yeah? Well, spit it out."

"Using... this pokeball... human authorities... can discern... the identity... of its owner. They will be... able to... locate... the supreme leader."

"That's reasonable," said the Crobat, his voice naturally raspy. "But humans don't speak Pokemon. How are we supposed to let them know what's going on?"

"We would need... to employ... the help of... Psychic Pokemon... skilled enough... to commune... with humans."

"You need high level Psychics for that," Charmeleon pointed out. "Be pretty hard to find."

"Do you have a better idea?" asked Exploud.

"No."

"Then we go with Auto's plan. That's the best we have right now." He then swiveled his massive head to face the Crobat. "Orlok, point us to those ruins you mentioned. We can spend the night there. We'll pick up the pace tomorrow and make for that town. With any luck, there's a Psychic Pokemon who's willing to help us."

The others mumbled their consent, as they could not offer anything else to the conversation. The Pokemon then began their journey through the forest. Their thoughts were steeped in the near future and the strange happenings that led them to their current situation, but more than anything, they all shared the same desire-- to reunite with their trainer.

It was a special sort of bond that developed between trainer and Pokemon. Days, weeks, years of traveling and fighting together created an irreplaceable connection between them. Pokemon could live in the wilds, never coming into contact with humans and still live a good life, but those who were lucky enough to come into the care of a young, eager trainer would experience a sort of kinship that just couldn’t be found anywhere else. To be separated from each other created a hollow space in the hearts of the Pokemon, something that needed to be filled. It gnawed at them constantly, lurking in the back of their heads until it was rectified, and so they soldiered on, trudging through the undergrowth of the strange forest and hoping that tomorrow would bring good news.

***

Twilight Sparkle sat in her library, nearly half her body resting on a table. The young unicorn was feeling morose at the moment, evidenced by the fact she was listlessly rolling a marble between her hooves. It had been a stressful day today and more than once was a panic attack imminent. The mare felt wrung out, like a rag, and despite the fact it was nighttime she was not the least bit tired, no. Her thoughts kept drifting back to the events of the day. She had forgotten to submit her weekly friendship report. Normally, this wouldn't be grounds for, as Rainbow Dash declared it 'a total freak out' but Twilight prided herself in her studies and above all sought Celestia's approval. A simple matter in the end, yet her own neuroses drove her to create mayhem in the hopes she could scribble a hasty report to meet her deadline.

And yes, Celestia had been very understanding and despite Twilight's fears, she would not be sent back to magic kindergarten. Even so, she was disappointed. Disappointed at herself for failing to meet her own(admittedly high) expectations. She glanced at the clock and noted it was a little past eleven. As a rule of thumb, Ponyville would shut down almost two hours ago which meant the outside would be deserted by now. After a moment of thought Twilight decided she would take a brief stroll. Hopefully it would help clear her head.

Making sure not to make noise for Spike, who was already fast asleep, Twilight headed out. Her mane was a bit of a mess at this point but she couldn't find it in herself to care. After all, it's not like anypony would see her. She walked in silence, noting just how different Ponyville was at night. The sky was certainly a sight to behold, no doubt the work of princess Luna. There was something in the way she manipulated the night cosmos in a way that Celestia just wasn't able to replicate. Twilight made a note to send the Moon Princess a thank you note, not just for the prettier sky, but for the renewed interest and findings that had sprung up in the field of astrology following Luna's return. The night air was different as well. Fresher, cooler, it tickled her nostrils and she found herself taking slow, deep breaths to better enjoy it. Yes, this little walk was exactly what she needed.

Her meanderings took her to the edge of Everfree forest, its musky scent triggering a memory. That of Zecora, their first meeting and the lesson she and her friends had learned that day. To never judge a book or anypony by its cover.

But her musings were interrupted as a noise pierced the quiet night air. It was a roar. The bellowing of a large creature. The forest's thick foliage left it muted but even so, Twilight could discern that whatever made it was not in a good mood. She couldn't place the source, as there were a many great beasts inhabiting the forest.

The sounds came again, this time filled with pain and wrath. They were closer and it set Twilight on edge. She was by no means an expert, but she could guess that whatever the source, it must be a large creature and though the beast's cries were perceptible enough, a different set of sounds emerged from the thick brush of the forest. There was the sharp snap of splintering wood, a strange, trombone-like sound that even from afar, she managed to feel its vibrations through her bones and, despite the fact it was a cloudless night, the unmistakable crack of thunder muddled through. Twilight wasn't sure whether it was a trick of the light but she could swear she saw a faint yellow glow emanating from the forest's canopy. Further unnerving the small unicorn was the nature of the creature's sounds. Minutes passed and steadily, its cries were reduced from fury to pain, howling in agony and steadily growing closer.

Twilight's heartbeat thundered in her ears. She stood paralyzed, muscles tense and her ears erect, unable to move, not knowing what to make of it all.

Without any warning, Twilight herself was blasted with an invisible wave of force. She shrieked in surprise as she was lifted from her hooves and sent flying a good distance away, landing heavily on the ground. Her bones shook, her body rattled to the core and she was overcome by a crippling wave of disorientation. It felt as though there were maracas rattling around her head.

The ringing in her head stopped and she shakily got to her hooves. Her mind felt muddled and she stared at the gaping darkness of the forest with a renewed sense of fear. Rooted to the spot, waiting. For what she did not know.

A commotion behind her. Voices. It gave her the necessary push to be able to look away. Ponies were coming out of their homes, having heard or felt that one last bellow. Twilight did not know what to do. The forest was silent now, as if the last few minutes hadn't happened. The ponies hadn't noticed Twilight yet and she made no move towards them. She faced the forest, standing on the tip of her hooves, straining to hear anything that would indicate whatever was responsible for it all was getting closer.

Nothing. A good while passed and she grew cautiously optimistic. She glanced back and the townsponies were still there, milling around in little groups, distressed. With one last look at the forest Twilight retreated. She'd do her best to reassure the Ponyvillians that there was nothing to be worried about. She hoped there was nothing to worry about. But she couldn't simply ignore what happened. Come morning, she would round up her friends and ask for their help in investigating what transpired, and if it was something to be concerned about.

Despite the pit of dread rising up in her belly, she could only hope her worries proved wrong.

Author's Note:

Hmm, I don't really know where this fic is going. Basically I only wrote it as a way to stave off writer's block. If you guys would be interested to see where this goes then please let me know. I will continue it for at least two chapters to get ideas out of my head. After that... who knows. Either way, I hope you enjoy it.

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