Fanfiction The Shifter Stones: Vol. II

So, after what has seemed like months, I am back on the fanfiction scene! And what's more is that I'm coming back with (basically a sequel) of my first fanfic yeeeeee! If you haven't read it yet, then here's the link!

https://lakevalor.net/threads/the-shifter-stones.16681/

And now, assuming that you have already read it, let's go to the prologue!
(P.S. constructive criticism is appreciated XD)

Spoiler: prologue

Prologue



“You didn’t have to rescue me,” The Zorua muttered as the Lucario picked up a wet washcloth. “I would’ve been able to take care of myself on my own.”

“No you wouldn’t,” The Lucario countered, putting the washcloth on the Tricky Fox Pokémon’s forehead. He dabbed the small wound on it’s head, and lifted it up for inspection. The washcloth was speckled with blood, but the cut was clearing up slightly.

“Why’d you take me?” The Zorua asked bluntly. It appeared as though the little Dark Type wasn’t afraid of the Aura Pokémon, but it wasn’t because of the Lucario’s type advantage. “I was perfectly fine on my own.”

“That Houndoom was right on your tail,” The Lucario mumbled as he went to get the washcloth damp again. “If I hadn’t used that Aura Sphere at that time, you would have been dead.”

“It’s better than this hell I have to live in.”

The Lucario didn’t say anything after that. He kept addressing the head wound on the Zorua, and tried to avoid any conversation. The Zorua, however, didn’t care about it too much.

“Why did you take me away?” He asked, a small growl coming from his throat. “You better not try to-”

“I wouldn’t do that to any Pokémon, much less a child.”

“Don’t call me a child!”

“You are,” The Lucario muttered as he felt the Zorua’s forehead. “Your fever’s went down a bit, but it might be a good idea to rest for a while.”

“I don’t want to,” The Zorua growled once again. “I’ve got to get home now.”

The Lucario paused, not sure of what to say. “Should I really tell him?” He wondered to himself. But before he could say anything, the Zorua spoke.

“Wait… everything’s a bit fuzzy… but… I remember… a fire. Yeah, a fire… the burning forest… and… and…” The Zorua looked a bit concerned, and his eyes showed that he was thinking deeply. “... and…” He looked back at the Lucario, a singular tear falling down the side of his face. “They’re gone… aren’t they?”

The Lucario nodded slowly.

“And I have nowhere to go…” The Zorua looked into the Aura Pokémon’s eyes, and said, “Do you mind if I stay here with you?”

The Lucario smiled, and said, “You’re welcome to stay here as long as you want.”

“Well,” The Zorua muttered, returning to his seemingly normal attitude. “I’m probably not going to stay here long, just so then I don’t annoy you to death.”

“You’re fine,” The Lucario mumbled as he applied the washcloth to the Tricky Fox Pokémon’s head again. “I don’t mind having you around. Besides, I haven’t had company in a long time.”

And what he had said was true.

“Huh,” The Zorua mumbled, hopping off of the table that he had been on. He trotted around the small cave that was the Lucario’s home, and laid down in a particularly comfortable spot. “I thought that maybe you’d have some friends or family, but okay…”

The Lucario sighed, a flood of memories rushing through his mind. He used to have friends. And the same with family. But both were gone now. And he was left alone. That is, until this Zorua came along. It was then that the Aura Pokémon had that nostalgic feeling of happiness.

He shook his head. There was no point in thinking about the past. He instead took a seat next to the Zorua, and started to make a little fire for warmth. The weather in Johto was still cold from the winter winds. He finally had the bravery to say, “If you wanted to know, my name is Leon. I don’t mind if you call me by that.”

The little Zorua shook his tail once, and yawned. Before he went into a deep sleep, he replied, “I’m Z.”

__________________________________

“How long ago was that?” The Zoroark thought to himself as he picked a ripe-looking Oran Berry from a tree. It had to have been at least seven years ago, if not more. He sunk his teeth into the berry’s skin, and he sighed in relief. He really needed that.

“Hey Z! Come over here when you get done daydreaming!” Z groaned silently as he put a paw to his head. He knew whose voice it was; the somewhat annoying 13 year old, Alexo.

“Coming,” Z muttered as he headed towards another Berry tree. He saw four different Pokémon; A Lucario, a Roserade, a Swablu, and a Meowstic. The Swablu and Meowstic were playing around with each other while the Lucario and Roserade were quietly eating some Berries. The Illusion Fox Pokémon leaned against the tree, grabbing the two Pokémon’s attention. “What’s up?” He asked, taking a bite into a Sitrus Berry.

Leon and Rosa both looked at each other, and then back at Z. The Swablu and Meowstic stopped playing, and became enveloped in the conversation. But no one seemed to want to answer.

“Um… an answer would be nice right now,” Z muttered.

“We have a problem,” Leon said in a grave tone. “Ascent is back.”

 

Hey guys, here's chapter one! And why not start things with a bang?

Spoiler: chapter one

Chapter One


He let out one big sigh. He hadn’t felt like this since… since before all of that happened.

Finn sighed again, taking in another wave of air. He spread his arms, taking as much space on the grass. The blowing wind chilled him just a bit, but it was satisfying. He was in the park, and he had taken the time to enjoy the wonderful spring weather.

“Finn!” He heard a familiar voice call his name, and he turned to see who it was. His brother, Maxwell, was heading towards him. “Come on, we have to go now!”

Finn sighed one more time, and sat up. “Fine,” He grumbled, grabbing his backpack. “Let’s go.”

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The two brothers stood at the front of the high school, and Finn walked in quickly. Maxwell followed after him, and the two headed towards the cafeteria. Maxwell went off to join his other friends, while Finn sat down at an empty table.

¨How long has it been?” He wondered to himself. “It has to be at least a few months since… since they left.” It had to be. It was December when the Shifters arrived, who left in the same month, and now it was April…

“Attention students,” The school receptionist’s voice came on the intercom. “Remember that we have an assembly today in the gym at 8:40. Please be on your best behavior as you report to the gym when the bell rings.”

“Thanks,” Finn muttered quietly as the familiar ‘click’ of the intercom shutting off. He knew that the administrators around the school had prioritized the assembly, so everyone didn’t have the excuse of “I didn’t know about that”.

He reached for the crystal around his neck, and fixed it so then it looked presentable. He looked at the dull colors that were swirled within it. Ever since the portal to the Pokémon world had been closed, the Shifter Stone he had stopped working, causing for its colors to become dull. He half expected for some evil Pokémon to come back and terrorize the city and he would have been useless, but nothing had happened since the Shadow Rayquaza.

The bell suddenly rang, and a flock of students headed towards the gym on the other side of the school. He stood up, and entered the horde of excited teens who were happy to skip some of their first period classes.

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“So what do you want me to do?” A voice asked from the other side of the screen. He seemed to be shaking a bit in the presence of such a powerful man, but the black clad man did not care. He was a boss, quite literally, and would not let such fear riddle his mind.

The black clad man pressed a few keys on a nearby keyboard, and the sound of a running printer could be heard from the other side of the screen. “I just sent you the mission,” He spoke in a deep voice. “Go now.”

The nervous man nodded, and the screen went black.

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Finn sat the top of the large set of bleachers in the gym, hoping that time would go faster. No one was exactly sure what the assembly was about, but most were anxious to see what it was; Finn was one of them. He twiddled the pencil in his hand, wishing that it would start soon.

A few people brushed passed him as they went to sit down, and they began to chatter away. Finn sighed, remembering when he used to do that, but then he remembered…

“Hey dude, can you scoot over so I can sit down?” Someone nudged Finn a little bit, and the 16 year old moved over. “Thanks,” The kid added as they made themselves comfortable.

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“So how do we get back?”

“Arceus has already set up a portal. In a matter of moments, it will appear, and we will enter.”

Z sighed heavily. “I can’t wait to get back to it all again.”

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“Attention everyone,” The familiar voice of the principal echoed through the gym. “The assembly is about to start, so if everyone could be quiet, that would be great.”

“Thanks,” Finn muttered to himself.

“Thank you. Now, today, we have a couple of awards to give out…” A crowd of groans came out from the student body. “Okay, they’re not that boring… heh heh…”

The principal continued to talk as Finn started to concentrate on his Shifter Stone. It was still dull, but he could tell that there was a faint hint of light coming out from it. “What is going on…” He whispered to himself, holding the Stone closer to his face.

The colors in it were swirling around, when it hadn't done that before. A small white light in it was slowly growing larger. And a sense of uneasiness continued to grow in Finn’s mind. “What does that mean?”

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“Okay then,” the man sighed. He fixed his jacket collar a bit, and adjusted the bulky black bracelet around his wrist. He looked at the Pokéball in his hand, and nodded.

He stepped through the newly created warp portal and shivered. “Jeez, this is a lot colder than everyone said it would be,” He thought. But warp portals were not meant to last forever, so the cold ended as fast as it began.

He shuddered. Earth looked a lot different than the Pokémon world. There were many people here, which made him feel almost claustrophobic as he walked on the side of the street. Luckily he had learned some of the customs here, and had been given a map of the place.

“Heh, seems like I need directions now,” He chuckled, his hand moving over the Pokéball in his jacket pocket. “Now, for my mission.” He pulled out the map, and pointed the particular spot that was marked. He went over the mission objective one more time in his head.

“Arouse the locals, arouse the kid. No deaths, just make him see that Team Ascent has not vanished completely.”

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“It's been awhile,” Z chuckled lightly as he strolled through the city. The Shifters were in their human forms, as to not startle any of the locals.

Absol nodded. “It's been months.”

“But would it be weird if I said if it kinda reminded me of home?” Alexo asked, ruffling his forest green hair for the umpteenth time.

“Would you please stop that?” His sister, Alicia, swatted his hand away from his head. “Ever since you turned thirteen you've been so caught up in how you look.”

“You're over exaggerating,” Alexo countered. “What do you do all those times we go to the store and everything?”

No response.

“Heh heh,” Z chuckled. “So quick to say things, but can never answer questions thrown at them.”

“Shut up.”

“Be quiet,” Leon motioned for them to stop, and the others went quiet immediately. He watched a suspicious looking man head towards a rather large building in the city. He held something in his jacket, even though he couldn't see what it was. A quick scan with the aura vision and…

And…

“Uh…” Leon concentrated harder, but the man seemed to not be giving off any kind of aura. He opened his eyes, and pointed towards the man. “That's our guy.”

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The man entered the school, his hand still gripped on the Pokéball in his jacket pocket. He dismissed the receptionist, who told him to stop multiple times, and walked out into the hallway.

Moments later, he heard the receptionist again, only this time, she was on the intercom. “Lockdown!” She yelled, and a small herd of screams could be heard from down the hallway. The artificial lights shut off, and the only light he could see was natural.

The man smiled. He pulled out the Pokéball, and pressed the button in the center. A beam of white light shot out, and arced toward the floor. The familiar shape of a dragon stood, still silhouetted in white. The light escaped from the figure, and the man’s Pokémon stood proud.

“Come on, Charizard. We have work to do.”

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“Lockdown!” Finn heard the receptionist scream through the intercom, and the gym lights were immediately shut off. Multiple screams came through the gym, and a horde of students rushed out of the gym as fast as they could.

But Finn didn’t follow the crowd. Instead, he turned towards where the front office would be, and stood up. He pushed past the group of students rushing down the bleachers and turned to the closest hallway.

“What the heck is that?!” He almost screamed, arousing some of the students. He saw some kind of orange looking dragon with giant wings. It looked at Finn with a hint of curiosity, but roared when it noticed something on him. The Shifter Stone, which was glowing intensely.

“Charizard?” He heard a man’s voice exclaim. Finn saw a man dressed in black stare at him. His ice blue eyes seemed to pierce through Finn, and he felt a sudden sense of discomfort.

“Um… hi?”

The man looked to his Charizard. “We have a mission,” He said slowly, fumbling with the black bracelet around his wrist. “I understand if you don’t want us here, but you have to understand, the boss needs you.”

“What?” Finn asked, more confused than before. “Who are you?”

The man chuckled. “They always ask for names.” He looked to Charizard, and raised the arm that held his bracelet. The stone on it started to glow, and the other stone around Charizard’s neck glowed as well. A sphere of pink started to surround Charizard, and Finn groaned and flopped to the floor with an exaggerated sigh.

“God, Mega Evolutions suck!” Finn put a hand to his head. “How convenient.”

“Heh heh,” The man in black smiled as the pink sphere disappeared. His Charizard was black now, with blue flames coming out of its mouth. It kinda seemed to match the man’s outfit somewhat… “But Ascent wants you.”

“Wait, what?” Finn asked, sitting back up. “I know I’m stalling, but I’m just curious.”

There was a small metallic clang that drew their attention. “What was that?” The man asked.

“Do I look like I know?”

“Whatever. Charizard, go check it out.”

“Char!” The man’s Pokémon took off, flying around the gym. It decided to tear a hole in one of the walls, and flew out.

“Well then,” Finn smiled, standing up. He clapped his hands together once, and said, “Whelp. I guess that wall’s not gonna be fixed any time soon.”

“Be quiet,” The man frowned. “Charizard, come back!”

The Flame Pokémon roared, and soared back into the gym. It landed next to its Trainer, and bowed its head. The man patted it softly, although he seemed a bit confused about it. “Something wrong?” Finn asked with a goofy grin.

“Um…,” The man looked at his Charizard again. He pulled out a Pokéball from his jacket pocket and held it towards the Pokémon. “Charizard, return.”

But the little red beam that would have recalled his Pokémon did not appear.

Instead, a series of laughter erupted from the Charizard. It held its hands to its stomach, and fell onto the ground. “What the heck?!” The man almost yelled.

“Good Arceus, that was hilarious!” A purple light surrounded the Pokémon, and in a matter of moments, a bipedal fox-looking Pokémon appeared. “Finn, I’m pretty sure this is my best prank yet.”

“Good timing, Z,” Finn said, adding his laughter to the mix. “Where are the others?”

“Well,” The Zoroark chuckled, standing to his feet. “They took care of that Charizard of his, and I went in it’s place.” He turned to the man and said, “You’re probably part of Ascent, huh? You don’t exactly look the part…”

“Huh? I am!” The man exclaimed. “I just dress differently.” He turned around, and crossed his arms. “I knew this wouldn’t work.”

“What wouldn’t work?” Finn asked.

“Seriously?” The man turned back to the two. ”I was sent to tell you something.” He pulled out a piece of paper and read, “‘Ascent is back, and is more flamboyant than ever!’”

“No dip, Sherlock,” Z muttered sarcastically. “Did you seriously read that from that paper?”

“I didn’t write it.”

“I figured.”

“But you get the message, right?”

“Kind of. What happened, you guys got new outfits or something?”

“New designer. At least we got something better than those spacey looking jumpsuits.”

“They looked terrible.”

“Uh huh.”

“Are you just stalling now?”

“Pretty much.” The man threw out another Pokéball, and it landed on the floor. It opened up, and revealed a Typhlosion. “Use Smokescreen.” A cloud of smoke covered the gym, coating it in black. “Charizard, return!” Finn heard him say, and a faint red beam appeared through the smoke. But before he could do anything, the light disappeared.

“Crap!” Z muttered, purple light surrounding him. He took on the form of a Staraptor, and flapped his wings furiously. The smoke cleared, but it there was only just the two of them. “You’ve got to be kidding me right now!”

“But at least I had some help-”

“Uh, you were just kinda standing there doing nothing.”

“I’m sorry! I thought that you had it under control!” Finn pouted.

“Well, you thought. And now that guy is gone,” Z muttered, walking away from the still lingering cloud of smoke. He turned toward the hole in the wall made by the man’s Charizard and yelled, “Hey Leon! Get over here now!”

Finn heard some grumbling, but in a matter of moments, a Lucario hopped through the hole and walked toward the two. “You need to keep your voice down. We still don’t know if that man is still here.”

“Jeez. Paranoid,” Z huffed.

“Hey Finn!” He heard someone call his name, and he turned to see a Meowstic and Swablu. The Meowstic rushed up to him, and gave him a rather large hug. “It’s been such a long time!”

“Alexo!” Finn smiled, ruffling the little tuft of fur on top of the Constraint Pokémon’s head. He made a wheezing sound, and squeaked, “You’re crushing me…”

“Oh! Sorry!” Alexo let go quickly, and plopped onto the floor.

“It’s fine,” Finn mumbled. “I wonder how you were strong enough to do that…”

“Heh,” Z chuckled. “Maybe you’re just weak.”

“Hey! That’s not nice!”

“It’s true though.”

“Shaddup.”

“And what am I? Chopped Pidgey?” The Swablu chirped, flying onto Finn’s shoulder. “You haven’t said anything to me since we got here.”

“Sorry! I… kinda forgot…,” Finn chuckled nervously. “...Sorry…?”

“Oh you’re dead.”

“Please. We don’t need this,” Leon mumbled. “We don’t have the time.”

“Whaddya mean?” Finn asked.

“Ascent came here to arouse you, to make sure you knew that they were back,” Leon sighed. “I’m afraid we have no idea what they are up to this time. Arceus has been kind enough to lend us a portal to the Pokémon world, but it is at a fixed point. Absol is staying there to protect it, but it will not last long. We must leave now.”

“Wait, like now?” Finn pointed to himself. “I’m not ready for it yet! I mean, I probably should pack some clothes…”

“Dude. It’s called a clothes shop for a reason,” Z huffed. “You’ll be able to get some crap later.”

“Hey-”

“Come on, we have to go!” Alexo shouted, Shifting to his human form in a split second. The others Shifted as well, blending in with the regular people of the city.

Alexo grabbed Finn’s arm, and took off running. He dropped his book bag in order to keep up with the 13 year old. The two of them stayed on the sidewalk, and avoided any contact with the people there. Alexo seemed to know where he was going though, so Finn didn’t resist.

In a few minutes, the two of them turned down an alley, and there stood a man cloaked in white. He had a streak of black on the left side of his hair, and seemed to have a daunting feel to him, but Finn knew who it was in an instant.

“Absol! It’s good to see you!” Finn smiled, waving with his free hand.

Absol nodded. “I’m glad to see that you are alright.” He motioned towards the other Shifters, who had finally caught up with the two. “Now then, the portal is becoming more and more unstable by the moment, so we need to hurry.”

“Finn goes first,” Z muttered.

“Hey-”

“What? You ran all the way here, so why not?”

“Ugh… fine,” Finn sighed, reaching a hand inside the portal. He snatched it out quickly. “Good grief, that’s cold!”

“Stop being a baby. Go,” Z muttered, giving Finn a little shove. He fell in, the wave of cold rushing over him. He could only see grey for a moment, but then he found natural light.