Peacekeepers

Chapter One - Rivalry

AN: I am cross-posting this on Fanfiction.net and AO3 as well. Basically I've had this story in the works for over a year but the Champions 8 got me super excited for this pairing and I've started writing with a passion again! I hope you enjoy. I aspire to update once a week.

To any of my Reylo followers, this is a Pokémon fic, for I will no longer be writing anything Star Wars and you can check my profile for details.

Oh gads, the formatting on this site is terrible! My apologies for any bunched up text! I tried to fix as much as I could!

On with the story!

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Deep inside an ancient forest in the Johto region, wild bird song filled the air, while warm, dappled sunlight painted the mossy ground with a gold tint.

Perceptive gray eyes scanned the area carefully, idly tracking the various bird Pokémon flitting about overhead. The woman, with long blond hair that reached her knees and clad in black clothing from top to toe, glanced down at the map in her hands. "It should be right around here," she told her companion whilst pointing at a prominent rock formation. "See? That's Suicune's snout, just like the map says."

Her companion, a large, blue skinned reptilian creature, merely offered a low, disinterested grumble in response as it thumped along beside her.

"Oh come on Gar," the woman teased lightly. "If you had half the enthusiasm as Lucario then we'd have found those ruins by now."

Garchomp grumbled again as if to argue, but raised her hammer-shaped head, alerted to the sound of quick footsteps.

"Well, speak of the devil!" the woman said with a smile. She nodded when her bipedal dog-like Pokémon slid to a stop beside her and began huffing and motioning excitedly in the direction he had come. "Yes, yes, great job Lucario. Let's go then, show us the way."

After following the blue-black canine through some dense brush and down a steep outcropping, they finally came to a small glade bordered all around by a thick tangle of trees. An intricate wall of archaic brickwork occupied one section of the border and appeared to have been built directly into the outcropping itself.

The woman tipped her head and gave her map a dubious look. "This is the old temple they told me about?" They being the villagers from the nearest town, Arborville, and the same people that had given her the map. "It looks more like a tomb."

A strange chiming noise sounded overhead, but it was such a mysterious, surreal sound, almost as if it hadn't happened at all.

She looked up to see what her two Pokémon were thinking, only to find them oblivious to the noise. They were both snooping around at one edge of the clearing, where there were obvious signs of someone's campsite. She had noticed it earlier but hadn't paid it much thought. The ruins were newly discovered, yes, but she hardly expected to be the first to investigate it.

"Don't be nosy, you two," she chided lightly as she crossed to examine the temple entrance. The two Pokémon gave a grunt and a huff and followed after her. Peering inside, the woman eyed the conspicuous orange caution tape on the ground, which had clearly been pulled down by someone. There was also a crudely painted sign lying nearby that read: "Caution, unstable structure! Enter at own risk!"

Garchomp offered a warning growl and Lucario voiced an uncomfortable hum; neither had a good feeling about entering the ruin, and it wasn't because of the caution tape. "Yeah, I know. It looks too dangerous to bother with. Who knows what's even holding it up at this point?" She stepped back, one hand on her hip as she contemplated the situation. "Still, if someone's been exploring it then maybe it'll be worth waiting around to hear what they've found."