Pokémon Chronicles 零 (ZERO)

Episode 31: All the world against us

It supposedly started with the revolution of the Aska... Sometime in the past, the Aska family left Heroica. It is unknown why they left, but when they did, they apparently disappeared completely. That's what the Heroicans believed, anyway.

In reality, they had deserted mainland Heroica in an all-out bid to take over Celadon Island! My ancestors were forced to found the Fruit Knights and fight back. They failed, and we were defeated. If it wasn't for our ability to reproduce asexually, we would have been wiped out of existence. I was born in Heroica's underground as a result, brought up by my mother's restless heart of vengeance. All she ever cared about was me growing strong enough to take back Celadon Island.

When I had learnt what the Aska had done to us, I grew to hate them with all my being, just like my mother. Their meaningless actions that throw Heroica into disarray, their ignorantly revered legacy in Heroican history, their questionably evil actions... I knew that I had to bring them to justice. The fastest way was to bring Heroica into my control. So once I became queen, I retaliated against the Aska on this island. I personally saw to killing every last one of them.

But when I took back the castle, I caught wind of my greatest opportunity... they had remodelled the castle and the island to provide easy access to the Cave of Challenges. Learning this information at the same time as coming across an egg, which was being incubated by the royalty of the castle, was a stroke of luck that I would never forget. By keeping that child as my own, spoiling them, and then using them to do as I will, I could harness the power of the ancient artes seemingly without limit.

But my heart began to waver from the path of conquest. The things I was told by the Aska, about that egg... One does not even have to be superstitious to realise that they were becoming true. Shelly was as intelligent as they warned, capable of so much more than any child I had ever seen. Just as was I was told, Shelly was called out by fate to take on a role so great that it would change Heroica forever...

...

"So that means... Shelly is actually an Aska? If his parents were Aska's..." Lucca asked, beginning to mumble.

"Legally, by both Heroican and Celadonian law, he is my child. But by blood, yes, he is an Aska. His true name is Chico Aska," Queen Gladys stated, facing the otter. "Something to do with a legend that the Aska believe in or something, that a Pokémon that embodies a heart of light should bear the name Chico. I thought to rename you something completely unrelated to avoid all suspicion."

"Wow... you and Lucca are brothers! Kinda, I guess?" Brine breathed out. Shelly didn't reply.

"Attempting to defy fate any longer would be foolish. Shelly is yours to do with as you please. But for now..." Gladys stated, facing him sternly. "I will leave the fate of you and Elise's marriage down to the two of you."

...

That was her story. We learnt all that we needed to know to assure what we did was in the right, and that we wouldn't be getting into any kind of dire trouble for our battle. But for me, more questions were popping up than those being answered, and they were all connecting to Lucca.

Who exactly were the Aska? From everything I had figured out based on what I was told, they were a prestigious family of Pokémon that disappeared during the past. According to Queen Gladys, they had nearly driven her ancestors to extinction, instead of really disappearing. But if Lucca's story was representative of the Aska, that meant that they were a group of Pokémon from another world, one that he was set to save by restoring bestia energy.

And what of the oddly religious Aska Houses, the place we had stayed at when we learnt about the Limestone Cave?

Tonight was quite the night, one that kept me up for a while, doing nothing but worrying about what it all meant. I didn't know whether it was intentional or not, or whether I was the only one of us trying to figure it all out, but Lucca was gradually revealing more about himself. For some reason, that worried me more than the problems I had with myself. The more I thought about it all, the more I feared how potentially massive Lucca's true story would end up being. Oh yes, I no longer believed what he had told me before, at least, not fully.