Project Harudyne Series 1 - Pokemon Ageos Chronicles

Chapter 2: You Look Familiar...

  After about two hours, within the lab's resting area, Zakari and Chris had just woken up from their nap, fully recharged. Slitheren came walking into the room, holding both her and Wriggle's Poke Ball with her vines. "Hey," she said to them. Chris took Wriggle's Poke Ball off of her hands, and put it around his waist. "She's fully healed." As she was speaking, Zakari took the other Poke Ball. "The bruise and cuts on her face are completely gone."

Chris looked confused. "...Her?" he asked.

"The Venipede," Slitheren replied quickly. "It's a girl. Err, what did you call her again? Wriggle?" Chris nodded. "Why that name? I don't get it."

"Wriggle Nightbug. She's an inhabitant of Gensokyo, just like I am." Chris replied.

Then Professor Pear entered the room. "Ah, you two are awake now." He had his hands behind his back military-style. "Now that you are official Pokemon Trainers, you can explore the region freely as you choose. Zakari." The brown-haired boy replied with a "Hmm?" "You said you had plans to escape this world, yes?" Zakari nodded. "Well I wish you luck in pursuing that goal. Regardless, the two of you may want to prepare yourself for the journey ahead. I would suggest heading east to Shire Town and purchasing supplies from the Pokemon Mart there. The journey of a Pokemon Trainer is surely a long one. But if you keep your head held high, I'm sure you will find your true calling."

"My true calling..." Chris tilted his head upward towards the ceiling. But then he lowered it back down and closed his eyes briefly. "...I think I already know what my goal is." Zakari glanced over at Chris with a strange look - almost as if shocked but also slightly curious.

The sword-wielding boy then looked back over at Professor Pear. "Thank you for allowing us to rest here, Professor. But we'll be heading out now."

The professor nodded in response. "I wish the two of you the best of luck on your endeavors." Pear then walked out of the room back into the lobby, Zakari and Chris following behind and Slitheren hopping up onto Zakari's left shoulder.

. . .

It was still broad daylight outside, as Zakari and Chris had just begun their walk towards Shire Town. It was rather quiet until Chris spoke up. "Hey." He got Zakari's attention. "You never did tell us who your comrades were."

"That is true." Zakari looked upward. "Well to start off, me and my comrades are a small group of PKKs, or Player Killer Killers. In short, we PK other PKs and serve as an anchor of protection against those who PK maliciously. PKing, or Player Killing, simply refers to one or more players killing another player for no good reason."

"They don't seem very nice," Chris said.

"They're really not. They're the scum of the earth, if you ask me." Zakari replied. "That's why PKKs started emerging in The World R:2. Because the PKing was starting to get out of hand. I understand that PKing is part of the game. But no one likes being PK'd, especially when starting out." A still image of the emblem on Zak's shirt was shown. "The four of us never really thought up a name for our PKK group. But a lot of people were saying that we could be related to the Terror of Death, calling us the Beast Fangs or whatever." Then, four silhouetted figures faded into the image, one of them resembling Zakari. The other three looked to be a long-haired girl wielding a bow, an almost bedheaded boy with a shield on his left arm holding some sort of gun is his right hand, and a glasses-wearing girl holding a long dual-bladed scythe. Then the camera zoomed in on each individual silhouette, rising slowly as Zakari spoke. "I am their leader. An Edge Punisher, a type of class that wields a giant greatsword such as the one I have on me. My sister, an Adept Rogue who specializes in magic, wields a weapon called the Crystal Bow as her wand."

"A bow as a wand?" Slitheren asked.

"She can use the arrows as catalysts for her spells. Bows can also be used by Harvest Clerics and Shadow Warlocks. Clerics being healers, and Warlocks using offensive magic." Zakari answered. "Being an Adept Rogue, she had to Job Extend in order to access her Harvest Cleric spells. But Adept Rogues can choose three classes to use, and she's only Job Extended once. So not even I know what her last choice was. Then, there's our best friend Brice Ravenhold. His class is a Steam Gunner, which uses regular guns that have berettas attached to them. His weapon is the Shraider, a gun that can take multiple forms - a regular gun, a machine pistol, a sniper rifle, and even a shotgun. He is also known to carry around a shield, which any class can wield so long as they have a free hand. Blade Brandiers are such an example, as they wield one-handed swords. The Shraider and Crystal Bow, along with my Nihilblade, were all crafted by our fourth and final member. She's a Flick Reaper with unique abilities, but she's also a hacker that has never been caught. Her weapon, on the other hand, was a special reward from soloing a dungeon. The Shorai no Kama, or Future Scythe as its also called. It's a scythe that allows the user to wield it however they choose through its four blades. There's also a chain connecting the weapon to a ring that, when worn, allows the wielder to throw the scythe like a yoyo. She is widely known as the Legendary Flick Reaper. Unfortunately, she went missing without a trace a month ago. I'm worried about her." The image faded away, and Zak and Chris were already close to the place where Zak landed near the entrance to the Emerald Forest. "My ultimate goal, after I find my comrades, is to find a way out of this world. About three days ago, we were told that there was an upcoming Raid Quest, and we went out to prepare ourselves. Not that we would've needed it most likely. We've been known to tackle challenges that were much higher level than us. Even groups of PKs. But today, while we were fighting regular monsters...the ground underneath us vanished. And well, here I am now."

"..." Chris and Slitheren just stayed silent in awe and surprise.

Zakari then looked over at Chris after a couple seconds of complete silence. "What about you? What's your deal?"

Chris looked forward in silence for a second or two. "As I have said previously, I am an inhabitant of Gensokyo. But I came here of my own accord." Zakari wondered why. "I am a youkai - a supernatural being who feeds on regular human flesh. Don't worry, I won't eat you or your comrades. In fact, I used to be a human myself. Until a few months ago thanks to a ritual. My most trusted partner, a youkai Gardevoir by the name of Miss Gardenia, has been with me since the beginning of my life as a youkai. But just a few weeks ago, she was killed by a sorcerer named Jojo Rakadan. Just recently, I found some information online that Jojo Rakadan would be taking a visit to somewhere called the Ageos Region. Knowing this, I came to someone named Yukari Yakumo who has the ability to create portals that travel anywhere, and asked her to create a portal to this "Ageos Region". Once I went through the portal, I ended up in a town west of the lab. Cerise City. And well, you know the rest."

"So you're out for revenge?" Slitheren asked. Chris nodded.

"Well I guess it isn't really my place to speak, but..." Zakari paused, and looked over at Chris. "You shouldn't let revenge consume your entire life. It'll drive you away from the ones you love. And ultimately, from yourself."

"I know. But she was my closest friend. She allowed me to see the world in a different life. To understand the hardships that most youkai go through. She allowed me to view a new perspective on life. And now...now she's gone." Chris replied. Zakari stayed silent. "Besides, I know what it's like to be driven away from myself. The youkai have done that to me when I was human."

Slitheren just sat there in awe. "That's new. You didn't really look the wise type to me," she said to Zak.

"I'm really not. But it's something my sister said once before." Zakari looked up. "And believe me, what she says is most certainly true. We've seen a lot of different characters in our time spent in The World R:2."

"I see...You do spend a lot of your time online, don't you?" Chris pondered, looking over at Zakari. "Not that there's anything wrong with that lifestyle."

"Don't worry, I'm not a complete shut-in. I have school every weekday to go to, and me and my sister sometimes hang out at Brice's room." Zakari said, smiling. Suddenly, however, the brown-haired boy and Slitheren both heard slight rustling noises from the bushes to their left. After a bit of rustling, a pair of raccoon-like quadruped creatures with bristly, zigzag-patterned fur and black mask patterns surrounding their brown eyes, as well as a single round-bodied Pokemon with stubby arms, light brown fur with white ring, two small feet with white paw pads, bushy tail with dark brown stripes, and long dark brown ears with red inner lobes. "I guess we could use a distraction." Zakari then took out his Pokedex, and scanned the two types of Pokemon.