Explorers of Origin: A Pokémon Mystery Dungeon Fanfiction, Volume 1

Chapter 18: The New Recruit

Walls built to separate are meant to be broken down.

Inside dorm D17, Gardevoir pouts over Pikachu's glaring reaction from earlier, capturing Espeon's undivided attention. The queen approaches her tall teammate to decipher the specifics of the pout, emitting her invisible but detectable motherly aura.

"It's okay if his reaction's not what you want, sweetie. I mean, he still hasn't fully accustomed to everyday life as a Pokémon. The only thing he's been really doing with us is fight."

"Even so, it's kinda annoying that he acts that way. There's gotta be a way to warm him up more..."

"Just what I do: troll him endlessly! He'll eventually have no choice but to go along with it."

"Isn't it better just to baby him? He's still a teen, right? It's bad for him to act emo right now."

"His narcissistic tendencies are troublesome to deal with, I'll admit. Still, I think he's acting like a tsundere in order to hide his real feelings, sort of how human animators portray characters of that archetype."

"I never thought you were such an anime otaku."

"Oh, I know my ways. Just because I'm a royal figure doesn't meant I stay inside a castle room all day."

"You're right on that. Oh yeah, where exactly is your kingdom? Many important Pokémon address you by your title, but you never fully explain your residential origins..."

"Well, a better question would be, 'where was it?' Anyway, Arashiyama used to be one of the most important civilizations in the continent. As for the exact physical location, the kingdom was built within a small territory located near a mountain range infamous for intense storms at its peaks. Since the realm itself was around the range's base, we all had to develop several drainage systems to remove incoming mudflow."

"That's dangerous in itself, ya know?"

"It was. But Umbreon and I knew that it served a dual purpose; the other one being a barricade against assailants who threatened the progressive growth of our people."

"So what happened then? I overheard hints about its downfall from your chats..."

Taking a deep breath to prevent any emotions getting the better of her, Espeon recalls the key events that triggered the end of the Arashiyama realm and the culture that vanished with it:

"A deadly battle broke out one dawn between ourselves and the Amartoloí, back when we didn't fully know their destructive capabilities, let alone who they were. Their random invasion threw off our military defenses, causing everyone to frantically try to fight off every single one of them. And I do mean everyone: shopkeepers, medics, armorers, farmers, students... list goes on and on."

"You look like the type to mother a large number of children. Were any kids forced to join in the front line?"

"Any child that was there needed to fight. My kids were no different; I basically developed a small platoon with all sixteen of my girls."

"That's... pretty mind blowing..."

"What is? The number of kids I raised?"

"That, and the fact that minors were basically volunteer sacrifices..."

"Well, moving on: the battle lasted for about a week, spreading a mixture of blood and dark particles throughout the realm's terrain. When the dust finally settled, the only Pokémon that managed to survive the onslaught were myself, my children, and another very small fraction of Arashiyama's residents. All but two of my daughters evacuated to different parts of the continent for shelter and recovery. Flareon and Sylveon, the pair that stuck with me, built a small den near Neo Treasure Town as a hideout after several more weeks of pedestrian exhaustion."