In Progress The Great Distortion

Chapter One

"Mom! Dad! It's moving!"

The excited little child jumped with excitement as she pointed at the tree stump. A rather large orange egg shook ever so slightly. The cracks in the egg that were forming before her very eyes mingled with those made months ago. As the mother and father ran to the stump, the egg began to shake more - not by their approach, but by the movement of its contents.

The mother Gardevoir watched the egg intently, brushing her long green hair out of her eyes so as to not miss a moment of the occasion. Her delicate figure, wrapped in a strange white dress, quivered with excitement. The father put his arm around her, partly to help him stand straight, as the gravity of the moment was starting to overwhelm him.

By now the egg was almost jumping. Fragments of the egg began to come apart, revealing part of the fragile child inside. The moments seemed to last forever for the family, and it showed in the anticipation of each of their eyes.

Finally, a head started to poke from the top of the egg. The tiny orange monkey's eyes remained shut for a brief moment before it lifted its head and took its first dazed look at the world, its home, and its family.

At that moment, mother, father and daughter gave off a sigh of relief. The young daughter, resembling a small blue mushroom with an odd horn, climbed up the small stump and stared at her new brother, both joyous and curious about the new arrival.

The Gardevoir reached down and tenderly lifted the small Ralts into her arms as her husband picked up the newborn. As he did, a tiny flame ignited suddenly from the Chimchar's rear. The Gallade moved his hand slightly as he lifted so as not to get scorched by the tiny tail fire.

As he looked into his son's large eyes, a wave of joy only equaled by the birth of his daughter flowed through him. The only regret he felt at bringing him into such a world was quickly pushed aside. He opened his mouth to say something, but words just didn't seem adequate.

His wife reached to stroke the child. "Welcome," she half-whispered, tears of happiness starting to trickle down.

The girl hadn't taken her eyes off the Chimchar since he had hatched. Finally, she asked the question she had been dying to ask since her first glance at his tiny head:

"Mom, why doesn't he look like me?"

The Gardevoir looked down at her. Wiping away the tears, she hesitated for a moment. "Well... You see, his real parents couldn't take care of him."

"Why not?"

"It's a long story," her father answered without breaking his gaze, effectively stopping her from pushing the issue.

The Chimchar opened its mouth for the first time, emitting a small sound. The Gardevoir lay the Ralts on the stump next to the remains of the egg as the Gallade carefully passed their son to her.

"Do you have an idea for a name?" she asked her husband.

He looked at their new son. His orange fur almost seemed to glow with the sunlight, like the small, fiery tail that had burst into being as the Gallade had lifted the small child for the first time.

"Ember."

The Gardevoir glanced at him, then at the Chimchar's tail. After a moment, she nodded in understanding and approval.

"Ember."

*******

All right, let me explain this fic. I've had this huge idea for a story for a long time, since I got Diamond actually. It started out somewhat childish, but as the idea developed it became slightly more mature (there won't be many swears, but there will be some graphic descriptions - not like disemboweling and stuff, but blood and stuff, so be warned). Eventually, I thought of a sequel to that idea, and as I developed it, I realized the sequel was better than the original. And so, that's what you're reading now.

This story deviates pretty far from most Pokemon ideas, although it most closely resembles Pokemon Mystery Dungeon, for the fact that a) there are no trainers, and b) the Pokemon talk. It also has elements from DPPt, because all the Pokemon in this story are Pokemon I've used in my team at some point.

Now, I'm open to critique, of course, I'm not stubborn. I have a lot of free time due to the fact that I almost never get homework (but I do get distracted easily).

Now, I'm gonna come out and say this right now: This story is not going to turn out the way I want it to. This is because it turned out epic enough in my mind to be a webcomic, as opposed to a mere story. The reason it isn't is because I'm horrible at drawing, and the people I know who aren't are completely uninterested in drawing this. Believe me, I've tried. However, I consider myself a good creative writer, so I figure this is the next best thing.

Just for reference, anything I write in italics after a bunch of asterisks are my comments on the chapter or story in general. Right now, there are a couple unanswered questions, but by the end of the story, there will be almost none (well, no rational ones, anyway). I try to avoid a lot of cliches, and I toss some major twists into the story too. In quite a few of the story ideas I've had (this one being the grandest of all of them), I've shattered the basic rules of a story. Expect that to happen here too.

Chapter Two

"Remember not to head too far out."

Ember turned around and yelled something back to his mother as he ran off into the forest, his sister Aeris close behind. The two had grown up so fast - it was said all too often, but it was too true. The day of Ember's birth was still fresh in Myst's mind - and Aeris', for that matter.

Ember had evolved into a Monferno only weeks earlier. His childish face and eyes changed into one reminiscent of a clown, and his tail had grown out, still shooting fire at the tip. Aeris had passed through being a Kirlia right into becoming the same species as Myst - a radiant Gardevoir, similar to her mother except in color.

They still didn't know why they were to stay close to home. They'd asked a few times, and she'd reply with something about dangerous hunters in the forest. In a way, it was correct, but she never told them what kind of hunters.

"Do you think we should tell them?" she asked her husband. It had bugged her for a long time. It made her sick to lie to her own children about something so serious.

Sabre looked out to where the two had gone. "No. It's for their safety. I don't want them doing what we did."

Myst said nothing, but only stared into the forest. It scared her to even let the two out. Almost nowhere was safe anymore. But Ember and Aeris knew where they could and couldn't go, and they hadn't broken that rule before. Why would they start now?

Oh, great, she thought. I hope I didn't jinx that.

She sat on a nearby stump, ready at a moment's notice to help her children if they needed it.

"I'm going to get some food," Sabre told her.

She didn't look at him, only nodded.

* * * * *

The sun was almost completely blocked by the density of the foliage above them. All around them they saw only green. Their mother had always warned them to run back and call for help the moment they saw something out of place, but that had never happened in all their years of life - which, granted, wasn't all that many.

Ember looked at the tree in front of him. It was just the right height for climbing, but there had been a slight... mishap when he accidentally touched a leaf with his tail. Not really wanting to relive the burning, he decided to stick to the ground for a bit.

Aeris, meanwhile, was starting to climb it already. "At least I don't burn down everything I touch," she jeered.

"Hey! We got it out before it burned too much!"

She kept climbing higher, stopping to taunt Ember every few branches.

"Oh, forget this. I'm going back home," he said.

Aeris watched him for a moment, then started coming back down. "All right, I'm sorry, don't start pouting. You gotta admit, though, that was a little funny!"

"Yeah, yeah." He endured this kind of thing a lot. He was so different from the rest of the family. They knew who their real parents were. They didn't get shoved around by each other for not being like everyone else. They didn't have a flaming tail to keep away from flammable objects.

Aeris had told Ember he was adopted in a fit of rage. He hadn't believed at the time, just dismissed it as another one of her insults as part of her outbursts. But when it started bugging him, he went to his parents to comfort him with the truth.

Big mistake. They told him the truth, all right. They told him his parents hadn't been able to take care of him. He'd never been told why not - all he knew is they'd given his egg to them.

He didn't even particularly mind it anymore. The only thing that he felt bad about was the way Aeris used the fact as an insult. It made him feel like a freak, like it was something to be ashamed of. Aeris was a good Pokemon, but she could be exceptionally cruel at times.

He continued to walk back in the direction of the clearing. To his right, however, something moved slightly. He turned to look. Through the thick undergrowth, he could barely see a few dark pink feathers. Some sort of bird? Maybe.

"Ember?"

Aeris caught up to him. She followed his gaze towards the feathers. "What's that?" she whispered.

As she said it, the feathered creature went lower. The two heard rustling as the creature began to run. It sounded like there was more than one of them.

Ember took a step forward, but Aeris put a hand on his shoulder. "What're you doing? That's probably what mom and dad are always warning us about! Let's just get out of here."

"What's the worse that could happen? That thing looked puny anyway," he said, pushing her away. "Besides, I won't go far."

Before she could say anything, he ran after the creature. Aeris watched him run deeper into the forest. As he got farther away, she rolled her eyes, made an exasperated sound, and started following him.

*******

Names. Suck. Well, okay, some of them do. It took me forever to think up a name for Aeris. I went through Elune and countless Greek goddess names before I gave up and decided on the first good-sounding name I found while browsing. Someone on the Epic Boss Fights board mentioned a character named Aeris. That works.

This story is mostly a serious one, with action and fighting and all that awesome stuff. I'll be putting up a warning for when the chapter will be graphic, so keep an eye out for that. I'm also going to be tossing some comedy in too.

Honestly, I'm trying to avoid cliches, but by the time I realize I've used one, the plot has already developed in my head around that point, and I try to think of ways to twist it a bit.

Also, I know there are people reading this from the view counter. I'd really like some feedback on how to improve the story, even if it's just things you like that I should keep doing.

Warning: This chapter has some swears. Just warning you ahead of time. =/

Chapter Two

"Dammit, dammit, dammit..."

The two figures dashed through the undergrowth, one cursing under his breath.

"Well, what did you expect? Subtlety was never your strong point!" the other said angrily. "It's a wonder they haven't noticed us till now!"

He shook his head angrily and charged forward, with no regard towards hiding anymore, only to getting away.

The other cursed under her breath and sped up as well, although not as fast as the other.

"Whatever they are, they're fast," Ember remarked.

A minute later, the two figures were nowhere to be found. The forest's foliage began to thin and more sunlight came down into the forest, but there was still no sign of the spies.

"Well, they're gone, oh well, too bad, what a shame, let's get back before we get in trouble, what do you say?" Aeris said.

Ember looked around a moment, then shook his head. "Yeah, okay."

The two started to walk back in the direction they came from. A minute later, however, Ember became aware of soft voices.

"I think we found them again."

Aeris looked back. "Great. Want to go introduce ourselves to those... whatever the hell they are? That ought to go over well, don't you think?"

Ember said nothing.

"Ember...?" She turned around when she got no answer again. Ember wasn't behind her. Panicking, she looked around frantically until she found him, running in another direction.

"Oh, dammit..." she mumbled as she chased after him.

After a moment, she caught up to him. It struck her that there were no trees around her - it was the first time they'd been outside the forest, however close they still were to it.

Ember was watching something ahead. Following his gaze, Aeris saw the two figures that had been chasing them before. With the blinding amount of sunlight, the two could finally make them out. Both were only slightly taller than Ember. The male had a slender build, with a jet black body and a crown of dark pink feathers. The arms ended in huge claws, sharper than knives. The female slightly resembled a cat, with long ears and purple fur. Her long tail split close to the end, turning into two tips. A red gem was embedded in her forehead. She was barely the same height as the Weavile.

The two spoke in barely perceptible words with each other. As Ember started to back off, he shook one of the nearby bushes a little. Suddenly the two stopped talking and slowly turned their heads in the direction of the sound. Their eyes locked onto the siblings.

"Ffffffffuck."

The Espeon put her face in her paw. "Well, they found us. Now what?"

"Guess we have to put this plan into action a little earlier than expected."

Aeris barely whispered to Ember, "I don't like the sound of that..."

"Who are you?" Ember asked, stepping forward. Aeris grapped him by the shoulder and started pulling him back.

"Stop."

The coldness of his words stopped her dead in her tracks. The Weavile stepped towards them. "Stay. We don't mean any harm..."

Aeris almost screamed in panic. "Stay back! I know how to fight!"

The Weavile kept walking towards them. "No, you don't."

"No, I don't."

Ember stayed silent this whole time, only now starting to realize the situation he had gotten him and his sister into. Were they going to die?

The Espeon spoke up. "Again, we mean you two no harm. You're safe here."

"We're safe at home, too, and I'd much rather be there than here. Let's go, Emb... uh, Monferno."

"We know your names, you don't need to hide them from us."

Aeris stopped dead in her tracks again. "How do you...?"

"We've been watching you two for about a year now," the Weavile replied matter-of-factly.

"Good to know," Aeris said. "Later!" She turned and started running back. This time, Ember followed her.

A rush of air flew by them. In mere seconds, the Weavile was blocking them off.

"Stop," he said, much more sternly. "You can't go anywhere right now."

Neither said anything for a minute.

"I think we should stay for a bit, Ember, what do you think?" she said sarcastically.

Ember didn't answer. This must be what mom and dad had warned about, he thought.

The Weavile and Espeon guided the siblings to a toppled log. The two sat down out of fear. "If they want to kill us," Ember whispered to Aeris, "why can't they just do it quickly?"

Aeris nodded in agreement. He'd never seen her this afraid.

"Let us introduce ourselves," said the Weavile. "My name's Talon. This is Garnet. I know this must be a bit... unnerving, to say the least..."

"Noooo," Aeris interrupted, "we're completely used to being held against our will away from home with two whackjobs who have been spying on us for a year."

"The point is," Talon continued, "there's a reason for what we're doing. I don't like having to do it, but we needed to do this. It's the only way."

"For what?" Ember asked, trying to sound tougher, but failing miserably in his fear.

"You see, we need to teach you to fight. And let's hope you're better at fighting than you are at lying about fighting," he said, looking specifically at Aeris. "A lot is at stake if you're not."

******

It seems to me like my chapters are getting worse and worse, and it's driving me nuts. I just can't be that descriptive in chapters like this as opposed to stuff like the first chapter. In the first chapter, I didn't have a lot to get finished in the one chapter, so I stuffed a ton of description in to fill in the blanks. I guess it turned out well? I don't know, because no one's commenting hint hint wink wink BIG FRIGGING NUDGE.

Anyway, the chapter cut short of explaining a few things I wanted to. The next chapter will probably be dedicated entirely to explaining Talon and Garnet's motives for the kidnapping, their backstory, and why Ember and Aeris are so important to it.