Open Dreams of the Past

[Stormecho]

((OOC thread here))

It was an impressive sight: a large, sealed chamber, filled with Pokemon of all types. Hidden beneath Union Cave, with only a narrow, treacherous path leading to the entrance, it was designed as a holding cell, a place to keep the sleepers.

What better gift for a newly made Champion than to be able to pick and choose a new team from the highest trained Pokemon? It was a controversial decision from the start, but sentiment had no place in Pokemon battles. So, Pokemon were caught, or given up by their trainers, and placed in the chamber. The crystals, emanating a specialized Hypnosis on a mental frequency to keep them sleeping until needed, were set in the ceiling, and then the place was sealed.

For many years, while the world outside changed, the Pokemon slumbered under the flickering light and hum of the crystals. Everything went as planned - but no Champion came. No humans at all.

And then the crystals failed.

The breathing of one of the sleepers changed, became shallower. An Aerodactyl, wings hanging limply and head tucked against her chest, stirred and growled softly. Something felt vaguely wrong. It took a long time to pinpoint what, as her thoughts slipped away when she tried to reach some understanding. Her mouth was dry, and she felt so tired. There was something, but she couldn't grasp it. Her name was the only thing she could really focus on. Skaldia. Her trainer had let her keep her name, rather than giving her a nickname, when he had caught her.

Her trainer. A secondary name, less important, but still there: Lance. A memory of spiky hair and a cape floated through her head. There was something more, connected to him... Was he still her trainer? He had given her away. Yes, that felt right. She had no trainer now. So where was she? It was a struggle to open her eyes, to move heavy limbs that seemed even heavier from the effort. She was thirsty, and the air was so, so dry. At last, she opened her eyes, and then blinked rapidly to focus. Skaldia remembered something about other Pokemon, but hadn't really prepared herself for seeing a room full of them. Different types, different sizes... They looked strong, even when sleeping. Why had they been sleeping?

That thought slipped away as well, and she found herself growling softly in frustration. This wasn't right, she should be able to remember where she was, and why she was there. No amount of straining brought the answers to her, though, and she eventually contented herself with watching the other Pokemon, waiting for something to happen. Surely one of them would wake up soon, and remember why they were here.

 

[Coloursfall]

Red. Red. Redredredredred.

Red red re-

Dark?

Dexter shifted, his eyes barely open. Darkness? Well, not too dark. He could see shapes. Other Pokemon? He shifted, his leaves rustling softly. His felt heavy all over, his limbs stuff, like he had been lying on them. He arched his back, still lying down, and his back cracked back into place.

Dry mouth... He moved his tongue around his mouth a bit, trying to wet it. His nose was dry inside. Blech. And his teeth felt funny. He needed a drink. The Leafeon tottered to his feet, swaying a little bit but staying upright. The others were sleeping still. Well...not all of them. A large reptilian with wings and grey skin was off to his side. He trotted over to the creature.

"You...where are we?" He mumbled, eyes finally adjusting fully to the level of light. "Why are we here? I don't...I don't remember. Where is my trainer?"

 

[Blaziking the God General]

The room was a mess. There were tables lining the walls, with machines that wouldn't function, or had some sort of major defect. One machine, which took on the appearance of a desk-lamp, would occaisionally make an irritating beeping noise. The floor was littered with papers and pencils, some with scribbled out writing, others with detailed designs that had been scrapped. Under the tables on the side were cages, filled with whimpering Pokemon, most of them weak. Five Pokemon total were in the room, three of them Caterpie, one of them a Pidgey, and the other was a Wurmple. They were all whimpering, the Pidgey was slamming against the side of its cage, trying to escape.

In the center of the room was a single table, that had only a diagram, a few tools, and a decently sized sphere in a small mechanical stand. Zemhal was finishing his work on a remote, just simply securing a few loose screws.

"There we go," he muttered, placing the remote on the table. He turned to one of the cages containing a Caterpie. The Caterpie looked pleadingly at him, but Zemhal took him out of the cage. He pressed a button on the remote, causing the sphere to open up. Without any care, he put the Caterpie in the sphere, before it closed back up.

"With any luck this will actually work," Zemhal said, eying the Caterpie eagerly. The Caterpie, hoping for any sign of escape, kept ramming the sphere.

"Please...please let me out!" The Caterpie's voice was muffled by the sphere, but the words could still be made out.

"Oh stop that," Zemhal said angrily, "either you'll die, or become stupider than you actually are. There's no avoiding it." With that, he pressed the button.

There was a bright flash of light, and when it receded, the Caterpie was lying in the sphere, entirely limp. Zemhal waited a few moments. Within a few moments, the Caterpie rose its head, looking at Zemhal innocently.

"Well?" Zemhal said demandingly. "Say something." The Caterpie looked around curiously. Had the machine worked? Had Zemhal at last achieved what he had desired for years?

 

[Dragon]

He was swimming in a dark ocean, though there wasn't much around him. The Sharpedo growled and propelled himself forwards, following some trail that he could see, it was there somewhere.. and up ahead was a light. Deciding it wouldn't hurt to go see, the Sharpedo swam towards it and light filled his vision, and then there was a small room, before something like a dark circle passed in front of him, too far away to reach, and-

Glowing red eyes blinked to life as ed'Rashtekaresket woke from whatever dream he had been having. The first thing he noticed was the lack of water, which, for a shark was so, so odd feeling.. Looking around, he noticed the dim shapes of others.. other Pokemon. Sleeping. Why were they all sleeping?

Not too far away, two shapes were facing each other, one a lot larger than the other, and winged. The small shape looked familiar.. it had leaves for ears and a tail. A Leafeon..

ed'Rashtekaresket remembered something like a Leafeon, he had met one before, with his Trainer. Trainer..? Who was his Trainer, did he have one? Memories started to come back slowly, like through molasses, but nothing important, like that he could fight.

But that was important, wasn't it? He was sleeping a while ago, with the other Pokemon, why was he sleeping? ed'Rashtekaresket grumbled, and found he was floating with his bottom fin just above the ground. Moving through the air like he would swim, the Sharpedo made his way to near the other two Pokemon.

"What is this," he rasped, surprised at the sound of his voice. Did he really sound like that?
((ppffft ed's name is a pain to type out :p

And his full name is ed'Rashtekaresket t'k Gh'shestaesteh, so.))

 

[Storm Earth and Fire]

Today was a sunny day, with few clouds in the sky, ideal weather for recharging outside. So, Sinar floated outside the cave's entrance, wary of anyone who was going in or out. It had taken upon itself the task of waking up the sleeping Pokemon. They were the most powerful of their kind, reserved for a human champion to arrive someday. Unfortunately, Sinar observed, there was no such thing nowadays. They had a different purpose for Sinar now. They would restore the world to the way it was, a world where humans and Pokemon worked together, instead of one mercilessly hunting the other.

 

[Darksong]

A long-bodied creature within one of the chambers opened her narrow eyes. There weren't many ways to describe her, other than she had a lot of claws and looked like a purple accordion. Drapion. Drapion... that was the first thing she thought. Her eyes weren't fully open when she looked around, grasping a thought after another, trying to remember. Her name. Mist, like the fog that clouded her chamber by now. She also saw three other Pokemon already awake: an Aerodactyl, a Leafeon, and a Sharpedo. Carefully, she made her way out of her chamber, gazing at them while trying to make sense out of this large room, and the other Pokemon still in their chambers.

 

[Exo-Raikou]

The Dark ghost began to open his lone eye.

Where...

He looked around. He could see other shapes. Disoriented as he was, he couldn't recognize what they were.

This makes no sense. My last memory is being in some kind of chamber, feeling great exhaustion, and...

He looked all around himself, hoping for an answer. what he saw was different:

He saw crystals.

That sight was enough for Zrantox to fully awaken. Then he knew where he was.

But for how long have we been here?

He then quickly decided something: It mattered not how long that they've been in these accursed chambers. What mattered is that if they were awakening, it meant that there would be a human to be there and enslave them.

The thought of that sickened and infuriated Zrantox. He began to gather dark energy at his palms.

This time... this time I'll make sure that the next human who walks into these chambers...never walks back out!

 

[Kali the Flygon]

In the depths of Union Cave, mobile floodlights were set up to provide illumination to the otherwise dark corridors and crevices, connected to long wires, leading out to a generator outside. This was a massive operation, and many permanent and temporary workers had been assigned to assist in the operation. And there was one being overseeing it all.

Tanya slithered down the depths of the cave, checking on the various workers as they dug. While she was a water Pokemon, she had a dual system of both lungs and gills, and like other amphibians, the only thing limiting her exposure out of water was the fact her beautiful, exquisite skin would dry out after too long out of the water, normally within half a day. Fortunately, there were areas filled with water, and during the off-duty, that's where she spent her time, restoring the luster of her skin.As she examined the progress of her underlings, she thought back to the series of events that led to this moment...

It was only a month ago, when I discovered reports of people... both humans and Pokemon... starting to fall asleep at times when exploring Union Cave. There were areas that many Pokemon just weren't willing to live in. And there was no apparent explanation. I just had to discover the reason for myself. And so, I set up an excursion to the cave. I know hypnosis when I hear it, as I two am gifted with that ability...When I sing and make eye contact, most others succumb to my hypnotic suggestion, especially Terry... But when I heard the gentle humming coming from within these walls, it was nothing like I had ever experienced. It was too perfect, too monotonic... too... artificial. There was something there, beyond the normal extends of the cave, and I wasn't going to be satisfied until I found out what...

Tanya soon had the frequency analyzed, and took the precaution of giving all of the dig workers, including herself, ear plugs specially designed to stop that frequency. There was no room for having to awaken people on the job. As she worked her way through the different areas, finally, though, she heard a call. A Sandslash broke through an artificial wall, finding himself in front of a strange chamber, and called out for Tanya to examine it. She headed over and saw the hole the Sandslash had made.

"Excellent. Enlarge the hole. You'll be given a bonus for this discovery." When the hole was large enough, she squeezed through, her long, thin body helping her inside. There appeared to be a large machine, containing a number of crystals, set up, and even with her earplugs, the closer she got to it, the drowsier she felt. She immediately realized that this was the cause, and grinned. Tanya turned back around and left through the hole.

"All right, we need to make this hole now large enough to bring a cart in. There is something there, and I would like them recovered."

Before long, workers, including the Sandslash, enlarged the hole, entered the crystal chambers, and began loading the large crystals into a cart. But as the crystals were removed, Tanya started to hear noises coming from additional chambers. She pointed her tail toward the source. "Hmm, someone volunteer and go see what's over there." While the crystals and the odd machine were the things getting her attention right now, Tanya realized that if it was set up to make something fall asleep... something might not be sleeping anymore...

 

[Stormecho]

Skaldia was surprised at how quickly some of the others awoke. A Leafeon, a Sharpedo, a Dusknoir and a Drapion... They weren't familiar. Why should they be? She couldn't remember seeing them before. Still, they all seemed as confused as she was, so she drew herself up and flared her wings. Her mind still felt fuzzy, but significantly better than before. She still really wanted to drink something, or better yet, stick her head in a stream. That sounded like a good idea... "I don't know where this is." she rasped, and then tried to clear her throat. It didn't work, and she just ended up growling in irritation. "I don't know why we're here either, but why should I be telling you this? I don't even know who you are." Her tail lashed as she stretched. Her muscles ached too - she felt like she hadn't moved in a really long time.

It didn't hurt to talk as much, and she tried to speak again, voice louder and clearer, without the gravelly sound of someone trying to talk through a mouthful of rocks. "What happened to us?" she pondered out loud, not caring that she wasn't going to get an answer. She would have been content to just stretch, spread her wings and try to find some way of wetting her throat if not for the fact that she began to hear noises. There was something... something important she had to remember. There had to be a reason that they were here... "I hear something odd. I think someone's coming." But why would someone want to come to... wherever they were? Something kept prodding at her, a memory of Lance telling her something, of her wanting to join... a group? A team? It made no sense. She shook her head to clear it. "Does anyone here know what's going on?"

 

[Darksong]

"Me neither," Mist hissed, trying to take in her surroundings. She was used to going without water for a long time, although she still felt thirsty. She felt very hungry, too; it was as if she hadn't eaten for over a year. Her pre-evolved form, Skorupi, could survive without food for a year, and she could go longer. But for her to feel hungry like this meant that it had to have been many years. "How long have we been here?" She was so confused that she didn't notice that she had said it aloud.

The Drapion could hear small sounds nearby, and she examined each wall carefully. "Weird." Why are we in here? What is this? She could feel the need to get her energy out, like a fight, run through her. But for now, she had to suppress it. Hopefully, though, not for much longer.

 

[Exo-Raikou]

"What's going on?!" Zrantox responded, "Is it not obvious? The fact that we have awakened means that the vile humans are coming to enslave us yet again! Why they have yet to enter the chamber is beyond me. I am patient for now, but if they do not enter soon I will... make my own exit."

Even so, what is keeping the humans? The fact that they have not yet arrived unsettles me.. that among other things.

He did not add that several of these pokemon seemed unfamiliar to him. The Aerodactyl and the Drapion, for instance; he hadn't seen those two before now.

Though this could be as a result of the sleep. Everything's always a blur upon awakening. And to top that off...

Something just doesn't feel right.

What could it be?

 

[Darksong]

"Enslave us?" Mist retorted. "They were the ones who taught us how to fight! We can survive now, using that power! Be grateful that you're not still a wimpy Duskull sulking in Mount Coronet!" she snapped, turning towards the door. "Anyone with me in trying to get out of here?" The Drapion, very frustrated, began to tear at a wall, visibly wrecking it but slowly making progress on getting through. After all, she had enough power to tear through a car, so why would the wall hold her? Her anger was also powering her along as she swung her tail at it, taking a moment to breathe. Even though she was resting, her eyes showed fury as she glanced around at the others. She had always been trained that she couldn't trust anyone but herself; she would need a good reason to believe anything they said.

 

[S. E.]

"I'll go see what it is," said Terra, making her way past the diggers, deeper into the cave. She had an ominous feeling about this. What were those crystals? And that machine? When she came to the wall Tanya had pointed to, she lowered her head, spinning her horn drill and boaring through with surprising ease. When she looked in front of her, she was shocked at what she saw.

A Drapion had met her gaze, looking very irate. She took a step back and spoke, "Who... who are you?" She was unable to contain her shock.

((Let me know if I've got it wrong. Um.))

 

[Coloursfall]

Dexter pawed the ground nervously, his fur bristling. The others were arguing now and he hadn't gotten the answers he had sought. They sounded angry, and that probably meant fighting soon. He didn't think he had any moves that would hurt any of the potential attackers, either. He make a low growling sound.

But then, something smashed it's way though the wall, something large and threatening. He reacted in the most logical way; strike. His tail-leaf glowed a brilliant green, and he lept at the newcomer, swinging it.

 

[S. E.]

Terra uttered a cry when a Leafeon lunged at her, but she was unable to further react before she was sliced across her muzzle by a sharp leaf-tail. She winced in pain, her type being especially vulnerable to his. "Stop, please! I don't want a fight!" She backed away, eying Dexter warily and hoping Tanya and the other diggers would hear this commotion and come.

 

[Darksong]

Mist growled. "I'm Mist, and I have no idea what I'm here for. Why are you down here?" Suddenly, the Leafeon that she had seen dashed forward and sliced the Rhydon over the nose. The Drapion didn't flinch, even though she felt the need to fight practically burning her from the inside. Her eyes were still hostile as she glared at the Rhydon, even after the Ground-type had shouted that she didn't want to fight. Admittedly, Mist was disappointed that her need for battle wouldn't be satiated, but she didn't complain. Still, that didn't mean that she wasn't suspicious of this Rhydon.

 

[Stormecho]

Skaldia blinked. And then blinked again. And then tilted her head to look at the Dusknoir. "I have no idea what you're going on about. So either make sense, or shut up." she retorted. The Drapion's outburst in reply was also ignored, though she privately agreed. Humans had made her stronger, faster, better. She would not have been here - wait. That thought... Had they been here for a reason? Because they were the best? That seemed right. The other Pokemon looked strong - as strong as she was. So they were here to... fight? No, that didn't seem to be it. Her mind felt fuzzy, something which irritated her, but the sudden confusion as the Drapion began to break through the wall distracted her.

So the Drapion was trying to get through from their side... So what was the crashing she heard from the other? The appearance of a Rhydon amidst the now crumbling wall surprised her. The Leafeon leaped to attack, but it seemed the stranger didn't want to fight. Good. Maybe the intruder would be more willing to talk. "You! Why are you here? What do you know about this place?" she demanded, voice harsh as she lurched forward. She didn't want to bother using her wings until she knew they could support her.

 

[Coloursfall]

"Stop, please! I don't want a fight!"

At the Rhydon's words, Dexter backed down, tiny droplets of blood beading on his tail. He backed into a corner and licked at the blood, but kept his eyes on her. She could be tricking them. He was ready to fight back if she did attack, or brought backup.

"Sorry then. Do you know where we are?" He ventured.

 

[S. E.]

Terra looked around at all the Pokemon, calming down. However, she was puzzled that they seemed to know as little about why they were here as she did.

"I don't know anything, really. I'm just a member of a dig team that happens to be excavating this place..." She paused. "If you don't mind, I think you should see Tanya. Um, my superior. She'd want to see what I've found..." She certainly hoped they wouldn't "mind".

 

[Exo-Raikou]

"You think that the humans trained me, insect?" Zrantox snarled at the Drapion, "Allow me to explain something: before any of our kind were enslaved by the humans, I and six others of my species were chosen by Giratina himself to guide those who had passed on to the next life. All seven of us were granted evolution from our lesser forms by Lord Giratina. We were given our powers by Lord Giratina. I have lived for four and a half millennium, and I have never needed, nor wanted, any enhancement from humans!"

He rounded on the Aerodactyl, saying: "You may not understand what I believe in. I would not expect you to. You have not seen all that I have. What I have seen has shown me the truth: humans are corrupting the world that Arceus created for us, and there must be those who can purge this world of their corruption. I am one of those."