[WAR] Finding the Light

[Felly]

Author's Note: Feel free to leave me comments in this thread or PM/VM them to me~ I'd like to hear what others think too!!! I know I'm going to be getting comments from Neo because of the WAR scoring, but I'd like to hear from others too.

Sand swirled around me as I walked through the expansive desert that surrounded my home. I walked alongside the river, watching as the revered Vaporeon swam downstream. Occasionally, one would fly out of the water, but it would dive back under the clear blue stream.

I was headed to the capital city, Thinis, to meet with the head priest. He'd called me, as well as a couple others, here to discuss something Goddess Espeon had said to him the other day. I'd been traveling since that day, and I was exhausted. While my bag had all of my supplies, it was heavy to carry, especially for several days in a row.

The tips of the pyramids could be seen over the horizon. I smiled a bit as I picked up my pace. Today would be the day I met the head priest in Egypt, the Goddess Espeon, and other revered priests like myself. I wasn't really sure how many priests were going to be there, but that was something I'd discover upon arrival.

I suppose I should tell you a bit about myself. My name is Rebu, and I come from a family of priests. All of the males in my family, as far back as we've traced, have been priests, and those values and traditions were passed down to me as well. My family has had many revered priests, and I am no exception to that. I have a single Pokemon that was given to me when I became a priest at the age of fifteen, a Flareon. All priests receive their first Pokemon upon becoming a priest, and the only Pokemon that are forbidden are Pokemon that are cat-like and Yamask and its evolution of Cofagrigus.

I stepped into the city walls of Thinis. The houses here were made out of bricks. These bricks were made from mud and straw, and then once the shape was formed, we'd leave them out in the sun to bake. It was always hot during the day here, but at night, the temperature would drop significantly. The extremely warm temperatures made it significantly easier to make the bricks and therefore made our homes easier to build.

When I arrived at the temple, I was greeted by not only the head priest, but two other priests as well. The head priest spoke after the greetings were exchanged. "Now that we're all here, I can explain what's happening." He paused for a moment to move a red curtain back. Behind it was a purple cat-like Pokemon with a red jewel on her forehead. The tip of her tail was split into two, and it swished a bit as she sat with her eyes fixated on the priests before her. "This is the Goddess Espeon."

The priests and I kneeled and bowed before her for a moment before rising back up into seated positions. The head priest continued once we were all sitting up again. "She is looking for her companion, a Pokemon that we can worship and come to at night for advice. As you already probably know, Espeon is only awake during daylight hours. At night, we lose her strength and guidance. She has just informed us of this companion and his location, which I'll allow her to share with you."

"Thank you, head priest," the Pokemon said. She spoke to the priests telepathically, and the red gem on her head glowed as she did so. That or the sun that shone through the window was reflecting off of it. "My companion is located to the west of here, near the Kharga Oasis. I sense he is in danger there, possibly because of a monster in the water. I want you to go there and protect him, and then once the monster has been vanquished, bring my companion back here so that he may assist in serving you all."

"How will we know it's him, goddess?" the priest to my left asked.

"His rings will be glowing. You'll want to approach him at night for this reason. Once you've met him though, he'll be able to travel back with you day or night," the Espeon replied. "Just remember that he'll sleep during the day, much like I sleep at night."

"Understood," I and my two companions said. "We shall see you again soon, Goddess Espeon."

"You have my blessing," Goddess Espeon replied. We bowed again, and once the curtain was closed, we bid our farewells to the head priest and set on our way.

*****

It took us two days to reach the Kharga Oasis. The head priest had arranged for three Camerupt to assist in our travels to help expedite our trip and save us some trouble in getting to and from the oasis. Had we not had the camels, it would've taken us a few extra days to get here and a few extra days to get back.

We searched the oasis, wandering through the tall grass together to try and find the lights of the god that Goddess Espeon spoke of, her companion. Our Camerupt were tied to a tree at the oasis; they were resting now from their trip here. My companions - Ahi and Onnos - and I stuck together in case the monster decided to strike. Did the monster even know we were here? Would it even strike in the first place or would we be able to leave with the god without a fight? Only time would tell...

When we arrived, it wasn't completely dark yet, but the sun was starting to set beyond the horizon. We could see the first stars in the sky. While it wasn't completely dark outside, my companions and I had faith that we would be able to find the god if we started looking now. By the time it was pitch black outside, we saw it.

Finally, we saw the light, but it definitely was not what we were expecting.

If it hadn't been for that light, we would've never seen the Pokemon. The yellow rings around his ears and tail and the rings on his thighs and forehead were all glowing. He sat upright, his red eyes focused on us as we approached him.

"So you have arrived," the Pokemon said. He too spoke telepathically to us. "Goddess Espeon must've sent you." We nodded, kneeling down and bowing to the god. "I am Umbreon the God. I'm glad you've come for me. It'll be nice to be reunited with my goddess."

"Isn't there a monster around here?" my companion to my left, Ahi, asked. "Goddess Espeon told us there was."

Umbreon the God had no time to respond, however. No sooner had Ahi finished speaking, there was a loud roar and a large splash. We turned to face the monster and saw a large blue, dragon like creature rising up out of the water. The water dripped from his small white wings and the blue and tan flesh of his body. He roared.

"A Gyarados," Umbreon the God said, his red eyes wide. "I've never seen one before."

"What should we do?" Onnos asked.

"You have Pokemon, yes?" the god asked.

"I do," I replied. "I can't speak for my friends here, but I assume they do as well."

"Send them out," Umbreon replied. "Even if they're weak to this Water and Flying type beast, send them out. The power of the gods will assist you in your fight."

Three red and white capsules soared into the air, and in flashs of light, three Pokemon materialized on the marshy ground before the Gyarados. My Flareon, with his orange fur and cream colored mane, was in the middle. A yellow and white spiky Pokemon stood to his right, and there was a cream colored Pokemon with green ears and brown paws to his left.

"Flareon, Jolteon, and Leafeon..." Umbreon the God murmured. "Been a while since I've seen those..."

"Jolteon would be our best attacker," Ahi said. "You two distract it, and Jolteon and I will focus on the attack."

"Alright," Onnos and I said together.

"Flareon, you're going to want to stay out of the water," I told my Pokemon. As a Fire type, Flareon wasn't very fond of the water at all. "Keep a safe distance and use Flamethrower!"

"Leafeon, I think we can use the water and the surrounding plant life to our advantage," Onnos said. "Try tying it in place with Grass Knot, and if you have to, take hits for Flareon and Jolteon, especially Jolteon! We can't afford to lose him!"

"Jolteon, let's start slow and use a Thunderbolt," Ahi told his Pokemon. "We'll stay back for a bit until Onnos and his Leafeon get the monster tied down."

And so the attacks were off. Flareon was off to the side, distracting the beast by shooting flames from his mouth at him. He would move around a bit to avoid the bursts of water that would come from the Gyarados' mouth, but other than a splash of water here and there, he was able to avoid many of the attacks. Black scorch marks marred the dragon's blue and cream flesh as well. Leafeon had started channeling his energy to control the grass near the oasis. The grass started snaking forward and wrapping around the Gyarados' body. Once Jolteon saw that was happening, he released the electric energy he was storing by shooting a powerful bolt of lightning at the dragon like creature.

"GYARAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the monster roared. Electricity crackled around his body for a moment. The monster retaliated with a powerful burst of water from his mouth that Leafeon leapt in front of. It sent the Grass type rolling towards his trainer, but at least Jolteon remained unharmed.

"Jolteon, now!" Ahi called out to his Electric typed dog. "Use Thunderbolt again, and then follow up with a Thunder Fang and Discharge!"

Jolteon let out a bark of approval, happy to finally get in there and fight. The Gyarados launched another burst of water, but Jolteon dodged it and released a second Thunderbolt towards the beast.

"GYARAAAAAAAAAAAA!" the monster roared again. Jolteon wasted no time in rushing forward and sinking his electrically charged fangs into the dragon-like creature's blue flesh. No sooner had those fangs sank into Gyarados, Jolteon released a burst of electrical energy that made Gyarados roar for a third time.

Jolteon leapt back as the Gyarados fell. The grass that trapped Gyarados and limited his movement was starting to recede back to their natural states. Umbreon made a bit of a cheerful mewing noise.

"Good job," Umbreon the God said as the priests returned their Pokemon to their Poke Balls. These Poke Balls were probably the most advanced technology we had in our society; they allowed us to house our Pokemon instead of having to walk around with them by our side all the time. "We should rest tonight and leave in the morning. You can just carry me with you, and I'll walk in the evenings. I could use a good stretch, and I think Goddess Espeon will be pleased to see us."

*****

We were back in Thinis in two and a half days. Like Umbreon the God had suggested, we did rest the night after defeating the monster at the oasis. The citizens of Thinis had heard of our return with the god and had a huge celebration prepared for us. We had returned during the day, so Umbreon the God was sleeping and unfortunately could not partake in the celebrations.

"Thank you," Goddess Espeon said once we'd finally returned to her. I placed her partner's sleeping body onto the pillow next to her. "It's nice to be reunited with my companion again."

"You're welcome, Goddess Espeon," we said, bowing before her.

"And now... the citizens of Thinis and Egypt as a whole can be safe day and night."