Pious Odyssey

[Zeromus]

Chapter 1 – Bed Time Stories

“Hey Papa, can you tell us that story again? The one about the hollow… the hallow… the Hallowed One? You know, the eevee who has all of those kick butt powers and no one can beat?” a 5 year-old Iskander asked his father, causing him to stop on his way out of the bedroom.

“Well… I don’t know,” Alyosha began, drawing out the first word of his sentence, looking upwards in thought, trying to seem unsure about the request. “Haven’t I told you that story enough times already? I don’t see what’s so special about my kind. We’re really not all that great.”

“Of course you are!” Iskander retorted angrily, offended by his father’s mock humbleness. “Especially you. I bet you could take on a flock of zapdos with your eyes closed and your legs tied together if you wanted to!”

“How would that be possible when there’s only one Zapdos, and it was last seen hundreds of years ago,” his younger sister interjected, secretly agreeing with Iskander, but simply wanted to be a nuisance to him.

“How do you know there’s only one zapdos, when you’ve never even seen one yourself!” the older eevee retorted.
The two siblings stood up and glared at each other, low growls emanating from their small forms.

“Settle down you two, there will be no fighting between family members in this household,” Isana reprimanded her two kits sternly. “Now, let your father tell his story without any more interruptions.”

Sticking their tongues out at each other, both eevee settled back down into their beds before turning their attention to their father. Chuckling at his kits, his sky-blue eyes lit up with merriment at their childlike behaviour, wishing he was still as young as they are, the espeon took a deep breath and began his tale.

“Once upon a time, our planet was inhabited by a species completely separate from pokemon called humans. They were different from us in that they had no elemental powers. They couldn’t breathe fire like an arcanine, nor lift boulders twice their size like a machoke. They couldn’t sore through the sky like a pidgeot nor dig underground like an onix. Their bodies were weak and fragile compared to that of a pokemon’s, but what they lacked in brawn, they made up for in brain. The humans came up with all sorts of different inventions and technology to help compensate for this weakness, and it was through their need to better themselves, that they came to rule the world.”

“Or so they could’ve. Humans had no desire to conquer us pokemon, and instead chose to work along side us, becoming our friends, allies, and sometimes even family members. Through the combination of human creativity, and the raw power of pokemon, the two races intermingled and became one driving force that sought to make the world a happy place for all to enjoy. For centuries, humans and pokemon lived together happily in harmony.”

“But just as every pokemon is different from each other, so too are humans. There were humans who saw pokemon as nothing more than tools; as an inferior race, and so they began to capture our kind in order to use them for their own selfish purposes. Running a crime syndicate to make money, attempting to alter nature and reshape the Earth itself, creating new worlds for their own selfish desire, enslaving us all in order to conquer everyone else, and even creating machines meant to wipe out our entire race. These are only some of the goals that the humans abused our relationship in order to try and achieve.”

“They were always stopped however through the combined efforts of both human and pokemon alike. Through the joint efforts of everyone, was the planet’s balance able to be preserved. And so peace on our planet was able to be safegaurded. Under the surface of everything however, more and more pokemon were becoming restless.”

“Some pokemon could no longer bring themselves to trust the humans. Every time one group would be stopped, another would rise in their place. Who knew when one of these organizations would finally succeed? The pokemon couldn’t just sit around and wait for the humans to finally succeed in their plans. So they formed an organization whose goal was to see the destruction of the human race. And they had the perfect way of doing so.”

“The last major crime organization that appeared bent on harming pokekind had the goal of wiping out our entire race, planning on doing so through a special machine, originally built prior thousands of years. What the genocidal pokemon wanted to do was change the effects of the machine so that instead of killing all pokemon, it would instead kill all humans.”

“So work immediately began on the machine. Doing so in secret and creating it deep underground where no one from the outside world would know about it, the organization spent months collecting the parts and putting them together. The project however was kept a secret from even most of its members. The only ones who knew of the machine’s construction were the highest ranking members of the group, and the select few who were working on actually creating the machine.”

“The machine was eventually complete, and was only discovered by the legendaries after Yveltal, whom shared a distaste for the humans, but more importantly held a grudge against his sister Xerneas, tricked the legendary into helping power the machine. For the rest of the world, they didn’t have long to register their incoming reckoning as the pokemon extremist group revealed their machine to the world mere minutes before setting it off, ending billions of lives.”

“All signs of human civilization were wiped off the face of the planet. The unthinkable had been done, and everyone was thrown into turmoil. Some pokemon had lost friends, others; travelling companions. To many, they had lost the most important people in their lives.”

“The legendaries, appalled by the actions of their kind could only attempt to calm down the tumultuous masses of pokemon as chaos and disorder began to ensue everywhere. Pokemon turned on pokemon, and many died to the madness and grief of their brethren.”

“It took decades to restore order, but when they finally had, pokemon began to band together and put aside their previous differences. A new age of civilization had begun, one built and created by pokemon much like that of humans. At first they were only small settlements of two or three homes. Those settlements began to expand and grew into villages. Those villages grew into towns, and those towns grew into large cities. Arceus had watched over the whole thing himself, and pleased with how pokemon had been able to construct a society and civilization of their own, saw it fit that the legendaries take their leave since it was their fault for both interfering and not interfering that the world was the way it was now. Before He and the rest of the legendaries left for their own plane of existence, they divided up Evolia into eight different kingdoms, and transformed the lands to best suit the different elements that they would represent. The reasoning behind this was tied to the tournament that He decided to host.”

“This tournament was not just any ordinary tournament, though. The Hallowed Tournament was created to test the body, mind and spirit of its contestants. Should whoever came out on top be worthy in Arceus’ eyes, then they would not only receive unique abilities, but increased strength, power, and speed. There was only one catch to entering the tournament; entry was restricted to eevees and eons and eevees and eons alone. This wasn’t done because Arceus favoured our species over the rest, but because of our unique DNA structure that allows us to master not just one or two elements, but nine of them. Arceus wanted to create a pokemon that would be powerful enough to retain order over the land, but also wanted to do so without bending the laws of nature that had been set in place too far.”

“Arceus named his chosen the ‘Hallowed One’; a pokemon who not only had enhanced strength, speed and stamina, but could also change into any eight evolutions that eevees are capable of undergoing. The tournament did not grant them the ability to shape shift outright, instead they must to prove themselves worthy of such powers further by passing the tests of all eight kingdoms. It was up to each monarch, also known as the most powerful or most respected pokemon in the kingdom, to come up with and conduct the test. Should the Hallowed One pass their test, they would be given the Alpha Shard, a mystical artefact created by Arceus that would grant them the evolutionary form affiliated with the element of the Shard.”

“With these great powers, the Hallowed One also has the great responsibility of retaining order and peace throughout all of Evolia and its eight kingdoms. Should something happen to them, then the whole process shall be undergone once more, and Arceus shall choose a new champion to take their place.”

“And so that is that,” Alyosha said at last, having finished retelling his story. “So if something were to happen to me, Arceus would then choose another mon to replace me. While it’s not guaranteed that an eevee or eon will be picked if they win the Hallowed Tournament, it still greatly increases their chances of being picked. Even then, many enter just for the sake of bettering themselves.”

Noticing his son’s admiring gaze, Alyosha couldn’t help but feel a rare sense of pride in having his kit look at him that way. That feeling was quickly wiped away when he noticed his daughter Hypatia sound asleep, no doubt having lost interest in the story long ago.

“I can’t believe you were chosen by Arceus, the god of all pokemon to be the world’s strongest pokemon,” Iskander exclaimed excitedly, quickly lowering his voice and ears in shame though when he heard his younger sister begin to whimper in her sleep from him being overly vocal. “I bet if I entered that tournament, I could win with ease. Then I could take over for you someday beating up all the bad pokemon, and saving the day!”

This earned another laugh from his father as the young eevee sat on his haunches. Lifting his front paws up, he began to jab at the air, imagining himself beating up some imaginary foe. It was only when he noticed the yellow florescent light shining on the wooden walls in front of him did he remember that his mother was also in the room.
“Hey Mama, what do you think about me entering the-“he began but stopped when he noticed the look on his mother’s face.

Isana had locked her eyes onto Alyosha’s, staring at him with unblinking eyes, not moving a single muscle with a small frown set upon her face. The espeon had now noticed the umbreon staring at him, frowning with a remorseful look on his face as he quickly figured what was bothering her.

“Mama, are you okay?” Isana was startled by her son’s sudden inquiry. When she looked down, she saw her son looking up at her worriedly. He began to rub his head against the sleek midnight black fur on her chest.
Giving her son a rare, yet sad smile, she replied to him “I’m fine sweety, don’t you worry about me.” Licking the back of his head, the mother umbreon began to soothe her son’s nerves, causing him to snuggle into her warm body.

Alyosha could feel the happiness radiating off the mother and son as they shared a rare and touching moment. The fact remained however that it was still late, and both him and his mate needed their rest.
“I’m sorry to take your pillow away from you son, but your mother and I really need to get our sleep,” the espeon yawned, giving Iskander a sleepy grin. “And so do you. How do you expect to take over my job someday if you don’t get your sleep?”

Giving a yawn of his own then nodding, Iskander let go of his mother and walked over to his father and hugged his leg before slowly walking over to his bed and laying down. Resting his head on his paws with his eyes still partially open, the eevee seemed to have fallen into deep thought. The two eons not noticing this began to make their way out of the room, when suddenly, lifting his head up and looking at Isana, Iskander finally spoke his mind.

“Mama, can I sleep with you and Papa tonight in your bed?”

Isana stopped to look over her shoulder at her son. “Why would you want to do that, is your bedding not comfortable enough?” Isana questioned.

“It’s not that. It’s just… I’m scared of being alone. I don’t want you and Papa to leave me,” Iskander responded, looking down in embarrassment.

“But that is part of growing up Iskander. Learning to live by yourself is something you have to learn to do,” the umbreon turned around fully and began to walk towards the distressed eevee. “And the first step towards doing so is learning to sleep in your own bed.”

“Besides,” Isana began, placing one of her front paws on Iskander’s head gently, “no matter what I say, no matter what I do, no matter where I am, whether it’s in this life or the next, I will always love you no matter what, and I’ll never have truly left you, because I will always be with you in your heart.”

Hearing those words, Iskander couldn’t help but leap into his mother again despite his exhaustion, latching himself onto her leg. Giving him that same sad smile as before, she gently pried her son off of her leg and placed him back down on his bed. Giving one last big yawn, Iskander laid his head down, this time closing his eyes completely as he prepared to drift off to sleep.

“Good night Iskander,” Isana spoke softly, making her way out of their children’s bedroom with Alyosha.

“Good night Mama… good night Papa… I love you.” Iskander mumbled to himself quietly before he finally drifted off to sleep.

* * *

Morning had arrived to take over its part of the day cycle, and with it brought its companion the sun. Only too happy to share its presence with every living being in Psyonia, it shone its rays through the window of Iskander’s makeshift bedroom window, causing the teenage eevee to slowly blink his amber eyes open. Giving a large yawn, Iskander uncurled himself from his sleeping position, and shifted onto his back instead, staring up at the wooden boards that served as the roof over his head. He remained in this position, sullenly staring upwards, revisiting what he had just dreamed about. He could no longer remember the exact events of what had happened, only that it was of a time where he didn’t feel so lifeless and unmotivated.

The happy mood that was present in his dream, had translated into a foul one now that he was conscious. Turning his head over to the right, he spotted the other bed in the room, vacant, its owner not having used it in at least nine years. His cheerless mood deepening further, he arrived at the conclusion that it wouldn’t do him any good to continue to lay here idly. Getting up, the eevee made his way out of the room, deciding the first thing he should do is get something to eat. Walking through the living area, he couldn’t help but pause at his parent’s doorway, considering to go in and look but figured he shouldn’t as this was the type of thing he was trying to keep himself from doing.

Stepping into the kitchen, he took a moment to survey the area and decide what he wanted to eat. Along the wall in front of him were three separate cupboards used to sort all of the different berries that his house held. He knew that he had at least nine different types to choose from and while normally having so many berries seemed like a waste of money since there was no way he could eat them all in time before they would rot and decompose, the cupboards were enchanted to preserve the foods inside them indefinitely. They were a gift from the queen of Mystania to his father for helping her kingdom with some sort of problem he had long forgotten about.

The sudden thought and reminder of his father suddenly caused Iskander to narrow his eyes and grit his teeth together. Thoughts of how he would never see him again began to churn around in a tumultous rage inside his mind, and he could feel his suppressed outrage towards the one who was the cause of his death to beat furiously on his mental dam like a raging tempest, begging him to unleash his anger upon someone or something.

Doing just that, the irate eevee began to charge as much energy as he could into his tail, causing the normally soft and fluffy appendage to become as hard as iron. Swinging it around in a circle around him, he swung his tail as hard as he could into the leg of the table behind him, causing it to explode into a mass of wooden splinters, and making the table crashed into the ground having now been made lopsided. The troubled eevee was breathing heavily now from his emotional outburst. Yearning for escape away from the place that held so many terrible memories to him, he made his way past the piece of cloth draped over what served as the main doorway to his abode. Leaving the house, Iskander continued his search for food in town to instead.
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It was early in the morning, so not many shops and stores were open, but this also meant that not many residents were out to bother him either. Evolia as a continent was known for having put its eevee and eon population above the rest of its citizens. Psyonia being even more notorious than most for taking this fact a step further, Iskander’s species as a whole were more or less treated as royalty. They were after all chosen by the Alpha pokemon himself to take his place as the ruler of the entire world what with being charged as the Hallowed One, a pokemon considered a demi-god to its mortal bretheren. Where normally pokemon were not allowed access to certain places in cities unless they had proven themselves as an important figure in the community, eevees and eons alike were born to this right. They were treated with utmost respect regardless of their profession, could treat anyone however they liked, and could get away with whatever they wanted. This was a widely accepted way for the eevees and eons to live, and so often there was never an issue with this pompous attitude.

Patras was not like the rest of Psyonia though. Located in the north-eastern reaches of the psychic kingdom and far away from the influences of the capital city Mentali, Patras was a backwater town and was unlike any of its other neighbouring cities. Its citizens were pokemon who could not stand the tyranical and snobby attitude of their self-entitled overlords, and hated any and all of eonkind. This meant that the pokemon of Patras were not exactly too friendly towards Iskander, and he had experienced more than a few dangerous encounters with its residents in the past, sometimes having even gotten into fights with other pokemon his age in the past, but after realizing that he was much more powerful and skilled in combat than they were, they had long since given up antagonizing him through confrontation, but it didn’t mean they had let him live his life in the small town peacefully, still choosing to take a more passive aggressive approach.

While the small town was not poor, it wasn’t rich either and so the ones who ran the stores that Iskander would visit treated him with nothing more than the cold indifference necessary towards running their business. To the eevee, this was sufficient for his needs as he sought no companionship and only did what was necessary to make it through the day. Walking along the main road that lead from his house to the main square, Iskander shifted his glance left and right at all of the different buildings as he passed by, not really looking for anything in particular to eat, only something that would provide him enough sustenance for the day. Arriving in the central plaza, he came to an intersection of five dirt roads leading in different directions. Iskander glanced at the one leading to the north-west, deciding to see if Maarit’s café was open. The furret’s café did not have fixed hours, instead the owner chose to open and close depending on how she felt that day, so it was impossible to tell whether she would have the place open or not.

Maarit was an early riser though, so she was much more likely to be open early in the morning than she would be late in the afternoon. Making his way to her place, Iskander was thankful for running into no one, and even more thankful when he noticed that the door to the place was open, signalling to all that the normal-type was open for business. Perhaps today wouldn’t be so bad after all.

Stepping onto the door mat, a glass orb overhead emitted a “ding” sound that announced his arrival; yet another creation of the Mystanians. Iskander made his way to the counter at the back of the café, and jumped onto one of the stools, waiting to be served. Behind the counter was another door way that lead to the kitchen of the café and through it came the owner of the place, a bright smile radiating from her face. Upon seeing whose order she was taking, her energetic aura changed instantly changed to that of a drab, emotionless one as she stared expectantly at Iskander, waiting for him to make his order. Without wasting a second to take note of the furret’s change in behaviour, the eevee spoke up.

“One Bluk and Razz smoothie,” he said, his facial expression mirroring that of the furret’s.

“Do you have the berries yourself?” Maarit asked.

“No, I don’t,” Iskander responded after a moment of hesitation, cursing himself mentally for forgetting to bring them with him amidst his emotional outburst earlier.

“That will cost you an extra 300 poke then,” she said before turning back around to make his drink.

The furret returned no less than a minute later with his order placed in a wooden bowl designed for quadrupeds like Iskander. Dipping his head down to take a small drink of the berry smoothie, Iskander began to contemplate what he should do for the rest of the day. Eating would only take up so much time, and there was no way he was going back to his home if it meant sulking. Even such a brief thought of the subject caused his temper to rise, and he had to dip his head back down to take another drink of his fruity concoction to help soothe his temper. Sighing, he continued to brood over his decision making for a while longer.

He must’ve lost track of time as when his mind came back into focus with the outside world, he noticed that other pokemon had begun to enter the café as well. Not wanting to be around them, especially considering how volatile his emotions were being today, he lifted the bowl up to his mouth using his two front paws and quickly gulped down the rest of its contents. Iskander waved his paw at the furret to grab her attention when she came out to greet her other customers so he could pay his tab. He couldn’t help but notice how polite and happy her demeanor was towards everyone else in the room, and the way it paled in comparison to the one she used with him. It frustrated him greatly when he had never done anything wrong to her, and she only treated him the way he was because of what he was.

The eevee had very little time to rest his mind on such troubling observations. Looking over at him, her facial expression changed like a flick of a light switch and she walked over to him. She didn’t even allow him a word before she spoke, wanting to be rid of him as soon as possible.

“Your drink comes to a total cost of 400 poke,” she spoke with an impatient tone, putting her paw in front of her expectantly, waiting for her payment.

Iskander reached to his left side to grab the money from the leather pouch on his side. He immediately froze when he realized that he had left it at home. A sense of dread began to well up inside of him as he looked back up slowly at the furret still waiting, who was now cocking an eyebrow at him in an inquisitive manner.

“I… forgot my money back at my house. If you’d wait just five minutes, I can go get the money and-” but he never got to finish his proposal as he was suddenly cut off.

“Oh? You “forgot” your money at home did you?” the café owner began, her voice taking on an accusing tone which garnered the attention of the other patrons in the café. “You know what I think actually happened? I think you planned this from the start. You left it at home on purpose so that you could leave to go get it but never come back so that you wouldn't have to pay for your drink.”

“What? How does that make sense when-” but again the eevee was cut off before he could make any sort of rebuttal.

“Don’t think I don’t know how your kind work. You think you’re above the law. You think you can just get away with stealing from those less fortunate than you. You believe that you’re better than us just because of what you are,” the furret continued to accuse the eevee.

“Fortunate? You think I’m fortunate after I lost my-” Iskander began to respond, the deep burning anger from earlier returning with force.

“Yes, yes. We all know what happened. It’s been nine years and you’re still moping about it,” the furret replied with an exasperated tone. “Everyone is tired of you using that as an excuse to try and get everyone to pity you. If I were you, I would just get over it already.”

Iskander was stunned by the normal-type’s words. His jaw felt like it dropped down through the floor, as he tried to form words in response, but none came. This pokemon whom he had never caused harm to in his entire life, was trying to put words in his mouth, and frame him for actions he had never commited nor had ever planned on. Then if that wasn’t enough, she had even gone the extra mile to metaphorically kick him in the gut by telling him to get over the fact his father had been killed. Murdered. Murdered by…

Sighing, the furret cut Iskander’s train of thought off as she looked at him with a bored expression on her face. “Look, if you really feel that you’re above paying me for my services and only came here to feel bad for yourself, fine. But you are no longer welcome here,” she spoke in a deadpan voice. “Now get out of my café.”

Still unable to fully comprehend what was happening, Iskander managed to slowly turn around and hop off the stool, doing so in a trance-like state. As he made his way out, a primeape had gotten up and purposely stuck his foot out, causing Iskander to trip and fall face-first into the ground. Snapping out of his stupor, Iskander jumped immediately into a battle-stance and glared at the fighting-type, completely livid now.

“Why you little piece of-” only to be cut off once again not by another pokemon, but himself this time as he noticed the rest of the café patrons beginning to get out of their seats, waiting to be given the slightest reason to jump him.
Disgusted by everyone’s behaviour, the eevee settled for spitting at the monkey’s feet before making his way outside.

Turning to his left, Iskander began to angrily storm his way down the road, not caring where his paws took him. He had barely been awake for a little over an hour, and already he wished the day was over. There was no possible way things could get worse no matter where he went. When he came across an intersection, he swung to his left yet again, deciding to get away from the hustle and bustle of the town before more pokemon came out to see if they could drive his day any further into the ground.

Angrily mumbling under his breath and kicking any stones in his path, Iskander continued down the dirt path leading to the suburbs of Patras not even bothering to look up to see where he was going. This was probably not a good idea in foresight, knowing how crummy his luck had been today thus far, but the incensed eevee didn’t care. He just didn’t care. He was beginning to reach the point though where he was simply repeating the same angry verses to himself and upon realizing this, let out a deep breath before he looked up. Iskander was surprised to find himself at the lake located at the south-western part of the town, quite possibly the one place that could help soothe his nerves. Taking a long look at the body of water, he was relieved to find that just like most parts of Patras at this time of day, the lake front was vacant of any other patrons. Large, bountiful oak trees with their late spring green leaves littered the grassland area surrounding the lake, and willows dotted the boundaries of the lake. Iskander spotted a particularily healthy looking one. Trotting over to it, he flopped down and rested himself on his stomach.

Iskander took a long, deep whiff of the clean lake air before letting it out slowly, releasing some of the pent up tension in his body. Finally feeling at ease from discovering some solace, away from the horrific memories that were attached to his home, from the unrighteous townsfolk who vehemently despised his kind, and tucked under the cool shade of a willow away from any other troubles that could violate his privacy, he rested his head onto his front paws. The eevee’s eyes began to droop and gained a faraway quality to them. A small smile made its way onto his features as he let his mind wander free from the worries of his conscience. Slowly, they drooped down even further until they shut all together. The last thing he remembered was the wind whistling a sweet lullaby upon his ears before he finally submitted himself to the realm of dreams without meaning to do so.
__________________________________________________ ____________

“Get away from me you freaks!”

At the sound of the distressed voice, Iskander jumped awake and his battle senses kicked in immediately. Shooting a quick glance around him, Iskander saw nothing within a few feet of him. He took a double take of his surroundings, and upon doing so located the source of the commotion. On the other side of the lake, a group of pokemon were formed in a circle around another individual. He couldn’t see who was in the middle of it, but he could see who the pokemon were that surrounded the lonesome mon.

Oh great, of course they would find someone else to bother after I put them in their place, Iskander thought exasperatedly. Stretching himself out briefly, he prepared to dash his way to the rescue of this unknown pokemon when suddenly he stopped himself.

What am I doing? Have I learned nothing from today? If it was any day but today, I wouldn’t hesitate in the slightest to go help this mon out, but if I go in there, something disastrous is just begging to happen. Besides, these group of morons couldn’t beat a blind spearow in a thunder storm. I’m sure they’ll be fine without my help.

This prospect was challenged though when he saw the group of bullies begin to tighten their circle around their victim. A bead of sweat began to form on the short chestnut coloured fur that covered Iskander’s face as the indecisiveness of his actions created a battle within the walls of his mind. His front paws began to shift forward as the war to go help this stranger began to con him into taking action.

“Take one step closer, and I’ll break every single bone in each of your bodies!” the voice shouted again.

Now that he was awake and focused, he could distinctly tell it was feminine. He knew that he had made his decision at this point, and it was only a matter of time before he finally gave in.

Damn it! I can’t believe I’m actually getting myself involved in this whole thing. There must be something wrong with me today. Or perhaps it’s my fate that I land myself into as much trouble as I possibly can today.

Having made up his mind finally, Iskander bunched up the muscles in his legs and pushed off the ground in a dash as he began to make his way around the lake towards all of the commotion. He was a very fast runner from all the training he had personally put himself through, on top of having ran missions at the Assistant’s Guild in Patras, it was not long before he had made his way around the body water, only having enough time for one more fleeting thought before he confronted his foes.

I just hope this decision doesn’t ultimately get me killed in the end.