From the Ashes

[Kentucky Fried Torchic]

Sorry about the thing with the residential district... It mad a bit more sense to me at the time. I was trying to make something similar to the Gold Base in PMD: Silver Resistance, I guess it really flopped... Really, the only reason it was there was because I needed somewhere nearby for Goker to be living, that wasn't the Phoenix League, and the best idea I got was that sometimes some Pokemon from clans that failed ended up finding their way to Vibrant Meadows, and ended up making a little Utopia there?
Also, I wanted some actual filler before that arc with Gadzooks getting lost, and relaxing in the town seemed like a semi-good idea...
Now I wish I had put a little more thought into that idea...
The hot dog vendor was more or less purely for comedy. I tried, I thought it was semi-funny.

I probably came off a lot harder than I meant to, but it was just kind of jarring compared to what I was expecting. I haven't played any Pokemon Mystery Dungeon games since Explorers of Sky so I just had a more fractured and rural vision in mind, especially with the description of many clans and the Phoenix League's status as a small rebellion, but just because it wasn't something that I was expecting doesn't mean that its bad! Twists jolt the reader of their comfort zone, and while there is certainly some satisfaction to things turning out the way I expected, those shocks and bumps have their own power. If you want this city there and you own it, I have no doubt that you can make it feel right at home in the world that you crafted.

That being said, I really liked the changes you made, especially that the Phoenix League has found this perfect site for Pokemon to live, but still has to work on attracting the Pokemon themselves. The idea of doing a headcount of the city as a way for the duo to run into Goker also seemed less fortuitous than them simply running into him on the streets of a crowded city.

I'm happy that you enjoyed chapter 9 a lot more than you did chapter 10. ^^ I really wanted to put a scene in there that has Kai and Eric bonding not because one of them is affected by Cute Charm, but because they were honestly connecting as friends. I also wanted to explore the feeling Eric had about his tribe a bit more in depth, when left with how he felt in chapter 2, I thought it made him seem a little bit Sue-ish...

It did almost seem like Eric was a bit of a chosen one, destined to lead his clan to a brighter future, but now not only has his clan turned their back on him, but he almost seems to be ready to turn his back on them as well, which is definitely a great piece of drama that I have no doubt will make me really see Eric's future actions in a new light.

Also glad you like chapter 10! To be honest, I've got a very, very vague idea of where everything is in Utopia, myself... I know VIbrant Meadows is at the general center of it, the Muli Clan is somewhere South of it, and the Team Reva base is somewhere in the Southeast, but that's more or much it...

To be honest, I think it's kind of silly that the bond has to be between a trainer and Pokemon, specifically, so when I'm writing it, how Mega Evolution and Dimensional Scream works is changed to 'activated by a strong bond between two Pokemon who feel mutual friendship towards each other'. Kai is pretty much using her feelings of friendship towards Eric, and his feelings of friendship towards her, to activate the Mega Evolution.
And Alakazam has an IQ of 5000 according to the Pokedex. Slowking is as smart as a leading scientist thanks to a Shellder biting its' head. Reuniclus has three brains, while Metagross has four and can outhink a super computer, apparently. I think coming up with a rudimentary electronic device should be a piece of cake for them, and who's to say they won't collaborate with another Clan to bring their ideas to life?

Good responses on all of these points, the layout of Utopia, Mega Evolution, light bulbs, etc. I was shaken out of my old man stupor by the appearance of these things when first reading, but again if you own them and make them part of your canon, there's no reason to see why these explanations shouldn't work, but only if you stick to your guns and maintain that consistency.

[LKWayvern]

I'm happy to see that you like the new residential district more! ^^
PMD: Silver Resistance isn't one of the official games, by the way. It's actually a fanfiction. It's pretty good, and one of my many unachievable goals for my own writing.
And yeah, Utopia is mostly rural, since lots of Pokemon aren't particularly smart, or don't have hands, but all the Clans are very, very different. Some of them might be adept at magic, and use spells to do what they can't with technology. Some, like the Rahzyne Clan, simply raid other Clans for what they don't have. Some are capable of sustaining themselves on their own, but don't particularly like the other Clans. While others, like the Muli Clan, have lots of allies, and share technical advances until it gets extremely advanced for a civilization of Pokemon.

And yeah, I really need to make a map of the Utopia region... But that would mean I would have to make a decision about exactly how many Clans there are, and I'm really not too sure about that right now...

[LKWayvern]

Chapter 13

The Latias paused briefly outside Team Reva’s base. She turned back to the sky she had come from, scanning it for any sign of pursuers while nervously tugging at the bands on her wrist.
On her right arm she wore a blue band with a red triangle on it. On her left arm she wore a red band with a blue triangle on it.
That one had belonged to her brother. She wondered how he was doing, back with her parents. Was he having fun? Did he miss her?
Satisfied that no one had followed her, the Latias turned back around and entered the patchwork building.
“Halt!” a voice rang out. Immediately the Latias froze.
A Luxray and a Mr. Mime stepped out towards the Latias. The Luxray’s eyes gleamed golden as she activated her X-Ray vision, and the Latias felt the Mr. Mime scanning her surface thoughts. She fought the instinct to shove him out of her mind, and put up a mental barrier.
(RL) “She’s with us, all right,” the Mr. Mime said, stepping back. He made a few hand gestures, and several invisible barriers across the entrance vanished.
“She’s not carrying any weapons, either,” the Luxray said, the gold switching off. “Sorry about that, Kyoi. But you know the drill. Safety procedures, can’t have spies coming in.”
The Latias, Kyoi, nodded. “I know. But, well, I think anyone against us would pretty obviously have to be a Ditto or Zoroark or something to try to be me, Latias hate lying!” Kyoi grinned, making the Luxray and Mr. Mime laugh, and Kyoi joined in.
“Okay, now that we know none of us are Ditto spies,” the Luxray said, still giggling, “you can head on in. I think Nekra’s waiting for you. You got the item, right?”
Kyoi nodded. She held the Void Ball, and entered Team Reva’s base.
She levitated through the hallways, smiling at all the Fossil Pokemon guards. A few returned her smiles, but most of them looked at her, utterly baffled by the Legendary’s unending optimism.
Kyoi continued to hover down the windowless hallway, illuminated entirely by small glass orbs containing flickering flames. She moved over to a door, before she saw two familiar figures standing in front of it.
“Adrienne! Cody!” she said, smiling again. She rushed towards the two and attempted to envelope them in a huge hug.
One of them, an male Meowstic, used a gentle display of telekinesis to deflect the hug. The Meowstic was dressed rather oddly. On each of his ears was an earring containing a Psychic Gem. On one arm was a Special Band, and on the either was a Zinc Band. On a belt just above his two tails was strapped a small Twisted Spoon.
The other Pokemon, a Pikachu, was not so lucky.
She didn’t seem excited to be the recipient of Kyoi’s over-enthusiastic, but she forced on a smile and hugged Kyoi back, although with not quite as much… engergy.
“Yes, hello to you to, Kyoi,” she told the Latias.
The Pikachu was also dressed rather strangely. In her ears were what appeared to be human scrunchies. She had a belt around her waist. Attached to it was a Soothe Bell, and strapped to her back was what appeared to be a pure golden staff with an Electric Gem on one end, for the very best conducting and amplifying of Electric attacks.
When the Pikachu was finally put down, she shot a look at the Meowstic, and crossed her arms.
“Cody, you could’ve at least been polite and let Kyoi hug you,” the Pikachu whispered.
Cody, the Meowstic, shrugged. “Kyoi knows I care little for both pleasantries, and being touched, Adrienne.”
Adrienne shot him a look. “Well then you could’ve at least shared my pain.”
“Believe me, I have on multiple occasions.”
(RL) After the three had calmed down, Adrienne turned back to Kyoi. “I assume you’ve completed your mission?” she asked.
Kyoi nodded. “Yep! Here it is!” She used telekinesis to float the Void Ball over to Adrienne. Adrienne caught in her paws, examined it, and nodded.
“Very nice. I didn’t expect something called the ‘Void Ball’ to be so shiny, though.”
Kyoi beamed. “I know! That’s just a bonus to completing the mission!”
Adrienne turned back towards the door. “Cody, if you would be so kind?”
The Meowstic nodded, and lifted up his ears for a brief moment as he used telekinesis to open the door. The three Pokemon marched into the room.
It was dimly lit. The only light seemed to come from a glass orb, suspended from the ceiling. The orb was directly above a Delphox with glistening black fur, hard at work using a paintbrush to draw complex wards and sigils on the floor underneath the orb.
Hearing someone enter, the Delphox looked up, finished one of the glyphs with a flourish of the paintbrush, slipped the tool into some fluffy fur around her wrist, and turned towards the three, standing up.
“Hi, Nekra!” Kyoi said, waving and smiling.
The Shiny Delphox nodded politely at Kyoi. Do you have the Void Ball? she asked telepathically.
Adrienne nodded, and approached the leader of Team Reva. “Yes. Here it is.” She handed the glimmering ball over to the Delphox.
Nekra turned towards Cody. Cody, I’ve put the wards in place. Now start putting barriers and such around it. We cannot let ANYONE retrieve this from us, I do not care how hard it is to infiltrate our base!
The Meowstic nodded. Nekra placed the Void Ball in the center of the circle of symbols, and then backed away. Cody’s ears lifted up again and his earrings glowed as multiple invisible barriers were formed, arcing above the small, gleaming sphere.
Nekra observed the protective forces for a moment, then nodded. Yes. This will do. You all are relieved.
Kyoi and Cody immediately left, but Adrienne lingered behind.
“Nekra…” the Pikachu asked, carefully. “The Void Ball… Do you know what’s inside it?”
Nekra didn’t answer for a moment.
No one truly knows, Nekra finally responded. But...
“But?”
Nekra shrugged. But nothing. I have no idea what it contains, but I assume it is something deadly.
Adrienne dawdled for a few moments longer.
“Nekra--”
Yes?
“Umm… When I first joined you, you told me… About a certain price…”
Nekra sighed. Yes. When we have captured two more Clans, and I have completed the Summoning Spells, I shall allow you to go.
Adrienne looked startled. “But… If what you told me is true, then… That doesn’t give me very much time, and--!”
Time is an illusion, Adrienne. You are relieved.
Adrienne looked like she wanted to say something more. But instead she simply said “Yes, Milady Nekra,” and left.

(RL) After night fell, a lone figure watched in the shadows, observing the glinting Poke Ball.
...Hello, Mother. Admiring our newest acquisition?
The figure turned around. “Ah, Nekra. Yes, it is quite nice. And some very strong wards and barriers, I see. Yes, you have both done well.”
Nekra sat down, staring at the dimly lit orb. So beautiful… and, she was told, so deadly.
“That new admin, that Latias, what was her name… Kyoi, correct? She’s the one who retrieved it? She’s a very good addition. Incredible battler, and very fast.”
Nekra nodded. Mother… I know you know something about what is in the Void Ball…
The other Pokemon sighed. “What is there to tell? No one knows what, exactly is in it. Pokemon name it the Void Ball, humans know it as the GS Ball. The best experts, both human and Pokemon, have attempted to open it. Only I have come close to succeeding, and it cost me much. But, there is a legend… An alternate version of the Councilverse’s creation myth, that gives us a hint…”
...Yes?
The Pokemon made eye contact with Nekra, and the Delphox shuddered. She suddenly and acutely felt the presence of something primal within the Void Ball.
The other Pokemon’s eyes glimmered strangely in the dim light. “They say the contents of the Void Ball… is balance.”

End of Part 1

I was originally going to end the part last chapter, but I thought this made a cleaner cutoff.
Anyways, I may not post a new chapter for a little while, I want to make a few paragraphs of worldbuilding, so you can get a few ideas about how this particular variant of the Pokemon world, the Councilverse, is different from the games and anime.
I'll be mostly focusing on evolution, Mega Evolution, and maybe some other stuff, but yeah. I'll post it later, maybe on Monday?
Also, if anyone's wondering about something in particular in the Councilverse or Utopia, feel free to post something, comment on my userpage, or send me a PM. If it's not a major spoiler, I'll add that to the stuff I'll post! ^^

[LKWayvern]

Have an info dump. Not sure if all of it will ever be relevant, but I needed to get some of this stuff straightened out.

Aura and Auma

Most people tend to group them together, but they’re actually quite different. Auma is the creative energy, the yin part of the soul, while Aura is destructive, the yang part.
Auma is used in moves meant to heal health, remove status conditions, and increase stats. Aura is used to inflict damage, decrease stats, and cause status ailments. They can both be combined with a type and a physical action to create a ‘move’. If a Pokemon runs to low Aura or Auma, they can’t use moves that require that kind of energy. If a Pokemon runs low on both aura and auma, to keep them from straining themselves forwards they automatically shut down, or faint.
All Pokemon have an ability that, when certain conditions are met, automatically triggers their auma or aura in some way. For example, the Blaze, Overgrow, Swarm, and Torrent abilities are all very similar. As a Pokemon grows stronger, the ability stores a small amount of aura and auma away so it can’t use it. But when the Pokemon runs low on aura and auma, it releases the energy, temporarily giving them more strength.
Another example is Volt Absorb, Water Absorb, Flash Fire, Motor Drive, and Sap Sipper. These abilities let Pokemon absorb the aura of another Pokemon and convert it into auma for their own personal use.
If a Pokemon uses aura to use an attack, the aura will dissipate and break down into the world again as two things, pure energy and pollution. Pollution is corrupted aura. Shadow Pokemon have been known to use pollution as fuel for their Shadow Moves, as opposed to aura or auma.

Shadow Pokemon

Artificial Shadow Pokemon have had their emotions and pain sensing nerves shut down by artificial means. In addition, the decision making parts of their brain have been surgically altered. Their aura and auma both have been transformed into pollution. In addition, each artificial Shadow Pokemon has a secondary ability, called ‘Hyper Shift’. When an artificial Shadow Pokemon loses too much pollution, its’ ability kicks in, putting it into Hyper Mode. When in Hyper Mode, a Shadow Pokemon’s life energy starts being converted into pollution. The drain on their life energy puts strain on the Shadow Pokemon’s primitive brain, and makes them revert back to their primitive instincts, demanding them to lash out at anything that might cause further damage to them.
Natural Shadow Pokemon, although slightly rarer, are completely different than artificial ones. Natural Shadow Pokemon are Pokemon that experienced a pain so great, be it physical, emotional, or mental, that their pain sensing nerves shut down and their emotions became extremely filtered. This makes natural Shadow Pokemon more logical than regular Pokemon, and unlike their artificial counterparts capable of making the most logical decisions without being hampered by any kind of pain. In addition, instead of having their aura and auma converted to pollution like an artificial Shadow Pokemon’s, natural Shadow Pokemon have pollution, aura, and auma.
Shadow Pokemon of all kinds can be cured by many things. The most common one is making them feel an extremely strong emotion somehow, like fear, love, happiness, anger, or hatred. Really any emotion other than sadness will do. Sadness is the emotion that most often turns a Pokemon into a natural Shadow Pokemon, and will so do nothing to turn it back. As a side note, natural Shadow Pokemon do not have Hyper Shift as a secondary ability, and really wish to live a life as normal as possible.
Some aura seers have reported seeing a black aura around a Shadow Pokemon. The black aura is the presence of pollution in their soul. It is much easier to spot in artificial Shadow Pokemon than natural Shadow Pokemon, allowing many of the naturals to live their lives in relative peace.
It has been noted that roughly 3000 years ago a mysterious disease called the Shadow Contagion was created, which causes pollution to spontaneously spring up in a Pokemon. The pollution, if not quickly dealt with, transforms the infected Pokemon into a natural Shadow Pokemon.

Evolution

Growing up does not result from evolving. Rather, evolving is a result of a Pokemon maturing.
Some Pokemon, like most starters, evolve simply by growing up. By making a realization about themselves as a Pokemon, and embracing that decision.
Others, like baby Pokemon such as Pichu, Azurill, and Togepi, evolve through a particularly powerful emotion. It doesn’t matter which emotion, but it works best with a positive one like true happiness or mutual friendship.
Other Pokemon evolve due to an emotion invoked by a life changing experience, such as being captured, being released, being traded to an entirely different trainer, losing a friend, or gaining a friend. Something along those lines.
Meanwhile, there are certain Pokemon that require a dramatic increase in the amount of aura and auma they have. This aura and auma is typically drawn out from an item imbued with aura and auma. Examples of such items are evolution stones, and items like Sachet, Whipped Dream, DeepSeaScale, DeepSeaTooth, and Razor Claw.
Several Pokemon require a combination of the above methods, however.

Mega Evolution

The Ultimate Weapon drained the aura and auma of Pokemon, transformed it into pollution, and fired that blast of pollution all throughout the Pokemon World. It appeared to hit the Orre and Unova region extremely hard, causing not only the land to become a massive desert, but for the Shadow Contagion to spring up in both those lands. Unova has dealt with the crisis much better, it seems.
However, there was a secondary effect caused by the Ultimate Weapon. The stones of Geosenge Town had residual auma and aura left in them from the Pokemon killed to power the Ultimate Weapon. It is noted that when a Pokemon holds one of these stones, and a being they have a bond of mutual friendship or love holds a second stone, a ‘keystone’, a strange reaction is set off. The auma and aura in the stone the Pokemon holds goes from a dormant stage to an active one, fusing with the Pokemon, boosting their stats, giving them a new form to reflect those improved stats, and sometimes changing their ability and typing. It has been noted that the stronger the bond, the bigger the stat boost.
These stones have been dubbed ‘Mega Stones.’ It should be noted that they only react with a Pokemon of the same species as the one whose aura and auma it originally was.
Thanks to this recent discovery, the stones of Geosenge Town have become nicknamed a ‘Mega Stone Mine’. It has caused a massive controversy about the tiny town, with some believing that Geosenge should begin harvesting, identifying, and selling as many Mega Stones as possible, while others believe this would be desecrating priceless ancient artifacts.

HM Moves

HM moves don’t teach a Pokemon how to fly or swim. That would be silly. They just give them a critical boost of strength in a certain aspect of them so they can do for longer than average periods of time, or while carrying a trainer or Pokemon.
For example, Dive would let a Pokemon take a deeper breath of air and stay underwater longer, Fly increases the speed and height a Pokemon can normally fly by making their wings a hundredfold stronger, Surf makes a Pokemon swim faster than average, as well as creating a convenient current going in the same direction they are, Strength gives a Pokemon double their average strength for a short period of time, etc.
Most HM moves can be learned through years of practice, but trainers are impatient and downloaded the main ones as HMs.

Chaining Moves

Some moves are connected with others. If a Pokemon practices a certain move long enough, it may find a way to learn a more powerful version of that move. Wild Pokemon are capable of chaining moves like this, and learning moves that their species would normally never be capable of learning. There are even certain moves that lead to the signature moves of legendary Pokemon.
Certain moves also split into multiple chains. Many things depend on what chain a Pokemon will follow if this happens. Some things determining that are what type the Pokemon is, what items it’s holding, the environment it’s in, and what moves Pokemon around it know.
Trainers don’t know about move chaining because you have to start with the first move in the Chain, and trainers are impatient and usually just teach their Pokemon a crazy powerful move with a TM.

There. Hope that explains some stuff.
If you see an idea you like, and want to 'borrow' it, go ahead. I think it's interesting stuff.
Then again, my sanity is questionable in some areas.

[LKWayvern]

No music this time... Couldn't think of any to fit the chapter, and didn't feel like looking through my iPod for some...

Part 2: Blaze

Chapter 14

You would think a cute little hedgehog with flower ears wouldn’t be so scary when you have a type advantage over it, and are several feet taller than it. Not to mention you have scythes for hands and it just has tiny little paws.
That just goes to prove you have never had Shaymin scream at you for hours on end.
After the general rant about ‘what on Ecana were you three thinking’ and ‘you all could have died and we need all the hands we can get’ and ‘you could have blown away our cover completely,’ Shaymin settled down and finally got around to dishing out the punishments.
Gadzooks’ punishment was left up to Raider to decide. All Shaymin asked was that the Sylveon learn some discipline.
Kai’s punishment was a bit more dangerous. Two Clans, the Sashra and Zashla, were constantly warring. Kai was sent to treat any injuries from the latest skirmish, and try to recruit at least some members from the Clans.
It was not going to be easy for her, because the Clans were made up of Seviper and Zangoose, respectively. And since she would be going it alone, Kai would have no access to her Mega Evolution.
Eric’s punishment was a bit strange.
He was to go to Celin City, and talk with a mysterious Pokemon who the Phoenix League had never heard of, and yet this Pokemon had somehow managed to send a message to them informing them that they had information about Team Reva’s goals.
Eric knew about Celin City. Everyone knew about Celin City. Celin City had started out as Celin Clan, a group of Turtwig, Grotle, and Torterra who were peaceful, worshipped Celebi, and had many allies. Eventually the Celin Clan began to allow anyone who worshipped Celebi to join their Clan, and the Clan grew so big that it could only be called a City.
At any rate, Eric was somewhat anxious about this mission. He had been given a map to enable him to get to Celin City without a guide, but the map was rather vague, didn’t show the Phoenix League’s actual location(or the locations of multiple Clans, for that matter), and had minimal landmarks.
Eric sighed. He had heard that typically in the Phoenix League, members were allowed a break of up to a week between ‘missions’. Between going to meet Rosie, Gadzooks, and Koray, going with Kai to get Gadzooks back, and this latest mission, he had had little to no rest between them.
In preparation, the Scyther purchased multiple healing berries, apples, and bandages for the trip. Oh, well. It wasn’t as if there was a time limit on any of the missions, so he could finish them as slowly as he wished to, so long as he didn’t make Shaymin suspicious of him slacking off, or anything.
Eric placed all of his supplies in a small bag, which he fastened to his abdomen in such a way that it would not obstruct his wings in case he needed to fly.
For the first mile or two of the trip, there wasn’t any particularly big obstacles for Eric to overcome. He was, after all, still technically inside Vibrant Meadows. It was not a part often visited like the gardens, dormitories, or residential areas, however, and so it had become somewhat overgrown.
A little while later, though, the greenery began to slowly fade. It was nothing particularly noticeable, at first. A lessening of flowers, a shrinkage in trees. But soon Eric started noticing that dust and hard packed earth was becoming more common than soft grass. The wild Pokemon began to change too. Instead of seeing Ratatta, Zigzagoon, and Fletchling, Eric was starting to notice Sandshrew and Sandile.
Soon, Eric was in a desert. He was unsure of how he could go from a floral paradise like Vibrant Meadows, to a desert, to city that produced as many berries and held as many Grass types as Celin City. It was unbelievable to the Scyther.
He started to slow down as he traveled. The desert sun was getting to him, and he hadn’t brought very much water. The map had been painfully vague about their being a desert between Vibrant Meadows and Celin City, and Eric had never suspected one would existed in that particular area of Utopia.
Soon, though, Eric’s energy was eradicated from his limbs as he felt a jolt of strength. He could see a rainstorm in the distance! His wings began to buzz loudly as he lifted off. He flew towards the rainstorm with all his might, pushing his endurance further and further.
But then as he got too close to it, the mirage vanished, and the truth was revealed. What he had believed to be a rainstorm was, in reality, a sandstorm.
It was too close for Eric to avoid, and he was too tired to try and fly back. In moments, the sandstorm was upon him. Sand was everywhere, in his eyes, battering his carapace, flying up his mouth and nostrils.
Eric crash landed on the ground, unsure of where to go. The world had been transformed into a light brown blur where boundaries faded and everything appeared the same.
Eric attempted to go in the direction he thought was the right one for Celin City, and out of this infernal desert, but it was hopeless. He knew he wouldn’t be able to get out of the sandstorm before it whittled away at him too much, and he fainted. Scyther were not built for endurance, and Eric was no exception.
Eric managed to stumble forward, nearly blinded by the stinging sands, for several more minutes before it became clear that enough was enough. He hit his foot hard on something, probably a rock, and landed awkwardly on the ground. He wasn’t sure if he’d be able to walk on that foot again for a while.
Before he slipped into unconsciousness, Eric noted that on almost every one of his missions so far, Eric had managed to get defeated by something. First, Rosie, Koray, and Gadzooks had attacked him without remorse. Then, he had just stood by as Kai and Gadzooks had fought, after failing to change the Sylveon’s mind with words.
Now, Eric was lying in the sand, beaten by a sandstorm. Beaten by something not even alive.