FSE

Furry search engine

formerly SoFurry search engine

The sky shone brightly in the mid-afternoon sky. Luke, a

Lucario was heading into a nearby town with a list in his paw, reviewing a

small shopping list as he headed for the market, walking through the aisles and

picking out specific groceries from his list ane proceeding to pay for them

before heading back out and toward his home, sighing contently as he re-entered

the forest he came from.

While there, though, he began to notice something was

different about today... the forest seemed eerily quiet, and the feeling

something was about to happen hung over him... yet even with his keen eyes he

could not see anything out of the ordinary. He glanced around warily, slowing

his pace and keeping all of his senses keen, expecting something to happen.

Eventually he came to a full stop, slowly dropping his groceries and looking

all around his surroundings...

And almost as if that were a cue, lights began flashing from

nearby, coming from above a nearby copse of trees he could just see, each one

flickering in various colours. The flashing lights continued to get brighter

until suddenly, a bright white flash lit up the sky and nearly eliminated every

shadow around the Lucario. Luke grunted and he quickly shielded his eyes with

his arm, clenching his eyes shut as well and trying to sense what ws going on,

but even his Aura Sense was being blinded by the strange white light in around

him*

Until suddenly, the light vanished, and he saw a singular

aura, a very strange looking one at that, appear from where the light had been

centered, and begin to fall towards the ground. Halfway down, he heard someone

cry out, and the voice seemed to be coming from that same presence. "What

the...?! GAAAAAAAHHHH!"

And then, as they hit the treeline, the sound of someone

grunting and a few limbs breaking, along with the unmistakable thud of a body

hitting ground. Luke winced with each grunt and snap he heard, then after the

thump he reacted on instinct, rushing toward the single aura signal quickly

with his inhuman speed, skidding to a stop right next to the source of said

aura signal

And he found... not the least what he expected. A Blaziken,

lying face down in the dirt groaning painfully. This Blaziken had a very

strange aura to him, not like any Luke had ever seen before, and more

surprisingly... even after that fall, he wasn't even hurt! Sure, Blaziken could

leap great distances, but dropping without a chance to brace themselves would

certainly still cause harm.

            He

knelt next to the dazed Blaziken, still rather stunned by the fact he was

unharmed by such a fall. "Hey! Hey, are you alright?"

"Ugh... depends," the Blaziken returned, pushing

himself up on his hands. "Did I fall out of the sky just now or did a

dragon just walk on me?" He asked. "Sure feels like either one

happened."

"If you got stomped on by a Dragon-Type, you wouldn't

even be alive right now..." He returned. "You fell out of the sky

after a blinding light shone brightly."

"Well, then at least I wasn't imagining things when I

flew into that light," remarked the Blaziken, sitting down and glancing

around. "Where did I en..." He paused when saw Luke. "A...

jackal?" He asked. "Did I fall into Egypt?"

Luke tilted his head a little. "....Egypt...? I've no

idea what you're talking about...I'm a Lucario."

"A what? What's a..." He shook his head.

"Nevermind... Where have I ended up?"

"In a forest not too far from a nearby town." Luke

said as he offered his paw to the stranger.

            The

figure raised their hand to accept the offer of help, before noticing his hand.

"Wha...?" He demanded, pulling it back to his face, and then raised

his other hand to look at it, seeing it too had the same number of fingers.

"What happened to two of my fingers?!"

Luke again looked at him confused, letting his paw drop to

his side. "...What do you mean two of your fingers...? Blaziken have

always had only two fingers."

"Blazi..." The figure paused. "What? But I'm a

Phoenix, not a Blaziken... whatever that is."

Luke frowned a little. "...I hope you're not trying to

joke around on that subject..." He said softly. "The only phoenix Pokémon

is Moltres..."

"Oooookay, this is getting too weird," stated the

Blaziken, standing up. "Good meeting you but I'm flyin' the coop now...

sound like Pavan or Korban when I say that... anywho, hope that portal's still

up there." He looked up and, with a mighty leap, he soared up into the

air... but didn't get very far before gravity took effect and he fell back

down. "Hey what...WHAT?!" He barked before managing to correct his descent

and land feet first, though he landed in a crouch to absorb the impact of his

fall.

Standing back up, the -rather odd- Blaziken put a hand to his

chin, smiling in a rather demented manner as he spoke. "Okay," he

began. "Let me think... Either A, my wings are numb and not working right

or B... I don't have them anymore." He looked over his shoulder towards

Luke.

By this time, Luke was getting rather annoyed by his

cluelessness. "Really...?" He said in an exasperated tone.

"Blaziken are Fire/Fighting types...they don't have wings nor are they

flying types...."

"That's what I was afraid of," said the rather

strange Blaziken, his eye twitching. "Excuse me for a second while I..." He

took in a deep breath, before unleashing a loud holler to the sky above. "FREAK

OUT!!!" He roared, a flock of Spearow scattering from the nearby trees.

The strength of his voice was enough it would've deafened a

Zubat...

Luke only crossed his arms and stood there as the Blaziken

freaked out like a mad Primape on a blind rampage. "....Are you quite

finished...?"

"Oh yes," replied the Blaziken. "Just needed

to vent... Now..." He spun towards Luke and dashed up to him. "You

mind telling me why I've turned into a long-legged chicken with V shaped

hair?"

            Luke

stared up at him for the longest time, almost as if studying the Blaziken

intently. "This is what a Blaziken normally looks like..." Then he

put his paw to his forehead. "...Do you have a fever or something?"

Volcan shook his head to get Luke's paw off. "No, I

don't, and if you feel one it's probably my blood pressure!" He barked,

breathing harshly for a moment before he began to calm down, slowly letting out

a long sigh. "I'm sorry... I'm just really confused right now..."

"...Perhaps you need some rest to clear your

mind..." He said. "I was just on my way home from shopping for dinner

tonight..."

"Well, since I don't really know where I am in the first

place... do you mind if I come along?" He asked, more politely now.

"It would probably be best that you do. It's starting to

get late and a lot of nocturnal Pokémon will start emerging soon..." He

said as he walked over to grab his groceries.

"Can... I help?" The Blaziken offered.

"No, I'll be fine." He said, leading the way back

to his home. They both walked for about 5 or so minutes before they arrived at

an indent in the ground that lead to a door down below.

Suddenly, the Blaziken perked up as if remembering something.

"Oh, how rude of me," said the Blaziken. "My name's Volcan, by

the way."

Luke looked back and nodded to him. "Pleasure. My name's

Luke." He said before he walked down toward the door and opened it,

walking inside and holding the door open for Volcan to enter.

            The

Blaziken was so tall he had to crouch down to walk through the hole up to the

door, and ducked through to enter the house, slowly standing back up to full

height as if expecting to bump his head on the ceiling. However, inside the

house it was rather spacious and roomy, allowing anyone to stand inside

unhindered by height restrictions. Luke walked toward the dining room table and

set down his bag of groceries. "Well...make yourself at home for

now." He offered.

"Nice place," remarked Volcan, looking around the

house, taking in its contents and nodding with approval. "You live here

alone?"

"No. My son and my mate live here too, as well as her

assistant." He said. "They won't be back for a while yet. Janine

tends to work late."

"What does she do?" He asked, sitting down at the

nearby table after pulling out a chair.

"She's a Pharmacist." He returned, setting all the

food on the table before sorting it into different categories for storage.

"Ah, nice," returned Volcan. "Look uh... I

know this seems a little extreme to hear but, I'm honestly not what I appear to

be. I'm not normally..." He looked at himself. "This."

            "...I'm

not sure I understand." He said as he put away his groceries.

 "Well, how can I

put this?" He began. "You see, I'm actually an Anthropomorphic

phoenix. I'm normally tall, muscular, have big red and yellow wings and... can

manipulate fire and absorb solar energy."

Luke looked back to Volcan, finding it rather hard to

believe. "...You're saying that you're not from this particular part of

the world...?"

"I'm not sure I'm even on the same world anymore,"

replied Volcan. "No beings like you or... me, in this body, exist back where

I come from. If you have a pencil and paper I could try and show you what I

used to look like"

Luke then headed into another room for a moment, and then

returned with said items, placing them in front of Volcan and crossing his

arms. "I'm still finding this rather hard to believe..."

"Well, I'm not one to lie, really, and I should hope I'm

not losing my mind," replied Volcan as he began drawing. "I'm not

much of an artist -especially with my hand... not the same anymore, but I'll do

my best."

Luke nodded, still keeping his arms crossed and watching

Volcan sketch on the paper.

After a few minutes of drawing, several times correcting

himself, Volcan eventually managed to draw a rather amateur image of a figure

with arms and legs, but with wings growing out of his back, and dressed in

clothes... he almost looked some sort of half-human half-animal hybrid, beyond

the shape of his body nothing was human about him; his head and feet were both

those of a bird, and his hands -though normally birds didn't have hands- had

the same skin type and nails as the talons of a very large bird of prey, but

had five fingers instead of three toes.

"Well, it's not exactly Leonardo Da Vinci, but, that's

about the best I can draw."

Luke studied the picture intently, even taking it in his paws

to look more closely at it, then to Volcan. "...And you say this is

you?"

"Well, it used to be anyway," returned Volcan,

looking at himself. "Apparently someone or something gave me an extreme

makeover; even changed my powers. Apparently my sword didn't come through with

me either... I hope nobody has stolen it."

"...Right." Luke returned, still finding all this

new information hard to absorb.

"What do you want me to do to prove it to you, turn the

surface of a desert into glass?" Volcan asked, getting rather defensive

with Luke's doubt in him. "Look, I'm not making this up."

"And I'm not trying to judge you; I'm just finding

everything hard to believe is all." Luke returned defensively.

Volcan let out an exasperated groan, but his tone became more

even. "I suppose I can understand that; I'm still wondering if I'm having

some sort of dream or something. Well, hopefully somehow I can find a way to

convince you," he stated, running a hand down his face. "Now the only

thing I need to do is find out how I ended up here and how I get home. If I

don't, my friends will lose their minds looking for me; I don't want them

chasing after Kalo'Temir again on their own..."

            "...Who?"

Luke asked.

 "Think of the

most horrifying thing you've ever seen and multiply it by ten thousand,"

replied Volcan, beginning a rough sketch of the figure he talked about, in a

few minutes producing a very unusual looking creature, with spikes protruding

from its shoulders, a tail like that of a dragon, and legs like one too, and

disproportionately long arms ending with scythe-like claws. "A while back,

he kidnapped me, intent on stealing my powers; my friends came to save me. We

barely got out of there alive."

"...He tried to steal your powers...." Luke

returned. "What for..?"

"Well, to put it simply, he's basically someone who can

take the abilities of others, and making them his own," replied Volcan.

"If he consumes someone who has similar abilities to one he's devoured

before, such as another fire user like me, it powers up the abilities he

already has, making him stronger. In short, he wanted to devour me to gain more

power."

            "...Sounds

a little like Giratina..." Luke commented.

            "Someone

I probably don't want to come across?" Volcan asked.

            "He's

the deity of the Distortion World..." Luke returned. "A Ghost/Dragon

type Pokémon with enough power to stand up to even Arceus himself..."

            "Arceus

some sort of... powerful being?" Volcan asked.

            "He's

the God of all Pokémon..."

            "Oh..."

            Luke

nodded. "He keeps all of the other deities, spirits and guardians in

check."

"But Giratina is one who challenges his role?"

"Indeed. Giratina has earned the nickname 'God

Slayer'...because of his Ghost typing, he has the potential to overpower Arceus

due to him being a Normal type. And Normal types cannot damage Ghosts."

"Yikes... there's someone I wouldn't want to meet in a

dark alley," said Volcan. "Wouldn't be the first ghost I've fought,

but still."

Luke nodded. "Luckily he's been sealed within the Distortion

Realm and hasn't emerged since...which means the Deities of Space and Time are

being kept in check."

"...Somehow I'm starting to wonder about that,"

said Volcan. "Because if I'm not in Unity Falls anymore, and I've changed

into this... then I'm definitely in another world, and this sounds like

something your Giratina guy could do."

"Unlikely." Luke returned. "The only way

Giratina could do such a thing is if Palkia and Dialga, the deities of space

and time, conflicted with each other."

"Well I only know three others in my world that could do

this..." Volcan remarked. "Izrail, Kalo'Temir and Abdul-Al

Hakam."

"Names I have never heard of before." Luke

returned, taking a seat again.

"Yeah, no surprise there," replied Volcan, leaning

back in his seat. "I guess I'll be here a while."

Luke nodded. "Well you're welcome to stay as long as you

need to. There's a guest room in the back you can use."

            "Are

you sure? I wouldn't want to impose on you or your family."

            "It'll

be fine. Don't worry." Luke returned. "It's no trouble."

            "And

you're sure your family won't mind? It's not like either of them know me

either..."

            "Janine

is a gentle soul. She's not against helping out others in need. And Jin would

most likely appreciate a playmate around the house."

 "Playmate?"

Volcan chuckled. "Well, I dunno if I'm any good with kids."

            "Well

only time will tell." Luke commented with a small smirk.

            "Right..."

Volcan replied, and suddenly stood up from his chair. "Can I see the room,

then? I may as well get settled in."

Luke nodded and stood up. "Right this way." he said

as he walked toward the back of the house, opening a door toward a smaller room

with a bed and dresser.

Volcan followed him to the room, and peered inside. surveying

the room, although looking at the bed, and then his long legs, with a hint of

doubt. "Hehe... um... don't suppose you have an ottoman or something

around, do you?"

It then occured to Luke that Volcan was too tall for the bed;

it wasn't meant for a Pokémon his size... "Hmmm...Well...the sofa does fold

out into a hideaway bed..." Luke offered instead

"We'll have to give that a shot then," he looked

down at himself. "Changed into a completely new body and I'm still too damn tall for half the furniture

in the world..." He grumbled with clear irritation, although Luke still

caught it. He said nothing to that remark as he opened up the couch to reveal

the hideaway bed, extending it out until it reached its full length.

Volcan looked it over, and then decided to try it out, laying

down across it; his feet still hung slightly over the far end, but besides

that, he fit fairly well onto the bed, and nodded his approval. "This'll

work," he said, and looked up at Luke. "Hey... I really appreciate

this, Luke. Thanks."

            "You're

welcome. Like I said, you're welcome to stay as long as you like."

            Volcan

nodded again. "Yeah... hopefully I won't have to be a moocher for

long," he said, sitting up and sliding back against the rear of the couch.

"I still wish I knew how I ended up here..." He looked at his hand.

"And what caused me to change into this form? I still feel a connection to

fire powers but, none of my other abilities came with me. My strength, my

wings, my shapeshifting... am I still immune to fire?"

            "Well

not quite...You can still be harmed by fire, but because you're a fire type

yourself, you can resist it...also depending on your ability, you can either

increase your overall speed with Speed Boost, or you gain a power boost when

you're close to defeat with Blaze."

            "...Say

what?" Volcan asked, clearly not understanding what Luke meant.

            "Nevermind...I'll

explain it later." Luke returned.

"Right... I guess getting used to this body will be

quite a learning curve," remarked the Blaziken. "But... Fire and

Fighting type, you said? Sounds like I'll catch on fast enough if I'm getting

the concept."

"If you're already familiar with fighting, then yes you

should catch on quickly."

"Alright," said Volcan, nodding. "Well, guess

I'll just hang out here for now..." He laid back down on the bed.

"I've got some things to think about... And it's not like I have anywhere to

go, now."

"I'll leave you to it then...I have to get dinner

started for when everyone gets home." He said as he walked back toward the

kitchen and turned on the stove.

Volcan tucked his hands behind his head and stared at the

ceiling, slipping into deep thought. Everything was so confusing to him at the

moment; if he wasn't already familiar with dimension jumping he might have gone

even more crazy when he had found out what he'd changed into... but at least

he'd found someone willing to help him out, although he wondered if Luke

possibly still thought Volcan was insane -if he ever did think that, of course;

the phoenix... Blaziken, wasn't going to make assumptions. Luke could turn out

to be a good friend for him...

~~~~~

The next day, when Luke awoke and prepared to go about his

day, he noticed Volcan was missing from the guest bed in the living room.

Somehow, the Lucario doubted the Blaziken had gone back to... whatever world he

had come from, so he likely wasn't very far away.

Luke let out a soft sigh and rubbed his forehead.

"Dammit all..." He grunbled before he headed outof hsi house and

tried searching for Volcan's aura signal before giving chase.

Thankfully though, the Blaziken hadn't gone far. He found him

in a short time, and arrived to find him stretching his muscles, before he

began trying a few punches and kicks at open air. A short time after, Volcan

walked over to a small tree, gripping it tightly around the trunk and seemingly

trying to lift out of the ground. Of course, he failed, an stepped back in

exasperation, rotating his arms. "Ouch... guess not."

"What are you doing...?" Luke asked as he

approached him from behind.

"Ah!" Volcan jumped slightly as Luke approached, before

turning around to face the Lucario, a blank stare crossing his face.

"Please don't sneak up on me," he requested. "I'm a little jumpy

about that."

"Well then please don't wander off when you're not

familiar with your new environment." Luke said back calmly.

"I didn't want to wake you up," returned the

Blaziken, rubbing his shoulder a bit. "I was just coming out to test this

new body, trying to find out what it could do." He groaned. "But it's

nothing like my old body..." He gestured back at the tree. "I used to

be able to rip those out of the ground and throw them at people, now I can

barely rattle them, let alone use them for a caber toss."

"...Caber....toss...?" Luke asked, tilting his head

in confusion.

"A sport, back in my ancestral homeland," replied

Volcan. "At the Highland Games, one of the sports involves throwing logs;

a test of strength and finesse. That's the caber toss."

"Sounds like something a Chesnaught or Machamp would

do..." Luke commented.

"Yep. My Uncle's actually due to host the next

games," replied Volcan. "Of course, he and I are both supernaturally

strong, so, it's considered unfair for us to compete."

Luke nodded softly. "Well regardless, don't wander off

like that again."

"I didn't see where you kept the paper so I couldn't

leave a note," Volcan pointed out. "And... I think you write

differently than I do."

 Luke shrugged his shoulders. "Regardless.

I'm assuming you would like a small tour around the place?"

"I suppose it couldn't hurt, since I might be here quite

a while," said Volcan. "But, I'd like to learn a little more about

this body first, just in case whatever's causing this comes looking for me

-assuming it's a who, and not a what."

Luke looked at him for a moment. "...You want to

spar?" He asked quizzically.

"You'll probably clobber me, but I've got to learn how

this body ticks," said Volcan.

"Then I'll hold back some..." Luke said as he took

some steps back from Volcan.

"Okay," Volcan took in a deep breath, and adopted a

fighting stance. "So... any hints you can give me on that this red poultry

body can do?"

"Well let's start with some standard fighting..."

He said as he got into what looked like a soft style stance. "Try landing

a single blow on me."

"Alright, here goes," said Volcan, before he ran

forward, and attempted to deliver a punch towards Luke. Luke lifted his leading

paw up a little, and then when Volcan's fist got close, he smacked it down with

enough force to make Volcan stumble. Luke then weaved around the Blaziken and

watched him regain his composure.

"Geez, you move like Vinge," Volcan remarked.

"Er... a friend of mine." He turned to face Luke again, and this time

went at him with a flurry of punches, each one aimed to different locations.

Rather than deflect them, Luke simply shifted his stance and

weaved around each strike. His reaction time was unprecedented, almost inhuman

even. Luke then grabbed onto Volcan's arm as it passed his cheek, holding it in

place. "Good...you can at least throw a punch...but your attacks are far too

wild and unfocused..." Luke said as he pushed Volcan back.

"How about this," returned Volcan before spinning

around and delivering an inverted spin-kick towards Luke, "eh?"

Luke sighed and simply leaned back from the kick, letting it

swoosh in front of him as he stepped back a little. "Again,

unfocused...you're going to have to try harder than that, friend..."

"I never used to be able to even do that, and it was

still obvious? Oye..." The Blaziken muttered.

Luke once again adopted a soft style stance. "Alright,

now let's see how solid your defense is...prepare yourself."

"Alright," returned Volcan, returning to his own

combat stance, watching Luke carefully.

Luke then started running up to Volcan, then he spun once and

threw a backfist right for his face and suprisingly, Volcan actually caught it,

and in the span of a second, twisted Luke's arm behind his back and grabbed him

in a headlock with a powerful grip. "Gotcha," he said.

He grunted and clenched his eyes shut for a moment, then

reopened them and glanced back at Volcan. "Not bad..." he

complimented, and then before Volcan could respond, he threw his head back and

nailed Volcan right in the beak, allowing him precious moments to escape the

headlock an grab onto Volcan's arm quickly and flip him over his shoulder, then

he twisted his arm backwards quickly as he subdued him.

"Good counter," Volcan returned. "But two can

play at that game." He suddenly used all the strength in his legs to throw

himself back into Luke. Luke grunted as he was suddenly hurled back, then

quickly flipped over Volcan before he could be pinned to the ground and landed

in a crouch. "I was trained to be better at countering than attacking if I

had to go bare-handed," Volcan pointed out.

"You're learning quickly...now try a special attack on

me..."

"What sort of special attack?"

Luke narrowed his eyes for a moment. "Well you're a

Fire/Fighting type...Try a Mach Punch or a Blaze Kick on me or something."

"But how do I even use them?"

"Blaze Kick as a Fire Type attack; focus your fire power into

your foot as you try to kick me."

"Alright, here goes," said Volcan, shutting his

eyes and focusing his energies, just as he would if he were still in his true

form, mentally commanding them to a specific part of his body. However, Volcan

would find it wasn't the same as commanding his normal elemental powers. Try as

he might, his legs did not go ablaze.

"It's not working," said Volcan, a little

frustrated. "Whatever powers this body has they don't work like my own; I

can't mentally command it."

"It might because you haven't learned it yet..."

Luke returned. "Alright...Try a Fire Punch instead."

Once more Volcan tried to command the energy into his hand,

clenching it into a fist as he did so. This time, his fist began to emit smoke,

then after some more focusing, his hand was completely ablaze, burning like a

small wildfire around his hand. "Hey... it worked!" Volcan exclaimed.

"But... why didn't it work for my feet before?" He looked at Luke.

"Is this what you meant by 'learned'?"

 He nodded. "As you fight and get

stronger, more attacks will be available to you...I've acquired myself a wide

array of abilities because I've been fighting all my life..."

"Makes sense; I developed most of my own attacks but

mastering them took practice," remarked Volcan, letting the flames around

his hand go out. "This is some unusual stuff... but I'm sure I'll learn it

overtime."

"All it takes is practice..."You'll know you've

unlocked a new attack when you begin fighting for real."

            Volcan

nodded. "Alright... I'll have to practice more soon but I think I get

it."

"Good." Luke returned. "I think we can head

into town for a bit...I have to do a few things while I'm there anyway."

Volcan nodded again. "Lead on, my friend."

Luke lead Volcan out of the woods and into a rather bustling

town. Many different Pokémon of all shapes, sizes and typings were all roaming

the streets, making their way through the crowds to get to their destinations.

"Man... even though I've turned into a Pokémon now, I

still feel extremely out of place here," Volcan remarked.

At that moment, the sound of punches being thrown and meeting

flesh caught his attention, and when he turned he saw two Pokémon, a Rhydon and

a Magmar were busy scrapping it out, punching and tackling each other, with a

crowd around them chanting and whooping as the street fight went on.

"Hey... is that normal around here?" Volcan asked.

"Why isn't anybody stopping them?"

Luke glanced to where the fighting was taking place. "It

happens...Pokémon fight for either exercise or for the thrill of battle...but

otherwise we're not as violent as most let on."

"Sheesh... back in my world, the Police would be coming

here faster than a charging horse to intervene," remarked Volcan.

"This place sure is different..."

Another commotion was heard, this time it was shrieks from

some female Pokémon. They were pointing toward the sky and shrieking

hysterically, even jumping up and down on the spot as a black blur zoomed

across the sky, leaping from building to building before disappearing from

view.

            "Whoa!

What was that?" Volcan asked.

 "That was just

the local town hero...well, one of them anyway." Luke commented.

            "Anyone

you know?" Volcan asked.

            Luke

nodded. "You'll meet him eventually."

            "Guy

was damn quick," remarked Volcan, looking back where the dark figure had

gone.

            Luke

nodded in acknowledgement as they came to their first stop: a small pharmacy.

"Wait here." Luke said as he went inside.

Volcan nodded to him, and leaned against the wall, peering up

and down the street for anything else that might hold his attention as he

waited.

            He

did pick up on something rather unusual. A gang of different kind of Pokémon

were all ganging up on a smaller Pokémon. A Dewott with scars on his body and

gauze wrapped around his forearms and attached to his scallop blades on his

thighs. On his back rested a small sword hidden in a wood sheath held to his

body with string.

The gang were circling around the Dewott, making taunts and

vulgar remarks to him, but he only stood there, arms at his sides and looking straight

ahead in a calm, focused manner.

Volcan slowly approached the scene, watching carefully to see

what else the gang might do; more habit than anything he was waiting to see if

he needed to act in the defense of the Dewott, but didn't make a move until he

was certain that he was in danger...

One of the gang members laughed and made a move, stepping

toward the Dewott and throwing a punch, stopping just before his head. The

Dewott slowly glanced to his would be attacker. "...If you're going to hit

me, then hit me...don't waste time throwing mock jabs at me..."

"Kid's brave," muttered Volcan, too low for the

gang to hear; he was almost to them now.

"Heh, alright kiddo, yer askin for it!" The Pokémon,

an Emboar, stated as he reared back again, this time throwing a punch for real.

He didn't even get to follow through with his attack before the Dewott quickly

slammed into his gut with Aqua Jet, critically winding him and making him

freeze in place. The Dewott landed and hopped away, watching as the Emboar slowly

began to tilt backwards and flop on his back.

"Whoa," Volcan said, impressed. This time, he

deliberately spoke loud enough for the other gang members to hear him.

"The kid's got style."

The other gang members twitched and looked back at Volcan.

"Butt out punk!!" One of them roared at him, and then they turned

back to the Dewott once more. "GET IM!!" Another said as they all

charged in at once toward the smaller Pokémon. He sighed and glanced behind

him, leaping over a strike to his back, landing on his attackers arm before

darting to him and kicking HARD in the face.

He then turned and held up his paw in a sort of handseal,

then expelled a boiling hot stream of water from his mouth, nailing his next

attacker with a Scald attack. From then he turned to the remaining two and drew

his Scallop blades, then darted forward witih Aqua Jet and slashed at them both

simultaneously with Razor Shell, skidding to a stop in front of Volcan, then

straightening up and swing his shells once before placing them back on his hip

fur, then the two behind him fell forward and were out cold.

"Well... guess you didn't need my help after all,"

remarked Volcan.

The Dewott looked up toward Volcan for a moment. "No

actually I didn't...I had everything under control..."

"Sorry about trying to butt in then," said Volcan.

"Why were those guys giving you such a hard time anyway?"

"They're thugs." He commented. "They ALWAYS

give other Pokémon a hard time." He commented before he looked behind him.

"That so?" Volcan asked, looking at the downed Pokémon.

"Sounds like they deserved this painful lesson then."

"It was anything BUT painful." He returned. "I

don't believe in making others suffer...I made sure they were taken down as

painlessly as possible..."

"That's a good thing to do," said Volcan.

"Save the painful ones for the more dangerous types, and leave the

pushovers in the dirt."

"Even then I don't want to make them suffer..." The

Dewott returned.

"Well, that's respectable," agreed Volcan.

"Anyway, I'm glad I wasn't needed after all. You should probably head home

now, alright?"

The Dewott gave him a slight frown. "I don't need

someone telling me where to go...I'm not a child." He returned rather

sternly before turning and taking his leave.

"Sorry," Volcan called after him, before he headed

back over to the pharmacy, hoping he hadn't missed Luke.

 Just after he arrived,

Luke did indeed come out with a small bag of medicinal herbs and berries. "Hey,"

Volcan waved in greeting to the Lucario.

 Luke nodded in greeting. "Sorry to have

kept you waiting."

"Ah... don't worry; had a bit of a show helping me kill

time," remarked Volcan, looking back up the street where the gang of

clobbered Pokémon remained.

            Luke

looked at the downed Pokémon and cocked his eyebrow. "I see..."

"Wasn't me, really," replied Volcan. "It was

this smaller Pokémon... kind of looked like an otter with blades."

"Ah, a Dewott." Luke returned. "Did he have

any distinguishing features?"

"Not that I could think of, except he was kind of...

grim, like he was upset about something, yet it wasn't about the gangsters

themselves."

Luke nodded "Anything else..?"

"Yeah; he knocked out all of those guys without even

trying," said Volcan. "I went over to help because I thought he'd

need it but, turns out he didn't."

"I meant physically." Luke reinstated.

"Well... he had a lot of scars on him, and a wooden

sword on his back," said Volcan. "And... I kinda mistook him for a

kid; he took offense to that."

            "Oh

him!" Luke said. "That would be Wade. He's a student of my best

friend's son."

            "Oh

I see," said Volcan. "Well... little guy was tough as nails"

            "And

he should be....He was trained by two very skilled warriors. One of them is

part of my Rescue Team." Luke explained.

"Rescue team?" Volcan asked.

Luke nodded. "Basically it's a team of Pokémon that

actively go out and perform missions for rewards. Often times they're sent on

missions to search for and retrieve something or someone of importance."

            "Huh...

kinda like career Police, Fire Fighters and Coast Guard back on my world,"

remarked Volcan.

            "I...suppose

so..." Luke said, unfamilar with the latter two jobs.

            "Well,

alright then," said Volcan. "Where should we go next?"

            "Well

we also need some fish, so let's head over to the docks and see if the kiosk

there has anything worthwhile." He said as he lead Volcan away toward the

docks.

            "Right

with you," said Volcan. "Strange I didn't notice this town near any

lakes or rivers..."

"It actually borders an ocean." Luke explained as

they travelled quite a ways through town until they came to a more quieter part

of town. It was there that Volcan could see docks lined up with different

kiosks for different attractions, such as surfing, scuba diving or merchants

selling different kinds of fish.

"Wow... Serena would like it here," the Blaziken whispered,

looking around the area with a somewhat nostaligic look... hinted with a bit of

homesickness as he once more felt a wave of melancholy settling over him as he

remembered his home.

Luke looked back to Volcan, sensing his distress. "Are

you alright?"

"Sorry just... remembering a few friends of mine,"

replied Volcan. "One called Serena, specifically. Timid to the point of

seeming almost cowardly, very gentle, but determined, protective, and a very

quick learner. She's of an aquatic species unlike me, and loves the water,

especially clean, clear and spacious water where she can swim peacefully."

He looked out to the ocean. "She'd like it here..."

"I see..." Luke said softly, but he didn't look at

Volcan. The Lucario was beginning to question his own doubt about Volcan's

origins; about his claim of being from somewhere else; the way he spoke of his

friends and how many times he had expressed homesickness as he thought back to

that place, not to mention speaking of feats his previous body was capable of but

his new one was not... even if he was delusional about being from another

dimension, one thing was certain; "you really aren't from around here, are

you...?" Luke asked, plainly.

At that question, the Blaziken rolled his eyes, his tone

escalating to display his annoyance. "Is it really THAT hard to

believe?" Volcan asked, very sternly. "Considering I have no clue

what I am or what any of the beings around me are, how could I possibly be a

local?" He looked at Luke intently. "You really just thought I was crazy,

or at least amnesiac or something?"

"I'm sorry...I just don't really believe in the whole

alternate realities deal." Luke returned. "But now, well...I'm

starting to question that disbelief..."

Volcan laughed unexpectedly. "Stick with me; you'll find

a lot of things you thought to be impossible turn out to be real... that is, if

there's a way back to my world..."

Luke smirked a little. "I'm sure there will be a

way..."

Volcan nodded. "Until then... I just have to try and

stay positive, and hope there's a way I can go home someday... although maybe I

shouldn't rush, 'cuz there's a chance my brother might yell my ear off when I

get back." He chuckled a little.

Luke chuckled with him as they reached the kiosk that sold

fish. Luke was conversing with the shop keep about what fish were best this

season.

In the meantime, Volcan peered out to the ocean, silently

missing his telescopic vision at that moment, but keeping that detail to

himself; he didn't want to sound like a complainer, to the one who was showing

him such generosity. The Blaziken honestly hoped he would get a chance to get

to know Luke, especially now that the Lucario was certain he wasn't walking

around with madman. 'Though if I were in his shoes... paws, I'd probably have

thought I was crazy too,' Volcan silently confessed to himself.

Luke finished with his purchases and turned back to Volcan,

seeing him staring out toward the horizon and sensing his distress again.

"...What's wrong?"

"Just reminiscing is all," replied Volcan. His

expression softened and he turned to Luke with an apologetic look. "And...

I wanted to apologize; I really can't blame you for not buying my story before.

Admittedly if you had showed up in my world and transformed into a species

local to it I might've thought the same thing, even though I already know of

the existence of alternate dimensions."

Luke nodded softly. "I understand...I'm sorry for my

harsh behaviour to you earlier...."

Volcan turned fully to Luke, and his hand twitched, as if

about to do something, but he paused. "Er... do they even do handshakes

here?" He mumbled. "Gotta be careful about that..."

Luke only smiled and held his paw to Volcan. "Well,

seems you do," replied Volcan, reaching out with his large talon and

grasping Luke's paw. "Guess this place isn't 'so' different from where I

come from."

"I guess not." Luke returned, shaking his hand

firmly.

As soon as their pulled their hands apart though, a bright

flash of light coming from out at sea suddenly caught their attention, turning

their gaze towards the ocean. "The heck...?" Volcan asked.           

The light was familiar to Luke, though... he had seen similar

lights the previous day, when he had first met Volcan... Luke narrowed his eyes

and prepared to shield his eyes in case it shone any brighter. "That looks

like the light that brought you here...."

"Wait, what?" Volcan asked. "Hey... you're

right! It looks like the same kind of light I flew into before I wound up

here." Volcan's eyes widened in realization. "You don't

suppose..."

"Only one way to find out..." Luke said as he

walked closer to the edge of the docks, watching the light intently.

"That's out to sea pretty far; can you really see

anything from here?" Volcan asked, shadowing his eyes and squinting as he

strained to see what was happening out on the ocean.

"I don't really need to see." He said as he closed

his eyes and tuned his Aura Sense. With it, he was able to find this strange

anomaly did indeed match the one Volcan had come through. But out there with it

he also spotted a large boat covered in land-walking Pokémon, probably a

fishing boat, and several swimming ones directly below it. As the anomaly took

place though... something strange seemed to be happening to the aura's of the Pokémon

near it; it's like some other sort of aura was mixing with their own...

"...What the hell...?" Luke muttered.

            "What

is it?" Volcan asked.

"It's like all the aura signals out there are merging

together.." Luke returned. "I can't make heads or tails on what's

going on..."

"...We better get out there," said Volcan. "If

that's the same kind of light that brought me to this world it may mean

something else from my world is coming through, and there are some dangerous

people back in my world you wouldn't want wandering around here..."

Luke nodded. "We'll have to secure a boat or some

kind..." Then he ran back to the fish kiosk and asked the shop keep to

take them out to sea toward the light. He was hesitant, but agreed nonetheless

after some minor persuasion by Luke.

After a brief wait as the shop keep prepared his boat, he and

Volcan were on the open ocean, heading for the light ahead. Volcan watched the

lights from the bow of the ship as they kept flickering, eyeing them with mixed

emotions; it was likely he wondered if he could somehow go home if they could

get there before the lights stopped, or if someone he knew would be coming

through... but whatever it was didn't hold his attention over something he

noticed off the starboard side.

"Hey... something's swimming towards us," he said,

pointing down to the water.

Luke turned and noticed the water breaking as something was

traversing through it at impressive speeds. As it got closer, Luke slowly

smirked as he recognized who it was under the waves. "I wondered if he'd

show up..."

 "Someone you know?" Volcan asked.

Luke nodded just as the figure broke through the water,

leaping in the air and landing on the boat deck next to Luke and Volcan. The

figure was a very muscular Samurott wearing a dark blue Kimono, obviously

soaked from his swim. He shook himself to dry off a little before turning to

Luke. "Heading out into danger alone, are you?" He asked with a small

smirk.

Luke smirked back and nodded back to the Samurott. "Good

to have you aboard Katsu.."

"Katsu... oh yeah, I think you were telling me about

him," remarked Volcan.

Luke turned and nodded to Volcan. Katsu looked at the

Blaziken with a curious look. "A new friend of yours?"

"Yeah, I'm... new around here. My name's Volcan,"

replied the Blaziken. "Luke here has been kind enough to offer me shelter

while I'm in the area."

"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you." Katsu said as

he did a short bow. "I am called Katsumoto. The Mighty Blade of Rescue

Team Valiant..."

"Glad to meet you too," returned Volcan politely,

also returning the bow.

"We'll have to save the formalities for later. We've

almost arrived." Luke said, getting both their attention.

When the two turned though, they came upon a sight they

weren't expecting. The ship Luke had spotted through his aura sense had been

thrown against a cluster of rocks that marked shallow waters nearby, its

outside hull covered in holes that looked like they had burned into the side,

along with several tears and clusters of seaweed, as if something had attacked

the ship.

"Holy... what happened?" Volcan asked. "Those

lights barely started half an hour ago; what could've wrecked this boat that

fast?"

"I will check for any survivors." Katsu said as he

dove back into the water and headed for the wrecked ship.

"I hope he'll be okay," said Volcan. "There's

no telling what's in the water now, if that portal brought something

through..."

"Katsu should be fine...he's the tank of my team...it

takes a LOT to bring him down." Luke returned.

            "Yeah,

well, I was the tank on my team before Tristan showed up; a household fire

extinguisher was capable of killing me," Volcan pointed out. "I'm

just saying, no matter how strong someone is, there's always the possibility of

something or someone stronger."

Luke nodded softly before continuing to scan with his Aura

Sense for any more survivors, or for anything out of the ordinary.

And he saw much, although it was hard to make sense of it. On

the ship, he saw the Aura's of the Pokémon he had sensed before, but there were

fewer, and they were clashing, as if the ship's own crew had turned on one

another. Something similar was happening in the water as well; many of the

aura's, including one very big one, were clashing below, violently at that,

like some sort of frenzy had fallen over everyone in the area.

"...What could cause such a frenzy like this...?"

Luke muttered.

"Frenzy?" Volcan asked, just barely catching the

word from Luke.

"It's unreal...the Pokémon I sensed earlier are all

fighting one another...I can't explain why."

"...That IS strange," said Volcan, peering out to

the shipwreck again. "Maybe the ones on the boat are fighting over the

lifeboats?"

            "It's

possible...perhaps we should take a look"

            "Right."

Volcan glanced back towards the fisherman steering the boat, and motioned for

him to bring them closer. He nodded and slowly brought the boat closer to the

vessel in question. Once they were near enough, Volcan looked at Luke.

"Think I can reach it from here; what about you?"

            "I

can as well." Luke returned, looking back at Vocan.

            "Alright,

on three," said Volcan, counting down with his fingers. Three... two...

one... and with a clenched fist, he sprang, soaring through the air and landing

on the wrecked ships' deck with surprising grace, his powerful legs easily

absorbing the impact.

Luke also leapt onto the deck as well, though he had to cheat

a bit and relied on Extreme Speed to run on the water for a bit before he

hopped onto the wrecked boat beside Volcan, keeping his guard up in case they

were attacked.

 "I can feel a lot of bodies falling into

walls below decks," remarked Volcan. "We better get down there before

somebody gets ki-" He was cut off as something smashed through the wooden

floor right in front of them; they failed to get a glimpse of the figure as it

was sent soaring through the air, flailing its limbs helplessly before falling

into the water.

Seconds later something else leapt out of the hole, something

quite big, with four mighty arms that lifted it out of the hole without a hint

of difficulty, growling ferally as it emerged. To Luke, he recognized it as a

Machamp, but it looked... different. Its skin was a darker hue than it

should've been, and each of the fingers ending his four hands were tipped with

claws... but the 'Macho' family of Pokémon didn't have claws at any state of

their evolution.

When it turned to face him and Volcan its eyes were strange

too; most had naturally red eyes anyway but this time they were red and black.

Using his aura sense, Luke could see that this Machamp was a victim of whatever

strange affliction had driven the others into a frenzy; his aura, if it could

be seen as colours, would be pitch black...

 Volcan however, seemed

familiar with this strange ailment. "Oh... shit," he said.

            "What

is it?" Luke asked, glancing to Volcan as they stared the machamp down.

            "I

know this sort of thing; this guy's come into contact with Demons,

somehow," said Volcan. "He was exposed to their corruption and a lot

of it by the looks of it; anyone who doesn't have the will to resist it,

well... they..." He paused. "Incoming!" He barked, and Luke saw

the Machamp leaping towards them, all four arms drawn back to punch.

Luke quickly crouched before the Machamp got close, then he

moved forward and leapt up, slamming his paw into the foe and sending him

skyward with Sky Uppercut. Luke then flipped a couple times in middair and

fired off two Aura Spheres at its face and chest to get it to further back off

before he landed on the edge of the deck in a low crouch.

The Machamp seemed barely hurt by the attack though. As it

dropped back to the deck, it landed on all six limbs, breaking its fall, before

it sprang towards Luke without even taking any time to recover, and swung at

him repeatedly with its arms, unleashing a Mega Punch with each limb. Luke's

eyes widened at its reaction time, instinctively raising his arms up to block

the attacks, almost knocking him off of the boat deck.

Volcan came dashing in as the onslaught continued, and

delivered a Fire Punch to the Machamp, throwing it off balance. "Don't

hold back!" Volcan called. "There's no coming back from demonic

corruption; this guy's already dead."

"Come again?!" Luke said in disbelief

"Once demonic corruption sets in, it's almost impossible

to remove," replied Volcan. "Overtime the being that's been corrupted

will become a demon too; the process can only be stopped in early stages and

the only way to do that is through exorcism."

"Well I don't know exorcism, so how are we going to fix

this?!" Luke asked as he fired some more Aura Spheres to keep the Machamp

at bay.

"We can't," replied Volcan. "Those with weak

wills turn much faster; this guy's already gone. I know it's hard to believe,

Luke, but I was exposed to a small amount of this corruption for 18 years of my

life," Volcan went on. "It kept growing within me and nearly consumed

me, but before it could get out of control, it was purged from me. This guy,

however, has been exposed to a lot of it. There's no bringing him back; he's

nothing but monster now."

Luke looked on at the now demonized Machamp, sensing that

Volcan was indeed telling the truth; the Machamp's aura, seen in a colour to

the keen senses of the Lucario, had turned a sickly violet colour; all trace of

his pure life force was gone, and the mind was clearly broken, as this Machamp

fought like a mad animal. He let out a soft sigh and flattened his ears.

"...We just need to knock him out, right...?"

"No Luke... we have to kill him," replied Volcan.

"If we just knock him out he'll get back up again and go another rampage.

I know this isn't customary on your world but when it comes to demons you can't

spare them. Trust me."

 Luke's ears flattened even further at this

realization. For all his life he's managed to get by without taking a single

life, but now he was faced with the inevitable reality....He slowly closed his

eyes and clenched his paws tight, mentally steeling his resolve as best he

could before he took on a soft style stance again. The Machamp was already

coming and Volcan jumped in once more, delivering a punch right to its chest;

anatomically the area would've been perfect to slow down any opponent... but

against a Machamp, corrupted or not, it barely flinched, and glared at Volcan

menacingly.

"Uh oh..." Volcan whispered.

The Machamp grabbed him in a tight bear hug, squeezing

tightly and forcing all of the breath out of Volcan's lungs. Luke's keen ears

caught the groan of protest emanating from Volcan's bones as they were

compressed by the powerful Machamp's limbs; the Machamp was crushing him! Luke

quickly sprung into action, leaping at the Machamp and swinging his leg HARD

against his face in an attempt to make it stumble and release Volcan from its

grasp.

            The

Machamp let go of Volcan, and the Blaziken fell limp to the ground, gasping for

breath as Luke kept fighting the corrupted Machamp, which took a swing at him

with both of its right arms. Luke leaned his head back to dodge the blows, then

thrust forward with both paws for a powerful double Force Palm, sending the

Machamp back even further and adding a paralyzing effect to the attack.

It fell against the railing of the ship, but before it could

make another move back towards Luke, something soared out of the water and bit

the Machamp right around its upper body. A Sharpedo, but not like one Luke had

ever seen; just like the Machamp, its features had been warped and twisted; its

rough skin had become gross and scaly, and its red eyes had turned black as the

void. Like the Machamp, all semblance of its aura was gone, and it was actually

biting the Machamp hard enough to draw blood as the two struggled. Eventually

though the Machamp fell over the railing, and splashed into the water below,

sealing its fate...

Luke stared in horror at the spectacle, his heart thundering

in his chest and his body trembling, panting softly after that whole spectacle

unfolded, eyes wide in a mix of shock and awe. Overtime, his breath became

faster and more erratic, on the verge of hyperventilating.

 "Luke..." He heard Volcan groan as

the Blaziken slowly pushed himself back up to regain his footing. "Are

you... okay?" But the Lucario didn't answer at first. He was in complete

shock after what he saw, even stumbling back and falling onto his rear. Volcan

dragged himself over to Luke's side. "Hey, keep it together Luke,"

stated the Blaziken. "If you lose your cool now, we're ALL sunk."

He panted for a few moments longer before he shook his head

and slowly got back to his feet, still somewhat in shock, but he could at least

move. "I-I'm alright...just...."

 "I know," assured Volcan, putting

his hand on Luke's shoulder. "It takes some getting used to, but that

kill, that wasn't your doing. Demons are notorious for attacking each other

too; without a stronger one to control them all they're like two ant colonies

-they'll tear each other apart over a scrap of meat. Now..." He looked

Luke in the eye. "We have to find out if anyone isn't corrupted yet and

get them away from here but I don't know how to do that. Any ideas?"

Luke remembered the Machamp's Aura when he first saw it; it

was... distorted, defiled, and practically radiated malice when he saw it

through his aura sense. Everyone on the ship and many Pokémon in the water

had...

Katsu! He

was still in the water!

 However, another

splash was heard and the same Sharpedo that had killed the Machamp was suddenly

laying limp on the deck of the boat, a huge gash along its body. Another splash

and Katsumoto was now on the boat deck, swords drawn and standing tall on his

hind legs.

"Katsumoto; you okay?" Volcan asked.

"I'm alright." He returned, glancing to Volcan.

"What on earth has happened to these Pokémon...? They attack anything that

moves."

"They've been corrupted with demonic essence,"

replied Volcan. "Every single one afflicted has been stripped of all sense

of reason, turned into wild animals that know only how to tear each other

apart. We can't do anything for the ones who've already fallen to it; we have

to see if anyone is still free of it, and get them away from here. I don't know

how where to start looking, though..."

"We'll have to start below decks. Perhaps there are some

that have taken refuge down there." Katsumoto stated.

Luke managed to calm himself enough, doing some breath

control to lessen some of the strain in his body. When he could focus well

enough, tuned to his aura sense and searched below decks, ultimately finding

some Pokémon with pure auras. "They're down in the cargo hold...They're

frightened, but otherwise unharmed."

"How do you know?" Volcan asked.

Luke looked to Volcan. "My aura sense picks up on

anyone's aura signal, be it pure or corrupt. The ones I sensed down below are

pure, meaning they haven't come in contact with these..."demons"

"Fair enough. Anyone in the water not affected?"

"I'm afraid not...they're all corrupt..." Then Luke

flinched for a moment. "Wait...there's one aura signal that stands

out...it's pure...and from the feeling of it, the Pokémon's unconcious."

            "Shit;

they'll be a sitting duck down there!" Volcan looked at Katsu. "Can

you slip around the corrupted ones and get to them?"

            "It

will be done." He said, then without another word he leapt off the boat

and back down into the water, swimming as fast as he could to reach the Pokémon

in question.

 Volcan looked at Luke. "I guess that

leaves the ones on this ship for us," he said. "You ready for

this?"

Luke nodded slowly. "I'll try..." He said with

uneasiness, but he still headed for the stairwell, keeping a lock on the other Pokémon

trapped on the ship.

"I'll take point; I'm a lot more adapted to this sort of

thing than you," said Volcan. "Remember, don't think of these guys as

people, think of them as rabid animals that need to be put down. This is all we

can do for them."

Luke nodded, but he still felt uneasy about the whole thing.

He didn't want to kill anyone, regardless of them being possessed or

not...still, they made their way down the ship and toward the cargo bay to free

the survivors.

Fortunately though most of the corrupt Pokémon currently

tearing each other apart were in separate rooms and not in the corridors; for

the first floor, they didn't encounter any opposition but as soon as they

descended to the sub-deck where the cargo bay was located they found another

corrupted Pokémon hammering on the door; a Quagsire, which was definitely no

longer its absent-minded looking self; it still had the smooth body but its

eyes had turned yellow, and its tail looked like a serrated blade now. Besides

that, it didn't look like it had changed much...

Volcan looked closer. "He hasn't been fully corrupted

yet; this guy's actually resisting it."

 The Quagsire was standing hunched over,

holding its stomach as if in pain, and stumbling about the room, occasionally

falling into the wall as it tried to hold off whatever was attempting to take

its mind.

"What should we do? Try to purge it? knock him

out?"

"If we can get him to some kind of healer fast enough,

they might be able to save him," said Volcan. "Some sort of holy

ground, like a god's temple, would be best."

"We don't have anything like that." Luke commented.

"We don't really have any sort of religion."

"You said you have a god don't you?" Volcan asked.

"Arceus, wasn't it? Isn't there some sort of conduit for his power in your

world?"

            Luke

shook his head. "No, I'm afraid not..."

            Volcan

looked at the Quagsire closely. "I don't know what to do... if there was

some way to separate the corruption from him..."

The Quagsire looked at them, having only just noticed their

presence, and he spoke to them pleadingly, his voice distorted yet still

terrified. "Please... don't let me... become one of them!" He begged.

"I've seen so many of my friends turn into monsters; I can't be like

that!"

 Luke grit his teeth, trying to think on how

they could free him. "Damnit...there HAS to be another way..."

Volcan scratched his head in frustration, thinking hard on

how best to approach this problem. He knew corruption was an evil power that

latched directly onto the life force of others, choking and poisoning it until

it took over the host. But at that thought, the Blaziken seemed to have an

idea. "Hang on..." Volcan began. "Those projectile attacks you

do; how do you use them?"

Luke looked to Volcan. "I use my internal aura to

produce my aura spheres... essentially I'm weaponizing my own internal

energy."

"Can you make contact with the... aura's of other people

as well?" Volcan asked.

Luke thought for a moment on that idea, then looked to the

struggling Quagsire and looked at his paw. "...It's worth a shot..."

He said.

"Just be careful, Luke," said Volcan. "Soon as

the corruption makes contact with you it may try to seize you too; it's like a

symbiotic parasite without form."

Luke nodded, then walked over and slowly placed his paw on

the Quagsire's head, then focused as hard as he could, immediately feeling the Pokémon's

corrupted aura conflicting with the lingering, pure aura within itself, trying

to force it aside and take it over completely. In his mind, it looked like

something out of a nightmare; a labyrinth of discoloured walls, with eyes

watching him at every step he took, whispering things to him that made his

spine tingle.

"Don't let yourself be afraid," he heard Volcan's

voice. "Demons feed on negative

emotions; if you become filled with them you make it easier to lose yourself.

Be brave, Luke."

Luke was taken aback by such a sight, but he swallowed his

fear and anxiousness and pressed on through the mental labyrinth, searching for

that speck of pure aura so he could cleanse it further. And soon he found it;

the Quagsire was still fighting back the corruption, but would be overtaken by

it soon if it wasn't removed. Luke knew only one thing he could do; the

corruption itself was in the form of Aura, so if he could grasp it like he did

his own Aura Sphere or similar powers, perhaps he could tear it out of the

Quagsire itself.

Luke approached the Quagsire carefully. "Try to

relax...I'm going to help you..." He said, then he steeled his resolve and

flashed his eyes open, grasping at the corrupted Aura and pulling it away as

hard as he could.

The aura actually became visible as Luke ripped it out of the

Quagsire; it seemed to cause the host discomfort but it was quickly replaced by

relief as that evil power was pulled

out of his body. However the instant it was free, Luke could feel the

corruption trying to bond with him, immediately attempting to invade his own

body.

"GGH!!" Luke cringed and doubled over as he tried

to take him over, a black shroud burning around him as he twitched and

struggled to get it out of his system as well.

"Luke, project it, like you do your Aura Spheres!"

Volcan barked. "Throw it like you would one of those!"

He was right; if this corrupted essence was in the form of

aura, Luke could manipulate it just like he could his own aura, especially with

it trying to bond with his own. He just had to isolate it somehow...

However, flinging them in his Aura Sphere's would cost him

precious time. Instead he tried something else. After some time struggling he

flashed his eyes open, then he tensed his body and let out a loud roar. The

black aura around him seemed to surge, and then burned much more erratically,

as if being blown off of him. It wasn't long before there was a flash the flame

went from pitch black to a bright blue colour, then he relaxed and panted

heavily, falling to his knees as the blue flame disappeared. Clearly whatever

happened had cleansed Luke of the corruption, but it also tuckered him out

drastically as well.

"Hey, you okay?" Volcan asked, running over to Luke

and catching him as the Lucario began to keel over with exhaustion.

            He

was still panting heavily from that struggle, but he waved his paw dismissively

at Volcan. "I'll be fine....I just...wasn't expecting that," he replied,

turning himself over to sit down as he rested for a moment.

            Volcan

stepped back. "I can barely believe what I saw but you actually pulled

corruption out, made it visible, and then destroyed it."

            Luke

slowly stood back up to his feet. "Is...is the Quagsire alright...?"

 Volcan looked over to

the Quagsire; his body was reverting to normal, and he was breathing more easily,

not in any pain anymore and no longer transforming; the serrated look of his

tail ended, and his eyes reverted to the beady black they were supposed to be.

"He's back to normal," returned Volcan, turning his

gaze back to Luke. "We're lucky he was still in the early stages; you

couldn't have done that for the Machamp we faced before, but now you know you

can do it to those not completely overtaken by the demonic essence." He

patted Luke's shoulder. "That's one for the books, buddy."

 He slowly regained his

breath and nodded. "Indeed...but we're not done yet..."

            "Right...

have to save those in the cargo bay there," said Volcan, looking at the

door. "Only thing I'm worried about though is how do we let them know

we're friendly?"

 Luke thought for a moment.

"It might be best if I go in alone...Most of the town knows of me and my

rescue team... they might respond better to me."

"Alright but I got your back if you need me,"

promised Volcan, a firm tone in his voice.

Luke nodded softly and approached the door, taking a moment

to find the switch to unlock it, then he stepped inside. When he entered,

someone screamed, at least until they saw who was in the door. Of the three

inside only one seemed to recognize him, but when they said his name the others

knew that much anyway. "We're saved!" One exclaimed.

"And look; it's Diver!" One of the Pokémon inside

pointed past Luke at the Quagsire. "He even managed to save him too!"

            Luke

breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the survivors. "Thank Arceus they're

unharmed..." he muttered to himself. "I need you all to stay close to

me. I have a ship that can take you to shore, but I need your full

co-operation...stay close to me. My friend and I will protect you..."

            "Hey

Luke," Volcan remarked, pointing at a nearby corner, where a puddle of

water had formed and was steadily increasing in depth and becoming wider.

"I think the rest of the ship is going to go down soon. We better scram,

and fast."

Luke looked at the puddle and his eyes widened a little as

the leak grew and grew. He turned to the survivors. "There's not much

time! We have to move. NOW!" He commanded the other Pokémon.

"I'll take point; Luke, let me know if we're about to

run into trouble," Volcan instructed, before leading the way back up to

the second level.

 Luke followed close behind Volcan, with all

the other survivors in tow. As they ascended, they did run into some

resistance, but they were able to hold them at bay for the passengers to

escape.

 Once topside, Volcan flagged down the other

boat, motioning for it to get as close as possible, before turning back to

Luke. "Can you see anything we could use as a gangplank for them to

cross?" He asked.

 Luke looked around the

deck for something sturdy to use. He noticed a loose plank on the deck and

grabbed it with his paws, heaving with all of his might, but he was still too

exhausted from his act of helping the Quagsire before. Volcan caught on to what

the Lucario was doing, however, and dashed over to help him. With their

combined strength, they tore the plank free; Volcan kicked it in a few spots to

free more of it so that it wouldn't break before they reached the end, else it

be too short to reach their boat.

The Quagsire went first, followed promptly by the two Nidoran

-one male, one female- and lastly by the young Machop. Seeing him made Luke

wonder if he had any relation to the Machamp that he and Volcan had come across

before... But before he could dwell on it, suddenly something rocked the ship,

making the Machop freeze mid-step as he nearly lost his balance on the board

"What was that?" Volcan asked, almost fearfully.

Suddenly, something shot out of the water; a tentacle,

smooth, rounded tip and gray, which lashed around the leg of the Machop. He let

out a yelp of terror as he was suddenly yanked off of the plank; he grabbed the

edge of it to catch himself but was quickly pulled free. Volcan, reacting

quickly, sprang forward and held onto the rail of the ship as he grabbed the

Machop's arm before he could be pulled out of reach.

Luke retaliated quickly, firing a few Aura Spheres at the

tentacle to try and get it off of the young Machop. It refused to let go, until

the onslaught of Luke's attacks actually broke it, freeing the Machop and

allowing Volcan to pull him up onto the ship, but a rather grotesque wound had

been left where the tentacle grabbed him before, and from his sudden crying, it

was causing him pain.

"Hey... is he infested, like the others?!" One of

the Nidoran demanded.

"No; that's something else," replied Volcan,

looking at the wound. "It looks like an infection; poison maybe."

Luke leapt over to the boat, running over to the young Machop

and examining the wound, calling for someone to bring him something to wrap the

leg with before he called out to the ship's captain. "Get these Pokémon

out of here and take this Machop to a hospital immediately! He's been poisoned

and needs medical attention right away!" He commanded before calling to

Volcan.

"What about Katsu? Is he back yet?" Volcan asked.

Luke quickly tuned to his aura sense to locate him, but all

he found was a trail of his aura signal. "...I'm only sensing a trail...he

must have found the Pokémon and brought it back to shore already." However,

no sooner did he say that did Katsumoto shoot up from the water and landed on

the boat deck, shaking himself dry once more. "....Or not." Luke

muttered.

He quickly noticed on Katsu's back was another Pokémon -a

Vaporeon to be exact; it looked fairly beaten up, but alive, and its aura had

only a mild amount of corruption in it, but it was going away on its own,

apparently not enough to actually take the body.

Luke looked at the Vaporeon on Katsu's back. "...This

was the Pokémon that I sensed?" He asked as he gently took it in his arms

and gently set it down on the deck.

            "Looks

like it," said Volcan.

"She's pretty," Diver remarked.

"That's a she?" Volcan whispered, unable to

actually tell himself at first glance.

Luke took a closer look at the Vaporeon before looking back

up at Volcan. "He's right, it is a woman..." Luke said.

"Ah. Well... glad she's okay," said Volcan, nodding

even as he flushed with embarrassment at his oversight. But then, he tilted his

head at a sound he heard, looking around. "Now... unless my ears are full

of water..." He looked over the rear of the ship. "Something's

chasing us."

 Sure enough, there was a large form moving

through the water at high speed causing a wave behind the ship at it pursued.

Luke turned

to the captain of the ship. "Full speed ahead captain!" He commanded.

"I AM

going full speed!" He called back.

Luke looked back to the wave that was chasing them, then

looked to Katsumoto. The Samurott seemed to get the idea immediately and hopped

over to the stern of the ship, drawing his blades and twirling them a bit. He

then pointed them to the water below and used his Aqua Jet to add even more

speed, making the ship rush through the water quickly toward shore.

            The

figure in the water emerged; a large blue body with a dome-shaped top, embedded

with what resembled two massive rubies, and a black body peeking above the

water from behind the large top. The eyes of the creature were a blood red

colour, and seemed to actually glow like small stars as it glared at the ship,

somehow still keeping up with it despite the boost of speed.

"That's not possible..." Volcan whispered.

"Unless..." He ran over to the edge of the ship, and peered over.

"Damn it, he's holding the ship; we're pulling him!"

 "Not for long!" Katsu stated,

crouching low before leaping up into the air, aiming his swords down and

roaring as he dropped onto the domed head, stabbing at it from above.

 Unfortunately though, despite the strength of

his attack, he barely made penetration, and only seemed to irritate the

corrupted Pokémon; a tentacle rose up out of the water, and immediately went

for Katsu, trying to grab him.

"By Arceus, that's a Tentacruel!" One of the

civilians cried out.

"It's huge!" Another one exclaimed.

Katsu quickly managed to retreat back to teh ship with Aqua

Jet, skidding to a halt on the boat deck and gazing up at the Tentacruel.

"No way a Tentacruel has a hide that thick..." He muttered.

"The corruption must've mutated it somehow like it did

the others," said Volcan. "I've never heard of it giving it tougher

skin but hey, even I don't understand demons yet. We'll have to wear it down

and make it let go; if we drag this thing all the way back to the shore it

could be a disaster."

"We'll need an Electric type if we're to weaken it enough...it

has a resistance to Fire, Fighting and Water Type attacks..." Luke said.

"...Unless....."

"Unless what?" Volcan asked

 Luke thought for a

moment. "....It's worth a shot..." He said as he held his paws out in

front of him, then he quickly parted then and a long bone materialized in his

paws.

            "What...

is that?" Volcan asked.

            "My

Bone Rush." Luke returned. "Because Tentacruel are also Poison types,

they're susceptible to Ground type attacks...Bone Rush is a Ground type

attack."

"Are you sure you can get close enough to it to use it?

What if snags you and tries to drown you?" Volcan pointed out.

"What other options do we have?" Luke said sternly

to Volcan. "If you have a better idea, then speak up!"

"I know I can't do much harm to it," admitted Volcan.

"But maybe Katsu and I can draw its attention long enough for you to land

a clean hit. Just make sure you make that hit count."

"Sounds solid enough for me...but how do you intend to

draw its attention? If you fall in you'll most likely drown"

 "The old fashioned way," replied

Volcan, stepping back from the ledge. "Annoy the heck out of him and keep

his attention on something that's not a threat. Watch and learn!" Volcan

barked before he ran forward and sprang away from the ship.

He landed on the Tentacruel's head. "Allow me to

introduce the Cossack Dance!" And before long, Volcan was doing a very

odd-looking, series of movements, jumping and stomping all over the

Tentacruel's head with his arms crossed. Eventually, it tried to make a grab at

him but he was jumping around so much it kept missing, until he dove over the

front, digging his claws into its head until he was dangling in front of its

eye. "There's no Visine for this!" He barked before delivering a fire

punch right into the Tentacruel's eye which made it rear back and bellow out in

pain, sending Volcan back-flipping through the air. "WHOOPS!!" He

yelled.

Both Luke and Katsumoto watched wordlessly as Volcan went

spiralling through the air, wincing when he crashed into the cabin, and again

when he flopped onto the deck of the ship. "...Ouch..."

"I'm okay!" He called.

The Quagsire looked at Luke in exasperation. "Well,

what're you waiting for?!" He snapped. "You've got an opening!"

Luke snapped back into reality, then he crouched low, bone in

paw, before leapt up and toward the Tentacruel while it was still rearing. He

roared and drove his bone into the Tentacruel's other eye, then slammed it

against its head before leaping off and landing back on the ship again. The

Tentacruel howled in pain again, nearly losing its grip on the ship as it was

struck; the tentacles stretched dangerously as the ocean Pokémon nearly lost

its grip. Now was Katsu's chance to free the ship.

Katsu roared and dove quickly into the water. A few seconds

after, he emerged from below the surface and sliced at the remaining tentacles

with a combo of Razor Shell and Aqua Jet, severing them from the boat, and then

he darted back to the deck and landed in a crouch, quickly sheathing his blades

into his arm guards. With its tentacles severed the Tentacruel lost its grip

and the ship was released, allowing it to finally go at its proper speed and

leave the large, corrupted Pokémon behind. It appeared to be about to give

pursuit, but paused and then swam away in the opposite direction. They were

safe... for now...

Luke breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it swim away, and

then quickly headed over to check on Volcan. "You alright...?"

The Blaziken sat up. "A little dizzy, but I'm okay. I've

taken worse falls than that before, trust me..." He cringed.

"Although at the time, I had wings to slow myself down with -ow- or big

muscles to catch myself..."

Luke chuckled a little "Well in any case, we're safe for

now...We need to get these Pokémon to a hospital as soon as we reach

land."

"Good call, especially for the Machop there," said

Volcan, glancing past Luke. "That wound looks like it's spreading...

Tentacruel's; they're poisonous, right? How potent is it?"

"It depends on the severity of the wound...Either way,

we can't waste any more time."

"We should be almost back to shore now," said

Volcan, looking past the bow of the ship, seeing land getting closer.

"Hey, guys!" Diver called. "The Vaporeon;

she's waking up!"

Katsumoto was closest to her at the time, so he was the first

on the scene, gently sitting her up a little and holding her in his large arms

as she slowly came to As her eyes opened, he immediately noticed something

unusual; they were the wrong colour, not the sapphire blue like other Vaporeon;

hers were the colour of emeralds. When she looked up at Katsu, her eyes widened

with shock and she immediately shot away from him, although stumbled somewhat,

and turned to face him.

"Who... what are you; where am I?" She demanded,

although her voice sounded more afraid than angry.

"Easy..." Katsumoto said softly, raising his paw in

a calming manner. "You were found drifting in the ocean...I brought you

aboard and saved you..."

"The ocean? But I'm nowhere near..." She paused

when she saw past Katsu and saw the open sea stretched out before her, blinking

in confusion. "But... how? How did I get here?" She asked.

"Looks like we have a visitor from my world,"

remarked Volcan, whispering to Luke.

            Katsumoto

slowly approached her again. "My name is Katsumoto..." he returned

softly. "What is your moniker...?"

            "My...

my friends call me Serena..."

Luke literally felt Volcan jerk when he heard that name, and

looked over to him to see the Blaziken had stiffened with shock, staring

directly at the Vaporeon as if in recognition of her, even though his earlier

inquiry about her species indicated he had never seen a Vaporeon before. "...Volcan?

You alright...?" Luke asked softly

"That's... It couldn't be..." Volcan whispered.

And then, Luke remembered; Volcan had been telling him of an

aquatic friend of his from back home that had gone by the name Serena,

commenting on how she would've liked to see the ocean here...

"Wait...that's Serena?" Luke said, glancing to the

Vaporeon and back to Volcan.

"It doesn't look like her, but that timid demeanor and

being called 'Serena' as a nickname -mostly because none of us can pronounce

her actual name- is one hell of a coincidence if it isn't her... only one way

to be sure though." He stepped forward, carefully approaching the

Vaporeon.

Serena looked up as the Blaziken approached, and was about to

back up when she stumbled again. "Why do I keep..." She looked down

at herself. "Wha... what?! What's happened to me; where are my hooves? My

hands? My fin...!" She looked ready to completely lose herself with fear,

when Volcan spoke.

"Serena," he said. "Take it easy; you've been

transformed. I know it's not your old Hippocampus body, but don't be

scared."

            Serena

looked at the Blaziken again, blinking questioningly at him. "What... how

do you know what I used to be?" She asked.

"Because I know you," replied Volcan. "And...

because I went through the same thing as well; that helps too. You've entered

another world."

Her gaze met Volcan's for a moment, studying the look in his

eyes; in those sky blue eyes, she saw a familiar warmth and kindness that she

knew well. Her own eyes widened with realization as she stared at Volcan

longer, studying his eyes. "Wait... you couldn't be..."

Volcan smiled

back at Serena. "Yeah, Serena, it's me... it's Volcan."

The two stared at each other a moment longer, before the

Vaporeon suddenly leapt at the Blaziken; Volcan caught her and wrapped her in a

tight hug, the Vaporeon rubbing her head against the side of his.

"By Poseidon... it really is you! We all thought you

were taken by Kalo'Temir again," Serena whimpered. "Thank the seas you're

alright!"

"I'm sorry... I got pulled here by accident somehow; I'm

guessing you were too," returned Volcan. "I'm sorry I made you all worry."

"You've been gone for almost six days; it was hard not

to worry."

"Wait, six?" Volcan asked, pulling back from Serena

and looking at her. "But I've only been gone for a single night."

Serena blinked at him. "Volcan... back on our world

we've been looking for you for nearly a week; the police have been scouring the

city trying to find you. Pavan and Korban have even headed for Egypt to see if

Izrail knew where you were. You're saying it's only been one night?"

Volcan was frozen in place for a moment, setting Serena down

before he fell onto his backside, his face filled with confusion and shock...

            "Are

you alright?" Katsumoto said, approaching Volcan as he fell back.

            "It's

been six days since I came here?" Volcan asked. "My god, everyone on

Earth must be scared to death..."

Luke rested his paw on Volcan's shoulder. "I...I don't

know what to say...I'm sorry..."

Volcan looked at Luke briefly, and then back at Serena.

"And now she's here... whatever's happening to cause these rifts between

our worlds, now I know we don't share a time stream." Volcan ran a hand

down his face. "If she and I don't find a way home, eventually the whole

world may think we're dead."

Luke looked away for a moment, unsure of what to say or do

next.

Volcan shook his head. "But I'll worry about that

later... right now, we have to find out why this is happening, and why Demonic

Essence is here on this world, corrupting its populace... turning them into

monsters."

"Demons are involved?" Serena asked fearfully.

"It seems so. Either Kalo'Temir is trying to rip a hole

in space and time or something worse is happening," replied Volcan.

"Either way, there's no telling what's been sent here to this world, and

what might get sent FROM here back to ours."

 "Well for now, we

have to get these Pokémon to the hospital." Luke said as he picked up the

injured Machop as they hit the shoreline. "Volcan, can I count on you to

lead the others to the hospital? It's a tall white building."

            The

Blaziken shook his head. "You should lead them there," He stated.

"They know of you; I'm a stranger here. Serena and I... we should just

head back to your place and wait... We have a lot of thinking to do."

Luke nodded. "Alright, but I'm sending Katsumoto with

you to escort you both back..." He said then turned to the survivors and

commanded them to follow closely to the hospital.

Volcan nodded. "Fair enough," he returned..

Katsumoto approached the two. "Stay close to me, and I

will be able to protect you..." He said as he slowly walked ahead of the

two.

"We can handle ourselves... but thanks either way,"

Volcan assured, following Katsumoto. Serena tried to as well, attempting to walk

on her hind legs, but failing. After about the third attempt to navigate

herself -clearly not used to being a quadruped- Volcan picked her up and

carried her on his back.

~~~~~

            After

a long walk, they arrived back at Luke's residence and he opened the door for

them. "Do you need anything else...?" He asked as he held the door

open for them.

            Volcan

couldn't think of an answer to give the Samurott, so he simply shook his head

in no. "Thanks for coming with us... Sorry if this all a little strange to

you."

            He

nodded softly. "It's alright...." He returned, though he glanced to

Serena, looking to her for a moment before he averted his eyes.

Of course, this didn't go unnoticed by Volcan. "I think

he likes you," he remarked to Serena, too low for Katsu to hear.

"What?"

"Nothing."

            "A-Anyway...take

care...both of you..." He said, nodding to them both, though he blushed a

bit when his eyes were on Serena once again. He quickly averted them once more

before he made his way back to his home, leaving the two to enter Luke's home

and wait for the Lucario to return.