PARAGON
Remnants of the Great War Arc [12]
Chapter 21 : Royal Edict
“Everything has gone according to plan, your Grace. We’re on track to carry out your revenge exactly as your Grace has envisioned it.”
AZ nodded slowly. Before him, men in metal masks operated on the mechanical power vessels that powered the ultimate weapon as outlined by his designs. The sparks that flew from their tools lit up the chamber in flashes of blue and orange. “Good. When the weapon is finished, we will march on our target with all our forces in tow.”
“If you don’t mind me asking, your Grace, is there a reason we attacked so many bases? Everything we stole is little more than clutter here. I could have provided your Grace with anything we need, and at a much higher quality.” He glanced over at the stacks of crates that lined the sides of the room.
AZ crossed his arms. “Do you think so little of me, Lord Vandrick? I did not send your men to attack those vaults because I desire treasure or rare gems or pokémon. The other raids were nothing more than a ruse. The true prize was the one we stole.” His hand reached up and closed around the key on his chest. “None of our enemies know of this key’s importance. Continue the raids as planned. The more time they spend chasing ghosts, the more time we have to plan our war.”
“I see.” Vandrick fingered his cape.
“And yet I sense you have more to say, Lord Vandrick.”
“Forgive my impertinence, your Grace. But I do believe our enemies will have noted your Grace’s appearance during the attack in Sinnoh. Surely this ruse will confuse them no longer?”
“Confusion is not the goal. Chaos is. So long as we continue to make inexplicable moves, our enemies will have no time to deal with us personally. We’re in the eye of the storm now.”
Vandrick nodded, his concerns assuaged. “I understand now. That makes perfect sense, your Grace.”
“More importantly, do you have the man I requested ready, Lord Vandrick?”
“I do, your Grace. Among all the trainers I and my men have cultivated over the years, he is by far the most promising. A fitting choice for the duty your Grace described.” He beckoned with his gloved hand. “Come here, Caleb,” he called.
A young man near the weapon with sandy brown hair stood from the crouch he was in and sauntered over to the two esteemed men. A jilted grin sat on his face. “Yo, Master, kept me waiting long enough.” His gaze traveled up AZ’s towering form. “Holy shit, who’s this tall fuck? If he’s giving you any trouble Master, just say the word and I’ll take care of his old ass real quick.” His hand brushed the many pokéballs on his belt.
Lord Vandrick shivered, a shadow blanketed over his eyes. AZ cast a glance in his direction.
“Caleb, I believe I once told you that I was waiting for a certain man,” Vandrick said in a low voice. “This is my master, and he is that man. Please treat him with as much respect as you show me, if not more.”
Caleb’s mouth opened and the color seemed to drain from his face. “O-Oh. My mistake, sir. So sorry. I-I just never expected you of all people to…”
“That’s quite enough. Perhaps a proper introduction to salvage what’s left of this impression.”
Caleb opened his mouth and closed it several times, before quickly turning to AZ and bowing. “Please forget everything you just heard, sir! My name is Caleb, as my esteemed Master said! Anything you need, I’m your guy!” After a few seconds, he peeked up from his bow to check their reactions.
Vandrick sighed and massaged his temples. “Go away for now, Caleb. We’ll talk later. Back the way you came, and of course, not a word about any of this. I don’t think I need to say what the consequences will be.”
Caleb bowed once more, sweat glistening on his skin. “Yes, Master.” After exchanging one last nervous glance between the two men, he padded away and disappeared down one of the tunnels that branched off from the main chamber.
Once he was gone, Vandrick straightened himself. “My deepest apologies for his disrespectful disposition. The fault lies entirely with me. If only I’d spent more time teaching him manners.”
AZ’s lips curled. “I’ve never seen you so cross, Lord Vandrick. I didn’t think you possessed such an emotion.”
For half a second, Vandrick seemed flustered as he glanced over at his master, but he quickly cleared his throat. “Ah, of course I am capable of anger, your Grace. I do try to temper my visage in your Grace’s presence, however.”
“Hm. But this boy? This is who you bring before me? I asked for a man who could be trusted to protect this place when we set out to the war. This boy is full of pride.”
“Yes,” Vandrick agreed. “More than he knows what to do with. But I assure you, your Grace, I have full confidence that you will not find his abilities lacking. And as for his reliability, coarse as he is, he has never once failed any of my assignments.”
“Hm,” AZ rumbled. “You sound quite proud of him yourself. Who is he?”
“He is no one. When I found him, he was naught more than a bag of skin and bones on the streets of Lumiose. But he took to pokémon battling more than any other. His prowess is unrivaled among all of our forces. Two years ago, he nearly broke into the Masters Eight at the World Championships. He placed ninth.”
“Hmm. At your command, I presume.”
Vandrick nodded, and his eyes flashed with confidence. “Of course. He could have won the entire tournament, but becoming World Champion was not in our interest, so he threw his match as I instructed.”
“Even with all that pride?
Vandrick met his king’s gaze. “He accepted immediately when I gave the order.”
AZ stared down at his retainer, then nodded, satisfied. “Very well. He shall be given reign over the defense force. When the weapon begins charging, it will become impossible to hide this place. This place will swarm with enemies.”
“I understand. I will brief Caleb on his assignment personally.”
“Good.” AZ uncrossed his arms and turned back toward the weapon. “World Champion,” he spat. “I’ve never heard of a bigger farce.” He frowned, remembering something from one of his knowledge absorption sessions. “Before the current World Champion, there was another boy, around your ward’s age, who abandoned his title the day he earned it.”
“Ah, your Grace is referring to Ash Ketchum?”
“Yes, that was the one. Ash Ketchum…”
“The common belief is that he abdicated his position because he had no desire to hold such an important office, young as he was.”
“Smart boy, if true.”
“Indeed. Or perhaps he had smart people whispering in his ear.”
AZ nodded and continued to watch the work being done on the weapon.
After several minutes, Vandrick turned to him. “Your Grace, I believe I’ve asked before so please forgive my persistence, but is your Grace sure he doesn’t want a change of clothes? It would be a simple task to procure the finest silks for your Grace.”
AZ touched his sleeve and rubbed the dirty fabric between his fingers. “My answer is the same. This is fine.”
Vandrick bowed. “As your Grace wishes. I’ll speak no more of this.”
“But, now that you bring it up again, it occurs to me that a warrior does not plunge into battle in his common garb. At your pleasure, Lord Vandrick. Please procure me your greatest finery before the war.”
“At once, your Grace.”
Ash lowered his hands as cracks webbed out across the cliff face before him. Shards of granite slipped off and tumbled to the ground with cacophonous crashes, and he shielded his face with his arm as dust blew past him. As the dust settled and the last bits of rock settled in place, he exhaled and studied the sight before him. The entire cliff face was blackened aside from cragged craters where the damaged rock had fallen away.
Ash rubbed his arms and sank to his knees, sweat dripping down his temples. “Hooh, not bad,” he panted.
They’d been training all day and now, the sun above was just about to disappear behind the cliff. Ash turned to return to his pokémon. Their brawl was also finally beginning to die down. Glalie, one of the Tauros, and Crawdaunt lay slumped exhausted on the ground. Emboar and the remaining Tauros were locked in combat, and after the battering they’d gotten over the past several hours, it looked like it could go in anyone’s favor. Part of Venusaur’s back was iced over, but he’d finally caught Feraligatr in his vines, and with the last of his strength, he slammed him into the ground, knocking him out. Pikachu and Noivern weren’t in the clearing anymore, but Ash had seen Pikachu latch onto Noivern’s wing about an hour ago and they’d both flown off somewhere.
“And how are you doing?” Ash said, walking over to the forest’s edge where Gengar was practicing. His form was nearly pitch black and his arms and legs had seemed to disappear entirely. Not only that but the consistency of his body seemed to have changed. Instead of having a clearly outlined form, Gengar shimmered in the air almost like fire, like a smear of ink across the open air. For once, he wasn’t smiling. He was so concentrated he didn’t notice his trainer’s approach until Ash was right beside him. When he saw him, his concentration broke, and his body suddenly bloomed purple again and his limbs filled out.
“Sorry, didn’t mean to distract you. Looks like you’re almost there though!”
Gengar grinned and swiped at Ash with his tongue but Ash ducked to the side and smirked.
“Show me what you’ve got,” Ash said.
Gengar nodded and scrunched his eyes closed. Within his body, the purple began to recede towards the center, bubbling furiously in resistance as it went. Gengar shuddered as the poison became little more than a pinprick within his disembodied mouth before disappearing entirely.
Ash smiled and waved his hand through Gengar’s forehead. “Incredible work! Looks like you’re taking some of your body with it though. You’ll have to work on your control, but I’m glad my idea was actually possible.” He rubbed his chin and cocked his head. “I guess now all that’s left to do is to practice so that you can keep it up unconsciously.”
Gengar grinned and nodded, his body squashing and stretching comically. Then, he flew straight through Ash’s body and back around to his front.
Ash grasped his chest in awe. “Whoa, I didn’t even feel that. Normally you get nauseous when a ghost flies through you, or at least cold. It’s like you’re completely hiding your presence.”
Gengar grinned proudly and he released the technique. Purple poison once again flooded his body, and his arms and legs plumed into being.
“Now what do you say to some dinner? The others are wrapping up too.”
Together, they watched the rest of the free-for-all while Ash prepared dinner to the side. Emboar ended up taking out Tauros but with most of his energy spent, couldn’t take out Venusaur without also going down himself. Ash was quite proud of the tenacious fire-type. He’d been a Pignite when they began their training two years ago but he barreled his way up the rankings with sheer hard work and was now one of Ash’s most solid fighters.
Several minutes later, Pikachu shot unceremoniously to the ground, cratering it, and Noivern plunged down half a second later, but the mouse was already up and dashing around his flank, cloaked in electricity. Noivern unleashed a Flamethrower, scalding his path, but when the flames cleared, Pikachu was left nearly unharmed, his skin glinting a dark silver. After using Iron Tail for so many years, it hadn’t been such a tall task to apply the same principle to his whole body to create a pseudo-Iron Defense.
“Alright, enough, guys!” Ash called.
Pikachu either didn’t hear him or ignored him, continuing around Noivern’s body, once again wreathed in electricity. Noivern screeched and jumped into the air. Ash knew for a fact Noivern, with his stellar hearing, had heard him, and he seemed to be fleeing skyward in surrender rather than trying to keep up the fight like Pikachu was. But Pikachu would not be quelled so easily, and he shot out a bolt that narrowly missed Noivern’s wing, and the dragon screeched again.
“I said, enough!” Ash roared, and a lance of golden electricity shot from his palm and impaled itself in the dirt between the two pokémon.
Pikachu seized back at the sight of it and rounded on the new attacker, but upon seeing Ash, and more importantly, Ash’s glaring face, the aggression melted from his body, and he grinned guiltily.
After seeing Pikachu finally relent, Noivern let himself back down to earth and shook his head, slowly treading over to the ring of food bowls Ash had assembled.
Pikachu scampered up Ash’s body and down his arm to check out his hands. He nuzzled against them and purred, then turned to look up at his trainer and smiled.
“Ha ha, thanks buddy. Yeah, I made some progress too,” Ash said, scratching behind Pikachu’s ears. “I think I feel comfortable telling Cynthia about the Plates now. Now that I can control this power somewhat, I need to tell her that Albrecht thinks AZ has it too.” The last thing he wanted was to become a liability, especially after Zagreus, and that’s exactly what he’d be if he crossed AZ without at least familiarizing himself with what he could do. “Go ahead and eat, buddy. I’m gonna go heal up the others so they can join us.”
Pikachu agreed and dug into his food beside Noivern, now best of friends once again. Both sported only minor injuries, and they’d learned to tough it out. As long as they could eat, they were fine.
Ash went to wake up his pokémon one by one, though they were actually all already awake, just exhausted and resting in place. With a bit of hyper potion for them all, they were well enough to join their comrades for dinner, and they all ate together in the clearing under the night sky. Emboar’s flames illuminated their camp once it got dark and Ash noticed Gengar continuing to maintain his mono-ghost form even as they ate, and he smiled proudly as it rippled in the darkness.
As he ate, Ash went through his phone for messages from Cynthia. As he read, his frown deepened. “N and Zinnia saw AZ in Kalos, but then he was sighted in Sinnoh just a few hours later… Sabrina’s about to leave Rota… Anabel’s close to a breakthrough…” There were no explicit directions for him, but Ash chalked it up to one of the last lines in the message.
Interpol warehouses have been getting raided all week and AZ’s appearance in Sinnoh confirms he’s behind all of them.
That was concerning, to say the least, but clearly Cynthia wanted to be able to deploy him in the most effective way. Though N and Zinnia had apparently found him, and Cynthia had told them to standby and just continue running reconnaissance.
Be wary of your friend Cynthia.
Ash shook Albrecht’s words from his mind. Don’t be ridiculous. Cynthia is obviously just playing the long game. Nevertheless, not having something to do was starting to make Ash antsy, and he hoped something would change soon, be it on Anabel’s end, or N and Zinnia’s.
But, no use worrying about it now.
After finishing several protein bars, Ash patted his stomach, satisfied. He checked the time on his phone. “Hmmm, it’s about that time. The others should be here soon.”
As if on cue, they heard a rustling in the forest on the blackened cliff, and several forms emerged from the darkness. Upon seeing the meager camp below, they jumped off the cliff and hurried over.
“Hey! Lucario! Annihilape! Dragonite!” Ash greeted them.
Annihilape bounded over and pulled back his fist to launch a punch. Ash quickly put up his hand to catch it, and he grinned as the fist impacted. Annihilape snorted, but before he could throw another, Dragonite bopped him on the head. As Annihilape’s target changed and they began to tussle in the background, Lucario strode passed them and bowed at Ash.
We have returned as instructed, Master.
“Thanks, Lucario. No problems on the trip over?”
None, unless you include the tremendous effort it took to tear Annihilape away from our quarrel with the Articuno we were training with. Ultimately that led to him challenging every Pidgey and Rattata we encountered on the way. I must say his astonishing lack of intellect confounds the mind. I confess I did not even know it was within the realm of possibility for—
“Glad to hear it. Mount Silver can be tough to navigate this time of year but it sounds like there wasn’t any trouble.”
Johto was relatively close and the Tohjo Supercontinent was the only land mass to hold two regions, so the trek to Kanto would’ve been easiest for these three. Through orders from Gengar at Ash’s behest, they’d started their journey this morning, but after a full day of travel, none of them even seemed close to tired. Such was the strength of some of his strongest partners.
“Alright, we’re switching out again as planned. Feraligatr, Noivern, and Tauros, your turn for Mount Silver. See how far you can get against that pod of Lapras in the underdepths.”
The gator, dragon, and pair of bulls nodded in affirmation.
“Feel free to leave tomorrow morning if you want, but we’re probably gonna head out tonight. I want to get back to Paragon Island as soon as possible.”
After socializing a bit longer, Ash packed up camp and recalled his pokémon. The four pokémon he was leaving behind bid their farewells and trekked off into the forest in the direction of Mount Silver. The Tauros were unruly and Feraligatr was no navigator, but Noivern would be able to scope things out from above, so Ash had no worries about them getting lost.
With the moon high in the sky, Ash clambered into Dragonite’s arms. “We really need to find a more flattering way for me to travel,” he sighed as he settled into a comfortable position.”
For all the pokémon he had, he didn’t have a single psychic type, much less anyone that could teleport. He’d maintained a strict ‘no new pokémon’ rule for the two year training in order to focus on his existing partners, so flying was still his fastest mode of travel. He’d brainstormed several funky ideas like more ghost-type shenanigans with Gengar, or Terastallizing all of his Tauros into psychic-types and somehow turning them into a network of teleporters, but ultimately, none of them had panned out.
Maybe now that he knew he was a Platebearer, he could turn to the Electric Plate for a solution.
Those thoughts and more swam around Ash’s mind as Dragonite tore through the skies over Kanto.
“I expect you not to embarrass me any further.”
“Of course, Master! Best behavior only! I’m telling you, I swear I had no idea that guy was so important.”
“Don’t call his Grace, ‘that guy.’”
“Sorry, Master! Man, this is exciting though! To think your master would personally request me to go with him on his important journey!”
“I do not question his Grace’s judgment. If he deems you ready, then you shall go. Though I believe this is nothing more than an observatory trip. His Grace wants to study the battlefield before the war breaks out, but there will be no fighting yet.”
“Hey, no way. Don’t tell me you're jealous, Master.”
“Enough, Caleb. His Grace is coming. Remember.”
“I know, I know, sheesh.”
“I’m counting on you, Caleb.”
“Leave it to me.”
Next — Chapter 22 : Ash Ketchum vs Founder AZ
