Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Fear the Quintet ❯ The Quintet ( Chapter 3 )

Part Three

“Does anyone want any tea or coffee?” he asked, rubbing his hands together as they entered a large room with a few squishy looking sofas and chairs.

“Ooh,” Matthew started, but Kitty interrupted.

“No thank you. We'd really like to hear the story,” she said. Matt frowned at her.

“Alright then.” The professor made himself comfy on the largest armchair. The others sat down on the sofas around him, ready to listen carefully. “So, why is it you're interested in Morbidark so much?” he asked.

“Well,” Kitty began as nobody else could think of anything to say. “We…” she drew a blank. She didn't want to tell him the truth. As a professor he would surely like to know the secret of getting from one universe to the next, and they didn't have the time or indeed any way at all to give him the information in exchange for what he could so easily give them for free.

“We've never heard any of the rumours or legends of this place, and we'd like to… before we spend a really long time here,” Scott suggested, seeing the look on everyone's faces and jumping in. Redwood nodded and his eyes travelled around the room as if searching for the story lost somewhere in his mind.

“Ok,” he said finally. “So… the legend is…” he checked once to make sure everyone was listening. Sixteen wide eyes were on him, mental pens ready to take mental notes. “Thousands and thousands of years ago, I mean, around the Mayan times, the people were plagued by four dreadful creatures. One was a bird, which highly resembled Articuno, but there were differences. It's said that if you look closely enough at the bird you realise how insanely ugly it really is.” He pushed his glasses up his nose a little.

Matthew wrinkled his nose.

“This bird possessed the power to make anyone who came into any contact with it to become seriously ill, but they would not die.

“The second creature lived in the soil, and came in and out as it pleased. It was enormous and could cause earthquakes by stamping one foot. These earthquakes gave people the urge to lash out at each other and tear each other apart, but, again, never ever to kill…

“The third was a creature of the ocean. It had the power, supposedly, to taint any body of water so that if it passed the lips of a person they would become incredibly hungry, but all food they touched would rot in their hands… also, if crops were watered by rain that it had tampered with, they would die immediately. The humans it affected, however, did not die either.

“The fourth was a strange being, resembling a white bear. It could create illusions of things happening that nobody could really fathom. These images would promptly cause a person to go mad.

“Now you must remember that these people were from a time very long ago. They did everything they could to make these creatures stop - meaning that they gave up sacrifices and offerings and prayed daily, but nothing worked. They prayed for death, thinking that nothing could possibly be worse than what was happening to them. Until one day, the legend says that a dark horse appeared. It had wings that were made of nothing but skin and bone, and its colour was so dark that it was inconceivable by human imagination.”

Kitty nodded without realising. It was definitely that.

“The people were scared, but curious. They felt deep down that this horse was their saviour. That it was going to save them from these creatures at long last… and it did.

“It killed each and every one of them. Quickly and painlessly. The four creatures could bother them no longer. The five beings took over the land and lived there for a while until people heard of what had happened and went to see for themselves. When they arrived, they saw the five creatures battling furiously. It seemed that they could not live in harmony. Eventually four of them lay defeated, and Morbidark stood tall. People were in awe of this creature, and it didn't hurt them. They came to the conclusion that it was powerless without the help of its companions. They then immediately sealed away the four of them in a chamber under the ground in the middle of an uninhabited island. The chamber was in the shape of a star, and the four beings were each sealed in one point of the star with a kind of ancient magic or science that is unknown to us now. From there it was simple to seal away Morbidark as well at the tip of the star. They hid the entrance to the chamber and fled the island.

“Nobody heard of them for thousands of years, so they must have been sealed away well… until a few hundred years ago. The island you are standing on is the island supposedly in the legend, and the chamber has been discovered. It in indeed in the shape of a rather primitive star, but there is nothing at all in any point.

“People around Aerei have been complaining of either illness, war, famine or complete chaos. One in every point of the star-shape of the island…”

At that point, Matthew interrupted. “Sorry, I thought you said it was the chamber that was star-shaped.”

“Oh, it is,” the professor nodded. “But the island itself is also somewhat of a star shape.” He pointed to a darkish map on the wall nearby. It could indeed be identified as an upside down star. “And at each point except the one you are in: the one at the bottom, there have been terrible, terrible things happening.” He looked around gravely. “But fortunately they are very mild. I think this is because Morbidark is nowhere to be found, and also because they are quite far away from each other… but if history is anything to go by, the only way to get rid of Morbidark is to seal the other four away in the chamber again. Then it will be completely powerless.” He sighed. “If only we knew where any of them were…”

“Well, I think we do,” Kitty pointed out. “We just find out where the people are complaining from, and go there, capture the thing, and bring it to the chamber.” She frowned.

“Yes, but although we can easily estimate where they are, we have no reported sightings, which means they could be anywhere at all, hiding.”

“Um,” Elliot started to speak, and everyone turned to him. “Uh, what are they called?” he asked. The professor blinked at him. “What are their names? The pokemon?”

“Well, assuming they are pokemon,” the professor laughed. “Let's see if I can remember. It is a very long time since I have heard this legend, you see.” He paused, scratching the bridge of his nose. “The bird one… it's called Pestilice,” he said finally. “Then there's Tsunamine that lives in the sea. Warupt lives in the ground, and… Soakatra is the bear.” He smiled at the recollection.

“Alright, so where's the closest one?” Charlie asked quickly.

“Why?” the professor looked at him. “You're not going to try and capture them, are you? They are incredibly dangerous.”

“Not capture them,” Charlie shook his head. “Just… see them.”

“Well, I suppose the closest one is Pestilice, and it lives…” He got up and gestured to the point on the far left. “Here. You have maps on your PokeDexes, so…” he paused. “You won't get lost.”

“Thank you!” Kitty seemingly remembered how to speak and stood up. “We really should go say goodbye to our parents now. They must be getting worried.”

“Of course,” said the professor, nodding. “It's been lovely to talk to you all. Stop by anytime.” He led them out to the main room again. “Good luck on your journeys and I wish you the best. I think you'll find that the people in Aerei are very helpful, so don't hesitate to ask for help if you need it.”

“We'll need a lot, “ Kitty heard Scott say under his breath.

“Thank you,” Kitty called again, and they all waved goodbye as they left his lab.

Kitty wasn't sure, but she thought she heard him mumble something as he walked back towards the other room that sounded an awful lot like `please don't let it happen to them too.'

“So…” she said, looking at the others. “What now?”

“We go…” Charlie pulled out his pokedex and switched to the map application. “We go up here, and then… no, through… no. Up there. Definitely over there.” He pointed and then lifted his head and changed the direction of his arm. “Definitely over here.” He grinned at the others and they shrugged and started to walk.

“We need to have a strong team,” Matthew blurted out suddenly. “If we're fighting pokemon as strong as those, we'll need to have loads of well-trained pokemon, so if we go to the gyms and stuff on the way, we're only training for later.”

“Yeah,” Scott said. “And it's not like the thing back home can hurt anyone, remember? It only works with the other ones, and they're still here.” He smiled, proud at their deductions. Kitty shrugged.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night.” She released her pokeball and scooped up her Eevee. “I'm gonna call you Rocky,” she told it.

“Eevee,” it replied apathetically, then sniffed her ear. She squealed and hugged it. It didn't seem to mind.

The other seven boys looked at her for a moment, then at each other, then smirked. Scott put his arm around her and they walked on, towards new experiences, lifelong dreams, terrifying experiences, and Pestilice. Kitty turned once more to the part of the sky that they had fallen out of and then turned back, taking a deep breath.

This was going to be… interesting.