{"sf1_id":829330,"sf2_id":null,"title":"Stranger(s) in a Strange Land","author":"Volcan MacAingeal","words":14579,"posted_at":"2015-03-11T13:11:00.000Z","tags":["Demon","Spin-off","Transformation","blaziken","lucario","pokemon","samurott","vaporeon"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/829330-stranger-s-in-a-strange-land","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/829330","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=829330\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nThe sky shone brightly in the mid-afternoon sky. Luke, a\nLucario was heading into a nearby town with a list in his paw, reviewing a\nsmall shopping list as he headed for the market, walking through the aisles and\npicking out specific groceries from his list ane proceeding to pay for them\nbefore heading back out and toward his home, sighing contently as he re-entered\nthe forest he came from.\nWhile there, though, he began to notice something was\ndifferent about today... the forest seemed eerily quiet, and the feeling\nsomething was about to happen hung over him... yet even with his keen eyes he\ncould not see anything out of the ordinary. He glanced around warily, slowing\nhis pace and keeping all of his senses keen, expecting something to happen.\nEventually he came to a full stop, slowly dropping his groceries and looking\nall around his surroundings...\nAnd almost as if that were a cue, lights began flashing from\nnearby, coming from above a nearby copse of trees he could just see, each one\nflickering in various colours. The flashing lights continued to get brighter\nuntil suddenly, a bright white flash lit up the sky and nearly eliminated every\nshadow around the Lucario. Luke grunted and he quickly shielded his eyes with\nhis arm, clenching his eyes shut as well and trying to sense what ws going on,\nbut even his Aura Sense was being blinded by the strange white light in around\nhim*\nUntil suddenly, the light vanished, and he saw a singular\naura, a very strange looking one at that, appear from where the light had been\ncentered, and begin to fall towards the ground. Halfway down, he heard someone\ncry out, and the voice seemed to be coming from that same presence. \"What\nthe...?! GAAAAAAAHHHH!\"\nAnd then, as they hit the treeline, the sound of someone\ngrunting and a few limbs breaking, along with the unmistakable thud of a body\nhitting ground. Luke winced with each grunt and snap he heard, then after the\nthump he reacted on instinct, rushing toward the single aura signal quickly\nwith his inhuman speed, skidding to a stop right next to the source of said\naura signal\nAnd he found... not the least what he expected. A Blaziken,\nlying face down in the dirt groaning painfully. This Blaziken had a very\nstrange aura to him, not like any Luke had ever seen before, and more\nsurprisingly... even after that fall, he wasn't even hurt! Sure, Blaziken could\nleap great distances, but dropping without a chance to brace themselves would\ncertainly still cause harm.\n            He\nknelt next to the dazed Blaziken, still rather stunned by the fact he was\nunharmed by such a fall. \"Hey! Hey, are you alright?\"\n\"Ugh... depends,\" the Blaziken returned, pushing\nhimself up on his hands. \"Did I fall out of the sky just now or did a\ndragon just walk on me?\" He asked. \"Sure feels like either one\nhappened.\"\n\"If you got stomped on by a Dragon-Type, you wouldn't\neven be alive right now...\" He returned. \"You fell out of the sky\nafter a blinding light shone brightly.\"\n\"Well, then at least I wasn't imagining things when I\nflew into that light,\" remarked the Blaziken, sitting down and glancing\naround. \"Where did I en...\" He paused when saw Luke. \"A...\njackal?\" He asked. \"Did I fall into Egypt?\"\nLuke tilted his head a little. \"....Egypt...? I've no\nidea what you're talking about...I'm a Lucario.\"\n\"A what? What's a...\" He shook his head.\n\"Nevermind... Where have I ended up?\"\n\"In a forest not too far from a nearby town.\" Luke\nsaid as he offered his paw to the stranger.\n            The\nfigure raised their hand to accept the offer of help, before noticing his hand.\n\"Wha...?\" He demanded, pulling it back to his face, and then raised\nhis other hand to look at it, seeing it too had the same number of fingers.\n\"What happened to two of my fingers?!\"\nLuke again looked at him confused, letting his paw drop to\nhis side. \"...What do you mean two of your fingers...? Blaziken have\nalways had only two fingers.\"\n\"Blazi...\" The figure paused. \"What? But I'm a\nPhoenix, not a Blaziken... whatever that is.\"\nLuke frowned a little. \"...I hope you're not trying to\njoke around on that subject...\" He said softly. \"The only phoenix Pokémon\nis Moltres...\"\n\"Oooookay, this is getting too weird,\" stated the\nBlaziken, standing up. \"Good meeting you but I'm flyin' the coop now...\nsound like Pavan or Korban when I say that... anywho, hope that portal's still\nup there.\" He looked up and, with a mighty leap, he soared up into the\nair... but didn't get very far before gravity took effect and he fell back\ndown. \"Hey what...WHAT?!\" He barked before managing to correct his descent\nand land feet first, though he landed in a crouch to absorb the impact of his\nfall.\nStanding back up, the -rather odd- Blaziken put a hand to his\nchin, smiling in a rather demented manner as he spoke. \"Okay,\" he\nbegan. \"Let me think... Either A, my wings are numb and not working right\nor B... I don't have them anymore.\" He looked over his shoulder towards\nLuke.\nBy this time, Luke was getting rather annoyed by his\ncluelessness. \"Really...?\" He said in an exasperated tone.\n\"Blaziken are Fire/Fighting types...they don't have wings nor are they\nflying types....\"\n\"That's what I was afraid of,\" said the rather\nstrange Blaziken, his eye twitching. \"Excuse me for a second while I...\" He\ntook in a deep breath, before unleashing a loud holler to the sky above. \"FREAK\nOUT!!!\" He roared, a flock of Spearow scattering from the nearby trees.\nThe strength of his voice was enough it would've deafened a\nZubat...\nLuke only crossed his arms and stood there as the Blaziken\nfreaked out like a mad Primape on a blind rampage. \"....Are you quite\nfinished...?\"\n\"Oh yes,\" replied the Blaziken. \"Just needed\nto vent... Now...\" He spun towards Luke and dashed up to him. \"You\nmind telling me why I've turned into a long-legged chicken with V shaped\nhair?\"\n            Luke\nstared up at him for the longest time, almost as if studying the Blaziken\nintently. \"This is what a Blaziken normally looks like...\" Then he\nput his paw to his forehead. \"...Do you have a fever or something?\"\nVolcan shook his head to get Luke's paw off. \"No, I\ndon't, and if you feel one it's probably my blood pressure!\" He barked,\nbreathing harshly for a moment before he began to calm down, slowly letting out\na long sigh. \"I'm sorry... I'm just really confused right now...\"\n\"...Perhaps you need some rest to clear your\nmind...\" He said. \"I was just on my way home from shopping for dinner\ntonight...\"\n\"Well, since I don't really know where I am in the first\nplace... do you mind if I come along?\" He asked, more politely now.\n\"It would probably be best that you do. It's starting to\nget late and a lot of nocturnal Pokémon will start emerging soon...\" He\nsaid as he walked over to grab his groceries.\n\"Can... I help?\" The Blaziken offered.\n\"No, I'll be fine.\" He said, leading the way back\nto his home. They both walked for about 5 or so minutes before they arrived at\nan indent in the ground that lead to a door down below.\nSuddenly, the Blaziken perked up as if remembering something.\n\"Oh, how rude of me,\" said the Blaziken. \"My name's Volcan, by\nthe way.\"\nLuke looked back and nodded to him. \"Pleasure. My name's\nLuke.\" He said before he walked down toward the door and opened it,\nwalking inside and holding the door open for Volcan to enter.\n            The\nBlaziken was so tall he had to crouch down to walk through the hole up to the\ndoor, and ducked through to enter the house, slowly standing back up to full\nheight as if expecting to bump his head on the ceiling. However, inside the\nhouse it was rather spacious and roomy, allowing anyone to stand inside\nunhindered by height restrictions. Luke walked toward the dining room table and\nset down his bag of groceries. \"Well...make yourself at home for\nnow.\" He offered.\n\"Nice place,\" remarked Volcan, looking around the\nhouse, taking in its contents and nodding with approval. \"You live here\nalone?\"\n\"No. My son and my mate live here too, as well as her\nassistant.\" He said. \"They won't be back for a while yet. Janine\ntends to work late.\"\n\"What does she do?\" He asked, sitting down at the\nnearby table after pulling out a chair.\n\"She's a Pharmacist.\" He returned, setting all the\nfood on the table before sorting it into different categories for storage.\n\"Ah, nice,\" returned Volcan. \"Look uh... I\nknow this seems a little extreme to hear but, I'm honestly not what I appear to\nbe. I'm not normally...\" He looked at himself. \"This.\"\n            \"...I'm\nnot sure I understand.\" He said as he put away his groceries.\n \"Well, how can I\nput this?\" He began. \"You see, I'm actually an Anthropomorphic\nphoenix. I'm normally tall, muscular, have big red and yellow wings and... can\nmanipulate fire and absorb solar energy.\"\nLuke looked back to Volcan, finding it rather hard to\nbelieve. \"...You're saying that you're not from this particular part of\nthe world...?\"\n\"I'm not sure I'm even on the same world anymore,\"\nreplied Volcan. \"No beings like you or... me, in this body, exist back where\nI come from. If you have a pencil and paper I could try and show you what I\nused to look like\"\nLuke then headed into another room for a moment, and then\nreturned with said items, placing them in front of Volcan and crossing his\narms. \"I'm still finding this rather hard to believe...\"\n\"Well, I'm not one to lie, really, and I should hope I'm\nnot losing my mind,\" replied Volcan as he began drawing. \"I'm not\nmuch of an artist -especially with my hand... not the same anymore, but I'll do\nmy best.\"\nLuke nodded, still keeping his arms crossed and watching\nVolcan sketch on the paper.\nAfter a few minutes of drawing, several times correcting\nhimself, Volcan eventually managed to draw a rather amateur image of a figure\nwith arms and legs, but with wings growing out of his back, and dressed in\nclothes... he almost looked some sort of half-human half-animal hybrid, beyond\nthe shape of his body nothing was human about him; his head and feet were both\nthose of a bird, and his hands -though normally birds didn't have hands- had\nthe same skin type and nails as the talons of a very large bird of prey, but\nhad five fingers instead of three toes. \n\"Well, it's not exactly Leonardo Da Vinci, but, that's\nabout the best I can draw.\"\nLuke studied the picture intently, even taking it in his paws\nto look more closely at it, then to Volcan. \"...And you say this is\nyou?\"\n\"Well, it used to be anyway,\" returned Volcan,\nlooking at himself. \"Apparently someone or something gave me an extreme\nmakeover; even changed my powers. Apparently my sword didn't come through with\nme either... I hope nobody has stolen it.\"\n\"...Right.\" Luke returned, still finding all this\nnew information hard to absorb.\n\"What do you want me to do to prove it to you, turn the\nsurface of a desert into glass?\" Volcan asked, getting rather defensive\nwith Luke's doubt in him. \"Look, I'm not making this up.\"\n\"And I'm not trying to judge you; I'm just finding\neverything hard to believe is all.\" Luke returned defensively.\nVolcan let out an exasperated groan, but his tone became more\neven. \"I suppose I can understand that; I'm still wondering if I'm having\nsome sort of dream or something. Well, hopefully somehow I can find a way to\nconvince you,\" he stated, running a hand down his face. \"Now the only\nthing I need to do is find out how I ended up here and how I get home. If I\ndon't, my friends will lose their minds looking for me; I don't want them\nchasing after Kalo'Temir again on their own...\"\n            \"...Who?\"\nLuke asked.\n \"Think of the\nmost horrifying thing you've ever seen and multiply it by ten thousand,\"\nreplied Volcan, beginning a rough sketch of the figure he talked about, in a\nfew minutes producing a very unusual looking creature, with spikes protruding\nfrom its shoulders, a tail like that of a dragon, and legs like one too, and\ndisproportionately long arms ending with scythe-like claws. \"A while back,\nhe kidnapped me, intent on stealing my powers; my friends came to save me. We\nbarely got out of there alive.\"\n\"...He tried to steal your powers....\" Luke\nreturned. \"What for..?\"\n\"Well, to put it simply, he's basically someone who can\ntake the abilities of others, and making them his own,\" replied Volcan.\n\"If he consumes someone who has similar abilities to one he's devoured\nbefore, such as another fire user like me, it powers up the abilities he\nalready has, making him stronger. In short, he wanted to devour me to gain more\npower.\"\n            \"...Sounds\na little like Giratina...\" Luke commented.\n            \"Someone\nI probably don't want to come across?\" Volcan asked.\n            \"He's\nthe deity of the Distortion World...\" Luke returned. \"A Ghost/Dragon\ntype Pokémon with enough power to stand up to even Arceus himself...\"\n            \"Arceus\nsome sort of... powerful being?\" Volcan asked.\n            \"He's\nthe God of all Pokémon...\"\n            \"Oh...\"\n            Luke\nnodded. \"He keeps all of the other deities, spirits and guardians in\ncheck.\"\n\"But Giratina is one who challenges his role?\"\n\"Indeed. Giratina has earned the nickname 'God\nSlayer'...because of his Ghost typing, he has the potential to overpower Arceus\ndue to him being a Normal type. And Normal types cannot damage Ghosts.\"\n\"Yikes... there's someone I wouldn't want to meet in a\ndark alley,\" said Volcan. \"Wouldn't be the first ghost I've fought,\nbut still.\"\nLuke nodded. \"Luckily he's been sealed within the Distortion\nRealm and hasn't emerged since...which means the Deities of Space and Time are\nbeing kept in check.\"\n\"...Somehow I'm starting to wonder about that,\"\nsaid Volcan. \"Because if I'm not in Unity Falls anymore, and I've changed\ninto this... then I'm definitely in another world, and this sounds like\nsomething your Giratina guy could do.\"\n\"Unlikely.\" Luke returned. \"The only way\nGiratina could do such a thing is if Palkia and Dialga, the deities of space\nand time, conflicted with each other.\"\n\"Well I only know three others in my world that could do\nthis...\" Volcan remarked. \"Izrail, Kalo'Temir and Abdul-Al\nHakam.\"\n\"Names I have never heard of before.\" Luke\nreturned, taking a seat again.\n\"Yeah, no surprise there,\" replied Volcan, leaning\nback in his seat. \"I guess I'll be here a while.\"\nLuke nodded. \"Well you're welcome to stay as long as you\nneed to. There's a guest room in the back you can use.\"\n            \"Are\nyou sure? I wouldn't want to impose on you or your family.\"\n            \"It'll\nbe fine. Don't worry.\" Luke returned. \"It's no trouble.\"\n            \"And\nyou're sure your family won't mind? It's not like either of them know me\neither...\"\n            \"Janine\nis a gentle soul. She's not against helping out others in need. And Jin would\nmost likely appreciate a playmate around the house.\"\n \"Playmate?\"\nVolcan chuckled. \"Well, I dunno if I'm any good with kids.\"\n            \"Well\nonly time will tell.\" Luke commented with a small smirk.\n            \"Right...\"\nVolcan replied, and suddenly stood up from his chair. \"Can I see the room,\nthen? I may as well get settled in.\"\nLuke nodded and stood up. \"Right this way.\" he said\nas he walked toward the back of the house, opening a door toward a smaller room\nwith a bed and dresser.\nVolcan followed him to the room, and peered inside. surveying\nthe room, although looking at the bed, and then his long legs, with a hint of\ndoubt. \"Hehe... um... don't suppose you have an ottoman or something\naround, do you?\"\nIt then occured to Luke that Volcan was too tall for the bed;\nit wasn't meant for a Pokémon his size... \"Hmmm...Well...the sofa does fold\nout into a hideaway bed...\" Luke offered instead\n\"We'll have to give that a shot then,\" he looked\ndown at himself. \"Changed into a completely new body and I'm still too damn tall for half the furniture\nin the world...\" He grumbled with clear irritation, although Luke still\ncaught it. He said nothing to that remark as he opened up the couch to reveal\nthe hideaway bed, extending it out until it reached its full length.\nVolcan looked it over, and then decided to try it out, laying\ndown across it; his feet still hung slightly over the far end, but besides\nthat, he fit fairly well onto the bed, and nodded his approval. \"This'll\nwork,\" he said, and looked up at Luke. \"Hey... I really appreciate\nthis, Luke. Thanks.\"\n            \"You're\nwelcome. Like I said, you're welcome to stay as long as you like.\"\n            Volcan\nnodded again. \"Yeah... hopefully I won't have to be a moocher for\nlong,\" he said, sitting up and sliding back against the rear of the couch.\n\"I still wish I knew how I ended up here...\" He looked at his hand.\n\"And what caused me to change into this form? I still feel a connection to\nfire powers but, none of my other abilities came with me. My strength, my\nwings, my shapeshifting... am I still immune to fire?\"\n            \"Well\nnot quite...You can still be harmed by fire, but because you're a fire type\nyourself, you can resist it...also depending on your ability, you can either\nincrease your overall speed with Speed Boost, or you gain a power boost when\nyou're close to defeat with Blaze.\"\n            \"...Say\nwhat?\" Volcan asked, clearly not understanding what Luke meant.\n            \"Nevermind...I'll\nexplain it later.\" Luke returned.\n\"Right... I guess getting used to this body will be\nquite a learning curve,\" remarked the Blaziken. \"But... Fire and\nFighting type, you said? Sounds like I'll catch on fast enough if I'm getting\nthe concept.\"\n\"If you're already familiar with fighting, then yes you\nshould catch on quickly.\"\n\"Alright,\" said Volcan, nodding. \"Well, guess\nI'll just hang out here for now...\" He laid back down on the bed.\n\"I've got some things to think about... And it's not like I have anywhere to\ngo, now.\"\n\"I'll leave you to it then...I have to get dinner\nstarted for when everyone gets home.\" He said as he walked back toward the\nkitchen and turned on the stove.\nVolcan tucked his hands behind his head and stared at the\nceiling, slipping into deep thought. Everything was so confusing to him at the\nmoment; if he wasn't already familiar with dimension jumping he might have gone\neven more crazy when he had found out what he'd changed into... but at least\nhe'd found someone willing to help him out, although he wondered if Luke\npossibly still thought Volcan was insane -if he ever did think that, of course;\nthe phoenix... Blaziken, wasn't going to make assumptions. Luke could turn out\nto be a good friend for him...\n~~~~~\nThe next day, when Luke awoke and prepared to go about his\nday, he noticed Volcan was missing from the guest bed in the living room.\nSomehow, the Lucario doubted the Blaziken had gone back to... whatever world he\nhad come from, so he likely wasn't very far away.\nLuke let out a soft sigh and rubbed his forehead.\n\"Dammit all...\" He grunbled before he headed outof hsi house and\ntried searching for Volcan's aura signal before giving chase.\nThankfully though, the Blaziken hadn't gone far. He found him\nin a short time, and arrived to find him stretching his muscles, before he\nbegan trying a few punches and kicks at open air. A short time after, Volcan\nwalked over to a small tree, gripping it tightly around the trunk and seemingly\ntrying to lift out of the ground. Of course, he failed, an stepped back in\nexasperation, rotating his arms. \"Ouch... guess not.\"\n\"What are you doing...?\" Luke asked as he\napproached him from behind.\n\"Ah!\" Volcan jumped slightly as Luke approached, before\nturning around to face the Lucario, a blank stare crossing his face.\n\"Please don't sneak up on me,\" he requested. \"I'm a little jumpy\nabout that.\"\n\"Well then please don't wander off when you're not\nfamiliar with your new environment.\" Luke said back calmly.\n\"I didn't want to wake you up,\" returned the\nBlaziken, rubbing his shoulder a bit. \"I was just coming out to test this\nnew body, trying to find out what it could do.\" He groaned. \"But it's\nnothing like my old body...\" He gestured back at the tree. \"I used to\nbe able to rip those out of the ground and throw them at people, now I can\nbarely rattle them, let alone use them for a caber toss.\"\n\"...Caber....toss...?\" Luke asked, tilting his head\nin confusion.\n\"A sport, back in my ancestral homeland,\" replied\nVolcan. \"At the Highland Games, one of the sports involves throwing logs;\na test of strength and finesse. That's the caber toss.\"\n\"Sounds like something a Chesnaught or Machamp would\ndo...\" Luke commented.\n\"Yep. My Uncle's actually due to host the next\ngames,\" replied Volcan. \"Of course, he and I are both supernaturally\nstrong, so, it's considered unfair for us to compete.\"\nLuke nodded softly. \"Well regardless, don't wander off\nlike that again.\"\n\"I didn't see where you kept the paper so I couldn't\nleave a note,\" Volcan pointed out. \"And... I think you write\ndifferently than I do.\"\n Luke shrugged his shoulders. \"Regardless.\nI'm assuming you would like a small tour around the place?\"\n\"I suppose it couldn't hurt, since I might be here quite\na while,\" said Volcan. \"But, I'd like to learn a little more about\nthis body first, just in case whatever's causing this comes looking for me\n-assuming it's a who, and not a what.\"\nLuke looked at him for a moment. \"...You want to\nspar?\" He asked quizzically.\n\"You'll probably clobber me, but I've got to learn how\nthis body ticks,\" said Volcan.\n\"Then I'll hold back some...\" Luke said as he took\nsome steps back from Volcan.\n\"Okay,\" Volcan took in a deep breath, and adopted a\nfighting stance. \"So... any hints you can give me on that this red poultry\nbody can do?\"\n\"Well let's start with some standard fighting...\"\nHe said as he got into what looked like a soft style stance. \"Try landing\na single blow on me.\"\n\"Alright, here goes,\" said Volcan, before he ran\nforward, and attempted to deliver a punch towards Luke. Luke lifted his leading\npaw up a little, and then when Volcan's fist got close, he smacked it down with\nenough force to make Volcan stumble. Luke then weaved around the Blaziken and\nwatched him regain his composure.\n\"Geez, you move like Vinge,\" Volcan remarked.\n\"Er... a friend of mine.\" He turned to face Luke again, and this time\nwent at him with a flurry of punches, each one aimed to different locations.\nRather than deflect them, Luke simply shifted his stance and\nweaved around each strike. His reaction time was unprecedented, almost inhuman\neven. Luke then grabbed onto Volcan's arm as it passed his cheek, holding it in\nplace. \"Good...you can at least throw a punch...but your attacks are far too\nwild and unfocused...\" Luke said as he pushed Volcan back.\n\"How about this,\" returned Volcan before spinning\naround and delivering an inverted spin-kick towards Luke, \"eh?\"\nLuke sighed and simply leaned back from the kick, letting it\nswoosh in front of him as he stepped back a little. \"Again,\nunfocused...you're going to have to try harder than that, friend...\"\n\"I never used to be able to even do that, and it was\nstill obvious? Oye...\" The Blaziken muttered.\nLuke once again adopted a soft style stance. \"Alright,\nnow let's see how solid your defense is...prepare yourself.\"\n\"Alright,\" returned Volcan, returning to his own\ncombat stance, watching Luke carefully.\nLuke then started running up to Volcan, then he spun once and\nthrew a backfist right for his face and suprisingly, Volcan actually caught it,\nand in the span of a second, twisted Luke's arm behind his back and grabbed him\nin a headlock with a powerful grip. \"Gotcha,\" he said.\nHe grunted and clenched his eyes shut for a moment, then\nreopened them and glanced back at Volcan. \"Not bad...\" he\ncomplimented, and then before Volcan could respond, he threw his head back and\nnailed Volcan right in the beak, allowing him precious moments to escape the\nheadlock an grab onto Volcan's arm quickly and flip him over his shoulder, then\nhe twisted his arm backwards quickly as he subdued him.\n\"Good counter,\" Volcan returned. \"But two can\nplay at that game.\" He suddenly used all the strength in his legs to throw\nhimself back into Luke. Luke grunted as he was suddenly hurled back, then\nquickly flipped over Volcan before he could be pinned to the ground and landed\nin a crouch. \"I was trained to be better at countering than attacking if I\nhad to go bare-handed,\" Volcan pointed out.\n\"You're learning quickly...now try a special attack on\nme...\"\n\"What sort of special attack?\"\nLuke narrowed his eyes for a moment. \"Well you're a\nFire/Fighting type...Try a Mach Punch or a Blaze Kick on me or something.\"\n\"But how do I even use them?\"\n\"Blaze Kick as a Fire Type attack; focus your fire power into\nyour foot as you try to kick me.\"\n\"Alright, here goes,\" said Volcan, shutting his\neyes and focusing his energies, just as he would if he were still in his true\nform, mentally commanding them to a specific part of his body. However, Volcan\nwould find it wasn't the same as commanding his normal elemental powers. Try as\nhe might, his legs did not go ablaze.\n\"It's not working,\" said Volcan, a little\nfrustrated. \"Whatever powers this body has they don't work like my own; I\ncan't mentally command it.\"\n\"It might because you haven't learned it yet...\"\nLuke returned. \"Alright...Try a Fire Punch instead.\"\nOnce more Volcan tried to command the energy into his hand,\nclenching it into a fist as he did so. This time, his fist began to emit smoke,\nthen after some more focusing, his hand was completely ablaze, burning like a\nsmall wildfire around his hand. \"Hey... it worked!\" Volcan exclaimed.\n\"But... why didn't it work for my feet before?\" He looked at Luke.\n\"Is this what you meant by 'learned'?\"\n He nodded. \"As you fight and get\nstronger, more attacks will be available to you...I've acquired myself a wide\narray of abilities because I've been fighting all my life...\"\n\"Makes sense; I developed most of my own attacks but\nmastering them took practice,\" remarked Volcan, letting the flames around\nhis hand go out. \"This is some unusual stuff... but I'm sure I'll learn it\novertime.\"\n\"All it takes is practice...\"You'll know you've\nunlocked a new attack when you begin fighting for real.\"\n            Volcan\nnodded. \"Alright... I'll have to practice more soon but I think I get\nit.\"\n\"Good.\" Luke returned. \"I think we can head\ninto town for a bit...I have to do a few things while I'm there anyway.\"\nVolcan nodded again. \"Lead on, my friend.\"\nLuke lead Volcan out of the woods and into a rather bustling\ntown. Many different Pokémon of all shapes, sizes and typings were all roaming\nthe streets, making their way through the crowds to get to their destinations.\n\"Man... even though I've turned into a Pokémon now, I\nstill feel extremely out of place here,\" Volcan remarked.\nAt that moment, the sound of punches being thrown and meeting\nflesh caught his attention, and when he turned he saw two Pokémon, a Rhydon and\na Magmar were busy scrapping it out, punching and tackling each other, with a\ncrowd around them chanting and whooping as the street fight went on.\n\"Hey... is that normal around here?\" Volcan asked.\n\"Why isn't anybody stopping them?\"\nLuke glanced to where the fighting was taking place. \"It\nhappens...Pokémon fight for either exercise or for the thrill of battle...but\notherwise we're not as violent as most let on.\"\n\"Sheesh... back in my world, the Police would be coming\nhere faster than a charging horse to intervene,\" remarked Volcan.\n\"This place sure is different...\"\nAnother commotion was heard, this time it was shrieks from\nsome female Pokémon. They were pointing toward the sky and shrieking\nhysterically, even jumping up and down on the spot as a black blur zoomed\nacross the sky, leaping from building to building before disappearing from\nview.\n            \"Whoa!\nWhat was that?\" Volcan asked.\n \"That was just\nthe local town hero...well, one of them anyway.\" Luke commented.\n            \"Anyone\nyou know?\" Volcan asked.\n            Luke\nnodded. \"You'll meet him eventually.\"\n            \"Guy\nwas damn quick,\" remarked Volcan, looking back where the dark figure had\ngone.\n            Luke\nnodded in acknowledgement as they came to their first stop: a small pharmacy.\n\"Wait here.\" Luke said as he went inside.\nVolcan nodded to him, and leaned against the wall, peering up\nand down the street for anything else that might hold his attention as he\nwaited.\n            He\ndid pick up on something rather unusual. A gang of different kind of Pokémon\nwere all ganging up on a smaller Pokémon. A Dewott with scars on his body and\ngauze wrapped around his forearms and attached to his scallop blades on his\nthighs. On his back rested a small sword hidden in a wood sheath held to his\nbody with string.\nThe gang were circling around the Dewott, making taunts and\nvulgar remarks to him, but he only stood there, arms at his sides and looking straight\nahead in a calm, focused manner.\nVolcan slowly approached the scene, watching carefully to see\nwhat else the gang might do; more habit than anything he was waiting to see if\nhe needed to act in the defense of the Dewott, but didn't make a move until he\nwas certain that he was in danger...\nOne of the gang members laughed and made a move, stepping\ntoward the Dewott and throwing a punch, stopping just before his head. The\nDewott slowly glanced to his would be attacker. \"...If you're going to hit\nme, then hit me...don't waste time throwing mock jabs at me...\"\n\"Kid's brave,\" muttered Volcan, too low for the\ngang to hear; he was almost to them now.\n\"Heh, alright kiddo, yer askin for it!\" The Pokémon,\nan Emboar, stated as he reared back again, this time throwing a punch for real.\nHe didn't even get to follow through with his attack before the Dewott quickly\nslammed into his gut with Aqua Jet, critically winding him and making him\nfreeze in place. The Dewott landed and hopped away, watching as the Emboar slowly\nbegan to tilt backwards and flop on his back.\n\"Whoa,\" Volcan said, impressed. This time, he\ndeliberately spoke loud enough for the other gang members to hear him.\n\"The kid's got style.\"\nThe other gang members twitched and looked back at Volcan.\n\"Butt out punk!!\" One of them roared at him, and then they turned\nback to the Dewott once more. \"GET IM!!\" Another said as they all\ncharged in at once toward the smaller Pokémon. He sighed and glanced behind\nhim, leaping over a strike to his back, landing on his attackers arm before\ndarting to him and kicking HARD in the face. \nHe then turned and held up his paw in a sort of handseal,\nthen expelled a boiling hot stream of water from his mouth, nailing his next\nattacker with a Scald attack. From then he turned to the remaining two and drew\nhis Scallop blades, then darted forward witih Aqua Jet and slashed at them both\nsimultaneously with Razor Shell, skidding to a stop in front of Volcan, then\nstraightening up and swing his shells once before placing them back on his hip\nfur, then the two behind him fell forward and were out cold.\n\"Well... guess you didn't need my help after all,\"\nremarked Volcan.\nThe Dewott looked up toward Volcan for a moment. \"No\nactually I didn't...I had everything under control...\"\n\"Sorry about trying to butt in then,\" said Volcan.\n\"Why were those guys giving you such a hard time anyway?\"\n\"They're thugs.\" He commented. \"They ALWAYS\ngive other Pokémon a hard time.\" He commented before he looked behind him.\n\"That so?\" Volcan asked, looking at the downed Pokémon.\n\"Sounds like they deserved this painful lesson then.\"\n\"It was anything BUT painful.\" He returned. \"I\ndon't believe in making others suffer...I made sure they were taken down as\npainlessly as possible...\"\n\"That's a good thing to do,\" said Volcan.\n\"Save the painful ones for the more dangerous types, and leave the\npushovers in the dirt.\"\n\"Even then I don't want to make them suffer...\" The\nDewott returned.\n\"Well, that's respectable,\" agreed Volcan.\n\"Anyway, I'm glad I wasn't needed after all. You should probably head home\nnow, alright?\"\nThe Dewott gave him a slight frown. \"I don't need\nsomeone telling me where to go...I'm not a child.\" He returned rather\nsternly before turning and taking his leave.\n\"Sorry,\" Volcan called after him, before he headed\nback over to the pharmacy, hoping he hadn't missed Luke.\n Just after he arrived,\nLuke did indeed come out with a small bag of medicinal herbs and berries. \"Hey,\"\nVolcan waved in greeting to the Lucario.\n Luke nodded in greeting. \"Sorry to have\nkept you waiting.\"\n\"Ah... don't worry; had a bit of a show helping me kill\ntime,\" remarked Volcan, looking back up the street where the gang of\nclobbered Pokémon remained.\n            Luke\nlooked at the downed Pokémon and cocked his eyebrow. \"I see...\"\n\"Wasn't me, really,\" replied Volcan. \"It was\nthis smaller Pokémon... kind of looked like an otter with blades.\"\n\"Ah, a Dewott.\" Luke returned. \"Did he have\nany distinguishing features?\"\n\"Not that I could think of, except he was kind of...\ngrim, like he was upset about something, yet it wasn't about the gangsters\nthemselves.\"\nLuke nodded \"Anything else..?\"\n\"Yeah; he knocked out all of those guys without even\ntrying,\" said Volcan. \"I went over to help because I thought he'd\nneed it but, turns out he didn't.\"\n\"I meant physically.\" Luke reinstated.\n\"Well... he had a lot of scars on him, and a wooden\nsword on his back,\" said Volcan. \"And... I kinda mistook him for a\nkid; he took offense to that.\"\n            \"Oh\nhim!\" Luke said. \"That would be Wade. He's a student of my best\nfriend's son.\"\n            \"Oh\nI see,\" said Volcan. \"Well... little guy was tough as nails\"\n            \"And\nhe should be....He was trained by two very skilled warriors. One of them is\npart of my Rescue Team.\" Luke explained.\n\"Rescue team?\" Volcan asked.\nLuke nodded. \"Basically it's a team of Pokémon that\nactively go out and perform missions for rewards. Often times they're sent on\nmissions to search for and retrieve something or someone of importance.\"\n            \"Huh...\nkinda like career Police, Fire Fighters and Coast Guard back on my world,\"\nremarked Volcan.\n            \"I...suppose\nso...\" Luke said, unfamilar with the latter two jobs.\n            \"Well,\nalright then,\" said Volcan. \"Where should we go next?\"\n            \"Well\nwe also need some fish, so let's head over to the docks and see if the kiosk\nthere has anything worthwhile.\" He said as he lead Volcan away toward the\ndocks.\n            \"Right\nwith you,\" said Volcan. \"Strange I didn't notice this town near any\nlakes or rivers...\"\n\"It actually borders an ocean.\" Luke explained as\nthey travelled quite a ways through town until they came to a more quieter part\nof town. It was there that Volcan could see docks lined up with different\nkiosks for different attractions, such as surfing, scuba diving or merchants\nselling different kinds of fish.\n\"Wow... Serena would like it here,\" the Blaziken whispered,\nlooking around the area with a somewhat nostaligic look... hinted with a bit of\nhomesickness as he once more felt a wave of melancholy settling over him as he\nremembered his home.\nLuke looked back to Volcan, sensing his distress. \"Are\nyou alright?\"\n\"Sorry just... remembering a few friends of mine,\"\nreplied Volcan. \"One called Serena, specifically. Timid to the point of\nseeming almost cowardly, very gentle, but determined, protective, and a very\nquick learner. She's of an aquatic species unlike me, and loves the water,\nespecially clean, clear and spacious water where she can swim peacefully.\"\nHe looked out to the ocean. \"She'd like it here...\"\n\"I see...\" Luke said softly, but he didn't look at\nVolcan. The Lucario was beginning to question his own doubt about Volcan's\norigins; about his claim of being from somewhere else; the way he spoke of his\nfriends and how many times he had expressed homesickness as he thought back to\nthat place, not to mention speaking of feats his previous body was capable of but\nhis new one was not... even if he was delusional about being from another\ndimension, one thing was certain; \"you really aren't from around here, are\nyou...?\" Luke asked, plainly.\nAt that question, the Blaziken rolled his eyes, his tone\nescalating to display his annoyance. \"Is it really THAT hard to\nbelieve?\" Volcan asked, very sternly. \"Considering I have no clue\nwhat I am or what any of the beings around me are, how could I possibly be a\nlocal?\" He looked at Luke intently. \"You really just thought I was crazy,\nor at least amnesiac or something?\"\n\"I'm sorry...I just don't really believe in the whole\nalternate realities deal.\" Luke returned. \"But now, well...I'm\nstarting to question that disbelief...\"\nVolcan laughed unexpectedly. \"Stick with me; you'll find\na lot of things you thought to be impossible turn out to be real... that is, if\nthere's a way back to my world...\"\nLuke smirked a little. \"I'm sure there will be a\nway...\"\nVolcan nodded. \"Until then... I just have to try and\nstay positive, and hope there's a way I can go home someday... although maybe I\nshouldn't rush, 'cuz there's a chance my brother might yell my ear off when I\nget back.\" He chuckled a little.\nLuke chuckled with him as they reached the kiosk that sold\nfish. Luke was conversing with the shop keep about what fish were best this\nseason.\nIn the meantime, Volcan peered out to the ocean, silently\nmissing his telescopic vision at that moment, but keeping that detail to\nhimself; he didn't want to sound like a complainer, to the one who was showing\nhim such generosity. The Blaziken honestly hoped he would get a chance to get\nto know Luke, especially now that the Lucario was certain he wasn't walking\naround with madman. 'Though if I were in his shoes... paws, I'd probably have\nthought I was crazy too,' Volcan silently confessed to himself.\nLuke finished with his purchases and turned back to Volcan,\nseeing him staring out toward the horizon and sensing his distress again.\n\"...What's wrong?\"\n\"Just reminiscing is all,\" replied Volcan. His\nexpression softened and he turned to Luke with an apologetic look. \"And...\nI wanted to apologize; I really can't blame you for not buying my story before.\nAdmittedly if you had showed up in my world and transformed into a species\nlocal to it I might've thought the same thing, even though I already know of\nthe existence of alternate dimensions.\"\nLuke nodded softly. \"I understand...I'm sorry for my\nharsh behaviour to you earlier....\"\nVolcan turned fully to Luke, and his hand twitched, as if\nabout to do something, but he paused. \"Er... do they even do handshakes\nhere?\" He mumbled. \"Gotta be careful about that...\"\nLuke only smiled and held his paw to Volcan. \"Well,\nseems you do,\" replied Volcan, reaching out with his large talon and\ngrasping Luke's paw. \"Guess this place isn't 'so' different from where I\ncome from.\"\n\"I guess not.\" Luke returned, shaking his hand\nfirmly.\nAs soon as their pulled their hands apart though, a bright\nflash of light coming from out at sea suddenly caught their attention, turning\ntheir gaze towards the ocean. \"The heck...?\" Volcan asked.            \nThe light was familiar to Luke, though... he had seen similar\nlights the previous day, when he had first met Volcan... Luke narrowed his eyes\nand prepared to shield his eyes in case it shone any brighter. \"That looks\nlike the light that brought you here....\"\n\"Wait, what?\" Volcan asked. \"Hey... you're\nright! It looks like the same kind of light I flew into before I wound up\nhere.\" Volcan's eyes widened in realization. \"You don't\nsuppose...\"\n\"Only one way to find out...\" Luke said as he\nwalked closer to the edge of the docks, watching the light intently.\n\"That's out to sea pretty far; can you really see\nanything from here?\" Volcan asked, shadowing his eyes and squinting as he\nstrained to see what was happening out on the ocean.\n\"I don't really need to see.\" He said as he closed\nhis eyes and tuned his Aura Sense. With it, he was able to find this strange\nanomaly did indeed match the one Volcan had come through. But out there with it\nhe also spotted a large boat covered in land-walking Pokémon, probably a\nfishing boat, and several swimming ones directly below it. As the anomaly took\nplace though... something strange seemed to be happening to the aura's of the Pokémon\nnear it; it's like some other sort of aura was mixing with their own...\n\"...What the hell...?\" Luke muttered.\n            \"What\nis it?\" Volcan asked.\n\"It's like all the aura signals out there are merging\ntogether..\" Luke returned. \"I can't make heads or tails on what's\ngoing on...\"\n\"...We better get out there,\" said Volcan. \"If\nthat's the same kind of light that brought me to this world it may mean\nsomething else from my world is coming through, and there are some dangerous\npeople back in my world you wouldn't want wandering around here...\"\nLuke nodded. \"We'll have to secure a boat or some\nkind...\" Then he ran back to the fish kiosk and asked the shop keep to\ntake them out to sea toward the light. He was hesitant, but agreed nonetheless\nafter some minor persuasion by Luke. \nAfter a brief wait as the shop keep prepared his boat, he and\nVolcan were on the open ocean, heading for the light ahead. Volcan watched the\nlights from the bow of the ship as they kept flickering, eyeing them with mixed\nemotions; it was likely he wondered if he could somehow go home if they could\nget there before the lights stopped, or if someone he knew would be coming\nthrough... but whatever it was didn't hold his attention over something he\nnoticed off the starboard side. \n\"Hey... something's swimming towards us,\" he said,\npointing down to the water.\nLuke turned and noticed the water breaking as something was\ntraversing through it at impressive speeds. As it got closer, Luke slowly\nsmirked as he recognized who it was under the waves. \"I wondered if he'd\nshow up...\"\n \"Someone you know?\" Volcan asked.\nLuke nodded just as the figure broke through the water,\nleaping in the air and landing on the boat deck next to Luke and Volcan. The\nfigure was a very muscular Samurott wearing a dark blue Kimono, obviously\nsoaked from his swim. He shook himself to dry off a little before turning to\nLuke. \"Heading out into danger alone, are you?\" He asked with a small\nsmirk.\nLuke smirked back and nodded back to the Samurott. \"Good\nto have you aboard Katsu..\"\n\"Katsu... oh yeah, I think you were telling me about\nhim,\" remarked Volcan.\nLuke turned and nodded to Volcan. Katsu looked at the\nBlaziken with a curious look. \"A new friend of yours?\"\n\"Yeah, I'm... new around here. My name's Volcan,\"\nreplied the Blaziken. \"Luke here has been kind enough to offer me shelter\nwhile I'm in the area.\"\n\"I see. It's a pleasure to meet you.\" Katsu said as\nhe did a short bow. \"I am called Katsumoto. The Mighty Blade of Rescue\nTeam Valiant...\"\n\"Glad to meet you too,\" returned Volcan politely,\nalso returning the bow.\n\"We'll have to save the formalities for later. We've\nalmost arrived.\" Luke said, getting both their attention.\nWhen the two turned though, they came upon a sight they\nweren't expecting. The ship Luke had spotted through his aura sense had been\nthrown against a cluster of rocks that marked shallow waters nearby, its\noutside hull covered in holes that looked like they had burned into the side,\nalong with several tears and clusters of seaweed, as if something had attacked\nthe ship.\n\"Holy... what happened?\" Volcan asked. \"Those\nlights barely started half an hour ago; what could've wrecked this boat that\nfast?\"\n\"I will check for any survivors.\" Katsu said as he\ndove back into the water and headed for the wrecked ship.\n\"I hope he'll be okay,\" said Volcan. \"There's\nno telling what's in the water now, if that portal brought something\nthrough...\"\n\"Katsu should be fine...he's the tank of my team...it\ntakes a LOT to bring him down.\" Luke returned.\n            \"Yeah,\nwell, I was the tank on my team before Tristan showed up; a household fire\nextinguisher was capable of killing me,\" Volcan pointed out. \"I'm\njust saying, no matter how strong someone is, there's always the possibility of\nsomething or someone stronger.\"\nLuke nodded softly before continuing to scan with his Aura\nSense for any more survivors, or for anything out of the ordinary.\nAnd he saw much, although it was hard to make sense of it. On\nthe ship, he saw the Aura's of the Pokémon he had sensed before, but there were\nfewer, and they were clashing, as if the ship's own crew had turned on one\nanother. Something similar was happening in the water as well; many of the\naura's, including one very big one, were clashing below, violently at that,\nlike some sort of frenzy had fallen over everyone in the area.\n\"...What could cause such a frenzy like this...?\"\nLuke muttered.\n\"Frenzy?\" Volcan asked, just barely catching the\nword from Luke.\n\"It's unreal...the Pokémon I sensed earlier are all\nfighting one another...I can't explain why.\"\n\"...That IS strange,\" said Volcan, peering out to\nthe shipwreck again. \"Maybe the ones on the boat are fighting over the\nlifeboats?\"\n            \"It's\npossible...perhaps we should take a look\"\n            \"Right.\"\nVolcan glanced back towards the fisherman steering the boat, and motioned for\nhim to bring them closer. He nodded and slowly brought the boat closer to the\nvessel in question. Once they were near enough, Volcan looked at Luke.\n\"Think I can reach it from here; what about you?\"\n            \"I\ncan as well.\" Luke returned, looking back at Vocan.\n            \"Alright,\non three,\" said Volcan, counting down with his fingers. Three... two...\none... and with a clenched fist, he sprang, soaring through the air and landing\non the wrecked ships' deck with surprising grace, his powerful legs easily\nabsorbing the impact.\nLuke also leapt onto the deck as well, though he had to cheat\na bit and relied on Extreme Speed to run on the water for a bit before he\nhopped onto the wrecked boat beside Volcan, keeping his guard up in case they\nwere attacked.\n \"I can feel a lot of bodies falling into\nwalls below decks,\" remarked Volcan. \"We better get down there before\nsomebody gets ki-\" He was cut off as something smashed through the wooden\nfloor right in front of them; they failed to get a glimpse of the figure as it\nwas sent soaring through the air, flailing its limbs helplessly before falling\ninto the water. \nSeconds later something else leapt out of the hole, something\nquite big, with four mighty arms that lifted it out of the hole without a hint\nof difficulty, growling ferally as it emerged. To Luke, he recognized it as a\nMachamp, but it looked... different. Its skin was a darker hue than it\nshould've been, and each of the fingers ending his four hands were tipped with\nclaws... but the 'Macho' family of Pokémon didn't have claws at any state of\ntheir evolution. \nWhen it turned to face him and Volcan its eyes were strange\ntoo; most had naturally red eyes anyway but this time they were red and black.\nUsing his aura sense, Luke could see that this Machamp was a victim of whatever\nstrange affliction had driven the others into a frenzy; his aura, if it could\nbe seen as colours, would be pitch black...\n Volcan however, seemed\nfamiliar with this strange ailment. \"Oh... shit,\" he said.\n            \"What\nis it?\" Luke asked, glancing to Volcan as they stared the machamp down.\n            \"I\nknow this sort of thing; this guy's come into contact with Demons,\nsomehow,\" said Volcan. \"He was exposed to their corruption and a lot\nof it by the looks of it; anyone who doesn't have the will to resist it,\nwell... they...\" He paused. \"Incoming!\" He barked, and Luke saw\nthe Machamp leaping towards them, all four arms drawn back to punch.\nLuke quickly crouched before the Machamp got close, then he\nmoved forward and leapt up, slamming his paw into the foe and sending him\nskyward with Sky Uppercut. Luke then flipped a couple times in middair and\nfired off two Aura Spheres at its face and chest to get it to further back off\nbefore he landed on the edge of the deck in a low crouch.\nThe Machamp seemed barely hurt by the attack though. As it\ndropped back to the deck, it landed on all six limbs, breaking its fall, before\nit sprang towards Luke without even taking any time to recover, and swung at\nhim repeatedly with its arms, unleashing a Mega Punch with each limb. Luke's\neyes widened at its reaction time, instinctively raising his arms up to block\nthe attacks, almost knocking him off of the boat deck.\nVolcan came dashing in as the onslaught continued, and\ndelivered a Fire Punch to the Machamp, throwing it off balance. \"Don't\nhold back!\" Volcan called. \"There's no coming back from demonic\ncorruption; this guy's already dead.\"\n\"Come again?!\" Luke said in disbelief\n\"Once demonic corruption sets in, it's almost impossible\nto remove,\" replied Volcan. \"Overtime the being that's been corrupted\nwill become a demon too; the process can only be stopped in early stages and\nthe only way to do that is through exorcism.\"\n\"Well I don't know exorcism, so how are we going to fix\nthis?!\" Luke asked as he fired some more Aura Spheres to keep the Machamp\nat bay.\n\"We can't,\" replied Volcan. \"Those with weak\nwills turn much faster; this guy's already gone. I know it's hard to believe,\nLuke, but I was exposed to a small amount of this corruption for 18 years of my\nlife,\" Volcan went on. \"It kept growing within me and nearly consumed\nme, but before it could get out of control, it was purged from me. This guy,\nhowever, has been exposed to a lot of it. There's no bringing him back; he's\nnothing but monster now.\"\nLuke looked on at the now demonized Machamp, sensing that\nVolcan was indeed telling the truth; the Machamp's aura, seen in a colour to\nthe keen senses of the Lucario, had turned a sickly violet colour; all trace of\nhis pure life force was gone, and the mind was clearly broken, as this Machamp\nfought like a mad animal. He let out a soft sigh and flattened his ears.\n\"...We just need to knock him out, right...?\"\n\"No Luke... we have to kill him,\" replied Volcan.\n\"If we just knock him out he'll get back up again and go another rampage.\nI know this isn't customary on your world but when it comes to demons you can't\nspare them. Trust me.\"\n Luke's ears flattened even further at this\nrealization. For all his life he's managed to get by without taking a single\nlife, but now he was faced with the inevitable reality....He slowly closed his\neyes and clenched his paws tight, mentally steeling his resolve as best he\ncould before he took on a soft style stance again. The Machamp was already\ncoming and Volcan jumped in once more, delivering a punch right to its chest;\nanatomically the area would've been perfect to slow down any opponent... but\nagainst a Machamp, corrupted or not, it barely flinched, and glared at Volcan\nmenacingly.\n\"Uh oh...\" Volcan whispered.\nThe Machamp grabbed him in a tight bear hug, squeezing\ntightly and forcing all of the breath out of Volcan's lungs. Luke's keen ears\ncaught the groan of protest emanating from Volcan's bones as they were\ncompressed by the powerful Machamp's limbs; the Machamp was crushing him! Luke\nquickly sprung into action, leaping at the Machamp and swinging his leg HARD\nagainst his face in an attempt to make it stumble and release Volcan from its\ngrasp.\n            The\nMachamp let go of Volcan, and the Blaziken fell limp to the ground, gasping for\nbreath as Luke kept fighting the corrupted Machamp, which took a swing at him\nwith both of its right arms. Luke leaned his head back to dodge the blows, then\nthrust forward with both paws for a powerful double Force Palm, sending the\nMachamp back even further and adding a paralyzing effect to the attack.\nIt fell against the railing of the ship, but before it could\nmake another move back towards Luke, something soared out of the water and bit\nthe Machamp right around its upper body. A Sharpedo, but not like one Luke had\never seen; just like the Machamp, its features had been warped and twisted; its\nrough skin had become gross and scaly, and its red eyes had turned black as the\nvoid. Like the Machamp, all semblance of its aura was gone, and it was actually\nbiting the Machamp hard enough to draw blood as the two struggled. Eventually\nthough the Machamp fell over the railing, and splashed into the water below,\nsealing its fate...\nLuke stared in horror at the spectacle, his heart thundering\nin his chest and his body trembling, panting softly after that whole spectacle\nunfolded, eyes wide in a mix of shock and awe. Overtime, his breath became\nfaster and more erratic, on the verge of hyperventilating.\n \"Luke...\" He heard Volcan groan as\nthe Blaziken slowly pushed himself back up to regain his footing. \"Are\nyou... okay?\" But the Lucario didn't answer at first. He was in complete\nshock after what he saw, even stumbling back and falling onto his rear. Volcan\ndragged himself over to Luke's side. \"Hey, keep it together Luke,\"\nstated the Blaziken. \"If you lose your cool now, we're ALL sunk.\"\nHe panted for a few moments longer before he shook his head\nand slowly got back to his feet, still somewhat in shock, but he could at least\nmove. \"I-I'm alright...just....\"\n \"I know,\" assured Volcan, putting\nhis hand on Luke's shoulder. \"It takes some getting used to, but that\nkill, that wasn't your doing. Demons are notorious for attacking each other\ntoo; without a stronger one to control them all they're like two ant colonies\n-they'll tear each other apart over a scrap of meat. Now...\" He looked\nLuke in the eye. \"We have to find out if anyone isn't corrupted yet and\nget them away from here but I don't know how to do that. Any ideas?\"\nLuke remembered the Machamp's Aura when he first saw it; it\nwas... distorted, defiled, and practically radiated malice when he saw it\nthrough his aura sense. Everyone on the ship and many Pokémon in the water\nhad... \nKatsu! He\nwas still in the water! \n However, another\nsplash was heard and the same Sharpedo that had killed the Machamp was suddenly\nlaying limp on the deck of the boat, a huge gash along its body. Another splash\nand Katsumoto was now on the boat deck, swords drawn and standing tall on his\nhind legs.\n\"Katsumoto; you okay?\" Volcan asked.\n\"I'm alright.\" He returned, glancing to Volcan.\n\"What on earth has happened to these Pokémon...? They attack anything that\nmoves.\"\n\"They've been corrupted with demonic essence,\"\nreplied Volcan. \"Every single one afflicted has been stripped of all sense\nof reason, turned into wild animals that know only how to tear each other\napart. We can't do anything for the ones who've already fallen to it; we have\nto see if anyone is still free of it, and get them away from here. I don't know\nhow where to start looking, though...\"\n\"We'll have to start below decks. Perhaps there are some\nthat have taken refuge down there.\" Katsumoto stated.\nLuke managed to calm himself enough, doing some breath\ncontrol to lessen some of the strain in his body. When he could focus well\nenough, tuned to his aura sense and searched below decks, ultimately finding\nsome Pokémon with pure auras. \"They're down in the cargo hold...They're\nfrightened, but otherwise unharmed.\"\n\"How do you know?\" Volcan asked.\nLuke looked to Volcan. \"My aura sense picks up on\nanyone's aura signal, be it pure or corrupt. The ones I sensed down below are\npure, meaning they haven't come in contact with these...\"demons\"\n\"Fair enough. Anyone in the water not affected?\"\n\"I'm afraid not...they're all corrupt...\" Then Luke\nflinched for a moment. \"Wait...there's one aura signal that stands\nout...it's pure...and from the feeling of it, the Pokémon's unconcious.\"\n            \"Shit;\nthey'll be a sitting duck down there!\" Volcan looked at Katsu. \"Can\nyou slip around the corrupted ones and get to them?\"\n            \"It\nwill be done.\" He said, then without another word he leapt off the boat\nand back down into the water, swimming as fast as he could to reach the Pokémon\nin question.\n Volcan looked at Luke. \"I guess that\nleaves the ones on this ship for us,\" he said. \"You ready for\nthis?\"\nLuke nodded slowly. \"I'll try...\" He said with\nuneasiness, but he still headed for the stairwell, keeping a lock on the other Pokémon\ntrapped on the ship.\n\"I'll take point; I'm a lot more adapted to this sort of\nthing than you,\" said Volcan. \"Remember, don't think of these guys as\npeople, think of them as rabid animals that need to be put down. This is all we\ncan do for them.\"\nLuke nodded, but he still felt uneasy about the whole thing.\nHe didn't want to kill anyone, regardless of them being possessed or\nnot...still, they made their way down the ship and toward the cargo bay to free\nthe survivors.\nFortunately though most of the corrupt Pokémon currently\ntearing each other apart were in separate rooms and not in the corridors; for\nthe first floor, they didn't encounter any opposition but as soon as they\ndescended to the sub-deck where the cargo bay was located they found another\ncorrupted Pokémon hammering on the door; a Quagsire, which was definitely no\nlonger its absent-minded looking self; it still had the smooth body but its\neyes had turned yellow, and its tail looked like a serrated blade now. Besides\nthat, it didn't look like it had changed much...\nVolcan looked closer. \"He hasn't been fully corrupted\nyet; this guy's actually resisting it.\"\n The Quagsire was standing hunched over,\nholding its stomach as if in pain, and stumbling about the room, occasionally\nfalling into the wall as it tried to hold off whatever was attempting to take\nits mind.\n\"What should we do? Try to purge it? knock him\nout?\"\n\"If we can get him to some kind of healer fast enough,\nthey might be able to save him,\" said Volcan. \"Some sort of holy\nground, like a god's temple, would be best.\"\n\"We don't have anything like that.\" Luke commented.\n\"We don't really have any sort of religion.\"\n\"You said you have a god don't you?\" Volcan asked.\n\"Arceus, wasn't it? Isn't there some sort of conduit for his power in your\nworld?\"\n            Luke\nshook his head. \"No, I'm afraid not...\"\n            Volcan\nlooked at the Quagsire closely. \"I don't know what to do... if there was\nsome way to separate the corruption from him...\"\nThe Quagsire looked at them, having only just noticed their\npresence, and he spoke to them pleadingly, his voice distorted yet still\nterrified. \"Please... don't let me... become one of them!\" He begged.\n\"I've seen so many of my friends turn into monsters; I can't be like\nthat!\"\n Luke grit his teeth, trying to think on how\nthey could free him. \"Damnit...there HAS to be another way...\"\nVolcan scratched his head in frustration, thinking hard on\nhow best to approach this problem. He knew corruption was an evil power that\nlatched directly onto the life force of others, choking and poisoning it until\nit took over the host. But at that thought, the Blaziken seemed to have an\nidea. \"Hang on...\" Volcan began. \"Those projectile attacks you\ndo; how do you use them?\"\nLuke looked to Volcan. \"I use my internal aura to\nproduce my aura spheres... essentially I'm weaponizing my own internal\nenergy.\"\n\"Can you make contact with the... aura's of other people\nas well?\" Volcan asked.\nLuke thought for a moment on that idea, then looked to the\nstruggling Quagsire and looked at his paw. \"...It's worth a shot...\"\nHe said.\n\"Just be careful, Luke,\" said Volcan. \"Soon as\nthe corruption makes contact with you it may try to seize you too; it's like a\nsymbiotic parasite without form.\"\nLuke nodded, then walked over and slowly placed his paw on\nthe Quagsire's head, then focused as hard as he could, immediately feeling the Pokémon's\ncorrupted aura conflicting with the lingering, pure aura within itself, trying\nto force it aside and take it over completely. In his mind, it looked like\nsomething out of a nightmare; a labyrinth of discoloured walls, with eyes\nwatching him at every step he took, whispering things to him that made his\nspine tingle.\n\"Don't let yourself be afraid,\" he heard Volcan's\nvoice. \"Demons feed on negative\nemotions; if you become filled with them you make it easier to lose yourself.\nBe brave, Luke.\"\nLuke was taken aback by such a sight, but he swallowed his\nfear and anxiousness and pressed on through the mental labyrinth, searching for\nthat speck of pure aura so he could cleanse it further. And soon he found it;\nthe Quagsire was still fighting back the corruption, but would be overtaken by\nit soon if it wasn't removed. Luke knew only one thing he could do; the\ncorruption itself was in the form of Aura, so if he could grasp it like he did\nhis own Aura Sphere or similar powers, perhaps he could tear it out of the\nQuagsire itself.\nLuke approached the Quagsire carefully. \"Try to\nrelax...I'm going to help you...\" He said, then he steeled his resolve and\nflashed his eyes open, grasping at the corrupted Aura and pulling it away as\nhard as he could.\nThe aura actually became visible as Luke ripped it out of the\nQuagsire; it seemed to cause the host discomfort but it was quickly replaced by\nrelief as that evil power was pulled\nout of his body. However the instant it was free, Luke could feel the\ncorruption trying to bond with him, immediately attempting to invade his own\nbody.\n\"GGH!!\" Luke cringed and doubled over as he tried\nto take him over, a black shroud burning around him as he twitched and\nstruggled to get it out of his system as well.\n\"Luke, project it, like you do your Aura Spheres!\"\nVolcan barked. \"Throw it like you would one of those!\"\nHe was right; if this corrupted essence was in the form of\naura, Luke could manipulate it just like he could his own aura, especially with\nit trying to bond with his own. He just had to isolate it somehow...\nHowever, flinging them in his Aura Sphere's would cost him\nprecious time. Instead he tried something else. After some time struggling he\nflashed his eyes open, then he tensed his body and let out a loud roar. The\nblack aura around him seemed to surge, and then burned much more erratically,\nas if being blown off of him. It wasn't long before there was a flash the flame\nwent from pitch black to a bright blue colour, then he relaxed and panted\nheavily, falling to his knees as the blue flame disappeared. Clearly whatever\nhappened had cleansed Luke of the corruption, but it also tuckered him out\ndrastically as well.\n\"Hey, you okay?\" Volcan asked, running over to Luke\nand catching him as the Lucario began to keel over with exhaustion.\n            He\nwas still panting heavily from that struggle, but he waved his paw dismissively\nat Volcan. \"I'll be fine....I just...wasn't expecting that,\" he replied,\nturning himself over to sit down as he rested for a moment.\n            Volcan\nstepped back. \"I can barely believe what I saw but you actually pulled\ncorruption out, made it visible, and then destroyed it.\"\n            Luke\nslowly stood back up to his feet. \"Is...is the Quagsire alright...?\"\n Volcan looked over to\nthe Quagsire; his body was reverting to normal, and he was breathing more easily,\nnot in any pain anymore and no longer transforming; the serrated look of his\ntail ended, and his eyes reverted to the beady black they were supposed to be. \n\"He's back to normal,\" returned Volcan, turning his\ngaze back to Luke. \"We're lucky he was still in the early stages; you\ncouldn't have done that for the Machamp we faced before, but now you know you\ncan do it to those not completely overtaken by the demonic essence.\" He\npatted Luke's shoulder. \"That's one for the books, buddy.\"\n He slowly regained his\nbreath and nodded. \"Indeed...but we're not done yet...\"\n            \"Right...\nhave to save those in the cargo bay there,\" said Volcan, looking at the\ndoor. \"Only thing I'm worried about though is how do we let them know\nwe're friendly?\"\n Luke thought for a moment.\n\"It might be best if I go in alone...Most of the town knows of me and my\nrescue team... they might respond better to me.\"\n\"Alright but I got your back if you need me,\"\npromised Volcan, a firm tone in his voice.\nLuke nodded softly and approached the door, taking a moment\nto find the switch to unlock it, then he stepped inside. When he entered,\nsomeone screamed, at least until they saw who was in the door. Of the three\ninside only one seemed to recognize him, but when they said his name the others\nknew that much anyway. \"We're saved!\" One exclaimed.\n\"And look; it's Diver!\" One of the Pokémon inside\npointed past Luke at the Quagsire. \"He even managed to save him too!\"\n            Luke\nbreathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the survivors. \"Thank Arceus they're\nunharmed...\" he muttered to himself. \"I need you all to stay close to\nme. I have a ship that can take you to shore, but I need your full\nco-operation...stay close to me. My friend and I will protect you...\"\n            \"Hey\nLuke,\" Volcan remarked, pointing at a nearby corner, where a puddle of\nwater had formed and was steadily increasing in depth and becoming wider.\n\"I think the rest of the ship is going to go down soon. We better scram,\nand fast.\"\nLuke looked at the puddle and his eyes widened a little as\nthe leak grew and grew. He turned to the survivors. \"There's not much\ntime! We have to move. NOW!\" He commanded the other Pokémon.\n\"I'll take point; Luke, let me know if we're about to\nrun into trouble,\" Volcan instructed, before leading the way back up to\nthe second level.\n Luke followed close behind Volcan, with all\nthe other survivors in tow. As they ascended, they did run into some\nresistance, but they were able to hold them at bay for the passengers to\nescape.\n Once topside, Volcan flagged down the other\nboat, motioning for it to get as close as possible, before turning back to\nLuke. \"Can you see anything we could use as a gangplank for them to\ncross?\" He asked.\n Luke looked around the\ndeck for something sturdy to use. He noticed a loose plank on the deck and\ngrabbed it with his paws, heaving with all of his might, but he was still too\nexhausted from his act of helping the Quagsire before. Volcan caught on to what\nthe Lucario was doing, however, and dashed over to help him. With their\ncombined strength, they tore the plank free; Volcan kicked it in a few spots to\nfree more of it so that it wouldn't break before they reached the end, else it\nbe too short to reach their boat.\nThe Quagsire went first, followed promptly by the two Nidoran\n-one male, one female- and lastly by the young Machop. Seeing him made Luke\nwonder if he had any relation to the Machamp that he and Volcan had come across\nbefore... But before he could dwell on it, suddenly something rocked the ship,\nmaking the Machop freeze mid-step as he nearly lost his balance on the board\n\"What was that?\" Volcan asked, almost fearfully.\nSuddenly, something shot out of the water; a tentacle,\nsmooth, rounded tip and gray, which lashed around the leg of the Machop. He let\nout a yelp of terror as he was suddenly yanked off of the plank; he grabbed the\nedge of it to catch himself but was quickly pulled free. Volcan, reacting\nquickly, sprang forward and held onto the rail of the ship as he grabbed the\nMachop's arm before he could be pulled out of reach.\nLuke retaliated quickly, firing a few Aura Spheres at the\ntentacle to try and get it off of the young Machop. It refused to let go, until\nthe onslaught of Luke's attacks actually broke it, freeing the Machop and\nallowing Volcan to pull him up onto the ship, but a rather grotesque wound had\nbeen left where the tentacle grabbed him before, and from his sudden crying, it\nwas causing him pain.\n\"Hey... is he infested, like the others?!\" One of\nthe Nidoran demanded.\n\"No; that's something else,\" replied Volcan,\nlooking at the wound. \"It looks like an infection; poison maybe.\"\nLuke leapt over to the boat, running over to the young Machop\nand examining the wound, calling for someone to bring him something to wrap the\nleg with before he called out to the ship's captain. \"Get these Pokémon\nout of here and take this Machop to a hospital immediately! He's been poisoned\nand needs medical attention right away!\" He commanded before calling to\nVolcan.\n\"What about Katsu? Is he back yet?\" Volcan asked.\nLuke quickly tuned to his aura sense to locate him, but all\nhe found was a trail of his aura signal. \"...I'm only sensing a trail...he\nmust have found the Pokémon and brought it back to shore already.\" However,\nno sooner did he say that did Katsumoto shoot up from the water and landed on\nthe boat deck, shaking himself dry once more. \"....Or not.\" Luke\nmuttered.\nHe quickly noticed on Katsu's back was another Pokémon -a\nVaporeon to be exact; it looked fairly beaten up, but alive, and its aura had\nonly a mild amount of corruption in it, but it was going away on its own,\napparently not enough to actually take the body.\nLuke looked at the Vaporeon on Katsu's back. \"...This\nwas the Pokémon that I sensed?\" He asked as he gently took it in his arms\nand gently set it down on the deck.\n            \"Looks\nlike it,\" said Volcan.\n\"She's pretty,\" Diver remarked.\n\"That's a she?\" Volcan whispered, unable to\nactually tell himself at first glance.\nLuke took a closer look at the Vaporeon before looking back\nup at Volcan. \"He's right, it is a woman...\" Luke said.\n\"Ah. Well... glad she's okay,\" said Volcan, nodding\neven as he flushed with embarrassment at his oversight. But then, he tilted his\nhead at a sound he heard, looking around. \"Now... unless my ears are full\nof water...\" He looked over the rear of the ship. \"Something's\nchasing us.\"\n Sure enough, there was a large form moving\nthrough the water at high speed causing a wave behind the ship at it pursued.\nLuke turned\nto the captain of the ship. \"Full speed ahead captain!\" He commanded.\n\"I AM\ngoing full speed!\" He called back.\nLuke looked back to the wave that was chasing them, then\nlooked to Katsumoto. The Samurott seemed to get the idea immediately and hopped\nover to the stern of the ship, drawing his blades and twirling them a bit. He\nthen pointed them to the water below and used his Aqua Jet to add even more\nspeed, making the ship rush through the water quickly toward shore.\n            The\nfigure in the water emerged; a large blue body with a dome-shaped top, embedded\nwith what resembled two massive rubies, and a black body peeking above the\nwater from behind the large top. The eyes of the creature were a blood red\ncolour, and seemed to actually glow like small stars as it glared at the ship,\nsomehow still keeping up with it despite the boost of speed.\n\"That's not possible...\" Volcan whispered.\n\"Unless...\" He ran over to the edge of the ship, and peered over.\n\"Damn it, he's holding the ship; we're pulling him!\"\n \"Not for long!\" Katsu stated,\ncrouching low before leaping up into the air, aiming his swords down and\nroaring as he dropped onto the domed head, stabbing at it from above.\n Unfortunately though, despite the strength of\nhis attack, he barely made penetration, and only seemed to irritate the\ncorrupted Pokémon; a tentacle rose up out of the water, and immediately went\nfor Katsu, trying to grab him.\n\"By Arceus, that's a Tentacruel!\" One of the\ncivilians cried out.\n\"It's huge!\" Another one exclaimed.\nKatsu quickly managed to retreat back to teh ship with Aqua\nJet, skidding to a halt on the boat deck and gazing up at the Tentacruel.\n\"No way a Tentacruel has a hide that thick...\" He muttered.\n\"The corruption must've mutated it somehow like it did\nthe others,\" said Volcan. \"I've never heard of it giving it tougher\nskin but hey, even I don't understand demons yet. We'll have to wear it down\nand make it let go; if we drag this thing all the way back to the shore it\ncould be a disaster.\"\n\"We'll need an Electric type if we're to weaken it enough...it\nhas a resistance to Fire, Fighting and Water Type attacks...\" Luke said.\n\"...Unless.....\"\n\"Unless what?\" Volcan asked\n Luke thought for a\nmoment. \"....It's worth a shot...\" He said as he held his paws out in\nfront of him, then he quickly parted then and a long bone materialized in his\npaws.\n            \"What...\nis that?\" Volcan asked.\n            \"My\nBone Rush.\" Luke returned. \"Because Tentacruel are also Poison types,\nthey're susceptible to Ground type attacks...Bone Rush is a Ground type\nattack.\"\n\"Are you sure you can get close enough to it to use it?\nWhat if snags you and tries to drown you?\" Volcan pointed out.\n\"What other options do we have?\" Luke said sternly\nto Volcan. \"If you have a better idea, then speak up!\"\n\"I know I can't do much harm to it,\" admitted Volcan.\n\"But maybe Katsu and I can draw its attention long enough for you to land\na clean hit. Just make sure you make that hit count.\"\n\"Sounds solid enough for me...but how do you intend to\ndraw its attention? If you fall in you'll most likely drown\"\n \"The old fashioned way,\" replied\nVolcan, stepping back from the ledge. \"Annoy the heck out of him and keep\nhis attention on something that's not a threat. Watch and learn!\" Volcan\nbarked before he ran forward and sprang away from the ship. \nHe landed on the Tentacruel's head. \"Allow me to\nintroduce the Cossack Dance!\" And before long, Volcan was doing a very\nodd-looking, series of movements, jumping and stomping all over the\nTentacruel's head with his arms crossed. Eventually, it tried to make a grab at\nhim but he was jumping around so much it kept missing, until he dove over the\nfront, digging his claws into its head until he was dangling in front of its\neye. \"There's no Visine for this!\" He barked before delivering a fire\npunch right into the Tentacruel's eye which made it rear back and bellow out in\npain, sending Volcan back-flipping through the air. \"WHOOPS!!\" He\nyelled.\nBoth Luke and Katsumoto watched wordlessly as Volcan went\nspiralling through the air, wincing when he crashed into the cabin, and again\nwhen he flopped onto the deck of the ship. \"...Ouch...\" \n\"I'm okay!\" He called.\nThe Quagsire looked at Luke in exasperation. \"Well,\nwhat're you waiting for?!\" He snapped. \"You've got an opening!\"\nLuke snapped back into reality, then he crouched low, bone in\npaw, before leapt up and toward the Tentacruel while it was still rearing. He\nroared and drove his bone into the Tentacruel's other eye, then slammed it\nagainst its head before leaping off and landing back on the ship again. The\nTentacruel howled in pain again, nearly losing its grip on the ship as it was\nstruck; the tentacles stretched dangerously as the ocean Pokémon nearly lost\nits grip. Now was Katsu's chance to free the ship.\nKatsu roared and dove quickly into the water. A few seconds\nafter, he emerged from below the surface and sliced at the remaining tentacles\nwith a combo of Razor Shell and Aqua Jet, severing them from the boat, and then\nhe darted back to the deck and landed in a crouch, quickly sheathing his blades\ninto his arm guards. With its tentacles severed the Tentacruel lost its grip\nand the ship was released, allowing it to finally go at its proper speed and\nleave the large, corrupted Pokémon behind. It appeared to be about to give\npursuit, but paused and then swam away in the opposite direction. They were\nsafe... for now...\nLuke breathed a sigh of relief when they saw it swim away, and\nthen quickly headed over to check on Volcan. \"You alright...?\"\nThe Blaziken sat up. \"A little dizzy, but I'm okay. I've\ntaken worse falls than that before, trust me...\" He cringed.\n\"Although at the time, I had wings to slow myself down with -ow- or big\nmuscles to catch myself...\"\nLuke chuckled a little \"Well in any case, we're safe for\nnow...We need to get these Pokémon to a hospital as soon as we reach\nland.\"\n\"Good call, especially for the Machop there,\" said\nVolcan, glancing past Luke. \"That wound looks like it's spreading...\nTentacruel's; they're poisonous, right? How potent is it?\"\n\"It depends on the severity of the wound...Either way,\nwe can't waste any more time.\"\n\"We should be almost back to shore now,\" said\nVolcan, looking past the bow of the ship, seeing land getting closer.\n\"Hey, guys!\" Diver called. \"The Vaporeon;\nshe's waking up!\"\nKatsumoto was closest to her at the time, so he was the first\non the scene, gently sitting her up a little and holding her in his large arms\nas she slowly came to As her eyes opened, he immediately noticed something\nunusual; they were the wrong colour, not the sapphire blue like other Vaporeon;\nhers were the colour of emeralds. When she looked up at Katsu, her eyes widened\nwith shock and she immediately shot away from him, although stumbled somewhat,\nand turned to face him. \n\"Who... what are you; where am I?\" She demanded,\nalthough her voice sounded more afraid than angry.\n\"Easy...\" Katsumoto said softly, raising his paw in\na calming manner. \"You were found drifting in the ocean...I brought you\naboard and saved you...\"\n\"The ocean? But I'm nowhere near...\" She paused\nwhen she saw past Katsu and saw the open sea stretched out before her, blinking\nin confusion. \"But... how? How did I get here?\" She asked.\n\"Looks like we have a visitor from my world,\"\nremarked Volcan, whispering to Luke.\n            Katsumoto\nslowly approached her again. \"My name is Katsumoto...\" he returned\nsoftly. \"What is your moniker...?\"\n            \"My...\nmy friends call me Serena...\"\nLuke literally felt Volcan jerk when he heard that name, and\nlooked over to him to see the Blaziken had stiffened with shock, staring\ndirectly at the Vaporeon as if in recognition of her, even though his earlier\ninquiry about her species indicated he had never seen a Vaporeon before. \"...Volcan?\nYou alright...?\" Luke asked softly\n\"That's... It couldn't be...\" Volcan whispered.\nAnd then, Luke remembered; Volcan had been telling him of an\naquatic friend of his from back home that had gone by the name Serena,\ncommenting on how she would've liked to see the ocean here...\n\"Wait...that's Serena?\" Luke said, glancing to the\nVaporeon and back to Volcan.\n\"It doesn't look like her, but that timid demeanor and\nbeing called 'Serena' as a nickname -mostly because none of us can pronounce\nher actual name- is one hell of a coincidence if it isn't her... only one way\nto be sure though.\" He stepped forward, carefully approaching the\nVaporeon.\nSerena looked up as the Blaziken approached, and was about to\nback up when she stumbled again. \"Why do I keep...\" She looked down\nat herself. \"Wha... what?! What's happened to me; where are my hooves? My\nhands? My fin...!\" She looked ready to completely lose herself with fear,\nwhen Volcan spoke.\n\"Serena,\" he said. \"Take it easy; you've been\ntransformed. I know it's not your old Hippocampus body, but don't be\nscared.\"\n            Serena\nlooked at the Blaziken again, blinking questioningly at him. \"What... how\ndo you know what I used to be?\" She asked.\n\"Because I know you,\" replied Volcan. \"And...\nbecause I went through the same thing as well; that helps too. You've entered\nanother world.\"\nHer gaze met Volcan's for a moment, studying the look in his\neyes; in those sky blue eyes, she saw a familiar warmth and kindness that she\nknew well. Her own eyes widened with realization as she stared at Volcan\nlonger, studying his eyes. \"Wait... you couldn't be...\"\nVolcan smiled\nback at Serena. \"Yeah, Serena, it's me... it's Volcan.\"\nThe two stared at each other a moment longer, before the\nVaporeon suddenly leapt at the Blaziken; Volcan caught her and wrapped her in a\ntight hug, the Vaporeon rubbing her head against the side of his.\n\"By Poseidon... it really is you! We all thought you\nwere taken by Kalo'Temir again,\" Serena whimpered. \"Thank the seas you're\nalright!\"\n\"I'm sorry... I got pulled here by accident somehow; I'm\nguessing you were too,\" returned Volcan. \"I'm sorry I made you all worry.\"\n\"You've been gone for almost six days; it was hard not\nto worry.\"\n\"Wait, six?\" Volcan asked, pulling back from Serena\nand looking at her. \"But I've only been gone for a single night.\"\nSerena blinked at him. \"Volcan... back on our world\nwe've been looking for you for nearly a week; the police have been scouring the\ncity trying to find you. Pavan and Korban have even headed for Egypt to see if\nIzrail knew where you were. You're saying it's only been one night?\"\nVolcan was frozen in place for a moment, setting Serena down\nbefore he fell onto his backside, his face filled with confusion and shock...\n            \"Are\nyou alright?\" Katsumoto said, approaching Volcan as he fell back.\n            \"It's\nbeen six days since I came here?\" Volcan asked. \"My god, everyone on\nEarth must be scared to death...\"\nLuke rested his paw on Volcan's shoulder. \"I...I don't\nknow what to say...I'm sorry...\"\nVolcan looked at Luke briefly, and then back at Serena.\n\"And now she's here... whatever's happening to cause these rifts between\nour worlds, now I know we don't share a time stream.\" Volcan ran a hand\ndown his face. \"If she and I don't find a way home, eventually the whole\nworld may think we're dead.\"\nLuke looked away for a moment, unsure of what to say or do\nnext.\nVolcan shook his head. \"But I'll worry about that\nlater... right now, we have to find out why this is happening, and why Demonic\nEssence is here on this world, corrupting its populace... turning them into\nmonsters.\"\n\"Demons are involved?\" Serena asked fearfully.\n\"It seems so. Either Kalo'Temir is trying to rip a hole\nin space and time or something worse is happening,\" replied Volcan.\n\"Either way, there's no telling what's been sent here to this world, and\nwhat might get sent FROM here back to ours.\"\n \"Well for now, we\nhave to get these Pokémon to the hospital.\" Luke said as he picked up the\ninjured Machop as they hit the shoreline. \"Volcan, can I count on you to\nlead the others to the hospital? It's a tall white building.\"\n            The\nBlaziken shook his head. \"You should lead them there,\" He stated.\n\"They know of you; I'm a stranger here. Serena and I... we should just\nhead back to your place and wait... We have a lot of thinking to do.\"\nLuke nodded. \"Alright, but I'm sending Katsumoto with\nyou to escort you both back...\" He said then turned to the survivors and\ncommanded them to follow closely to the hospital.\nVolcan nodded. \"Fair enough,\" he returned..\nKatsumoto approached the two. \"Stay close to me, and I\nwill be able to protect you...\" He said as he slowly walked ahead of the\ntwo.\n\"We can handle ourselves... but thanks either way,\"\nVolcan assured, following Katsumoto. Serena tried to as well, attempting to walk\non her hind legs, but failing. After about the third attempt to navigate\nherself -clearly not used to being a quadruped- Volcan picked her up and\ncarried her on his back.\n~~~~~\n            After\na long walk, they arrived back at Luke's residence and he opened the door for\nthem. \"Do you need anything else...?\" He asked as he held the door\nopen for them.\n            Volcan\ncouldn't think of an answer to give the Samurott, so he simply shook his head\nin no. \"Thanks for coming with us... Sorry if this all a little strange to\nyou.\"\n            He\nnodded softly. \"It's alright....\" He returned, though he glanced to\nSerena, looking to her for a moment before he averted his eyes.\nOf course, this didn't go unnoticed by Volcan. \"I think\nhe likes you,\" he remarked to Serena, too low for Katsu to hear.\n\"What?\"\n\"Nothing.\"\n            \"A-Anyway...take\ncare...both of you...\" He said, nodding to them both, though he blushed a\nbit when his eyes were on Serena once again. He quickly averted them once more\nbefore he made his way back to his home, leaving the two to enter Luke's home\nand wait for the Lucario to return.\n"}