Akuma was confused, he had been doing his daily ritual of brooding by the edge of the Crow Island, watching the endless stars swirling in front of him.
But something had happened, reality itself had been rent apart, just like his darkened soul was when he heard of the news that Yomi had been rejected by a beautiful crane.
It filled him with rage that he had received such scorn and hatred from her, it should have been him, he could have totally added it to do his poetry, what a perfect opportunity wasted on that fool.
His rage at his brother was interrupted when he slammed into solid light, the uncomprehensible colors and shifting space falling away to reveal a plane of endless white, the only living being in this place was something Akuma would struggle to describe.
Not because it was incomprehensible, but because it was glowing way too brightly.
But it felt powerful, and that made him excited, because that could only mean one thing!
"Ahah! My fated rival! I knew that one day we would meet like this! You, with your shining light, and I, with my darkness filled heart!" Akuma declared, pointing his wing at the glowing being.
"Our battle will shake the very heavens, but alas, no matter how strong you are, yo-"
Akuma was interrupted by a hand made of light clamping down on his mouth, the glow around the being faded, revealing an...
Horse? It had 4 legs, and a long neck, well, maybe a torso? Its legs ended with pointy tips, golden in colour, and it had a ring around its torse, also gold.
Honestly, now he was struggling to describe it because it was weird.
***
Arceus looked at the weird animal that had invaded their realm with nothing but confusion, what even was this thing?
It looked like a Corviknight, if a little bit smaller, only about the size of a human.
It clearly came from outside his Universe, they had known things existed out there, but had never bothered to explore them, they had already created a world he cared deeply for, why should they care about worlds beyond that?
But this being had managed to baffle them within 3 words, so they should probably send it back.
Thankfully, there was a trace of power within the being, it made it ageless, but it also connected it to its own universe.
So with a flash, Arceus teleported it away.
Hopefully, it would stay away and stop interrupting their important business of standing around, looking majestic.
But two minutes later, the deformed Corviknight popped back into existence in front of them.
And then a letter fell on their head.
Arceus casually manifested another string around the invaders beak, stopping it from talking.
He levitated the letter towards himself and opened it.
'Dear Arceus,
I write to you, asking for help, I know you are very busy with your beautiful world, but I have a problem.
He has not stopped pestering me for the last 2 months about sending him back to his fated rival, after he began singing every second he was awake about him missing you, I finally caved.
It was that or turning him into a coat.
Please help me, I am going insane.
With love, The Watcher Behind The Stars.'
The implication that time passed differently in this universe compared to theirs was interesting.
And Arceus felt very flattered about the praise of their universe, so maybe they should grant this 'Watcher' some help.
A hand made out of light gently picked up the intruder, and then spiked him into the Mortal World.
Problem solved.
Now back to being majestic.
***
Akuma slammed into the ground at terminal velocity, leaving an impressive crater around himself as he climbed out of it.
He did not think about the fact that he was unharmed from slamming into the ground at the speed he fell.
That was clearly due to his great strength, there was no other explanation.
His gaze swept over the surroundings, it was a forest.
How droll, not even a hint of ominous fog or dim lightning to reflect his tortured soul.
Just a brightly lit forest, with lush green trees and vibrant colored flowers.
Blech.
But he didn't let the disappointing surroundings ruin his mood, this was clearly the start of his revenge journey, defeated in a single move by his greatest rival, and now he would go on a journey that would test his mind and body to their limits, challenge after challenge slowly carving away his sanity and innocence, until only a honed weapon remained, perfectly tempered for his rematch with his rival, who had watched his growth from afar, awaiting the day where they would finally fight again...
Yes...
"JUST YOU WAIT MY RIVAL, SOON I SHALL RETURN STRONGER THAN EVER!" He yelled into the sky. "FOR NOW, YOU REMAIN THE VICTOR OF THIS WAR!"
And so, Akuma flew into the sky, filled with purpose.
***
5 MINUTES LATER
Akuma was still filled with purpose, but he was also hopelessly lost, why did this place look the same no matter where you went!
A clearing, a forest, another clearing, another forest.
How annoying, he flew downwards, hoping to spot a living being from a lower altitude.
Finally, he saw something, a group of hairballs with limbs harassing a baby bird, tri colored and of a species he did recognize, it had a yellow underside, which was bad, but the rest of it was blue and black, which was good, proper colors for a creature of darkness.
Akuma swooped down in front of the tiny bird, kicking the lead hairball away before turning around.
"Fear not, child! I will save you!" He declared dramatically.
"Ro-Rookidee!" The bird chirped out happily, beady black eyes full of admiration.
The hairballs growled at him, and the one he kicked away got up from the ground, his expression angry.
"Mankey! Mankey!"
Ah, how nostalgic, the clamoring of his lessers filled the hair as they closed in on him.
"Hmph. Pathetic." He scoffed. "Come at me with all your might, and learn the difference between our strengths."
They charged at him, attacking as a group.
"Mimicry: Fire!"
His beak opened and he unleashed a stream of fire at them, sending them flying back.
The grass burned, and the pack of savages slowly got up, now burned and wary of Akuma.
"Mankey... Mankey!"
They turned and ran away, unwilling to challenge Akuma any further.
The tiny bird jumped around him excitedly, his eyes shimmering with awe, all while repeating its cry over and over again.
Its inability to speak properly was a bad sign, but its clear admiration of him meant that it was far smarter than most of his Clan.
He stretched out a wing.
"Come, young one!" He declared dramatically. "You shall be my student! Together we shall crush our enemies beneath our feet!"
A cracking sound interrupted his grand declaration.
He turned to it, and saw the fire.
Oh.
...
Maybe he should deal with that before offering to train a baby bird.
"Mimcry: Water!"
A tsunami of water rose up in front of him and crashed onto the burning trees and bushes, putting out the fire.
He looked at the knocked over trees and wet ground.
"See, my little friend, this is the power of a Master!" He said cheerfully. "Now... can you tell me where I am?"
The Rookidee tilted his head innocently.
"Rookidee!"
Ah.
Hmm.
This was going to be a problem, but as a wise master, he would teach his new friend proper speech.
Maybe through the use of poetry.
***
"Yeah, I'm over the area where the smoke was spotted." Alice said into the radio. "No signs of fire, so you can call off the 5-A, but I'm heading down to see if I can find the culprit, there shouldn't be any Fire Types in this area."
"Roger." The voice on the other end of the radio said curtly. "Stay safe."
She put the radio away and grabbed tighter on the reins.
"Come on, Togekiss, slow descent on the burned area." She ordered, pointing at the area she saw from above.
Togekiss let out an affirmative cry and lowered her altitude.
As she descended, Alice spotted something interesting, there was a large Pokémon standing next to the area, and she could spot water puddles around the burned ground.
She squinted her eyes, was that a Starraptor? The dark coloring would fit, but she spotted no red plumes on its head.
With another command, she landed in front of it, dismounting as soon as she landed.
That wasn't a Starraptor, she didn't recognize its species, the smaller blue Pokémon standing next to it was also unknown to her.
A parent/child pair? And not native to this region, if there was anything she was confident in, it was her knowledge of the local Pokémon.
But before she could speak, the larger one pointed his wing at her.
"You!" He suddenly yelled dramatically. "Truly, a fortuitous encounter, tell me, where am I?"
The smaller Pokémon excitedly repeated the action with its own wings, tilting its head upwards and pointing into the sky.
Why was the Pokémon speaking?