S’ story (pt. 1)
The sun descended to be swallowed by the forested horizon, casting a red glow over the hills. An eager young child, followed by a Deerling, dashed up the hill with little focus on the muddy path that he probably should have followed.
"Come on, Celyn! Last one there's a rotten egg!" The child called out to another (slightly less reckless) child who struggled to lift themself over the rocky surface of the hill.
"I'm coming, Zephyr! Just slowly!" The second child, Celyn, piped up indignently.
"Then be faster! Deerling thinks you're being silly!" Zephyr teased, already at the top of the hill.
An ancient larch tree shadowed over Zephyr, and by extention Celyn. Its long branches were weighed down by its many needle-like leaves. Despite the cold climate of the region, this tree, the oldest tree in all of Tepdral, was a deciduous tree. One couldn't tell from just looking at it today, as it was a warm summer evening, when all trees kept their leaves.
"I'm here!" Celyn shouted as she reached the crown of the hill, holding onto a fallen branch for support.
"Still a rotten egg," Zephyr snickered, though his voice held no malice, "Come on, you've gotta see this!"
Zephyr pointed to the horizon, grinning.
Celyn walked to Zephyr's side, attempting to see from his point of view, "What am I meant to be looking at?"
"See where all the trees are flat?"
"Yeah?"
"My Mama said that they used to be like every other tree in the woods, but they all got knocked down one day, and no-one knows why!" Zephyr excitedly explained, "Don't you think that it's gotta have something to do with a Legendary Pokemon?"
Celyn was silent for a bit, scanning the horizon with her analytical green eyes, then mused, "I suppose so..." and then the reality of the idea that something so magical could be so close to home set in, manifesting with a resounding "Yeah! That'd be really cool!"
"I know!" Zephyr replied, puffing up with pride, "I'll be the first to explore the knocked-down trees! And I'll do it with Deerling!"
The usually timid Deerling chirped happily, sensing its trainer's energy.
"Nuh-uh!" Celyn protested, "I'm gonna explore it with you!"
[2012, November]
Zephyr entered the library, flanked by his beloved partner Pokemon, Sawsbuck. He needed to get out of the cold, and Paintersburg's library was the perfect excuse to seek out warmth. He had always loved books, he had breezed past his peers in literacy classes in his earlier years of school, but he loved books even more now in his late teenage years. He had nothing better to do with his time than read, as his only true friend, Celyn, had left Tepdral to persue college in Kalos. Zephyr didn't have the heart to spite the budding scientist for it, however, as he had pinky promised to support whatever Celyn persued when they were children. Besides, the weather in Kalos was much more pleasant than back home...
He perused the books in the sparse "Foreign Mythology" section, hoping to learn more about the local myths where Celyn was staying. Perhaps he could learn something about Kalos to bond with Celyn over? A thick, dusty book with "Kalosian Myths - A Brief Overview" ironically printed on the side in a bold yet elegant font. He pulled the book off of the shelf, stifling the urge to sneeze and get all the dust out of his nose. Zephyr had no plans to check out the book - he'd probably forget about it in his room - but figured that it would be something nice to read while curled up on a beanbag with Sawsbuck (thank Arceus the library was Pokemon-fiendly).
Zephyr sat cross-legged in his favourite corner, leaning against Sawsbuck, who let out a content grunt. He flipped through the book for a while, waiting for a chapter title to jump out at him. Luckily, one did:
"Volcanion."
The name was mighty.
The young man turned to Volcanion's page, page 270, to learn more. He was greeted by a beautiful watercolour painting, depicting the titular Volcanion: a large, primarily maroon, quadrupedal Pokemon, surrounded by raging fires and rising waters. Its body appeared to be split into three sections, much like an insect, with a small head, a significantly larger, diamond-shaped body, and a stubby tail. Its most defining trait were two, arm-like cannons on its back, each one seperated into three segments by bright blue lines, the topmost segments having four small, yellow bumps around the ends.
"Volcanion..."
Zephyr read the name out loud.
"I need to learn more about this..."
