Echidna's Agenda (Not finished, but PLEASE comment!)

WARNING: Contains infrequent swearing and slightly heavier violence than is typical for Pokémon.

ALSO: This is only the first three chapters. I have a little more written and a LOT more planned, but I'd like to get feedback on what I have right now.

Love it? Hate it? Want me to clear something up? Tell me about it! I really want to show my full potential with this one, so I really need some good feedback.

Title and plot subject to change.

Anyway, here it is:

CHAPTER 1
KANASHIBARI​

Jave’s eyes snapped open. He was engulfed in darkness at first, until his eyes slowly became accustomed to the dim light provided by the glow of his alarm clock. He turned his eyes toward the clock, but found it to be just beyond of his range of vision. That was odd. He was always able to sit up and look at the time. But he couldn’t sit up, nor could he look anywhere. He was still lying in bed on his back, completely immobilized.

Hhhhhhhhhh…

A pale hiss emerged from Jave’s throat. He was unable to cry out for help. It wasn't even as though he could struggle. Though he could still feel the sheets on his body, his muscles may as well have had no connection to his brain. He was a ragdoll.

The scent of copper wafted through the room on a cool breeze that drifted across Jave’s arms and face. His eyes shot downward. His covers had become disheveled in his sleep. But that wasn’t the problem. The breeze indicated that his window was wide open. Normally this wouldn’t be a problem, but he hadn’t left it open, and being inexplicably paralyzed didn’t exactly calm his nerves. And what was that coppery smell?

Before long, Jave began to hear noises filling the room. Claws raked against a metallic surface. A high-pitched whir shot out in response. The sharp crack of splintering wood sounded, followed by another piercing trill. Shadows bobbed and weaved across the walls, just out of view. The screeches of scraping metal and the whistles of supernatural pulses were periodically interrupted by harsh croaks and otherworldly clinking sounds. After what felt like an eternity, the room fell silent.

Is it over?

It wasn’t. A slow grating rhythm filled the room. Jave closed his eyes, silently pleading for any sort of spirit or deity to release him from this mind-numbing torment.

Nobody replied.

Hhhhhhhhhh…

Still unable to speak or cry out, Jave opened his eyes once more. He scanned the room for the origin point of the noise. The scraping stopped abruptly. His eyes darted frantically, stopping on a light source.

Two illuminated yellow eyes stared back at him from above. Jave slammed his eyes shut. His blood ran cold.

Clink-link!

CHAPTER 2
ENVENOMED​

Jave awoke to the melody of chirping Starly. He unburied his face from the pillow to be struck blind by an intense flash of light. He sat up and put his hand over his brow, peering forward. The sun reflected off of a queer bronze disc, which hung in the air, silently gazing back at him with golden eyes.

“Is that…” Jave wondered aloud, “…a Bronzor?” He studied the polished intruder with a quizzical stare. As far as Jave was aware, Bronzor were typically faded denim blue. But the one which presented itself to him now was unquestionably a deep shade of golden-brown and was engulfed in a fog of metallic odor. The Bronzor emitted a clanking chirp.

Clink-link!

“Oh man… You gave me quite a scare last night,” Jave chuckled. “What are you doing here?”

The Bronzor drifted to a corner of the room, dipping down behind a pile of wood that had been Jave’s computer desk the day before. As Jave stood to follow, a sharp pain shot through his ribs. He clutched his side and looked down. A small scratch decorated his abdomen, which was beginning to swell. He struggled to his feet and hobbled through the maze of splintered wood and torn books which now decorated his bedroom floor, approaching his former desk.

An indigo Toxicroak lay motionless in a crumpled heap before him. Its eyes and jaw hung open as it clutched its head with its clawed hands. It was dead.

“Oh shit!” A spatter of vomit exploded out of Jave’s mouth.

The Bronzor nudged Jave. Its eyes flashed violet as it turned to glide out the open window. Awash in the glow of Bronzor’s mindpower, Jave hovered off the ground and followed along the Bronzor’s trail, as though he was being pulled by an invisible rope. His chestnut hair fluttered in the cool morning breeze. As he watched his house shrink and recede into the distance, he had only two thoughts: ‘I really wish I could have changed out of my pajamas,’ and ‘My, this puncture wound in my gut is rather unpleasant.” The magic and wonder of flying over the quaint seaside town of Brineport was lost on him. Before long, he found himself collapsed on the ground in front of a hospital. The Bronzor dipped down and nudged him once more.

“Sir, are you okay?” a female voice inquired.

Jave lifted his head to see a young woman emerging from the hospital’s glass double doors. Her pinafore apron flapped behind her as she darted down the concrete steps. Her long blonde hair was tied loosely in a bun.

He placed a hand on his forehead. His breathing became labored. “I don’t know. There was a Toxicroak or something… I guess it must have attacked me, because I have this stab in my side. This guy seems to have killed it.” He motioned at the Bronzor with his head.

“A Toxicroak?” The nurse’s eyes widened.

“Pretty sure,” Jave wheezed. “Blue. Froggy. Red spikes.”

She exhaled deeply. “Okay. We have some antivenom for that. Just stay here.” She disappeared back into the hospital.

Yeah, because I was about to flee from medical aid…

Within moments, several men and women emerged from the hospital. They placed Jave on a stretcher. The nurse’s face looked down upon him. A syringe entered his arm.

“This is the Toxicroak antivenom. The antibodies contained within are going to diffuse into your body tissue and neutralize the toxins and prevent further complications. You’re going to be okay.”

“What?”

“It’s going to soak up the venom.”

“Cool,” Jave replied. “I’m going to pass out now.”

The world faded to black.

CHAPTER 3
BIG NEWS​

It was a dark, windless place where Jave stood, if you could call it standing, that is. There was no ground, and yet Jave’s feet pressed firmly upon it—the lack of ground, that is. There were no sights to behold, no sounds to hear, not a whiff of odor on the absence of breeze. Unconvinced, Jave looked around, hoping something would catch his eye.

Nothing did.

To describe this non-place as a ‘swirling void’ or a ‘torrent of the abyss,’ would be a lie. There was no swirling here. There were no torrents to be seen. To be quite honest, it wasn’t even dark. But there certainly wasn’t any light, and that’s really all that counts. However, unlike the indescribable lack of luminosity permeating this vacancy, Jave was illuminated as though a professional lighting crew was on-scene.

That’s not important. Here’s what is:

“My name is Lincoln, and I know why that Toxicroak attacked you,” a voice reported. The Bronzor who brought Jave to the hospital faded into view.

“This isn’t happening…” Jave massaged the sinus canals above his eyes.

“Please, we do not have much time,” Lincoln pleaded. “We can only speak while the antivenom is taking effect!”

“That doesn’t make any sense!”

“Who are you to question our arcane knowledge? Listen. The channel is only strong enough to hold a conversation while you are in an altered state. If you do not wish to hear why Kairo tried to eliminate you, then I shall leave you be. But do not expect to be so lucky next time. He is sure to try harder now that he has failed once. Humph!” The Bronzor began to fade.

“No, wait!” Jave reached out a hand, but then let it drop back to his side. It probably didn’t matter how he stood. “I’m pretty sure this is a hallucination or whatever, but you’ve got to understand this is a lot to take in. I’m a nobody. I work at a Pokémart, selling stuff that I don’t even know how to use. For minimum wage. I can hardly even afford to pay for my utilities. Who the hell is Kairo and why in the world would he want to kill me?”

Lincoln reappeared.

“Of course… You would not have that knowledge, would you?” Lincoln smiled. Not physically, of course. It’s hard to explain. You could hear it in his voice. “You are the hero of prophecy. Legend has it there is an ancient group planning to kill Mew and absorb her powers for their leader. You are the trainer who will destroy them. It is your destiny. He must have thought he would get you out of the way before you became a problem for them. There was one flaw in his plan. He did not account for me.”

Jave rolled his eyes. “Look… Thanks for saving me and all that, but I’m not a hero. I’m not even a trainer. I just told you, I don’t even know—”

“…how to use the things you sell at the Pokémart. I heard you just fine. I cannot force you to do anything. I can simply tell you what I know and have faith that when the time comes, you will do what is right. I will aid you on the way.” Lincoln faded away.

“Hey! Hey, where are you going? Come back here! You still need to tell me who Kairo is!” Jave cried out into the emptiness. There was silence for a bit, and before long the void peeled away like the end of a film reel.

Jave sat up in the hospital bed. He squinted, scanning his quarters, which was suspiciously clean, even for a hospital. The Bronzor glared at him from above.

“Man,” Jave sighed, shaking his head. “I just had the weirdest dream.”

At that moment, the door creaked open. “Oh, good--you’re up!” exclaimed the nurse as she entered the room. “There is a news crew here. They want to interview you. Are you okay with that?”

“Yeah, sure. Send ‘em in,” Jave replied. The Bronzor closed its eyes and let out a low grumble.

The nurse left the room and two people entered in her place. There was a slender woman with short dark hair holding a microphone. Her sleeveless blouse and skirt clung tightly to her petite frame. Joining her was a man wearing a white t-shirt, loosely-fitting jeans and a backwards red baseball cap. He rolled the camera in on a tripod, positioned it in front of the bed and locked the wheels.

“Hello. My name is Lisa.” She reached out to shake Jave’s hand.

The Bronzor pushed her away.

“Oh my! I didn’t see you there, little guy!” Lisa turned to Jave with glistening eyes. “What’s his name?”

Jave shrugged. “I dunno. Lincoln?”

“Lincoln! Splendid!” the reporter cried. “So why don’t you tell me about your experience?” She leaned over the bed, holding the microphone to Jave’s face.

“Well, when I woke up, I noticed I had this cut on my side, here.” Jave lifted his shirt to show Lisa the scrape under his ribcage. “It was starting to swell up and I felt really sick. There was this Bronzor in my room. It showed me a dead Toxicroak and flew me here. I’m just really lucky he showed up, I guess.”

Lincoln danced and swayed before the camera, attempting to provide any nonviolent distraction that he could.

“He really sounds like a hero!” Lisa squealed.

“I’ll say!”

“Do you think you could sum up your experience in a single word..?”

The muted flicker of the giant flat screen television provided the only light in the richly-furnished chamber. A thin claw sank into the button in a speaker panel atop the mahogany desk.

“Typhon!” a female voice hissed. “Agent Kairo has failed in his mission. He is to be severely punished for his incompetence.”

“Understood, love,” a male voice crackled through the speaker. “Anything else, love?”

“Yes,” she smirked. “Send him back in to me. I would like to speak with him personally.”