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The Kingdoms

Sidestories
Roleplay

Table of contents



This is my new(well, it's not new, it's been in development for years, but I'm just now bringing it to life)Fanfiction that one day I dream to animate. It's called "The Kingdoms"

My Characters so far are
Jake,:Charmeleon, Aggressive and mean (Typical bully) was bullied as a charmander, recently lost all but two of his loyal bystanders
Alex,:Luxio, Loyal, but cowardly, kind at heart, One of Jake's allies
Unknown,:Unnamed so far, A dragonair, Female, best friend(gf?) of Jake's
Echo,: A light colored female eevee with purple eyes, Sweet and optimistic
Eric,: A reddish brown male eevee that is slightly bigger than Echo,with blue eyes, strong and loyal
Brendan,: A male reddish brown vulpix with red eyes, Kind and welcoming
Zuri,: a female shiny zorua with turquoise eyes, quiet, and shy, but sweet once she opens up to you
Arie,: Main character, a female absol that is energetic, friendly, and brave

This will be updated as the story goes on

and here's a little backstory:

The Kingdoms were founded long ago when the legendary pokemon wiped out the human race, and convinced Arceus to create a new world just for them, after a while, Arceus agreed, and the legends then proceeded to propose a piece of this new world to the mythical pokemon, they stated they have always lived on the outside and would remain that way. The Legends changed their name from "Pokemon" to "Freemon" as they were no longer pocket monsters awaiting capture by humans, but free to own this New world and live happily, however this is not always the case...

PLEASE READ THESE RULES BEFORE READING

Title: Prologue

Aidan walked into the room, carrying a bucket of fresh water in his mouth, Hayley, his mate, was lying down on the bed, standing over her was a chansey with odd green markings. "How are you doing?" Aidan asked. Hailey groaned. "Shh, you don't need to speak, dearest."He said softly. "No, you...asked...me..a question.." "No.", said the nurse sternly, "You need your strength for this." Hailey sighed, the doctor had said this one would be a female, she and Aidan had been discussing her name for months, and had finally agreed on one. She groaned again, and suddenly, in a flashing light, similar to that of which evolution took place, occurred and a dark blue and white egg was there, Hailey shifted herself so she was curled around it, Aidan lay down in front of it, and touched the warm egg with his nose. "Just wait until you hatch, Arie." And the absol pair and the nurse stared fondly at the soon-to-be new arrival.

Title: Chapter 1, The New Experience

It was Arie's first day, her first chance to make her pawmark in this palace, and she didn't even know it. She was so excited to go to daycare, she had been told over and over by her parents it was an honor to go to the luxury daycare in the palace, as only the children of palace workers went there. Her parents, Hailey and Aidan, were walking with her. Aidan, her father, was a palace guard and was strict and tough, Hailey, her mother, provided a balance to his toughness, and was friendly and nurturing, she was an experienced cook, and her blade, which she used to chop foods, was never left unclean. However neither of her parents were at work now, they were taking her to her first day at the palace daycare. As they reached the entrance, the noticed a smiling shiny glaceon at the door to the inside. She noticed them and grinned. "A new face!" She exclaimed cheerfully. "What's your name? No, don't tell me, it's....Ally?" Arie spoke up. "No, no it's Arie." She said, a little shyly. "Oh! My bad, Arie." Well, I'll tell you my name, it's Jennifer." "Come on inside, honey." Aidan crouched over her, "Now Arie, you be good, and make some friends, and don't you take for granted any of the luxury privileges that are given to you, understand?" He said sternly. "Yes Daddy." Said Arie, and she entered the door Jennifer was kindly holding open.

Title: Chapter 2, Making Friends

Arie walked inside, leaving her parents at the door and explored the daycare, it was a series of rooms built inside the castle. In the first room was a chalkboard, Arie remembered that the older kids had to learn school lessons here before they moved on to their palace careers. She walked into the second room, where a shiny sylveon was trying to control a group of screaming children. He threw a glance at the clock, then yelled "JENIFER, THAT ABSOL CAME IN RIGHT? "THEN EVERYONE IS HERE, I NEED SOME HELP!!" Arie heard the door open and close, then, not long after, she heard Jenifer's pawsteps as she came into the room. "What have we got here?" She asked the sylveon, then teased, "Isn't this your job? Shouldn't you be able to handle them?" The sylveon snorted, "Very funny." He said sarcastically. Jennifer then proceeded to help him quiet the kids down. The sylveon finally seem to notice Arie. "Oh, if it isn't the new one, stop cowering over there, come introduce yourself." He invited kindly. Arie nervously padded over. Jennifer smiled at her again. "This sylveon is Eli, my mate, we run this daycare." There was a note of sadness in it that Arie didn't understand, but the moment was over, as curious young eyes began to peer at the new freemon in their group. "This is Arie." Said Jennifer. "The new kid, please be kind to her, and show her around." Arie was a bit embarrassed. "Uhh..I think I can explore by myself, actually." She said quietly. "Oh, that's quite all right." Said Jennifer "This place isn't that big when you know your way around." Arie was comforted by that, especially now that the kids were dispersing and not staring at her anymore. She walked into the next room over, nothing interesting, just the lunch room, where the kids would be fed. Arie turned around and went back into the playroom and spied a bookshelf, and went over to it. "That's right, here, I'm going to learn how to read!" And she pulled a blue book down, the title she couldn't read, because she didn't know how, but she did like looking at the pictures. She opened the book, and curled her short tail closer to her body. Before she could look at anything, something big hit her back. "Oof!" She cried, and turned around. Behind her was an eevee, and behind that eevee was slightly larger male eevee. "Oops, sorry I bumped into you!" Said the first "Me and Eric were playing tag." "Oh, okay" said Arie. The eevee peered at her book. "Unless you can read, don't bother, that book has NO pictures." She said it like it was tragic. "Anyway, what's your name?" She asked "Mine's Echo." "Arie." Said Arie. "Cool!" Want to play with us? We could be your first friends." Arie couldn't refuse. "ABSOLutely." She laughed out the pun and ran away as Eric chased Echo and Arie in a new game of tag.

Title: Chapter 3, Getting Social

Arie, Eric, and Echo played tag until they were exhausted, and settled down for a break. "So, Arie." says Echo, "Maybe we should all get to know each other more." Arie, who is breathless, agrees, panting from her chase, she settled down for a breath before introducing herself in a little more detail. "My mother is a 5 star chef." She explains,"She is very respected in the royal kitchen." she says, tilting her head proudly. "My father is really strong, some servants are afraid of him, but he's not a bad father." Eric then perks up and says "Well maybe he's more punctual than our parents. We're not siblings or anything, but our parents seem to be complete clones of each other when it comes to being on time..." "Yeah", Echo adds, "We are always late going home, this one time we stayed here till midnight and the freaking KING had to go into our parents rooms to demand they pick us up!" Echo looked embarrassed. "Wow." Said Arie, "Really?" "Yeah, we're not proud of it, obviously, but it does mean Eli and Jennifer give us special treatment." Says Eric, Echo added "Yeah! Some kids keep saying we're their children like it's an actual fact! But Eli and Jennifer have yet to have kids." Then the three hear a bell. "Lunch!" calls Eli's voice, "Oran berry cake for desert!" "Oran berry?!" Cries Echo. "My favorite!' and runs into the lunch room. Eric rolls his eyes at Arie, and they both padded more slowly into the lunchroom to eat.

Title: Chapter 4, The New Kid

After the end of the first day, Arie's mother showed up at the door to pick her daughter up. Arie noticed uneasily that she was going home before Echo and Eric. Maybe they weren't exaggerating. Arie thought. They went to their family room and found Aidan preparing the kitchen for dinner. "Honey, I think you should do the cooking tonight." He calls to her. Hailey chuckled, Aidan may be rough, but he does have a sense of humor. At the dinner table Aidan asked Arie how daycare went, "Did you make any friends?" He asked. "Yeah!" Arie exclaimed, and proceeded to tell them about Eric and Echo. "Eric and Echo?" Hailey asked. "I've meet their parents, they don't seem to have a great track record of showing up on time for anything." "Their parents?" Repeated Aidan. "Erin, and Marie? And who were Eric's parents again? Jasmine and...Charlie?" He turned to Hailey. "Thats right." She turned to face both Arie and Aidan. "I think it comes from being servants." She said calmly, then snorted. "Who would WANT that? I mean, sure the money's great, but no proper schedule? Always busy? And kids? No thanks!" She exclaimed passionately. "Well," Said Aidan, You were pretty much destined to be a cook, so I don't think you need to worry, no one here is overworked, it's in their own choices that they're never on time, which is why they're not hired for jobs as much, they'll learn." He says calmly "And thats another thing," Says Hailey, "If they're never hired, then why are they so busy all the time? Poor little eevees, those kids." Somehow their dinner got eaten and the absol family went to bed.

The next morning, Arie ate breakfast and was walked yet again by her parents to daycare, and again they were greeted by Jennifer. Arie said goodbye to her parents and found Echo and Eric Talking to a vulpix she had seen staring at her the day before. "Hey Arie!" called Eric "Come meet Brendan!" he waved her over and Arie sat next to Brendan and Echo as he was introduced. "Hi, Arie, nice to meet you" Said Brendan "H-hi." she said shyly. "So you mother's a cook, huh? That might be useful to my peasant friend, Leo." "You have peasant friends? I mean, I know we're all 'technically' peasants, but I mean outsiders?" Arie was a little shocked that he had managed to meet someone like that, and a little awed. "Yeah." Brendan said. "The older kids in school visit this daycare for lunch as a treat, it's really cool, I talked to him and we're good friends. And I find my ways to message him. By the way, how a chef mother would be useful? Well apparently, outside peasants have to bring their own lunch to daycare and school, also daycare and school are TWO separate facilities, Is that weird or what?" "It is weird." Said Arie, and Echo and Eric nodded. "Anyway." Said Brendan, there is supposedly a new kid coming in today, any moment now and Arie won't be the newest." He exclaimed. Wow, already, the day after the first day of daycare, she was already meeting new arrivals. Soon the door opened and the new kid walked in. It was a zorua, but the zorua was..well..different. "Uhh guys?" said Arie, "That zorua don't look right."

Title: Chapter 5, Blueberry Head

The zorua looked uneasy as the kids turned to look at her, she had strange coloring, and the older kids began to chant, "Look at her! She's a blueberry head! Blueberry head, Blueberry head! YOU HAVE A BLUEBERRY HEAD HAHAHA" Arie was uncomfortable too, she knew what being new was like, but she looked like any ordinary absol, not like this zorua here, she was a more chocolate brown, not blackish gray like most zorua, and where the red was supposed to be, there was a light blue, she also had a slight sparkle, Like Eli and Jennifer, then Arie remembered the term, 'shiny' but she was only aware of it happening in eevees, not zorua. But then, she supposed, eevees and their evolutions were very common and sought after by The Kingdom, so maybe this 'shiny' effect could happen to anyone, and eevees were just the most common because they were bred so much. It seemed the 'Blueberry head' insult was coming from the mark of blue on the zorua's hair tuft. "Stop!" Cried Echo as the jest continued, "That's mean!" The other kids ignored her, Arie knew someone needed to do something. She cast a meaningful look at her friends and stepped forward. They seemed to get the message, and they followed. Arie strode up to the older freemon and bristled, making herself look bigger and scarier. Some kids took the hint and backed off, others just smirked and yelled louder. Eli and Jennifer were powerless and were about to contact the childcare security when Arie spotted the ringleader, a dark orange charmeleon, and sprung at him. The charmeleon fell back, shocked, and the insults quieted. "Take a hint." Arie said savagely to him, "Or you see what happens." The charmeleon managed a smirk and said "You may me free, but you are still a monster." "That means you." Said Arie, unshaken. "Just know who you're messing with before you try something like that again." She thrust his head to the ground before getting off and turning to the zorua, her friends were there in a protective circle, but there was nothing to be protective of, the teasing was over. "Hey are you okay?" Arie asked the zorua. "Fine, thanks." she replied "Whats your name? Mines Arie." "Zuri." replied the zorua. "We'll be your friends, if no one else will." said Eric. "Thanks!" replied Zuri. Two days in and Arie had already made 4 new friends.

Title: Chapter 6, First Words

After a few weeks Arie found her way to daycare by herself, and simply waved goodbye to her parents before walking out the door. Today Arie was particularly excited, today she would finally learn how to read basic words. Arie found Echo, Eric, Brendan, and Zuri sitting in a row. They had saved her a spot, and she took it and greeted them. For the past few weeks, Zuri still got strange looks from the people that had teased on her first day, and was still the shy, quiet type. Arie didn't like the way the other freemon looked at her, like she was different, not like the rest of them, something they were only tolerating because they had to. It clearly had an effect on Zuri too, as she stayed close to her friends, who would always defend her, if they could, anyway.

After a while, the door closed and Jennifer and Eli walked inside the chalkboard room. This was Arie's first time not spending the day in the playroom. Each of them was handed a book. "That book, because you are new to reading, is called 'The Basics of Reading'." Eli told them. "Now first you must learn how to sound out words written on the page."
Over the next few days, Eli taught them what each letter's sound was, and gave them basic sentences to sound out and read. "Where are my nuggets." Read Arie. "The water is red from the sun." Said Echo. "Wow, this is really easy." Said Eric. "Not so fast." Eli called. "Those are just the basic words..."
Gradually the kids could read basic letters, and sound out sentences. Arie was proud of herself, she could read messages, and probably that blue book too, she decided to do that later. Arie never did, the kids got a month break from learning and the group of 5 sat on some pillows in the corner of the room. "Do you think we're gonna learn how to write next month?" Echo asked. "Probably not." Replied Eric, "I heard them talking about basic something manuavers next month." "Oh, that's cool too, I guess." Said Echo, though she sounded a bit disappointed. "It's probably because they realized you were so bad at reading you just couldn't handle it!" Snickered a voice, Arie turned around, it was the charmeleon she had beaten a month ago. "Now you're holding the rest of us up!" Zuri was fed up with this guy, she was sick and tired of all the teasing, and knew she just had to stop hiding behind Brendan and establish herself. "All right, charmeleon, you listen up, and you listen good," yelled Zuri angrily "No one thinks you're funny you know, and you make yourself look like an idiot!" "Oh, is the wittle puppy yapping away?" Teased the charmeleon. "You'll listen to this yapping, if you know what's good for you." Without even stopping to realize what she was doing, Zuri was preparing an attack. With a deep breath she let out a snarl, which became a blast of dark energy that flew at the fire lizard. The charmeleon was knocked back into the wall. "Someones salty." She snarled.

Title: Chapter 7, Salty Rivals

The charmeleon struggled back to his feat and bared his teeth at Zuri. "You kids just don't know when to quit, do you?" He growled. "The same can be said about you, hothead." Brendan shot back. Out of all of them, Brendan was the most active bodyguard of Zuri, and he was actually starting to like her in ways he couldn't begin to comprehend, but, because of those feelings, Brendan was quickly defending her now. The charmeleon's arragant smile was gone, to be replaced with a big ugly bruise. While the bruise would heal eventually, the charmeleon's face was so disfigured, that it looked as if he could never properly smile with that side of his face again, he was scared for life. He remained aggressive and said "You've made a enemy today, you know." He turned to his loyal bystanders and ordered "Get them."

Title: Chapter 8, Evil

Arie felt fear rise inside her as all the stronger, meaner, and older kids leaped for her and her friends. A luxio landed on her back and she struggled to fight him. After some flailing, she managed to scratch him with her tail, causing him a long wound that bled badly. In a rage, he leaped again, clawing her eyes, she threw him off, causing him to back away from the attack. "Coward!" the charmeleon yelled at him, "Weakling!" "Sorry, Jake." The luxio whimpered. "It hurts." "Useless Alex." muttered Jake. Arie turned toward her friends, Brendan was being attacked by a dragonair, who was trying to suffocate him. Zuri already had several bloody wounds. Arie couldn't even see Eric or Echo. Poor Eli and Jennifer were powerless to stop anything, there was no time to call security, they tryed their best to break up the fight without hurting themselves or anyone else. Arie's patience was snapping, and she felt an adrenaline rush that caused her fear to dull and her vision to go red. Her ultimate target, Jake, was standing there, watching his minions fight for him. His image glew to brightest to Arie, and soon she could see nothing else. She scratched his eye on the same side as his disfigured and bruised mouth, and blinded him without a second thought, then threw him away. He scrambled after Alex, fear in his good eye. Arie turned to where her friends were fighting, but their attackers were already retreating. Her friends were staring at her with a look Arie couldn't read. Her vision was returning to color. The reality of what happened hit her. "What have I done?"

Title: Chapter 9, Punishment

Mere moments after the fight, the childcare security agents arrived. "Now what's happened here?" A Female houndoom asked Eli. "Why is that child injured on that side of his face?" Jake was rather intentionally exaggerating his miserable look, but the houndoom didn't notice. "Who attacked?" She demanded. "Jake." replied Jennifer. "Jake? The charmeleon? It seems to me it's the other way around!" "I'll have to check the security camera footage." Said the second agent, a male mightyena. "Go ahead." Eli invited, "You should know well by now that we wouldn't lie to security." The agents then proceeded to check the cameras as they replayed the fight. To Arie, it was like going back in time. In the footage, It showed Jake giving the order, then Alex backing away, and finally, Arie going primal. To her surprise, it actually looked like her eyes were glowing red. Eventually, the agents turned the cameras off. "These kids need medical attention right away." Said the houndoom, "Jacob, you alert the authorities, tell them it's happened again." The mightyena and houndoom both looked weirdly uneasy, as security agents always seemed to be emotionless masks. However, the houndoom began to regain her cool as she escorted the kids to the infirmary.

The Blissey examined Jake's wounds. Surprisingly, she wasn't mad when she heard the news of the attack, she simply stated she didn't want to hear it, which was unusual, because nurses were always supposed to be curious of what happened to their patients. Each of them received proper medical treatment for their wounds before they were sent to the childcare authorities. Arie had time to wonder, Is this what the houndoom meant by "Authorities"? She guessed not, put there was no time to ponder, as they all entered a room. Inside there was a desk, and behind the desk was a female pyroar. She looked bored as she lifted her head to stare at the children coming in. "Why, what do we have here?" She asked. "Some children that have gotten themselves into big trouble." Replied the houndoom. and then, to her surprise, the agent moved closer to whisper the details. "Whats so private about a child fight?" asked Echo, though she knew it was no ordinary fight. Finally the pyroar said "I see. It seems...after 30 years..it has happened once more." I thought we'd gotten rid of it." "Children." She said, writing something down. "You are dissmissed, just take this note to Eli." She handed to note to the children, and Echo took it before Jake could touch it. Arie was shocked, she had blinded a kid's eye! Granted, Jake was a jerk, and was practically asking for it, but still, no punishment? Maybe it's written on the note. she thought.

By the time the kids returned to Daycare and passed the note, the day was wrapping up, Gradually parents picked up their children, Eli never talked about the fight to any of them, when the parents asked about the scars, or bandaged wounds, Eli simply shrugged and replied "Classified."

Title: Chapter 10, Aftershocks

The day after the battle with Jake, and the mysterious happenings of the previous day, Arie was satisfied that most of Jake's bystanders had left him. However, two remained, Alex, the luxio that had attacked her the day before, and the dragonair that Arie had seen trying to suffocate Brendan. The trio snuck glares at the five friends whenever they could, but it didn't change the fact that Jake had lost most of his friends, Lucifer, a growlithe, wouldn't even look at him, Ellon and Scorch, a houndour and cumbusken, actually glared at Jake and his remaining friends from time to time. Had they realized the error of their ways? Or were they just scared of Arie? The thought made her a little uneasy. What exactly had happened yesterday? And what did the agents mean by 'After 30 years..it's happened again'? Happened again? And what was the mysterious 'it'? And finally, would she ever know what was wrong with her? Whatever the case, Arie knew she had to learn how to control that urge that had caused Jake to visibly show fear.

"Hey Arie! Wanna play a game of tag?" Echo called. By now it was two months after the incident with Jake, though he was still angry about it. They were given a day to have free play until tomorrow, when they would learn basic defense maneuvers, which was the "something" Eric had overheard back after basic reading was over. After the battle between Jake and his tiny army, the lesson had been delayed, as the authorities were afraid of Arie's evil urge, though now they had decided to give it a try. "Sure thing!" Arie called back to her. "You're it!" She turned and ran straight into Zuri, then they both scrambled up and ran in opposite directions as Echo raced towards them. A few seconds later they both heard a "Gotcha!" from Echo, and the girls turned to see Eric springing after Brendan, who swiftly sprinted away. The kids then enjoyed the rest of their free day, for tomorrow, their true training would begin.

Title: Chapter 11, Begin your training

Arie had enjoyed her break from fighting yesterday, but now she was pumped. Her first real training! Of course, she wasn't learning real advanced soldier techniques, but that that wasn't that bad, if she didn't flunk this, she could really end up in that position. Arie had always wanted to be a soldier, and be famous, also to one-up her dad so he would stop acting so superior all the time. Arie ran towards her friend group, who seemed just as exited as she was. Today, Eli and Jennifer were taking the group to a new room they hadn't been to before.,the Youth Training Room , or YTR. Arie had passed it a few times, but she had never been inside it. "This is so awesome!" Whispered Zuri, "Finally, we get to learn a few moves that will show Jake and his lot a thing or two!" As Jake had already learned these maneuvers, as he had passed the correct age, he and his allies were not joining this group training, so they all got a break from him today as a bonus. "We'll see if he still has a lot left after we learn some proper moves." Replied Eric. The group entered the training room. Inside, there was a lucario, he was battered and bruised, but experienced-looking and tough. Eli walked to the front of the group beside Jennifer and announced, "This is Luke. He is a retired Military captain, he will be teaching your basic training." Luke stepped forward, "Thank you for the introduction, Eli." He nodded to the sylveon."I have been teaching students like you longer than any of you kids have been alive, a lot of those students were way older than you. However, they had the brains of children sometimes!" Anyone reading that on paper would think that was a joke, but his tone sounded so serious, it was hard for the group to tell. "Today i will be teaching you how to defend yourselves in three basic situations, Biped and Quadruped specific, and we will add more techniques as the week goes on. Any questions?" There was silence."Then let us begin!."

As Luke demonstrated the maneuvers, the group had to be quick to keep up, their teacher was making no allowances for their lack of experience, which Arie both liked and disliked. On one paw, she was being treated like a grown-up, which made Arie feel slightly more respected, on the other, she couldn't help but think Luke was pushing them too hard. There were a few moments where Arie got very exited, then panic as she thought the evil urge would come again, luckily though, it never did, and Arie eventually got through her training with a high mark. Exhausted, she went back to the family room, where her mother was cooking and her father was producing the dishes for her. "Arie!" He called, "Could you place the napkins and dishware please?" Arie felt tuckered out, but she polity agreed and set the table. When dinner was ready, Hayley asked Arie how training went. 'It was great, but exhausting." Said Arie, "And we're doing it again tomorrow." "Well," Aidan scolded, "with that attitude, you better not hope for a dream career in military!" "Sorry father, I'm just *Yawn* tired. I'll try hard again tomorrow, promise." Arie tried to assure her father. "Well, then. You should go straight to bed after dinner." Said her mother. "Fine by me." Replied Arie.

Title: Chapter 12, I hate my life

Arie woke up the next day and went straight to the training room, where she was the first to arrive. The trainer looked up, saw her, and and ignored her while eating his apple. Arie didn't try to get a reaction out of him, and sat down in a corner of the room. She daydreamed for a while and waited for the others to show up. Eventually a shinx showed up and got the same treatment from Luke. The shinx silently walked over to Arie's corner. "Whats his deal?" the shinx asked. Arie shrugged "He did the same to me. I guess he just cares more about his apples." Soon the others showed up and Luke was forced to leave his precious fruit. "Alright trainees! I hope you're ready for more training." And more defensive maneuvers proceeded his statement.

After the day was over, Arie went back to the family room. Aidan was the only one out home. "So, how did training go today?" he asked as soon as she walked through the door. "Fine, though I don't know if I can remember everything I learn." Aidan gave her a little smile. "Well, daughter, we can sure fix that!." Arie couldn't help wishing she hadn't said that. "Dad...don't tell me you're gonna do something crazy...." Aidan laughed. "Depends on what you consider crazy." Aidan led her to a trap door which lead to the basement. "Here's a good place, now show me what you've learned." Arie used the moves she had learned and Aidan blocked and taught her new ones. "Here's a fun trick, next time Luke uses that move, try this." Arie charged at him and did a paw move where she swiped his face, then did a uppercut, a move Luke had taught her. Aidan ducked and slammed his head into her stomach, knocking her backwards. "That ought to suprise him!' Arie stood up. "I'll try that."

The next day, when Luke instructed the trainees to split into pairs, Arie tried tthe move on her opponent, and it worked! When she went home, Aidan asked if they should do that training every day, and she agreed. "Good answer." Said Aidan approvingly.

Title: Chapter 13, The training has only just begun

(Maybe that title was a bit less lazy.)

After that day, Arie and her father trained every day for the rest of the week, his moves gave her an advantage and she easily got a good mark every time she battled. Soon, the week was over, the next day they would return to regular daycare instead of going to the training room. Before she could leave, though, Luke pulled her aside and told her to wait until everyone had left so he could speak to her privately. Arie looked at her friends, Zuri shrugged and walked out, Brendan followed her and Eric looked a bit concerned, Echo giving her an 'Uh oh' look before following. After the room was cleared out, Eli agreed to wait outside while Jennifer took the kids back to wait for their parents. Luke looked at Arie "I notice you seem to be using some...interesting moves to get an edge in battling the other students." Arie nodded. "Yes sir." "Yes, tell me, where did you come up with those moves?" Luke asked her, reaching for an apple. "Oh, my father taught me those moves." Arie sat down. "And, who is your father? What's his name?" "Aidan, he's a palace guard." Luke swallowed his apple. "Ah, Aidan, I've heard of him. It makes sense now. Just like him to show off his moves to his young daughter. Say, are you interested in a assignment in anything...military related?" The question caught Arie of guard, she didn't expect to be asked so directly. "I-I think being a f-fighter would be really cool." She stammered. Luke nodded, "Keep at it, you seem like a promising young absol indeed." He waved to dismiss her. That was the closest thing to complement she would get from him, she guessed, and left the room.

Title: Chapter 14, Back to...Normal?

The next day, Arie entered the daycare rooms again. It was...strange. Even though she'd only been gone a week, everything felt so different! Was this was growing up felt like? She would wonder.
Staring around the room with fresh eyes, the old bookshelf from the first day caught her eye. The bookshelf and the blue book. The last two times she'd meant to read it, she had either been stopped or had forgotten. Not this time! She thought determinedly and trotted over. "Here goes nothing." She muttered, and reached for the book.
She pulled it to her and turned the first page, her curiosity growing as she flipped through, searching for the first words to read. As she found the first chapter, she realized it looked like some sort of history book. As feelings of disappointment started to come, she saw a shadow looming over her, and looked up to see Eli.
"Where'd you get that?" He flicked one of his ribbons at the book.
"Oh-uh, this?" She pointed at the dark brown wooden bookshelf in front of them. "Th-there. The top shelf. Are we only supposed to grab certain ones?" She asked nervously, wondering if she had missed important instructions.
Eli's expression softened a bit. "No. There was a misunderstanding when the books were shipped." He closed the book. "That document is government property, and top secret." He then picked up the book and carried against his side. "But you'd have no way of knowing." His eyes then narrowed. "How much did you read?"
"N-nothing!" Arie promised, stepping away.
"Alright then." Eli seemed to believe her. As Arie left the shelf, feeling awkward, she ran into Echo. "What was that all about?" The eevee asked curiously.
"Some book." Arie muttered. To her relief, Echo didn't prod her. "So, what did Luke have to say yesterday? Were you in trouble?"
At least there was one subject she could talk about to her friend! "Oh! No, actually. He praised me, I told him that my father taught me those moves, and he asked about my future career vision in military." Arie said proudly to the gawking Echo.
"Wow! Really? So, you're father was teaching you? To bad my parents couldn't do that, I could use any advantage I could get." Said the purple-eyed Eevee. Arie had forgotten that her friends didn't know about her father's training. Would they think she was cheating? Of course not! She mentally slapped herself. These were her friends, for Helix's sake!
"Where are the others? I want to talk to them, too." Arie asked Echo."Oh! This way!" The eevee replied, trotting to the other side of the room, where she saw Brendan, Zuri, and Eric in a close group, chatting.
As Arie followed Echo to her group, she completely forgot to wonder about the contents of the blue book.

Title: Chapter 15, Life goes on.

"Hey Arie!" Brendan called as the absol joined them. Arie found her own space to sit. It seemed her friends were just as curious as Echo was about what Luke had to say, and she hurriedly told them.
"Oh! I'm so jealous!" Cried Brendan. The vulpix looked as as surprised as Echo did. Zuri gave a slight shrug, but her eyes were wide. Eric actually asked her to show him the moves Aidan had taught her. Suddenly, the book returned to her mind. If there was anyone that would understand about the book, it would be her friends, right?
"Hey, so. Guys, I...have a private thing to share." Arie's voice was a tiny whisper.
"Share away." Encouraged Eric, his eyes wide. His words gave Arie confidence.
"So, remember that blue book I was flipping through on the first day?" Arie asked Echo. Echo perked up, remembering. "The one that had no pictures!" She whispered a bit loudly.
"Yeah, right. So, apparently, it was some sort of private document that Eli took away." She explained. Eric's ears pricked. "Aren't you curious to know what's inside?" He asked.
"Of course I am!" Arie exclaimed. "But it's gone now."
Zuri shrugged. "I guess we'll never find out what happened to it."
Was she right? Maybe so, but Arie's curiosity was peaked. She wished she could read that book, but it was unlikely she'd get access to government property.

Months after the book, Arie had to forget about that mystery and focus on school. Writing was finished, with a few more reading lessons, and Arie could feel her playgroup's evolution ceremony inching closer.
The evolution ceremony, was the point in every freemon's life in which they were no longer considered children. Even though Arie herself could not evolve, this would be the time everyone in the current generation would choose future professions in the palace. This was, hopefully, the start of her dream life. As Arie went home, she mentioned the ceremony to her mother, who was reading some sort of book.
"Oh! Yes? It's so near already?" Hailey hopped away from her book and licked Arie's cheek. "They grow up so fast!" She exclaimed. "Me and Aidan are so proud of you, you know."
"Yes, I know." Arie nuzzled her mother. "But I've got a few weeks yet, it's not like it's tomorrow or anything."
"A few weeks!" Her mother exclaimed. "Arie, do you know how soon that is? In my last few weeks, they flew by like nothing! You have to get ready, understand?" She closed her book and went to the kitchen, looking stressed. Her mother always liked to cook something to calm herself. "Tell your father when he gets home, okay? I'll make brownies, we need to talk."
"O-okay." Arie stammered, a little shaken. Why was her mother making such a big deal about this? It happened to everyone eventually, right? But she did as her mother said, and by the time her father got home and everything settled down, the brownies were ready and the mood was serious.

Title: Chapter 16, Prepare Yourself

"The evolution ceremony is soon?" Aidan said as they sat around the table.
"Yes." Arie responded. "What is the deal?" She bit out of the brownie on her plate, letting the soft chewiness and chocolatey flavor fill her mouth as her mother spoke.
"It just...the evolution ceremony is a very big step in all freemons' lives. You're not exactly an adult, but you're not a child either. You then take on what's called 'amateur trainee'" She gave Arie a look. "You do end up getting away with less things than during your childhood." She paused for a moment. "We know what you did to the charmeleon. The only reason I didn't ground you for life after that was because the authorities weren't making a big deal about it, which confuses me."
"That's not the point." Aidan put his paw on Hailey's shoulder for a moment. "Arie. Stand up for a second."
Arie was a little bit confused at how quickly Aidan changed the subject, but she did as her father asked.
"Straighter! At the ceremony, I don't want it to look like we raised you to look like a lopsided ducklett." Her father barked.
"It's in a few weeks, Dad! It's not that soon!" Arie complained, standing straight.
Aidan only shook his head. "More reason to start getting you into the habit now. We should have got you started earlier, but oh well." He checked her over. "Now, at the ceremony, walk with some kind of maturity, please! I don't want you bouncing around like some cub!"
"Okay, okay!" Arie snapped. "I won't embarrass you or whatever!" She sat down again. "Why are you making such a big deal over some ceremony? It happens to everyone!"
Hailey opened her mouth to speak as Aidan sat back down with a sigh. What's his deal? Arie wondered. She looked at his face, and wondered if anything even remotely positive had ever gone on behind that mask, but then, her mother spoke again. "It's less of a ceremony as it is an event. Come to think of it, I don't even know why they call it a ceremony. Maybe it sounds cool? I dunno. Anyway, freemon just go there to evolve and choose careers."
Hailey went on to explain that you technically didn't have to choose a career on that very day, but it just made life a lot easier on yourself, as the official would tell you where to go. You really had a week to decide after the ceremony, but after that, you had to choose. From then there was no going back.
"This conversation wasn't meant to stress you out." Hailey reminded Arie gently, placing another brownie on her plate. "Just to inform you." Arie caught her mother cast Aidan a stern look.
They finished the brownies, wrapped up the leftovers to save for later, and left the table, leaving Arie just feeling anxious.

Title: Chapter 17, Nerve-Racking Wait

The days following that, Arie got over her anxiety by nibbling on leftover brownies. What was she going to do? From her young days, Arie had been sure fighting was her destiny. Fighting was what she was born to do! Now that she thought about it, though, every time she had attempted to fight, or be strong, where had it gone? She'd turned into an uncontrollable beast that she couldn't keep caged. She thought back to the YTC, she had only gotten praise from Luke with her father's help. If she were to fight on her own, she could get herself straight up wasted! These thoughts, along with the approaching deadline, kept Arie up at night.
One day, though, Arie mentally smacked herself and forced her courage to come to her. The deadline was in three days. She had to decide who she was. Who she was going to be. And fast. She walked to the daycare. At this point she felt much older, and bigger. And she was. Despite not being considered fully grown by status, in size, Arie was as grown as she could get. When she had first started out, her head was level to the rest of her friends, who were eevees, a vulpix and a Zorua, now she looked like a giant compared to them, soon that would change though, when the time for evolution came.
Arie went down the familiar hall and greeted her friends. She then put on the most serious face she could muster. "Guys, I have something important to discuss with you."
Her friends met these words with expectant silence. Arie took a deep breath and continued. "The ceremony is in three days." She looked at them.
Zuri nodded. "We know..." she prompted Arie to go on. Arie spoke the words so many young Freemon were thinking to themselves. "What is your role going to be?" Her words were met with silence. Brendan looked thoughtful. "Guys, I was thinking about this myself and..." he gulped, hoping his friends wouldn't reject him now. "We've been best friends from the beginning, I think we should all choose the same role." He looked around the circle.
Arie felt a happy sensation go through her, and nodded. The others loyally copied her. Though, now the Absol felt responsible for them all. "I-I was going to be a warrior..."
Echo smiled at her. "Yes, that's what I thought you'd say! You always struck me as a hero." The Eevee smiled. Arie felt warmed to the heart, she hadn't expected such a compliment.
Zuri nodded. "I need to push myself, I have to get stronger than this...your presence could help me."
Brendan stood next to her, "I could never leave you guys. I'll fight beside you always!" Eric and Echo nodded in agreement. Arie smiled. This had gone better thn she'd imagined! Now she wouldn't have to leave her friends, and they had decided to fight with her. It was an issue she hadn't even thought about, but was happy it was resolved now. Looks like you're gonna be a soldier, Arie. She thought, her anxiety returning. Suddenly there was a crash outside. "I want everybody out here!" A voice called. Daycare freemon rushed past her. Including Nanab, a small yellow-brown eevee. Arie and her friends followed the others outside, Eli at the head, Jennifer at the rear. They came into a large room with steel gray walls, the visitor room! Palace Freemon filled it to its edges, most noticable was the visiting Freemon towering over the rest. Arie remembered her learning of the other Kingdoms. This was Evil, the Yveltal, and he looked more terrifying in real life than any history book could describe. The creature was huge, fur fluffed at its neck and it was covered in red and black, piercing blue eyes reflected hellfire as it glared around. It appeared to be talking to another freemon, but Arie couldn't see who. Suddenly it roared. "You challenge my power?!" Evil screeched. Its horrible eyes landed on Nanab, who was standing near Arie. "Watch." It said icily, then a red beam crashed toward Arie and Nanab. Arie leaped back, dodging the beam and crashing into the freemon behind her, earning a grunt of protest, but she wasn't paying attention. She could only watch as poor little Nanab tried to immitate her, but the beam had hit him squarely, and the death had enveloped him. When the light faded, Nanab's body was gray stone. Horrible. Dead. Gray stone. The freemon all around the room gasped, faces twisting in horror that the child had been ruthlessly murdered. But no one's face matched the intensity of Eli's mask of rage, fear, and vengefulness.

Title: Chapter 18, The Wrath of Eli

"You....dare..." Eli hissed his wrath. He had stood up, and his once cute and friendly face was twisted into that of a monster, like an overly vengeful villain in a story, who would ruthlessly do whatever it took to reach their goal. Eli was this and more, and his bright magenta eyes were fixed dangerously on Evil. "You dare hurt him!" He challenged more boldly to the bird, raising his voice, "You dare hurt him! He's just a child!" Evil fixed him with a icy glare, as if challenging him, 'what you gonna do 'bout it?' his gaze taunted, challenged.
This turned out to be the worst mistake of his life.
In an instant, Eli's ribbons shot out, curling outward so that the tips were facing the giant dark type. Before the Yveltal even had time to blink, let alone dodge, the ribbons shot toward him and, instead of wrapping around to immobilize to opponent, as Arie really expected them too, did something much, much worse, in an outward expression of the Sylveon's mad rage and desire for vengeance, stabbed straight into the birds great chest, digging deep into Evil's feathers and then flesh. The entire room gasped, watching, speechless as the ribbons soon became bloodstained and the Yveltal screeched with pain, attempting to move forward only to stop as it only made the pain worse. Eli yanked Evil toward him, his face showing no fear, only his blind stone-stiff infuriated face. Ribbons still deeply in the bird's skin, Eli did a spectacular leap into the air, boosted by his ribbons, and landed on the legendary's wing. The bird tried to shake him off, but Eli stood his ground, steadily climbing until he reached the bird's shoulder. It was then that he dug his ribbons in deeper, causing the deep red blood to gush out and stain Evil's flesh. What Eli did next confused Arie for a moment, Eli kissed Evil. The confusion didn't last long, as soon Arie could visibly see the energy draining from the creature. It became clear the move was draining kiss, a move that sapped energy from the target. But as she looked closer, she could see that the draining kiss was doing a lot more than draining some HP from the target, it was draining way more energy than that. The bird let out a horror shriek, which began to fade into a weak squawk, then nothing, as the energy was all transferred to Eli, causing the shiny Sylveon to glow with the energy.

Somehow the draining kiss had taken all of the Yveltal's energy!

Arie gathered her energy to freaking move as she walked to stand next to the stone Nanab, as she watched the Yveltal, expecting it to faint. It did fall to the ground, but it was breathing hard, Eli's ribbons still hadn't left his chest, as the absol looked closer, she saw that he was doing a little more than fainting as the light faded from his eyes and his body heaved one last time, then went still. Eli, looking tired now, removed the ribbons from the now dead Evil, and staggered toward Arie and Nanab. It looked as if the mass amount of life force causing him to pulse and glow was disorienting him. Jennifer came to steady him, whispering into his ear, but Eli shook his head and staggered toward Nanab. Sighing, Jennifer helped her mate so he was standing just in front of the stone Eevee. Arie stepped aside, watching with wide eyes as Eli placed his four ribbons on the stone eevee's shoulders. To Arie's amazement, the energy gathered from Evil appeared to be flowing from Eli to Nanab, and the stoneness was fading. Eli looked exhausted, but he seemed to be transferring the energy from him to the little young eevee, until Nanab's fear-faced dead stone self became animated, and the color returned.
Nanab looked around, shivering and confused. Eli wrapped a ribbon around the eevee. "It's okay, little one, you're okay."

Nanab had been revived from the...dead? What had just happened?!