Originally Published: Jan 14, 2024

Originally Published: Jan 14, 2024

NOTES: The following story arc will be tailored to the choices the readers make for this CYOA. Choose wisely as some decisions can lead to positive or negative and short-term or long-term consequences impacting the characters for the rest of the story. Consequences can include inconvenience, mistrust, injuries, or even death of characters. Some decisions may involve benefiting one thing at the expense of another. And despite its recaps at the beginning, it’s highly recommended to read “The Oceanic Origins” and “A Serpent's Odyssey” beforehand for certain aspects to make sense.

DISCLAIMERS: I am in no way claiming my stories are better than any of the stories I've reviewed, and I am willing to acknowledge my own stories have their share of flaws as well. If I wrote something in my stories that contradicts a point I've made in my reviews, I am willing to admit to it, but please keep in mind that there may be grey areas in particular executions of content for certain stories, and what may work for one's story may not work for another's story and vice versa. Also, featured characters from other creators may have different personalities/motives/characteristics than the original creator’s intent. Consider this as an alternative universe of those characters if needed.

Prologue: Walker’s Origins

“Oh, hello there. I didn’t see you there at first... Yeah, that’s right... I’m talking to you... Yes, you, you in front of this, uh, weird-looking screen here... Did I get your attention...? Yes...? Good. Now, you’re probably wondering who I am, and... Well, I’m still trying to figure that out myself... But, to give a straightforward introduction: the name’s Walker. No, not the sticks you use for walking with impaired legs. My name is actually Walker. I’ll get into details later on why I was named that. Anyways, I’m a Hisuian Zorua. Yeah, my variants for my species go far back in ancient times. My variant is pretty rare nowadays, almost as rare as shiny Pokémon, believe it or not.”

“Oh, you might be wondering where we are... we’re in a, uh, I can’t remember if it’s called a mental institution, a psych ward, or an insane asylum... but the point is I’m here to see if I can reshape my behaviors and become organized as my owner likes to put it. Another reason is because unlike everyone else, I seem to notice and acknowledge you people in front of this screen you’re all staring at right now. Everyone always thinks I’m crazy when I tell them about your existence. I’m even held in high-tight security. But honestly, being a ghost-type and all, I can still get out of here with ease, I just choose not to because where will I go? I can’t go to my owner’s place because he was the one who forced me to be held inside this prison disguised as a hospital for the cuckoo-crazies. I’ve still got a few months in this prison cell, but I think it will be worth it by the end. The big guy means a lot to me, but he’s a little on the strict side. But between you and me, I prefer him over my father any time, any day, any month, any year, any century. Yeesh. Don’t get me started with him. Well, I guess I should start by telling you how this all started.”

“You want to hear about how it all started, specifically with my family, and how it all went downhill...? I can’t tell if you said yes or no... But I’m going to tell you anyway. Grab yourself a bucket of popcorn or whatever. Spoon yourself some hazelnut-cocoa butter spread. I don’t care. Anything to tame your little appetite and enjoy the story.”

“It all started when I was born. I remember my parents told me about their joy on this day all the time. It was like our births were a miracle to their natural-born lives...”

MANY YEARS AGO FROM THE PRESENT DAY...

A Hisuian Zoroark was sitting on a bench, eagerly waiting to hear any updates on their newborns and his wife. “I can’t believe we’re going to have our very own children. I’m going to raise them to be as strong, bold, and competent as me.” The Hisuian Zoroark whispered nervously yet excitedly to themselves. “Xaruth.” A nurse Chansey walked out of the door, but it made the Hisuian Zoroark jump out of surprise. “Gah! Don’t worry, Cheryl! I approved your vacation time!” Xaruth yelped out very quickly. “Uh, I’m Charlotte...” The Chansey said awkwardly. “Sorry, uh, you sound just like my receptionist.” Xaruth chuckled nervously. “Anyways, the doctor and your wife are ready for you,” Charlotte stated. “Oh, okay. Thank you.” Xaruth muttered. Xaruth walked into the room.

“Karmia, my lovely wife. What are the results?” Xaruth asked his wife, who was somehow enthusiastic and exhausted at the same time, as his tone of voice showed off his desperate curiosity. It was like he was stuck on the last word of a difficult crossword puzzle for experts and forcefully demanded the answer to result in closure for the mystery he’d been on top of for days. Karmia turned her head towards her husband and prepared to reveal the answer to his desperate question. She was struggling to deliver her words as she stuttered, but they were clear enough for her husband to understand. “... Two… boys…” She concluded the mystery. Xaruth’s eyes widened from shock and surprise as all he could respond with was a gasp squeezing out of his mouth. It was a couple of seconds before he made his next move. “YESSSS!!” Xaruth emphasized as he made a hop upward in midair and he swiped one of his fists further up into the air from excitement. “WOO-HOO! I’m going to have two sons of my own!!” Xaruth was enthusiastic about the news that he has his own family now. “Shh… please pipe down, Xaruth… we have patients trying to rest.” Charlotte had to shush him being in a hospital and all. “Oops… my bad.” Xaruth apologized for his over-enthusiasm.

Xaruth then spotted the two eggs that were stationed in the incubators, which caused him to gasp with excitement. “My sons.” Xaruth power walked over to get a closer look at the eggs containing his two sons through the glass of the incubators. “We’re going to be a family, Karmia!” Xaruth cheered. “Yes, we are,” Karmia responded. She didn’t care that Xaruth went straight to the incubators over checking up on her first because she knew he was just as excited as she was about having a family. “You think we’ll be a wonderful family?” She asked, still exhausted but displaying a smile on her snout. Xaruth swiftly turned his head to face his wife. “Are you kidding me? Of course, we are going to be a wonderful family. We’re going to teach our sons to grow up to be responsible and competent just like us.” Xaruth said with pure confidence. “And I can’t wait for it all to began as soon as both of these eggs hatch.” Xaruth briefly stared at the eggs containing his two sons once again. “And I bet it will start right about now…”

The white and red egg began to shake as if it was ready to hatch. “What the…?” Xaruth was completely caught off-guard by not only one of the eggs hatching, but his perfect timing on his remark as well. “I’m no psychic-type but that was an amazing coincidence.” Xaruth expressed his remarks again. The crisps of the egg shell went flying from the red and white egg as it started shaking rapidly, escalating after each shake. It was like whatever being the egg was holding was merciless against the egg’s cage of an eggshell. There was a large hole in the egg as everyone kept quiet until a smooth, curly strand of red and white hair start sticking out and slowly bending all by itself like it had a mind of its own. Their very first son was a Hisuian Zorua. “SCOOOOOOOOOOOOORE!!!” Xaruth shouted with massive, over-the-top amounts of enthusiasm. “That’s it! One more time and we’ll have to escort you out of here.” Charlotte threatened. Xaruth covered his mouth in embarrassment. “My apologies.” He whispered loudly.

“Wow, luckily you were able to give birth to a Hisuian Zorua because that variant of your species was at the risk of going extinct.” The Mr. Mime doctor commented. “Say, wouldn’t your title be Dr. Mr. Mime?” Xaruth asked curiously. “You’re not the first one to ask that, and no, it would be Dr. Mime.” Dr. Mime sighed in frustrated from repeatedly being asked that question over and over again. “I feel like that boy right there is going to grow up to be just like you.” Karmia chuckled. “That’s precisely what I want.” Xaruth replied. He turned his head back to the incubators and noticed the other egg was already hatching as well. Xaruth jumped from the surprise that he fell backwards. “You should go in acting.” Charlotte shook her head sarcastically. “Well, it was my major.” Xaruth responded as he got back up to resume witnessing the sight of his other son’s miracle moment of being brought into the outside world. The egg hatched much quicker and out came regular, dark-type variant of a Zorua. “Sweet. I’ll take a diverse set of sons.” Xaruth cheered. “Me too.” Karmia agreed. “Congratulations! Your two newborn sons look very healthy.” Dr. Mime announced. “Yes. We’re going to have a fantastic family!” Xaruth hugged Karmia in excitement. “You’ve said that already, only you’ve changed the adjective, but I definitely agree with you.” Karmia chuckled hugging him back. The two Zoroarks just couldn’t stop expressing how grateful they were for the start of their new family.

TWO YEARS LATER AFTER THE BIRTHS...

There was one exciting miracle that happened between the two Zorua brothers. The Hisuian Zorua took his very first step. Karmia gasped in contentment. “Ohh, he took his first step.” Karmia squealed with glee as she stopped her duty of folding up blankets of distinct colors. The Hisuian Zorua took another step forward to his parents. “Ahhh! This is exciting!” Karmia clapped with joy. The Hisuian Zorua was slowly losing hesitation in taking steps and was getting better at taking steps. “Whoa. Fast learner.” Xaruth gave his remark on the accomplishment of one of his sons. The Hisuian Zorua began to hop up and down, each jump getting higher than the last. It got to the point where the Hisuian Zorua was galloping all around the room and was literally bouncing off the walls as well. “Whoa. Too fast of a learner, I should say.” Xaruth had his jaw dropped.

Karmia grabbed the little hopping, ghastly fox and hugged him tightly. “Aww, you are such a little cute walker!” Karmia snuggled him with her cheek. “Walker?” Xaruth asked if he heard that clearly. “Walker... I like it...” Xaruth complimented Karmia’s unintentional name for their little ghastly fox. “Walker... I think we found our little Hisuian Zorua’s name...” Xaruth insists on Karmia on their child’s name. “Walker? Why is that? That isn’t really traditional to any of our ancestors’ names.” Karmia responded with an eyebrow raised. “Well, Walker seems to be the least stationary compared to his brother and we’ve both had a history of everyone mispronouncing our names. So, I think we should save me from suffering mentally from humiliation when it comes to roll calls.” Xaruth defended his decision. Karmia thought to herself for a bit. “You know... I think I agree with your mindset of thinking the more that I think about it... Walker it is!” Karmia agreed.

“But now what name are we going to give to our other Zorua?” Xaruth asked. “I’ve always been fond of siblings who have names that rhyme with each other.” Karmia giggled. “But what name rhymes with Walker?” Xaruth asked. “Stalker?” He presented an unconfident suggestion. “Nah.” Both parents disagreed and shook their heads in unison. “Locker?” Xaruth gave another unconfident suggestion. “It rhymes but it’s spelled differently. I think both of their names need to be spelled similarly.” Karmia spoke in disagreement. Both of them were thinking deeply on this topic.

“Agh! I can’t think of anyth-” Xaruth spat in frustration before being cut off by a high-pitched squeal. “Momma!” The voice said. The two parents turned both of their attention towards the unnamed Zorua, to whom they swore the voice came from that direction. Karmia got her face up towards Xaruth’s and whispered in his ear. “Did he just speak?” She asked curiously. “Momma!” The unnamed Zorua spoke to confirm their suspicion. The two parents gasped with joy. Xaruth actually fell backward from the shock of their other son saying their very first word. “H-He said Momma! It’s his first word!” Karmia huffed in excitement. Xaruth immediately got back up on his knees. “Oh! Oh! Can you say ‘dada’?” Xaruth asked the Zorua with a smile. “Pops!” The unnamed Zorua. Xaruth was pushed back in amazement about how the Zorua didn’t seem hesitant to respond to them at such an early age. “Close enough, but amazing!” Xaruth adored the response.

“It’s amazing how on the same day, at the same hour even, our first son can already walk, and our other son can already talk!!” Xaruth cheered ecstatically. The realization hit Xaruth like a speeding van. “Wait... talk...?” He asked himself softly to check to see if what he said beforehand was what he said. “Talk!!” He shouted with a smile carved into his snout. “Talker!!” Karmia hopped in excitement, pleased with the result of their other son’s name. “Then it’s settled... Walker and Talker...” She finalized her sons’ names. “I like it!” Xaruth clapped his paws together ecstatically.

The parents noticed that Walker was staring at the purple blanket as if he wanted to interact with it. “You want a blanket, Walker?” Karmia asked cheerfully as she walked over to all of the diverse colors of blankets. “Not the purple one, though. That’s a girl’s color! Give him the red blanket.” Xaruth insisted sarcastically. Karmia pulled out the blue blanket from the organized group of blankets. “Here you go, Walkie.” Karmia smiled as she offered the blue blanket to her mobile son. However, Walker declined the offer by clarifying that he wanted the purple blanket instead. “You want the purple blanket?” Karmia asked while chuckling. “Oh, come on, that’s a girl’s color. Not for our boys.” Xaruth groaned. Karmia hushed Xaruth though. “Honey, if he wants to cuddle with the purple blanket, let’s let him cuddle with the purple blanket. He’s only an infant. It’s not like purple will always be his color of choice.” Karmia insisted with a giggle as she handed Walker the purple blanket instead. Walker happily obliged and snagged the blanket from his mother’s grips and didn’t hesitate to place his head on the purple fabric of softness. “Okay, maybe I’m over-reacting.” Xaruth admitted. “But I got to admit, he looks adorable cuddling with that blanket.” He commented. “He sure does.” Karmia agreed.

“Hey, where did the magenta blanket go?” Xaruth asked. “I think I…” Karmia attempted to answer his question as she looked around to find it and realized she dropped it onto the floor from excitement when she witnessed Walker taking his first steps. “There it is!” Karmia pointed towards the magenta-colored blanket and noticed her other son was crawling towards it to interact with it. “Aww, look! Talker’s getting himself a blanket too.” Karmia squealed in joy. “Wha… not him too… that’s a girl’s color…” Xaruth muttered. “Xaruth, please…” Karmia shook her head. “Sorry, I’ll get it over. Probably just a phase for them.” Xaruth chuckled nervously. “Either way, we’re going to have a wonderful family for sure!!” Xaruth patted his wife’s back, proud of how much his family had developed.

But sadly... the family couldn’t keep up with being a well-developed and healthy one...

A few years later, Karmia and Xaruth got into an intense argument about their sons’ futures. Karmia wished for a caring, plentiful, and traditional future for the two boys while Xaruth demanded the boys have a bold, assertive, and radical future. And it’s not the cool-type of radical, it’s the “taking things to the extreme and putting others in harm’s way” type of radical.

“I told you, Karmia! I don’t want these boys to grow up to be overly sensitive snowflakes! I want them to be men, REAL men! Preparing for the worst that the world has to provide for all of humanity and Pokémonity!! I’ve become the top leader of the Zorua Zephyrs, and our sons shall grow up to become my right-hand men!!”

“No, Xaruth! Your Zephyrs are no tribe for our sons to be apart! They both possess the rights and freedom they rightfully deserve! In fact, to stick to tradition, they should assist humanity and search out for trainers to join just like we did during our years of youth. They can be trained to be strong individuals for their respective trainers and protect them at all costs. Helping out trainers have its perks too with being provided food, water, comfort, and shelter. They should not be holding positions of power for that questionable tribe of yours. Some of your actions are even considered criminal!! I mean, stealing belongings from others? Our family should value moral integrity and we must teach them to do what’s right!!” Karmia scolded Xaruth. Xaruth wasn’t having it, though. “We’re doing it for the right cause, though. There’s a significant difference! Each year, people and Pokémon would waste valuable resources and food... And a huge chunk of the population would consume more than they need and it’s many different things other than just food. Greed and gluttony are serious issues around the world. We’re attempting to balance out the resources among those starving of opportunities and resources.” Xaruth fought back at his wife. “Well I won’t allow it!! You’re being a terrible father for even suggesting actions like that for our sons!!!” Karmia shouted back at him.

“That’s... all I could recall from my parents arguing. I don’t remember seeing much of my mother after that. I don’t know if my parents got separated or not. She was almost as if she just vanished out of existence, and I didn’t witness her dissolving into dust. My father would just say she’s gone missing, but I feel like there’s more he’s secretly not telling us. But looking back, I wish it were my father who disappeared instead because he became an absolutely horrible father figure after mom left us!!”

“I just didn’t know why this had to happen.” Walker shook his head in disbelief. “But there was some relief provided to my life that was sort of a tremendous change to keep a balance of all of the negative aspects when I was able to escape the organization and my brother helped me escape as well. This was after he was getting frustrated with my brother for his lack of improvements and progress for when we were getting trained by sort kind of green cat. I was a fast learner, but my brother… not so much. But the reason why our father was furious at me was because I stood up for my brother’s well-being.”

TEN YEARS AGO FROM THE PRESENT…

The two Zorua brothers were fleeing away as they were both being chased by their father who was filled with rage. The two hopped and jumped to take as many shortcuts as possible. “Walker, run!” Talker shouted at his brother to go after he tripped from running too fast. “But what about you?” Walker asked concerned. “Just forget me! I can take father’s wrath! Go explore and find a nice lifestyle!!” Talker shouted as he was snatched by their wretched father. “You’re getting it now!!” Xaruth shouted at his poor, terrified Zorua son’s face. Walker looked back one more time and felt so bad for his brother as there were tears crawling down his face, thinking he failed to properly save him. But he knew his brother was sacrificing his well-being against their father’s wrathful punishments and beatings to provide Walker an opportunity to escape. The opportunity would be all for nothing if Walker turned back to save him, so he had to keep moving forward away from his now broken family.

The Hisuian Zorua ran for his life. As far away as possible. He thought the best first step was to hide within the woods that would provide him with a variety of different hiding spots in case his father decides to play an intense game of hide and seek like they would be having corrupted father and son time. Eventually, he tripped over and fell off of what seemed like a not very steep cliff buried within the woods. Walker cried to himself. He wasn’t sure what to do anymore. He felt lost and lonely with no sight of hope in getting out of the woods anytime soon. The night sky was covered in masses of pitch darkness to sabotage Walker’s unintentional expedition.

Then, there were a duo of Mightyenas that were creeping their ways towards the poor, defenseless Hisuian Zorua. “Ohh... boys... it’s time for lunch...” One of the Mightyenas commented. “It’s past midnight, you genius!” Another Mightyena shouted. “Oh... a midnight snack...?” The previous Mightyena corrected themselves while questioning the proper phrase to use.

Walker was slightly injured from the fall. He struggled to get up off of the ground which was very inconvenient for his side. He cried and huffed out of fear as his adrenaline sparked up from the sight of the hostile hyenas. “St-stay… back…” he stuttered with his plead from being filled with fright from the hungry Mightyenas. “You ready to chow down, Marty?” The first Mightyena asked. “Oh, Bon Appetit, Mike!” Marty replied. The two Mightyenas showed off the sharp and bone-ripping jaws of teeth to the little, frightened fox. The hyenas creeped closer and closer to the poor, defenseless fox as their mouths were practically watering from the sight of their newly found prey. “Oh, don’t worry, little guy… This is only going to hurt a little… Now, would I lie to you?” Mike asked Walker. “Uh… I…” Walker struggled to get any words out at the moment. “Of course I would… ‘cuz this is gonna hurt a lot!!” Mike laughed. “But relax… you'll still be beneficial… to our stomachs!!” Marty laughed. Walker couldn’t relate to their humor at all and for a good reason. He knew he was going to be food to them.

“Just leave me alone!” Walker shrieked aloud as he attempted to use the last of his strength to get up off the ground and flee from the two hungry hyenas. He couldn’t get far though because one of the Mightyenas snatched one of his back legs with their jaw. It was Marty who used the move ‘Bite’ on him. Walker screamed in pain from the bite and it was even more painful for him as ‘Bite’ is considered a dark-type move and is super effective against ghost-type Pokémon like him. “Help! Lemme go!” Walker pleaded with tears rolling in his eyes from all of the pain and fear of getting eaten by the Mightyenas. He tried to resist by kicking Marty’s snout with his other back leg, but he wasn’t strong enough to do any adequate damage to him. “You cannot never satisfy a Mightyena’s appetite.” Mike commented, preparing to feast on the poor fox. It seemed like it was all over for Walker’s life until…

BOOM! A loud bang could be heard nearby within the outskirts of the woods. It sounded like gunfire. Both the Mightyenas and Walker were startled by it. “What was that?” Marty asked in shock as he let go of his jaw grip on Walker’s back leg. “That was a gunshot, you idiot! What else?” Mike sassed him. “Sheesh. No need to snap.” Marty whispered to himself, rolling his eyes. “Luckily, it’s not Mightyena season, right?” Marty chuckled in hopes that Mike would give him some hope in return. “It is Mightyena season, you moron! We got to bolt before we become taxidermies!” Mike angrily whispered back it him as he began to run away. “Wait, uh, wait for me!” Marty whispered loudly as he began to chase after Mike, leaving Walker with a bite mark on his leg behind.

“Who goes there?” A voice echoed nearby within the various poles of bark and wood. “I swore I heard tons of noises of whimpering and shrieking over in this direction.” The voice was quieter this time as if the sender didn’t intend on shouting this time, but it still was seemingly getting closer as the sound of crunching leaves from footsteps was lurking towards Walker’s location. Walker was still hurt from the fall and the bite he took from the Mightyena, but he thought the best strategy to do was to stand still and not move a muscle in hopes that the voice’s sender would not detect his presence, but it failed not too long after as the voice made another string of words that indicate Walker has been spotted by them. “Oh… Is that a Zorua over there?” The voice asked from a distance as the sounds of crunching leaves drew closer.

Walker covered his face out of fear of what the figure would do to him, but some relief was provided to him when the silhouette asked him a question about his well-being. “Are you okay?” The unidentified man asked the Hisuian Zorua from a distance. The shadows were covering their beings to look like a silhouette in Walker’s point of view. The man then gasped, only it was out of amusement. “Whoa. You’re not just any Zorua. You’re the ancient, rare variant of Zoruas, aren’t you?” The person asked as they stepped a little closer to him. Walker was shaking in fear, didn’t say a word, and backed away out of the mix of shyness and paranoia of the unfamiliar human being. “Now, now. There is no need to be afraid. I’m a man with standards.” The person revealed themselves from the darkness of the shadows. It was a man wearing a purple jacket. Walker was then amused by the purple jacket the man was wearing.

Walker was still shaking from the unknown and from the pain in his back leg. There was even a noticeable bite mark. But some of his concerns about the mysterious human being standing in front of him were watered-down by his interest in the person’s purple jacket. It reminded him of the purple blanket he loved back in his early childhood. It gave him some sort of comfort to relate to what the color the man was wearing.

“I came out here to see what those loud whimpers to see if any of hostile wild Pokémon attacking any of my neighbor’s pets.” The man clarified his motivation in coming into the woods. The Hisuian Zorua was still shivering in fear, but was a little calmer than before to know that the man was possibly trying to save him. Walker was sure what was going to happen next.

“Are you hungry?” The purple-jacketed man asked him. Walker gave a gentle nod. “Here! I harvested these berries from my garden earlier today.” The purple-jacketed man spoke as he offered some Razz Berries to Walker that he pulled out of a roped sack he had hanging by his side. “I usually used these as distract wild Pokémon and keep them away from my other plants and the civilians’ pet Pokémon.” The Hisuian Fox was still nervous about the man he’s facing, but still wanted to put his trust onto him. It felt like a risk for him since he was a little paranoid about the berries being a trap, but he still wanted to take his chances as his stomach was in need of consumable substances. He slowly got up onto his feet, but it was a struggle due to his injured back leg. He was limping towards the hand full of delicious berries.

The purple-jacketed man still as still as a statue to not trying to scare the ghastly fox away. He didn’t attempt to move a muscle for the little mammal. Walker was eventually able to make contact with the berries with his snout as he took a little nibble on the berry on the top of the pile. The chunk of the razz berry that touched his taste buds delivered a sense of satisfaction for the inside of his mouth. The juice that squirted out of the berry’s chunk just melted in his mouth with the natural flavor of glucose into the mix. Walker loved the taste of the berry so much that the chunks that he bit off the pile of berries escalated in size each time until the whole pile was reduced to nothingness on the palm of the man’s hand.

“You must’ve been hungry. Did you enjoy that snack?” The purple-jacketed man asked. Walker nodded with pleasure as their rapport was building up. “I know we’re late on the introductions, but my name is Dovashi. But you can call me Dovey for short.” The purple-jacketed man introduced him. “What’s your name? Do you have one?” Dovey asked the Hisuian Zorua. The fox wasn’t quite comfortable with speaking yet, so he printed his name in the dirt on the ground below his feet. It spelled out his name, “WALKER.” “Your name is Walker. That’s a nice name.” Dovey replied with a smile.

“Well, it was genuinely nice to meet you, Walker. But I got to get back to finishing making those lesson plans I am procrastinating on doing.” Dovey nodded as he began to turn and walk away. Walker blinked at the realization that his unintentional hero was walking away from him. He was starting to express that he had a feeling of security around Dovey with a high-pitched yip to alert his purple-jacketed hero that he didn’t want him to leave. At least not without him. Dovey turned around to face Walker once again and asked with a concerned look, “What’s the matter?” Walker limped towards Dovey’s legs and rubbed his face against them. He looked back up and into Dovey’s eyes with his own eyes glaring up with the reflective tints of tears. He was expressing how he wanted to stay with Dovey. Walker was reminded of the passionate affection that he used to get from his mother, which was one of the core reasons why he wanted to stay with Dovey so much.

“I’m having a hard time understanding…” Dovey couldn’t quite get the message Walker was trying to display for him. Walker stepped back. Dovey was able ready to say his goodbyes again until he was cut off by Walker begun to perform an unusual type of action as he tried so hard to ignore his back leg pain and performed a back flip straight into mid-air as he was slowly glowing with brightness. The shining silhouette of the Zorua begin to change shape into a humanoid figure. When the bright aura vanished from Walker, it revealed that he transformed to look exactly like Dovey. This caught the original Dovey off by surprise as he was amazed by this unique ability the Zorua performed for him. The Walker’s portrayal of Dovey used his hands as gestures to point towards the original Dovey. Dovey was surprised by all of this as he was caught off-guard by it all, but he was invested by Walker’s transformation skills as well.

Walker then transformed into a Voltorb. Dovey then decoded that Walker turned into Voltorb as to indicate a pokéball. It was like an extreme and magically-advanced game of charades for Dovey to guess what Walker was trying to show. Finally, Walker turned back into original Hisuian Zorua self and he pointed to himself. Dovey figured out what Walker was trying to say that he wanted Dovey to catch him and become his partner. It was the tradition that his mother always wanted him and his brother to value in the first place.

“That… was amazing…” Dovey was at a struggle of speaking out words out of amazement of Walker’s shape-shifting ability. “That’s right. You Zoruas possess the ability of illusion to disguise yourselves as other living individuals.” Dovey remembered. It then clicked for Dovey to realize a connection with his name. “Ohh, I get it! Walker! It’s a reference to a skin walker as Zoruas are remarkably similar to forming into other beings with their illusion ability. Just remove the ‘skin’ part and you get ‘walker’. That’s clever!” Dovey was amused by his name.

Walker got up against Dovey’s legs once more, pleading for his benefits of protection and resources. Walker was desperate to hear the answer to his plead of Dovashi becoming his one and only Pokémon trainer. Dovey stared at him and then thought to himself about this difficult decision to bring a Pokémon of his own into his life. “I’ve never had a Pokémon of my own, but I’m sure if I must, the both of us can manage the companionship together.” Dovey stated with confidence to finalize his decision into converting himself to the world of Pokémon training. “I don’t know if how it’s going to go, but I will try my very best to take care of you as much as humanly possible.” Dovey kneeled down to Walker’s level and petted him. Walker hopped onto his new master’s lap gracefully and rubbed his face against his purple-jacket surrounding chest.

Dovey looks at the Hisuian Zorua and noticed that he is oddly intrigued by his jacket as Walker was snuggling the jacket like a blanket. “You seem very intrigued by my jacket. It’s a perfect color of purple, isn’t it?” Dovey asked. Walker nodded to confirm his assumption. Dovey lightly picks up the Hisuian Zorua and places him on top of a rock. Walker stared at his new master curiously. “I know what I must do…” Dovey whispered as his hand reached down to his right-side pocket to pull something out. It was a knife. This startled Walker at first as his heart began to pound once again, jumping to conclusions about his new master betraying him right away. But the tension was drained out from an anti-climactic result of Dovey taking off his purple jacket and holding it up. “I should cut out a bandana for you then as some sort of tag for you and to let me know it’s you.” Dovey explained his intentions. Dovey used the knife to cut a large square of fabric out of his purple jacket. He then immediately roll up the square to form a bandana for his new Pokémon to wear. He gently tied it around his Hisuian Zorua’s neck. It was a perfect fit for the little guy. They would have matching clothing from here on out. Dovey didn’t care about ruining his jacket because he wanted to put the comfort of his Zorua first.

“I’m not an expert at clothes designing, but I am thinking that shade of purple fits you perfectly.” Dovey complimented Walker's new apparel. Walker hopped up and landed cuddling on Dovey’s lap to express his gratitude towards his new bandana holding his favorite color. It reminds him a lot about his early childhood blanket. Dovey picked the little fox up and placed him over his right shoulder. Walker was facing what was behind Dovey and he could’ve swore he saw what looked like a Zoroark from a distance, only it was ghostly-looking. Walker was about to freak out, thinking his father caught up to him, but then he noticed it wasn’t the Hisuian variant of a Zoroark. They were the dark-type variant and they were standing there staring directly into Walker’s eyes until they gave him a big wave with their claws and a seemingly happy smile towards him. After a few waves of the ghostly Zoroark waving left and right, they eventually faded away out of existence. They look like they were proud of Walker as if he completed a big accomplishment.

Walker was so confused spotting the sight of the supposed apparition, but his train of thought was cut off, but Dovey letting him know about their destination. “Come on. Let’s get you all set at my home.” Dovey spoke concluding with a smile. Walker was able to show his mouth sticking out of the neck fur and bandana that was covering it the whole time, from the smile forming on his snout. The duo walked onto the trail that led out of the woods and back home while enjoying the cool, satisfying breeze pouring from the midnight skies.

BACK TO PRESENT TIME…

“Excuse me for a moment. I need to speak with my therapist.” Walker swiftly pulls up a stool and a chaise lounge sofa and quickly dresses up as a Hisuian Zorua wearing a pair of glasses and holding a clipboard as if he were trying to roleplay as a therapist. He sits on the stool to ask a question. He pretends to be someone else who is helping him psychologically.
“So, Walker, I seem to have noticed you’re showing some signs of hostility and anger. What seems to be troubling you at this very moment?” Walker, pretending to be a therapist, asked himself while facing the unoccupied chaise lounge sofa. Walker swiftly takes off the therapist's props, bolts off of the stool, and lands on the chaise lounge sofa as if he seemingly becomes the therapist’s client now for his weird act of a therapy session. “Doctor... I just feel stuck... I just can’t decide who I want to impress... I want to impress my father, but I’ll have the risk of being forced to commit morally-wrong crimes, and my father is a fricking tyrant of a leader for his clan of Zoruas… He holds this powerful orb to push everyone around… literally… But impressing my father will make my owner unimpressed and disappointed. And I want to impress my owner and get a lot of rewards and benefits, but he struggles to spend time with me due to his strict schedule at work and I’m banned from his school... ever since that ‘one day.’ I want to be strong enough for him, but he doesn’t seem to notice how impressive I’ve gotten. People think I’m horrible for my serial theft past, but they don’t know how much respect I used to get back then. And now, that was stripped away from me. All these horrible decisions I make always seem to backfire no matter what I try, it always ends up with incident after incident after incident.”

“What were some examples of these incidents?”

“Well, I was doing so well at obtaining resources from this one café run by an Absol and their Flareon co-worker in another country. Those two got better and better at preparing themselves for my presence. So, I tried to recruit Noodle Body who had a horrible reputation at the time to help me. But, what happened? She declined my offer as I was trying to save her from this awful world we live in. She was too busy trying to bring in the dough for her injured owner’s treatment. Let me emphasize she caused the near-death injury herself. I watched it all unfold from the back of the audience disguised as someone else. She got a whole bunch of respect after she became a wrestler and got the funds to pay for her owner’s treatment. I was able to get away from the police officers with her reward money for turning me in within my paws, but then my own owner caught me at the airport, and he gave the money back to her!! Ugh, I really despise you, Noodle Body!”

“I noticed this ‘Noodle Body’ is a crucial factor to your anger. Who is she anyway?”

“Ohh... Noodle Body... Well… She really isn’t that bad looking back at her, I’m just envious of how successful she is. I was able to fool her with my tricks, but I’m still mad I couldn’t convince her how corrupted society truly is. My father thought it was incompetent and foolish for me to let her knock me out! It is literally impossible to impress him no matter how hard my brother and I try!! I shouldn’t have lost that stupid orb to stop his power trip!!”

“Whoa, please remain calm. Instead of talking about what ‘Noodle Body’ did to you, can you describe to me what she is?”

“Noodle Body is a Milotic. She’s named after a goddess, I think. How is it that she managed to redeem herself for her mistakes, but I couldn’t redeem myself for mine? Now, she’s practically become a postermon for the Pokémon Wrestling Federation because she is able to knock out plenty of wrestlers despite having no arms and legs. Like, whatever happened to that Tier Tops or even the Goop Grinder? She was my favorite!”

“So, do you plan on forgetting about this Noodle Body?”

“No, I can’t. I must restore honor to my family’s legacy! I need to seek vengeance on Noodle Body... for my father’s respect… Besides, that Noodle Body foiled my plans the first time we met. But it’s not the first time she’s done it. She was running some kind of pocky shop at one point, and I loved the smell of those pockies she was selling. I was going to steal them for profit at first, but the smell was too much for me not to take a bite out of them. And I attempted to get a pocky from her countless times. My question was how did she not get any other customers at all during my schemes since she did stuff like barricade the door? Also, I’ll never understand why she was practicing her wrestling during store hours. She sent me flying into the air! Boy, she is a strong noodle... It’s almost like there’s nothing but muscles underneath those scales of hers. On a positive note, she was nice enough to give me a free sample as compensation when I was in the hospital after that final attempt. But do you know how long of a recovery that hospital trip took? Also, others were amused by my failed attempts, too. That violated my dignity for sure.”

“But my dignity wasn’t violated as much as the time my brother and I tried getting us some snackage from that one picnic we weren’t welcomed in. Oh, and our plans backfired so badly that I suffered a lot of injuries and trauma from them. The list goes on such as getting all of my fur shaved by a woodchipper that was turned on for some reason, getting blown up by fireworks, getting hit by vehicles, constantly losing bets, and don’t get me started with the rocket incident, where my brother and I were-”

“Hold on. Let’s pause for a bit. But I see you’ve experienced plenty of trauma in your lifetime. I see here you’ve also had some trauma being trapped inside some underg-”

“Stop! I’d... rather not discuss that one... Ugh, it was more flattening than flattering for me when that Braixen played musical chairs with her pals later that evening. And that was all because I thought hiding in the apparel store to rob a mall of its jewelry was an innovative idea. Negative consequences like this can happen when you make horrible choices. Maybe I should ask others about what decisions I should make for certain situations... or maybe for decisions WE should make... That’s it! Pardon me, doc! I got to speak with the one in front of the screen for a bit...”

“What person? What screen do you speak of?”

“You’re just as bad as everyone else. Can nobody really see these people?!”

“No, I can’t... Of course, I can see it you dummy because I am YOU, only impersonating a therapist!! I think this is also why everyone thinks you’ve lost it because you’re also talking to yourself as well!!”

“Well, thanks doc! I’ll make sure to eat more apples from now on to keep you away.”

“I am you. And I’m a therapist, not a doctor.”

“Precisely. I’m not a doctor!”

“Now back to you in front of this screen. Listen here, kiddo! I like you, but I need you to do me a solid favor. I’m not one for making decisions swiftly. In fact, my brother would always tease me about how indecisive I am, and with how I go back and forth between sides. I’m not the most consistent, but I prefer to have this problem be something for me to manage independently... for now, at least. However, there are some other individuals I would like you to help out with. They may need assistance with making decisions. Specifically, I’m talking about Noodle Body and her little owner, too. Yeah, I guarantee they’re going to be the ones in the spotlight if you know what I mean. Me? Well... due to my past actions, my collapsed family matters, and how I was during that Noodle Body’s odyssey of getting the funds to pay for her owner’s treatment, I’m most likely going to be labeled as the antagonist. And if an antagonist is what the people want, then an antagonist is what they’re going to get from this tricky fox.”

“But listen, I want you to make sure Noodle Body and her owner will make the right decisions. Make sure you think about each of the choices carefully before finalizing your decision on which one you think is the best one to pick. Also, be careful and keep on the lookout for context clues because you don’t want to make them a pushover and just choose all the decisions that seem to be the polite ones because assertion is needed when absolutely necessary. It’s just how the real-world works, okay? People can take advantage of the kind yet naive ones. I don’t know much about her owner other than she is my owner’s girlfriend. Yes, after all of these years, can you believe they’re not engaged yet? Time zones are part of the issue, though. But we’re getting off-topic here. As for Noodle Body herself, I may despise her for sure, but I still don’t want you to make her life miserable by having her make a whole bundle of poor decisions to pile up loads of stress on her health. Why? Because that will make you the bigger antagonist in that case. And that would just make for a boring story to tell at my end. So I want it to be my job to make her life miserable, not yours. Capisce? And I know some of you out there love to purposefully make the wrong choices either out of curiosity or to be an arrogant jerk. Well, I’ll tell you that the outcomes will be very, very unsatisfying, so don’t try anything! Ever heard of the phrase: “Curiosity killed the cat”? Don’t kill the cat for the sake of shock because not everyone’s going to appreciate that.”

“I know it doesn’t make much sense for me to ask this since I want to seek vengeance on that Noodle Body, but that’s because I want to be the cause of her problems, you know, the conflict. That makes me sound like a sociopath, but why do you think I’m here? Plus, I need a good story to tell on beating Noodle Body. I don’t necessarily want to beat her the easy way, though. I want it to be fun when beating her that way it’s more rewarding. You just wait because I’m probably going to make that serpent vanish straight out of existence. And there I go again with being a flip-flopper as my brother likes to put it. But I also have to say that poor decisions can lead to severe consequences, including unpreparedness, mistrust, injuries, or even death. You heard what I’ve gone through, so don’t let the same thing happen to anyone else, okay?”

“You know who Noodle Body and her owner are, right?” Walker asked. “Well, Noodle Body looks like this...” Walker’s whole body glows a bright white and reshapes into a long and large sea serpent wearing a gold crown with a seashell to complement its center between a blue and red jewel, and a pearl necklace around their snake-like neck. “See?” Walker asked before an alarm sounded off within his cell. “ALERT! ALERT! Client 0570: Walker, Hisuian Zorua, has changed forms! Client 0570: Walker, Hisuian Zorua, has changed forms!” A robotic voice screamed out of the intercom. Walker shaped back into his normal self again. “Oh, yeah... I forgot about the alarm that goes off when I use my illusion ability. Security’s on their way to check on me now.” Walker chuckled carelessly. “But I don’t care. I’m helping you for a worthy cause.” Walker nodded with a wink.

“Before security gets here and screams at me, let’s practice decision-making... I only slightly recall what Noodle Body’s owner looks like, but I was informed by mine that she got some kind of new short-sleeved jinbei outfit. I was never told what the colors or design of the outfit were. Maybe you can tell me which one it is... So, which one does she wear?”

“There’s the Darkest Rose, the significant clothing representing the truly unbreakable romance of a legendary shadow ninja. The Arashi Strike, representing the dreadfulness of lightning bolt strikes originating from the terriblest of thunderstorms. The Winter Shield, which was used as apparel during the coldest of ice-blowing winter storms. Dragon’s Cloak a.k.a. my personal favorite, the hearts of millions upon millions of dragons will be touched among the sacred outfit. Nature’s Gift, the outfit given by nature itself to provide camouflage to its wearer in blending into the greatest and greenest of wildernesses to hide from predatory beings. And finally, the Nevermore Inferno, clothing sewn together by survivors of arson from unknown forces as a symbol to beware of the fieriest of blazes to not awaken the mythical fire spirits.”

+Practice CYOA: Which outfit SHOULD Saucez wear throughout her adventure?
A- Darkest Rose (Black and Red)
B- Arashi Strike (White and Gold)
C- Winter Shield (Sapphire and Cyan)
D- Dragon’s Cloak (Violet and Palatinate)
E- Nature’s Gift (Olive and Basil)
F- Nevermore Fire (Red and Silver)

[This voting poll has long been over]

+NOTE: This is a CYOA decision-maker. The audience will be given roughly 24 hours to choose before the story progresses with the choice with the most votes. All CYOA decision-makers are story changers in their ways, but the audience will be informed when a CYOA decision-maker will have a larger impact on the story compared to the average CYOA decision-maker, that way the audience can be more cautious about which decision to choose. Some may involve benefiting from one thing at the expense of another. A majority of these polls will halt the story until the voting is done. Occasional polls like this ONE will still have the story progress but will apply the results in the following chapter, act, or story progression after the next completed poll, to not slow down the pacing of the story too much. Since this is the very first poll and the prologue is exceptionally long without having any CYOA checkpoints in between, the audience will be given 72 hours to choose before the result is finalized to allow readers to read and get adjusted to the pacing of the story and catch up with the previous stories if needed.

“Well whichever one it is, I’m sure it will look good on her.” Walker nods with a smile carved on his ghastly face. A bunch of footsteps can be heard growing from a distance. “Well, those are the guards coming for me... Gotta go, kiddo! And remember, be sure to have everyone involved make the right decisions. And if you see my brother anywhere, please be POLITE to him. If anyone deserves any rebukes in our brotherhood for all of the shenanigans we’ve done, it would be me since I’m pretty much his backbone and motivator. One more thing, I’m now going to pretend we never had this conversation, but you should still consider my advice. Later!” Walker saluted a goodbye.

End of the Prologue

Credits/Characters
AwesomeSaucez - Writer, Saucez and Astarte
DoveyDraws - Co-Writer, Dovey, Walker, Talker, Xaruth, and Karmia