Blazing Savior

Chapter 2- Blazing Saviour 

Zorua woke up with a start. Her head pounded with each heartbeat, loudly drowning out her thoughts.

‘Nngh, I feel like I got hit by a train… again. I hope this isn’t gonna be a new habit, or something…

After a while, her headache finally faded enough for her to get to her paws with a grimace.
‘Ugh. How is it even possible for me to feel this sore? What the hell did that guy hit me with? Just one was enough to put me in the dirt.’ 

For the second day in a row now, Zorua looked around. She wasn’t at the pond anymore. So where was she now? Maybe her rescuer had moved her while she was out.

‘My head’s still killing me… how long was I out?’

Looking up towards the sky, she saw the morning sun still hung low on the horizon.She must’ve been out all night! 

Heaving a tired sigh, she stretches, her sore muscles protesting the movement. As she did, Zorua realized that she’d been laying on a bed of soft leaves.. A few of them were stuck in her messy and tangled fur. At least they’d kept her warm overnight.

‘It feels so… weird to be covered in fur. At least it’s kinda comfortable, I guess?’’

Glancing down at her paws, she flexed them, watching her sharp claws slide in and out as she spent a moment exploring her new body.

‘I just hope I can figure out what happened to me, or why I woke up here..’

She sat there for a little while, trying to comb through her memories now that she had this moment of calm. Strangely, the closer she looked, the more she found. Holes. Gaps, everywhere. In fact- she can’t seem to recall much of anything, let alone how she ended up in that wooded clearing.

Panic quickly began to set in, her grip on reality on her rapidly slipping out of her control. How could she have forgotten everything like that!? It made no sense– none at all! A-and there was no way she could have just suddenly…  appeared there, right? Teleportation wasn’t a real thing! And what the hell was even a Zorua? Why was she one of them?

Squeezing the sides of her head with her paws, Zorua grimaces and slides down onto her stomach, the outside world totally lost as her mind spiraled

‘H-how? Why me? Did this even happen? W-why did that village decide I was worth hunting!?’

‘..Who am I..?’

Nova’s day was not going well. The Charcadet groaned as he slowly made his way back to camp. He hadn’t found any food worth scavenging for the wounded stranger he’d found last night, deep in the Moonlit Forests.

‘I knew the region was only inhabited by ghosts as a rule, but they have to eat somehow, too! How in the hell do they survive out here, when there’s barely anything that qualifies as food? 

The flames along his body flickered angrily, voicing his frustration far better than any words ever could. He kicked a rock out of his path, continuing to smolder over his lack of success

Finally, he neared his makeshift campsite, letting out a sigh and taking a moment to calm himself, allowing the flames on his body to burn down to calmer and more gentle light.

‘Alright, Nova… whoever this fox is, she’s probably awake by now– I’ll have some questions of my own. Like, what the hell she was doing near a village full of ghosts? She’s a dark type, she should’ve known her kind weren’t welcome around here. It almost got her killed!!’
‘Though she does look young.. Maybe no one was able to teach her, and she just didn’t know any better. I mean, she is an off-color..’
‘Gah! Overthinking this won’t make it any better, I just need to suck it up and get back to her. I’ll deal with it as I come to it..

After a few minutes, he returns through the underbrush, finding the cold coals of last night’s campfire, his nest, and the Zorua….

Nova’s eyes widened as he looked at the little fox. She was curled up, and shivering like she’d been dunked in ice water. He rushed over to her, the thought of food suddenly forgotten. He knelt down beside her, careful not to accidentally touch her.

“Hey! Zorua, are you okay? I didn’t miss an injury last night, did I?! I-I did my best to heal you up…” 

His words fell on deaf ears, the fox seemingly oblivious to the world outside her. He cautiously laid his hand on her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. She whimpered at his touch, but at least it was a reaction. Feeling slightly more confident, he gave her a few, stronger shakes, trying to rouse her out of whatever was causing the panic.

“H-hey, it’s okay, I’m not gonna hurt you- just please, tell me what’s wrong. I just want to help, alright?”

Something he said seemed to finally get through to her., The Zorua shifted and suddenly yanked her fearful gaze up to the Charcadet’s burning eyes. Despite the flickering flame behind them, his own eyes seemed full of gentleness and concern — reassuring the fox, as tears welled in her eyes.

“My name is Nova, what’s yours? Maybe you can tell me a little about what’s going on?”

She nodded, trying to let herself calm down before answering. Her body still shook, but a few moments of careful breathing took the worst of it off.
“I… d-don’t know. I can’t remember anything! Not my home, not my friends, not my family — not even my own NAME!

Stunned by this answer, he leans back to ponder it, though he still leaves his hand on the fox for reassurance.

‘Amnesia..? That would explain a few things, like why she wandered into that village… but still! Zorua aren’t native to this continent, so there definitely would’ve been rumors about her if she was on the road… Maybe someone in the village had some answers?’

“Shhh, hey. It’s okay. Look, I don’t think I can really help with your amnesia, but maybe somebody in the next town over could? I could try and get you there.” 

She blinked, rubbing the tears out of her eyes as she contemplated his offer.

He withdrew his hand, the fox noticing how warm that spot now felt. She wasn’t sure why, but something told her he was trustworthy..

“O-okay. I uhm–. I’m sorry– I didn’t… I just… I can’t remember anything. Yesterday was so hectic, and everything was so abrupt, I didn’t really have any time to think about it.”
She replied softly to him, after a few more moments of silence.

He gave her a patient smile, his flames flickering down to a low  flicker as he leaned back, taking a seat on the edge of the leaves.

“So. Do you mind telling me about what happened? Most dark types know to avoid that part of the kingdom, though if you lost your memory then you wouldn’t remember that part in the first place, right?. And, well, that Trevenant seemed really angry, chasing you so deep into the forest like that.”

The fox grimaced as she got to her haunches, nervously wrapping her tail wrapping around her flank.

“Well, I don’t… know why exactly. I just woke up in a clearing, r-realized I got turned into some… fox thing. Then I wandered into the village– that… ‘Trevenant’, you said?” She looked towards her companion for confirmation, being met with a nod. “That Trevenant just appeared out of nowhere, saying I was up to no good and I was a foolish… Zorua— whatever that is. Did he mean me? Is that what I am now?”

“I mean, that would be correct, you are a Zorua. An off-color, too! That’s extremely rare… though, um, being ‘turned into’ another Pokemon isn’t really something that’s possible.” Nova was puzzled — it made no sense! You couldn’t just…become something you weren’t, not unless you were a Ditto, or maybe a Zorua like the one sitting in front of him. It didn’t seem like she was lying, and he hadn’t detected any traces of those illusions her species was so infamous for. Besides, there was no faking the kind of fear he heard in her voice.

Pausing for a moment, the Zorua fidgeted with a sigh, her ears pinned back as she racked her brain trying to figure out how to explain herself.

After a period of silence bordering on uncomfortable, she finally spoke up, “I don’t… really know what to say, exactly. I don’t remember who or what I was, just that before yesterday, I definitely was NOT a Zorua. Whatever came before… it’s just a jumbled mess up here.” She gestured towards her head with a twirl of her paw. “Though, um, what do you mean by ‘off-color’? What’s that mean, exactly?” She tilted her head quizzically.


Nova sits down beside her, carefully thinking out his answer, as he crosses his legs like some elder about to share a story, “Well, you are one. Most other Zorua look pretty much like you, except instead of their fur having that cyan part, they’re a lot more red. Plus their eyes are usually blue– yours are gold. I-it’s not unheard of, but still not exactly… normal. It could help explain why that village took so harshly to your being there — no one around here has even seen a Zorua before, let alone an off-color like yourself.”

“Okay, I guess? I don’t really see what the big deal is, I’m… just a different color. Though, um, that Trevenant did also mention that I was a ‘filthy Dark type’ too. Is that… some term for Zorua, or something?” Zorua asked, her curiosity beginning to override her poor spirits.

“Oh! Well that’s just called your Type. All Pokemon have a Type that kind of… says a lot about what exactly they can do. Like me, for example! I’m a fire type– more specifically, a Charcadet. There’s sixteen types in total, though most ‘mons are usually only one or two of those types.” His eyes began to glow more brightly as he did his best to explain it all to his companion. He loved this kinda stuff, even if it were such basic concepts. It got him fired up, made him feel like an old, wise psychic just like his dad.

“Well, I guess that makes sense too. What are all of the Types? You said Fire, Dark — whatever that means — and I guess Ghost would make sense, since so many of those. creatures in that village seemed to be pretty ghostly, right?” The Zorua spoke aloud, trailing along as she did her best to understand what he’d said..

“Erm, it’s Pokemon,” He corrected her.

“Huh?”

“Pokemon. That’s what we are, but most of us just abbreviate it to ‘mons just cause it’s simpler.” With a satisfied smirk, the Charcadet continued his explanations, noting how eager this Zorua seemed to be. In a way, it kind of reminded him of himself.

She seemed to understand, her eyes sparkling as she absorbed this new information.

“Though, you are correct, Ghosts are another type, yes! That Trevenant you ran into was a Ghost/Grass type. For you, it mostly just means your abilities are related to shadows or other darker concepts. That kind of stuff is really damaging against really Psychic and Ghost types, which is why that village was so… hostile. That’s not helped by your species’ unique ability to make illusions.”

“Illusions? Like what, pulling a rabbit out of a hat or sneaking a coin from behind an ear? Parlour tricks? What good is that gonna do me?”

‘…Oh, holy Reshiram, I’m gonna have my hands full, aren’t I?’ Nova thought to himself. He tried to think of how to best explain it. But… he wasn’t a Zorua, nor a dark type. He had no clue how their abilities worked — nobody did. The Zorua clans held their secrets close, and guarded them jealously.

“Well, I’ll be honest, Zorua — I’m… just gonna call you that until you can hopefully remember your name — I have no idea. Zoruas and your evolution, Zoroarks, are the only ‘mons known to be capable of crafting complex illusions. Again, nobody really knows for sure, so all I know are rumors.They say Zoruas are capable of disguising themselves as just about anything, and that Zoroarks only become even more powerful, able to create entire rooms out of nothing. Most of your kind is pretty reclusive, and the few that are well-known…let’s just say that they aren’t known for a good reason. A lot are thieves, or worse. Zoruas have garnered a poor reputation amongst Pokemon all over the realm, but Dark types in general tend to have it pretty bad, especially since Yveltal tried to take over a few decades ago..

Taking a deep breath after his lengthy explanation, he glanced at the fox, who seemed to be lost in thought. Despite how thoroughly he’d tried to research these things, he’d never thought he’d have to explain any of it to someone, let alone someone he’d only just met. At least she had a natural curiosity that complimented his own passion for learning. He gave her a gentle smile, giving her ample time to digest the information.


“So, you’re saying I could disguise myself as anything I wanted, huh? That sounds awesome!” Zorua’s eyes twinkled with excitement, her tail wagging from side to side as she hopped around a little.

The two of them spoke for what must have been hours. Nova explained as much as he could about Pokemon Abilities, Moves, Types, and everything else he thought she’d need to know. Before they even knew it, the sun had started to set behind them..

As Nova busied himself by setting up an evening fire Zorua was lost in her own thoughts, the prior day’s stress forgotten.

‘This world is… honestly amazing, in a way. It almost doesn’t seem real. I want to learn more about it, about myself. And these illusions I now apparently can do. Sure, I want to figure out who I am, but… why not try and enjoy a few of these things while I can? He did say he could help, and he also said we would probably be traveling for a while. At least, exploring this new form might be able to help me remember, right?’

‘At least I hope so…’

A loud growl of her stomach snapped her back to reality. Nova gave her a knowing grin as she smiled sheepishly.

“Hehe, I guess I uhm… might be a lil bit hungry. We spent all day talking, after all…”

“Well, I was out looking for food before I came back to camp, and when I got back you were… well, you weren’t doing well. After that, ah, I guess we got a bit caught up in the moment!” Nova replied with a forgiving shrug.

He opened up his little satchel, rustling around inside for something. After a moment, he sighed in relief and pulled out a couple apples, tossing one over to her.

It promptly bonked off her chest as she failed to catch it in time, making her squeak in surprise.

“O-oh, shit! Sorry. Forgot you’re still new to this, I shouldn’t expect ya to be able to catch things without warning, huh?”

She shrugged and picked it up with her front paws, giving the apple a sniff before taking a chomp. Her fangs sank through the fruit’s flesh with ease. 

“It’s alright, I’m not hurt. Just caught me off guard, is all.”
She gave him a reassuring smile, apple juices dripping from her muzzle as she began her merciless slaughter of the poor fruit.


He just chuckled and silently turned back to tending the fire, its soft soft crackling filling the air.

The moon was rising now, all vestiges of the sun long gone. Yet despite this, Zorua found she could still see fairly clearly around their campsite.

‘Huh. Guess being a Dark type comes with a few benefits. Pretty sure I couldn’t see this well before.’

The Moon itself seemed to fill her with a buzzing sensation, deep in her core. The dark fox was almost entranced as she stared up towards the sky, the glory of the stars above growing fuller by the moment.

“Hey, Nova?” She finally asked, turning to look at him.

Opening an eye, he looked over towards her from his meditative position.

“I’m pretty sure I might actually be nocturnal. How exactly are we gonna be able to travel together if I’m a zombie all day?”

He blinked in confusion. “First off, I dunno what you mean by ‘zombie’. Second, we can just use Chesto berries for that. Just try and sleep for now, okay? I’ll see if I can forage some in the morning.. Might be able to work out a better solution in the future, though.

Putting a paw to her chin in thought, she stared upwards at the sky.

“I guess that works, but I’ll probably be up well past Midnight at this rate. The Moon is making me feel… oddly energized.”

Nova suddenly shot up, his flames crackling with excitement.

“That’s it! I’ve been trying to brainstorm what to call you while you’re here, what do you think of ‘Midnight’?”

Zorua’s ears twitched as she took her eyes off the moonlit sky, glancing back down at her new companion.

“I.. actually kinda like the sound of that, yeah! You can call me Midnight from now on. Better than just being called ‘Zorua’.”

She smiled at him, bouncing the idea of her new name around her head.

‘Maybe this won’t be so bad. Nova seems like a pretty interesting guy to hang around..’ 

At last, they both settled down for the night, Nova quickly drifted off. For a while, Midnight found herself just staring up in awe at the night sky. It called to her, filled her with strength…. 

Eventually, she too drifts off into slumber.