Pokèmar Episode III: Thunder's Past

Seeds of Conflict

"You know my father?!" Thunder exclaims in mild surprise. "Is he ok?!"
"He's fine." Jasi assures. "He was afraid something like this would happen so he's been sending me to keep an eye on Palette Town to make sure you were safe."
"Wait..." I interrupt. "If he feared that they would impersonate him, why did he send the letter to bring him here?"
"He didn't. It was the Zoroark. Sadu didn't want you to get involved with this."
"Involved in what, exactly?" Thunder asks.
"I think that it would be better to let him explain. Follow me." He tells us as he begins walking into the forest.
"Hold up." I say, skeptical. "And how do we know this isn't a trap? For all we know, you could also be a Zoroark yourself."
Jasi stops for a moment, contemplating my words. "...I suppose that I can't really prove that to you. You'll just have to risk it."
"I say we should head back to Pokemon Paradise and get our allies over here first."
"Well... problem..." Thunder says regretfully. "We left our supply bag, with the Entercards inside, back at the house... It may or may not be safe to go back there." Fair point. They could be all over the house by now. And staying out all night to wait for the morning Wailord Ferry is extremely risky. So Jasi may very well be our safest option.
"Crap..." I mutter to my self. "Alright. We'll come with you, Jasi."
"Then let's hurry. They'll probably be combing the area for you."

🕐🕒🕔🕖🕘🕛

We walk through the rest of the night, jumping at the slightest sound or mangled shadow that we encounter. But as daybreak arrives, we reach an extremely dense wall of trees. How anyone could find this in the vast forest is beyond me.
"Word of advice to you two. Be on your best behavior. We can get a bit... jumpy... If things seem strange. Let me handle the talking." As we approach Jasi does a pattern of knocks on one of the tree trunks.
"The forest is quite beautiful tonight, wouldn't you say?" What? It's not night time. It's dawn. And I wouldn't exactly call the forest beautiful. Even at night. Dark and secluded would be more appropriate.
Though after he says those words the tree... opens up? The front swings open like a door, revealing another Raichu. It appears that they hollowed out a section of the tree to act as a hidden entrance. Nice.
"Are these two with you?" The Raichu asks Jasi.
"They are. I'm taking Dova here to see General Sadu." General? What's with all this military talk?
"So the son had come to visit, eh? And the Snivy?"
"Friend of his. Risked his life to save him."
"Friends like that are few and far between. Alright. You're free to enter." Jasi gives him a nod and we enter the doorway into a rather unexpected sight. The thick wall of trees encircles a large clearing which is occupied by a rather large encampment. Raichu, Pikachu, and the occasional Pichu occupy this encampment and are going about their daily business.
"What is this place?" I ask.
"This is our main base." Jasi answers. "The conflict with the Zoroark has driven us and our loved ones into hiding. This is where we call home." A conflict with the Zoroark... Is this a war? Have we waltzed right into a war zone? "Follow me. And Alex, don't stare. As a Snivy, you already draw attention, so be inconspicuous.
"Noted."

🕐🕒🕔🕖🕘🕛

We soon reach a smallish tent that appears to act as one of many living spaces for the residents. Here's hoping no one here has claustrophobia.
"General Sadu." Jasi says to the tent's resident. "You were right. They lured him here. But he's alive and well."
"Dova?!" His response is to immediately throw open the tent entrance. The old Raichu's eyes spark with recognition as he stands face to face with his son. "It's been so long... Last I saw you, you were only a tiny Pichu. So small you probably can't even remember me. Now look at you."
"Dad..." Thunder's voice gets choked up as he gives his "true" father a tight embrace. "You're right. I don't remember. Tell me. Please. Tell me what it was like back then."
A sorrowful expression grows on Sadu's face. "I suppose you have a right to know what happened. You're definitely old enough for it. Back before I lost you, we were a happy family of three, me, my wife, Kosa the Pikachu, and you. I had a job at the local dojo, training Pokemon in competitive combat. It was a good life. Well, until I entered into the GPCT."
"The GPCT?" I ask. Apparently he was so focused on seeing Thunder again that he completely disregarded my existence. Though he seems to know who I am. Normally I'd be surprised, but considering what I'm known for here it makes sense that I'd be a household name.
"The Global Pokemon Combat Tournament. Not sure if there's anything like it where you're from, but it's a tournament bracket that Pokemon from around the world attend for the title of 'Pokemon combat champion.' During that competition I faced off against a Zorua.
"Perhaps due to carelessness or the heat of the moment I overdid my knockout strike. It killed him. His father, Zoroark Asva, swore revenge and the controversy led to me losing my job. And just when I thought things couldn't get worse, he attacked my home. Killing my wife and driving you away. I had lost everything. Ever since then things have escalated. Old tensions between our kinds from the Great War resurfaced and we started a new war."
Right. The Great War. I remember reading about it. I was reminded heavily of the world wars we had on earth. It appears that they were just as destructive as ours. "And for about two decades we've been fighting. But we will not rest until they are defeated." So we are caught in a war... This is bad.
"Have you tried diplomacy?" I ask.
"That would never work. Zoroark are bloodthirsty monsters. They only understand violence."
"Seems like a narrow point of view."
"Listen, human. You don't know them like I do. I've seen them wipe out entire villages of our kind. Men. Women, children, not even the eggs were spared. They are evil. You cannot reason with evil."
"I don't believe in evil. To me there's a motivation and logic, however flawed and immoral it may be, behind every mindset." We lock gazes for a moment. Which is ended by Sadu chuckling.
"I admire your adherence to your ideals. Not something you see very often. Anyways, you two must be exhausted. We have an open tent in the barracks section you can use. I'll mark that it's occupied by civilians so the Sargent won't scream your ears off."
"Much appreciated, General Sadu."
"Please. Just Sadu. No need for formalities."