17A/N: As said in the summary, this story will host works submitted on the Traveler Discord server (feel free to PM me if interested in joining) for a contest that used Traveler and Recollections titles as prompts for 1,000 word short story. Each entry is set in the Traveler setting, although these are not considered canon to the story. As such, it might be difficult to follow along if you haven't read that story already!
We had so many amazing entries, and I wanted to say again how much I appreciate all of you authors who dedicated your time, energy, and effort into creating something for the contest! I'd also like to thank the Discord mods, Raptor, Valasania, and Jain, for acting as judges and for playing a massive role in organizing and setting up the competition (and especially Jain for having the idea in the first place!)
We have already selected our Top 3 winners (there was a tie for the third spot) and I will mark the winning entries when we come to them. I am posting these in the order of submission, and I plan on doing something like 5 entries each day so as not to overload the entries and allow people to digest them easier!
For the entries, I will put the author's pen name (when applicable) at the top so that you can find them on the website if you're interested in seeing more of their work! I will be posting their entries as received by
I hope everyone enjoys! With that said, let's get started…
Entry 1:
Author: Rouejin
Prompt: The Hunt
Before there was awareness, there was warmth, darkness, and kind words.
The time in his shell before his hatching is nothing but a vague recollection at this point. But Sneasel remembers.
Then the shell was suddenly too tight and he knew that the time had come for him to greet the outside world. His claw pierced and split the shell in two, freeing his body, and his eyes opened for the first time
And then he met Father/Alpha/Trainer. He told Sneasel that he was part of their pack now, and introduced him to his teammates/pack. The Poisonous Beta/Protector, the Winged Mother, the Monarch of the Sea, the Eater of Dreams, the Warrior of Fire and the Plant Friend.
Sneasel liked the Plant Friend the most.
His pack-mates were the best, Sneasel decided when the Monarch allowed him to climb upon his back under the watchful eye of the Mother. They explained all sorts of things to him and answered his questions. And they were all so strong! Alpha/Trainer/Father was surely a great leader to command such a pack. And he had promised to make Sneasel just as strong, so long as Sneasel obeyed him.
As Sneasel snuggled up to Father/Trainer/Alpha to sleep, he figured he was probably the luckiest to have such a great pack.
He didn't expect Trainer/Father/Alpha to wake him up by tossing and turning in his sleep as if something was hurting him. Sneasel had quickly alerted the pack while looking around for danger, but finding none.
Alpha/Trainer/Father quickly told them all was fine, that he wasn't hurt. And though the rest of the pack looked concerned, that was good enough for Sneasel. If the Alpha said it, then it had to be true.
Satisfied with that conclusion, Sneasel went back to sleep.
Training was hard, Sneasel had realized that quickly. But it was also fun. Father/Alpha/Trainer often had to remind him in the early days to not succumb to his instincts and kill his prey once it was helpless and at his mercy, but Sneasel enjoyed those moments of wearing down a foe through tactics and tricks before landing the finishing blow in a flash.
His Alpha already knew him so well.
Perhaps too well, Sneasel mused as Alpha/Trainer/Father called the Plant Friend to release him from the vines that had grabbed him from the patch of shadows which he had been using to sneak away and hunt Zubats.
But Sneasel hoped that he and the pack would one day hunt properly. It would be glorious! The Winged Mother would seek their prey from the sky, the Monarch and the Warrior would cut off its path with fire and ice and the Eater of Dreams along with the Plant Friend would keep it from moving so that Poisonous Protector/Beta and Sneasel could finish it!
A perfect plan for a perfect hunt.
And then there were times where training was less fun. Trying to dodge the attacks of the Beta/Protector was not easy, especially when the Warrior and the Monarch joined in! Though he knew Father/Trainer/Alpha made him go through it for his own good, in the moments after it was over he couldn't help but glare at him even as he was congratulated for a job well done.
Sneasel knew he had a long way to go.
His surprise when Trainer/Alpha/Father told him that what he had done before wasn't real training was great. And suddenly the Plant Friend wasn't so friendly anymore as vines started sprouting everywhere like some sort of nightmare.
Sneasel resolved to call the Plant Friend Plant Fiend from now on. Only a fiend could be so deceptive and hide its strength and cunning behind the veneer of simple mindedness.
Sneasel disliked the Fearful Scout and the Fighter. The Scout he disliked because she tended to take his rightful place on Alpha/Father/Trainer's chest or back. Those spots were his, he'd claimed them as such and he'd be damned to Distortion before he'd relinquish them to this tiny thing that was frightened of its own shadow.
The Fighter, he simply disliked because he knew that it wouldn't fare well against him in battle. Sneasel might be quick and agile, but he also knew that the Fighter would only need one good strike to take him out. He didn't like that, not at all.
What he liked even less was not being included in the training against the Dragon Tamer's partner. Though he quickly revised his opinion when he saw how his pack was soundly defeated by a single Dragon. But from what Father/Trainer/Alpha had said, that Dragon was quite possibly the strongest of its kind, so it wasn't really a surprise that it could defeat them all.
Still, it made Sneasel wonder. Would he ever reach such strength? And how long would it take?
Until the day he'd die, Sneasel would never forget The Blight.
It was unnatural, able to overpower even the Distortion that affected his being in a way that Sneasel, as young as he was, knew shouldn't be possible. It hurt Father/Alpha/Trainer and then it created twisted reflections of the pack to fight for it.
Through his battle with his clone, Sneasel couldn't help but feel frustrated. His Alpha had told him to hunt the Blight. To pierce it with his claws and make it bleed so that it would threaten the pack no longer. And Sneasel had failed.
He'd failed his first real Hunt.
And Alpha/Father/Trainer/Ash had died for his failure.
And though he was brought back from the void by The Guardian, Sneasel knew that neither he nor the pack would forget or forgive what had happened.
That day, Sneasel made an oath in his heart, one mirrored by his pack-mates. He would grow strong, he would evolve.
They would Hunt the Blight. And it would die.
Entry 2:
Author: u33js0
Prompt: The Top 8
Ash watched on from the comfort of the league personnel suite as the top 8 match between his two friends commenced. He had kept the promise of attending all of their matches at the Silver Conference and fate had it that all three of them would make it this far. A smile played across his face as he stroked the soft velvet fur of Weavile, the recently evolved dark type purred contently in Ash's lap as the battle finally got under way. The dark type had certainly mellowed out since his evolution and Ash had duly passed back the Razor Claw to Karen that she dearly treasured. He noticed that neither Gary nor Jon offered any insults as they released their first pokemon, instead both had very stoic demeanours which was very much against the pairs character.
It was no surprise then when a Blastoise and Gyarados materialised onto the field to the sheer delight of the raucous crowd. A few murmurs from his surroundings sucked Ash out of his train of thought just as he begun to analyse the pokemon in front of him. No doubt many of the gym leaders in the suite had come across at least some of the pokemon that would be on display. Like at the Indigo Conference it was mandatory for gym leaders and Elite Four members to attend unless out in the field. That meant all but Koga were currently present, including the Blackthorn Gym Leader Clair, which had been about as comfortable as one might expect. Her disdain for Ash was miniscule compared to her disdain for Gary. Ash had no doubt that all three of the remaining Pallet quartet would surpass Clair, but none of them claimed the Rising Badge in the lead up to the conference.
Taking in the personnel as Jon's Gyarados rushed Gary's Blastoise Ash noticed the cliques start to form as they normally did after the initial pleasantries. Bruno was with Pryce, Morty and the boisterous Chuck who were about as chalk and cheese as it came to fighting type specialists, talking about matters relating to the underground scene in Johto. That sparked Ash's interest and he filed it away to look up later. Falkner was with Karen and Jasmine, Ash almost burst out laughing as he noticed that the Flying type specialist was actually trying to flirt with Karen. The two youngest gym leaders were together although Ash had the suspicion that Whitney would love nothing more than if Falkner started flirting with her going by the continuous looks in the latter's direction. She was definitely too young for him though. Ash did not have too much interaction with Falkner but Gary's assessment was not far off. Arrogance a plenty but not much to back it up. Oh, he was capable and had time to grow, but Ash seemed to think Falkner liked the reputation of gym leader a little too much.
That just left Ash, Clair, Lance and Will. He smiled at the thought of the psychic master as he bobbed from one social circle to another, infectious as ever as his powers bled through his mask before teleporting. He seemed back to himself which Ash and the rest of the Elite Four clambered. Will was family after all, they all were, even Clair. He looked towards the blue haired woman and wondered just how badly she had taken the fact that Ash had broken another record after becoming the youngest recognised Master in history, 13 years of age, firstly by defeating the aging Fino Moore and then Aaron of the Sinnoh Elite Four in a closed-door exhibition bout, albeit with a fair amount of luck.
He turned back to the battle, Jon with 3 pokemon left compared to Gary's 2. It had been somewhat predictable and even now Ash knew the winner. Gary's Tyranitar came onto the field and even if it fell, Alakazam would sweep anything Jon had to offer. It would be close but Gary just had more options currently. He wondered what Amelia was feeling at the moment, watching her friend fall to their rival. She was up next against a vastly more experienced trainer from Hoenn who was trusted by the Ever Grande League and would do very well to come on top.
All of them had come far, but none of them were ready for the top step of the podium, not yet at any rate.
Ash looked towards his mentor as Jon made his last stand, his relatively newly evolved Rhyperior just about standing after finally taking out Gary's Tyranitar. Ash wondered what was going through his head.
Land and Sea, Behemoth and Leviathan… they breath
They had still not awakened and that was probably what was going through his head. Lance still had the weight of the world on his shoulders and the apprentice wished nothing less than to summon Jirachi and cast away all of their fears. The look on the Indigo Champions face when Ash told him and Steven about the wishmaker being real was one of hope and relief. When Ash refused to divulge the location was initially one of frustration and anger, but finally acceptance. Ash had made his stance clear in Greenfield and that had not changed in the months since. They all just had to hope that there was a pattern occurring and that the millennium comet would make an appearance sooner rather than later.
He returned his focus back to the stadium as the volume increased telling him that Gary had won. A respectful nod from both rivals gave Ash the satisfaction that the quarrels may subside and he sent a wave of congratulations to both of them, hopeful that they would receive it.
He looked around the suite, touching each one of his pokeballs in the process, and back to the stadium as Amelia made her way to the field, Weavile still in his lap.
He swelled with pride. Pride in what his friends and family had become.
Entry 3:
Author: Pixelmancer
Prompt: The Shadow
#1 Entry!
The new champion sniffed experimentally, and moments later let out a quiet laugh. "Cranberry?"
Lucian's smile was faint. "I never could quite get the hang of alcohol."
It was a curious thing. In short flares, brief moments of levity where the creases around his eyes and the bags underlined by his glasses receded, Cynthia could still see flecks of the vibrant man that he'd once been. And Lucian was well aware of this, it seemed, for every time he allowed it to bubble to the surface he would stop what he was doing and frown into the empty air, as if to chastise himself.
For what purpose, she didn't dare guess.
"Cynthia, dear, I think – as rare an occurrence as this may be – you have misunderstood me. You are the trainer I least fear as an opponent."
"I wonder if I ought to be offended by that."
He laughed. "Heavens, no! It's the greatest compliment I could afford you. It means merely that I am beneath your ability, and that is why I do not worry. Those lower on the ladder of strength will always work much harder to defeat those above them – it is simply the way things are. Although I wouldn't dream of implying you've grown lax, the fact remains that you do not spend nearly so much time planning to defeat me as I now spend planning how I would go about defeating you."
Lucian spared a wistful glance to the window that loomed above their conversation, the evening sun casting the weary lines on his face into sharper relief than she'd ever seen. "Sometimes I believe that Byron had the right of it. Getting away from this tiresome work to start a family instead, I mean. He certainly seems much happier now than when I worked alongside him."
"I don't believe there's anything in your contract preventing you from having your own life outside of work, Lucian." Cynthia commented, and suddenly his eyes were on her. He didn't say a word, content to swirl the remains of his drink in his glass as if it would provide the answers he wanted.
"Were I but two decades younger," he said. "I'm afraid it's a tad too late for me, now."
"Have you ever heard of 'The Shadow of Sinnoh'?"
He paused mid-stir, the sugar sinking into his coffee. "I'm… afraid not. Putting your pen name to good use again, are you?"
"No. Alder briefly mentioned something I found odd during our meeting, that's all."
"... I see."
"What part did you play in the war?" After all their years together, she finally mustered the courage to ask.
The gaze he sent back her way was measuring, but it didn't stop him from turning the page of whatever novel had caught his attention this time. "How much have you studied the subject already?"
Cynthia stared right back, unperturbed. "I can accurately place the position of Sinnoh's entire fleet over the course of several weeks, and all known major elements – Byron, Atlas, Bertha, Agatha, Drake, Juan, and so forth. Your name has been missing from all documents made publicly available, and I don't particularly wish to abuse my position to dig up the secrets of someone I consider a friend without their knowing."
"A friend? You do me a great service." Lucian tutted, bearing a hollow smirk. "But I recommend you reconsider that stance."
"Why?"
"You'll find I'm not worth the effort."
She wasn't willing to broach the subject further after that. Whatever sore point she'd touched upon had clearly brought about the end to their discussion, for he picked himself up shortly after and strode out of his own office with his book left forgotten on the desk.
"I went through the classified files."
His face went through a whole theatre's worth of expressions before settling on blasé. "Ah."
The tenuous silence they found themselves in lasted all of about five seconds before Lucian plucked the glasses from the bridge of his nose and pinched where they had rested. "I suppose that insatiable curiosity of yours is back at work?"
Her patience for the charade had long since expired; the reports had done nothing but sing his praises. "You were a hero."
Just like that, there was only ire in his eyes. "And to them, I am responsible for the merciless slaughter of every last Unovan militant that was unfortunate enough to cross my path. You are a historian, dear; you know better than most how biased history is. Had Unova won but a single battle and lived to expose my… tactics, I imagine we would be having this pleasant conversation through a set of iron bars. You would author my condemnation yourself."
"It can't have been that bad, surely?"
Lucian snorted. "Do tell. What does the best of the Unovan military amount to when, before their missions can begin, they come to stop short – forgetting who they are, and why it is they've come? When they turn to friends, trusted allies and comrades alike, and spill their own blood on our shores? A hero wouldn't have downplayed his crimes in the reports to save his own skin." He spoke, a voice of iron with the candour of glass. "A shadow carving away at shadows. That is the man I was. The man that Sinnoh needed me to be. Make no mistake: if not for Blaine's truly monumental stunt, I would have taken his place as Unova's nightmare made flesh."
He fell back on his chair, glaring past her head and struggling with unsaid words.
After a minute of sustained silence, he could bear to look at her once more. "I've caught myself envying him more than once, you know."
"But why?" She dared to ask, when she became tentatively certain he wouldn't scold her.
Lucian scowled into his empty bottle, and the words fell from his tongue like stone. "Because the Blaze of Cinnabar doesn't have to live with getting away with it."
Entry 4:
Author: StandingMan
Prompt: The Recluse
Elaine's teeth chattered from the bitter cold. Layers of winter gear did very little against the cutting winds.
Elaine swore under her breath, inwardly wondering why she came here in the first place. Was winning a bet really worth frostbite and hypothermia? Did she really need to scale cliffs, navigate endless caverns, and risk being attacked to prove she was brave?
It isn't too late to return to the base of the mountain, should you chicken out.
Elaine flinched, caught off guard by the teasing voice of her Espeon. "I'm not chickening out!"
Espeon's tail flicked back and forth as she glanced at her trainer with an amused look.
Jokes aside, I should warn you this is the limit of my teleportation range. Any further and I will not be able to warp us to the base of the mountain.
"Thanks, Sol," she whispered to her starter, flashing the Espeon a grin only to remember she had her scarf on and her smile wasn't visible.
The pleasure is mine.
Elaine glanced around at the swirling snow flurries and what should have been the base of the mountain if it wasn't shrouded in mist before turning to look into the endless darkness of a cavern in front of them.
She frowned. Should she proceed or turn back?
It would be so easy to win the bet without actually exploring. She could teleport back to the base of the mountain, return to the Pokemon Center, and just tell Trace that she didn't see anything even remotely resembling a ghost. But as easy it would have been, for whatever reason she couldn't find it in herself to turn back and lie to her friends. She had always tried to be honest in all her dealings, but it wasn't her ethics alone that fueled her to press on and win the right way.
She couldn't rest until she knew the truth of what the Recluse was.
If it means anything to you, I agree.
Elaine nodded to her partner and pressed forward into the darkness of the cavern that lay before her. "Let me know if you sense anything, I'd rather not be caught off guard by something."
By something does that include the dead coming to take you away to Distortion?
Elaine glared at Sol. "That's not funny," she groaned.
I mean, I thought it was.
Elaine rolled her eyes and shook her head. "Besides, it can't be that! Even ghost types would make more sense than the ghost of a dead person haunting the mountain."
Espeon gave her an amused look. But aren't ghost types capable of illusions and shifting their appearance? Couldn't the inverse be possible?
Elaine shuddered and forced the disturbing thought away.
There had to be a logical explanation more than what the so-called paranormal experts and tabloids claimed. Considering how close Mt. Silver was to the Indigo Plateau, if the league hadn't voiced any concern and hadn't confirmed any sightings of aberrations, she found it hard to believe there was anything otherworldly to be concerned about.
Elaine frowned as she noticed her teeth stopped chattering. While she was glad for the shelter from the fierce winds and snow the cavern provided, she couldn't help but notice an unnatural warmth to the air.
Feeling warmer because she wasn't exposed to the elements was one thing, but feeling actual heat was something entirely different.
I sense great power – unnatural power.
Elaine winced at the remark and removed her hood for better visibility before fumbling for a flashlight. Each step she took further into the cave made the heat more noticeable and an ominous glow was visible at the end of the tunnel. She instinctively reached to her belt for her teammates, preparing for the worst as she arrived in a large open area where the rock was carved away and the floor was sanded until smooth.
A hulking Nidoking growled and stomped his feet, sending weak tremors through the floor.
Elaine shrieked in fright. "Don't take me to Distortion!" she screeched, relaxing just slightly after realizing her attacker wasn't a ghost but a Nidoking.
He was immediately flanked by a massive Kingdra whose eyes were fixated upon her, a flaming Magmortar with a cannon raised, and a Hypno with its pendulum lifted.
Vines shot up out of the cavern floor and snaked around underneath the stone around her, likely sent out from the Tangrowth in the far corner of the cavern.
Sol's eyes flickered as a barrier of light formed around them to block the vines from advancing any closer. Elaine shivered and gave her starter a grateful look.
"Stand down," a raspy voice echoed from afar, prompting the hostile group to relax – albeit only slightly.
A rugged, tall man stepped out from the group of Pokemon surrounding him. A faint light radiating from his chest illuminated what the Magmortar's flames did not.
Elaine felt her heart skip a beat as she recognized the man instantly, due to the luminescent fiery glow underneath his shirt and the faint scars on his face.
"How did you get here?" he asked, a mixture of confusion and curiosity seeping into his voice at the same time.
Elaine paled. "I wanted to investigate The Recluse."
"The recluse?" he asked incredulously.
"All the tabloids have been talking about the ghost of a dead man wandering Mt. Silver so I wanted to check." Elaine explained.
The champion shook his head. "Who started that rumor?"
"Tabloids, they even cited the famous researcher, Gary Oak."
Ash's eyes narrowed. "I'll definitely be looking into that,"
"So you're not a ghost?"
Ash rolled his eyes. "I'm not a ghost!" he insisted. "This is my training ground. Think you can keep a secret?"
Elaine nodded. "For a price,"
"Name it,"
"Battle me, prove to me who you are,"
Ash smirked. "Deal,"
Elaine grinned as she unclipped a Poke Ball from her belt. It was funny how things turned out – looking for one recluse caused her to find another.
Entry 5:
Author: Jain vi Bookshelvia (Thanks for coming up with this contest!)
Prompt: The Piety
When he was first approached for a private booking of the Marine Museum, Captain Stern did not know what to expect.
It was for a private community from all over the eastern archipelago, all of them interested in his work. And his institution was a monument for those willing to learn! Who was he to decline them?
Of course, an investigation was done before the green light.
He eyed a particularly loud, older gentleman, pointing at a diagram of the Sootopolis Trench and yelling at the young group he was touring with. The bashful guide made eye contact with him, sending him a pleading look. He smiled back apologetically, as the veteran went on about respecting the sea, and not making a scene while learning about her.
The irony was not lost on him.
While there were clearly those more zealous in their devotion to the environment, the League approved of their request, after Stern submitted the paperwork.
Truthfully, it was rather heartwarming to know there were people interested in the future of their world.
"Cap'n Stern?" A gruff voice called out, shaking him from his musings. He turned to see a titan of a man, standing at least one and half heads taller than him. His built body hid little, with the low chest line on his taut blue bodysuit. Fierce eyes looked upon him with the shadow of his blue bandanna, and thick facial hair framed his welcoming grin.
"Thank ya again for this opportunity, Cap'n!" the imposing man said, reaching forward and furiously shaking.
"A-ah," Stern stammered out, feeling his wrist wringing out. The other quickly caught on, and pulled back. Taking a moment to compose himself, Stern cleared his throat. "Ahem, yes. Archie, was it? It's hardly any trouble at all."
"I'm glad to hear that!" Archie bellowed, the deep-gut laughter that followed turned the corner of his lips up a little. "I'd like to ask ya a few things. How about we get to your office while the crew enjoys themselves? Hate to mix up their fun with business and all."
Stern looked to his PokéNav, and nodded. "I've a moment before my meeting at the Shipyard. You've come all this way, it's the least I can do."
His office was minimalist, with dark maroon walls and beige metal cabinets. His desk, with a bright Cherry wood, had only a cup of pens and a picture frame of his daughter.
He smiled when he glanced at the latter, as Archie settled into a chair that looked a little too small under him.
"I'll cut to the chase, Cap'n," Archie began, metal creaking as he leaned forward with his hands bridged in his lap. "I need help, and I know you're the man who can help me."
Captain Stern blinked. "You're going to have to be more specific, good sir. What exactly are you asking of me?"
"As ya may be aware, my people are trying to restore and rebuild the islands," the hulking man sighed, "the War hit us hard, with what those bilge-sucking Unovans did. We tossed them out, but they left us a fine mess.
"Over where we are, there isn't enough of the League to patrol our waters. Lotsa scoundrels tryin' to take advantage where the law can't reach.
"Now, I don't blame the League, especially after Champion Drake led the efforts." A wistful expression settled on his haired lips. "Any man worth his sea weight can respect where it's due. But, matter is, we're by ourselves, and had to pick up from where the law left off."
His eyes turned grim and glinted darkly. "We protect our own, from poachers and all sorts of scum suckers who think they can hide where no one can find them."
"If it's better patrols," Stern offered, "I can submit a request to the League and Devon-"
"And if I wanted their help," Archie spat venomously, "I would've."
Stern gulped nervously, as he watched the other's nostrils flare. The rage palpable in the air. After a few seething breaths, Archie seemed to collect himself.
"I'm sorry," Archie apologized, "that was rude 'o me. I just… have a very strong opinion about how a Champion isn't supposed to abandon their post when her country needs her the most. Team Aqua chooses to be independent of the Ever Grande League, so we can operate separately. Aqua prioritizes family, and Mother Sea, above all."
"I'll get back to my point; there's a trench that my people and I can't get to. It's so far down deep, several thousand fathoms even, that the only way to there is-"
"By submarine." Stern finishes, his lips in a firm line. "So you know about the Explorer-1."
"I'm a man in desperate need of a solution," Archie admitted. "It's scaring my crew senseless."
"I see," Stern answered neutrally, "But I fail to understand what this has to do with your organization's goals. What exactly is it that you're after down there?"
"We're not sure," Archie confessed, "There's been signs of something big down there. Rumors have been spreading with the sailors. The Twins, they call them. Two massive beasts that normally don't surface, and are starting to get a little stir-crazy. I want to go down there, and find out what's spooking them, of all things. So I can calm them down."
Stern paused. He breathed in slowly, contemplated, and answered. "The vessel is small. Incredibly so. And you intend to go down there to a den of monsters? In that?"
Archie's jaw locked, his shoulders slumping in hurt and resignation. "Aye."
"I apologize." Stern shook his head. "I cannot do so, when my men and I are on the verge of a breakthrough. I wish you and yours the best, Archie. I truly do. Safe travels, wherever the winds may take you."
The hulking man's downcast eyes darkened at the old naval farewell. He stood up, gave a good-natured salute, and slight tilt of his head. "Fair winds and following seas."
A/N: I hope you enjoyed these stories! As I said in the first author's note, I'll be posting the remaining entries over the next few days!