Pokemon Part 1: Our Adventure Starts

 One of the issues with a galaxy-spanning, secular society was that it became difficult to come up with a unified day of celebration. Individual planets of course had celebrations of their compliance dates, and the worlds the Primarchs chose as their own had special celebrations for that. But it left nothing for the Imperium as a whole to come together over. 

Finally it was agreed that the official birth of the Imperium would be used as Imperium Day. This was counted as the date the Treaty of Olympus was signed. There were a few days around it that security was even tighter than normal around, and inside the Palace. This typically meant long lines where the various check points were, and an extra one near the refectories. 

So it was that a hungry, tired, Malcador was waiting somewhat impatiently in line. He was annoyed as he didn't have long to get food, let alone eat it, and make it to his next round of meetings. The checkpoint line was eating into what time he did have. He sighed, and shifted his weight to lean more on his staff. It was then that he noticed a warm weight in his pocket that hadn't been there a moment ago. 

Curious, Malcador reached a hand into his pocket and found a rectangular package wrapped in cloth, a note was attached with a seal. There were two ways that could have gotten there, but he was confident that he would have known if Magnus was responsible.  This left Corvus. A quick sweep rewarded him with a flash of pale face from a corner. removing the seal he read the note. You're not you when you're hungry. Father's declared family dinner at 1730.

the package itself was a still warm slice of banana bread. Fulgrim had moved on to experimenting with various breads now that he was no longer using Myrmedian sweets to make decorative cakes. Even Mortarion had stopped eating them after Leman told them what had happened at the manufactorum. 

Happy for something to eat, Malcador munched on the bread as the line finally started moving again. 

*********************

Family dinner was when everyone, Malcador and Valdor included, had dinner together. It wasn't a common event, and often had another purpose than just a meal. Malcador was a bit late as his last meeting ran longer than expected. 

No one said anything as he set his staff aside and sank into his chair. He leaned his head back a moment before sitting up fully and reaching for food. The Primarchs relaxed and began to eat themselves. It was a moment before the quiet was broken.

"Are you excited for tomorrow's celebrations?" Horus asked Malcador.

"The fireworks show should be good," Malcador said with a chuckle. There would be a parade earlier that he knew the Primarchs were excited to participate in. This was the first year they would join the Emperor on his float. Previous years they had waited at the end with Valdor. 

"Where are we going to watch the fireworks from, Father?" Vulkan asked. No one was surprised that he was so excited for it as well.

"From the Eternity Wall, near the Lion's Gate Spaceport," the Emperor said.

"That is a quite a way out, my king," Valdor said, speaking for the first time. " I assume there is a reason?"

"Yes," the Emperor said. "We will leave for Teramyn after the show for an adventure."

"All of us?" Fulgrim asked.

"All of us," the Emperor said. "That is the reason for the family dinner."

Valdor and Malcador shared a confused look. Neither had been aware of this ahead of time. The Emperor turned his attention to his two friends.

"'Sure you have duties, but what about your duty to yourself?'" he quoted. Malcador chuckled, while Valdor stiffened. "This will be more of an official vacation."

"And the citizens of Teramyn are alright with this?" Valdor asked.

"Yes, as long as we do our best to not cause major disruption," the Emperor chuckled. 

*************************

They gathered on the Eternity Wall. Most were still happy about how the parade went, though both the Lion and Corvus were happy there had been time after to recover. Jaghatai and Vulkan were getting antsy about Malcador and Valdor not joining them yet.

"Maybe they had to get more normal clothing?" Fulgrim wondered. 

"There they are!" Sanguinius called out, having taken a short flight around the area. 

Valdor and Malcador both looked a bit strange as they were wearing normal body gloves instead of their normal robes. Malcador was even stranger, having swapped out his staff of office for a cane. The Emperor gave him a look when he noticed the psychic symbols on the cane. Malcador chose to ignore that look.

Now that everyone was there, the Primarchs distracted themselves from waiting for the firework show to start by talking about the parade. They had been on a two tier float with the Emperor. Most had been standing somewhat like statues, though Fulgrim had made sweets to throw to the crowds. Vulkan had occasionally given some to Corvus to through as well. He was happy that his brother hadn't gone into the shadow walk once. 

They were so distracted by talking about it that they missed the tell-tale thump of the fireworks launching, and got startled by the initial explosions. Rogal and Lorgar both let out little squeaks that quickly turned to oohs and aahs as the display continued. Once it was over they headed to Teramyn.

*************************

Their journey to Teramyn was mostly uneventful, except for when they got delayed by a warp storm. Valdor had been left in charge of the Primarchs while the Emperor and Malcador took a short break. After a time, they chose to wrestle. Valdor looked up from the book he was reading just long enough to confirm that the Lion and Leman hadn't paired up against each other, before just pulling his feet up out of the way.

Konrad's match against Angron wasn't going well for him. He was a match for most of his brothers, but Angron's frustration was getting the better of him. Desperate, Konrad reached for his secret weapon: knowing where Angron was ticklish.

Angron's response was a noise almost outside of the range of normal human hearing. Valdor looked up sharply, before returning his attention to his book with a grin and quick shake of his head. Konrad continued tickling, feeling the tide of the battle turn. This caught the attention of other Primarchs near by.

"Intercession!" Lorgar called out as he and Corvus broke off their match to free Angron. Now able to retaliate, Angron started tickling Lorgar, who had slammed into him. Corvus had gone after Konrad, and was now the victim himself. That got Vulkan involved, breaking off his match against Ferrus. He got involved when Angron and Lorgar bashed into Fulgrim and Mortarion. 

It quickly devolved from there, with all of the Primarchs tickling each other. Valdor carefully stood up, and went to wade into the pile and break it up. Fulgrim and Ferrus had other plans though and, grabbing Valdor's legs, flipped him onto the floor. This made him an instant victim of the various Primarchs, who quickly found that his feet were the most ticklish. 

The Emperor and Malcador entered after hearing the distinct thud of Valdor falling over. Malcador skidded to a halt as he realized it was a tickle mob. The Emperor had a bit more momentum and stopped closer to the group.

"I need some assistance, my king," Valdor gasped, trying to avoid kicking the Primarchs. Horus and Perturabo followed the example of Fulgrim and Ferrus and flipped the Emperor. Malcador chuckled at the sight, then realized that he had to break up the fight. 

Hopefully they don't flip me, Malcador thought to himself. Only to be proven wrong when Leman took out his legs. Vulkan caught him and lowered him down safely, before promptly tickling him. Jaghatai had grabbed his cane, and shoved away from the group. 

The tickle mob continued until an announcement came from the overhead vox horns. They had been so caught up they missed the Imperator Somnium dropping out of warp. 

"We have decided to exit and reenter the warp to avoid the rest of the storm," came the voice of shipmaster Kaal. There was a brief moment before the Emperor suggested a movie to pass the evening.

*************************

The Primarchs' excitement was nearly palpable when they arrived in orbit of Teramyn. The planet was, to the surprise of the colonists who had landed there, filled with fauna that looked, and acted, exactly like pokemon. The colonists had developed a society very like the games and shows from which pokemon came from. This included the planet being divided up into regions.

"Adventures" were a chance for off worlders to participate in the pokemon league tournaments. These were typically individuals, or small groups of people. The region of Teramyn the Emperor had selected was aimed at dealing with larger groups, typically Galactic Scout groups as it had the widest variety of pokemon. 

The first step in an adventure was to select a "starter" pokemon from a set of three, large groups were able to take all three, but each pokemon had to go to a different person. The Primarchs got out of the Thunderhawk and ran up to the research lab that provided the starters. The Emperor, Malcador, and Valdor followed behind. 

"Hello!" called Professor Fir, the man who would start their adventure. "We have the three starters you requested ready."

"I want charmander!" Vulkan called before any one could get in ahead of him.

"No one was going to take it," Corvus chuckled. Everyone knew that Vulkan wanted charmander as it was the epitome of a drake from Nocturne, and evolved into charizard which was a dragon in all but name.

"Alright," Professor Fir said, handing over the appropriate pokeball. "Who's taking the squirtle?"

"I will," Rogal said. He wasn't quite sure if he would stick with the turtle, but it matched him the best.

"And last, but not least, the bulbasaur," Professor Fir held out the last pokeball, looking around at the remaining Primarchs. No one stepped forward, some of them looking at the ball like it was offensive.

"Bulbasaur is both plant and poison types," the Emperor mused aloud. Mortarion perked up at this and held his hand out. Professor Fir handed over the last ball and the Primarchs headed outside. Vulkan looked the happiest as they got ready to depart Pallet Town.

"Where are we heading first?" Magnus asked. He was excited to try and find an abra, he wanted to focus entirely on psychic pokemon team. 

"Viridian City," the Emperor said. "We'll take the path by the river to start with, we're more likely to see a variety of pokemon that way."

They stopped several hours later for lunch along the river bank. They were aware that a group of Galactic Scouts were also on an adventure in the area, but hadn't seen anyone as yet. 

"Hopefully they haven't taken all the pokemon," Jaghatai said. He hadn't seen anything yet.

"It's not likely," Roboute said. "They're supposed to be abundant here."

"There's no way," Leman added. "The river is where everything comes to drink."

"Hey, Lion, can you help me find a primeape?" Angron asked. It was agreed that the Lion and Leman would assist in getting initial pokemon along with Rogal, Mortarion, and Vulkan with the starters.

"Sure!" the Lion agreed happily. He paused a moment as he tried to find one close by. "There's a troupe of mankeys that way." He pointed deeper in the stand of trees. "There may be a primeape with them."

"Let's go!" Angron said. They waved to Valdor to indicate they were going after a pokemon.

The stand of trees was quite large, stretching several meters from the river bank and several kilometers along it. They snuck up as quietly as Angron could manage, the Lion occasionally wincing when they were louder. Finally they made it to where the troupe was, sneaking up behind some low branches they saw the primeape leader, Angron pulled out his pokeball.

Just before the Lion could launch himself there was a rustling in the bushes on the other side of where the two Primarchs were and the mankeys and primeape became agitated. A pair of Galactic Scouts appeared, one with a charmander, and one with a pokeball ready. It took only a few seconds for the hidden Primarchs to recognize Surlaz and Aerathur, and both rushed out of the bushes.

Surlaz and Aerathur recognized the Primarchs almost as quickly. Surlaz paled slightly, but Aerathur became angry. He and Angron went to charge at each other, while Surlaz and the Lion grabbed at them to restrain them.

"We just want a mankey," Surlaz said to the Lion. "Let me get one for him and we'll be gone."

"I can agree to that," the Lion said. "We want the primeape. So you take a mankey, we'll take the primeape and everyone goes away happy. Angron?"

"Fine," Angron snapped, relaxing against the Lion's restraining grip. "As long as the bully doesn't get in the way."

"Aerathur?" Surlaz asked. The other boy glared at Angron, but then turned and moved to the edge of the area. The mankeys and primeape had observed the whole thing. "Wait, how are you going to get the primeape? You don't have a pokemon out."

"I'm filling in while we get started," the Lion answered. He then squared off with the primeape. 

"Get ready, Angron!" he called over and launched himself at the primeape. He was vaguely aware of Surlaz ordering his charmander to go after one of the mankeys. The primeape wasn't expecting the sudden frontal assault, and was quickly trapped by the Lion, who was working to carefully render it unconsious so that Angron could catch it with out hurting it too much.

"I've got an opening!" Angron called as the primeape finally started to stop resisting the Lion. He threw the pokeball, and the primeape was caught up inside. It jiggled a few times, then sealed, indicating a successful capture.

"Aerathur, we had an agreement," Surlaz growled as the younger boy started towards Angron, who had retrieved his pokeball with a look of triumph. "They take the primeape, we take a mankey, and go back to our respective groups."

"Let's go," the Lion said to Angron, who had turned towards Aerathur. "We can duel them later when we both have pokemon, and you've had time to train yours."

"Hmph," Angron growled, but allowed the Lion to pull him away and back towards their group. The Lion was aware that Surlaz and Aerathur were both glaring at them, but ignored them. 

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" The Lion and Angron stopped sharply as Magnus's scream echoed through the trees. The psychic wave accompanying the scream was a strange mix of anger, frustration, and confusion. The two ran, concerned about what had happened.

They found the Emperor trying to console Magnus, while Valdor looked at a psyduck that was holding its head. 

"What happened?" the Lion asked as they came up next to Jaghatai. 

"Magnus was looking for pokemon along the river," Jaghatai said. "He's accidentally impressed on and caught a psyduck."

"But psyduck isn't a bad pokemon," Angron said. "It's psychic, that's in the name."

"But it's not what he wanted," the Lion said. "Psyduck has issues with headaches as well. If they're psychically connected that'll be an issue for Magnus as well."

"Or maybe helpful to the psyduck," Roboute said as he joined them. 

"My lord?" Valdor asked, glancing at the Emperor. "Should I remove it?"

"No," the Emperor said. "It's Magnus's pokemon now." Magnus nodded, he didn't look happy  about it, but more resigned than he had been.

"Allfather!" Leman called out from a bit farther down the river bank. "I found one you were looking for!"

"Excellent!" the Emperor called back. Magnus had pulled out one of his pokeballs and had recalled the psyduck into it. The Emperor stood up, pulling out one of his own pokeballs and heading over to where Leman was.

Leman had fished out a magikarp, which wasn't a very auspicious looking specimen. The Emperor quickly tossed his pokeball to catch the magikarp. It escaped once, but Leman kept it from going back into the river, and it stayed in the ball the second time. 

"We should get moving again," Malcador said as he stood up with a grunt. "I'm hoping to find a bed tonight."

"What kind of team do you want, Valdor?" Ferrus asked. Valdor was the only one who hadn't expressed any kind of preference. The Emperor was intending to take the strangest pokemon, he was specifically excited for magikarp, but was also looking for a porygon, and a smeargle. Malcador was going for ones with very puny names. The Primarchs were determined to find a Mr. Mime for him, and he wanted to find an exeggutor.

"I haven't really thought about it," Valdor answered. "I think you guys could find random pokemon for me to use?"

"I like that idea," Horus said with a giggle. "Unless Father wants it."

"Fair enough," Valdor said.  "Though he has most of his team planned out already."

"True, now it just comes down to luck," Fulgrim said. He was hoping for some of the legendary birds, but knew he had to get something else to be able to fight them. Ferrus had jokingly suggested a smoochum. He was vaguely considering it to be funny.

*************************

It soon became evening, and they spotted a flight of dreepy. They watched the flight dip into the river and play with some pokemon there. 

"They're kind of cute," Corvus remarked to Vulkan. He found something was drawing him to the dreepy. They looked like drakes, so he wasn't sure if Vulkan would want one.

"You want one?" Vulkan asked, pulling out the pokeball he had his charmander in. 

"I don't even know what it is," Corvus said. He intended to go with ghost pokemon as they were hard to see, and very sneaky. The main exception was to find a rookidee as it's final evolution was called a corviknight.

"Ferrus?" Vulkan asked. Ferrus had the pokedex device. It held information on all of the pokemon.

"Dreepy is a dragon type pokemon that evolves into drakloak and dragopult. Dragopult can turn invisible by emptying it's mind and thinking of nothing," the pokedex ansswered as Ferrus had it scan the dreepy.

"Well, now we have to get you one," Vulkan said. "Charmander!"

"I don't think it's weak to fire types," Corvus said. He didn't want Vulkan's charmander to get hurt.

"That's alright," Vulkan said. "We have to learn to work with what we have, and not what we want. Besides, if Charmander can't quite get it, Lion or Leman can help get the last bit."

"Fair," Corvus said. He was excited for the dreepy and its evolutions. Vulkan gave orders to his charmander, trying to get at a vulnerable spot. He pulled out one of his pokeballs, wanting to be able to take advantage of any opening Vulkan got for him.

The dreepy got ahead of Vulkan's charmander, but the charmander was able to get the edge, and Corvus made his move. The dreepy seemed to want to join, and didn't fight the pokeball at all.

"Zubat!" Konrad called out as a swarm of them flitted out of a nearby hollow tree.

"I've got it!" Mortarion called out. "Bulbasaur!"

"Thanks!" Konrad said. He was practically bouncing as Mortarion's bulbasaur fought the zubat. 

"Well, at least they'll have their starters soon," Jaghatai said. He was focused on horse type pokemon, and was antsy that he hadn't seen one yet.

"There should be a ponyta near our overnight stop tomorrow," the Emperor assured him. "And we do have a lot of pokemon that we need to find."

"True," Jaghatai said, but was still clearly disappointed. 

"Here we are," Valdor said as they approached the roadside inn they were intending to stay at for the first night.