MONSTERS IN PARADISE

By: Curtis Wildcat

Pokémon and the Touhou Project are the properties of their respective owners and copyright holders. As usual, keep the flames restricted to the barbecue grill.

And for the record: yes, I'm aware that the Garden of the Sun and Mugenkan aren't synonymous with each other in the Windows canon. Just throwing that out there.

/-/-/

Sunshine poured down on the vast sunflower field. Tiny birds and bugs went about their business. The temperature was just right, and a light breeze gently rocked the flowers back and forth. There was very little noise, and nothing caused any disturbances.

Just the way Yuuka Kazami liked it.

Parasol tilted just behind her head, Yuuka journeyed sedately through the sunflowers. She loved these daily walks, taking in everything that the season had to offer and revelling in the vast wonder that was the Garden of the Sun. It gave her an excuse to ponder her life, the things she enjoyed and the memories that were ingrained...

A light smirk. The shrine maiden and her enthusiastic friend had rudely barged into her home some years before, but after enough time went by she had decided that her bouts with them were amongst the fondest memories of her life. It had been quite a while since she'd needed to use more than a small fraction of her power when dealing with someone. After the spellcard system was initiated, she'd almost hoped that one of them would show up to duel her and Elly.

Aside from blaming her for an overabundance of flowers, neither of them ever did, however. Reimu was one of the laziest people in Gensokyo and never did a single ounce of unnecessary work; it was doubtful that she'd make an effort to return. Marisa likely feared her on some level, and probably believed that Yuuka was mad at her for creating her own rendition of her favorite attacks. I suppose I can't entirely blame her, considering everything.

Yuuka never liked being disturbed, and she took the preservation of her Garden very seriously. She'd gleefully tell of her nastier tendencies within earshot of others, attempting to make them second-guess themselves or just plain scare them away. But silently, she wished that someone would join her on these walks just once...

Something hopped across her path, and she paused to regard it. A yellow and brown bulbous thing, with a leafy stem on its head and soulful eyes that almost hurt her to gaze upon. She had never seen such a creature before, so she stooped down to take a closer look.

The animal or plant, or whatever it was, stared up at her inquisitively. "Kerrnnnn?" it trilled, seeming to ask a question.

Yuuka's eyebrow raised. Whatever language it spoke, it wasn't what she was used to. Still, it felt as if it were right on the edges of her understanding. Almost as if it were at home amongst the sunflowers... "You're a strange little one," she spoke. "I have lived here for a very long time, and I've never seen the likes of you before. You're no youkai, no myth or legend given life, and you're certainly no human... where did you come from, I wonder?"

More of that strange "sun-kern" noise. Feelings of peace, apprehension, fear and wonder flowed past her in quick succession. It confirmed to her that the creature was more plant than animal, at least, but she still couldn't understand a thing it was saying. She shook her head. "I don't understand you at all, but I can tell you seem at ease here. You may live here if you want so long as you don't mean my flowers any harm."

The creature jumped a few times, crying happily. Yuuka stood up and shouldered her parasol, pondering the insignificant plant-thing for a few moments, then walked past it deeper into the Garden. She still had the rest of the day ahead of her, after all.

When it hopped along close behind her, she made no attempts to discourage its actions.

/-/-/

Clusters of fairies dotted the sky.

Most of the time, the fairies knew enough not to bother Yuuka or the Garden. They were familiar with the raw strength that she had at her disposal, and they were afraid of the gentle smile that adorned her face as she scattered them to the winds. There were occasions when they threw caution to said winds and tried to bombard her regardless of the consequences, however.

Yuuka knew that there was one thing that all of those occasions had in common: there was an incident in progress. She silently pitied the poor fool who had the gall to get on Reimu's bad side.

The storm that crashed down around her was a virtual rain of danmaku. Yuuka was not a naturally swift youkai, but that slowness served its purpose as she twisted and spun through the bullet-filled barrages with precision; occasionally, she returned fire and temporarily extinguished those that opposed her. She could hear the panicked cries of the bulb plant on the ground below her, and she chuckled. Pay attention, little one, for you are receiving a crash course in the art of dodging.

Deciding that she wanted a breather, Yuuka opened her parasol and levelled it at the incoming hordes. Magic particles drifted into it, a sign that energy was being gathered... and then a tremendous beam of power was torn loose, wider than anything Marisa was capable of producing. The fairies' angry yells turned to screams of surprise as they were unable to turn away, and they were reduced to so much dust.

The Master Spark faded out, and Yuuka surveyed the sky. The most distant bunches of winged nuisances were far enough way that they dodged the attack in time, but the display of power was enough to give them pause. Nodding, she permitted a brief look at her companion to see how it fared, smiling when she noticed that it had taken cover amidst the sunflower stalks. "I guess you still have a ways to go," she told it, floating down close enough for it to hear her clearly.

But the sentient plant was not looking at her... at least, not directly. Its eyes were shifted just a bit off to the side, and after a few seconds it started hopping again and trilling eagerly. Yuuka wondered briefly what it was that had gotten its attention, and glanced back ahead of her to see if the remaining fairies had made any moves; the pests had not budged from their positions, however, and in fact seemed to be in the middle of an argument amongst themselves. What is it that has it worked up?...

And then she realized that the plant's eyes were pointed directly at her parasol. She nodded. Of course. "That was my Master Spark," she informed it proudly. "I take it you like what you see?"

A vague sense of approval accompanied the plant's reply, with eagerness and determination close on its heels. Yuuka could only guess at what it was trying to say, but she gave it a suitable response. For a few moments she couldn't believe what she was saying. "You... want to help me fight?"

An affirmative. "Sun-kern!"

Yuuka couldn't help chuckling; the whole thing was just too funny. The creature couldn't have been much bigger than half the length of her arm, it was weak enough that any one of those fairies could've defeated it in a fight, and it had just witnessed her casually wiping the floor with them. Where did it get off being so confident all of a sudden?

And why did she feel like humoring the little plant? "You can tag along, I suppose," she decided, maneuvering the creature onto her parasol and lifting it up onto her shoulder. "Just be sure that you can pull your own weight. I will not be held responsible if anything happens to you."

That was definitely a determined vibe she was getting from the creature. Yuuka gave it an approving look, then took to the skies to drive the rest of the pests away.

Their argument- - -whatever it was- - -having come to an abrupt end, the fairies fought back against her the best they could. It was fruitless, of course; none of their bullets came even close to winging her. She laughed, swinging her parasol and smacking several of them aside before blasting others with flower-shaped danmaku.

As she fought, she kept the little plant in her periphereal vision. Like Yuuka had been doing in preparation for the Master Spark, magic particles- - -or at least she assumed they were magical in nature- - -were starting to gather around its leaves. Hmm, I wonder... is it going to fire a Spark of its own? ...It's doubtful. There's very little strength in it from what I can tell. To mimic my attack, it would need a large reservoir of power that it could call on...

"Suuunnnn..."

A squad of seven fairies, a bit larger than the rest, closed in on Yuuka from the side. They were completely focused on her, ignoring the peculiar shining growth on her shoulder. The flower-loving youkai turned towards them, smiling and beckoning them towards her with a finger. If anything this served to enrage the batch, and they decided upon firing the largest and quickest bullets that they could summon.

"KERRRRNNNNN!"

As her vision lit up, Yuuka froze. She supposed she should have realized it a bit sooner. Her tagalong was obviously a plant, or close enough for it not to matter. She had figured that the power needed to mimic the Master Spark would've needed to come from somewhere, and the creature did not possess any internal stores of that power. Instead, it was drawing on the most obvious source of energy required for its existence!

That energy came to the fore as a beam of intensified sunlight erupted from the little creature, spearing the fairy formation dead center. It wasn't anywhere close to matching Marisa's power, let alone her own, but it would suffice for the task at hand. Yuuka rotated a little bit, allowing the beam to sweep across the sky and exterminate what was left of the rabble.

The blast was extinguished a few short seconds later, leaving the plant somewhat lethargic, but the job was done; for the time being at least the fairies wouldn't be bothering anyone, least of all Yuuka. The youkai dropped back to the ground, keeping her free hand on her shoulder to prevent the plant from falling off.

"Sunnn..." the pipsqueak murmured. There was both tiredness and satisfaction in that high-pitched voice.

"You had the right idea," Yuuka told it, resuming her twice-interrupted walk. "Although... I don't know if you possess an alternate means of attack, but I suggest you consider using that instead next time. It took entirely too much time for you to prepare yourself; a lot can happen in the space of a few seconds."

"Kerrnnn."

"Hmm... and as long as you're going to be staying here in the Garden, you'll need a name. I just can't call you 'thing' all the time."

"Sun-kern."

Yuuka stopped for a moment, pondering, then nodded and smiled. "Alright. 'Sunkern' it is."

"Kerrnnn!"

/-/-/

The sun was nearing the western horizon when Yuuka finished her walk; aside from the fairy attack, nothing remotely earth-shattering took place. Not too far from where the Garden ended, the youkai had found a place between two sunflower stalks where Sunkern could settle in for the night; the creature was all too happy to do so, leaving Yuuka to fly the short distance between the Garden and a concealed, winding path that eventually led to her true home, Mugenkan.

The clanging of metal against metal greeted her ears as she reached the end of the path, and her eyebrows raised. An intruder? She touched down nearby and walked towards the entrance, curious as to who Elly was fighting.

Another creature, this one human-sized and buglike. It's scythe-like arms lashed out, repeatedly deflecting the real deal before reaching out to try and score a hit. It didn't look to be an all-out fight so much as a simple spar between evenly-matched opponents from her perspective, and even if it weren't, the injury-negating magic circles associated with the spell card system were already in place. Neither of the two seemed to be taking the fight all that seriously, and the bug didn't look as if it were trying to break into her home...

Yuuka shook her head. I don't want to know. Whatever's going on, it can wait until after my nap. Walking past them both, she stepped into Mugenkan and left them behind, the occasional cry of "Hyyyaaa!" and "Scy-ther!" ringing out behind her.

-GAP-

It wasn't the purring noise that roused Yukari to wakefulness one evening. It wasn't the nervous bustling of her shikigami, neither was it the sounds of life outside her window.

It was the weight.

On one occasion, she'd overslept and wouldn't wake up at the time she'd asked Ran to rouse her at. Chen, feeling playful, began to stack numerous items from around the house on top of her: articles of clothing, an old Sony Walkman, Scotch tape, and a half-filled manilla folder, amongst other things, all in an effort to see how much weight she could stack on without waking up Yukari. By the time she was done, the resulting pile was a meter high- - -and the youkai still hadn't woken up yet. It wasn't until a tiny bug fluttered in through the open window and came to rest at the top of the pile that she finally emerged from dreamland, much to the others' disbelief.

This time, it wasn't a heap of random stuff positioned on her stomach and chest that she saw when her eyes opened. It was a yellowish furry thing with the biggest triangle ears- - -and purple at that- - -that she'd ever seen on something that size. The animal- - -some strange cat, no doubt- - -was purring, a noise that would've soothed anyone else. It seemed fond of her, pleased merely by being in her presence.

And then Yukari's eyes shot all the way open as her brain completely started up. Well, this is... twisted. I never thought I'd see one of them in this part of reality...

Noticing her wakefulness, the Delcatty got into her face for a closer look. "Myaow?" it asked, still purring as it touched noses with her.

Yukari heard Ran unsuccessfully trying to restrain her laughter and quietly vowed to chuck a bag of dry cat food at her the next chance she got.

-GAP-

"Yukari-sama, are you sure about this?"

Ran stood back, watching Yukari exchange her favored dress for unfamiliar attire: a violet blouse and white slacks, both of which appeared made for rugged travel; a brown leather belt with six empty compartments, durable red-and-white shoes and violet wristbands. Her cap was all that remained of her traditional outfit.

"Quite sure, Ran. We would have known if these creatures were native to Gensokyo, and Reimu and I would have found out in short order if they'd fallen in from the outside." Yukari shrugged off Ran's attempt to assist her. "I'm preparing to carry out an investigation. I have a few leads to follow, and if everything goes as planned I should be able to get to the bottom of this before too long."

"Hopefully your investigation is taken care of quickly." Ran ignored the playful giggling and meowing as Chen ran in circles somewhere nearby, keeping the Delcatty company. She seemed to like having a new playmate. "Without you around to keep an eye on the border... well, it just makes me nervous."

"As long as Reimu is still in Gensokyo, it will be fine," Yukari said confidently, grabbing her parasol. "The border is not a house of cards, Ran. It is not going to fall at the slightest touch, so don't worry your head over it. Just follow your regular schedule and let Reimu know if anything turns up."

"...Alright, Yukari-sama," Ran agreed reluctantly, pressing an ice pack against her left temple and concealing the bruise left behind by an errant cat food bag. "As you wish... but if I may inquire, why the different clothes? It's not like you to travel by... traditional methods."

Yukari didn't reply at first, instead focusing on her reflection in the mirror. She reached through the borders, searching for what the clothes meant to her and what they represented. She brought to mind the memories that she made there, of a place she had discovered through the overpowering lure of boredom. She thought of the challenge that living there brought, and the enjoyment that came with it. She reminded herself of the land that she had seen there, the love that she had once felt for it akin to what she felt whenever she gazed upon Gensokyo...

A portal tore open in front of the mirror, this one significantly different from the standard gaps Yukari took to get from one place to another. It gave a sense of her full power, rippling away from the edges and distorting the air; also worthy of note was that the eyes associated with said gaps seemed to dissolve partway in. Satisfied with its stability, she took a step into the portal... and only then did she dain to respond to Ran's inquiry.

"Let's just say that I want to pay a visit to an old friend."

/-/-/

It was a smell that drove it to do what it did that afternoon, ultimately.

Having detected the scent of its favorite food, it had followed the silver-haired human up a mountain (A human flying? Fancy that). It had looked on as the human visited a dark-haired associate and gave her some berries (for use in flavored water? What silly things they drink). It had figured to take some from the dark-haired one, but she and one other had used them quickly and left none for itself.

Still wanting the berries, it had decided to trail after Silver-Hair; she was still carrying a sufficient quantity of them to satisfy its hunger. The wily human had flown over a large lake in an attempt to ditch her pursuer, but circling around the lake took little time for someone of its ability. The human had landed outside a large building and walked inside, leaving it behind.

She still has what I want. I did not come this far just to go hungry the rest of the day. I shall have to enter her lair and take my food for myself.

There sat a reddish-haired human next to the gate, sound asleep beneath the noon sun. It paid her no mind as it paced up to the gate, appraised it, and bounded over it with only a slight effort. Nodding in determination, it continued towards the front door.

/-/-/

Behind the self-confident intruder, Meiling's eyes opened. An inhuman scream of challenge scattered the birds from the trees and got the visitor's attention as she somersaulted over the wall; she had no time to savor its surprise before she was upon it, fists and feet flying.

/-/-/

In the Mansion's foyer, Sakuya paused as Meiling's yelling reached her ears. A challenger at this time of day? What poor soul interrupted her siesta? She took her time walking back to the door. Probably just some minor youkai or would-be magician. I don't think my lady would appreciate me disturbing her sleep for something as inconsequential as that...

Opening the door, she stepped out into the courtyard...

"BLAZ-I-KENNNN!"

...uttered an "eep" and ducked as a flaming wave billowed over her head.

Once the fire extinguished itself against the Mansion's protective magic, Sakuya stood back up again. As she reassessed the situation, she shook her head. Only in Gensokyo can you find a flaming rooster fighting a Chinese youkai in a martial arts duel, she told herself, watching as they traded punches, kicks, and danmaku in a furious dance that took them across both ends of the courtyard.

Making her decision, Sakuya grabbed her watch and froze time around her. Not in any hurry, she traversed the halls until she reached Remilia's quarters. Allowing time to continue on as normal, she knocked on the door a few times. "My lady? Lady Remilia, are you awake?"

An ominous creaking, a soft yawn, and the padding of feet against the floor. Remilia cracked open the door, rubbing sleep from her eyes. "Sakuya, why are you disturbing my sleep at this time of the day? This had better be good."

"I just wanted to inform you that Meiling has accepted a challenger and is currently engaged in combat, my lady," Sakuya explained. "I wasn't sure whether you wanted to watch or not."

"...Hmm... to go back to sleep or watch my favorite guard go about her work...both are enjoyable in their own ways..." Remilia murmured indecisively. "...Who's she fighting this time? Do you know?"

"A newcomer to Gensokyo, I imagine," Sakuya told her.

"Ugh..." Remilia growled, facepalming. "I wish Yakumo would understand that she can't just keep dragging people in from the outside left and right... sooner or later they end up here, and I have to put on this whole 'haughty ominous noblewoman' charade, then after some back-and-forth, including a possible confrontation with Flandre, I have to direct them to Reimu- - -"

"My lady?" Sakuya interrupted. "You asked me to stop you if you started ranting again."

"Oh... my apologies, Sakuya." Remilia covered another yawn, although the tips of her fangs were visible. "I was in the middle of a bad dream, is all..." She held up a hand to stop Sakuya's concern before it got too far. "I'll tell you about it later. Now, about that challenger?"

"Oh... yes. Meiling's combatant is a flaming chicken kickboxer."

Beat.

"...Sakuya, I'm happy that you decided to work on your sense of humor, but..."

The head maid remained silent. Remilia lowered her face towards the ground, exasparated. "You're... not making it up... are you?"

Sakuya smiled assuringly. "If I needed to do such a thing, I would not have wanted to rouse you from your slumber."

A sigh. "Fine..." Remilia conceded, grabbing a red robe and securing it as she left her quarters. "May as well get a spot of entertainment before I go back to sleep... let's go, Sakuya."

Sakuya nodded and grabbed her watch.

/-/-/

"GRAAAHHHHHH!"

Meiling didn't know why the animal was intent on its intrusion, and she didn't care. All that mattered to her was evicting it from the premises. As such she was still in full "berserk fury" mode, pushing the pace hard and not giving her enemy a chance to rest.

"BLAZIKEN!"

It didn't know what it had done to get on this human's bad side, or that she was something other than human. It cared only that the food it wanted was somewhere in that large building, and she was in the way. With a battle cry it leaped into the air and came down fast, flames flaring to life around its right foot.

Meiling met it in mid-air, her chi clashing against its fire as the Blaze Kick was countered with a Sky Dragon Kick. The two equal forces cancelled each other out with a noisy bang, knocking them both away. Blaziken was able to right itself before it reached the ground, skidding back some; Meiling stumbled upon landing, but recovered her footing in time.

The gatekeeper took a few seconds to recover, and her anger receded just enough for her to recognize that the creature before her was unfamiliar to her. It doesn't give off the same vibes that a youkai normally would. What is it that I'm looking at? That its well-grounded in hand-to-hand combat is obvious, but... She smiled, happy that she was doing her job. I'm still between it and the door. It shall not get away! It... Meiling's eye twitched. What is it doing?

Blaziken decided that its current efforts to defeat this weird human in battle were unsatisfactory. Deciding to take it up a notch, it cracked its knuckles, tightened its fists and flexed. All throughout its body, its muscles expanded a bit and became denser, building up its strength. As it finished it struck a pose, showing off its power.

Grimacing, Meiling felt like she was looking at a Master Spark head-on; she didn't want to stare, but she couldn't look away. Willing herself to concentrate on the fight, she braced herself and focused. Her inner reserves of ki were brought to the fore, replenishing the energy she'd expended thus far and hopefully increasing her own strength to match that of the opponent's...

But the rooster didn't have the courtesy to allow her to finish her powerup before it dashed at her again. Meiling had just enough time to cross her arms in front of her face before a tremendous blow struck there, lifting her off her feet and rocketing her towards the Mansion's front doors.

/-/-/

Time pulsed in the Mansion's foyer. Sakuya and Remilia appeared in a white flash where there had previously been nothing. The maid was carrying Remilia's parasol in one hand; for all that it was cloudy today, the sun could make itself known at any time.

Putting her watch away, Sakuya reached out and tugged open the doors, ready to duck in case more fire was shot her way...

"WAH!"

"Wh-ooof?!"

...and was instead greeted with a wall of green and red. At the moment the doors fully opened, Meiling flew through it and crashed into Sakuya back-first. Remilia sweatdropped as she watched the two bounce halfway across the foyer before they stopped.

The mansion's mistress walked up to them, shaking her head. She could tell that a bruise was already beginning to form on one of Meiling's arms, which had to have taken a lot of strength to accomplish. "Really, Meiling... next time draw it out a bit more, huh? I missed it all."

Meiling massaged her arm, looking depressed. "My apologies, mistress..."

"Get off of me, please."

Realizing what she was sitting on, Meiling quickly rolled off of the disgruntled maid. "Oops. Sorry, Sakuya!"

"Blaziken."

Remilia turned towards the door while the others worked themselves to their feet. She smiled. Hmm? So she was right after all... Interesting variety of bird that we have here. An otherwise extinct species, maybe?

The kickboxing rooster stood framed in the door, eyes not on her or on Meiling. Sakuya grabbed a few knives and a spell card, ready to attack in case the creature made any threatening moves, but a gesture from Remilia made her stay her hand. As it reached towards her, she glared coldly at the stranger who dared step this close...

...and did a double take when the rooster, instead of attacking them, grabbed the bag of berries that she hadn't yet put away. "Blaze... blazi-ken," it uttered, turning and walking away. As it left the Mansion it reached into the bag, withdrawing a handful of berries and savoring their sweet flavor as it ate.

Silence and ellipses enveloped them as they watched the bird jump back over the gate and disappear into the mist. A full minute later Meiling was the first to speak, her jaw dropping open and her hands tightening. "Why with the... you know, if people around here actually talked more often...!"

Sakuya held up her hands placatingly, her weapons put away. "Easy, Meiling, calm down. I wasn't aware that I was being followed."

Remilia braced herself against the wall with one hand, unable to restrain her laughter as the two argued. A spot of entertainment, indeed!

/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/

Sunkern's moveset: Mega Drain, Leech Seed, Razor Leaf, Solar Beam

Approximate Level: 17

Yuuka's Notes: The Garden's newest occupant is still young and very weak, and I feel it might always be so. If it is allowed to grow this might change, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Whether it does or not, I shall keep my eyes on it for the time being.

/-/

Blaziken's moveset: Flamethrower, Bulk Up, Superpower, Blaze Kick

Approximate Level: 44

Meiling's Notes: The nerve of that bird! If it at least waited until I woke up, or if it had given some indication when we fought that it was hungry...! Ugh... well, anyway, I'll continue to do what I can to keep myself in peak condition in case it ever returns. Maybe having a sparring partner wouldn't be a bad idea... I should look into that.