Pokethulhu

"Pokethulhu" is a whimsical Cthulhu Mythos story by author John Taloni. It made its first - and to date, only - appearance in the Jesse Dedman-edited anthology Ancient Ones II in March 2018 Title: "Pokethulhu" at the Internet Speculative Fiction Database.
==Synopsis==
Four former high school track stars who had made a pact with an elder entity in exchange for sporting success are mystically summoned back to their home town decades later. There, they must gather the shards of their dark lord which have crashed to Earth, in order that the being may become whole once again and rise from its slumber.
As the men collect the pieces, they begin to realise that pitting them against each other in combat strengthens the shards - which they dub Cthulhini - and, in turn, the entity which they serve.
==Behind the Mythos==
The men are unable to fully pronounce the name of the being which they are indebted to, as it does not allow them to speak it aloud; instead, the word devolves into "Cthulhaaarrrggghhh" on every utterance.
The mystical balls which the men use to collect the shard, as well as the concept of battling creatures to evolve their skills, is taken directly from the Japanese multimedia franchise Pokémon Pokémon at Wikipedia, which is also the source of the story's title, which is a portmanteau of "Cthulhu" and "Pokémon".
==References==
Category:John Taloni works
Category:Expanded Mythos Works