CHAPTER 1: AFTER THE STORM

« … Let the sun beat down upon my face, with stars to fill my dream

I am a traveler of both time and space, to be where I have been… »

Kashmir by Led Zeppelin

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« Wh… Whoa! What's… What's happening? »

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« No! Stay with me… Hang on! »

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« I… I can't… »

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« Stay with me, please! »

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The lightning was zigzagging across the ash-coloured clouds, immediately followed by the deafening din of the raging thunder. The rain was falling untiringly above the breaking sea, all shook up by the winds in their impetuous blows. Only a few Pokémon could have remembered the last time that such a violent storm had happened in their quiet and peaceful world. The more superstitious of them would surely have sensed the rage of a legendary Pokémon building or a bad omen linked to an oncoming catastrophe.

The cliffs bordering Treasure Town were standing the assault of the elements without flinching, even though they were used to the delicate touch of the waves and the breezes, day and night, season after season. The old Sharpedo Bluff was standing straight toward the dark skies, its empty rock eyes could surely not invoke any message to the unleashed nature.

Thus went the night. The rain kept on falling down and the winds kept on blowing.

Then, slowly and discreetly, the storm seemed to calm down. The lightning was gradually getting quieter, while the rain and the winds were cooling down their rage till finally fading away in a divine calmness. The clouds were clearing up and slowly disappearing. The stormy night would make way to the sweet day after.

"…… Urrrgh……"

He was barely conscious. His motionless body was laying down the beach, next to the rocks and the flows of the sea waters. He couldn't open his eyes. The only sounds coming out from his mouth were unintelligible and barely audible.

The Sun was shining bright and powerful into the blue sky. The clouds had faded away before the dawn came, but the storm from the previous night had left some perceptible traces. The air was still very humid and the ground was saturated with often muddy water holes. Trees and bushes were still soaked with rain water all over them. There even was some kind of weird smell in the air. Some kind of post-storm smell, where humidity comes to alter the environment aromas its own way, before evaporating at the same rate as the water holes.

He finally opened his eyes, just barely. But his vision was still so fuzzy that he couldn't distinguish the surrounding shapes all around him. He couldn't even see that he was laying on a beach or, for that matter, see that he was in a place he had never seen before in his life.

He tried to get up, but he was so weak that it felt like giving a superhuman effort just to put himself on his feet. Fatigue was consuming his whole body. Finally, his legs gave up under his weight and he lost consciousness once again.

"Hmm…"

Vulpix sighed for the umpteenth since she had gotten to the peak of the cliff where the famous Wigglytuff Guild was located. The day was nearly over already and the sky was already starting to take some of the colors of the dawn. The blue in the sky was already gone and had been replaced by a surreal mix of pink and yellow. A few clouds were still scattered in the celestial vault. The great bowls located on each side of the Guild's entrance had already been lit up. The flames were burning fervently and were lighting the Guild, just like street lamps.

Vulpix was facing the entrance with a worried look upon her face. Becoming an explorer was her lifelong dream and she really wanted to join the Wigglytuff Guild in order to accomplish it. But she was a bit shy and courage was definitely not among her strengths. Vulpix had previously hoped to cross the Guild's door many times in the past, but she had never been able to make the first step. She didn't dare. Fear kept her from going all the way.

Vulpix was walking up and down in front of the Guild. She was fed up with always backing up and never going all the way forward, but she swore that she would do it on that evening. But then, once again, something deep within herself seemed to keep her from going forward.

"No… This is just ridiculous… I can't remain a coward all my life."

Vulpix took a look at the Guild's entrance. It looked like a big tent with the top of it shaped just like the top of Wigglytuff's body. The Guildmaster's effigy sported a huge childish smile and its black eyes were shining from the light emitted by the flames in the bowls. In front of the door, there was a large circular grate on which visitors had to step in order to get in.

Vulpix took a serious face.

"That's it. I must do it. I can do it…"

Vulpix took place on the grate. As soon as she was there, she heard a voice, coming from way down below her:

"Pokémon detected! Pokémon detected!"

The voice surprised Vulpix. Then, another voice spoke from beneath the grate:

"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"

Vulpix was shivering. Those two deep voices were giving her the creeps. Fear was beginning to get a hold of her. Then, without warning, she leapt backward and left the grate. She had just broken down, once again.

Instantly, Vulpix knew she had just done the wrong thing. She took a very long look at the grate on the ground and she could even hear the same two voices which sounded like they were having a conversation. The young fox Pokémon was discouraged. Discouraged about herself…

"Ohhh… Why? Why can't I go all the way? Why am I so easily frightened? It… It just can't be… Urf…"

Vulpix sighed once again. She had sworn that she would enter into the Guild on that day, but her hopes had just vanished once again.

Vulpix took the pendant she was wearing around her neck. The object looked like a small regular rock on which a strange white pattern was inscribed. She put the object down in front of her.

"Even with my most precious treasure with me, I can't seem to find the courage… Oh, just what could I do?"

Vulpix picked up her pendant and put it back around her neck.

"Maybe… Maybe I'll work up the courage next time…"

At the same time she said those words, a smile appeared on Vulpix's face. But that smile vanished quickly.

"But… I'm always saying that next time would be the good one. And it never is. Just when will I work up the courage? Oh… It's… It's way too disheartening… I'm… I'm really just a big coward…"

With a heavy heart, Vulpix turned back and slowly got down the stairway carved out of the Guild's cliff, leaving another failed attempt to join the Guild behind her. Another eloquent demonstration of her total lack of bravery. However, Vulpix tried to cheer herself up by thinking that nobody saw her and that the event would have no significance for anybody. Unfortunately for her, she was wrong…

"She is gone?"

"Yeah, it looks like…"

Two Pokémon floating in the air appeared from behind the bushes planted near the Guild. The first one looked like a purple sphere strewn with several crater-like protusions. He wore a smile that looked kind of disturbing at the same time. The second Pokémon looked like a small blue and purple bat, with two long straight tails.

"Did you get a load of what she said, Zubat?"

"You bet I did, Koffing."

"That thing she had with her, she said that it was her most precious treasure, right?"

"Yeah, that's what she said… It looked like an ordinary pebble, but… Maybe that thing is worth more than we might think…"

"Did you see her on the grate? You really must be a big wimp to be scared like this."

"It would be all too easy to take her little rock… Maybe we could get a nice profit out of it…"

Koffing turned to his colleague:

"So, do we follow her?"

"Yes, we do, Koffing."

The two Pokémon flew toward the cliff's stairway. They took the same path as Vulpix and they could saw her walking toward the beach. Their plan was simple: they would follow Vulpix from a distance and they would find a good place to hide once they would be at the beach. Then, when the time would be right, they would steal her pendant and flee quickly.

As for Vulpix, she really had no reason to worry about anything. She was gently walking to the beach in order to clean her mind from her worries. It was a walk she was doing fairly often and nothing exceptional never happened at the beach.

But that evening would be different… For what Vulpix would find at the beach this time would change her life forever…