AN: Hello! Thank you for reading the first chapter of Quiet Turbulence. This chapter, you will meet the main character and see the first of two big moments in her past (the second will be in the next chapter). I should also mention that this story begins a bit dark, though it should get a bit happier later on.
On with the story!
Disclaimer: Pokémon and its many characters are not owned by me. Only Melody, any other unrecognized human characters, and the plot, however, are mine.
Chapter 1: Wasn't Always
I wasn't always hated.
"Hey, Blade, sing with me!"
"Leaf! Leafeon!"
I wasn't always alone.
"Be careful up there, Melody, Blade!"
"We always are, Mommy."
"I'll be back from Mauville later."
"'K!"
I wasn't always silent and disfigured.
"Ac-ce-dent-al e~volu~tion!"
"E~on!"
"Ha ha! Blade, your singing is terrible!"
"Leaf."
I was once…happy.
*giggle* "Of course it's not your fault, silly!"
"Leaf. Leafeon?"
"I was just born with it, Mommy says."
"Eon."
Then everything changed.
"I hope Mommy will take us to the lakes again soon," I murmured to Blade, who I had forced to be my pillow.
"Leaf…"
"I know you don't like the cold-you're a Grass-type!-but even you have to admit that skating was fun!"
"…Leafeon..." came the reluctant reply.
"Silly Blade," I whispered as my eyes closed for a nap.
"Yes, so silly you are, Blade."
Blade's reaction to the new voice was fast, sudden, and, for me, painful, as, with my pillow suddenly missing, the treehouse's wooden floor decided to smack me in the head.
"Leaf! Leafeon!" growled my mother's old traveling companion as he faced the new arrival.
The man's head poked through the trap door, the only door. "Come now, Blade, I know it's been a while, but surely you remember me!"
Blade became silent as his sword-like leaves began glowing purple: Swords Dance. The man was not perturbed in the slightest, but instead continued his ascent into the treehouse.
"Surely I can visit my own-" he began, but a warning swipe from blade cut him off. "Now, that just won't do. Dab, Hypnosis."
His last two words were accompanied by a flash of red, the appearance of a yellow Pokémon holding a spoon, and the sound of Blade falling over, now fast asleep.
"Stubborn little thing, isn't he, Melody?" the man said in a jolly fashion, as if he had not just attacked my best friend. Of course, I responded hostilely.
"L-l-leave n-now, o-or I'll…I'll…" I said in my most threatening voice, which, as I was four, wasn't very threatening at all.
Even though I honestly expected him to laugh at my feeble attempt to intimidate, exasperation instead leaked into my enemy's face. "What is it with this family? Everyone, even my daughter is trying to keep me away?"
It was a stereotypical revelation, I now know, overdone by movies, shows, and dramatic leaders of crime syndicates everywhere, but at the time, I was shocked. I had never known my father-Mommy always changed the subject when I asked about him-but I had always been curious.
Unfortunately, my curiosity caused me to hesitate, and that half-of-a-second was enough.
"Dab, keep an eye on that Leafeon," he said. "Zam, help me control this rascal." More red flashed through the room as a larger, yet obviously related, yellow creature appeared, both spoons reflecting the light of the sun filtering through the window. Its eyes began to glow…
"-ell are you doing?!" Mommy.
"Oh, Melisa, you're here! Would you be a darling and get me some-" Father.
"Answer my question, dammit! What the hell are you doing to my daughter?!"
My eyes cracked open. The yellow Pokémon with two spoons stood in front of its unconscious comrade. A blink later revealed the reason for its comatose state: Blade stood in front of Mommy, his blades purpler than ever.
"Our daughter, dear, our daughter. I have just as much right to her as you."
"The courts disagree, skumbag. Now answer my question!" Why is Mommy angry?
"I really have to get going, so-"
"X-Scissor!"
"Dodge!" And, thus, the battle started between Blade and "Zam."
"Again, Blade!"
"Dodge, Zam. Melisa, do we really-"
"Keep attacking!"
"-in front of our daughter?"
"She is NOT you're daughter! X-scissor, again!"
"Fine. If you insist on battling…"
Every instinct I had at the time told me that, if I didn't stop the battle, something terrible would happen, so I sat up, took as deep a breath as I could, and tried to cry, "Stop!"
All that came out was a very soft choking sound.
"Zam, knock it out with signal beam." Wait!
Where's my voice?
"Leaf…eon…" the fallen Pokémon groaned, his voice full of pain.
"Finish him, Zam," my father said coldly, "permanently."
Blade! I tried again and again to yell "Stop!" and "Wait!" but nothing came out.
Zam raised its right spoon-a twisted monstrosity gleaming both with sharpness and what I now know was my blood-and brought it down.
In slow motion I watched as Blade's eyes looked towards me, asking for already-given forgiveness, before…
Blade was buried alongside his parents in Mt. Pyre, though only I was there to see his funeral. Something in Mommy had snapped when her oldest friend was killed before her eyes, so she spends her days in the Rustboro Mental Hospital, silent, staring, unmoving.
I still lived in the treehouse, west of Mauville, but I rarely left. The only things occupying my time were gardening silently, crying silently, and running my hand (silently) across the thin white curve across my neck, an ugly reminder that I could do nothing to stop my father from taking Blade's life and Mommy's sanity.
Using his Pokémon's sharpened spoon, both terrible murder weapon and cruel surgery tool, he had stolen my voice.
Player: Melody
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Pokémon seen: 3
Saving a lot of data...Don't turn off the power.
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Melody saved the game.