The Impala shook back and forth knocking the inhabitants around, as they left the paved road in favor of the rocky trail winding its way under the dam.
"Does she always ride like this?" one of the men asked the other as he was thrown against the door.
"What do you mean?" the driver asked not seeming to notice as the car lurched again.
"I mean you ever thought about trading up in the world? You should get a truck like mine, besides your mutt could ride in the back." the first answered but the driver just returned the comment with a smile patting the dash.
"No way, I wouldn't pass this baby off to anyone. Besides he's fine where he is, he's never complained." The driver answered with a chuckle.
"Well I know mine has, he hates it. Says he feels all cramped not surprising really he's big enough to squash your precious Impala flat.
"Hence why they are not allowed to ride in the car." he answered.
"Even your kid's?" The other asked surprised. "They've gotta be tiny."
"True but the first and last time the one rode it nearly set the car on fire."
"Oh I guess it make sense then." the passenger responded absently.
It was late in the day when they arrived and once the car came to a complete stop both men climbed out taking a much needed stretch after the hours they'd spent cramped within. The driver was a tall dark haired man with a five o clock shadow that had grown till it was on the very edge of simply being called a beard. He had beady brown eyes and was fairly tall.
While he stretched however he felt something that could only be described as a pull like someone had grabbed his leather jacket and yanked, as he felt the phenomenon it was like something brushed past him and then in front of him there stood a huge orange and black striped dog with a white mane. The hound was massive standing about even with the man's breast and twice as big.
"So then let's see what a second rate hunter brings on the road." the passenger stated jokingly wrapping his knuckles on the trunk. The driver rolled his eyes sticking his head back in the car and pulled the trunk release while also grabbing a book from the dash which he stowed in the crook of his arm and grabbed a duffel bag out of the back seat.
The man waiting at the rear of the vehicle was taller than the first if only by an inch or two and was well built with short sandy blonde hair and looked like he'd been in his share of tussles he had a few scars spread over his face but none that drew much attention, the worst looking more like a razor had caught him when he was shaving the scar running from his cheek to the corner of his mouth.
As he waited a similar event happened to him and it felt like something exited through his chest, pushing past him. This creature was quite different from the drivers this one was slate gray and stood on hind legs stubby though they were and had piercing grey eyes with a short spiraling horn growing out of its forehead and a long stone tail, the creature was taller than the first due to its verticalness but still stood shorter than the driver and his passenger. It also had several scars like his counterpart the most noticeable being a small scar that ran from its cheek to the corner of its mouth.
There was a hollow thud and the trunk swung open nearly catching the passenger in the jaw which was already quite broad but he flung his head back avoiding the impact.
"I think your car's trying to kill me." he said a smile in place as he inspected the trunks contents.
A tire iron, and a greasy rag along with a magazine which read 'Playboy' and featured a teasing Anna Nicole.
"Well she doesn't like people who talk bad about her… or me." the driver said simply rounding the corner of the vehicle his mutt trotting behind.
"You leave this stuff where your kids can find it? For shame if Ellen ever found one of these in my truck she'd skin me alive." he said waving it in his face, though the man wasn't smiling.
"I don't leave them where they can find them… that kid." he said annoyed and snatched the issue from him and stuffed it in the duffel hanging from his shoulder.
"So Dean's getting to be a precocious lad huh? Should've had a girl they're easy, they listen, and they have to love you. How old is Dean anyway? Fourteen?"
"Turned sixteen in January." he answered but was still preoccupied with the magazine in his bag.
Shaking his head he grabbed the hidden latch and raised the false bottom in the trunk revealing an arsenal of all kinds of weapons from silver stakes, to machetes, and a five pound bag of salt along with jugs and jugs of what appeared to be water, and lighter fluid containers. Then there was the assortment of weapons from pistols and rifles to shotguns and anything else a redneck facing the apocalypse could dream of.
The other man was off in his own world however not phased in the least. "Yea Jo's turning ten next month I got no clue what to get her. I was thinking about giving her my knife but Ellen's forbidden it, say's I gotta wait till she's older." he said looking off in the distance while rubbing the sleek black car with his thumb.
"Didn't you get her a bow and arrow set a couple years ago?"
"I know right? A knife after that shouldn't be a big deal. And Ellen got her that diary which means I can't even take the easy way out on this."
"The easy way?"
"Doesn't get much easier than an empty book does it?" he said laughing.
His companion just shook his head thinking about how he'd missed both his kids last birthdays, not to mention Christmas and Thanksgiving before that, he needed to do something for them Dean was desperate to go on his first official hunt but had never been allowed, maybe it was time his eldest got his wish… Figures he thought to himself even when thinking of ways to spend time with his boys it involved hunting. He slammed the trunk shut nearly getting his friends arm in the process but again he was too quick though did frown at him.
"Something eating you John?" he asked simply.
"No Bill nothings eating me… not yet anyway, let's get this over with." he added and stepped away from the car his duffel now filled with everything they could need.
Bill shrugged and the two stepped towards the wrought iron gate that completely barricaded the tunnel.
"So this is it huh?" he asked as they stared up at it.
"Devil's Gate reservoir." John answered deadpan.
"Great." Bill said clapping his hands together. "Where's the book?"
As if he'd only just remembered, John pulled the book from the crook of his shoulder handing it to Bill. They didn't bother going over the disappearances they'd discussed all that on the ride to California.
"Right you wanna do the honors or me?" Bill asked having opened the book to a certain page he flipped it to show John the devil's trap laid out within.
"Never laid one have you?" Bill asked.
"I know the shape, memorized it years ago… I can do it." he added opening the duffel and pulling the bag of salt out while Bill continued to flip back and forth scanning the pages.
"Hm it says that these demons of old could possess you and control you like a puppet, Soul included."
"Soul included." John mused, echoing the book.
Bill just nodded eyes darting to the grey beast who was currently engaged in a glaring contest with the orange dog. Both were used to working solo or rather with their human counterparts so doing a hunt with anyone else caused a stir.
"Yea Soul and all, it says in exceptional cases the Soul can fight back if the demon is of a weaker class, or if they have… the fire."
"The fire?" John asked looking up from his work which was coming along nicely.
"That's what it says. I guess you'll be okay you got a mobile flamethrower and I… I have rocks. Maybe Daniel just needs to update his library."
John froze in place before continuing. "Daniel knows his stuff I'm sure it's no typo, if it says Soul it probably means Soul." the other just kept reading.
"Right it seems pretty simple devil's trap, bait exorcism I think we can do this." Bill said not an ounce of worry in his voice.
"Right it's just a demon shouldn't be too hard." John answered at last standing up his job complete.
The four gathered around to admire the craftsmanship and Bill said with a nod of his head. "Not bad I generally just make Racket do it but good job." he said nodding to the slate gray creature. Though John looked annoyed.
"Racket… I never understood the need to name them, they know who they are." he said annoyed.
"Oh because Arcanine is such a better name for a Soul? It sounds stupid."
"It's, its name I can't change that."
"Yes yes you can that's the whole point." Bill said a smile in place he'd argued with John many times and it only ever served to stir up the ornery bastard and give Bill a good laugh in exchange. "What about your kids did you ban them from naming em Jo's still pretty young but she calls her's Skinny Leg's can't say it's not an accurate name." Bill said laughing again.
"That right there is my problem acting as if they're pets they're not they are Souls they are weapons just because Arcanine looks like a hound doesn't mean I'm going to play fetch with him, heck it's degrading."
As if on cue the hound in question nodded with an air of nobility. "So in other words yes you did ban your kids from naming them." John said nothing opting to finish the devil's trap instead. "Man you're the biggest stick in the mud I've ever seen, you should bring the kids over to the Roadhouse more often so they can play, I mean how many hunter's with kids do you know other than me?"
"None but they aren't kids either they're hunters or at least they will be and hunters don't play."
"No, you don't play there are plenty of hunter's who go to ball games and attend annoying family reunions."
"Well I don't have a family to reunite with so…"
"Fine, poor choice of words on my account but come on you gotta live a little or at least let your kids live a little while they're still kids."
"Are you presuming to tell me how to raise my kids Bill?" John asked looking dangerously ready to do something about it.
"Nice try John you might have alienated yourself from Daniel and old Bobby Singer but you can't scare me off. I love ya too much."
John said nothing instead watching the sun sink lower and lower so Bill added. "Can you imagine what an ass you'd be if I wasn't around to keep you in line? Anyway back to the matter at hand who's playing bait?" John said nothing. "Fine me and Racket have done this before just uh- pronunciation is key."
"Right, I know."
Taking his place behind the devil's trap and facing into the abyss beyond the wrought iron gate in front of him Bill Harvelle's jolly grin never broke though Racket seemed on edge directly to his left ready to punch a demon square in the jaw if that's what it would take. John's position was out of the demon's view beside the concrete wall that the gate was set in the trap inches from his position.
Next came the wait John studying the exorcism from Daniel Elkins' book reciting it in his mind so as to be ready while Bill whistled softly occasionally shoving Racket trying to throw him off balance not that it worked or had ever worked. The Rhydon would then shove Bill often times knocking him over but not today. As for Arcanine he was standing behind John ready to spring, with his powerful legs he could easily clear John of course smoke was hard to make contact with not that he wouldn't try to scrape claw bite and burn it much like everything else John had hunted.
Then when the sun had completely gone and the stars emerged they heard it a deep rumbling from within the concrete hell hole growing louder. Bill stood rooted as if welcoming the demon with open arms not worried in the least he looked up studying Orion's belt. The rumbling quickened and the gate flew open. John lurched forward just as the demon emerged crossing across the devil's trap in seconds shooting into Bill who screamed falling to his knees.
Racket then latched onto Bill holding him where he knelt but John could see him flinching s if he was being struck by an invisible force again and again. Looking down John saw his foot had scuffed the devil's trap enough for it to be a useless marking. Stepping forward he looked down at Bill who winced terribly. "John." he at last grit out. "Shoot me John, shoot me!" his voice was distorted heavily and the second voice seemed to be spouting babels and curses in a hundred dead languages.
As if realizing his gun was at his side only then John drew it as if in a dream. Placing it against Bill's forehead he pulled the trigger, then again and again. Bill fell over dead, Racket at the first shot reflected it his forehead cracking beyond repair the second shattered his face completely and the third… It was impossible to tell if it had done anything to the already destroyed Soul a second or two later it faded returning to the source to rest with its owner.
The gurgling demon died with Bill and John stared down at his best friend's corpse. An hour passed to find John sitting in the driver's seat of the Impala his journal resting in his lap and his pen shaking to bad to write a single word. The next hour the pyre was built and found John working with Arcanine to move the immensely heavy Bill Harvelle onto the stacked wood.
The next hour John found the words to write but still lacked the courage to write them opting to instead twist Bill's knife over and over in his hands, the hound having returned to residing within in him offered little warmth or consolation . It wasn't until the pyre had burned to ash that John wrote the words and at last pulled away from the Devil's Gate Reservoir. John never returned to the horrible site but he never forgot a detail about the place either as he often came back during the night simply the freshest of many hellish nightmares.
This chapter was fun to write and I hope any other venture into Pokenatural will be likewise, anyway this chapter was meant to help you understand how Pokemon effect this world and their nature as Souls a fancy word for daemon if your familiar with it. Anyway Let me know how you like it and be sure to ask what your favorite character's Pokemon are I know your dying to know. Also I realize this story would be an impossibility which is why I chose it I took the story from Jo's journal as opposed to John's so that Sam and Dean could be older and so that Jo would have some relevance obviously if I had used the canon version Jo would be very young and the weechester's even more wee given that after Bill's death they have to forget the roadhouse even exsisted and I doubt a sixteen year old Dean would do so.