Pokemon Topaz
Chapter One: An Unexpected Strike
I hate days like these. Days where everything you thought you knew, is lost. Days where, just as you're about to make some sense out of the mysteries that surround you, things go horribly, horribly wrong. I used to believe that everything was like our village, happy and peaceful. But I was wrong. I now know that there are people out there, who destroy everything. Everything that one can come to love.
The day started out as any other. First, I fed my one and only Pokemon, Houndour. Next, I ate, got dressed, and took Houndour for a walk. Houndour barked excitedly as I opened the front door of our little house, and it ran outside.
The air was very cool and crisp as I trudged through the mud from the rain last night. Houndour barked happily and tried to chase any wild Pikachu that he saw. He chased after one and barked at it until the mouse Pokemon climbed up a tree. Houndour tried to climb up the tree, but couldn't. I laughed at its poor attempts.
Our village, peacefully isolated from the rest of the world, was slowly being rebuilt, but our numbers we still very minimal due to the attack that had occurred. Three years ago, a large group of Rhydon, Charizard, and Tyranitar, along with a group of Trainers, had mysteriously appeared at our village, and began to attack us. We lost many villagers that day, as none of us had Pokemon nearly as powerful as the mystery Trainers. A group of a hundred or so of us survived the slaughter, as we had managed to escape the attack and hide in the nearby forest. We could do nothing but watch as our village was burned to the ground, and our friends and family died trying to protect us from the Trainers.
In the last three years since then, I had grown up a lot. I started to see that not everyone believed in peace and happiness, that there are some people out there who want power. For a fourteen year old, I had a lot of deep and complex thoughts swirling around inside of me.
I snapped back to reality, managing to hop over a few planks of wood lying on the ground. We the surviving villagers had been working together to rebuild our village ever since that one night. The village was almost completely rebuilt, and every night watchmen were sent out to patrol the nearby area, in case of another attack.
We weren't taking any chances.
I noticed that my hands were starting to get sweaty, and I could feel my eyes starting to water up just thinking about that night. This always happened to me, and I hated it. I had to forget about that night, and move on.
Starting today.
As Houndour and I completed our daily route around the village, and headed back for home, the village storyteller, Yogrin, half ran, half walked up to me. This was weird, because Yogrin had gone missing a few months ago, and he had been presumed dead. He seemed very excited about something. I just stood there like an idiot with my mouth open.
Panting, he said, "Syphon, there you are! I've been looking for you! My, you've grown these last few months. No, no, I must stay focused. I need you to come with me right away. I have discovered something, something that I must tell you in private!"
"Yogrin, you've been-"I started, but he grabbed my shirt and pulled me along. There weren't many people up at this hour, so, amidst my protests and questions about where the hell he had been for the last half a year, Yogrin managed to lead me to his house.
Did I say house? More like shack.
The roof of the place needed repair, and it looked like a Snorlax had tried to come in through the front door. The single window was grimy, and I almost gagged when a few Wurmple scattered out from under the welcome mat.
I followed the stooped man into the shack. I hadn't been in it for awhile, so the dimness was the first thing that struck me. It smelled musty, too, and the floor was slightly damp. It reminded me of a cave.
"Yogrin, you seriously have to do something with this place. It's a dump." I said disgustedly.
The old man chuckled. "I see you haven't lost your sense of humour, lad. And your voice has gotten a little deeper, too."
I smiled, and agreed. I liked how my voice had changed. But then I remembered why I was with Yogrin in the first place.
"Alright, I haven't seen you in months. Everyone's looking for you. Where have you been?" I asked. I couldn't take it. I needed to know.
The man stared at me, and the hairs on the back of my neck stood up. His fierce, but knowing eyes gazed into mine, as if he was trying to read my thoughts. He was about the same size as me, and I didn't know whether that was because I had grown, or he had shrunk. Maybe both.
After a while, the man said, "I have been doing a bit of traveling, to answer your question. But, that is why I have come to you!"
"So…What did you want to tell me?" I questioned.
Yogrin sat down on one of his chairs. He told me to take a seat, which I did. The chair was hard and uncomfortable, but it was better than standing. The old man picked up his pipe from the nearby table, lit it, and took a deep breath. His eyebrows danced up and down on his forehead, like hairy Caterpie. The number of wrinkles around his mouth doubled when he opened his mouth to speak.
"Lad, I've finally figured out who attacked us three years ago. It took me such a long time to realize who they were, and what their motives were, but I've done it." He looked at me triumphantly, as if he expected some praise.
Houndour, who had been curled up beside my feet, perked his ears up and regarded Yogrin with interest. The look in his eyes reminded me of when he just got a new toy, and was interested and curious in it.
I looked at the old man, waiting for him to go on. When I realized that he wasn't going to speak, I said, "Well, who did it?"
Yogrin bent over, almost so that our faces were touching. He lowered his voice, almost to a whisper. I noticed how bloodshot his eyes were, and how mangled his beard looked.
"You see, they call themselves The Shadow. I have learned that they have many strong Pokemon, and that they have attacked other settlements as well as ours. They are looking for something, Syphon. Looking for something that can change this world."
So I finally knew who had attacked us. The Shadow. Nice name. Sounded kinda stupid, to be honest. But they had power. And that was the ultimate weapon.
What did they want? Who were they? Some criminal organization bent on becoming rich? Did they want world domination? Who knew…?
"Yogrin, tell me, how did you learn of this?" I asked. Yogrin stared at something I couldn't see, sighed, and then said, "I really-"
At that moment, the front door was knocked down. It smashed against the floor and three figures entered the room, followed by three Pokemon.
The first man was tall, muscular, and had a large mustache. His dark skin reminded me of leather. The second man was tall as well, but was lanky. The third man reminded me of my father, a regular sized guy with short, black hair. All three of the men had a black band around their right forearm.
"You thought you could hide, didn't you, old man?" The first man asked with a sneer. The guy's voice was low, but he didn't intimidate me.
He would.
I looked over at Yogrin, but he did not return the stare.
"But I betcha you didn't figure we'd follow you back, huh? You must be losing your memory or something, to leave a trail like you did." The first guy, the leader, I guessed, continued.
The three Pokemon were Primeape, Blaziken, and a Charmeleon. All three of them looked to be at a really high level, and the Blaziken flexed its arms impatiently. I was starting to get a little nervous.
The storyteller spoke in a low voice. "Syphon, go out the back door, quickly! I'll try to fend them off."
"But-"
"Go!"
"Yogrin, come-"
"Go! Syphon, leave without me! Now!" The old man yelled. I had never seen him this stern before. It looked like he was scared, and I doubted the guy could handle these creeps.
"Houndou!" Houndour growled at the men, but the Primape kicked it back. My temper flared, but I knew I couldn't do anything. I picked up Houndour and ran for the back of the shack, where I turned the knob to the back door, and froze.
Two more men were waiting outside, ready to pounce on me if I escaped the men at the front. They didn't see me, so I quietly turned back around, not knowing what to do. I heard talking, so I crept back up to the front, holding my breath.
"Leave now, Basktrix. I do not want to have to teach you a lesson like before." Yogrin said in a deep, determined voice.
So Yogrin had battled these men before. Where? When he was, "traveling"? And since when did Yogrin have any Pokemon, anyways?
I heard the three men laugh, and then the muscular man, Basktrix, spoke again, "Yogrin, you are as stubborn as ever. You can't escape us like last time. You know that, don't you? Oh, and I almost forgot. Hrellgren, take care of the kid. Let's hope he's Syphon; I'm tired of this mission."
My heart stopped. They knew my name? How? What mission? And that Hrellgren guy was coming for me. I started to run towards the back of the shack, then realized that there were two more men out there. While thinking of what to do, the lanky man, I figured Hrellgren, stepped towards me, his Charmeleon behind him.
"So I see that you didn't run. You're no fun, kid. Oh well, at least I get to kill you." With that, he ordered a Flamethrower from his Charmeleon. I was terrified, and I couldn't move.
"Hound!" Houndour shot an Ember at the oncoming attack, giving me enough time to order my legs to move.
"Houndour, c'mon let's go!" I shouted, knowing my little Pokemon couldn't hold off that freak and his Charmeleon.
Houndour rolled out of the way of the two fire attacks, and the flames landed on the ground behind us, separating us from Yogrin and the others.
"Nice work kid, now this whole dump is gonna collapse on us." Hrellgren growled at me.
I suddenly noticed his Charmeleon had snuck up behind me, and, as I turned around, it used a Slash. I jumped backwards, dodging the attack.
I heard Houndour barking to my left, and I saw that Hrellgren was holding my Pokemon by the neck. I could barely see anything else, as the flames were getting pretty intense and the smoke was pretty thick. Hrellgren must've not seen me, because I managed to tackle into him, and Houndour landed on his feet.
"You're pretty pesky, kid. Whatever, you're done for." And with that, Hrellgren left the shack through the back door. His Charmeleon ran after him, just as a few burning boards crashed down in front of the door.
We were trapped.
"Houndour! Houndour!" I yelled, looking around for my friend. I started to choke on the smoke, and my vision was getting pretty hazy.
I collapsed to my feet, and the heat from the flames was incredible. I must have been hallucinating, because I could see something shining in front of me, and the flames seemed to back away. I started to smile, half unconscious, when I realized that the shining object was gone, and the flames were closing back in on me.
I could hear barking, but it seemed far off in the distance. I could hear a man yelling, calling for something. And I could hear a scream. A bloodcurdling screech, which must have awoken the entire village. As I drifted into blackness, I had two thoughts:
The first, that I was about to die.
And the second, that the scream was coming from me.