Wizard: Hooray! A new story!
?: Shouldn't you try to finish one of your old ones before you start another?
Wizard: Well… Uhhhhh… Eheheh…
?: King me… O-O
Wizard: You'll never win! NEVER!
?: It looks like I already have… :3
Wizard: T^T Damn you…
?: Get over it…
Disclaimer: The Wizard of Dim-Wittedness does not own Pokémon, and all rights of ownership to such characters belong to Satoshi Tajiri and the Pokémon Company. However, he does own the plot line of this story, so he'll get pretty riled up if you try to use his junk without asking…
Wizard: Hey! That's my line!
?: Shut up. *Slaps Wizard*
Wizard: T^T Owwww…
Why is it…? That we never truly know what we have…
Until it's gone…?
How can we be so cruel…? Why do we have such a horrible, dark, fulsome capacity…
For hatred and contempt…?
Will the day when we can live in harmony…
Ever come?
How can we waste something so precious…
As the gift of life…?
Why is it…? That no matter how much we try to hide…
That no matter how we fight for justice…
We are all evil inside…?
I only wish I could've realized it sooner… So I could've stayed… Just one last time…
To tell them that I love them…
"Mitsumi!" a woman called out into the dense forest that surrounded their home, "Mitsumi~!"
"Yes, Mama?" a young boy with long raven hair asked as he ran towards his mother from the forest, "What is it?"
"I need you to get some things for me…"
"Like~?" the boy asked inquisitively, giving his mother his attention as he wondered what it was she needed this time.
"I need you to get me some apples, some Bayleef spice, some rose petals…" She listed with a machine-like rapidity as she handed her son a satchel, "Oh, and fetch me some berries… Anything'll do… Except for Lum or Rindo berries."
"Uhhhhh…" Mitsumi babbled, already trying to recollect what he just heard, "Okay…"
"Oh!" she chimed with realization as she dug her hand into her pocket and took out a spherical device, "Please take Lennie with you; he hasn't gotten any exercise lately…"
She then opened the ball, releasing a large, bipedal canine-like creature with a large flash of light as the boy complied, "Okay~!"
The two walked into the forest, the trip to a clearing containing several berry bushes almost silent except for the sounds of the grass and brush tickling their ankles. Lennie was one of Mama's new Pokémon, in fact she had caught him only last week, and it was still odd having him around.
"Y'know…" the Lucario smiled, using his telepathy to talk to Mitsumi, "I always wonder why your mother named you Mitsumi… Isn't that a girl's name?"
"Yeah…" the boy admitted as he pushed his hair out of his eyes, "But you know Mama… She could care less if I have a catch or a snatch… So she just named me Mitsumi regardless…"
"Heheh… You're such a funny boy…" Lennie chuckled as the two came up to an apple tree, "I like that…"
"Thanks…"
The two looked up at the apple tree. It was low, but the lowest apple on this old geezer of a tree was twenty feet up, and there aren't any other apple trees for miles.
"So how's this gonna work?" the Lucario pondered as he stared at the bright red apples glistening in the afternoon sun and swaying in the autumn breezes, "Should we climb up?"
"I have a much better idea…" Mitsumi said as he grabbed a large sturdy stick from the ground below. He picked up the branch and traced a character into the dirt at the base of the tree.
ξ
"That should do it…" the boy said as he kneeled on the ground with a confident smile.
"And just what is this supposed to accomplish?" his companion scrutinized, looking at the boy as if he were insane.
"Watch and learn."
Mitsumi took a deep breathe in and concentrated on the character, and just like he expected, it started to glow. It started as a pale glisten, but slowly attuned into a bright white light, which filled the air as the wind slowly started to pick up.
"Get ready to catch some apples!" Mistumi screamed as a sudden gust shook the tree. The two fumbled for a while, clambering among the falling reds as they tried to catch them before they hit the ground and exploded at impact. They missed most of them. However, soon enough, they gathered enough to satisfy Mama, so they stopped.
"How did you…?" Lennie babbled with disbelief as he struggled to catch his breath, "That… How? ...And when…? Huh…?"
"Mama showed me…" the boy said, Mitsumi smiling as he rubbed the character out of the dirt, "She says it was a gift… Bestowed upon us by the spirits…"
"Interesting…" the Lucario said as he turned to look at Mitsumi as he saw a face stricken with horror, "What is it, Mitsumi?"
"That smoke…" he murmured absentmindedly as if his mind were already running, pointing to the column of billowing smoke that rose into the sky, "That's… Where the house is…"
The two ran with all their might to the house, the nearest Pokémon center was miles from here—in Oldale town— and if Mama got hurt… There's no way she would make it…
"MAMA!" Mitsumi screamed out as he spotted the raging flames that engulfed the small building that was once their home, running only to be stopped by a furry blue arm.
"Stay back!" Lennie said to him as he charged for the house, "I'm going in!"
Mitsumi obeyed, but he couldn't stay still, and pace back and forth on the forest border. How could he stay still when his mother was in danger? However, he knew the perfect thing to do to pass the time. There was a Rawst patch just across the way, and if he could get some Rawst berries, he could help them with their burns. At that he started to make his way towards the bush, but stopped as he saw something in the corner of his eye.
It was Lennie, carrying an unconscious Mama on his back as he ran for the forest border with a panic stricken look on his face, "Mitsum—"
A loud crack zoomed through the heated air, Mitsumi's eyes widening with shock as he saw Lennie fall, his blood staining the grass with a sickly crimson as a bullet passed through his skull and splattered the once peaceful plain with the Vermillion marks of death.
"R-Run…" Lennie sputtered weakly, using the last seconds of his fleeting life to warn him as a second shot was fired into his heart, silencing him for the final time as he collapsed into a pool of his own blood.
He did as he was told, running from the searing pain that slowly crept further into his heart with each step he took. Everything became a blur, and time seemed to pass without the meaning it had once had, all he knew was that he had to run away…
And never come back…