"It's good to have you here, Misty," Sabrina greeted as the short, red-haired teenager made her way across the room, and flashed her a quick smile. Her feet softly pressed on the long, red rug of the ground, noiselessly. Reaching the end of the room where Sabrina was, she seated herself on the table, next to her. It was the winter time, so she wore a pink jacket over her short yellow blouse. "How does your gym do?"
The water-type leader shrugged. "It's been good, Sabrina, I guess. Plenty of...trainers coming. My battling is improving, too - it's great to visit your gym, it's looking as in shape as always," she continued, her sea-green eyes studying the soles of her red sneakers. Sabrina, narrowing her eyes, sensed something downcast about her. She was a psychic, and not just any psychic, but a master; she could feel such things.
The door creaked open, and the two gym leaders turned as one of Sabrina's gym trainers came in, walking with a tray of two steaming cups of tea in his hand. He set it on the table in front of them, bowed, and hurried away.
Sabrina's pin-straight green hair fell over her shoulders as she leaned gently over to pick up the cup, her face heating soothingly at the gray mist rising from it. She took a sip of the honeyed chamomile tea, relaxing instantly when the sweet substance warmed her tongue.
Misty drank, too. "This tea is really good, Sabrina," she praised.
Sabrina studied her face carefully. There was a pause. "Something is troubling you, child," she said at last. Alarmed, Misty's eyes widened and her orange ponytail swished as her head shot up. "I can read you well, Misty. Do not lie."
Misty sighed, and huddled into her chair. The dark shadows of the dim, small room fell over her face as she hung her head. "Well...I-I don't know how to explain it, Sabrina. There's been someone." She closed her eyes. "Someone I've been missing."
Sabrina said nothing, but listened intently, allowing the silence to prod her on.
The Cerulean gym leader seemed quiet and uncomfortable, fidgeting and squirming in her chair, eyes keeping to the ground: a noticeable contrast to her usually fiery and strong-willed attitude.
She spoke in a small voice, "And, well, the thing is-"
"Excuse me!" A voice suddenly cut her off as another gym trainer entered the room, meekly looking at them both as his slick blond hair fell over his eyes. He hovered by the doorway, far at the end of the room. "Leader Sabrina, you have a challenger whom awaits you in the Battle Room."
Sabrina rose from her chair. "Thank you, Clyde - tell him I will be there at once," she ordered. She turned to Misty. "I'm sorry; will you wait here until I finish with it?"
Her friend nodded as the blond gym trainer, Clyde, scampered away. "Of course! I don't mind sitting in the Tea Room, I like it," she said as she took another sip of tea.
Sabrina nodded and made her way to the door, crossing the long, narrow corridor lit up with only a beam of sunlight streaming from a single window. The Battle Room was just down the hall. She pushed open the heavy, old wooden door with a creaaak, and stepped in.
The Battle Room was a long, field-like area with hard stone ground and dim lightning, like the rest of the gym. Torches flamed and lit up the stadium. Long walls, and a wide ceiling stretched out from end to beginning, on one side being where the trainer stood, and on the other a small stand where she, Sabrina, took her place.
Gracefully she walked up the stand with long strides of her legs, her tight black-and-red suit flattering her tall, slender body, swaying with each step. The Pokeball clutched in her hand was tossed in the air. "Go, Alakazam," she murmured. The yellow-brown fox-like Pokemon emerged in a white blaze of light, raising the spoons in its hands. "Kazzz - am!" it cried.
Today's challenger certainly looked odd. He - or she? - was dressed thoroughly in heavy, plain, purple robes, with a thick hood that hung so low it hid half of the face. Sabrina's curiosity tingled, but she only said, "Welcome to the Saffron City gym. I assume you are here to challenge me, leader Sabrina, to a battle?"
Slowly the head nodded, the purple hood bobbing along with it. "Yeah, Sabrina. I'm a passing traveler, and I just like to challenge gyms." From his voice, Sabrina could tell it was a male - quite young, more like a boy's. A faint smile flashed his lips. "I'm aiming to get 'em all."
Sabrina tilted her head, not particularly interested; however, her psychic senses seemed to ripple oddly. "We shall commence with the challenge, then, traveler. Bring out your Pokemon."
That was when it all happened - so quickly that her mind barely registered it: out from the purple-robed trainer's belt burst out dozens and dozens of beams of light, and...Rattata. Rattata everywhere - absolutely everywhere!
The Rattata spun out into the room and started landing and rampaging everywhere - all in barely a split second of time; a screeching, high-pitched chant of, "Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ra-ta-ta-ra-ta!" split the air, causing Sabrina's Alakazam to cover its ears.
Sabrina jumped so fast from her chair that it knocked over on the ground. "What the-" A scream of pain interrupted her as the piles and piles of Rattata, that kept on blasting on more and more every second, attacked her Alakazam, viciously biting and tearing at the psychic Pokemon's pelt. There were so many of them piling up on him that soon he was no longer visible in sight.
Appalled, Sabrina whipped out her Pokeball and quickly withdrew him: "Return, Alakazam!" she shouted. She tried to calm her pounding heart and panicked brain by taking deep breaths. I am a psychic leader, she told herself, I must handle anything and everything with calmness.
But there were so goddamn many of them! They started filling up nearly half of the entire huge, spacious stadium, and Sabrina knew that she had to act fast. Among her raging mind it clicked: the Rattata hadn't reached the door yet - although they were painfully close - so she had time to escape. The constant screaming of the Rattata in the background pierced her ears and started making her dizzy. I am Sabrina. I am the leader of this gym; I must not give up on my trainers. I can handle this, whatever it is.
Mustering her courage, Sabrina's feet rose from the ground as she used her levitation techniques, and, as her mind hardened furiously in concentration, made herself swish through the air as swift as a Meowth and reach the door.
Her hands gripped the handle. Blood thrashed through her veins crazily as the pack of Rattata started edging nearer to the door more and more, and quickly she pushed it open, slamming it with as much force as possible behind her.
She was panting deeply, her chest heaving as she slid down the wall of the door. Trembling, she clutched her hair in her hands. "What...what just happened there?" she whispered. All her instincts screamed to flee from this gym, but she snapped her mind out of it.
"My gym," she said, as she stepped back up on her feet. The halls were empty, and behind her the pounding and shrieking of the Rattata in the stadium grew frighteningly angrier and louder with each beat of her heart. But she was no longer in a panic.
"My gym," she repeated, as she took a turn and made her way calmly to the Training Room, where her workers were. "I must protect my gym."
After Sabrina entered the Training Room and calmly announced the mounting situation back in the stadium, her gym trainers all stopped what they were doing, froze, and gawked at her with their mouths agape. There was a stunned silence for a while as Sabrina trailed her gaze over them, blue eyes glimmering.
"L-leader." A man stepped up towards her - the same one who brought her and Misty tea earlier - and looked at her uncertainly. "You say they are numerous, but they are only Rattata. Surely we'd be able to fight them with our own, much more powerful psychic Pokemon?"
Sabrina shook her head grimly. "No, Alex. I have seen them with my own eyes. I don't know how that purple-robed boy did it, or where exactly the Rattata are coming from, but more and more keep on coming. Soon, I fear, they will break down the stadium door and infest this gym." Gasps rippled through her audience at that. They all glanced at each other with fear shining in their eyes.
Alex ran a hand through his thin, light brown hair. She could see his legs trembling slightly, but the leader noted with approval that he was trying his hardest to keep his composure.
"You are my most trusted servant along with Clyde, Alex," the green-haired psychic went on. At that Clyde and Alex stood up straighter. "Alex, round up our most powerful trainers and guard the Battle room - make sure to get rid of as much Rattata as possible, though I know there's no way you'd be able to stop them all. And you, Clyde," she turned to the slim, nervous blond, "first, most importantly, get Misty to me immediately. Stay by our sides and see to it that she remains safe. The rest of you, divide yourselves into groups of four and guard each remaining room in the gym - the Tea Room, the Battle Room, the halls, and the entrance. You want to make sure that we remain safe, however, do not let any Rattata escape the gym. That would pose a grievous threat to the city residence," she warned. A few people shuddered.
"I have faith in your bravery. Please stay calm and efficient during all times. This is a terrible situation we are in, so..." She raised her voice to almost a yell, "Act fast!"
At that there was a great clamor as everyone rushed off to their respective jobs, Alex and his band of trainers hurrying to protect the Battle Room, groups marching off to patrol the halls or defend the rooms.
Clyde, eyes huge, darted away to pick up Misty from the Tea Room. Soon the Training Room was empty but for the group stationed here, and quickly surveying all the trainers, Sabrina whipped the other way and walked briskly down the hall. There was a loud, terrible bang! bang! bang! bang! sound that drummed from the other side of the Battle Room accompanied by the screeching of the raging Rattata. The wooden door was rattling dangerously. The trainers in the hall had their Pokemon readily lined in front of them, braced and posed.
The hair on the back of Sabrina's spine stood up erectly. They're breaking out of the room, sooner than I thought.
She met Clyde racing down the hall with Misty by his side, the water leader's eyes wide with surprise. "Sabrina!" she gasped as they stopped by her. Clyde leaned down, panting. "Oh gosh... Is this really happening? Rattata? Are you kidding me?"
"Misty, you're safe." There was relief in Sabrina's voice. "We don't have time to talk now. Clyde, Misty, come with me!"
The two nodded obediently, and amid the chaos of the crying Rattata and the yelling gym trainers and the panic that overwhelmed every being in the gym, Sabrina ran to, of all places, the Tea Room.
"Sabrina, where are you going?" Misty demanded as she jogged after her, her short pale legs taking steady, strong strides.
Clyde added, "My leader, I-I do not think this is a time for tea..."
Sabrina scoffed. "No, it is not for tea. Just follow me - you'll see what I'm showing you!"
The three entered the Tea Room, very quiet compared to the rest of the gym, and the group who were sent to protect it glanced at them curiously, but said nothing.
"Come." Sabrina motioned to Misty and Clyde as she leaned down the chair she usually sat on, which was covered in a smooth linen sheet. Slowly raising the silky cloth, she reached under the chair and dragged out an old, large, dusty brown trunk.
Clyde gazed at it, wonder twinkling in his brown eyes. Sabrina easily opened the trunk, and in them rested five long, sleek, shining swords.
"Wh-what?" Misty spluttered. "Sabrina, you do know we can just use our Pokemon, right?" Clyde looked just as baffled.
Sabrina sighed. "I am disappointed in you two. You truly underestimate the sheer amount of the Rattata - we could use our Pokemon briefly, yes, but they will only be knocked out or worse, killed in mere seconds." She winced. "The Rattata were swarming over my Alakazam when I was in the stadium, and you of all people know just how powerful of a Pokemon he is."
A sudden crash and then a horrible rain of "Ra-ta-ta-ta-ta-ra-ta-ta-ra-ta-ta!" and terrified screaming split their ears, and they fell back in fright.
"Come on!" Sabrina yelled. "Each of you, wield a sword, and follow me immediately! We must escape at once or we shall be in a corner!"
Dazed, her two companions nodded as they each held the surprisingly heavy swords in their hand, swinging them around in light, clumsy motions.
But Sabrina was more graceful. Strongly gripping the handle of her weapon she sprinted across the room, her eyes glowing in a deep violet light as she used her psychic powers to have the doors fly open. Glancing back swiftly, she slowed down for the struggling Misty and Clyde behind her. It near gave her a headache, but she used her powers to lighten the weight of the swords they were carrying and allow them for easier movement.
Swerving to the hall, she came to an abrupt halt, staring at the scene in front of her in dismay.
The Rattata were pelting down all over the room like horrid drops of furry, screaming rain. They tore and bit viciously at the bravely fighting Pokemon, and horrified trainers screamed in agony as they tried to shield themselves with their arms. Every inch of the hall she saw purple - purple purple purple, the purple of their tails and feet and scrawny flanks and whiskers. They were like a terribly strong current in a river of Rattata.
Sabrina's heart shattered to see her loyal trainers suffering in such a dreadful manner, all to protect her and her gym. Behind her, Misty was sobbing and Clyde literally flinched from the view.
For a second all sense of hope was lost, and her whole body trembled as she saw fresh blood dripping down once-spotless walls. This is serious. People are getting injured; killed even.
She straightened herself. I have to protect my gym. I have to protect my gym.
Sucking in deep breaths of air, her eyes searched around frantically for anything she could make use of. Luckily, she saw that though the Rattata flooded the halls, they hadn't yet broken down the doors of the Training Room nor the Tea Room. But it was only a matter of time, she realized grimly.
She tightened her fingers on her sword. There was only one hope she could think of: if she could just make it to the Training Room, where there was a phone, she could call for help. But it was far down the end of the hall, so she'd have to...she, Misty, and Clyde, would have to slice their way of a path through the Rattata and make it there.
Calmly she turned and explained her plan to the two.
Silent tears streamed down Clyde's cheeks, and Misty twisted her face. "Sabrina, isn't that risky?"
"It's our only hope," she insisted. She softened a bit at Clyde's crying. "We must stay brave."
Clyde squeezed his eyes shut, then took a deep, shuddering breath. He opened them again, blinked, and looked at her directly in the eye. "I'd do anything for Leader." Sabrina had a small smile on her face.
Misty shook her silky, beautiful red head. "I trust you, Sabrina," she sighed. "You're my friend. Of course I'll help you!"
A jolt of confidence surged through Sabrina's veins. She stepped up firmly and held her sword high. "Then let's go!"
With a fierce battle cry, the trio charged in to the wailing, furry, purple chaos. The psychic leader jumped and swung her sword in the air, shining with a steely sheen as her dark hair flapped behind her. Bringing it down heavily, she sliced the blade down at three Rattata in a row. Their last cry was cut off abruptly as warm, sticky blood splattered on her face and clothes.
Leaping over the dead, bleeding and chopped up Rattata she did the same to many, many more, cutting cleanly through their wiry, skinny bodies and watching as their insides were torn and ripped, aiding herself and her friends with her psychic telekinesis to stun and freeze the Mouse Pokemon. Normally she would've been appalled to do such a thing to innocent creatures, but this time the fierce, unwavering desire to protect her gym, her trainers, and her friends gave her an indescribable strength, and made the sword swing down mercilessly.
Behind her, Misty snapped and spun the sword around her, creating a bloody twirling mess of a scene as the Rattata beneath her sword were sliced up and shaken. Her teal-blue eyes were a mixture of horrific guilt and grim determination, sparkling and dancing. She moved with strength and precision, never missing a hit and dodging and blocking each of her relentless attackers.
Clyde, lithe and quick as a Liepard, skillfully weaved and ducked through the masses of purple Pokemon, slim body slinking and twisting away easily as they screeched and tackled him.
Practically dancing with a sword in his hand, he plunged and stabbed his way through, his lips tightened in a thin line of focus. His blonde hair was dyed with droplets of red blood.
Panting, covered in blood, and fighting for their lives, the great psychic master, the water leader, and the faithful gym trainer stabbed and diced their way through. Sabrina, muscles screaming in exhaustion, glanced around her, seeing blood soaking the rug and Rattatas' guts spilling on the ground. Man and Pokemon were at war with each other in a flurry of fur, paws, ratty whiskers, and the swish of people's cloaks - and screaming, so, so much screaming.
Tilting to the side and leaning a part of her weight on her red-splat sword, the gory scene rampaged on all around her. I'm losing my strength, Sabrina thought. We got rid of a good portion of the Rattata, though, and there don't seem to be any more coming. But there are still hundreds left, and we are already exhausted. Behind her, Misty and Clyde trailed by tiredly, arms too sore to lift the sword any longer.
Fear stabbed at Sabrina's heart. Will we even make it through this alive?
After a searing battle of agony, they finally reached the Training Room. The three hurried inside - "Quick, quick!" Sabrina yelled, and shut the door firmly. Clothes torn and stained, skin marked with scratches and bruises, bodies utterly worn out, the three collapsed on the floor, eyes squeezed shut as they went limp and gasped for breath, skin crawling as they lay on the cool stone ground.
They were motionless for a few minutes: not talking, not moving, chests rising up and down furiously. Sabrina should've felt pathetic as she rested on the ground with her hair sprawled all around her shoulders, but now she was too weak to care.
Suddenly, a warning flashed across her brain, and she was jolted back to reality as she realized - The Rattata shall be coming at any moment! We most certainly cannot afford to lay about and do nothing.
Blearily she stumbled up to her feet, glancing down at Clyde and Misty huddled, and curled up and feeble. Pitying them, but knowing what she must do, she briskly shook them awake. They yelled in protest, still half-asleep. "Come on, you two," the psychic leader murmured. "Awake now. We need to phone the police, remember? Get up and stand guard."
Misty stirred awake and moaned, "I'm sorry, Sabrina, I'm just...so...tired." At that she almost flopped back down.
Clyde rose, fragile, his knees shaking. The two girls covered their mouths in horror when they saw a nasty gash on his shoulder, pouring down blood.
"You stay down, Clyde," Sabrina ordered.
"You poor thing!" Misty cried as she hurled herself to him, softly touching his shoulder. Unzipping her jacket, she wrapped up the pink cloth and coiled it around his shoulder, tying it tightly. Clyde winced, but looked at her gratefully. "This'll help the bleeding." Misty trailed her finger down the thick jacket. "Try to stay as still as possible."
Sabrina was immensely worried about her gym trainer's wounds, but rushed to the far end of the room, where several technologies were kept, including a phone and a television.
"Wait!" Misty ran ahead of her and picked up the phone, dialing down the number. "I'll call - you go rest, you're far more hurt than I am!"
"But-"
"Rest." She turned her back and pressed the phone to her ear, with an air of finality. Sighing, Sabrina pulled out a hard wooden chair and sat down, relaxing her tight and aching muscles. Glancing at the blank television screen, she grabbed the remote control and pressed it. The light of the TV flickered on, and a news reporter appeared as the room was filled with her streaming, formal voice.
But Sabrina wasn't listening, for she noticed Misty turn very pale, and heard no voice at the other end of the phone. "What's wrong, Misty?"
"There's no signal." Her voice was quiet and eerie as the redhead stared at her, eyes glazing over.
Sabrina's heart sank. No time to fret now.
"...gyms getting attacked all over Kanto have been reported as a deadly outbreak of Rattata seemingly appeared out of nowhere, and ravaged these gyms. The identity of the person behind this is unknown; however, it was seen that each time, just before this would happen, a young boy fully clothed in purple would come by."
Sabrina and Misty's attentions were fixed on the TV. "The following gyms have been so far affected: Peterburg, Celadon, Vermillion, Fuchsia, Saffron, and..." They held their breath. "That is all."
Misty almost fainted in relief. "Thank God... Oh, thank God, my gym in Cerulean hasn't been attacked yet!" Misty cried joyously. Sabrina stayed quiet.
She then faced Sabrina, a new ferocity blazing in her teal eyes. "That's it. That's it! I am going to make it out of this gym alive no matter what. I have to protect my own gym. And, of course, bring along help to you, Sabrina."
Sabrina blinked, warmed at her friend's loyalty. "Misty," she said seriously. "You're going to escape this place no matter what." They both nodded.
In the distance they suddenly heard the door opening, then shutting, and the low voice of a boy hissing, "Get them, my soldiers" - and then a piercing yell clanged their ears; their heart pounded furiously, for the two leaders realized it was Clyde's.
Worse: they heard the scuttle and scratching, and the horridly familiar "Ra-ta-ta-ra-ta!"
Without even thinking they whipped out their swords and charged to the scene, watching as at least twenty Rattata swarmed around the room and screeched, and in the corner the poor Clyde, still badly wounded in his shoulder, staggering up and weakly raising his sword in defense.
Her mind racing dizzily, Sabrina barely even heard Misty's petrified screaming before the Mouse Pokemon leaped and flew at them: Sabrina, barely registering what was happening, fell back clumsily. She cursed as she felt the Rattatas' small sharp claws sink into the flesh of her arms and shoulders, and the burning sensation as they slashed and bit.
Soon there were so many that she and Misty were overwhelmed, and her bones were getting squished by the weight on her. Warm and fleshy, they wiggled and waved madly above her. Gasping and screaming for air, she wildly swung her sword around and managed to hit a few, but still there were too many.
"Leader!" She heard Clyde's agonized scream. "NO! L-leader Sabrina! I won't let you down, I'm no coward! I'm coming to save you!"
She didn't know what happened or how fast it passed by, but in a matter of seconds she heard the pounding of Clyde's footsteps and then instead of having a writhing pile of Rattata above her, liquid blood burst down on her as corpses fell.
Crying wildly, the young blond man raced to Misty and did the same, swinging his gleaming, icy sharp blade at the Rattata, who each got sliced one by one, a sickening ripping sound being heard as the blade sunk into their bodies and twisted their flesh.
Soon they were dead, all twenty of them.
Sabrina, stunned, gawked at the normally timid man as he collapsed on the ground, huffing heavily, and dropped his sword. The blade came tumbling down on the ground. Beside her, Misty looked just as shocked, eyes stretched hugely around her blood-stained cheeks.
"C-Clyde?" Sabrina whispered as she crawled to him, gently shaking his back. "Clyde? Clyde, wake up."
She rolled his limp, still body over, and from the growing pool of blood under his shoulder and the way his eyes were blank and glazed over, she knew that he was dead.
At first she felt nothingness. Utterly nothing. It was as if her heart was a hard, hollow stone in her chest, and her blood ran cold. Misty was crying, her shoulders shaking with sobs as her muffled bawls echoed across the Training Room.
Then all the emotions came blasting at her like fire from a Flamethrower: first disbelief, then unbearable grief, then self-blame, and finally: rage. A stormy, hateful, fiery rage overcame her, and she wept furiously. Her tears dripped down on Clyde's lifeless body as she clutched his bloody shoulders.
She heard a mild giggling from the corner of the room. She raised her head, and from the shadows stepped out that mysterious, horrible, horrifying purple-robed trainer.
"You!" Misty thundered. "You monster! You evil, pathetic, twisted, heartless monster! Why did you do all this?"
Sabrina, shivering, stumbled up and walked over to him, not a word escaping her mouth, her teary stare wide and piercing. The clank of her feet on the ground came to an abrupt halt right in front of him.
The boy didn't stop giggling, his face still covered by the low hood he had as he wore a sneer. "So, everyone underestimated me till now, huh? 'Oh, look at that! That stupid Rattata-lover! His Pokemon are weak! He'll never get anywhere in life!'" His mouth twisted bitterly. "Guess they wouldn't be saying that to me now, huh?"
Misty and Sabrina stared, aghast, too shaken out of this world to do or say anything.
"Well, they got what they deserved. I proved that I'm strong, and now all these people know it. Everyone will know just how powerful I am, and I'll rule them all. I am Youngster Joey," he announced, and swept his hood off. Sabrina gazed for the first time into his young, hard face. "Behold the power of my top-percentage Rattata."
yeah I think I might have been high when I was writing this
-Ivy