Fire

by destinedjagold

In a land without humans, Pokémon lived in quiet settlements and helped each other in many various ways. Some build homes while others make food, and some courageous and adventurous souls team up and form a rescue team to help various Pokémon around their land who needed help. (This story was born from the [Weekly Flash Fanfiction] in PokéCommunity)

1. 01 - Fire

Prompt: Fire

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The smell of ash and burned, decaying meat filled the stagnant air. Burned wood littered the large clearing of a forest. The trees that circled the edge of the clearing had burned leaves and branches on them, and below, the green grass from the forest circled a black and lifeless earth of the clearing.

Two creatures, a Chikorita and a Torchic, stood by the edge of the clearing, unknowingly holding their breaths as they gazed at the place with shocked expressions.

"W-what... What happened here?" the Chikorita quietly asked, slowly turning her head left and right to see every edge of the clearing.

The Torchic slowly walked forward, and stopped on the edge of the green ground. Looking down, he stared at the large piece of black and burned wood. "Fire..." he quietly said.

"I...I can see that," the Chikorita replied, not in the mood for her friend's sarcastic remarks. She slowly shook her head. "B-but... Was it recent?"

The Torchic slowly shook his head. "No," he simply said as he slowly lifted a talon above a burned wood. He touched the charred chunk gingerly, then slowly applied pressure until it broke in half without requiring much force.

"What are you doing?" the Chikorita asked, approaching and stopping beside him.

The Torchic sighed and closed his eyes. He slowly opened them again and turned to face her. "Two days ago. Probably three."

The Chikorita frowned sadly, looking back at the destruction. "...What would have caused this?"

The Torchic sighed again, turning to face the scene as well. "No clue," he said as his gaze fell on what looked like a burned head of a Ponyta that poked out from the piles of burned wood. "But whatever it was, or whoever it was, the Pokémon living here weren't strong enough to protect themselves..."

The Chikorita nodded, slowly walking forward. "M-maybe we should look for clues..." she said, hoping to find anything to tell them what happened.

"Right," the Torchic nodded, following behind her.

"Do... Do you think there are some who survived the fire?"

The Torchic shook his head. "No. Even if there was, I doubt that they'd stay here..."

The Chikorita frowned, nodding slowly as her heart felt heavy with sadness.