World is Mine
Chapter One: Little Miss Rose
: : Their meeting was as cliché as a script : :
There's a reason people stray away from Lostlorn Forest be it day or night. You don't need the rumors the Pokémon rangers pass off of hot-blooded trainers never to be seen again or the bloodcurdling howls said to startle even veterans looking for new training grounds. One glance at the ominous fog that cloaked the place in a way you'd expect to see in a horror movie is enough to give one the sense of foreboding.
It amazes him how this all doesn't seem to bother the little girl he catches one day dancing among the stilled trees, her arms outstretched in glee as her soft brown hair cascaded down her shoulders in waves. He eyes the sky blue dress that swirls about her petite body as her laughter reverberates throughout the barren forest. Her radiance sticks out from the bleakness of the place he finds himself hiding away within. He's grown weary of the world. Yet with her presence here, he finds the entire scene before him to be absurd.
How expected from a naive human child.
There's no justification to why he's compelled to follow. Denial doesn't exist in his nature. (Neither does concern.)
It surprises him when he finds her wailing within a vacant clearing an hour later. Her body trembling upon a tree trunk as her cries reach a pitiful volume that he's sure will shatter his eardrums. Had she run into something unpleasant or was she that stupid that the actual reality of her situation just dawned on her?
There's no justification to why he approaches her. Curiosity doesn't exist in his nature. (Unless it's a morbid one.)
"Why are you crying?"
The sound of his voice startles her. She glances up and he finds himself locked within the bright gaze of electrifying eyes the color of the cloudless summer sky. The tears streaking down her pale rosy cheeks drip to the forest floor soundlessly.
She's the very image of innocence.
"Please! Will you help me sir? I'm lost. . ." she hiccups and he cringes.
"I figured that much."
"So you'll help?"
"I never said that."
Her face falls and he feels something throb within his chest. He hasn't felt it in a while but he knows it's something he's deemed not good.
"Hasn't anyone ever told you why people shouldn't enter this forest?"
"Those rumors . . . ?"
"Those are a bunch of crap. The real reason is because this is a Zoroark's den."
"Zor–roh–ark?"
She flinches when he sits beside her, a hand running through his dark hair.
"Close enough."
And so it began.
"Do you think I'm pretty?"
He takes the question as a punch to the face, eyes narrowing to stare at her large Deerling like ones that gaze back at him intently.
"What does it matter?"
"Does that mean I'm not?" Rosa pouts and he feels a knot in his gut. The minute he catches her eyes glisten he knows he's screwed.
"I–I didn't say that. I meant what does physical appearance have to do with anything? You people all look the same anyway."
His breath stills as she falls silent, slender fingers tugging at her twin pigtails in an absentmindedly manner. He can tell she's giving his answer deep thought though he doubts her young mind can fully comprehend it.
Human children were expected to be frivolous.
"You know Reon; I'm gonna be an actress someday! But first, I need to shine." Rosa declares somewhat boastfully. He watches her intensely. He won't admit it but time has forged him an attachment to this girl.
"That's some big dream."
"It's destiny!" she grins and he fights the urge to whack her on top her head.
"I see. And about your mother's opinion?"
Her face falls and that sinking feeling that only she seems to give him shoots within his chest.
"I don't want to be a Pokémon trainer. She can't force me!" Rosa growls and stomps her foot for emphasis. It's hardly intimidating.
"Besides," she smiles, facing him once more. "once I'm famous, I'll be as popular and rich than any Champion that ever lived!"
He stays quiet throughout the rest of their stroll.
She'd wormed her way into his life and he did nothing to keep her from doing so.
Something was wrong.
He can't exactly tell what exactly it is but he knows one thing's certain.
Rosa should have been waiting for him here by now.
He scans the clearing cautiously, senses high and body alert. The minute he catches her high–pitched screams, he flings his pack to the side and dashes wildly to her. He can't lose the bright girl with eyes the color of the sky and lips soft as the petals of a rose.
Not just yet.
He finds her sprawled on the forest floor seconds later, her eyes wide in terror as she holds out a slender, jagged twig in her hands. The Pinsirs pay no mind and gnash their teeth in aggravation, signature pincers that brought people to fear them clasping in eager anticipation.
Her eyes meet his for a split second before he's standing beside her.
The transformation is quick as it is invigorating. She stares wide–eyed as his skin melts to that of pitch black fur accented by crimson, claws retracted and pale blue irises narrowed in territorial vexation.
She'd be the end of him.
The battle's swift as it is exhilarating. His opponents fall one by one till it's nothing more but the two of them remaining. He eyes her cautiously, already fully knowing her reaction once the shock passes.
There's a feeling like that of fright in the pit of his stomach but he won't admit it.
(Denial doesn't exist in his nature nor does concern. Therefore it's not real, is it?)
"You're—?" Rosa chokes and he embraces himself.
"Reon you're . . . you're a Zoroark . . . ?"
He expected a scream of horror or even that of betrayal to follow.
He'll admit it; he sure as hell didn't expect the whack from a shoe and swish of hips to emphasis a flustered anger.
She'd be the death of him.
There once was a time people strayed away from Lostlorn Forest. You'd hear it in the rumors passed around of a Zoroark making its den deep within it. Nobody knows exactly when the change happened. Some say it was thanks to that of a heroic Trainer who caught and brought peace to the poor, misunderstood creature. Others say it found what it had long been searching for. Two years passing and you'd think the rumors would have been long dead by now. There was one thing certain however. . .
Lostlorn Forest was where I met Rosa White and eventually came to be her one and only.
This is how we took the world.
*Cover art not mine and belongs to its respective artist