Disclaimer: I don't own pokemon, but all my characters are mine.
A/N: A couple days ago my muse suddenly smacked me over the head and said "Write this!". "But I have others to work on! Why a new one?" I asked hesitantly. "Just do it!" she screamed in my ear, reminding me very much of Navi...
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It was a scary time to be alive, it truly was. The threat of Team Rocket was everywhere; it got to the point where people could no longer trust their own family members. It was bad to be caught out alone, even worse at night. Only the foolish or the desperate ever did that. Once the Rockets had their sights on you, there was no escaping…ever. Sometimes people would just…disappear…
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Ayla was running through the darkness, occasionally stumbling in the thick grass. Her Togetic was floating slightly behind her, clutching her white-streaked blonde hair. He was worried about his friend; after the Rockets had come for her a few weeks ago she hadn't been well. They left her Celadon home quickly, and since then her health had gone into a downward spiral, the stress prematurely whitening her hair and making her weak.
Her amber eyes no longer shone, dully reflecting the moonlight as she fought her way through the woods. They were probably near Pewter City by now; she ran to her relative's house. They would hide her, they had to. Her parents had left her; they had disappeared a few years ago when she was fifteen. Now at seventeen, she had supported herself by working in the Department Store, but before that her aunt and uncle took care of her in Pewter City.
She could no longer keep running, and fell panting and sobbing on the damp ground, her already dirty clothes becoming muddier. Togetic sadly floated to her face, stroking her cheek in the hopes of calming his friend. He had been a gift from her parents as a Togepi when she was twelve, but Ayla wasn't really a trainer; he was more like a companion to her and was treated like a dear friend. Needless to say, it took him little time to evolve.
Ayla eventually started to calm, and as she regained her breath she stood. Steadying herself on her weak legs she continued on at a hurried pace, holding Togetic to her chest and seeming to draw strength from his closeness. Her pale complexion stood out in the dark woods, making her look like a ghost drifting through the trees.
The few minutes of quiet ended too quickly. Soon the duo could hear trudging footsteps behind them, and the low buzz of far-off conversation. Togetic picked up on the ill will they gave off and warned Ayla with a frantic but quiet cry. The malnourished seventeen year old took off running, trying as hard as she could to make as little noise as possible, but to little avail.
The sounds of pursuit could be heard; the eerie howls of the tracking Houndour and the screeches of Sneasel were the most prominent in the cacophony of noise. Team Rocket had apparently picked up some new pokémon.
Ayla gave out a distressed cry as she caught her foot on a root and tumbled to the ground, instinctually falling on her side to avoid landing on Togetic. She scrambled to her feet but it was already too late; in just that moment she had fallen, the Houndour caught up. There were three of them, all bearing their fangs and growling viciously at her. She edged backwards towards the woods but found her path blocked by a vicious looking Sneasel.
Togetic could no longer bear to let his friend be scared and jumped forward in a battle stance, drawing the other pokémon's attention form Ayla. He looked back at her and nodded, saying without words that he would battle. Ayla too nodded and gave her first order.
"Use Ancientpower, my friend!" she called as strongly as her voice would allow.
Togetic glowed faintly, and suddenly a line of boulders appeared out of the ground. They flew at the Houndour, hitting two of them. One was trapped below the large boulders and moved no more, a puddle of crimson slowly seeping into the ground around it. The other two Houndour, as well as the Sneasel retaliated by viciously biting and scratching Togetic.
"Togetic, try Metronome!" Ayla called frantically, knowing that she was taking a big chance. Luckily for them, the move was in their favor.
Togetic jumped into the air, and then slammed back down with great power; a powerful Earthquake tore the ground. The remaining Houndour took great damage, but the Sneasel had jumped at just the right moment to avoid the attack completely. Without orders, Togetic tried to Charm the Sneasel, but it resisted and attacked with a devastating Slash.
Togetic fell to the ground with a weak cry, its face and neck torn open by the sharp clawed pokémon. Ayla ran to her fallen friend and scooped him up into her arms, trying desperately to stop the flow of blood from the horrific wound.
The Rocket pokémon continued to attack, not seeming to care that they were now hitting the human and not the Togetic. Ayla did her best to shield her friend from the hits, curling around him to that she took the damage instead. She sobbed to herself, more because she could feel her companion's blood soaking her front than the wounds being inflicted on her.
Togetic knew that he was going to die; not even a Wish could save him now…but maybe it could save Ayla. He started chanting quietly to the heavens, Wishing with all his might that his friend would be spared from the clutches of death. He poured the rest of his life's power into that one Wish, with all his Heart and Soul wanting his friend to live…
Ayla started to sob harder when she felt Togetic's breathing go shallow, his small body still against her chest. She felt cold, but was unsure if it was from loss of her friend, or the loss of blood because of the grievous wounds covering her back. She knew that soon the Rockets would arrive and take her away…and that scared her more than death itself.
She noticed distantly that the pokémon had stopped attacking, and weakly opened her eyes. What she saw confused her greatly: surrounding her was a large pink bubble, and the other pokémon appeared to not be able to get to her. It was then that the tingling started. From the top of her head, to the tips of her fingers and toes, she felt an odd tingling sensation. It was the kind of familiar not-pain that was associated with your hand or foot falling asleep, only this was over her whole body.
It was suddenly when a sharp pain hit her in the abdomen, and it felt like her organs were simultaneously liquefying. She cried out in pain, and started to scream before she was suddenly cut off by her body convulsing. Her body no longer felt solid; everything beneath her tingling skin felt like jelly. Her bones started to shrink and reform, her skin doing the same, her organs then reforming from the jelly to fit the new body shape.
Ayla curled into the fetal position whimpering, blood coming out of her mouth from where she had bitten her tongue, even as her face reshaped itself. Her eye sockets became larger, her eyes following suit underneath the tightly clinched eyelids. Her jaw and nose shrank into her face, and then reformed as a muzzle that seemed to hide her new mouth. Her ears too shrank into her skull, reappearing in the shape of triangles at the top of her head.
She faintly cried out as a long tail formed from the base of her spine, eventually becoming twice the length of her small body. Pops continued to issue from her now vaguely feline form as the bones each fit into place, Ayla shuddering in turn.
There was a brief pause before fine fur started to grow, her body turning such a light pink that it looked white. As the wave of fur reached her triangular ears, long back feet, and even longer tail it turned to a darker pink, almost purple at the very tips.
Ayla shuddered, expecting more pain, but finding none forthcoming. She opened her (very large) amber eyes and looked around, noticing that the bubble was still around her and the Rocket pokémon were staring at her in shock. Ignoring them, she crawled over to Togetic's body, which was now larger than she was. She turned her friend's head towards her with her petite paw, grimacing as she saw the pained look on his face. His eyes still glimmered slightly, and his mouth formed as small smile, but even as she watched the sparkle in his eye disappeared forever.
She lay her head on his still chest, crying against the soft down that covered his body, slightly sticky with his blood. With her head buried in his chest, she didn't notice when her shield flickered and died, so it came as a shock to her when she was suddenly tackled into a tree.
Gasping for breath she watched as the Rocket pokémon approached her; all of them had their fangs bared and looked ready to eat her alive. They probably would have, if their trainers hadn't come in at that moment. Ayla couldn't help but feel an odd mix of thankfulness and hate at the same time.
It looked as if they had been about to say something, but as soon as the group of Rockets saw her, they fell silent. They didn't appear to notice that one Houndour lay dead beneath a boulder, or the cries of their pokémon trying to tell them what happened, instead fully focused on the small pink pokémon at the base of a tree. They stood very still, and when it appeared that Ayla would not move, they sprang into action.
It wouldn't matter that the girl they had been tracking got away when they presented a Legend to the Boss. Greed shone in their eyes as they surrounded her, wicked smiles on their faces as they seemed to pull a net out of thin air.
Ayla lunged over to Togetic's body, holding tight to her deceased partner even as one of the Rockets grabbed her tail and pulled hard. She let out a pitiful wail as they tore her away from the body, kicking anyone who came close to her. She continued to wail and struggle as they forced her into a net bag that was lined with some sort of sticky substance, probably meant to keep her in.
The Dark pokémon just stood back quietly as their masters trapped the newly transformed Mew, looking a little nervous and confused. Ayla tried to appeal to them, calling out for help, but they averted their gazes to the ground and continued to ignore her. While she thrashed about in the mesh bag, one of the Rockets said something over the radio, and in a little less than a minute a chopper appeared overhead, blowing leaves and dirt around viciously.
The Rockets returned their pokémon and loaded into the chopper, being careful to keep a firm hold on Ayla's net. There was no way they would lose this pokémon because of a stupid mistake. The Mew had all but given up on escaping, her feet dangling listlessly through the holes in the net and she laid her head against the strong rope. Exhausted from her transformation, she didn't struggle anymore, her eyes fading as she watched the white and crimson spot outside the helicopter, where her friend lay.
Darkness enveloped the small pokémon as the Rockets carefully placed her into a strong black box, not even bothering to take her out of the net first.
As the whirring sound of the chopper finally faded away, the clearing was again free of activity. All that lay there now was a line of boulders, the limbs of a Houndour protruding from underneath one, a dead but peaceful looking Togetic, and a pile of tattered clothes.
In the dark sky above, a single star shone brighter than the others. Togetic's Wish had been fulfilled, for better or worse.
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A/N: I'm not quite sure what the rating should be...could you guys help me? I need to know if it should be in M. This will be a very dark fic at times, just so you know. /smacked over head by muse/ Uhm, could you leave a review.../whispers/ she's gonna kill me, please feed her...
