Lilia opened her locker, quietly slipping her DS into her backpack with some books. Video games weren't allowed in school, but she brought it every day anyway. She looked around, but the hallways were deserted. It was almost 7:00 and pretty much everyone had gone home a long time ago. She had stayed late to work on a science project, and, now that it was done, she was able to play her beloved Pokemon White game.
Going out to the playground, Lilia sat on a swing and turned on her DS. The familiar ding of the DS greeted her and she quickly proceeded to the start screen. Since she had got the game a few months ago, Lilia had done nothing but train after she had beaten the Elite Four and N. She had even borrowed her friend's Black game so that she could play it again without deleting her team. Now she had her White team, her Black team, her Soulsilver team, and a new team on there. She wanted to get all 24 of those Pokemon up to level 100, so she trained whenever she got the opportunity. And her favorite Pokemon was in there, not truly a part of any team but belonging to them all. This Pokemon was her Chandelure, Timothy.
Someone suddenly snatched her DS away from her and she stood up and turned around. It was the school bully, Daren. He held the DS above his head so that Lilia couldn't reach it. "Hey, give that back!" she yelled. "You think nobody sees you playing this thing day and night?" replied Daren with a smirk. "I think that I'll have a little fun with it." "No! Leave them alone!" cried Lilia, wanting to protect her Pokemon. Holding it away from her, Daren reset it and deleted the game file. He gave it back when the screen said "You're save file has been permanently deleted." Crying, Lilia slumped to the ground while Daren just laughed. "Pokemon's for babies, but I guess you are one." He laughed at his joke, but she didn't hear him.
The DS's two screens were glowing with a ghostly purple light. The speakers were giving off an inhuman screech of rage. Startled, Lilia dropped it and Daren finally noticed what was happening. The screech continued for a long time as the screens flashed all sorts of colors, finally settling back on purple. The sound cut off and the light began to literally pour out of the DS. It assembled into a material form and Lilia gasped when she recognized it. It was a Chandelure. It was Timothy. He was real and he was angry. The light faded and Daren staggered back, saying, "Wh-what is this? What did you do?" "I didn't do anything. You did!" she replied, scared.
Timothy hovered in the air for a moment, but then he spotted Daren and floated over to him. Daren tried to run, but Timothy was quick and blocked his escape. Hatred burned in his yellow eyes as he spoke quietly. "You killed them. You killed my friends. Now, I'll make you pay." His voice was strong and masculine, hinting at the power inside. Daren was frozen with terror. He tried to say something, but couldn't get out more than a stutter. Timothy floated inches from him. He held Daren's face, forcing the bully to look deep into his round, yellow eyes. It didn't look like anything was happening, but Lilia knew better.
White smoke leaked out of Daren's mouth. Timothy quickly absorbed it and his fire flared up. An image of Daren's face appeared inside of Timothy's flames, but it was soon burned away. Timothy let Daren go. He collapsed to the ground, alive but soulless. Lilia didn't move as her Chandelure turned to face me. She was shaking badly, scared that he would take her next. But he only reached out and touched her face, and she realized that she was crying. He drew closer, murmuring, "It's ok, Lilia. It's ok." She hugged him, sobbing. He was surprising warm, and she was grateful for the warmth. It spoke of friendship and love.
Letting him go, she stood up and retrieved her DS. The top screen had cracked and the stylus had snapped in half somehow. The backlight flickered weakly. When she touched the touch screen, a small streak of light dropped from it to the ground. It materialized into Timothy's Pokeball. Putting the remnants of her DS into her backpack, Lilia picked up the Pokeball. Its polished red and white surface gleamed at her. She looked at Timothy and he smiled encouragingly. She pointed the ball at him and whispered, "Return." A beam of red light shot out of the ball and hit Timothy, drawing him back into his home.
Lilia glanced back at Daren. He lay motionless on the ground, glassy-eyed. Without a soul, he would die with time. She looked around, but the playground was completely devoid of any life. She slowly walked away, hearing nothing but the crunch of gravel under her feet. The sky was tinged with orange and pink, the sun a few minutes away from setting. Lilia headed home, her impossible secret held close to her heart.