Welcome to my second story, enjoy! This "story" is written in a particular way, where the lack of context done on purpose. Each chapter will be loosely connected through the main character. Here is a hint, he exists in one other story somewhere on this website.
If you enjoy reading this, please leave a review and tell me what you think!
Edit Mar 5th, 2017: Due to reader suggestions, Act 1 will be finished relatively soon, followed by Act 2, which will be a full blown story with connected chapters, so stay tuned for that!
Act 1: The Travels
The rain clattered against the wooden roof, there he was, laying there motionless against the cold, wooden walls of the abandoned cabin, using his bloodied arm to propped himself up on the floor. He eyes, now filled with fear and terror, staring straight into the gun barrel in his face. His opened his quivering cracked lips, as if wanting to beg for forgiveness, wanting to beg for his life, but it was all too late. Before he could even mutter a single word, the echoes of the shots ran out. The man lowered his smoking gun, looking at the body of his former friend, his gaze is empty, devoid of emotions, devoid of guilt, as if he didn't just murder another human being, but rather an animal, a worthless, lowly animal.
The loose wooden floorboards creaked behind him as someone else entered the compact room, but he didn't turn around, he didn't even turn the barrel of his gun to meet the newcomer, he remained completely still, as if he was expecting him to arrive all along.
"That was no need for that, you know? What is done is done, killing him won't change anything." The stranger spoke, glancing at a piece of broken wooden furniture near the room's corner through his heavy raincoat. "In fact, you just made everything worse for yourself, First Degree Assault, now Manslaughter, you won't walk out of that prison alive. It is a pity, you were the victim. And now you are the perpetrator. It pains me, none of this would have happened if you would let us arrest him, hell, we don't even know for sure if it is him! He might be innocent! Do you know that?"
The man put the gun back into his cloak, then turned around to face the stranger. "I know that…" His voice crackled, "Two wrongs don't make a right… Killing him won't change anything, it won't bring him back… But it will make me feel a lot better, and that is all I am after. And… do you honestly think I care about my own life anymore? After what he did? After my beloved son was taken from me? Ha..." The man started laughing, though it is not a laughter of madness, more like a laughter of despair and misery. It eventually died off as the man resumed, "You don't need to worry about me anymore, for I am not planning on surviving past this night. Goodbye detective, your good will is appreciated."
With that, he stormed out of the room, passing the newcomer before slamming the rotten wooden door close. Leaving the newcomer alone as everything plunged once again into silence… The detective sighed, he reached into his raincoat, pulling out a radio transceiver, it felt heavier than usual, like something was dragging it down, unwilling to let him call for the plan to proceed. "I am sorry, but this is my duty." He muttered to himself as he pressed down the button on the radio, it crackled as communication was established. "Mission failed, the objective is now deceased, sent out the search party, the subject is armed and highly dangerous, last seen heading towards the South of Downs Forest, proceed with extreme caution. Over." A moment of silence soon followed, but was shattered once again as a voice replied, "Roger that sir, do you need an extraction? Over." The detective only shook his head, "Negative, extraction is unnecessary. Over." This time, he didn't wait for the response on the other side, he simply switched off the radio and placed it back into his coat, not wanting to hear what his fellow officers have to say.
Then his ears picked up something, there is the sound of footsteps, faint, but definitely there, heading towards this room, "Why have you returned? Are you here to kill me as well? Heh, I thought you said that you will only kill out of revenge, was that a lie as well?" He paused, waiting for a response, but none came, nothing besides the light footsteps, which is getting closer by the seconds. Suddenly, it all stopped, the detective tensed his body for the sound of a gunshot, for the bullet that is sure to come, much to his surprise, nothing came, almost like everything was just the work of his imagination. He turned around in a swift stroke, only to be confronted by something he was not expecting at all, it is a creature with a sleek black body with four slender legs, its blue rings illuminating the area around it, or else it would have blended in with the darkness. Bright yellow eyes piercing through the darkness, staring right back at him, though there are a few stripes of blue in both of its eyes, radiating a feeling of eeriness. The man was obviously taken back by this change of events as he stumbled a few steps backward, "A… Shiny Umbreon? Here? In an abandoned shack?" His mind raced with explanations, but none of them makes any sense, Umbreon are rare in this part of the region, not to mention a shiny, and most of them reside in the city, not out in the wild, what he is seeing here, defies logic.
The Umbreon in question, however, was not paying the slightest attention to the detective, after the initial pause, it simply ignored the detective, going around him and headed straight towards the cold and limp body, leaning against the wall. It stopped just in front of the dead man's legs, looking up at the deceased human, it let out a small sigh, which gone by unnoticed by the detective, who is paying close attention to its seemingly bizarre actions. However, it did not last long as the Umbreon turned once again to face the startled detective, the soft blue light emitted by its rings promptly increased in intensity as its eyes started to glow with the same calming light, a side pouch it was carrying opened, the one that the human failed to notice until now, and from the pouch, it removed a foreign flower, one that the man had never seen before, and placed just in front of his feet. Its pale flowers are arranged in clumps, a number of short flower stalks spreading from a common point near the stalk, with carving, narrow segments. The light dimmed as its eyes returned to their normal colour, the Umbreon looked up at the detective once more, before breaking the gaze and exiting the room, the human can hear its footsteps fading away from the room, until they are too faint to his ears to pick up, he stared at the white flower, silent, as the rain continue to pour down on the lonely cabin.
The Detective bends down and scooped up the flower from the mossy wooden boards, inspecting it in his palm. The flower is still relatively fresh, but he couldn't smell its fragrant scent in the air, maybe it is too faint? Maybe it doesn't have a scent? The human doesn't know, he caressed its tiny petals with his fingers, being careful to not accidently rip them from away the flower, it is a beauty, a wonderful work of nature that the Detective couldn't help to feel that he had seen it before, somewhere. Then it hits him, this flower… is the same as the ones lying in front of the Gravestone of a Murder Victim whom he visited a few days back, someone he failed to save. Lycoris Radiata, that is the flower's name, said to be the bridging path between worlds of the living and the dead… He went still, unsure about how to make of this gesture made by that bizarre Umbreon, was it mocking him? Or was it simply paying respect to the dead? He doesn't know, and perhaps he will never know, he just stood there, motionless, clenching the flower in his hand, as the sound of sirens appeared over in the distance...
Rain continued to fell in chaotic drops, the gusting wind carrying them in wild vortices one moment and in diagonal sheets the next, running down his furred face in a thin layer, wetting his coat. It is not as cold as he expected they would be, but definitely not as warm as the summer showers he used to experience back home. Fallen leaves rattled under his footsteps while he navigated his way across the desolate forest, nothing could be heard besides the sound of raindrops as they fall from the sky, and the sound of the leaves as the wind rushed against them, the rings on his body acted as a weak light source, brightening up the otherwise dark areas around him, but he doesn't need it, for he can see right through the unrelenting darkness as it was not there. He continued on, searching for the signs of a specific individual.
Quite a few minutes had passed since he left the cabin, the sound of sirens could be heard far away in the distance, distorted by the wind, making them sound more like the moans of a devilish creature, cornered, helpless. There is no possible way for him to locate the man, any scent left behind would have already been washed away by the rain and the wind would have blanketed any sounds the man made, but he continued onwards, unyielding. A thunder cried out from the blackened sky, the clouds invisible above, lighting up the entire forest for a brief second. He shuddered, the deafening boom seemed to crack the air, as if his whole body might split apart, he was never one for thunders, to him, they are like a bad omen, like a powerful figure is declaring to all beings across the land of the wrath that was to come.
A sound of water splash amidst the storm caught his attention, his ears twitched, trying to pick up more abnormal sounds in the direction of where the splash came from, and much to his hopes, the noise of heavy footsteps, crashing the humus layer on the ground could be heard through the howling wind. He sighed in relief, "...After all, I am going in the right direction." he murmured himself, his footsteps quickened, eventually breaking into a sprint, head straight towards the location where he heard the splash, the human couldn't possibly hear him coming with all these ambient sounds covering him, after all, they do have way worse hearing abilities than Pokemon. His rings dimmed, to a point where they are almost non-existent, enabling him to become one with the darkness, a neat little trick that Umbreon knows, or else their glow would make them a very obvious target at night time.
He eventually caught a foreign scent drifting through the air, faint, elusive, but surely there, a mixture of leather, plastic, gunpowder, and the metallic smell of human blood, there was no mistaking it, he smelled it before, reeking, rancid, yet oddly inviting. His sprint slowed, reduced to a trudge as he sniffed the air, trying his best to stay on trail of the scent, but it just wasn't enough, the scent flicked in the air, before disappearing into the night for the first and last time. Nonetheless, the Umbreon was not deterred by the setback, determined to find that human, he turned to face the direction which he thinks the human was heading towards and continued on with his puzzling journey. He didn't get far before his nostrils were once again assaulted by blood's metallic scent, this time, it is only that scent, nothing else - In front of his path, like millions of red flowers, blooming, droplets of blood lay on the muddied trail, creating a walkway leading to the outskirts of the forest, the rain, gathering in torrents of water, washed away the red by the seconds, there will soon be nothing left if he doesn't act now.
And he was not planning on having this opportunity go to waste, it might be his last chance to find the man, he broke into a sprint, following the path of red flowers before they wilt away by the rain, mud splattered against his sides with each step he took, the thick brown paste was not cold enough to freeze, but stiff enough to clung to his coat, sapping away what little heat they had preserved, soaking in the icy brown water, he shuddered, yet continued onwards, he will not be stopped by this level of coldness, for he had endured worse.
The forest starts to disappear behind him as he raced forward, trees receded from view and replaced by low growing bushes, and eventually rocky flat grounds as vegetation ceased to existence, he found himself at the outskirt of the forest, strangely barren and empty, almost like a line was drawn here, a line which separates the flourished, and the arided. A steep cliff is visible, just up ahead, across the deserted land, it was more like a rocky outcrop which extends from the mainland, hanging high up in the air, rustic and rough. He inched over to the ledge and peered down into the abyss below, he could see nothing else but endless stretches of green, extending all the way to the darkened horizon.
Right at the furthest point of the ledge, sat a humanoid figure, wrapped tightly in a leather coat, his pistol lay on the ground, a few inches away, the man had a lit cigarette in his hand, against all odds, he stared at the cigarette between his fingers, almost short enough to burn him, he blew the last breathe of smoke into the air before leaning forward to crush it out against the wet ground.
"So, Detective," The man suddenly spoke, the Umbreon has no idea how he heard him coming, but he did, "You followed me here after all, which… is not quite unexpected, it is your job after all. But… have you ever thought about that there is a difference between Law or equality, and Justice or Righteousness?" He paused, waiting for a response, a moment of silence followed, the man then resumed, thinking that the detective is not going to give a response, "Equality means that everyone gets the same things and are treated equally. Justice means that everyone gets the share that will suffice their needs and the Sinned or the Guilty will be held accountable for their actions. I heard that conversation you had, Detective, with his Lawyer, you were planning on letting him go. Is that right? And you think I am the one who murdered my own son, is that right? I will not have any more of your lies, so I took the matter into my own hands. You made me do this, Detective. Go head, I know you have your gun pointed at me, pull the trigger, silence me, I will not resist, for I have done my duty."
"...It would be more appropriate for you to save that speech for the actual Detective, human. Don't you agree?" The Umbreon calmly spoke, startling the human as he was expecting the Detective to be the one behind him, not someone else, he sprung around, frantically searching for another human being behind him, he found nothing, nothing besides the Shiny Pokemon who is staring back at him.
"You… talk?" The man inquired in hesitance.
"...Yes, I do talk. Frankly, more than I wish to." The Umbreon replied in the same smoothing voice, quite undaunted by the human.
"You talk… I guess they weren't joking when they said that I am losing my mind… Tell me, are you real? Or is just an illusion created by a diseased mind? Trying to trick me to sink deeper into the abyss? If that is the case, please, just leave me be..." He turned his gaze away from the creature, staring back into the darkness, his shoulders hunched forward, in combination with the small amount of gray, thin hair that escaped from under his black woolen skiing hat, suddenly made him seem a lot older.
"... I think that answer hardly matters at this point, doesn't it? No matter how I answer that question, you won't believe me. Real or not, I am not here to lead you anywhere, or interrogate you about anything, I just want to know, what was your son like? Before any of this?" The Umbreon decided to approach the human, slowly but surely, and laid down right next to him.
The man did not react to the Pokemon who located itself beside him, but visibly flinched at its mentioning of his son, no doubt it pains man deeply to even think about him. The Umbreon thought that he was not going to answer that question, but much to his surprise, his quivering lips parted as he began to speak, "He was… just like any other boy out there, sweet and gentle, though it may sound like a cliche, but it is true. " He paused and reached into his battered coat, pulling out a torn photo of a boy, hugging a puppy, the man gave light smile before continuing, "He was just simply a child, what should he know of death?... His hair was blonde back then, all curled up so he usually plays with it for hours in front of the mirror. He was a tough little fighter, never staying down if he fell or got knocked to the ground by one of his peers. Doesn't socialize much, even if I told him to, mostly stuck to just a couple of friends who didn't mind how old his clothes were. Did I say he has-"
"Freeze! Drop your Weapon and put your hands where I can see them!"
The conversation was interrupted by a shout from behind, the man jerked around to face the newcomers: A couple of Police Officers scattered around the tree line, pointing their weapons at the duo. But the man seems to be wholly unconcerned about the Police, "You should go now, I don't want them associating you with me, I am a dead man, one way or another. You are not." Muttering to the Umbreon beside him, who had gotten back up on its paws, "Here, take this with you," He folded the photo of the boy before handing it to the Pokemon, "I won't be needing this where I am going, take good care of it." The Pokemon nodded and took it by its mouth.
"I said, Freeze!" One of the Officer yelled again.
"Go." He picked up his gun from the ground for the last time, raising it in the general direction of the treeline, it was unloaded, its magazine is nowhere to be found. However, the Police doesn't know that as they fired their weapons in response. The man shook as bullets riddled him, the blood that had once flowed thick and scarlet in his veins was gushing out from the wounds, decorating his leather coat with patches of deep red. He stumbled backward, before falling off the ledge, plunging into the unseen darkness below.
"Target Neutralized, good work, men." The Commanding congratulated his men.
"Sir, what do we do about that Umbreon?" Someone questioned.
"Did the Detective mention anything in his report about the Suspect owing Pokemon?"
"Negative, sir."
"Shoot it."
"Wait, what?" The Officer was appalled by what his superior's command, "Sir, you can't be serious! It might be innocent!"
"When I say shoot! You shoot! You all saw the men gave it something, for all we know, it might be an accomplice! So shoot!"
The Officer sighed, raising his weapon back up and started aiming at the Shiny, all of his colleagues followed suit.
The Umbreon obviously took notice of the dangerous situation he is currently in, but he has nowhere to go, there is very little space for him maneuver on the ledge, not mentioning dodging bullets, if that is even possible. However, he is unfazed by the situation as he had a plan to get him out of this mess. Risky, but his only possible way out.
Before the Police could even react, he turned his back against them and leaped off the ledge in one swift motion, sounds of gunshots could be heard from above, but they are too late, the Umbreon is already gone.
He fell through the air, wind swizzling by his ear, ruffling his fur as he continued his rapid descent to the bottom, he closed his eyes, as if waiting for his doom to come, but it didn't, instead, the sound of wind started to lessen, before disappearing entirely, his paws came in contact with solid ground, almost like they appeared out of nowhere. Knowing that his plan worked, a weak smile crept up his lips, stilling hanging onto the photograph of the lost boy, who is smiling brightly, frozen in time, away from the horrors of reality.
He reopened his eyes, it appears now he is standing inside a small, circular room, the walls are made out of densely packed dirt, roots could be seen growing out them, you would expect the air to be humid in such an environment, but the room is in fact quite cool and dry. The floor consists of oak planks of various colors, worn, but sturdy. There is a patch of straw placed on the floor against the wall, most likely acting to be his bed, along with a low table, a plain wooden shelf located just above the table, decorated with pieces of crystal, minerals, an array of shiny objects, and a small metal chest. His eyes glowed again with the same blue light, removing the chest from the shelf, placing it in front of him, its lock mechanisms crackled and turned without the use of a key. He went ahead and dropped the photo into the chest along with the rest of its content, before shutting it close once more.