a/n: written for Ebaz's Gym Leader Writing Challenge.
: : forest : :
It consumes
It nourishes
It mesmerizes
It is Life and Death intertwined
The call comes in at 8:39 PM and is sent directly to him. Deactivating the vector-based panels on the floor of his gym, he glides across the smooth tiles and admits the shaking woman inside. She is still wearing a flour-stained apron, wringing her hands nervously as he leads her into a secluded corner and asks her what the matter is.
"It's my kids," she chokes out, voice hoarse. "My son and daughter were out playing this evening, and when I called them in for dinner, they didn't respond."
"You're sure-"
Her voice takes on a sort of hysteric falsetto as she quickly answers, "I checked the homes of their friends before calling you, Gym Leader. I don't know where they are, and they were playing close to Viridian Forest-my house isn't too far from the entrance, and oh Arceus, I'm so scared-"
The woman cuts off in mid-sentence and bursts into tears, clamping her hands over her eyes so as to stem the watery flow or to prevent him from seeing her like this. She wails, the uncontrollable sobs of a mother who has been taught that once an unprotected child wanders into Viridian Forest, the chances of retrieval are very low, and the chances of survival positively minuscule compared to the previous number. His mouth set in a grim line, he inquires how long ago this happened, and she stammers out a shaky estimate of about fifteen minutes ago.
Stepping away from the grieving mother for a moment, he summons one of his Ace Trainers, a pixie-like girl named Aya. Whispering into her ear, he tells her to round up at least seven other members for a search-and-rescue mission in Viridian Forest. Nodding, she slips away to inform others of the news.
With that matter over, he turns back to the woman, attempting to placate her. "Now ma'am, I'm sure that there's still a good chance that they're alive, if not a bit lost-"
At his words, the mother only redoubles her efforts in crying while he looks on, wondering what he said that was wrong.
"Green!" a voice calls, and swivelling, he sees that it is Leaf walking towards him, carrying his bomber jacket slung over one shoulder. As she nears, her face glowers at him in reproach and he ducks his head, preparing himself for a scolding from his girlfriend.
"Geez, you really have no tact, do you? Couldn't you have thought of something better to say?"
"What? I didn't mean to-"
"Men," she snorts. "They never mean to."
Wrapping an assuring hand around the woman's shoulder, Leaf says, in a friendly, soothing voice, "Alright, Mrs. Hanako, let's get you home, shall we? You don't have to worry, the Gym Leader will get your kids back to you by the end of the night."
As Leaf steers the woman to the exit, she looks up through tear-stained eyes and rasps, "Thank you, so much."
He merely nods, swiping his jacket from Leaf and shrugging it on. Facing the assembled group of Trainers in front of him, he gives a brief address detailing the nature of their mission. It is one they have all heard before, so he rushes through, tells them to check their gear, and then heads out, his Trainers following close behind.
Outside, the area around Viridian Forest has been marked by yellow-painted barricades and cautionary signs instructing people to clear away until a certain matter has been resolved. Small congregations of Viridian's townsfolk still cluster at a safe distance from the barriers, women locked in quiet streams of gossip, children huddling close to their parents, and fathers staring at the forest with something like apprehension that no amount of macho posturing can hide. Everyone knows how dangerous the forest is; every venture taken through the forest is accompanied by no less than two Ace Trainers monitoring their charge and keeping wayward creatures from attacking. Because the forest has teeth and claws, and that is something that, despite the rapid progress of industrialization, man will never be able to change. It is simply there, more a living, breathing entity than a forest at all.
His solemn procession of Trainers trails behind him, each adorned in thick armor plating and wearing night-vision goggles. He himself is dressed similarly, though he retains the jacket. Leaf is watching from the sidelines, having ushered Mrs. Hanako home. He can see worry in her expression-for the children, yes, but for him also-and he gives her a sly wink. She responds with the same action, though her face is still pale and she clutches her hands close to her heart.
Slowly, he salutes her, and she bites down on her lip before returning the gesture. Her eyes never leave his back as he steps into the forest.
It is now 8:50 PM, already far into nighttime.
And everyone knows that the chance of survival decreases the more time slips away.
Inside, he immediately whips out a Pokeball and releases his Alakazam while the other members of his team do the same. Aya calls out her Rapidash, the mare neighing and tossing its fiery plumage back and forth. There is also a Medicham, a Ponyta, an Arcanine, a Machoke, an Ampharos, a Raichu, and a Charmeleon. Aya's violet eyes seem almost pink in the illumination provided by the Fire-types around them. She gives him a look.
"What is it?"
"Think those kids are still alive? Or was that just a lie you told her to calm her down?"
His shoulders slump. Her words drive deep into him, reminding him of all those other times when he has had to walk out of the forest with nothing to show for it. Or, even worse, they manage to recover the bodies, the heavy black bags they are placed in barely containing the scent of decay. The parents will look on, not shocked or horrified but just sad, and the mother and father of the unfortunate child will rush forth, unable to believe it. Their child cannot, cannot be dead-
-and then they tear open the bag and what is inside will haunt them forever.
It is for this reason that he keeps each bag tightly sealed until they are ready to confront the truth; their son or daughter really is gone, and there is nothing he or any other Gym Leader can do to bring them back. Despite the fact that their communities look upon them as gods, people seem to have forgotten that he is just as mortal as they are.
It is the duty of every Leader to respond to cries for help, to wander into whatever abysmal cave or forest that the kids are in, to drag out the corpses and withstand the brutal public backlash for their supposed failures when they do have a body with them. But this time, he refuses to acknowledge the fact that he may be out of time.
He has come too far for that. Either way, he will see to it that these kids come out of that forest with all their limbs still screwed on and their hearts pumping blood.
Green tells her, "I think they are. And I'm going to prove it."
Aya says nothing, only nodding. "Your orders, then?"
He first commands all the Psychic-types with them-in this case, Medicham and his own Alakazam-to use their precognitive powers to detect the location of the two missing children. He tells them both to search for signs of young life, human life. The Psychics comply, his Alakazam stretching out its spoons in front of it like diving rods while Medicham closes its eyes, a soft Green glow cocooning its body as it withdraws inward and sends its mind flitting through the forest's many twists and turns.
Alakazam is first to respond, projecting an impression into his mind of a boy and girl huddled together in fright, trembling as the darkness slowly encloses around them. Medicham quickly follows up with another impression, this one clearer. He sees the two kids as well as a few swarms of Butterfree and perhaps even a Beedrill.
His eyes snap wide open. "Lead us to them."
Alakazam and Medicham drift ahead at a quick but leisurely pace, allowing him and the team to follow. Occasional sparks from Rapidash or Charmeleon set tiny patches of grass and brush ablaze, though the flames are quick to dissipate. The forest resists fire almost unnaturally, as if the plants and trees have sentience and are actively fighting against death.
He shrugs the unwelcome thought from his mind and continues on, trodding through thick mounds of grass that only seem to grow higher as they walk.
Suddenly, behind him, there is a muffled scream. All heads instinctively turn in that direction, and he snaps his fingers. Alakazam appears, eyes alight with Green fire, ready to attack whatever creature it is that is pursuing them.
"No, stop, stop!" Aya hisses. "It's nothing. Just..."
At the back of the line, the Charmeleon Trainer's face is ashen, his eyes wide like those of a freshly caught Magikarp. His mouth opens and closes, but no words come out. With a trembling finger, he points at the ground in front of him and Green walks over to take a closer look.
The scent hits him first, and as he takes in the sight of what he is looking at, he wonders how they could have missed this as they were plowing through the foliage. There, stuck in the crook between a withered elm and shriveled berry bushes, is the body of a young boy. His clothes are in tatters, stained with a foul-smelling black goop that must be congealed blood. At least a month old, from the reek. Weedle larvae crawl through the body, their tiny gnashing teeth feasting on the meager scraps of flesh that still remain. A half-chewed intestine swarming with rot flops limply out of a ravaged stomach, the dead boy's empty sockets gazing at them accusingly. With an obscene pop, a jaundice-yellow Weedle bursts through one of the eyes and munches on the face, an acidic bile dripping from its mouth.
As much a veteran as he is, he cannot help the rising disgust he feels upon seeing this all-too-familiar scene. Without a word, Aya's Rapidash nickers and looses a blazing stream of flame at the carrion, instantly incinerating the corpse and the bugs devouring it piece by piece. The Weedle give babyish screams as the fire consumes them and leaves only rancid ashes behind.
"Oh, Arceus," the Charmeleon Trainer gasps. "Oh, dear God-"
He bends over and retches violently, his vomit splattering onto the forest floor. Aya helps him up when he is finished, her eyes filled with sympathy as she takes out a napkin and hands it to him. He wipes his mouth with an almost savage motion before dropping it.
"It's okay," she says. "Everyone reacts the same way when they come across something like...this. Are you alright?"
He gives an unsteady nod. "Yeah, I-I'll be fine."
"You sure?" Green asks.
"I-I'm sure."
"Great."
They march on.
The Psychics are getting antsy now, possibly as a result of all the Bug-types thickly congregated in their area. It's hard not to attract attention, what with such a large group of humans and Pokemon trodding through their forest. The illumination cast by the Fire-types doesn't make for subtlety, either.
Abruptly, as they struggle through thick tangles of grass and roots, a pair of Beedrill appear, looking like a pair of deadly sentinels with their lance-arms and their wings buzzing metallically. Medicham, upon a command from his Trainer, instantly claps its hands together and sends out a shockwave of psychic force enough to rattle most opponents. And because Beedrill are partially Poison-types, the attack does extra damage. One of the Beedrill duo is thrown far back, wings hanging limp and shattered as it careens into a solid-looking maple tree. The other is not quite as rattled and doubles back, shooting a gout of some sizzling poison from its mouth.
"Look out!" he yells, and the Trainers part to allow the attack to sail through. The Arcanine roars, belching a fiery gout of fire at the Beedrill, who nimbly dodges the Flamethrower and circles overhead.
"Shit!" Aya curses, glancing around them to see that more of the bugs have surrounded them. "It's a nest we wandered into."
"Shadow Ball!" he calls, and Alakazam traces circles in the air with its spoons. Shadows rally into two burgeoning spheres, each crackling with dark energy. The orbs cannon into the sky and clip the Beedrill's wings, tearing both off and sending it crashing down. Aya's Rapidash and the Charmeleon are already there to finish it off, both blasting it with flames until it is a shell of smoldering charcoal.
The Machoke grapples with another Beedrill, muscles flexing as it rips off an arm, a spout of foul green blood bursting from the tear. The Beedrill plunges its arm into Machoke's shoulder, ripping through muscle and bone, and the Machoke roars in pain and fury, toppling over. Its Trainer rushes over to attend to it with a Potion bottle, forgetting that the Beedrill is still in place. Chittering, the insect draws its lance back, only to be blasted away by Raichu and the girl that is in charge of it. The rat snarls, body crackling with electricity as it sends pinwheels of lightning spiraling into the brush, casting a brief glow over the Beedrill hidden in darkness.
"There's more!" the Charmeleon's Trainer cries, glancing up and seeing a horde of Butterfree descending upon them. Their wings are angrily buzzing, the humming noise becoming a lulling drone as they dive in and spit glittering streams of golden powder upon them.
Green curses and tells his Alakazam to use Protect. The Stun Spores fall harmlessly off of a telekinetically-generated barrier courtesy of Green's Psychic. The Medicham darts into the air and delivers a brutal kick to one of the Butterfree, shattering its frail body almost immediately. They might have strength in numbers, acting as a sort of pseudo-collective hive mind, but Butterfree are anatomically inferior to even Caterpie. A single well-aimed blow, and they all burst like balloons.
"Clear a path!" Aya yells. "Rapidash, Heat Wave!"
The mare dashes forth, howling and loosing waves of radiant warmth that distort the air and fry the bugs caught up in its wake. Shimmering ribbons of scarlet wind whip across the forest, turning foliage into crisp, brown fields and ruthlessly slaying the Beedrill that venture too close. Despite this, Aya's Rapidash cannot do all the work, and soon Ponyta and Arcanine join in, the latter two cutting through the swarms with swaths of fire.
Green kneels beside the wounded Machoke and rummages around for medicines. Finding a Max Potion, he uncaps it and sprays a healthy dosage onto the ugly wound. Instantly, cells go into frenzied action as the potion accelerates the Pokemon's already-heightened healing process, regenerating skin and clotting blood flow until there is nothing left to indicate that there was ever a gash there. Machoke lumbers up, grumbling, and swings a meaty fist, catching a Butterfree on the verge of launching a Psychic. The bug explodes, a mess of guts, carapace shards, and paper-thin wings landing some feet away.
"Thank you-" its Trainer begins, but they are distracted by cries of, "Behind you! Behind you!"
Green shoves the Trainer down, narrowly avoiding two dual Sludge Bombs. The Beedrill responsible rumble in agitation and speed forward, but are intercepted by Green's Alakazam. Eyes blazing defiance, it brings its hands together and telekinetically slams the oversized hornets together, leaving them dazed. A twist, and their heads roll off and into the brush.
"Thanks," Green murmurs, to which Alakazam gives him a thumbs-up.
"Let's go!" shouts Aya, trying to make herself heard over the cacophony of attacks being fired. Her violet eyes look more lavender now than pink as she pulls a small metal baton from her vest, spreads it open, and whacks a Beedril across its fragile midsection. The hornet stops, and before it can attack again, Aya kills it with another strike.
"Come on," Green says, pulling up the Trainer and heading towards Aya and the others. Ash fills the air, the remains of the bugs littered throughout the ground. Green steps over an ink-black pile of Butterfree carrion and peers into the gloom. The Fire-types have done good work, lighting the space in front of them with flame and assuring them a mildly undisturbed trip to wherever it is that the kids have decided to hide.
"Lead the way," he tells Medicham and Alakazam. The Psychics resume their mental guidance, floating into the omnipresent darkness. They have no choice but to follow.
Green checks his watch. It is now past 9:00 PM and is currently only a few minutes away from being 9:30. Green's heart sinks as he realizes how much time has elapsed. The chances of survival are getting slimmer by the minute. The utter silence, save for the footsteps of the people and Pokemon, only unnerves him more. Silence is bad. It usually means two things: ambush or death. Green hopes that it isn't death.
He wonders if the townspeople heard or saw their battle, then shakes his head. Probably not. By now, they are so thick into the forest that it would take three Pokemon using Fire Blast simultaneously for anyone on their side to even see where they were.
Branches snap under his feet. They sound like bones breaking.
"I hear something!" Brian, the Raichu Trainer says with excitement. "It sounds like...it sounds like the kids!"
"Where?" he asks, but he doesn't need to. The Psychics are already turning left at an intersection, Alakazam's spoons shaking and Medicham's strange gliding dance growing jittery. They are almost there, and the Psychics sense it too. There must be an especially high concentration of Bugs, even more than the ones they encountered before. Unknowingly, Green's hand strays to his belt, where he keeps a lighter and a can of aerosol.
Rule #1 of dealing with Bug-types: always make sure to have some sort of fire with you, because it is almost always the surefire way of killing them quickly and easily.
"Alright, be careful," he tells his team. "This is it. We've got no clear number of how many bugs we'll be facing, but I'll put it at a bigger number than the ones back there."
Aya nods in agreement. "Shall I scout it out first?"
"No. We're all going in at the same time."
Brian pipes up, "But isn't that, y'know, a little risky?"
It is. But Green still goes ahead with his strategy, partly because this time, he believes there is more strength in numbers and because with every second they waste on scouting and whatnot, the kids' chances grow smaller.
So, all nine of them walk into the clearing and see, miraculously, the boy and girl still alive and well, although the boy has a cut on his leg that may prove to be infected, judging by the sheen of indigo fluid covering the wound; it can be treated, though. Green is so glad that they are alive that he is blinded to the fact that the air is filled with an angry buzz.
He notices it just at the right time, though, and responds by calling out, "Protect! Light Screen!"
Alakazam first envelops them in a clear bubble of energy, followed by a cloak of gleaming, tessellated gold light. Numerous Beedrill burst from their hiding places, their stingers poised and ready to strike. With a giant humming burst the only sign of their sudden downward descent, they all dive and strike at the barrier. The sound is like hundreds of swords ringing against a single, giant shield.
"Tyson!" he yells. "You and Aya go get the kids! Brian, Lillian, Rudy, Kim, keep them away! Xavier, help me keep this place fortified!"
His team reacts instantly and fluidly, each adopting their given roles with uncanny speed. Tyson, the Machoke's Trainer, breaks away with Aya and they rush towards the frightened duo, whispering placating words and scooping them up in their arms. Aya places the boy and girl on her Rapidash, the horse whinnying and snuffing out the flames on its neck for the time being so they have a place to rest their hands. Both children look petrified, but each manages to hold on as Rapidash gallops back.
Xavier and his Medicham leap into action, the latter pressing its hands forward and creating a Reflect to reinforce the protective field. Alakazam recreates its Light Screen, and the two shields dull the effects of the physical and distanced blows that land on its surface.
The Raichu, Ponyta, Charmeleon, and Ampharos spring into action, flinging volleys of fire and lightning at the opposing swarms with deadly accuracy. They are the Pokemon of Ace Trainers, after all. Swaths of flame burn Beedrill and Butterfree to grimy ash before they have a chance to strike, while jagged forks of lightning crackle and churn across the sky, blasting the insects and reducing them to nothing. All four hold their own against the onslaught, while their Trainers toss flash grenades and odd smoke-filled canisters into the air to further confuse and separate the bugs.
"It's time to go!" shouts Green once the kids are inside the bubble and secure. "Come on, we don't have any time to waste!"
Alakazam's blue aura is fading, a signal that it won't be able to hold up the Protect for much longer. Green and the Trainers turn on their heels and sprint through the forest, the two children looking terrified by the procession of Pokemon that runs alongside them. The Fire and Electric-types unleash final rolling Thunderbolts and infernal Flamethrowers before joining the group.
Green's mind is in an overload as he runs, his lungs on fire and sweat pouring down his face. The forest flashes dark green and pitch-black, and he can only hope that they reach Viridian in time before the bugs catch up. His team is tired, and the forest stretches in all directions, as labyrinthine and devious as a maze. It is alive, beating with a heartbeat all of its own, and now that it has them in its clutches, it does not want them to escape.
The barriers generated by Alakazam and Medicham fade entirely, leaving them uncovered and susceptible to any attacks that might come their way. As if on cue, blobs of smoking sludge drop from the skies and land in between them, carving out new holes in the earth and becoming frighteningly close to hitting him and his team.
Shit, shit, shit, he thinks, hearing the hum of the aggravated Beedrill once again. They sound hungry, and if they catch him, they will do to his body what the Weedle did to that boy.
No.
He thinks of Leaf, waiting anxiously for him to come home. He thinks of her smiling face, her waves of mocha-colored hair, her lips on his, and he is filled with renewed vigor both to see the kids home safely and to get back to his girlfriend.
The forest won't take him.
"Hurry, hurry!" he roars, his feet flying from under him as he quickens his pace. And he can see it-Viridian's lights, Leaf's smile, so close, so close-
A Beedrill hooks its arms from under his shoulders, and he is being lifted into the air. Green kicks at the hornet, but it will not let go. Its foul, blood-stained breath is on his skin, and he can imagine it tearing him apart. Savagely, he twists his arm and jabs it in the face, and it drops him.
Green is falling down, down, down...
"Allaaaa!" Alakazam reaches out a clawed hand and stops Green in mid-fall, catching him and pulling him over. Aya is beside herself, her Rapidash shooting fireballs from its mouth at their pursuers. She grabs his arm.
"Run! Run, Green, dammit!"
He does.
They burst out of the forest, sweaty but intact. The Beedrill are still following them, their angry buzzing now quite auditory. The townspeople assembled outside scream, running in fear.
"Green, duck!"
Aya pushes him down onto the hard earth, smashing his nose against the dirt. He feels blood pouring out, but he looks up and sees Leaf, his girlfriend, glaring angrily at the forest. She raises an arm, and her Venasaur bellows, a whirlwind of deadly-sharp leaves rocketing from the flower on its back to lacerate and maim the Beedrill charging at him.
Razor Leaf.
Green laughs.
"Arceus, what happened to your face?" Leaf exclaims later that night, cupping his face in her cool hands. Green smiles, despite the pain in his cheeks and nose. The kids have gotten back home safe, and he feels...
Release? Satisfaction?
Something indescribable, yet so utterly warm at the same time. He saw the boy and the girl running into their mother's arms, and he saw her beaming at him with such gratitude that he felt embarrassed and giddy all at once.
Anyways, he's glad he was able to get the job done. Very glad.
Leaf applies hydrogen peroxide to a cotton ball and swabs his cheek. It stings, and he flinches.
"Owww! Geez, Leaf!"
"Quit being such a baby," she huffs, but he can see that she is struggling not to smile. "And you stink. You'll need to take a shower later."
"Want to take it with me?"
"Green, there are other people listening!" She whacks him on the arm, which only makes him laugh even harder.
"You didn't answer my question."
"If I say yes, will you shut up and let me clean your injuries?"
"Yes."
"Fine."
"Score!"
Another whack.
"Oww! You're hurting me more than I already am."
"Yeah, well, you deserve it for making me as worried as I was!" Her eyes gaze into his. "You were gone for a long time. For a few seconds, I was worried you were-you were-"
She can't bring herself to finish the thought. Green wraps his arms around her waist and hugs her.
"C'mon, Leaf. I've done this before. You should have more faith in me, y'know? After all, I am the Gym Leader of this town." He grins.
"It's not that, you big dummy! I just worry, okay? I worry about you a lot. Whenever you go in, I'm scared of losing you."
He strokes her hair. "You know me better than that. Do you honestly think I'd let myself get beat by a bunch of stupid bugs? Me, Green?"
"I guess not..." she murmurs.
"So stop worrying, okay? I'm fine. Well, except for the areas where you hit me. Geez, they hurt even more than my face." He rubs his arm. "For a girl, you hit pretty hard."
So, she hits him again.
"Fuck, Leaf! Stop it!"
"Stop worrying me, then!"
He rubs the back of his head. "Well, I do know something that could work..."
"What?"
"Kiss me." He smiles at her and pulls her even closer.
"Green..." she whispers. "This is a hospital clinic."
"So?"
"It's...kind of improper, isn't i-"
He silences her with a kiss. She leans in and closes her eyes and wraps her arms around him, her boyfriend.
She loves him.
Because he is Viridian's Gym Leader, a pillar of strength in a sea of uncertainty, and the city's protector.
There is darkness
But there are also men and women
Unafraid to tread where the monsters lie
a/n: please read and review! thanks! :D