AUTHOR'S NOTES:
[squints] This is a very old story, at least two years, but I want to host it on a different website than where it's at now.
Not much to know. It's a fanfic about the game of Explorers of Sky, but modified to my taste. I eventually ran out of motivation and wrapped it up in something kinda sappy, but whatever. This story also features my first major OC who I'm very embarrassed of.
For whatever reason, the chapters were broken into parts, but they're just gonna be normal chapters here (hurrah!).
Uh, enjoy yourself, I guess? And please, please remember I wrote this when faint traces of my weeaboo phase existed and my writing skills were... subpar. I think I ended up shipping protag and Grovyle at one point (dear god).
As the young'uns say: yolo.
"Go! Run!"
"But-"
"JUST GO, I'LL HOLD HIM OFF!"
"... Thank you..."
"Stop lagging behind!"
"Good luck, my dearest!
"And there they go...
"Now, to deal with you."
"You can't just 'deal with me.'"
"Wait... stop!"
"Back off!"
"No!"
"W-woah!"
Lightning crashed viciously from the sky. Rain flooded the land.
"A-are you OK?"
"I thi- Gah..."
"No! Don't... Don't let go! Just a little longer!"
"I can't..."
"Come on, hang on!"
"No... I can't... hold on!"
A piercing pain ripped through them.
"Waaaaah!"
"Urf..."
Waves lapped at the shores of the sand. Slowly, the figure that lay beside the beach woke up.
"That nightmare..." his voice whispered softly. "I keep having that same nightmare..."
His head spun. His vision blurred.
He passed out once again, exhausted.
"Hmm.." Quick footsteps pondered outside of a Wigglytuff-resembling tent. They were soft, light, and delicate, filled with nervousness."... No." A Vulpix turned to the tent, looking determinedly at it. Her eyes were narrowed, and she was frowning. "I refused to be paralyzed by this any longer! This is it. I have to steel my courage today."
She walked onto the grate on the floor.
"Pokemon detected! Pokemon detected!" shouted a voice.
The Vulpix's tails fluffed out in surprise.
"Whose footprint? Whose footprint?"
"The footprint is Vulpix's! The footprint is Vulpix's!"
"Waaah!" the Vulpix cried out in fear. She jumped away from the gate. "That was too shocking." She let out a sigh. "Whew..." She then frowned, "I can't... I can't work up the courage to enter after all... I told myself that this is the day, but..." She stared miserably down at a necklace. On it was a piece of rock with a weird pattern inscribed on it. "I thought that holding onto my personal treasure would inspire me..." She looked back up, and shook her head. "I just can't do it. I'm such a coward... Ugh. This is so discouraging..." She turned away, sad, and walked off.
As soon as she did, two Pokemon came out from hiding.
"Hey Zubat..." the first one spoke. "Did you get a load of that?"
"You bet I did, Koffing," Zubat grinned.
"That little wimp that was pacing around had... had something good, right?" Koffing asked, looking to Zubat for confirmation.
"That wimp had something, that's for sure," Zubat mused. "It looked like some kinda treasure!"
"... Do we... go after it?"
Zubat's grin became malicious. "We do."
The two floated in pursuit.
Quiet snuffles could be heard as the Vulpix walked along a dirt path that led south. She stared sadly at the ground, saying nothing. However, her head lifted as she arrived at the beach. "Oh, wow!" she gasped.
The sun sparkled brightly as it fell down from the sky. In the everlasting clash between the day and night, it was beginning to lose strength, and was quietly retreating so it could rest, then charge forth when night had enough time.
"What a pretty sight..." She murmured.
The local Krabby softly used their Bubble attack. The sun's reflection fanned across the waves, and bounced onto the bubbles, twisting them with hues of orange, purple, and blue, as well as a couple other colors. The water its self was calm, gently licking at the shore before pushing back, then climbing up once more. It was enough to churn the picture of the sun, making it sway slightly.
And the Vulpix took all this in, staring happily out.
"This is where I always come when I'm feeling sorry for myself..." she said softly. "But, like each of those times, it makes me feel better." She sniffed again. "Coming here is uplifting." She turned to wander down the beach, when she saw something weird by the rocks. "... What's that?"
She walked over to get a good view. About half way to it, she managed to get a clear view. It was green and a light red, with leaves sticking out of its arms, and one coming out of its head.
She stopped, then ran over.
"H-hey! Mister!" She shook him a bit. "W-w-wake up!" From the looks of it, he was a Grovyle.
Slowly, he roused. "Ugh... My head..."
"You're awake... That's a relief." She stepped back, to give him room.
The Grovyle got to his feet, wiping sand off him. "What time is it?"
"About sunset," she replied with a smile.
"Say WHAT!?" He looked to her, alarmed.
"Sorry..." Her smile faded.
"D-don't be, I'm more concerned over..." He just shook his head again. "Look Vulpix, we never met, got it?" He growled.
"Katheryn."
"What?"
"My name is Katheryn," she said a bit curtly.
"That's fantastic. I've got to get out of here," he said shortly, and turned away.
Katheryn ran in front of him. "Wait. Who are you?"
"Nothing of your concern," the Grovyle said flatly.
"Yes, it is. Tell me."
"No."
The two started arguing. They then ended up in a scuffle.
The Grovyle seemed familiar with battling. However, Katheryn was not a low level. She started it, by using Faint Attack. He took the hit with ease, then quickly retaliated with Leaf Blade. Katheryn slammed into the rocks, but let out a furious Flamethrower. He dodged, and seemed to vanish.
"Weakling! Come out and fight me!" Katheryn shouted.
"If you say so."
"Wha- Aaah!" Katheryn felt herself attacked from the ground, lifted up and shot far across the sand. She got back to her feet, and faced him.
It was then that she noticed that her treasure was missing.
She began to search frantically. "Where'd it go, where'ditgo, WHERE IS IT!?"
"... Where's what?"
She whipped around, and glared at the Grovyle. "For your information, I had a necklace with a stone that had a weird white pattern on it, and now IT'S MISSING!"
"Oh, that junk? It fell off you, and a Zubat and Koffing picked it up."
"They WHAT!? AND YOU DIDN'T SAY ANYTHING!?" she screeched.
He shrugged.
"THAT'S IT!" Katheryn stomped up to him, and bit down into his head leaf, hard.
"Owwww!" He howled.
"WHERE' 'EY 'O!?"
"Into the cave!"
"YOU' 'OMI' WI' 'E!" She dragged him into the cave with her.
"GET. OFF. OF. ME."
"No."
"You are SO annoying! More than this stupid cave! And it's the incredibly annoying dungeon that no one likes!"
"Fan-freakin'-tastic."
Or so went most of the conversation as the two traveled through Beach Cave. Katheryn really didn't care how much this Grovyle hated her. Whether he liked it or not, he was going to help her.
It took a good while, considering the 5, one almost successful, attempts to escape her jaws of steel, but they eventually reached the bottom of the cave. There were Zubat and Koffing, smoking what appeared to be Oddish Leaves.
Katheryn let go of the Grovyle, coughing. He jerked away before she could snap down on his head leaf again. She glared at him, and he seemed to take the hint that it would be unwise to run.
Delirious from being high, Zubat and Koffing stumbled about to their floating. Katheryn just frowned.
"Idiots." She looked to the Grovyle. "You. Help me get my treasure back," she demanded, leaving no room for protest.
Zubat and Koffing broke down in laughter. Kathern rolled her eyes, then shot a Flamethrower at Zubat. There was enough force to send him flying into a rock, instantly knocking him out. Koffing stopped laughing, and looked over to Zubat, then laughed again. He was then thrown where Zubat hit, and also fell, as the Grovyle hit him with a powerful, painful Thunderpunch.
The Grovyle walked over to Katheryn, and dropped the weird necklace. He turned away.
"I'm out," he said shortly, then stalked off.
Katheryn watched as he went. She blinked, then realized something. She couldn't have been able to get her treasure back on her own... For whatever reason, the Grovyle seemed to bring out the more courageous side of her, the one that was practically nonexistent.
And then an idea formed in her head.
This is SO not going to work... Better try over assume failure! She chased after him.
Outside the cave, Katheryn had tackled the Grovyle down.
"What now?" he sighed miserably.
"You never told me your name," she said simply.
"Why do you care so much?"
She blinked. "Because. I want to know, and you're going to tell me."
He paused. Should I tell her...? She may or may not know me... He let out a sigh. "My name is Blaze."
"Pardon?" Katheryn asked, looking down at him.
"Blazafyur. Shortened to Blaze."
"You mean..." Her voice trailed off, and he waited for her to finish. "You're that famous outlaw!"
"Yes, yes, now please get off me," Blaze sighed.
This seemed to surprise her. "Everyone's saying you're all scary and tough and mean and stuff..." She frowned, staring at her paws. And I believed it all. I'm horrible...
"Every criminal has their rumors," he mused.
Katheryn stepped off him, and he got up.
"You aren't going to try and catch me?" Blaze asked, cocking his head to one side.
Katheryn shook her head, and walked off.
He watched as she went. What an odd Pokemon.
He had no time for this. He had to get out of the town. Taking into quick steps, he left the beach. He hid in the trees that bordered Treasure Town, also using a Grovyle's natural camouflage to protect him. That didn't protect him from the prying eyes of the watch Murkrow, however, one of which saw, and recognized him. It let out a screech of an alarm. Whatever happened next was nothing more than a blur as he was knocked out.
Early the next morning, Katheryn awoke. Her ears twitched as she heard a commotion, and she yawned. "Better go investigate..." she mumbled to herself. She snagged an Apple, then went outside.
Sure enough, something huge was happening. Most of the town had gathered in the center of it. Katheryn slipped her way through the Pokemon to get a closer look. Excitement buzzed around as she weaved amongst the others.
"And so..."
Her ears pricked. Was that Officer Magnezone? She strained to hear the voice as a loud cheering broke out. She finally broke her way through to the front, and the Apple fell out of her jaws.
Two things caught her utmost attention. One, was Officer Magnezone, announcing something. She didn't pay much attention to him, but his words were significant. The other was Blaze, tied up and muzzled. He glared at the Officer, giving a look of hatred and annoyance.
Oh no... Katheryn thought miserably. I should have done what I was going to...
"... Who has plead guilty of his charges of several accounts of thievery, a few cases of murder, and one charge of aggravated assault," The Officer continued.
Katheryn blinked. Did he really do all that? Her mind then flickered to his sentence she saw on posters. Death. What is this going to be, a public slaughtering!?
Horror filled her as she realized that it probably was, as Magnezone had brought up his fate.
I have to do something...! But... what can I... I'm scared... but I have to!Katheryn jumped in the middle of the clearing. "WAIT!"
Everyone grew quiet.
The Officer looked down on her. "What?" He sounded annoyed.
"I- err..." She paused, swallowing. "Don't... Don't you hurt him!"
"And what's preventing me from doing that? He deserves to die!" the Officer roared.
She flinched under everyone's gaze. "We should give someone a chance to reform if it's possible," she blurted out.
"Are you kidding me?" Magnezone asked crossly.
"I think so too!" chimed in a new voice.
Everyone looked over with surprised gasps.
Wigglytuff, the Guildmaster at the local Guild, had stepped forth. "A friend should always be given a second chance!"
"... Go on," the Officer permitted.
"I'll... I'll make an exploration team with him," Katheryn offered.
Blaze looked at her. She glanced at him with a wary smile. But he didn't seem mad. Was that amusement that glimmered in his eyes?
"We'll... uh... work on showing him the better side. And..." she swallowed again. "And if he doesn't change by the time we have a chance to graduate, you can kill him."
"Two new friends!" Wigglytuff exclaimed happily, clapping his hands once.
"Wait, are you serious?" A Chatot stepped forward, frowning. "Guildmaster, you can't seriously be considering this!"
"I don't need to!" he said with the happiest grin ever. "Who needs to consider when we'll obviously take him?"
Several round of protests came from the apprentices of the guild. Or who Katheryn assumed were the apprentices. She flattened her ears, discouraged.
"You... you all don't want new friends...?" Wigglytuff asked, his smile fading into a frown.
"It's... well it's dangerous, Guildmaster," the Chatot pointed out.
"Who knows what he could do?"
"That's why we're giving him a chance!" Katheryn blurted out. She then took a step back, realizing what she said.
Wigglytuff just joined in. "He's obviously not going to be very nice right away... But that's the whole point of this. We's going to get him to stray from his old ways." He looked to Officer Magnezone. "We'll take him, and the Vulpix... ah..."
"Katheryn," she said in a sort of quiet voice.
"We'll take Blaze and Katheryn into our Guild!" he confirmed.
The Chatot sighed.
"... Very well." The Officer said with a bit of suspicion. "Since Guildmaster Wigglytuff will apprentice Blaze into his Guild, we will allow him a second chance, this time to reform."
Katheryn let out a relieved sigh.
"Team Renegade. Interesting. Where'd you think of that?" Blaze asked as the two sat down in their beds for the night.
Katheryn shrugged. "I dunno... It was random, really," she admitted, laughing a bit.
He smiled a bit, before staring out the window. Rain was starting to splatter against it. "Another rainy night..." he murmured. Almost as bad as it is in that nightmare I keep having...
"Hey... you OK?" Katheryn asked, looking at him curiously. "You seem kinda... confused."
Blaze looked over. "What? Oh, um, it's nothing."
She poked him. "That's a lie."
He laughed, "Yeah, guess so."
"So what's bothering you?" she asked again. "Is it about all this? Being put into the Guild? Sorry that I did that... I just couldn't let you di-"
She stopped. He was hiding a laugh.
"No, it's not about that. And I'm in debt to you about saving me," he argued, cuffing her around the ears lightly.
She ducked away. "Oh, err... It was nothing."
"I mean it," he insisted, then looked at the wall and shook his head. "I've always known I was gunna die if I was captured... But if you hadn't come and done that... It was scary. And for the first time in a long while, I was terrified. I just..." He looked down at her, and suddenly picked her up into his lap and hugged her. "Thanks. I really mean it."
Katheryn was taken off guard by the surprise hug. "I don't want you to die." She murmured, laying her head on him. Amusement then twinkled in her eyes, and she looked at him. "At least not that way."
He just laughed, ejecting her onto her bed. "We should probably sleep. I'm an early riser, so I'll keep you from sleeping in." Blaze promised.
Katheryn laid down, curling her tails over her body. "Good to know I have an alarm clock. Night."
He flopped lazily down on the bed next to her. "Sleep well." He drifted quickly into sleep, her comforting scent wreathing around her. But perhaps an hour or so later, he opened an eye to a soft tune she was singing softly.
"Goodnight, my someone," she sung to the window as she looked out it. "Sweet dreams to you..."