Prelude
Fear. Sweat. Adrenaline. Mel dug her feet into the ground beneath her to silence her instinctual desire to quiver. She blew her dark hair out of her eyes with a steady breath, locking her gaze with the man six feet in front of her. A smirk on his face, he appeared perfectly still, confident in his abilities to take her down.
Their Pokemon stood beside them, readying themselves for instructions on what to do next. Mel's Zebstrika flared his nostrils, electricity eminating from his mane. The man's Sableye was chuckling underneath his breath - a rhythmic hiss to Mel's ears - and swaying his arms back and forth against the wind.
A rain had begun to pick up and the sky darkened, presenting an appropriate stage for the two to do battle, but neither one moved.
Mel's fingers twitched. She dared not stray her pupils from her target. Zebstrika was so in sync with her that she knew he would react when she felt the time was right. The only uncertain variable was whether or not the man would start things off.
Sableye took a step forward. The man slowly lifted his hand, curling his fingers to a point and opened his mouth. "Sableye-" he began.
Mel's heart jumped and she felt herself react before he had the chance to finish his sentence. "Zebstrika now!"
The zebra whinnied as electric surges tore through his body, giving him an almost glow about him. He lowered his head and charged at Sableye, lifting him into the air and headbutting him far behind his master.
The man stifiled a laugh.
Zebstrika's anticipated anger poured out of him as he charged towards his opponent again, calling from the skies a thunder so large it blinded Mel for a moment. Sableye was drowned within it.
Mel caught herself feeling excitement, but the moment was fleeting as she saw Sableye standing tall once the thunder ceased. "Zebstrika, Overheat!"
Zebstrika's majestic black and white coat darkened to a deep red. Smoke began soaring from his eyes. His body heated to a foreign temperature and fire blasted from his being, searing Sableye within its grasp.
Much to Mel's surprise, he stood straight after the blast just as he had before.
"Wha..."
"Sableye," the man instructed, "Fake Out."
The Pokemon's eerie grin widened. He jumped into the air and landed directly onto Zebstrika's back, extending his claws and slapping Zebstrika's head with both hands as hard as he could.
Zebstrika whimpered as Sableye jumped off of him, losing his balance and falling forwards. "Zebstrika, Overheat!" Mel cried. The zebra shook his head, attempting to warm himself a second time, but failed.
"Swagger!" the man shouted.
Sableye moved his hands in a pattern, sending out a wave of translucent energy at his enemy. Zebstrika was hit full-on and started stumbling over himself even more. He felt a surge of power wash over him but was having a hard time determining what to do with it.
"Thunderbolt, now!" Mel exclaimed, but Zebstrika was too disoriented to focus. He lifted his head to the sky and brought down another thunderbolt, trying to aim at Sableye, but in turn sent it flying towards his owner.
Mel jumped to the side, landing on her ribs as the thunder licked the bottoms of her feet. She had barely missed it. "Zebstrika!" she shouted, her eyes furrowed in worry.
The man let out a triumphant gloat, practically singing with elation. "Foolish girl," he hissed. "You're going to get your Pokemon killed!"
"No!" she responded, feigning a condifent demeanor. "We can fight! We will never give up! You're going to regret ever coming here!"
"I highly doubt that." He turned back to his Sableye. "You know what to do!"
Sableye's eyes began to glow. The shadow beneath him opened up and swallowed him whole. Zebstrika, in his confusion, frantically moved about trying to find the other Pokemon, but he seemed to have disappeared.
Mel's heart was racing. She shared her Pokemon's concern and felt herself begin to shake. "Where...where is he?!" she muttered.
A few seconds went by before the shadow reappeared around Mel's feet. Zebstrika turned to look and dug his hooves into the dirt, readying himself for a charge. Mel slowly stepped backward and the shadow followed.
"Go!" the man cried.
Suddenly and without warning, Sableye's arms reached up from the darkness and stretched around Mel's legs, pulling her down to the ground. In a beat he clawed his way up her body to her chest and bore his way through her skin towards her heart. She gasped, feeling his fingers surrounding it.
Zebstrika ran as fast as he could to Sableye to try to save his trainer but he couldn't see straight. He headbutted himself into a boulder.
Mel was breathing heavy as Sableye began to pull. Her chest was bleeding more and more as the opening his claws had left grew larger and larger. She could feel herself getting lightheaded.
Her Pokemon let out a cry and tried to electrocute Sableye with all of his might, but missed.
Sableye had pulled out Mel's heart and cackled with glee as she choked.
The final sounds Mel heard were the man's horrid laughter and her Pokemon's whinnies of despair and rage. The last thing she saw before everything went black was Sableye chomping down on her heart, devouring it in seconds.