DISCLAIMER: Cover art there is by burmalloo of deviantArt. I only wish I was that great at drawing.
Holy f*** he's actually writing!
Yes, I have returned from what one would think was a huge hiatus. And, in a sense, it was. However, it's mainly because I accidentally pushed my PMD story to the back of my mind with a really cool idea for a Nuzlocke story I ended up starting. About 3 chapters into that, I had a random urge one night (a month from tomorrow) to write a transformation story, especially after helping my friend Stolloss a.k.a. Best Beta Reader Ever with an idea he had been pondering. The random number generator he used started on Lairon, which was a 'mon he used using in his story... it then came up with Luxray, which I was about to use before he went ahead and did it again, coming up with Cobalion (who is in my top 3 favorite legendaries, possibly #1).
And suddenly Luxray went to the back of my mind. XD
I started writing this after an hour of planning with him (it was the longest conversation we'd had this entire year, easily), with the intention to make it a oneshot.
5,000 words later, I realized that was not going to be the case.
Sooooooo what I did was essentially treat it as if I was writing a oneshot, putting breaks where necessary and just writing it continuously. I had spurts of writing about 500-1000 words at a time and spurts where I didn't get anything at all done, but by last weekend I had it about halfway, two thirds done. However, this week I absolutely caught fire. I wrote probably 2,000 words just in school on Tuesday, and just wrote the other few thousand in the past couple days, finishing it today. I obviously have to type a lot of it up, then revise all of it to make sure that it's up to standard, but I have the entire story finished and will merely be spacing out the updates here to keep you guys occupied for a while, and in the meantime hopefully get other writing done.
Anyways, do continue on and read the story; I feel like it has a pretty solid plot from beginning to end (though I need to run the writing itself by Stoll just to make sure, as I've been improvising a bit of the plotting), is most definitely original, and has an ending that's... well, you'll see.
Have fun, anyways, enjoy that Cobalion monologue, and don't forget to review, subscribe, send me $5, all that fun stuff!
See ya in a couple weeks, probably!
-Gallade
"Come on… Larvesta, you okay there?"
The Fire/Bug didn't respond to her trainer's question, though; her consciousness was fading fast, with the strength to even utter a part of her own name eluding her. Within seconds, she fell into a forced slumber, to wake hours later, after the bruises had healed (as well as the ego).
With a sigh, Thatcher quickly looked over his Larvesta, making sure there were no outstanding contusions or other injuries. Luckily, none existed, and he looked up at his friend (who had already recalled his Zebstrika) with a slight, disappointed smile.
"Arceus dammit, Pryce, I can't remember the last time I beat you…" Thatcher moaned good-naturedly, and Pryce helped him to his feet.
"That's because you haven't since Zebstrika evolved," he said with a wink, and at that Thatcher resignedly dug into his pockets, finally letting his palms see daylight after grabbing the little bit of money he had left; he was the loser, after all.
"Oh man, when Larvesta evolves though, you are so, SO royally fu-"
"Yeah, how many times have I heard that one… Listen, I gotta get back home; mom's expecting me to visit for dinner and spend the night and if I'm late she might not let me back out of the house," Pryce said hurriedly, and Thatcher grinned. His mother was pretty bitchy… especially about being punctual for everything. He remembered one occasion where Pryce was about 15 minutes late for dinner; the next time he wanted to come over to Thatcher's house to hang out, he ended up being forced to arrive so late that he wouldn't even get to spend 5 minutes with Thatcher before he had to leave.
Thatcher simply nodded in response, and watched his buddy pocket what was once his own cash. An exasperated sigh escaped his mouth when he finally turned away, and looked down at his Larvesta with disappointment, wondering "Is it you or me… or just both?"
He didn't get the chance to think that over any further.
"Don't you dare move an inch," rose a commanding voice, and Thatcher duly froze. He did, however, swivel his head around to find the source, but couldn't see any other creatures upon searching.
"You dreadful mortal… look at that unfortunate Larvesta before you. You didn't just allow it to get beaten up, you caused it to fall under such a state! I've had hundreds of years of life and I still am completely stymied by how vicious you humans are even under daily circumstances…"
Suddenly, twigs snapped and leaves crunched behind Thatcher, though a "I repeat, don't move an inch" inhibited him from looking behind him to see the speaker. However, within seconds he revealed himself, and before he could utter a single word Thatcher was standing in the presence of Cobalion.
"I-I was just having a friendly battle with my friend… Larvesta isn't really hurt, e-eiither… I checked…" he sputtered, and with a huff the leader of the legendary musketeers turned and looked over the Torch Pokemon intently. After half an hour (or half a minute, Thatcher couldn't tell), Cobalion turned back to the man of that borderline high school/college age.
"If your Larvesta 'isn't really hurt,' then why is it unconscious due to exhaustion?"
Thatcher didn't venture to say a single word in reply; he just stared at the legendary before him, startled.
"Also, you must not have checked over your pokemon very closely, as it very clearly has a paralyzed leg or two, plus a wound from that Zebstrika's Stomp that's started to bleed," he continued, as if he were the world's most brusque Nurse Joy. Thatcher's eyes widened, and he broke orders to rush to his 'mon's side, dropping to his knees with right next to the Larvesta. He found the spot to which Cobalion referred relatively quickly, and his shoulders fell in shame as he inspected his pokemon.
"I knew I should have caught that Elgyem when I saw it… then I could have just subbed him in when Larvesta got winded…"
"Or you could have grown up to be a somewhat sentient being compared to the rest of your kind and not done such a disservice to pokemon by incinerating their freedom and coercing them to fight one another like mindless thugs," Cobalion snapped. Thatcher flinched at the verbal gunfire, and his knees buckled just as he was attempting to stand back up. He only barely managed to begin spurting out an apology before he was cut off.
"No mere apology can acquit you of what you've done," the adolescent was told, and at that the Iron Will pokemon strode a couple steps closer, a glare in his eyes to sublimate ice. "Follow me, and take nothing with you."
Thatcher quickly turned towards his Larvesta at this command, but a grunt from the legendary drew him back.
"Take nothing with you. As of right now, your Larvesta is free," he said impassively, staring at the male to ensure he followed orders. "And no, you may not say goodbye. I'll see to it that she stays safe while she's passed out, so she doesn't get preyed upon or harmed in such a way. Just come along."
"B-but why?" Thatcher asked, his tone of voice turning into one of beseeching. "I'll change my ways, I'll never put her in another battle again, or any pokemon for that matter! I-"
"You will do nothing except leave her be and give her a new life," Cobalion barked.
"I swear to you, I'll live without another fight until the day I die…" He was kneeling, and now sat on his feet, looking ready to all but bow to the cobalt crusader before him. Thatcher had spent years with his Larvesta, plus the time he had her egg, and she never once questioned him… all he was left to do now was question himself and beg for forgiveness.
It was amnesty that would never come.
"You humans think that apologies make everything go away, that empty promises for change and puppy dog eyes can just alleviate such situations as this and you can continue with your life, totally unfazed. Well, I'm sorry to inform you that that isn't how I see things should end up. I don't take kindly to humans who go about treating pokemon as inferior, which happens to be the vast majority of you, and I surely don't change my mind about it when they get on their knees and pray that I let them off the hook like a negligent mother. I would have had a much better judgment of you if you simply accepted your fate and came along with me, but here you are, stooping to the level of pleas and pledges…" Cobalion walked right over to Thatcher at this, and stood directly over him patronizingly, almost supercilious. "Stand up, admit that you were wrong, and take your retribution like someone with a shred of dignity left. No apology, no questioning of my authority, and no begging, unless you'd rather me simply lay a Sacred Sword into your gut and eviscerate you in one fell swoop. It wouldn't be the first time, I assure you that."
Thatcher took a minute to take in the monologue, and with every word he digested, his stomach fell further and further into a state of turbulence. He had more than crossed the line with this legend, though unwittingly so, and he was paying the price for it big time… he couldn't even begin to fathom what Cobalion had in store for him. Eternal torture? Thrown into a pit of flames? Life imprisonment? Or perhaps something more mental; maybe he would be forced to become an assassin of sorts, but instead of slaying men of power, as went the stereotype, he would kill his own family under Cobalion's watchful eye. He'd be forced to commit atrocious acts on behalf of the legendary pokemon, thanks to his own rueful behavior. At this point, Thatcher had almost forgotten the transgression; all he cared about was the fact that he had wronged quite wretchedly, and Cobalion was to go to town on him for doing so.
"Pick yourself up, human. I'm cutting your time to dwell upon your moral inadequacies short, as we must get a move on," Cobalion suddenly ordered, and without a word Thatcher finally stood up. His body was trembling slightly, and the corners of his eyes were growing wetter and wetter. As the two walked away, Thatcher glanced back at his Larvesta, a tear finally breaking free of its confines and streaming down his cheek, but a sharp "Eyes ahead" diverted his gaze to the back of Cobalion's head.
It would indeed be the last time he saw Larvesta.
Oh yeah, obligatory music reference explaining time:
Story name: Just.
This originates from the Radiohead song of the same name, off their incredible 2nd album The Bends. The chorus of the song is:
"You do it to yourself, you do
And that's what really hurts
Is that you do it to yourself
Just you and no one else
You do it to yourself
You do it to yourself"
I felt like this fits the story in general, throughout the plot, and thus I'm using it as my obligatory music reference title.
As for the chapter name, it's Memories Can't Wait, which is a song by Talking Heads. I just felt like the name was good here... XD
But yeah, there's some music for ya to check out. Have fun. And again, review. Seriously, every time someone reviews my story (with a good review), a kitten gets its win- no, wait, err, an angel is bor- ack, no, umm... every time someone leaves a good review on my story, I get the satisfaction of a job well done or constructive criticism to take into account. So there. =P