HOLA!! Remember me!? It's Lightning-Strike! Actually, it's D, but that's not really the point…
LS: Hey, how come you get to take my name?
D: Because it sounds better than D. Anyway, here's something else I whipped up. This is the prequel to Crystal Clear (for those of you who enjoyed that, this is gonna be long), and I hope I get as much good feedback for this as Crystal Clear. I love it when I can get my stories critiqued, so tell me what I can work on! Well, see ya at the end of this!
"Okay, Crystal, do you want peanut butter and jelly or tuna?"
"Tuna!"
"Okay, then, here you go!"
"Thanks, Silver!"
"No problem! Hey, Gold, come join us!"
"How about not on your life?"
"Suit yourself."
The day was bright and clear, a perfect time for a picnic. And that's exactly what the three kids were doing. Two, a boy and a girl, were sitting on a red and white-checkered blanket, enjoying sandwiches and juice. The other boy was at the edge of the forest, glaring into the foliage.
The leaves of the trees had begun to change, a rainbow of fire that had no ability to burn. The grass was still lush and green, and the Pokémon had not yet left the area. A stream ran through the glade, shimmering diamonds winking on the surface. But Gold didn't notice. Or care.
The girl couldn't help but glare at her older brother. "Gold, why can't you just leave the Pokémon alone? They aren't hurting you!"
"Hey, this is a forested area, meaning Pokémon will be around, and Pokémon are meant to be caught," Gold replied with a sneer.
"That's not true!" Crystal said, standing up. Her blue hair was in a ponytail at the base of her head, her pale blue eyes narrowed in anger. "Pokémon are NOT meant to be caught! They're meant to help the environments! The forests, the deserts, the mountains…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, very nice, I'm busy!" Gold shushed her as a rustling in the bushes caught his eye. A small jasmine head popped out of the shrub.
"Pi-chu," it said, looking around.
"Hey, that's a Pichu!" Crystal exclaimed.
"Yeah, I know," Gold said snidely. He grabbed the single Pokéball at his waist and threw it out in front of him.
"Go, Ampharos!" he shouted. The Pokémon that emerged was also yellow, but about five times larger. It had ebony stripes on its neck, tail, and ears. There was a small scarlet orb on its head and a larger one on its tail. The look in its eyes was the same as Gold's: ruthless and sure of victory.
"Leave it alone!" Crystal shouted. Gold didn't pay any attention.
"Ampharos, Thunder Punch!" he shouted. The creature's fist began to crackle with electricity as it raced forward. Suddenly the Pichu exploded from the bushes, the scruff of its neck held in a Pikachu's mouth. She carefully deposited the baby Pokémon beside the forest, then turned to face Gold and his Ampharos.
"Great, a mother Pikachu and her baby!" he exclaimed. "Ampharos, Tail Strike!" Ampharos ran forward as the electric mouse braced herself for the oncoming attack. The other Pokémon stopped about a foot away, sweeping its tail along the ground. The Pikachu jumped, effectively avoiding the move.
"Yay, Pikachu!" Crystal cheered, throwing her fist into the air. She glanced over at the trees, where the Pokémon had deposited her baby. It was watching its mother, but it kept glancing over at the human girl.
"Gold, stop this now!" Silver shouted. He stood up, his platinum blonde hair catching the sun and creating a silver sheen. The Pokéball on his belt began to shake. Gold looked over, his own blonde hair gaining a golden luster in the light.
The ball at Silver's waist exploded, releasing a blaze of white light. The energy settled on the ground, materializing into a Gengar. "Shadow Ball, Mist!" he shouted. A deep violet ball of crackling energy expanded in the Gengars hands. It shot away and hit Ampharos in the chest. Crying in pain, the electric type fell.
"Get up, Ampharos!" Gold ordered. Cracking his carbon black eyes open, Ampharos struggled to his feet, panting as he faced Mist and her trainer. Both Silver and the Gengar had their arms crossed.
"Gold, you never learn," the other boy muttered. "Fade Out, Mist," he said. The ghost disappeared from view.
Crystal watched the battle with amazement. "I've never seen their Pokémon battle before," she whispered. She felt a slight tugging on her pants leg. Looking down she saw the Pikachu.
"Pika, pika chu chupi pikaka chu pika pikachu pi," she said.
"What?" Crystal asked. Both she and the Pikachu looked up as Ampharos screamed. Mist had thrown another Shadow Ball, leaving the opponent crackling with black voltage.
"Get up!" Gold ordered. Ampharos lay gasping on the ground for a few seconds, then slowly staggered to his feet.
"That poor Ampharos," Crystal murmured. She looked back at the electric mouse, which was now accompanied by her baby.
"Pika," she said, putting her paws together as though she was praying.
"Please?" Crystal asked, trying to translate. The Pikachu nodded and continued.
"Pika chu chupi pikaka," the Pokémon said, hugging her baby, then pointing at the battling trainers.
"Hold them?" The Pikachu sighed and tried again to perform the charade. She put her paws together like she was keeping something closed inside.
"Keep them?" Crystal asked. The electric mouse nodded again.
"Chu pika pikachu pi," she finished, mimicking that she was pushing something away, finally pointing down at the ground on which they stood.
"Okay, please keep them away from here," Crystal said, putting the pieces together. The Pikachu nodded, then picked her baby up and ran off.
Another cry from the Ampharos caught her attention. She looked down at the Pokémon, which had slid to a stop at her feet after a final Shadow Ball attack. The Pokémon's jet black eyes gazed up at her, barely seeing through the shroud of pain. The girl knelt down beside it, gently stroking the creature's long neck.
"Get away from my Pokémon!" Gold shouted. "Ampharos, get up, NOW!!"
"Stay down, Ampharos," Crystal murmured. The Pokémon hummed in acknowledgment, then closed its eyes.
"Ampharos is unable to battle!" Crystal yelled. "Mist is the winner of the fight!"
"Crystal, since when have you been a referee?" Silver asked, laughing. Gold snorted as he held up his Pokéball. A beam of cerise light streamed out, enveloping the Ampharos, promptly being reabsorbed by the ball.
"Gold, you shouldn't push your Pokémon so hard!" she shouted, standing again. "Especially when you know there's no chance you could win!"
A cold fire began to blaze in his eyes. "Hey, there's no way I couldn't have beaten that Gengar if Silver hadn't cheated!" he yelled. An identical fire began to blaze in Silver's eyes as they turned to glare at each other. Sighing, Crystal began to pack up their picnic, carefully folding the checkered blanket and putting it in the wicker basket. She then stood and began walking away, Mist accompanying her back to their hometown.
Ecruteak City was a small city, more of a town, actually, surrounded by legends. The Burned Tower, as well as the more recently constructed Tin Tower, were both located in the city. The Burned Tower, when it had been standing, had been a place where Ho-oh, the legendary rainbow bird, would come and speak to the humans.
When the tower had burned, three nameless Pokémon were said to have burned with it. But Ho-oh brought them back to life, and they ran off. No one had seen them since. Then Ho-oh had disappeared as well.
The Tin Tower was constructed to try and bring Ho-oh back to Ecruteak, but the Legendary hadn't been seen since.
Crystal loved the legends. She believed them, too. Gold scoffed at her belief, and Silver had tried to gently pull her away from the legends, but they were the only things she had to cling to.
As Crystal entered Ecruteak she looked over at Mist. The silvery Gengar was one of her brother's favorites. Being an oddly colored Pokémon made her more valuable, but the coloration seemed to give her stronger attacks as well. As Silver's first Pokémon, one caught in the Burned Tower itself, she had a bond with him that would destroy an opponent's Pokémon…if Silver commanded her.
Crystal sighed as she felt the spikes on her brother's Gengar. "At least I have one girl to talk to that's interested in Pokémon," she muttered, looking over at the creature. "Even if she IS a Pokémon, it's still a girl to talk to."
For her whole life she had been surrounded by boys. She had two brothers, and her mother had died when she was still very young. Her father had never gotten remarried, and she hadn't made many good female friends at school. Her love of Pokémon was inspired by her masculine family. Of course, she was living in a world where girls were considered weaker than boys. Gold scorned her ambitions to become a trainer, but at least Silver had faith.
Crystal sighed heavily as she reached her house. Taking a deep breath, she opened the door and walked in. Totally ignoring the certificates, medals, and ribbons in the entrance hall, she called, "Hi, Dad, I'm back," and walked into the kitchen. She set the basket in there, grabbed her unfinished tuna sandwich, and walked into the living room. Again she ignored the various awards and trophies in the case there, walking as fast as she could to the stairs, up them, and into her room. Closing the door quickly behind her, she collapsed onto her bed.
"Gen-gar?" Mist asked as she melted through the door into Crystal's bedroom. The Pokémon looked around in awe as soon as she entered.
The room was painted a pale, almost electric blue color, with saffron curtains on the windows and white carpeting. The spread on the bed portrayed a thunderstorm, as did the pillowcases and the lampshades. Even the dresser and nightstands had lightning bolts streaking down their faces. Littered about the electrically dominated room were assorted books on thunderstorms, lightning, and storms in general, while they were outnumbered by books on electric type Pokémon. To go with the Pokémon books, there were Pichus, Pikachus, Raichus, Mareeps, Ampharos, Flaaffys, and every other electric type plush toy imaginable strewn everywhere.
"Gar…" Mist muttered, eyes wide.
"Welcome to the Lightning Domain," Crystal said with a false flourish of her arm as she flipped onto her back. She sat up and took a bite out of her sandwich, chewing thoughtfully.
"Gen?" Mist asked, standing in front of Crystal. She swallowed her bite before sighing.
"My room, the Lightning Domain," she explained. "I love electric Pokémon, and I love electrical storms, too. My family thinks I'm nuts. So does everyone else, for that matter. I want to grow up and train electric Pokémon…" she sighed again and fell back. "…but no one has any confidence in me."
"Gen-gar…"
"Did you know that tomorrow's my birthday?" Crystal asked, out of the blue. Mist blinked.
"Gar…" she replied.
"Didn't think so. Dad didn't remember. He's too wrapped up with Gold and Silver coming for a visit. Gold didn't remember, either. He just wants to catch more Pokémon. Silver remembered, though." She thought back to the day before, when her brothers had arrived home.
She had listened to them come in from the sanctuary of her room. She hadn't wanted to pass the multitudes of trophies, medals, and certificates of honor her father and brothers had amassed. It made her feel unwanted just looking at them. So she had stayed in her room, hugging one of her Raichu dolls.
After about half an hour, she had heard someone coming up the stairs, then a faint knocking on her door. When she hadn't answered, Silver had just come in. He smiled when he saw her, but Crystal had kept her eyes on the lightning bolts streaking down the spread, much like the tears streaking down her face. He had offered the picnic, as a kind of early birthday celebration, and she had willingly agreed, her mood changing completely.
"But he said we'd have fun, just the three of us, since Dad couldn't care less about his only daughter," she muttered. "And all this happens. Tomorrow I turn nine. All I really care about is for my family to notice me, for once in their lives, to pay attention to ME. But that's a little much to ask for, isn't it, Mist?" she asked the Pokémon as she sat up, rubbing the spikes on the Gengar's back. Then she sighed.
"You'd better go back to Silver now. He's probably worried about you," she murmured. Mist looked at her for a few more seconds, then fazed back through the door. Crystal fell back onto the bed, her head hanging off the side so that she was looking through her open window. Dark clouds were collecting on the horizon. A faint smile began to play at her lips.
"There's a storm moving in," she whispered. She sat up and took another bite of her sandwich.
(o* : *o)
Well, how was that? I wonder what you think….don't forget to review this! If anyone doesn't like the names of Crystal's two brothers, Gold and Silver, just tell me so and give me some different ideas for new names. I'd love to hear from you, so drop me a letter in the virtual mailbox any time. My E-mail is lightningbeacon@aol.com. Hope to hear from you! BYE!!