The best thing about people being too lazy to review your story is that you can decide to rewrite the entire first chapter and not feel the slightest bit guilty about it.
Pretty much, I felt that the quality of the first two chapters was lacking, and decided to revamp them a bit. If you've already read them, probably need to go back and read things again. The plotline has been tweaked just enough that you're going to be confused in another twenty chapters or so. If you haven't, rejoice! I personally feel that this version is more entertaining. If you cannot read words longer than two syllables, then this story might not be for you. Stop now and look elsewhere.
Still reading? Excellent. Just make sure that the mass exodus of the tides of stupidity didn't mow you down.
Again, if you read the first version, skip the warnings section and move on to the first or new chapter, whatever floats your boat. If you didn't you may wish to check the warnings, or just laugh at them. Your choice.
Boring Standard Disclaimer: I actually do own Pokemon! I just bought up Nintendo yesterday! Hurray for being a bored and lazy teenager!
Feh. Yeah right. I wish. And if you believed that… 'Gullible' is written on your ceiling in invisible ink. Did you know that invisible ink becomes visible if you hold a lit match/lighter under it? No, really, it does. You should try it. Start with the section of ceiling directly above your computer and fan out from there.
Warning: OC's abound! This is based on the video game, not the anime, so don't expect Ash to come bounding in to save the day. There will be violence, character death, Pokemon death, cursing, and angsting teenagers. If you feel the need to flee in horror, do so now. I am not responsible for any emotional scaring that is the result of my bad sense of humor.
Most of this will take place in Hoenn (I blame my Ruby version which I recently got re-addicted to). The prologue will take place in Kanto and Johto, and will probably be rather confusing, as a lot of my original twist to this story is introduced here. Enjoy!
-Daughter of the Darkness Flame-
First Prologue: Leave
(Outside the rail station. Going to Saffron, anyone?)
Everything was quiet on the rail, which had been completed several years earlier. It currently stopped in only two cities, Goldenrod City in the Johto region, and Saffron City in the Kanto region. Due to the success of the rail, its builders were starting to add on to the network so it would stop at other populous cities, but those additions would probably take several years to complete. At the impossibly early hour of two am, very few people were boarding when the train stopped in Goldenrod City. In just two and a half hours, it would be in Saffron City.
Travel from one continent to another made easy, affordable, and safe.
A woman with flame red hair looked longingly at the rail station. The dark red shirt she was wearing was stained, dirty, and stretched indecently on her stomach even as the sleeves hung frayed and uneven from her arms. And her stomach itself, the only part of her body that could even pretend at plenty and health, was stretched to its limit by the baby growing within. The hem of her skirt was every bit as frayed and uneven as her sleeves, and covered with rips that had been sewn crudely shut with varying different colors of thread, which caused it to cling awkwardly and unflatteringly to her body. The black leggings that covered her legs were torn, and some of the tears were surrounded by off white smudges, as if she'd spilled yogurt or buttermilk on herself and hadn't had the time, opportunity, or motivation to wash them. Her hiking boots were two sizes too big and falling apart, lashed to her legs by grimy gray cloth that had obviously been torn off the hem of her skirt some time ago. Her limbs were like sticks, her hair hung in uncombed and dirty ratty mats, and her skin, underneath the layer of grime that seemed to surround her, was unnaturally and deathly pale. She was as clearly undernourished as she was underdressed for the winter chill. In fact, it was a small miracle that both she and the baby were still alive, if not totally well. Despite the fact that the temperature was in the mid-thirties and getting colder, she stood stock still, staring at the rail station as if it were the last light of salvation. The only movements that betrayed the fact that she was still alive was the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed and her habit of twisting the fourth finger on her right hand, as if playing with a ring that was no longer there. If only…
"Hey, there she is!" a male voice shouted. Several goons seemed to materialize out of the sleepy orange gloom of the city lights, toughs dressed in black uniforms with a large letter 'R' emblazoned across the front that almost seemed to glow in the artificial light. The redhead looked down at her swollen belly and wanted to bust into tears. At nine months, she could barely move, let alone outrun nearly half a dozen physically fit young men and women and whatever pokemon they had with them. After nearly a year of running, of hiding, of sleeping in dirt and eating whatever filth she could scavenge and beg for, she was going to get caught. And after that, after they threw her in a lab and drew her blood out with needles and did whatever experimentation they wanted with her, even if she died of it, they would still have her unborn child to do with as they pleased…
"No," she whispered, golden eyes flashing in misery and denial. "Not that," she moaned, brilliant light curling around her closed fist. She knew what doing this would cost her in a city. She knew that she didn't have enough strength left in her starving and child-laden body to support this. She didn't care. Better for them both to die than to be captured. Her husband had not given his life so that they could both end up in cages, treated worse than the basest of wild Pokemon…!
"Not going to run this time?" asked a woman with dark hair, her face obscured by the cap she wore.
"I am too weary to run," she admitted.
"Too weary to fire off your pretty lights too?" one of them asked mockingly.
"Come closer and find out," she dared them, and they backed away from her. From the light, or the slightly crazed smile, she couldn't say. But they were backing away. That was what was important…
"Azumarill, go!" cried the woman, and the rabbit-like blue pokemon appeared with a happy trill turned sinister by what was happening, and what she knew would happen next.
Water, she realized in dismay. They finally figured it out. That's my greatest weakness right there. A strong enough water attack could even cut through a light bolt, since really, all her light powers were was a more concentrated form of fire… and she didn't think she could concentrate it very well in this wearied state. Such a pity I don't burn, or I'd use it on myself.
"Now, we're down to two options. We can take you in alive, or we can have your baby cut out of you and stuck on life support for the first two weeks of its life. Which one of those options sounds better to you?"
She opened her mouth to surrender, but something small and red sailed right in front of her face, landing with a dull clunk at her feet. An explosion of light right in front of her revealed a large, furry blue mass with a ring of fire around its neck almost like a mane. A Typlosion, if she recalled correctly. It turned back to her and gave her a rodent's grin, patting her on the head in reassurance.
-Don't worry about the rabbit, little sister, I eat mouthfuls like that for breakfast. They don't taste much good, though. Too much water, not enough meat.-
"I thank you," she murmured to it-he? Yes, definitely male. If these idiots escaped, they didn't need another power to add to the list of what they knew she already had. If she had her way, no one would know that she possessed the ability to understand the speech of the Pokemon.
"Good job, Cinder… just keep guarding," a feminine voice panted, and from the open door of a nearby hotel a woman sprinted out, half doubled over from exertion. A violet backpack was slung haphazardly over her shoulder and a dark blue denim jacket hung from her arms, as if she hadn't had enough time to put it on properly. The black cami that she was wearing had the look of something that one might sleep in, especially since she quite obviously wasn't wearing a bra underneath it, and the leather belt from which her other five pokeballs hung hadn't been completely fastened, or threaded through the belt loops of her jeans. Her powdery blue hair was tied back in a messy ponytail, as if she hadn't had time to fix that properly either. Despite the cold of the night, she was barefoot, and from the beginnings of her shivers was seriously regretting it. Surprisingly for someone barely half dressed, she was wearing jewelry; a silver choker with a cheap pale blue crystal hanging from it, and a single bright red feather dangling from her left ear that caught the artificial light of the streetlamps and seemed to reflect it like a prism, throwing little rainbows in every direction. "Y'know… it's funny… every time I think Team Rocket can't possibly sink any lower… I find myself proven oh-so-very wrong. Actually, I thought I was drunk when I looked out my window, since I was nearly positive that you freaks disbanded five years ago. I guess only the good die young, eh?"
"Why don't you keep your nose out of business that doesn't concern you, whore?" sneered one of the men, blatantly ogling her chest. "Or better yet, stick around. This has been one damn boring job, I could use a reward for myself later…" he was cut off as his superior elbowed him in the stomach. "Hey, Rachelle, what was that for? I certainly don't get in the way of your fun…"
"Do you really want to die, Oscar, or do you just enjoy giving me heart failure? If you can't tell who you're talking to, shut up!" she snarled. "And as for you, girl, you're not familiar with how this organization runs now. Our weakling leaders have been swept aside by the new order, and this Team Rocket will make Kanto and Johto tremble as their predecessors only wished they could. You might… regret… standing in our way this time."
"And how do you plan on achieving this greatness, Rachelle?" the blue-haired woman sneered. "By abducting harmless women too pregnant to run away properly?"
"Now that's the funny thing about harmless people, they squirm so prettily when put under pressure. How is your mother, by the way, all alone by herself in New Bark Town?"
"Empty threat, Rachelle," the woman sneered. "In fact, I could almost pity anyone who tries something like that. She's babysitting some pokemon for an old friend of mine, you see, and most of them are every bit as irritable as he is. And my dear little Static is also keeping her company. You do remember her, don't you? My Ampharos?" Rachelle flinched. She remembered all too well. "So, empty posturing and attempts at saving pride aside… flee or fight. What is it going to be?"
The woman with the cap snapped her fingers and the Azumarill opened right up with a Water Gun. Having no time or room to dodge (moving would have meant that the pregnant woman got hit), poor Cinder was forced to take the hit in the stomach.
-Oww,- the Typlosion whined, skidding backward slightly but otherwise not moving.
"Please stop! This isn't worth it! We…we can all run together, maybe they won't catch us!" the woman begged.
"Lady… you're not giving us nearly enough credit, is she, Cinder? Sure they caught us flat-footed… but that was the only way they could win, wasn't it, Rachelle, dearest old enemy? And it didn't work… did it?" Her smile was nasty, and her pale blue eyes utterly void of pity. Not that her opponents deserved any. "Cinder! You don't need my help on this one. Do what you please, as long as that doesn't involve killing people."
-Are you sure? That annoying rabbit…-
"Will make you fat. And probably tastes awful. Get to it." The redheaded woman blinked in surprise. No. That's impossible. She can't really understand what he's saying, can she? It was a lucky guess and nothing more.
-You suck the fun out of life,- the Typlosion sighed. And then he did the most amazing thing: he started to walk forward.
"N-no! That's impossible! Azumarill, just keep pumping, damnit!" the woman in the cap shouted, the brim slipping back slightly as she tossed her head in denial to reveal dark blue eyes shining with fear.
The Azumarill redoubled its efforts, but Cinder forced his way forward, coming relentlessly closer and closer. Stray water droplets splashed his mane, and he whined in pain.
-I really am going to eat you when I catch you, bunny,- he growled. -Gulp. One bite. Mistress won't have anything to complain about if there's no evidence.-
The stream of water slackened off a bit and the Azumarill started to shake. Cinder gained ground more quickly.
"This is… insane!" Rachelle gasped. "Wheezing, come out! Give us a Smokescreen!" Cinder sucked in a breath as the pokemon flashed into existence, and just as it started to spew out the first tendrils of choking smog, the fire-type let loose a Flamethrower attack that knocked it into a (thankfully) brick building at the opposite end of the street. It slid down the wall right to the sidewalk where it laid like a scorched purple whoopee cushion, periodically spitting out puffs of smog.
And through all this, Cinder was still advancing.
"I… that's… you're a demon!" Rachelle shrieked. "You and your pokemon were always good… but this…"
"I've been busy since I wiped the floor with you Rockets, Rachelle," the woman sighed, slipping on her jacket and clutching it tightly around herself. Her jaw was bulging from the effort she was putting into stopping her teeth from chattering.
At that point, Cinder was within grabbing distance of the poor Azumarill. He leaned over… and clamped its jaws shut. The creature instantly swelled up like a balloon, still trying to force water out as its trainer had asked for.
-This isn't going to be nearly as fun as eating you, little bunny, - he growled, -but it'll be more amusing for my Mistress, I'm sure.- He then picked up the luckless Azumarill, pointed it back at the Rockets… and let go. Water fountained out of the creature's mouth, sweeping the Rockets back to the other end of the street. With the rest of its water spent, the Azumarill sagged in Cinder's arms, too weak and sick from having so much water forcibly held back to move.
"Wh-who the hell is she, Rachelle?" spluttered one of the other Rocket members.
"C'mon, idiot, don't you recognize her?" Rachelle asked. "I'll give you a hint, people started calling her the Lady Azure after…"
"Now forgive me, Rachelle, it has been a while since I've done this… but isn't this the part where you tuck tail and run?" the blue-haired girl cut in, her eyes flashing in annoyance at the title.
"Are you insane, little girl? I told you that Team Rocket has changed. If we come back without that woman…" Rachelle shuddered.
"Well, that's just a damn shame now, isn't it? Because that's exactly what's going to happen. Cinder, keep them busy for a minute, will you?" When the large blue-furred pokemon growled in agreement, she then turned to the soon-to-be mother and tossed her something small and plastic. "Here, take this and ask the lady at the desk for a room service menu. You can charge anything you want to my room with that card."
Food, she thought, biting her lips shut to keep from drooling. "I… I have no money. I have nothing left worth selling. I have no home and no family. I can never pay you back."
"Beh, look at this hotel. Do you think I need money? I'm doing this because I enjoy helping people and grinding Rockets into paste. It's like a two for one deal."
"I… thank you…" she said, stunned. If only I could have met her just two weeks ago… it might have been enough to save my life… she sighed deeply as she turned to walk inside, her hand coming up to rub her swelling stomach. The unborn child had pilfered her body's reserves to sustain it's own growth, and she hadn't been able to get her hands on enough food while on the run to sustain both the child's and her own need for sustenance. She was now too weak to support herself through childbirth. When the baby was born… she would die. She had nothing more left to give than that.
"Where do you think you're going, bitch? Arbok, tangle her up with a…!"
"Forget about me so damn soon, did you? Moonwalker! Up and Psychic!"
The hotel door slid shut behind her, cutting of the screams of the Rocket's pokemon abruptly. The woman who had been sitting at the desk and leaning halfway over the counter to see out the glass doors snapped back so quickly she nearly teetered over and hit the wall.
"Um, hi! Welcome to the Golden Fields. Can I help you?" the clerk asked, trying to straighten her uniform and compose herself while gaping in open curiosity at the redhead.
"Erm, I just got in and my… cousin… said that I could order food with this," the woman lied.
"Well, we do offer room service at all hours…" she winced at a particularly loud crash outside. "Um, may I ask exactly what's going on out there?"
"Well… some unsavory men tried to give me trouble on my way here and my… cousin… decided to take care of them personally."
"I… see. Perhaps I should call for the Goldenrod City police…"
"My cousin is here on… private business," the woman said intently, hoping that the fact that her rescuer physically powerful and financially well off might mean that she was intimidating enough to forestall these unwanted questions. The last thing I certainly need is official attention. The government would be just as happy to have me dissected as Team Rocket, if they knew I existed. "If you could tell me the room number?" she asked as she handed the room card over to the clerk. Biting her lip, the woman working the desk ran it through a scanner and looked up at the computer screen.
"Oh… you're with…" she squeezed her eyes shut and took several deep, calming breaths. "Well, if there's a League Master involved, I probably don't want to know. And I'm sure that the police department has better things to do than get themselves involved in a Master's personal matters. Especially in a way that would involve my name coming up… ah, yes. Right. Your room number. Haldrien, room 206, on the second floor and to the left of the elevator. You can phone for whatever food you want, and it will be charged to the room."
"Thank you," she said, bowing her head slightly in gratitude.
"Don't mention it," the clerk mumbled. "…to anyone…" she added in a mutter under her breath.
"Meddling… child…" Rachelle hissed, clutching her bruised ribcage as she tried to lever herself off the sidewalk. "If it weren't for your damnable interference… I'd never have been demoted to this filthy work… and now you stick your overdeveloped sense of self-righteousness into our efforts again…! This time it will cost you dearly, Lady Azure, and the price will be far more than that redheaded sneak thief that you were so enamored with…!"
"Shut up!" Crystal hissed, stomping on the hand the defeated woman was using to support herself. The Rocket's arm buckled and she fell facedown on the sidewalk with a whimper. "Who are you, fool, whose force I have just decimated to be issuing threats? Who are you, Rachelle, whose plots and schemes I have foiled time and time again to be slandering my dearest friend? Who are you, coward, whom I have humiliated in single combat to address me at all?"
"Heh," the Rocked grunted, somehow managing to turn a pained grimace into a half smirk. "You're a hypocrite, that's what. You hunted us once for stealing pokemon, and yet you befriended the thief who robbed the man who gave you your starter. After your pokemon decimated ours you beat us up. With your fists. It's a shame that you're such an arrogant, self-righteous bitch; you'd really fit in with where the Rockets have gone since you toppled the upper management. In fact, the boss might even be happy to have you…"
Something broke behind the woman's pale eyes, and she picked the woman up by the collar and slammed her into a stone wall. "I am currently on leave from official League business, Rachelle. For the moment I am a traveler and nothing more. However, if you ever even breathe those thoughts again, to anyone, I might be sorely tempted to change my travel plans for the sole purpose of causing you and the rest of Team Rocket some serious pain. I honestly don't care who's running your filthy organization now – one rabid Ratatta is little different from the other – but if I see anything like I saw tonight I might just be forced to stop and do something more…permanent…about it. I am not a child anymore, Rachelle. And, as you said so eloquently earlier, I am far removed from the innocent, naïve fool who challenged Team Rocket all those years ago with a League master looking over her shoulder. If you force me to do something immediate about this shiny new problem it will be something along the line of finding your main hideout and razing it to the ground. With everyone still inside it. How clear are we on this, ex-executive Rachelle?"
"C-clear as crystal," the woman choked out, spraying the blue-haired woman with a fine mist of blood.
"Shit," the woman growled, delivering one final blow to the head to knock her unconscious.
-Wounds of the insides are dangerous,- pointed out Moonwalker, her Espeon. The name was an echo of her childhood, of the little girl she'd been when she started her journey. The creature hadn't allowed her to change it. -She'll die without serious help.-
"I'm well aware of that," she sighed, trying to scrub the blood off her face with a sweat-soaked hand. All that did was leave rusty smears in the place of crimson droplets. "By the sacred ashes of Ho-oh, that's the last thing I wanted. Legal interference. If these people get away from us again, we might never find Quartz's…"
-Your people tend to look the other way when it comes to violence against these worthless creatures,- Cinder pointed out, -but the bluecoats will not overlook deaths at our hands.-
"You didn't touch these people."
-Will the navy men believe that?- Moonwalker asked.
"Probably not," she sighed, raking a hand through her hair, which had come loose during the fight. She started fishing around her pockets for another hair tie. "What am I going to do with that girl? If she could go to the police, she would have already. I didn't stick my neck out this far just to have her stuck in a cell somewhere…"
-Why are you asking us, human?- Moonwalker teased, already starting to try and groom the blood out of her pale lavender coat. -We're the muscle. Ideas are your job.-
"You're right, annoying creature. The only thing I can think of is to get her out of town…" she snapped her fingers. "Brilliant! I am so glad that I chose this hotel. Moonwalker, Cinder, return!"
-Aww, no fa-
The two-part chorus was cut off by a red glow as the creatures were dragged back into their pokeballs. Almost before they had been fully recalled, she was dashing back into the hotel.
The redhead's eyes slowly slid shut as she chewed a small bite of grilled tomato. This was purely heaven. She was warm and well on the way to being full. Not all that bad for the last week or so of her existence…
"You okay?" her savior asked as she burst through the door, flecked with blood and once more panting.
"Yes. But you obviously are not. Did something go wrong?"
"Something did all right, but with me, not them," she sighed, opening a drawer in the minifridge that the redhead had overlooked when she first got to the room and extracting a wine cooler. She ripped off the top and downed the thing in two gulps. "I had a bit of a personal issue with the woman and injured her more severely than I'd intended. She has broken ribs and probably a punctured lung. If she doesn't get help sometime in the next ten minutes she might die. I really hate to do this, but I'm going to have to notify the Goldenrod police department, if someone else hasn't already. I assume that you need to be gone by then?"
The redhead looked mournfully down at her half-eaten meal. "Yes."
"Mind telling me why the Rockets are so interested in you? I have some friends who might be able to help…"
"Do you mean the other League masters?" the redhead asked with a penetrating stare.
The blue haired woman squeezed her eyes shut and turned her head towards the ceiling. "Did you already know or were you told?"
"Told. The girl at the desk was tripping over herself to help me out once I showed her your room card."
"Damn blabbermouth…"
"You can't blame her for saying something."
"I guess not, but I was paying for a level of discretion when I booked this room… no matter. Since you know my name by now, surely you wouldn't mind giving me yours?"
"…Ria. Ria Anasera. It's a pleasure to meet you, Crystal Haldrien."
"I'm sure it'll be an even bigger pleasure to meet this," she replied, tossing Ria another card. At first glance, it looked like the hotel's key cards. It was even the same hue of off-white. But the emblem on the non-magnetic side…
"This… this is a rail card! I've never seen one this color before, but this must be a rail card!"
"That's a special edition unlimited pass," Crystal agreed. "You could probably sell that for an arm and a leg even without the collector's value. You can get to Saffron tonight with that, and once you're out of Goldenrod you're out of the police department's jurisdiction. So…"
"But… but I… you can't possibly expect me to accept this! I'll never be able to pay you back! I can't take this on top of everything else you've done for me…"
"Hey, look, I got that pass as a gift from a girl who was just a little too obsessive over her dolls. Honestly, I shouldn't have accepted it in the first place, and if I'd had a better idea of how much that damn thing cost I'd like to think I wouldn't have no matter how insistent the brat was. So take it, sell it, use it again… burn it, if you will. But you need to leave. The train will be departing from the platform in four minutes and I need to place the call now.
"I understand," she said, shoveling the last remaining mouthfuls of her meal into her mouth, hoping that she'd be able to keep them down. "I will never forget your kindness."
"If you hang around in Saffron for a couple of days, I can show you some more. Once my business is done, I'll find you…"
Ria smiled sadly, tears pricking at the corner of her eyes as she walked quickly out the door. She knew, in her heart, that she would never see the kindhearted woman who had saved her ever again.
A scant few moments later, a woman dressed in travel-stained rags staggered aboard the train. At that hour, she was probably the only person aboard, but she scurried to the very last car in case she had to make a break for it, completely ignoring the fact that if she opened the emergency escape door at the back the speed that the train was going would suck her and anyone else in the cabin straight out into the night, where they would probably be smashed to bloody goop. Although, she might have thought that preferable to being captured…
About two minutes after that, a young couple wearily boarded the car, because late night passage was all they could afford at the moment. Unlike the lone woman, they headed closer to the front of the car, the woman clinging to her husband's arm and looking nervously out the windows. She makes a whispered comment about a feeling, and he assures her that it's nothing. Although, not very well. He has the instincts of a trainer, and he could feel it too.
And just before the final bell rang and the doors closed, three figures in black managed to drag themselves aboard the train, nursing sprained ankles, broken collarbones, and bruised egos.
"Damnit to hell!" Crystal Haldrien growled as she snapped the Pokegear shut with an annoyed click. "Little shits, how dare they play possum…!"
-You gonna do anything about it?- Cinder asked, leaning over the balcony and growling at the swiftly vanishing train.
"What can I do? That train may be able to cross the distance between one continent and another in an hour, but it doesn't run all that frequently at night. It won't be back until eight in the morning at least! I won't be able to do a damn thing by then…"
-You could always make that lazy bird Zephyr carry you…-
"Do you not have eyes, Cinder? There's no way that a Pigeot could outfly a train going that fast…"
-Really? From his boasting, you'd think that he could get there first…-
Crystal stared at her oldest friend and blinked in surprise. "You're developing a real sense of humor. I think the world might be coming to an end."
-Huh?-
"Sarcasm, Cinder. It's a human thing."
-Really now. Obviously it's a hazard of spending too much time around you.-
"You know you love me, though," she replied, the smile melting off her face as she turned from her friend and surveyed the city at large. "Do you think they'll bolt?"
-What, over one random Rocket beating? They don't have any ties to the Rockets… I don't think you have to worry as long as your name isn't released…- a burst of light interrupted their conversation as a Gengar materialized.
-We're talking about my master, aren't we? Why wasn't I invited to the discussion?- it asked, clapping ghostly hands on both their shoulders and smiling like he was thinking about biting off their heads.
Crystal shot it a brief glare, utterly unphased by the intimidation tactics. "You know, you're supposed to stay in your pokeball unless I call you out."
-One, I don't care what you're master of, you're certainly not the master of me. Two, it's cramped in there, and I want to stretch…-
-You don't have anything to cramp or stretch, vapor brain,- Cinder pointed out.
-It's a psychological need,- the Gengar replied with a dismissive wave of its purple hand. -Besides, you're talking about my trainer. Milord Megajaws elected me as the representative, so I'm representing. If Quartz gets left behind, those five will scatter me to bits of vapor. They're pissed enough with me as is for taking them out of there without doubling back to pick up that damn rock.-
"Might I remind you that if you had done that we wouldn't be in this situation right now?" Crystal hissed at him.
-Hey feather-lady, I tried! But when I doubled back from the Olivine center, the place was already deserted! Except for, you know, the Gengar-eating Persain with a grudge that almost killed me and that psychopath with the full restores that kept healing the evil creature every time I did find a way to attack it.-
"We understand," Crystal said, placing a comforting hand on Gengar's shoulder. "And I, for one, am grateful that you did what you did. If it weren't for you, we wouldn't have the slightest clue what was wrong with him, let alone where to start looking. I'm sorry for snapping at you earlier."
-Beh, you should be. I don't know why Quartz goes all gooey over you, bossy female.-
-Shut up about my mistress, vapor brain!- snarled Cinder, baring his fangs angrily. -I don't even know why we're helping you. We should be escorting the light-sister, not wasting our time here with an ungrateful shadow of a pokemon like you!-
-I dare you to say that again, you overgrown piece of coal and fluff!-
"Both of you, stop arguing like newborn hatchlings and let me think!" roared Crystal and the air around them seemed to crackle.
-What is there to think about?- the Gengar asked, noticeably subdued.. -You free Master, you and he mate and lay lots of eggs, and everyone's happy.-
-That's not how humans do it, vapor brain,- Cinder admonished.
"Thank you," Crystal murmured, flushing a brilliant scarlet.
-…they don't lay eggs,- the navy-furred pokemon continued with a toothy smirk. -They give birth to live young.-
-Live… eeew! That's disgusting! You're a filthy pervert, charcoal breath! He's lying, isn't he feather-lady?-
"I refuse to take part in this conversation," Crystal groaned, pulling her jacket over her head and trying to tune them out, ignoring the cold as it rushed into the opening she'd made by hiking her jacket up.
-I'm telling the truth! They come out all covered in blood and still attached to their mothers by a fleshy chord, which the whitecoats have to cut off. That's why all humans have that weird indent thing on their stomachs. It's where the chord was.-
-Right. Next thing, you're going to be telling me that Clefairies really do come from the moon,- Gengar sneered, recovering his composure. -And if you are right, how could you know all that stuff anyway? For organic beings, humans actually have a little decorum. They don't just throw their litters-
"Throw our litters?" Crystal repeated in a scandalized mutter before she remembered that she wasn't listening to the conversation anymore and started trying to tune it out and think again.
-all over for the entire world to see.-
-I know all this from Moonwalker,- Cinder admitted, -But she actually saw it. Her and Static.-
-Really? When?-
-Back after the… the whole Mahogany thing, when Crystal got stuck in the Human Center. Moonwalker and Static weren't as bad off as the rest of us, and Crystal's mom kinda let them run wild in the Human Center while she was taking care of them. The staff people were too afraid to get too close to them, so they pretty much did whatever they wanted to. I'm really glad we don't have to go to the Human Center, some of the things they do to themselves is just creepy.-
-Your teammates have obviously been feeding you lines,- the Gengar sighed, rolling its red eyes.
-Oh yeah? Let's get Moonwalker out here so she can tell us herself! C'mon, Crystal, help me out here!-
"Cinder. Earlier, you said something about a light-sister. You didn't mean… with the bells, and the tower and…"
-What else would I mean?- the Typlosion asked, momentarily confused. -Wait, you don't mean you didn't notice?-
"Of course I didn't notice! Don't you think I would have made her stay where I could keep an eye on her if I had noticed?"
-What is it that we're talking about now?- Gengar asked.
-Feather stuff,- Cinder replied, pointing at Crystal's earring.
-Oh. Right. That stuff that I don't want to know about. Right, I'll just float over here and start stargazing…- he muttered, drifting to the far edge of the balcony. -Lovely night, really. Did I mention that? Because it really is just beautiful…-
"You haven't said anything," Crystal commented as they both tuned out Gengar's rambling.
-Don't you think… you've been just a little too… what's the word… intense… lately?- Cinder asked gingerly, as if she were an Electrode on the verge of Selfdestructing.
"What do you mean?" she asked.
-You're violent,- Cinder stated bluntly. He was really very good at that, the only pokemon she'd ever had that had been more openly honest with her when it came to her faults had been Suicune. -You would never have hit Rachelle with your bare hands before. You would have tried to protect the light-sister instead of sending her off to Kanto. Sometimes, to me anyway, it almost seems that when they sucked out Quartz's soul, they got a big chunk of yours, too…-
Crystal toyed with the pale blue stone around her neck and gave no reply.
"No! Absolutely not! I forbid it!"
"C'mon my beautiful blue diamond, it's one last heist. And it's not live cargo… it's gemstones! Sparkly rocks!"
"It's still illegal and dangerous! I'm a League Master, Quartz! Do you have any idea how much scrutiny I'm under? Do you have any idea how much scrutiny you'll be under once you make the cut yourself? It will never work!"
"I've given up on the Elite Four, Crystal. Besides, even if I did make Master, our combined paychecks will still amount to less than Spearow scratch. The only way to really become a wealthy trainer is to play stakes, and I know you hate doing that. These people are every bit as crooked as Team Rocket was, and their security is even worse… if that's possible. We can take the stones they stole from someone else, sell them, and make more than enough money to retire to someplace so remote our children won't know how famous we are until we take them to New Bark to start their own journeys."
"I still don't like it."
"This is the last time I'll ever steal anything, you have my word. I'll even fess up to that prof you're so fond of, and beg on bended knees for your mom to bless our wedding. I… you're a treasure, my blue diamond. I want that hunk of worthless quartz around your neck to be the precious gem that you deserve. I want to give you and our children a better life than I've had…"
Her hand tightened into a fist around the necklace. "Perhaps, in a way, you are right…. Which just makes it all the more imperative for us to get it back, doesn't it." She dropped her hand and turned from the window. "Come, both of you. We will settle things tonight, so we can all move the hell on with our lives."
-All right! About bloody time!- exclaimed Gengar.
-Wait, I thought we didn't have any way in!-
"Well, I just thought of something. And I guess I have that Rocket grunt to thank for it too," she replied with a smirk. Gengar shot a confused look at Cinder who could only shrug and shake his head in bewilderment while shooting a very worried glare at Crystal, but she only smiled that self-satisfied smile and gestured for them to come back into the hotel. Once they had all crossed the threshold she slid the sliding glass door shut and drew the curtains behind them.
The wonders of the rail. Travel from one continent to another made easy, affordable, and safe
Of course safety is a relative term, and can vary depending on who is in the general area.
(snorts) God, I love writing Gengar. He's such a wiseass.
Also, a note on language: You will find people in my Pokeverse saying things like 'Oh Snorlax'. This is normal. Crystal actually swears. This is considered excessively vulgar (Far worse than it is here in the real world) and is looked down upon. Back when she was a little kid, she never swore. Then she started hanging around with Quartz, and… I think you can guess. She tries to keep a handle on it, but she gets progressively worse the more stress she's under. Her boyfriend is in a coma. Hence, she is under an enormous amount of stress. What, exactly, is wrong with the Rival? (evil grin) Wouldn't you like to know…
Clap and move on to the second half of the prologue! Yes, it needed to be divided into two halves. This first part you just read? Eight pages. Single spaced. Size ten font and standard margins.
Yes, be very afraid.
In case you're interested…
Cinder's Moves: (Don't quote me on this because I need to restart my game (There is something truly, seriously screwed up with my Crystal version that has nothing to do with the traded Pokemon in my party) but I believe that a Typlosion can learn all these moves)
Strength
Flamethrower
Fire Blast
Sunny Day
Moonwalker's Moves
Psychic
Return
Morning Sun
Toxic