So, I have officially decided to rewrite the existing chapters of this story before continuing it. There are many reasons why I wish to do this:
1. I began writing this story almost two years ago. When I started, I hadn't thought it through as much as I have now, also I have learned much about writing in the last couple years.
2. I never proof read many of the chapters. I don't really have an excuse for that.
3. With the direction I now see the story taking, much of what I have written is flawed and must be corrected to make sense.
As I post the rewritten chapters you will notice some differences:
1. the most important change is that Rush and Anna will be in a relationship from the beginning, instead of much later in the story as I had originally planned.
2. Rush will no longer have the odd over serious attitude when he is battling. (I don't even know why I did that in the first place…)
Anyway, here we go again!
The forests of Mt. Coronet. This vast expanse of lush green trees, flowing rivers, streams, and ancient secrets has long been filled with numerous different species of the miraculous creatures known as Pokémon. It is a place of many challenges for those brave enough to venture through it. Challenges Pokémon trainers are willing to face. Whether it be to hone one's skills or find new friends, trainers enter this forest to move toward their goals.
Which is something our heroes seem to having some trouble with…
"When you said that we were going to try to catch a Pokémon today, I never would have thought that it would involve having to sit in a tree FOR SIX HOURS!" Anna, a particularly annoyed Gardevoir, yelled, glaring at Rush, her sixteen year old trainer; her ruby red eyes trying to burn a hole in his thick skull.
Rush simply continued to resemble a statue staring into the distance, his blue eyes partially obscured by his black hair, seeming as if he had not heard a single word Anna had said. It was hard to tell if he was even breathing.
Anna blinked, her anger appearing to melt away instantly. Realizing any attempt to help relieve herself of her aching behind were in vain, she dropped her head. Letting out a breath, she considered teleporting home and leaving him lost in the forest, but, sadly, she was just too nice.
Instead, she asked, straitening her white dress, "Rush, can we just call it a day? I mean we haven't had any luck so far. I think it would be better if we just quit."
"Nonsense!" Rush shouted.
Anna lifted her head up to see that Rush was no longer sitting next to her like he had been, but was instead ten feet above her. He stood with one hand grasping the trunk and the other pointing toward the sky. A group of startled Starly fleed from his sudden presence.
"For in this forest I sense a Pokémon with a burning spirit and a passion for battle unlike any other!" He shouted as if he were giving a speech at a podium with the whole world watching. "And with that Pokémon, we will be able to conquer any foe that steps before us!"
"Will you get down from there?!" Anna shouted up at Rush, noticing the branch he was standing on looked as if it would give under his weight any second. "You're going to get yourself killed!"
Rush looked down at Anna, as if he thought her demand was a ridiculous suggestion. "My dear Anna, we cannot have such negative thoughts. For negativity will blind us from our goal. We must be determined if we wish to find what we desire!"
Anna closed her eyes and rubbed her temples in frustration. "That doesn't give you an excuse to be stupid!" She yelled up at him, but Rush was no longer above her. Her mood quickly changed to panic and she thought he might have fallen.
"You worry too much." Rush's voice came from behind Anna, shocking her and causing her to fall off the branch.
She quickly caught herself with Psychic and landed elegantly on the ground. "You're right," she said, "Your antics never seem to get you almost killed, just me."
Rush just looked at Anna, before bursting into a fit of laughter.
Anna put her hands on her hips. "What are you laughing at?"
Rush wiped tears from his eyes, "Nothing."
"No. What are you laughing at?"
Rush managed to gain control of himself, then leaped from the tree. Anna, noticing the fall to the ground was at least twenty feet, slowed his descent with her power.
Rush touched ground and walked over to Anna, putting his arms around her waist. "I was laughing because I realized you were right."
Anna leaned in closer, glaring into his eyes, though I smile touched her lips. "Oh did you?" She asked.
Rush chuckled as he leaned in as well. Soon there lips met and the world melted away. Anna, who was almost ready to deck him in the face, was now lost in bliss.
A bliss that was fleeting as Rush broke their contact.
They stood there for several minutes until Rush started walking past her. "Come on, let's keep looking,"
Anna rolled her eyes and groaned "Can we at least take a break? I haven't eaten since we got into that tree, and I'm sure you're hungry too."
"No I'm-" Rush was interrupted by the sound of his stomach growling, making him laugh once again. "Alright, you win. Let's find some place to set camp."
Twenty minutes later they had found a clearing and were in the process of setting up camp. Rush was trying to pitch a tent, that never seemed to want to work right, while Anna started a fire. Anna was able to get the fire started in seconds with the help of her powers, which she then used to assist Rush with the tent. "Show off." Rush commented, making Anna giggle.
With the fire going, Rush settled down and began to cook a can of soup while Anna searched the backpack for some berries. By the time the sun was setting they were enjoying a quiet dinner in each other's company.
"If we search for Pokémon tomorrow can we not do it in a tree?"
Rush Laughed again. "Yeah, I guess that was sort of a dumb idea… But we can't look tomorrow. We have to go into the city and get some supplies and-"
Rushed stopped as he saw a rustle in the brush. Anna, noticing his change of mood, immediately shot up into a ready stance. With a hand signal from Rush, she used her Psychic to lift whatever was in the bush into the air.
They were surprised to find that it was a young boy! "Hey, hey! Put me down! This isn't funny!" He said.
Anna, hastily released her attack, letting him down a little roughly, causing him to land face-first.
"Oops, sorry…" Anna murmured.
Rush ran up to the boy and quickly apologized "Sorry about that, I thought you were a Pokémon." He helped the boy to his feet and stepped back, extending his hand. "So, let's try this again, hi my name's Rush and over there is Anna." Anna waved at the boy awkwardly.
He brushed off his cargo shorts and red T-shirt then looked up at Rush "Luke." The boy said, shaking Rush's hand. "And it's ok, I would've done something similar in your situation. Well I guess I should be going…"
"Hold on sec. You want some food? It's the least we could do for making you float."
"Uh, Rush?" Anna was about to remind him that they were almost out of food, but Luke waved off the offer.
"Nah, I'm good." He glanced at a wrist watch. "But I guess I can stay for a minute."
The three of them walked back to the fire and took a seat. "So, Luke, what brings you to this neck of the woods?"
"Well, I'm out here with my family, doing some research. My dad is a Pokémon Professor, though not a well-known one. I was looking around for plant that contains a chemical that could improve potions, when about an hour ago I heard something that sounded like a mad man shouting to the heavens somewhere around here. So, as I was looking for the source of the outburst, I ended up being lifted out of a bush, and here I am."
Anna face-palmed in the embarrassment of Rush's idiocy.
Rush flashed Luke a sly grin, then got to his feet. "Well, you're in luck," He said, "You've found your mad man!"
"Well at least he admits it…" Anna said to herself.
Luke's eyes widened in surprise. "That was you?"
"Yes, it was." He said proudly.
"Well, mission accomplished, I guess." Luke said, staring at the flames.
"Hey, I got an idea, how 'bout we have a battle?" Rush asked out of the blue.
Luke seem caught off guard by the request. He glanced over at Anna before answering. "Um, sure."
Rush ran out, away from the fire. Anna, initially surprised by Rush's sudden desire for a battle, was soon overcome with is feeling of determination, due to their emotional bond. She teleported before him, striking a ready position.
Luke stood up and reached for his belt, grabbing the lone pokeball hanging from it. "I choose you Beedrill!" He shouted throwing the ball in the air. The pokeball opened up and shot out a white light extending to the ground that morphed into the shape of a Beedrill. As the light faded the ball floated back into Luke's hand and a rather energetic looking Beedrill stood before him.
"So will this be one-on-one?" asked Rush, enthusiastically.
"Yup" Luke said, trying to match Rush's determination.
"Good, 'cause Anna's all I need!"
Anna, slightly flattered, was awaiting Rush's order.
"The first move is yours!" Rush shouted, Pointing a finger at Luke.
"Alright! Beedrill, let's kick things off with Fury Attack!" Luke's Beedrill burst towards Anna, unleashing a flurry of jabs with the spikes on its arms. Anna made easy work of dodging all of them, making it seem effortless.
Luke did not let that get him down. "Come on, follow it up with Pin Missile!"
The Beedrill flew back, shooting thousands of tiny pins from pores on its stinger.
Rush's smile grew wider. "Psychic!"
Anna's eyes glowed blue as she raised her hand towards the Beedrill. A faint glow formed around her body.
The pins stopped in midair, two feet from Anna's outstretched hand, and suddenly shot off in all directions. She then shifted her aim to Luke's Beedrill, the same glow that surrounded Anna began to form around it.
"Uh, oh. Try to shake it off, Beedrill!" Luke yelled know what was about to happen.
The Beedrill shut its eyes, most likely straining to free itself from Anna's grip.
"Send it packing Anna," said Rush.
Anna nodded her head sent the Beedrill flying back with a flick of her wrist. Hitting it's trainer square in the chest, and sending them both flying into the bush that they found them in.
"Oops, sorry… Again…" Anna mumbled.
Luke quickly emerged from the bush, shaking his head.
Rush scratched the back of his with a nervous chuckle. "Sorry about that. I guess we over did it-"
"Wow, you're so strong!" Luke said running up to Anna, seeming to forget that he was even thrown into a bush.
"Um... Thank you?" Anna said, somewhat uncomfortable with how close Luke was getting.
Luke backed off, puzzled "Wait, you can talk?!"
"Yes, I can." Anna said, she was surprised he hadn't noticed sooner.
"So, you did notice." Rush said suddenly behind Anna for the second time that day. He put an arm around her shoulders, causing Anna's attitude to shift from uneasy to amused. "Taught her myself," Rush bragged.
"No way, how did you do it?"
"Well, two years ago Anna and I were climbing on the other side of Mt. Coronet near my home town."
"When out of nowhere, appeared this huge Meouth hot-air balloon." Anna cut in.
"The balloon landed in the clearing we were resting in, we didn't want any trouble so we hid behind a rock to see what would happen."
"These two weirdoes, in what looked like space suits, and a Meouth stepped out of the balloon. They started talking about some kid with a Pikachu, they seemed really pissed. It was all very confusing…"
"But the thing that came as a shocker was that the Meouth joined in the conversation"
"Speaking perfect English!"
"With a Brooklyn accent."
"Yeah, I noticed that too."
"That day I started teaching her. Went well, wouldn't you say?"
"Cool," whispered Luke who, surprisingly, seemed unperturbed by Rush and Anna's back-and-forth story. "I gotta try that some time." Luke looked down in deep thought continuing to mumble to himself.
"Well it takes some effort, but it's worth it to get closer to your Pokémon." Rush mentioned.
Luke then suddenly looked shocked. He glanced at his wrist watch, realizing that time had escaped him. "Uh, oh. I gotta go. My parents are probably starting to get worried."
"Okay, see you around," Rush and Anna said in unison.
"See ya!" Luke said, looking back and waving. A large grin on his face.
He soon disappeared into the forest.
"Nice kid," Rush said after a few minutes of silence, removing his arm from Anna's shoulders, and turning to walk towards the tent.
"Where are you going?" Anna asked.
"Sleep, it's getting late."
Anna blinked, realizing that it was pitch black aside from the small amount of light given off by the dying fire. She quickly began to feel tired as well and teleported herself into the tent just as Rush opened the flap. He zipped the flap closed, took off his black T-shirt, got into his sleeping bag and quickly fell asleep. Anna got into her sleeping bag as well, she stared at Rush for a few moments before sleep took her as well.
Anna awoke to the sound of a pained yip. She shot up, instinctively looking around for the source of the sound before remembering she was in a tent. Worried, she crawled over to Rush and shook him awake.
"Mmm...What, Anna?" mumbled Rush, barely awake.
Anna shook him harder, "Rush I heard something, I think someone's in trouble."
"It was probably nothing, go back to sleep." But not long after Rush closed his eyes there was another pained yip.
They quickly got up and hurried out of the tent, Rush not even bothering to grab a shirt, trying to locate the source of the sound. Whatever it was made another yip as they searched, allowing them to locate the direction it came from. They started running.
They stopped at the site of an Eevee and a Sneasel squaring off; the Eevee had visible cuts and looked as if it was barely able to stand. The Sneasel simply looked annoyed and seemingly unhurt. Rush and Anna crouched behind a bush, wondering what was going on.
The Eevee suddenly lunged at the Sneasel trying to connect with a take down. The Sneasel used its superior speed to dodge the attack with ease and brought his elbow down on the Eevee's back, the crushing blow knocking it to the ground.
"He's going to get himself killed." Anna whispered, standing up to come to the Eevee's aid. Rush put an arm in front of her, stopping her dead.
"What are you doing?!"
"Look." Was all Rush said.
The Eevee slowly got back to his feet, all four legs wobbling. Somehow, the Eevee lunged for another take down. This time the Sneasel slashed at the Eevee's head making a deep cut with its claws in the Eevee's left cheek and knocking it back several feet. The Eevee yipped in pain once again. The Sneasel started to walk away, thinking it was over, only to be shocked when he heard the Eevee start to rise again. Now it was mad, it charged at the Eevee claw raised above its head, ready to strike the Eevee down for good.
Rush decided he had seen enough. "Energy Ball," he said.
Anna, glad to know Rush actually did plan on helping the poor Eevee, quickly obliged and charged an Energy Ball, firing at the Sneasel.
The Energy Ball hit, sending the Sneasel flying into a tree; it grunted a part of its own then slipped out of consciousness.
The last thing the Eevee saw was Rush running up to it before blacking out as well.
Rush picked the Eevee up into his arms, and turn to Anna.
"We should get him back to camp," he said, his arms were already becoming covered with its blood.
"Right," Anna nodded.
They quickly ran back to camp. Rush started to spray potion the Eevee's wounds and Anna relit the fire.
Anna watched Rush work, the potion closing most of the Eevee's wounds completely. Some of them would leave scars, especially the one across his left eye.
"He's lost a lot of blood, but he should be fine. We'll just have to wait and see."
"He?" Anna asked.
"Yeah."
"Why did you do that?"
Rush answered without hesitation, expecting the question. "I needed to know if he had it."
Anna sighed and shook her head "Well, now that that catastrophe is averted," she said standing up and walking over to the tent, "I'm going back to bed." She opened the tent, "You coming?" she asked, looking over her shoulder at Rush, who just continued to sit there, staring at the unconscious Eevee.
Anna let out another sigh and stepped into the tent, closing it behind her.
Rush watched the Eevee for some time, eventually he began to stir and slowly open its uninjured eye.
"I'm gonna call you Blaze," Rush said noticing that the Eevee was awake. "You know why?" he continued leaning towards the small Pokémon.
The Eevee's eye shot up to Rush, who was wearing the biggest grin he had all day.
"It's because you and I are a lot alike," He gave the Eevee a thumbs up. "We've both got burning spirit! And together we gonna conquer any foe that comes before us. So, what do you say, Blaze? Wanna be part of the family?"
Blaze smiled and weakly nodded his head before blacking out again.
