POKÈCALYPSE
Chapter One: The Girl and the Suicune
- "It is your mind that creates this world" -
Plasma Grunts... attack dogs... after me... stupid eco-terrorists... I told them that I was not going to sign their petition!
Kris was running somewhere in Unova, possibly along Route 3. She didn't know, and she had no time to ask anyone. Team Plasma Grunts in their light blue armor-like uniforms were after her. Running alongside the Plasma Grunts were three Herdier, all barking and growling at Kris. The dogs were getting closer and closer as Kris was quickly out of breath and was forced to slow down.
I should really get out more…
Like millions before me, I wanted to be a Pokémon trainer when I was a kid. But to me, it was an obsession. I didn't care about human contacts. Who needs them? I wanted to befriend Pokémon and become the Champion of Johto and all that. I spent my childhood watching films and playing games about famous trainers... I even had their posters on my wall. The Champions, the Elite Four, the gym leaders, all of 'em.
But the reality wasn't quite how I imagined.
Desperately, Kris changed her course while running, turning towards the forest to her left. Using the trees as her cover, Kris was able to hide from the Plasmas and the dogs. As soon as she made sure they couldn't see them, Kris jumped behind a rock and stopped to catch her breath.
But she could still hear the Herdier barking close by. The Plasma Grunts were relentless in their pursuit. Kris could hear the Plasma Grunts yelling orders to each other and their Pokémon.
"She's not far! Come on!"
Kris closed her eyes and started to breath heavily and rapidly. Her heart was pounding so fast that it was almost painful. What the hell did they want? How did she get into this mess?
"The dogs have your scent!" one of the Grunts yelled from a distance. "Come out now so we can resolve this peacefully!"
Yeah, right… I've faced too many of you guys to actually believe that…
"Stoutland, go!"
One of the Plasmas threw a Poké Ball in the air and Herdier's evolved form, Stoutland, appeared. Like Herdier, it was like a dog, only a hell of a lot bigger, more ferocious and with much thicker fur. Getting pounced by a Stoutland was a sure death sentence.
Kris grabbed the only Poké Ball on her waist. No turning back now. She could hear the Stoutland sniffing close by, rapidly approaching her.
I can't fight… why can't Lyra be here? She knew her way around these situations… she would have a plan ready… I'm no good… I can't even run away…
Stoutland started barking loudly. It was right behind the rock where Kris was hiding. It knew she was there.
"Good boy!" the Plasma Grunt yelled. "Get out now! We know you're in there! No one has to get hurt!"
I disagree…
Kris opened her Poké Ball.
The bright red flash and the loud noise startled the three Plasma Grunts and their Pokémon, but they were even more frightened when Kris' Pokémon, a eight-foot Feraligatr with long sharp claws and jaws powerful enough to snap any of the Plasma Grunts in half without much effort.
With the Feraligatr, nicknamed "Croc", on her side, Kris stood up as well, trying to think of something cool to say.
"So, you guys need me for something?" Kris asked casually.
Okay, that sounded better in my head…
"Tell your monster to stand down!" the leading Plasma Grunt, the Stoutland's trainer, ordered. "We have orders to take you alive!"
"You'll have to kill me first!" Kris said, trying to sound convincing.
"Uh… no," the Plasma Grunt said. "That would sorta defeat the purpose. Look, I'm just trying to do my job, 'kay? We have orders."
"Yeah," Kris said, "it would probably strain your brain if you tried to think for yourself for once. But sorry, I have to decline. Croc, Hydro Pump!"
"What?"
The Plasmas didn't even have time to react when Kris' Feraligatr fired a powerful stream of water at them. The pressure instantly knocked down the grunts, the two Herdier and the Stoutland. As they were helpless, Feraligatr charged towards them, slashing both the Pokémon and their trainers with its claws and pummeling them with its fists.
The Stoutland tried to get up on its feet, which Kris was quick to notice.
"Croc, Ice Beam!"
The Feraligatr was quick to obey, firing an icy-cold beam of energy towards the Stoutland. It froze solid just before it tried to leap towards the Feraligatr, leaving it helpless. Kris grabbed a fist-sized rock from the ground and threw it at the frozen Stoutland, shattering the dog into little pieces like a piñata.
"Chill out!" Kris remarked, giving her Feraligatr a high five. "Funny, though, I thought that was only possible in video games."
Next, Kris and her Feraligatr marched to the Stoutland's trainer, who was barely conscious after Croc's attack had struck him. Even though the Plasma Grunt was probably a foot taller than Kris, somehow Kris still felt powerful as she grabbed the grunt by his collar.
Feraligatr swung its arm, but Kris stopped it at the last minute.
"Hold it, Croc!" she said. "You can rip his face off later."
The Plasma Grunt started coughing, water coming out from his mouth. Kris shrugged unapologetically.
"Hey, you know what they say," she said, "stay home or a huge crocodile-thingy will try to drown you and eat your face. Wait, is that right?"
Croc shrugged.
"What do you want from me?" the Plasma Grunt asked, helpless and frightened by the Feraligatr's claws.
"Just a few questions," Kris said. "How can you guys still be in operation? I met Ghetsis a few months ago, he blew his brains out… something which I had no part in, by the way."
"Don't pretend to know anything about us," the Grunt said. "You have no idea how far the chain of command goes. There's leaders and sub-leaders and sub-leaders for the sub-leaders and-"
"Who sent you?" Kris shouted at the Plasma Grunt's face. "Look, tell me what I want to know or Croc will gladly castrate you. It hasn't eaten anything in a while."
"No! Wait!" the Plasma Grunt squealed, suddenly sounding more co-operative. "Look, I'll tell you anything, please, keep it away from me! We had orders to bring you alive, Kris. We got your name, location and description from Giovanni, I swear!"
Kris let go of the Plasma Grunt, dropping him to the wet ground. The mere mention of that name made Kris frightened, but she attempted to sound casual, yet threatening. Something which she was not very good at.
"Giovanni?" she asked while staring down at the Plasma Grunt in disbelief. "I thought he ran Team Rocket. What are you guys doing with him?"
"How should I know?" the Plasma Grunt groaned. "I just do what I'm told. Please, can I go now?"
"Sure," said Kris. "I'm sorry I killed your Stoutland, by the way. And tell your boss that if he wants me alive, he better come in person!"
"They're ten-a-penny anyways, I guess…" the grunt sighed as he slowly got up and walked to his unconscious comrades. "And yeah, I will, I'm not gonna argue with you or your… Pokémon", the Grunt added, looking up at Feraligatr's imposing face. The Feraligatr flashed its teeth.
"Come on, Croc," Kris said. "Let's keep moving."
~o~O~o~
Location: Wellspring Cave, Unova
It was dark inside, but Kris had a flashlight app installed into her Pokétch. It illuminated the otherwise pitch-black corner of the cave where Kris had been hiding for a week now. It was late November, 2099, but whatever day it was, Kris had long forgotten.
Kris was a 23-year old woman with frizzy, unkempt black hair. She had always been pale, small and thin, which hadn't exactly done very good for self-esteem, but having been forced to be on the run for weeks and live on whatever she could find had worsened her condition. Kris had always been neurotic, insecure and pessimistic but living on the edge had made her borderline paranoid, constantly flinching and snapping by the slightest noise. And while hygiene had never been a priority to her, wearing the same dirty clothes (jeans, a red top and a blue denim jacket) for weeks on end had become almost unbearable even by her standards.
As Kris sat on the shore of an underground lake, throwing scraps of food at her Feraligatr, she stared at the water. She was deep in her thoughts, but not too much, as she was quick to react to anything. She wondered what had happened in the outside world while she had been gone. Were the legendary Pokémon still out for revenge? Before leaving, Kris had heard reports about Kyurem sightings, but if those were true, there probably wouldn't be an Earth to stand on. Still… even though it was November, the climate was unusually warm. And Unova was supposed to have seasons! That, and Kris hadn't seen much people around. Nonetheless, she was convinced that someonewas after her, and the little debacle with the Plasma Grunts proved it!
Or did it? Maybe I imagined it all? Am I going insane? Damn it…
Kris also thought about her friends… well, maybe not friends, to be exact, but they were close enough. The last Kris had seen Lyra, she and her Typhlosion were hired by the Committee to do some wetwork. And Shane and his Sandshrew… whatever became of them? It was horribly frustrating to just hide in a cave and wait for information, but it was not like Kris had ever been particularly active at… well, anything.
Suddenly, Kris flinched when her Feraligatr started growling. It stared into the darkness, to the other side of the underground lake.
"Croc?" Kris asked, keeping her Pokétch at the ready in case someone attacked. "What is it? Wait, you can't tell me anyways, so for-"
Kris flinched again. She heard splashing, coming from somewhere in the cave. It echoed all over the place, as if it was coming from everywhere. Something was moving in black lake. Maybe it was just a Basculin or a Poliwag? Or some fisherman's zombie coming to eat her brains? Or something else just as ordinary?
No. Something moved nearby, something big. Kris used her flashlight, but couldn't see far. The water looked almost greenish in the dim light. But no fish Pokémon were around.
Something moved again. Kris heard splashing, and saw something blue and shiny on the surface of the lake. She didn't need her flashlight, as the thing seemed to emit some kind of bright light by itself. Kris shuddered.
"Uh… Croc?" Kris whimpered. "It's not that I'm scared or anything but… hold me."
Feraligatr stepped in front of Kris, but even it seemed to shake all over. Whatever the blue thing in the lake was, it was fast. And it seemed to come even closer. Hiding behind her Feraligatr, Kris pointed he flashlight at the thing. It's like it was running on the lake… but what couldn't be possible? Feraligatr prepared to fight the thing by snapping its jaws.
Then the blue creature leaped in front of Kris and Croc, and Kris was afraid no more. She recognized the beast: it was Suicune. An elegant, graceful legendary Pokémon, like a blue cheetah with white spots, a purple mane. It had two white tails, a thick, hexagonal chest on its forehead and visibly sharp claws. This wasn't the first time Kris had seen Suicune, but it was the first time the thing directly came into contact with it.
"Take it easy, Croc," Kris said, trying to calm down herself more than the Pokémon. "It's a friend. Uh… you are a friend… right?"
The Suicune nodded. Kris let out a relieved sigh. Somehow, just being around a legendary Pokémon made Kris feel more safe, more secure. She turned off her flashlight, as Suicune was more than bright enough to illuminate the cave.
"What do you want?" Kris asked. "Yeah, I know we have a failure to communicate here, but you gotta give me something. Hand… uh, pawsignals, Morse code, whatever."
Suicune waved its head in Feraligatr's direction. Kris looked at her Pokémon and understood. She recalled the beast back into its Poké Ball without thinking twice. Even if she was now unprotected. The Suicune took a few steps towards Kris, but Kris wasn't afraid. She stepped forward and gently touched the Suicune's cheek.
"Wow…" she whispered. "I never understood why people obsessed with legendaries, especially you… no offense, of course… but looking at you now… wow."
Kris wasn't sure what else to say or do. She just kept her hand on the Suicune's face, trying to think. Did Suicune like being scratched behind the ear? Or did it even have ears? Freaky…
Suddenly, Suicune used the crest on its forehead to lift Kris on its back. "Hey!" Kris screamed, startled, as she suddenly found herself sitting on Suicune's back, trying not fall down.
"Holy crap, what happened to your head?" Kris yelled.
Then she realized she was sitting the wrong way, staring at the beast's rear. She turned around and grabbed the beast's neck tight, constantly fearing that the thing would throw her off its back. What did it want?
"Okay, I have never ridden a Pokémon or anything, and it's cool and all but… what are you doing?" Kris asked.
As a response, Suicune started walking out of the cave. Kris had lay low on the beast's back so she wouldn't hit her head on the cave's entrance. Apparently, it wanted to take her somewhere.
Whatever, she thought, anywhere's better than here…
"All right!" Kris said as soon as she and Suicune were out in broad daylight. "Show me what's happened these past few weeks, but… try not go too FAAAAAST!"
Kris had to grab Suicune's neck again as the beast started to run. Within seconds, Kris looked behind her and saw that the Wellspring Cave was just a dot in the distance.
But elsewhere, preparations for the war against Pokémon were beginning…
To be continued...
Author's Notes: You may have been expecting a run-of-the-mill action/adventure story... and you found one! Okay, not really. This is supposed to be the grand adventure of this non-heroic Pokémon trainer as she uncovers a major conspiracy that involves the entire Pokémon nation, while simultaneously trying to stop Pokémon and humans from destroying each other in another war. Besides Kris, a large number of supporting characters will be introduced. And I will try to make this as un-clichéd(?) as possible, with equal parts of comedy and drama, action and character development and one giant mystery in the middle.
Cast:
Kris, insecure, neurotic and snarky anti-heroine of the story
Croc, Kris' violent but child-like Feraligatr
Wes, brash and over-confident Pokémon trainer and cowboy wannabe from Orre
Shane, Kris' former friend, a rather unmasculine non-action guy who may not be as dumb as he seems
Shrew, Shane's cowardly Sandshrew that has to protect is master from his own idiocy
Leaf, intelligent, resourceful but also depressed Pokémon researcher from Kanto. She and Silver have unsolved issues.
Silver, a cynical former criminal and Leaf's ex-boyfriend plagued by his feelings towards Leaf and the fact that his father is...
Giovanni, current leader of Team Rocket, Silver's father and the story's main antagonist whose plan is the major mystery of the story
N, Giovanni' ally and mirror opposite, who wants to create instead of destroying and to liberate Pokémon from humans. The reason why he is allied with someone like Giovanni is a mystery to everyone in the story...
Touko, a former trainer who has come to hate Pokémon and who hides her traumatic past under a layer of aggression and fake confidence
Yellow, a mysterious but seemingly benevolent girl who helps Kris out throughout the story for unknown reasons
Luka, Yellow's serene but protective Lucario
Suicune, one of the legendary Pokémon who want to help humans, not to destroy them
Prof. Elm, a scatterbrained, pushover of a scientist who might be the only sane man of the story
Blaine, Elm's best friend and mirror opposite. He is a paranoid conspiracy theorist and very easy to anger. Responsible for the creation of Mewtwo
Mewtwo, genetic super-Pokémon and Mew's clone still searching for its own identity while Giovanni still pursues it
Palmer, former Tower Tycoon, currently giving Kris orders, claiming to be 'saving the world', though it's not made clear what he is saving it from.
Lyra, Kris' rival and one of her few friends, has now disappeared and is presumed dead by some and alive by others. Even Kris herself doesn't know the true extent of Lyra's feelings towards Kris...
And many more, but these are the most important ones