'Where am I?'
The sky is black, but filled with stars. She's standing in front of a building. It's beautiful. It's like no other building she's ever seen. It's like a palace. The glass dome rises above the rest of the edifice. It's like a Roman building. Or maybe it's French, like at Versailles. Whatever it is, it's incredible. There's a flash of light and she suddenly found herself somewhere else.
There's a gentle breeze blowing through the trees. The scent of flowers—irises, tulips, roses among them—is so enchanting. They have such a sweet smell. It seems so bright… but it's night, isn't it? How can this be? And how did she get from the building to the garden? What in the world is going on?
'Um, is this some kind of joke?' the orange-haired teen girl asks. Looking around, it doesn't seem like a joke. But there's so much that's just wrong with this picture.
And then she looked up at the sky. The moon looked ni—'That's no moon!' she said. 'Earth? This is just weird.' She had enough and walked away to find out just where the hell she was.
She ran. She ran wherever he legs took her. She just wanted to see what this was, if there was anyway out. There had it be. It can't be on the moon, can it?
"Excuse me," she said to someone's silhouette. "Where am I?"
"You're on the moon," said the girl. "And I've been waiting for you."
Buzz, buzz, buzz
"Waiti—what are you talking about?"
Buzz, buzz, buzz
"You're needed, to save what love dearly… and to save me…"
BUZZ! BUZZ! BUZZ! Click!
Misty retracted her arm from her alarm clock before turning away. She took a deep breath and tried to drift back into slumber. Misty sat up, rubbing her eyes.
"The same dream. That's the fifth time this month," she said to herself. "OH, CRAP! !" Look how long that lasted. "Dammit, I hate being late!" she said, jumping out of bed.
"Marrill?"
"Sorry Marrill, but I have to go!" said the 17-year-old. "Stupid alarm clock! Why did have to stop working?" She put her T-shirt on. She didn't have time to take a shower. It was too late to do that. Marill watched as she grabbed her backpack and rushed downstairs. She grabbed a granola and protein bar in haste before signing out of the gym and putting up the sign saying she was out. Then, she rushed out the door and grabbed her bike.
It's late September in Cerulean. Being in California and about halfway between San Francisco and LA (although it 53-47 in favor of LA), the weather was typical. There was not a cloud in the sky and Misty just needed her t-shirt. She got a little head start on her bike before taking off for school.
In her haste though, she kind of made it hard for the pedestrians on her way to the high school. A few people yelled at her from behind, but she didn't hear them. She had to worry about getting to school, all thanks to some California state law requiring Pokemon trainers to attend a minimum 3 years of high school, starting from what would be the person's freshman year.
It didn't take long for Misty to find this school; Bill Clinton High School, opened in 2001. She rode around the modern façade to find the bike rack. It took just a second to lock it up and run into the school.
Of the 3 high schools in Cerulean, this is the largest. It's not particularly big, but for a city of Cerulean's size, it's pretty big. The largest school in the city is the University of California, Cerulean, anyway.
Misty made her way through the hallways, which were mobbed with people.
She finally got out of the way and found her locker. After putting some books away she rushed into the nearest classroom and sat down next to a very familiar-looking brown-haired girl.
"Wow, you're right on time," she said.
"Please don't tease me," said Misty.
"I'm sorry," said May. "I just didn't expect you to be late."
"My alarm clock stopped working," said Misty.
"Sure it was," May replied sarcastically.
"Keep saying that," said Misty.
"You don't look so good," said May.
"I had a rough night last night," Misty replied. Should she tell her about the dream she had? Nah!
"Is that so?" May asked. "Are you sure?"
"Of course!" said Misty. "I was up all night doing homework! I mean, who gives out five hours worth of homework three weeks into the school year, anyway?"
"Mrs. Grainger for one," said May.
"That was a rhetorical question," said Misty.
"I hope you weren't around when those orcs attacked," said May.
"No, I was in the Gy—orcs?"
"Well, that's what the newspaper called them," said May. "These orc-like monsters attacked downtown."
"I haven't heard about them," said Misty.
"Maybe you should start," said May.
"Maybe I just think the media doesn't contribute anything to society," said Misty.
"Jeez, and you said I was smarter than a 17-year-old," said May.
"I want to graduate with a 4.0 GPA," said Misty. "I've got plans."
"Really," said May. "Look, there's these things attacking the city, and you're not the least bit—"
"Alright everyone, please settle down," their teacher said as she came in the room. "Let's get this advisory period underway, okay?"
While Misty kept her attention on the teacher, she noticed something out the window. She gave it a quick look, but didn't see anything. She shrugged and turned back to the teacher. However, a black cat with a crescent moon-shaped mark on its forehead was staring at her.
After the advisory period, Misty was on her way to her first class, a history class. After navigating the crowded halls, she made it to the classroom on the second floor of the building, where a very familiar-looking black-haired teen was sitting at his desk.
"GAH!"
"Wake up, sleepy-head!" she said after waking him up.
"Jeez, Misty," said Ash. "Did you have to do that?"
"Of course," she said. "Sleeping's for bed, not in class."
"Weren't you almost late?" Ash asked. My, word travels fast.
"Ash, cut it out!" Misty said, hitting him in the arm. In between these two, the fourth of our four stooges slipped through and sat down at a desk in front of Ash.
"What are you two fighting about again?" he asked in a Central Illinois accent. A dark blue University of Illinois hat topped his head.
"Hi Jimmy," said Ash.
"Hey, check this out," Jimmy said, dropping a newspaper on Ash's desk. The brown-haired teen looked while Ash, Misty and May looked over the article.
"Orcs?" said Misty. "Wha—what is this?"
"Bunch of monsters right out of the 'Lord of the Rings'were spotted in the English Gardens," said Jimmy.
"Jimmy," said Misty. "Do you really think that there are characters right out of a fantasy novel running around!"
"They have pictures!" Jimmy replied, his brown eyes widening. The brown hair was parted in the middle, and he had a slender jaw line. "And they were talking about the Po—"
Even though Jimmy wanted to show this, Ash was making a gesture, indicating he wanted him to stop.
"Talking about what?" asked Misty.
"The police don't have anything to say," said Jimmy.
"Of course they don't," said Misty. "These things aren't real."
"They've been attacking for a week!" Jimmy said, exasperated.
During the break between classes, May and Ash pulled Jimmy to the side into the hallway. While some of other students walked by, they huddled up and talked quietly. "Next time, don't say anything," said Ash.
"About—"
"You know what they said," said Ash. "This is top-secret. We can't say anything. We can warn people about the baddies, but—"
"I know, I know!" said Jimmy. "Oh, here comes the teacher, let's go."
Around lunchtime, the four friends were sitting together in the cafeteria. They were joking around, teasing each other and mocking their training skills. "Ash, you couldn't even beat me when we were kids!" said Misty. "How can you beat a professional?"
"Hey, I was just about to win!" Ash countered. "You just won't admit it!"
"If Team Rocket hadn't intervened, I would have rallied to beat you!"
"Oh, brother, here we go again," said May.
"Are they always like this?" asked Jimmy.
"Kinda," said May. "You know what they say, when two people fight—"
"I DON'T LIKE HER/HIM! ! !" they shouted.
"Denial, much?" May whispered.
"Must be," said Jimmy. Ash and Misty huffed and turned away from each other. Misty took an angry bite of her pizza when something caught her eye.
There were two girls at a faraway table. Both were blonde, but the one with long hair had blue eyes. The other one with brown eyes had short hair. Misty couldn't quite put her finger on it, but there was something familiar about these two. Suddenly, they turned to look at her.
Something happened. She saw a flash of her dream. She felt overwhelmed, hyperventilating. "Misty?" Ash asked. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," said Misty. Ash could tell she was lying. May got up to try and help. She too looked back and noticed the girls.
"Why are they staring at us?" she asked.
"I don't know," said Misty. "But it's weird."
"I don't know, the one with blue eyes looks good," Jimmy said, waving at her. She turned away, almost like so many of the girls Brock hit on.
"I wonder if he was like that back in Illinois," said Ash.
Misty was still looking flustered. "Hey, what's wrong?" asked May.
"I said it's nothing," said Misty.
"Are you sick or something?"
"No," she said.
"You don't seem to have a fever," said May. "Why don't you leave?"
"That sounds good," said Misty. She got up, taking her tray with her.
Once outside, she sighed as she sat against a bench on campus. A breeze blew by. It felt nice, like in her—stop thinking about that! "I need to relax," she said to herself. It was harder than she thought, though.
While some joggers ran past her, she noticed a black speck in the distance. She didn't really pay much attention to it, though. Some more joggers ran past her. One even stopped to say 'hi'.
"Hi," she said quietly. When she looked back, the black speck had gotten closer, and it looked like a black cat. "Hi there," she said to the cat. She held out her hand. "Come here, I'm not going to hurt you. Here, kitty, kitty, kitty."
The cat ran up to her, but didn't jump in her lap. It just stared at her. Misty felt a little nervous. She looked around, hoping no one was looking. "Come on," she said. But the cat didn't move. It didn't look like a stray cat. It looks like it just left its home today and… "What the heck is that?"
The cat had a crescent-shaped spot on its forehead. Misty reached for the cat, but it didn't like that, running away. Misty sighed and dropped her hands to her side.
"Hi, Misty!" May said when Misty came back to class. "Are you feeling better?"
"Yeah," she said. "I guess I just needed some air."
"You looked kind of flustered though," said May. "Is there something you're not telling us?"
"No!" Misty shouted. May recoiled.
"Sor-ry!" said the other girl. "Do you know those girls?"
"No," said Misty. "Should I?"
"I did some asking around," said May. "The girl with long hair and blue eyes is named Denchu Risato. The girl with short hair and brown eyes is named Deshi Ginsei."
"What else?" said Misty.
"I don't know," said May. "Nobody really said anything else about them." Misty sighed, recognizing the complex world that is high school politics and relationships. In all likelihood, those girls didn't talk to others.
By the time the day ended, Misty had forgotten all about the girls in the cafeteria and the cat. In fact, when she got back, she had other things to worry about. She walked into the gym, dropping her bag on the table. From the looks of things, there had been some challengers making appointments.
The stress of the (sometimes superficial) jungle and politics of high school were of no interest to her. By contrast, she was more interested in getting her homework done and focusing on the gym.
While in the gym's kitchen, she grabbed a glass of orange juice. She drank so much her friends joked that's how she got her hair color. Gulping it down, she couldn't help but think about those girls in the cafeteria. What was that all about, anyway?
But, who cares? She needed to get to work on her homework.
An hour later, she closed her history book, shouting "I'M DONE!" to no-one in particular.
"Woah-oh! Livin' on a Prayah!" And right on time, her cell phone rings.
"Hello?" she asked when she picked it up.
"Hi, Misty!" A male voice said from the other end.
"Oh, hi, Ash," she said.
"Are you busy?"
"No, why?"
"Well, me, May and Jimmy are at Kasey's and we're waiting for Drew. Do you think you can meet us down here?"
"I'll try," she said. "I'll get there as fast as I can."
"Great, thanks!" he said as he hung up the phone.
"Well?" May said after taking a bite out of a hot dog.
"She said she's going to get here as soon as she can," said Ash.
"Okay," said May.
"How fast will she get here?" said Jimmy.
"Well, I think the gym isn't too far from here," he said, taking a bite out of his cheeseburger. Pikachu, who hadn't appeared yet, was slurping on some ketchup.
"I think the only reason you're here is because you're living with your mom," said Jimmy. "She has to live at the gym."
"Dammit, where's Drew?" asked May.
You know, those girls kind of looked familiar," said Jimmy. "You think—"
"I doubt it," said Ash, sounding way more intelligent than he usually does. "They didn't say much about them."
"That's too vague," said Jimmy.
"Yeah, I know," said Ash. "Still, I think we—"
"Ash, don't say anything!" May whisper shouted. "We're in the middle of a restaurant for cryin' out loud!"
"Sorry!" said Ash. "Geez, even I have to be admonished."
"I didn't know you were this intelligent," said Jimmy.
"Neither did I," said May.
"Still, we should keep on our toes unti—what in the world is going on?"
By the time Misty was ready to leave, ten minutes had already gone by. It had taken longer for her to get something on and thus she was delayed five minutes. However, that wasn't the only thing she had to do.
When she rushed downstairs, she nearly ran into Brock, who'd come in unannounced. "Hi, Misty!" he said.
"Hi Brock," she replied. "Could you please move?"
"Why?"
"I have to get to Kasey's!" she replied.
"But isn't that near the UC Cerulean campus?"
"It's not too far!" said Misty.
"Great!" he said. "Then can you help me out with something?"
"What?"
"I need you to look over some things for me."
"What? Why? Is it gym-related?"
"Well, kind of—"
"I'm sorry, I can't!" she said, pushing her way past him. "I'm sorry, but I need to get to Kasey's!" Brock only stood there, wondering why she was in such a hurry. The place was open until 9 o'clock, anyway. But he saw Misty scream past on her bike, nearly knocking someone over. Brock decided he'd wait, and so he turned on the TV. What he saw floored him.
"Oh, my god!"
Downtown Cerulean was under attack.
A bunch of creatures, resembling orcs, had stormed the place. Frightened Ceruleanites, at first confused, started running once the orcs stormed the square. There must have been tens, if not hundreds of them. Their ugly appearances and jagged-looking armor added to their frightening appearance.
Downtown was filled with screams and grunts. Arrows were flying everywhere. Though they weren't lit with fire, they were still flying in every direction. Many Ceruleanites managed to escape. Some of the slower Ceruleanitess weren't so lucky. It only took a short time before the square was taken by the orcs.
And it wasn't long before the copsshowed up. The Cerulean police department brought in several officers with assault rifles to handle the orcs. At the same time, the SWAT team also showed up, as did officers in full riot gear. "Ready! FIRE!"
The sounds of gunfire filled the air. It certainly did a lot against the orcs, but it wasn't the best. That armor must have been some really good armor. Several orc archers lifted their bows and fired into the air. They came down like rain. The commander shouted his orders and the officers fell back. The riot police held up their shields.
But they found out too late that it was simply a distraction. The orcs with swords had charged the police lines. They officers panicked and ran.
:-:-:-:-:-:
To be continued
Hey guys, what's up? Sorry if I made the Cerulean police look bad, but I only wanted to highlight the severity of the situation at the end.
So, if you look, there's another story with the same title, but takes place in Munich. And yes, they're technically the same story. However, because I had this wild hair, I decided to make one story take place in Cerulean, the other in Munich. Why? I felt like it. But, I am offering this up for a vote.
If I get enough reviews on each, telling me which setting to go with, I'll stick with that. Personally, though, I prefer the one that takes place in Munich, but who cares? It's your decision! Tell me which one you prefer.
Oh, and I almost forgot. This story borrows characters from a French fan project called "Soldier". The borrowed characters are Deshi and Denchu. I felt I might as well clear that up.
