Lush green and the essance of dew on grass. Beautiful. Just as was the girl who sat playing with her little Pokemon friend under a big maple tree that early Tuesday morning. Getting up early to play with the Pokemon of the Viridian Forest was what she did, and was always the first one up out of everyone in her small home of Pallet Town.
Touko pulled a long strand of hair back from the messy clump on her head, and placed it behind her ear. It wasn't a long walk from her home to the forest, but she still never liked to comb her hair, even when she had the time. The little six year old stroked the fur of the small Celebi that had come to play. Although it belonged to the Ilex Forest, it often came to join the girl, as they had become close friends, with the girl unable to travel very far. Celebi blended in well with the forest, which made for a great game of hide and seek. A personal favourite of Touko's.
A small cracking of twigs could be heard from the side. The child's head shot up in the direction of the noise, and held the small creature close. Although, it wasn't quite obvious whether she meant to protect the Pokemon, or herself. A wave a fear came over her, and she could feel herself shrink back. When nothing could be seen, Touko wasn't convinced, heart beat still fast. There was no taking chances with possibilities of old Rocket members hanging around.
So she stood with caution, still holding her friend. Touko swore she could see a faint hint of black whoosh passed just a short distance away.
"Why do you hold that Pokemon like it's your friend?," A man's voice cut in.
Before her big shiny, blue eyes, three men dressed in black appeared before the girl from the shadows. Touko stumbled back on her feet, landing on her backside over the grass. Heart rate doubled. As the man in front took a step forward, she inched back. The girl never cowared much, but of course, she never had a reason to before. Mouth shut tight, eyes wide, and legs shaking. Perfect combination of a frightened being.
She bent her head down and muttered to Celebi, "Run...fly...whatever you do, just go."
Releasing the Pokemon from her arms, she watched it fly off, turning it's head a few times to look back at it's abandonded friend. Celebi didn't want to leave her; if anything, it wished to fight along side her. But it did what it was told, only to hope that it was doing the right thing.
"Who are you?," The girl managed to get out in barely a whisper.
The third member closer to the back stepped forward. "Take no need toward us, but now that you've seen us, I'm afraid we must...dispose of you."
Touko shuddered at the last part. "Why's that?" It wasn't really directed at a certain part of what he had said, but mainly just out of confusion towards everything.
The second member replied, "Because we aren't meant to be seen. When we are, it only leads to trouble. Which means eliminatingany evidence."
Like a slap to the face came the words. Her heart beat doubled once more, and she could swear that the men could hear it from where they were. But then again, in the cold silence that followed their words, you could have heard a pin drop, even on the wet grass. It was pure instinct that made Touko did what she did next.
Run.
Quick like a Purrlion, up she went and dashed as fast as her legs were take her. A quick nod was exchanged between the three men, before chasing after their new found prey. The grass was thick and tall, practicaly soaking the girl as her head barely peaked over the top. Right on her heels came the first man, and reached out to grab the girl's black vest.
But the chase had only begun.
Noticing, Touko made an effort to turn and kick his thigh as hard as she could manage worked well. Cleets made for great pain-bringers. The man only stumbled back a bit from the pain, but as Touko cried out a loud bird call, a Spearow flew in to swipe him off his feet. The bird didn't stay long, as it flew back off right away into the thick forest. The guy tripped over on his back, into the grass and out of sight for the girl who could barely see two feet infront of her, surrounded by so much foliage.
Touko didn't even bother to try and find his location, but instead kept up her earlier sprint. Of course, it was no surprise that these masters of disguise caught up. As she remember him to be the second man, he appeared before her, and without thinking, she took a big swift kick at his crotch, the underside of the shoe first. The little girl winced back as she heard him yelp in surprise and pain, and almost felt bad. But could she really make time for such feelings now?
No. It wasn't an option.
She jumped over his now sprawled out body, cringingas she heard him cry out. By now, she had forgotten about the third man, because it seemed as though she had lost him. Touko had been running for so long, or as it seemed to her, that her lungs were crushed by pain. The child relaxed though, as the edge of the forest came into view. Although, if she left, she'd be out in the open, just waiting to be hunted. So instead, she crawled up behind a tree, and waited in hope that Celebi would return, and would not have gone back to Johto out of fear.
Her mind told her that she would be okay, but even as the girl relaxed, she still felt her heart hurt with fear and pound hard with each breath. What a hectic morning. But she couldn't bring herself to regret leaving the house that day, because the forest might have been in more danger than ever if she hadn't been there. Touko relaxed as her back lay against the side of a tree.
"So you thought you escaped...?" The creeping voice of the third man that she thought had been lost snaked through silence.
A jerk of a hand was made from behind, pressing palm against Touko's mouth. She struggled and screamed under it's grasp, flinching when another hand was shoved on her throat, the man revealing himself from the shadows.
"You stupid little girl! You couldn't just come easy, now could you?" His words rung through her ears as the man knelt forward, head placed on her shoulder.
His grip tightened on her. "You look too young to know how to fully swim. Maybe I'll throw you in the river, and let you drown..."
Touko only hoped he wouldn't, as it seemed her futile attemptsto break free failed. The second man came to view, but only stood infront of her with a grin spread wide like butter on toast. She pleaded with her eyes up at him, thinking he might show some mercy.
It wasn't my fault...If I knew these men would show up, I would have taken Celebi somewhere else. Now look where this has gotten me. It's not my fault...it's not my fault...it's not even my fault...
The first man showed up then, but didn't sit back to watch like his partner. Instead, he went over to the girl and man, raised a foot, and bashed his other partner over the head with a kick.
Bending down to look at the girl, he asked, "Would you like to die?"
Touko kept her mouth firm shut, as to not slip up by saying something offensive by accident, but instead, shook her head furiously.
"I can grant you only one other option, then." The man drapped in black crossed his arms.
She took in a breath, and managed to get out, "What would that be?"
He shuck out a hand to help her up. "Come with us."
