It was about the middle of November that I got half scared to death. Black and I were enjoying one of the last opportunities to watch the starlit sky before the landscape turned white and snowy.
We sat on a hill located in Route 1, about in the middle, close enough to our houses. "It's pretty." I gasped, staring at the twinkling sky. It seemed somehow more beautiful, I thought. Like they each had there own souls. I heard him chuckle.
"Yeah. You're always about sparkly stuff, weren't you, White?" He asked with a smirk, his eyes glued to the sky as she glanced at him. I nodded happily, looking back at the sky, lying down despite the cool grass. Apart from my usual attire I wore a thin sweatshirt. Black was always telling me to dress warmed, but I usually shrug it off. It turned out that usually I regretted not listening to him, but sometimes he would wrap me in his arms, causing me to spark with warmth. Not of the body, but of the heart. He made every ounce of me shiver- That's what made it worth now wearing jackets and long jeans.
We weren't really anything yet, though. Just very close friends. Bianca and Cheren were also in our foursome. For a while I thought N could join in, but then I found out he was the leader of Team Plasma. At least that's what he had told me. It turned out he had been used by Ghetsis, and after that I had started to consider again, but he left to find his purpose.
I smiled to myself.
The night dragged out, and around midnight clouds began covering up the sky. I stood, surprising the exhausted boy next to me. "I'm turning in for the night…" Giving him a small smile, I kissed him lightly on the cheek, for I knew he saw it as a warm way to say goodnight and nothing more. He smiled as I stood up, and reminded me of the dangers of night.
"Be careful, alright? Team Plasma got trashed not to long ago, thanks to an epic trainer," He winked, "but that doesn't mean they're not still lurking around or looking for revenge." I was about to leave, but he called over my shoulder cruelly yet playfully.
"Oh, and watch out for zombies~" He said in the sweetest tone.
A vein pulsed on my forehead with annoyance. He knew that I would be overly cautious now that he's mentioned the undead. I mean, people get lost in forests all the time. Well, forests they're not familiar with. I walked down the hill, scowling. Half at Black, half at the rustles of leaves. Possibly Pokemon- or zombies. Just to be safe I let out my Samurott.
We walked in silence for a while, Samurott trotting around me as if it was the middle of day. I supposed that I should let my Pokemon out more, not just for battles. He finally calmed down, and I spoke to him softly, telling him some puns and a couple jokes, which he snorted at. "Why do seagulls live by the sea?"
Snort.
"Because if they lived by a bay they would be called bagels!" I giggled a bit, and my Pokemon rolled his eyes in a playful way. The night dragged on, finally a few rays of light streaming through the leaves… further down the path, though. I looked at the sky, which was ominously dark. Samurott was sniffing the air with a disturbed look on his face. My sense of smell wasn't the best, but as me moved cautiously closer, my nose wrinkled in disgust. It was a horrible burning smell… smoke and something else. I looked to Samurott, and he nodded. Leaping onto his back, we galloped forward quickly.
Several small fires were scattered in the woods, spreading quickly. We stopped to put them out quickly, also casting Rain Dance over the area, when we heard a bloodcurdling scream. I flinched at the sound, my eyes widening. The other fires would have to wait.
Samurott plowed through the brush even more quickly, and I had to hold on for my dear life. Anything that got in the way was viciously torn to shreds, but soon the lush green leaves that he was thrashing through turned to full fledged flames, and I could feel the tongues of fire reaching out to burn me. Another helpless scream echoed, and Samurott swung his head to the left a bit, modifying his original path to direct himself more towards the yelling. We came to what seemed an edge of a clearing, and Samurott stopped in front of a wall of flames. "Hydro Cannon!" I called, and my Pokemon shot a column of water through the flames to drench whatever was behind it.
The wall fell away, and Samurott leapt through while he could. The wall closed up again very quickly. I got off; I could see a couple Houndoom staring at me from the other end of the clearing. One was more near the center, snout smoking as if it he just used an attack. A figure was standing behind the pack of hell dogs, and a sort of smoldering figure was lying in front of the center Houndoom. The creature had its mouth open as if about to snap the neck of the person on the ground, but looked up at Samurott and me. It howled with fury and bloodlust, bolting forward, paying no mind to the person it stepped on with its blade-like claws. The person behind the pack smiled at me ominously, and I called on my Pokemon to counter the advancing Houndoom.
Samurott shot a few blasts of water at the Fire-Type, which it dodges easily, jumping and shooting flames at us. He shielded me from the fire, and pulled out his shell swords, motioning to the limp figure twice with his left sword as if he were a general in the army. I nodded, sprinting through the high grass. It was practically scorched. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the leading Houndoom lunge at me, but Samurott struck it down as if to say that their battle wasn't over.
The Houndoom's trainer pointed at me, making a sort of growling sound, and the rest of the pack, who hadn't moved a muscle, jumped up, beginning to madly sprint, jaws open, towards her. Pulling out a Pokeball and pressing the button, Zekrom appeared, utterly confused with why he had been torn away from a wonderful dream and thrown into a battle. He saw the incoming Houndoom, deciding to take out his drowsy anger on them. A black fist came down on one of the Houndoom, his tail taking out another lucky Pokemon that had jumped out of the way. He shifted his eyes to me.
"Houndoom are ATTACKING." I emphasized. "Just defeat them, I can't tell you what attacks to use right now!" I called up to the godly Pokemon. It nodded. I continued as Zekrom corralled the Pokemon to the side. The figure was now clear in my vision, and I kneeled next to it. The growls and yelps of Pokemon echoed around me- I couldn't tell who was who. The boy was a wreck, yet he seemed familiar. His hair was white, I could tell, but it was matted with red liquid. His body was covered with scratch marks and bites, his black jumpsuit seemed to be scorched beyond black could even go, and where the fire had hit the flesh exposed by the torn wear it was red. Very red. Like blood.
I didn't like blood. I don't like blood. I felt ready to vomit, and I almost did. I leaned into his ear. "It's OK, you'll be OK…"
I tried to pick him up, but he cried out in pain, and my weak arms cried out in protest. Setting the very little part of him I had gotten off the ground down, I reached for a Pokeball. Maybe one of my Pokemon could lift him more easily. I stopped abruptly when a howl came from behind me. I then realized which Pokemon had been yelping with pain behind me. I whipped around, but couldn't protect myself against the tackling Houndoom properly because I didn't have enough time to actually stand up again. The two of us began to fall backwards… Where the boy was. 'SHIT.' I stretched out my arm to do a pose that looked like a table would, the Houndoom scratching at my clothes to climb the small ledge that was I, attempting to find my throat.
Zekrom had seemed to notice my position, but when he tried to get way from the battle against 10 other Houndoom, another would pop up to preoccupy him again.
I lifted a leg, smashing my foot into the wolf-like Pokemon's stomach, and it fell away, seemingly out of breath. Sadly it found the will to fight seconds after, and lunged at me, claws outstretched. I panicked. What drove me to do what I did next must have been some long lost survival instinct. I widened my palms, diving at the beast, and I suddenly was on the ground, a Houndoom writhing under my grip on its throat and left shoulder. My eyes widened. What was I doing, had I gone crazy? Fighting a Pokemon? Alone?
The Pokemon realized, tasted my fear. It seemingly smiled strait at me, opening its mouth. My hand on its throat squeezed tighter. A claw was thrust into my ribs. A small ember was erupting… Tighter. Closer… I closed my eyes, the fire was there. I would be burned like it or not, even if I squeezed tighter. Suddenly I was wrenched away, in such a matter that my skull rattled, and my vision went black. An earsplitting roar of rage echoed through the area, so load that my ears buzzed. Yelps and whimpers were mixed in with the cracking of earth, and I pulled myself onto my elbows, the darkness melting away slightly. A storm had suddenly materialized to accompany the rain.
'Zekrom…' I thought to myself in a dazed manner. I attempted to get up, but billowing winds blew me down. Trying again, this time the winds were less rough, but only because Zekrom had taken a breath, preparing to bellow again. I knew when Zekrom got to this point it was dangerous to encounter him- Outrage was one of the most destructive Dragon-Type attacks. It was times like this that made me regret teaching it to him. I was thrown back again, my head hurt. I closed my eyes, and suddenly felt something gingerly bite me around the arm. At first I thought it was the Houndoom, too stubborn to turn back without killing its prey. My eyes snapped open. The Houndoom's prey… What happened to the boy? She looked up to whoever was holding onto her arm. It was a wounded Samurott.
He was trying to pull me away. I pulled back, and the Pokemon let go, but looked utterly confused. I got up, fighting the wind and earth being thrown into the air. A small crevice that would surely grow was to the right. I looked for white, red, or black, and found it. The boy was desperately trying to push himself off the ground. He ground his teeth, but his arms till shook despite his efforts, and the longer he tried, the more pained he looked. She stumbled over to him, lifting him up by under his arms, dragging him towards the edge of the clearing. He gasped, as if the pain took him, and his jaw clenched.
Samurott limped over to them, offering his back to us. I pulled the boy onto his back, but refused to get on, too. Samurott was already tired out. I looked back at the clearing, and we raced toward Nuvema Town.
As we ran I couldn't help but look at him. His eyes had closed, I wondered if he was unconscious, sleeping, or worse. It would be hard to sleep on a galloping Pokemon, so I guessed unconscious. I hoped unconscious. As we entered the town, Black was already there. He looked nervous and panicked.
"White! You're alright!" He tackle-hugged me, and then pulled away quickly. "You're bleeding!" He muttered, half to himself. I looked down, and then remembered the Houndoom's claw. … Houndoom. I jolted out of my trance.
"Stop, Black!" I growled angrily. "I'm not the one who needs to be worried about! That Pokemon Center is built by now, right?"
"It's been done for a while." He snorted. "What's so impor-" He looked behind me, and seeing the figure on top of Samurott, swore. "Holy Shit. Come on, it's in the center of town."
He guided us quickly, and at the center of town was the Pokemon Center. The claw marks were making me feel… dizzy… They felt as if they were burning. Increasing the pain every second. My vision was slipping, and I misplaced my footing. All I saw then was darkness.