A/N:
I love the pokemon series, both dubbed and raw version ( but I think the RAW version is better) and I will to try keep the characters in character of their personality ( especially using the jap version of the show that might have eng subtitle.)
This story takes place a year before Ash started his Pokemon journey in the kanto region. Although the story was originally based on the game Pokemon Emerald, it still has some reference to the TV series.
In its second (or third revision), the story follows the main character's struggle of adapting to this strange world after being transported from the real world. Even though this person knows the Pokemon series by heart and played the game, is the "reality" of the Pokemon world similar to the show or is there a much darker situation beneath the surface. Few of the characters will be slightly altered to fit the story.
DISCLAIMER: I don't own Pokemon or the tv series. June and many other characters are OC.
Hope you enjoy the story. :)
Run... that was the only word that raced through my mind.
The cold gust of wind blew across my face, whipping my hair back and forth as Rose and I turned left onto a deserted street. Like every other street in old Everglade, all the vivid colors faded over the course of the invasion. The laughter of the previous residents still echoed in these abandoned streets -a reminder of times before the war. The Honda accords and the Toyota camrys collected dust and spider webs inside -especially in the driver seat- as they parked idly on the side road, waiting for someone to drive them again. As we ran past the dilapidated houses, now shadows of the distant past, we could smell the stench of death lingered in the air and see the blood of the deceased stained the asphalt road in black crimson. My feet felt numb as we ran; the blood seeped through the holes of my shoes and into the fibers of my socks.
Rose looked over her shoulder. "They're coming!" she shouted. "They're coming."
I spared a quick glance over my shoulders. Sure enough, in the midst of the grey barren landscape, rows of soldiers marched towards us with their weapons at hand. Military tanks slowly crept up alongside them as they fired rapid rounds of bullets at us. I dared to look back a second time, trying to identify our mystery attackers. In the midst of the chase, the only thing I could identify was the red letter R etched on the front of their black uniforms.
Why? Why are they chasing us? What do they want with us?
Suddenly, I was shot in the leg twice; both bullets hit the tibia bone. It felt like someone had just stabbed my leg with a hot poker. I tumbled onto the ground, scratching my knees on the cold pavement. My leg was throbbing in pain and was covered in the red sticky liquid. There was a lot of blood oozing out of the wound; moving it would only make it worse. Rose had ran ahead of me when I was shot; but when she noticed that I was not beside her, she turned around and ran back towards me.
What is she doing?! I thought. She has to keep running away from them.
"Go!" I shouted, but she continued heading towards me. She kneeled on the ground as she pulled out some gauze from the bag strapped around her waist, roughly bandaging the wound.
"Don't be stupid June," she scolded me. "We're family... C'mon, we are almost there. You said so yourself." I had to smile when she mentioned the close proximity of our location. We were so close, the chance of being reunited with our family was just steps away, yet we still had a long distance to go.
The soldiers were rapidly catching up and more bullets were shooting in our direction. After she finished bandaging the wound, I leaned on her shoulder as we traveled to our destination at an agonizingly slow pace. A bullet struck Rose on the shoulder and another grazed her on the left side of her abdomen. She winced at the burning pain tearing through her flesh, but she looked at me, with a strained smile on her face. Even without the injury, it took a considerable amount of her strength to support me. Then another bullet shot her in the leg. Both of us tumbled onto the ground, practically on top of each other as our arms flung outwards in a vain attempt to minimize the impact. Our clothes were now covered in the warm blood seeping from our wounds and the ashes from the charred houses.
Rose caught her breath for a moment before she attempted to help me up again. She grimaced at the new pain in her leg. I looked at her and then I glanced at her injuries; she was not going make it at this rate. I clenched my fist tightly until my nails dug deep into my skin. This was my fault we were in this situation; if I had not gone out that morning, the invaders would have not discovered our hiding spot. Our friends would still be alive right now. At this point, it did not matter if I reached the portal or not, all that mattered was that Rose survives. This would be my way repaying her for all the bad things I allowed them to do to her since the start of the war.
Her words slurred as she spoke. "We can still make it June...We...just...need...to take... our time." She had my arm on her shoulder when I shook my head; there was no point trying if the result was going to be the same. She shook her head, refusing to leave me behind. "Don't give up, we can still make it. We just have to keep running." She said in desperation. Rose's words did not fool me; she knew what I was planning and knew what it meant, but it seemed that it was the only way for one of us to get out of here alive.
"I'm slowing us down. C'mon Ro, you know that everyone is waiting for us, but you have to get there first."
"We're family... we promised each other we'll get there. You said so yourself." She repeated the same phrase to me desperately as if it was her mantra. There was a look of fear and hesitation in her eyes; something I have seen since the enemy arrived. Too many friends had died during the aftermath. She did not want to lose another person close to her; but if she was to live, one of us had to stay left behind.
Slowly, I placed my hand over Rose's wounded shoulder, but she backed away once my hand brushed over the wound. She shook her head. "Stop," she said. "Don't burden yourself with my pain."
"Tell that to the girl who can revive dead plants. This is the only way to heal you. This is the only way one of us can survive." I retorted back, healing the wound and ignoring her protests about it.
As I healed her leg, she looked at me with hatred in her eyes -similar to the time when the enemy first came into this world, destroyed it, and hunted us natives down like animals Since the war with the invaders, no one was ever the same. Most of the natives had gained abilities: some of those abilities were gifts but some were more like curses. Both sides sought these 'special people' -Rose and I being a few of them. We had seen both the allies and the invaders use these 'special people' to murder the opposing side. We don't want to be treated like weapons, nor did we want to see more bloodshed. We ran away from the enemy for far too long; it was now my turn to fight - for our freedom.
After healing Rose's wounds, I felt her pain flow through my body. The ability I have was a curse; I can heal others -relieve them of their pain, but not my own pain. I take their suffering onto myself instead, feeling their physical and mental pain.
I lifted myself from the ground, starting to feel the effect of the blood loss. My leg throbbed in pain from the injury and more blood oozed out. Unzipping my purple handbag, I pulled a mini bottle from my bag.
"Besides," I said. "The soldiers will catch us soon Rose... Remember why our friends stayed behind. Don't let their sacrifice be in vain."
This struck a chord for Rose; our friends were our new family and protected us from the enemy, but now they were gone. After a long pause, she ran a couple of feet ahead. I watched her run pass the first few houses, until she paused again turning back to face me with tears forming in the corners of her eyes. She hastily wiped them away, trying to withhold her tears.
Now what is she doing?! She has to leave now!
"You better come back alive!" she shouted, cupping her hands so that her voice could carry farther.
"Of course!" I saluted her in military fashion, except with two fingers. It was my trademark: my way of saying 'see you next time', without the actual words, because I knew that there won't be a next time. Rose nodded and ran toward our original destination without another glance back.
With the enemy rapidly approaching, I grabbed a bottle and shook it until the liquid fizzed before tossing it in their direction. One of the soldiers shot the bottle in reaction, unaware of the liquid's acidity. Screams echoed on the street as the acid rained down on the opponents. I ran ahead -in a different direction from Rose- before I could watch the corrosive effect on them, trying to draw them away.
The water in this region was more acidic than normal. During the war, the enemy dropped bombs onto many cities, destroying the lives of thousands of people. The radiation from the bombs eventually seeped into our main water source, which rendered the water undrinkable unless boiled at a certain temperature. However, heating the water above their new 'boiling point' would cause the water to explode. Even when cooled, the acidic liquid has the ability to melt metal.
I looked past my shoulder, trying to see the status of the approaching army, still limping away as quickly as I could. More soldiers moved to the front line, while the injured soldiers were forcefully pushed to the back line. However, they were still heading in Rose's direction. I had to divert them away from her; it was fine if they caught me as long as one of us made it to the other side. Rose had to make it there; for all of us!
With the little inventory I had -and one of my few bottles already used- I decided that it was time to make my stand, to see if they would realize the monster that they had become.
I hid behind the remains of a nearby house, trying to regain my breath. When I peeked over a broken beam, I saw something startling. In the front line, one soldier wore a metallic armor that concealed the vital points. Unlike the other soldiers, this soldier levitated slightly off the ground. The visor from his helmet concealed his identity. The locals called this soldier the Reaper: he 'reaped' the souls of the dead and used its soul as his own power. It was also rumored that he wasn't human, but rather another being from another place.
Dang it... what's it doing here... it wasn't supposed to be here...
A few days ago, I heard rumors about the Reaper's most recent victims: a refugee camp in another region. It killed all of them with its bare hands. Now it was here, searching for Rose and me. I assumed that it would not show me any mercy -like its other victims. The Reaper's presence may have thrown a curveball in my plan; but I knew that I could not turn back now. I dumped out the bullets from one cartridge and tediously unscrewed half of the bullets to reveal the gunpowder inside. Once I poured the gunpowder into a Ziploc bag, I jumped out of my hiding place and left behind a trail of black powder for them to follow.
One of the soldiers spotted me as I ran away. "Get her!" The soldiers change direction at the command, now chasing after me.
I looked down at the ground and saw that my feet were still touching the ground, which was probably a sign that the Reaper could not use the full extent of its mystical powers in this area. No one knew why creatures like the Reaper were unable to use their 'magical' abilities in certain areas, but some believed it had to do with the strange smog hovering around the decimated parts of the city where the stench of death lingered. If it could use its psychic ability, I would have not been crazy enough to do this plan; there would have been no chance of escape.
I kept on running until I tripped over a rock, landing on the cold hard asphalt. I struggled to stand up again, but my legs felt weaker than they were a few minutes before. The bag still contained some powder, but it would be enough to start a mini explosion. I tossed the bag a few meters from me and watched it land near the trail of black powder. Then I pulled out a mini bottle shook it until the water fizzed and rolled it near the trail of black powder. Finally, I pulled out a cartridge and loaded it into the gun, and waited for the enemy to come.
The trap was set.
This was it. This is my last stand.
I hummed a song to bring my courage up and lift my spirits as I watched the enemy come towards me. A prisoner taught me this song when Rose and I were in the barracks. He said it was from a play he premiered in before the war started.
Do you hear the people sing?
Singing a song of angry men?
It is the music of a people
Who will not be slaves again!
When the beating of your heart
Echoes the beating of the drums
There is a life about to start
When tomorrow comes!
As the soldiers arrived, the fear vanquished from my heart. I could clearly see the ugliness, bitterness, and evil in their hearts. All of them pointed their rifles at me. They sneered at me with disgust -I was just trash in their eyes, a rodent they were pleased to kill.
"Any last words," One of them said with disgust. Some of them chuckled at this remark.
Last words...I had plenty to say to them jerks. They all needed to hear their sins and the pain they caused.
"Yeah...but why would you bastards care. You bastards who enjoy watching little children cry for their parents, you murderers that find pleasure in separating the children from their mothers. You devils that find enjoyment in others' suffering. You should have died when you came here, not them. Not the mothers you shot in the head when they for their children, or the elderly that you shot because they were weak and ugly. Not them. At least they were innocent at heart. At least they weren't monsters like you."
One of them -a woman- wanted me to stop, but I just ignored her and continued. I would have smacked at her across the face, but I had no strength, just my words. Some did not even flinch when I mentioned their crimes, nor did they cry. Some of them snickered. Then I looked at the Reaper and knew, even with his visor on, that his expression didn't change; he didn't shed a single tear. I had hoped that at least one soldier had regretted their actions, but this only proved that their hearts were black and corrupted.
"You'll never get away with this heinous crime. Heaven will know, the earth will know, and the victims will remember the treachery you caused here; for the past few years, you terrorized the people and poisoned this planet with your greed. Now... it is time to send you back... back to your world." I lifted my gun and aimed it at them.
"She has a gun," a soldier shouted in warning.
I don't know who pulled the trigger first, but I saw them shooting rounds at me. A bullet hit my shoulder and another knocked the wind out of my chest as if a baseball bat hit my chest. However, I still managed to pull the trigger, but not at them. The trigger went off, igniting the bullet and struck the water bottle that rolled aimlessly on the ground. In mere seconds, the area was covered in a flash of blinding white light. The surrounding areas burst into flames, illuminating the barren area with flashes of yellow, orange, and red lights. The force of the blast tossed my ragged body few meters away from the blast site and threw me into a cement wall.
When I collided against the wall, my body jerked violently as the rough wall scratched and bruised my back. My head snapped back at the impact, causing spots to appear in my vision. I glanced around with bleary eyes, the blood loss blurring my vision further. Geez, how did I survive the blast, I wondered as I stared at the strange orange smog looming around. Slivers of rays shone through the thick layer of clouds; I do not recall the last time I saw the sun. It was always dark in Everglade since the invaders came. All I knew was that it was very hard to move around or feel anything at the moment. At least the pain in my chest and legs had disappeared.
As I closed my eyes, I thought I saw a figure standing near my ragged body. This figure was very blue, with black trims around him.
The stranger leaned down and whispered in my ears, ever so softly in a soothing tone that I believed he could erase the burden I felt for the past two years.
"Do you want to be with your cousin? Do you want to see your family again?"
"How... they're gone... and Rose... I am not sure if she reached the portal."
"She did... She is waiting for you to go."
"Geez, she should have gone ahead."
"Do you want a chance to forget all of this? The pain? The memories? Everything?"
I think I said yes because then the next thing I knew, the stranger lifted my lifeless body and whispered into my ear.
"When you wake up, all of this will be a dream, and you will find yourself in a new life in a new town. This place is the place you've always dreamed of... the Pokemon world."
Those were the last words I heard before I finally succumbed to the darkness.
A shout out to Lightning515 for helping me with my description and to the others who helped edit previous version of this story.
NEXT CHAPTER WILL BE ON HOLD