Fahren

Honestly, sometimes I wish I hadn't been born.

Everst syndrome tends to make things heck for me. Everything continues to be huge and giant – stairs becomes mountains and I constantly need to use phonebooks to sit down. I should be a Prinplup by now – but I'm not. It's so infuriating, because I had a hope that I would evolve into an Emploeon like my parents. A lot of Pokémon are restless – either from the war or something else, and I can hardly blame them. I'm constantly bullied for no reason, and no one can really complain because everyone's being bullied one way or another.

Which leads me to my current predicament…

"Why don't you go home, little baby?" a Monferno named Grahm taunted. He easily threw me against a locker, laughing as he did so.

I won't lie – I'm not a fighter. At most, I can drench others in water (albeit very unpleasant due to the cold climate here), so understand that my best course of action was to curl up and take it. I let the bullying continue because I know no one will do anything about it. Except for her, of course.

A blur of orange bolted down the hallway and barreled into Grahm like an artillery shell. Howling in pain and shock, the simian quickly left, leaving behind his victim and attacker.

"Seriously, Fahren, you should really learn how to put up a fight," my savior commented, helping me up.

Wincing as I stood up, I replied, "Eh – what's the point? He's going to come back anyway, but with bloody vengeance." My mock serious tone got to her and she chuckled. "Asides from that – I have you. I can do the thinking for the two of us, and all you need to do is cut a swath to the next class with beak and talon."

"Will do." In the next second, I was half-running, half-dragged to World History.

~ * ~

Sixty minutes of torture later, I found myself barely walking out of the classroom. My eyelids were drooping with fatigue and I considered collapsing where I stood to get in a few winks of sleep. However, Sol pushed me through the crowd, yelling so the others know that this was a 'Piplup-Torchic' crossing.

Thought Sol was something bigger? Maybe a Ponyta or even a Moltres? If yes, I'd say you're wrong. Sol, like me, had Everst syndrome. It's actually a very rare disorder, but coincidentally, my best friend was afflicted too.

"It's fate!" she had said the day we met. "Now if only you were a guy, we could be 'star-crossed'."

"Didn't they die?"

"That's not the point!"

But enough about Sol – Grahm was strutting our way with some of his more muscular friends, a Makuhita and a Combusken. Obviously, he brought the Combusken to rub salt on Sol's inability to evolve. Psychological warfare? Two can play at that game.

The Monferno jeered at us. "Aw look, it's the babies!"

"Really? You do know you're about half the size of a regular Monferno, right?" I shot back.

"At least I can evolve!"

"Why would I want to evolve? Being a Piplup is so much more fun – I'm actually at my regular height!"

"Ooh, burn!" Sol chimed in, a slight pun(1) bringing humor to her words.

Grahm was done listening to us by then. He charged, fists a'blazin' as he tried to knock us senseless. Despite her small stature, Sol packed a huge punch and drilled the simian right between the eyes with a solid peck. As he reeled back, the Combusken and Makuhita charged in to preoccupy the Torchic. Grahm, having quickly recovered, set his eyes on me.

I saw murder in them.

Unconsciously, I took a step back. Grahm started to advance – slowly at first before he burst into a full out run. There were two options for me at this point. One, I take it like a Piplup and hope I'll live. Two, make a 180 turn into a wall of lockers. As it were, the odds were not in my favor.

Not until another savior showed up. A streak of blue lightning and, suddenly, the atmosphere was supercharged with electricity. A small Pokémon had rammed Grahm for the second time today, straight into the gut. The Monferno fell back, dazed.

My second savior stood panting from exertion. "If he gets up, I swear…" I heard him mutter.

"Thanks," I said loud enough for him to hear me.

He spun around on his heels to face me. A Pachirisu with a perpetual goofy grin – I could think of no other way to describe him. "I'm Ri – and I've always wanted to give that guy what he had coming."

"You've got history with him?"

"A long history, but I'm just glad he's down–"

"Lookout!" I yelled as Grahm was standing up. While Ri was turning around, I nailed the simian with a solid tackle. The Monferno fell down again, unconscious, and this time, he'd stay down for a while. His two buddies, seeing their fallen leader, quickly fled the scene, leaving a ruffled Torchic behind in all of her snarling glory.

"Holy crap. Nice save," Ri thanked me, looking a little dazed.

"You're welcome."

However, Sol didn't think it was over though. She, like a Tauros, thundered down the hallway and tackled Ri viciously. The Pachirisu met the lockers headfirst, making a sickening cracking sound.

"Wait!" Ri cried, holding his bloodied nose. "I'm not the enemy!"

Flame at her beak, she was ready to torch him, but somehow, Sol managed to stop. "What?" she asked as if she had never gone berserk.

I ran over to help clear things up. "He's a friend. He covered my back when Grahm was attacking me."

"Oh… Sorry – I'm Solsias Torchic-"

"Sol for short."

She waved me off, "I can introduce myself, thank you. And this is Fahren Piplup."

"Dude, when were Torchics so strong?" he complained. Then he remembered his manners and extended the paw that wasn't bloody. "I'm Ri Pachirisu."

"Yeah – I'm really sorry about that. Didn't mean to," she said apologetically as she accepted his paw.

"And I'm the dean, but you all know that. And if you don't, you will, very soon," said a booming voice.

Uh oh…

~ * ~

I always wondered, why did the faculty staff only show up after the fight? We were the only ones left, and they were the ones to throw the initial punches. Yet… here we are now, in detention. Again. I'm familiar with the room, alright. Haven't I been caught several times after a fight? Where I did nothing but let myself become a feathered punching bag? Ah, the world is so unfair sometimes… Plus, we're the only ones here… Not that I would love Grahm to 'grace' us with his presence – getting beaten was enough for me.

I sighed impatiently and eyed the clock. Still way too early. Will this ever end? As if Arceus himself was answering my prayers, the fire alarm suddenly went off. I was snatched from my boredom and looked around wildly. Sol was shocked as well from the sudden noise while Ri seemed to be relieved.

"Everyone, get out!" yelled the Slaking supervising us.

I quickly stood up from my seat and made a run for it, Sol tailing just behind with Ri following just as easily. As soon as we reached the outside, Sol took point and began walking home. We followed her.

"That was a lucky fire alarm," I said.

Ri laughed and wore a giant grin on his face. "Luck had nothing to do with it!" he proclaimed. "I modified the system a few weeks ago to go off whenever I flipped this switch," he explained, showing us a small transceiver with a button on it. "It's for those moments when you just need to get away from detention."

I knew there was something more to that, and I asked, "How were you able to modify it? I'm sure the staff doesn't take kindly to students modifying their systems."

Ri's laughter died down to a small chuckle. "Oh that… Er… Don't tell anyone, but I had to break into the school to do that."

"At night?" Sol queried. "Isn't that a little too much just to do a modification?"

"Maybe – but I didn't really care at the time… Besides, I just put it to good use, didn't I?"

I conceded a little, "I suppose… but we should probably change the topic. First – how is it that you're so good with technology?"

"It's my job," he said proudly. "Usually, I'll take several items home like a computer or parts of a burglar alarm. I'd break them apart, get a good look at their insides, and try to figure out how it works before I put it together again. Sometimes I don't, so I sometimes have a bit of scrap metal at home that I use to build other stuff with."

"Like?" I asked.

"Like something secret," he said with a wink. "And what about you, Sol? I noticed you're a fighter."

Sol gave a sheepish smile. "It's my dad. He wants me able to defend myself in a crisis, so he sometimes takes me out to the frozen lake to practice. We've been at it for about twelve years now," she finished, puffing out her chest.

"And that's how we met," I recalled, remembering it very clearly. "I stumbled onto the lake a few years ago and found a gaping crater in the middle of the lake-"

"And you were fishing in it," Sol mused. "Then, we helped build your igloo."

"Wait – you don't live in a house? How do you even stand this cold?" Ri queried.

"An igloo counts as a house," I insisted. "And you have to remember that I'm a penguin. I was born to live in this kind of weather, even if I hate it."

"Why did you even come here in the first place?"

"Because," I said, "I'm a refugee. My parents died, and this is where they sent me."

Ri gave me a sympathetic look. "You too? They sent me to the local orphanage."

Confused, Sol asked me, "Why didn't they send you there?"

"There was no more room," we both answered at once. There was an awkward pause between the three of us before we all started laughing.

However, someone happened to hear. "What are you laughing about?"

We turned around to see Grahm smiling maliciously. Behind him was a little gang he had set up – a group of bored adolescents. I counted five against our meager three. I had a feeling things weren't going to be pretty. There has to be a way out of this, I thought.

"Nothing really." To my friends, I whispered, "Try not to let this end in a fight." If they got the message, they didn't show it. I had a feeling that Ri wasn't the kind to start off a fight like this, but Sol… She had a temper that went with her type. There was not a chance in the Eternal Desert that she would take a threat sitting down.

The Monferno circled me a few times as if he was sizing up my worth. Then, without warning, he shoved me to the ground headfirst. "Aw – she tripped!" he proclaimed.

I began to pull myself up, but then, his foot came down on my head, pinning me there. I could see Sol beginning to fume, white steam literally rolling off of her small body. Ri seemed distressed about the whole ordeal, unsure of what to do. Struggling under the pressure of his foot, I mouthed to them not to help me.

'But what about you?' Ri's face told me.

I mouthed back that I would be okay. At any rate, this wasn't the first time. I could take it for another few minutes, and then we can all just walk away as if this never happened… But of course, Grahm wouldn't just finish with hurting my pride. He kicked me, and that was what caused Sol's temper to snap.

"Get away from her!" the Torchic yelled, launching herself at the small Monferno.

One of Grahm's friend, the Combusken from earlier, had been anticipating this. He jumped forward and kicked Sol twice, knocking her onto the ground. The Combusken, pinning her under his weight, held her head still as he tied a rope around her beak and legs, effectively immobilizing her. Before Ri could even react to the change in events, a Makuhita drove his palm into the Pachirisu's face – right onto his broken nose. The force of the blow and suddenness of it paralyzed the electric squirrel as he hit the ground. Ri laid on the ground, unmoving.

The Combusken held the Torchic for all of his friends to see. Grahm grabbed me by the darker, cloak-like feathers around my neck and hoisted me up into the air. With unbelievable strength, he hurled me up in the air… and I came back. I knew what was coming, and tried to curl up to protect myself… I just wasn't ready. Grahm met me in the air, following through with a barrage of kicks and punches. By the time I fell to the snowy ground head-first, I knew I was covered in bruises. I'm just happy I have feathers to cover up for it.

They hadn't thought of Sol burning through the ropes, though. Furious, the Torchic let her inner flame grow to a monstrous size. Her body temperature soared to impossible levels that would ordinarily kill any non-fire types. The ropes ignited and turned to smoldering ash. Sol, now an enraged mess of feathers, let loose on the Pokémon around her. She kicked and scratch and pecked and everything – but she couldn't use any flames. Getting past the ropes had worn down her fire.

Sol, however small she was, happened to be an insanely good fighter. With a better grasp of the situation than she had before, the Torchic managed to juggle five opponents at once. How she could this, I would never know, but one thing remains clear. If Sol was able to evolve, she'd be an unstoppable force as a Blaziken. I've already seen how her dad acts when he trains her, and it's impressive from what I've seen. Woe be the day when he fights seriously. However, just as she gained the upper hand, wailing sirens sounded across the empty streets. But not one of the six Pokémon fighting heard them. By the time that Magnezone had arrived, they were too late.

The magnet Pokémon sent jolts of electricity through everyone in a wave of thunder, paralyzing the crowd. The streets were quiet again as the rest of the dispatch arrived, arresting all of us one by one…

~ * ~

The police were smart enough to keep Ri, Sol, and I separate from Grahm and his gang. We were jammed into two separate cells, the police thinking that'd it be quieter that way.

I was leaning against the wall, taking care not to move so much. My body was aching everywhere, but I didn't cry for Sol's sake. It was torture for her to watch me be beaten, and Grahm knew that, which is why his attacks were directed towards me and me only.

"How do you feel?" Ri asked. His gray eyes seemed awkward and uncertain. We were only friends since a few hours ago, after all.

I sighed. "It's not going to kill me, I know that, but I'll be sore for a few days. Maybe a limp…"

The Pachirisu looked at me expectantly as if I was going to say more. When I didn't, he said, "That's it? That's all you have to say? No 'I hate my life' or anything?"

"Now that you mention it, my life is kinda sucky." I gave a weak smile. "But that's it."

"How can you just take it like that?" he pressed, surprised about my casualness about it all.

I shrugged. "Just grin and bear it – there's nothing else you can do. At least they haven't really affected me."

Ri whistled. "Dang – you're taking this very well." He turned to Sol. "What about you? How do you feel?"

"I feel like the worst friend in the world…" she muttered from her little corner. She has this thing of staying far away from other Pokémon when she's in a bad mood. In a prison cell where there's nowhere to hide, the corner was her only option.

"Don't," I sternly ordered her. "You've done plenty for me in the past. I'd be more worried about Kuro."

She groaned. "Arceus, what am I going to tell him? That I got into a fight again?"

"Actually, I was more worried about Grahm and his buddies," I quipped. "Wonder what Kuro'll do to the Pokémon that hurt his little baby?"

Ri gave a childish giggle at my words, but he was quickly silenced by a glare from Sol.

"Speak of the devil," I murmured as Kuro walked down the stairs.

"Which one is your daughter?" Magnezone droned.

"The Torchic, obviously," Kuro answered, stepping in front of our cell. "What happened, Sol?" he asked the guilty looking Torchic.

Ri made himself known immediately by pressing himself against the bars, exclaiming, "I'll tell you what happened! Grahm Monferno jumped the three of us!"

"Who are you?" Kuro asked.

"This is Ri Pachirisu," Sol introduced. "He's a new friend I met at school."

His hawk gaze shifted from the rodent to me. "You too, Fahren?" he asked. He turned to Magnezone. "I'll be taking the three of them home, if you don't mind…"

"Certainly, Blaziken…" the Pokémon proceeded to release the locks and set us free.

As soon as we emerged from the police department, Ri left to go home, promising to see us tomorrow.

~ * ~

"Sol," Kuro began, "you can't keep doing this. You'll get yourself killed one day."

The Torchic stared glumly at her talons as she walked alongside the Blaziken. "I know, Dad, but… I can't just sit and let them do what they want. You'd do the same thing if you were in my place, wouldn't you?"

He sighed, clearly stressed. "There are times when fighting isn't the best option. Maybe if you talked to Monferno–"

"It doesn't work like that!" she snapped. "You can't always talk to your enemy and magically convince them to stop whatever they're doing!"

I felt alienated from their discussion. I felt like I was intruding, but I said nothing and just held onto Kuro's back as he carried me back to Sol's place.

"Maybe…" Kuro whispered. "Maybe this is my fault. Did I fail as a parent somewhere?"

"Dad," she pleaded, "I love you to death, but it's just not about Grahm and his gang. It's not just them – it's everyone. The police, the government, the stupid military, it's all their fault, too!"

Kuro looked surprised and hesitant. "Perhaps, I have kept secrets from you for too long," he said slowly. "I trust Fahren enough, but we should continue this talk in the apartment."

"What? What's going on?" the Torchic queried.

"I'll tell you. Just wait."

~ * ~

The rest of the walk was suspenseful – there was something big going on here. Kuro wasn't the type of Pokémon who hid things without reason. We reached their apartment in what seemed like ages. Kuro left me on one of the dining chairs, telling Sol to stay with me. He disappeared into his room before returning with some kind of small chest. Carefully, he set it down on the dining table.

He began opening the locks. "I haven't been completely honest to you, Sol. I… I lied about your mother… She was killed in a raid…"

My eyes widened. A long time ago, the Torchic had told me that her mom had died in a miscarriage. To realize that one's only parent had kept a secret like that for so long… As I thought, Sol didn't react to well.

"Why would you tell me that she died in a miscarriage?" she demanded, her eyes livid with anger.

"I knew you'd grow up hating the military if I had told you the truth…," he muttered. The chest popped open and the Blaziken reached in, pulling out a ranking armband. "Until then, I've wanted to tell you the truth, believe me. Your mother's death was the reason I stopped fighting the war, and the reason why I turned to a different field of expertise."

"You were a soldier…," I whispered to myself, shaking my head.

He continued as if he didn't hear me. "I went into the field of genetics and began research cloning-"

"Why?" Sol asked, wisps of steam evaporating off of her body.

Kuro was quiet for a while before he answered, "To fix my mistakes. I've done horrible things in the past. I've killed innocents, robbed homes, executed helpless prisoners – I should be dead for the things I have done. I shouldn't have lied to you, but how would you take it? Knowing your father was ruthless soldier? I didn't want you to follow the same path I did! I walked down that path and turned away from it, but I still suffer for my actions now."

"But why now?" she pressed.

"What you said reminds me of how I felt when I joined the military. 'Someone should do something about these raids,' I had thought. So I joined and stopped the raids on my city, but then, I had a taste for the thrill of battle. I'm afraid the same thing will happen to you – that you'll rebel against something bigger than just the local police department. I can't lose you…"

Sol was silent for a while, digesting all of this new information. A chaos of emotions must be plaguing her. I knew she wanted to hate her dad, but at the same time love him for everything he'd done. Sol broke the silence. "How did you quit?"

"I stopped killing" he answered. "I moved into the field of genetics – something I had already studied before I joined the war. I made clones. However, months after I had created the first batch, I was ordered to kill all of them. I couldn't do that – they were still all hatchlings… So I fled and burned all of my research. I tried to take them all with me when I left, but they all died."

"None of them survived?" I questioned.

There was an uncomfortable shift in his body language that went unnoticed by Sol. "None," he repeated. "Not a single survivor."

Somehow, I didn't quite believe that.

~ * ~

(1) - The pun is kinda lame, but it's there. Sol is a fire type, and so is Grahm - hence why 'Ooh, burn!' is a pun. Like I said, kinda obscure.

(A/N): This is a rewrite of the first chapter of my story. I did this because the original copy was bland and lacked some substance. This one, I've added a bit of conflict. Monferno might be making a return in future chapters – I dunno yet, since he was added into chapter one by the time I finished chapter 10.

Now for some explanations. Arceus, in this universe, is the equivalent of god. I only thought of this later in my story – take that into account for, again, any inconsistencies I overlooked. The Eternal Desert is the equivalent of hell, with Groudon as its ruler. This doesn't mean Groudon is evil by any means. Just think of him as Hades (not the Disney version).

I'll make sure to post up a chapter weekly, but you, the reader, can speed things up if you really wanted to. If I get five reviews, I'll upload the next chapter immediately. Anonymous review do not count (although they still are appreciated), and I expect some reviews that some of you took a few minutes out of your time to write. This lets me know people are interested – plus, it's highly motivating to me as a writer.

On another note, I'd like to thank a few people for finally publishing my story:

-Raichu because s/he beta-read my story up to chapter 5 and was very supportive.

-crouchingninjahiddenwolf because he... Well I'm not sure quite what he did. O.o He did read it up to 11, though.

-PandaPandaka because she has been my bestest friend/sister in the entire world and helped me to brainstorm ideas.