Escape
By: Vingle
Waking up was not pleasant.
Every night, he relived the events of his past. Each recollection was replaced by something far more disturbing until he woke up, trying to convince himself that it wasn't happening. He must have thrashed around Arceus-knows-how many times while sleeping, as evidenced by his aching body.
Usually, he didn't wake up to find himself cramped in place absent of light, along with no idea how he got himself into such a situation. He didn't know how much time had passed, or why he was unable to move, or why his body felt like it was being crushed.
The pain didn't phase him at all. It was something he had built a high tolerance towards over years of strenuous work. But he was haunted by something no amount of physical activity would prepare him for.
Memories.
Memories he never wished to see again.
Memories buried under countless hours of meditation.
Memories that reminded him exactly what had gone wrong, and why he was responsible.
"Come on!" The figure said, her voice thick with fear. "Don't stop now!"
He continued to slow down. He bled from punctures all over his body, staining the ground wherever he flew. The tips of his wings scraped on the hard rock beneath, though he was too tired to notice. "...Just...lea-"
She grabbed his wing and dragged him on, cutting the sentence short. They cleared the cave and sped towards a dense forest, following the rest of their companions.
He was acutely aware of the fact that if she slowed down even for a second, they would both be caught and killed by the...thing that was right on their heels. Whatever it was, they were completely outclassed. Since it had began chasing them, what sounded like deep chuckles emanated from behind, giving him the impression that it enjoyed what it was doing.
The pair flew blindly into the dark forest, constantly changing directions in an effort to throw the creature off their tracks. She turned and pressed herself against a tree. She wrapped her arms around the exhausted porygon and started muttering. He guessed she was praying to Arceus.
He heard the creature crash through the forest, launching trees in random directions. One of them smashed into the tree they were hiding behind and left it hanging precariously over them. He longed to move to a safer location, but fear kept kept them both in place.
The next few minutes were devoid of sound. He heard her hold her breath in, waiting for the creature's next action.
Suddenly, the ground shook violently, almost throwing him off balance. A peculiar sound rang throughout the trees. The soil parted in front of them to reveal a dugtrio, who gave them a look of relief. It leaned to the side, surveying the scene behind him. It picked up a large branch with its mouth, and nodded to the froslass, which she returned.
The dugtrio hurled the branch across the clearing. It turned and gestured towards a deeper part of the forest.
A moment later, the branch hit the ground. The creature instantly vaporized the branch, along with the surrounding area.
They shot off without hesitation, hoping the distraction bought them enough time to get out escape their pursuer's attention. He squinted to see in the dim light, noticing a decrease in their speed. He was making this harder for her, as she would now have to worry about obstacles, something ghost-types normally ignored.
The dugtrio poked its head out under a tree ahead, signalling for them to turn.
She sent an illusion of herself heading straight and hid for a few moments before proceeding. In a few minutes, the dugtrio had led them out of the forest without any trouble, meeting up with the delibird and ditto from their team.
"You're amazing, Trinny," said the Snow Land Pokémon. She smiled gratefully. "Always saving our behinds."
"Stop, Priscilla." The dugtrio scanned the area around them. "Start moving. Get him treatment." It motioned towards him.
"I-I-I'm fine," he frowned. "S-sorry for slowing you down."
"Destrus. You have-" Her sentence was interrupted by a strangely familiar sound. An instant later, several black spikes burst from the ground, driving themselves through Priscilla's arm.
"Please don't go." A serpentine figure shrouded in a dark substance appeared behind them. "I'll be all alone."
Destrus cried out as Priscilla tossed him forwards with her free arm. He looked up to see the snake-like monster slither towards the trapped froslass. He opened his beak in attempt to keep the advancing figure back, only to realise that his powers were gone. He looked to his companions for help, but their expressions showed that they were affected the same way.
"Everyone," The ice type's words came out as whispers. "Get Destrus out of here."
His eyes widened in shock. "What about you?"
"Don't worry about me." She looked at him for moment before turning to face her attacker.
He felt himself being dragged away before he could say anything else.
His eyes felt too heavy to open.
"Enjoy your nap?" The voice chuckled. Every word caused the area around him to shake.
He moved his head around, feeling the texture of the material enclosing him. It was hard and clumped, matching the description of something he was used to seeing.
He had been buried.
"Still filled with regret, after all this time?"
If only he hadn't made that fateful decision.
"It isn't worth the trouble."
"Why not? Aren't you the one always looking for treasure?"
"There's nothing in Darkness Ridge worth travelling for," the delibird sighed. Destrus' badgering was getting to him. "Even the thing that caused its inhabitants to move."
"And they all said it was white crystal the same size as me! That can't be insubstantial." The porygon flapped about in anticipation. "If we move it elsewhere, shouldn't they be able to return?"
"He has a point, Gaston," Destrus turned to see Priscilla beside him. She had joined without either of them noticing. "All those pokémon had to leave because of an object; we should try our best to help."
Gaston closed his eyes. "I'm still concerned about it; objects that cause events like that aren't known for their safety."
"As long as we're careful, no one should get hurt."
The Delivery Pokémon was silent for a few moments. "Fine. Be sure to let the guildmaster know."
Destrus gave a smile to the ice pokémon at his side. "Thanks."
She returned it with much bigger one of her own.
"A pity, isn't it? Such a promising friendship, gone in an instant."
He froze at the mention of her. She was something he never mentioned to anyone; even himself. He recited the names of species in numerical order, attempting to block the voice out.
"She was the heart of your group."
It was true. She kept the team together. While they all liked each other well enough, they could never agree on subject. Sparks erupted constantly from their words clashing together. She was their glue, their mediator. She was the only one who could instil a sense of something remotely resembling unity.
But how did it know?
"Such a mixture of personalities would eventually destroy itself. How did all of it come together?"
"We should become a team!"
He refused on the spot.
"Don't be like that." Priscilla laid a hand on his wing. "We've known each other for a long time. I know you don't like to meet other pokémon, but you have to learn how to at least talk with others if you want to accomplish anything noteworthy."
He didn't answer.
"We'll explore caves, camp together and look for treasure! I can even bring those berries you like."
He twitched. "You don't need to tempt me with treats. I'm not 6 months old."
"I just want you to work with others. Saying hello when you meet someone, thank you when you're grateful, goodbye when you leave, please when you ask for something, go greet Giratina when you really want someone out of your feathers. It's the little things that count."
He looked up at her. "I guess I can do that."
With a squeal of joy, she wound both arms around his neck and pressed him to her torso. He attempted to extricate himself from her grasp, but she proved unwilling to let go. After several minutes, she let go, a wide smile on her face.
"Destrus, I want you to meet a friend of mine who agreed to be part of our team." She appeared slightly nervous, which did nothing to help the sinking feeling in his stomach.
As if on cue, a dugtrio popped its head next to him.
After an awkward moment of silence, he managed to fumble out a response. "I...my name is Destrus."
"Trinnius." It said flatly.
"...Hi."
"Charmed."
"Are you...male, or-"
"Female." It didn't sound indignant at all. He guessed that it was a common question.
"...I guess we're going to work together."
"Looking forward to it." The Mole Pokémon delivered one more emotionless response before disappearing beneath.
Priscilla clapped her hands in relief. "She likes you!"
"How do you even know?"
"She didn't leave after one word."
He realized he was shivering from the cold. He didn't realize how low the temperature was until his body started twitching in an attempt to move.
"Alone, cold, confused all in the dark. Just like any other night for you."
His beak opened, three glowing circles spinning inside. Each of them flew out, destroying a sizeable portion of the soil around his head.
"Are you sure you want to escape?"
Laughing bitterly, he freed the rest of his body with another attack.
"Can you deal with life, now that everyone you know is gone?"
As he was feeling for openings, he felt something hard protruding out of the wall. He extracted it, only to find out that it was attached to something much bigger.
After pulling the rest of it out, he illuminated his finding with the lights in his beak. He peered intently at it, hoping that it was something of use.
He wished he hadn't.
It was the skeletal remains of a pokémon.
A dugtrio.
"Oh, that? Yes, it's that friend of yours."
Shaking, he closed his beak, causing the area to darken again. He shook his head with his wings, trying to forget what he just saw.
"Trying to forget again? That's not good for you!"
He started to twitch. The voice laughed, amused by his reaction.
All the other newborns were busy eating. And talking amongst themselves. And throwing berries at each other.
Originally, he was their target.
His ensuing reaction made sure they never picked on him again.
He never cared for their activities. A normal day consisted of: discussions of which pokémon would win in a battle (Magikarp or Luvdisc?), snowman contests (mine looks snowier!) and play fighting (we'll do 40 against 40 like always.). None of them piqued his interest; they only made him more determined to stay away from others. This happened every time he travelled to another location; no one knew him, but younger pokémon would always invite him to play. He always declined, as that would mean talking to others.
A group of snorunt ran by, pointing at him and snickering. He gave them a cursory glance and floated off to collect berries. While berries weren't as plentiful here, it didn't stop him from spending half the day filling the bag hanging from his neck with them.
It wasn't as if porygons needed to eat anyway.
After he was sure all the trees nearby were picked, he checked his pack. 3 quarters full. "Good," he murmured.
"Are you okay?"
The Virtual Pokémon spun around to face the direction the voice came from, only to see a snorunt standing in front of him. When he remained silent, it repeated the question.
He flew past it, ignoring the question. He settled down under a tall pine tree, its needles protecting him from the constant snowfall that always threatened to bury him if he stayed in one spot for too long. He bit into a berry and thought about where he would head to next, when he heard quiet footsteps.
Several seconds later, the snorunt stepped into his resting area. It looked at him quizzically for a moment before walking up to him.
"Why are you following me?" he asked, annoyed at its actions.
"To find out if you're okay," it said without a moment's hesitation. "You're really small, but you always go around alone. Don't you ever get lonely?"
He finished the berry and removed another, unable to think of an answer.
It picked up an armful of snow and offered it to him. "Want some?"
"I don't eat snow, ice or pine cones."
The snorunt looked at the berry held in his beak. "What does that taste like?"
He tossed the berry towards the ice-type.
"Weird," it munched on the dark blue skin of the fruit, chewing slowly. "Thanks."
Destrus watched the pokémon finish the berry and got up to leave.
"Wait," said the Snow Hat Pokémon, running up to him. "Maybe you'd...like a friend to travel with you?"
He laughed. "But, your parents would be worried."
The snorunt shook its head. "They already know I want to get out of this frozen hunk of ice."
The porygon sighed. "I don't want to regret this."
"You won't!" It leapt at him, wrapping its diminutive arms around his neck.
"Your name?" he asked, trying to shake the overeager pokémon off.
"Priscilla."
"Do you know what happened to them?"
He screamed for it to shut its mouth, only to have it laugh in his face. While he didn't want to relieve those memories, but this abomination was doing something worse; tainting them.
"Your friends were actually very dedicated."
He attacked everything around him, destroying random parts of the ground in an attempt to silence whatever was talking.
"They tried to talk to you, but you were already gone."
He continued to attack, blind with rage.
"I buried them here, one by one, so you could all be together again. I had to cripple them, since they tried to run."
He could barely hear what it was saying.
"That froslass of yours was quite problematic. I let down the field for a split second and she converts the entire area into ice. I made sure to consume her head first."
He didn't know how he got here.
There was no one to explain.
He couldn't control his power.
Everyone ran away when he tried to ask for help.
He was too young to understand why this was happening.
But he was old enough to understand that he would have to fend for himself.
So for the next 8 years, he wandered through the world.
He learned to control himself.
He learned to speak.
He learned to survive.
He never learned to trust others until a long time after.
Without warning, massive amounts of energy gathered in his mouth and focused themselves into beam capable of cutting through the thickest of mountains. The beam was maintained for several minutes, grinding anything it touched out of existence.
When it finally ended, he collapsed onto the middle of ruined landscape. Breathing heavily, he noticed several specks of snow land on his face. He looked towards the sky, which was a blinding white.
Mustering up the strength to get up, he flew into the air and surveyed the desecrated terrain.
He noticed a patch of the purest snow he had ever seen. He flew to it.
As he got closer, he noticed something. He thought it was a fallen branch covered in snow.
He landed next to it.
He wiped the snow off.
It was an arm.
The arm of a froslass.
With that, he finally broke.
He could barely feel himself fall to the ground.
He could barely hear himself scream to the skies.
He could barely see a serpentine shape fly into the clouds, laughing at his misery.