I awoke to the choking taste of smoke, thick and heavy. With a flail of my limbs I tumbled out of my bed and fell to the floor in a mass of blankets. My mind went blank for a second... it was like that morning...
A mouth full of searing smoke brought me back to reality. Coughing and spluttering I tore the blankets off me and took in my room with wide eyes. Smoke curled its way throughout my room, coming from under my door and the air vents. My entire house was ablaze. Instantly I thought of my mother and father. I tried to call out to them but ended up only coughing and blinking stinging eyes.
I had to get out of this room. In a haze I turned towards my window, the only way out of my room that wasn't producing smoke. Through the smoky haze I wadded, trying to shield my eyes, nose, and mouth from the burning pain. My fingers touched the window, pulling it open after a few tries. Bitter cold air rushed in, driving away the smoke closest to me. Taking a gulping breath of the fresher air I pulled myself through the window. Carefully I lowered myself from the window, stretching as far down as possible before letting go and hitting the ground, my legs buckling underneath me.
The air outside my house stank with the scent of smoke. I looked around and saw to my horror that the rest of the town lay in flames. Smoke poured from every building, floating up into the sky causing a distinct haze to cover the entire town. The sky was filled with dark grey clouds, which floated lazily by. The sun was hidden by the clouds, though it could only have just risen based on the dimness.
Shaking my head I pulled myself out of my daze and got to my feet. This was not the time to sit idly. If the entire town was on fire then everyone else was in danger. My parents were still inside my house. I staggering forwards a few steps before I regained my footing and ran around my house to the window for my parents bedroom.
"Mother! Father!" I cried out desperately as I pounded on their window, my hand made into a fist. Tears slipped down my cheeks as I pounded, crying into the early morning. "Mother! Father!" I screamed, my voice cracking.
"They're gone."
I froze, my hand falling limply to my side. Slowly I turned around, my chest heaving from the rush of adrenaline I had just felt. My heart froze when I locked eyes with the speaker. My mind flashed back to my sister... the day she died.
"All the humans are gone, save for you."
A pokemon stood before me. She had blue fur and bore the resemblance of a dog. A spike stuck out from her chest and another spike for the back of her forepaws. It was a Lucario.
Lucario narrowed her eyes. "You're Lidia's sister... aren't you?"
I gulped, nodding my head. This pokemon... she had known my sister?
"My master and her were good friends. He was depressed after she... well you know. But now... I cannot find my master." In my emotional state I hadn't noticed at first that Lucario didn't move her mouth when she spoke. She was speaking with her mind.
"Don't talk... about her." I said, casting my eyes downwards, tears falling to the ground.
"I am sorry. Look, you cannot stay here. This town is done for. Come with me and the others. We are going to find the humans." Lucario motioned for me to follow.
I hesitantly followed her, away from the smoke and the destruction. A small drop of rain was lobbed from the sky, smacking into my head with a splat. A few more drops tumbled down from the sky before an entire onslaught rained down on the two of us. Rain spilled down from my hair and soaked into my night-clothes, making them stick to my chilling body.
A shiver traveled down my spine. I wrapped my arms around myself, trying to stay warm as the rain continued to fall. Lucario walked forwards, not looking back at me once. She led me to the outskirts of town, near the forest that surrounded the town on all sides. Lucario motioned for me to sit down, under a tree and out of the rain. Hesitantly I lowered myself onto the large stone.
"What happened?" I asked, looking back towards the town. The weaker fires had died off because of the rain but others still roared, fueled by the homes of my friends.
"To be honest… I do not know. Something or someone came and took the humans away. All us pokemon were put to sleep and place together near the town's center, forced out of our pokeballs. We awoke to the flames just as you did. One of the Rattata saw a Charizard, however. The Charizard was the one who set everything on fire." Lucario hung her head, her eyes closed as sorrow overwhelmed her.
"So, all the pokemon were left? Every single one of them?"
"As far as I know, yes. None of the pokemon were taken."
"So, where are the others?"
Lucario opened her eyes, glancing over to me. I quickly cast my gaze away. I couldn't look her in the eyes. "Some have already left, in search of the humans. Others ran off into the wild, glad to be free from their trainers. There are, however, a few that stayed here. They are my friends. I told them I sensed the aura of a human and asked them to wait for me. They are further into the forest."
"Then what are we waiting for? I'm not going to rest until I find my parents." I stood up from the rock and looked into the forest.
"Very well. Follow me." Lucario headed further into the forest, her feet splashing through the newly formed puddles as the rain continued to fall, splattering on the leaves above us. The forest was quiet, all I could hear was the sound of my feet, Lucario's paws, and the rain. I was walking bare footed, the newly made mud slipping between my uncovered toes, sucking my feet down into the ground with every step.
As we walked I glanced around, taking in the rain drenched forest. When I was young I had often come out with my sister and played in the forest. Fresh tears slide down my face, mixing with the rain. Now not only had I lost my sister, but also my parents. Gone. I was alone, save for the pokemon. Pokemon I didn't care for, the things that reminded me of my sister's cold dead eyes. She had been a great pokemon trainer, one of the best. But that had been so long ago.
Not much more time passed before we had come upon a loose collection of rocks that formed a makeshift cave. Lucario headed straight for the cave, motioning for me to follow with a flick of her paw. Without hesitation I followed behind the pokemon, careful to not step into the deepest of the water puddles or the thickest of the mud piles. I ducked into the cave like structure behind Lucario.
Inside there was barely any room, two more pokemon were waiting inside for Lucario and me. One was a rather fat looking Munchlax and the other was one of my father's pokemon. It was a Weavile, my father had trained him for years and we had met a few times before, though my father rarely had his pokemon out around me.
Upon our entrance Weavile jumped to his feet and rushed over to me. "Sara!" He cried, wrapping his arms around me, careful not to cut me with his razor-sharp claws. I was startled, my father had never trained his pokemon to talk.
Lucario looked surprised. "It appears you two know each other, that's a good thing. My other friend serves the same master as me. Though he's not very strong yet."
"But, Weavile, how can you speak? It… it shouldn't be possible for you to learn so fast."
"When we pokemon woke up we could all talk in the langue of you humans. Even little Munchlax can talk, when he wants to. He's rather quiet." Weavile buried his head into my chest as he hugged me. "I'm so happy to see you're fine, Sara. I was so worried."
Lucario took a seat on the ground, the sound of the rain seemed amplified inside the little cave, the rain thundering down upon the rock ceiling. "We should be on our way soon, but we're going to wait a bit to see if the rain dies down."
I nodded my head. "Sounds good. I'm already soaked and cold." I sat down and pulled my legs up against my chest. Weavile sat next to me. And so we waited as the rain poured down from the sky, we spoke little and most of the time I gazed outside, watching the rain fall.
So, a pretty basic chapter to introduce the characters and get the plot started. I hope you are enjoying it so far. Next chapter is about the same length as this one, and should be the usual length for chapters in this story.
