Author's Note:
Hello everyone. I hope you're all well!
Thanks so much to those of you that reviewed and added this story to your favourites/alerts. Hopefully, as the story progresses, it will become more popular. It's taken me a lot of time and thought to come up with it, so I hope I can share it with as many people as possible!
Now, this is where the real story begins.
Hunt
Chapter 1
Misty Waterflower, gym leader of Cerulean City Gym, watched the screen in front of her intensely. It was just horrific – terrifying, in fact. To be honest, terrifying was just an understatement to describe the monstrosity that was currently occurring all over the regions. And, what made it worse was that anyone could be next, which meant that she was just as vulnerable as a Caterpie stuck in a cage full of Pigeot.
It first started out around four years ago. It was so sudden and unexpected. No one saw it coming at all, and when the young, aspiring grandson of Professor Oak disappeared, things changed drastically. No one knew how or why Gary was taken, or even where – all they knew was that he was taken, and it was unlikely that he'd ever be coming back.
It had been all over the papers. Misty herself had only been fourteen at the time, a year younger than he was, and she remembered how every single day seemed like a never ending game of hide and seek. Countless numbers of search parties continued to look for him, but they never found anything, not even a spec of evidence. The Professor held hope and refused to believe such stories of what the press were coming out with, and day by day, he continued to smile broadly and face whatever doubts were thrown at him. Only those who knew him well could see that he had already started to realise that his grandson would never be found.
Exactly three years after Gary went missing, the real crime had begun. Across the regions, gym leaders of all types had started to disappear – rumour had it that a new organisation, which some people had named Euphoria, were behind the disaster, but nothing was ever confirmed. The first to go was Candice, gym leader of Snowpoint Gym in the Sinnoh region. Shortly after Candice, it was Morty from Ecruteak City in Johto, and from then on, no one knew who was going next. That's what made the whole thing so absurd – whoever was taking them were hitting and splitting, randomly moving from region to region. No one knew where their next target was going to be, and more importantly, no one knew who was going to be their next victim.
As Misty continued to watch the TV screen in the Cerulean Gym, a knot started to form in the pit of her stomach. The latest gym leader to vanish was Sabrina, and that meant one thing; they were back in Kanto. Erika was the first of the Kanto gym leaders to go, followed by Blaine, Janine and Koga, and now, Sabrina. Misty knew that Sabrina was an extremely smart and powerful gym leader, and she wouldn't go down without a fight easily, so to know that Sabrina had failed to outwit these people made her feel that much weaker about herself.
Ring ring ring! Ring ring ring! Phone call, phone call!
Misty jumped and dropped the TV remote in the process, looking up at the videophone. Standing up from her seat on the sofa, she answered to find the beaming face of her eldest sister, Daisy, on the other end.
"Like, hey little sis!"
"Hey Daisy," Misty said, surprised at how enthusiastic her sister sounded. "Is everything okay?"
Daisy's beaming smile vanished.
"Actually Misty, everything's not okay," she admitted. "I wanted to talk to you, and it's pretty, like, important."
"I take it you've heard then," Misty replied, referring to the disappearance of Sabrina. She saw Daisy nod and the expression on her face showed that of utter concern, a trait that Misty knew was extremely rare for her sister to show.
"Misty… Lily, Violet and I aren't happy with you being at the gym on your own," she said, putting her hair behind her ears. "I mean, like, what if something happens, Misty? You may be pretty headstrong, but you're still vulnerable on your own, and we, like, don't want anything happening to our baby sister."
"Daisy-"
"And, like, you've seen it yourself. These people are taking gym leaders within the blink of an eye, without any trouble at all. Anyone could be next and we just don't want that person being you, Misty. If anything ever happened to you, we don't know what we'd do."
She looked at her sister dead in the eye. It was clear that Daisy was worried sick – Misty was just surprised at how open she was being. It was unusual for her sister to be this firm, and for that reason, Misty respected her. Plus, she actually agreed with Daisy for once – things were getting far too dangerous, and staying at the gym without anyone else around her was practically waiting in her own death trap.
"Thanks, Daisy," Misty said. "I'm actually glad you brought this up. Each day I feel like my time's running out, and I don't think I can handle this on my own anymore."
"And, like, you know you can't come out to Unova, right?"
Misty gave her sister a bemused expression.
"So where am I going to go?" she questioned.
"Like, don't worry, Misty," Daisy said reassuringly. "I've been in touch with Ash's mom and she said you're free to stay with her in Pallet Town."
Ah – Delia Ketchum. Delia had always been an important person in Misty's upbringing, and Misty felt like she'd always been the mother she never had. From time to time, they'd meet while Ash was out travelling around the different regions to catch up, spending the days drinking lemonade and basking in the sun. That was back when she was a kid, and now a young adult, Misty started to realise just how long it had been since she'd seen the cheery face of Delia.
"Honestly, Daisy, I can't thank you enough right now," Misty said, smiling as she saw her sister grin. "What would I do without you?"
"Well, for one, you'd still look totally boyish," Daisy said, ignoring the unimpressed expression that had engulfed Misty's face. "And you totally wouldn't be the hottest gym leader in Kanto!"
"You know, I wasn't actually expecting an answer to that question," Misty said blankly, raising one eyebrow. "But, you do have a point with the last part," she added smugly.
"I only speak the truth!"
Breaking the conversation, shouting could be heard coming from the room Daisy was in, and Misty giggled as her sister cringed and smacked her hand against her forehead.
"What are they arguing about this time?"
"Probably something totally pointless, like shoes or who gets to use the straighteners first," replied Daisy, rolling her eyes in annoyance.
"Violet, give them to me!"
"No way Lily, you've like, had them for the past half hour!"
"I was right," Daisy said, rolling her eyes. "Listen, Misty, I've gotta go and sort these two out, but ring me later on this evening as soon as you get to Delia's house, okay?"
"Will do," Misty said.
"Catch you later," Daisy said, standing up from her seat on the videophone. The screen then went blank and Misty was left alone again. Emptiness filled the gym, and instantly, she felt as if she was being watched. The TV was still on and Officer Jenny of Saffron City could be seen, reporting the latest on the current events.
"The League strongly advises all gym leaders to remain indoors at all times and to make sure you are not alone. Also, ensure you're armed with any type of weapon in case of self-defence. If you happen to see any signs of unusual or suspicious behaviour by an individual or group, immediately call your local Officer Jenny. This is Officer Jenny of Saffron City and I wish you all to remain safe and unharmed."
. . .
Misty breathed out heavily as she put her suitcase on the floor after carrying it down the stairs. Throughout the day, she had been tidying the gym up as she probably wouldn't be coming back for a long time, which was something she hated to think about. She'd also spent the day packing her things for Delia's house, making sure she didn't leave behind anything important. All of her Pokémon were now in Poké Balls and packed securely away in her bag, ready for the stay ahead.
Letting go of her suitcase handle, she walked over to the front desk and stroked her fingers along the carved Cascade badge sign, a resemblance of the Cerulean Gym. It saddened her to know that she wouldn't be battling any new hopefuls anymore, or handing out anymore badges to pumped kids after winning a battle. She couldn't bear to think of how disappointed they'd be, but then again, they'd surely understand why she had to close the gym. Letting out a short but heavy sigh, she went to grab the rest of her things but something caught her attention.
She paused.
A sound could be heard coming from the roof, a sort of scratching sound, as if something had fallen onto it.
She couldn't even brace herself for what happened next.
The roof exploded, sending large amounts of debris to come falling to the ground, crushing the gym desk and almost crushing her. She screamed at the top of her lungs, her throat hurting as she crouched to the floor, shielding her head with her hands. She could feel pieces of glass cut her skin and smoke began to form, suddenly making it extremely hard to breathe. When things started to settle down, she slowly brought her head out from her arms and looked up.
The whole gym was covered in bricks and other debris from the roof, while the air was thick with black cloud. She started to cough, so she covered her mouth with her hand. As she moved, a taste that was similar to metal appeared in her mouth, so examining her lip with her fingers, she discovered that her mouth was bleeding, the iron-like taste sliding down her throat.
When she looked around the gym again, she got that feeling of double life, like she wasn't even present and that it was only her spirit floating around the room. Her head started to pound, and at that moment of time, there was complete silence – only herself and what remained of the gym were present.
Oh no.
Her eyes started to well up as she thought about what was happening – it was them, they were coming for her, she just knew it. It was too late, she was frozen to the spot in fright, she couldn't even bring herself to run or do anything at all to try and save herself. Her legs started to tremble as she felt herself start to get weaker and weaker. Then, she heard the gym doors slide open.
"Misty, run!"
Her head shot around to the entrance of the gym and she saw somebody running towards her. She ignored his words as she found she had lost the ability to breathe at what she saw in front of her.
No… that's impossible…
"What are you doing just standing here? Run, Misty!" he bellowed, grabbing her shoulders. She was shaken out of her reverie and all of a sudden she felt a huge surge of energy rush through her. Her bag dropped to the floor, causing all of her Poké Balls to fall out, and as she looked into the boy's eyes, everything around her disappeared – the gym, the smoke, the pain… for a literal second, she felt as if she didn't even exist anymore.
The next thing she felt was his hand gripping onto her arm tightly, pulling her forcefully out of the gym. She breathed in sharply as the pressure of his hand felt like it was bruising her arm and it made her chest burn as if someone was sucking the air out of her. Her breath was hitched in her throat, and as she heard another explosion, her head suddenly dropped back down to earth.
She was running, running as fast as her legs would take her. The boy still had his grip on her and he was almost dragging her along, taking her down the back alley of the gym. The sky was pitch black, making it almost impossible for her to see anything at all.
Another explosion erupted, so Misty chose to close her eyes tightly and attempt to drown out the ringing in her ears. She started to pant, her mouth becoming dry, and when she opened her eyes again, she wasn't down the alley anymore.
Before she could take in her surroundings, she was thrown to the floor. Her head smacked against it, causing her to lose train of thought, and when she looked up, the boy who had dragged her here was crouching over her, covering up her mouth to stop her from screaming. Hot tears began streaming down her face as she stared directly into his sharp green eyes. Gradually, his hold on her began to weaken, and her body stopped shaking. She could still hear the sound of Cerulean in the distance, and just as quickly as they had ran, everything began to fade.
Silence…
Author's Note:
It's funny how life can change within a split second, isn't it? I've had far too many moments throughout mine where one minute, everything is perfect, and then the next, it's a completely different story. That's what I wanted to capture in this chapter - just how valuable life really is.
I hope you enjoyed it. Once again, please continue to review! I love reading your thoughts on my writing, it helps me progress and encourages me to carry on.
Until next time,
Charityx
