Pokemon: Outcast Chapter 1: Shrouded in Mystery, a pokémon fanfic

Authors Notes:

I'm Finally back! Wohoo!

As for my absence these last weeks, it can be explained...

My dammed computer wouldn't start when I was on vacation, which left me unable to lay out anything.

But now I'm back, and as an apology for the Delay, I will lay out an extra Chapter together with this one

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Chapter 1: Shrouded in Mystery

Morning arrived in the city of Eterna, the night pokemon slowly returning to their homes to rest, and the population slowly waking from their slumber. It was clouded, but the people didn't mind, they were just happy to be alive

Eterna forest, which lay due west of the city, was just the same, its pokemon and travelers slowly waking to embrace a new day…

Duncan awoke, the nightmare of his past still haunting him, like it had been doing for the past two years, ever since he managed to escape from that hell-hole.

He took a look at his left arm, as he always did when he awoke, ever since that day, hoping that it would all be a dream, only to have his hopes crushed by the cold hard reality…

Like the rest of the forest, the place he had chosen to rest in had been mostly abandoned or untouched by humans. On some occasions, a Buneary or Budew would pass through the area, although they would run away at the sight of Duncan.

"Duncan…" an all to familiar voice echoed in his head, five years ago, the voice would have freaked him out, but now, not only was he not frightened, but he embraced the being it belonged to, not only as a friend, but almost as his own brother.

"Yes Blade, what is it?" Duncan asked, although he already could feel the answer himself…

The emotions emerged from the east, feelings of great fear, of anger, and of the cruel passion of an enemy enjoying his work.

"Time to work…" Duncan said, seeming almost annoyed with the fact, although this was something he had decided on since he had escaped…

Hannah smiled, glad for another battle to be over…

As most of those she had met before, the young trainer had resisted his capture, and as the others she had faced, he had been totally defeated, with five of his six pokemon already defeated, with she herself only loosing one of her own.

Yet the trainer continued to struggle, even though it was hopeless, something that always amused Hannah, for it was always interesting to see what they planned as a last resort.

The small forest area which they battled upon had been heavily damaged by some of the battling pokemon, many trees either turned over, or crushed, and a series of holes and scratches appearing on the still standing trees, and a series of smoking craters on the ground. No pokemon were close, save for Hannah's Ursaring, which fit her perfectly, as the wildlife only served to get in her way.

The terrified trainer which opposed her was a young male, barely ten years of age, like so many others. There had been older trainers passing through from time to time, and just like the younger, they stood no chance against her.

What the trainer lacked in age, however, he made up for I skill, managing to actually take out one of Hanna's earlier pokemon, something very few had managed to do before, even among the older trainers.

The trainer reached onto left side of his black vest, gripping the upper of the two small oval shaped red and white colored capsules, with a round button in the middle of each; a poke ball.

The trainer pressed the button, and threw the ball into the air. It opened, and in a shining white light, a small, brown and white mammalian creature appeared.

"An Eevee?" Hannah said, surprised at the choice "you're going to use an Eevee?" she broke into a laugh, of which her Ursaring joined her in.

Eevee seemed to get agitated over this, getting into an aggressive stance "Hey!" the trainer screamed, apparently annoyed as well "stop mocking him!"

Hannah didn't, instead, she laughed even more.

The Trainer used this opening, commanding his Eevee to bite his opponent, something it did with pleasure. It bit Ursaring's right leg, although it was weak, and didn't leave much of a mark; however it did make Hannah stop laughing.

"Ursaring…" she said, still humored, but now a little annoyed "slash…"

Ursaring did not hesitate, but immediately proceeded to do its master's bidding.

Ursaring was indeed powerful, that much was certain, but Cyrus managed to notice that he was slow, making Cyrus's quick Eevee able to dodge him.

Eevee managed to dodge the blows at first, however as the battle continued, Eevee was starting to get tired, while the foe's Ursaring seemed to get more powerful with each swing…

Eventually Eevee became too exhausted to dodge, leaving him an easy target for Ursaring. He struck Eevee, ramming her into a nearby tree, and critically injuring her.

"Eevee!" Cyrus shouted, heading to the tree to see to his friend, whom he had been friends with, since before he started on his journey.

A large stomp came from his side, and suddenly, Cyrus found himself Rammed into a nearby tree.

Cyrus fell down on the ground, the wind being completely knocked out of him; he gasped and coughed for air.

"Now, now" the woman suddenly said, her voice drawing closer, yet drawing quite distant. Everything started to go black, and as the steps of the attacker drew closer, somehow, Cyrus knew that it was over

"We will need him alive for the experiments…" she said, followed by a dark maniacal laughter, and it became quiet…

As Cyrus came to, he felt… nothing, save for the ground he was lying on.

A gentle breeze went by, almost seeming to comfort him as he lay motionless, and giving him a minute of relaxation.

Suddenly, a thought struck him; he had been in a battle before he was knocked out, how was it possible that it was so peaceful around him.

Cyrus opened his eyes, and saw that he was still on the battlefield, however, the area seemed to have taken even more damage then before, meaning that there had been a battle later on.

Cyrus took a look at where he was lying; it was under a tree, and one of the more whole in point.

He looked down at his body; his orange shirt had been removed, replaced by bandages, which covered the more injured area, his shirt covering his blue jeans, and on top of it, a familiar brown and white colored creature slept soundly, seeming both happy, and worried.

"You know…" a voice suddenly emerged from Cyrus's right "that Eevee haven't left your side since he woke…" Cyrus took a look to see, revealing the voice to be a fifteen year old boy.

The man was thinner than most Cyrus knew at that age, most having let their bodies fall at that point, yet this man seemed to be quite active.

While Cyrus couldn't exactly see the man's hair, due to the Chullo that covered both it, and his ears, he could tell that he had colored it green for some reason.

The man also had some sunglasses, hiding his eyes completely, showing no eye color or anything.

Who is this man Cyrus wondered, was it this man who had saved him, or was it he who would be experimenting on him…

Suddenly, the man burst into laughter "I'm sorry" he said, his calm and gentle voice, seeming to belong to an elite four member "I go by the name of Blade, and rest assured, I mean you no harm…"

How did he know? Cyrus thought to himself, clearly meaning the question, but avoided to say it out loud, however, it was almost like this Blade, knew what he was thinking.

He laughed again, explaining "your face says everything" revealing that Cyrus was now gaping in surprise. Feeling a little embarrassed, Cyrus decided to close it before he said something stupid.

The Eevee started to wake, twitching its right ear, as she always did before she awoke, opening its eyelids, and revealing its brown eyes.

Eevee looked toward Cyrus, its eyes filled with hopes for its friend's welfare, which swelled into happiness as she saw Cyrus smiling toward him.

Eevee jumped up, and practically hugged Cyrus, a move which ended quickly, as Eevee decided to jump down from Cyrus's gut.

"Onto more important matters…" Blade suddenly interrupted, making both trainer and pokemon turn to face him, both confused.

"What are you doing here? Eterna forest was supposed to be shut down, something I notice that many trainers don't care about" Blade pointed out, making Cyrus gulp a little.

He looked to his Eevee, who immediately turned her little head down, almost seeming to sigh...

"I'm looking for my older sister…" Cyrus said, almost regretfully, yet continued nonetheless…

"My sister became a trainer four years ago, and had gotten quite good, gaining up to six gym badges" he said, pride seeming to swell in his face, a pride which immediately got replaced by sorrow "however, one day, when she traveled through this forest, she seemed to vanish into thin air…" Cyrus looked down to the ground "the police looked for months, finding nothing, apparently just like the other victims, until they just decided to give up…"

Cyrus could feel Blade eying him, yet he continued "I decided that when I became a trainer, when I came here, I would look for her…"

Duncan eyed the young Red haired trainer, trying to sense some kind of secret from him, yet, he didn't seem to have any; this trainer was an open book.

Duncan searched his memory, trying to find someone who looked like this trainer, yet he could find no resemblance to any of them.

After a while, Duncan decided to ask "what is your name?" concerned with the well being of this, obviously kind trainer.

"Huh?" the trainer asked, surprised, but decided to give up his name "Cyrus Trueheart"

"Really, no kidding" Blade suddenly interrupted, seeming almost to mock the fitting name, however, it also seemed as if Blade tried to reach into Cyrus's head as well, seeing as he suddenly started to look around, with a puzzled look on his face.

Cyrus looked around; he could have sworn that he had heard someone else just now. However, the battlefield was completely devoid of life, except for himself, Eevee, and Blade.

"Ah right, you're Lisa's little brother, correct?"

Both Eevee and Cyrus turned at the comment, both surprised, and shocked.

"You know Lisa?" Cyrus asked, nearly jumping out of his relaxed position, however stopped by a sudden jolt of pain; he hadn't fully recovered.

Blade took a heartfelt laughter, seeming to be remembering some good old memories "why yes, I know her very well, and I'm pleased to finally meet the little brother I had heard so much about…" he said, smiling happily.

Cyrus made no hesitation in asking, being far too exited to wait for anything else "do you know where she is?"

"Last I heard from her, she was heading for Snowpoint city" Blade managed to admit, snapping his fingers for some odd reason.

Cyrus couldn't help but cry; finally, he had found a clue to where his sister was. He looked to his Eevee, and saw that she was just as happy, however, unwilling to let herself cry…

Duncan felt… horrible…

This young trainer, Cyrus, had decided to open up completely to him, despite having only just met him, and yet, Duncan himself had been forced to lie…

Well, it was not completely lie, he had met Lisa Trueheart some years before, and last time he had seen her, she was going into the direction of Snowpoint.

However, Duncan had not told Cyrus the whole story of how they met, nor the truth of what had happened to Lisa…

"Duncan…" Blade suddenly erupted inside him, seeming even more serious than usual, almost sounding angry…

Duncan took a look to Cyrus, whom seemed to almost faint with excitement, leaving Duncan to attend to his own business.

"Don't try to make me feel more guilty, Blade" Duncan thought to the being within his mind, which in the case of the two, counted as a conversation with real words.

"Relax; I will do no such thing..." Blade seemed to lessen at each word, seeming almost pleased at the end of the sentence.

Blade continued "if he knew the truth, he would surely try to find her, something that would leave him an open target for the organization…"

Blade paused for a little while, although why was unsure, maybe to regard the celebrating youth and his Eevee, yet continued soon after

"It is better that he doesn't know, at least, for now…" and with that, the voice faded back to its own mind, as it had done so many times before…

Duncan returned his attention to Cyrus, who seemed to have recovered enough to stand up on his own, although not for long, falling head first into a pile of mud after half a minute.

Duncan just had to laugh, walking up to the fallen trainer, and helping him up again, bringing Cyrus's left arm over Duncan's own left Shoulder, supporting him from collapsing.

Hours passed before Cyrus, Blade, and Eevee found something of note, it was an old, run down house, and estate almost, although not that large.

One could also tell that it was abandoned, and for a long time at that, seeing how much of it was damaged, broken, or even torn of.

The garden around it looked no better, seeing as the fence which surrounded it had been broken on several areas, and overgrown with plant life on other areas. However the occasional pokemon that went by paid no heed to it, although keeping their distance from the building, almost seeming to fear what is inside…

Duncan stopped and turned to eye the structure, feeling some sort of close bond to it, seeing as he had spent much time under its warm, comforting, not to mention haunted, roof.

He gazed at the garden, its ruined and unattended wilderness, fitting perfectly for both him, and the local pokemon.

"Why are you here?" Cyrus suddenly asked him, returning his attention back to the injured child.

"What?" Duncan said, surprised that he thought of the question just now

"You said that not many trainers were dumb enough to pass through Eterna forest anymore" Cyrus explained, referring to their earlier conversation.

Duncan did not deny it, remembering the conversation clearly, and let the young Cyrus proceed

"What are the reasons for you being here?" he asked again, clearly not allowing it to pass.

Duncan took a deep sigh, not really wanting to talk about it, but knew that he didn't really have any other choice…

Blade drew quiet, revealing that he had some sort of past in the forest. That much, Cyrus was certain of.

"I'm looking for something I have lost…" Blade started with, bringing a little pause before the next line "actually, it is more like it was taken from me…"

"You mean stolen…" Cyrus interrupted, clearly interested in the story

"Some of it, yes" Blade admitted, although not in a pleasant tone. "However" he continued, his tone growing more distant "there are some things, if taken, cannot be returned"

"These things, if taken, do not qualify as stolen, for stolen goods can always be returned" he seemed distant, almost both a little scared, and angry at the same time.

Cyrus expected to hear more, however, as Blade did not continue, he was forced to ask "what did you loose?"

Blade was quiet, seeming to think about something else entirely, eventually, Cyrus had to ask again, being sterner this time, however, Blade continued to ignore him.

"Blade!" a voice suddenly shouted, from the direction they were headed. Both turned to look…

The woman was a young adult, seeming only to be few years older than Blade, her brown short, lively hair, being extended on the sides of her front, her brown eyes full of life, and her brown and green clothing, making it certain that she loved nature.

"Gardenia, what are you doing here?" Blade asked, somehow seeming both relieved, and worried at the same time.

"I had a feeling that you would be coming around here" the woman answered, her warm smile, seeming as comforting as a Nurse Joy's

"I mean, you do always seem to come here around this time of day, every day" she said, a little mockery in her tone, but continued to smile.

Gardenia's eyes started to eye the young boy Blade held, and the Eevee beside him, she did not seem to take notice of the injuries both of them had suffered, or she was simply not surprised by them, instead asking "and who is this young guy here?"

"Cyrus Trueheart…" Cyrus answered, a little bit confused of who this woman was, and what she was doing here, yet he decided not to bring up the subject.

Gardenia's face paled, and the warm smile was replaced by surprise, and a hint of sadness. She turned to blade, who looked somewhat annoyed over something…

"He's…"

"Yes…" blade said, interrupting her question, and judging from his face, with obvious reasons…

"Did you…"

"No…"

"But shouldn't you…"

"I should, but I won't"

"But…"

"It's better to leave it be!" Blade finally said, seeming almost angry over something.

Gardenia decided to reluctantly agree, something even Cyrus could see, although without the knowledge of why, so he decided to ignore it.

Gardenia returned to Cyrus, a smile returning to her face, however a fake one.

"Nice to meet you Cyrus" she said, a real smile, and color returning to her face, although, if looked carefully, one could still see the worry in her eyes.

Blade decided to speak "Gardenia is the Gym leader of Eterna, so you should be fighting her soon"

Cyrus eyed the woman; she was the Gym leader of Eterna city! Cyrus had earlier met Roark, of Oreburgh, yet he was older than this woman, almost reaching the age of twenty one, while this woman looked like she would barely be eighteen.

Blade drew quiet, seeming to think over something; however this little phase ended quickly with him asking "Gardenia, Could you take Cyrus to the Town Doctor? I've managed to tent to most his injuries, but a doctor should see if I had forgotten something…"

Gardenia looked over Cyrus and his Eevee, seeming to identify the damages they had taken

After a while she decided to ask "what happened?" although her facial expression indicated that she already seemed to know what…

"The Organization struck again…" Blade admitted, although with a grin, he continued "they failed, but they struck…"

Gardenia returned the smile, seeming kind of humored by this, although Cyrus couldn't understand why.

And something was telling him that he did not want to know…

Blade started to move again, bending down to a nearby rock, and because Cyrus was pretty much hanging on him, he followed, landing in a sitting just in front of the rock.

Blade released his arm, making Cyrus fall down on the rock behind him. However the hit did not hurt, as Cyrus had expected it to. In fact, it seemed almost comfortable…

Cyrus did not have much time to relax however, as darkness suddenly surrounded him. Blade, Eevee and Gardenia became blurs, and in an instant, everything vanished from view.

He heard the voices of Blade and Gardenia around him, although he only managed to recognize a faint sentence, coming from Gardenia.

"You're a born liar…" and everything went quiet…

Authors Notes:

As you can see here, there is a lot that's been happening in the Eterna forest for a while, with the entire Forest being closed down, as well as Blade/Duncan being in search of something taken from him, which you could probably guess what is.

Anyhow, here's this Chapter's Missing:

Name: Lisa Trueheart Age: probably 15, if alive Gender: Female

Occupation: Trainer Last seen: Entering Eterna Forest

Known possessions: 6 Poke balls containing Piplup, Buizel, Pachirisu, Vulpix, Luxio, Roselia, as well as his Wallet, Poketch, Coal Badge, pokedex

Once again, I apologize for the Delay, and hope that it was worth the wait.