"Ahhh!" I screached. The pain seemed to triple. On instinct, I thrashed around, but to no avail.
"INO!" The door slammed open, revealing Daton with Celena perched high on his shoulder. "Ino, put Phyc down NOW. I won't tolerate this behavior!" Suddenly, I fell to the ground, breathing hoarsly. "Phyc..." Daton fell to his knees and lifted me into his arms, giving me a conserned look. Then his eyes shot up to 'Ino'. "Ino, go to the hall. We'll decide your punishment soon enough." With a huff of defiance, the espeon stalked off out the wooden door. My master turned back to me. "Phyc, are you ok?"
I nodded faintly in reply before laying my head down on his arm, too tired to hold it up any longer. "Phyc?" a conserned voice etched. I opened my eyes to meet those of Shino. "Are you alright? She didn't hurt you, did she?"
I almose laughed, though it would have hurt too much. "What do you think? Yeah, screaming in agony is a new work out rutine." I muttered sarcasticly.
"Sorry.." He muttered. I sent him an apologetic smile before Daton stood up, still holding me tight, and walked out of the room.
"Shard." He ordered. In response, the umbreon followed us duptifuly. "Hang on, Phyc." Daton rushed us into his black van, setting me on the seat behind his own. The umbreon lept in and sat beside me, glancing at me every few minutes throughout the ride. When we finaly stopped, Daton quickly took me and rushed into a large building with a red on it. When we got in, he went to a counter and the woman behind it ghasped at the poor sight of me.
"Chansey! Bring her to the ER immediately!" The woman screached. A large pinkish pokemon came out of nowhere and took me from Daton. As she rushed off, I heard my master saying, "Please save her, Nurse Joy..."
The chansey laid me down on a white table and the nurse ran in. "Ok, then. Hold still now." She said soothingly as she attached cords to my face and chest. Stroking my tail gentaly, the chansey put a breather cap thing over my mouth, and it all went black...
...
"Phyclone... Phyclone, wake up already!" Said a voice, sounding amused.
"Hmmm?" I hummed, feeling light as a feather.
The voice laughed deeply. "Phyclone..." All faded into black.
^^^As the twisting wind, you blo-ho me away.
A child bound by fire...
As the crying pheonix, you light the night and day.
Running from the seas...
As the tortured waves, you cool my heart and soul.
Ripping through the land...
A Phyclone; that is you...^^^
Suddenly, the loving song switched to one of horror and grief...
^^^Father Dear...Don't hurt her...She hasn't done an-y-thing wrong.
Mother Dear...Don't you hear her?..She's been cry-ing all night long.
Brother Dear...Please don't judge her...You've yet to hear her song.
A child shivers, cold tonight.
Her limbs go limp, heart filled with fright.
Nobody hears her screams,
for she only speaks her voice
deep in her dreams.
Love never loves, but only kills.
Tonight she cries. Her heart: It stills.
They've yet to notice her breathing's stopped.
Her fear is gone; The cold is topped.
Tears fall on burning fires.
Her eyes tempt their desires.
Rivalries cast a shadow in the night.
She doesn't run; She stays to fight.
Blood spills; She holds the gem close.
Hiding, she does not what she knows...^^^
I'm running through a tunnel lined with clocks, all ticking loudly. 'Must...catch...him...' I thought exhaustedly, panting with the effort of moving further. Suddenly, I'm surrounded by forest, one filled with unknown plants. However, I pay no notice to the plants, the distant calls of many animals, nor the eyes gazing intently upon me. No, my eyes only seek his pale furr...
I woke with a start, breathing heavily. "What...?"
"Phyc!" I turned weakly to see Daton beside my white bed. "Phyc, are you alright? Does anything hurt?" I groaned. Everything hurt! I rolled over on my side, feeling the ach in my back.
"Mr. Wills. Please be more quiet. This is a pokemon center." The nurse gave my master a scornful look from the doorway. Then she turned to me. "Phyc, don't worry. You'll be out of here in a few minutes. IF, that is, your master decides to fill out his load of the paperwork!" Daton rubbed his neck, embarassed.
They both walked out of the room, leaving me there alone.
Skit! Skit! I turned to the window, and you could guess who was perched there, covered in sweat.
"HYDRO!" I jumped out of bed and threw my paws around him, tears of joy making my eyes sting. "Hydro, I've missed you SO MUCH! How have you been? WHERE have you been?" I splurted, breatheless.
"I've been okay." He said simply. We just sat on the bed for a few minutes, enjoying eachother's preasence.
"Phyc!" I looked over to find Daton in the doorway, a pokeball already letting out red light. The richu from the house appeared before me, looking ready to rumble.
"No!" I yelped, leaping in front of him. "Please don't! Hydro didn't do anything wrong! Richu, you remember me, right? This is a missunderstanding!"
Richu looked flabbergasted. "My name's Rayze, not Richu. I'd be happy to help you out, but how you gonna tell the boss? I gotta listen to him, whatever he says."
I thought for a moment. "Hmrf." I huffed and lept over by Hydro, wrapping my tail around him. I looked up at Daton, hoping he got the message.
"Phyc? Do you know this pokemon?" I slapped my tail on the ground twice, like I'd seen Shino do a couple of times. "Well, well, well. What'a ya know?" He muttered, returning Rayze to his pokeball. Daton crouched down and reached out his hand. Seeing Hydro's sceptical look, I nudged him farword until my master could reach him. He heavily flinched, just like I did in the begining. "You must've come from the same owner as Phyc, hu?" Daton muttered, stroking the head of the reluctant buizle.
"Be nice. This is my new master. He won't hit you or anything. He's been nothing but kind to me, so he'll be nice to you too." I told/ordered him, pressing my shoulder to his flank.
Then I jumped up into Daton's arms, proving my point. He held me just like he did on that first day. "Well, then. What should we do...? If you want, you can come with us, unless you've been captured?" He said, raising an amused eyebrow.
Hydro puffed out his chest proudly, holding his breath. I poked him in the belly, letting all the air explode out, and giggled. He smiled and turned to my master, nodding.
On the car ride home, Hydro kept complaining about EVERYTHING! I just ignored him and thought about seeing my friends again-and dreaded seeing Ino.
"Come on, Out ya go!" Said Daton cheerfully, opening the door of the van. "You've been in the pokemon center for three days, Phyc. Everyone missed you." I fought the urge to scream at him about Ino and the charmelion. "Come on." Daton repeated, opening the door to the building.
We walked down some hallways and came to another room. As we went in, I saw that Shino, Ino, the charmelion, and Rayze were already in there. I wagged my tail as Daton announced, "Hey guys, Phyc's back! Behave, Ino, or I'll feed you to murcrow!" With that, he walked off to do whatever.
"Shino!" I yelped, running over and twitching my ear in greeting.
"Phyc! Are you feeling better?" I nodded, then motioned over to Hydro.
"Remember when I told you about a friend I was separated from? Well, this is Hydro! Hydro, this is Shino."
Shino said hi, and Hydro just nodded. "Why you-"
"Oh, brother." I mumbled.
"You RAT! How dare you talk to my Shino?!" Ino hissed.
"I dare willingly!" I spat back, openly smirking. The espeon's eyes lit up purple, but this time, I was ready. I lept to the side and used iron tail, scoring a goal on her side. She fell to the ground in a heap, still glaring up at me. "Don't think I'll fall for the same trick twice. I'm not as young as I look." I hissed into her ear.
"How old are you, Phyc? You never told me." Shino had trotted up beside me.
"Well, I'm about 3."
"Months?"
"Years, you pricklefur!" Everyone seemed speachless. I huffed and stormed over to a corner full of pillows, laying down.
"Sorry, Phyc!" Shino called, trotting over to me again. "But why haven't you evolved yet, then?"
I sighed, still tired. "My owner used some medicine that keeps me from evolving. It should wear off at some point. I guess the buyer just wanted to see what pups would look like bred from an eevee." I spat, scowling at the ground.
"Bred?!"
"Yeah. The reason me and Hydro ran away was because Owner was gonna sell me to some guy named . They said he wanted me at level 35 for breeding and battling. That's just really how it goes at Owner's." I shrugged tiredly.
Shino layed down against me and I was aware of orange fur on my other side as I drifted off to a world of orange and gold...
...
"What do you want?" I opened my eyes slowly, groaning at the light.
"Master told me to bring the eevee to him." It was a strangly low voice.
"I have a name, you know." I yawned, stretching. "I'm Phyc." I turned to see the embreon from before being blocked by Shino, who had raised hackles. "Daton wants me, hu? Kay, just leat the way, Wringer." I smirked, mentioning the yellow rings around him. "Sorry, I mean Shard. Let's go. Bye, Shino." He dipped his head and layed back down.
We left the comfy room and walked down tons of hallways, finaly coming out to a huge backyard, if you could call it that. It went on for acres. I could see a pond, large stream, field, woods, and some rocky land dotted with boulders. Daton was seated in the field, right beside a large tree.
When we reached him, he smiled. "Well, Phyc, how'd you like to get some training done?" I nodded exitedly. I was eager to learn how my new master trained his pokemon. "Then, what level are you now?"
I thought carefully, trying to remember the human numbers Shino had tought me. After a moment, I managed a rough 35 in the dirt. "Really? That's amazing! I bet you're just about to evolve! To start with, why don't you show me the moves you know?" He asked, smiling broadly at me.
I trotted over to one of the few trees in the field and took a deep breath, wanting to impress my new trainer. I lept at the bark of a low branch and snapped it in half using good old Bite. Glancing back, I was filled with pride by the approving nod Daton gave me. Afterwards, I showed him my Iron Tail, Quick Attack, and Take Down.
Daton nodded, thinking deeply. "The moves are pretty basic, but you've completely mastered them." He smirked down at me. "That Take Down could out-power a ryhorn!" My master chuckled deeply, showing off dimples. "Well, Phyc, would you like to battle?"
I nodded and he went inside, telling me to stay put. I wandered around for a while and stopped at the stream for a drink. The quickly flowing water was crystal clear, showing off some water pokemon. Looking in, I noticed some goldeen swimming around and decided to try my luck.
I waded into the stream and stood completely still, staring down by the rocks. Then, as one swam near, I lunged at a goldeen, closeing my eyes against the splash. I came up holding my trophy in my mouth, head high.
"Phyc!" came a call I instantly recognised as Daton. "Where are you?" I ran over back to the field and set my catch down in front of him, wrapping my tail around my paws. "Wow, Phyc! Did you catch this yourself?" I nodded eagerly. "That's great! Mabey I'll put you on kitchen duity, to catch fresh ingredients."
I smiled, liking the idea of being of some use.
"Hey." I turned to see the charmeleon leaning against the tree, smirking widely. "Guess we'll be battling," He narrowed his eyes. "so promise to go easy on me." I growled lightly, so Daton couldn't hear. "Oh, aren't you eager to please the Master. Don't worry. I'm sure he'll be fine with a Daddy's Kit!" I kneeded the ground, clawing at the dirt beneath my paws.
"Well, Chaz, this is Phyc, the newcomer. But don't underestimate her," He grinned evilly. "She's not as young or innocent as she looks." He stood up straight and walked over to a tree, sitting against it. "For this match, I won't be instructing either of you. Phyc, I already have an idea on your basic power, speed, stuff like that. But I need to see about your all-out experience. Now, both of you get some space apart." He waved his arms around dramaticly.
We both ran until we were about a battle field-length apart. "Aaaaand...GO!"
I kept my distance for a moment, taking everything in. I'd fought fire types before, but never a charmeleon. My paws worked their own way instinctively, padding slowly across the grass. Each step was planned and silent. I eyed Chaz wearily, facing up to an unknown opponent. All thoughts flew from my head, instantly replaced with instinct. Nothing but instinct.
After a few moments, Chaz lept at me. I instantly guaged him as a power fighter. His moves were quick, but clumsy, leaving wide openings that I cornered within a second.
Dodging the blow, I realized he was "testing the waters." He drug back quickly, making another reach of distance. 'Well trained.' I thought. 'He's steadily testing me. Seeing how far he can go.' I decided to do a some-what bold move. I sped in with a Quick Attack, falling back at the last minute and whipping around in a slamming Iron Tail.
"Gah!" the dragon yelped, taking a few steps backwards to avoid falling. I took this as an opertunity and tried to use Bite on his arm. But I was bushed back by a face full of flames. I darted away, shaking my head furiously. Luckily, none of my fur cought fire.
I blinked and Chaz was up on me again, bringing pale claws shredding down across my face. I yelped in pain and lept back, squirming on the ground, paws glued to my face. I felt something sticky under my paws and realized three wounds on my face were gushing blood, two running across my eyes. "Ahhh!" I screamed, feeling the burn of my sweaty fur sticking to the open gashes.
"Oh my... Oh, Mew!" I heard Chaz bellow.
"I-it's okay," I whimpered. "It d-doesn't hurt th-that b-b-bad." Before I knew it, I was swept up into strong arms.
"Phyc," said Daton, straining for calm. "Can you open your eyes? Try for me. Open your eyes."
I tried cracking them a slit, but instantly squeezed them closed, feeling the agonizing burn of the slightest light. I cried out again, louder this time. My injuries had been serious before, but I'd never been hit in the eyes. I never could have imagined the pain it could cause.
I both felt and heard Daton running to the house with me still in his arms. The Human's breathing was ragged and his muscles were strained, obviously trying to keep calm. I heard doors slamming open and curious pokemon asking what was happening. None of them got an answer as Daton slowly sat me down in the back seat of the van, closing the door loudly in a rush.
"Chaz," He said, voice cracking slightly. "Sit in the back with her. Keep her from rolling off." He rushed to the front seat and started it up, breathing heavily.
I felt a warm body next to me and let out another small whimper. A muzzle was pressed against my side gently. "Y-you'll be fine, okay? You'll be j-just fine. D-d-don't worry." He was trembling against me, obviously feeling bad.
"Y-yeah." I whispered. "You're r-right." I pressed a little closer to him. "Th-thanks." He seemed to take in a short breath, holding it in a bit.
"Yeah." He whispered, licking behind my brown ear. "I'm sorry."
...
"Mmm?" I groaned, not opening my eyes. There was somebody arguing nearby, but it seemed faint, like the background music in movies. I just moaned, feeling stiff all over. "Somebody turn everythink back on." I muttered to myself. But nothing happened. So I just decided to go with whatever, drifting off again...
...
"Oh, hi Glade. Where've you been? I haven't seen you in a while." I whispered lazily.
He chuckled, a low, mighty sound. "Sorry," He replied. "I've been busy." He laid down next to me in the grass, though I didn't notice him entirely.
My eyes rested on the water the grass banked. It was a simple little stream that I could leap across, if I wanted to. But I didn't. I just gazed down into the rippling light. "Glade." I whispered, not looking up.
"Yes?" came his gental reply. Slowly, large snowflakes began to coat the grass, rippling in the water.
"What does the snow become once it melts?"
Though I never looked, I could feel his cool gaze. "That depends," He said, "on whether snow is melting, or whether something else is being freed."
I turned my gaze to him, my eyes unfocused from the movement. "What would happen if I said both were true?" Both my gaze and voice were unsteady.
His expressionless eyes looked into my own. "Then the answer is Spring."
I looked back to the now slowing stream. "Spring." I repeated. "The snow becomes Spring." My paws tingled with the smallest sensation of fear. "But then again, I'll never see when Spring comes. So will I always feel the biting chill of winter, of ice beneath my paws?" I dipped a paw into the nearly still, icey water. "So how will I ever know?"
"You'll know." came the reply. "Others will tell you of the change. And with this knowledge, you'll feel the grass underfoot, and the sun on your fur." He fell silent for a bit. "But for that to happen," he said slowly, "you'll have to ask for their help."
I took a tentave step into the still water. "They'll tell me," I said to myself. "But without seeing the sun, all will be frozen over..."
...
"Aw, man.." I groaned, feeling an intense burning on my face. The room was pitch black, not a hint of light. My body trembled slightly, but I managed to lift a shakey paw. "Hey..." I called hoarsly. "Anybody there?" I scarily realized that the room wasn't dark, I couldn't open my eyes! I whimpered in fear and pain, now shivering.
"Oh!" I heard someone scramble around nearby and twitched my ear as the sound faded. Whoever it was had left.
A couple minutes latter, though, someone came near. Their footsteps were light and quiet. "Phyc," a woman said softly. "Phyc, it's me, Nurse Joy. You remember me, don't you?" A hand set down on my head gently and I flinched slightly. "It's okay. You're in the Pokemon Center. I just called Daton and he'll be here soon. I take it you can't see?" I grunted. "That's to be expected. Don't worry," she soothed. "everything's fine."
I whimpered again and let out a big shiver. The room was freezing! "One moment." Joy said, and stood up. I listened as the walked over to what I assumed was a cabinet and walked back. I purred lightly as two blankets were layed over me. Joy rubbed behind my ears and spoke soothing words to me for a while more, never leaving my trembling side.
A ding sounded and Nurse Joy stood up abroughtly. "That's Daton." She said. "He's here to pick you up and take you home." She left the room.
"Phyc?" came a tentive voice. I purred, ralizing it was Daton. He wrapped his arms around me and picked me up in his arms with the blanket still around me.
"Here," Joy said. "This should make her more comfortable on the ride back."
Daton shifted my weight and set me down on a pillow. "Thank you for the basket." Daton thanked her. "You said you had a list for me?"
"Oh, yes. These are all the medications and procedures. I expect you have them all at home?" There was a pause, which I assumed he nodded. "Good. And I'm sorry I can't let her stay here. We're just so full and-"
"It's alright." Daton interrupted. "I understand. Besides," He added. "It'll be nice to have her with me instead of worrying myself to death."
Joy agreed. They talked for a bit more before saying goodby. Daton took me out-in the basket- to the van and set me in the front seat beside him. "Time to go home." He told me.
The ride was quick and quiet. Now at the house, Daton set me and the basket down in a room. There were other pokemon in it-I could smell them- but they were all quiet.
"Hello?" I called, wanting to break the silence.
After a moment, a reply came. "Phyc," It was Celena. "How do you feel?"
I sighed. "Fuzzy. Kinda scared. I can't see anything, Celena."
There was a pause. "Well, I assumed that. There are bandages over your eyes."
"How long's it been?"
"Since you've been gone? Over a week. We were all pretty worried about you. You went out to train with Daton, but then he came running through the halls. You were all bloody." She seemed almost scared talking about it. "You weren't moving and neither Daton or Chaz would say anything. They just ran out the door and drove off. What happened?" She seemed genuinly concerned.
"Nothing, really. Daton had me and Chaz battle, so he could see my experience or whatever. I got scratched in the eyes."
"Chaz clawed you in the eyes?! What's wrong with him?! I swear to Mew, if I ever see him again-"
"It's okay." I interrupted. "It's not a big deal. It was a battle, after all." I shrugged weakly.
There was a pause. "Phyc," she said shakily, uncertainly. "How were you trained before you came here? What were you told to do in battle?"
I tilted my head. "What do you mean?"
"Did you have to-"
"Phyc!" The door slammed open and someone came barelling in.
"Who's there?!" I demanded firmly. Not being able to see was making me twitchy. All the loud sounds were just making it worse. "What's going on?"
Then the door opened again, only more quietly. "Shino!" Daton scorned. "Look, you've scared her half to death! You sound like a poneyta stampede!"
Suddenly, I felt the tip of a muzzle pressed into my fur. "I...Sorry." Shino mumbled into my pelt, making me shiver. "I didn't mean to surprise you." He laid down beside the basket and licked behind my ears. Though I still couldn't see, my fur rippled under the heavy gazes of my friends. I could smell Ino, but even she probably felt a bit sorry for me.
For the next few hours, Shino never left my side, and Celena talked with me about things that didn't really matter. But I was thankful for her efforts. After a long, tiring day, I drifted off to sleep with my friends surrounding me..