The wind blew gently against the tuffs of fur on my ears and the grass seemed to move with me as my eyes stayed locked on my target. Its green form blended seamlessly with the tall grass, almost. The brain waves from this Pokémon were so weak I almost thought that it was asleep, but it kept moving around the tall grass as if avoiding us.
I heard Von give me the cue and I charged at the Pokémon. I leapt over a fallen tree and pounced on a half sleep Scyther. It looked at me and seemed to faint instantly. My head tilted to the side as I back off of the Pokémon. Von, now an adult human, stood besides me scratching his head.
"Well, I was expecting a battle but . . ." He reached into his pocket and pulled out a poke ball, "how often dose an easy catch come around?" He laughed as he threw the ball at the fainted Scyther, capturing it easily.
"Come on, Lady. Let's go home."
I had learned some of the human language and often found their conversations interesting. They always seemed to be worrying about something. How much money do they need for this? Do they have enough food for that? They should learn to live their lives. It was so short.
Von, my master and best friend, had taught me many things and I taught him some of the ways of the Pokémon. He was a very special human; he was very sensitive to us Pokémon. It was strange sometimes, while he was still a child he could tell the difference between those of us tainted by humans and the regular Pokémon.
A few days ago he caught a Caterpie so, this Scyther must have overwhelmed him with emotion because he wanted to go out and battle. He called me into my ball and all I could do was wait until he was ready for me to come out again.
The poke ball wasn't a bad place at all. It was almost like having ones mind float in an ocean. It was the most relaxing thing ever. Yet, I could understand how some Pokémon would fear or even hate it. It's dark, and silent. You can move around and yet, never go anywhere. It could easily be a cell. Except that, we can escape if we really desired to.
"Lady! Get them!" Von called in a panic and I leapt out of my ball. His emotions were everywhere.
I tried to assess the situation but I had to dodge a flamethrower attack. I looked up at the large Arcanine and my mind quickly focused. I sent a Psychic Attack his way and watched him began to crumble. Then out of the corner of my eye I saw something fly past but before I could react the cry from Caterpie had already been cut off. I closed my eyes took a deep breath and sent out my strongest psychic wave I could.
"Lady! Stop! You're . . . hurting . . . me . . ." Von's voice made me stop instantly. I opened my eyes and saw that the Arcanine was still alive but fainted while the Houndoom that killed Caterpie lay dead.
I ran over to my master and licked his hand he wasn't moving but, I knew he wasn't dead. He was kneeling down with Caterpie's limp body in his arms and instantly I had flashbacks to when my kitten was killed. I turned my back to the sight and hunched my shoulders to stop them from shaking.
"I . . . I knew you guys could die . . . I just never wanted to believe it . . ." I felt him lean on me while I fought tears, "I wanted to believe that all Pokémon battles were just fun between trainers . . ." He whispered as the smell of his tears filled my nose making my own tears fall. I wrapped my tail around my body and rested the forked tip on Von.
Why was the sun so bright on such a dark day? Everything about the weather screamed joy and yet two Pokémon lay dead in front of us, one of them my masters first real catch. I shook my head and looked down. I could not allow this to keep happening. I could not allow these lives to be cut short.
From that day forward I wouldn't allow myself to get distracted. I would never leave Von's side. I would refuse the sweet relief of the poke ball and devote myself fully to my master.
"All right mom, we're going now!" Von said as he tried to exit his front door only to have his mother come running down the stairs; her red hair bouncing messily around her face. I've never met Von's father but I heard that he was a great Pokémon master still out catching Pokémon. It didn't matter, he looked almost exactly like his mother; short spiky red hair, bright green eyes, and a wild, almost psychotic, personality. Maybe he got his drive and, I regret to say, recklessness from his father because his mother didn't want him to leave. She was determined to keep him home.
"Okay, Von!" She embraced him tightly. "Do you have your Poke Dex?" She asked as she searched her only son.
"Yes,"
"Your Poke Nav?"
"Yes,"
"A change of clothe, water, food, money – "
"Yes, mom, I have everything. Don't worry." Von smiled sweetly and kissed his mother and hugged tightly before dashing out the front door. "Bye mom! Love ya!" He called back as we ran down the driveway to the main road.
It had only been three months since Caterpie passed away. Von had his twentieth birthday last week and now he was on his way to becoming a Pokémon master. His mother use to be a gym leader when she was only twelve and Von's father had been on the road since he was ten. Von seemed like a late bloomer but that was okay. This was how everything was supposed to happen.
Von stretched his arms over his head and looked up at the sky as we began our journey.
"Look, Lady!" Von said excitedly as he pointed to a large bird in the sky. It seemed to create a rainbow with its tail. That bird was one of those many legends. Ho-oh, I believe was its name. I've never seen one of the legendary Pokémon before but I knew that Von wanted to see them just as bad as I did if not more. He wanted to see them up close in battle.
Von looked down at me with a large smile, "Race you to the next town!" He said knowing that he could never beat me in a foot race. "Scyther!" He called out Scyther only to have it slink over to a tree and fall asleep. I couldn't help but laugh.
I walked up to Scyther and poked at his hard exoskeleton with my paw. I then put my two front paws on him and tried to use my weight to wake him. It was no use. So, I took a step back and used a Swift attack that woke him up instantly. He recoiled and covered his face with his blades in defense. I purred and bounced around him playfully trying to get him to play with us. All he did was sleep. He needed some fun.
After a moment of silence Scyther unsheathed his face and mumbled, "Scy . . ." He yawned as he eyed me curiously, "ther . . ." He rolled over and ignored my feeble attempts at play.
"Don't be rude Scyther!" Von tried to wake his Pokémon up but, to no avail. "Why won't he do anything?" He asked looking at me as if I knew. I just shrugged my shoulders and began walking toward the next town. I glanced back to see if Von had caught my hint to return Scyther and get moving before sun down.
I waved my tail wildly as I sensed all the different Pokémon in the area. There were so many and they were all fairly weak. Perhaps Von would have better luck finding a Pokémon out here.
No luck there. We chased down Pidgey's, Fearow, Ratatta, every low level Pokémon I could sniff out but to no avail. We were already approaching the borders of the next town.
Pyrite town was a scary place full of tough guys and girls looking for battles. If it wasn't for me Von would have taken everyone up on their offers for a battle. He didn't have enough Pokémon. Scyther didn't listen and I could only fight so many battles alone. It was best to wait until he had some more Pokémon.
"Hey kid!" A large man called to Von and approached us. He looked down at me and reached his hand out to touch me but I bared my fangs at him as a warning. I didn't like this man and I sensed something terrible about to happen.
"How's about you and I have ourselves a little battle?" The man asked Von.
"Okay!" Von responded obliviously.
"Okay, Girafarig!" The man ordered his Pokémon out of its ball. The moment it materialized both I and Von knew something was wrong with it.
"What kind of Pokémon is that?" He was talking to his self as he pulled out his Poke Dex. It wouldn't work. "Is that a real Pokémon?" He asked his opponent.
"Of course! It's just a little stronger then a normal Pokémon and more obedient." He laughed, "Now call out your Pokémon!" He ordered.
I looked up at Von and tried, with every fabric of my beginning, to get him to understand that this was a trap. He didn't seem to understand and called me to the field. I kept my face blank for the sake of the battle but I was very unsure. I couldn't seem to get a clear psychic reading on this Pokémon. I was blind to it.
The battle began with Girafarig sending a Shadow ball toward me. I was only able to dodge because of Von.
"Lady, what's wrong? Why aren't you dodging the attacks?" He asked in a panic.
"Hey, kid! How's about we make a little wager?"
I used my Confusion attack on my opponent and was happy when it worked. I could almost sense a consciousness, and that was all I needed.
"What kind?"
"Winner gets the others Pokémon." The man laughed making me freeze momentarily.
"No way! I'd never risk Lady," He stated sternly giving me more confidence.
I closed my eyes and focused all my strength into one powerful Psychic attack. When my eyes opened I saw Girafarig still standing but something was wrong. Not only should that attack have knocked her out, but she seemed to be gaining power. What was going on?
I took a few steps back from the Pokémon whose aura was so clouded and dark that I couldn't even bare to be near it. She was tainted by the bad humans. I've seen Pokémon like this before but, I've never battled one. It was scary not being able to read my opponent.
"Aw . . . that's too bad! This girl here is a Shadow Pokémon! They go pretty high on the black-market. Plus, they fight hard till the bitter end." He said trying to interest Von.
"You sell Pokémon?" Von asked disgusted as the man nodded. "Then I'll take you up on that offer." He said making both mine and the man's jaws drop.
"Really?" The man asked in disbelief, "I mean, okay! Girafarig! Shadow rush!" He ordered quickly. I've never heard of such a move.
I tried to dodge but, she got me anyway. She then gave a cry as if she was hurting and yet she continued to attack. I could feel her power weakening with every attack. I tried to use Psychic but she kept cutting me off. I used Swift as a distraction so that I could use Psychic. I could feel her rushing toward me but right before her attack made contact she crumpled to the ground in agony.
"No! Get up you stupid Pokémon!" The man shouted at his Pokémon as it tried to stand back up.
I knew that she would not be able to attack me. I felt horrible for hurting her because I knew that had absolutely no control over what she was doing. Not once her aura grew out of control.
She fell to the ground unconscious and her trainer quickly called her back and ran off.
"What? I won fair and square! Lady, go get that Pokémon!" Von ordered and I obliged. I didn't know if Von had a plan or not; what I did know was that we needed to get that Pokémon away from that man, quickly. I couldn't read the Pokémon's actions but her human was an open book.
I ran after the large man as fast as I could. It wasn't hard to catch him, what was hard was when he closed the door to an old building in my face. I pressed my ear against the door and I could hear a crashing sound then there was yelling. I began head butting the door, knowing full well what was soon to come.
"Scyther! Use X-Scissors on the door!" Von ordered as Scyther lazily walked up to the door. "Hurry up!" He yelled while I hissed at the incompetent insect.
Scyther seemed to get the point and he swiftly cut the door down. As soon as there was an opening I ran inside the dark room. It was silent. I heard Von and Scyther come in behind me and a faint breathing. I quickly searched around the room finding a lose wire; I pulled on the wire and a dim light flickered on in the center of the ceiling. My ears twitched as I followed the sound of breathing and then, before I could react, I heard Scyther complain about smelling blood.
"Espe!" I chimed as I ran over to some creates and used my Swift to break them then I was roughly pushed out of the way by Von as he grabbed hold of Girafarig's bleeding form. She was still alive but, she was dying. Both of her eyes were swollen shut, her nose dripped blood and one of the teeth on her tail was broken. Her entire body shook as she tried desperatly to hang onto life.
Von gently touched the top of her head near her broken horn and a large knot that had began to form.
I'd never seen a Pokémon beaten so severely before. It was painful to watch. I had to do something. I had to make Von move.
I nudged one of Von's poke balls and watched him try to capture the dying Pokémon. It didn't work. It was impossible to catch a Pokémon whose already been captured.
My head dropped for a moment. What could we do? She was far to big for Von to carry and I was of no help. Scyther . . . even if he would help, his blades would get in the way and only make matters worse.
I sighed and looked up after hearing a noise behind me. When I turned around I saw Scyther digging around some of the boxes. I walked over to him to make him pay attention to the matter at hand but, then I saw what he was messing with. It was a device that I knew all too well.
"Espe! Espe!" I cried as I ran across the room to Von. I pulled on his, now, blood stained shirt. He shook me off the first time. "Espeon!" I screamed as I bit his arm roughly.
"What?" He glared at me. I pointed my nose to Scyther who lifted the weird device. "What is that?"
Oh, how I wished I could communicate with humans. I thought about the first time we met. I was able to use Calm Mind on him . . . maybe I could tell him.
I closed my eyes and tried to picture my old master from fifteen years ago. He wore the strange device on his arm. When he used it he held the poke ball in hand and the device would glow bright. When he threw it at a Pokémon with a dark aura he was able to capture it even though it had already been caught.
"Thank you, Lady," Von said as he sat the Pokémon down. The only chance she had was if he could get her to a Pokémon Center.
I sat down and watched Von put the device on his arm and I chirped whenever he did something wrong.
"I never knew you had a master before me . . ." Von whispered as he tied all the straps around his right arm. "I never knew you could share your memories with me either." I didn't know this either, even so, he sounded hurt by the fact.
I walked up to him and rubbed against his leg to let him know that I wasn't trying to hurt him.
"It's okay, I just wish I could have learned that thirteen years ago." He gave a weak smile before grabbing an empty poke ball. The machine began to glow.
"So, what is this thing called anyway?" He asked as if I could respond.
I sent him a memory of my previous master talking to his girlfriend.
"Don't touch the Snag Machine!" My master ordered as his piercing gold eyes glared at the naive redheaded girl.
"You can only use it for the Shadow Pokémon." The girl said sternly, glaring back.
"A Snag Machine . . . what are Shadow Pokémon?" He asked me and I shrugged. I wasn't completely sure myself. All I knew about them was that they were created by humans and not nature like the rest of us.
When the machine had finished warming up I pushed him toward the Girafarig. I watched him kneel down and touch the ball to the fallen Pokémon and she was captured easily.
Von was still looking at the Snag Machine, amazed that such a thing exist. I could tell that he was wondering if it worked on regular Pokémon and not just Shadow Pokémon. I pawed at his leg while Scyther returned to his poke ball on his own.
Von snapped to attention and we both ran out of the old building and through the town in search of a Pokémon Center.