It may be hard for some people to remember, so I'll be putting a reminder at the beginning of every chapter; Poke-speech will always be in italics and telepathy will be in normal text.
Chapter One
The Journey Begins
Rarutos
The first time I saw my new trainer was just after she released me for the first time. I felt some sort of soft fabric beneath my newly-forming, wide feet and sensed that I was in a large, enclosed space, most likely what the humans call a house.
I lifted my head, tipping my lime-green, red-horned cap back so that it wasn't in the way of my eyes. My garnet eyes locked onto a pair of bare feet and moved slowly up, taking in a pair of loose black shorts, an aqua T-shirt decorated with some sort of slogan, shoulder-length dark blonde hair and a grin stretching from ear to ear.
I concealed a snort of derision. (Surely this isn't my new trainer? She doesn't look capable of handling a goldfish, let alone a team of Pokemon.)
The girl seemed to have lost her voice. Then again, perhaps she hated me so much that she would release me immediately. (I can hope, can't I?)
"A Ralts!" the girl finally managed to choke out. Her eyes were glittering with delight and she spun around, throwing her arms around an older, almost identical human female who I guessed was her mother.
(Oh, please. What is this, Let's-All-Be-Soppy Day? I can't travel with this girl!)
Finally the girl let go of her mother and crouched down before me, the idiotic grin plastered over her features once again. "Hi, Ralts! My name is Marisa and I'm your new trainer!"
(Well, duh. You think I don't know that? My IQ is probably higher than yours.)
"We're going to be great friends!" Marisa continued cheerfully. "Now, I'd better give you a nickname. Let's see…"
(A nickname!) I felt repulsed by the very thought of having this human call me by any name other than my own. I took a chance and summoned my telepathy, projecting a word into her mind. She would never know where it came from and hopefully I would never again have to talk to her with my power. It was a waste of perfectly good mental energy. Then again, so was every thought that passed through her thick head.
Marisa paused, a light of excitement coming into her eyes. "That's a good name!" she exclaimed. "Okay, Ralts, I'm going to name you Rarutos."
(At least I can stand her using my true name. She probably would have named me something stupid like Mushroom.)
I smothered the smug expression that had started to appear on my face. Hopefully Marisa would never figure out where the idea had come from.
The older female turned to Marisa with a frown of confusion, a strange expression in her eyes. "Rarutos? Where did you think of that?"
Marisa shrugged cheerfully. "Not a clue. It just came to mind and I thought it fit. Anyway, Raru, you should go back into your ball. We should get going."
(Raru? Oh, travelling with her is definitely going to be torture. Arceus, what did I do to deserve this?)
The girl extended the fist clutching a red and white sphere. In a flash of clarity I realized what was going to happen and drew on my power once again, feeling the red horns on the front and back of my head begin to pulse with pure violet energy. In a flash of light I vanished, reappearing three feet away as a beam of crimson light from Marisa's Poke Ball struck the carpet where I had stood.
Marisa tried again with the same result, then flung the sphere at me in a fit of anger and an attempt to force me inside. I teleported easily out of the way once again and stood watching calmly as, in her anger, Marisa began to flush as crimson as the light.
"I think you should leave it out," Marisa's mother advised. "Your father had a heck of a time trying to get it into the ball in the first place."
I flashed back on the day before. (I had been minding my own business in the grass field that used to be my home. The ugliest human I had ever seen had barged in, trampled most of the plants and started ordering some dim-witted water rat Pokemon that he called Bibarel to attack me, then began flinging orbs at me while I was still trying to fend the thing off. So much for the peaceful life of a wild Pokemon.)
I shivered involuntarily, then realized with indignation that the woman had called me 'it'. What did she think I was, an object? I focused on the abandoned sphere and telekinetic energy began to pulse around it. As the two humans watched, open-mouthed, I picked the thing up and flung it as hard as it could at the mother. Before she could dodge it, it smacked her in the face and dropped to the carpet with a thud, leaving an imprint on the human's face.
I couldn't help a smug smirk. (That's what you get for treating me like an object.)
With a grumpy expression, the woman snatched up the orb and held it out, the white button aimed at me. Obviously she had changed her mind about leaving me out. Once again I teleported easily out of the way, but as I reappeared Marisa lunged at me in one quick motion. Before I knew it, her hands were wrapped around my entire body. I kicked and struggled ferociously, but I was small enough for her to wrap one hand easily around my slim waist.
(Big stupid oaf.)
Marisa lifted me to her reddened face. "We are going to be great friends," she said through clenched teeth, practically trembling with rage. "Now, Rarutos, are you going to come with me peacefully or do I have to force you back into the ball?"
I hated that sphere, but I wasn't particularly too fond of Marisa either. In the end we decided to compromise; after retrieving a bulging mauve backpack from what was presumably her bedroom, Marisa somehow managed to cram my empty Poke Ball right down to the bottom. In return for that, I agreed reluctantly to travel with her for a while. I was far from home and she seemed quite proud of me; I had to hope she would be willing to protect me. If necessary, I could teleport to safety while the wild Pokemon were busy feasting on her.
Marisa attempted to carry me at first, but I soon put a stop to that with an electric attack I had recently managed to learn from a discarded human item. As we left the house, Marisa was still smarting from the charge and her hair was sticking up wildly in every direction. Every time I looked at her I had to conceal a snort of laughter.
Marisa unchained a white wooden gate as I gazed around at my surroundings. The city seemed enormous, but I was used to a quiet field with only the occasional minor conflict to break the monotony. Of course, with several Pokemon living in close proximity there were sure to be fights occasionally.
This city… was something completely new to me. The buildings were gargantuan and the air smelled faintly of soot, but not of chemicals as a friend had once told me it would. The paths between the buildings were paved with something hard, black and rough; this must be a road, what human vehicles travel over.
I turned back to Marisa, my curiosity getting the better of me. A clunking sound had been emanating from behind me and I now realized that she was struggling with the gate; it had shut behind her and she couldn't get it open again. Eventually it yielded and Marisa emerged again, pushing a wheeled contraption.
I felt another lurch of disgust. (I don't even want to think about what my friends would say if they saw me travelling with a human on that…)
The contraption seemed to be what the humans called a bicycle. The metal frame was painted bright red and the two black wheels were coated with a thick layer of dried mud and grime. The handlebars had once been covered in white rubber; it was now a dirty shade of grey. In front of and between these handlebars sat a woven wicker basket, fastened tightly and decorated with fake flowers.
"Oi!" Marisa yelled to me. I winced; she was only six feet away. "Get in," she continued, jabbing her finger at the basket. A fake chrysanthemum fell off the edge of the basket and fluttered limply to the ground.
(Get real.)
Marisa stared impatiently at me. "I don't have as much patience as you think I do," she warned. "Get in here or I'll put you back in your ball."
Grudgingly I permitted the violet shimmer to surround me again, transferring my body instantly into the basket. As Marisa swung one leg over the bicycle and settled herself on the seat, I hunched down in the basket and hoped that no one would see me.
"This is Hearthome City," Marisa told me as we set off, wobbling unsteadily at first but straightening out after a while. She was probably going to make me travel-sick.
"I've lived her all my life with my ma," Marisa continued. We were moving more steadily now. "My pop went away to work and never came back, but he still sends us things. He sent you to me for my birthday. Today's my tenth birthday! How old are you, Raru?"
(This girl talks way too much.)
I refused to answer and eventually she gave up. We continued in silence, wobbling occasionally, down the road to our future… and our fate.
(O)
I had drifted to sleep because of the constant motion, but a deafening shriek jerked me back to consciousness with such abruptness that I had to struggle to regain control of my teleportation ability. My heart was pounding furiously, pounding as though a Spoink was bouncing on my chest. Suddenly the bicycle skidded to a screeching halt and I was flung from the basket. Before I could react I had slammed into the muddy ground.
Everything was a blur of flying mud and pain. Suddenly I found myself lying half-buried in the slop, my entire body coated thickly with it. Rain was beginning to fall and the cold leeched through my skin, chilling me to the bone.
My entire body ached, but I braced myself and gingerly flexed my arms and legs to see if anything was broken. I appeared to be all right. I levered myself up onto all fours and staggered upright, wiping filth out of my stinging garnet eyes.
I turned and my eyes locked onto Marisa, who had also tumbled off the falling bicycle. It was lying on its side and she was laboriously picking herself up, her clothes and skin as muddy as I was.
"Darn," she muttered to herself, surveying the mess. She hesitated, then flashed me a false, broad smile. Her teeth looked startlingly white in her filthy face. "Sorry, Raru. I think I nearly hit a wild Pokemon and I had to stop."
(Easy for you to say. You did that on purpose to humiliate me.)
I glared darkly at her, watching her flinch at my hate-filled stare, then dragged one hand across my face to clear away some of the mud. I flicked the glop away and waited for Marisa to set her bicycle upright again. She was not interested in it, however; she had bent over to pick something up.
The object was small, barely bigger than me, and it was coated thickly in filth, but I could make out four distinct limbs and a head. Marisa shook the object, splattering the slop all over both of us, then wrung it out to clear away even more. Finally it was clear; the object was a teddy bear, old and worn, its brown woollen body torn in places and one rounded ear missing.
"I think a little kid might've dropped this," Marisa said. Uninterested, I crossed my arms and allowed my gaze to drift away.
(I just want to get home.)
"We should take this to the nearest town," Marisa mused. "Maybe whoever lost it will want to claim it." She righted her bicycle, swung her leg over and settled herself astride the vehicle. "Come on, Raru. We're near Solaceon Town; we can stop for a rest there."
I reluctantly allowed my telekinesis to envelop my body once again, transferring me into the basket. As soon as I had settled down Marisa carefully tucked the toy in beside me. I glared at it, then fixed her with a look filthier than all of the words in my mind put together.
Marisa recoiled. "Sorry, but my bag is full. We'll be able to drop it off as soon as we get to the town, all right?"
As she once again began to pedal, I settled down in the basket with my back against the toy. Still the pregnant clouds above us groaned with the weight of their rain, pouring it down upon us first in sheets and then in torrents, drenching us both until our teeth chattered with cold and we could not feel our hands or feet. Marisa's hair lay flat against her head and shoulders, her clothes clung to her slim body and rivulets of water ran down her face, but she had physical activity to keep her warm. As the rain drenched my slight form I began to shiver, feeling the chill soaking through my skin and numbing every inch of me.
It was a good thing that I was crammed so tightly into the basket; soon I could not have gripped the edges even if I had to save myself. My muscles seized up but I felt no pain, only the tension. As the path opened out and houses sprang up on either side of it, Marisa squeezed the brakes and came to a gradual halt before a red-roofed building.
I felt a feverish warmth blossoming throughout my entire trembling body. As much as I hated to speak to Marisa, I knew I had no choice. As she brushed a strand of drenched hair out of her eyes, I summoned the last of my energy and feebly projected my voice into Marisa's mind.
"Marisa… something is wrong… I don't feel well."
Marisa turned concerned golden-brown eyes on me. The last thing I saw was the rain falling in a ring around her head, creating a sort of sparkling halo… then the blackness folded around me.
(O)
(Hovering in the unbroken blackness, I attempted to cry out. Images flashed before me unceasingly, images of death and destruction, images so ominous that they shook me down to my very core with the fear of them. A bridge collapsing, sending hundreds of humans and Pokemon plunging to their deaths… a ship capsizing in a glacier-laden sea… liquid fire blossoming from a volcano and clouds of toxic ash spewing forth into the sky… an out-of-control aeroplane crashing down upon an oblivious school…)
(The images kept coming and coming, flooding my mind and filling every inch of me with the emotional anguish until I writhed in agony. "No! Make it stop! I can't take it…")
(The images paid me no heed, only flashing through my head with even more ferocity. Nameless, faceless humans and Pokemon perished in an instant, unaware that their lives had been wiped out, as a nuclear reactor exploded. Terrible screaming filled the air as enormous waves crashed down upon tropical islands, drowning homesteads, washing screaming babies out of their dead mothers' arms, tearing apart couples who clung desperately to each other with their fading breaths and numb hands.)
("No! Please stop!" My voice begged, sobbed, screamed without rest, although I was unaware that I was still making any sound. The images were engulfing me… no, the images were me. Maybe they had always been a part of me; maybe they had always been filling me up with their terror for every moment of my existence.)
(Then, suddenly, it stopped. I floated in silence, drifting through my own mind, listening to my own fading heartbeat. As the pulsing thuds grew further and further apart, I began to feel more and more sluggish. As my eyes finally closed I heard the sound finally come to a halt. The silence rushed in, engulfing me completely, and I welcomed it. I welcomed the abrupt end to the torment that the images had brought, along with the enclosing silence. I didn't care if I never saw anything again, as long as the pain never returned.)