Author's Notes: Wow, I've been busy lately. Things have been difficult ever since Dad's been so strict with the time I spend on the computer. I've had to find alternate ways to write my story, which includes writing my story on paper which is pretty hazardous given my terrible penmanship. Anyway, replies :D
BFoS: No, this story is The Alpha Blaze and TAB only :D Nothing about Awkward Moments here except for the word throans.
RPL: Darn those nasty typos of mine :( But thanks for reading this on two places at once :D
Foxyjosh: Thank you very much for doing so :D
Antithesis: Ah, an honest critique. I do enjoy these as occasional as they are... Thanks for supporting the story anyway, and those nasty typos get me. Unfortunately, I'm night writing again, SORRY DX But still its good to see that you're reading the story. Thank you very much for the review.
cyclone-fire: I don't know when the next chapter of PPH is coming out, but exams might hold me back a bit... Anyway, thanks for the review :D
Chapter 3
It was rather surprising to see how civilized these so called throans were. To see a fully developed city was... overwhelming to say the least.
"And because even the name Tamrialos is a little too long winded and 'epic' for us," Azi said, "we just shortened it up to T-town. So what do you think?"
I remained silent, looking at every detail of the city. "NICK!"
I literally jumped a little and then said "Oh, um, impressive!"
"Impressive!? What do you mean by impressive?" She said, giving me a sly grin.
"Wha- I mean it's surprising that you animals- I MEAN humans- THROANS!"
Azi chuckled briefly and said, "Keep following." She waved her hand forward and started to walk as I followed after. Our path winded down an S shaped pathway. Around us were all the familiarities of Earth; the usual trees and grass. It wouldn't be that hard to adjust to this place. But that thought disappeared once I arrived in the city.
Everything was normal, just the way it was on Earth: The buildings, the houses, the restaurants; all normal. The only thing that wasn't normal were the inhabitants.
Everyone was a throan, everyone! They all had their own distinct look; some had fur, some had scales, some had horns and some had tails. Everyone was part human, and part of a pokemon that I had never seen or heard of before.
But the weirdest part was that every single one of them was looking at me as if I was the freak. Everyone of them had their strange eyes fixated on mine, like they were going to pounce on me if I got too close.
As me and Azi walked through the town, I felt like I was shrinking into my jacket. Azi suddenly rested her hand on my shoulder. "Calm down," she said, "Just stay by my side and don't do anything stupid. Keep in mind that its getting late out here, and the only people who are out at this time are drunks and druggies."
"Okay, but it's still creeping me out." The further we walked into the city, the more busy and awkward things became. People were looking at me like I was either had a bomb strapped to my chest, or I was a walking target. Suddenly, I noticed something strange. I found it weird that I hadn't noticed this when I first walked into the city.
"Um, Azi?" I said shyly given my current position.
"Yeah?"
"Um, why isn't anyone wearing any clothing?" It took me that long to notice that every was walking around like they were butt naked although most of them had fur to compensate for this.
Azi burst out laughing and said, "Oh, trust me, they're wearing clothing. You just can't see it, it blends with their fur."
"Hmm... So where are you taking me?"
"My house than the T.C. Didn't I already tell you that."
"Ugh, I don't know anymore..."
As we walked along the sidewalk, I started to take note of all the throans there were. They all looked so different, enough so that it would be hard to know them all. I turned back to facing the front to find a strange throan approaching. He or she had black fur all over its body except on the muzzle and horns. As it walked past me, it bumped its side against me, pushing me aside a little bit. I rubbed my shoulder and kept moving as Azi gave me a quizzical look.
"What was that about?" she asked, "Last time I saw someone do that to you on Earth, you punched him in the face."
I sighed. "I'm kinda unsure about bein' here. I don't even know what any of these... throans are."
"Oh, well, you'll get used to that. You see, that guy was a houndoom throan." She suddenly pointed across the street to an orange dragon with its tail on fire. "And that ones a charizard throan." She pointed quickly to another spot. "Thats a slaking throan." She suddenly started pointing in so many directions, I couldn't keep track. "Those throans over there are manectric, plusle, and minun. Over there, there are abra and drowzee anthros. And over there is an aggron and tyranitar anthro. I'm a zangoose anthro and you're a-" She suddenly cut herself off. She looked into the corner of her eyes, thinking. "Let's keep walking," she silently said.
After that little episode with Azi, we walked for what was about ten minutes, but it seemed like hours. I found myself standing in front of a small two story house that stood right up against the sidewalk. It didn't look too bad, but it could use a little work. The house was made up of shingle walls and a shingle roof but upon closer inspection, I could see some grime forming in the edges of each shingle. The windows were clean on the outside but all around the edges were dirt. It didn't look all that appealing.
Azi walked up to and opened the door. She stood half way through the door before she said to me, "Wait outside, I have to get something." While she stumbled inside, I leaned against the house. I tried to duck out of the light to avoid any more of those passing throans. I didn't know what was coming over myself. I was usually able to hold myself over in a town like this, but these guys... they were way to different for me.
Azi came running out with a small bag in her hand. "Hey, what's in there?" I asked.
Azi looked at the sky and looked back at me frantically. "Come on," she said stressfully, "we don't have much time, we have to move quickly." She started to power-walk as I followed after.
"Azi, where are you taking me?" When she saw me following her, she started to make a jog. "Hey, slow down!"
She turned back and said, "I thought we had a whole hour to get there, but Neil messed up one of his calculations. We've got ten minutes to make it to the T.C."
"What is the T.C.?"
"No time to explain, keep running." She started to run faster, making quicker lighter steps, hypnotically flicking her tail left and right with every step. I tried to catch up but she was much faster then me.
"Azi, slow down, I can't run as fast as you!"
"Fine." Azi stood still to let me catch up and take a few breaths to get myself ready again. "OKAY, GO!" Azi suddenly launched from her spot and took off running.
"Damnit, Azalea, let's not do this." I started to run after her again, passing the various houses and apartment buildings, desperately trying to keep up. At the end of each sidewalk, Azi waited for me to catch up. The second I made it to her, she took off, running to the next part of the block.
When I rounded a corner, I found Azi standing at the start of a path. She looked up into the sky briefly and looked back at me. "Five minutes, keep moving!" By now I was only able to power-walk, feeling weak from all the running. Azi was even starting to show her exhaustion, only jogging at her pace now.
Only thirty seconds into the path, she ran straight into the forest.
"Azi, what the hell are you doing?"
"Stop complaining," I heard her voice out from the trees, "just keep following."
I continued to follow after her. At least the wood was dense enough for Azi only to walk allowing me to get some of my strength back. We jostled the trees and tripped over a few branches, trying to navigate through the forest. I saw a clearing in front of us, but before I reached it, I tripped over a branch and landed face first into the ground.
Azi laughed and said, "That branch always gets 'em." I stumbled to my feet and brushed myself off, slightly embarrassed. "Three minutes," Azi said, "keep moving." Azi suddenly ran forward.
To my surprise, I found her run into a cave that was at the foot of a cliff. Slightly unsure and nervous, I walked in. The cave was pitch black on the inside.
"I can see in the dark, remember? Grab my hand." I held my hand forward and it was suddenly grabbed by Azi with a strong grip. She yanked me up a pathway of rocks that seemed to get steeper by the moment. Soon enough, it seemed like Azi was just pulling me up the hill. It made me feel pathetic.
We finally arrived at the end of the cave and to be honest, I was awestruck. The end of the cave was huge, like a gigantic room of sorts. The room seemed to go ten storeys up to the ceiling and the same distance to all sides of the room. In the middle of the room sat a strange stone, that seemed perfectly rectangular. In the back of the room was a perfectly round plateau that seemed so flat that it was carved. The plateau stood a few feet up from the ground and like the rest of the room, was completely made of stone.
"This place is amazing! What is it?" I asked.
"No time to explain, keep going." She ran up to the stone and signalled me to follow. She ran up to the strange stone. "Okay, I want you to stand right up there on the plateau.," Azi said. Doing as she said, I ran up to the plateau. As I walked past the stone Azi stood by, I noticed strange markings on the stone. I walked right up to the plateau and pulled myself up. And it was then that I noticed the coolest thing of the room.
In the ceiling was a large hole in which the moon shone through, making a spot light effect directly on the plateau. It was amazing!
"Wow, what is up with this place?" I looked down to Azi to find her reaching into the bag. She pulled something I couldn't see and dressed it across the top of the stone like she was dressing a salad. She emptied the entire bag into the center of the stone.
"Do not fear, Nick, this will only take a minute." She placed her hand on the stone and it started to glow an eerie light.
"Whoa, no way..." The light suddenly found its way to the sides of the rock in small streams that flowed down the sides in curvy lines. They swerved all the way down to the bottom of the rock and onto the floor. The lights spread across the floor and started to travel up the walls. By now, the entire room was lit up bright enough to see every corner of the room. As the streams of light traveled up the wall, I noticed they started to swirl around the edges of the plateau and danced around me like a whirlpool.
I looked up to the ceiling to find the lights swirling in the same pattern around the hole until they suddenly jutted into the hole. Suddenly a bright light started to form in the center of the circle, and it started to grow by the second. It grew so large that it covered the view of the moon and even more to the point that it filled the entire hole.
I looked down to Azi to find a pleased look on her face. I had no idea what was coming for me, but I wasn't sure if I was going to enjoy it.
Within an instant, the light shot out of the hole and came speeding towards me like a laser beam. I screamed until the point it slammed down onto the plateau, engulfing me in light.
I felt the ground disappear beneath my feet as if I was floating in the air. My skin was tingling all over, especially on my upper back, so much so that it felt like I was being stung. The sides of my head started to throb in pain along with the tips of my fingers and nose but, sadly, the worst pain was in my head. I had the most massive migraine I had ever had. I heard a screeching noise fill my head. I covered my ears, trying to block out the noise but the noise came from the center of my head. I tried to open my eyes, but the only glimpses I got were of blinding light.
The sensation lasted only thirty seconds, but it was the worst pain of my life. I felt myself drop to my feet. The pain in my body residing, but the exhaustion is what was getting to me. I panted with every ounce of strength I had.
Through the tears in my eyes, I could see Azi. I wiped the water out of my eyes and looked at her overwhelmed look.
"Unbelievable..." she said. I tried to reply, but I had no strength to do so. Feeling dizzy, my legs became weak, and I fell to the floor. Too weak to move, to speak... I felt so helpless.
I closed my eyes and relaxed the strain on my muscles. I took one final breath and watched my vision fade away. And with that, I was out.
