Nameless
Chapter Two
A small blue sphere floats on the surface of the river, a near invisible wire connecting the sphere to a girl's fishing pole. She yawns, back arched and arms outstretched. Rain falls slowly, striking the surface of the murky water.
The sphere dips beneath the wakes. Unconcerned, the girl reels in her catch.
It's probably just another magikarp. Stupid things love the rain.
She reaches into the water as the bobber fades into sight. A gasp escapes her lips, flesh meeting flesh underneath the river's surface.
Definitely not a magikarp!
The girl pulls the boy out of the river, frantically trying to save him. She places her fingers on his neck, checking for a pulse. Nothing but freezing skin.
Green eyes widen before she places her ear above the boy's mouth.
This boy... He can't be dead!
She tilts his head back, steeling her nerves for a split second. Leaning in, she breathes air into the boy's mouth.
Arceus, please... let him live!
She silently prays to the creator, begging for the boy's life.
One and two and three and four...
Chest compressions. The boy coughs at fifteen, halting the rescue. She helps him sit up as he continues to cough up water and blood. The girl winces as she looks at him. Bloody, soaked clothes... What happened to this boy?
She thanks Arceus for her training at the hands of her sisters, grateful for the ability to save the boy from death.
"You're okay..."
"A-am I dead?"
She shakes her head, laughing softly.
"No."
"Good."
The boy coughs again, more bloody water spewing from his mouth. The girl gasps.
"You need to get to a Pokecenter!"
She glances around, eyes falling on her bike.
"Hold on!"
I can't... hold... on...
Rain continues to fall...
The raven haired boy's arms circle the girl's waist as they ride down the muddy path of Route One. Rain strikes the ground around them, the song of the storm filling the humid air.
"Sp-spearow..."
She risks a glance over her shoulder and curses. A flock of hundreds of the vile birds follows, a dark form shifting about within the cloud.
"Fearow!"
She pedals faster at the bird's call.
"So... so cold..."
Through the torrents, the girl can see lights from the city of Viridian. Suddenly, she finds herself covered in mud, her bike's tire stuck in a hole.
The cloud of spearow parts, a single fearow emerging slowly. Salt mingles with the rain drops on her cheek as she holds the shivering and damaged boy close to her.
A flash of light blinds her as thousands of charred feathers fall to the ground. The silhouettes of a strange duo fade into darkness as a single command engraves itself upon her mind.
"Thunder."
"You're both very lucky to be alive, you know?"
The girl nods, eyes never leaving the sleeping boy.
"You did good to bring him here."
"W-will he be alright?"
"It's hard to say... His core body temperature was extremely low, and he had lost a lot of blood. Luckily, his shirt had halted the bleeding momentarily, and your body heat helped warm him. Without you, I doubt this boy would be alive."
The nurse eyes the boy's steady chest movements.
"You should get some sleep. I'll have someone get you if he wakes up."
The pink haired woman stands before helping the girl to her feet.
"Nurse Joy? How did we get here? I remember riding my bike here, but I can't remember actually arriving."
"I don't really know, myself. One second, I'm treating a girl's jigglypuff, and the next second the two of you suddenly appear in the lobby. When I saw the state that you both were in, Chansey and I brought you back here for treatment. We were very worried about the two of you, you know."
"I'm sorry..."
"Don't be. Now, off to bed! You look like you just came out of Cerulean Cave."
"They're very lucky."
"Yes. I wonder who helped them."
"Probably a strong trainer. Whoever helped them would have to be strong to train a psychic powerful enough to teleport them here."
"What do you mean, Joy?"
"Well, teleportation gets harder as load and distance increase. As no known psychic can teleport others without also teleporting itself, and it teleported at least three people and their belongings here from somewhere between Viridian and Pallet..."
"A tier four pokemon!"
"At least a tier four, Jenny. Based upon their entrance, I'd say it's likely higher than that. There was no pressure pop and no light. That means that the psychic who did this essentially doubled its load, teleporting the air to where the children were and vice versa."
"So what do we do?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, obviously you're bringing this up for a reason."
"Not really. You know how my mind wanders, Jenny. I've always been the absent-minded one of my family."
"Ha, true..."
"Hey, wake up."
The girl groans as the pink-haired nurse pokes her.
"Wake up!"
"I'm up, I'm up!"
"Hah, could've fooled me. Anyways, the boy's awake if you want to talk to him."
She sits up instantly, all signs of drowsiness departed. The nurse laughs as the girl rushes out of the room.
It doesn't take her long to find the boy, much to her surprise. She had thought the Viridian pokecenter would be much more crowded, but apart from the nurse, she hadn't seen anyone.
The boy lies on the hospital bed. He jumps, startled by her rushed entrance into the room.
"Who're you?"
"The girl who saved your life, that's who!" says the girl. She places her hands on her hips and taps her toes.
"Really? Well, thanks then," responds the boy. He smiles, putting his hand out. "My name's Ash."
She grabs his hand and shakes it. "Misty. Uh, you aren't hurt, are you?"
"Well, my back hurts quite a bit, and I'm feeling a bit cold, but overall, I feel fine." The raven haired boy laughs.
"That's good."
"I think so too! Hey, wanna see something cool?" asks Ash.
"Sure," Misty replies.
Ash nods, putting a gold-plated pokeball in her hand. "Open it!"
"Alright." She pushes the button on the sphere. "Ooh! You have a magikarp!"
"Wait, you like him?"
Misty giggles at the boy's stunned reaction. Shaking her head, she smiles.
"Yeah. The shine of his scales is outstanding! I've not seen such a beautiful magikarp before. What's his name?"
"He's Nameless," says Ash. He smirks slightly, catching the implication of his words.
"Oh. Can I name him, then?"
The boy laughs, stopping abruptly to hold his sides.
"No. See, his name is Nameless."
"Karp karp!"
Misty laughs at the proud look on the fish's face, Ash joining momentarily.
"Nameless is my starter. We've already won a battle, too!"
"With a magikarp this pretty," says Misty while stroking the fish's scales, "I'm not surprised."
"You sure seem to know a lot about magikarp, Mist," says the boy.
"What?"
"You some kind of researcher, or something?"
"Nope! You're looking at the future Water Pokemon Master!" Misty smirks at the boy's stunned expression.
"Ah," Ash says when he recovers, "That explains it. So what pokemon you got?"
"I've got a goldeen and a staryu. I was trying to catch another pokemon when you showed up."
"Hey! Don't say it like that!"
"Well, it's true!"
"Is not!"
"Is too! I had to fish you out of the river, you know."
"Well," starts Ash. He smirks. "I'd say you made quite the catch then!"
He laughs at her flustered appearance before she hits his arm.
"Hey, that hurt!"
"It was supposed to!"
End Chapter.