By the way, this chapter includes (basically) a synopsis of the game, which may be helpful for anyone who hasn't played the game or hasn't finished the main plot. People who have played the game might be interested in seeing it from the partner's point of view, while the others might just get bored. Sorry. And I might have messed up one or two of the details. Hey, it's been a long time since I beat the main plot.
Chapter 2: Karlie
In the overpoweringly hot chambers of Magma Cavern, a small green Chikorita walked, her eyes determined. Okay, she thought, I have a job to do here and I can't let anything get in the way.
As if to spite her, unwanted thoughts rose to the surface. Stop it, Karlie! she told herself, It's not helping!
But as she was distracted, she didn't notice where she wasn't watching where she was walking. It was only after one of the Pokemon in the monster house let out a fierce battle cry did she notice her danger. Reacting instantly, she fired a Razor Leaf at a nearby Macargo. But before they could even reach the enemy Pokemon, the leaves were incinerated by the extreme heat. In that instant, Karlie knew she was outmatched.
I should have known better! she thought in anguish, as the Pokemon in the room drew close, I'm no good at fighting these Fire types! Ari was always better at this sort of thing, not me!
Karlie closed her eyes and braced for the worst as a Magmar in front of her drew in breath for a Flamethrower…
Suddenly, a beam of psychic energy hit the Magmar. It went down, letting out a cry of pain. Karlie's eyes snapped open. A Flamethrower, this time coming from behind her, hit another one of the Pokemon in the monster house. By now, Karlie understood what was going on. She closed her eyes again, wishing she could sink down into the scorching-hot floor and never be found again.
Oh, not again! she thought.
Karlie stomped into Pokemon Square, fuming. Why had she chosen Magma Cavern, of all places? This was such a stupid mistake to make. And now everyone in Pokemon Square would see that she was dumb enough to try a rescue she couldn't handle.
"Karlie," a voice behind her said.
Karlie whipped around, glaring, to see Alakazam watching her.
"You!" she said accusingly, "You followed me! Why can't you leave me alone? I can take care of myself without you babysitting me like a Togepi!"
"Karlie, I asked you not to go on any more of these missions by yourself. It's too dangerous," he reminded her calmly, ignoring her outburst.
"I'm part of a rescue team," she snapped, her pride rebelling, "It's what I'm supposed to do."
Alakazam gave her an odd look. "If you're part of a rescue team, why are you going on missions by yourself?"
Karlie blanched. Tears built up in her eyes, threatening to spill over, but she was in no mood to confide her feelings in anybody, especially Alakazam and his team members, Charizard and Tyranitar. If Ariana had been there, Karlie would have talked to her, but Ari's absence was the reason she felt so depressed these days.
"I'm going to go back to the base," she growled. Alakazam cleared his throat. Try as she might, Karlie could not keep all the bite out of her voice. "Fine. I promise not to go on any more dangerous missions."
Then, she brushed past him angrily, heading back to her team's base.
Charizard and Tyranitar, who had been silently letting their leader speak to Karlie, gave Alakazam sympathetic looks. Their friend was frustrated, and they could tell.
"Alakazam," Tyranitar said calmly, "don't worry. There's nothing more we can do. Goodness knows Karlie will need to work this one out on her own."
"I know," Alakazam murmured, staring after her, "But it feels as though there's something we should do to help."
"Why the personal interest?" Charizard asked curiously.
Alakazam shrugged. "It's always seemed like I've- we've been indebted to her and Ariana since-"
"Since we chased them across the whole continent trying to capture them and kill Ari after she was falsely accused of being involved in the Ninetales legend?" Charizard interrupted, and ironic smile on his face, "Not to mention that they then defeated Groudon for us, and of course there's the fact that we all owe them our lives after the comet…"
Alakazam gave what, on a lesser Pokemon, would have been a glare. "That, and it's always felt like I could have done something to predict Ariana's… untimely departure."
"That's nonsense," Tyranitar replied instantly, "Ariana herself seemed resigned to what was going to happen when she left for Sky Tower. You heard what Xatu said."
"I don't think there was any way of stopping it," Charizard reasoned, "To try would have been to try and fight forces you can't compete against."
"Exactly," Tyranitar agreed. He gave Alakazam a sympathetic look. "I know that it must feel frustrating to be so helpless in this situation," he said, "But the point is, there's nothing we could have done and nothing that we'll be able to do."
It had been Ari's house. Karlie had been the one to show her the place. And later, it had been made into their team's headquarters. So, it had made sense to Karlie, since she and Ari had founded the team together and she was a sort of co-owner, that she should move in when Ari disappeared. At least that was what Karlie had maintained.
But the truth was there was no "Team Westwood" anymore. After Ari had disappeared back to the human world, the whole team had fallen apart over the next week. Members just turned up with their goodbyes and half-hearted promises to return ready. Several Pokemon left without any notice at all. Karlie would just be looking for them to go on a mission, only to be informed by an increasingly fewer amount of remaining members that the Pokemon she was looking for had left the previous day, or the day before that. Soon, there had been virtually none left. Karlie hadn't been able to visit all the friend areas, but she was willing to bet that the others she hadn't seen were as desolate as the ones she had.
All these thoughts fumed in Karlie's head as she paced Team Westwood's headquarters, the one that was so uncannily shaped like Ari's head. What was it about Ari's leaving that had caused all the other members to quit? Why did it feel like if the same had happened to her then Ari would have been able to carry on? Why had they all abandoned her?
Maybe it's just me, she thought suddenly, Maybe I'm the one who's stuck to this for too long!
Ari had only left a week ago, and she had shocked everyone by trying to go on missions again barely two days later. Karlie had never confided the truth in anyone, that she thought that if she had kept crying about Ari leaving, she might have gone mad. So she tried to take her mind of it by doing her favorite thing: going on missions to help other Pokemon. However, all of her attempts so far had usually ended with Alakazam's team bursting in and defeating whoever Karlie was about to be trounced by. It was an embarassment.
But was she really the problem? Did she stick to something when it was too far gone?
Karlie shook her head. No, it couldn't be. She had been with this team from the very beginning. It was her job to see it though.
When Ari had first come, her arrival was like a blast of light to Karlie, showing what her future could be like and how they could be great. She had also seen the possibility of making a good friend, and so she had. And Karlie had decided to stay loyal to Ari after that day, no matter what. They had saved several Pokemon together, including a Caterpie, a Diglett, and two Magnemite. They had fought Team Meanies, a "rescue" team made up of an Ekans and a Medicham, led by Gengar. They wanted to use the profits of their "rescuing" to fund their plans of world domination. When they had planned to take advantage of the same Caterpie that Karlie and Ari had saved, and Caterpie's friend, Metapod, the two had defeated Team Meanies. Then when Zapdos had kidnapped Shirfty, the leader of another team, to the top of Mt. Thunder, they had gone after the legendary bird and got Shirfty back. And they had stuck together through it all. Then things got bumpy, on account of a stupid legend and Gengar's desire for revenge.
Long ago, a human had grabbed one of Ninetale's nine tales. Ninetales had tried to lay a curse on the human for this, but at the last moment, the human's Pokemon, Gardevoir, with disastrous consequences for the Psychic type. Ninetales, feeling remorseful about how the events had conspired, tried to talk to the human about what had happened, and possibly about saving Gardevoir. However, like a coward, the human had already fled. This had angered Ninetales, and she had made the prophecy that the human would one day be born as a Pokemon, and the world's balance would be upset.
This had not been good news for Ari. Earthquakes had already been starting when Ari had arrived, and soon, altered weather patterns had begun to form, upsetting even Legendary Pokemon. With a suggestion from Alakazam, they had visited Xatu, a wise Pokemon that lived on the Hill of Ancients and saw many things from staring directly into the sun. And he had told them that the world's balance was upset, and Ari's becoming a Pokemon had something to do with this. The fact that Ari had been receiving dreams from the very same Gardevoir that Ninetales had laid the curse on hadn't helped. But when Gengar overheard what Xatu had said to them, he had told everyone. He claimed that Ari was the cause of all the natural disasters, and he convinced the town that the only way to make the natural disasters stop was to kill Ari.
Karlie could not admit honestly that she had never had any doubts, and even Ari had seemed convinced at that point that she was the human. But still, Karlie had loyally followed her friend into exile. One of the best and worst decisions of my life, Karlie thought.
They had run away, through deadly extremes, chased by virtually every rescue team in existence. Finally, they had reached a frozen cavern where Ninetales lived. There, Alakazam's team had caught up with them, and would have destroyed Ari, as much as they disliked doing it, if Ninetales hadn't stepped in at the last second. Ninetales then revealed that Ari was not the human from the Ninetales legend. She and Ari had been allowed to go home, while Alakazam and his team had gone to fight Groudon, who was rising because of the natural disasters. Together, Ari and Karlie had eventually gone and defeated Groudon when the Legendary Pokemon proved to be too much for Alakazam and his team.
Then, Ari had found her real purpose for coming to the Pokemon world, although she hadn't told Karlie. She was there to save the world from a huge meteor that was heading right towards their world and would have destroyed it if it had hit. Together, they had journeyed to the top of Sky Tower to find Rayquaza, the only one who could destroy it. They barely made it in time.
But after that, Ari's purpose being fulfilled, she had to go home. She didn't have a choice in the matter. It was still one of the most painful things for Karlie to accept. They had been friends. The best of friends. Why was that so easily disregarded by whoever made the decision that Ari had to go back?
Finally, Karlie sighed, coming to a halt. It was no use. She'd simply have to try to find something else to do tomorrow. Part of her wondered vaguely what she was going to do, as no one seemed to think she could go on missions any more, and it wasn't like there was anything else she could do.
Sunlight hit her face suddenly. Starting, Karlie came back down to earth and looked around. It was already sunset. This wasn't the first time she had spent hours pacing around the team base, but it was still a shock when it happened.
I better get some rest, she thought, I'll see what I can do tomorrow.
And she lay down, in a house shaped like her best friend's head, and drifted off to a world that nothing, save a Dream Eater, could touch.
Guys, just a warning, I'm not going to give you little bits like "major foreshadowing here," or "this is a really important chapter" because, in real books, the authors wouldn't be able to do that, and I'm not sure they'd want to. You're not supposed to know what happens next. That's between me, my beta, and the people who I ask to edit and give me advice on it.
Also, I may be slowing down on the updates soon. I know I'm not that fast already, but the point is I've already pre-written the first five chapters. I may have to enforce a personal program that goes along the lines of "You cant post (chapter a) until you finish writing (chapter a+2). So I can actually finish this fanfic. Thanks for understanding!
Happy Writing!