CHAPTER 3

Cubone began to pour tears out from his eyes, which were washed away by the rain that just had started. Cubone didn't want to believe that his mother was dead. He kept shaking her, hoping that she was just sleeping.

"Mom," he cried, "Wake up mom. Please wake up."

Cubone eventually stopped shaking his mother when he took a closer look at her neck. It had been cut and had been the source of where the blood came from. Her death wasn't an accident. It was a murder.

Cubone was too upset to speak. All he could do was hug his dead mother and cry. But then, Cubone heard something strange. He turned around to see what he heard. Nothing was there at first, but the sound started to become louder and clearer. It sounded like barking.

The barking noise sounded like it was coming Cubone's way. Frightened, Cubone ran towards a boulder and hid behind it. The barking became more louder and louder each time. Cubone peeked around the corner to see what was making the barking sound.

He saw a group of Pokémon running towards his mother. About half of them were about the size of Cubone. They were mostly grey except for their paws and face which were black. The other half of the group was bigger and was mostly black with some grey on their body.

Cubone didn't recognize any of the Pokémon. There wasn't many Pokémon who lived in the desert, and Cubone only saw other Pokémon when he was with his mother who frightened off any that were predators. The group of Pokémon ran up to Cubone's mother and began to sniff her.

Cubone knew what was going to happen next. He hid behind the boulder again and covered his ears as the other Pokémon began to eat his mother. But even with his ears covered, he could still hear the other Pokémon biting, ripping, chewing, and swallowing his mother. Cubone began to cry again.

The Pokémon ran off into the distance a few minutes after they had eaten Cubone's mother. Cubone came out of hiding and looked over at his mother. All that was left of her were her bones.

Cubone was now all alone and had no idea what to do. He walked over to where his mother used to be, fell to his knees and started crying.

"Mom, why?" he cried "why did you have to die?"

Then a chill ran down Cubone's spine, as he heard the sound of a horrifying growl. He jumped to his feet to see what the cause of the growl was, which turned out to be one of the smaller Pokémon from before.

Cubone was too scared to move. He just stood there frozen as a rock while the wild Pokémon continued to growl at him. The growling turned into a bark which caused Cubone to flinch. The Pokémon then ran up to Cubone and attacked him with its paw, which cut Cubone's face. The Pokémon then proceeded to tackle Cubone next to one of his mother's bones.

Cubone felt the bone touch his hand and looked over at it. The wild Pokémon opened its mouth and prepared to bite down on Cubone's neck. A flash of lightning appeared before Cubone instinctively grabbed the bone and swung it at the Pokémon.

The Pokémon soared through the air after being hit with the bone. The Pokémon, who was once frightening to Cubone, looked scared for its life. It ran off into the same direction as the others with its tail in between its legs.

Cubone didn't know exactly what happened. One moment he was afraid of dying. The next, he had defeated a wild Pokémon that had tried to kill him. Cubone looked down at his hand which was still holding the bone. It felt so natural to him for some reason. He then walked over to his mother's corpse and was confused on what to do next.

Glancing over at his mother's skull, Cubone remembered that his mother told him that one day, she wouldn't be here and that he would have to take care of himself. He walked over to the skull and picked it up from the ground. He looked into the eyes of the skull and sighed.

"Well mom," he said, "you always said you would protect me. And you will even after your death."

Cubone then placed the skull on his head, if it were like a helmet. He then grabbed the bone he had used on the Pokémon from the ground and began to walk away from his mother's corpse. His life had now changed for the worst. He would have to live on his own, carry a bone for a weapon against predators, and wear the skull of his dead mother as a means of protection. And thus begins the tragedy of the Lonely Pokémon.