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CHAPTER 3
Explosions rocked the street as I jumped out of the path of the raging breath of fire. Growling, I blasted back with my signature shadow ball; the demonic surge of black energy raced toward the houndoom and knocked him against the brick wall of the hotel behind him. I left him with his skull fractured and his face spilling blood as I whirled around to try and find a way to stop the fire from spreading.
Roaring in hatred I stiffened my tail as I concentrated on the feel of iron encasing the normally fluffy fur, I twisted my body and swung my tail at a fire hydrant on the side of the street; the valve burst open in a shower of sparks as a deluge of water began pounding against the flames. But it only served to halt the spread of the napalm that houndoom had spread, I had to contain this in time for the humans to get help.
By now a large group of pokemon and humans had arrived to witness the fight, some stared in awe and others tried to rush to help but the flames were too intense for them to get through the raging wall of liquid flames. I spun around as a fierce growling sent shivers down my spine, it was the mightyena.
I leered angrily at him, my eyes turned to solid crimson as my dark type began to consume my soul, "Oneill, it's been a while you traitor! I guess you've finally showed up so I can rip your carcass apart like I should have when I had the chance!" Squaring off I launched a shadow ball at him, we had fought before but I was in no way prepared for the chain of attacks that followed.
One second he was there, about to be mangled by my attack, I grinned in blood thirst, until he disappeared without moving and I felt a powerful set of jaws lock around the back of my neck. My world spun as I felt my body lose weight and I became disoriented. Blackness filled my vision for a moment and slowly the world came back into focus, I tried to move my neck but stopped as searing pain shot through my spine and ran throughout my body. A red haze filled my eyes and I could make out my opponent calmly walking toward me, his outline made fearsome by the backdrop of drifting smoke and the orange rage of spitting flames. Faintly I could make out his voice, he was trying to sound comforting, but I had fallen for that once already.
He shook his black and grey mane sadly, "C'mon man! Just forget about it already, I have. Just call it even and we could be friends again, like we were when Tarum was here, forget about that old power plant, what did you expect me to do, we were outnumbered ten to one, they offered us a way out, how could you refuse that?!"
I coughed and my spine felt like it was going to explode in pain, the taste of blood filled my mouth and a spray of red droplets spattered the pavement at my rival's paws, "You have no right-for-any-sympathy," I was cut off by another painful burst of blood and I tried to go on, "I'll-be—damned, if I let you talk about-my trainer-like that!" Oneill split into two as my vision swam and my consciousness wavered. Whatever had happened I needed to reverse it, I closed my eyes and felt the rays of the moon shining down, desperately I willed them to come to me and slowly, I felt the pain begin to ease away, but I was interrupted by a paw shoving my muzzle into the cold hard stone ground and I felt one of my fangs chip.
"Listen to me Eve! It hurt me just as badly as it did you," he was breathing heavily, he had not lost his bearing, but I could tell he was stressed, "How do you think I felt when I had to look him in the eyes as he bled out and begged for his forgiveness, did you know that!? He begged me for forgiveness, he APOLOGIZED! To me, for whatever he had done wrong to make me do what I did, it killed me inside!"
Wincing I tried to get out from under his large paw, but he was simply too heavy, and he pushed harder against my face. Then I felt nothing, I gave up and shadows devoured my being completely. I could hear screams and growling, there were more explosions, but it was like listening through a brick wall, and I felt scared and small, just like when I was an eevee on that dark night when Tarum found me and brought me into his life. I was curled into a small fetal ball of fur, surrounded by grinning demons and dripping red fangs, evil faces and blood red eyes swirled all around me, I was going insane.
Groaning, I opened my eyes. It was dark and the moon hovered above me in the sky, surrounded by the soft twinkling of white and blue stars, the environment brought me a sense of peace and relaxation, I laid my head back on the soft pillow and closed my eyes, Wait! A pillow? I shot up and looked around me. The room was spacious for a pokemon my size, against the wall was a simple hospital bed and the floor was covered by a soft plush carpet, I was lying in a soft basket made for smaller pokemon and the walls were completely black, I was in a pokecenter!
What's going on here? What happened to the fire and all those people and pokemon? The sound of sliding doors drew my attention and I looked over as a human poke nurse walked in, followed by a pink chansey carrying a bowl of good smelling stew. The nurse smiled good naturedly and pulled out a stethoscope, she offered out a peaceful hand with some steak chunks in it, "Hi I'm nurse Aymie, I heard about what you did for all those poor people that got trapped in that horrible fire, I'm just going to make sure your pulse is stable and your vital organs are okay, is that fine with you?"
She had a kind smile and smelled nice, so I shrugged and snatched up a chunk of meat and started nibbling on it. I tried to stretch my neck as the nurse put a gentle hand softly on my shoulder, but somehow it was immobilized. I could move it in small angles but when I tried to look down as Aymie held the cold metal disk to my chest I felt a stiff resistance, she looked at me and scratched between my ears as she concentrated, "please don't move umbreon, you will end up tearing the cast." I stopped moving and instead looked over at the chansey, who had set the bowl down next to my basket and had prepared a fresh pile of linen wraps and a tub of steaming water with a wash cloth.
She smiled when she looked at me and waved cheerily, "Hi, I was there helping the pokemon that got hurt in that fire, I think it was really amazing the way you chased of that horrible mighthyena, he was very scary." Her voice was high pitched, but in a cute way, I frowned as she pulled out a brown bottle of medicine from the pocket of her white apron.
"What do you mean, he nearly killed me, that's why I'm here, Isn't it?" Aymie finished her inspection and began tenderly peeling off the strange rubbery cast and nodded to chansey.
Chansey smiled and began soaking the cloth in the water, and shook her head happily, "I couldn't see anything through the flames when we were called in, but all of the sudden there was a massive dark pulse of purple energy and all the flames just went out," she began humming to herself as she handed the cloth to the nurse, who began gingerly wiping down my neck and sides, the chansey continued to tell her story, "it was really frightening and a lot of people ran away, even I wanted to, but I just couldn't leave all of the suffering pokemon behind," I winced as the nurse began to dap around my neck but I held back the yip of pain, chansey's voice helped distract my mind, "it's okay, we have to make sure it's clean, it looks like you got bit really hard, but anyway, you were just standing there, it was really creepy, your eyes and rings were glowing and you just looked at him, then just walked toward him and he ran away!"
I yipped a little when the warm water cloth lightly brushed over my spine and I broke out in spasms, the nurse had a concerned look on her face, "this is not good, I don't know how you survived, as deep as these bites are your spine should have snapped, you're lucky to be alive, but if we're not careful you could still end up dead or permanently crippled, how did you survive?" I furrowed my eyes and frowned, as the nurse put the cloth down, "chansey, don't let him move I need to get Doctor Aragan." Chansey nodded and waved cheerily, nothing seemed to get her spirits down, and she looked at me curiously, "how did you survive? Mighthyena are known for having the strongest bite of all pokemon besides dragons of course, but-," she seemed at a loss for words, so I told her.
I took a deep breath and looked her in the eye, "I'll tell you something that nobody knows who are still alive, but if I tell you a healing secret will you let me go? I need to leave, today." She looked around nervously, and bit her lip, eventually she nodded.
"Um, okay, I would like to learn how to heal others." I smiled and explained it to her.
"A long time ago, before we had potions and poke centers, people and pokemon had to rely on each other to stay alive, so they made friends with each other and many pokemon had to learn how to heal themselves to survive." I took a painful breath and chansey waited for me to go on, "some pokemon used the sun, some used the moon, some used berries, and some could heal just by using the goodness in their soul." I coughed and started to bleed a little, chansey squeaked and reached for the cloth, but I stopped her, "no, it's okay, anyway since poke centers and healing sprays are so easily available trainers and pokemon have lost the need to learn healing moves, but some of us still know how, most of us have grown up alone on the street without parents or humans."
She looked at me amazed, "Are you telling the truth?" I barely nodded and my spine erupted in pain, she looked at me with hope in her eyes, "so could you teach me?"
I wasn't sure what time of day it was, but I closed my eyes and felt for the moon. It was faint and far off, I could tell it was still day time, but I concentrated and pulled what energy I could from the distant moon. Chansey gasped as I felt some of the small punctures on my neck close and the bones in my neck grew a small amount stronger. "all you have to do is concentrate, and then you have to want to heal, you have to want it more than anything else in the world for that moment, my healing powers come from the moon, you'll have to find where yours comes from."
She nodded excitedly and closed her eyes, I waited a while and she began to sway and chant to herself, then she began to glow in a soft yellow light. I watched in curiosity as the light flowed to the tip of her paw and she placed it on my head. My eyes widened in amazement as I felt a warm rushing spread through my body and my wounds nearly instantly closed and my spine straightened and my bruised ribs no longer pained me.
Chansey began jumping up and down in excitement and dancing around me. I rolled my shoulders and popped my neck. I went to take a sip of the stew but stopped as my sensitive ears picked up a yelp of agony from the room next door. I ran out of the room and slid on the smooth floor to the next door, I tried getting in but the chansey followed me and blocked my way, "No!, you can't go in there, she's laying an egg!" I stopped suddenly and licked my nose awkwardly as a slight blush crept through my fur.
"Oh, it's just that scream sounded familiar," I shuffled awkwardly and turned to go back to my room, "umm, I'll just go have some of that stew then." Just before I walked away a nurse came rushing out with bloody towels and I caught a glimpse of pale blue, short sleek fur and a pair of icy blue eyes, before she hurriedly closed the door and rushed off down the hall.
The stew was delicious and I was just beginning to fall asleep in the comfy, padded basket as nurse Aymie returned, followed by a short man with a large belly and full beard dressed in a brown trench coat and matching bowler. Chansey looked up nervously as Aymie came in and looked at me in shock, "Chansey, you shouldn't have let him move, you know how badly hurt he is!"
Chansey began shaking her head and trying to explain as the human doctor rushed over to me, but they couldn't understand her. I looked up and stepped out of the basket as the doctor knelt by me and looked at me. His eyebrows were furrowed in confusion as he looked me over, "excuse me Miss Aymie, but I can't find any injuries on this pokemon whatsoever, let alone what you described to me."
Aymie was at a loss for words as she knelt down and looked at my neck, "but I don't understand, you couldn't even move when I left, it can't be possible, how?!" I yipped and stood next to chansey and wagged my bushy, gold ringed tail. "You did it chansey? But how?"
My ears flattened against my skull as I heard shouting from the hallway, "Nurse Aymie, come quickly, we found another burn victim!" the nurse opened the door and waved down the hallway,
"We have room in here, bring him in." I quickly stepped out of the way as a stretcher was pushed in. On top of it was a Machoke that tossed back and forth, his normally light gray skin blackened and peeling off at the arms and on his muscled chest. "Chansey, do you have any burn heal?"
Chansey shook her head and climbed on the bed next to the stretcher, she closed her eyes again and began swaying like before, her outline began to glow and she focused the energy and healed the Machoke's burns, this time the effort left her exhausted and she nearly fell over. Slowly the Machoke sat up and looked down his body; he flexed his arms and slid off of the stretcher. Everyone stood by in amazement at what chansey had done. And I discreetly slipped out the door and left the poke center, into the beautiful lit streets of the thriving cerulean city that had grown ever more large and graceful over the years.
I slinked my way through the massive system of water ways and bridges, looking for the hideout that was so familiar in the days when Tarum was still alive. Thuggish pokemon glared at me from every corner, and young and old girls alike had turned to whoring, trying to seduce me for whatever they could get, but I was no stranger to the violent crowds that roamed the streets in the dark hours of the night.
Finally, after one last turn, I came to a bridge that led through the heart of the city. It was not a magnificent or even noteworthy bridge, the paint was torn and faded from years of wear, and a rusted brass plaque rotted next to the handrail, I could barely make out the words. 'Nugget Bridge' where famous trainers crossed on their paths to glory. I snorted in amusement, whatever this bridge had once been it's just a broken landmark for a hideout of cutthroats and mercenaries. Shaking my head I sat at the edge of the bank and looked into the moonlit reflection of the sparkling river. Frowning I stared at an umbreon who had been beaten down by the world and refused to stay broken. I wiggled my long pointed ear and noticed there was a chunk missing from it where the fur changed to gold and made a band around it. Dammit, I love my gold fur spots, I'm gonna kill Oneill.
"Hey cutie, am I interrupting anything?" I slowly turned to face the dark, foreboding female that had snuck up behind me, I cocked my head to the side and furrowed my brow at the purple and yellow ringed Liepard, "what's the matter, aren't you happy to see and old friend?" she mewled as she sauntered up beside me and started rubbing against me, I coldly pushed her away.
"I'm here for business." She stopped and looked at me sadly.
"Where have you been all these years?" I cracked my neck and stared up at the moon, ignoring her question, "the least you could do is talk to me, it's not like we weren't close or anything." Her voice was sad and had a tint of sarcasm I could tell she was hurting but I didn't care, those days were gone.
"Where's the boss, I need some dirt." I glared into her emerald eyes with my crimson ones and she held it, for a little while, until she started crying.
"What happened to you?! I loved you; it was supposed to be the last job! And then you never came back! I waited in misery for a year, crying myself to sleep hoping you would come home, but you never did!" I snarled as she shoved her muzzle into my shoulder.
My voice was soft and quiet as regret filtered into my dart type heart, "listen Jasmine, I'm sorry I left you, it pained me thinking of you, but I couldn't come back." Her crying settled into subdued sniffles, "the job went bad. Tarum's dead and Oneill is with Holbrook's gang. They never stopped following me and eventually they found me, so now I'm going to finish the job, and I need the boss's help."
Jasmine took a breath and sighed, "Fine, the Fortune's Pub has been moved though, with the renovations to the water ways it caused this area to flood and we got washed out, but please," She looked at me with her sad, wide green eyes, "after you're done will we finally settle down together?"
I nearly pined as we began walking back into the lamp lit water ways and twisting dark alleys, I couldn't bear to hurt her anymore tonight, "Sure, I'll do my best…"
