It was so hot! It's January, why is it so hot? That was all I could think as I opened my eyes groggily, something headbutting against my chest frantically. I couldn't see the sky, even though it was clearly still nightttime and there should be a full sky of stars. I couldn't see anything just a large black cloud blotting out the sky I could hear crashing behind me and I jumped up to look. No living creature greeted me though instead, I could see a monster made out of flames smoke and ash spreading its way quickly towards me. I quickly recalled Vortumna, slung my bag around my back and began sprinting in forward away from from the flames as fast as I possibly could, ignoring the food and my sleeping bag I left behind.
I checked my Pokedexs GPS and saw there was a notification from the Ranger Corps for all trainers to evacuate the area as fast as possible. I also saw that Nyx took off again and I recalled her not wanting her to get stuck in this inferno. For now, my entire focus was on getting out of this alive, so I continued running as fast as possible, weaving my way in between trees as fast as I could, I was making good distance but I couldn't keep this up forever and the flames were starting to gain ground against me. By my estimate It was maybe over a kilometer away. I came crashing through some tree`s into a clearing and fell onto my stomach. When I looked up I saw a group of male trainers maybe a year older than I was sleeping away without a care in the world. Until I came crashing in and they all sprang up terrified.
"RUN!" I yelled quickly getting to my feet and getting ready to sprint.
"Why?" One of them a tall lanky brown haired boy said annoyed
"Fire." I gasped. "Big fire!"
"Wait, what? What do you mean?" A short blonde haired boy with a blue baseball cap.
"Big fire, coming this way. No time to explain." I said as fast as I could, I could feel the heat beginning to prickle my back again.
"Oh my god." I heard another one of them say a chubby boy with black hair and saw him point behind me. So against my own better judgment I turned around and saw the flames approaching at an even more rapidly.
The last a big, blonde haired boy with glasses was silent and already running.
"Run!" I yelled again and began sprinting forward again. I heard shouts from behind and when I chanced a look backward I saw the three of them crashing through the undergrowth behind me and catching me quickly until finally, they were running beside me.
"Shit!" I heard one of them yell.
"David" I heard another yell and I stopped again against my better judgment. The one named David was the chubby black haired guy and he was sprawled out on the ground wrapped in an old and abandoned Spinarak web, flames approaching dangerously close and the other guy stood in shock. There, other friend, the lanky brown haired boy went running past us, not looking back. Recklessly I ran forward and grabbed the man stood still and began pulling him away from the fire and his friend. Emotionless and expressionless he ran alongside me and in the distance, we could hear David's dying screams of agony directed through the forest like a symphony of pain.
The flames were catching up to us too fast. I was panicking and I was tired and the smoke in my lungs was making me cough terribly as me and this other guy ran side by side, not a word was spoken between us, However, ahead of us we saw a large lake through a clearing of tree and we ran towards it as fast as possible, I could feel horrible pain against my entire backside and I knew I was slowly being singed, and a few times I felt my legs almost buckle. However, I was determined, I was not gonna die, not now, right at the beginning of my journey, not like this. So with determination, I and the other guy went crashing through the treeline and over an edge submerging into the cold January lake waters. There we met his other two friends.
"What the fuck Andrew." I heard the guy behind me shout at the lanky black-haired fellow as we approached shallower waters where we could stand. "You just let David die like that? Didn't even stop to help him?" He asked screaming at the guy named Andrew.
"I know, I'm sorry Jeffrey, I just I panicked." Andrew cried, tears streaming down his face as fast as the water droplets from the lake.
"And you!" The man named Jeffrey said turning towards me. "Why'd you pull me away?" He yelled angrily.
"You would've died," I stated bluntly and emotionlessly.
"I could've saved him." He said back more to himself than to me.
"No, you couldn't of," I said again bluntly. "That was Spinarak web, the strongest of insectile webs. You would've had to precision cut your friend out of it, and it would've taken at least fifteen minutes. You had five." I explained as emotionlessly and rationally as I could, in truth I was panicking and filled with guilt myself but I didn't wanna let that show.
"I cou-" He began.
"No! You couldn't of." His friend, the one who had remained quiet so far interjected and the man named Jeffrey bowed his head deeply.
"We should get out of here," I said as I saw burning trees begin to teeter and fall into the lake around us.
"Where? Everythings on fire." Jeffrey yelled gesturing to the forests around us.
"There's an island in the center," I said pointing to a small island in the center of the lake about a twenty-minute swim away from where we were.
"It's so far though," Andrew complained.
"It's better than dying here." The quiet one said shrugging and began to swim towards the island. We all looked to each other and then began to follow his lead, though after about five minutes we were all on our backs lightly pushing ourselves too tired to actually swim.
"Hey, guys?" Andrew asked nervously. "What lives in this lake?"
"Uh…Wooper. Bidoof, Goldeen, and Barboach. Oh and of course Magikarp, why?" I asked curiously.
"It's just I felt something brush against me." He said anxiety evident in his voice. At this we all kinda glanced at each other, turned back onto our stomachs and began full on swimming again, not caring about our own tiredness. After another ten minutes of intense paddling, we reached a flat cliffside on the island where the water was deep but we could pull ourselves out of the water. Jeffrey, the quiet guy and I all pulled ourselves out of the water no problem but Andrew was having troubles getting up. So Jeffrey went to help him but before he could grab his hand, Andrew screamed and then was pulled under.
"Andrew!" We heard Jeffrey scream reaching down into the water, but all that met his hands was a large pool of red congealing at the top of the lake. I ran and pulled Jeffrey back away from the water as I saw a giant long blue shape emerge from the water only a few feet away from his hand.
"Help me" I yelled to the quiet guy, as I tried to drag Jeffrey away from the water's edge and he came over and grabbed his other side and helped me pull him away. When I looked into the water I could see two giant eyes watching us from underneath the lake and I was glad I acted when I did.
"What happened?" The quiet guy said once we pulled Jeffrey away from the cliffs and into the small woodlands on the island, Jeffrey continued to sit there and babble to himself in shock.
"Fucking... Gyarados…" I said panting wildly still tired from the swim and also dragging Jeffrey away.
"But I thought there was no more wild lake Gyarados? That they culled them all years ago just after the Lake of Rage fiasco?" He asked panic evidently within his voice.
"Well, I guess they missed some or… They just recently evolved or any other combination of things." I said panic now evident in my own voice, trying to take in all that I had seen today.
"My fault…' We heard Jeffrey mutter but we were too shocked to actually say anything to comfort him. Instead, we sat there in silence.
"I'll send the rangers our coordinates," I said shakily and the quiet guy just nodded while Jeffrey appeared to not even hear what I said and continued to babble wildly to himself. I plugged in our coordinates and it said with all the panicking people within the wildfire and the high level of casualties that they wouldn't be able to grab us until tomorrow. So despite everything that happened today, I suggested we made a fire so we didn't freeze to death in the middle of the night and the quiet guy nodded and together we set out to gather kindling and logs. When all was done we sat there in silence in front of the fire while Jeffrey babbled to himself wildly.
"What's your name?" He asked after what seemed like hours but was most likely not even a half hour.
"MG," I said back plainly.
"I meant your real name." He said smiling hesitantly.
"People know me as MG, so I go by MG," I answered back and he went quiet again. "What's yours?" I asked back, less to know and more so to be polite/
"Robin Maloney." He said smiling back at me. "Pleasure to actually meet ya MG." He said sticking out his hand and I shook it firmly. "So you're a trainer eh? Me too." He said and I could distinctly make out an accent in his voice.
"Oh really how many badges?" I asked curiously, it's obvious he was a trainer because he was out in the woods but I wanted to know more about my competition.
"Two from here and one from Sinnoh where I am from." He said and my curiosity was peaked even more.
"You're from Sinnoh?" I asked trying not to let my curiosity shine through my voice. The Johto/Kanto region and Sinnoh has a history of friendship going way back, being some of the only regions to the north and had a history of great trade plans and economic growth, Sinnoh being one of the biggest processors of metals gems, and oils with there vast underground network and Kanto's silph being the biggest manufacturer and exporter of technology in the entire world, it made an ideal and perfect partnership
:"Yup, born and raised!" He said smiling and lifting his hand up in the air as an acknowledgment. "I'm just here to earn a few easy badges before heading home and joining our ranger corps." He said smiling widely.
"Ah, so you're gonna be a ranger?" I asked moving slightly closer to the fire to warm up a bit.
"Yeah wasn't my life's ambition, I wanted to be champion." He said chuckling to himself.
"Well, what changed?" I asked feeling uneasy about my own plans now.
"Well I'm fifteen, been on my journey for five years now and only have three badges, At this point, I'd rather just serve my country than rule it." He said a light gleam behind his eyes. "That and Dawn Paladino."
"Who's Dawn Paladino?" I asked curiously.
"Greatest champion the Sinnoh region ever had, somehow even better than Cynthia Shirona." He said and I could sense the pride in his voice. "Changed the whole system, made it a democracy." He stated and I stared at him blankly.
"Democracy?" I asked and I could hear his laughter boomed through the night.
"What are they teaching you kids in school?" He asked laughing even harder.
"Uh… I never went to school." I muttered weakly and with that, he stopped laughing as suddenly as he started.
"Oh… That makes more sense than." He said awkwardly. "She created a second branch of government, with equal power than the champion. One that is voted in by the people, they're called the prime minister and they can't be the current champion. She did it so it's not entirely about strength but instead what they believe in. Not only that but every vote has equal power, champion, gym leader, PM, elite, you name it. Not only that but nontrainers are also voted into seats of power to help give them a voice too." He explained and I tried to absorb it all in.
"Wait so if everyone's vote is equal, how do the champion and prime minister have equal power," I asked confused about the whole validity of the situation.
"Ah, sorry about that eh? The prime minister and champion have the ability to veto any bill together." He explained and I nodded satisfied.
"So who's the current prime minister?" I asked and he smiled wildly.
"Why Dawn Paladino of course, seventy-eight percent of the entire region voted for her." He said smiling proudly.
"But didn't you just say the champion couldn't be the prime minister?" I asked annoyed at his explanations.
"Yes, but Dawn Paladino, resigned as champion, gave it back to Cynthia so she could take the post she was voted into." He said smiling widely.
"Then why don't you go for the championship?" I yelled back angrily going back to the point that started this entire conversation.
"Ah because I like our leaders, and would rather serve them than lead them." He said smiling and I tried not to scream. "Have you seen Jeffrey?" He asked jumping up and looking around and it was then that I noticed the same thing, he'd gone missing.
"No… He was right here." I said confused and then I let our Nyx join me who gave a squawk of protest at not actually being free. "Oh hush you," I said tossing her a berry which she gobbled up in a second and then remained quiet.
"Alright I'm going to go search inside the forest, you check the shore." He said seriously and I nodded uneasily thinking about the giant eyes I saw in the water. Still, I bucked up and I walked towards the cliffs we climbed up on. There I saw a humanoid figure standing above the water and looking down into it, something dripping frantically from an outstretched hand into the water.
"Lovely night tonight?" It said somehow both calmly and madly and I could tell it was Jeffrey.
"Jeffrey, get away from the shore," I said calmly and slowly approaching him.
"Just look at those stars, they're never that bright anywhere near the city." He said in that same chilling voice.
"Jeffrey," I said as I could hear something moving in the water below.
"I'm sorry I'm such a screw-up." He said and I could see tears flowing down his face. "I'm sorry I couldn't save them." He said again and this time that voice was now cracked and emotional. As I got closer I could make out the substance flowing from his hand was red and I could hear more frenzied swimming from below the water. "Take good care of them for me." He said smiling and gesturing towards his pokeballs which were laying on the ground feet away.
"Wa-" I began but before I even finished a giant blue serpent emerged tall from the lake and crunched down on Jeremy, a wave of blood splashing the surrounding area. I heard him scream once and then he was dragged under and never seen again. I just sat there in shock for minutes, not quite sure what to do. Nyx went flying off my shoulder squawking like crazy into the night and I calmly recalled her. Not even processing the fact that he was there and then he was gone…I finally and numbly walked over, picked up his pokeballs and then slowly walked back to camp completely and utterly in a daze.
"Hey did ya find him?" I heard Robin say when I made camp and I just nodded slowly. "Great well where is he?" He asked excitedly again and I just shook my head and then lifted up the pokeballs. "What… No?" I heard him ask in a feeble voice as if hoping I'd reject it but I said nothing. Instead, I just laid down beside the fire, closed my eyes and prayed to Arceus that I'd fall asleep soon.
After hours and many nightmares of giant Gyarados going from city to city blowing up the Johto region and watching Jeremy and Andrew being eaten over and over again while David screamed burning to death, I was finally awoken by the rangers the next moment and when I did wake up I felt a searing pain in the back of my legs.
"Excuse me." I heard one of them say. "Excuse me, miss? I have a few questions for you." They said calmly, almost paternally and I awoke rubbing my eyes wildly.
"Um yes?" I half asked half yawned looking up into the eyes of a pretty female ranger most likely in her mid-thirties
"I just have a couple questions for you." She repeated and I nodded at her. "Are you the one who sent us the coordinates?" She asked and I nodded. "Where is the registered owner of those pokeballs?" She asked pointing at Jeremy's pokeballs and I went numb again.
"Gyarados, Gyarados in the lake., I said voice shaking and breaking each time I said the horrible creatures name.
"Oh, my-Alex!" She gasped and then yelled. "We need to evacuate asap, we got a code 130 in this lake and are in dire need of the electric core, I repeat we have a code 130." I heard her say speaking very fast into her walky-talky. "Don't worry we're gonna get you out of here." She said flashing me a reassuring and paternal smile and it was in that moment that for the first time since I was a young kid I broke into sobs and she just hugged me and held me close until I stopped.
"S-sorry." I said as I finally stopped crying.
"Nothing to apologize for, its natural." She said flashing me that same reassuring and paternal smile and I smiled back at her even if I didn't really feel like smiling. Eventually, a few more rangers arrived, one of them had an Abra which would teleport us to Violet city for immediate medical care. The rest I saw all had powerful electric types including a Jolteon, Electivire, two Manectrics. A Luxray, Two Magnezones and a Lanturn, all fully equipped and ready to fight. Just seeing these made me feel better as it meant that any Gyarados alive in the lake would be toast in mere minutes.
Before we could see them in action, however, Robin and I were instructed over to the Abra and in what I can only explain as a horribly painful jerk from the small of your back and an incredibly dizzying and awful sensation Robin and I were both throwing up in the middle of a hospital room. We both turned and gave each other a sickly and dark grin and then were rushed into our beds from nurses who began doing all sorts of tests and other things on us.
We just continued grinning at each other and then laughing as hard as we both could. We did it, we survived and it was the funniest thing in the world. The nurses may have thought us mad but we didn't care, no one went through what we did, no one went through the fire and the flames and carried on, no one watched two people be horrifically eaten by Gyarados and then slept on the same island surrounded by them. So we laughed and we laughed until our bellies ached and we couldn't laugh anymore, and then we slept.
H ey guys thanks again as always for reading, I appreciate the follows, reviews, Kudos and more, so thank you very much :) So after a relatively cute and vanilla chapter yesterday we finally hit another actually dark chapter. Don't worry not every chapter is gonna be like this, in fact, most likely a majority won't. However, this is here to prove that people die, in this world almost too easily and there are regular cullings and task forces dedicated to making the world actually liveable. Despite being fourteen, or thirty six, all it takes is one dumbass that can't control a fire type and not having a companion in the water and you're dead. No matter the trainer, experiences or badges, there is consequences to everything.
Also, we meet what is one of the biggest themes of this fanfic, politics! Now don't worry this will be more about political theory and ideology, and it definitely won't have anything to do with out current political climate as I'm sure you're all just as sick of hearing about it as I am. No there will be no references or jokes or anything like that and instead will again deal with political ideology, voting, passing bills and other things so to speak.
Also sorry about it being late, I went camping for a few weeks and then had to rewrite this entire chapter as I didn't like it at all before. Will try to keep a minimum schedule of once every week to two weeks.
Anyways again, thanks for reading.