Chapter 4: Exposed
"Ugh...these dreams keep getting stranger and stranger. Not that I'm honestly complaining of course..." Luca shrugged and groaned. His head felt like a bunch of monkeys fighting over a bucket a marbles; completely disorienting, pained, and aggravating to deal with. With a shake of his head he arose from his sleeping bag, giving the morning a nice big stretch. To his surprise he saw Arkianna talking to his little buddy, Snivy, who had been more or less hiding in her poke ball than actually coming out for fresh air. Luca quickly noticed Snivy's expression as their conversation continued. To his surprise, she looked rather nervous with just a hint of fear mixed in. As Luca approached them, Snivy jumped up in surprise, immediately darting off back to its poke ball.
"I didn't realize you could talk to Pokemon, how do you do that?" Luca's curiosity peaked as Arkianna gave him an odd wink and a smile to match.
"Secret..." Arkianna replied. A sudden burst of marching footsteps and people calling out to one another crashed through the snow, their sounds forcing Luca to shake out of his lazy awakening. Luca turned and took a look over the bushes that guarded them to see a lot of officers and officials surrounding various red splotches that seemed to spread out for quite a distance. While Luca investigated, Arkianna rolled up and cleaned up their little camp sight. She was humming a happy melody, grinning at her handiwork as she cleaned the sight til it was spotless. Trying to glance without being overly noticed, Luca looked around at each little individual place around them, covering his mouth from disgust. In each area, there was more than just blood splotches, there were random remains of various individuals as well.
"What...What the hell is this?!" Luca cried, shielding his mouth with his hand. He kept circling the small group officers, his curiosty taking flight. He ducked his view up and down and side to side; even though the site was something he didn't really want to see, curiosity is a fickle thing to fight against. Officer Jenny noticed Luca and immediately turned to him, spreading out her arms like a barricade.
"This is not something that you should be looking it! This site is off limits!" she barked, sending Luca away from them. He held a hand over his eyes to try and hide the shimmering tears that started to coat his eyes. Never in his life had ever seen something so graphic and real, not even on the news. The only good thing to come out of what he just saw was the determination to leave this scary place to move on to the next section of his journey. By the time he returned, Arkianna had already packed everything up, dusting snow across their camp site to clean up its poor, barren imagery. Handing the bag to Luca, he slipped it on then nervously took her hand in his. It was if he needed another's touch or else the fear of what he saw would become too much. The two of them decided to stay far away from each of the points of investigation, quickly heading towards the exit of the city. Luca let loose a hefty sigh, continually being disappointed by the constant string of bad luck that followed them both throughout this journey.
"It sucks that we haven't been able to really take in any sights or even capture any Pokemon...it seems that everywhere we go, the whole place is just a complete mess...that's why I'm incredibly grateful that you decided to come a long with me Arkianna. Without you, I'm not sure I would've been able to push through this journey with confidence; thank you," Luca gave Arkianna's hand an affectionate squeeze, causing in imminent smile on her face to shine in his eyes. Arkianna's loving and kind smiles is one of the few things in Luca's life that truly gave him the spirit to fight onward.
"Hey Arkianna, you don't mind if I try and hunt down some wild Pokemon do you? I can really call myself much of a Pokemon trainer if I don't honestly catch any you know what I mean?" Luca chuckled awkwardly as Arkianna replied with a subtle nod. As controlling and territorial as Arkianna was, she knew that he would need other Pokemon to make it through the gyms. Pushing aside her obvious obsessive quirks, she decided that Luca's happiness outweighed at least a few of her own...for now. Finally finding a sizable patch up tall grass, dove on into it, looking far and wide to try and find anything at all. It honestly didn't matter to him, he just wanted to find anything. Huffing in frustration after searching about ten minutes, Luca's discouragement was slowly taking a toll on him. The way his father explained it once upon a time, he made it out to be incredibly easy with an over abundance of Pokemon being everywhere. Catching another sigh from Luca's gruntled lips, Arkianna circled around, calling in her unique Pokemon language to see if any would show before him. Sudden Luca let out a joyous cry as made a sudden leap backwards as a wild Zebstrika charged him head on. Luca showed no signs of fear as he immediately grabbed a hold of his poke ball.
"Alright Snivy, let's do this," Luca called to arms, hurling his poke ball to his front. Snivy immediately popped out in a flash of light, only to be stared down by a mean, anxious Zebstrika. Snivy, although rattled from Arkianna's conversation from before, put on its game face and glared it back down, her legs only shaking mildly. However, Zebstrika's gaze didn't rest on Snivy very long. It's eyes shift to Luca's side, where Arkianna stood with her arms crossed, grinning wide as her eyes began to glow.
"Extrasensory" Arkianna whispered under her breath as Zebstrika took a few gallops forward. Now moving away from Luca, she held out her hand as her's and Zebstrika's eyes met, causing it to shake and place and shake its head in pain from the hit. Luca puzzled why Zebstrika was suddenly acting as if it where hit by an attack, but shook it off, seeing it as an advantage that he needed to capitalize on.
"Alright Snivy, it looks like we have an opening. Leaf Tornado," Luca ordered promptly. Snivy finally got his whits together launched into the air. Spinning around like a top, a flurry of leaves surrounded her, eventually launching themselves at Zebstrika in the form of a sharp, leafy gust. Just as Zebstrika shook off the odd pain from the extra sensory, it was then pushed back as its face met with the light, weak flurry of painful leaves. As weak as it was, Zebstrika's vision grew blurry, which was a side effect of the attack itself. Luca stomped his foot down in excitement, his face filled with overwhelming happiness as his first wild Pokemon was nearly within his grasp.
"SNIVY, HOLD IT WITH VINE WHIP," the call met with Snivy's ears in an instant. As his words finished, Snivy smirked leaping forward as its vines shot out from behind its frame. One of the vines latched around the Zebstrika's neck while the other quickly tied around its front to legs. Snivy pulled with all of his might, causing Zebstrika to fall on its front knees. With great haste, Luca snagged a poke ball from his side pouch on his belt and hurled it like a baseball at Zebstrika's head. With a bounce and a click, Zebstrika vanished in a red light into the poke ball. Luca's world stood still with complete silence joining it as the poke ball teetered from the left to the right. Holding his breath, he prayed with all his heart for it to capture, which was soon rewarded by his hard work.
Hopping up and throwing a swing of his arm to the air, Luca shouted out in a grand and victorious manner. Luca immediately at the spherical prison that he had successfully used to capture a new ally for his cause. Snivy looked back at Arkianna with a nervous gaze; contrary to the threats from earlier, Snivy felt a strange sensation of support from Arkianna, who smiled smugly at the little Snivy. Calling out to her, Snivy shook its odd thoughts away and quickly ran to her beloved trainer.
"Look Snivy! Now we have a new friend to help us on our way! I was really impressed with you, I was surprised at how well you handled that Zebrstrika regardless of your level being much lower and your stature being so much tinier. I'm so glad I picked you!" Luca laughed victoriously as he clicked Zebstrika's poke ball to his waist. He immediately picked up Snivy and pulled it against him a gentle hug before returning it to her poke ball. Arkianna couldn't hide her glare from the sharing of affection that didn't include herself.
Arkianna refused to leave Luca's arm, grasping around it lovingly as they moved on. She refused to let anything else love him as much as herself, so after seeing Snivy receive Luca's affection, it was her turn to repay it back to Luca. Walking onward, he was spotted by many trainers and regular individuals alike, half of them jealous from the beauty that hung on his arm. His face often grew red from the exposure, completely in the dark on how he was supposed to react. In the midst of all the attention, a trainer on the road ran up to Luca, ready to throw down.
"Yo! You're a Pokemon trainer right? What do you say to a quick battle?" the trainer offered, a friendly tone filling his words. Arkianna sighed softly and relaxed as he noticed the trainers gender, realizing that her hostility wouldn't be a quite as defensive as normal. Luca smiled, returning the boys words with an affirmative thumbs up.
"I was hoping I'd get challenged on this route, so you're on buddy! Prepare yourself!" Luca's face grew with overconfidence as Arkianna removed herself from his arm. Luca's overabundance of energy and definitive pride caused her to giggle softly, getting in position off to the side. She new that as long as she was by his side, she would do everything in her power to never allow a loss to befall Luca's ego. Reaching down, he immediately summoned out Snivy. Snivy quickly emerged from the ball, emerging from the bright light with a face of focus gazing the enemy down. The opposing trainer could help but to smirk at the little Snivy as he reached for his first Pokemon as well.
"Swoobat, let's show 'em some tough love!" he called, releasing his ball up into the air. The Pokemon emerged from the poke ball well before it was even close to the ground, allowing the trainer to immediately catch it as his Swoobat took to the air before him. Knowing that he was a major disadvantage, he was tempted to grab a hold of Snivy's poke ball and return her to his side.
"Aw what's the matter? Don't think that you're Snivy can handle it?" the opposing trainer provoked Luca, which put a bad taste in Arkianna's mouth. She glared over at him, then to his Swoobat, wondering how such an idiot this trainer would dare to mock her lover. Snivy turned to Luca, giving him a sign that she was ready to give it her all.
"Alright Snivy, if it's OK with you. Let's show him what we've got! Snivy, use Leech Seed!" Luca ordered. After each battle, Luca would take a gander at his Pokedex. As long as it was so much as on, he was able to gather data on his own Pokemon. He looked at it a few times while he and Arkianna were strolling along the route, taking the time to be meticulous about knowing his own Pokemon. Shooting several seeds into the air, Swoobat dodged them with minimal effort circling around Snivy from the air as it gazed it down.
"Hit that weakling with Aerial Ace Swoobat!" the opposing trainer gave the order, immediately making Swoobats wing glow. Swoobat made a dive bomb approach against Snivy, its speed taking her of guard. Before Snivy had a chance to take evasive action, Swoobat collided into Snivy, sending the poor Pokemon tumbling along the ground. As Snivy whined in pain, Arkianna couldn't help but to smile in satisfaction; she would do anything to help Luca win, but that doesn't mean that she can't enjoy a little bit of Snivy's pain and agony in the process. Snivy winced in pain is slowly rose to its feet again, Swoobat already able to attack once more.
"Hang in there Snivy! Try Leech Seed again!" Luca cheered his poor Snivy on as it struggled to do so much as run along the ground. Damage from a super effective blow was never anything to laugh at within a battle, which described Snivy's situation to the t. As Swoobat readied itself for another attack, Arkianna's eyes gained a hold of it, allowing her to do as she pleased.
"Attract..." Arkianna said quietly. As Swoobat dove in, it slowed down its momentum, moving its wing out of the way of Snivy's face. Being to close to the ground, Swoobat's wing grazed along the ground, causing it to tumble on for a minute before making its way back into the air. Its eyes and heart began to pound for Snivy, the attract cast upon it keeping it from attacking Snivy.
"What's wrong Swoobat? Get back in there! Aerial Ace!" the order growled. His angry words went in one out and out the other as Swoobat lowered its altitude. Snivy was finally able to hit it with a Leech Seed, which grabbed a hold of the main portion of its body. With a shock of energy, Swoobat cried in pain as Snivy felt a bit more rejuvenated. Growling at the obnoxious and seemingly unfair turn of events, he begrudgingly returned Swoobat to its poke ball.
"What the hell kind of move was that?!" the trainer yelled in frustration, shaking with mild anger. Luca was at a complete loss of words; he always did his best to try and be friendly with everyone, so having someone mysteriously being upset with him was like a slap in the face to his values.
"I didn't do anything! Seriously!" Luca said as honestly as he could. A scowl sprawled along the trainers brow as he reached for his second Pokemon. Tossing it up into the air as well, a Mandibuzz emerged from it, which glared down at Snivy with incredible hostility. Luca growled at the Pokemon that just raised the difficulty bar way higher than he thought he could handle. But regardless, Luca was ready to battle on. Returning Snivy to her poke ball, he threw Zebstrika out into the open. The trainer smirked at Luca and shook his head.
"Are you sure that thing is even going to listen to you? Judging by your skill you seem like you've only been in a few battles or so," the trainer called Luca out, causing him to grit his teeth behind his lips. Zebstrika shook its head side to side, loosening up its mane as it stared up at Mandibuzz. Mandibuzz looked down upon Zebstrika with a sense of superiority as he it circled around Zebstrika, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.
"Mandibuzz, Swagger!" the trainer ordered. Mandibuzz circled all around Zebstrika, descending closer and closer to Zebstrika's front. Hovering above the ground, Mandibuzz shot an obnoxiously offensive face at Zebstrika, as if calling it garbage. Zebstrika growled angrily at Mandibuzz, his head now feeling light and wobbling as it went to attack it. Mandibuzz avoided the the tackle with ease, heading back up into the air to watch Zebstrika's frustration. Zebstrika began running in circles, staring up at Mandibuzz; Zebstrika wanted to take down Mandibuzz with all of its might.
"Zebstrika, Spark!" Luca ordered. Zebstrika began to light up with electricity, but suddenly toppled over from its lack of balance. Having been running around, it had made itself dizzy while waiting for Mandibuzz to strike.
"Can't do much while I'm up in the air can you? Think of this as payback for my Swoobat!" the trainer snickered at Luca, watching him as he shook his head in mild defeat. Seeing Luca growing discouraged, Arkianna's face twisted into anger as it turned its gaze up to Mandibuzz. Growling in her throat, her eyes began to glow blue after catching Mandibuzz's glance.
"...Torment..." Arkianna growled. Mandibuzz started to look as if it was greatly losing control of its altitude, quickly dropping to the ground like a boulder off a cliff. Squawking in pain, he tumbled down until it hit the dirt. Trying to shake the immense pain inside of its head, Zebstrika took the opportunity shake off its dizziness, now grinding its hooves along to ground to ready itself to attack.
"Let's try again! Zebstrika, Spark!" Luca commanded, catching Zebstrika's attention flawlessly. Zebstrika charged up as it glared the Mandibuzz down, shooting a small ball of electricity point blank into Mandibuzz's face. Mandibuzz screeched in pain as it shook its head violently, trying to shake off the yells and pain. The opposing trainer growled as Zebstrika prepared to attack again. The trainer then retrieved his Mandibuzz to its poke ball, kicking the dirt in a farcical defeat. Luca gave out a winning "wooo!", running out and hugging Zebstrika around its neck. Zebstrika gave a call of approval before Luca returned it to its poke ball.
"What the hell are you trying to pull?! You had to have cheated! Why else would my Pokemon just suddenly stop fighting?!" the trainer cried out as he charged Luca on foot. Luca couldn't figure out what the guys problem was; he battled nice and cleanly, just giving it his all to win. But here we now find a the trainer ready to attack Luca for so called cheating that he himself couldn't fathom. Throwing an unexpected punch at Luca, Arkianna immediately latched onto his wrist, slowly crushing it in her grasp. He grunted in pain as he looked into Arkianna's furious eyes, almost causing the trainer to wet himself from fear.
"Don't you dare...touch...him!" Arkianna growled, doing everything she could to maintain her shape and voice as she brought the trainer to his knees. Luca sighed and placed his hands on Arkianna's arm, tugging at them to get her to let go. Arkianna looked over at Luca and lightly smiled before releasing the trainer from her death grasp. The trainer took off and ran away without a word, glaring back angrily as he took off past them.
"Wow thanks Arkianna, I had no idea you were so strong. What was his problem?" Luca wondered, turning to Arkianna. to his surprise she had vanished into the thin air. Scratching his head and immediately went searching, only to find her popping out from behind a tree after about 10 minutes. He smirked and shook his head; what a strange girl she was he thought, finding her more and more attractive by the day. She grabbed a hold of his arm, nuzzling up against it as he lightly blushed, moving on. It didn't seem long before they came across an incredibly tall landmark. To their right they saw a sign out front that said "Celestial Tower" in big, bold, white letters on a black sign. Grabbing his curiosity, Luca immediately walked towards the tower, causing Arkianna try to and stop him from going further.
"Hey we should Celestial Tower, lets go," Luca yapped in excitement as he pulled back against Arkianna, now dragging her along the path. The closer and closer they grew to the Celestial Tower, Arkianna's face grew more pale, cold sweats now forming all over her body as she struggled against Luca's grasp. At the entrance, Arkianna was finally able to pull away from Luca's grasp, shaking her head from left to right vigorously. As they inched towards the exit.
"I-I think we...s-should avoid this...place..." Arkianna's words stuttered from absolutely terror as she did everything she could to keep Luca away from the interior of the building. Luca sighed heavily and gently placed his hands on her shoulders.
"Don't worry, we'll only be in there a little while, you have nothing to fear," Luca tried to console her shaking body, but only provoked faster and harder actions.
"N-No! P-Please no...!" Luca stared in astonishment as tears began welling up in Arkianna's eyes, she was absolutely scared of this place. It confused him considering that it was a normal destination for all Pokemon trainers, and it wasn't anything to really fear since he was there to protect her. He sighed softly and removed his hands from her shoulders, which allowed her to hug tightly around his waist, burying her face into his chest. Luca gently ran his hand over her hair, trying to get her to calm down. Slowly, he was able to get her to back off from him. He wiped away her eyes with a cloth he kept in his back pocket then smiled.
"There's nothing to be afraid of in there Arkianna, I promise you. I will protect you every step of the way," Luca insisted, trying to calm Arkiann's nerves. Arkianna simple shook her head and stood still as if she had been turned to stone. Luca gave her a small hug then stepped back, now heading towards the entrance.
"Alright, alright, you can wait out here. I'll try not to leave you waiting alone out here for too long OK?" he spoke. Arkianna left him with an incredibly nervous nod, his feet venturing into the shrine. Walking in, he was immediately taken by surprise as he noticed a large gathering of people. They were all dressed in formal, dark clothing; their faces looked like they were ready to give up on life as they stared at a line of portraits that linked side by side along the bottom floor of the tower. It appeared as if a special yet tragic event was in clearly taking place. With his curiosity getting the better of him, he joined a few other Pokemon trainers that weren't dressed formally just like himself. Luca managed to ease his way through some of the crowd to see a monk standing on a pedestal behind the portraits.
"In honor of those who have passed on in their journey's to becoming true Pokemon trainers, we have elected to turn the bottom floor of Celestial Tower into its own floor of respect for those who have passed on. The portraits that stand before me are the many lives of young, promising Pokemon trainers who sadly have had their journeys cut short by a terrible tragedy. The cause of death for these young men, women and children is still under investigation, but it is believed to be related to a renegade Pokemon that had turned feral. It started nearly 2 months ago, with the death toll of its actions rising drastically as time went on. Despite this, we are not here to point fingers and blame, we are here to respect those who had promising futures and who were also wonderful people at heart. I pray to all of you as well as the deceased that you will take a moment to please cast your prayers to those who have passed on, thank you." the monk announced, his speech being followed by a kind round of applause. With the passing of the monk around the crowd, everyone began to disperse among the floor.
To his surprise, the line of the trainers and people was quite vast; there were easily over twenty portraits of people that stood before him. He sighed sadly as he noticed the young girl trainer that he had met back on route to Icarrus. She was so kind and sweet, which made Luca question why anyone would want to harm such a person. Every single one of them seemed to be close to his own age, which really made an impact on his heart. Putting his unlucky journey into perspective to this, it made his journey seem like a wonderful fantasy. Upon looking over the last few, he noticed something...disturbing...he felt a cold sweat poor over his body and the feeling of his heart stopping as one of the portraits stuck out to him.
"Arianna Sky, Age 16, she was a newly arrived resident of Lacunosa City during her time of passing. The cause of death was deemed as a murder with police still undergoing an investigation on the whereabouts of the assailant. May her soul rest in peace here among others that shared her passion..." Luca choked through the horrifying words before him, completely covering his mouth in absolute terror. The longer he stared at the portrait, the more and more his stomach began to churn, giving him the sudden urge to throw up. What lied in front of his eyes was a portrait of Arkianna; her tone of skin, her hair, and even her expression were undeniably the same. However there was one major and key difference. Her eyes were of a soft nature with their native color being of brown and not the icy blue that Arkianna possessed. He turned around to see Arkianna, now standing at the entrance. Looking closely at her, her sharp blue eyes shined in the dim light of the floor. They were staring at him, as if in great shock with her tears cascading down her face in sorrow and fear. She saw the portrait, then she looked at Luca. She began shaking her head, hiding her eyes beneath her thick bangs as she immediately ran off.
With this, Luca immediately charged outside, his heart now pounding in his chest with fear. All of his feelings were in a chaotic state of juxtaposition, not sure what to believe or what to feel. Luca began to trounce through the forest of the surrounding area, praying that we had just was a twisted coincidence. He wanted to believe with all of his heart that the girl he was falling in love with on this journey wasn't a murderer who had taken the life of another. After a while of forcing his way through the forest, he came across a shambled hut. It was obvious that there were still residents, but as to where they were was beyond him. Sitting out front was a little old lady, sitting and resting as she rocked forward and back in a chair. Anxious to hit up anyone for information, he immediately made his way to her.
"Excuse me, I'm terribly sorry to bother you, but have you seen a small tan girl with long black hair run through here? I'm trying to find her," Luca huffed, his stamina running low from all of the adrenaline and fear. The old woman kept her eyes hidden beneath a large bonnet that she wore, sighing with a shrug as she leaned back.
"I'm sorry young man...but I haven't seen anything round here..." the woman's gruff, raspy voice trailed off. Luca stared at her carefully, a feeling of uneasiness began to cause his hairs to stand on end. Trying not to be rude, he left with a thank you and quickly proceeded further in. A wide grin spread across her face has he left her view, a tongue passing over her now smooth, youthful lips. Luca kept his pace, coughing occasionally from the pollen of the hundreds of plants that littered the area. He quickly stopped when he was met with the sight of a horribly placed electric spider web to which he charged right into after an attempt to stop. As he began struggling and waving his limbs around as hard as he could, soft shocks from the web periodically jolted his system; his body began to grow submissive with muscle contractions pulsing like sores. Finally, with one last hard pull of his arms, he broke free of the wicked trap before him. As he fell backward, his back met with a thud against a soft object. With his body in trembles, he whipped around, only to be met with a very dross and terrifying glare from none other than Arkianna herself.
"A-Arkianna?! W-What's going on?! Please tell me!" Luca's words stumbled much like his feet, trying to slowly back away from her evil grin. She tilted her head to the side, her evil, intent yet loving sorrow drilled itself into his system
"What do you mean...?" Arkianna replied. Her voice was a combination of sorrow and blatant naivety as she looked at Luca, trying to play dumb to what he had saw back at Celestial Tower. She had no choice but to remain calm seeing she didn't want her visual ruse to disperse just yet.
"What are you?! Are you you? Are you fake? WHAT ARE YOU?!" Luca growled as he stood his ground with more confidence. She slowly approached him, each step being followed by an omnious black haze. His fears and panic causing his legs to tremble and hurt. With every menacing step forward, Luca took a cowardly step back, trying to maintain the same distance. His eyes filled up with tears as his eyes stared in terror. In his mind, he wanted to believe that this was a nightmare, that he would wake up at any moment and be beside the Arkianna that he had began to love. A rock tripped his ankle from behind, sending his body up against the caves out wall. Closing in, Arkianna pushed her body up against his, her face steadily growing closer to his own as he stared in absolute horror.
"Why Luca...I...am your...love...and...you...are...mine. You are mine...Luca...no one elses...I love you Luca...I love you..." she said, her voice being a combination of that of her human shape and that of a wild Pokemon cry. She gently cupped his cheeks with her hands as he trembled violently. She slowly rubbed her knee up between his legs before her twisted smile met his ear.
"You are mine...now and forever..." Arkianna softly growled. The Night Daze that surrounded Arkianna dispersed directly onto Luca. His consciousness and balance began to shake, causing him to fall to the ground helplessly. Within his struggle to look up at Arkianna, he no longer saw the girl that he had fallen in love with, but rather, a scary, sadistic looking Zoroark. Her eyes pierced his soul with her smile chilled his spine as he slowly but surely drifted off into darkness.
To Be Continued...
