Angel of a Girl Named Kokoro Chapter 10: Fire, a pokémon fanfic

Angel of a Girl Named Kokoro

Chapter Ten
Fire

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Don't call me a liar
Just trust me when I say there will be fire

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Hiroki frowned at the dark green trees that surrounded him. Is this the past or the future? He glanced around again and sighed in frustration when he couldn't find anything that gave him any indication to what year it currently was.

Standing back up, Hiroki dusted himself off and checked his surroundings. After a minute of studying the trees around him and the winding paths, he started walking down one of the dusty paths.

Hiroki stopped as he came across a wooden sign in the middle of a path with the name of the forest painted in red.

Angel Forest

"Angel Forest…" Hiroki muttered, recalling a recent memory of his.

"The forest that burned down was called 'Angel Forest'. I forget the story behind it, but Angel Forest was named that thousands of years ago. The trees were the tallest in Sinnoh because they were thousands of years old. Like I said, I forgot the story behind the name, but I believe it had something to do with the belief of an angel being spotted in the forest, protecting the forest and the trees.

"I heard the story from my mom. Now when I hear the story I think that the angel they believed to protect the forest and its trees was actually Celebi. It was just too bad that the… 'Angel' couldn't protect your sister, Hiroki… Angel Forest was the forest she died in. She just couldn't escape the fire… I think the name suits the forest now, kind of… What do you think Hiroki?"

"The forest isn't burned down yet…" Hiroki muttered, blinking at the sign as if he couldn't believe it. "That means… Kokoro isn't dead yet…" Hiroki smiled at the sign. "I can save her!"

I just have to find her before its too late! Hiroki thought determinely, releasing his Skarmory from it's poké ball. The pokémon materialized in front of the blue hair boy.

"Skarmory, I need you to scan this whole forest! Let me know if you see any other trainers in this forest, got it?" The steel bird pokémon nodded, flapping its wings as it did what his trainer told him to do.

I'm going to find her and I'll save her…

"Kokoro, get up, we have to go." Dawn pleaded the lavender hair girl, shaking the sleeping eight year old. Dawn sighed, giving up on trying to wake up the girl.

"It's like she wants to get an infection!" Dawn muttered sourly. "Well, time for plan B!" Dawn chirped as she released her long-forgotten blue penguin pokémon, piplup. "Use bubbles on Kokoro, Piplup!"

The pokémon yawned, stretching its aching back before actually releasing the dozens of bubbles from its small beak. "Luuupppp!" The pokémon's shrill yell echoed all over the forest.

"Ack! Stop, stop, stop! I'm up, I'm up mom!" Kokoro sprung up from the ground she was previously sleeping on, her hair and clothes now soaking wet. The sour look on Kokoro's face reminded Dawn of the look Paul gave Ash half the time.

Dawn blushed as she remembered Paul, feeling herself shake her head as she shook off the memory of his arms around her as she cried.

That was the second time I cried in his arms and the second time he had to comfort me! Dawn thought critically. He probably got the idea that I'm weak now, too. That I'm going to cry every five seconds… Dawn thought sadly to herself as she sighed at the grass.

"Oh, it's you." Kokoro frowned at Dawn, her eyebrows furrowing together. "I… I thought you were somebody else…"

Dawn shook her head, a ghost of a smile gracing her features. "Nah… it's just me. Not your mom or dad… yet."

Kokoro nodded somberly, staring blankly at the grass with sad dark eyes.

"C'mon Kokoro," Dawn grabbed her hand, gently hoisting her up. "Let's get going before the sun sets again! You need to get that wound on your stomach healed before you get an infection."

Kokoro nodded again, another sad sigh escaping her lips.

Dawn frowned, glaring at the muddy earth beneath her. She hated how she just couldn't cheer Kokoro up! Hated it, hated it, hated it! It made her feel so worthless!

"No need to worry, Kokoro!" Dawn reassured her, wrapping an arm around the smaller girl's shoulders. "We'll find your parents soon enough, and I bet once we do they will treat you to ice cream and cake and all that good stuff!"

"Do you really think I'll ever see my parents again?" Kokoro asked, finally meeting Dawn's eyes. Her eyes were wide and sad, and looked as if they were on the brim of tears.

"H-huh? Of course! Why would you not ever see them again?" Dawn's voice cracked as she continued, "We are all well and healthy – well, okay maybe not exactly well and healthy, b-but you get what I mean, right? We're still alive!"

Kokoro gave a tiny nod, not yet completely convinced.

Dawn repeated her last statement in her mind, her dream from last night coming back to mind.

My dream… is it a sign…?

Dawn glanced at the girl beside her, frowning as she took in her plum-color hair, her sad night-black eyes, and her tattered appearance…

Suddenly, she saw the girl—or angel—that she had seen so many times before in her dream: long plum color hair, eyes the deep blue color of lakes, and pale skin with long feathery wings as the blackest color she had ever seen before.

Dawn's eyes widened, the dream evoking a story her mother had told her when she was a few years younger than Kokoro was at the moment.

"Mommy, how come that forest is called 'Angel Forest'? Does an angel live in that forest?" A five-year old Dawn questioned, climbing onto her mother's lap.

Johanna muted the News which was currently doing an investigation on how a fire in Angel Forest was started, getting in story mode for her precious five-year old daughter.

"I've told you the story about Virgin Mary, right sweetie?"

"Yep! Mary was the one who gave birth to Jesus!" The five-year old chirped knowingly, nodding her head vigorously as she waited for her mother to continue.

"Well, there was this one woman who gave birth in Angel Forest according to legend. Her name was Grace."

"Ooh! Grace is such a pretty name!'

Johanna chuckled, continuing as if she had never been interrupted, "She died while giving birth—" "Aww! That's so sad!" "—but before she died she told her husband to name the baby 'Kokoro'."

Kokoro.

The name repeated in Dawn's head.

"She told him she would watch over him and their daughter. One day a villager who was taking a walk in the forest claimed he saw an angel. The next day the King of Sinnoh—" "Sinnoh had a king?" "—took a walk in the forest and said he saw a girl who was trapped between a wall of fire."

Dawn gasped, her eyes growing wide in excitement as the climax of the short little story worked it's way up.

"The king didn't know what to do for the girl who was surrounded by fire, but he said somehow the fire went out - just vanished - and the girl was safe. The king ran to the unconscious girl's side. When he did he saw a girl around only twenty with fair hair, pale skin and… wings! He saw an angel!"

"It turned out Kokoro - the daughter of the mother that died while giving birth in the forest - was the girl who was surrounded by the wall of fire, only to be saved by her Guardian Angel – her mother."

"That's strange…" Dawn murmured out loud.

"What's strange?" Dawn snapped out of her thoughts, looking up and blushed as she found herself staring into Paul's dark, curious eyes.

"Oh… nothing, nothing at all!" Dawn lied, nervous laughter erupting from her, earning a raised eyebrow from both Paul and Kokoro.

Dawn shrieked as the roar of thunder filled her ears. She shrieked again as she felt rain start to pelt her skin.

"Damn it, not another storm!" Paul cursed, grabbing Dawn's hand as he led the blunette and Kokoro to the thicker part of the forest so they could shield themselves from the storm under one of the trees

Dawn's cheeks flushed with color as Paul took off his jacket and laid it on her shoulders. Her body was enveloped in warmth, and despite the warmth she felt, she shivered as his hand brushed her skin.

"Th-Thank you…" Dawn muttered gratefully, shyly glancing up at him and his mysterious dark eyes.

A grunt was his response.

Dawn's eyes widened, her own scream filling her ears as a lightning bolt less than thirty feet away crashed nearby, blinding her with it's white light. Seconds after the earth rumbled underneath them like a small earthquake along with a booming rumble.

She hated lightning and she hated thunder! She likes rain, but lightning and thunder was what she couldn't stand.

Dawn was genuinely surprised as she felt strong arms wrap around her waist, pulling her closer to him. Him being Paul. Dawn stared at the boy with a dumbfounded look, but he said nothing, instead staring into the rain that was muddying up the ground with it's frequence, sudden storms.

Dawn smiled slightly as she leaned on the man's shoulder, inhaling his musky scent. Maybe… maybe this is a new start for us…! Dawn thought; hope filling her chest as she watched the rain with Paul and Kokoro who stayed silent the entire time. Dawn sighed contently, closing her eyes as she listened to the drum-like beat of rain.

The hiss of fire filled Dawn's ears along with the strong acrid stench of smoke which overwhelmed most of her senses, her head screaming in agony, her eyes burning, her throat dry and sore, and her muscles aching and worn out, her bones protesting in pain with the slightest movement.

Fire surrounded Dawn, sizzling, popping, crackling… laughing at her… laughing at her, it's bright flames flickered and licked her skin, causing Dawn to shriek out from the throbbing pain her arm now felt. It mocked her, laughing it's malicious laugh as it's flames touched her leg. Another scream filled the forest, tears leaking and rolling down her soot-covered face, her eyes burning from the glaring fire.

"What is this suppose to mean?!" Dawn screamed at the fire.

As if to answer her, the fire flared even brighter and bigger than before, whispering it's dead, crackly words to her.

Crack! Sizzle… Pop! Hiss…

It sang it's song to her, continuing to taunt her with it's flames, burning her arms, her legs and everything throbbed… Even where she wasn't burned throbbed in pain from the fire's intense heat.

Crack! Sizzle… Pop! Hiss…

'You play with fire… you will get burned…'

"Huh?" Dawn looked up, fighting against the burning glare of the fire, ignoring the burning of her eyes as the hiss of the fire turned to the hissing of words…

'One plus one minus one still equals one.'

"Huh? Wh-what does that mean?" she shrieked to the fire, her heart thumping in her chest.

'It will do no good pretending, because nobody has a happy ending…'

What does it mean?!

A tree branch snapped, almost falling on the blunette but she just barely managed to dodge in time.

'You can't change the future… One will be sacrificed for the other… Destiny cannot be denied, or else somebody else pays the price.'

Crack! Sizzle… Pop! Hiss…

'There's a secret to deceiving destiny…'

Crack! Sizzle… Pop! Hiss…

Dawn's vision fogged as her senses were finally overwhelmed by the harsh smell of smoke, filling her lungs with smoke as she coughed violently, holding her aching sides. Every breath was painful… every move was agonizing… every thought made her head throb… and she could only hear one word as she fell into a world of darkness.

Fire… Fire… Fire… Fire… Fire… Fire…

"Fire. Fire. Fire. Fire. Fir—"

"Dawn! Dawn! Dawn! Snap out of it! Dawn!" Dawn blinked, suddenly aware that she was being shook with big strong hands. She blinked again, clearing her vision to see Paul staring concernly at her as he continued to shake her.

"Is she okay?" Kokoro questioned, glancing worriedly at the confused blunette.

The shaking came to a cease.

"Dawn, was is wrong with you? You started muttering 'fire' repeatedly for a few minutes – are you okay?"

Dawn opened her mouth, ready to reply, when her voice was drowned out by the loudest roar of thunder yet. There was a blinding light, and Dawn shrieked when she saw a flickering orange glow on one of the tree's branches.

Fire.

Dawn shrieked again as fire rained down from the same branch, catching the damp ground on fire. Dawn cursed as she realized that the rain had lighten up by a lot, so wouldn't do much good against putting the fire out.

Dawn shrieked slightly as Paul roughly grabbed her arm, dragging her away from the fire. Dawn grabbed Kokoro's hand, squeezing her hand to help the young frightened girl who's dark eyes were currently as big as an owl's.

Dawn yelped as the fire spread. There were three separate fires: one from behind, one from up high in the tree, and one in front. They weren't completely surrounded yet though since it was still three separate fires.

"What are we going to do?" Dawn's own eyes grew wide as she found herself staring at real fire that cracked, popped and hissed.

Crack! Sizzle… Pop! Hiss…

Dawn glanced at Paul, her heart sinking as she saw the clear panic in his eyes that not even he could hide at the moment. "This way!" He grumbled, slipping his hands into hers as he ran towards two blazing fire with a five foot gap between them.

Dawn tripped a few times but didn't fall. Kokoro's hand tightened around Dawn and she yelped when she fell, cutting her already bruised knee. Kokoro's hand slipped from Dawn's.

"Wait! Paul, stop! Kokoro!" Dawn yelled.

Paul stopped and turned around, his eyes reflecting fear as a branch that was on fire fell about a foot away. The damp grass immediately blazed with life, a wall of fire separating them from Kokoro. At first the small fire and could have easily been put out with a simple water gun, but then it flared as dry bark and twigs from starlies' nests fell into it's greedy paws, feeding and growing the blazes.

"AHHHHHH!"

"NO, NO, NO! This can't be happening!" Dawn screamed, tears pouring from her azure eyes as she released her piplup.

"Piplup, whirlpool!"

"Piiiiip…" The pokémon yelled as it glowed a blue-white color. "LUUUUUPPPP!" The pokémon opened it's mouth, a spiraling current of water coming out from it's mouth. The water dampened the fire, but even so the fire continued blazing strongly, devouring every twig and stick in it's path, leaving the earth black and charred.

"Piplup!" Piplup shrieked as a ball of fire dropped from the sky, setting a patch of grass on fire. Piplup stumbled backwards, tripping over itself and landing on his back.

"Ahh! Piplup, watch out!" Dawn yelled at the penguin pokémon as another branch on fire from nearby fell, nearly falling on Piplup. "Return Piplup!" Dawn pocketed the pokémon's poké ball, deciding it was too dangerous out to risk having Piplup out.

"Kokoro, are you alright?!" Paul yelled over the roaring and crackling of the fire.

The rain came to a cease, not even one sprinkle of rain falling from the sky now.

'This weather has lousy timing!' Dawn thought despairingly to herself.

"Kokoro!"

Dawn and Paul heard violent coughing come from the other side of the fire followed by a choked, "I-I'm f-fine!" followed by even more dry coughs.

"Koko—" Dawn shrieked as strong hands pulled her back and out of the way of burning debri. Dawn stumbled back, falling into her savior's arms.

"Are you stupid?!" Paul's harsh voice yelled at her. "You can't go out there when there is something burning falling every ten seconds! Are you trying to get killed?!"

"No!" Dawn defended in a raspy voice. "But we have to save Kokoro – she will die if we don't do something!" Dawn sobbed.

"We're not going to leave her, but we can't just rush out in the middle of a blazing fire! We'll find some way around and tackle the fire from behind and rescue Kokoro, okay? We'll figure something out!"

This time his words didn't help soothe the sobbing girl who shook from the graveness of the situation…

"Skarrrrr! Skarrrrr!" Hiroki followed his skarmory's piercing shriek, his eyes widening as he got a whiff of smoke. Oh no! Hiroki picked up his pace as he spotted an orange glow about fifty feet away.

"Skarrrrrr! Skarrrrr!" Hiroki's eyes widened at the fire that blazed maliciously in front of him, snapping and popping loudly, embers flying everywhere.

"Somebody help me! Please!" A feminine voice sobbed nearby.

Is that–?!

Hiroki followed the source of the voice, twisting and turning through the tall smoking trees.

"H-Help! Pl-please… Help…"

Hiroki dodged a final tree, stopping in front of another raging wall of fire.

"H-Help…"

"Floatzel, go!" Hiroki threw his poké ball in which a weasel-like pokémon began to take shape from the red light. "Water pulse, let's go!"

Floatzel nodded, smirking as a ball of water began to form between it's palms. "Zellll!" Was it's battle cry as it aimed the ball of water on the fire's hissing surface. More hissing erupted from the flames as the water hit the fire, a big splash dampening the fire.

"Use water pulse until the flames are out!" Hiroki ordered, crossing his arms calmly across his chest.

Floatzel obeyed as he created the balls of water, even quicker and more powerful than before. Three water pulses later and the wall of flame that was recently blocking his path were gone.

Hiroki nodded at his pokémon in approval before returning Floatzel back to his poké ball along with his Skarmory. Hiroki's heart raced as he spotted a sprawled figure on the ground.

He raced to the figures side, his heart pounding as he tenderly turned the girl over.

I hope I'm not too late… Hiroki thought to himself, panic filling his chest.

I wrote this whole chapter today, and I refused to quit writing this chpter until I finished it. :P Sorry if there's any mistakes! 8D; There should be no spelling mistakes, but there might be a few grammar mistakes (I don't trust my spell check on grammar - it have missed some mistakes before).

And thanks for the loving reviews everybody! :D Now, share the love and review some more.