Chapter last edited on: 15/October/2013
Previously on Paradox:
Destiny only had a few seconds to realise that she was not in fact a mere bloody smear on the ravines hard ground, but actually very much alive, if in a lot of pain. But that was to be expected.
One did not take a fifty meter long fall and hope to survive it unscratched.
Heavily injured and very exhausted, simply happy and not caring how it was that she was still alive. She just managed to slither half a meter and crawl one more before, too weak to continue further and in severe pain from her wounds/burns, utterly spent, she collapsed as darkness slowly took her, then she knew no more.
And now the continuation:
Chapter 10 Survival training 101 - Part 1
It was time... time to wake up once again. The real question was...did she really want to?
It was probably for the best...
A day had passed since Destiny had passed out in the wild. At first she simply wanted to sleep; to simply forget about the world, her problems and what had happened. Who could blame her... She had, after all, just experienced a very stressful, not to mention a very painful day. Fortunately however, luckily for her, her body had different ideas.
Somehow realizing that it was not safe; that the potential danger had not yet ended and that death, had not yet been defeated, but had only been delayed for a short while, Destiny's body responded in the only way it could...the only way it knew how:
It responded with...
More pain.
Quickly sending the necessary life saving electrical pulses from brain to nerves, Destiny suddenly felt a sudden influx of new pure raw pain, pain so intense that it was more than enough to push an elephants, not just her own, self preserving consciousness, out of the peaceful romping grounds of blissful ignorant sleep, right back into the not so peaceful and rather painful hunting lands of the living.
Sometimes life...really sucked!
As it was, it was more than enough to 'shoo' away the last few remaining stubborn sheep which had not yet jumped her imaginary gate. All thoughts of falling back into dreamland were then, in turn, quickly discarded by several more quick pokes of the highly effective cattle prod known simply as... pain.
At first Destiny simply lay on the soft grassy ground of the clearing and feebly tried to remember where she was. Then, when that didn't seem to work, when she released she did in fact have no idea what so ever, where she was, she tried to remember why the hell she was in pain in the first place.
It took her a few seconds to remember, but finally, it all came back to her; her encounter with Team Rocket, the ravaging bush fire... right up to her fall into the ravine and the white bright life saving light.
Simply remembering the ordeal was more than enough to cause her to groan dismally.
In the end, simply happy to still be alive... at least for now, she tried to move, to get up, but was almost immediately greeted by another dose of stabbing pain coming from her heavily burned and damaged limbs, limbs which were now stubbornly refusing to co-operate with her, causing her to clench her teeth, hiss in pain and collapse to the ground once again.
There comes a time when the body simply refuses to co-operate anymore. When it says: "What do you want? Can't you see I'm taking a day off? ...and...Try again tomorrow...Damn you!"
This was just one of those moments.
Cursing to herself she lay as still as possible and waited tensely, with tightly gritted teeth, for the pain to subside into a more manageable level, before she slowly, and this time much more cautiously, tried to move and raise herself once more. Only to cry out and fall again a mere second later. Evidently, she realised dismally, she was about to have a long and painful day. A long and painful day indeed!
The next few hours were a slow, stressful and overall painful ordeal. It took many painful minutes and countless tries for her to get somewhat used to the current levels of pain she was feeling and countless more to force herself to simply move first one limb then another.
Many times she collapsed only to get up and try again and at a few points she came very close to actually giving up. However, each time she never fully accepted defeat. It took pure will power to continue...but she did.
Finally, after managing to fully move first one body part, then the next, she was eventually able to accept the pain, just enough to bear it long enough, that she managed to at least crawl. It wasn't easy. Far from it. Moving upright was practically impossible at that moment, hovering...was unthinkable. It was extremely tiring. She was constantly forced to take numerous breaks as she slowly crawled and in some cases slithered, inch by inch, across the hard forest ground. But in the end she prevailed.
She didn't now where she was going. She knew, however, that she couldn't stay where she was, not in her current condition... hurt and weak...out in the open for all the world to see. Easy prey for any half way decent hunter who knew what it was doing. It was almost a miracle in itself that it hadn't already happened. She knew she had to keep moving if she wanted to survive.
Truthfully all she really wanted to do was rest and go back to sleep. However going back to sleep, where she could easily be seen, in her current condition, was like giving up and saying; 'Here I am, I'm already weak, finish me off'.
Definitely not a good idea.
Groaning once again to herself, Destiny expected a wild hungry Pokémon to find her and finish her off at any moment.
Even with her hard metal armour, she was fairly sure she wouldn't last long against another Pokémon. At present she could only clench her teeth and continue to crawl, slowly. Fighting back in her current state was practically unthinkable. Even if she knew how to, which of course she didn't. Even now she still couldn't successfully use a single attack.
In a moment of melancholy, she half heartily joked to herself whether she should actually be viewing the pain she was feeling as a sort of 'training' for the future. After all, if the past week was any indication for her future life; since she didn't seem capable of fighting back, that she seemed to be a trouble magnet... not to mention the fact that she would no doubt be attacked again some time in the future - it was after all a common and normal experience for a Pokémon, human raised or wild -, then it would indeed be in her best interest to get used to 'it'...pain... as soon as possible. Maybe even learn to love it.
'Arceus did say, after all, that I would have a difficult time...at first. Really didn't think it would be like this though.'
Now wasn't that a frighteningly sadistic thought. Destiny didn't really think of herself as being a masochist but... the way things were going... It truly was depressing.
Once again, but not for the last time, she wondered why she ever took Arceus's offer. Sullenly she released she was wondering that a lot lately. That only caused to depress her even more.
It was during one of her many breaks that Destiny finally decided to take a more thorough look around. She had to find a safe place to stay for the night...and if possible some food to eat. Consciously taking in her surroundings, Destiny suddenly realized, that the forest she was in was very different to the one she had been in a few short minutes ago...and that had nothing to do with the lack of fire or the lack of thugs chasing her. In fact, she was in a completely different place altogether.
Now you might think 'bit deal...a forest is a forest. Isn't it?' Not so for Destiny. Somehow, she didn't understand why or indeed how, but somehow she knew... the trees, for one, were simply... different. They smelt and... even felt different. In fact the whole area... 'felt'...different. There was no way she could fully explain what she was feeling. Destiny didn't understand why this was so. It just was. It was as if her instincts... her very being... that which currently made her...well... her, were telling her that she was in a completely different place.
Then there was the sudden instinctual 'pull' she was suddenly feeling. A pull which seemed to originate from deep inside the earth itself. A magnetic pull, which changed when and wherever she moved. It was small, hardly noticeable...yet she could still easily feel it.
Was this how wild animals always knew their way around and why they never got lost when they migrated each year? she asked herself, surprised, her eyes wide open. Well... besides the different smells of course, she reminded herself.
It was as if the forest...the countryside...the whole planet even, told her where she was. A sort of natural guiding force.
It was a mesmerizing experience for a former city girl. Honestly, she thought. Who needs a GPS (Global Positioning System), when you have a natural MGS (Magnetic Guidance System) curtsey of mother earth herself.
Up until that moment she had never realised it. In fact, she hadn't even noticed it. Up until that moment she had never had a need to realise it. It was only now, now when she needed it...them...the most, in a time of great need, that she for the first time activated and used her birth given Poké-given instincts and senses. It was nearly overwhelming for her. How had she not noticed them until now?
For the first time in her short two lives, Destiny felt truly humbled. Never in a hundred years would she have expected something like this. Humans never knew, never realised just what it was they missed out on as humans. What did that say about humanity when we have to invent what the others already have...just to catch up to them.
It was at that moment that Destiny accepted her new Pokémon body for what it truly was and it was at that moment she took her second major step into becoming a 'true' Pokémon.
The first step had been to familiarize herself with her new body and to activate her animal instincts and senses...
That step, while it did still need practice, and a lot of it, was now complete.
Now... Now she was going to have to learn to use them... learn to trust them...and most importantly... she had to find a way to survive.
On her own.
So began the first few days of life in the unforgiving, first come first serve, eat or be eaten wilderness of the wild. It was time to learn the harsh facts of life in the wild.
It wasn't a good start.
Far from it.
Crawling feebly along the ground, injured, in pain, Destiny was depressingly well aware of her current level of health. Covered in bruises and burns, it hadn't taken her too long after experiencing her new senses, senses she was only now learning how to use and which were essential for her survival, to fully realize that she could not hope to last much longer the way she currently was.
Somehow, instinctively, she knew she was now running purely on her reserves and had to find a source of food...and water quickly, before it was too late. Preferably a few healing berries...if she could find them. She knew she would need food, food which her body could transform into healing energy, energy which could then, in turn, be used to heal her body.
Easily said...unfortunately not as easily done.
Sure, finding food, in general, is not a problem...in the wild, as a Pokémon, there is plenty. Unfortunately however, what is edible for one animal might not necessarily be edible for another. A fact which Destiny was sure to learn soon enough... the hard way.
The problem was not finding food... the problem was finding a source of food which 'she' could eat...and if she could, finding a source of food which was not protected by another Pokémon or wild mundane animal, stronger than she herself was. Which, as depressing as it was, at that moment, due to her injuries, was practically everybody else. Not to mention that there was also that little, yet highly important problematic fact; that she just might also happen to suddenly find herself as food for others too.
Survival training 101... Lesson one: As said before...not all food is edible...some is down right poisonous. Other food will even try to eat you. Your just as juicy - if not more so - to them, as they would be to you.
That includes plants too by the way...just in case you're wondering.
So! Let's get right down to the basics:
First of all it is important to note that there are two types of animals in the Pokémon world.
They are: Pokémon...and 'The Mundane'.
Finding food, if you're a 'Mundane' is relatively easy... if you're a herbivore that is. It's practically everywhere...unless of course in a desert or in an ice plain. And even then there is usually some sort of 'green stuff' for you to eat.
Mundane carnivores tend to have it a 'little' bit more...challenging, but even they could still easily find fresh meat...well...at least as long as they aren't stupid enough to challenge the local grass type Pokémon...or any Pokémon for that matter.
Important lesson for all mundane...Pokémon will (usually) always win. It is a very important lesson (for the mundane) to learn...and learn quickly. Not all herbivores are easy prey. Whether they are big with large pointy teeth or small with small fluffy bunny ears. A mundane carnivore has to learn real fast that attacking a herbivore Pokémon is a one way ticket to a very painful afternoon... If you survive the experience at all, that is.
Even the weakest Pokémon can take on a strong mundane and win. As it is, in the rare case that a mundane did win - unlikely but it does happen from time to time - they usually find out pretty quickly that it is simply not worth the effort. All Pokémon in general have hard, nearly impenetrable (for the mundane) skin...or worse...armour. For some even on the stomach and other usually 'soft' areas. In certain regions it is actually quite common to see young mundane carnivores with damaged teeth. Those were simply unfortunate enough to take a bite at a fainted Pokémon...such as a rock or metal type Pokémon. Not a good idea to say the least. Add to that the fact that Pokémon, unless mortally wounded or poisoned, tend to recover fairly quickly after a fight, and it is at best very perilous to stay around to eat your hard-fought meal, even if you did win and find a Pokémon which was half way edible.
Mundane animals who don't learn that fact quickly, usually don't have time to learn it later on. After all, only a Pokémon could hope to survive a few thousand volts of electricity - if you were lucky-...or a direct blast of fire at point-blank range - if you were unlucky-...and hope to live to tell the tale... Especially if said Pokémon just happened to catch you taking a bite out of them.
A lot of Pokémon have very long memories... A lot can really hold a grudge... and I don't know about you...but I'd be pretty 'unhappy' about somebody taking a bite out of me. I know I sure as hell would want revenge.
Sometimes it just really sucked being a mundane in the Pokémon world. That's not to say that things were only bad for the mundane... quite the opposite actually.
Much to Destiny's surprise when she found out about it, most Pokémon can only eat specific types of plants, fruits or meats.
Once again, what might be good for one Pokémon, might not necessarily be good for another.
While all mundanes know to stay well away from all Pokémon, (unless you were young, desperate...or stupid) it would interest you to know that they were actually rarely attacked by Pokémon. Yes you heard right... For some strange reason...mundanes tend to taste a little...'unappetizing' to your everyday Pokémon.
Surprised?
Destiny sure was.
Maybe this was natures way of finding a balance...or maybe it was Arceus's idea of a prank. No matter...whatever the reason, fact was...mundane do not taste good to Pokémon.
That's not to say that Pokémon didn't hunt mundane...they did...frequently. For young Pokémon attacking mundane was an easy, low danger way of practicing your hunting/battling skills. Other than that they would do it when they had no other choice. Hunger can be a great motivator at times. Better to eat something with a disgusting taste...than to not eat at all. That said, no Pokémon will willingly eat anything they know they can't digest.
This becomes especially evident to trainers who have to make food for their caught Pokémon.
Survival training 101... Lesson two:
Luckily...and this is an important fact to note, all Pokémon in general can eat Poké-berry's. Some more than others. Pokéfood from the stores made for trainers, to give to their Pokémon, are made primarily from Poké-berry's. These berry's can be easily found practically everywhere in the wild. If you know where to look. Having said that, there may come a time when a trainer does not have Pokéfood available. When this happens it becomes very important to realise that various Pokémon have different needs and are split into five main groups. The majority which go into the first and fourth groups.
Group 1: Herbivores - The most common.
Group 2: Carnivores - Uncommon to Rare depending on the region.
Group 3: Berrivores - Berry Eaters - Common to rare depending on the amount of available berries in a region.
Group 4: Omnivores - Quite common but not as common as the Herbivores.
Group 5: Spiritual - Uncommon.
Let's take a closer look at each of the groups:
Herbivores:, very common,...they are just that; plant eaters. They eat anything which looks green and which is green, even themselves if need be - if you're a grass type Pokémon. Some can eat poisonous plants...but not all. Note: There are some plants which eat meat. Avoid those if you can.
Herbivores are usually quite docile as Pokémon go...unless threatened, in which case please be aware. There is no such thing as a completely 'safe' Pokémon. Even the magikarp is dangerous...after all...it can evolve...
An example of a Herbivore is a Caterpie.
Carnivores: Carnivores are usually quite rare in the Pokémon world though some areas like some safari zones, the deep sea, or the extreme wilderness have been known to hold a respectable amount of these dangerous predators. Again self-explanatory, they are pure meat eaters. They do not eat any 'greens' what so ever and depend totally on meat - probably even you if your unlucky. Consequentially they are also some of the most dangerous Pokémon in existence. A carnivores Pokémon would have no problems roasting a T-Rex and eating it, if it met one. And yes, you guessed right... those are the ones you should stay well away from, whenever you can. Unless of course you have a death wish,...you're its trainer,... or if you're an elite trainer out to catch it. If you are, please use extreme caution. If you fail... your usually food!
Examples of Carnivores are... a Gyarados, an Aerodactyl...or some dragon types. (Hence why it's usually only the elite trainers who usually have dragons)
Note: carnivores can still eat Poké-Berry's (not mundane berries)...but it's the only known 'greens' as such that they can eat. Even then it is only certain types, depending on the Pokémon. If given the wrong type they can and will get sick. And believe me when I say...they won't like you for that.
Berrivores: Lovingly called Berrivores because they eat...you guessed it: berries - and this is where it get's important...only berry's. For some strange reason Berrivores can not digest common plants and/or meat like other Pokémon can. It is a mystery which has stumped Pokémon professors for as long as anyone can remember. Don't pity them though...while it's true they can't eat meat or other 'greens'... their inability to eat such food is by no means a disadvantage. Far from it. Berrivores are able to gain a lot more nutrients from Poké-berry's than any other Pokémon, so much so, that one Berrivore can live of a handful of 'Pokémon berry's' for several days, or even a week if need be. Berrivores, depending on the amount of Berry's available in a region, can be either common...or some of the rarest Pokémon in existence. Obviously the more Poké-berries there are in a region, the higher the chance to see a berrivore.
Note: Berrivores, while they can eat mundane berries, tend to prefer the special 'Poké-berry's' ie: Pecha Berries or Chesto Berries etc, which can be found in the wild alongside their mundane counterparts. You will never see a wild berrivore in a berry-less region. Seeing as there are 48 different types of Poké-berries in the Pokéworld, berrivores usually have no problems finding their only source of food, if it's available. It also helps that a pure Berrivore can also smell Poké-berries from several kilometers away. Either way...mundane berries can still be eaten, but they don't give the same amount of nutrients the 'Pokémon berries' do.
An example of a Berrivore is...a Rufflet.
Omnivores: Omnivores, are those that eat...well practically everything. Whether it is a plant an animal, a berry...or you. Some, grass types can even live of sun light, though that's quite rare. While a lot of Omnivores are quite friendly and in some cases even social (with humans) there are a lot which would quite gladly eat you, if they had a chance to do so. They are quite common, so found almost everywhere.
Example of Omnivores are... a Scyther or a Primeape
Finally we have the Spiritual: Uncommon, depending on the area, these are Pokémon which for obvious reasons have no need to eat anymore...usually ghosts. They don't eat because...well... their dead; Spirits. Please note however that while they don't eat...physical things...only a fool would dismiss them as being harmless. While it's true they won't eat...you, per se,...they can still eat your dreams...and if your unlucky...your soul. So please...don't be a fool...in the end they might well be the most dangerous of them all.
An example of a spiritual Pokémon is practically any ghost Pokémon...such as a Haunter.
Which brings me on to the next and, for now, final lesson.
Survival training 101... Lesson three: Know your danger levels.
Animals, in the Pokémon world, whether mundane or Pokémon are split into several danger levels:
L - Split into three tiers of their own...'Low Tier', 'High Tier' and 'Supreme Tier'; Legendary Pokémon are always at the top for obvious reasons... they are after all the strongest and the fiercest Pokémon around. All Legendary Pokémon are automatically given a 'Flee On Sight' warning.
P - Pseudo's are as close to a legendary as you can get without actually being one. Called Pseudo's, or false legendaries for a reason, these can be just strong as a weaker 'Base Tier' Legendary Pokémon...though never as strong as a 'High Tier,' or a 'Supreme Teir' legendary. Notice however there is no such thing as a 'weak' Legendary so if you see one...and if you aren't prepared...don't be a fool... RUN! Most Pseudo's are given a 'Flee On Sight warning,' with a select few, 'docile' Pseudo's receiving a 'Engage With Extreme Caution' warning.
A - Alpha Pokémon are usually any level 3 evolutionary Pokémon, such as a Charizard or a Blastoise... Engage With Extreme Caution warning.
B - Beta class Pokémon are usually any level 2 evolutionary Pokémon such as a Charmeleon or a Warturtle... Engage With Caution warning.
G - Green type Pokémon are the lowest Pokémon class such as any level 1 evolutionary Pokémon such as a Charmander or a Squirtle. 'Common Sense Advised' warning. Sounds obvious...Sadly...many trainers don't seem to have that:...common sense.
E - Egg... basically any Pokémon still in an egg... 'Caution When Hatching' warning.
M - Mundane. Any animal which is not a Pokémon. 'Common Sense Advised' warning.
Destiny was now in desperate need of food and she knew it.
Trainerless, in an unknown forest...close to death...without a single idea just what she could even eat...
It might shock you to learn that in the wild over 60% of all new-born Pokémon don't survive their first winter... Sometimes that number is even higher. Only the strong survive. It's the way of the wild...it's the way it has always been and it is the way it always will stay... Natures rules apply. Survival of the fittest is the name of the game... and the ante is your life.
Thrown right into the deep end so to speak, starving, extremely thirsty from her previous ordeal and her stressful efforts of the day, suddenly expected to survive against all odds... Destiny instinctively knew that if she didn't get some form of food and water into her soon, then there was a high chance she would soon die. Not just faint - though that would indeed come first - but actually die.
Obviously that was not something she could allow to happen. Not just yet. She had no intention of becoming a ghost type Pokémon any time soon... or worse. So, she spent the rest of the day painfully searching for an edible - for her - source of food. Nothing else mattered at that moment. At that moment she even would have gladly let a trainer...any trainer catch her, if they so happened to stumble across her.
She didn't know what time it was... nor did she care. Time has no real meaning to animals, mundane and Pokémon alike. Well, besides night and day perhaps... And so it was that for the next few hours she continued to search.
It took her a while but finally, at long last, luck seemed to be on her side.
While slowly crawling across the ground, inch by inch and meter by meter, she suddenly came across a nearby stream.
It was a small stream as streams go and it was far from clean, by human standards, but she really didn't care. A stream was a stream. A stream meant water. Water which she now desperately needed. It was hardly more than a few centimeters in width and not very deep, but the sight of the precious liquid alone nearly made her weep in happiness.
Strange how it's only when you need it the most and suddenly don't have it anymore that you fully realise just how privileged you were as a human. Water was something Destiny had always taken for granted. Now...now she was simply glad to have some at all.
With those last few thoughts she dragged herself to the streams edge. Weakly, she let her herself drop, then greedily she took a drink.
A few minutes had passed since she found the stream. Having just finished quenching her raving thirst, at least for the near foreseeable future, Destiny, now feeling slightly better, though she was still in pain from her many wounds and burns, finally decided that the moment had finally come for her to take care of her second problem... her hunger.
Up until that moment she had always eaten whatever food David had given her. Having always trusted him she had never questioned what it had been. Now however she was suddenly on her own. Now, for the first time, there was nobody around to give her anything. Suddenly she wondered just what it was she could actually eat.
Oh, she knew that some wild animals hunted...and killed for food.
Others simply ate directly what they could find from the ground.
But what was she? Was she a plant eater...or a meat eater? With a pang she realised... she didn't actually know. Oh, she knew she was a Pokéchow eater...but that didn't do much good now, did it?
For a minute or two she lay where she was and tried to remember just what it was she had always eaten. Just what was it that Dave had given her and the others. She didn't actually know. Dave could have given her anything and she would have eaten it. She had never once, even for a second questioned what it was. Just realising this fact frightened her.
Next she thought about the wild animals of her previous life. What would they have eaten. Unfortunately, she did not like the idea of eating any of the two options which came to her mind. She may have finally fully accepted her Pokémon body. But that did not mean she had fully accepted the mentality of one... just the physical part.
Oh, what was she going to do?
She did not like the idea of eating grass. She didn't even know if she could. As a human she had never really liked 'the green stuff' that much. Eating grass took that to a completely different level. One which she just wasn't ready to try yet.
As for the idea of eating meat...well...wild animals ate raw meat... Raw bloody meat to be exact. Uncooked...and most likely dirty, straight from the ground. The thought alone was enough to make her stomach go all queasy. Not that she could hunt in her current state of health anyway. Her prey would probably hunt her instead.
It took her a few seconds but she finally sighed. She realised she had no choice...no matter how difficult it was going to be... It was either that or death.
'When in Rome you do as the Romans do...so now that I am a Pokémon...I guess I will just have to do as the Pokémon would do,' she thought to herself, as she took a deep breath and tried to calm her mind from panicking, not to mention to mentally prepare herself for what she was about to do.
Dismayed and disgusted, sighing to herself, her former human mind battling against her Pokémon mind, she was just about to choose the lesser of the two evils - to eat some grass or leaves...and hope that she was able to do that and not get sick - when she suddenly remembered one important fact and mentally slapped herself. Hard.
'Oh what an idiot I am...of course...Berries,' she thought to herself, cursing herself for her foolishness.
The answer had been all around her the whole time. Hadn't she seen what looked like a berry bush...or was that a tree, a while ago? she asked herself.
After all the games had been full of them...
Berry's had been very useful, while she was playing her old Pokémon games, while she was still a human.
That seemed like a life time ago now.
Since a berry was food and Pokémon in the games ate them, then there was no reason to think that she, being a Pokémon now herself, couldn't eat them too... right?
She would probably have to eat a lot of them to satisfy her raging hunger, but hey...it was a start... and it was better than eating grass. At least she thought so.
That agreed upon, Destiny was now faced with her next problem.
Actually finding them.
It was another good hour later before Destiny finally found a berry bush, though it was not really a bush... Instead the 'bush' looked more like a small bushy tree.
Destiny was about to rejoice, when all of her happy thoughts suddenly came crashing down and were almost immediately crushed, when she was suddenly faced with the next problem:
Most of the berries, at least in this particular tree, were simply way to high up for her to reach. Even with her large size (for a level 1 Pokémon), she simply wasn't able to reach them.
'Oh come on,' she practically wailed in her mind, miserably. This just wasn't fair. The berries were so close she could smell them. Normally she would have had no problems reaching them... but now... currently she could hardly even touch them.
For the next two hours she feebly tried to reach up far enough to somehow snatch one of them, but her rebelling body just wouldn't let her. She must have looked really pathetic.
Oh, if only she could still hover, she thought miserably. All she could do, in her current condition, was barely lift her body of the ground. Not nearly enough to reach the juicy goodies just above her head.
Depressed, she was just about to give up and cry, when she suddenly heard a sound of something coming from above. Then, just before she could move, she was briefly partially covered by a shadow.
Destiny froze, her heart beat speeding up almost instantly. Cautiously, fearful at what she would find, she glanced upwards. She hoped that it was not something dangerous.
Luckily she need not have worried.
Above her a large bird of some sort had just landed on top of the berry tree. She didn't recognise it, but then she really didn't care what it was at that moment, so long as it didn't think she was food. Thankfully, she soon realised that instead of attacking her, it seemed to ignore her. Clearly it hadn't seen her yet. Or if it had, it simply wasn't interested in her. It certainly didn't look like it was going to attack her any time soon. Something she was very thankful for. Instead, the bird was busy doing something completely different... It was eating berries...
Her berries!
Mouth wide open in horrified disbelief, Destiny could only stare in shock. The bird was eating the same berries she had until that moment so desperately tried to reach.
She wanted to scream, she wanted to curse...but didn't dare to in case the bird changed it's mind and attacked her after all.
All she could do was watch, with hungry teary eyes, as the bird continued to eat her berries right in front...or rather, over her head. The same berries she had, so desperately tried to reach for the past hour.
Sometimes life just wasn't fair.
It took her a few more minutes to calm down enough to think clearly again, after which she took a final look around, to see if she could find any more berries somewhere else. Some which she hadn't seen before. Hopefully, this time some closer to the ground so that she could actually reach them. Alas, it was not to be. She just couldn't find any. At least not anywhere nearby.
Almost instantly she could hear her stomach growling angrily, crying out desperately for the food it so craved, but couldn't get. What could she do. The only eatable food - for her current state of mind - was currently being eaten by the blasted bird. She definitely wasn't going to fight the bird for the berries. At least not in her current condition. So what else could she do?
She was just about to give up and leave... when the unexpected happened.
Unnoticed by Destiny the bird had just dropped one of the berries it had been busy eating just moments before.
Slowly it fell down from the tree, hitting one branch, then the next, until it finally landed on the ground, right beside her, with a soft 'plop'.
Destiny was so surprised that, for the first few seconds, she didn't do anything else but stare at the lone berry with a mesmerized, confused look on her face.
It was fairly large, red and purple. The size of a large apple to be exact. It was by far the largest berry she had ever seen in her two lives. At least she thought it was a berry. It looked more like a pear.
For a minute or two she didn't know what to make of it, she only stared, then, slowly, finally realising what had happened, she started to smile.
Chancing one last quick glance at the bird she quickly noticed that the bird had already flown away. Evidently - or so it seemed - it had not seen the berry fall. Or perhaps it simply hadn't cared. There had, after all, been more berries in the tree.
Whatever the reason. Unwilling to wait any longer, seeing that she was all alone, Destiny quickly started to eat.
Not once did she stop to take a moment to question if the berry was even edible.
It would have been better if she had.
Unknown to Destiny the bird had indeed seen the berry, but had deliberately let it fall. Even if it had not fallen it would not have eaten the berry anyway, for one very important reason: as it would have made the bird very sick.
The bird had at one time learnt from a past personal painful experience, that this type of berry was not a 'good' berry to eat. It had found that out the hard way when it had still been a young chick.
Needless to say it was not about to make the same mistake twice. Fool it once... well, it was an important learning experience for any young bird to make... and while it had been a painful close call, it had survived and had gained in wisdom. Fool it twice however...then it would have deserved all the misery it got...and more.
Destiny unfortunately had never had the fortunate misfortune of such an experience... having never taken a survival course in any of her two lives...or having never had a Memma (Pokémon name for mother) to learn it from, Destiny simply didn't know any better. And so happened, what just had to happen.
In the Pokémon world there are many types of berries. Most are perfectly 'OK' to eat and would no more harm you than a loving kiss would...well, as long as it wasn't the Pokémon move. In fact, those berries, like the highly cherished Pecha Berry, could and would even cure you from most maladies.
Other berries, however, were not so nice. In fact some were down right nasty.
Think of Poké-berries as mushrooms. Some are edible, while others are inedible. Some make you sick, while others again can kill you...in quite nasty ways I might add.
Take the Death Cap as a classic example. It's as deadly as it's name suggests. People who eat a death cap don't have much longer to live. In fact as good as none if they don't find major medical assistance as soon as possible. Even then, even if they are lucky to get to a hospital soon, within the hour, they only have a slim chance of survival. Dying from a Death Cap is a nasty affair. The victims internal organs start to fail, during which the victim dies a very painful death.
Other mushrooms thankfully only give you a nasty stomach ache, a high fever, a strong case of diarrhea...
...or maybe a strong case of hallucination like the magic mushroom.
Pokémon berries, in general are similar and are put into six main categories:
Category 1: Edible Berries
These Berries can be eaten with no harm or danger. They taste good and fill you right up. That's about all they are good for though, unless it is to eventually fall to the ground to grow into a new berry tree. Category 1 berries do not have any medical properties.
Category 2: Inedible Berries
Like the edible sort these berries can be eaten and they won't harm you... except of course, your taste buds. They are called inedible because they, in short, taste like crap. (or close to it)
Category 2 berries might still have the same nutrients as the edible mushrooms but they are usually ignored for obvious reasons. I once heard of a berry which tasted like vomit...and that was before it was found in the vomit.
Unless you absolutely starving...and have a strong stomach...ignore them.
Note: Some Pokémon or animals may like a certain berry while others may not. So in the end it's up to the Pokémon/animal to decide if a berry is edible or inedible.
Category 3: Harmful Berries
These berries won't kill you, but they sure will make you think they will. If you eat one...be prepared for a painful afternoon with a high fever, a lot of vomiting or a severe case of diarrhea. Needless to say these are best avoided and left alone.
Category 4: Poisonous/Deadly Berries
Same as the Harmful Berries with the exception that these can and will kill you, instead of simply giving you a severe case of the runs... Avoid at ALL costs. Starvation is not an excuse for idiocy...and there are far nicer ways to kill yourself if your suicidal. STAY AWAY!
Category 5: Medicinal (medi) Berries
These are the berries which make any Pokémon - or trainer for that matter - smile with delight. Powerful stuff! Edible and VERY healthy. Examples of medicinal berries are the Pecha Berry which cures you from nearly all known poisons...or the Rawst Berry which cures you of any burns... instantly. No joke. You can literally see your burns fade away within seconds after eating a Rawst Berry.
Unfortunately medi-berries are not very common...
In the games medi-berries are grown from berry trees and only one, sometimes two berries are grown per tree, once every day or so. In the Pokémon world however there are no dedicated trees which grow them. Instead, they appear randomly all over the place in random quantities, in any berry bush, or tree, at any time. It's completely random and it's completely impossible to predict or indeed farm/mass produce these type of berries. You may be able to mass produce the berry trees...but not the berries.
Many professors have spend countless years to find out the reason...all have failed.
Finally, Medi-Berries only last for a short while, so collect them and use them quickly whenever you see them. Once picked they can last for several days...if dried they can last for years, however, be warned, if dried, given time, they also run the risk of losing some or even all of their effectiveness. Hence why trainers usually prefer commercial potions since they last much longer and are always 90 - 100% effective.
Category 6: Contest
Similar to the Medi-berry, these berries are just as random as their 'healthy siblings, however, they do not have any medical powers, instead they are heavily sought after by contest co-ordinators who turn them into Pokéblocks; a type of Poké-candy - which can then be used to improve certain qualities of their Pokémon which are highly valued in Pokémon contests.
In Destinys case, she had the misfortune of eating a category three type berry.
For those of you who whose's eyes just glanced upwards, but didn't find it...that's a Harmful berry.
And so, only one hour later Destiny's life just began to suddenly go from bad to worse.
It started about an hour after she had eaten the berry. It took her a few minutes to realise it, since she had already been in a lot of pain before it started, but suddenly Destiny began to have severe stomach cramps. Cramps the likes she had never had before. Her former 'monthlies' as a human had never been anything like what she was now feeling. It was much worse. Nothing could have prepared her for it.
Groaning in pain, feeling exceedingly more 'awful' by the hour, Destiny continued to crawl desperately, meter by meter, becoming weaker by the minute, while the cramps were getting stronger and were soon followed by a severe feeling of heat, dizziness and nausea. Then came the vomiting.
Her day had just officially become a living nightmare. Hell on earth if there ever was one. At least she thought so.
Unable to move without feeling great pain and now with an added severe fever, not the mention the urge to vomit every few minutes, Destiny was just about ready to die...for real this time. To welcome a wild predator to 'finish her off'. She'd even welcome it with a pained smile. Anything to make the pain and this dreadful feeling stop.
Fate however, it seemed had other plans and so no wild predator came. With the rest of her strength, which was steadily decreasing by the hour, she only just managed to slither weakly into a near by shady bush, where she finally collapsed and once again, moved no more. Slowly, wondering what deity she had pissed off in what former life to deserve this, she began to drift of, before everything went black once more.
At the same time, somewhere hidden in Kanto.
Unknown to Destiny, the same moment she was fighting a seemingly losing battle for her life, somewhere in a hidden place in Kanto somebody else was thinking about her.
The man, known simply as 'The Boss' to his men... or Giovanni to those rare few key people, privileged to know his real name, slowly lowered his hand and carefully placed his expensive, top of the range, high-tech mobile phone, down on a nearby table, before he turned back to look out of a near by window.
Absent-mindedly he turned off a small TV set which, until that moment, had been showing his latest stock updates, before he then reached up to softly scratch the chin of his Persian, a large feline with a large red jewel in the center of its forehead. Quietly, he considered what to do with the newest information he had received a few seconds ago.
Just moments ago two of his best field admins had reported in, telling him about a close encounter they had just experienced not that long ago with a ...'Pokémon of interest,' as they had called it.
At first he had simply nodded and smiled. He had not really expected too much from what he thought was just another boring report. It was fairly late and the only reason why he even decided to listen to them at that moment was because the two admins just happened to be some of his best operatives... members of an elite team known as the Death Hand. Had it been a lower grunt, like those idiots Jessie and James, he would have told them to wait until the morning...or to start praying if their information wasn't important enough. He really hated it when those idiots called, only to tell him about their newest failed heist. It made him so angry...
...But also so sad every time they messed up.
'Jessie and James,' he thought sadly as he briefly glanced over at an old fading photograph, resting on a nearby bookshelf. The picture was one of happier days...of a small group of men and women in expensive white tuxedos, standing around what looked like a far older man, a man who looked somewhat like an older yet different version of Giovanni himself. Said man had his arms around a young woman and a younger Giovanni. On either side of the young Giovanni and the young woman were two younger Jessie and James. Everybody had large happy smiles on their faces.
For a few seconds, it seemed as if Giovanni looked sad as he looked at the picture, almost as if he wanted to cry, but that quickly disappeared when he looked away again mere seconds later.
The only reason why he hadn't kicked them out yet was because of who they were...or rather who they had once been...
Jessie and James, contrary to popular belief, had not always been the two pitiful fumbling idiots they were now,... Oh No! quite the contrary. At one point before 'HE' came along... they had been two of his finest, most respected Executives. Not Admins... but Executives. Even better than the elite group known as the Death Hand.
Close friends of the young Giovanni in the picture, they had just become Executives a few weeks ago when the photograph had been taken. The youngest Executives Team Rocket ever had. They were that good...and two of his best friends too.
That, unfortunately had all changed the moment they lost their memories during that disastrous final battle. Not just their memories...but... that eevee experiment had also turned them back into toddlers too. Their physical bodies.. their memories...their incredible skills...everything...
All gone.
They had never been the same ever since.
The only thing what now remained of the once feared and powerful duo was their legendary perseverance... their incredible ability to take immense amount of punishment and to always come back for more, no matter what, until they finally succeed.
Their battling skills... their absolute ruthlessness... had all but disappeared. And all because of...'HIM'!
Giovanni sighed as he thought back to what had happened.
If you asked Giovanni if there was somebody who he really hated, not just disliked but actually hated, above all others, then it was definitely... 'HIM'.
Back then, back before 'HE' came along, Team Rocket, the one ruled by his father, not the pitiful remnant he now controlled, had been much stronger than the one he ruled today. That had all changed due to the meddling interference of one young boy...
Red! There wasn't a night he didn't curse that name.
The current Team Rocket was a recreation...a weak rebirth of the old Team Rocket his father had once ruled...
RED! He just had to come along... and destroy everything...Years of hard work and planning...all gone because of one meddling child.
How he hated that child...well...man now, but that was beside the point...
Oh! He'd get his revenge some day, somehow. He swore he would... someday.
Ironically, had the boy left it at the destruction of his father empire then Giovanni might actually have been able to accept his fathers defeat for what it had been... a defeat against a better trainer and he might have been able to move on. Red had after all gone on to win every major league there was... to become the ultimate champion that had ever existed since the time of the great Master Indigo... and all without losing a single battle. An unprecedented occurrence with had never been repeated since. He was that good.
Under normal circumstances Giovanni might even have considered it an honour to lose against such an incredibly esteemed trainer.
But then he just had to take 'her' away too...
Once again Giovanni looked back at the old photograph...right at the woman who was laughing beside his younger self before he suddenly stood up, dropping his persian on the the floor, who promptly hissed in annoyance, before he picked up a few poisoned darts from another table, which he then threw, one after the other with deadly accuracy, at a heavily hole punctured picture not far away on another near by wall, scoring 'bulls eyes' with every hit. It was a picture of a young boy with red eyes and a signature Pokémon hat on his head, taken from one of his security cameras all those years ago. The first dart hit right between the boys eyes, the second hit right into the throat, while the third and final dart flew low... right into a particular area between the boys legs.
Turning away from the picture Giovanni sat back down and put his face into his hands.
'Delia'... Why did you leave me for ...'HIM'! he thought in a mixture of anger and sadness.
Clearing his mind with another audible sigh, he looked down at a summary of the report his two admins had given him.
This 'Pokémon of interest'...was quite interesting indeed to say the least.
So 'interesting' in fact that he immediately decided that he just had to have it...whatever it was. Presuming it really was what his admins said it was...a new breed never seen before.
Too bad it had been able to escape his men...but then again, that only showed just how powerful it evidently was. Only a really powerful Pokémon could get away from some of his best... and of course only the most powerful were worth his time.
The Pokémons description alone made him actually feel excited... something he usually only became when he was dealing with, or close to actually capturing a legendary Pokémon.
The legendary Pokémon where after all the only Pokémon which could possibly have a chance to beat...'HIM'. Hence why he wanted them.
Only when he had enough Legendaries would he challenge...'HIM'... Only then he would have his revenge... Only then would he destroy 'HIM'...
Turning to his laptop he quickly opened a certain file... then he began to type:
Team Rocket International Bounty Bingo
Pokémon Name: Unknown. Temporary designation:X-120
Rarity: Presumed New type...rarity extreme, possibly unique.
Danger Rank: Unknown. Provisional rank: B to A. Pokémon was fleeing, presumed high (engage with caution)
Evolution Level: Unknown (presumed level 1, maybe 2 due to high defensive power)
Breed: Presumed Dragon
Type(s): Presumed Steel/Dragon type
Description: Black upright snake like body with white diamond on head. Pokémon has small claws at front of body. It is speculated that the Pokémon may be a distant relative to the dragon Pokémon dratini but this has not been confirmed.
Special notes of interest: Offensive capability of Pokémon unknown, Presumed high. Defense is extremely high as Pokémon has shown ability to take an extreme amount of damage and keep going even under constant attack from two members of the DH.
Pokémon has shown itself capable of using teleport and has shown an ability of being able to hover. Might be able to fly.
Pokémon has been seen in the company of: David Stone and Ayla Stone, the children of the famous CEO of Stone Inc.
Bounty issued by: The Boss.
Wanted: Alive and in stable condition only.
Award(s):
If in stable and satisfactory health: Promotion or 1 million Poké dollars or a personal favour from the boss (within reason)
With permanent injury but otherwise stable: 10000 Poké-dollars (strongly discouraged)
Note: Unstable mental delivery or death will result in an immediate termination. (For those too dumb to understand that means once we find you we'll kill you...and we will find you!)
Those last few words typed in a blood red colour, Giovanni smirked then quickly saved his work. Tomorrow he'd post this to his international Bingo Bounty Book... by the end of the week every rocket member, mercenary and Pokémon hunter would be out looking for it... whatever it was. For now though he would go to bed. It had been a long and stressful day.
Two days later, a forest near Pallet town.
The past two days had not been a pleasant experience for a certain black draconic Pokémon as she lay inside a bush. For the past two days Destiny was a very sick Pokémon indeed.
Thinking back on this day years from now Destiny would never fully know just how it was that she had survived that dreadful experience...or indeed just how close she had come to dying...once again.
Had she been healthy before eating the berry she would only have been very sick... and while not pleasant per se, she would have survived after a few days with only an unpleasant memory and a reminder to be more careful in the future. Unfortunately, that was not the case. Due to the fact that she had already been heavily injured and thus already weak beforehand, her immune system, just couldn't handle the added stress on her body anymore. Becoming visually weaker by the hour, her injuries and the berry were now slowly killing her. It as now not a question of if...but a question of when. Her time was slowly, but surely running out... and she knew it.
Drifting in and out of consciousness as her health deteriorated by the hour, Destiny soon went into a state of delirium. In the few brief moments when she was awake, she constantly felt drowsy and disoriented. Then, later, as her health decreased even further, she started to hallucinate as well.
Sometimes she would wake up at random hours and see things...Objects which weren't even there... multicoloured shapes appearing out of nowhere. Other times it would seem as if objects, like trees, or the near by stream would sometimes move around her. Even when she knew it shouldn't have been possible for them to do so.
Needless to say, while she knew that, what she was seeing wasn't real, it didn't help her nerves much. Few sick Pokémon...or animals in general survived in the wild if they were sick to that degree. Even less if you were an injured sick Pokémon. Especially not if you became sick enough to see things. Seeing things that weren't there was not a good thing if you wanted to survive. In short it really stressed her out and that stress in turn further decreased her health even more. Destiny fully expected her 'journey' ...or task, given to her from Arceus, to end at any moment... in failure.
As she lay inside her bush, dying, already half dead, she fully expected a wild hungry Pokémon, or mundane to find her and eat her at any moment.
Accepting the fact that her end had come, Destiny began to close her eyes for the last time, then, a few minutes later she fainted... her heart began to slow down... slowly it began to stop. It seemed her end was near.
Luckily however, unknown to her, Destiny's time to go to her 'next' great adventure had not yet come. Had she been anybody else, Destiny probably would have died that day. 'Destiny,' however, had different plans for Destiny and was not about to let Fate disrupt Destiny's destined destiny.
And so it was that Destiny's proverbial knight in shining armour arrived to, once again, save the damsel in distress... at the very last few seconds of Destiny's second life.
::Mew!:: said Mew as she appeared in a flash of pink light just meters away from Destiny's half dead body.
The knight had arrived...the knight was pink... The knight looked down at Destiny's body with wide eyes...
::MEW!:: (Oh shit!)
The knight was...
...Late!
A/N:
This story takes place 12 - 14 years or so after the game and several months before Ash starts his own journey.
As such Red and Ash are not the same person.
The next chapter will see the end of the Survival arc of the story. Then in the next after that Destiny will finally meet up with Ash.