IT HAS BEEN YEARS SINCE I LEFT THIS SITE. THINGS HAVE CHANGED, BUT THIS STORY HASN'T. HOPEFULLY, I CAN KEEP UP WITH WRITING THIS!

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"Speech" - Vocal, talking

"Speech" - Pokémon sounds/speech

"Speech" - Telepathy

Chapter 7: Over my Dead Body

Viernes is immobilized, and can only watch the impending doom that awaits his Ralts. However, Hope has other plans. Facing the enemy, she seems to refuse to allow this situation to go unpunished.

It seems that the pair have been dragged into a conflict. What is happening to the world? Only time will tell. Yet, time is fleeting for Viernes; he is weak, and fading. Hope must hurry. Though, it seems that the odds may now be in her favor.

Hope's POV

*Hope disobeys Viernes' pleas for her to leave. Instead, she stands there in utter disbelief. Against Viernes' protests, Hope intends to fight back. Can she do it? Maybe.*

How? He seemed almost unstoppable. *Sob*

He's one them. Those humans...

All because of me. If I hadn't been here, would things have been different? Maybe he wouldn't be lying there.

"H-Hope, get out... *wheeze* ... o-o-of here." He called out to me.

No. We were meant to be. Together. Here.

I started blushing at the thought.

No, I won't let this go unpunished. His vitals seemed fine for now. I have time to make them pay. To end this where it should have ended. They're here.

"SURRENDER, OR DIE!" Enemies were already setting up another defensive line at the cave entrance.

"OVER MY DEAD BODY!" I yelled.

At that moment, I began to recall the old woman who talked to me. And, I realized that now is the time to be his hope.

No regrets. If I die now, I die protecting him. I don't care about anything else anymore. I only care about him. I only care that he lives! I ONLY CARE THAT HE IS HAPPY!

Is it wrong that I feel this way about a human? I mean... how my kind doesn't like his kind? That... I'm so willing to die for him, because... I just do?

"I don't care."

"Hey, we got something!" The enemies became aware of my presence.

"I don't care..."

"What the fuck are you waiting for?! Go check it out!"

"I DON"T CARE!" I angrily yelled.

I evolved.

I was embraced by a warm light. I could have sworn that my mother was massaging me with her soft gentle hands. I closed my eyes. I teared. Oddly enough, it was as if my father and mother were there to wipe away my tears and comfort me.

"Mama. Papa. You've been watching over me. Haven't you?"

The echoes of my parents' giggling filled my thoughts.

In unison, they said to me, "Give him your life... and he will give you his."

The images of them smiled at me, chuckled, and faded away from my thoughts. I was ready now.

I opened my eyes. The dust had already cleared. It seemed that about a hundred people were staring at me.

I spun around once to test my balance. Everything felt so clear. I could feel the life of every single being near me with the utmost clarity. The ones who accosted Viernes cannot escape my sight.

This wave was different from the last, though. Everyone here is filled with the intent to kill. They hate. It seems they are also considerably armed. Many of them did not wear mask, but helmets. They seemed to have thick armor, as well. Nonetheless, none of their equipment will stop my fury.

Once more, silence fills the cavern. Everyone continued to stare at me. I checked on Viernes. He was still laying there, but he seemed to have overcome his injuries for the time being. Rather, his eyes dazzled with amazement from my change. If I must say so myself, he looked rather amazing as well; despite his wound and his weakened body.

"Holy shit. Hope, you're... amazing." He smiled at me.

I smiled back and blushed.

Our moment was interrupted by a voice from behind the defensive line. It came from the monstrous entity we felt. He seemed to be their commander too.

"Unless you all want to die, you better kill that Kirlia." The voice called out.

"Sir, is it really that much of a threat?!" One of the subordinates asked.

"Yes. I know her. IF SHE DOES LIVE, ALL SURVIVORS WILL DIE BY MY HAND!" He replied.

"Roger, Sir! Consider it done!"

As fast as he spoke, the mysterious voice's psionic presence could no longer be felt. I was sure that had to be the man who accosted my parents. That no longer mattered. All that mattered was putting an end to all of this.

The soldiers raised their weapons, and prepared to fire.

I was confident. Outnumbered, but confident. Somehow, I felt that this would be over pretty soon.

"FIRE!" One of them shouted.

With a flick of the hand, I stopped all of their shots mid-flight. Each pellet was surrounded by a violet light, suspended in midair. I felt powerful. I felt that I could protect him.

The soldiers gasped, and backed away.

"Oh shit! Take cover!" The response echoed across the human forces.

I swung my arm, and all the shots mowed down a good portion of the opposition. Yet, the rest of them continued to fight back.

"You fight to take the lives of the innocent. I see that nothing will convince you. Now, begone."

I focused on the remaining combatants. This is it. They will learn to never meddle with us again.

Unexpectedly, the door behind us opened. Many patients came out, few were medical staff. They were friendly but why were they here?

I had been so distracted that I completely forgot about the remaining enemies. A bullet grazed my left horn, and I fell to the ground. I accidentally fell on Viernes, causing him pain.

"O-o-AH shit!... That's my bad side." He writhed in pain.

"I'm sorry!" I said, and repeated in my head over and over.

"No, no! You're fine! It's okay!" He replied.

He replied?

He.

Replied.

...

Forget all that's going on now. Forget the enemies. Forget that we're being shot at. Forget the fact that we're apparently encompassed by a barrier right now. Okay, that's a thing right now.

Did he just understand me?

"You can understand me?" I asked him.

"Huh? Was that you just now, Hope? Do that thing again! All I'm hearing is 'Kirlia!'" He said to me.

Wait a minute. What just happened? And it came to me. I talked with that old lady before. Well, mentally. We conversed that way. I heard her, she heard me. Can he do that too?

"Can you hear me? Can you understand me?" I tried to communicate with him.

He stared at all the commotion going on. He probably wasn't able to focus clearly on me.

"Yes... I can." He said to me.

Despite whatever is going on right now, I was so fixated on him hearing me.

"But more importantly, have you been hit? Please, tell me! Are you hurt?!" He asked.

I couldn't help but just stare at him and blush. My heart. I was so mesmerized. I felt like I was right where I wanted to be. I was acting without thinking. My heart raced. What the hell was I doing? I couldn't stop. I caressed his face, and then I leaned in –

A patient jumped towards us, pulling us behind cover.

"Damnit, guys! What the hell were the both of you thinking? It's a goddamn warzone!" The man said to us.

"Shit. We need to get you some medical attention! Stay here for a moment!" He ran off towards the fight.

The man walked towards the patients generating the barrier. I guess I had gotten so carried away with our moment, that neither of us had noticed that the inhabitants of the complex were beginning to fight back.

"LEAVE THIS TO ME! GET EVERYONE TO SAFETY!" The man told those holding up the barrier.

They shook their heads, and the barrier slowly began to fade. One psychic ran up to us to attend to Viernes. Everyone else ran back to the stairwell.

The mysterious patient took a deep breath; chest and cheeks puffed. He put one foot forward, and one foot back for support. The barrier went down. With one big puff, an incredible amount of fire escaped the man's mouth. A large flaming five-pronged symbol flew towards the opposition. The explosion seemingly consumed the remaining enemies.

Nothing was left, but ash. They didn't even stand a chance.

The man walked back to us, celebrating that he had incinerated the remaining forces. He was bald, had dark skin, and was hulking. He didn't look like someone you wanted to mess with.

"Man, you crazy. Fighting without your fellow Pokémen! As soon as your done healing, we're getting the hell outta here." He said to Viernes.

"Wait, what hell are Pokémen?" Viernes asked.

Here, I realized that he was indeed one of them... or one of us. There was a legend that my kind spoke about. Humans and Pokémon were previously one and the same. Though, there are a select few who stand between both worlds. Forsaken and forgotten, it was believed that they no longer existed. For sure, I can now dismiss that belief as false. To think that I would meet one...

... and fall for one.

Viernes' POV

I was left in awe. Before more very eyes, I witnessed yet another evolution. This had to be the first time a blinding light actually made me happy.

There she was in front of me. Elegance at its finest. She spun around like a ballerina, and I could have sworn glitter was trickling off her. She looked back at me. Those violet-colored eyes of hers, they were filled with confidence and determination. I knew I could trust her to fight. I smiled at her.

"Holy shit. Hope, you're... amazing." I said.

She blushed again, but smiled at me. I didn't need a psychic to tell me, but I knew she'd be kicking ass soon.

Tensions rose again. A leader of the element facing us called out to them. It was that presence I felt earlier. My injuries were still bothering me, so I could only feel trickles of it.

"Unless you all want to die, you better kill that Kirlia." He called out.

I couldn't help but try to fight back. I tried to get up, but my wounds were to great. All I could do was watch. Hope was certainly going to be alone in this fight. Though, I was shocked to see how calm she was as she stood there ready to battle.

Enemies fired upon her. My adrenaline shot through the roof.

But Hope is certainly full of surprises. She stopped all the incoming fire. It was really something to behold. In this case, elegance just met the battlefield. Her movements were so smooth. All of the shots reigned on the enemy in such a coordinated fashion.

From behind us, the door opened up. Many of the patients from the hospital were standing there, seemingly ready to engage in the fight. What the hell was going on?

"Ah!" Hope yelped.

She fell onto me too; right on top of me while I laid to my wounded side...

"O-o-AH shit!... That's my bad side." I writhed in excruciating pain.

"Kirlia! Kirlia! Kirlia! Kirlia!"

"I'm sorry!" A voice said.

"No, no! You're fine! It's okay!" I replied.

Who was that? I heard a little girl's voice. I looked a Hope.

A voice.

A.

Voice.

... Viernes(.exe) has stopped working...

"Kirlia?" Hope looked confused.

"Huh? Was that you just now, Hope? Do that thing again! All I'm hearing is 'Kirlia!'" I said to her.

For a moment, she stared at me. It felt like an eternity. Then, something happened.

"Can you hear me? Can you understand me?" I heard.

She looked deeply into my eyes, possibly staring into my soul. However, I looked away towards the patients running into the fray to help clear my mind. I heard her.

"Yes... I can." I said to her. "But more importantly, have you been hit? Please, tell me! Are you hurt?!"

It got awkward, though. She just sat there staring at me, eyes vacant, face blushing. It was kind of like she was frozen in time. Eventaully, she ended up closing her eyes and leaning in... She must be exhausted.

We were interrupted by one of the patients. He pulled us to cover and had us stay there. I watched in amazement, as I witnessed the other patients express powers similar to mine. They held up barriers to keep the incoming fire from hitting us. One of the patients even came over and began to heal my wounds, pulling out the bullet while able to suppress the pain. The most amazing occurrence was with the patient who pulled us over here; he used a Fire Blast technique to burn the enemies to ashes.

I found it shocking that I was one of them.

Before I knew it, everyone was already getting ready to go back. The hulking "Fire-type patient" approached me.

"Man, you crazy. Fighting without your fellow Pokémen! As soon as you're done healing, we're getting the hell outta here." He said to me.

"Wait, what the hell are Pokémen?" I asked.

"Pokémen? Half-human, half-Pokémon? Ancient history? Theory that Pokémon and humans were the same thing?" He replied.

For the time being, all I felt like doing was shaking my head to prompt my understanding.

I looked at the palm of my hands. My hands were still sticky from my clotted blood. On the finger that I used to plug up my wound, I noticed a collection of still-clotting blood. I thought about what the patient said. Am I really one of these so-called Pokémen? So many odd things have been happening, lately. And, in such a short time frame as well. What's really going on here?

At the corner of my eye, I noticed Hope dancing and twirling around. I looked at her tutu-like protrusions, her horns, her eyes, her green hair, and her body's characteristics over all. Could I really be just like her? Half of me?

She noticed me staring at her. She gently stopped spinning, and posed, as if she was concluding a routine. She tilted her head slightly, and smiled lovingly at me. I smiled back, and she blushed as expected.

"I can't believe we only just met yesterday, Hope."

"But... We didn't..." I heard her voice again.

Hearing that voice felt so different to me. Not in a bad way, just different. Hearing her was comforting, though. Just like hearing the human-Hope when I was stressed. Though, that was obviously a thing of the past.

"What do you mean?" I asked her.

"Well, um... You've been in a... coma. For quite some time, actually. Three months." She halted her dancing, and looked sad.

"Three months?" I mumbled.

I looked at my arms and legs. Now that I realized it, I noticed just how thin my body was from disuse.

A doctor approached me to make sure I was doing fine.

"Do you recognize who this is?" She asked me.

She took out a mirror to show me a reflection of myself. I was shocked. My hair was long, my face was bony, and my general appearance disheveled.

I looked at the doctor and my healer.

"What's going on? What is all of this?" I asked them.

"In a moment, Professor Rowan will explain all the details." The doctor told me.

"Are you kidding me? Just tell him now!" The healer said to the doctor.

The healer looks at me with all the seriousness she can muster.

"Here's the synopsis. For you and I, the revolution has begun."

"Revolution?" Hope asked.

"Yep. Between the humans and the Pokémen."

As my healing procedure finished, we started heading down the staircase. The girl began reciting her knowledge of the legend of the Pokémen. As she got through her story, she paused.

The lights at the end of the staircase revealed something odd. Lilith had a resemblance to the human-Hope. Brown eyes, long brown hair, petite, olive skin, etc. It was weird. My body heated up, and my heart was beating faster.

"By the way, my name is Lilith Alan; but you can call me Lily." She said to me.

I was starting to blush, and I tried to hide my face.

"Oh, u-uh... M-my name is Viernes."

"Friday, huh? You look like a Monday to me!" She jokingly said.

"Heh, I gue –" I was interrupted.

Hope teleported onto my shoulders and straddled my neck, shaking my head violently as if it were a Tauros. Her newfound weight and my weakened body led me to tumble while she floated perfectly to the ground. Lily giggled as I struggled to get up.

"Kirlia! Kirlia! Ha ha!" Hope pranced in excitement.

"Well, that was uncalled for!" I said to Hope.

"So was that..." She replied.

I am sort of new and this is my FIRST story. Please leave a review, good or bad, as long as it is constructive. Thanks!

P.S.- I seek to make multiple series of stories, so any suggestions and ideas should be pm-ed to me! Thank you, to those who help!