"I don't know why he chose the EVA variant. He says he likes it…but I don't know. Do you think…you know…that he wages pshycological warfare with it? The visor is pretty impressive you know."
"What, Zero-one-one? If he says he wears it because he likes it, it is because he likes it. He doesn't do hidden intentions- he doesn't know how to."
"Is it that bad?"
"Kids normally grow into it in their normal environments. He never had the chance."
"Great…look who's awake…"
-conversation between Drill sergeant Mcgonnary, luietenant Wicks and Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield.
~0~
"Speech" Human speech.
"Speech" Pokemon speech to humans
"Speech" Speech between Pokemon
"SPEECH" Pokedex entries
~0~
Ralts lvl 19- significant moves: teleport, confusion and growl
Nidoran lvl 13: significant moves: peck, poison sting, double kick.
Now that the situation was relatively under control, he needed to get the energy shielding down. That was his first priority now and he had wasted enough time with his little fight with Brock, even though he had gotten some useful information out of that.
Realizing that he needed some directions he turned to the mother that was taking care of her son.
"The cables from the energy shields," he said, "where do they lead?"
It took the woman a few seconds to recollect herself before she could reply. "Th-there is a small room over there-" she pointed a trembling arm to the left and added: "there you can find it…"
After that she fell silent again. So The Spartan left the shocked family to tend to their own and moved on. The plug had to be somewhere and he would find it. The little Ralts that followed him was very quiet- too quiet for his normal likings, but now he paid it no mind. He had two priorities: first he'd have to disable the Energy shielding that blocked his route and then he would have to find a quiet place to…let his Pokemon rest in peace.
He found the room that the mother was talking about and stepped inside. From the walls to his sides there were at least four protruding cables- and they all converged at one point, right in front of him. There were a few buttons and handles and he quickly looked over them, trying to find the one that he needed.
In the end his eyes fell upon a large lever, right in the center of the control panel. It was turned on and pointed to the left- so he'd pull it to the right and see what happened.
He pulled the lever and the background noises faded away. Obviously he had done something, but what he did he wasn't exactly sure off. What if he had simply deactivated something else? No, he wouldn't risk it. He reached out and grabbed the nearest cable with one hand- and the one underneath it with his other. He gave a hard yank and both gave way- with a loud static discharge they came free of the console.
He repeated this with the other two cables and was satisfied with his work. The energy shielding would be down and he was free to proceed- to where actually? He still had no idea where to go from there.
With a small sigh he resigned himself to the fact that he would have to ask for directions again. He absolutely hated doing so- but he had no choice. In order for him to contact the UNSC and ask them to get him the hell out of there he had to reach that 'Saffron city'.
He turned around and was surprised to see that Ralts wasn't following him anymore. Weird. Where could that little thing be? Probably still with the family in the room next door or something.
He walked out the door and left the ruined cables behind him. It occurred to him that the family wasn't that quiet now- their soft sobbing and crying had disappeared and given way for something else.
But what?
The answer presented itself to him rather quick, in the form of Brock. The man had somehow managed to drag himself out of the gym-room to see his family and was currently in the room with them. His children were clinging to him as if they were drowning and he was the only way for them to stay adrift. His wife was sitting in front of him, holding his wounded leg and bandaging it with a piece of her clothing.
The sight of the family comforting each other made him feel uncomfortable, but he had no idea why that would be. The appearance of the Spartan went unnoticed until Brock lifted his head- perhaps to see what had become of the room where the console was- and saw him standing there.
The super-soldier was aware of the fact that his appearance was unnerving to lots of people. His white armor and EVA helmet gave him a rather inhuman appearance. The family had had more urgent matters to think about when he had showed up. But now that they were safe, the seven feet tall soldier looked all the more menacing.
It took the man some time to actually speak, but when he did he didn't sound angry or resentful.
"Thank you for saving my family…" he spoke, his voice sounding weak.
He thought that he had actually saved his family? Whatever, if that prevented him from being hostile then he could go right ahead.
"I want to give you something…even though your methods were…far from elegant, I still want to present you this."
He reached inside his pocket and the Spartan immediately tensed, ready to act as soon as Brock pulled out a weapon.
But he didn't. Instead of a weapon, the man pulled out a small, grey object. "This is the Pewter city gym badge!" Brock said. "I know that the circumstances weren't exactly ideal… but you beat me nonetheless. And to survive the direct assault of an Onix…especially one as strong as mine…that is something else."
Was it? He had fought grunts that posed more of a threat than the Onix did. Wasn't this man angry that he had nailed his leg, nearly killed his Pokemon and then proceeded to cause a bloodbath near his family?
He hesitated with taking the badge. He had a priority and that was more important to him than anything. On the other hand; he would be stuck here on the planet for a few weeks at the least. He couldn't exactly do much in those weeks- save for training himself and his Pokemon so that they might defend themselves when he was gone. Besides; if the towns truly weren't connected to each other then they might not trust him when they saw him. He didn't want to cause more harm that could easily be avoided without misunderstandings and from what he had heard; Brock was a rather well known man. If he took the badge with him then he could use it as proof for his reliability. People would be more willing to help him if they knew that he wasn't a 'bad guy'.
"You risked your life by saving us…you put yourself in harm's way to save people that you don't even know!" The woman said with a soft voice. Her tone was low and tired, but what she said wasn't mean or hurting. So she had to be grateful. Her words, however, didn't make sense to him.
Then she too reached inside her pocket and pulled out something small. It looked like a yellow crystal on chain- some sort of jewel?
"I want you to have this…as a sign of my gratitude. It's a small trinket that my father once found in an excavation. He said that it is called amber- perhaps you can find some use for it?"
As a soldier, it was his job to put himself in harm's way for the innocent. He shouldn't be thanked for doing his job- it was to be expected. He didn't earn rewards.
"Merely doing my duty ma'am." He responded. Then he reached out and grabbed the Badge from Brock's hand, but not the 'amber'. "No man should be rewarded for doing their job."
The woman looked shocked by his statement- clearly he had said something weird. "But you didn't just do your job- you could have turned around and walked away!"
No he couldn't have, an energy wall was in his way. Weird female.
"Please take it…at the very least you can sell it for some money- things are rather expensive the farther you come into Kanto."
It was funny in a painful kind of way that he had first taken in Pokemon to care for and that he had now 'won' his first badge. The fact that a woman proposed him a reward for his duties was just…not good.
Still, he needed the money; He couldn't afford to be snippy or picky when it came to survival. So he slowly grabbed the piece of amber too and put it together with the badge in his pocket.
"Thank you."
He hoped that it would stop here, he and Ralts weren't-
Ralts! He almost forgot; he had actually returned here to search for Ralts.
"Ralts?" he said and looked around. "You copy me?"
No response. How weird; had it gotten hurt somehow? Had it hidden to prevent people from hurting it? No, he hadn't trained the creature like that. So where was it?
"Ralts?" The woman replied. "Is that your pokemon?"
He nodded.
"I think I saw it trying to hide back in the gym-room. Perhaps it is there?"
Why would it be there? It had no reason to hide…had it?
~0~
The demon was bad. She knew it from the beginning and still she decided to give it a chance; hoping that perhaps it could redeem itself. She had ignored everything that she had come to hate about him!
His indifference to the creatures around him, his stupidity when it came to their feelings and his terrible appearance.
He had murdered and killed and caused the death of those around him and she had been forced to experience the emotions and feelings of those around him. The demon had never once expressed itself in a way that she could understand and she had always thought that his lack of emotions was what made him so terrifying.
She had been wrong.
When she and Nidoran had been fighting the floating-rocks, the demon had been fighting the stone-snake. It had displayed an amazing set of skills and concentration; being able to dodge climb and move while at the same time telling her what to do to save both herself and Nidoran.
And then she had felt it. The demon's well controlled mind and tidily kept sensations had boiled over and something had escaped from the iron prison that was his mind, something terrible and painful. Something that had hurt her when she had picked it up.
It had terrified her even more than his usual stoic attitude; what he had felt had bordered on the complete loss of his mind. She couldn't even fathom it; she had spent the next two minutes sitting next to the crying humans and the young child that was being held by the mother.
She didn't know why, but she liked being near them. So when the demon continued moving to reach his goal, she had tried to make sense of what she had felt.
The demon's entire being had changed. His mind had been replaced by something primal and evil- even if the sensation only lasted for a few seconds, that didn't change it.
That made it worse. The demon's entire mind had been gone and replaced by his deepest urges and needs; the most primal and feral parts of human being. And then he had returned, his common sense returned and immediately he had shielded his thoughts and feelings from her probing mind.
And she had been forced to share in his sensations when he lost control. The demon was truly a demon; the most evil form of life that could be. And she had been blindly following him- it- for a few days now. It had pretended to care for her and Nidoran but at the same time it didn't even try to hide the fact that it would leave them as soon as possible!
So she ran. She turned around and fled the room; she fled the horrible combination of pain and horror that her life had become. She fled the pain of her parents leaving her behind and she fled the bloodlust that could control the demon so easily.
She wanted to be gone- she wanted to disappear from this terrible world and just find a hole to hide in and cry.
She felt the tiny nub of her mental power in the back of her head tingle and move. Without actually intending to she summoned a cloud of purple energy and it enveloped her body. The fact that the appearance of her psychic powers had changed didn't bother her; nothing did. She simply focused on her intent to disappear and blocked out everything else. Her powers peaked and the nub in her mind broke free-
-and with a purple flash she disappeared.
~0~
Why had it he tried to hide? It didn't make sense!
As the Spartan walked out of the gym, he kept wondering what had happened. He couldn't just move on he had to take Ralts with him, that was just a fact. But it wasn't anywhere in the gym- he had made sure of that. He had called Nidoran from his ball and ordered him to find Ralts. Even Brock and his family had tried to help him and in the end, Nidoran had shaken his head.
No Ralts in the gym, then. Perhaps it had teleported in a fit of fear and fled the scene? So where would the diminutive Pokemon be?
For the next five minutes the super soldier searched the village, having Nidoran concentrate on Ralts' sounds and those only. It didn't help, they couldn't find it. Damnit!
The Spartan didn't know what to do- for the first time since he had landed on this planet, he was out of ideas. Nidoran couldn't find the Pokemon and he couldn't either. Should he steel his heart and once again sacrifice that which was important to him for his duty?
He could always return here when he had contacted the UNSC. The people were safe now and would be very grateful…but he didn't trust them. He trusted no one and the only one that he did trust was lost.
No, he couldn't advance without his Pokémon.
He had patrolled the entire village; moving at speeds that nobody could hope to track. Even Nidoran lost him in the end- only when the Spartan paused in front of a large hole in the cliff near Route 3 did he reunite with him.
"Hear anything?" He said to the little creature. Nidoran focused his oversized ears on the entrance and kept his position for several seconds. Then it slowly turned to the Spartan and shook his head.
That didn't have to mean anything though. He had spent plenty of time moving through caves- weird things happened to sounds in there. So there could be a small possibility…right?
~0~
"Don't tell him I'm here…" a soft voice spoke to him. Nidoran spun around, frightened out of his mind. Had someone snuck up on him? Impossible! He would have heard that! And the only thing he had heard was a small rustling noise coming from the cliff.
He waited for the voice to repeat itself, but it didn't. What had just happened?
"Hello?" He yelled and noticed that the trainer wasn't paying any attention to him. Clearly he hadn't heard the voice…
"Is anyone there?" It was silent for a minute, but then-
"Go away!" The voice said again. Nidoran frowned. Ralts had told him of her psychic powers, but that didn't mean that…did it? Could it?
'Ralts?' he thought, concentrating on that name. He was certain- the Pokemon had somehow contacted him with her mind!
But no matter how hard he thought and how much he focused, it didn't repeat itself. There was no more whispering in his mind and no more forms of communication. But the weird rustling noise continued
So Ralts didn't want to be found? Why was that? What had happened?
Don't tell him that I'm here…wasn't trainer allowed to know? Why was that?
Damn. Something had actually happened to her and she didn't want anyone to find out- but that left him with two problems.
If he listened to her and honored her request, he would put her in danger.
If he didn't listen to her then she would be found by the trainer and kept safe- but it wouldn't be what she wanted.
What to do, what to do?
He gazed over his shoulder and looked back at his trainer- who was nowhere to be found.
Odd. Where could he have gone to? He really was fast- and quiet silent for someone his size.
Nidoran kept moving forwards to the cliff, hoping that Ralts would be somewhere there. But to his dismay, the human was already there. Had he somehow traced the telepathic communication back to that place? Or had he noticed him slowly moving there? It didn't matter; he couldn't simply let the 'demon' find Ralts without him deciding what to do.
He accelerated his speed and ran towards his trainer, hoping that he could somehow catch his attention.
He didn't seem to notice his distress. He could alert the trainer now and let Ralts get caught. Or he could ignore her. He didn't know what to do and he slowly walked up to the crevice where he thought that she was hiding.
"Hear anything?" The human asked him.
What would he do? What should he do?
~0~
The poison-type didn't react to his question in any other way. It had simply shook its head and kept his gaze on the small hole inside the cave. For some reason he couldn't shake the uncanny feeling that he could stop his search; that he had found what he was looking for- who he was looking for. And Nidoran was acting very strange. He had often felt like Nidoran and Ralts could understand each other- the way they kept chattering to each other. But they hadn't been together for some time; Ralts couldn't have spoken of its sudden disappearance to him.
So now? The hole was too small for him to effectively enter. Nidoran could do it, but he wouldn't send the little thing inside there. It was his responsibility- whatever had compelled Ralts to run away, it couldn't have been just fear. There hadn't even been any return fire; that engagement with Brock hadn't been that scary. So something else had to have happened…what?
He wouldn't know. He reached for the hole- and quickly withdrew his hand as a psychic blast slammed against it. His shielding flared and it dropped a few percent.
The Spartan made a mental note that psychic pokemon could hurt his energy shields and reached for the hole again. He braced himself as another psychic blast slammed into his gauntlet and this time didn't falter. He grabbed the inside of the hole and placed his head in front of the entrance.
"Ralts!" He calmly said. "It's me, hold your fire!" Perhaps the Pokemon had mistaken him for a hostile. But why hadn't Nidoran heard it? Could it be possible that Ralts hadn't even made a sound?
But the Pokémon's ears were so sensitive that it could have even picked up Ralts breathing. Or so he understood it. Either way; he would have a little 'talk' with the creature. For now, he had to find a way to get Ralts out of there.
"Come on, we're moving out."
No response. What was wrong? "Ralts move out! That's an order!"
Still nothing. Enough was enough; the Spartan had little patience for misbehavior. He had wasted so much time and energy by taking the Ralts with him- the one thing that the Pokemon could do in return was obey him and stick with him.
He took a step backwards and then lunged forwards, reaching for the inside of the cave. He heard the clattering of rocks hitting rocks- and a very faint sobbing. Then he heard the Pokemon scrambling away; moving deeper into the cavern.
What? Could Pokemon cry? What had happened to Ralts that it was sobbing? Was it to excrete salts from its body or because of…feelings?
"Ralts…" He said softly, not knowing what to do. From the corner of his eye he saw Nidoran glaring at him- as if blaming him for the little psychic's hurt. The Spartan grabbed the poke ball and withdraw the Nidoran. He couldn't use distractions now- his curiosity was roused and he had to know what was wrong with the Pokemon. It might help him understand further encounters-
Ah hell. He simply wanted the Ralts back at his side- for reasons that he couldn't comprehend. He felt the faint sensation of unknown feelings in the back of his mind and briefly wondered what it was that he felt. It didn't matter either way, but he was curious as to what the Pokemon could do that caused those feelings to rise in the first place.
He looked up, his gaze scanning the surface of the cliff for any holes large enough for him to enter.
None. Off to the next field of vision. The soldier moved a few dozen meters down the route and turned the corner. He noticed an entrance in the stone wall up ahead and ignored the girl that yelled for a trainer battle. He moved to the promising entrance and was surprised to see that the cave system actually included this entrance.
Had his luck turned or something?
"Sir, wait!" Someone yelled and he heard the tapping of feet on the ground- the sound of someone running towards him. Nope, he had no time silly children. He had a companion to save.
From what Ralts had to be saved he still wasn't sure, but he'd figure that out later.
Without any further delay he pulled his assault rifle from his back and walked into the entrance. In his haste to find his Pokemon, he missed the next words that the girl yelled at him. Or perhaps the cave actually distorted sounds as they entered its entrance.
"Don't go in there! It's Zubat mating time and there are hundreds of those bloodsuckers in there!"
~0~
The cave was dark and wet; dripping water echoed through the walls and unnerved her somewhat. She had no idea why she had hidden herself in the cavern- when she reappeared after her teleport, she had found herself somewhere on Route 3. Her first thought had been to get into a good hiding spot and the small hole in the cliff had seemed like a good idea to her.
But the demon had been near- it was searching for her. And Nidoran was there too- a source of guilt for her. She had left the kid with the demon to bring herself to safety. That wasn't a very nice thing to do to her friend, but she trusted Nidoran to be capable enough to protect himself alone. The demon hadn't done anything to harm him yet.
But Nidoran could find her and she didn't want that. So while she focused on warning the kid with his sensitive ears away, she noticed the demon coming closer and closer. She trusted that Nidoran wouldn't betray her and slowly crawled backwards.
Then the demon had noticed her. She couldn't help but be overwhelmed by her emotions- the fear and the pain, the feelings of loss and anger were too much.
Tears broke through as she scrambled backwards, away from the reaching demon. He called her name and asked her to come out but she wouldn't have anything of it. She needed to be safe; she had to get away-
A torrent of energy flowed through her mind and without intending to she blasted the reaching hand away from her with her powers.
Oh no. She had attacked the demon! It would want revenge now, just like he wanted with the male and his stone-Pokemon.
His head appeared in front of the entrance- his scary reflective nonface obscured her vision- and he talked to her again. His agitation was reassuring in a way- he didn't sound dishonest. His emotions were still obscured to her like always, but this time she could sense that he was frustrated with her.
So no hidden intentions of revenge? No trickery to get her out? Didn't it realize that she wanted it away from her?
His head disappeared and she knew that now was her only chance. She slowly crawled backwards into the cave-system behind her. But then- like a strike from lightning above- the demon slammed his arm inside and he tried to grab her. Her heart skipped multiple beats and the realization of his move struck her hard.
He wanted to get her back that was obvious. But didn't he- it! - realize that she didn't want to be with it anymore?
A sob escaped her throat and she moved even further away from the reaching hand of the demon.
"Ralts…" He spoke her name as he slowly retracted his limb. His voice sounded heavier than normal, but she didn't care. She crawled further into the tunnel, away from everything that hurt her.
But then the ground underneath her disappeared and she fell, fell deeper into the cavern of darkness. She had to slow her movements, she had to act quickly!
She channeled her mental powers- which became easier and easier to do- and canceled her descent. Her momentum ceased and she levitated in the air, mere centimeters above the ground.
Now what! She couldn't get back up again and she had no idea where she was, the cave was dark and wet and noises were everywhere.
The need to cry again was very present, but she repressed it. At least her time together with the demon hadn't been useless: it had trainer her well; her powers were easier to reach and her mind was clearer than before.
But that could also be simple growth; the demon couldn't have been responsible for everything
She slowly walked forwards, her arms wrapped around her chest. She was cold, wet and alone. Could things possibly get any worse?
She bumped into a rock and fell to the ground. It rolled a few paces before hitting another rock- which caused several smaller pebbles to fall to the ground. The sudden noise was very loud in the silent cave- and suddenly she felt the base feelings and needs of many dozens of creatures at once. The sensation nearly overwhelmed her mind before she managed to block them out of her mind.
It seemed that she wasn't so lonely after all.
~0~
Math tensed and stopped moving when he heard the clattering of rocks in the distance. It could have been a few meters in front of him, or hundreds. If only he still had his motion tracker. He had to try and repair that one of these days- if his field-stripper was still in one piece.
So there was movement somewhere? That had to be Ralts. He had the pure luck of reaching a large tunnel-system where he knew that Ralts had to be. But now he still had to find the weird little thing.
Why had it fled? What could have possibly happened to make it run away? He couldn't for the life of it understand. Could he have done something to prevent the pokemon from running? Could he have protected it from the sensations that it had to have experienced? There was no way of telling.
A faint rustling near his head made him spun around, his rifle at the ready. Nothing.
Even with his clear-night vision he couldn't see everything in this cave. Had it been the wind?
No, his senses were tingling and he knew that something was there. Something was tracking him- question is, was it a threat?
Had it spotted Ralts?
He slowly moved on, keeping his rifle sweeping from left to right and keeping his concentration peeked. Nothing would get the jump on a Spartan, that was for sure.
Suddenly his MJOLNIR armor picked up a weak wailing, like a child in distress. The sweet feminine voice of Ralts was the only logical explanation for the sound. Had he found her?
He increased his speed, moving through the tunnels with speeds and reflexes that no human could have ever hoped to match. He never bumped into something; he never even lost his bearing. He instantly homed in on the sounds in the distance and noticed the same eerie rustling noises he had heard a few moments ago. Now they were up ahead- together with the sobbing and screaming of his Ralts. He winced when he heard the sounds of distress and pain- the sadness that underlay its tone and the desperation with which it screamed.
Yes, he had spotted Ralts.
~0~
The monsters were everywhere; flying through the air without any problem and evading her blind attacks. They came from nowhere and were determined to hurt her. There were so many of them- she kept getting clipped and smashed and cut by the monsters.
They hurt her and she screamed and cried with fear and pain. She wasn't even feeling that much pain- it was just the shock and intense ferocity of the creatures that were pelting her that caused her screams.
Tears were rolling down her face as she desperately struggled to get away from her assailants. They never left her alone and she could feel their killing intent. It was so basic and primal- it reminded her of the demon in some ways. How it had lost its mind to the savage madness for moment before it had regained control.
These things weren't in control- they were completely guided by their needs and had no more control over their actions than a leave flying on the wind had.
Another monster hit her in her back and she lost her balance. With a heavy smack she fell to the ground and she knew that she would not life to see the pain come to an end.
She had left the demon and the Nidoran just as her parents had left her and now she paid for it. There was no one to protect her, no one to save her. She would die alone and afraid- in pain and desperation-
A clap of thunder split the air, then another and another. Within two seconds ten of the monsters fell to the ground, their blood splattered across the ground. The remaining creatures scattered into the darkness and it was silent.
She lifted her head- it felt so heavy and it hurt so much- and saw the demon standing there. Tall and mighty, his skin shining white and his golden face made him look like a divine being. It had found her- and saved her. But why? Did it want personal revenge for her hurting it? Or was it merely content to punish her for leaving it?
"Ralts…" It said and knelt next to her, extending its claw to her. The palm of the hand was faced upwards and its fingers touched the ground. What was it doing? Did it want something from her? Why was it acting like this? Was it testing her?
Before either of them could speak again, she rustling of a hundred wings filled the cavern with sounds and many dozens of shapes descended from the ceiling. They poured from every hole, every opening and they swarmed around them.
Even the demon could not survive this! She realized with despair.
~0~
He had found it. He had actually found Ralts- it was lying on the ground in a large dark cavern, being assaulted by large blue bats. The animals were everywhere- in the instance he analyzed the tactical situation he counted at least fifteen of the creatures. They were all concentrating on the helpless Pokemon- attacking it from everywhere, the cowardly creatures.
But they had made a fatal mistake- one that they could never have known to be possible. The small pokemon that they wanted to kill so mercilessly had a protector. One that was armed with a powerful MA5C assault rifle and 7.67 caliber armor-piercing rounds.
Time slowed for the Spartan as he sighted down the sights. He didn't know how much clips he had left to use- but it had to be enough for this little engagement. With every shot he fired he nailed at least two of the bloodthirsty creatures.
He noted that there were two kinds of hostiles- small ones without eyes and larger ones with a big gaping mouth and a pair of mean-looking eyes. Their large pointy canines identified them as carnivorous or even blood-sucking. Original.
But with every bat he killed, another one took its place. After the first two seconds of the fight the swarm had descended upon them. His shields flared slightly but only dropped a few percent from the constant buffeting of their bodies against him. He knew that his little companion wouldn't last a second when the swarm hit her- even if he protected it between his legs it would still get killed. There were just too many of them and he didn't know how he could protect his Ralts.
The creatures moved like they were suspended in honey but the swarm got dangerously close to it- he estimated that it took the bats only a few seconds before they reached it-
-and his rifle clicked empty- Damnit! Had had wasted half of the magazine with his battle against Brock and when he started shooting the bats, he did so with only half a clip.
Now it was empty and even though he could reload in just as much as two seconds, the temporary lull in the fight would present the bats with an opening to sweep down and murder Ralts.
Unacceptable. He needed to protect it but how? There wasn't a single way for him to completely protect the creature from the attacking swarm. To do to he had to completely encase it somehow- or the attacking hostiles would simply swarm through the openings and weaknesses.
The creatures noticed that he had stopped firing and even though they moved so slowly, they still steadily advanced towards the two lone defenders.
And then it hit the Spartan. He did have a way to protect his Pokemon- he would just have to sacrifice his most important and deepest form of dignity and protection. He would have to do what no Spartan ever wanted to do and he had to do it in a dark cave filled with bloodsucking angry bats.
But it meant protecting Ralts, so he'd gladly do it even if the cave was filled with hungry Brutes and hunters.
He reached up to his helmet and quickly undid the seals. It emitted a loud hissing as the internal atmosphere fell away and he tore the helmet of his head. He tasted the cold twang of humid air and the screeching of the swarming creatures sounded even more annoying. He knelt before Ralts- damn he was slow, he needed to move faster!
"Get down!" He yelled and placed the helmet on top of the Ralts, who had understood the message very clearly and was making itself even smaller to allow the helmet to completely fit over its body.
Then the Spartan stood and placed one boot on top of the helmet, to protect it from being knocked over. The tough EVA helmet would be enough to protect the Pokemon from almost everything that this world could throw at it.
But now that his helmet had been removed, he had no shields to cover his head. With one boot on his helmet and the other one placed firmly on the ground, he stood tall. He quickly reloaded and continued his stream of fire- his near pinpoint accuracy and overwhelming rate of fire was the undoing of many creatures. But the constant screeching was so deafening, so consuming that he soon found himself unable to maintain his slaughter like before. His kill rate slowed down as he was forced to concentrate on each and every target.
Was this some sort of hunting technique? Confuse the target with screeching sounds and then overwhelm them?
A wing clipped his cheek and he felt a burning feeling following its trail. Something hot and wet dripped down his jaw but he ignored it. A large shape came out of nowhere and he quickly held his hand up to catch it. The large bat flew right into his palm and the Spartan was able to make out a large gaping mouth with large sharp canines. Then he smacked it out of the air and it smashed into a wall, silencing it.
A white-hot needle penetrated his skin and he instantly reached up to grab at his neck, grabbing the sucker that had bitten him there. He squeezed and the animal died in his grip.
That constant screeching- it was so intense that he couldn't even comprehend where he was standing, up and down lost their meaning.
The screaming bats did indeed confuse their prey with their loud screeching, he realized. He couldn't remain standing upright for much longer- not whilst balancing his weight on his hind leg and at the same time applying just enough weight to keep his helmet pinned on the ground. He had to shift balance or he would fall, he was sure of that. And if he fell, he wouldn't be able to keep Ralts safe.
And it would die.
~0~
The demon was firing his thunder-stick with amazing skill. Monster after monster fell out of the air and none of them had even touched her so far! But despite its efforts, the amount of flying Pokemon was too great for them. In the few seconds that the demon had been fighting, the flying horde kept getting closer and closer to her. They couldn't possibly hurt her defender but if it stopped fighting or even paused in his valiant efforts to keep protecting her, they would get her.
And she knew that would happen. There was nothing she or it could do to stop her impending death.
And then it happened. Just when her hopes were as low as they could be, the demon- in its ever quick and honed speed- grabbed his head and pulled. He actually pulled at his head and it came off. Ralts watched with amazement as the demon tore its head of and revealed another head. In the brief second before it knelt before her and told her to get down, she was able to make out an incredibly pale skin- And then the demon placed its second head over her body and everything became dark. The thundering noises of his stick continued and the ground underneath her vibrated. A faint 'thud' signaled that the something had hit her shelter and she couldn't understand what had just happened. She tried to make sense of what was going on and failed miserably.
She tried again. First, the demon had showed its ugly side. Then she had left it and it had followed her. Then she had attacked it and again, it had followed her. At first she had thought it was because of revenge, but now it had done something that she had never seen it do before, just to save her. It went to such great lengths just to keep her protected… was it so hell-bent on getting its own revenge? Or could it truly be caring about her; was it actively trying to protect her just to keep her save?
And how? How could it have torn off its own head? Was that a demon trick? And its face…it looked so…alien. It was human and at the same time it was not.
The constant Supersonic screams of the attacking Pokemon didn't seem to affect her so much within her protective shell. Was it somehow preventing them from confusing her with their sounds? Was that what had protected the demon too when he came to her aid? His second head?
The weird shelter shook violently and she instantly covered her head with her hands. What was happening? The thundering had slowed down. Had the demon won or was it dying?
Another quake tore through the ground and this time she heard two heavy thumps. The protective shell moved with each impact and teetered on its edge, nearly falling over and revealing her to the swarming monsters.
A third, much louder impact smacked against the encasing shelter and it fell over- lying uselessly on its side. She crawled on her hand and feet underneath it, desperate to get away. A few drops of blood hit the ground and she instantly sprang back. What was..?
She trembled over her entire body and slowly gazed up. She saw the demon standing right next to her- his thunder-stick occasionally barking loudly and an attacking bat would fall to the ground. Now that its protective second head was gone, the monsters actually managed to hurt him. And while the demon kept getting pelted by one hostile after another- which it all managed to repel- she was able to catch a glance of its face.
It looked relatively human. In fact, it looked very human- it possessed two eyes and one nose, together with a mouth and two ears. The odd thing was that its features were sharper than any humans she had ever seen and its skin was pale, very pale. It was as if it hadn't seen the sun for many years- like the demon had been dwelling in a cave for most of its life. Was that why it wore a second head? To disguise itself?
A crazy thought entered her mind. A thought that burned all her fears and doubts away and caused a sudden clarity to fill her head.
It wasn't a demon…it was actually a human!
The realization hit her with such force- with such intensity - that she could actually feel her body quiver and burn with an unknown feeling. It was a human…and it was bleeding for her. Its- his- face was covered with scratches and gashes and still it fought on. It could have kept his second head on- but it got himself hurt for her. It was actually bleeding willingly just to protect her.
And she had tried to flee him, thinking that he would hurt her.
Her body burned even brighter and she could actually feel what kind of emotion it was. She just couldn't name it- it was such a pure basic feeling that she simply knew that what it meant. It meant…development. It meant that she finally understood something about her world and most important: She understood her own feelings.
She was burning so bright now that her body actually began to glow; she could swear that her limbs were shining with green-white light and she felt her body change. Her mind encased itself in an iron shell and rearranged itself- she couldn't even describe what was going on. She simply understood- she understood so many things now. It was as if she had been living in a small sphere up to now- and that sphere had just shattered to a million pieces. Her understanding and intelligence expanded immensely; like a creature that had changed from a water-dwelling creature to a land-dwelling creature. It was an evolution- just like her mother had told her when she was younger. Pokemon could evolve during certain circumstances- and their powers and intelligence would grow tremendously.
She had just evolved!
Her mind freed itself and she felt her body. She felt its gracious elegance…its flexible limbs and perfect balance. She felt like dancing- dancing to celebrate her newly gained awareness and physical abilities. Dancing to see what she could do and dancing-
-dancing to show the demon what she could do.
"Not a demon…" she giggled to herself and sensed the many teeming minds of Zubat and Golbat around her. The silly creatures were attacking her trainer and she couldn't have that.
She took a step forwards and gestured with her hands. For a split-second a shimmering blue wall appeared in front of the bloodied warrior and then it disappeared. But she knew that it hadn't simply faded away- it was simply invisible to the naked eye.
The human- what was his name again? Oh yes, it was Math. He was still standing tall- like the proud and unbreakable fighter that he was. She noticed the many wounds on his face and her eyes locked with his.
Her eyes could have never seen it before she had evolved, but now they did. She saw so many things now- and she saw the human's eyes shift. It was so subtle that anyone could have missed it- but not her. She saw the movement and instantly knew that the human was surprised at her new form.
Pleasantly surprised, she hoped. No matter, she would get to that later. For now she had to protect her trainer from any other form of pain- he had sacrificed his own protection for her wellbeing and by doing so, had revealed his true form to her.
That had inspired the inspiration for her evolution and she was eternally grateful for him. Now she would return the favor and chase these silly little bats away.
She pirouetted three times and wondered at the extent of her flexibility. She stopped the movement and waved with her arm once. The attacking Pokemon were knocked back and she could feel how confused they were. She grinned wide and extended her mind as she had done before- but this time, it was so much more.
She touched the minds of the violent Pokemon and shouted at them with her mind: 'Go away! We will leave your cave if you let us.'
She was satisfied when she realized that the bat-pokemon had heard her- and even more so when most of them actually turned to fly away.
The human lowered his weapon and watched the creatures flee. The ground was littered with remains of multiple dozens of bodies and spend casings- together with large plashes of blood. Most of it was purple, but there were drops of red spread across the bloodbath. A testimony to the trainer's bravery and prowess.
"Ralts?" He said, confusion was evident in his tone. His voice was so…strong. It presented a good listener with so much ways to read him- and she was a good listener. When it came to him, she was the best listener. For yet unknown reasons she could understand him. Far better then she could before- which, to be honest, was absolutely zero.
But still, his mind betrayed forms of ignorance. Things that were unknown to him and known to her- things that had to be known to many forms of life. She would have to attend those too- but for now, she giggled at his misunderstanding of the world around him.
'No silly!' She told him with her mind. His eyes narrowed and he turned around, his weapon doing a complete sweep of the cave. The warrior was jumpy! How amusing. When he turned to face her again she walked up to him until they were only a feet apart. Then she looked up at his face- he was looking all serious and mistrusting.
The human looked down at her form and she knew that he was eying her body. She also knew that it was purely tactical what he did- she stole that from his thoughts. They were still well-hidden from her, but her new powers were unstable and she was able to glean some facts from his mind. Like that one. She could let him guess at the situation some more, but when another drop of blood fell from a gash on his cheek a pang of guilt and pity overcame her.
'You can call me Kirlia now,' she told him. It occurred to her that he might not believe her- he was incredibly paranoid for some reason. 'Math.' She added his name- he had only told her as far as she knew.
His gaze held hers for a second longer before she broke the contact. For some reason she couldn't look in his eyes for too long- there was something she had to research first.
"What happened to you?" He asked.
'I evolved.' She simply stated while she walked up to his fallen "second head." How stupid of her- this was obviously some piece of armor. Humans wore hats and pieces of clothing more often than not and he obviously needed the protection.
She tried to lift the heavy piece of equipment and was surprised to find out that she couldn't lift it. What strange kind of material was this thing anyway?
She turned around and nearly jumped a meter in the air. Her trainer was standing right in front of her; obviously having snuck up to her without making a single move.
Damn he was good.
"Kirlia?" He asked. "Did you change your name?"
She giggled. Like she chose to; her species had simply changed when she evolved. She was a Kirlia now like he was a human. Or almost human; she wasn't entirely sure that he was completely human.
'No…I changed into something else. I simply evolved- you aren't the smartest one are you, Math?'
She had no idea how the rules and borders had shifted. She needed to completely review her situation- and for some reason, the human had linked his name with a significant value.
"Are you speaking telepathically?" He deduced that rather quickly.
How did he know that?
"Evolving…how did you do it?"
Damn…now he hit the personal thing. One side of her mind simply wanted to brush the question away- he wouldn't tell if she was lying. But she couldn't bring herself to lie to him- he had gone through so much simply to protect her. He had saved her life again… and had gotten hurt while doing so.
She teleported up to his shoulder and sat down on his broad shoulders. 'I like your name…'She said while she thought of a way to tell him how she had done it.
"You need one too."
What?
'Pardon me?'
"I can't keep calling you by your species name." He figured that out quick too. He was drawing all the fun out of this little game! "You need a proper name."
Who was he to give her a name? Well…maybe her trainer…adopted human…master…and someone that she needed to raise properly. She had his name- it was only fair that he named her too.
But he remained silent.
'Well? Get on with it! She told him.
"Well… he said and seemed to hesitate. "Are you…I mean, you look like…"
He seemed to be unable to form coherent sentences. What was wrong with him? She tried to peer into his mind, but it was well fortified. A single feeling he could not hide from her, however. She identified it as confusion and she quickly determined what was wrong. A red blush crept to her cheeks as she came to her conclusion.
He didn't know that she was a girl! Silly human…he might as well be a demon with his knowledge of life on this planet. 'Can't you tell?'
Wait a minute…if he couldn´t tell whether she was a girl or a boy… then…
´ DO I LOOK LIKE A BOY TO YOU?'
~0~
This was completely insane! His pokemon talked to him? In his mind? That didn't even seem physically possible!
First he had witnessed the Ralts glow completely white and turn into another Pokemon, and then it had somehow…made the bats go away. How had it done that?
And seriously, how was it talking to him in his mind? How could he defend his thoughts when someone could simply read them out of his mind? He would need to focus even harder than normal now. He trusted Ralts…but now that it called itself Kirlia…its entire attitude had done a 180. How was he supposed to understand a creature that could read his mind?
And he didn't even know what to call the little thing. Well, slightly less little thing. He could name her something simple and militaristic…but its attitude had dazzled him so much that he didn't know whether that was a good idea or not.
Perhaps it was because of the constant screeching that the bats had emitted during the fight or because of the new mental contact- but he couldn't completely think clear now. He accepted the Pokémon's attitude for now and searched his mind for something that could satisfy it.
Or was it a girl? Its voice sounded so feminine…
"Well… he said didn't know how to put it. Questioning the sex of someone didn't seem very social to him.
"Are you…I mean, you look like…"
He winced and realized that his confusion had already insulted the creature. He let it yell at him for a second before finally recollecting himself.
"Stand down- mind your tone." He calmly told it. The Kirlia on his shoulders stopped midsentence and looked at him with its big, not ugly eyes. It looked so feminine… it had to be a female.
"Girl?" He asked the potential lady. It slowly nodded and reached out for his face. Instantly his arm snapped up and grabbed the limb before it could touch it. Then he realized that he might have insulted it yet again and let it go.
It had run out on him once and he didn't intend to lose it- her- again.
And just when he thought about the potential new interaction that he would have to put up with, a name crossed his mind. A nice name for a woman- if only he knew why that particular name came up in his mind. He didn't know what was going on with him- he would have to blame it on the weird mental interaction and move one.
"Lucy." He decided and let the name sink in with his Kirlia. The name seemed to be charged with significance to him- if only he could remember why the name was so important to him. Oh well.
'Lucy…' He Kirlia repeated and stared off in the distance as if she was focusing on something. Then she snapped out of it and looked at him again with her large, penetrating eyes. 'A beautiful name… that couldn't have come out of your mind!'
That was it. He would have to completely reeducate the Pokemon- her evolution had undone all the discipline that he had taught her. He reached out with his arm and swept her from his shoulder. In mid-fall she twisted her body and landed on one leg on the ground. Then she turned around like a gracious ballerina- which she actually resembled right now- and kept her balance without difficulty.
Then she stared at him with a smug expression and crossed her arms. So she thought that she could outwit him? Let's see her outwit this…
"Let's see if you can do some push-ups with that new body of your." He said and grabbed his helmet.
The Spartan didn't realize it yet, but the new interaction with his telepathic Pokemon had actually gotten him to relax more than he had done in a few years. Things were changing- but whether they were for the better or for the worse was still unclear.
"That last operation is reason enough for even the most battle-hardened ODST to develop a Post-traumatic Stress disorder! You have to let me talk to him!"
"Negative Ma'am- we can't let him think that this Op was any different from his previous Operations against the Insurrection. He needs to stay focused."
"are you training a soldier or raising a psychopath? Let me through!"
"No can do ma'am."
-conversation between Mental Health specialist Jennifer Sunfield and security guard Hendricks, 12 October 2548
