Angel of a Girl Named Kokoro
Chapter Thirteen
Déjà Vu
---
Do you get a sense of déjà vu
Everytime you say 'I love you'?
---
It was still raining like crazy when the five man squad set out in quest for Veilstone city. The gang used umbrellas to shield themselves from the continuous pouring of rain.
"Is it really necessary to go out in this rain?" Ash questioned dumbly. "We could have waited in the pokémon center until the rain stops."
"True, but the sooner we get to Veilstone, the sooner Kokoro gets to see her parents." Dawn told the raven-haired man for the trillionth time. "Just roll with it, okay?"
Ash muffled a sigh. "Alright… I'm just being selfish, I guess…"
"Can we get a move on already?" Paul called impatiently. Ash rolled his eyes but picked up his pace, now walking just a few feet behind Paul.
Dawn giggled, holding Kokoro's hand as she jogged up to Paul. "How much longer do you think it will be until we reach Veilstone?"
Paul shrugged. "Maybe two more days…" He replied. He then replied in a lower tone so only Dawn would hear, "Hopefully we'll get there before the fire starts…"
"Do you remember what day the fire started on?" Paul shook his head.
"I just remember we were near Veilstone City when it started… I don't remember what date it was though," Paul told her.
Dawn sighed. "I don't remember either…" She said quietly. She then mused in a faraway voice, "I just know we have to get there before the fire starts…"
"Just as long as we don't get stuck in the middle of the fire again," Paul replied gruffly. Dawn nodded in agreement, her eyes glazed over.
"Thanks for the battle," Hiroki politely told a pink-hair gym leader around his age who he had just defeated in a battle. He accepted the Cobble Badge, proof of his win from the current Veilstone Gym.
The gym leader smiled kindly in return. "No prob! I like battling strong trainers; it helps me get better in battles and stuff," She told him. "You deserve this badge. I wish you luck with the rest of your gym battles!"
Hiroki nodded, turning away with his hands shoved deeply into his pockets. When he was a good distance away he took out his badge case, placing the cobble badge in the case to accompany his Coal Badge, Forest Badge and Fen Badge.
"Hm… next I'll go and challenge the Hearthome City gym," Hiroki mumbled out loud to himself. "But to get there I have to go through a few forests…" He observed, sticking the map back in his backpack.
Including Angel Forest which I have to stick close to just in the…
He glanced into the sky which was a dove gray, storm clouds that were a stone gray hovering a few miles away in a different town. A sharp wind tugged at his bangs, whipping him in the face.
I'll wait until morning, Hiroki decided. I have to rest my pokémon anyway…
---
Maylene gazed after the blue-hair boy until she could no longer see him in the distance. "He looks so familiar…" she murmured. "He looks like somebody I met a few weeks ago…" She continued to stare at the spot Hiroki had disappeared.
Maylene shook her head, finally turning away. "There are dozen of people who look alike…" she told herself. "No big deal… not a big deal at all."
Rain still poured outside in sheets, lightning crackling outside in a jagged golden flash followed by the Earth's grumbling only moments later. Kokoro smiled happily at the rain, humming a soft tune to herself. Kokoro grinned as she saw Dawn and Paul enter the room.
"Finally! There you guys are!" She jumped off the bed, a big grin painted across her face. "You guys wanna play a game!"
"Mm… Maybe later," Dawn told the young girl. "I'm not really in the mood for card games or whatever…"
"It's not a card game though!" Kokoro protested. "I don't have any cards with me. Can we puh-leaaaase play truth or dare together though? I really wanna play it!"
Dawn shook her head. "Maybe after I get ready for bed, okay?"
"Okay!" Kokoro chirped. "When are you going to be done?"
"In an hour or so," Dawn responded. "I take a long time taking showers."
Kokoro giggled. "So do I! But I still take baths, not showers…"
"Mm. Well, I'll see you guys in a few!" Dawn sang cheerily, giving Paul a quick kiss on the forehead before she entered the bathroom, closing the door behind her.
Paul gazed after her for a while before turning his attention back to Kokoro who was beginning to draw a picture.
"What are you drawing?" Paul questioned, walking over to the girl's side.
Kokoro shrugged. "Not much. Just my family," She replied. After she finished coloring in her dad's hair, she glanced up, staring intently at Paul.
Paul frowned. "What is it?"
"I'm not sure…" Kokoro muttered. "It's just…you look so much like my dad." She mumbled. She gazed at him for another few seconds before shaking her head. "Hey! What kind of pokémon do you have?" She questioned eagerly, her eyes bright again with excitement.
"Didn't I already—" Wait, that's right. She doesn't remember. Paul sighed irritably. "All kinds – I have a Torterra, Ursaring, Electabuzz, Magmar…"
"Really? Cool! My dad has a Torterra and an Ursaring too! And he also has an Electivire and Magmortar!" Kokoro exclaimed. "I got to see him fight with them too sometimes!"
"Interesting…" Paul muttered.
"When I grow up, I wanna be a strong trainer like my daddy too! But I also wanna be a skilled coordinator like my mom!" Kokoro chirped happily. "I wanna have pokémon like—"
"Hey! Knock knock!" Ash yelled as he knocked hard on the oak door of the pokémon center. He barged right in, a goofy grin on his face. "Hey - where's Dawn?"
"Shower." Paul pointed to the bathroom with his thumb, his expression cold with a hint of annoyance at the sight of his rival.
"Really? Well, it's good to know you're not spying on her or anything," Ash said with a chuckle. "Or else you would be a pervert like Brock! Uh… not that Brock spies on girls while they are in the shower…" Ash's expression darkened some. "Well, I hope he doesn't…"
Paul raised an eyebrow and Ash laughed sheepishly, scratching the back of his sheepishly. "Just forget I said any of that!" Ash told him. "Brock just gets love struck easily, but he's not one of those perverted men who spy on women while they are in the showers."
"Hi Mr. Ketchum! Do you like the drawing I drew of my mom and dad?" Kokoro chimed in cheerily as she held up the picture she drew.
"That's mommy with the baby in her tummy, and there's me! And Hiroki who's my little brother! Oh! And my daddy is right there!"
"Hmm… That's a nice picture you drew," Ash commented. "Your parents though… your mom looks like Dawn… and the dad… are you sure you didn't draw Dawn and Paul by mistake?"
Kokoro frowned. "No. My mommy and daddy look like this! My mom has pretty blue hair and pretty blue eyes while I have my dad's hair and eye color!"
"Well, they certainly look an awfully lot like—"
"Hey! Where do babies come from?" Kokoro queried suddenly, sitting with her elbows propped up on the bed, resting her chin in her hands. "My mom and dad never told me!"
Ash blushed furiously. "W-wha-? Y-you want me to give t-the… baby talk?!?!" Ash sighed. "Might as well, I guess. Well, um you see… when two people love each other very much… t-they… uh…"
"Who's the two people who love each very much, Mr. Ketchum?" Kokoro asked eagerly.
"O-oh! Um…" Ash had to think quickly. "Dawn and Paul! They are the two who love each other very much!" Ash exclaimed. Paul eyes widened slightly before he began glaring at the raven-hair man.
"No we don't," Paul snarled, a faint blush just barely visible on his cheeks.
Ash put a finger to his lips, glaring back at the lavender hair man with the same intensity. "Shush! I'm telling Kokoro a story! Now just roll with it for now!"
Paul sighed but said nothing else as Ash continued on with his "story".
"And when these two people who love each other dearly, a.k.a. Dawn and Paul, the two who love each other dearly begin to um…" Ash stuttered sheepishly. "They play a 'game'. Yeah! A game! And the game involves an egg and a… something men have! And then when these things join together, they become babies!" Ash concluded with a proud nod of his head. "And that is how babies are made!"
"One question," Paul spoke up. "How do the babies get in the women's stomach, hm?" Paul smirked at Ash's crestfallen expression.
"Yeah! How do the babies get in mommies' tummies?" Kokoro piped up curiously.
"Errr…um…" Ash began to glare at Paul. "Thanks for ruining my story, Paul!" Ash pouted, crossing his arms angrily in front of him.
"You're welcome," Paul said with the slightest of smirks.
"So Paul and Dawn love each other dearly?" Kokoro asked. "Like how my mommy and daddy love each other?"
Ash nodded. "If you want to believe they love each other dearly, then yes, they do love each other dearly." Paul glared icily back at Ash but said nothing.
Kokoro grinned, satisfied with this answer.
Hiroki stopped five minutes after entering the forest. He felt a strange sense of déjà vu as he gazed around the forest filled with thick oaks that served as a thick canopy of branches and leaves overhead.
Suddenly, a large light blue pokémon with a four-star shaped tail and untidy blue-gray hair that stuck up scampered pass, crying it's name as it did.
"Luxray! Lux! Rayyyyyy!" A very powerful punch to the shoulder knocked the luxray off it's feet for a few seconds as it was rammed into one of the large oaks. It's red eyes glared at a red monkey with a fire as a tail as it laughed at the pokémon.
"Chimchar! Chim!" It laughed, patting it's butt to mock the Luxray whose anger was increasing quickly at the mischievous monkey.
It's going to use thunder fang, Hiroki thought to himself. He wasn't sure how he knew it, but sure enough, the lion-like pokémon's teeth began to charge with electricity as it charged at the fire chimp who wasn't fast enough to dodge the lion's teeth from sinking into it's side.
"CHIMCHAR!" The pokémon screeched it's name in pain, scratching recklessly at the Luxray until it dropped him to the ground, the luxray growling lowly under it's breath.
It's like I've done this before, Hiroki thought to himself.
"Chimchar! Use Mach Punch, once more!"
"Okay! It's bedtime, Kokoro!" Dawn chirped, clapping her hands together.
"Aww!" Kokoro whined, looking up the deck of cards she was holding (which she had gotten from the oh-so kind Nurse Joy) to pout at Dawn, her onyx eyes growing large. "But I wanna continue to play with Ash and Paul! The game is just starting to get really fun!"
Dawn shook her head, glancing at Ash and Paul quickly before shaking her head with disgust once more. Forget pokémon battles – you thought their pokémon battles were extreme, you should watch the two rivals play cards.
"You two…" Dawn mumbled, shaking her head in disapproval. "Anyway, sorry, Kokoro but it's like eleven o'clock at night! I don't suppose your parents would let you stay up this late, would they?"
Kokoro shook her head. "But I don't want to go to bed!" She complained. "If I fall asleep I'm going to have another nightmare! Besides, I have a really bad feeling something terrible is going to happen tomorrow! Or the day after!"
Dawn rolled her eyes playfully. "I'm sure it's nothing, Kokoro…" Dawn bent down until the two were at eye level. She took the younger girl's hand in a comforting way. "It's just a bad dream… just remember, it's not real… it's not real…"
Kokoro nodded, taking a deep breath. "Okay…" she mumbled.
"Wow, Dawn is just like a mother to Kokoro!" Ash whispered to Paul who said nothing in response. Instead he studied the blunette and her movements. There was a glimmer in the plum-hair man's eyes that Ash could not read.
"Good." Dawn stood up, her smile widening. She brushed some of Kokoro's plum-color bangs from her face before leading the younger girl to her bed.
"Um… Dawn?" Kokoro asked shyly, staring nervously up at the kind blunette.
"Yes?" Was her sweet response.
Kokoro took a deep breath. "Thank you…" she told her sincerely. "You've been so kind to me. Letting me wear your nightgown," she gestured to the periwinkle spaghetti strapped nightgown that Dawn had given her to wear during the nights which was very similar to the rose pink nightgown Dawn wore. "And you are just so kind and patient with me… you remind me so much of my mother."
Dawn squeezed Kokoro's hand, having to fight back the smile that threatened to take up her whole face. She truly felt touched by Kokoro's words. "Well, I-I guess I'm sort of being y-your mother until we find your real o-one." Dawn stuttered, rubbing at her eyes.
Kokoro giggled. "Are you crying?"
"N-no!" Dawn exclaimed, rubbing at her eyes some more. "I got something in my eyes! That's all! I-I think it's an eyelash!" Dawn laughed sheepishly. "S-sweet dreams K-Kokoro!"
Kokoro nodded, laying her head on her pillow as Dawn started to tuck her in. "Yeah… sweet dreams, Dawn…" Kokoro murmured softly.
Dawn smiled as she heard the soft snores of the eight-year old. She then turned around with a sigh, turning around in time to witness Ash attempting to peek at Paul's deck while the plum-hair man still gazed her, his eyes questioning.
"Ash!" Dawn snapped, catching the attention of Paul who whipped his head around to glare at the raven-hair boy.
"Oh, um…" Ash grinned sheepishly, a sweat drop trickling down the side of his face. "It's not what it looks like…? I swear, I was not trying to peek at your cards, Pau,l so I could win 'Go Fish'!"
Paul scoffed, about to make a sharp retort, but Dawn quickly butted in, "Ash, quit trying to cheat on such a simple and easy game! Thinking of that, you should go back to room now too."
"Aww! But we're not done yet—"
"Too bad, so sad! Go cry yourself a river! Now get out! I will never be able to sleep with you two arguing over Arceus-knows-what! Now get out before I make Piplup use an attack on you!" Dawn ordered, pointing to the door.
"Humph!" Ash huffed. "Fine! I'll leave! I'll give you and Paul some privacy since you seem to favor him over me now! Now goodbye!" Dawn rolled her eyes at Ash's dramatic exit.
"Drama queen…" Dawn muttered as soon as Ash shut the door to their room.
Dawn was about to go her own separate bed, but was stopped as Paul grabbed her wrist. "Hm?" She looked up, only to find herself staring into Paul's onyx color eyes.
Very familiar eyes…
"What is it?" She asked quietly, her cheeks naturally heating up as blood rushed to them.
Dawn's blush deepened as Paul continued to stare intensely into her own blue orbs. Her heart thumped wildly inside her chest and it only raced faster as she realized just how close their bodies were.
Finally he said something. "Oh, nothing…" He murmured in a far-off voice, as if something else was on his mind. "It's just… you make a very good mother for Kokoro…"
"Y-yeah, I-I guess I do." Dawn stammered, her body starting to sway. Her whole body was blazing with embarrassment and self-consciousness. She turned her attention to her small pale feet, starting to wiggle her toes to distract herself from Paul's intense black eyes.
"It's kind of cute when you mother her…" Paul whispered huskily. Dawn bit her lip to fight back a smile. She lifted her head up, only to have Paul's mouth suddenly against hers in a sweet, gentle kiss. He trailed his hand through her midnight blue locks.
After about fifteen seconds the two pulled apart, and they were back to phase one: staring intensely into each other's eyes.
"We should go to sleep now before it gets any later," Paul mumbled into her ear, still stroking her blue locks. Dawn nodded.
Paul planted a gentle kiss on Dawn's forehead before the two separated, going to their individual beds.
"G'night…" Dawn whispered.
Paul just grunted in response, although there was a small smirk which grace his features.
Yeah… G'night… Dawn.
A crackling, burning fire that flickered and danced with life. The wind roared in the background, while the fire hissed words to the young purple hair girl.
Evils words. Threats. Threats and taunts.
"No, no, no…" Kokoro chanted to herself, tears streaming down her face. "NO! LEAVE ME ALONE! PLEASE - LEAVE ME ALONE!"
She was running, running, running. But the fire was too fast, the smoke was too much… too much smoke. She couldn't see – couldn't breathe.
"NO! STOP! LEAVE ME ALONE! LEAVE ME ALONE!" Kokoro screamed, but the fire only roared louder, hissing more deadly threats.
No…
---
"No! No! No!" Kokoro screamed, instantly startling Dawn and Paul awake. Tears rolled down the eight-year old's face as she stormed out of their room.
Dawn was confused, still half asleep as she tried to comprehend what had just happened.
"Oi! Kokoro!" Paul yelled, hurriedly putting on his jacket and putting on his shoes. "Oi! Dawn! Wake up!" Paul growled.
Dawn rubbed at her eyes, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. She yawned. "What happened?" She mumbled. "Why did Kokoro run off?"
"Just get up!" Paul snapped. "We don't have time!" Dawn was startled by Paul's sudden harsh attitude towards her. She saw his eyes she saw impatience, frustration and worry.
Then it dawned on her.
Kokoro just ran off!
…And the last time she ran off she got hurt, and then the fire happened the very next day.
"Crud!" Dawn cursed, slipping on a pair of fuzzy slippers and grabbing her pink sweat jacket, rushing out the door. Dawn ran down the hall to wake up Ash and Brock while Paul raced outside after Kokoro.
"Ash! Brock! Wake up! Kokoro – s-she's gone!" Dawn exclaimed.
Ash instantly jolted up, banging his head on the bunk bed overhead. The sound of its trainer hitting his head on the bed above him woke up Pikachu who repeated its name in concern.
"Huh? What? N-Nurse Joy? Is that you?" Brock exclaimed, stumbling out of his bed, the sheets tangled around his legs. Croagunk instantly jabbed the half-asleep Brock, waking him up entirely.
"Kokoro ran off!" Dawn cried once more, tears now rolling freely down her cheeks. "C'mon! Hurry! We have to find her!"
Ash and Brock exchanged shocked gasps. "Right!" They both exclaimed, hurriedly grabbing their jackets and slipping on a pair of shoes before running out of the room and pokémon center with Dawn in the lead.
"Kokoro!" Dawn heard Paul's yell in the distant and followed his voice while her other two friends started calling out Kokoro's name.
"Paul! Did you—"
"AHHHHHH!" A terrible flash of lightning was seen in the distance in the same direction Kokoro's scream had came from.
Just like last time…
Dawn's heart dropped at the scream and tears poured uncontrollably down her cheeks, and she grasped at her heart, her breaths coming in choking gasps.
"Kokoro!" Paul yelled, running towards the sound of the scream.
Dawn ran after him, her vision blurred by her tears, stumbling over a few rocks. Dawn gasped at the sight of Kokoro sprawled body in the distance. As Dawn approached the body she saw scarlet everywhere… staining the periwinkle nightgown Dawn had given her… blood staining her purple locks.
"No! Kokoro!" Dawn sobbed, dropping to her knees as her fingers clawed at the place her aching heart laid under her skin.
Paul gently turned her over, a groan escaping Kokoro's lips as she did. And it may have just been the trick of the light, but it looked as if there were tear streaks going down Paul's cheeks. He shrugged off his jacket, laying it over her abdomen which was gushing out blood.
Dawn wiped her tears away, still gasping, as she quickly scanned the area they were currently in.
The moonlight shone on dark bulky shapes in the distance, thin bone-like structures sprouting from the objects.
Trees.
This meant they were in the forest that caught on fire…
Dawn's face paled.
No…
"Paul!" Dawn whispered urgently. "We're in the forest that caught on fire!" Paul scanned the area himself, cursing under his breath as he realized she was most likely right.
"Aha! There you guys are!" A familiar voice yelled. Ash and Brock rushed to their side and they gasped at the sight of Kokoro.
"Is she alright?" Ash whispered, his chocolate brown eyes wide and troubled.
"She's hurt badly…" Paul told Ash in a quiet voice, that way he didn't disturb Kokoro. "But she's not dead or anything…" Yet… he added in his mind.
"We have to get her out of this forest!" Dawn whispered to them. "Something very bad is going to—"
"We can't move her…" Brock mumbled.
"Huh? What? But we have to! The forest is going to—"
"We can't move her Dawn." Brock looked up to stare into the blunette's worried blue orbs. "That wound Kokoro has… She have already lost too much blood. We should at least wait until she wakes up before we start moving her. Besides, we can't take her to the pokémon center we just left because Nurse Joy is out due to an emergency."
"Then we have to take her to the next pokémon center!" Dawn snapped.
"And the second closest pokémon center is in Veilstone…" Paul murmured. "And the quickest way to get to Veilstone is…"
Through this forest, the two thought together.
"Is through Angel Forest." Brock concluded out loud. "But like I said, lets wait until Kokoro wakes up. Meanwhile, we should take care of her wound so it doesn't get infected. Luckily I bought my medicine kit."
While Brock began to bandage Kokoro's stomach wound Dawn began to tug Paul away, ignoring the confused glances Ash was shooting them.
"Paul! We can't stay here! You know what's going to happen if we do!" Dawn exclaimed in a hushed voice, her ocean blue eyes large with worry. Her lower lip trembled, and she had to blink back tears.
Paul swallowed, a huge lump suddenly forming in the middle of his throat. Dawn looked so pitiful with those big watery eyes. "Just calm down…" He told her, surprised at how soft and gentle his tone was. "We don't know what day the fire happened… we just know it was raining that night… it's not raining right now, is it?" Dawn shook her head. "So who said the fire will be tomorrow morning? Nobody. We're the only who knows it's going to happen; we just don't know when."
Dawn sighed, letting her head fall onto Paul's chest. "I'm still worried though…" she whispered. "I'm worried about Kokoro… but I'm also worried about you." Dawn eyes slid close, a single tear rolling down her cheek.
Paul was glad Dawn couldn't see the small smile that began to tug at the corner of his lips. Paul sighed mentally, stroking the blunette's long, silky blue hair. How is it that one day he couldn't care less about the girl in his arms, and the next day it's like he's in love with her?
---
Dawn wasn't sure when she dozed off, but when she opened her eyes harsh sunlight glared back at her. "Urrgghh… " Dawn groaned. "What time is it?" she questioned herself, yawning noisily as she rubbed at her sleepy eyes.
"It's around one o'clock in the afternoon," Paul answered her. "You can tell because the sun is still in the middle of sky, but it's more to the west than the east."
Dawn's eyes widened at this news and immediately she bolted up, stumbling back some as fatigue caught up with her. "I slept that late?" she squeaked.
Paul nodded, warily eyeing up her hair which unbeknownst to her was sticking up all over the place and looked like a bird's nest.
Dawn frowned as she heard a snicker beside her. "What? What is sit?" She questioned Ash who was trying his hardest not to crack up laughing at his friend's morning hair. Unable to hold it in no longer though, Ash finally cracked up into raucous laughter. "What's wrong?!" Dawn exclaimed her face flushing red in embarrassment.
Dawn turned back to Paul, her eyes wild and frantic. "What is he laughing at?!" She shrieked at him, examining her clothes before having her hair hands dive for her wild mess of a hair. She gasped loudly.
"Your… hair…" Paul finally mumbled, fighting back an amused grin as the blunette shrieked loudly before clawing at the tangles in her hair.
"Ouch!" She hissed through her teeth as she tugged at a particular stubborn tangle.
"Eh?" Dawn looked up as tiny raindrops began to fall from the sky, the cold raindrops kissing her skin and sending goosebumps up and down her arms. Dawn sighed softly as her messy hair began to flatten out with the help of the rain.
"C'mon, Dawn… now that you're up we should probably continue on to Veilstone City before Kokoro's would gets infected or she gets sick from the all the rain." Brock told the blunette who agreed.
"Okay… is Kokoro up yet?" Dawn questioned, looking around for the little eight-year old girl.
"No need to worry! I'm up!" Kokoro chirped cheerfully. "Owwie… my stomach hurts…" she groaned, her face contorting in pain. At these words Dawn immediately felt a mother-like instinct take over her as she rushed to the girl's side.
"Are you okay?" Dawn asked worriedly. "Can you walk by yourself? Or would you rather if somebody carried you?"
Kokoro screwed up her face in more pain but managed to say cheerfully, "Like I said, no - need - to - worry!" She giggled afterwards. "I'll be fine in no time! Actually in fact, my stomach doesn't hurt as bad as it use to already!"
"You sure?" Dawn questioned, still eyeing Kokoro warily as she slowly began to stand up. She nodded eagerly. "Are you sure you're sure?" dawn asked again.
Kokoro scowled in annoyance. "Now you're starting to sound my mom!" she whined. Dawn smiled at the girl. Her scowl… it was just like Paul's scowl, Dawn noticed.
Actually in fact, she looks a lot like Paul… Dawn thought to herself. And what's with her saying 'no need to worry' all the time? I thought I was the only one who said that phrase… I guess not though.
Dawn shrugged, shaking the thoughts from her mind.
"C'mon!" Paul called impatiently, a similar scowl to Kokoro's now present on his face. "It would be nice to maybe get to Veilstone before tomorrow if possible!"
"We're coming!" Dawn snapped back. "Arceus… Mister Impatient!" She huffed, grabbing Kokoro's hand and squeezing it lightly. "I swear sometimes he's j'ust…" She trailed off.
"Oh well." she sighed. "The sooner we're out of this forest, the better."
That night Hiroki could not sleep. There was something about this day… him catching a luxray… his chimchar evolving into monferno and then later learning flamethrower… it all seemed to familiar. Like he had already done it.
But not just that. He also just had a feeling something big was going to happen the next morning. Something possibly life-changing.
Or life threatening…
Hiroki shook off these dark thoughts. "Nothing's going to happen tonight nor tomorrow," He reassured himself. "So just forget about it."
But even so he couldn't forget about it. The feeling still clung to him like he was a stupid bug pokémon trapped in an ariados's web. Soon enough morning came, and raindrops were still pelting the dirt floor rhythmically, jagged bolts of lightning lighting the dawn sky. The rumble of thunder filled the forest soon after.
I should have stayed the night at the pokémon center, Hiroki thought sourly to himself.
Stupid rain… go away.
Just at that moment Hiroki was startled as a lightning from nearby flashed before his eyes followed by a deafening roar of thunder that followed immediately. Moments later he heard something that sounded similar to the crackling of fire.
Hiroki's eyes widened, his hand immediately reaching for his poké ball. "Skarmory! Quick! Scan the forest! See what's going on!" He demanded immediately.
Skarmory nodded, letting out a shrill "Skarrrr!" before flapping it's sharp steel wings and soaring into the gray sky, the rain now just a drizzle.
Fear gripped Hiroki's chest as she thought he caught a glow of orange and gold in the distance.
No… please no… He prayed.
"Lets stop here for the night," Brock suggested, gently setting down a sleeping Kokoro who ended up being too exhausted to walk all day through the forest with her bad wound still fresh and hurting.
Dawn frowned at the girl's still figure. "Hey… Kokoro?" Dawn asked gently, bending down to lock a strand of the girl's lavender hair behind her ears. Next she brushed the girl's bangs away from he face. "Hey… Kokoro… wake up."
Still, the girl didn't stir. Instead she started mumbling something under her breath.
"Crack! Sizzle… Pop! Hiss…" She murmured. "Crack! Sizzle… Pop! Hiss… Crack! Sizzle… Pop! His…"
The words echoed in Dawn's mind, a familiar bad dream (or vision - whatever it was) beginning to replay in her mind.
'You play with fire… you will get burned…'
'One plus one minus one still equals one.'
'It will do no good pretending, because nobody has a happy ending…'
'You can't change the future… One will be sacrificed for the other… Destiny cannot be denied, or else somebody else pays the price.'
'There's a secret to deceiving destiny…'
A secret to deceiving destiny… a secret to deceiving destiny…
The last line echoed in Dawn's mind.
A secret to deceiving destiny.
"A secret to deceiving destiny…" Dawn whispered out loud. Her vision began to fog as a bright white light filled her vision, a dark figure emerging from the white light.
The figure was a… pokémon. A fairy-like pokémon. A green fairy pokémon.
Celebi. Voice of the Forest. The time-traveling pokémon.
The secret to deceiving destiny…
"FIRE!" Brock yelled, immediately startling Dawn out of her thoughts.
Kokoro's eyes snapped open as she immediately climbed to her feet, grabbing Dawn's hand as tears began to brim her dark eyes that were wide with fright. Dawn's own eyes widened, panic flooding her chest at the sight of fire that flickered less than one-hundred yards away.
At least we're not trapped in the middle of the fire like last time, Dawn thought gratefully.
That thought didn't entirely stop her from panicking though.
"The forest is on fire!" Kokoro shrieked. "I knew something bad was going to happen! I just knew it!" she sobbed.
"Shush shush, Kokoro. It's okay! Really!" Dawn told her the young frightened girl although her own quavering voice betrayed her. "N-no need to worry!"
"C'mon! Lets go already!" Ash called impatiently.
"Lets get out of here before the fire spreads throughout the whole forest!" Brock agreed, motioning for the other three to start running too.
Paul intertwined his fingers with Dawn to secure firm grip on the brunette – their eyes locking briefly – while Dawn made sure she had a good grip on Kokoro's hand so she wouldn't get separated from them this time.
"Lets go…" Paul whispered, squeezing Dawn's hand comfortingly as they began to run after Ash and Brock.
The fire spread quickly. Like wildfire – which was exactly what it was: wildfire.
Fire surrounded them, flickering dangerously as smoke filled up the entire forest, suffocating them. Dawn's eyes stung with tears from the smoke as she coughed violently into her arm.
"Ash! Brock!" Dawn cried out. "Where are you—" Dawn was cut off as she began to cough even more violently, rasping sounds that sounded like she was choking erupted from her throat and she had to stop momentarily to catch her breath.
Only to inhale more smoke.
"Oi! Dawn! Paul! Over here!" The trio made their way towards the sound of the breeder's voice, barely managing to make out his spiky brown hair through all the smoke.
"How do we—cough! cough!—get out of—" Dawn stopped, yanking her hand out of Paul's and Kokoro's hands to grip at her heart as she coughed even more violently.
Dawn swallowed once, but she could only taste the acrid taste of ashes and cinders.
Suddenly Kokoro gasped. "Hiroki!" she shrieked. "He's in danger!" Kokoro closed her eyes, the blurry image of her brother laying dead under a huge tree branch that had fallen filling her mind. The image of her brother laying in a pool of crimson liquid – lying in his own blood.
She had to protect her little brother! (Even if she was actually littler than him at the moment).
"Hiroki! I'm coming!" she yelled, bolting off with her lavender locks whipping against her back. I'll save him… Kokoro thought.
And then he'll be alright.
Ugh! This chapter was one beast to write! :P Personally, I kind of hate this chapter because one) I kept getting writer's block every minutes and two) well, it was just difficult to write. Felt like doing a tongue twister for me, lol.
Anyway, I noticed I put a lot of… scene-changes. Hopefully none of them confused you, or made this chapter tough to follow. xD; I actually planned on having a lot more stuff happen in this chapter, but this chapter is already getting pretty long (longest chapter yet for this story I think) and like I said, this chapter was one tough cookie to write for whatever reason. Anyway, sorry for any mistakes, I'll correct this in the morning since I'm dead-tired right now and I won't be able to post this chapter up until 2 o'clock at least if I don't post it up now. (And if you see any mistakes - which I'm 100 percent positive you will - let me know about it 'kay? xD;)
Feel free to review. I give out cookies~