Sorry everyone! I was on vacation out of state over July 4th weekend and didn't really have time to type when I got back. Sorry for my absence and excuses and hope this chapter makes for an exciting conclusion to our heroes escapades into Mt. Dawn!
(P.S. My pokemon info is on my profile. Just PM me if you want to trade or battle.)
*Note: Pokémon will speak with () around their text.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokémon (wish I did though). All Pokémon descriptions, abilities, moves and any other relevant information comes from Serebii or Bulbapedia.
Italic text: thoughts
Bold text: Pokedex entries
Chapter 13: Dawn of Darkness (Part 2)
Robby could feel himself falling, cascading deeper into the darkness below. His mind was racing, thinking of ways he could survive this drop. He couldn't use Bolt or Grace as their bodies were too small and wouldn't take the impact. And he definitely couldn't use Ace because who wants to break their fall with a steel boulder? He closed his eyes and screamed, fearing the worst, when he hit the apparent bottom and blacked out.
Krystal's eyes slowly opened and closed trying to get used to the fact that she was still alive. She tried to move her arm but realized she couldn't. She panicked, thinking it was broken. When she finally realized she could still feel with it, she let out a sigh of relief. That feeling was quickly dashed when she started to feel what her arm was trapped under. It was warm, squishy, and fleshy. And that's when she heard breathing right beside her. Deep, even breaths of someone sleeping peacefully. Paralyzed with fear she turned her head to get a good look at her partner. Mother Nature had other plans though, because in the darkness she could only see a faint outline of a humanoid shape. Oh Arceus, please tell me a pokemon didn't take me captive. Or worse, some hiker was looking to climb some peaks. Nasty fat men! She thought angrily.
The figure groaned in its sleep and only moved its arm. Right over her chest, the hand or whatever it was landed on one of her mountains. Her face turned three shades of red. Luckily, the cavern was so dark that even if the thing next to her had been staring at her, it wouldn't have been able to discern the blush covering her face. Embarrassment quickly turned to fear, which turned to anger and that anger turned to rage. Releasing a shrill scream that seemed to echo though the entire mountain, she jarred the figure awake. Realizing her arm was freed; she quickly stood up and gave the figure next to her a sharp kick in the gut. She could hear a wheezing sound as the air escaped from its lungs.
"You…perverted…bastard! How… dare… you…try…to…take…advantage…of…me!" Krystal screamed as she delivered another kick to the body in between each of her words. The figure raised its arms weakly trying to defend against the blows, but to no avail. Eventually her adrenaline stopped pumping and she calmed down, or at least stopped kicking the person on the ground. The person's ragged breathing started to even out after a short while and slipped back into a regular pattern.
"Sorry, I was unconscious and was only just awoken by your scream and didn't realize I was doing that. I am very sorry." Came a very familiar voice.
"Robby?" She asked, trying to place the voice.
"Krystal? Is that you?" Robby responded questionably.
Then it hit her: She had been kicking Robby, her friend and travelling companion. Guilt wracked her body and she looked down at the stone floor, for all the good it did her. She thought someone had been taking advantage of her. It turned out that her companion had been knocked unconscious by the fall and must have rolled into that position. She felt like a complete and utter jerk.
"I'm so sorry." She said, guilt apparent in her voice.
"It's cool Krystal." He said with a chuckle which made him wince in pain. "Just don't do it again. They looked around the unfamiliar passage, a faint glow emanated far above them. How far did we fall? Robby thought to himself. Pulling out his pokedex, he checked the map, but unfortunately the passage they had fallen into was not on any map he could pull up. He tapped his companion on the shoulder, getting her attention.
"I can't find our position anywhere on the map and we won't find Drake just standing here." He pointed down one of the passages in the faint light. "Come on, were going to try this way."
/
Drake stretched his limbs, trying to push the soreness out of them. Blinking in the dim light, he tried to make out where he was but only dull shapes filled his vision. Groaning in frustration, he started to walk down the path. As it continued on, the hair on the back of his neck started to stand up, but he pushed down the urge to make a move. He didn't want to startle whatever it was into wrongfully attacking him. His footsteps echoed through the rock walls as he continued his search for a way out. His heart nearly leapt out of his chest when he heard a voice from behind him,
"You fell too, huh?" the voice said.
Drake spun around, hand clutching one of the balls on his belt.
"Natalie." He said, acid dripping from his words.
"Listen, you hate me and I hate you. But I would rather not be stuck in this Arceus-forsaken cave forever. So what would you say if I offered a temporary truce till we get out of this hell hole?"Natalie said, barely holding back her anger.
"Fine. But you lead the way. I don't trust you." He retorted flatly.
"Feeling's mutual." Natalie grumbled, barely above a whisper.
So Drake begrudgingly followed his most hated rival as her Arbok led the way through the caves, easily brightened due to Flash. They made their way through the damp passages in silence, clearly having nothing to say to each other.
/
"So what do you think about that girl, Natalie, her name was, I believe?" Robby asked, breaking the silence and addressing the question that was on both of their minds.
"I don't know, but they obviously know each other from somewhere. And I intend to find out. When we meet back up, Drake has a lot of explaining to do." Krystal replied in a bitter tone.
Robby grunted in approval as they continued through the cave. They had both noticed that the passage had continued to slope upwards, leading them to believe they were getting closer to the exit, or at least to the point where they fell through. As they rounded a sharp curve they came upon a wonderful sight that took the breath from their lungs: Crystals. Thousands of them. Ranging from dark purple to bright orange.
The purples and blues lined the bottom of the massive display and got lighter the higher they looked. In the center off it all a massive orange crystal shimmered brightly as if showing off its beauty to all who passed by. Lighter reds, oranges, golds, purples, and blues radiated out from the center forming the illusion of the sun peaking over the horizon, a dawn of a new day.
Their jaws dropped as words failed to escape their mouths. After a few minutes of blatant staring, their minds were able to string thoughts together again. Eventually, they tore their gazes away from the beautiful rock formations and looked at each other. Robby mouthed 'wow' and Krystal was only able to nod in turn. Shaking their heads to clear their minds they continued past the giant crystallized structure.
"I guess that's why they call it Mt. Dawn, huh?" Robby asked, seeming to pull the question out of thin air.
"I guess so…" Krytstal trailed off, still in awe.
"Hey, I think I can see a light ahead. I'm pretty sure it's the exit. Let's go!" He said bursting into a run, Krystal close at his heels. They rounded another corner, ran up a small slope to be greeted by intense sunlight. They had to shield their eyes from the sudden change in light quantity. When they managed to open them again, Krystal spotted Drake sitting under a tree, his eyes closed. She stomped over to him as her previous conversation came to light.
"DRAKE!" She screeched. The red headed boy bolted upright looked at his trainer companion in shock. "You have a lot of explaining to do, bub. So get started." She huffed, jabbing his chest for emphasis. Drake let out a long sigh and nodded slowly.
"I figured this was going to come up sooner or later if we kept traveling together. I just wish it had come along a little later." He said defeated. Drake motioned Robby to come over and sit under the tree so he didn't have to yell. They ate a quick snack, as their trek had made them all somewhat hungry. He closed his eyes and looked upwards, thinking where to start. I guess the beginning is as good a place as any. He individually met both of his companion's gazes with his own and let out another long sigh. Well here goes nothing.
"I came from a very remote village in the Unova Region. It was so remote we had to venture in Dragon Village just to trade for weekly supplies. Why my mom and dad moved there in the first place, I haven't got a clue. Anyway, there weren't many other kids in the village, maybe three or four, but none of them wanted to play with me, because I didn't have a dragon pokemon with me. At the time I thought my parents were just being mean, but just thought I wasn't ready to have one."
"One day, a new family moves into the village, trailed by a little girl with an Ekans. All the other kids treated her nicely when her parents were there, but as soon as they left they would throw insult after insult, just because she didn't have any dragon types. It got so bad that one time she ran off crying into the woods. I guess I felt like kindred spirits or something and chased after her. It started to rain, hard, but I didn't care: I had to find her. Eventually I did. Curled up under a log, bawling her eyes out."
Flashback
The rain pounded his face and arms as he rushed through the brush. The wind whipped at his face, throwing the water droplets into his eyes. Frantically searching around, all he could see are shadows that flowed with the wind. Why am I out here? Oh yea, that girl. Mother Nature decided to give him a break, and there was a short lull in the storm. He could hear it: soft sobbing. Soft female sobbing. He ran towards the noise and could finally see her, curled up under an overhanging log, a dark purple object coiled around her leg. She looked up as he approached.
"Go away!" She screeched. As the Ekans let out a harsh hiss.
Drake stopped as the rain picked back up again, soaking him to the bone. His teeth began to chatter as he rubbed his arms, trying to restore some warmth back to them.
"Are you ok!" He shouted over the fierce downpour.
"Haven't you done enough?" She screamed before taking her face in her hands and started to cry again. Drake shook his head to shake off the rain, for all the good that did him and slowly edged towards the girl. As he moved closer the snake reared its head and let out a warning hiss, which he ignored. He crouched down next to her as the Ekans eyed him warily. He gently put a hand on her shoulder.
"Mind if I sit down?" He asked gently.
Without looking up she nodded and plopped down next to her, letting out a heavy sigh. He then began to shiver. He tried to control it so the girl next to him wouldn't notice, but he had no such luck.
"Are you alright? You look a little cold." She asked concern in her eyes. "My name is Natalie. What is yours?"
"D-drake." He stuttered out because of the wind whipping at his already soaked clothes.
"You're shivering!" She said, her shocked tone quite evident. He fiercely shook his head, but she would have none of it. "No, you came out here to rescue me, Drake and the least I could do is get you back home safe." She stuck out her arm to the small purple snake and told him to coil. With amazing speed, it launched itself at her and coiled around her arm, just tight enough to hold on. With that done, she grabbed him by the hand and they ran through the storm together, Drake calling out directions for her to follow. They tripped a few times, but they eventually made it back to the village, chilled to the bone and covered in mud and cuts.
End Flashback
"Needless to say, we became fast friends after that. We were inseparable and did everything together. Swam, trained, played, we were almost like brother and sister. Which was nice for us both as neither one of us had any siblings. Our parents got along with each other, which made spending time playing or training all that much easier. But the best thing of all was that she stopped being bullied. I mean, sure they never played with us, but we were just happy that she was left alone." He stopped to take a few big gulps and closed his eyes for a moment, wondering how to continue. Sighing yet again, he opened his eyes and resumed his tale.
"She had an affinity for snake pokemon." He let out a light chuckle. "If it had arms she couldn't even approach it without being growled at, but if it looked like a snake she could command it to do anything. She was just like that. But I am sure you are wondering if we were such good friends, why her Arbok wanted to bite my head off. Well that is kind of my fault. About two years ago we got into an argument about something trivial. It became heated, very heated. We exchanged some very harsh words and just spiraled downwards from there. She told me my parents were terrible, always leaving me to go off and train or attend other business. And I said five words that I regret even to this day."
He closed his eyes and took another long drink of water before Krystal asked him nervously what they were. Drake sighed and slowly shook his head. "At. Least. I. Have. Parents. Now, those words would mean nothing if her family had not been killed three years prior in an attack by Team Plasma. She was the forgiving kind, always happy and energetic." He said with a smile, which quickly turned to a frown. "At least until it came to her parents. That was a very sensitive topic to her, one which she would hold a grudge for years. When I said that she began to cry and ran off. I never saw her again until today. My tone was only harsh because she attacked you guys, unprovoked, but I realized she was probably just after me. I am just angry at myself for saying those words five years ago and I just wish I could take them back. So that's it. My whole story. Now that you know I'll be leaving you guys."
Drake stood up collecting his things and preparing to journey out on his own. He could see the look of astonishment and shock evident on their faces. He had walked about 100 feet when he felt a tugging on his sleeve. Spinning around he saw Krystal looking back, her green orbs boring right into his. Out of nowhere, he felt a sharp, stinging sensation on his left cheek. Rearing back in shock, he was in for another surprise when the same girl in front of him trapped him in a massive bear hug.
"Uhh…" Drake said, utterly confused at the two conflicting actions.
"The slap was for being a bastard to your best friend. You shouldn't have said those things, no matter how angry you were. The hug… that was for explaining why you had been an utter bastard." She said still wrapped around him.
"Thanks?" he said unsurely.
She finally released him as Robby patted him on the back. Krystal shoved him forward, just enough so he could take point. He smiled at the two of them wholeheartedly and stuck out his fist. Robby bumped it and Krystal followed suit.
"Where to?" He offered.
"Victory!" Robby and Krystal screamed simultaneously.
Sorry about the super long wait time. I was out of town till the 5th of July and got carried away reading other fan fics. Hope you can all forgive me. Not only that, but I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I know it was kind of empty, but I was just trying to get Drake his backstory. Let me know if you think I should change anything. Don't forget to review, follow, or favorite! Peace out!
-Aggron Prime