I like to think I know what I'm doing when I'm writing.
I probably don't.
So, you may ask: why write a fanfiction?
Answer: I'm just doing this because I like writing.
And because there are, as far as I can tell, very few good Pokemon XY fanfics out there, and very few good 'Pokemon-POV' fanfics out there.
So, the obvious answer: blend those two ideas, and (hopefully) make a halfway-decent fanfic out of them.
This is the result. Enjoy.
Meditite wandered through the scrub, brushing trees aside as she moved, feeling the earth beneath her feet, unfamiliar even though she was only about half a mile from her clearing. For normally she did not wander. Normally she would sit and meditate, or do exercises. But today was a rare day where she ventured outside her clearing.
Most of the time, she only came out for the monthly meetings, but today was a rare occasion where she no longer possessed any berries. This was extremely uncommon; whereas other Pokemon seemed to gorge themselves on berries as if they were aping a Snorlax, Meditite only needed one berry every day. The monthly meetings were the only time she ever ate more than that, and then only to be polite.
But, partially thanks to slow but steady consumption and partially thanks to those Arceus-damned Spinarak, Meditite was out of berries. So it was that as she wandered, she was scanning the forest, slowly turning her head from side to side, looking for berry bushes.
She was the only Meditite in the forest, at least as far as she knew, for no others came to the meetings and the local Geodudes and Digletts treated her with the sort of awed respect that came with uniqueness. The local Spinaraks, on the other hand, treated her with the sort of extreme annoyance that also came with uniqueness - while many of the other forest Pokemon tolerated their antics, she did not, and made it clear the Spinarak were not welcome near her clearing. They retaliated by stealing the nearby berries, disturbing her meditation, and, in rare, foolish cases, trying to jump her from the treetops and learning very quickly why the more experienced Spinarak had warned them against it.
They were annoyances, but even Meditite would admit that the Spinarak weren't stupid. Most of them.
She could hear their chittering faintly as she moved towards a small cluster of yellow berries, looking quite plump and juicy. Carefully, Meditite focused a small surge of psychic power, aiming for the branch, and was relieved to hear the snap as the branch and the berries attached floated away from the bush and towards her.
She grasped the branch out of the air and then dropped her concentration, gasping from the exertion as she did so. It was good practice, but levitating such a large bushel of berries was somewhat exhausting.
Meditite examined the bushel with a contemplative eye. To her relief, none of the berries were bruised or rotten, and there was enough to last her for until the next monthly meeting. Then she would take some of those berries home with her, and between those and the remnants from this branch, that would probably last her until the monthly meeting after that.
Satisfied, Meditite muttered a short prayer to the Lifebringer, thanking him for the berries and promising to use them wisely. Then she turned, already looking forward to depositing the berries in her clearing (close by, of course) and beginning her daily meditation.
But then her ears caught a noise. Close by, the cries and yells indicating a fight had broken out. Meditite strained her ears, recognizing the sound of Diglett voices, mingled with a tongue not usually heard in this forest.
Ice-types.
Not again, Meditite mentally grumbled, setting off towards the fighting. The Ice-types from the nearby mountains and the local forest Pokemon normally respected the river that served as a boundary between their territories, but it was no secret that many of those Ice-types desired the plentiful terrain of the forest for themselves. They fled before the Geodude population, but it didn't sound like those were around at present. It was just the Digletts, and the Ice-types would have little difficulty fending those off.
Meditite steeled herself for the fight ahead. She knew she wasn't truly needed; eventually the Geodudes would arrive at the Digletts' behest and drive the Ice-types off. But if the Geodudes took too long, there would be a number of severe injuries, possibly even casualties.
And Meditite knew that maybe her involvement might reduce that number.
She reached a cliff's edge, and through a thicket of vines she could hear the sound of battle and see small flashes of the fighting. Quickly, Meditite placed her berry branch on the ground, took a breath, and then stepped through the vines.
It was immediately obvious that this was not just some Ice-type raiding party. For in the center of the clearing, the vicious Abomasnow that functioned as the Ice-types' leader was dueling with the Dugtrio that led the local Diglett population. Said Diglett were fighting all around them with the typical Ice-type fare; Snover, Vanillite, Cubchoo, Bergmite, and even a couple Piloswine, their massive brown bodies surging through the battle and hurling Digletts aside with their tusks.
Meditite was separated from the battle by only a gentle-sloped ten-foot cliff, one that could be easily navigated. Ahead of her, a pair of Diglett were being overwhelmed by two Bergmites and a Vanillite. Swiftly, Meditite lunged down the cliff, readying all the psychic power she could muster, and flung it forwards. "Psychic Blast!"
One of the Bergmites was flung sideways into the other with an audible crack, and both fell to the ground. The Vanillite was impacted, but sadly did not fall. Instead, it rounded on Meditite and hurled a glistening spear of ice from its body, one that Meditite barely avoided with a quick duck.
Then one of the Digletts slammed into the Vanillite, bearing it to the ground. The other one lunged for the downed pair of Bergmite, pummeling them as they struggled to stand.
The Vanillite turned and fled, allowing that Diglett to twist to face Meditite. "Hey, thanks for the save!" the Diglett called. "Glad you could make it."
"No problem," Meditite intoned. "Has Boulder been alerted?"
"We've sent him a warning," the Diglett responded.
"Then we'll just have to hold out until he arrives," said Meditite. "Psychic Calm."
She closed her eyes, allowing Psychic energy to flood her, strengthening her mental resolve and clearing her mind of anything but the battle.
"Look out!" The cry of a Diglett forced her eyes open. She beheld another trio of Ice-types rushing her.
"It's the Meditite!" one of them howled. "Take it down!"
A flurry of icy projectiles flew towards Meditite. Meditite lunged to the side, avoiding the clumsy attacks, and rushed the Ice-types. Psychic Calm could negate the strain that using Psychic Blast put on her mind, but she could only meditate for so long in the middle of a battle. It was in times like these where Meditite was grateful that her physical strength matched her mental abilities.
The first Ice-type, a Cubchoo, lunged with a paw raised to slash at her. Meditite ducked the slow and telegraphed strike and punched the Cubchoo square in the nose. The Cubchoo recoiled backwards, tripping up the Smoochum behind him and sending them both sprawling to the ground.
The last of the trio, a Swinub, had its head down and was surging forward, unseeing and irreversible in its charge. Meditite sprang off the ground, leaping over the Swinub and landing behind it. The Swinub narrowly missed one of the pair of Diglett as it continued to charge; a few seconds later, a nasty crack indicated it had struck a particularly large rock.
The Cubchoo was down, but the Smoochum it had felled was now back up. It closed its eyes in concentration and sent a wave of Psychic energy at Meditite. Meditite grimaced. "Psychic Blast!" she cried, lashing out with her own Psychic energy, and to her relief the Smoochum was not particularly strong comparatively; after a few seconds the Ice-type was overpowered and dropped, the strain of the momentary psychic duel too much for it.
Then a hiss from the side. "Die!"
Meditite was just the slightest bit too slow to avoid the claws that slashed across her side, claws that stung unnaturally. She stumbled, recovering enough to lash out with a fist that was easily avoided by her newest assailant.
"Abomasnow said you might show up," the sleek-furred Sneasel growled. "Looks like your luck's run out."
Meditite glared at the Dark-type opposite her. She knew from her experience that Psychic Blast would do nothing against it, so she lunged forward, fist drawn back. The Sneasel grinned and parried. Meditite pressed, unleashing blow after blow against the Sneasel, each blow's location carefully chosen. The Sneasel avoided or blocked them all.
"That's it?" the Sneasel growled. One clawed foot came up and swiped across Meditite's chest. Reflexively, she stumbled, and then gasped as claws raked across her face.
"I expected more from the famed Meditite," the Sneasel gloated.
Meditite clenched her fists as the Sneasel lunged, claws reaching for her throat. Meditite leaped backwards, concentrating as she did so, and the Sneasel's claws only dug into her shoulder.
"It's over," the Sneasel snarled. It raised its claws, imbuing them with Dark-type energy, and then hesitated. For Meditite's body had begun to glow white.
"What is this?" the Sneasel asked. "Don't tell me it's some kind of Psychic attack. You know I'm immune to that!"
"Yes," said Meditite. "Most of the time. But not this. Psychic Retribution."
A stream of pure white energy lanced out from Meditite's body, impacting the Sneasel before it could react. The Sneasel's cry of pain and shock rapidly disappeared along with its body. A cloud of dust from the hillside some fifty feet away indicated where it had landed.
Meditite dropped to hands and knees, the scratches the Sneasel had ripped into her body stinging madly. A cry of triumph came from the side. Meditite's bleary eyes beheld another group of Ice-types charging her, each of them anxious to finish off the downed Meditite.
"Psychic Blast!" she cried with an upraised hand, but only one of the Ice-types fell, and the pounding in her mind told her that no more Psychic energy would be mustered.
Then something else sent the remaining Ice-types flying. That something was a gigantic rock almost the size of Meditite, accompanied by a battle cry that told Meditite that the gigantic rock was in fact a Geodude. One that had been thrown.
A look to the side confirmed Meditite's realization. Boulder had arrived.
The massive Graveler was rolling down the hill, accompanied by Geodudes on every side. "AVALANCHE ATTACK!" Boulder roared.
The surge of Rock-types plowed into the battle, knocking Ice-types aside with bodies alone. Boulder rose and began lashing out with all four of his fists, hurling Ice-types away as he lunged for the Abomasnow that had pinned down Dugtrio and was even now aiming for a brutal blow.
"TECTONIC TACKLE!" Boulder slammed into the Abomasnow, sending them both to the ground. "PUMICE PUMMEL!"
A concentrated barrage from all four of the Graveler's fists sent the Abomasnow rolling away. While the gigantic Ice-type rose to its feet, looking just as menacing and not really the worse for wear, from the way its eyes were scanning the battle it could see that the fight had turned against his Ice-types.
"Retreat!" came the bellow. The Ice-types disengaged and as one rushed back towards the mountains. The Abomasnow went last of all, casting a furious glare back at Boulder that Boulder matched in kind.
"Hey, Meditite, you all right?" The Diglett that she had rescued was at her side. "Boy, that Sneasel really did a number on you, huh?"
Meditite coughed out an affirmative.
"Medicinal berry over here, now!" the Diglett cried.
Meditite accepted the offered berry gratefully. As she chewed it, she could feel energy seep into her, closing her wounds and revitalizing her.
"Thanks again for the help," said the Diglett. "You need any-"
Meditite shook her head. She could find her own way back, and from a quick glance around the clearing she could tell that quite a few of the Digletts would need help. So she turned and began to step back up the hillside, hoping that her berries had been left untouched.
Thankfully, they had, and soon she was moving back towards her home, the berry branch clutched in her right hand and the pain from her wounds ebbing as she walked. By now the sun was setting, casting an orange pallor over the woods.
A small breeze was flowing in from the west. Meditite smiled, the memories of the battle fading, to be replaced with thoughts of home, of sleep. First, though, a couple hours of meditation. Then sleep.
She stepped into a small clearing, brushing her hand up against the rotting tree to her right. It would soon be felled as nature took its course; she would be able to hear it from her home considering how close she was now. Sad, but as the Lifebringer gave with his plentiful berries, so the Lifebringer took away.
It was then that she heard a slight rustle from the right.
Whipping around would alert any enemy to being spotted. So, carefully, Meditite slid one eye over, casting it carefully across the shrubs, trees, and white flowers that lay in her field of view.
She had only just realized that no white flowers grew in this part of the woods when the Snover lunged for her.
Meditite's reflexes were fast enough to evade, dropping the berry branch in the process. She rolled to the side, skidding to a halt and facing her opponent. The Snover bore no marks of battle, indicating it had not participated in the recent fight.
What was an Ice-type doing this far in the forest? And more to the point, how had it even gotten here? Had it simply snuck around the battle, hoping to find some lone wanderer to ambush?
"I am Snover," the Snover growled. "And I will bring honor to my people!"
With that, Snover lunged again. This time Meditite responded in kind, meeting Snover's icy fist with a strike of her own, then punched Snover across the face.
"Gaaah!" Snover snarled. "Misty Cloud!"
The next moment, a surge of mist rushed from Snover's body, enveloping both it and Meditite. Snover made no more noise.
Meditite waited, fists clenched and Psychic energies ready to strike. Snover could attack from any direction.
"Grassy Cloud!"
"Psychic Blast!"
Meditite's reflexes were just enough to hurl a spurt of Psychic energy at the barrage of leaves that came from her left, sending them flying harmlessly away. They were not, however, fast enough to avoid Snover as it came in from behind her.
The two of them rolled out of the mist cloud, pummeling each other brutally. Snover's fists were cold and hard; though they didn't break the skin, Meditite could tell the impacts would bruise without prompt application of a berry to dull the effects. But Snover was taking hits too, and from the pained grunts it was emitting it was coming off worse.
But Meditite wasn't just hitting wildly. Rather, just like she had done against the Sneasel, and just like she had done many times before against particularly foolish Spinarak, she was beginning to glow white.
But Snover saw that, and unlike the Sneasel, it did not waste time with pointless mockery. Rather, it immediately released her and rolled away, stumbling to its feet. "Misty Cloud!"
Another burst of icy mist sprang up between Meditite and her opponent, blocking Snover from view.
"Psychic Retribution!" Meditite fired the attack anyway, hurling a burst of blindingly white energy at where Snover had been. The sound of snapping wood indicated that the attack had missed its mark; the sound of creaking indicated that it had done more than that.
Meditite looked up at the crown of the rotting tree, the last vestiges of support it had left undone by Meditite's wayward attack.
With as much speed as she could muster, Meditite hurled herself to the side as the tree plunged downwards. The crash behind her indicated she had gotten clear, but the rush of air and the stabbing of several tiny splinters indicated that it had been a very near thing.
Worse still was the pain in her head. Again, Psychic Retribution had taken a lot out of her, and her aching mind was telling her that in no uncertain terms.
"Frosty Cloud!"
And of course Snover had gotten clear too. Meditite rose in time to take a flurry of icy projectiles head-on, each one cutting into her skin like hail. Snover rose up in front of her, one fist ready to follow up with a punch.
Meditite met it with her own. Her muscles screamed with irritation at that, but she pushed back the pain and held.
Snover grunted with effort. "Misty Cloud!"
Another burst of mist separated Snover from Meditite's view. A second later, Snover's fist decked her in the stomach, sending her flying out of the mist cloud and into the side of another tree.
"Grassy Cloud! Frosty Cloud!" Meditite lunged to the side again. Leaves bounced off the trunk just behind her as she ran, and then a burst of icy projectiles whooshed over her head and peppered the nearby shrubbery with holes.
She reached the side of the fallen tree, glancing over her shoulder to see Snover rushing after her. Swiftly, she lunged, kicking off the tree with her left foot and hurling herself at Snover, tackling her opponent to the ground with a brutal punch.
They both landed hard, and as Meditite rolled onto her back, breathing heavily, she could hear Snover doing the same. Meditite lay there for a bit, feeling wounds both physical and mental claw at her. But then she heard the sound of rustling, and so she forced herself to stand, bracing herself for another attack from Snover.
But Snover was still down. Only now did Meditite realize that it was barely conscious and certainly not moving.
So what had made the rustling?
Slowly, Meditite looked up as a third figure loomed into view. This one was different; pale tan skin, a bright blue belly, brown eyes, and most of all much taller than Meditite. It was clutching some kind of sphere in one hand, and its eyes were flicking between Meditite and the downed Snover with an analytic expression.
Then its gaze snapped to Meditite and it flung the sphere forward.
Exhaustion prevailed over Meditite, and despite every remaining part of her mind warning her to get away from this thing now, her body refused to obey.
In those last moments, though, she recalled a piece of advice from the Ekans that served as Boulder's second-in-command, who had come all the way from Kanto. Ekans had been an oddity, not just for her vicious fighting style, but for her stories, tales of beings who carried Pokemon like Meditite around and used them to fight others like them, beings who very much resembled the being in front of her right now.
This was a Trainer.
Then the sphere hit her, and Meditite was engulfed in darkness.