Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon. We've been over this. Why do we even
bother with disclaimers?
Author's Note: I'm still mad at myself for killing a Vulpix, but I suppose I'll have to get over it, won't I? Read on, and review!
Chapter Two - Flames of Mourning
The former Number One brushed a tear from a brilliant green eye as she walked into Cerulean City. It had been two days since the murder of Firestorm and Kitsune, and she had not spoken a word since. Now, as she entered the town, her pain reformed at full strength. Everywhere she looked, she saw people and Pokemon together, laughing, playing, and most of all battling side by side. It seemed as if not a single soul in the world knew or cared about what she had suffered. She walked on, trying her best to ignore the trainers happily living their lives with their partners, but the worst was yet to come.
She picked up some supplies at a local store, seeing as she had left all but a single backpack behind when she ran away from Mount Moon. She worked hard to ignore the skeptical glances at her tattered clothing. She had ripped the "R" from her shirt the day after the killings, and her uniform had suffered many more rips and tears. She walked hurriedly out of the store and headed towards the city limits, eager to get away from this torture. The less people and Pokemon she saw, the better off she'd be. She was almost out when she heard a cry behind her.
"Vui! Vuiiiii!" a small brown furball came running at her. She stopped and watched it dash towards her, ducking behind her legs and peeking its head back in the direction it came from. Now that it was still, she identified it as an Eevee, and it seemed to be scared out of its mind.
The former Rocket pushed her tears back at the sight of the Pokemon and bent down to examine it, "Hey, little one, are you lost?" The evolution Pokemon shook its head. "Are you running away from something?" It nodded its head. "A thief?" Another shake of the small brown head. "Where's your trainer?" With that, the Eevee, shivered and hid behind her leg again.
She considered this, ". You're running from your trainer, aren't you?" It looked up at her with amber eyes and slowly nodded. "You really should return to them, whoever they are. You should be glad. At least you have a trainer," she stood back up and was about to continue walking, when she heard more shouts.
"Eevee? Where'd you go this time? Get back here, Eevee!" a young male came running. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was severely angry, and he meant business. She looked back down into the pleading brown eyes of the Eevee, and was about to call the boy over, but her soft side took over.
"Oh, all right, furball, I'll take care of this," she sighed and motioned for it to follow her, which is willingly did. She continued walking out of the city when the boy stopped her.
"There you are, Eevee! Hey, girl, whaddya think you're doing with my Pokemon?" he demanded as he ran up to them.
Brekke grinned inwardly. Time to ham it up. She looked at the boy with big, innocent eyes, "Excuse me, sir? I don't know what you're talking about. This is my Eevee. Isn't that right, Eevee?" She looked down at the Eevee and winked.
The Pokemon got the message. "Vui! Vui!" it nodded vigorously.
"You see? I've been with Eevee for years. It can't be yours," she said, the mask of innocence still on.
"Oh. Well, sorry. If you see another Eevee around, bring it to me," he said before running off, yelling for his Eevee.
"Sucker." she muttered. She looked down at the Pokemon only to see it staring back at her with huge, adoring eyes. She knew what was coming next.
"Oh, no."
A few hours later, girl and Eevee walked down a dirt road together. After its rescue, the evolution Pokemon had stuck to her like glue, much to the girl's discomfort. She was still wary around Pokemon, and she had to fight to suppress her tears. The Eevee didn't seem to mind, although it did notice that its savior was unusually quiet around it. Oh, well, maybe she was just a usually silent human. They tended to be like that sometimes.
Indeed, the ex-Rocket hadn't said a word after agreeing finally to let the Eevee tag along. She was alone in her own world, a world that resided only within her dreams, where her beloved Rapidash and Vulpix ran alongside her still. In her mind, she rode on Firestorm's back with Kitsune at her side, running through an open field, and Firestorm reared back and let out a loud neigh.
"Hey! Hey!" a call brought her back to reality. She looked back to see a young girl of about 14 running towards her and waving.
"Can I help you?" she asked when the girl caught up to her. She was of medium height, with long brown hair and crystal blue eyes.
"You're a trainer, right? Want to battle?" she asked eagerly.
The black-haired girl almost cried, but masked her tears with an emotionless expression, "Hn. Battling. It's all you trainers think about. If you must know, I am not a trainer. This Eevee is just following me of its own free will."
The other girl blinked, "It's just following you? Weird. Well, if you're not a trainer, why do you have Pokeballs on your waist?"
She sighed, her expressionless face falling away as her eyes watered a bit, "They're empty now. I'd rather not talk about it." At her heels, the Eevee gave her a look of surprise. So this human had been a trainer, but no longer had any Pokemon, and she seemed to want to forget the whole thing.
The girl looked equally surprised, "Oh, sorry. So, you're just traveling alone now, with just the Eevee?"
"Yeah. I'm usually like this, I've gotten used to it," she replied.
"I see. I'm Mirrim, what's your name?" the brunette asked brightly, extending her hand.
The ex-Rocket looked at the hand for a bit before using a name she had not used in years, "It's. Brekke."
"Well, Brekke, nice to meet you!" Mirrim smiled cheerily. Brekke winced inwardly. There was something so. happy. about this girl. It was very different from her.
She shrugged, taking Mirrim's hand in hers, "Sure."
"Hey, do you want to travel together? It'll be fun!" The girl was very bold, Brekke had to admit.
"Uhm, well, you see, I usually travel alone. It's easier that way," she started to decline, but Mirrim cut in.
"Oh, come on! Give it a try!" she prodded.
"Oh, fine," Brekke sighed.
"Great!" the cheery girl smiled broadly, "Where are you heading now?"
"I don't really know," the former Rocket shrugged, "Just. somewhere."
"We can go to Vermilion City, it's not far from here," Mirrim suggested.
"Fine."
"Or we could go through Rock Tunnel and go to Lavender Town."
"Fine."
"Is that all you say? Oh, I know! We could backtrack and go to Mount Moon!"
"No."
Mirrim frowned, "Why not? What's wrong with Mount Moon?"
Brekke looked at the ground, "I just. don't want to go there, that's all."
"You sure?" she asked.
". Yeah."
"Okay, suit yourself," she shrugged, "Let's just go for Vermilion, since it's closest and probably easiest to get to."
"Fine."
"Again with the 'fine'. What's with you?" Mirrim looked at Brekke quizzically.
"Nothing's wrong," Brekke muttered. The Eevee listened to all this with interest. There was definitely something troubling this human, and it intended to find out what it was.
The two girls and the Eevee walked on for a while, the whole time Mirrim trying to get Brekke to talk in length, something besides "Hn," "Yeah," or "Fine."
"So then I was like, 'Use Flamethrower, Ninetales!' and Ninetales did and then the match was over and I was like, 'All right, two badges down!'. Pretty cool, huh?" the brunette jabbered on.
"Time to set up camp," Brekke said firmly, containing her annoyance.
"Wow, that late already? Time sure flew, huh?" she grinned.
"For some of us, maybe..." the ex-Rocket laid out her sleeping bag and sat down on it. She removed her backpack and boots and lay down, curling up inside it.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Mirrim blinked.
"Not hungry," Brekke muttered. Her companion shrugged, pulled out a granola bar, and sat down, munching it loudly.
"Vui vui?" Eevee prodded the ex-Rocket with a paw. Brekke sighed and rolled over so she didn't face it, "Not now, fuzzball, I'm tired." Eevee smiled and wriggled under the cover with her, startling a yelp from the tired girl.
"Awww. How cute!" Mirrim grinned as she laid out her own sleeping bag.
"Shaddap," Brekke muttered, her voice muffled by the bag.
"G'night!" the brunette said cheerily, ignoring Brekke's grumbling. Then, for the first time since they had met, she shut up.
Late that night, Eevee was woken from its sleep by the motion of the girl beside it. Brekke was rolling around, a pained look on her face. It watched her closely as she tossed and turned, muttering incoherent words.
In her dream, the girl was standing in front of Adrian's desk, watching in slow motion as first Firestorm, and then Kitsune fell from the gunshots. Adrian loomed in front of her, laughing coldly. "No. no." the sleeping girl gasped, causing the watching Eevee to step back subconsciously, "You killed them. They didn't do anything! No. no. NO!" She sat bolt upright, eyes wide, gasping for air.
"Whaaa?" Mirrim sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes, "I heard something. A scream. You okay?"
Brekke looked at her, took a moment to calm down, and nodded slowly, "Yeah. Just a dream."
"Really? What happened?" she asked, worried.
"I don't want to talk about it," the black-haired girl turned her head away, "Really. I'm fine."
"Vui." Eevee nuzzled her hand reassuringly. Brekke stroked its soft brown fur for a moment, then laid back down and sighed. Mirrim did the same, falling almost instantly asleep. Eevee curled up into a ball, closing its eyes but only pretending to sleep.
Brekke waited until both of them were asleep, or so she thought, then reached into the breast pocket of her shirt. She pulled out a photograph and laid back, staring at it. It was of herself, leaning against Firestorm and holding Kitsune in one arm, flashing a peace sign and grinning broadly. She gazed at it for a while, tears forming at her eyes. She wiped them off and put the photo back in her pocket, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Eevee had watched all this with interest, and when Brekke's steady, even breathing told it that she was asleep, it gingerly reached into the pocket, grasped a protruding corner with its teeth, and pulled out the picture. It studied the photo for a while, surprised at how happy the seemingly-lonesome girl was in it. It slowly began to piece things together. Those Pokemon used to belong to this girl, but something had happened, and it caused her to be dark, quiet, and have nightmares. It tiptoed back to Brekke and slid the photo back into place, then curled up back under the covers to sleep.
The next morning Mirrim woke up, yawning, and looked over at Brekke. The girl had slept soundly the rest of the night, but her nightmare and unwillingness to describe it worried the brunette. She rolled up her sleeping bag and stuffed it into her bag, then sat down on the ground to wait, nibbling on another granola bar.
Brekke slowly opened her bright green eyes shortly after, squinting at the bright rays of sunlight beaming into her eyes. She put up a hand to shield her face and used the other hand to prod the sleeping Pokemon next to her. Eevee yawned and opened its eyes, stretching its short legs with another yawn.
"Good morning!" Mirrim said cheerily. Brekke grunted a greeting and glared at the happy girl. She got up and packed her bag, shoved her feet into her boots, and looked at Mirrim.
"Where to, my annoyingly perky companion?" she asked, eyes still half- closed. Eevee trotted over to her side.
"Well, Vermilion's about half a day's walk south of here if we cut through Saffron City, but we might want to stop there as well," Mirrim stated, "We should get going."
"Right," Brekke nodded, and trudged after her, Eevee sticking to her like a fuzzy brown bur.
Author's Note: Woo, I threw in an affectionate Eevee and a hyperactive sidekick! ^_^ They make all stories better!
Author's Note: I'm still mad at myself for killing a Vulpix, but I suppose I'll have to get over it, won't I? Read on, and review!
Chapter Two - Flames of Mourning
The former Number One brushed a tear from a brilliant green eye as she walked into Cerulean City. It had been two days since the murder of Firestorm and Kitsune, and she had not spoken a word since. Now, as she entered the town, her pain reformed at full strength. Everywhere she looked, she saw people and Pokemon together, laughing, playing, and most of all battling side by side. It seemed as if not a single soul in the world knew or cared about what she had suffered. She walked on, trying her best to ignore the trainers happily living their lives with their partners, but the worst was yet to come.
She picked up some supplies at a local store, seeing as she had left all but a single backpack behind when she ran away from Mount Moon. She worked hard to ignore the skeptical glances at her tattered clothing. She had ripped the "R" from her shirt the day after the killings, and her uniform had suffered many more rips and tears. She walked hurriedly out of the store and headed towards the city limits, eager to get away from this torture. The less people and Pokemon she saw, the better off she'd be. She was almost out when she heard a cry behind her.
"Vui! Vuiiiii!" a small brown furball came running at her. She stopped and watched it dash towards her, ducking behind her legs and peeking its head back in the direction it came from. Now that it was still, she identified it as an Eevee, and it seemed to be scared out of its mind.
The former Rocket pushed her tears back at the sight of the Pokemon and bent down to examine it, "Hey, little one, are you lost?" The evolution Pokemon shook its head. "Are you running away from something?" It nodded its head. "A thief?" Another shake of the small brown head. "Where's your trainer?" With that, the Eevee, shivered and hid behind her leg again.
She considered this, ". You're running from your trainer, aren't you?" It looked up at her with amber eyes and slowly nodded. "You really should return to them, whoever they are. You should be glad. At least you have a trainer," she stood back up and was about to continue walking, when she heard more shouts.
"Eevee? Where'd you go this time? Get back here, Eevee!" a young male came running. She could tell from the look in his eyes that he was severely angry, and he meant business. She looked back down into the pleading brown eyes of the Eevee, and was about to call the boy over, but her soft side took over.
"Oh, all right, furball, I'll take care of this," she sighed and motioned for it to follow her, which is willingly did. She continued walking out of the city when the boy stopped her.
"There you are, Eevee! Hey, girl, whaddya think you're doing with my Pokemon?" he demanded as he ran up to them.
Brekke grinned inwardly. Time to ham it up. She looked at the boy with big, innocent eyes, "Excuse me, sir? I don't know what you're talking about. This is my Eevee. Isn't that right, Eevee?" She looked down at the Eevee and winked.
The Pokemon got the message. "Vui! Vui!" it nodded vigorously.
"You see? I've been with Eevee for years. It can't be yours," she said, the mask of innocence still on.
"Oh. Well, sorry. If you see another Eevee around, bring it to me," he said before running off, yelling for his Eevee.
"Sucker." she muttered. She looked down at the Pokemon only to see it staring back at her with huge, adoring eyes. She knew what was coming next.
"Oh, no."
A few hours later, girl and Eevee walked down a dirt road together. After its rescue, the evolution Pokemon had stuck to her like glue, much to the girl's discomfort. She was still wary around Pokemon, and she had to fight to suppress her tears. The Eevee didn't seem to mind, although it did notice that its savior was unusually quiet around it. Oh, well, maybe she was just a usually silent human. They tended to be like that sometimes.
Indeed, the ex-Rocket hadn't said a word after agreeing finally to let the Eevee tag along. She was alone in her own world, a world that resided only within her dreams, where her beloved Rapidash and Vulpix ran alongside her still. In her mind, she rode on Firestorm's back with Kitsune at her side, running through an open field, and Firestorm reared back and let out a loud neigh.
"Hey! Hey!" a call brought her back to reality. She looked back to see a young girl of about 14 running towards her and waving.
"Can I help you?" she asked when the girl caught up to her. She was of medium height, with long brown hair and crystal blue eyes.
"You're a trainer, right? Want to battle?" she asked eagerly.
The black-haired girl almost cried, but masked her tears with an emotionless expression, "Hn. Battling. It's all you trainers think about. If you must know, I am not a trainer. This Eevee is just following me of its own free will."
The other girl blinked, "It's just following you? Weird. Well, if you're not a trainer, why do you have Pokeballs on your waist?"
She sighed, her expressionless face falling away as her eyes watered a bit, "They're empty now. I'd rather not talk about it." At her heels, the Eevee gave her a look of surprise. So this human had been a trainer, but no longer had any Pokemon, and she seemed to want to forget the whole thing.
The girl looked equally surprised, "Oh, sorry. So, you're just traveling alone now, with just the Eevee?"
"Yeah. I'm usually like this, I've gotten used to it," she replied.
"I see. I'm Mirrim, what's your name?" the brunette asked brightly, extending her hand.
The ex-Rocket looked at the hand for a bit before using a name she had not used in years, "It's. Brekke."
"Well, Brekke, nice to meet you!" Mirrim smiled cheerily. Brekke winced inwardly. There was something so. happy. about this girl. It was very different from her.
She shrugged, taking Mirrim's hand in hers, "Sure."
"Hey, do you want to travel together? It'll be fun!" The girl was very bold, Brekke had to admit.
"Uhm, well, you see, I usually travel alone. It's easier that way," she started to decline, but Mirrim cut in.
"Oh, come on! Give it a try!" she prodded.
"Oh, fine," Brekke sighed.
"Great!" the cheery girl smiled broadly, "Where are you heading now?"
"I don't really know," the former Rocket shrugged, "Just. somewhere."
"We can go to Vermilion City, it's not far from here," Mirrim suggested.
"Fine."
"Or we could go through Rock Tunnel and go to Lavender Town."
"Fine."
"Is that all you say? Oh, I know! We could backtrack and go to Mount Moon!"
"No."
Mirrim frowned, "Why not? What's wrong with Mount Moon?"
Brekke looked at the ground, "I just. don't want to go there, that's all."
"You sure?" she asked.
". Yeah."
"Okay, suit yourself," she shrugged, "Let's just go for Vermilion, since it's closest and probably easiest to get to."
"Fine."
"Again with the 'fine'. What's with you?" Mirrim looked at Brekke quizzically.
"Nothing's wrong," Brekke muttered. The Eevee listened to all this with interest. There was definitely something troubling this human, and it intended to find out what it was.
The two girls and the Eevee walked on for a while, the whole time Mirrim trying to get Brekke to talk in length, something besides "Hn," "Yeah," or "Fine."
"So then I was like, 'Use Flamethrower, Ninetales!' and Ninetales did and then the match was over and I was like, 'All right, two badges down!'. Pretty cool, huh?" the brunette jabbered on.
"Time to set up camp," Brekke said firmly, containing her annoyance.
"Wow, that late already? Time sure flew, huh?" she grinned.
"For some of us, maybe..." the ex-Rocket laid out her sleeping bag and sat down on it. She removed her backpack and boots and lay down, curling up inside it.
"Aren't you going to eat?" Mirrim blinked.
"Not hungry," Brekke muttered. Her companion shrugged, pulled out a granola bar, and sat down, munching it loudly.
"Vui vui?" Eevee prodded the ex-Rocket with a paw. Brekke sighed and rolled over so she didn't face it, "Not now, fuzzball, I'm tired." Eevee smiled and wriggled under the cover with her, startling a yelp from the tired girl.
"Awww. How cute!" Mirrim grinned as she laid out her own sleeping bag.
"Shaddap," Brekke muttered, her voice muffled by the bag.
"G'night!" the brunette said cheerily, ignoring Brekke's grumbling. Then, for the first time since they had met, she shut up.
Late that night, Eevee was woken from its sleep by the motion of the girl beside it. Brekke was rolling around, a pained look on her face. It watched her closely as she tossed and turned, muttering incoherent words.
In her dream, the girl was standing in front of Adrian's desk, watching in slow motion as first Firestorm, and then Kitsune fell from the gunshots. Adrian loomed in front of her, laughing coldly. "No. no." the sleeping girl gasped, causing the watching Eevee to step back subconsciously, "You killed them. They didn't do anything! No. no. NO!" She sat bolt upright, eyes wide, gasping for air.
"Whaaa?" Mirrim sat up sleepily, rubbing her eyes, "I heard something. A scream. You okay?"
Brekke looked at her, took a moment to calm down, and nodded slowly, "Yeah. Just a dream."
"Really? What happened?" she asked, worried.
"I don't want to talk about it," the black-haired girl turned her head away, "Really. I'm fine."
"Vui." Eevee nuzzled her hand reassuringly. Brekke stroked its soft brown fur for a moment, then laid back down and sighed. Mirrim did the same, falling almost instantly asleep. Eevee curled up into a ball, closing its eyes but only pretending to sleep.
Brekke waited until both of them were asleep, or so she thought, then reached into the breast pocket of her shirt. She pulled out a photograph and laid back, staring at it. It was of herself, leaning against Firestorm and holding Kitsune in one arm, flashing a peace sign and grinning broadly. She gazed at it for a while, tears forming at her eyes. She wiped them off and put the photo back in her pocket, closing her eyes and drifting off to sleep.
Eevee had watched all this with interest, and when Brekke's steady, even breathing told it that she was asleep, it gingerly reached into the pocket, grasped a protruding corner with its teeth, and pulled out the picture. It studied the photo for a while, surprised at how happy the seemingly-lonesome girl was in it. It slowly began to piece things together. Those Pokemon used to belong to this girl, but something had happened, and it caused her to be dark, quiet, and have nightmares. It tiptoed back to Brekke and slid the photo back into place, then curled up back under the covers to sleep.
The next morning Mirrim woke up, yawning, and looked over at Brekke. The girl had slept soundly the rest of the night, but her nightmare and unwillingness to describe it worried the brunette. She rolled up her sleeping bag and stuffed it into her bag, then sat down on the ground to wait, nibbling on another granola bar.
Brekke slowly opened her bright green eyes shortly after, squinting at the bright rays of sunlight beaming into her eyes. She put up a hand to shield her face and used the other hand to prod the sleeping Pokemon next to her. Eevee yawned and opened its eyes, stretching its short legs with another yawn.
"Good morning!" Mirrim said cheerily. Brekke grunted a greeting and glared at the happy girl. She got up and packed her bag, shoved her feet into her boots, and looked at Mirrim.
"Where to, my annoyingly perky companion?" she asked, eyes still half- closed. Eevee trotted over to her side.
"Well, Vermilion's about half a day's walk south of here if we cut through Saffron City, but we might want to stop there as well," Mirrim stated, "We should get going."
"Right," Brekke nodded, and trudged after her, Eevee sticking to her like a fuzzy brown bur.
Author's Note: Woo, I threw in an affectionate Eevee and a hyperactive sidekick! ^_^ They make all stories better!