Kitsune
~Evolution
Kitsune did not want to evolve. She knew what it would be like. She knew what she would look like. She didn't want to do it.
Besides, the others who evolved weren't happy about the process either.
No one talked to Callima about her evolution. They understood that it was a incredibly painful thing for her and refused to bring it up in her presence, even Kitsune knew this. Kitsune knew her limits. She knew what she could and could not mock, and this was one of things she couldn't.
It was all unintentional. That much was clear. Radic was happy with Kitsune as a Vulpix, as was Kitsune. The entire thing was an Accident. A dreadful, terrible accident. But there was nothing that could be done. So Kitsune locked her regrets away, just as she did for all her other emotions.
It started when Radic had entered a town, much like any other. As usual, his first stop was the Pokécenter, as all his Pokémon were exhausted. As soon as they were healed, he headed out again, fully intending to leave the town and not come back.
That was before Kitsune noticed something that she just couldn't help but make fun of. It was a Pikachu with a pink ribbon around it's neck. She had laughed hysterically before Radic could get her to be quiet, and Radic was left with the oath of the trainer that they would get their revenge. He wasn't sure how or when the trainer would do so, but it weighed on his mind.
Radic was about to enter another mountain when the trainer showed up again. Not wishing to have a confrontation, Radic ducked inside the cave. He wasn't prepared for what was inside.
There were glimmering, shining stones on the walls, causing them to glow with own light. They studded the walls.
"Evolution stones!" Radic gaped at the cave, not sure of what to do. Kitsune however had an idea. She lept on Radic's shirt, climbing onto his shoulder and clinging there. She refused to let go.
"It's okay, Kitsune, you don't have to evolve if you don't want to. I wish I could get some of these stones tho....I could sell them for a lot of money."
Ruby walked forward, picking at one of the stones in the wall with her claws. She gripped the yellow stone in her mouth and gave it to Radic, who held it in his hand.
"This must be a thunder stone. How strange...it's not lightning bolt shaped. Must be because it isn't refined yet. Thanks Ruby."
Ruby didn't reply, only moving ahead. She picked out alternate Water, Fire, Grass, and Thunder stones, which Radic kept collecting in his bag. Kitsune avoided them like the plague. Radic didn't blame her for it.
He was so caught up in his collecting that Radic soon found himself lost again. He sighed in frustration.
"Not again..."
He continued walking forward, seeing some kind of source of light.
What he found amazed him. It was a large volcano. Lava bubbled in a deep pit within the center of the room, stones continued to stud the walls and floors, and numerous fire Pokémon were collected around it. When they saw Radic, they nearly all ran away, except for one. An Arcanine.
It stood and faced Radic, snarling. It's beautiful fur bristled brightly.
"Acc-" Radic was about to call Accident forward when the Arcanine did something unexpected. It breathed a large column of fire, complete with a symbol within the flames, at Accident before he could even move. This caught him completly off guard. He fell near the lava pit, tucked into his shell to prevent damage.
"Accident! Be careful!"
As Accident began to untuck himself from his shell, the Arcanine moved forward.
"Raaai!" Nova dashed at the Arcanine, sparking furiously. The Arcanine moved with fantastic speed, sending Nova's sunglasses flying off into the distance. Nova instantly ran after them.
"Ruby, can't you do something?"
Ruby yawned. The Arcanine barked sharply at her, but Ruby totally ignored it. This infuriated the Arcanine. It rushed forward, aiming for Ruby's head. Ruby ducked under it, standing directly beneath the large dogs thick fur. She closed her eyes, opening her mouth to cry for the heaven's to send her Thunder.
Then the Arcanine layed down, sitting directly on top of her. There was a muffled screech of rage as the Meowth attempted to break free from the Arcanine's weight, but couldn't. Radic watched helplessly as the Arcanine didn't let up it's pressure, only moving after Ruby had stopped struggling. It stood up, revealing the unconscious Ruby. It batted it to one side, then moved forward.
"Taka?"
The Bird shook both of it's heads "No", then ran off to one side at fantastic speed. Radic sighed deeply. He knew better then to send Callima against this thing, so he had one choice.
"Kitsune-"
"VUL!" The Vulpix clung to his shirt tighter. He plucked her off gently.
"I know, I know. Can't you do this for me just once?"
Kitsune sat, then made a few remarks about the Arcanine. She then nodded to Radic, smiling. "Vul."
The Arcanine was fuming. It breathed a torrent of fire at Kitsune, which she readily dodged. Radic, however, had a harder time of it. He barely managed to avoid being set on fire.
The Vulpix circled the Arcanine, making biting remarks about. This enfuriated the Arcanine even more, causing it to breathe fire randomly at wherever she was. Kitsune easily avoided the blasts.
Eventually she led it near the edge of the lava pit. With a swift move, she caused the Arcanine to back away slightly, the edge crumbling beneath it.
Howling in surprise, the Arcanine tried valiantly to avoid the lava beneath it. Noticing Accident uncurled nearby, it reached for him desperatly. It hooked the edge of Accident's shell, dragging him down into the lava along with it. Accident gave a short cry of surprise.
If there was anyone at all on their team that Kitsune cared about, it was Accident. She pitied his handicap and identified with the Pokémon for some reason. She did make fun of him occasionally, but more often then not sympathized with him. If there was anything she couldn't stand, it was someone making fun of or hurting Accident. So she reached down as swiftly as she could and bit into Accident's paw, trying her best to prevent him from falling into the lava. The Arcanine, now that it had a hold, was not about to let go.
Kitsune was losing the tug-of-war. She could feel her paws slipping beneath her. She felt one skid over a bump, then felt a strange feeling come over her. It reminded her of pins and needles. She would have gasped if she could have opened her mouth. She must have stepped on a fire stone by accident. She was evolving.
She felt her skeleton reassemble itself, growing in size and statute. despite all this, she refused to let Accident's paw go. Her new growing body was allowing her to match the Arcanine's pulling power.
She felt her curled tails break apart from their formation, forming into long, flowing ones. Along with this was an incredible pressure on her back, which erupted as three tails burst from her, causing her blood to spill on the cavern floor. Fighting back the urge to scream and release Accident, Kitsune kept her mouth shut. She felt her eyes and her very face reform. She closed her eyes, trying to focus on nothing but Accident. Almost as if water draining away, her red faded along her body, leaving her a white color. It started at her head, then headed down for her tails. Just as it reached it, however, she slid off the fire stone. Since it was unrefined, it did not meld into her body. Since she had stopped touching it, her evolution had stopped. As of such, the end of her tails were left a brownish red color.
When the evolution was complete, she felt a terrible, aching pain in her shoulders. She was too busy to care. She was now powerful enough to lift Accident away from death.
She pulled with all her power, bringing Accident to the edge inch by inch. She felt something else take her tails and pull, and a flick of her new thin eyes showed it was Nova, who had regained his sunglasses. He pulled as well as he could, not aware most likely of the pain it caused Kitsune. She didn't care.
Now Accident was coming over the edge. She felt two more pulling on her and saw Ta and Ka out of the corner of her eye. Accident was over the edge and hyperventilating with relief.
The Arcanine clung to the edge, trying to find it's way upwards. As the Pokémon rested, the Arcanine stood, staring down at them. It opened it's mouth.
Then it ran away.
Confused, Kitsune stared after it. She wondered what on earth could have posessed it to just run like that. Perhaps it was her new appearance. Perhaps it was her determination. She turned around. Well, it wasn't because something larger was behind her.
"Kitsune, you did it! You saved Accident! And you evolved too!" Radic didn't sound as enthusiastic when describing her evolution.
"Nine..." her new voice was strange to her. She opened and closed her mouth momentarily. "Ninetails..."
