Nozomi's teeth chattered loudly despite the warming rays of the sunrise
flowing over her. The Arbok still loomed over her, it's cold eyes locked
on her as if daring her to breath, to move, so it could snap her up. She
kept as still as she possibly could, though her whole body trembled with
terror anyway. She knew how dangerous wild Arboks were.
Keep eye-contact....don't let it loose eye-contact..... Nozomi's mantra continued in her mind as she stared hard into the evil yellow eyes.
Dokuga's tongue whisped in and out of his mouth as he slowly rocked his head. The little human had a lovely scent, intoxicating with it's fear and sweat. He could feel her rapid heartbeat, her short breaths reverberating in the air around his body. Her terror was plain in her eyes as she stared at him....the look of prey before death.
Nozomi's hand slowly went to her hip, gripping at one of the four pokeballs hooked to her low-hanging belt. Maybe if she could get one of her pokemon out to help her, she could escape....but which one?
Over the short years of her training journy, she hadn't collected as many pokemon as other trainers. Four was a meager amount for Battlers, but she was more of a traveler than anything else. No gym badges, no ranks, only training for the sake of training. She had always dreamed of becoming a famous Battler and winning a place in one of the many Pokemon Leagues, but it was a desire that had never really gotten going. Her ability to train her pokemon ranged only to mild fighting skill, nothing good enough to place in the Leagues.
Ivysaur? No....too slow to take on the lightning moves of the Arbok.
Sandslash? Fast, but nowhere near strong enough to take on a predator.
Dodrio? Yeah right. The Arbok would gobble it up in a bite.
Nozomi's hand rested on the last pokeball on her belt: a trump card, so to speak. This ball, a Hyper Ball, held her strongest pokemon and the only one that might have a chance. No way it could beat an Arbok of such massive size, but it would at least be able to hold it off....
Dokuga leered down at Nozomi with his grinning fangs shimmering with the sunlight. He saw the girl's eyes widen even more with the sight of his teeth, her feeling of dread growing in the air. Her hand was going up from her side....what's that shiney thing in her hand?
A flash of hatred flew in Dokuga's eyes as he recognized the object Nozomi held in her hand. Memories flooded in the blink of an eye.....no actual thoughts along with the images, but feelings and instinct going hand-in- hand with the bursts of his past.
~^~v~^~v~^~
A lovely little meal, a young brown mouse with a long tail....full of strong blood but plump and slow. The sickly little squirrel he had swallowed wasn't enough to sate the gnawing hunger.
A human, almost invisible in the darkness of the cold night. Only the fear of the tiny human drew him from his nest on such a cold night.
So cold.....
What were those streaks on the human's face? Water? He could smell blood on the human's body, on the ground, seeping from a hole in the human's leg, pooling inside the twisted heap of tasteless metal nearby.
The pain, sudden and bursting throughout his body, ripping at him and sending him spasming to the ground. Writhing and twisting, trying to escape from the flares of light from the mouse.
So much pain....
The ball.....shining and round like the mouse's eyes....
A sudden desperate lunge, a blow of his fang across the mouse's face. It screamed and the child screamed with it....the taste of salty blood was comforting, even in this moment of defeat.
Darkness....cold darkness for so long.....
~^~v~^~v~^~
Nozomi's body froze up as the Arbok suddenly lashed it's head around, eyes wild and full of rage. It locked on to her once more and let out a terrible shriek, like something was clawing at it from the inside out. It reared back and flailed about, it's thick body slamming into the trees and uprooting them. It's tail struck fully against a tall oak, snapping the ancient tree like a toothpick. As the tall tree crashed to the ground, Nozomi flung the Hyper Ball to the ground before her. A scream of terror broke free of her choked throat as the Arbok lunged down at her, the snake's cries drowning out her own.
*****
Karuta, Yumigata, and Tsuriau bounded from the clearing they were training in, leaping over the tall underbrush and old stumps as they went. As if the sound of the mighty tree crashing to the ground wasn't enough to warn them of an intruder, Dokuga's screams were. Karuta was sure of one thing: Dokuga didn't scream. Dokuga had acted as guard for Karuta during his training for as long as he could remember and nothing had ever been enough to cause Dokuga any more trouble than a little indigestion afterwards.
Karuta stopped short and skidded his boots along the dirt. His expression was somewhere between rage and shock as he gazed on in absolute disbelief.
Nozomi! What in the world was she doing here!? How did she get past Tsu- chan?!
Dokuga was flailing wildly and forcing himself forward, trying to get his mouth around his opponent. A screaming Primape was before the serpent, it's mitten-like hands against Dokuga's teeth. It struggled under the pressure, it's strong arms barring Dokuga's jaws open wide as the snake pokemon tried to swallow it whole. It's feet were dug five inches into the dirt and it was still sliding backwards from the force Dokuga was putting against it.
"Yumigata!"
Nozomi heard the voice call out sharply but couldn't move to see where it came from. All she could focus on was her dear Primape's struggle against the murderous snake. Her mind was numbed from the events as a familiar looking Hitmonlee vaulted into the air and struck a mightly blow on the Arbok's head. She felt a renewed rush of fear as the Arbok flung her Primape to the side and dove at her, fangs beared and jaws spread like the gates of Hell awaiting her soul.
She was suddenly struck and rolling, an alien weight latched onto her body. She felt the air break and rush by as the Arbok's thrust missed and the snake's jaws snapped shut around the base of a tree. The unfortunate tree, cleaved into two peices from the bite, tilted and fell. The shadow of the young tree was cast over her as it fell directly at her and the one who had pulled her from the snake's path. She felt the body move from her own, the flutter of a long coat rippling past her face as her savior swept up to his knees, not having enough time to get to his feet.
Karuta?
A gloved fist balled firmly and launched up from the side, lancing up at the rapidly falling tree. A blazing flash of agony swept down the strong arm and into the shoulder, the sound of breaking branches drowning out the sound of breaking bone. In one impossible attack, Karuta had punched the falling tree hard enough to knock it off course to the side, effectively missing Nozomi and himself as it crashed to the ground next to them.
Karuta's scream rang clear through the forest, suddenly halted as the young man slumped to the ground. Darkness overtook his mind as the pain thrust him forcefully into unconciousness, the world fading around him until he felt no more pain.
"Karuta?" Nozomi gasped, staring in shock at the fallen man before her.
Any other thoughts were wiped from Nozomi's mind as Yumigata was suddenly sent flying past her head. The fighting pokemon slammed against a tree and richotched off, bouncing across the ground and stopping in a non-moving heap. She looked up at the still enraged Arbok, the monster being held off by her Primeape and Tsuriau, at least for the time being.
"Rai Raicha!! Rai Raicha!!"
Nozomi's attention was drawn to the edge of the newly formed clearing as Kyuuden burst from the woods, followed by the airborne Tsu-chan. Kyuuden looked frantically at the scene of destruction, his furry face confused and scared from the confusion.
The electric pokemon's face went blank at the sight of Karuta's fallen form.
"R-R-Rai Raicha....."
Kyuuden let out a low growl, sharp fangs bared plainly in the feral snarl. He looked up to see the rampaging Dokuga send Tsuriau flying with a flick of his tail, the pokemon vanishing into the woods as he was launched away. Kyuuden let out a cry of rage as he charged forward towards the out-of- control Arbok.
The air around Kyuuden's body crackled with energy, sparks flying free from around his form. The air hissed and broke with each flare of electrical energy, the charge snapping wildly through his fur. Dokuga turned in time to be faced with the painfully familar sight of the enraged Raichu darting towards it.
Both pokemon cried out as one as Kyuuden's body erupted like a live-wire, waves of electrical force ripping through Dokuga. The Arbok's skin burned and cracked, blackened scorches springing up all down the length of the pokemon as he screamed in white-hot agony, his mind fading away under the terrible assault. His yellow, evil, eyes widened in pain and suddenly lolled back into his head as unconciousness took him away from the world.
The mighty beast came crashing to the ground, his body still jerking and twitching from the charge crackling over his charred body.
So cold......
*****
Blink.
Blink blink.
Ow....bright lights....those really sting!
Where am I? What happened?
Dokuga....the tree....so much pain....
"Karuta?"
Oh yeah. Nozomi.
Karuta's eyes blinked open once more, squinting against the bright lights above him. He was laid out on a hospital bed, which was placed conveniently enough in a hospital. His mind was blurred and slow, groggieness from his sleep still ebbing at his mind. He dimly felt a sling around his right arm, binding it tightly to his chest. It hurt to breath, hurt to even be awake. The harsh lights were suddenly shadowed as a familar face leaned over him, blocking out the rays of light.
"You're awake! I'm so glad....are you alright?" Nozomi asked, a tone of genuine worry in her voice.
"I feel like I picked a fight with a train...." Karuta slurred, trying to clear his mind.
"A tree, but close enough. You won, too."
"Whatever."
"....."
"....."
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"What do you mean 'for what'? For saving me from Arbok and the tree."
Karuta felt a warm hand slip into his unbroken hand, thin fingers grasping firmly. Nozomi smiled and closed her eyes, trying to find the right words to thank Karuta for what he did. She was rewarded with a gentle squeeze from Karuta, an action that strangely brought a flush to her cheeks.
Squeeze.....
He's still squeezing....
A little too firm there, Karuta....
Ow....hey, OW!
Nozomi gasped in sudden pain and wrenched her hand from Karuta's. She cradled her hand to her chest protectively, eyes wide in shock. Karuta was glaring at her with a look of complete disgust, his now empty hand balled into a tight fist.
"What were you trying to do, break my hand!?"
"Yes."
"You jackass!"
"Shut up! This whole thing is your fault, you know!"
"My fault!? How in the world is any of--"
Karuta had sat up and took a swing at Nozomi with his good arm, causing the girl to squeak and duck away from the punch. Karata bore an expression of anger so great that it made Nozomi shudder. She felt her arguement die in her throat as she thought about how powerful Karuta was....and that he was now very much so pissed. At her.
"If you hadn't come snooping around, none of this would've happened! I told you to stay at the camp for a reason!"
"What, so your homocidal Arbok wouldn't try to eat me!?"
"No, you're a bad influence on my pokemon."
Nozomi supressed the urge to try and smother Karuta with his pillow.
"How do you justify having such a dangerous pokemon anyway? That thing is a killer."
"Bull. Dokuga follows orders no matter what. I told him to stand guard and he does as he's told, just like he has for years. It was only because you made him angry that he attacked you like that!"
"I made him angry!? That pokemon is insane! It would've--"
"Stop making excuses!" Karuta snapped, cutting Nozomi off. He pointed an accusing finger at her.
"You followed me when I told you not to, you attack my pokemon without thought, you undermine my authority over them, you mollycoddle Kyuuden like he was a house-pet! Ever since the moment I met you, you've been nothing but trouble for me! All you do is cause problems!"
"How dare you! Life with you isn't a bed of roses either, y'know! You're nothing but an insensitive, perverted--"
"I never asked you to come along with me! You're the one who followed me! Against my wishes, I might add!"
"If I'm so terrible, why did you bother to save me!?"
"To punish Dokuga."
That one caught Nozomi off balance. What in the world did he mean by that? How could not eating her be a....Oi, was he planning on feeding her to Dokuga as some kind of reward!?
"I've always awarded Dokuga by letting him hunt down a Pidgeot or three when he captures someone trying to sneak up on me during training, but only if he didn't hurt anyone. If he had eaten you, he would've gotten a meal while disobeying my orders.
"And disobedience is not something I tolerate."
Nozomi took notice of the heavy glare leveled at her with that last comment.
"And what about the tree?"
"I didn't have enough time to move. I could care less if you got yourself crushed."
Nozomi glared daggers at Karuta, an expression that was returned twice over from the injured man. Why did his words hurt so much? Stupid, gloomy, over-reacting idiot!
Her chair screeched loudly against the linoleum floor as she stood. Nozomi huffed loudly and turned away, heading for the door of the room. As she reached the exit, she paused and put a hand into her pocket. She withdrew one of Karuta's Hyperballs, the shrunken pokeball gripped firmly in her palm.
"Here's your damn Arbok. I hope it dies of exposure from Kyuuden's shock." A darker part of Nozomi's mind was glad to see a look of shocked rage flash across Karuta's face.
"Get out!"
Nozomi threw the Hyper Ball hard at Karuta. Even injured, his reflexes were still good enough to catch the ball before it impacted with his head.
"You're welcome y'know. You're not light and it was seven miles to get here."
"Get out!"
Nozomi glared a moment longer, then turned and hurried down the hall. After almost running into one of the many Chansey that helped run the hospital, she dashed down the hallway as fast as she could. Hot tears stang her eyes as she ran, fighting back the urge to turn back and beat Karuta into a pulp.
Kyuuden, Yumigata, and Tsuriau were in the lobby, sitting in a few of the many chairs and looking worried. When Nozomi raced past them in a huff, they each exchanged worried glances before heading down the direction she came from, Kyuuden quickly taking the lead in the rush to tend to his wounded friend.
*****
Four days passed.
Karuta, much against his will, had stayed in the hospital. His injury was worse than he excused it as when he tried to leave, as he had multiple fractures in located in his hand, humerus, and clavical. Despite this, escape attempts were unnervingly frequent. During on of Karuta's more daring breaks for freedom of his hospital bed, Karuta simply walked towards the exit, fist and feet swinging at anyone who tried to stop him. It took both his fighting pokemon as well as several doctorts to fully restrain him, though they all came out worse for the wear than Karuta had. At another time, the unwilling man stunned the faculty by vaulting from his window and making a dash for the fence. The only reason this was stunning was because Karuta's room was on the second story of the hospital.
In anycase, Karuta had seemed to have given up on escaping, finding that the freshly built cast along his arm and the thick leather straps tying him to his bed were actually rather comfortable when threatened with injections to 'calm his nerves', as the stressed nurses so nicely phrased it.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry already!"
A startled nurse's shrieks were commonplace in Karuta's section of the hospital. The poor nurse in question dashed from Karuta's room, an airborne bedpan flying past her head as she slammed his door shut. Another nurse sighed and shook her head a little as the younger woman gasped and cursed under her breath from Karuta's actions.
"How in the world did that guy throw that many things with his feet!? He still had his shoes on, for heaven's sake!" the nurse grumbled as the other nurse tried vainly to stifle a laugh. "Something funny?"
"No, nothing. I've got to check on Karuta-san's cast to make sure he hasn't tried to chisel it open again."
"Good luck. You have any clue how he got it open last time?"
"Doctors said he chewed through it."
"Maybe we should've had him put into the Psych ward instead...."
Smothering another laugh, the nurse cautiously entered Karuta's room. Her co-worker briefly crossed herself and prayed for the other woman's safe return.
Just like always, Karuta had the lights turned out. They were far too harsh for his sensitive sight, which happened to be hindered slightly from his lack of glasses since they rested on the table next to his bed. He had a terrible headache now and his glasses only made it worse, so he refused to put them on, even to see correctly.
"Good morning! How's my favorite patient this lovely day?"
Karuta only stared blankly at the nurses' leg. She looked hesitant for a moment, looking down at her leg as well. After confirming that there was nothing on her pantyhose, she looked to Karuta.
"What are you staring at?"
"You leg."
"Why?"
"I want to break it. At least by the next time you act all peppy with me."
The nurse instantly sombered. She knew that Karuta was dangerous and wasn't about to risk her personal safety over a morning greeting.
"Well, you're certainly cheerful today." She grumbled sarcastically.
"Oh yeah, I'm just a ray of -frikkin'- sunshine here."
The nurse went to work checking Karuta' cast for cracks, tears, bite marks, and other various means of escape for Karuta to exploit. Satisfied with her search, she looked down at the reclining young man, scratching her head a little.
"Excuse me...."
"No."
"....How did you cause so much damage to your arm in the first place? The doctors woun't tell us 'low-rank's.' Care to fill in the blanks for me?"
"....
"....Meowths and Pidgeots...."
~~
Outside Olivine City, a wonderful battle raged. Fists flew and punches delt as the two combatants struggled to gain the upper hand over each other. A few blows to the furry white chest of the Primape filled the human girl with a sense of pride. She was promptly put into a headlock by the pokemon, but slipped out and tripped the pokemon up.
It was about time that Noxomi started to learn something.
Keep eye-contact....don't let it loose eye-contact..... Nozomi's mantra continued in her mind as she stared hard into the evil yellow eyes.
Dokuga's tongue whisped in and out of his mouth as he slowly rocked his head. The little human had a lovely scent, intoxicating with it's fear and sweat. He could feel her rapid heartbeat, her short breaths reverberating in the air around his body. Her terror was plain in her eyes as she stared at him....the look of prey before death.
Nozomi's hand slowly went to her hip, gripping at one of the four pokeballs hooked to her low-hanging belt. Maybe if she could get one of her pokemon out to help her, she could escape....but which one?
Over the short years of her training journy, she hadn't collected as many pokemon as other trainers. Four was a meager amount for Battlers, but she was more of a traveler than anything else. No gym badges, no ranks, only training for the sake of training. She had always dreamed of becoming a famous Battler and winning a place in one of the many Pokemon Leagues, but it was a desire that had never really gotten going. Her ability to train her pokemon ranged only to mild fighting skill, nothing good enough to place in the Leagues.
Ivysaur? No....too slow to take on the lightning moves of the Arbok.
Sandslash? Fast, but nowhere near strong enough to take on a predator.
Dodrio? Yeah right. The Arbok would gobble it up in a bite.
Nozomi's hand rested on the last pokeball on her belt: a trump card, so to speak. This ball, a Hyper Ball, held her strongest pokemon and the only one that might have a chance. No way it could beat an Arbok of such massive size, but it would at least be able to hold it off....
Dokuga leered down at Nozomi with his grinning fangs shimmering with the sunlight. He saw the girl's eyes widen even more with the sight of his teeth, her feeling of dread growing in the air. Her hand was going up from her side....what's that shiney thing in her hand?
A flash of hatred flew in Dokuga's eyes as he recognized the object Nozomi held in her hand. Memories flooded in the blink of an eye.....no actual thoughts along with the images, but feelings and instinct going hand-in- hand with the bursts of his past.
~^~v~^~v~^~
A lovely little meal, a young brown mouse with a long tail....full of strong blood but plump and slow. The sickly little squirrel he had swallowed wasn't enough to sate the gnawing hunger.
A human, almost invisible in the darkness of the cold night. Only the fear of the tiny human drew him from his nest on such a cold night.
So cold.....
What were those streaks on the human's face? Water? He could smell blood on the human's body, on the ground, seeping from a hole in the human's leg, pooling inside the twisted heap of tasteless metal nearby.
The pain, sudden and bursting throughout his body, ripping at him and sending him spasming to the ground. Writhing and twisting, trying to escape from the flares of light from the mouse.
So much pain....
The ball.....shining and round like the mouse's eyes....
A sudden desperate lunge, a blow of his fang across the mouse's face. It screamed and the child screamed with it....the taste of salty blood was comforting, even in this moment of defeat.
Darkness....cold darkness for so long.....
~^~v~^~v~^~
Nozomi's body froze up as the Arbok suddenly lashed it's head around, eyes wild and full of rage. It locked on to her once more and let out a terrible shriek, like something was clawing at it from the inside out. It reared back and flailed about, it's thick body slamming into the trees and uprooting them. It's tail struck fully against a tall oak, snapping the ancient tree like a toothpick. As the tall tree crashed to the ground, Nozomi flung the Hyper Ball to the ground before her. A scream of terror broke free of her choked throat as the Arbok lunged down at her, the snake's cries drowning out her own.
*****
Karuta, Yumigata, and Tsuriau bounded from the clearing they were training in, leaping over the tall underbrush and old stumps as they went. As if the sound of the mighty tree crashing to the ground wasn't enough to warn them of an intruder, Dokuga's screams were. Karuta was sure of one thing: Dokuga didn't scream. Dokuga had acted as guard for Karuta during his training for as long as he could remember and nothing had ever been enough to cause Dokuga any more trouble than a little indigestion afterwards.
Karuta stopped short and skidded his boots along the dirt. His expression was somewhere between rage and shock as he gazed on in absolute disbelief.
Nozomi! What in the world was she doing here!? How did she get past Tsu- chan?!
Dokuga was flailing wildly and forcing himself forward, trying to get his mouth around his opponent. A screaming Primape was before the serpent, it's mitten-like hands against Dokuga's teeth. It struggled under the pressure, it's strong arms barring Dokuga's jaws open wide as the snake pokemon tried to swallow it whole. It's feet were dug five inches into the dirt and it was still sliding backwards from the force Dokuga was putting against it.
"Yumigata!"
Nozomi heard the voice call out sharply but couldn't move to see where it came from. All she could focus on was her dear Primape's struggle against the murderous snake. Her mind was numbed from the events as a familiar looking Hitmonlee vaulted into the air and struck a mightly blow on the Arbok's head. She felt a renewed rush of fear as the Arbok flung her Primape to the side and dove at her, fangs beared and jaws spread like the gates of Hell awaiting her soul.
She was suddenly struck and rolling, an alien weight latched onto her body. She felt the air break and rush by as the Arbok's thrust missed and the snake's jaws snapped shut around the base of a tree. The unfortunate tree, cleaved into two peices from the bite, tilted and fell. The shadow of the young tree was cast over her as it fell directly at her and the one who had pulled her from the snake's path. She felt the body move from her own, the flutter of a long coat rippling past her face as her savior swept up to his knees, not having enough time to get to his feet.
Karuta?
A gloved fist balled firmly and launched up from the side, lancing up at the rapidly falling tree. A blazing flash of agony swept down the strong arm and into the shoulder, the sound of breaking branches drowning out the sound of breaking bone. In one impossible attack, Karuta had punched the falling tree hard enough to knock it off course to the side, effectively missing Nozomi and himself as it crashed to the ground next to them.
Karuta's scream rang clear through the forest, suddenly halted as the young man slumped to the ground. Darkness overtook his mind as the pain thrust him forcefully into unconciousness, the world fading around him until he felt no more pain.
"Karuta?" Nozomi gasped, staring in shock at the fallen man before her.
Any other thoughts were wiped from Nozomi's mind as Yumigata was suddenly sent flying past her head. The fighting pokemon slammed against a tree and richotched off, bouncing across the ground and stopping in a non-moving heap. She looked up at the still enraged Arbok, the monster being held off by her Primeape and Tsuriau, at least for the time being.
"Rai Raicha!! Rai Raicha!!"
Nozomi's attention was drawn to the edge of the newly formed clearing as Kyuuden burst from the woods, followed by the airborne Tsu-chan. Kyuuden looked frantically at the scene of destruction, his furry face confused and scared from the confusion.
The electric pokemon's face went blank at the sight of Karuta's fallen form.
"R-R-Rai Raicha....."
Kyuuden let out a low growl, sharp fangs bared plainly in the feral snarl. He looked up to see the rampaging Dokuga send Tsuriau flying with a flick of his tail, the pokemon vanishing into the woods as he was launched away. Kyuuden let out a cry of rage as he charged forward towards the out-of- control Arbok.
The air around Kyuuden's body crackled with energy, sparks flying free from around his form. The air hissed and broke with each flare of electrical energy, the charge snapping wildly through his fur. Dokuga turned in time to be faced with the painfully familar sight of the enraged Raichu darting towards it.
Both pokemon cried out as one as Kyuuden's body erupted like a live-wire, waves of electrical force ripping through Dokuga. The Arbok's skin burned and cracked, blackened scorches springing up all down the length of the pokemon as he screamed in white-hot agony, his mind fading away under the terrible assault. His yellow, evil, eyes widened in pain and suddenly lolled back into his head as unconciousness took him away from the world.
The mighty beast came crashing to the ground, his body still jerking and twitching from the charge crackling over his charred body.
So cold......
*****
Blink.
Blink blink.
Ow....bright lights....those really sting!
Where am I? What happened?
Dokuga....the tree....so much pain....
"Karuta?"
Oh yeah. Nozomi.
Karuta's eyes blinked open once more, squinting against the bright lights above him. He was laid out on a hospital bed, which was placed conveniently enough in a hospital. His mind was blurred and slow, groggieness from his sleep still ebbing at his mind. He dimly felt a sling around his right arm, binding it tightly to his chest. It hurt to breath, hurt to even be awake. The harsh lights were suddenly shadowed as a familar face leaned over him, blocking out the rays of light.
"You're awake! I'm so glad....are you alright?" Nozomi asked, a tone of genuine worry in her voice.
"I feel like I picked a fight with a train...." Karuta slurred, trying to clear his mind.
"A tree, but close enough. You won, too."
"Whatever."
"....."
"....."
"Thanks."
"For what?"
"What do you mean 'for what'? For saving me from Arbok and the tree."
Karuta felt a warm hand slip into his unbroken hand, thin fingers grasping firmly. Nozomi smiled and closed her eyes, trying to find the right words to thank Karuta for what he did. She was rewarded with a gentle squeeze from Karuta, an action that strangely brought a flush to her cheeks.
Squeeze.....
He's still squeezing....
A little too firm there, Karuta....
Ow....hey, OW!
Nozomi gasped in sudden pain and wrenched her hand from Karuta's. She cradled her hand to her chest protectively, eyes wide in shock. Karuta was glaring at her with a look of complete disgust, his now empty hand balled into a tight fist.
"What were you trying to do, break my hand!?"
"Yes."
"You jackass!"
"Shut up! This whole thing is your fault, you know!"
"My fault!? How in the world is any of--"
Karuta had sat up and took a swing at Nozomi with his good arm, causing the girl to squeak and duck away from the punch. Karata bore an expression of anger so great that it made Nozomi shudder. She felt her arguement die in her throat as she thought about how powerful Karuta was....and that he was now very much so pissed. At her.
"If you hadn't come snooping around, none of this would've happened! I told you to stay at the camp for a reason!"
"What, so your homocidal Arbok wouldn't try to eat me!?"
"No, you're a bad influence on my pokemon."
Nozomi supressed the urge to try and smother Karuta with his pillow.
"How do you justify having such a dangerous pokemon anyway? That thing is a killer."
"Bull. Dokuga follows orders no matter what. I told him to stand guard and he does as he's told, just like he has for years. It was only because you made him angry that he attacked you like that!"
"I made him angry!? That pokemon is insane! It would've--"
"Stop making excuses!" Karuta snapped, cutting Nozomi off. He pointed an accusing finger at her.
"You followed me when I told you not to, you attack my pokemon without thought, you undermine my authority over them, you mollycoddle Kyuuden like he was a house-pet! Ever since the moment I met you, you've been nothing but trouble for me! All you do is cause problems!"
"How dare you! Life with you isn't a bed of roses either, y'know! You're nothing but an insensitive, perverted--"
"I never asked you to come along with me! You're the one who followed me! Against my wishes, I might add!"
"If I'm so terrible, why did you bother to save me!?"
"To punish Dokuga."
That one caught Nozomi off balance. What in the world did he mean by that? How could not eating her be a....Oi, was he planning on feeding her to Dokuga as some kind of reward!?
"I've always awarded Dokuga by letting him hunt down a Pidgeot or three when he captures someone trying to sneak up on me during training, but only if he didn't hurt anyone. If he had eaten you, he would've gotten a meal while disobeying my orders.
"And disobedience is not something I tolerate."
Nozomi took notice of the heavy glare leveled at her with that last comment.
"And what about the tree?"
"I didn't have enough time to move. I could care less if you got yourself crushed."
Nozomi glared daggers at Karuta, an expression that was returned twice over from the injured man. Why did his words hurt so much? Stupid, gloomy, over-reacting idiot!
Her chair screeched loudly against the linoleum floor as she stood. Nozomi huffed loudly and turned away, heading for the door of the room. As she reached the exit, she paused and put a hand into her pocket. She withdrew one of Karuta's Hyperballs, the shrunken pokeball gripped firmly in her palm.
"Here's your damn Arbok. I hope it dies of exposure from Kyuuden's shock." A darker part of Nozomi's mind was glad to see a look of shocked rage flash across Karuta's face.
"Get out!"
Nozomi threw the Hyper Ball hard at Karuta. Even injured, his reflexes were still good enough to catch the ball before it impacted with his head.
"You're welcome y'know. You're not light and it was seven miles to get here."
"Get out!"
Nozomi glared a moment longer, then turned and hurried down the hall. After almost running into one of the many Chansey that helped run the hospital, she dashed down the hallway as fast as she could. Hot tears stang her eyes as she ran, fighting back the urge to turn back and beat Karuta into a pulp.
Kyuuden, Yumigata, and Tsuriau were in the lobby, sitting in a few of the many chairs and looking worried. When Nozomi raced past them in a huff, they each exchanged worried glances before heading down the direction she came from, Kyuuden quickly taking the lead in the rush to tend to his wounded friend.
*****
Four days passed.
Karuta, much against his will, had stayed in the hospital. His injury was worse than he excused it as when he tried to leave, as he had multiple fractures in located in his hand, humerus, and clavical. Despite this, escape attempts were unnervingly frequent. During on of Karuta's more daring breaks for freedom of his hospital bed, Karuta simply walked towards the exit, fist and feet swinging at anyone who tried to stop him. It took both his fighting pokemon as well as several doctorts to fully restrain him, though they all came out worse for the wear than Karuta had. At another time, the unwilling man stunned the faculty by vaulting from his window and making a dash for the fence. The only reason this was stunning was because Karuta's room was on the second story of the hospital.
In anycase, Karuta had seemed to have given up on escaping, finding that the freshly built cast along his arm and the thick leather straps tying him to his bed were actually rather comfortable when threatened with injections to 'calm his nerves', as the stressed nurses so nicely phrased it.
"Okay, okay! I'm sorry already!"
A startled nurse's shrieks were commonplace in Karuta's section of the hospital. The poor nurse in question dashed from Karuta's room, an airborne bedpan flying past her head as she slammed his door shut. Another nurse sighed and shook her head a little as the younger woman gasped and cursed under her breath from Karuta's actions.
"How in the world did that guy throw that many things with his feet!? He still had his shoes on, for heaven's sake!" the nurse grumbled as the other nurse tried vainly to stifle a laugh. "Something funny?"
"No, nothing. I've got to check on Karuta-san's cast to make sure he hasn't tried to chisel it open again."
"Good luck. You have any clue how he got it open last time?"
"Doctors said he chewed through it."
"Maybe we should've had him put into the Psych ward instead...."
Smothering another laugh, the nurse cautiously entered Karuta's room. Her co-worker briefly crossed herself and prayed for the other woman's safe return.
Just like always, Karuta had the lights turned out. They were far too harsh for his sensitive sight, which happened to be hindered slightly from his lack of glasses since they rested on the table next to his bed. He had a terrible headache now and his glasses only made it worse, so he refused to put them on, even to see correctly.
"Good morning! How's my favorite patient this lovely day?"
Karuta only stared blankly at the nurses' leg. She looked hesitant for a moment, looking down at her leg as well. After confirming that there was nothing on her pantyhose, she looked to Karuta.
"What are you staring at?"
"You leg."
"Why?"
"I want to break it. At least by the next time you act all peppy with me."
The nurse instantly sombered. She knew that Karuta was dangerous and wasn't about to risk her personal safety over a morning greeting.
"Well, you're certainly cheerful today." She grumbled sarcastically.
"Oh yeah, I'm just a ray of -frikkin'- sunshine here."
The nurse went to work checking Karuta' cast for cracks, tears, bite marks, and other various means of escape for Karuta to exploit. Satisfied with her search, she looked down at the reclining young man, scratching her head a little.
"Excuse me...."
"No."
"....How did you cause so much damage to your arm in the first place? The doctors woun't tell us 'low-rank's.' Care to fill in the blanks for me?"
"....
"....Meowths and Pidgeots...."
~~
Outside Olivine City, a wonderful battle raged. Fists flew and punches delt as the two combatants struggled to gain the upper hand over each other. A few blows to the furry white chest of the Primape filled the human girl with a sense of pride. She was promptly put into a headlock by the pokemon, but slipped out and tripped the pokemon up.
It was about time that Noxomi started to learn something.