Chapter 4: Something she ate?
(From the perspective of the Ninetales, Kitsune)
I felt the sensation of fur rubbing against my fur, a wondrous thing I had been without for so very long. It was so heartening, so soothing, it reminded me of how much I loved my parents, and how I promised that I would make sure humans would never cause pain to another like they caused me by killing my parents through their carelessness.
Something was certainly wrong about the fur rubbing against mine. No matter how much I liked it, it wasn't meant to be happening. I knew that there was no other furred creature traveling with us. I might not have even realised this if it wasn't for the fact the fur was a bit rougher than a Ninetales'. I could tell that there wasn't any immediate danger but suddenly I was worried, not about myself but for Lilac. I could smell that she was nearby but that wasn't enough for me.
I opened my eyes to see the light glistening off dew drops in some nearby short grass. There was a group of unfamiliar brown furred Pokemon that were laying around dozing in the morning sun, and a group of unfamiliar butterfly-like Pokemon that were lazily flying around drinking nectar from some rather large flowers. It was truly what should be called a beautiful, peaceful day, but I felt a bit light headed and in need of a bit more sleep.
No, I had to get up; there was something odd about this whole day so far.
I suddenly felt like standing up would be a bad idea, because somewhere deep in my mind was telling me that I would quickly regret standing up. It wouldn't tell me why though. Since sudden instincts like that usually are right, I had to have another glance at my surroundings first, just to see if I could figure out what had given me that feeling. It could not be reacting to a sense I did not have. Hopefully I would soon be able to discount it as just tiredness.
I looked carefully at one of the nearby sleeping creatures, it had thick cream vertical stripes on it's brown fur, it's front legs were in one of those stripes making them cream coloured, and a black band of fur went across it's eyes. It's legs did look a bit short though I was almost certain that was only an illusion caused by the long fur but I could not see why it would need thick fur to begin with.
The fur rubbing against mine must have been another one of those creatures!
I leapt to my feet in shock, instantly hearing the cries of those whom were waking up beside me due to my abrupt stand.
Then I knew what my instincts were trying to tell me, there wasn't an external reason, and I could feel the partially digested meal from last night come up my throat. I spewed it all up over the grass in front of me. Luckily the creatures around me didn't get hit. It was clearly beyond boiling and the grass directly around it wilted before catching on fire.
"Kitsune!" the familiar, yet very panicked, voice of Lilac called out. Clearly I was wrong to worry about her this time, "are you alright? I should have noticed something was wrong when you woke up earlier and didn't seem hungry after not eating for a whole day… I just was more interested in these Zigzagoon. Apparently last night you saved one of them which explains why you were gone for a while."
I felt Lilac's arms go around my neck. I could tell that tears were running down her cheeks without even looking. I felt weak and probably was doing a very poor job of hiding it from her as I was having trouble staying on my feet.
The memories of the pervious night came flowing back to me…
I had gone out hunting, as I hadn't eaten in days. In fact the hunger almost made me hurt Lilac. It had certainly made me unable to resist playing with her without becoming distant in thought, though Lilac clearly was unable to see that hunger as I'm good at hiding such discomfort even from myself. I remember being unable to smell the scents of any familiar Pokemon species in the area, especially not any of suitable prey except that of the occasional human that had past through the area. I just picked up a random scent and followed it, as I knew if I just waited around my hunger would force me to feed on Lilac's flesh.
I ended up at a den site containing
some small black dog-like Pokemon. My instincts cried out that it was
wrong to eat them for some reason, like they always
did when I
thought of eating things like Eevees or Growliths. That would have
been enough to stop me, but I was so confused by all the unfamiliar
scents that I thought that it would be the best I could find.
By the time their mother, a larger black dog-like Pokemon, found me, all her pups were long dead and I was just starting to burry the leftover remains. I don't blame her for being upset, she had in her mouth an injured Zigzagoon and since it was still alive I can assume that she was teaching them how to kill.
She was surprised enough to give me an opportunity to attack first. It was a quick fight. The mother got away with injuries that would slowly kill her and I still wonder whether the howl she let out while she ran had a meaning I couldn't pick up or was just distorted from blood loss.
There must be a better reason why I feel ill, though it was not one I could figure out with the information I currently had and recovering from it was currently far more important.
At least the Zigzagoon had a good reason for being around, they were certainly intelligent enough to realise that a creature that seriously injures one of those who prey upon them is good to hang out with. If they had known the true circumstances then maybe they wouldn't be so calm around me.
"Quick get some water, hopefully it's not too late to dilute whatever toxins is making Kitsune ill," Lilac called out to the Zigzagoon, and amazingly enough they barely hesitated for a moment even though they were being ordered by a human to bring water to a fire type Pokemon, "look Kitsune, water may be dangerous for a fire Pokemon but it will slow down the progression of whatever ails you so we can get to the Pokemon Centre for proper treatment. I'm sure it won't cause any serious damage."
I watched all but one of the Zigzagoon run off. The one remaining showed signs of injury, most likely the same one whom I saved from being dinner and also likely the one who gathered the rest of them around me… yes, they were probably a lot quieter than they would be but earlier they were probably being quiet so as to not wake me and now they were probably to busy to talk because of me.
"Now tell me how you know what your doing and why the Zigzagoon are willing to do what you say," I replied feebly, I could feel myself getting weaker but relying on a human would still be risky, "Even though I'm a powerful Ninetales you can't expect water to have no negative effect on me. Unlike for most others water doesn't hurt me as much but still drinking water has some uncomfortable effects. Last time I did such a thing it caused me to have diarrhea and made me… um… mark my territory a lot more than usual."
"Well that's just your system being washed out by it, which is what I'm hoping for to remove the toxins," she said seeming a lot more confident, "most Pokemon filter toxins they can't neutralise out of their systems with their kidneys in a process that requires water. Even some fire Pokemon stick to the same method, though they have developed it to be faster and require a lot less water, thus reducing the amount of water in their bodies and how long it stays there, which in turn reduces the risks and the energy used to keep the water a liquid at their high body temperatures."
"Also since you claim to not be effected by water much it probably means you were exposed to water at a very young age, so you were able to adapt to it," she continued, "sure such a thing would have ruined your ability to breath fire, but it also greatly reduces the other risks of drinking water which usually could be quite fatal for a fire Pokemon. Of course those fire Pokemon that can't cleanse their body of toxins with their kidneys usually fall ill and die if they are forced to adapt to water as their toxin removal system relies on a almost constant external flame which is disrupted by the adaptation."
One thing that could be said for the Zigzagoons was that they were fast, already they had returned with water in some rather large leaves though where they got such leaves was a little unclear.
I began to drink the water offered to me. Though Lilac couldn't have known about it I probably was only poisoned last night, so it was quite likely that very little of it had been absorbed into my body. The effects were already bad and if it were allowed to be fully absorbed things would probably get much worse.
I'd have to suffer the effects of the water. The effects couldn't be too bad compared to the alternative since there couldn't be much else left in my body to wash out.
I drunk all the water I could manage; once I had drunken all the water off one leaf the Zigzagoon put another one in front of me. The water was colder than I expected and caused a burning sensation in my stomach.
"Look we better get moving. If you let the water settle in your belly it'll do more harm than good," Lilac giggled, as she put her arms behind her head and started walking away from me, "I know I'll probably be given a big lecture at the Pokemon Centre if I say what happened so it'd be best if you try to get as much of that water out of your system before we get there."
She turned to look towards me though her gaze fell on the Zigzagoon, "You lot should really stay here. Kitsune is already a bit too much for me to handle and if I end up looking too incompetent at caring for Pokemon I'll never be allowed to be responsible for one again."
After numerous incidences caused by the water leaving my system, we finally reached Oldale Town.
I could clearly see that it was hardly a true town, I may know little about human society but when a place looks like it was built around a Pokemon Centre it is certain to lack the environmental impact that I would usually expect from any other human settlement. When we got closer I could smell that the air was still clean, confirming this was the rare type of human settlement that I didn't consider offensive and in need of removal.
We both went straight to the Pokemon Centre and entered it through the self-opening doors that squeaked quietly. It wasn't that impressive, there were a few other humans around but none stood out very much except one female who was sitting down dressed in a black hooded cloak that hid all her features from view and all that made her stand out was that I had a strange feeling about her.
"Your Pokemon are in perfect health," another female human called as she appeared from through a doorway, presumably for some back room, carrying two red and white balls. Poke balls, the devices that could convert a Pokemon into energy and trap it within the tiny ball.
The female I saw earlier got up and walked to grab the balls before heading towards the door we had just come in through.
Over the noise of the humans talking I caught the sound of a human device talking in a female human voice: "…We have more information on the massacre of a dozen Team Aqua and Team Magma members on Route 103. The police force have found evidence that it was not as we all first feared, it was not caused by the two gangs declaring war on each other again but instead caused by one person. Judging from the lack of any more evidence, this person was an expert assassin though we have no idea of the motive behind these killings…"
After listening to that, we had passed the cloaked lady and she was halfway to the door when I heard her mutter, "Damn police, they always get in the way of me reigniting old conflicts," of course her voice was far too quiet for any human to have heard it.
"Lilac, I think that lady is someone we should avoid," I growled quietly, "She had something to do with the murders."
"So she's the one who killed those gang members," Lilac whispered, fear tainted her voice; "I just hope we can tell someone without her finding out."
A chill ran down my spine, like something had suddenly gone horribly wrong, like the lady heard what Lilac had said. I glanced behind me and the lady had vanished, there had been no squeak of the door opening and the air was suddenly filled with a powerful vanilla scent. Clearly something to make it impossible to track someone.
"Hi, I assume your Nurse Joy of Oldale town," Lilac asked the lady from the back room nervously, probably fearing what would happen if the lady found out that she let me fall ill, "I'm Lilac and this is Kitsune," She gestured with her hands towards me, "I would like for her to have a full check up."
I could see the look on the Nurse's face. I had heard that while keeping small Pokemon out of poke balls was fine, a large one was a whole different story. But it was something she would never point out.
She gestured for me to follow her into the back room and I started to follow but I quickly turned around when I realised Lilac wasn't following us and grabbed her hand in my mouth and pulled her after me. I must have pieced her skin because the delicious taste of blood filled my mouth.
"Sorry it seems Kitsune is a little shy and stubborn," Lilac giggled, indicating silently that I should go without her because that was how it was done. She hid the pain of her injured hand quite well for a human.
Of course I had no intention of leaving her alone with the possibility that we had made a mysterious enemy in the last few minutes and… well… the prospect of being examined by a human wasn't very high on my list of things I would be happy to do. Maybe being stubborn by trying to drag Lilac with me would make it impossible for the examination to take place.
