I did not write the following chapter, but instead it was written by a fan of this fic, who goes by the name of GoGoTenda. He sent this wonderful work and with me making a few adjustments to my plot, and him having to make a few adjustments to this work, I managed to fit it in. It's great to have things like this to fall back on when taking a break.
Anyone who wants to submit things they want me to fit into this fic (Like GoGoTenda did) can email them to me at this address: Kawaii.kyuubi.
Chapter 17: Plots and Schemes
Bleary eyes opened and stared up towards the sky. The world around him was foggy, but it slowly regained its typical sharpness as the metal bird blinked a few times. His great beak opened in a yawn, and he stretched his wings. Or, just one of them. Rightly confused, Thorn attempted to move his stationary wing, but began to panic when he could not spread his feathers apart, "What's going on? Something is wrong…wait, are they melted together!" his voice rose in a mix of anger and yet more confusion. Such a thing had never happened to him, and he didn't remember when it might have occurred. Frantic, Thorn leapt to a standing position and desperately tried to move his left wing, which failed to move an inch. He squawked a few words that would have made other pokemon blush. After more failed attempts, Thorn's mind went to the next step: find Ryan. Thorn began to run through the rooms, looking for his trainer.
Ryan was lying on a simple bed, reading what appeared to be a trainer's magazine. His face was in fact red from hearing Thorn's outburst, but he had yet to notice the actual problem, "Thorn, you know saying those sorts of things aren't all that bright. Lilac could have understood you had she been in the room." Ryan turned a page and continued reading as Thorn stood beside him, dumbfounded. The trainer seemed to look past the paper for a moment, then reached for a new pokeball that was beside him. "Oh yeah, I almost forgot. This morning I went and got-"
"Ryan! You pathetic idiot of a trainer! Look at what someone did to my wing!" Thorn forced his left side into Ryan's line of sight.
Ryan seemed to study the damage for a minute before his jaw dropped slightly, "The whole wing is melted together. Doesn't that hurt? A lot?" Ryan began to question Thorn, pushing himself up from the bed and moving towards the door out of the room.
Knowing that Ryan would help now, Thorn began to relax, "Not really. I've been trying to move it, but it hasn't been hur-ARGH!" Ryan ran his finger down the length of the wing, causing Thorn's entire body to go rigid with pain. The skarmory's breathing became faster and louder, then gently slowed and returned to normal as the pain subsided, "that one hurt."
"Come on, Thorn. We should go talk to the Nurse," Ryan opened the door fully and allowed Thorn to enter the hall. Thorn ran down the hallway as Ryan closed the door and then followed at a reasonable clip. The bird skidded to a stop in the lobby area and headed for the Nurse's reception desk. Ryan was right behind him and hit the bell when he reached the desk itself. Within seconds, Nurse Joy had appeared while Thorn shifted anxiously the whole while, "um, miss? It looks like someone melted my Skarmory's wing. Is there anything we can do?"
"That's awful! Their feathers can get damaged from heat in battle, but this is a fairly severe case," Nurse Joy walked out from around the counter and kneeled next to Thorn. She gently tried to lift the wing from the body, watching Thorn's face as he fought to contain a shriek, "this had to be intentional…but yes, I can treat this. There's a fairly simple operation but, unfortunately, it isn't free," Ryan nodded, and Thorn pulled his wing from the woman's fingers, "if you'd like, I can give you an estimate…?"
"No, that's okay. Just please go ahead and do the operation. I'll be able to pay in full." Ryan smiled timidly, which was returned by Joy. She motioned for them to follow into a back room, and they obeyed. Thorn was helped onto an operating table, lying on his stomach with his mangled wing easily accessible. Joy explained the basics of the procedure and recommended that Ryan allowed Thorn to be put under. Thorn gave Ryan a look that said that he would prefer it to be pain-free, and Ryan agreed to an anesthetic. As Thorn felt his eyelids begin to droop, he felt Ryan's hand on the top of his head and faintly heard a few words which he assumed to be comforting. Then, everything was as black as night.
He was out of the operating room in the same day, but with a large amount of cloth bandage around his newly reformed wing. After taking a short nap to combat the aftereffects of the pain killer, Thorn was brought a few pieces of fruit by Ryan (who refused to let Thorn know how much the operation had cost). He tried to listen as Ryan explained what was going to happen the rest of the day, but zoned in and out. What Ryan really said was as follows:
"Thorn, I'm going to leave you here with pretty much all the other pokemon with us right now. Lilac, Bug, and I are going into town to buy a few things and so I can get the badge from the Dewford Gym. We shouldn't be gone all that long; the battle will be quick and shopping should be short. Sketch will be here in case you need anything, and so will someone else. I was about to tell you this morning before I noticed what was wrong. Anyway, this morning I went and had Cinder transferred from Elm's to the Center. I thought that Cinder would really like to be with us instead of at the Lab, and he agreed whole-heartedly. He's in charge while I'm gone, so listen to him. Otherwise, just try to rest so you can heal. It's okay if you aren't in battle shape for Slateport, but we could use our ace at Fortree. Sleep well, Thorn," after stroking the Skarmory's beak a few times, Ryan was off to the gym with Lilac and Bug in tow. Almost immediately, Thorn fell asleep.
"Hey, Thorn, how are you doing?" the Skarmory's eyes opened and were greeted with an actually welcome sight. A large Typhlosion, naturally imposing, was smiling down at him with the most un-fearsome expression possible. Thorn managed a tiny laugh while still under the effects of the drug, "heh heh…Hi there, Cinder," Cinder chuckled and sat down next to the metal bird, sending small vibrations through the ground. The vibrations caused Thorn's free wing shake slightly, and his feathers made a sound like windchimes, "so, that ninetales go the best of you, huh? Well, you did try to bite her tail off…all's fair in love and war, I suppose."
"It was not war, and it definitely isn't love. She's a demon in fox's clothing, perhaps the very epitome of evil."
"Aw, Thorn has a girlfriend," Cinder reached over and punched Thorn gently in the shoulder, drawing his hand back quickly when Thorn playfully snapped at him, "ooh, I might just lose a finger from the love bird," they laughed a bit, but Thorn stopped and winced when his wing start to hurt.
"What did Ryan tell you so far? You obviously already know what happened today," Thorn grimaced and fought back the pain that threatened to bring him to tears.
"Well, he told me why we're here. He also told me everything he knew about Lilac and her pokemon. Like, he told me that that Biohazard would probably do something idiotic within seconds of them leaving. The umbreon did so, and is now lying in a peaceful sleep with Sketch and the pichu nearby. Katar said some thoroughly uninteresting premonition type things before running off. I believe Omega is with him, and Kitsune is down there with Sketch as well. Probably still recovering from what you did to her, she is. Ryan said he was going to the gym with Lilac and Bug, and that they would be gone for awhile because of a few things Lilac wanted to pick u,." Thorn sighed as Cinder confirmed his fear that the two trainers really were too far away to help in case things got bad. Sensing this and that Thorn still needed rest, Cinder stood up to leave, "I'm going to go make sure that Sketch and the pichu are alright. We don't need anymore injuries, do we?" with that, the typhlosion walked a little ways away and down the side of a hill. Apparently, Ryan had left Thorn on top of a small hill so that he would be able to watch what was going on without being close enough to be disturbed. There was also a gentle breeze that carried the scent of all the pokemon down below.
Cinder reached the clearing where most of the others were gathered. Sketch and the pichu, whom Sketch had begun a habit of calling "Chu Chu", were rolling across the grass as Sketch laughed childishly. Though the Pichu couldn't emulate the sound, happiness was evident in the way it moved and smiled. Shifting his gaze to Biohazard, Cinder sighed and then moved on to someone less asleep. Kitsune was watching him with one eye, apparently trying to rest still. Hoping to start things off well with the fox, Cinder spoke, "I'm sorry about what Thorn did to you. Sometimes, he just gets really carried away. He won't bother you now that you melted his feathers together."
The large pokemon turned his head and caught Sketch's eyes with his own. As the smeargle smiled broadly and broke away from Chu, Cinder charged and gave a mock roar. He caught Sketch's legs with his arms and lifted the smeargle into the air and then held him so that Sketch dangled behind him. Sketch was laughing wildly with excitement, thrilled to be able to play with Cinder again. Eventually, Cinder gently dropped Sketch, who landed gracefully and then charged the typhlosion. He wrapped his arms around the bulk before him and pushed with all his might. After a minute or so, Sketch collapsed at Cinder's feet, panting heavily; Cinder had yet to move or even break a sweat. "Good try, Sketch. You'll get there eventually," Chu had been standing off to the side, watching the two roughhouse. Sketch staggered to his feet and then rushed Chu, who let out a tiny charge in surprise before turning tail and leading Sketch away.
Over near Kitsune, a lone figure stepped out of the bushes. It was Katar, and he held a vaguely unnerving air about him. Cinder was suspicious of the absol, his motives, and his intent. Katar bent to speak into Kitsune's ear, and both her eyes opened in apparent surprise. Katar smiled a devil's smile and darted off the way he had come. Kitsune quickly stood and followed after him with great speed; she would not let her reputation be falsely destroyed. Cinder watched them go without any idea of what Katar had said, but he assumed that it was really nothing to worry about and went back to watching Sketch and Chu.
In a few minutes, Omega burst from the way Kitsune had went with an apparently frantic look, "Hurry, come quick! I saw Kitsune with a whole bunch of Sketch's stuff. I didn't like the look in her eye either, I think she's jealous," Cinder raised an eyebrow, but heard Sketch break from his mock fight with Chu and scamper over to where Omega stood. The dog was shifting as if nervous, or with excitement.
Chu ran over to stand next to Sketch, who looked at Omega and spoke, "Show me where!" There was a tone of anger in Sketch's voice that Cinder had heard only on a few occasions. Wait, I thought Ryan said that Sketch was afraid of Omega? He must be really upset to override something like that. Omega was visibly startled at Sketch's defiance of fear, but began to run deeper into the wood nonetheless. It didn't take long before they found what Omega had been talking about. Kitsune was standing over a number of Sketch's paintings, and all of them were ablaze.
"Oh, crap," were the only words Cinder could think of.
Kitsune turned to look at the crowd and attempted to explain, "this wasn't me. Katar said I would be framed, and I had to protect my reputa-" Sketch was already running towards with a shout of pure rage. Quickly, Cinder lunged and managed to grab Sketch by the scruff. Thinking that Sketch was disabled, Cinder almost toppled over when the smeargle began to drag him towards Kitsune.
Cinder shouted, "Omega! Grab him or something! He's going to tear her apart!" Omega hesitated before pouncing on Sketch, knocking him to the ground. Cinder's grip broke, and Sketch began to roll through the dirt with Omega on top of him. For the first time that he could remember, Cinder was watching Sketch actually snarl at another Pokemon, and then heard a yelp which he thought to be Omega's. The dust finally settled, and Omega was holding Sketch down with his teeth on the back of the Smeargle's neck, "good you got him…wait, are you bleeding, Omega?" a tiny trickle of red was running down Omega's right leg. Sketch was still struggling slightly, but stopped completely when he felt Omega nibbling the back of his neck.
"Kitsune, do you know what could have happened? If Omega hadn't attacked Sketch, you could have lost your head. Quite literally, in fact. Why would you destroy his paintings?" at that last phrase, Sketch struggled angrily against Omega's weight, but failed to free himself.
"I told you, I didn't. Katar said I was going to be framed, so I came here to stop that from happening," Kitsune stepped away from the smoldering remains of the paintings, and Omega shifted uncomfortably, "it had to be Katar. He would have made his own prediction come true by setting this up."
"If you were going to be framed, why did you follow him instead of staying where you were? We can't be sure if any of what you said was true. You could just be blaming Katar for what you did, using him as a convenient scapegoat just because he isn't around," Cinder realized what he was saying, and was startled when he realized just how absent the absol was. Kitsune might be telling the truth. The real criminal secrets himself away while setting up someone at least a little more innocent to take the blame…
"Of course I'm here. I'm always around where there's trouble," Katar's voice spoke from above them, yawning slightly. The absol was perched on a tree branch, watching the group with half-interest, "Kitsune, I only told you what you'd end up saying. It doesn't change whether you burned the paintings or not. I can't get visions of the non-living."
It was then that Sketch twisted his neck suddenly and clamped his teeth into Omega's forepaw. The Mightyena yowled and released his grip on the Smeargle's neck. Sketch wriggled out from under him and then charged at Kitsune. His hands glowed before they elongated into shining blades of light: the guillotine attack. Cinder remembered the day that Sketch had learned the attack, which Ryan basically forbid to be used. A trainer had called out a Pinsir while Sketch was battling for Ryan. Predicting an attack completely different, Ryan had told Sketch to imprint the next move with the Smeargle signature attack. When the Pinsir used and failed to hit with guillotine, Sketch automatically used Sketch (the attack) in response. And now he was using the deadly move against Kitsune. Sketch swung his right arm towards Kitsune's throat when Omega blurted out "It wasn't her! It was Katar…and me. But mostly Katar, because he's the one who thought of this whole plan. Kitsune is innocent," Sketch had stopped his attack mid-swing, the very tip of the blade lightly touching Kitsune's neck. A single drop of red ran down the blade and fell to the ground. The guillotine disappeared and Sketch collapsed to the ground, panting.
"Omega! It was just about to get good, and you had to go and tell everyone the truth," Katar leapt from the tree branch and landed gracefully on the ground, immediately next to Cinder. Cinder growled at him, but Katar merely stepped a little away from the typhlosion and otherwise ignored the threat. The exhausted Sketch looked at him with a tired anger that manifested itself in tiny cross hairs in his eyes. Katar noticed them and knew what they were: Lock-On. Immediately, wind began to whirl around the area, gathering at a spot in front of Katar. Sketch lifted a hand and directed it at the Absol, muttering "Sheer Cold", while Katar swiped the blade on his head forward in response.
In a flash, Kitsune had leapt onto Sketch and completely enveloped him and herself with her tails. Each tail was glowing with the power of Iron Tail. Katar's Razor Wind whipped towards them, slamming into Kitsune's shield and then continuing around it. Cinder grabbed Chu in his arms and turned his back to the weakened but still powerful wind. Omega tumbled a bit before managing to stand up against the force, and even Cinder was moved a few inches. When the huge amount of dust that had been stirred had settled, nothing remained of Katar except a chunk of ice where he had been standing last.
Kitsune stepped off of Sketch, who stood shakily and threw his arms around his protector. There was a sobbing sound, and Kitsune felt the strange feeling of water against her perfect fur. There was also a sort of aching from one of her tails. She turned her head to look, and saw the damage that Katar had caused. The one tail that Thorn had injured was bleeding because it wasn't able to use Iron Tail completely. Cinder made sure Chu was still with him and then walked to where Kitsune and Sketch were. Omega followed with his head and tail bowed a little, "Is everyone okay, at least for the most part?" Cinder had noticed Kitsune's tail and gave her an apologetic look before touching it with one finger. The tail pulled away and Kitsune tried not to growl in response to the pain, "Kitsune, we can't go to the pokecenter for this because we don't have a trainer. You or I could cauterize it, or we can look for something to put on it. Otherwise, I think we'll have to wait for Ryan and Lilac to return."
Thorn sighed. It had been a while since Cinder had left, and nothing exciting had happened. A lone Zigzagoon had wandered up to the hill, but had frozen when it noticed Thorn. After a few minutes of the Zigzagoon standing motionless, it had decided that Thorn was not a threat, and had continued on its way. INot a threat. What a fool. If I wasn't hurt, he would have gone running home instead that little prancing walk thing it did. Thorn snorted as he remembered the incident, then turned his thoughts elsewhere. This injury Kitsune caused has made me miss yet another Gym, and I probably won't be needed in Slateport either. I'll need to find a way to pay her back for this…but how? That pichu seems to be some sort of plaything to her, but is far too important when compared to prey that any predator would play with. I could tell her that we'd be even if she promises to leave the pichu alone and just let me take it from her. Or I could always try to get close to Lilac; I can tell how much that'd make Kitsune squirm. There's always the plan for me to get both her and Cinder at the same time. Kitsune for obvious reasons, and Cinder because of that love crack. We'll see who's in love once I enact my revenge. Thorn laughed a sort of evil laugh, then laid his head down and chuckled himself to sleep.
