Hey, everyone! Ta-Ni here, back after a LONG time away. I apologize first and foremost; I;ve been stuck on this story for quite a while, but I think I'm making some progress now. So, here you go!
For a few days, I travelled this way: hiding in the tall grass during the day, drawing strength from the sun's warmth, and then dodging campsites and trainers during the night. I feel I was making good progress; the mountain seemed to grow larger every morning. I remained cautious, though; I knew it was still a long way off, and anything can happen.
Then, one night, my luck ran out. I came across a patch of woods that seemed deserted; no campfires or tents were anywhere in sight. Instead of being wary of the lack of trainers, I relaxed my guard. Finally, I thought. A brief respite from dodging humans. I walked calmly from the tall grass and into the shadows of the trees.
I barely left the edge when a sharp bark brought me up short, followed by a gruff voice from the darkness. "Halt, intruder. You have trespassed on pack land. Leave now, or face the consequences!" I thought about turning around, but since I was newly-evolved and eager to test my strength, my emotions were still skewed. Instead, I purposefully stepped forward.
The voice called out again, "You have ignored our warning; now you reap the penalty!" A large black dog with horns materialized from the shadows, flanked by two other similar dogs and several smaller ones behind him, probably pups. Great, I thought. Houndoom and houndour, both fire and dark types. Wait, how did I know that? Seeing myself severely outnumbered and facing other fire-types, my bravado failed and I took a step back. "A-a-actually, I'm only passing through; I don't mean to trespass…"
"SILENCE!" the lead houndoom roared. "Ignorance is no excuse; we have held these lands for many years, and all the Pokémon and humans know not to tread here. For any not of the pack or of another species, to set paw on our land is punishable by death!" With that, he charged forward, teeth charged with dark energy.
I quickly dodged out of the way, all my battling practice with Nana paying off. Taking a chance, I charged fire energy in my mouth, and unleashed it at the houndoom. Luckily, it appeared he had a different ability from me, as the he yelped in pain as the fire scorched his fur. He glared balefully at me in return, and my muscles locked up in fear, leaving me paralyzed. I could do nothing as he turned his whip-like tail to metal and lashed it across my face.
I reeled back, barely muffling my whimper of pain, and licked the blood from my muzzle. Growling, I charged at him and swung my tails at him, using the same move he used before. However, he jumped out of the way, and my iron-laden tails thudded into the forest floor, stunning me for a moment. That's all he needed to slash across my side with his paw. Shadowy claws dug into my flank, leaving three long gashes bleeding into my fur. He struck again on my other side, mirroring the first strike.
The pain was too intense, and I had to whimper aloud, causing him to chuckle in delight. "You were foolish to come here, and foolish to resist us. Now, die like the pathetic dog you really are!" A large ball of shadowy energy formed in front of him, and I just stood there, closing my eyes as I awaited my death.
"Sylveon, Moonblast!" My eyes snapped open at the familiar voice.
Out of nowhere, a large ball of pink energy cannoned into the houndoom, knocking him sideways and causing the shadow ball to shoot just over my head. From the bushes, an odd creature jumped in front of me: it looked a white dog, but with pink and blue ribbons trailing from it. Closely behind it, a young human walked out and pointed at the stunned houndoom. "Again!" he called, and the creature charged another pink ball and shot it at the houndoom.
The second shot sent the houndoom flying into the nearest tree, knocking him unconscious instantly. The other houndooms and houndours turned to the other creature and charged forward, but it waved its ribbons at them and a pink-sparkly wind blew them into the bushes. "There, that's them taken care of," the creature said, revealing it to be a female. Is this the…Syl-veon?...that the human spoke of? I thought. "How rude of them, to attack someone en mass."
I collapsed on the ground, my injuries starting to take their toll; my vision began fading in and out. My sides ached, and my golden fur was streaked and stained with my blood. She turned and barked something to the human, and I saw him pull out a ball. I growled loudly, startling him before he could throw it; I was NOT getting caught! The Sylveon looked at me in surprise and said, "Why are you being so rude to my master? He's only trying to help you."
"Humans…evil…don't trust…" I managed to say, barely able to stay awake; everything was starting to blur together. She turned back to her trainer and barked something I couldn't understand, and he put the fuzzy ball away. He pulled out a different blur, one that was all white, and tossed it in my direction. However, before it hit me, I blacked out.
And there you go! What's gonna happen to Sol now? Find out next time!
And a reminder to everyone, I'm still taking new characters on my forum group, Eon Village, so please check it out!
Read, review, and may your Ember never fade.
