A Tale of Two Sisters
Season One
Episode III: A Long Night
Seasonal Theme: 【Norowareta Night】Red Heart By Divinel on Youtube
"You're a genius Wally," He grumbled to himself, arms holding his sides tightly for warmth as he moved through the dark forest. Every gust of wind from the coast sending a shiver through him, "Don't run away during the nice warm daylight hours, wait until the nice cold night rolls in."
Okay, so maybe running off in the dark wasn't the greatest idea he'd ever had. But he had to get on the road. And now that he'd begun this journey, he wasn't going to stop until he reached the end. And that meant enduring the cold weather, braving the elements and becoming a true pokemon trainer!
Wait a second, pokemon!
"I-I could maybe catch another pokemon!" Wally realized, suddenly stopping and looking around him for any sign of the creatures, "M-Maybe get a fire type... But, would I even find one around here?" He wondered, slowly moving further up the trail. Supposedly Rustboro was on the other side of the Forest, but he had no idea how far away that was from here. He felt like he'd been walking for hours, but he might not have even been on the right path...
"Ugh, I'm no good at this exploring thing." He sighed and slouched a bit, before looking up at a flicker of light through the trees. Blinking to make sure he'd really seen it, the young boy started off at a run towards the lights. Clinging to the hope that maybe he was closer to the city than he'd realized! He was just breaking through the brush when he hit something hard. Knocking him flat on his back, but he was surrounded by light, the crackle of a fire nearby.
"Ngh! Ow that smarts," He groaned, rubbing his head as he opened his eyes and looked up to see just what he'd hit. Eyes widening in shock as he realized it was the girl from before! Her hand raised in a fist, as she looked down at him quizzically, "I-Its you!"
"Sheesh Wally, I'm starting to think you might have a problem." She sighed, shaking her head before turning and walking back to the small campfire and bedroll she had laid out, "What the heck are you doing all the way out here anyways?"
Wally slowly got back to his feet, dusting himself off before responding, "I uh... I-I guess I did what you said, I-I took the leap." He stammered nervously.
She tilted her head, cocking an eyebrow, "Meaning?..."
He blushed lightly, looking down at his hands, "I uh, ran away from home... To become a pokemon trainer."
His eyes darted back up as she snorted with laughter, "Wow really? I mean, I didn't think you'd actually do anything with that advice!"
"W-Well I did," He sighed, taking a seat on the ground to rest his tired legs, "And well... Here I am now."
"Following me?"
He yelped, waving his hands defensively, "N-No! I-I was trying to get to Rustboro, and I saw a light so... I followed it here." He shrugged.
"Relax, I'm just teasing." She chuckled, waving him off, "Man you're jumpy." She noted, kicking back on her bedroll with her hands behind her head, "Well whatever, its cold so feel free to chill by the fire... I'm heading that way too, might as well hit the road together." She shrugged.
Wally perked up a bit at that, "Really? I-I mean... I wouldn't want to impose, or slow you down..."
"I already said it was alright, don't look a gift Ponyta in the mouth." She replied simply, rolling over on her side, "Its late, I'm gonna get some sleep, you should too, we're leaving early."
"R-Right..." He nodded, pulling off his satchel bag and resting it down to be his pillow. It wasn't very comfortable sleeping out in the wilds like this, but it felt so much more fresh than that stuffy room he'd slept in before. He was just closing his eyes to try sleeping when something popped into his head, "H-Hey uh... Mind if I ask you something?"
"If it makes you go to sleep faster, sure."
"Why um... Why didn't you want to fight that rich kid?"
"..."
After a few seconds of uncomfortable silence, Wally nervously coughed, "S-Sorry I just-"
"Go to sleep Wally..."
He rolled over on his side, facing away from the fire and decided to just let it be for now, "Right... Ya know, I still don't know you're name."
"If I tell you, will you go to sleep?"
"Probably."
"... Aster."
. . .
"I can't sleep..."
It had been an hour since he laid down beside the fire. He could hear Aster snoozing soundly nearby, in fact, maybe her snoring was part of the reason he couldn't seem to fall asleep. But he knew it was probably not a good idea to put blame on the first person to help him out here. Actually, she'd helped him twice now... Maybe he could repay her, help find that friend of hers maybe?
Wally sighed as he sat up, looking up into the stars above. There was a lot of moonlight, too bad the trees prevented most of the light from getting through. He looked back down at the pokeball beside his bag, "Oh gosh, I haven't even fed you since lunch!" He realized with a gasp, grabbing the ball and releasing his tiny Ralts. He looked around curiously noticing the change in scenery.
"Hey buddy," He smiled, reaching into his bag and pulling out a small pouch of food, "Here, eat up... Sorry for the uh, late Dinner..." He chuckled nervously, handing Ralts individual pieces of food that the tiny pokemon eagerly munched on, "Lets just... Consider it an early breakfast, yeah." He smiled, continuing to feed him.
Though, after a few more bites the tiny pokemon seemed content. But with a twitch of his horn, the smile turned into a frown, sensing the conflict within Wally. And the high emotions of the days events.
"Hey don't worry about it," Wally assured, holding up his hands, "I'm fine... Just a little, anxious." Ralts tilted his head, before slowly climbing up onto Wally's shoulder and taking a seat, making him chuckle, "You're a funny little guy aren't you? Well, thanks for worrying about me." He sighed tiredly, looking at the fire. His gaze shifted however, as he saw a pair of eyes watching beyond the edge of light at their campsite.
He stiffened, gripped with fear as his mind envisioned every type of terrible monster that might be planning to swoop in and eat them. He didn't break eye contact, worried the creature might pounce the moment he looked away.
"A-Aster!" He said in a whisper, trying to wake her up. The creature was beyond her side of the fire, if it attacked it would be on top of her first, "Aster!"
"Ugh... Craps are you nocturnal or-"
"MOVE!"
"HRAAAAGH!" The beast roared, lunging forward and revealing its form as it made an attempt to attack Aster. Covered in white fur, with a big red nose and brown face with a deep red patch of fur in the middle. It had two narrow sharp claws on each hand.
Aster gasped, just barely managing to roll out of the way, "Wh- A Vigoroth!?"
Wally jumped to his feet as well, "You know what it is?"
"A very fast, very mean normal type!" She exclaimed, slinging her bag over her shoulder, "Lets get out of here!"
"No argument here!" Wally answered, grabbing his satchel and following her.
The pokemon's eyes darted to them as they began to run, snarling in anger before lunging once more. This time crashing through the fire, sending embers into the air and smothering the campfire. Wally gasped, diving forward and tackling Aster to the ground to prevent Vigoroth from hitting either of them.
"Gah! Sheesh this thing is mad!" She exclaimed, looking up from the ground.
"W-We might have to fight it," Wally replied, getting up slowly as Vigoroth turned to face them, roaring in anger and holding his razor sharp claws at the ready, "Ralts use Confusion!" He ordered, his tiny pokemon casting the move from his shoulder. Vigoroth narrowed his eyes, jumping into the trees to avoid the attack before lunging at Wally. The boy being saved Aster swept his legs out making him fall flat on his butt.
"This thing is way too high level for your Ralts, we need to run!" She scolded, grabbing his hand and pulling him up as Vigoroth turned on them once more.
"Its too fast, we'll never make it!" Wally argued, backing away and refusing to take his eyes off the creature, "Use your pokemon! Maybe if we tag team it-"
"No!" Aster snapped at him sharply, "I just... Just RUN FOR IT!" She turned tail, trying to make a break for it.
"W-Wait!" Wally tried to stop her, Vigoroth roaring and charging at Wally once more, "L-Lookout!" He grabbed Ralts, turning his back and holding Ralts to his chest for protection. The claws struck him from behind, making his howl in pain as he was sent flying, tumbling across the ground. He hissed in pain, trying to get up but was having a hard time breathing as the blow had knocked the wind out of him.
He couldn't see Aster anywhere, it was too dark to see beyond a few feet anyways. He managed to get up to his knees, Ralts beneath him looking up worriedly at Wally. The young boy panted heavily, shaking with fear as he heard the footsteps of Vigoroth grew closer. He winced in pain, reaching for his belt and grabbing the pokemon, "Ngh! G-Get in Ralts, at-at least you'll be safe..." He cringed, even as Ralts started to protest, he hit the button before sucking him inside. "Th-There... Safe..." Wally managed, before collapsing on the ground.
Just as he was about to pass out, he faintly saw a flash of light. Two great wings spreading, followed by a terrible screech. His eyes closing and fading into unconsciousness as the creature blasted towards him...
. . .
"Agh!" He sat upright in an instant, gasping for breath as his senses returned. Wally looked up, down and around before feeling the pain of his injuries, and collapsing back onto the soft bedroll, "Ngh! M-My back!" He hissed in pain.
"Stop moving so much and it won't hurt, idiot." Aster chimed in, sitting nearby where a new fire had been made.
Wally panted lightly, steadying himself as he looked around, "I'm... Alive?"
"Duh," Aster rolled her eyes, chomping on a few berries before tossing a juicy blue one to him, "Does this look like the afterlife?"
Wally took the berry, weakly biting into it. He could feel it energize him, it was an Oran Berry, if he remembered correctly, "B-But..." He groaned, slowly sitting up, "Where's Vigoroth? A-And that other monster, the one I saw just before passing out?"
Aster sighed heavily, reaching down and holding up her Pokeball, "That was... Aerodactyl..."
Wally blinked, realizing she hadn't run away. And she might very well be the only reason he was alive, "You... Fought Vigoroth?"
She shook her head slowly, "I just let out my pokemon..." She waved a hand around to draw attention to the surrounding area, "He did the rest."
"He did th-" Wally stopped, realizing that the forest had been torn asunder in their immediate area. Trees felled, some cut to pieces, and even chunks of earth had been uprooted, "A-Aerodactyl did all of this... B-But-" He narrowed his eyes, glaring at her, "If he could do all this than why did you wait to bring him out!? W-We could have been killed!"
"I'm sorry..." She looked down at the fire, "I just... Aerodactyl is... Hard to control."
Wally cocked an eyebrow, "What do you mean?"
"Ugh, I mean he doesn't always listen... And gets carried away," She scoffed, crossing her arms, "I didn't want him to hurt anyone so... I don't let him out."
Wally looked at his own pokeball for a moment, contemplating what he'd learned so far about pokemon. He sighed and slowly stood up on shaky legs. The sun was rising, they could find the road and get out of this forest, "You wanna rest before we keep going? You look like you've been up all night." He offered with a tired smile.
Aster waved him off, getting up and kicking some dirt on the fire, "Nah, I'm used to it."
Wally chuckled, "You know the more I find out about you the more questions I have."