Obligatory Disclaimer: This is a non-profit fan work set in the Pokemon universe. Pokemon is owned by Nintendo, Gamefreak, and HAL Laboratories. I own nothing except any original characters used in the story.
Cover from a picture by lirske from deviantart (whose account it no longer active). Title graciously suggested by Darchiasq.
Kyle had never seen this pokemon before. As a fledgling trainer only a few days into his journey, that was to be expected. Unexpected, however, was the way it had appeared from behind the bushes, sat down on its haunches, and just stared at him. Not attacking, not really impeding his progress, but just staring with knowing red eyes.
He pulled out a pokedex—a red and black square which extended from the middle to reveal a blue touchscreen—and aimed it at the creature. A picture of a quadruped with long white fur, a dark gray body, a scythe-like horn and bladed tail, and a vaguely feline face appeared, accompanied by miscellaneous data and a narrated description.
Absol. The Disaster pokemon. It is said that every time absol appears before people, it is followed by a natural disaster such as an earthquake or tidal wave. It detects these disasters using the horn on its head.
"Oh, so that's an absol…" Kyle put away his pokedex and, taking its entry into consideration, pondered if the absol was acting weird because it had sensed something. There were no clouds in the sky. An earthquake was unlikely, and the thought of a tidal wave appearing in the middle of the forest was comical. Maybe this absol just happened to live here?
A high-pitched whine—almost a chirp—snapped Kyle out of his worried musings and brought his attention back to the creature in front of him. The absol was on its feet now, crouched and at the ready, something akin to a playful smirk stretched across its face.
Maybe it wanted to battle after all. "Alright then, if you're ready, then I am too!" Kyle reached for a pokeball on his belt, expanded it, and yelled, "Fennekin, I choose y—!"
Before he could send out his starter, a powerful gust of wind swept through the forest. As the gale subsided, he felt something wet on his neck and looked up to find a storm cloud had formed. It started with a few drops, then a trickle, and finally a full-on downpour of rain.
Then there was a bass rumble, low and quiet but steadily growing louder with time. Frantically searching for the source, Kyle finally thought to look behind him and gasped at what he saw. There was a great wall of water, as tall as the trees around him, traveling through the forest and heading straight for him. By now the absol had leapt away, leaving the young trainer to face the impossible tidal wave alone.
With an audible gulp, Kyle returned the pokeball to his belt, took a deep breath, and prepared for the inevitable.
A few yards away, the wave suddenly collapsed and swept Kyle in a great torrent of water. Before he could be carried too far, the water dispersed and left the trainer soaked and splayed on the ground in a nearby clearing.
The rain slowly lessened until dissipating completely. Kyle was back on his feet now, wringing water out of his jacket and trying to figure out just what the actual hell that was all about. As he contemplated this bizarre turn of events, the wild absol from before reappeared.
Suddenly, another absol walked up beside them. And another. And another. Five absol in total had gathered, all sitting, staring at Kyle with bright red eyes.
Kyle froze. One absol had somehow conjured a tidal wave in the middle of a forest. What would five of them do? Earthquakes, fissures, eruptions, hurricanes; every form of disaster conceivable flashed before his eyes.
Then, the first absol got to his feet, looked Kyle directly in the eyes, let out a chirp-like whine, and smiled…
Kyle ran away screaming.
The absol watched him go, held still for a moment, and then fell over roaring with laughter. The first absol eventually recovered and yelled, "Okay, you can come out now sis!"
A sixth absol, her coat silkier and better kept than that of her kin, emerged from a bush and trotted into the clearing. "I take it everything went well?"
"Oh man, you should have seen the human's face!" one of the absol chortled. "His reaction to the 'tidal wave' was already funny enough, but the way he panicked when the rest of us popped out of the bushes…"
"I'm just surprised you could make the wave that big," the first absol said. "How exactly do you do that anyway?"
"Water Pulse, charged for an excessively large amount of time," the silky absol explained. "Combined with Rain Dance and a little Razor Wind, and BAM—instant storm!"
"I guess it's a good thing your trainer taught you those moves—even more so that she lets you come back to visit us," a third absol replied.
"Yeah, I'm lucky to have her," she admitted warmly.
There was a pause as the family of absol sat in the clearing, basking in the mirth of a successful prank. Clearing his throat, the first absol spoke up and said, "So, want to go find another trainer with a…um…"
"Pokedex."
"Right, 'pokedex' and prank them the same way?"
The silkier absol considered how much time she had left before her trainer was expecting her. "I think I've got time to find one more," she announced.
The other absol cheered, and the family was off in search of their next victim. She knew that what they were doing was juvenile, and in the back of her mind she suspected her trainer wouldn't approve, but she had to admit it was fun. She loved her trainer, but she really loved her brothers and words could not express how grateful she was for being able to visit them.
"But I swear, it actually happened!"
The group of trainers—two girls and another boy—regarded their friend dubiously. "A tidal wave. In the middle of the woods. That sits on the top of a cliff on Route 8."
"I know it sounds insane Clyde, but it actually happened!" Kyle turned to the girls—Lisa and Kelly—and pleaded, "You two believe me, right?"
"Um…" Lisa reached up and rubbed the back of her head nervously. "I'd like to, I really would, except…"
Kyle threw back his head, clutching at his hair and practically growling with frustration. Desperate, he looked at his starter and said, "You believe me Fennekin, don't you bud?"
The golden-furred fox regarded his master with doubtful red eyes. Seeing that not even his own pokemon believed him, Kyle slumped over, all hope of convincing his friends lost.
"Hey c'mon buddy, cheer up," Clyde said while giving him a sympathetic pat on the shoulder. "You may have gone absolutely coo-coo, but at least you got to see an absol. Even here in Kalos they're not always easy to come by."
"I still say they were somehow responsible," Kyle grumbled.
"'Summon Tidal Wave' isn't a move pokemon can learn," Clyde rebutted. "Besides, you don't actually believe the 'absol cause disaster' crap that gets spread around, right?"
Kyle thought about it. He didn't before, but how else could he explain what had happened? Still, he had no proof and ultimately decided getting worked up about it wasn't worth it. "Yeah, I guess you're right."
"Of course I'm right!" Clyde said boastfully. "Now come on, let's go get something to eat. I don't know about you guys, but I'm starving!"
Without waiting for an answer, Clyde took off running, followed by Lisa and Kelly. "Hey, wait for me!" Kyle started to run after them, but noticed something on the other side of the street. A female trainer—a good bit older than him—was walking with her absol. The absol noticed him watching and stopped to look back. Recollection seemed to flash in her eyes, and then he could swear she winked at him before resuming her gait.
"Kyle! You coming or what?" The trainer shook his head, assured himself he wasn't crazy, and left to catch up with his friends.
Author's Note: So there you go, a silly one-shot meant to twist the "Absol are always seen as doom bringers" cliche. As you might have gleaned from the summary, the idea came to me when I noticed how specific the natural disasters were in Absol's pokedex entry and that certain moves in their learn-set (such as Rain Dance and Water Pulse) could be used to replicate a natural disaster.
In hindsight, I wished I had written something more appropriate for Pokemon's 20th anniversary, but nothing I can do about that now so oh well.
Reviews and critique are appreciated, but more importantly I hope you enjoyed reading. Until next time!