Editor's Note: My first truly planned out chapter of this story. I brainstormed a few concepts for future chapters. I think I found some new confidence with this addition to the story. It was even tolerable when I noticed a Deus Ex Machina during the Spinarak fight. I didn't want to go too far over the line, so I re-imagined that part. Overall, this chapter took about 5 revisions before it seemed polished enough to release.
I'll try to get around 2000 words a chapter every week or so. (Instead of the current 1000.) I do regret losing confidence earlier, but I seem to be getting over it now.
I hope you enjoy reading. Please R&R, I'm always listening.
Part I - Complete Strangers
"Somebody help!" An unknown person screamed as the sounds of fighting stopped. Katherine quickly opened her eyes and stood up. Where did that noise come from? Katherine thought as she started running towards the noise. She didn't notice that Cloe and Vale were nowhere around.
Katherine stopped at the entrance to a dense forest. The forest had tall, lush pine trees surrounding a dark entrance to an unknown, and creepy, entrance. Katherine stood at the entrance, wondering if the sound actually was coming from the forest. It had to be here, I know it!
As she finished her thought, the cry for help flooded the forest again. To Katherine, the voice sounded familiar, like she had heard it before. Wait... It sounds like... She looked to her left and right, only to see a nearby stump. That's when she knew who that sounded like; who needed help. It can't be! It couldn't be them! At that instant, Katherine ran headfirst into the forest.
The forest was, in fact, a mystery dungeon. The tall trees surrounding the forest darkened the entire area, making it extremely hard to see. I can't see anything in front of my face! She confirmed this by putting a paw up. She did not notice that her paw changed from black to blue.
Katherine started encountering the residents of this forest. One of them being a Murkrow, (A pitch-black crow with red eyes; it's feathers arranged on it's head in a way that made it look like a witch's hat.) which tried to peck at Katherine. "Now is not the time, bird!" Katherine yelled as she jumped in the air, and slammed the bird with such force that it hit the ground and fainted. Why is it so cold here? Katherine thought as she kept running. She still hadn't seen her new form.
Soon after seeing the Murkrow, she encountered another resident, which was a Spinarak. Katherine didn't notice it, since it was hanging onto the trunk of a tree. Katherine saw a light illuminating an object in front of her. It was a small Oran berry. This could be useful. I'll take it, just in case.
As she finished her thought, something attacked her from behind. She could barely make out what it was until a small ray of light highlighted the figure. Ugh...I hate spiders. She noticed that the Spinarak had beaming red eyes. Does that mean that it's evil? Katherine thought as she prepared to fight.
Instead of tackling her again, the Spinarak shot strings of web at Katherine. Katherine tried to avoid it, but wasn't fast enough. The strands were extremely sticky. The strands landed on the ground and at Katherine's feet. She tried to move, but the strands held her in place.
What is this stuff? I can barely even move my feet! Katherine thought as she tried to lift her feet off the ground. Her efforts left her tired. There's no use struggling, I'm stuck! The Spinarak took this opportunity to attack Katherine with Fury Swipes.
That's just not fair! Katherine thought as the attack landed. The Spinarak swiped again, hitting Katherine in the head. How long can I endure this?
The Spinarak tackled again, it hurt more than the last; it even knocked her back a little. If it keeps landing hits, I'm done for. Katherine thought, the pain from each hit finally reaching her.
The Spinarak began to attack again. This time, it was going much faster; it was going to try to end the unfair fight. Can I take another hit? Katherine thought.
She felt a sudden chill, it felt comfortable to her. Almost instantly, as if by instinct, Katherine inhaled then quickly exhaled. A sudden burst of icy mist flew out, hitting the spider Pokemon in mid-air. The Spinarak got back up, and prepared to strike again.
Katherine realized that the web that she was trapped in wasn't sticky anymore. To Katherine's curiosity and confusion, it was also frozen. Why is it frozen? Is my new form an Ice-type?
. Katherine acted again by instinct; she jumped out of the web, and swiftly smacked the Spinarak with her tail. The Spinarak hit the ground and didn't get back up.
Katherine sighed in relief as she began to walk further into the forest. That could have gotten bad if I wasn't an Ice-type. Katherine finally saw a clearing after running a little longer. This clearing had sunlight gleaming from the mid-morning sun, leaving a orange-blue tinge of color in the color. The grass was taller than inside the forest, if not more plentiful.
However, that is not what caught Katherine's eyes first. It was an Eevee, standing over a Vulpix in the middle of the clearing. Is that...? Katherine finally looked down, noticing her blue body. A Glaceon? I guess it'll work for now. Katherine stared at the two Pokemon.
Katherine carefully walked closer to see what had happened. The Eevee noticed Katherine, and began cowering in fear. "Stay away!" The Eevee cried. Katherine carefully looked at the Eevee. There were signs of injury all over the scared Pokemon. There was even a deep gash from the right shoulder to the leg.
"What happened?" Katherine would have asked if the Eevee was okay. Looking at Eevee's injuries, however, gave her the answer. "I found this Vulpix on the ground here. She's unconscious, but soon after I found her, I was ambushed by a Scyther." The Pokemon looked unstable as it spoke, trembling and having to pause during sentences to wince at the pain. "I got slashed, and was wounded." The Eevee said, looking at the cut. "I screamed for help. I was hoping my teammates would arrive, but they never did."
The Eevee sat down, weak and out of energy. "My name is Eevee, I'm from Team Pride." The Eevee shook. "I want to get back, but I don't know how..." The Eevee began to lay down, she had more or less given up hope. Katherine looked at this Eevee, saddened by the words, but stunned that this Pokemon; this Eevee that Espeon spoke so proudly of, gave up hope so easily. Katherine understood what she needed to do.
"My name is Katherine. Get up, I'm getting you out of here." Eevee stared at Katherine for a moment, wondering. "What do you mean? You don't seem to be a rescue team member." Katherine then noticed that the Vulpix was starting to wake up. The Vulpix was practically unharmed, although the position she was in looked uncomfortable.
"Where am I?" The Vulpix asked, sounding confused. "Vale? Is that you?" Katherine asked, her concerns shifted over to the Vulpix. "K-Katherine? Where are we?" Vale asked. "This is Darkwood Forest." The Eevee responded, her voice quiet.
"You're wounded..." Vale gasped as she stared at the Eevee's gash. "It's nice to know you're alright... What's your name, by the way?" The Eevee asked. "My name is Vale, nice to meet you." Vale smiled. "Vale? That's a nice name. I'm Eevee."
Vale stood up, her eyes still fixed on Eevee. "I know who you are. We're going to get you out of here." Vale said as she tried to pick up Eevee. "It's alright, you don't need to carry me. I can walk, I don't think I'll make it too far, though."
"I can help with that." Katherine said, pulling out the Oran berry. "Eat this, it'll make you feel better." Eevee accepted the berry and ate it. Eevee immediately felt relief as energy flooded through her body. "Thanks, I really needed that." Eevee said, her voice sounding more energetic.
"Where's the rest of your team?" Vale asked. "My team is at the entrance of the dungeon. I don't think they heard me. This place is fairly large."
"Why didn't your team come with you?" Katherine asked, now slightly curious about how this unfolded. "We decided to split up because we had a few jobs in this area. We all tackled a job from the list, then we would return at the entrance afterwards."
"Well, you seem to be alright. Let's go back to the entrance." Vale said, her tone almost trying to hide her curiosity. "You lead the way." Eevee said, pointing to the direction of the exit.
It took about 30 minutes of walking to finally reach the entrance, which Katherine realized wasn't the entrance she went in to enter the dungeon. Eevee's wound was still bleeding, and required medical attention. "Are you OK, Eevee?" Vale asked, looking at Eevee's wound.
"I'm alive, if that's what you mean." Eevee said. All three reached the entrance and saw four figures further down the path. "I see some Pokemon over there." Vale said. Eevee gave a smile of gratitude to Katherine and Vale as they continued down the road.
"Eevee! We were starting to get-" The Vulpix stopped as she noticed Eevee's wound. "Great Arceus above... Eevee, we need to take you to a doctor!"
"Alright Vulpix, but we need to bring a couple others with us." Eevee said, looking at Katherine. "This is Katherine, she found me and helped me out of the forest. She seems to know the other Pokemon, Vale."
Vulpix stared at Katherine for a moment, then remembered something. "Oh! Someone was looking for a Pokemon named Katherine. She said her name was Cloe."
"Yeah, she's our friend and teammate." Vale said. "Oh, alright. She's with the other two Pokemon on our team, Squirtle and Chikorita. Come on, they're heading back to our base as we speak." Vulpix said, then proceeded to walk down the road.
Well, it's going to be one big reunion, isn't it?
With that, Katherine and the others followed after Vulpix. Katherine knew that the forest was the first of many places she would go in this vast world. She could only wonder what dangers awaited her. Hmm... how will this story unfold...?