Chapter 3

Alph's POV:

A boy tromped through the fallen leaves bravely, determined to find another trainer. He'd try and team up with them, and if that didn't work out, he'd fight. He wasn't afraid of Mew. Not in the slightest. If anything, this was a great way to get stronger with his starter. His name was Alph, and he wore a casual white T-shirt with a black gakuran over it. His navy blue pants were covered in leaves, and he could barely see his brown shoes. His long white hair, fixed into a rather spiky ponytail, continually got into his eyes as a light breeze began to blow.

"Dang it... I can barely see..." he said to himself. Perhaps he ought to bed down, it was becoming dark. His Pokemon could help him build a fire. Was a fire wise, though? If any trainers were particularly vicious, they might attempt to track him down and attack his Pokemon... or him... in his sleep. He was so deep in thought that he hardly noticed the figure approaching him from behind, Pokeball in hand.

"Lucario, go! Use Aura Sphere!"

Alph barely had time to blink before something smashed into him from behind. Pain exploded through him as he hit the ground with a painful crunching noise. Fueled by pure adrenaline, he rolled over and leapt to his feet. With a jerking movement of his hand, he flung a Pokeball of his own at the bipedal canine Pokemon.

"Charizard, go!" he hollered. An orange lizard that towered over the two trainers roared mightily as he unfurled his wings. Alph felt blood beginning to drip out of the side of his mouth. He wiped it away with his sleeve and tried to focus on the task at hand. He surveyed the trainer who had ambushed him, anger sparkling in his golden eyes.

She was obviously an experienced trainer by the badges pinned to her shirt, and wore a smirk on her face. She had dark blue hair, braided, which fell over her left shoulder, and peculiarly magenta eyes. She was about a foot taller than him and looked quite older than himself. If she hadn't been aiming to kill him, he would've wanted to ask to team with her. But the look in her eyes didn't exactly scream "friendly."

"A Charizard, hmm?" was all she had to say at his surprisingly quick recovery. Her eyes flickered to the orange Mega Stone attached to its tail. She raised an eyebrow. "And a mega one at that! I'm impressed! Let's see how well you fight with it."

"I fight quite well, if I do say so myself. Charizard, use Fire Blast!" the male trainer ordered sharply. His Pokemon snarled as it launched a fiery, star-shaped projectile at its opponent.

"Block it, Lucario!" she countered with a grin. The canine crossed its arms in front of its face as the fire slammed into it. As the smoke cleared, it still stood fine. Alph frowned. He'd been expecting the attack to do more damage.

"Now, since my life is on the line here, I'm not going easy. Which means Lucario and I are going all-power! Time for mega evolution!" she held out her hand to make sure Alph had a full view of the gold ring on her pointer finger. It was only then that he realized that her starter wore a white brace around its right arm. It could mega evolve, too? His eyes widened as she pressed the rainbow colored stone. Light flashed as it enveloped the canine, who howled viciously.

After a few seconds, the light dissipated, revealing Mega Lucario. It had grown significantly, and its paws were now crimson red. The spikes on its paws and feet were also a few inches larger.

"Alright, then! So am I! Charizard, don't hold back... mega evolve!" he cried out eagerly. By now, blood from his jaw had pooled in the back of his mouth, and he stopped to spit out some of the fluid. But he ignored this and pressed a mega stone of his own, which resided on one of his fingerless black gloves. Charizard roared again as it glowed rainbow. When it appeared again, it now had one large horn on its head, and more jagged wings. The flame on its tail burned brighter than a falling star. It snarled a warning at Lucario, who responded with a growl of his own.

"Charizard Y. Huh. Was expecting X... you intrigue me. What's your name, kid?" she laughed a bit. "Lucario, Close Combat."

The canine lunged forward and began to throw vicious punches at the titan lizard, who winced in pain. The male trainer growled with worry. He couldn't afford to lose. Not if he wanted to lose his life.

"Solar Beam!" he ordered desperately, ignoring her question. The sun began seemingly to glow brighter as it created a tiny green ball in its claws. It slowly grew larger.

"Destroy it before it can even use that attack, Lucario, with Flash Cannon." she said calmly. Alph's fury boiled over. The casual look in her eyes, as though she was merely fighting a two-year-old's Ratatta, gave him even more of a reason to win. Meanwhile, Lucario obeyed its trainer's orders and shot a metallic beam. However, Charizard instantly raised the forming ball to block it, and as the cannon of steel forced it backwards, it leaned into it determinedly. The Flash Cannon finally stopped, and the mega-evolved dragon whirled around before flinging the ball at Lucario. It howled in pain as it was knocked backwards. Still, the female trainer did not seem bothered.

"Psychic," she said. The canine struggled to stand before its eyes turned blue. Both Charizard and Alph gasped collectively as the Pokemon was lifted bodily into the air. Lucario flung it high, then brought it back down to earth with astounding force. There was a twisted roar of pain, but still, the dragon stood.

"Come on, Charizard! Use one last Fire Blast!" Alph shrieked. His heart was pounding faster than a racing Dodrio. No! No! He couldn't lose this! The dragon roared and forced all of its power into another fiery star. It lanced towards the canine faster than its trainer expected, and she widened her eyes.

"Counter with-" she began, but she wasn't able to finish her sentence. There was a loud boom, and Lucario dropped to one knee. It panted loudly and failed to stand. It collapsed onto its side, reverting to its normal form. The female trainer raced forward to tend to her starter.

"Lucario!" she cried. The calm look was long gone and now replaced with a look of utter horror. Alph's expression matched her own as the fighting-type just... disappeared. There was a noise like breaking glass, and the Pokemon split into thousands of little pixels before disappearing.

"No..." Alph said in distress. What had he done? He stepped backwards as his own starter rushed forward to see where Lucario had gone. She looked up in fury.

"You... you..." if she had intended to finish that sentence, either, it didn't happen. She, too, burst into a massive number of pixels and dissipated. The male trainer dropped to his knees, horrified. With his adrenaline gone, all the pain from the Aura Sphere attack was catching up to him. The poor dragon still had no idea where either of his opponents had gone. He whirled every which way, giving a tiny, discontent roar here and there. He didn't notice his trainer until he had completely sprawled out, almost unconscious. The blood from his jaw had not quit flowing, and now it formed a small puddle inside of a browning leaf below him. Alph could barely see more than a faint orange blob that rushed towards him anxiously. He heard footsteps from the other direction. But it was too late to save himself now...

The world turned a dismal grey, like in an old photo, then black.

A/N: Muahahahaha! We have our first character death! I'm sorry, but some characters (the ones I like the most) will have more prominent roles in the story. Some characters, as you just saw earlier, won't get much more than a battle or even a few sentences of dialogue. Alph didn't even get her name (it was Amaya)... I really do hope we get the last 6 OC's with the posting of this chapter, as it is very difficult to keep track of who's alive and who's dead when there are really only fourteen characters. And no, spoiler, Alph will not die.

YET...