Why do we hope for the end?
A earsplitting mechanical roar shook the bedroom walls, humming and shrieking in White's ears like the grinding turbines of a large machine.
For children, it might be because we dream of being the hero who saves the world from its inevitable disaster. This hope is a mesmerizing desire– an ultimate wish. It's entirely shallow, though.
White's fingers slid down the damp window, feeling the vibration from the falling star's explosion. Its flaming tail touched down on the ground in the distance, sending up a pluming ring of hot light which flooded the night's sky and shook the ground.
But then there's children like me, who wish for the end because we don't want to make real decisions for the future. We cling to the belief that we can do anything, so when actual disaster strikes... our hearts get confused and excited.
And for a moment, all of our impossible dreams become real.
Bianca screamed, losing her balance and tumbling to the unstable ground. Grabbing Cheren's reaching arm, he pulled her close and she clung tight, anchoring them both against the rattling wall.
"White, the window–" he gasped, reaching his arm out towards the other girl. "Get over here!"
"Ngh–" White hissed, stumbling backwards and grabbing her trembling bookshelf.
"W-what's going on?...!" Bianca bellowed.
"A meteorite? Plane crash? Satellite– rocket, missile, aliens?...!" White listed off random things in an effort to report was she had seen. Regardless of the terrible disaster, her heart leapt with sadistic joy. Something was actually happening!
"White–" a woman's voice blared from downstairs, her mother's; "White, everyone–"
As soon as White's mom called, the terrible tremor stopped, allowing the house to settle and creak for a few seconds afterwards.
"–are you guys alright?" the woman finished her statement, sounding frightened and not much else. Her daughter quickly glanced around the disheveled but intact room before calling back:
"Yep!"
Bianca was wailing, loudly, and Cheren– smothered by the girl's clinging arms and pillowy bosom– was pushing at her, more red-faced and self-conscious about their position than anything else.
White stared at the two teens, a sly and amused smile stretching across her face.
"Hm hm hm," she chuckled mischievously. "Disaster brings opportunity."
"Aren't you going HELP me?" Cheren blasted, trying to wriggle free from the hysterically unaware Bianca.
"Hold on," White said, holding her wrist up and fiddling with her watch. Whirring slightly, it slid out a side and clicked into place. Holding it around backwards, she pointed its face right at them.
"Wait, what are you doing?" Cheren demanded.
A small light flashed, followed by an old-fashioned camera shutter sound. The boy was stunned into cold silence, and when he exploded, it was heatedly.
"You twisted, disturbed girl!" he accused appropriately.
"Snivy, let's bounce," White called, holding her pokeball out and sucking the smug lizard back inside. Resting her knuckles on her hips, she plodded downstairs, taking Cheren's insult in stride.
"Hey mom," she called. Even after leaving the room, her voice still managed to carry into earshot. "–A huge fire has totally engulfed all of Route 1. Can I go there and look around?"
"Sure, dear," the woman agreed easily. "Just be careful." She was never one to deny her daughter anything; it was a rotten breach in parenting, and White swung on and kicked at it like a bored child trying to break a rusted gate.
"Route 1?" Cheren echoed, bewildered by what he was hearing. "All of it?"
At last Bianca let go, sliding away and stumbling to her feet. Scrambling to the window, she looked out and gasped:
"It's so bright!"
In no time at all, the boy was beside her, glaring out at the disaster as well. Smoke poured over the tops of trees and a fiery wall danced across the grassy flatland.
"This is terrible," he uttered, the fire's reflection flickering on the surface of his glasses. "All of the pokemon there... will be burned alive."
Crying out aghast, Bianca grabbed her hat, almost tugging its sides down past her ears.
"No they won't! They'll be fine, I–" Letting go, she grabbed her pokeball out from her bag. Only moments before the disaster struck had she returned her companion to it. "–and Oshawott will stop it!"
Holding her pokeball out like a powerful talisman, she dashed downstairs, leaving the boy to silently panic at the window.
I know Oshawott is a water-type pokemon and all, he thought; but isn't it still too weak to control water?
Out and down the dirt road he saw White running, her brown ringlets flailing as she dashed into the night. Moments later, Bianca was tripping and stumbling after her, causing Cheren's heart to throb painfully in fear. Not out of fear for their safety– however– but out of fear of being left behind in the wake of something grand.
Stuffing Tepig's pokeball into his coat pocket, he pushed up his glasses and plowed downstairs after them.
Warm air whipped against White's face and hair, burning with the intensity of a sweltering summer's day. Small chunks of embers flew past her shoulders and the air choked her with disgustingly bitter smoke.
"Ch... stings," she muttered, squinting her eyes tight. It's a lot worse up close... What caused this?
In the distance, past the sea of flames, moved a tall and thick shadow. From where she stood, it was hard for White to make out its features or size, but whatever it was– it stepped and croaked with grinding metallic sounds– and then, raising its gigantic arms, screamed inhumanly like a buzz saw being filtered through a vocoder.
"The heck. Is that?" she could barely managed out the words to express the spreading shiver melting down her neck and spine. In these smothering moments of horror, however, lurked a sense of thrill and satisfaction. No amount of daydreaming could compare.
"White!" Bianca called from behind, rushing up on her. "White, the grass– the pokemon–"
The girl was out of breath and frantic, but White immediately understood her concerns when they caught sight of a Lillipup running through the grass, yelping and screeching as fire consumed its back.
"Oshawott, we've gotta help it!" Bianca trembled, blasting the pokemon from his pokeball. "Use Water Gun!"
Glancing around, confused, the tiny otter looked all around before staring down at the ground with his beady eyes.
"Huh? What's wrong?...!" Bianca warbled, frantic by her pokemon's inaction and the nearby Lillipip's painful cries. "Come on Oshawott, you've gotta he–"
–Interrupting her, a ball of swirling ember formed around the Lillipup, encasing the little pokemon momentarily before exploding apart– revealing that the startled creature's fur had been extinguished. A pokeball landed on the exhausted creature's side, zapping it inside and causing the two girls to jump.
"Huh?"
"Silly Bianca," Cheren said as they turned to face him. He pushed up his glasses by their side rim. "–Oshawott doesn't learn Water Gun until level seven."
"Level seven?" Bianca parroted, completely baffled by his pokemon jargon.
"Never mind." He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a fistful of candy. "Give these to Oshawott."
"What?" she uttered, taking them in hand. Instantly becoming angry, she balled them in her fists and raved. "Cheren! This is no time to be eating candies! I thought you were a serious person!"
"You want to help, don't you?" He turned his attention towards the wall of flames. "We need to stop this fire, or else..."
"It could spread to Nuvema and burn our houses down," White finished his statement. "Bianca. Listen to Cheren. Think of those as magical candies. They'll make Oshawott strong enough to use Water Gun!"
"Magical candies?" the girl uttered, her eyes shining with excitement. Untwisting a piece from its wrapper, it seemed for a moment as if she were going to eat it herself, however, she bent low and stuffed it into Oshawott's mouth. The rest followed suit.
"Here. Take some, too." Cheren gave a handful to White. "You'll need Snivy's Vine Whip to cut back the grass."
"Right." White wanted to ask him where and how he got so many pieces of Rare Candy, but she figured that wasn't important. The fire was spreading quickly and she had yet to deal with the strange giant lurking on the other side.
"Snivy, let's go!"
The three pokemon faced the fire, fighting back with the power of their elements as their trainers shouted orders. Opening his mouth wide, Oshawott fought the fire and doused wounded pokemon with his water gun and Snivy slashed the grass with his vines.
"Tepig. Though we can eat up the grass with your flames before the fire gets there– it's better to let Snivy prune it," Cheren proclaimed, pointing ahead. "Instead, we'll choke the fire out by stealing its air. Burn up and fight it!"
Charging ahead, Tepig bounded and jumped into the air, encasing a portion of the fire wall in a sphere of swirling flames.
Ah, it's just like with that Lillipup earlier, White thought, yanking her head back to observe. Tepig's sphere of Ember exploded apart, revealing a large, clear gap through the fire. White saw her chance to get to the other side.
"You finished whacking those weeds?" she asked, calling her Snivy to attention. With a final slap from his vines, he nodded, sticking his snout up in the air to assert that he had finished his work with enough time to spare.
"Then let's go." White grabbed Snivy and charged through the gap, gasping as the ground's lingering heat seeped through the soles of her high combat boots.
"Where the heck are you going?" Cheren yelled after her.
"There's something suspicious on the other side!" she yelled back.
Clicking his tongue in annoyance, Cheren turned to Tepig.
"Keep doing what you're doing," he told it. "Section by section. I'll be right back."
Bianca watched as Cheren also charged between the gap– and her heart lurched when she saw a giant shadow wadding through the fire. For only a second it appeared.
"What was that?" she uttered, her hands shaking. It was so big...
"Oshawott... you've done so much already, but... you have to hurry–" As she said this, the little otter responded and turned up his water pressure, fighting the flames with a powerful jet of water.
On the other side of the flames, White stood, baffled by the size of the crater before her. The amount of dirt that it had displaced was tremendous– leaving a fat ring of churned soil completely around the pool-sized hole.
Whatever had crashed here, she thought; is already up and moving around...
Facing west, she glanced out at the nearby shore. It was a small pocket bay hidden between thickets of evergreens and short cliffs. If Oshawott and Tepig couldn't smother the fire, she considered the possibility of channeling the ocean water from there.
A massive crackling snap echoed in her ears, stunning her thoughts. Lashing around, White glanced up at the behemoth before her– a clunky, glowing stone mecha holding a fizzing electric cable in hand.
"A Golurk?" she gasped, recognizing the pokemon. Big... It's twice my height!
Dropping the sparking live wire at its feet, the mecha spun its wastebasket-sized head around like a blender and shrieked similarly. Right at her.
"Damn, what's this guy's problem?" White spat, backing away while protectively clutching Snivy. "Well whatever it is... it's no reason to blight the land and shred power lines. This guy's definitely looking for a fight."
"GOUGH–" the robot bellowed, seizing its infernal spinning head and focusing its yellow, glow light eyes on her. Lifting its creaking, rocket-like arms at her, it lumbered forward and croaked like a springy coil.
"Hey, get away from me!" White panicked, backing away as it shortened their distance apart from each other. This thing is a fully evolved pokemon... It may be ground-type while Snivy's a grass-type, but type advantage isn't enough in a case like this. This guy is...
At least thirty-five levels beyond Snivy.
Setting Snivy down on the ground behind her, White stepped forward to protect him.
"I don't want you to get hurt, little guy," she said, cracking her knuckles. "So leave this to me."
Impatiently slapping his leafy tail on the ground, Snivy shrilled and demanded her attention.
'You seriously think you're stronger than me?' his expression seemed to say. He shrugged. 'Heh. What a stupid kid. You're gonna kill yourself if you do this.'
"You smug snake," White grumbled amusedly, incensed by the pokemon's snarky expression. "I'm bigger than you, so the laws of nature states that I'm stronger. Don't take me lightly."
"GOUGH, GO, GOUGH–" the robot blasted and dragged forward.
"White, get away from that thing–" Cheren's voice hollered, his footsteps pounding nearby.
"Never fear," White said arrogantly, flexing her arms and raising her fists. "I'm a level fourteen human, so my chances are pretty good." Rushing forward, she gritted her sharp demonic teeth and launched her ballistic fist outward.
"–Megaaaa punch–" she tore, slamming her knuckles straight into the mecha's cold, hard stomach.
"Thunk!"
The both of them– giant robot and girl– stood still, stunned by her complete stupidity. Tears welled in White's eyes as she silently endured the shattering pain in her fist. Ok... so maybe this really was a bad idea...
"You IDIOT," Cheren spat, holding his face in embarrassment and disbelief.
"En... no problem," White hoarsely said, pulling her aching fist away. It took everything to keep from crying out. "I can still try reasoning with it..."
"GOOO–" the robot roared tinnily, reaching its massive hand down and grabbing the girl. It clutched and held her like a kid grasping a fashion doll. White grunted and struggled, growling and desperately attempting to pull her arms free.
"Why is this... turning into a... 50s B-movie?" she choked, panicking and wriggling stubbornly. She only wished that this robot was just a guy in a cardboard aluminum suit. "Snivy– I take back what I said– you were right– you gotta fight this thing now–so please–Vine Whip–"
Accosting the giant robot, Snivy unrolled green tendrils from his leafy upturned collar and determinedly slapped away– but to little effect. Grunting in annoyance, Golurk threw his free fist forward and pummeled Snivy, sending the grass snake sailing into the nearest tree trunk.
"Golurk, please put her down," Cheren shouted, sweating nervously and tugging at his foggy glasses. "We don't mean you any harm. We only came here to put out the fire, so please don't hurt her–"
Whirring strangely, the robot spun its head around some more, its body glowing and sparking as if it were short circuiting.
"What? Something's wrong," Cheren observed, noticing that something was amiss with the pokemon's appearances and behavior. Golurk are supposedly very peaceful, and they purportedly go out of their way to protect pokemon and people. He remembered this well from the pokemon books he often studied. For one to crash land here and cause so much trouble...
He finally noticed it. On the stony giant's chest was an open cavity, a hole from which pulsating light was seeping.
"That's the problem," he sputtered, crouching as he cautiously stepped around the robot. "The copper alloy seal on its chest is gone... Removing that seal makes its internal energy out of control. That's why it's going haywire!"
"Huh?" White overheard him, turning her head to look at the pokemon's open, flaring chest. "Of course... why didn't I notice that?"
Energy is escaping from this guy at an elevated rate. Struggling to keep it under control, he probably flew into the night... Maybe... He was really trying to throw himself into the open ocean but missed and landed here instead.
I don't think he meant to do any of this!
"But then why was he messing with the power lines?" she muttered aloud. She finally realized it. "Golurk, let me go. I understand what you were trying to do now. I'll help you–"
Croaking loudly, the robot momentarily lost motor control, tightening his grip on the girl to an unbearable level. She screamed in pain, resisting and feeling as if she were about to be crushed alive.
"White–" Cheren screamed, standing helplessly at the robot's feet and staring up in horror. From behind him, the flames finally sizzled out.
"Stand back–" Bianca warned, her commanding voice falling over them.
~To be continued...~
I can't stop writing this story, it won't let me! *is bricked to death*