I don't know how long I've been lying there, in the wreckage of my once beautiful home. When I wake up, I see the damage in the early light of the morning. It can't be much later than seven in the morning. Eve is licking my face and pawing at my collarbone.
"Rin! Wake up! Don't die on me!" I hear her say. I sit up with a groan. It takes a bit for me to remember what happened, knocking your head will do that. When I do remember, I let out a gasp.
"Eve! What happened to Mama and Papa? Where are they?" I ask in a rush. She points her nose over to the left with sadness in her face. I scramble up and run over to find my parents and Flit, lying on the ground, not moving, not breathing.
"Mama! Papa! Wake up!" I yell as I try to shake them awake. They feel cold, not a trace of warmth in their bodies. I sit there, speechless. My parents are not moving, not breathing and are as cold as the snow beneath them. My mind refuses to accept the truth laying right there in front of me. I cannot stop the tears as they fall down my cheeks, neither can I stop shaking. My parents have gone from loving, kind, warm people to corpses with secrets in the course of one night. All because if that man. Hammond. I will never forgive that man. I look off in the distance, anywhere but my parents' lifeless bodies, and spot something. It is just visible against the snow, a white creature with a black face and claws. It appears to have a black horn on the side of its head. I stare at the cold creature as it walks away, without a backward glance. I look back at Flit and my parents. They always told me to look forward, not behind. Remember your mistakes, but keep going forward. I guess I will have to put that in effect here. The man with the amber eyes might return. He might also bring a few of his criminal buddies. I have to get out of here. I look at Eve, Her face turned towards mine in hope of comfort and to comfort, if need be.
"Come on Eve, we can't stay here. They might come back," I say in a robotic tone of voice. Eve looks worried, but she understands. I decide I might as well continue on today, as if nothing has happened. I will get my pokémon from Professor Cypress and go on my journey. I will run from whatever criminal group sent Hammond, and try to stay hidden. Maybe I can even go on my journey under a different name. I highly doubt I can, but I will try, for my parents. I resettle my bag on my shoulder and look once more in the direction of the white and black creature. I grab Eve's pokéball from where it landed near my mother. I quickly dig three graves, shoveling the icy dirt as fast as I can with the broken shovel from the wreckage, and bury my parents and Flit. Eve and I stand there for a few minutes, not knowing what to say. Then I return the heartbroken Eevee and I set her pokéball on the strap of my bag and walk to town. On the way I fix my hair to make sure nothing is standing out. I was lucky to not be injured in that explosion. Maybe Eve protected me, or maybe I was thrown just far enough not to be hit by any debris. This just makes my escape a little easier, since no one will think to stop me if I look fine.
Once I get into town, I see everyone going about their business as usual. You'd think someone would hear that explosion last night. It wasn't exactly a fizzle. I walk down the one and only street we have towards Professor Cypress' lab.
"Hey Fixit!" I hear a voice from behind me. I turn to see Alec, my friend since we were little, is running to catch up with me. His curly brown hair is a mess like usual. "I thought you'd never come! I've been waiting all morning. So do you know which pokémon you're gonna pick, Fixit?" He uses his childhood nickname for me, Fixit. I have always liked to fix things and Alec has been calling me that since I fixed his mother's phone. I put on a fake smile and nod. Alec, of course, sees right through my charade. "Hey, Rin, what's wrong?"
"Didn't get much sleep last night, too much excitement." I tell the half-truth. At least I aint directly lying to him. He just looks at me then shrugs.
"Well I can't wait to see what you pick!" he says breaking out into a smile, "I'll be waiting for you when you're done with the Professor." With that he runs back to his house. I walk the rest of the way down the street and reach the lab. I push open the door and walk inside.
"Hello? Professor? Anyone here?" I yell out at the seemingly deserted lab. I hear a crash from the back and go to investigate. I find the Professor tangled up in a bunch of wires and trying to hold up a strange looking machine.
"Ah, Ms. Amsel, so glad you're here. I was hoping you'd get here soon, as you can see, I'm a little stuck." Cypress says as he tries to untangle himself further, only making it worse. I chuckle at his 'Help me' face and untangle the wires from his arms and hair. Cypress has always been an awkward man, never really getting the hang of multitasking. Once he is free I step back and let him deal with his small machine.
"Thank you, Ms. Amsel," he says as he puts the grey hunk of metal on the table. "Now, let's get down to business." He runs his fingers through his blonde hair, dislodging a couple more pieces of wire. He pushes a button on the machine he set down and it opens with a small hiss. Inside are three pokéballs, each with a small design on the front.
"You are starting your journey today and these are the three pokémon you get to choose from. As you know you can choose from a fire type, a water type and an ice type. Unlike other regions, we don't give grass types since they don't do well in the cold. Let's see your choices, shall we?" He picks up the first one and releases it. The pokémon from the ball is a small orange weasel with a yellow collar and blue fins on its arms. It looks up at me and says small, timid, "Bui," before hiding behind the professor's legs.
"This is Buizel, he is shy, but great once you get to know him." The professor says as he reaches for the next one. He releases its contents and this one is quite the opposite of the Buizel. It is a small, black, bipedal cat with one pink ear and three pink tails. It looks at me out of the corner of its red eyes and sticks its nose up in the air with a "Snea!" Obviously disapproving of me.
"This is Sneasel," the professor says with an awkward laugh, "She's a little bit arrogant." He releases the final pokémon and takes a step back. This one is a small orange dog with black stripes on its back and legs with bushy fur on its chest and tail. This one seems excited and barks at me.
"This one is Growlithe, he's very energetic." The professor has a worried look on his face directed at the small dog. I look them over once more before making my choice.
"I think I'll choose Growlithe," I say and the small pup is practically dancing with joy. He jumps on top of me, effectively knocking me over in his excitement. Then he does something unexpected, he spits fire, effectively setting a little bit of my hair on fire. The professor is quick to grab a bucket of water and throw it on me before I know what is happening.
"I meant to tell you about that. It seems whenever Growlithe gets really excited, he lets loose a bit of fire," the professor says with an embarrassed smile.
"Well that would have been nice to know from the start," I say a bit harshly, "Growlithe, how would you like a nickname?"
"Only as long as it's cool, like Orange Lightning, or Pyro, or Blazefury, or" I smile at his perkiness and laugh.
"How 'bout Tulio?" I interrupt before he can think of any other over-the-top names.
"Tulio? Aw come on, you can think of something better can't ya?" he says with a whine.
"Loki?" I try.
"Hmmm, no." He shakes his head.
"Tikeri?"
"I like it! It's exotic!" he says, finally giving his permission with a nod.
"Okay then, Tikeri, shall we begin our adventure?" I ask. He nods and I return him into his pokéball, finally getting a good look at it. It has a small orange and red fire symbol on the front.
"Ms. Amsel, allow me to present you with your very own pokédex and some pokéballs to start you off." The professor says as he hands me the light blue and grey, rectangular electronic and five empty pokéballs. "To use your pokédex, just open I up and point it at the pokémon in question and any information it has will come right up." He smiles at me as I walk out the door, placing the pokéballs in an empty pocket on the outside of my bag. I walk to the center of town and Alec's house. He would never forgive me for leaving without saying goodbye. Before I make it there I hear a loud clash of voices in the town square. I edge around the building nearest to me and watch from the alleyway. Near the statue that sits in the middle of town, a tall stranger and the Village Elder are arguing. I freeze in fear. Hammond can't be back already! Then I notice his hair. It isn't light brown but almost as dark as my own. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding and try to eavesdrop.
"…-ything there, there isn't now. Just a hole in the ground." The stranger says.
"Where exactly did you stumble upon these ruins, young man?" The old woman asks.
"Just about a mile or so out of town. That way." He points to the east, where my house was located.
"That was David and Rebbekah's place! What happened!" she shouts.
"Like I said before, it's like something just spontaneously exploded! There are wood boards and pieces of furniture laying everywhere. The original blast site is just a hole in the ground now."
Oh shit balls! I have to get out of here! I turn to run away and run into Alec, effectively knocking myself on my ass. When the hell did he get so tall? I look up at him and give a weak smile. He helps me up with a small chuckle.
"I was just going to find you," I say.
"Yeah, but then you got distracted," he knows me so well, "So who's the quack?"
"I dunno, I didn't catch much of their conversation." I use all of my skills as a liar to pull this one over on him. He seems to buy it with a small grunt.
"Sooo! Which did you choose?" He asks quickly, like a child waiting for a present.
"Tikeri, showtime!" I say as I release my Growlithe. He comes out with a small bark and a tail wag.
"So, fire type, eh? I knew it." He says with a cocky grin.
"And just how did you know this, Mr. fourtune-teller?" I raise my eyebrow in question.
"A water-type would just short out anything you build and an ice-type would just freeze your metal tools. A fire-type is perfect for you, Fixit. So, you named him Tikeri? That's definitely unique." He smiles and I smile back.
"Alright, Curly, I gotta hit the road. See ya later!" I say as I walk to the road out of town. Avoiding the town square, since I don't want to have to explain to the Village Elder. I have to get out of here before they come back. Before Hammond realizes I'm not dead yet. I make it all the way to the road out of town and take a deep breath. I probably won't ever be able to come back. Not if I want to stay hidden from Hammond and whoever he works for. I start to walk down the road and hear voices. I panic and jump into a bunch of snowy bushes on the side of the road. I can hear their conversation as they pass.
"…-sure they didn't find anything else? Just graves?" a masculine voice asks.
"Yeah, just a crater and graves. They looked rushed to me." A slightly younger voice says.
"So one of them escaped. Now we just have to find them. They might still have the research. That is as long as Hammond didn't blow it up." They chuckle and my stomach turns. They're laughing about my dead family like it was some joke! I wanted to jump out of the bushes right now and kick them in the crotch, but that would just give me away. Better to stay hidden until they pass completely. I hear their footsteps crunch off into the distance and I let out a sigh of relief. I gotta get out of here as fast as possible! They already know I'm still alive, that's not good. I get out of the bush and head in the opposite direction, towards the small town of Kentil. When night falls I am forced to make camp, not even halfway to the southern town. But instead of be easy prey on the ground, I decide to climb a tree and sleep there. The only other thing I'm really good at besides fixing things is climbing. I once spent nearly a week out in the tree in my backyard to protest room cleaning. So as you can see, I have no worries about falling out. It isn't long before I'm asleep, wrapped up in my sleeping bag and dreaming of blood and explosions.
Hey followers and newbies, i hope you are enjoying the story so far! I've put a lot of effort into writing it just for you lovely people. i am now open to accept OC's! Isn't that fantabulous? i need a couple traveling companions and a rival, even a few villains. so i need your help to make them! even if you don't want to follow this story feel free to send a character my way. the more the merrier! so i'm just gonna need a few things about your character since i'd still like to have a little bit of creative license. just send in a review or PM with these basic facts.
Name: first and last would be nice but last is not mandatory
Personality: like, kind or arrogant or humorous. the more detail the better
Looks: i'll need hair color and style. eye color. any distinguishing marks and clothes.
Pokemon: send in a team of one to six. please no legendaries since i already have a plan for most of them. gender and nicknames(if they have any) are mandatory.
I will make sure to give you credit for your characters and i hope you send some lovely characters my way!
Read on fellow readers and remember one thing. Pokemon belongs to Nintendo! not me!