Because this is my first fic (ever), I'm going to go with the "you can never be to careful" theory, and mention every little thing that crosses my mind. So no-one can say I never mentioned them. I don't see why anyone would try, but I'm still siding the "you can never be too careful".
I'll start with the obvious. I by all means do not own Pokémon, the world the story takes place in, the original Ecruteak legend or the original game characters whom mine are based on.
However, I own the occasional fake pokémon, the modified version of the legend, and the story itself. Also, I own the original characters in the story, including most of the ones based on the official ones, due to them being too different from them to count as a direct base. This is mainly about the kimono girls, more Tamao than the rest. I wouldn't like the idea of my originals used anywhere else, but then again, I doubt anyone wishes to do that.
Then there's the artwork (yes, I've done artwork to the story, even though it can't be found here). I would definitely not want to see it anywhere without credit. If, for example, the names of the characters in the character sheets would be changed and used in a different story, I would get especially displeased. And that'd be no good to anyone.
About the story itself: I know the name isn't that good. The original title was "Gekkou no mononoke" (yes, Japanese), but I think the translation sounds weird as a title ("The beast in the moonlight"). So I ended up doing a lot of research of the moon, and out of all the bad names this was the best.
As mentioned, this is my first story, and it advances quite slowly. It might be hard to understand and follow, so reading it requires patience. Criticism and tips would be very much appreciated. Thank you.
Oh, and I had to change some of the ages of the characters based on game characters. I made several of them younger (there's a reason behind it, but I might reveal something while explaining).
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Prologue: Sunset
Screams. Rising smoke. Tears fading away within the heat. Fear, sorrow, and most of all, despair.
No matter where you let your eyes look, all you could see was someone crying, screaming or frozen by panic. All you ears could hear were sounds of sorrow, fear or despair. Even if you closed your eyes and stopped listening, you'd still feel the pressuring heat, and the atmosphere of pure terror. There was no escape of it, it was not a nightmare; it was really happening.
Yes. This was the scenery of the horrendous fire of the Ecruteak Dance Theatre, the one that would make people shiver years after it happened. What had just a while ago been a fabulous wooden theatre, holding the stage where the beautiful Kimono girls, famous for their elegance and skills with pokemon, would attract people all over the world to see their performance, was now a rumbling base of a fire so enormous it could have burned down a whole forest.
The whole city was in chaos. Every person able to move was to help. Every pokemon with the power to manipulate water was to do whatever it could to put out the fire. But even though so many were putting all their effort in saving the theatre, and possibly the whole town, it seemed hopeless. The people screaming and panicking around the theatre were no help either, and instead ended up slowing down some of the rescuers. No-one was in charge, and everyone worked on their own, confused, without a clue whether they were really helping or just in the way. Chaos. A total chaos.
In the middle of this all, a slick and elegant, black furred pokemon ran as fast as he could, gazing through the crowd, searching. The yellow rings on his ears and tail seemed to blend with the flames as he ran through wherever he could, not caring if a spark or a small flame would find it's way to that shiny, black fur. That pokemon, an Umbreon known to be owned by one of the kimono girls, seemed to be the one most afraid of everyone in the city.
As the Umbreon passed different people, he grew more and more frustrated. As he passed two black haired girls, one of them tried to catch him, calling his name, but he evaded her, ready to bite of she'd manage to catch him. The Espeon who had been running by the girl tried to catch Umbreon with her psychic powers, but failed miserably, due to Umbreon, as a dark type, being immune to that kind of powers. Both of the girls, the Espeon, and a Flareon near the other girl shouted after Umbreon, but he didn't care. He still hadn't found what he had been looking for.
As he continued his way, he passed a Vaporeon trying to put out the fire. He went a little further away, and ignored the scared shout of another black haired girl nearby, and glared at the Vaporeon to make sure she wouldn't follow him.
He was about to calm down a little, seeing that so many of the sisters were all out and safe, but that was when he heard a desperate howl from ahead of him. In the instant, Umbreon could see a Jolteon trying to hold back a long, yet again black haired girl, trying to head towards the flaming building. Most alarming, but it wasn't until Umbreon heard the words of that girl that he understood that his worst fears had come true.
" She's still in there! Let me go! She – my sister is still in the theatre!" she screamed, so that the words echoed in the air, reaching everyone around, spreading the terror, even to the men who had joined the electric pokemon trying to keep the desperate girl from running into the flames.
It was the terror that completely erased all fear binding the Umbreon desperately searching for his trainer. The pokemon made a fearful howl, and headed towards the burning theatre. Everyone could see him, but no-one could stop him. He was running faster than he ever had, and nothing could have made him turn back. Just like that, ignoring the screams behind him, the Umbreon entered the flaming building.
The heat was unbelievable, and the smoke made it impossible for even the sharp-eyed pokemon to see anything. It was like he was blind, aimlessly heading towards the heart of a volcano. But it didn't stop him.
Twice was the Umbreon nearly crushed by a falling piece of the roof, his eyes were sore, and it became harder and harder to breathe. Draining in all the air he could, concentrating all his power into moving on, he sharpened his ears, and searched. He seemed to search for an eternity.
But before he could completely lose his hope, he heard a small noise. A tearful, weak, silent cry echoed in his ear. The Umbreon yelped, and heard a sharp breath, followed by the sound of a child coughing. Without hesitating for a second, the Umbreon followed the sound, and soon found a small girl, crying in a corner surrounded by flames.
Ignoring what might happen to him, the Umbreon jumped over the fire, and reached the girl. She had noticed him, she had heard his yelp, and was now staring at him with wide eyes, obviously not believing what she saw, slowly realizing that her dear partner had come for her.
" Um--!" she tried to shout his name, but her throat was filled with smoke, and wild coughs shoke her small body, and her hands trembled as she covered her mouth with the sleeve of her slightly burned kimono. It was heartbreaking to see, and for a moment Umbreon had no idea what to do. But when his trainer looked at him with teary, but still clear eyes, he grabbed her sleeve in his mouth, and started leading her through the flames, so fast they didn't have the time to burn her. He released his grip, but made sure she was following him as often as he could.
The girl followed him with shaky steps, as he tried to keep the flames away by firing shadow balls at them. Umbreon remembered the path he had come through, and even though his vision still wasn't good, was well leading his trainer out of the flames. It all went well, until he heard a now familiar rumbling from the ceiling. He made a warning roar, and pushed the young kimono girl from the way of a falling, violently burning board.
He quickly opened his eyes, and saw that his trainer didn't seem to be badly hurt, but she had hit her head. The clearness of her eyes was slowly fading, and it seemed she was about to lose her consciousness. Umbreon whined in terror, trying to keep her awake, when he realized the fallen board had blocked their path. Panic quickly grew in his heart, as he tried to put out some of the flames by desperately spitting out shadow balls from his mouth, but he was getting weaker by every moment, and the attacks didn't seem to affect the flames at all.
The kimono girl made a painful sound, and Umbreon was at complete loss of what to do. The urge to give up grew stronger and stronger; all seemed to be lost. The flames came closer and closer, and there was no means of escape. Umbreon closed his eyes, trying to protect his trainer with his body, hoping he would last long enough for someone else to rescue her, but it all seemed hopeless.
His body was dull, and he had no idea whether they had already been engulfed by the flames, when he heard a magnificent kaw. Umbreon raised his head, and somehow, managed to separate a giant being surrounded by the tips of the flames. All colours of rainbow ran though his eyes, and the being made another powerful scream, flapping its huge wings dyed in a burning red colour.
What was this magnificent creature? Did this mean they were saved?
No. It was too late for him already. He knew it, there was absolutely no power left in him. But he still had hope.
Slowly, Umbreon turned his eyes to the girl under him, She was breathing, though faintly, and her eyes were just slightly open. Umbreon wasn't sure if she was awake, but she was alive, at least. He sighed in relief, and looked at the beautiful phoenix-like creature over him. The bird raised its wings, making the flames move away from the girl and the Umbreon. In the instant it happened, Umbreon could hear the screams from outside, and the steps of the brave ones who, like him, had entered the wildly burning building.
The Umbreon used the final sparks of strength he never even knew he had, to gently push the girl towards the sounds. Her eyes stayed on him for a moment, and a single tear fell from her left eye. Then, her eyes closed completely, and she made a mourning sound, right before the flames returned, and separated the trainer and the pokemon.
Umbreon couldn't move anymore, he felt empty, but still relieved; he had managed to rescue his trainer, and that was all that mattered.
The magnificent phoenix landed in front of him, and started singing a song, a song that only the pokemon laying in front of it could hear. As Umbreon closed his eyes, he could feel a strange sensation taking over him. A feeling he had never felt before, both so pleasant it felt like a dream, and so terrible he had to hold back a scream.