(I just want to say I LOVE how Kristina came out. She's one of my favorites, in all honesty. Anyways, I really hope you like this new chapter; now, we get to some plot, and some action, baby! I don't own, Nintendo and Satoshi Tajiri do. I am a geek writing fics.
Anyways, a final note; if you can recognize the glitch from RBY in the end of the chapter, I will give you virtual cake! Oh, and also; guess what band wrote an album of the same name of Olivia's new Pokemon.)
There is a man.
He sits in his chair.
Beware the man.
"Aaah, Roger. My son, today is the day you begin your journey, correct?" Morgan Kent leaned back in his chair, staring at his son. "Yep! I got a Riolu! His name is Rukario!" Morgan nodded. "I see." He'd already known his son was to get a Riolu; it had been requested by the Champ himself, and his word was law. The Riolu gazed up at him, and waved.
It was a powerful Riolu; at the Champion of the New Order's request, it had been bred to know Aura Sphere, Mach Punch, Extremespeed, and Poison Jab, all at level five.
A happy little thing. He noted that it had quite a bit of muscle under its fur. "Well, you came to say goodbye, right?" Roger nodded. "And I've got a question. Who's this girl in the picture you've got?" He held up a picture of a girl with brown hair and blue eyes.
Morgan smiled thinly. "...No one, Roger. Just a girl I've kept my eye on."
Once we'd reached Cerulean City, Gold begged to go to the beach. Togetaro whined we weren't at the Game Corner yet, and Silver just observed the town quietly.
Anna had buggered off to check out the Nugget Bridge, and me?
I was lost as hell, trying to find the Gym. "Dammit." I muttered, annoyed. "Where is the thing!" I raised an eyebrow at Jack, who was frolicking in a puddle. "You'll get pneumonia, stupid." I scolded him, picking him up, and pressing his wet body against my stomach, which made me shiver from the cold water.
He mewled in surprise, and pointed to a weird looking Coliseum. I blinked at the prize. "A Pokemon?" I filled with hope. Charmander, here I come!
...But the requirement was two badges. I swore. Now I absolutely NEEDED to find this gym. NOW.
I spied a blonde young lady with bags under her eyes, who wore the Gym Leader's badge of certification. I rushed over to her. "Ma'am! Is your gym open for today?" She looked at me. Seeing me, but not quite seeing me, she mumbled, "Yuh... soon as I get my... fix..." I watched her go, and Grimwald hissed into my ear, "Well, follow her, dope! Go!" I nodded, and rushed off.
She whispered some words to a man in the alleyway, and grabbed a baggie of pills discreetly. Grimwald sniffed the air. "I recognize those!" He hissed. "They're weight-loss pills! I think pretty strong ones, too, if she's getting them this way." I wanted to ask him how he knew that, but he figured it out from my expression, and said, "Some girl who tried to catch me took 'em. Nasty buggers, they are." I nodded.
I shrunk against the shadowy backdrop of the alley as she passed, and quietly tailed her as she walked back to her Gym, swallowing the pills.
She turned around, and I saw a dribble of blood flow out of her mouth, but before I could blink, she'd wiped it away, and fled to the Gym. I sighed, and went for the others.
"So she's a junkie." Silver stated flatly. I sighed. "You don't know the half of it."
Most females, besides skirts and heels, were ordered to have certain hair color, weight, and height, if they wanted to work in the League.
Blonde hair, or a very light shade of brown was all that was allowed. Blue or green eyes were a must; either that or wear contacts your entire career. You had to be over 5'3, but not above 5'10. And you had to have a BMI of 20 or under, along with a cup size of CC or over.
Because of this, few females worked for the League; like the League wanted, I supposed. And those who passed those regiments had to adhere to a 'feminine standard of 'Pokemon', so they were often mocked as pushovers, since most of their Pokemon were crap, unevolved ones. AND, if that wasn't bad enough, most had to have a husband, and at least one kid if they were older, or be pretty and single if they were young.
And no lesbians need apply, of course.
"She took those pills to stay skinny." I told them. Gold announced softly, "Don't they kill you?"
Not one of us answered his question.
I checked in and registered at the Gym.
I was allowed to go into the arena, and there I saw Kristina practicing and crying at the same time. She looked up at me.
"Hey kid." She said softly. I sat down, unsure of what to say. Old scars she had on her arms were oozing blood, and snot dripped from her nose. She grinned weakly, and patted the Horsea, Goldeen, and Vaporeon swimming around her. "So, you tailed me." It wasn't a question.
It got me going, however, especially once I saw the track marks on her arms. Teeth weren't gray, and her skin was clean... probably morphine. "Why are you doing this! Shit, don't you know you could run away?" She smiled sadly.
"Kid, you're young. You and the others like you are young, so young." She sighed. "Believe you can change the goddamn world, don'tcha? You think you'll rise up and beat 'em. Gotta catch 'em all, I wanna be the very best... sound familiar?" I nodded. She snorted in disdain.
"Well, fuck me Freddy, but it just ain't true." She coughed, a harsh hacking sound, and continued. "'Cause guess what? They know you little rebels exist. Fighting for what is right, protecting the oppressed, and blah blah blah." She began to cry silently and angrily, brushing away a few tears.
"Well, look at it like this; we're the festering corpse, and you're the maggots feasting on it, growing fat and powerful on our mistakes, our wrongdoings, while you pretend you're not enjoying playing the goddamn martyr in this shit. Because some of you... well, maybe this means something to you. But for most of us, killing is killing, and we'll kill for whatever side pays us more." She kept continuing, and I could only listen in enraptured horror.
"You need us, just like we need you. You need something to rebel against, and we need something to fight against, to prove that we're here for a reason, that humanity on a whole is a menace that needs to be stopped. Both sides need the other to prove they're right, do you understand me?" She looked at me, and through a haze of drugs and pain, I saw memories.
A drunken father. Dead mother. Psychic powers she didn't understand, nor could she control. Failed at Pokemon, until the League arrived. Happy to take the place of a complacent woman, because she couldn't do anything else. Too hard for her to think. So easy to succumb, so easy to die.
She was dying.
I looked at her, and said, "That may be true. In fact, for some it's probably gospel. But I fight for two simple reasons; one, because I am sick of having to life my life by someone else's rules and regulations, and two, two... because I fucking can." I finished in a soft tone, words coated in a sure ice. She sighed, and shook her head.
"It's your funeral." But she wasn't talking to me anymore; she was talking to herself.
She turned, and walked away into the wings, but not before saying, "I'll meet you on the field in five minutes." Vaporeon, Goldeen, and Horsea swam after her cautiously, with concern for their trainer.
I said nothing, just turned and walked away. Jack and Grimwald followed quietly. What else could we say?
I collected Gold, Silver, and Anna quietly, and told them to wait in the bleachers. They knew something had happened, but they didn't know what, exactly.
I did, and it chilled me to the bone.
We took our places five minutes later. Kristina sighed softly, and called out her first Pokemon as the announcer roared our names.
I looked at Jack. "Go, and use Tackle." There was so little effort in our voices. "Sea, use Water Gun." "Dodge it with Double Team, and use Bite."
The audience frowned. They didn't like this, not one bit. They wanted blood and screaming. They weren't getting blood and screaming.
Made them angry.
"Jack. Use Shadow Ball." Kristina retaliated with a weak Water Gun again. Silver frowned in the stands.
"I really don't like this..." He said, as I unleashed a vicious Shadow Ball attack, making Sea faint.
Kristina called out her next Pokemon. "Deen, use Horn attack." Deen stabbed Jack with her sharp horn, and Jack wheezed, the air knocked out of him. "...Finish it. With one more Horn Attack." The audience waited, tense.
Blood in the water, as Jack hit it with a sound splash. They all cheered, waiting joyously for the climax. They got it. Jack fainted. I sighed, and recalled him.
"You did well, Jack, and I'm proud of you." I silently prayed to Mew as I called out Grimwald. He knew that the occasion was solemn, and made no announcement of his Satan-ness.
He finished Deen off with a Spark. Blue electricity still crackling over scales, Kristina recalled her, and then sent out Eon. Our eyes met.
'Don't do it,' mine begged her, 'you have so much to live for!' Her weary, faded eyes said softly, 'There is always another choice. Remember that. I chose mine. Did you choose yours, yet?' With a jolt, I realized we were having a telepathic conversation.
How...? I shook my head, and thundered, 'PLEASE! Who will take care of your pokemon?' She smiled. 'These three... I love them, and they'll survive. Give them to a worthy trainer, one that was nothing like me. And please... there's a Dusk Ball in my room; second door after you walk into the wing. Take him, please. He never knew me, never knew anyone. Take him.' I mentally yowled, 'Who the fuck is HIM!' But she'd cut me off.
She turned to me, and tossed me a Cascade Badge, and turned back to the audience. "There's always a goddamn choice, you hear me? Don't give in! IF WE GIVE AN INCH, THEY WIN! THEY WIN!" She turned to Eon, who closed her eyes in misery.
"EON, HYPER BEAM!" She screamed. Eon closed her eyes—
And fired the condensed power straight at her trainer.
Her body set alight, and she literally exploded, sending chunks of hair, bone, brain, and muscle flying. I screamed, as most of it covered me. "Oh my god! LIVID! LIVID!" Silver and Gold roared, reaching for their pokeballs, in a desperate attempt to save Kristina—too late.
Her Pokemon quietly finished themselves off; Deen performed a Horn Drill on Sea, then as she pierced Eon's heart, Eon hit her with a Hyper Beam.
They found peace in torment. They joined their trainer.
I began to howl, as the guts of another human being ran down my body. I choked on a bit of flesh that had found its way into my mouth as I'd screamed, and I noted with a lucid horror it was a complete human eye.
I vomited then, and in the puddle of puke, the eye glared back at me. 'You should've known. You should've saved her.' It accused me. I nodded. "It's TRUE! It's TRUE! I'M SORRY!" And then, in a sole bit of lucidity, "Holy shit, I just threw up an eye. Eeew."
In my haze of terror, I remembered her last request; the Dusk Ball. In the chaos of both the Gym and my mind, I managed to find her room.
The little bed had the green-and-black Pokeball sitting there, waiting for a Trainer that was never coming back. I noticed a note, and I read it, still in terror over the eye.
'The Pokemon I always wanted—they never let me have. I caught him in the darkest night. Please take care of him. He needs a good trainer.' Even though I knew it could've been addressed to anyone, it felt like it was meant for me.
I took the Pokeball, and fled.
Back in the League, they were discussing the death of Kristina.
"Shame, shame. She fit so many of our requirements. It'll be difficult to replace her." The young male said sadly. The one called Tristan snorted. "Always knew she'd be trouble. Such a shame we have to tell the Champ, since it's his kid's first day as a Trainer, after all..."
But Morgan already knew. He sighed, as he saw the girl Kristina had been facing. "Oh, Olivia, my dearest daughter," He sighed, "What shall we do with you?"
As we ran from the Gym, my hands trembled. "Whoa, where'd you get a Dusk Ball?" Gold asked me, eyes widening a bit. I explained my discussion with Kristina, and the note I found. Everyone stared.
Because of the dark glass used to make it, I couldn't see what was inside. Everyone called out their Pokemon in case the thing was insane, and it was with bated breath I tossed the pokeball.
"Momma?" I gasped. An orange lizard with a flickering flame on his tail.
Holy flying motherfu—
He sat down and began to cry. Silver nodded. "Go ahead. Kristina gave him to you, remember." I nodded shakily, and gathered him in my arms. I could hardly believe it.
A Charmander. A real, live Charmander. And he was nuzzling me. I hugged him gently, and whispered in his ear. "Shush, Santi, it's going to be okay, I promise." I sent him the most calming thoughts I could. He cried in my arms, knowing instinctively his mother was dead.
I quickly ran a scan over him, checking his memories. He'd been captured by Kristina just a week ago; other than that, he'd led a normal life. Nothing to give away any Order secrets. I grunted, and heaved him up.
"Let's go, Santi. I have a Coliseum battle to win." Everyone stared at me. "You do realize," Silver said, carefully choosing his words so as not to set me off, "That Charmanders are illegal for female trainers under the League—" I turned, and placed my hands on my hips, setting Santi down beside me.
"Did I NOT say I was doing this so no one would tell me how to live my life? Santi comes with me, we are fighting, and we are getting the Pokemon prize, dammit." I hissed. Silver sighed.
"Do you want to pass yourself off as an enemy of the League?" I rolled my eyes. "Well, I am, aren't I?" He had nothing to argue against that, and with the last word won, I set off to train in the grass by Nugget Bridge.
I spotted a kid in the grass, and I recognized him as one of Jack's attackers from our first day together. I ran away just as he saw me—and ran into a boy with a Slowpoke.
"Battle me!" He said. The Slowpoke chewed his tail. I rolled my eyes. "Santi, I think you can handle this. Metal Claw!" His claws turned iron, and Slowpoke shrunk back in fright as he raked them across his flank. Santi's emotions spiked up in happiness, and I smiled in delight. "What a great Pokemon you are, Santi!" I yelled.
The unspoken words were mainly, "Way better than you, Jack."
Jack stared back at me, and I didn't see the tears in his eyes. I didn't see him plod off away, past Nugget Bridge.
And until I beat the Slowpoke, collected Santi, and turned around for Nugget Bridge, I didn't see Mew, either.