(Since I am evil, I leave you with CLIFFY! Hint about the Pokemon; it's a starter. I give no more hints. Questions? Comments? Flames? Send them in a review! I've got a lot of ideas for this series, so expect it to be pretty long. I know I haven't updated An Epic of Time Wasted, but to be honest, it's really a mindless, plotless, humor fic, and I have to finish a few other chapters of SYOTOS and this before I can get back to work, okay? It's not dead, just on hiatus. Love ya all!)
I screamed. What else could I do? This scared Mew, who phased away—
Taking me with her.
My eyes widened as I looked around at my new temporary home. It was a soft, glowing bubble of white, mostly. I began to panic. Santi was still in my arms, and he wasn't handling it well either.
His thoughts were on overload with, "I DON'T WANNA DIE" being the main one here.
But Mew was with Jack, and Grimwald was asleep, so for the time being, I was stuck here.
Jack was with Mew. She smiled at him, and floated in the air around him. "Hi!" She purred. "Wanna play with me?" Jack looked at her sadly.
"If I play with you, will you please help me?" Mew looked confused, but nodded. "What do you need help with, silly Eevee?" Jack sighed, and began.
"My trainer doesn't like me. It's because I'm weak. She likes the stupid Charmander better. Stupid lizard. And she ignores me sometimes, and calls me Useless, even though I've trained 'cause of her!" Jack sniffled in sadness. Mew looked concerned.
"Oh, no. Wow, that's so sad. Why don't you stay for awhile with me! I can help you!" Jack nodded, and the two sat and talked.
"Okay. Why again doesn't she like you?" Mew said, adopting a pseudo-psychiatrist voice, looking at Jack. Jack shrugged. "Because I can't fight too well. She needs a strong Pokemon to help her, 'cause she needs to beat the League and become Champion. And I'm just a stupid Normal type. I can't attack Ghosts with my regular attacks, and I'm kinda skinny and small compared to some other Pokemon." Mew thought for a second.
"Have you ever considered evolving, silly Eevee?" She asked him. Jack thought for a second. "Into what?" Mew sighed, and rolled her eyes.
"Silly stupid Eevee! Espeon, Umbreon, Glaceon, Vaporeon, Jolteon, Flareon, Leafeon, you know, the Eeveeloutions!" Jack paused.
"Would she like me more if I evolved?" Mew shrugged. "I don't know, but you'd get stronger." Jack thought about it for a second. Then he said,
"I wanna get strong with her. So I'll train harder and harder, and MAKE her like me! I can do it, right?" Mew nodded.
"I bet you can!" Jack nodded, brightening up. "Yeah! Mew, do you have to leave?" Mew thought.
"I guess so. But I can always come visit, right?" Jack nodded. Mew smiled, kissed his head, and with a flick of her tail, brought us all back to Cerulean. I stared at her as she winked at Jack, and disappeared.
"...That... was... Mew." I said, astounded. Grimwald nodded. "She's sexy, you know." Santi stared at him "How does that make a point?" He piped up. Ignoring the both of them, I knelt down, and looked at Jack. "You okay? You look like you've been crying." I brushed a knuckle across his head, and hissed softly with surprise when his encounter with Mew hit me in a flood.
When I had processed it all, I looked at him sadly. "I..." Jack nudged his Pokeball, and it didn't take my power to realize he wanted to be alone. I recalled him, and sighed, beckoning to the others.
Santi pattered behind me, claws clicking. I looked up at the sky. I didn't believe it. Was I really that cruel to him?
I didn't mean to be such a jerk. I just wanted to win battles, and get stronger.
I looked down at his Pokeball, gazing at the sleeping Eevee inside. I sighed.
But maybe there was more than that to Pokemon. Winning wasn't everything, I guess. And maybe, just maybe, Jack could be a great Pokemon if we tried to work together...
Jack seemed to have heard this, and I heard a happy purring emanating from the Pokeball. I smiled, and clasped it to my chest.
I met up with the other three, who looked at me, and wisely said nothing. I rushed past them to the Coliseum, and burst in. The receptionist looked up. "I see you're here for the Knockout Battle?" I nodded. She pushed a piece of paper in my direction.
"Fill this out, please." I sat down, and scribbled my name, my hometown, my Pokemon and their names, and my rank. Two badges, three Pokemon. The lady took this, skimmed it over, and nodded.
"Hall three. It starts in five minutes. Good luck!" I nodded, and met up with the others. I quickly explained, and they nodded.
"We'll be watching, and laughing at you if you mess up. So no pressure, okay?" Gold joked. I hissed at him, which made Silver smile as Gold hid behind him.
Anna rolled her eyes, and nodded at me. "Good luck, kid." I smiled.
Five minutes later, the MC strode out to the middle of the stadium. "Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to our Cerulean Coliseum battle! We thank all of you for coming!" He flicked his hand with a great flourish to a small box.
"Our prize this time is a rare and exotic Pokemon, imported from the wild lands of Johto! Are you ready to see who will win it all?!" The audience cheered a response. The MC screamed, "BEGIN! Starting off are Marie Antonetta, and Louis Blake!" The two faced off.
"Go! Espeon!" Marie called, as the mauve catlike Pokemon leapt out onto the field. The boy checked his Pokeballs, and called out, "Go, Raichu!" The great mouse Pokemon slammed his tail down in a show of dominance.
"Psychic!" The Raichu was levitated in the air above Espeon. "Thunder, Raichu!" The bolt of lightning was a dead hit. It did a lot of damage, but I suspected the two of them were low-leveled. I checked my Pokedex, and found I was right; neither were above level twenty.
I'd heard of that before; stuffing your Pokemon full of vitamins so it got strong, and then using a stone, or giving them a Soothe Bell. I sighed, and realized it was a more common practice than I thought.
The unsettling feeling I had was intensified when I heard the girl call, "Espeon, go for the neck!"
And then it tripled tenfold when the Espeon began to rip apart the Raichu, feasting on the insides. I gasped softly, and clutched Jack to my chest.
The Espeon slowly licked Raichu clean of internal organs, much to the delight of the crowd. They rubbed together, producing a strange squelching sound.
The air suffocated me with the stench of blood. It permeated every inch and aspect of the stadium, and was thick enough for me to believe I was actually swallowing the blood of the millions of Pokemon who had died there.
It sickly reminded me of what happened when a cat feasted on a mouse. The Raichu pleaded quietly for mercy, and I began to cry when I heard these thoughts in my head.
And for an instant, I felt something snap inside of me, and I screamed mentally with terror. It hurt my mind to have to face this. I could hear the Raichu's dying plea.
Some part of me screamed for them to stop, but those words never reached my mouth. I swallowed heavily, and bit my lip, tasting blood. I wept, and the salty tears stung my lips, but I ignored it. Jack, seeing me cry, put a soft velvety paw on my cheek, and batted at my tears.
I smiled at him, and watched Raichu take his last, shuddering breath; I owed him enough dignity to watch him die, and not to turn away and leave him alone. His eyes met mine for an instant, and he seemed to smile, before fading away.
In that moment, I had never been more disgusted by humanity in my life than I was now. I had such a seething hatred going on that I missed the next battle. It was just as well; the fact was, it was probably just as gruesome as the first.
Why was I on this journey? For the greater good? How do you stop something as base in human nature as killing? How do you stop something that brings so many pleasure; the slaughter and abuse of lower life forms?
How do you make the filth clean?
Once my body stopped shaking in fury, I looked up and noticed the challengers before me. One was a blonde-haired boy whose name was listed on the board as "Clarence", while the boy with brown hair and a sullen expression was listed as "Byron".
Clarence's Croconaw was blitzed by Byron's Gyarados; the thing was vicious. Croconaw's entrails were scattered all over the floor by the time Gyarados was done.
I gulped. This spelled ill for my Pokemon. But I think we could handle it. If I was careful, then we'd be sure to win!
Please Mew, let me win. And not die.
My turn was next.
"Now, our newest challenger, Olivia Kent, straight from Blackthorn!" The others gasped. A Johto girl! Oh noes, drama.
I shivered, as I stared down a young boy with a cruel expression on his face. The board announced his name was "John". I shuddered, and glared back. He tossed out a Pokeball.
"Gligar." I nodded to Santi. He growled at the batlike Pokemon, who stuck his tongue out at him. "Metal Claw!" I ordered. Santi squawked, "Char!" And struck, slicing at Gligar viciously.
"Go for his belly." The boy ordered. I gazed blankly as Santi was swiped with a vicious claw. A wound on his stomach welled with blood.
I gasped, as I saw the damage done. "Strike with Ember!" I ordered. Santi spewed a ton of flames in Gligar's face, burning his eyes. Gligar squawked with pain, and I had an idea. "Jump on his back!" Santi did so, and John ordered, "Barrel roll! Shake him off!"
"Cling onto him with Metal Claw!" I ordered. Santi did so, squalling like a terrified child. I hardly blamed him. "Use Ember!" Santi set Gligar alight.
Screaming an eerily human scream, Gligar dove down, and attempted to roll around in the sand. When it became clear he could no longer fight, John sneered, and returned him. "I forfeit." He growled, striding away.
I wasn't just thrilled we'd won, I was thrilled that I didn't have to kill anyone.
I went back, and hugged Santi, who was still bleeding. I covered the cut with a Potion, and it faded to an angry red slash of color across his cream-colored belly. I sighed. "You did very well. Let's hurry up and win this thing, so we can get a new Pokemon!" Everyone cheered in agreement.
I watched the semifinal; some boy named Chris, and that boy from before, Byron. Byron used a Seviper this time, and it slowly poisoned Chris' Monferno to death. I blinked.
He was the one I was going to fight. Sure enough, "And now, our final battle! Byron Strumer versus Olivia Kent!" I saw him throw out a Steelix. I gaped.
Okay. So far, it's been great. Only, you know, one of each fight had DIED. But come on; was the giant steel snake necessary?
But then I remembered it was only supposed to be around level twenty, same as my others. But as I went for Santi, Jack spoke up, "I want to fight!" I stared. Santi looked at me, and nodded. "Let him." I sighed.
"Don't get killed, Useless." Jack knew I was worried, and nodded back up at me. "Jack, go!" I called. Byron nodded to his Steelix.
"Flamethrower!" "Dig!" I yelled. Jack burrowed down just in time. He came up from behind, ready to strike Steelix... but Steelix had anticipated this, and smacked him with an iron-hard tail. I whimpered in pain, as my body throbbed in sympathy with Jack's.
"Shadow Ball!" I ordered. He charged it up, and struck Steelix; but it didn't seem to do much damage, the exact opposite of what I'd hoped. "Damn, damn, and double damn." I muttered.
"Steelix, Hyper Beam!" I gaped, as Steelix charged up. "Oh, shit." I grumbled. Jack's eyes widened with terror. "Dig again!" I said, but it was too late. He got blasted back. Quickly, I checked his HP. Not much left. What to do...
Well, I had one idea. The prize was still right there, right? And I could probably provide a distraction, of course...
"GRIMWALD! SANTI! FUCK THIS BITCH UP!" I yelled, and as a fiery shock of electricity flared up, I rushed through the chaos and confusion to snag the Luxury Ball on the platform.
Everyone began screaming, and rushing for the exit. I cackled madly. "BURN BURN, MY BITCHES!!" I was again stricken with Johto Madness.
See? I have an excuse, I'm crazy.
The others saw me snatch it, and run like hell. "Well, I suppose we're raising a hardened criminal, eh?" Gold joked. Silver rolled his eyes.
"All hail the crusader for the world's karma." I said, saluting myself. I grabbed my boys, and got the hell out of there.
Hey, they deserved it. I wanted a frickin' Pokemon, oh-KAY? Jeez, you act like I just ruined a giant building or something.
Anna met up with me first, and she was not exactly thrilled. "You are aware you could've gotten us all killed?" She asked in a deadly calm voice. I shrugged. "Yeah, I figure, but hey, I took out a fight-to-the-death Coliseum AND got a new Pokemon! Cool, right?" Anna grumbled, but had to agree.
Silver and Gold met up with us, and Gold piped up, "Well, open the Pokeball!" I did, and the beam of light solidified to reveal—