Author's Corner. Side Story: A Reviewer's Rage(1)
White: Slybill! Alphinia's back! Alphinia's back!
Scarlet: About time. I was actually beginning to miss having to deny the ScarletxWhite accusations.
Slybill *Jumps for Alphinia*: Yay! Welcome bac-
Alphinia kicks his nuts and sends him flying into his work table
Slybill *reeling comically*: What was that for?
Alphinia: You little nerd! What's the big idea with Terra being in the train fight and not my Alphinia?
Scarlet: Well, your Alphinia's supposed to be screwing around in Undella To-
Alphinia hurls Slybill into Scarlet and roars like a dragon.
Alphinia: My girl does not screw around, Ginger! Where's Undella Town? I'll drag her back to this studio with my bare hands if I have to! *Storms Out*
White: …...Alphinia's back! Alphinia's back!
Omega: Hey, what about me?
Scarlet: Do…the….disclaimer….already…..
DISCLAIMER: SLYBILL DOES NOT OWN POKEMON. ELSE BROCK WOULD HAVE HIS EYES PEELED FOR AN ENTIRE EPISODE!
Driftveil City, Unova Region.
A slim man of 26 sat himself down on a cushion and took in the fresh afternoon air of Driftveil City. Running his hand through his jet-black, neck-length hair, he gazed at the large, red, steel pride of the city in the distance that was Charizard Bridge and smiled as memories of a meeting with his late best friend crept into his head.
"I can still remember when Clay told us to hunt down Team Plasma who'd escaped when he lowered the bridge. Boy were we pissed….Black."
His short moment of reverie was cut off by a loud explosion that rocked even him off his feet from where he was standing. Looking in the direction of the bridge, his grey orbs widened in shock as he saw smoke rising from the bridge's middle. Getting up quickly, he grabbed two pokeballs lying on a desk nearby and was about rushing out of his hotel room when he quickly remembered something. Tearing off a sticky note, he scribbled hastily on it, slapped it down on the room door and hurried out.
"Bianca. Heading for Charizard Bridge. Stay here until I get back. Cheren."
End of Route 5, Unova Region.
"Have fire power boosted by 30%!" Scarlet cried and the flames around his left hand increased in intensity. Pushing again, he felt his boots drag right through the iron rail tracks as the train pushed against his right arm.
"With the speed at which this train is still going, Scarlet won't be able to stop the train!" Rain yelled above the deafening screeching of the train tracks and White bit her lip as she held on tightly to the window. Even with Scarlet on triple boost, he was still being pushed back by the hellbound train and unless they thought up something fast, hellbound wouldn't become a figure of speech anymore.
Gritting his teeth, Scarlet continued with all his might to push back the nearly-unstoppable train and called for another boost in fighting-type assist. Train tracks flew through the air as his feet tore across the railing, serving as additional brakes. Daring to look to his left, the ravenette cursed as he saw the bridge's entrance come into view.
"Dammit!" he screamed and called for another boost in fire power. The train slowed a little but didn't stop and he began to think that he would be too late. As a hunter, he considered ditching the train, grabbing Jolteon and making a break for it. However, White's crying face seeped into his thoughts and for some reason, he felt he couldn't bring himself to stop pushing against the train.
"You fucking owe me for this, ditz!" he yelled and finally called for a boost in dragon power. Almost instantly, the blue flames on his left flared up with a BOOM and the train began to slow down drastically.
"How far are we from the foot of the bridge?" LP called as the train shook violently.
"My buddy says 70 feet and closing," Rain yelled back. "Sorry make that 50."
"We're not gonna make it!" a passenger cried and people began to scream and panic.
"Yes we are! Scarlet's working hard to push back the train!" White yelled and silenced everyone. "Scarlet said he'll save us! And when he says he's gonna do something, he always follows it through down to the last letter! I believe in him, Jolteon believes in him and you all should believe in him too! You just wait, he'll definitely stop the train!"
Rain scrunched up his eyebrow. He had initially pictured his target to be a barbaric, ruthless, greedy and defiant bastard who thought nothing of his fellow man but now here he was, pushing a virtually unstoppable, 200 tonne hunk of metal with all his might, thanklessly trying to save people who he never knew before. And he even had a friend rooting for him.
"Interesting…" the bluenette muttered and jerked forward as he felt the train slowing down further. Looking out, his eyes widened at the giant hole in the bridge nearing them. "30 feet!"
With a strained yell, the ravenette boosted all three assists to the max, jammed his sliding feet harder into the passing rails and gave a final push.
"20 feet!"
"Hurry brat!"
"15 feet"
"All hail Team Plasma!"
"10 feet!"
"Scarlet!"
"8 feet"
"!"
With an ear-grating screech and sparks flying from the rails, the single carriage train ground to a halt with Scarlet's worn out boots just inches away from the gaping hole. Swallowing the heart threatening to leap out of his mouth, the ravenette took his shaky hand off the train's snout and stumbled over to the side. Peering at the relieved/stunned passengers he gave his signature grin.
"Just so you know," he stammered, trying to regain his composure. "I am not doing that again." And in a second, he was flooded by the overjoyed crowd, battered with hugs, kisses and hair-ruffles. Tearing him out from thankful passengers, White enveloped him in a bone-crushing hug and Jolteon and Pignite tackled them both to the ground happily. Ignoring his protests, they licked at his face in joy, gratitude and relief while White giggled into his shoulder.
"What're you gonna do about him?" LP murmured as he and Rain watched the comical group from inside the train. "I can't allow you to arrest him or my job won't be any fun anymore. Also, you'd be a major ball-buster if you tried to ruin the scene."
"Even so..." Rain replied and ran a hand through his hair. "We were told to arrest a scarlet-haired Pokemon hunter." LP tensed and fingered his guns. The pompadour knew all too well what would happen to any hunter who got caught and frankly, he didn't want that for his rival else the Reshiram hunt would get very boring. He still had to show the brat up anyway, even if he didn't know him.
"Later LP. I'm heading for the police station to make a statement." Jerking out of his thoughts, the older hunter turned to see the bluenette stepping out of the train...and onto the opposite side of the train where he wouldn't be seen.
"Huh? But-" he started but was cut off as the winds picked up and the noisy sounds of helicopters cut through the quiet atmosphere. Rain turned and faced LP.
"We didn't get a change of heart, if that's what you're wondering," he stated and the air around him bent as a shape materialized slowly behind him. A blue and grey pokemon shaped like a small jet-plane floated beside him and stared apprehensively.
"So that's your buddy, huh?" the older hunter remarked with a low whistle. "No wonder..."
"Latios told me that its best to leave Scarlet be for a while. He might just lead us to Team Plasma if I play my cards right," Rain continued and hopped unto the dragon/psychic pokemon. Thankfully, no one was there to stare at the Eon pokemon as everyone else was on the other side of the train.
"Besides..." he added as the duo began to rise and turn invisible. "We didn't see a scarlet-haired hunter here. All we saw was a 16 year old ravenette doing what he could to save the people and pokemon on this train." And in a large gust of wind, they were gone.
"Hmph, s'all the better for me then..." the pompadour scoffed and sent out his Gliscor. "We're outta here. I need a bath and I smell like a horny Muk." Nodding, his Fang Scorp pokemon picked him up between his pincers and flew off. Terra himself had snuck out while no one was looking and had long scurried off into the distance.
White had held her hat down to keep it from flying off in the strong wind and was now helping to shuffle the passengers into the rescue copters. Getting the last one into the copter, she turned to face Scarlet.
"C'mon, lets go-"
"White!" A voice called and the two looked up to see an a large, grey bird pokemon coming down slowly to the ground. Jumping off his Unfezant, a black-haired man ran up to her and snatched her up in an embrace before putting her down and checking for injuries. "When I heard that the bridge had been blown up and a train was still approaching, I rushed here as fast I could. I never expected to see you here though. Are you alright, what happened to that train and who is that boy?"
"Gee Cheren," the white-haired trainer giggled. "If you keep asking so many questions, my head's gonna explode!"
After she dramatically explained the events that had transpired, Cheren sighed in relief and smiled. "I'm just glad to see you're safe." Scarlet stared at the man. Probably one of White's crazy friends, he assumed and walked over to them.
"Oh yeah, this is Ginger-ow-Scarlet, my training coach." Giving the blood-stained boy a once-over, he held up a hand.
"Don't know how but you saved everyone on this train. I'm honoured to meet you," he stated with a formal smile. Smiling back, the ravenette proceeded to shake his hand when something pulsed within him and his gloves began to flash oddly. Suddenly, he gripped the left side of his chest in pain as his heart literally twisted and pumped erratically.
"Scarlet...?" White muttered before rushing over to him. "What's wrong?"
"Damn...it..." he replied and bloody tears streamed out from his deadening eyes. "Rebound...?"
Instantly, bloody gashes ripped open across his entire frame and his body convulsed as blood sprayed from his sides. Screaming, the ravenette fell back and writhed as the triple boost rebound punished every muscle in his arms and legs before spewing blood from his mouth. Not stopping there, a sickening crack was heard as the bones in his right arm fractured heavily.
Watching helplessly, White screamed his name several times while trying to hold him down. In a minute, paramedics appeared on the scene and Cheren took it upon himself to tear her and Jolteon away from their dying companion. Screaming and kicking frantically, White felt a needle stab through her arm and in no time at all, her body fell limp in Cheren's arms.
"Sorry White. Can't have you hyperventilating and hurting yourself..." the man whispered as the paramedic nearby pulled out the syringe.
"It's snowing again..."
Two 7-year old boys clad in white,oversized nightgowns stood on their chairs and looked out the glass window. Endless white spread out over the entire area and small flakes danced in the howling winds.
"Wanna make snowmen?" The child on the left turned to face his best friend and smiled. "Well, Scarlet?"
The boy on the left shook his head, swaying his straight, waist-length red-hair in all directions.
"Professor Jillian told us not to go, remember? The Weavile come out when it snows too," he replied and jumped off the chair. Fingering the long black lock of hair shielding the right side of his face, Scarlet walked up to a bookcase and reached for a photo album. Opening it, he leafed through some pages and smiled as he saw a group of small children, himself included, lined up side by side and grinning at the picture. Standing behind them was a cheerful-looking woman with messy brown hair tied in a bun and making bunny-ears behind the redhead.
"I wish the others were here," he muttered sadly. His friend walked up to him and plopped himself down with a pout.
"Professor Jillian said they were all going for a little excursion. I wonder why the two of us were left behind," he murmured before turning to face Scarlet with a coy smile. "Ya know, Roy said he knew what they were gathering us all for."
Closing the book, the redhead looked at his friend with interest. Jade always had something to talk about whenever they were bored. "So...what was it?"
Leaning closer, the auburn-haired child made a creepy face. "He said they're gonna use our souls to awaken a powerful, giant monster-pokemon that lives far, far away."
"That's stupid," the redhead scoffed and put away the album. "Pokemon don't eat souls."
"Oh yeah? Then how come the kids that went away a year ago haven't come back yet?" Jade asked.
"Professor Jillian said they weren't needed anymore so they gave them away," Scarlet replied flatly and picked up another book.
"Gave them away? You mean they got families?" the auburn asked in wonder and his friend shrugged.
"I don't know. Maybe they were given to the monster after all," he concluded and giggled when he saw Jade pale. "I just scared you with your own story. That's rich!"
"That's not fair!" the auburn whined and tugged on his own waist-length hair. Like Scarlet, he too had a lock of black-hair except it covered his left instead. Looking at them, one would've thought they were mirrored opposites. "Hey Scarlet?"
"What is it this time, Jade?"
"D'you think my soul will be sacrificed to the monster-pokemon?" he asked timidly. Scarlet put his book down and faced his friend before holding up three fingers.
"One. Roy was a loony so he was probably lying. Two. Pokemon cannot eat souls-"
"Dusknoir can!" Jade interjected and felt smart as he thought he had stumped his intelligent friend. Scarlet sighed.
"Dusknoir guide souls into the spirit world, dummy. And that was just some guess by geezers."
"Stumped me again..." the auburn huffed. "What's three?"
Scarlet knocked a fist gently on his friend's chest and grinned. "Soul Brothers."
Jade stared at him blankly. "Huh?"
"We're soul brothers. I've got your soul and you've got mine. This monster-pokemon can't take our souls cos their tied to each other like Professor Jillian's shoe laces. Nice and tight!"
Jade returned the gesture and smiled. "Yeah! Nice and tight!"
Blue eyes stared up at the white ceiling and flitted about to scan the environment which looked painfully familiar. Sitting up slowly, Scarlet looked down to see a mass of snow-white hair lying on his lap. Looking to the right, he spotted Jolteon fast asleep on a bed of his own, bandaged at the sides.
"Good, you're awake," a voice called out from the door. Following its direction, his eyes fell on the raven-haired man who was leaning by the doorway.
"Cheren...?" he asked and was instantly surprised by how scratchy his voice sounded. Quietly, Cheren walked up to the teen and drew a chair forward to sit on.
"How're you feeling?" he asked.
"Like shit..." Nodding, the older man pulled out a check-list.
"You've been out for two days. Doctors had one hell of a surgery for your heart. Your right arm might have to be kept in a cast for a few days and I doubt you'll be able to move your legs for an hour or two with all the sedatives they pumped into you," he stated.
"Thanks for giving me the run-down," Scarlet replied and pulled off the blanket covering his body, revealing bandages covering him from chest to feet. "Great, I just got uglier."
"That's what you're worried about...?" Cheren asked, sweatdropping before gently tapping White on the shoulder. Mumbling slightly, the girl rubbed her eyes and stared at her conscious companion.
Silence...
Silence...
"Hey...You're drooling," he muttered and as expected, White threw herself into him knocking him back into oblivion.
2 minutes later...
"Someone came by earlier. Said I should give you this when you wake up," Cheren said and pulled out Scarlet's cube. "He also said to stop being reckless, whatever that means."
"Thank you Lech," the ravenette whispered as he received the cube gratefully. "Um...do you happen to have a pokemon with the regenerator ability?"
Raising an eyebrow, the older ravenette shook his head. "I don't but the Nurse Joy here should have one. What do you need it for anyway?"
"Bring it to me and I'll show you," was the reply and White suddenly perked and dashed out of the room. In a minute, an Audino was pushed into the room with a surprised Nurse Joy following moments later. Taking his cube, Scarlet shot a gentle ray of light at the pokemon. Scanning it completely, the cube blinked and made a small BLEEP.
"So..." Cheren trailed at White, puzzled. Putting the cube to his chest, the hunter tapped a button and the room got illuminated in a brilliant white light. A split-second later, the light faded and Scarlet tore off his bandages to reveal fresh scars all over his chest.
"Wow..." the Nurse Joy cooed in awe. Returning Audino to her, the ravenette jumped off his bed and walked up to Jolteon. Beaming the light at his electric pokemon, it only took a few seconds before his spiky ears perked up and he jumped from the fresh surge of life that had just been pumped into his system.
"If you must know, I just utilized some of your pokemon's ability through its DNA. I'm not healed totally since I'm human but Jolteon should do just fine."
"You know you just made a scientific/medical breakthrough right?" the older ravenette stated and Scarlet rolled his eyes.
"Everyone says that. Besides, I just used it to close up my wounds and they'll heal faster if I don't push myself. Now let's get outta here. Hospitals make me sick."
"Huh? I thought hospitals were there to make people feel better," White asked, genuinely confused. Sweatdropping, Scarlet bopped her lightly on the head.
"You. Are. Such. An. Airhead," he deadpanned and went straight for the reception. "C'mon, I don't look very good in patient gowns." White tugged on Cheren's hand before following her black-haired companion.
"That's some boyfriend you got, White," the man commented and Scarlet stopped abruptly.
"She's not my girlfriend," he declared flatly and continued in search of non-hospital clothes. Now that's denial, Cheren remarked.
An hour later...
The rain was coming down hard on the city and White tried to count the number of raindrops sliding down the shop window. Getting drowsy instead, she rubbed her droopy eyes and grumbled something about Scarlet taking too long to pick out some clothes. Stepping out of the changing room in army-camouflage cargoes and a black, turtleneck sweater, the ravenette whistled for her and Jolteon to follow as he stepped out of the building. Cheren had earlier on gone ahead to the hotel were he was currently residing saying that he had to meet his wife and let her know what was going on.
"Your cube sure does a lot, doesn't it?" White remarked as they passed by the park on their way to meet Cheren. Scarlet's cube had an umbrella function so as long as the duo stayed together, they wouldn't have to worry about getting soaked. "Can it turn into a plane too?"
"As cool as that sounds, I'd have to say no," the hunter replied. "It took me two years of back-breaking science just to get it to do the glove thingy. I had a friend come up with the other smaller add-ons. I originally intended for it to be a storage device but...well, I'm still a teenage guy right? I couldn't resist putting some almost impossible features in it. Don't ask me how. It makes my brain hurt."
Nodding, the trainer squeezed lightly on the fuzzy pokemon in her arms. "So I guess I'll be challenging the gym leader here. He uses ground type so he might be a little tough."
"You'd need a grass, water or ice type pokemon to beat ground-types. And unless you're gonna use Beartic, I suggest you catch one of those three types," her coach explained. Stopping in the middle of the park's walkway, he coughed lightly and turned to face White. "I have something to say..."
Tilting her head to the side, White stared at him before nodding.
"Back on the train fiasco, when it looked like we weren't gonna make it...you said you believed in me to actually stop the train." Was that red tinting his cheeks?
"How did you hear that?" the white-haired trainer asked.
"Like I said, I was on dragon-boost then and I guess my sense of hearing heightened along with everything else," he replied before pouting and looking away. "I'm only gonna say this once so listen up." And in a small voice, "T-Thanks...for believing in me-eh?"
He would have continued if not for the fact that the girl in question was a little way ahead, skipping about in the rain and jumping on small puddles.
"Sorry, did you say something, Ginger?" she grinned and a tick mark appeared on his forehead. Curse her short attention span.
"Get out of the rain or you'll make Jolteon catch a cold!" he yelled and proceeded to grab his pokemon from her. Suddenly pulling out of his reach, White watched in amusement as Scarlet slipped and fell face-first into a large puddle. The laughter that followed was cut short as Scarlet slowly pushed himself off the ground and smiled sadistically. Stepping back, she was about running when a glob of mud smacked her right in the face. Dropping Jolteon, the girl reciprocated the attack and soon a mud-fight broke out as people from nowhere joined in the messy fun. A bewildered Cheren stood under an umbrella and watched the scene before deciding to get what he came for.
"Scarlet! White! The city's mayor is going to be mad if you mess up the park. Let's just drop the mud and go back to the hotel now."
The teens stopped and looked at the spoil-sport before nodding in unison.
"Good now lets-" SPLAT!
Author's Corner. Side Story: A Reviewer's Rage(2)
Slybill: Omega's comments are always so witty.
Scarlet: I don't know...he makes me feel a little self-conscious of my actions.
Slybill: It's not his fault. He did say he was a prude after all-
BAM!
Slybill slumps with blood spraying like a fountain from his head and swirl marks in his eyes having been hit by Omega holding a plank of wood with a bloodied six-inch nail jutting out.
Omega: Who're you calling a prude, punk. You totally ignored me in the part 1.
Scarlet: Um...Omega, I think you just killed-
BAM!
Omega: Sorry Ginger, what did you say? I couldn't here you over the sound of your nuts being busted by my best friend Plank.
Slybill: To the real Omega...help me...