"... Reports say that the perpetrators behind the attack are a group of rogue Unovan soldiers known as the Brotherhood of the Black. There were no survivors, and the institution has been almost completely ransacked. As of now, authorities cannot find a clear motive behind the attack."
Edwin looked away from the television with disgust and angrily chewed his food. He was sitting in the Petalburg pokemon center and had just returned after losing to the gym leader, Norman. The news report only made his mood even fouler.
Edwin was a young man of seventeen years with chestnut brown hair and deep ocean-blue eyes. He was of average height and of athletic build and wore an orange jacket on top of a plain black t-shirt. He also wore a pair of dark blue jeans, their fabric worn out from constant exposure to the elements. Next to Edwin was a large blue creature with black and orange fins called a marshtomp. The pokemon had a cast on its left arm and was covered in bruises.
Edwin had been a trainer for close to a year and had already received five badges. Norman was the sixth leader he faced but the first one he had lost to. All five of his pokemon had gotten beat up during the fight, but his marshtomp, Poseidon, was the strongest of the bunch and the only one who did not need to stay in intensive care overnight. A woman came over to Edwin's table and he looked up from his food as his traveling companion returned.
Faustina was a tall, beautiful woman with enticing curves and long, wavy black hair which could easily be mistaken for a blue color if the light hit it just right. She wore a loose gray long-sleeved shirt and form-fitting black traveling pants, and her mesmerizing violet eyes flitted to the television as she sat down beside Edwin.
"More killings by that Unovan group. Hopefully the bastards get caught this time," Edwin said to her, but she didn't seem to be paying any attention to him. Her focus remained entirely on the news report.
"Sorry, did you say something?" She asked, finally turning her head to look at him.
Edwin shook his head. "It was nothing. Never mind."
"Oh! That's right, your gym battle. How was it?"
"Take a look at Poseidon," Edwin said with a sigh, and the marshtomp croaked sadly. "It wasn't pretty."
"That's unfortunate. Norman can be challenging, I've heard." Her deep purple eyes were framed by her luscious black locks, and Edwin found it hard to look away. He thought she was extremely beautiful, but she was five years older than he was and she did not seem at all interested in him.
They had first met in the Petalburg Woods when Edwin was only just starting his journey, and she had saved him from a wild sceptile which had attacked him out of hunger. Ever since then, they had been traveling together, but both had different goals. Edwin wanted to collect eight badges and then challenge the Hoenn League while Faustina was looking for someone, and judging by the way she talked about him, it was someone she cared deeply for. Even though Faustina was distracted at times and treated him as a child, he was still glad to have her as a traveling companion. She was an experienced trainer, and there were many times where she saved him from certain death. Edwin was clueless about why she decided to travel with him when she already seemed so capable, but when he asked her she only said that there is safety in numbers and that she needed someone who knew the region well. That part Edwin could handle, as he was born and raised in Hoenn. He was the son of an executive at the Devon Corporation, and his father traveled a lot and took Edwin with him wherever he went.
"When do you plan on trying again?" Faustina asked, her violet eyes glinting in the light. "We should get to Fortree as soon as possible. You only have Winona and Wallace left."
"Trust me, I want to try for this badge again as soon as possible, but when I tried to schedule a rematch Norman's secretary said he'd be away for a couple weeks. Something about a conference he has to attend."
"A conference? For what?"
"Something to do with the war, probably. Everyone's talking about it," Edwin replied.
Faustina bit her lip. "There is no war. There's only rumors, and rumors are always false."
Edwin raised his eyebrow in confusion. "I think these are more than rumors," he said apprehensively. "A gym leader wouldn't just leave his city based on rumors alone." Faustina was an intelligent woman, but she always seemed uncomfortable whenever someone brought up the topic of an impending war, which was often these days.
Faustina's violet eyes filled with worry, and Edwin wanted to go over to her and comfort her, though he knew that would be out of line.
"We should go to Fortree now," she said suddenly. "We can come back and get Norman's badge later, but there's no point in waiting around for him if he won't be back for weeks."
"But we're already here," Edwin protested. "I could get some training in while he's gone, and maybe Poseidon will even evolve, he's close, I can feel it. Then we'll win for sure."
Poseidon liked the idea and croaked his agreement, but Faustina did not.
"I think we should go to Fortree. If you're not coming, then I guess I'll go myself."
Edwin sighed in defeat. "Fine, we'll go to Fortree. I don't see what all the rush is about, though."
Faustina smiled. "Good. I'll get us tickets for a boat and we'll leave as soon as the rest of your pokemon are healed." With that, the dark-haired woman got up and left the center.
Edwin looked at his marshtomp, who croaked at him. "Guess we're going to Fortree," Edwin said to the pokemon.
The next day Edwin awoke and found all his pokemon ready to go. The nurse told him that most of them were fine, but also that he should refrain from having his marshtomp battle for a while and that his mightyena suffered a few broken ribs and should not battle for a few weeks if possible. As Edwin thanked the nurse and took his pokemon back, he headed over to the cafeteria and wondered where Faustina was. He sent her a text asking her where she was and that they could leave today if she wanted, but after he finished his breakfast and checked his phone, he still did not receive a response.
He talked to his pokemon about how they were skipping Norman and heading to Fortree and then he waited around in his room for a few hours and watched television since his pokemon were unable to train. He still had not received a response, and he began to get worried. He went over to Faustina's room which was adjacent to his and knocked on her door, wondering if she was sick. When he knocked, however, the door swung open to reveal the room devoid of Faustina or any of her possessions. He stared blankly for a moment and then figured that she had probably left without him.
Shit, he thought, maybe I made her angry when I disagreed with her yesterday. Even though Faustina was not the type to anger easily, Edwin remembered how anxious she was to get to Fortree. She may have decided that he was a burden and that she could move quicker without him, but Edwin found this to be rather unlikely as well. He decided that it was pointless to just stand around in her empty room, so he went to the docks and bought himself a ticket to Jungle Harbor, a small harbor on Route 119 which led to Fortree City. He would depart tonight on a small but cheap boat, and he sent Faustina another text to let her know what he was doing.
As he went back to his room and packed his belongings, Edwin wondered why Faustina had been so intent on reaching Fortree so quickly. He stepped outside of the center and felt the warm Petalburg breeze wash over him, the scent of the salt and the sea strong in the air. He hoped he had not gotten himself into something he could not handle.
Dex entry #006: charizard
"Burnt corpses everywhere... The whole town was on fire... Not a soul was spared; women, children, all of them, burnt to a crisp... It was as if we had stepped into Hell itself." - Second Lieutenant Ishigo Wannake, veteran of the Second Kanto-Johto War.
Charizard are large, draconian pokemon feared far and wide for their dangerous flames. Charizard are only found in the mountains of Kanto, and they are extremely rare even there. Known for their aggressive temperament, charizard were once used during wars as alternatives to fire-bombing planes. However, the military found that once the charizards got a taste of destruction, they became overcome with bloodlust and proved impossible to control. Nowadays charmander are handed out to the best and brightest trainers in Kanto with the hopes that these trainers will be able to harness their power as well as calm their fiery spirits. Unfortunately, far too many of these trainers underestimate the violent and aggressive nature of these pokemon and end up as burnt husks. Charizard are considered a level four threat on the Pokemon Threat Scale.