Absol and Blaziken

Many years ago, a terrible tragedy was overlooked. A family of Absols had come into the city, to warn the citizens of a great earthquake that was coming. They had done such things before, but since they always appeared before disaster struck, humans did not trust them. And that time, a criminal that was looking to gain a façade of public support decided to take advantage of them. Claiming that the Absols were the ones to blame for the disasters, he and his thugs ambushed the three and killed the two parents. They thought they had killed the young male, but he had somehow survived. Such was the cruelty of humans.

The young Absol managed to struggle away. He fled back to their mountain home, at first cursing the humans and declaring that he would no longer go into the city. To him, it didn't matter if there were more disasters. The death of his parents was the greatest disaster to him. as he was weakened, he was unable to make it back to his family's den and collapsed on the side of the road. A human family found and took pity on him. They brought him back to their home and nursed him back to health. Such was the kindness of humans.

The young Absol still went into the mountains, but was now conflicted. Were humans kind or cruel? He watched them for many years, coming to the conclusion that they were both. Pokemon were the same way; some were exceptionally kind and some were exceptionally cruel. It never matter what they were, a being could be either way.

In that time, he found the criminal who had murdered his parents. He was still a cruel man, so the Absol fought and killed him in revenge. And he decided on what he wanted to do with his life. He wanted to protect the kind and innocent ones from those who were cruel, the criminals who did not care for the sacredness of life. However, people were still superstitious of his kind, so the Absol hunted at night, when he could hide in the shadows and ambush the criminals.

He would be a silent hero, the dark knight.

-+-

Some beings were exceptionally cruel. And then there were the mad ones. There were those who made cruelty a game, who liked to see others in pain. He was one of those, the most insane of them all. Some who saw him would think he was a hero among Pokemon: strong, tall, quite handsome. But this Blaziken was no hero.

There he was on the streets, juggling five balls to the amusement of a few pedestrians. He was amused by the way most were drawn to him, thinking he must be friendly because he was a Blaziken. But did they not know, his kind had developed to be blood fighters, those who gave no quarter, no mercy? True, much of his kin had calmed down from that state. It was a pity. But he wasn't like them.

He had made his way to the front of an apparel store, having gathered a decent following. He pressed a hidden button on one of his juggling balls, flipped it into the air, caught it, then tossed it out to one of his audience members. The man caught it, then noticed it had a blinking red light. The ball exploded in his hands, injuring him and several others.

The crowd gathered froze, not understanding why a simple juggling act had turned into a dangerous explosion. The Blaziken caught the four other balls and pressed their buttons, causing all four to start blinking red. Understanding that, the crowd screamed and tried to run away from him. He tossed two of the grenades after the fleeing pedestrians, then the other two at the apparel store. Within seconds of each other, the four grenade balls exploded, causing even more mayhem.

Did he have anything against this particular store? Not really. He just wanted to spread the fear, the panic. It gave him a delicious sensation of power and chaos. With him around as the destructive joker of the city, nothing would be dull. Everyone would move, holding inside a fear that this twisted Blaziken could strike anytime, anywhere.

He stepped into the wrecked store, deciding to set the clothes on fire and take what money they had here. It probably wasn't the most efficient way to perform a robbery, or the most profitable. However, it was a great show, he told himself. Entertainment was important too.

A slam in the back caught him by surprise. The Blaziken spun about, throwing his arm out to attack his attacker. But he dodged; it was an Absol, landing gracefully after his dodging hop. "Oh it's you again," the Blaziken said with a sneer. "The dark knight, as the newspapers call you."

Without responding, the Absol rushed at him, dark energy glowing about his scythe horn. The Blaziken caught it and attempted a counter strike with a blazing kick. But the Absol once again skipped right out of his range.

"You know you don't stand a chance against me," the Blaziken taunted. "Your attempts are amusing in being doomed to failure. So why don't we make this a game, huh?" He pulled out more off his ball grenades and tossed them at the Absol. He was a four-paw walker, so there was no way he could juggle like him.

Or so he thought. The dark knight Pokemon lowered his stance, then caught a grenade ball on the bottom of his scythe, then snapped his head around to roll it along the horn and launch it right back at the Blaziken, causing it to explode on him. He then nimbly dodged the rest of the grenades.

He was furious… but he laughed. "Nice one," he said harshly. "Why don't we ramp it up some?" He brought his fists up, but instead of punching, he caused flaming sparks to gather at his wrists. Bringing his fists together, he launched a wide stream of fire at the Absol. A number of clothing racks went up in flames. But the Absol did not.

Instead, the cunning creature rolled under the rush of fire, then put himself under a round clothing rack and stood up sharply, tossing the rack off him. It seemed to have no purpose. That is, until it landed on Blaziken, catching him in the blazing metal ring. By this point, the store's fire alarms were wailing along with the burglary alarms, setting off the overhead sprinklers. The water hissed and steamed as it hit around him, making his feathers damp and giving him great discomfort. Growling, the Blaziken looked around. But the Absol was nowhere to be found in the burning store.

Then there was a click behind him. He spun around in time to see the Absol with a specialty fire extinguisher in his grasp. It had been made so that assistant Pokemon, even four-paw walkers like him, could wield them against unexpected fires. Turning it on, the Absol sprayed him down with white foam.

Shrieking in horror, the Blaziken attempted to flee. Normally he'd stand his ground, but not against the foam. If it got onto his arms where some of his fire-making organs were, it would seep under his skin and get right into those specialty organs. He wouldn't be able to produce flames for weeks in that condition. And it made Fire Pokemon terribly ill too. Most heroes would avoid using such methods. But not the dark knight here.

By the time he fought the clothing rack off him and fled the store, three police cars had arrived. The Blaziken was coated in the white foam; he could feel it trying to get under his skin. Under normal circumstances, he could leap clear to the roof of this clothing store and run away. But not with the foam coating him like this. Knowing that he wouldn't find a sympathetic Pokecenter otherwise, he allowed the police Pokemon to zap him into paralysis and take him into custody. They would, in their misguided form of courtesy, clean up the foam and heal its inflammations. Then he would escape and be ready to cause more havoc.

The Absol came out of the store, having dropped the fire extinguisher inside. He made sure that the criminal was captured. When the commanding officer on the scene started to come his way, the Absol instead fled into the night. Modest as always, he let them take care of things from there.

The dark knight had other disasters to stop.

...

Blaziken FR/LG entry: When facing a tough foe, it looses flames from its wrists. Its powerful legs let it jump clear over buildings.

Absol Platinum entry: Rumored to sense disasters with its horn, it became a target. It fled deep into the mountains.

*starts singing the cheesy Batman theme*