This is now the fourth chapter that I have released on time! I went for four weeks consistently uploading content. Who knew actually writing something you liked would keep you motivated? Anyways, please enjoy!
Day 91
Making a pokeball with sticks and stones turned out to be rather difficult. Daniel had no trouble collecting a basket full of apricorns, but he could only find one more tumblestone. Or rather Lazuli could only find one more. The apricorns were easy to spot. They were red spheres on green bushes and ranged in size from a golf ball to a softball. He kept the other tumblestone safely unbroken in his cargo shorts.
The mechanics of the tumblestone baffled Daniel. The tumblestone's gap could not be disturbed by any foreign object. Any twigs he stuck in it transformed into light and inverted the tumblestone's force, pushing it apart. This stumped Daniel for a few hours. What could he use to keep the two halves separated the correct distance when they pulled together, then keep that distance when they tried to push apart? A rope wasn't small enough or grippy enough and would be useless when the force inverted. Whatever knots or weaving he needed would need to be in tension for all possible force vectors in a sphere around each tumblestone half. Daniel did not have the brain or patience for that. His next idea was to use woodwork. He would carve two hemispheres and stick the halves in each one. This seemed the most straightforward option, but required some special tools. At the moment, the only tools Daniel had were a stone axe, some large sharp rocks, some small sharp rocks, and some flat rocks he used as hammers. Daniel grabbed a flat rock. He chipped it into chisel width, then ground it sharp on a wet rock.
I guess I'm going with the woodwork route.
Wilson and Lazuli napped together in the hut as Daniel continued to grind and sharpen. They looked so peaceful, their faces nuzzled together. Daniel decided not to wake them. Once finished with the chisel, he would enter the forest alone. He found what he assumed to be a softwood tree and began hacking at the trunk with his axe. It was an inch or so thicker than a baseball, so it could be carved into hemispheres that would fit in one of the apricorns. When Daniel returned, shoulders laden with wood, Lazuli was up. She had filled the hut's firepit with wood and was trying to start a fire. But the only way she had ever seen one started was with Daniel's firesticks. She held one on the ground with her tail and had the other one in her mouth. She waited with them stuck together, expecting a fire to just start. Daniel chuckled.
"What are you doing there, Lazuli?" Daniel dropped the load off his shoulders.
This surprised Lazuli, who quickly spat out the stick like she was caught in the candy jar.
"I don't think you were going to start a fire like that. You don't have hands after all, and I'm sure there's a much faster way a little dragon like you could start a fire."
Lazuli cocked her head, confused and curious.
"You see, dragons can breathe fire." Daniel mimed fire with his hands as he exhaled dramatically. "Fwaah!"
Lazuli was amused by Daniel's performance. Wilson had gotten up and seemed to have heard Daniel's talk of fire. He gave Daniel a look that said "What the hell are you doing? I can't believe you would be so irresponsible. What if she burns down the whole island? It would be your fault if she did."
I'm really reading into that look too much. But he has a point.
Daniel sat inside the hut and got to work. He got a piece of wood for each half and started hacking them into shape, first with the axe, then shaving it down with his newly made chisel. It took the whole day just to get the pieces to fit inside an apricorn.
Day 95
After an obscene amount of carving and experimentation, Daniel had created a single pokeball. However, it was nothing like any pokeball he had ever seen before. It was secured closed by tying together two plant fiber strings which were threaded through holes drilled in each half of the Apricorn shell. Its hinge was likewise made of a single string which was threaded through both halves of the shell. Inside the ball were the twin tumblestone housings carved out of wood. They were not flush with the walls of the apricorn, instead, they sat about half an inch shorter than where the apricorn was cut in half. In the center of each was half of the tumblestone. They rested in slits, protruding out of the wood like Excalibur in the stone. They were secured by tiny wooden wedges stuffed between the stone and wood. In the end, he had a colorful wooden ball that could open and close with the finesse of a stalling plane.
Time to test it.
Interestingly, pokemon could "touch" the tumblestone through the apricorn despite having both being insulated from each other by wood. Regardless, the primitive pokeball was no good at catching Pokemon. Daniel had thrown it at a wingull that Lazuli had paralyzed. It opened in the air before hitting the wingull, opened more when it hit the wingull and opened completely when the wingull moved into the stone as light. Luckily the ball did not break completely on that test, only the string hinge had to be replaced. The only way it could catch a Pokemon was if Daniel held it in his hand and touched a Pokemon with it. Then he could keep it shut and secure it as the forces in the tumblestone inverted. Daniel had caught both Wilson and Lazuli with the primitive pokeball but chose to keep them out of it.
They didn't need it before. This is only really useful if you have a big or obnoxious Pokemon that could ruin its surroundings.
Perhaps that's why the humans of this world first created pokeballs, and then over time, it became a shortcut to tame them. Daniel stared out of his hut into the rain. It was pouring but Daniel hadn't foraged himself in days. So he exited the hut and entered the rain.
"Well time to go foraging, guys! I've been slacking and this rain won't stop me."
The castaways went off into the forest, walking, waltzing, and wiggling their way along.
Day 99
It had been raining for days. The air was thick with moisture and the unrelenting drizzle created a perpetual mist that obscured Daniel's view in the forest. The once vibrant and lush foliage appeared shrouded in a damp, cold gloom. The forest floor transformed into treacherous, mud-slicked terrain. Daniel struggled to free his feet from the clutches of cold mud that sapped the energy from him with each step. At least Wilson and Lazuli weren't bothered. Wilson wasn't heavy enough to sink into the earth and Lazuli took the arboreal route. The trees appeared to bend under the oppressive drone of the rain. The rustling of leaves blended with the droning rain, creating a haunting symphony that seemed to resonate from the depths of the forest. Each gust of wind that broke through the canopy sent a shiver down Daniel's spine as if the forest wanted to bring him down with its mood. The once cheerful songs of birds and Pokemon were subdued and melancholic if they could be heard at all. It was all drowned out by the rain.
This rain is really making me feel down. I can see it in Wilson and Lazuli too. Hopefully, it won't get much worse.
Suddenly, a crack of thunder broke the monotony. The forest was illuminated by a blinding flash of lightning, casting eerie shadows that danced across the trees. The brilliant light revealed fleeting glimpses of twisted shapes and a hauntingly powerful figure that seemed to emerge from the darkness only to disappear. The brief illumination gave a sinister nature to the forest. Gnarled tree trunks took on the semblance of sinister faces, and the damp leaves appeared like skeletal hands reaching down to grab the unwary castaways. Shapes moved in the shadows. What could be hiding beyond sight?
I've got a gut feeling that something is going to get much worse.
The group reached the hut and dropped their baskets. Fish, berries, and tubers as usual. Daniel took a drink from a coconut, grimaced, then lit the fire pit. He stripped off all his clothes and set them to dry. His cargo shorts, once dark grey had become a faded brown. There was a hole in the crotch beneath the zipper and some of the seams were frayed. His leather belt was wrinkled and the edges were rough. It held up well despite the abuse it received when Daniel used it to climb coconut trees. His yellow t-shirt was riddled with holes, making it look like Swiss cheese. He wore it to keep the sun off his head during the day and as a shirt a night. It was stained with sweat from his head and dirt wiped from his face. And his underwear... could be kindly considered "beyond well-worn". Daniel felt like a caveman as he sat nude by the fire. It banished the gloom, cast it beyond the hut, beyond man's domain. But beyond, the gloom still remained, and it would return once the fire was out. Thunder shook the hut.
Was that thunder? It sounded different. And where's the lightning?
Wilson and Lazuli had hidden themselves under Daniel's bed, cowering.
"Aww, it was just a little thunder. It won't hurt you." Why would they be afraid of a storm? They resist electric and water.
Lazuli began peaking her head out from under the bed when thunder cracked once more.
That's what thunder should sound like. And there's the lightning.
Lazuli flinched at the sound of thunder, but her head remained high. Wilson cowered further. He was terrified.
"Wilson, what's wrong? Is it the storm that's scaring you?"
Wilson shook his head and began burrowing into the ground.
"Well, can you at least give me a hint?"
Wilson looked up at the roof, nudged Lazuli, then resumed burying himself. Lazuli retreated back under the bed.
Not the storm, but he still looked up. What could he possibly mean?
Daniel finished cooking dinner. Lazuli eagerly left the bed to scarf down some fish, but Wilson did not budge. He seemed to be shaking whenever there was thunder. Daniel didn't know what to do.
"Lazuli, stay close to Wilson tonight."
To anyone else, it looked like she didn't hear him as she buried her face into her meal. But Daniel saw the nod and brief eye contact that meant "Okay".
With that, Daniel finished his meal and clothed himself. They were dry and warm. He laid down on his cot to relax. He looked up at the roof and listened to the rain.
What could be up there that's got Wilson so worried? Maybe he can sense a hurricane coming? If that's the case, then Lazuli should feel something too. But she's still a kid, maybe she hasn't matured into weather sense yet. Can she even sense the weather? Can Wilson?
Daniel sighed. His eyes sagged and drooped.
Nothing wrong with a midday nap.
His fire slowly burnt out. Thunder went from cracking to rumbling. Gloom entered the hut once more. Daniel let himself fall asleep. The droning rain was his lullaby. Darkness claimed his home.
Thunder shook the hut once more.
Daniel sat up quickly.
Something's wrong.
A sense of oppression smothered Daniel. It felt like it would crush him. It wanted that, wanted to bend and break him. Daniel looked out of the hut. He saw a large, winged creature land at the edge of the clearing. The diffuse light from the clouds colored its scaly body a sickly blue and its wings a morbid red. Its belly appeared gray like burnished steel. Its tail and neck were as thick as tree trunks and its body looked to be a solid mass of pure muscle. What was most striking, were the scars. Countless thin crisscross patterns were scattered across its back, neck, and four legs. There were two massive, round scars at the center of each wing. The creature turned about, revealing its scarred, broken face. The three flat fins protruding from either side of its face were all different lengths. Its jaw was sharp and predatory. One eye was scarred shut, and the other stared right at Daniel. He felt pure hatred emanating from that look. The yellow eye glowed in the gloom with hatred and loathing that could match any wildfire. Time stopped. The rain silenced. Daniel stood there, frozen. The dragon barred its teeth. This creature would blow away everyone as easily as a child stomped ants on a playground.
Time to go!
Daniel grabbed Lazuli and Wilson from under the bed, except Wilson wasn't there. Daniel practically fell forwards as he sprinted out of the hut with Lazuli in the crook of his elbow. Daniel felt the air change. The Salamence inhaled. Daniel's foot hit the slick mud, sending him slipping face-first into the ground's cold, wet embrace. Daniel lost hold of Lazuli.
"LAZULI, THUNDER WAVE!" Daniel screamed as loud as he could. Then he buried himself in the mud as fast as he could.
The Salamence exhaled a stream of furious fire at the roof of the hut. Daniel felt the heat grow as the creature adjusted its aim to him. The air changed again. It was no longer hot, now was Daniel's chance to move. He got up with the help of a nearby stick. He looked at the Salamence. It had clenched its teeth and stopped its breath attack. The Salamence was gripped by a full-body cramp. Lazuli had paralyzed it! Despite this, Its single, hateful eye was still fixed on Daniel.
"Come on, Lazuli!" Daniel gestured for her to follow, and ran into the forest. He saw the Salamence twitch as he and Lazuli fled farther and farther away. Daniel stopped deep into the forest, where he felt safe enough.
"Are you ok?" Daniel looked to Lazuli.
She looked into Daniel's eyes, evidently finding comfort as she stopped shaking. Daniel picked her up and placed her on his shoulders.
"It's ok. We managed to escape." For now, he thought.
That was a Salamence, a creature that could breathe fire and fly. If it wanted to,(and Daniel felt it did) it could burn down the entire island just to find him. Daniel heard what he now recognized as its roar. The sound shook the air in Daniel's chest. Lazuli held closer to Daniel. A bright orange light glowed in the direction of the base. It went out, then returned brighter than before.
It's burning down my base. It really hates humans.
It made sense of course. Only humans could have scarred the creature in that way. Claws didn't make crossing wounds, whips did. Like the scars, its anger would not fade any time soon.
It's going to burn this whole island down just to kill me.
A shadow moved in the underbrush, startling Daniel who jumped into a fighting stance. It was Wilson.
"Wilson! What are you doing over here? How did you know that Salamence was coming? And why do you have the pokeball?"
Wilson proffered the primitive pokeball and Daniel took it. Wilson then nodded towards the base glowing with fire.
"You want us to go back and... catch that thing?"
Wilson nodded and stood right next to Daniel.
"You're quite brave, but that's gonna be near impossible."
They would have to weaken the Salamence before even trying to get within arms reach to catch it. Lazuli only knew Thunder Wave while Wilson only knew Absorb and Acid. They had only one move that could possibly damage the rampaging dragon. Daniel got a gut feeling and looked through the rain toward the base. It was no longer glowing with fire.
"We need to get moving. Where could we..." A gout of flame pierced the canopy, landing a few yards away from the castaways. Daniel didn't miss a beat as he took off running with Lazuli on his shoulders and Wilson waltzing after him. The ground was uneven and slicked with mud. It was a miracle that Daniel kept his pace without tripping.
We need to get to firm footing. The only place I can think of is the beach.
The sand would be free of tripping and slipping hazards. But it would also leave them completely exposed. The Salamence had their scent now, its Flamethrower attacks were getting closer. Daniel made a snap decision.
We can't keep running. We'll have to fight soon. To the beach!
"Lazuli, get ready to hit that monster with a Thunder Wave. Wilson, when it's paralyzed, hit its eye with Acid." Daniel did not register a response as an intense heat struck him. A gout of flame had pierced the canopy and roasted his back! Daniel howled in pain and fell to his knees. The smell of his burning flesh overpowered the rain, hitting Daniel's nose. The pain blanketed across his back made combined with the stench of his burning flesh made him nauseous. Lazuli fell off of Daniel's shoulders and made a squish as she landed in the mud. She looked at Daniel to find him hunched on the ground in pain. Fear filled her heart. She slithered to Daniel, finding it uncomfortable to do so. She understood that he was in danger just staying there, so she tried to get his attention by licking his face. She would drag him by his arm if she had to. As she considered her next course of action, she saw the Salamence through the hole it had burned through the canopy. Its single eye fixated on her. It was angry, and … disappointed? Why would he be disappointed? It inhaled, and the air began to change. It wasn't like his previous attacks, which were so full of hate and vitriol. This time it was like pure power. No, not power, but strength, might, that was the word. She felt a similar might within herself. Unlike the energy of motion, this energy was not so eager to move. Instead, it sat like a dam holding back a mighty river. Lazuli knew that it would not yield so easily.
But I need save Daniel!
She imposed her will upon it and broke the dam. A swirling ball of purple fire formed in Lazuli's open maw. She roared with as much might as she could muster and sent the Dragon Rage flying with blinding speed right at the Salamence's jaw. It exploded with a burst of brilliant light and a cloud of smoke, throwing off the target's attack. Daniel stared at Lazuli for a moment before agonizingly rising to his feet. All his muscles Seemed to work despite their painful protests. The wound must be only skin deep.
How long did my back get roasted for? Think less, keep moving goddammit!
Adrenaline pumped through Daniel's blood, dulling the pain somewhat. He continued running to the beach, Lazuli and Wilson right behind him. Lazuli appeared to have suffered a minor injury from that Flamethrower attack. Wilson had a branch in his mouth with a rawst berry hanging off of it.
Where the hell did he find that shit?
Daniel held his hand toward Wilson as he ran. Wilson leaped forwards, dropped the branch into his hand, and landed without breaking stride.
"Thanks!" Daniel stuffed the berry into his mouth, uncaring that he had also bit off the stem. He felt it poke his throat as he swallowed. A wave of coolness washed over him, relieving the pain and allowing him to pick up the pace. Another gout of orange flames swept mere feet behind Daniel, scorching the underbrush before being extinguished by the rain. Blessedly, the beach came into view.
At least there we'll see the attacks coming. Hopefully, we can actually dodge them.
"Same plan as before. Lazuli, paralyze it. Wilson hit its eye. I'll get its attention. Get ready." Daniel felt his breathing hasten. He knew that if he checked, his hands would be shaking. The rain blurred his vision. His heartbeat seemed louder than any thundering storm. The Salamence wasn't giving him a choice, he had to fight. His only hope would be the primitive pokeball he held with a death grip in his hand. There was a chance, a slim one, but a chance nonetheless.
Lazuli used a Dragon-type move after I got hit by that fire. I think it's either Dragon Breath or Dragon Rage. We can do this. We have to do this.
Sand stuck to Daniel's muddy, wet feet. The beach's sand dunes were a barren wasteland compared to the dense foliage of the forest. But now Daniel could see the enemy, and it was hovering 20 feet in the air ahead of them. The Salamence inhaled.
"SCATTER!" Lazuli and Wilson peeled off as Daniel began zigzagging away from where the breath attack would come. The air grew warm, then humid, then hot as a stream of orange fire fell from above, aimed right at Daniel.
"LAZULI!" Daniel yelled as he ran while shielding his face. He felt the hairs on his arms stand up, then fall as the rain hit them. The fire was gone. Daniel looked up to see the Salamence completely cramped up and falling to the ground like a sheet of paper swept off a desk. It crashed into the sand, throwing up clumps of wet sand and skidding to a stop. It began twitching.
"Wilson! Hit its eye!" But Wilson was too far from the Salamence. It had drifted to Daniel's left, but Wilson had peeled off to Daniel's right. Worse, the Salamence's remaining eye was on Daniel's left.
Shit. I have to do something before it recovers. It looks like Lazuli is still ready to go. "Lazuli, Dragon Breath, Dragon Rage!" Lazuli began her attack, inhaling and building up the might within her. Daniel Grabbed a clump of wet sand in his right hand as he dashed towards the Salamence's working right eye. It twitched its maw open and craned its neck towards Daniel, who was a few feet from its crashed body. Daniel threw the clump of sand at the Salamence's eye, but it simply dropped its head out of the way and towards the foolish human. Daniel fell on his back as he scrambled to change direction. Its jaws were still wide open as it lumbered out of the sand. Daniel saw its rows of shark-like, razor teeth set in scarlet red gums. Its throat seemed like a cave into a red darkness filled with hate and loathing. He was so close he could almost smell its breath.
Its smells like blood.
A fireball struck the base of the Salamence's neck with a crack like a bowling ball falling onto concrete. It burst in an explosion of purple light and black smoke. The Salamence staggered, thrown off balance by Lazuli's Dragon Rage. Daniel Scrambled away and saw Wilson circle up behind the enemy. Daniel looked to Lazuli. She was panting hard and slumping down. She couldn't keep this up for much longer. They didn't have too much longer.
"Wilson. We just need one more hit. Now!" Daniel undid the knot locking the pokeball. The Salamence regained itself and twitched. It focused its eye on Daniel. That eye hateful burned fiercer than any fire it breathed. Wilson spat a purple stream of corrosive acid right at that hateful eye and missed. The stream passed right in front of Salamence's face. It kicked a wave of sand at Wilson, knocking him over. With a beat of its wings, the Salamence pounced on the downed Wilson and took him into its mouth. It all happened so fast that Daniel didn't even blink as The Salamence crushed Wilson like a melon in its jaws. Daniel heard the liquid squelch of Wilson's body through everything. Through his thundering heartbeat, through the drone of the rain, and through the shouts of the wind. Purple blood ran down Salamence's lips. It grimaced as it spat out Wilson, his shriveled, broken body thrown to the sand like a discarded peel.
What... Daniel felt time stop as he stared at Wilson's body. He looked like roadkill, flattened and bloody, pierced by rows of teeth. I thought Pokemon were supposed to be durable. He's fine. He'll be up in just a moment. But there was no more life in Wilson, Daniel knew that. He felt something stir within his core. As if a thread holding something back had snapped. Wilson... The Salamence hacked and spit out Wilson's corrosive blood. Its voice was hoarse as it tried to roar. Evidently, Wilson had damaged its throat.
Words echoed within Daniel's mind "Wilson, how would you like to travel the world with me once this is over? I think I floated the idea before, but now I really want you to come along."
Anger smoldered inside Daniel. "I've thought of the perfect name for you, you know. I'll call you Wilson!"
The Salamence focused its eye on Daniel. With a beat of its wings, it pounced toward him. "Are we still... friends?"
An electric wave flew through the air. Lazuli's Thunder Wave cramped up the Salamence mid-pounce! But it was still on a collision course with the two.
You killed Wilson.
With a mighty kiai, Daniel ignited his aura. Emotion welled within him. The energy at his core swirled violently. Like two waves chasing each other in an eternal dance. His fist flew at the Salamence's jaw, knocking the beast aside and sending it crashing into the sand once more. This power was familiar. Like the sides of a coin, he recognized each side of the power now. Before he had tapped one face to find berries and spot fish underwater. It had even hinted to him to make the pokeball and find Lazuli. Now, he knew the other face let him strike with the power that Pokemon used in their moves.
Lazuli was exhausted. She sustained damage from the Flamethrower that had hit them earlier and using Dragon Rage had only worsened her condition. The Salamence was no better. Daniel now knew it had entered this battle already wounded. It was fleeing from something. Nonetheless, it was at red health so to speak. It was now or never. Daniel ran up behind it, the pokeball in his hand. The Salamence twitched as Daniel tapped it with the pokeball, and it transformed into light. It entered the pokeball, inverting the tumblestone's force. Daniel held the ball shut with both his hands. He felt the tumblestones digging themselves into the wooden housings within the pokeball, cracking, and groaning. He felt the rage radiating off the Salamence like intense heat. It was like a red hot iron burning through Daniel's skin. Daniel locked his fingers together, keeping a firm grip on the pokeball. It shook once in his hands. Its rage grew fiercer, threatening to erupt from the ball in a deluge of burning fury. Daniel felt his resolve falter until the Salamence faltered first. It stopped radiating anger for a moment. It was still paralyzed. The pokeball shook a second time. Daniel kept his death grip on the pokeball. There were no other options. Daniel emptied his mind and counted his heartbeats. The Salamence struggled against Daniel's will. The pokeball shook for a third time. Daniel felt the Salamence surrender. Within the pokeball, it fell unconscious. Its rage and hatred cooled as Daniel carefully tied the ball shut.
Daniel fell to his knees panting hard. He felt like puking from exertion. His hands shook as he looked at the pokeball in his hands. He had felt the anger and hatred Salamence held for humanity. It was seared right into its soul, branded there by humans holding whips. Daniel too felt anger and hatred. His was directed at the monster trapped in his clutches. "You killed Wilson". The power in his core still swirled. With it, he sensed the aura of the lifeforms around him. Lazuli was the only other one he could sense. Wilson really was dead.
"You killed him. And I... I would kill you if I could. But I can't." As far as Daniel knew, any more damage to the pokeball could release the Salamence, so he wouldn't dare try killing its occupant.
"Goddamn you, you fucking fuck." Daniel's voice shook as he shuddered in the wind. Lazuli slowly slithered up behind Daniel. Daniel didn't turn around as he addressed her.
"Lazuli. I'm... I'm sorry. I'm not okay right now. I..." Daniel sensed fear in Lazuli's aura. He suspected its cause.
"It's going to be okay Lazuli. Everything will be ok." Daniel turned to face Lazuli. She flinched back. Daniel's eyes burned with hatred. Just like the Salamence.
Daniel sensed Lazuli's fear grow, and he lost heart. He sagged and looked at the ground. "I'm sorry. I-I'm not angry at you. Everything will be ok." Daniel stared at the sand as he sensed Lazuli's fear melt into sadness.
"Everything will be ok." Daniel slowly stood up and Lazuli nudged him. "What do you want? Oh."
Daniel let Lazuli slither up his body and onto his shoulders. He felt her coolness on his neck, and the tension in her body.
"It's going to be ok. The Salamence won't bother us anymore." Daniel pocketed the pokeball. Then he spotted Wilson's corpse. Daniel wanted to puke as he stepped closer. But that would be a waste of food so he kept his composure. Lazuli looked curiously at Wilson, but Daniel averted her eyes.
"Children shouldn't experience stuff like this. Don't look Lazuli." she obeyed and kept her head behind Daniel's back.
Daniel was about to touch Wilson's body but stopped himself. That purple blood is poison. It probably stopped the Salamence from using breath attacks. I can't touch it. But Daniel Couldn't just leave Wilson out here, so he grabbed Wilson by the leaves, which weren't covered in purple blood. It felt wrong to hold Wilson like that. He was treating him like some uprooted vegetable rather than a friend to whom he owed his life. He carried him all the way back to base.
Everything was destroyed. The hut was reduced to an area of flat, burned earth. The pile of coconuts was scattered everywhere. Daniel had encountered some that were flung into the forest. The baskets full of provisions were nowhere to be found. His stone tools seemed as if they were always part of the ground. The rain had stopped, but the sky was still gray. It seemed to still be afternoon despite the darkness the storm had brought. Lazuli was snooping around the ruins of the base. Daniel had only one thing in mind. He approached some tall grass near the pond. The tops were scorched, but otherwise, the grass was untouched. Daniel placed Wilson's body before the grass.
"This is where we first met, Wilson. I remember that day. Everything seemed so bright then. I left you some berries even though I was starving. I don't know when you decided I was worth sticking with, but..." But you were wrong.
Daniel began digging with his bare hands. The earth was muddy and easy to move. He looked at the hole as he dug, he couldn't bare to look at Wilson's mangled corpse. It didn't take long to dig deep enough, or perhaps Daniel was numbed to the passage of time. He picked up Wilson with muddy hands and placed him in the grave. Wilson's deflated face seemed to be in agony, so Daniel quickly covered him up. Lazuli came up with something in her mouth. It was Daniel's axe, the one he used to build his base.
"Thank you, Lazuli. It'll make the perfect marker." Lazuli nodded and looked at the pile of earth. She seemed to understand, through Daniel's sadness, that Wilson was gone. She also knew that it was that Salamence's fault. The one Daniel now kept in his pocket. She was angry at it for making Daniel sad. She didn't know why he kept it. But Daniel liked to keep things. Like the stone, Lazuli found for him. Now he was putting the axe in the ground near Wilson. He planted it head first, keeping the handle exposed to the air.
"This wood might rot away, but the stone head will remain. Likewise, we will remain to remember you." Daniel sighed. Lazuli looked at him. "I don't feel that much better". Lazuli nuzzled his leg. Daniel responded by going to one knee and touching his forehead to Lazuli's.
"Thank you." Daniel remained there for a while and then noticed the sky's edge burn orange. "It's only now sunset? It feels like it should be midnight with how much has happened. Come on Lazuli. I'm feeling... like I want to watch the sunset." He hadn't done that since arriving in this world. It felt like he hadn't relaxed at all these last 99 days. He went to the beach where he could see the sunset. It was on the opposite side of the island from where they had just fought. Daniel wanted to get as far away from that battlefield as he could. He sat on the sand, listening to the waves rhythmically lap up and down the shore. Lazuli joined him on his lap, nuzzling his legs, trying her best to comfort him. Daniel scratched her head as she did so. The power in his core had stopped swirling so violently. Now it moved slowly, like hands on a clock, but it still moved. Daniel now realized that before, it had barely moved at all. It was still like the sand he sat on until subtly shifted by the wind and waves. Now he was aware of its movement and the awareness it granted him. He sensed the aura of Lazuli the strongest. She was like a campfire in the night. The fish in the water and the birds in the trees were like candles compared to her. Daniel hadn't sensed many other Pokemon since the battle. Maybe they were smart enough to run away once they got wind of that monster.
I can think about this later.
Daniel emptied his mind of such thoughts and just watched the sunset. The radiant disk that was the sun painted a band of radiant color across the horizon. The sky was still gray with overcast clouds, but the sea shimmered with the burning shades of the setting sun. The waves, which had danced and frolicked throughout the day, now slowed their tempo, as if in reverence to the approaching twilight. Silhouettes of palm trees gently swayed against the background, their fronds catching the last rays of sunlight. The breeze carried the fragrance of fresh rain, infusing the air with a sense of rebirth. A shadow crossed the sun. Perhaps a Pokemon breaching the sea in exhalation at the day's end. The sun's descent slowed as if savoring its final moments before it slipped below the horizon. The sea mirrored this slow retreat, gently lapping against the shore, creating a soothing symphony of waves. As the sun finally dipped below the horizon, the sky took on a deeper hue. The sky darkened as the stars and moon are stuck hidden behind the clouds. As the night took hold, the beach remained a place of peace and reflection. Daniel sat solemnly, entrapped by the sight of the setting sun then unwilling to rise. It seemed so beautiful after he had been through something so horrible. He stared out at the horizon, hoping for more, but all he got was a single, twinkling star. No not twinkling, it was blinking. Stars don't blink. What could possibly be out here that would blink so steadily?
"That's not a star, Lazuli. It's a boat!"
So there you have it, the longest chapter so far. Everything before feels kinda half-assed in comparison. I hope the payoff was paying off things I actually set up. I feel like I set them up kinda obviously, but I wrote most of the previous chapters on and off for a year so I understand if this stuff seems like it's coming out of nowhere. Otherwise, it's finally time to get off this goddamned island. Thank you for reading!