I sit atop the messy bedding laid askew on my lower bunk, staring at the letter gripped within my hands for the third time since this afternoon.
"Dear Isaiah Solus,
It is our great pleasure to commend you for your impressive academic achievements and congratulate you on an opportunity to become a student at our prestigious Sunyshore Advanced Trainer's Academy.
With your status as a student with both great need as well as excellent performance, we are extending to you the rare honor of full tuition coverage for your study, as well as room and board during your tenure at our academy.
Our academy has consistently produced Trainers capable of attaining 4 to 6 badges within their first Year in the circuit and boasts a high number of 2nd year top 16 finalists for whom this school was their alma mater. Additionally, our graduates maintain a 95% first-year survival rate, placing us in the top 3 schools across Sinnoh in practical application. Further, our school's students regularly obtain three of the four Professor's Program allowances allotted to the city of Sunyshore.
We look forward to seeing you in the coming Fall term and extend the opportunity to sit in to view some of our summer courses during the interim. Information on suggested supplies, first-semester courseload, and elective options, will be sent following your positive response.
Best Regards, Amy Lee Stephens - Dean of Admissions"
Looking at this letter fills me with a surge of relief, satisfaction, and oddly, just the smallest bit of what might be pride. 'I suppose wanting it to begin with changes how it feels.'
Sunyshore Advanced Trainer's Academy is the school with the highest entree requirements in the city, as well as the best performance statistics across their graduates. From what I've gathered, the trainers who successfully collect a full suite of badges during their first year in the circuit are few and far between, in fact, the majority of trainers statistically don't make it past their second badge by the end of their first year.
The survival rate is interestingly a strangely skewed statistic, as the area around Sunyshore bizarrely has the lowest death rate, but highest injury rate, for first years across every city in Sinnoh. The safety of its children is actually considered one of Sunyshore's biggest selling points for people choosing to move here. Apparently, it also has the best orphaned children's infrastructure and care as well, so I certainly lucked out there.
But the main point is the Professor's Program which, while by no means locked into this school, is the pool of hopeful trainers from which Professor Rowan selects those whom he might sponsor or offer a starter to each year. Generally, Rowan's lab sponsors one to three trainers from this pool for the year with the possibility of extension, while offering members of the Sinnoh Starter trio to around ten to twenty trainers each year. Further, since the reopening of borders and trade with Kanto, Johto, and Hoenn 4 years ago, each year Rowan's lab has sent the latest Pokedex model, complements of Rowan's cooperation with Oak, to every qualifying trainer.
Sponsorship would be a long shot as, despite me having hunches on various evolutions and their methods, the very core of what Rowan's research is focused on, I have no real scientific evidence I can offer as of yet, nor proof of success in attempts. Frankly, I have serious doubts many of the stranger evolutions are anywhere near as relatively simple as they are in the game, otherwise why wouldn't scientists already know of them? The only other possible method of receiving sponsorship would be distinguishing myself as more promising than every other pre-journey trainer within a pool of the top-scoring in all of Sinnoh, which feels just a tad bit delusional, otherworldly knowledge or not.
No, what I'm reaching for is the Pokedex and the starter. Not the regional starter, despite how cute I may find Piplup, it's simply not meant to be, but the opportunity for options that making it into the running at all would represent.
Unfortunately, Drifloon decisively shut me down on the idea of traveling together, and while Misdreavus seems to have tentatively agreed to come, his assertion of it being necessary to prove myself as a trainer beforehand leaves me needing a different Pokemon willing to work with me on the first leg of my journey. Gengar is… if Gengar wanted to come I would be happy, and perhaps I'll make the offer if it feels right, but I can't expect or plan around it. Maybe it would be a healing experience for him, but it could also end in a second shock if he grew attached to me and I passed, and perhaps he'd simply rather preserve the idea of the journey he might have had with Maggie.
The simple fact of the matter though is that the ranger-distributed starters aren't going to have Ghost types among them, nor will the ones from the Sunyshore Gym.
Even assuming I lucked out and found a Pokemon that was inclined to come with me among them, the pre-Ghost type Pokemon all have… their own special issues.
My top candidate would be Snorunt, generally known to have rather pleasant temperaments and communal mindsets, they're thought of as a very solid choice for a new trainer. Their only issue is typically considered to be their evolution, which requires either a relatively long training time, longer than many Pokemon take to evolve twice in fact, or a painfully expensive stone. The pair of evolutions are further known for their propensity for somewhat problematic personality shifts, or perhaps more aptly put, instinct shifts, with Froslass gaining the Ghost typing and Glalie often considered as just on the cusp of being classified a Dark type. The actual issue for me however is location as, unfortunately, Sunyshore is just about as far from Snowpoint as it gets, and unless the Snowpoint rangers happen to find themselves with such an excess of Snorunt they feel it's a good idea to exchange them for starters from the other Ranger Outposts, I won't be seeing one.
The best fit for dealing with future issues, that is to say Dark types, would be Mankey but well, they're generally temperamental at best, and at worst downright murderous little creatures. The Rangers have long since reached the point of never offering Mankey among the default options for starters, despite their relatively widespread range across Sinnoh, because sending off a kid with nothing to defend themselves from the wild but a Mankey leaves a key problem unanswered. Just what the hell is going to protect them from their Mankey? Far too many old horror stories of kids being beaten half, or in the worst cases all the way, to death by their first Pokemon for the League to do that any longer. There's also the issue of unclear evolution method which, is a running theme frankly. While I recall the game method, the Dex implied the actual evolution of a Primape was a bit more involved so to speak.
Charcadet, Cyndaquil, and Cubone, my three lovely little pre-evolved Fire Ghost types, all share the same issues to varying degrees, far too rare to be handed out by the Rangers, and no solid available information on evolution. Charcadet is on the continent, but as far as I can tell they're literally only ever seen in the remnants of the Burnt Tower in Ecruteak. It isn't unheard of to see Cyndaquil and a few of the other region's starters in Sinnoh, but they're even less common than any of the actual Sinnoh trio here. As far as Cubone goes, they're rarely seen, though certainly far more common than the other two. It's still quite unlikely I'd see one with the Rangers though.
White Basculin comes with the previous issues of rarity and unclear evolution method, while also having the bonus additional issue of being a Pokemon utterly unsuited to non-aquatic combat. At least unsuited without extensive training if what I've seen from higher-level aquatic Pokemon is anything to go on.
Rowlet? Fuecoco? What are those? My brain can't help but scream that there must be Rowlets somewhere out in the wilds of Sinnoh, but if there are, they're so well hidden or far off route they haven't been documented in recent history from what I can tell.
The process of elimination leaves me with Nincada, which is a bit odd as a species in that fluctuates between relatively uncommon to veritable pest-level existence depending on the year. Generally speaking, a determined enough person can find Nincada burrows by searching around the various wooded areas in Sinnoh any year, but once every decade or so the insects tend to come out of the ground in mass before evolving soon after. The year of my journey is estimated to be when the next Nincada surge is and as such the Rangers will likely gather quite a lot of them as potential starters for those unable to find one through other means.
Figuring out exactly how to get a Shedinja will probably be a pain however. While they're occasionally seen out in the wild each decade during the surge, I can't find any precise information on where they come from, so I imagine there must be something more to it than them just appearing right when Nincada evolve.
I'm also a bit reticent about Nincada because Ninjask only live for about a decade after they evolve, and the idea of my first partner having such a short relative time together with me makes me rather uncomfortable.
That leads me to my current plan, it's decently common for prospective trainers who make it onto the list, especially if not part of the final selection, to reach out to one of the Gym's in efforts for sponsorship or a potential starter. The Sunyshore Advanced Trainer's Academy regularly reaches out to the gyms in the region for their top 16 scorers on request to assist them in finding a starter they feel is most suitable.
As such, my current hope is to reach out to Fantina and convince her to offer me one of her Gym's starters. Shuppet, Duskull, or especially Greavard, another Pokemon I was surprised to see at all, would be great potential teammates.
"We really pulled it off." I look up as the door squeaks its way open, Bucky grinning and holding his own matching letter past the threshold.
"Yea…" I give a nod. Honestly, despite my higher scores, I'm more impressed by Bucky's performance. Even with me having to relearn things and learn writing conventions for a new language, in the end, placing 6th in the city and 57th in the country against a pile of nine-year-olds with over 30 years of living experience only seems okay. Bucky meanwhile managed to pull through with a score that earned him 9th in the city and 80th in the country as an actual nine-year-old. He certainly isn't his brother, Flint couldn't book learn or test for the life of him, although he seems to shine now that he's actually in the field, already having reached seven badges in his first year and on his way to grab his eighth.
"You should come back out, said she's gonna get a cake to celebrate for us both! Everyone's excited about us getting a scholarship for the Academy." Bucky smiles while tugging only my sleeve, dragging me off the bed and out the door. I bite back my retort 'I know, I came in here to get away from them all, at least for a bit.' and sigh, letting him pull me along.
Once we're in the common space, I find myself and Bucky inundated with questions from the younger kids. "What's the academy like?" "Are you gonna get a cool Pokemon like Flint?" "What type of trainer are you gonna be? I wanna train Rock types!" "You should get a Turtwig, they're so cute!" The questions come almost faster than I can follow or can really be bothered to answer, but I offer terse replies to what I can. Bucky gets along well with all the younger kids, channeling a bit of his brother's talent for showboating, and shoots me a cheeky grin when he notices me looking.
The kids just a bit younger than us probe us a bit about our notes and the difficulty of the test when they get the chance. While the few near our age and the preteens seem to show various mixes of joy, excitement, ambivalence, and possibly frustration on their faces.
"Alright, settle down, settle down everyone." Two loud claps pierce through the commotion followed by a gentle grandmotherly voice as Mrs. Cain enters the room, Felicity trailing behind her with her backpack. "Let's get dinner started and then everyone can have a piece of cake to celebrate." Boisterous cheers and declarations for "Cake Now!" fill the room as the younger kids scamper off after the Matron.
"Really can't change your mind can I…" Felicity grumbles, piercing green stare fixed towards me. "It's not too late, your grades are great, you could get into any school or program you wanted right now."
"No, it's the only thing I want." My inclination is to simply cut her off with a decisive no frankly, it's only because she's spent so much time with me I bother to elaborate further at all.
"Come on Felicity let it go already, me an Izzy are gonna be the best of the best." He offers a toothy grin. "Besides, isn't it like Big Bro said? You're goin' to Med school so we won't even have to worry about being patched up, we'll just come straight to you!" Bucky puffs up and pounds his chest with his fist in a spitting imitation of his brother with a shit-eating grin across his face.
"You dang brats!" She locks her arms around both our necks, seeming quite irritated, with an aggressive smile on her face. "Listen close, If either of you two drags yourself back here injured asking for me, I'm gonna make you wish you found someone else!"
She slaps both of us on the back pushing us towards the dining room. Bucky scurries off, turning as he passes the threshold and giggling while sticking out his tongue, while I continue on at my lackadaisical pace.
"Haaaaa… Ghost types huh?" Felicity lets out a sigh, and I simply nod in response. "God I swear, I don't understand what you're thinking, those dang things are creepy as can be and dangerous as heck."
"I think they're cute, besides they get along well with me so far." I mumble, more to myself than anything else. I still hear a small chuckle seemingly in response as Felicity shakes her head as if bemused.
"...Just be careful alright." I simply nod in agreement.
"~Miss mis, mis vuss. Mis drea vus!~" Misdreavus happily bobs along through the woods ahead of me, singing to a rhythm it's made up itself while I hum along.
"So, I know you said it was a surprise, but will you tell me where we're going now? This the farthest you two have ever taken me out past the shack." I can't help but glance up at the sun heading down towards the horizon, and wonder just where we've been wandering off to for the past few hours.
Drifloon twists toward me, still gripping my hand, and gestures with the other pad while bouncing up and down animatedly. She places her pad on her 'hip', puffing up and seeming to declare that I shouldn't worry so much about the details and enjoy the trip.
A small part of me can help but worry if we aren't straying a bit too far out, having long since gone beyond woods and decidedly entered forest, but it quickly fades when I consider all the previous excursions I've gone on with the two. The fact that I still strangely haven't seen any other wild Pokemon also helps to ease my nerves. 'Is Gengar following us scaring things off? Or is his territory just this big?'
Heedless of my pondering, Drifloon keeps leading me on through the forest, climbing over roots, and padding through the leaves on the forest floor. Misdreavus continues to sing, seemingly very excited about wherever we're going as he hasn't complained or found something to bicker about with Drifloon for the entire trip.
So I just allow myself to take in my surroundings for a bit, the bright green spring leaves, hanging off the trees. The rough flaky texture of the bark surrounding me. The tiny white toadstools growing between the roots, peaking out from under the old rotten leaves and dirt. The brush scattered between the trees, laden with minuscule azure flowers blooming for the season of regrowth.
I take a breath and let the cool evening air fill my lungs. Let my eyes flutter shut and trust in Drifloon to guide me, and just take a moment to feel the fading light of day that peaks through the canopy on my face and hands.
'Five more years, like a damn eternity and no time at all. I wonder if I'll miss it on the road, these simple peaceful days. I had expected to hate going through childhood again, but honestly, it's been rather pleasant.'
'Here's hoping the journey I find has both blood-pumping excitement, but also simple days like these.'
"Floooooon! ~Drif, floon, drif, floon~! Drifloon's sudden cheering pulls me out of my thinking, her pad pulling my hand up and down as she bounces about while singing a short jingle.
Before me, a grove stretches out before my eyes, made up of dozens of trees laden with various berries that stretch up nearly 30 feet into the sky. It sits seemingly nested on all sides by the forest trees, which stand taller around the outer perimeter of the berry grove.
'I… should we be here? Surely this has to either be a common feeding ground for a ton of Pokemon, or some sort of guarded area of something like a nest of Beedrill. As far as I know Gengar basically never leaves that shack, and while there's something to be said for the surrounding area, I can't see how something this enticing and so far away could be held by him without his constant presence.'
Yet scanning the area, my eyes see no signs of any sort of Pokemon tracks on the ground of the area, while I'm by no means a Ranger, nor thoroughly trained on specific tracks yet, I don't see anything at all that remotely looks like tracks. 'Could still be Beedrill though, or something else that flies. Supposedly Beedrill mark trees in their territory, which I don't think I see, but I'm not super familiar with what exactly it looks like... Thinking further on it though, I'm pretty sure they do that to mark the edges, and this berry grove would almost certainly be more akin to the center.'
More insistent pulling tugs at my arm this time, focusing my attention on Drifloon rather than my thoughts and the trees around me. She lets go of my hand once she sees she has my attention, before twirling around while pointing at the various trees excitedly "Floon Floon!"
Misdreavus meanwhile has already happily wandered off towards a Pecha tree, plucking out a few of the plump pink and yellow peach-shaped fruits. He waves to me happily with one of his tendrils once he turns back and sees me looking.
'They're not surprised by this place at all, this was definitely meant to be my surprise.' Honestly, it's a pretty good one, as berries tend towards being one of the more expensive food items and I love to eat them.
"Do you guys come here a lot?" I ask just to try to clear up some questions before I settle in.
"Floon! Floooon drif." Drifloon perks up and nods with a decisive confirmation, then seems to act a bit sheepish about the subject, rubbing the back of her balloon with her pad like someone would their head.
"Um so then should we be worried about other Pokemon showing up or being upset or no?" I go ahead and get to the crux of the issue.
"Floon?" Drifloon tilts her head in confusion, staring at me for a moment- "Drif FLOFLOFLOOOO!" before suddenly bursting out with laughter, as if I'm being completely ridiculous.
"Drif drif. Floooooon" She puffs up to twice her size, before pointing at herself and then the grove, mimicking almost precisely the actions she had used when I asked about wild Pokemon on the way to the hut years ago.
"Alrighty well if you say so." I shrug and walk into the grove, before standing under the tree bearing huge golden pear-shaped berries with orange speckles. "Could one of you knock down a Sitrus berry for me?" I've never tried it since it's so much more expensive than most of the other kinds, so I'm curious to see how it is. Drifloon seems quite happy to grab two and bring one down for me while holding onto the other.
The texture is rather wrinkled and rough when held, and biting into it I find myself basically chewing on a tough, slightly bitter orange peel. I pull back and make the effort to peel the rind, revealing the orange flesh of the berry, which I promptly bite into. A sweet tangy flavor with a hint of sour extremely reminiscent of an orange fills my mouth as the juice spills out of the fruit. A hint of spiciness keeps it distinct from the familiar citrus of my old life.
"That was nice, either of you have any suggestions? There's a lot of berries I don't recognize." Drifloon seems a bit distracted at the moment, pushing up the Sitrus berry whole underneath her balloon in the odd, slightly unsettling way she always eats. Misdreavus meanwhile puffs up and looks down haughtily at me.
"Miiss, mis dreeav, drev vus." He takes on a tone I've grown very familiar with, tilting his head to and fro while pushing one of his tendrils onto his cheek. I can almost hear their smug little voice going "Ohhhh well I don't knoooow, it would be such a bother."
"Oh young lord, might you grant the humble subjects of your fief succor, in a display of your magnanimity?" I have to restrain a bit of laughter, but I've long grown used to replying like this whenever Misdreavus begins to act this way, and he really just never seems to tire of it. It feels a little goofy to me at times, but whatever makes him happy works, and honestly a bit of pontificating is amusing for me as well.
"Mis! Mis vus dreavus." He puffs up just a bit more before vanishing with a twirling flourish. A moment later an odd pink berry with a bright green stem falls into my lap and I hear Misdreavus's chuckle from behind me.
"Many thanks, an impressive display young lord." I smile a bit and look down at the odd thing in my lap. It's bright pink and shaped like a bellflower made out of a conjoined ring of bananas, with a rough texture similar to the Sitrus berry. 'Well, Misdreavus likes sweet things too so unless I'm being pranked it should be good.' I bite into it and find myself greeted with rind yet again, but surprisingly this time it's sweet with a hint of citrus tang. I pull off a bit with my teeth and chew on it, finding it's made up of nothing but this sweet peel material. 'Huh, not at all what I was expecting but pretty good, it's an interesting texture and hard consistency with a flavor profile I like. It also seems way less messy than many other fruits can be with the lack of peel to discard and juice.'
I lean back onto the Sitrus tree, wedging myself between the roots till I find a comfortable spot. Together we munch away on the various berries in the grove, pleasantly idle into the late evening.
"Alright, we really outta get going. At this rate, it'll be near midnight by the time I get back. Do you guys mind grabbing a couple of berries for me to take back? And some Chesto for Gengar too?"
"Floon floon!" Drifloom cheerfully agrees, floating off to collect a few for my backpack. Misdreavus seems to be oblivious to my request or simply doesn't care, flopped over a branch in what looks like some sort of food coma.
The sun only peaks through the dense trees at this point, close to setting, sending long shadows streaking across the forest. Waiting as long as we have the head back might be a bit rough, but hopefully Drifloon will be able to help keep me from tripping over anything. I rummage through my bag a bit to pull out a flashlight in advance.
I sit back for a moment, reticent to get up as I often am, and just soak in the surroundings a bit more. The gentle rustle of the leaves atop the trees swaying from the wind, and the quiet whistling of the wind itself eases into my ears. 'It's always strange to me, how quiet the places I go with them are. I so rarely hear any sounds of life while I'm with them, and only ever the barest hin-'
"IIIIIL!" I hear a terrified, high-pitched squeal from what seems to be nearby to the north. It's a pitiful thing, weak and desperate. I can't help but feel a tug in my chest at the sound.
"IIIIIIILLL!" Again, louder this time, calling out for help. I realize I'm standing suddenly, utterly fixated on the sound. Confused at why it feels so, so-
"IIIL! IIIIIIL! IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIILLLLLLLL!" Begging, pleading, help me, please someone help. I'm running now. My mind knows I shouldn't, that it's idiotic, foolish, a mistake, but I keep running nonetheless.
'Why? Why does it feel so familiar? Like deja vu, like a precious dream that's slipped through my memory, yet sits engraved in my subconscious?'
The voice goes quiet, but I keep running through the greenery, hopping over roots and ducking under branches. I stumble over a root before re-catching my stride. 'Where is it.' A sharp pain, followed by moist warmth hits my face as a small branch catches me across the cheek. I think I hear Drifloon and Misdreavus calling out behind me in the distance, but I'm not sure, tunnel-visioned as I am. My hood falls back behind my head, and another branch snags into my tangled hair, ripping out the strands it clung to as I force my way past. I grunt in pain as my neck torques from the pull.
'I feel like I'm dashing towards another mistake, mindlessly charging ahead like every time before, chasing gut feelings and emotions until they lead me into a pit. So Why? WHY!?'
"Iiil!" it's closer now, yet quieter than before. In the distance, I see orange and yellow lights casting dancing, flickering shadows. I can feel my heart thrumming in my chest, my legs throbbing as they swing back and forth. My breath runs ragged, and I stumble over another root, this time fully falling towards the ground. I brace my hands over my head, and on reflex, one of my only useful ones, I roll, stumbling my way back up into a run as I ignore the pricking in my arms. The trees begin to thin out, the terrain starts to slope a bit upwards, the crackling of fire can be heard up ahead, mingling the sounds of conflict in the distance.
'Why does something inside me scream I'll regret it more if I stop?'
On and on and on I go, wind at my back, until the trees begin to clear out even further, coming out to a glade ablaze. Fire and ash are scattered across the field and spreading out towards the mountainside beyond, offering light even as the sun finally sinks below the horizon and casts the landscape into shadow. Even now, Part of me feels called to the fire like a moth to light, but I pull my eyes away to take in the field, and those within it.
A seven-foot tall chitin-covered insectoid behemoth stands out among the blaze, light reflecting off its violet carapace. Its long body is made of a multitude of alternating red-violet and dark purple segments, thicker and wider towards its center where four sharp-tipped segmented legs move and shift in perfect tandem. The creature's head is round with strange protruding teal eye sockets, horns, and a gaping jagged maw with 2 forked tusks spilling out. Three identical segmented appendages sit on each side of its head like arms, and at the back like a tail, each one ending with a pair of bone white pincers dripping with crimson ichor. Its forelimbs are scorched black in spots, but the Pokemon seems to be fairly healthy otherwise.
The Drapion flicks one of its arms, and half a dozen tiny needles shoot out in a blur, only noticeable to me from the glint of the firelight. Only a moment later, I hear a sharp staccato popping burst like a firecracker, and the air between Drapion and its target ignites, leaving nothing of the attack behind but ash.
At the source of the Flamethrower stands a large mustelid, nearly four feet long and a bit over 2 tall. The creature's stance is defensive and low to the ground on all fours, its counter-shaded coat's dark teal color almost blending in with what remains of the grass around it. The Pokemon looks haggard, with several violet needles sticking out of it, and its breathing coming out in an erratic rhythm, seemingly with great difficulty. Only a single one of its scarlet eyes remains open, the other bloodied, while its tan underbelly is stained red with blood from the wounds littering its body. It glowers at the Drapion with an expression of utter hate and resolve, fangs bared and single eye narrowed.
I slow at the treeline, my mind processing the whole scene before me. 'What do I do?' Drapion patiently circles the Quilava, almost appearing bored in a way, but still wary enough to probe its defense from outside its reach. The scorpion simply fires Poison Sting after Poison Sting, each one punctuated by a sputtering ignition of the Quilava's red fur patches on its head and rear, and a blast of Flamethrower to no-sell the attack. 'Can I do anything at all? Why doesn't Quilava dodge or run? Are its legs hurt? The Drapion is clearly waiting for it to tire out or succumb to poison.' A few paces out, my foot collides with something soft, and I stop to glance down. 'No… no no no…'
On the ground, a small teal and cream furred mammal lies still. The creature is around a foot long, lying limply curled up in a ball, three gleaming needles pierced all the way through its body. Its left flank is melted down to the bone, an odorless bubbling purple sludge coating it.
No movement. No breath. Perfectly still. Lifeless
"I… I'm sorry little one, I was too late…" I whisper to it under my breath, crouching next to the Cyndaquil, hands wrapped around my knees shaking. 'Why? Why does it hurt so much? It's nothing but a chance encounter in the woods…'
Firelight burst out ahead of me, pulling my attention yet again, the fight continues as it was, Quilava flagging more and more. 'A distraction might help, but will it even survive its poisoning at this point?'
'Would I survive Drapion's attention?'
Next to me, I see Misdreavus captivated by the scene up ahead, looking in silence with a wide, unblinking gaze. Drifloon meanwhile, stares directly at me, her attention fixated on me in a way I have never felt in the 3 years I've known her. It feels as if her stare is filled with boundless curiosity and… expectation.
"Should we help?" My voice comes out in barely a whisper. Adrenaline pumps through me, yet more than anything now I find myself pinned to the spot, unsure how to act.
Drifloon stares motionlessly, offering no answers, only a look that seems to ask, "What will you do? What decision will you make?" Not once since I've known her have I ever found Drifloon unnerving, not until now.
'I should run, there's no hope to be had here, one look at that thing is all I need to know this is a bad idea. Is it even my place to interfere? It's likely just hunting and well… Just go back, go to sleep, and let the memories fade away.'
I turn away, walking back to the treeline, away from this problem that I cannot solve.
"...Dammit." I look back, a sense of longing, despair, and curiosity washing over me.
"Will you help me?" My question is louder this time, but still unsure. Misdreavus notices my words this time, tilting his head inquisitively before grinning and looking down at me imperiously. Drifloon answers with nothing but a nod, still staring, still almost utterly still but for her strings drifting in the wind.
"Can either of you Confuse Ray?" Two nods. "Will-O-Wisp?" Drifloon nods, while Misdreavus pouts and grumbles. "Hex?" Drifloon shakes her head, and Misdreavus puffs up smugly and sticks his tongue out at Drifloon.
"Hmmm… Drifloon fire off Will-O-Wisp at the Drapion and then come back to me. Misdreavus Confuse Ray it and then just run whichever way you think is best, please young lord. After that we book it, it's not much, but maybe Quilava will be able to escape if the Drapion is distracted for a moment."
They both vanish in an instant before my eyes, Drifloon reappearing out ahead. She acts more with her usual cheer and pep as she wiggles her arms towards Drapion, bouncing up and down before her attack. "Floon!" Five tiny violet and blue flames apparate in front of her, letting out whispering giggles that feel as if they're right next to my ear and sending a shiver down my spine. They seem to aimlessly wander off, before Drifloon begins yelling and pointing at her target repeatedly, seemingly demanding them to go. They lazily begin floating off toward Drapion, and the arachnid turns to face Drifloon almost immediately in response, Its upper segments twisting in step with each other without any interference to its locomotion. With a casual swipe of one of its arms coated in Dark type energy, the scorpion disperses the wisps, following up with a backswing that launches a barrage of Poison Stings at Drifloon, but receives a barrage of Swift stars in turn for its distraction. Much to my relief and Drapion's irritation, Drifloon manages to divert the attack away with a Gust from a small wave of its pad.
Just as Drapion rears back for another swing Misdreavus makes his appearance, his necklace releasing a small red and violet orb that quickly sinks into the back of Drapion's head from near point-blank range.
The beast goes still, eyes dilated, and Misdreavus rapidly ascends away from it, giggling as he takes his leave. The reprieve is brief however, naught but a second.
"DRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAPIOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" It unleashes a maddened roar to the skies, before going utterly berserk. The Pokemon flails its limbs in all directions, cratering the ground and tearing through the air and flames with venom-drenched claws. The Drapion's head turns as if on a swivel, seemingly contending with an endless barrage of imagined enemies, and I know this is the best chance we'll get.
"RUUUUUUUUUUUUN!" I strain my voice to its limits, desperately hoping the Quilava will listen to me. My shout quickly pulls its attention right as it finishes firing another Swift, and it looks at me with surprise and wariness, but doesn't move. Its body heaves with each breath and its limbs shake.
Quilava stares at me for what was surely only a moment, yet feels as if an eternity under the sounds of rampant destruction and the glow of the firelight. In the end, the Pokemon nods to me as if having come to a decision, and it feels as if its single eye is filled with melancholy but determination.
Instead of fleeing though, the Quilava reaches down underneath itself with its mouth and flings a small Pokemon towards me, before dashing straight towards Drapion while firing a smoke screen at it.
I run further out into the clearing, because the thrown Pokemon's trajectory isn't going to reach all the way to me. "QUIIIIIIIIIIIIIL!" the poor thing screams and flails as it flies through the air, and somehow, despite the chaotic situation I find myself in, a small part of me feels relief, because I'm certain this is the same desperate voice I had heard all along. Even so, I can't help but wonder 'Why?' Why didn't they flee while they had the chance?
I scoop up the tiny thing in my arms as I reach it, and see the air ignite ahead of me, flame bursting out of the cloud of smoke. I can feel the sweltering heat from the Flamethrower as I turn away towards the forest, Drifloon waving me on ahead as it floats past. Retreating back into the forest, I quickly find my question answered with a backward glance, Quilava simply knew better than me.
The smoke suddenly disperses with a burst of wind, revealing Drapion radiating fury. Not more than ten seconds had passed since the Confuse Ray struck, and it was already free. The Creature looks around and its eyes land on me before a massive wave of fire ignites the entire clearing. I spare a final glance for the Quilava, its flames blazing on its head and tail like a candle burning at both ends, and run desperately into the dark.
"Can- can you make a light?" I call out to Drifloon ahead of me, having lost the damned flashlight somewhere in the havoc. "~Floon!~" She cheerfully replies, manifesting a single Will-O-Wisp over her hand as she leads me forward.
Desperately I run downhill, and I rapidly realize that light is not going to be an issue because the fucking forest behind me is ablaze and on my trail. 'Why does the thing I love wish to kill me so? Was once not enough? Could the next one at least have the decency to be MY FAULT?' "Can, you, use, Rain Dance?" each word is punctuated with a heaving breath, quickly finding myself exhausted both mentally and physically. Drifloon replies with a sad "Drif…" and I go ahead and take that for a no.
At the very least. my passenger is extremely agreeable currently, the little thing moving only to shiver in fear and attempt to burrow further into my arms than it already is, letting out pitiful little squeaks occasionally.
"LAVAAAAAAAAAAA!" I hear the scream echo behind me, and suddenly night turns to day, as a massive beam of white-hot fire ignites the sky for a brief moment, before quickly dispersing.
'I really really hope that was them winning.'
Either way though, my distressing lack of fire resistance keeps me running, heart hammering in my chest and legs cramping. My gaze remains fixated on the terrain ahead of me, desperately trying to ensure I do not stumble and fall, as I tightly hold onto the Pokemon in my arms.
I'm outpacing the wildfire, if only barely, the stars aligning with the fact my destination is downhill and the wind facing me slowing it down from its normal speed. Fortunately though, either some wild Pokemon somewhere was really not feeling the idea of letting the forest burn down, or Kyogre has decided to smile down on me, because it begins to rain.
I keep running because this sort of light drizzle isn't enough to put out a wildfire, only slow it, but the rainfall quickly escalates to a downpour and I decide it should be safe to take a bit of a break under tree cover.
I collapse onto the ground, eliciting a distressed squeal, and lean my back against the tree while taking heaving breaths. I take the moment to tuck the little Pokemon under my jacket in hopes of helping it avoid any issues from the rain. The downpour fills my ear, the sound of the rain bouncing off the leaves and colliding with the ground surrounding me. Slowly my breath steadies, and my heart rate calms.
"MIIISS!"
"HHGGGH!"
"QUIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIL!"
Misdreavus apparates next to my ear and shrieks, sending my heart rate back into the stratosphere and my passenger into a panic. I give a half-hearted glare at the brat, but I'm relieved to see them nonetheless. I put my head in my hands, and slowly drag them down my face, letting out a long sigh. Drifloon gently pats my head consolingly with a "Floooon."
"I've changed my mind, I want my journey to just be peaceful."
My statement is punctuated by the sound of trees being crashed into and falling down back the way we came from. My body begins shaking in response, matching the trembling I can feel against my chest.
"Go, Go, GO." I stagger up, holding the little one secure, and begin running once again, now in the dark, in the rain, chasing after Drifloon's ethereal wisp of light. The sounds of the forest being overturned to reach us grow closer and closer, and I give in to the urge to look back.
God I wish I hadn't.
I can barely see Drapion in the dark, but its once gleaming carapace is now utterly scorched black from top to bottom. Both forelimbs are melted and melded into place between certain segments, leaving them unable to shift and move in those spots. To tie it all together, the left half of its head's exoskeleton has been completely incinerated off, its eye destroyed and the charred insides exposed.
And it's far, far too close for comfort.
As I'm running I feel a sharp prick in the back of my left calf.
On the first stride, I feel a dull tingle near the needle.
The second, a searing hot pain shoots up my leg, worse than anything I've felt my entire life.
With the third, there is nothing else, only PAIN.
'GodithurtspleasestopithurtsAhhhhithurtsitsithurtsmumhelpmeletitendithurtsitshurtsgodwhywhywhwywhwyWHYWHYWHYWHYWHYWHY-'
I collapse, falling onto my side. The child panics at the sudden drop but makes no effort to leave, too afraid to dare move. Every part of my body is alight with incomprehensible pain, like centipedes with knives for feet strumming on my nerves.
The Drapion slows, taking its time now that its venom has done its work. It moves as if it has all the time in the world.
"FLOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOON!" A shout from my companion flies out into the night air, her voice filled with a sense of urgency.
My vision narrows to a point as my body tenses and shudders outside my control, veins bulging out of my neck. The taste of iron fills my mouth, yet barely registers amid the all-encompassing agony wracking through my body. I had always considered my pain tolerance as high, but right now I want to claw out my eyes, bite through my tongue, or force my heart to stop, anything that might bring this misery to an end, but my body is fully outside my own control. I vaguely hear Drifloon arguing with Misdreavus, but I lack the mental capacity to consider it.
"Drif." A tiny comforting whisper drifts into my ear.
The soft pad that has held my hand for so many years worms its way into my clenching fist. I don't even realize it's there at first until suddenly I feel a change.
The agony, the suffering, it all begins to drain away like so much water from a punctured balloon. It doesn't vanish, but a comforting numbness settles over me, as if the pain is naught but a distant memory far away from the present.
My mind quickly begins to race, contemplation and despair settling into the space pain left behind. Attempting to move proves futile, my body still shaking and almost completely unresponsive to my desires, it offers only subtle twitches with vague resemblance to my wishes.
A raspy malformed choking sound heaves through my lips, utterly unrecognizable as the laughter I wish to release. 'What a damn mess.'
"R-uh-uh. Rrr. Uh-uh-uh. Nnn." Broken fragments of the word I wish to say slip past my tongue. My body and neck are stuck where they lie but I glance with my eyes toward Drifloon, desperately hoping they understand my final request to them. 'Take the little one and run. Escape, so that at least my death can fulfill this one small purpose.' I can't force out everything I want to say, so I can only hope that whatever gift that allows Pokemon to understand our words passes on my full intent.
I take in the leaves layered across the dark forest floor and the serpentine roots, the full moon shining down between the branches of the trees up above, Drifloon floats gently in the wind, her pad still held in my hand as she looks at me with some subtle emotion I can't make out. Just like the pain before it, suddenly I feel the worry, the fear, and the desperation within me drain out in just the same manner, vanishing into the background. I close my eyes, as I feel the shaking against my body from the little Pokemon continue, left only to make peace with the uncooperative duo as I feel my body quietly drift away. I hear Misdreavus call out suddenly near me, his tone subdued, and Drifloon proceeds to force open my mouth, placing some sort of sweet familiar-tasting mush inside.
A sound like the blare of a foghorn echoing in the distance rumbles through the trees and within my slowly beating chest. The sound comes from up above, yet feels as If it surrounds me from every angle. I hear the movements and crunching leaves of Drapions movement cease, and a single shiver passes through the little one before it curls itself into a tight ball and goes utterly still. I open my eyes trying to take in what's going on, yet am greeted by perfect darkness, not a single speck of light to be found.
The wind picks up suddenly, despite us being within the depths of the forest. It howls and sends a biting cold that chills my insides and makes my heart skip a beat. Then, the whispers start.
The quiet susurration of children's voices drifts and wraps itself all around me. Myriad voices flow within the wind, indistinct and muddled at a glance, yet perfectly clear when focused on individually, each offering the wind their stories, woes, dreams, or hopeless cries for aid.
"Will Mama come back home soon Papa? I miss her." A young boy's wish, doomed to be unfulfilled.
"Just you wait Sam, me an' Marill will show you who's really the best." A girl's declaration, a champion's resolve.
"H-He-lp some-one, pl-please help me." The quiet prayer for aid from a boy fading away.
The endless calls fade in and out, carrying with them tiny glimpses of the people they once were. The air around me feels suffocating, laden with the weight of these memories that seem to span millennia.
Suddenly I feel a silken cloth surround my body, wrapping its way around my torso like a cocoon. It lifts me from the ground and I feel the sudden sensation of hanging taut as I feel myself go up, up, up into what can only be the sky. My vision remains useless, my body nearly insensate, and the only sounds I hear the endless whispering. Yet despite this, where I'm sure there should be some amount of panic, distress, or fear, only an utterly uncaring void remains.
Interloper. Imitator. Aberration.
A barrage of deep rumbling tones reverberates through my being once again, yet this time they are filled with a sense of understanding I've only felt once before.
At the end of my journey through Limbo.
Yet it's clear to me the communicator is different, as a feeling of decided apathy towards my existence, with a slight hint of disdain, washes over me.
I'm suddenly lifted up, and shifted to be vertical, as the hold on me tightens to an uncomfortable degree. The all-encompassing blackness writhes, fading away to reveal a deep violet filling all my vision. Two pinprints of glowing crimson sit within the vast field of purple, seeming to peel away at all that I am to stare into my very core.
Images and emotions rapidly flash through my mind, taking the place of those 3 clear words that prefaced them. I see the city of Sunyshore and the surrounding landscape from far up above within the clouds as I drift along at a sedate pace. The woes and joys of every child near the city are carried to me as whispers on the wind, filling me with the warm contentment of watching something precious to you grow and change.
A new breath joins into the wind, lasting not but a fleeting moment. No great sorrow or injustice, but simply the way of nature.
Yet then an oddity occurs, the breath begins anew, but the vessel no longer holds the unblemished spirit of a newborn but instead the tarnished soul of a grown human, wrapped within an old memory of kin long gone.
A Fragment chooses to follow the Anomaly as its form grows, and I feel a sense of begrudging allowance seep into me at the scene.
In the dark of night, I hear a call, begging for a single gift of intercession on behalf of the anomaly. Apathy flows through me, but the growth of desire beyond that of my own within a Fragment is worthy of being nursed.
A vulpine grin appears before me, an old memory filled with nostalgia, as violet-hued flames with cores of scarlet dance within the corners of my vision. I see a weary old masked man wrapped in a thick furred cloak with silvery-white dreaded hair cascading down his bent back. Mala beads surround his neck, sitting atop a set of red and black robes that stand stark against the pure white snowy landscape. He sets his weight against a gnarled staff, staring up the mountain before him, towards the heavens at something I cannot fathom.
A hunched creature, silhouetted within a red and violet wildfire that consumes the rustic village before me, paws the ground desperately as if searching for something. It twitches and suddenly snaps its head toward me, showing a manic unhinged grin as crimson eyes bore a hole into me before suddenly darting toward me at speeds I can barely comprehend.
108 sets of 108 spirits spiral within a yawning void, screaming in unceasing agony as they writhe against the boundaries of their current form. Red and violet intertwine in a mesmerizing pattern that makes my insides roil and my eyes burn as it appears within my sight, yet I cannot bear to tear my gaze away. WRONG. WRONG. WRONG. CAN NOT. SHOULD NOT. MUST NOT BE.
The Obelisk reaches towards the sky, a monument to the forgotten and a signpost to the lost. Its openings reveal only pitch black within, as if portals to another realm. My bones ache with a deep sense of foreboding, and within my heart, I can feel with utmost certainty that I am not welcome, "ENTER AND DIE" the looming tower seems to scream from within its depths. "KINKILLER'S ALLY. ABOMINABLE INTERLOPER. WRETCHED THING. BEGONE."
I heed not the warnings, and the shadows within tear apart all that I am, scattering me into the winds.
Then there is naught but oblivion yet again.
[Author's Note]
Happy Halloween Ya'll. The Author Lives. Sorry its been a minute but unexpected events left me in a headspace where I was very much not in the mental state to write. I'm ready to climb back onto the horse with this chapter which I'm sure will have some mixed feelings.
Gonna just cover some quick points.
Metaknowledge/Evolutions - I'll be poking this some, but MC won't be some sort of perfect font of knowledge for the exact methods of evolutions for mons, if it was simple and intuitive, it was likely already figured out. MCs knowledge's greatest asset will be knowing they should be trying to figure it out at all and offering hints in the direction to look. They won't be discovering a bajillion never-before-seen evolutions
MC Getting his head knocked in - Has been long coming and foreshadowed, MC has still been treating the world a bit too much like just a game despite warnings and evidence against that.
The New Friend - ~~It's on the cover, I'm not sorry~~ Ik some people dislike traditional starters but Cyndaquil was planned from the very start.
Finally, I just wanted to mention that the end segment was also foreshadowed a lot and I hope y'all liked meeting a spookier ghost. We'll be seeing ghosts of more comprehendible friendly varieties, as more esoteric spookier ones, throughout the fic. As we get further into fic we may see some of the later as actual teammates as well. It would feel like a disservice to the type if we did not have some more mysterious creepy entities mixed in in my opinion though.
See Yall Friday!