Rowan breathed a sigh of relief, finally done cleaning up the broken equipment from the two rascal's shenanigans.
"Aipom!" The purple monkey sauntered over to the professor, its head facing the ground, tail dragging across the floor.
The professor gave Aipom a reassuring smile, "I'm not mad." He petted the monkey on the back of its ear. The corners of Aipom's mouth eventually twisted into a smile, as it exuberantly shouted its name. "Just don't do that again." Aipom nodded excitedly. "Good! There is still daylight to burn, let's make the most of it."
Rowan walked over to a computer. It displayed live video footage of the surrounding forest. "The league has ordered that we enclose the area. Far too many trainers travel into the forest, unaware of the dangerous pokémon that reside in there." Rowan turned to face the purple monkey, "And no, lining the circumference of the forest with nanab shells is not a proper solution."
Aipom scratched its neck, a sheepish grin plastered on its face. The monkey looked up at the screen, its eyes fixating on a camera feed that displayed a large tree. Though difficult to see through the blurry lens the monkey managed to make out the shape of a human, sitting unmovingly at the base of the tree.
Rowan brought his cup to his lips, finding it empty once more. "I should really get a hold of my addiction. I'm gonna get some more coffee, you watch the footage. Make sure that-" He cut himself off, feeling Aipom tugging at his pants. "What, is something wrong?"
The monkey jumped back up to the computer screen, pointing at the feed that caught its attention earlier with its tail.
Rowan's eyes widened, "Andrew!"
A vast body of water stretched out to the horizon line where the ocean turned into a pitch-black sky.
"Oh, come on!" Andrew shouted, standing atop the surface of the water.
"This isn't a sensory display from your imagination this time. This is real." The apparition had yet to make its presence known, its voice resounding from a place unknown.
"Why are you hiding? Come out and face me like a man!"
"I am here. I am part of you."
"I know you're not. This is not real. Stop pulling those lies out of your ass and tell me something true for once."
"For once I am not lying. For once I am not hiding the truth behind a faca-"
"Bullshit! All you've ever done is lie! But I won't be fooled by your 'whispers', I know better than to trust you!"
"..."
"Oh, I'm sorry. Have I hurt somebody's hubris, perchance? Finally humbled knowing that I've unraveled your faca-" The water parted under his feet. He didn't have time to breathe as the liquid enveloped him completely, the pressure increasing incrementally the deeper he went. He flailed wildly, already short on air.
"You see my lies, but you're blind to the truth."
The young man was suddenly propelled upwards, flying out of the water. He hardly got a breath in before slamming back into the liquid with an excessive amount of force, its raging current encompassing him once more.
"You're too conceited to heed my 'whispers'. I had hoped to receive more than just a corpse. But your empty husk will suffice just as well."
Deathened screams escaped Andrew's throat as the apparition teared itself out of his chest, coiling itself around him like a snake.
"How unfortunate. I'm not fond of employing such drastic measures, especially on someone with such benign intentions. But your ignorance has riled my patients for long enough. You should feel shame for displaying such open discourtesy in the presence of a deity. No need to worry though, your body won't go to waste. Your remains shall be used to evoke fear in every living creature across this realm, as well as yours. And that will only be the start. Once rooted I shall conquer the rest of existence, and strike fear upon the cosmos itself. My eternal thirst for fear, blood and anguish shall finally be quenched!"
Andrew was short on air once more, the corners of his vision fading as his face grew pale. He suddenly rose above the surface of the water, taking deep, uneven breaths as the apparition held him in the air.
His heart palpitated in his ears as the apparition gawked at him, its stare growing more unyielding by the second.
"And yet, there's only one thing that manages to stand in my way. One nagging pest that stubbornly clings on to whatever life it has left, prolonging my repletion!"
The apparition tightened its grip around the young man who's fleeting consciousness grew dimmer every second that passed.
"You."
Andrew was thrown back into the water. Ripples went on for miles across the large body of liquid, before disappearing over the horizon.
A large, quadrupedal creature used its gray nose to scout the area. Winter had come and gone, and this bear-like pokémon was ready to reclaim the land it had lost during its dormancy.
Squirrel-like pokémon came up to greet the much larger, bear-like creature, carrying berries and fruits. A plethora of bird-like pokémon landed on its large back, plucking any annoying little snacks or small twigs that clung to its gray and brown fur.
The bear-like creature was far from displeased at the sight of these small creatures roaming its territory. They all contributed to either provide it with a share of their nutrients, or rid it of any annoying little thing that was tangled in its fur, its large size making it a near impossibility to rub its back against a tree like the smaller, younger, bipedal members of its species. It'd reward them for their helpful service with protection against any wild predators, and have the freedom of traversing through its territory as they wished.
The bear-like creature gave a low, resonant roar, graciously accepting the smaller pokémon's gifts, picking them up with its long, sharp claws.
It noticed three purple, rat-like pokémon rapidly approaching, sights set on the large, bear-like creature's berry filled paw. Its gray, cloud-like eyebrows fell below the yellow circle on its head, beige snout scrunching as it bared its teeth, releasing a loud ear-piercing roar, resonating throughout the forest.
An overwhelming onslaught of much larger, brown-furred, bipedal, rat-like pokémon jumped onto the much larger creature from above, violently biting and scratching at it.
The bird-like pokémon pecked at the larger rat-like pokémon, trying to discourage their assault on the bear-like creature.
The squirrel-like pokémon pounced at the smaller rat-like pokémon, obstructing their approach to the much larger creature.
A loud screech pierced the air suddenly. Every pokémon hunched over, covering their ears to the best of their ability as a swarm of blue and purple, bat-like pokémon flew above their heads.
The large creature resorted to roar loudly at the airborne pokémon. Frightened multiple of the bat-like pokémon released loud pulses of air towards the larger creature.
The large, quadrupedal creature roared in agony, which caused more of the bat-like pokémon to release an onslaught of sound-waves. This continued for almost a minute before the bat-like pokémon hastily flew away.
Every single one of the creatures were left sprawled out on the ground, the onslaught of such horrific sounds leaving them too tired to stand properly. All except one.
The largest of the creatures still stood, shaking its head, squeezing its eyes shut. The bird and squirrel-like pokémon all expressed their concerns for the larger creature, the rat-like pokémon gawking at it in fear.
Everything the creature heard was disturbingly distorted as it opened its eyes, vision blurry and tinted red. It spotted oddly shaped creatures approaching it.
The pokémon were approaching the large creature, yelling their names to try and get its attention.
The large creature roared louder than it ever had before in anger. The next moments passed by in a blur as the large creature violently assaulted anything and everything within its vicinity.
None of the smaller creatures went unscathed. Some of their injuries were beyond recoverable, the hands of faith showing them no mercy.
"C'mon, get a move on!" Rowan said, exiting his laboratory. "We have to find him, quick. Who knows what might've happened to him."
Swarms of pokémon ran through and around his feet. He stared off in the direction they were going, right as a horde of deer-like creatures, with leaves on their horns, trampled him over.
"Aipom!" The purple monkey ran up to the professor, snickering as it spotted the hoof marks on his newly tumbled coat.
The professor got up, dusted himself off, and laughed sarcastically, "Very funny." He faced the direction that the pokémon were heading. "If the cameras are anything to go by then that way is the opposite of Andrew's direction." He stared off into the forest behind him, worry settling in his expression. "Oh no." He mumbled under his breath.
"Aipom, we have to go, now! He might be in severe danger!" Rowan shouted, running ahead, the purple monkey close behind.
How he hadn't passed out yet was beyond him, but he suffered immensely because of it. Thrown in and out of the water again and again as the apparition kept dialoguing with the half conscious young man.
"Give in." Said the apparition. They both receded from the surface of the water once more. "You'd do yourself a favor."
"Never." Andrew said, voice hoarse from choking on the transparent liquid.
"Last chance. Submit, or you'll face a leisurely, painful end."
"Death is the best thing you can offer me right now."
"Death is not a favor. Death is an act of punishment from deities you can't even comprehend. To die is to live in distress, agony and pain for all eternity."
"Sounds more pleasing than existing in the same dimension as you, and your smell. No sense of privacy and awful hygiene. You really come with the full package, huh."
He was thrown back into the water, taking one last breath before the liquid enveloped him.
"Death is not pleasant. Death is not funny." The wavering shadows of the apparition grew more and more violent as time passed. "Submit, and I'll spare you. Submit, and I'll allow you to stand by my side as I rule all of existence. Submit, and I'll save you the embarrassment of drowning in this ocean of your own sorrow."
The young man started chuckling, and he kept chuckling as tears started to form in his eyes.
The apparition could tell it wasn't from fear, nor nervousness. The young man was genuinely amused. "What's so funny?"
Andrew's chuckling turned into laughter, air bubbles escaping his lungs, traveling to the surface of the water. The apparition carried Andrew above the liquid. "What's the cause of such giddy behavior?"
"Why am I still alive if I'd successfully accomplish your goals dead?"
"I've given you a choice, and you've yet to decide!"
"Kill me, that's my choice. See your plans brought to fruition without this nagging pest of potential."
"..."
"Cat got your tongue!" He chuckled at the sight of the wavering, seething shadows of the apparition. "I do sometimes wonder why you're so bewildered by my continued distrust of your empty lies. You're so desperate to have me believe them too, how naive can you get."
"I am destined for a greater purpose! To have such a lowly figure be compared to my stature is disgusting! And worse of all was my intent to tolerate it! To tolerate you so long as you served your purpose! But you're just a hindrance, an obstacle in my path for glory!"
The apparition forcefully pulled Andrew back down into the water, current riled on by its frustrations. "I'm done putting up with your obstructions! I have other means of bringing about 'the day of shrieking silence'! My repletion shall not be delayed any further!"
They fell deeper and deeper beneath the surface, raging current encompassing them wherever they went. Strangely enough though Andrew felt no different below the surface than above it. He took in breath after breath with ease, the intense pressure of the water not facing him in the slightest.
The apparition gawked at the young man, who seemed far too composed to experience any mental or physical trauma.
"This is my mind. My imagination. My domain. Your efforts to seize control over me grow more worthless the longer we linger my thoughts. I have some advice for you."
Andrew took hold of the apparition, turning them both around to where the apparition was now drowning beneath the surface of the transparent liquid.
"Get out!"
Everything turned white as Andrew lost all feeling, the illusionary reality seizing to exist.
Something coarse was pressed against his back, continuous rustling filling his ears. His eyelids parted slowly, exposing his brown eyes to the multiple shades of green surrounding him. Yellow tinted light passed through the large canopies above him.
Eerie chills ran up the young man's spine. He couldn't wrap his head around why the ambience felt so disturbing, but something was clearly off about it.
He scanned left and right, doing a double take when spotting something to his left. A red and white ball with a black stripe separating the two colors through the middle sat in the grass next to him.
Andrew felt around his pockets. The revelation that they were empty brought a heavy sigh out of the young man, who reached out for the mysterious ball.
The purpose of said ball was beyond him. He'd found it in his hand the same day that he awoke in the forest about a month ago. The young man was fortunately prudent enough to bring it with him though. He somehow felt as though it would serve a grander purpose other than occupying his precious fabrical compartments later down the road. He'd have no idea whether its purpose would be a quick cash grab or somehow serve as a containment chamber for an otherworldly creature, but he'd rather have it than not.
A loud, ear piercing roar resounded within the forest, possibly only a few miles away.
The young man rose from the ground in one swift motion, placing the red and white ball in his pocket.
Goosebumps ran throughout his entire body upon realizing that the forest was completely void of any sentient lifeforms.
He resisted the urge to run in the opposite direction. There was the chance that Aluette still remained within the forest. Andrew couldn't imagine that she'd fare well against the creature if it managed to send shivers throughout every living being in the forest. He had to do something. She might not even be in the forest to begin with, and he'd be risking his life trying to find out, but he could in no way live knowing that he'd done nothing when he could've done something.
He started jogging in the direction he'd last seen Aluette heading.
He certainly had his work cut out for him if an entire forest worth of wild animals fled upon the presence of one creature.
Was it a stupid idea to pursue such a dangerous threat without precautions, remaining very cognizant of the fact that it could very possibly slit his throat with ease? Hell yeah, it absolutely was. And was it really worth the risk just to be provided with an opportunity to make an apology that has haunted him for almost one and a half days? Probably not. But onwards he went anyway on easily the most arduous and retarded quest of his entire life.
"Aipom!" Shouted the purple monkey, swinging through the trees with incredible dexterity. It had to occasionally slow down for Rowan's sake though as the professor ran much slower than his little monkey lad.
"Sorry, lad!" He heaved out his words, hyperventilating from exhaustion. He bent down, holding on to his knees. "Can we take a break! I don't think I could manage-"
He was cut off by a loud roar resounding from within the forest.
The professor hastily turned on his heel. "You know, I think Andrew will be fine! I mean have you seen the lad, he doesn't need our help! So stupid of me to assume-"
"Aipom!" Shouted the purple monkey, cutting him off.
The professor sighed deeply, turning back around to face his companion. "Yeah, I know. He probably does need our help. But did you hear that roar? How can we be certain that he isn't sliced in two yet. And just imagine what that thing could do to us. Is it really worth it?"
"Aip-aipom!" Exclaimed the monkey, pointing in the direction of the roar.
The professor sighed once more, "I hate it when you're right sometimes. But when you're right you're right." He stared into the forest, determination lingered in his expression. "Let's go help the lad!"
The purple monkey started swinging with renewed vigor.
"Wait!" The purple monkey stopped, staring behind at the professor who was hunched over, arms perched on his knees. "I still need a break!"
The purple monkey spread the hand on its tail across its face, shaking its head before reluctantly returning to the professor's side.
The large bear-like creature hastily wandered the forest aimlessly, driven by confusion and fear. Nothing stood in its path as its large, sharp claws tore through anything and everything in its way.
Some smaller pokémon had tried approaching the large creature, trying to reason with it. But the large creature either cut through them or scared them off with its dissonant roar.
The larger pokémon didn't fare much better against the bear-like creature. Its enormous size and weight was simply too much for the pokémon to compete with.
The large creature halted as its bloodshot, red eyes spotted the two bipedal, panda-like pokémon blocking its path. Their combined mass was barely less than the bear-like creature's. Neither of the two pokémon were as tall as the bear-like creature either. But they made up for their shortcomings with their combined strength.
The large creature had had trouble defeating the two pokémon in the past, and having spent multiple, grueling days training to beat the large creature had given them even greater odds of beating it this time.
The bear-like creature didn't so much as flinch at the sight of them though, releasing a loud dissonant roar before charging at its opponents.
The two pokémon brazed themselves as the larger creature's claws slashed down upon them. They both caught one of the large creature's clawed paws each with their black furred hands. Both brought one hand back, curled into a fist, before slamming them into the large creature's gut.
The bear-like creature slid back a few meters before skidding to a halt. Most of its energy was drained from their combined punch, the two pokémon seeming more lively than ever.
One of the panda-like pokémon looked to its companion, "Pan-pangoro!" The other pokémon nodded, charging at the bear-like creature as its friend stood behind, coaching it.
The large creature shook off its mild daze, and made a headlong rush toward its opponent.
The pokémon that stood behind quashed the large creature's attack in the nick of time.
The bear-like creature halted at the quash, right as the panda-like pokémon dynamically punched its head.
The bear-like creature was further dazed by the powerful blow.
The panda-like pokémon went in for another strike, noticing the weakened state of the bear-like creature.
Its facade had worked as it struck the pokémon with renewed vigor. The panda-like pokémon flew multiple meters before slamming into a tree, landing on the ground with a loud thud, knocked out cold.
The still conscious pokémon gawked at its companion. It was really knocked out from one hit after all that.
The panda-like pokémon's trail of thought was broken by the sound of the rapidly approaching large creature.
The pokémon barely avoided the bear-like creature's slash, making distance before reaching its hand out, palm faced upwards as it bent its fingers in its own direction, taunting its opponent.
The bear-like creature almost went mad, hastily rushing headlong at its opponent.
The panda-like pokémon didn't even have time to react as the large creature slammed into it. The pokémon rolled a great distance away before stopping raising its head in stupor.
The bear-like creature had already reached its opponent, claws high up in the air as it prepared itself to slash at the pokémon.
The panda-like pokémon didn't have enough energy remaining to fight the large creature off. It was forced to take the unrelenting onslaught from its opponent as it struggled to keep a sturdy grasp on its fleeting consciousness.
The bear-like creature kept slashing and slashing its opponent, fresh blood dripping from its claws as it violently assaulted the pokémon.
The large creature left once each distinct feature of the pokémon was beyond recognizable, shallow breaths escaping its gaping mouth before seizing completely.
The other panda-like pokémon would wake up hours later to discover the unfortunate fate of its comrade. It never got a chance to speak to its friend again.
The sun was low in the sky, painting the entire forest yellow with its unyielding light. Andrew had walked through this landscape for about an hour and a half at that point, slowly examining his surroundings as he went on.
He eventually reached a cliff, overlooking the magnificent sunset. He found difficulty drawing his eyes away, but upon doing so found Aluette about half a kilometer away, perched upon the precipice of a distant cliff, a large gap separating the two.
Andrew bolted back into the forest, running for multiple minutes before stopping a distance away within the treeline.
He was clad in shadows as he stared at her, reluctant to approach.
This wasn't the time to hesitate, but he couldn't help himself. How could he possibly find the courage to talk to her after what he'd said the other day. He was so stupid, so reckless and so wrong, so very wrong.
A gust of wind blew past the treeline. The young man started losing his balance, retracting his leg instinctively. He stepped onto a twig which snapped beneath his weight.
Aluette's ears shot up as she stared behind herself in alarm. She calmed once she noticed Andrew standing behind the treeline.
Andrew?
Her heart rate increased dramatically, face flushing beneath her fur.
The young man approached slowly, sitting beside her on the precipice.
Silence encompassed the two for very long drawn-out minutes. The young man drew in breaths as if to speak on multiple occasions, but would always shake his head and stare off into the sunset when Aluette would stare back at him.
The sun was now halfway down the horizon.
Andrew drew a deep breath (now or never), "I…I'm sorry, for what I said."
Aluette blinked a few times. She definitely didn't expect him to be the one apologizing.
He drew yet another breath before continuing, "None of the things I said were true. You're not useless. You're not a burden. And you're definitely not bad company." He laughed nervously at the last two words.
Aluette giggled at his nervousness, shying away from his gaze.
She looked back in his direction as he started talking once more. "You're the complete opposite of what I said you were then. You've only ever helped me ever since I found you. You never add weight to my shoulders; You might do so once or twice actually, but that's beside the point."
Aluette giggled again, amused by his small comment.
"I've purely enjoyed your company ever since I met you. You certainly have your fair share of eventful episodes here and there. They're very amusing, I'll be honest; except for when you manage to sneeze on my pants and set them on fire as though I were a witch."
Aluette couldn't muster a will to stop giggling, her tail swishing back and forth as Andrew kept talking.
"I might end up screaming as much as I laugh at your little events, but I do still manage to find myself amused whenever I think back to them."
Silence settled between them once more. Only a small part of the sun shone above the horizon.
Andrew drew one last breath, "Is it possible for you to forgive me for what I said?"
She didn't have time to answer as a loud, dissonant roar came from behind them. They both turned around to find a large bear-like creature charging towards them.