The New Normal – OMAKE – The Survivor

Her parents had always been against her participation in the war. They had tried to instil into her that a lady's duty was in the household, to manage the finances of her husband, and to be a loyal wife. She had scoffed, never really buying into that nonsense. Besides, she had always been better as a trainer than she was at chores.

And war proved to be an effective teacher. Horrifying, but effective. Fighting with the town's local militia to repel and take down lone groups of Johto soldiers had allowed her to improve her skills by leaps and bounds; and if she wasn't always in constant danger, then she probably would have been proud of her incredible growth.

Too bad her parents had not seen it the same way. But then again, they hadn't been talking for some time now. Not ever since she joined up with the town's militia. In fact, she hadn't even thought about her parents for some time; she was too busy focusing on the constant and endless fighting and patrolling she was tasked with.

In war, it only took the slightest lapse of concentration before you went down, never to wake up again.

However, at the current moment, all she could think about was the safety of her parents as she desperately rushed back to town, watching anxiously as another spear of flames came spewing out of an enemy Dragonite, causing who knows how many people and Pokémon to burn. She prayed to Arceus that her parents had survived it.

She ran back, sweat dripping into her eyes and staining her hair, but she ignored all that as she pushed her aching legs even further, cursing herself for her lack of exercise.

"STOP!" A man's voice shouted, and she turned to see a Johto soldier facing her down with a Kadabra. He must have recognized her as an enemy from her uniform and the small armband that she wore to show that she was part of the local militia.

She scowled, cursing at this distraction. With a wave of her arms, she felt something brush past her and a presence suddenly appeared in front of Kadabra. She turned away as she continued making her way back into the town, knowing that her Pokémon wouldn't lose.

And sure enough, her Pokémon re-appeared next to her seconds later, grinning viciously at its victory. She would have praised it, but another horrifying roar filled the skies as the group of Dragonite unleashed another barrage of flames, drowning out a huge portion of the town in a sea of flames.

And all she could do was continue forwards, tears of frustration threatening to appear in her eyes as she was unable to do anything. She knew she was a talented trainer, but no amount of talent could allow one person to stand up against an army. Especially not with her Pokémon, which were better at smaller and quicker engagements than fighting head-on like this.

Eventually, she made it back into town, only to despair at what she was seeing. The town was in flames, and nothing was spared. Huge rows of houses, where she remembered playing around when she was younger, was now nothing more than a charred husk of burning wood. The schools, and Pokécenters were similarly all up in flames.

She almost fell to her knees right there and then, the despair threatening to consume her very being. But she pressed on, hoping to find someone who had survived. Hoping to find her family.

In the distance, she saw what she initially thought was a glimmer of hope. In the old, abandoned watchtower, a group of survivors could be seen fighting back against their draconic invaders, throwing out a variety of attacks that caught one of the Dragonites in the wings, causing it to fall out of the air before it was caught by one of its brethren.

She rushed towards the tower, hoping to help out and regroup with the fighters, but then her plan was cut short as the Dragonites fought back, unleashing another barrage of Dragon Pulses that ripped through the tower. She screamed in horror as she saw the tower instantly crumble, the many survivors inside now trapped and falling, their own screams audible despite their distance.

But then another volley from the Dragonites silenced them all.

A part of her wanted to rush in to help, but the more rational part of herself forced her to move away, back to her original objective of finding her legs moved by themselves, and she swallowed the guilt as she rushed away from the tower, back to where she used to live.

She ran quickly, but carefully, constantly scanning for any lingering Johto soldiers that might catch her off-guard. Not spotting any, she reached the area where her house used to be, only to find nothing more than another charred husk of a house where it once stood.

Dread set into other heart, but she braved the flames as she scrambled inside, shouting out repeatedly for her parents. She begged Arceus for them to respond, but she did not have the favour of the gods today. Despite going through her entire house, she found nothing. No bodies. No traces. All she managed to retrieve was a half-burnt photo, portraying her family all standing side-by-side and smiling.

On the back, she could just make out the words, "With our darling, Agatha."

The tears came down before she could stop them, staining the photo. She clutched the photo tightly to her chest, all of her emotions came pouring out at that very moment. Her Gengar waddled up to her, awkwardly patting her on the shoulder as if trying to comfort her.

She regretted Lavender Town's weakness, being one of the less protected towns around Kanto. Many in the town thought their obscurity and lack of importance would have protected them, but those voices were silent now. As were many others.

She allowed herself to cry and mourn but for a moment before she forced away all of those feelings. Now wasn't the time for it.

Wiping away her tears, she set her emotions aside once again as she stared back at the burning remains of her once lovely town. Overheard, the battle raged on, as apparently a lone man on a Dragonite had dived into the battle, somehow winning the fight despite being surrounded on all sides.

And in that moment, her resolve crystalized within her. As she saw the man fighting all by himself against their invaders, she realized what she had to do. She rushed back into battle, hoping to help the man before a stray attack caught him off-guard. As she ran back in, she made a vow to herself.

She would rebuild and protect Lavender Town. And even until she was old and crippled, she would never allow her vigil to slip. She would ensure nothing like this happened to her beloved town ever again.

The army of vengeful Ghosts in her shadow let out a cackling cry of support.

A.N. It's been some time since I wrote one of these, but I was inspired and really wanted to write this. Once again, feel free to take this as Canon or Non-Canon depending on your preference. And yes, this was probably one of my darker OMAKES, even for the war period. But I hope you liked it regardless.

This chapter has been BETAed by Allute! Thanks! And to anyone who wants to support me, please check out my p atreon at CartecTNN where you can read 8 advanced chapters! Thanks to those who have supported me already!