DarkFoxKit: Well, we have another chapter uploaded.
Traveling Master: Sorry about missing yesterday, that one is on me. Perks of being a night shift worker is that you tend to oversleep if you're not careful. Hence why we are uploading today instead of yesterday.
DarkFoxKit: I wouldn't apologize too much, TM, especially since… while it would be ideal, I don't think we'll be able to keep up our weekly uploads for long. This is just to help get people started and introduced to this world we made for Mother 3 and Pokemon.
Traveling Master: Well, we shouldn't keep them waiting much longer. Onto the chapter!
Chapter 2: Escape
Hinawa, Vivi, Lucas, Claus, Sparks, and Sunny were all still on the mountains, blissfully unaware of the fire that was going on in the forest.
"I'm gonna miss these mountains. I was born here after all… do we have to go back tonight?" Sparks asked.
"Well I would rather not stay in the mountains all night. It's bad for my fur," Vivi remarked.
Claus was running around restlessly, with Sparks following him. Both of them were full of energy. Lucas was holding onto Hinawa's hand. Sunny was leading the way, when Claus then ran over to Lucas and Hinawa.
"The nest should just be up ahead," Sunny said.
"Really? Then let's hurry! I wanna see it!" Sparks said excitedly, moving around Claus.
"You could probably go on ahead, I want to spend a little more time with Hinawa before we reach our destination," Sunny chuckled at the young Pikachu's excitement.
Claus saw Sparks looking very excited, and kept pointing up ahead. Claus blinked before smiling, realizing that Sparks wanted them to go ahead.
"Hey, Mom? Could Lucas and I go ahead of you? It looks like Sparks wants us to hurry and see this cool thing that's up ahead, and I wanna see it too!" Claus requested.
Hinawa took a moment to look up at the sky, thinking about whether or not she should let her sons go on ahead. Naturally, part of her felt it'd be best if they stayed together, especially since they were supposed to be following Sunny, but she knew that they were growing boys, that they'll be wanting to go on their own adventures in the future. She also knew that as long as Claus and Lucas had each other, they would be safe.
Hinawa looked back at her two sons while giving them a warm smile as she answered. "Sure sweetie, just make sure you two stay together, and don't go too far ahead."
"We won't, I'll have Sparks with me." Claus smiled.
"Are you sure about this, Claus?" Lucas nervously asked. "Maybe we should just stick with Mom and Sunny."
"The Tyranitar will recognize us, and if Sunny had gone all this way to fetch us, I'm sure they'll be expecting us! Come on Lucas, don't you wanna see the Larvitar again? We may even get lucky and see the egg hatch!" Claus excitedly exclaimed. "And maybe if the egg hatches and imprints on you, you can finally bond with your first Pokemon!"
"M-maybe, but… shouldn't the Pokemon in the egg imprint on their parents?" Lucas asked.
"Seeing how Sunny used to be Mom's starter, I bet they would like to see their own kid bond with you," Claus tried reassuring.
"Is that really okay?" Vivi asked Sunny.
Sunny chuckled. "Well, I don't know about the mother, but I'd be fine with it. I trust Hinawa to have raised her children to take good care of my children."
"I know your mate seemed to hit it off with the boys pretty well," Vivi chuckled.
Claus went over to Lucas, taking his hand off of Hinawa's, and taking Lucas's hand with his own. "Come on, come on, Lucas! The sooner we arrive, the more chances we'll get to see the egg hatch and see the Larvitar again!"
"O-okay!" Lucas replied as Claus all but dragged him along.
Sparks happily ran ahead of them as Claus, while pulling Lucas along, followed after the Pikachu.
Hinawa chuckled. "I don't know where Claus gets all that energy from."
Sunny rolled his eyes. "Don't tell me you forgot what you were like as a teenager. You were just as bad as he was."
Hinawa smiled as she watched her two sons run off. "Oh, I remember, I also remember a certain Chikorita who was too shy to even talk to the friendliest of Pokemon. And look at how much you've grown since, mating with the alpha Tyranitar of all Pokemon."
"I can say the same thing for you, mellowing out with age, and settling down with a Mareep farmer," Sunny replied back. He then gave a somewhat concerned look. "Do you think that your sons will inherit your… gift?"
"I believe it's possible. The… gift won't start showing up until they reach 13 years old," Hinawa answered.
"I see… have you told them yet?" Sunny asked.
Hinawa shook her head. "I wanted Lucas and Claus to live like normal boys among their friends. While the gift isn't unique to just me, it's rare enough that others might treat them differently if they knew. I planned to tell them once they reach their 13th birthday."
"You won't believe how many times they came close to seeing Hinawa having a conversation with me, and she had to give them an excuse that she was just pretending that she was talking to me," Vivi snickered.
"I trust your judgment, you never led me astray before," Sunny remarked.
Hinawa smiled while nodding, but then that same worried feeling came back. First time she figured it was her being a mother worried for her children, but now that it suddenly came back a second time, Hinawa started wondering if everything was truly alright. She looked up in the sky, seeing nothing amiss, only the sound of the wind slightly picking up. Yet she still couldn't shake this uneasy feeling inside.
"Hinawa, is everything okay?" Sunny asked, noticing his former trainer's worried look.
"I…I don't know," Hinawa answered. "How far is your nest?"
"It shouldn't be that much further. It's at the top of Mt. Silver's peak. That's where my mate nests since she's the alpha around here," Sunny answered. "We're already close to the peak."
"We should probably move along then," Hinawa said.
"Do you think something bad might've happened?" Vivi asked, noticing Hinawa's worried look herself.
"Don't worry, Mt. Silver is safe for you. The only biggest threat around here are the Tyranitar, and they're naturally friendly Pokemon. Sneasel might be an issue because they like to steal eggs, but they never dare to try to take eggs from the alpha Tyranitar," Sunny assured.
"Maybe I'm just being a little paranoid…" Hinawa said, though she wasn't sure.
Meanwhile, Sparks, Claus, and Lucas finally reached the peak of Mt. Silver. They expected to see a big nest with Larvitar and an egg sitting on it, all safe and snugged. But when they reached the nest, they were surprised at how much of a mess the nest appeared to be. There were rocks and branches all over the place, and it looked like there were scorch marks left around the area.
"Hey… what happened here?" Lucas asked. "It looked like the nest was attacked by a Rock or Fire Pokemon…"
"Sparks, can you smell any Pokemon that are nearby? Maybe the Tyranitar left with the Larvitar and the egg," Claus suggested.
Sparks nodded, looking concerned himself. The Pikachu lowered himself to the ground and started sniffing around. While he may not be as good as Boney when it came to sniffing, he had been training with Boney to learn how to sniff certain things out. It was good because he would sometimes help bring back ingredients for food. Sparks began moving around the ruined nest.
"What do you think happened here, Claus?" Lucas asked in concern while Sparks was looking around.
"I don't know, maybe some wild Pokemon decided to attack," Claus answered. "But they should've known that this was a Tyranitar's nest. No way would they just randomly attack her nest."
"They must've been really strong if they were able to attack her nest like this…" Lucas frowned.
"Yeah… but… where is the Tyranitar?" Claus questioned. "I doubt she would've just let the jerk destroy her nest like that and let them get away with it."
"Pika!" Sparks called out suddenly, getting the boys attention.
"What is it, Sparks? What did you find?" Claus asked as he and Lucas hurried over to Sparks.
Sparks began digging through some of the rocks and burnt sticks. They heard a small cry coming from under the rocks and sticks.
"Lar…"
Claus immediately helped remove the remainder of the rocks and sticks, revealing an injured Larvitar. At the sight of Claus and Lucas, the Larvitar covered itself, afraid and expecting them to suddenly attack.
Claus slowly placed his hand against the Larvitar's back and slowly caressed it, speaking in a quiet tone. "Hey, it's alright. We aren't going to hurt you, we're here to help."
"Remember us? I was the one who evolved when we fought off the Ledyba," Sparks gently said to the Larvitar.
The Larvitar slowly uncurled itself as it recognized their voices. "Larvi…"
Larvitar, seeing friendly faces, quickly got up and wobbled over to them. Claus had to catch the Larvitar before it could fall over. The Larvitar clutched onto Claus, not wanting to let go.
"What happened to you?" Claus asked in worry.
"Fat… people… wearing… Swinub suits… attacked… hurt… took Mama away… Mama hid me… and my sibling…" Larvitar nervously answered, though unfortunately Lucas and Claus couldn't understand him.
Sparks frowned. "Your sibling… wait, the egg! Do you know where the egg is? Is it okay?"
The Larvitar turned and looked at another pile of leaves, hidden safely.
"Lucas, I think the Larvitar is pointing at something in the leaves," Claus noted. "Could you check it out? I don't think Larvitar wants to let me go any time soon."
Lucas nodded before going towards where Larvitar was looking. Once he reached the leafy pile, he knelt down and gently removed the coverage, revealing an egg that was thankfully intact.
"It's the egg, Claus," Lucas called back. "It doesn't look like there are any cracks on it. But, it doesn't look like a Larvitar egg."
"What do you mean?" Claus asked.
Lucas carefully brought the egg over for Claus and Sparks to see. "You see? It's a pale green color with darker green polka dots that goes around the egg like a necklace or something."
"Are you sure that's your sibling?" Sparks asked Larvitar.
Larvitar nodded. "That's the egg… Mama laid it a few days ago…"
"If Sunny and the Tyranitar were together, then it's possible that this egg could hatch into a Chikorita," Claus pointed out.
"But where is the mother? Do you think she'll return?" Lucas asked.
"She has to… her children are here…" Claus said. "Sunny is coming though, so he'll know what to do."
As they were talking, none of them noticed a large shadow that was approaching them.
"I hope the mother is okay…" Lucas said worriedly. "We were just having fun with her earlier today too…"
"Mama… taken away… by… Swinub people…" Larvitar shivered.
"What do you mean 'Swinub people'?" Sparks frowned.
Then Sparks sensed danger coming. His ears went up as he heard what sounded like heavy footsteps, and when he turned around, he saw the large shadow looming over them. His eyes went wide as he began to pale.
"P-p-p-pi!" Sparks stuttered as he quickly tapped Claus's arm.
"What is it Sparks?" Claus asked, noticing the Pikachu's scared look on his face. "What's wrong?"
"C-Claus…" Lucas whispered his brother's name, having noticed the terrifying newcomer.
Seeing both Lucas's and Sparks's scared expression, Claus gulped before slowly turning around. He let out a small gasp as he saw the towering creature looming before them. The red eyes seemed to glow, giving Claus, Lucas, and Sparks a piercing death glare. It looked up into the sky as it gave a tremendous, powerful roar, shaking all those nearby to their very core. Even the ground itself shook from the sheer force of the roar.
Larvitar looked more happy than scared though, he jumped off of Claus and started running to the large shadow.
"W-wait! Something's wrong!" Claus called out, but the Larvitar kept going.
The giant being didn't seem to be looking at the Larvitar, however, instead, it was moving towards them with hostility.
"Run, Lucas!" Claus quickly instructed.
Lucas clutched onto the egg as he, Claus, and Sparks were trying to get away from the giant beast that was coming at them.
"M-Mommy! Help!" Lucas cried out in fear and panic.
Claus grabbed onto Lucas's arm and pulled him away from the giant beast's mouth that nearly snapped his brother up. Sparks was running behind the brothers, not because he was slower, but because he wanted to make sure they were both safe. They hurried into a thicket of thorns to try to hide from the giant beast.
For a brief moment it seemed as though the twins and the Pokemon were safe. They saw a giant shadow stop just outside of the thicket, pausing for a moment before leaving. Thinking they were safe for the time being, Lucas and Claus took a moment to catch their breath. But the moment they did, the giant creature suddenly burst through the top of the thicket with its head, nearly crashing into the ground, barely a few inches away from where Lucas was standing. It looked up at the scared boy, the red eyes glaring with malice, causing Lucas's legs to shake. It opened its jaws once more, preparing to bite Lucas, only for Claus to yank his brother by the collar of his shirt.
Lucas, Claus, and Sparks ran deeper into the thicket. They could hear the beast just above them. They quickly stopped under one of the larger branches of thorns as the beast was sniffing around, and its nose touched the large branch they were under. None of them dared to move as the beast's breath blew down on them before it lifted its head back up.
"Go…" Claus whispered to Lucas, pushing his brother slightly to move.
Lucas, still clutching to the egg, moved ahead with Claus and Sparks just behind him. They started moving faster as they headed further into the tunnel of thorns, until they broke into another run. The beast that was chasing them gave another roar as they were running, and it dived at them again. Lucas and Sparks were pushed forward, while Claus got stuck on some vines. The beast got caught up in some of the vines as well, but it was inches away from Claus, who was trying his best to break through the vines.
"Whoa!" Claus shouted as he tried to run forward, only for the vines to stop him.
Claus gasped as he looked back, seeing the beast's malicious red eyes on him, and trying to bite him with its powerful jaws. Lucas and Sparks ran over to Claus, Lucas grabbed onto Claus's hand with one of his hands, and Sparks grabbed the other hand, both of them pulled Claus as hard as they could until the vines broke and was sent back right into the beast's face.
The beast yelled, though it was less of a yell of pain and more of one filled with rage. It shook its head for a brief moment before glaring back at Lucas and Claus, seeing them running away, along with the Pikachu. It gave off one more rage-filled roar before continuing the pursuit, jumping in their direction as Lucas and Claus began screaming, feeling the tremors that beast was leaving with every jump.
Meanwhile, Hinawa, Sunny, and Vivi finally reached the nest, only for them to see a lone Larvitar sitting there, looking confused. And the rest of the nest looked burnt and messed up.
"Wh-what happened here?" Hinawa asked, now terrified for her sons.
Sunny rushed towards Larvitar, crouching low to comfort his child. "Son, are you alright? Where's your mother? Where's the egg?"
"Oh, Daddy! Mama was attacked and taken away by Swinub people," Larvitar quickly said. "She came back, but… she looked different… I think she's angry… like scary angry. She chased after my new friends, but I don't know why. One of my friends has my baby sibling with them."
Suddenly they heard a roar off in the distance, and while it sounded like a rageful roar, to Sunny, he recognized it belonged to his mate, but there was something about the roar that sounded very off.
"Hinawa! Your kids may be in danger!" Sunny warned.
"W-why? What's going on?" Hinawa asked, dread filling her heart.
Sunny heard distant screams followed by the roar. "I don't know, but something bad happened to my mate, and she might be after your children! We have to stop her!"
Hinawa paled, her heart was beating fast against her chest. But this wasn't the time to hesitate. Hinawa looked at the injured Larvitar, she also knew she couldn't leave the poor thing by itself.
"Vivi, you stay here and watch the Larvitar. Sunny and I need to find my children," Hinawa quickly instructed the Eevee. "If something should happen… please, take care of yourself."
Vivi looked at Hinawa in worry. "I-I'll try, but please come back once you find them."
"Don't worry, I'll make sure to keep her safe," Sunny reassured before kneeling down. "Get on Hinawa, it will be faster if you ride me."
Hinawa didn't hesitate to jump onto Sunny's back. She would comment how it was 'just like old times', but the situation was too dire for her to feel nostalgic about this.
As soon as Hinawa was on his back, Sunny didn't hesitate to start running where he heard the roars and the screams, followed by a trail of destruction and torn up thorns and vines.
Flint, Boney, and Fuel were heading back to New Bark Village. They saw more people gathering around together on their way back. It didn't take them long to see Lighter lying on his back on a table.
Tessie, a young woman wearing a yellow dress, and a white apron, along with a Bellossom beside her. The Bellossom looked like a cute little creature with a green and yellow leafy dress, and a pair of flowers on its head. Tessie was having Bellossom giving a small dance while releasing a relaxing sweet scent to help the villagers calm down from the ordeal.
"What's going on over here?" Flint asked as he approached the group.
"Oh, Flint! I almost didn't recognize you, you're all pitch black!" Bronson noted.
"Yeah, well… at least you're looking better now," Flint remarked.
"Yeah, Nova got me out of the smokey forest," Bornson explained. "Right now we're more worried about old Lighter here."
Flint looked down, seeing Lighter was coughing a bit, and his leg was wrapped up with a gauze. He had a duck-like bird next to him, holding a leek.
"Flint… is that you?" Lighter asked. "Why are you… all pitch black and covered in soot?"
"Had a close call with a burning building, but don't you worry, we managed to get out without getting too much damage," Flint answered.
Lighter coughed some more before asking his next question. "Why…did this…fire happen? Did…you see anything…out there?"
Lighter tried getting up, only for Flint to place a gentle hand on his shoulder. "Easy now, you still need to recover. We noticed a lot of the wild Pokemon were acting very hostile, and then we encountered some strange bug Pokemon. They seemed to be fire types, but I've never seen those kinds of bug Pokemon before."
"Bug Pokemon that can use fire? That sounds very strange…" Lighter coughed.
"Dad! Are you okay?" Fuel asked in concern as he ran up to his dad.
Boney sat down, wanting a moment to rest after going through that forest and battling against those strange Bug Pokekmon.
"Fuel? You're pitch black too!" Lighter said in surprise.
"Yeah, but who cares about that? You're the one who's hurt," Fuel pointed out.
"This is nothing… I just have to give my leg a little push… and my bones will align properly again," Lighter said as he grabbed onto his injured leg and pushed it.
"Lighter, don't do that, that's not good for your leg," Tessie scolded. "You'll worry your son and your Farfetch'd if you keep that up."
"Far!" The Farfetch'd scolded Lighter as well and bonked him on the shoulder with his leek.
"Broil is right, Dad, you shouldn't push yourself," Fuel agreed.
Lighter looked around before giving another cough. As much as he hated to admit it, they were right. If he were to go out there in his current condition, he'd only be a hindrance to the others.
"Focus on recovering Lighter, we have pretty much everyone accounted for who were in the forest…" Flint reassured, knowing how Lighter must be feeling.
Mike, Thomas, Bronson, and two other people were gathering around.
"Boss, we can help you get to the Yado Inn. Tessie will be able to help you easier there," One of the two men suggested.
"Lou… Bud… you don't need to push yourselves for me," Lighter said.
"Come on, boss, you're not that heavy, and we have plenty of help around here," The taller man, Bud, said.
The shooter guy, Lou, spoke up. "Besides, my partner Machop can carry you with ease. Isn't that right, Lee?"
A gray, humanoid lizard-like creature with red eyes nodded. "Machop!"
"My partner Poliwhirl, Boi, can help out," Bud said.
"Poli!" A blue amphibious creature with hands and feet, and a large, swirl stomach, said.
"Flint, we should get you to the inn too, it looks like you have some minor injuries," Tessie suggested. "Not to mention we need to wash that soot off of you."
"Now all we need is to put out the fire, maybe with some stronger Water Pokemon or some heavy rain," Bronson said.
As if on cue, the dark clouds covered up the sky, and it started to rain. Boney began to whine, he didn't like the rain, he didn't like getting wet at all.
"Huh… and now it's raining," Thomas noted. "Did you have a Pokemon use Rain Dance just to time it, Bronson?"
"No, I didn't. My Pokemon is a Fire type, she doesn't like the rain," Bronson grumbled.
Nova nodded, but while she didn't like the rain, even she could admit it was good to have as it would help put out the forest fire.
The soot on Flint, Fuel, and Boney began to wash off as the rain continued to fall.
"Let's hope this rain puts out the fire then," Flint said. "Saves us the trouble of needing the Fire Squad or whatever."
"For now, we need to tend to Lighter, let's get him back to the village," Tessie spoke up.
"I'll call my partner to help get him there faster," Thomas suggested.
"Where is your partner, Thomas?" Mike asked.
"You know how Dasher is… he's easily frightened, so he ran off to hide when the fire started," Thomas sheepishly admitted. "But with the fire being calmed down now, I'm sure Dasher will be happy to help."
Flint nodded before noticing Lou and Bud, along with their two Pokemon, helped carry Lighter. Broil hopped down, staying close to Fuel while Lighter was being carried. It would take them a little longer to get back to town due to the rain, but it wasn't something the four couldn't handle.
Eventually, an ostrich-like bird came running over. The bird had brown feathers, and two heads. Thomas was riding on top of the two headed bird.
"Come on, Dasher, help them out," Thomas said.
The Doduo lowered their heads to slide Lighter onto its back. The Machop and Poliwhirl nodded as they followed Dasher to the Yado Inn. Flint, Fuel, Broil, and Boney made their own way back to the Yado Inn.
While inside the Yado Inn, Tessie was tending to the injured. She had some help from her partner, using Aromatherapy to dissipate any aches anyone was experiencing. Lighter was set on a bed to try to recover. Fuel, Bud, and Lou were watching him. Broil, Lee, and Boi were sitting beside each of them respectively.
"That's good, Flow, you can rest now," Tessie said to the Bellossom.
"Bello." The grass Pokemon nodded.
Tessie patted Flow on the head before seeing Flint, watching everyone with a concerned look. Having an idea on what was on his mind, she went towards him to help calm his mind.
"I'm sorry Flint, Hinawa and the kids haven't arrived yet, and no one has seen them either," Tessie sadly stated. "But I'm sure they are still with Alec, safe in the mountains. If they saw the fire, I'm sure they would have turned back instead of trying to trek through the forest."
"Yeah, I suppose so…" Flint said. "I'm just worried… if they were heading back today, they should've been close to Tazmily Village before the forest got caught on fire. What if they had been caught up in it while they were in the middle of the forest?"
Boney, who was sitting beside Flint, gave a whine at that.
"Hinawa is a tough one, she wouldn't go down without a fight. She has Vivi with her, and Claus has Sparks with him. I'm sure they'll be alright," Tessie assured Flint. "Why don't you head on home to see if they've managed to arrive? We can keep an eye on Lighter here."
Flint took one last look, seeing everyone taking the chance to relax after the whole fire fiasco. "Maybe you're right. But please let me know if they arrive here first."
Tessie nodded while smiling. "I promise, you'll be the first to know if they arrive."
"Thank you," Flint responded before heading out the door. But then he was soon greeted by a rather large man who was about to enter the inn himself. "Isaac?"
Isaac had a large deer-like creature next to him, and a blue creature standing on the other side of him with a cute, derpy looking face.
"I see you have your Stantler and Quagsire with you," Flint noted.
"Yeah. Bruce here knows his way around the forest," Isaac said, looking at the Stantler. "And Swampy felt like she had to come with me. Good thing too, Swampy helped us get out of the fire with her Water Gun and Mud Shot."
"Well, glad to see you make it here safe and sound," Flint remarked, but then noticed something seemed to be on Isaac's mind. "Everything okay?"
"I didn't just come down to just say hi," Isaac responded. "Earlier in the mountains, when I was collecting mushrooms, I spotted Hinawa with your sons, walking with what I believe to be a Meganium. Seemed like I was too far, I tried calling out to them to greet them but they didn't hear me."
Flint gave a sigh of relief, recalling Hinawa's old Pokemon, Sunny the Meganium. If he was with them, then they surely would be safe.
"But," Isaac suddenly said, cutting off Flint's thoughts. "Later after I had finished collecting my mushrooms, I heard a sudden loud roar that caused the trees to shake, and maybe some distant screams. That's when I spotted Hinawa riding the Meganium, deeper into the mountains, with no signs of either Lucas or Claus."
Flint began to pale as dread began to settle in. Boney frowned, his ears dropping in worry.
"Flint… has Hinawa and the kids made it back home yet?" Isaac asked. "Bruce, Swampy, and I lost track of them while we were trying to get through the fire. I had hoped maybe they would've met up and hurried back home to get away from whatever beast made that roar."
Flint fidgeted with his hat for a moment. "I haven't seen them yet… I was helping the others out when the forest caught on fire. Tessie just suggested to me to check if Hinawa and the boys made it home."
"Then you better head back," Isaac said.
Flint nodded. "Come on, Boney."
Boney followed Flint back to their house. Boney was feeling quite worried for Hinawa, Vivi, Lucas, Claus, and Sparks. He was rather fond of them after all.
When Flint and Boney made it back to their house, they were surprised to see a lone Pidgey there, perched in front of Flint's doorsteps. The Pidgey looked up at Flint before hopping up to him, and took a letter out from its carrier bag with its beak.
Opening the letter, Flint recognized Hinawa's handwriting, and began reading.
Dear Flint,
Just like you said they would, the children have been running around the mountains and fields tirelessly since the moment we arrived.
Claus is as daring and full of energy as ever, while Lucas is still a bit coddled. But neither one seems tired of playing at all. Sparks got to battle with Claus, and he got to evolve into a Pikachu. We were all proud of him for that. Vivi and Sparks still seem to butt heads though, I guess they just like to argue a lot.
My father seems sad to say goodbye to his grandchildren after seeing them for the first time in so long, but we should be home by this evening.
I had forgotten how nice and refreshing the mountain air is. You're always covered in the smell of Mareep back in New Bark Village, so I really wish you could have been here to take in this air.
The next time we visit, let's ask one of our neighbors to tend to the Mareep so we can all come up here as a family.
Claus, Lucas, Sparks, Vivi and I were always thinking about you.
Unfortunately, we're going to be late coming home today. I wanted the twins to meet with Sunny, and he wasn't there with the Tyranitar. But I don't think Sunny would want us to leave before meeting him, so we'll stay a little longer.
To make it up to you, when we get home this evening, I'll start cooking some of your favorite omelets right away.
With love, your dearest Hinawa.
Flint stared at the letter for a long time, even as he headed back into the house to get out of the rain. The Pidgey that Hinawa sent earlier looked over at Boney worriedly.
"I saw the forest fire," Feathers noted. "So I'm worried about Hinawa and the others too."
"Yeah… So they never came back home?" Boney asked in a worried tone.
"Nope, I've been here for a while. I never saw them come home," Feathers answered. "I'm going to head back to Alec and see if I find them on my way back."
"Okay, you do that," Boney replied before the Pidgey took off into the sky, not caring about getting soaked by the rain.
After about a minute or two, Flint walked out of the house. "Boney… let's go tell the others about this. Hinawa and the kids haven't returned yet, and I have a bad feeling something happened to them."
Boney nodded. He may not like being out in the rain, but for his family, he was willing to do anything for them.
Lucas, still holding onto the egg, was running with Claus and Sparks. The large creature jumped in front of them. Claus didn't hesitate to pull his brother to go under the creature's legs. Sparks quickly followed them. The beast looked under its legs, seeing the children were getting away. It quickly turned around and let out its hot breath on them.
When the large creature stomped towards them, it caused a bit of the earth to shake, making it difficult for the brothers and Sparks to not lose their balance a few times. The beast caught up to them and was about to bite down on them, when a large vine suddenly slammed into the beast's face with enough force to knock it back into a large rock.
Lucas, Claus, and Sparks saw it was a familiar looking Meganium as he gritted his teeth in determination to protect the children.
"M-Mommy!?" Lucas and Claus called up, seeing their mother riding on Sunny's back.
"Run, quickly!" Hinawa told the boys.
The beast roared in anger as he smashed its head through the rock, shattering it, then it got on its feet and ran towards Sunny and Hinawa as Lucas, Claus, and Sparks ran behind Sunny.
Sunny reared up on his hindlegs for a moment as the beast tried to chomp down on his front, then he pushed the beast away as he came back down on his feet. Of course, while Sunny was moving around to avoid getting hit, he almost crushed Claus, who was trying to see the battle.
"Look out!" Lucas pulled Claus back before Sunny could accidentally step on him.
Sparks, though he was nervous and afraid, quickly jumped in front of the two boys. He may not be able to do much, but he was still a Pokemon, he could take these hits way better than Lucas, Claus, and the egg could.
Sunny hissed at the creature, trying to get it to back off, but the creature refused to back off, and kept stomping forward while trying to bite Sunny's face. Sunny moved his neck back to avoid getting chomped on.
"Quick, use Energy Ball!" Hinawa shouted.
Heeding her command, Sunny built up energy around his petals while opening his mouth, building up energy as a green orb started forming. Once it was fully charged, Sunny unleashed the attack on the beast at point blank range, causing the behemoth to stumble backwards, momentarily dazed.
"Try to finish it quickly!" Hinawa instructed, seeing how this may be their only opportunity to stop the beast. "Use Frenzy Plant!"
Sunny reared up on his hind legs as a green aura glowed throughout his body. When the buildup was at its maximum, Sunny brought his forelegs down, stomping hard onto the ground and releasing all the energy within. As soon as he had done this, thick thorny vines erupted from the ground, tearing through the hard terrain as though it was paper, racing towards their intended target. The beast shook its dazed state, only to see the frenzied vines coming at it. With no time to react, the beast took the full force of the attack, being pushed back and more and more vines erupted from the ground and wrapped the beast's entire frame. Once fully submerged in thick thorny vines, the vines glowed green as the very same energy Sunny had unleashed earlier was now building up within the vines, until they reached the maximum limit, releasing it all at once and causing a huge energy blast.
When the attack was over, the beast had been flung into a cliff wall from the huge energy blast. It fell onto the ground, looking to be unconscious.
"Let's get everyone to safety," Hinawa said, hoping that was over.
Sunny looked at the beast for a moment before turning away.
"Come on, Lucas, Claus, Sparks, we're leaving," Hinawa instructed.
Lucas, Claus, and Sparks were more than happy to oblige. They moved quickly as Sunny was moving beside them. Adrenaline was still pumping through their bodies, they could ask questions about Hinawa riding on Sunny and how they found them later, they were more focused on getting somewhere safe.
Unfortunately for them, the beast wasn't out cold for long. It not only got back onto its feet, but it jumped high at Sunny and Hinawa. Hinawa saw the large shadow coming at them and gasped, she jumped just before the beast landed on Sunny, crushing his body to the ground. Sunny let out a yell of pain.
Claus, Lucas, and Sparks turned around, screaming. They saw the beast using a Crunch attack on Sunny's back, ripping out a chunk of his flesh. Sunny bucked wildly and used vines from his neck to shove the beast off of him. Hinawa ran forward, trying to get to her children, but as the creature was forced off of Sunny, it launched itself forward at Hinawa.
Seeing what the beast was doing, Sunny reacted quickly and Body Slam the creature, causing it to hit the ground, barely missing Hinawa by an inch. Sunny was in a lot of pain, his back was bleeding. But he wasn't going to let Hinawa and her children get eaten by this monster. The creature moved up, forcing Sunny off. Hinawa moved quickly to get her children and Sparks away from danger while Sunny tried to slow the beast down.
Sunny moved away from the beast, the beast moved forward, trying to chomp on Sunny's leg in an attempt to stop him from moving. Sunny managed to move his leg away from the teeth. Having enough, Sunny unleashed his vines from his neck again, grabbed onto the beast's maw, pulling it as hard as he could, ripping a tooth out in the process. The beast yelled as it fell onto the ground.
With the beast down, but definitely not out yet, Sunny started running to catch up with Hinawa and the others. His back was burning with pain, and he was starting to feel weak and dizzy, but there was no time for rest.
"Sunny, are you-" Hinawa began to ask, but she saw how bad the wound was and she went pale. "Oh no…"
Hinawa knew if she didn't get Sunny immediate treatment, he was likely going to die.
"M-mommy, are we-" Lucas began to ask before a sudden downpour of rain began to fall on them.
Sparks looked up, frowning, his cheeks sparking as he sensed some lightning in the clouds. But that wasn't all he was sensing. A sense of danger reared its ugly head once again. His ears went up, and his fur stood up.
"Sparks? What's wrong?" Claus asked.
Suddenly, the earth under them began to shake and tremble. Cracks in the ground began to open up. Claus frowned as he saw the cracks forming under him. Lucas clutched onto the egg he had been holding all this time tightly. The cracks on the earth grew larger as they began to split more. Claus nearly fell as he realized what was happening, and ran back before he could fall.
The shaking became worse and more intense. The ground under them began to rise up, and split apart. Sunny gasped as the ground he was standing on suddenly rose up, making him lose his balance. Hinawa hurried over to her sons.
"We have to get out of here!" Hinawa quickly said.
But as they were running, Sparks suddenly jumped in front of them. "Don't go that way!"
Before anyone could ask, they saw the large beast had risen up once again. The beast was pissed. Its red eyes glowed with even more anger as it let out a roar, and began stomping on the ground, causing even more violent earthquakes. The beast began running after the kids, Hinawa, and Sparks. They quickly began running in the opposite direction.
"Hurry boys, keep moving!" Hinawa quickly said as they were running.
At some point, the giant beast was close to them as it was moving faster than they could run. Hinawa grabbed two of her boys and rolled under the beast's legs. Sparks was quick enough to follow after them as the beast stomped passed them. The beast tried to use another Earthquake attack, but when it did, it caused a geyser to erupt in front of it, causing the beast to flinch back, and the rocks and ground to rise up and break apart.
With the beast off balance, it couldn't stop itself from using Earthquake. As soon as its body fell to the ground, all hell broke loose. The earth terrain barely held together, with the rocks having already sprung forth from earlier. Hinawa tried to maneuver to safety with her two sons, but with so much shaking, she barely could stand on her own two legs. It was then she heard Lucas and Claus let out a terrified gasp, causing her to look back. What she saw caused her heart to skip a beat, as a towering slab of earth fell towards them. Sparks was trying desperately to save them by using his Thundershock on the falling slab, but his electricity had no effect on such a large slab.
Gritting her teeth, Hinawa sprinted to the side, with Sparks following close behind, hoping to get out of the crashing rock's range. Time seemed to slow as the shadow of the towering rock seemed to grow, ready to seal her and her children's fates. She was almost in the clear, seeing an opening for her and her boys. But just as she was about to make it to safety, misfortune struck as the ground shook once more, splitting the very ground that was once her foundation. Having little time to react, Hinawa took a leap of faith, jumping forward in hopes of reaching safety just as Sparks jumped and grabbed onto Claus. But she didn't stop there, using the momentum, she threw both her sons, with Sparks still holding onto Claus, forward and away from the falling rock.
"MOM!" Both Lucas and Claus shouted at the same time, watching the rock crash down, sending a dust cloud over Hinawa, making it unknown to the twins if she had made it or not.
The beast let out a roar as it was looking rather dizzy from the unexpected impact the land made. Just as it ran towards the boys, a large vine from underground smacked the beast away from them, causing it to fall into one of the large cracks in the ground. A very tired looking Sunny managed to find them and saved them at the last minute.
With the beast gone for the moment, this gave Lucas, Claus, and Sparks time to rush over to where Hinawa was.
"Mommy! Are you okay!?" Lucas called out in worry.
With the earthquake calming down now that the beast had stopped using it, the dark clouds covered the sky, and rain began to pour on them.
"Mom?" Claus called in worry as well.
Sunny moved closer, trying to see if Hinawa was alright.
When the dust cleared, they saw Hinawa under the large slab. She wasn't completely crushed, but she didn't look too good.
The boys gasped as they ran over to Hinawa. Lucas and Claus put down the egg and Sparks to try to get her out from under the slab, but when they tried to pull her, they noticed she was stuck.
"S-Sunny! Can you help us get Mommy out?" Lucas begged.
"Sparks, can you help out?" Claus requested.
Sparks frowned, but he nodded. He was small, and not very strong, but he would do whatever he could to help Hinawa. Sparks tried to push the slab off of Hinawa, but the little Pikachu wasn't strong enough. Sunny looked at his bleeding back for a moment, then at Hinawa and the boys. He moved forward, and pushed the slab with his head. His body screamed in pain, begging him to stop, but Sunny kept on pushing. He could already feel the blood flowing down with intensity, but he ignored the wound, the pain, the fatigue, all for the sake of saving Hinawa.
With a final push Sunny managed to lift the slab off the ground, just enough to give Hinawa the space she needed to escape. But her body laid still, and Sunny's strength was fading fast.
"Hurry! I…I can't hold it much longer!" Sunny shouted.
Sparks acted immediately and started tugging on Hinawa's clothes, trying to drag her away. Seeing what the Pikachu was doing, Claus immediately stepped forward to help, followed by Lucas, as the two boys grabbed each of Hinawa's shoulders and pulled with all her might.
The boys were able to pull Hinawa out, and Sunny let go of the slab, causing it to crash down into the ground. Lucas quickly picked the egg back up, and held it out to Sunny.
"I… believe this is yours," Lucas said.
Sunny gave Lucas a small, sad smile before he laid down on the ground next to Hinawa.
"S-Sunny?" Lucas frowned in worry.
"Lucas… Claus…" Hinawa weakly spoke up, getting their attention.
"Mommy!" Lucas and Claus moved closer to her.
Hinawa looked very pale. As the rain soaked her, and Sunny, they could see how torn her dress was. They could also see how deep Sunny's wound was.
"Mom… we… we need to get you some help," Claus said. "Can you… get up?"
Hinawa winced in pain as she attempted to move, but her body was refusing to listen. "I'm…not sure…if I can…"
"Yes you can, come on… get up," Claus begged.
Hinawa tried to move to get up, but she could barely move her arms, let alone her legs.
"What about Sunny? Can't Sunny carry you?" Lucas asked, hoping that they could save them.
Sunny attempted to push himself up, but he fell back to the ground.
"Pika…?" Sparks asked.
Sunny shook his head slowly as Sparks's ears drooped down.
Hinawa took a moment to try to breathe as she addressed her children. She knew she and Sunny weren't going to make it. Sunny had used up too much of his remaining strength to get her out of that slab, and he had already been too badly hurt. There wasn't a Pokemon Center nearby to heal him, nor was there a hospital nearby for her.
"My… dear children…" Hinawa said in a soft voice. "You're… brothers… never forget that… Claus is the strong one… and Lucas is the sweet one… Please… look out for each other."
"W-we will, we always have…" Lucas said softly as he was tearing up.
Claus shook his head. "B-but you can look after us too, Mom! You and Dad can!"
Hinawa gave them both a sad smile. "I'll… still be with you… even if you… can't see me… I will… always watch… after my children…"
"W-what do you mean if we can't see you? We can always see you," Claus said.
"Claus… Lucas…" Hinawa took a moment to take another breath. "... There… may come a time… where you might… find your… hidden potential… but don't… be afraid… just let… your heart guide you… it whispers, so… listen to it… closely…"
"M-Mommy… you'll… you'll be alright, Mommy…" Lucas sniffled.
Hinawa looked at Lucas for a moment, seeing him still clutching the egg with care. She gave him a weak, but proud smile. "Take… good care… of your Pokemon… they will… help you… any… way… they… can…"
After that, Hinawa closed her eyes. Sunny closed his eyes as well. Both of them went still. Sparks tapped Sunny's head, trying to get him to wake up. But there was no response from the Meganium.
"M-Mommy?" Lucas asked, his voice shaking.
Claus tried to nudge Hinawa to wake her up, but like with Sunny, there was no response. "Mom? … Mom… D-darn it… darn it all…"
Sparks could only watch in despair as the two brothers began crying. He noticed a sharp tooth wedged in Sunny's neck flower, but it wasn't his main concern. He did notice, however, that the flower on Sunny's neck had begun wilting. Hinawa and Sunny… were truly gone… both Pokemon and its Trainer had passed away together.
Sobbas: DarkFoxKit: What are you talking about? We didn't force you to do anything. It may technically be a Mother 3 story, but it's also a Pokemon story. Also, TM had never worked on a Mother 3 story with me, so this is a first for both of us. Also, this is fanfiction, it was never going to be 100% original. And from the sound of it, even though you haven't played Mother 3, you seem to know disturbingly a lot of the story of Mother 3. Because if you didn't know much, you wouldn't really care if we changed the plot or not since you wouldn't know if we did.
Admittedly, I feel like perhaps I made a mistake trying to write and post this kind of story due to the crossover nature. But I had been wanting to write something like this for a long time now because I'm a fan of Mother 3 and feel like it doesn't get enough attention. Because we haven't had any other reviews, it is a little discouraging to see you were disappointed by it. I do hope that future chapters will help entice you more to the story, but I'm starting to wonder about doing this at all.
Traveling Master: We can say that while the first few chapters will be similar to the beginning of Mother 3, that's only to help set up the main story itself. Afterwards, we plan on having the story take a different approach from Mother 3, to make it feel more like a Pokemon journey instead of a retelling of the game itself.
DarkFoxKit: But even then, we do try to change the set up/early chapters enough to distinguish it from the canon version. I don't have much to say about your analysis on Lucas and Claus, because that is their actual personalities from the game. The Pokemon are their own beings, of course they'll have their own thoughts and say in what happens during the story, so we wanted to be able to show what they're saying.
The scene with the Tyranitar was meant to show the human's relationship with the wild Pokemon here, how it's more peaceful and intimate than how humans and Pokemon are in other parts of the world/region. This is to show the Johto region was more old fashioned originally, and it worked out for them. As for the Tyranitar scene lasting longer, we already got what we needed across, if it was to last any longer, it would've just been filler at that point. It wasn't what we were focusing on. And we wanted to get the plot moving since most of this stuff is in the game, and we want to get to our own plot point soon.
Traveling Master: You're not the only one who thinks of Cliff whenever a Larvitar gets involved. Can't help but think of Cliff, since she's always fun to write. So you could say we drew some inspiration when it came to the attitude. But we have different plans for this little guy. While it would be fun showing certain Absol and Goomy, at best it would be a cameo, unless an idea comes to mind where we use them to help further the plot or enhance the story. As for Sparks, well kinda hard to think of very unique names when it comes to Pichu and Pikachu, since names like that just fit in pretty nice. It's also because we felt that Claus would name a Pichu 'Sparks' or 'Sparky'.
DarkFoxKit: Maybe don't compare what we had in our previous stories to this one. We are trying to keep them separate after all, it's a completely different universe. Also, I haven't written or looked at The Child of Mew in years, anything I do that's similar to that is coincidence at this point. But Mew does remain as my favorite Legendary/Mythical Pokemon, so of course I'd like to use it more often than other Pokemon. And while the fire scene is similar, it's not a carbon copy. For one, Boney actually goes with Flint, they actually fight against other Pokemon, and Flint actually has a voice. And Boney is a Pokemon himself. And we're also turning a gameplay into a narrative story, that alone is already a difference.
Traveling Master: Like DarkFoxKit mentioned before, we wanted to give the Pokemon more of a role too, instead of just being on the side. Gives us more opportunities to create unique, fun, story related ideas for the story itself.
Again, glad to see that you're giving this story a chance, and you shouldn't have to worry about the spoilers stuff too much. Like we said before, for the first few chapters it will be somewhat similar to the game, but after that it will be taking different directions. We added some interesting twists and turns to certain characters, taking into account other ideas since this is taking place in Johto, we plan to incorporate what goes on in the region as well, introducing new characters and such. I'd go into more details, but that'd be going more into spoiler territory.