The New Normal – OMAKE – The Mother
Everything was burning.
She grabbed onto her child and carefully made her way through the forest, moving slowly and carefully, making sure that none of the burning trees would accidentally fall onto them.
In the distance, the screams and anguished shouts of the dying men and women reverberated around the forest before they were cut short by another breath of fire. The humane part of herself wanted to run in and help them, to drag whoever she could find out of the burning remains of the village, but a small gasp of pain from her child brought back her rationality, and she realized she was gripping his hands too tightly.
"I'm sorry, dear." She apologized as she released her grip on his hands. "Come, we need to avoid that Typhlosion." Her son nodded stoically and kept going without making a noise of complaint. She was very proud of her son, and she hated the fact that he had to be so brave at such a young age, but there was no choice. Peaceful lives only existed in fairy tales.
Everything was burning.
They made their way into the forest, away from that monster. They took small breaks to rest, both to scarf down their dwindling rations, and to make sure that they hadn't accidentally scraped themselves in their hasty escape. An infection could kill them just as easily as a Pokémon.
It was why she was a widow.
They kept moving. She was determined to find another source of food before darkness set in. The forest was dense, but years of experience has taught her enough to maintain her sense of direction, and they continued moving forward with purpose.
Suddenly, they stumbled across a small clearing in the forest with a few tents lying about. She could make out a small group of soldiers lying about, with some of them fast asleep. Her first instinct was to just silently move away, but then she saw the stack of canned food in the center of the camp. Food that was desperately needed.
And with that, she had already made her decision.
She gestured for her son to stay hidden, and she gave him one of her spare Pokéballs just in case something happened to her. Her son looked like he was about to protest, but eventually conceded and slowly hid behind a tree, far enough away from the clearing that he could easily escape if needed.
She then took out her two Pokéballs and quietly released them behind a tree to conceal them from the soldiers.
"Raticate…." Her Raticate mumbled out, and she quickly shushed him before he accidentally alerted the soldiers. Her Arbok took the hint, and quietly slithered behind the tree.
"Ok, you know what to do. We need the food, so get in, kill everything quickly." She told them, even though she had given these sets of instructions dozens of time by now. She took out her machete, which was worn and heavily stained by its frequent usage. But it did the job.
Still, her Pokémon nodded, and she continued, "Raticate, you're on the right, Arbok, you're on the left. Keep it quiet, and let's go."
They snuck in together as silently as possible. It was a stroke of luck that she got Pokémon as useful and versatile as a Raticate and Arbok. They were not strong fighters, and would never be, but they were excellent scouts and assassins.
And for a survivor like her, they were invaluable.
She stuck next to her Arbok as her Raticate approached from the other side, forming a pseudo-pincer attack against the soldiers. As soon as she stepped into the clearing, one of the soldiers, who had been idly playing cards, spotted her.
"HEY! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING!" He immediately shouted out, alerting his friends. As soon as she was spotted, she abandoned her careful approach and broke into a sprint and ran straight at the soldier.
The soldier quickly shook awake his buddy, but before his friend could even comprehend what was going on, Arbok clamped down on his neck with a vicious Bite, causing the light to instantly leave his eyes.
"OH SHI-" The soldier that spotted her tried to scramble for his Pokéball, but in his panic he fumbled his hands and couldn't release the Pokémon in time before her machete pierced through his chest. She instantly knocked the Pokéball aside to prevent him from releasing whatever was inside before ramming her machete deep into his lungs once again.
"PIKACHU, USE THUNDERBO-" She snapped her head toward the side as she watched a Pikachu slowly charge up a Thunderbolt, but just before it managed to unleash its attack, her Raticate came up from behind it with a Hyper Fang. His large teeth crushed the smaller mouse's head, instantly killing it.
Not even blinking at this, she dove into cover in case he had any other weapons before a short scream signalled the end of the remaining soldier's life. She stayed behind cover for a moment, before she saw her Arbok, now covered in blood, slither his way back to her. The coast was clear.
She sighed in relief as the fight ended, and she bent down and wiped off the blood from her machete on one of the dead soldier's clothes. Then, she ordered her Raticate to check the surrounding area to make sure no one heard the fighting, and then for him to get her son to come here.
As she waited for Raticate to return, she scavenged through the pockets and clothes of all the dead soldiers. Besides a few packs of cigarettes, and some Johto money, there was nothing else of value.
Otherwise, the grand prize was the food and the pack of cards, she figured she could probably trade the latter some day for some extra supplies. The sound of footsteps instantly put her on alert, but she relaxed when it was just her son and Raticate returning.
She sent a silent question with her eyes towards the Raticate, asking if the coast was clear and that there were no prying eyes. Her Raticate simply nodded, and she finally dropped her guard slightly and relaxed.
She quickly packed up all the food, which was probably sufficient for at least a few days, and then started to leave the clearing. She turned to her son, who was staring blankly at the bodies of the dead soldiers. She frowned and quickly spoke to him to draw his attention away.
"Come, Giovanni, we need to leave before they realize what we've done."
A.N. After speaking with one of my supporters, I wanted to try my hand at writing something completely darker and different in tone from my normal story. Feel free to consider this Canon or Non-Canon depending on your preference; it has very little influence on the actual story itself.
Hope you like the darker tone! It was very interesting to write! If you guys enjoyed this, then I might write a sequel to this sometime in the future. 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!
Thank to Allute for BETAing this chapter.