Bulbasaur4
19th January 2008, 05:07 AM
Long ago, during the time when Pokemasters had no RPG board and still had a main site, I wrote several pokemon fan fiction stories. "The Gift" was my first ever real attempt at this and after several weeks of contemplation I have decided to bring it back. Of course, I am completely rewriting the story from scratch but the idea and concept is the same. If you want to view the old story, feel free but I highly recommend on waiting until this story reached Chapter 7 before going and reading (otherwise there will be spoilers).
Don't worry if you like my other stories- The Gift is meant to help me go back and forth between fan fiction and original fiction. This will not impede Divinity or +GATE+ in anyway. I find it actually easier to write for "The Gift" than any other story. Perhaps because I wrote it a long time ago and now am revamping it. Oh, and don't be alarmed by the seemingly large sized chapters. They only seem long due to the spaces I put in for easy-reading.
Bah, enough chit-chat by me. Go on! Read!
[ Rated M for violence, to be on the safe side.]
------------------------------------------------------
It was supposed to be an ordinary day. The weather was supposed to be a warm, sun-filled day followed by a cool, starlit night. My schedule was supposed to be comfortably typical with classes, social battles and friends. I swear... it was supposed to be an ordinary day.
So then... why am I crying?
The Gift
The clock upon the paint-chipped wall was drowning in the noise created by the classroom. The teacher sitting behind his large desk had a bead of sweat upon his brow as he tried to focus upon his paperwork. Narrowing his eyes slightly with pencil poised in hand, he made an effort to ignore the rising volume that the students were creating. Only a few more minutes of suffering and soon he would be free from their constant buzz for a week of relaxation. With this thought in mind, he also realized that it would be pointless to try to stop the constant chatter. Only a fool would try to stop the gossip of a classroom at the end of a friday.
"Beat him? It's not the first round guy I'm worried about- I'll kick the crap out of him for sure. Seiran's skill with his blades are fantastic in comparision with that other Scyther." A girl boasted as she sat a top her desk, crossing her legs neatly as a small crowd gathered around her.
"I bet it's Leif you're worried about!" A boy chimed in to which the girl nodded. A soft smile began to form upon her lips as she crossed her arms.
"Leif is the only one who shows a possible threat to my chances at winning this year's Summer Tournament. However, I'm confident with Amatera in my line up that I'll succeed."
"Amatera? Doesn't Leif pride himself on his Blastoise? Shouldn't you be focusing on another one of your pokemon instead?"
To this, the girl's olive green gaze narrowed upon the other student. "That's the reason most people lose. They think just because she's at a type disadvantage that she'll automatically lose. Well, I'll tell you one thing- what happens when a powerful fire meets water? Steam. And you know what- steam burns just as badly as fire!"
"If you say so..."
"Of course she does! She's right! Liz isn't gonna lose to anyone this year! She's won all the season tournaments so far!" Another girl spoke up, brightly smiling.
The sound of the bell ringing rang into the air- interupting any further discussion. Like a cue upon a stage, all the students began to disperse from the class room in a big rush and the teacher visibly relaxed. However, Liz and the other girl who had spoken seemed to take their time gathering their belongings as they slowly walk out of the classroom. As they began to follow the masses exiting the school, Liz's eyes flickered occasionally over to the girl with a raised brow. The girl seemed hesitant- as if she wanted to say something further but continued to rethink the notion.
"Something on your mind, Rae?" Liz's collected voice questioned, while her eyes fixated rather bludgingly upon Rae.
"O-oh... well... actually..." Rae began, her voice trailing off as she failed to the find the words she was looking for. Rolling her eyes, Liz merely broke a soft smile as she stopped walking and turned to face Rae directly.
"Rae, we've been friends for ages. How come whenever you're going to say something personal, you always hesitate? Haven't I told you several times not to worry about what you're going to say? I'm not going to bite. Well... you at least. Someone else I might try to."
This caused Rae to break into a smile, her face flushing as she gave a large nod. Licking her lip absently she brushed a strand of honey-brown hair from her face. Rae had a constant habit of brushing hair from her face- the way that she wore her hair up often caused the shorter strands of hair to stray in front of her eyes. Liz had thought it annoying when they first met, but then later assumed it was part of Rae's self defense mechanism.
"Well... I was just wondering if it was true." Rae quietly asked.
"True?" Liz thought outloud, before suddenly giving a knowing nod. "Oh... that. Yeah, it's true." Liz walked towards the school's main entrance way and slowly opened the door for Rae. "It's no big deal though. They weren't at the last tournament either."
"I see... " Rae trailed off as she stared at the ground. "Well, I promise I'll be there!" Her head snapped up as she flashed a bright smile at Liz.
"Make sure to get there early then- you don't want nosebleed tickets like last time." Liz laughed, as Rae sheepishly nodded in response. At the last tournament, Rae had failed to notice the popularity of pokemon battles. Due to this lack in judgement, she had shown up five minutes early and ended up sitting behind a rather large, stone stadium pillar.
The two of them walked upon an old cracked sidewalk as the sun slowly made its descent towards the horizon. The buzzing sound of cicadas rumbled in the air as the heat of the day came to its peak. They didn't need to speak to fill the silence. Such days of awkward silence between them was gone and the two merely enjoyed eachother's company. Instead, their end of school walks consisted of brief chats followed by a long walk towards their home through a rather large park that usually teamed with wildlife. Yet, today was a bit different.
"Well... I'll see you later, Liz." Rae said suddenly as the two of them came to the turn in the sidewalk that ventured into the park. "I've gotta meet my father at the restaurant again."
"The restaurant...? Oh yeah, heh, I completely forgot it was friday." Liz commented, absently rubbing her shoulder.
"I'll stop by tomorrow!" Rae added, flashing a wave as she continued to walk down the straight sidewalk path. Liz watched for a moment before turning and walking into the park.
Liz continued to walk homeward, but with an added detour. On the fridays that Rae would go visit her father at the restaurant, Liz would make a habit of stopping at the lake. So today, being like any other friday, Liz ventured towards the shoreline of the lake and found the same three, large, moss-covered rocks that she made a habit of sitting upon. Reaching towards the pokeball that was attached to her necklace, she unclasped it and pressed the small button upon the outside. Swiftly a red, glowing aura formed upon the ground next to her and grew larger and more dog-like. The red glow then faded away to reveal a remarkably beautiful Arcanine. Her fur was longer than her normal species and held an inner radiance about it that only seemed to mirror her oddly colored eyes. While one remained a deep, ruddy brown the other was a crystallic, liquid sky blue in color. Liz herself couldn't help but be mesmorized by that one blue eye everytime she relaid eyes upon her Arcanine companion. It was as if something drew Liz to that very stare and within the years of being with Amatera; she could not shake it.
"Let's relax after a long week, shall we?" Liz beckoned to the rock. Amatera wavered her tail in the air happily as she promptly laid down upon two of the larger smoothed stones. Liz clambered over the other stone and leaned back enough so that her back was resting upon the soft fur of Amatera. Closing her eyes, Liz simply began to listen to the sounds of nature around her. The sound of the tiny little brook bubbling into the lake was always a constant pleasure to hear and it by far was one of Liz's favorite sounds. There was no better lullaby than the sound of water or the gentle rustling of the wind playing with the leaves.
"Rangu, Seiran, Eva, Haine, Naiya and Amatera... we will be going into battle today." Liz paced in front of her pokemon with her arms folded behind her back. Her long, raven-black hair was tied into a ponytail and swished behind her like a nervous horse right before a race- a perfect reflection of her inner mood although she would not show it. Her pokemon however stood still, their intelligent eyes ever following their trainer and most importantly- their lead companion.
"We've worked hard for all these years. We've taken many side travels all over the country and we've earned all that we've accomplished thus far not by luck but by talent. I have no doubt that today we will once again put our hard work and effort into today's battle." Liz stopped for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she focused in on each one of her pokemon.
"Rangu, my beloved flying companion... I found you on the side of the road. From the very beginning you showed your true fighting spirit and have always whisked me away to distant lands and rushed me to places when I was in a hurry. Today, I will need your speed." Liz patted her Pidgeot on the head as she moved down the line.
"Seiran, my dear warrior. You're by far the oldest out of all of us and with that you bring your wisdom. You're undying loyalty has helped me so many years and you no doubt have saved my life many times. For that, I thank you and today we will need your courage." The Scyther gave a little nod, puffing out his chest slightly as Liz journeyed to the next pokemon.
"Eva, my little charm. You're the most beautiful little thing I have ever laid eyes on. Not to mention you are perhaps the most troublesome creature I have ever dealt with! However, you have made this journey fun and I enjoy your humor. Today, I will need your grace. And Haine..." Liz knelt before both her Vaporeon and Dratini, giving them a soft hug as she did so. "Haine, you're the newest member of the team but I feel as if you've been with me for a long time. Coming across you at Dargos Cave and battling you was a true honor. I am only pleased that you found me worthy enough of training you. Today, I will need your loyalty."
"Naiya, no doubt you are by far the smartest pokemon I have ever encountered. Without you I would never have solved so many tactical riddles and probably would not have finished a great deal of my homework." Liz laughed, stroking the cheek of her Kadabra. "Today, I will need your mind."
Liz slowly rose and then turned to her two-colored Arcanine, that transfixed gaze causing Liz to hesitate for just a moment.
"Amatera... do I really need words? We were companions on this long road from the very beginning and we will be companions until the very end. Today, I will need your-"
Liz suddenly opened her eyes and gasped. Jerking forward she swiftly clasped her hand to her chest, feeling a fading pang of a burning sensation. The sky around her was dark and the sun's dim glow was barely seen along the horizon as it nestled in for the night. Clouds had managed to crawl their way across the sky, preventing most of the stars from twinkling their glow to earth. Looking behind her, Liz saw Amatera still remained behind her but her gaze was fixated upon something farther along the shoreline of the lake. Ignoring this, Liz slowly rose to her feet and stretched lazily.
"Amatera... you should have woken me up. I didn't mean to sleep so late..." Liz yawned, stepping off the large stone and landing upon the soft sand along the shore. Liz started to walk away from the lake but after a moment she turned around to see that Amatera had not moved.
"Amatera... let's go ho-" Liz cut herself off. Concern soon filled her features as she examined Amatera's features.
The Arcanine's muzzle was crinkled up to expose her own ivory fangs as she narrowed her gaze farther down the shoreline. After a few seconds passed, soon a low rumbling sound emitted from Amatera's throat as she began to raise her voice into a large growl.
"What? What is it?" Liz asked, peering down the shoreline to see if she could pick out anything in the growing darkness. However, no matter how hard Liz scanned the area she could not see anything alarming around them. A feeling of dread began to rise up within Liz as she continued to look about and small inner inkling at the back of her mind urged her to flee. Yet Liz forcibly ignored the feeling and instead she began to walk towards Amatera.
"Amatera... come on... let's go." Liz called, her voice shaken as she did so. Amatera did not budge though; her gaze remained fixated upon a particular point along the shoreline.
"Amatera... let's go!" Liz yelled, but as she did so suddenly the Arcanine rose to stand upon all four of her legs. Lowering her head she curled her thick black lips back farther to open her mouth slightly as she let loose a vicious growl. Her eyes widened as her fur bristled along her neckline, causing her to look twice as large as she truly was. Liz took a step back, fear gripping her as she once again found herself staring down at the shoreline.
"Leave now girl. This battle does not concern you."
Liz's face paled to an instant white as a low, rusted voice echoed in the air. Liz trembled, unable to move as the voice continued to speak from seemingly all around.
"Leave now girl or prepare to be distinguished."
Don't worry if you like my other stories- The Gift is meant to help me go back and forth between fan fiction and original fiction. This will not impede Divinity or +GATE+ in anyway. I find it actually easier to write for "The Gift" than any other story. Perhaps because I wrote it a long time ago and now am revamping it. Oh, and don't be alarmed by the seemingly large sized chapters. They only seem long due to the spaces I put in for easy-reading.
Bah, enough chit-chat by me. Go on! Read!
[ Rated M for violence, to be on the safe side.]
------------------------------------------------------
It was supposed to be an ordinary day. The weather was supposed to be a warm, sun-filled day followed by a cool, starlit night. My schedule was supposed to be comfortably typical with classes, social battles and friends. I swear... it was supposed to be an ordinary day.
So then... why am I crying?
The Gift
The clock upon the paint-chipped wall was drowning in the noise created by the classroom. The teacher sitting behind his large desk had a bead of sweat upon his brow as he tried to focus upon his paperwork. Narrowing his eyes slightly with pencil poised in hand, he made an effort to ignore the rising volume that the students were creating. Only a few more minutes of suffering and soon he would be free from their constant buzz for a week of relaxation. With this thought in mind, he also realized that it would be pointless to try to stop the constant chatter. Only a fool would try to stop the gossip of a classroom at the end of a friday.
"Beat him? It's not the first round guy I'm worried about- I'll kick the crap out of him for sure. Seiran's skill with his blades are fantastic in comparision with that other Scyther." A girl boasted as she sat a top her desk, crossing her legs neatly as a small crowd gathered around her.
"I bet it's Leif you're worried about!" A boy chimed in to which the girl nodded. A soft smile began to form upon her lips as she crossed her arms.
"Leif is the only one who shows a possible threat to my chances at winning this year's Summer Tournament. However, I'm confident with Amatera in my line up that I'll succeed."
"Amatera? Doesn't Leif pride himself on his Blastoise? Shouldn't you be focusing on another one of your pokemon instead?"
To this, the girl's olive green gaze narrowed upon the other student. "That's the reason most people lose. They think just because she's at a type disadvantage that she'll automatically lose. Well, I'll tell you one thing- what happens when a powerful fire meets water? Steam. And you know what- steam burns just as badly as fire!"
"If you say so..."
"Of course she does! She's right! Liz isn't gonna lose to anyone this year! She's won all the season tournaments so far!" Another girl spoke up, brightly smiling.
The sound of the bell ringing rang into the air- interupting any further discussion. Like a cue upon a stage, all the students began to disperse from the class room in a big rush and the teacher visibly relaxed. However, Liz and the other girl who had spoken seemed to take their time gathering their belongings as they slowly walk out of the classroom. As they began to follow the masses exiting the school, Liz's eyes flickered occasionally over to the girl with a raised brow. The girl seemed hesitant- as if she wanted to say something further but continued to rethink the notion.
"Something on your mind, Rae?" Liz's collected voice questioned, while her eyes fixated rather bludgingly upon Rae.
"O-oh... well... actually..." Rae began, her voice trailing off as she failed to the find the words she was looking for. Rolling her eyes, Liz merely broke a soft smile as she stopped walking and turned to face Rae directly.
"Rae, we've been friends for ages. How come whenever you're going to say something personal, you always hesitate? Haven't I told you several times not to worry about what you're going to say? I'm not going to bite. Well... you at least. Someone else I might try to."
This caused Rae to break into a smile, her face flushing as she gave a large nod. Licking her lip absently she brushed a strand of honey-brown hair from her face. Rae had a constant habit of brushing hair from her face- the way that she wore her hair up often caused the shorter strands of hair to stray in front of her eyes. Liz had thought it annoying when they first met, but then later assumed it was part of Rae's self defense mechanism.
"Well... I was just wondering if it was true." Rae quietly asked.
"True?" Liz thought outloud, before suddenly giving a knowing nod. "Oh... that. Yeah, it's true." Liz walked towards the school's main entrance way and slowly opened the door for Rae. "It's no big deal though. They weren't at the last tournament either."
"I see... " Rae trailed off as she stared at the ground. "Well, I promise I'll be there!" Her head snapped up as she flashed a bright smile at Liz.
"Make sure to get there early then- you don't want nosebleed tickets like last time." Liz laughed, as Rae sheepishly nodded in response. At the last tournament, Rae had failed to notice the popularity of pokemon battles. Due to this lack in judgement, she had shown up five minutes early and ended up sitting behind a rather large, stone stadium pillar.
The two of them walked upon an old cracked sidewalk as the sun slowly made its descent towards the horizon. The buzzing sound of cicadas rumbled in the air as the heat of the day came to its peak. They didn't need to speak to fill the silence. Such days of awkward silence between them was gone and the two merely enjoyed eachother's company. Instead, their end of school walks consisted of brief chats followed by a long walk towards their home through a rather large park that usually teamed with wildlife. Yet, today was a bit different.
"Well... I'll see you later, Liz." Rae said suddenly as the two of them came to the turn in the sidewalk that ventured into the park. "I've gotta meet my father at the restaurant again."
"The restaurant...? Oh yeah, heh, I completely forgot it was friday." Liz commented, absently rubbing her shoulder.
"I'll stop by tomorrow!" Rae added, flashing a wave as she continued to walk down the straight sidewalk path. Liz watched for a moment before turning and walking into the park.
Liz continued to walk homeward, but with an added detour. On the fridays that Rae would go visit her father at the restaurant, Liz would make a habit of stopping at the lake. So today, being like any other friday, Liz ventured towards the shoreline of the lake and found the same three, large, moss-covered rocks that she made a habit of sitting upon. Reaching towards the pokeball that was attached to her necklace, she unclasped it and pressed the small button upon the outside. Swiftly a red, glowing aura formed upon the ground next to her and grew larger and more dog-like. The red glow then faded away to reveal a remarkably beautiful Arcanine. Her fur was longer than her normal species and held an inner radiance about it that only seemed to mirror her oddly colored eyes. While one remained a deep, ruddy brown the other was a crystallic, liquid sky blue in color. Liz herself couldn't help but be mesmorized by that one blue eye everytime she relaid eyes upon her Arcanine companion. It was as if something drew Liz to that very stare and within the years of being with Amatera; she could not shake it.
"Let's relax after a long week, shall we?" Liz beckoned to the rock. Amatera wavered her tail in the air happily as she promptly laid down upon two of the larger smoothed stones. Liz clambered over the other stone and leaned back enough so that her back was resting upon the soft fur of Amatera. Closing her eyes, Liz simply began to listen to the sounds of nature around her. The sound of the tiny little brook bubbling into the lake was always a constant pleasure to hear and it by far was one of Liz's favorite sounds. There was no better lullaby than the sound of water or the gentle rustling of the wind playing with the leaves.
"Rangu, Seiran, Eva, Haine, Naiya and Amatera... we will be going into battle today." Liz paced in front of her pokemon with her arms folded behind her back. Her long, raven-black hair was tied into a ponytail and swished behind her like a nervous horse right before a race- a perfect reflection of her inner mood although she would not show it. Her pokemon however stood still, their intelligent eyes ever following their trainer and most importantly- their lead companion.
"We've worked hard for all these years. We've taken many side travels all over the country and we've earned all that we've accomplished thus far not by luck but by talent. I have no doubt that today we will once again put our hard work and effort into today's battle." Liz stopped for a moment, her eyes narrowing as she focused in on each one of her pokemon.
"Rangu, my beloved flying companion... I found you on the side of the road. From the very beginning you showed your true fighting spirit and have always whisked me away to distant lands and rushed me to places when I was in a hurry. Today, I will need your speed." Liz patted her Pidgeot on the head as she moved down the line.
"Seiran, my dear warrior. You're by far the oldest out of all of us and with that you bring your wisdom. You're undying loyalty has helped me so many years and you no doubt have saved my life many times. For that, I thank you and today we will need your courage." The Scyther gave a little nod, puffing out his chest slightly as Liz journeyed to the next pokemon.
"Eva, my little charm. You're the most beautiful little thing I have ever laid eyes on. Not to mention you are perhaps the most troublesome creature I have ever dealt with! However, you have made this journey fun and I enjoy your humor. Today, I will need your grace. And Haine..." Liz knelt before both her Vaporeon and Dratini, giving them a soft hug as she did so. "Haine, you're the newest member of the team but I feel as if you've been with me for a long time. Coming across you at Dargos Cave and battling you was a true honor. I am only pleased that you found me worthy enough of training you. Today, I will need your loyalty."
"Naiya, no doubt you are by far the smartest pokemon I have ever encountered. Without you I would never have solved so many tactical riddles and probably would not have finished a great deal of my homework." Liz laughed, stroking the cheek of her Kadabra. "Today, I will need your mind."
Liz slowly rose and then turned to her two-colored Arcanine, that transfixed gaze causing Liz to hesitate for just a moment.
"Amatera... do I really need words? We were companions on this long road from the very beginning and we will be companions until the very end. Today, I will need your-"
Liz suddenly opened her eyes and gasped. Jerking forward she swiftly clasped her hand to her chest, feeling a fading pang of a burning sensation. The sky around her was dark and the sun's dim glow was barely seen along the horizon as it nestled in for the night. Clouds had managed to crawl their way across the sky, preventing most of the stars from twinkling their glow to earth. Looking behind her, Liz saw Amatera still remained behind her but her gaze was fixated upon something farther along the shoreline of the lake. Ignoring this, Liz slowly rose to her feet and stretched lazily.
"Amatera... you should have woken me up. I didn't mean to sleep so late..." Liz yawned, stepping off the large stone and landing upon the soft sand along the shore. Liz started to walk away from the lake but after a moment she turned around to see that Amatera had not moved.
"Amatera... let's go ho-" Liz cut herself off. Concern soon filled her features as she examined Amatera's features.
The Arcanine's muzzle was crinkled up to expose her own ivory fangs as she narrowed her gaze farther down the shoreline. After a few seconds passed, soon a low rumbling sound emitted from Amatera's throat as she began to raise her voice into a large growl.
"What? What is it?" Liz asked, peering down the shoreline to see if she could pick out anything in the growing darkness. However, no matter how hard Liz scanned the area she could not see anything alarming around them. A feeling of dread began to rise up within Liz as she continued to look about and small inner inkling at the back of her mind urged her to flee. Yet Liz forcibly ignored the feeling and instead she began to walk towards Amatera.
"Amatera... come on... let's go." Liz called, her voice shaken as she did so. Amatera did not budge though; her gaze remained fixated upon a particular point along the shoreline.
"Amatera... let's go!" Liz yelled, but as she did so suddenly the Arcanine rose to stand upon all four of her legs. Lowering her head she curled her thick black lips back farther to open her mouth slightly as she let loose a vicious growl. Her eyes widened as her fur bristled along her neckline, causing her to look twice as large as she truly was. Liz took a step back, fear gripping her as she once again found herself staring down at the shoreline.
"Leave now girl. This battle does not concern you."
Liz's face paled to an instant white as a low, rusted voice echoed in the air. Liz trembled, unable to move as the voice continued to speak from seemingly all around.
"Leave now girl or prepare to be distinguished."