Raven

[Obsidian Blade]

Raven

Scratch one on the father table

By Obsidian Blade

Concentrate.

I held my hands ready in fists, adjusting my stance by a fraction of an inch as my eyes never left the chest of my opponent.

All attacks make the torso move. Even the slightest twitch can give away an oncoming attack.

There. A ripple in the cloth covering the left breast. A roundhouse kick snaked up the right side, knocking my enemy out of a potential attack.

Always push every advantage to its full.

I kept up a barrage of assault; kick after punch after uppercut after elbow slam. My opponent staggered and cursed, somehow escaping my offence long enough to pull back.

They always have another trick up their sleeve.

He sneered at me and wiped a droplet of blood from his lips.

Make sure you gain from it.

“You’re not so bad, for a girl.” He decided, “But I can still win.”

If your concentration never wavers…

He leapt forward, attempting to use his massive bodyweight to slam me back into the dust.

…then nothing can stop you.

I flipped back to escape, letting him trip and stumble before dealing a swift uppercut to the jaw. There was a moment in which absolute fury reigned in his eyes and then he let rip the offence I had been expecting; the ‘trick’ he had apparently ‘hidden’ for most of the battle.

Every enemy has attacks…

I blocked a hard punch, trying to ignore the splitting pain that snaking up my arm from the elbow to the wrist. No time to recover, he was still on me.

Every enemy has strengths…

He managed to land a full hit in my gut, sending me staggering back in pain. But pain wasn’t enough to beat me, I’d felt enough of it already to last a decade.

But every enemy also has weaknesses…

Purposefully taking a glancing blow to the shoulder I slammed a high kick into his chin, sending his head cracking back with a force strong enough to shatter the trunk of a tree.

Exploit them and the battle is yours.

After the chin blow all he could do was block weakly as I pressed the attack once again, landing hit after hit after hit despite his desperate attempts to defend himself.

Take it while it’s hot…

I forced him to the edge of the cruel cement arena and then gave him a roundhouse kick, sending his heavy-weighted body flying out into the empty bleachers.

…and you’ll see it’s not so hard.

“You alright, Jeza?” I called, leaping from the arena and landing lightly on one of the long benches.
“As fine as I can be after a fight with you.” The boy replied, grinning up at me through a sweat soaked mop of brown hair. I hauled him to his feet with one hand, ignoring my own sweat that dripped down my face and stung my eyes. No matter how easy everything seemed while I was still in combat, the after-effects were always there, the menace just waiting to strike when my adrenaline level sank again.

We started to walk towards the changing rooms that were positioned side by side, picking our way over the hard silver bleachers to reach the main isle of dirty concrete steps. The harsh white lights bore down from brackets on the ceiling, leaving nothing in the small arena unlit.

Jeza rubbed one leather bound hand against his arm to relieve the pain gathering there, making the skin red and puffy.
“Don’t do that,” I scolded, flapping a hand at his arm, “Get some ice on it instead.”
“Yes Miss Raven,” He replied in a droning teacher’s pet voice, “You know I’ll do anything you ask Miss Raven.”
“Shurrup.” I ordered, giving him a light slap on the shoulder.

We had reached the twin doors to the changing rooms, the familiar stench of cold sweat and dirty clothing combined with bad sewers and a full bin reaching my senses. By now I could bare it without my eyes watering, but I couldn’t help but grimace as I stepped inside.

Unwashed fighter’s clothes lay strewn about the floor, accompanied by bottles filled with stale water and the mouldy remains of who-knows-what that hid in the darkest corner under a bench. The click and clack of my lock seemed multiplied when I was alone in this room, adding with the atrocious smell and attempting to overwhelm my senses. The first time that happened to me my five-yr-old self was sure I was coming down with a fever. Sometimes I still couldn’t shake that feeling today.

The locker door swung open and I grabbed my clothes and slammed it shut as fast as I could, trying not to breath in the old egg smell that had permeated this locker for as long as I could remember. I made the shower as quick as I could, standing tip-toe the whole time to keep the most of my feet off the slimy tile floor.

That done I leapt out of the shower room, the sandy floor cutting into my bare feet as I sprinted to my bag, stuffed my clean clothes on my soaking body and raced out of that reeking place. Outside the air was crisp and cold, the ground still wet from the light spring rain we’d had yesterday. The sun was out, but its light was weak and pale compared to the golden shine of summer.

In the lone tree outside the gym a flock of Tailow had taken residence, cheeping cheerily to each other and occasionally fluttering from branch to branch. I had a sudden urge to pick up a stone and take one of them out, but stopped myself. I might be as pissed as I always was at my lame excuse for a father, but that was no reason to take it out on the Pokèmon… Even if they did wake me up every morning at four a.m. with their blasted morning chorus.

“You did crap, girl.” A deep voice decided from behind me, “You coulda taken out that fool in no time if you’d trained betta.”
I turned to face him, keeping my anger under control so I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of knowing how his words effected me.
“If you want a good fighter who trains all day all night to achieve your dream get yourself a Machamp. It might actually want to serve you, but why I couldn’t guess.” I spat.

“If it’s more loyal than you I’ll take it.” My father responded. He took a few steps towards me, aiming to put a hand on my shoulder for a more intimidating impression. “You’ll make a good fighter one day, Raven. I’ll make sure of it.”
His voice was low and menacing, but I didn’t let it effect me.
“No.” I brushed off his hand and started to walk away, “I don’t let wimps take control of my life.”
“If I’m a wimp then what are you?!” He shouted after me.

I didn’t respond, why the Hell should I? It was bad enough that his voice and his instructions always got me through fights without having him enticing retorts out of me too. But now… I put my head back as I walked barefoot out of the cement compound, leaving the potted tree and its Tailow behind. I’d said that I don’t let wimps take control of my life, but, if that were true, would I still be wasting my time fighting to carry out my father’s dream?

As much as I always tried to deny it, that was what I did every day in that arena. I assured myself it was for my own strength, but this was different, far, far different. I got stronger, true, but as I did my father’s dream got nearer. I didn’t want that. To Hell with him, I wasn’t going to be the good little daddy’s girl that did everything for my old man. No, there was going to be something better for me than that.

Suddenly a wave of sound exploded from a nearby alleyway, sending my mind into instant alert. I felt my father’s intuition trying to slip sneakily into my head, but batted it away.
‘I don’t need you.’
No matter that this city was filled with slashers and muggers and criminals of all kinds, I could take care of myself without his stupid pointers echoing in my head from when I was a little kid, from when mum was still alive…

I snapped my mind out of that train of thought before it could even take me anywhere. If there was a psycho killer down that alley the last place my mind needed to be was with the lingering thoughts of my mother. There would be another time and place for that reverie, but certainly not now.

I regained my sharp concentration and crept forward down the dark alleyway, keeping to the cold brick walls to stop myself from being to obvious. Thoughts of sharp objects sneaking across my throat and laying me open flickered across my mind but I barred them out. The fighter with the most concentration would win, no matter size or weight.

I stopped dead in my tracks, my heart beating fast in my chest. No. No way. I couldn’t have just thought that, could I?! My father’s words, but in my voice? He really was taking control of me, faster than I could even hope to comprehend. It snapped inside of me; I had to get away from this place. Far, far away, away from my sire and away from the memories. If I could get enough distance between us I might manage to escape this nightmare altogether…

Suddenly a flashing glint of silver shot towards me, only my heightened reactions saving me from a gory, slashed up death. The steel blade rammed into the wall right where my head had been, sending red dust and chips of the brick flying outwards from the heavy impact. I had been thinking too long. My concentration had broken and now I was the one under attack.

But suddenly I didn’t want to get in a fight. Feigning a fall I landed on my left hand and swiped my attacker’s legs out from under him. With a loud thud his heavy form slammed home, a groan of pain escaping his throat along with a putrid gush of alcohol breath and swearwords even I hadn’t picked up before. I made a mental note to remember those then turned and ran.

People in a normal city would have been surprised to see me, the red tinted black haired, amber eyed girl with her arms and fists bound in leather and her feet bare, running through their home, but Malmarsh city was different. They were used to me and my emotion-driven outbursts as much as they were to the Grimer inhabiting the drains.

Right now I was heading for the edge of the Metropolis, ignoring the jarring pain that jolted up my legs with every running step as I snaked around the people and bicycles that barred my way. Everything but myself seemed to be in slow motion, the few people and occasional bikes that cluttered the sidewalks moving at a Slugma’s pace as I raced along. Even the cars seemed slow, despite the fact that no-one around here ever did less than thirty-five even around the centre.

I sprinted along the ground, the cement slabs flying beneath my feet in a blur and the cool air pummelling my face and making my eyes water heavily. I felt as if I were trying to outrun the past, or perhaps the future, trying to escape what had happened and what was to come. I knew I couldn’t do it, but the sheer speed was clearing my head. I’m not the spiritual type, so I’ll blame it on the air and my heart beating the blood around my body faster than a Rapidash runs.

Finally I reached the edges of the wooded area, two miles from where I had started. I slid to a stop and did my best to stop myself from falling to the ground. I was exhausted. My heart was pounding in my chest so hard I felt it would tear through me if it kept going and my head was spinning. The edges of my vision fizzed in and out of being as I sank back against a tree trunk, giving in to my body’s want for comfort.

After a good fifteen minutes I raised my head from my chest, still panting a little from my run, and gazed out at the hideous concrete mess before me. Smokestacks belched dark fumes into the sky, muddying the once crisp white clouds above and marring the horizon. The buildings were all red or grey, all rectangular, all bearing the same pyramid roofs above and the build up of pollution on the walls.

It was hideous. This place, my home, was absolutely disgusting. I couldn’t believe that I lived in this messed-up excuse for a city, breathing in those toxic fumes everyday and walking around like another one of those pre-programmed robots that seemed to patrol every corner. The city was made even uglier when this beautiful forest was at my back. This forest, with its amazing array of greens, reds, pinks, blues and yellows, with its diverse wildlife and its wonderful clean air. Well, I looked back at the city, as clean as you could get when your neighbour was that stinking mass.

I threw my bag back at the city with all my might and turned away.

“This is the start of my life,” I told myself as I started to walk into the forest, smirking as I heard the clang of my bag landing in a rubbish bin, “So I don’t need any of the old trash.”
With one hand I rooted about in my pocket in search of some money. I found a stick of gum (half chewed), a hair bobble (coated in mud after being used in a rubber band war), a ticket for the S.S. Tidal and about ¥5,000. I winced, not much, but it would have to do. After all, what else did I have?
I smiled at that. I liked where this was heading. I had total freedom. Sure, I had no shoes, a pathetically small amount of money and practically zilch in the possession department, but there was nothing holding me back. There was nothing to lose… and everything to gain.

[Zee Sage]

OMFG!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111111 1111111111111 THIS IS ABSOLUTLY, POSITIVELY, ONE OF THE BEST FICS ON THE BOARDS!

[Calmed Down=On]

As I said before, Bravo! This is a really good fic, descriptive non-the-less, and as a fellow writer myself I know it is hard to meet the demands of replyers. So as it is the first chapter I won't post demands. I didn't notice and grammer or spelling mistakes, description is good and length is perfecto!

Question: Is this a Pokemon Journey Fic, cuz I like those but even if it isn't I will always read this fic.

[Calm Down=Off]

I LOVE THIS FIC!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!111111111111

[Doomykins]

I thought that that was a preaty good first chapter. Personaly the whole running and completely freeing yourself from everything is something that I have literaly dreamed about. I hope the rest of this fic keeps up that dreamy air.

PS.-Don't worry about grammer, mr. p will probably come around eventualy to handle that ^_^

[mistysakura]

Cool description.
This fic is really original, and it was a fantastic start. I hope that the rest of the fic is in this style. Some bits were a bit confusing, though. Why is Raven running away anyway??? (Yeah, I know3 about her dad and all that, but it still doesn't make all that much sense to me.)

Good fic. Yay.

[Obsidian Blade]

RAVEN

Gingerbread

By Obsidian Blade

I trudged along through the forest, the mud coating my legs all the way up to mid-thigh. My burst of optimism from yesterday was dying off pretty quick now, a few remaining embers all that remained. I was getting sick of these woods. Yesterday they had represented my newfound freedom, but today, with the memories of a rainy, Weedle infested night still fresh in my mind, it represented mud, mud, more mud and then even more mud on the side. Gaahhh, how I wished I’d thought to bring shoes, spare clothes, more money and some proper FOOD.

At that thought my stomach growled as loud as a Mightyena in complaint. Gawd, what I wouldn’t do for a bacon butty… Hot from the grill, greasy, ketchup yummmmm…

“YAHHHHIEEE!!!” I shrieked, my feet sliding out from under me as my bacon butty fantasy sent me sliding down a muddy bank toward a bubbling bog. “Oh ****.” I mumbled, there was NO WAY landing in that would be nice.
I grabbed at the bank I was sliding down but all I grabbed were handfuls of slimy greenish brown sludge. But there! As fast as I could I grabbed a tree root sticking out of the bank, ignoring the way the wood dug into my palm and trying to imagine the maggots seething around me away. Why oh why was it me who slid down the maggot infested< bank leading to some sort of toxic marsh?

A held on tighter, gritting my teeth and trying to expel some of the grit and muddy grime I had in my maw. I seemed to be doing okay now, my grip on the root staying true. But wait… Suddenly my mind clicked. ‘Maggots… root… EATING…’

“Oh ****.” I repeated, just as the root gave way under my weight, sending me slipping and sliding down the mud, now accompanied by numerous maggots and other grubs. Sticks, plants and stones that lined the bank ripped at my skin and clothing, leaving harsh red lines down my arms, legs and stomach. I gagged and choked on mud as I scratched uselessly at the slope in an attempt to save myself. Too late.

SPLASH! I landed in the bog, mud that smelled worse than the changing rooms at my father’s gym swirling over my head and slimy skinned somethings brushing my body as I pushed frantically up toward the surface. Just when I thought my lungs would burst I exploded from the bog, my mouth gaping open for air but getting more watery mud than anything else.

I shook my head ferociously, my hair sending more mud splattering everywhere. After wiping my mouth on the back of my sludgy hand I struck out fervently for what I could see was solid land.

More easily said then done, I tells ya.

The mud churned around me at my frantic splashing, filling my mouth and nose and eyes and only adding to my panic. My father’s voice was drowned out in my head by the frantic warning bleeps as I sank momentarily below the surface but I was too busy spluttering and gasping for air as I came up again to celebrate.

I swapped movements to the crawl, dragging myself through the thick murky mud with powerful strokes of my arms. My feet kicked out behind me, making contact with something sharp that I somehow ignored. I had to ignore it, just as I had to pretend that the grit coating my body and irritating my skin wasn’t bothering me. If I let myself try to scratch or panic it’d be bye-bye Raven as I sank into the stinking mess.

Finally the tips of my fingers hit the hard land of the shore and I hauled my exhausted body up with much difficulty, letting myself collapse choking and gasping to the dank ground. Its earthy scent barely penetrated my mud-coated nostrils, but it was enough to comfort me a tiny bit. My arms felt like rubber as they lay motionless by my side, the grit that clung to my every pore itching and scratching as I finally sat up.

I managed to remove the worst of the slime from my arms and body with the palms of my hands, but my fingers wouldn’t move with the cold. In fact, my entire body was either shivering or frozen in place, leaving me pretty defenceless. I had to get a fire started, no matter how, I just had to. I had to warm up, my life most probably depended on it.

Pulling every ounce of determination from my being I pulled my legs up underneath me, straightening them oh-so-slowly as I stood. I looked around. I smiled. I kept standing. But then suddenly the world was shaking around me, my pale legs, dirty brown with mud, shivering in uncontrollable spasms.
No luck. One ankle gave way, sending me falling sideways, arms flailing for something, anything, to grab onto. No hope. I hit the ground hip-first, a sharp pain shooting through my lower thigh followed by a warm trickle. I looked down.
“Damn this!”

My leg was impaled on a root, the dark wood buried deep in my flesh. A crimson stream ran swiftly from the wound, dripping onto the soft earth were it was instantly sucked up.
“Damn it ALL!” I screamed to the canopy of trees above me.
A flock of Spearow exploded from the trees and into the sky, squawking their complaints as they retreated away.

With a final scream of anger and defeat I let my head hit the ground, not even caring as something squirmed out from under me and writhed its way off into the dark dead bracken. Why did it matter? If I died, here, now, I would at least be with my mother…

Thoughts of her smiling face, blue eyes sparkling with happiness and love and body shaking with playful laughter jumped into my head. I couldn’t even raise the strength to bat them away. As images rose unbidden into my minds eye, myself on her shoulders as a tiny child, burying my face in her silky blue hair, her running across a field as her Growlithe leapt along beside, nipping playfully at her ankles, I let myself do something I never did. I cried.

Cried and cried and cried. Cried soundlessly, tears slipping across my dirty face and leaving salty trails of skin in their wake. I cried until my eyes ached as much as my heart and the sides of my vision started to sink into fizzing darkness.

* * *

I don’t know for how long I was out, but it was long enough. I woke with a splitting headache and limbs that felt like lead. It was dark again, but I could see my breath hanging in the air in front of me by the silvery light of the moon that slunk through the guarding trees and splashed softly upon the ground.

It was a clear night, the moon and stars shining like silver beacons through the blanket of midnight blue. It was also, very, very cold. If I was in a bad way before, I was practically dead now. Numbly I rubbed at my senseless arms and legs, blinking the strange tiredness from my eyes as I worked hard to heighten my body heat. It wasn’t working. Fear crept up from the pit of my stomach like a venomous snake, ripping at my insides and leaving me cold and empty, yet heavy and coiled at the same time. Was I going to… die? Here? From something so trivial as a slip down a slope?

Those thoughts fresh in my mind, I rubbed harder and with renewed determination. I wouldn’t die here, it would be like proving my father right; I was a weakling. I scrubbed at my skin until it was red, raw and shining in the light, scraps of mud torn from my skin by my fervent actions and then rubbed into the stinging wounds. And it still wasn’t working!

I pressed harder and rubbed faster, a lump rising in my throat. I bit it back, I’d had my annual crying session earlier today and there was no way I was going to reduce my pride any further by repeating it. The cold set in further, biting my flesh and coiling around me in a grip of freezing death. My movements started to slow as my toes lost all feeling and my lips found themselves almost incapable of moving.

I was about to give up again, like I had earlier only for a much longer time, when a warm nose stabbed me viciously in the arm. I looked down, my head quivering and my eyes barely able to focus on the creature in front of me. It was a… some sort of Pokèmon. I think… A Rattata. Yeah, that’s it. Rattata.

It squeaked something incomprehensible and rubbed the side of its warm furred face against my arm. Its fur was soft and purple on top, slightly tougher and tan coloured on the bottom. I was too tired to see the colour of its eyes. Too tired…

My head rolled over on my neck, most of its weight resting on one freezing shoulder. Rattata squeaked again, more urgently this time as if it were trying to call me back. I couldn’t… just couldn’t.
“WeeEEEP!” The little creature squealed, rubbing its whole body against my side.
It struck me as to how this Pokèmon would help me, a human, without question when our own ‘intelligently advanced’ society wouldn’t do as much as to hold out a hand to help a blind man cross the road. The thought of a fool, maybe. For that to be one of my last thoughts I had to be.

I leant my back gently against the hard bark of a tree as Rattata kept up its relentless quest to keep me awake. I started to doze fitfully, the wound on my inner thigh seeming to inflate and itch as I dipped in and out of the waters of unconsciousness like a nervous child first learning to swim. I felt myself prepare to dive off the deep end when a sharp pain shot through my hand and an added weight forced its way into my lap.

I forced my eyes open again to see the little faces of about ten Rattata in my lap and a Hoothoot perched on my hand. Then pain had been courtesy of its sharp talons and I had to say I was thankful. As the ten Rattata went about warming me up, Hoothoot perched on my shoulder, whispering sounds of encouragement into my ear. To my disbelief I was starting to feel better, the light-headedness starting to flee my mind and the movement returning to my hands and feet. Even the death lock the cold had around my chest started to relax, letting me breath without pain.

After maybe two hours of pampering from Rattata and Hoothoot I could stand again, walk even. Eleven pairs of sparkling eyes stared up at me as I walked my first lap of a set of three trees, rotten wood and dead plants crackling under my bare feet. I returned to my little saviours and hugged them each, unable to really show my gratitude.

Strangely, they seemed to sense it anyway, but how I could tell I don’t know. I tilted my head back and gazed at the twinkling cosmos above me, a smile gracing my thin lips.
“Thank you.” I said to the Pokèmon, but when I looked down they were gone.

“Strange…” I murmured, setting off through the forest once again.
I hadn’t got far when men’s voices reached my ears, their tone venomous as I picked out a few swearwords in their dialogue. Flashlight beams pierced the darkness, flooding over the vegetation as they swung around through the air. It looked as if the holders were trying to cover everyplace at once…

I covered a smile with my hand, whoever these people were, they were cowards if they were afraid of being in this forest. Why were they even out here at this hour if they were scare--- Then it hit me with the force of a thousand stones: They were out here for me.

Suddenly I saw the whole scene in a different light. These people weren’t blundering cowards cussing their way through a forest. They were hunters, the beams of their flashlights silver tendrils reaching out for me through the darkness, swatting at my body and weakly grasping at my clothes.

Without another breath I turned and ran, blundering noisily away on still shaken legs. If I’d been in perfect health none of that would have happened; I would have crept slowly and quietly away and hidden where they couldn’t find me. As it was, I was fearful after the bog incident and any little thing could send me leaping like a terrified deer.

I heard a few shouts from behind me and suddenly I was bathed in revealing light. The wind blew into my face as I rushed headlong through the undergrowth, narrowly avoiding trees and plants and other obstacles as I sped off. They were still hot on my trail, even though the silvery spectres of their flashlight beams had lost their grip on my form.

“Hey! Get back here!” One of them yelled, slurring his words together like a drunkard. I assume he was.
I didn’t reply, didn’t stop either. That would be a very, very stupid thing to do and I knew better. I was running full tilt, sharp ended sticks embedding themselves in the soles of my feet as I leapt through the bracken.
“We’ll get you, you little bugg-GLOFF!”

A smile twitched my lips as I realised that one of the fools following me had met the same muddy fate as I had done earlier. Serves him right! They should never have tried to catch me in the first place. And still I ran on, the harsh wind buffeting my face and ripping at my loose t-shirt. I leapt over fallen trees and logs like a champion show jumping Rapidash, forced my way through prickly bushes with the stubbornness of a Rhyhorn and occasionally swung from vines to get over more bogs and Pokèmon holes that littered my path.

But I was still tired, and the men were gaining on me. The chemicals pumping through my veins made my muscles burn as I hauled myself on, my breath wearing away at the inside of my throat like sandpaper. I started to slow down a little, the blood beating in my ears like a slack drum and forcing my concentration to waver. There was a large tree up ahead, its branches extending far into the sky and its roots twisting and turning on the ground.

I decided to jump over the roots to avoid spraining, or even breaking, my ankle and prepared myself as I came closer. I was ten feet from the tree, six feet five feet four feet three feet two feet one foot… I bunched my legs beneath me and sprang, waiting for that familiar burst of speed and power I expected. It never came. My legs were too tired. Instead of shooting over the roots and landing gracefully on the other side my feet slammed into two gaps between roots causing me to fall forward onto my face.

The precious time and distance I was loosing haunting my head like a curse I tried to pull myself free and run on, but my feet remained firmly stuck. I rolled over as best as I could and grabbed my thigh with my hands, yanking with all my strength. Not fast enough… I pulled harder, tried the other leg, went into a pulling frenzy, but I was stuck firm.

I looked up to see where my pursuers had got to, but they had disappeared. I blinked and looked harder; they couldn’t simply have not been there. My amber eyes scanned the surrounding forest, my hackles rising as I realised what a bad position I was on.

“Gotcha!” A loud voice bellowed from behind me, heavy hands slamming down onto my shoulders and knocking me back into the harsh cradle of roots.
I couldn’t help it, my lips parted and I let out an ear splitting screech. The man covered his ears with one hand, and growled at me before his allies came and lifted me from my wooden prison. Now free, I knew exactly what I had to do. As much as I wanted to leave my father and his dream behind in the dust, this had to be done.

“Kiiyaaa!”
The sound issued from the centre of my being and I landed a swift kick to the head of on of my captors, sending his head cracking back on his skinny neck. As quickly as I could I flipped, punched or kicked all of my opponents away and prepared to run… But one got back up.

“Well well Raven, it looks like I was right after all, you are a real fighter.” That all-familiar deep voice decided as the man, as my father, hauled himself up.
Before I could so much as sneer he took up an offensive posture I was vaguely familiar with and struck out to my solar plexus. I caught his heavy booted foot in my hands, my over-used muscles straining to keep my father’s attacks at bay.

He let out a well-rehearsed stream of furious kicks and punches that I could barely keep up with, but I did. He did a flying kick but I ducked beneath him and rammed both elbows on either side of his spine, coaxing a pained grunt from the man. It was an unorthodox move, but why the Hell should I care? Right now all I wanted to do was run. So I did. While my enemy was down in the dirt I gathered the tiny reserve of energy I hadn’t depleted to nothing and sprinted away into the wild.

By the time father was back up, I was gone.

* * *

Three hours later found me trudging along once again, the addition of scraped knees and skinned palms making me even more careful not to fall. Which in turn slowed me down, but it did keep me from falling into craftily hidden bogs. It was getting really dark now due to the blanket of clouds that had appeared from nowhere, cold too, and I could barely see what was around me even after having ages for my eyes to adjust. My warm breath rose high into the night sky, a plume of white against the rich black.

I looked up and scowled; where was the moon when you needed it? At that point I could easily be persuaded into believing that everything was out to stop my escape. What had I done to deserve this? With a groan of desperation and temporary defeat I slid down the trunk of a huge, smooth barked tree and deposited my arse on the ground. That was when I heard it.

Night in a forest is not quiet, just so you know. People in cities tend to be drawn into believing that because there are no cars, nightclubs and brightly lit signs among the trees there is no nocturnal night. WRONG! Plenty of the natural Pokèmon species stay up way past your average human’s bedtime, letting their voices carry eerily out to any traveller, accompanied by the rustle of movement and the swish of wing. Me, I wasn’t afraid. If you have nothing really to lose I guess that means you’ve nothing really to fear. And after the incident with the Rattata and Hoothoot I was pretty sure I wasn’t going to be attacked… not by the native Pokèmon, anyhow.

But there was this one noise that stood out like a sore thumb against the coarse mumblings of the other creatures in the forest. It was the cry of a Pokèmon, long and wailing. It gave me the impression of silk, for all that that representation sounds bizarre, while all the others were cotton. But that’s when I realised why: it was the call of a daytime Pokèmon.

So that got my immediate attention. I hauled myself from the dirt, rubbing my eyes and forcing my legs to carry me forward again. If my thigh muscles had mouths, they would have been complaining particularly loudly about how unfair this was, tricking them into believing I was going to let them have a rest. I’ve got to say that I’m happy muscles can’t talk.

As always, my ears guided me true and I soon reached a small clearing in the woods. Ears pricked and senses on alert I crept forward, my eyes flicking over everything for trace of a flash of the lighter colour daytime Pokèmon normally were. On first look I didn’t see anything, but second…

“Wow…” I whispered, my amber eyes glued to the little mound of blue huddled beneath a tree root.
On closer inspection I saw that it was a little bird-like creature, with silky sky-blue down covering its slightly chubby body. It looked to be about three feet tall and was shaped a little like a Swablu, but actually possessing a neck and head rather than a head/body combination. Its tail was fanned out on the ground behind it, curving and dipping over the ground like, well, silk. Perhaps my representation wasn’t quite so off…

“W-who are you?” A tiny voice asked.
I looked around for the owner of the voice, but saw no-one else. But wait… was that the Pokèmon speaking?
“Do you talk?” I inquired, moving out of the bushes so the bird could see me completely.
“I ate some tasty berries,” It, no, she, certainly she, responded, “And now I can make human sounds.”
“Oh right.”

From the sound of her voice and the words she was using I was pretty sure the Pokèmon was a baby. But what would a vulnerable child be doing out in the open during the night? “Are you alright there?” I couldn’t help but feel a little strange talking to a blue bird. A blue baby bird. What sort of phrasing are you supposed to use there?

She shook her head, “I left mummy yesterday, but then I got stuck. I think a Linoone or Houndour might eat me if I stay here any longer!”
Houndour. So there were stronger Pokèmon around… I guessed that if there were an ounce of good in my body I had to play hero now and save this little creature before she was gobbled up.
“I’ll help you out.” I assured her, stepping closer.

She looked wary at first, but didn’t do anything to resist. Why would she? If she stayed there she’d be dead by morning so there was nothing for her to lose.
‘Just like me…’ My mind chuckled.
The rest of me failed to see what was so funny.

My life so far had practically defined the word ‘crap’. The first five years were good, filled with memories of my mother’s smiling face and my father’s lunchtime training sessions. But then, the day after I turned six, my mother was murdered by a lunatic with a knife. After that my father seemed to draw into himself. I never saw him smile and he spent all his time training in his gym. I used to watch him from behind one of the bleachers, but he eventually caught me. After that, he decided to train me too. From that day forth my life was made up of sleeping, training, going to school and eating. I used to daydream in class about what I could be doing if I weren’t stuck with my father and from those thoughts grew my rebellious spirit. Damn you father, look what you did.

I reached the tiny bird, pushing away thoughts of my not-so-nice past, and crouched down beside her. She looked up at me with fearful black eyes as I examined her, looking for what part was trapped.
“My left wing.” She whispered with a nod.
“Okay, um…?”
“Polienix.” She responded, “The ice/psychic bird Pokèmon.”
I felt the breath catch in my throat and for a moment I froze, caught in the trap of memory.

“So, which Pokèmon is that?” My mother asked me, holding my hand with hers and pointing with the other.
“Charmander!” I laughed, pointing at the book too, “And that’s Squirtle and Oddish and Lapras and Sentret and Skurskit!”
“Right!”

My mother’s smile took up all of my vision. It was like the air was happy in her presence, like we were always bathed in a sunny yellow glow. Even when it rained, I was always happy around my mother. Father was stood in the corner, smiling to himself while he watched us. He never joined in, but that was because he preferred his own physical strength to that of the amazing creatures people caught in Pokèballs.

“Now,” brushing a loose strand of her brown hair out of her face mum turned the page, “Which is that?”
My five-yr-old eyes gleamed in excitement as I gazed lovingly at my favourite page. The background was dark blue and sparkling, a huge majestic bird spread across its width. The Pokèmon’s feathers were a shimmering cross between sky blue and lilac, little thunderbolts of violet streaking across its body. It had a long tail and an impressive wingspan, its head held regally on a long swanlike neck. Its wings curved perfectly around the tiny bird before it; Polienix, and it was Articairion, the ice/psychic bird Pokèmon .

“Articairion!” Little kid me laughed, bouncing in my mother’s lap and giggling, “When I grow up I’m gonna be the Pokèmon league champion and Articairion’s gonna be the strongest Pokèmon ever ‘cause I trained her!”
“Of course she will.” My mum agreed, that same smile still wrinkling the corners of her almond shaped eyes.
“If our Raven chooses to become a Pokèmon trainer.” Dad’s deep voice added.
“Of course I will daddy. To train Pokèmon is the bestest thing in the whoooole wiiiide world!”

“Polienix…” I murmured.
“Huh?” Polienix looked up at me, “What?”
“Ah,” I shook myself, “Nothing much.”
The psychic/ice chick gave me a sceptical look as I reached for her wing, but let me lay my hands on her soft downy feathers. They felt just as I had imagined them, smooth, yet soft and icy cold. A little shiver vibrated down the wing as I did my best to remove it from its jammed position in between two gnarled roots so I stopped.

“Does that hurt?” I gave another slight pull.
“Yu huh.” Polienix responded, tears of pain pooling in her brave eyes, “I kept pulling all day and now it hurts a lot…”
I nodded, “Okay, I’ll just have to move the roots instead.” My eyes were already scanning the base of the tree for a place that might be a weak spot, hungrily searching for a place to aim my kick.
“You can do that?”
“My father trained me…”
“That’s nice of him!” She interrupted.
“…Against my will.” I continued, glaring at her.

A little ‘oh’ was all she said in reply. Preparing myself I advised her to cover her face from splinters before aiming a slamming kick at the roots.
“Hoooyii!!” I yelled, letting rip like I normally did in the arena.
SMASH! The left root came free in a shower of splinters, bathing myself and the freed Polienix in sawdust. The little bird sneezed and hopped back a bit, her wing trailing in the dark dirt.

“Sorry.” I apologised to the tree sarcastically, “But what must be done, must be done.”
“It’s good of you to respect the forest,” Polienix decided, obviously not understanding the concept of sarcasm, “So many other humans happily massacre us Pokèmon and ravage our beautiful home. Oo!”
She squeaked as an attempt to move her wounded wing sent jolts of pain through her body. I was down there in an instant, seeking any open wounds or obvious breaks. Sure, I’m not good with people, but I can spew my guts around Pokèmon without knowing that they were analysing my every move. There were no “Oh, what sad taste in fashion she has” or “She’s got the worst figure I ever did see and the attitude to match” in the Pokèmon world. Here was my home… Just like I always dreamed as a kid.

“Is it bad?” Polienix questioned nervously, her black eyes darting from my face to the wing and back again.
It was swelling quickly, forcing the feathers to stick out at odd angles, but I couldn’t see any sign of a break. Still, just to be careful… I stood up and glanced around me. The moon had come out sometime during my memory burst a few minutes ago so now I could see relatively well.
‘Let’s see, I left Malmarsh three days ago, running some of the way but also lying half dead for nearly eighteen hours. I’d say I was…’
I looked up from the bit of dirt my eyes had been boring into while I thought.
“About half a mile from Route 39. That means the Pokèmon centre in Olivine…” I said out loud.
“Pokèmon centre? That’s where the kind people heal us, isn’t it?” Polienix inquired, a hopeful look shining in her eyes.
“Yup. If I take you there Nurse Joy can heal you and then you’re free to go, alright?”

Polienix looked overjoyed, her plump bird face practically glowing with gratitude. Without much delay I lifted her from the ground and placed her in my arms, being extra careful not to injure her wing any further. I would have run all the way if I weren’t afraid of hurting my precious burden, so instead I walked, a little more careful on my feet than I was before since I no-longer had a free hand to catch me if I fell.

½ a mile wasn’t really far, not to my trained body, but suddenly the weight of the day was heavy on my shoulders and I felt my feet start to drag. But I held my head high and blinked away the sleepiness that was clouding my vision and skewing my perception. I never said there weren’t good sides to my unnatural stubbornness…

After maybe fifteen minutes of walking I saw the first sign of human inhabitation: a flicker of light through the dense shielding of the trees. I quickened my pace and a sleepy Polienix shifted slightly in my arms.
“Are we nearly there yet?” She wondered, blinking droopy lids.
“Almost.” I replied.

As if on cue the forest started to thin out and eventually we were on a tame grass field that smelled strangely of cows. In fact, as I headed toward the field gate I found myself having to pick my way carefully so as to avoid stepping in a Miltank pat.
“Eww, what’s that?” Polienix wanted to know, titling her head to aim an eye at one of the dark splodges on the ground.
“Something that should be in a toilet, if Miltank were potty trained.” I responded disgustedly, opening the gate with a loud creak. I flinched, someone had to have heard that from the house, but when I looked no old farmer with a rifle was headed my way and, hey, I wasn’t complaining.

Now we were on the hard packed earth of a well used path and I couldn’t help but smile at leaving that forest and its bogs behind. Sure, I was so tired I probably looked like some sort of zombie, but a Nurse Joy couldn’t possibly refuse an injured Pokèmon, even if she chased me out with a broom shortly afterwards. Somehow, I couldn’t see one of those kind hearted women doing that to anyone, even me.

“I’m tired, Raven. I’m going to sleep.” Polienix informed me just before her head flopped against my arm.
I would have asked how she knew my name before I told her, but she was obviously worn and, besides, it was fairly obvious anyway. She was part psychic, after all. I only wished I could sleep right now too…

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Well, there ya have it, chapter two. Since chapter one got such a good reception I hope this one goes down as well! ^_^

FOR ZEE SAGE: It is something like a journey fic, although top prise might not be victory over the Pokemon league. If you mean a traveling with Pokemon, getting badges sort of thing, then yeah. Except it has more than a few twists... I'll leave it to you guys to read the rest and find out! Chapter three will be up tomorrow or the day after!

ALSO: If anyone is having troubles picturing my created Pokemon, I've got a site with a full Pokedex at http://www.geocities.com/trinethstorm and I'll leave an images link at the end of each chapter introducing a new guy. This chapter was Pol herself, and ya can see her pic at http://groups.msn.com/Raven9/shoebox.msnw?action=ShowPhoto&PhotoID=4 It isn't the best image in the world, but I'm working on another. Ja ne!

[Zee Sage]

Awesome chapter cant wait for the next one, it is good. :) :) :) :) :)

[Obsidian Blade]

RAVEN

by Obsidian Blade


Sugoi!

I lay on my back, sprawled across the wrinkled sheets of one of the Pokèmon centre’s beds as I stared at the pale plaster of the ceiling. It was pristine white without a single chip, something I’m sure was due to the Chanseys and Blisseys running about the place. The wound a root had gored into my leg had been bound with gauze to stop the bleeding and I had taken a shower to remove the mud from my tired body. My clothes were in the wash so I was stuck wearing an oversized t-shirt and a pair of black spandex shorts Nurse Joy found somewhere around the centre but it didn’t bother me much. As long as Polienix was safe and I wasn’t being hunted through the muddy forest I was perfectly OK with the whole thing. It was, after all, a major upgrade.

But I couldn’t sleep. My body was almost immobile with fatigue and my brain begged release from the hellish prison of consciousness, but there was something bothering me, something about the way Nurse Joy had looked at Polienix.
‘Look Raven, forget it. Polienix is fine. Now SLEEP damn it! She’s in the best of hands and you need to be in fighting condition unless your father appears here tomorrow looking for y-’

I shut that stupid little voice out of my mind and slid my protesting legs out of bed. How dumb am I, rejecting sleep after all that. Rubbing my eyes numbly on the back of my hands I shuffled out of the room and into the tiny corridor beyond the door. From here there were four different branches:

- Door to behind the desk and the visitor area of the centre
- Door to the staff (Pokèmon included) dorms
- Door to the Pokèmon healing area
- Door leading outside and to the outside stairs leading to the rest of the guest dorms

I went through the third door, into the Pokèmon healing room. A wave of the smell of antiseptic, bandages and medicine wafted over me as I stepped inside, making my eyes water a little. It was a small room, with the same immaculate neatness of the guest quarters I was staying in. The walls were lined with trolley beds for the smaller Pokèmon, getting larger towards the far end. Most were empty, but I could make out a Growlithe in the bed nearest to me, a Sentret across the room, a Manectric sprawled over two beds near the window and Polienix on her own in the far corner.
Keeping my steps light I padded over to Polienix’s bed, stifling a yawn with one hand and trying to avoid bumping any of the fragile looking trolley beds. She was spread face down on the starched linen, her stubby blue wings open across the cot and her little head turned to the side. Her cheeks were a little flushed beneath her sapphire down and her yellow beak was open as she breathed.

I frowned, and reached out a tentative hand. Polienix’s forehead was hot and damp, her breathing much less regular than I had thought now that I took a closer look. She moaned a bit at my touch and drew her wings inward protectively, the feathers along her back rising to make her look bigger than she was. My frown deepened as I realised how swollen the once-trapped wing was; hadn’t Nurse Joy mended it properly? As far as I knew, the red haired women that ran the Pokèmon centres world-wide were the best healers anywhere. She couldn’t possibly miss something as obvious as this, could she?

Polienix complained quietly again and I stroked her soft feathers with the back of my hand.
“It’ll be okay.” I assured her, before turning and running back out of the room.
Within seconds I had burst out into the warm brightness of the main Pokèmon centre, calling out for Nurse Joy or Chansey or Blissey or anyone. No reply. Well, not from the carers of injured Pokèmon, that is.

“Hey! You! My Totodile needs healing right now!” A man practically screamed, his sweaty red face thrust right in mine and spittle flying from his mouth splattering my front.

I wiped the foamy droplets away and pushed him back a ways, earning myself another earful and free shower. Doing my best to ignore him, I looked around at the seething mass of people occupying the waiting area of the centre. They were everywhere, sitting on the few seats while they nursed their sick Pokèmon, standing about in corners looking sullen, banging their fists on the desk and ringing the bell repeatedly and… ugh. Behind the counter was not a good place to be.

“And my Vulpix!”
“Help Clefable!”
“Politoed is really sick!”
“What’s wrong with this place?!”
“Machoke needs assistance immediately!!!!”

As if to prove their point people were waving Pokèballs in the air, releasing Pokèmon left right and centre. The yelps of people as they were crushed into the walls and furniture by wounded creatures only added to the din. How I had avoided hearing them earlier was a plain miracle. And where was Nurse Joy anyway? She was supposed to take care of messes like this one!

“People!” I cried, but there was no way that was going to get attention.
In a sudden burst of inspiration I yanked the megaphone Joy used on big events and clambered up onto the front desk, carefully avoiding people’s hands as I did so.

“PEOPLE!” I yelled, then covered my mouth. So the megaphone amplified my voice a little more than I expected… “We need to calm down.” I continued in a lesser voice, “The Pokèmon with worse injuries need to be taken into the back IN AN ORDERLY FASHION,” I glared at three young men trying to shove their way to the back at once, “And others are going to have to wait.”

What was I doing? Even if I could get them all to do as I said, I didn’t know a thing about medical help and I was too tired to think up something on short notice. Stupid Joy, stupid people, stupid Pokèmon, stupid… 2:30 a.m.? What the…?

I shifted my gaze from the squirming mass of people (currently trying to decide whose Pokèmon were in worse condition) to the neon green digital clock on the wall, its sharp glow impossible to mistake. Normal clocks are kind; they can be wrong to a certain number of minutes if you look at them from side on and give you a few needed minutes. Digital clocks, however, with their blaring green displays, perfect to the last second and impossible to ‘accidentally misread’, show no mercy. This one was no exception; it was definitely half past two in the morning. No ifs, ands, or buts. But… ahem… why were so many people up this early with their Pokèmon???

Okay, all that did was make my head buzz even heavier and my eyelids droop further towards the ground. I needed sleep….
“You need to take care of this mess first.”
It wasn’t even my fault in the first place! I didn’t run the Pokèmon centre, it wasn’t my problem…
“They expect you to. Polienix needs you too.”

After all that, I didn’t even start to worry about the fact that I was arguing with the voice in my head. And suddenly I wasn’t really all that tired, I mean, I’d stayed up ‘till 2:30 before, no sweat! My veins seemed to be throbbing with enthusiasm, a steady beat that infused me with strength and stamina. It was like someone had given me a shot of pure sugar right in the head.

Raising the megaphone to my mouth I started belting out orders as I leapt down from the desk into the crowd. My vocal cords must have been running wild, because I never would have done that.
“Okay! Sort yourselves out people! That Sandshrew you’ve got there sir, take him right on though. Hmm, that Blastoise looks like she’s in a bad way, but there’s no room out back… Keep her in here and remember you’ve got priority!” There were some things I hardly had to say twice, really…

As I rang out command after command after command, the title ‘Centre General’ creeping into my head, I walked back and forth among the people and their Pokèmon, getting a good look at each. Some were in okay condition, some bad, but what really stood out was a bite mark I picked out on each. It was large and probably coming from a dog Pokèmon if the thick canines proved anything. Was it possible that this many people were attacked by one creature?

I shook my head, I could think about all of this later, right now I had to calm down all these people and get their Pokèmon in safer places. Switching my full attention to carrying out that mission, I continued to walk. Finally I reached the back wall of the centre and was about to start back when something, more someone, caught my attention.

It was a little girl, maybe five or six, dressed all in deep purple with her thick black hair trailing over her shoulders and swaying in the air beneath her bowed head. She had something in her lap that was holding her attention completely, but what it was I really couldn’t see. Suddenly she looked up, eyes locking on me. A wave of horror hit me as I saw those eyes, swirling orbs of blue and black that seemed to penetrate every boundary and seep into the depths of my soul.

“Raven,” She said softly, “Come here.”
Her voice was high and sweet, too sweet to be anything natural, but I found my feet walking on their own.
“Mummy told me to give you these.”
She held out what she had been holding and I saw it was a sort of pendant. The chain was mad of black steel, flashes of silver glinting through in the light, and connected to a lump of the same material moulded into a pentagon. In the centre a black gem had been laid, the light shining through it and reflecting weirdly on the inside facets. Later I’d wonder if it were possible to have inside facets, but right now all I could do was hold out my hand.

The girl giggled and upended the pendant into my hand. It was cold and smooth in my palm, soothing my frayed senses and sharpening my vision.
‘Wow,’ I thought to myself, ‘What is this thing…’
“Wear it.” The little girl ordered, tilting her head slightly to the side, “And take this.”

She handed me something small and round before getting up and running out of the Pokèmon centre into the night, a trail of echoy giggles following her out.

I blinked, my senses finally returning to normal, and looked down at what I now held in my left hand. It was a Pokèball, but looked like it had been made out of metallic sky blue. On the top half were carved the shape of two wings and as I took another look I realised that the inner planes of the cut were still light and dusty, like the Pokèball had been made quickly so the craftsman hadn’t had the time to finish it properly. Still, I realised as I turned the thing over in my hand, it had to be worth quite a lot. Why had she given it to me?? And what about the-

“Hey! My Pokèmon needs healing now!” A slightly nasal voice shouted, seconds before a young man burst into the centre.
He looked about in confusion at all the other people queuing about before his dark eyes settled on me and the megaphone in my hand. Immediately he headed over until we were practically nose to nose. He was wearing a blue tunic that hung halfway to his knees and black trousers dug hastily into the tops of brown boots. Around his neck hung a green and yellow circle, dangling on the end of a copper chain.

“Well?!” He demanded, lifting a hand in impatience, “You’re the one in charge here, right?”
“Well…” I began, but he cut through my sentence with his own, flicking a chunk of brown hair out of his eyes.
“Well what?! This place is pandemonium! Can’t we at least get a decent nurse in charge?!”

Suddenly a name flicked into my mind. Apparently my subconscious mind had been mulling it over the whole time, because it knew now. Gary Oak. Relation of Prof Oak and the leader of Viridian gym. What was he doing over here in Johto, and why now, of all times? Really, I wouldn’t mind meeting such an esteemed Pokèmon trainer, but why now?

“Look, I’m not a nurse.” I said as calmly as I could, “I’m just trying to get things under control until Nurse Joy or Blissey gets back and-”
“Gets back from where?!” Man, this guy was a hothead.
“~Raven, what’s going on? It’s hot…~”

My head jerked from the angry trainer’s head to the door leading to the sick room. The people separating us were doing as I had asked, checking each Pokèmon as they weighed injury against injury. But that didn’t matter. What did was the health of a little bird Pokèmon, ailing in the back room, who was the only one without a trainer to watch over her. I had to get to her.

Gym Leader or no, I shoved Gary aside and strode off toward that room with a determined stride, dropping the black amulet over my head and tightening my grip on the shiny Pokèball. The angry trainer from Pallet town’s complaints didn’t even reach my ears, bouncing off my insult deflector shields like flies on a windscreen. The people stepped aside as I approached, seeming to detect my current demeanour. Either that or they had set me as leader and decided that I needed at least a little respect, I don’t know.

I burst through the door into the cot-line room, making a bee-line to the small bed in the far corner. Some other trainers and their wounded Pokèmon were already present, along with a chocolate-skinned man with thick black hair braided close to his head and a long white lab coat flowing from his shoulders, but I ignored them. Polienix was all that mattered now.

I leant over the bed for a good look at the ice/psychic bird and was greeted by a pair of glassy black eyes, soft, feathery down plastered to a fragile skull and a breath that rattled in her throat. Tentatively I reached out a hand, almost too afraid of what I might feel to make the connection, and gently brushed Polienix’s head. Heat radiated from the little bird’s body at a temperature dangerously high for an ice type Pokèmon and I couldn’t help but let out a gasp.

What could I do now? I was a fighter, not a healer, and there was no Nurse Joy in sight. Whatever had called her away had to have been urgent, there was no other explanation for leaving Polienix in this state. Damn, if that tiny bird died just then I didn’t now what I would do. After the walk through the forest, accompanied by the comments in her babyish voice, and saving her from the tree I felt as if I had… bonded with her somehow. She couldn’t just leave me like everyone else, mother father Elliot Samantha, had done!

A rich voice, thick like honey, drew me out of my painful thoughts.
"Is this your Pokèmon?”
It was the black man in the lab coat I had glimpsed seconds before, his strong brow furrowed in a deep frown as he gazed upon Polienix.
“No.” I replied, my voice surprisingly steady, “But I saved her in the forest and brought her here so she wouldn’t die, so I guess she’s my responsibility.”

“Just your responsibility?”
“Perhaps not.” Hope swirled its way up in my chest, “Can you heal her?”
He shook his head apologetically, “No. I’m just a professor, not a nurse.”
“Oh.”

A Prof, huh? Looked like the Pokèmon centre was turning into a regular Hollywood for famous Pokèmon people. I sighed, a shame none of them could help out one little bird… The professor’s heavy hand patted my shoulder before he turned away and headed over to check up on a newcomer to the room. It was a redhead woman’s Arbok, its great hooded head resting on its trainer’s shoulder as she moved it along. It was fairly badly hurt, but not fatally.

I returned my gaze to its place on Polienix’s troubled form, everything starting to blur with salty liquid. A drop escaped one eye, pattering softly on my hand. Out of pure habit I reached up and lapped it away, nearly bobbing myself on the nose with the special ball I held tight.

“Wow, is that a Regenball?” A voice wondered excitedly as a brown head appeared at my elbow.
The owner of the head tilted it back to reveal a youthful face, glowing with undying enthusiasm despite the late hour. Apparently the kid wasn’t affected by late nights, he looked like he could run a mile without needing rest.
“A what?” I asked, thoroughly baffled.
“A Regenball,” He responded, rolling his eyes, “You’ve got to know what one is to have bothered to spend all that money buying one.”

“Well I…”
Another roll of the eyes. “Regenballs are the newest product from Devon Corp. in Hoenn. You return your Pokèmon into it and then walk about. For each step you take your Pokèmon recovers 10HP. Since you don’t know that you’re stuuuuuupid.”

I was too busy gaping to respond to the childish insult. …recovers 10HP… just return your Pokèmon … Was it possible that that little girl had somehow known that I needed something like this? Could she have meant for me to capture Polienix and save her life with the Regenball?

I shook my head furiously and aimed the high-tech Pokèball at the shuddering form of Polienix. My grip was sweaty, my arm wavering with lack of confidence. I’d seen trainers do this before, why was it so hard to do it myself? The prospect of failure. That was why. Because my damn father had taught me that to lose was to disgrace your name I just couldn’t face messing this up. But I had to do this, for Polienix, for my life free of my dad’s tyranny.

“You’re mine, Poli-”
“What’re you doing?!” A familiar voice demanded hotly.
I caught myself in mid throw, the Regenball shivering at the tips of my fingers, and looked over my shoulder at the newcomer to the room. There, framed by the golden light of the room beyond, stood the haughty figure of Gary Oak.

“A Pokèdex-less person can’t become a trainer, girl.” He continued with a shrug, “So that won’t work.”
“If she gets a Pokèdex it will!” The boy who had informed me about the Regenball insisted.
“But that’s not likely to happen so why don’t you just give that little Polienix there to me?” The redhead with the Arbok suggested, batting long eyelashes over her green eyes.

“But you don’t have a Regenball so Polienix wouldn’t get healed!” He retorted fiercely.
The woman drew herself up to her full height, tugging the thick blue blanket she clutched around her shoulders out from under the wheel of one of the cots.
“Maybe I do!” She snapped, “How would you know little boy?!”
“Well I-”

Their argument continued on while Gary retreated back to the main room and I let myself droop in defeat.
“Hey,” That rich voice intoned, “You might want this.”
I dragged my eyes from the bird Pokèmon all these people were squawking about to look up at the professor. I nearly whooped when I saw what he held.

Swamped by the Prof’s huge strong hands sat a slim silver machine, complete with the opening front flap and flashing blue light on the top right hand corner. A Pokèdex, a Pokèdex he was offering to me, of all people. I snatched it from him, all my manners disappearing as I ran my hands over the sleek object, flipping it open and drinking in the metallic sound of its computerised voice.

“Consider yourself a trainer instated by Professor Darkwood of Ecruteak.” He told me, smiling at my eager approach to it all. Apparently lots of trainers before me had been so rude, because it didn’t seem to faze him.
“TRAINER NAME???” The Pokèdex implored, the screen lighting up and casting blue hues across my face.
“Raven Thomas of Malmarsh.” I squeaked back excitedly, almost as hyper as the boy dukeing it out with the redhead.
“ID no 114790. TRAINER ID STORED.”

The amazing little machine had barely finished speaking when I was throwing that Regenball at Polienix and watching her being absorbed into its silvery blue depths in a stream of crimson light. The Pokèball rocked twice before coming to a halt. As ill as she was, I was surprised Polienix could even put up that kind of a fight.

“A TIMID CREATURE RARELY SEEN DURING THE DAY AND NEVER FOUND AT NIGHT. IT IS SAID THAT ITS TAIL FEATHERS GIVE THE HOLDER THE POWER TO READ THE MINDS OF OTHERS.” My new Pokèdex croaked, a statistics bar appearing at the top of the screen.

^8^ Polienix LV. 7
=-------------
HP: 2/31 (F)

“I think you should take a quick jog.” The little boy suggested, standing precariously on one of the cots to peer over my shoulder.
“Yeah, you’re right.” I replied with a quick nod, starting towards the door.
A strong frame blocked the exit, “Not outside.” Prof Darkwood decided, “It’s not safe.” He glanced around at the others, whose attention was suddenly trained on him, “You don’t think the Pokèmon centre normally gets this jammed, do you?”

I shook my head, no, but still pushed through.
“Look, I’ll be careful.” I comforted the others, trying to block out their pained expressions as I let the door swing shut, “I can fight.” I added to myself as I passed Gary and stepped out into the night.

The darkness swirled around me, seeming to convulse like a living creature as I started off at a slow jogging pace. The moon was out again, picking out my steamy breath with silver threads of light as I moved along. Call me foolish, stupid, just plain dumb for going out there, especially when my fatigue was just beginning to creep back, but I had to get Polienix into a stable state before I could turn in to bed. It would take less time outside, particularly if whatever Darkwood had been warning me about decided to take after my trail.

I ran undisturbed for twenty minutes, occasionally checking on Polienix’s health with the Pokèdex as I chugged along. Goosebumps had sprouted along my arms and if I had been tired before… Well, it was nothing compared to what I felt now. My gait had slowed from running to jogging to slow jogging to stumbling on like a Spheal on land, so I decided it was time to turn back. ‘Lienix had more than half health, so she’d be okay until morning when I was rested well enough to get back to work.

I was just outside Olivine, the harsh breeze off the ocean chilling me to the bone, when I tripped and fell to my hands and knees over something in the path. Cursing up a storm as I examined the searing scrapes across my palms and shins I brushed the dirt from my raw skin before turning to take a good look at whatever stupid root dared trip me up.

I froze.

That wasn’t a root.

It was a leg.

[Zee Sage]

Another Nice Chapter Obsidian, I like how Gary Oak was in it, you know I bet he's up to something. I also liked how Raven had to take charge of the Pokemon Center. Cant wait for the next chapter. :)

[Topaz]

G'day Obsidian, glad to see you here! *conspirators wink* You know how much I love this fic, and your created Pokemon, and your site and.... we all know where this is going. My advice, although I haven't posted anything here for a long time, is to not post such long parts, a) because that is a lot to read in one sitting and b) if you keep posting great chunks you'll run out of your fiction to post quicker Raven will fall away from the top pages quicker than you can say Snap! Either way my favourite part is coming up!

[mistysakura]

Mysterious stuff. That was LONG (I'm not complaining about length, just that I don't really have that much time on my hands.) The description was really good though, and the bit with Raven trying unsuccessfully organize everyone in the Pokemon Centre was a nice touch. I think that a bit more character could do well, though. I don't have a clue what Raven's personality is, nor of those around her. I know it's hard in 1st person, but it can be done.

[Obsidian Blade]

Hello! :wave: I know, I've been gone for too long. Sorry 'bout that! Too busy updating my site, writing a co-fiction, winning the BiC award... ::grins:: You know the drill.

Anyway, taking Topaz's advice, I'm lopping apart this chapter to make it a little less, err, time-consuming to read. So here it is, chapter 4!


Raven

by Obsidian Blade


Mastermind and Metal head

I bit back a scream, terrified eyes fixated on the white tights that covered the slender leg I had tripped over. Was that… Could it be… I wound the chain of my pendant around the front circle of Polienix’s Pokèball, securing it with a quick tug, before getting onto my skinned hands and knees and crawling forward into the bush that hid the rest of whoever’s body.

Why am I such an idiot?

Any smart person would have gone and got an officer Jenny on the scene, but what do I do? Go and stick my great big nose in it.

I crawled through the first prickly barrier of sharp sticks and leaves, following the line of the body the whole time, until I came to the end and found myself in a sort of dark, leafy prison. What lay beside me was undeniably Nurse Joy, a hurt Caterpie clasped to her chest. To my relief she was still breathing and only seemed to be unconscious by a nasty bump to the side of her head.

I leant over her prone body, checking for anything that I might have missed during my first look when something rustled to my left. My head snapped up, amber eyes scanning the surrounding patch of bushes and trees along the side of the path, but my senses were greeted only by the harsh cold of the air and the crooked shadows of a tree’s branches. I narrowed my eyes suspiciously, but turned back to Joy, aiming to carry her on my back to the safe refuge of the Pokèmon centre.

I was just about to lift her fragile form over my shoulder when I was once again bombarded by the sensation of being watched. And this time I knew I wasn’t alone.

I had crawled through a thick wall of spiky bush to get to where I was right now, in a clearing of sorts with a birch tree left and a bit behind me and surrounded by dark shadowy undergrowth. In the periphery of the area I was sure something was moving, large heavy footsteps circling and circling, getting closer through the darkness. I snapped up to my feet, turning on the spot as my daytime eyes searched in vain through the darkness of the night for any proof of movement.

CRACK, SNAP, CRICK, CRUNCH, SNAP.

I spun wildly, my senses elevated by fear and thick hair tickling my cheek like an insistent child.

CRICK, CRACK, SNAP, CRUNCH, CRACK.

There! A shadow brushing past the single tree! It disappeared back into the darkness, but I was sure that it was larger than your average car, and if I hadn’t known better I would have sworn I had seen a flash of sheer silver in the moonlight.

CRACK, CRUNCH, SNAP.

I strained my ears for the continuation of the footfalls of the huge monstrosity, but no further sound came. It had either stopped moving or was simply being stealthy. I figured it was somewhere in front of me, on the side furthest from the road, so I backed the way I had came, bending over to catch Joy by the wrist and pull her away over the ground. Sorry, nurse, but better cut and bruised than dead-

FWOOSH, a strong gust of iron-smelling air forced its way into my ear, accompanied by something cold and wet. I yelped and fell forward, redirecting my flight with a hand so as to avoid crushing Nurse Joy. I landed treeside of her and scrambled onto hands, heels and arse to avoid baring my neck to whatever had been tracking me.

That whatever now towered before my fallen body, a huge black wolf with shaggy fur that blew in the wind. It glared at me through deep-set, forward facing red eyes that glinted menacingly in the moonlight reflected by the Regenball around my neck and let out a grating, almost metallic, growl, taking one step forward on its huge heavy paws.
It was then that I again caught sight of something shining in the thick fur of its legs. A flash of silver drew my attention even further and I realised there were hinged metal rods running from the base and top of each paw to front and behind the knee joint. Although I couldn’t actually see them through the forest of obsidian fur, I was sure that similar mechanics connected the legs to the body. What was this thing, some sort of machine? Or perhaps a…

I scrambled backwards further, using the heels of both my hands and feet to propel me away from that thing until my back made hard contact with a tree. I gulped, realising that I was trapped, and pulled out my Pokèdex. It was a sort of spontaneous thing to do, but I had the sneaking suspicion that the towering monster before me was a Pokèmon. Perhaps surprisingly, I was right.

“MECHYENA, THE STEEL WOLF POKÈMON. THIS POKÈMON WAS CREATED FROM ITS PREDECESSOR, MIGHTYENA, BY SCIENTISTS FOR THE CRIMINAL GROUP, EMERALD. ITS JAWS ARE SO STRONG THEY CAN BITE THROUGH SMALL CARS.” The Pokèdex told me in its normal monotone voice, the blue light flashing with each syllable.
“Oh great,” I muttered, “Just what I wanted to hear.”

From my position cowering beneath it on the ground Mechyena certainly looked big enough to bite through a Mini or two. Comparing it to the lone tree I was backed up against I’d say it was seven, eight feet tall at the shoulder, its muzzle maybe a foot and a bit across. It would take more than one bite, certainly but… Wait, what was I thinking?! Whether this damn thing could eat a Mini or not didn’t matter right now, I needed to figure out a way to save myself, Joy and that Caterpie, not to mention Polienix in her Pokèball, something I was sure would take every ounce of intellect I possessed.

As Mechyena moved even closer, taking its time for maximum fear factor I guess, my eyes flickered over everything around me. Most obvious would be to grab Joy and Caterpie and run, but I was ready to bet that Mechyena was at least four times my normal speed and carrying someone else really wouldn’t help. There was also the tree I could climb to shout for help, but chances were no-one was close enough to hear and Mechyena would just tear down the tree to get at me.

My mind sifted through butt loads of escape routes, but all seemed to end in a nasty trip into Mechyena’s jaws. As I sat there, shivering with fear and wondering if I should have stayed with my father a month more, I prepared myself for the worst. Now scarcely more than five feet away (I had scrambled further than I had originally realised), Mechyena bared silver steel teeth and leaned back a little, its red eyes flashing amber for a split second before it leapt.

I was too scared to scream. In a last dying hope of at least saving someone, I hurled Polienix in her Regenball away from me into the bushes and pulled my arms up to cover my face. Time seemed to slow as the huge black dog soared toward my weakly protected body, huge paws and metal claws reaching for my face, aiming to rip and tear and maim.

Suddenly a fresh burst of adrenaline shot through my veins, so much it hurt my muscles to stay still, and I rolled fast to the right, grabbing Polienix’s Pokèball and stumbling to keep on my feet. I tore my way through the bushes just as I heard Mechyena hit the ground with a loud thud and a flurry of dirt and leaves. And then I was out in the open, the lights of Olivine shining like a huge welcoming beacon as I sprinted full speed towards them.

Never before in my life have I run that fast. The wind ripped at my hair and oversized t-shirt, the freezing cold temperature flaying the skin on my face and arms like a thousand whips. My feet barely seemed to touch the dark dirt that flew away underneath me and I could only hope that there was nothing to trip me because I probably couldn’t have altered course to avoid it.

There was a roar of ripping leaves behind me and then Mechyena was on the path, its giant paws beating out a face-paced rhythm against the hard packed soil. It only took a matter of seconds before I knew it was right behind me. I glanced over my shoulder, tripped over my own feet and skidded along the ground, the bandage and scab covering the wound from yesterday torn away and replaced by a bloody mess.

The huge wolf-like Pokèmon threw itself through the air just as I turned onto my back to be able to see it, its huge front feet slamming into my shoulder and the ground on impact. I screamed as I loud crack issued from my collarbone, the pain almost unbearable. For a split second I was sure I was going to faint, but I clung onto consciousness like a Hitmonchan in the ring just like my father had taught me many years before. To lose consciousness was to lose life here, that was for certain.

Mechyena glared down at me, its weight crushing my broken shoulder further, and then shot its head at my face and exposed neck. I did the only thing I could think of: kick it in the snout. My foot made harsh contact with the very wet, very living nose of the huge dog, making it rear back a bit in surprise. There was no way that kick could have hurt it from the position I was in on the ground, but I doubted many of Mechyena’s other victims struck back so what I had done had confused the beast to no end.

Taking advantage of its surprise and the lessened weight on my shoulder I tugged myself out from underneath it and started running again, the pain so bad that things around me started to blur with the tears I refused to let fall. I had to get back to Olivine, had to live, had to get a search party of strong trainers (or simply foolish ones) out to rescue Nurse Joy…

“GUROAWR!” Mechyena’s booming machine-enhanced voice roared as it steps sounded up again.
“Get down!” A familiar voice from the Pokèmon centre ordered mere seconds later.
I didn’t question, I ducked. Why? Well, it might have been due to the barrage of Arcanine flame coiling and burning in my direction. Unless, of course, you’d prefer to believe that I simply felt like being a good little muffin at that particular moment.

A sharp yip of pain pierced the cold, dark air as the deadly Firewall attack sent Mechyena retreating fast and squealing like a puppy Poochyena.
‘Steel type is vulnerable to fire.’ The part of my brain that wasn’t fried with fear pointed out. The rest of me was now absolutely drained from the incredible adrenaline rush that had saved my life.

The last thing I saw before sleep finally took me and my head hit the soil was Nurse Joy and the Caterpie being carried to safety by the wounded Machoke I had seen earlier in the Pokèmon centre. The adrenaline rush had obviously saved more than just me…

[Obsidian Blade]

Raven

There was a desk and there was a lamp. A chair inhabited the space behind the desk, its high back projecting power around the room like only someone of great importance could. Other than that everything in the room was purely there for looks.

The silken forest green carpet, accented perfectly by the medium toned wood trimmings and furniture, wasn’t there for comfort on the feet as no-one entered without their shoes. The framed images on the walls -old advertisements for department store sales, a list of the league champions from the last one hundred years, a boy with his Poochyena- they were simply to make entrants feel slightly more at home. The bottles of Vodka and Gin, some sort of drink that looked insanely expensive but the label was too withered and old to read, were never moved from their pristine glass-faced cabinet. Their owner didn’t drink.

Mechyena, as it staggered towards that room with its fur singed and smoking, still a little damp from the plunge in a river to put out the flames, didn’t know any of those things. All that mattered to it was Master, Master was there. It had to get to Master; Master would make it all right again. Master wouldn‘t mind that it had failed…

Not this time at least.


* * *

When I came around again I was in a sunlit room spread out over a warm bed and covered by wrinkled sheets. The blinds were drawn over the three windows but they were too thin to make a difference in the lighting. Scrubbing my sleepy dust-sealed eyes I rolled over to find myself face to face with the head of a certain blue bird.

“Raven! You’re awake!” Polienix squealed in delight.
I was quite tempted to roll back over and ignore her, there’s nothing I hate more than a happy face in the morning, but there was something I needed to know. Well, actually, many somethings.

“Pol, how long have I been sleeping for?” I inquired, stifling a morning yawn.
“Three days, seven hours and eleven minutes.” She replied cheerfully, “It’s now 10:23.”
Trying to cover my surprise (I didn’t know I could sleep that long in truth) I sat up and stretched my arms over my head. “And is everything else okay now?”
More cheerfulness.

“Yup, Joy wasn’t even concussed so when she woke up and took Blissey and Chansey out of the closet the Pokèmon centre was back up and ru-”
“In the closet?” I interrupted disbelievingly, “How’d she get there?”
“Oh, some men came in and tied up Blissey and Chansey,” She explained, “Stuffed them in a closet, then took away Nurse Joy and the Caterpie she was looking after. Officer Jenny came here to investigate earlier and she wants to talk with you when you wake up.”

I could practically hear the cogs in my half-asleep brain clicking and clunking as they tried to keep up with this barrage of new information. Officer Jenny? Interview me? NOW?!
“Could you tell them to wait a while when you tell everyone I’m awake?” I begged Polienix.
[br?Right now I’d probably make a fool of myself the moment I opened my mouth. A shower was definitely in order.
“Okay Raven.” Her dark eyes sparkled happily, “Bye.”

Before I could even open my mouth to return the temporary farewell she had opened both fully healed wings and sped away down the stairs. I sighed and got up, nearly falling over when I realised both my legs were dead. After much rubbing and pampering I regained the feeling in both limbs and lurched out the door like I’d been injected with the T-virus* or something. One glance back caught me the sight of some clothing spread out on one of the chairs in the room. Obviously someone had decided it was time for me to wear something better than a huge white t-shirt and spandex, a thought I certainly didn’t regret them having.

After succeeding in getting over to the chair I held the garments up to see and nodded in appreciation. In my hands I held a pair of hipster black combats, a navy blue t-shirt with sleeves that stopped just above the elbow and my own underwear, cleaned after the bog incident. Pretty much what I would have chosen, which was good.

Tossing the new outfit over my forearm I left the room and entered the small bathroom. I was on the upper floor now, if you’re wondering where the bathroom came from, so there were facilities for longer-staying trainers.
“Trainers.”
I slipped the word over my tongue, liking the sound of it.
“Raven the trainer.”
Okay, it was my dream, but right now the cynical side of my brain was complaining about being a shoe. Stupid mind.

The bathroom was small and a bit cramped, but as sparkly clean as the rest of the place. There was a shower stall in the corner opposite the door that stood beside a window on the same wall. Right in front of the entrance sat a porcelain sink complete with mirror and mat and across from that sat the toilet. There was about a three foot space separating them all.

As I passed it I glanced momentarily in the mirror, scowling at my messy black hair with its red tints and dull amber eyes. Some people would probably kill for those eyes, but in my face they seemed to clash with everything from my under-sized nose to stupid broad mouth. Stupid face.

I turned away from the mirror and stripped down before stepping into the near boiling water of the shower and cleansing my half-healed scabs. It was painful at first, but I soon got over that and allowed myself to enjoy the massaging effects on my coiled muscles. If there’s one thing I can guarantee you in life, it’s that there’s nothing better than a steamy shower after an unwanted encounter with a Mechyena On A Mission and a three day sleep. Absolutely nothing.

Except perhaps waffles.

[Topaz]

Hahaha! I don't think I read it so slowly or carefully last time so I picked up a lot of new things, unless this is new altogether *pauses thoughtfully* But I enjoyed it, the cheerful exchange between polinex, so childish and great to read. I like these new short chapters, my attention doesn't stray so much!