Brave New World (15)

[Darien Shields]

First of all, this is a 15, british rating style. That's not a "PG 15", legally speaking anyone under 15 cannot read this. Okay? Well, I won't ask for IDs anyway. But you've been warned. The title's actually Brave New World (of Pokemon)... but whatever.

Please give me criticism, but don't make it too brutal ^_^

Brave New World (of Pokemon)

Winter 2011

My name is Maria. Maria Slinger. I think. It's been about two years since I had to say it, it's becoming so hard to remember.

I'll skip my description, if you don't mind. Maybe some other time. I'd rather explain, quickly, why I've started writing a diary, especially now, after three years of being alone. I'm afraid. Afraid of death, and insanity. If I were to be killed, or loose my marbles, I'd hate to just disappear from the face of the world, another statistic of the apocalypse.

That, and I found this empty diary two days ago.

So, who am I? What is my story? I am Maria Slinger, the daughter of David and Sarah Slinger, scientists who were killed six months after the apocalypse. Hah, it's funny isn't it? To live through the end of the world and then get killed by... by Terrorists. They wanted the research my parents had, but they wouldn't hand if over... so they killed them. I narrowly escaped the same fate thanks to my mothers orders to run, before anything had happened.

I'm 15... or 16... I think. I kept track of years, but little else. I couldn't even tell you what month it is. November, at a guess. Blizzards hound me, so either some b*stard with a Castform is chasing me, or it's winter. I've been alone since my parents died. I met people once in a while when I was on the run, but never hung around long. My pokemon gets me a lot of attention, and that's not something I'm after.

So, now, for the past two or so years, I've lived inside a fallen over office block in Blackthorn City, scavenging and thieving for food. When I was young, I never though about eating pokemon. Now... lets just say that Wild Donphan make my life a lot easier.

It's still early today... I guess I'll go and get some food, I think. Ursaring sounds good today.

What else is left to say? I don't know. I guess... that's it.


Maria closed the diary and crawled over to the mostly empty filing cabinet that was being used to barricade her door. She stood up, shakily, as she would never really be sure of her balance on the tipped over office. The floor and ceiling now made up the walls, and the blank concrete, windowless wall, had become her floor, although it wasn't perpendicular to the ground.

She stood uncertainly at about five foot ten, standing in the over sized boots she stole from a dead man. Her blond hair spilled messily over her shoulders. Once silky gold, it was now frayed and pale, a sign of both stress and hard times. Though not in uniform length she had cut it, about a month ago, using a knife she had picked up during one of her scavenging trips. The rest of her attire was not in much better shape. She wore what were once grey trousers from a business suit, now torn off bellow the knees, turning them more into shorts. On top of these makeshift shorts she wore a blue skirt, now turning brown from mud. The cold of winter drove her to wearing both layers at once, and similarly she wore a dirty white shirt over a green sweater.

Clutching a pokeball in her hand she crept out the window to the office, and landed on the rocks outside. The office was now about two dozen feet above the ground, but the particular part of the building Maria chose to live in was now situated above a rocky out cropping that came up almost to meet it. She adeptly hopped down the rocks as she had done hundreds of times now. Once on the ground she glanced towards the town and then towards her destination, Route 45. There were no people coming from either direction, so she quickly pelted off towards the green wilds.

Once she was completely engulfed and hidden by the tall grass she gave a sigh of relief and unclenched her fist which had been wrapped around her pokeball like a vice. In a heartbeat she expanded the pokeball and dropped it to her feet were it exploded into the form of her pokemon, and small silver amorphous blob. After a few seconds the mercury shape refined itself into a sleek steely four legged creature with no clear features. Its legs, long sharp daggers stabbing at the ground, were the most solid part of the creature. Two ribbons of less solid material flailed uncontrollably in all directions, and from its back a loose cloud shaped shall of metal flowed like a mane of hair in the wind. It had no eyes, no orifices. Its face consisted of a cone that could be a snout, and a ridge like eyebrows. Growing out of this ridge was a solid cartouch shape.

Maria stroked her chilly pokemon's loose back and started prowling through the grass like a predator. There was an unnatural silence set over the land, and for a moment it was as if the entire thin strip of land was completely devoid of life. Then in an instantaneous flurry of movement something lept towards Maria's pokemon. Just as fast one of the silver tentacles flowing from the metallic beast lashed out at deflected the attacker, sending them careering into the ground.

The foe quickly righted themselves, and stood ready for battle. Now that they were relatively stationary its race became obvious; a Skarmory. Maria cursed quietly, these pokemon were fierce in combat, but the steel type made them indigestable.

“Iron Tail!” she commanded to her pokemon.

Though it had no tail the pokemon made-do easily with one of the same ribbons it had just used in defense. It slashed the razor sharp tape across the face of the metal bird. It was struck harshly and let out a cry of pain and immediately retaliated by slapping one of its wings back against her enemy. The fox shaped beast reeled backwards, deep gashes in its solidified face. Slowly though, the metal returned to its normal shape.

“Powder Snow!” Maria ordered once more.

The metallic pokemon revealed its other element by opening his shining jaws and letting loose a gust of air saturated with bullet-hard shards of ice. These pelted off the Skarmory and slowly started to force it backwards. The bird was not ready to admit defeat, and forced her way quickly through the blizzard to strike with precise accuracy at the dog's solid leg with a peck attack, shattering it. The dog fell over and instantly recoiled, wrapping one tentacle around the bird's neck and then scratching at it with his angular paws. Sadly defeated the Skarmory collapsed on the ground, fainted.

“You okay, Termina?” Maria asked.

The steely pokemon was grogilly trying to move its shattered joint to be parallel with the remains of his leg, which were actually melting back to mercury now. The joint liquefied and reconnected with the chunks scattered across the ground. He then nodded to Maria to answer her question.

“We should snap her neck just for bothering us...” Maria growled, looking at the fainted bird. Termina's metal tentacle coiled round the back of his foe's head in response, but Maria shook her head, “No need to kill out of spite.” she explained.

At that moment they heard a loud scream emanating from down the route. Both 'trainer' and pokemon looked in the direction of the shout and saw a young girl cowering in front of a looming Ursaring, its claws ready to come crashing down and tear her to shreds.

“Termina, Powder Snow, now!” Maria yelled to her pokemon.

Termina quickly performed his only real ranged attack and expulsed another ice encrusted breath from what passed for his lungs. The cold air and hardened snow flakes practically bounced off the bear, but they served well enough to get his attention. He turned away from the girl who was crawling in a meagre attempt to escape and gave Maria a grim look. She and her pokemon were sprinting towards it, and it had no intention of running.

“Iron Tail!” Maria shouted again to her pokemon. She now stood still between her pokemon and the other girl, unsure whether to stand by her loyal pokemon, or go to the help of a perfect stranger. However, the Ursaring cut her off slightly from the girl, so she decided to stand by her partner.

The canine dug his fore legs into the ground and swung round, letting the shawl-like sheet of metal over his back lash out and slap the bear's heels as he ran to meet him. The bear roared in confusion as he toppled over, and smashed a titanic claw through the smaller pokemon. Maria nimbly lept asside at the last minute, landing in the muddy grass near the girl she was trying to save. Termina was shattered, tiny fragments sent flying in all directions, while the main body of the pokemon was liquified and lay in a puddle around the fallen bear's fist.

“Slash now!” May ordered to the silver pool around the bear, now grogilly trying to get up.

From the melted mess dripping from the Ursaring's arm, and head and thin ribbon appeared, a gave the drunken bear an angry stare before cruelly running the ribbon through his face, letting blood spray all over the battle field. The bear cried out with its deep booming voice, not in rage, but in pain and agony. A few seconds later the thrashing silver tentacle silence the cries, and the bear's corpse fell limp to the ground. Maria sat panting in the grass.

“Oh... Oh God...” the girl's eyes went wide. “Th- thank you...”

Maria said nothing, unwilling to initiate contact. But the girl seemed so scared and bewildered, and for once she actually felt the inclination to help. Termina in the mean time was slowly pulling himself together, stumbling through the glass and sucking up little chunks of metal.

“He...” Maria struggled to vocalise words, it had been many months since she spoke out loud to anyone other than her pokemon, “... would have... killed us.”
“Yeah... yeah I see.” the girl rubbed her apparantly damp eyes. “I'm Lucy.”
“Ma... ria... Maria.” Maria answered, slowly.
“That's some pokemon you've got there...” Lucy said, changing the subject, and starting to walk away. Termina's task had been leading him further from the corpse. Maria feared she would loose sight of why she came here today if she let the matter dawdle any longer.
“Wait...” she called to Lucy, “I... eat Ursaring... for food.” she didn't know why she felt ashamed, this was perfectly natural. Ursaring was a predator, it ate other pokemon, it would eat her given half a chance, so why couldn't she eat it, “that's why I was... here...” she mumbled.
“Oh...” Lucy seemed once-more dumbstruck.
“L-Look, I don't know how you got by without starving, but I need this... if you can help me get it home I'll share. There's plenty meat to go around.” Maria offered. Retreiving an Ursaring was always difficult, and she'd traveled further south on the route than she intended too. Usually she would haul the carcass while Termina protected her.
“I don't...” Lucy was also having trouble talking, but eventually seemed to resolve the issue, “A-alright. I'm not sure if I want to eat it, but I'll help.”
“Good.”

~*~*~

Moments later the two girls each and an Ursaring arm over their shoulder, the gruesome remains of the head hanging between them. Termina prowled in front, occaisionally circling the party. The Ursaring's crimson blood was giving off a scent to all the pokemon on the route, who now craved the meal it offered.

“So... what... brings you here...” Maria panted as she hauled the bear forwards.
“Just... wandering...” Lucy answered. “I lived in Golden Rod... ever since... the attacks... wandered aimlessly...”
“It must... be hard...” Maria thought out loud. “Don't you have... any pokemon?”
“Yes... all too tire... to battle...” Lucy fretted, “Didn't expect... such high levels.”
“This neck of the-” Maria started, but was interrupted by a burst of coughing, “sorry... the pokemon are tough here, yeah... it's a wonder anyone survives.”
“You're pokemon...” Lucy said, her voice full of curiousity.
“Long story. Don't bother right now, I'll tell you when we're taking a nice mouthful of roast Ursaring...” she fantasized. It had been days since she had a decent meal, rather than picking off the remains of a Donphan that was weeks old.
“Mmm...” Lucy said.
“Thought you weren't going to eat it?” Maria grinned.

Lucy had started out with the full intention of leaving it with Maria, but now all the hard work she was going to seemed to validate the prospect of earning a meal out of it.

“Heh... if you don't... mind...” She replied, slightly shamed now.
“So how did you get by?” Maria asked.
“Berries.” came the simply answer. Maria nodded, although out of view. She had eaten berries once in a while, but it was an insubstantial living. And most berry trees had been laid claim to by gangs.
“My place is just ahead in Blackthorn city...” Maria explained, “It'd a bit of a hike, but it's quite safe. Never been... attacked by pokemon...”
“Cool.” Lucy answered, simply. She was now quite out of breath.

~*~*~

Not long after the two girls sat thoroughly wiped out in the small office room that Maria called home. The Ursaring's body with they had painstakingly pulled up the rocky mountainside was sitting behind them, large lumps of its fleshy stomach carved out, now being roasted on a fire in the centre of the room. Maria explained that she always kept a fair stock of firewood handy, since it could be used for a host of reasons, from heating to warding off other pokemon. And Termina provided himself as a perfect flint.

“Oooh, God...” Lucy exclaimed, “I haven't had meat in months.”
“It isn't gourmet... but it's filling.” Maria agreed.

The fire cast great shadows on the wall. The only other source of light, the setting sun, was blotted out by the make-shift curtains Maria positioned in front of the window, remains of the carpet she tore off the 'floor' months after she first took up residence. Other slices of the economy style rug lay around, clearly having been used for blankets.

“So... care to tell me about your pokemon?” Lucy smiled, feeling much better now that she had some food in her.
“Well...” Maria felt unwilling to tell this story, but something about Lucy evoked her trust, and so she caved and decided to explain. “My parents, long ago, were scientists. However, they were afraid of crime and so we lived up by Lake of Rage. I suppose that's not relevant, but it's how I survived, places like that weren't struck. Anyway, they were researching special chemicals and stones to make pokemon evolve. And they found an amazing reagent that when introduced to inanimate objects could make them come alive and become pokemon. It was very unstable at first and usually the resultant pokemon would only live for a few hours, a day at most, before breaking back down into its component parts. But with much elbow grease and work they found a way to fuse the stone into a steel statue that would be given life. And I suppose that's the story of Termina here, he's Steel-Ice type, incidentally. He can transform a little, but it isn't very stable. Still, he's level fifty easily.”
“Cool.” Lucy nodded, happily.
“But...” Maria decided to add the dark side of the tale, “not long after he was made bad men... I think they called themselves the “Jhoto Revivalists...”, they were horrible, whoever they were. They wanted my parents research. And when they couldn't get it, they killed them. I was lucky to get away alive. For a while after I wandered until I found the ruins of Blackthorn... where I live, to this day.”
“Wow...” Lucy's jaw hung slightly low. There were tears in her eyes. “I've... heard of the Jhoto revivalists, but never thought they'd do something like that... I never knew they were bad...”
“Yeah, well...” Maria said bitterly, her own eyes filling with tears, “now you know.”
“Let me tell you my story. It's not as grand, but... Anyway.” Lucy started, trying to change the subject, “It was three years ago, now, when I lived in Golden Rod, with my parents and brother. I thought we had everything, money, popularity... I was fit and pretty... Anyway, I was camping with friends when it started. Someone smuggled in a portable TV, so we got the news of everything coming in... First a tidal wave hit Cinnibar, and the cycle bridge... then Viridian's set ablaze and...” she swallowed, her cheeks now rather red, “the TV went off after that. We didn't need it for what came next though. Lightning struck the Radio tower, and it collapsed. Then a huge black explosion, like the Thunder attack only worse, engulfed the city, and a deafening blast hit us. When it passed we went into the city but...” she wept now, “it was too late... everyone, everywhere we knew, gone, dead, destroyed. Some of us stayed there, trying to survive, but the rest left, in search of... of hope... but gradually we went our separate ways. And then... people died...” she broke into a complete bout of crying and rocked herself back and forth in front of the fire.

Maria wasn't terribly thrilled. This was the same sob story everyone in Johto had, and probably Kanto too, although she'd never been there, or met anyone from there. And yet, for the first time, she felt she had to console the girl weeping beside her. Against all the instincts she had honed over the past few years she embraced Lucy, letting the poor girl's tears spill onto her shoulder. Lucy hardly seemed to notice, but went on crying. Maria understood though. The apocalypse had been like that. It made everyone sad. The dead were the lucky ones. They didn't have to live through the End of the World.

[Darien Shields]

Reply, you scurvy dogs.

Incase there's any confusion, the reason that both characters' speach was peppered with "..."s in the middle of that chapter was because they were panting, from carrying a bear. Not because they had forgotten english, as Maria did earlier. Anyway. here goes...


Winter 2011 Cont. (Evening after)

As soon as I start writing a diary, things start happening to fill it. I met Lucy today, she's a girl from Golden Rod who was camping at the time of the attacks. Apparantly she's been living off berries all this time, but definitely appreciated the Ursaring when we cooked it. Incidentally that's how we met, she was being attacked by an Ursaring and Termina and I saved her.

Regrettably, with her pokemon, Jigglypuff and Noctowl, and her eating, we finished off almost the whole bear. We won't need to eat again for a while now, but it's annoying... to do all that work for so little meat.

I suppose it's ironic that I should describe her in this diary before I describe myself, but I suppose I find it easier to look at others. She's a little bit taller than me, five foot ten, I'd say, with vibrant blond hair. I guess it's the berries she eats that keeps it that way. All the “sheen� has gone out of my hair... not that it matters. She had the sort of figure I envied before the apocalypse, but now I see every day, and can be attributed obviously to starvation. I guess I should be thankful for my meaty diet, I'm not skeletal yet, which is more than I can say for her. Maybe beauty is dead now.

As for her clothes... she probably collected them from her camping friends as they popped off (she told me that she was in a group who gradually seperated and died), they're a mismatch of out doors shorts and T-shirts that are tattered with age. She, like me, is wearing additional layers for heat, or ease of carrying (her backpack looks ready to burst, although I have yet to fathom what is inside), however the effect may not be as desired in her case, as two pairs of shorts still leave her lower legs bare.

I don't know if she'll be moving on or staying, and don't really care either way. That said, there's something about her that draws me in... I'd like a chance to discover what that is before our paths seperate. That, and she's not leaving without paying me back one Ursaring.

~*~*~

On the outskirts of what was once Blackthorn City stood a group of men, cloaked in the shrinking shade of the rocks. They all had a grim demeanour; they had a job to do, it wasn't pretty, but someone had to do it. At their heals stood the hell-hound pokemon, Houndoom, each of which sucked up the evening air like it were an intoxicant.

The two men closest the town exchanged glances and looked towards the ruins. Sky scrapers had been collapsed sideways, leaving huge partially complete chunks dotted about horizontally, while others had fallen in on themselves, leaving huge piles of rubble. Some had landed in the once pristine lake, clouding it with ash and debris, while at the same time causing it to over flow. Now water covered the entire city centre, ebbing and flowing with the rain. Corpses, or people and pokemon alike, littered the scene. Now most were skeletonised, although some were still fresh, victims not of the attacks, but wild pokemon or...

It brought tears the the eyes of those who had not seen it before. One of the men shook his head and covered his face. He still harboured hope that some cities had survived, or not been striken as badly, and could still maintain life. The stale carnage that ran rampant across the country chilled them to the bone.

Now it was time for some revenge against that carnage's maker. And hopefully, the chance to prevent further slaughter and domination. The closest man withdrew a sleek silver whistle from his pocket and blew hard. It gave no sound off, but dogs lept to attention. With no vocal command the man pointed into the city, and blew once more, harder. The dogs tore off quickly, into the ruins with their noses hung close to the ground.

~*~*~

Lucy was awoken by the sound of battle. Shouts rang from the centre of town, and her ears were filled with the sound of rubble slapping against concrete. She looked around grogilly, unsure where she was or where she went to sleep. Seeing another girl asleep beside her she remembered everything about the day prior, the Ursaring, the girl, the office.

She shook Maria, who was still sound asleep, about the shoulders and managed to wake her up.

“Wha...� Maria mumbled. In a split second though her instincts took over and she struck Lucy across the face, batting her away to the ground. She shook her head and looked at the girl she had just knocked down. “Oh, sorry! I... didn't realise it was you...�
“Never mind...� Lucy groaned, nursing her jaw, “can you hear that?� she indicated towards the source of the noise with her head.
“Yeah, it sou-� Maria started as she stood up, but was interrupted by a huge explosion.

The roar of fire burst through the room and suddenly gravity seemed to be turning on its head. The girls were thrown against the wall which had once been floor, Maria slammed down hard on the un-carpeted floor and fainted, Lucy fell on top of Maria and tried to make sense of the situation as filing cabinets and bits of carpet bounced around the room. There was a crunch and she felt herself begin to fall even though she was sitting on solid ground. For a moment she felt weightless in the descending chamber, then came the crushing reality as the fall stopped and they hit hard ground. As her weight returned she felt like she was being slammed against the floor once more, pain shaking her fragile frame.

The building seemed settled, temporarily, and Lucy gingerly stood up. Her entire body was bruised from being tossed about the boxy room. Without a second thought she ran to the window and looked out. The building now stood uncertainly in the middle of the valley. Maria realised that the section now touching the ground was not the foundation of the building, but the floor that had been cut off when it split in two. She contemplated the situation for a moment, unsure what to do.

But then there was another shout, and a man ran by in front of the building, followed by a trio of rolling balls, one of which exploded as it passed the building. It was rocked, but not toppled, and Lucy's mind was made, they couldn't stay. Maria was concussed, and wouldn't be ably to wake up, so Lucy bundled her up in the carpet she had used as a blanket and, with some difficulty, lifted her. Still held in the girl's hands were the diary she had fallen asleep writing the night prior.

Stumbling once more to the window she released her Noctowl and ordered him to latch onto her shoulders. Slowly and as carefully as she could with an unconscious body in her arms she clambered into the window frame, but was frozen there, her heart leaping up her throat. Noctowl flapped its wings behind her head. She yelped and slipped, soon finding herself helplessly careering down, the windows of the office block flying by like river rapids. Noctowl started flapping feverishly to slow them down, which he succeeded in slightly. Lucy felt her back tear against the building behind and kicked backwards propelling herself off. Noctowl stopped flapping but held his wings as wide as was possible, allowing them to glide to the ground at a fair speed.

Lucy groaned in pain as her legs impacted against the ground, not seriously harmed, but still strained by the strike. She fell to her knees and Maria rolled out of her arms, the carpet strip unraveling as she did. She moaned but didn't awake. Noctowl meanwhile had taken flight and circled them overhead. Lucy sorely slung Maria over her shoulder with much less disgust as she had the Ursaring the previous day. Despite the lighter load her muscles cried out in protest at their poor conditions.

Ahead of them the man was still pursued by Voltorb, him about twelve yards away, and the pokemon half way between them, but closing fast. Abruptly, one of the spheres stopped on the spot ans swiveled round to look at the owl hovering above. Noctowl immediately alighted infront of the orb, mere inches away. The electric pokemon croaked its name, frowning, electricity crackling between its chunky eyebrows. Noctowl hooted and returned a steely glance. Lucy advanced towards the two pokemon, seemingly oblivious of the potentially explosive conflict. Then, in a rather comedic fashion, Voltorb rolled backwards to face the sky, snoring loudly.

“Good work Noctowl.� Lucy complimented her pokemon as it once more took flight, heading for the other Voltorb.
“Whuzzat...?� Maria asked grogilly she was now moving her feet, although not very adeptly, however, Lucy appreciated the weight it lifted from her shoulders.

Just as the Voltorb was catching up on the fleeing man he seemed to trip and went hurtling towards the ground. Before the pokemon could make its move on him though, he hurled a sleek gold and black topped pokeball at it. The pokemon was smacked hard and stopped in its tracks. The Ultra Ball was sent hurtling back to the ground where it exploded in a shower of light, revealing an oddly shapen pokemon about the same size as the Voltorb. Two thick purple shell plates and a protruding pink tongue made the pokemon's identity obvious, Shellder, the bivalve pokemon.

“Clamp!� the man ordered in an unsure voice.

The shell lept upon its foe and in moments had it stuck between the two shucks, squeesing down hard. The Voltorb growled and sent sparks flying in every direction, however only a few struck his opponent, but those that did made the clam grimace in pain. Then he hoarsely whispered his name and began to glow fiercly. The trainer smiled to himself an issued another order;

“Now, Withdraw!�

The Shellder quickly released its grip on the electric type and scooted backwards, before sealing its shells together to form an almost impenetrable barrier. The trainer dived for cover, and Lucy made a similar move, throwing Maria backwards and hugging the ground.

From inside the office the explosions had sounded like roaring flames, or distant thunder. From here though, the sound was like the the very air itself was being torn apart, and hammers slammed on anvils beside their ears. Lucy's ear's rung as she rolled over to survey the damage.

The two pokemon still roughly sat where they had done before, only both were charred black, and the ground was now a small crater a few feet deep. The black orb faded to translucent crimson, and shrunk back into the form of a real pokeball, which landed on the ground, very clearly defeated. The Shellder peaked out from between its armoured plats and then sighed, proudly sticking its tongue out at the fainted enemy.

The trainer pushed himself up off the ground and surmised the result. He then looked back behind Lucy and Maria and gritted his teeth. Lucy looked back to see, in the distance, a squadron of men running towards them with dogs at their heals. They were just approaching the remains of the office block as they looked at them. The trainer looked around quickly and spied the sleeping Voltorb.

“Shellder, Rapid Spin! And fast!� he ordered his pokemon.

The clam sensed the urgency of its commands and hopped out of the crater, a few more adept hops landing it beside the snoring sphere. Lucy watched with intrigue as the shell closed up and somehow managed to spin itself round to smack the voltorb hard in the side. The slumbering pokemon screeched in anger as it was sent flying backwards. Lucy watched as it glowed white hot, moments before impacting the office block, and then collided creating a massive explosion that caused the entire thing to topple and close off the small pass that lead from the city to the route. The mystery trainer sighed in relief, but then yowled in pain when a lump of rubble expulsed by the blast hit him sharly in the shin. He collapsed, clutching his wound.

“Shellder return.� he called, hoarsly. The shell hopped back to him and the trainer grabbed it as it once more became a pokeball. He then turned to Lucy and Maria, who had awakened. His expression changed from relief (although mixed with anguish), to grim uncertainty. “Are you with the Johto Revivalists?� he asked, brandishing his pokeball.
Noctowl chose this moment to land in front of the two girls, flaring his wings in a show of his strength.
“The who?� Maria mumbled, standing up and rubbing her head.
“No- we're not with anyone� Lucy answered, unsure of what reaction this man wanted.
Something seemed to strike Maria ash she remembered. “Those B*stards killed my parents!� she growled.
“I guess that means you're not with them.� the man said, grimly.
“Maria!� Lucy whispered, “We don't want to get him mad, he might be one of them! And he might have allies nearby...�
“I don't care, I've been looking for revenge since-� Maria whispered back, but was interrupted.
“Then I'd like to ask your help... my party was camping out in the city, but we were attacked by the JR. I escaped, as is obvious, but they won't be stopped by that.� he indicated the building. Maria was aghast to see her home, little more than rubble, “We have to get out of here... Please... Help me.�

~*~*~

And so it was that shortly the girls were dragging another body over the route, although this time, despite their weariness, it was much easier. For one thing, the trainer was a lot lighter than a bear (and as Lucy noted, when the wieght was shared it was less than carrying Maria alone), and they were now traveling down hill. Since the man was between the two girls they felt unable to talk, and an uneasy silence fell heavy on the air.

Maria, though she had avoided social contact over the last few years, had learned to judge people by the number of pokeballs they had. Often when people wandered past her old home, the loss of which she now lamented, fiercely, she would spy the number of pokeballs on their belt, before diving out of view. Looking at the man between her and Lucy now, she saw that he had three pokeballs, including his Shellder. Yet she noticed that his pockets bulged with small spheres, she guessed they were either empty pokeballs, or some he had snatched quickly from his fallen comrades. Either way, if she had to fight him, it wouldn't be easy.

The group was lucky to avoid wild pokemon, but there was a creeping feeling of impending danger on the group. The man was frequently looking behind for something, and Lucy once followed his gaze, to see the silhouettes of the men and dogs emerging from the rubble. Long howls followed, which were slowly drawing closer.

“We... can't outrun them...� the man sighed. “We'll have to hide.�

Maria was rather more inclined to dump him, and make a break for herself. But Lucy was nodding, and she figured that this guy was going somewhere... Having destroyed her home, he owed her his, or so she thought. She grated her teeth, thinking of what she had lost since meeting Lucy. Sighing, she decided that really she couldn't attribute this rash of bad luck to her, after all, she had saved her life.

“Where?� she asked, bitterly.
“I'm all over it.� he answered, smiling wryly.

He coolly flicked a pokeball from his belt and let it strike the ground with a flash. The light shrunk back and revealed a small humanoid pokemon sitting cross legged in the grass, its tanned arms crossed and eyes closed. Only its short tail moved, waving from side to side.

“Abra... Secret Power.� the trainer ordered. The pokemon hovered above the ground, still crosslegged, then turned around. It made a full circle then faced the man again. “Oh, right...� he shook his head, acknowledging his own error, “We need a bush, or a tree or something...� he and Lucy started looking up and down the route.
“Over there.� Maria sighed, pointing across the route towards where the mountain wall started. She knew from memory the shape of the route. Yet she still felt unsure about the whole situation.
“Great, over there then...� the trainer said, putting his good leg forward in the direction, forcing Lucy to start walking that way to support him. Maria was dragged along.

Before long they reached the bush, tucked under the rocky hill that shot up at either side of the route. The nameless trainer once more commanded his pokemon to use Secret Power, and this time it turned to the bush and, with a brief glow of white light, willed the bush to open up, pulling back branch and leaf to reveal an opening large enough for a person to crawl inside. Lucy went in first, followed by the trainer, with Maria bringing up the rear. She took a hard look up and down the sloping road of the route, and her heart lept as she saw some darkly clad men chasing after dogs, heading for the point they turned away from moments before. She quickly pushed herself inside the bush and watched as the entrance closed behind her.

“They're-� she started, but stopped her jaw dropping at the site of the bush's lucrative interior.

Though it would've been a squeese to fit the three of them inside the space of the bush as it looked from outside, but inside it was now, somehow, bigger than the office Maria had lived in. More surprising still was what looked like hardwood floor. The walls were hewn of leaves and branches. Lucy was sprawled out on the floor, legs astride, panting, her eyes closed. Maria gave her a dismissive glance and turned to the trainer who was nursing his leg.

“What?� the trainer asked.
“They're very close...� Maria whispered, sitting down close. Lucy crawled over, still very obviously tired.
“If we're quiet we ought to be okay...� the trainer whispered in reply. “I don't think the dogs'll be able to smell us...�
“That's really encouraging.� Maria sighed. She strolled as quietly as she could to the back of the room and sat down. Lucy followed, although pushing herself along the floor slowly.
“Aaah... I didn't get enough sleep last night...� Lucy stretched out on the floor as she had done before Maria entered.
“You look a little...� Maria raised her eyebrow.
“Oh, sorry... guess I'm not used to sleeping around other people.� Lucy said, bringing herself to a normal lying position.
“Really?� Maria gave her a wicked grin.
“Hah...� Lucy giggled, “You're funny... it's been a while since I had a laugh...�

It was strange, funny was the last thing Maria considered herself. She was a hardened cynic, but not... funny. She found Lucy amusing, and as she had noted before, she had a strange... aura. Maria slumped down beside her newfound friend and looked at her face. Azure eyes encircled by lush eyelashes. Milky white skin and rosy lips... Maria marveled at how this girl's beauty had been preserved, despite the horrible life survivors were forced through.

The nameless trainer had been looking anxiously at the closed entrance to the bush. Now he slowly pulled himself over to the two girls, still clutching his leg. A large blood stain marked his trouser where the stone had slammed into him. Maria gave him a look over for the first time. He was about average height and build (of what she could remember as being average), brown hair pouring messily over the back of his head, paired with hazel eyes. His clothes looked like an old military uniform, died black and torn from over use. An icon with the letters “KNR� was sewn on the chest, although Maria was unfamiliar with any such organisation.

“Th-thanks... I think they've passed now, but we'd best wait a little longer...� he stuttered, still shaken.
“Your welcome.� Lucy mumbled, eyes closed.
“Oh, yeah, while we're on the subject of thanks, thanks for saving me earlier.� Maria said to Lucy.
“Don't mention it... you saved me earlier, from that Ursaring, right?� Lucy winked, before closing her eyes again.
Maria smiled, “So... what's your name, and what's going on here?� she asked the nameless trainer.
“My name is Simon Rae. I'm a member of the Kanto National Army... we were supposed to be setting up a base here...� he cursed under his breath, “But somehow the JR got wind of out operations and attacked us. The rest of my group were killed... I was the only one to get out. At least I got their pokemon.� he pulled some of the small pokeballs from his pockets. They seemed like a meagre exchange for his friends' lives.
“I'm sorry...� Lucy consoled him, without getting up, “My name's Lucy. And this is Maria.�
Maria resented being introduced, but didn't bother to correct Lucy. She herself felt tired now, and the prospect of a conversation seemed daunting. Yet one thing evoked her curiosity. “What is the Kanto National Army?�
“Just that, Kanto's army.� he replied simply.
“I hate to pick holes, but no military bases survived the attacks. At least not in Johto...� she mumbled as she finished.
“True- almost. One base, or should I say, one squad, were out on tactical maneuvers outside Fuschia at the time of the attack, and weren't killed. They were the start of what is now the KNR.� he explained, “After the apocalypse they knew the threat that the JR presented, even then they were making strikes on the western border. New recruits who feared invasion were many, and the KNR spread across Kanto.� he finished, but then added quickly, “We don't have much against the people of Johto, just the JR. Or main goal is defense.�
“Don't worry, I hardly consider myself a citizen...� Maria answered.
Lucy made an indistinct hum. Maria wasn't sure whether she was disagreeing with what she heard or was just too sleepy to say anything.
“You might...� Simon started, but seemed unsure, “You might be interested in joining...� he looked at Maria to see her response.
“Hmm...� Maria was a little surprised. She hadn't considered this but the offer was definitely appealing.
“I could really use the help... To get home, I mean.� Simon went on, pleading, somehow.
Maria looked at Lucy, who was on the verge of nodding off. “We'll get you back, and maybe have decided by then.�

At that moment a bark sounded outside. The three went cold, their breaths caught in their lungs. There were more barks, and the sound of people approaching. Voices followed.

“Looks like your nap will have to wait...� Maria whispered morbidly to Lucy. Lucy was far from sleeping now.

All the trainers sat bolt upright, pokeballs in hand. Then the front face of the room was torn asunder in a swirl of red and green. As the leaves and branches settled the scene outside became horrible clear. Three trainers stood, each with a Houndoom at their heels, and a Scizor in the middle of it all. A Hondour stood with one trainer, and an Electrode stood behind another.

“Put your pokeballs down and come quietly...� the leader, who had no pokemon beside him, but presumably owned the Scizor, commanded, “If you want to live.�

[DannyBoy]

This is pretty darn good. Length is perfect and your description in the battles were good. Sorry I didn't reply sooner, I been busy and really haven't brosed the borads. I like seeing not to many used pokemon like Noctowl in here. Noctowl is my favorite bird pokemon and haven't seen one since my old...old...old fic from long...long...long ago. But thats off topic. The Diary entries bring something new and fresh which is nice in a fic. I have seen it one or two times but its still good to see. I like this and I will keep reading. Keep it up!

[mr_pikachu]

This is an intriguing fic, bringing a new aspect to the whole idea of Pokemon. The combative armies should make for interesting developments, and I'm looking forward to this next battle. Nice description; while I can't say it's my favorite type of description (included within action), it certainly is thorough, giving us a good idea of what these characters look like. Still, you describe Lucy as being 5' 10" and a little taller than Maria... but I thought Maria was 5' 10", too? I'm a little confused in that regard. Otherwise, this is pretty good. Watch the use of punctuation, though. Sometimes it's left out, other times it's in the wrong place. Just be careful on that.

Well, I've rambled on for far too long, being way too nitpicky. Sorry, I have trouble stopping myself. Anyway, I'm looking forward to the next chapter! :wave:


P.S. How come this is NC-15? I can't see a rating that high justified at this point; at most it seems like an American R. Of course, more stuff may come along eventually, but it seems odd right now. Well, see you later! :D

[Darien Shields]

Woo! Replies! Thanks for the comments. Err, I guess I screwed the heights up, but in my defense, Maria don't know what hieght she, or anyone else is. Everything's a little bit choppy so far, but I do have lots of things planned and all, and hopefully everything will start to shape up nicely soon.

P.S. Anyone know how I can change Text Colour? I want to better define the different Diary Entries (since a few characters will have them), so that'd definately come in handy. Thanks again, and REPLY.

_________________


Maria and Simon exchanged glances. They were both weighing the odds. Providing that these six were the only pokemon their foes had, they had a very slim chance. Termina was strong, but his Steel-Ice combination made him super vulnerable to fire, and electricity. He'd maybe be able to hold his own against the Scizor, but Simon and Lucy would have to handle the others, and she didn't think a Noctowl, Jigglypuff, Abra and Shellder were really up for the challenge. Despite the burning desire in her heart to fight, she lowered her pokeball to the ground, and started to get up.

“Jigglypuff, Go!� Lucy yelled, abruptly.

Maria, though she hadn't expected this, needed no further prompting, she scooped up Termina's ball and hurled it towards the Scizor. Simon lobbed a few handfuls of pokeballs at the expectant foes.

“Fine then, have it your way!� one of the enemy trainers sneered, “Flamethrower!�
“Rollout!� Lucy commanded her pink pokemon, the first to materialise.

Before any of the Houndoom could choose a target, the pink bowling ball of a pokemon had smacked into the lead houndoom and spun around weaving its way through the group. The Houndoom growled and loosed a flamethrower on the balloon pokemon. It singed her quiff but was otherwise dodged. The other two Houndoom followed suit and created a stream of flames between the rolling pokemon and any of her possible targets.

In the mean time Termina had materialised upon Scizor, and they were now exchanging blows. Scizor hacked at Termina, sending sparks flying, an then attempted to plow his claws into the steel type. Termina delicately stepped aside and was barely scraped by the blow. He fenced at his blood red foe with the ribbons of metal, deflecting blows and leaving a series of deep scratches on the pokemon's hard exterior. Just as he landed a blow in the bug's eye, a jagged bolt of electricity shattered the wolf's body, forcing him to cry out in agony.

From Simon's pokeballs came his Shellder, Abra and Gloom, their numbers bolstered by the miriad forces in the other trainers' pokeballs. A sleek purple Arbok appeared, flexing its tail and flashing its vivid chest, beside it stood a Machamp, nursing a cut on one of its arms, a Graveller and from the last pokeball, a blue blur stretched out from the bush and arced into the sky, screaming ferociously and issuing blasts of dragon fire. The long blue drake's body came to a halt, coiled on the ground, the gruesome face of a Gyrados eying up the J.R. Soldiers. From the missing scales, broken arms, and blood spattered over most of the new pokemon, Maria surmised that they had already been in battle.

“Clamp!� Simon ordered dumbly, neglecting to command the other six pokemon he had on the field.

Shellder obeyed the rather loose command, and lept onto the Houndour, who had been fiercly looking from enemy to enemy, unsure who to attack. Not expecting to be assaulted by the smalled of the foes present, the Houndour was surprised, but even unable to bark as the clam's shells closed over his jaws. Arbok followed suit, wrapping its tail around the closest Houndoom's maw. The dark type tried to wrestle free, but soon found itself in a full body lock from Machamp. Graveller joined Jigglypuff in a Rollout, this time colliding with Electrode. It growled in protest and started rolling into the rock type. As both spun in opposite directions, they began to throw mud in all directions, digging into the ground.

“Suffocate!� Maria commanded her pokemon, as he started to regroup from the thunderbolt.

Termina's mercurial body began to shrink back to its normal size, but the Scizor was not about to let this opportunity go to waste. He twirled his body to create another miniture tornado, and sucked up the liquid metal. Termina found himself formless and adrift in the wind, but with Maria's orders still on his mind he stretched out a thin strand of his body through the driving winds to strike Scizor's metal skull. With much effort the liquid pokemon dragged his entire body onto the bugs head and covered it completely. By this time the tornado had stopped, and Scizor was left on its knees, trying in vain to tear Termina from his face.

Shortly rounds and commands broke down and the battle became an all out melee, blasts of lightning and bursts of fire shooting out in every direction. One by one the combatants that had entered the fray were defeated. Scizor was the first, collapsing with Termina still connected to his face. A beam of fire shortly consumed the insects body and succeeded in incinerating the steel-ice type. Jigglypuff was caught in blast of sea water from Gyrados, along with one Houndoom and the Houndour, and all three fell at once. Gyrados was in turn defeated by Electrode's thunder, around the same time Machamp and Graveller concussed the other two Houndoom, at no small cost to their own health.

“Dammit!� the leader of the Revivalists snarled as he snatched up the pokeballs from his Scizor and Houndoom, “Retreat!�
“Explosion!� another Revivalist commanded. His Electrode, the last enemy standing, obeyed, glowing white and then creating a massive blast, sending burning fragments of twigs and leaves into the air, a great wall of smoke blocking the front of the bush afterwards.

Maria, Lucy and Simon were left panting in the aftermath. As the smoke cleared the only survivors appeared to be Simon's Shellder, Abra and Gloom, most of whom had been rather redundant in battle. Maria noted that Lucy hadn't used her Noctowl for some reason, but decided not to ask her about it right now. She walked forward and picked up Termina's pokeball. She turned back to the others.

“We have to go before they get back.� she said solemnly.
“Agreed.� Simon said, collecting the large selection of pokeballs he now carried.

~*~*~

November 28th 2011


Simon told me the date. I'll explain about him in a moment, but there are more important things to worry about first.

The morning was a total haze, but as best as I can remember, I was woken up by explosions in the city ruins, but then knocked out. Next thing I know, I'm outside and someone belts a Voltorb into the base of the block and knocked the whole thing over. My home, rubble. I try to get angry, but I'm too damn tired. I'm just... bitter.

This mysterious someone was Simon, who was being chased by Johto Revivalists. He, incidentally is a member of the “Kanto National Army.� He said I might be able to join. I don't care who they are, but if they give me a chance to get back at the JR for what they did...

Simon, a brown haired and eyed guy, managed to get his leg hurt pretty bad when the block fell down, so we (he convinced us to help him) dragged him off to a bush where he used Secret Power to make a hide-hole for us. However, using a collection of Houndoom the JR found us, and we got into a bit of a rough-and-tumble. Simon had the pokeballs of his fallen comrades, who were all pretty beefy, so we managed to win out. His own pokemon are pretty low level. He said that he was more of a cadet than anything else, on this mission to get some training in. I don't know if I buy that, or anything he says, but I don't have much choice. I don't have anywhere else to go now.

So now, we're having lunch in some sort of Cave that Simon made with his Abra. We found some berry trees for food. It's different from Pokemon meat... I suppose variety is the spice of life. That said, I still prefer meat, it's more filling.

~*~*~

The three new friends sat in the shade of the cave, a welcome relief from the unseasonal heat brought on from the glaring sun that had persecuted them as they walked downhill from the battle field. Maria wiped sweat from her brow and laid her diary aside. She looked over to Lucy, who was picking at the remains of her clothes. A red T-Shirt and pair of denim shorts were frayed around the edges, and the T-Shirt was rife with tears around the joints. Grass stains also littered both pieces of clothing, and they were plastered to her skin with sweat. Maria found herself looking at a girl who, effectively, could have had her clothes painted on. She reached for her diary again.

~*~*~

Nov. 28th Cont.

I'm gonna need to have a talk with Lucy. She has absolutely no idea what she's doing, lying around in... well, very suggestive poses. And when she looks that good...

But what would I know? ... I'm a girl

~*~*~

“Lucy.� Maria said, closing the diary and walking over to her friend, “I, umm... think we need to talk...� she giggled slightly.
“What?� Lucy looked up dumbly.
“Do you have any other clothes?� she knelt down beside Lucy, who was once more, stretched out on the cool floor of the cave.
“Hmm? Oh, yours all got caught up in the building when it collapsed, didn't they?� Lucy started riffling through her bag.
“Oh, yeah...� Maria mumbled, “I mean for you...�

Maria gave herself a good look over for the first time in days. She too was dripping with sweat, particularly as she was wearing a fleece, sweatshirt tied around her waist, and a mismatch of skirts and trousers on her legs.

“What do you mean?� Lucy tilted her head sideways.
“You're gonna give Simon the wrong idea. You look... Risque to say the least.� Maria groped for the right term. She removed her fleece and sweatshirt, to discover her once-white T-Shirt was much like Lucy's, clinging close and almost transparently to her skin.
“Huh?� Lucy looked at herself, then Simon sitting on the other side of the cave. He had been staring at them, particular parts of them, in fact, and very swiftly shifted his glance to the entrance to the cave when she looked over. “Ooooh man!� Lucy slapped her hand against her forehead. “Sorry, I've just been alone for so long... plus I get really hot... and tired...� she mumbled.
“Hey, don't apologise to me, it's you who's gonna end up worse off.� Maria smiled.
“Here, you might want something else too... I hope this fits.� Lucy pulled out a muddy green T-Shirt and handed it to Maria.
“Thanks.� Maria smiled. She then looked around to figure out where to change. She stood up uncertainly, her legs now aching from exercise without rest or nourishment. Shaking her legs in a vain attempt to breath life into them she made her way back through the cavern where smaller chambers would grant her privacy to change. She turned to see Lucy following close behind her.
“Oh, did you want to change first?� Maria asked.
“Eh, uh, no, you go ahead, I'll wait here.� Lucy said, in a confused manner.

Maria gave her a quizical glance and then continued further back.

~*~*~

Minutes later Maria sat, redressed, with Termina, who was pitifully trying to form his neck from the liquid structure of his body. In front of him chunks of copper ore that Maria (with the assistance of Simon's pokemon) had managed to remove from the back of the cave. He nibbled at them with his 'mouth', sipping up little particles of metal. Lucy marveled at how her pokemon could sustain itself on metal, and Simon just marveled.

“I've never seen a pokemon like that before.� he said, his voice full of awe.
“Me neither. Do other Steel types eat metal?� Lucy asked.
“I think so.� Maria nodded, “I think rock pokemon like Onix eat rock too...�
“Hmm...� Simon said, obviously thinking to himself, “With a pokemon like that you'd be a sure thing in the KNR. We need all the fire power we can get to defend Kanto.�
“Ye-� Maria started, but received a sharp kick in the leg from Lucy.
“Be careful...� she whispered in her ear, “I wouldn't trust him completely yet.�
“We'll see when we get to...� Maria started, but paused. “Where are we going?�
“Fuschia city. Eventually.� Simon made an awkward gesture, “I don't want to return home empty handed to explain that everyone else died... so I'm going to run some errands before we get there. Starting in New Bark town.�
“Alright, sounds like a plan.� Maria nodded, “We should get going, The Johto Revivalists have a base in Mahogany, it wasn't hit bad in the apocalypse because of it's low-tech status, so they'll be able to send more reinforcements if we're not quick.�
“Maria, are you sure following this guy is a good idea? Sounds like we're just asking for trouble.� Lucy whispered again.
“They'd probably attack us anyway now.� Maria sneered. “They're ruthless.�
“We've got to at least wait for Termina to finish eating, he looks pretty wiped.� Lucy said slightly more loudly.
“Yeah, that's fair enough.� Maria looked at her pokemon, a few solid limbs formed, but the rest still a limpid pool of liquid.

~*~*~

November 28th 2011

Dear Diary

It's been a hectic day, and it isn't over yet. Yesterday I got attacked by and Ursaring while I was hiking up this way, and was saved by a girl called Maria with a strange liquid metal pokemon. I like her, she's unlike anyone I've ever met... Maybe because she eats pokemon. She took the Ursaring and me back to the ruins of an office block where she lived, and we ate it. I felt full for the first time in ages.

However, this wasn't to last. This morning the “Johto Revivalists� attacked the city, and their battle ended up destroying the building. We barely escaped alive. We met this guy called Simon, he's with the Kanto National Army. I would've ditched him once he was relatively safe, but Maria seems interested, either in him, or the KNA. I hope not though, I've heard somethings about them.

They say that Misty Ketchum had caught Suicune a little before the apocalypse. If that's true...

One way or another we ended up in a monster fight with the Johto Revivalist guys. Thankfully no one got hurt (Maria says that they killed her parents and she seems dead set on getting revenge), but it may only be a matter of time... I don't want Maria to get hurt. I've lost so many friends in the past few years, I just made a new one, and I'm not willing to let her go, no matter what I have to do.

~*~*~

The three young pokemon trainers set out once more, still tired, still sweating under the golden sun, which sailed low in the sky, seemingly closer to earth than usual. Even the plants seemed to sweat on this mid winter day, and Termina, who patrolled round the group, found it much harder than usual to maintain a solid form.

Maria bit her lip as they proceeded further south. She was well familiar with the route, even as far south as this, and new of a phenomenon like this. Long had she suspected the cause, but never dared to prove remedy it. As they approached the steep decline and the sun seemed to beat like a great red heart, she knew they were nearing the cause of the weather.

“Wait.� she stopped the other two. “It's really hot today, and you may have guessed why. I think that a pokemon lives down here and uses Sunny Day to make it like this.�
“That would make sense, but what could keep up something like that?� Simon asked.
“M-maybe... tha-that?!� Lucy yelped, looking over a vertical decline.

A great bellow sounded from beyond the decline, and tongues of flame shot out, licking at the brown earth before them. The sound of burning footsteps that shook the ground. Looking over the bank Maria's jaw dropped at the sight of a flaming titan. Standing and roaring a dozen yards away stood a gigantic malformed Magmar, lava spilling from its every pour and dribbling out of its beak. The molten rock conjealed around the grass and made a hard path behind it, around which was a border of charred black grass.

Seeing Maria the beast sent a torrent of fire towards her, a bolt of fire crackling with such intensity that her ears ached as it neared. The invisible heat waves irradiated by the flames rippled over her and in those brief seconds made her sweat even more, practically boiling her blood. Lucy cried in slow motion from behind to get away, and Simon riffled through his pokeballs to find something to help. As the fire approached Maria found all she could do was scream.

[mr_pikachu]

Ahhh, ooookay, that explains the NC-15 rating. I think. Well, I'm not sure yet. We'll just wait and see.

Good chapter; the battle's completed, we find out the new destination, the characters become a bit more unique from each other, and Simon... well, he's still a mystery. Ah well. :rolleyes:

Watch out for homonym switches, though. That's when you accidentally use the wrong word of two (or more) options such as where, wear, we're and were, or pour and pore. There are several instances of that in this chapter, and it really puts a blemish on your writing, which is otherwise pretty darn good so far. Other than that, this is still nice work.

See you next chapter! :wave:


P.S. Right at the top of the message area (just below the Title), you can select different things for your text such as font, size, and color. You can alter your color there; it's the one on the far right. Just click on the little down arrow to bring up the list of options. (You probably already knew that, but I thought I should explain anyway.)

[Darien Shields]

The canine dug his fore legs into the ground and swung round, letting the shawl-like sheet of metal over his back lash out and slap the bear's heels as he ran to meet him. The bear roared in confusion as he toppled over, and smashed a titanic claw through the smaller pokemon. Maria nimbly lept asside at the last minute, landing in the muddy grass near the girl she was trying to save. Termina was shattered, tiny fragments sent flying in all directions, while the main body of the pokemon was liquified and lay in a puddle around the fallen bear's fist.

�Slash now!� May ordered to the silver pool around the bear, now grogilly trying to get up.

From the melted mess dripping from the Ursaring's arm, and head and thin ribbon appeared, and gave the drunken bear an angry stare before cruelly running the ribbon through his face, letting blood spray all over the battle field. The bear cried out with its deep booming voice, not in rage, but in pain and agony. A few seconds later the thrashing silver tentacle silence the cries, and the bear's corpse fell limp to the ground. Maria sat panting in the grass.

�Oh... Oh God...� the girl's eyes went wide. �Th- thank you...�



The 15 (what's an NC?) was primarilly because of the the sort of... killing pokemon, and stuff like that. Although yeah, I've got freedom to move around a little bit more.

Bah! Accursed Homonyms! As soon as I do away with those pesky Homo Sapiens bothering me, another one pops up! Well, I shall endeavour to break the ranks of this vile new opressor, and succeed in writing something decent.

Also: Oddly enough the "" quotation marks in the first paragraph turned into those wiggy diamond things. I don't know why, but apologise, it's probably my word processor.

Thanks for the reply, it's very constructive. It's unusual to have someone reading my fic who isn't a nodding yessman! j/k, I love those other repliers... Please don't stop replying yessmen! I didn't mean it!

[Darien Shields]

Seriously, if this 'chapter' (I can't even remember if there are chapters or not...) seems to suck, I'm sorry, I just got really, really, tired writing it. I mean, I'm not saying my style's lacking (in fact, any foo' who does say that's in for a slapping. Of the female dog variety) but the plot's all over the place. I have ideas, but most of them don't involve the start of the story. I'm working my way there... I do like the lil' character relations I'm creating though... Well, long post short, "Bare With Me." Or Bear with me, you know...

P.S. The Diary Entries will return.

____________

As the fireball licked at her pretty little face Maria was struck hard in the side by a silver bolt that send her falling sideways, mostly out of the blast, but still singing her arm and left hand side. She fell to the ground, rolling and writhing in pain, uttering screams of pain. Termina, who had pushed her aside, was a silvery mess, strewn out across the grass beside her.

“Maria!� Lucy shouted, running towards her. Simon gruffly grabbed her around the shoulder. She shot him a venomous glance and broke free of his grip.
“Watch out, we've gotta deal with that Magmar!� he spat in response.

The enemy pokemon stood a good eight feet tall, easilly double the height of a normal Magmar, the waving flames of its eyebrows wafting up above the height of the trainers who stood upon a rather tall outcropping on the slope. It was still half a dozen yards away but was slowly approaching, its massive limbs moving awkwardly as it did. It still slobbered great drops of magma from its beak and spat short bursts of flames towards them.

As Lucy ran to Maria, ignoring Simon's commands, he released his Shelder and Abra by the edge of the miniature cliff that separated them from their enemy. Termina gasped and panted in pain as he managed to form his head. The rest of his body was seared to the grass in strips of metal, still formless.

Maria's left arm was charred, and she yelped when Lucy touched it. Her T-Shirt's short left sleeve had been burnt black and disintegrated. Lucy made thanks that it hadn't been Nylon, which would probably have melted into her skin. As for her face... Lucy quickly beat out the lingering flames on her hair which had been incinerated around the left side, small damage in comparison to her face. A contortion stretched across her flesh from her cheek bellow her eye to her jaw. The skin was swollen and red, riddled with blisters that seemed to stretch it thin, and pull it up, as if ready to buckle. The smell of over-cooked meat emanated from her wounds, and made Lucy wince, though tears ran down her face to see her friend like this.

“Bubble beam!� Simon yelled to his Shellder, “Flash!� to his Abra.

The meagre scrapings of a lunch they had had earlier were enough to sate their hungers and restore the smaller pokemon, but they didn't expect that the pokemon of Simon's comrades could be restored by a handful of berries. He now bit his teeth in regret, he really needed Gyrados right now.

The psychic pokemon formed a tiny sphere of light in the palm of its claw like hand and then, with a minimum of muscular effort, sent it flying towards the enemy. It stopped short when it reached his eye and then exploded into a fountain of light. The giant roared in surprise, spouting fire from its beak in random directions. Shellder meanwhile curled up his tongue then blew out a barrage of bubbles that pummeled the Magmar with precise accuracy. The vast flaming pokemon seemed un-phased though, and stomped forward obliviously, its eyes scrunched up.

“Secret Power! Bubble Beam!� Simon shouted desperately.

Lucy looked from the burnt girl she new held carefully in her arms to the impending doom presented by the Magmar. Termina had formed his head and sat defiantly on the grass, rasping icy breaths at the fire pokemon. She nodded and removed Noctowl's pokeball from her belt and released him nearby. She whispered the command 'Gust' to him, and watched as he soared into the skies. Shellder pelted the giant with the same bubble attack, and Abra commanded the grass around him to hurtle forwards and collide in a similar manner. Noctowl flew towards the Magmar and spun himself round rapidly, creating a spinning torrent of air behind him, then breaking free at the last moment and allowing the wind to strike his foe. The still blinded Magmar yowled in protest and swung lazily at Noctowl, then spat another fireball towards the cliff where his assailants stood. Shellder immediately slammed his shell shut and defended against the blast. Abra was less fortunate and was caught up by the flames, collapsing as they ceased, his body charred black. It reverted to a pokeball, sadly defeated.

“Sh*t.� Simon cursed, “We're getting screwed. We'll need to make a run for it.�
“We can't move Maria, she's barely conscious!� Lucy yelled, nursing Maria who merely winced and groaned in pain.
“We may not have a choice...� Simon said through gritted teeth.

Though the three pokemon battle loudly nearby, everything seemed to go quiet for Lucy as she gave Simon another icy stare. His words burned in her head like a threat, as if he was willing to leave Maria behind to save his own hide. Had his friends really been taken out by the JR? Or did he just go a-wall and steal there pokemon? A hundred more questions of the same nature bubbled to the surface of her mind.

“What are you saying?� She said hoarsely, her voice full of malice.

She made to get up, but Maria wept as her face was brushed harshly against Lucy's lap. Lucy immediately sat down, cursing her foolishness. Maria was looking up at her with a pleading impression. She raised her good arm and touched Lucy's face. Lucy's thoughts cooled slightly as she looked over her wounded friend. As if divinely inspired, a thought came to her, well, not so much a thought, as a point of view.

'He didn't mean that... he feels as badly as you do, but just hides it better...'
“I don't...� Simon answered Lucy's prior question, not aware of her change of heart.
“Nevermind.� Lucy shook her head, “We need to fight that Magmar, not each other.�
“Trip... 'im...� Maria groaned.
Simon nodded and pointed to the over-sized pokemon's left leg, “Bubble Beam!�
“Gust!� Lucy pointed delicately to the same co-ordinates.

Shellder fired another array of bubbles towards the fire type and the exploded on the already over-stressed leg. Lucy's Noctowl alighted on the ground a few metres away and swept his wings back before beating them forward feverishly, creating create blasts of wind that swept over the ground and slapped against the leg. Magmar faltered and lurched forward, but broke its fall with a huge flaming fist that smacked into the ground a few feet away from Noctowl, so close that it could sniff the smell of sulpher through its beak. The impact with the ground send a shock wave through the land, crumbling away the miniature cliff-face. Noctowl had narrowly dodged the rolling ground by taking flight once more, braving the rising, smouldering flames of Magmar's shoulders. Magmar reached out to the broken-down cliff side for support, its sleek white nails peaking out from the dripping lava limb.

Termina had wormed his way into the bundle Maria dropped when knocked down. She had made it in the cave in absence of a bag. The outside was the dirty remains of her T shirt, which she had deemed too deteriorate to wear, but not altogether useless. Inside were more chunks of ore she had stored in case they strayed form the mountain path. However, the vulnerable steel type found himself already in need of rejuvenation.

“Again! Aim for the arm!� Simon ordered his pokemon.

Shellder breathed in in preperation of attack, but the Magmar angrily looked up through sweaty drops of lava, and bellowed, sending another fire ball hurtling directly towards the bivalve pokemon. Shellder coughed up his bubbles and tried to clamp down before the attack struck, but couldn't avoid being partially hit. His already blackened shell was roasted as his innards broiled under the radiating heat of the flames. Noctowl hovered beside the Magmar's boiling face and desperately pecked at the melted rock in an effort to distract him. The Magmar moaned angrily and turned towards the source of his annoyance. Noctowl slipped away now that his task was done, desperately trying to remove the drying rock from his beak.

Magmar gave another pained groan as magma dripped from its body like perspiration, congealing into rocky puddles on the ground. Abruptly, Termina lept forth, his half-solid body like a silver bullet. Landing a few feet away from the titan's claw which now supported its weight, Termina hammered his enemy's pearly claws with one of his steel tendrils. The nail cracked and the tentacle passed straight through, prompting a yowl of pain from Magmar. He clumsily lowered his boiling face towards his attacker, and the lava dripped dangerously close to the liquid steel type. Nimbly dodging a few drops, Termina retreated a few steps, already under pressure from the sheer heat radiated by his foe. Glancing at his trainer, then glaring at his foe with his eyeless sockets, Termina darted close for another attacking, cutting another claw clean away.

The Magmar howled in pain again, and lost it's balance. Slipping in the liquid rock that had pooled around it, the Magmar keeled over, almost steam-rolling Termina, who leapt for safety as the giant came crashing down. Now on its back the rotund pokemon wriggled in a vain attempt to right itself. It was now evident that the pokemon's size was more of a curse than a blessing. The rotund giant shot pillars of flame into the air, and spat magma from its beak, showering the surrounding burnt grass.

Simon stood on the edge of the cliff, his fist clenched. He looked on with gritted teeth, unsure whether the battle was over. In the meantime, Noctowl and Termina took the opportunnity to regroup, Noctowl alighting beside Lucy and picking the last of the hardened lava of its beak, Termina, crawling to his mistress's side, and shrinking into his pokeball.

After a few minutes of watching the fire type writhe, Simon sighed, declaring the battle officially over. Returning Shellder to its pokeball he turned grimly to Maria, who was still in Lucy's quivering arms.

“We can't stay here...� he said gravely.
Lucy closed her eyes for a moment, then sighed, “Take her feet.�

~*~*~

Shortly Lucy found herself sitting over Maria, crouching in the cool under growth. Since Abra had been taken out of commission, they hadn't had the luxury of Secret Power, and had to find the safest place they could in the relative open.

Simon in the mean time had left to scout out the area and get an idea what was going on. “Giant Pokemon don't happen every day.� he said, upon leaving, muttering under his breath, “Damnable luck that I don't have a pokeball.�

Maria was sleeping calmly, her pain greatly subsided after Lucy found a Rawst berry in her bag. She had been unsure how to apply it, but when dripped over the burns, the juice seemed to un-clench Maria's skin, and though Maria found the bitter tasting fruit hard to swallow, Lucy had high hopes for the curative effect of eating it.

That said, Maria's burns were still highly disfiguring. Her arm was red and streaked like a badly ironed shirt, and her cheek... The burn had receeded, but long tendrils still ebbed out from a central nexus around the corner of her jaw bone, working their way towards here eye and nose. Lucy decided to leave her companion dressed even in the burnt clothes, partly because there was little else to wear, and partly because she wanted to protect her dignity.

“Get a load of this.� Simon's voice came, accompanied by footsteps on the moist grass.

He was carrying a huge egg, easily as big as his torso, in front of him. The shell appeared to be made of grey rock, with a few thin cracks running along the edges. He put it down in front of the two girls and Lucy stroked it, finding it to be quite warm, despite her expectations of cold granite.

“I guess this is what that Magmar was protecting.� he explained, as Lucy gave him a look of utter confusion, “I found a whole bunch of them not too far away. And I can't think of any other pokemon big enough to lay these.�
“You can't expect us to carry that to New Bark town?� Lucy answered indignantly.
“Well...� Simon's expression became puzzled, “I hadn't thought about it. With any luck, that won't be an issue.�
“Yeah, it'll just hatch into a Magmar that'll burn us all to death.� Lucy sneered.
“Magby. And since that's the case, I don't foresee much trouble.� Simon explained.
“I don't think we should be carrying the extra weight.� Lucy reverted to her original argument.
“I know... if we could find a pokeball it wouldn't be an issue...� Simon scratched his head. He sat down beside the egg, which was taller than him as he sat cross-legged.

At that point Maria began to make the vague noises of awakening reluctantly from a good dream, to a harsh reality.

“Aww.� She complained, sensing her burns.
“Maria!� Lucy turned back to her, “How do you feel?�
“Like sh*t.� Maria cursed. She attempted to sit up, but only succeeded in initiating a painful chain reaction. Using her burnt arm as a support sparked another bought of burning pain, and she fell backwards, and made to clutch her bad arm with her right, which only served to aggravate her condition.
“Be careful.� Lucy told her, grabbing her good arm by the wrist. “You were burned pretty badly.�
“Oh...� Maria groaned, slipping into a sit successfully this time, “Now I remember...� she freed herself from Lucy's grip and rested her head on her hand. Then, slowly, gently, she traced her fingers down over the burn on her face. She recoiled sharply as her fingers stung the brittle skin. “... did we win?� she asked, finally.
Simon patted the egg in response, “I found this afterwards. The Magmar, incidentally, is sleeping, but it's managed to make a rock-formation round itself from all that lava.�
“Will that help it get up?� Lucy asked quizically.
“I don't think so. Regardless, night draws slowly closer, so it's probably out for the count until tomorrow morning.� Simon explained.
“That's... huge...� Maria said grogilly, her eyes still bulging at the sight of the egg.
“Yeah. We were just talking about what to do with it when you woke up.� Simon said, brining the point back up.
“It looks to heavy and big to carry with us...� Lucy made her point.
“It's already cracked though, how long do you think its got in it?� Maria asked.
“That's a good point.� Simon nodded, “Plus once we get to New Bark I can put it in a pokeball either way.�
“What makes you think you're going to get a Pokeball in New Bark town?� Lucy asked sceptically.
“That's the errand...� Simon said, his tone notably less giving.
“I was there a few weeks ago, no old Pokemarts, not a ball in sight.� Lucy went on.
“Maybe it's time... that I filled you in...�

[mr_pikachu]

Well, this chapter isn't half bad in most respects. I didn't feel like the plot jumped around too much; it just seemed like a way for them to get a new Pokemon... or a new problem. And now they have a mess on their hands with Maria hurt. Plus, we're about to find out what Simon hasn't been telling them (nice cliffhanger, by the way).

However... there were some problems. LOts of homonyms were switched, in ways I didn't even know were possible. ^^; Nevertheless, they were pretty distracting, when thrown in one after another. Like a bunch of zits on an otherwise beautiful face, they added a blemish to your well done chapter.

Here's an example of what I'm talking about:

Or did he just go a-wall and steal there pokemon?

There are two homonym switches here. The more common one is "there", which should be "their", the possessive form of the word "they". But the one that really struck me was "a-wall". I'm certain you mean "AWOL". That's a military acronym for Absent WithOut Leave. (You have no idea how long it took to add the bold effect!)

So here's my tip. In the future, if you encounter a word that has several different common forms, or if you have a word that you're not certain how to spell, just look it up. Or, if you have a non-ancient version of Microsoft Word, you can just use the spelling and grammar check, since it'll find most of the homonym switches. I still don't know if it'd find things like "a-wall", though, so it might be better to look those up. And if you can't find it in the dictionary and all else fails, just ask someone. A parent, a teacher, or heck, even a TPM member might be willing to help. (I emphasize might... it depends on who you ask and how often you ask them.)

But other than that, this is a fine chapter. It really did develop the plot, and it honestly didn't seem to jump around at all to me. So good work. JUst watch the homonyms. Anyway, I'm looking forward to next chapter, so I can find out just what Simon has to say! :wave:

[Darien Shields]

A bit delayed, and a bit haphazard at the end, but... it's late (as usual), and I'm understandably tired. So far I've kinda been making it up as I go along, but be assured, we're getting closer to "the promised land", where I can start to impliment my conceived ideas, like why I put these blasted diaries in.

Oh, I almost forgot, I have to put the chapter in...

_______________

“Immediately after the apocalypse missionaries from Hoenn, and some other adjacent nations, were sent to Johto and Kanto. However, whenever a base for aid was developed, another attack like the apocalypse, only on a smaller scale, would eliminate them.

“Foreign authorities still didn't grasp this, and sent more 'aid.' In Kanto, we found the only way to stop them before they were attacked was to take the resources for ourselves, and then move them to our secret bases that were protected from strikes. The JR did the same, although we have long believed them to be responsible for the attacks on aid outposts, as they were the apocalypse.

“This is all irrelevant, really, but I thought it was important that you know the history of these things. A few weeks ago we hijacked another aid package, and found details of another one set to arrive in New Bark town two days ago. We speculated that if we were setting up a base the resources would be useful. We may not have the base, but the resources are still valuable.� Simon explained.

“I don't like it.� Lucy frowned, “Attacking missionaries? That's not very good. In fact I'd go out on a limb and call it wrong.�

“We won't seriously harm any of them.� Simon promised, his tone grim, “And besides, they'll have Burn Heal.� he indicated Maria's still vivid wounds.

“Hmm.� Maria noted, although she was grim. Lucy seemed to reside herself to their mission now, although she didn't have to like it. She turned bitterly and pulled her diary out from her bad, scribbling furiously into it. Maria gave her an empathetic glance, but then decided to take a moment to write in her own dairy.

~*~*~

Nov. 28th Supplementary

I really don't like Simon, or the KNR. He's just signed us up to attack missionaries in New Bark Town. I'd never have agreed, but Maria needs it... Argh! I guess I better start from the beginning.

After our rude awakening and brush with the JR, we ended up in a monster battle against a huge Magmar. I'm not exaggerating, it was easily twice the size of a normal Magmar. I still don't know what's up with that thing, but I guess it's not important. It hit Maria pretty bad with a fire attack and burned her. We had a tough battle, but Termina managed to beat it in the end.

I say beat, we got it to fall over, and it was too big to stand up. I guess its size was a double edged sword.

Anyway, the whole thing left Maria burned pretty badly, even after I used a Rawst Berry on her. I'm afraid that the burns might be permanent... I don't want her to get hurt like that, especially not because of me. And after all, it'd be a shame to waste beauty like hers. That's why I'm agreeing to this mission to New Bark... I can't let Maria suffer anymore for helping me.



~*~*~
Same Day, Different Sh*t

Things just go from bad to worse, don't they? Two days ago I was sitting pretty, I had a home, a pokemon that would protect me, help me hunt for food... now I've got no home, my pokemon's thoroughly wiped out from battling, and, to top it all off, my arm's burnt, and so is my face.

Explain? Well, turns out the Winter Heat was all thanks to a giant Magmar. It attacked me while we were traveling south. I fainted soon after, but somehow we won. Woo. I'm still scarred. Maybe for life. F*ck. This isn't F*cking fair...

We've got our first 'mission' in effect, Simon explained that there's a missionary team in New Bark town that has resources the KNR want. Lucy seems unwilling to step on peoples toes to take it, but after what we've been through, I figure we're owed some turn around. Maybe we'll even get a Burn Heal, and maybe my face'll be a little better. Maybe not. I hate this...

It's cold now, since we knocked that Magmar over. Maybe it's dead. Good Riddance


The change in weather was as swift as it was severe, in a matter of minutes the sun was but a memory, imprisoned behind a solid wall of foreboding clouds that weren't silent for long, as they started to release a downpour of rain upon the land, which soon thickened to sleet, and was whipped up into strange and wonderful loops by the wind. The trio found themselves hard pushed to go on, but with little other option as they had no shelter.

“On the bright side...� Simon panted as he strode forward into the wind, “They're less likely to follow us now.�
“Brilliant.� Maria said, sarcastically. She winced as she did so, speaking tugged on the burnt skin even now, and made pain echo again.
“We have enough on our plate without them.� Lucy commented.

The journey went on in silence. Simon kept a steely front, unwilling to say anything else unnecessary, and Lucy certainly wasn't going to start a conversation with him. Maria walked with fierce passion, and whenever Lucy approached her to whisper in her ear she strode on quickly, far too furious to talk. Lucy quickly cottoned on and respected her wishes, but an uneasy silence set in that was as cold as the weather, broken only by the howling wind.

Simon frequently had to fumble around with the egg, as carrying it rapidly sapped the strength from his arms, and he had to put it down, turn it around, or generally re-distribute the weight so that his arms for a fair rest. Furthermore, he had to reposition it several times so that he could see, the rocky egg was so big that when held in front of him it obscured his vision of the vague path they were following. He cursed quietly to himself as he did so, not enjoying the task.

Few pokemon dared bother the group who marched defiantly through the bitter weather, and those who did sooner collapsed from cold than from the blows of Termina. There was one furret that did not succumb to the cold, nor Termina's blows, but instead made a hasty retreat when he realised his life was in peril, but sadly for him, the cold struck as he fled, and Termina came upon him, curled up in a furry ball, shivering.

“Kill him.� Maria hissed.
“No!� Lucy protested.
“... alright... let the cold do it.� Maria sneered, and strode on, her steel pokemon following quickly.

They never discussed the matter again, but Maria allowed Termia to simply bat aside his enemies, rather than finishing them off. She mumbled to herself “We don't have time to waste on them...� as if justifying her lack of murder.

They arrived in New Bark hours before nightfall, and almost collapsed at the entry sign. They had obviously left the area where Magmar's “Sunny Day� effected, as the town was covered in a layer of snow tempered with frost. Icicles hung from the trees, and great panes of ice that were once puddles lay shattered on the ground.

New Bark was not a victim of the holocaust, but it was greatly affected by the aftermath. Refugees poured in in their hundreds, panicked and confused, starving and tired. When they found no answers from those unaffected, they rioted and fought to gain the lucrative, undamaged houses. Ironically, the battles destroyed everything of value, and New Bark was now a shadow if its former self. Ever house had a hole in one or two of its walls, and none had a complete roof. Those who stayed after they town had been torn apart built shelters within the shells of houses, and now the trio saw small campfires through smashed windows, where men and women in rags sat warming themselves.

At the far side of town was a thin coast, in which a large yacht was moored, seeming completely out of place in this hell-hole. The yacht was surrounded by a thin membrane of ice which was cracked at the immediate sides, where the boat bobbed up and down in the current. There were channels where the ice has obviously been broken by smaller boats traveling through it, as the ice there was now substantially thinner, about an inch thick, compared to six inches for the rest of the ice (quite thin considering the obvious depth of the water.)

Directly in front of the yacht was a great pile of high-tech crates, which were now covered in frost, and seemed mostly empty, but had been tied together with rope to create a make-shift shelter, in which a young boy now sat, eagrely tending a fire and sipping something from a metal cup he hung over it. Seeing no missionaries from the vessel, the group decided to approach the boy.

“Where are the missionaries?� Simon asked wearily, his breath becoming a cloud of white vapour as he spoke.
“Who?� the boy said, looking up in surprise. He recoiled backwards into his box-fortress, “This food's mine... so's the shelter...�
“We don't want it.� Lucy interupted, “We're looking for the people who gave it to you.�
“I think it's obvious they're in the damn boat.� Maria griped.
“... How do we get there?� Simon asked, both to Maria and the boy.
“They come out every morning.� The boy explained, “You'll have to wait. Somewhere else! This shelter's mine.�
“Shut up.� Simon silenced the child, swiftly, “We need some way to signal the yacht...� he lent on the egg which he had swiftly put down when they approached the boy.
“Pokemon.� Lucy said simply, “We need a good pokemon.�
“Termina could probably get out on that ice without breaking it...� Simon thought out loud, “But-�
“Gawd! That's massive!� the youth said from inside the crates, licking his lips as he looked at the egg.
“I said shut up, unless you want us to tear you from your precious shelter and throw you into the sea.� Simon said coldly, “But I can't think of how he'd signal them from there. It's a high jump, and we don't want him to pierce the hull or anything.�
“We could shout.� Maria commented in the monotone voice she had assumed to minimize pain.
“Hey You!� Simon yelled at the boat, “Hey You Up There! We've got someone who need Medical Help.� he turned back to the girls, valiantly hiding how out of breath he was, “I don't expect that to have much effect.�
“I've still got Noctowl...� Lucy produced a pokeball from her bag.
“What's going on down there?!� came a voice from the boat. They turned back to see a young man standing on the railings, looking down at them.
“I told you...� Maria growled.
“We've got a girl down here with serious burns!� Simon yelled.
“Alright, alright...� The missionary said sleepily, “I'll be down in a minute...�

As the trio waited, once more in silence, for the man to reach them, they witnessed the small population of New Bark creep out of their shattered homes to sneak a glance at the strangers in the dusk light. Half a dozen pairs of eyes quickly fixed on them, and seemed to slowly circle, like vultures hovering over a corpse, waiting to ascertain whether or not it's dead.

“Hello?� the man's voice cam again.

Maria turned to see him walking over to them from a small boat that has broken through the ice. He was a rather tall man, with bushy cornflower hair, and innocent brown eyes. Despite his slight build he had a rather re-assuring aura. Maria spied five pokeballs anchored on his belt.

“What's the problem?� he addressed Simon.
“My friend was attacked by a fire pokemon.� he indicated Maria's burns, “She needs Burn Heal.�
“Please?� Lucy asked, as the man seemed to consider their request.
“... alright. We have some more medical supplies on the boat.� he nodded.
“And...� Simon added uncertainly. The man turned to him, “Our pokemon are all in critical condition.�
“Okay.� the missionary sighed, and started back to the boat. The trio stood still, “Well come on then!� he beckoned to them to follow.
“I'm Wally, by the way.� The young man said as they piled into the small boat.
“Lucy.� she said, shaking his hand, “And she's Maria.� she added, rubbing Maria's shoulder. Maria gave a vague sound of agreement.
“I'm Luke.� Simon lied. Lucy shot him a venomous glance.

With the four piled into the small wooden rowboat it was rather crowded, and Maria noted that it was now substantially lower than the surrounding ice, yet it still held slightly above the water. The tiny craft drifted along the thin corridor of unfrozen sea, and came to a halt beside a sleek metal ladder leading up the side of the larger vessel.

“Careful as you get up not to rock the boat.� Wally cautioned. He stood up, gingerly, and took a firm hold of one side of the ladder with his right hand. Next he stretched one foot out, revealing some rather stylish and expensive black leather shoes, and tested the ice to see if it was firm. When it met his specifications he put one foot on it and left the other in the boat, so that he was now standing to the side of the ladder. He beckoned for the others to climb up.

For a moment they all sat still, unsure who should go first, and unwilling to rock the boat. Then Maria nudged Lucy with her good elbow and hissed through cold lips, “You're in front, you go first.� Lucy hastily made her way up the ladder and disappeared over the side of the yacht. Maria went next, awkwardly climbing a few steps at a time, without using her burnt arm. “Luke� was at the back of the boat and went last, climbing a few rungs behind Maria. He glanced back down to find Wally tending to the smaller boat, tying it up and so forth.

Once on deck they could see how modern the ship was, sleek metal floor panels constitued the deck, and a few steel protrusions over the main deck appeared to be concealed cameras, to give a view of the outside to wherever the ship was piloted from, as there was no wheel or other control mechanism on the main deck. The “main deck� was in fact a thin sliver of walkway running around the cabin which jutted from the floor, two glass walls at the front formed windows, and a door on the side of the metal exterior was the entrance. Maria's hawk like eyes spied a keyhole on the door almost as soon as she was off the ladder.

The trio now turned to look back at Wally, who was now climbing up the ladder at a mediocre pace. Lucy glared unhappily at Simon, expecting him to shove Wally off and onto the hard ice bellow, but Simon was several feet away, surveying the large windows to the main cabin, which oddly seemed to absorb all light, and were completely dark.

Wally appeared at the top of the ladder and hopped on deck, hastily making his way towards the door to the cabin. He opened the small door and walked inside, popping his head out a moment later to encourage the others to follow. Once inside they found themselves in a small cramped room, a staircase leading into the depths of the ship constituted half the room, while the other half was a sleek cockpit, video monitors lay bellow the windows in front of a complicated control yoke.

Following Wally down the stairs single-file they found themselves in a narrow corridor that curled round the stairs and back towards the stern, with many flat panel metal doors, almost indistinguishable from the rest of the walls, except for the small indentation that constituted a handle. One lay open and they caught a glimpse of an unkempt bed that Wally had recently vacated.

“Most of the stores were emptied, you know, handed out, but I think I have some emergency supplies left...� Wally explained as he led them through a final door.

They found themselves squeezed into a tiny room which (apparently) doubled as a kitchen and a medical room. Some small metal cabinet with a similar design to the rest of the ship hung from the ceiling, over a small cooker top and a waist high refrigerator, or freezer. In one corner of the room was a minituarised pokemon healing device, with only space for two pokemon at once. The room was clearly not intended for so many people, and Lucy was now feeling like a sardine, packed in so tightly.

“Mind if we heal our pokemon while we're here?� Simon gestured to the machine.
“Feel free...� Wally said absentmindedly while he rummaged through the small cupboards for a Burn Heal.

Simon eagrely started piling the pokeballs he was carrying into the machine, then frowning impatiently as it slowly regenerated them in pairs. Wally didn't seem to notice the large number of pokeballs Simon was carrying, and didn't make any objection.

Maria was put slightly in awe by the luxurious supplies of the ship. Despite the size of the room, it had so many things now alien to her. It wasn't as if she have a kitchen at home before the attacks, but eating raw meet for a few years had dulled her memory, and she marveled at the sight of a machine that could perfectly roast meat an make it into a sumptuous delicacy.

“Wow...� she mumbled to herself, although only Lucy noticed.

Lucy was not so awestruck by the the kitchen, considering she'd been in the habit of eating wild berries before the attacks, and quite liked the taste, despite the monotony of her diet. She was not without a desire for these cooking apparatus, but her lust was much less than Maria's. She realised for a moment how hellish her companion's life was.

“Ah, here we are!� Wally exclaimed, popping up wielding a small cylindrical jar of blue liquid with a spray top, and, with a moments hesitation, started applying it liberally to Maria's arm. It stung at first, but she saw the burn instantly crawl back over her arm, leaving the flesh underneath supple and fresh. He sprayed her face cautiously, and the burns receded, but did not disappear, leaving a whispery claw traced over her cheek. No matter how much of the liquid he sprayed after that these marks would not disappear. “There we are... as best I could do, sadly. Cosmetically it's not perfect, but this should leave you in a good me-� Wally was cut short.

Maria had grabbed his arm and spun him round in a blur of motion, locking him with his hand twisted behind his back, allowing no resistance.

“Now Wally, you're a great guy and I have to thank you for your help, and before you star thinking I'm a horrible person I'd like to correct you.� Maria growled as she restrained the struggling man, “I have suffered more sh*t today that most people have since the apocalypse. My home, and possessions, destroyed by a bunch of mad men, the same, no doubt, who murdered my parents years after the apocalypse, and who then hunted me and my friends for hours. As if that wasn't enough a giant b*stard cooks me alive and almost kills me pokemon. So you'll understand when I say that I've had a bad day.� she stopped to breath.
“Please...� Wally gasped, “Don't take my Pokemon.�
Simon laughed, “That's not how we operate. Hell, we're not even going to take your boat. Just commandeer it for a little while to get back to Kanto. We are taking any and all extra pokeballs you've got though.�
“Don't do anything stupid and we won't even hurt you.� Lucy offered, sheepishly.
“But cross us...� Maria snarled, “And you'll wish you were never conceived.�

EDIT: Indigo is stupid. I made that colour Magenta... It's way more intelligent.