2ra
10th June 2004, 02:54 PM
Chapter 1: Emergency Maneuvers
By 2ra
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Authors Note: Well, after posting a few hints around the site my fic has finally arrived to the TPM boards. I am currently working on the second chapter and its summer so I should be able to update around one chapter a week hopefully, maybe two a week if I really get enthusiastic about it, but the chapters are long and take me a few days to write anyways. I hope you enjoy this fan fiction that I have really worked hard on. Wow, it feels so weird to post up another fic since the last one was almost a year ago ^_^
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The luminescence of the sun seemed to engulf the majestic area in its divine light, but do not be fooled, for it only augmented to its beauty and did not displace it. The profuse rosy petals of the delicate blossoms opening up in reaction to the sun, exposing their dazzling beauty in a coquettish manner and from these flowers wafted an exquisite aromatic scent which tantalized the senses. The vicinity had many arbitrary emerald green trees as there were blossoms, some so immense that they could even block sunlight from reaching certain areas. Apart from a various clearings, there were also a few soothing ponds, if only it weren’t for those Pokemon.
I must admit, the chopping and humming noises of this helicopter did make me a bit uneasy, but those Pokemon frightened me to at least some extent. I had to take responsibility for my duties, but they might as well have sentenced me to the electric chair. I was on my way to an unexplored forest southeast of Agate Village in the Oore region, a luscious forest inhabited by vicious Pokemon. Very few people have survived from even entering this forest, and those who manage to escape ended up traumatized for their entire lives. As you can see, I’m both anxious and frightened with this expedition, but why would I be anxious?
It all started about a month ago in Pyrite, just south of our current location. I was at my same old wooden desk in the stereotypical-looking research institute like I always was. That day I was researching the habitats of Farfetch’d and of the location where their special leeks may be found on my pitch-black laptop when it happened. Bursting through my door came a tall man, around his mid forties, with a bald head except for two piles of bushy orange hair on each side of his head. Come to think of it, his hair looked almost like the shape of a magnet, but that’s not important right now. Dressed in his normal white lab coat, he walked over to me and commented on fixing my black bushy hair, giving the “this was an office” excuse. Looking at him straight in the eye with my piercing brown eyes, I think he got the message and backed off. He had bushy hair as well and I didn’t see him combing his hair so I don’t know why I should’ve combed mine because he wanted me to. Noticing I was busy, he quickly got to the point and told me about a tablet excavated near the local colosseum. It depicted an ancient lake with miraculous healing abilities which could solve many of our current problems with disease and such.
While intrigued, he asked me if I would like to take this expedition over near Agate, since he had a workload of papers to work on. I foolishly accepted without knowing of all the details. This elusive lake was in the center of a forest inhabited by savage Pokemon who will not think twice about attacking humans. It was once inhabited by a group of villagers from Agate, who wished to colonize it, but they mysteriously disappeared one day and since then all the Pokemon have done are attack humans. Too bad I had to find out all this information Dr. Abnan “accidentally” forgot to tell us before accepting to go on this expedition. I was informed of all this by Dr. Abnan’s apprentice, Roger, who is accompanying us to observe us. Hopefully, he isn’t as “forgetful” as his mentor though.
Looking out the window, I could see that we were approaching the forest, we were already over it, but not exactly near the center, which was our destination. So that we would have to deal with less of these savage Pokemon, I had instructed the pilot to drop us off near the center where we could easily and quickly take a sample of the lakes water and get back on board so that we could analyze it on our laptops with some of our equipment.
Oh well, at least Daniella was here with me so I wasn’t all alone on this, but I couldn’t help but think of all the dangers that awaited us. Later, I would find out that we should have taken these dangers into more consideration and have planned if something had gone wrong. What a big mistake that was.
I couldn’t help but stare out the windows. How could such a place of beauty be profaned by those Pokemon? It’s not like I’m totally against Pokemon, I mean I have Pokemon of my own and I love and respect them all, but these Pokemon have crossed the line. Why would they just attack humans instead of working together with them? I just had to find out why.
“Robert, are you okay? You seem to be awfully quiet.” Daniella asked.
Waving her hand in front of my face, she managed to get my attention. Daniella wasn’t the kind of person who you got acknowledge to be a researcher. Sometimes I don’t know how she ever managed to be a researcher and get into this profession, but overall she’s a really great person she has her faults just like everyone so I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. As I looked at her, I noticed her beautiful complexion, her magnificent blue eyes and lustrous brown hair past her shoulders. She was wearing the same exact lab coat that I was wearing, the one that is all white, you know the stereotypical one. It was actually the first time I noticed her, and it might have also been my last at this rate.
It was at that moment that it all happened, if only I had kept my eyes out the window and not at Daniella I would have noticed. Throughout the entire ride there, I had never noticed a single Pokemon, and after talking about them so much, I can’t believe I never noticed. There I saw it, the first Pokemon I had seen in this area, but there was on little problem. This Pokemon was not down there in the forest, this Pokemon was right next to my window, most probably attempting to attack us. Oh, how right I was.
The brown feathered bird had a long stout beak with malicious red eyes, and it was that same beak that smashed through the window. Covered with the small shards of glass, I sat there paralyzed with fear. The one place I thought would be safe became a place of danger; chaos seemed to be taking over. All I could do was stare, stare at the ferocious bird as it used its powerful wings to create a whirlwind and surround the helicopter. The blast of wind knocked me off my feet as I was blown back and out the other window, knocking me back to my senses as I grabbed for whatever I could.
There I was, barely hanging onto a large rod that was used for landing the helicopter, but it was freezing cold. I could feel the searing pain in my back as the helicopter flew uncontrollably against the winds and I felt like just letting go and ending my misery. It all happened so fast, I lost control of time, that I didn’t notice the bird was right behind me, plotting on which was the best way to kill me. I could hear the screams of Daniella, the panicking melding together with all the pain and memories to create an immense pain. It was all over. Tears began to collect around my eyes as I took my last look at the world, letting go of the bar and falling to my doom. I closed my eyes, I couldn’t bare see what was about to happen, the screams only augmenting to my pain when I felt another blast of wind.
It was that dratted bird again, flapping its wings to most probably make me fall faster, but that wasn’t exactly it. As I opened my eyes, there I was encased in a funnel of wind; he must have wanted to torture me a bit longer. So there I was, basically floating in the middle of the air, when I noticed I wasn’t the only one affected by the winds. The helicopter had been severely damaged and was thrown off course; just looking at it sent a chill down my spine. With a final flap of its wings, the Fearow sent me flying into the helicopter, knocking me out in one hit.
I could see it clearly despite it being a stygian dark night. It seemed to be a canopy, with large roots rising out of the ground above what seemed to be water. It must be a marsh. Small breezes wafted throughout the mossy area as a small toad Pokemon appeared. It’s was a bright green with small pink cheeks. It was clapping it’s its bright yellow hands which complemented its stomach as a bright sword of light appeared. The sword seemed to materialize into an onyx blade engraved with certain symbols. Grabbing the golden hilt, the Politoed seemed to be troubled about something, but it just cleared its mind and jumped into the air to slash through what seemed to be arbitrary walls.
Suddenly, I heard screaming. It was Daniella; she was back on the helicopter. As the painful memories seeped into my train of thought, I began to cower at the thought of having to go through that again as it was being replayed in my memory. I couldn’t bare it any longer, I had to shut out these memories, and so I began to think of my childhood memories. I, still to this day, remember the day I met Delibird, my first Pokemon. I had longed for a Pokemon of my own, but since they are not given out at all in the Oore Region, I had not been able to. I always thought of the typical trainer collecting badges, I wanted that to be me.
I wanted to travel, I wanted to learn new things and most of all, I wanted to make new friends. I had always envied those trainers who actually had the chance to do this and my dream finally came true that day. I had been waking up and getting out of bed when my parents handed me a small sphere into the small palm of my hand and I was overjoyed to actually hold one. I had set out of Phenac City to collect badges and become a Pokemon Master, but to my surprise, there weren’t any gyms at all in the Oore region. That was a big disappointment in my life, maybe even my first one. With my dreams crushed and after running out of supplies and money, I took refuge in Pyrite where I got a grant to study in the field of my choice. From that day on, I was left on the path of becoming a Pokemon researcher.
While lost in thought I began to regain consciousness, feeling something rubbing up against my fingers. As I managed to open my eyes, all I could see was darkness, as if the lights had been turned out and the light had been scared away. After a couple of minutes laying there trying to feel my way around as to find my location, I began to regain my eyesight little by little until I could finally see clearly. Looking around, I could see that I was somewhere in that forest and that it looked even more beautiful in person despite all that had happened. I had managed to sit up to see more clearly when I saw I was laying in a calming lake and what exactly had been nibbling on my hand. It looked like a raggedy brown fish with blue fins and large pink lips and it was swimming in a small pond.
As if awakening from an epiphany, I noticed that it was my own Feebas; its pokeball must have fallen out of my pocket and opened while I fell down here. I had just caught it before this trip, and I wasn’t exactly accustomed to the idea of owning such an impish-looking fish. Owning this fish wasn’t the only thing I noticed at that moment, and it was that I was alone! I tried to get up, but I was still a bit weak from the beating that I had taken from that Fearow. Sitting there in a state of helplessness, I quickly turned around to look at the area and tried to drive away the pain while doing so. All I could see a small dark blue knapsack floating in the water, I had brought with me during the trip and kindly asked the fish next to me to stop nibbling on my hands and to please bring it to me. Although it was a bit of a struggle, Feebas managed to bring the back close enough for me to grab it, and as I opened it, I could see a few of my personal belonging such as my black and white journal and a few sandwiches encased in napkins. I had packed in case of such emergency. There was just one problem.
There, at the bottom of the knapsack was my small silver cell phone and two spherical pokeballs severely damaged. My only form of contact and my only defense against these vicious Pokemon had been destroyed in the incident. I was basically dead right then and there. I could barely even get up, much less walk, and with nothing to protect me I’d easily take another beating from the Pokemon in these parts. All that was left to protect me was Feebas, and it was a bit too dimwitted to even battle. Luckily I hadn’t seen any Pokemon as of yet, apart from that Fearow, so I had been safe while unconscious, but I had to think of a plan to survive in this environment.
There were a few choices other than just sitting where I was and wait to become dinner, and many solutions ran through my mind. I could try to get up and walk around, but that would just make me more prone to be attacked and would take up a lot of my energy that I might need for later on. That’s when it hit me, and it started by noticing there were no other fish but Feebas in the water. I crawled my way to the center of the pond, which was surprisingly not deep at all, to try and protect me a bit more from some of the Pokemon that might come hurdling through the air and surprise me. It wasn’t much, but it was the best that I could do in that current predicament, even though there was still more work to be done.
Next up was protection against those Pokemon that could fly or managed to find their way inside the pond and to me, and so I started to train Feebas with its attacks. Surprisingly, I found out that it wielded two pretty strong attacks- Dragonbreath and Water Pulse. With that covered, I was set, and I rummaged through my knapsack to find a sandwich which I quickly gobbled up in one bite. All this had made me extremely hungry and before I knew it I gobbled up all my sandwiches and was left with no food whatsoever. After I finished eating, I just sat there deep in thought about the whereabouts of Daniella and Roger while Feebas just swam around in circles.
It was soon dark, and the winds made eerie noises as I still lay there in the center of the pond, trying to stay alert. All I could see were trees and bushes, all which circumvented the pond and seemed to create a maze of trees. With all of this haste, I had thought that I had forgotten to feed Feebas when I saw it feeding off plants and most probably microorganisms living in the water. This was just some of the information that I learned from my research on Pokemon, such as what kinds of plants they eat and their natural habitats. Telling from how dark it was, it seemed to be midnight, but I couldn’t be sure because my watch had also been damaged, when it happened.
I had been watching Feebas use its Water Pulse to create small waves in the water to make the water a bit choppy when I heard a noise from some nearby bushes. As I looked toward where I heard it from, I could see nothing, so I made nothing of it when I heard it again. I tried to ignore it again; thinking that it was just my imagination, and turned away to where Feebas was swimming and started to pet it when something jumped out of the bushes and seemed to attach itself onto my head.
With its surprise, I let out a scream and before I knew it, I found myself standing on my feet and managed to get a grip on the Pokemon to get it off my face. That was when I managed to get a good look at what it was. It looked like a large purple bat, except this one had a long tail that looked like a scorpions. Thinking quickly, I ordered Feebas to use Dragonbreath on the flying scorpion. The small brown fish seemed to pucker up its lips as it opened them to release a teal-looking breeze that collided into the face of the Pokemon and knocked it backwards.
To retaliate, the flying scorpion’s claw started to turn into some sort of metallic object as it absorbed minerals from the earth to increase its power. Gliding down, the Gligar hissed as it managed to slash Feebas with its mighty claw and knocked it into some plants, which upon impact, trapped Feebas and didn’t allow it any movement. Using its splash, it managed to jump out of the water, but was pulled back down into the water by the plants. That was when I heard something, rustling in the bushes again.
There, just walking out of the bushes, I could see a trio walking closer to me, but I couldn’t exactly see who it was exactly. Before I knew it, the trio rammed into me and started to have a group hug. It was then that I thought it was Daniella and Roger, but who exactly was the third person? They were overjoyed to see me, and I couldn’t blame them since I was overjoyed to see them as well, but I still couldn’t help but wonder who the third person was. He was tall and slim, with light brown hair and I noticed him talking to the Gligar that I had been fighting. He introduced himself as Andrew, the pilot of the helicopter, and his Gligar, who he returned to his pokeball. It wasn’t such as much an emotional meeting as I thought it would be, but they were frightened so at least I could understand them. It was at that moment that I decided not to tell them of my injuries as not to worry them much more than they already were.
Noticing that they had walked into a lake and almost trampled over Feebas, the trio walked out of the pond and onto dry land, signaling for Robert to follow them when he noticed he was still standing in the same place. Trying to act normal, I grabbed my knapsack and managed to pick up my right leg and tried to place it in front of me as an attempt to walk over, but walking over made me look like a robot and tall they did was stare and look at me like I was weird. Sitting down with my feet still in the lake, I tossed aside my knapsack to see Feebas swim over aimlessly. That was when Daniella and Andrew came over, both of them sitting next to me. I could tell from the look in their faces what the subject of conversation was about to be.
“Robert, about the incident...” she began to say, until I interrupted.
I quickly told her that I was not in the condition to actually speak about what had happened just yet, hinting of my physical condition but luckily they didn’t notice, and she got the message and quickly changed the subject. The next subject dealt with was of our future, how we were to survive in such a place and how we were going to get out of this wretched forest. We had to find somewhere in which we could live, we couldn’t just camp out in the middle of nowhere where we can easily be prey for Pokemon; we had to make a plan. Andrew had that department covered.
“Well, I know we have no idea who we actually are, but we’re stuck here together and have to work together to get out of here. My Gligar here can use its Secret Power to create some sort of haven for us.” Andrew said.
Although it did seem a bit harsh saying “stuck here together” as if we were such bad company, but he was right, we weren’t planning on having to stay in this forest and if we liked it or not we were stuck here together. It was extremely dark before we knew it, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds, leaving us there in total darkness. Thinking quickly, Daniella took her spherical green pokeball into her hand and released a green monkey-esque Pokemon with a large lily pad atop its head. As it raised its red hinged hands, the Lombre’s green lily pad illuminated itself to light the way. Slowly following the group, we walked over to a giant tree overlooking the lake, just a few feet away from where we were before, but Lombre was needed to light the way anyway.
As we reached the tree, Andrew released his Gligar in order to create a secret base atop a tree, but was suddenly stopped in its tracks. Before he knew it, Gligar was struck down by a pillar of flame that came from some random location. Falling down the ground, the Gligar let out a cry as Andrew rushed over to comfort it. It seemed we weren’t alone in this forest, again, and we had to prepare against whatever had attacked us. Looking around, I couldn’t see anything out there, but I did notice Roger, who had been quiet ever since we met. It was then that I saw them. I couldn’t see what they were exactly, but they had menacing red eyes, just like that of the Fearow we had encountered earlier. Their staring eyes made you feel as if they wanted to rip off your skin and eat you up alive, sending a chill down our spines. We quickly huddled into a group, Andrew carrying Gligar in his hands and Lombre standing safely next to Daniella still emitting a radiant green light.
Before we knew it, we found ourselves in the center of the pond, right where I was standing when I met the group again. Feebas swam over by my side as Roger just stood there staring off into space. We asked him if he had any Pokemon we might be able to use against these strangers, but he nervously said that he didn’t own any Pokemon. I then reached to get a pokeball to release another of my Pokemon, but then I remembered that they were damaged and wouldn’t work, plus they were off to the side and going there might’ve been too dangerous. That was when we heard a howl, one so terrifying we basically jumped and before I knew it, was I right by my knapsack. Quickly grabbing a hold of it and then running back to the group, the intruders so to speak were right in our sight.
They were black hounds with bones covering their bodies, with sharp horns protruding their skin on each of their temples. There was a pack of them, about five or six of them, and they quickly spaced out around the lake, completely blocking our escape. I could tell they were the ones that injured Gligar because they had the same exact eyes that I had seen before, but I didn’t think there would be this many of them. We were basically outnumbered, three to six. I tried to release the Pokemon from my other pokeballs, but it was no use, they would release a red light like normal pokeballs, but my Pokemon seemed to be trapped inside.
By this time, Gligar had managed to regain its strength and began to hover next to Andrew- the battle was on! The fly scorpion hovered even higher and shot small bombs of sludge towards all of the Houndoom, but they just used Flamethrower to destroy them all before they hit them. All of the sludge then fell into the water, slowly poisoning the poor Feebas. I quickly grabbed Feebas out of the water, but it wasn’t too much better so I ended up setting it back into the water. Next up was Daniella’s turn, and she had her Lombre use Water Sport, shooting water in the form of a fountain to hit all of the Houndoom at once. This, on the other hand, was effective to slow down the Houndoom, but they quickly countered with Flamethrower to blow it back. I believed it was my turn next, so I ordered Feebas to try using Water Pulse, but it was knocked back by another Flamethrower which also fried Feebas to a crisp in the process. With no Pokemon left, it was all left to Daniella and Andrew, so I just felt like slumping down, but knew I had to support them. Although I tried tending for Feebas, I also kept my eyes on the battle, but it seemed we were losing. Although Lombre and Gligar fought hard, the Houndoom fought even harder to overpower their attacks and soon both Pokemon went down. I couldn’t help but feel so useless.
With both Pokemon returned, they still weren’t going down, both releasing a second wave of Pokemon to fight the hounds. Andrew sent out his yellow turtle with a bright red and white spotted shell, Shuckle, while Daniella sent out her blue rabbit-looking Pokemon with long red ears, Azumarill. Using their best attacks, they were still overpowered by the Houndoom’s Flamethrower. Although these two enthusiastic Pokemon tried their best, they also fell to the powers of the villainous Pokemon. This was their chance; the Houndoom would soon pounce on them and devour them whole. Their glaring eyes seemed to foretell their imminent doom as thy closed in on them, even passing the boundaries of the water to get their meal.
I could feel each other’s fears augmenting to the others, and the Houndoom seemed to feed off of our fear, because they stood there as if taunting us. Looming closer, they were just a few feet away and ready to devour us when something unexpected happened. I could have expected anything, maybe have one of our Pokemon launch into the air to defend us against these creatures, but they were all too tired to protect us any longer, and poor Feebas was just there, staying still and doing nothing. In an instant, red leaves leaving behind sparkles in their path struck all six of the Houndoom, injuring them severely and out of the bushes popped out a small, blue Pokemon with dark spots and a small green bulb on its back. Its own red eyes counteracted those of the Houndoom as it used its vines to tie up their legs and knock them down.
This, however, was temporary because the Houndoom shot another Flamethrower, one so intense that the Bulbasaur was severely burned, but it still had its fighting spirit. It shot another flurry of leaves at the Houndoom, harming them a bit more, but the burns must have gotten to its soul and it soon collapsed to the ground. That was when I noticed, this was our first encounter with a Pokemon with a pure heart, one willing to actually help innocent bystanders instead of just attacking them for no reason at all and that opened up my heart to it. This small creature showed us compassion, and I wasn’t about to just let it die here in front of us, we had to fight back.
Grabbing a hold of Feebas with my left hand and Bulbasaur in my right hand, I stepped forward towards what seemed to be the leader of the pack. It was then and there that I released all my anger and frustrations, those which still tormented me, and it was this action that left me dripping in tears. The Houndoom, of course, had no compassion for this, and just scoffed at my attempt to let them know how we felt. I then stepped forward in a show of defiance, I was not going to be dragged down by these Pokemon, and I wasn’t going to drag myself down to their level. At that moment, the Houndoom seemed furious since it was most probably perceived as a let down to their mighty strength, and so they all released their Flamethrowers, trying to engulf me in their pillars of flame. I myself wouldn’t have minded as long as the Pokemon would have been fine, but then I noticed what I had dragged Daniella and Andrew into and decided what a mistake that was, but luckily I had an eraser to ‘negate’ the mistake I had made.
Suddenly, Feebas was engulfed in a rosy pink color as it created a bright barrier of silver light that seemed to shield us from the hounds flame attacks. Before I knew it, Feebas had floated out of my hand as a flash of white light engulfed the entire area, its rosy color then suddenly changing into a crimson color as it began to change shape. At first it looked like its normal shape, but then it began to get longer, more snake-like. A fan-shaped object sprung from its tail and long lustrous hair hung from the sides of its head. My small feeble Feebas with ragged skin had now changed into a beautiful sea serpent with pink, delicate skin. Floating back to the earth, the Milotic swept down into the water, creating small waves while we were all still in awe. As its skin touched the water, all the poison had been destroyed from the previous battles and it was purified again, allowing other Pokemon to possibly live there.
Using its mystical abilities, Milotic managed to reflect back all of the flamethrowers the hounds managed to throw at her, but that wasn’t its only ability. Its body began to glow a vivid rose color as it sent a blinding light throughout the entire area that somehow seemed to affect the Houndoom. I mean, they looked exactly the same, but they had different expressions, some a lot happier than that of before. All of us were speechless and the Houndoom then ran off into the midnight, as if confused as to where their current location was.
All of then, except for the heartless Roger of course, ran over to Milotic to congratulate it on its efforts and thanking it for its help. Although they weren’t exactly sure about what exactly that had been, they were just glad to know that those Houndoom were finally gone and that they could at least relax for a little while. Sighing, Andrew released his Gligar and politely asked it if it had any energy for a Secret Power, and it did, even though it really didn’t. Milotic lit up its pink body as it lead the way to the tree we were standing in front of before we were rudely interrupted. The fly scorpion then raised both of its claws and opened them up, releasing a wave of electricity which somehow caused vines to combine to form a ladder, but it used up too much energy and Gligar soon fainted.
While Andrew returned Gligar to his pokeball and thanked it, we all walked up atop the tree, which was surprisingly more comfortable than it looked. Its bark was extremely thick so we at least had some space to sleep in, it was better than sleeping on the ground so at least it would do. Tomorrow we were to look for a new home so that we could survive in, which reminded me I had barely eaten the entire day; my stomach rumbling with this thought. Taking one last look of Milotic, who was now sleeping in the pond, and Bulbasaur, nestled in-between my arms, I fell asleep and entered the world of dreams. My last words before I slept were the following.
“Bulbasaur, I will save you.”
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Preview of Next Time:
Chapter 2: Pickin’ up a few friends!
After having such a horrible day, Robert goes out to gather supplies to help out Bulbasaur and the other Pokemon, but his way there he is met up with a strange individual with uncanny powers….
By 2ra
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Authors Note: Well, after posting a few hints around the site my fic has finally arrived to the TPM boards. I am currently working on the second chapter and its summer so I should be able to update around one chapter a week hopefully, maybe two a week if I really get enthusiastic about it, but the chapters are long and take me a few days to write anyways. I hope you enjoy this fan fiction that I have really worked hard on. Wow, it feels so weird to post up another fic since the last one was almost a year ago ^_^
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The luminescence of the sun seemed to engulf the majestic area in its divine light, but do not be fooled, for it only augmented to its beauty and did not displace it. The profuse rosy petals of the delicate blossoms opening up in reaction to the sun, exposing their dazzling beauty in a coquettish manner and from these flowers wafted an exquisite aromatic scent which tantalized the senses. The vicinity had many arbitrary emerald green trees as there were blossoms, some so immense that they could even block sunlight from reaching certain areas. Apart from a various clearings, there were also a few soothing ponds, if only it weren’t for those Pokemon.
I must admit, the chopping and humming noises of this helicopter did make me a bit uneasy, but those Pokemon frightened me to at least some extent. I had to take responsibility for my duties, but they might as well have sentenced me to the electric chair. I was on my way to an unexplored forest southeast of Agate Village in the Oore region, a luscious forest inhabited by vicious Pokemon. Very few people have survived from even entering this forest, and those who manage to escape ended up traumatized for their entire lives. As you can see, I’m both anxious and frightened with this expedition, but why would I be anxious?
It all started about a month ago in Pyrite, just south of our current location. I was at my same old wooden desk in the stereotypical-looking research institute like I always was. That day I was researching the habitats of Farfetch’d and of the location where their special leeks may be found on my pitch-black laptop when it happened. Bursting through my door came a tall man, around his mid forties, with a bald head except for two piles of bushy orange hair on each side of his head. Come to think of it, his hair looked almost like the shape of a magnet, but that’s not important right now. Dressed in his normal white lab coat, he walked over to me and commented on fixing my black bushy hair, giving the “this was an office” excuse. Looking at him straight in the eye with my piercing brown eyes, I think he got the message and backed off. He had bushy hair as well and I didn’t see him combing his hair so I don’t know why I should’ve combed mine because he wanted me to. Noticing I was busy, he quickly got to the point and told me about a tablet excavated near the local colosseum. It depicted an ancient lake with miraculous healing abilities which could solve many of our current problems with disease and such.
While intrigued, he asked me if I would like to take this expedition over near Agate, since he had a workload of papers to work on. I foolishly accepted without knowing of all the details. This elusive lake was in the center of a forest inhabited by savage Pokemon who will not think twice about attacking humans. It was once inhabited by a group of villagers from Agate, who wished to colonize it, but they mysteriously disappeared one day and since then all the Pokemon have done are attack humans. Too bad I had to find out all this information Dr. Abnan “accidentally” forgot to tell us before accepting to go on this expedition. I was informed of all this by Dr. Abnan’s apprentice, Roger, who is accompanying us to observe us. Hopefully, he isn’t as “forgetful” as his mentor though.
Looking out the window, I could see that we were approaching the forest, we were already over it, but not exactly near the center, which was our destination. So that we would have to deal with less of these savage Pokemon, I had instructed the pilot to drop us off near the center where we could easily and quickly take a sample of the lakes water and get back on board so that we could analyze it on our laptops with some of our equipment.
Oh well, at least Daniella was here with me so I wasn’t all alone on this, but I couldn’t help but think of all the dangers that awaited us. Later, I would find out that we should have taken these dangers into more consideration and have planned if something had gone wrong. What a big mistake that was.
I couldn’t help but stare out the windows. How could such a place of beauty be profaned by those Pokemon? It’s not like I’m totally against Pokemon, I mean I have Pokemon of my own and I love and respect them all, but these Pokemon have crossed the line. Why would they just attack humans instead of working together with them? I just had to find out why.
“Robert, are you okay? You seem to be awfully quiet.” Daniella asked.
Waving her hand in front of my face, she managed to get my attention. Daniella wasn’t the kind of person who you got acknowledge to be a researcher. Sometimes I don’t know how she ever managed to be a researcher and get into this profession, but overall she’s a really great person she has her faults just like everyone so I shouldn’t be so quick to judge. As I looked at her, I noticed her beautiful complexion, her magnificent blue eyes and lustrous brown hair past her shoulders. She was wearing the same exact lab coat that I was wearing, the one that is all white, you know the stereotypical one. It was actually the first time I noticed her, and it might have also been my last at this rate.
It was at that moment that it all happened, if only I had kept my eyes out the window and not at Daniella I would have noticed. Throughout the entire ride there, I had never noticed a single Pokemon, and after talking about them so much, I can’t believe I never noticed. There I saw it, the first Pokemon I had seen in this area, but there was on little problem. This Pokemon was not down there in the forest, this Pokemon was right next to my window, most probably attempting to attack us. Oh, how right I was.
The brown feathered bird had a long stout beak with malicious red eyes, and it was that same beak that smashed through the window. Covered with the small shards of glass, I sat there paralyzed with fear. The one place I thought would be safe became a place of danger; chaos seemed to be taking over. All I could do was stare, stare at the ferocious bird as it used its powerful wings to create a whirlwind and surround the helicopter. The blast of wind knocked me off my feet as I was blown back and out the other window, knocking me back to my senses as I grabbed for whatever I could.
There I was, barely hanging onto a large rod that was used for landing the helicopter, but it was freezing cold. I could feel the searing pain in my back as the helicopter flew uncontrollably against the winds and I felt like just letting go and ending my misery. It all happened so fast, I lost control of time, that I didn’t notice the bird was right behind me, plotting on which was the best way to kill me. I could hear the screams of Daniella, the panicking melding together with all the pain and memories to create an immense pain. It was all over. Tears began to collect around my eyes as I took my last look at the world, letting go of the bar and falling to my doom. I closed my eyes, I couldn’t bare see what was about to happen, the screams only augmenting to my pain when I felt another blast of wind.
It was that dratted bird again, flapping its wings to most probably make me fall faster, but that wasn’t exactly it. As I opened my eyes, there I was encased in a funnel of wind; he must have wanted to torture me a bit longer. So there I was, basically floating in the middle of the air, when I noticed I wasn’t the only one affected by the winds. The helicopter had been severely damaged and was thrown off course; just looking at it sent a chill down my spine. With a final flap of its wings, the Fearow sent me flying into the helicopter, knocking me out in one hit.
I could see it clearly despite it being a stygian dark night. It seemed to be a canopy, with large roots rising out of the ground above what seemed to be water. It must be a marsh. Small breezes wafted throughout the mossy area as a small toad Pokemon appeared. It’s was a bright green with small pink cheeks. It was clapping it’s its bright yellow hands which complemented its stomach as a bright sword of light appeared. The sword seemed to materialize into an onyx blade engraved with certain symbols. Grabbing the golden hilt, the Politoed seemed to be troubled about something, but it just cleared its mind and jumped into the air to slash through what seemed to be arbitrary walls.
Suddenly, I heard screaming. It was Daniella; she was back on the helicopter. As the painful memories seeped into my train of thought, I began to cower at the thought of having to go through that again as it was being replayed in my memory. I couldn’t bare it any longer, I had to shut out these memories, and so I began to think of my childhood memories. I, still to this day, remember the day I met Delibird, my first Pokemon. I had longed for a Pokemon of my own, but since they are not given out at all in the Oore Region, I had not been able to. I always thought of the typical trainer collecting badges, I wanted that to be me.
I wanted to travel, I wanted to learn new things and most of all, I wanted to make new friends. I had always envied those trainers who actually had the chance to do this and my dream finally came true that day. I had been waking up and getting out of bed when my parents handed me a small sphere into the small palm of my hand and I was overjoyed to actually hold one. I had set out of Phenac City to collect badges and become a Pokemon Master, but to my surprise, there weren’t any gyms at all in the Oore region. That was a big disappointment in my life, maybe even my first one. With my dreams crushed and after running out of supplies and money, I took refuge in Pyrite where I got a grant to study in the field of my choice. From that day on, I was left on the path of becoming a Pokemon researcher.
While lost in thought I began to regain consciousness, feeling something rubbing up against my fingers. As I managed to open my eyes, all I could see was darkness, as if the lights had been turned out and the light had been scared away. After a couple of minutes laying there trying to feel my way around as to find my location, I began to regain my eyesight little by little until I could finally see clearly. Looking around, I could see that I was somewhere in that forest and that it looked even more beautiful in person despite all that had happened. I had managed to sit up to see more clearly when I saw I was laying in a calming lake and what exactly had been nibbling on my hand. It looked like a raggedy brown fish with blue fins and large pink lips and it was swimming in a small pond.
As if awakening from an epiphany, I noticed that it was my own Feebas; its pokeball must have fallen out of my pocket and opened while I fell down here. I had just caught it before this trip, and I wasn’t exactly accustomed to the idea of owning such an impish-looking fish. Owning this fish wasn’t the only thing I noticed at that moment, and it was that I was alone! I tried to get up, but I was still a bit weak from the beating that I had taken from that Fearow. Sitting there in a state of helplessness, I quickly turned around to look at the area and tried to drive away the pain while doing so. All I could see a small dark blue knapsack floating in the water, I had brought with me during the trip and kindly asked the fish next to me to stop nibbling on my hands and to please bring it to me. Although it was a bit of a struggle, Feebas managed to bring the back close enough for me to grab it, and as I opened it, I could see a few of my personal belonging such as my black and white journal and a few sandwiches encased in napkins. I had packed in case of such emergency. There was just one problem.
There, at the bottom of the knapsack was my small silver cell phone and two spherical pokeballs severely damaged. My only form of contact and my only defense against these vicious Pokemon had been destroyed in the incident. I was basically dead right then and there. I could barely even get up, much less walk, and with nothing to protect me I’d easily take another beating from the Pokemon in these parts. All that was left to protect me was Feebas, and it was a bit too dimwitted to even battle. Luckily I hadn’t seen any Pokemon as of yet, apart from that Fearow, so I had been safe while unconscious, but I had to think of a plan to survive in this environment.
There were a few choices other than just sitting where I was and wait to become dinner, and many solutions ran through my mind. I could try to get up and walk around, but that would just make me more prone to be attacked and would take up a lot of my energy that I might need for later on. That’s when it hit me, and it started by noticing there were no other fish but Feebas in the water. I crawled my way to the center of the pond, which was surprisingly not deep at all, to try and protect me a bit more from some of the Pokemon that might come hurdling through the air and surprise me. It wasn’t much, but it was the best that I could do in that current predicament, even though there was still more work to be done.
Next up was protection against those Pokemon that could fly or managed to find their way inside the pond and to me, and so I started to train Feebas with its attacks. Surprisingly, I found out that it wielded two pretty strong attacks- Dragonbreath and Water Pulse. With that covered, I was set, and I rummaged through my knapsack to find a sandwich which I quickly gobbled up in one bite. All this had made me extremely hungry and before I knew it I gobbled up all my sandwiches and was left with no food whatsoever. After I finished eating, I just sat there deep in thought about the whereabouts of Daniella and Roger while Feebas just swam around in circles.
It was soon dark, and the winds made eerie noises as I still lay there in the center of the pond, trying to stay alert. All I could see were trees and bushes, all which circumvented the pond and seemed to create a maze of trees. With all of this haste, I had thought that I had forgotten to feed Feebas when I saw it feeding off plants and most probably microorganisms living in the water. This was just some of the information that I learned from my research on Pokemon, such as what kinds of plants they eat and their natural habitats. Telling from how dark it was, it seemed to be midnight, but I couldn’t be sure because my watch had also been damaged, when it happened.
I had been watching Feebas use its Water Pulse to create small waves in the water to make the water a bit choppy when I heard a noise from some nearby bushes. As I looked toward where I heard it from, I could see nothing, so I made nothing of it when I heard it again. I tried to ignore it again; thinking that it was just my imagination, and turned away to where Feebas was swimming and started to pet it when something jumped out of the bushes and seemed to attach itself onto my head.
With its surprise, I let out a scream and before I knew it, I found myself standing on my feet and managed to get a grip on the Pokemon to get it off my face. That was when I managed to get a good look at what it was. It looked like a large purple bat, except this one had a long tail that looked like a scorpions. Thinking quickly, I ordered Feebas to use Dragonbreath on the flying scorpion. The small brown fish seemed to pucker up its lips as it opened them to release a teal-looking breeze that collided into the face of the Pokemon and knocked it backwards.
To retaliate, the flying scorpion’s claw started to turn into some sort of metallic object as it absorbed minerals from the earth to increase its power. Gliding down, the Gligar hissed as it managed to slash Feebas with its mighty claw and knocked it into some plants, which upon impact, trapped Feebas and didn’t allow it any movement. Using its splash, it managed to jump out of the water, but was pulled back down into the water by the plants. That was when I heard something, rustling in the bushes again.
There, just walking out of the bushes, I could see a trio walking closer to me, but I couldn’t exactly see who it was exactly. Before I knew it, the trio rammed into me and started to have a group hug. It was then that I thought it was Daniella and Roger, but who exactly was the third person? They were overjoyed to see me, and I couldn’t blame them since I was overjoyed to see them as well, but I still couldn’t help but wonder who the third person was. He was tall and slim, with light brown hair and I noticed him talking to the Gligar that I had been fighting. He introduced himself as Andrew, the pilot of the helicopter, and his Gligar, who he returned to his pokeball. It wasn’t such as much an emotional meeting as I thought it would be, but they were frightened so at least I could understand them. It was at that moment that I decided not to tell them of my injuries as not to worry them much more than they already were.
Noticing that they had walked into a lake and almost trampled over Feebas, the trio walked out of the pond and onto dry land, signaling for Robert to follow them when he noticed he was still standing in the same place. Trying to act normal, I grabbed my knapsack and managed to pick up my right leg and tried to place it in front of me as an attempt to walk over, but walking over made me look like a robot and tall they did was stare and look at me like I was weird. Sitting down with my feet still in the lake, I tossed aside my knapsack to see Feebas swim over aimlessly. That was when Daniella and Andrew came over, both of them sitting next to me. I could tell from the look in their faces what the subject of conversation was about to be.
“Robert, about the incident...” she began to say, until I interrupted.
I quickly told her that I was not in the condition to actually speak about what had happened just yet, hinting of my physical condition but luckily they didn’t notice, and she got the message and quickly changed the subject. The next subject dealt with was of our future, how we were to survive in such a place and how we were going to get out of this wretched forest. We had to find somewhere in which we could live, we couldn’t just camp out in the middle of nowhere where we can easily be prey for Pokemon; we had to make a plan. Andrew had that department covered.
“Well, I know we have no idea who we actually are, but we’re stuck here together and have to work together to get out of here. My Gligar here can use its Secret Power to create some sort of haven for us.” Andrew said.
Although it did seem a bit harsh saying “stuck here together” as if we were such bad company, but he was right, we weren’t planning on having to stay in this forest and if we liked it or not we were stuck here together. It was extremely dark before we knew it, and the moon was hidden behind the clouds, leaving us there in total darkness. Thinking quickly, Daniella took her spherical green pokeball into her hand and released a green monkey-esque Pokemon with a large lily pad atop its head. As it raised its red hinged hands, the Lombre’s green lily pad illuminated itself to light the way. Slowly following the group, we walked over to a giant tree overlooking the lake, just a few feet away from where we were before, but Lombre was needed to light the way anyway.
As we reached the tree, Andrew released his Gligar in order to create a secret base atop a tree, but was suddenly stopped in its tracks. Before he knew it, Gligar was struck down by a pillar of flame that came from some random location. Falling down the ground, the Gligar let out a cry as Andrew rushed over to comfort it. It seemed we weren’t alone in this forest, again, and we had to prepare against whatever had attacked us. Looking around, I couldn’t see anything out there, but I did notice Roger, who had been quiet ever since we met. It was then that I saw them. I couldn’t see what they were exactly, but they had menacing red eyes, just like that of the Fearow we had encountered earlier. Their staring eyes made you feel as if they wanted to rip off your skin and eat you up alive, sending a chill down our spines. We quickly huddled into a group, Andrew carrying Gligar in his hands and Lombre standing safely next to Daniella still emitting a radiant green light.
Before we knew it, we found ourselves in the center of the pond, right where I was standing when I met the group again. Feebas swam over by my side as Roger just stood there staring off into space. We asked him if he had any Pokemon we might be able to use against these strangers, but he nervously said that he didn’t own any Pokemon. I then reached to get a pokeball to release another of my Pokemon, but then I remembered that they were damaged and wouldn’t work, plus they were off to the side and going there might’ve been too dangerous. That was when we heard a howl, one so terrifying we basically jumped and before I knew it, was I right by my knapsack. Quickly grabbing a hold of it and then running back to the group, the intruders so to speak were right in our sight.
They were black hounds with bones covering their bodies, with sharp horns protruding their skin on each of their temples. There was a pack of them, about five or six of them, and they quickly spaced out around the lake, completely blocking our escape. I could tell they were the ones that injured Gligar because they had the same exact eyes that I had seen before, but I didn’t think there would be this many of them. We were basically outnumbered, three to six. I tried to release the Pokemon from my other pokeballs, but it was no use, they would release a red light like normal pokeballs, but my Pokemon seemed to be trapped inside.
By this time, Gligar had managed to regain its strength and began to hover next to Andrew- the battle was on! The fly scorpion hovered even higher and shot small bombs of sludge towards all of the Houndoom, but they just used Flamethrower to destroy them all before they hit them. All of the sludge then fell into the water, slowly poisoning the poor Feebas. I quickly grabbed Feebas out of the water, but it wasn’t too much better so I ended up setting it back into the water. Next up was Daniella’s turn, and she had her Lombre use Water Sport, shooting water in the form of a fountain to hit all of the Houndoom at once. This, on the other hand, was effective to slow down the Houndoom, but they quickly countered with Flamethrower to blow it back. I believed it was my turn next, so I ordered Feebas to try using Water Pulse, but it was knocked back by another Flamethrower which also fried Feebas to a crisp in the process. With no Pokemon left, it was all left to Daniella and Andrew, so I just felt like slumping down, but knew I had to support them. Although I tried tending for Feebas, I also kept my eyes on the battle, but it seemed we were losing. Although Lombre and Gligar fought hard, the Houndoom fought even harder to overpower their attacks and soon both Pokemon went down. I couldn’t help but feel so useless.
With both Pokemon returned, they still weren’t going down, both releasing a second wave of Pokemon to fight the hounds. Andrew sent out his yellow turtle with a bright red and white spotted shell, Shuckle, while Daniella sent out her blue rabbit-looking Pokemon with long red ears, Azumarill. Using their best attacks, they were still overpowered by the Houndoom’s Flamethrower. Although these two enthusiastic Pokemon tried their best, they also fell to the powers of the villainous Pokemon. This was their chance; the Houndoom would soon pounce on them and devour them whole. Their glaring eyes seemed to foretell their imminent doom as thy closed in on them, even passing the boundaries of the water to get their meal.
I could feel each other’s fears augmenting to the others, and the Houndoom seemed to feed off of our fear, because they stood there as if taunting us. Looming closer, they were just a few feet away and ready to devour us when something unexpected happened. I could have expected anything, maybe have one of our Pokemon launch into the air to defend us against these creatures, but they were all too tired to protect us any longer, and poor Feebas was just there, staying still and doing nothing. In an instant, red leaves leaving behind sparkles in their path struck all six of the Houndoom, injuring them severely and out of the bushes popped out a small, blue Pokemon with dark spots and a small green bulb on its back. Its own red eyes counteracted those of the Houndoom as it used its vines to tie up their legs and knock them down.
This, however, was temporary because the Houndoom shot another Flamethrower, one so intense that the Bulbasaur was severely burned, but it still had its fighting spirit. It shot another flurry of leaves at the Houndoom, harming them a bit more, but the burns must have gotten to its soul and it soon collapsed to the ground. That was when I noticed, this was our first encounter with a Pokemon with a pure heart, one willing to actually help innocent bystanders instead of just attacking them for no reason at all and that opened up my heart to it. This small creature showed us compassion, and I wasn’t about to just let it die here in front of us, we had to fight back.
Grabbing a hold of Feebas with my left hand and Bulbasaur in my right hand, I stepped forward towards what seemed to be the leader of the pack. It was then and there that I released all my anger and frustrations, those which still tormented me, and it was this action that left me dripping in tears. The Houndoom, of course, had no compassion for this, and just scoffed at my attempt to let them know how we felt. I then stepped forward in a show of defiance, I was not going to be dragged down by these Pokemon, and I wasn’t going to drag myself down to their level. At that moment, the Houndoom seemed furious since it was most probably perceived as a let down to their mighty strength, and so they all released their Flamethrowers, trying to engulf me in their pillars of flame. I myself wouldn’t have minded as long as the Pokemon would have been fine, but then I noticed what I had dragged Daniella and Andrew into and decided what a mistake that was, but luckily I had an eraser to ‘negate’ the mistake I had made.
Suddenly, Feebas was engulfed in a rosy pink color as it created a bright barrier of silver light that seemed to shield us from the hounds flame attacks. Before I knew it, Feebas had floated out of my hand as a flash of white light engulfed the entire area, its rosy color then suddenly changing into a crimson color as it began to change shape. At first it looked like its normal shape, but then it began to get longer, more snake-like. A fan-shaped object sprung from its tail and long lustrous hair hung from the sides of its head. My small feeble Feebas with ragged skin had now changed into a beautiful sea serpent with pink, delicate skin. Floating back to the earth, the Milotic swept down into the water, creating small waves while we were all still in awe. As its skin touched the water, all the poison had been destroyed from the previous battles and it was purified again, allowing other Pokemon to possibly live there.
Using its mystical abilities, Milotic managed to reflect back all of the flamethrowers the hounds managed to throw at her, but that wasn’t its only ability. Its body began to glow a vivid rose color as it sent a blinding light throughout the entire area that somehow seemed to affect the Houndoom. I mean, they looked exactly the same, but they had different expressions, some a lot happier than that of before. All of us were speechless and the Houndoom then ran off into the midnight, as if confused as to where their current location was.
All of then, except for the heartless Roger of course, ran over to Milotic to congratulate it on its efforts and thanking it for its help. Although they weren’t exactly sure about what exactly that had been, they were just glad to know that those Houndoom were finally gone and that they could at least relax for a little while. Sighing, Andrew released his Gligar and politely asked it if it had any energy for a Secret Power, and it did, even though it really didn’t. Milotic lit up its pink body as it lead the way to the tree we were standing in front of before we were rudely interrupted. The fly scorpion then raised both of its claws and opened them up, releasing a wave of electricity which somehow caused vines to combine to form a ladder, but it used up too much energy and Gligar soon fainted.
While Andrew returned Gligar to his pokeball and thanked it, we all walked up atop the tree, which was surprisingly more comfortable than it looked. Its bark was extremely thick so we at least had some space to sleep in, it was better than sleeping on the ground so at least it would do. Tomorrow we were to look for a new home so that we could survive in, which reminded me I had barely eaten the entire day; my stomach rumbling with this thought. Taking one last look of Milotic, who was now sleeping in the pond, and Bulbasaur, nestled in-between my arms, I fell asleep and entered the world of dreams. My last words before I slept were the following.
“Bulbasaur, I will save you.”
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Preview of Next Time:
Chapter 2: Pickin’ up a few friends!
After having such a horrible day, Robert goes out to gather supplies to help out Bulbasaur and the other Pokemon, but his way there he is met up with a strange individual with uncanny powers….