.: Revenant :.

[Crystal Tears]

*slinks back to fanfiction*

<.< >.>

*awkward wave*

REVENANT

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

Penance
------------------------------------------------

From the safety of Viridian City, people watched smoke rise into the otherwise blue, spotless sky. Murmurs and whispers began to spread as the crowd gathered on the edge of the town, the black plumes were thick and menacing, drifting higher and higher before slowly making their way inland on the ocean breeze. It wouldn’t be long before the entirety of route one was shrouded in darkness.

“What’s happening?” A young nurse had emerged from the pokémon center, concern in her eyes. “What’s going on?”

People began to emerge from the distance – frantic townsfolk who were running as fast as their limbs could carry them. As they drew closer, people of Viridian City could see their wounds. Some only had scratches and scrapes associated with falling over, but others… others had deep gashes and cuts, one woman was carrying her child – a young boy, his entire left arm blackened and blistered by fire, smoke still rising from his singed t-shirt.

“What’s going on?” A native to Vidirian reached out and caught one of those fleeing by the arm– she was much younger then he was, probably just a teenager. Her brown hair smelt of soot and ash, and she was covered in muck. “What happened?”

She slowed and stared at him, perhaps reality hadn’t sunk in until now. She gazed around, confusion and fear swirling in her green irises. She let out a whimper, a tiny gasp of horror and she stared up at him.

“I...” She recalled the terrifying ordeal with astounding clarity. Her limbs shook as she relived whatever had happened, her voice trapped in her throat. “She…”

Gently, he knelt down and stared into her eyes. “Girl, what happened?”


Her tale was a simple one. The day had started off like any other – she was going to go fishing with her father. It wouldn’t have been anything complicated, they would just fish off the edge of the beach, and she would’ve told him about her dreams of becoming a master trainer and venturing off to Cinnabar Island.

She wasn’t sure if he’d approve, but now that seemed like just a stupid thing to worry about. She spoke off how the day had been beautiful, but that something off the coast had caught her attention. A black dot on the horizon, and she had been quick to point it out to her father.

In seconds, their curiosity had turned to dread. As it drew closer, she could make out the orange body of the creature, wings outstretched and catching the updrafts and currents of wind to keep itself high in the sky. It had done one full circle around the town of Pallet before it swooped down.

Her father knocked her to the ground as a shadow rushed over them. She felt the heat of fire hurry past her face, and the slightest twinge of her skin burning before whatever had caused the pain was gone.

As was her father.

He lay dead a fair distance from her, smoke and fire rising from his corpse. She had screamed, and that had seemingly triggered a series of horrible events that had culminated in Pallet Town’s destruction.

An orange dragon landed on the beach, its tail half consumed by a brilliant flame. It hunched over, arching its neck and snarling at the gathering mass as a woman dismounted from its back.

The woman stepped forward, wholly uncaring to the death she had caused on the beach. She had confidence in her stance, wearing a long black coat with a white, raised collar.

“Where’s the Professor?”

Everyone looked at each other, none of them dared move.

But the girl, she had. She ran at the woman, she leapt clean over the dragon’s blazing tail and tried to tackle the one who had murdered her father.


Drawn out of the memory, the girl looked at the kind man. “She… she grabbed me by my throat, she held me at arm’s length. Her hands were gloved, it… hurt…” The girl’s eye broke away. “She stared at me, holding me there for everyone to see…”


The woman stared at the girl; eyes void of any kind emotion, but they also didn’t have the malice in them that she expected. This woman wasn’t a senseless killer or a madman that Kanto Media often painted criminals to be – no, she had thought this all through. She was completely sane, and that frightened the girl even more.

“The only bravery found in this place is from a little girl.” The woman spat the words with acid, glaring back at the populace of Pallet Town. She tossed the girl aside, disregarding the defeated attacker. “Where is the Professor? I won’t ask again.”

The dragon rose up, thicker lines of smoke flushing from its nostrils.

“I’m here,” stepping out from behind those brave enough to still stand before the woman, was an elderly man. He had a stern complexion and grey hair, but he stood with the strength of those far younger then himself. His lab coat was pristine and white, untarnished by dirt, grime or muck.

She stared at him, a small smile playing on her lips. “Hello Professor,”

The girl watched Professor Oak hesitate, shock overcoming his features as he realized who was standing before him.

“Red?” He questioned, barely recognizing the woman.

Her smile stayed, though it held a particular sinister tone to it now. “So you do remember me.”


The girl shook her head, shaking away what happened next. She began to sob, thousands of tears escaping her eyes and pouring down her cheeks as her limbs suddenly became too heavy to move. She leaned against the stranger, trying to banish the pictures from her mind.

“She killed everyone!” The girl cried out, catching people’s attention. “That dragon… monster… thing began lighting everyone on fire! People were screaming and running!” She covered her ears, eyes tightly shut. “I can hear them! Hear it! It rushed up into the sky, leaving the woman there, with Oak… Oh god, it destroyed everything… fire… fire everywhere…”

***

Red stared at the destruction before her with little concern; the screams of innocence fell on deaf ears as she walked through the remains of the flaming town, and she only paused when she reached a house that her charizard had left untouched.

Her old home, something she hadn’t seen or thought about in a decade. Someone had moved in and opted to keep it in its best condition apparently, that or time had been awfully kind to it. It looked sorely out of place now, what with everything else being engulfed in unrelenting flames. Even the Professor’s lab hadn’t been spared from her charizard’s wrath.

“Your mother passed,” Oak’s notably shakier voice broke Red’s train of thought and drew her back to the moment. “I didn’t see you at the funeral.”

“You didn’t look hard enough.” Red replied firmly, leaving no room for argument. She glanced to her side as the massive dragon landed next to her, perhaps he too was reminiscing about the old home. “Burn it.”

Oak wasn’t intimidated easily, he had seen his fair run-ins with various criminal organizations or just bad trainers… but something about the woman standing before him now deeply disturbed him. When she was young, Red had been an ideal trainer candidate – a happy-go-lucky girl that had a love for fire pokémon because they were red, like her eyes.

This woman… she was different. Crimson eyes were like daggers into Oak’s heart, and the messy head of hair that had once blessed the younger Red had been turned into a finely cut and tamed hair as black as night. She had grown into a beautiful, albeit deadly young woman.

“What happened to you?” Oak questioned, horrified by the destruction around him. “Why are you doing this?”

The Professor took a step back as Red smirked and her charizard looked over, eyes pulsating orange. Fire raged behind them like a gruesome backdrop, with the smoke so thick that Pallet Town was cast into darkness.

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

*runs off*

[mattbcl]

Activity in Fanfic! *reads*

*and becomes enraptured soon thereafter*

I must say, I think your writing has been seeing vast improvement over the last year or so. It's refined, more crisp, the dialogue is sharpened and your characterization is fluid. I'm enjoying your style.

As for my concrit? For me, mostly it's in your punctuation. It feels a little off here and there, and creates slightly odd pauses in otherwise well-structured sentences. Nevertheless, it's an entertaining read, and given that this is just the introduction of the story, I couldn't even begin to guess what to look forward to - except to find out exactly what happened to Red to make her so cold. I'm looking forward to seeing more!

[Crystal Tears]

Thanks for the comment ♥ ^^

I think my writing improving because it's taking up a substantial amount of my time now. XD I don't think I go a day without writing something. Thanks for the compliment!

I hope I don't end up disappointing you. I will strive to keep the story going and to keep improving (and probably bug you on msn about grammar XD ♥)!

*tosses another part forward*

REVENANT

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

Judgement
------------------------------------------------

“The Office of Trainer Registry does not-“

“You’re telling me that the OTR didn’t know a thing about one of their greatest prodigy’s whereabouts?” The rainbow haired journalist narrowed her eyes at the ambassador; he had taken quite a beating today at the hands of people like her – people he considered no better than the damn paparazzi. He was tired, irritated and best of all – flustered. This was her chance for the usually mild manner, well dressed representative to slip up and say something she could use.

He glared at her, noting the oddball’s thick-rimmed glasses and strange, dare he say ‘nerdy’ appearance. Apparently the standards for reporting had fallen in the last few years. She stood there with an intensely curious stare, with an oversized green hoodie that was left open to reveal her purple tee with a cartoon shroomish painted on it.

“We knew and still know nothing of her whereabouts. Contraire to what the news will have its viewers believe, The Office of Trainer Registry does not keep tabs on every registered trainer. We are not some magical school of witchcraft, Ms. Kelly – we have no way of tracking a single trainer, let alone the thousands in our databanks.” He frowned, “Trainers can officially report in whenever they like, but that is their own prerogative.” Before she asked, he interrupted her. “And the ‘pokemon master’ known as Red did not check in, not even when she was just starting out. There was nothing to suggest something was amiss until two days ago with the tragedy.”

Pixie-Lee Kelly wasn’t known to give up so easily. Yes, her relative young age and her appearance often made people think she was just some gimmick or a teenager hired by a small-town press, but in the last few years she had proven many wrong. She had been hired by Joint Region Press, a rather notable news company that had its main office in none other but the prestigious Goldenrod Radio Tower. She had broken the news of the Cerulean City Gym scandal, and was the only known photographer to have a picture of the famous Pokemon Tower ghost in Lavender Town.

“Ambassador Torks, what about Red’s intentions? Was there no early signs of her homicidal tendencies?”

His frown turned to a full-blown scowl and he glared at the girl. “None - if there had of been any signs, Professor Oak would’ve informed us and we would’ve acted accordingly.”

“How would of the OTR acted?”

“The Office of Trainer Registry would’ve revoked Red’s license and taken away any and all pokemon at her disposal. Any further restrictions and/or interventions into Red’s life are speculative at best Ms. Kelly and it does no one any good focusing on that now.”

Pixie paused, reading her last note curiously before she looked back up at the Ambassador. It was a sensitive issue, and while many journalists thrived on juicy material, this one in particular might be a way of kicking a hornet’s nest.

“Could this have been motivated by something personal?” She asked against her better judgement.

For a moment, Ambassador Torks looked confused – until it dawned on him what the girl was getting at. His irritation bubbled into anger and he immediately shutdown the hardly formal interview.

“No more questions, Ms. Kelly. I’m a busy man and I don’t need to indulge in wild rumours or conspiracy theories.”

Biting her lip, Pixie hurried after him, stopped only by two large guards that prevented any unauthorized access to the higher-class section of the magnet train.

“Ambassador wait!” She extended her hand into the air, attempting to catch his attention, and was thankful he gave pause. “Is the Office of Trainer Registry doing anything to help fight back against this terrorist?”

Torks nodded. “Rest assured, we have a plan and we will deal with this threat as swiftly as possible.”

With that, he was gone and Pixie was pushed back. She stumbled a bit, narrowly avoiding bumping into a passerby. Now it was her turn to frown, as she had gotten almost nothing out of Torks, nothing he had not already said that was. The dodging of a questionable mark in Red’s history was somewhat brow-raising, but what interested her was that the Ambassador had said that the OTR had a plan.

Still, nothing concrete… meaning there was nothing to report to the boss.

“Damn…” She murmured, pivoting on her heel quickly and exiting the train’s boarding station to the bustling streets of Saffron City.

***

Ambassador Torks hurried to his rather luxurious cabin on the train and took a seat. One of his assistants had already set up his laptop and briefcase, whoever it had been had even gone through the trouble of bringing him a steaming cup of coffee. Had he been in a calm state of mind, he would’ve tried to figure out who had been so kind – but he wasn’t.

An exasperated sigh escaped his lips as he realized just what this all entailed. The entire system that had been in place for decades would need an overhaul. Obviously screening procedures for would-be trainers needed to be far more thorough, and there would be mandatory check-ins… but that was just the tip of the iceberg! Everyone currently registered would need to be re-evaluated, but there was no way to do such a thing, not in a concise and formulated manner.

It would be chaotic, and where would they begin? Who was most at risk? And what right did they have to take away pokemon from trainers who hadn’t committed any crime?

Though the public was demanding reform, Torks doubted that the general populace understood what that really meant. Another long, tired exhale escaped him and he found himself looking at his faint reflection in the cabin window.

A tired man with thick grey hair and a grey beard flecked with black stared back at him. The Ambassador smiled warily, wondering where his youth had gone. Had his job drained everything out of him?

Probably.

His daydream of his lost youth was shattered when his cellphone went off. The Ambassador glared at it for a moment, annoyed at how anyone could dare call when he was reminiscing. Quickly he slid the phone open and held it up to his ear.

“Yes?”

“Ambassador Torks,” Head Director Morwell’s voice was far from pleased, no doubt he had watched the press conference and found something about what Torks had said dissatisfying. “I must admit I had my doubts about sending you to handle the press, but so far you have yet to embarrass yourself or the Board.”

Torks didn’t smile; he had long learnt that there was no pleasing the miserable tyrant known as Tony Morwell. He was much too content being a burden on trainer society and was a firm believer in classism. “How many I help you, Director?”

“Ah yes… let’s cut out the chitchat, the Board has decided that the authorities are far to constrained by rules and regulations to properly look into this matter.” Morwell sounded rather amused by this revelation. He never had much use for the law that wasn’t benefiting himself. “We want to send one of our best to look into these… accusations of a rogue trainer.”

The Ambassador was confused; there was doubt that Red had gone mad? “Sir, there are witnesses stating that Professor Oak himself identified the woman as Red-“

“Panicked citizens are not the most reliable of witnesses, Ambassador.” Grudgingly, Torks noted that Morwell had a point. “And as Red’s file clearly shows, she never showed any signs of any dangerous tendencies. On top of that, Oak is far past his prime, the man was practically a senile geezer. This could just be an imposter – looking to turn us against our best.” There was a pause; perhaps Morwell thought it helped to add effect. “No, I won’t label Red as a rogue trainer until there is concrete proof.”

Torks was in no state of mind to argue with him. Instead, he held back a sharp retort hanging on the edge of his tongue and calmly continued to inquiry about the Director’s plan. “And what would you like me to do?”

“Magnet Train records show as you’ve already boarded, that’s good… I’ve sent for a helicopter to pick you up at Goldenrod.”

The Ambassador grimaced. “Where am I going?”

“To the islands off of Cianwood, you’re going to find the one trainer capable of solving this problem for us.”

Suddenly, the press conference didn’t seem so bad. “No…”

“Oh yes.” Morwell was no doubt grinning. “Oh, and don’t bother reporting back until you’ve found him.”

There was a click as the Director hung up, and then a silence as the Ambassador found himself wearing that scowl he had given Ms. Kelly. What he really wanted to do was to go home and get some rest. But instead a helicopter was going to fly him directly to the chaotic Whirl Islands.

“Could be worse,” Torks muttered, leaning back in his seat. He took comfort in his words. “Things could always be worse.”

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

*flees*

[mattbcl]

Hmm... I'm finding myself on the fence as to whether I should feel sympathetic towards the Ambassador. So far there's no reason not to be, but I'm not sure how to take his attitude. There seems to be a degree of self-satisfaction and entitlement in this character.

I'm also having a hard time figuring out whether I like Pixie-Lee. She fits the stereotype of annoying reporter, but your description also suggests her intent is an honest one. I'm attracted to that sort of reputation in a character, so for you to create one whose motive I trust but whose behavior I hate shows me you're doing very well.

The director, on the other hand, is someone I'm instinctively despising. Sounds to me like he's enjoying putting the squeeze on the ambassador, and I don't like people like that. I see a man who works out at the gym when he's not sitting behind a desk.

[Kumori]

I noticed something; “How would of the OTR acted?”
It should be "How would have the OTR acted?"
I think. Suddenly I feel wrong.

Anyway, I think this is a pretty good fanfic and asdfghjkl I really do hate that director.

[Crystal Tears]

o: Replies! ^_^ Yay!

Actually, as far I as understand Kumori - while you would be right otherwise, because Pixie said "How would of the OTR acted?", it's alright. As that's how she speaks.

So you're not wrong! Don't feel wrong! :3

I'm glad you like the story ^^ ♥

Thank you both for your comments.

REVENANT

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

Conundrum
------------------------------------------------

“Get back ‘ere!”

“Fuck he’s getting away!”

It wasn’t the most common thing to see one of the world’s greatest pokemon trainers on the run. Right now though, Kai Muller was willing to make an exception. There were times to be brave – to stand your ground and hold the line, as it were. But at this very moment, being brave would go hand in hand with being incredibly stupid.

He wasn’t immune to bullets, after all.

“Houndoom get ‘im!”

Brilliant – now there was a dog after him. Kai glanced over his shoulder, barely able to see the black beast in the darkness of the cave. He could hear the houndoom though, it’s heavy panting and occasional snarl as it closed in. It was by chance that Kai happened to catch a glimpse of its sleek, muscular body propelling itself off the right wall and down towards him.

Kai leapt onto a boulder just few feet from him and threw himself backwards; swinging his arm and turning make his elbow crash into the side of the pokemon’s head. The snarling of the canine was cut off as it yelped and tumbled to the ground, world spinning and a distinct migraine forming.


It glared up, eyes catching the light and reflecting it in the most menacing of manners. Its prey was a man with shaggy cut, somewhat spikey brown hair, wearing a thin brown jacket that still dripped with residue of the rain out outside.

The prey stood there for a brief second, long enough for the houndoom to catch the invigorating scent of fear before he turned and ran.

Despite being dizzy, the hellhound rose to its feet and resumed the chase.

“Roast his ass!” Its trainer called from behind, and houndoom was more than pleased to oblige.

It opened its jaws and blasted out a stream of fire. Instantly the cave was lit up for everyone to see – moss and due clung to the sides of the watery cavern and a few wild zubats immediately vacated the area, screeching like mad as the fire roared past them.

Houndoom missed its prey though, as he dived around a corner farther up ahead.


Smoke was rising from the leather jacket; a portion of his shoulder had been blackened by the near-miss flamethrower. Kai didn’t even bother getting to his feet – he grabbed a pokeball from his belt and whipped it forward, thankful when a pokemon that dwarfed most in this cave appear with a low, monotonous groan.

To say that blastoise was a big turtle would be an understatement. She towered above everyone, with a body built of muscle and hardened skin, and a scarred and dented shell that was tougher than concrete. It took her a moment to realize that the houndoom that had literally bounded around the corner was after Kai and wasn’t fleeing from something.

Houndoom stopped dead in its track, shock on its face as its gleaming eyes became fixated on the massive tortoise blocking the way.

Two massive bone jets protruding from the water-type’s shoulders shifted and aimed at the bewildered hellhound.

Kai smirked, and playfully waved to his would be pursuer. “Bye.”

On that note, pressurized water roared out from the jets and blasted houndoom straight in the face. The creature went careening backwards, spiralling through the air before it crashed into a wall, held there until the stream of liquid subsided and let the poor beast slide to the floor.

Then its master and his friend came around the corner.

Kai hadn’t managed to get a real good look at his attackers until now and still it wasn’t the best. There were darkly dressed, easily blending in with the shadows of this cave system. He knew they had guns though, as enough bullets had nearly tagged him.

Thankfully the emergence of Hammer had apparently stunned them.

Her shoulder jets moved - one for each pursuer and then she fired again. They too went flying back, garbled screams and cries of pain muffled and drowned out by the vast amount of water forcing them backwards.

Hurrying to his feet, Kai pointed towards a boulder to the side of the tunnel.

“Block our path!”

Hammer snorted, letting out another groan as she rose up onto her hide legs and stomped towards the rock. Kai could hear at least one of the men beginning to come to, and if there were more of them in here – at least this would slow them down.

Blastoise dug her claws into the rock and pulled, slowly dragging the boulder into place.

With the path blocked, Hammer looked at her trainer.

“You do come in handy,” he smirked at her, feeling the ground quake a bit as she dropped back down onto all fours. “Come on; bet there’s more where they came from.”

With a flash Hammer was returned to her pokeball and Kai was alone in the tunnel. He knew the way out though; the days he had spent venturing down in these caves had bestowed him with that knowledge.

***

Heavy winds, violent storm surges and enough lightning to power all of Kanto had forced Ambassador Torks’ helicopter to land in Cianwood City. Comparably the storm here was much lighter, coming in the form of a light downpour and the occasional rumble of thunder – but out there where the island chain was, it looked like the end of the world.

It didn’t take long for the pilot to return from the local pokemon center. Despite most of his face being hidden behind aviator glasses he refused to take off and a thick helmet with a microphone, Torks could see the displeasure on his face.

“They say this is the worst storm they’ve seen in some time.” He spoke as he opened the sliding hatch of the helicopter and stepped inside. He promptly shut it and the Ambassador found himself in the quiet of the sheltered aircraft cabin. “You sure Morwell didn’t send anyone else?”

Torks gave the pilot a strange look. “He never made a point of mentioning it, why?”

As he sat down in a small seat opposite of the older man, he shrugged. “Locals mentioned that some people came through here about a day ago, said they needed to get to the islands.”

The Ambassador immediately had a bad feeling. “Did they say why?”

“Nope.” Finally the pilot removed his glasses and revealed a young man’s face with brown eyes. “Apparently there was a group of them, took two fishing boats to get them all to the chain. Weird lookin’ too, all dressed in black trench coats… some were even wearing gasmasks.”

Torks gave the pilot a peculiar look. “Gasmasks?”

He nodded. “So said the locals.”

“We need to get to that island.”

The pilot gave Tork a wary look. “This bird can’t fly in those winds; guess the Director didn’t just the weather reports before sending me. But I figured you’d say something like that.” He reached into his pocket and pulled a small piece of paper from it. “This is the address of one of the fishermen who took them to the islands. Costs 300 for a round trip, but he’ll wait as long as you want.”

Smiling, the elder of the two took the paper and nodded to his friend. “Thanks…?”

“Jordan Wilks.” The pilot mocked a salute, “I’ll be waiting here. Give me a call if you need me.”

“Will do.” The Ambassador slid the door open and covered his face as a gust of wind blew sand and grit towards him. Reluctantly he looked back at Jordan as he stepped out. “Wish me luck.”

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

*vanishes*

[Mew Master]

*sets trap for CT*

Okay, since you've managed to drag me back.. lets get to it shall we?

I'm not the best for punctuation and grammar but...

Penance: You... really confused me here with the characters introduced, but no real definition given to them. From the start you have the girl with the injured boy, who was apparently with her father when Red showed up, then... it just kind of confuses me throughout here. It's not nessicarily your pacing, just how your seperating the characters into individual identities.

Though I did like the part about "she wasn't insane, she knew exactly what she was doing." a nice rather menacing touch.

Judgement: Interesting. Adding two new characters, the reporter and the ambassodor breaks it up a bit from your previous formula in writting I think. It grounds it down to more of a mystery than I thought it was going to be. Very nice touches with hints and questions being dropped in this chapter, I expect the reporter will either find something incriminating or be eliminated by...

Conundrum: The guys in this chapter. Srsly, you and your secret cults (;D). Kai's... interesting, makes me wonder why he's highly considered, when all he seems to do this chapter is run. And run. And use a Blastoise to block a cave.

Overall I'll wait patiently for you to continue working on this and see where it goes.

Get to work.

[Crystal Tears]

Ahhh! Sorry for the late update! >.<

Sorry the beginning confused you a bit Denny, I'll try to be more clear in the future. ^^;

Thanks so much for taking the time to reading and reply. :3

REVENANT

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

Deceit
------------------------------------------------

Cutting through Diglett Cave had paid off – it had turned a trip that could’ve taken longer than a week into a journey of only two days. The result was Pixie-Lee had made it to Pallet Town in record time.

Purchasing that bike had been a wise decision, apparently.

It was strange to see Viridian City police in Pallet Town, not that there was a big difference in appearance, mind you, but it was just so alien. The small beachside residence was gone - replaced by smoldering wreckage and death. The bodies had been gathered and neatly laid near the beach - blankets covering them.

Some were children.

Pixie wondered if they were just accidents - had Red really meant to murder children? She'd have to find out; killing adults was one thing - but children?

That’s when Pixie saw the girl on the beach. Barely a teenager, she was just standing there - facing the ocean, unmoving save for the wind playing with her clothes. She was eerie in a way, like a ghost. Pixie didn’t doubt that she had lost someone, maybe even on that beach...

What would you look like, if you lost everything?

Pixie decided not to approach her, best not to twist the knife already in the girl's heart.

Besides, there was rubble to go through! In particular - Oak's scorched lab.

Dressed in different yet equally dorky clothing, Pixie shifted the backpack slung over her shoulder a bit as she approached the half burned down, drenched lab. Apparently there had been pokemon inside when Red had attacked – and none of them had made it out. As babies, it was likely they had no idea what was going on. Strangely enough, while some of the surviving aids said they hadn’t seen or heard any of the baby pokemon – neither the firemen nor the police could confirm that they had found any remains. Witnesses say Red burnt down the entire town, yet had she gone out of her way to avoid torching newborn pokemon?

Pixie had far too many questions and not enough answers. She frowned as she tentatively stepped past the police tap and into the scene. There was far too much for them to go through to notice her right away – maybe if she was lucky she’d find something worth the front page.

Though that seemed rather unlikely – though the front wall of the lab had survived, the door had been blasted off probably with fire. Inside, high-tech machines were burnt out, busted and charred. Fire had consumed the roof, the book shelves, and most of the once white floor. Lee instantly started snapping photos of anything of interest, stepping past the entrance; she strode to the back – where Professor Oak would’ve given new trainers their pokemon.

The equipment was beyond repair – Red’s charizard must’ve tore it apart before torching it as there was evidence of claws and teeth in the metal sheets meant to protect the fragile gears inside. A desk to the side – probably Oak’s personal workstation was also smashed, though Pixie noted the lack of fire.

Narrowing her eyes, the journalist looked around. Everything else had been torched, even the machinery that had been smashed had also suffered charizard’s terrible blaze… yet this tiny section of the building hadn’t. The dark wood table that probably cost a fortune had been cracked in half, the drawers were thrown everywhere, papers scattered and while some were singed… those appeared to be more burnt from their surroundings then a deliberate attempt.

Nearing the table, Pixie snapped as many photos as she could before she knelt down and began shuffling through the files on the floor.

She didn’t have enough time to go through them all – so she did the next best thing.

She shoved all the file folders and the papers into her bag.

“Red was looking for something…” She murmured to herself, stopped as her eyes fell upon a picture of Professor Oak. The picture had a bit of wear and tear on it, but not from the fire. It was placed neatly in a silver frame, and showed him with a smile on his face, next to a grinning grandson with messy brown hair and…

“Red?” Pixie questioned, the girl in the picture fit the description of the trainer when she was younger but… she looked unhappy, uncomfortable… While Kai had his grandfather’s arm around him in a friendly hug, Red was at least three feet away from the duo, clinging to a baby charmander.

The journalist frowned, brushing some of her multicoloured bangs from her face; she put the picture in the bag before she stopped.

“Wait…” She frowned, pulling it out again and look at the table in the background. “Same desk, but…”

Professor Oak’s personal laptop was in the picture, sitting on the desk neatly. Pixie hadn’t seen a laptop since she entered, and there definitely wasn’t one here now. Desktops yes, there had been tons, but that laptop was definitely missing.

“So…” Pixie slowly stood, glancing around what was left of the lab before she hurried for a broken window and hopped back outside. “It wasn’t just senseless destruction after all…”

***

“I gave you a simple mission,” the masculine voice coming through the phone made everyone in the tunnel on edge. Under their masks, the men and women assigned to that mission were grimacing, shifting uncomfortably as they stood and listened to their belittlement after reporting their failure. “All you had to do was dispose of Kai Muller… instead you’ve been blindly wandering around those tunnels for days.”

“I take responsibility sir,” One of the henchmen stepped forward. “I almost had him in the lower tunnels, but he defeated my houndoom with his blastoise and then attacked me and my partner.”

“And what is your name?”

“Silvan, sir.”

“Silvan… You’ve been promoted to captain.”

Shock ran through the new captain, he hadn’t expected any sort of reward, let alone a promotion for his failure. “Sir?”

“Captain Silvan, take me off speaker.”

Following orders, he did so. He took the phone from his previous commander, switched off speaker and brought the phone up to his ear. “Sir?”

“Your new orders are as followed: dispose of your former commanding officer and then fallback to the contingency plan. Is that understood?”

Silvan glanced at Captain Williams from inside his helm, and then slowly slid his hand down to the pistol resting in its holster. He had done it in such a manner that apparently no one had taken notice – including his target. “Of course sir and after that?”

“There’s already a chopper on route to pick your team up. ETA is a half hour… don’t fail me again Silvan.”

“Yes sir.”

As he hung up the phone, everyone looked at him. Including Captain Williams, who had crossed his arms in a show of annoyance - no doubt he was displeased with these new turn of events. He never did like anyone else talking to the boss.

Well, at least he wouldn’t be unhappy for long.

Silvan whipped his gun out of his holster before anyone could blink; he had it up and pointed at Williams’s head a second after that. He allowed the former captain a moment of thought before he fired, the bullet neatly piercing the man’s skull right between the eyes.

He dropped down dead, causing everyone else to look at Silvan.

“We’re falling back to the contingency. You know your teams, split up, arm the charges, and then meet back at the designated pick up. Anyone not there in a half hour is left to rot out here, understood?”

A chorus of voices responded: “Yes sir!”

Silvan nodded to them. “Move out.”

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

*evades trap, flees*

[Crystal Tears]

Amazingly, I had not forgotten about this. Just lost inspiration on it for a while.

It dawned on me today that I wanted to write it again. So here's the last chapter I had before I lost my interest for a bit.

REVENANT

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

Unearth
------------------------------------------------

It wasn’t part of Kai’s plan to run smack into an entire squad of these dark-garbed bastards, but apparently that’s how his luck was working out. As soon as they had seen him, they opened fire. Kai scarcely believed he had managed to get to cover without any bullet tagging him.

Ah well, evil people weren’t known for being particularly good shots. Television had taught him that, though at this moment there were enough bullets smashing into the boulder he had ducked behind to make up for their fact.

“Alright,” Kai grumbled, picking another pokeball from his belt. “Plan C it is.”

The device opened with a pop and then a flash of light before a pokemon as dark as the cavern he was trapped in appeared.

A black, slinky fox was staring at the young man, long ears facing front until a gunshot went off and the umbreon immediately looked in that direction. Red eyes glanced at Kai, mildly annoyed, and he couldn’t help but smile.

“Just like old times?”

Umbreon snorted.

“Right,” Kai peered over the rock’s edge and then slunk back down. “I need a gun.”

The fox gave him a look, something akin to what a mother would give to her son had he gone unprepared to school.

“Don’t give me that,” he shot back. “I came here lookin’ for lugia, not a gunfight. I’ve found fuck all for the former and I literally ran into the latter.”

Still unimpressed, umbreon took a quick look at the attackers. She glanced back at her trainer before she vanished. Not even a shadow remained of the beautiful pokemon, and if she was leaving paw prints or some sort of trail in this cave, Kai couldn’t tell.


Umbreon was slinking up the battlefield; she weaved her way through the rocks and strange attackers – not enjoying their scent. It was riddled with sweat, anger, fear and gunpowder. A rather unattractive mix for anyone, but coupled with the fact that there was six of them – the scent was nearly jarring.

She paused when she spotted one of the strangers hunched over next to a large, rectangular device with a cylinder on top of it. The pokemon’s natural curiosity made her move closer, but she was also motivated by the holstered gun the man had hanging from his waist. Her ears twitched as she slowly phased back into view and scurried into the shadows, careful to avoid notice from the others.

This contraption the man was working on smelt… odd. She could pick up the faintest traces of chemicals, though which ones the fox didn’t know. It didn’t matter; the machine or whatever he was working on wasn’t a threat, not right now anyways, so now she was free and clear to snatch the gun.

Gently she nipped at the belt holding the gun safely in the holster, chewing on it as best she could until it snapped. The enemy was still none the wiser, muttering about how he was always the one who had to arm the bombs and…

Umbreon’s ears dropped suddenly and she looked petrified.

Bomb? She knew what that was. They had to get out of here – or they’d both die!

She snatched the gun and ran back across the way, vanishing wholly from sight again with her prize.

There was little time.

* * *

How Torks was supposed to tell Morwell that he failed at finding Kai was beyond the rain drenched Ambassador. The storm had only gotten worse, resulting in the trip that he had embarked on taking a fair bit longer then it should’ve. A trip to the Whirl Islands on a good day could take a few hours, with the storm at its previous strength – six or seven hours. But it had turned into a nightmarish ordeal of at least twenty-four hours. Torks wasn’t sure if it had taken any longer because he hadn’t seen the sky in what seemed like weeks.

Landing on the largest of the islands was near disastrous, and while the ship’s Captain – a grey-bearded fellow who insisted Torks call him ‘Captain Yeti’ promised the Ambassador that they’d land alive… Torks couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy with the old seaman.

Admittedly, they were alive when they anchored near the coast of the isle, but Torks himself wasn’t faring well. His stomach was in all sorts of knots due to the rough seas, and lightning was streaking over head – making dizzying patterns in the swirling, black sky overhead.

“Well?” Yeti stepped up beside him, grinning like a devil. “We’re here!”

Torks glared at him. “Yes, we are.” The Ambassador sighed, “Do you know the caves?”

“Well enough,” the Captain shrugged. He was dressed in what Torks could only imagine a fly-fisherman would wear. He had rubber overalls overtop his plaid red shirt and heavy boots that were presumably waterproof. “But, aren’t ya lookin’ for the Kai kid?”

“He’s not a kid.” The Ambassador shot back, ignoring how his stomach quivered. “He’s-“

“Younger than I am,” Yeti interrupted, and lightly gestured forward. “Ain’t that him there?”

Torks looked up.

Running out of the entrance of the cave was a drench, bruised young man who had an umbreon hot on his heels. In his hand was a gun and he blindly fired back a few shots at unseen pursers before he spotted the two looking at him in confusion.


“Run!” Kai cried to them, returning umbreon to her pokeball. His run turned into a sprint and he yelled at them again. “Get back to the boat! Get the hell off the island!”

The boatman hesitated, giving the trainer a strange look. Kai had no doubt he probably looked as far away from a pokemon master that was possible – but he didn’t have time to care about appearance. He was relieved to see the other man turn and run, causing the fisherman to follow.

There was a dull rumble, then one that was a bit closer, a third one on the other side of the island and then –

The beach they had been standing on exploded. Sand shot up into the air, wet clumps flying everywhere before the ground heaved, like something underneath was taking one massive breath. Then it all collapsed a brief flash of white light and fire escaping before the rising smoke and dust cloud blocked their vision.

Kai had leapt onto the boat just in time; he grabbed a hold of the railing and held on. His eyes slammed shut as a shockwave from the explosion smashed into his back, and then he pulled himself over, falling onto the soaked decked.

Yeti’s eyes widen. “Hold on!” He called as he ran inside to pilot the ship. He slammed his large fist down on the button to raise the anchor and tried to ignore the alarm going off that was warning him of water’s new current.

Kai clung to the side of the ship, watching as the boat they were on began to be dragged towards where the cave used to be. The trainer was well aware of the dangers. If the current didn’t drag them under, the boat might hit whatever remained of the cave and sink. He grimaced, eyes flicking to the other man, the one who obviously wasn’t a part of this ship crew. He looked familiar and rather well-dressed for an exploration into the Whirl Islands, especially while a storm was present.

“Are you alright?”

The man, who was frantically clinging to the railing next to him glared. “No!” Torks roared, thunder booming to apparently cement his point. “Who the hell would be alright in this situation?!”

Kai couldn’t help but smile at the exclamation. “We’ll be fine!”

“How in God’s name could you know that?!”

The ship groaned, its bow beginning to turn away from the current. Over the crash of the sea and storm, Kai could just hear the engines roaring to life. They weren’t trying to fight the current, not completely. But the captain had directed the boat to the left, propelling it away from the forming whirlpool.

Over the PA of the vessel, the Captain sounded quite confident. “Don’t worry boys! I’ll get ya back to Cianwood!”

Kai laughed, much to Torks’ dismay. “See? We’ll be fine.”

The Ambassador decided he didn’t like Kai very much.

And at hearing Yeti’s giddy laughter over the comm. system again, he also came to the conclusion that this ship was piloted by an absolute lunatic.

It’d be along ride home.

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