Nice battle scene, Sem^^
It's cool watching Fida's development as a trainer under Tara's guidance.
It's cool watching Fida's development as a trainer under Tara's guidance.
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Without Love.
- Thread starter Sem
- Start date
).Oh wow, this is great! I love your style of writing. You're also good at describing battles; that's pretty hard to do clearly in my opinion. Though, in chapter 6, the apricot/pokeball-making man's name is spelled Kurt, not Curt. XD Pretty trivial but I thought I'd point it out anyway. Awesome story, can't wait for the next chapter!
-Chapter 10-
"Time to restock!" Tara threw open her arms as the girls walked into the popular and famous department store of Goldenrod, part of a chain known simply as 'The Department Store'.
The duo needed to stock up on general supplies, since a lot of them were used during their time in the Ilex Forest and their two month period in Goldenrod. They told themselves they'd buy only the essentials.
-------
"Gods, I can't believe we spent five hours in there," Tara moaned as she was stuffing one last item into her already stuffed bag.
"Did we even need all of this?" Fida asked as she peered into her bag that was noticeably heavier now.
"Nope!" Tara smiled big as she counted what remained of her money. "But hey! We did get the stuff we actually did need too, like those Pokéballs for you… oh hey…" she glared down at an object she forgot to put away. "Here, hold the cash for me," she handed Fida a big wad of a money.
"You think I'll catch anything on the next part of our trip?" Fida asked as she put the money in her pocket absentmindedly.
"I dunno, you certainly might," Tara answered with a grimace as she fought with the zipper.
"What do you think it'll be?"
"You'd know better than me, I have no idea what evil beasties lurk beyond Goldenrod," she laughed. Finally the teen was able to zip her bag closed and looked up at the sky the sun shining down on her. Fida saw how the sunlight lit up the other girl's face and thought it was beautiful, like she was some angelic being, or a star. "Still mid-afternoon, might as well finished these little lunches we got."
The girls found a bench and sat down, pulling out and unwrapping the unfinished sandwiches that they had purchased a bit earlier. Once they had finished they boarded a bus that took them to the Goldenrod suburbs, where they could walk until they reached Route 35.
The bus they boarded was hot and stuffy, though the girls were saved due to Elvia's cooling presence. Tara used her PokéDex and told Fida various things about certain Pokémon as she browsed through it. This made the trip on the bus go by more quickly, and was certainly better than trying to sleep.
For the rest of the time Fida shifted through the extra items in her bag. She put her Pokéballs in a pocket that allowed her easy access when she needed them. She put medicinal items in one pouch and other items in another.
The bus soon slowed down and stopped again, this time reaching the stop where the girls wanted to get off. Its doors squeaked open and allowed the girls and a few other people off .
"I'll get that for you ma'am," Tara said to an older woman. "Hold this for me," Tara told Fida, giving her the PokéDex. Fida nodded, slipping it into her pocket as she slung the strap of her pack over her shoulder and followed Tara off.
The girls were surrounded by houses, though the city was far off and the air smelled cleaner. It was actually late in the afternoon now, they would be much farther had their restocking stop not turned into a shopping day. Tara checked her Pokétch to see where to go and then the girls head off in that direction.
-------
"We should make it to the route by tonight and then we'll scout out a campsite by the beach, how's that sound?" Tara asked.
"Great!" Fida answered excitedly; she'd never been to the beach before, and two months ago upon entering Goldenrod was the first time she had even seen the ocean.
The girls walked on through streets and roads, past houses and other forms of residence. The sun sailed over the sky and sunk under the horizon, making the sky purple in the fading light.
"Further on the route splits," Tara began. "We can choose to go north to Ecruteak City or to Violet City," she said, sounding casual, though she eyed Fida carefully for her reaction.
"I don't want go to Violet," Fida shuddered.
Tara closed her eyes. "You know, kid. You tell me a lot of things, but you've not told me what it is you're running from."
There was a long pause.
"It's my parents…" Fida began.
"Ah, well," Tara started, trying to handle the conversation gently. "every kid thinks they have the most awful parents on earth, why are you so different?"
"I don't think I have the most awful parents…" Fida answered. "I know I have the most awful parents…"
"How's that?"
"… They just are…" Fida started. "They never treated me right. They were always mean and angry and they never cared about me or even each other!" Tara listened silently.
"They never did one nice thing for me, ever. To them I was like an annoying bug, or something that needed to not be heard or seen!" Fida sighed. "…They would hit me… they would hurt me… sometimes they wouldn't let me eat. If they were angry with me they'd lock me in my room for days, allowed to come out only once or twice a day for bathroom breaks… They didn't care about my school and they disliked any of the teachers that talked nicely about me. They never let me have friends over and they never let me go over to other people's houses. They!... They were… awful!" Fida breathed deeply and whipped away a tear.
There was more silence as the girls walked on.
"Wow," Tara exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. She almost felt sorry for bringing up the subject, but in her mind she knew it was good for Fida to vent about - she obviously needed to. "Those are some pretty awful parents, no wonder you ran away."
"Yeah…" Fida agreed, calming down and staring at her feet as she walked alongside Tara. Elvia hovered closer to her friend.
"You like this better than being at home then?" Tara asked. "I know we really haven't had trouble yet, but dangerous things can happen. That whole deal with Amaro back in Union Cave? That could've gone very differently."
"Yeah, I know it can be dangerous. There's always stories on the news about trainers having accidents or dying," Fida replied, looking up at Tara with her gray eyes. "But, I think that I was in as much danger there as I am here," she told her, and she had a point. "I miss my school, and I miss my classmates I guess, but I'm happy right now, and I wasn't when I was in Violet."
"You're a smart girl, but I've told you that before already so you should know by now," Tara chuckled. "What is it that you're looking for then? Have you found it?"
"What?" Fida looked up at Tara.
"Well, you left home not only because you had monsters to call parents, but specifically because you weren't getting something there that you wanted, or needed. So basically," Tara looked down at Fida and met her gaze. "What is it you want?"
Fida faced forward again. She hadn't thought about it that much actually. "I think…" she chose her words. "what I want is… to stay free like I am right now, and… to not have to be afraid, and…" Fida searched through her feelings. "And to love," she stated. "and to be loved... that's all I want."
"Mmm…" Tara nodded. "You got a good heart, you know that? Not too many people have that."
"You do," Fida said quite honestly. If it had not been for Tara, Fida would have surely starved.
"Me? Muku would disagree," she teased. "You're different, dear. VERY different. You're very… pure. Don't ever let anyone take that away from you, or tell you it's bad," the older girl told her crossly, looking very serious.
"I won't," Fida answered, taken aback by Tara's sudden stern tone.
"Don't let yourself be corrupted like the rest of the people on this rock we call earth." Tara said with a flattened and tired voice, here eyes half closed in what seemed like boredom or irritation. Fida noticed that Muku appeared the same way; she found it funny how they were always linked, like they were always feeling the same thing. Tara had told her many times before that she and Elvia were the same way.
"And you! Elvia!" Tara said. "You better always be taking care of this here girl, especially when I'm not around."
Elvia glided out before Tara and nodded, assuring her.
"Why are you so protective of me, Tara?" Fida asked.
"Because like I said, you're a good kid and something worth saving. I'd kill for you, Fida," she said blatantly. This was the first time Tara had really spoken like this in front of Fida, revealing herself like this. "I don't think for a second that I wouldn't."
Fida immediately turned her head and looked down; she had never had anyone say something like that to her. It would be terrible for Tara to have to kill anyway, but nonetheless it made her feel very much loved.
Tara said nothing more as they continued walking, her thoughts seemed to be far off.
It was dark now; the midnight blue of darkness had taken hold of the sky. They had just passed the last row of houses and were now in an area that was under construction.
"Give me the damn ball now, kid!" came a coarse shout. Tara looked up towards the direction of the voice. Some scuffling was heard and then a thump, like someone had fallen.
The girls rushed around an oncoming corner in order to see what was going on. There under the light of a lamp not far away the girls saw a man standing next to a boy on the ground. The man's back was turned away from the girls. They saw him reach down and shove his hand into one of the boy's back pockets, pulling out the Pokéball from within.
The man chuckled as he twirled the ball in his hand. "This'll sell for a pretty penny on the market, see? Make me a nice bundle o' dough. But…" he paused. "You shouldn't have given me all that trouble."
Tara fumed silently, and Fida noticed. The young girl felt a great deal of sudden terror and tried to stop Tara, but she was unable to.
"I'll give you trouble if that's what you want," Tara yelled and walked forward. As if on cue the ball was ripped from the man's hand with psychic power, given back to the surprised boy who had sprawled over onto his back, and was then pushed back several feet, a safe distance away from the man.
"Wha?" he twisted his head around, brow furrowed as he focused on the teen.
"Look, tough guy. I'm sure you'd love to go back to stealing things from little boys and whatnot, but I can't let you do that. Get out of here," Tara stood firm. Fida stood a few feet behind her looking very unsure and meek.
"Heh, look here, tough girl," he turned around fully, revealing that he had a pistol in one hand. "Stay out of my business," he fired the weapon off into the nearby woods to make his point. He was rather stocky in shape, and his features were dark.
Tara stood firm and narrowed her eyes.
"Not budging, eh? Have it your way then," he motioned over to the other corner and a small group of men came walking out, each of them bearing a weapon of some sort. By now the boy had fled in the confusion, and there was no chance that the men would find him, not that night at least.
"Can't exactly let you go so you can run to the police, that wouldn't be good for us," he continued. "And you've let my prize escape with that kid! I wonder if that thing you got there is valuable?" he nodded to the Mime Jr..
"You're not getting me or him!" Tara shouted.
"What about her, she got anything good on her?" the man nodded towards Fida this time.
"So much as breathe in her air-space and that will be the last thing you ever do." Tara spat.
"Get her!" the man motioned towards the girls, tired of all the talking. The group rushed forward. Fida blinked and in the split second her eyes were closed she saw a bright flash and a loud crack. When she reopened them two men were already on the ground motionless, victims of a powerful Thunder attack from Muku.
More men were thrown through the air with Psychic. A gun was fired, but a Reflect protected the girls from harm.
"Annoying kid," the leader grunted, throwing a Pokéball and releasing a Houndoom.
Tara gritted her teeth, the Fire-type growled as it neared them, hairs along its body standing on end. Muku stood before them with his arms raised, ready to unleash an attack. The remaining men neared them as well, and the men thrown by psychic were getting up and making their way back over as well.
"Run, Fida, into the woods!" Tara pushed Fida ahead of her and the girls rushed into the trees.
"No running! Get ‘em, Houndoom!" they heard the man shout behind them.
"Run faster!" Tara urged. Outrunning a Houndoom wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world, Tara realized, and she mentally kicked herself for getting Fida into this.
After a few minutes they could hear an extra set of feet running behind them at a quicker pace. Fida looked back and saw the glimmer of the Houndoom's horns in the darkness, and they could hear its breathing as its large paws beat against the ground in pursuit of the girls.
They broke into a small clearing and ran to the nearest tree at the other side and turned around. Fida placed herself off to the side of the pine with Tara in front waiting for the Fire-type to come into the clearing.
"Keep going, Fida!" Tara insisted before turning to face their enemy. Fida didn't want to leave Tara behind, even though she knew she should run. Fear gripped all her senses now, and she ignored Elvia's tugging. Her hands gripped the bark of the tree as she stared wide-eyed.
The canine walked slowly into the open, large foot pads making soft thumps on the ground with each step. It bared its death and growled, releasing a small puff of flame into the night air. Then, without any warning, it jumped towards the girls maw agape.
A singled bolt of lightning hit the dog mid-air and sent it whining as it crashed into the ground before them. A Shadow Ball attack pushed the creature far back and into a tree, away from the girls.
"You may have gotten my men, but I'm the toughest there is, girly. C'mon," he motioned to his Houndoom. "you're not losing to them," the man grumbled as he stepped out from the tree line. "Dark Pulse!" he shouted coldly, clearly all he wanted was some sort of revenge for Tara's intervening.
A stream of darkness was spewed out of the Houndoom's mouth, and energy that reacted strangely - the mere sight of it made Fida queasy.
"Light Screen!" Tara countered.
"Faint Attack!" the man rebutted. The Houndoom fell into the darkness around it and appeared right beside Tara and Muku. The Light Screen successfully protected them from the front, but Muku was vulnerable from the side. "Now!"
Fida covered her eyes, though the awful sounds of flesh being ripped from bone would never leave her memory, nor would the screams.
The man stepped forward.
"Tara!" Fida shouted.
The older girl was in an angry rage and kicked the Houndoom hard in the ribs, Fida heard a crack. Houndoom yowled and released the small Psychic-type from his jaws. It barked fiercely at Tara, but was struck again in the same area - the kick caused the Dark Pokémon to fall onto its side, badly injure. Tara limped as fumbled around for another Pokéball, running as best she could at the man, who simply pushed her back into the tree.
"TARA!" Fida screamed even louder.
"Don't worry about me!" Tara managed to shouted back, though her face was ghostly white. Fida did her best not to look at Muku, but look she did. He wasn't moving. Fida felt her stomach lurch and her senses go into a fog.
"Oh, you should worry about her," The man butt in.
"Just run!" Tara turned to face Fida, who unknowingly had tears streaming down her face. "Go!"
Finally, Fida snapped back and obeyed Tara. She turned and began to run even though everything told her to stay behind.
"Shut up, you!"
There was a loud bang that reverberated for what seemed like ages through the forest, and then an endless silence. Fida felt like she was running in slow motion.
"Get her!"
Fida felt Elvia unleash a strong Shadow Ball and the Houndoom, knocking it out for good as it struggled to stand. She never looked back, she just ran as she felt the fog return to suffocate her thoughts.
-------
The sound of labored gasps and running echoed through an otherwise silent night. The cold light of the moon touched the tops of a seemingly endless sea of trees.
"Get back here!"
She ran on, fighting tears that refused to cease their siege upon her young eyes. Tears were nothing new to her; she should be used to them by now. How long did she dare think her happy life would last?
"Hey, cheer up. You can travel with me!"
Nothing ever seemed to turn out right for her. Some foul force in the universe refused to let her be content for more than a little while.
"Don't you run away from me, girl!"
She still ran. Why? She did not know, but running was all that she had done for a while now, and it seemed that it wouldn't stop soon.
"You will learn your place, brat!"
Still fighting against the hand that she had been dealt.
"Oh you'll love being a Pokémon trainer, come on, I'll help you."
It could have turned out so right.
"Hey, I want you to know that I'm your friend - there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
So why didn't it?
"Just run! Go!"
"Shut up, you!"
*BANG*
"Get her!"
Finally she cried out; she had tripped and came crashing to the ground. She sniffled once, checking to see that she was all right. She was, though her ankle hurt slightly, but then again so did the rest of her body, running for so long. The girl looked over her shoulder and saw that she had tripped over a root. Immediately, she glanced the way that she had come, and then sighed in relief to find that no one was there. Not that she expected for there to be, she lost them a while ago, but it made her feel better now that she had checked anyway Even though no one was around she dragged herself into the bushes, resting against a tree to catch her breath. Elvia floated down and cuddled her, her eyes full of concern. She held Elvia close to her as she huddled against the tree.
"For something you desire, a price must be paid."
"Make it go away, Elvia," she sobbed. "Make it go away like you always do…"
The young girl was instantly surrounded by a protective sphere, protecting her from nothing physical, only her fears.
"Time to restock!" Tara threw open her arms as the girls walked into the popular and famous department store of Goldenrod, part of a chain known simply as 'The Department Store'.
The duo needed to stock up on general supplies, since a lot of them were used during their time in the Ilex Forest and their two month period in Goldenrod. They told themselves they'd buy only the essentials.
-------
"Gods, I can't believe we spent five hours in there," Tara moaned as she was stuffing one last item into her already stuffed bag.
"Did we even need all of this?" Fida asked as she peered into her bag that was noticeably heavier now.
"Nope!" Tara smiled big as she counted what remained of her money. "But hey! We did get the stuff we actually did need too, like those Pokéballs for you… oh hey…" she glared down at an object she forgot to put away. "Here, hold the cash for me," she handed Fida a big wad of a money.
"You think I'll catch anything on the next part of our trip?" Fida asked as she put the money in her pocket absentmindedly.
"I dunno, you certainly might," Tara answered with a grimace as she fought with the zipper.
"What do you think it'll be?"
"You'd know better than me, I have no idea what evil beasties lurk beyond Goldenrod," she laughed. Finally the teen was able to zip her bag closed and looked up at the sky the sun shining down on her. Fida saw how the sunlight lit up the other girl's face and thought it was beautiful, like she was some angelic being, or a star. "Still mid-afternoon, might as well finished these little lunches we got."
The girls found a bench and sat down, pulling out and unwrapping the unfinished sandwiches that they had purchased a bit earlier. Once they had finished they boarded a bus that took them to the Goldenrod suburbs, where they could walk until they reached Route 35.
The bus they boarded was hot and stuffy, though the girls were saved due to Elvia's cooling presence. Tara used her PokéDex and told Fida various things about certain Pokémon as she browsed through it. This made the trip on the bus go by more quickly, and was certainly better than trying to sleep.
For the rest of the time Fida shifted through the extra items in her bag. She put her Pokéballs in a pocket that allowed her easy access when she needed them. She put medicinal items in one pouch and other items in another.
The bus soon slowed down and stopped again, this time reaching the stop where the girls wanted to get off. Its doors squeaked open and allowed the girls and a few other people off .
"I'll get that for you ma'am," Tara said to an older woman. "Hold this for me," Tara told Fida, giving her the PokéDex. Fida nodded, slipping it into her pocket as she slung the strap of her pack over her shoulder and followed Tara off.
The girls were surrounded by houses, though the city was far off and the air smelled cleaner. It was actually late in the afternoon now, they would be much farther had their restocking stop not turned into a shopping day. Tara checked her Pokétch to see where to go and then the girls head off in that direction.
-------
"We should make it to the route by tonight and then we'll scout out a campsite by the beach, how's that sound?" Tara asked.
"Great!" Fida answered excitedly; she'd never been to the beach before, and two months ago upon entering Goldenrod was the first time she had even seen the ocean.
The girls walked on through streets and roads, past houses and other forms of residence. The sun sailed over the sky and sunk under the horizon, making the sky purple in the fading light.
"Further on the route splits," Tara began. "We can choose to go north to Ecruteak City or to Violet City," she said, sounding casual, though she eyed Fida carefully for her reaction.
"I don't want go to Violet," Fida shuddered.
Tara closed her eyes. "You know, kid. You tell me a lot of things, but you've not told me what it is you're running from."
There was a long pause.
"It's my parents…" Fida began.
"Ah, well," Tara started, trying to handle the conversation gently. "every kid thinks they have the most awful parents on earth, why are you so different?"
"I don't think I have the most awful parents…" Fida answered. "I know I have the most awful parents…"
"How's that?"
"… They just are…" Fida started. "They never treated me right. They were always mean and angry and they never cared about me or even each other!" Tara listened silently.
"They never did one nice thing for me, ever. To them I was like an annoying bug, or something that needed to not be heard or seen!" Fida sighed. "…They would hit me… they would hurt me… sometimes they wouldn't let me eat. If they were angry with me they'd lock me in my room for days, allowed to come out only once or twice a day for bathroom breaks… They didn't care about my school and they disliked any of the teachers that talked nicely about me. They never let me have friends over and they never let me go over to other people's houses. They!... They were… awful!" Fida breathed deeply and whipped away a tear.
There was more silence as the girls walked on.
"Wow," Tara exclaimed, raising her eyebrows. She almost felt sorry for bringing up the subject, but in her mind she knew it was good for Fida to vent about - she obviously needed to. "Those are some pretty awful parents, no wonder you ran away."
"Yeah…" Fida agreed, calming down and staring at her feet as she walked alongside Tara. Elvia hovered closer to her friend.
"You like this better than being at home then?" Tara asked. "I know we really haven't had trouble yet, but dangerous things can happen. That whole deal with Amaro back in Union Cave? That could've gone very differently."
"Yeah, I know it can be dangerous. There's always stories on the news about trainers having accidents or dying," Fida replied, looking up at Tara with her gray eyes. "But, I think that I was in as much danger there as I am here," she told her, and she had a point. "I miss my school, and I miss my classmates I guess, but I'm happy right now, and I wasn't when I was in Violet."
"You're a smart girl, but I've told you that before already so you should know by now," Tara chuckled. "What is it that you're looking for then? Have you found it?"
"What?" Fida looked up at Tara.
"Well, you left home not only because you had monsters to call parents, but specifically because you weren't getting something there that you wanted, or needed. So basically," Tara looked down at Fida and met her gaze. "What is it you want?"
Fida faced forward again. She hadn't thought about it that much actually. "I think…" she chose her words. "what I want is… to stay free like I am right now, and… to not have to be afraid, and…" Fida searched through her feelings. "And to love," she stated. "and to be loved... that's all I want."
"Mmm…" Tara nodded. "You got a good heart, you know that? Not too many people have that."
"You do," Fida said quite honestly. If it had not been for Tara, Fida would have surely starved.
"Me? Muku would disagree," she teased. "You're different, dear. VERY different. You're very… pure. Don't ever let anyone take that away from you, or tell you it's bad," the older girl told her crossly, looking very serious.
"I won't," Fida answered, taken aback by Tara's sudden stern tone.
"Don't let yourself be corrupted like the rest of the people on this rock we call earth." Tara said with a flattened and tired voice, here eyes half closed in what seemed like boredom or irritation. Fida noticed that Muku appeared the same way; she found it funny how they were always linked, like they were always feeling the same thing. Tara had told her many times before that she and Elvia were the same way.
"And you! Elvia!" Tara said. "You better always be taking care of this here girl, especially when I'm not around."
Elvia glided out before Tara and nodded, assuring her.
"Why are you so protective of me, Tara?" Fida asked.
"Because like I said, you're a good kid and something worth saving. I'd kill for you, Fida," she said blatantly. This was the first time Tara had really spoken like this in front of Fida, revealing herself like this. "I don't think for a second that I wouldn't."
Fida immediately turned her head and looked down; she had never had anyone say something like that to her. It would be terrible for Tara to have to kill anyway, but nonetheless it made her feel very much loved.
Tara said nothing more as they continued walking, her thoughts seemed to be far off.
It was dark now; the midnight blue of darkness had taken hold of the sky. They had just passed the last row of houses and were now in an area that was under construction.
"Give me the damn ball now, kid!" came a coarse shout. Tara looked up towards the direction of the voice. Some scuffling was heard and then a thump, like someone had fallen.
The girls rushed around an oncoming corner in order to see what was going on. There under the light of a lamp not far away the girls saw a man standing next to a boy on the ground. The man's back was turned away from the girls. They saw him reach down and shove his hand into one of the boy's back pockets, pulling out the Pokéball from within.
The man chuckled as he twirled the ball in his hand. "This'll sell for a pretty penny on the market, see? Make me a nice bundle o' dough. But…" he paused. "You shouldn't have given me all that trouble."
Tara fumed silently, and Fida noticed. The young girl felt a great deal of sudden terror and tried to stop Tara, but she was unable to.
"I'll give you trouble if that's what you want," Tara yelled and walked forward. As if on cue the ball was ripped from the man's hand with psychic power, given back to the surprised boy who had sprawled over onto his back, and was then pushed back several feet, a safe distance away from the man.
"Wha?" he twisted his head around, brow furrowed as he focused on the teen.
"Look, tough guy. I'm sure you'd love to go back to stealing things from little boys and whatnot, but I can't let you do that. Get out of here," Tara stood firm. Fida stood a few feet behind her looking very unsure and meek.
"Heh, look here, tough girl," he turned around fully, revealing that he had a pistol in one hand. "Stay out of my business," he fired the weapon off into the nearby woods to make his point. He was rather stocky in shape, and his features were dark.
Tara stood firm and narrowed her eyes.
"Not budging, eh? Have it your way then," he motioned over to the other corner and a small group of men came walking out, each of them bearing a weapon of some sort. By now the boy had fled in the confusion, and there was no chance that the men would find him, not that night at least.
"Can't exactly let you go so you can run to the police, that wouldn't be good for us," he continued. "And you've let my prize escape with that kid! I wonder if that thing you got there is valuable?" he nodded to the Mime Jr..
"You're not getting me or him!" Tara shouted.
"What about her, she got anything good on her?" the man nodded towards Fida this time.
"So much as breathe in her air-space and that will be the last thing you ever do." Tara spat.
"Get her!" the man motioned towards the girls, tired of all the talking. The group rushed forward. Fida blinked and in the split second her eyes were closed she saw a bright flash and a loud crack. When she reopened them two men were already on the ground motionless, victims of a powerful Thunder attack from Muku.
More men were thrown through the air with Psychic. A gun was fired, but a Reflect protected the girls from harm.
"Annoying kid," the leader grunted, throwing a Pokéball and releasing a Houndoom.
Tara gritted her teeth, the Fire-type growled as it neared them, hairs along its body standing on end. Muku stood before them with his arms raised, ready to unleash an attack. The remaining men neared them as well, and the men thrown by psychic were getting up and making their way back over as well.
"Run, Fida, into the woods!" Tara pushed Fida ahead of her and the girls rushed into the trees.
"No running! Get ‘em, Houndoom!" they heard the man shout behind them.
"Run faster!" Tara urged. Outrunning a Houndoom wouldn't be the easiest thing in the world, Tara realized, and she mentally kicked herself for getting Fida into this.
After a few minutes they could hear an extra set of feet running behind them at a quicker pace. Fida looked back and saw the glimmer of the Houndoom's horns in the darkness, and they could hear its breathing as its large paws beat against the ground in pursuit of the girls.
They broke into a small clearing and ran to the nearest tree at the other side and turned around. Fida placed herself off to the side of the pine with Tara in front waiting for the Fire-type to come into the clearing.
"Keep going, Fida!" Tara insisted before turning to face their enemy. Fida didn't want to leave Tara behind, even though she knew she should run. Fear gripped all her senses now, and she ignored Elvia's tugging. Her hands gripped the bark of the tree as she stared wide-eyed.
The canine walked slowly into the open, large foot pads making soft thumps on the ground with each step. It bared its death and growled, releasing a small puff of flame into the night air. Then, without any warning, it jumped towards the girls maw agape.
A singled bolt of lightning hit the dog mid-air and sent it whining as it crashed into the ground before them. A Shadow Ball attack pushed the creature far back and into a tree, away from the girls.
"You may have gotten my men, but I'm the toughest there is, girly. C'mon," he motioned to his Houndoom. "you're not losing to them," the man grumbled as he stepped out from the tree line. "Dark Pulse!" he shouted coldly, clearly all he wanted was some sort of revenge for Tara's intervening.
A stream of darkness was spewed out of the Houndoom's mouth, and energy that reacted strangely - the mere sight of it made Fida queasy.
"Light Screen!" Tara countered.
"Faint Attack!" the man rebutted. The Houndoom fell into the darkness around it and appeared right beside Tara and Muku. The Light Screen successfully protected them from the front, but Muku was vulnerable from the side. "Now!"
Fida covered her eyes, though the awful sounds of flesh being ripped from bone would never leave her memory, nor would the screams.
The man stepped forward.
"Tara!" Fida shouted.
The older girl was in an angry rage and kicked the Houndoom hard in the ribs, Fida heard a crack. Houndoom yowled and released the small Psychic-type from his jaws. It barked fiercely at Tara, but was struck again in the same area - the kick caused the Dark Pokémon to fall onto its side, badly injure. Tara limped as fumbled around for another Pokéball, running as best she could at the man, who simply pushed her back into the tree.
"TARA!" Fida screamed even louder.
"Don't worry about me!" Tara managed to shouted back, though her face was ghostly white. Fida did her best not to look at Muku, but look she did. He wasn't moving. Fida felt her stomach lurch and her senses go into a fog.
"Oh, you should worry about her," The man butt in.
"Just run!" Tara turned to face Fida, who unknowingly had tears streaming down her face. "Go!"
Finally, Fida snapped back and obeyed Tara. She turned and began to run even though everything told her to stay behind.
"Shut up, you!"
There was a loud bang that reverberated for what seemed like ages through the forest, and then an endless silence. Fida felt like she was running in slow motion.
"Get her!"
Fida felt Elvia unleash a strong Shadow Ball and the Houndoom, knocking it out for good as it struggled to stand. She never looked back, she just ran as she felt the fog return to suffocate her thoughts.
-------
The sound of labored gasps and running echoed through an otherwise silent night. The cold light of the moon touched the tops of a seemingly endless sea of trees.
"Get back here!"
She ran on, fighting tears that refused to cease their siege upon her young eyes. Tears were nothing new to her; she should be used to them by now. How long did she dare think her happy life would last?
"Hey, cheer up. You can travel with me!"
Nothing ever seemed to turn out right for her. Some foul force in the universe refused to let her be content for more than a little while.
"Don't you run away from me, girl!"
She still ran. Why? She did not know, but running was all that she had done for a while now, and it seemed that it wouldn't stop soon.
"You will learn your place, brat!"
Still fighting against the hand that she had been dealt.
"Oh you'll love being a Pokémon trainer, come on, I'll help you."
It could have turned out so right.
"Hey, I want you to know that I'm your friend - there's nothing I wouldn't do for you."
So why didn't it?
"Just run! Go!"
"Shut up, you!"
*BANG*
"Get her!"
Finally she cried out; she had tripped and came crashing to the ground. She sniffled once, checking to see that she was all right. She was, though her ankle hurt slightly, but then again so did the rest of her body, running for so long. The girl looked over her shoulder and saw that she had tripped over a root. Immediately, she glanced the way that she had come, and then sighed in relief to find that no one was there. Not that she expected for there to be, she lost them a while ago, but it made her feel better now that she had checked anyway Even though no one was around she dragged herself into the bushes, resting against a tree to catch her breath. Elvia floated down and cuddled her, her eyes full of concern. She held Elvia close to her as she huddled against the tree.
"For something you desire, a price must be paid."
"Make it go away, Elvia," she sobbed. "Make it go away like you always do…"
The young girl was instantly surrounded by a protective sphere, protecting her from nothing physical, only her fears.
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Shiny Motley
2016 Singles Football
Wow. That was... that was AWESOME, Sem. I just loved that chapter. Very nice, and... scary? Suspenseful? Anyways, I really enjoyed it.
And poor Fida, having such aweful parents when she, herself, is so... kind and nice.
And poor Fida, having such aweful parents when she, herself, is so... kind and nice.
This was great and I'm now in more suspense than before. I can't wait to see what happens next. I hope Tara and Fida will be okay.
Sem, did that black market Seller/theif Shoot Tara? I'm not sure.
Using a Houndoom attack people reminds me of pokemon heroes, in which the old man said an evil Trainer used as Kabutops and Aerodactyl to attack people.
"For what you want most, there is a price you must pay."
What Fida wants most:Freedom
The Price she must pay for it:Tara
I'm guessing. >>
Using a Houndoom attack people reminds me of pokemon heroes, in which the old man said an evil Trainer used as Kabutops and Aerodactyl to attack people.
"For what you want most, there is a price you must pay."
What Fida wants most:Freedom
The Price she must pay for it:Tara
I'm guessing. >>
-Chapter 11-
The eyes. They were everywhere, cold and hungry. Fida could see them watching her as she ran, ready to strike, ready to kill.
She heard footsteps - was it him?
She felt alone. Elvia? Where was Elvia? Fida looked around but was unable to see her.
The eyes were getting near her, and the man as well, she could imagine the gun in his hand with his awful Houndoom following behind.
"We're going to get you, girl…" said her mother.
"No escape this time…" echoed her father.
"Elvia!" Fida screamed. The girl was in a cold sweat, and her heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest. Her eyes were wide as she stared into her lap before immediately darting around.
There were no eyes, only trees. There was no man, there was no Houndoom, only silence. There was no sound in those woods, and all seemed somber.
She felt a nuzzle on her cheek and she shot a glance in panic, but it was only Elvia. The Ghost-type looked at her trainer with large, concerned eyes.
Fida sighed in relief, turning her attention to the sky, or what she could see of it. It was still dark. She didn't know how long she had been asleep - could not have been long or she would be in the clutches of that man.
"L-let's get going, Elvia," Fida whispered as she looked around to make sure everything was clear. No Gastly-eyes, guns, or parents in sight: she was good for now.
Fida stayed as hidden as she could while she walked and Elvia stayed close, ready to guard Fida from anything and everything. Fida herself felt dazed still, like she was only half conscious. There was also a constant ringing in her ears and in her head; it had been there since the gun had fired. Elvia was making sure to be very alert, instead of allowing herself to become dazed as well. Misdreavus fed on strong emotions, so she literally was what she ate, which meant she had to be extra careful.
"Tara will find us and she'll lead us out of this forest, Elvia," Fida said in a whisper.
Elvia remained silent, pretending to be preoccupied with scanning the trees around them. She was not holding onto the hope that Tara was alive, for there was no hope to grasp. In the seconds after attacking the Houndoom, Elvia had saw the man as he aimed the gun at Tara. She had seen him pull the trigger.
The duo continued on for some time, occasionally stopping to listen for any signs of their pursuers.
An hour passed and still the night wore on, unwilling to relinquish its grip on the forest and Fida's mind.
Fida may have been unable to believe in Tara's demise, but she subconsciously knew she would be alone through this trip through the forest. She knew it would be best to leave the woods as quickly as possible. She was following the North Star, knowing that north would lead her to the nearest city: Ecruteak.
"Want to float up and see how far we have left to go, Elvia?" Fida suggested as she sat down on a rock to rest her feet, she had several blisters on them by that point.
Elvia nodded and hovered up through the trees and peered out over the branches. She could see a break a few miles ahead, signifying where the route they should be on crossed their path. She flew up higher, miles and miles ahead she saw the soft glow of a city. They could be there by this time tomorrow if they kept up this pace.
As Fida waited for Elvia to return she sat silently and patiently on the rock. She heard a noise from far off that sounded like a howl. The Houndoom had found where she had slept and was back on their trail.
A twig snapped nearby. She could very faintly hear shouts coming from where the howl sounded.
The bush rustled.
Fida instinctively reached for a ball from on her belt and kept her hand on it.
Elvia returned and sent Fida an image of how far they had left.
Fida nodded nervously. "Let's hurry, they're coming this way."
The duo quickened their pace and there were times where Elvia used her power to levitate Fida over rough terrain. She tried not to do this too often; she wanted to conserve her strength.
The howls were closer and closer each time they sounded, they were catching them up fast.
After half an hour the noises were only a couple hundred yards behind them. The duo ran for around fifteen more minutes until they made it to the route.
Though Fida was relieved to be out of the forest for now, she felt very exposed. The noises were very close now and a strange noise was heard coming from the woods along with howls and shouts.
The girl and her ghost soon learned that the strange noises were in fact engines belonging to motorbikes.
Multiple bikes ripped through the forest and flew out onto the route, followed by a few more.
"Found you at last," the leader from before said as his still injured though still standing Houndoom joined him at his side; something had probably been given to the Fire-type to help it stand through the injuries it had received.
"J-just stay away!" Fida yelled back. Her heart had started racing again, and she couldn't stop shaking. placed herself defensively in front of Fida.
The men all chuckled.
"Oh, look, she wants to play!" the man taunted Elvia. "I'll play with you, hun." Houndoom stepped forward. "But my boys wanna play first. Get her!" his light voice turned deep quickly, obviously not entirely up for games.
The bikes roared and five of them raced towards Fida, the men had their arms outstretched, ready to grab her off her feet.
Elvia yelled as one bike was stopped instantly with Psychic, the man was thrown forward several yards and into the side of a large rock. There was a loud and sickly crack that could be heard even over the roar of the engines.
Another bike leapt into the air but was hit by a Thunderbolt, causing the gas tank to explode and threw the driver fell to the ground, injured from the blast and the fall.
"She's got some bite, boss," one of the remaining three noted cautiously.
The leader growled and gritted his teeth at the loss of one man and the incapacitation of another. "Flamethrower, Houndoom!"
The canine inhaled deeply before opening his mouth, an orange glow could be seen from deep inside his throat, as if its maw was the gate to Hell. A jet of fire exploded from the Houndoom's mouth, red-hot flames raced through the air ready to burn.
The flames met up with Elvia's Protect and were reflected off into random directions where they died away. While the attacks were being executed the leader ordered the men to rush in. Elvia noticed them just in time to keep her Protect up and she held it in order to keep Fida safe. The men battered against the shield with a variety of blunt objects.
They yelled in frustration and Fida screamed, flinching into herself.
Elvia lost concentration for a one moment, only a moment, but it was enough for the Protect to shatter.
Fida screamed again, having been hit with something.
Elvia screeched as her eyes blazed with psychic power, pushing back the men within a three meter radius of the duo. A Shadow Ball made another bike explode, killing the rider. If Elvia was holding back before, she certainly wasn't now. She was determined to destroy anything that dared threaten her friend.
Fida held her arm and stood as close to Elvia as she could, though she was even more frightened now, not even looking coherent as she looked wildly about, breathing rapidly. This was worse than anything she could have imagined. Part of her actually wished she could be home at this moment. She wanted Tara with her so much right now. The thought of the teen sent her mind racing with what had occurred earlier that night. The more she thought about it, the more her fear turned into anger.
Her eyes became clear, and she focused on the man. He was the one that had taken Tara from her, the one person she cared about the most. That man had killed her, and for what? A Pokémon? Money? Fida's anger boiled into rage. She breathed more rapidly through her nose, her tiny hands balled into fists at her sides as tears of fury formed in her eyes.
She didn't just want him to go away, she realized. She hated him. Fida wanted him to pay.
Elvia was sharing her trainer's thoughts exactly, and was gladly going to turn herself into an incarnation of Fida's hatred.
Another Thunderbolt shocked a man to his knees and another Psychic sent one flying.
The remaining men backed up, wary now. More damage had been done than expected.
"I don't care about her Pokémon, idiots!" the leader snarled. "Kill her!"
The group looked at each other briefly before pulling firearms out from their belts and pants and opened fire on the duo.
Elvia put up another Protect, knowing that it would not fail this time, and indeed, the bullets were deflected off of the bubble. With no chance of breaking through the men ceased fire.
"Listen, girly," The man started with a beyond-irate tone. "If you don't want to see your Pokémon ripped to shreds you'll stop right now," he threatened throatily.
The thought of that caused Fida to waver, but she stood firm nonetheless, silent as she stared at him.
"Hmph." There were two quick flashes of white light and two Sneasel appeared by the Houndoom.
"Get rid of the ghost, then get the girl," he ordered the three.
The Sneasel dashed forward immediately, claws outstretched and out behind them as they swiftly. The Houndoom ran off and around to the side hoping to catch Elvia off guard.
A Shadow Ball was lobbed at one Sneasel, sending it back, and the other got hit by Will-O-Wisp, giving it a nasty burn. Elvia glared at the two, ready to smite the two with a Thunderbolt when she felt the teeth of the third Dark-type sink into her body, causing her to cry out. The Houndoom violently shook its head from side to side, disorienting Elvia.
She was able to escape by releasing a burst of electricity, but had only moments to gather herself before the Sneasel attacked again, but it wasn't enough time and Elvia took two Faint Attacks.
Powerful wind blew threw the area, pushing the three pokémon back. There was a glint in Elvia's eyes as the Ominous Wind faded and she moved with more speed than before. She fired three Thunderbolts at a fast rate; one Sneasel and the Houndoom were hit, but the second sneasel managed to dodge and came at Elvia with an Ice Punch.
She veered off to the side, barely dodging the attack and then retaliated with Confuse Ray.
"Agility, Sneasel! Dark Pulse, Houndoom!"
The dizzied Sneasel snapped out of its confused state in an instant, seeming too focused on its task to be affected by such an attack, and used Agility along with the other Sneasel. A long stream of dark matter spewed forth from Houndoom's mouth, the Sneasel ran along either side of the attack; claws extended and glowing with the power of Shadow Claw.
Elvia rose high above the ground, avoiding the Dark Pulse and one Shadow Claw. The other Sneasel jumped high into the air after Elvia. It hit Elvia from above with the super-effective attack, causing the Misdreavus to plummet to the ground.
A small cloud of dust formed where she landed.
"Elvia!" Fida shouted. Without entirely thinking she ran up and attempted to kick the Sneasel away, but it only jumped agilely out of the way.
Elvia looked desperately up at Fida and then the attackers. She hadn't the strength left to fight, and if she were to fail, she couldn't protect Fida. She didn't want to fail Fida. In her mind she knew there was only one option, she also knew it was one Fida would not like.
The Sneasel that had deftly avoided Fida's swinging leg growled and sharpened its claws together. It dashed towards Fida with another Shadow Claw, the razor sharp claws sang as they cut through the air as it ran.
Fida saw Elvia rush at her as she closed her eyes in preparation to feel the Ice-type's claws to slice through her body.
It was the last time Fida ever saw her Misdreavus.
The eyes. They were everywhere, cold and hungry. Fida could see them watching her as she ran, ready to strike, ready to kill.
She heard footsteps - was it him?
She felt alone. Elvia? Where was Elvia? Fida looked around but was unable to see her.
The eyes were getting near her, and the man as well, she could imagine the gun in his hand with his awful Houndoom following behind.
"We're going to get you, girl…" said her mother.
"No escape this time…" echoed her father.
"Elvia!" Fida screamed. The girl was in a cold sweat, and her heart felt like it was going to burst from her chest. Her eyes were wide as she stared into her lap before immediately darting around.
There were no eyes, only trees. There was no man, there was no Houndoom, only silence. There was no sound in those woods, and all seemed somber.
She felt a nuzzle on her cheek and she shot a glance in panic, but it was only Elvia. The Ghost-type looked at her trainer with large, concerned eyes.
Fida sighed in relief, turning her attention to the sky, or what she could see of it. It was still dark. She didn't know how long she had been asleep - could not have been long or she would be in the clutches of that man.
"L-let's get going, Elvia," Fida whispered as she looked around to make sure everything was clear. No Gastly-eyes, guns, or parents in sight: she was good for now.
Fida stayed as hidden as she could while she walked and Elvia stayed close, ready to guard Fida from anything and everything. Fida herself felt dazed still, like she was only half conscious. There was also a constant ringing in her ears and in her head; it had been there since the gun had fired. Elvia was making sure to be very alert, instead of allowing herself to become dazed as well. Misdreavus fed on strong emotions, so she literally was what she ate, which meant she had to be extra careful.
"Tara will find us and she'll lead us out of this forest, Elvia," Fida said in a whisper.
Elvia remained silent, pretending to be preoccupied with scanning the trees around them. She was not holding onto the hope that Tara was alive, for there was no hope to grasp. In the seconds after attacking the Houndoom, Elvia had saw the man as he aimed the gun at Tara. She had seen him pull the trigger.
The duo continued on for some time, occasionally stopping to listen for any signs of their pursuers.
An hour passed and still the night wore on, unwilling to relinquish its grip on the forest and Fida's mind.
Fida may have been unable to believe in Tara's demise, but she subconsciously knew she would be alone through this trip through the forest. She knew it would be best to leave the woods as quickly as possible. She was following the North Star, knowing that north would lead her to the nearest city: Ecruteak.
"Want to float up and see how far we have left to go, Elvia?" Fida suggested as she sat down on a rock to rest her feet, she had several blisters on them by that point.
Elvia nodded and hovered up through the trees and peered out over the branches. She could see a break a few miles ahead, signifying where the route they should be on crossed their path. She flew up higher, miles and miles ahead she saw the soft glow of a city. They could be there by this time tomorrow if they kept up this pace.
As Fida waited for Elvia to return she sat silently and patiently on the rock. She heard a noise from far off that sounded like a howl. The Houndoom had found where she had slept and was back on their trail.
A twig snapped nearby. She could very faintly hear shouts coming from where the howl sounded.
The bush rustled.
Fida instinctively reached for a ball from on her belt and kept her hand on it.
Elvia returned and sent Fida an image of how far they had left.
Fida nodded nervously. "Let's hurry, they're coming this way."
The duo quickened their pace and there were times where Elvia used her power to levitate Fida over rough terrain. She tried not to do this too often; she wanted to conserve her strength.
The howls were closer and closer each time they sounded, they were catching them up fast.
After half an hour the noises were only a couple hundred yards behind them. The duo ran for around fifteen more minutes until they made it to the route.
Though Fida was relieved to be out of the forest for now, she felt very exposed. The noises were very close now and a strange noise was heard coming from the woods along with howls and shouts.
The girl and her ghost soon learned that the strange noises were in fact engines belonging to motorbikes.
Multiple bikes ripped through the forest and flew out onto the route, followed by a few more.
"Found you at last," the leader from before said as his still injured though still standing Houndoom joined him at his side; something had probably been given to the Fire-type to help it stand through the injuries it had received.
"J-just stay away!" Fida yelled back. Her heart had started racing again, and she couldn't stop shaking. placed herself defensively in front of Fida.
The men all chuckled.
"Oh, look, she wants to play!" the man taunted Elvia. "I'll play with you, hun." Houndoom stepped forward. "But my boys wanna play first. Get her!" his light voice turned deep quickly, obviously not entirely up for games.
The bikes roared and five of them raced towards Fida, the men had their arms outstretched, ready to grab her off her feet.
Elvia yelled as one bike was stopped instantly with Psychic, the man was thrown forward several yards and into the side of a large rock. There was a loud and sickly crack that could be heard even over the roar of the engines.
Another bike leapt into the air but was hit by a Thunderbolt, causing the gas tank to explode and threw the driver fell to the ground, injured from the blast and the fall.
"She's got some bite, boss," one of the remaining three noted cautiously.
The leader growled and gritted his teeth at the loss of one man and the incapacitation of another. "Flamethrower, Houndoom!"
The canine inhaled deeply before opening his mouth, an orange glow could be seen from deep inside his throat, as if its maw was the gate to Hell. A jet of fire exploded from the Houndoom's mouth, red-hot flames raced through the air ready to burn.
The flames met up with Elvia's Protect and were reflected off into random directions where they died away. While the attacks were being executed the leader ordered the men to rush in. Elvia noticed them just in time to keep her Protect up and she held it in order to keep Fida safe. The men battered against the shield with a variety of blunt objects.
They yelled in frustration and Fida screamed, flinching into herself.
Elvia lost concentration for a one moment, only a moment, but it was enough for the Protect to shatter.
Fida screamed again, having been hit with something.
Elvia screeched as her eyes blazed with psychic power, pushing back the men within a three meter radius of the duo. A Shadow Ball made another bike explode, killing the rider. If Elvia was holding back before, she certainly wasn't now. She was determined to destroy anything that dared threaten her friend.
Fida held her arm and stood as close to Elvia as she could, though she was even more frightened now, not even looking coherent as she looked wildly about, breathing rapidly. This was worse than anything she could have imagined. Part of her actually wished she could be home at this moment. She wanted Tara with her so much right now. The thought of the teen sent her mind racing with what had occurred earlier that night. The more she thought about it, the more her fear turned into anger.
Her eyes became clear, and she focused on the man. He was the one that had taken Tara from her, the one person she cared about the most. That man had killed her, and for what? A Pokémon? Money? Fida's anger boiled into rage. She breathed more rapidly through her nose, her tiny hands balled into fists at her sides as tears of fury formed in her eyes.
She didn't just want him to go away, she realized. She hated him. Fida wanted him to pay.
Elvia was sharing her trainer's thoughts exactly, and was gladly going to turn herself into an incarnation of Fida's hatred.
Another Thunderbolt shocked a man to his knees and another Psychic sent one flying.
The remaining men backed up, wary now. More damage had been done than expected.
"I don't care about her Pokémon, idiots!" the leader snarled. "Kill her!"
The group looked at each other briefly before pulling firearms out from their belts and pants and opened fire on the duo.
Elvia put up another Protect, knowing that it would not fail this time, and indeed, the bullets were deflected off of the bubble. With no chance of breaking through the men ceased fire.
"Listen, girly," The man started with a beyond-irate tone. "If you don't want to see your Pokémon ripped to shreds you'll stop right now," he threatened throatily.
The thought of that caused Fida to waver, but she stood firm nonetheless, silent as she stared at him.
"Hmph." There were two quick flashes of white light and two Sneasel appeared by the Houndoom.
"Get rid of the ghost, then get the girl," he ordered the three.
The Sneasel dashed forward immediately, claws outstretched and out behind them as they swiftly. The Houndoom ran off and around to the side hoping to catch Elvia off guard.
A Shadow Ball was lobbed at one Sneasel, sending it back, and the other got hit by Will-O-Wisp, giving it a nasty burn. Elvia glared at the two, ready to smite the two with a Thunderbolt when she felt the teeth of the third Dark-type sink into her body, causing her to cry out. The Houndoom violently shook its head from side to side, disorienting Elvia.
She was able to escape by releasing a burst of electricity, but had only moments to gather herself before the Sneasel attacked again, but it wasn't enough time and Elvia took two Faint Attacks.
Powerful wind blew threw the area, pushing the three pokémon back. There was a glint in Elvia's eyes as the Ominous Wind faded and she moved with more speed than before. She fired three Thunderbolts at a fast rate; one Sneasel and the Houndoom were hit, but the second sneasel managed to dodge and came at Elvia with an Ice Punch.
She veered off to the side, barely dodging the attack and then retaliated with Confuse Ray.
"Agility, Sneasel! Dark Pulse, Houndoom!"
The dizzied Sneasel snapped out of its confused state in an instant, seeming too focused on its task to be affected by such an attack, and used Agility along with the other Sneasel. A long stream of dark matter spewed forth from Houndoom's mouth, the Sneasel ran along either side of the attack; claws extended and glowing with the power of Shadow Claw.
Elvia rose high above the ground, avoiding the Dark Pulse and one Shadow Claw. The other Sneasel jumped high into the air after Elvia. It hit Elvia from above with the super-effective attack, causing the Misdreavus to plummet to the ground.
A small cloud of dust formed where she landed.
"Elvia!" Fida shouted. Without entirely thinking she ran up and attempted to kick the Sneasel away, but it only jumped agilely out of the way.
Elvia looked desperately up at Fida and then the attackers. She hadn't the strength left to fight, and if she were to fail, she couldn't protect Fida. She didn't want to fail Fida. In her mind she knew there was only one option, she also knew it was one Fida would not like.
The Sneasel that had deftly avoided Fida's swinging leg growled and sharpened its claws together. It dashed towards Fida with another Shadow Claw, the razor sharp claws sang as they cut through the air as it ran.
Fida saw Elvia rush at her as she closed her eyes in preparation to feel the Ice-type's claws to slice through her body.
It was the last time Fida ever saw her Misdreavus.
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!
Sem.....why taunt me like this? This was so good. But I need to know what happens to Misdreavus. I have an idea but I still need to know!
Sem.....why taunt me like this? This was so good. But I need to know what happens to Misdreavus. I have an idea but I still need to know!
That better mean Elvia uses Psychic to grab the stone from Fida and evolve, thus Fida never seeing her Misdreavus again and instead seeing a Mismagius... I don't know if I've ever posted in here before, but if I haven't I guess I'll say this is a really good story. And if that is right, you can edit my post to remove the spoiler or I'll just delete it.
Keep up the good work.
Indeed, it makes sense.
But Sem, you are driving me crazy with your suspense...
-Chapter 12-
There was a bright light that Fida could see from behind her closed lids. Fida opened her eyes to see a creature she was unfamiliar with. It was about as tall as she was. It was purple, with a flowing body and what appeared to be a witch's hat. Dhe was unable to see the face.
Fida screamed and scrambled back. Elvia had completely disappeared and now there was this thing here, certainly one of the men's pokémon.
The Sneasel changed targets on a dime, instead racing towards the new Pokémon. The thing flared with an otherwordly power, shrieking as it unleashed a large and powerful Shadow Ball, however, effectively knocking out the Sneasel mid-air.
The other Sneasel jumped high into the air, claws glowing with the dark energy of Night Slash.
The trees and bushes rustled and a flurry of leaves covered in ghostly energy stormed the air, hitting the Sneasel and trapping it in a storm of vegetation, sending it spiraling back to earth with many cuts and gashes covering its body.
The new Pokémon dispatched Houndoom with another Shadow Ball, finally putting it down for good.
Then it turned its attention towards the men. The sky rumbled and explosive bolts of lightning came crashing down all around, causing the bikes and their riders to erupt into pillars of flame; the leader drove off wide-eyed into the forest to escape his destruction. He was the only one left and did not desire the same fate.
The creature looked at the battlefield, seeing that all was quiet. The area was glowing orange, bathing in the light of the flaming wreckages.
It turned around and faced Fida, who proceeded to back up a few more steps. "Stay away…" she said as she grabbed for a ball on her belt. "Elvia!" she yelled for her friend to protect her, but she was gone and nowhere to be found.
The creature and Fida stared at one another for a long while. The girl felt fear take hold of her once more, and she felt that now no one was there to help her. I
t attempted to move closer again. Fida moved back even more. "I said stay away!" she looked around desperately and bit her lip. Looking to her left, she saw the forest on the other side of the route.
Despite her will not to, she ran into the forest, leaving the thing in the middle of the route, though it began to follow her after a short while.
Fida had only run for about ten minutes until her legs gave out and she came crashing to the forest floor. She crawled to a nearby rock and leaned against it; she was looking for any movement and listening for any noise other than her own labored gasps. With any luck she had lost the thing, but if she had any luck she wouldn't be alone in the forest by herself at night.
Fida looked to her right and noticed a pair of large red eyes peering at her through the darkness. She screamed and backed away to a tree, but then she noticed the creature from before as well - she screamed again.
"Hold on there, Gengar," said a voice. There was some rustling nearby and then a man stepped into Fida's view, his Gengar along with him. He eyed the other creature and then Fida. "What're you doing here in these woods alone?" he asked, outstretching his hand and helping Fida up. He had a pair of purple pants and a blue, long-sleeve shirt, his long, light brown hair was held in place with a blue headband.
"I'm running from that!" she pointed at the thing.
"What? That?" he looked again. He looked at it warily, though it looked like it wasn't going to attack anyone, but the girl looked at it as if it were the devil himself. He felt her scramble over to him, seeming to have gotten over the initial shock of seeing his Gengar. The Gengar was looking at the other Pokémon as well, but shrugged up at his trainer.
"Help me find Elvia," he heard her whisper very faintly as she clutched a leg of his pants.
"Who's Elvia?" the man asked, still keeping an eye on the Pokémon.
"M-my Misdreavus!" She choked, breathing hard, as if she was having difficulty breathing. Her gaze was fixed on the thing she was running from terrified still, even though it wasn't doing anything. He noted the state of her clothes and her almost-hysterical expressions.
"Calm down," he said softly, looking at the creature again. "Everything will be alright," he rubbed Fida's shoulder. "We'll find Elvia and sort things out; you don't have to be afraid of that Pokémon," he reassured her. "What's your name?"
"F-fida," she whispered.
"Nice to meet you, Fida. My name is Morty," he smiled and looked kindly at her with his half-lidded eyes and motioned towards his Gengar. "Take us back, Gengar," he said. The Ghost-type placed both hands on the humans, Fida flinched at the touch, but managed to relax. The trio went semi-transparent and hovered over the ground, and then they rushed off through the trees, heading north towards Ecruteak.
The creature followed.
-------
Rays of early morning light flooded through an open window. Fida stirred and opened her eyes slightly. She looked with dazed eyes at the window and the ceiling before slowly sitting up.
She had been sleeping on a mat on the floor in a fairly empty room; there was a table in the corner as well as a stool. A hearth was in the middle.
She looked around at the beige walls and tatami floor with a halfhearted look, as if she didn't really care where she was. Slowly she stood up and made towards the door. She found herself in a hallway that was still fairly dark. Seeing a light coming from a room to her left she walked towards it quietly.
She passed a room that had a television switched on - it was turned to the news. "And in Goldenrod this morning, a couple of joggers stumbled upon a grizzly sight in the woods by their home, a girl along with the remains of what we are told was a M-" Fida walked away quickly towards the lit room.
She heard a male voice, like there was a conversation going on. As she entered the room she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked there was nothing.
"Oh, you're up," Morty greeted her, looking from the corner to where Fida was standing. He motioned for her to take a seat.
As Fida sat down she was brought a tray with some food on it. Fida looked at the food and poked at it a bit, taking a small bite out of a piece of bread, but she pushed the plate away; she wasn't very hungry.
Morty took a seat across from her and ran his hands through his hair before leaning forward. "So, how did you sleep?"
Fida shrugged, what was she expected to say? Looking around she instead said, "I don't even remember how I got here."
"Yeah, you passed out just as we got here pretty much. You were exhausted," he furrowed his brow in concern.
"Yeah…" Fida nodded. "Is.. Elvia still… missing?" she looked up.
Morty didn't speak for a moment. "Yeah, she is," his answered as his eyes darted to the empty corner. "But you'll find her, you wait and see," he nodded reassuringly. "We can look for her after you've eaten and rested more."
"No!" Fida's head snapped up to meet his eyes and she stood. "I want to find her now!"
"I understand." Morty remained calm. "But it'll be easier for me to help you if you're in good shape, and if you tell me what happened," he added.
Fida didn't speak for a moment, thinking over what she had been told. He was right. She'd be no use to Elvia if she collapsed in the middle of searching. At the same time though, just who was this stranger? He said his name was Morty, that was it.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked, though she felt guilty for asking and tried to hide her blush. He had been good to her thus far.
To her relief he didn't seem offended. "Like I told you last night, my name is Morty, and I'm the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City," he informed her, showing her one of his badges.
His answered calmed her nerves a bit more and she relaxed further. "Fine," she agreed, taking her seat again. "Maybe… maybe I should just tell you everything."
And so Fida told Morty of her past few months traveling and a bit of her life in Violet. She welled up when she talked about Tara, but she was eventually able to get the whole story to Morty.
Morty didn't say anything for a long while, he simply sat forward in his chair, hands clasped before his face. "So Tara meant very much to you."
Fida nodded as she wiped a tear away with a tissue she was provided with.
"And Elvia means even more to you," he added. She nodded again. "I'm sorry for your loss…" he bowed his head. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like."
"Thank you," was all Fida could manage to say.
-------
Fida spent the next couple of days at Morty's house, which was also the Ecruteak gym. She did not really do anything with herself but walk around aimlessly in a zombie-like stupor. She would look at all the things Morty kept everywhere, all pieces of the research he did when not fighting a challenger.
The only thing to keep Fida company besides Morty were the man's ghosts. Fida did not take well to the Gastly and Morty ended up telling them to steer clear of her to prevent any commotions.
There was a particular Haunter that Fida was fond of, simply because it had a way of making her smile despite how she felt, which it itself seemed to enjoy, and the Gengar that was usually always at Morty's side was quite the prankster, but not as all malevolent as he seemed. It was the red eyes, Fida figured. Though, while she was fond of the Pokémon, the fact that they were so similar to Elvia in nature made her miss her even more. That was hard, but something she was also glad for in a sense. It would be terrible if she didn't miss Elvia at all, or feel a pang of pain whenever she saw Haunter or Gengar.
The girl also found herself listening to Morty go on about whatever he had decided to rant about at the time, the he did so rarely. Morty was a bit more confined socially, like Fida. He did not hesitate at all to help Fida, though, and often found herself being comforted by the man whenever she feel into a state of despair.
Fida still dreamt of Elvia at night, dreaming that everything was fine and they were together. Awaking alone in the morning wasn't at all comforting, more discomforting was the fact that she thought she could even feel Elvia's presence at times. This would cause her to spin around in hopes of seeing her beloved friend.
It was on the third morning that Fida awoke from such dream and felt the familiar presence around her, but by the time she noticed she was in fact awake and not dreaming the presence was gone.
She sighed heavily as she sat up. Looking over at her PokéGear for the time she absentmindedly took the device into her hand. She navigated through menus until she found her contact list; Tara was still the only one on that list. The call button flashed softly in the bottom left-hand corner.
Fida held her breath. "Maybe…" she thought to herself before pressing the button. Fida held the device up to her ear and waited.
Ring…
Fida's heart jumped.
Ring…
Ring-
"Hello?" came the voice of a man. His voice was rough and raspy and Fida could hear his breathing. She gasped when she heard the voice and quickly ended the call and put the PokéGear away.
She sat on the mat and drew her knees up close to her body and wrapped her arms around them. The girl sat silently, letting her eyes overflow with her tears.
-------
"Won't we ever find her!?" Fida exclaimed in aggrivation later that same morning.
Morty stared at her solemnly. The girl had recovered a bit during her stay, he didn't want to rush her healing process, but nor did he want to see her so distressed over Elvia. Finally he gave in.
"Fida…" he started. "Do you remember that crystal that Tara gave you?"
Fida nodded.
"Could I see it?"
Fida nodded again and rushed to her bag in the other room. She dug through it, throwing items around until she found the pouch. She felt it with her hands and found that it was empty. She threw the pouch aside and dug around some more, thinking that the stone had perhaps fallen out. When she had searched every inch of her bag and couldn't find it she cried out and slapped her hands down on her legs in desperation.
She looked into the pockets of all her clothes just to make sure. When she had gotten to the pair of jeans she had been wearing the night she arrived she felt lumps in the pockets. She shoved her hands into her pockets and pulled out the contents. In one hand she had a very large roll of money.
"Here, hold the cash for me," the words rolled through Fida's mind, bring her back to early that day.
In the other hand she held Tara's PokéDex, she still had it from the bus ride. Fida felt her eyes welling up again and she put the things away in her bag.
Fida walked back into the other room. "I can't find it…" she said as she sat back down in despair.
"I see…" he nodded. "Do you know what that stone was?" he asked.
"I thought it was just a pretty crystal…" Fida responded quietly, trying to sink into the chair.
"It was more than that. That stone was an evolutionary stone called a Dusk Stone. It's found only in the Sinnoh region," he explained.
"She did say she found it in Sinnoh…" Fida recalled, looking over at him.
"The stone is known to evolve Murkrow and Misdreavus into their second and final forms," Morty explained as he stood up and pulled a book from a large bookshelf and flipped through the pages until he found the one he wanted. He showed the page to Fida, it bore a drawing as well as some photographs of the Pokémon Fida seen that night.
"I don't know what exactly happened during the chaos of that battle, but Elvia knew what that stone was all along and resorted to evolving in order to protect you…"
Fida looked from the book to Morty a few times before asking, "So, that thing I saw that night… was Elvia?" her face was wrought with confusion.
"Yes," Morty confirmed as he shut the book and put it aside.
"No," Fida shook her head. "No, no, no," she repeated. "It can't be Elvia. It's so big and different, and it doesn't act like Elvia, and do you remember what I said it did to those guys on the route? Elvia would only do that to protect me!" she looked at him desperately, though in her mind the pieces began to fit. "It can't be," she uttered regardless.
"Ghost-types are strange in the fact that many of them can sense emotion. With misdreavus and mismagius, the thing you're talking about, they feed on feelings."
"Tara said that too," Fida acknowledged. "She said that they are what they… eat…"
"And how did you feel during that battle, Fida?"
Fida looked down, realizing more and more. "…Scared… angry… really angry… like I hated those men… I wished they were..."
"Dead?" Morty finished her sentence.
"…Yeah…" Fida nodded guiltily. "It was a bad feeling… something I never want to feel again."
"But that's how Elvia was able to do those things. She took in all your rage, and, along with her will to protect you, she evolved and used her newfound strength to do what you both wanted."
"That's… that's awful!" Fida's heart-rate increased. "How… how could I want that to happen to someone?... How could I make her do that?" she took Elvia's Pokéball out, looking at it as if it did not belong to her anymore. "If I made her do that… then I don't deserve to have her!" She opened the ball far back, snapping the sphere in half.
"It's not your fault!" Morty tried to calm her down. "It was natural for you to feel that way!"
"Natural? It's natural? Is Elvia being that scary natural? Was I that scary?"
"On the inside you were… Elvia was the embodiment of your feelings. And because of the intense circumstances… it was natural."
"But… it's still bad… Shouldn't I go to jail?" she looked down.
"No, no, of course not," Morty held and squeezed her hand, kneeling down before her. "You wouldn't be blamed for what happened. The important thing is that it's over and you're safe now…"
There was silence for a long while.
"…I did have a dream… last night," Fida finally said. "I saw Elvia's source, that's what I call the place where she gets her power from," Fida explained so Morty would understand. "And I saw the white behind the source. We've never been there before, but in the dream I was moving towards it. I saw all of Elvia's power move towards it too with me, like it was following me. Then everything went white when I reached the light… and I woke up… I think I remember seeing the same thing that night… when I had my eyes closed thinking the Sneasel would attack me…"
Morty nodded.
"Tara said that she had never been there before with Muku… I think I get it now… because Mime Jr. can evolve, into Mr. Mime, but Muku never did."
"I think you got it."
"So should we go find Elvia?" Fida asked. "I hope she's not mad…" she added, worried. "I didn't even recognize her…"
"Elvia wouldn't be mad at you," Morty replied. "And she was never lost, not physically anyway." He got up and stepped away from the girl.
Fida felt the familiar presence of her friend nearby. She closed her eyes, allowing it to envelope her. It felt the same, but also different. Changed. "Elvia?" her voice was quiet.
Slowly the thing, Elvia, appeared out of the air before her. The purple ghost stared at Fida with familiar yet foreign eyes and Fida stared back in return. She stood up, meeting the Mismagius at eye-level. Then, she threw her arms around her beloved friend.
"I'm sorry, Elvia…" Fida whispered. Part of Elvia's body flowed and wrapped around the girl in response.
The two stayed like this for a while before Fida let go. She was a bit sad, she didn't know how she would get used to Elvia's new appearance, and she seemed different in a way. This Elvia seemed more reserved.
"How did you find me?" Fida asked then. "And why didn't tell me about Elvia sooner?" That was something she wanted answered.
"Well…" Morty began. "I was out with Gengar that night, just out for a stroll really. Gengar saw the smoke from the route and told me about and we went to investigate. After a few minutes we found you."
"Ok…" Fida nodded.
"As for Elvia…" Morty wanted to be more delicate with his answer to that question. "You had just experienced so much in so little time, I thought telling you about Elvia would be too much, I thought it would shock you or something like that…" he looked at her honestly. "I wanted to give you time to sort things out and calm down a bit, hoping that would make it easier. …Do you forgive me?"
Fida couldn't be mad at Morty. He had been too nice to her and was only thinking about her. She wondered how she would have reacted if she was told straight out. "You don't need to say sorry," she blushed.
Morty had helped her sorts things out and did reunite her with Elvia, and for that she would be forever thankful. It wasn't his fault Elvia was different.
"Do… do Pokémon change their personality too when they evolve?" she asked Morty after a few moments had passed.
"Sometimes… a lot of times…" Morty sighed. "Elvia will never be quite the same as you remember unfortunately, that's the price to pay for her protecting you."
"Price." The word rung in Fida's head. It seemed she'd had to pay for quite a few things; she'd had to lose things she didn't want lost. What now?
-------
Fida spent a while more with Morty, recuperating and getting reacquainted with Elvia. With Morty's help, due to all his knowledge of the Ghost-type, she was able to commune even better with Elvia, and the extra training helped too. She also found out some handy tricks for getting around with a Ghost-type.
With Morty's guidance, Fida and Elvia were able to strengthen their bond again, and make it even stronger than before. For that Fida was grateful, but she still thought all of it as bittersweet as she laid down every night. Too bitter and not enough sweet. Morty said she would feel that way for a long time.
Fida did realize however that there was a bright side. The money she had been left with would keep her financially set for a while yet, and all the information in Tara's PokéDex would prove very useful to her.
In retrospect, it seemed to Fida that Tara was preparing for this, like she knew about how she would need the stone and the money. At times it felt as though Tara was watching over her that very moment.
-------
"So where are you going now?" Morty asked one morning, about two weeks later.
"I'm going to Sinnoh," Fida answered as she put things away in her bag. "I want to travel around there, and I want to find Tara's family."
"Think you'll be ok?"
"Yes… I do," she said confidently while eying Elvia.
"Well, I wish the best of luck to you, I'm sure you'll be fine too," he nodded and pulled something out of his pocket and handed to her.
Fida took the piece of paper and un-folded it, a shiny object fell into her hand. She looked up at him questionably.
"Fair's fair, you did beat me yesterday in a battle," he smiled warmly.
"Thank you," Fida grinned as well and put the badge away.
"That paper," he pointed at it. "has some names of people you should talk to if you ever want more guidance with Elvia, though the best way to find out is by yourself. But they'll come in handy if you need them; they're all pretty handy with ghosts. And of course you can come back to me, especially to visit. My number's on there too."
"I will, next time I'm in Johto, I promise," Fida hugged Morty then. "Thank you," she told him. "For everything."
"Heh, hey, no problem," he chuckled. "Listen, if it's to Sinnoh you're going then the closest port is obviously Goldenrod…" he paused. "But Olivine isn't much father."
"That's all right," Fida responded. "I was looking at some maps yesterday and decided that I wanted to travel across Johto and into Kanto and leave from Vermillion."
"Well, that works too," he laughed as he walked Fida to the door. "Take care."
"You too." Fida looked back and nodded with a faint smile.
"Oh, and take this." Morty added, handed her a Pokéball with a black and yellow top. "For Elvia, it's an ultra ball - shouldn't be so easy to break," he explained with a wink.
Fida blushed. "Thanks." Elvia thanked the man as well before fading out of sight, turning herself into an invisible shroud around her trainer. Fida waved goodbye and then walked away through the streets of Ecruteak.
There was a bright light that Fida could see from behind her closed lids. Fida opened her eyes to see a creature she was unfamiliar with. It was about as tall as she was. It was purple, with a flowing body and what appeared to be a witch's hat. Dhe was unable to see the face.
Fida screamed and scrambled back. Elvia had completely disappeared and now there was this thing here, certainly one of the men's pokémon.
The Sneasel changed targets on a dime, instead racing towards the new Pokémon. The thing flared with an otherwordly power, shrieking as it unleashed a large and powerful Shadow Ball, however, effectively knocking out the Sneasel mid-air.
The other Sneasel jumped high into the air, claws glowing with the dark energy of Night Slash.
The trees and bushes rustled and a flurry of leaves covered in ghostly energy stormed the air, hitting the Sneasel and trapping it in a storm of vegetation, sending it spiraling back to earth with many cuts and gashes covering its body.
The new Pokémon dispatched Houndoom with another Shadow Ball, finally putting it down for good.
Then it turned its attention towards the men. The sky rumbled and explosive bolts of lightning came crashing down all around, causing the bikes and their riders to erupt into pillars of flame; the leader drove off wide-eyed into the forest to escape his destruction. He was the only one left and did not desire the same fate.
The creature looked at the battlefield, seeing that all was quiet. The area was glowing orange, bathing in the light of the flaming wreckages.
It turned around and faced Fida, who proceeded to back up a few more steps. "Stay away…" she said as she grabbed for a ball on her belt. "Elvia!" she yelled for her friend to protect her, but she was gone and nowhere to be found.
The creature and Fida stared at one another for a long while. The girl felt fear take hold of her once more, and she felt that now no one was there to help her. I
t attempted to move closer again. Fida moved back even more. "I said stay away!" she looked around desperately and bit her lip. Looking to her left, she saw the forest on the other side of the route.
Despite her will not to, she ran into the forest, leaving the thing in the middle of the route, though it began to follow her after a short while.
Fida had only run for about ten minutes until her legs gave out and she came crashing to the forest floor. She crawled to a nearby rock and leaned against it; she was looking for any movement and listening for any noise other than her own labored gasps. With any luck she had lost the thing, but if she had any luck she wouldn't be alone in the forest by herself at night.
Fida looked to her right and noticed a pair of large red eyes peering at her through the darkness. She screamed and backed away to a tree, but then she noticed the creature from before as well - she screamed again.
"Hold on there, Gengar," said a voice. There was some rustling nearby and then a man stepped into Fida's view, his Gengar along with him. He eyed the other creature and then Fida. "What're you doing here in these woods alone?" he asked, outstretching his hand and helping Fida up. He had a pair of purple pants and a blue, long-sleeve shirt, his long, light brown hair was held in place with a blue headband.
"I'm running from that!" she pointed at the thing.
"What? That?" he looked again. He looked at it warily, though it looked like it wasn't going to attack anyone, but the girl looked at it as if it were the devil himself. He felt her scramble over to him, seeming to have gotten over the initial shock of seeing his Gengar. The Gengar was looking at the other Pokémon as well, but shrugged up at his trainer.
"Help me find Elvia," he heard her whisper very faintly as she clutched a leg of his pants.
"Who's Elvia?" the man asked, still keeping an eye on the Pokémon.
"M-my Misdreavus!" She choked, breathing hard, as if she was having difficulty breathing. Her gaze was fixed on the thing she was running from terrified still, even though it wasn't doing anything. He noted the state of her clothes and her almost-hysterical expressions.
"Calm down," he said softly, looking at the creature again. "Everything will be alright," he rubbed Fida's shoulder. "We'll find Elvia and sort things out; you don't have to be afraid of that Pokémon," he reassured her. "What's your name?"
"F-fida," she whispered.
"Nice to meet you, Fida. My name is Morty," he smiled and looked kindly at her with his half-lidded eyes and motioned towards his Gengar. "Take us back, Gengar," he said. The Ghost-type placed both hands on the humans, Fida flinched at the touch, but managed to relax. The trio went semi-transparent and hovered over the ground, and then they rushed off through the trees, heading north towards Ecruteak.
The creature followed.
-------
Rays of early morning light flooded through an open window. Fida stirred and opened her eyes slightly. She looked with dazed eyes at the window and the ceiling before slowly sitting up.
She had been sleeping on a mat on the floor in a fairly empty room; there was a table in the corner as well as a stool. A hearth was in the middle.
She looked around at the beige walls and tatami floor with a halfhearted look, as if she didn't really care where she was. Slowly she stood up and made towards the door. She found herself in a hallway that was still fairly dark. Seeing a light coming from a room to her left she walked towards it quietly.
She passed a room that had a television switched on - it was turned to the news. "And in Goldenrod this morning, a couple of joggers stumbled upon a grizzly sight in the woods by their home, a girl along with the remains of what we are told was a M-" Fida walked away quickly towards the lit room.
She heard a male voice, like there was a conversation going on. As she entered the room she thought she saw something out of the corner of her eye, but when she looked there was nothing.
"Oh, you're up," Morty greeted her, looking from the corner to where Fida was standing. He motioned for her to take a seat.
As Fida sat down she was brought a tray with some food on it. Fida looked at the food and poked at it a bit, taking a small bite out of a piece of bread, but she pushed the plate away; she wasn't very hungry.
Morty took a seat across from her and ran his hands through his hair before leaning forward. "So, how did you sleep?"
Fida shrugged, what was she expected to say? Looking around she instead said, "I don't even remember how I got here."
"Yeah, you passed out just as we got here pretty much. You were exhausted," he furrowed his brow in concern.
"Yeah…" Fida nodded. "Is.. Elvia still… missing?" she looked up.
Morty didn't speak for a moment. "Yeah, she is," his answered as his eyes darted to the empty corner. "But you'll find her, you wait and see," he nodded reassuringly. "We can look for her after you've eaten and rested more."
"No!" Fida's head snapped up to meet his eyes and she stood. "I want to find her now!"
"I understand." Morty remained calm. "But it'll be easier for me to help you if you're in good shape, and if you tell me what happened," he added.
Fida didn't speak for a moment, thinking over what she had been told. He was right. She'd be no use to Elvia if she collapsed in the middle of searching. At the same time though, just who was this stranger? He said his name was Morty, that was it.
"How do I know I can trust you?" she asked, though she felt guilty for asking and tried to hide her blush. He had been good to her thus far.
To her relief he didn't seem offended. "Like I told you last night, my name is Morty, and I'm the Gym Leader of Ecruteak City," he informed her, showing her one of his badges.
His answered calmed her nerves a bit more and she relaxed further. "Fine," she agreed, taking her seat again. "Maybe… maybe I should just tell you everything."
And so Fida told Morty of her past few months traveling and a bit of her life in Violet. She welled up when she talked about Tara, but she was eventually able to get the whole story to Morty.
Morty didn't say anything for a long while, he simply sat forward in his chair, hands clasped before his face. "So Tara meant very much to you."
Fida nodded as she wiped a tear away with a tissue she was provided with.
"And Elvia means even more to you," he added. She nodded again. "I'm sorry for your loss…" he bowed his head. "You're welcome to stay here as long as you like."
"Thank you," was all Fida could manage to say.
-------
Fida spent the next couple of days at Morty's house, which was also the Ecruteak gym. She did not really do anything with herself but walk around aimlessly in a zombie-like stupor. She would look at all the things Morty kept everywhere, all pieces of the research he did when not fighting a challenger.
The only thing to keep Fida company besides Morty were the man's ghosts. Fida did not take well to the Gastly and Morty ended up telling them to steer clear of her to prevent any commotions.
There was a particular Haunter that Fida was fond of, simply because it had a way of making her smile despite how she felt, which it itself seemed to enjoy, and the Gengar that was usually always at Morty's side was quite the prankster, but not as all malevolent as he seemed. It was the red eyes, Fida figured. Though, while she was fond of the Pokémon, the fact that they were so similar to Elvia in nature made her miss her even more. That was hard, but something she was also glad for in a sense. It would be terrible if she didn't miss Elvia at all, or feel a pang of pain whenever she saw Haunter or Gengar.
The girl also found herself listening to Morty go on about whatever he had decided to rant about at the time, the he did so rarely. Morty was a bit more confined socially, like Fida. He did not hesitate at all to help Fida, though, and often found herself being comforted by the man whenever she feel into a state of despair.
Fida still dreamt of Elvia at night, dreaming that everything was fine and they were together. Awaking alone in the morning wasn't at all comforting, more discomforting was the fact that she thought she could even feel Elvia's presence at times. This would cause her to spin around in hopes of seeing her beloved friend.
It was on the third morning that Fida awoke from such dream and felt the familiar presence around her, but by the time she noticed she was in fact awake and not dreaming the presence was gone.
She sighed heavily as she sat up. Looking over at her PokéGear for the time she absentmindedly took the device into her hand. She navigated through menus until she found her contact list; Tara was still the only one on that list. The call button flashed softly in the bottom left-hand corner.
Fida held her breath. "Maybe…" she thought to herself before pressing the button. Fida held the device up to her ear and waited.
Ring…
Fida's heart jumped.
Ring…
Ring-
"Hello?" came the voice of a man. His voice was rough and raspy and Fida could hear his breathing. She gasped when she heard the voice and quickly ended the call and put the PokéGear away.
She sat on the mat and drew her knees up close to her body and wrapped her arms around them. The girl sat silently, letting her eyes overflow with her tears.
-------
"Won't we ever find her!?" Fida exclaimed in aggrivation later that same morning.
Morty stared at her solemnly. The girl had recovered a bit during her stay, he didn't want to rush her healing process, but nor did he want to see her so distressed over Elvia. Finally he gave in.
"Fida…" he started. "Do you remember that crystal that Tara gave you?"
Fida nodded.
"Could I see it?"
Fida nodded again and rushed to her bag in the other room. She dug through it, throwing items around until she found the pouch. She felt it with her hands and found that it was empty. She threw the pouch aside and dug around some more, thinking that the stone had perhaps fallen out. When she had searched every inch of her bag and couldn't find it she cried out and slapped her hands down on her legs in desperation.
She looked into the pockets of all her clothes just to make sure. When she had gotten to the pair of jeans she had been wearing the night she arrived she felt lumps in the pockets. She shoved her hands into her pockets and pulled out the contents. In one hand she had a very large roll of money.
"Here, hold the cash for me," the words rolled through Fida's mind, bring her back to early that day.
In the other hand she held Tara's PokéDex, she still had it from the bus ride. Fida felt her eyes welling up again and she put the things away in her bag.
Fida walked back into the other room. "I can't find it…" she said as she sat back down in despair.
"I see…" he nodded. "Do you know what that stone was?" he asked.
"I thought it was just a pretty crystal…" Fida responded quietly, trying to sink into the chair.
"It was more than that. That stone was an evolutionary stone called a Dusk Stone. It's found only in the Sinnoh region," he explained.
"She did say she found it in Sinnoh…" Fida recalled, looking over at him.
"The stone is known to evolve Murkrow and Misdreavus into their second and final forms," Morty explained as he stood up and pulled a book from a large bookshelf and flipped through the pages until he found the one he wanted. He showed the page to Fida, it bore a drawing as well as some photographs of the Pokémon Fida seen that night.
"I don't know what exactly happened during the chaos of that battle, but Elvia knew what that stone was all along and resorted to evolving in order to protect you…"
Fida looked from the book to Morty a few times before asking, "So, that thing I saw that night… was Elvia?" her face was wrought with confusion.
"Yes," Morty confirmed as he shut the book and put it aside.
"No," Fida shook her head. "No, no, no," she repeated. "It can't be Elvia. It's so big and different, and it doesn't act like Elvia, and do you remember what I said it did to those guys on the route? Elvia would only do that to protect me!" she looked at him desperately, though in her mind the pieces began to fit. "It can't be," she uttered regardless.
"Ghost-types are strange in the fact that many of them can sense emotion. With misdreavus and mismagius, the thing you're talking about, they feed on feelings."
"Tara said that too," Fida acknowledged. "She said that they are what they… eat…"
"And how did you feel during that battle, Fida?"
Fida looked down, realizing more and more. "…Scared… angry… really angry… like I hated those men… I wished they were..."
"Dead?" Morty finished her sentence.
"…Yeah…" Fida nodded guiltily. "It was a bad feeling… something I never want to feel again."
"But that's how Elvia was able to do those things. She took in all your rage, and, along with her will to protect you, she evolved and used her newfound strength to do what you both wanted."
"That's… that's awful!" Fida's heart-rate increased. "How… how could I want that to happen to someone?... How could I make her do that?" she took Elvia's Pokéball out, looking at it as if it did not belong to her anymore. "If I made her do that… then I don't deserve to have her!" She opened the ball far back, snapping the sphere in half.
"It's not your fault!" Morty tried to calm her down. "It was natural for you to feel that way!"
"Natural? It's natural? Is Elvia being that scary natural? Was I that scary?"
"On the inside you were… Elvia was the embodiment of your feelings. And because of the intense circumstances… it was natural."
"But… it's still bad… Shouldn't I go to jail?" she looked down.
"No, no, of course not," Morty held and squeezed her hand, kneeling down before her. "You wouldn't be blamed for what happened. The important thing is that it's over and you're safe now…"
There was silence for a long while.
"…I did have a dream… last night," Fida finally said. "I saw Elvia's source, that's what I call the place where she gets her power from," Fida explained so Morty would understand. "And I saw the white behind the source. We've never been there before, but in the dream I was moving towards it. I saw all of Elvia's power move towards it too with me, like it was following me. Then everything went white when I reached the light… and I woke up… I think I remember seeing the same thing that night… when I had my eyes closed thinking the Sneasel would attack me…"
Morty nodded.
"Tara said that she had never been there before with Muku… I think I get it now… because Mime Jr. can evolve, into Mr. Mime, but Muku never did."
"I think you got it."
"So should we go find Elvia?" Fida asked. "I hope she's not mad…" she added, worried. "I didn't even recognize her…"
"Elvia wouldn't be mad at you," Morty replied. "And she was never lost, not physically anyway." He got up and stepped away from the girl.
Fida felt the familiar presence of her friend nearby. She closed her eyes, allowing it to envelope her. It felt the same, but also different. Changed. "Elvia?" her voice was quiet.
Slowly the thing, Elvia, appeared out of the air before her. The purple ghost stared at Fida with familiar yet foreign eyes and Fida stared back in return. She stood up, meeting the Mismagius at eye-level. Then, she threw her arms around her beloved friend.
"I'm sorry, Elvia…" Fida whispered. Part of Elvia's body flowed and wrapped around the girl in response.
The two stayed like this for a while before Fida let go. She was a bit sad, she didn't know how she would get used to Elvia's new appearance, and she seemed different in a way. This Elvia seemed more reserved.
"How did you find me?" Fida asked then. "And why didn't tell me about Elvia sooner?" That was something she wanted answered.
"Well…" Morty began. "I was out with Gengar that night, just out for a stroll really. Gengar saw the smoke from the route and told me about and we went to investigate. After a few minutes we found you."
"Ok…" Fida nodded.
"As for Elvia…" Morty wanted to be more delicate with his answer to that question. "You had just experienced so much in so little time, I thought telling you about Elvia would be too much, I thought it would shock you or something like that…" he looked at her honestly. "I wanted to give you time to sort things out and calm down a bit, hoping that would make it easier. …Do you forgive me?"
Fida couldn't be mad at Morty. He had been too nice to her and was only thinking about her. She wondered how she would have reacted if she was told straight out. "You don't need to say sorry," she blushed.
Morty had helped her sorts things out and did reunite her with Elvia, and for that she would be forever thankful. It wasn't his fault Elvia was different.
"Do… do Pokémon change their personality too when they evolve?" she asked Morty after a few moments had passed.
"Sometimes… a lot of times…" Morty sighed. "Elvia will never be quite the same as you remember unfortunately, that's the price to pay for her protecting you."
"Price." The word rung in Fida's head. It seemed she'd had to pay for quite a few things; she'd had to lose things she didn't want lost. What now?
-------
Fida spent a while more with Morty, recuperating and getting reacquainted with Elvia. With Morty's help, due to all his knowledge of the Ghost-type, she was able to commune even better with Elvia, and the extra training helped too. She also found out some handy tricks for getting around with a Ghost-type.
With Morty's guidance, Fida and Elvia were able to strengthen their bond again, and make it even stronger than before. For that Fida was grateful, but she still thought all of it as bittersweet as she laid down every night. Too bitter and not enough sweet. Morty said she would feel that way for a long time.
Fida did realize however that there was a bright side. The money she had been left with would keep her financially set for a while yet, and all the information in Tara's PokéDex would prove very useful to her.
In retrospect, it seemed to Fida that Tara was preparing for this, like she knew about how she would need the stone and the money. At times it felt as though Tara was watching over her that very moment.
-------
"So where are you going now?" Morty asked one morning, about two weeks later.
"I'm going to Sinnoh," Fida answered as she put things away in her bag. "I want to travel around there, and I want to find Tara's family."
"Think you'll be ok?"
"Yes… I do," she said confidently while eying Elvia.
"Well, I wish the best of luck to you, I'm sure you'll be fine too," he nodded and pulled something out of his pocket and handed to her.
Fida took the piece of paper and un-folded it, a shiny object fell into her hand. She looked up at him questionably.
"Fair's fair, you did beat me yesterday in a battle," he smiled warmly.
"Thank you," Fida grinned as well and put the badge away.
"That paper," he pointed at it. "has some names of people you should talk to if you ever want more guidance with Elvia, though the best way to find out is by yourself. But they'll come in handy if you need them; they're all pretty handy with ghosts. And of course you can come back to me, especially to visit. My number's on there too."
"I will, next time I'm in Johto, I promise," Fida hugged Morty then. "Thank you," she told him. "For everything."
"Heh, hey, no problem," he chuckled. "Listen, if it's to Sinnoh you're going then the closest port is obviously Goldenrod…" he paused. "But Olivine isn't much father."
"That's all right," Fida responded. "I was looking at some maps yesterday and decided that I wanted to travel across Johto and into Kanto and leave from Vermillion."
"Well, that works too," he laughed as he walked Fida to the door. "Take care."
"You too." Fida looked back and nodded with a faint smile.
"Oh, and take this." Morty added, handed her a Pokéball with a black and yellow top. "For Elvia, it's an ultra ball - shouldn't be so easy to break," he explained with a wink.
Fida blushed. "Thanks." Elvia thanked the man as well before fading out of sight, turning herself into an invisible shroud around her trainer. Fida waved goodbye and then walked away through the streets of Ecruteak.
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-Chapter 13-
With clear skies and cool mountain air to fuel her lungs Fida set out. She had looked at the map on her PokéGear before leaving, so she knew exactly where to go. The girl was making sure to do everything Tara did prior to setting out, making sure her bag was in order, that she had water and other essentials, as well as a plan.
Fida made a stop by the PokéMart in Ecruteak just to stock up on what she needed and then made a stop at the Pokémon Center to have all her Pokémon checked out, making sure all her Pokémon were at their best. After a short waiting period and a smile from Nurse Joy she left the Center and made for the eastern gate of the city.
Ecruteak was an older city, most of its sections and the main part of it were more than a couple centuries old. It sure had its history and a good share of mystery. The two towers on either side of the city stood testament to that. Fida had learned a great deal of the history and lore of Ecruteak thanks to Morty, expanding upon what she had already learned in school.
Older buildings soon gave way to newer ones and soon enough she was walking out on Route 42 towards the mountains.
Even though Fida was happy now that she was on her way, there was a sadness that lingered in the back of her mind; walking away meant finally moving on. She comforted herself by saying that that's what Tara would want her to do. Keep traveling, keep training, keep being happy. If she didn't, all that Tara had done for her would mean nothing. Fida promised that she would do her best for Tara.
-------
After about a day and a half of travel Fida made it to where the route turned to water. Her first night alone went smoothly, but it felt very strange with it just being her and Elvia.
After checking her PokéGear she noticed that it would take a very long time to go around the lake, she also noticed that she wasn't even half-way to Mahogany Town.
Fida sighed and decided to rest by the shore, releasing Kieran and Calhoun for some fresh air. Kieran walked around and pecked randomly at the ground while Calhoun swam near the shore.
As Fida looked at her bird she noted that she had not done as much training as she would have liked with Kieran, but she feared he would lose control of himself again. All she really wanted was to know what was going on in his little head, she wanted to understand him better so that they could be a better team.
Sighing again, Fida let it go from her mind and looked out at the lake. She could see an island faintly in the distance. According to her map the water continued past that until it reached land, from there about a day until Mahogany.
She didn't think too much about how she would go about crossing the water, she already had an idea that would work. The idea was that Elvia would simply carry her across. It was a long way to go but she didn't doubt Elvia could do it.
There was a disturbance in the water nearby. Fida looked and saw Calhoun flopping up and out of the water, looking like he was in pain. Fida rushed into the water to see what was wrong and got to Calhoun just in time to see a Qwilfish swimming away, faintly colored fluid could be seen in the water.
"Poison!" Fida realized and grabbed Calhoun. She sloshed out of the lake and set him gently in the water that lapped the shore, and dug through her bag for an Antidote. The medicine fumbled around in her hands as she applied it to the afflicted area on Calhoun's body.
Kieran hopped a bit closer to see what was going on, trying to appear aloof. He hadn't really shown any type of comradeship towards Elvia or Calhoun as of yet, but he didn't seem to dislike either of them. He didn't seem to dislike Fida either, though that was because somewhere inside of him he was fond of her, but dared not show it. He was too prideful for that, and would still rather be on his own in a battle.
Fida waited anxiously for a while and saw no improvement in the Magikarp's condition. The toxin was too powerful for the medicine to cure and she cried out in desperation.
Ecruteak was a day and a half away by walking, closer if Elvia carried them, but even then it would be many hours until they reached Ecruteak, and Fida didn't think Elvia could carry them that long.
She looked at her PokéGear and noticed there was a small forested area she could pass through to cut down on the time. She hesitated, knowing she would rather not enter any forest if, but also knew that she had to. Going to her bag she pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a note on it quickly. She gave it to Kieran to hold,
"Kieran, I need you to go fly around and see if you can find anyone that can help us," she urged him with frantic eyes. "Please," she added, rather reluctant to let him go on his own but knew that if he found someone it could make all the difference.
The crow said nothing, but secured his grip on the note and flew off.
"C'mon, Elvia," Fida said as she watched Kieran go. She returned Calhoun to his Pokéball and set out for that shortcut. She had come around it earlier that day, about two hours before. She ran as fast as she could, allowing Elvia to carry her for lengths of time so that she could rest her legs and cut down even further on time.
When she reached the area almost an hour later she rushed in without hesitation, not allowing herself to debate the idea. It was mid-day, making the forest well lit and easy to navigate through, also meaning Kieran would be able to see them from the sky. She pulled out what she thought was Calhoun's ball from her belt and made sure to stick close to Elvia.
After twenty or so minutes of dashing through bushes and jumping over roots and stones Fida looked at the map again, noticing she was almost through. She ran headlong into a large clump of vegetation in her distraction and bounced off of something soft. There was a flash of red as she hit the ground.
Fida groaned, moving her head from side to side and as she got up and held her forehead. Elvia leaned in to make sure Fida was fine. The girl looked around, Calhoun's Pokéball having fallen from her grasp. Taking some steps she scanned the ground, and saw a Pokéball. It was one of hers, but not Calhoun's like she thought she had grabbed, which meant she had grabbed an empty one. Looking on her belt to make sure Calhoun was there, she sighed in relief took the orb into her hand.
As she bent down to pick up the other Pokéball in order to put it back Elvia sent Fida an image of the flash and Fida blinked down at the ball in her palm. Experimentally she pressed the center button.
To her surprise there was a white light that poured out onto the ground, forming the shape of a Pokémon she did not own.
The light went away after a mere few seconds, revealing what seemed to be a large red flower. The flower was the top of a bluish-green creature that had root-like arms and legs. It had reddish eyes that looked immediately at Fida in an extremely cold fashion and a frown on her face.
Fida recognized the pokémon as a Vileplume, and a very large one at that, it was taller than she or Elvia, and the flower could easily seat three or four people.
A foul smell soon filled Fida's nose and she immediately covered her nostrils with her hand. At that the Vileplume looked even more coldly at her, as if offended; it was not very happy as it was.
"H-hello…" Fida greeted quietly; Elvia hovered closer to Fida protectively. "I'm s-sorry for bothering you…" Fida apologized as she began to inch away from the Vileplume and towards the direction she needed to go, though the Grass-type was partially in her way. "S-sorry for catching you too… I didn't mean too… I can let you go if you want…"
The Vileplume looked at Fida and then Elvia with her icy gaze, not seeming to want to budge.
"I have to get going!" Fida explained quickly. "My Magikarp has been poisoned and he needs help! Please, let me go."
The Vileplume's gaze fell on the Lure Ball clutched in the human's hand. For a moment the iciness melted but it the expression was short-lived as her face iced over again.
"I just need to get Calhoun to the Pokémon Center, let me pass," Fida repeated.
The Grass-type looked from Fida to Calhoun until finally rushing forward and taking hold of Calhoun's ball. Elvia attempted to rush in to help Calhoun but was shoved away as well by the bulky Flower Pokémon.
The Vileplume fumbled with the device before managing to open it by pressing the center button. She laid Calhoun down on the ground and examined his wound. Then, the large pedals on its head began to move, releasing spores into the air. Fida stopped wrinkling her nose, as the pollen smelled sweet, rather than rotting meat. She pulled out Tara's PokéDex and scanned the Vileplume.
The powder descended onto the Water-type, concentrating around the area he was stung. The smell strengthened until it was very powerful. Fida noticed that the swelling on the wound started to go down and Calhoun's breathing became more normal, as normal as it could be out of water.
Fida looked at the ‘Dex entry, noting that the move used must have been Aromatherapy.
"Thank you… Thank you!" Fida got up and ran over to Calhoun. "Thank you so much!" she held Calhoun close and examined him before returning him to his ball to rest.
She stood up and bowed to the Vileplume in thanks, Elvia nodded her head. "Sorry again for bothering you…"
Fida turned around and went back the way she came, knowing she had no need to go to Ecruteak now. The Vileplume looked the other way as if apathetic, but opened one eye and watched them leave.
-------
Fida retraced her steps and was back at the shore of the lake once more. Kieran had found them along the way, though he hadn't found anyone able to help. That was alright though, and Fida explained to him what had happened and thanked him.
"That was stressful…" Fida muttered as she rubbed her temples. "But it's a good thing we didn't have to go all the way back to Ecruteak… Calhoun might've not made it…" Fida looked around at the water.
As they were getting ready to cross Fida heard a strange shuffling behind them. She and Elvia turned and saw the Vileplume from before staring at them, coldly again, hiding a faint look of longing.
"Hello…" Fida greeted the Grass-type again. A mixture of sweet and rancid odors hovered in the air. The Vileplume appeared a bit conflicted.
"Do you need something?" Fida asked.
The Vileplume immediately turned its head away at the question, as if it loathed the idea to accept anything from this human girl. But still it lingered.
Fida pulled out the Pokéball she used to "catch" the Vileplume, which she figured had only worked because they had startled the Pokémon so suddenly, it had no idea what was going on in order to fight against the Pokéball. Technically speaking, the Pokémon was hers, but she didn't want to take it with her without it wanting to.
"Do you want to come with us?" Fida asked.
The Grass-type looked at Fida for a moment and then the lake, seeming to ponder for a moment. It pointed at the lake and nodded, giving the idea that it would simply like to cross.
"Oh, you want to cross with us?" Fida asked. "Well, all right…" she pointed the ball at the vileplume, it stood still, allowing itself to be converted into energy and absorbed into the ball.
"Well, that's interesting," came a voice.
Fida looked in the direction of the voice and saw that there was a person standing not far off. It was a male that looked about Tara's age. He was shorter than she was however, around five foot five. He had dark grey cargo pants on that covered a pair of black walking shoes. He had a plain stormy-blue t-shirt and a black jacket that had a few decorative zippers and buckles. Around his neck he wore a rain-drop shaped necklace filled with sapphire-colored liquid.
His hair was straight and dark brown, almost black, shorter in the back and longer in the front; his skin was faintly tan and a bronzed color. His face was roundish and smooth. One of his eyes was a grey-blue, the other one was a paler grey. There was small, purple, imp-like creature on his right shoulder that had all sorts of gems embedded into its skin.
"Never seen a Pokémon do that," he commented and walked forward.
"Hi…" Fida greeted the young man.
"Hello," he outstretched his hand. "My name is Sem, and yours?"
"Fida," she answered. "And this is Elvia," she introduced her Mismagius. Elvia nodded.
"Nice to meet you," Sem nodded in return. "This thing to my right is Sableye." Sableye greeted them with an eerie smile. "Is your Magikarp all right?" he asked.
"How did-" Fida began to say, though figured that he must have been one of the people Kieran had found. "Yeah, he is," Fida nodded. "Thank you for asking."
"That's good, sorry I couldn't help," he apologized, pulling back a corner of his mouth.
"It's ok, that Vileplume helped us," she explained.
Sem nodded before turning his head to stare out at the water. "Are you going to cross too?"
Fida nodded.
"Right, better if we just go together," he said as he pulled out a Pokéball unfamiliar to Fida. It looked like a wave to her because it had two different shades of sea-blue and was white at the top like the crest of a wave. He threw the ball in the air and it released a star-shaped pokémon. It was purple and had ten arms with an enormous gem-stone that was shining blue in the midday light.
"This is Starmie, it'll take us across," Sem explained.
"How?" Fida questioned as she looked at the Water-type, transfixed with the large stone at its core.
"You'll see…" Sem responded as Starmie glided into the water. After it was about six feet in a faintly visible psychic-shield formed behind it, pushing water away.
"Come on," Sem motioned towards Fida and Elvia as he stepped onto dry sand behind Starmie. Fida and Elvia followed and as soon they were in place the sphere closed completely around them.
"Might want to lean back against the bubble," Sem cautioned as he did so himself. Fida did as she was told and leaned back. It was strange, that the energy was holding her in place when it looked as if she should fall right through. As soon as she settled down the Starmie shot away from the shore, cutting through the water like a knife with the trainers in tow going incredibly fast.
After Fida caught her breath she stared at the scenery they passed by it at a blur. The bridge of land ahead of them was getting bigger and bigger. This was the way to travel, she thought to herself. After that brief interruption she was on her way again.
"So where are you going?" she asked Sem.
-Epilogue-
Fida and Sem quickly became friends and they had quite a few adventures on their way through Johto and Kanto.
Fida liked Sem for the fact that he reminded her a bit of Tara, though he was actually older at seventeen and just a bit more knowledgeable. She continued learning and training at a great speed thanks to his help.
She had still not completely recovered from the incident that night, and doubted that she ever would be, but she knew it would be easier and easier to live with as time went on. Fida still had haunting dreams and any loud noises brought back painful memories. The girl avoided going into forests if she could help it.
As for her relationship with Elvia, they grew only closer, but Fida still found trouble dealing with the differences between the Elvia before evolution and the Elvia after evolution.
Even after what happened she knew that she had friends who cared for her; and a companion and best friend whom she loved and who loved her in return. That's all the really mattered wasn't it?
With clear skies and cool mountain air to fuel her lungs Fida set out. She had looked at the map on her PokéGear before leaving, so she knew exactly where to go. The girl was making sure to do everything Tara did prior to setting out, making sure her bag was in order, that she had water and other essentials, as well as a plan.
Fida made a stop by the PokéMart in Ecruteak just to stock up on what she needed and then made a stop at the Pokémon Center to have all her Pokémon checked out, making sure all her Pokémon were at their best. After a short waiting period and a smile from Nurse Joy she left the Center and made for the eastern gate of the city.
Ecruteak was an older city, most of its sections and the main part of it were more than a couple centuries old. It sure had its history and a good share of mystery. The two towers on either side of the city stood testament to that. Fida had learned a great deal of the history and lore of Ecruteak thanks to Morty, expanding upon what she had already learned in school.
Older buildings soon gave way to newer ones and soon enough she was walking out on Route 42 towards the mountains.
Even though Fida was happy now that she was on her way, there was a sadness that lingered in the back of her mind; walking away meant finally moving on. She comforted herself by saying that that's what Tara would want her to do. Keep traveling, keep training, keep being happy. If she didn't, all that Tara had done for her would mean nothing. Fida promised that she would do her best for Tara.
-------
After about a day and a half of travel Fida made it to where the route turned to water. Her first night alone went smoothly, but it felt very strange with it just being her and Elvia.
After checking her PokéGear she noticed that it would take a very long time to go around the lake, she also noticed that she wasn't even half-way to Mahogany Town.
Fida sighed and decided to rest by the shore, releasing Kieran and Calhoun for some fresh air. Kieran walked around and pecked randomly at the ground while Calhoun swam near the shore.
As Fida looked at her bird she noted that she had not done as much training as she would have liked with Kieran, but she feared he would lose control of himself again. All she really wanted was to know what was going on in his little head, she wanted to understand him better so that they could be a better team.
Sighing again, Fida let it go from her mind and looked out at the lake. She could see an island faintly in the distance. According to her map the water continued past that until it reached land, from there about a day until Mahogany.
She didn't think too much about how she would go about crossing the water, she already had an idea that would work. The idea was that Elvia would simply carry her across. It was a long way to go but she didn't doubt Elvia could do it.
There was a disturbance in the water nearby. Fida looked and saw Calhoun flopping up and out of the water, looking like he was in pain. Fida rushed into the water to see what was wrong and got to Calhoun just in time to see a Qwilfish swimming away, faintly colored fluid could be seen in the water.
"Poison!" Fida realized and grabbed Calhoun. She sloshed out of the lake and set him gently in the water that lapped the shore, and dug through her bag for an Antidote. The medicine fumbled around in her hands as she applied it to the afflicted area on Calhoun's body.
Kieran hopped a bit closer to see what was going on, trying to appear aloof. He hadn't really shown any type of comradeship towards Elvia or Calhoun as of yet, but he didn't seem to dislike either of them. He didn't seem to dislike Fida either, though that was because somewhere inside of him he was fond of her, but dared not show it. He was too prideful for that, and would still rather be on his own in a battle.
Fida waited anxiously for a while and saw no improvement in the Magikarp's condition. The toxin was too powerful for the medicine to cure and she cried out in desperation.
Ecruteak was a day and a half away by walking, closer if Elvia carried them, but even then it would be many hours until they reached Ecruteak, and Fida didn't think Elvia could carry them that long.
She looked at her PokéGear and noticed there was a small forested area she could pass through to cut down on the time. She hesitated, knowing she would rather not enter any forest if, but also knew that she had to. Going to her bag she pulled out a piece of paper and scribbled a note on it quickly. She gave it to Kieran to hold,
"Kieran, I need you to go fly around and see if you can find anyone that can help us," she urged him with frantic eyes. "Please," she added, rather reluctant to let him go on his own but knew that if he found someone it could make all the difference.
The crow said nothing, but secured his grip on the note and flew off.
"C'mon, Elvia," Fida said as she watched Kieran go. She returned Calhoun to his Pokéball and set out for that shortcut. She had come around it earlier that day, about two hours before. She ran as fast as she could, allowing Elvia to carry her for lengths of time so that she could rest her legs and cut down even further on time.
When she reached the area almost an hour later she rushed in without hesitation, not allowing herself to debate the idea. It was mid-day, making the forest well lit and easy to navigate through, also meaning Kieran would be able to see them from the sky. She pulled out what she thought was Calhoun's ball from her belt and made sure to stick close to Elvia.
After twenty or so minutes of dashing through bushes and jumping over roots and stones Fida looked at the map again, noticing she was almost through. She ran headlong into a large clump of vegetation in her distraction and bounced off of something soft. There was a flash of red as she hit the ground.
Fida groaned, moving her head from side to side and as she got up and held her forehead. Elvia leaned in to make sure Fida was fine. The girl looked around, Calhoun's Pokéball having fallen from her grasp. Taking some steps she scanned the ground, and saw a Pokéball. It was one of hers, but not Calhoun's like she thought she had grabbed, which meant she had grabbed an empty one. Looking on her belt to make sure Calhoun was there, she sighed in relief took the orb into her hand.
As she bent down to pick up the other Pokéball in order to put it back Elvia sent Fida an image of the flash and Fida blinked down at the ball in her palm. Experimentally she pressed the center button.
To her surprise there was a white light that poured out onto the ground, forming the shape of a Pokémon she did not own.
The light went away after a mere few seconds, revealing what seemed to be a large red flower. The flower was the top of a bluish-green creature that had root-like arms and legs. It had reddish eyes that looked immediately at Fida in an extremely cold fashion and a frown on her face.
Fida recognized the pokémon as a Vileplume, and a very large one at that, it was taller than she or Elvia, and the flower could easily seat three or four people.
A foul smell soon filled Fida's nose and she immediately covered her nostrils with her hand. At that the Vileplume looked even more coldly at her, as if offended; it was not very happy as it was.
"H-hello…" Fida greeted quietly; Elvia hovered closer to Fida protectively. "I'm s-sorry for bothering you…" Fida apologized as she began to inch away from the Vileplume and towards the direction she needed to go, though the Grass-type was partially in her way. "S-sorry for catching you too… I didn't mean too… I can let you go if you want…"
The Vileplume looked at Fida and then Elvia with her icy gaze, not seeming to want to budge.
"I have to get going!" Fida explained quickly. "My Magikarp has been poisoned and he needs help! Please, let me go."
The Vileplume's gaze fell on the Lure Ball clutched in the human's hand. For a moment the iciness melted but it the expression was short-lived as her face iced over again.
"I just need to get Calhoun to the Pokémon Center, let me pass," Fida repeated.
The Grass-type looked from Fida to Calhoun until finally rushing forward and taking hold of Calhoun's ball. Elvia attempted to rush in to help Calhoun but was shoved away as well by the bulky Flower Pokémon.
The Vileplume fumbled with the device before managing to open it by pressing the center button. She laid Calhoun down on the ground and examined his wound. Then, the large pedals on its head began to move, releasing spores into the air. Fida stopped wrinkling her nose, as the pollen smelled sweet, rather than rotting meat. She pulled out Tara's PokéDex and scanned the Vileplume.
The powder descended onto the Water-type, concentrating around the area he was stung. The smell strengthened until it was very powerful. Fida noticed that the swelling on the wound started to go down and Calhoun's breathing became more normal, as normal as it could be out of water.
Fida looked at the ‘Dex entry, noting that the move used must have been Aromatherapy.
"Thank you… Thank you!" Fida got up and ran over to Calhoun. "Thank you so much!" she held Calhoun close and examined him before returning him to his ball to rest.
She stood up and bowed to the Vileplume in thanks, Elvia nodded her head. "Sorry again for bothering you…"
Fida turned around and went back the way she came, knowing she had no need to go to Ecruteak now. The Vileplume looked the other way as if apathetic, but opened one eye and watched them leave.
-------
Fida retraced her steps and was back at the shore of the lake once more. Kieran had found them along the way, though he hadn't found anyone able to help. That was alright though, and Fida explained to him what had happened and thanked him.
"That was stressful…" Fida muttered as she rubbed her temples. "But it's a good thing we didn't have to go all the way back to Ecruteak… Calhoun might've not made it…" Fida looked around at the water.
As they were getting ready to cross Fida heard a strange shuffling behind them. She and Elvia turned and saw the Vileplume from before staring at them, coldly again, hiding a faint look of longing.
"Hello…" Fida greeted the Grass-type again. A mixture of sweet and rancid odors hovered in the air. The Vileplume appeared a bit conflicted.
"Do you need something?" Fida asked.
The Vileplume immediately turned its head away at the question, as if it loathed the idea to accept anything from this human girl. But still it lingered.
Fida pulled out the Pokéball she used to "catch" the Vileplume, which she figured had only worked because they had startled the Pokémon so suddenly, it had no idea what was going on in order to fight against the Pokéball. Technically speaking, the Pokémon was hers, but she didn't want to take it with her without it wanting to.
"Do you want to come with us?" Fida asked.
The Grass-type looked at Fida for a moment and then the lake, seeming to ponder for a moment. It pointed at the lake and nodded, giving the idea that it would simply like to cross.
"Oh, you want to cross with us?" Fida asked. "Well, all right…" she pointed the ball at the vileplume, it stood still, allowing itself to be converted into energy and absorbed into the ball.
"Well, that's interesting," came a voice.
Fida looked in the direction of the voice and saw that there was a person standing not far off. It was a male that looked about Tara's age. He was shorter than she was however, around five foot five. He had dark grey cargo pants on that covered a pair of black walking shoes. He had a plain stormy-blue t-shirt and a black jacket that had a few decorative zippers and buckles. Around his neck he wore a rain-drop shaped necklace filled with sapphire-colored liquid.
His hair was straight and dark brown, almost black, shorter in the back and longer in the front; his skin was faintly tan and a bronzed color. His face was roundish and smooth. One of his eyes was a grey-blue, the other one was a paler grey. There was small, purple, imp-like creature on his right shoulder that had all sorts of gems embedded into its skin.
"Never seen a Pokémon do that," he commented and walked forward.
"Hi…" Fida greeted the young man.
"Hello," he outstretched his hand. "My name is Sem, and yours?"
"Fida," she answered. "And this is Elvia," she introduced her Mismagius. Elvia nodded.
"Nice to meet you," Sem nodded in return. "This thing to my right is Sableye." Sableye greeted them with an eerie smile. "Is your Magikarp all right?" he asked.
"How did-" Fida began to say, though figured that he must have been one of the people Kieran had found. "Yeah, he is," Fida nodded. "Thank you for asking."
"That's good, sorry I couldn't help," he apologized, pulling back a corner of his mouth.
"It's ok, that Vileplume helped us," she explained.
Sem nodded before turning his head to stare out at the water. "Are you going to cross too?"
Fida nodded.
"Right, better if we just go together," he said as he pulled out a Pokéball unfamiliar to Fida. It looked like a wave to her because it had two different shades of sea-blue and was white at the top like the crest of a wave. He threw the ball in the air and it released a star-shaped pokémon. It was purple and had ten arms with an enormous gem-stone that was shining blue in the midday light.
"This is Starmie, it'll take us across," Sem explained.
"How?" Fida questioned as she looked at the Water-type, transfixed with the large stone at its core.
"You'll see…" Sem responded as Starmie glided into the water. After it was about six feet in a faintly visible psychic-shield formed behind it, pushing water away.
"Come on," Sem motioned towards Fida and Elvia as he stepped onto dry sand behind Starmie. Fida and Elvia followed and as soon they were in place the sphere closed completely around them.
"Might want to lean back against the bubble," Sem cautioned as he did so himself. Fida did as she was told and leaned back. It was strange, that the energy was holding her in place when it looked as if she should fall right through. As soon as she settled down the Starmie shot away from the shore, cutting through the water like a knife with the trainers in tow going incredibly fast.
After Fida caught her breath she stared at the scenery they passed by it at a blur. The bridge of land ahead of them was getting bigger and bigger. This was the way to travel, she thought to herself. After that brief interruption she was on her way again.
"So where are you going?" she asked Sem.
-Epilogue-
Fida and Sem quickly became friends and they had quite a few adventures on their way through Johto and Kanto.
Fida liked Sem for the fact that he reminded her a bit of Tara, though he was actually older at seventeen and just a bit more knowledgeable. She continued learning and training at a great speed thanks to his help.
She had still not completely recovered from the incident that night, and doubted that she ever would be, but she knew it would be easier and easier to live with as time went on. Fida still had haunting dreams and any loud noises brought back painful memories. The girl avoided going into forests if she could help it.
As for her relationship with Elvia, they grew only closer, but Fida still found trouble dealing with the differences between the Elvia before evolution and the Elvia after evolution.
Even after what happened she knew that she had friends who cared for her; and a companion and best friend whom she loved and who loved her in return. That's all the really mattered wasn't it?
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Yay^^ I inspired Sem to finish and I'm glad he did! Great work Sem. 
Shiny Motley
2016 Singles Football
Great job, though it just had to finish so soon after I started reading this. It's a great fanfic, overall.
Hello Sem. Greetings. Salutations. How d'ya do?
Things I think are your strengths:
I finished reading your story, and found it to be a well thought-out, descriptive read. I very much enjoyed how you described the 'untapped power' that Elvia had, and how they had to fight their way to the source, and sort through this sphere to find Elvia's true potential. I beleive that I would have enjoyed chapter 12 a bit more had the comments not totally guessed the plot twist for me. I also enjoyed the way the prologue fit its way into the story.
Constructive begins...hmm... now?
Chapter 13 seemed dull, rushed, and more of an add-on. I mean, it didn't feel like it belonged there. It felt like you wanted to make the story a tad longer. I don't like the way some stories end like that. However, the self-inclusion was nice, and had somewhere to go. Maybe you could elaborate, make a little chapter on the adventures? The battle with the kid in Goldenrod, however, I found lacking. The battle was enjoyable, however, iit lacked dimmensions. You could have added so much more... Like, Elvia lifts Arbok into the air, and lets him drop, sending cracks into the ground, and sending rocks flying. Elvia uses Psychic, sending the rocks flying at the Arbok, like small bullets. Your battles are a sturdy part, however they could improve if you simply bring the environment into play.
Things I just flat-out, didn't like:
It may look like a lot, but I elaborate on all of the points. It's severely less hurtful and intimidating than it looks.
If Fida had been scrolling through the Sinnoh pokemon in Tara's pokedex, why wouldn't she have seen a missmagius? It seemed like something she would know. Your style changed. You had a bit of rather realistic, near dark feel going on with the prologue and first couple chapters. You changed it slightly to a happier feel, and then did a 180 degree turn in the end, and gave it a horrific, evil feel. I felt like you made it TOO morbid, with the killing of the bikers and Tara. While this may have been what you were going for, it cna sometimes make readers wonder what happened, and sometimes make them fel like the chapters or segemnts are detatched. Like, After the style change, it influenced my opinion on the last chapter and epilogue. The swift changes made me feel like they were choppy and not synced properly. Like, how the harry potter movies went from happy and ypbeat to scary and creepy. I may just have a sensitive mind, but it is something you should be careful of.
Whew! That was a lot. Well, I'm watching you now, Sem. I wanna see IMPROVEMENT.
Things I think are your strengths:
I finished reading your story, and found it to be a well thought-out, descriptive read. I very much enjoyed how you described the 'untapped power' that Elvia had, and how they had to fight their way to the source, and sort through this sphere to find Elvia's true potential. I beleive that I would have enjoyed chapter 12 a bit more had the comments not totally guessed the plot twist for me. I also enjoyed the way the prologue fit its way into the story.
Constructive begins...hmm... now?
Chapter 13 seemed dull, rushed, and more of an add-on. I mean, it didn't feel like it belonged there. It felt like you wanted to make the story a tad longer. I don't like the way some stories end like that. However, the self-inclusion was nice, and had somewhere to go. Maybe you could elaborate, make a little chapter on the adventures? The battle with the kid in Goldenrod, however, I found lacking. The battle was enjoyable, however, iit lacked dimmensions. You could have added so much more... Like, Elvia lifts Arbok into the air, and lets him drop, sending cracks into the ground, and sending rocks flying. Elvia uses Psychic, sending the rocks flying at the Arbok, like small bullets. Your battles are a sturdy part, however they could improve if you simply bring the environment into play.
Things I just flat-out, didn't like:
It may look like a lot, but I elaborate on all of the points. It's severely less hurtful and intimidating than it looks.
If Fida had been scrolling through the Sinnoh pokemon in Tara's pokedex, why wouldn't she have seen a missmagius? It seemed like something she would know. Your style changed. You had a bit of rather realistic, near dark feel going on with the prologue and first couple chapters. You changed it slightly to a happier feel, and then did a 180 degree turn in the end, and gave it a horrific, evil feel. I felt like you made it TOO morbid, with the killing of the bikers and Tara. While this may have been what you were going for, it cna sometimes make readers wonder what happened, and sometimes make them fel like the chapters or segemnts are detatched. Like, After the style change, it influenced my opinion on the last chapter and epilogue. The swift changes made me feel like they were choppy and not synced properly. Like, how the harry potter movies went from happy and ypbeat to scary and creepy. I may just have a sensitive mind, but it is something you should be careful of.
Whew! That was a lot. Well, I'm watching you now, Sem. I wanna see IMPROVEMENT.
Amazing job Sem. You had me glued since chapter one, and I am still just-as-glued with the ending.
Admittedly, though, the ending did not satisfy my hunger too well. I hope there might be more?
A secondary story of Fida's new life in Sinnoh? Perhaps a new fiction would settle said hunger.
Anyways, as I said, amazing job. Keep it up! :-)
Admittedly, though, the ending did not satisfy my hunger too well. I hope there might be more?
A secondary story of Fida's new life in Sinnoh? Perhaps a new fiction would settle said hunger.
Anyways, as I said, amazing job. Keep it up! :-)