Mouse Tourmaline
Lost Cause Defender
I don't think I ever posted this here. Certainly searching for it turns up nothing.
Hope's Fire. I know it's a long way off the fan fiction ideal, and I wouldn't mind a bit of advice if you agree. But it's a fic that I wrote because I just had to, a couple of months back.
Anime universe.
------
I sat by the lake, skimming pebbles across the water and watching the ripples. I quite liked doing that sort of thing, when it was a fair, cool day like this one. Glancing at the sky, I sighed; it looked as if the bright weather wouldn't last. Soon the storm clouds would gather, and the first droplets would begin to fall. I hated, really hated the rain.
Silently, I told myself it wouldn't be long before I headed for warmer climes. My days in this small, remote town were numbered. Before long I'd be going to university. To study what? Mathematics, I told them, and put up with the gasps when I failed to add a 'suitable' extra. Geography-and-birdkeeping. History-and-legendary-research. Even, for goodness' sake, lacework-and-grooming. But I stuck obstinately to my single subject choice, and I buried myself in my books.
Apart from that, there wasn't much I had in common with the other teenagers who wandered in and out of my hometown. Oh, they talked to me, sometimes we were good friends. But there was always a gulf between us, something they wouldn't discover for a little while.
Hey D, are you coming to watch the Machoke match in Celadon? No transport, I told them. Oh, not a problem. Call me when you've got something fit to fly. I'd wave them off, wondering what exactly a Machoke match was like, trying to imagine the two powerful fighters squaring up to one another.
Here, are you coming to the water festival with me? There'll be a place to show off your best Water Pokémon, and a whole fountain display of Goldeen. We can take my Pidgeot and be home by tonight. It was harder to say no, but I insisted.
Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to have a battle with me? And then, despite my best efforts, I had to tell the truth yet again.
I'm not a trainer.
How could I be a trainer?
I had screamed those very words at a sixteen-year-old girl a few months ago. She'd backed off in immediate awkwardness, and I heard her whispering with her friends; he seems so angry... won't touch my Pokémon...maybe some sort of accident... She was close, almost too close, and it was a story I'd like to believe.
An accident. A tragedy. A disaster. A loss. And then my journey out here to a new hometown, to begin again.
Such an easy story, such a pretty story. And so easy to let them believe it. In a way, it was true; it had been a tragedy, a terrible loss. Just... not the way she thought.
My worst mistake. The one I couldn't take back. And the one I'd remember for a lifetime.
I could never, ever be a trainer.
As I sat thinking over the simple fact, I noticed it was beginning to darken. Grey clouds filled the sky and the trainer kids began to make their way home, gathering up books, stereos, Pokéballs in their arms. I should be going too.
Scooping up the maths textbook I'd been reading, I got to my feet. Although my flat would be quite empty, there'd be a warm radiator to warm myself by and coffee cups on the kitchen bench. Books to read, too. The simple, elegant rules of mathematics. My subject, now. I began to hurry towards the other side of town.
It was there that the girl nearly collided with me.
She was clutching a Pokémon-- tiny, and of a species I had never seen-- close to her chest, and without looking to see if I was all right, she began to run again. The Pokémon squealed as she ran. "Pii! Pichu!"
"Wait," I called after her, catching her terrified expression. "Is something wrong?"
The girl-- younger than me-- turned and looked at me, painfully aware that she was wasting moments of her time. "They're coming," she said, fear showing in her eyes. "I saw them in the city once. We got to get out."
Then without explaining further, she grabbed her yellow Pokémon and fled.
They're coming. Who was coming? She had sounded frightened. Wild Pokémon? The police? A bicycle gang, like that one my friend had joined once, back when I was just a trainer kid?
Forgetting my coffee and textbooks, I looked down the southern track that led to my hometown. There was something, moving through the forest some way off. It looked like a motor vehicle of some sort, wide and square. How'd they get it down that track? It's barely wide enough for a motorbike.
Then I saw the fallen trees, forming a path through the forest. I saw the flocks of Pidgey and Spearow, scattering and flying away.
This can't be good, I thought, hurrying to find the police officers. But before I could reach the centre of town, the dark-coloured vehicle had screeched to a halt.
I saw the drivers. A woman with wavy golden hair, the last of the sunlight dazzling on her earrings. A guy whose turquoise hair, as icy blue as lightning, somehow seemed less cold than his eyes.
"Out of the way!" yelled the woman at a Raticate that was nosing around in the path of the van. "Before we run you over!" Nurse Joy, summoned from the Pokémon Centre, quickly scooped the sharp-toothed rat into her arms, dashing to safety.
"I'm going for help," I heard someone say. A tall girl was straddling her Pidgeot and preparing to take off. The police were out, the tiny band of officers that was all my town had ever needed. It wouldn't be enough, I could see that already.
The woman was hurling a net, snatching a boy's Dratini from him as he cried out in protest. "That belongs to us now," she smirked. "And all you other trainers, the same goes for you. If you hand them over nicely no-one will get hurt."
I doubted it.
"No way!" yelled a dark-haired young man, calling out his Venusaur. Almost instantly the front panel of the van slid back, revealing the shining barrel of a weapon. A tongue of flame shot out, scorching the Grass Pokémon's leaves. Blonde Girl smiled again, as if the sight gave her pleasure. Then she swung her net, snaring the damaged Venusaur and pulling it towards her. The trainer watched in silent horror.
"Anyone else want to try it?" snapped the driver, his hand hovering over a panel of buttons. No-one wanted to speculate what they would do if pressed.
Almost too quietly to hear, I made out the sound of wings above my head. I stepped backward and looked up into the sky.
A girl was there, riding a Pokémon, at the head of... I grinned despite myself... a whole herd, a whole flock, a whole army. The Pidgeot I'd seen before swooped behind them triumphantly. These must be the reinforcements that the trainer girl had found. We were saved.
She-- the dragon-rider-- she came swooping into the centre of it all, snatching the Venusaur and Dratini along with the net that held them. Her army came after her, mimicking her Pokémon's movement. "Team Rocket!" she yelled. "I might have known. Now, get out of here before you get your stupid hair set on fire!"
Blonde Girl ducked below the windscreen of the open-topped van. Her companion hit the nearest button, revealing what looked like a metal cannon on the bonnet. "I don't think so!" he retorted with a sneer.
The first blast of water hit the girl's Pokémon. It roared and flailed in the air, nearly dropping her from its back. She landed, obviously shaken, and jumped onto the next in line while the hurt Pokémon rested.
"I have some of the strongest Pokémon in this region," she muttered, facing the van. "Don't even try it." With those words, a jet of flame blackened the vehicle's bonnet. Turquoise Hair began to rev the engine, wanting a quick getaway if one were needed.
But the next water-shot hit the girl. She fell like a stone from her Pokémon's wings and dropped to the ground, a crumpled figure with frightened trainer kids crowding around her.
"Is she..." someone began, but Nurse Joy shook her head.
Now the two in the van-- Team Rocket, were they called?-- had their eyes on the team of confused Pokémon that circled, not knowing quite what to do. Another net-fire was loaded, and Blonde Girl began to aim it.
The Pokémon that the girl had been riding looked directly at us.
The Pokémon. The Pokémon. I couldn't even bear to think its name, so close to the one that--
"Someone's got to fly it!" yelled the boy with the Dratini. "Quick!"
No. Not--
The creature glanced at me. There was something strange in its eyes, something I couldn't quite place. And as if it was teasing me, playing on my fears, the Pokémon swept me onto its back.
Me. I was the one who would have to fly it.
You don't want me. I'm not a trainer. Please, don't--
"Hey D!" shouted one of the trainer kids, from the ground. "Are you going to do it, or not? We need help here!"
Slowly, very slowly, I turned and faced ahead of the gigantic creature, taking the reins the girl had used. "Come on, then," I whispered. "If this is how it has to be, then maybe just this once. Let's go."
And it worked. We rose above the crowd and faced the thieves in the van once more. Flames erupted from the enormous dragon's mouth, scorching the vehicle and alarming the drivers. Somewhere below me, someone was cheering.
The water cannon was loaded again. I saw, like something out of a dream, the way that Blonde Girl was focusing it, precisely, perfectly. Not aimed at me. At the Pokémon I was riding. And the water that was spilling from it was almost ready to fire.
The single thought filled my mind.
No! Not again!
"No!" I tugged the reins towards me and screamed in the Pokémon's ear. "Down now! Don't let her get you!"
To my half-surprise, it obeyed. The jet caught me in the chest, icy cold and strong enough to bruise my skin. It showered me with droplets of water, the water I hated so much, but I didn’t care. I hung on tight, determined not to be thrown off like the girl rider, but there was excitement and pleasure in the flight now as we curved and danced on the air currents. Then with a final spurt of flame, we set the van on fire.
Blonde Girl and Turquoise Hair jumped out and tried to flee, but the rest of the fire-torching army were waiting to head them off. The police officers behind them must have seemed like a better prospect, even holding handcuffs and making calls to city teams.
And then it was over.
The Pokémon set me down gently, next to the girl on her stretcher. I breathed deeply, trying to get over the wonderful, terrifying ride I'd just had.
Then he-- the Pokémon-- looked at me.
Now I knew what that look of recognition meant.
It was impossible. It had to be. I was hallucinating after that flight. I had to be.
And yet...
"It's you," I whispered, looking into his deep, crystal-clear eyes.
It couldn't be. But he nodded slowly, his lips forming something that looked a lot like a smile.
"You're alive."
My mind was filled with swirling memories.
That night... the lights of the Pokémon centre, in a town far from here... something so wrong... I had only meant it as a punishment...what I'd said to that guy out of bravado, and how it had ended up coming true... I had always meant to come back the next night... the storm... someone had told me what happened... to a Pokémon like him, on a night like this... I had gone out, calling, calling his name... no reply...
My worst mistake...
I touched him, wondering why he dared to come near. He knew me. I could see he did.
The girl was on her feet. Nurse Joy had helped her up. "Come on, guys," she called aloud. "We've got some more training to do."
One by one, the magnificent Pokémon around her took off. All but two.
The one who had been mine was with another, a female, talking to her in a language of his own. Eventually the girl joined them, listening in surprise to the words I couldn't understand. "Really? But... Well, if that's what you want..."
And the Pokémon, my worst mistake, my companion, came over to me clutching something in his mouth. It was clear he meant it as a present, so I took it from him, hardly glancing to see what it was. I wanted to hold the last glimpse of him before he, too, flew away. He's alive. He's alive... Even if I never saw another Pokémon in my life except on TV, I couldn't have been happier.
He was alive. And I could live again.
All too soon he was gone, and I turned my eyes on the thing he'd given me.
It looked like a round, reddish stone, lying in my arms. Looking back, I know I should've realised sooner what it really was. But it had been a confusing kind of day.
As I held it, a crack began to appear on the surface. Overhead, I heard a rumble of thunder. There was a storm on its way. Still I watched the splintering shell.
Two beautiful dark eyes, looking up at me. Two claws, reaching for the light. And somewhere in the darkness of the shattered eggshell, a warm, bright glow.
For a minute, I was unable to move. A thought came to me, strange and wonderful.
"You're mine," I told the new-born Pokémon. "You'll be safe with me, don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen to you. I'd die before I let it." Tears streamed down my face as I held her, and she touched my face with a gentle, scaled claw.
"And I'm going to call you... Hope."
Hope for the future. Hope for... me?
Maybe.
Then, cradling her under my sweater, I began to run with the last of my overworked strength.
"Let's get you inside, little one, before the rain starts."
Hope's Fire. I know it's a long way off the fan fiction ideal, and I wouldn't mind a bit of advice if you agree. But it's a fic that I wrote because I just had to, a couple of months back.
Anime universe.
------
I sat by the lake, skimming pebbles across the water and watching the ripples. I quite liked doing that sort of thing, when it was a fair, cool day like this one. Glancing at the sky, I sighed; it looked as if the bright weather wouldn't last. Soon the storm clouds would gather, and the first droplets would begin to fall. I hated, really hated the rain.
Silently, I told myself it wouldn't be long before I headed for warmer climes. My days in this small, remote town were numbered. Before long I'd be going to university. To study what? Mathematics, I told them, and put up with the gasps when I failed to add a 'suitable' extra. Geography-and-birdkeeping. History-and-legendary-research. Even, for goodness' sake, lacework-and-grooming. But I stuck obstinately to my single subject choice, and I buried myself in my books.
Apart from that, there wasn't much I had in common with the other teenagers who wandered in and out of my hometown. Oh, they talked to me, sometimes we were good friends. But there was always a gulf between us, something they wouldn't discover for a little while.
Hey D, are you coming to watch the Machoke match in Celadon? No transport, I told them. Oh, not a problem. Call me when you've got something fit to fly. I'd wave them off, wondering what exactly a Machoke match was like, trying to imagine the two powerful fighters squaring up to one another.
Here, are you coming to the water festival with me? There'll be a place to show off your best Water Pokémon, and a whole fountain display of Goldeen. We can take my Pidgeot and be home by tonight. It was harder to say no, but I insisted.
Oh, I was wondering if you'd like to have a battle with me? And then, despite my best efforts, I had to tell the truth yet again.
I'm not a trainer.
How could I be a trainer?
I had screamed those very words at a sixteen-year-old girl a few months ago. She'd backed off in immediate awkwardness, and I heard her whispering with her friends; he seems so angry... won't touch my Pokémon...maybe some sort of accident... She was close, almost too close, and it was a story I'd like to believe.
An accident. A tragedy. A disaster. A loss. And then my journey out here to a new hometown, to begin again.
Such an easy story, such a pretty story. And so easy to let them believe it. In a way, it was true; it had been a tragedy, a terrible loss. Just... not the way she thought.
My worst mistake. The one I couldn't take back. And the one I'd remember for a lifetime.
I could never, ever be a trainer.
As I sat thinking over the simple fact, I noticed it was beginning to darken. Grey clouds filled the sky and the trainer kids began to make their way home, gathering up books, stereos, Pokéballs in their arms. I should be going too.
Scooping up the maths textbook I'd been reading, I got to my feet. Although my flat would be quite empty, there'd be a warm radiator to warm myself by and coffee cups on the kitchen bench. Books to read, too. The simple, elegant rules of mathematics. My subject, now. I began to hurry towards the other side of town.
It was there that the girl nearly collided with me.
She was clutching a Pokémon-- tiny, and of a species I had never seen-- close to her chest, and without looking to see if I was all right, she began to run again. The Pokémon squealed as she ran. "Pii! Pichu!"
"Wait," I called after her, catching her terrified expression. "Is something wrong?"
The girl-- younger than me-- turned and looked at me, painfully aware that she was wasting moments of her time. "They're coming," she said, fear showing in her eyes. "I saw them in the city once. We got to get out."
Then without explaining further, she grabbed her yellow Pokémon and fled.
They're coming. Who was coming? She had sounded frightened. Wild Pokémon? The police? A bicycle gang, like that one my friend had joined once, back when I was just a trainer kid?
Forgetting my coffee and textbooks, I looked down the southern track that led to my hometown. There was something, moving through the forest some way off. It looked like a motor vehicle of some sort, wide and square. How'd they get it down that track? It's barely wide enough for a motorbike.
Then I saw the fallen trees, forming a path through the forest. I saw the flocks of Pidgey and Spearow, scattering and flying away.
This can't be good, I thought, hurrying to find the police officers. But before I could reach the centre of town, the dark-coloured vehicle had screeched to a halt.
I saw the drivers. A woman with wavy golden hair, the last of the sunlight dazzling on her earrings. A guy whose turquoise hair, as icy blue as lightning, somehow seemed less cold than his eyes.
"Out of the way!" yelled the woman at a Raticate that was nosing around in the path of the van. "Before we run you over!" Nurse Joy, summoned from the Pokémon Centre, quickly scooped the sharp-toothed rat into her arms, dashing to safety.
"I'm going for help," I heard someone say. A tall girl was straddling her Pidgeot and preparing to take off. The police were out, the tiny band of officers that was all my town had ever needed. It wouldn't be enough, I could see that already.
The woman was hurling a net, snatching a boy's Dratini from him as he cried out in protest. "That belongs to us now," she smirked. "And all you other trainers, the same goes for you. If you hand them over nicely no-one will get hurt."
I doubted it.
"No way!" yelled a dark-haired young man, calling out his Venusaur. Almost instantly the front panel of the van slid back, revealing the shining barrel of a weapon. A tongue of flame shot out, scorching the Grass Pokémon's leaves. Blonde Girl smiled again, as if the sight gave her pleasure. Then she swung her net, snaring the damaged Venusaur and pulling it towards her. The trainer watched in silent horror.
"Anyone else want to try it?" snapped the driver, his hand hovering over a panel of buttons. No-one wanted to speculate what they would do if pressed.
Almost too quietly to hear, I made out the sound of wings above my head. I stepped backward and looked up into the sky.
A girl was there, riding a Pokémon, at the head of... I grinned despite myself... a whole herd, a whole flock, a whole army. The Pidgeot I'd seen before swooped behind them triumphantly. These must be the reinforcements that the trainer girl had found. We were saved.
She-- the dragon-rider-- she came swooping into the centre of it all, snatching the Venusaur and Dratini along with the net that held them. Her army came after her, mimicking her Pokémon's movement. "Team Rocket!" she yelled. "I might have known. Now, get out of here before you get your stupid hair set on fire!"
Blonde Girl ducked below the windscreen of the open-topped van. Her companion hit the nearest button, revealing what looked like a metal cannon on the bonnet. "I don't think so!" he retorted with a sneer.
The first blast of water hit the girl's Pokémon. It roared and flailed in the air, nearly dropping her from its back. She landed, obviously shaken, and jumped onto the next in line while the hurt Pokémon rested.
"I have some of the strongest Pokémon in this region," she muttered, facing the van. "Don't even try it." With those words, a jet of flame blackened the vehicle's bonnet. Turquoise Hair began to rev the engine, wanting a quick getaway if one were needed.
But the next water-shot hit the girl. She fell like a stone from her Pokémon's wings and dropped to the ground, a crumpled figure with frightened trainer kids crowding around her.
"Is she..." someone began, but Nurse Joy shook her head.
Now the two in the van-- Team Rocket, were they called?-- had their eyes on the team of confused Pokémon that circled, not knowing quite what to do. Another net-fire was loaded, and Blonde Girl began to aim it.
The Pokémon that the girl had been riding looked directly at us.
The Pokémon. The Pokémon. I couldn't even bear to think its name, so close to the one that--
"Someone's got to fly it!" yelled the boy with the Dratini. "Quick!"
No. Not--
The creature glanced at me. There was something strange in its eyes, something I couldn't quite place. And as if it was teasing me, playing on my fears, the Pokémon swept me onto its back.
Me. I was the one who would have to fly it.
You don't want me. I'm not a trainer. Please, don't--
"Hey D!" shouted one of the trainer kids, from the ground. "Are you going to do it, or not? We need help here!"
Slowly, very slowly, I turned and faced ahead of the gigantic creature, taking the reins the girl had used. "Come on, then," I whispered. "If this is how it has to be, then maybe just this once. Let's go."
And it worked. We rose above the crowd and faced the thieves in the van once more. Flames erupted from the enormous dragon's mouth, scorching the vehicle and alarming the drivers. Somewhere below me, someone was cheering.
The water cannon was loaded again. I saw, like something out of a dream, the way that Blonde Girl was focusing it, precisely, perfectly. Not aimed at me. At the Pokémon I was riding. And the water that was spilling from it was almost ready to fire.
The single thought filled my mind.
No! Not again!
"No!" I tugged the reins towards me and screamed in the Pokémon's ear. "Down now! Don't let her get you!"
To my half-surprise, it obeyed. The jet caught me in the chest, icy cold and strong enough to bruise my skin. It showered me with droplets of water, the water I hated so much, but I didn’t care. I hung on tight, determined not to be thrown off like the girl rider, but there was excitement and pleasure in the flight now as we curved and danced on the air currents. Then with a final spurt of flame, we set the van on fire.
Blonde Girl and Turquoise Hair jumped out and tried to flee, but the rest of the fire-torching army were waiting to head them off. The police officers behind them must have seemed like a better prospect, even holding handcuffs and making calls to city teams.
And then it was over.
The Pokémon set me down gently, next to the girl on her stretcher. I breathed deeply, trying to get over the wonderful, terrifying ride I'd just had.
Then he-- the Pokémon-- looked at me.
Now I knew what that look of recognition meant.
It was impossible. It had to be. I was hallucinating after that flight. I had to be.
And yet...
"It's you," I whispered, looking into his deep, crystal-clear eyes.
It couldn't be. But he nodded slowly, his lips forming something that looked a lot like a smile.
"You're alive."
My mind was filled with swirling memories.
That night... the lights of the Pokémon centre, in a town far from here... something so wrong... I had only meant it as a punishment...what I'd said to that guy out of bravado, and how it had ended up coming true... I had always meant to come back the next night... the storm... someone had told me what happened... to a Pokémon like him, on a night like this... I had gone out, calling, calling his name... no reply...
My worst mistake...
I touched him, wondering why he dared to come near. He knew me. I could see he did.
The girl was on her feet. Nurse Joy had helped her up. "Come on, guys," she called aloud. "We've got some more training to do."
One by one, the magnificent Pokémon around her took off. All but two.
The one who had been mine was with another, a female, talking to her in a language of his own. Eventually the girl joined them, listening in surprise to the words I couldn't understand. "Really? But... Well, if that's what you want..."
And the Pokémon, my worst mistake, my companion, came over to me clutching something in his mouth. It was clear he meant it as a present, so I took it from him, hardly glancing to see what it was. I wanted to hold the last glimpse of him before he, too, flew away. He's alive. He's alive... Even if I never saw another Pokémon in my life except on TV, I couldn't have been happier.
He was alive. And I could live again.
All too soon he was gone, and I turned my eyes on the thing he'd given me.
It looked like a round, reddish stone, lying in my arms. Looking back, I know I should've realised sooner what it really was. But it had been a confusing kind of day.
As I held it, a crack began to appear on the surface. Overhead, I heard a rumble of thunder. There was a storm on its way. Still I watched the splintering shell.
Two beautiful dark eyes, looking up at me. Two claws, reaching for the light. And somewhere in the darkness of the shattered eggshell, a warm, bright glow.
For a minute, I was unable to move. A thought came to me, strange and wonderful.
"You're mine," I told the new-born Pokémon. "You'll be safe with me, don't worry. Nothing's gonna happen to you. I'd die before I let it." Tears streamed down my face as I held her, and she touched my face with a gentle, scaled claw.
"And I'm going to call you... Hope."
Hope for the future. Hope for... me?
Maybe.
Then, cradling her under my sweater, I began to run with the last of my overworked strength.
"Let's get you inside, little one, before the rain starts."
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