This fanfic is generally suitable for anyone over 13 as some chapters may contain moderate violence and occasional swearing. However depending on the chapter this rating may decrease or increase. It will be noted.
So my first time writing a proper fanfic, the Encyclopedia not counting, and i think its coming along quite well with a few chapters already completed. Also im currently looking for a second, and perhaps third, beta reader. So any offers and i would be extremely grateful. Also please keep in mind that as English is not my first language it may not be as great as most peoples, although it should be adequate as ive spent a few years living in England. One more thing: I hope you enjoy it, happy reading.
Respire. Expire.
Prologue:A moments rest.
He lit another cigarette, the flash of the flame illuminating the surrounding darkness.
He exhaled…
The windless night allowed the smoke to billow and hang in the air encasing his hard focused features.
He inhaled…
The moon momentarily became uncovered by the cloud that persistently kept it hidden, distinguishing him from the darkness and revealing a strange red and white ball clasped tightly in his hand.
He exhaled…
‘Tonight would be different.’ he thought.
He inhaled…
‘Tonight I will finish what I started.’
He exhaled…
He inhaled…
It began to rain.
He exhaled…
He barely moved as the rain began to wash over his Stetson and black trench coat.
He inhaled…
‘I just have to be patient.’ he said aloud, as he stubbed the cigarette out on the grave he was leaning on.
It fell to the ground, the darkness surrounding it. Smoke rose silently for a moment before the rain had its way.
He exhaled…
The flare of a match chased the darkness away once more.
He inhaled…
* * * *
Alex felt good. The sun was shining and the previous week’s rain was all forgotten. He was taking his time, trying to catch fleeting glimpses of the wild Pokemon scurry away, hidden from view, as he came near. He paused on the path for a moment, listening to the birds fill the woods with song. It had been too long since he had heard the scuffling and songs of Pokemon. The dew covered leaves swayed as a breeze blew past, crisp and fresh, then gone. Alex smiled and continued down the well worn path.
The path was indeed well worn. The earth under Alex’s shoes was dry and cracked with the occasional weed growing in the middle, lonesome. It looked old and well used, as if people had been using this route for centuries. At both sides of the path ferns, nettles and bushes, with the occasional close tree, grew, marking the boundaries of the path. So thick, it kept everything strictly to the path and not beyond its borders, protecting the woods from any kind of harm.
The trees were not as thick here, morning light filtered down through the tree tops and catching on the dew making the plants sparkle. Alex was coming to the edge of the woods; he had walked this path so many times before that he could almost do it with his eyes closed.
As he stepped out of the shadow of the trees and jumped on top of a rock, the sunlight reflected in his brown eyes. His dark hair shone in the light making it appear a darker shade of brown than it really was, a breeze blew it into his face. It was getting too long and needed to be cut as it looked messy, but this was how Alex liked it best. Years ago his parents had kept telling him to cut it when it was this length, but now since he was nineteen he hadn’t seen them in a couple years and could keep it the way he liked. He was average height and rather stocky. The bottoms of his blue jeans were all wet from walking across the grass fields before he entered the wood, his shoes tinged green at the toe. He was wearing just a white t shirt, emblazoned with the words ‘Respire’ and ‘Expire’, as it was nice and warm out. He also had his bag with him. It was just a standard bag, but Alex had recently taken it everywhere with him as it contained all his usual everyday things.
Alex always seemed to be in a good and he generally took life as it came, not worrying too much about things, although this would occasionally cause him problems as he did not always plan ahead and was often rushing and in trouble or trying to remember things at the last minute. However recently he hadn’t had a chance to relax and was making the most of this chance. His kind face crinkled as he squinted in the sun. He had an average round shaped nose and had bushy eyebrows, which came from his mum’s side surprisingly. He hadn’t shaved; he scratched the stubble across his face. He preferred it like that as he thought it gave him more of a ‘man’s man’ look. He had a small scar under his chin, kind of oval shaped. When he was younger he fell out of a tree he had been climbing in this very forest and had disturbed a young Geodude which had then thrown pebbles at him. A sharp one had hit him on his chin and made him bleed quite badly.
He looked around sighting his destination.
‘God its good to be back here again,’ he sighed aloud to himself. ‘What’s it been? Like 2 years?’ Alex had moved out of his parent’s house to live in his own apartment in a close by town 2 years ago. He jumped off of the rock, hitched his bag higher up onto his shoulders and carried on down the well beaten path which now passed through a field.
The farmer who had owned the fields and land had moved away long ago due to ‘local disturbances’ and so the fields were very discarded as the relatives the farmer had left the farm to were too nervous to set foot in the farm and its land. However Alex didn’t know any of this and had always known the fields to be as they were, since as long as he could remember.
Alex was now standing next to the gate. The gate was connected to a wooden fence that ran in an oval shape. Encircled was a cemetery. About 50 graves and head stones scattered about in several rows. There was no church nearby, nothing that would indicate why a cemetery would be in the middle of a field. Alex opened the gate and entered the cemetery. He hadn’t been here in 2 years. He made his way to his destination, his sister’s grave, he knew this may his last chance to visit her and he had to tell her everything. He also had to get something.
He passed the biggest grave in the cemetery. On a grey stone pillar the was a life size angel holding her hand in such a way that they created a kind of bowl, and indeed rainwater from last week was still being held in her hands. There were cigarette burn marks all over this grave. Hundreds of them. They had been there as far back as Alex could remember. He had often wondered who had put them there. He wondered, there seemed to be more of them now than there were since he was last here. He shrugged this off without a worry, thinking that he remembered wrong, it had been 2 years after all. He continued towards his sister’s grave.
After a few metres he stopped short, something had been bothering him. He looked around, the tall grass of the field swayed in the breeze, the decrepit fence groaning from years of neglect.
‘Where are all the Pokemon?’ mused Alex out loud. He knew what was coming and didn’t have as long as he hoped.
‘There goes my free day.’ mumbled Alex. As he said this a strange noise caught his attention. Alex whirled round to see what it was, the hairs on his neck and arms standing to attention from momentary surprise. He looked down at the ground and there in front of his Sisters grave glaring up at him, less than 3 meters away, was a Pokemon.
Back in the forest the EYES were catching up.
…‘He had been slow today.’
* * * *
Authors notes: Since its only a prologue its a more an introduction to the characters, the plot and events will become evident in the second chapter which will be up either later today or tomorrow. Hopefully if i did my job well enough you might have picked up on a few connections. Let me hear your constructive criticism and anything you have to say about it. Thanks in advance.
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