I claim no rights to pokemon at all. This is merely a fanfiction.
So yeah. I finished this up today, the prologue. I'm not even remotely done with the entire fic. I hope you all enjoy. Please critique. This chapter would be PG-13 for some violence, adult themes, and teen drinking. It changes each chapter, just for the record.
Also want to clarify this is not the beginning of the story. This is actually a part of the second section.
Prologue: Campfire Tales
“I was thinking. Ever since this started... and we all agreed to help but I think we need to go into this prepared”
“What do you mean Morgin?”
“What I mean Lucy, is that we need to know each other before we go into this... battle,” he said grimly.
“Haven’t the past six months been enough for that” Igor spat venomously.
“Obviously not, if none of us can trust each other. I’ve seen it the way some of us react to the simplest of things and it confuses me. Carmen you always scream if the tiniest spark comes flying your way whenever we set up a fire. Rory you always flinch when someone even mentions the ocean or even water,”
“What are you getting at?” Rory countered.
“We all of something to hide, and we can’t let it lay hidden. I say its time to share because whether you like it or not we need to know what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are,” he finished pointedly.
“Are you serious?” Abdul asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he retorted.
“I guess he’s right. I’ll start” Rory said with brevity. Sixteen pairs of eyes glanced in his direction as he began.
“I was out at a party with my parents, in the ocean, on our yacht. My parents were never that intelligent, when it came to drinking. You see ever since the government banned alcohol, people from our village went out on their boats in international waters to drink, because it was legal.”
“Well this night it was some celebration for something, someone got pregnant or something, I have no idea. But I was ten and curious so I played on he bow of the ship, everyone else was partying at the stern, I always thought our boat was weird, but never a deathtrap of some sorts.”
“I... I tripped and fell almost off the boat. My hand was grasping the rail. I screamed and screamed for help and my parents came. I thought I was saved” he said bitterly as he paused for a breath.
“They were drunk. Clutching their vodka or wine they stared at me smiling and said ‘Wow who invited th- thi this idiot?’ And they threw their bottle at my face and I plunged into the icy waters.”
“I was drifting away from the boat, watching it slowly drift towards the island. And they left me their. They were unaware, due to their own drunkenness that they left their only son in the middle of the ocean. As the last flickering light, of the boat faded, the lightning began.”
“I swam in all direction looking for a way to escape. It was pitch black and I couldn’t tell if I was heading for the island or journeying into the eye of the storm itself. The lightning flashed brighter than the sun, the thunder roared mightier than any giant.”
“I was being assaulted in the fury of the waves, trying to catch my breath as I was being pulled deeper and deeper into the ocean. I was desperately trying to swim. Then, I felt a huge tentacle grasp me. I fought furiously and tried to break free. I was being pulled under. The last breath or the salty brine escaped me. I could feel the pressure of the water build as I was being dragged to the bottom of the ocean.” Everyone stared in silence.
“I tried to keep the last of the air in my body and I fought to keep conscious. But I didn’t, I passed out. Then, I awoke in a murky lagoon. It was familiar, I vaguely remember venturing here as a child. Lying in the sand, I allowed the gentle ocean to caress the soles of my feet. The storm had cleared.”
“I was confused until I noticed this beautiful, dragon like, creature. She was watching over me, protectively. It was Scalia, my Milotic. Every day that summer I visited her in that cove, ignoring my parents constant apologies. And one day,we both agreed, and my poketch was undamaged, I captured her,” Rory ended.
“Wow,” Terra breathed.
“That must have been terrible,” Lucy consoled. More whispers in agreement followed.
“So who’s next? I’m not going to be the only one to have shared tonight,” Rory said with a slight grin spreading across his face.
“Well, I was very little,” Lucy began.
“What changed?” Addison said jokingly.
“Funny,” Lucy retorted with slight sarcasm. “As I was saying I was in the woods, playing like all little eight year olds. I was washing myself in a stream when a cute Houndour waddled down to the stream to drink from it. Being curious I went over to pet it, but then its, parents and their pack of vicious, Houndoom sprinted towards me.”
“I ran. As fast as I could down that stream, passing Teddiursas trying to raid honey from a Beedrill hive or stepping over a Finneon as it swam by. I felt for sure I was going to die. They had already surrounded me. Making sure I couldn’t leave the stream. Then, I noticed the stream just stopped in the distance, everything did. I was scared, I thought I was about to run off the edge of the world, when I had reached it I stopped. The Houndoom stopped too. Eying me like a piece of meat. I had two choices jump or be eaten by a large ferocious carnivore.”
“I jumped. I felt all the air rush out of me, the adrenaline flash through my body, I felt the cool morning air tease my skin as I plunged into the frigid waters.”
I never did know how I survived by, I knew a Houndoom took part of me with him,” she remarked carelessly showing everyone her mangled hand, her pinkie missing. “Ever since then I have hated dogs, and dog-like pokemon. That is why I hate your Houndoom, Thalia,” she ended with an ample amount of disdain.
“He never cared for you much either” Thalia said while shrugging.
“You’ve been awfully quiet Alaric, that’s way out of character for you,” Lucy commented lightly.
“Yeah, I guess,” he said quite reserved.
“Tell us, you might as well, bro” Rory said.
“Sure,” he said shortly. “Here goes it. I was flying with my parents over a small island in the ocean. They were always explorers, so we went to see the most dangerous of places the sharp rocks near the cliff, the deep ravine near the river, and the volcano. The thing they didn’t expect was the fuel tanks to loose power while we were right over it. Quickly they released Pidgeot to fly us out.”
“We had already descended 50 feet and were closing in on the volcanic lava that was bubbling below. My father helped me onto Pidgeot and was guiding my mother onto her wing when the helicopter blade hit a piece of falling debris from the side of the volcano. It spun out of control and away from Pidgeot.”
“They grabbed for my hand but were to far to reach. And I watched them fall into the burning maelstrom of lava. We were alone. Pidgeot flew me out of their and onto a beach. She scouted the island and told me, through my poketch which was amazingly in tact, there was no chance she could fly me back. It was too long of a fly for her. So I waited for help. And after a month the government noticed that my parents were missing and sent a team of rescuers to get us back, but only found me.”
“I grew up with my cousins, and now I’m here. Next?” he finished hurriedly.
“Me.” Carmen said unexpectedly.
“Go for it,” Morgin said surprised by her enthusiasm.
“I was thirteen. In my village with... a friend, we were talking in the woods. We were in a clearing and the moon was shining. The night was warm and breezy it was...nice. All of the suddenly we see smoke rising in the difference. My friend had to leave, the tribal elders normally set up meetings by smoke signals. So we meandered through the forest.”
“Then part of the inferno caught on the trees. It had sent the entire night ablaze with fury. We were scared. We ran. Fast. We were nearing the docks when a branch crashed between us, stabbing my face, and the blaze separated us, we agreed to meet at the docks. I had reached the docks when I saw the destruction.”
“The entire city was ablaze. I saw it burn my home and kill my friends and family. I heard it crackling and cackling like a witch in a fairy tale. I felt it licking my arms like a demon of fire. I tasted the ashes that were settling in the air. I smelled the scent of rotting corpses and burning wood. And I couldn’t take it.”
“Turning around I ran for our boat, I had put the keys in the ignition when I heard an enormous explosion. I twirled around and saw the chaos of my city and with tears in my eye I sped up the boat and sailed for the mainland. There was only one survivor,” she agonized for a moment and let the tears flow from her eyes.
“I- I-,” she began again.
“Enough, it’s all right. You’ll be fine,” Abdul assured her.
“Time for another one I suppose,” Zander stated firmly.
“Who’s next?” Selena whispered through shared grief.
“Me,” Margo stated dreamily. “You all know I’m blind right?”
“I think we figured that out ourselves,” Obi noted sarcastically.
“Well I wasn’t always like this. I have two stories to tell, really. I was being Mommy’s little helper in the kitchen when I was around seven. I was going to strain the macaroni from the pot so I picked it up and went to the sink to empty it. Now she warned me not too but I did anyway. I had already made it halfway there when she screamed and I slipped in a puddle of milk I poured earlier.”
“The scalding hot water went right into my open eyes. They were burned and the damage was irreversible. So I went on with life. And so did my mom and my dad and my little Ralts, Psy. Now Psy loved me very much and he managed to tap into my inner psyche and give me psychic abilities so I could see, very vaguely of course, but whenver he sent a little message to me it was beautiful in color and I even got to see his evolution. My life was great.
“Until, the day I turned fifteen. I was just playing with Psy, tossing a ball back and forth with our minds. Then, I heard some strange noises coming from our front door. Psy gave me a message to run upstairs and hide. I new it was serious. His tone was dark and foreboding. I quickly hid. The door crashed open and I knew what was happening. Psy was defending me from, the uninvited visitor.”
“Too scared to do move I created a psychic path between me and Psy to see what was happening. He was using his Psychic powers to tear the big, hulking man apart. Blood was dripping from his torn carcass. I plucked up the courage to move and stumbled downstairs. Psy then sent me a new message in my head. He had evolved again, into Gallade. I was altogether shocked and horrified; and proud and happy.”
“He then told me what he was planning to do to me. It was Mr. Kayoto. Knowing him for years that would have been the last thing I’d think he would do. And we stood there for about an hour while the police investigated. And Psy had explained to the police by teleporting the vision into their minds and they believed him. It was very traumatizing. I can’t stand to be alone without him now.”
“That was very scary,” Selena said with terror in her round, cerulean eyes.
“Very,” Addison agreed with an odd disposition of distance.
Abdul volunteered, “I’ll go now. My parents were hosting a benefit at my house for some stupid charity that already had more than enough money but were spending it on cars and flat screen televisions for the founders, my parents weren’t exactly generous to real charities just ones that gave out publicity.”
“Anyway, I was told to stay in the basement to play on our computer, two years older than I was, and I came across a strange set of beakers and vials. My fathers said ‘don’t touch anything’, so naturally I decided to poke around. I had particular interest in a fat, beaker than contained a bubbling magenta, fluid.”
“My finger had just broken the meniscus when it let out a puff of smoke and instantly began to burn my skin. It engulfed my body. I stumbled, getting up. My body ached of pain. I staggered up the stairs and into the party. Bleeding profusely from my mouth, hands, and abdomen; I tripped over the guest bleeding on them. Turning the whole scene into a picture of pandemonium and panic, I was dying.”
“With one last futile attempt at life I fell into the punch bowl and was instantly revitalized. I later learned that the water in the punch saved my life. Had it been sooner, I wouldn’t have these scars,” Abdul said darkly as he lifted his shirt revealing a large, lavender, scar that began from his hip and gradually enlarged all the way to his neck and finally gliding down his arms. Almost like a phoenix.
“Now I know why you never liked to swim with us,” Carmen said through tears, obviously still a little upset over her story.
“Well if we want to finish story time by tonight I’ll have to go,” Ivan said gruffly. “I had moved into a new town, last year and had just started my first day of school at high school. Almost immediately a girl came up to me and asked me to go out with her. A bit confused and annoyed I turned her down. This continued for about a month and a half, when I told he to just leave me alone and I called her a stalker. It was kind of a mistake on my part.”
“I came the next day after school, glad she hadn’t annoyed me. In fact it looked like she hadn’t even been at school that day. Ignoring it I decided to crash in my room for a while before I met some friends at one of their places. I opened the door and threw my backpack on the floor and I saw her. Sprawled out on my bed, half covered in blood, half naked, clutching a butcher’s knife and she was smiling.”
“Aghast at this I tripped over myself and fell to the ground. Tilting my head to one side I saw my Dad on his bed stabbed many times. Terrified, I backed up to the closet at the end of the hall and opened the door to find my mother hanging from a metal coat hanger swinging back and forth with a large gash in her stomach. I shut the door and went for the stairs but she was ready and pushed me down.”
“Then, I noticed the closet door. A bloodied shoelace and a torn skirt were visible from the crack, 'the twins' I thought. I nearly lost it. They found me hog-tied on my bed with that lunatic cuddling with me, knife still in hand. It was not only bizarre but devastating. I was sent to live with my neighbors but I couldn’t take it. I had already enough credits to graduate from school so I left and found myself at the government building just like you,” he ended quavering slightly.
“That’s terrible,” Terra said softly.
“I know,” he replied trembling.
“Okay,” the attention shifted to Thalia who was looking extraordinarily uncomfortable. “I was five. I was walking with my mother in Fortree City, In Hoenn, you know the city of trees. Well she was talking to me and she pointed out a beautiful flower growing on the path. I turned to look and giggling due to the beauty I turned around and she vanished.”
“It hurt. I was sent to live with relatives in our country. And I couldn’t take it. I grew up asking them when she was coming back. How she was doing. And all they said was that she would come back, they kept my hope alive. But I grew older and wiser and I turned bitter with each day. I grew up with hate bubbling inside of me. I can’t ever forgive her. Not for that. That is why I’m always mad. That is why I can’t stand to look at anyone’s mother. That is why I leave the conversation when parents get involved.” She ended. The group just stared in disbelief at the emotion Thalia showed in her rant.
“Sorry for the monologue,” she said with disdain.
“I think I should go,” Arabelle piped up. Her entrance into the conversation was shocking. “My parents were mean. No, no they were cruel. They said terrible things to me, like I shouldn’t have been born, or that I was a waste of space. They were horrid. But, my opinion changed when they announced we were going on a skiing trip to Snowpoint City. I was elated. I thought it was a sign that they loved me.”
“We had a guide take us to the top and he said ‘Now you know the way you won’t need me anymore’ he noticed how my parents were a bit mocking of my enthusiasm the entire way, so he gave me a radio and the station he was on. I was to call if they were bad again.”
“They saw this but didn’t say anything. He skied down the mountain and left me with them. They took the radio and threw it down the slope opposite of him and took my skies and broke them, throwing them too down the mountain. They knocked me out cold and then went down the mountain. They left me there to die. They left me for dead.”
“I awoke to find myself deserted. I felt all of the hope I had, leave me, bleed from me. There was nothing left.”
“Suddenly, a fluttery Mothim appeared. It consoled me, they hadn’t taken my poketch, then carried me to the station. It flew me down the mountain and to the ranger station. I finally felt safe. My parents were incarcerated, I had a new adoptive family in our country, and I had Mothra, Mothim, to play with,” Arabelle finished.
“Your parents should die,” Lucy said with fire in her eyes.
“No need to pester the guilty. Just let them rot and you will feel better,” Margo said calmly.
“I just want to get this over with now,” Zander stated with contempt. “My father fought in the war, The Great War. He was drafted when I was five. I last saw him leave and he said he’d be back. He never came back, alive. Two weeks before he was to be on leave his camp got raided and all the men were lost.”
“His body was shipped in a simple casket. Unable to dress his wounds, he looked like a hideous, disfigured monster. Shrapnel was still visible on his face. Burns encompassed his torso. Dried blood looked as if it were streaming from his eyes, nose and mouth. It hurt. Apparently the only way for the government to be cost-effective was to cut this ‘unnecessary’ procedure.”
“That is why I fight. That is why I never give up. I can’t stand to have them win, to have this control over us, to have everything,” he trailed off in his rant. Everyone stared awestruck at the tears streaming down his face.
“My we are a cheery bunch,” Igor stated softly, even he was unable to force this comment through with his usual spite.
“My turn,” Alexia spoke deliberately. She tried to find the right words then spoke, “I was just visiting my friend, my only friend, the Elder of our village his name was Mr. Yakamoto. He was kind and was a lover of peace. But one day after speaking out against the government” everyone flinched, she continued “the government sent four men to his house.”
“I was going to deliver some cookies to him, I made them myself. That’s when I heard the shouting. The men were arguing with him. He wasn’t arguing he was just stating the facts. They pulled out their guns and shot him. Shot him till he fell. I was scared, I dropped my cookies and hid in the bushes, my only comfort was the forest. I was crying.”
“And I heard his voice, in my head. He told me to stop crying. He said my tears would soak the crusts of the Earth. And he told me to wait until the men had passed and to get up and run home. I did. But, before I left, I saw his body. It was-”she stopped.
“I think we get the picture,” Addison said comfortingly.
“Why don’t you go Morgin?” Lucy asked.
“Sure,” he said sweetly, “But, no one will believe me. I grew up in the most religious house-hold possible. My parents shoved it down my throat. Once I became a teenager they noticed me change. Their reasoning behind everything was because I hadn’t been their sweet little boy anymore. Glad I moved out of their when I did, or I’d be going door to door delivering everyone the 'good news'”
“One night when I was fifteen I came home to the house completely dark. Previously that day I cussed out my parents for being stubborn. Big mistake. As soon as I opened the door and walked in, I was hit over the head with a frying pan.”
“I woke up chained to a chair my parents and the priest of the town huddled around me. They were muttering something and the priest was holding a cross on my forehead. Then, they began to shout. They were babbling on about ‘God’, ‘Devil’, ‘Forgiveness’ and ‘Salvation’. I was confused. I tried to speak but I noticed I was gagged. I couldn’t move. More people were advancing on me, the townspeople. Trying to break free, I groaned in agony when I found that I had been stabbed. I couldn’t move. Blood was pooling around me. My eyes were darting. I was screaming. No one was helping.”
“The more I struggled the louder they screamed. My mother whispered in my ear ‘We’ll get the demon out of you, honey, we all want to help, we will do this all night if we have to’. I was terrified. I struggled more. I was being tormented. The entire town was now reciting the prayer. Holy Water was being splashed into my tired eyes.”
“It had gone on for another hour before I feigned sleep. I heard them murmur that it was done. And I continued to live. I never did anything to scare them again. Everyday I had to face my parents. It was agony. And now I’m here and I’m fighting against oppression. No one deserves that. And now the government is doing it. I won’t let them” he ended with passion."
“I feel like my story is nothing compared to everyone else’s.” Selena said, breaking the silence.
“If it changed you, tell us,” Margo assured.
“Alright, well I ran away from home and went to the mountain range in our country, you know Overture Pass. Anyway I went to one of my favorite mountains, Mt. Tetara. Its lesser known and is named for its explorer. Anyway I decided to do some rock climbing before I left town. I had climbed to my favorite overhang that looks out to the sea. I was going to slide down when my foot got caught on a rock and I tripped.”
“I was fast enough to grab onto the ledge. But I couldn’t get up. All of my strength was gone. I was bleeding from my arm. It trailed down and splashed into my face like a hose. I was slipping; my blood was loosening my grasp. I was going to die. Then, my Swablu, Cirrus, which I had carelessly left at home swooped in and saved me at just the right time.”
“And we just left. Now I’m here. So yeah...” she trailed off.
“It’s fine. You’re okay now,” Obi said comfortingly.
“Obi, you want to go now?” Abdul asked.
“Why not?” he asked nonchalantly, he adjusted himself in the grass. “I was never really the most popular guy at school. I was bullied, teased, tormented, all because I was quiet and shy. I didn’t have friends so nothing stopped them. They had tracked me to my favorite spot to hang out, and rest, the tree house my father had built me when I was little.”
“While I was asleep they poured gasoline around my tree house and had lit a match. The blaze startled me and I was frightened. I looked out the window to see my classmates laughing at my expression as I stared at the blaze. I lost it. Someway. Somehow. The blaze had stopped and exploded outward.”
“I saw their faces as they twisted and contorted and burned from the fire that erupted from the tree. I was stunned. Nothing natural could have caused this. I was too frightened to move. And I stayed there. All of them died. Their bodies were warped and grotesque. It was unbearable. I felt guilty even for those who would have laughed at me when I died.”
“When I explained what happened to the police, they nodded and let me go. I never really spoke after that. Not much ever.”
“I knew there was a connection between us. We have two psychics in our presence. One self-made,” Margo motioned to herself, “and one natural,” she pointed to Obi.
“Really?” he asked.
“For sure, I knew there was one other here. It is very great to know this. We are not alone,” she said smiling.
“No one here is,” Alaric said consolingly.
“Igor, it is time,” Rory teased.
“Fine, I’ll keep it short, less time for everyone to morn,” he said sardonically. “I was out hunting with my best friend, James, we weren’t too careful and wandered into a nest of Beedrill, hundreds of nests of Beedrill. What is worse is that the government had been dumping their chemicals there and the bees became mutated and hungry.”
“We accidentally shot one of the nests and they all came out and attacked us with sharp pincers and elongated stingers they took James. I saw his body swell up with venom before he began to bleed, everywhere. And then his entire body shuttered and he was slowly drained of his insides. As they trailed down onto the ground,” he finished with a slight sense of bitterness.
“Who’s left?” Abdul asked.
“Me and Addison, I hope you don’t mind Addison but I really need to go now,” Terra said almost desperately.
“Sure, take your time,” Addison said.
“Okay. Well my mother had been diagnosed with a terminal cancer. I was devastated when I heard the news. The first day I got to visit her was when she said her cure was working and they were about to fully administer it. I was going to get my mother back. I was ecstatic.”
“They stuck her with the needle and the serum flowed through her. At first she seemed fine, actually looking a bit brighter. But then she began to cough. She was hacking, hacking up blood. Her face was twisted with pain. She was twitching uncontrollably. Her eyes were wide open with pain and fear. She clutched her heart and let out a last dying breath, as the doctors stared dumbfounded.”
“The medicine they used on my mother was sent by the government. It was discovered that it was a poison they sent. In small amounts it would be effective against certain diseases and viruses. But the prescribed dose was strong enough to take out a fully grown Wailord.”
“They- they...” Lucy began.
“They did,” Terra said solemnly. “Addison please.”
Addison took a deep breath. “I was at a hotel with my friends. We were celebrating the end of junior year. We would be seniors. I was fifteen; I was a bright student at our school. As we walked up to the hotel I stopped to feed the stray Umbreon that I fed whenever I spotted her. I caught up with the group as they opened the abandoned place up. It was old and smelled like someone had died.”
“We turned up the music, got out the beer, and let loose. It wasn’t until halfway through the night that the music stopped and he came. He was a towering man. He was wearing an old hotel uniform. He was laughing. We felt nothing of it. Then, we saw the pick axe he was carrying and we were terrified. Without any regard for human life, he slashed and stabbed through my friends. I couldn’t move and I fell back.”
“Twenty, he killed twenty without a second-glance.
I was scared, terrified.
He stopped.
He stood there.
His eyes transfixed on me.
His stare captivating and horrifying.
What would he do?
How would I die?
Lifting the pick axe as high a he could reach, he swung.
The next half hour was the most miserable of my life.
I moved.
He missed.
I ran.
He Followed.
I hid.
He found me.
I kicked.
I screamed.
I begged for my life.
He stood there.
He laughed.
He lifted once more and...a strange black and yellow dog attacked him”
“Umbreon. She pounced on him. She used her darker psychic powers and made her claws stronger. She slashed into his chest and tore out his pulpy, still beating heart and tore it to shreds. He was laughing as his heart was being ripped from his chest.” She ended sadly.
“No one looked into it. The police just glanced over it and never did anything.” She said sadly. Silence followed.
“That is awful,” Lucy finally said.
“Horrible,” Rory agreed.
“Abysmal,” Arabelle stated.
“The government doesn’t care, why should I,” Igor said. “How will this help us anyway. Knowing about my friend being killed in the forest by bees, or Arabelle’s mother slowly dying?”
“We’ll know why we have to fight. And we know most of us have issues with loos of a loved one or trust issues, we just have to fight,” Morgin stated calmly.
“I guess in the wake of all of this sadness there is a light to look towards. We can be that light, we just need to beat them and you all know that. Let’s finish this. Agreed?” Alaric said with triumph in his eyes. Everyone nodded, even Igor, to a lesser extent.
So how did you like it feel free to comment. I need criticism.
So yeah. I finished this up today, the prologue. I'm not even remotely done with the entire fic. I hope you all enjoy. Please critique. This chapter would be PG-13 for some violence, adult themes, and teen drinking. It changes each chapter, just for the record.
Also want to clarify this is not the beginning of the story. This is actually a part of the second section.
Prologue: Campfire Tales
“I was thinking. Ever since this started... and we all agreed to help but I think we need to go into this prepared”
“What do you mean Morgin?”
“What I mean Lucy, is that we need to know each other before we go into this... battle,” he said grimly.
“Haven’t the past six months been enough for that” Igor spat venomously.
“Obviously not, if none of us can trust each other. I’ve seen it the way some of us react to the simplest of things and it confuses me. Carmen you always scream if the tiniest spark comes flying your way whenever we set up a fire. Rory you always flinch when someone even mentions the ocean or even water,”
“What are you getting at?” Rory countered.
“We all of something to hide, and we can’t let it lay hidden. I say its time to share because whether you like it or not we need to know what everyone’s strengths and weaknesses are,” he finished pointedly.
“Are you serious?” Abdul asked.
“Why wouldn’t I be?” he retorted.
“I guess he’s right. I’ll start” Rory said with brevity. Sixteen pairs of eyes glanced in his direction as he began.
“I was out at a party with my parents, in the ocean, on our yacht. My parents were never that intelligent, when it came to drinking. You see ever since the government banned alcohol, people from our village went out on their boats in international waters to drink, because it was legal.”
“Well this night it was some celebration for something, someone got pregnant or something, I have no idea. But I was ten and curious so I played on he bow of the ship, everyone else was partying at the stern, I always thought our boat was weird, but never a deathtrap of some sorts.”
“I... I tripped and fell almost off the boat. My hand was grasping the rail. I screamed and screamed for help and my parents came. I thought I was saved” he said bitterly as he paused for a breath.
“They were drunk. Clutching their vodka or wine they stared at me smiling and said ‘Wow who invited th- thi this idiot?’ And they threw their bottle at my face and I plunged into the icy waters.”
“I was drifting away from the boat, watching it slowly drift towards the island. And they left me their. They were unaware, due to their own drunkenness that they left their only son in the middle of the ocean. As the last flickering light, of the boat faded, the lightning began.”
“I swam in all direction looking for a way to escape. It was pitch black and I couldn’t tell if I was heading for the island or journeying into the eye of the storm itself. The lightning flashed brighter than the sun, the thunder roared mightier than any giant.”
“I was being assaulted in the fury of the waves, trying to catch my breath as I was being pulled deeper and deeper into the ocean. I was desperately trying to swim. Then, I felt a huge tentacle grasp me. I fought furiously and tried to break free. I was being pulled under. The last breath or the salty brine escaped me. I could feel the pressure of the water build as I was being dragged to the bottom of the ocean.” Everyone stared in silence.
“I tried to keep the last of the air in my body and I fought to keep conscious. But I didn’t, I passed out. Then, I awoke in a murky lagoon. It was familiar, I vaguely remember venturing here as a child. Lying in the sand, I allowed the gentle ocean to caress the soles of my feet. The storm had cleared.”
“I was confused until I noticed this beautiful, dragon like, creature. She was watching over me, protectively. It was Scalia, my Milotic. Every day that summer I visited her in that cove, ignoring my parents constant apologies. And one day,we both agreed, and my poketch was undamaged, I captured her,” Rory ended.
“Wow,” Terra breathed.
“That must have been terrible,” Lucy consoled. More whispers in agreement followed.
“So who’s next? I’m not going to be the only one to have shared tonight,” Rory said with a slight grin spreading across his face.
“Well, I was very little,” Lucy began.
“What changed?” Addison said jokingly.
“Funny,” Lucy retorted with slight sarcasm. “As I was saying I was in the woods, playing like all little eight year olds. I was washing myself in a stream when a cute Houndour waddled down to the stream to drink from it. Being curious I went over to pet it, but then its, parents and their pack of vicious, Houndoom sprinted towards me.”
“I ran. As fast as I could down that stream, passing Teddiursas trying to raid honey from a Beedrill hive or stepping over a Finneon as it swam by. I felt for sure I was going to die. They had already surrounded me. Making sure I couldn’t leave the stream. Then, I noticed the stream just stopped in the distance, everything did. I was scared, I thought I was about to run off the edge of the world, when I had reached it I stopped. The Houndoom stopped too. Eying me like a piece of meat. I had two choices jump or be eaten by a large ferocious carnivore.”
“I jumped. I felt all the air rush out of me, the adrenaline flash through my body, I felt the cool morning air tease my skin as I plunged into the frigid waters.”
I never did know how I survived by, I knew a Houndoom took part of me with him,” she remarked carelessly showing everyone her mangled hand, her pinkie missing. “Ever since then I have hated dogs, and dog-like pokemon. That is why I hate your Houndoom, Thalia,” she ended with an ample amount of disdain.
“He never cared for you much either” Thalia said while shrugging.
“You’ve been awfully quiet Alaric, that’s way out of character for you,” Lucy commented lightly.
“Yeah, I guess,” he said quite reserved.
“Tell us, you might as well, bro” Rory said.
“Sure,” he said shortly. “Here goes it. I was flying with my parents over a small island in the ocean. They were always explorers, so we went to see the most dangerous of places the sharp rocks near the cliff, the deep ravine near the river, and the volcano. The thing they didn’t expect was the fuel tanks to loose power while we were right over it. Quickly they released Pidgeot to fly us out.”
“We had already descended 50 feet and were closing in on the volcanic lava that was bubbling below. My father helped me onto Pidgeot and was guiding my mother onto her wing when the helicopter blade hit a piece of falling debris from the side of the volcano. It spun out of control and away from Pidgeot.”
“They grabbed for my hand but were to far to reach. And I watched them fall into the burning maelstrom of lava. We were alone. Pidgeot flew me out of their and onto a beach. She scouted the island and told me, through my poketch which was amazingly in tact, there was no chance she could fly me back. It was too long of a fly for her. So I waited for help. And after a month the government noticed that my parents were missing and sent a team of rescuers to get us back, but only found me.”
“I grew up with my cousins, and now I’m here. Next?” he finished hurriedly.
“Me.” Carmen said unexpectedly.
“Go for it,” Morgin said surprised by her enthusiasm.
“I was thirteen. In my village with... a friend, we were talking in the woods. We were in a clearing and the moon was shining. The night was warm and breezy it was...nice. All of the suddenly we see smoke rising in the difference. My friend had to leave, the tribal elders normally set up meetings by smoke signals. So we meandered through the forest.”
“Then part of the inferno caught on the trees. It had sent the entire night ablaze with fury. We were scared. We ran. Fast. We were nearing the docks when a branch crashed between us, stabbing my face, and the blaze separated us, we agreed to meet at the docks. I had reached the docks when I saw the destruction.”
“The entire city was ablaze. I saw it burn my home and kill my friends and family. I heard it crackling and cackling like a witch in a fairy tale. I felt it licking my arms like a demon of fire. I tasted the ashes that were settling in the air. I smelled the scent of rotting corpses and burning wood. And I couldn’t take it.”
“Turning around I ran for our boat, I had put the keys in the ignition when I heard an enormous explosion. I twirled around and saw the chaos of my city and with tears in my eye I sped up the boat and sailed for the mainland. There was only one survivor,” she agonized for a moment and let the tears flow from her eyes.
“I- I-,” she began again.
“Enough, it’s all right. You’ll be fine,” Abdul assured her.
“Time for another one I suppose,” Zander stated firmly.
“Who’s next?” Selena whispered through shared grief.
“Me,” Margo stated dreamily. “You all know I’m blind right?”
“I think we figured that out ourselves,” Obi noted sarcastically.
“Well I wasn’t always like this. I have two stories to tell, really. I was being Mommy’s little helper in the kitchen when I was around seven. I was going to strain the macaroni from the pot so I picked it up and went to the sink to empty it. Now she warned me not too but I did anyway. I had already made it halfway there when she screamed and I slipped in a puddle of milk I poured earlier.”
“The scalding hot water went right into my open eyes. They were burned and the damage was irreversible. So I went on with life. And so did my mom and my dad and my little Ralts, Psy. Now Psy loved me very much and he managed to tap into my inner psyche and give me psychic abilities so I could see, very vaguely of course, but whenver he sent a little message to me it was beautiful in color and I even got to see his evolution. My life was great.
“Until, the day I turned fifteen. I was just playing with Psy, tossing a ball back and forth with our minds. Then, I heard some strange noises coming from our front door. Psy gave me a message to run upstairs and hide. I new it was serious. His tone was dark and foreboding. I quickly hid. The door crashed open and I knew what was happening. Psy was defending me from, the uninvited visitor.”
“Too scared to do move I created a psychic path between me and Psy to see what was happening. He was using his Psychic powers to tear the big, hulking man apart. Blood was dripping from his torn carcass. I plucked up the courage to move and stumbled downstairs. Psy then sent me a new message in my head. He had evolved again, into Gallade. I was altogether shocked and horrified; and proud and happy.”
“He then told me what he was planning to do to me. It was Mr. Kayoto. Knowing him for years that would have been the last thing I’d think he would do. And we stood there for about an hour while the police investigated. And Psy had explained to the police by teleporting the vision into their minds and they believed him. It was very traumatizing. I can’t stand to be alone without him now.”
“That was very scary,” Selena said with terror in her round, cerulean eyes.
“Very,” Addison agreed with an odd disposition of distance.
Abdul volunteered, “I’ll go now. My parents were hosting a benefit at my house for some stupid charity that already had more than enough money but were spending it on cars and flat screen televisions for the founders, my parents weren’t exactly generous to real charities just ones that gave out publicity.”
“Anyway, I was told to stay in the basement to play on our computer, two years older than I was, and I came across a strange set of beakers and vials. My fathers said ‘don’t touch anything’, so naturally I decided to poke around. I had particular interest in a fat, beaker than contained a bubbling magenta, fluid.”
“My finger had just broken the meniscus when it let out a puff of smoke and instantly began to burn my skin. It engulfed my body. I stumbled, getting up. My body ached of pain. I staggered up the stairs and into the party. Bleeding profusely from my mouth, hands, and abdomen; I tripped over the guest bleeding on them. Turning the whole scene into a picture of pandemonium and panic, I was dying.”
“With one last futile attempt at life I fell into the punch bowl and was instantly revitalized. I later learned that the water in the punch saved my life. Had it been sooner, I wouldn’t have these scars,” Abdul said darkly as he lifted his shirt revealing a large, lavender, scar that began from his hip and gradually enlarged all the way to his neck and finally gliding down his arms. Almost like a phoenix.
“Now I know why you never liked to swim with us,” Carmen said through tears, obviously still a little upset over her story.
“Well if we want to finish story time by tonight I’ll have to go,” Ivan said gruffly. “I had moved into a new town, last year and had just started my first day of school at high school. Almost immediately a girl came up to me and asked me to go out with her. A bit confused and annoyed I turned her down. This continued for about a month and a half, when I told he to just leave me alone and I called her a stalker. It was kind of a mistake on my part.”
“I came the next day after school, glad she hadn’t annoyed me. In fact it looked like she hadn’t even been at school that day. Ignoring it I decided to crash in my room for a while before I met some friends at one of their places. I opened the door and threw my backpack on the floor and I saw her. Sprawled out on my bed, half covered in blood, half naked, clutching a butcher’s knife and she was smiling.”
“Aghast at this I tripped over myself and fell to the ground. Tilting my head to one side I saw my Dad on his bed stabbed many times. Terrified, I backed up to the closet at the end of the hall and opened the door to find my mother hanging from a metal coat hanger swinging back and forth with a large gash in her stomach. I shut the door and went for the stairs but she was ready and pushed me down.”
“Then, I noticed the closet door. A bloodied shoelace and a torn skirt were visible from the crack, 'the twins' I thought. I nearly lost it. They found me hog-tied on my bed with that lunatic cuddling with me, knife still in hand. It was not only bizarre but devastating. I was sent to live with my neighbors but I couldn’t take it. I had already enough credits to graduate from school so I left and found myself at the government building just like you,” he ended quavering slightly.
“That’s terrible,” Terra said softly.
“I know,” he replied trembling.
“Okay,” the attention shifted to Thalia who was looking extraordinarily uncomfortable. “I was five. I was walking with my mother in Fortree City, In Hoenn, you know the city of trees. Well she was talking to me and she pointed out a beautiful flower growing on the path. I turned to look and giggling due to the beauty I turned around and she vanished.”
“It hurt. I was sent to live with relatives in our country. And I couldn’t take it. I grew up asking them when she was coming back. How she was doing. And all they said was that she would come back, they kept my hope alive. But I grew older and wiser and I turned bitter with each day. I grew up with hate bubbling inside of me. I can’t ever forgive her. Not for that. That is why I’m always mad. That is why I can’t stand to look at anyone’s mother. That is why I leave the conversation when parents get involved.” She ended. The group just stared in disbelief at the emotion Thalia showed in her rant.
“Sorry for the monologue,” she said with disdain.
“I think I should go,” Arabelle piped up. Her entrance into the conversation was shocking. “My parents were mean. No, no they were cruel. They said terrible things to me, like I shouldn’t have been born, or that I was a waste of space. They were horrid. But, my opinion changed when they announced we were going on a skiing trip to Snowpoint City. I was elated. I thought it was a sign that they loved me.”
“We had a guide take us to the top and he said ‘Now you know the way you won’t need me anymore’ he noticed how my parents were a bit mocking of my enthusiasm the entire way, so he gave me a radio and the station he was on. I was to call if they were bad again.”
“They saw this but didn’t say anything. He skied down the mountain and left me with them. They took the radio and threw it down the slope opposite of him and took my skies and broke them, throwing them too down the mountain. They knocked me out cold and then went down the mountain. They left me there to die. They left me for dead.”
“I awoke to find myself deserted. I felt all of the hope I had, leave me, bleed from me. There was nothing left.”
“Suddenly, a fluttery Mothim appeared. It consoled me, they hadn’t taken my poketch, then carried me to the station. It flew me down the mountain and to the ranger station. I finally felt safe. My parents were incarcerated, I had a new adoptive family in our country, and I had Mothra, Mothim, to play with,” Arabelle finished.
“Your parents should die,” Lucy said with fire in her eyes.
“No need to pester the guilty. Just let them rot and you will feel better,” Margo said calmly.
“I just want to get this over with now,” Zander stated with contempt. “My father fought in the war, The Great War. He was drafted when I was five. I last saw him leave and he said he’d be back. He never came back, alive. Two weeks before he was to be on leave his camp got raided and all the men were lost.”
“His body was shipped in a simple casket. Unable to dress his wounds, he looked like a hideous, disfigured monster. Shrapnel was still visible on his face. Burns encompassed his torso. Dried blood looked as if it were streaming from his eyes, nose and mouth. It hurt. Apparently the only way for the government to be cost-effective was to cut this ‘unnecessary’ procedure.”
“That is why I fight. That is why I never give up. I can’t stand to have them win, to have this control over us, to have everything,” he trailed off in his rant. Everyone stared awestruck at the tears streaming down his face.
“My we are a cheery bunch,” Igor stated softly, even he was unable to force this comment through with his usual spite.
“My turn,” Alexia spoke deliberately. She tried to find the right words then spoke, “I was just visiting my friend, my only friend, the Elder of our village his name was Mr. Yakamoto. He was kind and was a lover of peace. But one day after speaking out against the government” everyone flinched, she continued “the government sent four men to his house.”
“I was going to deliver some cookies to him, I made them myself. That’s when I heard the shouting. The men were arguing with him. He wasn’t arguing he was just stating the facts. They pulled out their guns and shot him. Shot him till he fell. I was scared, I dropped my cookies and hid in the bushes, my only comfort was the forest. I was crying.”
“And I heard his voice, in my head. He told me to stop crying. He said my tears would soak the crusts of the Earth. And he told me to wait until the men had passed and to get up and run home. I did. But, before I left, I saw his body. It was-”she stopped.
“I think we get the picture,” Addison said comfortingly.
“Why don’t you go Morgin?” Lucy asked.
“Sure,” he said sweetly, “But, no one will believe me. I grew up in the most religious house-hold possible. My parents shoved it down my throat. Once I became a teenager they noticed me change. Their reasoning behind everything was because I hadn’t been their sweet little boy anymore. Glad I moved out of their when I did, or I’d be going door to door delivering everyone the 'good news'”
“One night when I was fifteen I came home to the house completely dark. Previously that day I cussed out my parents for being stubborn. Big mistake. As soon as I opened the door and walked in, I was hit over the head with a frying pan.”
“I woke up chained to a chair my parents and the priest of the town huddled around me. They were muttering something and the priest was holding a cross on my forehead. Then, they began to shout. They were babbling on about ‘God’, ‘Devil’, ‘Forgiveness’ and ‘Salvation’. I was confused. I tried to speak but I noticed I was gagged. I couldn’t move. More people were advancing on me, the townspeople. Trying to break free, I groaned in agony when I found that I had been stabbed. I couldn’t move. Blood was pooling around me. My eyes were darting. I was screaming. No one was helping.”
“The more I struggled the louder they screamed. My mother whispered in my ear ‘We’ll get the demon out of you, honey, we all want to help, we will do this all night if we have to’. I was terrified. I struggled more. I was being tormented. The entire town was now reciting the prayer. Holy Water was being splashed into my tired eyes.”
“It had gone on for another hour before I feigned sleep. I heard them murmur that it was done. And I continued to live. I never did anything to scare them again. Everyday I had to face my parents. It was agony. And now I’m here and I’m fighting against oppression. No one deserves that. And now the government is doing it. I won’t let them” he ended with passion."
“I feel like my story is nothing compared to everyone else’s.” Selena said, breaking the silence.
“If it changed you, tell us,” Margo assured.
“Alright, well I ran away from home and went to the mountain range in our country, you know Overture Pass. Anyway I went to one of my favorite mountains, Mt. Tetara. Its lesser known and is named for its explorer. Anyway I decided to do some rock climbing before I left town. I had climbed to my favorite overhang that looks out to the sea. I was going to slide down when my foot got caught on a rock and I tripped.”
“I was fast enough to grab onto the ledge. But I couldn’t get up. All of my strength was gone. I was bleeding from my arm. It trailed down and splashed into my face like a hose. I was slipping; my blood was loosening my grasp. I was going to die. Then, my Swablu, Cirrus, which I had carelessly left at home swooped in and saved me at just the right time.”
“And we just left. Now I’m here. So yeah...” she trailed off.
“It’s fine. You’re okay now,” Obi said comfortingly.
“Obi, you want to go now?” Abdul asked.
“Why not?” he asked nonchalantly, he adjusted himself in the grass. “I was never really the most popular guy at school. I was bullied, teased, tormented, all because I was quiet and shy. I didn’t have friends so nothing stopped them. They had tracked me to my favorite spot to hang out, and rest, the tree house my father had built me when I was little.”
“While I was asleep they poured gasoline around my tree house and had lit a match. The blaze startled me and I was frightened. I looked out the window to see my classmates laughing at my expression as I stared at the blaze. I lost it. Someway. Somehow. The blaze had stopped and exploded outward.”
“I saw their faces as they twisted and contorted and burned from the fire that erupted from the tree. I was stunned. Nothing natural could have caused this. I was too frightened to move. And I stayed there. All of them died. Their bodies were warped and grotesque. It was unbearable. I felt guilty even for those who would have laughed at me when I died.”
“When I explained what happened to the police, they nodded and let me go. I never really spoke after that. Not much ever.”
“I knew there was a connection between us. We have two psychics in our presence. One self-made,” Margo motioned to herself, “and one natural,” she pointed to Obi.
“Really?” he asked.
“For sure, I knew there was one other here. It is very great to know this. We are not alone,” she said smiling.
“No one here is,” Alaric said consolingly.
“Igor, it is time,” Rory teased.
“Fine, I’ll keep it short, less time for everyone to morn,” he said sardonically. “I was out hunting with my best friend, James, we weren’t too careful and wandered into a nest of Beedrill, hundreds of nests of Beedrill. What is worse is that the government had been dumping their chemicals there and the bees became mutated and hungry.”
“We accidentally shot one of the nests and they all came out and attacked us with sharp pincers and elongated stingers they took James. I saw his body swell up with venom before he began to bleed, everywhere. And then his entire body shuttered and he was slowly drained of his insides. As they trailed down onto the ground,” he finished with a slight sense of bitterness.
“Who’s left?” Abdul asked.
“Me and Addison, I hope you don’t mind Addison but I really need to go now,” Terra said almost desperately.
“Sure, take your time,” Addison said.
“Okay. Well my mother had been diagnosed with a terminal cancer. I was devastated when I heard the news. The first day I got to visit her was when she said her cure was working and they were about to fully administer it. I was going to get my mother back. I was ecstatic.”
“They stuck her with the needle and the serum flowed through her. At first she seemed fine, actually looking a bit brighter. But then she began to cough. She was hacking, hacking up blood. Her face was twisted with pain. She was twitching uncontrollably. Her eyes were wide open with pain and fear. She clutched her heart and let out a last dying breath, as the doctors stared dumbfounded.”
“The medicine they used on my mother was sent by the government. It was discovered that it was a poison they sent. In small amounts it would be effective against certain diseases and viruses. But the prescribed dose was strong enough to take out a fully grown Wailord.”
“They- they...” Lucy began.
“They did,” Terra said solemnly. “Addison please.”
Addison took a deep breath. “I was at a hotel with my friends. We were celebrating the end of junior year. We would be seniors. I was fifteen; I was a bright student at our school. As we walked up to the hotel I stopped to feed the stray Umbreon that I fed whenever I spotted her. I caught up with the group as they opened the abandoned place up. It was old and smelled like someone had died.”
“We turned up the music, got out the beer, and let loose. It wasn’t until halfway through the night that the music stopped and he came. He was a towering man. He was wearing an old hotel uniform. He was laughing. We felt nothing of it. Then, we saw the pick axe he was carrying and we were terrified. Without any regard for human life, he slashed and stabbed through my friends. I couldn’t move and I fell back.”
“Twenty, he killed twenty without a second-glance.
I was scared, terrified.
He stopped.
He stood there.
His eyes transfixed on me.
His stare captivating and horrifying.
What would he do?
How would I die?
Lifting the pick axe as high a he could reach, he swung.
The next half hour was the most miserable of my life.
I moved.
He missed.
I ran.
He Followed.
I hid.
He found me.
I kicked.
I screamed.
I begged for my life.
He stood there.
He laughed.
He lifted once more and...a strange black and yellow dog attacked him”
“Umbreon. She pounced on him. She used her darker psychic powers and made her claws stronger. She slashed into his chest and tore out his pulpy, still beating heart and tore it to shreds. He was laughing as his heart was being ripped from his chest.” She ended sadly.
“No one looked into it. The police just glanced over it and never did anything.” She said sadly. Silence followed.
“That is awful,” Lucy finally said.
“Horrible,” Rory agreed.
“Abysmal,” Arabelle stated.
“The government doesn’t care, why should I,” Igor said. “How will this help us anyway. Knowing about my friend being killed in the forest by bees, or Arabelle’s mother slowly dying?”
“We’ll know why we have to fight. And we know most of us have issues with loos of a loved one or trust issues, we just have to fight,” Morgin stated calmly.
“I guess in the wake of all of this sadness there is a light to look towards. We can be that light, we just need to beat them and you all know that. Let’s finish this. Agreed?” Alaric said with triumph in his eyes. Everyone nodded, even Igor, to a lesser extent.
So how did you like it feel free to comment. I need criticism.
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