Noheart
The Abysswalker
“Better to write for yourself and have no public, than to write for the public and have no self.”
—Cyril Connolly
—Cyril Connolly
Hello, Serebii. I started writing this fic about two months ago. I've been writing off and on and I came up with three chapters so far. It doesn't really take me this long to write- I've just been lazy. I'll put up Chapter One and see if the fic gets any readers. If it doesn't, well I'll just trash it and won't post the other 2. I guess I'll start writing Chapter Four if I get to post Chapter Three. This fic is rated PG-14 because it's from the mind of a fourteen year old, and there are some violent scenes and some language. Very harsh language will be extremely rare, if not seen at all.
Give any criticism possible. But have some manners. Also, I came up with the idea of having a Character Bio section. I've already kind of set it up, but I won't post it unless I have to. It's meant for readers and raters to get a better idea of the characters, and it'd be added on to as chapters are posted. It'd be right here on the first post.
~PM List
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Table of Contents
Chapter One: Prelude {You are Here}
Chapter Two: [Coming Soon?]
Chapter Three: [Coming Soon?]
Without further ado, here's Chapter One:
Chapter One: Prelude
“A journey of a thousand miles must begin with a single step.”
-Lao Tzu
-Lao Tzu
“Great, just great,” Sullivan muttered, laying with his back down on his mattress, staring at his room's pale white ceiling. “There just has to be a loud thunderstorm right before graduation day. I need to buy some earplugs...”
Sullivan sat up, rubbing his indigo-colored eyes. His dark brown hair- which was normally combed straight- was messy and greasy from the hot, humid weather and the stress from not being able to go to sleep on the night before a big day. He looked at his black, squarish alarm clock on the night stand which was to the right of his bed. The clock read 11:34 P.M. in a bright red.
Groaning, Sullivan stood up and stretched, thinking a shower would help him sleep. Sullivan looked out his window to see rain pounding on it, like it wanted to break inside. The wind was vicious, enough to send branches from large trees off into the air. The sound of thunder roared through Sullivan's eardrums, and the outline of the images of lightning seemed to have been carved into the inside of his eyelids so he could see them every time he closed them.
“I give up,” he thought to himself. He turned around and collapsed onto his bed with his back facing the ceiling and drifted off to sleep, as if he fainted from exhaustion. The thunder roared and roared as a yellow bird-like figure with spiky looking wings could be seen, flying at incredible speeds in and out of the dark clouds, like it was panicking...
\|/This Darkened Heart\|/
Sullivan woke by the sound of a bark. A bark he knew all too well. He slowly opened his eyes and felt the sudden pressures of two paws on his left leg. As he sat up, he saw a black-furred four-legged Pokemon with an eerie skull placed above it's eyes, what appears to be ribs on it's back, and thick white rings around the bottom of it's legs.
“Houndour!” it barked, jumping up and down on Sullivan's mattress, shaking the entire bed. “Dour dour dour!”
“What do you want, Shadow?!” Sullivan demanded, irritated. “Honestly, I can never get any-” Sullivan turned to look at the clock and swore. The clock was blinking the digits “7:25” along with “A.M.”. School started in thirty-five minutes, and today was graduation day.
“I owe you one Shadow, sorry for yelling,” Sullivan said, immediately getting up and running out his bedroom door to take a fast shower, wondering why his alarm hadn't woken him up.
Shadow usually has to wake Sullivan up and help him get ready for school. Sullivan's mother, Ophelia, is pretty busy in the morning, getting ready to go to her Pokemon Daycare for the day while fixing up breakfast, so she appreciates Shadow's help.
Shadow bit on one of the handles of the closet on the other side of Sullivan's room and pulled. One of the doors folded, leaving an opening where Shadow can see the dump that was Sullivan's closet. Shadow jumped and grabbed a hangar that had some jeans and a blue t-shirt with a white drum set imprinted on the front of it and quickly set it on Sullivan's bed. Unsatisfied, Shadow set the hangar with the clothes on it on the wooden, creaky floor while he made Sullivan's bed utilizing his paws and his mouth. He put the clothes back on the bed neatly and ran out Sullivan's bedroom door and down the steps. Running into the kitchen, Shadow started barking. This told Ophelia that Shadow set everything up, since it was almost always a daily routine.
Sullivan got out of the shower with a gray towel wrapped around his waist and ran into his room, going through his dresser to get his boxers and quickly throwing on the jeans and shirt that Shadow set neatly on the bed. As he looked out the window, he could see that the bad storm that was occurring outside the night before had cleared. It was sunny and nice out, with a few white clouds here and there in the bright blue sky. Getting back on task, Sullivan quickly combed his hair, not caring that he was pulling hairs out, then looked over at his nightstand. 7:45. Grabbing Shadow's pokeball off his dresser, Sullivan ran out the door and down the wooden stairs as fast as he could, water drops flying off the back of his head. He grabbed his book bag which was next to the front door and ran out, shouting a “bye mom!” as Shadow hurried behind him.
Ophelia sighed. Sullivan forgot to eat his breakfast.
\|/This Darkened Heart\|/
Sullivan ran through the Pokemon School's doors, looking at an analog clock to the right that was above the security guard and his desk. 7:58. Sullivan ran to his locker, Shadow following.
37-42-30. Sullivan pulled off his lock and opened his messy locker, grabbing a white binder that read “First Period” on the front of it that was near the bottom, under a bunch of other binders and books. Turning around, he saw the door that lead to the stairway, which had a notice on it. Sullivan took a closer look.
NOTICE:
No lessons today. Report to the gymnasium.
Sullivan then ran from the locker area and into the main pod, making a left and sprinting toward the gymnasium. He heard a “no running in the hallway!” from the security guard out by the front desk, but he didn't care.
8:00. Just in time. After returning Shadow to his pokeball, Sullivan pushed through the gymnasium doors, stumbling inside. The gymnasium was noisy and all the bleachers were filled with every student in the school. Teachers and other faculty were standing around on the gym floor, discussing and setting things up for some sort of speech.
Off into the distance, Sullivan could see his friend Scott waving to him from the bleachers in the far left corner in the back of the gym.
Catching the eye of many students as he passed by, Sullivan trudged up the steps and headed down the bleachers until he reached Scott.
“Where were you, Sully? It's about to start!” Scott said. Scott was a bit taller than Sullivan, about 6 feet tall. He had tanned skin and short hair with a thin body. He was wearing a silver chain with a pokeball attached to it, along with a plain black t-shirt and some black gym shorts.
“Overslept,” Sullivan muttered, rubbing his eyes.
“What?” asked Scott. “It's too loud, I can't hear you!”
Just then, it got quiet, thanks to the hand signals Principal George gave, waving his arms up and down. Without realizing this, Sullivan stood up and yelled a reply to Scott.
“I OVERSLEPT!” he shouted.
The whole school turned to look at the source of the sudden outburst, finding Sullivan standing up. Voices and giggling could be heard as Sullivan quietly sat down, embarrassed.
“Good going you moron,” said Sullivan, irritated.
“Oh yeah, I'm the moron,” Scott replied, sarcastically.
After saying a few words that Sullivan couldn't make out to the Vice Principal, Principal George walked up to the microphone which was in the middle of the gym floor. He had on a tuxedo with black dress pants, a red and black striped tie, black dress shoes, and square glasses with silver edges. Sullivan could always see light reflect off Principal George's bald head, failing to force away a chuckle or smirk every time he glanced at it.
“Quiet please!” Principal George announced into the microphone, turning everyone who was giggling at Sullivan silent.
“As you all know,” he began, “today is the day that all ninth graders graduate from the school. However, this year we're doing something a little... different than the normal award ceremony and final dismissal. This year, all ninth graders will be participating in the Sandgem Graduation Battle Tournament!”
Sullivan immediately smiled as conversations from one student to another begin to rise in number and volume. All this time, he thought his life was always going to be boring, and unimportant. He thought poorly of a generic life, a life of school, a career, a family, all that stuff. He set his mind on one dream: to be remembered. Not just by his family, but by history. Sullivan thought that becoming a Pokemon Trainer and beating the Sinnoh League is the best way to do that. But, as Sullivan is always reminded of the hard way, not everything goes as planned.
That's why he's been training with Shadow with determination. Shadow seemed like the soft, kind, helpful type of Pokemon, but on the battlefield- he was a force to be reckoned with. Every time Sullivan went out for runs, he'd bring Shadow along. Working out, hitting the punching bag in his basement, he made sure Shadow was in good shape too, having him exercise every once and a while by battling.
“I'm definitely beating everyone here. The only real challenge for me is going to be you and Jade, Scotty,” Sullivan said, still smirking.
“Challenge, huh?” Scott smirked. “If by a challenge you mean that one guy who's going to completely mow you, then yes, I'm a challenge. You're right about Jade though, that chick's a monster in battles.”
“Quiet please!” Principal George said once again into the microphone, silencing the students. He beckoned a man that was in his late twenties, who was in a tight red shirt that failed to hide his muscularity, and some blue jeans that had his shirt tucked into them. Battle Coach Miller walked up to the microphone, clearing his throat. “This is how it's going to go,” he began. “ Every other student in the school, that means sixth to eighth grade, have a choice to watch the event or not, so none of you have to worry about missing the tournament thats exclusive to the ninth graders. The match-ups will be decided randomly by paper with every single ninth grader's names on them placed into a bag. There are 64 of you ninth graders, meaning there will be sixteen sets of battles on Battlefield One, and sixteen sets of battles on Battlefield Two the first day. The battles will be in one Pokemon versus another format. To prevent unfair advantages, both battlers must throw their pokeball at the same time, and there will be no substitutions.
"The tournament will be five days long, which should be enough time to conclude the tournament. The winner of the tournament gets to have a picture of his or herself hung up in a new hall of fame that will always remain in the school for as long as it exists, and great supplies for a new journey. Ten pokeballs, a backpack, a sleeping bag, 10 full heals, a few TM's of great value, and other very special items that you will all find extremely intriguing and useful.
“What moves do these TM's contain? What are these special items? These questions are a secret until the end! Today was supposed to be the last day, but it will be extended five more days for the tournament. Don't worry, there won't be any classes, and you don't have to show up. However, if a ninth grader does not show up when the battles are occurring, the missing student automatically forfeits of course. The tournament starts tomorrow, and good luck to you all! You are all dismissed!”
All the students got up and went on their way, except for Sullivan and Scott. They waited right next to the gymnasium's exit, waiting for a certain someone.
“There she is!” Scott said, smiling and blushing a bit.
Almost last in the crowd of leaving students, a teenage girl walked up to Sullivan and Scott. She was wearing a light green tank top, along with some blue jeans and light green and white shoes. She had long, chestnut hair and brown eyes, and was a few inches shorter than Sullivan.
“Hi Jade,” Sullivan said. “Ready for the tourney?”
“You know it!” she said, smiling. She seemed hyper that day.
Jade and Sullivan have been friends since they were toddlers, and they are next door neighbors. It was blatantly obvious that Jade had some feelings for Sullivan, always happy and smiling when she was around him, wanting to hold his hand, stuff like that. Sullivan wasn't really interested, he knew dating as a teenager always ended in disaster. Besides, romance would've certainly got in the way of his goals, and it would ruin his friendship with Jade one way or another.
Scott, on the other hand, had been crushing on Jade for years. Yet, Jade showed no interest. It was one of those conflicts that most teenagers come across- the girl of your dreams likes your best friend kind of thing.
“Well, I'm gonna be training with Chuckie for the rest of the day, since I'm going to have to go up against at least one of you two,” said Scott.
“It's not like it'll do you any good,” said Sullivan, smirking. Sullivan wasn't really a conceited guy, he just liked ticking off Scott by acting like he was.
“Yeah! HEHEHE!” Jade almost screamed, fidgeting with energy.
“Too much coffee this morning, Jade?” Sullivan asked.
“Shut up!” Jade said jokingly as she punched Sullivan's arm.
“Well, I'm looking forward to tomorrow. See ya,” Scott said quickly. He was always nervous around Jade.
With a combined 'bye', Jade and Sullivan went on their way back home.
\|/This Darkened Heart\|/
Sullivan walked through the front door of his home after saying goodbye to Jade who went into her house next door. It was about 8:45, and Sullivan was dead tired. The circles around his eyes that day were dark- about an inch and a half under his eyes, and about a half an inch above them. He took Shadow out of his pokeball, and told him about the tournament. Shadow had wanted to start training immediately, but Sullivan said he was too tired. He promised he'd train with Shadow after a quick nap. His mother and father were at work, so they weren't there to yell at him for sleeping during the day. He got upstairs and laid down on his bed, quickly falling asleep...
\|/This Darkened Heart\|/
“Okay, Perla, could you get the food for Jade's Roselia up on the bottom shelf please?” Ophelia asked. Perla was Ophelia's Persian's nickname that she gave her.
Ophelia had arrived at her daycare a few blocks away from her home a while after Sullivan left for his last day of school. Luckily for her, the only Pokemon she was taking care of at the moment was Jade's Roselia, which was little work compared to other days where she was taking care of ten Pokemon at once. She had a red Apron on, which read “The Vesh Pokemon Daycare” in white text on the front and back, a yellow undershirt on, and some light blue shorts. Her short blonde hair was straight down as it normally was.
“Purr,” purred Perla as it walked to the other side of the room to the wooden shelves where all the food for the Pokemon currently at the daycare was kept. People say that all Persian have a naturally mean personality. This was true, but Ophelia's Persian was always helpful and nice when Ophelia needed her. When Perla was around other people though, her mean side came out and she intimidated even Sullivan. She didn't get along too well with Shadow, either.
Perla jumped and, with great agility, swiped the bag of food which contained the type of food which grass types liked off one of the shelves with her right paw. Perla then caught it with her mouth and landed back on the ground, walking over to Ophelia and giving her the bag. Perla walked with pride and elegance wherever she went- it was no wonder her species were classified as the “Classy Cat” Pokemon.
“Thank you, Perla dear,” Ophelia said as Perla purred.
She opened the door behind her which lead to the yard where the Pokemon got their exercise and fresh air and went outside as Perla followed behind. By a small pond, Jade's Roselia could be seen splashing the water with her tiny green legs as she sat on the land beside the body of water.
“Ariel, would you like some Breakfast? Jade should be here soon,” Ophelia said to the Roselia.
“Rose!” Ariel said cheerfully. The little plant Pokemon took it's small, fragile legs out of the little pond and walked over to Ophelia to eat it's breakfast.
“MOLLLLLTREEEEESSS!!!”
The piercing screech sounded like it could be heard from miles away, letting everyone who heard it know how angry it was.
There was a loud bang, and suddenly the sounds a crashing building would produce could be heard. The strong smell of smoke was in the air.
“What on Earth was that?!” Ophelia cried, frightened.
Perla's ears twitched as she looked in the direction of the screech that pierced the trio's ears. Roselia gave a little shriek of pure terror.
Ophelia turned to look at what Perla was looking at, and instantly became even more horrified. There was a building being completely devoured by flames.
That building was Sullivan's school.
***
Pretty short compared to the other two, I guess. Hope you liked it.
