Sunday, February 07, 2010

Pokémon: The Golden Apocalypse, Chapter Ten

Red lowered himself down to Nyoromo. He picked up the pokémon, who responded with a happy "Wag!" Red assumed this meant it wasn't bleeding out from an unseen wound. He sat on the ledge for a minute, holding Nyoromo and looking out over the ruins. Some of the buildings seemed mostly intact. He decided to use one for a shelter. He set down Nyoromo, and crawled carefully to the brink of his platform. He saw another protrusion about a yard downwards. Still grasping his pokémon, he sat on the edge of his ledge and let himself fall down to the next. The impact sent a shock through his legs, and he crumpled. Without terror fueling him, the exhaustion was overpowering. His entire body erupted in white-hot pain. Red's eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed.
Nyoromo prodded Red with a foot. When that failed to elicit a response, the little pokémon waddled over to Red's head. With a tired sigh, it sat back. It wrapped its tail around itself, and was slumbering in minutes. As it breathed, a single bubble formed and floated off from it. The bubble floated off towards the moon, leaving the companions alone above the ruined city.

Green whittled off a few final pieces of bark, and held the stick up against the sky. The light of the moon illuminated the fine point. He began to get up, but a glint caught his eye. Looking back to the stars, he saw a faint orb drift across the sky. The moon seemed to swell as the sphere hovered over it. Green was transfixed until the bubble popped, raining a moist spray down. Green wiped his face, and returned to his work. He took his stick, and set it in the ground, point facing out. With this, his ring was completed, and he had a safe place to sleep.
"Hitokage!" Green called sharply. A faint glow appeared in the forest, and grew. Soon, the charmander entered the clearing, claws digging grooves through the fallen leaves. Green saw at once it carried nothing, and sighed. He had seen signs of a fight nearby, and hoped he might find some supplies dropped by a fleeing - or eaten - Called. Suddenly angry, he grabbed the used Repel he had found on the ground, and threw it into the forest. He hadn't found anything that day, and had hoped to make up lost time with extra supplies. He removed a stake and stepped into the ring. He snapped his fingers, and Hitokage followed him in. He repaired the hole, and took a plant from his pack. He grabbed his pokémon's tail, and used its flame to light the stem as he stripped off the leaves. He sat against his pack, raised the smoldering vegetation to his mouth, and inhaled deeply. He looked at the stars, and a smile played at the corners of his mouth. He was really here, out to become the very best. He blew out a line of smoke, which rose until a stray breeze caught it and carried it away.

The pokémon's nose twitched as a burning smell reached its nose, but it didn't swerve from its path. It ran up the side of a tree, and scampered to the top. It ran along a branch, and hopped down onto an outstretched arm of the next tree. It continued across the treetops for a short while, until it reached a large nest. It crawled in through a tiny hole in the side, and entered into a small den in which a human rested.. It dropped something it carried in its mouth, and curled up next to the human.
The girl opened her eyes groggily. She saw the pokémon and was relieved that it made it back safely. The smile inverted itself, though, when she saw what it had brought. Inches from her face was a small mass of thread, staining the floor with white blood. She worried about the last of the Called, and his poor pokémon. Mercifully, she was tired enough that the thoughts didn't trouble her long before she fall asleep.

Green tossed the butt of the stem aside, and laid on his back with his hands under his head. He wondered what his grandfather was doing. Probably still working. He remembered the long hours they had spent together, Oak staring through a microscope while Green prepared his next slide. Back then he had seen it as work, but now he was surprised to find he missed it. Most of his life had been spent at that man's side, but no more. Never again thought Green sadly. I'm Called. I have a duty to protect Pallet. I'm not a child anymore. Things will never be the same.
The boy drifted off in Hitokage's dim light, a single tear glistening on his cheek.

8 comments:

Qupar said...

AWESOME!

Elphaba said...

Hmm, Green is a sympathetic character. Interesting.

Reogan said...

Learn something new every day.

Met said...

More! Please? Good progress, keep up the excellent work.

Reogan said...

You've got to wait for next week. :)

You only get one a week until I nail down the plot. Then you still probably only get one a week. But maybe more.

Elphaba said...

I like the "more" idea. ;)

Reogan said...

We'll see. For the moment, though, I only have the cause of the pokémon growth/viciousness, the main villains, and the main characters. I honestly don't quite know where Red's going, though I could hazard a few guesses. It's getting there, though.


Soon.

Elphaba said...

Yay!