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xenoredux · 4 years

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The Legend of Silver Fang - Episode 1: The Birth

Alright, first part of the GNG rewrite aaaaayyy! As with the last rewrite, the major story beats and overarching plot are the same. This is written under the supposition that, in fantasy land, this is a mini series with episodes that run about 2 hours in length each.

Some things to be aware of going in:

This story is violent as shit!!! CONTENT WARNING FOR: Firearms, various kinds of physical trauma, injuries to people and animals, the deaths of people and animals, search and rescue missions, self harm, animal and child abuse, and just a whole lotta spilled blood. Basically if any form of violence upsets you, it’d be a good idea not to read ahead

I was trying to achieve a decent adaptation that combines the strongest elements of the anime and manga. It will not be precisely like either and will occasionally totally deviate from both

This isn’t meant to be “better” then the canon. It’s just the way I’d go about rewriting the Akakabuto arc if I had that level of ungodly power lol

Character designs made to represent several mentioned characters can be found here and here. Others will be left up to the reader’s interpretation. A link to the next episode will also be provided at the end. If a link isn’t available, the next episode just hasn’t been posted yet!

THIS ALSO MARKS THE 34TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE ANIME SO HAPPY BIRTHDAY GNG LMAO enjoy

In the year 198somethingidk in the forests of Japan, a white Akita Inu named Shiro ("white") is tailing behind an unusually large Ussuri brown bear dubbed "Akakabuto" ( "red helmet") by the nearby village's populace due to the unusual red tuft of fur trailing down his back. Shiro is followed by his owner, a crotchety old fart named Gohei Takeda, renowned bear hunter and the world's least called out animal abuser (hint: this will become relevant later.)

Before the old man can take aim with his rifle, however, the shadowy mass from the winter darkness barrels towards him. As the dog tries to leap to his owner's defense, Akakabuto smacks off a good portion of Grandpa Point-n-Shooty's face, sending a severed human ear flying into a bloodied patch of snow. Shiro takes this as an invitation to do his best impersonation of Lassie and dives at the monstrous beast, grasping hard atop his muzzle to avoid his claws. From a nearby hill, a small red puppy watches the horror unfold.

While Shiro baits the bear, as is his job as a bear-dog, Gohei fires a bullet into the massive animal's right eye. The eyeball bursts in the bear's skull, but it also stops the bullet from traveling through his brain, instead lodging it into his grey matter and jostling around his nerve centers and pituitary gland. Understandably pissed at Gohei taking the shot, Akakabuto swipes madly at him until both himself and the dog stumble blindly off the edge of a cliff, resulting in what is surmised to be their deaths. Gohei faints in a snowbank, his vision running red with blood, as the unseen red puppy runs back to civilization to bring help.

Five years pass. Gohei continues to raise, train, and hunt with Akitas, but now it's for more then the sake of bringing home bear skins. He believes Akakabuto is still alive, and he wants revenge. The massive scar on the left side of his face is explanation enough for anyone to understand why. He continues to explore the forest near his home, now aided by several new dogs, including one of Shiro's sons, a powerful red Akita named Riki ("power" or "strength") and the same puppy who had saved Gohei's life all those years ago.

Riki has comfortably begun filling his father's shoes, enough so that he's established a reputation as one of the best bear-dogs in Japan. With a title like that, it wasn't long before Riki had been mated to an equally powerful and very pretty red brindle Akita named Fuji, and the buns he'd so kindly plopped into her oven were fit to enter the bakery of life and this analogy sucks

Fuji is not Gohei's dog. She belongs to the Fujiwaras, a neighboring nuclear family who own and operate a ski resort in the mountains. Daisuke Fujiwara, a young boy with a heart of gold and a nose of snot, has been tending to his dog during her pregnancy, and she's finally delivered what is universally understood as The Best Thing Ever: a litter of roly poly puppies! Daisuke is especially taken with the smallest of the babies, a handsome silver brindle boy, because Daisuke is a stuck up dog fancier who believes silver brindles, or Tora-Ges ("tiger striped") make the best hunting dogs. He ever-so-creatively dubs the puppy Gin ("silver") and decides the infant will do him proud someday.

But all is not well in Skiiertown. Gohei's hunt of Akakabuto isn't just motivated by vengeance. The village mayor is currently trailing behind Gohei and his dogs, discussing how the town needs money from tourists and that Akakabuto's alleged presence would surely make some of them go "yeah, no" and leave. Gohei doesn't care about the economy, but he does care that a man named Genji from the neighboring town has been mauled under """mysterious""" circumstances.

As the two oldies argue about which is more important, money or human lives, Riki scents and points out the mutilated remains of two wayward tourists, a young man and his girlfriend. He also runs defensively to Gohei's side, snarling wildly. Everyone looks around, confused. Suddenly, a flash of black and red drops from the tree branches above onto the men and dogs. As the men's screams and dogs' cries fill the air, so does a fountain of their blood.

Soon after, forest rangers in helicopters are dispatched to locate and rescue the missing persons and - if they can manage it, no pressure at all - kill the illusive demon bear before he slaughters more innocents. Daisuke watches the helicopters pass overhead and leaps onto his snowmobile, incapable of not getting involved in anything.

He makes a beeline for Gohei's now abandoned camping tent. Finding it empty, he's about to drive off elsewhere when paramedics emerge from the wall of trees beside him. The mayor, bloodied and broken, is being carried on a stretcher. Daisuke runs up to him and asks what happened to Gohei and Riki, to which he's met with a simple "Akakabuto" as the man slips from consciousness.

Daisuke rushes back home to break the news to Fuji and her puppies about what happened to their doghusband and dogdad. Daisuke holds Gin close and insists Riki can't die until he's seen his shiny Pokemon of a son, to which Gin, being literally like a day old, merely whimpers and wiggles. Gazing misty eyed at the puppy, Daisuke changes his mind. Gohei can't be dead. Riki can't be dead. No mere bear could kill a man like Gohei or a dog like Riki.

Ten days pass. Neither Riki nor Gohei's bodies have been found, but the bodies of Gohei's other dogs, Riki's eldest son Aka ("red") and friend Don, have been located by lodge personnel. The animals were mauled so severely that everyone begins giving up the ghost on this whole "finding Gohei alive" business. Besides that, the cacophanic cries from Akakabuto have frightened everyone into leaving the forest, afraid of becoming the next victims. The bear is greatly distressed - his brain damage leaves him unable to rest for more then an hour at a time, let alone hibernate, and being awake during winter is disorienting him. He runs madly around the forest, roaring and swinging his massive claws at anything that moves and also most things that don't.

While the bear plods around wreaking havoc in the night, Daisuke is dreaming. He dreams of the old man and his dog languishing somewhere in the woods, starving to skeletal husks. He dreams that Gohei, in an act of desperation, raises his gun barrel to Riki's head. The old coot, overcome with hunger pangs and a desperation to survive, murmurs an apology to his dog, explaining a dude's gotta eat. He fires off a shot in Riki's skull, killing his closest companion, before tearing savagely into the dog's flesh with his bear hands. And I do mean bear hands, as Gohei begins to turn into Akakabuto, ripping the dog's flesh, then the Earth itself to pieces.

Daisuke awakens beside a sleeping Fuji a moment later. He's absolutely covered in sweat. He laments on how fucked up his dream was as he reaches out and caresses first Fuji, then Riki's puppies, praying that at least the first half of his dream, the half in which Gohei and Riki are still alive, is true.

Unbeknownst to everyone but Daisuke's subconscious, Gohei and Riki are in fact still alive! The two managed to struggle into a ravine just out of the bear's reach, and they've been holed up ever since. Riki's back has been shredded badly, and Gohei's right leg has been broken, mauled, and rendered useless. Gohei has begun to get sick of sitting on his ass incapable of doing anything, and with an ominous glint in his eye, raises the hatchet he had been carrying in his pack above Riki's head, murmuring something about home cooking...

In a twisted, eerie parallel to Daisuke's dream, the old man brings the weapon down, but not on the petrified dog in his lap. Instead, he's sliced through his own injured leg! Having severed the useless limb from the knee down, Gohei demands Riki eat his flesh, regain his energy, and seek help at the village just as he did when he was a youngster. Riki is understandably not for this, and his resistance in the form of wailing and vomiting is loud enough to catch the attention of the red helmeted hellspawn himself. In an effort to protect his even-more-fucked-up-now owner, Riki does indeed gather the last of his energy to throw himself at the bear.

Daisuke's dad begins leading a patrol back into the forest, saying that even if they're dead, Gohei and his dog's bodies can't be left to stink up the woods. Daisuke cuddles a quickly growing Gin as he asks to go, but he's told to stay home with the puppies. After all, Fuji is coming with the crew to find her doghusband and his owner's corpses.

Diasuke pouts for the 5 minutes it takes the men to be entirely out of sight before shoving Gin into his coat and plopping himself into the seat of his snowmobile, once again refusing to be left out of the excitement. Meanwhile, Riki continues his dual with Akakabuto, experiencing the slicing and dicing of a lifetime at the hands of the fiend.

The battle between bear and dog rages on, and fresh blood from both animals spatters the fresh fallen snow. Daisuke, having vroomed on over, catches sight of this historic event from atop a hill, and without a second thought begins driving down towards the bear. He tells Gin to have a look at his father, and once Gin realizes that his dad isn't the big red bear, he's awed at his old man's strength and resilience. This thought is interrupted by Daisuke screaming a one liner and driving over an incline, sending the snowmobile flying right into the bear's face. Daisuke and Gin both bail from the vehicle, and Gin tumbles out of Daisuke's jacket.

Akakabuto appropriately gathers his bearings before lunging at Daisuke, pissed off that a child has bitchslapped him with a small car. Diasuke screams for help as a bloodied, super manly arm yoinks him quickly into the ravine. It's (obviously) Gohei! He's (as we've established) still alive, and frankly very surprised to see Daisuke here! But Riki's still in unsafe territory outside, as is...

Gin! The puppy has tumbled into the bear's path, and he's too slow and uncoordinated to run to safety. Thankfully, Riki has already thrown himself at Akakabuto to save the little lad he's only just met. Daisuke and Gohei watch helplessly as the dual continues, as does a spellbound Gin.

Riki manages to break away from Akakabuto and snag up his son, but the lack of food and the constant stress on his body have taken everything out of him, and he collapses to the forest floor, Gin clutched in his teeth. Daisuke and Gohei call out to him, encourage him to come just a bit further, begging him to save himself and his son, but he just can't do it, even with the knowledge of the puppy's lineage in mind.

In a final heroic act, Riki works every muscle he's got one last time to leap forward just enough so he can yeet his son into the ravine. His effort works, and Gin finds himself safely landing in Daisuke's trembling arms, but it's too late for Riki. As the dog gazes helplessly at his master, his friend, and his child, Akakabuto delivers a final blow to his side. The red bear sends the red dog tumbling off a nearby cliff, and Riki disappears into the black snowy depths below, followed by a trail of blood and Gohei's cries of anguish.

Pissed beyond words, Gohei drags himself out of the ravine, hatchet clenched in his fist. He's just about to tell Akakabuto to 1v1 him scrub, but then everyone hears something. It's the search party come to call, all armed with guns and thermoses of hot cocoa. Akakabuto takes one look at all those shiny boom sticks and high tails it, leaving a madly wailing Gohei behind.

Daisuke emerges from the hole with Gin in his arms, much to his own father's surprise. As the men gather to take the boy, puppy, and old man to safety, Gohei drags himself to the cliffside and weeps openly for the loss of his beloved dog and closest friend.

In a short while, Gohei finds himself on a stretcher all his own. He congratulates Fuji on her litter and Daisuke on his silver brindle puppy, assuring him that Gin will make a fine bear-dog someday. Diasuke is understandably feeling glum as Gohei is carted off to hospital, but he's emboldened by the old man's words, as is his puppy. Gin is too young to speak or even truly understand what's happened, but he knows something lifechanging has taken place.

Several weeks pass. Gin and his siblings grow larger, large enough for Daisuke to initiate training them for their futures as hunting dogs. The boy has masterminded only the most exhausting, trying test of ability for the young animals today: cross a snowy field to get to him. While his siblings flop through the ice like suffocating fish, Gin's intuitive sense of laziness takes him onto the clean-driven road, where he easily makes his way into Daisuke's admiring arms. Daisuke decides that Gin is a veritable puppy prodigy, and he refuses to ever let him go.

Before he can heap more praise onto the puppy, here comes Shinji, one of Diasuke's classmates and closest non-canine friend. Shinji comes bearing news: Gohei has left the hospital at long last. Not because the doctor cleared him to, but because the impatient inpatient insisted he couldn't wait around with his thumb up his ass (or up the wound in his leg) any longer. Akakabuto has only continued to terrorize and traumatize the village folk and their visitors.

This doesn't surprise Daisuke, who is, at anything, glad that someone still has the gumption to do something about That Asshole In The Woods. Gumption doesn't benefit everyone, insists Shinji. Given Gin's a silver brindle and demonstrably the most protagonist-y out of the whole litter, Gohei will surely come to take him someday. He's Riki's son, after all, and now that Riki is gone, someone will have to fill his pawprints.

Daisuke is preemptively heartbroken, remembering back to the first time he saw the elderly man come back into town with his dogs. Gohei had taken a blunt stick and smacked Don around with it for some unknown insolence that transpired during their last hunt. The memory sends Daisuke's stomach and emotions reeling, and he clings to Gin.

Or perhaps his heartbreak was not so preemptive, because Gohei began chugging along towards the ski lodge the moment he left the hospital parking lot. The old man barges in on the boys' conversation and snags Gin up by the scruff of his little neck. Diasuke's dad notices the commotion and busts into it, telling Gohei the doctor demanded he get 6 months more bedrest. Gohei ignores him, instead striking Gin across the face for no reason but to test how pussy the puppy is. This only causes Gin to begin chewing in anger on the old man's fingers, to which the weirdass only grins.

Daisuke isn't happy about his dog being slapped out of nowhere, but Gohei insists it proves Gin's got a fighting spirit, an inherent gameness. Not like those worthless siblings of his, who Gohei proves aren't worthy of being mentioned outside of the first arc ever again by bopping them both in the face as well. To a chorus of squealing, crying puppies, Gohei leaves, carrying Gin away.

As Daisuke cries after Gohei not to kill the dog, the old man carries the puppy out of sight. Gohei takes the puplet to his cabin, showcasing his collection of bear skulls and animal hides. He leans back from his crutches and informs Gin that he'll be trained in much the same way his father was.

Gin doesn't understand what this means until Gohei picks up a stick and starts beating the everloving shit out of him. Daisuke seems to have had a hunch this would happen, because he's followed Gohei home, and the moment he sees what he's doing to Gin, he's even more pissed then the last time he lost a game of Fortnite.

Diasuke can't keep himself from whining about "animal abuse" and how "it's not good to beat infants" and other special snowflakery, to which Gohei responds by deadass picking up his rifle. He reaches down towards the battered Gin, lifts him up beside the barrel, and fires off a shot into an ancient bear skull on one of his shelves, shattering it to splinters. The gun is so GODDAMN LOUD that Daisuke falls back from the noise, and yet the tiny Gin doesn't even flinch. He seems more mystified by the gun then scared of it, a level of comfort that Gohei remarks Riki took a year of training to achieve.

Gohei says that Daisuke can leave whenever he'd like, because this dog is too suited for the job for him to ever surrender him. Daisuke unhappily ceases arguing, but he insists on staying and watching Gin train, to which Gohei just shrugs dismissively.

The next morning, Daisuke awakens in Gohei's cabin to the sound of Gin's whimpering. He rushes outside to find Gohei trying to forcefeed Gin bear flesh, a strong smelling meat with the world's most uninviting texture. When Daisuke tries to interfere, Gohei punches the 10 year old squarely in the jaw, making it ludicrously hard for the audience to appreciate his presence. Gohei insists he's doing this to get Gin acquainted with the enemy's scent and prove to him his will to live, but all Daisuke hears is "wah wah wah me like torture children".

At suppertime that day, Gohei offers Daisuke some of the soup he's made. Daisuke says he refuses to eat until Gin does. Gin has yet to have eaten any bear meat, and Gohei refuses to back down and feed him anything else. Instead, Gohei supplements Daisuke's meal for a story about a dog he owned long before Gin was born.

The dog was a Tosa Inu named Rikiou ("king of power"), and he never knew fear, common sense, or self preservation. The first bear he ever encountered was too big for him to fight off, and, unwilling to back down for even a moment, it killed him. His head was crushed like a grape. Daisuke wavers on what this story means, but he assumes it means that if Gin wants to survive, he'll take the most logical route to do so, and that his aversion to bear meat will likely grant him more respect for bears' power in future. Gohei had no moral in mind tbh. He just likes rambling about his dogs (okay relatable)

The next morning, Daisuke decides he's done watching his puppy's samurai-training and goes home. He's back only long enough to greet his parents when everyone hears a scratching at the window. It's Gin! He followed Daisuke back home! Daisuke takes this as a sign that Gin would rather live with him then with Gohei, but he doesn't receive a chance to make this so.

Gohei comes up from behind the puppy and gives him a swift bop in the side with one of his crutches. He then snags a rope around the little pooch's neck. Gin wails miserably as the old timer takes him back to his cabin for another day of bruising and starving.

Three days later, Daisuke comes to call on Gohei once again, mostly to make sure Gin isn't dead yet. Gin isn't dead, but he IS super weak. Gohei states that the little bugger has stubbornly refused bear flesh for the past few days, which means he's had nothing to eat in nearly a week. Daisuke is at the end of his rope with this insolent boomer and starts kicking and stomping the bear meat around the room.

He straight up tells Gohei to fight him if he doesn't like it when he notices the old man looking past him towards Gin. When Daisuke turns, he realizes that Gin is finally, FINALLY eating! Now that the bear meat's been stomped on, it's soft enough for the little dude to sink his baby teeth into.

Several months pass. One day, Diasuke and Shinji are piddlefarting around town. The two become enraptured with the guns inside a weapons shop. Daisuke thinks out loud about how Akakabuto could easily be defeated if the guy who went after him had a rifle as powerful as these. His train of thought is interrupted by a man and his dog, a German Shepherd, entering the store. The man orders his dog to wait outside, and the animal follows his command with no hesitation.

The boys go to have a better look at the pooch, a young, handsome dog in a brown collar. The dog gazes boredly at the two. Shinji is impressed with the dog's obedience, but since he's neither an Akita nor a brindle, Daisuke couldn't care less.

Tired of gawking at a stranger's dog, the two head back to Gohei's place to peep what Gin's up to. "He's up to eating," Gohei basically says. But what he actually meant was "he's up to learning how to swim without breathing so he can eat the bear meat I've put at the bottom of a water basin". Which, by the way, is what Gin's doing. In fact, Gin will continue doing this exercise of his twice a day every day for several weeks, growing in muscle mass and understanding of how to not die via water inhalation.

In the meantime, Gohei sorta zones out while hovering over Gin's personal swimming pool. He mutters something about Riki training just like this to the boys, to which Shinji politely excuses himself and runs home. God forbid he stay behind to hear an old man ramble.

Daisuke, on the other hand, is a nerd who is intrigued by the knowledge Gohei possesses. He asks what it was like hunting with Riki, to which Gohei chuffs and turns away. He doesn't go into detail about his dog - he's still in mourning - but he does detail what it's like to hunt bears. It's all math and muscle memory, he says, much to Daisuke's disbelief.

Gohei asserts that the simplest way to kill a bear is to abide by The Centre Line Rule, a theory among bear hunters that states that all of a bear's weakest points are down the middle of its body when it's standing erect. Fire a shot off into a bear's chest or gut or forehead from dead center, and you'll learn why it's called "dead" center. Daisuke doesn't know if he believes the boomer, but he rolls the idea around in his head as he watches Gin collect his soggy rations.

After a bit of time passes, Gohei comes to visit Daisuke. He brings little Gin along with him. At first, Gin's siblings are very happy to see him. They rush towards him to play, cheering about how their brother has returned, and he instantly kicks their asses. Gin's siblings are no longer very happy to see him. They run to their mother's side for comfort as Gin comes to a heel at Gohei's leg in an insanely powerful flex on momma's boys everywhere.

Daisuke asks the old hunter what he's doing poking around these here parts, and after scolding him for speaking like a cowboy, Gohei invites him along to watch Gin's first hunting trip. Obviously since something's happening, Daisuke MUST be included.

The three head out to a river gorge nearby to blast some ducks outta the sky. Gohei is taking his sweetass time with aiming and firing, which is very uncharacteristic of him. It soon becomes obvious why, though. As soon as he manages to snipe a bird outta the air, he allows it to fall into the ravine below before commanding Gin to go in after it.

Gin is still too full of vim and vigor to be afraid, so he leaps into the foaming snake of water below, his basin training finally showing some use. From somewhere nearby, a man's voice can be heard barking commands in English, which I cannot transcribe here because I don't speak English.

As Gin braves the rapids, a familiar silhouette also comes down into the gorge. It's another dog, and Daisuke recognizes it! It's the pompous German Shepherd from the weapons shop, and before you can learn how to properly pronounce "nagareboshi", he's snagged Gin's bird up and started making off with it!

Daisuke shouts obscenities at the thieving bastard as Gin follows behind him. For the first time, Gin begins to speak to another dog, though all the humans hear is adorable yipping. Gin tells the dog to let go of his master's kill. The dog makes like he's going to say something sarcastic back, but his mouth is too full to speak.

Instead, the dog continues to bolt, finishing his sprint by climbing to the top of the cliffside and leaping to the other side of the ravine. Little Gin tries to follow suit, but his anime protag powers haven't truly kicked in yet, and instead he ends up missing the mark and tumbling back down into the water below. The shepherd snorts in smug amusement before scampering away.

Gin, Gohei, and Daisuke pack up and start heading home. Gohei is visibly annoyed at the loss of the kill. Even Gin looks forlorn about it. Just as Daisuke begins trying to soothe the two of them, a Jeep drives past. Sitting proudly in the backseat is a dog - the German Shepherd from before! Daisuke and Gin both call out to the thief to return their kill, and the man driving the Jeep stops and gets out to meet them.

Daisuke recognizes the man from the gun shop, but only Gohei knows his name. The young man is called Hidetoshi Sekiguchi, and he's the son of the village mayor, the man who was attacked by Akakabuto alongside Gohei.

Hidetoshi apologizes for the inconvenience regarding the bird, but assures them that it was his kill all along. He tosses the bird's carcass to Daisuke to prove it. The bird's head is missing, clearly having been blasted off its feathery shoulders by the force of a bullet. That bullet came from the shiny, new, powerful-looking rifle Hidetoshi had just purchased.

The young man is a doctor by trade but a hunter at heart, and he's come all the way back from the UK with this new gun and his faithful hunting dog John to kill the bear that mauled his father. Gohei tries to tell Hidetoshi that all the fancy equipment and stuck up canines in the world aren't enough to kill that bear, to which Hidetoshi just patronizingly grins and drives away.

As Hidetoshi and John drive out of sight, Daisuke and Gohei begin heading home. Gin trails a little behind, both spellbound by John's achievement and poise as well as frustrated by his stolen victory. He swears to himself that if he ever sees the GSD again, he won't lose to him once more. He scrunches up his little baby face in determination before following behind the others.

A couple more weeks pass generally uneventfully. Gin continues his training and keeps growing rapidly. Daisuke has tried to keep himself involved in Gin's upbringing, but he's been cooped up inside for a few days now. A blizzard combined with the constant looming threat of Akakabuto makes his parents uncomfy with letting him lollygag around in the woods. So tonight he's chillin' inside with his folks when suddenly they hear an erratic banging at the door. Fuji gets up and snarls, looking more scared then aggressive.

Suddenly, the door flies open and its glass windows, frosted from the cold, shatter. A man tumbles headlong into the living room. A large, bloody gash on the side of his head oozes all over the new rug, horrifying the family for both altruistic and materialistic reasons. Daisuke's father runs to the man's side, trying to keep him awake, while his mother runs to call an ambulance.

The man begins gibbering through bloodied teeth about a monster with a red mane and how his friends and son are still in danger. Daisuke's dad sends his son off to retrieve Gohei, which Daisuke does without skipping a beat because oh my god something he can be involved in, SCORE.

Treading through the snow on his shiny new prosthetic leg, Gohei allows Gin to lead he and Daisuke back to the man. Gohei recognizes him immediately - he's an old hunting buddy, a renowned bear hunter named Shigematsu. Gohei catches the attention of the languishing lad just long enough to see recognition in his eyes before Shigematsu succumbs to his injuries, dying on Daisuke's floor.

Gohei knows he can't stand idly by while Shigematsu's crew are at risk, so he gathers his rifle and his dog and heads out the door. As they leave, Gin looks over his shoulder for an instant at his mother. Fuji gazes longingly at her son as he exits the house. Daisuke and his father follow behind Gohei and head off to gather the same dudes who have been wandering around in the forest looking for bear attack victims for the past several months at this point.

As the group enters the woods, they come across an unexpected sight. It's Hidetoshi and John. Word spread quickly through the village about the man dying from a bear attack, and Hidetoshi wants a chance to fire a few bullets into Akakabuto's ass to make up for his suffering. He joins the men in their hike to Shigematsu's cabin, much to Gin's dismay. Gin still isn't very fond of the callous asshole of a shepherd he's forced to walk beside. John sneers at him, fully aware of how bothersome his presence is.

Meanwhile at Shigematsu's cabin, his remaining friends are trembling and sweating, guns in hand. They know the bear is lurking just outside the cabin somewhere, having a merry little picnic of any men who tried to escape. They inch against the wall only to find it crumbling behind them. A gigantic bear with a red trail of fur down its back roars and swings its mighty paws at the men, shattering their skulls upon impact. Their screams ring through the winter air, entangling with the buzzing of the wind.

By the time the group reaches the cabin, the bear is wandering outside. Gin takes one look at it and leaps into action, ready to be the bear-hound he was meant to be, before tumbling into a snowdrift he can't wiggle out of. John makes fun of the stoopid newb xDDD before using his longer, less silly legs to bumrush the big boogieman of a bear. He snarls and snaps at the predator's face, swiftly dodging his swaying claws.

Gin finally manages to free himself from his strongest enemy yet, the snow, and follows John's example. Only he uses a different source of inspiration for his moves: the memory of his father clinging desperately to the upper side of the bear's snout.

It's already been seen that Gin isn't very agile yet, and the bear takes full advantage of this by smacking him away as if batting at a silver striped fly, sending the puppy squealing into the snow, embarrassed but otherwise unharmed. Daisuke rushes to make sure Gin is alright. The men all open fire on the bear, but the fierce blizzard winds prevent them from getting a good hit on him.

The bear makes a break for it only to be distracted by John. Hidetoshi takes aim while his pet busies the big boy and fires his rifle off square in the animal's chest. The unsteady teddy stumbles with a wail of pain, rolling back into the snow.

As the bear tries to get up once again, Hidetoshi lets loose another bullet into the animal's left eye, finally sending it to bear hell where it belongs. In a moment of catharsis, he lets fly a few more bullets into the dead animal's skull, images of his father's mauled corpse dancing in traumatic fashion around his head. Everyone is still for a moment.

Hidetoshi is about to say something about honor and family or whatever when Gohei interrupts the celebration by pointing out that this animal cannot be Akakabuto. Buty Boy has no right eye, whereas this unlucky fucker had two before getting blown away. Everyone gapes. The striking resemblance the animal has to Akakabuto can only mean one thing: the tyrant has been getting laid, passing his powerful and dangerous genes onto a new generation. A feeling of intense terror spreads through the crowd, and about 50 feet away, a single, glassy eye shimmers in the darkness.

The dogs are shaken from their own stupor by the scent of something wicked this way coming. John and Gin snarl at the large black mass watching the crowd, and the men look to see the forest's resident bastard glaring at them. Akakabuto stares spitefully at the men, taking in all of their scents and faces. His gaze also falls first on the German Shepherd, then on the little silver ball of fur beside it. He can't pinpoint why, but the upstart (pupstart?) looks and smells incredibly familiar.

Furious at the sight of his father's murderer, Gin tries to run towards the hulking mountain of bear. Daisuke snags him up before he can run very far, though, and he settles with barking obscenities at the enemy instead.

Again everyone fires, but it's too late. Akakabuto is wicked fast and not nearly as dumb as his offspring, so he's already gotten the hell outta dodge. Hidetoshi swears out loud, blueballed by fate once again. Gohei tells everyone they'd best go home. Nobody who'd wander into the forest to find that bear at night could make it back out alive, not even him in his golden days.

Everyone begins the chilling, chilly hike to the village. Daisuke sulks coldly in more ways then one, distracted from where he's going by his own dark thoughts about the bear that's been ruining everyone's lives. Because of his lack of focus, the boy takes a nasty fall into a sinkhole the snow covered up, and he finds himself screaming, flailing, and falling into a break in the mountain.

Everyone cries out to him, grabbing at him, but soon he's out of sight. Daisuke shuts up for the first time in his life when his head strikes a rock and knocks him unconscious. He tumbles onto a cliff overhang before truly entering the Earth's core, crumpling into a helpless heap.

All the men are losing their minds over what to do, especially Daddy Daisuke upon realizing the hole is too big for any of the men to squeeze into. Everyone's flipping shit except for Gin, who is gazing longingly into the hole, and Gohei, who is gazing thoughtfully at Gin. The old man has an Aha! moment and throws open his pack to retrieve a rope, which he then firmly secures on Gin's collar.

Everyone stops freaking and asks what he's doing. He rolls his eyes as if it's the most obvious thing in the world - he's sending Gin down to drag Daisuke back up, DUH!

With no better options, the crew send the puppy into the pit. Gin's a pretty clever kid, so he understands his mission well enough. He's lucky, too, and finds Daisuke quickly. He tries to lick the child's face to awaken him, but it doesn't work. Daisuke's alive, but he's out cold. There's no hope of him climbing out himself. So maybe, just maybe...

Gin thinks fast and literally runs circles around the unconscious kid, wrapping the rope tightly around his torso and under his armpits. After a few turns of Ring Around The Search And Rescue Victim, the doglet gives a tug on the rope and a bark up through the tunnel. Nothing happens for a sec sans the sound of unintelligible, excitable speech, but then Gin gets some feedback. The men understood, and they're pulling the rope up.

To keep things really secure, tiny Gin is forced to clench his jaws around the rope and support Daisuke's weight with his neck. His collar digs into the baby fat around his neck, drawing blood, but he refuses to let go of his buddy.

The men give one last hard yoink and pull both of the youngsters out of the sinkhole. Daisuke's dad cradles his child to his chest, announcing that the kid is unconscious but still alive. Everyone cheers while Hidetoshi cradles little Gin, who is also fading from consciousness from exhaustion, to his own chest. Hidetoshi wipes some of the blood from Gin's neck as John watches. John's eyes soften for probably the first time in his life as he sees how Gin has still refused to release the rope. Is this what it's like to be humbled?

Daisuke's eyes slowly flutter open, which elicits another cheer from the emotional crowd. His dad hugs him tightly, gushing tearfully about his son's survival and the little dog's bravery. Upon hearing Diasuke's exhausted response back, Gin's own eyes shoot open and he leaps from Hidetoshi's arms into Daisuke's. He licks the boy's face eagerly, clearing it of the tears that have streamed from it.

Gohei comes to Daisuke's side, his eyes even softer then John's. He reaches down and lifts the puppy up just inches from his face. Gin's tiny tongue flicks out to lick the end of the senior's nose. Gohei brings the dog child to his chest and gives him a gentle hug and a pet on the head. Everyone looks on in disbelief. As long as any of them have known him, Gohei has never pet any of his dogs, let alone hug them. Gohei hands Gin back to Daisuke, allowing the child to hold the puppy close.

As everyone gets ready to head home once more, Daisuke declares his eternal devotion to the silver brindle dog, appreciative of his friendship and forever convinced of his bravery.

----------

End of episode 1, the episode with what’s likely the most non-dog child beating in the series!!! Hope you “””enjoyed””” it!!!

Episode 2: The Invasion

#ginga #ginga nagareboshi gin #silver fang #hopeanuoli #yoshihiro takahashi #ginga words #rewrite #fanfic

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nimarkiva-stuff · 4 years

Text

Fan-art Writing

So, I absolutely love one of @blasticheart‘s characters, a Pokemon Trainer OC, and really wanted to have him meet the Trainer OC version of myself that I do for @nimarkiva-the-pokemon-trainer.

.....except it’s pretty violent based on the premise of his character, so I can’t really post it on that blog, I know full well there are a lot of kids who visit that one.

Oh, right, I have an art blog, too. Deeeerp. So, fan-art for @blasticheart beneath the cut. There is violence, and it is Pokemon themed. Not for kids. Murder mention and attempt.

It was late on a lazy Friday afternoon, and Dit was looking forward to a challenge. He hoped there would be a good battle today since no one had contested him yet. He bounced a pokéball in his hand, grinning as he thought of what might come if he was patient. Hopefully it was a Pokémon battle that he could win. If not win, at least enjoy. He loved a good fight.

His gaze swept across the park at the edge of the woods, lingering on a particular trainer who was out with her Pokémon. The tattooed woman was leaning on a cane and had a Haunter with her, as well as a Lucario. Now that was a fight! The trainer looked fairly unassuming. She had shoulder-length gingery hair that was bleached blond at the tips, and looked to be in her late twenties or early thirties. She was dressed fairly nondescript- t-shirt, jeans, and hiking boots. The wooden cane in her right hand was clearly for the pronounced limp she walked with. The human stood at about five feet and ten inches, rather tall, but at the same time a bit stooped because of how she leaned on the cane. The stocky human had a large tattoo of a purple Sharpedo and plumeria blossoms on her right arm, visible because of her short sleeves. Her glasses were simple, black rectangular frames that suited her.

The trainer didn’t look like much. She honestly could have passed for any adult woman on the street. But he of all people knew how looks could be deceiving, didn’t he? And she did have a Lucario with her, not to mention a fairly large Haunter who looked like he could give anyone a run for their money. The Ditto looked at his reflection on the shiny pokéball in his hand. She’d be a challenge- and depending on what she had in her pokéballs, it was a match which could genuinely go in favor of either of them.

He decided it was worth a shot. Win or lose- though he hoped win- it promised to be fun. Dit made his way to where she was playing with the Lucario. The trainer would toss a ball, and the Lucario would deflect it back to her with a shield of Aura energy, angling it to make sure she could catch the bouncy rubber sphere each time. It was both a game and a practice in precision. Dit could definitely appreciate training like that.

“Yo, Nim, heads up!” the Haunter told his trainer when the young man came over.

Dit paused for a moment. Another Pokémon who could speak in a human language? Well, now that was something. He gave the woman and her Pokémon a toothy grin when she focused on him. “You wanna have a Pokémon battle?” he asked eagerly.

Nim blinked, looking a bit surprised. The Lucario beside her looked up at the trainer, then back at Dit. He wasn’t so sure about this one. Not because he was afraid of a fight, but more because something was…off. And it was going to drive Lucas nuts until he figured out what it was. Something in that smile, and the look in his eyes.

“Can’t really see a reason to refuse,” the woman said with a shrug. “Three on three, or six against six?”

The tall trainer waved her question off. “Nah, five on five,” he said with that same toothy grin.

Nim raised one eyebrow. Odd, but she’d go with it. “Sure,” she said. “Not going to lie, I’m going to bring out some of the big guns- there’s a space in the woods which is a lot better for that kind of battle, got a concrete wall and is away from people. That work for you?”

Dit rubbed his hands together. Oh, that worked, he had some big guns of his own. “Bring it on,” he told her with a smirk.

Lucas decided he definitely did not like that smile.

“I’m Dit. So what do you do?” Dit asked as they hiked to the location of the practice arena.

“I’m Nim, a teacher, and I run a Pokémon rehabilitation house for those who have gotten injured or abused,” Nim explained. “You?”

“I battle,” he said with that same creepy grin. “A rehab house? Sounds cool.”

That actually was true. He did like the idea of that sort of place, since he knew how many needed it. The Ditto could also see how she cared for those who were with her. Each of the Pokémon at her side showed all the signs of being loyal as well as happy to be with the human. Good health, too, the Lucario’s fur was sleek and well-groomed while the Haunter was particularly solid, instead of being more wispy like an unhealthy ghost type tended to look.

The area Nim had in mind for their battle was a small arena, sunken a few feet into the ground with a concrete wall holding the dirt back. When they had reached the spot, well away from bystanders who might not want to be hit by stray attacks, Nim pulled a pokéball out of her pocket.

Dit whistled when she summoned a Necrozma. That was unexpected. He watched as she crooned over the big Pokémon, stroking its arm and whispering that it was a good boy. The Necrozma made a happy sound, wrapping one big hand loosely around her for a moment. Then it squared off in his direction.

“Nacho, I choose you,” she said with a quirky little smile.

The Pokémon Trainer grinned as he pulled out the pokéball containing a Metagross. But before he could say anything, he was interrupted by two newcomers stepping out of the woods- Rocket grunts. “That’s a nice Necrozma,” one of the men said with a smirk. “Be a pity if something bad happened during a fight.”

The transformed Ditto growled. He did not like Team Rocket at all. Using a small arena like this as a hunting ground to try and steal Pokémon, because it was out of the way? Dirty and low. But his normal method of dealing with them wouldn’t work- there was a human here he didn’t want to needlessly kill. He was about to summon another member of his family out of their pokéball to fight when Nim snapped her fingers.

“Lewis, my darling boy, you know the drill,” she said with a grin.

The Haunter smirked before vanishing into the earth with a swirl of smoke at her feet. Dit watched, amazed, as he rose out of the ground behind the Team Rocket members a few seconds later. The Haunter hovered above them, a sphere of dark energy forming between his hands. “Cannon ball!” he said, diving downwards and hurling the shadow ball between the grunts at the same time.

The two humans fled- that was not what they’d been expecting at all, given the appearances of the Haunter’s trainer. Nim had chosen to go straight for them instead of Pokémon battling with them. That was terrifying to the Team Rocket goons because it meant she was not about to put up with their attempt.

But the attack had some unexpected side effects as it had been a particularly powerful one. A chunk of loose brick spun towards Dit and Nim. The Ditto was in the act of dodging when Nim raised one hand towards him.

Crackling blue energy shielded the Pokémon trainer, causing the rubble to bounce back towards Nim. She didn’t shield herself in time. That was one of her faults as well as something which made her good at her job- the woman focused on others first, sometimes at cost to herself. It hit, hard, on her bad right leg just above the knee. There was no blood, but the impact could be heard. The woman went down with a strangled shriek of pain, kneeling on the dirt of the arena.

“Oh hell- Nim, I’m so sorry, I overdid that,” Lewis said as he rushed to her side. “You ok, Boss?”

She nodded, blinking tears out of her eyes and swallowing hard. “I’ll be alright,” the woman gasped. “You ok, big guy? Lucas, Nacho? No one injured? Dit, what about you?”

“I’m fine,” he replied, looking at her in surprise. “That was Aura, wasn’t it? I didn’t know humans could do that.”

“Some can. It’s really rare,” Nim said as she struggled to her feet.

Lucas immediately handed her the cane which she had dropped, while allowing her to lean against him. “Take a moment, Mother,” the telepathic Pokémon said quietly. “You need to rest.”

Mother? Another surprise. This human could not only manipulate Aura, but one of her Pokémon thought of her as a mom. Dit was interested in the trainer. It seemed that like him, she thought of her team as family. The Necrozma, Nacho, moved so that Nim could sit on his hand and take the weight off her bad leg.

“Hey, Dit, raincheck on our battle?” Nim asked tiredly. “I need to get home and have my Medicham, Misha, help me out with this, I think I messed something up in my leg again when that rock hit.”

The Ditto was disappointed that he wasn’t going to get the battle he was hoping for, but he did understand. “I will hold you to that raincheck,” he told her with that creepy grin which kept setting Lucas on edge.

Nim gave him a little pained smile back, waving to him. “You betcha. You want to stop on by tomorrow, my house is the big lavender colored one with the stone wall around it and the barn in the back, on the other side of the overpass heading out of the west side of town. You can’t miss it, ask about Nim’s place and anyone can point you my way.”

Dit nodded. He could remember those directions. “See you tomorrow,” he said with a wry chuckle, pocketing the pokéball in his hand and walking off.

He was mulling over a plan for the battle against her when he realized something. Had he been a character in an anime, there would have the lines accompanying the blip of shocked realization coming from the back of his head. The Ditto’s eyes went wide when he realized that a human who could use Aura would also be able to sense it…

…and had to know his secret.

The Ditto swore at that. He looked around, but the park was too populated for him to do what needed to be done. It would also be dangerous to try and attack the woman in her own home. She took in sick and wounded Pokémon, there were likely many who would defend her without hesitation. He also had seen three of her team- a trainer like that surely had a full battling team of six heavy hitters, seeing as she had asked if he wanted a larger battle.

No, he’d have to kill her in a spot where she was vulnerable and there weren’t other people around to witness it. Preferably caught off guard so that she didn’t summon the Pokémon who would defend her. Dit really didn’t want to make too big a deal of this since he already didn’t like the idea of killing a rehab worker. But he also didn’t trust she wouldn’t snitch on him to Officer Jenny.

The overpass was the perfect place. He had flown there after seeing that the woman was walking. Even on her bad leg, she was still making her way home on foot. Dusk had fallen in the time it took her to make her way across the city, which was perfect for what he had in mind. The Haunter and the Lucario were nowhere to be seen- likely recalled to their pokéballs. Dit was a bit confused at that. He’d thought for sure that the two of them would have been at her side to help her walk. Well, a stroke of luck for him.

He shifted back to his human form, leaning casually against the metal rail which blocked the sidewalk from the street. The protective rails on both sides of the path also meant that the trainer could only run in two directions. Dit was pretty sure he was faster than Nim as he watched her hobble up to where he was waiting, hood raised over his baseball cap to hide his face.

“Hey, Nim, I’m actually a bit sorry about this,” he said, stepping forward to block her path. “You seem like a nice one.”

Nim leaned back in surprise when Dit’s arm suddenly shifted to that of a Scyther’s bladed claw. She threw up a shield of Aura energy in the nick of time, blocking the blow. Her cane dropped to the ground with a clatter, forgotten as she tried to defend herself. The human stumbled back from the force of his attack and raised her hands.

“Hey, Dit, come on, you don’t want to do this,” she told him. “Let me take some R&R time, we can have a proper fight tomorrow.”

The woman was surprisingly calm. Dit supposed that was good. He preferred she try talking him out of it instead of trying to fight back, which could be messy and obvious. It wasn’t like he was going to trust her no matter what she said- but letting her talk gave him time to get closer. “Like I said, you seem nice,” he repeated.

He easily grabbed the front of her shirt with his hand, raising the other arm up. The stance was oddly intimate since he held her close without room to get away. Even if he could not shapeshift, in the form of his previous trainer he was so much stronger than the disabled woman. It would be so easy to just snap the human like a twig. He didn’t like it, but it had to be done. The human had to die for him to feel safe.

“Don’t make this any harder than it has to be,” Dit said quietly.

The Ditto paused when he felt something press against his stomach. “Got something in your pocket? You can’t be that happy to see me,” he told her with a little smirk that didn’t make it to his eyes- he wasn’t pleased to have to kill a human who took care of Pokémon in a rehabilitation home. Nim snorted, still oddly calm. “Yeah, no, it’s not what you think. Put me down so I don’t have to see Reba and Remy gut you. This is my favorite jacket and I don’t want to ruin it. I also don’t want you to get hurt, I get why you’re doing this.”

Dit looked down and saw two knives were pressed against his abs, each angled in a way where they could be slashed in the opposite directions after piercing skin and muscle. That would certainly do a good job of opening him up. The knifes melded into the wrists of two arms, a bit of pink drip at the connecting point looking quite familiar to the shift point of his own arm at the moment.

The knife wielders stood up behind Nim, keeping the blades pressed at his stomach in warning. They were clearly twins, a brother and a sister, and had been crouched behind her. Dit wasn’t sure how he had not noticed them until he saw that the pokéballs on Nim’s belt were all attached so that they angled backward. The two Dittos had likely been summoned to her side when she stumbled away from him. He hadn’t seen them because they were hidden by her own body when they kept low behind Nim.

Now that was extremely sneaky and clever. But such a plan meant the human had thought she would be attacked. He didn’t like that one bit. Dit’s day had gone from bad to worse now that Nim had backup and his idea hadn’t worked like he’d expected.

“How’d you do that?” he demanded irately, leaving his arm raised. They currently had a bit of a stalemate, and he was not about to give that up. Even the smallest advantage was better than nothing. If Nim had planned for this, she’d likely planned for other things, too.

“The phrase I said,” Nim explained. “When I talked about fighting tomorrow? Reba and Remy, my R&R duo of Dittos. The pokéballs are facing backwards, they popped out on their own when I called for them. You were too busy trying to carve me like a turkey to notice others like you, dude.”

“If you know what I am, then you know why I’ve got to do this,” Dit said as he tightened his grip on her shirt, his face close to hers.

Nim snorted. “What, you think you’re the first Pokémon to do something like this? Lemme guess, you offed your trainer for some reason. I’m guessing…you cut his throat? Nah, too planned, it was probably in the heat of the moment…ooh, you didn’t stab him in the back, did you? Break his neck? Come on, Dit, give me some details.”

The Ditto trainer was a bit unnerved by how nonchalant she was. His expression dropped when he heard someone clear their throat behind him. Distraction. She’d been distracting him and was fighting dirty. He’d seen this move earlier.

“Vibe check,” Lewis said as he swung the trainer’s wooden cane at Dit’s head.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dit woke up in a soft bed, with the blanket tucked around his shoulders and a throbbing headache. He sat upright in alarm, throwing off the blanket in the same motion and staring at the unfamiliar surroundings. The female of the Ditto twins was sitting near the doorway, looking at him over sunglasses.

“You’re a pain,” she muttered as she regarded him. “Nim said we couldn’t leave you there. Try and kill my trainer again, and so help me, I will make you regret it.”

The Pokémon trainer growled at that. He was about to say something snarky in reply when Nim poked her head in the doorway to break it up. “Reba, c’mon, be nice. Good to see you’re awake, Dit, I thought Lewis had seriously scrambled something up there when you were out the entire night. You should come get some breakfast.”

“Why should I trust you?” Dit demanded.

Nim shrugged. “Ok, don’t, then. It’s no skin off my back. By the way, this is yours. There’s bacon, eggs, and toast in the kitchen if you change your mind.” The human tossed a pokéball to him. Dit caught it, fumbled the sphere, and blinked when he saw the name written on it. This was his pokéball. Nim must have taken it while he was unconscious. It would have been something very useful to have against him if she had wanted to have an advantage.

Instead, she had given it back.

Reba scowled at him before following after the woman. Dit had to wonder where her twin was. He definitely did not want to try anything in Nim’s home unless he absolutely had to, not after seeing how she had planned the night before. But he had to kill the human somehow to protect his own secret.

Dit walked down the hall to the kitchen, following the smell of cooking food. It did smell awfully good. Nim was at the stove, and Reba was at her side, shifting to a Meowstic. The Ditto trainer decided to sit at the table, which was set for several Pokémon and two humans if the silverware was anything to go by. He’d bide his time until the right moment presented itself.

“So how did you know?” Dit asked. “I’m real good at keeping my secret. What tipped you off, and how did you plan for my attempt at killing you?”

Nim snorted. “Oh, you are good, I’ll give you that. I figured it out when I felt your Aura, and you said five against five for a fight…you’re a Ditto, and there were all the signs that you took over the team you were part of. So why would you do that? Duh, you look like a trainer…probably your trainer. How do you avoid a human trainer ratting you out as a thief and a fraud? Easy if you could take his face because he’s dead. And you’d do that if you killed him, probably. If you’ve killed before, you might be willing to do it again to keep your secret, and you’re no dummy, you had to know what me being able to use Aura meant. So, planning ahead with Reba and Remy about where you were most likely going to try and kill me. The overpass seemed like it’d be the best spot if you were plotting a murder.”

Dit swallowed hard. He definitely was sure he could not trust her enough to let her live now after hearing that. This human was dangerous, and killing her was the only option he could see. “So what do you want?” he asked slowly. “Blackmail?”

The human rolled her eyes. “Absolutely not. I don’t want anything, except maybe for you to stop trying to kill me. You seriously think you’re the first Pokémon to kill their trainer? Bad trainers exist, and I know it, I get to look after the ones who were mistreated. I’ve got a Greninja with a scarred up face and a missing arm because of bad humans, and a midnight form Lycanroc with PTSD from the same situation. Their trainer gave them up to a Pokémon Center before turning himself in for Pokémon abuse, pretty messed up and in need of hospital care. You are not the first Pokémon to retaliate, Dit, and I don’t blame you for killing someone who abused you. Now, you want breakfast? I messed up the eggs, so they’re scrambled, that ok?”

The trainer tilted his head. “You are way too calm about this,” he told her suspiciously. “Did you call Officer Jenny on me or something?”

“No, I just don’t like seeing Pokémon mistreated,” Nim said. “You know, that being the reason why I run a rehab house for them? Things are never black and white, either. This is not my first rodeo when it comes to Pokémon who did stuff most would consider to be really bad. You have your secrets, and I have mine.”

“…who have you killed?” Dit asked, eyes narrowing.

“No one, yet, I’ve had my coffee this morning,” the tattooed woman replied with a laugh. “Seriously, we’re cool and I won’t rat you out. I don’t think you just go around randomly killing people. Probably just the ones who need to go or figure out your secret. I’d prefer not to be on that second list is all.”

“And why should I trust you?” the Ditto asked as he crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back in the chair.

Nim put one arm over her stomach. She rested her elbow on it to tap her chin with one fingertip. “Hmm, let me see,” she said with an exaggerated air of thoughtfulness. “I had your pokéball, and gave it back instead of using it. I didn’t let Reba and Remy gut you. I could have taken you straight to Officer Jenny, but instead I let you sleep off a clonk to the head in one of my guest rooms. I’m making you breakfast even after you tried to kill me. If I meant anything bad, dude, I had hours to pull a stunt and loads of opportunity.”

Dit mulled it over. She had a point. But that still didn’t explain why Nim hadn’t done any of those things. That made no sense to him unless she wanted something from him. “No really, what do you want?” he demanded.

The woman shrugged. “Why does everyone have to want something? I mean, I’d like to not have you try to kill me again, isn’t that enough? Last night was a close one even if I was ready for it.”

He was reminded about the two Dittos she had when the woman said that. “Your Dittos talk and can pass as human, like me,” Dit said. “What’s up with that?”

“Rescued from Team Rocket labs,” Nim told him simply. “Same as Lewis.”

“I don’t trust you,” Dit said firmly.

“I figured,” Nim said as she put a plate full of food in front of him. “And it makes sense. Humans probably always want something based on the ones you’ve likely met- and why would anyone trust a murderer?”

Dit gave her a skeptical look. “You said it. So. Why don’t you want anything, and why do you trust a murderer?”

“Technically, murder is one human killing another,” Nim mused as she sat down at the table. “Yours is just self-defense. You have to watch your own back, right? And what would happen to your Pokémon family if you were caught? It’s not just what would happen to you. I get it. I’m not condoning it or saying it’s a good thing, but I get it. And no, I prefer not to know your kill count, I don’t need to know as long as I’m not on the list.”

The Pokémon put both hands on the table and leaned forward, getting uncomfortably into her space. “How do I know you won’t betray me?”

Nim sighed. “Well, I’m not sure what to tell you if I haven’t convinced you yet. Tell you what, you eat breakfast and follow me. If I try anything, you get to do what you feel you need to do.”

The woman’s two Dittos shifted at that, to their own chosen human forms. The brother was quiet, gesturing wildly that he did not approve of that, while his sister spoke for both of them. “No, we won’t let you!” Reba said. “You can’t do that!”

“If I expect him to trust me, I’ve got to show some trust in him,” Nim reminded the Ditto twins.

“…you have one day to convince me,” Dit told her, going against his better judgement. “Then I’ll do what I have to.”

“Deal,” the trainer agreed, holding out her hand. “Hey, if your head is hurting from getting clonked by Lewis, I’ve got a few things from the Poké Mart to fix you up.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dit had a bit of a scare when Officer Jenny came to the house after breakfast. But it soon became apparent that she was there for other reasons- Nim hadn’t called her, nor did the trainer say or do anything to reflect that her life was in danger. The police officer was there because a Pokémon needed to be dropped off into Nim’s care. She didn’t even notice Dit.

Nim went about her day after getting the new Pokémon settled in, which involved taking care of a lot of other Pokémon who were housed in the barn behind her home. There was also a great deal of grocery shopping. The human made good use of the day being Saturday to get her errands done. She had plenty of opportunity to try and rat Dit out. Considering her life was on the line, he expected her to try and get some help from outside sources.

Yet she didn’t.

It was confusing. She even did nice things for him- not an attempt at bribery, but just because she could. When Nim had stopped for lunch, she bought him a burger and fries as well, tossing the bag to him. It wasn’t something done as an afterthought, but instead a genuine gesture of intentional kindness.

Nim excused herself to her room when they got back to her house, saying she was tired and needed to sleep a bit. Running a lot of errands like that was hard on the disabled trainer because of how much it hurt her to walk. Dit was skeptical about the fact that she was supposedly taking a nap. Surely she wasn’t planning on sleeping while someone who wanted to kill her was in the house?

He waited until she was snoring- it had to be an act- to slip through the partially opened doorway. The woman’s room was simple, and none of her Pokémon team were with her. He’d watched her put the pokéballs on the kitchen table before going to lay down for a nap. She had also told the others to give him space. The woman was completely defenseless, a lonely huddled form sleeping under a blanket.

“Too easy,” Dit muttered as he shifted his arm. He raised the Scyther claw blade high, bringing it down sharply.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Dinner was good. Nim had made a solid meal of roasted vegetables, twice-baked potatoes, and steak. Her team was still uneasy around Dit, but Nim seemed pretty comfortable. Either she really did trust him, or she was a helluva good actor.

“I was going to kill you while you were sleeping,” he told her nonchalantly as they ate.

Nim tilted her head, ignoring the way her Pokémon stiffened and glared at Dit. “Oh? So what changed?”

“You snore, do you know that? Really loudly, too. I thought it had to be a trick. But you were actually asleep. I wanted to kill you, I could have, and yet…you decided to trust me,” Dit said thoughtfully. “I guess I can try trusting you some. But seriously. You betray me, and I will kill you. Don’t think that I won’t just because you do a good thing with this house of yours.”

“That’s fair,” Nim mused. “Thank you, Dit, for giving me a chance. So, I still owe you a Pokémon battle. Want to come back tomorrow and try that again?”

Dit was hesitant to leave, concerned for what she might try to do when she was out of his sight. But, against his better judgement, he decided to give the woman a further chance to prove herself as being trustworthy. Nim had shown trust in him in spite of all she knew he had done. Not to mention what he had just told the woman he’d nearly done to her.

“Sure,” he said slowly. “A battle after breakfast?”

“You are so on,” Nim told him. “Bring your A-game, because I won’t settle for anything less.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Ditto didn’t sleep well during the night. There was too much on his mind. If he had judged the human wrong, there was a lot on the line. And if he had made a bad decision…Dit would definitely be kicking himself for it. He found himself hoping he wouldn’t have to kill the woman, not after she’d given the appearance of trusting him.

Nim was waiting at the house the next morning. A quick look around before he had made his presence known showed that it was safe. No Officer Jenny, no police force Arcanines, no police detectives there to take him into custody. Only a smiling woman who had made an extra helping of breakfast just in case he wanted it when he arrived. The food wasn’t drugged. She made no move to attack him, and even knowingly turned her back to Dit repeatedly in a show of trust.

Maybe she genuinely meant what she’d said after all.

“Gonna see if you’ve got what it takes to beat me?” Dit asked as they stood in the practice arena in the barn after having breakfast with Nim. He stood in a prepared stance, pokéball raised and at the ready. It was time to see what Nim’s team was made of. The Ditto may have had a hard time trusting her, but he was always ready for a Pokémon battle, and Nim promised to be a challenge from what he had seen of her and her team already.

The woman snorted as she raised a pokéball of her own on the other side of the open space. “Bring it, Pinky,” she told him with a smirk.

“Oh, you did not just go there!” Dit retorted back. “It is definitely on now.”

Maybe, just maybe, he could trust her. A little. He’d still kill her if he had to in order to keep himself safe. If it came down to the human or him, he was going to take care of himself. Dit had to look out for himself and his family.

But it was starting to look like knowing this human might actually be fun.

#fan characters #fanart #pokemon #pokemon trainer #violence #murder #murder attempt #fighting

38 notes · View notes

echoeternally · 5 years

Text

Fanfic Gift! (Pokemon): Rivalry Renewed

Boy oh boy, this is super duper overdue! It’s totally not.

This was meant to be a holiday season gift for my friend, @starlys, but it got delayed because, shockingly, the holidays were a really busy time for me.

Anyway! This is a thank you, because it’s for someone that listens to my incessant rambling over odd amounts of topics usually Fire Emblem, and keeping up a long running conversation about several things.

It’s also an excuse to write something with lesbians cute things.

Anyway! A fanfic below for you and anyone else looking to read. Please enjoy!

Home in Hoenn once again, and yet I’m still wandering around. Maybe I should head back to the house for a visit, but sometimes it’s good to get out and about.

There’s nothing quite as soothing as a trip through Route 117, at least for me. Verdanturf Town is just beyond it, but it can feel like you’re walking on eggshells there. Mauville City is exciting and full of life, but gets overcrowded and a break is always refreshing. The route between them is a calming place for the environment and raising your team, but it’s also a place for battles too.

The stuffiness of the city is gone, the air is crisp, and the vibrant plant life just feels so refreshing out in the open. But even still, I can see trainers strolling around, spotting one another, and tossing Pokemon out, ready to go at it.

While I’m making my way through though, I spot the Daycare Man standing outside of his fence. Raising an eyebrow, I wander over to him.

“Ah, hello there, trainer!”

“Hi sir.”

“Wait, hold on a moment…you’re Terra, right?”

“That’s me.” I brushed a loose strand of blue hair back behind my ear. “Is something the matter?”

“Oh, no. Your Gallade is doing just fine.”

Wait, I left Gallade here?

“That’s who you were checking on, right, dear?”

The elderly man must spot my widened eyes and my slight step back.

“Uh…yeah! Glad that he’s faring well.” I force a grin as I tug on my fingerless glove. “But, um, was that all you’re here for? Normally, you stand further from your fence when you have an Egg.”

“Of course. But you only left one Pokemon with us.”

“Right, but I’m not your only patron, am I?”

“No, far from it, of course.”

“…So…?”

“It’s nothing you need concern yourself with, dear.”

“Ooh, picking up an Egg, Terra?”

My skin crawls as a shudder slides down my body. I spin around to find her standing behind me, a smirk on her face and a hand on her hip. Her ruffled aqua camisole flows in a gentle breeze, and her purple tassel purse dangles against her shapely blue skinny jeans.

“Marina!” A more natural grin hits my face. “Haven’t seen you in ages! Are you back from traveling around Kanto and Johto?”

“Nah, just taking a break for a few days.” She folds her arms and raises an eyebrow at me, her brown hair swaying as she shifts her posture. “And you? I thought you were adventuring through Unova.”

“My trip got interrupted there.” I shrugged. “Some weird group was making a lot of noise about people needing to release their Pokemon for their own good or some nonsense.”

“Huh. Weird.”

“Yeah, and then there were wicked crazy wind and thunderstorms that broke out around the region, so I stopped my time there.” I smiled and tugged a photo from my bag. “But, check this out.”

“Is that Alola?!”

“Yep!”

“Ooh, I’m so jealous!” Marina purses her lips and puffs out a cheek. “I’m dying to go to there.”

“Well, I wasn’t able to stay there for very long either.” I tug on my ponytail. “Mom called about needing me back in Littleroot, so I made my way back here.”

“What? That stinks!” She scoops up my hands and gazes into my eyes. “You just have to get back to Alola!”

“Uh, well…they’ve got that new Pokemon League that they’re still working on, I think.” I fold my hands behind my back. “Once it’s running, I’ve got to challenge whoever becomes Champion.”

“You and your battles.” Marina shrugs. “Maybe just enjoy the location itself some, huh?”

“Sure, yeah.” I poke at her shoulder lightly. “Just make like you, strip down to that bright blue bikini and swim around like nothing else matters?”

“Hey, if that does it for you too, go for it!” She grins brightly and I want to melt. “After all, you’re mostly there already, walking around in the crop top and shorts.”

“Take that back!” I punch a fist into my palm as she giggles. “This is to make exercising easy!”

“Totally.”

“I’m serious!”

A rough throat clearing comes from the elderly man, and we twist around. The old Day Care Man shoots me an inquisitive look and my face burns as I rub behind my head.

“Sorry, um…we’ve been friends since we were kids and haven’t seen each other in a while.”

“Yes, I was being treated to your current events and travels, it seems.”

“Actually, now that you’ve cut in,” interrupts Marina, “how is my Cloyster doing?”

“He seems well enough.”

“Good to hear.” Marina tilts her head at me. “So? Grabbing an Egg?”

“No, I’ve only got one Pokemon in here.” I twist back to the Day Care Man. “Which reminds me! What were you doing out here, sir?”

Sighing, the old man runs his hand through his beard. Marina and I trade confused glances before turning back to him.

“Well, I was actually standing out here to deliver an Egg, as I normally do for the visiting trainers,” explained the Day Care Man. “However, you two have just missed the trainer that came by.”

“Aw, boo.” Marina pouts again. “So, the Egg was already picked up.”

“On the contrary…” The elderly man produces as Egg from behind his back. “He decided to leave this one behind.”

“Wait, what?”

“What the hell?!” I lift a fist and can practically feel my blood broiling. “What kind of a trainer leaves an Egg behind?!”

“Supposedly, he mentioned something about not needing to carry around so many while, how did he put it…?” The old man snapped his fingers. “Ah, yes, ‘perfect stat and shiny breeding,’ if I have that correct.”

“…But why wouldn’t he take the Egg?” Marina folds her arms. “Taking more means better odds!”

“The last few were ‘duds,’ in his words,” continued the old man. “And he stated that ‘breeding for this wasn’t worth the trouble,’ taking his Pokemon with him and not the Egg.”

“That’s disgusting!” I kicked a pebble off flying and spun back around. “So what are you going to do with the Egg?!”

“Give it to a trainer who does want it, I suppose.”

“Ok, pass it over, then.” Marina tugs at her purse and shifts her weight. “I’ll take the little critter.”

“No way!” I jump up between them. “If anything, I’m taking this little baby!” I glare and focus on the Egg. “Then, when this little one is all grown and toughened up, I’m finding that trainer and beating him with this Pokemon to make him sorry for leaving the baby behind!”

“This isn’t that uncommon of a story—”

“Zip it, old man!” I spiral back to Marina. “You’ll just play around with Pokemon, but they deserve a journey of strength and vengence!”

“Or…maybe the baby just needs love?” Marina rolls her eyes. “Honestly, Terra, not everything needs to be about battling.”

“Battling is everything!” I snatch a Poke Ball from my bag and raise it up. “In fact, I’ll battle you for this Egg!”

“That really doesn’t make any—”

“Just come on! Let’s go, here and now!”

“…I guess I do need to keep up with training.” She shrugs and plucks a Poke Ball from her bag. “Just because we’re best at swimming doesn’t mean we can’t hold our own, you know.”

“Do I have any say in this?” The elderly man shrank back.

“No!” I wasn’t expecting to hear Marina in unison with me, but there we go.

“Oh. Ok…”

“So then.” Marina strides away from me, with a smirk as she struts across the path to face me. “Full team battle with one-on-one matches? Everyone gets a chance at battle, and no one gets reused.”

“Yeah!” I pause and rub my arm. “…Uh, actually, I’ve only got three Pokemon with me right now, so…does that work?”

“Fortunately for you, that’s all I’ve got too.”

“Really? That’s perfect!”

“As a matter of fact, I was specifically raising my newer Pokemon.”

“What? Me too! That’s crazy!”

“Seems like it, but I also have an old friend with me, of course.” She grins, and my face sours.

“Your starter, right?”

“Naturally.” Her beam broadens and she raises an eyebrow. “Let me guess…you did the same?”

“Well, duh, I never let my starter leave my side.” I shrug. “Starters are your best friends from day one.”

“Terra, how could you? I’m so hurt.”

“Oh, shut up.” She laughs at my deadpan response. “Besides, those other Littleroot kids are notorious for carrying their starters at all times, so we might as well do the same with what Birch gave us.”

“Ah, May and Brendan.” Marina folds her arms behind her back. “Those two are always the superstars of Littleroot, and people forget that other trainers even exist from there.”

“It helps when one of them is Birch’s kid, and the other is the Champion of the region.” I roll my eyes. “Because those are the only ones that ever matter, of course.”

“Sounds like we’re still plenty jealous of them.” Marina chuckles. “Maybe we should be hunting them down to compete instead.”

“Probably, yeah.”

“Ooh, we could do it as a team too!”

“Uh, really?”

“Sure…” Marina winks. “If you think you can keep up, that is.”

“Argh!” I slam my fists together. “Enough talk! Time to battle!”

Lobbing my Poke Ball out, it soars through the air as it bursts open. My Mienshao spirals out as she lands gracefully on the ground.

“That’s the Unova Pokemon, right?”

“Yep!”

“Ok then…” Marina tosses her Poke Ball skyward. “Let’s go!”

From the ball, a manta ray looking Pokemon flies out and flaps across the sky, floating down lower toward the ground. I step back and grit my teeth.

“Terra, did you really think that I wouldn’t have a Pokemon that counters your favorite Type?”

“Well…I was hoping…”

“Clearly misguided hopes.” Marina smirks. “Mantine is going to absolutely wipe the floor with your Pokemon. And she doesn’t even specialize in attacking.”

“That’s…that’s so not going to fly.”

“As you can see, she clearly does—”

“Hey, hey!” I stomp the ground. “You know what I mean!”

“Yeah, but it’s cute to see you get mad.” My face burns while Marina laughs. “Come on, show us what you can do!”

“With pleasure!” I point my hand forward. “Mienshao, use Bounce!”

Nodding, my Pokemon leaps into the air and rockets away, somewhere above the clouds. Marina and her Mantine watch, though they don’t really seem unnerved.

“Huh. I guess my attack misses then.” Marina shrugged. “Mantine, use Air Slash.”

Rather than just letting the attack gust out anywhere, Mantine flaps and sends a wave of air past me. My hair flies up and I yelp as the gust fires past me.

“What was that?!”

“Sorry, but she wanted a good look at your face.” Marina grins as Mantine rolls her eyes. “Besides, you’re cute when you’re flustered too, so that’s double funny bonus points for sure.”

“Ugh!” My cheeks are on fire, but I jab my hand out again. “Mienshao, slam down with Bounce already!”

Plummeting from the sky above, Mienshao flies down, slamming on top of Mantine, and bouncing right off of her.

She flips away with her kick and skids back across the ground, as Mantine crashes down.

“Ha! Nice work!” Mienshao grins to me and I flash her a smile back. “How’s that one, Marina?”

“You do realize your Pokemon is grounded again, right?”

“…Uh…”

Crap.

“Mantine, Air Slash.”

Flapping her fins again, Mantine unleashes a heavy burst of wind.

Mienshao barely has time to flinch as the air blade slashes into her, knocking her back into the sky before crashing back down.

“Hang in there, Mienshao!”

Somehow, my Martial Arts Pokemon pushes herself back up from the floor, clearly winded, but still ready to battle again.

“There we go!”

Brushing her whiskers with her sleeve, Mienshao nods to me again.

Time to mount a real comeback here.

“Mienshao, let’s use Reversal!”

Blue and yellow waves of energy encircle Mienshao, as she leaps forward. Pulling back her arms, the energy is channeled there and she strikes, slamming them down.

Mantine winces as the sleeves from Mienshao’s fur smash her back to the ground. She groans and pushes against the floor as Mienshao darts back to my side.

“Yeah! That’s how you do it!” I pump a fist and Mienshao mimics me. “See that, Marina? We can turn the battle around just like that!”

“Very cute, Terra.”

Uh-oh. Why isn’t she more annoyed? Why is she undeterred? Why, why, why?

“You do realize that it’s over now, right?”

“No—”

Her Mantine shoots back up from the ground and into the air again, smiling gently as it waves across like a kite.

“…Son of a—”

“Mantine, finish this with Air Slash!”

Once more, Mantine flaps her fins. Mienshao jolts back as the air blade rips across the sky again.

“Look out!”

Though Mienshao does her best to slip away from the brunt of the attack, it still connects and knocks her off her feet.

Spiraling around and crashing down from the air, Mienshao slides back past me and I grit my teeth as her head falls back. She’s done.

“You did your best, Mienshao.” I pull out her Poke Ball and recall her.

“Great work, Mantine!” Marina gives her Pokemon a hug and I grumble as they do. “You get a rest for now, and I’ll get you some treats for later.”

She recalls her Pokemon and that ends our first bout. Wiping back some of her hair, Marina folds her arms as she gazes at me.

“Aw, Terra, don’t be so sad.” She shakes her head. “That’s definitely not a good look on you.”

“Quiet you!” I grab my next Poke Ball. “Let’s just keep this going.”

“Ok, fine, I can give you one.”

Marina tosses out another ball, and a white sea lion pops out of it. She flops down to the ground and her tail sways elegantly.

“Meet Dewgong,” introuded Marina. “She’s part Ice, so I’m sure you can counter that.”

Narrowing my eyes, I lob my ball out. From it, my big bear, Bewear, slams down from the air. She stretches and gazes down at the Dewgong, who…well, if I didn’t know any better, I’d wager she went pale.

“…Wait, what kind of—?”

“Her name is Bewear, and that’ll be all your Dewgong gets to know.” I point forward at Marina’s Pokemon. Next, I pound my fist into my palm. “Bewear, use Hammer Arm and smash her to the center of the earth!”

“Whoa, what?!” Marina points her hand forward. “Ice Beam, quick!”

A little, light blue ball forms on her Dewgong’s horn. The beam of ice power rockets out and connects with Bewear, who blocks the better part of the hit with her arm.

Breaking off the ice chunks that form on her, Marina and her Dewgong stare with their mouths agape as my bear stretches.

“Good job.” I grin and point ahead. “Hammer Arm, come on!”

Cheering and launching forward, Bewear raises her arm high up. She brings it down over the poor Dewgong quickly.

It smashes down and connects almost too easily, knocking Dewgong right into the ground.

“Oh no, Dewgong!”

Marina gasps and hurries over as my Bewear ambles away. Her sea lion is stuck in the dirt, not looking likely to get back up.

“…Was that actually a one-hit wonder?” I pat Bewear’s back. “Nice work, girl!”

Bewear lets out a happy growl as I recall her to her ball. She’s my best heavy hitter for sure.

Gazing back over, I watch as Marina recalls her unconscious Dewgong and frown. I tug at my ponytail and she sighs as she rises from the ground.

“Sorry, Marina.” I pick at my hair. “I…I kind of got carried away with that one.”

“Eh, I did mean to give one to you.” She brushes back her hair and places a hand on her hip. “I just didn’t think it’d be that quick.”

“Yeah…even I forget my Bewear’s strength sometimes.” The species is notorious for their lethal hugs…you’d think I’d remember just how powerful they could be, especially when excited.

“Seems like it.” Marina plucks out her last Poke Ball. “Well then! It’s been fun, Terra, but it’s time for this to end.”

“Wait, what? But we’re not done yet!”

“The last match will be our starters facing off.”

“…Oh.” I grab my last Poke Ball and frown at it. “…You know, type effectiveness isn’t everything!”

“You still want to use that line, even after both of our battles were won by type effectiveness?”

“Hey, I need to pretend I stand a little bit of a chance against your might.”

“Aw, that’s cute.” She grins wickedly. “False hope still won’t help you.”

My shoulders slump as I toss my Poke Ball out, and Marina lobs hers out as well.

Blaziken bursts forth, and she lets the fire flow from her arms right away. Across from her though, Marina’s Swampert shakes her head and stretches.

“You can just surrender if you want,” offers Marina.

“Not a chance.” I grip my hand tightly.

“Ok, if that’s how you want it.” Marina pats her Swampert’s back. “Ready, girl?”

“We’re not going quietly.” I raise my first to Blaziken. “We’re at a disadvantage, but we won’t surrender. Are you ready?”

Smirking, Blaziken nods to me and faces forward. She freezes and remains motionless for a moment.

“…Um…I know, but we can still try…”

Swampert turns and gawks, as Blaziken’s flames dissipate from her wrists. Both wait for a moment, and then Swampert cries out.

“Swampy? What’s wrong, girl?”

Crying out again, Swampert stumbles and hurries across the trail. Blaziken waits and then holds out her arms.

Jumping into her, Swampert wraps her arms around Blaziken and sobs as she clasps tightly to her. Blaziken pats her head and holds her closely, nuzzling her head into Swampert’s.

“…Wait, what?”

“Oh my gosh, that’s so adorable!” Marina bounces and claps her hands together. “It’s been so long since they’ve been together, I forgot!”

“Well, yeah.” I shrug. “We haven’t seen each other in a long time, so it’s been longer for the two of them.”

“But they love each other so much!” Marina shakes her head. “And the first thing we were going to do for them to greet each other was battle?”

“Honestly, I didn’t even think of that.”

“Me neither!”

“Then…yeah, I can forfeit here.” I walk forward and raise my hands. “I’m not going to make poor Blaziken get her butt kicked by her Swampy that she’s missed for so long.”

“Aw, you’d give up just for them? That’s so adorable, Terra!” Marina giggles as she ambles over to us. “But I’m giving up too, so let’s just call it a draw. We each won one, and there’s no point in continuing.”

“You’re right. Ok, tie it is.”

We reach out with our hands and shake. I wink at Marina and she giggles again, her cheeks a bit rosy now.

“So, what should we do about the Egg?” Marina raises an eyebrow at me. “That was the whole point of the battling, right?”

“Oh, you’re right.” I twist around. “Hey, old man! Who do you think should have the Egg?”

Marina and I blankly gaze at the old man, snoring against the fence of his day care. Groaning and facing the sky, I throw my hands up.

“Excuse us, sir?” Marina walks over to him, bringing me over by my hand, as she taps the elderly day care man. “Hello?”

“Hm? Huh? What?”

“Uh…did…did you see any of our battling?”

“…Wait, where are the Mienshao and Mantine?”

“Their battle ended a while ago.”

“It did?”

“Oh boy.”

“You didn’t see any of our battles?!” I smack my face and drag my hand down. “There was absolutely no point to any of this then!”

“Training was good,” reasons Marina. “And our Pokemon got to meet up again.”

“Don’t use your logic to sort that out.” I jab my finger at the old man. “Come on! Which of us can take your Egg?”

“Ah, right. Well—”

“Actually, how about we both take it?”

Blinking, I turn to Marina. She smiles to me, and her thumb rubs over my hand.

“But we’re busy traveling and doing other things.”

“Swampert misses Blaziken a lot, and I’ve missed you a lot too, so…we could just try traveling together for a little while instead.”

“You’d want to do that?”

“Of course!” Marina grins. “It’s been ages since we did that! And maybe we’ll need to go separate ways again, but at least for the time being…why not?”

“That sounds like a good idea,” chimes in the old man, and he holds up the Egg. “If it goes to both of you, then I’m sure this little one will do wonders.”

“Wow, um…thank you, sir.” I take the Egg from him and hold it close between Marina and myself.

“You’re welcome. And congratulations to the happy couple!”

“Wait, what?!” My face burns and I gawk at Marina, who snorts as she laughs.

“Um, sir, we’re not—”

“Actually, I was referring to your Pokemon over there.”

He pointed as he strolled away from us, and we turned around. Blaziken and Swampert were cuddled close together, whispering and giggling gentle noises together. Marina and I raise our eyebrows and shrug at one another.

“Guess we’re going to keep them out for the time being.”

“Duh.”

“Oh, hush up.”

“They say that Pokemon tend to reflect their trainer’s intentions,” calls the day care man. “Usually, the longer they’ve been together, the closer these reflections are.”

“Are you still here?!” I point at his house. “Get back to your wife, old man!”

“I’m going, I’m going.”

Marina laughs as she rests her hand on my shoulder, and I grumble as I turn back to her. Our faces are equally red.

A week passes after that day, and our Egg hatches, with a Poliwag coming from it. He’s a cute little guy, but Marina and I have no idea how we want to raise him, nor who should hold ownership over him.

But we’re still traveling around Hoenn for now, so that’s a problem for another day. Besides, I think he’s happy having two moms anyway.

Yaaaay, entertaining implications!

It features stuff @starlys likes, namely two trainers that fall in love, and two Pokemon that make a cute couple based on the evolutions of another duo.

Oh, and Bewear, because she’s cute too.

Anyway, it was a fun write up. I also tried including atypical trainer selections, but based them on Pokemon trainers like the players.

You know how, at least in the ORAS games but probably in multiple installments, you can pick a different trainer class that represents you in online modes and the like? That’s more or less what this is like. And kind of addresses player characters against who their canon counterparts end up being, which I thought was an interesting concept.

Anyway, it namely features these trainers:

Gal pals.

But I was like, “What kind of loony lady would walk around in just a bikini while walking through mountains, volcanoes, and forests?” Don’t raise your hands like you would, that stuff would hurt your poor feet.

So, I instead stole borrowed one of Serena’s outfits from the artwork and X/Y games for the Swimmer gal’s outfit:

Stylish.

So, yeah! Some fun trivia for the trainers in the stories. Pretty sure everyone else knows about the Pokemon. I know @starlys likes Bewear, but the rest were kind of just, “What Pokemon suits these trainers?”

Plus, the Poliwag can evolve into Poliwrath and represents the two of them coming together as one and their Poke-child inheriting both sides of his moms.

Anyway! That’s pretty much it. Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it!

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moonxtokki · 3 years

Text

I Choose You

The weather was scorching hot as Synx rolled on his bed from corner to corner. He thought maybe, just maybe he will find a position that is cooling and would be able to fall asleep again. However, no matter in what position he is in, it’s still hot. He got up and sat on his bed as he sighed loudly. He unlocked his phone as he saw a notification from Piper a few minutes ago.

From: Piper

To: Synx

GUESS WHO JUST CAUGHT A SHINY GENGAR! ME BITCH I CAUGHT IT!

Right, how can he forget that there’s a shiny event today? Surely he should have remembered with how Piper was bugging him about it ever since last week. Synx likes to say that he’s a big fan of Pokemon GO and he is doing his very best to collect all of the Pokemon to complete his Pokedex. Although in the beginning, he never did see the fun in the app and proceeded to ignore the hype of it. Piper, however, was very…fanatic about it. She would show off to Synx the number of Pokemons she collected and how far she traveled for a certain Pokemon. She prided on how her Pokemon is defending a gym and never had a loss. Therefore, naturally, Synx was curious and gave it a go. The moment he threw his first Pokeball, he knew he was going to be sucked in on this hype and honestly he sort of understood why.

He looked at the phone again to see that it’s already 11:35 am.

“Shit, I’m late.” His eyes were wide as he flung his blanket away and ran to the bathroom. He showers as quick as he could, even almost slipped in the bathroom. He was late to a study session which is supposed to be at 12. Another notification pinged as he hurriedly put on his pants.

From: Piper

To: Synx

So have you met up with Ash yet? You’re not replying so that means you either haven’t woke up or you’re being the late idiot that you are.

Synx rolled his eyes at the text and reminds himself to delete all of Piper’s Pokeball on the app when he has the chance. He grabbed an energy bar from the fridge and bolted out the door. He rounded the corner and managed to catch the bus. The bus was a bit crowded but he managed to find himself a seat and plopped down near the window. The phone pinged again and he knew it would be from Piper. He put his phone away as he tears off the wrapper of the energy bar. He took a bite of it and he could taste chocolate and nuts in the mix. It could be Scre’s but he could buy him another one anyways. Although, he will get an earful from his hyung if he knew he was late to his study session.

This time his phone rang and almost made him dropped his energy bar. He looked at the caller and had a flush creeping up his neck. His heart thumped lightly as he watched his phone ringing. He cleared his throat before he answered the call.

“Hello? Synx? Are you on your way right now?”

“Yeah, I’m on the bus right now. Although, I did woke up kind of late today. I might be a tad late today. Sorry hyung”

“No no, it’s chill. I was just calling to make sure of your whereabouts. Take your time yeah?

“Alright, I’ll…see you later.”

Synx hung up the phone and slumped down his seat.

That was so lame. Oh god did I stuttered? I think I sounded normal.

He rubbed a hand on his face as he continues munching on the energy bar.

“God I’m such a loser.” The wrapper was crumpled and kept inside his bag. He’ll find a trash can soon and throw it away or it would end up being in the bag for another week. He can be forgetful sometimes. The weather is nice currently, it was hot earlier in the morning but it fanned out to be warm and Synx could feel it on his cheeks too.

Remembering that he hasn’t replied Piper, he unlocked his phone to read the recent text that was sent.

From: Piper

To: Synx

Bro? U dead? What about ur study date??? I even sacrificed our shiny event for this. We could have gone hunting D:

From: Synx

To: Piper

Yes, I’m alive you dumbass. I’m on my way to Ash’s house now AND NO IT’S NOT A DATE AND THIS IS UR FUCKIN FAULT

Synx might have regretted telling Piper about his little crush towards Ash, no actually he did regret it. He doesn’t need to be reminded that Ash will never date his ass. This whole situation is Piper’s fault anyway, he will definitely delete all of her Pokeballs. Maybe even transferred those new shiny she has to himself.

***

“Have you ever thought what colours would smell of?” Piper said as she studies the colour of a leaf she picked up.

“What the f- No? Why would I want to know that Piper? Finish your homework! We have like 10 minutes more.” Synx sighed as he erased his answers for his homework for the nth time.

They are currently in the library doing their homework instead of being in the café. Both of them were up late catching Pokemons in the park last night that they well…forgot about their homework.

“Okay, but have you ever thought what green might smell like? Will it smell sweet? Because nature colours and all or it could be like vo-“

“PIPER SHUT UP!”

“SHUSHHHH” They immediately get a collective of shushing from the people in the library, Synx mouthed a sorry at them and glared at Piper. “What? I’m not the one who shouted.” Piper gave him a teasing look. “Are you done with yours anyways? Why you’re bothering me”

“I’m actually done way before you. I did it last night actually.” Synx stopped mid writing and slowly looked at Piper. “You what?”

“I’m done with homework last night. After we caught that Eeevee, I straight away went home and did it.” Piper grinned almost mockingly. The blood drains from Synx’s face as he realized what just happened. He grabbed Piper by the collar and shook her.

“Y-You said you will do it with me! You promised we will suffer together!” Synx whisper shouted in panic.

He could see the mischievous glint in Piper’s eyes and he knows he is doomed. He can’t do this homework on time and he would get an earful from his teacher or worse maybe detention. He still has 3 more questions to go and 10 minutes left on the clock. Maybe if he-

“Um excuse me?” a voice suddenly interrupted his train of thoughts. Synx turns around and his breath stopped as he takes in the person in front of him. He wonders if his hair looked fine. Does his tie look neat? Does his breath smells okay?

“Oh, hello Ash!” Piper said cheerily to the person.

“Hey Piper and Synx.” Ash smiled but had a certain look on his face.

“What brings you here hyung?” Synx said trying not to look directly into his eyes.

“You guys are being a bit noisy here, the students are complaining. Be a bit quiet yeah guys?” The smile reaching his eyes this time. Synx loves that smile, it’s his favourite kind of smile.

Ash is the librarian in charge of the day and he honestly maybe want to hide in a hole and never come out. Ash must have thought he was being a nuisance but his kind and angelic hyung does not even look annoyed. That made his heart go pitter-patter. His thoughts were interrupted when Piper spoke. “Alright Ash will do! But I was wondering-“

Piper side-eyed Synx and he felt shivers ran down his spine as Piper gave him a weird smile.

“Yes Piper?”

“Well Synx here has problems doing his homework and we were wondering if you could help. Since it is English and we know you’re good at it!” She grinned unnecessarily wide. Synx at that moment wanted to strangle the life out of Piper.

“Oh? Sure, I’ll have a look at it for you.” Ash sat at a chair in front of Synx and started examining the questions.

In 10 minutes time, they were able to finish the problems and Synx felt a boulder size burden was lifted off his shoulder. He has never felt like he wanted to kiss the hell out of Ash for helping him. Could he do that maybe? Would Ash allow it?

“As expected of English genius Ash, that was fast.” Piper was about to clap but was immediately stopped by Ash and then he puts a finger to his lips shushing Piper. Is it wrong for Synx to think that was attractive? Maybe it was wrong, he should stop thinking about it.

“T-thank you for the help Ash hyung. I really appreciate it. I don’t know what I would do without you today.” Synx smiled widely happy that he gets to see this side of Ash.

“No problem, if you need help with your English you can ask me anytime.”

“Cool! I mean… I would definitely do that.” He did a finger gun lamely at Ash and it earned a stifled laugh from Piper.

“Hey, don’t we have a pop quiz next week? This is a perfect opportunity! Ash can help you with your sorry ass.”

“Well I-“

“I can help you if you want Synx.” Ash gave Synx a reassuring smile.

***

Synx got off the bus as he readjusted his sling bag and loads up the direction that Ash had given him. He looks around and started to walk through the neighbourhood. The neighbourhood seems nice and has a lot of beautiful greenery. He had never been here before and mind you he is an adventurer who goes out every night to poke hunt. Suddenly, he wonders if there is a Pokestop nearby, he whipped out his phone and loaded the app. To his surprised, there is indeed a Pokestop near the area and it is full of shinys.

“There’s a shiny Absol ! Oh god, I need to catch it. I have to, this study session can wait.”

He just needed to walk a bit further and that is what he did. Synx thought about all of the shinys Piper has caught and thought that this is his only chance before going to Ash’s house. The map also indicates that the Pokestop is in the same way as Ash’s house.

His journey soon led him to stop right in front of a house with a yellow post box. He was elated and thought,” Aha! Shiny Pokemons here I go !”

He tried swiping the Pokestop logo first but it seems that he was just a bit far from the Pokestop point.“Damn it, it’s in this person’s garden. Why is the Pokestop a garden ?! Okay, it’s fine I can just catch some shiny and go.”

He tapped on the shiny Absol and tried to catch it but to his surprised…he was out of Pokeballs.

“What?! No no no, I have to catch it !” he frantically tried flicking his empty Pokeballs in hopes that maybe his phone glitched. Lady luck sadly was not on his side and his shoulders slumped in defeat. Suddenly, he had an idea. His sight slowly panned onto the house he was in front of and thought of the Pokestop that was just in this person’s garden.

“Maybe…the owner would understand. It’s not my fault his garden is a Pokestop.” Synx breathes in and rang the bell to the house.

“Coming !” a voice from the inside calls out.

Okay okay, I’ll just say it straight to the point no problem. This is easy.

He heard the door opened and he immediately look down to get himself ready for his speech.

“Oh Sy-“

“I’M SORRY SIR BUT I’M ON A POKEMON HUNT AND I REALLY REALLY NEEDED THIS SHINY ABSOL THAT IS HERE RIGHT NOW AND I WAS WONDERING IF YOU WOULD LET ME SWIPE THE POKESTOP THAT IS IN YOUR GARDEN PLEASE.”

He didn’t lift up his head, he doesn’t want to see the look on the owner’s face. They must think he’s childish or just another annoying kid that’s bothering him on this Pokestop. However, he heard a light chuckle instead.

He lifted up his head and watched the owner of the house laughing…well, Ash laughing.

Synx felt flush crept up to his neck and is now covering his face. He has never felt this embarrassed in his life. He doesn’t want Ash to think he’s some lame Pokemon geek fan, there’s no way Ash will like him now.

“Hey trainer, I really wouldn’t mind you using my garden,” Ash said still laughing and was that a subtle wink he saw.

“No hyung, I’m sorry that was ridiculous of me. I’m sorr-“

“What are you saying? I’m not mad Synx. Actually, I’m in the midst of…catching a shiny too.” He grinned sheepishly. In Ash’s hand, his phone was on the Pokemon Go app and it shows that he just caught a shiny Pikachu which is a very rare shiny.

“Woah hyung! A Pikachu shiny is so rare!” Synx in his excitement snatched Ash’s phone out of his grasp to marvel at the rare shiny.

“Um...Synx can you-“

“Hyung ! I can’t believe you caught this! Can I screenshot this? I have to sho-“ Synx stopped mid-sentence when he saw the Pikachu’s nickname.

“Wait…that’s my name.” He slowly lifted his head to look at Ash. His cheeks felt hot but Ash looked embarrassed too or maybe shy? His cheeks also had a tint of red and he was biting his inner cheeks.

“Well…I guess you caught my heart?”

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crystalelemental · 7 years

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Alright, now that I’ve beaten the League, a few thoughts on the game overall.

I really like it, but I’m not sure I like it more than Sun/Moon, which is a damned shame considering the next part in a generation is almost always better in my eyes. I think the only other time this might have been the case was Black/White 2. Which is...oddly fitting.

I think my big issues come down to two things: Necrozma and Lusamine. Combined, they adequately sum up all of my problems with the game. I’ll get to them, but positives first.

Love the new UBs. They’re all excellent, I can’t wait to get my Stakataka, Blacephalon is still cool, and while Naganadel cannot be my favorite because Nihilego is way better, it’s a neat design for a Dragon thing so I’ll let it go. I’m a huge fan of the expanded island dex, and I’m sure that Nuzlock-esque rules would be fantastic with the new spread. That said, I cannot imagine a horror greater than a Nuzlock in these games. Totem Pokemon are hard as shit, and while that’s been fun for a normal playthrough, you’re basically asking for half your team to get wiped if you run a Nuzlock. Marowak in particular is a fucking asshole, with Detect and, if memory serves, Ground and Fighting coverage on a Fire type. Callie hated this fight, and had a really good point: it’s not entirely fair that you have two things, both now super fast, hitting for most if not all of your life in one turn. You don’t really get breathing room in a 2-v-1, and without a chance to really switch out, a Nuzlock may as well be impossible, I feel.

I ADORE Mantine Surf. The ability to accrue a reasonable amount of BP per session is spectacular, and I sincerely hope this mechanic stays forever. Not even necessarily in this form, but in some kind of easy minigame that permits you to get a ton of BP per run. Two runs gets you any move you want, and that takes all of 5 minutes. Easily the best mechanic. The move tutor options are also great, and a lot of additions really help a lot of Pokemon.

On a more neutral note, I think the Ultra Wormhole travel is interesting, and I don’t have that they put it in the game, but I really wish it wasn’t so random. Going through the White Wormholes was a nightmare. I found my first Celesteela on accident before getting Nihilego, but once I tried looking for another I couldn’t find it for an hour. I really, really hate random chance, and think there should’ve been a way to make sure you know what you’re getting in to with those. But, they also allow me to get an infinite number of UBs and shiny hunt forever, so I guess I can’t be too mad?

Now, the complaints. The real ones. I’ll start with Necrozma, because it kinda ties in with the other, but indirectly. Necrozma, as a force you need to subdue, is great. It does seem intimidating, and it’s new forms are great. But it’s a force that...literally was already kept in check. And was only a threat because some assholes pissed it off in their dimension. They don’t really get into this, but it was apparently used to power the technology of Ultra Megaopolis. Which, by the way? Super disappointing area. You don’t get to explore it! It was just the tower! Laaaame. But getting back to Necrozma: I think what bugs me is that it’s a Dragon. I know that’s petty, but another major super legend being Dragon type sucks. I really was hoping we’d move away from that, but instead here’s yet another Dragon. So now it’s a slower, weaker Deoxys-attack with better defenses, and an ability that lets super-effective hits deal more damage. No idea how much more.

From a story angle, what really bugs me is that it doesn’t feel like an immediate threat. I can definitely get behind the concept of a force of nature as the antagonist, in the sense that there is no villain and the real thing we’re struggling against is a force of nature or some conceptual threat. It’s the entire reason I loved the Atelier Dusk trilogy so much. But...well...that only works in the absence of a villain. But we do not have the absence of a villain. We definitely have one, and she was great once, but just...god, okay, get it together me.

Lusamine’s arc in this game weirds me out. And not in the good way. I knew some people who were looking at the anime trends and some of the promo stuff for this game, and going “Oh god, please don’t make Lusamine a good person, that’s really not okay.” And I didn’t really agree entirely. I think a redemption arc is fine. I think that, given sufficient motivation and self-reflection, any villain becoming a good person is possible. But with Lusamine...her actions are severely fucked up, especially toward her kids, and if you’re gonna have that redemption, it’s gonna have to be big, and it’s gonna have to mean going through a lot. My biggest worry was the return of Mohn. I saw that spoiler, and was worried they were gonna go the route of “well Mohn’s back, so Lusamine’s stable. See? She just needed her husband, and when he left bitch just lost it.” Basically, I was worried about an invalidation of her entire character and agency as a person by having everything hinge on her husband. Thankfully, that did not happen, and initially I was very pleased with the direction. I have since changed my mind.

Lusamine goes off and awakens Necrozma, attempting to capture it for herself, fucks up, and Necrozma almost ruins the world or Alola, as well as Ultra Megaopolis. She does this because, guess what, she still has that collection of Pokemon frozen in time. She also still has the scene where she talks down to Lillie and proclaims she has no children. So all the stuff that showcased her definitely being a villain? Still there. My problem isn’t what, it’s how. A sufficient struggle and showcasing of Lusamine making an effort and dealing with ramifications for her actions would be good. That I would appreciate. But they didn’t do that. Any possible changes occurred off-screen and we’re just told about them, and worst of all, the main takeaway they try to push is that Lillie and Lusamine talked to each other, and suddenly it was fine. No. That is not acceptable. Communication is good, but do you know what Lillie tried to do, in both games, after the third island? TALK. Lillie tried to talk with Lusamine, tried to talk sense into her, and nothing came of it. Communication only works if both parties are listening, and the entire point of Lusamine’s character is that she’s controlling and not willing to listen, but suddenly we’re gone to Ultra Space for a few hours and she’s completely changed as a person? Nothing adds up, and it’s entirely because there’s no focus on characters anymore.

It was kinda like this with Delta Episode. Instead of focusing on any human element, it’s just “Here’s this big cool super legendary Pokemon.” And sure, Necrozma is cool and all. But you know what was better? The dynamics of a broken family, and the development of an abused child coming to terms with her history, calling out her abuser’s actions as awful, and moving forward. But we don’t focus on that. Instead, we sideline that entire family’s story. You give a few more details initially, talking about the history and the loss of Mohn, and hinting at more complex motivations for Lusamine, then immediately toss all of that away in favor of...what, exactly? Big space monster dragon? Yeah, it looks cool, but it’s not as engaging as their story. You focused on the wrong thing, and sidelined what made the initial games so good.

I mentioned Atelier earlier, and I feel like this is the perfect comparison, because Atelier Shallie did this too. “This series is supposed to be light-hearted, so we have to have a positive and upbeat ending!” Fine, great. But the basis you set is heavy material and incredibly sobering, and you can’t just hand-wave that and insist that things got better off-screen or with minimal effort. These things take time and effort to resolve effectively, and it’s almost better to imply that parties are willing to work toward a solution and not reveal the means, than insist that the means was a simple 5-minute conversation and easy fix. Acknowledging the gravity of human struggles and showing only that parties are willing to work toward a fix without needing to show the fix is perfectly valid, and trying to undermine severity for the sake of remaining “light-hearted” becomes a massive problem for a story that is otherwise gripping.

Ultimately, I strongly feel like the bad outweighs the good here. As a cap-off to the series on handhelds, it’s almost disappointing to know that their idea of an appropriate culmination was a bunch of flashiness and “Look at this cool big Pokemon thing!” while sidelining the story and characters as hard as humanly possible. I was really hoping for an improvement and a deeper analysis of the family dynamics within the context of the original story. But instead, all of that is sidelined in favor of this “alternate telling” that changes nothing about the history of their dynamics, but ends on a note where everything is immediately and casually resolved with no effort, off-screen. It’s bad, and I really, really wish that we’d stop getting these stories that have such a powerful start to work with, and just fuck up the ending beyond belief. I know I have a tendency to complain, but I do not ask for much to be generally satisfied. To miss that entire mark is, quite frankly, unbelievable.

#pokemon ultra sun and ultra moon #pokemon ultra sun #pokemon ultra moon #I'm having fun with the game part but holy shit the story is Not Good

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fenneckitsune · 7 years

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Marina.

Marina was obtained through an auction from the forum game thread ‘dungeons and a dragon’ where the object was essentially like twitch plays pokemon, where multiple people controlled the actions of one dragon. Below the read more is her story from the thread itself.

There comes a time in every young dragon's life where they must set out on their own. After all, few dragons remain in the lair they were hatched in. So, after receiving gifts from her parents and taking her own personal affects, she set out. As she walked down a dirt path, she saw before her a fork in the road. Her parents had told her she'd find someone who could open the gifted box for her somewhere, but she forgot where... Which way should she go? After several moments' consideration, she decides to go straight, to the little town. The town is cute, with little dragonmade structures lining streets in which dragons go about their business. Some stand behind booths, harping their wares, others drag wagons full of unique wares, others still converse with one another in the streets. Marina's attention is first drawn to a stall containing a variety of fish and shells, and then to one with something shiny resting on the counter. Next she notices what seemed to once be a gnarled tree that's been shaped into a structure of some sort, and hanging above the doorway is a sign upon which a picture of a cat is sloppily painted. Finally, she notices a colorful tent with designs embroidered on the thick cloth. She pays little mind to the fish stall, and gives the one with shiny objects and the tent only a passing glance as she heads to the structure with the cat on the sign. Cats were good. Clearly that was the most important place to go. Inside the structure was surprisingly well lit by what seemed to be some bioluminescent fungus, and a variety of creatures played in pens. There sat a desk off to the right, but it seemed unmanned. Marina's attention is drawn to the pen full of creatures. Inside are a variety of small animals, and though she has to think for a moment, she recognizes each from her studies and what she's seen around her first lair. Inside the pen she sees a Leopard Coralclimber, a Coral Basilisk, an Emerald Cave Jewel, and a Brush Dodo. It's a strange grouping but a wide variety of animals. Still, the owner is nowhere in sight. Marina takes a moment to glance around for an owner, but these creatures are just too cute! She cannot resist the urge to stick her paw into the pen, just to touch one animal. Her fingertips brush the Coral Basilisk's feathered back and it shies away, wings fluttering and making a clucking and squawking fuss. Immediately from a doorway (if the hole in the upper wall could be called that) a little Fae sticks her head out. "Spot, shh-- oh. What are you doing?" "I just wanted to pet one..." Marina answers the fae, looking just a bit guilty. "Hm. Well. You are just a hatchling. I suppose I'll let it slide." The fae says before climbing from her hiding spot. Marina can see that she's a fairly plain, amber and brown colored fae, but carries a number of bags on her. The fae continues, "Were you looking for work or to buy something?" "What jobs do you have?" Marina asks of the fae. The fae seems to size up Marina for a moment. "Well, familiars always need food and I can hardly go out hunting it myself, so I could use someone to go out and catch bugs and maybe a couple of small animals for me. I could also use a courier to take familiars to dragons in other places. Beyond that, well, you'd have to look elsewhere for work." The fae adds that she would pay 100 treasure for every food point brought back, or 1,000 treasure for each familiar delivered if taking a courier job. Marina decides that she'd do the hunting job for the fae. The fae explains that she's got four familiars in the shop, and each of those need at least one food point, but three is ideal. She then hands Marina a map with a couple areas circled, indicating good hunting spots. On the map are mostly areas Marina has at least looked at before. There's the woods visible from the fork in the road, the base of the cliff, and a field just on the other side of the town. It's a hard decision to make. Every region surely has its benefits and appeal. However, after staring at the map for a good long while, Marina finally decides to head to the woods. She bids the fae farewell, and makes her way out of town and down the road to the edge of the woods. The woods are lovely. Sunlight peers through leaves, speckling the ground, and the trees stand tall and straight and strong. Marina hears birds sing and sees the occasional bug skitter across the ground, and she swears she even saw the tail of something small as it pranced off through the bushes. It's no contest what Marina should do. She hasn't the strength to take on anything directly - even large beetles are scary to such a little dragon! She sets about digging a hole, moving rocks and twigs aside (and finding the occasional bug, which she quickly catches) before covering the hole with leaves. She retreats into some bushes to watch her trap, waiting for anything to come along. She'd nearly dozed off, her eyes having just closed when she heard a sudden commotion! She rushed to the now uncovered pit and looked inside. She had caught a cottontail rabbit! Even though by now the light of day is fading, Marina finds herself pondering her choices. While in town, her choices seemed easy, her path clear. Now that she had ventured out into the wilderness some, though, she wanted more. The rabbit and bugs would be fine in her bag until she needed them. What was the hurry? Though, now that she thought about it, she was starting to feel a bit hungry, too. Maybe she'd eat some of the rations she was given by her parents. Once she decided what to eat, she pulled out her map and peered at it in the fading light as she debated on where to explore. She sat down with her dried jerky for a quick dinner and looked her map over. The cliffs other places were tempting, but she already was in the woods. It might be easier to just stay here to explore more. Once she had finished eating, Marina put away her things and began following what seemed to be a path carved by other feet passing through in the past. As the light faded further, she began to realize just how dark nighttime could be when a canopy of leaves blocked out the stars and moon and she found herself slowing so as to avoid tripping over exposed roots and rocks. Marina had come this far into the woods already, and doubted that she could find her way back even if she tried. And even though the thought of just sitting and waiting for another to pass by crossed her mind, she decided against it. She continued walking, her pace little better than a crawl as she made her way along, trying to keep to the barely visible path that lied ahead of her. Around her she could hear the night coming to life with the hoots of owls, croaks of frogs, and chirps of crickets. Somewhere off in the distance, she swore she could hear the burbling of a stream. If it weren't so dark and creepy, it might almost be relaxing to just listen to the sounds of the woods. Then she heard a twig snap. At the sound of a twig snapping, Marina turned to face whatever it was that stepped on it. She breathed a sigh of relief when standing before her, apparently frozen in fear as it gazed up at her, was a little Glowing Pocket Mouse. She dismissed it with a small laugh, but then something occurred to her: this mouse certainly was a long way from home, out here in the woods. She leant in closer to study it, wondering if maybe she'd found some woodland variety, but she barely got the chance to really inspect it before it skittered off into the undergrowth. She turned to resume her travels, but in that next instant found herself face to face with a Serpenta. Oops. She turned and ran without a second thought from the Serpenta, paying little heed to where she was going and trying just to put as much distance between herself and the creature. Suddenly the ground beneath her feet seemed to vanish and an instant later she found herself sprawled out on smooth stones, with water splashing against her. She stood and shook, for whatever good it would do while she remained in the apparent creek. She looked around. It was so dark. She didn't know where she was. She thought she saw a light out in the distance, but it was a tiny floating thing. It could be the Pocket Mouse again, but then again it could be a traveler with a lantern... She stood in the cool water for a few moments, watching the light bobbing along in the distance as she considered her options. Eventually she decided that she would follow the creek. It seemed the safest of her options. Marina plodded along through the water, letting the pull of the current and the slivers of moonlight glinting off the surface guide her. Now and then she would stumble on slippery stones, but as she carried on she began to get a feel for how to move. She didn't know for how long she'd walked, but the sky had begun to turn purple as the sun rose somewhere off in the distance. It was as the sky lightened further that she saw ahead of her a spring, the origin of the creek. She slowed to a stop to take in her surroundings in the improved light, and finally noticed the growling of her stomach and ache of fatigue in her legs. She waded through the creek towards the edge of the spring where she finally climbed out of the water. The grass was soft beneath her feet. She took her recently caught rabbit out, deciding that it really was worth more to her to eat now than it was to return to the fae for a reward. With her belly full and soft morning light peering through the trees to warm her, Marina felt herself quickly drifting off. When she woke, a strange dragon was peering down at her with curious pale eyes. "Hello." Marina greeted the little dragon standing above her. Immediately the dragon twittered, a sound between surprise and delight, as she pranced away without a word. She stood about twenty feet away, near the other side of the spring, looking at Marina. Marina climbed to her feet and shook off her sleepiness and the grass and looked at the other dragon. "Please don't run away! Come back!" Marina called out to the other dragon, whilst remaining standing where she was. She was wary. What if following the other dragon led her into a trap...? The strange dragon trotted back to Marina, stopping just a few feet away before wiggling playfully, spinning, and bounding away again. Perhaps she wanted to play? Marina took off after her. Once the strange dragon saw that Marina was giving chase, she took off running. She was quick, but stopped now and then to allow Marina to catch up. She ran up a small hill, darted around trees, and through bushes until finally coming to a stop upon a boulder. Upon the boulder were scratched symbols. It looked like the drawing of someone young. Quite possibly the strange dragon's work. Marina stepped closer to peer at the boulder, when suddenly a light from beneath her caught her eye. She stepped back and the light faded. She looked down, noticing for the first time that there was a line of symbols in the dirt as well.

Marina pressed her paw onto the pawprint, and it lit up. It was the same soft light as had caught her eye before, but when she looked up to the strange dragon she saw her shaking her head. Apparently that was not the right symbol. When she removed her paw again, the light faded once again. She looked at the symbols a moment, her attention torn briefly between the flower and the drop. Well, water was her element so what could it hurt to step on the raindrop? She lifted her paw and pressed it onto the raindrop symbol. It lit up like the paw print, just a faint light that faded once she removed her paw. Again, the strange dragon shook her head. The dragon sat and watched her curiously. Marina confidently pressed her paw onto the flower, almost certain that this was surely the correct one! Again, however, it lit up faintly only to fade when her paw was removed. The strange dragon seemed to sigh, shaking her head again before leaning down to repeatedly tap the carvings on the rock's face. "Hey! Look there! Look more closely!" her actions seemed to say. There really was one more choice now, though. And yet, Marina was determined that the paw was what she should step on. So again she placed her paw there, a look of determination in her eye as she stared up at the strange dragon as if to say "HA! I KNOW this is the one!" The strange dragon smacks her own paw to her face and drags it down with a look of exasperation. She sighs, and just stares at Marina. Like before, the paw lights up with just a faint light that fades when her paw is removed. Weird. That really should've worked. Well, what hasn't she tried yet? The sun, of course! She planted her paw onto it, and finally there was a different result. The light beneath her paw had a pleasant green tone and glowed brighter than any of the previous illuminations. When she removed her paw, the light remained.

After having the sun light up differently, Marina took a look at the stone carvings again. She had it! She was sure she understood how this puzzle worked! With confidence she pressed her paw onto the pawprint now. Like the sun, when she removed her foot the pawprint was lit with a green light. The strange dragon smiled down at her, pleased that she had apparently realized what to do now.

Lo and behold, after the paw print came the flower! When she pressed her paw to the flower symbol and removed it, it too retained a green glow. It seemed that there was only one real decision left, then!

The strange dragon remained on the rock, but sitting beside her now was the box Marina's parents had given her at the start of her adventure, the lock on it now clearly undone. Had she taken it while Marina was sleeping? Was it magic? Was it really the same box? Who cared that the strange dragon seemed to have unlocked the box? It was unlocked! Marina could finally see what was inside! She clambered up onto the rock beside the other dragon and lifted the lid of the box. The first thing that catches her sight is a letter that reads "Dear Marina, if you are reading this it means that you have managed to pass the trial of a guardian! Congratulations! We're so proud of you! Inside this chest are a few items we thought would help you as you go off to explore even more exotic locales and discover more about the world. Good luck out there! Mom and Dad" Inside the box were a number of items: Field Manual, Scholar, Discipline, Aid, Hydro Bolt, Major Health Potion, and a Cleansing Elixir.

#clan lore #c: marina #putting this here so I can actually give her a bio!#long post #putting that tag just in case the read more dosent work.

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mgrgfan · 7 years

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Business (mini-fic)

- Approaching designated randevu point! - announced Cherie, carefully pulling engine control throttles and making the Azoth Kingdom-built airship descend.

- Still nothing, boss, - reported Levi. - All radars give clear picture. By the way, the lateral turning motor of the main parabolic radar broke once again, looks like short-circuit. Any ideas why?

- Levi, did you forget to apply varnish? - asked him Alva in exasperated voice.

- No, boss, I’ve triple-checked this before we’ve gone flight. You know, it’s kinda uncomfortable, when your main radar loses ability to turn and can only scan the last direction. Good thing it stopped at zero-zero.

- Then no ideas, beside obvious humidity build-up somewhere.

- There we are! - announced Cherie, flicking switches and putting the engines of the airship to hovering mode. - Anchored and ready!

- If not for your words and sensor readings, I’d have never noticed it, - said Alva in pleased voice. - Great piloting.

- Thanks, boss, - replied somewhat shy Cherie, checking the ship’s systems. - Everything’s normal, no scratches or like this, our girl is healthy’n’good.

- Besides the main radar. Sixth time already, - murmured Levi, then began to announce. - All radars...

Man’s voice faded when a huge signature suddenly appeared on all radars. Outside of the ship, a big airship, somewhat similar to the classic “Hunt-3R″, but bigger, with sleeker lines and more visible weaponry, de-cloaked and landed less then 300 meters from the airship of cabinet minister, two bow-mounted autocannon turrets aimed near the bridge.

- This ship looks like she was built by “Kirasawa Shipyards”, - finally managed to squeeze out a word Levi.

- But she wasn’t, - objected Alva, who was already studying the newcomer. - “Kirasawa”, most of time, puts external hangars and cargo containers, which often have more height that the ship herself, on the sides of main hull, while this one has containers half the ship’s height mounted between main hull and external engine pods. Also, bridge is too small and too deep into hull, and I never saw any ship from the “Kirasawa Shipyards” with that much weapons - those two turrets are definitely just part of point defence system.

- Boss, you know a lot! - said impressed Cherie

- I need to. After all, our kingdom continues to lose position on the airship market, and “Kirasawa Shipyards” is just after the corporations in the list of competitors. It’s like this ship was purposely built to fool those who know too little to think it was built by “Kirasawa”, but to let those who know style of those shipyards understand that it’s not... - Alva made a strange motion, as if shrugging something off. - Anyway, here they are, so I’m going in. Levi - open the hatch and prepare the elevator, Cherie - stay here, keep engines warm and ready. I feel far from good about this...

- Yeah... - replied Levi, remembering seeing records of the cabinet minister’s talks with this Hunter. While Hunter J, who has mysteriously disappeared not so long ago, was somewhat scary on her own, K...

***

- So, cabinet minister of the Azoth Kingdom, huh? I’m happy to have such a client! - said woman with a jet-black hair, slowly moving across her small quarters, presumaby onboard of her ship. Levi couldn’t explain it, but something in her made him feel wrong and, from what it seemed, Alva too. For most of people, it would’ve been impossible to spot, but Levi knew his superior for long enough to notice he was nervous.

- So am I. Miss K, - Alva took an opportunity, trying to direct this talk into where he wanted it to go, - I want you to give me Pokemon from this list.

Cabinet minister quickly pressed some keys on his personal terminal, sending a message to her. Woman sat down on chair, reading the message without any hurry, then slowly rose from it and said:

- So, perfect stats; does not matter if Shiny or not; abilities, that work great together if those Pokemon fight side-by-side; some Egg moves; does not matter, if bred or hunted and all capable of Mega Evolution? Am I witnessing revolution, that is about to happen?

- I knew it’ll be obvious... - replied cabinet minister. - Sort of. Some of them will be needed for other, non-political purposes. And, if this info gets out...

- No need to worry, I never tell anyone about the details! - said K with somewhat menacing curved smile. - Contract privacy is contract privacy, no matter what. Also, I’m not into politics, as long as they don’t touch me. So, what about payment?

- Twenty millions total, ten - now, ten - after getting Pokemon.

- Fair enough. I’ll give you coordinates of the randevu point in two weeks. K out, - finished the talk woman and cut the channel. Alva opened a drawer, grabbed a small bottle of Azoth-produced “Cog Oil” whiskey, poured himself a shot and took it in a single long gulp. From what Levi saw in this recording, minister was still nervous about this K. Something in her was just plain wrong, but neither he, nor Cherie or Alva could point out, what exactly.

- It’s not like we have other options, - commented cabinet minister, stopping the video and shutting down his terminal. - She’s our best option now - both in price and quality.

- So, cabinet minister Alva, I suppose? - said one of the K henchmen, when Alva approached her airship, still feeling uncomfortable of CIWS turrets and her henchmen, which’ve already released their Pokemon to establish defense perimeter around her airship. - Commander K will be there very soon.

- Good, - replied cabinet minister, taking a closer look on the ship. Even now, he could see several characteristic coverings of missile tubes and two retractable machine gun turrets near the opened frontal hatch. For all of her worth, this ship could be easily classified as a full-fledged heavy assault ship. Considering, what kind of team was now guarding the airship, the implications were far from good.

- Glad to see you, - sounded beautiful, but, for some strange reason, scary voice. Alva turned back to the lowered frontal hatch and saw a woman with jet-black hair slowly walking down to him, carrying a small case.

- Same, Miss K, - said Alva in gentle voice, then pointed his staff at the case. - All of them? Loyalty imprinting?

- Of course to both, - responded Hunter, opening the case and presenting it’s contents to cabinet minister. Inside, there were 15 standard Pokeballs, lying in small holders.

- May I commit a small test right now? - asked her Alva, gently closing the case and taking it from her hands.

- If it does not mean injury or destruction of my property, - replied K, pointing to a small clear zone next to the starboard of her ship. Cabinet minister travelled to this spot and, surrounded by K’s henchmen, released the Pokemon one by one, then pulled his own Pokeball out of many pockets of his coat and added his own Gengar to this team.

- You can easily assault a palace and dethrone the king with team like this, - commented one of the henchmen.

- But they are not for it, - replied Alva, changing a grip of his staff and passing two fingers above the small dark-violet stone, embedded in the unusually shaped pommel. - Mega Wave!

- ... Can you sell a device like this to me? - asked amazed K, looking at 16 Pokemon, which were all Mega-Evolved at once. - I can pay up to a billion for a such a gadget!

- Not yet, - said cabinet minister, passing the fingers above the stone again, reversing the effect, then taking out two wristbands with similar dark-violet stones out of another pocket of his coat and unleashing the second Mega Wave with one of them. - They are fragile, dependant on Master Stone - one per several devices, have limited worktime until shutdown, require some time to relax between activations to prevent malfunctions, often need repairs... In short, there are still many problems with them. However, once I iron those problems out, I might consider putting them on sale - our kingdom will really benefit from it.

- Then I’ll wait, - responded K, seeing, how Alva, after three Mega Waves and successful testing of all devices, returned his Pokemon back into Pokeballs. - By the way - do you really need to say words when activating them?

- Yes, you need to, - replied violet-haired man, putting most of the Pokeballs, bar the one with his personal Gengar, back into the case and closing it. - I’m sure you won’t like it to suddenly activate just because you waved your hand the wrong way!

- Of course! - let a somewhat scary laugh Hunter. - So, what’s about the second part of payment?

- Right now, - said Alva, taking his PDA out of one of his pockets and tapping the polarized touchscreen, contents of which were invisible to anyone bar cabinet minister, several times.

- I see, - murmured K, looking at her own PDA. - However, I thought we agreed on ten millions! Of course, it’s pleasant, but...

- But I do appreciate the great quality of the Pokemon you brought to me and want to give you some bonus for such a nice work! - replied cabinet minister, giving Hunter a gentle nod and taking a case with Pokeballs in his hand. - Goodbye, Miss K.

- Goodbye, cabinet minister Alva, - said she, ordering her troops to return to the airship with a simple gesture and walking back to the frontal hatch. - I hope that some time later, you will be my customer once more.

- ...And I surely hope not to, - whispered Alva, once his was back aboard his airship.

- Boss, the K’s ship has gone flight and cloaked once again! - sounded the Levi’s voice in the intercom.

- That’s great, - replied minister, putting the case with Pokeballs on the wall bench and taking a seat on it himself. - Levi - close the hatch. Cherie - lift off and take us back home. I’ll be on the bottom deck for some time.

- As you wish, boss, - replied his two trusted henchmen. With hydraulic whirr, the cargo platform collapsed and hatch started to close, while airship started to to gain altitude. Alva spent nearly half of hour like this, but, after it, focused and took a trip back to the bridge, where Levi and Cherie were already waiting him.

- We’re glad to see you, - greeted him Levi. -"Chancellor Cocktail”, the one you like, in the cupholder. Temperature optimal and everything.

- Do you think of me like some kind of an alcoholic? - asked him Alva, placing the case and staff near his chair and then taking a seat, though not before ensuring, that control is all transferred to Cherie.

- No, boss, but we do see, how do you feel after speaking with... her, - shuddered woman.

-... You know what? You’re damn right! - replied minister, taking a shot. - Nice. Who was one preparing it?

- Me, boss, - said Levi. - Cherie couldn’t bring herself out of her seat all the time you were ashore.

- Levi, I just wanted to get out of here ASAP! - told him Cherie. - I’m sure none of us wanted to be there anymore than needed. Those autocannons and goons...

- Uh-huh, - said her co-pilot. - Cherie, by the way - would you like to try to pilot the assault ship of this K?

- Nah, I won’t exchange our little “Kamiya” for anything, - nearly purred woman, gently stroking the surface of the pilot’s station, - She serves us well and I’m used to her. Even her little cargo bay doesn’t mean anything - “Traveller-4″ class can take three time it’s own mass into air on external, and our girl was upgraded by our boss to be able to take four times her own mass.

- And the main radar breaks every two damn weeks after this damn second scanning run, when this damn Volcanion hit us with Steam Eruption, - grunted Levi. - Boss, I was outside and fiddled with it - yep, short circuit in secondary control scheme. I've replaced it and the corresponding circuit breaker, but this is a temporary solution. I think I know how to rework it, so it will at least break once in two months instead of every two weeks. Do you authorize me to do it once we are back home?

- I do, - replied Alva, making some notes in his PDA. - By the way - after we return to Azoth Kingdom, I give you two weeks of vacation and then you start training with MWDs and your new Pokemon.

- OK, boss! - said Levi and Cherie at the same time, then Levi continued. - About the Pokemon, boss - are you really happy with your purchase?

- I am, but I don't want to do business with people like that anymore, - murmured the minister before falling asleep from lack of sleep beforehand and today's stress. His henchmen exchanged looks, then continued piloting ship like if nothing happened, alllowing Alva to silently snore right on the bridge.

#Cabinet Minister Alva #levi #cherie #azoth kingdom #mgrgfan writes mini-fics #Hunter K #This may be barely reflected here #but K makes people (at least clients) feel uncomfortable around herself #but so far #she's best replacement for Hunter J #and Alva does have some standards #and Cherie is almost like a Jeff Moreau from Mass Effect when it comes to piloting flying ships #mgrgfan does worldbuilding

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