Book One: Wrath, Chapter Six-
Darkness. Silence. Nothing moved. A figure emerges from the sea of blackness. A large gray overcoat hangs from its shoulders down almost to its feet. As the shape walks forward, another greets it. The second, smaller then the first, only reaches up to its knees. It wraps its tiny arms around the first's legs.
"Daddy," it says. Slowly, color seeps back into the world. The two are in a room of a small house. The man in the coat picks up his daughter.
"Aw, did my little girl miss me?" He kisses her forehead.
"I thought you were suppose to practice with Flubit, daddy?" The child's wide, innocent eyes looked admirably to her father.
"I was," he explains, "but Flubit had matters to attend to. Behemoth is ill again."
"But she'll get better soon, right?" she asks with the usual smile on her face.
"Of course she will, honey," assures the man. "She's been through worse. She'll be well again before you know it." He places her back on her feet, rubs her head, and makes his way to a door after depositing some objects on the table. Recognizing them as his Pokeballs, the girl tugs on his coat before he can leave.
"Daddy," she calls, "aren't you going to train? You're suppose to be going away soon and it's been so long since you last did."
"Well, I have no one to train with," he says, catching himself in the middle of his words. "Unless, that is, you'd like to train with me?" Her eyes grow even wider.
"Me?" she asks in disbelief. "Oh, but I couldn't do that," she tells him. "I wouldn't know how."
"Nonsense," he dismisses the thought. "You have the blood of two great trainers in you veins. There's no way you can believe that."
"But if I do," she continues, "they'll hurt each other. They won't like me anymore."
"Now look," he tells the young girl, "everyone of them I had to fight. I've sent all of them out into battle, too. Do you think they hate me? No. They forgive me because they know that I care for them."
"But... isn't fighting wrong?" Her pure gaze finds its way to his heart.
"Honestly," he confesses, "it is, but, one day, mark my words, you will have to and be glad you are able to. Now, let's get out there before it gets too dark." Grabbing her by the hand, he leads her outside. As they step out the door and into shadows, everything fades to black.
And the world was consumed by light. Streaks of the rising sun's rays filtered through the leaves of the tree Rei had spent the night in and danced in her sleeping eyes. She was cast back into the painful reality that she had hoped to be the true dream. Accepting the fact, she climbed down to journey onwards.
It had been two days now since the Rockets struck her hometown. The exact identity of her whereabouts were not know, but she had well cleared vast forest she was home to. Now the scenery only bore strewn trees and dense shrubbery. Old maps drawn up by her father years ago on his journeys across the world were her only key to travel. Currently, she did not know exactly where she was heading. The name on the map had faded over time, but that did not affect her plan: find some Rockets and become one. Once she was in, or found out where their next base of operation lied, she could overthrow that section before she would go ahead to the next. In her own mind, it seemed simple enough, but actually going through with it would prove difficult.
The map told the town she was heading for to be few days walk away. This fact was ignored by Rei as she kept up a swift pace and planned to all the way. She knew that it was almost idiotic to attempt, but the thought of Rocket growing stronger every second she did nothing gave her the strength to go on. Sunset approached, and her legs were sore and overwrought, but still she marched on, until the ground left her feet.
Rei opened her eyes to find earth directly in front of them. Her head ringing with pain, she sat herself up. Turning, she saw a lump laying in the road. She figured that she carelessly overlooked it and tripped in her haste. A small, round rock. That was a dark blue in color. And had leaves? The assumed rock jumped to life as its true nature was disclosed. The creature wobbled on its tiny feet as it tried to balance its bulbous form. Long, green blades hung from the top of it. The plant looked as if it had been battered, but Rei could never see who would do that. In a sudden panic, the Oddish leapt into Rei's arms and shuddered. The thought to what had scared it so was answered by the ground shaking.
The sounds of tremors and tearing of bushes halted behind Rei as the final hedge was knocked aside. A large, snarling beast burst through with its mouth gaping emitting the most horrendous sound. Various vegetation draped its rocky body, stuck in its jagged hide. Rei slowly turned to face the beast. As their gazes met, she became petrified with fear. The Rhyhorn, however, cared nothing for her. Snorting, its stare fell upon the Oddish, which cringed against Rei's chest. The monster was thrown into a fit of rage at the mere sight of the harmless, little weed. It attacked, rising up to its hind legs. Regaining control, Rei rolled out of the of the incoming feet, which had upturned the earth they hit.
Back on her feet and in a full sprint, forgetting her aching legs, Rei bolted down the trail from the now following Rhyhorn. Puzzled by what it could want with the Oddish, a divine fragrance filled the air. She began to slow her rate until a bellow from behind knocked her senses back.
"So that's why," she said half to the Oddish and half to herself. "It's stalking you because of your delightful smell." She did not want the Rhyhorn to be following her, but she also could not abandon the Oddish. It was too cute. "Oh, why couldn't you be more repulsive? Then there wouldn't be any problems at all." The bulb frowned, only making it more adorable. "Hey! Stop doing that," she ordered, only to make its eyes tear up. It was all too much for her heart to bear. Sighing heavily, she gave up resisting. "Alright then, I'll help you." A round smile grew on its face.
The Rhyhorn grew closer with every passing moment. Rei devised a way to elude the charging beast for at least a little while. Slowly, she arched her way towards a tree. When she drew close enough to it, she jumped sharply from her path. Once in a charge, it was hard for anything to turn let alone stop. She hoped that the tree would slow it down. Her guess was wrong.
The tree shattered. Millions of splinters fired in all directions as the Rhyhorn rushed past. The collision proved no trouble to beast without even slowing it down. While the monster trampled off into the distance, Rei wasted no time. The Oddish was stuffed into her bag as she made a break for it. In her haste, her fingers sifted through its other contents frantically. Already the pounding footsteps could be heard drawing nearer.
Occationally, Rei would examine objects closer to see if it was the one she sought. They were small, disk shaped devices that she had retrieved from her shop. Worn paint on each of them signaled their identity. The sound of branches snapping against the Rhyhorn's petrified hide had now become more evident. Scared out of her mind, she drew out the mechanisms faster. Her eyes lit up as she found the one she desired. Opening the bag, she was glad to see the Oddish still sitting near the top. The gadget was placed in the middle of its forehead. Confused by what she was doing, it could only wait, but Rei was hesitant to go through with the process, knowing the results. The breathe of the Rhyhorn against the back of her legs changed her mind.
Regretfully, Rei forced her finger onto the machine's button. After a sharp beep, clamps secured the contraption's position on the Oddish's head, and it would need to. A series of electrical currents were released directly into the weed. The mind-altering frequency brought mind-wrecking pain as well. The poor little bulb shriek as currents continued. After a short while, the shocks ceased. The gadget had burned out and fell to pieces.
Rei tried a similar maneuver once more. She made a quick sidestep, but the Rhyhorn had learned since the last time. It firmly planted its feet into the ground, but the momentum of its run still caused it to drag many yards before stopping fully. It turned its body during the skid, toppling many trees in its path in the process. Rei was already back into flight, not in the opposite direction, but the same one she had been heading. She had gracefully vaulted over the Rhyhorn's back and was a fair distance away by the time the slow witted animal had realized what she had done.
The Oddish in her bag still seemed dizzy from its forced treatment, and once again the thundering of heavy feet followed her. It would be a while before her plan could be set into motion, so Rei decided to stall. She needed to catch her breath, anywise. Casting the object retrieved from her pocket, the insect warrior Wrath came to shape. It saw its foe stampeding forward and prepared for an attack, but before it could draw its stingers back fully, the beast had already bashed it aside with its great horn. The Beedrill tossed and turned long in the air before it tumbled to the ground. Highly disappointed by her monster, Rei returned to an exhausting pace, but Wrath was far from done with the battle. Straightening its wings, it pulled itself from the earth and followed after its opponent. Rei smiled as she saw it over her shoulder trailing behind.
Wrath's wings beat faster and faster as it drew closer to the charging Rhyhorn as it gained ground on Rei. A volley of poisonous darts launched from the bee's stingers which were easily repelled by the brute's tough hide. Never accepting failure, the Beedrill boosted itself onto the back of the hulk and stabbed it ferociously. Even under repetitive assault, it did barely enough to chip the rocky skin but enough to get the Rhyhorn's attention. It was annoyed with its unrequested passenger and reared high to the sky to shake it off. Wrath held its position allowing Rei to get a distance ahead.
Rei was just far enough to be out of the Rhyhorn's sight. After that, she collapsed. The day had been too hard on her, and she could no longer take it. Some of the contents in her sack spilled out, including the Oddish. She did not want to accept this as the end, but, as of the moment, she could not even keep her eyes open. As with the morning, the sun's beams danced on her face. Only this time they were brighter. ... Brighter? The thought crossed her mind. Rei had only cracked open one of her eyes, but both grew wide at the sight. The setting sun's rays had pierced through the trees and convened on a glowing Oddish. Its leaves fanned out for maximum absorption. Unfamiliar with its new found power, the flow of sunlight consumption steadily increased. The immediate area was plunged into a darkness where all light focused upon the shining beacon of Oddish. It simply stood, marveled by its own power.
The earth shook. At the Rhyhorn's current speed, it would be upon them in a matter of seconds. Rei instantly took action, seizing Oddish and thrusting it with both her hand in front of her directly in the way of the rampaging monster. Before its eyes, the Oddish saw the lumbering beast. The bulb cringed in fear as its aura of radiance shrunk into its body. All was black, but only for a moment as a wide spread beam of pure energy cleaved through the darkness. The earth was upturned and parted underneath destructive ray, and the Rhyhorn was surrounded by the luminescence. Its charge was not hampered on the collision, but its armored shell chipped away steadily. The Rhyhorn's jaws were mere inches from reaching the weed, but the force of the burst of light finally overcame the brute and stopped it dead in its tracks. Its body was repelled and hurtled far into the distance. The sound of snapping branches slowly faded away, yet she never heard it crash into the ground.
The ray of the sun vanished beyond the horizon. With it finally being over, Rei fell fortuitously on her back, desperately seeking rest from her long day. A low buzzing sound carried Wrath's presence to her side. It was only slightly scuffed from the battle and eagerly awaited to be reclaimed into its vessel. As she put it away, Rei noticed the tiny Oddish staring at her with its beady eyes. Sighing, she produced another Pokeball and rolled it Oddish's way.
