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The Dark Type	By : Manifest Destiny Category: Pokemon > General Views: 36315 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon. Pokemon is copy write by GameFreak, INC. and Nintendo. I make no money from this story, nor do I seek any.

Chapter List
- 19
- 20
- 21
—————
Chapter 20: Dependency
Or
Unexpected Conflagration
Part 0: Kindle
—————
Allan Relmstead smiled, despite the itch that still stung in his throat. He had been yelling quite loudly. Just an hour ago, he wasn’t so sure about how today was going to pan out.
Waking up before the sun broke the horizon, Allan and his team of three Pokémon had left their room in the Pokémon Center’s adjacent hotel building to iron out their battle tactics and prepare for their coming Gym Battle with Azalea Town’s resident Gym Leader, Bugsy. Psychic type expertise against a highly trained squad of Bug type opponents didn’t produce favorable odds, a fact that Allan couldn’t help but dwell on as the sky grew brighter above him.
Xutan, his Natu, had the only clear advantage of the three, with the Flying type techniques that he brought to the team. He was also maneuverable enough to evade most attacks from any ground-based opponent. Allan decided Xutan was most likely his safest bet in the battle.
Umari’s skill set revolved around more physical and close quarters action than Xutan’s, leaving the Eevee more vulnerable to counterattack. While she wouldn’t be overly susceptible to their attacks, any hits were hits he’d like her to avoid. He urged Umari to practice dodging attacks at close range.
Duncan was the problem child, as he often was. His typing left him especially disadvantaged to any Bug related attacks he may be the target of, and his six separate bodies made evasion a problem. The opposite side of the six headed coin that was Allan’s Exeggcute, was that he had options to attack at long range.
The battle had, for lack of a better term, blown Allan away.
The first opponent the Gym Leader had sent out, after Allan had decided to choose Duncan to lead, was a Beedrill. While initially troublesome at first glance, being a fully evolved Pokémon, the Poison type fell quickly to Duncan’s Psychic type moves. The next two opponents fell to Allan’s counters almost too easily. Even with Leader Bugsy’s unorthodox gym rule—both trainers must switch out their Pokémon after each battle, and once a trainer was out of fit Pokémon to battle, they would lose—Allan came out on top; three wins to zero.
His throat was hurting from so much cheering.
Now, Allan was just waiting on Kurt to finish his work. The old man who lived far from downtown in a simple home made his living by crafting custom-made Poké Balls from Apricorns, a fruit native to the Johto region. The precise nature and quality of the specific capture spheres had given Kurt a reputation as an expert on many types of Poké Balls.
Lying back on the sofa in this old, wooden cottage in northern Azalea Town, Allan held up his brand new Hive Badge, admiring the shine of it. The day was still young, with the noonday sun pouring into the room he waited in. On the floor in front of him, a young girl—hardly in her preteen years—was playing with Umari; silver twinkles of light danced off of her shiny fur and scattered around the room.
As Allan managed to pull his badge case from his pocket, and begin to place his new trinket in its slot, a thought alighted on his mind that made him smile even more.
‘And Alice wasn’t there to smother me after the match. It’s been a good day.’
Umari stopped playing her game with Kurt’s granddaughter, having picked up that stray mental thought.
‘I thought we liked her,’ she said. ‘Wait. You didn’t tell her the wrong time about our match on purpose, did you?’
Mentally kicking himself in the head, Allan sat up in his seat, going over thirteen different excuses in his head about why he did what he did. He also made a mental note to pay more attention when his mental link with Umari was open.
‘No, Umari. I just… I was just nervous about our battle this morning. I wanted to get it over with as soon as possible,’ Allan said.
‘Lying,’ Umari replied flatly. ‘I can tell when you do that, you know that, right?’
Allan flinched again, caught. He sighed, ‘Okay fine. But these past two days have been hell!’
‘Why?’ Umari asked. She sat down and looked into her trainer’s eyes, unaware of the little girl trying to get her attention.
Allan didn’t feel any anger or disappointment in her mental communications. Just curiosity.
‘It’s just…’ Allan paused, crossing his arms as he tried to place his thoughts properly. ‘You know what she’s after, don’t you?’
‘Well… All I’ve seen her be is really friendly to us.’
‘Not “us”, Umari. Me.’ Allan let a few choice memories float over their bond to help drive in his point. Her physical behavior around him. Constant attention. The kiss.
‘Oh!’ Umari said. ‘So she’s—?’
‘Yeah. And she’s not exactly the brightest star in the sky either…’
‘That’s mean,’ Umari said.
‘Not like that—well, kind of like that—but she just doesn’t get the hint that I’m not interested. It’s annoying to be constantly hounded on.’
‘Why are you so against… you know? You and her?’ Umari asked. ‘You have your eyes on another mate?’
‘I just don’t feel that way about her. She’s just a friend. You don’t date your friends. Do you get what I’m trying to say at all?’
‘Yeah,’ Umari said, standing up and stretching. ‘I think I do.’
Satisfied with having dealt with that awkward talk, Allan finally looked up and saw Kurt’s granddaughter, Maisy, staring at him.
“Uhh, is something the matter? Umari just stopped playing and staring at you.”
“Sorry about that,” Allan chuckled. “Private conversation.”
“Huh? But you weren’t talking.”
“Well, you see, I’m a psychic— a telepath, specifically. I have special mental powers that let me communicate with other minds. Umari, and my other Pokémon, can talk to me that way.”
“Really?” Maisy asked. “Can you show me?”
‘Like this!’ Umari said to her, mentally.
Allan picked up on the message as well. He looked down at her, then to Maisy, who then lit up with excitement at the new form of communication she was feeling.
“Oh my gosh, that’s so cooool!” the young girl picked up the silvery Eevee, and spun around. “I’m talking with a Pokémon!”
‘A… dizzy… Pokémon… please… stop…’
Maisy hastily put her back on the floor and apologized.
‘Umari?’ Allan sent to her privately. He willed a desire to not bring about the girl’s suspicion on their discussion.
‘Yeah? What’s the matter?’ Umari went back to playing with the young girl while she spoke with him.
‘I didn’t connect my mind with Maisy’s for you to talk to her. You did that, and I heard it from your side.’
‘Yeah?’
‘You’ve never done that before…’ Allan sat for a moment, reeling at the implications. ‘You’re really advancing in your psychic abilities.’
He could feel Umari’s joy from his compliment. He hoped that she couldn’t feel his apprehension.
“Hey Mr. Allan,” Maisy said. “Do you think me and my Pokémon can learn to talk like that?”
“Well, that depends,” said Allan, “who’s your Pokémon?”
“Slowpoke. He’s right there,” she said, pointing. “You were lying on his fat belly.”
Looking to his left, Allan saw a large mass of pink that he had assumed was a large cushion. Craning his head, he saw that it was indeed a rather large Slowpoke, fast asleep. Embarrassed, Allan hastily apologized to the girl for potentially causing her Pokémon discomfort. “I didn’t think anything of it, I’m sorry.”
I didn’t even detect its mind…
“Nah, you’re fine. I do it all the time. He’s really fat and hardly notices when I do it.” Her smile helped dispel the air of regret in the room. “So, do you think I can?”
“Not until he evolves probably,” said Allan. “Their minds aren’t too advanced as Slowpoke.”
“Best not be disrespecting the Slowpoke kind, son,” came an older voice. “They’re sacred around here.”
The voice, followed by the sound of the back door closing shut stole the attention of everyone in the room. Kurt came into the house, wiping the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve. In his hand was a plain wooden box.
“Don’t think you minded the wait, did ye?” the old man asked. He placed the box on the table to the side of the room and beckoned Allan over. “Here’s what ye paid for. Six Friend Balls.”
Allan opened the box and picked up one of the newly made spheres in his hand. The ball’s top half was mostly green, with four red teardrop markings, and a circular yellow one, making a tight arc on the face. Allan had seen the famous Apricorn Poké Balls before, but these were especially well made.
“They look fantastic,” Allan said, putting them in his bag. “Thanks a lot for the work.”
“Ye don’t plan on swapping your Pokémon into those, right? They don’t work like that.” Kurt warned.
“Oh, no,” Allan said. “I just decided to have all of them made, since I found so many Apricorns. I don’t plan on catching anything soon anyway, I don’t think.”
“Well, all the best luck to ye,” he said. Kurt slowly made his way over to the chair across the room, carefully sitting down and resting his weary feet. “Word from the wiser, son; be careful if you’re going into Ilex Forest. Something’s made the woods restless; agitated. I can feel it in the wind. Bad things happen when the forest is fightin’ ye.”
“Thank you, I’ll keep that in mind.” Allan gathered up his belongings and called for Umari to leave. “And thank you again for the Poké Balls, Mr. Kurt.”
‘Bye Maisy!’ Umari called mentally as she bounded over to Allan.
The two stepped outside and were greeted by strong wind, blowing from the east. As if to push them, and anyone else, away from Ilex Forest.
—————
“Alright, looks like you’re good to go,” the receptionist said. He handed Allan a receipt for his time at the Pokémon Center’s hotel. “Thank you for staying with us.”
“Have a good day,” Allan said with a smile, shoving the scrap of paper into his back pocket without even a first glance. As he and Umari began to walk out of the building, Allan felt a mental ping from the various crowds of people walking the streets of Azalea Town. Alice Wingborne noticed him before he could react to her presence across the street.
“Allan!” she yelled, drawing all kinds of attention to herself. The blond girl made her way to the other side of the road, finding herself a little out of breath. “I’m—I’m sorry. I overslept and I missed your battle this morning.”
“It’s alright,” Allan said, silently glad to not have upset her. “We won though; three to zip.”
“That’s great,” said Alice. She shifted the large backpack that she wore, taking in that Allan too was geared up for travel. “So, what now?”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
‘You know what she means,’ Umari told him privately.
‘I know, but still…’
“Um, well…” Alice looked down, letting some of her hair fall in front of her face. “My offer still stands, you know; from before? About traveling with me?”
‘Just do it,’ Umari urged him. Before he could protest, she said to him, ‘If you want, I can talk to her about, you know, you and her. Unless you want to.’
‘You’re the best,’ Allan sent with all the gratitude he could. Blinking, he focused back on Alice’s hopeful eyes awaiting his response. “Sure thing, we can stay together for a while.”
Instantly, her face lit up and she smiled wide. Alice stood beside him and urged them to venture onward, her enthusiasm being far more infectious than he would like to admit.
Allan bent down and picked up Umari from the ground and the three started their walk through Azalea Town to the western exit gate. The sun was high in the sky, and the group decided rather quickly to eat before venturing out of town. They chose a restaurant that had a large outdoor dining section, one that allowed for larger than normal Pokémon to eat with their trainers.
Alice released her first Pokémon, a tall Tropius that towered over their table. He almost toppled over neighboring tables, leading to hurried warnings and scoldings from his trainer.
“He’s a pretty big guy,” Allan noted as he sat down. “How come you didn’t let him out last time we were around? I bet he could’ve gotten you out of that jam back in Ecruteak.”
Alice gently talked up to her large Pokémon, still trying to calm him down. She whispered something to him Allan couldn’t quite hear, and he didn’t eavesdrop. She placed a hand on his long neck, and rubbed it soothingly.
“Sorry,” she said finally, taking her seat as her Tropius settled down behind her. She released her Audino and Feraligatr to join her Fruit Pokémon. “He isn’t used to me yet, really. And… well…”
“Well what?”
“I’m… a bad trainer, Allan.” She looked at him with sorrowful eyes. “I’m… just not cut out for it, I don’t think. I wish I was— I really do. I can get along with Pokémon, but raising them… and battles… I’m just terrified that I’m doing it wrong.”
Umari looked up at Allan from his lap, exuding a feeling of worry. He felt the same, but questioned where this sudden revelation of self-doubt was coming from.
“Alice, it just takes time and practice. You’re not a bad trainer; bad trainers abuse their Pokémon and don’t deserve them. You at least want to do right by them, right?”
“Yes. But it’s just so hard. And I’m just… I’m awful at traveling alone with them. But… when I’m around other people, I relax more. I’m more confident and sure of myself. I feel like, even if I make a mistake, or I’m unsure, I’ve got someone there to help me.”
“So, is that’s why you—?”
“Yeah.” Alice said, knowing what Allan finally caught on to. “Mostly…”
The two sat in silence for the next few moments. When their order was ready, Allan got up and brought them their food, with Alice dealing out the Pokémon’s meals.
Have I been misreading her this whole time? Allan thought as he set their trays down. Has she really just been afraid and lonely?
“So, Allan?” Alice spoke up before he could begin eating.
“Yeah?”
“I… well… you don’t… do you?”
He stared at her for a moment, unsure of what she was asking.
“What was that? I didn’t hear you.”
“I said; You don’t find me annoying, do you?”
‘Don’t.’ Umari warned him.
‘I wasn’t gonna…’ Allan responded.
“No, Alice.” He said aloud. “You’re not annoying. You’re a good friend, and I think you have a lot of potential for being a trainer, even if battles aren’t your thing.” Allan thought he felt a twinge of sadness emanate from her, specifically when he said the word “friend”, but her happiness from his kind words overwhelmed that small emotion.
“Thank you, Allan,” she said. “That really means a lot, coming from you.”
“You’re welcome—” Allan felt a presence around him, moving quickly towards him. Whoever it was, they were urgently looking for him specifically. Allan casually kept eating his meal while he glanced around at the people coming and going past the restaurant. Umari could sense his increased mental alertness; he was ignoring everything else around him.
When the mystery pursuer finally showed up at their table, Allan almost immediately gave up worrying. A young man—younger than Allan by a few years—came up to their table, panting from running through the streets.
“You’re Allan Relmstead, right?” It took one glance at the shiny Eevee eating her meal to confirm the freshman trainer’s question. “Yeah, you beat Bugsy this morning! Will you come with me?”
Allan looked to Alice, who was just as confused as he was. Umari didn’t have any words of wisdom to share either.
“Well, first kid; what’s your name?” he asked.
“Oh, sorry. Ha ha,” he took a deep breath to further recover from his run. “Geoffrey Speckman. You’re going to be leaving town, right? Heading to Goldenrod?”
“Yes? What’s it matter to you?” Allan asked.
“Will you take me through Ilex Forest? A bunch of us want to go.”
Allan sat in his seat in silence, took a sip from his drink, and looked back at the hopeful face staring back at him.
“What’s stopping you from going through on your own?” he asked. He saw a few Poké Balls clipped to the kid’s belt. “Don’t you have a Pokémon?”
“I do, but Bugsy’s not letting anyone through without his badge,” Geoff said. “I don’t train Pokémon for badges or anything, but I want to go to Goldenrod City. Bugsy said people with his badge can chaperone a group while they make it through.”
“Since when was this a rule?”
“Just a few days ago,” said Geoff. “A bunch of Pokémon live in the forest now that didn’t before. It’s rough unless you’re a pretty experienced trainer. At least that’s what they say.”
“What kind of new Pokémon?” Alice asked, surprising Allan with her interest. He watched her pull out a large handheld device as Geoffrey listed the Pokémon he’d heard about. “Oh wow… no one’s even… Hey Allan, let’s get going. I think I need to see this place now.”
“Fine,” Allan said. “Just let us finish our lunch, okay? Then we’ll go along with you.”
“Great.” Geoff sat down in the seat next to Allan, eager eyes looking up at him as he ate. Allan heard Alice giggle at the sight.
“So,” Allan said between bites, “what’s with you coming to me? No other trainers in town?”
“They already took groups in earlier today. There was one seven badge trainer who flew people with his two Pidgeot. That was cool.”
Allan endured the next twenty minutes of the young trainer’s constant conversation as he ate his meal. Alice tried to help take some of the attention once she noticed Allan’s annoyed mood. Allan went to pay for their meals while Alice began recalling her Pokémon. Once they were through with their lunch, Allan, Alice, and their new companion Geoffrey, started the walk to the west exit of Azalea town.
“Why are you so interested in going to the forest?” Allan asked Alice as they walked. “Are you looking to catch a new Pokémon there?”
“No, nothing like that. You know how I mentioned my job before? Well, I’m basically a wildlife demographist; I’m collecting a bunch of information for… some very important people,” said Alice.
“Sounds like this is right up your alley,” Allan said. “No pun intended.”
—————
“I’m sorry, everyone.” Bugsy told the group of people standing in front of Azalea’s western gate. “I understand the inconvenience, but we need to make your safety our top priority right now.” The Gym Leader had been wrangling travelers for the past few days, leaving time only for scheduled matches back at the gym. “I’ve started making arrangements for escorts to be brought in to allow the safe travel through Ilex Forest. Until then, only trainers with the Hive Badge or higher can go through.”
He felt his head pound from the sounds of the unhappy crowd. Bugsy looked up through his purple hair when he heard the group starting to get loud again.
“So, this is what you do when you’re not collecting bugs?” Allan asked as he walked up. Alice and Geoffrey kept a close pace behind him.
“Oh, you’re Allan Relmstead, from this morning, right?” Bugsy asked. “Are you planning on going through the gate to Goldenrod City?”
“Sure am,” he said. Allan pointed to his two companions, “Geoffrey here tells me you’re playing gatekeeper, and allowing groups to go through. Do you need me to take some people through?”
“That’d be great if you didn’t mind.” Bugsy began to address the crowd, letting the people with the most pressing needs take the available spots. Five other badgeless travelers grouped up behind Allan. “Given my awful display this morning, you should be fine getting to Goldenrod.”
“Don’t sell yourself too short, I was having a good morning,” Allan said, smiling.
Bugsy didn’t so much as grin at the jab and simply moved on. “Right. Well, I’ll tell you what I’ve told the other groups; be careful, trust your instinct, and above all, trust your Pokémon. Make sure to check in at the gate on Route 34 to let us know you’ve made it.”
“Alright,” Allan said. He bent down and picked Umari up from the ground and set her on his shoulder. Allan beckoned the seven people he was now given charge over to the exit of the town’s gatehouse. “Okay everyone, we’re good to go on in. But first, I’d like to make this clear; I’m not some survival expert or a born leader. I’m a trainer, just like you. I expect all of us to watch each other’s backs if things get dicey.”
“Actually, sir? I’m not a trainer. I’m just trying to get to Goldenrod on business,” one of the travelers spoke up.
“Neither am I. I’m just meeting some family there.”
Allan stood on and listened as more of the people he had agreed to watch over revealed that they didn’t have a Pokémon to their names. With the unknown dangers that lurked in the forest beyond, he began to feel a little apprehensive to the idea of leading the group.
‘Umari, do you think I can do this?’
‘Of course. No matter what you think of yourself, you’ve been a great leader since you started training us; Xutan, Duncan and me. These people know what you expect of them, I think.’
Umari’s words, and the emotions behind them, bolstered Allan’s resolve. ‘Thank you.’
“Alright people; Listen up! There are eight of us and only four trainers. Simple math; everyone who has a battle capable Pokémon should keep at least one out of their ball at all times in case we run into any trouble.” The other trainers in the group—Geoffrey, and a younger girl named Valerie—released their Pokémon, a Geodude and Growlithe.
“Uhm, Allan?” Alice whispered to him. “Do I have to, too?”
“Yes. If you want to try to better yourself, you have to be willing to take that first step. Your Feraligatr could be of great use as a bodyguard, or you could use this opportunity to bond with Tropius.”
Alice nodded, and grabbed one of her Poké Balls, deciding to let Tropius out once they were in the forest.
The group of seven travelers, plus Allan, made their final farewells to Azalea Town, and began their journey into Ilex Forest. Allan headed the group, and told the other trainers to spread themselves out in the group for safety.
In the hours that passed, Bugsy sat vigil at the western gate’s entrance. No more Hive Badge owners came forward to ferry people through, leaving him with very little to do apart from turning people away. He recalled letting the first group of trainers make their journey in the early hours of the afternoon. He checked in with the attendant at the desk inside the gatehouse to see how many groups had checked in at Route 34’s gate. So far, only one had, and it was the group that had flown over the forest.
“What could possibly be in there to delay anyone so long?” Bugsy asked himself, feeling worry crawl into his mind.
Just then, the phone rang at the gatehouse, and the attendant answered it.
“Excuse me, Leader Bugsy?” they said. “It’s for you. It sounds urgent.”
—————
The first thing Allan noticed about Ilex Forest was something anyone else would; it was dark. Very dark. The trees had, over the many years, grown so close together that they blocked all but the smallest traces of sunlight from reaching the forest floor. Apart from the well-traveled path that wound through the wooded area from years of travel and the cutting of trees for firewood, there was very little room between trees for anyone to walk. A heavy wind blew through the area, sending a chill through the humans and their Pokémon.
Allan felt confined but he could tell he wasn’t. His mental senses told him of everything around him; the group of people behind him, the Pokémon on alert for any danger, and the wild Pokémon that surrounded them, living their lives in peace.
“We’re in the clear,” he told the group that stood behind him, waiting on his word. “Let’s get moving.”
Alice let go a sigh of relief, and released her Tropius, whose height almost reached the trees above their heads.
“You’re the trainer who beat Bugsy this morning, right?” one of his companions asked as they began their trip. “Won three to zip?”
“That’s right,” Geoffrey said. “He was great, you should’ve seen him.”
“I wish I could have,” Alice chimed in. “But I’ve seen him first hand before; he a really talented trainer. Managed to stare down Raikou. The Raikou.”
“Guys, really,” Allan said, trying to sound modest. “I’m not that fantastic.”
“Bugsy thought so, didn’t he?”
“He must have; they don’t let anyone lead people through dangerous areas like this. You said it earlier; you’re not a professional, but you may as well be.”
‘They’re right, you know,’ Umari sent over their mental link. ‘You really are great at what you do.’
‘And what’s that?’
‘Getting people to like you. To trust you. To believe in you.’ Umari relayed a few of her more pertinent memories on the subject. Alice’s immediate attraction to him, Bugsy’s request to lead and protect the group of people, and Umari’s own struggle to develop her own mental powers. ‘You can do the impossible.’
‘Wow, Umari… that’s…’
Before Allan could finish his thought—something he would find himself grateful for—he sensed something. He held up a hand to the group of people behind him, signaling to stop. He sensed a mind full of anger and aggression a few feet ahead of the group, holding its ground. He couldn’t see it; it hadn’t made a move yet.
“What is it Allan?” Alice asked quietly. Her Tropius craned his neck around, looking for the source of the holdup.
“A Pokémon, I think. Very territorial from what sensations I’m getting from it…”
Allan told the group to proceed slowly as they passed by the den of what they eventually found out to be an Arbok. Allan did his best to calm the hissing mass of coils and teeth as they cautiously moved on. Alice silently pulled her Pokédex from her bag and recorded the sighting.
The images Allan had received from the large snake made the reasons for its anger clear; it was a female, and she was protecting her brood of eggs. Once they were well enough away, Allan called for the group to speed up their pace. He didn’t want to see what trouble they would endure when the father came home.
“That was cool,” Geoffrey said.
“That was close,” Allan corrected him. “That Arbok’s den was really close to the road, and she was prepared to die fighting for her eggs.” He saw Geoff’s face as the young trainer recognized the tone in Allan’s voice, backing away and losing his excited expression. “We’re hardly in this forest, and we’ve already had a close call,” Allan addressed the group. “We need to keep on our toes.”
The next three hours were filled with more close calls with angry Pokémon. A wandering Pinsir came running at the group from behind a tree, but Alice’s Tropius managed to scare it off with a flap of its leafy wings and heavy stomps. The group praised Alice on her quick thinking and commanding of her Pokémon.
“Th-Thank you.” She looked to Allan, who gave her a smile and continued onward.
With the heavy cover the tall trees provided, Allan had troubling telling the time of day. He had to check his PokéGear every so often to keep track. As he did, he noticed that he didn’t have any data service.
“Does anyone have a connection out here?” he asked behind him to the group.
None of them did.
“We’ll be fine. We’ve scared off all the Pokémon we’ve come across so far,” Geoffrey said. “Do you think we’ll need to call for help?”
“No,” Allan said. “I just don’t want to need to, and not be able to.” Allan felt the sparks of fear spread through his group.
“Do you sense anything, Mr. Allan?” Valerie, the girl with the Growlithe, asked.
“No, we’re fine right now. I’m just being cautious,” he said.
—————
Allan’s troupe of travelers came to a stop in the early evening, beside a small pond. A few of the more weary travelers began soaking their feet in the still water. Alice’s Tropius sat and rested, with his trainer following suit beside him. Allan stood watch, and began scanning the area ahead. The last hour or so of their journey saw very few wild Pokémon. What they did see however were more than a few felled trees, and uneven dirt. The few trainers in the group couldn’t make out what may have caused the damage, but they all agreed that the farther they were from the area, the safer they would be.
It was because Allan was focusing on the path ahead that he failed to notice one of his group straying away from their small rest site. He wasn’t aware until he heard him yell.
“Look at this everyone!”
It was Geoffrey, who appeared on the other side of the small pond, smiling ear to ear. He was holding a young Pokémon in his arms. Its skin was rough and angular, and was wriggling in the young man’s grasp, crying out in a high pitched whine. It had a single, short horn sprouting from the top of its head, and two black markings underneath its eyes. Allan recognized it immediately as a Larvitar. The young trainer began walking back towards the group, eager to show them the Pokémon he had found.
A Larvitar… Just a baby… Allan thought, stricken with fear. There’s never just a baby…!
“Drop it!” he yelled. The rest of the group’s attention snapped to Allan. “It’s calling its parents!”
No sooner than had the words left Allan’s mouth did the Pokémon in question appear in the small clearing around the pond. The Tyranitar stood, towering behind Geoff, growling loudly. Everyone was still; petrified. They watched in horror as the trainer slowly turned around to face the enraged parent—whether mother or father, no one could tell. Allan frantically sent a flurry of mental messages to the young man in danger, but his mind was blocked off from his intense fear.
The Tyranitar roared loudly at the group of humans, sending a freak sandstorm whipping around the area. Geoffrey yelled, dropping the infant Larvitar. As the Tyranitar’s child cried from the rough landing, its parent summoned a spike of rock from the ground, aimed straight at the human responsible. The jagged pillar pierced his chest, suspending his body feet above the ground. Geodude, in an effort to avenge its trainer, started flailing its rocky fists at the Armor Pokémon, only to be swatted down into the ground. The Tyranitar pursued its offender and crushed it with a heavy stomp.
Alice screamed in horror at the sight of Geoff’s lifeless body, dangling over the pool of water. The group was in a panic, scrambling in the sandy winds to try and get to safety. The Tyranitar began advancing on the group roaring as its mate came into the clearing, tending to their child.
Allan couldn’t make a move; he couldn’t say a word. His own fear and the collective responses from the people around him were clouding his mind. He couldn’t shut their voices out of his head; he had kept his mental sensory open to look for threats for so long, he was now being overloaded with sensations.
Another roar from the advancing Tyranitar finally broke his attention to the physical world. Allan saw the rage in the creature’s eyes, the heavy shakes he felt as it moved, the pain of the sand whipping around him as it stung his skin.
It was chaos. It was something Allan came across that he hadn’t before; something he knew, deep down on a basic level, he could not handle.
So he succumbed to his fear.
Allan bent down, scooped Umari into his arms, and ran. He ran as hard and as fast he could away from the chaos.
On his mind wasn’t that of the poor young man’s parents who would never see their son alive again, not the people he had just abandoned in the path of an angry parent, not even his friend; he only saw himself, and the Pokémon in his arms.
—————
[Cartographer Log: 5/19/00]
[Cartographer ID: A. J. Wingborne (79053)]
[“Professor! We need help! Allan, these people and I! We’re in Ilex Forest— only it’s crazy! A Tyranitar just… it killed a boy! I don’t know where to go! No one’s phones are working either— Alpha please let this go through…
[“Hurry please! Allan’s gone— He— AH! No! Get away from—!”]
[Audio Ends.]
[Enclosed Picture Album: “Ilex Forest: New Sightings (5,19,00)”]
—————
Allan Relmstead ran and ran, carrying Umari close to his chest. He kept running until his lungs burned and his feet ached. He desperately wanted to stop, but what kept him moving was something that he could sense in the back of his head; a constant presence was following him.
It had been roughly an hour since Allan had broken rank with his group. He was running almost blindly through the thick forest, leaving him unable to spot the web of an Ariados. He had stumbled into it, snapping back into alertness. While the Ariados had made an appearance and tried to attack, it hadn’t tried chasing him down after Allan got free of its web.
Allan finally came to rest at one of many trees in the forest and sat down by the base of the trunk. He let Umari out of his tight grasp for the first time since they had left the pond where the Tyranitar appeared.
‘Allan?’ she asked.
‘Yes?’ Allan sent mentally, not wanting to make any noise if at all possible.
‘What happened to everyone else?’ she asked.
‘I don’t know.’ Allan told her.
‘You— But we were supposed to help protect them. We need to go back for them!’ Umari urged.
‘Umari, please…’ Allan said. ‘I… I just… this is too much. I just need to make sure we’re safe right now, okay?’
‘But what about Alice?’
‘I don’t know!’ Allan yelled mentally. He saw Umari cringe and lower her ears at the intensity of the mental pulse. ‘I’m sorry, Umari. I didn’t mean to yell at you.’
‘Then what did you mean?’ Umari asked.
‘I… It’s just that your safety is more important to me than theirs is.’
‘That’s awful! I’m no more important than they are!’
‘You are to me!’ Allan yelled again, though this time more at himself than her. ‘If I let anything happen to you, I’d never forgive myself. You’re precious to me.’
‘But… Allan! Behind you!’
As Umari’s warning registered in his mind, Allan felt the close proximity of the mind that had been tracking them. The same Ariados whose web they had fallen in came crawling around the tree Allan was sitting against. Before Allan could react to call upon Xutan or Duncan, Umari launched herself at the Long Leg Pokémon, sending it crashing into another tree. The shiny Eevee winced at the damage she sustained from her Take Down attack, but was otherwise unharmed. The Ariados didn’t get back up on its thin legs.
“Wow…” Allan said under his breath. “Umari… that was…”
‘Look! On your backpack!’
Allan frantically swatted behind him, fearing some other Bug type menace about to get the better of him. His hand met sticky strands of silk. He pulled them off, noticing that the rope had been leaving a trail through the forest.
“That thing was tracking us…”
‘We should go now, right? There might be more.’
“There’s always more…” Allan said, darkly. He fought down a panic attack at how close he had come to being attacked. The two silently began making their way deeper into the forest, hopefully away from more dangers.
—————
Nighttime had fallen an hour or so ago, or at least Allan’s PokéGear told him so. In the time since he had noticed it, Allan had discovered what he thought to be the cause of the lack of signal to the device. A large population of Magnemite and Magneton roamed throughout Ilex Forest. Allan assumed their electromagnetic force was disrupting the data signals entering or leaving the area. Getting lost was an easy possibility; his PokéGear’s map relied on a constant internet signal, which while useful, was useless now. Even his simple compass spun wildly if one of the Magnet Pokémon came close. A vague memory of a map of Johto were all he had to guide himself now.
The amount of light inside the forest had changed so little; it was a full moon and a clear sky above the trees, sending beams of gray light down into the forest where leaves failed to cover.
Allan had found some small cover; a few fallen trees and branches that provided him the first shelter he had since leaving Azalea Town. It gave him protection and a wall to put his back against as he rested. They had found the spot hours ago, and had since had no more attacks from any wild Pokémon.
Umari was asleep in his lap. She was exhausted. So was Allan, but a sense of duty and devotion kept him awake and alert. He kept his mind on a constant lookout for any life forms that ventured close to their location. One fact floated into his mind that he swatted away as soon as he could: He hadn’t seen another human since he had ran away from the pond.
In his hours alone, his memories of the fiasco replayed over and over in his mind. He saw Geoffrey get impaled again. He remembered Geoff’s Geodude trying in vain to attack the much larger Pokémon, only to be crushed as if it were made of clay. He relived the terror of witnessing the parent Tyranitar’s rage. Allan tried to think of ways that he may have been able to prevent what had happened. Something he could have done to save them.
Something in his mind snapped him out of his guilt-ridden state.
He sensed someone he knew.
He heard their voice as they screamed—in pain or terror, he couldn’t tell.
The commotion woke Umari with a start, with Allan doing his best to calm her down as quickly as he could. The two sat in their hideaway as silently as they could as Allan relayed what he sensed. Umari silently urged him to make himself known, but Allan ignored his Pokémon’s pleas. They could see the commotion from where they were hiding now.
Alice Wingborne was running through the dense forest, knocking against the trunks of trees as she ran by. She was being chased by a group of purple, scorpion-like Pokémon. The Skorupi were managing to move in the forested area much better than their human prey. They gained ground, some even leaping into the air at the girl. It was only a matter of time, Allan could tell, before they caught up to her.
‘We have to do something!’ Umari told him.
‘We’re staying put.’
Allan tried to block out Umari’s outrage at the decision. His attention was focused on the direction that the mass of poisonous Pokémon and the human they were chasing were going. He could sense, or rather couldn’t sense, a large moving gap within his mental scan. What that could mean, he didn’t know.
One of the Skorupi managed to get close to Alice and used one of its stingers to pierce the girl in her right leg. She stumbled, tumbling to a stop. She was five feet in front of where Allan and Umari were hiding, but she never saw their terrified faces as they looked on. The Skorupi converged on her. They stung and pinched her with their clawed tails. She screamed in pain and in terror.
“Stop! No! Get away! Help! Please! Anyone!?” she thrashed on the ground as the bed of Scorpion Pokémon descended upon her. “Help me!”
‘Allan!’
Allan sat there, holding Umari back with all of his strength. The source of the dark spot in his mental scans revealed itself. A hulking Drapion crawled up behind the horde of Skorupi. Its jaws dripped with a poisonous drool, adding a glimmer to the large white fangs they contained.
Another Dark type… not another… so many to deal with…
‘Allan! Please! She needs us!’ Umari cried.
‘I… I can’t. I can’t put you in more danger.’ Allan responded. He was frozen. Afraid but unable to look away from the scene in front of him. The Drapion drew closer to Alice.
Allan felt a sharp pain in his head. Blinking, he realized it was Umari screaming at him.
‘What if that was me over there!?’
In an instant, a wave of hypothetical scenarios washed over Allan’s mind. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, now sure of himself in more than one respect.
“Okay,” Allan said in a low voice. He reached behind him, and held two Poké Balls in his hand, turning on the sensory perception of the one in his left hand. He looked down to Umari, who was anxiously staring at him. “Listen carefully, you two. I only have time to explain this once.”
In a few seconds, Allan relayed his plan to Umari and Xutan, who sat ready in his Poké Ball. On Allan’s signal, he and Umari burst from their wooden shelter with Allan releasing Xutan in a flash of bright light an instant later. Umari was the spearhead to their assault. As the Drapion recovered from the bright light that Xutan’s Poké Ball created, it was greeted with a Take Down attack to the chest, sending it reeling backwards into the trees. As Umari backed away, a green-topped Poké Ball flew over her, hitting the Drapion in the head and absorbing it as a mass of red light.
As the leader of the swarm was occupied with struggling to escape its confines, Allan had Xutan turn his attention to the Skorupi. Pinpointing each of their minds—and with Allan’s guidance, avoiding Alice’s—the Natu sent as powerful of a wave of Confusion as he could muster, crippling the scorpions before they could do any more damage. With the smaller threats neutralized, Allan took his chance to get over to Alice.
She was still franticly swatting at the unconscious Pokémon that littered her body. She was screaming and shaking; Alice hadn’t even noticed Allan’s presence before he knelt by her side and grabbed her shoulders.
“Alice. Alice!” he said, audibly and mentally. “It’s okay. I’m right here.”
“I— I—” she looked at him, with dirt and blood covering her face, and tears pouring from her eyes. “A—Allan?”
“Yes.”
“I— I—” she tried to speak, but she could only sob harder. She flung her arms around her savior and squeezed him tight.
“I’m right here…” Allan said again. He pulled her back from her embrace, trying to get her to calm down. “Alice, we need to move, okay? That Drapion—”
‘Um, Allan?’ Umari called, urgently.
He spun around in fear, but saw his Eevee standing alone in the grass. She was pointing with a paw to the Friend Ball that he had thrown. It was still and silent on the ground.
‘You caught it. What should we do?’ Umari asked.
‘We move on. That thing would’ve killed us if it had gotten free,’ Allan said. Umari didn’t argue.
Allan turned back to Alice, who was still looking in terror at the Skorupi, fearful that they might wake up at any moment. She didn’t recognize his touch when Allan took her arm, but she felt the needle as it almost pricked her skin.
“Ah! No, get away!” she swatted at him, hitting his face. “I—I’m sorry! I thought—”
“It’s okay,” Allan said quickly. “This is an antidote for the poison; you were stung a lot.” She didn’t struggle, and let Allan administer the medicine and tend to her many cuts and scrapes. “Come on,” he urged, trying to pull her to her feet. “We need to go now, okay Alice?”
“I can’t.” She tried to stand, but her legs kept failing her. She broke into tears again. “I just… I can’t anymore… no more! He… he left me… Tropius…”
“Hey,” Allan said. “Listen to me. You’re exhausted, lost some blood, and taken quite a bit of poison. That antidote should be enough to take care of that—and I have plenty more for us—but you need to rest. We also need to keep moving and get you out of this forest, okay? You might need a hospital; hell, I might. But we need to move. Right. Now.”
“I… I can’t do it…” she said hopelessly.
“Okay, how about this? I can have Duncan put you to sleep. I’ll carry you, so you can rest up and let the medicine do its job, okay?”
Alice cried silently for a moment more before she agreed. In a quick fashion, Allan released his Exeggcute and ordered him to put Alice in a peaceful slumber. He recalled Duncan shortly after his job was done. As he called Xutan back over so that the group could move on into the forest, a rock struck his Natu as he fluttered through the air.
Allan traced the projectile back its origin; one of the angry Tyranitar from the pond. Sand began blowing through the trees like it had back at the pond.
In a fit of quickly realized fear, Allan recalled Xutan’s unconscious body to his ball, set it to stasis, and picked up Alice’s sleeping body.
“Run, Umari! Ahead of me! Go!”
The two ran away from the loud roars and sounds trees being ripped from the earth.
—————
He had almost thrown up twice since he had ran away, just from sheer exhaustion. It felt to Allan like days had passed since the Tyranitar last appeared. He wasn’t sure, he was afraid that if he took the time to look at his PokéGear, some new terror would come along. The only things he knew for sure were that his legs screamed at him to stop moving, his stomach lurched if he so much as jogged, and Umari was safe and sound, walking three feet in front of him.
Alice was breathing easy, blissfully unaware of things around her. Allan felt his arms wearing down; carrying her was becoming painful.
He was having trouble scanning mentally for and dangers ahead, having to rely on Umari’s sense of sound and smell now. Fear gripped him as the minutes and the trees passed by. What might he find next? What might find him?
Umari let Allan know moments before he saw it that they had come across a break in the trees. A clearing about thirty yards from end to end, and as wide, stretched out in front of him. In the center stood a small wooden shrine. The tarnished and overgrown wooden structure looked older than the trees that surrounded it. The moon shone high in the sky, bathing the area in gray light. It was the clearest Allan had seen all night.
The grass here grew short, and made walking easier for a change. As they were half way towards the shrine, Umari’s fur stood on end.
‘I hear something! I can smell it too!’
Allan tried as hard as he could to sense where and what it was, but he couldn’t sense anyone but himself, Alice, or Umari in the field. They stood still in the open field, looking around for what might be lurking in the darkness.
‘It’s moving closer!’ Umari warned. ‘What should we do?’
‘Run!’
The two moved as fast as their bodies would allow them, running around the ruined shrine. As they made their mad dash to the tree line in front of them, Allan could see something moving. It broke through the trees in front of them, blocking their escape north. A bipedal, feline Pokémon with a crown of red feathers stood its ground, brilliant white claws shining in the moonlight. The Weavile called into the night and then advanced on Allan and Umari.
An Absol appeared from Allan’s left as they tried to run away. A Houndoom joined the two other Dark type Pokémon. The three closed in on the humans and Eevee standing helplessly in the open.
Allan heard the now familiar roar of a Tyranitar behind him, tearing down trees as it moved.
With a scream that tore at his already worn throat from the morning before, Allan fell to his knees in despair. He consciously let Alice down onto the ground gently, and slumped down, staring into his own hands. They were covered mud, small cuts, and blood that was not his own.
“I… I just… I couldn’t do anything! I let down all those people—Geoff…” Allan cried, catching his head in his palms. “I couldn’t save anyone!”
He looked up, tears streaming from his eyes, and saw Umari looking back at him, matching his expression. She leaped into his arms, taking solace in his touch, shivering in fear—both of the situation, and seeing her trainer, someone who she thought was capable of doing the impossible, driven to his knees in defeat. It was the first time that night that she was genuinely afraid that she would die.
‘Allan? I’m scared…’ she said.
He focused himself only on her mind. Letting her light shine in his mind as brightly as he could. He closed his eyes, and held her close.
“Me too…” he said. ‘I’m so sorry, Umari.’
Allan could only see Umari’s mind in a haze of static. He let himself become lost in her presence; his precious Umari.
“What are you doing?”
A voice broke through Allan’s mental trance. He heard it, but he didn’t recognize it.
“Get up! It’s almost here!”
He looked up from Umari’s face to see a woman standing before him. She was tall, and looked to be older than him. Her hair betrayed her apparent age even more; shining silver hair framed her face and fell back behind her waist. Her clothes were tattered somewhat; had she been running through the forest too?
She stared at Allan with wide eyes. She beckoned him to stand up. “Move!” she yelled. “Weavile, Absol, Houndoom, protect him! It doesn’t look like he can stand!”
Allan looked on in awe as he was being surrounded by the Dark type Pokémon. The looks in their eyes were adamant and resolute; they would die protecting him under their trainer’s orders.
From where the Weavile had appeared in the clearing, came another new Pokémon. It stood as tall as the woman, and radiated a kind of blue energy from its paws. Steel spikes jutted from the backs of its glowing paws, as well as another from its chest. It wasn’t until the Lucario’s trainer came through the trees—the huge, muscular man actually needing to move some smaller ones out of his way—did Allan really begin to believe that he was right about the silver-haired woman’s identity.
“K— Karen?” he spoke with a raspy voice. “And… Bruno… of the Elite Four?”
The older woman knelt down to him, and beckoned her companion over. “Two survivors over here! May need physical assistance to move.” Karen turned her attention to Allan. “Are you alright? Is your friend?”
“I… we…” Allan started.
“We know what happened,” she said. “Mostly, anyway. Are you alright? Can you stand?”
“No,” said Allan. “Too exhausted.”
Behind him, Allan felt the whipping sandstorm and heard the Tyranitar come into the clearing. As he and Karen stayed low to the ground, Bruno and his Lucario stood against it. The Lucario was much smaller than the hulking green creature, but it sent volley after volley of Aura Spheres towards it, keeping it from advancing further.
“Here,” Bruno called behind him, throwing a Poké Ball on the ground. His Machamp stood tall and awaited orders. “Take the wounded with Karen. We’ll follow.”
Allan was picked up with ease, cradled in one arm, and Alice in another, as the Machamp, Karen, and her Pokémon began retreating from the clearing.
“You two are lucky,” Karen said as they moved quickly through the trees, Bruno’s Machamp simply chopping down ones in his way. “You’re the first survivors we’ve found tonight.”
“Wh-What are the Elite Four doing here?” Allan managed to ask.
“Your friend there—Alice? She got a distress message out. We heard what your group ran into and made it here as fast as possible. We tracked her location using her Pokédex’s satellite signal.”
Allan looked over to Alice, still asleep in one of Machamp’s arms.
“She saved our lives…” he said.
“And you saved her’s, by the looks of it,” Karen said, noticing the bandages. “Our colleague Koga is looking for other survivors still,” she went on. “Will is in Azalea making sure no one else comes in. Whitney is helping on her end…”
Allan could hear the Dark type expert continue to talk, but he didn’t listen. He could only hold Umari close in his arms, feel her fur, sense her presence, and be glad that they were alive.
—————
End of Arc 2
—————
To Be Continued…
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- 19
- 20
- 21
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The Dark Type