Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Rain Dance ❯ Passing On ( Chapter 4 )

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A day had passed, marked clearly by the darkening of the canopy and the faint twinkle of those few stars whose pale light managed to slip between the rough barriers of the branches. And then, as Batoy sat against a tree and watched, the dark skies lightened again, pearling with the rising of the sun. The evening showers never came, though their thunder towards the west constantly loomed, threatening to overtake him with a violent deluge. But as Batoy climbed back to his feet and trekked on, he couldn’t help but feel that gnawing, unnerving gut-burning feeling that he was being watched.

A foul, pungent odor wafted up from Eevee, and it took everything in Batoy’s power to ignore that terrible stench and refrain from tossing the dead creature. It would have been simple, of course, but his other Pokemon hadn’t been alerted to this development. In truth, Batoy didn’t want them to know. He imagined the look on Ollie’s face and shook his head. Wouldn’t it have been so simple to pretend it had never happened? No, they had the right to know. Better now than later. Batoy shook his head. He was disgusted at his own thoughts. It wasn’t right. This had been his fault, and he had to suffer the consequences of it, whatever they might be.

Biting his lip, Batoy came to a halt and set the Eevee down next to a wilted sapling that had sprouted too close to the base of its parent tree. He backed away before taking a deep breath, withdrawing two Pokeballs and releasing the Pokemon inside. The first to materialize was Ollie. The Jolteon flicked his ears before yawning, stretching out his back, the hairs on his back bristling as a surge of electricity rippled through his body. The second was an Eevee like Meta, yet had the natural colors of the species. The Eevee sat on his haunches and pawed lightly at his ears, doing a quick grooming session before looking around curiously. It wasn’t often that he was called out.

There was no easy way Batoy could have told the two Pokemon about the death of their sister, but any way would have been better than what happened. The Eevee’s nose wrinkled at a strange and terrible scent, and he turned. ~V-Vee…?~ the little Pokemon stammered, his voice caught in his throat. Curious at the actions of his brother, Ollie turned as well, and Batoy only closed his eyes at the dreadful yelps that followed. His heart beat quickly, and he couldn’t even imagine the depth of their pain.

The sizzle of electricity caught his ears, and he looked up to see Ollie desperately shocking the Eevee’s body. ~Jol! Jolte!~ he cried, blue waves of crackling energy washing over the little fox’s body. “Ollie…” Batoy sighed, but the Jolteon only tried harder, increasing the flow of electricity. He paused to pant, before trying yet again. Batoy moved closer, and as gently as he could, wrapped his arms around the spiky Pokemon’s neck. His body went numb from the electricity, but he only pressed harder against the Jolteon, the furry spikes sharply pricking against his body. “It’ll be okay,” Batoy whispered into his ear, the numbing pain washing over his body strangely comforting. Maybe this could be his punishment. He could die and all the guilt would go away. “It would be easy…” Batoy’s vision slowly faded to white.

The skies had darkened considerably when Batoy finally awoke to a semi-moist nosing in his ear. “Urgh… huh? Manual?” he stuttered as the Eevee pulled away. The boy slowly rose to his knees and rubbed his head. Had he really been out so long? He gazed passed Manual and looked at Ollie, who sat unmoving, perched over the Eevee’s body. The Jolteon’s ears folded back and it gave a low whimper that sputtered into nothing. A ripple of electricity surged from his back to between his ears before flickering out. The Eevee sighed and approached his older brother. ~Vee~ he cooed, nuzzling against Ollie’s leg, and the Jolteon shivered.

“Hey…” Batoy started, but he was uncertain how to continue. He felt clueless and impersonal. The two Pokemon looked at him. “If… you hate me… you… can do whatever you want. I’m so very sorry….” Manual only blinked, but it was Ollie who stood up and went to him. The Jolteon trudged slowly, his head and nigh invisible tail hung low, and when he reached Batoy, laid his head on the boy’s arm. Batoy scratched gently behind Ollie’s ears. The Jolteon’s fur had softened again, and Batoy pulled him into a hug again.

“I know…” he said softly, “that there isn’t anything I can say… or do… that would make this easier… I know I could’ve done more… or done something differently. I just… hope you’ll forgive me….” Batoy tightened his hug around Ollie’s neck, and the Jolteon sniffled, but nuzzled against him. Batoy smiled softly, his eyes tearing again. “Thank you so much, Ollie.”

Manual splayed his ears as he made his way back with the other two. His young mind hadn’t quite comprehended the fact that his older sister was gone forever, but his heart ached terribly. ~Ee…vee…~ Tugging both Pokemon close to him, Batoy sighed. A cool breeze passed through the trees, and he couldn’t help but shiver. How long had he been out here? A day? Two? Brand would probably be peeved at him again. “I really don’t want to go there…” Batoy moaned as he stood up. He just had the sudden urge to be out of the mountains. “I’m just gonna get yelled at again. But I guess I gotta go there. C’mon, guys….”

Reluctantly, Batoy began to head north again, and Ollie and Manual followed. Not one looked back towards the Eevee, and though Manual tried, a soft bark from Ollie set him ahead again. Manual teared up and bounded in front of them in a huff, leaving Ollie to sigh and shake his head. ~Jolt…eon…~ he murred, and Batoy only stayed silent. Both refused to turn around. If they looked back, they’d never leave.

The sky darkened, and than began to grow lighter as the three moved through the mountains. By the midday, Batoy was beat, and the two brothers were panting heavily. “Hey… think we should… take a little break?” he asked between breaths, and both Pokemon nodded. Batoy collapsed against a particularly tall tree, his mind already threatening to drift. He stifled a yawn, and glanced up at the high branches of the canopy. Through the leaves, he could see the faint glow of the sun through thin almost misty stratus. A large brown owl sat on one of the lower branches, its eyes closed. The crest on its forehead waved with the gentle wind. “Heh… Noctowl…” Batoy mumbled. When was the last time he’d seen one of those? He zoned out and slept dreamlessly for a few hours.

Waking again, he glanced around, looking for other wild Pokemon. Here and there, attached firmly to the bark of an oak by tight silk strands, were cocoons of all colors, green, yellow, white and purple. How had he not noticed them before? The cocoons were high, not easily reached by the passing ground-dweller. The faint flutter of wings caught his attention, and he looked to see a Beautifly tending one of the white cocoons, probing at it with her proboscis.

Suspended from the lowest branches, he could see the cones of the conifer trees, and among those, odd teal ones that shivered occasionally. “Pineco,” Batoy said, grinning. He’d never seen one before. Other than in the Safari Zone back home, he didn’t know that they were found anywhere else. Close to one of the Pineco, an orange-red bug, Paras, shuffled along slowly, the mushrooms on her back scattering small yellow spores. The Pineco began to spin and the powder was dispersed.

Not too far away from the Pineco, suspended from the lower branches of some of the lesser developed sapling oaks, were a bunch of creatures Batoy had never seen before.  With grayish bodies surrounded by browning pine needles, they swayed gently from the branches with curled tendrils. Burmy were their names.

It was while watching these Pokemon that Batoy noticed something rather peculiar. On one of the branches, staring in his direction was a white bird with small blue stripes on its large wings and a long yellow beak with a black tip. “What the… that shouldn’t be here…” Batoy muttered as he stared at the bird. A sense of anxiety climbed into his gut. Wingulls weren’t forest Pokemon; they weren’t well equipped to fly without the thermals found out in open sky over the sea. But yet, here was one, and it was staring at him.

“Um… hey, guys?” Batoy said softly, looking at the two brothers. Both were asleep, Manual on top of his brother, and only begrudgingly did they rise from their exhausted slumber at Batoy’s voice. ~Jol…~ Ollie moaned as he yawned, and Manual flicked his ears and wiped his snout with a paw, rolling off the Jolteon. “I think we better get out of here… I’m starting to get a bad feeling about this.”

But as Batoy rose to his feet, the Wingull suddenly made an awful cawing, a cawing that started and did not stop. Gritting his teeth, Batoy growled at the source. “Hey! Cut it out!” he yelled, but the gull continued its raucous noise. Those Pokemon that could move, the Beautifly, the Paras, the once-sleeping Noctowl, all moved away; even the Pineco and Burmy began a migration to another tree. Batoy growled again. The gull did not seem to be stopping. “Ollie! Try to take it out! Thundershock!”

Annoyed by the bird’s caucus racket, Ollie leapt into a crouch, his dark violet eyes glowing yellow as a tiny sparks leapt across his spines, a popping sound growing louder with each second until his entire body was aglow with a flicking aura. He arched his back, and with a great snapping sound, sent three static bolts racing towards the Wingull. But the bird leapt from its branch, cawing even louder now, and the sparks of lightning passed by its wing, sailing into the sky. “Try again, Thundershock!” But the Wingull just circled around, dodging attack after attack, before finally making a pass. A blue orb collected in its beak, and as the Wingull passed over the Jolteon, it released several pulses of water in the shape of swirling rings which collided with the yellow fox, knocking him on his side.

Growling at the attack on his brother, Manual stepped up, watching the Wingull’s pattern before he ran forward towards a low hanging branch. Leaping on that, he took to the trees, leaping from branch to branch until he’d gained some ground on the Wingull. The ocean bird swung underneath, and the Eevee leapt off with a sharp cry, his claws aimed for the Wingull’s back. But the bird banked suddenly, and Manual grunted as he landed roughly. The Eevee made his way next to Ollie, who was climbing back to his paws. The Wingull began to swirl around the two Pokemon, its wings glowing in a cyan light. It moved faster and faster, kicking up dead pine needles, until a raging twister surrounded the two Pokemon, battering them with debris. Batoy grunted, holding an arm out to protect his face from the wind and flying objects. “C’mon, guys! You can break free! Manual, Focus!”

His paws sinking into the ground, Manual growled and an orange aura began to creep around his fur, almost like it’d been set on fire. The Eevee’s eyes narrowed as they shimmered. “Alright, go, Quick Attack!” The Eevee sprang forward, bursting free of the whirlwind. With supernatural speed, he sprang from limb to limb, headbutting the Wingull and knocking it off course. The twister immediately dispersed, and Manual sighed in relief. The flying bird squawked bitterly before gliding off. Batoy made his way to Ollie, who’d been cowering with his paws over his head, whimpering. “Shh, shh, it’s okay now Ollie. It’s gone now. Do you want to go back inside your ball?” The shivering Jolteon climbed to his feet and shook his head, sparking angrily at the Wingull.

Sighing, Batoy looked in the direction in which the Wingull fled. There were no bodies of water nearby, so only one possibility for this strange occurrence existed. “Okay, we gotta get out of here,” he said, more anxious than before. The two Pokemon nodded. But the three of them had only taken a few steps before a blue orb, almost blindingly fast, shot past them, slamming into one of the giant oaks and splattering it with a chocolate-colored mud. Batoy turned to see a pale blue creature with small beady eyes and a large, flat tail and gulping mouth. Behind it stood a large red crab, a yellow star on its forehead which also brandished several wicked looking horns. Three humans stood there as well, two men and a woman in the lead, all dressed in blue slacks and blue vests with a white undershirt. On the woman’s outstretched copper-skinned arm, the Wingull perched, munching on a yellowish Sitrus berry.

“Did this little brat hurt you, my little Gully?” the woman cooed, just loud enough for Batoy to hear. The Wingull gave a pathetic screech, and Manual growled. He hadn’t managed to land that damaging of a hit, and yet that Wingull was clowning around like it’d seen death. The woman glanced back towards Batoy, a smirk on her face. “You know who we are, and we know who you are,” she said, stepping forward. “You have something I want, and you’re going to give it to me. If you don’t, well…you won’t like the consequences.”

“Aqua… what’re they doing here? I don’t have time to deal with this…” Batoy muttered to himself before looking at Manual. “Hey, think you can make a quick distraction?” he whispered, and the Eevee nodded before crouching. The Quagsire and Crawdaunt stepped forward, but their advance circumvented when a brown streak shot by them, slamming into the woman and knocking her to her back. “Okay, cool!” he said as the Eevee retreated beside him. He grinned before turning and running. Ollie followed, and moments later, Manual as well.

The woman cursed, holding her gut where the Eevee had rammed her. “Nugh… damned Eevee… I’ll kill that thing.”

One of the men stepped forward, offering his hand. “Ms. Alisha, ma’am, he cannot head far in that direction. If we give pursuit, we may be able to corner him on the plateau.”

Alisha nodded, climbing to her feet. “Right. Take Quagsire and approach from the eastern direction. I’ll come from the south with Crawdaunt.”

Scuffling through the undergrowth of the oak forest, the two brothers leaping in stride, Batoy finally pushed into the open area of the plateau. What would have been a magnificent sight under any other circumstance came into view, but Batoy was far too bothered to noticed the gorgeous snow-capped mountains and deep ravines. The only thing he saw was, nestled next to the forest, a vast collection of buildings and homes. “Is that it? Eterna City?” he asked no one in particular. It didn’t seem too far away. Of course, that was as the Pidgey flies. It would take him another day to find a path down into the ravine. And he just didn’t have that kind of time.

“Now, you know you’ll get a really good view if you step forward,” the woman’s voice suddenly called out, and Batoy started so suddenly that he nearly lost his balance; something that would have sent him careening over the edge. He turned to see the woman posed, a smirk on her face. Just in front of her, its claws snapping menacingly, the Crawdaunt stood, its eyes stuck in a glare. “Let’s end this right now,” she said smugly. “You won’t escape from us, so you might as well spare us both the time and energy.”

Batoy turned towards the east, but that direction was blocked as well. The Quagsire, its flat tail thumping against the ground, strolled to meet with the Crawdaunt, blocking any possible avenue of escape. “Who… who are you? What do you want with me?” Manual strolled in front of him, crouched low, his ears flattened. His fur bristled. Behind him, Ollie whimpered. Batoy winced at the noise and lowered, rubbing the Jolteon’s back. “Don’t worry, Ollie,” he whispered. “You don’t have to fight. We’ll find some way to get through this.”

“Honestly, must we really go through such introductions? Fine. My name is Alisha. You needn’t remember it. You have something that we want. I’m here to retrieve it. It’s really that simple.” Alisha snapped her fingers, the loud pop reverberating around the mountains. The Crawdaunt stepped forward, one of its sharp forelegs piercing the ground. “So you really only have one choice, which, I suppose, isn’t much of a choice at all.”

Batoy gritted his teeth. “Well, Manual… I guess it’s about time we used our last resort…” he whispered. The Crawdaunt took another step forward, and that was all Manual needed to start the attack. His haunches rose into the air before he kicked off, racing towards the Crawdaunt at impressive speeds. But that approach was put to a brutal halt as the Crawdaunt’s claws swirled with a light blue light. The Eevee’s rush was met with one of the large claws, sending Manual flying backwards with a pained yelp. The Quagsire, already quick on the action, intercepted Manual as he was knocked back, his large tail slamming into the poor Eevee. Manual was flung back towards the Crawdaunt, who brought its other claw to bear, and with that powerful Crabhammer, sent Manual hurtling back towards Batoy. The Eevee crashed and skidded against the ground, flipping and tumbling haphazardly. He landed at Ollie’s paws, totally unconscious and unmoving, a slight amount of blood trickling from his muzzle.

Batoy had scarcely sank down to scoop up the Eevee before Ollie leapt forward. His fur sparked angrily as he fired his Thundershock, but the Quagsire merely took the attack, sparks glancing harmlessly of its body. Crawdaunt strolled to the sides, its pincers opening and a thick stream of bubbles pulsing outwards. Ollie crouched to leap, but as he did, the Quagsire’s maw opened, spitting out several blue orbs that quickly collided into the Jolteon, exploding into a shower of mud as they did so. The Bubblebeam from the Crawdaunt slammed into the ground close to Batoy, nearly causing him to teeter back. Ollie landed haphazardly, barely able to keep his balance on the mud, but a combined attack of Mud Shot and Bubblebeam slammed into his side, sending him sprawling next to Batoy in not much better a condition than his brother. Batoy hunched down, laying a hand on the Jolteon, his mouth agape and his eyes wide and shocked. “Ollie, not you, too?! Guys, are you alright? C’mon, hang in there!”

Alisha gave a sigh as she snapped her fingers again, and the two water Pokemon suddenly pulled back. “See, what did I say?” she said nonchalantly as Batoy tried to rouse his fallen Pokemon. “This wasn’t necessary, but oh well.”

Failing to awaken either Pokemon, Batoy recalled both of them. By this time, he was distraught. He gritted his teeth and stood up, backing up slightly. The edge of his heel grazed the edge of the ravine, bringing him to a forced stop. Any further and he would have toppled over the edge. A good five stories separated him from the tops of the lower oaks. Only with luck could he live through such a fall. “Darn it…” he muttered, his hand reaching into his pockets. There was no way Jet could handle two of them at once, not two water types. “Fine, I give up… what do you want?”

“We’ve been over this before,” Alisha said, her voice sharper with annoyance. “Can’t you at least pretend to have some intelligence? Give us the microchip you have in your possession and we’ll be on our way. There’s already been muss and fuss, and I rather not deal with it anymore.”

How did they know that? How did they know where he was? Batoy’s fingers stroked Jet’s ball inside his pocket. He’d come so far, Eterna City was just a few kilometers away. He could see it. He couldn’t give up now. “I…” A low rumble, almost like distant thunder, cut off his sentence. The ground beneath him began to quiver as fractures spread through the ground from where the Bubblebeam had connected. And before he could take a single step from where he stood, the ground around Batoy gave way, sending the boy down the side of the cliff with an avalanche of rocks. As he fell, he heard a sharp, angry cry of frustration.

A grim calm overcame Batoy as he watched the canopy race towards him at increasing speeds. It seemed almost like slow motion. There was no way he’d be able to grab a hold of the cliff without breaking his arms. Even if he managed to land in one of the tall trees, he’d be so high that he could never get down. He squeezed his eyes closed. He didn’t want to see death come. Even when he heard one of the larger rocks shatter against the cliff underneath him, he didn’t open his eyes.

A very rough landing met him as Batoy fell on something hard and metallic. He opened his eyes to find himself on the head of a massive steel snake, a Steelix. Had that been what he heard? But yet the serpent was still airborn, and rather than wonder how he’d gotten here, Batoy hung on for dear life as they passed into the canopy. His ears heard the splinter of wood against the heavy and huge beast. And then impact! Batoy was tossed from the Steelix’s head and landed roughly on his back, grunting but other than an aching pain that already started to fade, he was no worse for the wear. He picked himself up. “Nugh… what happened…”

“Well, had it not been for my Steelix, you probably would’ve been dead.”

The voice caught Batoy’s attention and he turned to see a familiar face. “H-Hey… you’re that guy from before…you were at the jail, weren’t you?” Though dressed in a pair of jeans and a blue polo shirt, Batoy still recognized him as the same guy. The one from the room that had given him such a hateful look.

“That would be me,” he said, his eyes dark and unreadable. “You’re the one who’s to blame for me staying in that horrible place.” Ignoring Batoy’s falling expression, the boy raised a blue sphere with two red stripes and recalled the Steelix.

Finally looking up, Batoy nodded slowly. “…Uh… sorry about that, I guess…” he stammered, honestly at a lost for words. “Um… anyways, thanks a lot, pal, but I gotta get going.” He took a moment to regain his sense of direction, but just as he took a step, the boy moved in front of him. “What the… Hey, c’mon, get out of the way… I really gotta go….”

“Your name’s Batoy, huh?” The boy’s dark eyes flickered. “I guess I kinda see the resemblance… so it wasn’t their total stupidity that got me confused with you,” he said, his arms crossed. Batoy grimaced, biting his lip. “I don’t know what you stole that got me into so much trouble, but if you give it to me, at least that would be worth something.” He smirked a bit.

Batoy lifted his eyes towards the canopy. He felt almost giddy now. “I really, really should’ve guessed… What’s with everybody and this damn thing anyways?!” he asked, his elation falling now. “How does everyone keep finding me? What do you all want with me?”

The boy gave him a look of contempt. “I’m surprised you don’t know. But then again, I guess if you did know, you wouldn’t have stolen it. What do you think it does?”

“I don’t care! I just wanna know why everyone’s keeps trying to take it from me!”

The boy shook his head. “I should just make you suffer for what I had to go through, but I can’t. What you took is really too important, even for me” Batoy twitched slightly. “You stole it from the Global Trade Center. You’re making so many people and Pokemon suffer! It pisses me off!”

Batoy faltered slightly. Something didn’t feel right at all. What was this boy talking about? “Just… who are you anyways?” He paused a bit. “And… if I give you this thing, then what happens? What happens to me?”

The boy relaxed but didn’t smile. “Name’s Aaron. As for you, first I won’t pound you into the ground for me taking your rap! Second, I can give that chip to the people it belongs to and end all the trouble you’re causing!”

“Fine…” Batoy bit his lip again as he withdrew Jet’s Pokeball. With a flash, the Quilava appeared, immediately flaring up as he caught sight of Aaron, but Batoy quickly knelt down. “Calm down, hun, it’s alright. He’s a friend.” He glanced up at Aaron. “Right?”

“Psh, yeah right.” Aaron looked towards the north. “Whatever, just hurry up. We don’t have much time.”

“Wait, why?”

“Damnit, kid, just give it to me!”

Flinching, Batoy turned back towards Jet. The microchip was between his fangs, and he looked up at Batoy with a dubious look. “Please… don’t look at me like that, Jet…” Batoy asked softly, trying to work the chip away, but Jet growled and the area around his neck grew extremely hot. Batoy grimaced. “C’mon, Jet, behave.”

“What’s taking so long?” Aaron asked impatiently.

“Jet won’t let go of it…” Batoy whimpered as he continued struggling with the Pokemon. “I don’t know why he’s being so stubborn!”

“Geez, just take the damn thing from it! It’s just a Pokemon.”

Batoy glanced up him. “But Jet won’t let go….”

For a moment, Aaron turned red, and Batoy wandered if the boy was going to lash out at him. He certainly seemed livid enough to do such a thing. But then the boy turned again and cursed under his breath. “Nugh… too late.” And without saying another word, Aaron turned and fled.