Story Notes:
<p><img src="http://img830.imageshack.us/img830/3345/image006d.gif" alt="" /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:'Freestyle Script';font-size:large;"> What separates sanity from delusion? <br /> <br /> Must the unknown always be met with confusion? <br /> <br /> For only if you are unable to show result <br /> <br /> Can it truly be referred to as the occult <br /> <br /> </span> - Zerobi (Excerpt from notes found at Cerulean Cave) <br /> <br /> <br /> <span style="font-family:'Book Antiqua';font-size:large;"> Our species is beyond understanding! <br /> <br /> There is nothing we cannot conquer! <br /> <br /> The elements shall bow before us! <br /> <br /> Even among our own, we shall be the greatest! <br /></span></p>
Author's Chapter Notes:
I was sitting at home, enjoying a particularly good movie when I got a call from work. Told me to put on the news. "So what? Let one of the newbies handle this" I said, but noooo...
Crap, I think it's starting to rain, too...
Snivy's Story
The rain was really coming down now. The strong wind was turning the minuscule raindrops into freezing icicles. While slithering through this storm would have been a lot faster than running, I would probably have drowned if I happened to come across an especially deep puddle.
Let me introduce myself - My name is Snivy, although my colleagues call me "Smugleaf", which they in turn say is "a fitting profile". I believe it's their way of coping with the fact that I am far more skilled at my job than they are. For instance, whatever pleasantries I would usually partake in on a Saturday night have been long forgotten since I was called in to work after this whole cult thing went down.
Yes, "cult thing". Apparently some Pokémon are so bored with their existence that they attempt to appease Arceus with strange rituals or try to create an eighteenth element. I mean, we all went looking for Mew under trucks and in mystery dungeons when we were kids, but there comes a time when you simply have to grow up and forget about all that.
This one went way out of proportions, though. I'm not fully up to date on what exactly went down, but people are calling it the greatest catastrophe of modern time, and the media refuses to release any statements or pictures of the event. "Evolution's Gate"... A gate to evolution...? Or is it just a name they liked and stuck with... Like "Smugleaf"...
I finally escaped the downpour and entered the police station. A man came to greet me, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I can't understand what he's saying. I nodded and told him to sod off (It's not like he can understand me either) before walking into the detention area.
The air was hot and heavy, and I could detect a strong scent of foulness hanging in the air. Sadly, I knew exactly what this meant.
"Smugleaf! Glad that you could make it, old pal!" I heard the revolting Muk say from behind me. He was holding some kind of sludge in his right hand, which I honestly couldn't tell if it was condiments or another missing piece from his brain.
"Umk, I was right before the Primal Dialga fight in Explorers of Darkness when you called" I said and suddenly wished I had started the movie 20 minutes earlier, "This had better be important."
"Ahaha, let me save you the trouble!" he chuckled, "The real villain's Lugia, everyone already knows that!"
The only thing stopping me from splattering this peon right here and now was the fact that I'd get Umk all over me and it might have made me as stupid, ugly and smelly he was.
"No, you've... You've seen the news, right?" he said, and looked concerned.
"Of course I have" I responded confidently, "Evolution's Gate, massacre, no survivors?"
"Oh, but see, there WERE survivors" he responded with the same confidence, which was quite unfitting, "We've got one of them right here."
He pointed over to the detention area, which had been completely fitted with two-way mirrors so that you would not have to be abnormally tall to see anything. In there was an Eevee, a young girl with brown fur. She was curled up in a ball, but not while lying down but rather sitting up and leaning against one of the mirrors. For a flexible Pokemon such as myself a feat like that would be fine, but I was pretty sure she had to be uncomfortable that way.
"Problem is, she ain't talking" Umk said, and tried to emulate a sigh which sounded more like a death rattle. I shuddered.
"So that's where I come in, eh?" I said and looked around the room from some sheet of paper, "... I'm guess you're the briefing?"
"You've got it" he said, and chuckled.
"... OK, tell me what you know, and then I'll go in there to get some info out of her"
Doors open. I enter. Doors close. Usually when you're trapped in a small room with nothing but mirrors, this would provoke a reaction out of you. But not this girl. She just blinked, and remained curled into a ball.
"Good evening, miss Eve" I said, and walked closer to her before sitting down on the floor. I saw that she was clutching some kind of artifact, holding it to her stomach. The little creature looked up for a moment, before resuming her brooding of the object in her paws.
"May I inquire as to what you are holding?" I asked, trying to sound as clinical as possible. She looked up again, and to my surprise I could see that her face showed confusion rather than anger or fear. Quite unusual.
"A Waterstone" she said, and looked down at it again. She was really quite taken with this object.
"Oh yes" I said while remembering my briefing, "Quite a valuable item among you Eevee, I hear. Are you planning on using it to evolve?"
Suddenly, she shot me a dirty look and started yelling. "If I could I wouldn't be here, now would I!?"
I was not caught off guard for even a moment, having seen this happen a million times. Finally, I was getting somewhere.
"Oh?" I asked with feigned curiosity, "Do elaborate."
"What, elaborate what?" she said while lowering her voice but keeping that angry tone, "You must have seen. You must have seen what had happened, what we did."
"Well... Not personally, no" I responded, never being one to lie, "But from what I hear you weren't exactly making berry juice."
"... Then why the hell would they send you!?" she started shouting again, "Why are you even talking to me!? Talk to Zerobi or Astrid if you want someone who knows anything!"
"Well, see, that's the problem" I started and a felt a surge of confidence well up, "We've tried asking them, but they were both a bit too dead to answer." Ah, that felt good.
Eve didn't even flinch. "Oh... I figured as much" she whispered, and then she slumped down on the ground and started cradling the Waterstone. Worried that I was losing her, I quickly thought back to my briefing once more.
"Zerobi... That was the Weavile, right?" I said while looking for some kind of reaction on the little girl. "According to the report, she managed to kill 4 humans and 3 Pokemon before being put down" I continued, and saw a slight cringe rock her body, "... Quite a high number. They say it was because she only dismembered a limb or two from her target before switching, causing them to die a few hours later."
"... Yeah, the blood." Eve whispered softly, "... It was the blood she craved."
"... Listen, I want to help you get out of this place and get some rest..." I said, getting tired of all the loose ends bundling up, "But you have to tell me what was going on in there. One second it's all nice and dandy, next it's a bloody bloodbath. No one knows why!"
"It was always a bloodbath..." she said with a dark tone in her voice, "I'm... Tired of this. I will tell you what happened, b-but you have to promise to let me go once I'm done."
"You have my word" I said as a reflex, simply glad to finally get her talking. I had better things to be doing, rather than listen to a bunch of crazy occult rituals.
"OK, then" she said, "This is how it all happened..."
Let me introduce myself - My name is Snivy, although my colleagues call me "Smugleaf", which they in turn say is "a fitting profile". I believe it's their way of coping with the fact that I am far more skilled at my job than they are. For instance, whatever pleasantries I would usually partake in on a Saturday night have been long forgotten since I was called in to work after this whole cult thing went down.
Yes, "cult thing". Apparently some Pokémon are so bored with their existence that they attempt to appease Arceus with strange rituals or try to create an eighteenth element. I mean, we all went looking for Mew under trucks and in mystery dungeons when we were kids, but there comes a time when you simply have to grow up and forget about all that.
This one went way out of proportions, though. I'm not fully up to date on what exactly went down, but people are calling it the greatest catastrophe of modern time, and the media refuses to release any statements or pictures of the event. "Evolution's Gate"... A gate to evolution...? Or is it just a name they liked and stuck with... Like "Smugleaf"...
I finally escaped the downpour and entered the police station. A man came to greet me, seemingly oblivious to the fact that I can't understand what he's saying. I nodded and told him to sod off (It's not like he can understand me either) before walking into the detention area.
The air was hot and heavy, and I could detect a strong scent of foulness hanging in the air. Sadly, I knew exactly what this meant.
"Smugleaf! Glad that you could make it, old pal!" I heard the revolting Muk say from behind me. He was holding some kind of sludge in his right hand, which I honestly couldn't tell if it was condiments or another missing piece from his brain.
"Umk, I was right before the Primal Dialga fight in Explorers of Darkness when you called" I said and suddenly wished I had started the movie 20 minutes earlier, "This had better be important."
"Ahaha, let me save you the trouble!" he chuckled, "The real villain's Lugia, everyone already knows that!"
The only thing stopping me from splattering this peon right here and now was the fact that I'd get Umk all over me and it might have made me as stupid, ugly and smelly he was.
"No, you've... You've seen the news, right?" he said, and looked concerned.
"Of course I have" I responded confidently, "Evolution's Gate, massacre, no survivors?"
"Oh, but see, there WERE survivors" he responded with the same confidence, which was quite unfitting, "We've got one of them right here."
He pointed over to the detention area, which had been completely fitted with two-way mirrors so that you would not have to be abnormally tall to see anything. In there was an Eevee, a young girl with brown fur. She was curled up in a ball, but not while lying down but rather sitting up and leaning against one of the mirrors. For a flexible Pokemon such as myself a feat like that would be fine, but I was pretty sure she had to be uncomfortable that way.
"Problem is, she ain't talking" Umk said, and tried to emulate a sigh which sounded more like a death rattle. I shuddered.
"So that's where I come in, eh?" I said and looked around the room from some sheet of paper, "... I'm guess you're the briefing?"
"You've got it" he said, and chuckled.
"... OK, tell me what you know, and then I'll go in there to get some info out of her"
Doors open. I enter. Doors close. Usually when you're trapped in a small room with nothing but mirrors, this would provoke a reaction out of you. But not this girl. She just blinked, and remained curled into a ball.
"Good evening, miss Eve" I said, and walked closer to her before sitting down on the floor. I saw that she was clutching some kind of artifact, holding it to her stomach. The little creature looked up for a moment, before resuming her brooding of the object in her paws.
"May I inquire as to what you are holding?" I asked, trying to sound as clinical as possible. She looked up again, and to my surprise I could see that her face showed confusion rather than anger or fear. Quite unusual.
"A Waterstone" she said, and looked down at it again. She was really quite taken with this object.
"Oh yes" I said while remembering my briefing, "Quite a valuable item among you Eevee, I hear. Are you planning on using it to evolve?"
Suddenly, she shot me a dirty look and started yelling. "If I could I wouldn't be here, now would I!?"
I was not caught off guard for even a moment, having seen this happen a million times. Finally, I was getting somewhere.
"Oh?" I asked with feigned curiosity, "Do elaborate."
"What, elaborate what?" she said while lowering her voice but keeping that angry tone, "You must have seen. You must have seen what had happened, what we did."
"Well... Not personally, no" I responded, never being one to lie, "But from what I hear you weren't exactly making berry juice."
"... Then why the hell would they send you!?" she started shouting again, "Why are you even talking to me!? Talk to Zerobi or Astrid if you want someone who knows anything!"
"Well, see, that's the problem" I started and a felt a surge of confidence well up, "We've tried asking them, but they were both a bit too dead to answer." Ah, that felt good.
Eve didn't even flinch. "Oh... I figured as much" she whispered, and then she slumped down on the ground and started cradling the Waterstone. Worried that I was losing her, I quickly thought back to my briefing once more.
"Zerobi... That was the Weavile, right?" I said while looking for some kind of reaction on the little girl. "According to the report, she managed to kill 4 humans and 3 Pokemon before being put down" I continued, and saw a slight cringe rock her body, "... Quite a high number. They say it was because she only dismembered a limb or two from her target before switching, causing them to die a few hours later."
"... Yeah, the blood." Eve whispered softly, "... It was the blood she craved."
"... Listen, I want to help you get out of this place and get some rest..." I said, getting tired of all the loose ends bundling up, "But you have to tell me what was going on in there. One second it's all nice and dandy, next it's a bloody bloodbath. No one knows why!"
"It was always a bloodbath..." she said with a dark tone in her voice, "I'm... Tired of this. I will tell you what happened, b-but you have to promise to let me go once I'm done."
"You have my word" I said as a reflex, simply glad to finally get her talking. I had better things to be doing, rather than listen to a bunch of crazy occult rituals.
"OK, then" she said, "This is how it all happened..."
Chapter End Notes:
Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended, and is applicable for all consecutive chapters that follow.