Story Notes:
The story has been finished, the follow-up will be written soon, and it will the be called: The Primal Spark: Another Time, Another Place.
Chapter 44 (desperate times)
(Grunt's P.O.V)
"Jupiter, come in Jupiter! I'm in position for the testing" I said, almost shouting into a walkie-talkie emblazoned with the Galactic insignia.
"237, keep it down! we have crossed channels, and everyone can hear you" I heard another grunt respond
"hey, can it!" I shouted in response "this is the most important task today, so I need full co-operation here"
"...this is Jupiter, go ahead 237" I heard a female voice say
"ah, there you are Jupiter, look, I need to know, there's some man, along with some pokemon in the blast radius, should I continue with the test as planned?" I asked, unsure of our stance on unnecessary casualties
"if all goes according to plan, we may end up using these as weapons anyway, proceed with the test, or would you prefer that I tell the boss that we have ANOTHER delay?" Jupiter responded, in a threatening tone
"right, point taken" I responded, nervously, I barely even knew the boss, but I knew he was someone I wouldn't want to cross... "proceeding with the testing of the Galactic bomb in T-minus 10 seconds" I said into the walkie-talkie, while looking at the detonator in my other hand...
(Lucas's P.O.V)
"anyway, after that point, we've been, well, together" I said, while bringing my arm back around Seena, just then, the Mother Kangaskhan asked
"do you hear that?"
"hear what?" I asked in response
"it's faint, but I think I can hear a beeping" she said, before standing up and looking around, soon after, she had a panicked expression on her face
"what's going on?" I asked
"this is no time to talk, take my daughter and get back" she said, before handing us her child, who was still sleeping soundly
"what's going on!?" I asked again, becoming incredibly worried
"there's a bomb right by here, I need, I need to tell the others, help them evacuate, but I need you to ensure my child's safety, go, now!" she responded, pushing us towards the entrance of the Great Marsh.
"alright, come on, Seena" I said, before taking the Kangaskhan's child and running towards the main entrance, looking back at the Mother, I could see that she was rushing back to another area of the Marsh, looking back ahead, I looked up and saw him, on the viewing platform, a Galactic grunt, but when I ran inside, intent on confronting him, it was already too late, I heard a deafening explosion, looking back, the area that the Kangaskhan had just run into was entirely demolished...
(Grunt's P.O.V)
I watched the explosion, unsure of how I should feel, sure it brought us closer to our goal, but what of the lives I may have just extinguished?
I was in a daze for a short while, before I heard the familiar female voice say "what are you waiting for? get out of there while they're all distracted!"
I shook myself back to my senses and responded, "right, the test was a complete success" while grabbing the walkie-talkie, and making my way to the entrance, under the cover of confusion...
(Lucas's P.O.V)
"what just happened?" I heard Linda ask, completely confused
"there, there was a bomb out there!" I responded, before turning to Seena and saying "we have to go back out there and find her"
"I know Lucas, I know" she responded, while shaking her head slightly through a pained expression...
...soon after, we were back out there, looking for the Mother Kangaskhan
"where could she have gone?" I asked, while looking down at her infant child.
"I don't know..." Seena started, in a panicked tone "but we have to find her!"
we continued looking for a few minutes, and we ended up finding her, face first on the ground...
I rushed to her side, shouting "no, NO, you can't be dead!" while flipping her onto her back, Seena stood away, holding the child in a way that if she woke up, she wouldn't see what had happened
"what should we do?" Seena asked tearfully, turning back to her, with an almost matching expression I responded
"I don't know, Seena..." before turning back to the kangaskhan and saying "why'd you do it? why'd you have to go and DIE like this!?" before pounding on her chest once, she coughed up some blood, suddenly coming to.
"It was awfully selfish of me..." she started weakly, while looking towards Seena "to die like this, wasn't it?"
I brought a hand to the side of her head, before saying "please don't talk like that, we can...we can save you..." she shook her head before responding
"no...you can't, you know it just as well as I do...I'm done for" she responded, grabbing my arm.
"But, but what should we do?" I asked, before turning to Seena, looking at the child before continuing "about her?"
"you said you wanted to be parents one day...didn't you?" she said, through a weak smile, Seena shook her head and responded
"no...not like this..."
"I'm sorry I forced her on you like this...but she needs you now..." the Kangaskhan responded, her breathing becoming weaker
"but how are we meant to take care of her?" I asked, moving slightly closer
"I don't really know, myself...I'm sure you'll get it, though" she responded
"I...I don't know if I can do this..." Seena said, before looking down at the child and asking "but why hasn't she woken up yet?"
"a child is awfully hard to wake, on the same day thy're born..." the Kangaskhan responded, while moving one of her hands down to her pouch before continuing "I guess, it's a mixed blessing, she won't remember any of this..."
"she was only born today? do you have a name for her?" I asked, holding her up slightly
"E...Elese, that's her name...please take care of her..." she responded, weakly, at this point, I could feel her very life itself ebbing away.
"I will...I promise" I said, with tears welling up in my eyes.
"you too, Seena..." she said, turning her head to my companion
"I'll try my best..." Seena responded, before moving closer and asking "do you want to say anything to your child?"
reaching out and touching the sleeping infants head, she said "I'm sorry I won't be there for you when you're growing up...there are so many things I'll miss..." she then turned her head to me and said "don't let her know about this...about me...not until she's grown..."
"how can I just pretend you don't exist?" I asked in response
"you have to...I won't have my daughter become just another Cubone...please...don't tell her..." she said, her eyes slowly closing, at this point, I lost it, tears started rolling down my face, I pulled myself closer to her, saying
"I could have stopped this...this is my fault!" Seena came closer, reaching an arm out to my shoulder and said
"Lucas, it's not your fault...it's Team Galactic's..."
"but what can I do about them!?" I responded, almost shouting at Seena "how could I let this happen again? first you and now Elese..." I then saw Wake running up to us
"what happened here!?" he asked, through a panicked tone
"Wake...some Galactic grunt set off a bomb here, and it took the life of this Kangaskhan..." Seena said, shaking her head
"I knew I couldn't trust those bastards! where is he!? I'll snap his neck!" Wake responded, suddenly becoming very angry
"I don't know, but I'm guessing that he has fled from the scene, try outside" Seena said, pointing to the entrance
"alright, don't worry, I'll get him..." Wake started, before I cut him off
"please don't tell anyone about this Kangaskhan...we have to make sure her daughter doesn't find out..."
"al...alright, I won't tell a soul..." he said, before dashing off back to the entrance, turning to Seena, I said
"alright...if we're going to hide the evidence that this Kangaskhan existed...we're going to need a spot to bury her"
"bury her? I had a slightly different idea in mind..." Seena said, while looking around at the fallen trees
"what do you mean?" I asked, wearily
"A funeral pyre..." Seena said, before moving to my bag and continuing "but before we do that, we're going to need to put Elese in a safe place" she then grabbed an empty pokeball out of my bag, tossing it to me, grabbing it out of the air, I said
"I know, Seena...I know" before sighing and continuing "I wish there was some other way"
"so do I Lucas...but we're out of options here" she said, before bringing the child to me, I hesitantly tapped Elese with the activator on the pokeball, reducing her sleeping form to a red light, that retreated inside the pokeball... there was no resistance, as I soon heard the telltale click of a successful capture.
Seena turned towards the entrance and said "Lucas, roll some of the fallen tree-logs together, I'm going to get Matt and Terese...as strong as you are, I don't think you'll be able to lift this Kangaskhan on your own" nodding silently to this, I started, moving towards the fallen trees, as Seena ran off to get the others...
...while I was rolling the logs together, I looked around at the now-silent area of the Marsh...everyone else was gone, and the pokemon were staying away from this area, a lot of smoke was still rising from the ground, as some small fires burned around the area "this is terrible..." I thought to myself, as I continued rolling logs to the area beside the mother Kangaskhan "I can't believe I couldn't do anything..."
soon after, Terese and Matt arrived, with solemn expressions on their faces "Seena told us everything..." Terese said, while making her way over to the Kangaskhan, she then bent down, placing a hand on the Kangaskhan's forehead "we'll see you off" she continued, before standing back up and turning to me, and asking "is the pyre ready?" I nodded silently in response, Terese then turned to Matt and said
"it looks like it's time, then..." Matt responded by folding his arms and making his way over to us, we circled around the Kangaskhan, I lifted from her shoulders, and Matt and Terese lifted from the sides of her waist and legs, we placed her on top of the pyre, as Seena made her way back to me, after we put the Kangaskhan on the pyre, Matt, Terese and Seena stood back, seeing this, I nodded, before igniting my arm in a strong flame, waving it over some of the kindling at the sides of the pyre, they quickly set alight...
...standing back, I looked at the funeral pyre, that was now quickly being covered in flames "this was...this was far too sudden..." I said, before looking down
"it never gets any easier..." Seena responded, before bringing an arm around my waist, looking over to Terese and Matt, I saw that Matt was holding Terese, comforting her
"I'm sorry things ended up like this" I said, while bringing my head up to see the entire pyre now engulfed in flames...
...we silently watched the pyre burning for the next couple of hours, turning to the others, I asked "what should we do?..."
"about Elese?" Terese asked in response, while turning back to me, I nodded silently in response "well, that's entirely up to you and Seena...you're the ones the mother entrusted her to..." she continued
"I...I don't know if I'm ready to be a parent yet..." Seena said, while looking up at me
"I know how you feel, Seena...but we can't just abandon her..." I responded
"I think you should try...and besides, you'll have me and Matt, along with the others, I'm sure they'll be able to help you..." Terese said, moving over to us, followed closely by Matt
"I know I'll be there to help if you need me to..." he said, offering me one of his hands, I took his hand, lifting myself and Seena off the ground
"thank you, both of you" I said, trying my best to smile
"so...what should we do now?" Seena asked
"we go back to Snowpoint...and we try to live..." I said, looking at her, before turning to face the pyre and continuing "as parents..."Chapter End Notes:alright, mixing things up a little with the Grunt's P.O.V
"Jupiter, come in Jupiter! I'm in position for the testing" I said, almost shouting into a walkie-talkie emblazoned with the Galactic insignia.
"237, keep it down! we have crossed channels, and everyone can hear you" I heard another grunt respond
"hey, can it!" I shouted in response "this is the most important task today, so I need full co-operation here"
"...this is Jupiter, go ahead 237" I heard a female voice say
"ah, there you are Jupiter, look, I need to know, there's some man, along with some pokemon in the blast radius, should I continue with the test as planned?" I asked, unsure of our stance on unnecessary casualties
"if all goes according to plan, we may end up using these as weapons anyway, proceed with the test, or would you prefer that I tell the boss that we have ANOTHER delay?" Jupiter responded, in a threatening tone
"right, point taken" I responded, nervously, I barely even knew the boss, but I knew he was someone I wouldn't want to cross... "proceeding with the testing of the Galactic bomb in T-minus 10 seconds" I said into the walkie-talkie, while looking at the detonator in my other hand...
(Lucas's P.O.V)
"anyway, after that point, we've been, well, together" I said, while bringing my arm back around Seena, just then, the Mother Kangaskhan asked
"do you hear that?"
"hear what?" I asked in response
"it's faint, but I think I can hear a beeping" she said, before standing up and looking around, soon after, she had a panicked expression on her face
"what's going on?" I asked
"this is no time to talk, take my daughter and get back" she said, before handing us her child, who was still sleeping soundly
"what's going on!?" I asked again, becoming incredibly worried
"there's a bomb right by here, I need, I need to tell the others, help them evacuate, but I need you to ensure my child's safety, go, now!" she responded, pushing us towards the entrance of the Great Marsh.
"alright, come on, Seena" I said, before taking the Kangaskhan's child and running towards the main entrance, looking back at the Mother, I could see that she was rushing back to another area of the Marsh, looking back ahead, I looked up and saw him, on the viewing platform, a Galactic grunt, but when I ran inside, intent on confronting him, it was already too late, I heard a deafening explosion, looking back, the area that the Kangaskhan had just run into was entirely demolished...
(Grunt's P.O.V)
I watched the explosion, unsure of how I should feel, sure it brought us closer to our goal, but what of the lives I may have just extinguished?
I was in a daze for a short while, before I heard the familiar female voice say "what are you waiting for? get out of there while they're all distracted!"
I shook myself back to my senses and responded, "right, the test was a complete success" while grabbing the walkie-talkie, and making my way to the entrance, under the cover of confusion...
(Lucas's P.O.V)
"what just happened?" I heard Linda ask, completely confused
"there, there was a bomb out there!" I responded, before turning to Seena and saying "we have to go back out there and find her"
"I know Lucas, I know" she responded, while shaking her head slightly through a pained expression...
...soon after, we were back out there, looking for the Mother Kangaskhan
"where could she have gone?" I asked, while looking down at her infant child.
"I don't know..." Seena started, in a panicked tone "but we have to find her!"
we continued looking for a few minutes, and we ended up finding her, face first on the ground...
I rushed to her side, shouting "no, NO, you can't be dead!" while flipping her onto her back, Seena stood away, holding the child in a way that if she woke up, she wouldn't see what had happened
"what should we do?" Seena asked tearfully, turning back to her, with an almost matching expression I responded
"I don't know, Seena..." before turning back to the kangaskhan and saying "why'd you do it? why'd you have to go and DIE like this!?" before pounding on her chest once, she coughed up some blood, suddenly coming to.
"It was awfully selfish of me..." she started weakly, while looking towards Seena "to die like this, wasn't it?"
I brought a hand to the side of her head, before saying "please don't talk like that, we can...we can save you..." she shook her head before responding
"no...you can't, you know it just as well as I do...I'm done for" she responded, grabbing my arm.
"But, but what should we do?" I asked, before turning to Seena, looking at the child before continuing "about her?"
"you said you wanted to be parents one day...didn't you?" she said, through a weak smile, Seena shook her head and responded
"no...not like this..."
"I'm sorry I forced her on you like this...but she needs you now..." the Kangaskhan responded, her breathing becoming weaker
"but how are we meant to take care of her?" I asked, moving slightly closer
"I don't really know, myself...I'm sure you'll get it, though" she responded
"I...I don't know if I can do this..." Seena said, before looking down at the child and asking "but why hasn't she woken up yet?"
"a child is awfully hard to wake, on the same day thy're born..." the Kangaskhan responded, while moving one of her hands down to her pouch before continuing "I guess, it's a mixed blessing, she won't remember any of this..."
"she was only born today? do you have a name for her?" I asked, holding her up slightly
"E...Elese, that's her name...please take care of her..." she responded, weakly, at this point, I could feel her very life itself ebbing away.
"I will...I promise" I said, with tears welling up in my eyes.
"you too, Seena..." she said, turning her head to my companion
"I'll try my best..." Seena responded, before moving closer and asking "do you want to say anything to your child?"
reaching out and touching the sleeping infants head, she said "I'm sorry I won't be there for you when you're growing up...there are so many things I'll miss..." she then turned her head to me and said "don't let her know about this...about me...not until she's grown..."
"how can I just pretend you don't exist?" I asked in response
"you have to...I won't have my daughter become just another Cubone...please...don't tell her..." she said, her eyes slowly closing, at this point, I lost it, tears started rolling down my face, I pulled myself closer to her, saying
"I could have stopped this...this is my fault!" Seena came closer, reaching an arm out to my shoulder and said
"Lucas, it's not your fault...it's Team Galactic's..."
"but what can I do about them!?" I responded, almost shouting at Seena "how could I let this happen again? first you and now Elese..." I then saw Wake running up to us
"what happened here!?" he asked, through a panicked tone
"Wake...some Galactic grunt set off a bomb here, and it took the life of this Kangaskhan..." Seena said, shaking her head
"I knew I couldn't trust those bastards! where is he!? I'll snap his neck!" Wake responded, suddenly becoming very angry
"I don't know, but I'm guessing that he has fled from the scene, try outside" Seena said, pointing to the entrance
"alright, don't worry, I'll get him..." Wake started, before I cut him off
"please don't tell anyone about this Kangaskhan...we have to make sure her daughter doesn't find out..."
"al...alright, I won't tell a soul..." he said, before dashing off back to the entrance, turning to Seena, I said
"alright...if we're going to hide the evidence that this Kangaskhan existed...we're going to need a spot to bury her"
"bury her? I had a slightly different idea in mind..." Seena said, while looking around at the fallen trees
"what do you mean?" I asked, wearily
"A funeral pyre..." Seena said, before moving to my bag and continuing "but before we do that, we're going to need to put Elese in a safe place" she then grabbed an empty pokeball out of my bag, tossing it to me, grabbing it out of the air, I said
"I know, Seena...I know" before sighing and continuing "I wish there was some other way"
"so do I Lucas...but we're out of options here" she said, before bringing the child to me, I hesitantly tapped Elese with the activator on the pokeball, reducing her sleeping form to a red light, that retreated inside the pokeball... there was no resistance, as I soon heard the telltale click of a successful capture.
Seena turned towards the entrance and said "Lucas, roll some of the fallen tree-logs together, I'm going to get Matt and Terese...as strong as you are, I don't think you'll be able to lift this Kangaskhan on your own" nodding silently to this, I started, moving towards the fallen trees, as Seena ran off to get the others...
...while I was rolling the logs together, I looked around at the now-silent area of the Marsh...everyone else was gone, and the pokemon were staying away from this area, a lot of smoke was still rising from the ground, as some small fires burned around the area "this is terrible..." I thought to myself, as I continued rolling logs to the area beside the mother Kangaskhan "I can't believe I couldn't do anything..."
soon after, Terese and Matt arrived, with solemn expressions on their faces "Seena told us everything..." Terese said, while making her way over to the Kangaskhan, she then bent down, placing a hand on the Kangaskhan's forehead "we'll see you off" she continued, before standing back up and turning to me, and asking "is the pyre ready?" I nodded silently in response, Terese then turned to Matt and said
"it looks like it's time, then..." Matt responded by folding his arms and making his way over to us, we circled around the Kangaskhan, I lifted from her shoulders, and Matt and Terese lifted from the sides of her waist and legs, we placed her on top of the pyre, as Seena made her way back to me, after we put the Kangaskhan on the pyre, Matt, Terese and Seena stood back, seeing this, I nodded, before igniting my arm in a strong flame, waving it over some of the kindling at the sides of the pyre, they quickly set alight...
...standing back, I looked at the funeral pyre, that was now quickly being covered in flames "this was...this was far too sudden..." I said, before looking down
"it never gets any easier..." Seena responded, before bringing an arm around my waist, looking over to Terese and Matt, I saw that Matt was holding Terese, comforting her
"I'm sorry things ended up like this" I said, while bringing my head up to see the entire pyre now engulfed in flames...
...we silently watched the pyre burning for the next couple of hours, turning to the others, I asked "what should we do?..."
"about Elese?" Terese asked in response, while turning back to me, I nodded silently in response "well, that's entirely up to you and Seena...you're the ones the mother entrusted her to..." she continued
"I...I don't know if I'm ready to be a parent yet..." Seena said, while looking up at me
"I know how you feel, Seena...but we can't just abandon her..." I responded
"I think you should try...and besides, you'll have me and Matt, along with the others, I'm sure they'll be able to help you..." Terese said, moving over to us, followed closely by Matt
"I know I'll be there to help if you need me to..." he said, offering me one of his hands, I took his hand, lifting myself and Seena off the ground
"thank you, both of you" I said, trying my best to smile
"so...what should we do now?" Seena asked
"we go back to Snowpoint...and we try to live..." I said, looking at her, before turning to face the pyre and continuing "as parents..."Chapter End Notes:alright, mixing things up a little with the Grunt's P.O.V