Eddies

Chapter 46: Blood and water

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.

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Eddies 46:  Blood and water.

Chris choked as a wave of water hit him in the face.  Coughing, he spluttered his way to the surface after being swamped by the dive bombing pokémon, who had leapt from the bank above to hit the water heavily besides him.  Catching his breath, he glared across at Raikou, who had resurfaced to give him an innocent look before shoving him back under the water with a huge paw diligently applied to the top of his head.

Reaching out blindly through the frothing bubbles, Chris grabbed a handful of rough fur, dragging himself up Raikou's side to cough heavily, even as the legendary looked over his shoulder in amused apology.  Waving off the look with a laugh, Chris rested a moment, before forcing a handful of water up Raikou's nose with a smirk.

The resultant sneeze nearly dislodged him from his perch on the broad shoulder.

Skyy sat in the branches of a large tree above the creek, grinning down at the pair as they cavorted in the water.  After vain attempts to coax the lucario for a swim had failed, the pokémon had to scamper higher to escape the splashes from below, as Chris tried his damnedest to get his friend soaked.  Skyy's response was to hurl handfuls of leaves at the human, which floated across the surface slowly downstream, stirred by the ripples made as they splashed around.

Further down the bank, Suicune had used Ice Beam to freeze a large ring of water around him, and he sank up to his neck in the chill pool contentedly, paying no heed to the freezing water as he sighed in relief at having finally escaped the scorching sun.  Still, he kept a close eye on the others as they splashed around, occasionally submerging completely as an errant wave headed in his direction.

Entei had scoffed at the thought of a swim, and had stayed behind at the farmhouse to laze in the midday heat, dropping into a shaggy heap in the middle of the main driveway, oblivious to the odd nervous glance from the soldiers and police, who gave him a wide berth as they went about their activities. 

While the creek was only a few hundred meters from the farm house itself, it might have been a world away for all the noise that penetrated through to the group.  Even so, they still had a few stragglers from the camp come down to watch the entertainment, at least until Suicune told them he didn't appreciate voyeurs, and either they got in the water, or left.

The few that stayed had the afternoon of their life.

Finally, after his wrinkled body had absorbed enough water to weigh him down by kilos, Chris called a halt to the play, and found himself lying against Raikou's back on the coarse sandy bank.  Skyy joined him to lounge at his side, and they watched a small group of marines challenge the half dozen police officers who were off-duty to a game of water volleyball.  A ball was procured for somewhere, and some heavy blue rope strung across the creek to form netting, as the group spread out and began exchanging volleys across the "net". 

Jimmy gave Azil a glance, but the charmeleon shook his head.  Water wasn't his thing, he told his friend in pokéspeak, and Jim shrugged, joining the pokémon in building a large sand castle on the creek's edge.

However, when Suicune, who had been watching them sport avidly, advised he wanted to join in, the group paused uncertainly.  But it didn't take long for the big pokémon, who had joined the police group, to find his feet, and he was soon smashing the ball across the makeshift rope net with wild abandon, drenching everyone within reach at every lunge.

A little later, Scott and Storm crested the low cliffs overlooking the creek, pausing to gaze down in surprise at the antics, and they soon joined in.  Taking the army's side, the typhlosion was a natural, with his low centre of gravity giving him the stability to shoot the ball at incredible speed across the net.  Fire type or not, he didn't share the charmeleon's aversion to water, and the water was soon churning at the energy the group expended.

Chris, having grabbed his camera from his bag from where he dumped it in the shade of a tree, spent the next half hour photographing and taking videos of everyone.  Later, when he had the opportunity to review the files on his dads laptop he grinned broadly to himself at the antics, saving them on the desktop in a folder marked "Pokémon day out."

He'd later come to rue the fact he hadn't taken a little more care with the folder.

The past few months had been hard on Jimmy.  First, his brother had disappeared, then reappeared.  Then he disappeared again!  If that wasn't difficult enough, he now had the entire gambit of military and police taking over his family home and watching his every move.

Sure, Azil had been the best thing to come into his life in forever, but the stresses of the situation were still hard to handle, even for someone as old as fourteen!

To top it off, one couldn't help it if he just, well, accidentally let slip to his best friend that he had a real, live pokémon.

Not that Azil could accompany him outside the farm.  Everyone from his parents to the police and army people had been more than adamant on that!  When he was caught trying to slip Azil's pokéball out when he went to school, his parents had insisted he hand it over to them whenever he left the property, and in shamefaced defeat he had done so.

What he hadn't figured was that his supposed best friend would tell anyone, and that they'd tell more people, until the entire school knew Jim Masters had claimed to own a charmeleon, and that it was completely real.

That's when the teasing at school had started.

"Hey, Ass Katchum?  Got a pikachu in your bag?"

"Gonna catch them all, Masters?"

"Sure you ain't got a tumour, and seeing things?"

Finally, after several fights and more than one detention, Chris admitted to his family what the issue was, and why he was suddenly getting in so much trouble.

It hadn't gone down well with his parents.

Paul had tried being diplomatic, but there was only so much logic that worked on a sullen fourteen year old.

"Look, Jim!  We've had this talk before!  For the safety of all of us, and especially your pokémon friends, this has to be kept quiet!  You know that, right?"

Of course he knew it!  He just didn't think it was fair, is all!  Not on him or Azil.

Azil had kept a worried watch on his young human friend, but there wasn't much he could do to help.  Being kept at the farmhouse all day was frustrating enough, but having to help Jim cover up cuts and grazes obtained during yet another fight was almost unbearable.

The charmander knew the rules, even if his trainer didn't.  Secrets were safety; that was all there was to it.

But even he didn't see the worm of rebellion wriggling its way into Jim's heart.

After a week of shit, where the taunting had gotten even worse, Jim sat moping on the home computer, trying to find some friends who wanted to play games over the net instead of badger him about his pokémon fixation, but failing dismally.  Instead, he'd found that many of his previous so-called friends had now deserted him, after copping collateral flack meant for him.

It just wasn't fair!

Which unfortunately was the moment at which he noticed the folder Chris had left on the desktop.

Flicking idly through the pictures, Jim had an idea which would shut his critics up.  He chose a video depicting Suicune and Storm playing volleyball with the police and army, followed by a slow pan Chris had taken past him and Azil astride their giant sand castle waving.  It ended with the lazing form of Raikou, against which Skyy flashed him a smirking finger, one claw raised in salute to the cameraman.

He then downloaded it to his phone, and MMS'd it off to his best friend, with a message stating "I told you so!"

Those in charge of the operation had a share of the blame of what occurred next.  Had they properly secured the firewall around the property, they might have prevented the video being released.  However, while they had secured their own facilities, no one expected something to be sent via the phone of the property owners son, especially when all avenues of data entry and exit from the operation were supposedly being monitored.  Even the farmers and friends originally involved with guarding the place had kept mum on the incident, threatened with immediate police action if they breathed a word of anything to anyone. 

Realistically, those in charge should have been happy the operation had been kept quiet as long as it had.  But with the release of the video, like all such things, it didn't stay secret for long.

Not when Jimmy's stunned friend circulated it to his own friends in return.

Less than twelve hours later it was Chris who had the first inkling that something was amiss, when the older brother of one of Jimmy's friends, who hadn't contacted him in months, gave him a call and asked him if he'd seen the video, and where it had come from?

Not having a clue what the guy was talking about, Chris said he hadn't, and hung up puzzled after being told with a laugh that it was fucking awesome, and that he'd be sent a copy.

Confused, he headed to his bedroom, followed by an equally bemused lucario, and waited for the MMS to arrive.

Oh shit!!!

Leaning back in shock, he spun on Skyy who stood there, a shaking finger pointed at the screen.

"What the fuck is that?" the lucario stammered, receiving a white faced shrug in reply.

"I don't have the faintest, but look...that's the vid I took of all you guys yesterday afternoon!  How the fuck did that guy get hold of it?"

Jumping up, he sprinted into the kitchen, disturbing his parents and the two pokémon Ranger's who'd been having a quiet coffee in the relative peace of the farm house.  At their entry, Gwen gave him a smile of welcome, which quickly dropped from her face as she beheld the shocked expression on his.

"What's wrong, Chris?" his father asked, concern written in his gaze.

"You have to see this!  All of you, right now!  Charles D. sent it to me, after he was sent it by his younger brother" Chris managed to splutter out, handing his phone over to his bemused father.

As it finished, Paul passed it to the Rangers, who watched it grimly, as Paul demanded of his son "Did you send this to anyone?"

Chris shook his head forcibly and said "And risk my friends?  Hell no!"

Pondering, Paul suddenly turned to Gwen, even as Scott and Storm exchanged dark looks.  But as his mother put her hand to her mouth, Paul stepped past them to the doorway and yelled out "Jimmy!  Get your butt in here, right now!  You're in big trouble, young man!"

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Sitting on the lounge room couch with Azil at his side, arms crossed and a defiant look on his face, Jimmy faced his accusers sullenly.

Across the coffee table sat his father, General Jobes and Cameron, while Scott and Storm stood behind them behind the sofa.  All of them looked equally angry.

"What on earth possessed you to release that video to your friends, young man?" Jobes demanded.  "Do you have any idea what damage it could cause our operation?"

When the youth refused to answer, instead keeping lips pursed and his face downcast, Scott sighed and said "What's done is done, General.  No point taking it out on the kid!"

The general turned on him in fury, but was met with an equally hard glance. 

"I suppose you think this will have no consequences?" the army man all but spat in his face, and made to stand, even as a heavy clawed hand forced him back down.  The angry retort he had planned died on his lips as a fanged muzzle entered his field of view as Storm growled "Given the problems this might cause me personally, I believe I know exactly how much damage this might cause, General!  However, cracking a shit won't help anyone, so I suggest you calm the fuck down, right now, and we deal with this professionally!"

Not a little afraid of the huge pokémon, Jobes sat back angrily as Cameron took over the interrogation with tired eyes.

"Why'd you do it, Jim?"

Chris almost felt sorry for his brother, who refused to reply, but surprisingly Azil blurted out a long string of pokéspeak, even as Jimmy gave the charmeleon a dirty look in return.

Storm translated.  "He says Jim has been tormented for weeks at school, first about Chris going missing, and then about me.  It was the only way he could think of to prove to everyone he wasn't a liar."

Jim turned on his friend, furiously telling him to shut the fuck up and leave him alone, before jumping up and sprinting from his room.  The angry slam as he shut himself in his room echoed through the house, and Azil gave an anguished look, before sighing and looking dejected.

Sympathising with him, Chris dropped beside the charmeleon and put an arm over his shoulder, even as the orange lizard buried his face in Chris's shirt and began bawling his heart out.

With an arm wrapped around the pokémon, Chris said "Let's not lay the blame solely on Jimmy.  He's just a kid, and under a shitload of stress with this, just as we all are.  Still, I'm surprised the video could even have left the property without being screened by someone!"

Jobes gave his aide, who'd been standing near the doorway, an ominous look, and the man gulped, not looking forward to what was likely to follow later.

Storm had resumed his stance next to Scott and said "Yeah, lay off him.  Half the bullshit that's occurred has been due to officious stupidity, so let's see what we can do about mitigating the damage, huh?"

Cameron shrugged, and said quietly "Not much likelihood of that, now.  We've been trying to have that video pulled, but every time we do so, it gets reposted by someone else."

Scott nodded, rounding the couch to drop next to Azil on the other side, and giving the Charmeleon's head a rub.

"Don't worry, Azil.  What's done is done."

Azil blurted out something, dropping his face to wipe his eyes on a scaly arm.

Storm said soothingly in reply.  "He'll get over it.  He doesn't really hate you, kiddo.  He's just angry, probably at himself the most.  How about we go see if we can straighten things up with you two?"

Nodding hesitantly, the charmeleon jumped down from the couch to take Storm's offered paw, as the pair of pokémon headed towards Jim's room.

"Still doesn't forgive the action" muttered Jobes, as Paul turned on him angrily. 

"Glad you were never fourteens old, General.  Heaven help you if you ever screwed something up at that age!"

With an arm around his wife, Chris's parents left the room, even as Jobes gave them a cold look in return.

Cameron stood, turning to his colleague and shrugged.  "Well, shit has happened.  Let's see where it goes.  Coming General?"

As they left, Chris and Skyy found themselves alone with Scott, who dropped in Cameron's vacated seat, leaning back with a groan.

Worried, Chris asked him "Think Jimmy will be in big trouble?"

Scott managed to chuckle, lifting his head to regard the pair.

"Oh, probably a little.  But what are they going to do?  Ground him?"

Chris grinned, feeling the dark cloud that'd descended lift from him as he said "Oh, a month at least, and extra kitchen duties.  Hell, Jobes might even make Jimmy dig latrines!"

Scott laughed, before a thoughtful look crossed his face.  "Besides, if we're caught here indefinitely, I have no intentions of living out my life stuck out here on the farm, Chris.  No slight on your family home intended."

Giving him a curious look, Skyy said "But won't they try and stop us?"

Chuckling, Scott nodded at the lucario.  "Oh, they might try, but I imagine Raikou and his brothers will have a few things to say about that!  I'm looking forward to the General telling THEM they are grounded and digging latrines!"

Laughing, the trio left the lounge and headed to Jimmy's room, to see if they could back up Storm and Azil and reconcile the friends.

Still, at least for Jimmy the incident had one positive benefit.  The accusations of being a liar at school had stopped, replaced instead with an ongoing barrage of questions as to how he had made "the video so realistic!"

With everyone's warnings in mind, he refused to answer, keeping a sullen, moody silence.  At least, apart from giving his supposed best friend a bloodied nose for sending the video out as he had, without his permission.

Hell, what did it matter if they grounded him a second time?

Perhaps it was the admittance of the extent of bullying he'd received, but his parents no longer demanded he leave Azil's pokéball at home.  Instead, they made him promise not to release the charmeleon in public except for the most dire emergency, and simply offered a worried look as he defiantly shoved it in his pocket before grabbing his school bag and storming to the waiting car.

When asked his opinion, Chris gave his parents a shrug, returning to his cereal as he mumbled through a mouthful of corn flakes "Can't blame him.  I wouldn't leave Skyy behind, for any reason"; a view shared by the lucario, who nodded wordlessly past his own mouthful of toast.

"I just hope he keeps him in that thing as he promised, Chris" said his father, before he stood with a groan, grabbing his car keys and giving Gwen a peck on the cheek as he left to take his youngest to school.

"I think he knows now, Dad" said Chris as Paul waved and made to leave.  Raikou, who had looked up from his favourite spot on the floor near the oven, rumbled "Indeed, I believe the charmeleon might have a few things to say if those bullies resume their harassment of your sibling."

Chris couldn't help but agree at the big legendaries assessment.  Still, he hoped Jimmy would keep a lid on his angst, as well as a closed pokéball, as they had enough hassles as is without adding "crazy, flaming pokémon" to their list of worries.

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J.B pushed through the doors to the Ranger's building, glad to be free of the place.  As far as headquarters went, it was a far cry from most precinct buildings he was used to, with the architect obviously given a much greater leeway in designing a more open facility keeping in touch with the ecology of the area.  Still, hours trapped in a small room as the Rangers debated the same crap over and over had tested his patience to breaking point.

Keeping to his right, Zorua matched his pace with a skip, keenly interested in the people and pokémon walking the street around them in the chill evening air.  It seemed later than it was as their day had started at 7am, and frankly the police officer and his charge were exhausted, mentally and physically.

While he'd considered simply heading to the Ranger's cafeteria to see if he could scrounge something for them both, the thought of yet another cold dinner rankled him.  Instead, he broke with his usual schedule and asked Zorua if she wanted to go out for a meal, for a change.

Her enthusiastic positive reply left him with no doubt she was as sick of the incessant meetings as he was.

Being put on the books as a "consultant" had left him amused, but the money coming in was a relief, allowing him the luxury of some much needed independence.  He'd soon found the salary was by no means extravagant, but as they continued to insist he live at the facility, it covered what small expenses he had, with a little left over for a night out.

Initially, he'd assumed that finding a place that would let him dine in with Zorua would be difficult.  Certainly, had he attempted it back home, the likelihood of their refusing entry to her would have been high.  But after making their way several blocks from H.Q to a series of strip shops hosting restaurants catering for a huge array of "local" cuisine, he found near all allowed trainers to bring their pokémon inside, provided they were kept under strict control at all times.

When he gave Zorua a dry grin, asking her if she planned on behaving, she shot him a loaded look, rolling her eyes as she made it clear she was as controlled as she ever would be, and had no plans on changing that for anyone, even him.

His laugh at her sarcasm lightened the heavy mood that had hung over him all day, and he didn't even batter an eye when she jumped to his shoulder, sniggering as she rubbed her head against his affectionately.

It was with this that he realised with surprise that the bleak moods usually present within him had all but disappeared.  It wasn't that he'd forgotten the recent death of his friend, or the loss of his family, but there was a buffer between him and the pain now.  Something had finally filled the void that had always threatened to swallow him entirely.

Or perhaps, someone was more accurate.

Idly scratching Zorua's neck ruff, they passed various establishments, and he scrutinised the menu's displayed on stands at their entry.  On reading out the meal choices to his friend, she shook her head at most, but nodded vigorously as they passed a place that bore a surprising resemblance to an Italian restaurant back home.  While weird to his tastes, the menu seemed to boast a good selection of meat dishes, something that seemed few and far between on this world, although J.B had no delusions the "meat" in question had come from a beast quite different to that he was familiar with.

Shrugging, he grimacing as a long trail of saliva splattered against his cheek as Zorua nodded insistently at the selection.  Still he couldn't fault her, as the enticing smell from within even had him drooling, so he pushed through the door to enter the premises.

The restaurant owner; a short, jovial man with an eye-watering passion for loud colours; welcomed them into the crowded interior with a flourish.  Weaving their way through the busy tables, he lead them to a vacant space near the kitchen entry, sliding out a chair for J.B before doing the same for Zorua.

"I like him!" she said as she sat with a smirk, while the owner set a bowl of chilled water on the table top before her.  J.B grinned as she stuck her face into the bowl to lap up the contents in satisfaction, thanking the man for his kindness.  But even as the words left his lips, his voice died off as he spotted a large, framed picture on the restaurant wall behind the man.  A picture of...

Oh, you have got to be joking!

Noticing his interest, the man smiled hugely, face lighting as he turned to the frame and pointing out himself and his wife standing behind an obviously embarrassed Raikou, with Chris and Skyy besides them.  When the owner began telling the story of his encounter with the legendary, J.B gave him a wry look, interrupting to tell him that he knew the group, as they were friends of theirs.

Jaw dropping, the owner gasped, before throwing an even larger smile at the officer, advising him loudly for those nearby to hear that any friend of Raikou's was a friend of his, and how was the pokémon and his friends doing?

J.B froze, the smile dropping from his face, mirrored by the restaurant owner who took in his shock, realising he'd said something wrong. 

Putting on a public facade, J.B replied with a forced smile "Oh, they're all doing fine!", which reassured the restaurateur at least.  As he left to prepare their entrees, even as J.B's spirits sank at the thought of the loss of the group, Zorua gave his hand a nuzzle, a worried look in her eyes as she blinked up at him in concern.

With a sigh, he forced the memory down, giving her an ear rub which she tried to avoid as her eyes narrowed at him, not fooled by his distraction.  Still, she didn't pursue the matter, which J.B was profoundly grateful for.  While only together for a few weeks, they had formed a deep bond based on mutual trust and affection, and J.B was finding himself increasingly relying on both her judgement and companionship.

The meal was superb, and the huge portions foisted on them as "friends of Raikou" soon had them stuffed to the brink.  Finally finished, J.B leaned back in satisfaction, and watched with amusement as Zorua used a paw to push her still partially full bowl away in disgust, before planting her forehead on the table with a thump, groaning "So full!"

Leaning down to her, he said quietly "Well, when one eats like a pig, one feels like one."

While not fully grasping the off world reference, she caught enough mental imagery to give him a glare of disgust, before thumping her head back down in discomfort.

It was quite late before the pair left.  Zorua insisted on walking herself, keeping a few feet before him, but still swaying from the weight of the meal inside her.  As they entered a slightly seedy district on the long walk back, J.B considered hailing a cab, but none were around.  In fact, the entire place was pretty much deserted.

Perhaps it was police instinct, or simply a premonition of danger, but when he sensed the object whistling through the air towards him, he threw himself to the side to avoid it.  Still, the large piece of timber clipped his skull above his right ear, sending him crashing to the ground as his head exploded in pain.  Zorua, having spun at the assault, stepped forward with eyes blazing, but missed the second figure who stepped from the nearby alley to point an oddly shaped weapon at her.  It shot a large fabric bundle from its muzzle, that erupted into a tangling, sticky net which spread to envelope her small form, burying her in its folds.

J.B avoided a second swing of the club, but the third crashed against the forearm he'd thrown up to protect himself; the audible crack as his radius shattered audible for some distance.  Still, he didn't cry out, instead swinging his good arm around, fist connecting with the side of the face of his attacker, who staggered from him with a cry.

As she backed into the light he caught a glimpse of her, white shirt tucked into red skirt, a large "G" emblazoned across her breast.  The right side of her face was badly disfigured, poorly healed burns and a white, scarred eye visible in the dim light.  Her long, burgundy hair dropped to cover the scarring, partially masking her face, but there was no missing the look of hate in her other eye, black iris giving him a baleful look as she rubbed her chin with her free hand.

Her partner stepped into view, holding up the squirming net containing Zorua, who was crying out fitfully from within its confines.  Heavy, red claw marks crossed his own face, testament to some earlier horrific injury, and he casually dropped the net onto the ground before giving it a kick with a booted foot.  J.B cursed, pushing up with his good arm even as the woman snarled again, stepping forward to wave the club at him threateningly.

"Where's the kid?" she rasped, damaged throat giving her voice a harsh tone.

J.B slowly reached behind him with his good arm, grasping vainly at the empty place where his holstered revolver normally lay.  He grimaced, having forgotten he'd removed it before heading out for what should have been a quiet evening.  Thinking to delay the pair, he asked innocently "What kid?", but received another hard jab from the beam in reply.

"You fucking know exactly which kid!  The one that set Raikou and his lucario on us!"

Giving up on further fudging and realising any placating comment was futile, J.B gave her a pain-filled smirk and chuckled "Oh, I know who two are now.  Raikou told me all about it.  You're those pair of losers who thought to capture a legendary, and fucked themselves over in the process."

With a bellow, the guy wrenched the timber from his partner and began smashing J.B across the chest and torso.  The officer curled up, trying to protect his head from the attack, but once the woman started to let fly with kicks against his back, it wasn't long before he lapsed into unconsciousness.

But as blackness overtook him, he sent out to Zorua a final thought, filled with all the fondness and affection he could muster.

"Live.  Whatever it takes...Live."

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Zorua panicked when the sticky threads wrapped themselves around her body, sending her tumbling to her side. 

With her face smothered, all she could do was struggle against the bonds, causing them to encircle even tighter around her limbs, immobilising her in place.  Effectively blind and with her breathing restricted, the small pokémon gave a muffled cry of fear, mind beginning to shut down as she lost herself in the ever waiting darkness.

It was the pain-filled thoughts from her trainer that brought her back to reality.  That, and the sound of timber hitting his flesh, recalling the memories she'd tried so valiantly to suppress.

Spiralling into blackness, the memory of her mother's fear threatened to overwhelm her, as each agonising blow J.B suffered tore through the mind link between them.

....it had seemed an eternity before her mother finally breathed her last, with Zorua cowering in a nearby corner as the human slaughtered her before the younglings eyes.

Even as the last blow struck, sending blood splattering across Zorua's fur, her mother opened one agony-filled eye, staring at her offspring desperately.  Knowing her death was imminent, in an attempt to spare her cub the brutal finale she slammed up a mental barrier between them, shutting the link down for the last time.

But just before it severed, she sent Zorua one last love-filled caress, and whispered to her "Live..."

Then she died, and the human left, giving them both a look of disgust, while leaving a badly injured Zorua alone, in the darkness, to crawl against the sticky, matted fur that was her mother, grasping herself tightly against it even as the flesh cooled beneath.

Live....

You must live....

"Whatever it takes, live...."

At that point, something tore itself free from deep within the small pokémon.  A cloud of rage, streaked with the blackest midnight and shards of ebony lightning, smashed itself against her mind barrier, shattering it into agonising shards even as it engulfed her.

The pain was excruciating, but Zorua welcomed it, hoping it might be an end to her suffering.

Instead, it raged throughout her body, greedily merging with her abused flesh in a symbiotic nightmare of pain and torment.

So great was the agony, she thought she'd die from the hurt, but as the darkness descended further, she felt a rush of fury-filled energy the likes of which she had never experienced.  Pain merged with power as Zorua was consumed from within, replaced with... something else entirely.

"Mama...  I am coming!"

In their attack on J.B, the Team Galaxy pair missed Zorua's initial metamorphosis, as the tangled netting expanded violently from within.  But they both paused, shocked, when a concussion rocked the area, accompanied by a blaze of ruby lightning and blast of mental agony.

Spinning from their attack on the officer, their eyes widened as they stared mutely at the large form crouched in blackness at the centre of the conflagration.  Even as the male reached a shaking hand for his pokéball, releasing his jolteon into the affray, the creature slowly rose, raising its head to regard the pair with eyes blazing red from within the shadows.

"Jolteon!  Kill that thing!" the man cried desperately, as the poor newly-released pokémon stared at the creature in fear, eyes widening as she took an involuntary step back from the hissing, guttural cry that echoed from it into the night.  Still, she hardened her resolve as her training kicked in, sprinting forward with her skin igniting in a cascade of electrical energy, ready to do her master's bidding.

She had no time to even react as the creature leapt forward at unbelievable speed, long arm whipping ahead as its claws tore through her throat, severing her head which flew to the side as her carcass landed in a blood-splattered heap at the creatures feet.

The male human let out a cry, arm raised to recall her even as his pokémon was slaughtered before him.  But he took a step back, then another, as the fiery eyes rose from the still-sparking corpse to fixate on him, narrowing as it began a slow, menacing movement towards them.

The Team Galaxy pair retreated, slowly at first, but staggering into a run as the creature sprang forward.  It struck the male from behind first, sending him crashing to the ground as it leapt upon him, its dead weight bearing him down onto the concrete as it straddled his back.  Reaching around his face with long, crimson claws, it shredded through his cheeks and eyes sending blood gushing onto the pavement.   His gurgling cry ended with a gasp when it began to savagely impale its fists into his back over and over, claw tips penetrating completely through his torso to scrape sparks on the concrete beneath.

The female Team Galaxy member staggered to a halt at the fall of her partner, rounding to witness in horror the macabre scene as the beast tore her partner apart.  Fumbling for a pokéball, she was given no chance to release it before the thing took in her movement with narrowed eyes.  Within an instant, it left its prey and was upon her.

Avoiding its first lunge, the woman punching forward, striking its face with a staggering blow which whipped its head back with a snap.  But at her second strike her wrist was caught in blood-soaked claws, then wrenched back until, with a snap that sent her shrieking, the wrist shattered under the onslaught.

Staring into those furious red eyes, she had no further time to cry out as it hissed into her face, before casually leaning forward to tear out her throat with its teeth.

Some time passed before J.B stirred fitfully, opening a pain filled eye to behold a nightmarish scene.  Under the dim illumination from the flickering walkway light overhead, the remains of the pair of humans who had attacked him lay in gory dismemberment.  Beyond them, the body of a decapitated pokémon lay, its head only a few feet from him, staring at him with accusing, glassy eyes. 

Shock sent him pushing backwards, but he could barely manage a few inches before collapsing again.  His body was awash with agony, testament that the broken arm and at least a few ribs had added to the general abuse his flesh had taken.  He managed to lift himself partially upright, only to spy a large, dark form huddled in the darkness beyond the lights reach.

Bent over itself, its shoulders heaved in misery as long arms wrapped around its chest, its long trailing mane of dark red and black hair slowly soaked up the congealed mass of blood and gore littering the path behind it.

J.B tried to rise but couldn't, stabs of pure agony wracking his body, and he cried out involuntarily.  To his growing horror, the creature gave a shudder, slowly rising to its feet to step into the dim light.  Its long claws still dripped gore, and J.B could see it's fur was matted with blood, long muzzle still ruby wet as it raised its face to stare at him with glowing red eyes.

It made a slow approach, hunched forward and intent on him, and J.B's mind screamed at him to run, anywhere away from this terrifying thing.  But his mind gave orders his body could not manage, and even as he collapsed, the creature lunged forward, dropping beside him to catch him in its arms.

In the moments that followed, even through the pain J.B could feel the shaking sobs as it burst into tears, tightening its grip as a slow tendril of thought crept into his head.

"Oh, mama...  I'm so sorry...."

With that, the realisation of who this miserable creature was finally broke through to J.B, and he closed his eyes, submersing himself in its unhappiness.  After a time, he looked up to gaze into its haunted face, and it opened its eyes again to stare back at him, tears trailing through its fur.  He reached his hand up, tentatively at first, to rest against its cheek, which it pressed into his fingers even as another burst of sobs rocked through it.

Groaning, he shut out the blood, gore and pain, hugging the creature to him as best he could, while his good arm stroked its back gently as it shuddered against him.

"Hush, Zorua...  It'll be alright...  I promise..."

_________________

Authors note:

I really love this chapter.

Yes, it's dark.  Probably a lot more than most would appreciate.

Tough shit on that. The truth hurts sometimes.

But for a while now I've been struggling with Zorua, and how to fully integrate her into the remainder of the story.

After all, a Zoroark is much more likely to be the one I'd want backing me in a battle than little Zorua.

It's also the longest single chapter to date (I mean, fuck me!!  Near twice the length of any other!) Don't expect it to happen again, though, as it took forever to write.

I'd hit a mental block after writing the first part, as Duo can probably attest, given how long I stewed on it before sending it to him for his opinion.  I tweaked it at his suggestion, which improved it immensely, but it wasn't until I was scanning through an old collection of jpegs that I came across one, drawn ages ago, that had me click on the remainder of the plot for this chapter.  I don't know who the artist is, as its been in my files for a long, long time.  If you know, let me know, as I'd like to post the information in acknowledgement, as well as thank them for the inspiration.  But in appreciation I posted it at the top of the story.

Zoroark has always struck me as a desperately lonely character.  Perhaps as it seems so maligned, so often, and by so many.  That always hits a nerve with me, as I have a soft spot for the underdog.

Of course, regardless of whether you think that way or not, zoroark is also seriously hot ;)  While that'll play no part in this story, I've always wanted to include zoroark, and now I can.  In fact, from the beginning, it was a difficult choice between having Chris first meet a lucario or zoroark.  Lucario fans won out that time.

Still, don't expect anything "nasty" to happen though.  No likelihood of that whatsoever, I'm afraid.  Asking won't help, so don't.  Enjoy the story as it's written, as it's not a plot concept, and she's still too young a character, regardless of her new evolution, to consider including it in any way. 

But, with all that in mind, why knock off Team Roc...err...Galaxy?

The English version of the pokémon anime has been around since the late 90's (September 8th, 1998, on Cartoon Network, to be exact).  Since then, it seems almost every other damned episode had Team Rocket doing something lame and retarded in it.

I don't hate them, specifically.  The characters are OK, and the concept is alright.  But it's like watching stock car racing.  The same plot goes round and round and round and it's so fucking boring!!  That might appeal to the average ten year old, but personally I find it just mind numbingly, pathetically annoying.

(Sorry to all those stock car fans out there I've offended, but... well...  BORING!! ;)

Then again, it's probably no more lame than someone my age writing pokémon fan fics.  After all, I have always enjoyed being a complete and total hypocrite. ;)

With that, Team Galaxy had to die, preferably in the most grotesque way conceivable.

Never to return.  Not even as zombie pokémon trainers, rising from the dead to eat the pokéballs of the living...

(I'm sure someone has written this, somewhere.  If you know someone who has, tell me who they are so I can hunt them down and kill them for the good of the world ;)

The result?

Team Galaxy is no more.

Gone to meet their maker.

Pining for the fjords.

They are an ex-parrot!

I wonder how many real pokémon fans would give a heartfelt, honest sigh of relief at that!