Story Notes:
(Recommended to read ANTI-POKEMON: THE NEW WORLD before reading this) Contains content not suitable for minors under the age of 18. Viewer discretion is advised. *WARNING* This story may contain: Strong Language, Violence, Use of Drugs, and Strong Sexual Content.
Episode 11 - A Look Ahead
A fine mist hangs over the Elite Force headquarters on the mountainside of Rustoboro city, extinguishing the stars from view as cool and refreshing marine air layer passes us from the west. The HQ was silent. All that was heard was the peaceful sound of wind rushing through the air and the low volume hustle and bustle of the city.
The sun once again showed its bright and shining face upon us above the ocean's horizon as the skies and the fog faded from black to red to orange and finally back to blue as it should be.
I sat with my legs crossed on top bunk in Timmy's room for his room was used as a guest room, or so Kuimon says. I slept in here overnight, but I was scheduled to leave in the morning for I still had to get to Miir Cyraa before the PEF invasion in that area began.
Last night, the sky was dark and clouds formed to cause rain to fall from the sky. Just as Kuimon predicted, even if the rain lasted a short couple of hours it did soak everything in its path, the pavement and everything else that was left outside was partially wet now after a few hours of clear night skies.
I lay there silently, thinking about what has happened to me on my little journey.
Earlier on I was rewarded with a badge that symbolized I was an honorary member of the Elite Force, the crest resembled the outline structure of a dark and cynical-looking Mightyena who's eyes glowed a bright red and orange, it was just a token to mark that I was a brother to them. It meant a lot to me knowing that I had some good friends here, I will treasure this little present always.
I fiddled around with it in my paws, just attempting to pass the time with my injured back. I didn't know what was wrong with me for every time it felt rejuvenated I would attempt to get up then after a few seconds my back would just tighten up again and hurt even more.
I lifted up the needle from the back of the badge and pinned it against the left hemisphere of my chest and rested my head against Timmy's fluffy, white pillow.
Staring up at the ceiling, all I could do was reminisce on my past events, an acceptable way to pass the time.
The first thought that came to mind was Litira: I pictured her perfect smile in my mind so accurately that it was disturbing. I now have to admit the fact that I really like her, everything she has done since I arrived at the Elite Force headquarters was perfect in its own way, such a way that was relevant to my interests in a female.
No, wrong way to explain it... I had fallen in love with her.
We were even perfect in age, we are both the same age, 23 years on this Earth thought it may not seem like that is possible by 2'11 feet in height compared to 4'3 feet which was my height, plus her slim structure just increased her cuteness and beauty.
Her dark blue body called out to me as I lay there. I knew that this was true when I felt an erection coming just by the mere thought of Litira in her perfect form.
My blood began to transfer into my penis and caused it to become firm, suddenly stopping its growth and began throbbing in place.
"You are stronger than that Jherek, get control of yourself..."
I've never loved a female like this besides my trainer, Cindy, but I knew that Cindy would never feel the same way. Cindy is a human and I am a Pokemon, a Zangoose if you will.
I have fur, she has skin. I have long, firm ears, she has small, wimpy ears. I have a long and bushy tail, she has a tailbone.
We were just different, thought some Pokemon used to have relationships with their trainers, erotic relationships that would never even cross my mind unless someone tells me about it, I knew my Cindy wasn't like that, she loved me as a Pokemon and that was it, not as a sex partner.
But this is the first time I've ever fallen in love with another Pokemon. Truly the first time for when I was younger I was the envy of all males in my clan. All of the females loved me, but I did not need love nor did was I interested in it, at the time I just wanted to be stronger to make my father, the chief of the Kuhn clan, proud.
I knew that all fathers wanted a strong son, but at the time I was just not capable of mustering up enough strength for his expectations and he looked upon me as a failure, a worthless... useless... failure.
"The Kuhn Hereditary ability is not just any ordinary move, we as the Kuhn Clan must reinforce it with sheer willpower to make the power inside of us grow to an extent where we, as a clan, will be the envy of the entire Pokemon world..."
At the time I just wasn't able to summon up that kind of anger against someone, no one in my clan was an enemy and I grew up to learn and respect that. But when suddenly everything I have learned in school just had to be forgotten to learn a simple hereditary ability, it just becomes extremely difficult.
Even so, I was always the envy of all of the males in the clan, but only because I was the only one dedicated to making my father proud of me. I passed through the clan ranks and became one of the highest ranking cubs ever: The Warrior Elite... and it still didn't make my father proud of me...
I passed Zangooses 10 and 20 years older than me when I was just 8 years old and that did cause me to make some enemies in my time.
"Why father... why do you think I'm worthless...?" I whispered, still staring at the ceiling above.
I shut my eyes and relaxed as I sorted all of my memories in order, but I was interrupted by what seemed to be Litira's voice.
"Are you okay?"
Knowing it was her, I checked to see if my erection died out. I was lucky it did, or this would have been an awkward situation.
Her bright and beautiful eyes met mine as she awaited an answer from me.
"Yeah... I guess my back is still sore..." was the only thing I could think of at the moment, her beauty spamming my mind with dirty thoughts.
Litira had a flower tightly fused with the fur near her red, feather-like ear which I noticed instantly, the first thing that came to my mind was "She looks a little different, what is new?"
I sat up on the bed and followed that with a loud and sustained yawn, my back feeling much better than before.
"Getting tired again...?" she asked me when she began to fiddle around with that new flower she had, her claws tapped it around in a better position to keep it from falling out of her fur.
"Kind of, I was traveling through Nighthawk Outpost the night before and that took a lot out of me..." I trailed off while giving her a hint of what I was trying to say.
"Oh..." she stared off at the little picture Timmy had, the one that had everyone in the Elite Force.
"Well, what is everyone else doing?" my question drew her attention back to me.
"Oh, they are just on patrol duty" she responded when she moved over to a wall that had free space and leaned up against it.
"That's good... the last thing you guys would want was an unexpected threat..." I gladly said.
"Yeah... but before you go, I just wanted to give you some briefing onto where you're going" she said, signaling me to follow her with an arm gesture.
I slowly climbed down the bunk bed's little ladder and slowly began to follow Litira, trying to see if my back would act up again... it didn't.
She led me into Sparks' room then into a secret door that lead to a long and dark hallway. Litira flipped a switch then suddenly lights around every corner lit up, no more dark corners left in the metallic hallway.
"It's a shame you're leaving so soon..." she whispered loud enough for me to hear, there was a small hint of depression in her voice that caught my attention.
"Was that a hint of sadness right there? Aw, she's going to miss me!" I positively thought.
Litira knocked her white claws against a hard, metal door once... twice... three times and nothing special occurred.
She tried it again, one... two... three...
Then again... then again... her body began to tense up from the frustration she must have been feeling at the moment.
Finally the door opened, Litira letting out a sigh of relief before she prepared to bash the door open with her two bare claws.
She continued down the long, glimmering hallway that lead into an empty room with about 6 chairs facing a large map on the white brick wall.
The map showed the entire Hoenn region and all of its beautiful details, the fresh, green pastures of Fortree and the blue ocean that surrounded Ever Grande, Sootopolis, and Pacifidlog were highlighted at certain points that all had their own individual titles, the one closest to Fortree was "Poseidon Markpoint"
"You see, Jherek..." Litira began, "you're moving out to Poseidon Markpoint, somewhere near Fortree where Miir Cyraa is" she said, pointing along the map to give me an example of what she was talking about, "...that Checkpoint will give you a lift across the river and into Miir Cyraa, finally ending your little trip" she briefed like an expert, yet another amazing thing about Litira, I knew she was a natural born leader, too bad she is not the leader of the Elite Force.
"I see..."
Litira sucked in another deep breath of air and prepared for the next part of the briefing when the bright room suddenly turned pitch black, my heart rate grew as It felt like the walls were closing in on me. I scuttled around, fearful of what lied in the darkness that I couldn't see with my eyes alone.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" I yelled in pain, my ears throbbing at the violently loud alarm that began to blare. It reminded me of a police siren, red lights filled the room with red light that flashed around in a propeller-like fashion.
"God damn it! What's going on?!" I heard Litira yell, a small hint of fear in the tone of her voice.
"Attention all personnel, attention all personnel, PEF soldiers have located our headquarters! Requesting reinforcements in entrance 2, I repeat, entrance 2"
I heard Kuimon's voice over the loudspeaker, the sounds of gunfire in the background.
"This is entrance 1" Sparks started over the loudspeaker, "Are you sure you guys are having problems? It is like a walk in the park over at my side"
He was being unusually calm in a situation like this, occasionally there would be the sound of horror coming from a young soldier's voice, but not Sparks, his unusually calm voice threw me off balance for a second.
"It may be a walk in the park for you, but down at entrance 2, it's the mother fucking apocalypse!" The sounds of battle was transmitted along with Kuimon's message
The thought that perhaps the PEF were sending reinforcements somewhere when they noticed our HQ crossed my mind for a moment. I know there weren't many Rustboro Police patrol units in the area, so it couldn't have been them.
"Litira, you get Jherek out of here, use the secret exit that leads the coastline of Rustboro, and Jherek, when you are heading to Poseidon Markpoint, whatever you do, don't go into..."
All that was heard from that point on was static, similar to what occurred within Nighthawk Outpost, but this was at a much larger scale of danger.
Litira obeyed Kuimon's commands and lead me to another metal door, similar to the one she opened to enter the room in the first place.
She pushed a small green button at the right end of the wall and the metal door opened in a horizontal fashion. Along the hallway were signs of warning, "Go back" "Do not continue" "Danger" and "Warning"
"This place was cut off from our base for Savage Pokemon have taken refuge within this area, just be careful when you are moving through... just incase they blocked the ladder that leads up to the surface" she warned.
"I understand..."
"...right, and here, you'll need this" she said, taking off her little white belt that was carrying a canteen full of water and passing it over to me, "Don't drink this all in one day, you're going to need to save every last drop of it..."
The vibrations of an explosion was felt at that moment, almost causing me to lose my balance, "I need to go help my comrades... but..." she hesitated for a moment.
Her face resembled the one of a tortured soul on fire. She looked like she was going to explode in tears in any moment, "Jherek... I... before you go I need to say that..."
She stopped for a minute then looked back up at me, suddenly yelling out, "I like you! Even when you arrived I liked you... just the way you acted, everything about you just made me feel so right... it's so hard to explain"
I was truly surprised at this statement, "She... she likes me...?" I asked myself in disbelief. Litira ran into my arms and grabbed me tightly around my waist, "If you go... I'll miss you so much..." she whispered, burying her face in my fur and letting out her emotions.
I felt her fur between my paw as I stroked back and forth along her head, avoiding the flower upon her head and attempting not to stroke too hard against her delicate fur, "I'll miss you too" I replied, shutting my eyes tightly, trying not to cry myself.
"...but... what if I'll never see you again?" she asked, looking up at me and revealing her tear-flooded face.
My heart told me to do something that I would've never come up with, "Kiss her..." it called out to me and so I did.
I grabbed her arms then held her paws tightly in mine, my face moved up to hers. I felt her soft lips against mine, she was surprised that I did this, even I was surprised, but she only hesitated for a moment, then she pushed her lips against mine as well.
Our tongues massaged each other with a sprightly dance, both of our eyes closed in pleasure and our arms now wrapped around each other. Our height differences didn't cause us much problems, I faced downwards while she faced upwards.
I finally retreated, backing away a few steps, leaving her wanting more, "That is if we don't see each other again..." I started, her eyes widened up a little when I said this, "...but that's never going to happen, 'cuz I ain't going anywhere, believe that!" I victoriously stated, lifting my right arm in the air and turning around,, running from the ever-lighted hallway to the dangerously dark and mysterious side of the HQ's underground base.
"Jherek! I'll hold you to your word!" I heard Litira call out. I turned around as I ran, seeing her arm waving in the air, signaling a "Good-bye" from her, I turned my entire body around, ran backwards, and waved her "Good-bye" as well as I turned a corner, Litira disappearing from my view.
I then heard a loud crash then the sound of items tumbling over each other. I stopped and went back to see that the ceiling had collapsed under the vibrations of the explosions above, looks like there was no turning back from this point on.
"Jherek... you rule..." I told myself, feeling very satisfied on my actions with Litira.
I slowed down to a halt when I saw what lied before me. The walls were coated with a hazardous looking sludge, the floors oozed fungus and dirt lay supreme in the area. A few dirty barrels with lines of duffel bags on the sides of the room and there lay a locked ladder in my path, half of it rolled up so no humans could use it for they could not jump high enough to reach it..
It was the only way to get out of there so I inevitably took the chance of climbing all the way to the top, even if falling over means certain death.
This must have been a secret exit of some sort for the Elite Force to retreat in a situation like this.
I stared up at the ladder and thought of a good way to get up there without killing myself, with this idea in mind I ran towards the wall under the ladder and jumped up as high as I could, digging my claws into the cement as I did in my fight with Aiiran. I grabbed the ladder at its lowest bar but barely, extremely lucky that I didn't sharpen my claws in the past few weeks or I would have slipped.
I struggled up the stairs and to the top where I lifted up a hatch that was labeled "Sewer" perhaps a cleverly disguised cover.
Lifting myself to the top I realized I was somewhere along the road that lead straight to Rustboro city itself, the city and all of its inhabitants continuing their average, everyday lives oblivious on what lurked around them.
I wearily got up to my feet, letting my arms move freely with every step I took forward. It was an acceptable workout to be climbing up a ladder, but just the way it was built caused it to be a difficult task to climb all the way up. The ladder looked like it was built for the long-armed Vigoroth, adding to the fact that some of the bars were missing so I had to take really push myself to the limit to climb all the way to the top.
Upon sitting down near a dead shrub on the warm dirt I saw the Elite Force HQ on a far distance, drastically bombarded with bullets and grenades with 7 squads in the area I believe, 3 vehicles that must have held these soldiers. With respect, I knew that they could handle all of those PEF forces, otherwise they wouldn't be an "Elite Force"
Still, it did worry me on the fact that the PEF were scanning this area, that means they are bound to locate me and without any backup I am as well as useless. I picked myself up and urged to go on, retreating from the building under siege and towards Rustboro city where I am to keep continuing until I get across the mountains North of Rustboro.
"My first kiss..." I thought about what I did with Litira before I left, it made me very happy that she liked me too, but now I'm just going to be thinking about her day and night until I see her bright, smiling face once again.
Was it wrong to be in love with a different type of Pokemon? I didn't think so, for if love knew boundaries where would we all be? It would just create an imbalance in all things perfect, so to speak.
I felt deep regrets for leaving them all behind, especially Litira and Kuimon, they were the ones who felt like friends the most, the gentle Litira and the young, commanding Kuimon.
"Poseidon Markpoint..."
Along Rustboro city and towards Fortree, it all seemed like I was going backwards I know, but that is just the safe route to Fortree, I know the faster way was past Mauville but I just couldn't do that.
I didn't know much about the landscape or what lurks in these parts but all I knew is that it was a long and dangerous pathway to Miir Cyraa, before I began my journey I reminded myself not to take this path, but it just seems to call out to me.
I truly hated traveling alone none-the-less. Just the fact that I was watching my own back, hunting for only myself, fending for only myself, it's harder with only one.
I knew two things were going to get in my way on this journey and that would be the PEF threat and the Savage Pokemon threat.
The Savage Pokemon are those without education, live only to hunt just like the common animal, they show no interest in knowledge or companionship, the only thing that goes through their mind was kill... kill... kill... commonly referred to as "Wild Pokemon" to humans usually.
The sun did not stop on my account, it moved upwards in the sky at a slow yet graceful speed as I journeyed along, leaving the Elite Force HQ behind.
The sun's rays beat down on my fur, I was running out of water in my body so I looked around against my little belt.
"Aah... Litira..." I whispered as I checked around my new white belt for one of the canteens Litira equipped me with before I left, "...so thoughtful" I dreamily said aloud. I opened up the top and let the fresh water into my mouth then down my throat.
Conserving whatever water I had left in that little container I stopped before I finished it all, it would be the only fresh water I would get until I find an Outpost or Checkpoint of some sort, the seawater was not an option and the few lakes around here were contaminated with litter and hazardous materials.
"Pokemon encounter, Pokemon encounter, all available PEF units are to report to distress beacon 7, resistance confirmed, resistance confirmed, resistance confirmed..."
It was the monotone woman that was the alarm's voice. I saw a few PEF helicopters begin to levitate upwards from Rustboro city, its propellers whirring loudly while its vibration waved along the ground.
"Oh no... I hope everyone gets out of there before those reinforcements get over there..."
Upon seeing those helicopters, I ducked down in a military position for stealth and recon behind a garden of dead shrubs. It was not the best camouflage for a Zangoose like me. My white fur did not blend in with the brown and green surroundings. So I got back up and began to run TOWARDS the helicopters.
There must have been a better place I could hide but running away from the helicopters was out of the question, if I had then those PEF soldiers attacking the Elite Force HQ would surely spot me.
Upon stumbling into a tunnel camouflaged with leaves and twigs, I found myself rolling inside, my body running over every sharp rock in there as I grunted and groaned along the way.
The bright light from outside shone narrowly into the tunnel, dirt particles hovering around freely in the breeze. I felt the constant vibrant noises of a helicopter approaching, my first action was to sit completely still and silently until the helicopter passed by.
"That was a close one..."
My heart was racing, I was incredibly lucky the helicopter did not spot me or I would've surely died.
As the helicopter's vibrations faded away, I started hearing some eerie chanting originating from deeper within the tunnel.
"Tomo ete mai...
Tomo leamar ishtar...
Tomo asharan mi llanma
Tomo beipa Anriu..."
Constantly continuing over and over and over until the voice led me straight to where it originated.
"Tomo ete mai..."
I began to feel a tingling sensation come from my lower Lombard, I stopped dead in my tracks and tested it out a bit.
"Tomo leamar ishtar..."
My eyes began to burn, nearly causing me to scream in agony and reveal myself to the chanting person. I shut my eyes tightly and rubbed them with both of my paws balled up into fists
"Tomo asharan mi llanma..."
My legs began to feel wobbly, losing control and shaking in place like a frightened infant, I was beginning to feel weaker and weaker as I got nearer and nearer.
"Tomo beipa Anriu..."
"OH MY GOD!!" I yelled in sheer pain as every single strand of hair on my body began to burn and itch. The chanting stopped when my white and dark orange colored fur once again turned black and red, "Impossible!" I screamed, turned around to run away from whoever was doing this.
"My hereditary move activated itself by the chanting?! What is happening?"
Upon turning a corner, I saw a dark and shadowy figure standing in my way.
"What are you doing here...?" a Weavile staring me in the face.
I stopped breathing... knowing exactly who this was I froze in fear, not even enough brain activity to step backwards a few steps. I was looking Lucifer in the eyes, face to face. The left hemisphere of his face was completely burned to wrinkles, he possessed a third eye that I just figured out was in fact... a real eyeball on his forehead, and he wore a long and dark robe that resembled the picture of a red triangle across the middle of it.
"I still did not get a response... what might be the problem, Drone?" Lucifer asked me, no emotions at all on his face, all THREE of his eyes staring at me at once.
"Drone...? What does he mean...?"
"I... I was ambushed by a small group of PEF soldiers..." I lied, quickly thinking up of an excuse to counteract why he might have called me a Drone... was it because my hereditary move activated itself automatically...? What did this have to do with me being a Drone?
"I see..." he responded, turning around and disappearing back in front of the altar from whence he chanted his prayer.
I began to walk away slowly, acting like I was going back out there to patrol the area perhaps.
"What are you doing...?" Lucifer asked, still no emotion in his words, the way he spoke caused me to sweat all over. How could this be? I was shivering like a little Eevee baby.
"I... I'm going to patrol the area to see if any PEF soldiers might come in here" I made up an answer from the back of my mind, easing up a bit and trying not to show fear against this Weavile, the small, half-lit torches that circulated the room lit up the dark sides of Lucifer's half-burned face.
"No... no you're not, first I must check your body for any injuries... then I might need you for something... I'll think of you as my apprentice for the next couple of days... someone like Aiiran Walker..." he unenthusiastically said, it was like he showed no fear, happiness, jealousy, love, bravery, or any other emotion there was.
"Aiiran Walker..." I whispered, remembering that horrible day at Nighthawk Outpost once more. The very same incident that was slowly eating away at my mind during all of this time...
"...yes sir..." was all I could say, if I refused there were most likely... dire consequences for defiance.
I was now stuck with the one person who I've been trying to figure out for the past few days... whos identity was unknown to me and by some bizarre twist of fate... I was now stuck with him...
The sun once again showed its bright and shining face upon us above the ocean's horizon as the skies and the fog faded from black to red to orange and finally back to blue as it should be.
I sat with my legs crossed on top bunk in Timmy's room for his room was used as a guest room, or so Kuimon says. I slept in here overnight, but I was scheduled to leave in the morning for I still had to get to Miir Cyraa before the PEF invasion in that area began.
Last night, the sky was dark and clouds formed to cause rain to fall from the sky. Just as Kuimon predicted, even if the rain lasted a short couple of hours it did soak everything in its path, the pavement and everything else that was left outside was partially wet now after a few hours of clear night skies.
I lay there silently, thinking about what has happened to me on my little journey.
Earlier on I was rewarded with a badge that symbolized I was an honorary member of the Elite Force, the crest resembled the outline structure of a dark and cynical-looking Mightyena who's eyes glowed a bright red and orange, it was just a token to mark that I was a brother to them. It meant a lot to me knowing that I had some good friends here, I will treasure this little present always.
I fiddled around with it in my paws, just attempting to pass the time with my injured back. I didn't know what was wrong with me for every time it felt rejuvenated I would attempt to get up then after a few seconds my back would just tighten up again and hurt even more.
I lifted up the needle from the back of the badge and pinned it against the left hemisphere of my chest and rested my head against Timmy's fluffy, white pillow.
Staring up at the ceiling, all I could do was reminisce on my past events, an acceptable way to pass the time.
The first thought that came to mind was Litira: I pictured her perfect smile in my mind so accurately that it was disturbing. I now have to admit the fact that I really like her, everything she has done since I arrived at the Elite Force headquarters was perfect in its own way, such a way that was relevant to my interests in a female.
No, wrong way to explain it... I had fallen in love with her.
We were even perfect in age, we are both the same age, 23 years on this Earth thought it may not seem like that is possible by 2'11 feet in height compared to 4'3 feet which was my height, plus her slim structure just increased her cuteness and beauty.
Her dark blue body called out to me as I lay there. I knew that this was true when I felt an erection coming just by the mere thought of Litira in her perfect form.
My blood began to transfer into my penis and caused it to become firm, suddenly stopping its growth and began throbbing in place.
"You are stronger than that Jherek, get control of yourself..."
I've never loved a female like this besides my trainer, Cindy, but I knew that Cindy would never feel the same way. Cindy is a human and I am a Pokemon, a Zangoose if you will.
I have fur, she has skin. I have long, firm ears, she has small, wimpy ears. I have a long and bushy tail, she has a tailbone.
We were just different, thought some Pokemon used to have relationships with their trainers, erotic relationships that would never even cross my mind unless someone tells me about it, I knew my Cindy wasn't like that, she loved me as a Pokemon and that was it, not as a sex partner.
But this is the first time I've ever fallen in love with another Pokemon. Truly the first time for when I was younger I was the envy of all males in my clan. All of the females loved me, but I did not need love nor did was I interested in it, at the time I just wanted to be stronger to make my father, the chief of the Kuhn clan, proud.
I knew that all fathers wanted a strong son, but at the time I was just not capable of mustering up enough strength for his expectations and he looked upon me as a failure, a worthless... useless... failure.
"The Kuhn Hereditary ability is not just any ordinary move, we as the Kuhn Clan must reinforce it with sheer willpower to make the power inside of us grow to an extent where we, as a clan, will be the envy of the entire Pokemon world..."
At the time I just wasn't able to summon up that kind of anger against someone, no one in my clan was an enemy and I grew up to learn and respect that. But when suddenly everything I have learned in school just had to be forgotten to learn a simple hereditary ability, it just becomes extremely difficult.
Even so, I was always the envy of all of the males in the clan, but only because I was the only one dedicated to making my father proud of me. I passed through the clan ranks and became one of the highest ranking cubs ever: The Warrior Elite... and it still didn't make my father proud of me...
I passed Zangooses 10 and 20 years older than me when I was just 8 years old and that did cause me to make some enemies in my time.
"Why father... why do you think I'm worthless...?" I whispered, still staring at the ceiling above.
I shut my eyes and relaxed as I sorted all of my memories in order, but I was interrupted by what seemed to be Litira's voice.
"Are you okay?"
Knowing it was her, I checked to see if my erection died out. I was lucky it did, or this would have been an awkward situation.
Her bright and beautiful eyes met mine as she awaited an answer from me.
"Yeah... I guess my back is still sore..." was the only thing I could think of at the moment, her beauty spamming my mind with dirty thoughts.
Litira had a flower tightly fused with the fur near her red, feather-like ear which I noticed instantly, the first thing that came to my mind was "She looks a little different, what is new?"
I sat up on the bed and followed that with a loud and sustained yawn, my back feeling much better than before.
"Getting tired again...?" she asked me when she began to fiddle around with that new flower she had, her claws tapped it around in a better position to keep it from falling out of her fur.
"Kind of, I was traveling through Nighthawk Outpost the night before and that took a lot out of me..." I trailed off while giving her a hint of what I was trying to say.
"Oh..." she stared off at the little picture Timmy had, the one that had everyone in the Elite Force.
"Well, what is everyone else doing?" my question drew her attention back to me.
"Oh, they are just on patrol duty" she responded when she moved over to a wall that had free space and leaned up against it.
"That's good... the last thing you guys would want was an unexpected threat..." I gladly said.
"Yeah... but before you go, I just wanted to give you some briefing onto where you're going" she said, signaling me to follow her with an arm gesture.
I slowly climbed down the bunk bed's little ladder and slowly began to follow Litira, trying to see if my back would act up again... it didn't.
She led me into Sparks' room then into a secret door that lead to a long and dark hallway. Litira flipped a switch then suddenly lights around every corner lit up, no more dark corners left in the metallic hallway.
"It's a shame you're leaving so soon..." she whispered loud enough for me to hear, there was a small hint of depression in her voice that caught my attention.
"Was that a hint of sadness right there? Aw, she's going to miss me!" I positively thought.
Litira knocked her white claws against a hard, metal door once... twice... three times and nothing special occurred.
She tried it again, one... two... three...
Then again... then again... her body began to tense up from the frustration she must have been feeling at the moment.
Finally the door opened, Litira letting out a sigh of relief before she prepared to bash the door open with her two bare claws.
She continued down the long, glimmering hallway that lead into an empty room with about 6 chairs facing a large map on the white brick wall.
The map showed the entire Hoenn region and all of its beautiful details, the fresh, green pastures of Fortree and the blue ocean that surrounded Ever Grande, Sootopolis, and Pacifidlog were highlighted at certain points that all had their own individual titles, the one closest to Fortree was "Poseidon Markpoint"
"You see, Jherek..." Litira began, "you're moving out to Poseidon Markpoint, somewhere near Fortree where Miir Cyraa is" she said, pointing along the map to give me an example of what she was talking about, "...that Checkpoint will give you a lift across the river and into Miir Cyraa, finally ending your little trip" she briefed like an expert, yet another amazing thing about Litira, I knew she was a natural born leader, too bad she is not the leader of the Elite Force.
"I see..."
Litira sucked in another deep breath of air and prepared for the next part of the briefing when the bright room suddenly turned pitch black, my heart rate grew as It felt like the walls were closing in on me. I scuttled around, fearful of what lied in the darkness that I couldn't see with my eyes alone.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it!" I yelled in pain, my ears throbbing at the violently loud alarm that began to blare. It reminded me of a police siren, red lights filled the room with red light that flashed around in a propeller-like fashion.
"God damn it! What's going on?!" I heard Litira yell, a small hint of fear in the tone of her voice.
"Attention all personnel, attention all personnel, PEF soldiers have located our headquarters! Requesting reinforcements in entrance 2, I repeat, entrance 2"
I heard Kuimon's voice over the loudspeaker, the sounds of gunfire in the background.
"This is entrance 1" Sparks started over the loudspeaker, "Are you sure you guys are having problems? It is like a walk in the park over at my side"
He was being unusually calm in a situation like this, occasionally there would be the sound of horror coming from a young soldier's voice, but not Sparks, his unusually calm voice threw me off balance for a second.
"It may be a walk in the park for you, but down at entrance 2, it's the mother fucking apocalypse!" The sounds of battle was transmitted along with Kuimon's message
The thought that perhaps the PEF were sending reinforcements somewhere when they noticed our HQ crossed my mind for a moment. I know there weren't many Rustboro Police patrol units in the area, so it couldn't have been them.
"Litira, you get Jherek out of here, use the secret exit that leads the coastline of Rustboro, and Jherek, when you are heading to Poseidon Markpoint, whatever you do, don't go into..."
All that was heard from that point on was static, similar to what occurred within Nighthawk Outpost, but this was at a much larger scale of danger.
Litira obeyed Kuimon's commands and lead me to another metal door, similar to the one she opened to enter the room in the first place.
She pushed a small green button at the right end of the wall and the metal door opened in a horizontal fashion. Along the hallway were signs of warning, "Go back" "Do not continue" "Danger" and "Warning"
"This place was cut off from our base for Savage Pokemon have taken refuge within this area, just be careful when you are moving through... just incase they blocked the ladder that leads up to the surface" she warned.
"I understand..."
"...right, and here, you'll need this" she said, taking off her little white belt that was carrying a canteen full of water and passing it over to me, "Don't drink this all in one day, you're going to need to save every last drop of it..."
The vibrations of an explosion was felt at that moment, almost causing me to lose my balance, "I need to go help my comrades... but..." she hesitated for a moment.
Her face resembled the one of a tortured soul on fire. She looked like she was going to explode in tears in any moment, "Jherek... I... before you go I need to say that..."
She stopped for a minute then looked back up at me, suddenly yelling out, "I like you! Even when you arrived I liked you... just the way you acted, everything about you just made me feel so right... it's so hard to explain"
I was truly surprised at this statement, "She... she likes me...?" I asked myself in disbelief. Litira ran into my arms and grabbed me tightly around my waist, "If you go... I'll miss you so much..." she whispered, burying her face in my fur and letting out her emotions.
I felt her fur between my paw as I stroked back and forth along her head, avoiding the flower upon her head and attempting not to stroke too hard against her delicate fur, "I'll miss you too" I replied, shutting my eyes tightly, trying not to cry myself.
"...but... what if I'll never see you again?" she asked, looking up at me and revealing her tear-flooded face.
My heart told me to do something that I would've never come up with, "Kiss her..." it called out to me and so I did.
I grabbed her arms then held her paws tightly in mine, my face moved up to hers. I felt her soft lips against mine, she was surprised that I did this, even I was surprised, but she only hesitated for a moment, then she pushed her lips against mine as well.
Our tongues massaged each other with a sprightly dance, both of our eyes closed in pleasure and our arms now wrapped around each other. Our height differences didn't cause us much problems, I faced downwards while she faced upwards.
I finally retreated, backing away a few steps, leaving her wanting more, "That is if we don't see each other again..." I started, her eyes widened up a little when I said this, "...but that's never going to happen, 'cuz I ain't going anywhere, believe that!" I victoriously stated, lifting my right arm in the air and turning around,, running from the ever-lighted hallway to the dangerously dark and mysterious side of the HQ's underground base.
"Jherek! I'll hold you to your word!" I heard Litira call out. I turned around as I ran, seeing her arm waving in the air, signaling a "Good-bye" from her, I turned my entire body around, ran backwards, and waved her "Good-bye" as well as I turned a corner, Litira disappearing from my view.
I then heard a loud crash then the sound of items tumbling over each other. I stopped and went back to see that the ceiling had collapsed under the vibrations of the explosions above, looks like there was no turning back from this point on.
"Jherek... you rule..." I told myself, feeling very satisfied on my actions with Litira.
I slowed down to a halt when I saw what lied before me. The walls were coated with a hazardous looking sludge, the floors oozed fungus and dirt lay supreme in the area. A few dirty barrels with lines of duffel bags on the sides of the room and there lay a locked ladder in my path, half of it rolled up so no humans could use it for they could not jump high enough to reach it..
It was the only way to get out of there so I inevitably took the chance of climbing all the way to the top, even if falling over means certain death.
This must have been a secret exit of some sort for the Elite Force to retreat in a situation like this.
I stared up at the ladder and thought of a good way to get up there without killing myself, with this idea in mind I ran towards the wall under the ladder and jumped up as high as I could, digging my claws into the cement as I did in my fight with Aiiran. I grabbed the ladder at its lowest bar but barely, extremely lucky that I didn't sharpen my claws in the past few weeks or I would have slipped.
I struggled up the stairs and to the top where I lifted up a hatch that was labeled "Sewer" perhaps a cleverly disguised cover.
Lifting myself to the top I realized I was somewhere along the road that lead straight to Rustboro city itself, the city and all of its inhabitants continuing their average, everyday lives oblivious on what lurked around them.
I wearily got up to my feet, letting my arms move freely with every step I took forward. It was an acceptable workout to be climbing up a ladder, but just the way it was built caused it to be a difficult task to climb all the way up. The ladder looked like it was built for the long-armed Vigoroth, adding to the fact that some of the bars were missing so I had to take really push myself to the limit to climb all the way to the top.
Upon sitting down near a dead shrub on the warm dirt I saw the Elite Force HQ on a far distance, drastically bombarded with bullets and grenades with 7 squads in the area I believe, 3 vehicles that must have held these soldiers. With respect, I knew that they could handle all of those PEF forces, otherwise they wouldn't be an "Elite Force"
Still, it did worry me on the fact that the PEF were scanning this area, that means they are bound to locate me and without any backup I am as well as useless. I picked myself up and urged to go on, retreating from the building under siege and towards Rustboro city where I am to keep continuing until I get across the mountains North of Rustboro.
"My first kiss..." I thought about what I did with Litira before I left, it made me very happy that she liked me too, but now I'm just going to be thinking about her day and night until I see her bright, smiling face once again.
Was it wrong to be in love with a different type of Pokemon? I didn't think so, for if love knew boundaries where would we all be? It would just create an imbalance in all things perfect, so to speak.
I felt deep regrets for leaving them all behind, especially Litira and Kuimon, they were the ones who felt like friends the most, the gentle Litira and the young, commanding Kuimon.
"Poseidon Markpoint..."
Along Rustboro city and towards Fortree, it all seemed like I was going backwards I know, but that is just the safe route to Fortree, I know the faster way was past Mauville but I just couldn't do that.
I didn't know much about the landscape or what lurks in these parts but all I knew is that it was a long and dangerous pathway to Miir Cyraa, before I began my journey I reminded myself not to take this path, but it just seems to call out to me.
I truly hated traveling alone none-the-less. Just the fact that I was watching my own back, hunting for only myself, fending for only myself, it's harder with only one.
I knew two things were going to get in my way on this journey and that would be the PEF threat and the Savage Pokemon threat.
The Savage Pokemon are those without education, live only to hunt just like the common animal, they show no interest in knowledge or companionship, the only thing that goes through their mind was kill... kill... kill... commonly referred to as "Wild Pokemon" to humans usually.
The sun did not stop on my account, it moved upwards in the sky at a slow yet graceful speed as I journeyed along, leaving the Elite Force HQ behind.
The sun's rays beat down on my fur, I was running out of water in my body so I looked around against my little belt.
"Aah... Litira..." I whispered as I checked around my new white belt for one of the canteens Litira equipped me with before I left, "...so thoughtful" I dreamily said aloud. I opened up the top and let the fresh water into my mouth then down my throat.
Conserving whatever water I had left in that little container I stopped before I finished it all, it would be the only fresh water I would get until I find an Outpost or Checkpoint of some sort, the seawater was not an option and the few lakes around here were contaminated with litter and hazardous materials.
"Pokemon encounter, Pokemon encounter, all available PEF units are to report to distress beacon 7, resistance confirmed, resistance confirmed, resistance confirmed..."
It was the monotone woman that was the alarm's voice. I saw a few PEF helicopters begin to levitate upwards from Rustboro city, its propellers whirring loudly while its vibration waved along the ground.
"Oh no... I hope everyone gets out of there before those reinforcements get over there..."
Upon seeing those helicopters, I ducked down in a military position for stealth and recon behind a garden of dead shrubs. It was not the best camouflage for a Zangoose like me. My white fur did not blend in with the brown and green surroundings. So I got back up and began to run TOWARDS the helicopters.
There must have been a better place I could hide but running away from the helicopters was out of the question, if I had then those PEF soldiers attacking the Elite Force HQ would surely spot me.
Upon stumbling into a tunnel camouflaged with leaves and twigs, I found myself rolling inside, my body running over every sharp rock in there as I grunted and groaned along the way.
The bright light from outside shone narrowly into the tunnel, dirt particles hovering around freely in the breeze. I felt the constant vibrant noises of a helicopter approaching, my first action was to sit completely still and silently until the helicopter passed by.
"That was a close one..."
My heart was racing, I was incredibly lucky the helicopter did not spot me or I would've surely died.
As the helicopter's vibrations faded away, I started hearing some eerie chanting originating from deeper within the tunnel.
"Tomo ete mai...
Tomo leamar ishtar...
Tomo asharan mi llanma
Tomo beipa Anriu..."
Constantly continuing over and over and over until the voice led me straight to where it originated.
"Tomo ete mai..."
I began to feel a tingling sensation come from my lower Lombard, I stopped dead in my tracks and tested it out a bit.
"Tomo leamar ishtar..."
My eyes began to burn, nearly causing me to scream in agony and reveal myself to the chanting person. I shut my eyes tightly and rubbed them with both of my paws balled up into fists
"Tomo asharan mi llanma..."
My legs began to feel wobbly, losing control and shaking in place like a frightened infant, I was beginning to feel weaker and weaker as I got nearer and nearer.
"Tomo beipa Anriu..."
"OH MY GOD!!" I yelled in sheer pain as every single strand of hair on my body began to burn and itch. The chanting stopped when my white and dark orange colored fur once again turned black and red, "Impossible!" I screamed, turned around to run away from whoever was doing this.
"My hereditary move activated itself by the chanting?! What is happening?"
Upon turning a corner, I saw a dark and shadowy figure standing in my way.
"What are you doing here...?" a Weavile staring me in the face.
I stopped breathing... knowing exactly who this was I froze in fear, not even enough brain activity to step backwards a few steps. I was looking Lucifer in the eyes, face to face. The left hemisphere of his face was completely burned to wrinkles, he possessed a third eye that I just figured out was in fact... a real eyeball on his forehead, and he wore a long and dark robe that resembled the picture of a red triangle across the middle of it.
"I still did not get a response... what might be the problem, Drone?" Lucifer asked me, no emotions at all on his face, all THREE of his eyes staring at me at once.
"Drone...? What does he mean...?"
"I... I was ambushed by a small group of PEF soldiers..." I lied, quickly thinking up of an excuse to counteract why he might have called me a Drone... was it because my hereditary move activated itself automatically...? What did this have to do with me being a Drone?
"I see..." he responded, turning around and disappearing back in front of the altar from whence he chanted his prayer.
I began to walk away slowly, acting like I was going back out there to patrol the area perhaps.
"What are you doing...?" Lucifer asked, still no emotion in his words, the way he spoke caused me to sweat all over. How could this be? I was shivering like a little Eevee baby.
"I... I'm going to patrol the area to see if any PEF soldiers might come in here" I made up an answer from the back of my mind, easing up a bit and trying not to show fear against this Weavile, the small, half-lit torches that circulated the room lit up the dark sides of Lucifer's half-burned face.
"No... no you're not, first I must check your body for any injuries... then I might need you for something... I'll think of you as my apprentice for the next couple of days... someone like Aiiran Walker..." he unenthusiastically said, it was like he showed no fear, happiness, jealousy, love, bravery, or any other emotion there was.
"Aiiran Walker..." I whispered, remembering that horrible day at Nighthawk Outpost once more. The very same incident that was slowly eating away at my mind during all of this time...
"...yes sir..." was all I could say, if I refused there were most likely... dire consequences for defiance.
I was now stuck with the one person who I've been trying to figure out for the past few days... whos identity was unknown to me and by some bizarre twist of fate... I was now stuck with him...