Story Notes:
Disclaimer: Pokemon and all licensed Pokemon merchandise, including characters, are strictly property of Nintendo. In short; I own nothing but ideas. Any names and/or likeness pertaining to real people or characters is strictly coincidental (unless it's an allegory). All rights reserved.Warning: This will, in later chapters, contain sex, including normal intercourse, oral, some violence borderline to rape. It will also include violence (not in sex). The story will be updated to include those warnings upon the posting of the first chapter to include that subject. All chapters with sex are marked with XXX at the beginning of their description.Author Notes: (Updated 06/07/10)I don't have any decent excuse, I don't. Other than my life falling apart. I've been up for two days straight and I'm going to sleep now, but that may explain any serious errors in my writing and how poor it is in general. I'll come back to fix it when I'm more awake.=================================================
I'll Hold You
Chapter 1
I'll Hold You
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The windows were rattling from the force of the howling wind outside, and eight year old Evelyn snuggled herself closer to her grandfather, warm in the glow of his body and the light of the television. He wrapped an arm around her, rubbing her shoulder in what he hoped would comfort the poor dear. He looked down at her, her eyes glued to the wavering windows as rain pelted the house at such an angle that it sounded almost like gunfire.
Maybe it was the fact that she lived in an area that rained constantly, or that she was shrouded by trees, but one thing was for sure; she looked paler than usual there in the television light. Professor Yew didn't want to admit it, but he knew his granddaughter was a bit...reclusive. She hid in their house in the trees most of time, went out to play every so often, but on the whole she was oddly reserved. He commended such an attitude toward her mother, rest her soul. Evelyn looked up at him and gave him a weak but brave little smile, and he had to smile back.
He couldn't resist a grin when he saw her eyes, the same eyes as his daughter; a vibrant violet. It was, perhaps, the only abnormality about her, physically. Kids today, with blue hair, spiked and awkward; he couldn't understand it. No, his granddaughter just had thick, wavy black hair, cut to frame her face and reach just below her shoulders. He had teased her once, pointing to a boy in the Poke'Mart with green, spiky hair.
"How would you like to have hair like that?" he asked her. Evelyn, holding her grandfather's hand as they stood in line, looked at the boy and wrinkled her nose before looking up at him, shaking her head.
"Oh? Why not?" he asked as they moved up the line and he began placing his items on the table. Being a researcher, he found himself visiting the Poke'Mart and Center frequently, which he wasn't surprised to find that Evelyn loved.
"My hair looks like my mommy's..." was her reply, trailing off as her attention was snagged by a young lady in the store with a silver Vulpix. Both what his granddaughter had said, and her current fascination stopped him dead. He wondered if she remembered that night...if she didn't, it was for the best. One thing was for sure, Evelyn had adopted her mother's love for what many call "Shineys". His daughter was a leader in researching for the group that studied these creatures; their order known as the Opal Tower. It was actually spelled Shinais, and pronounced differently, but most people just said shiny.
Evelyn gave another shiver as the tree their house was built on swayed. His courage failing him, Professor Yew shivered too. It wasn't until the T.V. went out that panic began descend on the both of them. If this storm was large enough to sway a tree as large as this, push the windows to near breaking point, and cut off their only source of light, it was a storm not worth his pride.
"Gran?" mewed Evelyn as the Professor shot up suddenly, running to his study in the other room. She could hear the snapping of briefcase clasps and the ruffling of papers. She could see him, since the house had no inner doors, and he was muttering something to himself that she couldn't hear over the storm. When his voice began to come through, she frowned and looked to the window; the storm was subsiding? She walked to it and looked up through the breaks in the treetops and was surprised to see...blue sky?
"Gran, I think it's over..." she shouted to him, feeling silly since it was no longer necessary to shout. Often times, though, she had to, since his hearing was off. He came strolling briskly through the room, a backpack full of who-knows-what on his back, a briefcase in one hand, his other outstretched, which she readily took.
"No, sweetheart," he said softly as lead her out the door and across a hanging bridge. "We're in the eye of the storm. It'll be calm for a while, then get bad again."
"Are we going to the Center?" she asked. He grandfather nodded. Evelyn looked around as other people in other houses were escaping their temporary prisons, opting instead for the safe haven of the Center. They made their way down steep stairs carved in trees, some circular, some through arches, twists and turns through the labyrinth in the trees. As they came to the ground, walking as fast as they could through dense, wet tall-grass, Evelyn could make out the voice of Nurse Joy.
"Hurry, everyone! Five minutes, and it starts up again. Hurry!" she shouted. They made their way in, shaking the water from their feet. Her grandfather had boots on, at least, but Evelyn was dressed for bed; bare feet, blue pajama bottoms, and a little white tank top. The eight year old didn't care at all; wet feet in the jungle was something she was not only used to, but fond of. They settled down in the cushions of the crowded lobby, a dull roar waving through. Louder rolls of thunder and disappearing light from the windows hushed the room as doors were slammed shut and the storm descended its wrath once more.
All was relatively calm for quite some time, until a loud banging made half the lobby, Evelyn and her grandfather included, jump. A voice, easily identified as officer Jenny even through a storm, shouted from its other side.
"Open up! Open up, damn it; it's an emergency!"
Nurse Joy and a few trainers ran to open the doors and let Officer Jenny through. She spurted and coughed, shaking some water off and catching her breath.
"What is it, Officer?" asked Joy. Jenny finally took a deep breath.
"I was on my way here when I received a distress message from the weather research center down the river; their power is out and the river is beginning to overflow!"
"Oh goodness..." gasped Nurse Joy, looking now to the lobby full of people and Pokemon, some well and some truly sick.
"I need help!" pleaded Officer Jenny impatiently, trying to make it apparent that this wasn't something to ponder over a cup of tea.
"Yes, I know, but I cannot leave my patients!" confessed Joy, she turned back to the room to address its occupants. "Will anyone here volunteer to rescue the people-"
"-and Pokemon." interjected Jenny.
"-and Pokemon of the weather research lab down the river?!"
A roar of volunteers began, many shooting straight past Jenny and out the door. Since her grandfather began to rise, Evelyn did to, but he placed a hand on her shoulder.
"No, Eve," he said, "you stay here. We have Pokemon to protect us, and I'm not letting you out in this storm."
Without so much as another word, he took off for the doors with the rest of the crowd. Now, it wasn't that Evelyn was a disobedient child; far from it. It was simply a panic she had, a fear that would never leave her for her entire life that set her out that door too, hidden in the taller masses of people. Evelyn was terrified of being alone. Alone was a word that hurt her, somehow, in a way she couldn't describe, and the idea that her only family was alone as well, was something she wouldn't tolerate.
The rain was beginning to fall now, getting heavier and harder quickly. The trainers all ran down the path along the river, past the Bidoof dam, some ran around the tall grass, some through it. Evelyn, never one to shy from the grass, ran through it, a mistake that would have a massive effect on the rest of her life. Just into the mass her right food, bare to the world, connected with something hard and rough, sending her over, flat on her face in the mud. She looked back at the offending object, wincing at the throb in her foot. She nearly screamed, but certainly stuttered back on her hands and feet a few inches. It was a large portion of a tree branch felled by the storm, but under it, trapped by its weight, was a hissing and spitting Ekans, one of Evelyn's least favorite Pokemon.
Before she could react any further, Officer Jenny sped past on her motorcycle, followed by some running trainers, and Evelyn gave a small sigh; it was fortunate that she was tripped. Officer Jenny knew her, and no doubt would have grabbed her and sent her right back to the Center. Evelyn returned her attention to the Ekans and felt a tug of both gratitude and sympathy, watching the poor thing writhe and squirm, trying to break free. Evelyn pushed her foot forward just a bit, feeling the rough wood as it rolled from her efforts, off the Ekans, which slithered off without another word...
The sky was falling by this point as Evelyn returned to running after the group, after her grandfather, but the path she used to know so well was shrouded now in the blurring sheets of pouring rain, waves of it rippling against the beaten path. Holding her arm up in a vein attempt at blocking rain, she squinted to see where to go, when she thought she heard some sort of coughing. She paused, trying to hear through the wind and thunder. No, there it was again!
She went toward the sound, toward the bank of the river, searching the choppy water for anything. A bit of pink caught her eye, and she carefully moved down the slippery grass of the bank. A male Nitoran was clinging to grass desperately, holding himself as far above the water as he could, but the current was pulling him, and the grass was beginning to uproot. Evelyn quickly reached forward, grabbing its little hands and yanking it right up. It blinked at her, then squirmed for freedom. She placed him down, and he scurried up the embankment, but stopped abruptly at the top to look back at her. It jerked its head in a funny way, and cried at her once, before running off.
Evelyn frowned, as she began her way back up the bank, having to use her hand on the steep and slippery side. She was no Nurse Joy; she didn't run off to save Pokemon, but she certainly couldn't watch one drown or be trapped. Selfishly, she hoped no other stupid Pokemon would hold her up. Though, she thought as she slipped slightly and caught herself again; that was odd. She'd never had a Pokemon clearly try and communicate to her. She wondered what he meant...
It was this thought that was interrupted by a loud crack. Not of thunder, but of wood. Evelyn first turned her attention to the trees across the river, but a second crack made the source known, and her heart skipped a beat. The Bidoof dam was bowed and split in the middle, and it was just Murphy's law that she noticed just in time to watch it burst, a wall of water, gushing past. Looking back, part of Evelyn knew that, even if she'd made it up the bank, she still would have been caught up. At the moment, however, she was so sure she was dead. Her world went deaf and blind at the same time as she was swirled and tossed underwater. It was by some miracle that she surfaced, taking a huge lung full of air like she'd never breathed before in her life, eyes wide and panicked.
Now she was struggling to stay surfaced, and truly lost, no longer on the clear river, but being pushed through trees like a human pinball. Every time she reached out to grab something, it slipped through her hand like air. That is, until something caught her, tiny as it was. A pressure, cool and warm at the same time, like bathwater, grabbed her hand. She looked up to see a Charmander like none she'd seen before, undoubtedly a Shiny. He was balanced on a log that didn't look as though it were sturdy, even before the storm, one hand grasping on a tree branch for dear life, the other grabbing her's for the same reason, just not his own. He provided the only light in her world now, and sound began to return as her ears stayed above water.
His tail flame was beautiful, if fire could be called that. Blue and white, but dwindling dangerously in the rain. It was enough light for her to see him. Black scales, red belly, and amazing blue eyes. It was his eyes that fascinated Evelyn, and he seemed to think the same to her. A wave of water interrupted whatever moment there was here, and the little Charmander tried valiantly to keep her, tightening his grip, but she slipped from it. She was fortunate, however, to now have her wits about her, and immediately latch herself onto a tree barely three feet from the Charmander's. A tree branch, or what was left of it, was just a bit above the water here, and she kicked and treed water until she could lift herself up onto it, one leg on either side. When she was settled, she looked back to the Charmander, who had the most anxious look she'd ever seen on his face, one hand still on the tree, and the other still outstretched but limp.
She smiled at him, a different smile than she gave her grandfather to reassure him, and was delighted when the little creature relaxed and smiled back. One moment of grinning was broken in a heartbeat, however. A loud snap shot through the air as the thinner tree branches, wounded, and taught as they were bent by the winds and water gave way in a tree near them. One thin branch, flexible and young, whipped down into the water, its tip catching the Charmander across the face and down his neck, making him scream out, his grip on the tree faltered. He hunched down in pain, grabbing the log he was on as it was rushed almost past Evelyn.
"No!" she shouted, reaching forward and impulsively grabbing his tail, right near the fire. Panic shot through her at the notion, and her grip released instinctively. That split second was enough to reanimate the Charmander, who reached out and grabbed a little twig that grew off her tree branch. His grip slipped, snapping the little leaf extensions on the twig that provided him what little friction it had to offer.
She was not burned...in that moment, Evelyn felt no pain. She looked at the Charmander, now clinging to the branch so desperately, knowing that he had not burned her but she had let go. She scooted down the branch, occasionally reaching forward, testing her arm's length, to get to him. Once she was close enough, she wriggled her fingers at him.
"C'mon...c'mon, what are waiting for? Take my hand," she whispered to him. Why she was whispering to him, she wasn't sure; it felt like the right thing to do. Guilt built up in her stomach when he gave her hand a skeptical look. He was only hanging by one hand, his other gripping the log under him, which was beginning to deteriorate in the rushing water. Either his hand would slip or his log would eventually disappear, either way, he wouldn't be able to keep his tail out of the water, and though Evelyn did not know this little fact about his species, all she had to know was that in a battle between fire and water, fire was a victim every time.
He wasn't letting go, and she couldn't really blame him. She'd already stupidly let him go once. Her eyes were building with tears, mostly of frustration at the stubborn beast. She didn't want to watch him disappear; she didn't want him to be alone.
"I'll hold you...I promise, please! I'll hold you!" she pleaded. He was looking at her through one good eye, the left having a cut at its corner was tinged with blood. He took a deep breath, loud enough for her to hear and anticipate his next move. He let go of the twig and reached for her hand as fast as he could. She stretched forward, fingertips catching his and pulling him sharply enough to grab the rest of his hand securely. No sooner was this done than the log he was on split, and Evelyn jerked him harshly toward her. He collided to her chest with a thump, and there he stayed, clinging to her and shaking with what Evelyn knew were sobs. She knew, because she was crying with him.
They would remain in that tree until the water subsided, and a search party was sent for her. They found her, ten feet up in a tree, covered in filth and mud and blood from the Charmander, who completely refused to let go of her, ripping her tank top a few times before she pleaded with the adults, "Let me hold him, let me hold him!" So she was carried by her grandfather, and she carried the Charmander, both so exhausted that they had passed into slumber before they could make it to the Center...
"The silly thing won't let me touch him..." sighed Nurse Joy, two days later. Obviously her medical and matricidal pride was punctured by this fact. Professor Yew frowned at the Nurse on his doorstep, wondering why it was his business if a Charmander was refusing treatment...then he recalled. No sooner had he turned around, Evelyn was standing right there, in the middle of the living room. A few cuts and bruises, but otherwise unharmed and now clean and in a fresh pair of jeans and a tank top. She was looking at him wordlessly, and he jerked his head toward Nurse Joy. He was still very cross with her. If he wasn't already bald headed and grey bearded, she'd have caused enough stress to do so. She nodded and padded across the floor, barefoot as usual, and left with the nurse.
"See what you can do...be careful, though. He's wild," said the nurse when they arrived at the Center. The Charmander was sitting in a ward, last bed on the left, tucked in a corner. He wasn't looking at anything but the sheets in front of him, sitting very much like a child, hands flat on the bed between his legs. Evelyn felt like she might cry again, especially when she was close enough to see his wound better. The filth that had built in the slash wasn't washed out, and it was obviously very infected, sped up by the massive amount of goodness only knows what that was in the water that night.
"Hey," was all she could manage when she came up next to him. He visibly jumped a little, startled, and looked up at her with wide eyes. He smiled a wide, child's smile, reaching out to her, and Evelyn's heart fluttered. She moved in to sit next to him, scooping him into a hug. He was a bit smaller than her, but not too much; enough for a satisfying hug. When they parted and she settled him in her lap, facing away from her, she had to stop him from squirming around toward her again. She giggled a little, and he did too, but then she held him firmly, and the smiles subsided a bit.
"We have to heal you," she said, not really knowing all the mechanics of it yet. She nodded to nurse Joy, who waved weakly at him, and he growled a little. Evelyn tightened her hold on him, but not in warning; in comfort. It caught his attention, and he looked to her.
"I'll hold you, okay?" she asked. He looked at her for a moment, back to the nurse, then back to Evelyn before he nodded once. It was painful to watch as Nurse Joy cleaned the slash that started just above the outer corner of his left eye, passed over it and down his face, his neck, and stopped at his collarbone. He was wriggling a little, and he cried with tears but not sobs, but behaved. She distracted him by playing with his tail. Evelyn reached out, tentatively at first. The initial fear of "it's fire, it'll burn you, you idiot" had to be forcibly silenced in her head before she pushed her hand through the flames. It was like the feeling when he had first grabbed her hand. Warm and cool, flowing, like bathwater or steam. Yes...steam was more accurate. Nurse Joy chuckled a little.
"He must like you," she said, when Evelyn gave her an inquiring look, "the Char species' tail fire won't hurt or burn unless they want it to. He must like you."
Professor Yew came by that afternoon when Evelyn didn't come home, only to see her asleep, curled with the oddly colored Charmander. Nurse Joy caught his eye across the ward and excused herself from a patient to come to him.
"His wound is healed, but his stubborn behavior will cost him a nasty scar. He wouldn't have to have one if he just let me keep it from infection," she sighed, looking at the pair on the bed. She smiled at the sight.
"I know...you hold ill feelings to the Shinys-" she began, but the Professor cut her off.
"Only the people who study them without mercy," he corrected, never taking his eyes off the pair. Nurse Joy glanced to him, then sighed.
"I doubt that will be the only scar he has," she said. Professor Yew finally tore his eyes from the scene, looking to her with a question in his gaze. She elaborated, "He's utterly mute..."
"Huh..." was all the Professor could manage. Nurse Joy wanted to ask him if he was going to shelter the creature, but a glance to the bed said that neither of them had any choice anymore. She smiled, gave him a pat on the back, and went away to her rounds. Professor Yew stepped forward and sat in the guest stool next to the bed, gently nudging his granddaughter. Shifted awake and looked up to him before sitting up carefully, not waking the Charmander.
"Gran, can we-" she started, but he cut her off with a thoughtful voice, looking at a potted plant in the corner with a lost expression.
"We'll have to name him..." he said, "and you can't 'catch' him until your ten, and then there's food, and- Ouf!"
Evelyn had launched herself to hug her grandfather, who patted her on the head, listening to her gratitude as it spilled form her lips like sand from a sieve. "Thank you" this, and "I'm so sorry, Gran" that, and lots of "I promise" es. He nodded, mostly to hurry her along, before he changed his mind.
"But...Gran...I don't know anything about him," she confessed, wringing her hands in worry not befitting an eight year old.
"Well...he's a Charmander, a fire type," he said. She gave him a look that could only be translated to "Duh, Gran", so he continued. "He has two evolutions, he's part of the fire dragon family, Draco del fuoco, and can learn moves like Dragon Claw, or Fire Blast, or-"
"Wait, Gran; say that again." said Evelyn. Her old grandfather faltered a bit, muttering as he retraced his own train of thought.
"Oh, Fire Blast? It's a very powerful-"
"No, no! Before that, Gran. Draco something..."
"Oh? Draco del fuoco? Dragon of fire, or fire dragon. Why?"
She was looking at him like she wasn't really seeing him, a look that pained him, for it too belonged to his daughter, but he knew the gears were turning in that little head.
"That's his name," she said, so matter-of-factually that for a moment, Professor Yew almost wanted to say "Well, of course it is". He blinked.
"Draco del fuoco? A bit of a mouthful, swee-"
"No, Grandad. Just...Draco." she sighed, now looking back at the sleeping Charmander. Professor Yew smiled and patted her on the head. In the years to come, she would not treat Draco like he were a pet, but like he was a friend, a next-door neighbor she always played with. She would insist that either he eat at the table or else she wouldn't eat at all. She shared her bed with him, got up early on the weekend to watch cartoons with him, and managed to convince the teacher come the next semester to let him come to school. The world was ready to throw the most traumatic and difficult tasks at them in the future, tasks building for decades only to come crashing down on this very pair. For now, however, neither knew nor cared. They would go through those trials, they would face those terrible odds...
And they would hold onto each other through it all.
Silver linings and rainbows; happy things come from a storm so large. However, this is just the beginning.
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Next Chapter: One Step Forward
The journey truly sets off with knew knowledge of family secrets...