Crystal Hikara
New Member
Well, I'll edit the first part of this first post later- for now, I'd rather just get this show on the road, and post a question really quick; what am I artistically allowed to use, concerning 'swears', if any if the situation would be reasonable to use it...?
WARNING: LONG CHAPTERS AHEAD. ALL ARE AROUND 10 PAGES IN WORD.
Chapter Index:
Chap. 1: Kidnapping (scroll down)
Chap. 2: Recovery
Chap. 3: Gift, Curse
Chap. 4- Sheer Luck
Chap. 5- A Short Rest
Chap. 6- Held At Poison Point
Chap. 7- From Rocket Heads to Team Missile
Chap. 8- Threshold
Chap. 9- The Battle
Chap. 10- Sergeant Pup, At Your Service
Chap. 11- Enter Kara
Chap. 12- Two's Company, Three's a Party
Chap. 13- Apollo's Wrath
Chap. 14- Three Meas'ly Little Battles?!
Chap. 15- Hippies are Cool, Man.
Chap. 16- Guilt
Chap. 17- Explosion (Kara's Repentence)
Chap. 18- Aikaze
Chap. 19- Kiyo's Generosity
Chap. 20- Aerial Assault
Chap. 21- First Edition
Chap. 22- Tournament End
Chap. 23- Follow the Bouncing Pokeball
Chap. 24- Eleven
Chap. 25- Weakness
Chap. 26- The Secret
Chap. 27- Fell
Chap. 28- The Three
Chap. 29- Ghost of the Past
Chap. 30- For You
Chap. 31- Ill Parting
Chap. 32- Two Birds of a Different Wing
Chap. 33- White Prison
Chap. 34- Ice Soul
Chap. 35- Unknown Kindness
Chap. 36- Snow Warning
Chap. 37- Kato
Chap. 38- The Ocean, The Sky (in progress)
Chapter 1- Kidnapping
The van clattered along the uneven road, and Crystal couldn't even begin to worry about how badly her rear end was being bruised from the vehicle's lack of shocks, nor could she really do much of anything about it. She had been gagged, hit with a good amount of Stun Spore, and thrown into a dinky cage probably meant for a Pokemon the size of a small Ninetales, tops. She lay rather uncomfortably half-against the cage wall, without the will to even mutter a cry of fear as a Houndoom mercilessly tormented her with snarls of sadistic delight and slight Embers that left hot welds on her fair skin. A Vileplume and its trainer, a member of Team Missile, seemed to merely encourage the taunting, while keeping an eye on the girl. She fought for what little consciousness she had, and tons of questions reeled through her mind furiously, the primary questions being thus: Why would they ever want a newbie trainer like me, barely started out on my own three days ago from home in Dawndew Town? Would they have potentially gotten wind of my stupid gift from that accident a few years back, that has caused so much trouble since then? Where are they taking me? What, I fear, are they doing to my poor Pidgey, Breeze, and my little Oddish, Flora? I can barely stand to think of the horrid things happening to them- electrocution, freezing, unreasonably hot flames…her thought reminded her of the pain that the chuckling Houndoom had caused as it breathed those putrid, sweltering pants of joy on her.
Why me?! she thought furiously again. Maybe I should have waited to start off on my adventure into the wide areas of Beghta, and maybe I should have listened to Ma- perhaps she was correct in calling me naïve...Crystal attempted a sigh, though it didn't end too well. The fine particles of the spore had also slowed her lungs' capability down in addition to immobilizing her, and it only made her more dizzy. She closed her startlingly sky blue eyes for which she had been named, and tried to see just how idiotic she was an hour- or however long it had been- back.
It was a warm, humid day as she traveled along Route 47, albeit it was a tad clouded over. She hummed some indiscreet tune as she enjoyed the cool breeze that danced and played through not only her golden, long hair, but through her hot orchid dyed bangs as well. She chuckled excitedly as Breeze flew along beside her, the short red-tinted feathers of the Pidgey adding to the calm winds. Crystal was in high spirits, as she had already caught her first Pokemon on her own, and that made her very satisfied as she trumped along the beaten path towards Sunrise City, where she could hopefully receive enough training to challenge the gym leader there and get one step closer to finding the secret headquarters of the High Council. True, no one knew where on the map the fortress could have been, but Crystal had made up her mind, ever since she heard all about her eldest brother Ryouo had gone out on his adventure before she had been born, that she would find him, battle him, overcome him, and challenge the High Council before he. True, her mother threw fits every time commercials for the ‘League would come on and beckon trainers to start their journeys to become a High Council Member Champion, and shied her away from magazines such as "Trainer's Life Monthly" and "The Pokemon Breeder". Still, in the end, she could not change Crystal's stubborn mind to go for it, and gave in, letting her youngest go off on adventure, leaving only her sometimes annoying brother, Wizar, and her two Pokemon companions Worki the Wartortle and Wizar's Machoke.
And, at last, she was free! The ten-year-old definitely enjoyed her freedom, though she did call her mother and receive calls every six hours or so. It was a tad lonely, but with six shining Pokeballs for new Pokemon and a very stylish belt/sash-styled bag with tons of different pockets for items and things, it was exciting to think of the possibilities. Who knew? She sighed contently, gazing not down at her black shorts marked with a purple Pokeball symbol nor at her rather baggy shirt with flaring sleeves tipped with violet cloth, but at the sky. Maybe, one day, the girl would find that Pokemon again, the one that-
"Hey, girlie!" A man's voice, not too old nor young, called out to her, and broke her train of thought as her crystal eyes faced him.
"Yes? Can I help you?" Her voice, as most said, was high in pitch, though far from annoying, unlike her laugh at times. It was very sweet, and someone could almost taste the delicate innocence that resonated from it. She looked over the man, who was dressed in an ivy green shirt with a darker blue vest on top of it, and he wore simple blue jeans. His jet black hair appeared as though he had just taken off a cap, and stuck out at random places. His eyes were an eerie sort of silver-green, though the shirt helped to emphasize their colored hue. Something about that man unnerved the girl slightly, and by the Legendary Pokemon did she ever curse herself for not trusting her instinct, asking Breeze to whip up a Gust and add some sand into the equation so she could continue on, but nooo, she had to be a polite, courteous little girl like her mother, who had never so much as gone out of that small town for much of anything, told her to be!
"Say, could you spare a moment over here? You see, me and my crew-"; he paused in his words, motioning to a van for movers nearby, before continuing, "we have a flat tire. We notice you have a Pidgey, right? Is there any way we could ask of you to send a message to Zenith City in the nearby northeast that we';ll be a little late?"
"I'm not sure. That's more up to Breeze. I don't even know if she knows the way."
"Oh, I'm sure she would know! You're a new trainer, right? Pidgeys in this area always flock to Zenith for food. Maybe you should ask her if she's been there?" This question...for whatever reason, it struck the preteen as odd. She eyed Breeze carefully.
"Would you know the way to that city?" She slowly questioned, taking a glance at the man, to make it look like she was still working on her communication skills with her Pokemon.
"Karuuu karuuu..." Breeze replied, tilting her head from side to side. Of course, Crystal took this in stride, and knew perfectly well what Breeze meant.
"What? Do you? Or do you not?"
"Ruuuuu..." the bird Pokemon gave off a fine trill of tongue and beak, something distinctive to the Pidgey family. She nodded yes, though she gave clear signs of discontent at this...character as she landed on her trainer's shoulder.
"Well, miss?"
"Yes, she knows the way, I think?" She turned to her sidekick, who had taken the opportunity to bury its head away in its wing to preen, and gave a sort of sarcastic look, which wasn't surprising for Breeze's sassy nature. “Yeah, she does. I guess you could borrow her, but only as long as it takes to send the message!” Crystal poked her friend lightly on her beak a few times, so as to get the message across that she didn’t like it any more than the bird did.
“Alright, thank you so much! You have no idea how grateful I am!” The man appeared a little different from his words, and headed over to the truck, where the men who had the truck jacked up a few inches were testing a spare to make sure that the pressure was alright. He climbed into the back of his van for a moment, more than likely to find a piece of paper to write a short note with. Crystal, naturally, couldn’t help going in for a closer look. As she thought back, she remembered a phrase her father used to say often to the girl when she was younger and he was still around, curiosity got the Skitty caught. “So, by the way, miss, what’s your name? Where you headed off to?”
“The name’s Crystal. Crystal Hikara. I’m headed off towards Sunrise to see if I can win me a badge!” she proudly exclaimed, though the enthusiasm sort of dyed off as she gazed in the van. All sorts of boxes were stacked up neatly, along with a few chairs stuffed in between here and there, and a few Pokemon slept. However, it was the quaint choice of moving Pokemon that caught Crystal’s eyes- unlike the Machoke, Vigoroth, or even Heracross or Hariyama she knew were popular in moving services for their Fighting-type strengths, she could only make out a bizarre dark-colored Pokemon with bones as ridges that appeared as though it wasn’t from the region and a Vileplume. “What’s your name, mister…? And why do you have such odd moving Pokemon?”
“Oh, my name?” His eyes darted around occasionally as he scrawled something out on a notebook he found near the back of the truck. Though Crystal wasn’t aware of it, the movers had finished with their preparations, and instead disappeared from the corner of her eyes. “The name’s Chris. Chris Johnson. Pleasure, Ms. Hikara.” He gave a hearted sort of laugh, one that unsteadied the girl. Breeze, on her perch of Crystal’s shoulder, ruffled her feathers in order to look bigger and badder, as though she was a Pidgeot with some serious anger issues. She clicked and purred out something indistinguishable, though Crystal paid no visual heed to the comment.
“Crystal is fine.” Her eyes carried her to the Vileplume and the other Pokemon, and she shifted her little weight around uneasily. “What’s that Pokemon? I’ve never seen nor heard of anything like it in this region.”
“Oh? This is Houndoom. We like to call him Dommi Doom for a nickname, though. Hahaha!” The Houndoom didn’t take too lightly too the comment, and gave a sort of snuff off to the side of disrespect. “No, we actually call him Doomsday, and the Vileplume Bad Nastay. He thinks he’s from the ghetto or something like that. I have no idea.” Chris shrugged as Vileplume nodded its humongous head and appeared to try and fold its arms in attitude. Crystal couldn’t help a small cry of hysteria at the site.
“That’s too funny!” She wiped away a few tears caused from laughing so far, but a sharp screech and a sharp jump off of her shoulder from Breeze alerted her that it was no longer fun and games as men with gas masks came from behind and held her in a choke. She fought with all over her might, though it was Chris that was laughing now.
“Yes, I agree, Crystal! It’s all too funny how you fell right into our little trap here.” He gazed at Breeze, who was trying to whip up some Gusts and peck mercilessly at the villains surrounding her. Chris appeared only merely amused, and turned to ‘Bad Nastay’. “Stun Spore them both and shut that bird up.” Vileplume nodded again, took a few steps forward, and let loose a ton of shimmering pollens. Crystal immediately stopped breathing, trying to hold her breath as she struggled, but she had to let it out eventually, and she felt numb all over. Breeze, as well, had fallen victim to the pollen through unrelentless attempts to not abandon her trainer for her own sake, and collapsed on the ground, twitching occasionally. Chris and his henchmen merely cackled from behind their plastic breathing devices in victory.
“Excellent. We have to leave now. Get her in that cage and have fun with the Pidgey with the dumb nickname.” Crystal could do nothing in further struggle as she was thrown unceremoniously into the tiny cage, her items pillaged from her bag, her Pokemon taken away, and saw not the light of day again as they closed up that van and took off.
Now, miserable, constantly Crystal insisted on cussing at herself for not remembering that Team Missile had almost completely taken over the nation in a few short years, and how their numbers were considerable. Oh, what she would’ve done to have traded that day to be at home rather than being stuck in the hard metal cage and treated like a stolen Pokemon! The van finally seemed to slow down a little, and she could make out a few words from Chris in the driver’s seat: “Ok, make sure that she doesn’t see where we are.” The supervising Missile grunt nodded, and turned to Bad Nastay- which Crystal decided had to be one of the stupidest names ever for a Vileplume.
"You heard the boss. Use your Sleep Powder on it.” The grunt put on his mask, and Doomsday backed away up front where the fresh air was pouring in. The pollen this time was much darker in color, and it was no use- Crystal had no will to fight it, and she completely fainted without a single utterance.
In what seemed to be a minute of forced sleep, but was most likely hours, Crystal slowly regained consciousness, her head swirling around emptily, as though she had been given a serious amount of anesthetics. As her eyes slowly opened, she found herself in a large room, though again in a tiny cage, hardly humane for a Pokemon, let alone a human. She found herself still sluggish because of the paralysis spores, though she was able to move around with mental force behind her tensed muscles. The room was dimly lit by only a few flickering light bulbs that dangled down from the somewhat tall ceiling, and a few other Pokemon were stored in cages- some rare and meek whom were cowering in fear in a corner in their fetal position, some ferocious that snarled, barked and growled their cries as soon as Crystal caught sight of them. A Missile Grunt had positioned himself at a watch station, and noticed the girl regaining her wits. He spoke lightly into a headset, though his words, to the new trainer, seemed slurred from the effects of the Sleep Powder. Shortly, two other grunts and some trained Machoke entered the storage room, muttering something about how they were starving and waiting for their break as soon as their work was done. One of the Missiles unlocked the door to Crystal’s cage, and without a chance with her slow reactions she was dragged out like a heavy piece of baggage instead of a human by the Superpower Pokemon.
Confused and terrified, she was dragged through various rooms, including a laboratory, a battle room, a gathering room (at this point she found it best just to look down at the onyx-colored tiling instead of seeing all of the sinister smirks of members), and a few others before they stopped at a large door. The grunts knocked briefly at the door- a secret signal, perhaps- and a voice responded.
“Who is your leader?” the noise that came from a female echoed to their ears.
“Oh, merciful Kinshayti, there is none other than the great Giovanni!”
“Very well, you may enter.” The doors slowly opened up, and Crystal’s pupils became minute, showing more of her pacific ocean eyes. The room was stadium-sized, to make an understatement, and some stylish halogen lights poured light down onto the area, revealing a grand hall. At the end of it was a large chair, much like a throne, where the female figure in an admin suit sat. From the lights, Crystal could only make out her long, dark blue hair. She continued to be dragged along the long path, all the way up to the stairs in front of ‘Kinshayti’. Here was where the Machokes propped her up on her feet, though didn’t let her go, and it was a good thing; Crystal couldn’t have stood up on her own, even if she wanted to.
“So, you’re this Crystal Hikara I have heard about…the one with the gift given to you by an extremely rare Pokemon you saved from one of our Grunts a few years ago.” The girl’s eyes, though no one would’ve thought it possible, grew even wider. So, they did know about the events a few years ago, and that was the precise reason they had brought her here, as she figured. Heh, well, she supposed she was responsible for the news leaking out. She did use her gift out in the open whilst she was still at home, and surely the gossips of the area would’ve muttered enough to have word get around. “But, do tell me- how do you like our secret base of operations? It’s a marvel, no?” She lifted her arms to the surrounding area, gazing around mockingly, before her eyes fell back on the girl. “What I don’t understand, though…” She lifted herself suddenly from her seat, and walked down the stairs with caution. “…is why such a weak, naïve, lost little girl would ever be given such a precious gift. Why not the more powerful in the world? Why not I, or Giovanni, or the other admin, or even one of the lowly Grunts, who would surely rise in the ranks? Well, at any rate, such a destiny cannot be changed in that manner. However, surely we could change your destiny now-”
“If you think I’m going to join your pathetic group of minions, you’re out of your wits.” She cut off the admin, and one of the grunts let loose a small gasp. Kin appeared fierce, and she suddenly stomped up into Crystal’s face, taking a hold of her chin roughly and challenging her with her silver eyes. The young trainer naturally glared back, though the unnaturally colored eyes unnerved her.
“You’re out of your wits if you don’t understand the delicate position you are in right now, girl. Maybe you don’t understand that you don’t have a choice in becoming a member, willing or not.” Kinshayti’s words were stern, and deadly quiet. “Else, you will find yourself headed off to the bowels of this world.”
“You have no respect for anything but your group, don’t you? I don’t even think that your master would ever go this far-” Suddenly, Kinshayti roughly yanked Crystal’s head around, as to shut her up.
“You know nothing of our Master’s plans, you immature brat!” She suddenly backed away, and took to her throne again. “Take her away to the working room, and make sure she talks at all costs!"
“Yes ma’am!” answered the two grunts, and again, Crystal was dragged away. Not once did she take her eyes off of Kin until the grand doors closed behind her.
The working room was, bluntly, where trainers worked their Pokemon like slaves, telling them how to package such things as stolen Pokemon, stolen items, and several other indescreet items. There were various complaints in the room, of course, though they were all human- tired of this or that, when am I getting off my shift- things of that nature. If a Pokemon so much as whispered to another worker, it was beaten terribly. Crystal couldn’t help but share some of her pity for the situation they were in. They propped her up in a chair, and had a Vileplume (she wasn’t sure if it was the one that had paralyzed her before) guard her, giving instructions to use Acid if she made a run for it. They then gave her a list of workers that were supervising the area, and told her to talk with the supervisors to see who would be punished. This put Crystal in between an Onix and a hard place; she certainly didn’t want to see any Pokemon get hurt, but if she refused, that nasty acid that could easily give her third degree burns would more than likely cover her. And, so, she painfully did as she was told, and could do nothing as she watched the poor slaves get their punishment in type weaknesses. After the shifts were done, and she was dragged away again, she couldn’t help but let loose tears of sorrow for the Pokemon, and for herself.
Again stored away in her dinky cage, Crystal dreamt nothing more than to see the wonderful bath of light from the outside world. She had decided that this place was either underground, or merely well protected without windows. More than once she wished there would be some way she could escape, though the Vileplume and guard did not look like they would be distracted any time soon. She sighed, readjusting herself as best she could, and closed her eyes, trying to catch even the smallest amount of sleep she could. This was all too much for the ten-year-old to take. She had just closed her eyes when a loud crack and the warning alarm completely startled her. Shouts immediately started to fly around the area.
“BREACH IN SECTION C OF THE BASE! TAKE OFFENSIVE POSITIONS! INTERCEPT THE INTRUDER!” rang the intercom, and she could hear various Missiles taking their positions. Of course the grunt guarding Crystal didn’t move from his spot- he was all too aware of guarding her as his top priority job. Various cries came from the outside, until it quieted down. The Pokemon in the area became unnerved, and began muttering.
“Shut up!” the Missile member nearly swore to the surrounding Pokemon in the area, threatening to beat on their cages to get them to be silent. However, in his moment of distraction, a human who had used the vents to get in landed on top of him. He gave a small cry of protest before he fell fast unconscious from the rough impact of his head hitting the cold floor. The large flower-headed Pokemon perked up at this, and appeared ready to use Stun Spore at any given second.
“Watch out! The Vileplume!” Crystal found herself exclaiming, figuring that anyone decent and bold enough to take down a bunch of Missiles was an ally. However, this new trainer didn't even bother to turn around to face her enemy.
“…Umbree, Psychic.” The figure dimmed by the lights spoke, evidently female. An Umbreon, as Crystal noticed from pictures she had seen in a magazine talking about some of the most poisonous Pokemon in existence, jumped down from the vent, landing perfectly in front of the Vileplume’s face with a menacing glare. Of course, the grass-poison Pokemon was startled, and didn’t have time to react to a full blown Psychic attack that caused it to faint, much like its trainer. The female turned to Crystal. “Who’re you? Are you with them?”
“No! They kidnapped me and my Pokemon and stole everything from me and…” her words faded off from there as there was an audible ‘click’. The door to her cage had been psychically opened up. “…?”
“Come on. They’ll be coming soon. I can get you to a safer area far away from her, but only if you move.”
“I can’t really stand up, let alone run. I’m still recovering from Stun Spore effects.” The trainer sighed, removing a Pokeball from her belt.
“Alright, Arcanum, give this girl a hand here.” The bright blue orb opened up, revealing the majestic-looking fire type. “She’s paralyzed, so be careful not to drop her, you hear? Head to that lab room not too far from her and use the teleporter there to get her out. Use any attacks if a Missile gets close to you, got it?” The Arcanine let loose an appreciative cry.
“What about you, though?” Crystal questioned as the legendary Pokemon scooped her up onto its back using its powerful mouth. She gripped onto its silky, warm mane as tightly as she could without hurting the creature.
“Eh? I have a few things to take up. I’ll see if I can get some of your stuff back for you, too. What are your Pokemon?”
“I just started out with a reddish Pidgey named Breeze- she’s sort of sarcastic, you’ll know her right away- and an Oddish named Flora.” The trainer chuckled lightly at the names, though Crystal heard it as more of a sigh.
“Alright, I shall look for them, and your bag. What style?”
“A sash and a belt combined.”
“That’s different.” She gazed at her Arcanine, and nodded out. “See you later.” And, without hearing anything more, Crystal was forced to cling as tightly as her muscles would allow as the majestic fire type took off, and raced through the halls as though on wings. It rapidly turned a corner, continued down that hall for a bit, before they turned again and wound up in the lab, where a ton of Missiles were awaiting them. Crystal cringed, though Arcanine pounded its paw fiercely on the ground, demanding they remove themselves from the area. Not a single one budged, as a few radioed in to their commanding officers.
“The girl is trying to escape!”
“Do not let her go under any circumstances!” The angry retort was blasted back to the grunts, whom, in return, chucked their black Pokeballs left and right. At least twenty Pokemon were released, and crowded around the two. The Arcanine took one decent breath in, and showers of embers danced around the area as a powerful stream of plasma created a path and deterred the grunts and their ‘slaves’. With Godspeed, the fire Pokemon dashed forward to the teleporter, roughly caused Crystal to slip off its shoulders, nudged her into the chamber, and intelligently pushed a series of buttons on the side to cause the girl to lose touch with reality.
-------------------
Feel free to post crits and comments on that thread. Also please let me know if there's any of those annoying symbol codes...I'm trying to edit that now.
WARNING: LONG CHAPTERS AHEAD. ALL ARE AROUND 10 PAGES IN WORD.
Chapter Index:
Chap. 1: Kidnapping (scroll down)
Chap. 2: Recovery
Chap. 3: Gift, Curse
Chap. 4- Sheer Luck
Chap. 5- A Short Rest
Chap. 6- Held At Poison Point
Chap. 7- From Rocket Heads to Team Missile
Chap. 8- Threshold
Chap. 9- The Battle
Chap. 10- Sergeant Pup, At Your Service
Chap. 11- Enter Kara
Chap. 12- Two's Company, Three's a Party
Chap. 13- Apollo's Wrath
Chap. 14- Three Meas'ly Little Battles?!
Chap. 15- Hippies are Cool, Man.
Chap. 16- Guilt
Chap. 17- Explosion (Kara's Repentence)
Chap. 18- Aikaze
Chap. 19- Kiyo's Generosity
Chap. 20- Aerial Assault
Chap. 21- First Edition
Chap. 22- Tournament End
Chap. 23- Follow the Bouncing Pokeball
Chap. 24- Eleven
Chap. 25- Weakness
Chap. 26- The Secret
Chap. 27- Fell
Chap. 28- The Three
Chap. 29- Ghost of the Past
Chap. 30- For You
Chap. 31- Ill Parting
Chap. 32- Two Birds of a Different Wing
Chap. 33- White Prison
Chap. 34- Ice Soul
Chap. 35- Unknown Kindness
Chap. 36- Snow Warning
Chap. 37- Kato
Chap. 38- The Ocean, The Sky (in progress)
Chapter 1- Kidnapping
The van clattered along the uneven road, and Crystal couldn't even begin to worry about how badly her rear end was being bruised from the vehicle's lack of shocks, nor could she really do much of anything about it. She had been gagged, hit with a good amount of Stun Spore, and thrown into a dinky cage probably meant for a Pokemon the size of a small Ninetales, tops. She lay rather uncomfortably half-against the cage wall, without the will to even mutter a cry of fear as a Houndoom mercilessly tormented her with snarls of sadistic delight and slight Embers that left hot welds on her fair skin. A Vileplume and its trainer, a member of Team Missile, seemed to merely encourage the taunting, while keeping an eye on the girl. She fought for what little consciousness she had, and tons of questions reeled through her mind furiously, the primary questions being thus: Why would they ever want a newbie trainer like me, barely started out on my own three days ago from home in Dawndew Town? Would they have potentially gotten wind of my stupid gift from that accident a few years back, that has caused so much trouble since then? Where are they taking me? What, I fear, are they doing to my poor Pidgey, Breeze, and my little Oddish, Flora? I can barely stand to think of the horrid things happening to them- electrocution, freezing, unreasonably hot flames…her thought reminded her of the pain that the chuckling Houndoom had caused as it breathed those putrid, sweltering pants of joy on her.
Why me?! she thought furiously again. Maybe I should have waited to start off on my adventure into the wide areas of Beghta, and maybe I should have listened to Ma- perhaps she was correct in calling me naïve...Crystal attempted a sigh, though it didn't end too well. The fine particles of the spore had also slowed her lungs' capability down in addition to immobilizing her, and it only made her more dizzy. She closed her startlingly sky blue eyes for which she had been named, and tried to see just how idiotic she was an hour- or however long it had been- back.
It was a warm, humid day as she traveled along Route 47, albeit it was a tad clouded over. She hummed some indiscreet tune as she enjoyed the cool breeze that danced and played through not only her golden, long hair, but through her hot orchid dyed bangs as well. She chuckled excitedly as Breeze flew along beside her, the short red-tinted feathers of the Pidgey adding to the calm winds. Crystal was in high spirits, as she had already caught her first Pokemon on her own, and that made her very satisfied as she trumped along the beaten path towards Sunrise City, where she could hopefully receive enough training to challenge the gym leader there and get one step closer to finding the secret headquarters of the High Council. True, no one knew where on the map the fortress could have been, but Crystal had made up her mind, ever since she heard all about her eldest brother Ryouo had gone out on his adventure before she had been born, that she would find him, battle him, overcome him, and challenge the High Council before he. True, her mother threw fits every time commercials for the ‘League would come on and beckon trainers to start their journeys to become a High Council Member Champion, and shied her away from magazines such as "Trainer's Life Monthly" and "The Pokemon Breeder". Still, in the end, she could not change Crystal's stubborn mind to go for it, and gave in, letting her youngest go off on adventure, leaving only her sometimes annoying brother, Wizar, and her two Pokemon companions Worki the Wartortle and Wizar's Machoke.
And, at last, she was free! The ten-year-old definitely enjoyed her freedom, though she did call her mother and receive calls every six hours or so. It was a tad lonely, but with six shining Pokeballs for new Pokemon and a very stylish belt/sash-styled bag with tons of different pockets for items and things, it was exciting to think of the possibilities. Who knew? She sighed contently, gazing not down at her black shorts marked with a purple Pokeball symbol nor at her rather baggy shirt with flaring sleeves tipped with violet cloth, but at the sky. Maybe, one day, the girl would find that Pokemon again, the one that-
"Hey, girlie!" A man's voice, not too old nor young, called out to her, and broke her train of thought as her crystal eyes faced him.
"Yes? Can I help you?" Her voice, as most said, was high in pitch, though far from annoying, unlike her laugh at times. It was very sweet, and someone could almost taste the delicate innocence that resonated from it. She looked over the man, who was dressed in an ivy green shirt with a darker blue vest on top of it, and he wore simple blue jeans. His jet black hair appeared as though he had just taken off a cap, and stuck out at random places. His eyes were an eerie sort of silver-green, though the shirt helped to emphasize their colored hue. Something about that man unnerved the girl slightly, and by the Legendary Pokemon did she ever curse herself for not trusting her instinct, asking Breeze to whip up a Gust and add some sand into the equation so she could continue on, but nooo, she had to be a polite, courteous little girl like her mother, who had never so much as gone out of that small town for much of anything, told her to be!
"Say, could you spare a moment over here? You see, me and my crew-"; he paused in his words, motioning to a van for movers nearby, before continuing, "we have a flat tire. We notice you have a Pidgey, right? Is there any way we could ask of you to send a message to Zenith City in the nearby northeast that we';ll be a little late?"
"I'm not sure. That's more up to Breeze. I don't even know if she knows the way."
"Oh, I'm sure she would know! You're a new trainer, right? Pidgeys in this area always flock to Zenith for food. Maybe you should ask her if she's been there?" This question...for whatever reason, it struck the preteen as odd. She eyed Breeze carefully.
"Would you know the way to that city?" She slowly questioned, taking a glance at the man, to make it look like she was still working on her communication skills with her Pokemon.
"Karuuu karuuu..." Breeze replied, tilting her head from side to side. Of course, Crystal took this in stride, and knew perfectly well what Breeze meant.
"What? Do you? Or do you not?"
"Ruuuuu..." the bird Pokemon gave off a fine trill of tongue and beak, something distinctive to the Pidgey family. She nodded yes, though she gave clear signs of discontent at this...character as she landed on her trainer's shoulder.
"Well, miss?"
"Yes, she knows the way, I think?" She turned to her sidekick, who had taken the opportunity to bury its head away in its wing to preen, and gave a sort of sarcastic look, which wasn't surprising for Breeze's sassy nature. “Yeah, she does. I guess you could borrow her, but only as long as it takes to send the message!” Crystal poked her friend lightly on her beak a few times, so as to get the message across that she didn’t like it any more than the bird did.
“Alright, thank you so much! You have no idea how grateful I am!” The man appeared a little different from his words, and headed over to the truck, where the men who had the truck jacked up a few inches were testing a spare to make sure that the pressure was alright. He climbed into the back of his van for a moment, more than likely to find a piece of paper to write a short note with. Crystal, naturally, couldn’t help going in for a closer look. As she thought back, she remembered a phrase her father used to say often to the girl when she was younger and he was still around, curiosity got the Skitty caught. “So, by the way, miss, what’s your name? Where you headed off to?”
“The name’s Crystal. Crystal Hikara. I’m headed off towards Sunrise to see if I can win me a badge!” she proudly exclaimed, though the enthusiasm sort of dyed off as she gazed in the van. All sorts of boxes were stacked up neatly, along with a few chairs stuffed in between here and there, and a few Pokemon slept. However, it was the quaint choice of moving Pokemon that caught Crystal’s eyes- unlike the Machoke, Vigoroth, or even Heracross or Hariyama she knew were popular in moving services for their Fighting-type strengths, she could only make out a bizarre dark-colored Pokemon with bones as ridges that appeared as though it wasn’t from the region and a Vileplume. “What’s your name, mister…? And why do you have such odd moving Pokemon?”
“Oh, my name?” His eyes darted around occasionally as he scrawled something out on a notebook he found near the back of the truck. Though Crystal wasn’t aware of it, the movers had finished with their preparations, and instead disappeared from the corner of her eyes. “The name’s Chris. Chris Johnson. Pleasure, Ms. Hikara.” He gave a hearted sort of laugh, one that unsteadied the girl. Breeze, on her perch of Crystal’s shoulder, ruffled her feathers in order to look bigger and badder, as though she was a Pidgeot with some serious anger issues. She clicked and purred out something indistinguishable, though Crystal paid no visual heed to the comment.
“Crystal is fine.” Her eyes carried her to the Vileplume and the other Pokemon, and she shifted her little weight around uneasily. “What’s that Pokemon? I’ve never seen nor heard of anything like it in this region.”
“Oh? This is Houndoom. We like to call him Dommi Doom for a nickname, though. Hahaha!” The Houndoom didn’t take too lightly too the comment, and gave a sort of snuff off to the side of disrespect. “No, we actually call him Doomsday, and the Vileplume Bad Nastay. He thinks he’s from the ghetto or something like that. I have no idea.” Chris shrugged as Vileplume nodded its humongous head and appeared to try and fold its arms in attitude. Crystal couldn’t help a small cry of hysteria at the site.
“That’s too funny!” She wiped away a few tears caused from laughing so far, but a sharp screech and a sharp jump off of her shoulder from Breeze alerted her that it was no longer fun and games as men with gas masks came from behind and held her in a choke. She fought with all over her might, though it was Chris that was laughing now.
“Yes, I agree, Crystal! It’s all too funny how you fell right into our little trap here.” He gazed at Breeze, who was trying to whip up some Gusts and peck mercilessly at the villains surrounding her. Chris appeared only merely amused, and turned to ‘Bad Nastay’. “Stun Spore them both and shut that bird up.” Vileplume nodded again, took a few steps forward, and let loose a ton of shimmering pollens. Crystal immediately stopped breathing, trying to hold her breath as she struggled, but she had to let it out eventually, and she felt numb all over. Breeze, as well, had fallen victim to the pollen through unrelentless attempts to not abandon her trainer for her own sake, and collapsed on the ground, twitching occasionally. Chris and his henchmen merely cackled from behind their plastic breathing devices in victory.
“Excellent. We have to leave now. Get her in that cage and have fun with the Pidgey with the dumb nickname.” Crystal could do nothing in further struggle as she was thrown unceremoniously into the tiny cage, her items pillaged from her bag, her Pokemon taken away, and saw not the light of day again as they closed up that van and took off.
Now, miserable, constantly Crystal insisted on cussing at herself for not remembering that Team Missile had almost completely taken over the nation in a few short years, and how their numbers were considerable. Oh, what she would’ve done to have traded that day to be at home rather than being stuck in the hard metal cage and treated like a stolen Pokemon! The van finally seemed to slow down a little, and she could make out a few words from Chris in the driver’s seat: “Ok, make sure that she doesn’t see where we are.” The supervising Missile grunt nodded, and turned to Bad Nastay- which Crystal decided had to be one of the stupidest names ever for a Vileplume.
"You heard the boss. Use your Sleep Powder on it.” The grunt put on his mask, and Doomsday backed away up front where the fresh air was pouring in. The pollen this time was much darker in color, and it was no use- Crystal had no will to fight it, and she completely fainted without a single utterance.
In what seemed to be a minute of forced sleep, but was most likely hours, Crystal slowly regained consciousness, her head swirling around emptily, as though she had been given a serious amount of anesthetics. As her eyes slowly opened, she found herself in a large room, though again in a tiny cage, hardly humane for a Pokemon, let alone a human. She found herself still sluggish because of the paralysis spores, though she was able to move around with mental force behind her tensed muscles. The room was dimly lit by only a few flickering light bulbs that dangled down from the somewhat tall ceiling, and a few other Pokemon were stored in cages- some rare and meek whom were cowering in fear in a corner in their fetal position, some ferocious that snarled, barked and growled their cries as soon as Crystal caught sight of them. A Missile Grunt had positioned himself at a watch station, and noticed the girl regaining her wits. He spoke lightly into a headset, though his words, to the new trainer, seemed slurred from the effects of the Sleep Powder. Shortly, two other grunts and some trained Machoke entered the storage room, muttering something about how they were starving and waiting for their break as soon as their work was done. One of the Missiles unlocked the door to Crystal’s cage, and without a chance with her slow reactions she was dragged out like a heavy piece of baggage instead of a human by the Superpower Pokemon.
Confused and terrified, she was dragged through various rooms, including a laboratory, a battle room, a gathering room (at this point she found it best just to look down at the onyx-colored tiling instead of seeing all of the sinister smirks of members), and a few others before they stopped at a large door. The grunts knocked briefly at the door- a secret signal, perhaps- and a voice responded.
“Who is your leader?” the noise that came from a female echoed to their ears.
“Oh, merciful Kinshayti, there is none other than the great Giovanni!”
“Very well, you may enter.” The doors slowly opened up, and Crystal’s pupils became minute, showing more of her pacific ocean eyes. The room was stadium-sized, to make an understatement, and some stylish halogen lights poured light down onto the area, revealing a grand hall. At the end of it was a large chair, much like a throne, where the female figure in an admin suit sat. From the lights, Crystal could only make out her long, dark blue hair. She continued to be dragged along the long path, all the way up to the stairs in front of ‘Kinshayti’. Here was where the Machokes propped her up on her feet, though didn’t let her go, and it was a good thing; Crystal couldn’t have stood up on her own, even if she wanted to.
“So, you’re this Crystal Hikara I have heard about…the one with the gift given to you by an extremely rare Pokemon you saved from one of our Grunts a few years ago.” The girl’s eyes, though no one would’ve thought it possible, grew even wider. So, they did know about the events a few years ago, and that was the precise reason they had brought her here, as she figured. Heh, well, she supposed she was responsible for the news leaking out. She did use her gift out in the open whilst she was still at home, and surely the gossips of the area would’ve muttered enough to have word get around. “But, do tell me- how do you like our secret base of operations? It’s a marvel, no?” She lifted her arms to the surrounding area, gazing around mockingly, before her eyes fell back on the girl. “What I don’t understand, though…” She lifted herself suddenly from her seat, and walked down the stairs with caution. “…is why such a weak, naïve, lost little girl would ever be given such a precious gift. Why not the more powerful in the world? Why not I, or Giovanni, or the other admin, or even one of the lowly Grunts, who would surely rise in the ranks? Well, at any rate, such a destiny cannot be changed in that manner. However, surely we could change your destiny now-”
“If you think I’m going to join your pathetic group of minions, you’re out of your wits.” She cut off the admin, and one of the grunts let loose a small gasp. Kin appeared fierce, and she suddenly stomped up into Crystal’s face, taking a hold of her chin roughly and challenging her with her silver eyes. The young trainer naturally glared back, though the unnaturally colored eyes unnerved her.
“You’re out of your wits if you don’t understand the delicate position you are in right now, girl. Maybe you don’t understand that you don’t have a choice in becoming a member, willing or not.” Kinshayti’s words were stern, and deadly quiet. “Else, you will find yourself headed off to the bowels of this world.”
“You have no respect for anything but your group, don’t you? I don’t even think that your master would ever go this far-” Suddenly, Kinshayti roughly yanked Crystal’s head around, as to shut her up.
“You know nothing of our Master’s plans, you immature brat!” She suddenly backed away, and took to her throne again. “Take her away to the working room, and make sure she talks at all costs!"
“Yes ma’am!” answered the two grunts, and again, Crystal was dragged away. Not once did she take her eyes off of Kin until the grand doors closed behind her.
The working room was, bluntly, where trainers worked their Pokemon like slaves, telling them how to package such things as stolen Pokemon, stolen items, and several other indescreet items. There were various complaints in the room, of course, though they were all human- tired of this or that, when am I getting off my shift- things of that nature. If a Pokemon so much as whispered to another worker, it was beaten terribly. Crystal couldn’t help but share some of her pity for the situation they were in. They propped her up in a chair, and had a Vileplume (she wasn’t sure if it was the one that had paralyzed her before) guard her, giving instructions to use Acid if she made a run for it. They then gave her a list of workers that were supervising the area, and told her to talk with the supervisors to see who would be punished. This put Crystal in between an Onix and a hard place; she certainly didn’t want to see any Pokemon get hurt, but if she refused, that nasty acid that could easily give her third degree burns would more than likely cover her. And, so, she painfully did as she was told, and could do nothing as she watched the poor slaves get their punishment in type weaknesses. After the shifts were done, and she was dragged away again, she couldn’t help but let loose tears of sorrow for the Pokemon, and for herself.
Again stored away in her dinky cage, Crystal dreamt nothing more than to see the wonderful bath of light from the outside world. She had decided that this place was either underground, or merely well protected without windows. More than once she wished there would be some way she could escape, though the Vileplume and guard did not look like they would be distracted any time soon. She sighed, readjusting herself as best she could, and closed her eyes, trying to catch even the smallest amount of sleep she could. This was all too much for the ten-year-old to take. She had just closed her eyes when a loud crack and the warning alarm completely startled her. Shouts immediately started to fly around the area.
“BREACH IN SECTION C OF THE BASE! TAKE OFFENSIVE POSITIONS! INTERCEPT THE INTRUDER!” rang the intercom, and she could hear various Missiles taking their positions. Of course the grunt guarding Crystal didn’t move from his spot- he was all too aware of guarding her as his top priority job. Various cries came from the outside, until it quieted down. The Pokemon in the area became unnerved, and began muttering.
“Shut up!” the Missile member nearly swore to the surrounding Pokemon in the area, threatening to beat on their cages to get them to be silent. However, in his moment of distraction, a human who had used the vents to get in landed on top of him. He gave a small cry of protest before he fell fast unconscious from the rough impact of his head hitting the cold floor. The large flower-headed Pokemon perked up at this, and appeared ready to use Stun Spore at any given second.
“Watch out! The Vileplume!” Crystal found herself exclaiming, figuring that anyone decent and bold enough to take down a bunch of Missiles was an ally. However, this new trainer didn't even bother to turn around to face her enemy.
“…Umbree, Psychic.” The figure dimmed by the lights spoke, evidently female. An Umbreon, as Crystal noticed from pictures she had seen in a magazine talking about some of the most poisonous Pokemon in existence, jumped down from the vent, landing perfectly in front of the Vileplume’s face with a menacing glare. Of course, the grass-poison Pokemon was startled, and didn’t have time to react to a full blown Psychic attack that caused it to faint, much like its trainer. The female turned to Crystal. “Who’re you? Are you with them?”
“No! They kidnapped me and my Pokemon and stole everything from me and…” her words faded off from there as there was an audible ‘click’. The door to her cage had been psychically opened up. “…?”
“Come on. They’ll be coming soon. I can get you to a safer area far away from her, but only if you move.”
“I can’t really stand up, let alone run. I’m still recovering from Stun Spore effects.” The trainer sighed, removing a Pokeball from her belt.
“Alright, Arcanum, give this girl a hand here.” The bright blue orb opened up, revealing the majestic-looking fire type. “She’s paralyzed, so be careful not to drop her, you hear? Head to that lab room not too far from her and use the teleporter there to get her out. Use any attacks if a Missile gets close to you, got it?” The Arcanine let loose an appreciative cry.
“What about you, though?” Crystal questioned as the legendary Pokemon scooped her up onto its back using its powerful mouth. She gripped onto its silky, warm mane as tightly as she could without hurting the creature.
“Eh? I have a few things to take up. I’ll see if I can get some of your stuff back for you, too. What are your Pokemon?”
“I just started out with a reddish Pidgey named Breeze- she’s sort of sarcastic, you’ll know her right away- and an Oddish named Flora.” The trainer chuckled lightly at the names, though Crystal heard it as more of a sigh.
“Alright, I shall look for them, and your bag. What style?”
“A sash and a belt combined.”
“That’s different.” She gazed at her Arcanine, and nodded out. “See you later.” And, without hearing anything more, Crystal was forced to cling as tightly as her muscles would allow as the majestic fire type took off, and raced through the halls as though on wings. It rapidly turned a corner, continued down that hall for a bit, before they turned again and wound up in the lab, where a ton of Missiles were awaiting them. Crystal cringed, though Arcanine pounded its paw fiercely on the ground, demanding they remove themselves from the area. Not a single one budged, as a few radioed in to their commanding officers.
“The girl is trying to escape!”
“Do not let her go under any circumstances!” The angry retort was blasted back to the grunts, whom, in return, chucked their black Pokeballs left and right. At least twenty Pokemon were released, and crowded around the two. The Arcanine took one decent breath in, and showers of embers danced around the area as a powerful stream of plasma created a path and deterred the grunts and their ‘slaves’. With Godspeed, the fire Pokemon dashed forward to the teleporter, roughly caused Crystal to slip off its shoulders, nudged her into the chamber, and intelligently pushed a series of buttons on the side to cause the girl to lose touch with reality.
-------------------
Feel free to post crits and comments on that thread. Also please let me know if there's any of those annoying symbol codes...I'm trying to edit that now.
Last edited: