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[Contest] You Wanna Write About It? A weekly writing competition!


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goddamnit i wasn't a judge ;_; 

i wrote my entry because, yeah, i wasn't a judge and plus i would've won it on default (with the exclusion of flava)

 

I call a rematch, me and flava

Edited by AzizFTW
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  • 3 months later...

Hey all,

 

Before you get your hopes up, no, I'm not bringing this back quite yet. But I did want to say a few words about a true legend that passed away yesterday- Sir Terry Pratchett. I figured this thread was a fitting place to write a few words about him, since Pratchett is the whole reason I started writing anyways.

 

I was in 7th grade when I first encountered his work - my language arts teacher was retiring at the end of the year, and told everyone in her class that any book we wanted from her "class library," we could have. I noticed, tucked away in the corner, a cool looking book named "Pyramids," and asked her about it. A huge smile spread over her face, and she said "Corey, I have a feeling you'll really enjoy Terry Pratchett." Apparently, she knew me very well, because I devoured it. I had to get more. One costly trip to Barnes and Noble later, and I had 10 of his books. They were relatively short, compared to the stuff I had been reading before (things like Harry Potter, Eragon, etc) - so it didn't take me long to get through them. But what I got out of them was immeasurable.

 

There's just something about his writing style that captivates me so much. The satire is what pulled me in at first - I couldn't get through 2 pages of a discworld book without smiling. As I aged and matured, though, what I really grew to appreciate were his characters. I remember thinking that I wanted to be Sam Vimes when I grew up. He has such a strong moral core, and though he had many flaws, he was always tethered to that sense of right and wrong. But Vimes was just a main character, those are supposed to have depth. What amazed me was Pratchett's ability to make me connect with a character that appeared on just two pages. He could even cause you to feel sympathy for the villains, which is always a magnificent feat.

 

Since that day in Language Arts, I've read around 30 of his books, and I've still got more to read. It's sad to see him go, since he was still writing up until his last day, and I'll never forget the impact he had on me. In fact, he left quite an impact on the literary world in general - how many authors do you know that were knighted?? So here's to you, Sir Terry. I'll leave you with one a few of my favorite quotes of his.

 

"They say that your life flashes before your eyes just before you die. This is true...it's called Life."

 

"Fantasy is an exercise bicycle for the mind. It might not take you anywhere, but it tones up the muscles that can."

 

"Inside every old person is a young person wondering what happened."

 

"It is well known that a vital ingredient of success is not knowing that what you're attempting can't be done"

 

o7

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  • 2 months later...

IGN: Gunthug

Word Count: 1496

 

The Last Gym

 

[spoiler]

“Josh used Surf!”

 

Water began to fill the small stadium, converging upon the cowering Nidoqueen. Her body suddenly began to glow red, glitching in and out of existence before being whisked back to her trainer. He was a tall, professional looking man in a suit.

 

“Josh is hurt by poison!”

 

The Squirtle named Josh stood  across the stadium, wavering from side to side. The poor creature struggled to keep its eyes open, and a foul purple smoke was emanating from his shell. Behind him stood his trainer, a spritely man by the name of CMJ.

 

Suddenly, a smirk etched itself onto the evil man’s face, completing his cliché super-villain look.

 

“Go, Nidoking!”

 

Out came a purple, armoured mountain of horns, towering over the small turtle.

 

Nidoking,” screamed Giovanni, “Use Earthquake!”

 

Helpless to defend himself against the oncoming onslaught, Josh retreated into his shell as the ground broke around him. It was no use, though.

 

"Squirtle has fainted. CMJ is out of useable Pokemon! CMJ whited out!”

 

*    *    * 

 

THUMP

 

Ray’s glass was knocked over, spilling all over the bar. He turned to face the culprit – a gloomy looking man who had just slammed some sort of device down on the bar in anger.

 

“Hey, c’mon man,” said Ray, examining his shirt and tie for any stains.

 

“Oh, sorry,” said the culprit. “Hey, Chuck!” he shouted.

 

“What now, Carter?” replied the bartender, not looking up from the glass he was polishing.

 

“Pint of Miller, please. Not for me - for my buddy, uhh…” Carter turned to Ray and raised his eyebrows.

 

“Ray,” said Ray. “Look, you really don’t have t-“

 

“And you know what Chuck,” Carter interjected wearily, “make it two. Roy doesn’t wanna drink alone, right Roy?”

 

Chuck rolled his eyes and turned to the tap, grabbing two glasses and filling them to the brim. When he was finished, he slid them both down across the empty bar.

 

Carter stabbed at the first glass to arrive, raising it quickly and taking a gulp. He let the taste linger for a moment, staring solemnly at a particularly uninteresting flyer for night jazz on the adjacent wall. Slowly, he looked down at the damage from his outburst earlier.

 

“Looks like the battery pack came off,” offered Ray. “Thanks for the beer, by the way.”

 

“Happens *hic* all the time,” said Carter, as he slid the plastic part back into place. He clicked a switch on the side of the device, and the screen came to life. The sound of digital music suddenly became audible, filling the small dive bar.

 

Ray’s eyes strained as he made the face that people make when they’re trying to remember. Suddenly, the light bulb went on.

 

“Hey, is that Pokemon? Wow, I used to play that when I was a kid. You know, my daughter used to…” Ray’s voice trailed off as he, too, stared solemnly at the night jazz poster.

 

“Isn’t this an odd place to be playing, though?” asked Ray.

 

Carter snapped his head to the left, glaring at Ray. “It’s not like I’m bothering anyone here”

 

They each turned in their barstools, surveying the contents of the cramped bar. In one corner, a ketchup bottle failed to make a sound. A pool table added to its impressive dust collection near the front window. Of all the successful, cutting edge, and most frequently visited bars in St. Louis, this was not one of them.

 

Turning back, Ray inched his barstool closer to Carter. “So, er, how far are you?”

 

“Giovanni.” Carter’s brow furrowed as soon as he uttered the name. He slammed his fists down on the bar again. “God, I hate that guy. I just…I can’t beat him.” 

 

Carter opened the save file which showed 7 badges but just 1 pokemon. He instantly confronted Giovanni, and the gym battle commenced. Shooting in from the left side of the screen was a level 39 Squirtle named Josh.

 

“Wait,” said Ray, confused. “Why haven’t you evolved that Squirtle?”

 

Carter’s fists clenched tighter around the device, his face reddening.

 

“Are you listening? You have to evolve Squirtle into Wartortle, and then Blastoise.”

 

Muttering unintelligibly under his breath, Carter turned his shoulder to Ray and continued battling, ignoring his advice. Ray shrugged and returned to his drink, his mind drifting momentarily to the prospect of late night jazz. However, his peaceful train of thought was again halted by a thump, this one even louder than the last.

 

Ray spun as Carter reached for the fallen gameboy, ready to send it flying across the empty bar towards one of the walls. Grasping for Carter’s throwing arm, Ray managed only to knock the device out of his hands.

 

“What the hell, man?!” exclaimed Ray. “Chill out – Like I said, you just gotta evolve your Squir-“

 

"SHUT UP!"

 

Tears were streaming down Carter’s face as he turned towards Ray, his eyes bloodshot and heavy with grief. Carter jerked his arm out of Ray’s grasp, stumbling back from the barstools.

 

“You don’t think I KNOW how to evolve a pokemon? You don’t think I WANT him to evolve? To grow up? To fulfill his potential?!”

 

“That’s what they’re supposed to do. They’re supposed to grow, and evolve. But no, that would be fair. Well guess what? Life isn’t fair!” Ray and the Bartender stared on in stunned silence as Carter continued his outburst.

 

“One day everything’s fine, and the next, you’re entire world falls apart. You blink your damned eyes, and it’s…it’s gone. He…“

 

Suddenly, Carter froze. Still panting, he wiped the tears from his face, stalked towards the door, and jerked it open. Rain poured out on the cobblestones, but Carter didn’t care – he strode solemnly into the downpour as the door eased shut behind him.

 

In his wake, a thick silence hung in the air. Slowly, Ray bent over and picked up the damaged Gameboy at his feet. A sole piece of tape adorned the bottom. It read “Josh’s Gameboy.” The pieces clicked in Ray’s mind. He ran to the exit, and out into the rain.

 

There, just a few paces away from the door, stood Carter. At first glance, he looked like a statute, back turned to Ray as the raindrops bounced off him defiantly.

 

“Josh…your son?” asked Ray.

 

“He was 12,” Carter whispered. “He was so excited when I bought him that Gameboy. Never got a chance to play it, though.” 

 

“Listen…” Ray started, but Carter whirled around angrily, interrupting him.

 

“Save it, man. What could you possibly know about m-“

 

“I lost my daughter, too.”

 

 Carter’s jaw dropped.

 

“Two years ago, but it still feels like yesterday. She was only 9, Carter. And I felt like I’d never get through it. I couldn’t do it alone. And by the looks of it, neither can you.”

 

Slowly, Ray approached Carter in the rain until they were standing face to face. Suddenly, Carter broke down, falling forwards into Ray’s chest. He sobbed several times, before Ray grasped him firmly and stood him back up.

 

“Let me give you my card.” Ray reached into his pocket for it, handing it over along with the Gameboy.

 

“What would Josh want, Carter? Would he want you drowning yourself here at the pub every night? Fighting a battle you know you’ll lose? You have to move forward, my friend.” Hands still shaking, Carter grasped the Gameboy and quickly stashed it in his pockets, away from the rain.

 

Turning in the drizzle, Ray made his way back to the pub. Carter watched him return and briefly considered following him, maybe grabbing one last drink. He took one step but stopped, looking down at Ray’s card one more time.

 

*        *        *

 

Ray Epstein

 

Carter turned the card over in his left hand a few times, leaning back in his black desk chair. He set the card down on his desk and picked up a ceramic mug, taking a cautious sip. His mind drifted for a moment, though it quickly snapped back to the task at hand. Right, he thought, let’s do this.

 

Reaching forward, Carter grabbed the backless red Gameboy, the digital music amplifying as it got closer to his ears.

 

“Go, Nidoking!”

 

“Josh used Hydro Pump! It’s super effective!”

 

“Nidoking Fainted! Giovanni has sent out Rhydon!”

 

A smile flickered onto Carter’s face as he orchestrated the battle. On one side sat Giovanni’s final pokemon. On the other sat Josh, now a level 55 Blastoise.

 

“Josh used Hydro Pump! His attack missed!”

 

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Carter, resisting the urge to send the Gameboy to its untimely death through the nearby open window in his office.

 

“Rhydon used Fissure! His attack missed!”

 

Sigh.

 

“Josh used Hydro Pump! It’s super effective!”

 

“Rhydon Fainted!”

 

Carter smiled, staring at the small screen for a long time. Then, he clicked the Gameboy off, opened the top right drawer of his desk, and stashed it inside. Picking up Ray’s card again, he dialed the number on the front.

 

“Hey Ray, it’s Carter. Wanna grab some lunch?”

 

[/spoiler]

Edited by Gunthug
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Oh hey, remember this thread? Well, I'm ressurecting it so I can showcase what I just wrote for the official, since they take down the official thread when judging starts. Plus, by the time my official entry is done, i'll have slashed 700 words off of it, so I want to get this somewhere safe now where people (mostly just me, probably) can read it in its full glory.

 

The Last Gym

 

[spoiler]

 

“Josh used Surf!”

 

Suddenly, water burst forth from all four walls of the small stadium, converging upon the cowering Nidoqueen. With a dramatic cry, Nidoqueen fainted. Her body suddenly began to glow red, glitching in and out of existence before being whisked into a pokeball.

 

“Josh is hurt by poison!”

 

Though he was teetering from side to side, a lone Squirtle stood tall opposite the space previously occupied by Nidoqueen. The poor creature struggled to keep its eyes open, and a foul purple smoke was emanating from his torso. Just behind the poisoned Pokemon was his trainer, a spritely young man by the name of CMJ.

 

“Go, Nidoking!”

 

Fingers gripping one of the 5 pokeballs perched on his belt, the suited man ripped his hand forward, sending the ball flying towards the Squirtle. The ball spun rapidly before erupting in a red glow, causing CMJ to shield his eyes from the harsh light. Slowly, the world faded back into view. There, opposite CMJ’s wounded warrior, stood a giant purple mountain of armoured spikes and horns. The Nidoking let out a massive cry, and its owner gave his command.

 

Nidoking,” screamed Giovanni, “Use Earthquake!”

 

Helpless to defend itself against the oncoming onslaught, the small turtle retreated into his shell as the ground broke around him. It was no use, though. CMJ reached for his belt, grabbing his lone pokeball and recalling Josh to his sanctuary. He’d always be safe there.

 

Squirtle has fainted. CMJ is out of useable Pokemon! CMJ whited out!”

                                           

                                                                                                                    *        *        *

 

*THUMP*

 

Ray watched his glass do a small vertical jump on the bar top, crashing back down with a splash.

 

“Hey, c’mon man,” said Ray, examining his shirt and tie for any stains. He looked to be roughly 35 years old, though he had looked 35 since he was in college.

 

“Sorry. I’m sorry. Here, next one’s on me.” Carter, who looked to be of similar age, reached to his right and grabbed from a stack of bar napkins just within reaching distance, handing them to his fellow disgruntled patron. “Hey, Chuck”

 

“What now, Carter?” replied the bartender, reluctantly looking up from the spotless glass enduring a vigorous polish in his hands.

 

“Two Miller’s, please. Hey, they’re not both for me! It’s for my buddy, uhh…” Carter turned to Ray and raised his eyebrows.

 

“I’m, I’m Ray,” said Ray. “Look, you really don’t have t-“

 

“And you know what Chuck,” Carter interjected wearily, “make it two. Roy doesn’t wanna drink alone, right Roy?”

 

Chuck rolled his eyes and turned to the tap, grabbing two glasses and filling them to the brim.

 

“And, uh, you know what Chuck?”

 

Meeting Carter’s gaze, Chuck began to give him a stern look. It fell apart, however. In fact, it was dismantled. Carter’s stare had a tendency to do this kind of thing – those vivid green eyes were very vocative, able to tell a story with a glance. Right now, Carter’s story was sorrow -intense sorrow, the kind that penetrated every fiber of his being, walking into his mind and hanging up pictures of itself over those of loved ones. Despite his best efforts, he broadcasted this to the world through those telling eyes.

 

Sigh. “What, Carter? Let me guess - make it three?”

 

A weak smile formed across Carter’s face. “If you insist, bud.” Chuck finished filling the two beers, sliding them down to the two recipients before reaching for a third glass.

 

Carter stabbed at the first glass to arrive, raising it quickly and taking a gulp. He let the taste linger for a moment, staring solemnly at a particularly uninteresting flyer for night jazz on the adjacent wall. Slowly, he looked down at the damage from his outburst earlier.

 

“Looks like the battery pack came off,” offered Ray. “Thanks for the beer, by the way.”

 

“Happens *hic* all the time,” said Carter, as he slid the plastic part back into place. He clicked a switch on the side of the device, and the screen came to life. The sound of digital music suddenly became audible, filling the air of the small dive bar on South Street.

 

Ray’s eyes strained as he made the face that people make when they’re trying to remember stuff. Suddenly, the light bulb went on.

 

“Hey, is that Pokemon? Wow, I used to play that when I was a kid. The original Blue version, huh? Man, I haven’t heard that song in years. Kinda grates on you after a while, doesn’t it? You know, my daughter used to…” Ray’s voice trailed off as Carter failed to respond, seemingly enraptured by the cinematic opening playing in front of him.

 

“If you don’t mind me asking, why are you playing that in a bar?” Ray asked cautiously.

 

Carter looked up slowly, the night jazz flyer momentarily returning to view. He then snapped his head to the left, glaring at Ray. “It’s not like I’m bothering anyone here”

 

They each turned in their barstools, surveying the contents of the cramped bar. In one corner, a ketchup bottle failed to make a sound. A pool table added to its impressive dust collection near the front window, where a light spelling out “SKCIN” flickered on and off. Of all the successful, cutting edge, and most frequently visited bars in St. Louis, this was not one of them. Not tonight, at least.

 

“Carter, I wish you wouldn’t play that thing in here. You’re scaring off customers with that dang music.” Chuck placed another frothy glass on the bar next to Carter’s first drink, which was now sitting at about 30% capacity. Carter immediately reached for it and restored the symmetry.

 

“I don’t mind, really,” said Ray, suguuing his barstool closer to the gameboy color to get a better view. “How far are you?”

 

“Giovanni.” Carter’s brow furrowed as soon as he heard the words out of his own mouth. Ignoring the result earlier, he slammed his fists down again. “God, I hate that guy. I…I can’t beat him. I’ve done everything! Water is super effective against all his Pokemon, and I still can’t get past them!”

 

“Hmmm, the 8th gym?”

 

“The last gym.”

 

          Carter opened the save file denoting 7 badges and a pokedex size of 1. He instantly confronted Giovanni, and the gym battle commenced. Shooting in from the left side of the screen was a level 39 Squirtle named Josh.

 

          “Wait, there’s your problem right there,” stated Ray smoothly. “You’ve gotta evolve your Pokemon, man! All you’ve got is a puny Squirtle named ‘Josh’”

 

          Carter’s fists clenched tighter around the red device, his face getting red. He reached again for his drink, but the glasses had been whisked away. “Chuck!” he exclaimed a little too loudly.

 

          “Are you listening? You have to evolve Squirtle into Wartortle, and then Blastoise. Once you do that you’ll definitely have the power to-hey!” Ray was cut off abruptly as Carter grabbed him by the shirt collar, pulling him near. In this close, the stench of alcohol was nearly unbearable, and Ray could feel Carter’s hands shaking as they gripped.

 

          “He can’t evolve, ok?” The words left Carters mouth slowly and deliberately, arriving in Ray’s ears with the force of a harsh threat. However, Ray had been drinking, which can cause you to miss the obvious signs of an impending breakdown. He grabbed Carter’s arms, placing them back at his sides and scooted his barstool back a foot.

 

          “Take it easy, take it easy. Maybe you just don’t know how to do it – here, my daughter used to play this all the time. All you have to do is level it up again, and it’ll evolve.” Ray reached for the Gameboy, but Carter wheeled to his right with the device in hand.

 

          “I know how it works, OK?!” Staggering to his feet, Carter faced Ray again, eyes locked on the screen as he attempted to multitask. “I..I..don’t you think I want him to evolve? Don’t you think … rrgh… I’ve tried to let him evolve?!” Suddenly, his voice trailed off as he stared solemnly at the screen, the look on his eyes betraying the result of the battle. Motionless, Carter let the red Gameboy slip from his fingers, crashing to the ground and sending the battery pack bouncing across the bar’s floor.

 

          As tears welled up in his eyes, Carter turned his full attention to Ray.

 

          “Not everything gets to evolve, ok? Yeah, ok, in a perfect world it would grow up. It would turn into a war turtle, or a blast saurus or whatever. I want that! I wanted that!” Carter was shouting, now, though Ray and Chuck were his only audience.

 

          “But guess what? Tough luck! The world….it’s a horrible place!” Tears were streaming down Carter’s face now. Ray stood and put his hands up, realizing the magnitude of the situation. “It walks around in huge rubber boots,” continued Carter, “and whenever it sees a small glowing ember ready to blossom into life, it stomps on it and stomps on it until it’s drained the life out of everything around it.”

 

          A thick silence hung in the air, two parties too stunned to speak, and the third having just said more than they wanted. Carter wiped his eyes with his sleeve, stalked towards the door and jerked it open. Rain poured out on the cobblestones, but Carter didn’t care – he strode solemnly into the downpour as the door eased shut behind him.

 

          Chuck let out a large sigh before returning to his diligent cleaning. Still stunned, Ray bent over and picked up the damaged red Gameboy at his feet. A sole piece of tape hung near the bottom, sporting the tag “Josh’s Gameboy” in permanent black marker. Suddenly, it clicked for Ray. Determined, he sprinted for the door.

 

          “Hey!” shouted Ray through the rain. There, just a few paces away from the bar’s door, stood Carter. At first glance, he looked like a statute, back turned to Ray as the raindrops bounced off him defiantly.

 

          “Josh. Your son?” asked Ray.

 

          “He was 12. He was so excited when I bought him that Gameboy. You shoulda seen his eyes – everyone said he had my eyes, but really they were hers.” Carter remained frozen in the rain, allowing it to wash over his body without resistance.

 

          “Carter…I know it’s hard. Believe me, I know.”

 

          Angrily, Carter turned to face Ray, tears still filling his eyes. “What could you possibly kn- “

 

          “Carter, I lost my daughter.”

 

          Carter’s mouth hung open as his eyes grew wide.

 

          “Cancer. She was only 9, and it was the hardest thing I’ve ever done, hardest thing I’ve ever been through. I couldn’t do it alone, Carter. And neither can you.”

 

          Slowly, Ray approached Carter in the rain until they were standing face to face. Suddenly, Carter broke down, falling forwards into Ray’s chest as he embraced him. He sobbed several times, before Ray grasped him firmly and stood him back up.

 

          “Let me give you my card. Call me any time, and I’ll set you up with our group.” Ray reached into his pocket and produced the aforementioned card. Then, he handed Carter the red Gameboy.

 

          “What would Josh want, Carter? Would he want you drowning yourself here at the pub every night? Fighting a battle you know you’ll lose? Refusing to move onwards?” Hands still shaking, Carter grasped the Gameboy and quickly stashed it in his pockets, away from the rain.

 

          Around them, the rain slowed to a mist. Turning in the drizzle, Ray made his way back to the pub. Carter watched him return and briefly considered following him, maybe grabbing one last drink. He took one step, then froze, looking down at Ray’s card one more time.

 

*        *        *

 

Ray Epstein

         

Carter turned the card over in his left hand a few times, leaning back in his black desk chair. He set the card down on his desk and picked up a ceramic mug, taking a cautious sip and returning it to its place. His mind drifted for a moment, though it quickly snapped back to the task at hand. Right, he thought, let’s do this.

         

Reaching forward, Carter grabbed the backless red Gameboy, the digital music amplifying as it got closer to his ears.

 

“Go, Nidoking!”

 

“Josh used Hydro Pump! It’s super effective!”

 

“Nidoking Fainted! Giovanni has sent out Rhydon!”

 

A smile flickered onto Carter’s face as he orchestrated the battle. On one side sat Giovanni’s last Pokemon. The last Pokemon at the last gym. He selected his Blastoise’s move.

 

“Josh used Hydro Pump! His attack missed!”

 

“WHAT?!” exclaimed Carter, resisting the urge to send the Gameboy to its untimely death through the nearby open window in his office.

 

“Rhydon used Fissure! His attack missed!”

 

Sigh.

 

“Josh used Hydro Pump! It’s super effective!”

 

“Rhydon Fainted!”

 

Carter smiled, staring at the small screen for a long time. Then, he clicked the Gameboy off, opened the top right drawer of his desk, and stashed it inside. He took another sip of his coffee, turning to the small framed picture next to his computer. Pulling his cellphone out of his pocket, he touched a few commands then raised the phone to his ear, gaze never leaving the photo. The soft, green, smiling eyes of a young child returned his stare eternally.

 

 

 

“Hey Ray, its Carter. We still on for lunch today?”

 

[/spoiler]

It's funny because I'm also in that competition. Well, I guess I can settle for 2nd considering I really have no choice with this entry...

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  • 1 year later...

Might as well revive this guy with the story I just submitted for the most recent writing official. You know the drill - while the thread is hidden for judging, feel free to post your entry here so people can read it and form their own opinions.

 

 

The Getaway

 

 

 

 

 


Perched atop his Lapras, Roger craned his neck over his shoulder at the rapidly disappearing horizon. As Cinnebar Island slowly faded out of view, Roger’s heartbeat began to return to normal. He let out a sigh of relief, and clutched at his bag.

“This is it, old girl. This is the last one.” Lapras let out a low rumble, locked on a course due east towards Seafoam. They each admired the vast open water in silence, until a sharp ring called out from the bag. Worried he had accidentally tripped the stolen device in his bag, Roger’s life flashed before his eyes – well, the good parts at least. His wife and daughter, who he hadn’t seen in 6 years and 7 days, frolicking amongst the wildflowers on his 10 acre Celadon estate. He was on his back patio, sipping lemonade and getting that “too good to be true” feeling. The ring came again, yanking Roger back to reality. He reached in, and to his relief, pulled out his satellite phone. A deep breath restored his heart rate again, and he answered.


“Hello?”

“Is it done?”

 


“Yes. Bit of a scuffle at the entrance, but the Koffing did its job. I don’t think I was followed.”

“Get to the island, and trigger the GPS locator. We’ll send a chopper to extract, and then you can see them.”

 

 


“Let me talk to them now, please. You said you woul-“

click


Roger stared long and hard at the now silent phone in his hand. The phone was not the problem. The phone had not just hung up on him. The phone hadn’t taken his family, forcing him to steal and risk his life. But the worst part was, he knew exactly who to place the blame on. The phone wasn’t the one who panicked about his daughter’s college tuition. The phone didn’t approach who he thought was a harmless coworker, attempting to game the system and eek out a little extra income every month. The phone didn’t get caught at 5:30 am breaking into the Celadon storage facility, and beaten to within an inch of his life. Roger was at fault, and try as he might, he could never go back. He could never undo the wrongs he did, and especially not whom he did them to.  

But this was the last one. Craig had assured him of that. As long as things go smoothly, and the device gets delivered, Roger will have repaid his debt and he can finally return to his normal life. Failure was not an option – Craig had assured him of that, as well.

“Almost done, girl,” said Roger, rubbing the neck of his trusty Lapras. Clutching the Sat phone, he shifted his position on the gentle giant’s back and went to slide the phone back into the bag, which was already struggling to contain one large, oddly shaped metallic sphere.

LAP-RAS!

Startled, Roger clutched his beast’s shell as she cut hard to the right. In front of them, an enormous Seaking burst into the air, sparkling majestically amidst the ocean spray around it. Roger could feel the bag slipping off his shoulder, and grabbed it with his free hand. Unfortunately, the hand wasn’t so free after all. Slipping from his fingers was the Sat phone, cluttering aggressively off of his Lapras and into the murky depths below.

As the leaping fish returned to its underwater solace, Lapras steadied her path and resumed onward, oblivious to the soul shattering development going on atop her back. Roger stared into the water where the phone had dropped, frozen from a combination of anger, fear, and panic.

Do I jump in? The phone must have weighed 5 pounds; it may already be on the ocean floor. This cannot happen. I have to go in for it.
 

Standing upright, Roger placed his bag gingerly down and wedged it into one of the spikes on Lapras back. Hands together, eyes forward, facing Cinnebar Island, Roger saw yet another disastrous development – he was being pursued. About a kilometer behind him, he could see a towering shape cutting through the water at impossible speeds.

“It can’t be…”

The panic set in again. He could feel his heart beating out of his chest. If he went in for the phone, he’d surely be caught. But how could he signal the chopper without it? Suddenly, it hit him.

“A fire! Lapras, full speed ahead!” exclaimed Roger, spinning around and returning to his seat. He clutched the bag tight, eyes focused on the nearest island barely visible along the horizon. He dared not turn around. The only thing that mattered was getting to shore, getting a signal fire started, and getting the device out of there. At that moment, Craig’s words from the day before began to creep into his mind.

“Failure is not an option. If you’re in trouble, detonate it. Hah, you may even survive, who knows.”

            He didn’t know what the device did, nor did he want to know. Team Rocket surely wasn’t planning on using it to create a new line of poketreats, but what unspeakable horrors they had planned for the Cinnebar Lab experiment 722A were not a part of Roger’s job description. He’d sleep better not knowing.

            Finally, the approaching shore pierced Roger’s sightline. He marveled at what he saw – a rich cornucopia of lush greenery and bustling wildlife. Though he had never been this way before, he had heard stories of the desolate Seafoam islands – surely this can’t be them, he thought. Roger worked up the courage to turn around. He wasn’t a religious man, but at this moment he was praying that he’d see nothing but ocean. Slowly, his eyes peeled apart, and a large blue behemoth faded into view. It was a Gyarados, and it was a mere quarter of a kilometer behind him. He knew Gyara were faster than Lapras, so he considered it a minor miracle that they had only made up that much ground. Wrapping his arms around the Lapras’ neck, he whispered in her ear, pleading for everything she had left in the tank.

            Finally, the shore met the two with gracious aplomb. Lapras settled onto the sandy beach as Roger lept from her back and landed awkwardly, nearly sending the bag scuttling onto the floor.

“No time for pain,” Roger winced, tossing the satchel over his shoulder and making his way for the trees. Once there, he began ripping branches off to get a kindling started. Had he ever started a fire before? Well, not without a grill. And matches. And coal, lighter fluid, a beautiful summer day, and the two loves of his life, safe and sound before all the madness hit. He couldn’t think about that now, though. He had to start a fire. 

Frantically, Roger filled his arms with all the sticks and dry leaves he could find. He turned back to the shore, sprinting out from the tree line to find a good place where the signal was sure to be seen. Eyes to the sky, he found a great spot and dropped what he was holding.


“Gonna have a barbeque? Mmmm, I’m starving. What’s on the menu?”

Petrified, Roger’s gaze met a young woman who was standing confidently across from him. He glanced quickly at the towering Gyarados by her side, and then realized it was probably better to avert his gaze from the dragon’s eyes.  From this distance, the watery beast could have closed on him in seconds.

“It’s, I’m, uhh…” stuttered Roger. “I went off course, and lost my phone. Any chance you could help me out?”


“Oh, I can get you out of here. Not sure you’d like where I take you, though,” she said, a smile adorning her face. By any standards, she was gorgeous, though she had a competitive air around her that made Roger weary to even step closer. She was wearing a bright red jacket and matching red had, with fingerless gloves gripping the assortment of pokeballs on her belt.

Roger knew he had to act fast. Failure was not an option. He reached behind him, grabbing the second pokeball on his belt and whipping it forward at the girl and her Gyarados. Before it could even open, though, a white light emanated from the Dragon’s mouth and engulfed the pokeball. Roger covered his eyes from the blinding light. Slowly, as the dust settled, he saw his ball split in two, rocking harmlessly on the sand. A few feet away, the vague shape of a Primeape lay crumpled on the sandy floor.

“You don’t understand…” pleaded Roger.

“Oh, I understand. But do you?” The woman’s smile turned to a glare. “Do you have any idea what you stole? Let me guess – you just do what you’re told.”

“He has my family. Please, you have to believe me. He made me do this.”

Red stepped forward, her expressions softening. “We can help, Roger. Just give me the device. We’ll help you get your family back.”

Roger looked at the approaching woman, and at the ground a few feet away. There lay his bag, half open, with a small metal spike jutting out of the top. He could see a blinking red light, and just below it a small button.

“You can’t help me. You don’t understand what they’d do.”

Suddenly, a sound became audible over the trees. Each participant in the beach standoff jerked their heads to the sky, and saw an enormous black helicopter cut into view. The side was adorned with a giant red R, and suddenly for the first time in days, Roger felt he knew what he had to do. Reaching behind his belt again, he whipped another pokeball forward.

“Roger!” screamed Red, as Gyarados ripped off another Hyper beam towards the pokeball. However, Roger was already in motion. Two giant bounds and a leap later, he arrived at the bag, fumbling around inside for the button he knew was there. As he looked up, Red had begun to sprint, but they both knew she wouldn’t make it in time. Frustrated, Red reached to her belt for a ball as Roger closed his eyes.

“I’m sorry…”

He stood up, pressed the button, and spun the bag around, heaving it towards the trees. The bag landed, and a sharp noise deafened Roger as searing pain welcomed itself to his head. The sound morphed into a low gurgle, when suddenly the world erupted into chaos around him. Infrared light shot from all sides of the sphere, bathing the beach and the trees and the helicopter before a ghastly sound ripped the life from them all.

Roger curled himself up on the ground, fingers over his ears and arms over his head. He couldn’t escape the pain, though. It burned at the back of his eyes like a fever, singed the hair from his arms, and threatened to blow out his eardrums. Just before his body sunk into unconsciousness, he managed to open his eyes and see the destruction he had wrought. Where once there had been trees was now nothing but sand. Sand, as far as the eye could see. No sign of the chopper, no sign of Red. No sign of life. He slipped away, almost hoping that he wouldn’t return.

***
            The cold tide crept closer and closer up the shore, until it reached Roger’s tattered shoes. He was on his back, staring up at the sky. Suddenly, it all came rushing back. The device. The pursuit. His family. He had to get off the island. He jumped to his feet, looking in all directions but finding nothing but desert landscape surrounding him. What the hell had the device done? That wasn’t important now.

 

            He ran along the beach, hoping to find his getaway stationed where he had left her. But wait, would Lapras still be there? Maybe she had gotten scared by the blast, and retreated for safety? He scanned the waters, but saw no sign of her. Frantically, he sprinted further down the shore, until a haunting sight caught his eye. He plunged through the tidal waters to a gray object floating in the shallows. Falling to his knees, he picked up the object with both hands. It was a gray spiked shell.
 

What have I done?

            “It’s all gone, Roger,” shouted Red. She was hovering atop the back of a monstrous Pidgeot several feet above the water, clutching another pokeball in her hand. Her knuckles were red with rage, but she withheld herself. He had already lost enough.


Tears streamed down Roger’s face as he gripped what remained of his beloved water transport.


            “The device eradicates life. It feeds on water, and outputs nothing but death and destruction. Was it worth it?”

            Roger opened his mouth, but the words escaped him. He couldn’t go back and undo what he had done. Not with this, and not with the Celadon storage. Time doesn’t work that way.

            “They’ll kill them. I have nothing left,” whispered Roger.

            “Look around you, Roger. This is what you’ve created. So this is where you’ll remain. Alakazam, go!”

            Red sent the pokeball spinning towards the beach, and the sagely figure emerged, spoons gripped firmly in both hands.

            “Zam, use Imprison!”

The wise pokemon closed its eyes, and purple waves shot out from the spoons towards the defeated figure of Roger. They encircled him, meeting in the middle and crashing down into the sand.

“You’ll never hurt another pokemon again, Roger. At least there’s that.” Red recalled the Alakazam and turned her bird towards the horizon.

Despite it all, Roger was calm. He wasn’t hungry, or tired, or sad. Just calm. Overhead, birds soared past the island as if nothing had happened. They wouldn’t come down, not now. What use is a harsh desert landscape for a bird? But time heals all. It just takes a lot of it.





 

 

 

Edited by Gunthug
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  • 3 months later...

posting this here so it doesnt disappear when they hide the contest thread

 

 

Downstream

 



 

 

 

 


The two men stood tall in the pouring rain. Visibility was low, but Officer Travis Reid could still make out the silhouette of a building up ahead.
 

“This must be it!” Travis shouted, though his words were muffled amidst the torrential downpour and occasional burst of thunder.


“WHAT?” returned his partner, Officer Jason Snide. Jason was new – brand new. In fact, he’d just graduated from the academy nearly a month ago with perfect scores on his exit exams. Usually Travis wouldn’t take an interest in that sort of thing, but Jason never shut up about it.


Travis sighed, and began walking through the rain towards the famous Kanto Power Plant, once a bastion of cutting edge technology and clean energy. It had been three years since the plant was last operational, though. Apparently, there had been some sort of accident, though not many details were released to the public thanks to the fiercely litigious parent company who had been running the place.


Jason quickly fell in line behind his commanding officer. The sleek yellow sheen of the Plant’s enormous walls towered above them as they approached the entrance, a set of titanium double doors. Travis reached out to the handle and yanked, but to no avail – the doors were locked. He turned to Jason, who already had a pokeball in his hand and a grin on his face. Travis nodded and stepped back.


“Let’s go, Rhydon!” shouted Jason to no one in particular, whipping the ball towards the door. Red light poured from the ball and took the shape of the hulking stone giant.


“Rhydon, use strength to open those doors!”


With immense force, Rhydon reared back and slammed its shoulders into the metal barrier. It came off its hinges, revealing the unlit interior of the building. The two men quickly made their way inside, out of the rain, and beckoned Rhydon to follow.


Once inside, the drone of the falling rain faded out. However, they had new problems. For starters, Travis couldn’t see a thing, which was strange for a power plant. Second, and perhaps stranger, was an overwhelming odor permeating the plant, one of the most disgusting things Travis had ever smelled. His nostrils were bombarded with the relentless assault, causing his eyes to water. He knew an inappropriate comment was coming.


“Jeez, chief, was that you?” said Jason, right on cue. Despite the wise crack, it was obvious the smell was affecting him too – he had buried his face in his arm, and his eyes were red and bloodshot.
 

“Maybe that’s why the distress beacon was pressed,” said Travis. “We’ve gotta figure out where that smell is coming from.”


“Well, I can’t see shit, chief,” complained Jason. “Too bad your daughter isn’t here, she’d really light the place up if you know what I mean.”
 

Travis let the comment go. He’d gotten used to Jason’s advances on his daughter, Katherine, and was content knowing that she found him repulsive. In fact, she’d said as much just yesterday while at the headquarters in Saffron. She had dropped by to fill her father in on her latest environmental project – cleaning up pollution off the coast of Fuschia City. Travis was so proud of her for trying to make a difference. She was just like her mother.
 

The foul stench snapped Travis back into focus, and he quickly knew what to do. He grabbed ball two from his pokebelt, and let it fall to the floor. Joining the two officers and the rain-soaked Rhydon was another Pokemon, this time an Arcanine.


“Arcanine, how about an ember to light this place up a bit?” said Travis.


His trusty companion nodded at him, then produced a brilliant yellow flame that hung several feet in front of the group, illuminating a small section of the dilapidated interior of the building. The now illumined walls were lined with computers and machinery that had been charred beyond recognition. Various colors of viscous grime caked the walls, pooling on the floors in foul smelling puddles.


“Looks like a god damn bomb went off in here,” muttered Jason.


“It may have. We still don’t know what happened.” Travis whipped out a small red device from his pocket and powered it up. The dim screen burst to life, bringing up a two-dimensional blueprint of the building. A blinking red dot indicated their position, near the southwest entrance. A blinking blue dot rang out about halfway up the eastern side of the plant.


“Alright, shouldn’t be too far to the distress beacon. Try to keep quiet, and don’t touch anything.”
 

“Yeah, yeah. I know what I’m doing, old man,” sneered Jason. “Let’s go, dog.” He thrust his finger to the east, down the dimly lit corridor, and Arcanine began hustling in that direction. Behind the fiery guide dog jogged Travis and Jason, with Rhydon still out of his pokeball ambling slowly at the rear.  
 

The stench of the place got worse the further in they crawled. Every new hallway was the same scene – the shrapnel of file cabinets and circuitry littered the floor on the sides of the room. Travis knew to keep his guard up – who knows what they were experimenting with here before the accident.
 

The four continued through the maze-like interior of the plant, drawing closer to the signal they were seeking. Another set of doors, which Rhydon made quick work of, opened to the eastern wing of the building. Arcanine stopped, sniffed the air, and began to growl.
 

“C’mon boy,” said Travis, patting his Pokemon on the head. Jason moved forward into the lead, walking to the edge of the ember’s faint flare. Arcanine picked up the pace again, but he wouldn’t stop growling.


“Careful, Jason, we don’t know what’s up there”


“We’ve got two of the strongest Pokemon in Kanto at our disposal. What’s there to be afraid of?” barked Jason, forging further into the darkness. Suddenly, the steady clack of his combat boots on the linoleum floor was replaced with a muffled splash.


“What the…” Jason said. “Feels like a swamp up here.” Arcanine, still growling, walked in his direction, slowly bringing the stubborn soldier back into the light. Travis looked past Jason, though. This was where the distress signal, that blinking blue dot, had originated, and Travis just figured out why.


“Jason. Get back here. Now!”


“Pfft, chill out, I’m fine. What is this sludge, anyways?” Jason looked down at his shoes, which were now submerged in a thick, purple sludge. “Man, I just got these poli…”


His voice trailed off. He had just noticed another pair of boots, hauntingly close to his own. The owner of the boots was there, too, crumpled face down in a pile of the sludge.


“Oh, shit, Travis, I think he’s alive. There’s definitely movement” shouted Jason. But Travis wasn’t paying attention – he was looking at the walls. In loud spurts and spasms, the grime on the walls congealed into larger and larger patches, lurching its way down to the floors. Machinery once deathly still began to rumble, a thick purple substance beginning to ooze from every orifice.


We’ve gotta get out of here, thought Travis. “Jason!”
 

“You want me to just leave the guy?!” he responded, before crouching and looking more closely at the mound of clothes. It wasn’t the body that was moving, he noticed slightly too late. It was the slime.

 


Horrified, Jason turned to flee, only to find that to be quite a useless endeavor. The slime he had stepped in had hardened beyond malleability.

“I’m stuck, Travis!” he shouted desperately. His Rhydon let out a roar, and charged down the hallway to its owner.


“Take your boots off, then!” responded Travis, “you’ve got to get out of the slime!” Just as he finished, a loud crash pierced the room. Travis turned just in time to see part of the ceiling crash down, a cascade of purple slime gushing from the newly formed cavity in the roof. Behind him, he heard a scream.

 


Moments earlier, Jason had managed to slip out of his right boot. To get the left one off, he’d need to place his right foot down for balance. But the floor surrounding him was filled with the corrosive slime. He set his foot down anyway, and Travis could hear the sizzling of flesh and bone from across the hallway as soon as Jason made that deadly mistake.


“Arcanine, Fire Blast!” A burst of brilliant flame launched from the leaping dog towards the site of the ceiling crash, temporarily blasting a path back towards the building’s entrance. Travis looked back one last time at the gruesome scene behind him – Jason’s right leg submerged to the knee in the acidic sludge, with his right arm now being assaulted too. His screams still filled the room, and his Rhydon stood nearby, horn spinning rapidly but powerless to help.


Travis knew he had to snap out of it, or he’d share Jason’s fate. He sprinted towards his Arcanine, who already stood at the second set of doors leading out of this horrible room. As he caught up, Arcanine and his ember fell into a full run back out the winding path, towards the entrance.
 

All around them, the building shook and shifted on its foundations and more and more purple sludge poured from the walls and ceilings. They snaked right, then left, then left again through the corridors come to life. Another crash, and another section of the ceiling fell ahead of the pair, dropping a metallic beam into their path. Arcanine effortlessly lept over the obstacle, but as Travis jumped his back foot caught the top of the beam and sent him tumbling to the floor.


Gasping, he scrambled to his feet just as Arcanine turned and charged back in his direction. Travis braced himself for the impending sludge death, when his vision abruptly went white. He blinked repeatedly, trying to bring it back. Slowly, the room faded back into view – the column of slime, as well as all that on the floor, walls, and ceiling, had temporarily disappeared. Arcanine lay on his side on the ground, panting heavily.


He must have overheated! The rumbling and shaking of the building had increased in intensity, however, and slowly the purple slime began seeping through the walls and ceiling again. Travis sprinted towards the door, recalling Arcanine to his pokeball in the process.


Travis could see the entrance now. He pushed himself, running at full speed towards the rainy reprieve. However, as soon as his boots contacted the wet outdoor ground, he lost his footing, barreling forward and tumbling several times before landing on his stomach several feet from the beaten down doorway.


Gasping for breath, he turned back. The way the walls looked on the inside, oozing with pink slime? That’s what the outside walls looked like now, too. Moments later, the Power Plant, which had stood for 77 years, caved under the weight of the sludge behemoth, crashing down into an impotent pile of rubble. Rising from the dust was the ooze, now operating as one coordinated entity.
 

Travis squinted through the rain at the swirling vortex of corrosion and death. He was out of options. None of his Pokemon could compete with this thing – it was 50 times their size, and mere contact with it would mean a painful death. Was this how it ends?



Though the building had already fallen, the ground once again began to rumble. The huge purple Muk seemed distracted by the rumbling, allowing Travis to slowly make his way to his feet. A sharp, crackling line split open across the small patch of earth beneath them, ripping along and magnifying the tremors.
 

Jason’s Rhydon! There was hope again for Travis. Had it burrowed underneath the earth? Was it now using Earthquake?


Suddenly, the gash in the earth split open and began to widen. A deafening sound rang out again, and more cracks appeared in the ground, the relentless downpour quickly filling the newly formed gaps. A line shot through the land directly beneath the Muk and split open abruptly, forcing sections of the swirling mass of sludge to fall off beneath the earth.


Travis began to run away from the building, towards the narrow channel of water from which he arrived. Again, though, his footing failed him, as the shaky crust of the earth bent and folded beneath. This is no ordinary earthquake, Travis thought.


It’s a Fissure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The enormous Muk let out a roar as it continued to split and particulate into the beckoning recesses of the earth. Travis grabbed on for his life, just as the rapid current from the channel began to cut through the newly formed fissures. It sloshed and buckled through the gash, ripping past Travis at a furious speed and causing him to lose his grip. Tossing and turning beneath the riptide, Travis felt a sharp thump on the back of his head, and the world went black.
 

*                                                 *                                                    *


With a loud gasp, he awoke on his back, the clear sky floating effortlessly above him. He attempted to sit up, but a pounding headache changed his mind quickly. Deducing where he was at wasn’t difficult – he could hear the cry of wingulls above, and the steady flow of water below his ears. Beneath him, he felt a familiar shell. It was a standard issue Lapras, his high utility water transport. He must have had the wherewithal to summon it just before he was swept up by the currents.


The currents! The fissure! The Muk! It all came rushing back to him now. Had Rhydon’s desperate last attempt worked?
 

Travis propped himself up on his elbows, and surveyed his current surroundings. He was floating quickly downstream amidst a bevy of rubble. Reaching for his pocket, he was relieved to feel the familiar shape of his poke nav. He whipped it out, and checked his location. South of the Plant, and traveling south at a rapid pace.
 

Just then, he glanced to his left, and noticed something strange in the water. At first, he thought it was a normal pack of Goldeen, swimming near the surface. However, as he got closer, he noticed that the fish were dead. Ahead, the lifeless body of a slowpoke also hung in the current.
 

The Goldeens, the Slowpoke, they were both covered in purple sludge.
 

It’s still alive. The fucking thing is still alive, and it’s moving downstream even faster than I am.
 


The next thought hit him like a semi-truck. His whole world upended, with one small realization. He was heading south. Muk was travelling in the same direction, and it was travelling faster.


How long? How long do I have? How much of a head start did it get? Can I get there in time?


The questions pelted at his consciousness while the horror set in. Was there anything he could do? Travis knew exactly where this current was headed. South of the Power plant, then west. To Fuschia. To his daughter.



 

 

 

 

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1 hour ago, Gunthug said:

posting this here so it doesnt disappear when they hide the contest thread

 

 

Downstream

 

 

  Hide contents

 

 


 

 

 

 


The two men stood tall in the pouring rain. Visibility was low, but Officer Travis Reid could still make out the silhouette of a building up ahead.
 

“This must be it!” Travis shouted, though his words were muffled amidst the torrential downpour and occasional burst of thunder.


“WHAT?” returned his partner, Officer Jason Snide. Jason was new – brand new. In fact, he’d just graduated from the academy nearly a month ago with perfect scores on his exit exams. Usually Travis wouldn’t take an interest in that sort of thing, but Jason never shut up about it.


Travis sighed, and began walking through the rain towards the famous Kanto Power Plant, once a bastion of cutting edge technology and clean energy. It had been three years since the plant was last operational, though. Apparently, there had been some sort of accident, though not many details were released to the public thanks to the fiercely litigious parent company who had been running the place.


Jason quickly fell in line behind his commanding officer. The sleek yellow sheen of the Plant’s enormous walls towered above them as they approached the entrance, a set of titanium double doors. Travis reached out to the handle and yanked, but to no avail – the doors were locked. He turned to Jason, who already had a pokeball in his hand and a grin on his face. Travis nodded and stepped back.


“Let’s go, Rhydon!” shouted Jason to no one in particular, whipping the ball towards the door. Red light poured from the ball and took the shape of the hulking stone giant.


“Rhydon, use strength to open those doors!”


With immense force, Rhydon reared back and slammed its shoulders into the metal barrier. It came off its hinges, revealing the unlit interior of the building. The two men quickly made their way inside, out of the rain, and beckoned Rhydon to follow.


Once inside, the drone of the falling rain faded out. However, they had new problems. For starters, Travis couldn’t see a thing, which was strange for a power plant. Second, and perhaps stranger, was an overwhelming odor permeating the plant, one of the most disgusting things Travis had ever smelled. His nostrils were bombarded with the relentless assault, causing his eyes to water. He knew an inappropriate comment was coming.


“Jeez, chief, was that you?” said Jason, right on cue. Despite the wise crack, it was obvious the smell was affecting him too – he had buried his face in his arm, and his eyes were red and bloodshot.
 

“Maybe that’s why the distress beacon was pressed,” said Travis. “We’ve gotta figure out where that smell is coming from.”


“Well, I can’t see shit, chief,” complained Jason. “Too bad your daughter isn’t here, she’d really light the place up if you know what I mean.”
 

Travis let the comment go. He’d gotten used to Jason’s advances on his daughter, Katherine, and was content knowing that she found him repulsive. In fact, she’d said as much just yesterday while at the headquarters in Saffron. She had dropped by to fill her father in on her latest environmental project – cleaning up pollution off the coast of Fuschia City. Travis was so proud of her for trying to make a difference. She was just like her mother.
 

The foul stench snapped Travis back into focus, and he quickly knew what to do. He grabbed ball two from his pokebelt, and let it fall to the floor. Joining the two officers and the rain-soaked Rhydon was another Pokemon, this time an Arcanine.


“Arcanine, how about an ember to light this place up a bit?” said Travis.


His trusty companion nodded at him, then produced a brilliant yellow flame that hung several feet in front of the group, illuminating a small section of the dilapidated interior of the building. The now illumined walls were lined with computers and machinery that had been charred beyond recognition. Various colors of viscous grime caked the walls, pooling on the floors in foul smelling puddles.


“Looks like a god damn bomb went off in here,” muttered Jason.


“It may have. We still don’t know what happened.” Travis whipped out a small red device from his pocket and powered it up. The dim screen burst to life, bringing up a two-dimensional blueprint of the building. A blinking red dot indicated their position, near the southwest entrance. A blinking blue dot rang out about halfway up the eastern side of the plant.


“Alright, shouldn’t be too far to the distress beacon. Try to keep quiet, and don’t touch anything.”
 

“Yeah, yeah. I know what I’m doing, old man,” sneered Jason. “Let’s go, dog.” He thrust his finger to the east, down the dimly lit corridor, and Arcanine began hustling in that direction. Behind the fiery guide dog jogged Travis and Jason, with Rhydon still out of his pokeball ambling slowly at the rear.  
 

The stench of the place got worse the further in they crawled. Every new hallway was the same scene – the shrapnel of file cabinets and circuitry littered the floor on the sides of the room. Travis knew to keep his guard up – who knows what they were experimenting with here before the accident.
 

The four continued through the maze-like interior of the plant, drawing closer to the signal they were seeking. Another set of doors, which Rhydon made quick work of, opened to the eastern wing of the building. Arcanine stopped, sniffed the air, and began to growl.
 

“C’mon boy,” said Travis, patting his Pokemon on the head. Jason moved forward into the lead, walking to the edge of the ember’s faint flare. Arcanine picked up the pace again, but he wouldn’t stop growling.


“Careful, Jason, we don’t know what’s up there”


“We’ve got two of the strongest Pokemon in Kanto at our disposal. What’s there to be afraid of?” barked Jason, forging further into the darkness. Suddenly, the steady clack of his combat boots on the linoleum floor was replaced with a muffled splash.


“What the…” Jason said. “Feels like a swamp up here.” Arcanine, still growling, walked in his direction, slowly bringing the stubborn soldier back into the light. Travis looked past Jason, though. This was where the distress signal, that blinking blue dot, had originated, and Travis just figured out why.


“Jason. Get back here. Now!”


“Pfft, chill out, I’m fine. What is this sludge, anyways?” Jason looked down at his shoes, which were now submerged in a thick, purple sludge. “Man, I just got these poli…”


His voice trailed off. He had just noticed another pair of boots, hauntingly close to his own. The owner of the boots was there, too, crumpled face down in a pile of the sludge.


“Oh, shit, Travis, I think he’s alive. There’s definitely movement” shouted Jason. But Travis wasn’t paying attention – he was looking at the walls. In loud spurts and spasms, the grime on the walls congealed into larger and larger patches, lurching its way down to the floors. Machinery once deathly still began to rumble, a thick purple substance beginning to ooze from every orifice.


We’ve gotta get out of here, thought Travis. “Jason!”
 

“You want me to just leave the guy?!” he responded, before crouching and looking more closely at the mound of clothes. It wasn’t the body that was moving, he noticed slightly too late. It was the slime.

 


Horrified, Jason turned to flee, only to find that to be quite a useless endeavor. The slime he had stepped in had hardened beyond malleability.

“I’m stuck, Travis!” he shouted desperately. His Rhydon let out a roar, and charged down the hallway to its owner.


“Take your boots off, then!” responded Travis, “you’ve got to get out of the slime!” Just as he finished, a loud crash pierced the room. Travis turned just in time to see part of the ceiling crash down, a cascade of purple slime gushing from the newly formed cavity in the roof. Behind him, he heard a scream.

 


Moments earlier, Jason had managed to slip out of his right boot. To get the left one off, he’d need to place his right foot down for balance. But the floor surrounding him was filled with the corrosive slime. He set his foot down anyway, and Travis could hear the sizzling of flesh and bone from across the hallway as soon as Jason made that deadly mistake.


“Arcanine, Fire Blast!” A burst of brilliant flame launched from the leaping dog towards the site of the ceiling crash, temporarily blasting a path back towards the building’s entrance. Travis looked back one last time at the gruesome scene behind him – Jason’s right leg submerged to the knee in the acidic sludge, with his right arm now being assaulted too. His screams still filled the room, and his Rhydon stood nearby, horn spinning rapidly but powerless to help.


Travis knew he had to snap out of it, or he’d share Jason’s fate. He sprinted towards his Arcanine, who already stood at the second set of doors leading out of this horrible room. As he caught up, Arcanine and his ember fell into a full run back out the winding path, towards the entrance.
 

All around them, the building shook and shifted on its foundations and more and more purple sludge poured from the walls and ceilings. They snaked right, then left, then left again through the corridors come to life. Another crash, and another section of the ceiling fell ahead of the pair, dropping a metallic beam into their path. Arcanine effortlessly lept over the obstacle, but as Travis jumped his back foot caught the top of the beam and sent him tumbling to the floor.


Gasping, he scrambled to his feet just as Arcanine turned and charged back in his direction. Travis braced himself for the impending sludge death, when his vision abruptly went white. He blinked repeatedly, trying to bring it back. Slowly, the room faded back into view – the column of slime, as well as all that on the floor, walls, and ceiling, had temporarily disappeared. Arcanine lay on his side on the ground, panting heavily.


He must have overheated! The rumbling and shaking of the building had increased in intensity, however, and slowly the purple slime began seeping through the walls and ceiling again. Travis sprinted towards the door, recalling Arcanine to his pokeball in the process.


Travis could see the entrance now. He pushed himself, running at full speed towards the rainy reprieve. However, as soon as his boots contacted the wet outdoor ground, he lost his footing, barreling forward and tumbling several times before landing on his stomach several feet from the beaten down doorway.


Gasping for breath, he turned back. The way the walls looked on the inside, oozing with pink slime? That’s what the outside walls looked like now, too. Moments later, the Power Plant, which had stood for 77 years, caved under the weight of the sludge behemoth, crashing down into an impotent pile of rubble. Rising from the dust was the ooze, now operating as one coordinated entity.
 

Travis squinted through the rain at the swirling vortex of corrosion and death. He was out of options. None of his Pokemon could compete with this thing – it was 50 times their size, and mere contact with it would mean a painful death. Was this how it ends?



Though the building had already fallen, the ground once again began to rumble. The huge purple Muk seemed distracted by the rumbling, allowing Travis to slowly make his way to his feet. A sharp, crackling line split open across the small patch of earth beneath them, ripping along and magnifying the tremors.
 

Jason’s Rhydon! There was hope again for Travis. Had it burrowed underneath the earth? Was it now using Earthquake?


Suddenly, the gash in the earth split open and began to widen. A deafening sound rang out again, and more cracks appeared in the ground, the relentless downpour quickly filling the newly formed gaps. A line shot through the land directly beneath the Muk and split open abruptly, forcing sections of the swirling mass of sludge to fall off beneath the earth.


Travis began to run away from the building, towards the narrow channel of water from which he arrived. Again, though, his footing failed him, as the shaky crust of the earth bent and folded beneath. This is no ordinary earthquake, Travis thought.


It’s a Fissure.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The enormous Muk let out a roar as it continued to split and particulate into the beckoning recesses of the earth. Travis grabbed on for his life, just as the rapid current from the channel began to cut through the newly formed fissures. It sloshed and buckled through the gash, ripping past Travis at a furious speed and causing him to lose his grip. Tossing and turning beneath the riptide, Travis felt a sharp thump on the back of his head, and the world went black.
 

*                                                 *                                                    *


With a loud gasp, he awoke on his back, the clear sky floating effortlessly above him. He attempted to sit up, but a pounding headache changed his mind quickly. Deducing where he was at wasn’t difficult – he could hear the cry of wingulls above, and the steady flow of water below his ears. Beneath him, he felt a familiar shell. It was a standard issue Lapras, his high utility water transport. He must have had the wherewithal to summon it just before he was swept up by the currents.


The currents! The fissure! The Muk! It all came rushing back to him now. Had Rhydon’s desperate last attempt worked?
 

Travis propped himself up on his elbows, and surveyed his current surroundings. He was floating quickly downstream amidst a bevy of rubble. Reaching for his pocket, he was relieved to feel the familiar shape of his poke nav. He whipped it out, and checked his location. South of the Plant, and traveling south at a rapid pace.
 

Just then, he glanced to his left, and noticed something strange in the water. At first, he thought it was a normal pack of Goldeen, swimming near the surface. However, as he got closer, he noticed that the fish were dead. Ahead, the lifeless body of a slowpoke also hung in the current.
 

The Goldeens, the Slowpoke, they were both covered in purple sludge.
 

It’s still alive. The fucking thing is still alive, and it’s moving downstream even faster than I am.
 


The next thought hit him like a semi-truck. His whole world upended, with one small realization. He was heading south. Muk was travelling in the same direction, and it was travelling faster.


How long? How long do I have? How much of a head start did it get? Can I get there in time?


The questions pelted at his consciousness while the horror set in. Was there anything he could do? Travis knew exactly where this current was headed. South of the Power plant, then west. To Fuschia. To his daughter.



 

 

 

 
 

 

 

EXACTLY 2500 words. wtf man, how do you do this?

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@Gilan @pachima @GergFalerg @fredrichnietze @ others that I cant remember who entered the writing contest, I encourage you to repost your story here so people can read it while the judges give us their scores. It can sometimes be weeks before we get results, and they only hide the thread so people can't make any changes. Let's see those entries!

Edited by Gunthug
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10 minutes ago, Gunthug said:

@Gilan @pachima @GergFalerg @fredrichnietze @ others that I cant remember who entered the writing contest, I encourage you to repost your story here so people can read it while the judges give us their scores. It can sometimes be weeks before we get results, and they only hide the thread so people can't make any changes. Let's see those entries!

Don't think I don't see what you're doing! You just want us to post them to make yours look even better than it already is.

 

jk XD



I'll post mine when I get back to my laptop

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can do

this is a old save before final edit but its close enough



    Meowth woke up in a field of grass with a strong sense of dread. Every hair stood straight up and he could feel eyes on him. He started to run and heard something follow. Meowth wanted to look back, but didn’t dare slow down. Eventually he stopped hearing the thing following him and the sense of drear went away but he couldn’t figure out exactly when that was? Where was he? How did he get in that field? The last thing he remembered was being in a cave when the exit got blocked. How did he get out?
As Meowth pondered these question a little boy walked up to him. Looks around 7-8 years old, black hair, average height, and pretty average overall. The boy asked “how did you die?” Meowth not having notice him, shocked replied 
“wot?!?”. 
“you are dead. otherwise you would not be able to hear me. Only  other ghost can hear ghost, well and those fucking asshole mediums.”
“should you be using that kind of language kid? How old are you? And what do you mean dead? I don’t feel dead. I don't recall dying.” 
“i died when I was 7, that was 27 years ago.  And people who die in their sleep or pass out first usually have no idea what happened. Did you see the reaper? Has it come for you yet?”
Meowth started to remember that he spent days in that cave and their were no openings to bring in air. 
“wait so, im dead, your dead, and where are we? Whats going on? I thought it'd be over and then nothin or i'd get revived as a bug or somethin. And whats with you? You act so bored and factual it's like talking with a robot!”
“you are on earth. You died and from what I can gather the reaper takes you to whats next, but we both got away. I theorize the existence of us proves some sort of soul, and this soul will go on to something. Be it heaven, hell, life as a bug, or whatever. Oh and i'm a sociopath. Everything bore me because I have no emotional investment because im missing most of my emotions. How do you feel? What are you thinking?”
“wait wait wait. I don't know nothin bout no souls and afterlife, but I have known a whole lotta psychopaths working for the boss and they acted nothin like you. And what d'ya mean how do I feel? Why do you even care?”
“i don't. No empathy, no sympathy, no love, but I do have a little curiosity and most importantly fear. That's why I ran. And as someone who feels fear and who is alien, other to normal people I need to know everything about how they think and act and speak to better emulate them. So how do you feel?”
“i feel like I just heard the worst news of my afterlife and you are poking and prodding me like a lab rat to see whats what. I mean thanks and all for the info, but you seem kinda crazy. And what's in it for me? Why should I help you learn to be a better fake? Why bother we're dead anyways.”
“the existence of the reaper implies an afterlife. If we go on to heaven or hell it matters not, but if we get reincarnated I will still be unable to feel most emotion. I'll still be an alien because i'm still like this as a ghost. I must have a soul because I exist after death and I still cant feel anything when I look at this field of grass and flowers and trees I objectively know must be pretty. Therefore when I get reincarnated I will again have to pretend and you haven’t run away like all the others and you understand people. But you dont care about that, what you care about is that I have escaped the reaper for 27 years and can teach you how to stay away from him and all the other dangers here on the other side.
Meowth pondered the little boys words. 
“Eh what the heck, got nothin better to do, and I know sure as hell I dont want that thing to catch me. What's your name kiddo?” 
“I'm Rikku. And the first thing you need to know is the reaper is slow. You can outrun it because you no longer have a real body that requires oxygen and wares down. The reaper gets tired. I theorize it's some sort of hybrid between the spirit and the flesh so it can interact with both. Point is run and stay away from things like dead ends and you'll be fine.”
“Is that it? Sounds easy.”
“Well there is also ghost pokemon.”
“Wait am I a ghost pokemon now?
“No you are the ghost of a pokemon. Ghost pokemon are also somewhere in between the spirit world and the world of the living. They can travel between the two as a means of defense. What that means for us is they can do as much damage to us here as back when we were alive.”
Meowth chuckles.
“Looks like I got it made, i'm immune to ghost attacks.”
“Do you have any way to hurt them back?”
“Yes, bite, why?”
“Well I heard that if you killed enough ghost pokemon you could somehow take their essence and use it to crossover into the real world and live again.”
“That sounds fishy, where d'ya here it?”
“Doesn’t matter it works im sure of it. And there is a tower nearby infested with ghost pokemon near by in Lavender town. Over the years I found humans cant hurt them in any way, so I do need your help.”
“You're sure this'll work? Like 110%?”
“Don't be a worry wort we got this in the bag. Now lets get walking it'll take us the rest of the day.”
They walked to Lavender town conversing on the way. Slowly Meowth and Rikku taught each other about the spirit world and being a person. As night fell they arrived at the city. It's fairly small and quiet with a single building bigger then 2 story’s towering over everything. This building is the Lavender tower. As Meowth and Rikku approached they felt something like being near the reaper only not as strong. 
Rikku “Getting near ghost pokes always feels like this. Idk why.” 
“Ok so whats the plan now?”
“we get up there and find the nursery. The lowest level gastly will be the easiest and I don’t think quality matters, only quantity.”
“Listen kid, im not killing baby pokemon. That's one of those person things. You do not hurt children ever.”
“why not?”
Meowth sighs and facepalms.
“some things are so evil as to be taboo. Just NOT done.”
“what is evil? What is good? No one can agree so it's a conversation. If it is a conversation and arbitrary then it has no absolute definition and is subjective. If good and evil are subjective can I not choose to believe it is not evil to kill these baby’s?”
Meowth stares at Rikku.
“That's not how it works kid. I don’t even know how to explain but you don’t get it.”
“Adult gastly and haunters it is then.”
They entered the tower and started fighting their way up. Thankfully midway up they found a way to heal. 
Meowth “I’ve beat 20 gastly and 2 haunters so far. How many more till we get to live again?”
“Im unsure, as may as we can. Wait what was that?”
They both felt a sense of dread grow and heard a hissing noise. They turn around to see a gengar staring at them mad as hell.
Meowth “ahhh shit.”
gengar uses sludge bomb, but Meowth dodged away. The poisonous sludge hits the ground and Rikku starts to cough and vomit. Meowth uses bite on gengar and he flinches. Gengar then uses hypnosis on Meowth and it hits! Meowth passes out on the floor. 
Gengar “kid I know you, didnt we beat the shit out of you back when I was a gastly all those years ago? Hell you havent aged a day.” Gengar uses sludge bomb on Rikku. Meowth wakes and sneak attacks with bite from behind and it's a crit! Gengar faints. 
Meowth “kid are you alright?”
~cough cough~
“Naaah im done for, im already starting to dissolve.”
“What was that gengar talking about? You knew him?”
“I lied. There was never a way back to the land of the living. These uguus attacked me in the early days several times years ago and I have been waiting to get revenge for years. I'd say sorry but you know I wouldn't mean it.”
Meowth starts to tear up.
“Idiot why'd you even bother after all these years? And ~gasp~”
The room darkens and the sense of dread they felt from the ghost types goes way up.
Rikku “Guess i'm finally getting to other side to see what's what. Thanks Meowth.”
Meowth smiles.
“Asshole”
Meowth starts to run as fast as he can while the reaper enters the room. He finally gets a glance and he is a she and she looks like a glowing human dressed in armor. She looks kind, but still feels scary. He kept running.
 

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here we go:

 

Spoiler

The Search

 

               The smoke wafted upwards, expanding and mixing with the mist that blanketed the summit of Mt. Pyre until it and the mist were one and the same. Crouched behind a gravestone covered with moss and weathered so severely that the name etched in the face of the stone was illegible, a figure cloaked in a green lab coat took a couple of puffs from his cigarette, but otherwise remained motionless. His eyes surveyed his surroundings constantly as he analyzed the ever changing shadows that materialized in the swirling mist.

               bzzt. The small device clipped onto the figure’s waist turned on with an electrical charge. Though unnoticeable to the casual observer, the mysterious stranger jumped ever so slightly at the sudden sound that broke the deafening silence.

               “Gilan, come in. Gilan, are you there? Over” A female voice chimed in. bzzt.

The man, still crouched, exhaled in relief. Truth be told, he was not a fan of hanging around in a graveyard alone at night, and the reassurance that there was another human being on the other side of the PokeNav gave him just enough comfort that he could relax. Gilan reached down and unhitched the device from his waist and brought it up, close to his face.

               “Yeah, I’m here, Sialia” Gilan replied in a hoarse whisper, “What’s going on? Over.” He released the transmitter button and waited a few moments for a response.

               bzzt. “Glad I could get in touch with you” She said with a sigh of relief. “I was just calling to check in; you missed your scheduled report 20 minutes ago, you know? Over.” bzzt.

               Gilan cursed under his breath. It wasn’t that he had forgotten to report in, he had lost track of time and didn’t realize how late it actually was.

               “God dangit. Give me a minute, I just set it up a couple of minutes ago; I’ll check its status…” Gilan slowly rose from his position, getting slightly light headed as all the blood rushed to his legs; he hadn’t realized how long he had been crouched behind the gravestone. He tossed his cigarette onto the damp ground and stomped it out; he began to turn, but thought twice about it and bent down, wincing at the proliferated tingling sensation that his legs radiated, and picked up the cig and dropped it into his coat pocket. No sense in defiling the ground in which bodies are buried, he thought. Taking a few painful steps, Gilan made his way over to a device that rested on a tripod stand. The device had a small screen on the front that was about the size of a loose leaf sheet of paper, and a rotating radar fixed to the top of the rectangular device that was about the size of Gilan’s hand.

               As Gilan waved his hand over the screen, it lit up and displayed complex graphical data that he had to study for a few moments to fully understand. After confirming that he had deciphered the graphs correctly, Gilan turned and made his way back to the gravestone that he had been hiding behind. He sat down on the damp soil and rested his back against the tombstone, legs fully extended so to avoid cutting off the blood flow to his legs once again. He pressed the transmitter button on the PokeNav.

               “Sialia, you still there? Over.”

               bzzt. “Yeah I’m still here. Over.” bzzt.

               “The readings are normal. There’s nothing here. Over.”

               bzzt. “Dammit!” The disappointment in her voice was all too prevalent. “I’m at a loss…” bzzt.

               Gilan noticed that Sialia broke protocol without indicating that she was done talking on the PokeNav, which showed her frustration with the news he gave her. “What’s the matter? Tyrone and Bluejim still need to report in, right? I know that Riga and Fred already called in with no leads, but there’s still hope in the other two… Right? Over.”

               bzzt. “Tyrone and Bluejim both reported in about an hour ago. There were no traces at the Pokemon Tower nor at Meteor Falls. And yes, Rigamorty reported no trace at Mt. Moon and Fred the same at Cape Brink. To be honest, I thought that the Pokemon Tower and Mt. Pyre were the two most likely spots. I fear that if we… d.on’t……ind……Ora…..niac”

               “Sialia?!? You’re breaking up!”

               “…oon…..e…..m….ever…..ee….im…….agai……………………………………..” bzzzzzzzzzzz...

               The electrical crackle abruptly ended in dead silence. Gilan, who had held the PokeNav in his outstretched arm to try to regain a signal, suddenly froze in place and felt an ominous chill climb up his back. His heart felt like it stopped beating altogether, and his chest tightened painfully, but he was too frightened to even twitch a muscle. A cold drop of sweat worked its way down his neck. Though he could not explain how he knew, Gilan was acutely aware of an extremely dangerous entity drifting in the mist just several meters behind him.

               BWEEEEEEEEEEEEE! BWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

               The radar device that Gilan had checked just moments before began giving off an ear piercing screech. At the sound, Gilan’s heart suddenly came back to life and began beating at an uncontrollable rate. His breathing intensified and everything began to happen in a blur. He reached inside his lab coat, retrieving a smooth, red and white plastic ball. In one swift, circular motion, Gilan spun out and around the gravestone to face this unknown adversary. With the pokeball in his right hand, he stood in a stance that would allow him to toss the ball without hesitation. His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings in front of him… but the presence was gone, and he couldn’t see anything through the mist.

               He stood in the same position for a few more moments, and then he let out a sigh of relief and released the tension that had kept his body rigid.

               Right at that moment a soft, silky-smooth voice whispered right into Gilan’s left ear. “I found you!” Gilan could feel all of the blood drain from his face and felt a shiver run down his spine. He instinctively ran several paces forward, the sight of which made the dark entity let out several low, sinister laughs.

               Once he had put, what he thought to be, a safe distance between him and the source of the malicious aura, Gilan turned on the spot to face this evil entity. What he saw before him made him wish he had never been born into this world. What looked like a jack-o-lantern floated several feet above the ground. On either side of its body protruded long, dark purple, ethereal arms that seemed to fade in and out of existence. The thing’s face was slightly tilted down, so that the dark red pupils of its eyes remained just under the ridge of its eye sockets. Its mouth was jagged and open in a sinister grin; inside was pure emptiness, just a simple, black void.

               “W-what are you?” Gilan managed to croak.

               The evil figure continued to float there, the sanguine eyes trained on the green cloaked man. “Me?” The being asked sarcastically. “I am your worst nightmare! You people fear Hell, but you fail to recognize the even greater evil that still lurks in this world. And that evil, is ME! I AM THE PUMPKING! Those who die by my hand don’t even have the privilege to journey to Hell; they will forever remain inside of me, until I have consumed the last of their soul! And it just so happens that I am hungry, and you shall satisfy my FAMISH!”

               Suddenly, spurred by the fear of death itself, Gilan swung his arm releasing the pokeball from his grip, and his voice cracked as he yelled, “DITTO, HELP ME!” The ball exploded into a flash of light and a bright, blue blob plopped down onto the soft earth just in front of him. The Pumpking watched with mild amusement.

               “Ah, yes. That is exactly what the other one did just before I ate him.” The Pumpking filled the surroundings with the sound of his snaky voice.

               “The other one?” Gilan tentatively inquired.

               “Your orange counterpart. I must say, he was quite tasty.” The Pumpking let out a malicious cackle as he pulled an orange lab coat, identical to the green one that Gilan was wearing, out from inside its mouth.

               “OrangeManiac?!?” Gilan’s fear began to turn into anger. “You ate him?!? BASTARD, I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT! Ditto! Use Transform!” Ditto glanced at Gilan in acknowledgement and began to mutate its body. It began to grow and steadily take on a round shape with limbs protruding out of its sides. And then, as if a rubber band had snapped, Ditto contracted back to its original shape.

               Transform had failed.

               The Pumpking’s cackle intensified for several seconds and then abruptly halted. His grin faded and his face contorted with anger. It advanced forward in one quick motion and swiped at the shiny ditto with its ethereal claws. The ditto was knocked back with such force that it flew and crashed into a rock wall, several meters behind Gilan, and the mist parted from where the ditto had flown.

               “DITTO!” Gilan screamed and rushed to where his companion lay. He bent down and took the blue blob into his arms and was so fixated on his friend that he failed to notice that the evil figure was hovering right over his back.

               “Good Night!” The Pumpking said curtly. Without hesitation, it swung its arm down toward Gilan’s head, and the last thing Gilan could remember was the cold, dark feeling of emptiness.

 

               Gilan could faintly make out a soft voice that was shouting his name over and over again.

               “Gilan! Gilan!”

               Gilan slowly opened his eyes, only to be blinded by a light that was fixated to the ceiling. He brought his arm up to shield his eyes, and they slowly adjusted to where he could make out the face of the figure bent over him.

               “Sialia?” Gilan whispered faintly. “Where am I?”

               “Gilan! Thank god! Yeah it’s me, Sialia. You’re in the Lilycove PokeCenter. After I lost your signal I headed straight to Mt. Pyre. It was a miracle that I found you in that thick mist! You’re lucky to be alive, you hit your head pretty hard.”

               “How long have I been out?” Gilan couldn’t remember anything and Sialia could tell from his expression that he was extremely confused.

               “About an hour or so. I used my Alakazam to teleport to Lilycove and then I rode my Charizard up to Mt. Pyre’s summit. But don’t worry about that! You need to rest!”

               Suddenly Gilan remembered that he had been up there with his ditto. “Ditto! Where’s my ditto?”

               “It’s right here, Gilan. It stayed by your side the entire time you were out. Nurse Joy healed it up a bit, but it was overall in good shape; you’ve trained it well.”

               The blue blob looked at him with concern. As Gilan stared into its eyes a sudden flash of orange enveloped his mind. Gilan jolted upright in the bed that he was laying in. “OrangeManiac! The Pumpking took OrangeManiac! We have to go after it!” Noticing the sudden movement, Nurse Joy rushed over to the bed and injected a light sedative into Gilan to calm him down.

               “Calm down, Gilan!” Sialia exclaimed in surprise. “You aren’t making any sense. What’s the PumpKing? And, who is OrangeManiac?”

               At those words, Gilan’s heart sank. “You’re joking, right? Please tell me that you’re joking!” He knew that Sialia was not one to joke, but he had to ask anyways.

               Very steadily, Sialia looked straight into Gilan’s eyes. “I’m not joking. I’ve never heard of OrangeManiac in my life.”

               Gilan swallowed hard upon understanding the meaning of those words. He brought his hands up and covered his face. He couldn’t believe it. How could Sialia forget about OrangeManiac? What’s going on?!? The thoughts swirled through Gilan’s head without remorse.

               A couple of moments passed and the doors to the PokeCenter slid open. Gilan noticed that it was pouring outside, and the man that entered was drenched. He wore a lab coat that was identical to the ones that Gilan and Sialia wore. Gilan eyed the man with interest as he took long strides towards Gilan’s bed.

               “I came as soon as I could, is he OK?” The man remarked, a puddle formed by his feet.

               “Ah, I’m glad that you did, and yes he is. He just came to.” Sialia addressed him. “Ahem, Gilan, I’d like you to meet Scaramanzia!”

               “It’s nice to meet you, Gilan! I’m the newest member of the Desu’s Labcoat Club!” Scaramanzia stuck out his hand.

               “Likewise.” Gilan replied still confused and shook the outstretched hand. As he did, Gilan noticed that the water that ran off the newcomer’s lab coat was tinted with the same color that the coat was dyed. Gilan, all of a sudden could feel his heart pumping in his chest. He fixated his eyes on the cuffs of Scaramanzia’s lab coat, and what he saw caused his eyes to widen to the point that Sialia could see the full whites of his eyes.

               “Gilan are you OK?” Sialia asked with obvious concern in her voice.

               Gilan continued to stare. The small blotches of orange were barely visible and almost completely drowned out by the color of the majority of the lab coat. With their hands still clasped, Gilan slowly shifted his gaze up the length of Scaramanzia’s arm, then shoulder, then neck, until his eyes rested on the figure’s face. There, Gilan was met with deep, dark red pupils and a sinister grin that locked him in place.

               “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Scaramanzia said in a deep, smooth voice, “it just looks like he needs a bit of rest, that’s all.”

               Gilan, unable to act, simply laid back down, and closed his eyes, wishing that it would just end.

 

Just some author notes:

 

I really wanted to play into the PokeMMO environment, so it was imperative to me to use actual players as the characters rather than npc's (with the exception of Nurse Joy, but I didn't give her any dialogue), and to incorporate things like the Desu's Labcoat Club and the PumpKing Halloween Boss. Originally the story was just going to be me and the DLCC (Desu's Lab Coat Club) hunting down the PumpKing and taking it on. But then OrangeManiac decided to sell his labcoat, which prompted me to tweak the story in the manner that I did. If you notice, I don't specify the color of Scaramanzia's labcoat, honestly because I don't know what color he chose; but I think it worked out just fine, because it adds a light hint of ambiguity to the character, who is actually the PumpKing, which adds to the chaotic aura of the character as a whole, in my opinion.

 


 

If you couldn't tell, I tried to employ alliteration in the PumpKing's dialogue to help further contribute to the sinister nature of his dialogue; I hope that went over well. Also, I tried to control the pace at which a reader would read, especially during the part where Gilan first feels the PumpKing's presence. The whole paragraph following the siren noises ("BWEEE") is meant to be read at a significantly faster pace than normal and then abruptly slow down at the ellipsis.

 

And finally, once Gilan "wakes up" he is supposed to be inside of the PumpKing's belly. I.e. Gilan is no longer alive, but he is not technically dead. Eventually Gilan will fade from existence, but that all depends on how quickly the PumpKing can eat him. I left it like this, because I thought this gave a greater sense of "dread" to the immediate story, while at the same time leaving it open so that I could possibly revisit this story line for future short stories.

 

That's it for my notes =)

 

Edited by Gilan
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Here it is. :)

 

 



Trick or Treat: The Tale of the Generic Title


One cold and dark Friday night, GergFalerg was standing in front of the Pokecenter at Vermilion City. There was an eerie fog covering the whole area, one could fall in the water if not careful. Gerg's PokeNav starts noisily ringing. The display shows that it's his mom calling so he answers. "Hey Gerg, your cousin keeps calling asking for a jigglypuff. He wants you to catch one for him," she says. Gerg rolls his eyes, "He called me earlier today too, I'll go to route 3 in a bit. What's his obsession with jigglypuffs?" Gerg replies. She chuckles slightly and says, "I don't know, maybe it's puberty. Anyway, have fun and always be careful. This foggy weather seems to be all over Kanto tonight. Bye." The call ends. Gerg chuckles, looking at his PokeNav. "Those Devon guys really outdid themselves making this thing usable in Kanto too," he says to himself.

Gerg decides to go to Pewter City first so he can get some supplies at the mart since he is running low on some. He uses a Fly Ocarina to summon a pidgeotto to take him there. He gets on it and instructs the pidgeotto to head for Pewter. The pidgeotto takes off and quickly rises above the fog, then it spreads its wings and glides steadily towards Pewter.

Upon arrival Gerg remembers that there is a mart in Vermilion, so he facepalms loudly, startling the pidgeotto. He pats the bird on its back and it flies away. "Oh well," says Gerg. He enters the mart and buys supplies. Then he heads east to route 3. As Gerg is passing the trainers on the route he thinks, "Wow, they look pretty tired. Must've been a long day of battling trainers." He stops at the farthest grass patch and starts looking for a jigglypuff. After a few wild encounters he finds one. Gerg sends out Smeargle and easily catches it, then he checks its nature and IVs and says, "Hey, that's pretty good."

As Gerg was getting ready to leave, he hears a loud high-pitched scream coming from the route that leads to the Pokecenter and the entrance to Mt. Moon. He hurries to it thinking someone is in trouble. When Gerg reaches the area, he sees what seems to be a pile of zubats on the ground between the Pokecenter and the mountain entrance. He breathes a sigh of relief, chuckling to himself, "Some kid probably just got scared of all these zubats." But then he looks again and sees a hand sticking out underneath all the zubats. He gasps in horror at the realization. Gerg quickly sends out Arcanine and instructs it to roar the zubats away. Arcanine lets out a thunderous roar, immediately scattering the zubats, making them all fly away and back into Mt. Moon. Gerg slowly gets closer to the body and sees that it's... a dead child, very pale, covered with bite marks. Gerg is stunned. He asks himself, "How could this happen? Wild zubats are usually not this aggressive."

Gerg enters the Pokecenter and asks Nurse Joy if anyone saw what happened. With a concerned look on her face, she points to a group of people where the seats are. Gerg walks towards them and notices that they are surrounding a crying girl. All of them have shocked expressions on their faces. The girl is sitting curled up weeping and hugging her squirtle. The squirtle looks terrified. Another Nurse Joy is sitting next to the girl trying to comfort her. She asks the girl, "What happened?" The girl answers, "He was my friend. We were just training our starters, when we smelled a very sweet scent. We looked around and saw a scary man with an oddish. Suddenly, hordes of zubats came out of Mt. Moon. I was so scared, I ran away. Then I looked back and my friend was covered in zubats flailing wildly." She starts to weep again, then she yells, "I couldn't do anything!" The girl leans on Nurse Joy. Gerg looks concerned. He sees on the TV that some news crews have arrived outside the Pokecenter. He asks the girl, "Did you see the man's face or where he went?" The girl replies, "No, he was just... gone."

Gerg goes outside and sees the news crews, police, paramedics and some spectators. He also sees more people running up from route 3, some of them he recognizes from Pewter. His PokeNav rings. It's his mom again, he answers it, "Gerg, Are you okay? I was watching the news and I got worried. You said you were going to route 3 and that's close to where the horrible thing happened." she says. Gerg calms her down, says he's fine and explains what happened. They then say their goodbyes. Then Gerg remembers something from the girl's story. She said they were training their starters but the boy had no sign of his starter with him. It should have been either found next to his body or in a pokeball on him. Also, there's no way a single sweet scent from an oddish can summon THAT many zubats. Then Gerg remembers her squirtle. He remembers that the squirtle looked a bit like it was terrified of the girl. Then as Gerg realizes this, loud screams erupt from inside the Pokecenter. He hurries inside to see what's happening. As soon as he's inside, he sees the walls and the floor covered in blood. The lights flickering. Some of the people from earlier that were surrounding the girl, are now on the floor bleeding, some of them missing limbs. Gerg looks up at the corner where the walls meet the ceiling and sees the girl. Her feet are on the walls, her arms drawn back with her hands touching  the ceiling. Her eyes glowing red, blood dripping from her mouth. The girl laughs maniacally with her voice and a second deeper demonic voice. Gerg jumps and hides behind the counter, crashing into the others terrified and hiding there too. A very strong dark energy emanates from the girl, pushing everything away and shattering the windows. Then the entire inside of the Pokecenter becomes covered in blinding darkness. The girl's laughing stops. The only thing they can hear is the girl's wet footsteps on the bloody floor. Then everyone hears a whisper from the little girl voice very close to their ears, "Trick or Treat," the girl giggles. Suddenly the darkness dissipates. The girl is gone. The people bleeding on the floor are gone. All the people outside start pouring in to help. Gerg looks around terrified at the aftermath.

A reporter from one of the news crews is on his phone talking very seriously. Gerg notices him. The reporter then goes to the TV - which is surprisingly still working despite a cracked screen - and changes the channel to another news channel. Gerg gets closer and watches, "Breaking News, just a moment ago, a strange girl appeared in Lavender Town demanding candy. We don't know who she is or where she came from but..." Gerg stops watching and goes outside. He sees the squirtle from earlier looking very sad standing beside the boy's corpse. As Gerg passes, the squirtle looks up at Gerg with watery eyes. Gerg stops and extends his hand to the squirtle. The squirtle looks at Gerg's hand then puts its hand in it. They share a subtle smile and walk away together.

THE END?
 

 

Edited by GergFalerg
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  • 2 weeks later...
On 7/11/2016 at 2:38 AM, Gilan said:

here we go:

 

  Hide contents

The Search

 

               The smoke wafted upwards, expanding and mixing with the mist that blanketed the summit of Mt. Pyre until it and the mist were one and the same. Crouched behind a gravestone covered with moss and weathered so severely that the name etched in the face of the stone was illegible, a figure cloaked in a green lab coat took a couple of puffs from his cigarette, but otherwise remained motionless. His eyes surveyed his surroundings constantly as he analyzed the ever changing shadows that materialized in the swirling mist.

               bzzt. The small device clipped onto the figure’s waist turned on with an electrical charge. Though unnoticeable to the casual observer, the mysterious stranger jumped ever so slightly at the sudden sound that broke the deafening silence.

               “Gilan, come in. Gilan, are you there? Over” A female voice chimed in. bzzt.

The man, still crouched, exhaled in relief. Truth be told, he was not a fan of hanging around in a graveyard alone at night, and the reassurance that there was another human being on the other side of the PokeNav gave him just enough comfort that he could relax. Gilan reached down and unhitched the device from his waist and brought it up, close to his face.

               “Yeah, I’m here, Sialia” Gilan replied in a hoarse whisper, “What’s going on? Over.” He released the transmitter button and waited a few moments for a response.

               bzzt. “Glad I could get in touch with you” She said with a sigh of relief. “I was just calling to check in; you missed your scheduled report 20 minutes ago, you know? Over.” bzzt.

               Gilan cursed under his breath. It wasn’t that he had forgotten to report in, he had lost track of time and didn’t realize how late it actually was.

               “God dangit. Give me a minute, I just set it up a couple of minutes ago; I’ll check its status…” Gilan slowly rose from his position, getting slightly light headed as all the blood rushed to his legs; he hadn’t realized how long he had been crouched behind the gravestone. He tossed his cigarette onto the damp ground and stomped it out; he began to turn, but thought twice about it and bent down, wincing at the proliferated tingling sensation that his legs radiated, and picked up the cig and dropped it into his coat pocket. No sense in defiling the ground in which bodies are buried, he thought. Taking a few painful steps, Gilan made his way over to a device that rested on a tripod stand. The device had a small screen on the front that was about the size of a loose leaf sheet of paper, and a rotating radar fixed to the top of the rectangular device that was about the size of Gilan’s hand.

               As Gilan waved his hand over the screen, it lit up and displayed complex graphical data that he had to study for a few moments to fully understand. After confirming that he had deciphered the graphs correctly, Gilan turned and made his way back to the gravestone that he had been hiding behind. He sat down on the damp soil and rested his back against the tombstone, legs fully extended so to avoid cutting off the blood flow to his legs once again. He pressed the transmitter button on the PokeNav.

               “Sialia, you still there? Over.”

               bzzt. “Yeah I’m still here. Over.” bzzt.

               “The readings are normal. There’s nothing here. Over.”

               bzzt. “Dammit!” The disappointment in her voice was all too prevalent. “I’m at a loss…” bzzt.

               Gilan noticed that Sialia broke protocol without indicating that she was done talking on the PokeNav, which showed her frustration with the news he gave her. “What’s the matter? Tyrone and Bluejim still need to report in, right? I know that Riga and Fred already called in with no leads, but there’s still hope in the other two… Right? Over.”

               bzzt. “Tyrone and Bluejim both reported in about an hour ago. There were no traces at the Pokemon Tower nor at Meteor Falls. And yes, Rigamorty reported no trace at Mt. Moon and Fred the same at Cape Brink. To be honest, I thought that the Pokemon Tower and Mt. Pyre were the two most likely spots. I fear that if we… d.on’t……ind……Ora…..niac”

               “Sialia?!? You’re breaking up!”

               “…oon…..e…..m….ever…..ee….im…….agai……………………………………..” bzzzzzzzzzzz...

               The electrical crackle abruptly ended in dead silence. Gilan, who had held the PokeNav in his outstretched arm to try to regain a signal, suddenly froze in place and felt an ominous chill climb up his back. His heart felt like it stopped beating altogether, and his chest tightened painfully, but he was too frightened to even twitch a muscle. A cold drop of sweat worked its way down his neck. Though he could not explain how he knew, Gilan was acutely aware of an extremely dangerous entity drifting in the mist just several meters behind him.

               BWEEEEEEEEEEEEE! BWEEEEEEEEEEEEE!

               The radar device that Gilan had checked just moments before began giving off an ear piercing screech. At the sound, Gilan’s heart suddenly came back to life and began beating at an uncontrollable rate. His breathing intensified and everything began to happen in a blur. He reached inside his lab coat, retrieving a smooth, red and white plastic ball. In one swift, circular motion, Gilan spun out and around the gravestone to face this unknown adversary. With the pokeball in his right hand, he stood in a stance that would allow him to toss the ball without hesitation. His eyes quickly scanned the surroundings in front of him… but the presence was gone, and he couldn’t see anything through the mist.

               He stood in the same position for a few more moments, and then he let out a sigh of relief and released the tension that had kept his body rigid.

               Right at that moment a soft, silky-smooth voice whispered right into Gilan’s left ear. “I found you!” Gilan could feel all of the blood drain from his face and felt a shiver run down his spine. He instinctively ran several paces forward, the sight of which made the dark entity let out several low, sinister laughs.

               Once he had put, what he thought to be, a safe distance between him and the source of the malicious aura, Gilan turned on the spot to face this evil entity. What he saw before him made him wish he had never been born into this world. What looked like a jack-o-lantern floated several feet above the ground. On either side of its body protruded long, dark purple, ethereal arms that seemed to fade in and out of existence. The thing’s face was slightly tilted down, so that the dark red pupils of its eyes remained just under the ridge of its eye sockets. Its mouth was jagged and open in a sinister grin; inside was pure emptiness, just a simple, black void.

               “W-what are you?” Gilan managed to croak.

               The evil figure continued to float there, the sanguine eyes trained on the green cloaked man. “Me?” The being asked sarcastically. “I am your worst nightmare! You people fear Hell, but you fail to recognize the even greater evil that still lurks in this world. And that evil, is ME! I AM THE PUMPKING! Those who die by my hand don’t even have the privilege to journey to Hell; they will forever remain inside of me, until I have consumed the last of their soul! And it just so happens that I am hungry, and you shall satisfy my FAMISH!”

               Suddenly, spurred by the fear of death itself, Gilan swung his arm releasing the pokeball from his grip, and his voice cracked as he yelled, “DITTO, HELP ME!” The ball exploded into a flash of light and a bright, blue blob plopped down onto the soft earth just in front of him. The Pumpking watched with mild amusement.

               “Ah, yes. That is exactly what the other one did just before I ate him.” The Pumpking filled the surroundings with the sound of his snaky voice.

               “The other one?” Gilan tentatively inquired.

               “Your orange counterpart. I must say, he was quite tasty.” The Pumpking let out a malicious cackle as he pulled an orange lab coat, identical to the green one that Gilan was wearing, out from inside its mouth.

               “OrangeManiac?!?” Gilan’s fear began to turn into anger. “You ate him?!? BASTARD, I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THAT! Ditto! Use Transform!” Ditto glanced at Gilan in acknowledgement and began to mutate its body. It began to grow and steadily take on a round shape with limbs protruding out of its sides. And then, as if a rubber band had snapped, Ditto contracted back to its original shape.

               Transform had failed.

               The Pumpking’s cackle intensified for several seconds and then abruptly halted. His grin faded and his face contorted with anger. It advanced forward in one quick motion and swiped at the shiny ditto with its ethereal claws. The ditto was knocked back with such force that it flew and crashed into a rock wall, several meters behind Gilan, and the mist parted from where the ditto had flown.

               “DITTO!” Gilan screamed and rushed to where his companion lay. He bent down and took the blue blob into his arms and was so fixated on his friend that he failed to notice that the evil figure was hovering right over his back.

               “Good Night!” The Pumpking said curtly. Without hesitation, it swung its arm down toward Gilan’s head, and the last thing Gilan could remember was the cold, dark feeling of emptiness.

 

               Gilan could faintly make out a soft voice that was shouting his name over and over again.

               “Gilan! Gilan!”

               Gilan slowly opened his eyes, only to be blinded by a light that was fixated to the ceiling. He brought his arm up to shield his eyes, and they slowly adjusted to where he could make out the face of the figure bent over him.

               “Sialia?” Gilan whispered faintly. “Where am I?”

               “Gilan! Thank god! Yeah it’s me, Sialia. You’re in the Lilycove PokeCenter. After I lost your signal I headed straight to Mt. Pyre. It was a miracle that I found you in that thick mist! You’re lucky to be alive, you hit your head pretty hard.”

               “How long have I been out?” Gilan couldn’t remember anything and Sialia could tell from his expression that he was extremely confused.

               “About an hour or so. I used my Alakazam to teleport to Lilycove and then I rode my Charizard up to Mt. Pyre’s summit. But don’t worry about that! You need to rest!”

               Suddenly Gilan remembered that he had been up there with his ditto. “Ditto! Where’s my ditto?”

               “It’s right here, Gilan. It stayed by your side the entire time you were out. Nurse Joy healed it up a bit, but it was overall in good shape; you’ve trained it well.”

               The blue blob looked at him with concern. As Gilan stared into its eyes a sudden flash of orange enveloped his mind. Gilan jolted upright in the bed that he was laying in. “OrangeManiac! The Pumpking took OrangeManiac! We have to go after it!” Noticing the sudden movement, Nurse Joy rushed over to the bed and injected a light sedative into Gilan to calm him down.

               “Calm down, Gilan!” Sialia exclaimed in surprise. “You aren’t making any sense. What’s the PumpKing? And, who is OrangeManiac?”

               At those words, Gilan’s heart sank. “You’re joking, right? Please tell me that you’re joking!” He knew that Sialia was not one to joke, but he had to ask anyways.

               Very steadily, Sialia looked straight into Gilan’s eyes. “I’m not joking. I’ve never heard of OrangeManiac in my life.”

               Gilan swallowed hard upon understanding the meaning of those words. He brought his hands up and covered his face. He couldn’t believe it. How could Sialia forget about OrangeManiac? What’s going on?!? The thoughts swirled through Gilan’s head without remorse.

               A couple of moments passed and the doors to the PokeCenter slid open. Gilan noticed that it was pouring outside, and the man that entered was drenched. He wore a lab coat that was identical to the ones that Gilan and Sialia wore. Gilan eyed the man with interest as he took long strides towards Gilan’s bed.

               “I came as soon as I could, is he OK?” The man remarked, a puddle formed by his feet.

               “Ah, I’m glad that you did, and yes he is. He just came to.” Sialia addressed him. “Ahem, Gilan, I’d like you to meet Scaramanzia!”

               “It’s nice to meet you, Gilan! I’m the newest member of the Desu’s Labcoat Club!” Scaramanzia stuck out his hand.

               “Likewise.” Gilan replied still confused and shook the outstretched hand. As he did, Gilan noticed that the water that ran off the newcomer’s lab coat was tinted with the same color that the coat was dyed. Gilan, all of a sudden could feel his heart pumping in his chest. He fixated his eyes on the cuffs of Scaramanzia’s lab coat, and what he saw caused his eyes to widen to the point that Sialia could see the full whites of his eyes.

               “Gilan are you OK?” Sialia asked with obvious concern in her voice.

               Gilan continued to stare. The small blotches of orange were barely visible and almost completely drowned out by the color of the majority of the lab coat. With their hands still clasped, Gilan slowly shifted his gaze up the length of Scaramanzia’s arm, then shoulder, then neck, until his eyes rested on the figure’s face. There, Gilan was met with deep, dark red pupils and a sinister grin that locked him in place.

               “I’m sure he’ll be fine,” Scaramanzia said in a deep, smooth voice, “it just looks like he needs a bit of rest, that’s all.”

               Gilan, unable to act, simply laid back down, and closed his eyes, wishing that it would just end.

 

 

Who is Rem @OrangeManiac? Hahaha

I loved it Gilan #DesuCoatClub

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Didnt see this earlier, This as some early scratch but cant find the latest one, rip:

 

It was a good day for Pachima. It was the day he would finally get all the Hoenn gym badges and earn the right to challenge the best of the best. It was his dream after all

Both Juan and Pachima were already down to one last Pokemon. On one side, there was a Walrein, on the other, a Persian.
Walrein was already breathless. In fact, the battle had alread dragged for quite a bit now. However, one can´t say Persian was on a better shape. Both Pokemons were struggling for the pride of their trainers, but they couldn´tendure it anymore. Everything would be settled on that last move.

But Pachima was not naive and quickly devised a plan where it ould maximize the chances of victory.

And so, he narrowed his look and inspected the area thoroughly.
“Persian is faster” he thought “But such speed doesn´t help when the field is fully covered by ice”
Persian waited patiently for its trainer decision.
“If I use take down here” Pachima added “There is a chance for Persian to slip and miss the move…”
He widened his eyes, suddenly, an idea crossed his mind.
“That´s it” he shouted, slightly startling both Persian and Juan.
He smiled. He looked confident now.
“With Shock wave, Persian is guaranteed to win… even in this field” Pachima finished.
And so, he pointed at Walrein.
“Very well Persian” he declared, out loud now “Go with Shock Wave”
Right then,  shiver crossed his body. He looked pale and static. Something was there, he felt it. He turned around, and around, but he didn´t see anything unusual. It was weird.
Meanwhile, Persian rushed towards Walrein at blazing speed as he dodged skillfully the pillars of ice randomly disposed in the field.
When lready near the opponent, Persian performed a magnificent jump, and there, he gathered some energy around it, to release it afterwards in the form of sparks.
Walreinwas not fast enough to dodge the attack, however, much for Pachima´s surprise, Shock wave missed his target and ended up exploding on the floor upon contact.
He widened his look wildly.
“How did it miss?” he wondered, clueless about.
But then, the exact same feeling invaded his body. Everything was cold and distant for him. He was pale, his hands shivering, he was frightened.
But the battle proceeded, and Walrein grabbed his chance to prepare a huge wave of water behind him.
“Walrein!” Juan shouted, pointing at Persian, who had just landed safely on the field “Use surf!”
Walrein nodded and growled as leaped upon the wave and surfed it as it rushed wrathfully towards the poor cat. Persian couldn´t avoid a wave of this size and took a full hit on his body. It was a critical hit.
Persian was fainted!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Moments later, all the Pokemon were fully restored by nurse Joy.
“We hope to see you again” Joy declared, with her best smile.
“Thanks” Pachima replied.
And he turned around, happily, but then, the lights dimmed a bit.
He stopped, swiftly crossing the area with his look. And for the third time, he felt frightened. He couldn´t stop shivering.
“Joy?” he asked, turning around “Do you kn…”


Pachima paralyzed in fear when he noticed Joy with her head low. A dark aura enveloped her body, turning her even more frightfully. Everything was silent, and unmoving.
Pachima then slowly stepped backwards towards the door. However, it closed with a creepy creak.
“What´s going on here?” he wondered, as much as he was capable of.
He briefly closed his eyes, trying to gather some confidence from his depths, before taking a deep breath.
“Who are you?” he asked, out loud.
But there was no response.
He turned his head around and around. At some point, his look met Nurse Joy, who suddenly slightly moved.
Pachima leaned towards the wall in fear as Joy slowly raised her head.
Those seconds looked like an perpetuality for him. In the end, he couldn´t avoid to let out a shout for the terrific scenario in front of his very eyes.
The aura around her increased exponentially. Her eyes, cold and dark, gazed Pachima creepily.
Then, she levitated above the counter to approach the poor trainer, who couldn´t even move anymore.
 “Help… us” she declared with a low, yet really creepy voice.
But Pachima didn´t seem to understand.
“Help… us” Joy repeated, slightly louder now.
“Help?” the trainer wondered, more relieved now “What is she asking help for?”
“One… of…us” joy replied, as if she read his mind “Needs… help”
“One of you?” Pachima asked, lowly “Who is seeking for my help?”
“Our… child” the nurse declared “Gastly… is in… trouble… Will you… help…us?”
“Y-yes. Of course I will” he stuttered, with a somewhat forced smile.
Suddenly, he felt dizzy. He couldn´t hold to anything near and collapsed on the floor.
On the second after, he woke up, but he wasn´t at the same place now.
The sky was red, and cotrasted by the dark leaves on the top of the trees. The ground beneath them seemed like an endless abyss, Pachima almost shouted, but quickly realized he wouldn´t fall from there.
 “Where are we?” he asked, still dismayed, to which a Haunter emerged out of nowhere, briefly startling him.
“This is our lair” the ghost replied “We apologize for what we make you through, but our Gastly is in desperate need of help.
“Very well” Pachima stated, not without throwing some frightful looks at his surroundings “What is happening to him?”
“A nightmare!”
Pachima turned around, to where the sound seemed to come from. It was a dragged voice, already rotten by the time, but with the tiny hint of femaleness on it.
And above him, A Gengar appeared.
“Our Gastly is having an awful nightmare” she stated “I and Haunter already tried to enter in it, but somehow the path is blocked”
Pachima looked thoughtfully as he tried to make sense on all those words.
“We know that hman´s mind is stronger than ours” Gengar added “And your bond with your Pokemon is rivaled by none… so I would like you ask you if you could enter in the nightmare for us”
“What?” Pachima asked, astonished “How am I supposed to do that?” He added.
Haunter created a fainted smile, the best he had the urge to.
“That´s with us” He assured “You just need to go and to see what´s happening”
“O-okay” the trainer declared, somewhat confident “Count on me, then”
“Our deepest thanks” Gengar declared, bowing her body “Good luck out there”
Next, Gengar and haunter surrounded Pachima and created some dance. Gradually, the trainer felt dizzy… and dizzer. Finally, he went unconscious.
His mind crossed time and space. In the end, there was a sleeping Gastly. He seemed tormented by something, but somehow, he couldn´t wake up.
“Here we go!” Pachima shouted as he entered in the Gastly´s realm.
It was dark there, really dark. The floor seemed solid, although a bit sticky. Pachima fumbled the place around him. There were too walls around him, both sticky as well.
He tried to move, but he didn´t. The darkness there was absolute.
“Let´s start this” the trainer stated, throwing a pokeball.
The sound of a Pokemon emerging echoed through the area, but the Pokemon couldn´t be seen.
 “Persian, use flash!” the trainer ordered.
The pokemon made some cry and gradually, the area lightened.
There was a path and a path only to the right, through which they followed.
Persian approached his trainer as they crossed the corridor. Suddenly, the Pokemon stopped, staring fixedly the horizon.
“What is it?” Pachima asked.
Persian growled. In the horizon, a shadow moved. Suddenly, terrorizing Pachima, an eyeless Fearow attacked them.
 “Persian! Use false swipe!”
And Persian rushed towards the bird. Then, with a jump, he unleashed his claws to slash Fearow on one of its wings.
Fearow looked badly injured, but it managed to strike Persian with a pursuit, slightly damaging the cat Pokemon.
 “Pursuit?”  Pachima wondered, as if the move itself gave him the idea of what was happening.
“Finish him off” He then shouted “Go with Shock wave!”
Persian rushed once again towards the bird, gathering a sparky aura around him before unleashing all that energy against Fearow, who fell on the ground, to disappear afterwards.
The trainer stared thoughtfully at the spot where Fearow once was.
“I wonder if…”
But he didn´t finish. Instead, he proceeded through the corridor, with his Persian.
Seconds later, something stirred around hem. This shadow was too fast for Pachima to follow. Suddenly, it attacked from above. It was a Scizor. His eyes glowed with a bloodthirsty red as it devoured Pachima with his eyes.
“This one looks stronger” Pachima stated, watching how fast Scizor waved his claws “Persian, use false swipe!”
Persian nodded and slashed the enemy, which laughed in despise from the attack.
It was Scizor´s turn. And with a swift movement, it used pursuit on Persian, damaging considerably the Persian, who jumped backwards so to seek distance from the enemy.
“That’s it!” Pachima wondered, the Pokemons here only use pursuit, I know what´s happening here”
“Now Persian” He added, out loud “Reveal your hidden power”
And a fiery aura enveloped Persian, who concentrated himself to unleash all the energy gathered around him.
Scizor tried to dodge, but he couldn´t.
Wild Scizor fainted!
Pachima crouched beside Persian, who looked exhausted.
“Don´t worry” the trainer declared, kindly, as he put his hand on his bag, to take out a potion from there.
Hyper Potion was used on Persian.
And in the blink of an eye, Persian acted like the almighty, however their fun ended there. At the end of the corridor, ten glowing red eyes gazed them do death.
The eerie feeling they felt made them gasp as the looks shortened distance to them.
“It´s now Persian” Pachima declared.
At that instant, the creatures leaped upon the battlefield. It was a horde of Absols. Four of them were similar, the fifth one, however, was given a bright red color. It was a shiny Absol!
The group quickly surrounded Persian so to not let him go away.
“Persian, Shock wave!”Persian crossed the area with his look before gathering electricity around him to fire a wave of sparks, which scattered everywhere.
The Absols had nowhere to hide and so, every single one of them got hit by the move.

But they didn´t give up, and together, they unleashed an array of pursuits, one after another, preventing Persian from escaping.

After the onslaught, Persian became breathless and heavily injured. Pachima couldn´t avoid to feel sorry for him, but he knew if he tried to switch Persian for another Pokemon, the Absols would just pursuit him to faintness.

Pachima clenched his fists. He needed to get rid of some Absols in that turn before they attacked Persian once again.

“Persian!” he ordered “Another Shock wave”

The Pokemon obeyed and unleashed another wave of sparks against the enemies. This time, however, one of the Pokemon hit suffered from a critical hit, and one another from a really high roll. In the end, two of the five Absols fainted and vanished.

Pachima created a brief smile, but it was Absol´s turn now.

 The three Absols then chased Persian, and used pursuit on it one after another.

Persian was now struggling to breath and Pachima knew he wouldn´t endure it much longer, but he also knew Absols were on the verge of their stregths, so he didn´t give up, and ordered, although costly,  to Persian strike once again.

Persian´s legs didn´t want to move, but the cat Pokemon used all of his remaining strengths to release another wave of sparks, hitting every Absol remaining.

Persian collapsed on the floor, breathless, the battle was won!

Or not.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
In fact, one of the Absols was still able to fight. It was the red Absol, now with an unmatched wrath towards Persian. The terrifying Pokemon roared mightily, blood came from his mouth.

It was the end, Persian was already with a red bar health and was Absol´s turn now.

It gazed Persian even more intensely almost as if it was gonna eat him alive.

And Persian looked at Pachima one last time before closing his eyes, making the trainer drop a tear of sorrow.

Meanwhile, Absol slowly shortened distance to Persian as if those moments of agony were the very essence of his being.

Finally, it would come to an end. Absol was already about to unleash the last blow on Persian, but Pachima refused to accept thdefeat and clenched his fists. Was there any hope to survive?”

Absol didn´t care and gazed Persian with tremendous pleasure as he dropped the ban hammer against him.

Another tear crossed Pachima´s face. He couldn´t see what would follow next. And closed his eyes.

And so it happened…

Persian´s body glowed.

Pachima opened his eyes.

And his only wish came true. The item he held on Persian activated its effect. It was a focus band.
“YES!!!” Pachima shouted like there would be no tomorrow, startling the combatants.
Persian looked at its trainer, although costly, and smiled.
Pachima cried in mixed feelings as his Persian exerted all his pressure on his legs to stand up, just to fall and try again.
“Don´t force it” the trainer said, kindly, before deflecting his look to the red Absol “I myself will take care of it.
And so he did. He ran across the field and, when near the Absol, which was too exhausted to retaliate, delivered him a punch with all of his strengths.
Wild Absol fainted!
Pachima didn´t waste time to hug Persian, and both smiled at each other happily.
But it wasn´t over yet, Gastly was still to be found.
But he was right at the end of the tunnel, sleeping.
The brave trainer approached him and took a pokeflute out of his bag. Then, he started playing a relaxing melody out of it.
Gradually, Gastly opened his eyes, and woke up.
Both smiled, and the nightmare fell apart.
When Pachima woke up, he was again in the usual lively pokecenter.
Gastly, Haunter and Gengar popped out of nowhere around him.
“We can´t express our gratitude towards you” Gengar said “Thanks for saving Gastly”
Pachima smiled, embarrassedly.
“By the way” Haunter intervened “What was causing the locked dream?”
“Gastly couldn´t flee from the dream by a pursuit of the nightmare itself” Pachima informed “But it´s all fine now!”
“I see” Haunter added “We shall leave you now, and once more, Thanks!!”
“Wait!” Pachima shouted “Was it you who made Shock Wave miss at the gym?”
Haunter turned to Gengar clueless about.
“What Shock Wave?” he asked “We didn´t mess with your battle back there”
With this, they vanished, leaving the trainer engulfed into his thoughts.
 But he quickly realized he wouldn´t find an answer, so he returned to the reality, where he turned to Nurse Joy.

Her head was low, and unmoving.

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