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Changing Views - Shortstory Writing Contest: Results

Bearminator

By Bearminator
in Events Archive

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Bearminator

Bearminator

Posted
Posted

First of all i want to thank you all for making such enjoyable entries. I hope all of you will take a part in future contests. As always, the submissions were all high quality but sadly, we could choose only one entry, and this time our winner is..


First Place: Pachima

Spoiler

To the north of Four Island, there was this house, where trainers were said to leave their pokemon to be raised since ancient times.
A young trainer pushed the door and entered in the house, where he approached the daycare woman, standing behind the desk.


“I´m the day care lady” the woman introduced herself “We can raise Pokemon for you. Would you like us to raise one for you?


“Yes” the trainer replied, giving her a pokeball he had just taken out.

“Fine, I´ll look after your Seedot for a while”

“We can raise two of your pokemon” she added “Would you like us to raise one more Pokemon for you?”

“No” he replied.

“Will you take your pokemon back?”

“No”

“Fine. Come anytime you like”

The trainer left while the old woman took the pokeball with her and exited through the back door.

The garden behind the house was gorgeous. Colorful trees of different berries erupted out of the soft carpet made by the tiny grass that covered the ground.

To the west, sitrus trees hid a crystalline river, home of several water Pokemon that could be seen jumping and surfing happily with each other.

Following the river, one could see a waterfall crashing with a bang in the most distant zone of the garden.

“Come little fellow” the old lady said as she threw the pokeball away, releasing a Seedot, who looked amazed by the scenario around him.

“Do you like?” the old lady asked with a smile, already knowing the answer.

“See, see, seedot” the pokemon replied with his eyes overflowing with joy, much for the lady´s pleasure.

“I´m glad you do” the woman stated “Now back to business” she crouched the most she could and pointed at the horizon “Are you seeing that tree over there? There are plenty of rare candies lying around there. Go there and bring me some, that´s how you will level up here”



“See, see” the pokemon replied, before leaving with tiny jumps towards the place indicated.

The now alone lady watched happily the pokemon increasing distance from her, when something caught her attention.

She turned to the other side, discovering Heracross and Wurmple running towards her.

The bug Pokemon finally stopped when they reached near the old lady.

“So what we have in here?” the lady asked as she caressed Wurmple´s body.

The tiny Pokemon spat out 4 rare candies, which the lady took afterwards.

“Good job” she said, extending her hand with three of the candies “Take these, they are for you”

Wurmple´s eyes sparkled as it ate the candies, one after another.

Wurmple grew to level 7.

Wurmple grew to level 8.

Wurmple grew to level 9.

“You are free to play with the other Pokemon now” she said to Wurmple, who left the place.

The joy of Wurmple was contrasted by the sadness seen on Heracross´s expression.

“What happened, crossy?” the woman asked, overtly concerned about the Pokemon before her.

“Hera hera, cross cross” the Pokemon replied, showing her the one rare candy he had in his right claw.

“No need to worry” the woman said with her best smile, trying to cheer up Heracross “You are already level  78, you are becoming old, like me… of course you can´t keep up with the young ones like Wurmple”

“Hera…cross” the Pokemon replied lowly.

“Look” the lady started, caressing the Pokemon´s horn “Being old is not a bad thing, look at your beautiful horn, it clearly tells me you have 31 ivs on attack, and since you are already past level 50, I´m pretty sure you will have some good times with your trainer battling with strong and powerful other Pokemon you will meet in the future, one thing that tiny Wurmple still can´t even think about”

The lady then closed Heracross´s claw, the one with the candy.

“Take it for yourself” she said.

“Cross cross” the pokemon replied, much more lively, as he threw the candy into his mouth.

Heracross grew to level 79.

“That´s the expression I want to see in your face” the lady stated, standing up “Now, join Wurmple and play with the other Pokemons”

Heracross nodded and left.

The old woman was clearly tired. With a quick look across the garden, she found a small bench, where she sat down immediately.

There, she looked at the blue and cloudless sky, where some Pidgeys and Spearows could be seen flying around sky-high.

She had an idea and whistled out loud as she took some lava cookies out of her pocket, which she broke into tiny pieces and threw to the ground.

In few seconds, the Pidgeys and Spearows were already gathered around the lady, biting the fragments one after another, ending the lot some minutes later. The bird Pokemons then shouted their cry happily and flew away.

But the day care woman was not out of business yet. In the horizon, still far away, something was quickly approaching her.

It was a Zigzagoon, who doubled his speed, to stop afterwards near the lady.

“Ziggy, zig zig zoon” the Pokemon proffered these words between gasps due to his tiredness.

The old lady laughed before she caressed the Pokemon´s soft fur.

“Let´s see what I can do” she stated “Can you show me where it is?”

The Pokemon nodded and started running.

“More slowly, ziggy” the old lady shouted “I can´t keep up with that speed”

The Pokemon dropped a sweat embarrassed and decreased his speed drastically so the woman could follow him.

Minutes later, they found themselves in the middle of a bunch of sitrus trees. Below one of the greatest and more filled trees, the striped Pokemon waved his tail and pointed his nose at some berries hanging on the lowest branch of the tree.

The old lady didn’t waste any time and reached the targeted branch to take out one of those golden and apparently delicious berries.

She gave it to the pokemon afterwards, who quickly devoured it with great pleasure, slightly surprising the daycare woman by such voracity.

“You sure like those, don´t you?” she asked, with a suspicious look at the clueless Pokemon “I wonder if…”

She then took a pokedex she always had with her and pointed it at Zigzagoon.

“Oh, now I understand, you have gluttony… in that case…”

She stood up and took another berry, just to give it to Zigzagoon afterwards, who joyfully ate it from her hand and, waving its tail, ran away.

 After Zigzagoon disappeared in the horizon, a desire to eat those same berries invaded the daycare woman, who took another one and started eating it.

But she didn´t even have time to finish it. A familiar voice echoed from far away, calling out her name. It was her husband.

“I finally find you” the man said “The trainer from yesterday came to retrieve his Pokemons “I would go find for them, but I´m in the middle of a breed and, sooner or later, the egg comes out”

“Don´t worry” she said as she put her hand in a belt hid under her jersey “Return to the egg thing, I will take care of it”

“Pigeot, come out!” she shouted as she threw a pokeball she had just taken out of her belt.

From it, a seemingly well-treated Pidgeot emerged and approached to the woman, lowering its head in order to receive its beloved caresses from its trainer.

“I knew you were going to do that” she noted, caressing Pidgeot´s head “But now I need you for something” she added “The trainer from yesterday came back, his Pokemons are a Lombre and a Golbat. You should find Lombre in the area 4, near the river, and Golbat in the cave in area 2, bring them to me, please”

The Pokemon roared and flew off with incredible speed.

The woman didn´t need to wait much longer. In seconds, Pidgeot was already there with the two Pokemons on its back.

“Thanks Pidgeot” she finished, clicking in the middle button of her pokeball, to cast a reddish light, which surrounded the Pokemon before it returned to the pokeball.

 “I have good news” she said to Lombre and Golbat  “Your trainer came back, we are going to see him soon”

The Pokemons looked at each other and created their best smiles as they shouted their cry.

Minutes later, in the houses´s counter.

“Ah, it´s you!” the old woman exclaimed with her usual smile “Good to see you. Your Pokemon can only be doing good! By level, your Lombre has grown by 7. By level, your Golbat has grown by 8. Will you take your Pokemon back?”

“Yes” the trainer replied, nodding.

“If you want your Lombre back, it will cost 8000 poke dollars”

“Yes” the trainer replied, giving her the required money.

“Perfect!” she added, placing the pokeball on the desk “Here´s your Pokemon”

The trainer took back Lombre from the day care lady.

“Will you take back the other one, too?” 

“Yes” the trainer replied for the third time.

“If you want your Golbat back, it will cost 9000 pokedollars”

“Yes” the trainer replied one last time, giving her the money.

“Perfect” she finished, with the other pokeball put on the table “Here´s your Pokemon”

The trainer took back Golbat from the day care lady.

 

Judges agreed that Pachima really accomplished bringing Daycare Lady to life as interesting, and likeable character. We noticed how well game mechanics were used to make story more fitting into actual gameplay- it was really clever idea to mention rare candy trees growing on daycare garden and the Weedle levelling faster than the level 79 Heracross. Personally I love how adorable this entry is and I'm sure it's because author brings emotions not only to NPC, but for pokemons too. Great job!

 

 

Second Place: Gunthug

 

Spoiler

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.

 

 

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Judges specifically liked how original this entry is, choosing NPC that we usually will be seen only few times brings a lot of free space for imagination and Gunthug made a great job filling that space. It's enough to say, that he was really close to winning this contest. We admired tension of story, and fact that it was enjoyable to read through whole text. Good luck next time, Gunthug!


Honorable Mention: Moetal

It was well writen entry, and it's lost second place by minimum difference. We just want to bring attention how talented you are as artist and that we're looking for your future participation.

 

 

 

Congratulation to the winners!

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