Writing Feral Twilight (PG-13/Locked to start better threads)

How is my plot's direction?

  • Reasonable and/or Good Enough!

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  • Needs reworking and/or a clearer explanation...

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I

Incinermyn

FeralTwilightCover3.jpg
The Crusade of Dark Nostalgia​
Feral Twilight​

Rating: PG-13 for moderate language, violence, tobacco/alcohol usage, some adult humor/insinuation, and dark/religious themes throughout
Genres: Science Fiction and Dark Fantasy
Bases: Original Region, Pokémon Colosseum and XD: Gale of Darkness
Disclaimer: This fiction is the work of a fan author and is by no means meant to infringe on the copyrights of Nintendo, Game Freak, or Pokémon. As a work of fiction, this story is written under the premise of fair use, is not for monetary gain, and is meant for the entertainment of fellow Pokémon fans in the public domain. However, plagiarism of this work elsewhere online where I (the original author) have not posted it myself won’t be tolerated, and shall be dealt with swiftly and severely.
About my Region: Located far to the west of Sinnoh, Ronac is an expansive territory that, to this day, still remains mostly untamed. Save for the numerous islands in the seas to the mainland’s east (The Kainos Ocean) and south (The Sea of Golbania) as well as the south-easternmost third, the human population is small for the area’s geographic size. Factors such as the unbelievably dense timberland taking up the rest of Ronac’s east, a mountain range to the north, badlands in the west, and a gaping abyss extending down the middle of the continent from the base of Mount Corona (formerly known as Geyi dep Beyi Quofyi to the Meridai and Dallinos tribes that used to live in the region, loosely meaning “Nostalgia’s Watch”) to exactly 666 miles north of the Morgus River’s delta don’t help matters either.

Chapter List
Part One: Lost in Longing
Part Two: Found in Fury
Part Three: Tried by Terror
Part Four: The Lost Goddess

The World of Pokemon Limestone, Slate, and Coal (Cities and Locales in the Ronac Region)

The Ronac Fakedex (Order not specifically in-terms of Evolutionary Families)



One: Lost In Longing
i. Renaissance

Maritide Island-North, Ronac Region
International Institute of Pokémon Science
Monday, May 19, 1986-11:32 p.m.

Felicia stood alone in the eerily quiet corridor outside the school’s main biology lab, waiting patiently for her professor. After a long day, she was glad to finally be heading home for the evening, with a good night’s sleep anticipated upon her arrival.

At twenty-six years old, the tall graduate student had a rather voluptuous physique. In the hallway’s dimmed light, her dark blue shirt and matching jeans appeared to form a solid black jumpsuit, and her narrow-framed glasses gave off a reflection that obscured her beautiful sapphire eyes. Clenching her binder underarm, the fair-skinned brunette felt a tinge of apprehension overtake her body. She hated being at the university this late but recently it’d become increasingly necessary.

Hearing the door creak open behind her, the woman took a deep breath. Then she slowly turned to see her teacher come out.

The gentleman was a stout fellow about a foot shorter than Felicia. Evidently in his late fifties, he had a receding black hairline with thinning sideburns as well as a graying beard and moustache. Overall his attire seemed fairly relaxed given his position, consisting of a tweed sweater-vest over a green plaid shirt, a pair of sleek black pants, and blue suede shoes. With a curious glint in his deep green eyes, the man pivoted back around so he could lock the door.

“I thought you were on your way out. What’s the matter?” he asked in a suave baritone.

“Nothing, Dr. Nobles…” Felicia murmured.

“Is that so? Not worried about your project now, are you?” She nodded slightly, and Dr. Nobles faced her grinningly.

“I’ve told you time and again. So long as she’s in her Stasis Ball, Doxinox will be fine. There’s not a Pokémon alive capable of escaping a unit that powerful.” She snorted at the comment.

“Don’t fret about it, my dear. When the committee sees the data you’ve collected and your experiment’s final results, they’ll be flabbergasted,” he continued, “You’ll see.”

“I guess…”

“Now, if that’s all, let’s go.” She nodded, and then the two started down the long hallway towards the entrance.

For years, Dr. Edwin Nobles ran the most prestigious academy in Ronac focused strictly on developing students’ minds for the challenging world of Pokémon research. Many passed through their hallowed halls over the years, learning the ways of true scientific discovery through hands-on involvement and classes that utilized state-of-the-art technology. Yet in his entire time at IIPS, the man never imagined seeing something that would put even Charles Darwin to shame, let alone it being from one of his own students.

As they approached the end of the hall, Felicia felt an unusual chill in the air. Immediately she stopped dead in her tracks.

“What’s wrong?” Edwin asked, shooting her an awkward stare.

“Do you feel something?” she replied. Goosebumps rose on her skin, and the hairs on the back of her neck stood straight up. It felt as if a spirit just passed through her, though she knew all the university’s Ghost-type Pokémon were kept elsewhere on-campus.

“What do you mean?”

“Seriously? You don’t feel that chill?” She started rubbing her arms but it didn’t seem to help. Her skin felt cold as ice.

“Why?” a weak voice then whispered.

Turning around, she whined, “Tell me you heard that!”

“What the h*ll are you talking about? Hear what?”

“How could she do this?” it continued, slightly louder now. The tone sounded male, but it was still too quiet to tell for sure.

“There it goes again.”

“I doubt this, but a Gastly may have escaped from the Spectral Studies wing. Even so, it’s nothing to worry about. I’ll handle it come morning. Let’s go!” Felicia finally shrugged, and they began heading out again.

Barely a few moments passed before they reached the lobby, and then an ominous cry began to scream like a siren. The shriek was incredibly high-pitched with a bizarre gurgling noise mixed into its resonance.

“Impossible…” both slurred as they whipped their bodies around.

“Tayi-vek lu sha!” the voice of a woman shouted from back down the hall.

“Please tell me you heard that!” Felicia screamed.

“Of course, but wasn’t that language…Quofyi?”

Suddenly a horrifying gust of wind blasted them backwards onto the floor, its ungodly howl rivaling the bays of many wolves. As the shockwave passed, Felicia felt something overcome her. Her confusion about what was transpiring faded quickly, and only to be replaced by a very stark realization; someone or something was after her project. Jumping to her feet, she heard the lobby’s front windows shatter from the force of the gale. She then sprinted headlong back towards the lab.

Each step she took felt longer than the last. Time itself seemed as though it were slowing down as she got closer to the fight. Bloodlust fueled her entire being; rage didn’t even begin to describe her hatred anymore.

The moans and cries of both Pokémon carried throughout the entire building the whole time she approached. At first, she heard gargling followed by powerful explosions, no doubt Doxinox using her signature ability to fend off the assailant. But then, there were several barks followed by a series of high-pitched squeals. Clearly the enemy couldn’t be harmed by biological attacks…

When she finally reached to the intersection, Felicia stopped for a moment in astonishment. The door (along with parts of the wall next to it) had been cut out and replaced with an opening in the shape of a perfect circle over nine-feet across. However, the interior of the room on the other side looked completely dark, though she knew at least some moonlight should have filtered in from the room’s far windows. Only a blinking white dot at the center of the hole gave off any illumination whatsoever.

“Shine Vector?” the woman whimpered, feeling her anger turn into complete dread.

“Why?” the male whisper again asked.

Immediately, the speck burst into an all-consuming silvery light and a surge of intense gravity drew Felicia straight to the ground. Trying to keep on her hands and knees, the girl had to endure the most brutal torment imaginable. Her body fluids sloshed back and forth violently; her flesh felt like it was being pulled every which way; and her eyes, ears, and nose seemed like they were going to bleed with the tremendous strain being put upon her. It was impossible to tell how long it lasted; seconds, minutes, hours…they all seemed meaningless in this unbearable hell. But, with an abrupt crash, the sensation suddenly ended.

Coughing up some blood, Felicia slowly got back onto her feet. Her body quivered from weakness and most of it ached from the stress that attack put on her, but she was still very much alive. Even so, her condition seemed insignificant compared to her desperation to see if her project survived as well. When she caught her breath, the woman staggered into the lab.

From what she saw, the entire place was ransacked! The desks and tables had been pushed off to the far sides of the large room, most flipped on their sides or upside down and some completely destroyed. Test tubes, centrifuges, beakers, and any of the other small equipment left out for morning classes were broken and scattered across the floor. Worst of all, though, a thick layer of glowing lime-and-black ooze covered most of the floor. She couldn’t believe this sort of damage happened in mere moments.

Exasperated Felicia ambled towards a massive hole she spotted in the room’s far wall. Just a few feet from it, the girl stepped on an odd hemispherical object hidden in the slime. Kicking it aside and then another one that emerged right next to it, she realized immediately what they were.

“God, damn it! What the f…” she cursed until a hand shook her right arm. Taking a deep breath, the girl turned hoping to see her professor, only instead to meet the inquisitive stare of…something else…

Directly behind her hovered the most alien Pokémon she’d seen in her entire life. With a generally arrow-like form, she gauged that the creature was over twelve-feet-long from head to tail. Its face appeared to be unusually conical with a slightly rounded nose and ears comparable to isosceles triangles, which jutted straight upwards from its temples. At the stem of its rather elongated neck, the being had a stout egg-shaped body with a pair of curved wings that seemed to form a virtual heart at its buttocks. Lastly, from what she could tell, a pair of attached oval disks served more-or-less as either the feet or tails.

“How could she do this?” the whisper again asked. Right afterwards, the entity curled his neck back and positioned his body in a vertical fashion so he could stare Felicia down with his slanted auburn-glowing eyes.

“You can talk?” she screamed at him.

“Insolent girl… Of course, I can speak! Where did my sister go? What does she hope to gain by doing this?”

“I…I don’t know what you’re talking about! I just came to check on my project!”

“ANSWER ME! NOW!” he finally bellowed in a terrifying voice that seemed to quake the entire building.

She immediately covered her ears but it didn’t do any good. The sound echoed from beyond her physical state, and almost as if straight from the deepest parts of her mind. If he kept it up for too long, she knew she’d be dead…

<End Prologue>
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

I JUST recently noticed your signature, and I literally went "What? Fanfic? When?" I completely missed it, and I apologize on my lateness for posting here.

Few critiques I make on the spot, but reading your first sentence convinced me to post as quickly as possible. That being said, I look forward to reading this.

Your description is great, though your grammar is far from flawless; in the second paragraph, your first sentence is a fragment (from which I'm guessing you're missing a "was"), and you missed a dash between "longhaired." I could continue on like this for the rest of the story, but I'm not that shallow. I suggest you bully request a quick read-over from DNA, who is a rather decent editor (though he too is far from flawless).

An actual critical concern I do have for discussion is your constant usage of linking words, particularly "was." Ch may say that "said is DEAD," but "was" make writers turn in their graves. Ever heard about the verb being the hardest worker in a sentence? Why settle for this... (for the lack of vocabulary appearing in my head) atrocity when you can describe with a much better verb? This issue is very apparent in the fourth paragraph, as all three sentence's main verb is "was." A bit of editing and constant reminding and I find that the problem goes away rather quickly. Description doesn't need to have such dulls words.

Excellent use of opening dialogue for foreshadowing. Bravo with that.

After the dialogue, the preceding two paragraphs is a lengthy introduction to some background on both the institutions and the - from what we can glimpse - the protagonist. I've done this plenty of times before and I've seen it plenty of times. However, unless you're doing a folk tale of obscurity and something no one can fathom, don't do it; you can hint at all of this through dialogue and indirect description (and I can see you've got a pen for that foreshadowing). Because to be honest, not many want to read a straight-forward introduction in a fanfic, and certainly not one at the length you made.

Beyond those facts, I applaud the writing. It's very well developed mainly with dialogue and action; the ambiance is setup perfectly (besides those introduction paragraphs I mentioned earlier), the chaos is portrayed with great conciseness, and I can see the "unknown" Pokémon well enough to know who caused our protagonist's blackout. Keep striving for improvements and I hope to see you and your works again.

Happy writing,
~Zyflair
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

OH, MY GOD! SOMEONE ACTUALLY REPLIED!

Frankly, the only reason parts of the prologue were so bulky, particularly where I give some of the background info, is because I was never sure how much I really needed to give readers an idea of what was going on. Those two paragraphs were actually the result of someone on another site telling me that they wanted more info of why this was all happening; however, that critique was made over two years ago...and it was the last real input I ever had from anyone who wasn't just one of my online penpals! In any case, I was planning on reediting parts like that anyways, since this hasn't really changed much at all in the past year and a half since I stopped writing...

And, holy moley, I forgot the "was" when I started describing Felicia? Actually, I noticed that last night when I skimmed through my Word file for this. Clearly, I'm more out of practice than I thought I was... I think I'll take some time later today (and maybe tomorrow) just to iron out the problems in this part before I go ahead and post the first chapter.

Anyhow, thanks! This is the kick in the butt I've been looking for!
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

Best way to know: if it's stated directly, then don't do it and find a way to state it indirectly. The more directly stated pieces of information, the less fun we readers get.

Alright. Have fun with it.
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

Good advice. I was going to post chapter one later, but I think I wait a few more days until I've revised it and the prologue a little more. Again, thanks! This was way more than I was expecting, at least when it came to actually getting advice!
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

I. Lust

Pawford City, Ronac Region
Saturday, June 7, 2008-7:29 a.m.

“Humans are such fragile creatures. Wouldn’t you agree?” a woman whispered into my right ear, her voice a seductive soprano.

“Who…who are you?” I asked her, unsure of what was happening. I tried to open my eyes, but it felt as though they’d been glued shut.

For several moments, the lady hovered over my shoulders, exhaling down the back of my neck. Her breath seemed unusually cool. It sent terrible chills down my spine, the type of which I’d never felt before. What’s going on?

“Their spirits are so easily shattered, like so many panes of glass. Isn’t that right?”

“What the h*ll are you talking about?”

Carefully she pressed something against my throat, the flat edge of a knife judging by the feel of it. Then she slowly moved its tip so that it was next to my Adam’s apple. After a short pause, the woman jerked it across the rest of my neck jaggedly.

“You’re all just so pathetic,” she chuckled as I screamed.

“Are you insane?” I woofed, realizing she didn’t cut me.

She burst into a full-on laugh for several minutes before finally replying, “You remember, don’t you? The rush you always got with the crowd chanting your precious nickname. Feral… Feral. Feral!”

“Feral! Feral! Feral!” people started to shout behind me in unison.

“And the perspiration dripping down your forehead?” she said, moving over to my left ear, “Surely you remember that.” The area suddenly got hotter, and I began to sweat like crazy.

“What are you doing to me?”

“And the light… That blinding light! Wasn’t that why you closed your eyes to begin with?” Powerful sunrays shone directly in my eyes. I put my hand in front of my face to block them, but it didn’t do any good because of their intensity.

“Stop it, b*tch!”

“And Apollo… We can’t forget him. His cry was enough to startle even you, correct?”

“Ermean!” a Pokémon yelped shrilly. I finally forced my eyes open.

The building’s lights still overwhelmed me for a moment, making everything appear as a white blur. Afterwards, I could see that I stood inside a massive stadium surrounded by rising stands filled with thousands of roaring fans, some of who kept shouting my nickname at the top of their lungs. Before me, there laid a sprawling battlefield marked by a rectangular chalk-line border and with referees on the far right-and-left sides.

“Insin…” the creature continued, growling to himself.

I turned my gaze forward to the sight of a large weasel Pokémon floating above the floor just several feet in front of me. The eight-foot-tall mammal had a beautiful coat that slowly transitioned from magenta around his neck, to pink near his belly, and then white at his waist. Behind his face there was a wide frill of golden hair, which had grown out into triangular points to form a type of sun disk. A series of yellow-orange fire arcs raged down his neck in an upside-down V, with similar flares wavering back from each shoulder like streamers in the wind. From the opening between his neck’s fires, a huge streak of burnt fur extended all the way down his back to his buttocks, where it gave way to a blue and white inferno atop his fairly bulbous tail. Likewise, I noticed he had additional burn marks arcing across the top of each hind leg.

“Damn it, Jay, focus! What should I do now!” my Incinermyn screamed at me telepathically.

Cringing from the resulting headache, I yelled, “Pyro Salvo!” Then I gazed across the field at his opponent.

Staggering from a last attack, Apollo’s enemy was a behemoth to say the least. At nine-and-a-half feet tall, the dark green Pokémon had a body comparable to a stegosaurus with seven rows of massive spikes curling out of its back. While his head appeared rather small and rounded for his size, the monster had two massive demon-like horns and a pair of long pointed ears that easily offset the fact. Similarly several branches covered in barbs grew from his temples and worked their way around his body as if they were his veins, twisting around his short neck, spines, forelegs, and even his long spiked-tipped tail while making noticeable twitching movements all their own. As soon as I saw the devil porcupine bare his serrated fangs in anguish, I finally remembered the two beasts were in the middle of a virtual death match.

My Incinermyn shifted his body upright so his tail just touched the ground. Numerous fireballs then shot from the weasel’s forehead. They all hit their mark, exploding right in the Nettlepine’s face in rapid succession and making the monster cry out in terrible agony.

“Thorn Forest!” a teenage girl cried, her voice gentle yet a bit aggravated.

Turning my stare slightly off to the right, I noticed that the behemoth’s owner was a young woman no older than seventeen. She looked slim and stood at a height of about five-foot-two. Her attire consisted of a tie-dye green shirt with the silk-screen picture of a Leafeon lying on a patch of grass, blue jeans, and sleek black boots; the Pokémon in the photo gazed straight at any onlookers inquisitively, while wearing an olive collar around her neck with a blue crystal dangling from it. The girl’s brunette locks were combed back tightly and two long braids hanging down the sides of her head until vanishing behind her shoulders. Lastly, I noted she wore gold bracelets on both wrists, each with three Poké Balls hanging from them as charms.

“Nettle!” her Pokémon roared as he reared his head and then slammed his forepaws into the ground. The impact made large craters before him, in which he further dug his overgrown claws. Right after that, the vines on his legs shot into the earth and stiffened.

“Don’t let him finish that attack!” I shouted.

Apollo aimed his head skyward, revealing his maw, his closed eyes, and the large ruby embedded in his brow. His shoulder and neck flames turned bluish-white, and then slowed to an almost-ethereal burn. Next his gem began to glisten, psychically causing all his burn marks to start ablaze. Suddenly the hellfire swirled around him like a funnel, congregating into a single massive orb over his head.

“Sol Wake!” Apollo then head-butted the sphere to the ceiling, where it brightened into a miniature version of the sun.

“Quick, Luke, use Endure instead!” the girl abruptly shouted.

“You cocky little…” I slurred, until bands of solar fire from Apollo’s attack swept the battlefield and momentarily blinded me.

Both Pokémon screamed in bloodcurdling agony as they were swathed in heat and plasma. I knew that even strong Fire Pokémon wouldn’t last in that inferno, especially in Apollo’s condition.

After the onslaught ended, I dropped to my knees in astonishment. Apollo was still floating while his rival lay on the ground panting heavily. Just as I was about to stand again, my Incinermyn slowly cocked his head backwards and spun around several times before falling hard onto his side.

“And Apollo goes down! Amazing, folks! In a match that will surely go down in legend for decades to come, Jay has just lost to his little sister. Congratulations to Ronac’s new League Champion, Megan Christie!” an announcer’s voice boomed over the loudspeaker.

“Apollo…I’m sorry…” I whimpered as I recalled him.

I turned my gaze downward for a moment. My chest was heavy, my palms were sticky, and tears dripped down my cheeks… It felt like I’d just had my soul sucked out of me… Right now, I just wanted to die!

Drying my eyes, I looked up again to see something a bit unexpected. Barely an inch from my nose, the disembodied head of a Pokémon stared me down with a disgusted look in its slanted auburn eyes. Its cranium looked generally cone-shaped, save only for the relatively flat surface that served as its face. The creature’s mug seemed almost featureless aside from its eyes, though; there was a slightly rounded nose with no apparent mouth or beak as well as a narrow red triangle outlining the perimeter of the being’s forehead, but otherwise all it had was silvery metallic skin.

“Yi quay-os sul…” it calmly whispered with a feminine-sounding voice.

“What?”

“Yi quay-os sul.”

“I’m sorry, but I don’t understand…”

Pressing her brow to mine, she finally shouted, “As always…BETRAYED!”

I awoke suddenly to a sudden jerk. For a long moment, I just lied in my bed dazed and confused. My heart raced wildly, and my bedding felt like it had been soaked in sweat. I panted heavily as I stared at the white ceiling overhead, trying to make sense of what just happened.

Only one thing came to mind. That nightmare again… The one I’d been having for the past several months about losing my title to my sister.

It happened six months ago, during the Ronac League’s annual championship. After she’d fought her way through all the other competitors and the Elite Four, we finally went at it in a six-on-six match, only for her to make me look like a fool in front of the millions watching the fight in the stadium and on television. And as if taking the title I held for only year weren’t enough, she also broke my record of being the youngest trainer to win the competition in our region’s history…just thinking about it made me sick!

But then, reliving the event didn’t bug me as much as the other stuff in the dream… What was with the woman coaxing that memory back to begin with, and then that creature yelling at me after it ended? Furthermore, how come the entity could speak in the dead language of Quofyi before shouting the phase ‘as always, betrayed?’ I knew dreams weren’t supposed to make sense, but this was just ridiculous.

A pack of wolves began howling on the nightstand to my right. Either which way, I couldn’t keep drawing on about it. Not today, at least…

“Loop?” a chipper voice yawned as a Pokémon stretched out its body across the end of my bed.

“Time to get up, Spunky.”

“Poodle!” the dog yipped as he flopped onto the floor. I giggled a little as I glanced off to my right.

The table next to me consisted simply of a rectangular oak board with rounded sides supported by four metal legs twisted to form spirals. Sitting on top of it, I saw a circular clock fixed inside a porcelain sculpture of four Mightyena sitting on rocky outcroppings with their heads to the sky. There was a silver plate with a pair of knobs and a switch affixed to it atop the decoration.

When the pack howled again, I flipped the switch away from me. The wolves yipped twice, signaling that the alarm shut off.

I grabbed my eyeglass case set in front of the clock, and pulled my arm back under my comforter. Then I threw off the blanket depicting a school of Lapras crossing the sea on a full moon’s night. A breeze of cool air blew onto my arms and legs, sending a mild chill through my body.

Spunky flipped on the light switch with his nose as I pivoted my legs to the left. Hunched over, I sat on the edge of my bed feeling under the case’s flap with my thumb, ripping open its Velcro, then taking out my glasses and putting them on.

Looking up, I saw a dresser-desk against my room’s south wall. The left side had three large drawers, while the right half had a smaller one. Being fairly old, though, the furnishing’s ebony finish looked pretty faded.

An LCD TV sat atop the dresser, and a Gateway laptop lay closed on the desk part. In the television’s blackened screen, there was the reflection of a six-and-a-half foot tall Caucasian man about nineteen-years-old who had a slight gut and flabby arms. His hazel eyes were pretty stern, but his brown hair hadn’t been cut in so long that it had gotten straggly along with his beard, moustache, and sideburns. God, I really let myself go…

Spunky barked at me and put one of his cocoa-brown paws on my right leg. I turned to him and looked straight into the deep black pits of his steely amber eyes.

Lupudle were strong-bodied wolves, with Spunky being no exception to that fact. At four-feet-tall, his body had well-toned muscles, most notably around his hindquarters and his long tail with a sharp bend about halfway down its length. The canine’s maw was relatively short compared to most dog Pokémon, though his fangs could easily bite through steel. Starting between his gently curved-back ears, the wolf’s thick dark-chocolate mane reached back almost to his shoulder area. And, like most of his kind, a pair of silver anklets wrapped around his forepaws to represent the subordinate status he would’ve had in a wild pack.

“What? You want out?” I asked him, petting his scruff. He took his paw off me and then spread his gray claws into the golden friezé carpet with a grin.

“Hey, Dad! Meg! Anyone here?” I shouted. With my mom Roselyn in Deltsed City all week for the region’s Pokémon Contest Grand Festival, I would only hope that someone else was home at this time, since my dad Stephen usually headed to work early and Meg just went out somewhere for the hell of it.

“Yeah! What the h*ll you want?” Meg’s voice called from upstairs.

“Let Spunky out!”

“Spunky! Here, boy!” she continued, followed by a whistle. Spunky turned his head to the open door a few feet away from my desk, and then dashed headlong out it.

Within seconds, I heard him howling outside and Apollo yelp at him angrily. As usual, that weasel of mine snuck out to meditate in the morning air. He enjoyed it, so far be it for me to keep my first ‘official’ Pokémon in a cramped Poké Ball. But then again, there were some creatures that should be left in their balls as much as possible.

I stood up and stretched my arms upward until I pressed my hands flat against the ceiling. After a moment, I dropped them to my sides and thought about the curious e-mail that I received the other day.

Dr. Felicia M. Barnes was the leading biologist at IIPS on Maritide Island and served, in part, as its dean of admissions. If not for the fact that my mother and her were old friends, I wouldn’t have even bothered applying to the school. When I first got the message, I thought it nothing more than a mere ‘congrats on being accepted.’ However, it turned out to be an invitation for a private orientation…or so she claimed. Knowing her, this could easily turn into something completely different.

Heading over to my door, I closed it firmly. Then I took a moment to look over my room.

It wasn’t much different than any other guy my age probably had give-or-take. There were posters of girls in skimpy bikinis on the east wall over my bed, and a car calendar in the corner by my TV. Next to the first escape window in the north wall, I had a photo of my championship team from a year and a half ago, as well as a case for the badges I earned while taking on the Ronac Gym Circuit (the emblems consisting of a silo, a broadsword, a snowflake, a biohazard sign, a pair of dragon fangs, a mudflow, a triangle bisected by lines from each corner, and a tree set ablaze); in the picture were myself, Spunky, Apollo, Sheila my Lapras, Mitch my Luxray, Sophie my Altaria, and a tall black-furred humanoid with its head turned away. Under those there sat a small bookshelf filled mostly with DVDs, though amongst the few books on it were The Loch, The Da Vinci Code, Angels and Demons, and a short series of non-fiction works titled “The Wolves of Ronac.”

Turning at last to my closet, I went over and opened its folding doors partway. Inside, I saw a rainbow assortment of shirts with wildlife prints. Searching through them quickly, I tried to find my favorite, an azure one with a picture of two Lapras swimming across a beautiful sunrise. Once I found it, I took it off the hanger and put it half-folded under my arm.

At my feet, there were several boxes and two piles of folded pants. Grabbing a pair, I closed the doors and went back to my dresser. I opened the bottom drawer, took out a pair of socks, closed it, and set my clothes on my bed. Then I quickly switched from my nightwear into the street clothes.

Sticking my hands in my pockets, I still felt a little naked. Pulling out the stood under my desk, I noticed on its seat laid a black RAZR cell phone, my dual-flap wallet, my Poké Ball holsters, and a leather belt. After putting the belt on, I slipped the cell phone in my left pocket, the wallet in my back right one, and then grabbed both of the black nylon cases that had two balls in them apiece. After I’d clipped one onto each side of my belt, I left my room and shut the door behind me.

Our home had two levels. The ground floor consisted of a large kitchen and dining room area, a living room, a short hall with a small office of its side, a master bedroom, and a master bath. Likewise, the basement was made up of a rec room, two bedrooms, a laundry room, a bathroom, a closet under the stairs, and a large storage area near the bottom of the steps. Meg’s room and mine were next to each other on my right, while the laundry room and the downstairs’ bathroom were on my left.

The rec room seemed a lot more like a miniature bar with the counter my dad had built near its northeast corner. Two neon signs hung on the adjoining walls behind it, one for Budweiser and the other for Miller Genuine Draft. We had also a pool table in the middle of the room and a small flatscreen TV mounted in the room’s northwest corner to accentuate the motif.

I headed up the stairs. A grayish Berber with a varying-hued, intersecting diamond pattern covered them, the same carpet that was in the living room and master bedroom. Hard to believe just a few summers ago my dad and I put the carpet in, but when he took over the flooring store downtown, Mom just had to have something newer than the old shag the house originally had.

Once I got upstairs, I stomped a little on the hardwood and stared for a long moment at the island-counter several feet out from our marble-topped cabinets. I saw an empty Glad container that had greasy streaks on its interior on top of it with a serving spoon off to its side.

“Yeah. Thanks for saving me some hot dish, Meg…”

“Wasn’t me! Apollo ate it!” she snickered. I pivoted towards living room, my gaze passing the dining room table, chandelier, and several paintings of plants on the far walls.

In the living room, we had a large Plasma TV set over a modest-sized fireplace. Near the middle of the room sat a stainless steel coffee table flanked by two black-leather recliners. A couple feet behind those, there was a large sofa that sat up to three people, though only Meg laid on it right now with her head on the armrest closet to me. She wore the same shirt she did the day of our battle, and green pajamas to go with it.

Lying upon her chest, I saw a familiar vulpine Pokémon with a mostly onion-green pelt. She slept peaceably for several more moments, not twitching a muscle or even the blades of grass growing out of her chest, neck, legs, and atop her brow. Finally, the critter yawned cutely as she stretched out her body across her owner’s belly.

“You sure it wasn’t Kelly?”

“Leaf?” Kelly replied, lifting her crumply tail and opening her russet-colored eyes.

Meg giggled, coursing her pet’s backside with her hand. The Leafeon pushed herself up with her delicate brown forepaws. Once she was standing, Kelly looked at me with her head tilted slightly to the left.

The girl lifted her Pokémon off of her torso and sat up. After petting her a few more times, Meg set Kelly on the floor. The fox then slowly made her way over to me. She sat at my feet and looked up at me adoringly.

Glaring back, I focused on the crystal attached to her collar. Grandma Darlene gave the heirloom to Meg on her eleventh birthday, the same day she got Kelly, and the creature’s been wearing it ever since.

“Well?” Meg said.

I grabbed Kelly with both hands and lifted her up to eye level. For a long moment, I stared loathingly at the fox. Her jewel shimmered a bit with an odd light.

“Leaf?” Kelly asked and then blinked twice. I inhaled and then set her back down gently.

“Good girl,” I said, rubbing my nose against hers.

“So, what do you think Felicia wants?” Meg asked as she stood up and stretched.

“Not sure.”

She shrugged as I went over to the sliding door on the other side of the couch. Through the glass, I saw Apollo several feet away hovering just above the patio. His tail flame was down to a slow kindle burn of yellowish-red, and the streaming flares on his shoulders wavered backwards slowly while the ones down his neck were momentarily extinguished.

Cracking the door open, I slipped out and went over by him. When I stopped, the ermine turned to me with his jewel glittering in the minute sunlight filtering through the treeline. Glancing at him, he quickly looked forward again.

After a few seconds, I started, “So…” He suddenly cringed.

“You ready?”

He whimpered a bit and then telepathically replied, “No… Not really.” I knew he was terrified of Dr. Barnes, and to an extent I couldn’t blame him. Even so, it wasn’t like he had talk to her.

I removed his Poké Ball from the second niche of my right holster, and then I recalled the Incinermyn. Afterwards, I scanned the area for Spunky.

Our backyard basically consisted of a wide area over two acres in size surrounded a wire-mesh fence, which separated it from the wooded area on the property. With only a few oak trees and bushes, it served as an ideal place for practice battles as a kid. But now it hardly compensated for the space I needed to train my Pokémon.

“Spunky! Hurry up!” The wolf grumbled incoherently behind a shrub near the northeast corner of the yard. He then gave out a terrifying cry that sounded like he was in excruciating pain.

After a moment or so, Spunky jumped out from his bush and ran towards me with an awkward gait. His dash straightened out quickly and then turned into a headlong charge; it didn’t even look like he would be able to stop. I drew his Poké Ball out of the first spot of my left holster and held it at the ready position, just in case. Seeing the device, he immediately pressed all of his paws into the dirt to come to a full stop right at my feet.

“Lupudle…” he whined, trembling at the sight of the orb.

“Fine! Let’s go then!” Spunky gave a happy barked as I put the ball away and we went inside.

Meg met me at the door and immediately asked, “So, what’re you gonna do for breakfast?”

“Same as I do any other day.”

“Don’t go and p*ss off Daphne again.”

I rolled my eyes. Lord forbid I upset the chief doctor of the Pawford Pokémon Center. Meg just put her arms on her hips and shook her head.

“Leafeon?” Kelly asked. I looked down at her, again with her head tilted inquisitively.

“Poodle!” Spunky barked at her, and then Kelly went back over to the couch.

“Well, I guess,” I muttered looking back up at Meg. She sighed.

Boldly I walked past her and headed to the door. I stopped when I reached the entry. The front door was a distinguished emerald color with a semicircular window in its upper third before me. Its glass was separated into four sections and stained a translucent teal and, on the door’s right, we had another decorative pane of glass etched with the picture of a wild rose.

Turning to the adjacent closet, I opened it to see several jackets hanging up and a couple pairs of shoes and boots set on the floor inside. One particular pair stood out, two jet-black shoes with Velcro straps.

“Yeah… This morning I didn’t have to trip over your ‘boats’,” Meg commented as I crouched over to take them out of the closet.

I sneered at the thought of her comment as I closed the door again. She always found some way to tease me about the oversized shoes I wore, but I really didn’t want to start in on her this morning. So, I just slipped them on and strapped them up without a word.

“See ya, Jay,” Meg uttered as I headed out.

“Later!” I replied, shutting the door once Spunky was outside with me.

<End Chapter One>
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

Too abrupt; the jumps from place to place is far from smooth; the prologue has no apparent connection with the first chapter and the first chapter breaks between dream and reality. While the later change in plot can be justified, I fail to see how the prologue connects with the first chapter. There's no implicit or explicit connection besides the fact they occur in the same region. Although I can guess the prologue's event will come back full circle later, at least a bit of foreshadowing would do.
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

I read your comment earlier, and it took a little while for it to sink in, but you're 100% correct! This first chapter is an abomination compared to what I originally wrote two years. In my first draft, I had this chapter almost up to seventeen pages and the only reason I shortened it so much was because, of the few replies I got with it on sites like Pokecommunity, there always seemed to be one or two 'uber' critics who just tore my work apart and scolded me because my first few chapters were "too overwhelming" and contained "unnecessary bits of info/way too much description than was actually needed." In retrospect, they were kind of right, but since nobody on the large sites ever replied to my revised versions after that, I had no idea whether or not lengthen or shorten parts.

Granted, there are a few things I'd like to point out. My stories are usually a bit disconnected from the prologue for the first two chapters or so. The only reason is because I like to leave a little open-endedness at the beginning. If it's too much of a problem, there are a few things I had in mind to bridge some the gap between the first chapter and prologue (things that I was debating on while doing the rewrites and only left out because I thought they would weaken the storyline since they seemed a bit too predictable to me).

Also, I wasn't really sure how to go about the transition from dream to reality, which is why I had them kind of seperated. If you have some suggestions, I'll gladly take them. Frankly, I can't stand doing mediocre work, so any input helps...
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

Personally, I feel as if the shift in the storyline seemed... unnatural. That's how it seems to me.
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

Okay... Well, it was an intentional shift. Still, if people don't like it, I will change it, at least somewhat. Like I said, I had a few ideas to make things connect more earlier on; it's just I usually don't start getting into really clear reasons why I had the prologue like it is until a few chapters in. The big thing here was introducing my hero and setting up his inner conflict, as well as establishing that he's going to be a student at the same university his mom and the girl in the beginning went to (I can't say much more than that, elsewise it'd be a spoiler). Also, I do plan on going back and doing some revisions anyways so the transition from Jay's dreamscape into his reality is better. My issue is just knowing the stuff I should be working on now, before I get too far into this to really want to mess with huge revisions.

A note: I went and made a few small changes to my first chapter, though they're not all of the ones that I'd like to do. Hopefully it helps somewhat, at least for now. I may still come back to this before I post the next chapter, however...

2nd note: I redid some of the minor details again in my Word file and reposted it. Also, I noticed before that censors automatically replaced some of the swearing I originally (which wouldn't have been a problem for me if they replacements were weaker versions of the original words, but since they weren't, I just edited out my curses). This time, however, I went and blocked out the most of the bad words with asterisks. If this is a problem, let me know immediately! I know censor-jumping is against the rules on a lot of other sites, and I really don't want to be guilty of that here, if that's the case, and I'll simply redo my edits again. Even though this is PG-13, I'm not some heartless creep out to scare people with stories filled with overpowering adult content.
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

Meh… I’d been mulling it over for a couple days, and I finally decided I wanted to try something a little different… Usually, whenever I post Feral Twilight or its “sequel” Biohazard, I also make a supplementary Fakedex thread in the art forum. But, my artwork is sucks (and as such, I usually don’t get any type of response to it), so I figured I’d combine it with this story (as mini-updates between chapters). I have to note, though, that the bulk of it is more writing than anything as it was originally a way for me to focus my ideas a little better than anything else and might be a little more helpful bring my Fakemon into better light. Note: I’m only doing this experimentally, and will only do one or two of these updates per chapter as to not overwhelm the thread (which this easily could) or draw things out more than necessary; also, I’ll keep links to these separate from my chapter list. And, if the Fakedex stuff becomes problematic, I’ll stop posting them at once. Really, I don’t want to cause problems…I’m just trying to have some fun with my projects…

Weasinge
  • Type: Fire
  • Name’s Origin: Weasinge is a combo of ‘weasel’ and ‘singe,’ which goes well in describing how this critter has burnt areas on its fur.
  • Classification: Kindle Pokémon
  • Height: 1’ 6”
  • Weight: 32 lbs
  • Gender Ratio: 87.5% Male/ 12.5% Female
  • Gender Dimorphisms: Females have slightly larger rubies than males do.
  • Egg Group: Ground
  • Base Stats (a note on this: I know what base stats are, but I understood why specific numbers were necessary since they seem to be nothing more than a gauge rather than something that told a Pokémon’s final strength levels): Health-low, Attack-moderately low, Defense-low, Special Attack-moderate, Special Defense-low, Speed-moderate
  • Ability: Blaze
  • Limestone Version Entry: Weasinge are peculiar fire Pokémon that live in particularly cold climates and have more carnivorous lifestyles than most species. They hunt small prey and have learned how to cook it using their pyrokinesis.
  • Slate Version Entry: Inquisitive by nature, Weasinge will approach anything that they hasn’t seen before. If they feel threatened, the Pokémon launch numerous fireballs from the rubies embedded deeply in their foreheads to defend themselves.
  • Coal Version Entry: Weasinge’s fur grows to be incredibly thick and holds in greater amounts of heat than any other mammal. Since they can’t shed, they regularly burn off parts of their hair to keep themselves from overheating.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, can be received as a starter from Dr. Barnes after completing the Trainer’s Course at IIPS on Maritide Island. The male rival, Chase, uses it if selected starter was Porpike or the female rival, Sandra, does if selected starter was Otterawl. It’s also used by most of the junior trainers at the Pawford Gym.
  • Evolution Line: Weasinge evolves into Charmink at Level 19, and then into Incinermyn at Level 38.
  • Lifespan: 34 years
  • Vision/Perception: Weasinge essentially sees in the same range of light as humans, though it lacks the ability to see some frequencies of red. In exchange, though, it can see some ultraviolet light.

Moveset (Level-move-type: description/when necessary)
  • 1-Scratch
  • 1-Growl
  • 6-Ember
  • 11-Gnaw-Dark: The user bites rapidly at its victim’s body, causing slightly increasing damage with each nip. This strikes between 2 and 6 times a turn. Power: 15 Accuracy: 85 Category: Physical PP: 30
  • 16-Mock-Dark: The user tries to taunt the foe into striking and then attempts to dodge the enemy’s move at the last second (i.e. the user’s evasion rating gets maxed out for the rest of the turn). If the attack misses, Mock turns it on the enemy with twice the normal power. This move fails against support/status moves. PP: 10
  • 21-Sunny Day
  • 26-Psybeam
  • 31-Fire Spin
  • 36-Cleansing-Fire: Weasinge, Charmink, or Incinermyn can cure most of the status afflictions it receives by burning off some of its pelt, though this causes some damage (10% of full HP) by doing so. This move can be used when frozen or sleeping, but it’s useless on poison. PP: 5
  • 41-Reflect
  • 41-Light Screen
  • 41-Repulse-Psychic: The user focuses its telekinesis to force all of the energy from special attacks aimed at it back on the attacker’s partner. Note: this is only useable during double battles and does not redirect the power of moves that strike more than just the user or physical attacks.
  • 46-Fire Blast
  • 51-Psychic
  • 56-Pyro Salvo-Fire: Weasinge creates large fireballs with its mind and then launches them at its opponent. It shoots 2 to 6 fireballs in succession, which have a 50% chance of burning the target. Power: 30 Accuracy: 85 Category: Special PP: 30
  • Feral Fang-Egg-Dark: The user attacks its foe with a bone-crushing bite so strong that it leaves the Pokémon unable to attack the next turn. It also has a 75% chance of making the foe flinch. Power: 150 Accuracy: 90 Category: Physical PP: 5
  • Egg-Will-o-wisp
  • Egg-Hypnosis
  • Egg-Dream Eater
  • Egg-Nightmare
  • Egg-Mind Reader
  • Egg-Flip Flop Flux-Psychic: The user creates a psychokinetic rip in the fabric of space-time, into a reality with physics that contradict those of normalcy and randomly shuffle all Pokémon’s type match-ups (note: you won’t know how they’ve changed until you attack and at times they can become completely inverted, even with x0 damage becoming an instant KO). PP: 5
  • Egg-Solemn Blaze-Ghost: The user surrounds itself with circles of purplish-blue hellfire. Then, in a trancelike state, it heads for its target, nonstop until it strikes. This move cannot miss and has a 33% chance of leaving the enemy burned. Power: 90 Category: Special PP: 10
  • Tutor (Kyle the Pawford Gym Leader, after defeating Ronac’s Elite Four and Champion Meg)-Fiery Gale-Fire: The user creates a tornado of fire that engulfs all opponents and causes damage. Its power is determined by the whirlwind’s intensity (EF-0: 15, EF-1: 30, EF-2: 45, EF-3: 60, EF-4: 90, EF-5: 120) and doubles if the foe is airborne. Accuracy: 90 Category: Special PP: 30

Charmink
  • Type: Fire
  • Name’s Origin: Charmink’s derived from ‘char’ and ‘mink,’ following the idea for Weasinge with how it burns its pelt. This time, though, its back is totally ablaze with an inferno of red, yellow, and white flames. Also, the flames on its shoulders and on the tops of its forelegs are yellow-orange with light blue tips.
  • Classification: Incinerate Pokémon
  • Height: 3’ 4”
  • Weight: 65 lbs
  • Dimorphisms: Like Weasinge, females have larger rubies than males do. But, males also have patches of golden fur behind their rubies that drop down the sides of their heads.
  • Base Stats: Health-moderate, Attack-moderate, Defense-somewhat low, Special Attack-high, Special Defense-moderate, Speed-somewhat high
  • Ability: Blaze
  • Limestone Entry: For years, hunters have pursued Charmink for their gorgeous fur, which is often used to make coats. However, being such cunning predators, Charmink have developed their ESP and pyrokinesis to counter any attacks.
  • Slate Entry: Contrary to popular belief, Charmink are very hearty Pokémon capable of enduring even the harshest terrains of the world. Evidence of this is in the fact that they normally live and hunt in the northern tundra and taiga.
  • Coal Entry: Recently there was a study done into the tactics of predators in Ronac’s northernmost reaches. It was discovered that Charmink heats its prey internally to first induce fatigue and then kill it.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, can be seen at the Pawford City Gym during the battle against its leader, Kyle. It’s also used by Zenith Admin Edwin (alias Dr. Nobles in the first fight) at the Wastes Ruins, and at the Zenith Corporation in Darwin City.
  • Lifespan: 34 years
  • Vision/Perception: Charmink cannot see red light but, in exchange, can see all other wavelengths up to the end of the ultraviolet spectrum. Also, its ESP can detect nearby or approaching prey and attackers.

Moveset
  • 1-Scratch
  • 1-Growl
  • 6-Ember
  • 11-Gnaw
  • 16-Mock
  • 22-Sunny Day
  • 28-Psybeam
  • 34-Fire Spin
  • 40-Cleansing
  • 46-Reflect
  • 46-Light Screen
  • 46-Repulse
  • 52-Fire Blast
  • 58-Psychic
  • 64-Wildfire-Fire: The user incinerates all surrounding Pokémon with a quick-spreading blaze. This has a 30% chance of burning the targets. Power: 100 Accuracy: 100 Category: Special PP: 10
  • Tutor-Fiery Gale

Incinermyn
  • Types: Fire and Psychic
  • Name’s Origin: Incinermyn’s derived from ‘incinerate’ and ‘ermine,’ again sticking to how this is a pyrokinetic mammal. This time, though, its power’s supposedly so strong that Incinermyn can even command solar fires.
  • Classification: Solar Wind Pokémon
  • Height: 8’ 2”
  • Weight: 173 lbs
  • Dimorphisms: Females again have larger rubies, but males have wider a frill.
  • Base Stats: Health-moderately high, Attack-moderate, Defense-moderate, Special Attack-very high, Special Defense-moderate, Speed-high
  • Ability: Blaze
  • Limestone Entry: Incinermyn are reclusive Pokémon that prefer to live on top of mountain peaks where they can sun themselves daily. Due to this odd practice of mediation, it is thought that they can communicate with heavenly spirits.
  • Slate Entry: Because it lives alone throughout most of its life, Incinermyn normally can’t stand the company of people or other Pokémon. If one gets perturbed in any way, it unleashes rays of ultraviolet light from its eyes and blinds its enemies.
  • Coal Entry: The aboriginal peoples of Ronac revered Incinermyn as a Pokémon that embodied the essence of the sun. Its control of pyrokinesis is so strong that it can summon the power of solar flares to severely hurt its enemies.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, used by Jay Christie during a battle at the Forest Ruins after defeating the Elite Four and Champion Meg. Zenith CEO Cleopatra Drake uses one in her penthouse atop the Zenith Corporation in Darwin City. They can also be found on Mount Corona’s summit within the Tower of Beyi-geyi Leyi-geyi, but cannot be captured.
  • Lifespan: 34 years
  • Vision/Perception: Incinermyn can only see blue and ultraviolet light, but since it rarely uses its eyes, its ESP is refined to the point where it can make out well-detailed grayscale images of its surroundings.

Moveset
  • 1-Solemn Blaze
  • 1-Solarbeam
  • 1-Scratch
  • 1-Growl
  • 6-Ember
  • 11-Gnaw
  • 16-Mock
  • 22-Sunny Day
  • 28-Psybeam
  • 34-Fire Spin
  • 38-Coronal Gaze-Fire: By opening its eyelids, Incinermyn blinds all the other Pokémon on the battlefield with ultraviolet rays. This cuts the accuracy of their moves in half for a time (between 3-8 turns). PP: 15
  • 41-Cleansing
  • 48-Reflect
  • 48-Light Screen
  • 48-Repulse
  • 55-Fire Blast
  • 62-Psychic
  • 69-Sol Wake-Fire: A horrifying attack that calls forth intense solar fires to swathe the entire battlefield and hurt all Pokémon on it, the user included. Power: 200 Accuracy: 100 Category: Special PP: 5
  • Tutor-Fiery Gale
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13)

You might want to use the "
  • " tag to organize some of that.
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex included...for now...)

Hmm...
  • tag? What's that?

    ...Is it alright if I do this, though? I know that some places are extremely uptight about not having extras including in fanfics...
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex included...for now...)

It's completely fine. It's extra information related to the fic.

Quote this post and look at how the list is setup:

Bullets (You'll probably want this one.)
  • Item one
  • Item two
  • Item three

Numbers
  1. Item one
  2. Item two
  3. Item three
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex included...for now...)

Zyflair said:
It's completely fine. It's extra information related to the fic.

Quote this post and look at how the list is setup:

Bullets (You'll probably want this one.)
  • Item one
  • Item two
  • Item three

Numbers
  1. Item one
  2. Item two
  3. Item three
Click to expand...

Okay, that puts my mind at ease... Also, this helps a lot! Thank you!
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex included...for now...)

Yeah, no problem. If it's not too much of a hassle, I'd put the level of the move first because that's how it's ordered.
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex included...for now...)

Okay. I only had it with the moves' names first because that's how I memorized a lot of the move lists for real Pokemon. But, if it looks better...
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex included)

Okay, since I’ve gotten this started, I’m at least going to try and get Ronac’s starters and their evos up before I post chapter two. Only thing I have to say is that these were really some of my earliest designs (though the drawings are from a couple years ago, I came up with ideas all these first few back in 2001/2002 when I was starting to really get into the series), so I can’t say they’re too original (at least, this line really isn’t…nor is my Water-type starter, not anymore at least since they’re coming out with an otter now… Some of my friends thought Weasinge was pretty unique, but I guess even that’s up for debate). A couple of my more recent creatures might be a little bit better, though still my artwork (both hand-drawn and computer generated/touched-up) sucks. Still, any criticisms on this (as well as the story itself, of course) are welcome; all I ask is just to keep it civil…

Porpike
  • Type: Grass
  • Name’s Origin: Porpike is a combo of ‘porcupine’ and ‘spike,’ (pretty obvious why, but…) describing how the creature’s back is covered with large thorns.
  • Classification: Bramble Pokémon
  • Height: 1’ 5”
  • Weight: 26 lbs
  • Gender Ratio: 87.5% Male/ 12.5% Female
  • Dimorphisms: Males’ thorns stand up higher than females’ ones do.
  • Egg Group: Ground/Monster
  • Base Stats: Health-moderately low, Attack-moderately high, Defense-low, Special Attack-low, Special Defense-low, Speed-moderate
  • Ability: Overgrow
  • Limestone Entry: Most trainers despise Porpike because of one simple fact; they love to stick others with their spines. If left unsupervised for even a moment, one will sneak up behind its victim and attack it for laughs, hence its nickname “The Prickly Punk.”
  • Slate Entry: Porpike used to be very timid Pokémon until the early nineteenth century when humans decided to breed them for pets. Because of this, they developed meaner dispositions and began to attack others for their own entertainment.
  • Coal Entry: The quills that grow out of Porpike’s backside are said to be harder than iron but break off very easily. When they land inside another Pokémon’s hide, they dig into the creature’s muscles and grow internally.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, receive as starter from Dr. Barnes. Chase uses it if selected starter was Otterawl, or Sandra does if selected starter was Weasinge.
  • Evolution Line: Porpike evolves into Bramback at Level 19, and then into Nettlepine at Level 38.
  • Lifespan: 28 years
  • Vision/Perception: Porpike cannot see vivid colors (reds, blues, yellows, any brilliant ones), instead seeing such objects in grayscale, but it can see dull colors (browns, darks, and other pale colors) and some infrared.

Moveset
  • 1-Tackle
  • 1-Bark-Dark: The user scares its opponent with a sudden sharp woof that lowers its Defense and Special Attack by one level. PP: 15
  • 7-Vine Whip
  • 11-Faint Attack
  • 17-Ensnare-Grass: Porpike forces barbed vines to grow on the opponents’ side of the field to ensnare new Pokémon whenever they appear. These cause a little damage each turn (1/10 max health), ground Flying and levitating Pokémon, and prevent escape. PP: 10
  • 21-Roar
  • 27-Spike Cannon
  • 31-Bulk Up
  • 37-Take Down
  • 41-Regenerate-Grass: The user causes its regular cell regeneration to increase exponentially, restoring increasingly more health at the end of every turn. PP: 5
  • 47-Breach-Dark: The user penetrates its foe’s defenses with a shield shattering charge. Reflect and Light Screen are nullified after this is used. Also this breaches moves like Protect and Detect. And it strikes through moves that make the enemy vanish, i.e. Shadow Force, Wraith Run (a Ghost-type move that causes its user turns into an untouchable phantom for 2-3 turns to attack its foe, leaving the target in a nightmare it this hits while its asleep and the user confused from exhaustion afterwards), and Phase Drive (a Ghost-type move that causes the user to go out of phase with all physical dimensions, making it impossible to strike until after the next time it uses an attack move; it’s only learned by a few of Ronac’s legendaries, however). Power: 75 Accuracy: 100 Category: Physical PP: 15
  • 51-Impale-Grass: Porpike sneaks up on an enemy and then jumps at it, ready to jab it with its barbs. The thorns may break off and cause additional damage each turn afterwards (note: there’s only a 10% chance of this happening and it doesn’t affect Steel or Ghost Pokémon; also 1/10 of max health is lost every turn when it does). This move never misses. Power: 60 Category: Physical PP: 20
  • Egg-Giga Drain
  • Egg-Night Slash
  • Egg-Nasty Plot
  • Egg-Swords Dance
  • Egg-Double-edge
  • Tutor (Champion Meg at her parents’ home in Pawford City after defeating Jay)-Briar Sheathe-Grass: By causing thorny vines to grow around the target’s body, this move traps it until either it or the user faints, inflicting 1/5 of max health damage to the ensnared Pokémon each turn. However, neither the target nor the user can attack or escape while this is in affect. Accuracy: 100 Category: Special PP: 5

Bramback
  • Type: Grass
  • Name’s Origin: Bramback is a combo of ‘bramble’ and ‘back,’ following Porpike with how its back’s covered in thorns and bramble-laden branches.
  • Classification: Bramble Pokémon
  • Height: 3’ 7”
  • Weight: 89 lbs
  • Dimorphisms: Males’ thorns stand up higher than females’ do, and females don’t have pairs of horns coming out of their foreheads.
  • Base Stats: Health-moderate, Attack-high, Defense-low, Special Attack-low, Special Defense-moderate, Speed-moderate
  • Ability: Overgrow
  • Limestone Entry: Bramback are as mean spirited as they are cunning, especially since they’ll pick a fight even with their own trainers. However, they will never actually hurt the people who raise them, just roughhouse to get attention.
  • Slate Entry: Found in the depths of Ronac’s timberlands, Bramback typically live solitary lives until the spring of the year. At that time, they go around seeking mates, which they attract by growing complex domiciles with their vines.
  • Coal Entry: Despite the negative stereotypes, Bramback trainers love these Pokémon because of their ability to learn powerful attacks in short periods of time. Some claim that even they become very loving creatures when given a chance.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, can be seen occasionally in Beyi Quofyi, but cannot be caught.
  • Lifespan: 28 years
  • Vision/Perception: Like Porpike, Bramback can’t see vivid colors other than in grayscale, but sees dull ones and some infrared.

Moveset
  • 1-Tackle
  • 1-Bark
  • 7-Vine Whip
  • 11-Faint Attack
  • 17-Ensnare
  • 22-Roar
  • 28-Spike Cannon
  • 32-Poison Jab
  • 38-Bulk Up
  • 42-Take Down
  • 48-Regenerate
  • 52-Breach
  • 58-Nettle Mace-Grass: The user swings a huge branch with massive thorns at its end around the battlefield to hit all surrounding Pokémon, including its partner. This has a 30% chance of causing paralysis. Power: 100 Accuracy: 100 Category: Physical PP: 10
  • Tutor-Briar Sheathe

Nettlepine
  • Types: Grass and Dark
  • Name’s Origin: Nettlepine is a combo of ‘nettle’ and ‘porcupine,’ again following the line’s idea of critters bearing large spines and vines with thorns on their backs.
  • Classification: Devil Pokémon
  • Height: 9’ 6”
  • Weight: 573 lbs
  • Dimorphisms: Again, males’ thorns stand higher than females’ ones do, and females don’t have horns coming out of their foreheads.
  • Base Stats: Health-high, Attack-very high, Defense-low, Special Attack-low, Special Defense-moderate, Speed-moderately high
  • Ability: Overgrow
  • Limestone Entry: Nettlepine are tyrannical creatures that live within the heart of deep forests and create terrible fortresses out of thick, thorn-laden plants. If anything enters its terrain, the flora will slaughter it without hesitation.
  • Slate Entry: For years, people believed that Nettlepine is the Devil in the guise of a plant Pokémon. Because of this, some fanatical settlers in early Ronac used to track these beasts and kill them as part of religious sacrifices.
  • Coal Entry: Though its barbs are hard enough to pierce reinforced steel, Nettlepine’s vines are what really make it a terrible adversary. The branches snake through the earth so quietly that even burrowing Pokémon cannot detect them.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, used by Champion Meg Christie during the storyline’s final battle. Also it appears occasionally in the Tower of Beyi-geyi Leyi-geyi, but cannot be caught.
  • Lifespan: 28 years
  • Vision/Perception: As with Porpike and Bramback, Nettlepine can’t see vivid colors other than in grayscale, but sees dull colors and infrared exceptionally well.

Moveset
  • 1-Twilight Ram
  • 1-Tackle
  • 1-Bark
  • 7-Vine Whip
  • 11-Faint Attack
  • 17-Ensnare
  • 22-Roar
  • 28-Spike Cannon
  • 32-Poison Jab
  • 38-Bulk Up
  • 38-Squish-Rock: The user belly flops onto its opponent, causing damage determined by (i.e. the Power rating is equal to) the difference between the user’s and the target’s weights. The minimum damage this move can cause, though, is always 1 hit point even if the target weighs more than the attacker. Accuracy: 80 Category: Physical PP: 30
  • 44-Take Down
  • 51-Regenerate
  • 57-Breach
  • 64-Thorn Forest-Grass: Nettlepine digs all of its vines into the earth, and then forces them to grow into spire-like plants that come up everywhere on the battlefield. These plants jab all Pokémon, including the user, with spear-like branches to cause severe damage. Power: 200 Accuracy: 100 Category: Physical PP: 5
  • Tutor-Briar Sheathe
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex updated)

I didn’t originally plan on posting Biohazard for a while yet, but now that I have both of my main stories up, I guess I have a little more incentive to work on them now… There might be some gaps between my updates for each, but I’m going to try and get them up in as timely manner as possible.

Otterawl
  • Type: Water
  • Name’s Origin: Otterawl is derived from ‘otter’ and ‘brawl,’ describing how it loves to pick fights, especially with weaker Pokémon.
  • Classification: Roughhouse Pokémon
  • Height: 2’ 3”
  • Weight: 38 lbs
  • Gender Ratio: 87.5% Male/ 12.5% Female
  • Dimorphisms: The yin-yang symbols on Otterawl’s back are flipped; males have yang on the right and yin on the left, while females have yin on the right and yang on the left.
  • Base Stats: Health-moderately high, Attack-moderately low, Defense-moderately low, Special Attack-moderately low, Special Defense-moderately low, Speed-high
  • Egg Group: Humanlike/Water?
  • Ability: Torrent
  • Limestone Entry: Otterawl are strong Pokémon capable of enduring severe attacks and strenuous exercises for long periods of time. But, because they shirk regular training, their demeanor can become quite unpredictable in battle.
  • Slate Entry: It is said that Otterawl don’t pick fights with their own relatives because of the severity they were raised under. However, they have no problem terrorizing on other Pokémon that they think are weak and cowardly.
  • Coal Entry: From birth, Otterawl are prone to adrenal bursts and highly aggressive outrages, which make them a threat to trainers and Pokémon alike. When they get too out of hand, it’s considered best to physically chastise them.
  • Appearance: Lime, Slate, and Coal, receive as starter from Dr. Barnes. It’s used by Chase if selected starter was Weasinge, or by Sandra if selected starter was Porpike.
  • Evolution Line: Otterawl evolves into Otterate at Level 19, and then into Ottemonk at Level 38.
  • Lifespan: 47 years
  • Vision/Perception: Essentially, Otterawl can see light in the same range as humans can but has some trouble discerning high-end frequencies from low-end ones, blending red and purple.

Moveset
  • 1-Mach Punch
  • 4-Hyper-Fighting: Otterawl hypes itself into a savage frenzy, boosting its Attack and Speed while lowering its Defense and Special Defense one level at a time over the course of the next three turns. PP: 5
  • 8-Focus Energy
  • 12-Flipper Slap-Water: The user smacks the opponent hard several times with its wet flippers. This strikes randomly between 2 and 5 times, and has a 10% chance of making the target flinch. Power: 13 Accuracy: 85 Category: Physical PP: 30
  • 16-Force Palm
  • 20-Smelling Salt
  • 24-Battle Cry-Dark: By calling forth its most primal instincts, the user doubles the strength of both its Physical and Special Attacks for the remainder of battle; however, this makes the Pokémon insubordinate until the fight ends or it faints. PP: 5
  • 28-Brine
  • 32-Dark Pulse
  • 36-Chakra Salve-Fighting: By emanating a vivid aura around its body, the user heals any status problems it has but causes damage to itself equal to 1/5 of its maximum health. PP: 5
  • 40-Ice Punch
  • 44-Submission
  • 48-Mud Shot
  • 52-Wake Breaker-Water: By focusing its energies into its forepaws, Otterawl slams them into a nearby body of water to create a massive column that shoots into the air and then drops onto the opponent. This move never misses. Power: 90 Category: Physical PP: 20
  • Egg-Aura Sphere
  • Egg-Slash
  • Egg-Seismic Leap-Ground: The user bounds headlong into the air to avoid attack at the beginning of the turn and then dives into the earth at the end of it, creating a massive earthquake in an attempt annihilates all other Pokémon on the battlefield. Though the user faints right after using this, shockwaves continue to wreak havoc on any remaining Pokémon for the next five turns with exponentially decreasing intensity each round from when the attack was used. Power: 250 Accuracy: 100 Category: Physical PP: 5
  • Egg-Cross Poison
  • Egg-Cross Chop
  • Egg-Thrash
  • Tutor (Serena of the Elite Four at her home in Deltsed after defeating Champion Meg)-Watery Grave-Water: The user grabs its foe and attempts to keep it underwater until it faints due to lack of oxygen. Naturally, this is useless against Water Pokémon and those over the user’s level (nor does it increase if the target’s level is lower than the user), but the accuracy doubles if used on Pokémon weak against Water moves. Accuracy: 35 PP: 5

Otterate
  • Type: Water
  • Name’s Origin: Otterate is a combo of ‘otter’ and ‘karate,’ basically describing how this thing has now chosen to break away from its wild nature and become better disciplined.
  • Classification: Disciple Pokémon
  • Height: 3’ 3”
  • Weight: 71 lbs
  • Dimorphisms and Description (since I don’t have a picture): Otterate, in general, is just bigger version of its pre-evo. However, this Pokémon has better-defined muscle structure (particularly its biceps and quads, as well as having broader shoulders than Otterawl). The main gender difference remains the same, inverted yin-yang symbols for the males and females. However, the males’ whiskers aren’t just the light stubble that Otterawl had; they’ve grown out to the point where they’re starting to form a mustache.
  • Base Stats: Health-high, Attack-moderately high, Defense-moderate, Special Attack-moderately high, Special Defense-moderate, Speed-very high
  • Ability: Torrent
  • Limestone Entry: Having endured much for its youthful arrogance, Otterate has rededicated its life to the martial arts that it once forsook. While it won’t act in full aggression, this Pokémon does like to harass others on occasion.
  • Slate Entry: Otterate are rigorous fighters renowned for developing their own techniques, which is why some trainers prefer them as partners. Their unusual cunning makes them a terrifying opponent to face in street fights.
  • Coal Entry: Because they aren’t as prone to rash actions as they were in youth, Otterate always shrug off most attacks with ease. However, when hit by a devastating blow, these Pokémon will flee without a second thought.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, appears on the Morgus River inside the Otulp Abyss but cannot be caught.
  • Lifespan: 47 years
  • Vision/Perception: Like Otterawl, Otterate can see in the same light range as humans but can’t distinguish red light from violet.

Moveset
  • 1-Mach Punch
  • 4-Hyper
  • 8-Focus Energy
  • 12-Flipper Slap
  • 16-Force Palm
  • 19-Eye of Truth-Psychic: By focusing its spiritual energies into its iris, the user can preempt its target’s next attack and strike accordingly with an attack that the upcoming move’s type is weak against (note: the user’s attack will be random, at 80% of its normal strength, and won’t have any residual effects like it would if used normally). PP: 5
  • 22-Smelling Salt
  • 27-Brine
  • 32-Dark Pulse
  • 37-Chakra Salve
  • 42-Ice Punch
  • 47-Submission
  • 52-Mud Shot
  • 57-Cannonball-Water: The user jumps into the water to create a wave that spreads out in all directions to hit all others on the field. This has a 30% chance making targets flinch. Power: 100 Accuracy: 100 Category: Physical PP: 10
  • Tutor-Watery Grave

Ottemonk
  • Types: Water and Fighting
  • Name’s Origin: Ottemonk is a combo of ‘otter’ and ‘monk,’ as somewhat of a reference to how this Pokémon is based on China’s Shaolin Warrior Monks (or, at least, I think that’s what they were called…).
  • Classification: Sensei Pokémon
  • Height: 5’ 7”
  • Weight: 128 lbs
  • Dimorphisms and Description (again, no picture): A limber humanoid, Ottemonk mostly just a grown-up version of its younger forms. Its muscle structure is very well developed, especially biceps, torso, and quads; but this isn’t Machoke or Machamp, by any standard…Lucario perhaps, but that’d be just a loose comparison, since this is a species all its own. Ottemonk’s yin-yang signs on their backs are flipped for each gender; though, the males have mustache-like whiskers that droop down somewhat as they extend away from the creatures’ mouths.
  • Base Stats: Health-high, Attack-high, Defense-moderate, Special Attack-moderately high, Special Defense-moderate, Speed-very high
  • Ability: Torrent
  • Limestone Entry: Ottemonk is feared in the wild yet revered by most people as a true master of the martial arts. It is said that this Pokémon is so skillful that even high-degree black belts cannot match its fighting style.
  • Slate Entry: It’s said that a group of fur traders first discovered Ottemonk while crossing the Morgus River in the mid-1700s. Since they failed to kill it for its pelt, the Pokémon destroyed their raft and left them adrift.
  • Coal Entry: Some believe that Ottemonk is the reincarnation of an ancient Chinese warrior who came to Ronac eons before other settlers. The Pokémon’s superb fighting and swimming abilities support this idea, though indirectly.
  • Appearances: Lime, Slate, and Coal, appears during the fights against Banorex Leader Fredrick and Elite Four Serena.
  • Lifespan: 47 years
  • Vision/Perception: Like its pre-evos, Ottemonk can see in the same light range as humans but cannot distinguish between red and violet hues.

Moveset
  • 1-Close Combat
  • 1-Whirlpool
  • 1-Mach Punch
  • 4-Hyper
  • 8-Focus Energy
  • 12-Flipper Slap
  • 16-Force Palm
  • 19-Eye of Truth
  • 22-Smelling Salt
  • 27-Brine
  • 32-Dark Pulse
  • 37-Chakra Salve
  • 38-Soul Fist-Fighting: By draining a small part of its health, Ottemonk can strike its opponent with a punch so hard that it hurts the enemy’s very soul. This has a 30% chance of making the target flinch, and can strike even Ghost Pokémon without dealing with the type’s normal match-up against Fighting-type moves (secondary types and certain abilities still apply). Power: 85 Accuracy: 95 Category: Unknown (the average of the user’s Attack and Special Attack as well as that of the opponent’s Defense and Special Defense determine this move’s intensity) PP: 10
  • 45-Ice Punch
  • 52-Submission
  • 59-Tsunami Fist-Water: The user focuses both its spiritual and physical energies into its palms, which it slams thunderously into the ground to summon forth tidal waves as if from nowhere to flood the battlefield and hurt all Pokémon on it, including the user. Power: 200 Accuracy: 100 Category: Unknown (same principle as Soul Fist determines this move’s intensity) PP: 5
  • Tutor-Watery Grave
 
RE: Feral Twilight (PG-13/Chapter One up; Ronac Fakedex updated)

II. Quarry

I drove downtown in my Ford F-350. Spunky stuck his face out the passenger’s side window that I left partway open for him, bobbing his head to the beat of the song Holy Diver as it played on the radio. Watching the timberland give way to more-and-more of the townscape, I thought about how little my hometown had actually changed in the nine years since I began my Pokémon training career.

Situated on the southeastern third of Ronac’s expansive mainland, Pawford was a city of about nine thousand people and the easternmost town on the continent. Like a lot of the other seaside communities, its general layout consisted of a small port that had several industries around it, which then gave way to the city’s residential and commercial districts. The only thing that really distinguished Pawford from any other town along the coast had to be how the city’s northern half slowly vanished into a dense forest.

Almost a block before Main Street, I flipped my left-turn signal on and began to slow to a near stop. After waiting for an oncoming Cadillac to pass, I quickly pulled into the adjacent parking lot. Since there weren’t many cars here this morning, I parked my vehicle right against the curb of the sidewalk leading to the Pawford Pokémon Center.

One of the town’s landmarks, the city’s clinic was a rather large facility in the heart of downtown. The virtually square building stood just over four stories tall and took up most of a city block. Dark red bricks decorated most of its exterior, and an A-frame structure served as its midsection. The inner triangle itself had large panes of tinted glass from bottom to top, save only for the red stain-glass ‘P’ near its apex.

I rolled up the passenger-side window and opened my door. Hearing me press the lock button, Spunky turned to me with a whimper.

“Come on!” I told him as I exited. Then he stepped over the armrests of both seats, hopped out of the truck, and we headed down the path towards the building.

As we approached, I spotted a five-and-a-half foot tall Latino man standing off to the right of the entry doors. Overall, the tawny-eyed guy didn’t look that much older than me, though clearly he was in better physical shape than I was with his broad shoulders and muscular arms. He wore a sleeveless lime-green shirt that had a few small holes, probably the result of him working out, and a pair of jeans with knees that looked a little bit worn out. His tan shoes were in generally good condition, however their toes had been worn down to the point where the protective steel inside them showed.

Taking a cigarette out of his mouth, Enrique raised his hand slightly and shouted, “Well, I’ll be damned! How ya been, Feral?”

“Yo, Rick! What up?” I replied, stopping in front him. Spunky sat at my side and barked to get his attention.

“Mornin’ to you, too, Spunky,” Rick nodded in response.

Perhaps the only true friend I ever had, ‘Rick’ Enrique Sanchez and I went back quite a ways. Our fathers were formerly partners when they started out as flooring installers, and then introduced us to one another before we were even in preschool. While my success as a trainer left our friendship strained for a time, Rick still had my back through thick and thin.

“My job today got canceled, so I’m hangin’ out here. Don’t mind it, though… Got enough hot chicks to watch, right?” he chuckled as he motioned at the building.

“Amen to that!” I replied with a cackle. Spunky laughed as well.

Since he subcontracted through my dad’s store now, I knew just how slow things had been recently for the flooring trade. But leave it to Rick to hangout wherever there were beautiful women, and there was no better place to find them than at the Pawford Pokémon Center!

“Yeah, but seriously…” he continued, turning his grin into a sniping glare, “You gotta keep your guard up. There’s this group lurkin’ around here today. Aside from being wickedly tough, one of them is wearin’ perhaps the g*yest-looking outfit you’ll ever see.”

“Um… Okay… So, did you kick his a*s?”

“Hell, no! He took Girafarig and Machamp out in two hits apiece. I’m just waitin’ for Daphne to finish treatin’ ‘em.”

“That strong, huh?”

“Yeah, and he did it with a single Pokémon too. I ain’t seen anything like it before in my life!”

“Really?”

He shook his head and then asked, “So, what you doin’? Gettin’ a bite, then headin’ to the woods again?”

“Nah, I’m going to IIPS on Maritide.”

Rick inhaled deeply to finish his cigarette. He then exhaled a thick cloud of smoke, and plunked the butt into the conical receptacle just off to his left.

“You know, you made a mistake, Feral…a really big mistake. People like Dr. Barnes, everyone at IIPS, even your old sponsors… They all have their noses stuck so far up their as*es they love the smell of their own sh*t. You get where I’m goin’ with this?”

I scratched my head and replied, “Guess so. But what can I do? Felicia’s one of my mom’s best friends. I can’t just diss her.”

“Whatever…” he shrugged, shaking his head in distaste.

Rick headed over to the door and opened it for us. Spunky went inside, and the two of us quickly followed.

The clinic’s lobby was more-or-less one huge corridor reaching from one end of the building to the other. It had tan walls decorated with hanging portraits from years ago depicting various trainers and their Pokémon teams, some of which were previous regional champions and others who were local celebrities with their own claims to fame. For flooring the reception area had a dark green commercial rug covering it from end to end, though that gave way to a checkerboard mix of black and speckled white tile in the off-branching halls near the middle of the building.

At the center of the room, I saw a large ring-shaped desk with several computer stations set up around it. By the look of it, only three receptionists were here this morning. Two of them sat at the backside of the table doing paperwork, while the other one typed away at the center PC on the side facing us.

Unlike her fellow employees, who appeared to be in their thirties, the closest girl looked no more than a few years older than Meg and almost her height. The blonde wore a dark blue skirt embroidered with a repeating pattern of lilacs. Her delicate skin seemed to radiate an enchanting light as we approached, or at least her bracelets did since they seemed to glisten while she typed. A shame that this beauty just had to be the daughter of my second greatest adversary…

She looked up at me disdainfully with a pair of russet eyes and stated, “Good morning, Mr. Christie. How may I help you?”

“Good morning to you as well, Ms. Hawthorn. I’d like to have my Pokémon examined if it wouldn’t be too much trouble,” I replied haughtily, removing my holsters and setting them on the counter.

Josephine immediately grabbed my wrist and hissed, “Are you really that ret*rded, Jay? Or do you just fashion yourself some kind of sick joker?” Undoing the first ball in my right holder, she put it into my hand and made me clench the sphere tightly.

“Dude, you weren’t serious? You know what Daphne told you the last time she tried to treat Orion!” Rick whispered.

I initially snorted at the comment. But after a few seconds, I cringed at the memory and rubbed my top few vertebrae. The welt healed long ago, though the pain still felt as sharp ever. Who would’ve seriously thought that Orion was going to evolve during treatment, let alone a week before my match with Meg?

“Well?” Josephine continued, taking a small tray out from under the table, “Rick, do you mind waiting here for a moment? I’ll check on…” She stuttered as she set Apollo’s ball into one of the indents, glancing down the east hallway. We all heard the familiar voice of Josephine’s mother as she came towards the lobby, despite her words being somewhat indistinguishable.

Rick, Spunky, and I turned to see a pudgy, five-foot-tall woman walking towards us alongside a teenage girl dressed in a lavender shirt, blue jeans, and a pink baseball cap. The doctor wore a lab coat over her light blue shirt and a pair of black pants. Her shoes were just as white as her cover, and there wasn’t a wrinkle to be found on any of her clothing. If not for looking like she was in her fifties, I could’ve easily sworn that Josephine and her were sisters.

“Oh, crap…” I whispered, stuffing Orion’s ball into my pocket.

“I didn’t know that, Dr. Hawthorn.” the brunette asked as they entered the reception area.

“Most people don’t, dear,” the lady giggled.

“Oh... Um, okay. Well, thank you for treating Ditto, ma’am.”

“Bless your heart. Just take it easy from here on out, okay?” The girl nodded and then headed out the opposite entrance. Afterwards, Daphne went behind the desk and stopped right beside Josephine.

Setting down her digital tablet, the woman rolled her eyes and commented, “Well, well, well. If it isn’t my absolute ‘favorite’ trainer in this Podunk little town? God, I swear it’s times like these I wish I’d never moved my family all the here from Hearthome in Sinnoh.”

“Um, g-goo…” I replied until she interrupted.

“No. I have told you over a hundred times. I am not taking any of your bullcrap, Jay Bartholomew Christie. If you cannot show me the least bit respect of withholding that nightmare of a Pokémon that you call Orion, I will deny you our services every time. It’s as simple as that.”

“Um. Mother,” Josephine whispered, tapping on the Poké Ball tray. Eyeing the lonely sphere on it and then the remaining two balls in my holsters, Daphne nodded slightly.

“Very well,” she sighed and then suddenly shouted, “But if you raise hell in my cafeteria again, I’ll throw you out of here in a heartbeat! Got it?”

Breathing heavily for a moment, she slowly calmed down and reached into one of her coat pockets. Taking out a Great Ball and an Ultra Ball, the woman smiled and then stared awkwardly at Rick.

“Ricky, dear. Your Pokémon are going to be fine, but be careful fighting unfamiliar Pokémon. With the gaping bites Girafarig had, I’m surprised the attack didn’t just snap her neck.”

“Damn, what were you up against, Rick?” I abruptly asked him.

“Trust me, Feral. You don’t wanna know,” Rick commented, “Anyways, thanks, Doc Hawthorn! Later, Jay, Jo!”

“Yeah. Later!” Josephine replied as I watched him leave.

Turning back to the counter, I watched the doctor examine Spunky’s ball for a moment. She looked at my wolf with a wicked grin. Instinctively he hid behind me, quivering in utter terror.

“I guess I can leave you out for now, if you behave.” He barked cheerfully in response as he rushed over to the side of the table.

“Okay. If that’s settled, I’ll be getting something to eat now.” I started to reach for my holsters, when Dr. Hawthorn suddenly grabbed one of my wrists.

“Mark…my…words… If I ever catch you with that monster out anywhere in this building or even on this property, I will kick your sorry a*s all the way to Mount Corona. ¿Comprende?” she hissed. I nodded; then she took my balls and left.

Once she went out of sight, I clipped my holsters back onto my pockets. I brought Orion back out and eyed his unit as I headed towards the west wing.

He hadn’t always been a monster, and even now was normally quite…hospitable… For years people told me not to spoil him too much but I snubbed the warnings, knowing that no matter what Orion would stay the adorable little critter I raised from youth. Yet still, the thought often crossed my mind as to whether or not he’d eventually tire of the master/pet charade and turn his brutality on me instead of an unsuspecting opponent.

Sighing, I lifted my head up to catch something bizarre out the corner of my eye. Upon entering the hallway, I turned my gaze leftward to spot a trio of men sitting together on a nearby bench.

Of the threesome, the middle one grabbed my attention the most. He was apparently a very tall and fairly slim man who kept his legs crossed as read this morning’s issue of the “Maritide Messenger.” Of all things, a massive afro utterly exploded from the top of his head; as the ball of hair weren’t flamboyant enough, he had half of it dyed red and the other half white. Also, the man wore a silken pair of purple pants as well as a belt with a large star-shaped buckle and platform shoes.

To his right sat a blond guy with hair that flared up into a plume of orange-red tips hunched over and gave me a smug look as I passed. The punk wore a dark sleeveless shirt and thick brown trousers with several small cases attached his belt. Cracking his knuckles to flex his fingerless gloves, he suddenly cracked a grin and nodded slow, causing a weird reflection off his blue goggles with thick oval lenses. I didn’t know what he was thinking to himself, and I sure as hell didn’t want to find out!

And sitting on Afro’s left, his other partner was clearly blond based on the look of the guy’s sideburns, and wore a weird black hat with twin white-rimmed humps atop it. This guy wore a red vest with a white stripe around its midsection over a dark long-sleeved shirt. Like his friend, he had on brown pants with several holders clipped to his belt and a pair of red goggles with hexagonal lenses. However, this guy seemed too bent on reading Afro’s paper to even look at me…or at least that’s what I presumed he was doing…

“Hey, boss!” the plume-haired guy said as I returned my gaze forward.

“Hmm?” his boss replied in a cheery-sounding voice, followed by some whispering and then the sound of his paper ruffling, “Really? Now, this is something that I have to see.”

Clenching Orion’s ball, I pressed onward. I didn’t want to PO Daphne more than I already had this morning, but if these idiots were going to start something with me, then they had another thing coming. No doubt they were the guys Rick talked about.

As I reached the commons, I took a quick glance back. The threesome left already. Giving a small sigh of relief, I headed through the double doors into the dining room.

The cafeteria at the Pawford Pokémon Center consisted of a large room with tables set up neatly throughout it, though several paths had been left open down the sides and middle of the room. Normally the place would’ve been packed with hungry trainers wolfing down food from the long line of buffet tables. Today, however, it looked as though nobody had been here at all save only for the cooks. I headed straight for the table where plates were, grabbed one and a set of prearranged silverware, and began the arduous task of hunting for my favorite breakfast foods.

Pancakes, sausages, flapjacks… Everything one could possibly want for breakfast was piled neatly into all of the heating trays that I passed. But being the connoisseur I am, only one thing would satisfy my taste buds this morning. Finally I found the single greatest dish in the entire world…biscuits and sausage gravy! Just the smell of them got my mouth watering, so I stacked as many biscuits on my plate as I could and then slathered them completely with gravy.

When I finished, I quickly took my food to a nearby table and sat down to enjoy it. I removed my cell phone from my pocket and set it next to my plate with Orion’s ball. Then, I dug right into my meal!

Halfway through it, I glanced at the clock on my phone. Just a little after eight… Plenty of time to get to the docks before the next ferry left for Maritide. I wasn’t exactly in a rush this morning, but knowing Felicia’s over-punctuality, I’d still have to get to IIPS between 9:30 and 10:00 or she’d start throwing a fit. Either way, it didn’t matter to me so long as I got there.

I finished the rest of my food and immediately went up for seconds. This time I took a smaller serving, three sausages and a waffle with strawberries and whipped topping slopped on top of everything.

No sooner did I sit back down, Daphne entered the dining room. With a disgusted look on her face, the woman zigzagged between the tables to get to me.

“So, what’s the word?” I asked as she stopped.

Snorting, the doctor looked down at her computer quickly and whispered, “You… You are either the luckiest SOB in the world or the unluckiest.”

“And that means…?” My gut tightened with anxiety.

“Apollo and Sheila are fine, but Spunky pulled some muscles in one of his hind legs. Now, the thing I can’t believe is that you didn’t bring him in days ago to get it checked out so that I could give him pain reliever,” she criticized as she dropped my balls on the table.

I rolled my eyes and she shouted, “Oh, for the love of God! Don’t you care about your Pokémon anymore? I remember the day you came in here to get Apollo from Kyle. You were a bright-eyed, bushy-tailed little kid clinging hard to his mommy and nervous as all hell about getting a Fire Pokémon from the local Gym Leader because you didn’t think you could handle it. To see you go from that to this is simply pathetic.”

“Hey, b…”

She cut me off, “If Spunky’s in that condition, I don’t want imagine how bad Orion is.”

Fingering Orion’s ball and I taunted, “Well, if you really want to find out...” As I enlarged it, she instantly grabbed my wrist. A long moment passed, and I finally released my grip on the orb and she let go of hers on me.

“Just finish eating and get out of my sight,” she concluded and then headed out.

Several seconds after she left, Spunky came out of his ball. When he appeared off to my left, the wolf sat on the floor and stared at me with his mouth wide open.

“Sorry, buddy,” I replied, petting his locks. I knew he had to be starving, but feeding him and the others would have to wait until we were on the ferry.

“Poodle…” he grumbled, sniffing and then licking my hand

Going back to my meal, I started eating the waffle. Spunky set his maw on the table a short distance from my plate. He inched closer and closer to it, licking his chops. All of a sudden, my sausages disappeared!

“Spunky!” I scolded, watching him eat the three links in one bite. After he finished, the wolf belched so loud that it echoed throughout the room.

I shrugged and went back to my waffle. Once I was done, I stood up, set my Poké Balls back into their holders, and my phone put in my pocket. The two of us finally left the cafeteria and headed for the exit.

“Bye, Jay!” Josephine said. I raised my hand and nodded as we passed by her station.

As I approached the doors, I saw that the threesome from before were waiting on the sidewalk outside, just meters from the door. They faced away from the building and this time I could see the rest of what Afro was wearing, a formfitting purple shirt and a gaudy yellow scarf with small tassels at its ends. Did Rick call this guy or what!

Taking Orion’s ball back out, I told Spunky, “Looks like we’re not getting away from this one…”

“Poodle?” he replied trembling. As we stepped outside, I pressed the button holding the device closed.

Amidst of the released flash, the silhouette of a six-foot-tall man appeared off to my left…or so he looked at the first glance. When the light actually faded, I could easily see the slight maw and large bushy tail that broke the creature’s humanlike façade. Like most Dark-type mammals, the beast was covered in a thick coat of pitch-black fur, a lot of it straggly and greasy due to lack of regular grooming. Offsetting it, though, were two distinct white stripes that started around his closed eyes and crept up his temples until they vanished under his thick dreadlocks. His markings returned down the Pokémon’s back as twin cascades of slanted lines that merged at his tail to form a solid streak, which then crept down its midsection and eventually fanned out widely across the appendage’s tip.

Yawning, my Skunter opened his right eye to reveal its intense emerald gleam. Spunky whined a little while trying to hide behind me from Orion’s deep black iris as it focused on him. After a few seconds, the skunk shut it again lazily.

“This is going to be good,” I commented. Orion snorted as he slung his beloved weapon, an eight-foot-long bowstaff, over his right shoulder. Then we headed towards the group.

“What luck, Miror! First we pull off that heist on Maritide, and now there’s this opportunity!” the guy with the weird cap said to Afro as he stood off to the man’s right.

“Yeah, Trudly!” his plume-haired buddy, on Afro’s left, added.

“Aye! So, we’re gonna be hoggin’ the sidewalk all day, are we, mateys?” I commented in the worst-sounding pirate voice I could muster.

“What?” Trudly replied, pivoting quickly.

“Argh! So ye all be butt pirates, me hearties?” I cackled.

“Butt pirates! Who the hell are you calling ‘butt pirates,’ numb-nuts?” the other guy said, also turning to face me.

“That the best you can come up with?”

“Oh, it’s on now!” he replied, reaching into his pocket. Spunky woofed harshly at him, and the gangster-wannabe froze.

“Now, now, now! Boys, boys, boys! There’s no need for all these hostilities! We’re all friends here, right?” Miror said as he rotated around with his right arm firmly pressed on his side. Doing so, I could now see his star-shaped sunglasses, his dangling earrings, and that a portion of his shirt was open. God, Rick was right…what a total qu*er!

He looked at me for a moment, then Spunky, and finally Orion. With a grin he nodded, making his afro bob up and down wildly.

“O-ho-ho-ho! What have we here?” he giggled, shaking his other arm back and forth in the air, “All that fuss over a silly little Skuntank?” Ooh, he’s dead…

“Skuntank?!” Orion barked, and then swung his stick at Miror. The man jumped back immediately, only to fall his rear as the weapon barely missed his head.

“Hey, jack*ss! I might be a Pokémon but that doesn’t mean I’m ret*rded!” he shouted, holding the weapon overhead and ready to strike a deathblow. Stunned, the man’s flunkies just gawked. Miror, on the other hand, remained absolutely calm with a self-righteous grin spreading across his face.

“That thing can talk?” his grunts then whined.

Unbeknownst to most people, Orion’s species had developed the ability to both speak and understand most human languages. While scientists theorized it was due to the Dallinos tribe raising the creatures so much that the Pokémon tried to become human, the genetic triggers for the trait remained a total mystery. Actually getting Orion to say anything, though, took major effort…unless he felt like he’d been insulted. Then he would never shut up.

“Oh, posh! I bet you really think you’re something special with this doll, Feral,” Miror continued.

“Actually, I do! Show him why, Orion.” The skunk immediately jabbed the weapon hard into Miror’s hairdo, just grazing his scalp. Spunky yelped in terror.

“ARE YOU INSANE!” all three shouted.

Orion commented, “Good, you do know fear. That makes this all the easier.” He lifted his staff and prepared to strike again.

“Orion! Back off,” I ordered

Orion snarled but came back to my side anyways. Miror scuttled away alongside the ground before standing back up. Shooting his cronies an ugly glance, the two immediately ran over to join him.

“So, then… Shall we?” Miror abruptly asked me, motioning to the grassy area off to the left of the sidewalk.

“Yeah.” Miror and his grunts started over to the far side by the parking lot, while

“Loop! Poodle!” Spunky scolded the skunk as he twirled his staff around a couple times.

“Shut up, Spunky,” Orion replied as we walked over to our side of the battlefield.

“One-on-one, no substitutions?” I asked my opponent.

“Fine by me, ho-ho.” Miror reached into his pocket and took out a Dusk Ball.

He threw it out and, in the darkened halo it released, the silhouette of a seven-and-a-half-foot tall avian Pokémon emerged. Overall, the bird’s body was rather skinny and covered in jade plumage, including his incredibly long neck and the upper parts of his widespread wings. The peacock had a small head with a short orange beak, a pair of glowing teal eyes, and golden contour feathers that formed what looked like blond hair though a solitary one stuck straight up from his brow for some reason. His wings each possessed an eerie pattern consisting of large black streak that arced and thinned out as they spread from near the bird’s chest to its wingtip, a large area of purple underneath it, and nine splotches of blue with teal midsections that spaced evenly across the bottom of each appendage.

“Des. Des,” the bird spoke softly in a low baritone, “Destail?” The peacock’s eyes shifted back and forth between Orion, Spunky, and I as he began to step forward. Snorting at his opponent, Orion followed Destail’s lead.

“Destail! Show him that fabulous Liar’s Prance of yours!” Miror then crooned, pointing at the heavens and tapping his left foot.

“Des, Des!” his Pokémon cried, covering his chest with his left wing and lifting his head to the sky, “Destail!” Typical Destail, they were as flamboyant as they were gaudy…same could be said of his owner too…

He suddenly put his right leg forward and slowly started to sashay from side to side, alternating between his wings as he approached. Orion crouched slightly in turn, watching the fowl’s movements closely.

During the waltz, Destail raised and spread out three large tail feathers to form an imposing purple fan with semi-circular tips behind him. But he instantly hid the center one to conceal the triangular symbol on it, leaving only part of the silver area in its center visible. By doing so, the peacock made the slanted eye patterns near the top of each feather to focus their hazel irises on Orion.

When he saw that happen, Orion vaulted skyward, knowing not to fall for such a pathetic taunt. At the peak of his jump, the skunk twisted his body and plunged feet-first onto his enemy. Squawking terribly, the bird couldn’t do a thing once Orion pinned him with his belly down. Holding his bowstaff overhead again, the Skunter jabbed his weapon as forcefully as he could into his enemy’s head…or would have if Miror hadn’t recalled him.

Orion howled ferociously as he suddenly charged at the trainer in full-on rage. Within seconds, he tackled his quarry and readied to attack again.

“Get…him…off! Get him off!” the man cried. Just as Orion plunged his weapon into Miror’s forehead, I recalled the creature and put his ball away.

“Who in their right mind keeps that kind of a monster?” he whined as he got back up.

“Someone who takes a lot of pleasure terrorizing people like you who don’t know their place. Consider it a little bit of payback for what you did to my buddy Rick,” I remarked.

“You…you’re a terrible person, you know that?” Trudly shouted.

“Oh, get over it…”

“Folly! Trudly! Let’s am-scray!” Miror ordered.

“Right, boss!” the other two replied as they all fled.

“Good riddance!” Spunky slowly came up to me whimpering after a couple seconds. Taking a deep breath, I knelt down to pet him.

“Well, I guess that’s our excitement this morning. So, how about we get going?”

My wolf nodded gently, and then I stood back up. After that, we headed straight to the truck and got in. Then, I pulled out of the parking lot, drove down to Main Street, and headed towards the port…and, furthermore, Maritide…

<End Chapter Two>
 
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