Please note that I type up each chapter to show up on my Deviant Art submissions when I post them (see my DA page and all chapters seen in this thread here: http://wes1234.deviantart.com/), so expect to see a few HTML tags here and there, such as the italics tag: <i>text</i>. Also, paragraph indention is not noticable here. I apologize for this.
---EDIT---
I have fixed the <i> </i> tags and coverted them into the appropriate MyBBC code.
Shadow Rays
Prologue
In the black of night, all is silent. The moon is shines brightly in the night sky. Stars sparkle like shining angels in the sky, each seemingly resembling a glimmer of hope. A howl sounds in the distance as a Houndoom gives out its traditional night cry. A light breeze accompanies and muffles the howl to make the howling sound almost un-hearable. The grass moves limply at the mercy of the wind. Creatures of the night rome the plains in search of the next meal, while creatures of the day sleep securely in their own homes and resting spots.
One such creature stirs awake in the long grass. Its silluette is barely visible in the darkness, but enough for the human eye to identify. Its nose is somewhat long, while its body appears to be that of a tail-less mouse. It raises its head into the moonlight, showing off its unique yellow and blue patterns. Tilting its head to the side, it emerges from the grass, now fully exposed to the moonlight. Four red spots are placed on its back in a similar manner that dots are placed on a dice. It stands up on its two puny legs for a better view of its surroundings while its tiny forearms remain limp on its chest. Nothing appears to alarm the creature, but it still looked alert, despite the absence of visible ears. Still, it listened for the slightest noise.
Suddenly, a bright light shined in the night sky. Quickly seeing this, the creature's spots quickly turned into a blazing inferno, but there was no screaming of pain of any kind. Clearly, it was a master of the fire element that was powering up should this light present the smallest threat. Without warning, the light rapidly grew brighter. It was difficult to see anything with the intense rays the light put out. Eventually, the light got so bright, even the creature got blinded and looked away, shielding its face from the light penetrating the shadows of the night.
Then, as fast as it brightened, the light started dimming, signaling that whatever was going on was over... or so it was thought. As the bright glowing ball gradually dimmed, the fiery mouse noticed something in the middle of it. The hovering object took the appearance of a different creature, about the same size as the fiery mouse that gazed at it, but was too unproportional to be its own species.
When the light faded completely, whatever force that suspended the creature in mid-air ceased to exist, allowing it fall to the ground like a rag doll, apparently unconscious. The fire on the mouse's back extinguished and, following a combination of natural curiosity and worry, darted off into the direction the creature in the air was falling. As the tiny ear-less elephant like pokemon closed in on the spot when the unidentified animal was going to land, the mouse tripped and fell face first into the dirt, trapping its long nose in the muddy mess. A few feet in front of it, the falling creature landed with a hard thud.
Worried for that creature's condition, it plucked its nose from out of the earth and ran over to where the mysterious faller now laid. When it arrived, he found the stranger sprawled out and as limp as the greenery around it. The rodent quickly identified the species and kew that it was in immediate danger.
Reaching its side, the mouse nudged the limp being, trying to wake this nighttime-drop-in up from its unconscious state to no avail. Seeing that it was doing no good, the rodent did the only other thing it could do. It used all of its strength to pick up the mass of fur, skin, and bones and walked carefully torwards him home while trying to stay concealed, heaving in and out one breath after another from the weight of his package. It would definately not forget this night's events for a long while.
Little did the fiery rodent know that this one night's events were only the beginning of a great many strange events yet to come...
Chapter 1: Unknown Origin
It was pitch black. He couldn't see anything for miles, looking around desperately, trying to find something even as small as a glimmer of light, but to no avail.
"Where am I? What happened? What is this place?" he asked myself. He could've continued with even more questions, his head-splitting headache overwelmed him too much to allow that. He was unable to think, unable to recall a single speck of what may have happened, and that burning sensation on his forehead didn't help things, either.
Then, out of nowhere, an unknown voice sounded out. "Hey, wake up," the voice spoke out.
He looked around again, determined to find its source, but it was nowhere to been seen. Nothing was different. Just the same endless darkness of this creepy place.
"Who's there? What do you want? Where am I?" he asked back, hoping that this voice could provide some valuable information... IF it was friendly.
"Well..." the voice responded back irritably, clearing its throat. "It would really help if you would simply OPENED YOUR EYES!"
The sudden change in pitch jerked him fully awake in milli-seconds. Bright light immediately blinded him, requiring him to take some time to let his eyes adjust to the rapid change in light exposure. As his vision improved, he began making out the source of the voice he heard earlier. A tiny earless elephant, easily identified as a Cyndaquil, hovered over his side, peering into his eyes worriedly.
"Finally. It's good to see you came around. I was afraid you might not make it," the Cyndaquil expressed with a sound of relief.
"Where am I? And why am I seeing talking Cyndaquils?" the brown mass of fur asked.
"Okay... Lets first start off with a thank you." The Cyndaquil started getting aggitated. "Otherwise, who knows what would've happened to you out there. I hauled your Eevee-behind back to this den, my OWN home, last night. The least you could do is show some dignity if you have any."
"Alright, alright... Keep your coo- Wait a minute..." the Eevee paused. "Repeat that again for me?"
"Ugh... I SAID that I hauled your Eevee-behind into my home last night after finding you out in the open black of night. The least yo-" The Cyndaquil's words were interrupted by the Eevee stranger.
"AN EEVEE?!" he shouted out, both suprised and scared. "Now now... Don't be joking with me here..." The Eevee looked down breifly at his body, then looked back up at the rude Cyndaquil. "Do I seriously look like an Eevee to-" He stopped and immediately looked back down at his body in disbelief.
"You're about as real of an Eevee as you can get, you know," the Cyndaquil laughed sarcastically, just now beginning to notice the panic-stricken expression on his guest's face. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
The Eevee's expression quickly changed from scared to angry. Seconds later, the Eevee leaped up with lightning speed and pinned the rodent down with both of his front paws.
"Don't be tugging my strings, you little rat!" the Eevee exploded. "Come clean to me! What have you done to me?!"
"What are you talking about?" the Cyndaquil inquired, now afraid of this high-tempered guest of his. "I dragged your butt out of harm's way! Anything could've happened to you out there when it's dark!"
"Don't play games with me, you lying rodent! Us humans don't just magically turn into a random pokemon, you know!" the Eevee angrily yelled back, applying more pressure to the Cyndaquil's chest.
A split second later, something hard slammed into his side, knocking him clear off the rodent and into a nearby den wall, knocking him unconscious again...
When he woke up again, he found himself stuck inside a wooden cage that was only about twice his body size in a room not too much bigger. Another pokemon stood on the other side of the wooden bars, but it wasn't the same rodent that he saw before. It was the same size as the Cyndaquil he had the run-in with, but this creature had a circle of tiny green spots around its neck with a large leaf about half its size extending from its head and curling over its neck all the way down to the middle of its back.
"We really didn't want to resort to this, but seeing as you tried hurting Andy, I see no choice until you keep that temper of yours from boiling over," a very displeased Chikorita stated in an unfriendly female tone.
"Andy? Who the heck is Andy? That rodent that refused to tell me what's going on around here?" the Eevee shot back.
"Yes. Him. And he DID explain what happened. YOU just weren't listening," she irritably explained. "If I should be this angry at someone for hurting a friend of mine, I should at least know their name."
"Fine. The name's... uhhhh..." the Eevee stopped. For some unknown reason, he couldn't bring himself to remember his own name. Concentrating, he tried to remember any other events that occured before this one. All he drew up was a blank and found himself unable to answer such a simple question.
"Well... I'm waiting," the Chikorita stated impatiently.
It was no use. He couldn't remember anything. Embarrassed, he turned his back to the Chikorita and layed down. Who AM I? he asked himself.
"Hmph. Have it your way, then. The name's Marlaina. Don't forget it." She turned away and walked out of the cramped room.
The Eevee closed his eyes and tears began sliding down his cheeks. Who am I?! Where am I?! What's happening?! the Eevee began panic-ly asking himself, shaking uncontrollably. He was unable to ask any of those questions. His tear trail soon became a developed river of salt water.
Chapter 2: One Worth Defending
The air was still and quiet. The only thing he could see were the wooden bars that kept him prisoner inside a den in the middle of some unknown area. No memory. No knowledge. No friends. Not even as much as a name. These thoughts alone made the Eevee very uneasy and all the more afraid of what lies on the other side of his wooden barrier. He would've given anything just to have someone to have a friendly chat with. A way to express what he's feeling with someone who would understand him.
Then, as if someone heard his thoughts, he heard a very faint noise echo into the den.
"Hello? Anyone out there?" he asked, desperately, hoping for a reply.
The reply came, all right, just not in the way he would've liked. A sinister, maniacal laugh echoed into the den made the imprisoned Eevee's hair stand on end. He didn't dare make an effort to reply to that.
The laughing came again shortly after, but more clearly heard than the last two times. He stood up and peered out of his cage as best he could to try to find the source of that scary laugh.
It came again, and this time, it was frighteningly close. The Eevee turned around quickly, swearing that he could've heard that laughter somewhere in the room he was in. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to identify the slightest trace of movement.
The laugh returned for the fourth time, and this time, he identified the source. To his dismay, he saw it emerging from the wall at the back of the room. It was an ugly figure. A very dark shade of purple appeared almost as if it were black under the cover of night and the added darkness of the den. Its face took up most of its body. Its large eyes glowed a rich and uncomforting red color with a very wide grin across his face, indicating a clear intent on committing mischief. This ghost-like figure was easily twice his size, if not more.
There was nowhere to run away from this Gengar as long as he was stuck in this cage. Desperately, he rammed the bar with his full body weight behind his tackles. The bars didn't budge one inch. The only thing he was achieving was a worse headache. The Gengar charged at his and the Eevee froze in fear. This Gengar was just about to make contact with him when suddenly...
A loud, high-pitched scream sounded through the den, snapping his eyes open instantly. The Eevee immediately examined his surroundings. He was still inside the wooden cage and no Gengar was in site. The den's slightly brighter appearance suggested that it was early morning, with the sun shining through the entrance.
The Eevee breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a dream, he reassured himself. The same high-pitch, painful, female scream that woke him up earlier de-confirmed that thought altogether, accompanied by a static electricity sound. He was quite sure that whoever was screaming outside the den was not enjoying themselves. In fact, they were suffering!
The caged Eevee put all of his previous thoughts to the side and concentrated all of his brain power on figuring out a out to tear down the sturdy wooden bars. There was really only one thing he could do. Backing up to the back-most side of the cage as he could, he charged forward with all of his strength towards the bars just like he did in his dream. The results were the same as the dream, too; a bigger headache with unscratched sturdy bars. Growling deeply, he ram the bar a second time, failing just as miserably as the first.
The painful scream sounded again, and the Eevee growled even deeper and rammed the bar a third time with increased determination from hearing the scream. This time, the bars made a loud crack. He examined the bars briefly, noting that he barely fractured the bar in the dead center of the front of the cage. Concentrating on this one bar, he mustered every ounce of his strength and rammed it with more force than he has exerted, yet. Another cracking sound accompanied the impact, but no snapping noise indicated that the bar was STILL intact.
Once again, the scream issued through the den, stirring up what energy was left in this determined Eevee. Growling with an even deeper tone than before, he once again mustered his strength up to the max and charged the fractured bar once again. This time, the bar gave in to his mad rush and made the desired snap that he wanted to hear. He tumbled onto the floor just outside of the room after smashing the bar to bits and layed there, exhausted from his escape.
The same familiar scream reminded him that he was not done yet. It took an incredible amount of strength to stand up and walk torward the entrance of the den, where the screaming was as clear as day. Once he peered around the entrance, his mouth dropped open at what he saw.
There was an Eevee, just like him, laying helplessly on the ground, struggling to get up, but didn't have enough strength to stand, much less fight back. Although they were the same species, it was clear that she was a female. The figure causing this agony for this young Eevee suprised him even more. Identical to the one in his dream, a Gengar was laughing maniacally.
"Hehe. You're so weak. I was hoping that you'd put up a better fight than this," he laughed. "You're just like your parents, unable to hold your own. You have to rely on Andy and Marlaina to do the fighting for you." He paused. "Buuuut, they're not here, right now. How careless of them."
The female Eevee barely lifted her head up to look at the Gengar and angrily, but weakly, said, "Don't t-talk ab-bout my p-parents that-t way," she stammered, using all of her strength so speak those words.
The Eevee back at the entrance frowned at the Gengar's actions. He knew that he had to put a stop to this right here and now.
As the Gengar prepared for another electric attack, the male Eevee made his move and quickly jumped in front of the attack just now launching, feeling a quick build-up warm energy building up in his body, bracing himself for the shock to come.
It never came. To his suprised, when he opened his eyes, he saw that the attack was being deflected by a glowing green shield. As Gengar electric attack disappeared, so did the protective shield and the warm energy that was built-up inside of him.
"Who are you, raining on my parade?" the Gengar asked angrily at this new Eevee blocking his attack.
"I think the real question is, what are doing? I don't believe that there should be any reason as to why you're attacking this Eevee," the male Eevee shot back.
The Gengar started getting irritated even more. "If you won't get out of my way, I'll make you!" it yelled back. It's red eyes started glowing a brighter red. The male Eevee become entranced and hypnotized instantly by the Hypnosis attack, quickly collapsing to the ground, falling asleep. The Gengar's glowed even brighter as it focused on the Eevee's sleeping form and began feeding on its dreams with its Dream Eater attack.
The male Eevee, helplessly at the mercy of Gengar's attack, twisted and turned painfully in his sleep, groaning loudly at the discomfort of Dream Eater. The female Eevee miraculously summoned up an amazing amount of energy that allowed her to stand up and absorb energy for a Shadow Ball attack. Gengar was so busy concentrating on the other Eevee that he didn't notice the female Eevee launching her fully-charged attack at the Gengar.
The Shadow Ball attack had no trouble finding its mark, causing a massive explosion on contact, and breaking Gengar's concentration entirely. The male Eevee woke up again at the sound of the explosion. His headache was at its max due to the attack he endured from Gengar. He could hardly see because his headache was so agonizingly painful. When he heard another static build-up through the smoke of the explosion, he knew that Gengar was about to launch another electric attack and well-knew that neither he, nor the Eevee he was defending, had the strength to dodge the attack.
Recalling what he did the last time he blocked Gengar's attack, he concentrating on gathering all the energy he could muster into the protective barrier that saved them both before. The barrier was put up just in time. Just as the electric attack came bursting through the smoke, the barrier was ready and deflected the attack once again. The barrier soon wore off, but it had done its job.
The Gengar gave a fierce roar of anger and charged at the male Eevee with a Focus Punch. As the Eevee began falling into a state of unconsciousness, the last thing he saw was a sudden powerful stream of fire that connected with Gengar squarely in the center and sent him flying back...
Chapter 3: Better Than Friends
When the male Eevee opened his eyes, he was a little suprised to find himself not in a cage, but in the same room where he woke up for the first time, where he and Andy had issues. He lifted his head and immediately took note of how it seemed much lighter than usual, a sure sign that his earlier headache had completely vanished.
The first thing he noticed as he lifted his head was the pile of berries that was in front of him. Normally, he wouldn't have considered trying to eat berries he'd never seen before, but then again, he hadn't eaten anything ever since he woke up here the first time. His stomach grumbled loudly, confirming that he wasn't just hungry, but starving. Hunger had complete control over his body as he quickly grabbed the first of the pink-colored berry and started taking bites out of it at a rapid pace, spilling berry juice over the other nearby berries and soaking his face. When he swallowed, his stomach growled a big thanks to him.
"Eat any faster and you'll choke," a familiar female tone laughed. The Eevee turned to see who it was. To his surprise, the speaker was the same female Eevee that he saw being harassed by the Gengar, and she looked perfectly fine, now. "I was beginning to winder if you would ever wake up after that grueling brawl with Darkhash two days ago."
The male Eevee's eyes widened. "TWO days?! I have been asleep for that long?"
The other Eevee nodded to his question.
He looked down at his stomach. "That explains why I'm so hungry," he laughed.
"I really appreciate what you did for me, back there. You saved my life," she thanked. "May I ask for your name?"
Great... The one question that anyone else could answer but him. On top of that, he was blushing at the compliment. He looked down embarrassingly and quietly said, "To be quite honest, I don't know. Ever since I woke up that other night, I haven't been able to remember a single thing before that." He slowly looked up, but didn't make eye contact. "You probably don't believe me, do you?"
The female smiled. "Of course I do. That's why I've been thinking up names to give to you during the past couple days, Ailfresi," she said in a friendly tone. "The name's Soljeki, by the way."
Ailfresi laughed a little. "Isn't 'Ailfresi' a little weird for a name of an Eevee?"
Soljeki smiled even more. "Well, after Andy and Marlaina mentioned how your were so cold to them, I thought that I'd give you a cold-like name," she giggled.
"Thanks for the non-compliment," Ailfresi laughed. "Where are they, anyhow?"
"They're outside gathering more berries. They're trying to get as wide of a variety as they can for you, hoping to score big n your favorite."
"Why are they doing that after how I treated them before?" Ailfresi asked with a confused expression.
"Well, for one, your risked your neck for me. Those two have raised me ever since..." Soljeki froze, then turned away. "Never mind."
It took Ailfresi a little while to figure it out. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up such a sensitive subject," he apologized.
Soljeki looked back at Ailfresi. "Don't worry about it. It's just... I miss my parents," she said solemnly with closed eyes. Tears began developing in her eyes.
Ailfresi suddenly felt guilty for bringing it up. Wanting to correct his mistake, he got up and walked slowly over to Soljeki and started lightly stroking her with his tail while saying what he felt naturally came to him. "It's okay. I'm sure they'd be very proud of you," he reassured her.
"What do you mean?" she darted back. "I can't hold my own in a battle to save my own life!" she cried out, upset.
Ailfresi didn't flinch at this outburst and smiled even more. "Even if you can't save your own, you can save others... just like how you saved me from that Gengar's Dream Eater attack."
Soljeki made eye contact with him. "How did you know that?"
"Well, the explosion from your Shadow Ball kinda hinted that idea a bit. After all, Cyndaquils and Chikoritas can't learn Shadow Ball, and I most certainly couldn't use one, being in the jam that I was in." He paused. "Thank you."
Soljeki took this in for a moment, then shook off her tears and smiled back at Ailfresi, blushing heavily. "Thank you. I can't begin to tell you just how much that means to me," she thanked him back.
Ailfresi now found himself blushing at yet another compliment. "Well... I... I couldn't just stand there and watch everything unfold, you know," he said, looking away to hide his blushing. He couldn't hide his smile.
After a period of silence, Soljeki spoke. "Well, I better go wait by the entrance. Andy and Marlaina should be back soon. You should get some more berries in your stomach while we wait," she suggested. She gave Ailfresi a gentle lick on the cheek, and then headed to her waiting spot.
Ailfresi was as still as ice, just beginning to take in what just happened and started to smile. Another grumbling sound from his stomach interrupted his thoughts, reminding him that he was still very hungry from the lack of food during the past two days. He grabbed another pink Pecha Berry and began eating it. As the fresh sweet taste settled in his mouth, warm thoughts of the kiss flooded back into his mind.
Chapter 4: Birth of a New Life
"They're back! And with my favorite berries, too!" Soljeki cried out cheerfully by the entrance. She wasted no time in rushing out to meat Andy and Marlaina.
Ailfresi was trying to hurriedly finish off the Pecha Berry he was on, almost choking on it in the process. Once finished, he rushed out of the den and was blinded by the midday sun. He hadn't been outside at midday like this at all during his two and a half day stay, so naturally, his eyes weren't used to the intense sunlight yet. Still, even so, he was able to make out the silhouettes of Andy and Marlaina. One other pokemon that was about three times their size was following them, holding a spoon in each hand. Ailfresi became nervous seeing this figure, but immediately sensed that there was no threat from this giant being and calmed down.
"Okay, okay okay. We're glad to see you, too, but lets at least get inside, hun," Marlaina laughed.
Once they reached the den, the giant pokemon said to Andy, "I'll wait out here while you get things sorted out in there."
"Alright. I wish you could come inside, but your body size doesn't really allow it, unfortunately," Andy joked. "Thanks, Alakazam."
"Anytime. Let me know when ya'll are ready," Alakazam said.
Ailfresi was about to go inside when he looked up at Alakazam and noticed that he was staring at him intensely. This made Ailfresi feel uneasy despite how he knew that Alakazam wasn't an enemy. Wanting to break this uncomfortable gaze, he quickly rushed inside.
Marlaina noticed Ailfresi walk in and came up to him with some berries. "We didn't know what you might like, so we got as many different kinds as we could. I'm sure you're hungry."
Ailfresi's stomach did the speaking for him. "Thanks, Marlaina," he replied as he took a couple of the new berries.
"Soljeki is crazy about the Leppa berries you're holding. It's her favorite kind."
Ailfresi laughed. "That explains why she was excited when you and Andy were finally back." Ailfresi was for the first time at ease around Marlaina and Andy. It was as if what occurred when they first met didn't happen at all. He would've never guessed that they had a nice side.
"We were beginning to worry about you when you wouldn't wake up during the past two days. Are you feeling better?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm doing fine... but..." Ailfresi forced a frowned. "Why exactly are you nice all of a sudden? Two days ago, you had me in a cage, yelling at me," he laughed.
"Soljeki explained what happened during the Darkhash incident."
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Darkhash is that Gengar I saw," Ailfresi guessed.
"Correct. We're very grateful to you for protecting Soljeki until we got back, and it seemed that we got back just in time, too. Gengar was about to finish you."
Ailfresi quickly recalled the stream of fire that knocked Gengar back prior to falling unconscious. "So that's where that Flamethrower came from. Andy launched it, right?"
Marlaina nodded.
Ailfresi started feeling a little guilty about his aggressiveness towards Andy and Marlaina. After all, they were only trying to help him, and he pushed them away, instead. "Hey, about before... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act like such a jerk towards you two."
"Eh. Don't sweat it. We just had a misunderstanding that merely took a wrong turn," Andy replied suddenly. "Freak things like that happen. Besides, after how you helped Soljeki, how could we not forgive you?" he laughed.
"Thanks, Andy, but Soljeki deserves some credit, too."
Soljeki froze. She began blushing again, knowing what Ailfresi was about to say.
"She's the one that saved me from Darkhash's Dream Eater attack," Ailfresi explained gratefully, finally getting around to eating the Leppa berry that he was given. His eyes grew wide at the amazing taste. He now understood why Soljeki loved these berries so much. "Wow... I'll have seconds of these if you don't mind."
Soljeki suddenly approached Ailfresi, still blushing, with two more Leppa berries in her mouth, holding them by the stems that were still attached, offering them.
Ailfresi was glad to have a dense fur coat, because if Soljeki didn't catch him turning red before, she would've seen it now. "Th-thanks," he stuttered back, nervously plucking the berries off the stems when his mouth.
"Ailfresi?" Andy asked.
"How did you know my name?" Ailfresi asked. It wasn't but a split second later that he knew why. "Wait... Soljeki told you the name she'd given to me, didn't she?" he asked, laughing.
Soljeki blushed again.
"I see you read minds," he joked, then cleared his throat. "Alakazam wants a word with you when you're finished eating, Ailfresi."
Ailfresi suddenly tensed up again. The last thing he wanted to do was talk with someone whose stare was very intimidating. Still, he nodded at Andy's heads-up and finished the berry he was chewing. "I'll go talk to him now. I've finished my fill, anyways," he reluctantly said. He looked over at Soljeki. "I'll be right back." He then turned towards the entrance where Alakazam waited.
Soljeki blushed once again. What is this strange feeling? Whenever he looks or talks to me, I feel strange. She couldn't quite identify her strange emotions.
"You wanted to see me, uhhh... sir?" Ailfresi asked Alakazam a little nervously.
He looked down at Ailfresi. "Yes. I wanted to talk to you about what happened two night ago. Do you recall what happened?"
Ailfresi sighed, really wanting to avoid this subject, but he answered, anyways. "Well, lets just put it this way... I wasn't really nice to Andy and Marlaina. They were trying to help me and I got aggressive towards them for almost no reason."
"Huh?" Alakazam realized that he and Ailfresi were not on the same page. "No, I don't think you got what I was asking about. I mean before that," he clarified.
A chill fell down his spine. If only I knew that... I still can't remember anything beyond the moment I met Andy, he thought to himself. He looked down, embarrassed once again, then looked back up at Alakazam, deciding to come out straight. "To be honest, I don't remember anything earlier than that... Not even my own name."
"Wait... I thought your name was Ailfresi..."
"It is, but only because Soljeki was kind enough to make up that name for me. I don't remember my real name," Ailfresi answered, now even more embarrassed. "You probably don't believe me, do you?"
Alakazam shook his head. "I can tell that you're speaking the truth. You don't have to be ashamed about anything. I'm just trying to understand your situation here."
"What do you mean?" Ailfresi asked, completely confused by what Alakazam was saying.
"Andy told me that two nights ago, you appeared in mid-air accompanied by blinding light, and then fell to the ground like a rock. I have witnessed my own handful of phenomenon through out my life, but never heard anything about a pokemon materializing like that," Alakazam explained.
"So... Was I created? I don't feel like I've just been born. I feel that I have an actual past. Other friends. Another life. But unfortunately I just can't bring myself to remember anything of the mentioned."
"I sensed that, too. When I layed my eyes on you, I could immediately tell that you weren't just a normal Eevee," he explained more. Alakazam paused, pondering to himself.
"What can I do to help find out who I am?" Ailfresi asked, desperately, immediately wishing that he didn't ask at all. Oh great... I just sounded like an idiot asking that.
Alakazam suddenly seemed to have had an idea, but then frowned. He turned to Ailfresi and started staring into his eyes intensely, as if studying him, just like before. And just like before, Ailfresi felt extremely uncomfortable because of this staring contest. He was about to speak when Alakazam broke his gaze and looked out into the, the beautiful mountains taking up the background far in the distance.
"There is a rumor about a secret ice cave located at the peak of those mountains," Alakazam began. "Common myths that have been passed down for centuries state that only pokemon with a desire to find information without using it can be guided to the cave. As a result, virtually no one has ever found the cave. Harsh weather conditions, along with very territorial pokemon have detoured most pokemon away from those mountains. Some were even killed during their journey to find it. Those that were able to deal with the physical strain were never able to find the cave entrance because they had no guide. Only one pokemon has ever found the sacred cave. A young and mysterious Glaceon. His origin was unknown, but everyone that knew him liked his kind personality. Unfortunately, even though he had found the cave, something in there changed his life forever. When he returned, he refused to talk to anyone about what had happened. To this day, no one knows what he experienced."
Questions flooded Ailfresi mind. Why is he telling me this? Does it relate to me? Who was this Glaceon? He continued listening to Alakazam.
"Ailfresi, I believe it would be in your best interest to try finding this cave," Alakazam suggested.
He couldn't believe what Alakazam just told him. Okay, he's crazy... Just now, he told me three things that all indicated that this is a suicidal task. For one, whether conditions and territorial pokemon that show no mercy. Secondly, only ONE pokemon, a Glaceon, has ever found the cave... out of millions of pokemon over the course of THREE HUNDRED years! No one else succeeded in even locating it. And thirdly, even that Glaceon didn't make it back! And now he's expecting me to find this cave despite how 90% of all pokemon that set out on this journey never came back?! Ailfresi felt like a volcano ready to erupt, but he held it, not wanting to make the same mistake he committed with Andy and Marlaina. "If you don't mind me asking, what makes you believe that I could find this cave against all the odds you stated?"
"To be honest, I really don't know. But if you want to retrieve your memory, this may be your only good bet. It's up to you whether or not you want to go. Let your heart be your guide," Alakazam paused. "I apologize if my answer wasn't the one you were looking for."
Ailfresi shook his head and glared at Alakazam with distaste. "If you think I'm that desperate to retrieve just a few memories, then you can forget it. Two and a half days may have already passed, but I have already gained three valuable, irreplaceable friends. I am not about to leave them after we have just begun to understand each other..." he stated in a strong, mildly angry tone. He turned around and started back into the den, then stopped to say one more thing. "You wanted me to follow my heart... Well, I just now spoke from it."
Alakazam didn't utter a word, but rather smiled as he watch Ailfresi disappear into the den. He admired this Eevee's spirit.
Chapter 5: A Glimpse of the Past
"Are you okay?" Soljeki inquired worryingly, noticing Ailfresi's dull expression as he walked by.
Ailfresi avoided eye contact. "Yeah, I'm fine... I just need time alone," he mentioned quietly.
Everyone else looked at each other confused as Ailfresi disappeared into a nearby room. Soljeki became especially concerned.
"I'll go talk to him," Marlaina thought out loud, getting up.
"Wait." Soljeki's voice halted Marlaina's motion. "Let me go, instead."
Marlaina looked at Soljeki, not really suprised. "Alright, hun. Go ahead," she said with a smile.
Soljeki nodded gratefully, thanked her, then walked towards the room were Ailfresi rested.
Andy waited for Soljeki to leave the living room completely before he spoke. "How could I be so stupid!" Andy angrily yelled at himself, punching the ground with his tiny arm. We shouldn't have asked him what happened during the night I found him. It was way too early. We should've waiting until..."
Marlaina stopped Andy. "I don't think it would've been any different if we had asked even two months from now," Marlaina hypothesized. "Lets have a word with Alakazam before we jump to any more conclusions, alright?"
Andy reluctantly nodded, still feeling very guilty.
Soljeki walked into the room noticing Ailfresi laying down with his behind facing the door. "Ail?"
Ailfresi didn't respond to the new shortened nickname. He merely lowered his head to the ground.
Soljeki walked around to his side and peered into his eyes, immediately sensing mixed emotions of anger and sadness. "Ailfresi, what's wrong?"
He briefly looked towards Soljeki's way, then returned his head to its original position. He said nothing for a few seconds. "Why did he want to send me away like that?" he asked, depressed, then looked up at Soljeki. "Why?" Tears began swelling in his eyes. "Does he not want me here, or what?" he inquired, his already shaky tone becoming more angry and louder as he spoke each word. "Just because I'm different? Because all I have is a two-day old memory? Because I can't remember my own name?!" he yelled out, shaking violently with tears soaking his cheeks.
Soljeki flinched at this outburst, but remained positioned where she was. Her expression wore a state of surprise.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to explode on you like that," he cried, still shaking considerably.
"I know," she said quietly. "It's okay, Ail. You don't have to tell me if you're too uncomfortable discussing it."
He shook his head. "No, it's okay. I guess I just needed someone to talk to. Someone that will understand me, who or whatever I am," he said, still shaking, but not as much.
Soljeki licked Ailfresi's sticky wet cheek. "You can tell me anything you want at anytime. I'm here for you," she comforted him.
After those words, Ailfresi's little body stopped shaking so much and found himself making eye contact with her. "Thanks, Sunny."
She blushed a little at the new nickname and smiled, not bothering to hide her face. "So... What did Alakazam tell you?" she inquired, getting back on the subject.
Ailfresi broke eye contact and looked around, still shaking ever so slightly. "He wanted to know what happened the night Andy found me." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I told him that I couldn't remember anything... That all I knew was what I have seen during the past days. That was all I could remember out of my whole life."
"So that explains why you couldn't answer me when I asked for you name, right?" she tried clarifying.
Ailfresi gave a slow nod and continued speaking. "After that, he told me that I should go looking for some secret cave up in the mountains that hardly anyone has found. He wanted me to leave here and go find that place to get my memory back. Leave Andy... Leave Marlaina... Even leave you... Forget about everything you guys have done for me... All in the name of getting my memory back. It's like he was telling me to leave immediately in a 'nice' way, as if I didn't belong here..." Ailfresi broke down again, crying in short bursts.
Soljeki stroked stoked his back, trying to calm him down. "There's nothing wrong with leaving here to get your memory back if you want to," she spoke in a soothing sweet tone.
"That's the problem. I don't. I don't want to leave you guys." He looked up at Soljeki, making eye contact again. "I don't want to leave you."
Soljeki blushed, hardly believing what she just heard.
Ailfresi looked away again, up towards the ceiling. "Getting my memory back will mean nothing if I have no one to share it with. I don't mind being absent of past memories as long as long I know you guys. I would chose this life over everything else even if it meant never retrieving my memory because of that."
"I guess I can see where you're coming from... only from a different perspective..." Soljeki sadly stated.
Ailfresi quickly saw where this was going. "You don't have to talk abou-"
Soljeki interrupted him. "No, I need someone to talk to about it. I need to get it out of my system sooner of later."
Ailfresi nodded, understanding every word.
She gave a big sigh and began. "Six months ago, I lived near a lake not too far from here. I still remember clear, vivid images of my parents. Rayshana, a Flareon, was my mother, while my father was a Glaceon named Mist. They were both very kind and caring. They both loved me so very much. There was nothing that could've altered our love for each other. I thought we'd always be together. Then one day, something happened, and it changed everyone's lives." Soljeki had a little difficulty speaking, trying to hold back her tears.
Ailfresi stroked Soljeki's back in the same manner she stroked his, trying to comfort her.
"One day, my dad told my mom and I that he was going to go up into the mountains for something. He didn't specify what, but assured us that he'd be back within the next week. But during that promised time period, he never returned.
The week following that, he finally came home, a changed person. What was once my loving and active dad was instead depressed and lonely. We tried to get him to talk about it, but he refused to speak a word about it. He would go for days without eating anything.
I still remember Mom crying multiple times throughout each day ever since my dad returned. I would ask her what was wrong, but she said nothing. Then, on a morning about three days later, we noticed that he left note that said he had left and was never coming back. It broke my mom's heart, along with her will to live. Heartbroken, she left me and never returned.
For the first time in my life, I felt alone. I still remember crying myself to sleep because I was so scared. When I woke up, I found myself in this very room, with Andy and Marlaina waiting for me to wake up. When I asked where my mom was, Marlaina told me that she had been killed by Darkhash. I was never the same again." Soljeki suddenly broke down, shaking violently and crying uncontrollably.
Ailfresi continued stroking her and tried to calm her down with repetitive, quiet, and soothing words. "It's okay... It's okay... Calm down... It's okay..." He put his paw over Soljeki's to provide a little more comfort.
After a good number of seconds passed during which Ailfresi was trying to calm Soljeki down, she finally stopped crying and her violent shaking became a thing of the past. She looked back at Ailfresi and smiled. "Thanks, Ail. I feel much better, now. I am glad to finally have that off my shoulders."
Ailfresi smiled, bushing to the smallest degree. "It's the least I could do. However, I would like to clarify something if you don't mind."
Soljeki tilted her head. "Sure."
"You said that you're father was a Glaceon, right? And that he went into the mountains to do something..."
Soljeki nodded, still not understanding what Ailfresi was getting to.
"When Alakazam and I were talking today, he said that only one pokemon had found the secret ice cave that I mentioned earlier."
"You're kidding right?" she tried joking, not believing this.
Ailfresi shook his head. "And there's more. He said that when the Glaceon returned, he was depressed and refused to tell anyone what he experienced."
Soljeki's eyes widened. "Are you saying that you think... my father..."
Ailfresi nodded before she finished her sentence.
Chapter 6 coming soon!
---EDIT---
I have fixed the <i> </i> tags and coverted them into the appropriate MyBBC code.
Shadow Rays
Prologue
In the black of night, all is silent. The moon is shines brightly in the night sky. Stars sparkle like shining angels in the sky, each seemingly resembling a glimmer of hope. A howl sounds in the distance as a Houndoom gives out its traditional night cry. A light breeze accompanies and muffles the howl to make the howling sound almost un-hearable. The grass moves limply at the mercy of the wind. Creatures of the night rome the plains in search of the next meal, while creatures of the day sleep securely in their own homes and resting spots.
One such creature stirs awake in the long grass. Its silluette is barely visible in the darkness, but enough for the human eye to identify. Its nose is somewhat long, while its body appears to be that of a tail-less mouse. It raises its head into the moonlight, showing off its unique yellow and blue patterns. Tilting its head to the side, it emerges from the grass, now fully exposed to the moonlight. Four red spots are placed on its back in a similar manner that dots are placed on a dice. It stands up on its two puny legs for a better view of its surroundings while its tiny forearms remain limp on its chest. Nothing appears to alarm the creature, but it still looked alert, despite the absence of visible ears. Still, it listened for the slightest noise.
Suddenly, a bright light shined in the night sky. Quickly seeing this, the creature's spots quickly turned into a blazing inferno, but there was no screaming of pain of any kind. Clearly, it was a master of the fire element that was powering up should this light present the smallest threat. Without warning, the light rapidly grew brighter. It was difficult to see anything with the intense rays the light put out. Eventually, the light got so bright, even the creature got blinded and looked away, shielding its face from the light penetrating the shadows of the night.
Then, as fast as it brightened, the light started dimming, signaling that whatever was going on was over... or so it was thought. As the bright glowing ball gradually dimmed, the fiery mouse noticed something in the middle of it. The hovering object took the appearance of a different creature, about the same size as the fiery mouse that gazed at it, but was too unproportional to be its own species.
When the light faded completely, whatever force that suspended the creature in mid-air ceased to exist, allowing it fall to the ground like a rag doll, apparently unconscious. The fire on the mouse's back extinguished and, following a combination of natural curiosity and worry, darted off into the direction the creature in the air was falling. As the tiny ear-less elephant like pokemon closed in on the spot when the unidentified animal was going to land, the mouse tripped and fell face first into the dirt, trapping its long nose in the muddy mess. A few feet in front of it, the falling creature landed with a hard thud.
Worried for that creature's condition, it plucked its nose from out of the earth and ran over to where the mysterious faller now laid. When it arrived, he found the stranger sprawled out and as limp as the greenery around it. The rodent quickly identified the species and kew that it was in immediate danger.
Reaching its side, the mouse nudged the limp being, trying to wake this nighttime-drop-in up from its unconscious state to no avail. Seeing that it was doing no good, the rodent did the only other thing it could do. It used all of its strength to pick up the mass of fur, skin, and bones and walked carefully torwards him home while trying to stay concealed, heaving in and out one breath after another from the weight of his package. It would definately not forget this night's events for a long while.
Little did the fiery rodent know that this one night's events were only the beginning of a great many strange events yet to come...
Chapter 1: Unknown Origin
It was pitch black. He couldn't see anything for miles, looking around desperately, trying to find something even as small as a glimmer of light, but to no avail.
"Where am I? What happened? What is this place?" he asked myself. He could've continued with even more questions, his head-splitting headache overwelmed him too much to allow that. He was unable to think, unable to recall a single speck of what may have happened, and that burning sensation on his forehead didn't help things, either.
Then, out of nowhere, an unknown voice sounded out. "Hey, wake up," the voice spoke out.
He looked around again, determined to find its source, but it was nowhere to been seen. Nothing was different. Just the same endless darkness of this creepy place.
"Who's there? What do you want? Where am I?" he asked back, hoping that this voice could provide some valuable information... IF it was friendly.
"Well..." the voice responded back irritably, clearing its throat. "It would really help if you would simply OPENED YOUR EYES!"
The sudden change in pitch jerked him fully awake in milli-seconds. Bright light immediately blinded him, requiring him to take some time to let his eyes adjust to the rapid change in light exposure. As his vision improved, he began making out the source of the voice he heard earlier. A tiny earless elephant, easily identified as a Cyndaquil, hovered over his side, peering into his eyes worriedly.
"Finally. It's good to see you came around. I was afraid you might not make it," the Cyndaquil expressed with a sound of relief.
"Where am I? And why am I seeing talking Cyndaquils?" the brown mass of fur asked.
"Okay... Lets first start off with a thank you." The Cyndaquil started getting aggitated. "Otherwise, who knows what would've happened to you out there. I hauled your Eevee-behind back to this den, my OWN home, last night. The least you could do is show some dignity if you have any."
"Alright, alright... Keep your coo- Wait a minute..." the Eevee paused. "Repeat that again for me?"
"Ugh... I SAID that I hauled your Eevee-behind into my home last night after finding you out in the open black of night. The least yo-" The Cyndaquil's words were interrupted by the Eevee stranger.
"AN EEVEE?!" he shouted out, both suprised and scared. "Now now... Don't be joking with me here..." The Eevee looked down breifly at his body, then looked back up at the rude Cyndaquil. "Do I seriously look like an Eevee to-" He stopped and immediately looked back down at his body in disbelief.
"You're about as real of an Eevee as you can get, you know," the Cyndaquil laughed sarcastically, just now beginning to notice the panic-stricken expression on his guest's face. "Are you alright? You look like you've seen a ghost."
The Eevee's expression quickly changed from scared to angry. Seconds later, the Eevee leaped up with lightning speed and pinned the rodent down with both of his front paws.
"Don't be tugging my strings, you little rat!" the Eevee exploded. "Come clean to me! What have you done to me?!"
"What are you talking about?" the Cyndaquil inquired, now afraid of this high-tempered guest of his. "I dragged your butt out of harm's way! Anything could've happened to you out there when it's dark!"
"Don't play games with me, you lying rodent! Us humans don't just magically turn into a random pokemon, you know!" the Eevee angrily yelled back, applying more pressure to the Cyndaquil's chest.
A split second later, something hard slammed into his side, knocking him clear off the rodent and into a nearby den wall, knocking him unconscious again...
When he woke up again, he found himself stuck inside a wooden cage that was only about twice his body size in a room not too much bigger. Another pokemon stood on the other side of the wooden bars, but it wasn't the same rodent that he saw before. It was the same size as the Cyndaquil he had the run-in with, but this creature had a circle of tiny green spots around its neck with a large leaf about half its size extending from its head and curling over its neck all the way down to the middle of its back.
"We really didn't want to resort to this, but seeing as you tried hurting Andy, I see no choice until you keep that temper of yours from boiling over," a very displeased Chikorita stated in an unfriendly female tone.
"Andy? Who the heck is Andy? That rodent that refused to tell me what's going on around here?" the Eevee shot back.
"Yes. Him. And he DID explain what happened. YOU just weren't listening," she irritably explained. "If I should be this angry at someone for hurting a friend of mine, I should at least know their name."
"Fine. The name's... uhhhh..." the Eevee stopped. For some unknown reason, he couldn't bring himself to remember his own name. Concentrating, he tried to remember any other events that occured before this one. All he drew up was a blank and found himself unable to answer such a simple question.
"Well... I'm waiting," the Chikorita stated impatiently.
It was no use. He couldn't remember anything. Embarrassed, he turned his back to the Chikorita and layed down. Who AM I? he asked himself.
"Hmph. Have it your way, then. The name's Marlaina. Don't forget it." She turned away and walked out of the cramped room.
The Eevee closed his eyes and tears began sliding down his cheeks. Who am I?! Where am I?! What's happening?! the Eevee began panic-ly asking himself, shaking uncontrollably. He was unable to ask any of those questions. His tear trail soon became a developed river of salt water.
Chapter 2: One Worth Defending
The air was still and quiet. The only thing he could see were the wooden bars that kept him prisoner inside a den in the middle of some unknown area. No memory. No knowledge. No friends. Not even as much as a name. These thoughts alone made the Eevee very uneasy and all the more afraid of what lies on the other side of his wooden barrier. He would've given anything just to have someone to have a friendly chat with. A way to express what he's feeling with someone who would understand him.
Then, as if someone heard his thoughts, he heard a very faint noise echo into the den.
"Hello? Anyone out there?" he asked, desperately, hoping for a reply.
The reply came, all right, just not in the way he would've liked. A sinister, maniacal laugh echoed into the den made the imprisoned Eevee's hair stand on end. He didn't dare make an effort to reply to that.
The laughing came again shortly after, but more clearly heard than the last two times. He stood up and peered out of his cage as best he could to try to find the source of that scary laugh.
It came again, and this time, it was frighteningly close. The Eevee turned around quickly, swearing that he could've heard that laughter somewhere in the room he was in. His eyes darted back and forth, trying to identify the slightest trace of movement.
The laugh returned for the fourth time, and this time, he identified the source. To his dismay, he saw it emerging from the wall at the back of the room. It was an ugly figure. A very dark shade of purple appeared almost as if it were black under the cover of night and the added darkness of the den. Its face took up most of its body. Its large eyes glowed a rich and uncomforting red color with a very wide grin across his face, indicating a clear intent on committing mischief. This ghost-like figure was easily twice his size, if not more.
There was nowhere to run away from this Gengar as long as he was stuck in this cage. Desperately, he rammed the bar with his full body weight behind his tackles. The bars didn't budge one inch. The only thing he was achieving was a worse headache. The Gengar charged at his and the Eevee froze in fear. This Gengar was just about to make contact with him when suddenly...
A loud, high-pitched scream sounded through the den, snapping his eyes open instantly. The Eevee immediately examined his surroundings. He was still inside the wooden cage and no Gengar was in site. The den's slightly brighter appearance suggested that it was early morning, with the sun shining through the entrance.
The Eevee breathed a sigh of relief. It was just a dream, he reassured himself. The same high-pitch, painful, female scream that woke him up earlier de-confirmed that thought altogether, accompanied by a static electricity sound. He was quite sure that whoever was screaming outside the den was not enjoying themselves. In fact, they were suffering!
The caged Eevee put all of his previous thoughts to the side and concentrated all of his brain power on figuring out a out to tear down the sturdy wooden bars. There was really only one thing he could do. Backing up to the back-most side of the cage as he could, he charged forward with all of his strength towards the bars just like he did in his dream. The results were the same as the dream, too; a bigger headache with unscratched sturdy bars. Growling deeply, he ram the bar a second time, failing just as miserably as the first.
The painful scream sounded again, and the Eevee growled even deeper and rammed the bar a third time with increased determination from hearing the scream. This time, the bars made a loud crack. He examined the bars briefly, noting that he barely fractured the bar in the dead center of the front of the cage. Concentrating on this one bar, he mustered every ounce of his strength and rammed it with more force than he has exerted, yet. Another cracking sound accompanied the impact, but no snapping noise indicated that the bar was STILL intact.
Once again, the scream issued through the den, stirring up what energy was left in this determined Eevee. Growling with an even deeper tone than before, he once again mustered his strength up to the max and charged the fractured bar once again. This time, the bar gave in to his mad rush and made the desired snap that he wanted to hear. He tumbled onto the floor just outside of the room after smashing the bar to bits and layed there, exhausted from his escape.
The same familiar scream reminded him that he was not done yet. It took an incredible amount of strength to stand up and walk torward the entrance of the den, where the screaming was as clear as day. Once he peered around the entrance, his mouth dropped open at what he saw.
There was an Eevee, just like him, laying helplessly on the ground, struggling to get up, but didn't have enough strength to stand, much less fight back. Although they were the same species, it was clear that she was a female. The figure causing this agony for this young Eevee suprised him even more. Identical to the one in his dream, a Gengar was laughing maniacally.
"Hehe. You're so weak. I was hoping that you'd put up a better fight than this," he laughed. "You're just like your parents, unable to hold your own. You have to rely on Andy and Marlaina to do the fighting for you." He paused. "Buuuut, they're not here, right now. How careless of them."
The female Eevee barely lifted her head up to look at the Gengar and angrily, but weakly, said, "Don't t-talk ab-bout my p-parents that-t way," she stammered, using all of her strength so speak those words.
The Eevee back at the entrance frowned at the Gengar's actions. He knew that he had to put a stop to this right here and now.
As the Gengar prepared for another electric attack, the male Eevee made his move and quickly jumped in front of the attack just now launching, feeling a quick build-up warm energy building up in his body, bracing himself for the shock to come.
It never came. To his suprised, when he opened his eyes, he saw that the attack was being deflected by a glowing green shield. As Gengar electric attack disappeared, so did the protective shield and the warm energy that was built-up inside of him.
"Who are you, raining on my parade?" the Gengar asked angrily at this new Eevee blocking his attack.
"I think the real question is, what are doing? I don't believe that there should be any reason as to why you're attacking this Eevee," the male Eevee shot back.
The Gengar started getting irritated even more. "If you won't get out of my way, I'll make you!" it yelled back. It's red eyes started glowing a brighter red. The male Eevee become entranced and hypnotized instantly by the Hypnosis attack, quickly collapsing to the ground, falling asleep. The Gengar's glowed even brighter as it focused on the Eevee's sleeping form and began feeding on its dreams with its Dream Eater attack.
The male Eevee, helplessly at the mercy of Gengar's attack, twisted and turned painfully in his sleep, groaning loudly at the discomfort of Dream Eater. The female Eevee miraculously summoned up an amazing amount of energy that allowed her to stand up and absorb energy for a Shadow Ball attack. Gengar was so busy concentrating on the other Eevee that he didn't notice the female Eevee launching her fully-charged attack at the Gengar.
The Shadow Ball attack had no trouble finding its mark, causing a massive explosion on contact, and breaking Gengar's concentration entirely. The male Eevee woke up again at the sound of the explosion. His headache was at its max due to the attack he endured from Gengar. He could hardly see because his headache was so agonizingly painful. When he heard another static build-up through the smoke of the explosion, he knew that Gengar was about to launch another electric attack and well-knew that neither he, nor the Eevee he was defending, had the strength to dodge the attack.
Recalling what he did the last time he blocked Gengar's attack, he concentrating on gathering all the energy he could muster into the protective barrier that saved them both before. The barrier was put up just in time. Just as the electric attack came bursting through the smoke, the barrier was ready and deflected the attack once again. The barrier soon wore off, but it had done its job.
The Gengar gave a fierce roar of anger and charged at the male Eevee with a Focus Punch. As the Eevee began falling into a state of unconsciousness, the last thing he saw was a sudden powerful stream of fire that connected with Gengar squarely in the center and sent him flying back...
Chapter 3: Better Than Friends
When the male Eevee opened his eyes, he was a little suprised to find himself not in a cage, but in the same room where he woke up for the first time, where he and Andy had issues. He lifted his head and immediately took note of how it seemed much lighter than usual, a sure sign that his earlier headache had completely vanished.
The first thing he noticed as he lifted his head was the pile of berries that was in front of him. Normally, he wouldn't have considered trying to eat berries he'd never seen before, but then again, he hadn't eaten anything ever since he woke up here the first time. His stomach grumbled loudly, confirming that he wasn't just hungry, but starving. Hunger had complete control over his body as he quickly grabbed the first of the pink-colored berry and started taking bites out of it at a rapid pace, spilling berry juice over the other nearby berries and soaking his face. When he swallowed, his stomach growled a big thanks to him.
"Eat any faster and you'll choke," a familiar female tone laughed. The Eevee turned to see who it was. To his surprise, the speaker was the same female Eevee that he saw being harassed by the Gengar, and she looked perfectly fine, now. "I was beginning to winder if you would ever wake up after that grueling brawl with Darkhash two days ago."
The male Eevee's eyes widened. "TWO days?! I have been asleep for that long?"
The other Eevee nodded to his question.
He looked down at his stomach. "That explains why I'm so hungry," he laughed.
"I really appreciate what you did for me, back there. You saved my life," she thanked. "May I ask for your name?"
Great... The one question that anyone else could answer but him. On top of that, he was blushing at the compliment. He looked down embarrassingly and quietly said, "To be quite honest, I don't know. Ever since I woke up that other night, I haven't been able to remember a single thing before that." He slowly looked up, but didn't make eye contact. "You probably don't believe me, do you?"
The female smiled. "Of course I do. That's why I've been thinking up names to give to you during the past couple days, Ailfresi," she said in a friendly tone. "The name's Soljeki, by the way."
Ailfresi laughed a little. "Isn't 'Ailfresi' a little weird for a name of an Eevee?"
Soljeki smiled even more. "Well, after Andy and Marlaina mentioned how your were so cold to them, I thought that I'd give you a cold-like name," she giggled.
"Thanks for the non-compliment," Ailfresi laughed. "Where are they, anyhow?"
"They're outside gathering more berries. They're trying to get as wide of a variety as they can for you, hoping to score big n your favorite."
"Why are they doing that after how I treated them before?" Ailfresi asked with a confused expression.
"Well, for one, your risked your neck for me. Those two have raised me ever since..." Soljeki froze, then turned away. "Never mind."
It took Ailfresi a little while to figure it out. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to bring up such a sensitive subject," he apologized.
Soljeki looked back at Ailfresi. "Don't worry about it. It's just... I miss my parents," she said solemnly with closed eyes. Tears began developing in her eyes.
Ailfresi suddenly felt guilty for bringing it up. Wanting to correct his mistake, he got up and walked slowly over to Soljeki and started lightly stroking her with his tail while saying what he felt naturally came to him. "It's okay. I'm sure they'd be very proud of you," he reassured her.
"What do you mean?" she darted back. "I can't hold my own in a battle to save my own life!" she cried out, upset.
Ailfresi didn't flinch at this outburst and smiled even more. "Even if you can't save your own, you can save others... just like how you saved me from that Gengar's Dream Eater attack."
Soljeki made eye contact with him. "How did you know that?"
"Well, the explosion from your Shadow Ball kinda hinted that idea a bit. After all, Cyndaquils and Chikoritas can't learn Shadow Ball, and I most certainly couldn't use one, being in the jam that I was in." He paused. "Thank you."
Soljeki took this in for a moment, then shook off her tears and smiled back at Ailfresi, blushing heavily. "Thank you. I can't begin to tell you just how much that means to me," she thanked him back.
Ailfresi now found himself blushing at yet another compliment. "Well... I... I couldn't just stand there and watch everything unfold, you know," he said, looking away to hide his blushing. He couldn't hide his smile.
After a period of silence, Soljeki spoke. "Well, I better go wait by the entrance. Andy and Marlaina should be back soon. You should get some more berries in your stomach while we wait," she suggested. She gave Ailfresi a gentle lick on the cheek, and then headed to her waiting spot.
Ailfresi was as still as ice, just beginning to take in what just happened and started to smile. Another grumbling sound from his stomach interrupted his thoughts, reminding him that he was still very hungry from the lack of food during the past two days. He grabbed another pink Pecha Berry and began eating it. As the fresh sweet taste settled in his mouth, warm thoughts of the kiss flooded back into his mind.
Chapter 4: Birth of a New Life
"They're back! And with my favorite berries, too!" Soljeki cried out cheerfully by the entrance. She wasted no time in rushing out to meat Andy and Marlaina.
Ailfresi was trying to hurriedly finish off the Pecha Berry he was on, almost choking on it in the process. Once finished, he rushed out of the den and was blinded by the midday sun. He hadn't been outside at midday like this at all during his two and a half day stay, so naturally, his eyes weren't used to the intense sunlight yet. Still, even so, he was able to make out the silhouettes of Andy and Marlaina. One other pokemon that was about three times their size was following them, holding a spoon in each hand. Ailfresi became nervous seeing this figure, but immediately sensed that there was no threat from this giant being and calmed down.
"Okay, okay okay. We're glad to see you, too, but lets at least get inside, hun," Marlaina laughed.
Once they reached the den, the giant pokemon said to Andy, "I'll wait out here while you get things sorted out in there."
"Alright. I wish you could come inside, but your body size doesn't really allow it, unfortunately," Andy joked. "Thanks, Alakazam."
"Anytime. Let me know when ya'll are ready," Alakazam said.
Ailfresi was about to go inside when he looked up at Alakazam and noticed that he was staring at him intensely. This made Ailfresi feel uneasy despite how he knew that Alakazam wasn't an enemy. Wanting to break this uncomfortable gaze, he quickly rushed inside.
Marlaina noticed Ailfresi walk in and came up to him with some berries. "We didn't know what you might like, so we got as many different kinds as we could. I'm sure you're hungry."
Ailfresi's stomach did the speaking for him. "Thanks, Marlaina," he replied as he took a couple of the new berries.
"Soljeki is crazy about the Leppa berries you're holding. It's her favorite kind."
Ailfresi laughed. "That explains why she was excited when you and Andy were finally back." Ailfresi was for the first time at ease around Marlaina and Andy. It was as if what occurred when they first met didn't happen at all. He would've never guessed that they had a nice side.
"We were beginning to worry about you when you wouldn't wake up during the past two days. Are you feeling better?" she asked.
"Yeah, I'm doing fine... but..." Ailfresi forced a frowned. "Why exactly are you nice all of a sudden? Two days ago, you had me in a cage, yelling at me," he laughed.
"Soljeki explained what happened during the Darkhash incident."
"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess that Darkhash is that Gengar I saw," Ailfresi guessed.
"Correct. We're very grateful to you for protecting Soljeki until we got back, and it seemed that we got back just in time, too. Gengar was about to finish you."
Ailfresi quickly recalled the stream of fire that knocked Gengar back prior to falling unconscious. "So that's where that Flamethrower came from. Andy launched it, right?"
Marlaina nodded.
Ailfresi started feeling a little guilty about his aggressiveness towards Andy and Marlaina. After all, they were only trying to help him, and he pushed them away, instead. "Hey, about before... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to act like such a jerk towards you two."
"Eh. Don't sweat it. We just had a misunderstanding that merely took a wrong turn," Andy replied suddenly. "Freak things like that happen. Besides, after how you helped Soljeki, how could we not forgive you?" he laughed.
"Thanks, Andy, but Soljeki deserves some credit, too."
Soljeki froze. She began blushing again, knowing what Ailfresi was about to say.
"She's the one that saved me from Darkhash's Dream Eater attack," Ailfresi explained gratefully, finally getting around to eating the Leppa berry that he was given. His eyes grew wide at the amazing taste. He now understood why Soljeki loved these berries so much. "Wow... I'll have seconds of these if you don't mind."
Soljeki suddenly approached Ailfresi, still blushing, with two more Leppa berries in her mouth, holding them by the stems that were still attached, offering them.
Ailfresi was glad to have a dense fur coat, because if Soljeki didn't catch him turning red before, she would've seen it now. "Th-thanks," he stuttered back, nervously plucking the berries off the stems when his mouth.
"Ailfresi?" Andy asked.
"How did you know my name?" Ailfresi asked. It wasn't but a split second later that he knew why. "Wait... Soljeki told you the name she'd given to me, didn't she?" he asked, laughing.
Soljeki blushed again.
"I see you read minds," he joked, then cleared his throat. "Alakazam wants a word with you when you're finished eating, Ailfresi."
Ailfresi suddenly tensed up again. The last thing he wanted to do was talk with someone whose stare was very intimidating. Still, he nodded at Andy's heads-up and finished the berry he was chewing. "I'll go talk to him now. I've finished my fill, anyways," he reluctantly said. He looked over at Soljeki. "I'll be right back." He then turned towards the entrance where Alakazam waited.
Soljeki blushed once again. What is this strange feeling? Whenever he looks or talks to me, I feel strange. She couldn't quite identify her strange emotions.
"You wanted to see me, uhhh... sir?" Ailfresi asked Alakazam a little nervously.
He looked down at Ailfresi. "Yes. I wanted to talk to you about what happened two night ago. Do you recall what happened?"
Ailfresi sighed, really wanting to avoid this subject, but he answered, anyways. "Well, lets just put it this way... I wasn't really nice to Andy and Marlaina. They were trying to help me and I got aggressive towards them for almost no reason."
"Huh?" Alakazam realized that he and Ailfresi were not on the same page. "No, I don't think you got what I was asking about. I mean before that," he clarified.
A chill fell down his spine. If only I knew that... I still can't remember anything beyond the moment I met Andy, he thought to himself. He looked down, embarrassed once again, then looked back up at Alakazam, deciding to come out straight. "To be honest, I don't remember anything earlier than that... Not even my own name."
"Wait... I thought your name was Ailfresi..."
"It is, but only because Soljeki was kind enough to make up that name for me. I don't remember my real name," Ailfresi answered, now even more embarrassed. "You probably don't believe me, do you?"
Alakazam shook his head. "I can tell that you're speaking the truth. You don't have to be ashamed about anything. I'm just trying to understand your situation here."
"What do you mean?" Ailfresi asked, completely confused by what Alakazam was saying.
"Andy told me that two nights ago, you appeared in mid-air accompanied by blinding light, and then fell to the ground like a rock. I have witnessed my own handful of phenomenon through out my life, but never heard anything about a pokemon materializing like that," Alakazam explained.
"So... Was I created? I don't feel like I've just been born. I feel that I have an actual past. Other friends. Another life. But unfortunately I just can't bring myself to remember anything of the mentioned."
"I sensed that, too. When I layed my eyes on you, I could immediately tell that you weren't just a normal Eevee," he explained more. Alakazam paused, pondering to himself.
"What can I do to help find out who I am?" Ailfresi asked, desperately, immediately wishing that he didn't ask at all. Oh great... I just sounded like an idiot asking that.
Alakazam suddenly seemed to have had an idea, but then frowned. He turned to Ailfresi and started staring into his eyes intensely, as if studying him, just like before. And just like before, Ailfresi felt extremely uncomfortable because of this staring contest. He was about to speak when Alakazam broke his gaze and looked out into the, the beautiful mountains taking up the background far in the distance.
"There is a rumor about a secret ice cave located at the peak of those mountains," Alakazam began. "Common myths that have been passed down for centuries state that only pokemon with a desire to find information without using it can be guided to the cave. As a result, virtually no one has ever found the cave. Harsh weather conditions, along with very territorial pokemon have detoured most pokemon away from those mountains. Some were even killed during their journey to find it. Those that were able to deal with the physical strain were never able to find the cave entrance because they had no guide. Only one pokemon has ever found the sacred cave. A young and mysterious Glaceon. His origin was unknown, but everyone that knew him liked his kind personality. Unfortunately, even though he had found the cave, something in there changed his life forever. When he returned, he refused to talk to anyone about what had happened. To this day, no one knows what he experienced."
Questions flooded Ailfresi mind. Why is he telling me this? Does it relate to me? Who was this Glaceon? He continued listening to Alakazam.
"Ailfresi, I believe it would be in your best interest to try finding this cave," Alakazam suggested.
He couldn't believe what Alakazam just told him. Okay, he's crazy... Just now, he told me three things that all indicated that this is a suicidal task. For one, whether conditions and territorial pokemon that show no mercy. Secondly, only ONE pokemon, a Glaceon, has ever found the cave... out of millions of pokemon over the course of THREE HUNDRED years! No one else succeeded in even locating it. And thirdly, even that Glaceon didn't make it back! And now he's expecting me to find this cave despite how 90% of all pokemon that set out on this journey never came back?! Ailfresi felt like a volcano ready to erupt, but he held it, not wanting to make the same mistake he committed with Andy and Marlaina. "If you don't mind me asking, what makes you believe that I could find this cave against all the odds you stated?"
"To be honest, I really don't know. But if you want to retrieve your memory, this may be your only good bet. It's up to you whether or not you want to go. Let your heart be your guide," Alakazam paused. "I apologize if my answer wasn't the one you were looking for."
Ailfresi shook his head and glared at Alakazam with distaste. "If you think I'm that desperate to retrieve just a few memories, then you can forget it. Two and a half days may have already passed, but I have already gained three valuable, irreplaceable friends. I am not about to leave them after we have just begun to understand each other..." he stated in a strong, mildly angry tone. He turned around and started back into the den, then stopped to say one more thing. "You wanted me to follow my heart... Well, I just now spoke from it."
Alakazam didn't utter a word, but rather smiled as he watch Ailfresi disappear into the den. He admired this Eevee's spirit.
Chapter 5: A Glimpse of the Past
"Are you okay?" Soljeki inquired worryingly, noticing Ailfresi's dull expression as he walked by.
Ailfresi avoided eye contact. "Yeah, I'm fine... I just need time alone," he mentioned quietly.
Everyone else looked at each other confused as Ailfresi disappeared into a nearby room. Soljeki became especially concerned.
"I'll go talk to him," Marlaina thought out loud, getting up.
"Wait." Soljeki's voice halted Marlaina's motion. "Let me go, instead."
Marlaina looked at Soljeki, not really suprised. "Alright, hun. Go ahead," she said with a smile.
Soljeki nodded gratefully, thanked her, then walked towards the room were Ailfresi rested.
Andy waited for Soljeki to leave the living room completely before he spoke. "How could I be so stupid!" Andy angrily yelled at himself, punching the ground with his tiny arm. We shouldn't have asked him what happened during the night I found him. It was way too early. We should've waiting until..."
Marlaina stopped Andy. "I don't think it would've been any different if we had asked even two months from now," Marlaina hypothesized. "Lets have a word with Alakazam before we jump to any more conclusions, alright?"
Andy reluctantly nodded, still feeling very guilty.
Soljeki walked into the room noticing Ailfresi laying down with his behind facing the door. "Ail?"
Ailfresi didn't respond to the new shortened nickname. He merely lowered his head to the ground.
Soljeki walked around to his side and peered into his eyes, immediately sensing mixed emotions of anger and sadness. "Ailfresi, what's wrong?"
He briefly looked towards Soljeki's way, then returned his head to its original position. He said nothing for a few seconds. "Why did he want to send me away like that?" he asked, depressed, then looked up at Soljeki. "Why?" Tears began swelling in his eyes. "Does he not want me here, or what?" he inquired, his already shaky tone becoming more angry and louder as he spoke each word. "Just because I'm different? Because all I have is a two-day old memory? Because I can't remember my own name?!" he yelled out, shaking violently with tears soaking his cheeks.
Soljeki flinched at this outburst, but remained positioned where she was. Her expression wore a state of surprise.
"I'm sorry... I didn't mean to explode on you like that," he cried, still shaking considerably.
"I know," she said quietly. "It's okay, Ail. You don't have to tell me if you're too uncomfortable discussing it."
He shook his head. "No, it's okay. I guess I just needed someone to talk to. Someone that will understand me, who or whatever I am," he said, still shaking, but not as much.
Soljeki licked Ailfresi's sticky wet cheek. "You can tell me anything you want at anytime. I'm here for you," she comforted him.
After those words, Ailfresi's little body stopped shaking so much and found himself making eye contact with her. "Thanks, Sunny."
She blushed a little at the new nickname and smiled, not bothering to hide her face. "So... What did Alakazam tell you?" she inquired, getting back on the subject.
Ailfresi broke eye contact and looked around, still shaking ever so slightly. "He wanted to know what happened the night Andy found me." He paused, taking a deep breath. "I told him that I couldn't remember anything... That all I knew was what I have seen during the past days. That was all I could remember out of my whole life."
"So that explains why you couldn't answer me when I asked for you name, right?" she tried clarifying.
Ailfresi gave a slow nod and continued speaking. "After that, he told me that I should go looking for some secret cave up in the mountains that hardly anyone has found. He wanted me to leave here and go find that place to get my memory back. Leave Andy... Leave Marlaina... Even leave you... Forget about everything you guys have done for me... All in the name of getting my memory back. It's like he was telling me to leave immediately in a 'nice' way, as if I didn't belong here..." Ailfresi broke down again, crying in short bursts.
Soljeki stroked stoked his back, trying to calm him down. "There's nothing wrong with leaving here to get your memory back if you want to," she spoke in a soothing sweet tone.
"That's the problem. I don't. I don't want to leave you guys." He looked up at Soljeki, making eye contact again. "I don't want to leave you."
Soljeki blushed, hardly believing what she just heard.
Ailfresi looked away again, up towards the ceiling. "Getting my memory back will mean nothing if I have no one to share it with. I don't mind being absent of past memories as long as long I know you guys. I would chose this life over everything else even if it meant never retrieving my memory because of that."
"I guess I can see where you're coming from... only from a different perspective..." Soljeki sadly stated.
Ailfresi quickly saw where this was going. "You don't have to talk abou-"
Soljeki interrupted him. "No, I need someone to talk to about it. I need to get it out of my system sooner of later."
Ailfresi nodded, understanding every word.
She gave a big sigh and began. "Six months ago, I lived near a lake not too far from here. I still remember clear, vivid images of my parents. Rayshana, a Flareon, was my mother, while my father was a Glaceon named Mist. They were both very kind and caring. They both loved me so very much. There was nothing that could've altered our love for each other. I thought we'd always be together. Then one day, something happened, and it changed everyone's lives." Soljeki had a little difficulty speaking, trying to hold back her tears.
Ailfresi stroked Soljeki's back in the same manner she stroked his, trying to comfort her.
"One day, my dad told my mom and I that he was going to go up into the mountains for something. He didn't specify what, but assured us that he'd be back within the next week. But during that promised time period, he never returned.
The week following that, he finally came home, a changed person. What was once my loving and active dad was instead depressed and lonely. We tried to get him to talk about it, but he refused to speak a word about it. He would go for days without eating anything.
I still remember Mom crying multiple times throughout each day ever since my dad returned. I would ask her what was wrong, but she said nothing. Then, on a morning about three days later, we noticed that he left note that said he had left and was never coming back. It broke my mom's heart, along with her will to live. Heartbroken, she left me and never returned.
For the first time in my life, I felt alone. I still remember crying myself to sleep because I was so scared. When I woke up, I found myself in this very room, with Andy and Marlaina waiting for me to wake up. When I asked where my mom was, Marlaina told me that she had been killed by Darkhash. I was never the same again." Soljeki suddenly broke down, shaking violently and crying uncontrollably.
Ailfresi continued stroking her and tried to calm her down with repetitive, quiet, and soothing words. "It's okay... It's okay... Calm down... It's okay..." He put his paw over Soljeki's to provide a little more comfort.
After a good number of seconds passed during which Ailfresi was trying to calm Soljeki down, she finally stopped crying and her violent shaking became a thing of the past. She looked back at Ailfresi and smiled. "Thanks, Ail. I feel much better, now. I am glad to finally have that off my shoulders."
Ailfresi smiled, bushing to the smallest degree. "It's the least I could do. However, I would like to clarify something if you don't mind."
Soljeki tilted her head. "Sure."
"You said that you're father was a Glaceon, right? And that he went into the mountains to do something..."
Soljeki nodded, still not understanding what Ailfresi was getting to.
"When Alakazam and I were talking today, he said that only one pokemon had found the secret ice cave that I mentioned earlier."
"You're kidding right?" she tried joking, not believing this.
Ailfresi shook his head. "And there's more. He said that when the Glaceon returned, he was depressed and refused to tell anyone what he experienced."
Soljeki's eyes widened. "Are you saying that you think... my father..."
Ailfresi nodded before she finished her sentence.
Chapter 6 coming soon!
