EVERYONE: - Ongoing Brave Warrior (Ch.11)

[MistyRocks]

Well, this is something I've been toying with the idea for while... But I'm only actually just starting to write it, I'm working on the first few chapters like, cuz I would appreciate feedback of sorts.

Anyway, if anyone reads then lemme know what you think. Sorry if it's not that well written but I've only just started writing again after about a year.

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Prologue

The sun had been in the sky for less than two hours before the first person had come walking up the empty road. The village was quiet, almost as though nobody lived there at all and anybody who didn’t know the region would wonder why every year there was a sort of pilgrimage to this tiny place.

By the lake, sitting on the rocks, was a girl and a little dog-like pokémon. Tegan had been there since before the sun had come up, just sitting and waiting for the first people to arrive. She nodded as the first person walked past her and watched them walk up a small dirt path to the laboratory. Then she smiled, knowing they’d have a long wait ahead of them before it would open.

It was tradition for her every year to sit by the lake and watch the trainers gather, then help the professor as he rounded up and handed out the pokémon, which was always a sad time for her. Tegan had worked as aide to the professor since she’d turned twelve and hadn’t undertaken a pokémon journey herself, and every year she helped him raise and take care of the pokémon which would be given to trainers to begin their journeys.

After five years she was starting to grow a little restless. Tegan had lived in the same tiny village and had the same job all that time and part of her was dying for any sort of adventure. Her father and the professor had tried to convince her time and again to go on a pokémon journey and though she’d told them she felt too mature to go on one, the real reason was her mother.

When Tegan was five, her mother, Jay, had decided take up her old passion of pokémon training and start the journey that began in their village. Before settling down to raise a family, Tegan’s mother had been one of the highest ranked trainers in the world. Her father had also been a skilled trainer a long time ago, but had given it up after losing his favourite pokémon in a tragic accident.

Jay never made it far on her journey; she never even made it out of the village. She demolished the local gym leader in their battle, didn’t even give her a chance, but when she stopped in the pokémon centre there was a horrible accident.

Thugs burst in just as Jay had left her pokémon in to be looked over. They demanded every pokémon in the place, which was quite a few considering it was the day that all the beginning trainers had received their pokémon.

Even after receiving the pokémon the thugs weren’t pleased with the chaos they’d caused. While backing out the door, one threw an explosive devise in amongst the crowd. They barred the doors and escaped. Everyone in the building was killed.

Since then Ave Village had been even quieter than before, only four families continued to live there and they had never rebuilt the pokémon centre. And Tegan never pursued her adoration of pokémon even though her father had given her a pokémon as a present when she’d turned fifteen and she hadn’t spent a day parted from it.

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Yeah, that was just the prologue purely for a bit of background. Chapter 1's done but I haven't proof-read it properly yet (when I'm in front of the computer I tend to just keep typing, I have to force myself to go back over what I wrote ^^;;; )

Oh and BBP, can you edit the titles here?

 

[Fig]

Sure we can. Who do you think experimented with the whole thing and told the TPMers how to do it? *grins*

As for the rest, the fact that you haven't written in a while is apparent enough - there's something about the writing, it seems stilted at time, as if you had trouble finding the proper flow. Of course, that's to be expected when one starts writing again after a while.

That said, good start ; and the trademark darker/more mature approach of yours is plenty apparent already.

*grins* I'll be waiting for more.

 

[MistyRocks]

Hey BBP, thanks for the lil vote of confidence. When I was writing the prologue I was forcing myself to do it cuz I hate starting fics, but I really wanted to write this, I knew I'd enjoy it once I got going. The past two days I've stayed up to ungodly hours thanks to this thing.

Oh, and Tyger's back in action here, which is great. So there'll be a little more activity. That being said, people are more active here than over on TPM...

Anyway, I'll update. Bear in mind, I'm still getting into the flow tho, once I've gotten used to writing again I'm gonna edit the prologue and the first couple of chapters to hopefully get them to flow better...

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Chapter 1

“Tegan! Tegan, can you come up here a minute?” Professor Cedar called out through the front door of his laboratory. He was preparing to open the lab to the trainers and begin giving out the pokémon. Although he always began preparing for this day as early as possible he was never anywhere near as organized as he hoped he would be, especially when Tegan decided to go say goodbye to her favourite pokémon, she could take all day saying goodbye to just one.

Professor Cedar began organizing the pokéballs into different piles according to different types of pokémon. Every now and then he glanced out his window at the gathering crowd of trainers and sighed when he thought of how much work he had ahead of him. Even if he didn’t have to give a pokéball to every trainer who showed up, he at least had to register them which was simple enough but time consuming.

Opening the door again, Professor Cedar yelled, “Tegan! Where the… ahem,” he paused when he saw how young some of the kids standing around were. “Tegan, get up here now, I need you!”

“Hey Professor, when does the lab open?” the boy at the top of the line asked. The other kids started shuffling behind him and mumbling things like, “yeah, when do we get our pokémon?” and, “how come you’re not ready yet?”

Professor Cedar gave the boy a withering look and closed the door in his face. A few minutes after going back to work, the door opened and Tegan walked in looking a little flushed, a growlithe at her heel. She patted Professor Cedar on the shoulder and gave him a friendly grin, then wandered over to the computer to start working.

“You took your time,” the professor observed, giving her a sideways glance.

“Seriously, it’s like stupidly packed out there. Me and Ty had to shove our way past the people. We’re lucky we moved all the water pokémon up from the lake yesterday, there’s no way we’d be able to go back and forth collecting them through that crowd,” Tegan muttered as she fiddled with the computer.

“That reminds me, how’s Romy doing?” the professor asked, referring to the last water pokémon left in the lake, a little sick dratini.

Romy, the ill dratini, had been found by Tegan while she’d been walking in the hills that towered over the village. Those hills had been rumoured to house dratinis, along with other pokémon which were so rare no one in the village could identify them, but the hills were incredibly rugged at the best of times and totally impassable at the worst so no one had investigated much up there.

Tegan had stumbled across Romy while she’d been walking along some of the lower, easier paths. Romy was lying at the edge of the path in a bush but Tyler, Tegan’s growlithe, sniffed her out. She was unconscious, with what looked like bite wounds in her side. After looking around for while to see where the little dratini could have come from, Tegan eventually picked her up and carried to the laboratory for Professor Cedar to look at her.

“Eh, she’s fine. She’s lookin’ real lively. I was explaining what today’s all about and why all the other water pokémon had gone up the lab and I think she’s kinda jealous,” Tegan laughed. She furrowed her eyebrows the turned away from the computer screen. “How come Romy’s on the list of pokémon that you’re giving away?”

With an embarrassed smile, Professor Cedar turned to face Tegan. “Well now, you see it’s an interesting situation,” he began, clearing his throat. “I’ve been talking with this established trainer who’s an old friend and I was telling him about you and Romy and he expressed some interest in her. As he’s not a beginning trainer he doesn’t actually need any pokémon to start this league with, but the thought of adding a dratini to his team excited him. He doesn’t mind that she’s not quite in full health because I explained to him that it’s just a matter of weeks before she’ll be in perfect condition.”

Tegan raised an eyebrow. “So you’re giving Romy to some guy?”

“Now Tegan, it’s not just “some guy”, you’ll see. It’s not like you want her anyway. You already stated many times that you don’t want to take part in the pokémon league,” Professor Cedar reminded her.

Tegan shrugged and turned back to the computer. “Just would’ve been nice if you let me know you were giving her away.”

The professor gave her a concerned look when she turned her back. “Her trainer isn’t arriving until later this afternoon to collect her, after the crowds have died down. So you’ll get a chance to get to know him and then you’ll see she’s going to be fine with him.” Clearing his throat, he changed the subject, “now I think it would probably be a good idea if we start rounding up the pokémon. Take the pokéballs for the grass types and go collect them.”

“Yes sir,” Tegan mumbled. She stuffed her pockets full of pokéballs, picking them up randomly from the table and ruining Professor Cedar’s organizing, then she strolled out the back door to start collecting the pokémon.

Sitting on the fence and pointing pokéballs randomly at the grass type pokémon, Tegan turned to Ty for counsel. “Do you think I’m just being stubborn now?” She didn’t elaborate; the growlithe knew what she meant. But he just sat by the fence, his tongue lolling out and his eyes flicking between her and the pokémon. “Yeah, you’re probably right,” she muttered with a heavy sigh.

When the grass pokémon were all in their pokéballs, Tegan left them into the lab, collected the pokéballs for the water types and took them out of their makeshift pond, then did the same with the fire type pokémon. Eventually the pokémon were ready for the trainers, and Professor Cedar had the computer ready to start registering the trainers when they came through the door.

“Prof, I’ve got a question,” Tegan said as she sat up on a table.

“Fire away,” the professor replied as he went to let the first trainer in.

“How come professors always give water, grass and fire type pokémon to trainers?” Tegan asked, kicking her legs and looking at the ceiling thoughtfully.

“Tradition? Conformity? I don’t know, Tegan. It’s just always been like that. I’m sure there’s some weird reason behind it. I just happen to like those types myself, so it works out alright,” Professor Cedar replied with a shrug, and then he flung the laboratory’s main doors open, almost smacking the boy at the head of the queue in the face. “Alright trainers, this way! Tegan, you hand out the pokéballs, I’ll handle the computer.”

With a sigh, Tegan took her place behind the piles of pokéballs. When the first beginning trainer came up to her, she asked them what type they wanted, handed them and pokéball and pointed them towards the professor. She had no idea how many times she’d have to repeat the routine, but she was bored of it already.

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After the dullest, most tiring day Tegan had experienced in a year, the last trainer finally left Professor Cedar’s laboratory and the doors were closed. Tegan slumped on a chair and yawned, so bored that her head ached.

“Remind me to get a better job,” Tegan told Ty as she scratched his head.

Professor Cedar looked up from the computer as he finished up. “What was that, Tegan?”

“Nothing,” Tegan responded dismissively. “So, when’s your pal getting her to take away Romy?” she asked as she petted Ty, ruffling his ears and tickling his belly.

“Soon enough. Let’s go down to the lake to put Romy in a pokéball and while we’re down there we can watch Erin battling some of the new trainers,” Professor Cedar suggested as he pocketed a pokéball and headed for the door.

Tegan sighed but followed him. They walked down the short path which lead from the lab to the lake and sat down on the rocks beside the water. On the far side of the lake there was a battling area which the local gym leader used. There was a gym in the village, but the gym leader preferred the field because her pokémon were grass types and the gym wasn’t suitably kitted out for them.

Across the water the Ave gym leader, Erin, was fighting it out with a trainer on the field. Usually, the more established trainers took on the gym leader over the first few days while the beginning trainers battled amongst themselves and took on wild pokémon. The beginning trainers obviously couldn’t build their pokémon to a standard that would rival the more experienced, but Erin kept pokémon of different levels so that even the beginning trainers had a chance when they faced her.

The challenging trainer had a pidgeotto flying above the battlefield. He was practically hopping up and down, shouting encouragement to his pokémon. In comparison, Erin stood calmly on her side of the field, a weepinbell stood near her, seeming to be as focused as its trainer.

“Wing attack, now!” the trainer barked at its pokémon, which turned and dived at its opponent.

Erin stood and watched, biding her time. “Stun spore!” she cried when the bird pokémon was too close to make an escape. The weepinbell sprayed its paralysing spores, covering the pidgeotto.

Tegan and Professor Cedar watched from their comfortable position on the bank of the lake as the challenger’s pokémon fell from the air. When it hit the ground, Professor Cedar produced the pokéball from his pocket and pointed it at Romy.

“Hey! Just you hold on a minute!” Tegan growled, stepping in front of the pokéball. “Gonna tear us apart so soon, eh? Least give me a chance to say goodbye to her!” With that, she turned her back on Professor Cedar and knelt down to Romy.

The little dratini was up on the rocks, by the human’s feet. She looked up at Tegan as she knelt down and squirmed her way towards her. Tegan gathered the little pokémon in her arms and picked her up, the dratini snuggling against her. Professor Cedar just stood by and waited.

“Ah, Tegan, Romy, here he comes!”

Tegan, Romy and the ever-present Ty, looked up together. Coming up the only path which led away from the town was a young man. He was tall, very well built and rugged. He had the look of someone who’d been out exploring the world for years on end. Before he’d reached the group, Tegan let out a gasp of recognition.

“Kovu.”

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Ok, tedious and slow at the best of times... but I'm very slowly building up momentum...

 

[MistyRocks]

I'm bored, someone come talk to me... I should be studying for my exams, but it turns out that's even more boring then sitting around staring at a computer screen...

While I'm here,

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Chapter 2

The word had been barely spoken above a whisper, but he had read it on her lips and it brought a smile out on his face, his silver eyes shimmering. He joined the group and dropped an old, battered rucksack on the ground, pokéballs rattling together in it. All eyes were on him, and he seemed to enjoy it, as he swept a hand through his shaggy two-tone, black and brown hair, and hunkered down next to Tegan.

“So you remember?” Kovu said with a quiet laugh.

Tegan cleared her throat and brushed her hair out of her eyes. She felt absurdly paranoid with Kovu’s eyes on her. “Of course I remember you,” she said with a nervous laugh, half smiling.

He looked so different since the last time she’d seen him, but he was definitely Kovu. The unforgettable spark of mischief in his eyes was still there but it was accompanied with a sense of composure and self confidence which was humbling. It definitely wasn’t the Kovu which had left the small village so many years before.

Kovu reached out and ruffled Tegan’s hair. “So you cut it! You always said you wanted to be a boy when we were kids, so you’re finally living out your dream?” he teased, laughing as his handed was batted away.

“No! Still a jerk then, yeah?” Tegan replied with a cheeky smile, relaxing around her old friend. “I’ve been working in the laboratory. It’s easier to have short hair when you’re working with pokémon.” She waved her hand dismissively. “Who cares about my hair, what the hell are you doing back here anyway?”

“Well, after we moved away I became a trainer, T!” Kovu exclaimed, jumping up. Arms outstretched, he turned around. “I mean, look at me! You think I could become such a scruff living the high life?!” He dropped back to the ground with a laugh. “Man, it’s the life. I mean, just me and my pokémon travelling. Only each other for company, battling the wilderness… Do you’ve any idea what the sky looks like in the middle of the night when you’re lying on your back in the mountains? I’m good too. I’m not the best trainer there ever was, but I could be.”

Tegan rolled her eyes. “Always had such a big ego…” She pushed him off balance playfully, then a seriously look came over her face. “Is it really that great?”

Kovu nodded enthusiastically. “Oh you wouldn’t believe it! Though, you gotta have a sense of adventure… I don’t know if you’re tough enough for it.” He gave her a sneaky sideways glance and a grin. “You always were chicken.”

“Eh, what was that?” she replied indignantly. “You know you were never braver than me.”

A mischievous smile appeared on Kovu’s face. “Oh, yeah? I remember a certain girl who couldn’t keep up with me when we went up the mountain that time…” He looked across the lake and appeared to pay attention to the pokémon battle which was still going on, the challenger was making a comeback.

Thumping him on the shoulder, Tegan growled, “that was ‘cause I was smaller than you. It wasn’t fair! How was I meant to keep up? I can’t believe you’re bringing that up. That was years ago!”

“Six, to be exact,” Kovu reminded her. “Anyway, I bet things haven’t changed, I bet you couldn’t keep up.”

Tegan rolled her eyes. “You’re forgetting that those stupid hills are really rough, we’re not going to get far anyway, and there’s no way you’ll get farther than me,” she informed him, with a confident smile. “And you can’t use your pokémon.”

With a cheer, Kovu leapt to his feet. “Ha ha, I’ll take it you accept my challenge!” he cried triumphantly. He took Romy from Tegan’s arms and placed her back in the lake. “I’ll take her when we get back. Now, let’s get going!”

Tegan climbed to her feet, looking about for Professor Cedar. He’d wandered away while they were talking, leaving them to get reacquainted, although he more than likely hadn’t expected them to go on some competitive climb up an impassable hill. Calling Ty to her side, from where he was running up and down the water’s edge playing with Romy, Tegan set off after Kovu who was marching ahead, towards the hills.

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Next to Ave Village, there was a group of hills. While they weren’t too high, they were jagged and rough, very unpleasant for walking. Few people wasted their time trying to walk through them, although the occasional trainer ventured up them in search of rare pokémon which supposedly made the hills their home. The trainers which explored the hills never told anyone what was up there, so people just speculated, not too concerned either way.

From below the hills were beautiful. They were covered in vegetation; plants sprouted even from the rocks. Along the top of the hills grew huge trees which could have been hiding anything, and they probably were considering the strange sounds which rang occasionally across the village.

The three of them, Tegan, Kovu and Ty, followed the overgrown path nonchalantly. At times they had to beat their way through shrubs but they kept a steady pace. They didn’t talk until they took their first break when the path was starting to get difficult.

“How have you been?” Kovu asked with a concerned tone to his voice.

Looking out of the corner of her eye at him, Tegan smirked. “Fine Kovu, just fine. Why do you ask?”

“’Cause, I wanna know,” he replied, playfully nudging her, “what the hell you’re still doing in this place… We were friend since we were babies! I thought I knew you better than anyone, and what I thought was that you’d be out of this place as soon as you could. So what’re you still doing here? I gotta know.”

Tegan smiled and shrugged. “I grew up Kovu, that’s what happened. I just grew up.”

“Bullshit! Complete bullshit T, and you know it.” He gave her a long look then sat back and assumed a more respectful tone. “Your mom?”

“Shut up and mind your business!” Tegan snapped at him, getting to her feet.

Kovu stuck out his foot and tripped her up, watching her crash to the ground with a yawn. “Don’t act hard with me. We talked about it when we were kids, I don’t get why you’re closing up on me now.” When Tegan just glared at him, he rolled his eyes. “Fine, be as damn well stubborn as you please but we’re not moving ‘til you talk to me.”

Grumbling to herself, Tegan sat up and looked at him. “It was different then. You were there for me,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “After you left it was just me and Dad… We’re happy though. We do okay.”

“Man, I’m gonna need a shovel with all the shit that’s coming outta you.”

“Ew, shut up Kovu. Don’t be gross.” She sighed and ran her hand over her short bleach-blonde hair. “Okay, so I’ll never get out of this place, so I’ll never get to kick your ass in a pokémon league, and so I’ll never get to see the world… I can live with that.”

“Your dad, huh? You don’t want to leave him alone, which is understandable. Actually, it’s kinda admirable that you’d give up your happiness for him,” Kovu said with a respectful nod.

Tegan gave him a filthy look. “Stop analysing me, you idiot.” She climbed to her feet. “Let’s keep walking.” And she strode off ahead.

Kovu was quickly by her side and they restarted their trek up the hill. Competing against each other, especially with Tegan still annoyed with Kovu, they kept walking longer than they would have alone, although it was in silence. When the path disappeared into rocks and plant life, the three of them, Ty included, scrambled over, through and around the obstacles. Before they knew it, for the first time for anyone of them, they stood on top of the hill.

“Whoa…” Tegan gasped when she realised she couldn’t go any higher, unless she was to climb one of the nearby trees.

“Farthest you got after all this time?” Kovu asked as he wandered off amongst the trees.

Tegan followed slowly behind him. “Yeah, it’s not like I tried though.”

They trolled through the trees silently for a while, looking around them. Neither of them wanted to say but they were a little uneasy. It was starting to get dark out and they didn’t know the area. The shadows under the trees seemed to move unnaturally. Leaves rustled, twigs snapped and there was an eerie feeling of being watched.

Clearing her throat, Tegan turned to Kovu. “We should probably head back now; otherwise we’ll be stuck up here all night.”

“You’re scared,” Kovu replied with a laugh and walked away from her.

“I’m being sensible, you idiot. I’m not letting you get me stranded up here.” She walked after him and grabbed his jumper, tugging him down to her level. Then she whispered fiercely in his ear, “We don’t know what the hell is up here.”

“Coward.” Kovu shook her off and kept going.

“Do you’ve any flying type pokémon?” Tegan asked as she followed, looking around her carefully.

“Though you said I couldn’t use my pokémon,” he reminded her with a sly smile.

Grumbling Tegan caught up with him and they walked together, exploring the wooded hill. Kovu looked about him with interest, while Tegan glanced around nervously. It wasn’t long before Tegan felt justified for her nerves.

A branch broke behind them. They stopped dead and turned painstakingly slowly towards the sound. Something started growling and they paused.

“I am so gonna kill you for this,” Tegan whispered at Kovu, shooting him a filthy look.

When Kovu saw what stood behind them, he burst out laughing. “Oh man, it’s harmless!”

Tegan looked and sighed with relief. A pokémon which couldn’t even be described as dog-like, it was more like puppy, stood growling at them. Ty growled back at it just as aggressively. It was grey with a black face, paws and belly. Its tail was fluffed up in what was meant to be an intimidating gesture, but Tegan only found it adorable.

Producing his pokédex, Kovu declared, “It’s a poochyena. Cute or what?” He shuffled about in his rucksack and pulled out a pokéball. “Well, I don’t have one of these yet so I may as well catch it!”

Grabbing the pokéball from his hand, Tegan gave him a withering look. “You can’t put something that cute in a pokéball. Gimme that.” She put the ball in her pocket. “Besides, if you’ve learnt anything about pokémon, you know poochyena evolves into mightyena, which you probably don’t want to bump into in the middle of the night, especially if you annoyed it by taking its baby.”

“Screw that,” Kovu replied dismissively. He took another pokéball out of his rucksack and tossed it at the little pokémon before Tegan could take it off him.

“This is not going to end well.”


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dum dee dum... well, that entertained me for a lil while...

 

[Fig]

Still pretty good, though I note some repetitive passage (ie, explaining again about the hill and rare pokémon in chapter 2, when you covered that in chapter 1 (regardign where Romy had been found). The style is still a bit stilted ; though it's improving.

Also on the repetition thing, try to vary your word selection, ie, "On the far side of the lake there was a battling area which the local gym leader used. There was a gym in the village, but the gym leader preferred the field because her pokémon were grass types and the gym wasn’t suitably kitted out for them." ; "but she prefered the field becasuse her pokémon were grass types...(etc)"

 

[Barb]

Your best bet for avoiding repetition is to become friends with your thesaurus. It works for me, anyway. And I like the story so far, but as Dami pointed out, it's a bit slow. However, once you get into the flow of the plot and how the characters react, it should pick up.

 

[MistyRocks]

Damian - Eep, yeah you're right. Damn repetition. I despise it soooo much, but I can't seem to prevent it. I've the week off now coming up to my exams so hopefully I'll have some time to edit that stuff. I wouldn've done that earlier only I've been busy with the last week of college and such. Thanks for reading and pointing the repetition out.

Barb - Thanks for reading. I'm hoping it won't stay so slow, I'll admit the pace will probably vary a lil throughout, I don't like a story to go too fast or it can seem more like a summary than anything... I do try and use my thesaurus, but I forget about it quite a bit ^^;;;

Right-o, I'm hoping this is improving slightly as I go along...

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Chapter 3

The little poochyena yelped louder than either of them had expected when it was hit with the pokéball. The pokéball broke open and sucked the pokémon inside, dropping to the ground. It barely shook; the poochyena obviously wasn’t very strong. Kovu retrieved the pokéball and dropped it into his rucksack.

“Let’s get moving,” Tegan ordered, grabbing hold of his sleeve and dragging him away.

Ty paused for a moment, sniffing at the spot where the poochyena had been. His ears perked up and he looked at a clump of bushes which were moving slightly. He could hear a low, throaty growl coming from the shadows and when he turned to look after Tegan and Kovu, Ty realised they couldn’t hear it. Barking for attention, he ran after them but they barely noticed him.

They’d been walking around for awhile, exploring, before Tegan spoke again. “Kovu… I don’t suppose you remember which way we came…” she mumbled, looking to him hopefully.

Scratching his head and laughing, Kovu paused for a moment and looked about. “Well, the thing about that is… well… no. No. I can’t say that I know where we are…” He saw Tegan’s eye twitch and put up his hands in front of her. “Now, hold on! That’s not to say I can’t find the way back.”

“Fuck sake, Kovu! You’re back one bloody day and you’ve got me in trouble already!” Tegan roared at him, arms in the air, gesturing wildly. “Is this why you came back? To screw around? My life might not be the most exciting or fulfilling but damn it, Kovu, it’s steady and safe and secure… One day with you and I’m lost and you’ve analysed my life and tried to make me feel like it’s not good enough. So, just ‘cause you’re some hot shot pokémon trainer and you spend your days exploring and you’ve seen and done so much, that means you know everything? What? Does it?” Tegan glared at him while Kovu just stood looking shocked. “You started this, you jerk! You wanted to get into this big deep talk earlier, so come on, big man, talk!”

Kovu opened his mouth but nothing came out. He stood dumbstruck, blinking stupidly, just looking at Tegan. Eventually, she just gave him and dirty look and turned to walk away.

“Wait!” Kovu grabbed hold of her jumper and pulled her back. “I didn’t mean to make you feel like that…”

“Like what Kovu? Go on, say it.”

“Like… your life wasn’t good enough.” He rubbed his eyes as struggled for words. “But, and I don’t mean any offence when I say this, but I gotta say that to be honest, it’s not good enough. Hold on and don’t yell yet. What I mean is, it’s not good enough for you. I always expected bigger and better things for you. I thought you’d really make something of yourself. The truth is I always was kinda scared that I’d be in your shadow if you ever decided to try it as a trainer…” He trailed off and stood silently, judging her mood.

Tegan just watched him with a guarded look, her arms folded across her chest, jaw set stubbornly. It took her a moment before she responded, and when she did it was with a tone that was a confused mix of anger and pleasure. “Do you… you’re not…” She shifted uncomfortably. “Are you just saying that?”

“No! No, god no!” Kovu insisted. “I’m serious T, I always thought you’d do it and you’d do it well. Everything we did when we were kids, even though I was bigger than you, you tried so damn hard. I’ve never met anyone as sure of themselves as you… or at least you were… And I don’t know why you changed since I’ve been gone but I think the saddest thing I heard in my life was when I called the Prof. up and he told me you were still here.”

“Things changed Kovu… You have any idea what it’s like being a kid growing up in a village with about twenty people? Any idea what it’s like knowing your father have no one to come home to if you’re not home? Man, it’s hard. Forgive me for not rising to your expectations.” Tegan began to get defensive again. “And don’t think we get into some deep talk about my emotional problems and all of a sudden I’m cured. It doesn’t work like that.” She sighed heavily and turned away, then turned back all of a sudden. “I could have used you. It would have been nice to have someone around.”

Kovu returned to his shocked look, blinking repeatedly. Abandonment issues, he noted. Moving very slowly, in case she lashed out at him, he put an arm around her shoulders and started her walking again. Ty barked at them but he shushed the growlithe. “So should I use my pokémon and get us out of here?”

Perking up at this, Tegan gave him a sheepish smile. “I forgot you had them. Do you have flying type pokémon with you?

“Yeah, two actually, a scyther and a noctowl. A noctowl should be pretty useful in the dark. Tegan?” He looked up from where he was rustling through his rucksack when he realised she’d vanished from his side. She’d turned back and was staring into the darkness.

“Don’t make any noise Kovu,” Tegan warned. She started walking backwards, dragging Kovu when she passed him. “When I tell you to run, run. Okay?”

An eyebrow raised in mild confusion, Kovu just nodded. He began to realise what was wrong when he heard Ty growling protectively into the shadows. They were being followed. Before he could even feel scared Tegan was telling him to run, and tugging him along into the darkness.

They twisted through the trees, ducking overhanging branches and hopping over rocks and plants. They held onto each other, terrified that they were running practically blind in the darkness. Kovu could barely collect his thoughts and had no idea what they were going to do; he just followed Tegan’s lead. All of a sudden she gripped his arm hard and pulled him off to the right with all her strength.

“Sit down and shut up,” Tegan ordered, pushing Kovu to the ground.

Looking around him, Kovu realised she’d pulled him into a cave he hadn’t even noticed. It was pitch black inside so he couldn’t tell how big it was. He had a horrible feeling it was bigger than he hoped and full of things he really didn’t want to see. This thought kept him low to the ground and pressed back into the rock behind him.

“Just stay as small and silent as possible and they’ll pass us,” Tegan whispered to him and she squeezed herself into as small a shape as she could beside him. There were a few minutes of dead silence before she realised Ty was creeping out of the cave. On her hands and knees, Tegan crawled after him hissing, “Ty! Ty, come back here now! Heel Ty, damn it!”

They all froze like statues when shadows passed the cave, even Ty stopped in his tracks. Whatever was going by outside, there was more than one and they moved almost silently. The three in the cave even held their breath to keep from making a sound.

Ty began to show his discomfort first, trembling because he was so close to mouth of the cave, he looked like he was either going to run or fall over. However, it was Kovu who broke the silence. As hard as he tried, -he even covered his face with his hands -he couldn’t stop himself from sneezing.

“You have no idea how dead you are for all of this…” Tegan groaned as she backed passed him into the darkness, away from the mouth of the cave.

“How come you always gotta sneeze at the worst times?” Kovu commented to himself before his hand dived into his rucksack and he pulled three pokéballs from it.

The shadows outside the cave stopped and they could tell from them that the creatures had changed direction and were approaching.

“Noctowl, Vulpix and Scyther, go!” Kovu cried as he tossed his pokéballs to the ground.

The pokémon materialised next to each other, in front of Tegan, Kovu and Ty, so block them from the creatures that were outside. Each pokémon let out a battle cry, then stood awaiting orders, ready to fight.

For awhile there was nothing, the creatures outside appeared to have disappeared but in reality they had come too close for their shadows to be any help in showing where they were. All the group could do was wait. Then they came.

With a howl, the first mightyena pounced from the darkness and tackled Kovu’s vulpix to the ground. As the two pokémon rolled on the ground, going for each other’s throats, the rest of the wolf-like, wild creatures attacked, hurling themselves on the defending pokémon.

“How many of them are there?” Kovu asked, watching in horror as his pokémon were assaulted. “Ember Vulpix, ember! Oh, and what type are good against mightyena?”

“They’re dark type, so use your scyther. Bug types are good against ‘em…” Tegan advised him. “And I’d say there are five, more than you have anyway… Don’t you have any other pokémon with you?”

“Use your agility, Scyther! You’re faster than that! Use slash! Slash!” Kovu ordered. “Peck Noctowl! Peck like your life depends on it!” He looked back at Tegan for a moment, “I don’t have anymore pokémon with me, besides the poochyena. I just brought along a couple for this league so I’d catch more pokémon and wouldn’t be tempted to stick with my regular team… Can’t you use Ty?”

Tegan looked at the growlithe who stood by her side, barking enthusiastically at the fighting. “We’ve… never battled before.”

“Now would be a good time to start!” Kovu told. Seeing his vulpix being bashed about viciously, he lost control of himself for moment and jumped in to defend her. He tore the mightyena who was on top of his pokémon off and flung it back into the group. Another came up from behind him before he could react and sunk its teeth into Kovu’s forearm, bringing the young man to his knees.

“Ty, get in there! Bite, go for the throat!” Tegan ordered her faithful pet.

The growlithe sprang from her side before she’d even finished talking and was in among the brawl, dodging and diving, with a speed he’d never exhibited before. Sidestepping around to behind the mightyena who was hooked onto Kovu, Ty leapt onto it and took hold of its ear. The pokémon yelped in pain before falling from Kovu and turning to the growlithe.

“Move, now Ty! Don’t let it get you!” Tegan barked. Dropping to her knees she started collecting stones from the ground which she threw at the attackers.

Kovu, now free, backed away to a safer distance, bringing his vulpix with him. The pokémon was still conscious, but a little worse for wear. “My vulpix is out, I can't put him through anymore of that. Does Ty know any fire attacks?" He turned back to his pokémon. "Fury cutter, Scyther!"

"Scy-ther!" the pokémon called as it leapt at the nearest mightyena, its scythes slashing wildly. The bug pokémon caught its opponent in the face; the blow sent it crashing to the ground with a howl. However when the triumphant scyther turned to take on its next rival, a mightyena pounced and they both fell to the ground in a heap.

Tegan groaned. To Kovu she ordered, "Get your pokémon out of the way and I'll see what Ty can do." At the same time she called to Ty, "get your flamethrower reader!"

"Move guys, move! Get back here," Kovu called them. His pokémon obeyed immediately and returned to his side, the scyther tossing off the dark pokémon which tried to pin it to the ground.

"Alright Ty, now!” Tegan roared, her growlithe instantly opening its mouth and releasing a huge spiral of flames which engulfed the group of mightyena.

The dark pokémon all howled in pain and anger, but the fire attack did the job and drove them away, out of the cave. Tegan, Kovu and their pokémon watched them go, then collapsed on the ground with sighs of relief.

“Well, that was fun…” Tegan grumbled sarcastically. She petted Ty and thanked him for doing a good job.

Kovu grinned and pulled a pokéball out of his rucksack. “And all over this little guy, eh? Ha, those crazy pokémon…” But Tegan turned to him and gave him a warning look so he shut up.

“Let’s get some light in here,” Tegan thought aloud as she searched around on the ground for something to use as a torch. Eventually she found a large-ish stick and got Ty to use his ember attack to light it.

Kovu returned his pokémon as he climbed to his feet, then with the aid of Tegan’s makeshift torch began to look around. The cave was far larger than they had expected. Towards the back in narrowed and seemed to become a tunnel.

A look passed between the pair when they saw the tunnel. Immediately they started towards it, Tegan leading the way with her torch and Ty bounding along happily, taking up the rear.

 

[MistyRocks]

Dum dee dum dum dum...

Today's been very dull. Does anyone know anything about psychology? I'm soo not looking forward to my exams...

Here's what I've been doing instead of studying ^^;;

------

Chapter 4

Their footsteps echoed in the darkness around them. Tegan’s torch only lit a few feet in front so the trio had no idea what was ahead. The teenagers had to continuously check around for Ty as well, he kept disappearing in the dark, but the patter of his paws told them he was still around.

“How long have we been walking?” Kovu asked. He was curious but the question came out sounding like he was moaning.

Tegan kept walking, ignoring him. As she peered into the darkness ahead, she noticed the tunnel start to widen around her. She stopped short and Kovu and Ty crashed into her. When they climbed back to their feet the three of them looked around in amazement.

The tunnel had opened into a huge cavern, which had only a hole high in the top of it which let light in. The walls sparkled with what looked like crystals. Directly underneath the opening in the roof was a large pool of water, the source of which seemed to be a spring that ran from the rocky wall of the cave. There was movement in the water.

Walking to the waters edge, Tegan got to her knees and peered in. There were unnatural ripples and occasionally a bubble or two rose to the top of the water. In the darkness below the water, shadows moved here and there.

“What do you think is down there?” Kovu asked. He was standing beside her, looking into the water as well.

Meanwhile, Ty was exploring by himself. He trotted around the cavern sniffing the ground here and there, wondering at the interesting smells. Even while distracted by his own adventure, he listened for Tegan’s voice so he knew she was still nearby. However, while he was distracted sniffing at particularly interesting stone, he heard another noise. There was the sound of small footsteps.

Confused, the growlithe looked around for anyone else in the cave. The footsteps kept starting when he walked and stopping when he did. Scared, he ran over to Tegan and hid beside her.

“What’s gotten into you Ty?” Tegan asked, rubbing his head. She looked up from the water, turning her attention to her growlithe. Pulling on his ear playfully, she tried to calm him. “He looks kind of shaken up, don’t you think?”

Kovu put a hand on the growlithe and ruffled his fur. “Ah, he’ll be fine… Unless he heard something we didn’t. Maybe the mightyena are back.” He climbed to his feet and turned to look at the tunnel. Thanks to the growlithe’s nerves, Kovu was starting to get wound up as well.

Tegan sighed. “Really, you two are over-reacting.”

There was a splash in the water behind them and the trio turned to look. Unfortunately, whatever had disturbed the water had vanished before they caught a glimpse. This set Tegan off on a rant about making her miss getting a look at the creature, which she directed at Kovu instead of Ty. However, she was interrupted by a noise in the corner.

Staring into the darkness, they tried to see what was there. “Do you think I should take out my pokémon?” Kovu whispered to Tegan, edging closer to her nervously.

“Hush, if it was dangerous it would have got us while our backs were turned,” Tegan reasoned. “Hey,” she called into the darkness, “why don’t you come out here? We’re not gonna hurt you.”

“Bone?” something in the darkness responded in a small, timid voice.

“Bone? What kind of response is that?” Kovu said, raising an eyebrow. It took a moment for it to click. “A cubone! Brilliant! I haven’t got one of those yet.”

Tegan turned to him with a venomous glare. “I’ve had just about enough of mister hot-shot pokémon trainer. You forgot already what happened with the mightyena? Just keep your stupid pokéballs to yourself and don’t get me in anymore trouble!”

Kovu argued back and while the pair fought, from the shadows came the little cubone. Kovu had been right. It ignored the two people and went straight to Ty, waving the bone in its hand in a friendly manner, although the growlithe didn’t know what to make of it.

The cubone and Ty sat at the edge of the water in a relaxed silence, occasionally saying something, as they waited for the other two to stop arguing. Tegan and Kovu didn’t stop arguing until there was a large splash in the pool, which stopped them mid-sentence.

Joining Ty and the cubone by the water’s edge was a dragon-type pokémon that Tegan instantly recognized. “So this is where Romy originated from…” she said with wonder.

“No way, dratini live in this cavern!” Kovu exclaimed in disbelief.

It took the pair a moment to register that Ty had made a friend. Tegan couldn’t help but laugh when she saw how the little ground-type pokémon was sitting next to the growlithe like they’d always been together. It gave her an idea though.

Kneeling down beside the cubone, Tegan tried to talk to it in her friendliest voice. “Hey little guy, don’t be scared. I was wondering if you knew how to get back to the village. If you could help us out that would be great.”

The cubone tilted its head and looked intently at her for a moment. Eventually, he got up and started walking back towards the tunnel. Ty followed along beside him, seeming to trust him.

“Alright guys, lets go. I think he’s going to lead us out,” Tegan said as she followed the pokémon.

Kovu moaned, hesitating at the side of the water. “But I want to catch a dratini.”

“Romy’s waiting for you back in the lake, in case you don’t remember. Or is she not good enough for you?” Tegan asked sarcastically.

“Yeah, she’s fine, but it would be so cool to bring one back from up here. Professor Cedar would be really impressed that I… I mean, we found this place.” Kovu continued mumbling to himself as he followed behind but Tegan just ignored him.

The cubone turned out to be quite helpful to the trio. He walked along, swinging his bone contentedly beside Ty, leading them down an overgrown, but relatively safe path. For a solitary pokémon he was quite willing to help.

As she walked along behind the pokémon, occasionally glancing up and the night sky, Tegan wondered how the cubone had come to be all alone up in the hills. They were solitary creatures, but cubones weren’t even known to live in the region, let alone around the village. Ignoring that, this one was particularly friendly, at least with other pokémon and seemed to be looking for companionship.

Not all her thoughts were caught up with the pokémon however. During most of their long journey down the rugged path, Tegan thought about Kovu. He’d come back out of nowhere, self confident and grown up, perhaps not mature. What surprised her most was the feeling of resentment she held against him for not being around when she wanted him, for leaving her behind.

When they had been younger, Tegan and Kovu had always been in competition even though they were best friends. They always tried to out do each other in everything. The plan had been that when they grew up they would both become pokémon trainers because whichever won at that would definitely be the most skilled. But that was before Tegan had grown up and the reality of her mother’s death had really sunk in.

Of course Kovu had grown up and proved that he could do it. Tegan saw the happiness in him and envied it.

“Hey, that pokémon sure knows his stuff!” Kovu interrupted her from her thoughts as he laid a hand on her shoulder. He was grinning from ear to ear and looking ahead.

They had reached the bottom of the rocky path and ahead through the tall grass was the village. Lights were on in windows and fires burned next to tents that were pitched by the battlefield. There were still a few beginning trainers out battling their pokémon, and the lab looked to be busy as Professor Cedar took on the job of a nurse in a pokémon centre.

There was a squeak from in front of them as a rattata leapt into their path. It bared its front teeth viciously at the group.

Tegan grinned at the little rat like pokémon, then turned to the cubone and gave him an encouraging smile. “Go on, Cubone, why not try a bone club on it?”

With a surprising display of athleticism, the cubone ran at the rattata, his little legs pumping, twirling the bone high above his head. He came at the other pokémon from the side and, leaping in the air, brought his bone down hard on its skull.

The rattata looked at the group in surprise at what had just happened, then collapsed to the ground. The cubone trotted back over to Tegan and looked up at her as if to ask, “was that alright?”

Tegan gave him a big grin. “That was awesome! Did you see the look on its face?”

Kovu stood by looking at the ground type pokémon curiously. “I think it used to belong to a trainer. No way was it that good from wandering around in the wild…”

“Think he was abandoned?” Tegan asked, a touch of concern in her voice.

“Maybe. Probably just released, some people do that.” Kovu shrugged. “Either way, you’re probably going to adopt him now,” he said with a chuckle. “Between him and Ty you sure do have some good pokémon to start off with…” He watched Tegan for a moment as she considered this, then turned away. “Well, I’m gonna head over to where those trainers are camping out and see if anyone’s up for a battle.”

“Wait,” Tegan stopped him. “You know you can crash on my couch tonight if you want. Just come by when you’re finished practising.”

Kovu turned back to her and grinned. “Thanks T.” Then he headed off in search of a battle.

------

I don't think I've ever included a cubone in any of my fics, ever. Which is odd cuz they're sooo cool.

 

[Barb]

And the promised action begins. I enjoyed the scene between Tegan and Kovu and the bit of Tegan's backstory. And the Pokemon battle was well done. I know you really do need to study, but update regularly, please.

 

[Fig]

Psychology. *Shudders*. Had to take a class or two of that at one point ; barely passed one, failed the other. I decided it just wasn't a topic for me after that, and moved on to other, better things.

The story is moving on nicely ; the writign style is also improving. One thing, at one point you wrote "leave" for "live" (known to leave in the region).

Interesting to see the dratini lake ; that cave sure sounded like a wonderful place.

 

[MistyRocks]

Barb - I dunno if I can keep the promised action going in every chapter, but it should be regular enough. If it's anything like the first trainer fic I wrote there should be plenty of it. Thanks for reading, and I'll try to update regularly (who am I kidding about studying really?)

Damian - Psychology isn't for me either! but I only took it for the year out of curiousity.
I'll go back and fix that stupid mistake... I hate those spelling errors cuz even spellcheck doesn't pick them up...

 

[Timarelay]

Why is everyone writing pokemon fics again? ^^ I didn't think I'd ever read another one of these. But anyway, tis good. I like it. A little rough around the edges but I think that's already been addressed in more detail. Try to delve a little more into Tegan's thoughts though. Sometimes her reactions seem to come out of nowhere when I woul assumed she would've been brooding first, but we don't see the brooding.

I also read it a little quickly too, though.

But I like it. The dynamic between Kovu and Tegan is cool. I'll keep reading this ^_^ At least, when I remember to stop by I will.

 

[Fig]

Actually Tim-tim, MR and I were wondering the same things last night. The conversation went more or less like this.

Me : "Most of the others have left."
Her : "I suppose they grew up."
Me : "What do you think that make of us two? "

 

[MistyRocks]

Tima! omg!!! *tackles* I haven't spoken to you in like... I dunno a few days??? but that's not real talking cuz it's an LJ. Thanks for reading btw! yar, it's quite bad ^^ but um, it's just for fun! I don't have the time to write anything serious at the moment, stupid exams...

stop by to talk, you don't have to read. Dami won't care if this thread just sorta turns into chat, ahem... I think he'd be used to that from me from TPM ^^;;;

lol@ D, actually yeah we were talkin earlier. he says last night, but it was midday here, and 6:30am his time so techinically today. Everyone else grew up and moved on I guess... maybe we're the only ones left with imaginations ;p

 

[Fig]

Oh, we're being insulting to all the others, are we? :-D.

But yeah, I don't midn the threads devolvin to chattiness, either here or in the Ambition's Debt thread or, well, anywhere else. It's only occasions to make friends, or renew old friendships!

And for the records anytime just before the last time I slept is "last night".

So there.

 

[MistyRocks]

my point was that it wasn't technically night, it was morning... there's a difference ^_^

 

[Fig]

Technicalities, schmecnicalities...

 

[MistyRocks]

*pokes him* oi, spamming up me thread mate! I'll have none o' that here!

(j/k)

 

[Fig]

HAH! I'm the head admin! It's only spam if I *say* it's spam, so it's not spam!

Your post, on the other hand...

MWAHAHAHAHA *Power abuse*

(j/k)

 

[MistyRocks]

*poke*

Oh yeah? You don't scare me, mr admin man!

*keeps poking*

Watcha gonna do, eh? eh?