TEEN: The Essence Within - Locked Capsule [1]

[Necrozma]

The Essence Within - Locked Capsule​

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01:47 - Castelia City Streets​

‘Remember Mana, the capsule must never be opened!’ The girl rolled her eyes making the man smile warmly.

‘I know, this is like the hundredth time I’m telling you this. I am somewhat glad you rolled your eyes though, it shows me how you were actually paying attention to the other ninety-nine times when I told you the same thing,' he chuckled. 'Just remember, if you ever come in the situation where you have to chose between someone you love dearly and the humanity,’ she looked at him annoyingly again, ‘okay, okay, I’ll stop!’ He smiled.

“Can you promise me that?”

The little chubby girl hugged her father nodding in an assuring way.

‘I promise I will never pick someone I love over the entire world!’

Unable to hear them anymore, she turned around with a strange feeling of anticipation shrouded with fear. City of Castelia, metropolis of the well-developed and highly advanced Unova region was almost entirely empty aside from a few hookers who did their best to spot a few potential costumers.

‘Things never really change around here, do they?’ Mana smiled excitedly on the thought that she was back in her hometown again. Sadly, the happy moment didn’t last for long. Before she knew it, Mana spotted a burning car flying towards her direction as the sound of the impact nullified the screams of the nearby people. The streets were soon empty.

Doing her best to find a safe place where she could run to, the girl shut her eyes tightly feeling the heat expand behind her. Intense flames burst with immense explosion enveloping the entire street; the bright red haired girl jumped unusually high in the air grabbing one of the nearby tree branches - she seemed unusually skilled in climbing and jumping.

‘As long as the capsule is with me,’ she mumbled gazing at her handbag 'I'm doing the right thing!'. Looking ahead, she could spot the entrance to the magnificent Skyarrow bridge - it was her ticket towards freedom. ‘If I could only reach the forest …’ she jumped on the ground elegantly making her way towards the north.

Winter was in the air, she could smell its freshness in the light breeze. It was yet another one of these times when she wished to just stroll around the street with her family instead of being chased by one person she cared about the most.

‘I’d stop if I were you, Mana!’

Mana recognized the masculine voice and yet couldn't resist to laugh, almost mockingly, at his words. A middle aged man of somewhat gray hair suddenly appeared in front of the gate which lead through the bridge with a floating lamp-like creature next to him. Bright blue flame enlightened the inner side of the glass giving its pair of eyes an ominous yellow glow. Mana immediately recognized the creature - it was Lampent, the ghost Pokémon with the ability to create and manipulate fire.

‘My my, still licking my fathers ass, are we? To think he sent you all the way here just to confront me,’ she grinned smugly much to his dismay. Mana didn’t know either why she said those words, she sucked at playing a bitch. But what he did to her was unforgivable, something she would never forget.

‘Mana, stop this nonsense. I don’t want to battle you! Just hand over the capsule and come with me!’

‘Now why should I do that? It seems pretty evident that you’re quite prepared to take me on, aren’t you?’

Mana suddenly turned serious, eyeing the Lampent and his trainer. ‘You know that all I have in possession right now are grass types, don’t you? And I don’t remember you having a Lampent.’

The man turned his head in slight feeling of regret.

‘You know, out of all people, I thought you were supposed to be my friend. Guess I was wrong,’ she retorted.

Silence ensued.

‘What are you waiting for, Marcus? Go ahead - burn me to ashes and take the capsule. Then go back to my father for your pathetic paycheck and have fun knowing that you betrayed the only person who considered you for her best friend. You truly disappointed me, Marcus, ten years we’ve known each other and now you turn against me?’

‘I’m only doing what’s best for everyone, what’s best for the humanity,’ he responded eagerly, ‘and if you don’t realize that you’re endangering the world by bringing the capsule out in the open by yourself, then I’ll make you realize it myself!’

Mana frowned in disbelief, her words had no effect on Marcus. She knew what kind of an emotional person he was and seeing how her words failed to convince him, even when she played the friendship card, must have meant that he actually believed that what he was doing was the right thing. It was kinda sad actually, a man under whose care she spent the last seventeen years was even more naive than her former young self.

She could kinda understand him, though, Mana used to be a naiveté too until the the reality stroke her.

‘I’m sorry, Marcus, but I will prove that what I’m doing is the right thing! In order to save dad, this capsule needs to be destroyed,’ she yelled spontaneously taking out a blueish poké ball out of her bag. It took her a second before she swiftly threw the fully enlarged ball into the air.

Before he knew it, the sphere opened releasing a greater amount of energy than a usual poké ball - a green fairy-like creature emerged midair. Fluttering with its clear little wings above the ground, the Pokémon opened its large baby-blue eyes looking around in confusion.

The man could only gasp in shock upon realizing the identity of the Pokémon before him.

‘I need you ... Celebi,’ Mana whispered to her guardian.

end of the prologue.​

 

[Lifestream]

Re: The Essence Within - The Locked Capsule

Very intriguing, please continue!

 

[Necrozma]

Re: The Essence Within - The Locked Capsule

Very intriguing, please continue!

Thanks for reading and commenting! Yeah, it was kinda my intention to make it intriguing. ^^

I'd also just like to tell everyone that I would never give my main character such a powerful legendary right off the bat. The fact she has a Celebi is true but what the Celebi is capable off is quite a different story (just a warning). So there's always a catch in this story, it's just something to make you think. I'm currently working on the first chapter - I have written out the draft but it still needs heavy editing so it's enjoyable for you guys.

I will also point that C/C (constructive criticism) is very welcome - it can only improve my writing skills!

 

[Necrozma]

Re: The Essence Within - Locked Capsule

Without further ado, here is chapter one! Enjoy! =D

1.

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p e r f e c t i o n​

Shrouded in the ominous grayness of her mind, she prayed to herself.

A young, naturally pretty girl of graciously long, vividly red hair stared at the glass surface containing her other self. Indeed, she truly was a piece of art when her beauty was in question. Many girls would often admire and yet be insanely jealous of her gentle white color tone, her nicely shaped flowy face and her rather striking and yet so subtle gray eyes who seemed as if they could pierce right through someones’ soul. She hated it and yet she smiled out of the heart-wrenching respect she had for life despite taking away from her what she truly appreciated. Truthfully, Mana was always somewhat of a brat due her slightly narcissistic personality but her mothers’ death made her realize one thing.

She shouldn't take life so lightly.

‘Mom,’ Mama whispered raising her hand up in the air - she observed the second Mana do the same thing.

What was it like on the other side of the mirror? Mana used to ask herself such questions often. After her mother mysteriously died, she wondered - was the person she saw in the mirror really her? Was it a path leading to a parallel universe where her life was greatly different from the one she had lived so far? She truly hoped that it was the case since as long as Mana Honeywell could remember, her life was nothing but a sugar-coated cake for the last eighteen years. Was her mothers’ sudden vanishing the price she had to pay for living such a wealthy life?

Was it possible that Mana on the other side had a poor life but didn’t lose her mother? She cautiously moved her fingers over the smooth, crystal-like surface. Why was her life so perfect and yet so miserable at the same time?

No one knew.

*​

‘Celebi!? How the hell … ?’ he asked himself half-aloud.

Complete and utter feeling shock came over his body prompting the man to close his eyes and try to look back in the past. No, it couldn’t be happening, his mind must have been playing tricks on him.

As a person who watched over her most of the time in past, Marcus was aware of every single Pokémon Mana had in possession and the mythical time-travel Pokémon definitely wasn’t one of them. Or was it? Surely, if she had a Celebi he would have probably known about it by now or at least her father would have informed of such crucial info before sending him off. Rubbing his eyes for the third time, Marcus finally realized that it was, in fact, happening. A simple man who worked as a butler was about to clash with a mystical grass type Pokémon; the so-called guardian of nature and dweller of all forests.

Emotions were overflowing Mana as she gazed over Celebi’s tiny, peculiar body. Memories, sadness, fading images of her mother flashed in front of her face. It wasn’t as powerful as Marcus probably though. In fact, it didn’t even carry a half of the strenght of a regular Celebi. Thus, she knew that a battle against a somewhat strong fire type would be risky for both her and her guardian from the very beginning.

‘For the sake of my mother,’ she thought.

‘Marcus, if you do not let me pass - I will be forced to send you back in time.’

The man with a long black hair petrified at her words, surely she wasn’t threatening him for real - or was she? It was true though, Celebi had the ability like no other - to travel across the time continuum allowing it to move through past, present and the future. His lone thoughts spurred his next flow of confusing deductions. If Mana really did have such power thanks to Celebi - wouldn’t she travel back in time in the first place in order to prevent something like this from happening? Unless, her Celebi only had the power to move through time only by itself? No matter what the cause seemed to be, it seemed to Marcus as if Mana definitely did not time-travel yet.

‘You’re bluffing,’ he answered confidently , ‘if you really had such power you would have gone back through time and prevented your father from obtaining the capsule. But you didn’t so I can only assume that your Celebi doesn’t have such power,” Marcus smirked calmly placing his hands in the pockets.

He was getting smug - she hated it when Marcus would get overly confident.

‘Your Celebi can only travel through time by itself, right?’

It wasn’t exactly relieving, however, despite being firmly confident about the fact she can’t be sent him back in time Marcus was still aware of the legendary status Celebi. God knows what would happen if he was aware of the fact that her Celebi couldn’t travel through time at all.

‘With that, I can conclude that there is no way that you could send neither me nor my Lampent through time.’

Lampent let out a horrific cry sending shivers down Mana’s spine as the legendary pixie Pokémon looked at Mana confusingly. ‘Celebi, please!’ She said with a soft tone, warmness emanating from her voice.'

With that, the battle had already begun. The ghost lamp Pokémon was already fired up enough to unleash a deadly burst of powerful fire balls towards the floating grass type. Mana’s words echoed inside Celebi’s head. Bedazzled by the whole event Celebi grabbed its head in fear and before Mana could even say her next word, a bright barrier emerged in front of it almost swallowing the previously fired out attack. Slowly opening its blue baby eyes Celebi cried excitedly, almost child-likely, on the thought that it wasn’t hurt by the attack.

‘Impressive. But say, your Celebi doesn’t exactly seem willing to battle.’

‘Celebi! Keep that barrier up!’ she shouted pretending not to hear him.

‘Keep up with the Flame Burst!’

Marcus ordered to whose commands Lampent obeyed, a great sphere of fire almost entirely engulfed Celebi in its barrier. Bright emerald-like glow possessed the fire as Celebi rose out of it almost like a divine being - the flames suddenly all came together in one amazing pile of energy charging on the opposite side towards Lampent with all its might. Marcus chuckled at the thought of the flames not hurting his Lampent - after all, his lamp-like body could only absorb any sort of fire directed towards it.

Lampent shrieked powerfully much to Celebi’s dismay sending a vortex of fire towards it disrupting the barrier.

‘Celebi!’

‘Make sure it isn’t hurt,’ images flashing through her head … she couldn’t bear it.

Tears flew down her face like a rainfall as she witnessed the flames burn the surface of its skin. Like a newborn baby, Celebi, injured and in pain soon began crying as well. ‘Please, don’t cry,’ her hands trembled as she picked it up from the ground, various emotions were mixing inside of her.

‘It’s time, Mana.’

She couldn’t hear him, her thoughts were wandering somewhere else.

*​

Thunder.

Its outrageously mighty strike from above caused the ground to split in sheer force of the impact.

She looked through the window, the gray sky was soon showering the dry land with its tears. Funny coincidence it was, third anniversary of her mothers’ death and it was raining again. She would never forget that day, the day when her father barged into the living room - his face expressed happiness and satisfaction.

‘Mana!’ She looked at him, her face being moist from the tears.

‘We can revive her! We can revive your mother again!’

Thunder stroke again.

*​

‘You don’t get it, do you?’

It was a moment of her deepest weakness, it sounded really stupid when she thought about it. Being against something she was desiring herself, against her mother being there with her again - against her warm hands touching her face, her melodic voice soothing her mind and soul. Being against it because of something her father taught it, she only brought problems to herself. Why was she so opposed to it?

‘My father didn’t tell you what he was intending to do with the capsule?’

Marcus shook his head, of course he didn’t know.

‘My father wants to use whatever is inside of this capsule and use it to revive my mother.’

The man looked at her in shock, she willingly reached out for the capsule. It was of middle size, completely dark, made of some strange unbreakable material that resembled simple glass. The capsule was a piece of enigma ever since it first emerged. Following its appearance was the first day her father met the love of his life - her mother.

‘You’re lying!’

‘Why are you so blind?’ She raised her voice putting the capsule away again.

‘Because your father is a good person! He would never endanger someone else’s life for his own purposes, wishes or dreams. He is someone I admire, someone who completely changed my life! He saved me!’

Mana shook her head disappointingly.

‘He isn’t what he used to be.’

The sudden silence was broken with a tone of the incoming police cars, it was only a matter of time before the cops would arrive at the scene. Celebi slowly opened its eyes, its skin seemed to have started healing. He didn’t let her words influence him, he firmly decided to take the capsule and the girl with him.

‘Stay away!’ Mana shouted picking up her bag again. Adrenaline rushed inside of her, she could feel something break inside of her. ‘Celebi,’ she whispered as Celebi cheerfully raised its small hands in the air - a wave of ominous energy suddenly threw Marcus and Lampent a couple of feet away, it looked like a emerald-green wind emerged out of nowhere blasting off Marcus and his Pokémon on its path. Mana decided to waste no time, it was her chance!

For the first time in nineteen years, Mana Honeywell was an escapee.

Doubts still tormented her but she couldn’t get the images of the past out of her mind. She needed to clear her thoughts, find a safe place where she could thing in peace and decide what to do with the capsule. Mana needed to find a way to bring her father back to his old senses, his old ways, the ways he thought her when she was little. Her only hope was that the Pinewheel forest would bring her the right answers.

-​

A transparent man standing on the skyscraper, he observes the girl run across the majestic blue bridge. ‘She left quite a legacy behind her, it’s already getting mature,’ he says, vanishing on the spot.

to be continued.​

 

[Flaze]

Well at first I thought this was yet another remake of Essence of Life due to the word being in the title again but I can definitely say that it seems completely different. It's got an intriguing and mysterious plot.

One thing I can say is that you should put speech in double quotation rather than just one but I'm just saying it because that's what's usually done.

I can't really say much about the story yet except that I'm really curious about what's going to happen and about what this capsule truly is.

 

[farewell friend]

You're going to continue this, right? It seems we have an inhuman main character... at least, that's what it seems oO She's something different, anyway.
You better keep writing! Although seriously, I've seen native English speakers who write a thousand times worse than you .D. For a non-native speaker, you write so well. Srsly. I wouldn't have known you were non-native if you hadn't told me xD

Tag me when the next chapter comes out, okay? Also, I like the font you used for the title of the first chapter .3.

 

[Necrozma]

Well at first I thought this was yet another remake of Essence of Life due to the word being in the title again but I can definitely say that it seems completely different. It's got an intriguing and mysterious plot.

Why, thank you! Let's hope I keep it that way! =D

One thing I can say is that you should put speech in double quotation rather than just one but I'm just saying it because that's what's usually done.

I decided to try out this one so I'll stick with this one for now. ^^;

I can't really say much about the story yet except that I'm really curious about what's going to happen and about what this capsule truly is.

Believe me, so do I.

You're going to continue this, right? It seems we have an inhuman main character... at least, that's what it seems oO She's something different, anyway.

She's just a kind of character who can easily swing and climb trees, not that big of a deal.

You better keep writing! Although seriously, I've seen native English speakers who write a thousand times worse than you .D. For a non-native speaker, you write so well. Srsly. I wouldn't have known you were non-native if you hadn't told me xD

Thank you so much, it means a lot to me when people who are much better writers and much better in the knowledge of English language than myself give me such compliments.

Tag me when the next chapter comes out, okay? Also, I like the font you used for the title of the first chapter .3.

I sure will!


Now that I'm not as busy anymore, I'll begin writing chapter two which will introduce a new co-protagonist. Wish me luck!