TEEN: - Complete Through Fire and Shadows (The Greater Evil 1) (PG13) - A dark journey begins...

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Through Fire and Shadows (The Greater Evil, Book I)

Warning : some violence, some language, death.

This fic is set shortly after the events of the Silver Convention ends. It uses the japanesse names of the character. It is loosely based on an older fic of mine. It respects anything in the anime up to the end of the battle between Gary and Ash at the Silver convention.

It is a Fantasy (somewhat darkish) in a modern setting, featuring the anime characters.

It is the first of a five-book serie.

(Titles will probably change)

1 : Through Fire and Shadows
-What happens to one who believed he'd always be with his friends...when his friends are there no more?-
2 : Battlefields of Sorrow
-For every hero, there is a sacrifice. For every battle, there will be lifes lost. And now, war is about to descend...-
3 : The Eternal Call
-Can one's destiny truly be written in the sky? Can the path of fate really lead one to confront a mystic being? Or could it be that there are other forces beyond fate at work?-
4 : World of Ruins
-With every death the world lose a part of itself. When a being of unimaginable power falls, could it be that the loss will be to much for the world to bear?-
5 : In light of darkness
-The veils are gone. The harvest of soul has begun. Could it be that the only hope to avert Hell's final and eternal dominion is an equally final end to all that is?-

This is the Index post

Index :

Dramatis Personae (Character List). Updated with each new chapter.
Prologue : Portents
Chapter 01 : A Parting
Chapter 02 : Traveling Companions
Chapter 03 : Homecoming
Chapter 04 : Dissipating Innocence
Chapter 05 : Accusations
Chapter 06 : Worry
Chapter 07 : Kage
Chapter 08 : The Flight Begins
Chapter 09 : A Tremor
Chapter 10 : Zaiyaku-do
Chapter 11 : Specters of the Past
Chapter 12 : Whispers of Memory
Chapter 13 : Shadows of the Heart
Chapter 14 : Patterns
Chapter 15 : Into the Darkness
Chapter 16 : Betrayal
Chapter 17 : Dark Tidings
Chapter 18 : Into the Web
Chapter 19 : Complications
Chapter 20 : Out of Hell
Chapter 21 : The Mark of Death
Chapter 22 : Illusions
Chapter 23 : Sorrow's Path
Chapter 24 : As the Shadow Falls
Chapter 25 : Veils of Shadow
Chapter 26 : Fragmented Dreams
Chapter 27 : Strike at the Soul
Chapter 28 : Innocence Lost
Chapter 29 : Assault
Chapter 30 : Void
Epilogue : Flower of Blood

News :

08/03/03
DONE!
The epilogue is up . TGE II Starts going up tomorrow.

08/03/03
Chapter 30 is up. The Epilogue will be within the next 24 hours. And with that said, Through Fire and Shadows will be completed...and I still haven'T found a definite title for book 2 ^^;;

Updating the Dramatis Personae now for two epilogue characters.

06/03/03
Chapter 29 is now up. TGE 01 Status : 100% written, 93.75% posted. TGE 02 Status : 3.125% (prologue) written, 0% posted.

04/03/03
Chapter 28, too! 29 is currently being written.

02/03/03
Chapter 27 is up!

28/02/03
Bleh, exams have been running me ragged for the last few days. New chapter is finally up. Only TWO more to write (plus the epilogue), and then it's off to TGE II!
In other news, I've decided on what the 2nd book prologue would look like...and Blackjack, I'm pretty sure you'll like . The title will be "Wings of Dragons"

23/02/03
As promised, now that's it's nearly midnight, I am updating again. The second and final half of the confrontation, up and available for your reading pleasure.

23/02/03, 4AM
Yeah, so saturday's update is now up. As announced, since the BIG confrontation has now begun, I'll be posting chapter 25 tomorrow.

20/02/03
Back on schedule, chapter 23 is up. I'll probably update both saturday and sunday so that you guys don't have to wait two days between the two halves of the Kage confrontation.

19/02/03
Chapter 22 is up. Sorry for the delay,

16/02/03, 10:40 PM
Chapter 21 is up. We're beginning to head to the ending now...

15/02/03, early AM
Chapter 20 is up...two thirds of the way through now. Chapter 23 is written, and now I'm about to begin writing the confrontation you all have been asking about...

12/02/03
Chapter 19 is up...and we're getting closer to the conclusion of this book...

11/02/03
Update is done! Chapter 18 is up for your readings pleasure.

09/02/03
Sorry for being late on the updating ^^;;. Anyway, new chapter is quite up now. Now, to write chapter 21 (GAH! Just a 3-chapter headstart now? AHHHHHH!)

05/02/03
There you go Blackjack! New chapter up, and it's the one you were waiting for!

03/02/03
Posted yet another new chapi! Next one is chapter 16! It'S the one you've been waiting for Blackjack!

01/02/03
Posted the new chapi! Only one more to go after this, then it's your Gio chapter Blackjack.

30/01/03
Events on TPM have delayed me a bit in posting this. Chapter 13 is now up, and events on TPM shouldn't delay me in doing anything ever again. Chapter 18 is also now written.

29/01/03
Forgot to add the news that chapter 12 went up monday. New chapter slated to come up later tonight.

25/01/03
After a slight delay, chapter 11 is now up. Slight edit to the dramatis personae.

24/01/03
Added in a book cover! New chapter to come up at about 8-10 PM today, too.

23/01/03
Updated to chapter 10 yesterday, and am currently working on sketches of the characters as they'll come to look like.

20/01/03
Fifteen is done with as of last night, and sixteen was completed earlier today. The dramatis personae will be updated in a moment. And of course, Chapter Nine is now up.

19/01/03
Fifteen is still underway, the dramatis personae "extra" section now sports a map of kanto in this story.

Update : Fifteen is now complete, and with that this story is now officially halfway written!

18/01/03
Chapter eight is up, fourteen is written, fifteen is underway.

15/01/03
Chapter seven is up! Chapter thirteen is written, it's Nanami's first chapter in the series, setting up some events for later. Dramatis personae edited with all the information available about a newly encountered character.

13/01/03
Chapter six is up! Chapter twelve is also written - more Shigeru goodness! Chapter thirteen should be about Natsume, incidentaly - her or Nanami. Not sure yet.Natsume is certainly getting one of the next two chapters, though.

11/01/03
Chapter five is up. Chapter eleven is also finally completed. Back to writing about Satoshi-tachi (chapter 9, 10 and 11 are about other characters). I'll update the dramatis personae in a moment.

08/01/03
The fourth chapter is up. I'm trying to figure out how much I can afford to reveal about the vilains in chapter 11, so it might be a while before that one is completed. In other news, nothing new for the Dramatis Personale and locations guide.

06/01/03
The third chapter is up. The location guide is updated. BTW, in case anyone was wondering, I have up to chapter 10 written right now.

05/01/03
The second chapter is now up. Again, the dramatis personae has been updated.

03/01/03
The first chapter is up. The dramatis personae has also been updated again. And I'd really like a few replies <<

I also decided to change the title of this story. I changed a few things aroung, and the old title just didn't fit that well anymore.

01/01/03
It's funny, isn't it? I posted the last chapter of the fic this is based on on TPM on December 31, 2001, and I start posting this fic here on Januray 1, 2003.

Anyway, the first part of the dramatis personae (Prologue) is now up, as well as the prologue.

 

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Dramatis Personae

This is the list of characters

Name (Age as of the chapter they appeared in*). English name, if any. Brief description.

*Totaly unrelated to the look or "schmofficials" ages of the characters for Ash and co ^^;;.

Prologue : Portents (set 18 years before the main story)

Kikuko (61). Agatha. An old woman living in Fusube (Pallet), later a member of the Kanto Elite Four.
Hanako (16) Deliah. A young woman from Fusube.
Mysterious Hooded Figure (19). A mysterious hooded figure.

Wataru (5). Lance. Hanako's younger brother.
Ibuki (5). Claire. Lance's best friend.

Yukinari (36). Samuel Oak. Kikuko's son.
Matsuo (18). Yukinari's son. Father of a newborn daughter.

---

Chapter 01 : A Parting

Satoshi Ashitaka (14) - Ash Ketchum. A trainer from Masara.
Kasumi Kaihana (16) - Misty. Water-pokemon trainer from Hanada.
Takeshi Yamamori (19) - Brock. Rock pokemon trainer and breeder.

Hazuki (17) - A trainer from Houen.
Botan, Sakura, Ayame (in their early twenties) - Lily, Daisy and Violet. Kasumi's three sisters.

Chapter 02 : Traveling Companions

Shigeru Ookido (14) - Gary Oak. A trainer from Masara. Satoshi's rival.
Nanami Ookido (18) - May Oak. Shigeru's older sister.
Yukinari Ookido/Ookido-Hakase (54). - Samuel Oak/Prof Oak. Shigeru and Nanami's grandfather.

Junori (78) - An old man living in the lands south of Masara.

Chapter 5

Kazo Shiranui - (49). NA. A roketto-dan scientist, now an executive and number 2 of the organization.
Yamato Akagi - (27) Cassidy. Until recently, a Roketto-dan field agent. Now an executive, due to pressure from Shiranui. #7 of the organization.
Rion - (24). NA. An elite field agent of the group, recently promoted as an executive despite a major failure, due to the lack of elite agents and executive remaining. #6 of the organization.
Bashou - (28). NA. An elite field agent of the group, recently promoted as an executive. # 5 of the organization.
Domino Kageyuri - (21). Domino. One of the few remaining executive Roketto-dan member of the older lot. #4 of the organization.
Hiroru Kurohito - (21). Original Character. Sakaki's son. Executive member. #3 of the Roketto dan organization.
Kojiro Taka - (24). James. A field agent of the Roketto-dan.
Musashi Kaga - (24). Jessie. A field agent of the Roketto-dan.
Sakaki Kurohito - (47). Head of the Roketto-dan.

Chapter 7

Hiroshi - (15). Richie. A pokemon trainer.
Kage - (NA). Original character. An unknown, apparently psychic beign after Satoshi.

Chapter 9

Natsume Ningen - (23) Sabrina. The Yamabuki gym leader and most powerful psychic of Kanto and Johto.
Katsuko Kanno - (16). A young psychic, Natsume's apprentice. She shows promise of great power, but is unable to tap into her full power as of yet.
Muura Mitsuda - (21). A male psychic, once Natsume's apprentice. Now assists her in her teaching to other psychics.
Ameiko Shimomura (20). A psychic, much the same as Muura, save that she is a woman.
Kyou Kogatsu (39). Koga. A ninja, master of the "Way of Shinobi", and gym leader of Sekichiku.

Chapter 11

Syraelle Kiljaeden - (37). Original character. A powerful psychic, member of the circle, going by the name of Rei more often than not.

Chapter 16

Kosaburo - (26) Butch. A high-ranking field agent.
Mondo - (15). A young member of Team Rocket, just recently promoted to the main organization.

Chapter 17

Nyasu - (No age given). Meowth. Team Rocket's Meowth, using the japanesse name because in his case it is more the name of a character than of a pokemon. *Shrugs*.

Chapter 18

Imite - (15) Duplica. A talented young imitator and trainer of dittos.

Chapter 21

Ai Fuji - (17). Amber. A young woman, long thought dead after her kidnapping was arranged so as to look like she had died instead, now an important member of the Circles of Chaos, niece of the current master.

Epilogue (set in the continent known as the "Westlands", roughly eight months after the end of chapter 30).

Ethan Starkhad - (41). Original character. A Lord Commander of the order of the lotus, the military branch of the church of the prophet which is charged with the task of protecting the faithfuls from harm in all country.

Eric Nelson (26) - Original character. Another such, the youngest in recent history.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

Locations List

(in order mentioned)

Fusube - Blackthorn City.
Masara - Pallet Town
Tokiwa - Viridian City
Hanada - Cerulean City
Sekiei - Indigo (Sekiei Highlands - Indigo Plateau).
Guren - Cinnabar
Locations :
Shion - Lavender
Otsukimi-Yama - Mt. Moon.
Shirogane-Yama - Mt. Silver.
Yamabuki - Saffron


The following are locations I named because they had no name I knew.

Iwazake - A seaport city south of Masara.
Takiyama range - The mountain range separating Johto and Kanto.
Tsukiyama Range - The mountain range north of Kanto of which Mt. Moon is part (the southmost peak).
Iwaneyama Range - The mountain range between Hanada and Shion. Named after the Iwaneyama tunnel, IE Rock tunnel.

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

EXTRAS

Map of Kanto used for this story

 

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Prologue : Portents

(set 18 years before the main story)

Kikuko (61). Agatha. An old woman living in Fusube (Pallet), later a member of the Kanto Elite Four.
Yukinari (36). Samuel Oak. Agatha's son.
Matsuo (18). Yukinari's son. Father of a newborn daughter.

Hanako (16) Deliah. A young woman from Fusube.
Wataru (5). Lance. Hanako's younger brother.
Ibuki (5). Claire. Lance's best friend.
Mysterious Hooded Figure (19). A mysterious hooded figure.

-----

The old woman let her steps guide her quietly through the ancient cobbled streets of the city of Fusube, drinking in the wonderful sights one last time. Her unsure feet were supported by a simple cane, and her eyes, despite that many would have expected them to be feeble by now, pierced the crowd.

Despite the early hour of the morning, the city was already quite active. Kids ran in the street, taking advantage of the last days of summer for their game, even as their older siblings moved around, boys playing soccer or baseball, and girls talking in secluded spots, often breaking up in fits of giggles.

Kikuko knew many of these children, had met them often - she would miss them. They had grown up in the city, but she had been there longer, moving to Fusube from her hometown of Masara two decades before, leaving her home in Masara to her twenty-year old son. The thought of leaving them all left a deep wound, but...She looked at them all again, pushing thoughts of her departure out of her mind to focus on her time with them.

Some of the children turned toward her with a smile: she had a reputation as a fortune-teller in the little town, and it seemed to amuse them to ask her to foretell their future. Most of the time, she spun tales for their amusement as well as hers: they preferred the tales, small and big alike, that she could create to the more ominous, unclear vision she could, in fact, have truly shared with them. It was not as if her visions revealed anything clear of their fate: simply symbols, objects or images that seemed to float about them as far as her eyes could see.

The two children in the street were examples of that. To most others, they would have seemed perfectly normal children, armed with wooden swords and letting their blade meet in repeated clumsy blow, pretending to be great knights away at war. But to her, there was a golden light about them both, and even more telling, both had great ghostly dragons - not dragon pokemon, but the majestic winged dragons of the Westlands - seemingly flying above and around them, a colored shimmer in the air that always was with them.

"AHA! I have you now!" Little Wataru, one of the two, suddenly yelled, bringing his wooden stick down on his best friend Ibuki...only to have it break on the cobbled stones as Ibuki gracefully - as gracefully as a five-years old could manage - dodged. Wataru stopped, looking at the shard of stick left in his hand for a moment, lips quivering...

His older sister, Hanako, was there before the crying could even start. A hug and a quick kiss on the cheek from the sixteen-year old later, Wataru was smiling again, wandering off in chase of a butterfly with his friend not far behind. Kikuko smiled privately. From little brooks came great rivers, they said, and from what she could read of their destiny - the golden aura both gave, the dragons - the saying had to be right. One day, she could feel it, both Wataru and Ibuki would be as much the stuff of legend as the dragons she could see above them.

Hanako...she was different. Turning toward her, Kikuko could once again only wonder at the meaning of what she now saw. She did not have the golden aura of those with a great future; rather, her aura was more of a soft silver, not yet golden...an aura not all that different, she noted, from that of her own grandson, Matsuo. But it was the images that were so strange about Hanako, images she could not understand. For her grandson, they were a firebird and a wolf circling each other, sometime seeming to fight together, something seeming ready to rip each other's throat. She could not say what it meant...but at least it was nothing unusual.

Nothing such for Hanako. Looking at the young woman, all Kikuko could see was dust - or perhaps ashes? - flowing in the wind, whirling around a lone yellow gem, perhaps amber. Both the ashes and the amber would be important to the world, but how, why, she could not explain, safe for the fact that rather than an insect, a single spirit of tremendous power seemed locked within the amber, in a somewhat feline shape.

"Ookido-san?" Hanako asked her suddenly. "Can you read my fortune?" She grinned somewhat foolishly, holding out her hand.
"Of course child, of course."
"I'm more a grown woman than a child." Again, Hanako smiled.
"You may be, but you will be long years still a child in my eyes." Kikuko smiled back, taking the young woman's hand. She closed her eyes, pretending to feel the line of her hands...and a small flash of understanding struck her.

"You will have two children, Hanako. A son and a daughter. Two children..." She hesitated, keeping the next part - "And both marked by death as hers." - to herself "and they will both leave their mark on the world, each in their own way."

Hanako shivered, but it had nothing to do with wind or cold, or even Kikuko's word. There was a new presence nearby, one that even without any psychic gift the old fortune-teller could feel...

She turned slowly, facing the hooded form - a woman - standing there. Behind her, quick footsteps were all she needed to know that Hanako had been wise enough to withdraw.

"Who are you?" She asked a second before the visions struck her. As soon as she saw them - the moon and sun both lying dead, and an aura of fire and blood all around the woman - she tried to turn and run, but simply could not.

"Someone with a good reason to be here. I know of you. I know of your...visions. The real ones. What do you see of me?" There was a note of fright in her voice, as if she did not want to know the answer...as if she was afraid the answer would confirm something she already knew...

"I see blood, and fire. Chaos all around you. The moon and the sun, dead. I don't know if you killed them. And I see a single spark of light deep inside. That's all I see."

The woman did not answer, but for a moment, Kikuko caught a glimpse of tortured eyes past the shadows of her hood.

"I...I can't thank you for what you told me. But...here, take this." She pressed a small object in Kikuko's palm...give it to someone, keep it for you, I don't know...but take it. I owe you that much...for that spark of light." With that, the woman turned off, and Kikuko moved her eyes to what she had left in her hand. It was a small silver star, with a ruby inlaid, seemingly burning with a deep fire. The gem radiated the soothing warmth common to many protective talismans.

"Who...who was it?" The frightened voice of Hanako came a second before the young woman herself, stepping back in the small alleyway.

"A restless soul in need of comfort, child." She shivered, the vision of those tortured eyes coming once again. "Comfort I couldn't give her."
"Oh." There was a note of sadness there; Hanako had always been one to care about others, even those she knew nothing of.

Her mind went back on what had brought her to visit the streets again: taking a last look at Fusube.

"I will be leaving soon, Hanako." She whispered.
"Leaving? But where? Why?" The young woman's mouth dropped open.
"The Elite Four. They summoned me." Her whisper was barely audible. Had she known that it would lead to this today, she would certainly have never considered training pokemon, even if she still felt somewhat special at being the first official female trainer in recorded history. .
"To become one of them..." The light of understanding dawned in Hanako's eyes. "That's a great honor!" She grinned foolishly.
"Bah. What do I care for honors? That it means leaving Fusube is what I care about." Kikuko half-laughed. "But one can't avoid doing what one must. I'll be going soon. Yukinari is supposed to come today to help me packing." Of course, her son had immediately offered when he had heard the news.

"I'll miss you Kikuko-san. We all will." Hanako whispered, taking her hand.
"I'll miss you as well, child. All of you."
-----

 

[pokemasterfrank]

Wow...

Very nice. The beginning is so full of emotion and description, I can actually imagine most of what is going on. The characters are pretty well described. I can tell this took a while (and probably long bouts of editting) to get this good. *is still amazed*

Anyway, this story line is interesting. The origins of Agatha, Ghost (Poison, doesn't matter) trainer of the Elite Four, Lance and Clair, and even Ash's Mom (If this is a different Deilia, sorry for getting this wrong). Interesting...

 

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Remember, though, that this is just the prologue and a brief look in the world you'll be dealing with later.

But yeah, this is the same Deliah as in Ash's mother.

 

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New update!

AN : This was written *before* the actual leaving episode (though after it had been announced).

Characters in this chapter

Satoshi Ashitaka (14) - Ash Ketchum. A trainer from Masara.
Kasumi Kaihana (16) - Misty. Water-pokemon trainer from Hanada.
Takeshi Yamamori (19) - Brock. Rock pokemon trainer and breeder.

Hazuki (17) - A trainer from Houen.
Botan, Sakura, Ayame (in their early twenties) - Lily, Daisy and Violet.

Tokiwa - Viridian City
Hanada - Cerulean City

Chapter 01 : A Parting

The stadium seemed strangely empty as both trainers faced off. How many pokemon they had left, the black-haired trainer on the left could not seem to recall try though he might. All he knew was that he had a Charizard in the battlefield - his charizard - and that this was a battle he had to win.

Against it, only a creature of fire and shadows, of ashes and embers, one he could not perceive for what it truly was try though he might.

"Are you ready, Satoshi?" A voice seemed to whisper directly into his soul. This was it, the final move. How he knew, again, he could not tell any more than he could tell what the enemy pokemon was, of even who was the trainer he faced.

"Charizard, flamethrower!" He commanded, gripping the railing of the platform he stood on. The great dragon nodded, and the other trainer remained silent, giving no order. Flames leapt from his pokemon's mouth, reaching out to burn the strange shape of their adversary.

It never even did that. The flames bounced harmlessly of the shadow, and for a moment he could see the enemy pokemon as it lept, its fist crackling with flames, the shape suddenly recognizable as that of Hazuki's Bashamo.

The fist connected with Charizard's skull. Satoshi fell to his knee, watching his pokemon fall in a storm of flames that seemed to consume the entire world. All around him, shadows lengthened, reaching out to him, grabbing for him...

-=-=-=-=-=-

Satoshi woke up with a start, a hand reaching out to wipe sweat from his brow. It was not the first time he had run in this dream since his defeat at the hands of Hazuki, the young trainer from Houen, in the silver convention of the Johto league. But this night, it had been even more vivid than usual...Memories, twisted and warped, of his defeat seemed set to haunt him for a long time yet.

Sighing, he looked at the time. Whatever it was, he would not be able to sleep again. He never seemed to be, after those nightmares. To any extent, the one window high up in the room let in strands of gray light, morning would quickly be there. His watch had five thirty in the morning, and though Takeshi still slept on his bunk on the other side of the room, Satoshi knew it would be time to wake up soon enough if they were to make it to his home in a day.

Sighing wearily, he pushed open the door leading to the rest of the pokemon center. The hallway he found himself in led directly in the main room. Heading that way, he could hear voices already ; he was not first up.

"Yeah, I don't have much choice, do I?" The voice seemed to wait for an answer, but none came, or obviously one did but he heard nothing of it, as the voice continued. "Just give me some time for goodbyes..."

Satoshi froze in the hallway. He knew that voice, knew it well in fact. And he especially hated what he had just heard. He took a deep breath, hand resting on the wall. He would have to confront her soon enough anyway....

He stepped in the main room, and found just as he had expected Kasumi sitting at the videophone. The screen had gone blank, the earphones were hanging from one shaking hand. Her hair was loose, falling down on her back in a soft cascade. Her head, shaking as well, rested on her other hand.

"Kasumi?" He tried to speak as softly as he could. There were others asleep in the pokemon center, and besides which, he did not want to sound aggressive.

She turned her head slowly, her aqua eyes empty of tears despite the way they seemed to want to desperately to shed them. Both her hands still shook, and she slowly closed her eyes, as if his sight was too painful. She said nothing, even as he walked closer.

"Kasumi? What's wrong?"
"I..." Her lips quivered, closer now he could see the red in her eyes; she had already cried. He felt his chest tightening, the beginnings of panic welling up deep inside.

"Please...go get Takeshi. I have...something important to say." Her body shook with the rhythm of the tears she held back still.

He nodded. There was no point in refusing, and nothing to get out of doing so other than hurting her.

He retraced his step, mind blank. He thought he knew what Kasumi wanted to talk about; simply he refused to dwell on it. There would be time enough for tears if he was right once she had told them all, and no use in shedding them beforehand.

His older friend, the one-time gym leader of Nivi, woke up quickly enough from having his shoulder shaken. His eyes opened, twin narrow slits gazing at the world, and coming to rest on Satoshi's face.

"Satoshi?" His voice was blurred by sleep.
"Wake up. Kasumi...it looks like she has something to tell us. Something bad." He could not find other words, could not voice his suspicions of just what it was the young woman had to tell them both. But he needed no help to figure out it could not be good news.

Takeshi needed no further encouragement, seconds later he was up and clothed. They both made their way back to the main hall of the center, where Kasumi still waited. She had moved little since he had left, still sitting at the communication booth, still shaking. She turned to look at them as they entered the room, and though her face was again dry of tears, the red in her eyes seemed fresh still; she had cried again.

"What's wrong?"

It took Kasumi a moment to answer Takeshi's question. A moment, one that seemed to last an eternity.

"I...I just got a call. From my sisters..."
"This early? And you were already up?" Satoshi did not particularly notice that it was generally considered impolite to interrupt someone.
"Joi-san woke me. And yes, that early. I think they've been up all night trying to find some other solution. And they couldn't."
"Solution to what?" Takeshi's voice was guarded, suspicious. He obviously had an idea what might be coming, and just as obviously didn't like it.

"Botan is moving in with her boyfriend....Ayame has been accepted in marine biology at the university. And Sakura simply can't keep the gym on her own - and she doesn't want to either. So..." She stopped, unable to say more. There was no need. Satoshi barely even noted the fact that one of Kasumi's airhead sister had made it to university.

"They want you to go and run the gym." Takeshi whispered softly.

Kasumi nodded, only once. Her shoulders slumped. "They say I'm more independent than them. That I can run the gym on my own." She seemed to hover between a bitter laugh and equally bitter tears.

"And you'll do it." It was no question.
"Yeah. Can't let the gym go down. It's been the pride of the family for years..." Kasumi's voice was barely above a whisper.

They were silent for one terrible long moment. They all knew what it meant, of course, but no one of them dared to say it.

"So you're leaving." It was Takeshi who spoke finally.
Kasumi did not answer. Her shoulders started shaking again, and she turned on the seat she had never left. This time, Satoshi could hear the low sobbing noise. She did not want to leave...somehow, that made him feel better, even though it made things far more painful for her.

"When do you leave?" Takeshi asked gently, letting his hand rest on her shoulder. He had always been like a brother to them, and would always be.

"Today, in an hour or so. They need me there as soon as I can reach the gym." Kasumi answered, taking a deep breath to chase the tears. "Looks like it's parting time..." She seemed to bit her lips.
"Yeah..." It would be strange, life without Kasumi. She had been her traveling companion since the very first day of his journey, and now...

It just seemed a journey without her couldn't be real. Such a thing simply couldn't exist ; his pokemon journey meant a journey with Kasumi and Pikachu. The other pokemon, he could leave if the situation required it; he had often done so. Takeshi and Kenji had both left without changing his fundamental vision of the group.

But Kasumi...

He shook his head; unbelievable or not, that was what would happen. And he would have to get used to it, no matter if he liked it or not.

"I'll miss you Kasumi." He finally whispered. She looked at him, her aqua eyes meeting his own. A sudden idea struck him, one he knew he'd regret, but simply could not resist. "You've done a lot to help me..." He reached out for his pokeballs holder, taking one he could easily tell apart from the others. "Take it." He handed the ball to her. "A parting gift."

She looked at the pokeball, her eyes widening. She easily knew which of his pokemon it was; they could hall have told the pokeball apart on a glimpse. He had only ever owned a single lure ball, after all.

"I can't..."
"Take it." He insisted. "You wanted him...and I want you to have him. To remember our frienship."

She nodded weakly, then fumbled at her own pokeball.

"If you give me Totodile...I'll give you another of my pokemon. One that meant as much to me as Totodile to you."

He knew what pokeball it was she handed him without even needing to look. It could only be one of her pokemon, after all, to have meant so much to her.

A moment later, the trading machine in the back of the center was activated. The registry of the pokemon league took note of the change...and then it was done. There could be no backing out of it now. She now had Totodile, and he had Corsola.

"Remember our friendship too." She smiled softly, though her eyes seemed to be only waiting for another chance to cry.
"I promise." He could feel the tears welling up in his own eyes, but he would not let them flow. Not while she was still here, not while she could still realize how much her departure would hit him, would destroy his long-held vision of pokemon adventures. She had been an integral part of all the visions of pokemon adventure he had held in the four and a half year since leaving his home...

It would take much more than one day to push her out of it. And even when he did, memories of her would still linger in his mind...along with the silent hope that one day she would return to her group.

"Once we're done in Houen, we'll drop by Hanada for a visit." He promised. Kasumi smiled sadly.
"I know you will."

Takeshi, so far, had been silent, observing the exchange between the two friends.

"We should be able to call you regularly, too." He offered. A good idea, one Satoshi realized he should have thought of himself.
"Thanks." Again, Kasumi smiled, and again, her eyes spoke of tears waiting to be shed.

Outside, the sun had risen. Kasumi sighed.

"I guess it's time I get going now...there's nothing I have left to do here."
"Shouldn't you eat?" Something, anything to hold her back for a moment more...
She shook her head. "I'll eat on the way...I have a long way to go." He nodded reluctantly.

A last chorus of goodbyes and farewell filled the room. Then, the door was open, Kasumi stepping out...and as it closed, so did a long chapter of Satoshi's life.

 

[Togepretty]

Wow!

First the Prologue:
It was excellent. The way you wrote the relationships(having Delia be Lance's sister, and Agatha be Prof. Oak's mother), it left me wondering where you are going with this. Especially with the seeing the future thing, and the mysterious person. It does a good job of grabbing the reader's attention.

Chapter 1:
You changed it to fit what's going on now! I loved how you had Ash and Misty exchange Pokemon. You really showed the emotions well, and explained how much Ash really cares for Misty. I'm surprised that you didn't make Misty's sister's sound selfish, like in the show. I probably would have made the sisters evil. :evil:

All in all, a great start to what will most likely be a great story.

 

[pokemasterfrank]

*sniff* That's sad...so sad...*sniff*

The emotions are portraied so well...*sniff*

Very nice job Damian. Very nice. y0|_| @r3 l33+! (inside joke)

 

[Fig]

Well, well, well! Replies!

@ Togepretty

Prologue - To be honest, I'm not entirely sure where I am going by now with all this. Some of the stuff will come back as interesting footnotes, some of the stuff will reappear for other reasons. IF they do get brought up again...

Lance's relation to Ash and his long-time friendship with Claire will start to play a role (although possibly minor) from book 2 onward, once you start to see more about the dragon adepts.
Deliah's *TWO* children might play a role around the early parts of book 4, when you start hearing about the Celestial Realm, the Immortals, the Eight Tenshi and so on. Agatha being Prof Oak's mother...*shrugs* We'll see if I get some use out of that.

Chapter 1 - Yep, this all started with the idea of rewriting this fic up to current events, to include RS and AG stuff. Then I started changing the plot around to fit my more recent moods. Then I changed more. And more. And finally I barely am keeping pieces of the skeleton of the old fic, because of stuff that would no longer fit, etc.

As for the sisters...I've never really seen them as selfish, or evil. For some reason, I've always seen them (well, some of them) as perfectly able to be much deeper than they have shown so far (not that we have seen them much). Which is why in THIS version they have more serious cause for leaving (University, etc) than in the animé.

That'S the good thing in pokemon. So few characters have any sort of character development beyond the handful of mains that it is VERY hard to get out of character - and it's not TOO hard to get a plausible explanation when you do.

Frank - if you think things are getting sad here, just wait. Things are liable to get darker before they get lighter.

And yep, I'm 1337!

*OnlineHost* (23:40:50): DamianSilverblad rolled 4 7-sided dice: 1 3 3 7

 

[Fig]

Chapter 02

Characters

Shigeru Ookido (14) - Gary Oak. A trainer from Masara. Satoshi's rival.
Nanami Ookido (18) - May Oak. Shigeru's older sister.
Yukinari Ookido/Ookido-Hakase (54). - Samuel Oak/Prof Oak. Shigeru and Nanami's grandfather.

Junori (78) - An old man living in the lands south of Masara.

Places

Sekiei - Indigo
Guren - Cinnabar

Iwazake - Made up location. Seaport from which (in my version of things) Satoshi-tachi headed to Guren Island.
Takiyama Range - The mountain range dividing Johto and Kanto, of which the main mountain is Mount Shirogane (or Shirogane-Yama), AKA Mt. Silver.

Chapter 02 : Traveling Companions

The road leading from Tokiwa south to Masara and beyond stretched around the vast foothills of the Takiyama range, a snake making its way between vast cliffs, on the side of a rushing river. West of the road, the land rose steeply to form a plateau, the southern edge of the very same plateau, which further north widened in the heights of the Sekiei highlands, home of the Pokemon League.

Atop the plateau, near the beginning of a small winding path which lead down to the road, Shigeru Ookido watched the land, his brown eyes missing not a single detail. Most of all, he did not miss the two shadows making their way south on the road below, one taller than the other. Three figures, he mentally corrected himself; he could just barely make out at such a distance the tiny shape of a pokemon walking alongside them.

Even from such a distance, he barely had any doubt on the identity of the duo. One of them may be missing, but he knew few others who would have any reason to head on to Masara as this time of the year. Spring wasn't a time for tourists, least of all in his hometown. Pokemon trainers, perhaps, but even those had little reason to visit gym-less Masara, unless they happened to have some reason to want to visit his grandfather, which few did.

Thinking back on the events of the Shirogane convention, Shigeru let his feet guide him down the mountain path, headed down. Events, and not only his defeat. Of course the fact that he had lost still left him shaking at times when people reminded him, frustration at yet another failure. Not at the defeat itself, but rather at all the work he had put in trying to win...all the work that hadn't been enough.

But the fact that he had been defeated...no, that wasn't painful anymore. Even in the moments immediately after it hadn't been painful or any such. It had been more of a realization - coming to grip with the fact that pokemon training wasn't all there was to life. His defeat at the Sekiei pokemon league had left him with the realization that his grandfather's name wasn't going to make him a pokemon master, that he would need focus and dedication to get there.

This time, he had realized that perhaps the focus and dedication were not all that worth it. If they had been guaranteed to make him a master, perhaps, but they weren't - and he just couldn't afford the price of it all anymore.

That realization had come in instants, as Satoshi's Charizard had defeated his Blastoise, and the instants had been enough to set his new course. Within hours, he had done something he would never have dared to think he would do one day. Something he would never have thought he could find the strength for.

He had made peace with Satoshi. Not only made peace; the two of them actually had decided to try on becoming friends. Somehow, that had been the easy part - it had come off almost as a natural result of burying their old hatred.

Lost in thought, he nearly lost his footing as the small steep trail reached the relatively flat land at the bottom of the cliff. He regained it, only to see Satoshi and his older friend, Takeshi, looking at him, both with smiles on their faces.

"Good thing you weren't all the way up there." Takeshi commented wryly.
"Yeah, I guess so." Grinning somewhat foolishly, Shigeru looked around for some shreds of dignity, but found none. "Oh, well. I couldn't wait to be down here anyway."
"Really?" There was an earnest tone to Satoshi's voice. Shigeru took a look at his new friend, his eyes betraying his emotions. Satoshi wanted it all to be true - wanted them to be friends now, far more eager than he had been at the Shirogane convention. Perhaps it had something to do with the girl he usually traveled with.
"Yeah. I saw you too from up there." He pointed at the cliff. "Thought I'd join you, since we're headed mostly the same way."
"Masara. And then, the sea, and a ship to Houen. For me at least." Satoshi nodded.
"For us." Takeshi corrected. "I have no plans to stop traveling with you. Plus, I want to get to see those new pokemon I keep hearing about."

Shigeru hesitated a moment. He had made no plans for after the Shirogane convention, had had no idea of what he wanted to do. But perhaps, just perhaps...

If only he could find a way to ask...

"I don't know yet where I'll go after Masara. I suppose Houen could be interesting..."
"You could come with us." Satoshi offered almost immediately. Takeshi took a curious look at his younger friend, but said nothing. Shigeru just smiled. It did seem Satoshi wanted them to be friends in more than just name.
"You know, I just might." He did, after all, want the friendship to work as much as Satoshi did. To work, and to be the first of many other friendships. His pokemon were his friends, true, but he had gone on too long without human friends.

They went on talking as they headed south, the gentle slopes of the foothills slowly clearing into a vast plain. To the east, the peaks of the smaller mountain range behind which Neon town and its desert lay were barely visible, breaking through the clouds. From the foothills, they passed into a land of gentle rivers and vast forests, a land both Shigeru and Satoshi knew well. By nightfall, they were home in Masara.

-=-=-=-=-=-

The small town was, for once, anything but quiet as they returned. It was, in fact, bustling with life, people going around in celebration. Shigeru could understand; they had celebrated much already when Satoshi had made it to the top-sixteen at Sekiei three years before, and now both of them had made it there and Satoshi even further to the top-eight.

The storm of congratulations and celebrations lasted well into the night, and even the youngest children were allowed to stay up for most of it. People danced, congratulated them, ate - they celebrated, singing loudly. Shigeru suspected some of the adults - and perhaps some of the older teens as well - were quite drunk by the time the party came to an end, but that hardly mattered. Through it all he smiled, trying to make out the figures he actually knew - not only faces he had seen before, but the people he talked to regularly - out of the crowd.

There were few. His sister was nowhere to be seen, his parents both dead. His grandfather of course was there, and so where a few people he had known at school, but that was mostly it. They were not there to hold a celebration over how high he had placed - they were there to celebrate how high a kid from Masara had placed. Who that kid was probably didn't matter one small bit to them. He wondered for a moment if Satoshi realized that too. Probably not, he would be too good-natured to see that.

To any extent, they all went to sleep quite late, and woke up well past noon, tired from their journeys. When Takeshi - one of those who had taken perhaps a drink or two more than he should have the night before - suggested they take the day to rest in Masara before heading out, there was not much opposition. They were in no particular hurry to get to Houen, after all.

Shigeru spent the day, or what was left of it after he woke up, traveling around in the small town he had been born in. Somehow, it seemed he had never seen it before. His mind had always been on something else, more often than not pokemon; he had never taken the time to realize where he lived, what the town was like.

There was another reason behind his wandering; he hoped, perhaps, to catch sight of his sister. According to his grandfather, she was rarely home these days, but beyond that he had little idea where she went on a near-daily basis.

Still, if he did manage to take in the sights his hometown had to offer, such as they were, he found no trace of Nanami. Oh, he had thought he had caught sight of her once, entering a small chapel he had never seen before, but he had not dared to go in after her. He could, after all, have been wrong and the chapel certainly didn't seem like the kind of place you could enter without being invited.

-=-=-=-=-=-

They left early the next morning, having been able to sleep despite their waking up in the afternoon the day before. Few people were up yet by the time they left - few would be up for a while yet on such a Sunday - and that was as well. None of them felt any need to advertise their heading on to a new league.

The road south went through vast farmed plains and forests of tall trees, following the lazy run of the Masara River toward the sea. Small communities - no more than villages - dotted the landscape here and there, but nothing even large enough to deserve so much as a pokemon center.

The weather remained invariably sunny for the first seven days of their journey, and so they could make the most out of their time, without any rain or storm to hinder them. The wind was gentle, blowing from the mountains to the north, pushing them onward.

Things began to change on the eight day. By mid-morning the wind turned east, blowing from the vast watery expanse of the Bay of Kuchiba now. With it came clouds, each of them heavy with the promise of rain, and soon the sun was covered. The storm still did not break out, but as they made camp that night by a small creek, it was obvious the rain would soon begin.

It did, sometime past midnight. The heavy droplets began landing on their tent, waking Shigeru up. He remained there for an hour, perhaps two, not bothering to actually check the time, simply listening to the sound of the sky's tears. Soon, however, he went back to sleep.

It was still only rain by the next morning, certainly nothing to stop them from heading on south, especially not when they were only a few more hours from the great harbor of Iwazake.

By mid-morning, however, it was obvious they would be delayed. The fierce rain fattened the rushing rivulets, turning them in raging torrents that could no longer be forded safely, and with burning bolts of lightning now lashing through the sky, it would be a risk - perhaps too much of one - to head on, especially with all the tress bordering the road through the expanse of plain they had left to cover.

They reached the farm sometime just before noon. It was no small thing, the living house of the farmer and his family at the front and all the farm buildings past it. Shigeru was the first to see it.

"Maybe we could ask them for refuge?" He yelled over the rising wind, trying to shield his eyes from the rain with one hand while pointing out the building with the other.
"Might as well try!" Takeshi yelled back, his nod barely visible with the curtain of raging water between the two of them.

They took a few more minutes to actually reach the door of the farm, but finally Satoshi knocked. For a long moment, Shigeru wondered if the knock had been heard over the hammering of heavy droplet and the near-constant sound of cracking thunder, but only for a moment. The door soon opened, revealing an old man.

Takeshi wasted no time explaining their situation and asking for refuge from the storm. Anyway, the man needed little to be convinced, and was soon letting them inside his house. He, like most inhabitants of Johto and Kanto, seemed to hold pokemon trainers in high esteem, not to mention he was quite possibly lonely. There were no traces of other inhabitants on the small farm - what little Shigeru had seen of the fields beyond seemed to hint that no one had worked them in years - and they had seen no other farm for the whole day.

Talking with their host, both theories were soon confirmed; he had not lived on the farm all his life. The man, Junori by name, had spent the last eight years alone on the farm he had bought for his retirement, ever since his wife's passing.

As the afternoon went on, conversations topic dried down. They had all presented themselves, explained their lives, and were reluctant to talk much more.

The sky had already turned ink-black under the cloud by the time Junori suggested that they turn on the television while the house still had power, to try and get an idea of how long the storm was expected to last still. Glancing at his watch, Shigeru realized it was already six, the evening news would be starting.

Placed as they were, he was the only one who could see the television besides Junori. Satoshi sat facing him, back to the screen, and Takeshi would have to turn his head to see anything.

The image of warships that had been on screen moments earlier - probably more discussion about the growing tension in the Westlands - went off, replaced by the face of the news anchor.

"Thank you Kurumi." She put the sheet she had been reading from at the bottom of her stack, and took a glance at the new one. "There have been no development about the tragedy which struck Hanada City last night..."

Both Satoshi and Takeshi literally whirled toward the television.

---------------

Mwahahaha. Assault of the evil cliffhanger.

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

GAK! You can't DO that!

btw--will Sakaki be in this?

And...um...why do the place names and character names get their Japanese versions, but not the Pokemon names?

 

[Fig]

Sakaki will be in this some. He'll appear in chapter 5, and possibly again in a further chapter. No, I don't know yet if and how Jiri will show up. Probably not a major role if he does. Though you never know.

As for people and place, my reasoning is thus : if I wrote a story about something taking place in japan, I'd use the japanesse names for cities and people, but the english ones for the animals - IE, I wouldn't talk about "nyanko" or "Hakkin" - I'd mention "kitten" or "Hawk".

Thus, I am using the japanesse names for the characters and locations, but not for the animals.

As for evil cliffhangers - Sure I can do it! Writing's no fun if you can't leave your readers wondering "Ack! What's he doing now?" >=)

 

[Togepretty]

Evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What did you do to Misty?!

Evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Seriously....Evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay, I'll stop now, but that was mean!



Even though the ending was very, very, very, very wrong, I did like the fact that the chapter was from Gary's point of view. I also liked how you put Gary's sister into the story. I like Gary's sister. She brings out a different side of him, I think.
Anyway, you definitely left me wondering "Ack! What's he doing now?".

By the way, just kidding about the evil thing....Evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sorry, had to get it out of my system.

 

[Fig]

I thought evil was right up there along "weird" in the job description for writer?

As for what I did to Kasumi...you'll find out soon...or will you?

And Nanami and Shigeru's relationship will be a story point of quite some importance throughout this story.

 

[Togepretty]

I thought evil was right up there along "weird" in the job description for writer?

Good point, good point. :evil:

And Nanami and Shigeru's relationship will be a story point of quite some importance throughout this story.

That's nice to know. Can't wait to see how it all plays out.

 

[Fig]

03!

Note : this is MY version of the sisters. I just can't quite picture them as the asshole they tend to be in the anime.

Characters :

No new characters!

Locations :
Shion - Lavender

Otsukimi-Yama - Mount Moon.

Tsukiyama Range - The mountain range of which Mt. Moon is part.
Iwaneyama Range - The mountain range between Hanada and Shion

Chapter 03 : Homecoming

A handful of stars glittered softly in the ocean of inky darkness of the moonlit sky, like diamonds dropped in a pond reflecting the glow of the sun. Behind her, the slope of the snow-capped Otsukimi-yama rose steeply toward the giant's summit, shrouded in night clouds. Ahead, a valley of inky darkness waited, one in which shone a thousand diamonds and rubies - the lights of the city of Hanada. Beyond, a deeper darkness against the night sky, the Iwaneyama range and its network of caves, which led from Hanada to Shion.

Kasumi sighed. To most people, the sight of a home they hadn't visited in years would have been a blessing. But to her...

She wasn't even sure she could call the city of her birth "home" anymore. What was her home? The gym here or rather, some sleeping bag in a forest grove, wherever Satoshi's journey took them all? Coming here had been the right thing to do - it had been giving in to her family's need rather than what she herself might have wanted.

But Hanada wasn't her home anymore. Just another city. Oh, another city where her family lived...but never a city she could feel at home in anymore. Never a city she could feel alive in - not in the way she had felt alive ever since leaving, ever since meeting Satoshi.

A lone tear rolled down her cheek, the thought slowly depressing her more than she had already been.

"Why me?" She whispered softly, picking her way down toward her family's home. She needed no help, no map making her way through the streets of Hanada. She hadn't needed one either on her way from Tokiwa, through the five days on the road, but here, it was more than blind luck - she knew her path, knew where she was going.

The gym was as she remembered it, even if it had been a long four years since she had last seen it. The door was left open, as it mostly always had been as far as she could remember. The familiar sight of the great aquarium greeted her as she silently stepped inside, the faint glow of a handful of wall lights shimmering on the surface of the water.

It might not be her home anymore, but it had been. Wherever she looked, she could see memories, half-forgotten figments of her life before leaving. Her sisters back when they were younger. They were laughing, and at her. Other memories of her mother, of the rest of her family. Even half-forgotten glimpses of a brother, who had gone away to live with their father, after their parents had separated.

The memories were there. Her heart just wasn't. The gym may have once been her home, but it would never be anymore. And the memories wouldn't change a thing to that, even the good ones, few as they where.

Silently, she opened the door to the private living quarters of the gym. A faint light filtered under the door of the living room, she went in. Ayame and Sakura were there. Neither was talking, both instead simply lost in contemplation.

"Hi…" She didn't really know what to say. She just didn't want to make them feel guilty, but pretty much anything she could have said would have brought home the fact that she was less than happy – to say the least – about this.

"Welcome home little sister." It was Ayame who greeted her. Her voice was soft and gentle, and more important, serious. There were no traces of the giddy façade she adopted in public. After all, while it may have been somewhat fitting – and even then… - for the gym leader of Cerulean city, it would hardly do for a student in marine biology.

"I'm like...I'm sorry." Sakura closed her eyes. "If I was able to run the gym alone, I would, but..."

Kasumi had to force her lips closed. She could have delivered a biting reply, paid back the long years of teasing and rejection her sisters had pushed on hers. It just wasn't worth it, wouldn't change anything to the situation except perhaps make it worst.

"We tried everything we could think of Kasumi. Botan wouldn't hear of not living with her boyfriend, he wouldn't hear of not coming here...We tried to ask everyone we could think of...you were the only one who could do it, in the end."
"So you would rather have anyone else but me." The blow was hard.
"That's not what I meant at all." Ayame sighed. "We tried everything else we could think of because we all agreed it would be wrong from pulling you from your journey to come here. But there just wasn't a way."

Kasumi sighed.

"I won't lie. I'd really much rather you have found someone else. I'm not even sure why I came back - I just don't feel like I owe you or anyone else to drop what life I had finally found for myself to come here for you guys. But whatever." She had not meant to reveal so much of what she really thought, had not meant to sound so harsh either. But still she had. And who, really, could blame her?

"I understand." Sakura whispered softly. "I said it already, I, like, meant it...I, like, really wish we could have left you on your journeys. You belong with your friends, even if you're like one of us too."

Kasumi turned her eyes away. She just wouldn't let any of them sees the tears rolling down her cheeks. She couldn't. She had to remain strong in front of them or else they'd pound on the weakness like they had always done. Her old defense reflexes, built upon being ignored by her parents and the target of scorn from her older sisters, were busily kicking in.

"Maybe you should get some sleep?"
"In the baby room?" Some of her old life surged out in the accusation. They had all spent a few years there. Unlike her sister, she had never been given a real room of her own, and though her parents had of course renovated the old "baby room", it had never been the same as being given a sleeping room of her own. And her sisters had never missed a chance to comment on that.

"Of course not. We prepared mom's old room." Ayame smiled. "With what you're doing for us, we weren't going to give you less - it would have been...cheap."

Kasumi nodded slowly. So, after all, they had really been thinking of her.

"Thanks, both of you."
"It's, like, us two who owe you some big thanks Kasumi." Sakura took her hand. "You're really a great sister.
"Sensational?" Despite herself, Kasumi felt a small smile on her face.
"No. Much, much more than that." Ayame whispered again. "Now go get some sleep. There isn't much time for us two to prepare you before I have to move to Yamabuki."

-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-=-

True to Ayame's words, the next few days were indeed hectic. She learned of all the ins and outs of actually running a gym - money, leagues inspection, the records of winning and losing trainers, all the other things that made up the day-to-day life of a gym leader.

She learned just as much about all the sophisticated machines that controlled the great Hanada aquarium, which was also part of the gym. Hundreds of water pokemon depended on the complex system, and failure on her part to understand it completely would condemn a vast majority of them.

"I'll take care of the aquarium for the most part, but you'd better know this stuff too." Sakura had remarked. "You never know what might happen."

Three days later, both of her sisters went to visit Botan south in Kuchiba to help her finish moving in her new home, leaving Kasumi alone to take care of the gym. It would be a test of sort, she supposed, to see if she could handle the job on her own. They were no more than a phone call away, but...

For the first time since coming back, Kasumi actually had the time to think. Oh, she had some tasks to see too, and in mid-afternoon, a trainer came to challenge her - and lost handily - but still, for most of the day, she could remain by herself thinking.

And wonder again just what she was doing there. This just wasn't her place. Younger, she had wished she could run the gym, but now that she had spent the last five years traveling...

Nightfall did little to maker her feel better. Regrets plagued her, not letting her sleep a second. Which was why she was awake to hear the noise in the first place.

There was someone walking in the gym. Her sisters were far south, and wouldn't be back for a few days. And they were the only ones with the keys besides her. Which meant that someone had broken in. And there was no way she could let that happens.

She silently pushed her sheets away, deciding she had no time to change from her pajamas to any other clothes. Her hands reached out for the pokeballs she could find, ready to throw them, and she opened the door, careful not to make a single sound.

Her eyes immediately went to her left, to a light in the main room. But not just any light, she realized, her eyes widening in horror - the red, angry glare of a flame. And there was an all too familiar smell in the air...

"Oh damn..." She breathed, reaching for her pokeball, then realizing the futility of it. They wouldn't be able to stop such the spreading fire - not with so few of them with her.

She raced down toward her room's window, gripped her hands about it, and pushed upward.

The window did not bulge one bit. Come to think of it, hadn't she left it open before going to sleep? If it was closed now...

"No..." she whispered hoarsely. The fire was not accidental...and it was meant to kill her.

She had to get out. She couldn't let herself die her, now. There had to be a way, there must be one...

She raced back to the hallway, only to see the flames spreading closer, licking up the walls...

Up the walls...and there was a basement to the gym. Fire went up, and she could go down. Her feet barely seemed to touch the ground as she raced to the stairway, flames getting ever closer. She could hear the siren of a firemen car in the distance. They'd be there soon. They were going to be there in time.

They had to.

She flew down the stairway, almost missing a step, taking the greatest strides she could dare on her way down.

The sirens, out there, were getting closer. It would all be over soon...

And then, just as everything seemed to calm down, there was a spark. There were no visible sources for it, only the briefest flash of light in empty air.

The floor burst in flames, heat flaring close to her.

"No..." She shrank away. Upstairs there were only flames. Now the same could be said of the basement . The windows were sealed...

There was a flash of bluish light; a shadow fell on her. She half-turned, had no time to see what the shadow was before she felt something hit her head, and fell down on the floor, her mind blank to the world.

The same light filled the room again...

 

[Blackjack Gabbiani]

wow...*hopes Misty got out* I...hope she can stop the fire! I mean, it's a water gym, after all...

but who would want to kill her? Oooh! OK, I'm hooked.

 

[pokemasterfrank]

Cliffhangers...evil...I like to use em too!

Cool...background on Gary...cool. Like everybody else (get ready for another repeat), I liked how you put it in Gary's POV. It puts the story in another perspective, gives a brighter light to Gary's personality. Cool.

 

[Fig]

Originally posted by Blackjack Gabbiani
wow...*hopes Misty got out* I...hope she can stop the fire! I mean, it's a water gym, after all...

but who would want to kill her? Oooh! OK, I'm hooked.

The who and why of this, my friend, is your introduction in the overreaching story of the entire pentalogy . And there are many layers indeed to the why...

Frank - Gary's a personal favorite of mine, ever since I saw the last two epis of Orange. i really like to work with him as part of my cast.

 

[PlatinumHawke]

Speaking of Gary, are you gonna do anything like you did back in the old TGE, ie his relationship with Duplica and such. I personally thought he was one of the best developed character in the entire series.