The Story of Daniel - Chapter 4
#4 of The Story of Daniel
The Story ...
The Story of Daniel - Chapter 4
Gray clouds covered the skyline in a gloomy overcast, making the forest surroundings seem bleaker than usual and Daniel hoped that he could find shelter before it rained. He had spent the last three hours trudging along a weather-beaten forest trail, slowly making his way north towards Jubilife city. His new backpack, heavily laden with fresh supplies, was weighing him down considerably and Daniel was working up a light sweat.
'Crap...I really should start working out again. This stuff is getting heavy!' he thought tiredly. He reached for his canteen, taking a light sip of water before replacing it. He didn't have much left and would need to stop by a river or stream soon.
After leaving Professor Rowan's lab, Daniel had gone over to the pokemart to get supplies. Since it was a small town, the store wasn't too hard to find. It turned out to be a small blue-roofed building with a sign simply saying 'MART' hanging across the roof. Once he entered, Daniel found that it looked remarkably similar the interior of a gas station, containing trainer essentials instead of beer and cigarettes.
As Daniel scanned the aisles, he realized that he could identify most of the items. There were potions, antidotes, full restores (although these were very pricey), pokeballs, and even several revivals. The store also sold camping materials and this is where he was able to get his tent, sleeping bag, matches, and even a nice red and black backpack to put them in.
Also, Daniel was able to get a small bundle of food for both himself and for his pokemon. Although he didn't have one yet, he felt that he should at least be prepared. Bringing his items to the cashier, he was able to purchase them with some money the doctor had given him. While the man was ringing him up, Daniel decided that it was the right time to get some information.
"Umm...do you know how to get to Jubilife from here?" Daniel had asked.
"Hmm...Jubilife?" the cashier began, not bothering to look up from his work."Well, if you just head north along route 202, it's about a two day walk."
"Oh...okay, thanks." He was a little surprised. In his game, it only seemed to take about five seconds for him to travel the route. 'I guess the scale of things is a lot bigger than I thought.' Daniel reasoned. He would have to take that into account in the future. He didn't want anything bad to happen just because he misjudged the length of a trip. After all, a three minute route in the game might mean weeks of travel here.
Daniel left the store shortly after, carrying his new purchases in his arms. He stopped on the side of the road for a couple minutes in order to pack them into his backpack and then headed for route 202.
Looking in his wallet, he counted the meager remains of his cash. It wasn't much, and he figured that he should buy only the essentials from now on in order to conserve money. He knew that he could make some money by battling, but since he didn't have a pokemon yet, he would just have to make do with what he had.
As he was leaving Sandgem town, Daniel suddenly thought of something.
'Oh man...I forgot to buy an umbrella.' He looked up at the clear-blue sky. 'Well, I guess it will be okay. I should be fine until I reach Jubilife.' And at that thought, he set off down the road, a cheerful smile playing on his features.
Now the sound of thunder boomed above Daniel, who was tiredly jogging in an attempt to outrun the impending rain, cursing himself for his bad luck. He was trying to find something to help keep him dry, frantically scanning his surroundings as he went. He pulled out his pokedex as he ran and turned on the built-in pokenav, hoping to find a pokemon center near here. Unfortunately, the only one it registered was five miles away, and Daniel was sure that he would be half-drowned by the time he got there. Just as he was putting it back in his pocket, Daniel could feel it begin to rain softly. It was picking up strength however, as the light drizzle soon progressed into pouring rain.
'Well, my canteens did need water.' He thought ironically, now running full sprint through the onslaught of water.
He tried to duck under the trees on the side of the road, but they didn't seem to do much to halt the water's advances, so he kept going. He went a little further into the forest, still keeping his eyes on the path while trying to take advantage of as much shade as he could. Suddenly, he spied a small cave on his right; just close enough to the road so that he could barely see it.
'Crap, why is it always caves?' he thought a little frustrated. After the incident in the first one, he didn't really trust them anymore. However, it didn't look like he had a choice as he rushed to the entrance, desperate to get out of the downpour.
It was nice and dry to Daniel as he entered. It was also, thankfully, empty at the time. Daniel let out a sigh of relief; he tried not to imagine what would have happened if an Ursaring, or something equally as dangerous, had inhabited it. Taking advantage of his good fortune, he took a look around. The cave was rather small, yet perfectly fine for waiting out a storm in and Daniel was glad that he wouldn't feel too cramped if he stayed.
Looking back at the rain, he figured that the storm was going to last a while, so he thought that he might as well spend the night in the cave. Putting his backpack down, he was also relieved to find that all of his things were still dry, due to the backpack being waterproof. He reached in and pulled out his tightly rolled sleeping bag, beginning to unwind it carefully. He laid it out smoothly on the ground and was about to get in when he realized something.
His clothes were completely drenched. Everything from his shirt to his shoes was soggy and damp from the rain. He knew that he would probably catch a cold if he slept as he was, so he began to undress. Placing his wet articles of clothing next to him, he laid them out so that they could dry a little as he rested.
He still left his boxers on, since they weren't too wet, and he slipped quietly into the sleeping bag once he was finished. Soon Daniel was fast asleep, apparently not bothered by the deafening thunder coming from outside.
Sometime later, outside in the pouring rain, a lone quilava could be seen slowly making its way through the forest.
She was tired, cold, and above all, terrified. She had been running for two days straight trying to outrun her pursuers, a hungry trio of mightyena. She probably wouldn't have lasted another hour if it hadn't been for the rain.
Her scent was a lot harder to track and she thanked Arceus for the short reprieve. However, she knew that the rain would eventually stop; then those mightyena would tear her to pieces.
She shuddered at the thought. Usually she was a lot more optimistic, but in her exhausted state, it all just seemed hopeless. The rain seemed to be hitting her worn body harder than ever and she wished that she could find some shade. Being a fire type, she couldn't handle such long exposure to water and she was reaching her limit.
'Damn, if those mightyena don't get me, this rain will.' She thought tiredly, her body pushed to its absolute extremities.
She was just about to give up. The mightyena, the rain, the cold...it was all just too much. She was just so tired...so cold, her legs felt like lead and her body was constantly shivering in the freezing rain.
Just then, she thought she saw something. She was just able to focus her scarlet eyes long enough to make out the entrance to a small cave not ten meters away.
'Sh...shelter...'
For some reason, the cave's appearance seemed to revive an ember of hope within her. Straining her leaden body to move, she slowly crawled her way towards the cave. Her muscles painfully convulsed, making her every move send a thousand needles of pain throughout her body. Her teeth chattered, her limbs shook, her feet dragged through the mud. It seemed like an eternity of endless struggle, yet miraculously, she eventually reached the mouth of the cave.
She couldn't see inside it since it was so dark, but it wouldn't have mattered anyway. The moment she crossed the threshold and felt the rain stop hitting her, she collapsed on the ground, too tired for any movement whatsoever. As she slipped into unconsciousness, she believed that could feel something moving towards her.
'Oh, please let me not have crawled all this way just to get eaten.'
Then everything went black.
Daniel woke up with a start. He thought he heard something, but figured that it was just the storm.
'Guess I'm not as heavy of a sleeper as I thought.' He turned his head towards the mouth of the cave, about to return to the nice dream he was having, when he saw the small frame of an animal blocking his view. It looked pretty beat up, its breath coming out in short, gasping rasps.
Daniel hastily removed himself from his bag and walked cautiously towards the creature, his feet making echoes across the cave walls as it hit the stone ground. Kneeling down, he crept up next to the creature; it seemed to be out cold.
From its dark blue and yellow body, Daniel immediately recognized it as a quilava. 'Poor thing' he thought sadly. 'It must have been caught out in the rain.'
At first he didn't really know what to do. It was only the second pokemon he had ever seen and he certainly wasn't a doctor. He could tell however that it needed his help; else it probably wouldn't make it through the night.
He picked up the little pokemon as gently as possible, noticing how soft its fur was as it brushed against his chest, and walked to where his backpack and sleeping bag were. It shivered under him, its body still trying to fight off the cold.
Quickly, Daniel took a soft hand towel from his bag and began to dry her off. Daniel knew it was a 'she' since he noticed that she seemed to lack 'items' when he picked her up. Being careful to avoid her red spots, he began to dry her soft fur; using one arm to hold her while the other toweled her off.
Once all the water had been coaxed from her fur, he pushed his sleeping bag up against the wall of the cave and got into it slowly, still keeping the quilava off the ground. Now that she was dry, he needed to warm her up before she froze to death.
After he got in, he laid his back against the wall so that he was in a sitting position and rested the little pokemon against his lap. He began to rub and pet her gently, trying to bring some warmth back into her cold frame. He hoped that his body heat would be enough to help her, but...
He waited with bated breath, watching the little pokemon's shallow, hard breathing with increasing nervousness. He didn't know why he felt so worried. He only just met her, yet he had grown attached somehow, concerned for her safety as if she was a family member.
Much to Daniel's relief, the quilava's labored breathing soon became noticeably softer as she drifted into a calm rest. He figured that she would be okay for the night, yet he still continued to pet her anxiously, feeling her soft fur run through his fingers as he calmed himself down. He was still a little shook up from the tense moment.
As his anxiousness left him, Daniel looked down at the small, weasel-like pokemon. He watched the slow rise and fall of her back, still rubbing her comfortingly. A contented expression could be seen on her face and Daniel could almost swear that he heard a soft purring come from the pokemon every now and again.
Daniel gave a warm smile. He wondered briefly about the past few days. It still seemed so incredible to him that he was actually in the pokemon world. 'But here I am,' he thought looking down at the sleeping quilava, 'and with an actual pokemon.'
But, his happy thoughts were soon interrupted by their counter-parts. What about his family? What about his friends? Would he ever see them again? Could he ever leave?
...Would he ever want to leave?
Daniel frowned, the happy expression disappearing from his features. He had been dwelling on this issue ever since he arrived.
He didn't know what to think really, it was simply too large of a problem for him to solve alone. He figured that some part of him did want to go home. It was quite natural for him to want to see his mother and father again, even all of the friends that he left behind.
Yet, another part of him wanted to stay. An almost selfish desire burned within him, beckoning him to simply forget his old life and to embrace this new one. It confused him to no end. He felt happy that he was here, yet guilty that he was doing nothing to return to his parents, who were obviously waiting for him. They probably thought he was dead.
This made Daniel feel even worse. He didn't want to leave his parents miserable, but he couldn't see any way of helping them; short of leaving this place altogether.
'Man...what am I going to do?'
In the end however, Daniel decided to simply put these thoughts aside. He figured that there was no point in worrying over something that he couldn't do anything about.
However, he figured that he should still try and find out how to get home. Perhaps when the option comes, if it ever comes, for him to leave, he would make his choice then on whether to stay or not. But not now.
Even Daniel knew that it was far too soon for him to be making that kind of decision. Especially since he just got here. Daniel continued to pet the small quilava, occasionally scratching her behind the ears and making her hind legs twitch slightly as she slept.
Seeing this made Daniel smile a little. He thought that she actually looked kind of cute and he watched her sleep contentedly on his lap for a little longer. He hoped that she would be okay.
Eventually, Daniel was overcome by drowsiness as well and he too succumbed to the welcome invitation of sleep, his back still lying against the wall as he dozed off.
The night passed uneventfully afterwards, with Daniel against the wall of the cave and the lone quilava on his lap, resting peacefully under his hand.
Meanwhile, deep in the forest, three mightyena were huddled together under a large maple, trying to stay out of the rain as much as possible. Two were barking incessantly, apparently in a heated discussion while the other one was sniffing the ground, lost in pure concentration.
"What do you mean this is my fault?!" the middle one yelled.
"It's always your fault you idiot!" said the one on the right. "If you hadn't let her get away at the river, we wouldn't be stuck in the rain with empty stomachs!"
"Well, if you hadn't let her escape when we found her, we..." retorted the middle.
"WILL YOU TWO JUST SHUT UP!!!" the mightyena on the left suddenly roared. Instantly, the other two were silent, hurt expressions on their muzzles.
"Sorry boss..." the two mightyena muttered, ears drooping in defeat.
The lead mightyena continued to sniff the ground in silence as the other two watched apprehensively.
"Damn!" he uttered suddenly. "This fucking rain is messing up the scent. I can't track that little bitch at all." He was very still and silent, a dark expression resting on his face.
"It's okay boss...we'll...um...we'll get the next one once this rain clears up." The middle mightyena said cautiously. He didn't want to make the boss any angrier than he already was. He could get pretty nasty when it suited him.
"NO!" the leader shouted back, making the other two jump back in fear. "We've spent far too long chasing her just to give up now. Troy!" The mightyena on the right flinched when he heard his name.
"Umm...yes, boss?" Troy asked worriedly.
"Go out and scout the area. If we're lucky, she might still be around."
The mightyena wined piteously. "But Veck, it's pouring! Can't Reed do it?"
Troy looked up hopefully at Veck, but instantly returned his gaze to the ground. The lead mightyena had only glared his blood-red eyes at him and Troy knew that he wasn't in a position to argue.
"I...um...never mind." He replied hastily, quickly leaving the two behind as he disappeared into the rain.
After Troy had left, Veck smirked a little. He didn't really expect Troy to find anything, but he needed the peace and quiet. Those idiots had been bickering like little children for as long as he's known them and he needed a break. Veck's stomach growled loudly, but he could only scowl at the dark forest around him.
'You better run little weasel.' He thought maliciously as he licked his chops in a sinister fashion. 'Run and Hide. Because once this storm ends, I will find you.' He then grinned evilly, already imagining himself sinking his teeth into her.
'Mmm...I hope she's delicious.' He thought to himself wickedly, smiling madly in the dark.
Warm rays of sunlight were now streaming into the cave, the fierce gale having finally subsided along with the night. The quilava was stirring slightly. She felt nice and warm. She could tell with her eyes shut that she was resting on something soft and cushy, like a pillow or something. However, she was too tired to care and she buried her face in the warm object, trying to return to her peaceful slumber.
It was extremely cozy for her, feeling softness and warmth all around her. A faint 'thumping' also reached her ears, so soft and deep that it seemed to lull her into an even deeper sense of relaxation. It 'thumped' in a continuous rhythm, 'bum, bump...bum, bump...bum, bump...', she smiled a little into the 'pillow'. It almost sounded like a....
Her eyes flew open, all sense of tiredness leaving her as she looked up, finding herself staring into the face of a human boy, his head and back resting on the wall behind him. To her relief, she found that he was still sleeping, his eyes shut and unaware to her awakening. Looking around, she could see that she was still in the cave that she found last night.
'Last night...'
How did she make it out alive? She felt for certain that she was done for in that rain. She looked back up at the human, a puzzled expression on her face.
'Did this human... save me?'
Suddenly, she tensed up in anger. 'He didn't capture me did he?'
Seeing his belt and pokeballs by his side, she looked down at them, examining them with sharp intensity. She scrutinized each one, trying to find the registration marks on them, attempting to narrow the search for her own pokeball so that she could destroy it and release herself. However, she was unable to find a single registered ball.
Not one.
This was a little surprising to her. 'Wow...he didn't even bring a single pokemon with him? This guy's got more guts than I thought. So...does this mean that he... didn't catch me?'
She was confused. She had always thought that trainers were cruel and selfish, only looking out for themselves as they forced their pokemon to do battle for them. She had certainly seen plenty of examples of this kind of behavior. Trainers beating their pokemon whenever they would lose a match or a contest, it would always make her sick.
Yet...this one saved her. He didn't even capture her when he obviously had the chance! She looked back up at the human curiously.
She then noticed that he wasn't even wearing a shirt and a sudden thought made her face redden under her fur. She had just figured that the 'pillow' that she had been nuzzling against had actually been his chest.
'Crap...I can't believe I was doing that.'
She could still feel her face burning as she tried to shake off her embarrassment. She hadn't ever been this shy before.
'Sheesh, what's with me today?'
Suddenly, the human began to stir under her as he too began to wake up. Quickly, the quilava hopped off him as he rubbed his eyes, opening them to the bright sunlight pouring in through the cave entrance.
Daniel's eyes tried to focus around him, still in a daze as he struggled to overcome his grogginess. Eventually, he was able to look around and take in his cave surroundings. He remembered last night's events and he looked down expectantly, hoping to see the quilava from last night. However, it seemed that the little pokemon had left while he was sleeping since she wasn't there anymore.
Daniel was a little saddened by this. He had been hoping that the little pokemon would have stayed long enough for him to meet her. Also, he felt rather concerned for her well being. He still didn't know the full extent of her injuries and had hoped to take her to the pokemon center to heal her properly. Now unfortunately, it seemed that he would never get the chance.
Sighing resignedly, he began to roll up his sleeping bag and put on his clothes. He found that they had dried nicely in the sun and felt their warmth as he slipped them on.
As Daniel was working, the quilava continued to watch him uncertainly from behind a rock. When the boy had woken up, she had quickly hidden herself, not sure if she wanted to be found just yet. She just wanted to be certain that she could trust him before she made herself known.
'Well, he did save you. Shouldn't that be enough?' The voice in her head spoke. The quilava tried to ignore it but knew that it was right.
She supposed that he did save her. He hadn't even tried to capture her! Perhaps she did owe him some gratitude.
As she was busy making up her mind, her stomach traitorously began to make loud grumbling noises. 'Crap!' she thought as she tried to subdue the noise by covering her stomach. She had forgotten that she hadn't eaten anything in days, however her needy stomach was quickly reminding her.
"Oh, there you are." Said a voice above her. She let out a frightened squeak and she fell backwards in surprise.
Daniel had heard the noise and had gone over to see what it was. He was pleasantly surprised to find that the quilava hadn't left yet and he had then tried to talk to her, however he seemed to accidentally have scared her instead.
"Oops, sorry!" he said apologetically as he helped the pokemon up. "I didn't mean to scare you like that!"
She seemed relieved that it was only him and waved a paw at him tiredly. "Qui, Quilava" (It's okay) she said, her meaning perfectly clear to Daniel.
"Well, sorry for that anyway." Daniel replied thankfully. Now that she was standing upright, he could get a better look at her. She was about 3 foot even, just coming up to above his waist, and although her fur looked quite bedraggled and messy, it didn't appear that she had any visible injuries. A sense of relief washed over him and Daniel felt better knowing that she wasn't hurt.
"I was just about to fix some breakfast. Would you like some?" he cheerfully asked her.
Quilava however, shook her head. She really didn't want to intrude on his kindness any further, but unfortunately her stomach had other plans as it let out another loud roar.
Daniel laughed as the poor quilava's face reddened once again, obviously embarrassed at her body's honesty. "Come on." He said, forcing down his laughter. "It's really no trouble, so come and have some."
The embarrassed quilava eventually nodded her head in defeat and found herself soon being treated to a big bowl of pokemon food while Daniel pulled out a bag of trail mix for himself.
She looked curiously down at the brown pellets. She had never eaten pokemon food before, only berries and fish from the river, but it didn't look very appetizing. She looked up at the boy questioningly, wondering if this was it. He seemed to be waiting for her to take a bite, so she closed her eyes and took a chomp out of one of the pellets.
Instantly, her mouth erupted in an explosion of flavor and all her doubts about the food were quickly erased.
'This stuff is delicious!' she thought as she returned hungrily to the bowl.
Daniel only watched as the quilava began to devour her food. She seemed to like it very much, but Daniel guessed that it was mainly due to her hunger. He wondered how long it had been since she had a decent meal and wished that he could talk to her. He knew that he wouldn't be able to, but he felt that he should try to at least make conversation.
"So...um...do you have a name? I just feel like it would be silly if I just called you Quilava."
Quilava looked up from her food, shaking her head in a definite 'no'. Most pokemon didn't have names, since they could usually identify each other through their scents.
"Umm...would you mind if I gave you one?"
Quilava looked up at him in wonder. 'A name...?' She had never really thought about it before, but she supposed that it would be alright, as long as it wasn't a bad one. She nodded her agreement happily, giving him a cute smile.
Daniel returned it warmly.
"Well, I'll try and think of a good one, but for now, my name's Daniel. Daniel Oakfield." He said holding out a hand. Quilava only looked at it curiously. 'Does he expect me to lick it?'
Seeing her confusion, he felt the need to clarify. "Oh, I'm sorry. You're just supposed to shake it." She still seemed confused.
"It's like a greeting." He finished, hoping she would finally understand.
She still seemed uncertain, but cautiously extended her paw out to Daniel's hand. She grabbed it gently and moved it up and down awkwardly, still puzzled by the strange ritual. It looked a little funny from Daniel's perspective, teaching a pokemon how to do a handshake and he had to suppress his increasing need to laugh at the spectacle.
As she was eating, the quilava thought a lot about the human in front of her. 'He certainly seems nice.' She thought while chewing on a tasty pellet. 'He's done so much for me, he even wants to give me a name!' she reflected excitedly, even letting out a slight giggle, which Daniel simply assumed was from the food.
This was so unlike her. Usually she was able to control herself better, but this kid...she felt...good around him. She couldn't explain it, but she believed that she could totally trust him. Depend on him. She felt safe and able to forget about her troubles just being near him.
'Oh get a hold of yourself girl!' she reprimanded internally. 'He's a human! All they care about is money and themselves!'
But even as she thought this, she felt uncertain that it was the truth, and she continued to silently ponder the boy as she cleaned her bowl.
"So...how do you feel?" Daniel asked once she had finished her meal.
"Qui...Quila,Qui." (Okay...I suppose.) She said tiredly. Although it was true that she did feel much better after subduing her hunger, she was still very tired and weak.
Daniel however, seemed to get the gist of what she was saying.
"Well, would you still like to go the pokemon center with me?" Daniel asked, hoping the quilava would take him up on the offer. "It's only a couple of miles down the road and I'm sure they could fix you up better than I could."
She thought about it carefully, she knew that those mightyena were still after her so she certainly didn't want to be alone, but...what about Daniel? He acted so nice and kind...did she really want to endanger him like that? She then shook herself internally.
Why was she trying to look out for him?!? He was just another stupid trainer after all...right?
It wasn't an easy choice. If she left, she would probably get killed. But if she went with Daniel, there was the possibility that he could get killed along with her.
'Do you really care for him that much?' a voice in her head spoke. She looked up at Daniel one more time and saw his warm, caring gaze still on her, making her fidget uncomfortably under it. He had done so much for her even though she was a stranger. She wished that she could go with him, but she didn't want to see Daniel get hurt because of her.
Hoping she was making the right decision, she slowly shook her head 'no', averting her eyes from Daniel so that he wouldn't see her deception in them.
Daniel felt crestfallen, he had really been hoping to spend a little more time with the pokemon, but he wanted to respect her decision all the same.
"Well, alright then." He said, carefully hiding his disappointment. "You can leave whenever you like, but...please be careful."
The quilava felt something flutter in her chest as he said this. 'He really does care about me!' But she hid her emotions from him and only nodded politely in response.
Afterwards, he turned his back and began to resume packing his things and the little quilava prepared to leave. Just before she left, she took one last look at Daniel.
'Well...I guess this is goodbye.' She thought sadly. She wished for a brief moment that she could talk to him. To thank him for saving her, but knew that she never could. Blinking away the water in her eyes, she finally turned away from him, running full sprint into the forest without looking back.
Daniel heard her go as he was packing, yet he didn't turn around. He didn't feel like he had it in him to say goodbye to her. It was the first pokemon he had ever gotten to know and now...she was gone. Daniel's shoulders drooped sadly as he finished his preparations, which took him about thirty minutes. He still needed to make it to Jubilife today so, grabbing his backpack, he headed out the cave as well.
The trees, still wet from the rain, glistened and shone as the morning sun hit them, making the forest around him seem to sparkle incandescently. Daniel would have admired the beauty of it, had he been paying attention. His mind seemed to still plague him with thoughts of the quilava and he constantly tried to shut them out.
It was true that he missed her a little, as he had grown quite attached, but enough was enough. 'Besides...' he sadly reasoned with himself. 'It's not as if we knew each other for very long. She's probably already forgotten about me.'
And with that thought, he continued his lonely trek down route 202...
Not too far north of where Daniel was, the small quilava was slowly walking through the forest trees. If anyone had been watching her, they would have noticed her slumped head, as if sleeping, yet her eyes were open, gazing into space and clearly lost in thought. Her gait lacked purpose and she seemed to just be moving out of habit, unaware of her surroundings.
For the last half hour, she had been trying to process her confused thoughts and feelings. Her mind kept on wandering over that human in the cave, Daniel, and she was trying vainly to disperse the image of him in her head.
Why was she still thinking about him? It wasn't like her to get so attached to someone in such a short time, yet...this boy...why? Why couldn't she stop thinking about him!?
She flared her body's natural fire in anger, furious at her confusing emotions and at that...that boy, for making her feel so uncertain of herself. However, flaring was about all she could do, since she was too weak for any sort of attack and eventually she let her fire die out.
Soon, she began to think about him again, yet her anger didn't come. She could only feel a deep sadness welling up inside her and she knew that she couldn't hide the truth from herself. She missed that tall, stupid, stupid kid...she missed Daniel.
A sudden urge almost took over and she just about turned back right then, to see him just one more time...but...she knew she couldn't. She didn't want him to get hurt, and if those mightyena were still around, she could get him killed if she went back to him.
No, she would just have to accept the fact that he would be better off without her.
...no matter how much it hurt her to do so.
Suddenly, she heard a rustling in the bushes next to her.
'Daniel...?'
She turned toward the noise, excitedly imagining Daniel walking towards her with that big, goofy smile of his. What she saw made her heart plummet, her hair bristle on the back of her neck, eyes open wide in fear. A large, unkempt mightyena stood before her, leering down at her menacingly...hungrily.
"Hey there princess...miss me?" He said wickedly, his red-eyes containing an animalistic gleam and making the quilava shudder back in fear.
She turned to run, but found her way blocked by two more, slightly smaller, yet equally malicious mightyena. Each licking their teeth in anticipation.
"HELLP!!!! HELLLP, PLEASE SOMEBODY HEE...." She cried out, until she felt a large paw come down on her, pinning her to the ground and effectively silencing her.
"Oh no, my little delicacy. We won't have any of that, now will we?" he finished venomously, pressing down on her harder and drawing a whimper of pain out of his victim.
"Did you think you would be safe in that rain, that we would just leave? After all the trouble we've gone through to find you?" he said viciously down to her, pressing his paw harder and harder into her with each word he emphasized, drawing a cry of pain from her every time.
"Well, there's no escaping this time." He said rather smugly. "So...would you like me to kill you slowly or just rip your head off right now?" he asked this sweetly to her, as if he had just invited her over for a nice picnic.
The quilava however, couldn't have answered if she wanted. She couldn't speak with the mightyena's paw on her, and her breathing was also severely restricted. She was crying. Salty tears trickled down her face as she realized that there was no way out. That this was it. The end.
She expected her life to flash by her eyes as the mightyena slowly lowered his head, his sharp canine teeth coming closer to her vulnerable neck, yet all she could think about was Daniel. An image of her snuggling up to Daniel's chest as he slept flashed through her mind and she finally realized how much she really cared for him.
'...Daniel...'
She closed her eyes as she felt the mightyena's maw grip her, she knew this was it.
"Boss! Someone's coming!" shouted one of the mightyena suddenly.
"What?!" Veck replied disbelievingly as he took his mouth away from his prey.
As if on cue, a figure stumbled from the trees and into the clearing where they were. He was a rather tall human, with brown hair and blue eyes, wearing a strange shirt with an eagle on it and some blue jeans.
'Daniel!!' the quilava was so surprised that she couldn't even react to his sudden appearance.
"LET HER GO!!!" he commanded, his voice resounding with anger and his eyes aflame with malice.
"Look fellas, a nice appetizer." Veck sneered while his partners laughed stupidly. "Reed...take care of this."
Immediately one of the mightyena launched itself at Daniel. He had no time to react, since he couldn't understand the warning, and was bowled over by the powerful canine. Daniel tried to use his arms to defend himself, but the mightyena simply latched his teeth onto his left one.
He tried to hold him off but eventually, the mightyena was able to pin Daniel's arms down with his paws. Unable to defend himself, the mightyena reached forward slowly with his muzzle, his eyes filled with bloodlust as he neared Daniel's throat.
The quilava could only watch all this in horror, unable to help her friend while underneath the powerful mightyena.
"Daniel...no..." she barely squeaked out, trying to reach the bleeding human.
Veck seemed amused. "Oh...so you know him, do you? Well...that changes everything." He said wickedly to the quilava. "Reed!" the mightyena about to kill Daniel halted his advances and looked up annoyed.
"What Veck, can't you see I'm busy!" Reed said, disgruntled on having his dinner interrupted.
"I'm afraid that you can't kill him, not yet."
Reed growled angrily at Veck. "And why NOT!" he shouted.
"It seems that these two know each other and I thought that we...should have some fun." Veck answered evilly. "Have the human turn his head this way."
Reed, although irritated, obliged and forced the human to look at the quilava with his teeth, not really sure what Veck was planning.
Veck then leant his head in towards the quilava and spoke softly into her ear. "I thought that perhaps we could give your friend a show, so you better say you're goodbyes quick before I rip out your throat."
Her eyes opened wide in shock and she tried to call out to Daniel, to tell him to look away. She didn't want him to have to witness what was about to happen, but she could barely speak. "Daniel...don't...look...". But, he couldn't understand her and her cries fell on deaf ears.
Daniel couldn't look away. It was like a scene from a nightmare, and he watched the large mightyena open his jaws and lean towards the defenseless quilava. Her eyes were wet and pleading, looking right at him as teeth closed around her neck. He couldn't stand it...couldn't comprehend what was about to happen to his friend.
'NOOOO!!!!'
Just then, he felt something erupt within him. Like water from a broken dam, an unknown energy seemed to gush from the back of his mind, overflowing his senses, invigorating his muscles, an uncontrollable anger surging through his veins. He wasn't aware of it, but his body began to glow, a bluish aura surrounding him.
Reed wasn't paying any attention and was instead watching as Veck had his fun. Just then, he felt his own prey struggling under him. He was just about to say something, when he felt himself being lifted off his feet. He yipped out in surprise, but it was cut off as an iron grip wrapped itself around his throat.
The human had actually thrown him off, now choking and holding him off the ground with only one hand!
'Holy Shit!' he thought fearfully, unable to speak. 'Where the hell did this strength come from?!?' Just then, he got a glimpse of the arm that was holding him up. An unnatural blue aura seemed to be emanating from it. Actually...the aura seemed to surround the boy entirely, not just his arm. Reed looked at the boy fearfully, gazing into his rage-filled eyes with terror.
'This kid...what is he?!?'
With a roar, the boy flung the mightyena towards Veck, causing them to both crash into each other and land a good four feet away from the quilava.
Veck couldn't have been more shocked as he slowly got to his feet. 'What the hell just happened?' he looked back up and saw Troy just staring at the human in terror, then running off into the forest, tail between his legs.
"Coward! Get back here!" he yelled after him. Just then, he felt his stomach being bashed in and his eyes opened wide in pain as he was lifted up by the force of the kick. He landed hard on the ground, wheezing and coughing up blood. A shadow crossed over him and he shakily peered up into the face of the human.
He had never been more afraid in his life. The glowing human towered above him, a cold hatred in his ice-blue eyes. He seemed to irradiate power and Veck was too petrified to move as the human grabbed the scruff of his neck and brought his face closer to his.
"Get out of here." He said to the terrified mightyena, his voice both soft and the most frightening thing he had ever heard at the same time. "If I EVER, see you or your friends again...I WILL kill you."
Then he let go, letting Veck drop back to the ground, whom wasted no time scrambling to his feet and tearing off into the woods with Reed, both whimpering in terror and not daring to look back at the monster.
Meanwhile, the quilava was looking in awe at Daniel as her pursuers ran away from him.
'What the heck was THAT?' she thought, still too amazed to speak.
When Veck's teeth were on her, she had closed her eyes tightly, expecting the end, but...nothing happened. She felt the weight of the mightyena on her back suddenly disappear completely and she opened her eyes in surprise.
Immediately, she saw two of the mightyena in a heap near her while the other one appeared to be shitting himself in fear before running off into the woods. Turning to look at Daniel, she barely caught a glimpse of him and a blue aura shimmering around him, before he seemed to just disappear. She felt a rush of air and saw Daniel reappear next to the mightyena that had been on top of her and kicking him straight up into the air a good three feet.
'He moved so FAST! I couldn't even see the kick!' she thought astounded, her mouth now agape in wonder as she witnessed Daniel whisper something to the mightyena, before letting them run off like scared little children.
Once they were gone, the blue aura around Daniel seemed to dissipate and he suddenly collapsed to the ground, panting and sweating profusely. The quilava, getting over her amazement quickly, began to rush over to him.
Daniel had never felt more exhausted in his life. He was so tired and was sweating as if he had just run a marathon. His anger had disappeared along with that blue energy, and he was able to think a little bit clearer now as he struggled up into a sitting position.
'Well, that was...odd.'
He had certainly never been able to do that before, but...that feeling...his body overflowing with energy...it seemed familiar somehow. But now he was so tired. Where did all of that energy go? Before he could investigate further however, some furry object crashed into his chest, abruptly bringing him out of his train of thought.
He looked down surprisingly and saw a mass of blue fur hugging and crying into his chest.
"Hey, hey, it's alright, they're gone now, it's okay." He said comfortingly to the sobbing quilava, rubbing her back and shoulders soothingly with both hands. "You don't have to cry anymore now, they're gone, okay?"
She stopped crying abruptly and looked up at Daniel, her expression one that he couldn't identify. She stared into his eyes for a brief moment before she smacked him across the face with her paw.
"THAT'S NOT WHY I WAS CRYING YOU IDIOT! I WAS WORRIED ABOUT YOU! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING, YOU COULD'VE GOTTEN YOURSELF KILLED! YOU DIDN'T EVEN HAVE A SINGLE POKEMON WITH YOU! HOW DO YOU THINK I WOULD HAVE FELT IF YOU DIED BECAUSE OF ME HUH?!?" she shouted at him angrily, fresh tears forming in her eyes, and not caring if he couldn't understand her.
Daniel was flabbergasted. He couldn't of found the words to speak even if he had wanted to. Somehow, he had actually understood the pokemon! As if she was speaking plain English! He tried to keep his voice even as he attempted to answer the angry little quilava.
"I'm sorry..." he answered weakly, he was still a little terrified by the little quilava's sudden ferocity. "It was just...I thought I heard you while I was on the road and it sounded like you needed help so I..." yet he didn't get to finish as she took over once again.
"WELL OF COURSE I NEEDED HELP, BUT NOT FROM YOU! WHY DO YOU THINK I LEFT?!? BECAUSE I DIDN'T WANT YOU TO GET HURT, YOU BIG, STUPID..........wait...can you...understand me?"
Slowly he nodded his head and the little quilava's eyes bugged out in shock. She quickly hopped off him and looked away from him shamefully, her paws clicking together nervously and her fiery rage quickly being replaced by her more timid side.
"Oh...D..Daniel, I...I'm so sorry I yelled at you like that! P...Please don't be mad...it's just...I was so worried...a...and...um..." but this time Daniel cut her off, silencing her apologies by wrapping his arms around her in a warm embrace.
"You don't need to be sorry for anything." He said soothingly to her. " I'm sorry for making you worry like that. Can you ever forgive me?"
Unbeknownst to Daniel, the poor quilava could feel her face burning again as she felt his strong, comforting arms envelop her. Thankfully, her back was to him, so he couldn't see. "Of...Of course I forgive you Daniel." She answered shyly, relieved that he at least wasn't angry with her outburst.
"Thank you." He said softly to her, squeezing her gently and drawing an even stronger blush from the quilava. "I think I have some more good news as well."
"What's that?" she asked, her embarrassment finally fading.
"How does the name, Mira sound?" he inquired, releasing his hold on the quilava, watching her reaction.
She turned around slowly, her expression unbelieving as she looked at him with watery eyes. Suddenly, she pounced, wrapping her arms around the human's neck in a chokehold and squeezing the breath right out of him.
"OHHH, it's a wonderful name! I love it! Thank you, thank you, thank you!" she exclaimed happily, her arms still squeezing his neck tightly and crying silent tears of joy.
"I'm glad you like it...but, Mira...I...can't....breathe." Daniel said gasping, his face turning blue from lack of oxygen.
"OH! Sorry!!!" she apologized, hastily letting go of his neck and allowing air to refill the unfortunate boy's lungs.
As Daniel's face began returning to its normal hue, Mira wondered what she was going to do next. She had no home to return to, or any family to care for her, she had basically been alone until she met Daniel. He still hadn't captured her, which meant that she didn't have to stay with him. She was free. She could go wherever she wanted.
She then realized with a blush however, that the only place she wanted to be was...right here...with Daniel. So...that only left one thing left for her to do.
"Um...Daniel." She spoke up softly. He looked up. "Yeah Mira?" he asked nonchalantly as he tried to stand up, he was still feeling a little weak.
"Would...would it be alright if I went with you...ya'know...on your journey?" Mira asked hopingly, looking up at Daniel anxiously.
However, Daniel didn't give his response right away as he lost his focus and fell back on the ground. He was a little shocked by the question. Although he had thought about adding the little quilava to his team, he didn't think that she would be the one asking him to join!
"Um...sure Mira...that...that would be just great! Fantastic even!" he said cheerfully, his happiness becoming more apparent with every word to the quilava.
With the quilava watching him intently, he pulled out one of the small pokeballs on his belt and clicked the button in the center, causing it to swell from the size of a grape to that of an orange. "Um...are you sure?" he asked uncertainly, knowing that after this there would be no turning back for her.
However, she simply nodded her head excitedly and he slowly touched the pokeball against her nose. The pokeball suddenly opened up as a red beam of light shot out of it, encasing the pokemon in a cocoon of red as she was sucked into it. It then clicked shut without moving even once, the quilava inside not even trying to escape its confinement.
He smiled down happily at the pokeball in his hands. A sense of contentment washing over him as he realized that he had finally caught his first pokemon. A very feisty little quilava.
He then threw the ball up into the air, releasing his catch in a shower of white light as his new pokemon reappeared in front of him.
"Welcome to the family!" he said merrily to the smiling quilava, who responded by hugging his neck once more, although not as tight as previously.
"What do you mean, family?" she asked as she hugged him.
"Exactly what I mean." He replied laughing a little. "You're part of the family now, not a very big one but, a family none the less."
Mira felt a sense of warmth spread inside of her as she took in his meaning.
'I have a family now...' and she smiled into his shoulder as he finally stood up, having regained enough of his energy to start moving again.
"So...finally ready to head out for that pokemon center?" he asked, looking over at his new companion.
"Ready when you are." She replied, now hanging off of his back, pikachu style.
And at that, the two set off through the forest trees and had soon made their way back to the main road after a matter of minutes. If anyone had been watching, they would have seen a boy and his quilava, both grinning happily for no apparent reason as they made their way north towards Jubilife.
Not to say that there wasn't....
Ruby red eyes gleamed through the underbrush of the forest as they continued to watch the cheerful human and his new pokemon.
'How very...interesting.' She thought curiously, her muzzle showing off several rows of sharp teeth as she playfully smiled.
The ruby eyes then continued to stare hungrily at the human for a little longer, before vanishing into the shadows.
To be continued...