"Okay, Queen. You right to stay there?" Aspen called over to the unmoving Pokémon lying on a warm rock shelf. The Fox nodded slowly. It was dark, and Aspen was preparing for bed.
Queen had been so... so glum and moody today, it was really weird! Well, what ever it is, Aspen thought, it isn't my fault and I'm not gonna pry into the secret lives of Pokémon! She bedded down in her sleeping bag, in the middle of a forest in the middle of Mynami and soon drifted off to sleep.
Queen remained still, but her watchful senses told her of many restless nocturnal Pokémon moving around in the trees. What had happened today also moved restlessly in her head, over and over again.
She at first hadn't recognised the still figure in a raggy old blanket sitting on the street begging, but at the croaky, still recognisable, voice, Queen had frozen, stock still, emotions suddenly rushing, demanding not to be ignored, and the Pokémon had almost lost control of her legs and fallen to the ground.
Queen shut her eyes and entered her dreams...
* * *
"Voul?" she asked her mother, who was tense and watchful at the exit to the cave. Queen, now a tiny Vulpix lived with her mother, Nin, in a stony cave. She had never been out to witness the bigger world, and in her brain thought this cave was the largest thing ever.
Nothing, darling, Nin comforted, and slipped over to her baby, warming her with her soft underbelly. I thought I heard something, that's all.
She had. A Trainer armed with Pokéball's aplenty was rock-climbing up the steep slopes where Nin had sensibly made her home. The Trainer climbed, at one point nearly slipped off the craggy points where feet can hold onto, but persevered, for the prize she had come for was large.
Peering up at the large cave bordered by small wildflowers that managed to survive somehow, she sent out her Raichu, who climbed with her, its tail wrapped round her waist for a safety hold.
The two did this in total silence, looking at each other for instructions. The Raichu nimbly skipped up the last rocks and stood crouched, staring into the interior cave, bolts snapping from its cheeks.
Nin rose, hackles already up and bristling, to try and stare down the Raichu that was attacking her home and maybe her baby also. She growled, unperceivable to humans, but the defense tactics merely made the Raichu warn with its voice and electricity. Its muscles bulged, the tension firing it up.
The Trainer heaved herself up, and Nin started, her growling now loud. Vulpix mewed, and hid under her mother who was now standing strong.
"Shhhhhhh..." the Trainer hushed, but Nin was unstoppable now. In a space of five seconds a Pokémon and a human had come into her world and was now attacking her safety and security.
She was defensive only. Had the Trainer and her Pokémon gone away, she would have never attacked or thought of it, but the Trainer was bold enough to reach for the curious Vulpix standing closer then Nin and try and grasp its ruff.
Nin's growling reached an incredible pitch and frequency; and she lashed out with her teeth when the Trainer's hand was an inch from Vulpix's neck. The Trainer cried out; she withdrew with a gash on her hand, seven centimetres long, bleeding copiously.
The Raichu sparked over to the still growling Ninetales and took a step into the dark.
"Raichu, Flash." The whole of Vulpix's life lit up with Raichu's powerful electricity, and it enquired softly.
Pixie, stay back! Nin warned, using her nickname for her baby. The little fox withdrew into the deeper areas of the cave, but Raichu had illuminated every nook and cranny of the whole cave and there was nowhere to hide.
Nin powered up for a Fire attack. She did not know their names the Trainers called them, but knew they were powerful enough to take a Fearow out of the sky, and ripped out a Fireblast. The Raichu leapt back to evade the searing heat, but had forgotten where this capture was taking place - and fell down the steep cliffs to lie still...
"...Bloody fucking Pokémon!" the Trainer yelled after a minute of stunned silence. "I'll show you..." she warned, reaching for her bag.
She drew out something that the Pokémon couldn't identify, and aimed it at the aggressive Fox. Something stung Nin's side, and all she remembered after this waspish bite was dashing out in one last act of defense and then falling, clouds of purple, green, rushing into her line of sight like waves that also rushed onto the rocks where she had chosen her home...
The Trainer sighed slowly, looking at Nin with sympathy. "Silly thing," she chuckled, hoisting it up over her shoulder and waving an affirmative to the helicopter with her colleagues in it.
She reached for an empty Pokéball and neatly zapped the heavy Ninetales into it. "You won't be asleep anymore, but I'd rather you in here then on my shoulder!" the Trainer commented.
Now with her hands free, she had the chance to get the baby. She crawled into the now again dark cave where the Vulpix cowered. "Come here, sweetie," she crooned, and picked it up. It bit her, closing its little mouth on the webbing between her thumb and her index finger.
"Fuck!" she swore again, shaking her hand and sucking it gingerly. Blood flew as she shook it, and a droplet landed on the Vulpix's forehead. It dried there, and stained the fur and skin as the Trainer, ignoring her pain, clambered the last couple of rocks and hoisted herself and the Vulpix, in her arms, into the helicopter where her two Clan associates and her Raichu, now healed, were waiting...
* * *
Vulpix stared at all the busy humans outside her cage, as the human that had taken her mother away into that sphere thingy walked briskly down a hallway. The Clan member entered her room and put the Mobile-Poke containing the little motherfucker Vulpix, that had bitten her hand, on the steel table.
"Put this one in a spare cage," she snapped to the lesser humans (Vulpix was learning a lot; the one she hated, ever since it struck down her mother, was powerful, and more powerful then most others) and hastily put the vibrating Pokéball which contained Nin into a large steel tipped, fire-proof cage.
"Pokéball, go," she breathed, and Nin appeared looking the worse for wear. Fur ruffled and mouth frothing, she had obviously been thrashing around in the Pokéball for the whole of the trip.
Nin kept growling. Vulpix recognised her mother's voice. "Pix!" she squealed as the Clan member picked her up and prepared to put her into another littler cage. Pixie! Nine cried. You're alive! The Ninetales looked down at the empty open Pokéball, and swore a curse in Ninetalian. Then she bent down and took the Pokéball in mouth, crunching down as her head raised. Bits of plastic and metal showered the cage. Nin spat the broken mess of a Pokéball out of her bleeding mouth and glared at the Clan members.
After an hour three humans walked in. What's going on? Vulpix wailed as her bolted cage was opened. Strong reassuring hands hefted her out and let her stand on a cold metal table. What are they doing?
Keep still! Nin warned; she had seen the guard standing at the door with the dangerous thing that made you sleep. Allow them to handle you.
A bright light was shining in her eyes. Vulpix squirmed, but the hands were always there to restrain.
But she stayed still.
Her mouth was opened, and fingers pressed in to her tongue and teeth. The small Pokémon felt as if she was being stripped 'naked' for everyone to see. It was extremely humiliating.
But she stayed still.
Her ears were sprayed with what felt like rainwater. Then a soft unexplainable thing was wiping, wiping like a mother's tongue, in her ears.
But she stayed still.
Her fur was sifted, brushed the wrong way, her legs and her paws were lifted, her tail was examined, and for all this Vulpix kept her mother's wish.
But then her tail was lifted and a hard cold thing was forced into her anus, and Vulpix could not keep her rage and indignation any more.
"Youp! Yipeyipeyipe!" she screeched, and struggled against the strong hands. Exclamations came from all the people, trying to sooth the tiny baby while her temperature was being taken, but the Vulpix was unhushable.
Nin howled, with pain inside, to what they were doing to her baby. She was being so strong with all those people looking at her.
A hand strayed to close to Vulpix's snapping jaws, and she lunged forward to close her mouth on a few fingers. The human shrieked, and automatically lifted her hand, so Vulpix dangled, ready to be shaken off. She would not let go.
The human blood was coppery in her mouth, and she swallowed to try and dispel the disgusting taste. Nin shouted to her. RUN! Run my sweetie; don't look back! Let go and run!
Vulpix opened her jaws. She fell to the floor, and her paws instantly scrabbled for purchase on the vinyl.
The baby fox burst out the door with the strange cries of the Clan members and her mother's, bellowing her instructions, Run! Run!
She entered a new room. The doors were both shut, and she turned her head to see one Clan member walk briskly towards her, the others doctoring the bleeding one's hand.
A door opened, and a smallish member walked in. Vulpix slipped out with nobody noticing where she had gone. "Stop that Vulpix!" and, "What Vulpix?" she heard, but didn't understand.
She wandered cautiously down the hallway, then saw the sun! A glass door was the one thing stopping her from freedom. She ducked under a table to hide from more members walking the other way and pleaded for the door to be opened.
When it didn't, she tiptoed to the glass and placed her front paws against it and watched her breath condensate on it. Unhappily, she walked away, onto a strange coloured tile. What Vulpix didn't know that it was a random-outside teleportation device. She disappeared just as the searching members ran in and peered round for the elusive Pokémon. She had escaped.
Vulpix found herself in countryside, and once she reassured herself nobody was around she sat down on her sore bottom and wailed for her mother.
The sound attracted a few hungry carnivores. A near sighted Raticate wandered over, sniffing round with beady eyes, but a growl and a snap from Pixie sent it scurrying back into the brush.
Then a Persian stepped out quietly, beyond Vulpix's hearing, sight and smell range. The formidable hunter stalked the whimpering, lost and utterly miserable Vulpix, closer and closer, until a short command from a human made both Pokémon start and look round.
A teenage human walked up to the large Persian with a frustrated look. "Meow, when will you stop thinking about food and start training?" The Persian replied with a purr, and a head nudge against the Trainer's strong hand.
"What have we got here?" she asked the cat. "Hey little one, shouldn't your mum be near? I guess we'd better stay away; don't want an angry Ninetales on our hands. Return, Persian."
It yowled a goodbye to the utterly confused Vulpix, who was trying to figure things out, then disappeared in redness.
She had been free. So had her mother. Then somebody had captured her mother in a 'thing' and taken them both to a human environment. So the Persian was like her mother too? Why?
Marissa, the Jr Trainer walked down the hill wondering where the mother of the tiny Vulpix was. The poor thing, maybe, maybe it was- and she stopped herself from imagining any kind of scenario. She sat down with an easy lookout for the Vulpix and vowed that if after an hour a parent hadn't come collected it she would take it.
After 45 minutes she fell asleep in the sultry summer air, her hat over her eyes.
* * *
Marissa was half conscious when she felt her mum sponging her face with a damp washer, and waved her hand to get her to stop it. Her mother growled in surprise and backed away, and Marissa suddenly realised she was asleep.
She opened her eyes and sat up. A small circle of flattened grass, still warm, in between her arm and torso was not occupied, now she had waved away the washing occupant, who was now standing away from her.
Vulpix regarded her uneasily a foot away. The girl had been asleep and she had been licking her face, but what kind of thing had she been thinking?!
To lick someone's face; that meant devotion, and Vulpix was pretty sure this girl was just going to put her back to that steel trap.
"Hey, little one." the girl said. "Do you want a friend?" She offered a hand, and it backed away growling.
"Okay, so you don't trust me. Fine. Talk to the Pokémon then." she ordered and sent out Cleffa. It smiled at the fox and they began conversing quickly. Marissa smiled. Good for the orphaned fox to have a friend anyhow.
Tell me! Vulpix begged to the Cleffa. What is going on?
This girl is my trainer. She is nice, Cleffa offered. we are her friends.
Really? Then how come they were so mean to my mother?
Where is your mother? Cleffa asked.
I don't know! Vulpix wailed again, and howled. Help me, please.
Cleffa turned to Marissa. "She can't find her mother. (said in Pokémalian)
"Where is, or was her mother?" Marissa frowned. Cleffa related this the baby, but from the sound and body language the Trainer guessed Vulpix didn't know.
"She can come with us, if she wants," Marissa offered. "We might be able on our journeys to find a Ninetales mum."
Vulpix chirped an affirmative, and the trio walked down the hill looking for a shelter; the sun was setting...
* * *
After a month, Vulpix, after relating things in her brain, went into denial. She now fully accepted Marissa as her mother and didn't even have a spark of a memory of Nin...
Marissa used her as a fighter; the Pokémon trusted her absolutely and had phenomenal strength. Because of this strong bond they progressed from Gym to Gym. Vulpix's levels soared, eventually Marissa was contemplating evolving her to the graceful rare Ninetales. What a fighter that'd be!
Unfortunately, neither her nor anyone she knew had a Firestone...
* * *
"Vulpix! Firespin!" Vulpix, as she was called then, sent hot embers flying over, and they began circling the Doduo, occasionally burning it. It tried to evade the attack, but without success.
"Doduo-Drill Peck!" Its beaks entered the soft flesh under the fur, and she yelled out her Cry in pain.
"Vulpix, use your Ember!" Forgetting the Fire Spin, Vulpix, before the Doduo could flee shot flame onto it. It Fainted almost straight away.
"WooHOO!" her Trainer yelled, and recalled Vulpix. They were on a winning streak, and nothing could stop her now!
* * *
Apart from fighting, Marissa put Vulpix into competitions, all of them, in fact. She always won with the 'coolness' ones, especially with all her moves made stronger by her forgotten past, but judges marked her down for the fault in colour on her forehead. A bit of pure red stained her auburn head; Marissa had been puzzled by it for ages, but it had been there since the day they met, and she wasn't going to ask about before that. After winning countless times, Marissa decided to nickname Vulpix 'Queen'.
They never encountered another Ninetales, not even a Vulpix in their travels, not that it mattered any more. Nin was forgotten, but the devoted mother herself was always dreaming of that happy day when they would be united. Nin had been released on account of her ferocity, and roamed the grass asking after Vulpix's and Ninetales' alike, but no Wild Pokémon had come across anything...
Marissa had come home one day after going for a 'walk' and seemed incredibly distracted. Then after an hour of silence she had knelt down to her main Pokémon's level and explained that she felt it was time to evolve her.
Queen agreed readily, and Marissa pulled out a Stone, explained further about how her friends thought it was a good idea too. Queen suddenly blanched. "But you're not doing this because they wanted you to, are you Marissa?"
"No!- I just wanted you to know," she excused herself, and quickly pressed the Stone to Queen's forehead. Vulpix was in for a strange wonderful experience, and she shut her eyes with excitement.
When she opened them, tawny fur greeted her, rather then maroon. She had evolved with style. Marissa frowned. "Oh, bother! That red spot shows up even more now; I thought it would disappear!"
Queen was a bit peeved at her lack of excitement...
It had been a happy time, but, like all things, eventually it ended...
* * *
The next week Marissa had scowled all through, barking orders in battles and expecting more from her lead Pokémon when Queen was hurt. Queen was sympathetic; she knew how it was like to be shitty. "How was work today, Marissa?"
"I left a week ago," the Trainer said simply.
"WHAT?!" Queen yelped. "That job was your life; I know you enjoyed it!"
"I have better things to do now." Marissa had argued, but Queen could sense the upset in her tone. Whatever had made her quit her job, god, that must have been a pretty influential thing in her life!
"I have a new job," the Trainer explained after a minute of sulking. "It's better pay, and suddenly I have way more contacts!"
"Why didn't you tell me?"
"You're a Pokémon, Queen, you wouldn't understand."
Queen felt stung and hurt. Marissa had always confided in her; and the Pokémon's advice had always been more then helpful, or so Marissa had told her.
"What job is this then?" Queen interrogated. "What do you do now? I'll ask the most simplistic bloody questions you like; just tell me something!"
"It's a group, called the Clan. It's, well, we're kinda trying to catch many individual Pokémon we can; and then add them to the main Pokédex at the base. It's a research group."
Queen listened to every word, and when Marissa finished, she padded off to contemplate. Her ending thought was: "We are going downhill."
* * *
Marissa came home one day with a young man, who reeked of fear, not his, Pokémon's, Ninetales noted.
"This is Gnashe," Queen's trainer explained. "He's my boyfriend."
"Gnashe is an interesting name, is it used much?" Queen replied.
Marissa scowled. "It's a code name."
Ninetales felt even more suspicious of the unshaven, mean-looking teen now that Marissa would only tell the code name to her Pokémon. "Ask him how many Pokémon he has thrashed with his own hands, give me the answer and I'll leave you alone for the rest of his stay."
"What is he saying?" Gnashe grated, and Queen felt her temper surge. "My name is Queen, you foolish excuse for a Slowpoke. I'm a girl! Ask him- Marissa!"
Marissa mumbled to him, and he flushed swiftly. Queen felt pleased watching him apologise. But then they turned their backs, and Queen was exempt for the rest of the conversation.
Queen stalked away, to lie in the sunny patch of garden she kept secret for herself, and sneered at Gnashe when he walked away. He disappeared from view, and Ninetales closed her eyes to relax.
A huge force swiped her out of her reverie, she was flung sideways ungracefully and then Gnashe's face loomed close, closer, until their noses were touching. His breath made her retch, and his leering made her want to flame his face. But Gnashe was gripping her throat, roughly so she had to rasp for breath, and Queen knew better to retaliate.
"Listen, you little piece of shit," Gnashe growled. "My girl might put up with crap from her lead Pokémon, but I'm not somebody you wanna mess with. Let this be a warning to you."
He shook her mane savagely, dumped her on the grass and stalked away. Queen sunk to the floor, relieved that Gnashe didn't know she was crying...
* * *
The next week Marissa was even more pissed off.
"Ninetales-Bite already!" The Pikachu she was battling had already zoomed past, even though the now evolved Queen was fast, it was no match for Pikachu. She missed.
"BITE!!" Marissa yelled. Too late, the Pikachu had been commanded a Thunder Punch-it was strong.
ZzzZZZAaaP! The small fist connected with Queen's stomach. Electricity crackled around her, and she finally realised she was going to Faint. All her emotions felt sadness, Marissa wasn't going to be kind after this. 5 years ago, it was all happy-go-lucky, but now, who knows how she would react.
Closing her eyes, Queen Fainted.
"No!" Marissa screeched. "Stupid Pokémon! What a worthless piece of JUNK!! Even my Golbat is better then you!" She recalled Queen and hurled the prize money to the other Trainer, who had a scared look on his face.
After Queen was healed she had a horrible thought. If this progressed any further, for example: if Marissa started beating her, like Gnashe did to other Pokemon, she just couldn't be able to handle it. She was just going to have to escape!
Immediately the nicer part of her resisted, proclaiming: Through thick and thin we should stay with our Trainer. And instead get abandoned? Marissa is in the wrong crowd here! Queen shot back. That's not the point dear, a Trainer makes a certain contract when they capture a Pokémon, and that's to look after it. If it doesn't, that's the Trainer's fault, and it's them who are on the disadvantage side if they decide to abandon a Pokémon. Yes, but then I'll be lost! Nothing to do, except to get caught again, and I don't want this whole cycle to happen again! It's obvious, I'll just be put into a Box for all they care!! Like I said before, it's the Train-I don't give a damn! I'm going! Forever, and if Marissa and I ever meet again, she can stuff her head in her perfect Golbat's mouth!
The nicer part of her shut up.
* * *
That night, Marissa placed her Pokéball's on the bedside table. She fell into an exhausted sleep almost straight away, but Queen was running away.
The Pokéball began to wobble. No! No! NOnononononono! the perfect side of her screamed. Instead, Queen kept fighting. It was almost impossible to break the bond of Trainer and Lead Pokémon, but Queen was a stubborn Pokémon.
It shook now, rolling around on the table. Pokéball's scattered. Inside the Pokéball, Queen was blind. All she knew was that dim light that constantly shone in the Pokéball. So she didn't know that she was about to fall off the table.
The Pokéball teetered for a second, then, fell on the floor. Queen burst out in red light, then materialised. Blinking, she realised a part of her had been left behind in that Pokéball. Almost recoiling from her part as a Wild Pokémon now, she was just about to leap back, but no. She was going now, even though afraid.
Creeping away... she suddenly realised the front door was locked. Inwardly cursing, she kept walking out of Marissa's room.
Staring up at the back doorknob, which was the easy one, (thank god), Queen jumped. Her paw connected with the handle. And after that it was relatively easy. She slid down again, the handle came down too, pulled the door open, and Queen was staring into the night...
Cautiously she wandered outside. If any stray or Wild Pokémon were wandering, she would have to fight to keep searching for a good Trainer. Queen certainly didn't want to stay in the primitive ways of Wildness!
Queen fled the home, fled from Marissa, from everything she remembered. Eventually, she found herself in a city brimming with energy. Crowds were everywhere, and, baffled, she backed away from the noise-only to bump into a human.
"Uh! Oy, watch where you're-... huh? Wow! A Ninetales! And Wild?! Draggu, I Choose You!" Queen smiled inside. He was a good dependable Trainer-she could see it as soon as his gaze fell upon her. He looked about 20, or 19. Then the enemy was in front of her-she had no idea what it was, but did it matter? It was a Dragon, a Frigicaust by name, but the Trainer nicknamed it Draggu.
Queen went first into the battle. Leaping around, she powered up for a Fireblast. The extremely hot temperature swirled around the dragon, and it leaped back, but extended its wings and glided in for an easy landing. This dragon was an Ice Pokemon, so the head piece began to drip and steam with her attack.
"Draggu, Dragonbreath!" Draggu's icy breath mixed with a bit of snow hit Queen. Major halitosis!!! she thought as it swirled around her.
Then her tails went to work, wrapping easily around the Frigicaust's skinny abdomen. Then she Bit down hard on its stomach. It retaliated with a Hyper Beam.
All of Ninetales' energy left her. Flopping down, she felt ready to Faint-but her HP held on. The Trainer was checking out her energy with a Pokédex. "Alright! Great Ball Go!"
The Great Ball hit her flanks, and sucked her in. At first she struggled as instincts took hold, but stopped almost immediately. It locked in seconds.
"Either that was an exceptionally strong Ball or that Ninetales wanted to be captured..." the Trainer (Saber) commented. Shaking his head, he walked away to the Goldenrod Pokémon Centre, where his crush worked. They flirted unnecessarily upon meeting.
"Hey handsome! What's with your obsession with me? You just came in five minutes ago!" the pretty Nurse exclaimed when Saber walked in. She took his Pokéball's and healed them.
"Well, actually I just caught a Ninetales, and it's remarkably pretty, so I came back to see how you measure up to it!"
Nurse Abbey's face suddenly grew pale. "Can you come here for a second-I have something to tell you." She led him to the office behind the whole public Pokémon Centre and went to the desk. "Listen to this," she said, and pressed a button on the TeleCam. A face popped up of the answering machine function.
"Hi, this is Officer Andrea, I've just got a call from someone in Ecruteak City saying they have a Case 52, which means runaway or 54, which means stolen, concerning a Ninetales."
Saber stiffened and looked to the innocent Ball at his side. The Officer continued. "So either someone's stolen it or the thing's run off, and the girl's in a flurry. But not worried, which is pretty weird, just annoyed, which doesn't seem right, because she told me it's her Lead Pokémon. Its name is Queen. I think this is very suspicious, and my Arcanine agrees! Her name's Marissa. She lives near the Burned Tower. We're searching her place and haven't found much, but I'll update you. If you find anything, ring me A.S.A.P!!! And don't give it back, I'm too suspicious of this whole thing- she looked very sneaky. Okay-get back to me. Bye!"
The picture vanished, and Saber felt a sudden chill.
Abbey looked over to Saber. "I'm going to ring her now, okay-can you be witness?"
"Okay."
Suddenly Andrea's face appeared again. "Hi Abbey, have you found anything?"
"You bet! Saber, show her,"
"Go, Queen!" Queen came out, and peered curiously at the human that was not quite there.
Andrea's face dropped. "You found her! And used the nickname."
Saber laughed. "And caught her too, before I realised the thing was a runaway! You little scamp, why did you run away from your Trainer?" He fished in his Pack for the Pokémon Interpretation function, and slipped it round Queen's neck.
My business is my own, and the past is nothing but the past, Queen spoke.
"Queen, can you tell us anything?"
Nothing, only that I used to belong to Marissa. She lives in Ecruteak. Then a week ago I fled, reasons which I cannot say. Saber caught me in Goldenrod with his Dragon Pokémon and I was healed here before the Nurse told us to come in here. That is all I have for evidence.
"For evidence? So there's reason to suspect Marissa for something?" Ninetales jerked at the question, but tried to keep her cool. What to say? Divulge everything and be done with it, or pardon Marissa and save her from... from what? Everyone was acting like she was against the law or something.
There is nothing to suspect. Marissa is just a normal Trainer. Please, I do not wish to see her, even though this is all my fault. I wanted to run away, be a free spirit. Saber, where do you live? Is there another place I can be where I can have another Trainer? Or to be owned by you?
Saber frowned. "I live close to her, in Mahogany. We would have to take her to Kanto, or Mynami."
It seemed like a blessing to Queen because suddenly everyone was discussing her escape.
"I think Mynami would be a better option- it's harder to reach." offered Andrea.
"Yeah, and I know the Fire Gym Trainer there," winked Abbey.
If it pleases you all I would rather not battle for a while to escape being seen in the obvious public eye. Queen argued.
"Listen," Saber interjected. "I heard in the news that a racing stables has been built in Rhodium. And I know for a fact that you can race Ninetales. Do we want to take her there? I think they'd be very interested in a not-too-common racer."
"Yes! That's it! Thanks Saber. Who wants to take her?" Andrea asked.
"Well I am her Trainer," he replied a bit disgruntled.
Andrea smiled. "Sorry Saber. Yes, you can take her, but have you been before?"
Saber gave her a bored look. "A good Trainer makes it their goal to go everywhere possible. Yes, I have been couple of times."
"Okay, I'll get off then. Good Luck!"
Andrea's picture winked out and Saber looked to Abbey. "Well then, I'll be gone for a while, but you just keep healing those-"
Abbey suddenly grabbed him and kissed him slowly. Saber was shocked at first but started to enjoy himself. Leaning over to Abbey's ear he whispered, "What about that Gym Trainer in Mynami that you know?"
"There's such a thing as a joke, Saber."
Ding-dong! The bell on the counter struck and Abbey glanced to the door. "I have *kiss* Pokémon to *kiss* heal," she explained, stopped as soon as she had started, and walked out the door.
Saber shook his head with a grin. "But it was you who started it!" he spoke to nobody in particular, though it was addressed to Abbey.
I can agree, but never did you recoil or complain! a highly amused voice replied with the tone of a Interpretator. Saber realised he had not yet recalled Queen and she had witnessed everything. Blushing furiously, he argued. "Well it's not like you understood what was going on!"
Queen had a smirk on her face and was obviously very amused. On the contrary! Abbey was wanting you so badly she couldn't help but- ... is it... kiss? you. But I daresay I've never seen humans love each other! This was very interesting, I thank you, and hope you'll do it more often!
"Oh shut-up! And return already!" Saber defended himself as best he could. The smile was still on Queen's face when she became red light and disappeared.
Walking out of the Pokémon Centre he sent out his Frigicaust and flew to Rhodium City.
* * *
When he got there, the stables were easy to spot. Saber jogged over to a young man just standing outside. "Hello! Do you own these stables?"
"Yes, my name is William. I see you're a Trainer, well, if you're looking for a battle, I cannot give you one as our Pokémon have not been fighting for a long time."
"No, I have a proposition to make. My name is Saber. I caught a Pokémon an hour ago and am under the impression the species was a light racer once. If you wish I can give you that Pokémon for something small in return."
"Yes! Of course, I would love to. What is it?"
"Queen, Go!" When it had popped out, Queen stared up at William. Then a new voice rang out.
"Honey, who are you talking to?" Saber saw a woman, supposedly wife to William open the door and walk out with a small child holding tightly to her hand. "Mum..." the kid wailed. "I need-go weewee!"
"Oh, I'll see you inside then," the lady grinned.
"What?" William asked. "A... Ninetales? Called Queen, right? Do you race them? I can sort of see why... but we've never even known! And we call ourselves the best Training Stables this side of Mynami..." he trailed off looking sheepish.
"Yep- but believe me it must have been a long time ago! I was reading a history book!"
William took the ball looking stunned. "She... he's a fighter?"
"She. Yes, and her past isn't known to anyone except her Trainer, who she ran away from. Dunno why, but she has sworn to never tell."
"Oh! You mean, I could get in trouble?" William suddenly looked like he wanted nothing to do with it.
"Look, all I can say is no. I have to leave it at that." Saber looked impatiently at William until he realised.
"Oh! Sorry, yes, you want a swap, yes... it's strange, very strange. It must be coincidence, but being a dragon Trainer is rare... anyhow, we had a storm last week and it blew in a fantastic Pokémon you really should see!"
William led Saber to the stables. In the seventh a large shadow loomed, and Saber felt a strange jolt of fear. "What is it?"
"Bowww," a voice answered. Inside was a huge Dragonite. Its sharp claws hung at its side, and the peaceful looking disposition was not enough to cloak the identity of this famous Dragon.
"That's no common Dragonite, rare as they are," Saber whispered to William, then turned his attention to the Dragonite. "Greetings NiteShadow, I am very honoured to meet you! My few blessings I shower upon you."
"Nite," it answered with a bow.
"NiteShadow? You know this Dragonite?" William was thoroughly confused.
"Well, basically he's a legend!" Saber said with a smile. "He was owned by a very strong dragon Trainer, possibly the best." Saber answered. "Lance they say was his name, but when he eventually passed away, his Dragonite, level 57 at that time flew away in grief and was never seen again. But I can tell it's him; see the scar on his forehead?"
William strained his eyes, but NiteShadow had been listening to every word so he pointed to the exact spot, and felt a ripple of pain down it at the memory...
!!!FLASH!!!
"Grrrrrrrr," a Houndoom snarled. But NiteShadow was ready, Lance had instructed him in the ways of Dogs.
It moved, leaping this way and that, steadily, progressing forward. Coming in for the kill, Crunching down on Shadow's arm Shadow bellowed in pain and outrage. It was rather fitting then, that Lance commanded an Outrage.
The force sent the level 47 Houndoom spinning, but it staggered back on its feet and waited for its Trainer.
Lance was sweating-this was his second last Pokémon before Aerodactyl and this unknown Trainer was beating the shit out of him-even if this was her last.
"Houndoom, Crunch!" The long blond haired, slim, and surprising attractive girl of about 16 had decided Crunch was the best way to go. The evil look intensified in the Dark Pokémon's eyes and it leaped to bite down on the enemy's left wing this time. Now Dragonite was dealing with the pain in his wrist and wing- plus now he couldn't fly in this battle anymore.
Dragonite took one look at his Trainer, standing inert and stiff. There wasn't any communication going on but the opposing Trainer felt a chill in this hot and stuffy room- she thought they might be talking psychically! It was possible, but turned back to the battle to see her Houndoom nearly fainted in a block of ice thanks to Blizzard!
She hastily dug in her pack for a Burnt Berry, and the ice melted like anything.
"Alright Houndoom, finish this off! Crunch NOW!" A black shape with fangs was suddenly hurtling towards Shadow, and there was no time to dodge. A sudden searing pain burst into his mind-he was down, finished, no more. It was a weird feeling.
In his revel, Houndoom turned to the water and made it sizzle with his flames. Burn baby! Light my FUCKING FIRE!!! he yelled.
When the steam finally disappeared, there was a sight to behold. NiteShadow looked down, swaying, torn and battered, bleeding from top to toe, looking stoned, with a wound on his head that looked fake it was so bloody. There was an almighty force in Houndoom's fang, and the inch-long canines had ripped a 3 inch gash down his skull. Blood was absolutely everywhere, and even though it poured out of the wound you could see Nite's skull. Lance was on his knees- he had his Pain Stimulator on, and was almost weeping with the burning stabbing wounds that weren't there.
This is one of the few scenes which were given illustrations. Not quite sure at what point this was drawn but it's old enough to be one of the digital pictures done on my family's LC575 Mac with the Claris Works program. Naturally this means my artistic skills left a lot to be desired - almost as much as my writing skills did!
But Shadow, through the slight mist, was powering up for the last hit. Houndoom gaped. Shadow opened his mouth to reveal a shimmering ball of rainbow colours. Bigger, bigger, and it hurtled towards the fleeing enemy with a cry of rage.
BbbbbBBbbbbbZZZZZzzzzzZZZZZZZZZBOOM! Houndoom was down!
Thump! Dragonite was down!
!!!FLASH!!!
"You want to give him to ME?"
NiteShadow blinked, coming out of the nightmare and heard Saber's voice, disbelieving. "This isn't a little trade, you're giving me a Legend among Dragon Trainers!"
"Ninetales isn't a little trade either," William put back. "And besides, even though Dragonite can be ridden, he really should belong to a Dragon Trainer."
"Dra..." NiteShadow looked pleased, which was important.
"I'm very honoured, thank you! NiteShadow, return, and Frigicaust go!"
William watched as the spunky Trainer took to the skies on his Starter. "Good luck Saber,"...
William took Queen into his personal care. He knew she was a gorgeous female, apart from the bloodstain (he was the only one to realise it was blood on Queen's forehead), and groomed her like anything. She was a show animal, but this was a racing stable, and so he trained her mainly for this sport. Queen was a quick learner, but was in the habit of streaking round the track with Agility first and then running out of steam in the last lap. William knew she had had a huge burden of stress hanging round her neck and legs, and even massaged them after sessions.
* * *
On her first race, Queen was shaking with nervousness. "Ready to win?" William asked.
"Damn straight," Queen replied confidently, but her insides were writhing.
She passed an Arcanine who smiled and winked at her. "Ready for your first race?" he asked.
"How did you know this race is my first?" Queen replied, baffled.
A Houndoom interrupted. "We've all got our eyes on you, honey." he flirted.
"Hey, Devil head; push off." Arcanine said incredulously at Houndoom's boldness. "I saw her first!
"Yeah," Arcanine agreed at Queen's look about Houndoom's statement. "It's true, all our trainers have been wondering what kind of Pokémon 'Queen' would be. I knew, though. You are a Queen, your beauty is impassable. See you in the winners circle!"
Queen padded away shaking her head and wondering what she had got herself into.
They lined up at the starting gate.
The gates flew open!
Queen was off in a millisecond, galloping swiftly. She was in the middle of the throng of four-legged Pokémon. The roar of the crowd startled her; and she looked around, instead of concentrating on the track. A quick reminder to herself made her concentrate.
She were in third. A Rapidash had taken the lead straight off. The Arcanine was in second. The Houndoom nipped and tugged her waving fifth tail, situated just behind her and howled a message. "Hey, can we go for Sentret after I win?"
Queen felt her rage building, a rage she had never felt before. He had touched, pulled and hurt, her fifth tail! This was sacrilege to any Ninetales. She yelled back. "SELAT ENIN! SESRUK! ES RUK OU-Y! ROUY T'NEM SHIN UP SI ENO D'NAS OUH T'SRA EY!" A fireball exploded behind her, and the pain screeches from many individual Pokémon made Queen's heart freeze.
The crowd were yelling. A Tauros thundered past her, and a Stantler was nose to nose with her. Nobody was holding back anymore, the race was already over amidst the smoke and the sudden void left in Queen's thoughts after her rage.
Queen slowed and loped off the track. Everybody ran towards the confusion wanting to help, and Queen ventured to take a step forward. William ran back to her, his face grim and his eyes hard. "Stay there. And don't move. I'll come collect you after we've cleared this up."
"What did I do?" Queen gasped.
"You blew up a the entire track and injured three racers unprovoked, that's what you did." he answered with pain in his eyes. "I can't believe I trusted a runaway Pokémon." The racer trainer jogged away to the melee to pull out the unconscious racers from the jetsam and Queen sunk to the ground wishing fervently they were alright.
Wasn't it obvious that the Houndoom had broken the age-old Ninetalian law? Obviously it wasn't, and Queen suddenly realised she was in deep trouble. Her cover seemed blown, and Marissa would come and take her, take her to the Clan!
She looked up suddenly as she noticed the Houndoom being carried away minus a front leg. His racing career was now over. "You BITCH!" he screamed deliriously with the pain of the mangled leg. "You'll pay!!! You'll pay!!! It's not only Ninetales' that can curse, oh no!
"You're cursed! You're cursed too! Hah-hah! You're cursed! MISERY! A - GRRRRRREEEEEEEeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee..."
The Houndoom was cut off as medical staff injected drugs into his vein and he flopped, tongue hanging.
Ninetales took a step and stumbled, hitting the dirt, tears leaking and already feeling the curse hang over her, dragging her down. She staggered over to the fountain in the middle of the track and dipped her whole head in, feeling her nerves breaking. She swallowed in clean cold water and shut her eyes.
Someone gripped her ruff and pulled her out of the fountain. Water gushed off her fur as she stared into the eyes of William, who looked no longer angry. "I'm sorry, Queen. They showed a replay of the race. He pulled your fifth tail, didn't he?"
Queen nodded. "It was all so sudden; and I wasn't even thinking as I cursed him, I was just so angry!"
Her trainer grimaced. "I don't suppose you could lift the curse?"
"I could, but..."
"But you wouldn't mean it? And so it wouldn't totally lift?"
"Yes."
* * *
Queen was put on probation. There was no court case, as now that everybody had seen the replay it was obvious Houndoom had broken a tabboo, but she was not going to race again; nobody trusted the strange wrathful fox who had appeared out of nowhere to a race she had blasted up.
The attack had brought reporters from far and wide, but as William had advised, nobody was to tell anybody anything, and all the news could come up with was "Pokemon extensively damages race track!", and no mention of any of the racers came up. Ninetales was still safe.
So Queen was put back in William's stables; retired from the races, and living a life of guilty freedom. Then, it was a three years later when Aspen discovered the Ninetales in one of William's stalls and Queen became her first Pokemon.
Ninetales' journey was still going...
