The Heirs of Legend

[mspandalolo]

This is the first chapter of my pokemon fanfic! I have all my thanks to give to Scytherwolf, as whithout her story, The Path of Destiny, This story would not exist!

Chapter 1
Caged

The quilava sat in a small, dark cage. Her glossy, faultless fur grew damp in the bitter rainfall. She was fatigued, although she had no memory of herself doing anything outrageous that day. In fact, she didn’t remember anything that happened that day. She only knew of being fed some strange food by a strange man at the Pokémon Center; everything after that was a mystery to the ferret-like creature. Then, awakened from her daze, Sunflare found herself caged in the middle of a rainy forest.

The trees hung over the quilava and cast long, eerie shadows that made the dreary midnight seem even more ghostly. Sunflare stared in exasperation at the rusted bars as she suddenly realized where she was. She didn't try struggling to get out; it would be of no use and besides, this would ruffle her coat. So, she just sat calmly, waiting for her trainer to return.

Joanna could not have abandoned her; she still loved her. At times like this when Sunflare felt alone, Joanna would always be there. So why would she leave? No, the quilava though to herself, Joanna is my trainer, and I am her most beloved Pokemon; we will always be together.

Sunflare would never accept that simple fact. Joanna had abandoned her. After all they had been through, Joanna had abandoned her. But what if she doesn't care for me anymore? What if she has replaced me with another Pokemon?... The though struck horror into the young quilava's essence; the possibility of Joanna forgetting about her seemed impossible, especially since they made such a beutiful pair.

Sunflare remembered the first day she met eye-to-eye with this human. It was long time ago, when she was only a little cyndaquil. Little, but perfect. She remembered standing to the left a totodile; his scarlet spikes were perfectly aligned with his spine, no tooth was too dull or short, and his indigo colored scales glimmered in the light. On Sunflare’s other hand, a giddy chikorita sat; the leaf on her head was not chipped or bent, her necklace of buds formed a perfect line, and her crimson colored eyes shimmered with excitement. The three flawless starter Pokémon, bred for show, awaited the arrival of a young trainer.

The girl’s eyes were filled with the joy and adventure of youth. Of the three Pokémon she could have chosen to fulfill this adventure, she chose Sunflare. Together, they were perfect. They won so many contests together. They played happily together. They loved together. Now, Sunflare was alone.

Alone with only the beautiful memories of her beloved trainer. She remembered her first battle with the ten year old girl, against an ivysaur. It was their first victory. Sunflare remembered the first Pokémon she caught for Joanna, a mareep. She remembered their first contest; the judges also realized the worth of her perfection. It was an easy win.
Sunflare remembered the day she evolved, one of the memories she prized most. It was a cold, winter night, and the twosome went out looking for the rare silver-haired vulpix that many said appeared every year at this time. Joanna and her cyndaquil knew that this would be the key to the Grand Festival.

The venture through the snowcapped mountains was harsh, Sunflare being the only source of warmth. The search for the legendary vulpix was hopeless, and Joanna was losing strength. And, to make matters worse, three jynx were approaching the girl and her Pokémon. The physic/ice types were furious; they continually attacked the two travelers. But did Sunflare leave for her own protection, like Joanna’s cowardly jigglypuff had? No. The young cyndaquil stayed by her trainer’s side, never giving in to the jinx’s constant attacking. Had the fire-type not evolved, Joanna might have died.

The Pokemon Rangers had found the jigglypuff the day after , frozen to an icicle beside a young smoochum. He was returned home to Joanna, the smoochum tagging along. For a reason unknown, the jigglypuff hated Sunflare from that day forth.

These memories stuck with Sunflare the night through. No, she thought to herself. Joanna did not abandon me. If I am sitting alone in this forest, there is a reason to it. Joanna will return to me, as I always returned to her.

***

August lie half unconscious in the heated room. The searing pains of the burns were the only things keeping him awake. His eyesight, however, was failing. The small, fox-like Pokémon could only see the blurry figures of another eevee that he recognized to be his own mother, and an old, bird-like Pokémon similar to a Native-American totem pole; a xatu. They stood within an unusually bright cavern, a red stone on a rock pedestal emitting a brilliant red light.

Although his hearing was also weak, August caught a few words of the two Pokemon's worried conversation. The other, female eevee may have said things like, “Are you sure?” “…too dangerous…” and “Is there any other way?”

The Xatu would only reply things like “No choice…” “We must…” and “…no other way to save him.”

Reluctantly, August’s mother gave in and pushed the injured Pokémon toward the glowing stone. His paw was forced onto its smooth, burning surface. Then, he felt strong. He felt a power that he would soon become hungry for. A power he would fight for… a power he would kill for.

***

The quilava was a strange creature. She showed no effort to escape from her cage or any struggle at getting past the bars. She just sat there. Up in an overhanging tree, sat a dirty, brown fuzz-ball. His matted, mud-covered fur kept him warm in the rain, but the quilava’s hair was simply too short. The raindrops stole the life out of the coal-like spots down her face and across her rear. The wet weather plastered her coat to her body. But, to the eevee’s surprise, she did not complain.

The furry wad of mud and dirt was about to ignore the unfortunate fire-type and continue on to his den, but curiosity kept him near.
“Don’t you want to get out?” he asked. The quilava, showing her first sign of movement, looked up in surprise.

“Who’s there?!” she called back. The eevee leapt down from the limb in which he was perched and walked towards the fire-type.

“You can call me AJ, and I asked you if you wanted out,” he said. The quilava just looked at him in disgust.

“You dare ask me? A filthy, wretched, unclean stray?” she replied, spitting at the word stray.

“And no. I don’t need to get out. My trainer will return.”

AJ rolled his eyes. “You mean the one who ditched you?” Tears welled up in the quilava’s eyes.

“Joanna would never…,” she began, her voice fading.

“In that case…” said AJ, flipping the latch on the cage and opening the door, “why don’t you come with me to go ask her why?” The fire Pokémon hesitated, then came out.

“Joanna didn’t leave me,” she said, “I was stolen, and I need to return to her. Show me through this forest, and we’ll never have to meet eyes again.” AJ, getting the feeling this quilava didn’t like him much, agreed.

“So, what’s your name?” he asked.

“My name is Sunflare; a Pokémon of perfection,” she replied, “And, remember not to get to close. I don’t want to be seen with those that are less-than-perfect.”

***

“Are you sure the quilava will still be there?” asked the novice member of Team Conflagration. He, along with a tall, burly man with rather large hands walked along a trail in a heavily wooded area.

“Yes, I made sure that,” answered the large man. “I gave it the food at the Pokémon Center and by the time the rage-drug that I put in it kicked in, the girl’s house was up in flames.”

The trainee shivered, then he asked, “But the girl got out, right?”

The tall man snorted. “Unfortunately, yes. But she had no time to get the rampaging quilava; so when it passed out, I threw it in the cage.”

The newbie looked up at the tall man and asked, “But boss, why did you leave it in the forest? Why didn’t you take it with you back to base?”

The man snorted again, and replied, “The stupid Pokémon Rangers. They saw me at the fire and chased me deep into the forest. I took Scorcher out to distract them; then I left the quilava in a place they would never find it. I knew my blaziken couldn’t distract them for long, and I knew I wouldn’t run very fast holding the stupid cage, so I left it.” The novice member nodded his head.

“But, Diane was not very happy when you returned to headquarters without it,” the trainee stated. “Besides, why is it so important? Why can’t we just catch some quilava from the wild? Wouldn’t that be easier?” he asked.

The larger man laughed. “This is no ordinary quilava! A common one could not have turned a whole mansion to ash, but this one did! It could make us rich!”

The younger member, listening intently, asked, “Is that why Diane was so irate when she saw that your hands are empty?” The elder, grunting, replied, “Yes, but what does she know? She only wants the credit for herself, and she understands nothing of proper thievery. Sometimes I wonder why she deserves to outrank us.” The beginner, nodding in agreement, continued his search through the woodland.

After about an hour of endless searching through the black forest, the larger man broke the silence, "You see, this was not our first attempt to capture the quilava." the trainee looked up at him, desperate to hear more.

"Last time we tried, it was only about a year ago, during the winter. Our old leader, before Diane came in, sent out three of the team's jinx to find that fire-type. That plan, like so many plans before, had failed after the Pokemon had evolved from a cyndaquil to a quilava. But now, I am on the case, so we cannot fail!"

As if answereing to the statement, the two Team conflagration members found the clearing that the quilava was left in. The larger man howled in frustration. “WHERE IS THAT ACCURSED QUILAVA?!!!” He kicked the empty cage in anger.

“Hey, Boss…” said the trainee.

“WHAT?!” the angered man answered.

“Come look at this,” the younger member said, pointing at two trails of paw prints headed in the same direction. “One of ‘em is an eevee’s, and the other is a quilava’s.”

The larger man looked down at the paw prints. “Follow that trail!” he yelled, although not as loudly as before. He needed to find that quilava!

[Scytherwolf]

I'm very glad you posted a story, and that I could inspire you! It looks like you're off to an interesting start.

First of all, there are a few things you need to fix with the formatting of the story. Each two paragraphs should have a space between them, like in this review. Also, every time a different character speaks, it should be in a new paragraph. It's a bit confusing trying to figure out who is talking when two or more characters are talking back and forth in the same paragraph.

Now about the story itself. I think you did a good job of starting this story off by setting up a mystery and different characters and situations that make the reader wonder about them. I'm already curious about what has happened to these pokemon, and why those two men were after that quilava specifically.

So far Sunflare seems like she was a spoiled, pampered pokemon who was suddenly thrown into a dangerous situation and having no idea what to do (especially with her insistence that her trainer will come for her). From how she treated AJ the eevee, it seems like she hasn't had much interaction with wild pokemon, if at all, and I'm assuming she was raised to dislike them. I like how, regardless of this, she has some very good qualities too, shown by how willing she was to protect her trainer in the past.

Some thoughts on parts of the story:

Joanna could not have abandoned her; she still loved her. Sunflare would never accept that simple fact. Joanna had abandoned her. After all they had been through, Joanna had abandoned her.

This paragraph is very confusing, and changes very abruptly. I think you should make it a bit longer, showing how she gradually goes from desperately denying that her trainer abandoned her, to fearing that it may actually be true.

But did Sunflare leave for her own protection, like Joanna’s cowardly jigglypuff had?

I'm curious about this jigglypuff, and from what it said about him hating Sunflare, it seems (to me, at least. This is really just speculation and I could be totally wrong) as if Sunflare was Joanna's favorite pokemon, and the jigglypuff was overlooked. Whatever the reason really is, I'm curious about his story.

It was a cold, winter night, and the twosome went out looking for the rare silver-haired vulpix that many said appeared every year at this time.

Also wondering what the silver vulpix has to do with everything. It seems like one of those details that will be very important later.

Reluctantly, August’s mother gave in and pushed the injured Pokémon toward a glowing red stone.

I was kind of confused during this part, and I think before that sentence you should have specified that the female eevee was his mother, because for a moment I wasn't sure if it was talking about a different eevee.

August is another character I'm very interested to learn about. I'm wondering how he got in that state and what role he'll play in the future. I also wonder if AJ is related to him somehow.

I think you should have made each of the scenes in this chapter longer, taking some time to describe details like the scenery around them, and more about what each pokemon is feeling.

I like how you gave a good reason for Sunflare's cage to simply be left in the forest, since it obviously wasn't a trap set there to catch any passing wild pokemon (as she was already inside it when she woke up). I'm curious as to why Sunflare apparently went on a rampage and burned the mansion down, and since it seems like those two men planned it for some reason, I'm wondering why they did and what that stuff they put in her food was.

There's one thing that kind of confused me, and that was when Sunflare was thinking of the events of the past, and how the three jnyx attacked her. I realize she wouldn't have known the real reason, but in the future be careful when having "angry wild pokemon encounters". Too often those pokemon turn into villainbots who have no reason to attack, or poorly thought out reasons (such as a "territorial" pokemon who won't let the intruder leave and insists on attacking them repeatedly. That is not being territorial.) The wild pokemon all have motives for what they do, and aren't mindlessly 'evil'.

I'm interested to see where this goes, and try making your scenes and characters' thoughts more detailed; that will make your chapters longer and more engaging to the reader as well.

[mspandalolo]

Wow, thank you for the advice! I do understand that there were a lot of confusing parts, and I'll get down to fixing them and making sure that future chapters are better. Some of these parts I was just kind of desperate for ideas to keep the story going, and I'm glad you spotted them and told me how to fix it. And, about what you said about the jigglypuff...you'll see more of him later!

[mspandalolo]

I edited the first chapter on your advice, Scytherwolf! Now, if it is even more confusing, tell me, and I will do my best to fix it!

[mspandalolo]

Here is the next chapter! It should be better than the first one, and much longer. Please, please, please, please, please do not be afraid to tell me what I did wrong! I love to hear what I did wrong, so in the future I can do it right!

Chapter 2
Trouble Arises

AJ stuck his nose into the fresh morning air. The scent of tees and grass was abundant in this area of the wood. The two Pokémon had slept underneath healthy sapling, and the sparkling dewdrops fell gracefully onto the forest floor.

Other than the smell of the morning’s first activity, the eevee smelled humans following him and Sunflare. The quilava was not accustomed to traveling, so the trek was painfully slow. If the two did not speed up, they would be caught by humans, and AJ detested such creatures. I would cut off my tail just to avoid those beasts, he thought to himself.

“Sunflare, wake up,” he called over to the sleeping Pokémon, “we’re being followed.” The fire-type did not move. “C’mon, Sunflare! We can’t be caught by humans!” AJ yelled, shaking the quilava’s shoulder with his paw. She immediately jumped backward and stared at the eevee in repulsion.

“Don’t touch me!” she sneered; her perfectly white teeth were bared. Then she howled in distress, “There’s dirt on my coat!”

AJ, rolling his eyes, said, “Yes, there is dirt on your coat. This is the wild, so there is normally dirt everywhere.” He had many layers of earth packed in his own fur, so it was really no bother to him.

After carefully licking off the small patch of mud on her fur for about an hour, Sunflare finally agreed to continue walking. However, they had had to make many stops so that she may be able to pick the small stones off of her paw. At this rate, the humans would easily catch up to the two Pokémon.

It was not long until Sunflare was wailing with hunger. “Isn’t there something to eat out here?!” she complained. “If you would be quiet, maybe we could at least find some food,” AJ said in annoyance, holding his long ears up to listen for prey.

“I wish I was back at home, sitting on my silk pillow, and eating poffins,” Sunflare muttered under her breath. She also wished to be beside Joanna again. Of the four Pokémon Joanna had in her possession, the flaaffy; Shine, the smoochum; Snowheart; the wigglytuff; Blare, and Sunflare, the quilava was most prized.

“Sunflare, do you hear that?” AJ’s voice broke through the quilava’s fantasy. Pricking her ears up, Sunflare heard the slight movement of dirt. “It’s up ahead,” said AJ, “follow me!” The eevee dashed forward toward the sound.

Soon, the two came to a rather tall ledge where there weren’t as many trees. It dropped out into a vast dirt-field of thousands of hardworking diglett and dugtrio. Just beside it the dunes of the nearby desert began to form, stretching into a desolate wasteland. Just beyond, towering above the horizon, were the purple mountains of Diamondbreak. Sunflare liked these ones because it never snowed up there.

“They’re tough and tasteless, but, in groups like these, an easy catch,” said AJ, referring to the ground-type Pokemon below. Sunflare looked surprised.

“Do you mean to say that we’re going to eat them?” she said in disgust.

“Only the ones we can get,” the eevee replied simply.

“But that’s sickening!” Sunflare complained. “And, besides, this will scuff my nails!”
AJ sighed. “All right then, you can go hungry.”

The quilava whined before finally saying, “Fine, I’ll come.”

***
A wigglytuff watched as a delcatty approached, a wicked grin across his face. “Hello, Amethyst,” he said as the cat-like Pokémon stopped in front of him.

“Hello, there, Blare,” she replied, then dropped a small, paper bag at the balloon-like Pokémon’s feet. “This is for the information that you so willingly offered us,” she said. Blare opened it, and then pulled out a lock of dark blue fur. His devilish grin widened.

“If I just smother this in a layer of blood, Joanna will give up her hopeless search for that brainless, self-centered quilava. Then, I will be her most beloved Pokémon,” said the wigglytuff.

“Yes, Blare, I remember taking a life to become Diane’s most favored,” replied Amethyst.

“Oh, yes, and Congratulations on your promotion. Now, I believe, you are one of the highest-ranking Pokémon on the team?” asked Blare.

“Yes,” said the delcatty, “and now I am in charge of making sure that that quilava doesn’t cause any trouble.

“Anyways,” the delcatty started, “Team Conflagration wanted to thank you greatly to reveal to us that quilava’s location. Our success was only because of you. Now, if you would accept, we would offer you a position in our team.”

Blare shook his head. “No, I could not. I have only just gained back my trainer, and I am not willing to give her up. But I must also thank you, for that would have been impossible if you had not captured the quilava.”

Amethyst exchanged an evil laugh with him before turning around to leave. She had not been willing to tell the wigglytuff that two of the team’s most foolish members had successfully lost the quilava. At least now Scorcher will be humiliated in front of the entire Pokémon force when they find out, she thought to herself.

***

Sunflare watched in repulsion as AJ jumped on the head of an old diglett and sank his teeth into its sausage-shaped body. The ground-type was rooted to the earth, but the eevee had a better grip. He was bucked around and smashed into the ground, but AJ held tight. Soon, the dying diglett gave in and allowed AJ to take its life.

“In large groups, such as this one, the other diglett and dugtrio hardly notice when they lose a member. Just remember to choose the weaker ones,” AJ said as he set his prey before his paws and began eating. The skin was hard to bite through, and hardly any of it bore the eevee any satisfying nourishment.

“Why don’t you try it now?” AJ asked Sunflare, licking the blood off of his lips. The quilava looked reluctant, but she slowly nodded her head. “Then, what are you waiting for?” he urged her.

Sunflare took a nervous glance down at the field of determined looking ground-types. She carefully climbed down the ledge, trying her best to keep rocks from getting in between her toes.

As Sunflare snuck to a deserted patch of dirt, the diglett and dugtrio paid her no heed. She waited nervously for any of the small ground-types to approach. She never expected to have to put in any effort to get food; at home, meals were served to her on a silver platter. Also, the quilava had no idea how to hunt.

Sunflare glanced back up at AJ, a total look of confusion and horror on her face. The eevee raised his paw and gestured toward a small diglett, encouraging her to go catch it. The quilava gulped, then trotted anxiously over to the distracted Pokémon. “Go, Sunflare, go!” AJ cheered.

The fire-type crouched down, laid her ears back, and prepared to pounce. She remembered doing this in a contest once, to a cautious doduo. Like in the contest, she lowered her head and her hind legs bent. At the first sign of movement, the quilava’s legs operated like springs and sent her flying toward the runty diglett. At the last moment, the ground-type looked up and retreated into a nearby hole.

Sunflare, spitting out a mouthful of dirt, looked about angrily. She looked up at the ledge where AJ sat, the eevee rolling on the ground with laughter. The quilava stuck her pink tongue at him, then used it to lick the dirt from her paws.

Another diglett passed by, and Sunflare lunged. Unfortunately, she chose the most agile one of the entire clan. With every pounce, the ground-type dodged. AJ, watching from above, knew that quilava were quick, but the diglett was unusually fast. Sunflare had absolutely no hunting strategy.

Sunflare hated giving up, for she was only as stubborn as a tauros in a stampede. She shot an ember at the diglett’s face, but it got lost as the ground-type performed a sand attack. Maybe, she could confuse the diglett by using smokescreen. That backfired, also, only attracting another, more powerful, diglett.

Sunflare went rapidly attacking each and every Pokémon that came near. A diglett came at her with a scratch attack, but the quilava countered with a flamewheel. Another came at her from behind, using dig, but Sunflare dodged with ease.

Soon, maybe too soon, every ground-type in the area knew about the opposing fire-type.

As the number of rival diglett and dugtrio increased, Sunflare increased her attack speed. Sometimes, she would use a falmewheel attack and eliminate several at once, but there were too many. This had turned from a small hunt for food to a dangerous fight for life. AJ watched, horrified, from above. As much as he wished to, he could not help. He knew no helpful attacks, and besides, they were hugely outnumbered.

Maybe, thought AJ, I could just leave her. I don’t even need that quilava. The Clan probably wouldn’t approve of her anyway. The eevee started to walk away, trying to forget about the suffering quilava below.

Sunflare looked up to see if AJ was still there. She only had the time to see a bushy, mud-covered tail leave the site. She took her concentration off of her attackers for a moment too long, and she felt pain shoot up her leg.

A muscular dugtrio had popped up unexpectedly from below the earth, just below Sunflare’s left paw. She lie, unmoving, on the ground; her paw directed in an awkward position. The ground-type Pokémon inched in closer and closer to her. The quilava was about to give up. Then, her whole life flashed before her eyes. Most of it she did not pay any heed, but one image stuck in her mind. Joanna.

Rage, like that of an erupting volcano, filled Sunflare. No one was going to keep her from seeing Joanna again, not even these diglett and dugtrio. The red spots on her face and across her hindquarters burst into scorching flames. Her eyes turned completely red, and she stood up boldly, even with her twisted paw. Her furious stare made the ground Pokémon stop in their tracks. Nothing would prevent her from winning now.

***

AJ continued to walk into the forest. His den wasn’t too far away, but it had probably collapsed from the last night’s rain. Maybe, he could try and make it back to his clan. He could see his mother again, Aurora; and his father, Astro. Even, he could stop to chat with Neptune, the vaporeon, about the quilava he left behind. Would he support his leaving her? Of course not, but Sol, the espeon, might. He, like most others in the clan, did not approve of Pokémon that are not of the eevee evolution line.

A sudden flash of blinding, red light startled AJ. He looked back at where he had left Sunflare to fend for herself. Flames exploded from the diglett and dugtrio home. The eevee quickly ran over to see what was going on.

There was Sunflare. Her flames rose to an impossible height, and her eyes glowed the brightest red. She was using some strange attack, like a mixture of an overly exaggerated flamewheel, an intensified blaze attack, and an extreme eruption attack. She ran at a speed that even a scyther could not beat, leaving a trail of fire wherever she stepped. The flames, themselves, were strange; they shone about seven different colors as the sun hit them at certain angles.

Even after all of the ground-types fled, Sunflare continued to express her rage. After blowing a gargantuan fireball of every color of the rainbow, the quilava fell over in exhaustion. AJ immediately slid down the ledge and ran to the fire-type’s side; she had fainted from fatigue.

How did she come to get so much power? AJ thought to himself. Could this be something she learned from her human? He then tried to pull the quilava up to the top of the ridge, but he was too small. “Sunflare, wake up!” he yelled, but to no use. The dirt-covered eevee stayed by her side, waiting for what seemed to be forever.

Then, from within the bushes, a rapidash appeared. His fiery mane showed great contrast to the now darkening sky. “I am Burningspear, do not fear me,” he said to the young, fox-like Pokémon. “Humans are approaching, and the Heir needs to be protected.” The horse Pokémon pointed his long horn toward Sunflare. “There is a pathway south of here; I will distract the humans, and you will carry her to it. You will meet my brother, Firestorm, and he will assist you on your escape.”

Burningspear pointed his horn southward, then ran off to face the humans. AJ, his mind full, dragged Sunflare as fast as he could toward the path he was shown. Why did Burningspear refer to Sunflare as the Heir? He wondered.

***
The large-handed member of Team Conflagration walked with the novice member in a desperate search for the quilava. “I can hardly see the quilava’s tracks at all!” he complained.

The trainee, however, stated, “But the eevee’s are rather carefree and easily spotted. If the quilava continues to travel with it, then we’ll catch it in no time.” The older, more experienced man, grunted.

“But, Jesse, what are the chances of that? I mean, Pokémon aren’t smart enough to have traveling companions,” he said.

“But what if this one is, Harry?” asked Jesse.

The elder, grunting again, replied, “It was stupid enough to take the rage-drug, and don’t call me Harry! I’m your boss, so you call me ‘Boss’ got it?” Harry said rudely. It was Jesse’s turn to snort.

“Hey boss, do you see that?” asked the apprentice member. “See what?” Harry answered. But, as the glowing red light approached, he saw it. At full speed, a rapidash charged at them. “So, you wanted to come and play?” asked the high-ranking member, grinnig wickedly. “Well, how about a playmate?!” he bellowed, throwing a pokéball into the air. A tall, fiery orange figure materialized in front of the horse-like Pokémon.

“Scorcher, use double kick!” Harry commanded his blaziken. The fighting-type obediently flexed his long leg, kicking his opponent with lightning speed and much force. The rapidash attempted to shove his horn into the blaziken’s gut, but the other fire-type was very agile and easily dodged. “Scorcher, use firespin!” Opening his beak, the blaziken released a breath of spinning flame at the horse Pokémon. The move showed little damage, for the rapidash was also a fire-type.

“You won’t be able to fight that Pokémon alone,” said Jesse, pulling a pokéball out of his bag. “Ex, I choose you!” cried the novice as a luxio appeared before him. “Ex, use leer!”

The attack distracted the rapidash long enough for Scorcher to sneak up from behind. “Now, Scorcher, use firepunch!” The blaziken’s fist caught fire, then was thrust into the horse-like Pokémon’s side. The other fire-type fell over as pain shot through his ribcage.

A broken rib was no reason to give up on an Heir of Legend, so Burningspear quickly rose from the ground. Not seeing the blaziken anywhere nearby, he charged at the luxio. Although an electric type, a naturally fast Pokémon, the lion-like creature was rooted to the ground, fear shown plainly on his face. Burningspear’s horn was pushed roughly into the luxio’s flesh, blood spilling across his dark fur.

Ex watched as his black fur became a nasty scarlet color. His eyesight started to blur and the nervous cries of his trainer seemed far away. The rapidash’s horn was shoved deeper into the unfortunate electric Pokémon. He was nearly dead. But would he give up in front of his trainer? Raised by him as a shinx, was Ex about to waste all of the work Jesse put into their training? No!

The luxio started glowing, and Burningspear pulled his horn away out of surprise. The wound he had caused seemed to heal in front of his eyes. He remembered watching his brother do the exact same thing this electric-type was doing, and even doing it himself. The luxio was evolving.

Ex felt himself grow to a massive extent. His claws lengthened, and his fur increased in static electricity. Power filled his body and chased the weakness out of his essence. The luxray opened his eyes, seeing so much more than he had as a luxio. With his new sight, he could see every particle of dirt on the ground. He could even see microscopic droplets of water that were squeezed between those particles, and even the even tinier organism that lived within.

Burningspear watched as the luxray turned his gaze from the ground to himself. His golden eyes seemed to stare right inside the horse Pokémon, and if what he heard about luxray was true, then that saying was literal. The electric-type bared his fangs, the whiteness of them contrasting from the darkness of the forest.

Ex was not afraid as he was before. Luxray were known for their courage. For their ferocity. For their murder. He lunged at the rapidash, claws extended. He sank his teeth into the fire-type’s throat, causing him to topple over from the luxray’s weight.

The rapidash shot the largest ember he could with his damaged gullet between the electric Pokémon’s eyes. Crying out in rage, Ex put his paw over his burning face, allowing the dying rapidash enough time to escape. Once the ember had cooled, Ex cast his eyes about in search for the horse-like fire Pokémon.

I must get revenge on that rapidash for almost killing me, Were the luxray’s thoughts. But the fire horse Pokémon was nowhere in sight. When I find that fire-type, he will wish he had never existed. And soon, he won’t.