Pokemon - Deadly Monsters

Chapter Two

              Elsewhere in Crest Hill was a young man named Kenneth Sick. He was an athletic young man with dark hair that poured over his brow, teetering on the outskirts of his eyes. Ken had been up late into the night practicing martial arts on a wooden dummy in his dully lit room. A small gas lamp lit the room in a bleak light, barely leaving his silhouette against the dark green wall paper behind him. He should have been asleep but it was the last month he had before the trial. In the upcoming month, he would be taking the exam in order to be trained for The Guard. The trial for The Guard tested physical capabilities as well as mental. There was no time for slacking off.

                Ken was never a good student. His grades were satisfactory but he was geared more toward physical activity. In school he was quiet and kept to himself. He was by no means unintelligent. He simply didn’t care for books. During school he would daydream about sports and girls. He looked up to the soldiers who defended the lands of Xynnar. However, he despised how the Crestmen had begun using Bestia to defend the town. He felt that the town should be defended by the men in which lived there. He didn’t even understand why there was a physical examination in the trial for The Guard. In fact, he felt a stronger connection to the soldiers in Xynnar City who still defended the city with their own strength. He longed to become a Xynnar Soldier. Dreaming of being the best soldier was all he could do at night.

                Ken paid very close attention when the citizens of Crest Hill conversed about the relationship between Crest Hill and Xynnar City. If the relationship improved, there was a much better chance of being able to become a Xynnar Soldier. If he could impress the recruiters that visited Crest Hill once every few months his dream would become reality. However, he needed to become part of The Guard first to catch the eye of a Xynnar recruiter.

                He had it all planned out, but for now he would train and prepare. Smashing away at the dummy he went through the motions fluently until he heard something. It started low but got louder until it was clear that it was an alarm. Then he could hear the dogs barking and howling and the men reading for battle. Ken swiftly moved to the only window in his tiny room. From the southern facing window, he could see The Guard move through the night. However, it seemed as though they were moving to the northern end of town.

                Irritated that the battle was located to the north and it could not be seen from his window, Ken pushed the glass open and clambered out onto the side of the house. His bedroom was on the second floor but he had long perfected climbing to the rooftop from his window. Once he got to the top, he could see huge fires in the distance to the north. Fire was normal to the type of Bestia used by the Crest Men but these fires were larger than the Bestia at Crest Hill were capable of creating. As he watched more carefully he could see fire blasts that were coming from the Crest Hill Bestia as well as blasts that were coming from something else. And this something else wasn’t alone. There were many of them.

                Slowly the foreign Bestia came closer and closer to the town. Ken had noticed that the enemy Bestia were moving in a uniform line, demolishing anything that went near it. Soon the Crest Hill Bestia had all been defeated so the men atop the wall began firing on the enemy. That’s when things got worse. The enemy, who had only been walking until then, began running toward the town. Closing in at incredible speeds, the men could not hit their targets with their outdated weapons. The Bestia leapt over the large wooden wall with ease and began terrorizing the town. Tearing their teeth into the guards of the town, blood began trailing through the town. Men and women ran in fear from the great beasts.

                Ken knew he had to do something. He had to fight or else everything he knew would be lost. Clambering down the side of the house back into his room grabbed a low powered .22 Rimfire rifle that he used for target practice. As he loaded the weapon he noticed his hands were shaking uncontrollably. He was not scared, but excited. It would be his first time seeing real action. He couldn’t believe the time had come so soon.