The Lady in The Woods

The Night of Discord

It was the middle of the night when it started. Everyone had been asleep for a while. You and N were both asleep in bed, limbs tangled together. A book laid abandoned on the floor, having been kicked off the bed hours ago.

The silence of the night was broken with a shrill cry. It echoed through the forest waking not only the pokemon but the two of you. The cry tore the two of you out from a peaceful dream. Both of you jumped out of bed the sheets clinging to your legs. You hastily slipped into shoes flying through the door. Pokemon dashed through your legs fleeing into your home in seak of a hiding place.

Scolipede and Dragonair stood tall and proud ushering smaller pokemon to safety. Scolipdede charged at a Herdier that was chasing down a Petilli. Dragonair attacked a Liepard causing it to drop a Whimsicott.

You and N both ran into the stampede of pokemon. You scooped up an armful of Joltik, placing them on the back of a Sawsbuck. You told them to cross the river, hoping that they'd be safer near town. N trailed after you through the trees, stopping momentarily to free a deerling that had gotten stuck in a net.

Neither of you had any idea of what caused the pandemonium, but you soon found out. You stopped in horror when you ran into pokemon hunters. A large net entangled you Absol, and two large men were trying to catch Umbreon in a trap.

"Absol!" you shouted, tackling one of the men trying to catch Umbreon. "Use Night Slash!"

The second man pulled you off of the other by your hair. He pushed you to the ground, allowing the other to continue to try to get his grimy hands onto Umbreon. You watched Absol desperately try to cut the ropes.

You laid face-first on the ground. Unable to shake the man off. You heard the man shout for assistance, his hand pulling your head up by your hair before slamming it down on to the ground.

N had caught up to you to see the same scene you did, along with you restrained by the large man. He grabbed hold of a large branch and swung. The man fell to the ground, knocked out cold.

You pushed yourself off the ground in time to see three more men appear through the trees. Your face burned and your eyes watered. A fist full of hair fell from your head. Dirt and mud covered your face and clothes.

N ran to Umbreon once he helped you up. You chose to run towards Absol, helping to untangle the ropes that still ensnared their legs. You looked over Absol and told them to use future sight.

Umbreon growled at the men nipping at their hands when they got to close. N ran up behind one of the men and pulled him away from Umbreon. The man elbowed N in the face. Umbreon used this distraction to send a Dark Pulse at one of the men.

Absol bent down waiting to pounce when the three new arrivals called out for their pokemon. A Krokorok, Mienfoo, and Lampent stood in front of you and Absol. You stood tall refusing to back down.

"Me first," You spoke softly just so only Absol could hear.

The ground shook Absol using the move earthquake. You watched Mienfoo and Krokorok withstand the attack. The Lampent took a serious amount of damage but not enough to be taken out of the battle.

Krokork used earthquake, Absol got hit head-on taking damage but with-standing it. The Mienfoo sent a series of furry swipes at Absol. You stepped in to take a majority of the attack. You didn't see the Lampent send a shadow ball over your shoulder.

"Night slash," you told them, 'go for Lampent."

Lampent was swiftly removed from the fight, having passed out from the attack. Its trainer screamed with rage, the two men next to him laughing about how he "only had a weak Lampent."

Guilt flooded through your body, making its way into the deepest parts of your heart. You heated pokemon battles, you hatted this, but you couldn't think of any other way.

The three Pokemon didn't seem to fully understand what was going on. They were just enjoying the battle wanting to prove to their trainers that they were powerful.

Absol was tearing itself apart. They weren't ever fond of battles. To simply explain it, Absol was scared of themself. After being called the disaster Pokemon when you were just trying to help, you would too.

You and Absol watched as Krokorok used attract. Nothing happened, Absol just blinked in response adverting their eyes to the Mienfoo. Mienfoo stood to their tallest and held their arms close to their chest building up an aura sphere.

Absol stood in front of you and took the attack head-on. Their legs buckled and they nearly collapsed onto the ground. The fur on Absol's back was singed, they were covered head to toe with dirt, dust, and cuts. They stood back up and readied to attack.

A large amount of psychic energy came down on the opposing Pokemon full force. The Krokorok was unaffected, however, Mienfoo collapsed. It was exhausted and hurt. Mienfoo's trainer called them back, before charging at you.

The man startled the Krokorok, the pokemon took a fast step back, tripping over their own feet and falling to the ground. Absol charged at him, slashing his arm leaving three large bloody gashes. With a swift kick from the man, Absol fell to the ground unconscious.

You were forced back to the ground. Your head hit a root leaving you dazed and confused. The man punched you in the face a number of times. Something warm trickled down your cheek and you tasted something metallic. Everything felt so slow but you couldn't make sense of any of it.

You looked on as the man dragged Absol away, some of their white fur left behind in the grass. You looked for N and Umbreon letting out a choked whine for Absol and help. It all went quiet and you laid there in the dark forest.