Fourth of Three - Pokémon-FanFic

Servus Leute!
Nun, da ich mich gerade wieder ziemlich viel mit Pokemon befasse, und zudem mal wieder in Schreiberlaune war, habe ich angefangen eine neue Fan-Fiction zu diesem Thema zu schreiben. Ich möchte hierbei bewusst auf große Vorausplanung oder Qualitätsansprüche verzichten, das ganze ist bewusst ohne Ehrgeiz und just for Fun, und dient in erster Linie einfach als Übung für mein Englisch und meine schreiberischen Fähigkeiten im Allgemeinen. Daher bitte ich euch auch mich gnadenlos zu kritisieren, sollten euch Fehler in meinem Englisch oder sprachliche Fehltrtte auffallen. Ansosnte gehe ich die ganze Story wie gesagt bewusst ohne große Ziele oder Erwartungen an ^^

Zum Inhalt, das ganze wird ca. 150 Jahre vor den Ereignissen von Gold und Silber in Johto spielen. Hauptakteure werden die Pokemon selbst, und insbesondere die legendären Pokemon aus Jogto sein, Menschen und Pokemon-Trainer werden wenn überhaupt nur Nebenrollen belegen. Außerdem bemühe ich mich dem ganzen einen etwas reiferen und erwachsenereren Touch zu geben, als es in der Serie und den Spielen der Fall ist, es wird also auch Gewalt und Tod ziemlich unverblühmt dargestellt werden, auch wenn ich nicht glaube, dass das für irgendwen hier ein Problem darstellen sollte, ich wollte es nur gesagt haben ^^

Nunja, weil ich mich grad viel zu lange am Vorwort aufhalte, jetzt ohne weitere Umschweife, der erste Teil. Ich wünsche euch viel Spaß beim lesen.

Nuya rolled onto his back as a satisfied smile showed upon his face. For this moment, the Eevee was completely happy about how his life was going. Right next to him, Nadja moved her body and looked at him. She too had a smile on her face. She was a foreign kind of Pokemon that Nuya had never seen before, and which was not native here in Johto. She had told him, that some of her kind had accidently been brought here by a human ship from Sinnoh, and with no way back, they had no choice but to stay here in Johto. As far as she knew, her pack was the only one of her kind here in this region, so even though she herself had been born here, her kind was actualy foreign to this land.
In Sinnoh, they would call her species Shinx, and Nuya adored her blue and black fur, and her big yellow eyes. It had been about half a year when Nuya had first met the bold female, but her exotic and wild looks had immediatly gotten his attention. It had not taken long before the two of them had gotten to know each other, then became friends, and eventually... „Nadja, what do you think your pack would say if they ever found out about us?“ Nuya asked, trying not to sound too worried. Nadja just laughed and smiled even more „What are they supposed to do? And besides, how're they supposed to find out? I'm not planning on telling them.“
Her words didn't help a lot in unburdening Nuya, but he didn't want to dig deeper into it. The other members of Nadjas pack looked quite vicious and threatening, and the Eevee did not think they'd approve of Nadjas and his' relationship. Knowing that they were carnivorous did not really help either. But regardless of that, he couldn't really complain. He himself lived in the human territory, and used one of their buildings, a big wooden tower, to sleep in. It was rather worry-free. He did not have to worry about any wild Pokemon trying to prey on him, and it was also rather easy getting enough food if you lived around humans. They almost always threw away lots of stuff that he considered to be perfectly eadible. Also, he had just found his first girlfriend in Nadja, and experiencing true love for the first time in his life had been a more than pleasant experience. Yeah... all in all he could really say, that he was happy.
It had gotten rather late by now, and dark clouds were gathering at the night sky. „Looks like there's a thunderstorm coming our way.“ Nuya said, observing the darkness above him. „Yeah...“ Nadja agreed and sounded somewhat disappointed „... guess we'd better get going if we want to make it home without getting soaked.“ The shinx got up onto her legs. With some displeasure, Nuya realized, that this would be the end of their rendez-vous for today. He really wanted Nadja to stay, cuddle into her fur and feel her warmth for just a bit longer, but he also had to admit, that she was right. She had to get home, so her pack wouldn't get suspicous, and it was better to get going now then to risk getting cought in a thunderstorm.
„Will we see again tomorrow?“ the Eevee asked his girlfriend, and he couldn't help but sound a bit begging. The Shinx did not fail to notice that tone in his voice and laughed gently. She seemed to be flattered „Of course, sweetheart, come here again after sundown, I'll be waiting for you.“ she purred, leaned herself forward and tenderly licked Nuyas cheek.
The Eevee felt a pleasant prickling running all through his body as her tongue touched his fur. He just stood there and smiled at his mate, who was now slowly moving away, but still looking in his direction as she left. She seemed to be just as happy as he was. Finaly, she disappeared behind the twigs and leaves of a bush.
Nuya just stood there, still looking in her direction, as if that could somewhat make her come back. It took the distant rumbling of the first thunder to wake him from his stasis. Why was he still standing here? He was supposed to get home before the rain started. Against his will, he got moving and headed towards the city, where he was living. As he had made it half-way, he recognized the fur on his back getting wet, it had begun to drizzle. He whispered a curse, now he wouldn't make it back in time and get soaked. He began running, but it wasn't enough. Heavy raindrops began to fall down, and soon, Nuya was completely drenched, but at least, he could already spot the tall silhouette of his home. It was one of the two large towers of the City, both of them being equaly tall.
He did not know why the humans had built these towers, and actualy, he didn't really care either. Humans sometimes just did strange and mysterious things, but that didn't really matter. What mattered was, that the tower was an excellent home. Many Pokemon used this building as a home. Its ten levels provided a lot of space, and it had a roof to protect them from wind and rain. It also was a lot warmer than sleeping outside. From what he had picked up, this tower was known as the Brass Tower, but was it really important how it was called? Nuya just thought of it as his home, no need to mystify anything.
Nuya hurried up and climbed the stairs leading to the towers entrance, which wasn't all that easy, since by now, the water was running down the steps, making them slipery and hard to climb if one was such a small Pokemon.“Oi, Nuya! I had no idea you were into water sports!“ a familiar voice exclaimed from atop the stairs. Nuya looked up and saw the face of Rufio, a Jolteon that also lived here in the Brass Tower, which showed a mix of malicious pleasure and pity. „I wish I was, that'd make this mess at least somewhat fun...“ the Eevee moaned as he stepped inside, turning the wooden floor into puddle in the process.
„Well, at least you're not the only one who got soaked, the storm took some of the others by surprise as well. Cor Blimey, that truely is one heck of a pouring!“ Rufio surveyed the rain outside with some interesst, while Nuya next to him was trying to get the water out of his fur. „Well, at least it's dry inside of here.“ „Yeah, but that'll change very soon if you continue to unload that half of an ocean you carried in here onto the floor.“ the Jolteon teased. „What've you been doing outside there anyways? You must have been quite far out if you couldn't make it back in time before the wet apocolypse started.“ „I've been... visiting someone.“ Nuya explained briefly. Rufio was an okay guy, but he had not told him about Nadja yet. The Jolteon could be rather nosy at times, and he didn't want him to dig too much into his privacy.
„Must've been someone real important if you're going through that rain for him.“ Rufio analysed, but didn't ask any more questions. „Well, anyways,“ Nuya started, „I'm gonna go to sleep now, Rufio. It's gotten rather late.“ „You do that, I'm gonna stay here for a while longer and laugh at all the poor dudes that are still out there.“ the Jolteon explained with a businesslike tone in his voice, while he was again observing the stairways. Nuya left him alone with his doubtable way of amusement and made his way downstairs. He was usualy sleeping in the basement. From behind his back he heard the Jolteon shout: „Seth, dear friend! I've seen lakes which were drier than you are!“, then his voice became too faint for him to hear it.
There were already a bunch of other Pokemon down in the basement, but that was nothing special, as there were so many Pokemon using this tower as their home. This was the most quiet storey of the Brass Tower, so those who wished to go to sleep early prefered staying here. Also, there was only one stairway to climb to get to the entrance. Nuya searched for an unoccupied piece of floor for him to sleep, but since he had decided to go to sleep rather early, that wasn't too hard to find. He lay down and curled himself up, while he could still here the damped pounding of thunder outside. 'It's been a long time since there was a thunderstorm that heavy..' the Eevee thought as the sleep was coming upon him, muffling the cracks of bolt and lightning entirely.

Nuya did not know how long he had slept, when an incredibly loud crack of thunder tore him back into reality. All around him, Pokemon were murmuring and complaining about being woken up, so he wasn't the only one, whom the thunder had interrupted in his sleep. 'Wow, that's one hell of a storm out there...' Nuya thought. He wondered, how often he'd be woken up again this night, since it didn't sound like that storm was gonna stop anytime soon. Well, there was no sense in thinking about it, would be best just to go back to sleep and get as much of it as possible. He wanted to be well rested when he was meeting Nadja again tomorrow. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done, since some of the others had gotten up and were talking and discussing, which caused a lot of noise.
Unwillingly, he gave up on his plans of going to sleep again for now and got up as well. He tried to pick up some of the words that the others were saying, but most of them seemed to just rant about the weather, and complain about not being able to get sleep while this thunder kept up. 'Yeah, actualy, you could get some sleep, if you just kept your mouths shut and tried to calm down' Nuya thought angrily, though he did not speak out those thoughts.
„Silence! Everyone, be quiet! Do you hear that?“ One of the other Pokemon had raised his voice, and everyone else became quiet. But even now, they could still hear muffled voices and talking. Seamed like there was some kind of commotion going on in the upper storeys. „What are they doing up there? Can't they be quiet?“ a pissed-off-looking Ratata asked. „They're keeping everyone up!“ Someone else complained. „Doesn't that sound like crying and screaming up there?“ asked a Mareep, which looked a bit worried. Nuya listened up. Yeah... now that the Mareep had mentioned it, the voices indeed sounded like Screaming. A feeling of unrest rose up in him, was someone in trouble up there?
„Don't worry, I'm sure it's nothing. You all stay here, I'll go check out what's going on up there.“ a Mankey said and climbed up the stairwell, while all the others stayed down in the basement, but now, a pressing silence lay on the group of Pokemon. None of them spoke a word, but one could feel the unrest and fear of every single one of them. Nuya made no exception of this, he too felt nervous. He felt that something was going on, something threatening. He lay down, his ears sharpened for all the noises around him. That was why he was one of the few who recognized something else, a faint and muffled sound, like the flapping of wings... many, many wings. What was that supposed to mean? Were there Bird-Pokemon flying around? And why so many of them at once? He didn't understand what was going on, and that was troubeling him even more.
Silently, they all waited for some kind of news. By now, all of them were too upset to think about sleeping. Outside, the thunder kept rumbling, even louder than a few hours ago, and the voices from above did not seem to cease. No, actualy, it even seemed that they had gotten a bit louder and more numerous. Also, a foreign smell was filling the air, but Nuya reconned, that that just might be the smell of fear of all these different Pokemon mixed together. Then suddenly, there was another rumble, combined with a tremor, but not the one of thunder striking. It seemed to be a lot closer, and now, the Pokemon started murmuring and discussing again. Nuya became increasingly nervous. By now it seemed almost certain, that something was wrong, but he had no idea what it could be. He just needed to wait for that Mankey to return and report what it had found out. What took that guy so long anyway?
It must've been about 15 Minutes, since that Mankey went away to check on what was going on, and there was still no sign of him. In the meantime, the commotion had become even louder, but noone else tried to find out what was causing it... or maybe they were just too scared too. But then finaly, someone showed up on top of the stairs, and a familiar voice yelled „What the hell are you all still doing here? Help us or get out, but don't just stand there!“ Nuya looked up. It was Rufio, but he had never heard him yell like that before. Angry voices rose up, yelling back at Rufio, but the Jolteon remained unimpressed by their indignation. „Fire, you freakin' morons, the tower is burning, and there are Pokemon trapped in the upper levels! If you're not gonna help us rescue them, then go save your own hide, we can't waste any more time saving you guys as well!“
Fire! That was the strange smell Nuya had recognized before! He was shocked about how dumb he had been. The tower had been burning all the time, and they had been staying down here like idiots. Had they stayed here any longer, this basement could've had become a deathtrap, as well as their grave. Rufios words had caused a panic, and all of the Pokemon were racing towards the staircase, the only way that led out of here, but that just generated a big chaos, blocking their only way out. Nuya was one of the last, and seeing how long it took the ones in front to get to the top, he felt his panic rising even higher. Why hadn't that Mankey that had told them to stay come back to tell them about the fire? He had brought them all into lethal danger!
Nuya looked up, searching for Rufio, but the Jolteon wasn't there anymore. He had said something about Pokemon being trapped un the upper storeys, he probably went back there to try and free them. Coming to think of it, Rufio was a real brave guy. He never really took anything serious and made fun of everything and everyone, but now, as worst came to worst, he didn't hesitate to risk his own life for attempting to rescue those of others. What if he himself would die in this fire, even though he had had the chance to get out and save himself? Nuya knew, that Rufio did not deserve that fate, and even though his instincts all yelled at him to do otherwise, Nuya came to a decision.
When he finaly had arrived at the ground floor, he did not head for the exit like most of the others. He headed for the next staircase, which led to the next storey. This one was completely empty, noone was here. The Pokemon from this storey must have been evacuated a long time ago. But he could feel, it was a lot hotter in here, then it had been down in the basement, and he could see a flickering orange light coming from the next staircase. He stopped for a brief moment, looking at the terrifying glow, but then, he pulled himself together and raced on.
Once up the next storey, things looked much worse... Nuya froze in shock as he saw how awful the situation was. Parts of the ceiling were on fire, others were bent through, or the wood had cracked and it looked like if it could come crashing down any moment. There were Pokemon here, all of them screaming and shouting orders at one another, or crying out in pain or fear. It was a terrifying view, the staircase haof the storey above had collapsed. Frome fartherd been burried under burning wreckage from above, it looked like the ceiling up, he could hear many voices screaming in panic, that had to be the trapped Pokemon Rufio had talked about.
Rufio! Now Nuya spotted him. He was over at the staircase, and desperately tried to move some of the wreckage aside. His face had several vicious looking burns all over it, but he still looked more determined than Nuya had ever seen him before. Sweat was running all over every of the helpers bodies, the heat in this storey was almost unbearable... For the first time, Nuya wondered wether it might have been a bad idea to come up here. Looking at it now, all of the helpers were big and strong Pokemon, but he was just a small Eevee, was he even strong enough to to anything helpful or would he just stand in the way?
Well, standing there thinking about it wouldn't help anyone. Supressing his fears, he went on to the staircase and lifted a small piece of burning wood, that was blocking the way. „Nuya!“ yelled the voice of Rufio behind him as the Jolteon spotted the small Eevee. „No, don't even try to stop me!“ Nuya yelled back at him immediatly „I'll help, you can't stop me, don't even waste your time trying to!“ „Don't be an idiot Nuya, there's nothing you can do here! Don't take it personaly, but you're too freakin' weak! Even we've got problems lifting those boards!“ „Then you'll need any help you can get! We don't have time to argue, Rufio!“ Rufio looked at the Eevee angrily, but maybe also a little impressed. „Don't make me responsible if you get your hide burned though...“ the Jolteon just said and then immediatly got back to work. Also Nuya started to move away the wreckings.
After a while though, he had to admit, that Rufio probably had been right. He could hardly even move any of the rubble blocking the way, and the fire had burned bis face and forelegs several times already. Also, the heat up here was really wearing on his stamina and exhausting him very quickly. The sweat was already running through his fur in streams. For one moment he hesitated and reconsidered his decission. There wasn't much he could do here, and if he fainted here, he would just become a burden to everyone else. It would probably be for the best if he just headed for the exit and saved himself as long as he still could.
He had just decided to do so, as a great rumble shook the building again, and an unbelievably loud bang sounded directly behind them. Shocked, Nuya looked at what had caused the noise, and froze as he realized, that part of the ceiling above had collapsed. Part of the floor from above was hanging down into this storey, and now a lot of burning wooden-rubble was filling this floor as well. The heat coming out of the hole in the ceiling was even more merciless than the heat on this floor, and Nuya could see nothing but an enourmous mass of flames and ruins as he looked up. It was hard to believe someone had actualy been trapped up there, Nuya found the heat on this storey more than hard enough to bare, but what he saw above looked a lot worse. Also, there was a lot of smoke up there, Nuya felt a great pity for those who had been trapped up there. But at least, now they had a way to get out.
„Everyone, hurry! Get out! Get out!“ Someone who Nuya could not see yelled. „No wait! What about that new wreckage?“ Someone else asked. „Escort them downstairs, I'll check it out!“ Only now did he notice, that all the new wreckage had cut off his own way out. As he realized that, the shock seemed to let the time around him stop for a moment, as coldness slowly crept all through his body. He had never before experienced such a feeling of cold panic in his live.“I'm here! I'm behind the wreckage!“ He screamed at the top of his lungs. „I heard someone! There's someone back there! Another voice yelled. „Don't worry, we'll help you! Is someone else in there?“ Nuya looked behind him, and once again, his blood seemed to freeze.There at the floor lay Rufios body. He did not move at all, and there was something red running all over the Jolteons head. „Rufio, no!“ the Eevee yelled and hasted towards his friend.
It was blood running down Rufios head, and his eyes were closed. Something from above must have had hit his head when the ceiling collapsed. „Rufio? Is he back there?“ One of the voices yelled. „He's here, but he isn't moving!“ Nuya yelled back and realized, how hysteric his voice had become. „Stay calm, Eevee! Check if he's still breathing!“ that voice demanded, and there was something calm and reasonable in it. Nuya did as he was demanded and checked Rufio again. It was faint, but the Jolteon was still breathing, and Nuya was relieved to hear it.
„Yes! He's alive!“ Nuya yelled back and felt a great weight lifted from his shoulders. „Okay, hang on, we've almost got you!“ Only moments later, a wooden bar was lifted away, and the face of a Flareon showed in the opening. „Help me get Rufio out of there!“ The Flareon demanded, and Nuya didn't hesitate to do as he was told. „Thank you so much for saving us... I was so...“ „Save that for later, youngling.“ his rescuer said, not unfriendly, but straight. In the meantime, a machop had grabbed Rufio and began to pull him out of danger. Nuya looked around the room, and his heart stopped beating for a moment. Several burned bodies lay all over the floor, probably the ones of Pokemon from the upper storeys, that had not made it out in time. He had never seen something this grotesque before. Their limbs had been shattered by their fall through the ceiling and their hides were burned and ripped. Some of them had deep cuts on their bodies, probably from falling down as well, and in the corner, there was the terribly smashed corpse of a Vaporeon, lying in a big puddle of blood and ... other things. Its complete lower body had been crushed by a big hunk of wood that had fallen from the ceiling, Nuya had never seen something so disturbing and disgusting before, and for a brief moment he felt like he needed to throw up. He was sure that he had seen this Pokemon trying to help free the others just minutes ago...
„Come on, were leaving.“ The Flareon said. Thankfully, the stairs down were still complete and not blocked by anything, but then, as they reached the storey below, there was another nasty surprise. Rufio and the Machoke had already gone, the stairway down was still unharmed, but behind them, the floor had started to collapse even on this storey. There was a wide gap, seperating Nuya and the Flareon from their way out.
„Don't panic now youngling, if we focus, we can jump this.“ Nuya just had to admire the Flareon for how calm he stayed even in this kind of situation, he seemed to have perfect control over his fear. He himself felt nothing but panic, and the desperate desire to get out of here. „On my mark! One! Two!...“ Nuya was taken by surrprise of the Flareon starting to count, but still, he readied himself for a dash. „...Three!“ Both Pokemon ran towards the edge of the gap, and both of them jumped at the same time. During his flight, Nuya reached out fot the opposite edge. His paws touched the wood, but the rest of his body didn't make it as far. His claws scratched over the remains of the floor, then he dropped down through the hole. Next to him, he heard the sound of breaking wood, the Flareon did not make the jump either, but he had taken part of the floor with him.
Both bodies hit the floor below , which had already been severely weakened by all the other rubble that had dropped down on it. The impact of the two Pokemon and the rest of the floor that the Flareon had taken with him were enogh to finish it off. The floor below them collapsed immediatly after the both of them had landed. Together with a vast amount of rubble, both of them went down another storey, back into the basement. Nuya was thrown back and forth, wreckage was falling down all around him, hitting his body several times as he fell down, hit something, and fell farther before he could even realize what was going on. Everything was just a mess of rubble and fire, speeding all over the place, hitting him again and again as he continued his fall. Finally, he hit the ground, rolled around, hit a wall, and was stopped in his motion, as some more burning wood was raining down everywhere around him.
He felt pain everywhere all over his body. He did not know how many of his bones had been broken, and he did not care either. His mind had been beaten empty, and he felt dizzy and numb in his head. He was unable to move, but his consciousness was fading, so he didn't care anymore. All the panic was gone as well, his mind had been shattered together with his body, and all weight had been lifted from him. The certainity that this would be the end of his life cleared his mind of all the fear and despair he had felt during the last minutes of his life. He became surprisingly eased, now that he accepted that there was nothing else to do, he felt all responsibility being lifted, he had never felt this eased in his entire life.
There was just one thing that worried him, and this worry was slowly filling his entire mind. „Nadja..“ Nuya gasped weakly... „Nadja... be strong...“. More burning wood hit the ground around him, one of the planks got stuck right next to him, and he could feel the heat. Soon, also the wood all around him would light up on fire, but since the ground down here was just soil, maybe his body wouldn't get burned entirely. Would Nadja come here and search for him when she realized he wouldn't come to their meeting tomorrow? Nuya hoped, that she knew, that he really wanted to come, that he really loved her, and wanted to be with her so much. He hoped that Nadja'd know, that he had not abandoned her, that he never had wanted to leave her. „Nadja... be strong... and don't cry...“ The other planks around him had caught fire, and he could feel the heat coming closer towards his body. It began to be painful. He did not want Nadja to be sad, he never wanted to see her unhappy. But this time, he wouldn't be there to comfort her, and make her smile again, and she wouldn't smile again and lay her head onto his shoulder to show her gratitude.
„Just... don't be sad... and move on...“ Darkness was taking over as the last remains of his consciousness faded away. Nothingness filled his mind. The pain of his broken bones and the heat of the fire faded away, as the mundane sufferings ended.

Neuer Teil ^^ War wie immer zu faul zum drüberlesen, also entschuldige ich mich im Vorraus für alle Fehler, die wohl unvermeidlicherweise noch drin stecken werden ^^"

What is Death? The end of ones existence in one world and its passing on to the next world? Just one Station in a neverending cycle of life and reincarnation? Or maybe just one being ceasing to exist? Sooner or later, most people asked themselves that question, but as it turned out, Nuya was not to find that out just yet. Slowly and gradually, out of eternal nothingness, a small light of sentiment awakened, growing bigger and stronger while chasing away the black clouds of non-existence. Out of nothing, Nuya's perceptions came to be again.
All of his senses still felt muffled, like heavy darkness was laying opun his eyes and ears, surpressing everything around him, but what he received was enough to tell him, that he existed, even though he could not tell what kind of existence that was. It definitly did feel different than before. He could not yet describe his sentiment, but it was almost like there was nothing all around him. No air lightly pressing onto him, no ground below him to carry his body. Weight itself seemed to have ceased existing. Even though he began to hear and see the world around him, it felt like if he had somehow been seperated from it.
Just like his sentiment, also his emotions and memories seemed muffled and supressed by dark clouds, even though those clouds were slowly fading away. He had no orientation whatsoever, not in time, not in space, not even in his own identity, but there was something like a sharp pain, burning bright and clearly, the only thing that was clear right now. The feeling of having abandoned someone in pain and suffering.
As Nuya was slowly regaining his senses, this feeling became dominant, and seemed to lead the way for all other sentiments to follow it. This pain pulled him back into existence. But with his senses, also his memories and his ability to gain orientation came back. His own existence, the body of an Eevee, his friends, Nadja, the Tower, fire, pain, eternal blackness. He hardly recognized the place, ashes had coloured it black and gray, and everything was in disorder. It was nothing but a gigantic pile of broken wood, covered with a monotonous layer of gray, which gave it an even more desolate apperance. Rays of sunlight were lighting the scenery through a big hole in the ceiling, the ceiling that had used to be the floor of the ground-storey of the brass tower. Only vaguely could the tower be recognized, so much destruction had it suffered. Only the walls of the Basement and the ground-storey were remaining, and those were filled with the wreckage of a building that had once been the pride of a city.
It all came back to him now. He had spent the night here in the tower, like he had done every day, and then... the tower had started to burn and eventually, he had died... But then, why was he still here? He looked down to see his own body, but there was nothing to see. Even though he could somehow faintly feel the outlines of his paws, there were none. He just nothing but air, and as he lifted his leg and put it back down onto the ground, there was ne sound, and no movement of dust or ashes.Also, albeit somewhat sensing his own body, he did not feel his paws touching the ground. With an awkward feeling he came to realize, that he no longer had a body.
But then why was he still... in existence? It didn't make any sense, if you died, you left this world, you ceased to exist, but you didn't just come back without your body. That was all wrong! Nuya didn't really know if this new turn of events was something he favored or not, but it was definitly unsettling.
Before digging deeper into this question, Nuya came to realize something else. If he had died in here, and he was not inside his body right now, that meant...! He turned around, searching the place with his eyes all over, but there was no specific place he realized. Shortly before he died, he had been thrown all around, and he had hit his had, so it was hard to remember where exactly he had lain when he... died... But then again, the basement wasn't too big, so it couldn't be too hard to find.
Nuya got moving... what an awkward feeling to walk when you couldn't sense the ground below you... but it still worked just the same way as before, even though his movement felt somewhat clumsy. It didn't take too long before he found a spot that made him feel apprehensive. Directly at a wall, there was some piled up rubble, broken wooden boards that had been blackened by fire. Slowly, he moved around the spot, not sure wether he really wanted to see what was hiding behind those boards.
It had been severely altered by the impacts and the fire, but the sight that was revealed to Nuya now was still distincitvely the dead body of an Eevee... of Nuya. The fur was much darker than it had been before, since it was covered by a thin layer of ashes and also had partly been burned. His eyes were closed, his mouth just barely opened, with a thin line of blood, that had been dried as it had been running out of it. There was a nasty looking wound at the back of his head and his hair was clumped together by a big amount of blood that had come from this wound. A big wooden splinter had pierced his chest, and one of his legs had been smashed up so bad that it was strectched out in an abstruse angle.
Nuya backed off in shock. The sight of his own smashed body was terrifying him more than anything he had ever senn before, but still, his eyes were somewhat fixed to it and he was unable to look anywhere else. He had been certain, that he was dead, but still, the sight of his own corpse made that an unchangeble fact that nothing in the world could ever change again. His death was somewhat made official.
After the first shock, Nuya came to think of the situation. Something was all wrong... he was dead, that was obvious, but then, he still 'was', even if he did not know what or how he 'was'. Still, this was not how it was supposed to be, what was he doing here? How long was he going to stay? From what he could tell, he did not have a body anymore, then what was left of him? He knew that he was Nuya though... For one desperate moment, he wondered if he might have gotten trapped in existence without a body. That thought teryfied him. Caught in the world, with ne means to do anything at all, what horrible fate! Even though he had never wished for his death, this kind of existence would be much much worse. But maybe, he was mistaken? Maybe that wasn't true at all and he'd find a way to go on eventually?
„Remains of an Eevee, you have made a wish!“ Nuya got shocked and flinched as something began to speak. He spinned around and saw a gleaming fiery light above him that blinded his sight. „You have made a wish, just befpre you died.“ The words came from that bright light, which spoke with a voice that seemed to penetrate everything and felt like it made Nuyas shake from the inside.It was so powerful and mighty, hearing it speak almost hurt Nuya and made him want to shield his ears, even though he was certain the impact of this voice would still hurt him.
„Wha...what are you?“ Nuya shouted out, or much more, he wanted to shout out, but there was nothing that could form those words. No lungs and no tongue that could make the air deliver his words and so the Eevee was unable to break the silence. But somehow the talking light seemed to have somehow recognized what he had implied to say.
„You have died, Eevee. Your body has been destroyed and thus, you do no longer exist physically. Even yet, an essence of your very existence has remained in this world, something that you mortals like to refer to as a soul.“ The blinding light now slowly began to dim. The glow became less bright and Nuya began to recognize the form of a giant Pokemon, a huge red bird that sat on top of a pile of blackened wood.
Nuyas mind began to race. That bird could somehow perceive him, even though there was nothing left of him. His physical existence had ended, as the Pokemon had explained and all that was left of him was his soul, but how could that bird see and hear a soul? But one thing was clear, this majestic being had the answers that Nuya was searching for. It continued to talk with it's ground-shaking voice. „I am known as Ho-Oh, and my existence and influence reaches far beyond those of a regular mortal. My power exceeds the limits worldly dimensions and reaches farther than life itself. Even though your death has cost you the ability to form words, I do still perceive what you are willing to vocalize.“
Ho-Oh, that name reminded Nuya of something, he was certain that he had heard that name before. The humans in this city used that word occasionally, but since he was unable to comprehend the human language, he never had suspected that this was the name of a Pokemon. Even though the bird did not seem to have the intention of harming Nuya, his presence was so mighty, it frightened the Eevee. Again, he tried to form words, which again remained inaudible: „But, if my soul has remained in this world, I am not dead right? Not really dead anyways... Why am I still here?“
„You have made a wish, just before you died.“ the imense bird repeated itself. „The wishes of some Pokemon have a special quality. No matter where or when they are spoken out, they are always heard. Your tribe, the Eevees are known to posess that ability rather often.“ Nuya was surprised, he had never heard of something like that, let alone suspected that he possessed an ability like that. But anyways, he did not remember making a wish just before he died, and even if, that did not answer his question anyways.
„You do not mourn for the loss of your life, since you know, that there is nothing to fear about death. But even so, you have been wise enough to recognise, that your death would be a loss. A loss to those you have left behind. That's why you wished your girlfriend would have the strength to overcome this loss.“ Now Nuya remembered, that had been his last words... Nadja. He had been thinking of her... he still was... What would she do when she realized that he had died? Did she know yet? „Three days have passed since the day you died, the fire in the tower has been raging all this time. Nadja has been worried sick since she heard a fire had been raging inside you home, and she's been searching for you ever since, but till now, she has not been able to enter the tower itself. Her hope of ever finding you again is fading, but till now, she has not given up on it entirely.“
Nuya was shocked to hear that, it sounded as if Nadja was worried sick and despairing about the fate of her boyfriend. But that was the worst that could happen, all he wanted was for her to move on. Get over her loss and become happy again. He did not want her do be unhappy. „But... didn't you say my wishes were always coming true?“ Nuya asked desperately. „No, I did not. I said that your wishes are always heard, not that they are fullfilled. But now, listen up.“
With those words, the red bird became silent, and Nuya did as he was told. What was it he was supposed to be hearing? But just as he asked himselt that, he heard a vague voice from above. „I've already asked around, none of the others has seen him for three days. I really don't want to shatter your hopes, but... if we find him, it'll probably be in here, and that would mean... he won't be alive anymore...“ Nuya was taken by surprise, as he recognized that voice. It was Rufio! So the Jolteon had survived! It was kind of a relief to hear him talk, it sounded like his injury had not been that bad after all and he was still well. It was rather obvious that he was talking about him, but who was he talking to? „I... I know, Rufio, but I need to be certain... even if Nuya is dead, this uncertainty... it's worse than anything. I haven't been able to sleep or eat in days... I just need to know, even if the worst case will prove to be the truth...“Of course, Nuya recognized this voice as well, it did not come as a surprise. It was Nadja, but what was really frightening Nuya was how weak and broken her voice sounded. Her voice almost sounded apathetic, but that was only, because her despair was muffled by fatigue, so worn out was the Shinx. Nuya had never heard something this discouraging before.