Chapter 10: Haunting Memories
The moon was sitting in its highest point signifying midnight. Nocturnal Pokémon were out either hunting for food, or playing in the soft light from the moon. Tiger was sitting on a branch in a tree with Cyndaquil laying on his chest. The young boy looked at the fire Pokémon and scratched the top of the Pokémon's head. I'm looking for my brother... The words of the strange trainer continuously repeated in his mind as he tried to sleep. Sighing, Tiger looked up to the stars his emerald eyes were dully gleaming in the moonlight. "Who is that trainer's brother, and why did he sound so familiar?" Tiger yawned to himself. He eventually allowed the gentle sounds of the forest lull him into a light sleep.
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Light poured through the blinds of a room as a young boy slept soundly in his bed near the window. His Pichu was curled up next to his neck his small tail was barely over his nose. The sunlight eventually hit the boy's eyes causing him to groan. The young child sat up and looked around the room. His emerald eyes were clouded with exhaustion once he sat up. He looked at Pichu. "Chu chu wake up! We gonna pway with Max today" The boy said cheerfully his exhaustion was forgotten and he jumped out of bed.
"Pichu chu!?" Pichu said in shock and got up. The Pokémon jumped off the bed and caught up to the boy. "Pichu chu Pichu pi?" The Pichu as he tripped over a Cyndaquil plush that had fallen off the bedside table. The boy looked over and picked up the Pichu.
"Sorry Peach, I musta dwopped Quil when I was asleep." He said in embarrassment, and looked back to the door when he heard his brother's voice.
"Tiger come on, and wake up!" The voice called from downstairs. Tiger looked at Pichu, and ran out of his room. He met up with an older boy. "There you are" the boy said lowly. "I thought you and Pichu were going to sleep for a month" the boy said crossly.
"Smokey why are you aways mad? Did Max eat your cereal again?" Tiger asked not completely understanding his brother's anger. The other boy then sighed and shook his head. The family Persian, Max, walked out of the living room to see what was going on.
"I'm not mad" Smokey growled lowly and crossed his arms. He glared at Tiger knowingly. Max hissed at the fighting causing Pichu to tip his head slightly
"Yes you are." Tiger said and tipped his head. "You sure you not broken?" Tiger asked and tried to mess with the boy. Pichu jumped out of his arms and walked up to Smokey.
"Get your rodent off me!" Smokey snapped and pushed the Pichu away angrily. Tiger growled and ran over to Pichu.
"What did Pi do to you!?" Tiger asked in shock and looked at his brother angrily. It wasn't unnatural for Smokey to snap, but Tiger wished for the calmer days before he found the pokeball containing the electric mouse Pokémon. When he and his brother were close friends.
"Pichu was
his Pokémon" Smokey said angrily.
"Who's dad's?" Tiger asked purely confused. His mom had told him that their father had gone off on a journey with his friend, Matt, who was Lion's father. The two boys hadn't seen their father in a year.
"Wha?" Smokey said in shock and forgotten what their mother told him for a moment. "Nothing it's nothing, Tiger just...go play outside" Smokey said quietly and went back to his room.
"Okay? Fine I will!" Tiger said still confused. He looked at Pichu and ran outside. Once outside, Tiger and Pichu looked for Professor Elm's Lab. "Hey Pi maybe Elm has something we can help with" the boy said to his pokemon the Pichu nodded and they went towards the lab. The Persian was following them closely. Once Tiger and Pichu reached the lab, Tiger heard a voice from the door.
"I won't allow you to take them with you! Those pokemon belong to the lab, and even if you are their original trainer I wouldn't force them to join your organization!" Elm said in an angry tone causing Tiger to jump slightly. He'd never heard Elm so angry.
Is everyone grumpy today? Tiger thought to himself curiously and went to the window with Pichu next to him. "Come on let's see who's in da lab wif Elm" Tiger said to his friend and clumsily climbed up to the window's ledge. He looked inside and saw a trainer that was very familiar.
"Well, Elm you aren't doing your job correctly if I have to ask you to release my pokemon" the trainer growled, and narrowed his eyes at the professor. "Maybe I should come back later. Maybe then I can force you to give them to me" he threatened lowly.
"Is that a threat? Frost, when I became a professor I promised to keep Pokémon safe, even if their trainers decide to betray their home town! You are aware that Sam had to lie to your youngest son so he wouldn't worry about you right!?" He snapped angrily. Tiger blinked and watched as the trainer growled. His blue eyes were flames as he glared at Elm.
"Smokey and Tiger are both weak! I'd be surprised if those two ended up failing their league challenges and became janitors for your lab!" Frost retorted crossly and glared at Elm. Tiger froze, and looked at the trainer, he was wearing all black, and had a red R on the front of his shirt.
"They will be better trainers than you will ever be!" Elm snapped angrily. Frost then growled and looked up. He noticed Tiger and Pichu in the window.
"Will they now?" Frost laughed darkly. "Well...let's see how Tiger fairs against me?" Frost growled and walked out of the lab. He made his way over towards Tiger. Elm looked over to the window and froze as he recognized Tiger.
"Tiger run!" Elm yelled quickly and ran out of the lab. Tiger froze from where he sat on the window ledge and looked around. He then noticed there were three more strange trainers in black. They were hiding near the fields to the lab.
Tiger jumped to the ground, and Pichu fell onto his shoulder. The two began to run towards their house when a black dog like pokemon with horns blocked his path. "Well Tiger? Are you ready for a battle?" Frost growled and stood behind the pokemon. "Houndoom here will give you a great opportunity to see what being a trainer is really like" he growled, and the Houndoom took a step towards Tiger.
"But...I can't fight!" Tiger said sheepishly and fell back. He was about to flee towards the lab when two more Houndoom blocked his path. "I just wanna go home!" Tiger cried out weakly.
"Weak" Frost growled and nodded to Houndoom. The pokemon used a flamethrower making Tiger fall back in an attempt to dodge the move. Pichu growled and ran at Houndoom with a volt tackle. "Come on fight back!" Frost yelled and laughed as the volt tackle barely did any damage on the Houndoom.
"But I can't I'm to young!" Tiger cried back and looked at Pichu. The small mouse pokemon froze as he was to weak to fight the Houndoom. The second fire dog then snarled and walked over to Tiger. It firmly planted a paw on the boy's chest. Tiger closed his eyes and braced himself for the pain of the move when he heard a hiss, and the weight of the Houndoom was pushed off him.
"Max!" Frost said in shock. Tiger sat up and saw the Persian fighting off the Houndoom. The cat Pokémon was surprisingly fighting off the Houndoom. The other Houndoom turned their attention to Max.
"Max no you can't!" Tiger said in shock. The Persian then hissed and glanced at Tiger. The pokemon was then pinned to the ground, and was struggling to break free.
"Huh? How about I teach you a lesson, brat" Frost growled and glared at Tiger. Houndoom then growled and raised a paw. "Houndoom! Finish Max off! Let Tiger know that this will be his fault!" Frost laughed maniacally, Houndoom nodded and slashed his paw across the Persian's throat. "Rocket retreat!" Frost said darkly and the four strangers followed Frost out of New Bark.
Tiger froze, and ran over to Max's side. The Pokémon was badly hurt; Tiger was about to reach out and touch the dying pokemon's head when Elm, and Smokey ran over. "Tiger come on get away from there!" Smokey said in shock. Tiger was just frozen next to the Pokémon he didn't look up to the professor, or his brother. He then felt Smokey's hand on his shoulder. "Elm. Can you take care of Max?" The boy asked Elm in concern.
"Of course" Elm nodded, and went to Max's side. Smokey then gently pulled Tiger away from Max's side. He gently pushed him towards their house.
"Everything will be alright Tiger...I'm here for you. I'm sorry about earlier" Smokey said gently but Tiger wasn't paying attention he was just looking at the ground in defeat.
"Tiger! Hey Tiger are you alright wake up!" A voice was sounded from somewhere beyond the boundaries of the town. Tiger glanced at Smokey and noticed the trainer was beginning to fade away. As well as the entirety of New Bark Town.
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"Tiger hey are you alright!?" Cyndaquil said and nudged his friend. Tiger sat up in shock and looked around; he had fallen out of the lowest branch of the tree and was in a bush. Cyndaquil was next to him nudging him awake.
"Wha? Cynda?" Tiger said groggily and sat up. He looked at the pokemon and yawned. "Sorry I was having some sort of nightmare..." Tiger sighed in response and sat up.
"Was it the same one from a few months ago? I thought they stopped a month ago" Cyndaquil said in concern and sat on Tiger's lap.
"It was more of a flashback...I'm not sure. I think it happened because I was trying to figure out who that stranger was from last night" Tiger said softly and tipped his head in confusion.
"Did you figure it out?" Cyndaquil asked gently. He was sniffing Tiger for injuries from his fall out of the tree, but soon sighed in relief as all he noticed was a couple of scratches. "I mean if it was a memory then it should have been important somehow" Cyndaquil said in concern.
Tiger sighed and shrugged "I think I did...come on let's go and get something to eat. Maybe a walk will clear my head from that dream." He said quietly, and got to his feet. He looked at the sky and noticed he'd fallen asleep until shortly before dawn "We can head back to the barrier and find out if that trainer had left the area" he said gently in an attempt to reassure himself that the dream was just a random memory.
The sun climbed higher as the duo went back to the apple tree by the rock wall. Tiger had been lost in thought as they walked, and didn't notice that Cyndaquil had been asking him a question. "What?" Tiger asked and looked over to his partner. Cyndaquil then sighed and shook his head.
"I asked if you were alright? That dream you had last night seems to have distracted you today" Cyndaquil asked again and looked over to Tiger once again concerned.
Tiger nodded, and decided to tell Cyndaquil about the dream. As he explained everything the two stopped in the clearing. "Though that whole thing happened when I was three...it was years ago so why would I have that dream now?" Tiger asked in confusion, and sighed.
Cyndaquil tipped his head and looked thoughtful for a moment. "Maybe you were trying to remember who the boy from last night was, but the only memory you can try and remember him was from years ago, and it came to you in a form of a nightmare?" Cyndaquil said slightly unsure of the conclusion he made up.
"Sounds possible" Tiger said and crossed his arms. He looked around the clearing and saw Lee on a usual patrol near the border. "Morning Lee!" Tiger said trying to sound optimistic.
The Machamp looked up from what he was doing and waved one of his four arms in greeting. Tiger then walked to the apple tree and climbed up its branches in order to get to the top of the rock wall. Cyndaquil followed him up quickly and balanced on the last branch. The two then leapt from the tree and landed on the top of the wall. Tiger looked over the edge of the wall and saw the boy and his Croconaw. He froze as he recognized the trainer from his dream.
It is Smokey! So he did come here to find me! Tiger thought in shock, and watched as the older trainer stopped at the base of a tree. Croconaw then shook his head disapprovingly. What is he planning to do? Tiger thought suspiciously and watched in shock as the trainer recalled his pokemon, and climbed up the tree.
"He's either going to fall, or try and make it into this forest" Cyndaquil whispered in shock and looked at Tiger. The young boy nodded, and froze. He was concerned for his brother's safety now. Smokey was panting as he climbed onto to the top branches of the tree.
He definitely doesn't have the stamina to climb up here, and he might not jump up he- Tiger thought to himself and froze as Smokey jumped from the tree. His leap was to short and he was plummeting towards the ground, and the face of the wall when Tiger slammed himself down onto his chest and grunted as he grabbed Smokey's shirt collar. He almost fell off the top of the wall he felt Cyndaquil grab his shirt tail and pull him backwards before he could lose his balance. "I got you!" Tiger called to Smokey and grunted as he pulled Smokey up to the top of the wall. The months of living in the forest had given him the strength to pull the trainer back up to the top of the wall.
The trainer opened his eyes and looked in shock at Tiger. He seemed to have been studying the young boy closely. His eyes then rested on the boy's scar that was on his shoulder. He flinched as if he couldn't comprehend what had happened to Tiger. Tiger then moved sharply to hide the scar as best he could which caused Cyndaquil to growl in distrust, warning, and anger. "T...Tiger?" The trainer then said uncertainly and looked at the boy.
Before Tiger could respond, Cyndaquil took a step forward. "You know him?" Cyndaquil growled lowly and eyed Smokey wearily. Tiger nodded and sighed before responding.
"Yeah he's my brother" Tiger said softly and glanced at Cyndaquil. The pokemon nodded reluctantly and went to sniff at Smokey. He then took a step back and growled. "It's alright bud" Tiger began and hugged Cyndaquil protectively. "Smokey won't hurt you" Tiger said softly, and glared at Smokey slightly as he began to feel slightly protective over his friend. "What in the name of Arceus are
you doing here!?" Tiger asked in a hostile, and concerned tone. Smokey looked at Tiger in shock before he was taken aback by the tone of Tiger's voice. He was then knocked out of his thoughts when Lee spoke.
"Tiger!? Is everything alright? I heard yelling!" Lee called from the base of the wall. Tiger looked over and went to the edge before looking at Lee.
"I'm fine Lee! I'm just sending off a trespasser" he called out gently, and turned back to Smokey. "Well?" He pressed lowly.
"I...I was err...I...was looking for you" Smokey responded in a confused tone and looked at Tiger questioningly. Tiger then looked away sharply, and thought of his friends, and pokemon he thought of as family. He then began to feel guilty as for the first time since he woke up in Ripple Forest, he remembered his mom, and Elm.
"I'm sorry I put everyone through my disappearance...but, I need to stay here and-" he began before Smokey cut him off quickly.
"No Tiger you don't need to stay you need to come home with me" Smokey said hesitantly and looked at Tiger in slight fear for his younger brother.
Tiger growled as he noticed this was going to be harder than he thought.
I still have some things to learn before I leave here...I can't leave yet! What if Rocket attacks, and finds Lugia...or Tally, and Kit!? He thought to himself before replying. "No...I am not going with you. I may be a child, but I won't listen to you" He said angrily, and avoided Smokey's gaze.
Taken aback by Tiger's attitude, Smokey flinched. Smokey then glared at Tiger in a mixture of confusion and anger. "You don't understand you will be
killed out here" he snapped.
No you don't understand...I'm needed here. I won't die in this forest. I know it better than New Bark now... Tiger thought to himself, but didn't say anything. He then jumped off the wall and into the apple tree before he abandoned Smokey and fled into the forest.
I'm sorry about everything that's happened, Smokey. Please just understand that I can't go home yet!