Child of Thorns - A Pokemon Sinnoh Reimagining

Enma fell to one knee, his legs no longer able to support him. The world blurred around him, drops of blood hitting the ground beneath him, releasing small wisps of steam as they made contact.

Shadows danced at the edge of his vision. Rough, green shapes moving faster than his eyes could follow in his current state. Through his ragged breathing he could hear the metallic, nails on chalkboard sound of scythes sharpening each other. He took a step forward, protecting the small pile of berries he'd stolen from the Scyther's nest. Laboriously, he spread his arms to the side and bared his fangs as a warning.

Cowards, that's what the four Pokemon surrounding him were. Cowards who could only defeat him due to number advantage. But he would not let them take his food, not after the trouble he'd gone through to steal it from them.

"Saaai…"

One of them chuckled, and the rest followed soon after. Underestimating him. The thought made the fire on his tail change from a pale red to a burning yellow, fingers curling into fists. He would not be mocked by lowlife creatures such as them. The temperature of his skin rose dramatically, as small embers started licking at the outline of his body. He could feel that pressure building inside his chest, the same which had consumed him that night and made him turn on his own trainer.

The girl's face flashed through his eyes, and for a moment guilt crept up his throat, almost choking him. He couldn't go back, not after what he'd done. The four Pokemon about to kill him, they were probably his penance for going so far as attacking someone who'd had nothing but patience with him.

Still, that penance would have to wait until he fixed his mistakes. Until he became strong enough to prove that stupid girl wrong, to show her that no Pokemon would ever best him again.

Until he could give her a low grumble that she might consider an apology.

Until then, he would not die.

The four Scyther threw themselves at him, eyes brimming with bloodlust and blades shining in the pale sunlight. Enma threw his head back and screamed, letting out all the rage inside him, his vision turning red just like back then.

His body exploded into a blinding ball of flames.

The City Carved from Stone, the sign at the entrance of town proudly announced once Inyssa got around to read it. And after exploring the city a little before, she understood the moniker well.

There was a specific feel to the streets and people they passed. Faded was the first word that came to mind, though that didn't seem quite right. Rough came next, and while it was more appropriate it didn't tell the whole story either.

The houses looked… compact, so to speak. A lot smaller and simpler than she expected, with nary a tall building to be seen with the exception of the Pokemon Center. She couldn't look anywhere without spotting a bunch of grey warehouses, each of which were being used for wildly different purposes, from stores to deposits to infirmaries.

The people seemed carved from stone as well, she couldn't help but notice. There was an odd intensity to their eyes, especially from the older residents she came across. They looked to be constantly on edge, as if they expected someone to jump out of a trashcan behind them with a knife ready to go at their throats. Some of them had probably gone through that exact situation, or something similar at least.

It reminded her too much of what Twinleaf had looked like right before the war ended. Even if her memory was extremely faulty, she remembered that day clearly. It was hot and unpleasant. Four-year old Inyssa had been lying on the floor with a bunch of empty juice boxes around when someone rung on the bell. When she went to open it, she saw Sarah standing there with a grim look on her face. Shadi stood behind her, looking as though she was about to puke, fear all over her face. That was the day the news had arrived. Back when she was too young to understand why her father hadn't come home, why sometimes people from the military knocked on doors and delivered letters to family members, who would then start crying uncontrollably. Why sometimes she'd spot a bunch of people wearing black, headed towards the local cemetery to pay their respects to a grave which contained no body at all.

Veilstone hadn't moved on from that phase, it seemed. Not that she blamed them, especially after how much the city had suffered during the war, what with it being the main source of provisions for the rest of the region and being constantly targeted because of that. Still, she couldn't deny the entire place brought her mood down.

She grabbed the edges of her scarf and covered her nose with the white fabric as she started to walk faster.

"The Gym should be around here," she told Barry, voice dry. "Let's get this over with."

Barry pushed the doors of the Gym aside, smiling from ear to ear, completely unaware of his friend's current mood.

They opened slowly, what with being made of gosh-darned metal and all, and showed them an inside which made them both wonder if they'd walked in on a different kind of gym.

The room they entered was divided into four identical squares, about twenty feet in diameter and marked by either chalk or string. Inside them both people and Pokemon sparred, each dressed with a white, long gi tied together with belts of different colors. At the sides and in between were sprinkled a bunch of weights, backpacks and water bottles.

"So, if I were a guessing girl…" Niss said next to him, arms crossed, "I'd say that this is probably a fighting-type Gym."

The corner of his lips curled into a smile. "Wow, you master of observation you."

After a light punch directed towards his arm they made their way through what appeared to be the lobby, skipping over all the stuff scattered across the floor and trying to pretend they didn't feel the eyes of the local trainers on them. He could imagine the things they were thinking, what with them dressed in full winter gear inside such a place.

A lean, dark skinned man approached them once they were at the other side of the room, standing in front of the door.

"Are you here to challenge lady Maylene?" he asked, raising his hand to shake theirs. "Greetings! I am Marco, her assistant."

For just an assistant he sure had an iron grip, Barry thought as he felt his fingers almost crushed by the shake. And judging by the small yelp of pain and the eye twitch coming from Niss, he figured she felt the same way.

"We're just here to talk to her!" Barry rushed to speak before she could strangle Marco with her scarf. "She asked us to come when we had the time."

His lips parted slightly, showing an easy smile. "Ah, you two must be the talented trainers we heard about! Barny and Nashandra, right?"

Barry couldn't help but burst into laughter, and next to him Niss narrowed her eyes.

"Barry and Inyssa," she corrected him, tone cold. "But… yes, that's us."

"Such a pleasure to have you here!" Marco clasped his hands together. "Please, please, proceed to the main arena. Lady Maylene is training right now but I'm sure she'd be happy to receive both of you."

Niss muttered something which could have been heard as Thanks if one were listening very carefully. Without wasting time, they both entered through the door, after receiving an enthusiastic pat in the back by Marco which, Barry was pretty sure, dislocated a bone or two.

The door opened to an even bigger arena, about the same size as the one they'd seen in Eterna City. It looked less pristine though, as though the place saw battle ten times a day instead of once a week. Barry focused his sight forward, and what he saw made him stop in his tracks. Next to him Niss did the same, as a gasp of surprise escaped her lips. There was a person in the middle of the arena. A tall, young girl with short pink hair dressed in a blue skin-tight outfit.

She was fighting a Pokemon. A Hitmochan to be precise, whose gloved fists repeatedly tried to reach the girl's body. She jumped to the side, dodging the first two blows aimed at her head, and as soon as she hit the ground she rotated on the ball of her feet and threw a roundhouse kick at his knees. The Pokemon took a step back and threw another right swing.

Desperation crept through Barry's body as he opened his mouth, leaving not a lot of room for logic.

"Watch out!" he yelled, eyes wide open.

He regretted speaking as soon as he saw the girl turn towards him. The momentary distraction was enough for Hitmonchan to land a good hit on her face. He could hear the awful crunch even from where he was, a sound which made his heart drop as he saw her fall to the ground.

His legs moved before he realized, and Niss followed soon after. As he approached he saw a couple drops of blood running down the girl's face, and the Hitmonchan who'd just hit her looked mortified.

"A-are you okay!?" he stuttered, hands raised to his side. "I'm… I'm so sorry, I thought…"

"It's-agh-okay."

She swiveled back to her feet, looking up at him with her sharp eyes. They were a very light brown, looking almost pink-ish under the strong lights hanging from the ceiling. He saw the dark purple on the bridge of her nose where it had been broken, and the slow stream of blood which ran down her lips to her chin. She knelt to pick up a white cotton towel from the floor and placed it under her wound, so absentmindedly one might think this sort of stuff happened often.

"This is why I always tell Marco not to let people in while I'm sparring," she muttered through the fabric of the towel. "Trainers always get the wrong idea and I end up eating a knuckle sandwich."

Niss gulped. "W-we thought you were getting attacked by your Pokemon."

Barry glanced at her, and suddenly understood why her face was so pale. It must've reminded her of Enma.

"No need to apologize." The girl raised her callused hand, and he could see the corners of her lips curling at the edges of the white cloth, "if I weren't ready to break my nose every other week I wouldn't be a Gym Leader, would I?

"Is that like… a requisite or…?"

"In any case," she interrupted him. "You two must be Inyssa and Barry, right?"

They nodded in unison, still put off by what had just happened.

"You sure took your sweet time getting here." She lowered the towel and smiled, lips still stained with blood. "The name's Maylene. Give me a couple minutes to clean this up and we can have our little talk."

Without another word she grabbed a Pokeball from the floor and returned the Hitmonchan to it. She then turned around and walked towards a door at the other side of the arena, leaving both trainers confused and more than a little surprised.

"So…" Niss spoke after a couple seconds. "I'm not like, hallucinating, right? How young did she look?"

"She can't be older than us," he replied, tone incredulous. "And she's already a Gym Leader?"

She let out a scoff of indignation, shaking her head. "There really is no justice."

Metchi almost walked into a tree while angrily muttering under her breath, eyes set on the papers she'd stolen.

She'd been making her way through Route 210 for a couple hours, panting under the strong sunlight which made her regret having a black hoodie on her. The shade of the leaves above barely managed to keep her fresh enough to continue, though they weren't very useful with helping her read what was in front of her.

"It's hopeless." She threw her hands to the air, almost sending one of the papers flying. "I've been studying this shit for hours and I can't make anything of it."

"We need to decipher those papers. They hold the secret to their plans."

"And you think I don't know that!?" she complained to the air. "I'm not a goddamned scientist, I'm not smart enough to figure this out on my own!"

"That is obvious."

A pant of anger escaped her lips. "You know you could at least look me in the eye if you're gonna talk shit."

Azelf didn't reply, and Metchi sighed as she put the papers back in the brown dossier. So much for a fucking lead. The weight of her responsibility felt even heavier on her shoulders, to the point where she had trouble even walking.

If only she had someone else to rely on who wasn't an ancient disembodied piece of shit like Azelf. Literally any kind of ally would've been preferable to her current situation. Not that she'd let anyone embark on the same dangerous path as her, of course. She wasn't that heartless.

"I believe I have an idea, though it's dangerous."

Metchi couldn't help but laugh. Par for the fucking course.

"Spit it out," she said. "Can't be worse than what we've been through already."

"Getting a hold of Charon or Jupiter might be the only chance we have of deciphering those blueprints."

"We already tried that, and I'm sure you remember how well that went." She unconsciously put a hand over her stomach. "We'd need a lot more power than what we have right now to break through the research center and kidnap them."

"I was getting to that, Metchi. Do not interrupt me."

She smiled at the feeling of irritation coming from her partner.

"It's been a long time since my soul and my body were together, and because of that I'm losing strength at an alarming rate. But if I could get back in my body, even for just a second, it would recharge my soul enough to give us a fair chance at storming the place where Charon and Jupiter are located."

Metchi knit her eyebrows. "Your body is still chained in the middle of Lake Valor, remember? I'm sure Team Galactic has some heavy security around it."

"It's a risk I'm willing to take."

Uncertainty set on the pit of her stomach as she considered her partner's words. Not only would they be walking right into a trap but she might be forced to not only hurt but kill even more Galactic grunts, were the place well guarded.

"As you saw, at least Saturn is currently busy chasing that girl. This is our best chance to sneak into Lake Valor."

If Azelf wanted to make her feel better then it was pretty fucking horrid at it. The only thing she could think about now was the unknown fate Team Galactic had planned for Inyssa, and possibly Barry. She'd hated herself enough already when she decided not to go wherever she was and warn her. She couldn't; Veilstone was too close to Galactic HQ and there was a big possibility she'd be captured.

That of course didn't stop her from feeling like shit about it.

"Fine," she said, tone weak. "Guess we better start heading for Pastoria."

She was about to turn around and head east when something caught her eye. She stopped suddenly and focused her eyes on the shape laying close to the horizon. It looked like a small creature, with orange fur and a long tail which was set on fire at the end of it. Said fire was an almost snuffed out ember, and the Pokemon's body was covered in blood.

"Oh my god…"

She ran towards him without even thinking about it, hearing Azelf's sigh in her mind. She knelt in front of the Pokemon and put a hand on his chest. He was still breathing, but barely.

"Shit, shit…" she whispered to herself. "Azelf, I need some of your power to close his wounds!"

"Metchi, this is a tremendously inefficient use of my powers, especially when…"

"Oh can it already!" she yelled. "I'm not letting anyone else die if I can help it, I don't care if it's a person or a Pokemon!"

"Hmph."

She turned the Pokemon around and saw his face for the first time. He looked so familiar...

With barely any difficulty she summoned the warmth behind her eyes again, and put both hands over the Monferno's chest.

"Come on buddy…" she whispered, attempting to form a smile. "I'm gonna have you fixed up before you know it."