[CW PKM Reborn] A Tale of Dust and Water

[Helios734]

 

Chapter 1: The Pilot

 

Dust was running. While running wasn’t anything new for him, unlike the dark alleys and sewers he was use to, instead of a concrete tiles, every step he took he could hear the crunching of plant life underneath his feet. He looked ahead seeing an endless plain in front of him and suddenly there was an urge to turn around. An inkling of thought to face his pursuer, to evolve from the prey into the predator almost.

 

As he continued to dart ahead, the grass underneath grew slicker and slicker, as if it had just rained, despite there not being a cloud in the sky. He began to slow down in his rush, not wanting to slip, but growing bolder about facing his pursuer. He eventually came to a full stop, the ground beneath more swamp than plain, his shoes sunk into the mud, the water level moving dangerously close to his ankles. As he slowly turned, a sound behind him shook him to his bones.

 

It was a cry, a plea, but the longer he listened, the more the cries turned into shouts, “Traitor!”,“Coward!”, “Liar!”. It had only been three voices, but slowly it grew into more and more. Eventually, he couldn’t hear himself think over the cacophony of taunts behind him, but suddenly, they all stopped. A quick moment of silence, Dust too frozen by the unforeseen shouts and now the lack of them. Then, a squelch behind him, slowly but surely, becoming louder, and more frequent, and more joined soon after. He slowly recognized them as footsteps through almost shallow lake now.

 

So he ran, Dust always ran. He was revitalized by the fear of the crowd behind him, he didn’t what they wanted, but he knew what they did. The water had risen to his knees as his attempts at running became more feeble and worthless as time passed.

 

However, there was a speck of light shining in front of him, it looked meager and distant, but it’s radiance gave him hope. He began to swim as the water reached his waist, a torrent of water emerging behind him, but the footsteps were still fresh in his ears, the ambience of the water ignored by the racing boy.

 

The light grew closer and closer but, Dust grew exhausted, his paddles coming out slower and the force behind them negligible. His arms began screaming, as he pushed harder than he ever had before, and he pushed onwards. The light was right there. He just had to reach out and touch it! He felt the cramp before it hit, his body shut down mid stroke, his arms pushed past exhaustion and his legs not far behind.

 

As he sunk into the water, he saw the ripples of the people behind him and he tried to turn around to see the faces which had driven him to this state, the water driving deeper and deeper into his mouth and his throat, he felt his lungs inflating with the rushing water and his view dimming rapidly, as a shadowy hand reached for him, the boy decided he had no choice but to reach back.

Dust felt the breathing before he heard it. It was soft and light against his head, the body he was currently laying upon was warm and a part of him pondered if another dream would be worth sleeping on her again. Dust didn’t want to open his eyes truthfully, he wanted to lie on her forever, and not have to come to terms with the lie he lived, and the constant betrayal he so happily participated in. A shifting beneath him caused him to let out a sigh and open his eyes. A dim morning light shone through the window on his left, and suddenly he was glad about Reborn’s lackluster weather.

 

“I know you’re awake Dust” the voice beneath him said. “Unfortunately” he responded. His response prompted another short burst of silence between the two, as Dust valued his remaining time lying upon his visitor. The woman shifted again, perhaps in discomfort or the the unavoidable guilt that their interactions always caused. Dust simply remained still, listening to her heart beat and enjoying soft compressions of her breathing on her lithe frame, the eternal rise and fall.

 

Eventually, her patience grew thin, she rolled off the the bed, Dust’s head falling on the mattress, she faced the wall, adorned with posters of landmarks, stretching, her waist length blue hair preventing Dust from being reintroduced to her more feminine parts. When she finished she began to redress herself from the clothes strewn across her room, when she accidentally put on his shirt in her haste, Dust stopped himself from calling on her mistake, a part of him happy that she would carry a piece of him, for the rest of the day, perhaps longer. When she was finished dressing, she walked out out of his bedroom, and out the front door, without even saying a word to him.

 

He lazily glanced at her forgotten shirt and his alarm clock. It was half past eight, and he had to be at the Grand Hall at 9! He immediately shook himself out his Amaria stupor and began to dress himself, to lazy to use new clothes, he just wore the same clothes he did yesterday and he stood shirtless, gazing into his closet before suddenly decided to wear Amaria’s instead. It was a bit big for him, but the sentiment did more than the fashion statement ever did. Even if Amaria belonged to someone else, he could have this little piece of her.

 

He left the apartment building in a sprint, running down the street and narrowly dodging out of the way of fellow civilians and their accompanying Pokemon. He waited at the street light, before hurriedly crossing and moving through the small buildings that connected the wards in Reborn City. He emerged on the other side in the Upper Onyx ward and headed southwards to the Great Hall.

 

As he moved down the bridge that connected the Hall to the Onyx Ward, he watched as trainers of varying strength all battled it out, some wearing victorious smirks and others wearing defeated glowers as they handed over their hard earned cash to the victors. He continued to walk past, until he saw a trainer battling two others. The group of two had cornered a Pachirisu and it looked like the sole trainer had decided to play hero. I watched for a bit but hurried along as the time grew closer to 9.

 

As I turned I saw the majestic structure that was the great hall. Four pillars, colored Red, Green, Purple, and Blue, dominated the front side with a massive double door entrance detailing the headquarters of the Reborn league within. I approached the two guards who were stationed in front of the door, the bigger of the two put his hand out and said “I’ll need your Reborn League Identification Card”, I sighed as I remembered to the old days, where I could just walk through instead of all these pesky checks, but then I remember the recent train station attack and sober up.

 

I fish around in my pockets for a bit before drawing out a thin card. I hand it over to the burly guard who gives it to the smaller guard, and he scans it through the slider on the wall next to the door and a resounding clink can be heard as the door’s electronic lock opens. The smaller guard hands me my ID back and I wish them a good day. They don’t return the favor.

 

I walk through the hall, watching around as people sit at couches and watch the television or order meals at the dining hall, I walk straight to the office walls on the back side of the hall and ring the bell. As I wait for a receptionist, I think about what Amaria’s doing, she doesn’t have gym challenges on Sundays so she’s most likely off with Titania. Thinking about my estranged sister makes me uncomfortable more so when Amaria is probably wearing my shirt while they go have a real relationship. I hear footsteps coming up the stairs as a white haired girl approaches the desk, I’m relieved to not have to deal with those annoying receptionists more so.

 

“Dust! Thank God you're here”, Amy opens up the barrier and beckons me forward. As I walk through the barrier and head down the stairs, she began to explain the situation to me. “One of the accomplices to the train station bombing refuses to talk, we’re low on experts in this sort of field and our usually guy isn’t here. I know you don’t really enjoy doing this kind of stuff anymore but, do it for me?” I raise an eyebrow as she attempts to persuade me, with her bad attempt at some kind of puppy eyes? I kind of want to run with the joke though so I snarkily say, “What’s in it for me then?”

 

Amy takes one good look at my shirt, leans down and whispers “I’ll put in a good word with Amaria?” She begins to laugh as blood rushes to my face, my thoughts flicking back to last night, before snapping myself back to the present. “Alright you win that round, but it was a cheap shot.” I mutter half to myself. She picks up on it anyways and leads me downstairs. A man in a dark outfit is strapped to a chair, appearing unnaturally calm despite his current situation. Amy sighs as she says “Julia’s having issues at the power plant so we can’t use the electric chair on him, but I was hoping you’d have a bit more luck?”

 

I examine the man, he was middle aged with tired eyes and gray streaks polluting his black hair. I reach into my backpack and retrieve two Pokemon. I start unzipping the man of his uniform, his eyes widen in surprise as I take off the jumper and his undershirt, leaving him only in breaches. I call out Marshtomp, “Marsh, Water Gun, Low Power.” The Mud Fish proceeds to spew water onto the man, his eyes still filled with curiosity and a hint of laughter. I recall Marsh and send out Piloswine, the small mammoth leaving a small dent in the tile due to it’s sheer weight.

 

The man’s eyes flash in realization and Amethyst eyes widen as she catches on. “Pillo, Powder Snow, Low Power.” The mammoth begins channeling weak icy crystals on the man, already soaked with water, he began to shiver but the defiance remained in his eyes. However it dimmed once the man realized, the mammoth wasn’t stopping snow, his shivers grew more erratic as Dust simply stared ahead into the Meteor's eyes, oblivious to suffering man's plight waiting for him to break.

 

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