"Kriz you know you’re my bestest friend right," looking over at a small growlithe.
"Well duh Zyruss! I mean we have been friends and next-door neighbors for like 6 years. You’ll be my friend until the very end; no matter what. Even after we evolve, we will still be the best of buds," Kriz said with tears forming in his eyes.
I looked over at Kriz to see him struggling to hold back his tears. Even though I wasn't gay I still nuzzled him to make him feel better and let him know his words were appreciated. As he felt me nuzzling his neck he began to let his tears slowly soak his fur. After the first few seconds of this he didn't do anything, but later on he began to nuzzle back. That nuzzle helped him calm down from his teary moment. Feeling his head resting on my shoulder I whispered,
"We will always be friends Kriz no matter what happens and whenever you need me I will be there for you. I'm your best friend and that's just one of the many things we do."
"You always know the right words to say. You know that Zyruss?" sniffled Kriz.
"No. Not really. I don't like to brag about things so I wouldn't say yes to your question." I said while brushing my paw against his face wiping away the rest of his tears. After I was sure he was ok we continued to walk towards the river. When we were upon the bank of the river I saw that Kriz was sitting pretty close to the edge. Even though I was sitting next to him I wasn't sitting as close to the bank as he was. So out of wisdom I suggested,
"Kriz I think you should scoot back a little. You’re a little too close to the bank of the river. You could fall in you know and that wouldn't be good for anyone."
I watched as he continued to sit there ignoring what I had just told him. Watching the water carefully I noticed that the water kept splashing near him turning the dirt he was sitting on into mud. Seeing this I walked over to Kriz to grab him and pull back a little. But right as I went to grab him he slid into the water being carried away by the fast current. I knew I couldn't get to him by just running so used agility to run faster, so I could get ahead of him. Hearing Kriz yelling for help my heart started pounding fiercely from this frightening event, I still managed to keep my composure and concentrate.
So I walked quickly, but carefully to the bank to try and grab Kriz. Knowing he was getting weaker from the water I knew I had to act fast. Steadying my balance I reached out as far as I could, trying to reach him. Right as I grabbed his paw and drug him to land water splashed up against my hind paws. I knew I couldn't hold keep my balance with him, so I tossed him as far as I could on shore. Upon hearing a giant splash Kriz yelled,
"Zyruss! Noooooo!"
As the aggressiveness of the river carried me away I began feeling the pain of a thousand needles. The agony was matched to that of a poisoned Pokémon. No being able to swim didn't help me at all. So eventually I fainted from the pain and intake of too much water. Then I could feel myself drifting in the freezing waters hearing my name being called. My name was being called constantly; I could hear my mother's voice, then my dad's along with Kriz's. My dad tried to save me, but the raging water carried off a cliff away from Flame Valley.
Suddenly I sat up and looked around to see neatness and tidiness of my friend's cave. I thought for a second while placing my paw on my head. As I sat with my paw on my head I heard the lovely voice of a Pokémon say,
"Zyruss? Deary did you have that dream again? Come on baby you’ve got to stop having those dreams honey. You’re an arcanine now which means you’re an adult now."
I looked at the silhouette of what looked like a Typhlosion before remembering that it was Kaida. She was the most gentle and fragile Typhlosion I've ever met. Upon looking at her silhouette I felt the comforting warmth of the sun shining on my fur. As I continued to look at Kaida, her silhouette turned from black to her normal colors. Of course I didn't want to be rude so I responded to her question with a simple a "yes and an ok."
Feeling a little stiff I rose to my paws to stretch and making my bones sound off caused echoing in her cave. Before leaving her cave I told her I was "leaving, but I'll be back." Since Kaida knew I was leaving I left the cave knowing she would be alert of anyone to enter her cave. While walking through the berry bushes and small trees I had to make sure I was prepared for an ambush or an attack. While wandering through the mass wilderness of Poke Island I couldn't help but hear rustling and crunching of old leaves.
I really didn't think too much of the sound so I continued my little morning walk. For minutes I roamed around minding my own business. Though, when I came upon a gentle stream I didn't deny cool refreshing liquid. So I walked over to it and had a little drink. The taste was delicious though it could never replace the taste of Flame Valley water. Once my thirst was quenched I brought my dripping wet maw out of the water. When I looked across the stream I saw another arcanine, which was unusual.
This arcanine I stared at obviously was a female. I could tell by how long her fur was. Most female arcanines in Flame Valley had very curly fur that sometimes had designs in it. I was curious to whether she had a design or not, but it was obvious that I was too far away to see. As she finished she noticed me looking at her. I knew it was rude to stare but her fur glowed as the sun beamed upon it. It was an astonishing site, but it soon ended as she walked off.
The site of another arcanine made me wonder for a while. So instead of standing I sat down on the dew of the soft grass. I began pondering deeply on my previous life before I came here. I remembered being found and taken care of after my heroic action to save Kriz. But I did remember something else as well. I kept thinking deeply until my sixth sense kicked in. So instead of hearing my voice in my head I began seeing my younger self after I was rescued.
“Hurry, Hurry! He's badly injured! We have to get him some berries. Quickly!" one arcanine said.
"I'm on it," Kriz said as he ran off to the nearest bush with Oran berries.
Still unconscious I heard the voice of my crying mother ask, "Is he going to be ok? Please tell me he's going to be all right. Please!"
"Yeah, he'll make it don't worry once he eats the Oran berry that growlithe went to go get he'll just need to rest for a while."
"Here are the Oran berries you wanted. Sorry if they're wet. I didn't have another way of carrying them," Kriz says while letting Oran berries fall out of his maw.
Knowing I was too weak to eat the berries my mother chewed them for me so I wouldn't have to. With all the energy I had I got up, stumbled to the pill of Oran berry mush, and ate as much of it as I could before passing out. Seeing me fall Kriz rushed to where I was to keep me from hitting the ground. Right after thanking Kriz my mom picked me up with her maw gently and took me home.
As days went by I slept at home under the watchful eye of my mother. It was casual for my dad to check on me since he was always busy talking with the other fathers that lived there. Though one day my dad checked on me while my mom went to go get some supplies. Right in front of his eyes he saw me change. He thought I was gonna evolve, but I wasn't something else was happening; something that has never happened to a growlithe before.
As my mother returned she saw my glowing form and shouted, "Oh my god!" She dropped the basket she had and ran beside my father. They looked at each other, then at me, and a few seconds later the vibrant glow faded away slowly. My parents couldn't believe what had happened.
A few seconds after my change, I yawned and opened my eyes. I looked at my mom and dad to see them staring at me suspiciously. Of course my mother was relieved that I was alive, but my father didn't show any emotion whatsoever. Once again feeling my mom's soft nuzzle I heard her sniffle to say,
"Oh my baby! My baby! You’re finally awake! Oh thank the elders that you’re awake!"
She kept me in an embracing nuzzle for at least 15 minutes before letting me go. Even though I felt as if was slowly suffocating from lack of oxygen I still tried to enjoy her hug. Right after she left out the room to pick up the supplies she dropped, my dad grabbed with his maw and used agility to run right past my mom without her noticing. In seconds I was sitting in front of the elders’ house. I blinked without stopping for 5 minutes before being able to see clearly again. I looked around for my father, but I couldn't see him.
'He must have gone inside,' I thought to myself. Instead of just sitting there I got up and walked towards my friend Kriz. Knowing he would be happy to see me I ran over to him shouting,
"Hi Kriz!"
He looked towards me and said with his slightly turned, "Zyruss? Zyruss!"
We ran to each other, but we couldn't stop so we ended up bumping into each other. Laughing uncontrollably Kriz said,
"Zyruss it's good to see your back to normal. Well, almost normal anyway."
"Almost normal? What do you mean almost normal," I asked out of curiosity.
"Dude, have you seen yourself? You're blue and silver dude, not orange," Kriz said while controlling his laughter. I looked at Kriz for a couple of seconds wondering if he was joking or not. Unknowing that my father and elders were behind me I accidentally sneezed. The sneeze was so strong that I used the move Icy Wind and blew myself back. While lying on my back I looked at the elders along with my father.
Knowing not the real reason they were there didn't keep me from smiling at them. While showing them my still developing fangs I heard one of them say, "He can't stay here anymore. The prophecy foretold 'The silver growlithe of snow will bring many ice storms for the destruction of the Flame Valley.'"
Immediately my smile went away from hearing this. Before I knew it I was being carried away. I shook and squirmed though it was no use. The elder who had me had one heck of a grip on my neck with his maw. Knowing I couldn't get free I started screaming for my mom and dad. Knowing I wasn't going to get anywhere by calling my dad since he was the one who told, plus he did move one inch when I called him. Hearing my voice my mother came running towards me, but was stopped by the elders along with my father. As I was carried away I felt my tears drenching my muzzle.
I took one last look at my mother before I saw her fade away from my view. While being carried away I felt a burning sensation building within me. I felt my anger building more and more until I screamed making a giant flame emit from my maw. Thinking I made him weaker I started smiling, but was soon disappointed when I saw him still carrying me. Looking at the giant mountains that Flame Valley dwell in made my sadness increase even more than before.
Trying not to cry I felt a depressing sadness reveal itself inside me. Once again I turned a little to face the elder that was carrying me. This time instead of using a fire attack I used the Icy Wind attack again. The feeling of knives stabbing him filled his whole body. The agonizing pain caused him to let me go. I saw him fall to the ground slowly though I was pretty sure he was ok. Though for some reason I was seeing his figure get smaller and smaller.
Before I realized it I was already going into a painful tumble. Sticks, rocks, and trees were hard to avoid though I managed to prevent myself from taking serious damage for a while. Rolling uncontrollably down the slope I began hitting more trees and feeling my fur being scratched away from the sharpness of the stones in my way. For almost 20 minutes I rolled down the rest of the mountain.
Once I was on flat land I started to slow down a little though I didn't stop. Right before I stopped I hit the hardest tree in my life and blacked out. When I woke up I was in the arms of what looked like a typhlosion, but I was too weak to concentrate. Soon after I woke up I went back to sleep from my damaged body.
As I saw the pitch black darkness turn into vibrant light I knew I wasn't having a flashback anymore. Still sitting in front of the gently stream I decided to take a look in the water. Upon looking at my reflection I realized I would have walked away from me too. After taking a long sigh I got up and began gathering berries for Kaida. Once the basket I hid was revealed I used it to gather all of Kaida's favorite berries.
I filled the basket all the way to the brim before returning to her cave. Once I got back she thanked me and began crushing a few of the berries. She loved Kuo berries and so did I. It was time for me to leave on my own. I walked towards her and nuzzled her while saying,
"Kaida...I can't stay here anymore. I have to go out on my own now. You understand don't you?"
"Sweetie I knew this day would come. I've taken care of you ever since I saw you hit that tree years ago. I know I can't replace your mother, but that doesn't mean I can't act like one towards you. Just before you leave promise me you will come and visit every once and a while. Ok?" She said tearing up slightly.
"I will never forget you Kay. I promise when I have started my life and my own path I will visit you," I said while feeling her tears hit my muzzle. As she gave me one last hug she gave me two Kuo berries and waved as I made my leave. Resisting the smell of the berries was useless so I ate them and held up a paw as I walked away. I walked for a couple of hours in the opposite direction of Flame Valley.
Walking through the wilderness of Poke Island was dangerous though I didn't care. Feeling a little ache in my paws I decided to rest. I sat and leaned on a tree for a couple of minutes before hearing a scream. Using my sensitive hearing I located the origin of the scream. Using agility I arrived with smoke trailing right behind me.
Looking around I saw the same arcanine I saw before surrounded by a group of Donphan. Knowing she wouldn't stand a chance against that many I used Ice Beam and froze three of them at the same time. The female arcanine looked at me along with the other 5 Donphans. Giving them an evil grin I jumped to a branch and back to the ground quickly to get behind them. I used Ice Beam again freeze 2 more. Now that there were only 3 left I began getting closer.
One of the Donphan got really angry and began charging towards me. I only took one step back before using Agility. Reaching to my top speed I used Fire Spin and had a horrific collision with the Donphan. The impact between us sent us both flying. Of course I landed my paws on a tree and jumped to the ground, but he hit the earth and fainted. Having only two left I used Ice Beam again to freeze the last two, but I had to aim carefully since I didn't want to freeze her.
She looked at me with a face that meant she couldn't believe what she had just seen. I walked towards her to ask,
"Are you hurt?"
"No. I'm okay. Thank you very much," she said in an adorable voice.
Trying to control my breathing I said, "Well that's good to know. Oh yeah and by the way I'm Zyruss."
“My name's Shasha. I'm sorry I walked away from you earlier. I just don't like to be stared at," she explained.
"Oh, sorry about that; your illicit beauty along with the fact that I haven't seen a female in years caused me to stare," I said blushing red on my white fur.
Blushing a light pink under her light orange fur she said,” Thank you. Also if you don't mind, can I join you?"
"Sure! Come on!" I shouted cheerfully.
