The Twisted Child of Johto (PG-15)

[AbsolXWolf]

Hello, this is my first attempt at writing Pokemon Fanfiction! (And it's most likely a failed attempt as well)

EDIT: Uploading chapters when you least expect them

This is the story of Kris, but not necessarily the same Crystal version Kris as you know her. No, this Kris is much different, and she has a bit of a dark past trying to catch up with her (which is why I'm rating this PG-15). I think I might have rated it a little too high, but better safe than sorry, right?

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Note: Italics are Kris's thoughts
Italics in the context of a dialogue simply means the speaker put emphasis on it

Prologue Chapter: Don't Ever Look into a Ghost Trainer's Eyes...It Has The Potential to Hurt



Watching…That pretty much summed up the past three minutes. The numerous ghost Pokémon that lined the abandoned building swarmed around as four figures stood there with eyes locked on each other; one human and three Pokémon seemingly trapped in a stare-down. Kris didn't particularly make a habit of hanging around burned out towers, but at least she had something pretty to look at. With their vibrant appearances the three Pokémon before her were quite a sight to behold: one had blue fur and some sort of crystal shaped head decoration, one had brown fur with a mane the treaded the ground, and one had yellow with a tail that held the shape of a lightning bolt. But one can only watch a Pokémon for so long before getting dreadfully bored, regardless of how beautiful they happened to be, so she tried to call out to them again.

“Is there a reason why I’m here?” She articulated each word slowly so that she could be sure they’d understand. The ghostly figures seemed to be creeping closer to her as though her very presence sparked some interest among them. But the dazzling Pokémon were indifferent, and they seemed to regard her with no more concern outside their un-breaking gazes. Now she was getting angry. “Well if you ca-"

“What’s going on here?” A human voice interrupted.

She turned to see a strange man dressed in an equally strange fashion rush into the room; he abruptly stopped to gawk in what appeared to be wonderment when he took note of the vibrant Pokémon. Really now…a purple suit, a white cape, and a bowtie? Can your clothes be any louder sir? Kris was just about to repeat the snide remark aloud when one of the three Pokémon Ice Beamed a well-sized hole not three feet above her head. After the initial almost-was-frozen-to-death shock was over, Kris whipped her head up just in time to see the three gracefully leaping through the newly made exit.

The sensation of miniscule shards of ice showering over her head, coupled with the blissful sight of the three Pokémon retreating into the sky like some sort of fairy-tale was, for the lack of a better word, breathtaking. The fact that it was such an entrancing near death experience overwhelmed her to the point where she felt compelled to gape at the recently constructed hole without regards to anything else. But of course, the stirring emotion didn’t last for very long, and Kris was a little disheartened to find herself in a room not with ghost Pokémon, not with beautiful colored Pokémon, but with a crazy man in an even crazier get-up shaking her by the shoulders. Violently.

“Well…I learned something new today!” She triumphantly declared. The man ceased his actions to give her a questioning look. Glancing around at where the ghost Pokémon had once floated, before turning to the tuxedo man and pointing to him she remarked “Bring along an annoying enough person and you can scare off even ghosts! You work even better than repel, mister!”

The man paused a moment to absorb her words before going back to throwing inquiries at her, this time with an air of impatience imbedded in them.

“Those three Pokémon…Entei, Raikou, Suicune…tell me how you came to meet them! Tell me what they did! Tell me everything you saw at once! Everything.”

“Right, you mean the three Pokémon that called me out to the middle of an abandoned tower just so they could challenge me-“

“They challenged you?” The man interrupted with a tone of disbelief.

“Yeah…to a staring contest,” Kris smirked, “But don’t worry; I’m pretty sure I won. And that’s when you, your purple suit, and all your mystical powers of repelingness showed up.”

“That can’t possibly be all of it! What’s your name?”

“Sorry, but my mother told me to never give my name to anyone who looks like they recently lost at a costume contest,” She spat out with a sarcastic grin. Because, she thought on, it will most likely end in you getting dragged into the back of a nondescript ice cream truck and driven away to the black market.

“I didn’t come from a costume contest, for your information,” He was a little furious now, “This happens to be a very expensive tailor made suit!”

“Oh, I’m sure it is. All the ugly ones are.”

“I did not just hear you call my suit ugly, child.”

“I did not just hear you call me child, mister! You can’t be much older than I am.”

“I happen to be turning 19 this year.”

“And I happen to be eleven. That’s only an eight years difference.”

“That’s almost a decade of difference!” The man was practically fuming now, “Now will you please stop your word games, child?”

“Why? Because you can’t keep up, old man?”

That pretty much set him off, and he went back to shaking her by the shoulders saying “Tell me what I want to know!”

“Eusine, stop!” Another human voice. How many people want to hang out in a burned out tower? Kris thought rather glumly.

“Stay out of this, Morty. I want a chance to question her first,”

Morty? The Gym Leader? Kris got a quick sidelong look at the newcomer; a man with blonde semi-longish hair wearing an outfit of sky blue and yellow with a matching sky blue headband. Well this is unexpected.

“It looks more to me like you’re threatening her,” Morty said as he came closer to them.

I certainly feel threatened, Kris thought as she frowned at the man still holding her by the shoulders. She discreetly tapped the sole of her left foot three times and smiled when her haunter came crawling out of her shadow. Before tuxedo man had time to react, Haunter had already torn the man’s hands away from Kris and proceeded to shake the him much in the way the man had shaken her.

“M-m-o-r-t-y, a l-it-t-l-e h-e-l-p?” He managed to stutter as Haunter treated him like a chef would a salt shaker.

“But you told me to stay out of this,” The blonde replied with a small smile, but after waiting a few more seconds he turned to Haunter and said “I think that’s enough.”

Haunter paused to laugh at him before continuing on, which certainly seemed to confuse Morty. Ah…you know it’s a good day when you can boast about your Pokémon confusing a gym leader.

“I think that’s enough,” Kris purposely quoted the blonde word for word with a little grin. The blonde himself turned to look at her as Haunter promptly obeyed and flew to her side, hovering centimeters from her head.

“Oh is that your Pokémon? I apologize, I thought it was wild,” Morty said, and with his small smile returning he added “My name is Morty. I’m the leader of the Ecruteak Gym.”

“I pretty much figured that already. My name is Kris Clef and-”

“And I am Eusine, researcher and expert in the field of legendary Pokémon,” The tuxedo man said with a self-confident smirk.

“How nice for you,” Kris said, making a face at him, knowing full well that her Haunter was making a face along with her.

“Childishness,” Eusine sniffed.

“I call it ‘Having fun’. Ever heard of the phrase ‘Lighten up’, Eugene?”

“The name’s Eusine.”

Morty coughed to interrupt “I hope you’ll forgive the overzealous actions of my friend here. He usually doesn’t attack people.”

“I wasn’t attacking anyone! I was questioning her, and with good reason! Morty, this child-“

“Stop calling me a child!”

Eusine gave her a pausing glance before continuing “This young lady,” Eusine stressed the two defining words with obvious mockery, “saw the three legendary beasts of Ecruteak!”

“Really?” Morty seemed to look at her in a different way, and despite the fact that his semi-relaxed eyes relayed a sort of kindness it was almost painful to look into them. At the same time, looking away was out of the question. Luckily, the piercing glance lasted only for a few seconds, and his eyes went back to their usual droopy serenity. What was up with that just now?

“Sure, I guess…” She suddenly felt uncomfortable, “Er…I’ve wanted to meet you for a while now, Morty.”

“Oh?” Morty’s friendly expression remained, but his eyebrows went up in an arch. He didn’t seem to mind the sudden change of topic. He seems to be a go with the flow kind of guy,Kris made a mental note. Eusine, on the other hand, seemed prepared to interject, so Kris spoke fast to prevent him from interrupting.

“I’ve heard you can understand the Pokémon language…” She began.

“Not completely, and it’s mostly limited to ghost types.” Morty replied.

“Still! It’s amazing to me because I used to think I was the only one who could do it.”

“You can understand Pokémon as well? Which types?”

“Would you believe me when I say all of them?”

[AbsolXWolf]

Before you start yelling me about the fact that she has 4 Pokémon, two of which are at their second evolution and one of which is from Hoenn, I just want you to know that there’s a reason for this. If anything, it should be a hint that Kris did not catch these Pokémon herself. No, they will not be boring and overpowered. They will have characteristics that will give you further hints as to how Kris met up with them, though.

Oh, and about the weird quote in bold: that was the first line of text to show up in my Soulsilver version (which I'm deriving ideas from) so I kind of stuck it in the story.
EDIT: Apparantly a synonym of "laugh", namely the word "sn.iggered" is not showing up so I edited it out.
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Note: Italics are Kris's thoughts
<Italics> are Pokemon speaking (Thank you for the suggestion, lovetheangelshadow)
Italics in the context of a dialogue simply means the speaker put emphasis on it

Chapter 1: I need to get an alarm clock

Hm. Looks like the sun is descending in the sky….So this would be what is called “twilight,” wouldn’t it?

Ah, sleep. Everybody needs it, everybody loves it, and everybody somehow finds themselves lacking it. One could, if they wanted, sleep all day and all night and never tire of it. Literally. Alarm clocks, on the other hand, are notorious evil little things that steal said blissful sleep away from you. Their only purpose is to wake you up so that you can turn them off and go back to dreamland. Nobody likes returning to the magical world of reality by way of an alarm buzzing in their ear unless they happen to have a shotgun handy. Which is why Kris Clef doesn’t keep an alarm clock in her room; she wakes up to a 43 pound Nidorino falling right on her stomach.

“OW!” Kris bolted upright just to glare at the purple Pokémon. “If only I had a shotgun.”

She frowned as soon as she said that. What was the shotgun for again? Was it something about my dream? A red sky, a disappearing sun, the sudden roar of car engines twisting in an attempt to catch her; it was a recurring nightmare of hers that kept her from getting frequent nights of rest. It always took place at twilight, it always had the creepy car chasings, and it never ended well. She thought she would have gotten over them in time, but they only seemed to appear more and more often. Stupid dream. Stupid shotgun. Stupid…ugh…head rush. Rubbing her head, she went back giving Nidorino the human equivalent of Leer.

“Nidorino,” she remarked in a stern voice.

<Trust me, this wasn’t my idea.> came Nidorino’s muffled reply, as he tried to get the sleep from his eyes with his tiny arms.

<It was all me.> The cackling voice came from behind her, while purple hands fashioned from wisps of smoke came into her peripheral vision.

“Haunter…tell me why I’m not surprised?” She gestured for Nidorino to move, and when he complied she snuggled back down into the covers yawning “Just five more minutes…”

<No.> Haunter said, and began poking her relentlessly, making her groan in annoyance.

<You may as well get up. It is all ready half past nine and we want to get moving.> came a third Pokémon voice, one that had a more feminine tone to it. She knew it was Absol without even opening her eyes to look.

<I would like to go soon too, please.> Nidorino pined, and he began to poke her alongside Haunter but with more noticeable gentleness.

“Fine,” she sat up and waved the pokers away, gazing across her room with eyes half open. When she noticed her charmander still sleeping peacefully curled up on the floor, she huffed and went over to flick him on his forehead. “If my butt has to get up yours needs to too.”

When he wouldn’t budge she turned to look at each of her other three Pokémon.

<We could not wake him either.> Absol stated as she rubbed her furry head against Kris’ leg.

<Should I Poison Sting him, ma’am?> Nidorino suggested. Kris liked how he always referred to her and Absol as “ma’am” like it was some kind of title.

“I don’t want to poison him…”

She stood awhile in thought before a grin overcame her face.

“HOLY ARCEUS!” She yelled as loud as she could “CHARMANDER, YOUR TAIL’S ON FIRE!”

<WHAAAA???> Was the first thing to come out of the newly awoken charmander’s mouth, followed closely by him running about screaming <I’M ON FIRE! I’M ON FIRE! MY TAIL’S ON FIRE! MY TAIL’S ON…
…wait…>

Charmander stopped running and turned to look at his own tail as though he were confirming whether or not it was still there. His reaction warranted a good amount of laughter from both Haunter and Kris. Even Absol, who was usually silent and reserved, had a small chuckle. Nidorino, on the other hand, seemed furious.

<That STILL works on you? Unbelievable! How pathetic that you forget a vital part of your own body.> The purple Pokémon accused, getting right into Charmander’s face. But Charmander was at a loss for words, mumbling in reply with a meek expression.

<Leave him be.> Absol spoke up in his defense. Funny how Nidorino could be angry one second and completely polite the next just because a female spoke to him.

<Yes, ma’am.> he said. Nidorino never disobeyed an order from Kris or Absol without a good reason.

<Kriiiiis…> Charmander whined, looking up at his still laughing trainer with teary eyes. <Kris, that wasn’t very niiiice.>

Kris controlled her chuckling long enough to pat him on the head and say, “It’s ok, Charmander. The important thing is that you’re still on fire.”

This earned another round of laughter from Haunter, who made no attempt to control himself as he floated haphazardly through the air.

<Do stop that please.> Absol commanded him.

Ha, there’s a better chance of it snowing in the desert than there is for Haunter to listen to Absol, Kris thought, going over to her dresser to change while her Pokémon started up a fight with each other…again. Changing clothes in front of her friends wasn’t too drastic of a thing for her to do. Nidorino once pointed out that the wearing of clothes was a human thing; Pokémon could care less about human nudity or even nudity in general. After all, most Pokémon ran around without any clothes on anyways.

Slapping on a pair of yellow shorts with a black strip along the sides, a red sleeveless turtle neck, a pair of red, black, and white tennis shoes, and a yellow cap over head she turned to look at her friends...two of whom were having a battle.

“Hold it!” She yelled while yanking her teal hair into pigtails.

<He started it.> Haunter pointed to Nidorino with a smokey hand.

<He deserved it.> Nidorino pointed to Haunter with a stubby arm.

“I don’t really care who did what. You know how much I hate it when you two hold battles with each other. With the exception of training, of course.”

<We were training.>

“I did not just hear you lie through your teeth, Nidorino.” She gave him a look before smiling and spinning around to show off her outfit. “How do I look?”

<Like you’re about to fall on your rear.> Haunter cackled.

“What?” Before she even had time to react, a purplish wisp of a hand came creeping up from the floor and knocked her to the ground.

<Told ya.> He chuckled.

<Hey! Don’t do that to Kris!> Nidorino huffed, overreacting as always to anyone who dared to insult one of the females of the group.

“Nidorino, it’s ok. Haunter, that was very amusing thank you. Nidorino, you can get him back for me later, preferably when I’m not around to see it,” It was easier to distract the two of them than it was to simply tell them to stop, so she added “I’m heading downstairs to breakfast right now; anyone who doesn’t want to come along on an epic adventure is more than welcome to die of boredom here.”

The mention of “breakfast” was all it took to draw their attention, and they began to make their way down to the kitchen along with Absol. Charmander patiently waited for Kris as she surveyed her room one more time. All the books she had, the game system, her stuffed dolls, the electric piano in the corner; she wasn’t going to see them for a while, so she wanted to take in the moment. After she slipped into her jacket and slung her bag full of supplies on her shoulders, she turned and walked down the steps with Charmander at her heels.

It smells like mom’s been cooking, Kris thought as she watched Charmander go off to join the other three Pokémon, who were eating a big bowl of Pokémon food. Sure enough, her mom handed her a plate full of breakfast and pulled up a chair for her to sit as soon as Kris walked into the room. It was amazing how Viola Clef managed to do everything from performing a fierce violin concerto to cooking without getting a single strand of black hair out of place. And she always had impeccable timing; her internal metronome seemed to know exactly when Kris was going to leave the house, even when Kris’ Pokémon friends weren’t around to give her a clue.

“Your Pokégear came back from the shop today,” her mom said in that unique singsong voice of hers, handing over the little machine.

“Thanks mom,” Kris replied, stuffing the toast and bagel into her mouth as fast as she could. Kris took the mechanism’s strap and put on the Pokégear like a necklace, signaling to her friends and heading towards the door. She turned around just as she reached it.

“Don’t worry, mom, I’ll send you a little of my winnings after every match,”

“Oh don’t bother about that, dear. I can manage quite well on my own. And Professor Elm seems to be in the habit of slipping me money in my mail when I least expect it. He keeps insisting that it’s for my birthday, and I keep having to remind the poor man that that was his excuse when he sent me money the week before.”

“But mom…” Her mom put a gentle hand on Kris’ shoulder.

“Kristal, I’ll be fine.” It was that smile. The moment her mom smiled, Kris knew she lost the argument. Viola’s smile was like a blanket of kindness, covering you up with warmth, safety, and happiness. Coupled with the way her mom played the violin, and Kris could swear she was dreaming of beauty in its most blissful, peaceful state. Kris would do all sorts of things everyday just to see that smile, which wasn’t very hard to do since Viola enjoyed a simple life. Her mom’s smile had the same effect on Kris’ Pokémon, and that was part of the reason why Haunter never played any tricks on her.

“All right,” Kris conceded as she pulled her mom into a tight hug, “but please take care of yourself.”

“I should be the one to say that to you,” Viola pulled back to look at Kris with an anxious demeanor “Traveling as a trainer can be dangerous, and it might be especially hard for you. I’ve heard there’s been some Team Rocket activity in Olivine, so try to be careful. And don’t forget to call me if you need anything or just want to talk to someone. You can call at anytime.”

“As for you four,” Viola said to Kris’ Pokémon “Try to get along and take care of each other, all right now?”

While Absol, Charmander, and Nidorino all agreed to do so, Haunter scoffed and said <Can’t promise that.>

When Kris moved to glare at him, he winked at her and vanished.

<Well at least I’m honest, unlike a certain Nidorino.> an eerie voice whispered in Kris’ ear.

“They said they will,” Kris relayed to her mom.

“Good.”

Kris opened the door, hesitating a while before walking out into the open. Taking in sight of ledyba flying through the air with serene grace, the chinchou bobbing up and down in the nearby ocean waves, the neighborhood streaker making his daily run; Kris could tell this was the perfect day to go on a journey. A few of her Pokémon ran ahead of her out into the grass, and Charmander, who loved the outdoors, started to roll around with glee.

“Kristal.”

When Kris turned to look at her mom, it was almost like looking into a sea of anxiety. Kris knew that her mom did not want her to leave the safety of New Bark town, because they’ve had this discussion before. But Kris had made up her mind, and her mom wasn’t the kind of person to get in the way of someone’s goal.

“Come back to me safely. Please.” Viola said in a half whisper, her eyes pleading and desperate.

“…I will,” Kris promised, biting her lip a bit as she turned out and closed the door behind her.

<It’s going to be a long trip, but we’ll see her again.> Haunter’s voice reassured her as Kris locked the front door.

The sight that met Kris’ eyes when she went to find her Pokémon was a panicked one: Flashes of orange and yellow spreading across the plains. Nidorino and Absol were attempting to stamp out the fire Charmander’s tail started when he was frolicking in the grass.

“Correction,” Kris remarked with an exasperated groan, “It’s going to be a very long trip.”

[lovetheangelshadow]

May I make a suggestion about your itallic use?

[AbsolXWolf]

May I make a suggestion about your itallic use?

By all means. I do seem to like italics, don't I? lol

[lovetheangelshadow]

Something a pal introduced to me...when someone is speaking in a different language use bracers such as <> or {} or [] You can still use the italics for Pokemon speech but the ones I have showed are visabily easier to see especially considering your "holy wall of text batman!" I'd show you an example myself but I haven't written chapter two of my story yet. Just offering a suggestion.

[AbsolXWolf]

Something a pal introduced to me...when someone is speaking in a different language use bracers such as <> or {} or [] You can still use the italics for Pokemon speech but the ones I have showed are visabily easier to see especially considering your "holy wall of text batman!" I'd show you an example myself but I haven't written chapter two of my story yet. Just offering a suggestion.

Ah! That's a great idea! I think I'll change it now. "Holy wall of text batman"? LOL I've never heard that before. XD Oh, you have a story too? I think I'll check it out. And I really appreciate the suggestion. Thank you! ^ ^