Chapter 2

Ayana almost dropped the egg in her fright. She caught herself just in time and jumped a few steps to her sleeping bag, which she knelt down on as close to Andrew as she could get without a thought of her previously unexplained frustrations toward him. "Is it hatching?!" She burst out, staring at it in excitement and shock, however it made no further movement.

Andrew shook his head a little, his face thoughtful. "Eggs begin to move about a little when they’re close to hatching. A lot of the time you hear little sounds made from the pokemon inside when they’re hatching, or about to hatch."

"When do you think it’ll hatch?" Ayana glanced at him after a moment of disappointment, rubbing her hand across the coarse surface.

"No idea. Soon?"

"Yeah, I already know that." Andrew nodded, shining his torch on the egg.

"Interesting, aside from brown it looks kind of purply." He said, then his eyes brightened.

"What is it?" Ayana asked suspiciously. He went for his bag, unzipping a side pocket.

"My pokedex is one of the newest models, and it may be possible for it to determine the species of pokemon contained in the egg from the elemental aura given off from it." He said, seeming to know exactly what he was talking about.

"…Eh?" She blinked, but he said no more as he withdrew a shiny red flip-dex, much the same size and shape as a flip-phone. He pointed it to the egg and pressed a button. The pokedex spoke in a woman’s monotone voice, Ayana listening intently.

"Element of egg: ground/normal. Pokemon species matching elemental combination: Ramtor. Approximate amount of time before egg is hatched: 48 hours."

"What’s a Ramtor?" Ayana asked immediately even as Andrew typed something into the pokedex. A moment later the flip-dex began to speak again.

"Ramtor are a very playful pokemon who are loyal to their owner and strong and sturdy in battle. They have the ability to speak telepathically with those that they are close to, but possess no further psychic powers. When they reach adulthood the fine fur on the plate of bone on their head will shed to reveal a thin, sharp edge that can be deadly in battle."

"It got a picture in there?" Ayana demanded, snatching the pokedex from Andrew before he had time to answer. He began to protest but stopped himself as she looked at the small picture closely. Ramtor was a pokemon unlike any she had ever seen before. It looked relatively large and well-built, kind of dog-like, a royal purple colour with a rich brown underbelly and a large brown plate of bone protruding from the top of its head. The ears were large with two points, reminding her of a Nidoran or one of its relatives. It looked very lithe and powerful, and she didn’t doubt it could get up to high speeds. She grinned. "So this is what’s coming out of this thing?" She asked, holding the egg close to her.

"Apparently." Andrew replied, taking his flip-dex back. Ayana sighed and huddled a little, before remembering whose jumper she was wearing.

"You want this back or something?" She blurted out, pulling at the sleeves.

"No, no, not at all, at least until you get one for yourself. It’s cold, you can keep it on." He said quickly. She nodded, offered a smile and stood.

"I’m going for a walk. Don’t follow me." She said flatly, turned and walked off. She didn’t bother looking back.

It was beginning to get light now, a pale blue hue cast across the clear sky. She hugged the egg, subconsciously seeking to keep it warm. We wasn’t sure however if it needed to be kept warm – some species of pokemon egg didn’t need to be warm, some even needed to be cold in order to hatch! But Ramtor looked like a warm creature, so she hugged it.

Mist was swirling around close to the ground. Her legs were beginning to get sore already, and her ankle was starting to throb. She didn’t know why it still hurt, when she had twisted it over 24 hours ago. But she thought nothing of it, choosing to settle down against a tree, the rough bark cold and damp even through her shirt and jumper, and pulled out the phone. She dialed a number and listened for the voice on the other end. $18.85 remaining. She would have to buy more credit soon.

She sighed and stuffed the mobile back in her pocket, returning to hugging her egg. She remembered the massive pokemon, charred black, and the roars earlier on. Had it been this Ramtor’s mother, protecting her eggs against an invader? It was the only explanation that popped into her head. She pressed her cold face to the shell. "You poor thing, if it’s true then you are indeed an orphan." She whispered, and thought about the pokedex description of Ramtor. The fact that they could speak telepathically to those they were close to allured her deeply. She wondered whether or not the creature inside the egg could hear her, much less understand what she was saying to it. But she spoke to it anyway. "I suppose then you could talk to your mother, you think?" She murmured. "Or are you even advanced enough to be speaking telepathically yet?" She wondered aloud. She sat and thought to herself for a few moments, then laughed out loud. "I’m talking to an egg. Things must be bad." She muttered bitterly, instantly feeling miserable. "I’m so screwed. I’m hanging with a guy I don’t even know who seems to look straight through my lies, I can’t go get a beginner Pokemon from Dewtown because I’ve already told him that you’re going to be my first, and I have no idea where I’m going of what I’m gonna do." She paused for thought, then continued. "But how about I become your trainer, huh? How would you like that? And I can train you even though I’m not sure how and then I’ll work out what we’re gonna do next. How about that?" The egg didn’t respond. Ayana slapped her forehead. As if it would, it was a bloody egg!

She stood up and sighed again, feeling so down her feet dragged along the ground as she walked. The mist and fog reached up for her in tendrils. The burnt, leafless trees looked almost beautiful in the grey and white and blue. She caught a glimpse of movement in the corner of her eye and she turned to it. She saw nothing, but then an image flicked into being in her mind. A tall grey figure, making it’s way toward her, a flame burning at it’s chest…

She recoiled from the memory. It had taken place yesterday before she had passed out… but what was it? She turned, eyes darting about as if the thing would suddenly reappear in front of her. She wasn’t disappointed when it didn’t – she hadn’t expected it to.

She wondered whether she should go back to the campsite now. She started to head off, but then she realised that once again, she had no idea where she was. How far had she wondered? Every way she turned, there were just tall, charred trees, fallen logs, soil and stones littered with a thin layer of ash, most of it having been blown away or all over the place, and the fog that shrouded any hope of long-distance vision. Normally she would have felt panic, but for some reason she didn’t. She fought the urge to just walk off in any random direction. That would be foolish, she could be walking further from where Andrew was. So instead she just stood there for a delayed moment before throwing her head into the air and screamed at the top of her lungs, "ANDREW!" She dropped her face from its position of facing the sky overhead, pausing for a moment before she heard a very faint call from somewhere far off. She didn’t quite catch what was said though. "WHAT?" She yelled, and she heard his answer again, but she wasn’t quite sure where it was coming from. She wasn’t sure what to do, so she just repeated herself. Suddenly a howl erupted from somewhere about as far away as he was, then she jumped as she heard an answering howl, from much closer. Her heart began to pound. What did this mean?

She whirled in circles on the spot, sensing danger, but not knowing what is was or where to expect it. Then something caught her eye. A burst of flame, shot up into the sky, just above the treeline. Was it the creature that had been howling before, or Andrew’s Burnnie, Jo? She stood completely still, not daring to even breathe. Then suddenly there was a low growl from behind that made her gasp with surprise as she spun around. There it was, before her. A poochyena. Her heart ceased it’s pounding by a little, but her body didn’t relax. There had been two howls, that meant there were more. The small grey pokemon glared at her through crimson red eyes, it’s leg muscles tense as if ready to leap forward and take her down. She had no doubt that’s exactly what it intended, yet it hesitated.

Then she discovered why. Forming a semi-circle before her, five more poochyena emerged from the mist like ghostly specters, red eyes glimmering with some unspoken desire. The first explanation that popped into her head was that of blood lust. Her mouth went dry. Then they shot forward to attack.

She took a short breath and automatically slammed her foot out at the nearest as it went for her, shock engulfing her the moment it was done as it took a blow in the jaw with a cry. She couldn’t remember a time when she had even willfully harmed a pokemon. But then again it was in self-defense, she reasoned with herself. It was good enough. She lashed out at another less than a second later, but it opened it’s maw, displaying a dangerous array of teeth and clamped down on her shoe. She screamed as sharp points stabbed into her upper foot through the shoe, the pair of much larger canines gratefully missing. A different poochyena snapped at her leg, another used a companion as a boost, propelling it into the air, jaws aiming for her throat. She leaned forward to evade it, claws instead raking her back but not getting to her skin through the thick hoodie jumper. Four of them went for her at once, and she twisted and tried to flick the poochyena off her foot, but it hung on tightly, stubbornly, much too heavy for her to slam it into a tree. As an array of teeth and claws and furry bodies assaulted her bare, vulnerable legs, her free arm reached out for support amidst all her screams of pain and fear, her right hand resting on a branch of a tree. All her weight instantly falling upon it, it broke after already being weakened from the fire, and she almost fell over with the unexpected shock. The dark dog pokemon barked and growled, some threateningly and some in triumph, two snapping up to try and pull her down. One seized the sleeve of the jumper, promptly tearing it; another latched onto a lock of thick, frizzy hair. She screeched as it was ripped out, the culprit falling to the ground again to shake it furiously like a small animal.

Rage and adrenaline shot through her body, and she raised the branch to bring it down upon the pokemon ripping at her shoe. It cried out when the previously useless stick, now a bat-like weapon came crashing down on it’s head. It released the tattered shoe and retreated for a moment before coming back in force, but a little more timid than before.

Ayana lost it. She began to beat down on the dogs madly through a haze of pain, rage and tears with all the strength she had left, but the agony from countless bites and scratches covering her legs weighing her down so powerfully that her efforts were near futile. Her only protection was ripped from her fingers resolutely and she was left defenseless. Spots flickered in and out of her vision and she was knocked to the ground, a poochyena lunging for her throat. As she fell backwards the egg rolled from the tips of her fingers and the blue sky above her darkened and whirled, previously non-existent stars spinning fast as if caught in a blender. She was floating, then almost instantly was dumped to the soft rich soil. She felt it under her fingers for a split second, and everything went black, but for only a moment. Then there was a brilliant explosion of violet, and in her mind’s eye she saw a flaming ball of red shooting out from the mist.

She tore her eyes open, broken from her reverie. The spinning ball of red catapulted through the air just above her face, followed by a surprised bark. There was a flurry of grey fur and pain shot up her arm, then the ravaging teeth were knocked away. She lay there, gasping in short breaths of air, it seeming almost unreal that she was actually breathing. A few seconds of recollection later she turned her face to stare at the scene sideways. One poochyena stood to the side nearer to the trees, licking an injury. The rest were getting their own back. Only one was growling savagely now, the rest whimpering at the beating they were receiving from the enraged Burnnie, her eyes flaming with the vivid excitement of battle. It was almost as if there was more than one of her. She was doing multiple attacks at once, biting, clawing, kicking, blowing embers from her mouth and the flames burning from her back billowing up every moment like a blowtorch amidst her furious grunts and snarls. Ayana found it hard to believe such a small, adorable little creature could do so much damage, but sure enough moments later the poochyena backed away, leaping back toward the trees. Jo seemed to bounce backwards to land at Andrew’s feet, flames still literally dripping from her long, bloody ratatta teeth.

The mist had been blown away in the flames and the weak sunlight that filtered down from the trees, but that didn’t stop Ayana from realising that it was indeed Andrew and Jo that had made up the ghostly specter the day before. She felt a little concord at being aware now of the previously unknown, but it was quickly dashed as Andrew barked out an order. "Jo, now! Flamethrower!" He bellowed, and even as the poochyena turned to flee Jo didn’t hesitate in throwing out a raging inferno from her throat that shot through the air quicker than Ayana could think, engulfing the small pack of dark pokemon. The heat and the cries and the smell of burning made something inside her cringe, but she reminded herself of what they had done with the fresh wave of throbbing pain burning up her legs.

Gradually Jo allowed her onslaught to cease. One poochyena stumbled off, teeth gritted in pain. Jo started to pursue it, but Andrew stopped her with a word. The remaining five lay on the ground, unconscious or too weak to move.

"Stay, Jo." Andrew commanded, his face serious, calm but confident. Ayana’s eyes widened as he produced five pokeballs from out of nowhere. "Pokeball, go!" He said triumphantly, and threw a pokeball at the nearest poochyena. It was sucked into the red and white sphere without protest and a flash of white light, and the small ball didn’t even rock or shake before it sounded with a resolutely ping that indicated that the pokemon was caught. Ayana watched, entranced. It was the first time she had personally witnessed the capture of a pokemon, and it seemed almost unreal to see a creature just disappear into a pokeball like that.

As she watched, Andrew captured the other four pokemon. Only one managed to break out once, it’s chest heaving with the effort, but Andrew caught it with another ball anyway.

Jo came right up to her face and sniffed her gingerly, all the vigor and adrenaline seeming to have drained from her. Ayana turned her face away, closing her eyes to blink away the tears. Jo made a little grunt and Ayana allowed her eyes to flick open again.

"Can you walk?" Andrew’s voice reverberated in her ears after the moment’s calm silence. It took her a few seconds to comprehend what he had said, but she spoke before she reached that point.

"Where is it?" She mumbled, barely sure of what she was even saying. Her voice was harsh with the dryness in her mouth and throat, sending her into a fit of coughing.

"Right here, I have it." Andrew said, and she spied him holding the egg out of the corner of her eye. She weakly attempted to lift a hand, but all her energy was gone.

"Give it to me." She murmured. He ignored her statement and answered it with a question.

"Can you walk?" He asked.

"No, I’m dying." She spat indifferently. Andrew was taken aback, but he quickly recovered.

"Don’t be like that, you’re not dying and you’re not going to die anytime soon. Here." He put the egg down carefully, took both her forearms in his and lifted her to her feet. New waves of agony spread all over her legs and she cried out smally as she stood, but she bit her lip defiantly even as her knees buckled and Andrew caught her to keep her up. She looked down and her head swam. They were absolutely ravaged. The skin was torn in so many places she couldn’t count, blood running down her legs in long streams, smudged in many places. She felt sick, but strangely detached from it all. She tried to force herself to ignore the pain as it came back in full but she just couldn’t. It just hurt so much.

"Come on, you alright?" Andrew asked, unsure as he slowly, slightly tried to get her own her own feet again.

"I can – I can’t…" She stumbled, tears choking her and streaming down her face. He lowered her to the ground again so she could lie down, and after a moment placed the egg in the crook of her arm. Her other hand covered her face and she struggled to contain her sobs.

"…I’m sorry. I’ll be back in a minute, wait here. Jo, stay with her." Ayana felt him still standing there a moment longer, and replayed his voice again in her head. He had sounded like he was warring with himself over whether to be embarrassed or all calm and heroic and stuff. Why did guys never know what to do when someone cried? It confused her. Then he was gone.

She just lay there, trying to cope with the terrible throbbing, when she felt Jo nudge her gently. She flinched and removed the hand from where it had rested over her eyes. She turned her head to look at the small red pokemon. "Ni." Jo simply stated. Ayana stared into the pokemon’s black eyes. She wasn’t sure what to say and think until the words just dribbled from her mouth.

"You really kicked arse out there." She said, not bothering to put in any expression in her voice. Jo seemed to understand, and a look came across her face that surprised Ayana. It was a look of pride.

Less than a minute later Andrew returned with both their things and, after a few moments of rummaging through his bag, pulled out a bottle of water and a first aid kit, out of which came cotton wool, bandages and a bottle of disinfectant. He looked at her a little nervously and she immediately knew it was going to be a long day.