Chapter 6: Battle to Power
By Saya

We were still driving, still moving, unstopping, down the Sandar-Rustboro Highway towards Rustboro City, one of the three largest cities in all Hoenn. The two other large cities were Lilycove City (a costal city) and Slateport City (a large shipping port). I had never been out of Sandar in my entire life excepting last summer when Mom and I traveled to far away Pallet Town, Kanto for my grandmother's funeral. Pallet town is quite a small town, far smaller than Sandar. I had never been to a larger city than Sandar either so I was excited as well as a little nervous about being on my own in such a large city.

I would have to sleep out in the streets if I couldn't find any place to stay. I had never done that before. The city streets, I had learned all my life, were dangerous, just like in Sandar, with thugs, thieves and gangs roaming at free will. If I became really desperate, the Pokemon Center offered free lodging for anyone who cared to stay (but that was only if I was really, really, really desperate).

"Talia?" Darren's light voice broke through my thoughts. Damn him. I grunted. I did not want them asking questions. "May I ask you a question?" Damn, no. I shrugged, hiding my inside thoughts.

"Is that a yes or a no?" I grunted again. Let him figure it out for himself. "I'll take that as a yes." I shrugged again. "What were you doing on the side of the highway so far from Rustboro? Why would you leave you're home? Rustboro's a good city."

"I was traveling," I answered, eyes glued to the window. It wasn't exactly a lie. More of a half-truth.

"Why?" Why, why, why. What did it matter?

"I felt like it." Why couldn't I think of good answers! My mouth kept saying the first thing that came to my mind no matter the consequences! Stupid mouth.

"Rustboro's a good place." Darren repeated. He was stuck on that.

"Uh...I was..." I began, only to be interrupted, surprisingly, by Drake's cold voice.

"She doesn't live in Rustboro."

I whipped my head quickly around, forehead thumping painfully against the unbelievably hard glass of the car window as I did. I glared icily at Drake, who was sitting as calm as could be, staring neutrally out the window, only his blazing eyes betraying any kind of emotion at all.

"I do live in Rustboro!" I hissed fiercely to him as a silent stab of fear drifted into my heart. I had forgotten that Drake knew where I lived. I had to make something believable up fast.

"No," He replied calmly, "You live in Sandar."

"Not anymore!" I shot back, beginning to feel the hot rage bubbling up inside me.

"You know as well as I do that your mom hates to move. She told me once." Drake wore a smug expression on his face now, sending darts of rage coursing through my body so I had to struggle very hard not to pop. I glared daggers at his dark form. He wasn't even looking at me!

Darren and Julia exchanged worried glances. "You two know each other?" Julia asked uncertainly.

"Yes." Drake and I answered in perfect unison, quickly turning to glare at each other as we did. Drake's black, black eyes glared murder and hate, seeming to bore right into me.

"Drake? Why do you say Talia lives in Sandar?" Darren asked seriously.

I glanced out the window, dreading the answer Drake would give them. I needed a good explanation, fast. I glanced at the sky and grimaced. The purple-black cloud was flying closer and closer towards us with every passing second. Small flashes of lightning bolts could be spotted, hurtling down from the heavens, striking and destroying anything in their deadly path. Amidst all this a steady, heavy rain was pouring itself out from the clouds. I shuddered. I hated thunderstorms. They were one of the very few things that terrified me.

"She does." Drake answered Darren's question simply. Good. A non-convincing answer.

"Idiot." I murmured under my breath. The louder, "I lived in Sandar until last year, dolt." I was making this right up on the spot.

"Your mom doesn't like to move," Drake pointed out coldly, his voice like ice as his eyes displayed a burning fire of anger. And the most annoying thing was, he was correct. "She died." I said as calmly as I could, trying to keep from bursting out that Pokemon had done the deed and shut my mothers life off forever.

"Oh, Talia! I'm so sorry..." Julia started, her face softening.

"Last year." Okay, so maybe this was a slight bluff but I needed it. "So I moved in with my Aunt who lives in Rustboro." The story was good so far and they seemed to believe it.

At this news Drake fell silent. He seemed to believe my story too and was completely silenced by it. Good. That would shut him up for the remainder (I hoped) of the trip.

We sat in silence for another few minutes, Darren futilely trying to strike up a conversation a few times. The only one who ever answered him was Julia, but even then it was only a short answer with nothing to say once it was done.

Then, I had a sudden urge to apologize to Drake. Even if it wasn't my fault exactly for almost killing him I still felt I owed him an apology for forcing him onto the cookie when I saw that he plainly didn't want it.

"Drake... I..." I began timidly. Apologizing was not something I did often. I didn't like it. For me it was a complete humiliation.

"Shut up!" He snapped gruffly, his black eyes glaring murderously in my direction.

"Why do you hold that against me?" I cried, my curiosity overtaking my sensibility. And he was acting like a complete jerk. Idiot as he was he still shouldn't hold a grudge for seven years! A year or two I could understand but seven years? Drake must have not found something else to place a grudge against in his "wonderful, chocolate free" Pacifidlog town. He was just plain stupid. But, then again, was I being stupid? For holding this grudge against Pokemon? No! Of course not! My predicament was an entirely different matter!

"I..." He stammered uncertainly, black eyes flicking to the carpeted and inhumanly clean floor for the car. So. He had no real reason for hating me. Weak. All of a sudden he came back to his usual boldness, almost deafening me with his roar, "Because you almost killed me, dimwit!"

"Heck! I didn't mean to!" I shot back, just as fiercely, "I was only six!"

"That's still no excuse!" He roared, his face becoming flushed in rage. The veins in his neck were standing out as he clenched his teeth angrily. He was mad.

"Woah! Guys! Calm down!" Darren tried to sooth us. It was a futile attempt. Drake was too mad. I was on the very brink of my pit of rage, ready to dive in head first with one more nudge.

"That was a friggin' seven years ago!" I shouted at him. I was shaking with anger, ready to smash him to pulp at any moment. The only thing that held me back was the very fine barrier of rationality that always seemed to be there, and the car seat belt.

"You still almost killed me!" He screamed, clenching his fists and straining against the seatbelt, which seemed to be holding him at bay, like me. His face was almost completely red, so red I thought he might pass out from lack of oxygen.

"You're...you're just acting like a little kid!" I shouted. He glared at me. I glared back. We were getting nowhere, fast.

"And you're just saying that to make me mad!" Drake spat, his black eyes flashing furiously.

That was a remark that gave me the advantage. "Correct." I smirked, grinning maliciously right into his ugly face. I folded my arms, taking on an air of superiority.

He just glared fiercer and gnashed his teeth at me like a wild animal. He had almost become one with the way he was acting.

Drake's face twisted into a terrible knot of rage, his knuckles whitening as he clenched them in a tight fist. He was definitely mad. But so was I. I felt like I was being washed in a hot shower of my fearsome rage. My rage was against absolutely everything; Pokemon, though slightly dulled to my surprise, backed up by, well, everything, not just Drake. He just happened to be the unfortunate person I let it out on.

He got really quiet all of a sudden and just glared at me, his black eyes boring hatred at mine. I glared back, defiantly staring into his eyes, daring him to do something about our quarrel. Then, without warning, he lunged for me, his clawing arms extended. His eyes were filled with a mad rage, his mouth parted in an ugly snarl. I stared dumbly at his clawing arms. Whatever I had expected, this was not it. I raised my arms for self-defense, almost a little too late. His swiftly moving arms clashed with mine. I had never had to block a punch before and I must tell you, its painful; my arms almost went numb from the fierce contact.

Drake grabbed hold of me and started twisting my arms around. A piercing wave of pain shot through my abused limbs, startling a sharp cry out of my lips. I twisted around, desperately trying to wriggle out of his murdering grip and make him let go without endangering my arms anymore.

"Drake!" Julia yelled, aghast, her face a picture of disbelief. "Drake! Talia! Stop this right now!" She shouted.

I hardly heard her as I twisted in Drake's powerful grip. Fighting was hard, harder than I had first thought it would be. Especially because I was strapped down to the seat. I lunged about, dodging this blow and that, managing to throw a punch in from time to time. Drake's attack was fast and fierce. His rage towards me and his greater strength began to give him the upper hand and I began to be pushed down, more and more of his blows actually cracking against my unprotected flesh. I winced every time the pain erupted along my body as his blows landed faster and faster. I felt like one aching load of bruises.

Finally I shifted my knee, jamming it sharply up and hit him squarely in the stomach, forcing the breath out of his lungs. It came out with a whoosh, showering me directly in the face with his foul breath. He wasn't the only one gagging for breath now. I recovered quickly, a stab of fear striking my heart. If Drake hadn't been coughing and wheezing at the same time I was I would be dead, or, at least very hurt. Drake went on gasping for breath and loosened his grip.

I took this moment of distraction to pull my arm free and grab him around the head, locking him in a tight headlock. I yanked his head down under my arm and held it there. Drake started flailing wildly, swinging his arms this way and that. I held him firm. The muscles of my arms began to hurt; all that lactic acid building up inside them, as they stood tensed against Drake's wild struggling.

All of a sudden Drake's flailing arm caught me full in the face. My cheek burned, pain erupting along my jaw, startling a sharp cry from me. Slaps did hurt. A lot. I unthinkingly put a hand to my face, releasing Drake as I did so. Drake twisted skillfully away from me. Then he bunched his hand into a fist and let it fly. I didn't see it coming so it hit me, straight in the face.

Pain exploded around my nose and mouth, strange sparks of color blossoming in front of my dazed eyes, blurring my vision. I began to panic. I was hurt, dazed, wounded, what ever you wanted to call it, and defenseless against Drake's next attack. I had to gain control of myself or else I'd end up even more seriously wounded than I already was. Finally my vision cleared, only by the pure rage that was coursing through my veins. He had hurt me and he would pay.

It was then that I noticed the affect of that bruising punch. My nose was spilling a warm, stickly liquid out all over my face and onto Drake. My clothes were also getting blood on them. I pulled back and quickly wiped the excess blood from my face but it just kept coming and coming.

"Drake! Talia! I'm going to have to pull over to the side of the road if you don't stop now!" Darren barked at us.

Neither of us listened. I couldn't stop now, not without hurting Drake in return for what he had done to me! Drake pulled his fist back for another blow. This time I saw it coming and twisted out of the way. His fist scraped my back. I gritted my teeth and flung my body back towards the seat with all my strength, slamming Drake's arm back into the semi-soft cushion. He hollered in pain and so did I. His arm was biting into my backbone, sending waves of aching pain through my back. I flung myself forwards again and twisted around fast, grabbing Drake's arms and twisting them around each other. He was getting the same treatment he'd given me earlier.

He yelled at me, dark eyes blazing. My blue eyes glared back at him, filled with the same, anger, hate, and determination. His mouth was twisted in an angry scowl. Then he brought his mouth down on my arm, biting me hard. I cried out and twisted away from him, dropping his arms in a desperate attempt to ease the pain where his teeth had sunk into my flesh. Then, I had an idea, something that just hadn't occurred to me before.

I reached my hand down, searching for the seatbelt buckle. My groping fingers made contact with the cold metal. Leaning forward I quickly pushed the buckle down, releasing the seat belt. At the same moment Drake shoved his knee up, smashing into my bloody face. I reeled back, my jaw exploding into pain. As I did so the seatbelt snapped up, whacking Drake full in the jaw with a gruesome crack.

I landed face down in the other seat and before I had anytime to recover, Drake launched himself at me despite his pain and the rapidly growing lump on his chin. I saw him coming at me, his eyes filled with an uncontrollable rage. He had undone his seatbelt too. My brain froze. All of a sudden rage like a wild fire built up in me, a rage so strong that I had to let it out on someone. I flipped myself over at lightning speed and raised my arms in the air. I locked my elbows, bracing myself for the great impact of his body weight when it came, crashing down on my limbs. I had to protect myself!

He came down, his ripping weight smashing into my upturned hands. I winced sharply at the pain that shot through them. I hadn't expected that pain so I wasn't ready for it at all. My arms felt as if they would loose hold of him any minute, collapsing and bringing Drake down on me any second. His weight was heavy but I couldn't let him win.

Then I heard something crack. And that crack was the last thing I wanted to hear in the world. That crack sent me into a world of agonized pain and pure terror. My right arm buckled, landing Drake on top of me with a loud thud! I screamed, one piercing scream. Then I became silent from the pure pain that coursed through my veins, threatening to send me into a rolling darkness. My brain was a jumble of thoughts as I lay there on the seat, nothing entering my whirling mind. My arm was in a position that was unnatural for any human arm. My head was whirling and Drake was on top of me, pinning me to the seat.

Then, suddenly, I felt better. I felt well enough to jump up and run around. My head cleared and I could see clearly. Some pure, soothing warmth that ran through my veins chased out all those small aches and pains in my body. The pain in my broken arm (I was pretty sure it was broken) chased from my thoughts, as it became a dull ache, with the power that flowed through me.

Then came the joy. The pure, unexplainable joy that I was part of the greatest power in the universe. A steady rhythm was beating in my very soul, synchronizing with something I had once known in a far off time. But was it really that far off? Had I been here days? Months? Weeks? Years, even?

I felt elated, full of energy. My arm still seemed to be broken but I was energized, full to bursting with a great power that wasn't my own. And I had the wonderful sensation that I was floating on air.

I inched my swollen eyes open a crack. So maybe my vision hadn't cleared. All I could see before me was a great red mist. But that mist was soothing and comforting, and it was the same beautiful red as the Fire Red stone. It was the source of my joy, of the power I felt.

I began trembling, some unknown emotion taking hold of my body. This power! It was so great! And it was mine. It was all mine. I realized in that one moment, that if I wanted to I had the power to destroy. Anything. Tears sprung to my eyes. The power that was commanding me was so great, so powerful, it was so hard to hold!

All of a sudden, I began to hear things through my joy and power filled state. Words. Voices. Voices speaking. The red mist began to clear and the power filled emotion began to slip away.

No!

Then I was back in reality again. At least I thought I was. A blinding red light filled the car, blocking my vision totally with its brilliance. The pain I had felt before was still there but duller now. I heard voices.

"Crap! Crap, crap, crap, crap!" That was Darren. "Crap!" He screamed again. "I can't see the road!"

"What is this? What's this red light?" Julia was shrieking, adding to the rising din in the small car.

Drake was just screaming. Screaming uncomprehendingly. He sounded like he was in pain. I grinned. That was the red powers doing.

"What is this?" Julia shrieked again. I knew.

"Crap! Damn! Crap!" Darren again. "Brace yourselves guys! We're going off the road!"

I lay still, breathing deeply and grinning. We were going off the road. Who cared? We were going to die. Who cared? My arm was broken. Who cared? Drake was screaming. Who cared?

My train of though went on and on and on like this. I didn't care about anything. Nothing. Just the great presence I had felt flowing through my veins only a few minutes previous, the power that I knew came from the Fire Red stone. I was filled with it. It was in me to stay. I was its keeper until the day when the fire monster would come again and reclaim its power through me.

Wait! Where had that come from? I just seemed to know that without anyone telling me so. But the thought itself was scary.

All of a sudden the car jerked, throwing me roughly into the middle seat, my broken arm jerking along with me. Pain erupted in my arm, but not the great pain it would have been had I been alone, without the power. But still it hurt and a sharp cry erupted from my lips.

The car jerked again and I could see. The red light cleared away, sending all the pain back into my body that had been dulled considerably to the point where I could bear it. Now it was back with twice the force. I began screaming. Searing pain shot down my right arm, all the scrapes and bruises I had obtained during the fight with Drake, which now seemed to have happened days ago, began to scream in pure agonizing pain. My whole body shrieked out in agony.

The car jerked a third time but didn't right itself again. I briefly heard Darren shouting, Julia screaming, and Drake had gone completely silent. He had passed out from pain. The front end of the car was positioned at a downward slant and I didn't have a seat belt on.

Then my head was jerked savagely down as the small car hurtled off the road and into the ditch at the side of the highway. I didn't have my seat belt on. All of a sudden I felt my body being hurled forward towards the dashboard. I was powerless to stop myself. Then everything seemed to turn into slow motion, as if I were somebody else, watching myself fly to my doom. I saw myself fly forward at a sickening pace. I saw the dashboard come closer and closer, the black knobs and buttons all blurring before my dazed eyes. Then, I heard more than felt my head cracking sickeningly against the dashboard. Then pain. My mind whirled and buzzed; a roaring headache was threatening to split my head in two. My mind began to shutdown. I was hurled, headlong, into a deep pit of whirling darkness.