The Becoming [A Pokémon Fanfiction] [PG-13] [COMPLETE]

Who gets the urge to write fanfiction but not RP posts half the time and gets the urge to write RP posts and not fanfiction the other half? *raises hand*

Haha yes and it's always when I need to write the other.

I'm really enjoying reading this fanfic. You have a fab style! I'm looking forward to reading the next chapter. :)

Hehe, thanks. Glad you're enjoying the story~

[IMG]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/208/c/2/riolu_top1_by_brookreed-d7si9i1.png[/IMG][background=http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/208/7/2/riolu_middle1_by_brookreed-d7si9i6.png][css=padding-left:15px;padding-right:13px][color=lightgray][font=Times New Roman][center][size=11]♣ [b]Chapter 9[/b] ♣[/size][/center]I awaken slowly to the ache of my body and the loud sounds of cracking trees and explosions in the distance. "Hrrrgh..." I manage. "Reason!" Gallant says, and I see the Garchomp's form leaning over me with concern. "What happened?" I ask. "Regigigas went berserk again...Nodi is here to battle it, though." I sit up so suddenly that my head begins to spin with dizziness and Gallant has to steady me so that I don't fall out of the tree. "Reason--" "You can't let Nodi fight Regigigas!" I say, much louder than necessary. "It isn't evil, just frustrated and longing for a challenging opponent." "Well, Nodi will be that opponent, then," Gallant says. "Can you see what's happening?" I whisper. Even as I say this, I cast my emotions out towards the fight. Nodi's aura glows like a beacon of hope, but Regigigas' aura is harsh and cold, turned into a blind and uncontrollable rage once more. Gallant reports what she can see with her sharp eyesight. "Nodi just used..." "What?" "She just used Superpower," Gallant says, the awe in her voice clear. "I didn't know she knew a move like that." "She's so much stronger than she lets on," I comment. "I think she's pushing it into retreat," Gallant reports. "Back towards the temple." She pauses. "Yes, yes! It's working!" "Can't we help her?" I ask, though I already know what the answer will be. "She said not to interfere," Gallant murmurs. "I wish we could help..." I say wistfully. "Doesn't look like she needs help," Gallant says. "Yes, it's almost back to the temple...they're very close..." Suddenly, she lets out a small gasp. "No!" "What?!" "NO!" Gallant throws herself from the tree, and I manage to grab the end of her tail as she rushes towards where Nodi was fighting the creature. "Gallant!" I shout. "No, no, NO!" Gallant screams as she tears through the sky. I catch a glimpse of what Gallant has been so panicked about. Moments ago Nodi had been dominating the fight--until Regigigas caught her in a Crush Grip. "Get off her!" Gallant roars, diving at the creature. Gallant lands a Dragon Rage attack square on Regigigas' body, and the Pokémon releases Nodi from its grip before falling back into the temple. The temple seems to sense its prisoner has returned and its entrance slams shut, sealing Regigigas back in the temple once more. "Oh Arceus!" Gallant says as she lands clumsily, rushing towards where Nodi is lying on the ground. I rush to Nodi's side next to her, staring down at the battered body of my teacher, my mentor, my caretaker. "G-Gallant?" Nodi manages to choke out. She doesn't seem to be able to focus on either of our faces. "Shh, don't try to talk," Gallant whispers. "You'll be okay...we'll get you back to your cave..." "You s-stopped Regigigas?" Nodi speaks in the merest of whispers. "Y-yes," Gallant stammers. Nodi gives a tiny nod of her head, and then lets out a cough. "Good. Then my work here is done." "No!" Gallant says. "Nodi, you can't--!" "Don't worry about me," she says. "You and Reason are strong now. You can only move forward." "Nodi..." I whisper. "And you, Reason," Nodi says to me. "Your pain transformed into strength, your abilities honed to perfection. But you still have much to learn..." "Nodi!" Gallant says, and I can see tears streaming down her face. "Nodi, you can't leave us!" "We need you," I whisper beside Gallant. "All things must come to an end," Nodi says, her voice barely a whisper now. "But perhaps this isn't goodbye. Perhaps we shall meet again in another lifetime." Her eyes slide shut even as Gallant's sobs shatter the deathly silence that has fallen over this place. My own tears fall into the snow and onto Nodi's motionless body. The Pokémon who gave me a second chance and a new life...gone, with her own life crushed from her. "We'll remember her," I manage to choke out as Gallant wails her anguish at the sky. I don't try to hold back my own tears. Everything I am is because of Nodi. If not for her, I would have died nameless and alone all those months ago. Nodi gave me a purpose, an identity. Even the name I carry belonged to her until she gave it to me, entrusting me with my own identity. I don't know how long Gallant sobbed and I cried, but our mourning is broken by the sound of a footstep crunching on the snow. Gallant and I turn around simultaneously, and the dark form of Snark appears behind us. "Shown up by you two again," he growls. "You even got Nodi's last words." He narrows his eyes at the body of the Nidoqueen. Beside me, Gallant tenses. Before I can stop her she tackles the Sneasel, slashing him and beating him and crushing him. Her loss is channeled into anger. I don't need my aura abilities to see that. "You filthy Sneasel!" she screams, slamming him into the ground. "You worthless traitor!" A slash. "How can you live with yourself, knowing that you did this!" Tears stream down her face but she does not wipe them away. She stands above the cowering Sneasel, and I sense she is ready to silence the creature forever. "Gallant!" I say from behind her. "Stop." "How can I, Reason?!" she sobs. "After what he has done to us! To Nodi!" "Then let him live with knowing what he did," I say evenly. But I am not about to let the Sneasel go easily, either. "Listen up, Snark," I say, now speaking for both Gallant and myself. "I swear upon the plates of Arceus...that if we ever see you again, we [I]will[/I] kill you for all the horror you caused on this day." Snark sneers at us, and then without a word turns and races off through the snow. Soon the shadowy trees obscure him from view. I turn back to Gallant, who is crouched in the snow. Slowly, I approach her. "Come on, Gallant," I say. "We should put Nodi to rest in a proper way."[hr][center][color=white]♣ [url=http://q.pokefarm.org/forum/post/390067][color=white][u]Go to next chapter[/u][/color][/url] ♣[/color][/center][/font][/color][/background][/css][IMG]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/208/4/a/riolu_bottom1_by_brookreed-d7si9ib.png[/IMG]

[IMG]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/208/c/2/riolu_top1_by_brookreed-d7si9i1.png[/IMG][background=http://fc08.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/208/7/2/riolu_middle1_by_brookreed-d7si9i6.png][css=padding-left:15px;padding-right:13px][color=lightgray][font=Times New Roman][center][size=11]♣ [b]Chapter 10[/b] ♣[/size][/center]We stand on a cliff's edge, overlooking the snowy landscape where we once trained, fought, and played. It is the place where we gained so much, but lost things just as great, too. Behind us, we have put Nodi to rest overlooking this place. Gallant has slashed a rock into a smooth surface to erect as a tombstone. And together we have carved the words "Nodi- A Mentor To All" into its surface. For a long time we simply stand and remember. I can recall every moment since I first came to this place, every memory as sharp as the day it happened. Gallant, too, has lost herself in thought beside me. And all too quickly, it is time to address the final question. "What do we do now?" Gallant remains silent, her eyes shut. For a long time there is only the wind, but then Gallant says softly, "I think we both know the answer to that." And it is true. We came to this place to forget our old lives, to create a new identity for ourselves. But now, there is nothing left for us here. It is time to go back to the things we ran away from. We must face the things that ultimately drove us so far from home. The goals of growing stronger are accomplished. Although, I suppose I never accomplished my goal of evolution. But I am content that I have worked hard and learned much. As though she has read my mind, Gallant speaks, recounting one of her memories of Nodi. "It was Nodi who helped me to evolve...She said I could not evolve until I was happy to be myself. And I guess I accepted that, flaws and strengths alike." I consider this. I am happy, certainly--but my evolution has not yet occurred. Perhaps I am missing something. "Reason, if we're going to go back...I want to give you something before we part." She unties the purple cloth from around her neck--the cloth that she kept all those months ago. The one she wore to shame me. With the scarf hooked on a claw, she holds it out to me. "Wear this, and remember." "I will," I promise, taking it from her and holding it close. "I won't forget you." Gallant takes a step closer to the cliff's edge. "Perhaps we shall meet again...but this, Reason, is where we part." She faces the vast sky before her. "Goodbye, Reason." She takes flight, and I watch until she is a mere speck in the dusk sky. I whisper my own goodbye after her, and a single tear trails down my face. [center]♣ ♣ ♣[/center] On the journey back, I do not lose my way. I walk for a day without stopping, finding my way across the region through parts I have never seen before. A strange spark has awoken within me, calling me back to the trainer and Pokémon I need to find. Halfway through the second day, I arrive at another cavern. I stop, sensing something is about to happen. There are footsteps, and a human comes running out of the cavern. It is not my trainer, and I can sense the trickery and deceit that emanates from this being. Unseen, I continue to watch. Behind the human, my own trainer appears. She has not spotted me yet, and seems intent on catching the apparent thief. I crouch, and then leap forward, snatching the item the thief had held moments before--a Poké Ball. The thief seems shocked by my sudden appearance, turning round and looking as though she might confront me. But she is trapped by my trainer on one side and me on the other, and makes the wise decisions to flee past me up the path. And Fern has seen me. Her eyes widen, and she says in a shaky voice as she crouches down to face me, "R-Riolu?" "Ree!" I affirm. "You came back!" she says. "I was so worried...we searched forever--!" I interrupt her by embracing her, so happy to be back. I can feel her own happiness as clearly as my own. And then, as I continue to embrace my trainer, my emotions suddenly overflow. I am blinded for a brief moment by a flash of light--and then it dies down, leaving me standing taller and prouder as a Lucario with my trainer still in my embrace. [I]True happiness[/I], I think. [I]Finding where you belong after being so far away...[/I] "You...you evolved!" Fern says, standing back to examine my new form. I look down at my paws, and I can feel aura energy seething within me, waiting to be released in battle. But that is for another time. "Wow," Fern says. "It must have been the happiness of your return that made you evolve. I'm so glad for you, Lucario!" [I]Yes[/I], I think to myself. [I]And that is partly it. But I am happy to know that I am Reason the Lucario, and I am not lost. I am...happy.[/I] [center][color=white][size=11]♣ Le Fin ♣[/size][/color][/center][/font][/color][/background][/css][IMG]http://fc03.deviantart.net/fs71/f/2014/208/4/a/riolu_bottom1_by_brookreed-d7si9ib.png[/IMG]

... That's the end? For some reason I expected it to be... Longer...

Eh, it was supposed to be a pretty short story originally. But, hey, there's always sequels and spin-offs to be written. Heheh but I'm proud to say this is the first fanfiction I've written, finished, and then actually proofread and posted, so that's good enough for me. I wonder what I should write next, though...I'm considering either a trainer adventure story that I've been plotting out for a while, but I also want to write Peridot's story...hmmm, decisions, decisions.

Very nice work, and that was a lovely way to end it. Congrats on your first fully finished fanfic. I have yet to get there myself in finishing a story, but I hope I will be able to one day. I look forward to seeing whatever else you decide to write next. :)

i cried at the end. honestly.