Pokemon Bloodier Red

~Satan, how...~ This is the sequel to Pokemon Bloody Red, written by RainyDazeWriter on DeviantArt. The link to the story is http://rainydazewriter.deviantart.com/art/Creepypasta-Bloodier-Red-365696024.

Pokemon Bloodier Red ( Sequel of Pokemon Bloody Red )
I used to love Absol.

As a child, my father’s only Pokémon was an Absol named Yin – his others had all been released at some point as he grew older. But Yin was his favorite Pokémon and his best friend – and later became mine, too. Even as a baby, I loved him. Yin would give me rides, patiently ignoring the (many) times when I grabbed tangled fistfuls of his pure white mane.

I grew up with that Absol at my side, and he’d even saved my life when I was waterlogged and trapped by a Crawdaunt. He fought it off and dragged me to the shore, despite the fact that I was nine years old and quite heavy, and ever since that day I clung to him constantly. There was nothing that could separate us. Not even when my father died.

It was cancer. Everyone pitied me, but I was about as pity-receptive as a rock. I don’t think I would have made it through that time without Yin, who protected me when there were too many people trying to tell me how sorry they were as they crowded around me. At night, I would sneak out of my bed, tiptoe over to him, and snuggle up into his white fur.

When I became a trainer, my mother insisted that I take Yin with me. It certainly gave me an edge – a level 100  Absol with years of experience behind him versus the level 6 Weedle the bug catchers were so proud of. But it kept me safe as I traveled through the region.

Years went by. I beat all the gym leaders, but never really got into the whole Kanto-Champion thing – instead I ended up founding a Breeding Center. It was a large place, with enough rooms for multiple trainers to stay if ever they were caught in a storm or at night and several rooms for my own Pokémon.

I was 18 when I founded the center, old enough to handle just about anything thrown my way, I  was sure. But Yin’s death a year later was a vicious shock.

He was an old Absol. Pokémon don’t live forever. I’d known somewhere in the back of my mind that he would eventually die, but I’d been thinking way longer – at least twenty more years. He had been thirty-four when my father died, and he was forty-three when he died. And that was old for an Absol. He should have died around when my father did. I was blessed to have nine more years with him. But, oh, did it hurt.

Of course, I wasn’t a complete fool about Pokémon death. I knew he’d eventually die, and so I’d ventured out to catch a female Absol when I was 17. Yin was pleasantly surprised when she presented him with an egg a little over year later. His son had hatched after his death, and I called him Yin Jr. (creative name, I know). For ten years I worked at the breeding center with Yin Jr. at my side. The female Absol ran off pretty quickly after Yin died, apparently deciding that the center wasn’t as peaceful as the mountains without an attractive male Absol to keep her attention. I didn’t hold it against her. Well, not much.

Yin Jr. didn’t find love in those ten years, but I did – a trainer named Max who had gone through the Elite Four and stopped before challenging the Champion because he didn’t want to have that much power. It was very impressive, in my opinion, for him to stop there. His Pokémon were powerful; in fact, he’d managed to capture Rayquaza. Max was confident and brave and proud, but not to the point of being stuck-up. I’d bred ten Pokémon for him, and after the second he’d begun to visit regularly.

I may have been twenty-two at the time, but I had a shameless crush on him. When it didn’t go away after multiple years, I was pretty sure it was love. But I never told him. I was shy about that sort of thing.

We had a rule about battling; since I always relished the chance to relive my trainer days and Max always wanted to train his team, we battled every time he visited. Our rule was that whatever Pokémon we had with us, they were the ones we battled with. Max never let me know when he was visiting, so I was often caught unawares with a few younger Pokémon while he had his strongest team. It was all part of the fun, though.

After his tenth Pokémon – an Aron – had been given to him, Max turned to me with a sly grin. “Oh, Jean… I have a gift for you.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“A gift,” I echoed. “And what exactly is this gift? Another one of your scams? Those full heals aren’t really worth as much as you say they are, Max, since Pokémon can’t have stacked status effects. I saw through that one last time and I won’t fall for it again.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">His eyes widened innocently. “What? Scam? Don’t be silly, Jean. This is the real deal. Just like all my gifts. And that full heal was completely legitimate – it gets rid of confusion along with whatever status effect.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I rolled my eyes. Yin Jr. brushed against my hand cheerfully – we’d won the battle and he always seemed much happier after stretching. “Come on, Max, just tell me what the gift is or I’ll sic Yin Jr. on you.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max threw up his hands in mock alarm. “Eek! Don’t do it, Jean! I swear to be a good boy, I promise!” His expression quickly grew serious. “But seriously, Jean, this is a really great gift. Absol is pretty rare, right, and you’ve been trying to find one for Yin Jr., haven’t you?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I looked skeptically at him. “If you’re going to try and sell me some map to the sacred Absol breeding grounds –”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Ha, ha, ha. You think you know me so well that you’ve forgotten I’m a good guy at heart,” Max said, grinning at me. “No, I actually caught myself an Absol the other day. Female. I figured that you might want her so you can keep focusing on breeding without having to take off a few days to look for Yin Jr.’s soul mate.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I raised one eyebrow. “And this is an actual healthy female Absol – not some rabid, half-mad abused female who’s more likely to kill Yin Jr. than fall in love with him?” Yin Jr. lightly nipped my hand, clearly catching on to what was happening.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“You wound me, Jean. You know I would never lie to you.” Max took a pokeball out of his pocket and held it up to me. “She’s in here. And I took the liberty of nicknaming her Yang, so it fits with Yin and everything.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Hang on a sec,” I replied. “You said you only had four Pokémon with you today.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max chuckled. “I did indeed. How else could I have taken Yang in here as a surprise? Plus it leaves me with a space on my team for this baby.” He patted the pokeball containing his newly hatched Aron.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Yin Jr. stepped forward and lifted himself onto his hind legs briefly to sniff at the pokeball supposedly containing a female Absol. When he turned around to look at me, his red eyes were sparkling excitedly. I guess this is real, then. All right.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Okay,” I said aloud. “But before you hand me the pokeball and go gallivanting off into the world with your fainted team and level one Aron, let’s see this Absol.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max nodded seriously. “Wouldn’t have expected anything else.” He pointed the pokeball and released Yang.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">My mouth dropped open and I stared dumbly at her. At my side, I’m pretty sure Yin Jr. did the same.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Yang was quite possibly the most beautiful creature I’d seen… and I’d seen a lot of beautiful Pokémon (even a shiny Dragonair a few years ago, in a pageant). Her fur was perfectly clean and in place, well groomed and pure white. Her red eyes were clear and proud, and her horn was needle-sharp. She blinked at Yin Jr. and tipped her head to one side, closed her eyes, and smiled at him.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Sol,” Yin Jr. rasped, dumbfounded.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Go and meet her,” I told him, nudging at his hindquarters with one foot. Then I turned to the man who had given me the precious gift. “Max… I can’t tell you what this means to me. To just… give away a Pokémon in this shape…” I laughed a little. “I can’t tell if you’re being incredibly generous or stupid.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“I’d go with stupid,” Max assured me with a self-deprecating laugh. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Get serious,” I said, shoving him playfully. “This is… amazing.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max grinned and ruffled my short-cut orange hair. “Oh, Jean, someday you’ll come up with a reason I gave you this. It probably won’t be the right reason, but whatever you believe, I can pretend.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“What’s that supposed to mean,” I grumbled.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He hugged me quickly. “Thanks for everything, Jean. I’ll visit in a few months. Bye.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I didn’t see him again for almost two years.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I wish Max had returned sooner. Maybe I could have worked up the courage to get rid of it with his help. But he didn’t and so things turned out the way they did. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">After only four months, Yang and Yin Jr. were proud to reveal an egg with unusual red spots. With the special treatment I’d learned to give to eggs, it took only six more months for it to hatch. The three of us – the proud parents and I – were all present for the hatching.

Crick… crack… crunch!

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The hairline cracks appeared all over the surface, and tiny bits chipped away. I caught a glimpse of white and knelt down, trying to see more, when the egg abruptly shattered…

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">… revealing a bright red Absol.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It shook its shaggy head, whipping the white fur into something that vaguely resembled the yin-yang symbol all Absol sported. Then the little eyes blinked open, bright green as tiny emeralds.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“It’s a shiny!” I squeaked in delight.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Its parents didn’t share my delight. They pressed against each other, snarling at the baby with manes bristling and teeth bared.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Um… Yin Jr.? Yang? This is your baby, not some random Absol that hatched out of an egg! Is it because it’s red?” I reached out to Yin Jr. with one hand, expecting him to lean into it and forget his strange behavior.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Instead…  slash! Slashslashslashslash!

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">His claws flashed out incredibly fast, striking my hand and cutting deep gouges into it. I jerked my hand back, biting back a scream of agony. My normally calm, sweet Absol stood up and loomed over me, seeming much larger than his 4 feet, and glared at me.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“No!” I yelled. “Stop! Stop!”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Fearing that he would attack me again, I had to take more drastic measures. Fumbling in my pocket for the pokeball I’d only used a few times, I returned him and Yang.

What… what just happened? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Suddenly I felt a gentle little tongue on my hand, which was screaming in pain. I turned to see the baby Absol, the shiny, licking the cuts gently. It looked up at me and for the briefest instant, I caught a glimpse of something dark and raging in its eyes. Then they returned to the picture of innocence, and I convinced myself that it was nothing but my imagination trying to find a reason for Yin Jr.’s strange behavior combined with the sight of my blood on its tongue.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I didn’t know what to do with Yin Jr. and Yang, so I put them in the PC for the first time ever. Then I took the baby, who was male, to find a room of his own – I couldn’t even consider letting him stay with his parents.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">We found a room that he appeared to like, and I – as a firm believer that Pokémon should choose what they want their rooms to look like – showed him a flipbook of wallpaper and carpet samples, along with some other decorations like Pokedolls. It was then that I should have figured out something was wrong with him… but I figured he was just quirky.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">There was a rather creepy wallpaper made for fans of the hit TV show,  The Rocking Dead,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> which featured zombie rock-type Pokémon. It wasn’t really appropriate for a baby Pokémon, but I figured that the little Absol could have what he wanted. The floor was much simpler – dark red with lighter red flecks – though I remember comparing it to the wallpaper and wondering briefly if he wanted it to represent blood.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">When I showed him the decorations he could have, the Absol chose a big plush Snorlax bed and several red pillows, then pawed at dozens of Pokedolls. He wanted a lot of decorations. I groaned to think of the cost – I’d have to go battle dozens of times if I wanted to make up for the money I would be spending – but ordered them all. I wanted to keep my shiny Absol happy. He also wanted red paint – for the door, I imagined, to go with the theme.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It took about a week for it all to arrive, and until then the baby stayed in my room. He was a restless sleeper and tore a small pet bed in two, nestling in the stuffing, before he could get comfortable. Then his decorations arrived.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He paced around the room, sinking claws into the thick red carpet happily, while I put up the wallpaper and painted the door. It wasn’t as bad as I’d expected. Then I put the Snorlax bed into the room – it was really just a gigantic Pokedoll that was big enough to be a bed – and set up the other Pokedolls.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">But the little Absol wasn’t satisfied with that. He played roughly – well, that’s what I told myself. I know better now, but just then I was sure he didn’t know how to play nicely with the toys. Before long, they were ripped up. Then he took them to the red paint and dipped the ripped ends into it.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I got what he was doing at that point, but I didn’t really grasp the whole idea. I couldn’t – wouldn’t – wrap my brain around the thought that he was obsessed with death, and so I told myself that he was probably just trying to make the dolls fit the wallpaper. Then the Absol turned to his Snorlax bed and ripped a hole in its ‘stomach.’

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">That should have horrified me, but I recalled how he’d destroyed the pet bed in my room so that he could be comfortable. I… I guess he’s just more comfortable when he’s surrounded with stuffing,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I told myself.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I should have gotten it right then – I should have realized there was something wrong with him and told someone! But I couldn’t. I didn’t want to think there was anything wrong with the first shiny I’d ever seen, particularly not a shiny descended from Yin.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The next day I decided to name him. Now, it may sound insane, but the fact is that most Absol have at least minor psychic powers. That’s how they can detect natural disasters. A rare few have more developed abilities, and can force their will onto others. As a baby, the little shiny was clearly not very powerful. But he was powerful enough to influence my thoughts a little bit.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I tried to list a few names I’d thought of first. “Sol, Eclipse, Yin the 3rd, Comet, Shadow, Solstice, Equinox.” The baby growled and shook his head at each one I named.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then, in the back of my mind, I felt a sort of tickle. It’s impossible to describe now, but I remember it feeling somewhat like a whisper. Satan. Call him Satan. Satan is a neat name. It fits him well. Go on and call him Satan, what do you say? Satan? That’s a terrible name! <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">There was a good bit of indecisiveness in my mind then.

Call him Satan.

No! What a terrible idea!

I bet he’d like it. Go on, suggest it.

No!

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">But the part of my mind that wanted to call him Satan won over, and I said reluctantly, “How about Satan?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The baby chirruped happily and bounced around me on the tip of his toes. “Sol! Absol! Sol!”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Satan it is then,” I agreed awkwardly. I can’t believe he likes it.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It was another four months before I decided that Satan was old enough to battle. Of course, I needed to find out what moves he had first. I took out my Pokedex, an ancient remnant of my childhood – all the Pokedexes today had dozens of useful features, while mine just identified the Pokémon and, if it was mine, told me its stats and moves. I figured they would be the usual weak starting moves – Feint, Scratch, and Sucker Punch (because his father was also an Absol).

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Nope.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Limb Tear.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Draw Blood.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Slaughter.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Perish Song.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I dropped my Pokedex in shock. What in the… what sort of moves are those? I know Perish Song is a move, but the others…  What’s wrong with Satan?

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then I caught on, at least somewhat. Satan… those moves… the decorations for his room… there’s something really wrong with him. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I found myself longing for Max, wishing he were here. He would know what to do.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan stretched, lifting his rear into the air and lowering his head, then trotted up to me and nudged my leg. I looked down at him straight into his green eyes.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">There it was again. That dark, furious, insane shadow in his eyes. I hadn’t imagined it this time.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“What are you?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It came out softer than I meant it to, but Satan caught it. He stared at me and wrinkled his nose a little bit. In a normal baby, it would have been cute – but the look he gave me was cold as ice and furious.

I have to get rid of him,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I thought. But how? What can I do? Maybe if he faints, I can put him in the PC.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then again, why bother fighting with him? I could just put him in my PC and be done with it. No more Satan.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I was a little sad despite myself. Satan was my first shiny, even if he was psychotic, and he was a descendant of Yin. It felt wrong to trap him in the PC, even though I knew that it would keep him in a semiconscious state in which time had little meaning. He would never know how long he was in there, and eventually he would die of old age without ever using those awful moves of his. Maybe Yin Jr. and Yang would go back to normal. I wasn’t sure what to think about that – it was cruel to let him die without ever really getting to grow up, but at the same time I was afraid to let him stay out. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">But whatever my own thoughts were, I knew it was all I could do. So Satan went into the PC, and his parents came out.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">A month passed peacefully. Max still didn’t visit. I decided to walk around and practice with Yin Jr. to give a few new trainers a confidence boost. Even though Yin Jr. was extremely powerful, he would be glad to let a level 5 Charmander defeat him for the experience.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">We headed out to Viridian City, where I knew a lot of young trainers started out. Yin Jr. was tense, but he had been that way ever since I’d taken him out of my PC. I figured that Satan had spooked him.

I should have trusted Yin Jr. right from the start,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I thought with a little sigh. Absol can detect disaster; if he was afraid it meant there was something to be afraid of. Probably I should apologize.<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I reached down and scratched Yin Jr.’s neck, ruffling the thick white mane. He leaned into my hand, closing his eyes briefly. “I’m sorry,” I said softly. Yin Jr. blinked his eyes open and looked at me, then dipped his head. I knew I had been forgiven.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Interestingly enough, the first trainer we encountered was a youngster whose first Pokémon was not the average starter, but a Ponyta. The boy proudly informed me that he had helped the Ponyta when there was a Skorupi attacking her, and she had been happy to enter a pokeball and become part of his team. It was pretty impressive, actually, that the Ponyta had been willing to enter his team – when he let her out, I could tell immediately that she was quite the feisty little one.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Go, Yin Jr.!” I cried, pointing. The boy’s eyes widened when he saw how well-muscled Yin Jr. was, but he pushed the anxiety out of his gaze and shouted, “Go get ‘em, Ponyta!” Apparently he was just as feisty as his Pokémon.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">His Ponyta reared up onto her hind legs, silver hooves glinting in the sun, and let out a whinny. When she was on all fours again, there was a fierce glint in her eyes. She locked eyes with Yin Jr.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He curled his lip slightly, giving the impression that he was sneering. It was typical of us to act like the bad guys so that the victories of the weaker trainers were more satisfying to them. Of course, it always came as a surprise when they came to the famous Jean and her Breeding Center to see that the well-known woman was that bully they’d defeated three years ago. I smiled a little, recalling the many reactions to that I had seen.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The boy grinned. “Okay, Ponyta, start the battle out with Inferno!” Inferno? Huh.<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> Apparently the boy was a novice, but his Pokémon was not. She’d have to be at least level 33 to know Inferno.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The Ponyta threw her head back and slammed her hooves into the ground. Her mane flared up, the fire growing brighter and larger, and suddenly it burst outwards towards Yin Jr. as a rush of flames.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">His red eyes widened briefly and he let out a yelp as the fire swirled around him before he could escape. I knew it would burn him, but Yin Jr. could live with a burn. We’d just have to be faster. A sly smile spread over my face – it had been a while since I’d had a challenging battle. “Yin Jr., use Psycho Cut!”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He glanced at me briefly, eyes flashing, then his long, curving horn glowed white. “Sol!” he roared, lunging for the Ponyta, and jerked his head in one swift, smooth move to release the crescent blades of light. They hurtled towards her and she whinnied in alarm and pain when the sharp blades struck her smooth cream pelt.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Yin Jr. turned to me, eyes glittering with excitement. To tell the truth, I was psyched – even though we would lose in the end of this battle, I intended to make it good. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The boy gritted his teeth and narrowed his eyes. “Ponyta, are you okay?” he called.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The Ponyta lifted her head and turned to face Yin Jr., chin high. She was a proud Pokémon, and surely wouldn’t let her trainer see that she was hurt. But Yin Jr. had held back a little bit, so she wasn’t bad.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Okay!” the boy cried. “Flame Wheel, quickly!”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Yin Jr., get in there first with Me first!” I yelled, hoping that the Ponyta didn’t have Flash Fire as her ability. He tossed his head and a ball of light appeared from the Ponyta, drifting to him. Then Yin Jr. ducked into a roll, flame from his burn swirling around him in a ball, and struck the Ponyta. It hit her, and hit her hard. Yin Jr. would have knocked her out if, at the last instant, he had turned slightly to the side so that he only hit her side.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then the Ponyta went. She was angry now, and so her attack was even more powerful – a critical hit. Yin Jr. staggered back, fur scorched.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“All right, quickly, before he can get up again, use Flare Blitz!” the boy announced

Wait, wait, Flare Blitz? Oh, Arceus – this isn’t a battle I should have pulled back on! This Ponyta is at least level 50 if she knows that move! I have to get Yin Jr. to start fighting hard! <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">My eyes widened.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The Ponyta reared up on her hind legs again and her mane and tail exploded into wildfire, blazing and churning powerfully. She slammed onto the ground again, lowered her head, and charged.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Yin Jr.!” I shrieked, alarmed. The Ponyta was angry – not because he’d hurt her but because by pulling back Yin Jr. had made her look weak! She was proud, and she wanted revenge!

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The Ponyta was about to strike him. In his unguarded state, Yin Jr. could be seriously injured. The boy had no idea what was going on, because the Ponyta was throwing up a lot of dust and smoke. Yin Jr. couldn’t get out of the way, and I wouldn’t be able to get his pokeball in time.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then, out of nowhere, another Absol appeared. It was little more than a white blur as it leaped into the cloud of dust. There was a squawk, a neigh of shock, and a yowl. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">When the dust cleared, the first thing I saw was red. Lots and lots of red.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Too much red.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan was poised in front of the Ponyta’s lifeless body, one red claw resting atop her flank and drenched in blood. His green eyes glittered coldly down at her, then flicked up to my face. A small smirk appeared on his crimson face, revealing his sharp teeth. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">From behind me, the little trainer boy screamed hysterically. It sounded as though he was very far away, or in a fog. A haze hung over my mind, and the only thing that got through was this:

How did he escape?

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It was impossible! No Pokémon had ever gotten out of the PC before without their trainer taking some part in it. There was no way  Satan could have gotten out.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">And yet here he was, white fur splashed with blood and eyes cruelly glad to see me.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I wish Max had returned before then, but he picked the worst time to come back. Satan had grown in the PC and was the size of Yin Jr. despite being so young. I had no idea how he’d escaped for a while, but then I visited the Viridian City Pokémon Center and found that their PC had been totaled somehow one night. There was a gaping hole in the screen. So whatever Satan had done to stay conscious while in the PC, he had managed to break out through the screen.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I refused to let him battle. He was always on my team, because I didn’t dare leave him anywhere outside of my sight, but I made sure that whenever I was going anywhere, I had my strongest Pokémon – save for Yin Jr. and Yang, as they had returned to the PC – with me. I couldn’t bear to let him kill another Pokémon, especially not with those moves. I had no way of knowing how the Ponyta died, and frankly I didn’t want to know.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">And so Satan stayed at level 10.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Until Max visited.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It had been close to two years since he’d last visited, but he hadn’t changed much – maybe a little bit more soft-spoken. I, however, had become much more cautious. Every time I had to battle someone, I shot nervous glances at Satan’s pokeball on my belt for fear he’d pop out and try to kill again. He hadn’t done so yet, but it was quickly forming into a habit.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I had five Pokémon eggs with me that I had just deposited in the hatchery, so the only Pokémon I had with me was Satan. In fact, I was on my way to the PC to withdraw my usual team, when Max appeared.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Jean,” a soft voice said from behind me. I shrieked in alarm. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Arms wrapped around my waist. “Whoa, there! Sorry about that! What’s got you so high-strung?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I couldn’t turn around. I couldn’t believe it was Max, finally, after so long. But I couldn’t mistake his voice for that of someone else.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Max!” I cried, spinning around and throwing my arms around his neck. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He smiled against my shoulder. “Hey, Jean.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I pulled out of the hug and aimed a gentle punch at his arm. “You jerk! Where have you been for the last two years?! I was worried you’d gotten hurt or killed!”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max’s eyes widened. “Killed! Aren’t you morbid today? Seriously, Jean, you’re on edge. Look at you – your shoulders are tense and your hand is hovering over your pokeball like you think someone’s going to attack.”

That’s not why my hand is near my pokeball, I thought nervously. What happens if I have to battle one of Max’s Pokémon with Satan? What if Satan kills one of them?<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> “Where were you? Tell me!” I insisted.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max held up his hands in defeat. “All right, all right. I actually went to Sinnoh and challenged the champion. Cynthia’s her name. She’s a pretty interesting lady, and a great trainer. I went there for fun, figuring that I’d just challenge her and probably lose but whatever, and then I defeated her and ended up having to do a lot of paperwork agreeing that she was still the champion, I wasn’t serious about it, etc. Until it was done, though, I had to act as the champion. Do you know how many kids challenge the champion every day? Way too many, I tell you.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">As soon as he complimented Cynthia, an involuntary pang of jealousy tore through me. Guess even two years apart doesn’t get rid of a crush,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I thought.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Some part of that pang must have shown on my face, because Max took my hands and smiled at me. “You’ve defeated me plenty, Jean, so that means you’re a better trainer than Cynthia. Not that you were worried about something so petty, right?” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I yanked my hands back to myself. “Right.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Hey, look, don’t be mad. At least I got back in time to watch the eclipse, right?” Max asked.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I stared blankly at him. Eclipse…?

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He laughed. “Wow. Whatever freaked you out must have impacted your reading abilities, too. It’s all over the news – there’s going to be a total eclipse of the moon tonight. Supposed to turn red. They’re calling it the ‘blood moon.’ I wanted to get back in time to watch it with you.” Blood moon? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Sounds… imposing, I guess,” I managed. An idea began to form in my mind.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“It’ll be awesome,” Max insisted. “Do you know what an eclipse of the moon looks like? It’s amazing. And the blood moon thing, when it turns red, is supposed to be pretty rare. You’re going to love it, Jean.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The idea I was considering was probably the cheesiest thing I’d even imagined, but who knew – maybe it would give Max a laugh to break the tension it would create. I was going to admit to him how I felt under the blood moon.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“And the Pokémon will love it too. They’ll be tired after a day of training, so it’ll be great to relax them,” Max added.

Wait – Satan! Oh, no. He’s all I have with me… <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Panic shot through me like a bullet.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Anyhow, speaking of training…” Max raised his eyebrows. “You ready for the battle? All I have today is Rayquaza. Figured the big guy could take some stretching.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Oh, Arceus, Max, I don’t know. The Pokémon I have with me… I was meaning to talk to you about him a while ago, actually, but then you didn’t come back.” I punctuated the last three words with a sharp poke to his chest. Max chuckled.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Ah, Jean, what’s wrong? Is he only level 60 or something?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“No,” I replied. “He’s level 10. And a shiny. And he’s… he’s murderous.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max’s eyes widened. “Pardon?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I took a deep breath. “When he first hatched, both Yin Jr. and Yang snarled and backed away from him. Yin Jr. even attacked me. When I was decorating a room for him, he wanted zombie wallpaper. The floor was red like blood. He bought lots of dolls and ripped them all limb-from-limb. When I was naming him, there was some part of my mind that against my will spoke out and suggested Satan. He liked it.” Max’s face was paling as I continued. “When I looked at his moves, the Pokedex said they were Limb Tear, Draw Blood, Slaughter, and Perish Song. I put him in the PC after that, and a month later he came back when Yin Jr. was in trouble in a battle. He killed the opponent. And he had broken out of the PC. And now… I keep him with me, because I’m too scared to leave him anywhere else.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max had green eyes like Satan’s, but they weren’t cold. They were wide and hid nothing. He was shocked.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Max?” I said carefully.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He blinked and shook his head rapidly a few times. “Um. I’m sorry, Jean… that’s a lot to take in. Guess those were the wrong two years to be gone, huh?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I laughed a little bit, but the laugh deteriorated into a half-sob pretty quickly. “Y-yeah.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“So listen,” Max said firmly. “Here’s what we do. I have Rayquaza with me, as you know. Level 100. Legendary. Extremely powerful moves. 404 HP. We put him versus Satan, level 10, maybe, what, 50 HP? He knocks out Satan, we put the little monster into the PC, he’s not able to fight his way out again because he’s knocked out. Thoughts?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I stared at him in astonishment. Of course! Why was I even worried about Satan versus Rayquaza?<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> “W-would you really, Max? I mean, Satan’s still going to draw blood somehow, surely, before he gets knocked out. He’s big for a young Absol, and he’s fast.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max held up the Ultra Ball he kept Rayquaza in. “Jean,” he told me seriously, “I have fought the most wild Pokémon with this guy. I’ve run through the Elite Four in all of the regions, four with him. I’ve fought many other legendary Pokémon with him. I can say with absolute sincerity that Rayquaza has seen bloody battles before. He will be perfectly fine with one or two new scars.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">We stood on either side of a battlefield. Each of us held a pokeball in our right hand, leaving the other one free. The sun was dipping below the horizon behind Max, making him appear as nothing but a silhouette. Points for dramatic opening,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I thought to myself, and held up Satan’s pokeball to look into it.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I could picture Satan inside it, looking out at me with those evil green eyes of his, maybe reaching up with one red claw and touching the surface of the pokeball.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Go, Satan,” I said softly, and pointed the pokeball out in front of me. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan appeared, red skin turned even more vivid by the auburn of the setting sun and white fur turned gold. He was facing me instead of Max, and his green eyes flickered icily at me.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Turn around,” I hissed under my breath. Satan narrowed his eyes and set his jaw, but complied so that his face was turned to the sun and his red, knifelike tail pointed at me. His horn glittered.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max threw the pokeball containing his massive Pokémon. “Rayquaza, come on out!”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The magnificent green legendary burst from its pokeball, roaring wrathfully and lashing its long, snakelike body. Its gaze turned down to Satan and I flinched at the scorn in its eyes. Don’t underestimate him. Please… don’t underestimate Satan or you’ll get hurt. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It was silly to worry, but I was still worried. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Rayquaza, use ExtremeSpeed!” Max shouted.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Rayquaza looked over its shoulder at its trainer almost disbelievingly. I noted that Satan’s muscles grew less tense as he saw the larger Pokémon’s distraction. Shrack!

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">A faint hissing sound, then a crack that split the air. One instant Satan was on his feet, relaxed, and the next he was overturned with his shoulder ripped open to the bone. Did Rayquaza… did it just break the sound barrier?<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I wondered in surprise. What else would make a crack like that?

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan, to his credit, didn’t cry out. He staggered to his paws again, leaning heavily on his uninjured leg, and lifted his chin to lock gazes with Rayquaza, who appeared to be in the same position as before. Rayquaza is unimaginably fast, <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I thought. And vicious. But Satan is still standing…

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max looked surprised, though whether it was at Rayquaza’s brutality or Satan’s endurance I couldn’t tell.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I didn’t know what to do then. Satan had to use a move, but I certainly didn’t want to choose any one of his moves.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I delayed too long. Satan chose for me.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He sprang at Rayquaza, who didn’t move out of the way though I knew he could easily have avoided the attack. The legendary was letting him get a free hit.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I knew at once that this must be “Draw Blood.” Satan dug his claws into Rayquaza’s flesh, gouging deep wounds that began to gush blood. When Satan landed on the ground, his hurt shoulder struck it hard and I saw his mouth begin to open as if to wail, but then he shut it with a snap when he saw me watching.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Rayquaza looked down at the cuts in its body as if surprised. Then it raised its head to glare at Satan. Max began to shout something, but the legendary was already acting. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It soared up into the air until it was little more than a dot in the sky. Satan leaped up at it futilely, trying to get in a hit while it flew away.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max stared up at where Rayquaza had vanished, puzzled. “I told him to use Hyper Beam,” he said in confusion. “Why is he using Fly?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">There was a sinking feeling in my gut. “He’s angry at Satan. Maybe because Satan didn’t act on an order, Rayquaza doesn’t think he needs to, either. I don’t know. Either way, he’s powerful enough to defeat Satan with this hit, surely.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max looked at the battlefield again, where Satan was struggling to stay upright. His teeth were clenched in pain and the white fur on his leg was stained red as blood streamed down its sleek surface.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then Rayquaza hurtled out of the sky, roaring, and slammed full-force into the ground. Chunks of earth and rock flew everywhere and dust clouds flew up.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">When the clouds cleared, there was a massive crater in the ground. Rayquaza’s tail hung out of it, drooping from exertion.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then Satan hopped nimbly out of the crater, apparently in the same condition, and shot me an arrogant look.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Max gaped. “What? How?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“He missed,” I growled.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Rayquaza put a claw on the edge of the hole and lifted itself out. While it attempted to get back into the air, Satan pounced on it and got a firm grip on the legendary’s arm with his teeth.

Oh, please no. Arceus, no. Don’t let him use Limb Tear.<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> My face went pale. <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan yanked as hard as he could, putting his front claws on Rayquaza’s slender green body to help him pull. I heard the POP as the arm was ripped out of its socket, then the  shrrrrp<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> as the flesh began to tear around the bone.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Rayquaza roared in agony, turned its head to face Satan, and began to form a ball of energy in its gaping jaws. Just as it did, Satan’s horn glowed white and extended… and sharpened. He was about to use Slaughter.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Max!” I screamed. “Run! Hyper Beam at such a close rang will kill us!” Not waiting to see if he followed my instructions, I turned and began to run as hard as I could.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I didn’t see the explosion, nor did I hear it. For an instant, there was a noise so loud I was sure my ears would just fly off – then everything went silent. The world around me turned white, and I was carried off my feet to land hard at least fifty feet away.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">For a while, I just lay there. Satan and Rayquaza could have been fighting, still – heck, for all I knew they could be sitting at a table playing card games. I hurt all over. My back was scorched badly from the explosion.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">At last, though, I felt something on my shoulder. I opened my eyes.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">All I could see was the dirt and grass right in front of my face. I didn’t dare turn around for fear it would bring agony.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The thing on my shoulder, whatever it was, pressed harder.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I struggled to move my jaw enough to speak. “Ssoh,” I hissed – the closest thing I could get to Stop.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The pressure on my shoulder increased, and I felt the burning pain begin. Three points in particular burned – three fingers?

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">No.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Three claws.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">The thing pressing on my shoulder… it was Satan’s claw.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I shifted my head slightly, trying to turn it so I could catch a glimpse of him. When I did, I felt a hot puff of air on my neck.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Sa-ahn,” I croaked.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Sol,” came the agreement.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“I can’t see you,” I managed.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Absol,” Satan growled. A red paw reached down under my face and turned it to the side for me, ignoring my yelp of pain, and then ignoring my yelp of fear.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan was drenched in blood and his fur was scorched – some of it burned away. The small gem on his forehead was shattered, shiny red bits scattered among the ruffled, blackened mess that was left of his head fur. Scratches crisscrossed his face – how he’d gotten them, I didn’t want to know – and his red horn no longer gleamed. Thick red blood oozed from its surface, dripping in splotches to the ground.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">But the worst part by far was his eyes.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I always liked green eyes. It was one of the things I liked in Max. It was one of the reasons I had started out liking Satan so much. Most shiny Absol have light blue eyes, but Satan’s eyes had been vivid jade. Even as cold and angry as they were, I’d still liked the eyes.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">And now they were gone.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Well, one was gone. It had… popped, I assumed, from the runny liquid that looked like egg white on his face. The other one was still there, but one of the scratches had dug into it so that what was left of the eye was torn open.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan couldn’t see me, I was sure, but he acted like he knew exactly where I was. To test it, I shifted my hand a little bit. His head jerked towards the movement.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“How can you see ee?” I asked, unable to form the word  me<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> without gaining more pain for my efforts. “You’re hlind.” I also couldn’t say  blind.

“Hmm. Didn’t you know when I was a baby? I have exceptional psychic powers.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Sa-ahn? Is aht you?” I rasped.

“Of course, Jean.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“You hahve sykik owers?” I whispered.

“Surely you didn’t think you’d come up with the name ‘Satan’ by yourself.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I closed my eyes again, resigned. Is that how it went? I don’t remember.

“DON’T YOU CLOSE YOUR EYES ON ME!” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">the voice in my mind roared. “I am SATAN, I am the DEVIL, I am ALL POWERFUL! YOU WILL NOT IGNORE ME!”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“Ihm sorry,” I croaked. It hurts to keep my eyes open.

“Too bad, Jean. Open your eyes again. Look at me. At what you did to me. You don’t have to talk,” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan continued. “Just think. I can catch what you’re thinking better than I can struggle to hear when you babble with your scorched tongue.”

Why do you know moves like those? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I thought, forcing my eyes open again. They burned.

“I don’t know, Jean. I was born knowing them. I wanted to tear. I wanted to draw blood. And I wanted to slaughter. But I didn’t think you’d like me if I was like that, so I satisfied my urges another way.”

The room?<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I asked mentally. Was it the room?

“Yes!”<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> he exclaimed mentally, sounding – thinking? – pleased. “The room! I thought that it would be fun to have a room like that. And maybe you would figure it out. I thought that easing you into it would be easier than letting you see my moves and going crazy.”

And I didn’t get it,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I thought.

“No, unfortunately, you didn’t get it. So I tried again. I really liked the name Satan, you know. I mean, I would have asked for it anyway. But right then, what I really wanted was for you to realize that I had some darker nature. I used my psychic powers to plant the thought in your mind. But then…” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan’s claws dug cuts into the ground angrily. “You didn’t get it then, either! But at least you named me what I wanted to be named.”

Are you blaming me for being oblivious? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I thought, not sure what was happening.

“No. I’m not blaming you for <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">that, not at all.” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan shook his head, then lay down onto his haunches so his face was closer to mine. “What I blame you for is putting me into the PC after you found out about my moves. You overreacted. If you hadn’t done that, maybe you could have just fought battles with my moves. Eventually I would try to learn normal Absol moves. Besides, you didn’t have to use Slaughter. I would be gentle with Draw Blood, I swear.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I lay still, not thinking anything, not sure where this was going. When Satan didn’t communicate anything else, I asked,  How did you escape the PC?

“Oh, good question!” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan’s face brightened. “Very good! Well, I loved you so I figured it was just temporary. I thought you just had to breed some other Pokémon. But then…”<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> His face twisted into a snarl of rage. “You didn’t come back for me. So I got angry. I fought. You don’t need to know anything else, Jean. Don’t worry about it.”

How did you stay awake in the PC? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I demanded.

“Huh. We’re done talking about this, Jean. Ask me something different.”

Tell me how you got out of the PC! <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I insisted frantically. The conversation – if you could call it that – was leading to places I didn’t want to go.

“No, Jean. Ask me something else, or I’ll have to go to drastic measures.”

Um.<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I tried to think of something else to ask him about. Why did you kill the Ponyta?

“Another good question,” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan thought. He lay his head down on his paws and closed the lids over his horrible eye and gaping socket. “It was attacking my father. I was worried about him. I thought he was going to die, so I jumped in. Now I have a question for you. Why is he named Yin Jr.? Was there a Yin?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Tears sprang up in my eyes then, feeling like acid on my burnt face. I hadn’t thought of Yin in a while, and suddenly I was caught up in the rush of memories – Yin charging into battle with the Elite Four, Yin watching protectively over his son’s egg, Yin curled around little me at night to protect me from nightmares.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan had opened his “eyes” again and there was a look of interest on his face. “He was my grandfather?”

Yes,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I thought at last. He was the best Pokémon I ever had. Better than Yin Jr., even. My best friend. He was at my side for every step of my training journey. And then… just a little while after I founded the Breeding center… he died of old age.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan was silent for a while. Then he reached out with one bloodstained paw and touched my arm gently. “Sol.”  “I’m sorry.”

There’s nothing to be sorry for. That was almost twelve years ago.<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I closed my eyes for an instant but immediately snapped them open again, fearful of incurring Satan’s wrath.

“It still hurts you, though. I can tell. You miss him every day, even if you don’t think of him. Did you bury him in Lavender Town?”

No,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I replied bitterly. I buried him here.

“Really?” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan’s thoughts sounded very interested. “There have been spirits hanging around here, but one of them was an Absol. He avoided me, but he liked to hang around my father. I always sensed him.”

You saw Yin? You could tell he was there? Is he here? Did he see this? Did he ever talk to you? Did he ever talk about me? Did he come near me? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">My thoughts were wild. To think that Yin was still here…! It was almost unimaginable.

“Oh, yes. I saw him. And he is here… he saw this. He’s never spoken to me. He won’t come within twenty feet of me most of the time, except now. You can probably talk to him now if you want, actually. Since I’ve opened your mind to psychic connection, there might be some link between the two of you. I won’t bother to explain the details, because you won’t understand any of them. Just wait a second. Maybe he’ll talk.”

Wait! He’s here? Now?

“Yes. After the explosion, he came over to you. What’s that? Yes, you can talk.” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">For a moment, I didn’t know who Satan was talking to. Then he stood up and backed up a few feet, then sat down and watched me with his head tilted.

“Jean.”

Oh. Is that… Yin?

“Jean. It’s me.”

Yin! Can I see you? Are you okay? Why are you still here? Please help me!

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">A faint mist drifted into my field of vision, partially obscuring Satan with its pale blue and white form. “I’m a ghost, Jean. There’s not really ‘okay’ if you’re dead. As for why I’m still here… when your father died, I made a promise that I would always watch over you. I did that as long as I could, and once I died I kept it up. I didn’t want to leave you here.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Tears streamed down my face. Help me up! Please, I can’t move any. Can you get someone? Is Max okay? What does Satan want?

“Jean, be calm. Please.” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">It sounded strained. Cold dread crept through my body. “I can’t touch you, Jean. I’m dead, remember. And no one else can see me.” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">He stopped there.

Is Max okay? Tell me he’s okay! <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">My eyes widened as the mist that appeared to be Yin began to turn red. What’s happening to you?

“Hush, Jean. Nothing is happening. There’s a blood moon tonight, remember? It’s reflecting off of the image I’ve projected.” Is Max okay? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I persisted.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Yin was silent for a long while. Finally he thought,  “No. I’m sorry. He didn’t hear you over the explosion and he didn’t get away in time.”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">“No!” I wailed aloud. He can’t be dead! Not Max! I loved him!

“I know, Jean. I’m so sorry. But he didn’t feel any pain. The blast killed him instantly.” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Then, much fainter – almost as though Yin was talking to himself – I heard,  “If only the same could be said for you.”

Yin? Do you… do you want me to die?

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Yin stared at me for a long time, his misty eyes huge with pity. “I didn’t mean for you to hear that, Jean. It’s… it’s Satan. The Breeding Center was destroyed, and the PC with it. He’s the only Pokémon you own now.” No…

“Although that doesn’t quite work either. But Jean… he loved you and you didn’t love him. He means to kill you. I don’t want you to be hurt.” Let him kill me then. What do I have to live for now? Everything I’ve worked for has been destroyed by Satan. My friends. My home. My love.

“He can’t kill you with three of his moves. Ghosts can’t touch you unless they’re very, Jean, and three of his moves are physical. And he’s weakening.”

Ghosts? <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I blinked hard, as though the issue was with my eyes. Are you telling me…

“Yes. That Hyper Beam was released just as Satan used Slaughter and killed Rayquaza. His body was torn apart in the flow of energy, but his spirit remained. He had a powerful reason to defy total death, just as I did. But his reason is far less honorable.” He wants revenge, <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I thought.

“Yes,”<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> Yin agreed. He didn’t bother to deny it. “Only one move will work on you now.”

Perish Song, right?

“That’s right. I’m so sorry, Jean, but I can’t protect you from a move like that. He’s going to die so that you die. Jean, I’m sorry. I love you.”

“That’s enough now, grandfather.”<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> Satan’s stronger voice broke through Yin’s thought. “Enough inspirational talks. I assume you’ve told her what my intentions are?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Yin’s misty form began to dissolve, breaking into a wispy red cloud that drifted upwards towards the blood moon. “Goodbye…”

“Now that he’s not hanging over you, we can get this done.”<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> Satan tilted his face down towards me and I cringed at the sight of his eyes. “If it bothers you this much, I can bring my eyes back. This is just an echo of my form – not defined by any natural laws like my physical form was.”

Please,<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;"> I begged. Bring your eyes back. I don’t want to see the socket. Please.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Satan was weakening now, I saw. His form, which had been solid to the point that I had mistaken it as a physical body, was wavering at the edges. I could barely make out the trees behind it. But he was strong enough to return his normal form. The blood on his pelt was bleached into white, the patches that were burnt away or scorched were restored to normal, and the gashes across his face shrank into red skin, which grew and healed over them. The eye socket and injured eye clouded over until they were milky white. Satan closed his eyes, and when he opened them again, his green eyes were back.

“There you go. Back to my own lovable self. You know what happens now?”

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I nodded. You sing.

“Good job. Sleep well, Jean. You may close your eyes now.” <span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">I didn’t close my eyes, but stared up at Satan’s as he opened his jaws and sang.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">A lilting melody filled the air, beautiful and terrible all at once. Satan would not look at my eyes as he sang. By the end of the song, though, both my eyelids and his were drooping. I was so tired.

<span style="font-family:Verdana,sans-serif;line-height:19.5px;">Just before I closed my eyes, I looked straight into his eyes and he into mine. So much green…

This is yet another Pokepatsa from the DeviantArt Writer RainyDazeWriter.