It was just a regular sunny day, like all the days before during the summer. The weather was getting colder, and the village’s crops were ready to harvest. 

I was heading back home from training outside the village, when a terrifying rumble shook the ground. The bright blue sky was shrouded in dark ashy smoke and my head spun from a horrible monstrous bellow.

A massive rock monster oozing lava loomed over the village. Everyone was frantically screaming and running everywhere, trying to get away from the flaming boulders falling onto the buildings. 

I was far away enough to just run and survive, but I had to find my little sister. I managed to find our house, which was ablaze from a massive burning boulder.  I heard her cries over the roaring flames. I shoved myself through the partially collapsed doorway and saw her pinned by a burning bookcase. I managed to get her out, and I ran past the monster down the road away from our home…

Tiker gasped, lurching up from sleep in a cold sweat. He took a moment to catch his breath, grasping his shirt, feeling his heart thudding. He looked at his sister’s two large black and yellow ears sticking out beside him from under the shared blanket. She breathed steadily in her sleep, which made the teenager relax. He looked around at the small cave’s dark interior that smelled of cold, wet dirt. He ran a hand through his short dark fluffy hair, feeling light-headed. Was the disaster just a dream? As much as he wanted to believe that, the burns on his hands and arms reminded him that it was real.

Rain was pouring heavily outside the cave. Tiker couldn’t sleep so he moved towards the cave’s entrance to peek out, the dirt cold and rough under his bare feet. Thunder rumbled softly in the dark storm while occasional gusts of wind blew down the road towards the village, or whatever was left of it. Tiker squinted through the rainy night to try seeing any signs of survivors. Tears stung his eyes as he realized that he and his sister might be the only ones left. The teen clutched his legs as thoughts raced through his mind while shivering from the cold. He only had a battered t-shirt and shorts which were his training wear for the summer. The edges of his shirt sleeves were burnt and soot was streaked all over. 

Aside from his frantic curiosity about where the monster came from and why it emerged, a massive haunting thought loomed over him: 

Where are the Elite teams? 

Despite being in a remote village, he and his sister knew all about the Elite teams because their adoptive father is a member of Team Hydra, who deals with firefighting. Did the monster attack other places before the village, which made the teams late… or worse? Tears streamed down the teen’s face as his dread grew, but his sister stirred behind him because of his brightening tail light. Oh shoot! he thought as he grasped it, trying to block the glow. 

“Nnn… Tiker? Did something happen?” The young Pichu sat up rubbing her face.

“Sorry Pips, I couldn’t sleep. I was hoping… that people would come…” Tiker sniffed and wiped his face, wincing at the irritated burns on his arms and hands. 

“Um… how’s your back?” he asked as he knelt on the blanket. His tail settled down to a dim glow, filling the cave with gentle yellow light.

“Itchy.” She squirmed a little. She wore the same clothing as her brother, but her shirt had more burn marks and holes in the back.

“Ok… I think there’s a bit of *cough* burn heal left…” Tiker opened the sachel that he found in the cave. It was full of healing sprays that were made in the city, which added to the teen’s already heavy pile of thoughts, but he focussed on his main thought for Pippa to get better. The one container of burn heal had a tiny amount left to use on the angry burn patches on his little sister’s back. The spray made the burns settle to a rough leather-like texture. It was better than nothing. Pippa thanked her brother with a small smile that faded as she glanced at his arm burns.

“Well that’s the last of it,” The teen put the empty container back inside the satchel then rubbed at his chest. His voice felt dry and rough, as if it wasn’t used in months. “We should leave soon—” Tiker’s voice got caught by a coughing fit making him slouch over and turn away. Pippa scrambled to grab her brother’s bag and pulled out a half-full water bottle he kept with him for training. “Here!” She held the bottle up for him, while stifling her own cough. 

Tiker gasped as he recovered, nodding before taking the bottle. After he took a couple small sips, he handed the bottle back to her. “You have some too,” he rasped. 

Pippa shook her head, pushing the bottle back. “No! Drink more!” She had to push the words since her own throat felt clogged with harsh dryness.

Tiker couldn’t refuse his little sister’s pouty face, or her big coal-black eyes stubbornly boring into him. He drank a couple small gulps this time, which did help. “We could rest here for a little longer but…” he paused as he glanced around in the cave then back at the entrance, “But we’ll have to leave soon to get more supplies.”

“But what about dad…?” Pippa asked after she drank the rest of the water.

Tiker sighed as he rested his back against the stone and dirt wall, clutching at the blanket. “I don’t know if he’ll come here…or anyone…” Tiker’s dread weighed heavier. “Maybe that monster got everyone…”

“No! You can’t believe that!” Pippa’s little red cheeks fizzled as she hopped to her feet to shove her brother’s shoulder. “We can’t give up on them! Can’t we wait a little longer?”

The Raichu sighed. “I… know how you feel… but we should get somewhere safe to wait.”

“Huh? But this cave is already safe.” Pippa tilted her head.

“I don’t really think it is. I found a bag of medicine sprays from the city in this cave, along with the blankets. I don’t think the teams left those here. Maybe they were left by the same people who released that monster…” 

The thought said out loud sounded strange to the teen, yet believable enough.

Pippa paused to think, also slightly believing it. “Okay,” She said, “We should go…” She started awkwardly folding the blanket. “Um, where will we go?”

Tiker was putting the medicines into his backpack, his brow furrowed with focus. His small curly ears lifted a little. “I think dad said there was a big town past the forest. He said he was going to take us there one day…” The teen trailed off as his fear returned. He sighed. “Maybe we will meet him there.” The teen said flatly, his puffy eyelids feeling heavy. Pippa could only nod with a hopeful but uneasy smile. 

Outside the cave, Tiker slung on his backpack and piggybacked Pippa wrapped in the blanket.  Pippa refilled the bottle with rainwater gathered in a leaf. Some of it splashed on the teen’s head, the cold helping the teen to stay awake. The rain had eased a little bit, but it was still fairly dark out. The siblings tried to look in the distance towards the town, their former home. 

There were thin trails of smoke coming from black vague shapes of ruined buildings surrounded by thin sticks of burnt trees and a gaping hole in the main path where the monster came from. Tiker forced himself to look away and started walking down the muddy path towards the forest.

— — —

A figure moved between the charcoal corpses of trees, fully clothed in black from his head to his large finned tail. The air had a strange scent of smoke and soaked earth. The figure stepped out into the open by a crumbled brick wall streaked with soot. He placed a hand on it and sighed a little.

The figure flinched as his communicator device vibrated in his pocket. As he scrambled to turn it off, he heard strange beeping sounds. He crept into the ruined building and peeked over a shorter wall, the massive pit in sight. Blinking lights of many colors flashed from the pit before three torso-sized shapes floated out. Each one was shaped differently but they all had one large central eye and two warped magnet appendages.

The mites seemed to look around at the wreckage for a moment before exchanging blips and blinks with each other. The hidden figure took off his fitted hood, revealing a dark afro and a head stalk with two glowing orbs. The figure waited patiently until the mites were clustered together, then emitted an odd blurb of light that floated around the three mites. Each of their eyes became blank and their lights stopped as they floated idly. The figure’s headlight glowed as he gestured lifting upward with his hands. The dead-eyed mites started using their magnets to wrap psychic energy around chunks of rubble to move them aside.

While the mites were occupied, the figure marched towards the tip of the cliff overlooking the vast ocean. The sun was just cresting over the horizon, blocked by clouds of the long passed storm. The sky was slowly brightening with faint orange over light dusty blue. The figure looked down at the ocean frothing among pointed rocks. The distinctive pitch black outline of the monster lay lifeless intertwined in the spires, ocean water flowing into its gaping maw. 

The figure’s eyes squinted angrily as he looked back to the ruins. A small crowd of survivors had gathered in the centre, their eyes also blank. The figure’s expression softened as he walked to the crowd. 

A frazzled Bidoof in tattered clothing clambered out of a wreckage. “Oh…? I’m saved?” His voice wavered hopefully. “Who di—” A mite hovered in front of the man’s face and flashed the same odd light. “W-wha…? Where am I…?” His face and voice became blank and he sluggishly stepped to the group. 

Sorry Baroff… It’s better this way. The figure thought, his eyes full of regret. He then looked over the gathering. Despite actual survivors existing in front of him, his fists clenched and he trembled with anger.

They aren’t here… The figure’s headlight started glowing incredibly bright. That damn thing… it took them from me!

A strange beam emitted from the figure’s lights, blasting the three mites. They all thudded to the ground, their eyes glazed over in a faint. With an enraged grunt, the figure kicked the mites into a wreckage pit. There’s more where that came from. 

The figure sighed and became solemn again as he turned to the crowd. “Come with me everyone,” he said with a jaded voice, “I’ll take you all to your new home.”

With his headlight glowing brightly, he led the survivors out of the ruins up the path towards the forest.