Night had fallen, shrouding the land in darkness. It was a good time for a hunt. She was a beast who had covered herself in a dark bag of trash, a predator seeking her prey. She stuck whatever else she could find onto her spines and thick horn. It served to enshroud her, and gave a little extra protection.
She lied in wait. There was bound to be a fool out at this hour. That was just their way. Indeed, it did not take long until she found a target. Prowling around with a big sparking cat. It stood tall on four legs, with a proud mane, a long tail that shined, and black and blue fur. She was about to beat it until it was red as well.
The enslaver was excitedly chattering about some nonsense she paid no heed to. The feline answered sharply and affirmatively. The stupid slave that it was. They passed by, ignorant to her hiding in the narrow recess. They got only a few steps further before she struck.
A shadowy power swelled in her claws as she unleashed a slash across the cat’s backside. It roared in pain before she drove her horn straight beneath its tail, knocking it prone.
Its owner scampered away and started shouting as she chomped down on its body. Words she didn’t care about, until the proverbial order: “{Thunderbolt!}”
The tail of her prey started glowing before it discharged electricity. She growled as it coursed through her, but the garbage shielded her from the brunt of it. She delivered an unempowered slash that the slave managed to only be nicked by.
“What do think you’re–” the hapless slave coughed from the poison circulating in its body, but she was in no mood to make conversation.
“Shut up and die!”
The darkness manifested in her claws once more. She lunged with the intent to hurt. Fur and more went flying as she struck hard and precise. The slave fell, roaring and writhing in agony. The deed was done and it only took seconds. She ran off victorious, having punished another.
The fool had another imprisonment sphere in hand, barely caring for their slave, but it was much too late to stop her. While making her escape, she heard them gag in horror. They shouted a horrid realization.
“{That was the Demon!} {Help!}”
##########
Twelve-year-old Nori Carino was sitting across from his mom in their trailer, enjoying their dinner. Their resemblance to each other was very apparent in their complexion and their hair. It was more apparent when her black hair wasn’t done up in a ponytail; his was barely neck-length and chestnut, but they grew the same way. Her eyes were an earthy brown to his deep red, but they also had a similar softness in them.
“Just ramen tonight, huh?” the boy asked, stirring it with his fork. There weren’t even any crackers to eat the broth with or vegetables on the side.
“Sorry, Nori,” his mom said, lowering her head slightly. “Money is a little short right now.”
“Huh, that’s rare. Did you overspend by accident?” She didn’t answer this, and instead started to dig into her meal. Probably did, he figured, as he twirled his own and got into it.
They were low income, surviving only on the assistance they got from the government each month. They could only afford so much power in the trailer each day, which they reserved for cooking and heat during cold nights.
Their home was a compact but fully functional space: a master bed at the back end, a bunk above the vehicle’s seats, and a third near the middle right where they were sitting if you folded down the table and pulled a center segment out. Directly across was the sink, with the bathroom behind a door to the right. There was little room for anything except what was built into the vehicle, and whatever you could cram into the closets and drawers.
It was a life that shocked some of his peers, but they made everything work. It wasn’t like there was nothing they could do for fun. He liked getting out and exploring around town; he was pretty athletic, only held back from really making something of it by his short legs. Otherwise, they could find entertainment at the library and on the trailer’s radio.
“Turning to local news now,” the reporter said. The news was one of his favorite things to listen to, behind only radio dramas. “The Master of the Kannagi Shrine is in town! Haruto Kannagi was spotted heading to city hall yesterday afternoon. The purpose for his visit has not yet been revealed, but speculation is that they will be hosting a festival in Veilstone in the near future. We have not been able to get in contact with Master Haruto, but witnesses reported seeing notorious youth protester Louis Trussell speaking with the shrine’s heir in a supermarket earlier today.”
His mom snorted. “Go figure,” she said with a roll of her eyes. “Damn religion trying to creep its way in here and ruin our festivals.”
“Maybe it’s just for a religious thing,” Nori remarked. If it was, they wouldn’t have to worry since they wouldn’t go anyway. He didn’t hate religion like his mom, but he didn’t care for it either. Though it’d be kind of annoying if they tried to push it on him like one would-be friend did. That aside, he couldn’t help but chuckle. “I wasn’t expecting to hear about Louis on the news like that.”
His mom arched an eyebrow, turning to the radio and back to him. “Isn’t he that one who runs that YAMS group or whatever it’s called?”
“Yeah, but they mean well,” he told her. “They actually started it as an anti-bullying group at school, a couple months before they graduated.” He took another bite of noodles. Louis and his friends probably continued helping others at their middle school.
They actually stuck up for him once when he was in third grade. He remembered it well, mostly for the look on the face of his former nemesis. Not that he needed the help to deal with him, but it was priceless seeing Louis and Mariko show up and tell off that rich idiot.
“If you say so.” His mom shrugged. “Doesn’t really affect us.”
“I guess not,” he agreed. Louis was three years older than him, so it wasn’t like they were going to see each other in middle or high school. Still, he spoke with the heir of a religious shrine? He was genuinely curious as to what Louis wanted to talk to them about. Or why the heir had even bothered. Wouldn’t they have had better things to be doing?
They continued to eat in silence for several minutes after that. Once his mom was finished, she sat back in contemplation. He could tell, because whenever she did, she always looked upward with a finger on her lips.
“Say, Nori?” she spoke up.
Nori finished the last bite of noodles. There was just the broth left. She was looking right at him with pursued lips and a serious gaze. “Yeah, ma?”
She leaned over the table slightly. “Have you thought about what you want to do yet? Any goal to work towards?”
“Not yet. But like I said, anything’s fine as long as I’m making a difference in the world.” He wished he could be going out and making a difference right now, like Louis was. But he supposed there were few ways someone as young as him could do that.
“Well, what about being a Pokemon Trainer?” she suddenly lobbed.
He blinked. Where was this coming from, all of a sudden?! “Ma, you know I don’t want to!” he said, his fists clenching involuntarily. “You know I already said no to that back then! You know…”
He shut his eyes as bad memories came flooding back. There was a time when he could have gone on a journey, but he said no. He stupidly said no. Nori wished he hadn’t. Even if it would’ve wasted months of his life that he’d have to make up in school.
He vigorously shook his head. “I don’t care. I can’t go back on that! It wouldn’t mean anything, anyway!”
“It’s fine, I was just asking,” his mom said, raising a hand. “It was just something I’d thought about.”
Nori crossed his arms and turned away. “Fine.”
“Anyway, I’m going to go finish this book,” she said, grabbing the romance novel from the sill. “It’s due in two days, and I only just started.”
He nodded at her. It was a good thing she was a quick reader. “Okay. Thanks for dinner, ma.”
As she left and closed the curtain on her bed area, the boy sat back with a heavy sigh. Talk about having your mood spoiled.
What a stupid idea. Sure, a bunch of kids his age, older ones, and even adults went out trying to make it big in training Pokemon or anything else like it. But few ever succeeded. You had to work at it, and probably fail anyway because of someone too strong who was at it for longer than you. He didn’t want to get into that competitive stupidness, and their budget made it hard to own one. After all, you had to care for them afterward.
He could do anything with his life if he put his mind to it. He could be a doctor, or a lawyer, or a newsanchor, or even just help others like Louis was doing. But a Pokemon Trainer? No. He hoped that was the last time she ever brought that up, but a rising pit in his stomach warned him otherwise.
