Tales of Tengetsu
The tale of a young man named Dominic through the land of Tengetsu. (Work in Progress)
Chapter One: Memories of Orre
It was approaching dawn when Dominic heard the frantic knocking at his door.
"HEY DOMINIC!"
It was Shaun...again. Dominic rolled over so he could see out his window. 'OH COME ON!" he thought to himself, 'it's not even daybreak yet and Maria wants'Just ingore him Dominic, he'll go awayHe heard the knocking again.
"I'm coming I'm coming," Dominic yawned back. 'This is just great,' thought Dominic, 'I'm getting ordered around by a 10-year-old kid, going to work nearly an hour early, and all after I stayed up fixing everything from last night after the Red Suns came by to collect their protection money' as he begrudging got dressed; dawning his dad's old worn jacket aon his way to the door.
"What does Maria want me to do today kid?" asked Dominic smugly as he swung the front door open to reveal the scrawny, sickly looking blonde kid. He couldn't help but feel a slight connection to the kid since Maria had taken both of them in.
"There is no time for jokes right now! Now come on, it's urgent!" Shaun almost whimpered. Dominic was starting to notice something in Shaun's voice now. Was it anger? Frustration? Immpateince?
"What happened?" Dominic asked worringly, putting the thought aside to deal with this new issue.
"It's The Red Suns, they're looking for Mar-" suddenly Shaun's sentence was cut short by the sound of a gunshot...and a women screaming. Now he understood the sound in Shaun's voice...it was fear.
Dominic pulled Shaun into his shack and began to panic. This was not good, usually as long as they kept the payments up, The Red Suns kept the damage minimal and the death count to zero. Something must have gone wrong last night.
"SHIIT" Dominic screamed as he tried to make sense of what was happening, "Didn't Maria gave them their bribe money yesterday?" He said turning back to Shaun, only to see the small boy now cowering in the courner of Dominic's shack. "Dammit!" Domminic said glaring at Shaun, "what the hell is going on!"
After a few seconds of silence Shaun answered, nearly crying as he did, "I don't know, I was walking back to Maria's after running to get her some Poffins for Fang when the Red Suns ran past me," Shaun said now crying, "I didn't know what to do so I ran here as fast as I could."
He walked over to shaun and knelt down in front of the now bawling Shaun. "I'm sorry I yelled kid, I was just freaking out," said Dominic as he faked a smile. 'I have to stay calm,' thought Dominic, 'I have to go check on Maria.'
He stood up and and leaned down to Shaun, putting on the best tough gu façade, "I'm going to go to Maria's, but you need to just stay here and and wait for me to get back."
Shaun simply wiped his eyes off and nodded.
Finally mustering up the courage to head out, Dominic opening the ragged door to the shack and went out into the town. He looked around at the rundown buildings and the trash that littered the street. He began walking down the street toward Maria's home, also known as City Hall. As he walked down the path he noticed many other residents of Pyrite trying to figure out the source of the gun shot, and among them was a fourteen-year-old girl wearing a white t-shirt, jeans, and wearing her black hair up in a ponytail. He knew her, but from were?
"Hey!" he screamed as he ran up to the girl, "Do I know you?" He couldn't place it, but he knew that he had seen her before, and for some reason, she had a worried look on her face.
"Dominic? Is that you?" said the girl said as she turned to face him.
"Yes, and who are you?" said Dominic, trying to hide the embarrassment of not recognizing the woman stading in front of him.
"It's me! Ashley! Maria's daughter!" said Maria said angryly, "DO YOU HONESTLY NOT REMEMBER ME?"
"No, not really, but nevemind that now, where is your mother?" Dominic responded getting back to business, he had to go see what the Red Suns were going in Pyrite, and looking for Maria no less.
"Why do you ask? You don't think that those Red Suns were after her do you?" asked Ashely with an even more worried look now.
"I-uh-well-Shaun told me that-uh", 'I don't think I can break it to her that her mom might be hurt,' thought Dominic worriedly, 'I god what I wouldn't do for a distra-" suddenly his thoughts were interupted by a woman screaming. Suddenly everyone started running toward the source of the second scream.
"THAT CAME FROM CITY HALL!" shrieked Ashley as she took of toward her home.
"You got to be kidding me, this is not what I meant by a distraction!" groaned Dominic as he ran after Ashley and the rest of the town.
After a few minutes of weaving through Pyrite, finally came across city hall. Starding there was crowd of people yelling and screaming gathered outside of what of the run-down building. As they started to make their way through the crowd Dominic started hearing what sounded like a man yelling, but couldn't tell over the roar of the crowd. They finally broke through to the front of the mass of people are Dominic could believe what he saw before him.
In front of him was a truley gruesome scene. Straight in front of him were several Red Son grunts and one Sun Elite, competely cut off from the crowd by a semi circle of Garchomp and Solrock nipping and growling at the crowd to keep them at bay. Several feet from the Elite lay Maria, with a gunshot wound in her stomache being treated by Nurse Joy and her Chancey, as she spat curses at the Suns as he comtinued shouting at the townspeople.
"...YOU SAD PIECES OF SHIT SHORTED US ¥850000! NOW THE BOSS BACK HOME WANTS HIS MONEY, SO ARE YOU FINE FOLKS HERE GONNA DENY HIM HIS MONEY WILL YOU," he asked smirking, "NOW IF YOU DON'T WANNA COOPERATE WITH US, WE'LL JUST HAVE TO SHOW YOU THE STRENGTH OF THE RED SONS OF ORRE!"
"I'm so sorry sir! We can't raise enough money to pay you right now," whimpered Maria through harsh breaths, "I gave you all we had. Please forgive us. We'll pay you the rest next time I swear!" It was truly a terrible sight, and something needed to be done about this, but Dominic couldn't find the courage to help her, he simply held on to Ashley's hand as hard as he could and closed his eyes waiting for the inevitable kil shot to come.
"NO! No more rain checks, no more IOUs, the boss wants his money now!" the grunt snarled, "you've got one hour to get it in my hand or else you won't see tomorrow." Suddenly the crowd grew silent, realizing the true wieght of the situation at hand....they were going to kill her.
Then without warning a red blur made it's way through the mass of people, and spirnging into the air, and lating itself onto the Elite's right arm. The crowd stood in complete silnce as Maria's Growlithe Fang continued to naw into the Sun's arm.
"GET THIS DAMN MUTT OF ME!" screamed the Red Sons Elite as his lackeys attempted to pry of the puppy pokemon. As they through the small dog to the ground it intantly ran up inbetween the Elite and it's owner. The Elite simplied glared at the thing as we wiped the pokemon's salivea off his arm.
"You little FUCK! I hope to got that mutt of yours doesn't have rabies Maria, or else it too can join you in the PokeCenter!" He snarled at Maria, instantly silencing everyone as they waited to see what would happen next. The growlithe stood there, eyes focused on the Elite, just waiting for his master to issue an attack.
Seeing the Growlithe tencing up for another go, he decided to bring his spectable to a glorious end. "Fine then, if you can't pay the extra cash, I guess I'll just have to take out my frustration another way." He then raised his gun up and pointed it toward Maria again. "You shorted us on your last payment you stupid cunt, do you have any last words before I take the rest of it out of your skull?"
"STOP NOW! THIS HAS GONE TO FAR, NOW GET THE HELL OUT OF MY TOWN AND NEVER SHOW YOUR SORRY FACES HERE AGAIN!"
They crowed grew deathly silent and Dominic opened his eyes wondering who made the bold, assine statement. THEY WERE LOOKING AT HIM! His heart began to race, he he really just said that? Had he really just questioned the Red Suns authority? No wait, that was a girls voice that said that..meaning. He slowly turned to his side to see Ashley glasreing up at the Elite with a look in her eyes that Dominic had never seen before, but as he looked closer he say that she was nearly o nthe verge of tears at the same time. Feeling the weight of everyone's eyes on her, Ashley look down and finished her statement, tears now streaming down her face as she screamed at the Red Sun, "...I you kill her stupid, no good, low down, piece of shi-" but then she suddenly stopped her rant mid sentence.
The grunt had now turned the barrel of the gun toward Ashley, smirking trying to hold in the urge to take her out then and there. "You think your so tough hey girlie? I wonder if you can stop a bullet?"
And that had finally been enough for Dominic, he snapped out of his daze and lept in front of his childhood friend "If you want to get to her, you have to go through me first." The second the words left his lips he knew he had made a bad choice, but he couldn't just stand by as Ashley died. He could never live with himself if he just stood by and watched as his friends die.
"Oh look fellas, another kid who thinks he can take us eh? Well I'll give you this kid, you got guts and for that, I won't kill you and your little girlfriend here." said the grunt. As the Red Sun said the words, Dominic started to feel a sense of relief, but the Red Sun quickly stole it away, "Who knows maybe you'll make a fine Red Sun someday kid," finished the grunt, "but until then...", the grunt turned the gun back at Maria, eyes still locked with Dominic's.
Dominic couldn't help but look as he say the man pull the trigger, smiling the whole time...
Chapter 2: Arrival
"MARIA!" screamed Domic as he sprung up. He look around the room quickly trying to remember where he was at, and what he was doing there. "Ok, calm down Dominic," he reminded himself, "it's all good, you're still in the S.S. Tobomory's cargo bay heading for the newly discovered Tengetsu Region." He sat got up from the cot he had been sleeping on and streached, noteing he was still breathing quite haviley and sweating perfusely from the dream. It had been nearly two years since Maria had died at the hand of The Red Suns, yet he still has nightmares about it. "Ehh, why can't I just forget about it already," he moaned as he sat down on crate rubbing his temples. He sighed and got up from the crate and walked over to the cot, reaching under it to pull out his own bag of belongings he had brought with him. He tossed it up on the cot.
"Well, now that I'm up I might as well get dressed," he said as he dumped the bag of all the useless junk he had scrounged up from Pyrite before he left. Looking over what little he had depressed him a bit. 'What the hell am I doing here?' he thought. After much deliberation he decided to go with a worn jeans and black t-shirt with a grey undershirt. As Dominic continued getting deressed he began to wonder what Tengetsu will be like, 'I wonder if it will be anything like Pyrite at all? Maybe there will be shops and resturants, or better yet, even a Pokecenter" he said almost giddy with anticipation, finally putting the thoughts of his restless night behind him, 'wait, isn't Tengetsu inhabited by Pokemon? Finally, I'll get to see more that the Suns' Solrocks and Fang...wait a second...OH SHIT!'
Dominc scrambled over to his cot and began rummaging though the pile, "Oh man where is it this is not good!" he said frantically. Finally heproduced rather faded looking Pokeball. "AH FINALLY! Come on out Fang!" shouted Dominic as he tossed the pokeball onto the floor of the cargo bay. He shielded his eyes as the red and white sphere opened up and poured out the usual white light, and wher Dominic looked back he saw a particularly hungry looking Growlithe standing before him. "Oh man, sorry Fang, come on and I'll get you some food," said Dominic with a smile, with which he recieved a hearty "GROWLITHE!" from his partner.
Dominic grabbed his belt from the floor, slipping it on and adding the pouches and Pokeball holder to it, then went arross the room to the door where he hand hung up his jackete and ripped the jacket off the hook. He looked over the worn cloth and noticed a red stain of the bottom rim of the jacket, shuddering as he thought about where it most likely came from. "Come on boy, lets go score us some food!" said Dominic as he slide the brown jacket on, "I'm starting to get claustrophibic staying in here anyway."
Stepping out into the lower deck of the cruiser with Fang trotting along happily at his heels, Dominic made his way down the white halls toward the upper decks. 'Oh man, I wonder what they have up there? This is a pretty high-brow ride, maybe they have some fancy Tauros steak, or maybe even some fried Farfetch'd," he thought as his mouth began to water. As the reached the third floor of the ship, they were finally meet by a door bearing a sign that read "FLOOR 3 - PokeMart, Lounge, and Caferteria"
Dominic nearly squealed as he opened the door and wash washed over with the smell of many different foods, also exciting a loud bark from Fang. Racing forth, Dominic made his way toward the cafeteria, his stomach growling with every step in antcipation of the glorious meal to come. When they finally reached it, they were met with a latvish buffet of different delicacies.
'Oh man,' wondered Dominic, 'this place has everything...they may even have...no...that would be TOO perfect' then he saw it....Roasted Farfetched. "OH GOD YES!" he whispered to himself as he layed his favorite dish down delicatly along with the rest of his meal. Fully satisfied with his small treasure of food, Dominic walked away from the line, his stomache practiaclly jumping out toward the food itself, when he heard those dreadful words...
"HEY KID! YOU GONNA PAY FOR THAT!" Dominic froze midstep.
"You got to be kidding me," he turned around scowling at the man, anrgy for being denied the one thing he cared about then, "the food isn't included with the ticket!"
"Nope, sorry kid. Either you pay up the ¥2000, or you don't eat."
"b-b-but....i spent all the money I had on the ticket...I-I uh.....whatever," sighed Dominic, as he walked away holding his growling stomache as Fang look around confused as to why his master left his meal behind. He walked to the back af the cafeteria and slide down the wall until he hit the ground with a thump. He looked over at Fang, who was now laying down with his head on the floor, "Hey, come on buddy, don't be like that," he said as he leaned down to pet the growlithe's head, "cheer up, I'm sure we'll find something to eat when we get ashore."