『 A Yellow Gem and Lots of Fluff. 』
Citrine is a girl that can't feel pain, and has survived thus far with the help of the Pokemon around her and her surrogate guardian Wallene and Riley in Rustboro. Being the younger sister of a world-famous Berry...
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Too late for regrets now.
"Wurmy!" she yelled, "Wurmy, where are you?!"
She ran through the woods. Her knees were shaking. One of her ankles were a little loose. Her eyes burned with tears and her throat was raw from her screaming.
She wasn't supposed to be walking yet, was she?
She didn't know anymore.
After all, it didn't hurt. It didn't matter if her knees were shattered through or her organs were rotten to the core, she'd never notice a thing.
That was how it always was for her.
-
It was almost six.
Citrine looked out the window in concern-- the sky had darkened considerably, yet her Pokemon were nowhere to be seen.
Cascoon was out too-- Rydel had found a rather spiky berry, and suggested to wrap it in string before plucking it from its tree. So Whismur and Cascoon had set out for the afternoon, having planned on getting a few more back before they holed in for the night.
But the rain began to pelt.
Wattson and Rydel were out to barricade the Zubat Den. Lombre went with them, and they would be back any moment now. The house was empty, Citrine was alone.
And she was worried.
It was when thunder began to rumble, and the lights in the house shuddered out, that her concern reached its peak.
Another moment later, the lights flickered back on-- this wasn't the town of Electricity for nothing, she guessed-- but at the same time, the door opened, and in walked a Pokemon she didn't think she knew at first.
It was a Loudred.
Tracking in mud and soaked to the bone in rain, it scowled at the sight of Citrine. At first, Citrine froze up, fearful-- then the little silver glint of an earring on its ear caught her attention.
"Whismy?" she realized, and her face morphed hopeful, "you evolved! That's amazing!"
She dropped from her wheelchair to her knees, stretching her arms out for a congratulatory hug.
Her face fell when she realized Loudred wasn't even looking at her, much less diving into her embrace. Frowning, she put her hands down--
"Wait, where's... where's Wurmy?"
The purple ogre Pokemon flinched at the mention of the other two Pokemon, so Citrine immediately knew something was wrong.
Citrine picked herself up to her feet, surprised when her first step stumbled.
But she stood up again, more stable this time. Scooping up her bag and a handful of berries, she turned to Loudred, "let's go."
And Loudred broke into a run, Citrine hot on his heels.
-
They guided through the forest frantically, Citrine hopping over tree roots and tugging herself up onto branches where humans weren't made to traverse.
The rain came down harder, each drop hitting like ice, cold and crude. The thunder roared in the background, and Citrine only cursed the sunlight she was losing each second.
Her hair, pulled up into a hasty ponytail, was ragged and tucked by leaves the moment she came to a cave.
It wasn't lit, but Citrine had brought a flashlight.
Amongst a pile of berries and damp leaves, a silver glint reflected off the beam of the flashlight. Crouching down, Citrine realized it was a ring. Most probably, Wurmy's.
"Where..."
She lifted her head, and gasped.
Near the edge of the cave, a wing swiped against the cavern walls. Even in the dim lighting, Citrine could make out the moth-like structure as it fluttered hesitantly, keeping itself aflight. The light was brought over closer, and Citrine saw its purple body, golden eyes, and green wings--
It was a Dustox.
Against everything she knew and every logical conclusion in her head, she sucked in a too-sharp breath and stepped back in fear.
The movement didn't go unnoticed by the Pokemon.
Go on, she told herself, go on, be happy.
"W- Wurmy!" she tried her best to sound happy. She even brought on a wide smile to try and make it look convincing, "woah, you, you evolved, that's amazing!"
She couldn't bring herself to step forward.
She was stuck still, frozen-- paralysed. Her expressions grow stiff on her face, and she attempted to not completely mince off her bottom lip. She swallowed and took a breath to calm herself.
That's Wurmy, she reminded herself, that's your adorable little Wurmy.
Citrine turns curiously to Loudred, looking even angrier than before. His fist was balled up, trying to hold back. Citrine leaned down to put a hand on the little ogre's head, hoping to ease it.
Her Loudred despises Dustox, probably more so than Citrine herself.
"Now, now, Whismy," she soothed it, and she hated how her smile was so strained and so obviously forced onto her features, "that's Wurmy, remember? She won't hurt us."
She won't hurt us.
She won't hurt us.
She closed her fists tight, and took a step forward. That's right, she chanted to herself, She won't hurt me. She promised she would get over this. She vowed to not reject her when the time came--
The smile on her face is easier this time, "come here, Wurmy! I'll give you a hug."
But the second she said that, she shuddered to a stop. Not because she flinched again at the sight of a Dustox, not because her arms were trembling-- but because a trickle of blood, so red and vibrant, flowed down her arm from the cuts her nails had carved into her palms.
Dustox faltered, wings angled down and his features sad, so, so sad--
All eyes find the blood, and Loudred went nuts. A ring of Hyper Voice shot through the cavern, so suddenly and so strongly, earthen walls rupturing and loosening-- mud crawled through the rifts and the cave collapsed around them.
Citrine saw Dustox struggle to fly, then her vision was swallowed by the earth and darkness took over.
-
She woke up in the Pokemon Centre, three days later, a ring clutched in her palm. Lombre and Loudred watched over her, frantic.
She brought her hands up to her face, to the bandages around her and the pain she couldn't feel, couldn't feel-- but her heart, that hurt. Her heart ache and throbbed and felt like it was ripping itself up and for the first time in this life, she broke down and sobbed.
The next moment she ran out the door, across the mud of Mauville's forests--
