Pokémon 1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor do I own an M4 Sherman

Author's Note: I had always wanted to do a pokemon war. The pokemon world seemed ripe to me for writing a war story. Nations of various landscapes, pokemon of unique attributes, and a history that has been left very empty in the pokemon RPGs. I'll have a more full explanation why I'm writing one on my profile. I should note that this story will consist of several viewpoint characters as it would create a more diverse story.

Oh, and if you're reading this, Merry Christmas Farla.

* * *

Private Jerry Wilson adjusted his helmet and looked over the newly installed barb wire fencing, or rather, he looked through the fencing. There, almost a mile away was the grand sea that separated the Sevii Islands from its imposing northern neighbor, the nation of Kanto. The Strait of Sevii was formidable, as the current was quick and relentless through that area, small time fishermen rarely went far from the ports as they would be swept away by the current.

Jerry wiped off the sweat from his forehead, it was a warm July afternoon after all, and sat down on the freshly dug trench and looked at his friend, Nathan Hekman.

"You think the Krabbies will invade the Sevii Islands?"

Krabbies was a slang term used by Johtoans in reference to people from Kanto.

Nathan, who was half-sleeping at the time, lazily opened his eyes and gave Jerry a stare of annoyance. He closed them again and said, "Not think, I _know_ they will."

A screech from overhead made Jerry look up into the sky to see a pidgeot flying high above the soldiers. He squinted though he couldn't quite tell if the pidgeot was from Johto's army or Kanto's army. Far away it was hard to tell, but up close you could tell very quickly. Johto's pidgeots had golden color display feathers while Kanto's pidgeots had a dark red and brown display.

"Oh…" he said with a worry tone in his voice, "and why do you say that?"

Nathan could tell that his time for sleeping would not begin until Jerry's questions were answered. Stretching his long and lanky arms, he said in a gravely voice, "Boy, you're a stupid wooper aren't you? Well…the islands have a rich source of minerals and resources that would surely be of use to the nation controlling it. These islands are ripe for mining for they have been untouched by man. Haha, I'd like to see those Krabbies come and take these islands away from us! We got a great mountain behind us with a town south of that supplied with well rested troops. Knot Island to the west of us has Mt. Ember to give them a good lookout and Kin Island to the east of us is supplied with the most troops. Nobody's going to get through us…"

Nathan took out a cigarette and lit it. After a few puffs of smoke he looked at Jerry and said, "Does that answer your question?"

Jerry dimly nodded and looked back out at the sea. He could hear the waves crash out upon the shoreline and even more faintly, the cries of wingull.

He suddenly felt ashamed for himself at being so much of a coward. Here he was worrying about an invasion that could or could not happen and he couldn't do a damned, single thing. He felt helpless as he twiddled his thumbs.

His feeling of helplessness was probably shown on his face for Nathan said, "Oi! What's eaten you, eh?"

Jerry shrugged and said, "I don't know…I just wish that I wasn't in this mess right now. Here I am, in this balmy beach out in the middle of nowhere when I could be back home enjoying the quiet and humble life of tailor and enjoying sweet conversations with dear Stephanie…"

He sighed and remembered those faint but charming memories.

Nathan took another drag from his cigarette and said, "You've never been laid, haven't you?"

Perhaps when it was said earlier that they were friends was a bit of an overstatement.

Jerry ignored Nathan's comment and instead of responding, looked out to the sea to see if any ships were coming.

Nathan looked at Jerry thoughtfully and said, "So why are you here, then?"

Jerry looked back at Nathan and said, "Well…my father thought I was a bit of a coward, you see. And so, he forced me to sign up for the army to help "give me a backbone," you see. I couldn't say no to him now can I? He was my father, and Lugia knows what would have happened if I had disobeyed him. But what about you then?"

Nathan lowered his cigarette and let the smoke rise up to the salty air. Holding up two fingers he said, "Two reasons, one: so I can see the world and not be stuck in my dreary town and two: so I can make easy money, just by killing a couple of blokes. That's all there is to it."

Jerry didn't know what to think of that response. But nonetheless, he gave Nathan a polite nod and took out his rifle and started cleaning it. If the Kantoans did come, he wanted to be ready for them so in the end, he can see darling Stephanie again.

* * *

The cold and fierce wind blew hard against Vance Falkner but he didn't mind. His thick and warm coat, made from the hide and fur of a piloswine, kept him warm and his immense goggles kept his eyes clear. He looked down and saw that he was hundreds of feet off the ground. Any normal person would probably have fainted but Vance didn't mind, he had flown many times before and he always have kept a clear head.

His skarmory screeched and he knocked on its back gently with his gloved knuckles. Skarmory had been with him for a long time, and the two were inseparable as friends. There were few trainers in this world that could bond with a Skarmory, much less even ride one but that just made the bond between them stronger. Most people thought he was crazy riding on a skarmory but time and time again he said to them that it was all about spending time and energy to them to show that you care for them deeply.

A gust of wind came by and jolted the flying pair. Vance however kept a steady arm and the belt buckles held firm to his thin body.

He unfolded a pouch and took out a pair of binoculars to give a good look at the area. He looked down upon the Silver Mountains and scanned the area. He looked this way and that but couldn't find any traces of a Kantoan army. After looking around for thirty minutes, he put away his binoculars and said, "I'm not finding anything up here. I don't know why they keep sending me on these runs anyways!"

Skarmory screeched in agreement.

Vance paused to savor the humor that when he originally came to the village of Blackthorn, he did so as a scout to warn the people if any wild pokemon were coming. But then a week ago, Captain Korosi offered him the job in the army for a (slightly) higher pay. Now instead of scouting for ursarings and donphans, he was looking for soldiers.

Vance tapped his knuckles on Skarmory again and said, "We're not finding anything here, let's head back and give them the report."

Skarmory screeched again and did a wide u-turn around back to Blackthorn. Vance was glad he was heading back. As he was heading back, he could see the sun setting in the west. The sun's flickering rays made him squint and reminded him that once the sun set, it would be even colder, something he wasn't looking forward to.

At last, he saw in the fading light Blackthorn up ahead. Skarmory went towards it in a soft dive and the two touched softly upon the firm ground. Vance unbuckled himself and jumped off Skarmory. As the caretakers were coming up, Vance turned to his companion and said, "You follow the nice men and let them feed you. I don't want to hear any complaints about you trying to snap at their fingers!"

Skarmory made an indignant sound like he would never do such a thing.

Vance gave a sly smirk and then marched briskly off to give his reports to the Captain. As he was walking, he unzipped his coat, took off his gloves, and pulled off his goggles. Though it was cold as winter up in the air, it was still very much summer down here.

He walked into the local station and gave a salute at Captain Korosi's secretary.

"Is the good captain in?" he said.

The secretary returned the salute and replied, "Ay, sir, he's in. You can go in and see him."

Vance nodded and walked in to see Captain Korosi at his desk. When he entered, Korosi looked up and beamed making his immense jowls wobble.

"Vance, my boy! Come in, come in! What's the report, you say? Are those damn Krabbies up to anything unusual?"

He motioned for a chair to sit down but Vance politely declined.

"No, sir. Nothing out of the ordinary as far as I could tell. It's been like that ever since I first started this job."

Korosi nodded with thoughtfulness and said, "In any case, it's a good thing we have scouts like you to keep a lookout for us. You're our ears you know."

"Eyes, sir?" he corrected.

"Err…right, eyes. Here, have a drink. I know it can get cold up there and any spirits would do to warm one's self up."

He then took out a bottle of such and offered it to Vance. Though Vance wasn't a drinking man, he too knew the power of alcohol and how it can make a flier feel better after a cold journey.

"Thank you, sir," he said.

Korosi poured himself a glass and then poured Vance a glass. The two held their glasses up in the air and Korosi said, "To the Johtoan Empire!"

They clinked glasses, and Vance drunk his down slowly.

After a brief moment of silence, Vance decided to ask a question that had been egging him for awhile now.

"Sir, when do you suppose the Kantoans will attack?"

Korosi set his glass down carefully and said, "Who knows. Emperor Alastar IV thinks the Kantoans don't have the heart to attack us. He seems to think that if we all keep in good terms, then the Kantoans won't declare war on us."

"Yes, I figured as much. I thought we'd even gotten out of it when we gave Cinnabar Island to them anyways."

Korosi poured himself another drink and said, "Well, it made sense to all the higher ups and the people, didn't it? Cinnabar Island was much closer to Kanto than to Johto and more than half of the population spoke Kantonese or some variation of it and so it would be better off in the hands of King Maximilian and his unsavory Kantoans."

"Yeah, I remember that Maximilian was going on and on about how Cinnabar Island belonged to them and how we were treating them like crap or some stupid shit like that. Emperor Alastar gave him the damn island in hopes that he would shut up. Now, though he wants the Sevii Islands. Thank Lugia that the Emperor is standing up to him now."

"Which got Maximilian even more pissed off at the likes of us and is threatening combat," he drank from his glass again and looked at Vance with a sly eye, he then said, "…you want to hear my opinion about it though?"

Vance got the feeling that if he had said no he would be peeling potatoes for a week. But he didn't feel like saying no since the Captain was a good man even though he could lose some weight.

"What, sir?"

"I think," at this point he leaned in towards Vance and lowered his voice to a whisper, as if what he was saying was a deadly secret, "…that good-ole Max wants _revenge_."

Vance raised an eyebrow.

"The Twelve Years War was just plain brutal. If you believed half of the stories that were told, then any sane person would thank themselves that they're living in today's world. And that was for _our_ side. Think of the Kantoans! They got the bad of the stick, they did. Lost a chunk of their country, countryside was burned, army in shambles. What a mess. Hadn't fought a war since, but I think they'd been gathering up strength these past few decades. Ready to strike while the going is good. And it seems…that now is the best chance for them to _strike_."

He had such conviction behind the word that it brought about a deafening silence in the room. Vance decided to actually take a seat and have another drink as well.

After barely 10 seconds, he said, "Sir? Why is it that I have to keep on the lookout for any Kantoan soldiers? Wouldn't the best bet to find them be down south?"

Korosi gave a shrug and said, "Intelligence has told me that there is something going on in Pewter that may be of malice activity. If the Kantoans are daft enough to try to invade through the mountains, we'll be ready for them."

Vance scratched his head and said, "No mean to be disrespectful, sir, but aren't we a little…unprepared for an attack?"

Captain Korosi laughed and said, "My boy!" Vance didn't know why Korosi said that to him at times when he was only 15 years older than he, "Don't you think we don't know that? That's what's H.Q. been telling me this past month. They don't think the Kantoans will _dare_ attack us through this passage and so most of the weaponry has gone south! Haha, to tell you the truth, even I don't think they'll attack, and if they did…we have an ace up our sleeve!"

Vance raised both eyebrows now and said, "And that is…?"

Korosi grinned viscously and said, "We have _dragon_ trainers…"

Vance laughed and nodded his head. The two raised there glasses again and drank. This time, for a good life.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor do I own an M4 Sherman

Author's Note: I think I'll have a list of all the characters on my profile just in case people become confused who's who. And I think I'll change this to an M rating once I get into the war. Admittedly, I feel slightly confined as it is trying to write a serious (haha, a serious Pokemon story, I think I _am_ insane) on a T rating. Next chapter will contain the final two characters to this story!

Must…not...confuse…miner…with…minor…

* * *

Katisha the Sneasel huddled in the confining corner of her cell. Her cat-like eyes were closed as she did not want to see reality.

_Why me?_ she thought, _Why me?_

Katisha was once a free, traveling sneasel who did whatever she pleased. She would stalk delicious delibirds and tasty swinubs through the high mountain wasteland. The animals rarely knew what hit them, for she was on them in a flash and in two quick swipes they were dead. She smiled to herself as she remembered the taste of blood she would lick off from her strong and delicate claws. Those were the days.

The wagon jostled and she was driven out of her fond memories.

_Oh yes…I'm still here…aren't I?_

She looked around, it was night time and most of the other captured pokemon were asleep in their cramped jail cells. She gave a snarl.

For the thing was, she was in a traveling circus. Only a month ago was she captured by hunters and was sold to these maniacs who call themselves entertainers. She tried to escape several times, but she never succeeded and was always punished by not being fed or being beaten by a black-tipped whip. Just the thought of the whip made the scars on her back ache with pain. After a few cases of the whip she had stopped trying to get away from her new masters. Though that did _not_ mean she stopped believing she could get away.

She looked through the iron bars and saw trees meters away from her. They had been traveling in this temperate forest for days now and there was no end in sight. She never saw these kinds of trees before. The ones she was more used to were pine trees that had long and thin green needles and had the essence of sap. These trees had flat, broad leaves that were in no shape or form needle-like. The trees continuously shouted out that she was in a foreign land as did the temperature of which she would never get use to.

A shivery voice broke the silence as it quietly whispered, "You still up, Katisha?"

Katisha blinked and focused her eye on Setet the Scyther, whose cage was next to hers. Setet was also leaning against his cramped cage and his large blades were barely resting upon the steel floor. He too was a pokemon captured in the circus, much like she, and he too was once a proud hunter in a distant land who was now merely entertainment for stupid, human children.

It was because of his pride as a predator, and also his way of killing his prey, that Katisha got along with him the best out of anyone else in the circus. Most of the other pokemon were either too dumb to care or were beaten into a submitting state for their human masters. But Setet never gave in, he was stubborn, he had pride.

Katisha flicked at her lone feather and said quietly back, "Ay, I am. I couldn't sleep. It's always the hardest to sleep peacefully on these damned wagons. The steel floor is bad enough but the jostling of this shitty wagon makes it unbearable."

Katisha also had a foul mouth, which was another reason why she liked Setet since he also swore and didn't care about such stupid things.

Setet nodded and said, "tell me about it. These Lugia damned floors give me aches all over the place. It's enough to drive you crazy."

Katisha looked back at the alien trees and said, "Do you know where we're heading towards next?

Setet tossed his head from side to side and replied, "Don't know. All I know is that we're heading south. I also heard from Claudia that this next town'll have a battalion or two of soldiers which means we'll be getting a lot of customers."

Claudia was the ring master's loyal murkrow pet. Katisha didn't like her, though her beak was yellow, she was the most brownnosing pokemon she ever saw. She always did favors for her human masters and always told them when the pokemon tried to escape. Katisha wanted to slice her neck open and eat her tender, little wings.

Katisha cricked her neck and said, "Wonderful, perhaps they'd be kind enough to shoot me so that I may end this miserable life."

Setet said nothing to that, perhaps he agreed with her but didn't want to say it. Katisha's comment was a serious thing to say, even if she was joking.

The summer night was quiet and soothing, and the pair of prisoners slowly fell asleep in their uncomfortable cells.

* * *

"Another pint, Mummy Jane!"

Mary Jane eyebrows furrowed as she heard the drunken man called those words out. Mustering up the dirtiest look she had, she pointed a thick finger to the drunk man and said, "Now Boris, you'd better give me two copper coins or else you won't get yo' pint!

Boris gave a moan like a howling houndour and said, "Ah come on…Mummy! Can't I 'ave just one more…?"

She held out two fingers and said, "Two copper coins!"

"But I ain't _got_ two copper coins."

"Than that's all you get you son of an ugly tentacool!"

The men in the pub roared with laughter as Mary Jane put down Boris and his drunken pleas. They all knew she was a tough broad and knew how strict she was in making sure she got her money's worth.

Boris in response yelled out several highly undignified words that would make the hair on a slowpoke rise. The pub roared harder with laughter as Boris tried, and failed, to get another pint.

Mary Jane hid a smile as she went back to the counter. Her life was exceedingly excellent here in the small port town of Cianwood.

For several decades now, Cianwood has been a key sea town for the Johtoan Empire. It was first established by people seeking new land of opportunities and over time those people developed a successful trading town. Of course, the principal reason why this was so was that the mountains were a harbor of coal and other resources, making it an important island in the Johtoan Empire.

It also explained why Mary Jane's pub smelt like soot half the time. Most of the townsmen were miners working almost every day to make a decent living. True, it could make anyone's nose quiver, but it was a good and friendly bar making it a nice rest stop for the miners.

Mary Jane was proud that she was owner of this bar. It first belonged to her father who was once also a miner. Using all the money that he saved over his grueling years of shoveling coal, he opened this place and sold some of the best spirits in Cianwood. When he died, Mary Jane took over and continued on the proud tradition of making miners happy.

Well, miners and sailors.

She absentmindedly looked up from her cleaning and saw the haggard looking group of sailors sitting near the wall of her pub. Though they never mingled with the miners, much like how water would never mix with oil, they were always jovial and talked to each other like good pals. There pokemon crowded around them too. And much like the miners, the water typed pokemon didn't socialize with the rock and steel types that belonged to the miners.

Charlie, who was sitting at the counter closest to her, seemed to be reading her mind and said, "Why don't choo just throw them blokes out, eh? This 'ere pub is for miners! We do more work in one day than them sailors do in a week!"

Mary Jane set the cleaned mug down and leaned towards Charlie and said, "Them "blokes" have money with em! And if they pay me the right amount…than they're welcome to stay 'ere."

Charlie shook his head vigorously from side to side and said, "But look what they do! They sit there, cursing away merrily and flirt with all the barmaids! I dare say they might have felt one of them up…"

Mary Jane let loose a booming laugh and said, "Now look 'ere, Charlie! If one of 'em sailors felt one of _my_ ladies, I'd be _sure_ to know it! My girls 'ave attitude and 'ave no shame in kicking a man at where it counts! And besides, Maggie's been telling me that you were getting little _close_ to 'er…if you know what I mean…"

Charlie blushed at that comment and muttered almost to himself, "Dumb broad was coming on to me…that's wot…"

Mary Jane smacked him upside the head causing Charlie to teeter back a bit. After recovering he cried "Ow! Oi, there! Wot was that for, eh?"

"For calling Mary a dumb broad, you stupid little man! My girls 'ave got more brains than you got balls! They can take care of themselves and don't choo forget it! And if anyone _does_ get a little frisky, ol' Machoke 'ere will throw 'em out!"

She jerked her thumb behind her, pointing at her machoke who had been leaning against the wall this whole time. The brute's arms were crossed and a stony, passive, look was scrawled upon his face. His eyes almost never blinked as they were always on the watch for any potential fights to be broken up.

"All I 'ave to do is say the word, and Machoke will throw the bloke right outta 'ere!"

Amos, who was sitting next to Charlie this whole time reading the newspaper, suddenly butted in and said, "oi! Take a gander of this fellahs! Says 'ere that King Alexander of Kanto is threatening to declare war if Johto don't give away the Sevii Islands! Quite a mad king, 'e is!"

Charlie snorted and waved a fingerless gloved hand to the side and said, "Pay no attention to them newspapers. They're all just propaganda shit coming out of the government's arse. All this 'ere war business is pure tauros crap! It's just a way to make sure we miners never strike, that's wot it is!"

Mary Jane, who had a more reasonable head on her shoulder than Charlie, said, "Alexander's been threatening that kind of stuff for a year now. Give it some time and it will eventually blow over. Besides, the news we get from the mainland is all more than a week delayed. It's all probably forgotten by now."

Amos had the look of doubt upon his face but didn't say anything.

Mary Jane looked up and saw that the sailors were beginning to leave. One of them said something, she couldn't quite hear what he said, to the others and they laughed heartily in response. As they were leaving, Maggie the barmaid said, "'Appy sailings, Jeffrey!"

One of the sailors stopped and gave a sly smile back to her. With a jaunty wave he said, "Bye, Maggie!"

Charlie, who had heard all of this, grumbled himself some more. After putting down two copper coins he said, "Mary Jane…another pint."

* * *

The doorway crashed open as the messenger boy ran towards General Flint, Commander of the Army of Pewter of Kanto. The boy dodged several people as he held dearly onto the flimsy, tan-colored envelope. After coming to a screeching halt, he gave a quick salute and said in a voice that cracked, "M-message for you, General!"

Flint held back a smile as he saw the condition the boy was in, standing up to his full height he said, "At ease, private."

The boy did so and seemed relieved that he had a break, he held out the envelope which Flint took away with a steady hand. The boy gave another salute and dashed off, though not quite in a hurry.

Brigadier General Richter looked up from the big map on the staff table and said, "Who's the telegram from, General?"

General Flint stroked his white mustache and said, "It appears we have a message from my friend General Tungsten."

Richter snorted as he knew perfectly well that Tungsten and Flint were _not_ friends. The two generals disagreed all too many times. They would have heated discussions that would go as small and trivial as where growlithes could be found, to as large and important as the strategic use of rock type pokemon in warfare.

Flint picked up a letter opener and carefully sliced the envelope open. Adjusting his reading spectacles, he unfolded the letter and read:

_JOHNSON IS ILL STOP MAY HAVE JAUNDICE STOP WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED STOP_

The telegram was, of course, coded to prevent anyone from tapping into the telegrams. It came from the Army of Cinnabar Island which was the closest area to the Sevii Islands that Kanto had. For a several months now, weapons, soldiers, pokemon and ships were gathering there to prepare for the initial invasion. It had been a tedious process, and what's more it had been tricky to hide from the Johtoans that anything strange was going on Cinnabar Island. In the case of the telegram, Johnson was the Strait of Sevii while jaundice was a thick, blanket of fog hovering over the Strait.

Flint nodded to himself as he read the letter. Flint handed it to Richter who read it too and said, "By George…it could happen…"

Flint knew what _it_ was and nodded solemnly again, "Correct, Richter. If the weather does what it supposed to do, Tungsten and his men will invade the Sevii Islands. Operation Gengar would then begin."

"What do we do then, sir?"

"Well, all we can do is oversee _our_ invasion plan and work out any problems that we have encountered. As such, what's the status report from Major Muller?"

Brigadier General Richter walked to the table with an intricate map of the Silver Mountains pinned onto it. A dotted green line connected Kanto's Pewter, through the mountains, and to Johto's Blackthorn. A solid green line was traced over half of the dotted green. Blue lines were also prevalent though their patterns were squigglier and more chaotic than the green lines.

"Our ground type pokemon continue to have success digging their way underneath the Silver Mountains. The caves have been inherently useful and we've managed to connect some of the isolated ones with our tunnels. We have the usual problems though of renegade pokemon, collapsed ceilings and suffocations, but they have been minor and haven't been affecting the morale of our troops."

Flint raised an eyebrow and said, "Suffocations minor? Even if they are minor, death by asphyxiation is a nasty way to go. How has this been prevented?"

Richter pulled out another map, this one of the same area but of topography and laid it over the bigger map. After taking a notepad out and doing some quick calculations. He pointed towards a ravine and said, "This ravine…I believed it holds a small stream called…Garnet…yes, that's right…has been one of our local stops along the way. Men and pokemon have enjoyed the breath of fresh air here, while avoiding any sight from flying scouts. Um…the mountain that's directly east of it and the mountain to the west of it keep the ravine in shadow during most of the day light. This has ensured us any kind of cover that we need. And…uh…various other ravines and such have been found to give us the cover we need while traveling between tunnels."

"Excellent, excellent…" Flint said while stroking his moustache.

He laughed.

"It's quite a good thing, you know!" he said while setting a hand on his subordinate's shoulders, "That we got some of the finest, ground type pokemon in the world!" he gripped his hand in pride and continued, "where else can you find caves made exclusively by diglets and dugtrios? Nowhere! Ha haaa! They, along with all those Dig TMs, worked out quite well if I do say so myself!"

Richter gave a nervous laugh and said, "Yes, it did, sir."

The rest of the session was spent with Flint and all his other commanders hammering the rest of the details of the surprise attack. After several hours, Flint saw what time it was and adjourned them for the rest of the day. As he was packing up, Richter came up to him and said, "Sir?"

"Yes, Richter what is it?"

"Well, um, I was wondering how in the name of Ho-oh can General Tungsten and his men get through thick fog? The Strait of Sevii's fog is known to shipwreck many ships each year! How can they expect to defeat the Johtoans when they themselves can't see five feet in front of their noses…sir?"

Flint clicked his suitcase together and looked around to see if anyone was in earshot. Seeing no one, he said, "Well, since you're my loyal commander and a proud Kantoan, I see no reason why I shouldn't trust you. You see, Brigadier General Richter, have you ever heard of HMs?"

"No, sir."

"Well, HMs are like TMs only they're more useful in a sense. They're able to strengthen a pokemon and do things they wouldn't be able to do in the first place. A good example is teaching a pidgeot the HM Fly, beforehand, the pidgeot would barely be able to carry a human but if you teach them the HM Fly, it can do that with no problem."

"So…there's an HM dealing with fog…?"

Before he could respond, another messenger boy barged in to the war room and looked around, seeing the general, he marched briskly up to the general and held out a telegram. Though he was out of breath like the last messenger boy, his voice was steady and strong and did not crack, "Message for you from General Tungsten, sir."

Flint took the message and the messenger saluted and marched briskly off again. Flint opened up the envelope with the same letter opener and read the message. After a small nod, he handed the message to Richter and said, "Would you like a drink, Richter?"

"Sir?" he said, taking the message off of the old general.

"A drink to celebrate this occasion! I dare say, we shall remember this day for the rest of our lives."

At this point, Flint walked to a nearby desk and pulled out a green bottle full of red wine. With the bottle he pulled out two crystal glasses. Uncorking the green bottle, he poured the delicious wine into the clean glasses and brought them over to Richter. Richter took the wine and waited for Flint to make an appropriate toast.

Flint cleared his throat and said, "To King Alexander! Long live the King and may Lugia and Ho-oh bless this nation with great power and wisdom! Cheers!"

Richter nodded to that and the two crystal glasses clinked together.

Richter was still surprised that all of this was happening. He looked at the letter once more to see if his eyes were deceiving him. But no, it said:

_DOCTOR CONFIRMED JOHNSON HAS JAUNDICE STOP DOCTOR WILL WRITE PRESCRIPTION OUT ASAP STOP_

Flint's eyes blazed as he was drinking the wine for there was only one thing that he was thinking of at that precise moment.

…_Defog…Defog…Defog…_


	3. Operation Gengar

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor do I own an M4 Sherman

Author's Note: I updated my profile so now it contains all the characters that have been mentioned so far in this story.

Haha, I got several of the remastered Beatles albums this Christmas and I really want to listen to them. However, I can't do that while writing a war story now can I? I would be insulting them! Anyways, enjoy!

* * *

"Da fog, da fog, da fog…"

Magellan the Magmortar stood silently on the deck of the _Kantoan Ship_ (K.S.) _Seaking_ as he watched his division commander pace back and forth upon the cold and slick floors. His dull looking eyes followed his nervous commander wherever he paced and heard whatever he muttered. Of course, the fog distorted his vision making it harder to see him even though he was only several feet away.

The commander walked to the deck of the ship and grasped and sweaty hand on the railing and said in exasperation, "Look at that! Just look at that!"

Obediently, Magellan did and saw nothing but fog. You'd think by his reaction, the commander had seen an electabuzz flying through it. Magellan couldn't fathom why he was getting all worked up. Magellan trusted the higher ups and King Maximilian, if they felt it was necessary to send the fleet across a fog covered sea than he believed it was all for the best.

Magellan had been in the army for all his life. He was hatched in an army pokemon nursery and was taught when he was a still a magby to love King Maximilian and the great nation of Kanto. Every day they would teach him moral values of a noble Kantoan and every day he, along with all the other army pokemon, heard great stories about past Kings of Kantoans and ruthless deeds done by the Johtoans.

When he was a magmar, he began training every day to become a stronger pokemon. The army periodically sent him on boats so he would learn to not fear water and not be overpowered by sea sickness. And when he was ready, they exposed him to the newly invented magmarizer which evolved him into the strong magmortar that he was today.

His occupation in the army? Artillery.

A sailor patrolling the deck caught sight of Magellan's commander and said, "Hey, buddy, what's eating you?"

"Oh…this fog…do you really thing the bird pokemon can clear all this up? I'm worried that we'll crash…"

The sailor laughed and said, "Don't worry; those pidgeots can clear away a fog in no time. We tested it out before and it worked flawlessly. Those Johtoan bastards won't know what hit them! Hey, do you know why the whole thing is called Operation Gengar?"

The artillery commander found it annoying that a sailor knew more than he did but he asked why in a haughty voice.

"Well, have you ever grown up in Lavender? I myself have not but I have heard of many stories coming from that town. You see, there's supposed to be a big tower there that harbors all these ghost pokemon. These ghost pokemon would leave their tower in the night to try and scare some people. The gengars are the worst though; they have the bad habit of coming out of the shadows and doing more than just scare you."

The sailor looked around, as if checking for gengars before continuing in a lowered voice, "some of the locals there say that they actually try to eat your soul..."

Before he could continue on, the sounds of pidgeots and fearows filled the air with a cacophony array of squawks, cries, and whistles. Magellan's eyes slowly looked up in the sky though he didn't see anything. His commander jumped and he too looked around.

"They…" he gulped, "They must be starting!"

The sounds of flapping wings then replaced the bird's voices and the sound grew stronger and stronger, intensifying until it sounded like a herd of stampeding tauros.

A wind came out of nowhere and swept through the sea, it was turbulent and rough, and it blew this way and that. And through the wind, like a twig being carried along on a river current, the fog was being swept away. Soon, Magellan could distinctly see his commander, and then the railings of the deck, and then the entire ship itself. He was impressed by the strength the bird pokemon had. However, he wasn't surprised. They served in the name of King Maximilian, and they would do their best for him or die trying.

His commander, now reassured that the fog was indeed clearing, found his confidence once again and stood tall and proud. Pointing to Magellan he said, "Let's get going to the artillery quarters, we must be ready!"

Magellan nodded to him and marched solidly behind him. Down the stairs he went, through the dank and dismal hallways, and then into the artillery room. He was greeted with other magmortars there along with some rhyperiors to boot. They were all trained to do artillery and they were all trained to serve King Maximilian.

Magellan took his place in front of a wide, open window. It would be from this window that he would fire his attacks. And it would be from this window that he would see the first battle of the war.

It was still dark, but as the fog began to clear and the sun slowly rose, he squinted his wide eyes and saw Boon Island dead ahead. He took careful aim and waited for the command to fire.

----------------

Jerry yawned; it had been bad enough that he had to be on patrol, but it was even worse that he was doing it at six in the freaking morning.

He walked slowly through the outer edge of the beach making shallow footprints in the dry sand. The waves of the beach sounded peacefully, as did the wind which blew by every once in awhile. The wind carried along the strong scent of salt, along with the nauseous smell of decaying sea pokemon. At first, due to living in the middle of Johto, he couldn't get use to the smell as it totally unlike anything he ever smelled. But now, he, almost, got used to it.

"Damn…" he said, stopping at a nearby rock. He sat down on the rock and pulled off his boot. He hated patrol duty for various reasons, one was the sand. The sand got in at all the tightest and most uncomfortable places one could imagine. Boots and socks were one of them.

As he dumped the sand out and tied his boot back on, he stopped and looked towards the direction of the ocean. The fog made it almost impossible for him to see anything, which was another reason why he hated patrol duty, it can be worthless. He sighed, what's the point?

He stood up. Better for him to get moving again. Couples night ago, a soldier was given extra chore duties for slacking off while on patrol. Jerry didn't want the chance for any sergeants to find an excuse to shout at him and make him suffer.

But then, just over the sound of seas, there came sounds of something exploding. It sounded like distant thunder.

Jerry stopped.

_What was that?_ he thought, _A storm? But I don't see any lightning…wait…_

The fog was clearing up now and in the faint, morning light he could see large, but distant, shadowy images coming through the thinning fog.

_What the…what's that?_

And after two seconds, he saw something hurtling through the air towards the islands. It glowed a bright hot orange and it looked to be massive.

"Oh…oh shit!" he cried.

He hit the ground hard and covered his neck, he prayed that the sand would absorb the blast and he would remain safe.

The fireball screamed through the air and crashed into the hillside above the beach. The sound was deafening and he screamed in agony, covering his ears as hard as he could.

He got up in a daze. The world felt wobbly to him and he could barely hear anything for a moment. He dimly looked up towards the impact, and saw a gaping, burning crater that now scared the once fertile and clean seashore.

His wits snapped back into focus, he had to get back to his company.

He ran as fast as he could across the sand and prayed that he wouldn't be killed by another fireball.

Another fireball screamed through the air and fell, this time upon the sandy beach. Sand particles flew everywhere and dust rose straight up like a geyser.

Jerry found the ledge that he used to get down to the beach and climbed up it as fast as his spindly arms could carry him. Once on the hillside, he ran towards the barricades and trenches to find safety and protection.

As his ears gradually snapped back into his, almost, normal hearing conditions, he heard more fireballs land catastrophically upon the land. The whole thing sounded like he was in the middle of a raging thunderstorm and he didn't like it one bit.

Nathan saw him running and shouted, "Oi! Where have you been? Get your arse over here!"

Jerry ran through the select spot where there wasn't any barb wire and jumped into the trench. He stopped and gasped for breath. Running for all this distance made him worn out. He bent over and sucked breaths of air in and out as fast as his lungs would allow him. He dimly heard Nathan who shouted, "Isn't this exciting?! We're actually being invaded! We're going to have a lot of fun today, yes, sir!"

After his heart slowed down a bit he looked Nathan straight in the eye and shouted, "Are you blooming mad? We can die out here!"

Nathan grinned a predatory smile and said, "I know! Isn't it fun?"

The ground shook again as more of the fiery balls of death fell from the sky. Jerry made sure his helmet was on tight, he didn't want to take any chances.

Crash! Crash!

Jerry looked up and saw large boulders of rock also hurtling down. He saw one fell down directly in one of the trenches. The boulder exploded upon impact and the ground shook again. Jerry heard soldiers scream for mercy or their mothers while some just made bellows of unintelligent sounds. Jerry's heart began racing again. Seeing such death up close reminded him how fragile a human's life was.

Nathan shook him out of his deep thoughts of death and said, "Hey! Here they come! Doncha see?"

Jerry looked back and saw smaller ships exciting out of the large, coal powered ships belonging to the Kantoan Navy. Jerry grabbed the ends of his hair and pulled on it and said, "Oh, help me Lugia!"

Nathan slapped him on the head and said, "Grow some balls you ole' lady! You got a gun in your hands and you better use it! I don't wanna see you run away now!"

Jerry gave a shaky nod and grabbed his gun with his twitching hands. The artillery began to slow down now, as they were approaching. Jerry raised his gun and took aim.

* * *

Sergeant Jürgen wiped the sea spray from his face and yelled at the pilot, "You gotta keep this boat steady, damnit! One false move and this boat will topple into the sea!"

The pilot waved him off and said, "I'm doing the best I can! Shit! You think Kyogre was about to come out of the sea and topple us over…"

Jürgen cursed at him and stomped away. These small, steam powered ships that Kanto had made were supposed to transport men to the beaches once the sea became shallow. They weren't very well made though and they rocked a bunch causing the whole thing to sway this way and that. A lot of them carried men, this one carried an onix.

Jürgen was a Colonel in the 3rd Onix Division for the Kantoan Army. It was the first time onixes were used in the conflict of battle and it was quite controversial to many of the military leaders. Jürgen, along with a select few other soldiers, took part in a secret program designed to train these rock-snake pokemon. It took them awhile, but it was discovered that if the Onix was trained in an early stage of its life it would be more obedient. The use of a vine whip, snipped from grass type pokemon, was also used to make sure the pokemon didn't stray too far. It was eventually deemed a success and King Maximilian who signed on to have another 10 divisions trained and ready to go.

However, this success was a pyrrhic victory, many men were killed by the Onix and many more acquired devastating injuries. Few had a painless death.

Every day, Jürgen thanked Ho-oh that he survived those training missions, now it looked like he needed that same luck to survive today (and the rest of the war for that manner).

He walked across the deck and headed towards the door that leads to the hull which carried his onix. Along the way he stopped to take a quick look towards the bow of the ship. There, he saw a . Its gloved hands constantly made the a barrier that protected the boat from any bullets that might try to kill anyone on board. Of all the psychic type pokemon in Kanto, were the best when it came to shields. No other pokemon could hold a candle to them.

Jürgen continued on down the slippery stairs and down into the main hull. Down the hallway he went and he then opened the small door to enter into a rather large room.

His onix awaited him there, it was curled up in the cramped space and it seemed rather uncomfortable. The onix growled but he recognized his master and stared quietly at him with his large eyes. Jürgen walked up to the rock pokemon and reached up to pet its chin.

"Don't worry…it will start soon…"

Suddenly, the small boat hit the sand bank and skidded to a halt. Jürgen was thrown off his feet and he fell to the floor. He cursed the man as impotent in more ways than one and he got up to his feet. The onix wasn't disturbed by the rocking. In fact, it seemed quite relieved that the rocking stopped. It gave a soft growl and nudged Jürgen gently with its snout. One of the reasons why Jürgen survived the training was that his onix wasn't as short tempered as other onixes (despite being raised in the wild) and another was that it developed a bond with Jürgen.

Jürgen gently pat it and said, "Right! Time to get moving, Onix!"

Jürgen ran to the lever located at the far side of the wall, he then pulled on the lever and a large front door slowly moved down. At it was twisting forward on its hinges, the dim, but brightening, sunlight filled the dark chamber and made Jürgen squint a little. Suddenly, the large door fell forward and landed on the beach creating a bridge between the sand and the boat. Jürgen then ran to Onix and climbed onto one of the large boulders that held his straddle. Strapping himself in, he pulled out the vine whip and shouted, "Heyaaaa yip!"

He cracked the whip in the air and Onix bellowed out a mighty roar. Onix twisted himself in the cramped compartment and he sprung forward. Jürgen smiled a toothy smile, he loved his life.

Onix crawled forward and was in no time out on the beach. Immediately, Jürgen heard the sound of gunfire and instinctually leaned in in an almost hugging position with Onix.

_Phifft, phifft, phifft._

Bullets hit Onix but it seemed to do nothing. They bounced harmlessly off of Onix doing little damage to him. Onix seemed to be more annoyed than pained by these bullets and in response, he let out another roar and used his Flash Cannon on the soldiers. The white beam grew inside its mouth and was released in a torrent of energy. The beam screamed through the air and landed on the opposing soldiers that were shooting at him. The beam exploded on impact and men flew from that spot.

Before he could cry out with joy from this, a sergeant ran up to him and yelled, "Sir! You got to help the troops!"

Jürgen grabbed hold of the reigns and yelled, "Yes? What is it?"

"Barbed wire ten meters ahead! My men can't get through that without being helpless to gunfire! Can you do something about it, sir?"

Jürgen looked up and saw that the Kantoans were having a hard time landing and moving forward. Cannon fire and bullets from the other side were taking them down one by one. Soldiers that had much temerity ran forward as fast as they could to establish spots to cover for their fellow comrades. Such boldness, though quite admirable, was an easy way to die. Jürgen looked back down and said, "We'll try! Onix! Let's bury some of that wire! Heyaaa yip!"

Onix leaned in and snaked his way forward, once he reached the wire, Onix started burying the wire by smashing it with his rocky tail. The ground thudded again and again as the tail buried it in the soft sand. Bullets kept ricocheting off of the rock typed pokemon but he didn't really notice.

Onix moved forward again and did the same thing to the next patch of wire, all the while, Jürgen hugged Onix as close as he could. No telling when some lucky bastard would pick him off. Though he was on an indestructible onix, he was still made of flesh and blood.

When Onix cleared away a chunk of the barbed wire, whistles were being blown across the beach as sergeants gave the signal for their men to move forward. As they charged, Jürgen gave the signal to Onix to release another wave of Flash Cannon on the Johtoans. The beam of energy tore through the second line of defense and left behind a smoldering crater.

Jürgen looked around and saw other colonels such as himself ride their onixes forward and also destroying the barbed wire defense. He suddenly felt immense pride for his country as this invasion seemed to be doing well.

But then just as quickly, he felt immense sorrow for all his fellow comrades that were now lying dead or dying on the damp sand. He was glad that the smell of the sea was strong, for otherwise he would be smelling the scent of blood and shit that would make even the strongest man throw up his lunch.

The shots of gunfire pulled him out of his moment and reverted his attention to the battle. The Kantoans were moving forward and the puny Johtoans defenses were falling apart. Jürgen urged Onix forward which thundered its way forward. It let loose another Flash Cannon on the helpless soldiers who seemed to be doomed from the start. Just as they were nearing the trenches, the Johtoans began to fall back. They grabbed whatever they had and ran towards Boon Island's mountain to the south.

He smirked; it was understandable why they suffered such huge losses. The Johtoan Empire didn't train as many pokemon in their army as Kanto did. They thought that guns were beginning to replace the need of pokemon in the field of battle. Well, they were wrong, big time, and it was a price that they will dearly pay for. When the soldiers had caught up to him and had recuperated from the jarring invasion, they all took off once again to chase after the Johtoans and to start the process of seizing the valuable Sevii Islands from the Johtoan Empire.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, nor do I own an M4 Sherman

Author's Note: I admit, my biggest fear in writing this fic is offending the very nature of war. I do not want to write something that in real life (with the exception of the pokemon) would not happen. I want to make this story seem real and natural. So, I've recently been diving myself in sources dealing with war such as documentaries, history books, museums, movies, historical fiction and so forth. Hopefully, I have learned enough.

* * *

General Flint always enjoyed the mountain air. It was fresh and clean, unlike Saffron City whose dirty factories churned out black as night smoke that polluted the air. He never knew how those city people were able to stand such a notorious smell nor did he ever know how they were able to stand such crowded conditions. However, that didn't stop him from going to the city many times; it was the capital of Kanto after all.

But there was no pollution here. It was one of the reasons why he escaped Pewter to see his army preparing for the surprise attack. He didn't want to be considered by his men as a "desk soldier," one who never picked up a gun in his life much less shoots it. He wanted to be in with the action, in with his men, in with the honor of fighting for your country.

Already, his once glossy boots were soiled over by the terrain, and his neatly creased outfit began to wrinkle, but he didn't mind. Flint, unlike General Tungsten whose constant obsession in having a clean uniform drove Tungsten mad at times, did not worry about such trivial things. In fact, he liked the childish idea of ruining a once cleaned uniform. It showed that you were actually doing something.

Turning to Brigadier General Tungsten, he said, "A right, mighty fine day it is! The air is clean, the mountain flowers are blooming and Operation Gengar has proven to be a success!"

"Yes, sir."

The camouflaged tent they were in flapped softly against the wind and its poles creaked a little. Camping at the base of Mount Silver proved to be easier than expected. With Johto still reeling from the unexpected attack by Kanto, they would not expect a _second_ attack coming right from the mountains.

However, some things still remained challenging.

"Reports of tyranitars attacking our soldiers have been coming in every few days though, sir. Apparently, the soldiers would sometimes dig their way into one of their territories and anger them greatly. Casualties happen as a result and it's hard having to drive them away or kill them. Ursarings and donphans appear as well but they're more of an annoyance than a threat."

"Yes, I heard about them. Nothing we can do about it except bring along grass or water types I suppose. Have we got any of those?"

"No, sir. We do have some fighting types but it's hard for them to get close to the tyranitars to do some real damage on them. One report stated…"

Tungsten flipped through his notes and said, "…a tyranitar used a Hyper Beam attack on a machoke and blew its head clean off."

"What about the ground types?"

"Our ground pokemon could probably take care of them if for the fact they weren't in hastily dug tunnels and eroding caves. Therefore, they can only use weak ground attacks on them which, though effective, takes a while to have passing results."

"And by then the tyranitars would have taken out a squad or two of soldiers…"

"Yes, sir."

Flint sighed and scratched his head. Like all plans, this one had a few problems in it that was unforeseen when it was first designed. However, you had to adjust to such problems to the best of your ability or the outcome would be less than desirable.

"Bring any fighting types who know any fighting special moves to the front lines and have them ready for any tyranitars. See if we can spare some flash grenades too and bring those up to the front as well. Oh, and it might be helpful to check around for pokemon that know any bug, grass or water type moves, but I doubt there will be any."

Tungsten gave a salute and hurried off with the batch of instructions.

With that done, Flint walked out of the dark tent to have a break from the madness of the military. As he lit his Fuchsia grown cigar, he caught sight of his snorlax who was sleeping peacefully underneath a large pine tree.

He blew a smoke ring. He knew Snorlax for half his life now and he had grown fond of it ever since he raised it from a munchlax. He was going to kill it (since it had been digging in his trash for several weeks), but mercy took hold of him and he decided to properly raise and train it to become a strong fighter. Most people can't stand raising snorlaxes since all they do is sleep, but Flint knew that with a little patience and hard work, that didn't matter.

His second pokemon was also nearby. Nidoking prowled the area looking for anything delicious it might snack upon. It was sick and tired of eating tubers and wanted to eat fresh, live meat. Unlike Snorlax who slept most of the time, Nidoking was constantly active and on the move, ready to jump into any battles without question and start any quarrels without a second thought. Few people had ever owned a Nidoking, but since Flint grew up in Pewter and constantly hiked and explored Mt. Moon, that wasn't a problem since moon stones were common there.

He gave a wave to Nidoking, who saw him and returned the wave in an almost salute-like manner. Being near the army constantly, he learned to pick up few of its traits. Nidoking then went back to sniffing the air and twitching his ears, scouting for any potential meal.

The wind changed direction and Nidoking's ears perked up. He then ran towards the south as fast as he could, curiosity getting the better of him, Flint followed.

He chased after the purple creature as fast as his old legs could carry him. He wheezed slightly for the thin mountain air was getting to him and he was having a harder time than usual trying to keep up.

But as he pushed his way through several tall grasses, he stopped and saw what Nidoking smelt in the air. It was a dodrio, and by the looks of it, a male one at that. Nidoking came thrashing out of the grass, hoping to take the dodrio by surprise. But the dodrio with its three heads easily spotted him beforehand and was ready for the attack. It jumped out of the way and screeched loudly at Nidoking.

Nidoking stomped his feet on the ground and then used Earth Power. The ground trembled slightly as chunks of dirt and mud was flown towards the dodrio. The dodrio jumped high in the air and the attack missed. Nidoking looked up but the glare of the sun made his eyes squint and he could barely see his opponent. The dodrio then came crashing down on him landing a strong kick to his head. Nidoking stumbled and hit the ground. A gash was clawed into his face and blood started to slowly seep out.

Flint couldn't see Nidoking very well and had to move closer. Getting down as low as his legs would permit him, he crept up quietly upon the fighting monsters, ready to help his friend out in case he was in dire need.

The dodrio lunged at Nidoking who rolled right out of the way just in time. One of the heads tried to peck at him but with surprisingly quick speed he dodged, grabbed onto the neck, and bit it as hard as he could. The head cried out in pain and the other two heads started pecking him ferociously.

A sudden crack filled the air and the struggling head suddenly laid still. The other two functioning heads screamed so harshly in response that Flint had to cover his ears. The dodrio kicked Nidoking hard in the stomach and Nidoking folded over. Just as the dodrio was about to do a Drill Peck on him, Nidoking lunged forward and stabbed his poison tipped horn into the bird's belly. The horn pierced through the layer of feathers and skin like it wasn't even there and stabbed the vital organs of the bird.

He pulled out and the dodrio looked stunned. It stumbled back a bit before finally succumbing to gravity. Dust rose up as it hit the ground and it quivered about before finally lying still. Nidoking, despite being bruised and bloodied, had a triumphant look upon his face and he roared loudly to proclaim his kill. As the roar echoed off the mountain walls, it sliced open its prey to eat the tender meat.

Flint nodded and knew that was exactly what the Kingdom of Kanto was going to do to Johto.

* * *

Katisha sat quietly in her small cage and said to herself, "Teh, figures, just as we arrive in this stupid little town the humans decided its time to play war."

The profit that the circus expected to get from the soldiers proved to be disappointing. Right when the arrived to Cherrygrove Kanto invaded Johto and the laid back soldiers suddenly were issued orders to prepare for deployment. Most of them have already left east towards New Bark though more have been coming in from the north.

Still, the people of Cherrygrove came to the traveling circus despite the recently declared war. Katisha thought those people were fools, did they not have better things to do? Shouldn't they prepare for the war? Or support their country?

If anything, going to a circus was _not_ the way to support their country.

Katisha shrugged. What did she know about countries, war and, especially, people? Let the poor bastards get killed because of their stupidity. It reminded her a lot of her life back at Mount Silver. The stupid ones or the ones who learned too slowly would be killed while the smart and the strong survived.

The summer sun shined brightly upon the land and though her cage gave her some shade, it didn't provide her any protection from the stifling humidity. When it got too hot she felt weak and melancholy, thoughts of suicide or succumbing to depression would enter her mind as she sat at her cell. She scratched herself and pulled out some fine, black hair with it, she was glad that she was shedding otherwise she might have died.

One of the attendants was giving a tour of the circus to a group of the locals and was talking about the creatures and their prisons. He talked animatedly about each of them and had the air like he knew everything.

He didn't, he was just as stupid and ignorant as the people he was "teaching."

"And here we have a sneasel. Notice that feather on its head. Males, such as this one here, use it as a mating display. Only the brightest and biggest feathers get the girls! And notice the claws as well; they're used to kill its favorite prey, the aipom."

Katisha snorted.

"Don't get too close, now. They'll lash out at you if you try to pet them!"

Katisha considered that and nodded mentally to herself. That _would_ be something she'd do.

"And over here we have a scyther…"

Katisha laughed to herself as the group walked on. Setet would get the same treatment that she got. She unconsciously scratched herself and pulled out another tuff of hair as the group walked towards Setet. The attendant stood as tall as his squat body would allow him and started speaking again in his throaty voice. Setet rolled his eyes and looked back at Katisha who couldn't hold back a smile. She waved at him like it was fun and games. Setet snarled and gave back a rude gesture that was considered rude for his species. Katisha returned the compliment.

Boredom was one of her worst enemies when it came to the circus. The humans hadn't figured she was "trained" well enough to let her out of the cage so they just let her be. Sitting in the cage and wildling away the hours was hard enough as it is and the heat just made it all the worse. On some days she was able to clear her mind and look off into the distance both seeing nothing and everything. But on some days, like today, her mind was on the move, ready to do something. When she was like that, she always ended up bored to tears.

As the sun began to set, another of the circus lackeys came by and threw in a slab of tauros meat into her cell. She went at it like her life depended upon it. The meat was slightly rotten and it didn't taste like anything that reminded her of home, but meat was meat. She tore the slab of lean meat into pieces and chewed each piece slowly, savoring the taste.

When she was done, she wiped some of the fat and blood off her cheek and licked it off her dainty claw. A gust of wind came by and blew at her, instantly cooling her and quivering her feather. She sighed in relief. There had not been much savior from the humidity and anything to cool her down felt wonderful.

But as the breezed died down and the heat came back, she looked around in sadness that she has still not been able to escape this hellhole of a place. Her life was awful. And if the rotten meat or the whip holding humans or the stifling heat or the depressing boredom didn't kill her, then she would.


End file.
