Trail of Embers『8-Bit x Touya』

Note: This roleplay is solely for Touya and myself.

Cover Photo

Spoiler

My characters:

Spoiler

Name: Lilya
Gender: Female
Species: Leafeon
Type: Grass
Ability: Chlorophyll
Moves: Toxic, Double Team, Grass Whistle, Leaf Blade
Item: None
Likes: Watching. Watching leaves and blossoms fall, watching the stars at night, watching flowing water; she enjoys observing Nature at work.
Dislikes: Fighting
Fears: Fire. Stereotypical Grass type is afraid of fire.
Bio: Being a relatively weak Pokémon who also just dislikes fighting in general living in the wild, life is hard for Lilya. She happens to be the target for many stronger Pokémon who enjoy beating others up for no real reason. However, she has a single friend in a Vaporeon, who can be found with her most of the time, and constantly gets her out of trouble.

Name: Kitsu
Gender: Female
Species: Human
Type: Pokémon Researcher
Ability: No special ability. However, she is one of the few who decided not to become a Pokémon trainer, and instead went fully through her education in hopes of becoming a Pokémon researcher.
Moves: Write Essay, Study, Research, and Experimentation.
Hold Item: A Premier Ball holding her personal Pokémon, and a small collection of Pokeballs used in her field work.
Bio: Kitsu was one of the few who showed little interest in catching in battling Pokémon; as a child, she would spend hours just watching a group of Rattata or a flock of Pidgey or other Pokémon interact. Before going off to study Pokémon in an esteemed school, she selected a Pokémon to bring along so that she could have company. She ended up purchasing a Leafeon at an incredibly low price, from a Pokémon hunter (she didn't know this, of course) but that Leafeon turned out to be blind from maltreatment. Her studies have been aimed heavily at Pokémon biology; she hopes to define the cell structure of her Leafeon pet and reconstruct the broken parts of her eyes. This Leafeon also happens to be Lilya's mother. Currently, Kitsu is doing field work in Lilya's/Omega's/Kuro's area, hoping to catch an Eeveelution, preferably a Leafeon, for research.
Likes: Observing Pokémon
Dislikes: Battling.
Fear: Failure. The last thing she wants is to be unable to solve her Leafeon's problem, and the issues of Pokémon with similar conditions.

Touya's characters:

Spoiler

Name: Omega
Gender: Male
Species: Lucario
Type: Fighting/Steel
Ability: Inner Focus
Moves: Aura Sphere, Close Combat, Metal Claw, Heal Pulse, ExtremeSpeed
Hold Item: Lucarionite (Embedded into a pendant)
Bio: Omega was onec owned by a trainer, and they bonded very well to the point where they cold use Mega Evolution. However, the trainer disbanded Omega for an unknown reason during a stormy night, and Omega hasn't seen him since. This makes him very cold towards humans.
Likes: White Chocolate
Dislikes: Humans
Fear: Thunderstorms, as they remind him of the day he was abandoned

Name: Kuro
Gender: Male
Species: Human
Type: Trainer
Ability: He can understand Pokémon speech.
Moves: -
Hold Item: Key Stone (embedded into pendant)
Bio: Kuro is the trainer of Omega, whom he disbanded. This was to join a secret society, but Kuro couldn't handle it, so he has returned to reunite with Omega.
Likes: White Chocolate
Dislikes: Darkness
Fear: The unkown. It couples with his dislike of darkness.

Ref Sheets

Spoiler

Omega (AuraKnight14)














Lilya (8-Bit-Eevee)

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Story:​

Part 1​

After falling unconscious in a fire, Lilya, a Leafeon, is brought away from danger after being chanced upon by a Lucario, who had introduced himself as Omega. Once she awakes, and tells Omega about her Vaporeon friend who is still in the forest, the Lucario goes out to search for him, only to find him in his last moments. After Omega explains what happens to Lilya, he goes out for two purposes; to find some form of sustenance and to give Lilya some time alone. When he comes back, he promptly passes out, and when he awakes explains that something had caused him to remember his past. The two leave for more suitable shelter, where Omega falls unconscious again; Lilya goes in search of berries, and is attacked by a Mightyena. Omega wakes and rescues her just in time, and once the two recover, decide that they should leave the area; but having no where to go, make for the nearby human village.​

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Graphics done by Touya! He did a great job on them!​

 

It was the early hours of morning, a deceptively cold one, in which "It" happened.

All around her, trees ablaze with devilish fire fell the the ground as if they were but stalks of grass bending in the wind; while the previously grassy ground itself was no longer of such, and instead housed innumerable amounts of ash, burning to the touch. Scores of wild Pokémon ran or flew for their lives, hoping that they could outrun the deadly flames. Of the seemingly hundreds of Pokémon fleeing in one direction, there were but two heading towards the fire.

"Please don't go in any further, Lacus!" Lilya, the Leafeon coughed, crying out to a Vaporeon ahead of her who, with a determined look in his eye, dashed through the flaming forest, putting out fires left and right using his water moves. "You'll get hurt! You'll-" Lilya, being a grass type, was forced to collapse into a fit of coughing, due to the amount of smoke she had inhaled so far. At this point, Lacus looked back, and seeing her sprawled out on the ground, stopped to speak to her.

"No, you will," he said. "Please, Lilya, you won't be safe unless you run. You're grass, and I'm water; I won't be hurt in there, but there are still stranded Pokémon that will. You need to get out... I'll come soon. Nothing will happen to me, I promise." With that, he dashed away from her, but not without resting his tail gently on her side for a moment before doing so.

"Lacus..." Lilya wheezed, forcing herself up to her paws. For a moment she debated whether or not to follow him. Her lungs felt full of ash, she could feel the heat getting into her body, burning her from inside, and the hungry flames which licked at her body made it all the worse. "Please be safe." Making up her mind, she turned and began to run the opposite direction, away from the fire, and away from Lacus with tears in her eyes. No matter how many times she told herself that he would be okay; that he was water and could handle fire; that he was invulnerable to the flames, she could not stop herself from believing he would end up injured, or worse.

 

One second, it seemed, she was racing the fire through the forest, lungs burning and eyes watering, both from the smoke and her worry. There was little strength left inside of her, which was running out quickly. Unknowingly, she had pushed her body too far; and collapsed right there and then, and with the fire at her heels, any observer would surely have thought her good as dead.

However, her eyes did open once more, and when they did she was looking up at a Lucario, curiosity written on his face. She was not sure how she got there or what had happened; all she knew was that he looked powerful and was likely much stronger than her. Lilya shrunk from his gaze, and, flattening her ears in a display of submission, opened her mouth to speak.

But when she tried, nothing came out, save for a long bout of coughing.

"...Please don't hurt me," she pleaded, once she finally recovered. Her breath was ragged, and she was sure she tasted blood within her throat. She struggled to pump air in and out of her system, and she could not move her limbs, though they shook terribly. Her heart was beating too fast, and her mind running to quick, for her to make any sense of her situation. There was only one thing, well, Pokémon, on her mind.

"L-Lacus..." she whimpered anxiously, wondering whether if he was alright, and if he would come to her aid once again.

 

Lilya was not giving the Lucario her attention when he nudged her, causing her to wince and freeze up, bracing herself against whatever would happen next.

"I'm Omega," a voice said. She realized it was the Lucario who had spoken. She blinked in slight surprise. "This is no place to rest comfortably. We need to get away from here. Can you walk properly, or would you rather me carry you?" She hesitated for a moment, noting the smile on his face.

"I-I'm called Lilya," Lilya stammered. She turned her head, looking inwards towards the burnt-out forest. "I'm... going to wait here. Lacus hasn't come out yet... He promised me he'd be okay." She sniffed, fear and worry crashing upon her like a wave. She looked upwards at Omega, who wore an unreadable expression.

And silently, as the seconds and minutes ticked by, she prayed for her lifelong friend's safety, anxiously kneading at the ground with her paws and wishing she were healthy enough to search for him all the while.

 

Lilya sat, in stunned, stupefied silence, unable to say anything. Her uneven breathing had broken off entirely, her heart stopped beating, and she could not do anything but stare, with a look of utter shock on her face.

"What?!" she shrieked, in a voice whose loudness she did not know she possessed. "He can't be! I don't believe you!" She was now on her paws, despite the pain which racked her body. A drop of water streaked down her face; she looked up, and in finding the low cave ceiling dry and her eyesight blurred slightly, realized that tears had begun to arise. Lilya began thinking of all the time she and Lacus had shared, of all their happy, and sad moments, of the times he would rescue her against all odds, and of a vow they had made to each other, long, long ago. "H-He i-isn't dead..." she said in a much quieter voice as she sank to the floor. "He isn't... He... Isn't..." Trembling now, she shut her eyes tight, trying to stop the flow of tears.

"Lacus can't be dead," she said, in such a steady voice that it surprised herself. "He promised me... And... I promised him."

 

Without Lilya's noticing, Omega the Lucario had slipped away. She wouldn't have known it anyway, even if she were staring straight at him as he left; she was too wrapped up within her own thoughts to care about anything else. She continued to tell herself that Lacus couldn't be dead, that it was impossible. Over and over she repeated the thought, mind reeling in search of more reasons as to disprove the mere possibility of his death.

'...Is this cave getting smaller?' The stone walls seemed to crawl towards her, only to jump away again whenever she would shoot them a glance. The air pressed against her body, squishing her with its weight. Her frantic breathing didn't seem to provide her enough air, and she could feel the ground shifting and moving under her; either that, or she simply couldn't feel herself moving. The world seemed to be distant, and the only thing she could be sure about was the fact the she was beginning to consider the possibility of Lacus's death.

Squeezing her eyes shut, and curling up into a tight ball on the cave floor, she tried to forget about everything. At first, all she could think about was Lacus, but eventually, her efforts were provided fruitful when she sank into an uneven, uncomfortable sleep.

---

Lilya woke up in a cold sweat, induced by the nightmare which she had just woken from. She had been in the fire again, only, she couldn't escape it like she had before. She shivered at the touch of cold air against her fur, and found that her throat was parched, and she was hungry. It was then that she caught the delicate scent of berries, and, turning her head, saw that Omega had prepared a blend of berries, which she could identify as Oran and Rawst, with white shreds of something unfamiliar to her.

"Is that... for me?" She asked, cheeks coloring as her mouth watered, and her stomach growled.

 

"O-Omega!" Before she knew what had happened, the Lucario was on the ground, and she was up on her paws. Lilya raced over to him, ignoring the sharp spikes of pain shooting throughout her own body, and quickly felt for a heartbeat. It was there, but instead of being slow like she had expected, it was racing.

Recovering from her initial shock, she sank herself down into a sitting position. 'Oran berries are good for shock...' she thought. 'But where-' Her stomach growled again, reminding her of her empty belly and the tantalizingly close bowl of food sitting just by her. As she stared at the mixture of crushed Oran and Rawst, she became more tempted by the second to wolf the stuff down.

The delicious smell of berry wafted past her nose; she squeezed her eyes shut, fighting off the urge to eat. In one swift movement, she took up the bowl in her jaws, holding her breath as to stop herself from sniffing at it, and, parting Omega's jowls with her paws, dumped the healing substance down his throat.

Falling back, she released the stone bowl and it clattered to the floor. With the food gone, she felt hungrier than before, but could only smile slightly as she looked at Omega. While she could not fight, healing was something she could do, and she was glad to do it. Resting herself against the cave wall, Lilya awaited Omega's wakening, ears and tail quivering as the wind blew past, creating a pleasantly soft melody.

 

"Oh, Omega... That's-" Conveniently, her stomach growled once more right there and then, breaking the mood; Omega cracked a small smile, and Lilya's cheeks reddened in embarrassment. "W-Well... Thank you for sharing that with me... It must be hard," she mumbled.

What followed was a short, but unbearably awkward silence. Lilya, sensing the atmosphere, cleared her throat and spoke again. "Pokémon trainers are awful... Lots of them have tried to catch me before, and they would've succeeded if it wasn't for... Lacus," she said, pausing on the last word. "Trained Pokémon hit much harder than wild ones..." she shuddered.

"Anyway, I'm still very hungry. I'm... going to find something to eat..." Not wanting to be a bother to Omega, she hurriedly got up, only to fall down again. 'I'm as useless as ever,' she thought disappointedly, flattening her ears. She stole a glance at Omega, and when she found him staring at her, looked away again. "You don't have to go out again because of me," she said. "I-I mean, if that's what you were thinking of doing..."

 

"Omega!" After the most recent crack of lightning, the Lucario had begun to thrash around. "P-Please keep it together!" As Lilya scrambled to stop his wild movements, she was caught on the cheek by one of his large forepaws, which left a stinging pain. She screwed her eyes closed, shut out the pain, and re-opened her eyes to find Omega unconscious for the second time that day.

'The last time he fainted, it was because he was thinking of his old trainer,' she thought. 'Could he have been remembering him again?' Then, another streak of lightning lit the sky, bringing with it a thunderclap much louder than its predecessors. The rumbling sound aroused a memory in her mind of what Omega had said previously that day.

"A few years ago, on a stormy night, I was abandoned by my trainer."

Lilya stared outside. Pellets of water rained down ruthlessly on the soil while the dark night occasionally lit up due to a flash of electricity in the sky. 'The storm outside must have caused him to recall those memories...' Lilya deduced.


Looking back at Omega with an anxious look on her face, she took a cautious step into the outside. Putting one paw in front of the other, she moved further away from the fallen log, her heart rate increasing as she did so. At this point her pelt was almost completely drenched; the night was dark and cold, and rain didn't help at all. Shivering from both the temperature and fear of what could be out lurking, she slunk through the underbrush as softly as she could, examining form of plant life she passed.

Somewhere, there were berries that could help Omega recover, and she was going to find them.

 

Lilya sighed in relief; in front of her was a bush of Oran berry. It was a small, measly thing, with barely any of the round blue fruits hanging off its twigs, but it would suffice. She stepped forward and bit off a few berries, along them to fall to the ground for collection later.

She had almost finished collection when a ball of pain exploded through her side, evoking a cry loud enough to have woken the entire forest. She quickly got up and barely had time to stare into the intimidating red eyes before being hit by a large forelimb, throwing her to the ground. Blocking it out, she rose again to face her assaulter with shaking legs.

The Pokémon who attacked her turned out to be a Mightyena, as far as she could tell. "W-Why are you doing this?" she asked, voice quivering.

"Because," the Mightyena growled, "My territory. And," he continued, glancing at the bush, now almost entirely stripped of berries. "My food."

Lilya didn't have time to respond as she was charged by the Mightyena. He rammed her head on, knocking the wind out of her. Dazed, she hit the ground again and was then immediately pinned down by an enormous paw.

There was a border of black at the edge of her vision. The pain was becoming unbearable; she knew she would pass out soon. Screwing her eyes shut, she called out for help, for Lacus, but, remembering he was dead, immediately relaxed and went limp.

'That's right... If I die here... I'll join him, and I can see him again.' The thought was her only comfort, and she even smiled slightly. With memories of all the time she had spent with her Vaporeon soulmate flowing through her mind, she gave herself up to the blackness for what she thought would be the last time.

 

Lilya groaned, a painful ache throbbing through her entire body. Slowly coming to, her eyes opened to see Omega lying in front of her, splotches of red covering his fur, with more blood splattered on the ground. "Omega!" Remembering what had happened, she jumped up, only to collapse again when dull pain shot through one of her forelegs.

Even so, Lilya gritted her teeth together and blocked it out, almost entirely, and dragged herself towards the unmoving body of her Lucario friend. "Omega?" With her good forepaw, she shook him a few times. Still, he did not stir. Fearing the worst, she quickly checked up on his vitals, and sighed in relief to find his heart still beating and his lungs still working.

Realizing that Omega must have exhausted all his energy in rescuing her, she shut her eyes, a few small tears leaking out of them. "Th-Thank you, Omega," she said. "But please... Don't risk yourself for me again. I don't want you to get hurt." She then proceeded to gather the few remaining Oran berries in the very near vicinity, then fed them one by one to Omega.

Once finished, she settled down a few paces away from the Lucario, glancing at him every few seconds as she waited for him to wake up.