Here's chapter two. Don't be afraid to tell me what you think- even drop me a PM.
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Master Kainushi: The Path of Junko Ochi
Chapter Two
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Both Kainushi and his pet turned towards Junko. As they stared at her she refocused her vision to meet the man’s gaze head-on, knowing she could not allow herself to show weakness here. If the eyes truly are the windows to the soul this man must really have been a shadow, for Junko saw nothing in them but the reflection of the room around her.
“Is this true?” he asked, looking to the pokéballs and back to the slim young woman beneath them. “Are you a Trainer?”
“No,” she denied. “But I do wish to become a Master like you.”
“You lie,” he shot back. “Only licensed Trainers carry red and white pokéballs.”
Junko swallowed hard. She now had a good look at Kai’s own belt. His pokéballs were the same dark black as the rest of his attire, the only breach in their uniformity being the central release buttons which glowed red like the pupils of an evil set of eyes. “I am not a trainer, but I do carry their colors, yes.”
Kainushi scoffed. “I don’t understand. You aren’t a trainer but you carry their equipment. Did you kill one and steal it?” Their audience laughed at the thought of this scrawny young thing taking the life of another.
“No-“ she started, but Kai would not let her finish.
“I understand why you wouldn’t want to admit it. I probably wouldn’t either if I were you and had just witnessed what you have. But I will say, to ease your mind, I did not kill this man simply because he was a Trainer. I killed him because he came in here with that ‘only licensed Pokémon Trainers are capable of understanding the complex nature of Pokémon blah blah blah’ nonsense-attitude. Tell me, how do you feel about unlicensed individuals handling your special Pokémon?”
Junko spoke through clenched teeth, not in anger, but in an attempt to conceal their nervous chattering. “Seeing as I am unlicensed and I carry one, I have no problem with it.”
“Again with the lies, even when I extend some hope to you.” Kai shook his head and looked to the ground. “It’s sad really that you will die a coward’s death. Trainers are supposed to be heroes; role models for young children and so forth.” His hand crept toward his belt.
The crowd laughed and cheered, anxious to have their bloodlust satiated with the slaughter of a pretty young stranger.
“It’s not a lie.” Junko shouted over the noise.
“Then the pokéballs?”
“I stole them, like you said.” The onlookers fell silent at these words.
Kai scoffed again. “You couldn’t kill a field mouse, let alone-“
This time she interrupted him. “I didn’t kill anyone. I stole them while he slept.”
Kai raised an eyebrow and released a quick burst of laughter which ceased as soon as it spread to the crowd. “Of course.” He mused. “Because you were so excited about having your very own cute little pet that you just couldn’t wait for your daddy to drive you to get your license and starter kit in the morning. And so you snuck out of bed and stole these from one of the many Trainers sleeping down the street from your mansion. Is that it?” He paused for more laughter before continuing. “Or are you going to tell me you’re as poor as those surrounding you now. Did you grow up on the streets unable to afford an education in the sciences involving Pokémon and the necessary licensing fees?”
“No, I came from a rich family, like you said, but they couldn’t help me. In fact it is because of my family I can never become a Trainer. My uncle was Gorou Ochi, a poacher. When he was caught the list of crimes against Pokémon he was convicted of was so great the licensing board ruled that no member of the Ochi family will ever again be allowed to lawfully keep them. The law will not help me, nor will my family’s riches. Instead I am considered a criminal for carrying these pokéballs, and have been disowned by my ‘daddy.’ I’ve come here only because I am truly desperate.”
“Aw,” Kainushi mused. “You poor thing, rich and yet without a squishy little friend to carry around on your belt, and yet I see by that light in the central sphere there that you do have one, so what exactly did you come here desperate for? A drink? Companionship?”
“I came here for you.” Junko blurted out. “I came here to ask you to teach me.”
The man took a step back. “Me?” he smiled. “Why me? Was it my renowned generosity or just my friendly smile?”
“I told you. I want to become a Pokémon Master. I can’t do it on my own. I need a teacher and-“
He cut her off again. “And no reputable Master will teach you.”
“No licensed Master will teach me,” she corrected.
“So for lack of other options you settle for a common criminal like me.”
“I’m not naïve. I know a license is just a piece of paper. You’re better than all of them, even if you aren’t regarded officially as a Pokémon Master. That’s very probably the reason you are the best.”
“Well!” Kai‘s smirk transformed into a gleeful grin. “You certainly are a flatterer, but I think you missed half of what I said. We can both definitely agree I’m not common, but I’m very certainly a criminal, and not just because I keep unregistered pets as you do. No, I’m a criminal because I killed a man not ten minutes ago, and many others before him, many hardly as deserving. I’ve killed those that simply crossed my path by mere chance, who uttered not a single insult to me, or anyone for that matter- maybe even one that came to me simply to ask for help.” He cast an ominous look with the last line.
“I don’t care. Serving you as apprentice is the only hope I have of finding my dream.”
Kainushi raised an eyebrow. “Serving me?” He walked nearly to her and pulled out a chair, seating himself as if he were a king mounting his throne. “Well I must say; you are quite amusing. What is your name, little girl?”
“Junko Ochi.”
“You both flatter and amuse me, Junko Ochi, so I will not kill you.” He paused. “Not personally. I’ll give you a fighting chance. Kenchi!” he called toward the back of the room.
The audience, which had grown quiet and mournful as it began to seem less and less likely they were going to get the show they wanted, brightened up again as a young man sporting a green jumpsuit and matching pokéballs separated himself from the throng.
“This is Kenchi. He is by far the worst Keeper-that’s our word for unlicensed Trainer-that I have ever met; well, whom I’ve met and wasn’t dead at the end of our encounter. If you can defeat him I’ll let you live. Sound fair?”
Junko wasn’t given the opportunity to agree or disagree to the challenge. Kenchi whipped a pokéball between them without hesitation. “Woodling!” he yelled after it. A short flash of light gave way to a two-foot tall walking tree.
Without thinking, the red-haired Keeper ripped her belt back from the woman who had stolen it and drew her own pet, unleashing it with a sharp flick of the wrist onto the ground before her. “Wake up, Charmander!”
The two-foot tall dinosaur materialized before her, eyeing its opponent hesitantly.
“Woodling, strangle!” Woodling’s feet stretched out into long roots, wrapping themselves around Charmander’s feet and working their way up its body, contracting to crush with terrible force.
“Charmander, burn that tree down,” Junko countered.
Charmander opened its mouth and breathed out with all its might. A bolt of fire filled the space between the two combatants, aimed directly at Woodling’s torso.
Thinking quickly, the tiny treant dove out of the way of the incoming assault, but in doing so had to loosen its grip on its prey.
“Charmander, bite those roots!” She barely needed to finish the command. Charmander’s jaws separated again, grasped a thick piece of Woodling’s slacking roots, and snapped closed. The tree-creature howled in pain as pieces of itself were bitten free, its sticky sap-like blood oozing from the tiny dinosaur’s mouth.
“Woodling, stab that prehistoric freak!” Kenchi ordered.
It retracted what was left of its roots as best it could and changed stances, lowering its pointy head and rushing in to charge the soft midsection presented by its target.
Charmander turned to dodge, but only managed to exchange a blow to the stomach for a stab in the side. Woodling’s sharp head made contact and penetrated, liberating a great deal of green blood.
“Yeah, again, again!” Kenchi cheered. But Woodling could not comply. With its roots badly torn up it could not gain leverage to yank itself out of the wounded dinosaur as it thrashed in agony.
“Now Charmander, Bite him to pieces!”
Suddenly realizing the predicament of its foe, Charmander leaned down at an awkward angle, gripping the body of the struggling piece of wood between its powerful jaws. A loud crunching filled the room as Woodling’s body was chewed to pieces.
Kenchi threw another ball into the mix, retrieving his fallen pet before it could stop moving. The ball returned to him full, and he held it in his hand mournfully, hoping it wasn’t too late for it to be healed back to full strength.
Kainushi stood up, clapping loudly. “Very good for a little lost rich girl. True to my word, you may leave. Nobody here will stop you.” He gestured to the door.
“I’m not going anywhere.” Junko stated firmly.
Kai shrugged her off. “It’s your choice, but if you’re going to stay I can only promise I won’t hurt you. You’re on your own if someone else decides they don’t like you.”
She looked around to the disappointed faces that surrounded her. It was a near certainty that if she stayed one of them would decide to rewrite the ill-received ending to tonight’s performance.
“I mean what I said earlier.”
Kainushi shook his head. “I don’t think you understand. I’m not from your world. I can’t teach you the things that the other Masters could. I’m from here, and you don’t belong here.”
Junko clenched her fist, hoping with each word she spoke she wasn’t digging herself back into the grave she had just climbed out of. “I know you don’t do things by the book, but I can still-“
The older man’s expression turned dark. “Not by the book? Child, I’m not talking about bending a few rules, I’m talking about systematically breaking every one. I am a monster, just like everyone else you see here, and your inherited morals and ethics won’t allow you to learn what I have to teach.”
“You don’t know me. You don’t know what I’m capable of.”
He turned his back to her, and for a moment the girl thought all was lost. Then Kai’s voice was heard again. “What I’m talking about is more serious than stealing the possessions of a sleeping man, but if you insist you are capable, I’ll give you your chance. Kill Kenchi.”
Something in the back of Junko’s mind pulled at her, begging her to stop or at least hesitate, but she knew she had to be quick if she were to succeed. “Charmander!” she screamed. “Torch Kenchi!” She extended her arm, pointing boldly to the young soul she had just been commanded to slay.
Charmander looked to the boy, then back to its master quickly, trying to make sense of the outrageous new order.
Kenchi wasn’t as ignorant as the man Kai had faced. He knew what was about to happen and was prepared. His hand flew swiftly to his side, gripping a new pokéball from his arsenal.
The threatening move jarred Charmander into making a decision. It responded quickly, spraying the new target with flame. The pokéball dropped onto the center of the floor and released its contents, a blue dog-like creature, too late.
The new entry took a long look at the scorched body of its master on the floor, then at the crowd around it trying to ascertain exactly what it was supposed to be doing now free of its confinement. Finding no immediate answer, it returned to the corpse of its master and began to feed.
Junko summoned Charmander back into his ball, and looked over to see Kai had turned to face her again. “Well?” She asked.
The conversation remained on hold while bartender came around from his post to examine the situation. Grumbling loudly he lifted Kenchi by his arms and dragged him into the back room, his pet following and grabbing chunks of fresh meat along the way.
“Well what?”
“Will you teach me?” Junko looked to Kainushi with hope in her eyes. She was ashamed of what she had just done, but she was prepared to make any sacrifice to become a Pokémon Master- even her humanity.
“I can not teach you.”
Tears began to well up in the young woman’s eyes. “But you just made me-“
“And look at you. You are not a monster, Junko Ochi. If I teach you, you will become one.”
“I don’t care,” she shouted back, the tears bursting from her eyes to race down her fair cheeks.
“Your Pokémon will become monsters too.”
“They are what they are.”
“I will take no pleasure in turning you into a monster, Junko. You are better off to go.”
Her teeth clenched once more, this time in fury. She had not come this far, risked her life and taken another just to be sent away. “I won’t be better off. I’ve never wanted anything more than this. I don’t care what it costs. What can I do to convince you? I will do anything, Master Kainushi. I will do anything for this chance!”
When Kainushi spoke again, the smirk had returned to his face. “Anything?” he repeated.