• Allowing herself to sink into the water Zettai moved her fingers lightly on the top surface, a small smile on her face as she watched the water ripple across the pond. For some reason simple things like this had always made her happy, playing around in water. It could have been the fact she had grown up around the substance, practically living in it as a child. Or even because it reminded her so much of her mother, Kasumi, the previous leader of the Handa City gym. The only water gym leader and water Pokemon expert in the entire country.
    The woman was, without a doubt, interesting. Certainly nowhere near graceful, let alone calm and cool, she was almost the exact opposite of the element she loved so much. Even so, there was no denying the fact she was a nurturing and caring woman to those closest to her especially Zettai. She treated the girl like a princess as a child, but at the same time managed to punish and discipline her when she was wrong. Never once letting the little girls wrongs go even slightly unpunished. Some people called it cruel and unnecessary, and at the time Zettai hated it when her mother punished her. She remembered how her mother made her clean the entire gym with only a bucket of water and a very small scrubbing brush. By far that was the worse the girl had ever experienced. But now, now she would do anything in the world to do it all again, if even for a moment.
    “Stupid memories.” She murmured, feeling that familiar pang in her chest. That painful, lonely feeling that decided to settle in her chest whenever she thought of her parents or anything she did as s a child. It wasn’t fair, what happened to them, and it would never be fair. But she was going to get revenge for their deaths, even if she killed herself in the process. No matter what she would murder the man responsible for not ruining only her life, but the lives of thousands of others. That was her promise to herself and she had every intention of keeping it.
    Bringing her mind out of the past Zettai began to scrub herself down, making sure to get every bit of dirt off of her skin and out of her hair before climbing out of the lake. Lounging around would have been nice, but she had a things to do and places to be. And thirteen year olds to wake up.
    Snatching her bag up from the ground she opened it up, placing her sleepwear and things inside before taking a set of clean clothes from the inside. It wasn’t anything much, or flashy for that matter. The out fit consisted of a pair of black, tight fitting pants, and a light blue tank top that wrapped itself rather nicely around her curves. The material seeming to automatically wrap its self around her midsection and torso, giving it a rather wrinkled look, but she didn’t at all care.
    Stepping back through the brushes she walked down the path to her camp site, the smell of Cup a Noodles drifting through the air. It was a sickening smell. A truly disguising, horrid smell. Not because she wasn’t use to it, or that she thought of it as weird. On the contrary, she had it for breakfast every morning. Every morning for the past twelve weeks. If not for that fact alone she might have held a bit of like for the easily prepared food, but that just wasn’t the case.
    “Morning!”
    A voice chirped as Zettai made her way into her small camp ground. A girl on her knees sat in front of an open flame, a pot of boiling water in front of her and a cup full of the putrid food in her hands.
    “I was wondering when you were going to get back. Not saying I’ve been awake long but I was still getting a bit curious.”
    Her voice now, was no different than it was when she greeted Zettai. Bubbly and chipper. It was a bit too early to be just that happy but with the girl, better known as Nikushimi, Niku for short, it was normal. She even looked the part of a bubbly person with her bright pink hair and blue eyes that seemed to shine whenever she spoke. Her body was a peachy color, if one didn’t pay enough attention they could easily mistake it for light fluffy pink. Her lithe form, she couldn’t have been any taller than 4’11”, a clothed in a pink and white jogging suit that just seemed to say everything about her much too easily.
    “Sorry about that, wasn’t really thinking about it.”
    “It’s alright, I know you can be a bit absent minded in the mornings.”
    Chuckling a bit at the comment of her little companion Zettai took a seat beside the girl, staring at the cup of unopened noodles beside the fire. She didn’t want them, she realllly didn’t want them, but food was food and she needed to eat. Grabbing the styrofoam object and peeling back the top, stopping midway at the sound of something peculiar.
    Footsteps. It almost sounded as if footsteps were nearing them. But there was no one else out here, or at the very least, there shouldn’t have been.
    “Zettai did you –“
    “Shh.”
    Pressing a finger to her friend’s lips she listened carefully to the sounds of the thought to be abandoned forest. For a few moments only the crackling of the fire could be heard, alongside their own soft breathing. And for a moment everything just seemed still, almost dead.
    “I think I was just being a bit paranoid, lets just-“
    “Get down!”
    Without warning Zettai was shoved into the dirt by her tiny counterpart, a blast of fire shooting through the air, close enough to hit the two of them even from their position on the ground.
    “My, my, and who do we have here? Two little girls snooping out side of the cities borders?”
    A males voice could be heard, thick and raspy, there was no doubt it was a very unpleasant sound.
    Sitting up a groan of pain could be heard from both girls as they looked at the new comer. A rather hefty male stood before them. His face flushed, beads of sweat rolling down his dough like cheeks. Beady brown eyes peering at the females before him. His form bulbous and rather round, he could easily be mistaken as an oversized meatball.
    Standing up, Zettai kept Niku behind her, her fingers brushing lightly over the necklace she wore. As much as she wanted to inflict a serious amount of pain on the man for firing at them she would have a bit of self restraint. Deciding that unless he did it again, or said something provoking, she would not.
    “Snooping? We are doing no such thing. We are simply travelers on our way to the city. Is there anything wrong with that?”
    The male laughed, his stomach jiggling ever so wildly as he did so.
    “No, but you act as if I do not know your bluff. You see, there are cameras all around this forest my dear girl and me and my associates have been watching you these past few days. It is more than obvious you are up to no good so I have been sent out to dispose of you.”
    “As if I would let that happen.”
    With those words she snatched one of the pearls from off her necklace, her fingers sliding across the front, causing it to grow in size. It wasn’t a pearl at all, but rather a Pokeball in disguise.
    “Now, now, can’t let you get out whatever Pokemon you have in mind my dear. Blaziken, Fire Blitz!”
    The large bird beside him opened its mouth, a blast of fire shooting forward once more towards her.
    “Yuuki, Blizzard!” A bright white light flashed for a moment as the shape of a Froslass appeared, once the Pokemon appeared she immediately listened to her trainer, using the attack. From her tiny hands ice would begin to shoot out, quickly forming a protective barrier to keep herself and Zettai from feeling any effects of the blast.
    At this point Zettai considered herself provoked enough, now having no intentions on allowing this man to leave this battle alive.