Light... their light!

I am freed from the darkness!

My skin was red and itchy. I had a missive headache, and my ears were in pain. A hot substance was moving on the sides of my head. My mouth was tasting the iron in my blood. My brain was rebooting from the intense pain of the void. The oppressive silence has yet to still end. I closed my eye for a moment.

The dark red beige of my eyelid greeted me for the time that I laid there on the hard dirt ground. I waited for a noise to come. A signal that I am truly out of the nightmare. It did not come. I tried to speak but choke on the blood still in my mouth. Razing my upper body quickly, I cough out the blood. My chest rising is quick successive burst. I didn't hear the air leaving my body.

My eyes were open now. Frantic glance in all that stood in front of me. The sight could be described as a forest. The unending sea of trees was there. There leaves fanning in the wind. The breeze cooled my skin as it flooded over me. I could even see the sun peeking through the leaves.

Yet saying that this was a normal forest would be so wrong. The ground was just dirt with some patches of foliage placed haphazardly where the light was more concentrated. No stick lingered and decayed on the floor. The scent was more reminiscent of the lack of one high up on the roof of a clean building. Trees while perfectly normal were all at a similar distance from each other with their canopy leaving a repeating diamond shape hole for light to filter through. Mushroom that any observant could see normally hiding on stumps were nowhere to be seen. The Forest felt more like a park carefully groomed every day than the natural chaos of a vibrant living forest.

There was still no sound.

Sitting there on the dry dirt, I took everything in. I didn't move for some time.

...

A bush started to rustle in the corner of my vision. My head turns to behold a black Alolan Rattata. A Pokemon that couldn't survive in the forest of Sinnoh. They usually thrive more in the dumpsters of long forgotten side streets. He stared me down for a few seconds before his gaze shifted to the red objet forgotten beside me. I followed his gaze to my backpack full of food. Food that I now believe the Rattata wants.

We didn't move for a few more second. We both waited for something to move... the rat moved first.

With a silent screech, the air was disturbed by a transparent wave going towards me. It passed over my body, making the inside of my chest vibrate slightly. I wasn't affected.

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But the Rattata didn't wait to see if his first move was effective. Shifting a few very small step back stared intently into my face before a white glow took over is legs. He then rushed at high speed at me. Traversing the few metres in between us in a few seconds.

I panicked and swung my arms in front of me. In what could only be attributed to luck smacked the black beast in it faces. My arm shook, while it didn't hurt much, my hand stung sharply. Finally, out of my haze I quickly stood up and collected my bag by it straps. I took off into a run.

For a moment I thought that I was fine. I couldn't hear it follow behind me. I was far enough to be safe, right?

Four kilos tackles straight into my ass. I stumble swinging my arms in front of me. Planting my face on my pack and the hard aluminum can inside. My butt ached and my nose bled once again. Yet the Rattata didn't stop. The bag fell from under my face making it hit the ground. By reflex my arm tried to move in front of my face again. The action pull on the pack countering the force of the Pokemon. I took a face full of dirt.

The bag continues to be tugged from my grasp. The hand still hanging on to hit hurt more with every second. The wound already inflicted earlier was growing worse every second.

During the few seconds of the stalemate, my brain was able to rationalize some form of thought in the forme of a confuse rambling.

I was running! How did it caught me unaware? I should have heard it run behind me? ... heard? I can't hear a thing! My ears hurt? Must be why!

I finally realize why I couldn't hear anything since before the battle. My ears were hurt. The sound from the leaves rustling, my own voice or the Pokemon still tugging at my bag.

Oh shit!

I finally came back to my ongoing battle against the Rattata. Panic for the small lapse of memory made me drop the tight grasp I had on the strap. The bag was sent back in the air. I pull myself up just in time to see the Rattata being smothered by the bag. He struggles to leave the confines of double it weight in food from over him.

Taking the accidental opportunity presented right in front of me. I rush to take back control over the bag pack. Once again the Pokemon was surprised by the action taken from his opponent. He stared at me while I took the bag high over him. The shock from my action that grew into terror as I brought the bag back down on his body. After the first hit, I didn't stop. One, two, three, four, five, six.

CRUNCH!

I lifted the bag back up slowly.

The Rattata lay flat on his belly, the tail was limp, the head bloody and crush. He was dead, I won the battle.

I didn't know how to feel. I hate Pokemon daily, many of the foods I took from home was even made from Pokemon. Yet unless you own a ranch or you started your journey in the circuit, death is not something you are confronted with. Maybe a mention in the news but I didn't watch then much. The corpse in front of me was disturbing. I did not want to kill. I thought that knock it knock out the Pokemon.

Taking several steps back, I tripped on the root of a tree and found myself on the ground once again. I didn't move. Staring at the canopy of the tree. Everything processed slowly through my head.

I am not safe here.

I am deaf.

I won't see my parents again.

I cried for hours until sleep overtook me.

When I opened my eyes again, everything was dark again.