• Published 10th Feb 2014
  • 12,168 Views, 1,119 Comments

Absolution - ed2481



An Absol's life is full of pain and the tragedy of others but for one, Cres, that pain is much closer to heart. After a year and a day spent praying atop Mt. Coronet Cres is finally given the chance to obtain his long sought after Absolution.

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Chapter 13

Applejack walked down the dirt road to her farm, anger still fuming in her mind as she occasionally let out a snort or two every time Cres popped up in her mind.

“No good lousy runt,” she muttered lowly to herself. “Oh, ‘I could’ve kill ya but didn’t’; you think I’m going to back off with a threat like that!? Why I oughta just buck your skull until it caves in on itself. Maybe then you’ll understand you can’t just mock our way of living just because it sounds stupid to your ears.”

“Umm... do you mind if I walk with you?” Fluttershy’s voice asked from her right.

“Depends; if you’re going to try to convince me to give Cres a chance, then my answer is no,” the earth pony replied sharply without glancing back.

“I... I won’t ask you to give him a chance,” Fluttershy said softly. “I just don’t want you two to fight any more. He’s trying his hardest to be a good cat.”

“Trying? More like not really caring,” Applejack stated.

“He didn’t break the rules this morning did he?” Fluttershy insisted. “And he didn’t try and eat any of the animals at my house.”

“Yet he keeps complaining how pointless our rules are, it’s only a matter of time till he outright ignores them,” Applejack retorted. “And he keeps bringing up the whole ‘I could’ve kill ya’ bit to me, thinking that should make me respect him but instead it’s just making me want to buck his jaw off.”

“Well... he hasn’t broken them yet and I don’t think he will,” Fluttershy said meekly. “And while I don’t think he was right to give you that cut... it’s not exactly unexpected that he did it... you trapped him in a hole in the ground.”

"After he ran away and didn’t cooperate with us,” the orange mare stated. “What do you expect us to do? Let a dangerous predator just roam freely outside of the Everfree?”

“No... I’m not saying that either of you are right... I’m just saying that he had a reason to attack you and you got off lightly,” Fluttershy replied.

Applejack scoffed. “Doesn’t convince me otherwise on my thoughts towards him. He’s a dangerous predator, nothing more, nothing less.”

“Applejack... are you sure that you’re letting the past influence your thoughts towards Cres the tiniest bit?” Fluttershy asked cautiously. “He isn’t the monster who-”

“Don’t you dare finish that line, Fluttershy,” Applejack said harshly while stopping in her tracks and gave the pegasus a warning glare. “I’m already mad as it is, don’t make it any worse.”

“I’m sorry,” Fluttershy apologized. “I just don’t think you’re being very fair to Cres.”

“Fair?” Applejack said slowly while her glare intensified. “Last time I gave ‘fair’ treatment to a predator like Cres my ma and pa paid the price. So yes, I’m not treating Cres ‘fairly’ for good reason.”

Fluttershy flinched faintly. “Applejack... he’s just... lost. Not dangerous... you can see it in his eyes.”

“Then he has some way of mixing the two up,” Applejack stated while she turn away and began to walk away. “Because I only see the latter in his eyes,” she commented to Fluttershy without turning back.

“You can’t see all the pain and hopelessness?” Fluttershy inquired softly. “Applejack, he’s been crying heavily recently, that much is obvious. Haven’t you seen the way he looks off into the distance as if he’s searching for someone who he knows he’ll never see again?”

The earth pony continued to walk away, not responding, either out of of choice or because she didn’t hear the quiet mare.

“Applejack, he’s in pain,” Fluttershy said, a little louder. “He’s admitted to having spent an entire year alone on a mountaintop... it must have been something awful that drove him there.”

“Then he should be there and not here,” the mare replied with a scoff.

“But he came here trying to find a way to make up for it and you’re being horrible to him for no reason!” Fluttershy exclaimed, finally losing her temper just a little.

“Because so far he hasn’t shown me any other reason not to be,” Applejack replied.

“He’s just a poor animal who you’re taking out your old pains on,” Fluttershy said softly. “He’s done everything we’ve asked of him now that we’ve had time to properly explain it and he saved Zecora so I see no reason not to trust him!”

“Then good for you, but then again you always side with the animals if they shed enough tears for you,” Applejack said with a bitter undertone.

Fluttershy stared at her for a moment before she turned her back on the mare. “That’s because I’m the only one who can,” she said softly before she flapped her wings and flew off in the direction of her house. Applejack didn’t say another word, only continuing to head back to her farm.


I lay on my side as the sun’s warm rays washed down on me from above, it was truly a splendid day. The ‘birds’ had resumed their songs among the trees after a few minutes of my presences, apparently deciding that I was ‘safe’. I watched them through half closed eyes and saw that they were a great deal stupider than any flying type pokemon. They moved with no rhyme or rhythm and I was sure that their songs were nearly meaningless.

Angel was still watching me from his place not far away, but he hadn’t done anything to antagonize me so I let him be. It was an odd feeling, lying here in the grass not worrying about where my next meal would come from or how I would make it through another night... it was peaceful here. The type of peace that I hadn’t felt for a very long time.

There was only one thing missing really, and that was Belle, who should have been leaning against me, her warm breath playing across my neck. I let out a small sigh at the thought and thought about what a fool I’d been. I’d left her not once but twice now and for what? Absolution from Arceus? She could have at least come with me... or I could have had the stones to actually tell her face to face... but no.

No, instead I’d used a note, and a badly written one at that.

Why she insisted that I made her happy I still wasn’t sure, to be completely honest, my Belle deserved better than I could provide.

Briefly I pondered what the future held for us. Would we manage to settle down and raise a family together? Or would we simply continue to adventure around the world with the ‘Roxanne’ she’d allowed to catch her? I frowned, I didn’t like the idea of the second option... I had spent enough years on the road traveling to have long grown sick of it.

My frown deepened as I remembered one particularly tense confrontation with a Tyranitar from which we’d only managed to walk away unscathed from thanks to Belle’s gift of observation and my own ability to run very fast. I shivered; that hyperbeam had been a little too close for comfort and would have gored me.

Another image flashed into my mind, that of an extremely large number of Beedrill from whom we’d only barely escaped after I’d accidentally awoken an entire swarm. The fact that we’d still nearly died that day and had only been saved by the fact that a helpful Nurse Joy had taken in two pockmarked half dead Absol after we’d fallen unconscious at her door.

Without thinking about it, I ran a paw down my right side and felt the large puncture scars which still ached to this day if hit wrong. Thankfully, the Nurse had been able to remove the stingers before it was too late... I had spent a long time making that particular misadventure up to Belle.

My thoughts then flowed forwards through time to a moment where I thought I really was going to die. It was halfway through my time on Mt. Coronet and it was the literal dead of winter. No Pokemon showed its head out of its burrow and I was wasting away...

I sat there on the peak, the snow swirling around me in a never ending flurry of white.

“Father Arceus, please hear my prayer,” I intoned weakly, my voice cracking as the ache in my throat which burned horribly with every breath and word. “Please Father send me some hope... there is no food here... and I am not going to abandon my post here.”

I stared up at the slate grey sky and got a dozen snowflakes in my eyes for a reward. I shivered horribly and shuddered as even my thick fur failed to insulate me from the icy winds. It had been... five? No... eight days since my last meal, a scrawny Clefairy, and I knew I was dying. The only reason why it hadn’t yet come to pass was that I’d already stored up a great deal of fat over the summer.

My mind wandered tiredly and my voice began to lower as my body began to lower itself into the snowy ground. I just... I couldn’t do it... I’d failed... and now I’d die on this mountain. As my head hit the ground, the world began to black out.

“Reva, use Flame Wheel!” a male voice shouted out through the chill air.

A burst of heat washed over me and only grew as the sound of hooves echoed in my ears. A Rapidash with a silver fiery mane and partly covered in a swirling fire jumped over me, bringing in a quenching heat that melted the layer of frost covering my fur and the snow around me. The Rapidash landed firmly on the ground in front of me and turned to face me and lowered it’s head near me.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice clearly feminine and sounding concerned.

“Probably going to starve to death soon,” I answered honestly in a raspy voice. “Least I’ll have a warm corpse hmm?”

She frowned deeply and looked up and over me. “Matt, he’s starving and desperately needs food,” she told to this ‘Matt’.

“Oh good I’m being saved by a crazy Rapidash who thinks humans can understand her,” I rambled exhaustedly. “Or maybe I’m the crazy one and you’re not real at all.”

“And he’s gone delirious,” she added.

“Then let’s bring him back inside the mountain and build a fire to cook some meat for him,” Matt stated before he called out. “Koros, I need your help!”

A bright flash appeared before a large Honchkrow appeared hovering in the air flapping its wings against the wind.

“Brrr, come on Mat, you know I don’t like the cold. I’m a flying type for pete's sakes,” he, its voice clearly male, complained a bit sourly. I was clearly surrounded by the insane.

“I know, but I need your help in carrying this Absol back inside to the cave, now,” Matt ordered promptly.

“Okay, okay; no reason to lose your head,” Koros said as it flew down to me and his talons grasped onto my back tightly but not tight enough to pierce into my skin.

“Oh good, my hallucination is kind enough not to hurt me,” I said with a small slightly crazy smile. “That’s good.”

“Gee, I knew we help the occasional Pokemon who seems to have lost their marbles, but this takes the cake,” the Honchkrow commented.

“Koros, this isn’t the time to be telling your ‘witty’ jokes,” Reva remarked with a flat stare which I dimly saw from within the crow’s claws as my vision swam as I felt being lifted into the air.

“No no, go on,” I muttered. “At least I’ll be vaguely amused at my own subconscious as I meet Father Arceus.”

“See? At least someone has a sense of-”

“Koros,” the Rapidash said firmly in a flat tone.

“Moving to the cave,” he replied as I felt my body swing backwards a bit as Koror propelled us forwards.

“You know, I’ve got to say, as far as dying hallucinations go you guys are pretty good,” I lisped from between sore lips. “Not as good as when that angelic Gardevoir came down from on high and got Belle and I to that Pokemon center... but you’re a close second I guess....” I let out a laugh through my chapped lips and my body shuddered causing the Honchkrow to wiggle a bit in the air.

“Easy there, don’t talk,” the Rapidash said to me worriedly. “Save your strength and don’t worry, we’re not fake, we’re real and here to help.”

“The odds of that are really low,” I replied weakly. “After all, why would the Father deliver me now? Hahah, he’s probably been watching this whole half year of prayer and laughing at me.”

The world darkened a bit as well as the rush of the wind died down as I barely saw the roof of a the cave passing over head.

“I wouldn’t know that, but someone heard you and sent us to help,” Reva replied. “Because that’s what Matt does, he helps as much as he can.”

The Honchkrow set me down next to a fire pit that was blazing with life and the smell of roasting Magikarp meat tickled into my nose making my mouth water... it had been so long since my last meal. I looked in the direction of the smell and saw a light brown haired male human pouring a water into a bowl.

He glanced towards me and smiled slightly. “So, still think we’re all a hallucination?” he asked me.

I blinked several times as the intense memory washed over me, barely suppressing a shiver as I once more felt the arctic blasts of the unforgiving Mountain’s peak. If it hadn’t been for Matt then I’d have died up there during the winter... speaking of Matt... I wondered where he was... and if he’d mind if I joined him.

Of course, I could only do that if Belle’s Roxanne lived nearby, I wasn’t about to abandon her again but if I could, I would enjoy his company. He reminded me of Henry to be honest, smart and brave.

A loud sigh left my lips and I looked up to see that Angel had crept closer to me. I raised an eyebrow slightly at him and he puffed out his chest. I wasn’t exactly an expert on what his breed of ‘animal’ did but I believe he was trying to intimidate me. In response I gathered a small bit of flame in my mouth and let it slowly leak from between the edges of my lips. To my surprise he just scoffed at me.

I liked him.

“My, aren’t you the brave one,” I mused with a smile as I looked over the white Buneary.

The Buneary just raised an eyebrow at me to which I responded with a raised eyebrow of my own. It had been a long time since I’d done something like this but considering where I was, I didn’t think it would hurt anything. I extended my paw out to him, claws carefully sheathed, and held it up to him in the manner of a human. He stared at it suspiciously for a moment and then hopped in the air to give it a surprisingly firm ‘slap’ with his velvety front paw.

“Huh, very brave,” I said, chuckling. “Here ‘Angel’ come sit beside me if you’d like, it’s better to share a beautiful day like this with someone else than by yourself, eh?”

Angel frowned at me and sat down where he was, though he didn’t look entirely hostile.

“Do what you’d like then,” I said with a sigh, annoyed to have been shot down.

I shut my eyes and began to simply enjoy the feeling of the sun washing down on me. Unfortunately, I could already hear the sound of wingbeats that heralded the approach of Fluttershy. Not that I was unhappy to have her back, it was just that I’d been enjoying the peace. Oh well, at any rate whatever conversation she had to offer would keep me of thinking of things I’d rather not. As I sensed her land beside me, I cracked an eye open at the mare and found her looking at me with a concerned expression.

“I hope Applejack’s... mood is not bothering you to much,” she asked me hesitantly. “She’s just... overly protective sometimes.”

“That’s one way to put it,” I replied. “And no... I’m fine.”

“Oh good,” she said with a small relieved sigh.

“So... what would you like to talk about?” I asked her, closing my eyes again. I really did not like the way I could lose myself within her eyes... they were too strange.

“Well... I don’t really know, is there something you would like to know?” she asked me.

“Not particularly,” I answered. “Except perhaps knowing who or what killed Applejack’s parents. If nothing else it will give me less of a reason to despise her.”

“Well...” her voice trailed off in uncertainty. “I don’t know if it would be right of me to tell you or not... but if it makes you understand Applejack a bit more, I guess it wouldn’t hurt.” Her voice remained silent for a while before she spoke up again.

“It was a sphinx, a rare predator not normally found around here and normally live in Saddle Arabia but... one of them seemed to have been tired of scavenging off the desert and traveled here to hunt whatever it could sink it’s fangs into. Applejack’s parents were one of its victims along with a few other ponies,” she explained.

“I see,” I replied with a small nod. “And while I stand by my statement that she has my condolences for that... it does not explain or forgive her for her treatment of myself.”

“Well... she kind-of does have reason to be,” Fluttershy told me. “You are only adding fuel to her distrust towards you by constantly voicing your opinions on our rules and... she just thinks you’re going to lie to her like the sphinx lied to her parents when she was a filly.”

I frowned. “I only voice my opinion because... well I suppose I have grown overly accustomed to the sound of my own voice,” I explained slowly. “I’ve been alone for these past two years more or less. Being alone that long tends to erode your manners.”

“Then you need to work those manners back into place... because... I hate to say this but neither of you are really in the right,” Fluttershy said hesitantly.

“I suppose there’s some truth to that,” I admitted with a sigh. “But back to Applejack’s parents. How exactly have I been lying in any way?”

“Well you haven’t... not that I can see, it’s just Applejack thinks you are,” Fluttershy explained. “It’s the way you’re acting, the constant objection to our rules and... you keep bringing up how you could’ve ‘killed’ her.”

“And?” I inquired with a frown. “Saying that is usually meant as a sign that you do not mean to kill someone,” I stated with a frown as I cracked my right eye open at her again. “It means that I have no intention to kill her or I would have already.”

“Maybe... but to her I think she sees it as sort of mocking towards her. As in, I can kill you at any moment,” Fluttershy replied. “And Applejack doesn’t back down from those type of threats.”

“I don’t understand, but perhaps it is simply a Pokemon way of thinking,” I said, letting out a sigh. “Everything is so different here... in my world the strongest must continually prove their strength... a moment’s weakness could be seen as an opportunity for someone less strong to challenge you and take what you have. The only real sense of safety is with a Master. A privilege which I lost long ago...”

“A master?” Fluttershy asked with a puzzled look.

“Did I not explain that to you yet?” I asked, opening both eyes as I looked up at her. She shook her head slowly, and I let out a sigh. “A Master is a human who takes it upon him or herself to bond with wild Pokemon. We become like their ‘pets’ I suppose, except for our bonds are deeper... we live together, sleep together, fight together... we are each others equals and respect one another’s strength.”

“And you said you lost the privilege long ago?” Fluttershy asked cautiously.

“Indeed I did,” I replied, closing my eyes again, I couldn’t stand to look into her eyes as I said that.

“How exactly did you lose it?” she asked, the same ere of caution trailing in her voice.

“He died,” I said, barely keeping my composure. “I... killed him.”

The mare remained quiet, and the soft touch of feathery wings warped across my back. “I’m sorry...” Fluttershy said softly, both in regret and in compassion. “I’m sure it wasn’t your fa-”

“Of course it was my fault,” I said flatly, interrupting her. “I was the one who rushed in! I was the one who acted like an idiot! I was the one who knocked over the canister! I was the one who started the fire! I was the one who couldn’t rescue him from the flames! I was-!” before I realized it a was weeping again, unable to contain my grief any longer.

“It’s all my fault... always my fault,” I moaned quietly, to ashamed to care about my dignity. “Everyone tells me it’s not but it was. They weren’t there.... they didn't hear Henry screaming as he died... they... they...” I could talk no longer and buried my face in the grass.

Fluttershy continued to hold her wing over me and began to comfortingly to stroke it and a hoof against me. “It’s okay... let it out,” she said compassionately.

I barely heard her as my claws tore at the earth beneath them, tearing up small clods of earth. When I finally became aware of where I was again I found that the ground before me was bare and that my normally white fur was filthy with loamy soil. My eyes stung from the tears and I raised them to look at Fluttershy who was still looking at me with gentle compassion. I shuddered and fell limply on my front.

“Sorry about the grass,” I said tonelessly.

“It’s okay... I can always ask Rose to help fix it later,” she told me while she continued to ‘hold’ me.

I let out a sigh and despite myself leaned against her soft side. “This... is the reason I left my Belle... I’m unstable,” I confessed softly. “I’m a danger... a killer.”

“No, you’re misunderstood,” Fluttershy told me.

A humorless grunt left my throat. “What makes you say that?”

“Because of the way you are acting right now,” she answered me.

“I just spent five minutes tearing apart your lawn in a fit of rage and self loathing,” I said flatly. “I believe that qualifies me as unstable and dangerous.”

“Yet you didn’t strike at me, nor made any notice you didn’t want me near you,” she remarked. “In fact, you’ve been accepting my aid to comfort you... now how would that make you unstable or dangerous?”

“It means that I’ve sunken far enough in my mire of self pity that I’ve run out of options except to leach it from others,” I said despondently. “I didn’t hurt you because you’re still listening to me-”

“Balderdash,” Fluttershy interjected with a stern look. “You’re desperately looking for help... and if you were even remotely close to what you are describing yourself, you wouldn’t be here searching for it. You would’ve either been fine with the way you were or you’ve could’ve gone... wild.”

I snorted. “I am wild, I have no Pokeball to return to.”

“Wild as in gone mindless of who you are, losing your sense of self-identity,” Fluttershy explained.

“Oh,” I replied with a sigh as I pushed myself to my paws. “No... I suppose that has not happened as of yet.” I shook myself, attempting to dislodge some of the dirt from my fur. I was for the most part unsuccessful. “I have two things I’d like to ask of you.”

Fluttershy frown slightly at the sudden change of subject, but she got up to her hooves and replied. “And what would they be?”

“Firstly, is there anywhere I could wash?” I asked her politely as I took a step away from the mare who asked questions which had perplexingly strong effect against me. She must have been part Fairy.

Fluttershy blinked a bit before she chuckled lightly and nodded her head. “Yes, I have a wash center in the back of my house that you can use.”

“I thank you,” I told her, bowing my head. “And secondly, and do not misinterpret me here; may I sleep with you? Applejack has left me in a barn that smells horribly of oil.”

The mare nodded her head once more. “Of course. There is plenty of room inside my cottage,” she answered.

“I thank you again,” I stated, giving her a stiff nod of my head before I turned my back on her. “I shall see you after I bathe.”

“Okay, if you need any help don’t be afraid to ask,” she said as she was nod her head one final time and headed for the front door to her home.

I let out a sigh and began to walk towards the back of the house, my mind abuzz.