HOME | DD

Description

Dark storm clouds are gathering over the horizon.

Usually, such a sight would bring relief to the local Joltik population. The storms here tend to be mere electrical storms, with only lightning and thunder to expect. Occasionally rain will be tossed into the mix and maybe even a few gusts of wind. Never anything to worry about and quite a feast for every little Joltik involved. But this time, it’s so much more than anyone expected.

Powerful winds tear through the canopy of the forest, the trees struggling to stay in one piece as the gusts threaten to rip leaves and branches clean off. Some of the weaker trees have already been uprooted. The local Pokemon stay confined to their homes and within the hollow trunks of the stronger trees, fear evident in their eyes.

But not all Pokemon are so lucky to have refuge. A small Joltik stay clinging to the elaborate web he had built this morning, before the storm came. His name is Popcorn and he is one of the few Joltiks foolish enough to have had risked everything for a meal.

He is starving and he had hoped that by staying put, he would be able to earn a few strikes of lightning and get a meal that way. Such a surge of electricity would be more than enough to fill him up and have much more to spare for all the other Joltiks. It would’ve been a grand feast for the whole community!

But now he knows that’s a mistake. Whimpering as he and his web is whipped to and fro, little Popcorn opens his eyes and looks down below. He can make out where the good majority of his community is hiding: under a large leaf in a small clearing, huddled together with a Galvantula.

That in itself is a big risk. Whilst Joltiks are peaceful Pokemon with a ‘share-everything-with-everyone’ mentality, Galvantulas couldn’t be more different. They are selfish, cruel, and sociopathic, operating more on the mindset of ‘keep-everything-for-yourself-and-to-hell-with-everyone-else’. They didn’t need anyone’s help to survive, as they can create their own electricity and no longer needed to rely on the Joltik’s communistic society of sharing what little energy there was to go around. Add to that a new carnivorous diet and everything they once knew as Joltiks became obsolete.

In fact, they’ve been known to turn on the weaker members of their own pre-evolutions, making sure only the strong and fortunate of their little relatives survive long enough to evolve. But in a major crisis like this, where everyone is under threat, even Galvantulas will give aid to both their pre-evolutions and their fellow Galvantulas. Not from compassion of course, but more for the well-being of the species.

Despite the dangers associated with the alliance, Popcorn wants to go to the bundle of furry arachnids below, but is much too frightened to budge an inch from his spot. He curls into as tight a ball as he can manage, trying to make himself even smaller. But his effort to create less wind resistance proves useless and a bolt of lightning flashes and strikes, not at him as he had hoped, but at one of the branches anchoring his web.

Crying out, he clings to a thread, gathering all the strength in his tiny body to pull himself towards the branch that secured it. Pressing himself to the bark, he stands no chance against the savage wind and is blown to the ground. Grunting at the impact, he digs the tips of his little legs into the ground to keep from being blown off again.

Opening his eyes, he sees he’s a short distance from his friends and family and he fights the instincts telling him to stay put in order to force himself towards them one strenuous step at a time.

He sees the Galvantula and the Joltiks turn to him and hears his fellow ticks call out to him encouragingly. With their moral support, he forces himself closer and closer, fighting the wind threatening to sweep him away. He can make it… He HAS to make it…

Finally, almost sapped of all his strength, he reaches out a foreleg and grabs the spikey fur of the Galvantula’s pedipalp. With no help from the giant spider, he pulls himself up and up, managing to climb to the larger Pokemon’s head.

Wiped out, he huddles into the yellow fur beneath him, clinging tightly as he tries to ignore the horrific storm around them.

Although the leaf provided some protection from the rain and wind, it’s far from perfect and the Galvantula presses down into the ground as the winds grow more in strength. He smothers and almost crushes the little Joltiks huddled under him, but he pays no heed even when they wriggle. Some manage to pull free and they try to help their fellows out from under him, but it’s no use as those still smooshed below him finally cease their struggles permanently. The survivors either huddle into the tarantula’s side or climb onto his back, trying to pull through this disaster despite the loss.

A large branch crashes down beside them, but the Galvantula holds firm to his spot. Nature continues to try to dislodge the arachnids by increasing the wind’s strength even more and that proved just too much for one exhausted little Joltik…

Popcorn feels his grip on the Galvantula’s fur slip and his heart skips a beat as he’s thrown into the air with a scream. He’s certain of his death when he feels something snag his hind leg. Looking back, he sees a thread clinging to him and his big blue eyes follow it to a fellow Joltik that managed to catch him. At once, the other remaining Joltiks shoot out web to snag him and keep him from being blown away.

Being whipped by the wind like a kite, Popcorn feels some of the threads snap and his large eyes can even make out some of the other Joltiks beginning to lose their grips on the Galvantula. The wind grows in intensity and he sees that the stubborn hold of the others are starting to affect the Galvantula, their combined pull threatening to put the large Pokemon off balance and into the wind’s wrath as well.

They’ll all be doomed if this keeps up…

He’s about to scream at them to save themselves, but the Galvantula beats him to it, the spider’s gravelly voice angry.

“Let him go! He’s too weak to be worth it!”

That isn’t exactly how Popcorn would’ve phrased it, but the idea’s still there nonetheless.

“No! He’s part of our community and we have to stick together!” He hears one of his fellows snap back, the others nodding in agreement. “We can’t just let him get swept away! He could die!”

“If you don’t let him go, we’ll ALL be swept away!” the spider hisses, glowering back at them. “I refuse to die because of YOUR idiotic ideals!”

“Ideals YOU once lived by!” another Joltik retorts. “If you can just follow it one last time and help us pull him in, we won’t be having this problem!”

“Yeah!” the other Joltiks joined in, the Galvantula huffing contemptuously. Glaring up at the helpless Joltik above them, he growls and takes the threads in his pedipalps.

The Galvantula’s helping? The thought is almost too strange for Popcorn and he feels a spark of hope as he’s pulled closer and closer. Just as he is about to cling gratefully to the massive arachnid, he catches the sharp glint in the predator’s eyes and his fur would’ve paled right then and there. And it only gets worse when the tarantula hisses softly at him...

“In my world, there is no place for weaklings like you…” He lifts a pedipalp, the sharp points menacing the little tick for a long second. “So I'll exterminate you...” With that said, he makes a single swipe and snaps the threads clean off of the tiny bug. At once, Popcorn is sent screaming high into the air, hearing the other Joltiks scream as well.

Their voices fade into the distance as he’s lifted right up over the forest canopy and into the dark clouds above...

--

A short story and pic of Popcorn and how he got separated from his group. Is there any wonder why he's scared to evolve? There might be a part 2 if this one's well-received.

The Galvantula's final lines of dialogue's inspired by this Joltik and Galvantula video . It's awesome!

PART 2 can be read here .

Description

Dark storm clouds are gathering over the horizon.

Usually, such a sight would bring relief to the local Joltik population. The storms here tend to be mere electrical storms, with only lightning and thunder to expect. Occasionally rain will be tossed into the mix and maybe even a few gusts of wind. Never anything to worry about and quite a feast for every little Joltik involved. But this time, it’s so much more than anyone expected.

Powerful winds tear through the canopy of the forest, the trees struggling to stay in one piece as the gusts threaten to rip leaves and branches clean off. Some of the weaker trees have already been uprooted. The local Pokemon stay confined to their homes and within the hollow trunks of the stronger trees, fear evident in their eyes.

But not all Pokemon are so lucky to have refuge. A small Joltik stay clinging to the elaborate web he had built this morning, before the storm came. His name is Popcorn and he is one of the few Joltiks foolish enough to have had risked everything for a meal.

He is starving and he had hoped that by staying put, he would be able to earn a few strikes of lightning and get a meal that way. Such a surge of electricity would be more than enough to fill him up and have much more to spare for all the other Joltiks. It would’ve been a grand feast for the whole community!

But now he knows that’s a mistake. Whimpering as he and his web is whipped to and fro, little Popcorn opens his eyes and looks down below. He can make out where the good majority of his community is hiding: under a large leaf in a small clearing, huddled together with a Galvantula.

That in itself is a big risk. Whilst Joltiks are peaceful Pokemon with a ‘share-everything-with-everyone’ mentality, Galvantulas couldn’t be more different. They are selfish, cruel, and sociopathic, operating more on the mindset of ‘keep-everything-for-yourself-and-to-hell-with-everyone-else’. They didn’t need anyone’s help to survive, as they can create their own electricity and no longer needed to rely on the Joltik’s communistic society of sharing what little energy there was to go around. Add to that a new carnivorous diet and everything they once knew as Joltiks became obsolete.

In fact, they’ve been known to turn on the weaker members of their own pre-evolutions, making sure only the strong and fortunate of their little relatives survive long enough to evolve. But in a major crisis like this, where everyone is under threat, even Galvantulas will give aid to both their pre-evolutions and their fellow Galvantulas. Not from compassion of course, but more for the well-being of the species.

Despite the dangers associated with the alliance, Popcorn wants to go to the bundle of furry arachnids below, but is much too frightened to budge an inch from his spot. He curls into as tight a ball as he can manage, trying to make himself even smaller. But his effort to create less wind resistance proves useless and a bolt of lightning flashes and strikes, not at him as he had hoped, but at one of the branches anchoring his web.

Crying out, he clings to a thread, gathering all the strength in his tiny body to pull himself towards the branch that secured it. Pressing himself to the bark, he stands no chance against the savage wind and is blown to the ground. Grunting at the impact, he digs the tips of his little legs into the ground to keep from being blown off again.

Opening his eyes, he sees he’s a short distance from his friends and family and he fights the instincts telling him to stay put in order to force himself towards them one strenuous step at a time.

He sees the Galvantula and the Joltiks turn to him and hears his fellow ticks call out to him encouragingly. With their moral support, he forces himself closer and closer, fighting the wind threatening to sweep him away. He can make it… He HAS to make it…

Finally, almost sapped of all his strength, he reaches out a foreleg and grabs the spikey fur of the Galvantula’s pedipalp. With no help from the giant spider, he pulls himself up and up, managing to climb to the larger Pokemon’s head.

Wiped out, he huddles into the yellow fur beneath him, clinging tightly as he tries to ignore the horrific storm around them.

Although the leaf provided some protection from the rain and wind, it’s far from perfect and the Galvantula presses down into the ground as the winds grow more in strength. He smothers and almost crushes the little Joltiks huddled under him, but he pays no heed even when they wriggle. Some manage to pull free and they try to help their fellows out from under him, but it’s no use as those still smooshed below him finally cease their struggles permanently. The survivors either huddle into the tarantula’s side or climb onto his back, trying to pull through this disaster despite the loss.

A large branch crashes down beside them, but the Galvantula holds firm to his spot. Nature continues to try to dislodge the arachnids by increasing the wind’s strength even more and that proved just too much for one exhausted little Joltik…

Popcorn feels his grip on the Galvantula’s fur slip and his heart skips a beat as he’s thrown into the air with a scream. He’s certain of his death when he feels something snag his hind leg. Looking back, he sees a thread clinging to him and his big blue eyes follow it to a fellow Joltik that managed to catch him. At once, the other remaining Joltiks shoot out web to snag him and keep him from being blown away.

Being whipped by the wind like a kite, Popcorn feels some of the threads snap and his large eyes can even make out some of the other Joltiks beginning to lose their grips on the Galvantula. The wind grows in intensity and he sees that the stubborn hold of the others are starting to affect the Galvantula, their combined pull threatening to put the large Pokemon off balance and into the wind’s wrath as well.

They’ll all be doomed if this keeps up…

He’s about to scream at them to save themselves, but the Galvantula beats him to it, the spider’s gravelly voice angry.

“Let him go! He’s too weak to be worth it!”

That isn’t exactly how Popcorn would’ve phrased it, but the idea’s still there nonetheless.

“No! He’s part of our community and we have to stick together!” He hears one of his fellows snap back, the others nodding in agreement. “We can’t just let him get swept away! He could die!”

“If you don’t let him go, we’ll ALL be swept away!” the spider hisses, glowering back at them. “I refuse to die because of YOUR idiotic ideals!”

“Ideals YOU once lived by!” another Joltik retorts. “If you can just follow it one last time and help us pull him in, we won’t be having this problem!”

“Yeah!” the other Joltiks joined in, the Galvantula huffing contemptuously. Glaring up at the helpless Joltik above them, he growls and takes the threads in his pedipalps.

The Galvantula’s helping? The thought is almost too strange for Popcorn and he feels a spark of hope as he’s pulled closer and closer. Just as he is about to cling gratefully to the massive arachnid, he catches the sharp glint in the predator’s eyes and his fur would’ve paled right then and there. And it only gets worse when the tarantula hisses softly at him...

“In my world, there is no place for weaklings like you…” He lifts a pedipalp, the sharp points menacing the little tick for a long second. “So I'll exterminate you...” With that said, he makes a single swipe and snaps the threads clean off of the tiny bug. At once, Popcorn is sent screaming high into the air, hearing the other Joltiks scream as well.

Their voices fade into the distance as he’s lifted right up over the forest canopy and into the dark clouds above...

--

A short story and pic of Popcorn and how he got separated from his group. Is there any wonder why he's scared to evolve? There might be a part 2 if this one's well-received.

The Galvantula's final lines of dialogue's inspired by this Joltik and Galvantula video . It's awesome!

PART 2 can be read here .