A/N - Been a while since I posted anything, but I'm gonna make this short. Firstly, I still have writers block for my other story, The Republic, for those of you who recognize me after all this time. Tough luck. Secondly, 'these are character's thoughts, private or otherwise.' That is all.
Rule 1: When traveling alone, be aware of your surroundings. A little precaution goes a long way.
The sand was hot under his feet and the sun beat down on him from above, but there was a cool breeze blowing in from the sea which made the heat bearable. As he walked, the elevation along the coast line rose, the soft sands were replaced by rock, and those gentle breezes grew into violent gusts. The Slowking had happened upon this island after a three day attempt to catch up to Kyogre which had ended in complete failure. He kept climbing higher till finally he looked towards the sea and smiled. He was on a high cliff which meant he could take part in one of his favorite hobbies and forget about the three days he'd spent in a futile effort to catch a legend.
Entering the waters at high speeds from a high place always gave him a sort of mental high. The adrenaline would speed up his thoughts as he fell at an ever increasing velocity giving him the impression that time was slowing down. None of the other Slowkings he'd met were too keen on the idea and most were bewildered that he was willing to dive from a cliff several stories above sea level. To them it was lunacy. 'Better than sitting in one spot day after day...' he thought to himself.
Reaching out his senses, he scanned the area below and found the water to be relatively calm and of suitable depth for a dive. The Slowking stretched his arms and legs to limber up his muscles for the dive. He could have just cushioned the impact of the water with his psychic abilities, but that would take the fun out of it (some of the others had just about fainted when he told them that).
Looking out at the sea, he took several deep breaths. Right before he took the plunge however, a trainer popped out of the tropical vegetation behind him, released a Crobat, and ordered it to use Mean Look. Shocked that he'd forgotten to watch his back, the Slowking turned around. The trainer pulled out a handheld device and pointed it at him. A distinct, mechanical voice buzzed to life and said, "Slowking, the royal pokemon and the evolved form of Slowpoke. It has intelligence that can match that of a human's and always remains calm and collected during stressful situations."
'Wonderful,' he thought, 'I was so focused on my dive I forgot to watch out for troublesome trainers.' Annoyed and frustrated, the Crobat's Mean Look was keeping him from fleeing into the ocean. Resigning himself to the fact he would have to either defeat the trainer or stall until the Mean Look wore off, he cleared his head and studied his opponent. The trainer had blond hair which curled out from under a faded blue baseball cap. He wore a green jacket with blue jeans. 'Utterly unremarkable...' the Slowking thought, ' That aside, he's experienced and confident, but not to the point of being arrogant,' the Slowking focused his senses on the trainer's thoughts, 'And he wants me to make the first move. I guess I should oblige.' Giving a slight smirk, he opened his mouth and yawned.
This confused the trainer. 'Is he really not taking me seriously?' he heard go through the trainer's mind, 'He's either strong enough to be worth this, or stupid enough to-' The Slowking got the feeling his thoughts weren't secure. There might have been another pokemon or even a human in the area capable of hearing others' thoughts so the Slowking was forced to put up his defenses. Raising mental barriers required him to tune out the trainer's thoughts. He had never been proficient enough at multitasking to both shield himself and read the minds of others at the same time.
"Crobat! Use Wing Attack!" the trainer yelled. As the Crobat swept down toward him with almost blinding speed, he took a short step to the left and watched as the Crobat plowed into the ground. The trainer looked at the Crobat and then back to the Slowking with his mouth wide open. His Crobat was asleep. Realizing what had just happened, the trainer returned the Crobat and stared intently.
'I guess my little show of superiority is going to cost me,' the Slowking thought. The trainer seemed more determined than ever to bring him into his party. After a few moments of considering his options, he sent out a Skarmory and warned it to be careful. Sighing, the Slowking decided he might as well try and talk his way out of the situation. 'If I shock him enough, I might be able to stall until the Mean Look wears off.'
"Do we really have to do this now?" The Slowking asked out loud, "I was in the middle of something when you arrived and I'd like to get back to it."
The trainer's jaw dropped again after which he said, "That isn't telepathy..."
The Slowking cursed his rotten luck. 'He's surprised, but not surprised enough.' "No, it isn't Telepathy. I've been around humans enough to learn to speak their language," he explained, "Didn't your device mention something about that earlier?" 'Maybe I can distract him by changing the subject...'
The trainer remembered the pokedex and answered, "It said you had an intellect that could match a human's, but..."
"...But it said nothing about me being able to speak?" he finished for him. "Honestly, you humans are too trusting of technology. It may be your race's astounding achievement in that it puts you at the top of the food chain, but there's something to be said for understanding that even you have limits." The Skarmory suddenly got restless and the trainer looked behind his shoulder as if he was worried the trees behind him held some kind of hidden danger. 'Well that was certainly strange," he thought, 'but I guess it means I wasn't imagining that other presence.'
After the trainer decided the Slowking and his Skarmory were the only other beings in the vicinity, he took a few moments to think about what the Slowking had said. Finally, he laughed which caught the Slowking off guard. "You almost had me there for a second. Shock me with your ability speak and then distract me with a discussion of human nature all the while you're waiting for Mean Look to wear off. That was the plan, wasn't it?"
The Slowking's eyes went wide. The trainer had seen right through his ruse. "That was the plan... I take it my chances of escaping this battle just dropped dramatically," he replied quietly.
"That would be accurate. I made sure when me and Crobat were training that Mean Look's effects lasted as long as they possibly could which turns out to be about an hour." The Slowking calmed his mind again in an attempt to analyze his best chance of getting out of a situation he'd just made worse. It hadn't even been five minutes since his Crobat used Mean Look. "I have to admit though," the trainer continued, "if Skarmory hadn't gotten upset I might have sat there and talked to you for the rest of the hour."
Realizing he had no choice but to try and knock out the rest of the trainer's team, he began to devise a strategy. "I don't suppose you want to sit down and finish off the hour talking?" 'He knows about Yawn now so it probably won't work again. I'll have to wear his team out one at a time.'
"The way I see it, we can talk all you want after your check up with Nurse Joy," the trainer replied. The Slowking chuckled at this comment despite the circumstances, but wasn't about to give up his freedom without a fight. Using water gun, he pushed his Skarmory off balance. This gave him enough time to use Aqua Ring which would help with some of the inevitable damage he was about to take.
"Skarmory! Steel Wing!" the trainer shouted. The Skarmory launched high into the air and swooped down in the same style the Crobat had done before. The Slowking managed to take the entire attack and stop all of its momentum. Grabbing onto it, he lifted the Skarmory up with the assist of Psychic and slammed it against the ground rendering it unconscious. The Aqua Ring began the slow process of healing the damage he had just taken, but he could feel that he was already pretty badly injured.
"That Steel Wing seemed awfully familiar," he chided, "Maybe you should add some variety to your strategy." The trainer was unfazed by the Slowking's comments and returned his Skarmory, replacing him with a Riolu. "Well that's certainly a different strategy, but is it smart to send out a child?" He started to use Water Gun, but was caught off guard by the Riolu's speed. It's Force Palm connected and sent a tingling sensation through his body which emanated from the point of contact. It was in the same spot where the Steel Wing had connected so he winced in pain. Reacting to the best of his abilities, the Slowking scored a direct hit with a Water Pulse. The Riolu was sent flying backward and didn't get up afterward.
"You knocked out Riolu in one hit. You're the first who's managed to do that," the trainer said as he returned his partner to its pokeball, "you're impressing me more with each passing moment."
"Enough that you'll give this up and let me finish my dive?" he asked, already knowing the answer.
"Sorry, but not quite."
'This is getting desperate,' the Slowking thought, 'I can nullify the effects of the paralysis for the time being, but I won't be able to shield myself from attacks or increase my strength anymore.'
The trainer sent out his next pokemon, "Frosslass is my last chance to catch you. She won't lose."
The Slowking managed a smile and replied, "You might just be right." He looked at the Frosslass and shivered a little as she gave him a playful wink. "Was that Attract?"
The trainer laughed and replied, "Maybe. I wanted to win fairly, but she doesn't always listen to what I say."
"Wonderful," he muttered more to himself than to anyone else. The Frosslass flew at him with as much speed as the others had, but having the timing down already, he sidestepped out of her way. The Frosslass dove into the ground, reappeared behind him, and wrapped her arms around him in an unnecessarily intimate embrace.
Grabbing her, the Slowking attempted to release himself, but she just wrapped around him tighter and started to tear at his mental barriers. Slowly her voice seeped into his head, 'Just think. Pretty soon I'll be able to hold you like this all the time.' The Slowking opened his mouth to speak, but froze as she began filling his head with her thoughts. She flashed tempting images of the two of them together under the care of her trainer through his mind. They'd fight side by side supporting one another, protecting each other... just like before...
'It would be so much easier to just give in,' she reasoned, 'To let him capture you... To stay with me...' Her voice was tantalizingly soft and reminded him of the sound of far away bells... 'You could share your thoughts and experiences with me... just like you did with her-'
He finally snapped out of it and became overwhelmed with anger. "Get out!" he shouted as he separated her thoughts from his. He yelled and pushed back against her mind. 'How dare you try and manipulate me!' he screamed into her head, 'Even more enraging is that you had the audacity to look into my memories!' Continuing he forced feelings of guilt and regret that had been in the back of her mind to surface. 'What gives you the right!'
Breaking past all of her hasty put up defenses, he forced a barrage of some of his darker memories that he usually kept buried deep into her mind. With a sharp gasp, she fainted, releasing her grip, and fell to the ground. He looked at the trainer who was confused as to what had just happened. He was about to say something, but the mental energy the Slowking had expended was too great. He collapsed, unable to hold up his paralyzed body any longer and blacked out, unable to hear the trainer's shouts...
When he awoke, he felt a warm glow on his skin. It was soothing and he almost fell back asleep. Refusing to let that happen, he took in his surroundings and realized he was in a bed. Turning his head, he saw a Nurse- 'probably named Joy like all the others' - in a white outfit with a pink apron studying a monitor which seemed to be displaying his vitals. Her hair was a darker shade of red than the usual Nurse Joy and she might have been shorter, but other than that she fit the stereotype. He tried to sit up and groaned from an ache in his side before lying back down again. This alerted the nurse that he was awake. "Try not to move," she said with a warm smile, "You need to conserve your energy."
"Where are my injuries?" he asked out loud without thinking. The nurse started to answer and then gave him a borderline terrified expresion. 'If I had a nickel for every time I saw that reaction,' he thought. "Yes I can talk. Move past it and tell me my injuries."
"Uh, you hurt your ribs and uh- how can you talk!" the nurse exclaimed.
"I just can. What else?" He was getting irritated which probably wasn't good for his recovery.
"Lots of bruising and you were fatigued when you came in and are you really talking?" He rolled his eyes and focused his mind on the ribs. One of his ribs was cracked and another had come dangerously close to puncturing an internal organ. Grunting as he set it back into place with psychic, he used Recover to speed up the slow process of mending his broken bones. It was much faster than letting them heal by themselves, but he had to be careful not to add extra strain to his body by doing it wrong. After working the process into his subconscious, he dulled the pain receptors in the area and sat up.
The nurse began to protest, but he ignored her. "The trainer who brought me here," the Slowking said with irritation in his voice, "where is he?"
"He's- sniff -he's in the waiting room..." she was on the verge of breaking down, "You shouldn't... errr..." her voice trailed off as tears started to form in the corners of her eyes.
He mentally slapped himself for not considering her feelings. She must have been emotionally unstable to begin with based on how fast she broke down, but that was no excuse for taking his problems out on her. In an attempt to rebuild her confidence and speed up how fast he could get out of the room, he said "I'm real sorry nurse..." He looked down and noticed noticed a name tag on her apron. 'She's a volunteer and her name isn't Joy. I sure called that one wrong.' "Bianca, I'm sorry I'm acting irritated, but I've healed injuries like this before. You've done a wonderful job taking care of me up until this point, but I have to attend to some personal matters."
The girl's mood did a one-eighty and she cheerfully nodded her head. Removing the wires that had been attached to his body to monitor his vitals, the Slowking lowered himself to the ground. Before he made it to the door, however, Bianca said, "Hold on just for a moment, please." When he stopped, she continued, "This is the first time your trainer has ever brought you to a pokecenter so we'll need your name for the record. Do you go by Slowking?"
"I go by Sawyer when dealing with humans," he replied. She gave him a puzzled look. "Someone else decided it was a good name for me."
"I see... Well there's a few more things I could use your help with." She gave a warm smile which few people could probably refuse. Sawyer sighed and shut his door to freedom.
"Fine, but let's make this quick."
Had he known that Bianca was going to have him explain the differences in pokemon physiology between types and if he hadn't been worried about her collapsing in a puddle of her own tears, he would have bolted out the door. Unfortunately, he seemed to have a bit of a weakness for females of any species and it was hard for him to refuse their requests. 'Mental note... Come up with a way to nullify the move attract...'
"So now do you understand why Advil doesn't work on most steel or rock types?" Sawyer banged his head against a wall. "And can I go attend to my own problems now?"
"Sorry, but Nurse Joy is making her rounds. Could you please wait a second for her to get here?"
Sawyer glared at her. "You've been stalling, haven't you?"
"You're the psychic. You should have figured it out."
Sawyer got back up on the bed. 'I might as well. I haven't had a decent checkup since that incident with the Sharpedo...' He pushed the memories aside. "I didn't read your mind because human thoughts tend to wander in directions I'd rather not know about. Just be glad I haven't decided to wipe your memory."
Bianca got the point and sat quietly till Nurse Joy came. Strolling into the room, she had the air of confidence one gets when they've been doing something they love for a very long time. "I see our patient is awake," she said in a gentle, but enthusiastic voice. Inspecting his injuries, she poked and prodded at him expecting a reaction. When she got none, she became worried. "The effects of the paralysis may still be lingering... He should be wincing from the broken ribs..."
'I'm currently dulling my pain receptors and I'm in the process of healing the ribs,' Sawyer projected into both of their heads. Telepathy among psychic types wasn't that rare and wouldn't create the fiasco that talking out loud usually did.
"Based on all of the scars around your body, I'd say you're already quite experienced in this area so I'll leave the healing process to you. Just let me do a quick check up to make sure you're healthy." After taking his vitals, weighing and measuring him, and listening to him breath, the Nurse said, "You're a little under the typical weight for your species, but I suspect you're also more active as well. Other than the broken ribs which I can't do much about anyways, you're in near perfect health so I have no reason to keep you here."
'You have no idea how glad I am to hear that.' Sawyer jumped off the bed and walked toward the door. 'I have some business to attend to so I'll be taking my leave.'
"Going to get better acquainted with your new trainer?" Bianca asked.
He stopped for a second and replied, 'He's not my trainer and I intend to make sure he knows that.' The thought sent a slight chill down her spine...
Sawyer slowly made his way through the halls toward the waiting room. The floors were cold beneath his feet and everything smelled sterile. He usually avoided going to pokemon centers if at all possible. They felt unnatural and made him uneasy. Pushing through a door into the waiting room, he looked around and eventually found the trainer. He seemed worried and didn't notice Sawyer till he had sat down in the chair next to him.
"Shouldn't you be in bed healing?"
'I'm healing as we speak and I'll be good as new again by tomorrow.'
"Good, cause you did a number on the rest of my team."
Sawyer gave him an annoyed look. 'I'm assuming you brought me here in a pokeball.'
"That should be obvious. You weigh as much as I do."
'I weigh less than most other Slowkings according to Nurse Joy so complain to someone else. Now let me see the pokeball.' The trainer handed it to him and Sawyer activated it. He was surrounded by a red light and put inside the ball. The inside was a recreated river environment which would have been nice if Sawyer hadn't known it was just a facade. Using Psychic, he forced the ball open and reappeared in the real world.
"What was the point of that?" the trainer asked.
'Curiosity,' Sawyer thought before breaking the ball in two.
"Wait a second! You can't do that! I cau-"
Sawyer's glare stopped him from continuing his sentence. 'I have no need for a trainer as you plainly saw when we battled.' Holding out his hand, a small bag materialized. Opening it, he pulled out several bills and handed them to the trainer. 'This should cover the costs of the ball I broke.'
"Where did you get that?" the trainer asked unsure of where the bag of money came from. He looked Sawyer over for some kind of hidden pocket. "Did you-"
'Steal it? No.' Deciding he didn't owe any more of an explanation he continued, 'We need to discus the Frosslass from yesterday. I took the liberty of probing Nurse Joy's mind while she was examining me.'
"You probed her mind?" the trainer interrupted, "Isn't that unethical?"
'Yes, but I was worried,' he left out the fact that more than a few of her thoughts were less professional and more of a perverted nature, 'Your Frosslass hasn't woken up yet and I'm worried that I may have gone too far in our battle. When she does wake up there might be lingering effects on her mental state.'
Upon hearing that the trainer became angry and stood up. "Just what the hell did you do to her!"
Sawyer's eyes glowed as he took control of the trainer's muscles and sat him back down. 'You have two choices right now. Calm down so I can explain or be put to sleep so we can finish this conversation in your dreams where there's a chance, albeit small, that I'll make a mistake and you won't wake up.' The trainer quit resisting and took a deep breath. 'Good boy. Now your Frosslass launched a mental assault on me during our battle. I don't take kindly to someone I don't know poking around in my memories so I forced her out and filled her consciousness with some... less than pleasant memories from my past.'
"Memories?" the trainer asked, keeping his anger in check.
'The actual event resulted in me being in a coma for over a week trying to delete those memories.'
"So what does this mean for her?"
'She should regain consciousness soon, but she'll be in a frail state of mind for a while. I intend to travel with you to ensure she's alright and to assist in her recovery if necessary.'
A melody played over the loudspeakers as Bianca walked into the waiting room holding four pokeballs. She had switched out of the white nursing outfit and pink apron for a more casual outfit consisting of blue jeans and a black shirt and was carrying a backpack. Her dark red hair was up in a pony tail and that caring nature she'd given off back in the examining room had been replaced by a mischievous one. "Here's your pokemon Alexander," she said as she handed the pokeballs to him, "Hello Sawyer, I see you managed to find him just fine." Turning back to Alexander, she said, "When you told me you'd caught a new pokemon you left out the part about him talking."
"It's Alex and I was being considerate. I figured he might have wanted to keep it a secret."
'I had wanted to, but I was still groggy after waking up so I spoke without thinking. Do you know this girl?'
"We met two weeks ago. I've tried ditching her four times already, but I've never lost her for more than half a day" the trainer said with an air of defeat in his voice.
"Oh please. You like me being around and you know it," Bianca teased.
Sawyer laughed. 'Ah... young love.' Alex groaned and didn't bother to answer. 'Anyhow Bianca, I'll be traveling with you until I confirm that Frosslass has been fully healed.'
"Only till then?" she asked.
'I don't need a trainer and I've grown accustomed to coming and going when and where I please. Besides, I don't accept the outcome of that battle. I'd been swimming for three days straight beforehand and I still managed to knock out his entire team before I collapsed from exhaustion.'
Bianca gave an uninterested nod and turned her attention toward Alex. She pulled him on his arm, saying, "Come on Alex. We have to hurry to catch the ferry to the next island!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," he replied, "You can come if you want- Sawyer was it?- but you have to agree to help with the restraining order."
'I'm afraid that my testimony wouldn't hold up court. You'll have to manage without it.'
With the ferry leaving in half an hour and the docks being several miles from the poke center, the three of them had to run to make it on time. Sawyer had no trouble keeping up which Alex commented on as they ran. "Aren't Slowkings supposed to be... slow?"
'Most lead a sedentary lifestyle and tend to neglect physical training,' Sawyer projected, 'I do lots of traveling and I've made sure to stay in top physical condition.'
"I see," Alex huffed, "So you're saying I hit gold when I spotted you and blew my chance to have you as a legitimate part of my team?"
"He's still here, isn't he?" Bianca jumped into the conversation. "The more the merrier I always say."
"Traveling alone is by far more enjoyable," Alex muttered.
'Indeed,' Sawyer agreed.
The trio reached the docks in time and burst into the office. Sawyer was fine, but Bianca and Alex were gasping for air. The other two incapacitated, Sawyer took the initiative and projected to the clerk, 'Two tickets for the love birds if you would be so kind.'
"We aren't a couple!" Alex said in between gasps.
"Thank you for your business" the clerk said after accepting the bills Sawyer was levitating in front of him. "Oh, I should warn you that you'll be required to put your Slowking in its pokeball sir." The clerk was apparently unaware of his surrounding as he had only just noticed the one who'd give him money wasn't human.
"Uh... he actually doesn't have a pokeball," Alex responded, "can't you let it slide?"
"He has to either be in a pokeball or you'll have to pay for another ticket."
'Here then.' Some more money materialized on the clerks desk and Sawyer grabbed a ticket from the clerk. 'You owe me fifty dollars Alex now we'd better hurry. We have less than five minutes to make it to the ferry.'
"But the tickets were only twenty-five!" Alex exclaimed.
'You're being a gentleman and covering the young lady's traveling costs too.'
"Why thank you Alex!" Bianca teased as she clung to him.
Alex shrugged her off and headed for the ferry. "Awww," Bianca said as she and Sawyer followed, "He's gonna try and get away again."
"How do you know that?" Sawyer said aloud since no one else was around.
"Every time he stomps off like that without saying anything, he makes an escape attempt."
"And you consider this a normal relationship?"
"Yeah, why do you ask?"
"No reason in particular." Sawyer paused for a few minutes to consider this girl's sanity and whether or not encouraging her behavior was a good idea. After they'd boarded the ship, he decided it didn't affect him one way or the other and said, "Well shouldn't you be keeping a better eye on him?"
"He'll wait till after we reach the next town at least, but even if he does try something I'll be able to find him." She was wearing a smile that almost seemed too innocent.
Sawyer stopped for a few moments again before asking, "Are you stalking him?"
"Silly Sawyer," she replied, "He wants me around. He looked so lonely when I first saw him I knew that I just had to travel with him."
'Okay, so Alex is obviously justified in his wish for a restraining order...' Sawyer thought to himself.
"And don't worry, I'm not crazy. It can be dangerous for a girl to travel alone so I took a precaution."
"Something tells me you don't need any form of protection."
"Why's that?" she replied.
Sawyer was forgetting something from the day before. He'd started a battle with Alex and had tried to talk his way out of it, but that wasn't all. It was at the edge of his thoughts, but he couldn't recall it. "Just a feeling I have."
"Okay. Well I'm gonna go see what Alex is up to. Can I go or do you want me to stay and protect you?" she joked.
"I'll be fine. Just tell Alex to release Frosslass so I can evaluate her mental health."
"Will do Tom!" Bianca shouted as she searched the ferry for Alex.
"I appreciate it," he called back. Sawyer stared out at the sea and wondered where Kyogre was. It had dove into the dark, cold depths of the ocean before he'd been able to catch it. Even if it surfaced right next to the ferry, though, he wouldn't be able to go after it because of his obligation to the Frosslass. 'This is a lot like the time Sandy and I-' what Bianca had said finally clicked, '-How'd she know to call me Tom?'
Rule 1 (amended): Always be aware of your surroundings when alone. NEVER drop your guard when you aren't.