Another Journey Chapter 1
Setting Off: A Rough Start
I do not own Pokemon, its world, or any of its creatures, but all original characters belong to their respective creators, along with a few of them and this story being my own, obviously.
Late night in Cerulean City was always a breathtaking vision to behold. A perfect mixture of nature and artificial lights created an atmosphere most calming to those who would stop to take the time and appreciate its splendor. Stars shone brilliantly in the sky, only the faintest of them being drowned out by the electric lights of houses and street lamps. The sounds of the hectic daily life were silenced, replaced by those of soft breezes and insects emerging to once again take the night for their own. Perhaps the most common disturbance was the sound of Rattata occasionally tipping over a garbage can in search of its food, ushering a chase of human and Pokemon as the owner of the emptied bin chased away the wild creature before cleaning up the mess it had created. Even this was just a mild break from the mood, as the serenity of the evening was quickly resumed.
"Awesome, ain't it?", Toru Mitsukai asked with a smile, reclining back upon his rooftop, staring at the point in the horizon where the manmade and natural lights began to blend together with one another in a silent symphony of luminescence. He brushed a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes, tucking them behind his left ear as the rest reached down towards his mid-back. His was clothed with a black t-shirt embroidered with a white cross with red trim around it stretched from the collar to the base lengthwise, connecting with another of an identical make upon his back below his arms as the tops of both crosses extended down to the ends of the shirts arms from the sides of the collar. From the waist down he wore blue jeans with a thin chain hanging at his left hip, connecting into his pocket and vanishing within. Black scuffed and scratched leather boots tapped gently and calmly upon the tarpaper on the roof as he stared through hazel eyes at the sky with a smile. "Take it in, Flare, 'cause tomorrow we're sleeping under a different patch of 'em."
A gentle mewl came from a female Vulpix that lay curled up at his side, peeking out one eye to the young man briefly before closing it again with something that sounded like a sigh.
"Jeez..." he said with a soft chuckle, reaching to his side and stroking his hand along the back of the small creature by his side. "This is gonna be our last night in Kanto for a while, and instead of enjoying it, you're opting for sleep?"
Flare opened her eyes, casting a particularly unenthused expression to the young man before lifting her head and breathing out a few small embers of flame that floated over his torso before extinguishing in the subtle evening breeze.
"Fine, fine, I get it." he said with a smirk. His arms moved to his sides and his hands pressed down on the rooftop, lifting his upper body into an upright position before he took one arm and gently scooped up the six-tailed creature. "Let's go to bed then. We've got a big day ahead of us tomorrow anyways." Silently, the young man rose to his feet, trekking gently across the roof to a ladder bolted down at its edge, leading to a balcony just below. Upon setting foot on the balcony, he entered a room through a sliding glass door, his room, and shut the door behind him with the utmost silence, confident in the belief that he had gotten in without notice.
At least that was before a light flickered on over his head, and a ceiling fan began to spin, disturbing a few individual papers upon a nearby desk where they laid in peace. He turned his head sharply, his eyes falling upon an older man and woman, his parents, and put on a nervous grin. "Ah, evenin' you guys..."
His mother, Kali, a woman in her late 30's with jet black waist-length hair and hazel eyes, stood in the doorway with a smile, and her finger hovering over the light switch. "'Evenin'' yourself, Toru. It's 12:30, shouldn't you be getting to sleep for the start of your trip tomorrow?"
"Mom, I'm 17." Toru responded as he walked to a small basket at the foot of his bed with a rather plush pillow fastened to the bottom. "Don't you guys think I'm a little old for a bedtime?" he questioned as he laid Flare into the little bed, watching the Vulpix curl up once more with a yawn before drifting off to sleep.
"You were the moment you first set foot out the door on your first journey around Kanto seven years ago." Jacob, his father, responded, a man also in his late 30's, standing a head taller than his mother with short brown hair and blue eyes. "But now it simply comes down to responsibility on your own part. You know the first day out on a journey is often the most taxing."
"Yeah, Dad, I know." Toru said with a chuckle as he sat down at the foot of his bed, leaning forward onto his knees with a grin. "At the same time, might I ask what you two are doing up? Unless you practice what you preach, you really aren't setting a good example, you know."
"Just because we couldn't hear you walking across the roof doesn't mean we can't hear you talking." His mother responded, walking over to the bed and sitting beside him with a warm smile. "It's good that you have that kind of connection with your Pokemon though. Communication is key when it gets down to it all. In battles, in Pokemon Contests, in relationships, you've got to be able to understand one another."
"Yeah." Toru responded with a smile. "She'n I have seen Kanto, Johto and Hoenn together in the past few years, along with the others we've brought and caught along the way. I've never been a champion or anything like that, but I never would've made it as far as I did without them."
"It's good that you recognize that." Jacob said, leaning on the door frame. "Many trainers simply believe that it's just as simple as barking orders and letting the Pokemon do all the work."
"Well, I ain't one of them." The young man responded proudly, pointing his right thumb at his chest with a chuckle, pausing for a moment before a more curious expression came over his face. "Still though... I am curious, you guys didn't have this chat with me before I went off to Hoenn four years ago, or even when I went off to Johto two years before that. Something on your minds?"
His parents immediately exchanged glances, Kali sporting an unsure expression as she looked to her spouse, a look he responded to with a soft nod before both looked to their son.
"Truth to be told," Jacob started calmly, "we're a little bit concerned. In the past ten years, there've been those four Pokemon syndicates that sprang up, Team Rocket, Team Magma, Team Aqua and just last year, Team Galactic. They've each made names for themselves with their extremist actions, often times at the expense of trainers like yourself..."
"We're just worried that you'll be one of those trainers, Toru." Kali continued on, placing a gentle hand on her son's shoulder. "You're our son, and we know you're a capable trainer, but the thought of one of those lunatics robbing you, hurting you or worse... we don't want something to happen to you..."
"Ah, you don't gotta worry about those creeps." Toru responded confidently. "The Rockets, Magmas and Aquas all disbanded, and no one's seen Team Galactic since that girl Pearl thrashed them last year at the Spear Pillar. Not to mention that I've gotten to be a pretty good trainer myself. The worst I've got to worry about are just common thugs, and I've handled a few of them before."
"Toru..." his Mother began, still wearing a very unsure expression upon her face.
"I promise, Mom." he said reassuringly, still wearing the same confident expression. "Nothing's going to happen to me. Flare and I'll come home from Sinnoh in one piece; you haven't got anything to worry about."
There was a silence in the room for a moment after these words were spoken, looks exchanged between parent and child speaking only what was necessary before the silence was broken by just a single word.
"Alright...", Kali said, standing up off the bed and walking to the door, stopping beside her husband with as her arms folded over her chest. "You're going to be 18 in a couple of months anyways, you're certainly old enough to make your own decisions."
"And bedtime." Toru said smugly, drawing a soft chuckle out of his mother.
"Of course, that doesn't mean she's going to stop pestering you about this whenever you call." Jacob remarked with a chuckle, earning a playful elbow to the ribs from the smaller woman.
"I love you, honey, now shut up.", she said with a grin and a mock sense of irritation. She turned a much warmer smile to their son, nodding softly. "Well, you'd better take care of whatever it is you have left to do before you set out tomorrow. We'll see you in the morning." With that, the two left, shutting the door gently behind them so as not to disturb the sleeping Fox Pokemon at the foot of their son's bed.
Not a moment after they left, Toru rose to his feet, walking to the desk beside it and stopping behind the steel chair pushed underneath it, his eyes falling onto a package sitting beside his computer. He reached for a drawer, sliding it open and fishing around blindly for a moment before his fingers traced the contour of a familiar object. He grasped it, drawing out his pocket knife and flipping the blade open. He slipped it beneath one of the cardboard flaps and cut directly through the brown packaging tape sealing it shut on one side. He repeated this motion on the other side before slicing through the tape on the top, setting down his tool beside the box and pulling the top of the box open, staring at the contents inside before he pulled them out.
The object inside was a new Pokedex, the model that had been released the previous year to accommodate the data of Pokemon in the Sinnoh region. It was a wide, mostly rectangular model with a half-circle extending out the left side, colored red as the standard issue Pokedex was for male trainers. He immediately tore the plastic wrapping off of it and discarded it in the garbage bin beside his desk, flipping it open and taking in its layout. There were two screens, one down on the bottom half beside a directional pad used to scroll through entries, and one at the top by the speakers where the audio played. He flipped it to glance at the back, spotting a button on the bottom half of it, and on sight, immediately pressing it.
Upon looking back at the front, he observed both screens coming to life with a hum. An opening screen lit up with a button for an optional tutorial about the Pokedex for newer trainers who were unfamiliar with the technology, and a button below that to skip it. A click then emanated from the top left side, followed by the sight of a thin, black object popping out. The trainer pulled it out, revealing it to be a stylus.
'I see...', he thought as he smiled to himself, immediately pushing the pen-like end to the button on the bottom screen labeled 'No Thanks' to skip it. It transitioned to the next screen after that, pulling up a digital keyboard on the bottom screen as a blank line appeared on, with text below it reading 'Please enter your 5-digit Trainer ID Number'. With a few quick taps on the touch screen after that, he confirmed his ID number, watching as a progress bar appeared on screen. He stared, watching a red line fill the blank bar from left to right for a couple moments before the screen changed again, bringing up his trainer profile, something that brought a grin to his face. 'Sweet, wireless. The Hoenn Dex couldn't pull that off.' As the screen then shifted to the default menu, he inserted the stylus back into the cavity it had appeared from with a 'click', shutting the Pokedex and setting it on his desk.
The young man turned his gaze over to his side, gazing out the sliding glass door and at the night sky once again, staring at it for a moment before walking over and grasping his blinds. "Good night, Cerulean City, see you in the morning." He muttered, pulling the blinds shut to finish the few remaining preparations he had to make for the next day.
"Are you sure you've got everything, Toru?", Kali asked as she held his sister Irene, a three-year-old girl with shoulder-length blonde hair and blue eyes currently reaching out for the black backpack her oldest sibling was sporting before the mother gently pulled her arm back. "Jacket, sleeping bag, everything?"
"Yeah, Mom, don't sweat it.", the young man responded as he finished pulling his hair back into a ponytail at the bottom of his head, glancing at a few shorter strands of hair that fell out over his left eye just above his eyebrow with a slight frown before turning to gaze at his mother. "I've got everything, as usual, so there's nothing to-", he paused, feeling a nudge at his leg. He glanced down, spotting Flare standing with the Pokedex just activated the night before in her mouth, and an expression that he was quite familiar from her, her 'Way to go, genius' look. "Ah... maybe I forgot one thing..."
"Like always, big brother." Another voice spoke, the voice belonging to Toru's 12-year-old brother Isaac, sporting short, scraggily black hair, blue eyes, and wearing something of a cocky smile upon his face. "I'm surprised you still know how to get home with as forgetful as you can be sometiiiAAAAHHH! CUT IT OUT!" he hollered as Toru immediately wrapped one arm around his neck and began grinding his fist against his skull with an irritated smile, causing the younger boy to squirm in a futile attempt at escape, a display that drew a giggle out of the toddler in their mother's arms.
"I wouldn't have to do this if you didn't fire off at the mouth all the time you little twerp! Show some more respect for your older brother!"
"Toru, Isaac, both of you cut it out." a calm, yet commanding voice said, belonging to their father, who looked to be wearing something of a smile. "You're not going to see each other for a while, so try and get along for the last few minutes before Toru leaves, alright?"
"Yes sir." Isaac responded, shutting one eye as he rubbed his head where Toru had ground his fist into his scalp. He glanced to Flare, thumbing towards the Pokedex still in her mouth before looking to his brother. "That the new model?"
"Yeah, I just activated it last night." The older boy replied, kneeling down and grasping it with a smile as he gave the Fox Pokemon an affectionate rub between the ears.
"Why not show us how it works?" Kali suggested, shifting her hold upon the little girl in her arms.
Toru blinked, glancing around at his family before shrugging and standing up. "Alright, Flare, stand still." He said with a smile as he flipped it open. It only took about a second for the screen to light up at the default menu, and just another before it transitioned to an image of a Vulpix on the top screen, with a listing of moves and her status on the bottom.
"Vulpix, the Fox Pokemon." A female voice announced from the Pokedex. "It controls balls of fire. As it grows, its six tails split from their tips to make more tails."
"That says about as much as the Hoenn Dex did about it..." Toru muttered, sighing and shutting the Pokedex before slipping it into his pocket.
"Well, I'm sure they just haven't updated their studies in a long while." Jacob said with a reassuring smile. "Alongside linking up the regions so they can share data, and upgrading the technology to store it all like they do, they're bound to have been busy."
"Yeah, good point." Toru responded, smiling and turning to his parents. "In any case, I'm off. My ship leaves from Vermillion later on this evening, so I've gotta make sure Azura can carry us there in a comfortable amount of time."
"She's a Pidgeot, Toru." Isaac responded in a questioning tone. "Top speed'd get you there in a little over two hours. What's the rush if it's in the evening?"
"No reason in particular, just wanna hang out by the docks for a little while." He said with a grin, reaching over and ruffling his little brother's hair. "Don't pester Mom and Dad too much while I'm gone, alright?"
"Yeah, yeah..." the pre-teen replied dismissively, grinning up at his brother. "Don't get your butt kicked too much."
"Not looking to, little bro." He responded confidently, turning to his mother and giving her a hug and a kiss on the cheek, being mindful of Irene in her arms. "I'll keep in touch Mom."
"Don't get yourself in to trouble." She said, returning the hug and kiss before stepping back, wearing a soft smile.
"Bye-bye Toru." Irene murmured as she gave a wave.
Toru chuckled, placing a hand on his baby sister's head and leaning forward, giving her a quick kiss on the forehead before grinning. "Be good for Mom and Dad. I'll bring you something cool back from Sinnoh, 'kay?"
"'Kay." The little girl responded simply, wearing a gentle smile.
Toru stood upright, turning to face his father and nodding softly, reaching extending his hand out simultaneously with him and grasping it, giving a firm shake.
"Do your best son. Then you can always come home with your head held high."
"Yes sir." Toru replied as he pulled his hand back. He gave a quick tug to his backpack straps, adjusting them as he glanced down to Flare. "Let's rock Flare." Toru then gave one final nod to his family before turning and heading out the door, taking the first steps towards Sinnoh with Flare following at his heels.
Toru sighed as he stood in the middle of one of the empty side streets a few blocks from his home. On his Mother's request, he had stopped having Azura take flight out in front of their house, her major complaint being that it often knocked over what potted plants she kept outside or kicked up dust all over the place. He spun the Poke Ball on his index finger, glancing up at the sky, dotted with individual clouds that occasionally passed over and dimmed the Sun's light. "Good flying weather. Great day to start a journey."
"Bubble Beam!" hollered a female voice from behind, familiar to Toru's ears.
It took him a second for it to register a face with the voice before he frowned slightly. 'Crud...' "Flare, Ember at 6 O'clock."
The Fox Pokemon spun about swiftly, opened her mouth and fired off a barrage of Ember shots, meeting with a flurry of bubbles that was coming at them not 5 feet from where they were standing. Although it gained some ground upon them, each and every bubble was ultimately cancelled out by the small shots of fire. Flare then sat down, glancing over her shoulder to Toru, who turned with a rather tired smile upon his face.
"Ah, hiya Misty." He said pleasantly at the sight of the girl, 5 years his senior, walking towards him with her Starmie floating beside her, and wearing a rather flustered expression. He'd known the Gym Leader since he was just 9-years-old, and he was happy to say that he was good friends with her. "What's up?"
"Isaac told me the other day you were planning on leaving late this morning." She said, wearing a mildly irked grin as she crossed her arms. "You didn't say a thing when you left for Hoenn last time, so I thought I'd get the chance to give you a proper send-off."
"By blasting me with a Bubble Beam from behind? Gee, thanks Misty, that really says a lot about how much you're gonna miss me." Despite the words, there was a clearly playful tone that earned him a pat on the shoulder from the older girl, who was now smiling quite warmly towards him.
"I actually have something for Suichi. Is he with you?"
"Of course." Toru responded with a smile, reaching for his belt line and pulling one of his Poke balls out from beneath his shirt. With the first press of the button on the red-and-white sphere, it enlarged, filling his palm. "Come on out, Misty's got something for ya." He informed the Pokemon inside, pointing the ball to the side and giving it a light toss with the flick of his wrist.
It popped open in mid-air, firing off a white flash of light towards the ground that immediately took the shape of the creature released before fading, leaving a Vaporeon sitting on its hind quarters, brushing its mermaid-like tail back and forth slowly over the pavement and giving a soft yip to announce its presence from the Poke Ball. It glanced to Misty, tilting its head to the side curiously.
The Cerulean Gym Leader giggled a little bit at the curious look on the Pokemon's face. "It's right here." She said as she dipped her hand into one of the pockets of the board shorts she was wearing, pulling out what looked to be a pendant of sorts. Hanging off of a white string was what looked to be a glass water droplet resembling the Cascade Badge, half-filled with the liquid it was modeled after. She knelt down, spreading the string and stretching it over Suichi's head, ears and top fin before allowing it to come to rest over his collar.
Toru was staring wide-eyed as he beheld the object, kneeling beside Misty and lifting the glass item into his palm. "But, Misty... isn't this...?"
"Yeah, Mystic Water. They're really rare and hard to come by, but they do make Water-type attacks stronger."
"Don't you need this more than me though?" he enquired, glancing to her out the corner of his eyes. "I mean, you are the leader of a Water gym, after all..."
"It's nothing, I have a couple more." She said with a smile. "Red brought some by with him on one of his last passes through the city and gave them to me."
"Oh, right, that dude with the Pikachu." He murmured thoughtfully, propping his right arm up upon his knee and his head in that same palm. After a moment, a grin slipped across his lips as he looked to Misty again. "Word is you two see a lot of each other..." he said in a very suggestive tone, causing the Water-type trainer to light up like a Cheri Berry.
"E, eh..." she choked out, casting her gaze off to the side with an indignant look. It wasn't before she heard the sound of snickering only a couple of seconds later that she looked back, seeing Toru doing his best to stifle a laugh, something that got her to growl in frustration, and at the same time, succeeded in deepening her blush. "Wh, what's so funny?!"
"Oh, it's just..." he began, quickly hopping up to his feet and beginning to back pedal. "To hear that the tomboy of Cerulean City has interest in the Kanto Regional Champ? I always figured..." he said as he put on a mischievous grin, beginning to turn his body in the direction he had been backing up. "... you were more fond of other girls!"
"WHAT?!" she thundered, immediately springing to her feet and darting towards him. In that instance, the two were off like a shot, Toru laughing the whole way as he sprinted as if the Devil itself were on his heels, which as far as he was concerned with Misty and her temper, may very well have been the case.
As one trainer chased the other, the three Pokemon sitting out merely stared in silence. Flare let out a soft sigh, shaking her head from side to side, as Suichi wore a rather awkward smile as he watched the display before them. Even the faceless Starmie seemed a little embarrassed as its multiple arms sank slightly as it watched.
After about five minutes of running up and down the same streets at full speed, the two eventually wore down. Toru fell back against a wall, leaning forward onto his knees with a few weary chuckles between breaths. He glanced to the older girl after a moment before pushing off the wall, walking over to where she had taken a seat upon the ground and offering his hand to her. "Here."
She looked up at him as he spoke, giving him a rather hard gaze for a few seconds before it softened into a smile. "Jerk..." she uttered, taking his hand and pulling herself to her feet with his assistance.
"I have a little brother and sister, what do you expect?" he asked with a grin, dipping his hands into his pockets.
"Considering it's you?" she began, swiftly reaching around and grasping his ponytail firmly before yanking on it, causing him to lean back and yell sharply in pain as he grasped at the air for something to help him pull free. "Not a whole lot."
"AYE AYE AYE, UNCLE, I GIVE!!! LEGGO ALREADY!!!"
"That's more like it." She said, clearly satisfied as she released his hair, watching him stand upright and rub the back of his head. "Listen, don't do anything stupid in Sinnoh, alright? Your parents would kill you if they heard you got mixed up in some kind of trouble."
"And yet you talk like you're my mother herself..." he muttered as he straightened out his ponytail, before putting on a confident smirk. "I've told my parents, I'll tell the same to you and anyone else. It's just a regular tour around another region. I'll be there and back inside of a year with more new partners and a few new gym badges to add to my collection alongside yours and the other Kanto leaders'. Who knows? I might even come home with one of the infamous legendaries."
"Yeah, that'll be the day." she said with a soft laugh before slipping a hand into her pocket once more, this time drawing out a Poke Ball. "Return Starmie." She said as she pointed it to the Starfish Pokemon. The Poke Ball shot out a beam of red light, connecting with the Pokemon and engulfing it before it lost shape and was drawn inside. With a quick tap on the button, it shrank back down, no larger than a Ping Pong ball, and deposited it once again in her pocket. "Be sure to call in every once in a while. Your parents aren't the only ones who worry, after all."
"Yeah, I know." He said with a smile as he pulled Suichi's Poke Ball off his belt, pointing it to the Pokemon silently and calling it back the same manner. He placed it on his belt line, in turn grasping another and tossing it up, releasing his Pidgeot, Azura, from its Poke Ball. "Don't let too much fresh blood whip you at the gym while I'm gone, I'll think you've lost your stride."
"Of course not."
Toru knelt down, scooping Flare up into his arms as he walked over to the Bird Pokemon and settled down gently upon its back, legs crossed as he put Flare in his lap. "Azura, care to run us to Vermillion City?"
With a shrill cry, the massive bird spread its wings, beginning to beat them at a slow pace that gained speed rather swiftly, until they began lifting off the ground.
"Take care of yourself, Misty!" Toru hollered over the sound of the winds being kicked up by the wing beats.
"See you!" she hollered back, just before Pidgeot took to the air, leaving her to cover her face with one arm hovering over her eyes as the dust and wind flew up. Only seconds later, she lowered it, spying the young man already hundreds of feet over the city and beyond where they were. With a light huff, she turned and made her way back to the gym.
Toru chuckled, feeling the heavy winds rushing by his face as he looked down to Flare, making sure she was safely sitting in his lap in the nook he'd provided for her. With a nod of confirmation, he looked ahead at the ground already so far below. In just a couple of moments, they would pass outside of the Cerulean City limits. With what seemed like a nostalgic sigh, he gazed over his hometown.
Isaac had been correct, top speed would have gotten them to arrive in Vermillion City in just two hours. Time was not a concern for Toru though, so he had no problem allowing the Pidgeot to simply take things at a comfortable pace. This pace, chosen by Azura, had added another two hours onto their arrival time, with no qualm between trainer or Pokemon about it. It seemed that setting off on such a positive note, with a great start to the journey to Sinnoh and positive wishes from family and friends alike, and a pleasantly uneventful ride from one city to the next, was an omen for an equally pleasant trip.
Of course, as he and many before him had learned through experience, a few positive first steps in anything was never a deciding factor for how everything would play out. It was a lesson that he had learned and been reminded of time and time again through out his life, and as fate would have it, he was soon to have another encounter with this fact of life.
Toru's eyes eased open as he felt a slight sense of weightlessness come over him. He glanced up at the sky, taking notice of the place of the Sun and perking an eyebrow. 'It's been a few hours already... gotta be at least, what, 3:00? 3:30?' He sat up, glancing over his shoulder towards Azura's head and the land they were approaching, immediately donning a smile as he beheld the sight before him. Vermillion City, the home to the leader of the Vermillion Gym and its leader, Lt. Surge, not to speak of the S.S. Anne, one of the most famous cruise ships in any of the known regions. 'Heh, too bad I couldn't afford to get a ride to Sinnoh on that sweet thing. Oh well, least mine'll still be comfy.' The young man then turned his eyes to his Vulpix, who was sleeping soundly in his lap. With a gentle nudge from his right hand to her side, he watched her begin to stir. "Come on, sleepyhead. We're about to land, and I think Azura'd appreciate it if we didn't overstay our welcome on her back."
Flare's eyes opened slightly, visibly squinting in the sunlight for a moment before she sat up with a yawn, breathing out small embers of flame that were quickly blown away by the air rushing around their bodies. She crawled up to the edge of Toru's lap, looking out over his side to the city they were now soaring over, yipping softly and leaning a bit further over, an action that caused Toru to fix his hand upon the Vulpix's back.
"Careful." He warned. "You'll splat pretty well if you drop from this height."
It was only a few moments later that Azura landed, settling down across the street from the Pokemon Center. Toru slid off the Bird Pokemon's back as Flare leapt off, picking her Poke Ball off his belt and turning to face her with a smile. "Thanks girl." He said, calling her back into the sphere as he returned it to his belt. He nodded to Flare silently, immediately crossing the street and passing through the sliding doors of the Pokemon Center. Without even stopping to look around, he made a b-line for the PC resting beside the check-in counter. It only took him a few seconds after stopping before it to punch in his trainer ID and log in to the system. A few more clicks of the mouse after that, and he found himself staring at the screen prompting him to deposit his Pokemon. Reaching to his belt, he pulled four of his six Poke Balls off, looking them over. His Pidgeot Azura, a Blaziken named Ignus, a Minun named Amber, and a Mightyena named Shadow. "Catch ya later guys." He said softly as he placed the Poke Balls into the transmitter one at a time, watching as each one was engulfed within white light resembling small lines of lightning bolts before vanishing from view. With all said and done, he logged out and smiled down to Flare. "It's you, me and Suichi again. Ready to tackle another region?"
The Vulpix responded with an enthusiastic bark, causing Toru to laugh softly and lift her up, setting her on his right shoulder with a grin as he started towards the exit. "Alright, let's swing by the harbor for a bit. We've got a few hours before we're set to leave, may as well enjoy 'em."
After a short stroll from the Pokemon Center, Flare and Toru stood at the harbor. Wingull were squawking over the boats, pestering the occasional passer-by for food, or diving to steal what had fallen on the ground before any others got to it first. A cool ocean breeze was rolling in from the West, accompanied by the sounds of small waves splashing up against the docks and all of the ships tied to shore. Countless people were moving about, many with luggage, either boarding to disembark, or returning home from a trip for whatever reason. This was why Toru loved it at the edge of the sea. A balance between the daily life of people and the nature was always guaranteed in one form or another.
"Every time I come here, it looks different." He muttered, gazing over the expanse of people and Pokemon moving about. "Guess that's a part of getting older for people, Pokemon and places."
Flare nodded softly in agreement, continuing to hang over his shoulder for a moment before her ears perked up. She began sniffing, tilting her head back and turning it around as a particular odor wafted through the air, carried by the gentle breeze blowing by them.
Toru glanced out the corner of his eyes to his partner, perking an eyebrow in curiosity at the Fox Pokemon's actions. "Caught a whiff of something?" he questioned. Almost immediately after, Flare leapt off of his shoulder, breaking off into a run the second all fours were on the ground, pursuing the scent that she had caught wind of. Her trainer took on a more serious expression, immediately chasing after her. 'Flare doesn't get like this very often. It's only ever happened the few times something serious was happening... what'd she find?'
It was several moments later that Toru caught up to Flare in a less-traveled part of the harbor, mostly occupied by rusty old equipment no longer in use, and crates filled with spare parts and other such things. Seldom did people come to this side of the shipyard that weren't part of a ship's crew. Currently, they were alone, which Toru thought to be all the better at the sight of what Flare had stopped over.
"Blood..." he said in a hushed tone, kneeling down and dipping his index finger in it. 'Still warm... something's just happened.' The young man raised his eyes forward, seeing more drops going further on and turning a corner around some steel crates. There was a significant amount of space between each drop, so he assumed whoever or whatever the crimson liquid belonged to, it was either a mere flesh wound, or they were running out of blood to bleed. He turned a morbidly serious expression to the Vulpix, dipping his index finger in a puddle of water just within his arm's reach and rubbing the blood off in it using his thumb. "Can you track it to who it belongs to?"
With an assuring nod, Flare tilted her head back, sniffing the air again before turning her eyes to a set of crates stacked up near a corner. She made a quick dash to them, slowing as she crept around the large containers, surveying them cautiously before peeking through a gap large enough to fit an average-sized person through sideways. She immediately turned her head, barking and calling her trainer over.
Toru jogged up beside Flare, looking down to the Pokemon and watching her nod in the direction of the crates. He laid his left hand upon the edge of one as he leaned over, peeking in cautiously and catching sight of something he absolutely did not expect. It was a Pokemon, resting with a clearly pained expression upon its face. From its waist to the ends of its skinny legs, it was green. Above that, its body was white, with extensions growing out from the waist that strongly resembled a miniskirt of sorts. The bangs of its green hair merged together into a single pointed mass between its eyes, as the rest on the sides extended out into what resembled pigtails, with two red fin-like extensions rising out from the top of its head beside them. "It's... a Kirlia..."
His words seemed to bring the Pokemon around, as its ruby colored eyes eased open, gazing in his direction before they widened, clearly panicked as it attempted to scoot off to the side, its motions broken by a sharp wince. Its left arm rose up, favoring the right shoulder as its head lowered and a shudder shot through the Pokemon's body.
"Hey, hey, take it easy..." he said in as calm a voice as he could, moving completely in front of the opening before kneeling down. He put on a warm, yet at the same time concerned expression, donning a soft smile. "You don't have to worry; I just want to help you..."
There was a moment of silence after that, neither of the two parties approaching or backing off from the other. Kirlia was clearly studying the human and his partner before it, as that same human waited upon a response, having no intention to push the matter if it wouldn't allow him near, knowing that would only create more unnecessary tension. As soon as Kirlia was done surveying the person before it, it slowly rose to its feet, beginning to slowly approach Toru, a hand clutching what he could obviously assume to be the wounded shoulder. It emerged from the crates, wearing a rather unsure, timid expression as it looked up to Toru.
Toru nodded softly, slowly reaching his hand out and placing it upon the Kirlia's head. "There... see? I won't hurt you..." he said reassuringly, gently rubbing between the red fins as his eyes wandered over to the shoulder. There was a deep gash at the joint where it connected with the arm, but from what limited medical experience he had from his time on the road, he didn't see it as a threat to the Kirlia's life. It was only a second later that something happened, something that clearly took him by surprise.
"Who are you?" a female voice rang out in his mind.
Toru's eyes shifted swiftly to the Kirlia, noting the curious expression upon its face. He stared at her, bewildered by what he'd just heard. He managed to compose himself about a moment later, raising his free hand and pointing his index finger at her. "Uh... did you just talk...?"
"Sort of... I'm psychic after all, so you ought to be able to figure it out..."
"Eh, good point..." he muttered, a little embarrassed. 'Right, Psychic-types can transmit messages directly into your mind... at least that makes things easier...' "So, what happened to you? How'd you wind up with that injury? Furthermore, what are you doing out here in Kanto? I've never seen a Kirlia in this region that didn't belong to someone..."
The Kirlia turned her head, a more somber expression coming over the Pokemon's face. "I... I really don't want to talk about it..."
"Well, at least tell me if it was something poisonous?"
Kirlia simply shook her head in response, remaining silent as Toru gave a sigh of relief.
"Glad to hear... come on." he said, gently taking the Psychic-type into his arms. "Let's get you to the Pokemon Center so Joy can handle you."
Kirlia, who was taken by surprise as a result of the sudden motion, recoiled as she felt herself rising up as Toru stood. "H, hey, cut it out!" she demanded in protest. "I can handle myself, thanks!"
"Then why haven't you left?" he questioned without missing a beat, feeling the Pokemon flinch slightly in his arms as a result of the question as Toru began to walk. "I'm no expert, I've only raised a Xatu a few years back in the Johto region, but I know damned well that teleporting is one of the most basic things you Psychic-types are capable of, and if you can't, then there's something wrong. It's as natural to your type as walking, right?"
There was silence for a moment as Toru walked with Kirlia, Flare following at his heels, eying the Psychic Pokemon with clear curiosity. That silence was quickly broken though, by the sound of a shrill, crackling voice.
"WAIT UP JUST A MINUTE!"
Toru stopped dead in his tracks, wearing a rather baffled expression by the loud holler as he turned his head, laying his eyes upon what looked to be a man in a white lab coat, a scientist of sorts, looking rather winded, like he had been running for some time. At his side were a Seviper and a Weezing, either of the Pokemon looking to be in much better shape than the man he assumed was their trainer. He fully turned, shifting Kirlia to be cradled in his right arm as his left dipped into his pocket. "What's up pal? You look like you're about to kill over."
The scientist took a few more breaths, practically gulping down air as he did before standing upright, pointing an accusing finger at Toru and wearing a scowl. "That... that Kirlia belongs to me! Hand it over!"
"Jeez, you're polite..." Toru muttered sarcastically. He glanced to Kirlia, taking notice of the fact that she was now actually leaning into him instead of away from him, casting a wary gaze to the trainer. Toru observed her for a few seconds longer, gauging her reactions and body language before he turned a much more serious expression to the trainer. "She's pretty scared right now, and she's hurt. Why don't you come with us to the Pokemon Center so we can get her treated?"
"That's not necessary." The scientist replied, composing himself better now, but still wearing a very serious expression and speaking in a rather commanding tone. "Give it to me and be on your way."
'This guy reeks of something...' Toru thought to himself, his expression becoming more serious after his last statement. 'And that unsettled feeling in my gut, my radar's going off. Whoever he is, there's nothing right about him...' "Why don't you spare me the trouble of walking over and just call her back into her Poke Ball?" he questioned, drawing an unsettled look from Kirlia.
The scientist shared this look, clearly becoming unnerved again as he folded his arms over his chest and lowered his head slightly. "I, I don't have it with me." He said, his voice shaking nervously. "It... it got knocked into the harbor. Just give me the damned Pokemon, alright?! I'm very busy, and I don't have time to waste with a kid!"
This settled it for Toru. His response verified his suspicions, from body language to words, it all pieced together, leaving him to say only one thing to the scientist. "Huh... I don't buy a word of it." He remarked coldly.
"What?!"
"You're full of crap." Toru said bluntly. "As unlikely as it still would've been, I might've bought it if you weren't such a nervous wreck, but everything about you reeks. You're a lying sack of it." His eyes wandered from the scientist to the Seviper at his side, taking note of something red coating the bottom of its flesh by its tail blade. He immediately cast a glance to Flare, who was wearing the same hard look as he was at the moment before looking back to the scientist. "I'm not going to waste my breath on a worm like you. Get out of here, now."
This seemed to send the man into a fit. He growled deeply, clenching his fists at his sides and hunching over, his teeth clenched and his brows furrowed. "You... you dare refuse my orders?!"
'He's an egomaniac... eh, figures with this type.' "In a heartbeat."
"Fine, if that's the way you're going to have it, then I'm going to take it from you! Seviper, Weezing, flatten him and bring Kirlia back!" he commanded, his tone bitter as he threw one arm forward. The Pokemon followed the motion, each of them preparing their own individual attacks. Seviper's tail took on a violet glow as it approached Toru, and its eyes focused upon him, as Weezing rolled back in mid-air slightly, filling its mouth with one of the many substances it was capable of spewing forth.
"For a scientist, you're awfully stupid." Toru remarked in a bored tone as he reached for his left side, pulling off Suichi's Poke Ball and tossing it up over his head. "Flare, Suichi, let's end this quickly. Flamethrower on Weezing, Ice Beam on Seviper."
In a flash of light, Suichi was released from his Poke Ball. Still in mid-air, it opened its mouth and took careful aim at the Seviper below. In a flash, a ray of pale blue light fired out, smashing square into the Seviper's head and stopping it dead in its tracks. The Vaporeon immediately moved his head to direct the beam along Seviper's body, hitting it from head to tail with the frigid ray. Suichi touched down on the ground in front of the Seviper, now frozen solid in a block of ice, watching it blink within its icy prison.
At that same moment, Flare had unleashed a tremendous blast of flames from her mouth, concentrated into a single stream aimed at the floating Pokemon. The timing could not have been better, as Weezing opened its own mouths and began spewing forth Sludge. The flames did more than just engulf the Sludge though, they ignited it, trailing all the way into its mouth and driving it back a couple of yards before the poison within its body exploded, the force escaping the mouths of its twin heads and blowing them back, causing it to smash into the scientist and slam him fiercely to the ground with the unconscious Poison-type laying upon him.
"Good job you guys." He congratulated his two Pokemon warmly, looking between them before he approached the scientist. "Too bad this one was such a wimp though." He nodded to Suichi, the motion calling the Bubble Jet Pokemon to his side. He gently set Kirlia upon his back, smiling reassuringly at the Psychic type before he turned back to the scientist, quickly lifting Weezing off of him and gently setting it on the ground. "I'm not going to blame your Pokemon, they were just following orders... but..." he said, reaching down and grasping the scientist by the collar, yanking him up into a sitting position and glaring ferociously at him. "I can certainly beat the dog shit out of the trainer. I'm willing to bet that you're also the creep who hurt Kirlia like this, and you persist in hunting her like that, treating her like an object instead of a living creature. Care to offer up an explanation, or should I beat you black and blue before I haul your sorry ass off to the cops?"
"Not likely." A new voice said, immediately drawing Toru's eyes from the scientist to three men wearing heavy black trench coats. One of them, the leader, had black hair concealed mostly by what looked to be a beret of the same color. The other two behind him perhaps stood out the most, one with hair hanging just over his shoulders, and the other's neatly combed back, both of their colors brown with green-tipped ends. The man with the black beret, clearly the leader of the trio, spoke up, wearing a look that left no room for questions. "We'll be bringing him back with us along with Kirlia."
"Ah, so there's a group of you creeps..." Toru said, merely dropping the scientist and allowing his head to smack against the pavement. He sighed, gently taking Kirlia off of Suichi's back and looking to the man with the black beret. "And if I refuse?"
Wordlessly, the men dipped their hands into their trench coat pockets, each drawing out three Poke Balls and tossing them forward one after the other. From each one emerged a different Pokemon. Golbat, Arbok, Muk, Dustox, Kadabra, all Pokemon he was familiar with, and some new species that he had read about, but was not familiar with face to face, Purugly, Toxicroak, Skuntank, and Bronzor.
"Yeah, didn't see that coming..." Toru remarked sarcastically, rubbing his neck with his left hand as he shut his left eye, studying the layout between them for a moment, pondering his options. Finally, he simply smiled, tapping the tip of his left boot on the ground. "Well, guess we've only got one way to go about it. Flare, Suichi..." he said, looking between his Pokemon with a gaze they were both familiar with, one that meant he had something up his sleeve. "You know what happens when you mix fire and water, right?"
Without wasting a second, the two Pokemon turned and fully faced the three men, bracing themselves as they opened their mouths. From Flare's erupted a massive flame, spread out in 5 directions from the center, while from Suichi's surged forth a torrent of water that was released with such force, it actually drove the Bubble Jet Pokemon back a couple of inches. It looked as if the attacks were going to crash right into the center of the group pursuing Kirlia, but less than a yard from them, the attacks converged, erupting into a wall of steam the instant they made contact.
"SCRAM!" Toru hollered, immediately turning off to the side and making a mad dash back in the direction from whence he came, Suichi and Flare at his heels, and the pained yells of the men and Pokemon audible, no doubt a result of the scalding hot steam that was already billowing over the rooftops of nearby warehouses and sheds.
"Not exactly what I'd call 'heroic' back there..." Kirlia remarked to Toru as they sat in the Pokemon Center, being careful not to move as one of the Chansey working at the center began wrapping what remained of her now mostly healed wound in gauze.
"Hey, it saved your butt, what're you complaining about?" Toru responded, reclining in his seat with his arms folded over his chest. "Besides, we were just a little outnumbered there..."
"I suppose with the odds considered, it's excusable." She said with a smile before a more curious expression. "Why were you so determined to help me though? You could've gotten yourself into serious trouble."
"I've just never been one to turn a blind eye to another person's problems."
"So you're a meddler."
"Basically."
Kirlia sighed, shaking her head softly before she felt the wrapping stop, looking to her shoulder and rotating slightly. There was still a little pain, but she didn't acknowledge it with even a wince. "Well... I appreciate the help, so thank you."
Toru shrugged, standing up and allowing his arms to fall to his sides, watching as the Chansey finished gathering up its supplies and left the room. "Ah, it's no sweat. Although, I am curious what you're going to do from here."
"What do you mean?" Kirlia asked, looking up to him inquisitively.
"Well... we only gave those guys the slip back there. I can't say I have as much personal experience as some people, but I have enough to tell you that creeps like that will only quit chasing you once they know they can't win, and, well, normally that involves beating the lesson into the more stubborn ones..." Toru sighed, tilting his head back towards the ceiling. "I hate being the bearer of bad news, but, they're not done chasing you."
'Like he has to tell me...' she thought to herself with a bothered sigh. "Well... that is a problem, but I can handle it myself..."
"Doubt it." Toru replied almost instantly in a casual tone.
This clearly annoyed the Psychic Pokemon, who cast a rather unpleasant gaze to the human that had saved her. "Excuse me?"
"You haven't already forgotten that I pulled your fat out of the fire against that guy in the lab coat, and he was a total wimp. I don't know what those other guys were like, but they don't play by your traditional one-on-one rules. You'd be flattened in a second."
"I can just teleport away, you know."
"Did you teleport away before?"
"... Yes..."
"And it didn't work as well as you'd hoped, right?"
"... No... No, it didn't..." Kirlia's head sank slightly as her gaze fell to the floor, bringing her tiny hands together as a somber expression came over her face.
For a moment, there was silence as the two of them pondered. Clearly, this left a dilemma. To leave Kirlia alone would simply mean that she would be vulnerable to whatever means they had used before to leave her in such bad shape. At the same time, he knew no one he could leave Kirlia with that could protect her. In the worst case, if he did leave her with someone, if he were to make the flight back to Cerulean and leave her with Misty, his family or one of his friends, the possibility that they would be dragged into serious trouble was very real. Toru couldn't call upon them just to put them at risk like that. The young man highly doubted she had anyone in this region she knew and could lean upon, either. Finally, the silence was broken with a sigh from Toru, followed by what he felt would be the best course of action.
"Well... how about you come with me?"
Kirlia raised her eyes, wearing a dumbfounded expression as she looked to the trainer. "Is your head screwed on right? You realize that if they find out that I'm with you, then they'll come hunting you down..."
"They might come hunting me down anyways because I'm a witness to something or something like that." He said, unshaken by the thought. "Thing is though, I'm going to the Sinnoh region. In fact, my ship's due to set sail in just a couple of hours. I don't know how determined these creeps are, but I'm pretty sure we can shake them. It's a long ways from where we are now after all."
Despite his offer and the points he made, Kirlia turned her head away, staring at a table on one side of the room. "I appreciate it, but I'm not looking to be owned by anyone. Those balls you trainers carry us in seem pretty stuffy, if you ask me..."
"Hey, I can understand that." Toru said with a smile, pointing to Flare, who was sitting and observing silently. "I've had her for 10 years, and the only time she ever went into her Poke Ball when we were traveling was when there was a serious emergency, rare though they were. She's not particularly wild about them either, right?"
Flare responded with a yip of confirmation from where she sat, staring Kirlia straight in the eyes to show just how serious she was. It was no lie, the first time Toru kept Flare in her Poke Ball for more than an hour on a casual basis, she not only broke out, but reduced the sphere to a pile of molten scrap. She respected Toru as a trainer and a longtime friend, but she was highly independent, and hated being cooped up.
"Maybe so..." Kirlia responded, sounding a bit less objecting this time, but still not particularly enthusiastic. "But it's more than just being in one of those things. I don't want to belong to anyone. Others are content with it, but I'm not."
"Fair enough." Toru said, still wearing his smile. "But I never said that I'd make you my Pokemon. I just suggested you tag along. You don't have to go out of your way to battle for me or anything. You can just be a traveling companion. How's that sound?"
"You don't think that's a little strange?" Kirlia asked, not at all afraid of being forward. "As you humans would classify me, I'm a wild Pokemon. Wouldn't that raise some eyebrows?"
"I already get looks because I never keep Flare in her Poke Ball, I don't care. It'd be just the same with you. All you've gotta do is make the choice, and whatever it is, I'll accept it."
Silence fell between them once again as Kirlia looked him in the face. She could tell without having to read into his mind that he was totally serious about all of this. It was actually a little baffling to her. She'd observed the actions of countless humans in her life, and encountered dozens in the wild, but she'd never been face to face with one who was so direct and simple with his thoughts. "You're sure that you'd have no problem getting involved?"
"Positive."
"Even if you end up getting dragged into serious trouble because of me?"
"Even if. Besides, what's the worst that could happen?"
'Famous last words...' she thought to herself with a sigh before nodding to him. "Alright... I'll come along with you."
"Awesome." Toru said with a smile in response to her answer, sitting back down and leaning forward, propping himself up on his knees by his arms. "Now... there's just one more thing I'd like to ask you."
"That being?"
"Well... is there anything that I could call you by? After all, there are countless Kirlia out there after all; I figure that if you're alright with it, I'd like to call you something that sets you apart from the others."
"One of those ridiculous pet names? Erm, no offense, Flare..." she added that last part in a more gentle tone as she looked to the Vulpix, who merely shrugged. "I've seen the names that you humans give out. Quite frankly, I think they're embarrassing."
"Well... why don't you choose then?"
Again, she was silenced, if only for a couple of seconds before she raised her good arm and rubbed the back of her head with it. "You're really an odd breed of trainer..."
"You wouldn't be the first to think so." He said with a grin.
"Well... as long as I can choose, fine... but you'll have to give me some time to think on it."
"Alright, that's fair. Take as much as you need." He then stood up, slipping his hands into his pockets and heading for the door. "I'm gonna talk to the nurse in charge and see if you'll be good to go tonight. For now, rest. Flare, keep her company will ya?"
Kirlia watched as the young man left the room, staring until the door shut behind him with a curious expression upon her face. She felt that, in contrast to many other humans who she had encountered in her life, this one was different. Not in the means of physical strength, special abilities or mental prowess, but his personality was, to say the least, unique. She shut her eyes, lying back upon the small bed she had been sitting on as she began to relax.
An hour and a half later, Toru stood at the docks, holding Kirlia in his right arm as Flare lay draped over his left shoulder as she had earlier that day. The three gazed upon the ship that would be taking them to Sinnoh. There was no question, it was not the S.S. Anne, but it was still quite spectacular. By just a rough estimate, the young man figured it to be about two-thirds the size of the massive ship, which still said a great deal for its size, as the S.S. Anne was large enough to carry a few thousand passengers on its yearly trip around the globe. The words 'S.S. Mary' were painted in red and silver on the hull, the letters alone standing at least two times taller than him.
"Are you rich or something...?" Kirlia asked, gazing to the young man that was holding her.
"... No..." Toru responded meekly, looking back and forth between the ticket in his left hand and the boat before him to ensure he wasn't seeing things. "That's why I'm actually a little worried right now..." 'I am so glad that Mom doesn't offer to pay for my trips often... we might all end up broke of she did...' Toru glanced down to his ticket, sighing and shrugging his shoulders softly before a feeble grin crossed his lips. "Well... no changing it this late, so may as well enjoy it. Besides, with one this size, there're bound to be a few dozen trainers to keep us busy, right Flare?"
Flare barked vigorously, her six tails rising up with her ears as she flashed a smile to her trainer.
Toru chuckled, starting towards the bridge where passengers boarded, looking straight ahead with an expression of confidence and anticipation. Another journey lay ahead of him, another region to trek and survey with his own eyes. As he approached the boarding area, he could hardly contain himself, unable to restrain an excited grin spreading over his lips. 'Next stop, Sinnoh.'
In the shadows of the docks, the man wearing the beret from earlier stood silently, watching as the trainer boarded with Kirlia in his arms, wearing a morbidly serious expression upon his face.
"Sir," a voice behind him said softly, drawing his attention to long-haired man and his partner that had been accompanying him. "We've disposed of the failure and taken his Pokemon as ordered."
"Very good..." the man with the beret said, turning fully to face the two. "Kirlia's on the move to the Sinnoh region with that boy."
"Should we follow them onto the ship and take them out there?" the man with the combed back hair enquired.
"No. Even if we'd have the advantage one-on-one, we'd draw too much attention to ourselves, and we can't have that until the boss admits free movement. Alert the main branch in Sinnoh of the situation, and then we'll catch the next boat out." The man then turned back to face the boat, donning a sinister smile as he folded his arms over his chest. "We'll tie up our loose ends soon enough..."
Well, there you have it, the start of another one of the countless Pokemon fics out on the web. I'm hoping to make this different than lots of them out there in some respects, but we'll see just how that works out. In any case, thanks for readin'.