Update 3/25/12
Arg I should be shot for starting another story. Hello there Pokémon fans. I wanted to try and write a Pokémon Fan Fiction with an original crew. I changed quite a bit of things (since I'm only familiar with the games), so bear with me. The first two chapters are going to move fast time wise because the characters are important to the story but they're not the main characters. Once we hit the main storyline (which should be in chapter 3) the time that each chapter covers will be a lot slower. Also note that each chapter is its own short story in a sense with a beginning, middle, and end. This is something that I have never tried before, so each chapter is incredible in length.
Please let me know what you think.
~.::Tale of Two Scientists::.~
"Your theories on the legendary Pokémon Suicune were absolutely astounding. Do you have any ideas on what you want to write for your graduate thesis?" He was a simple doctorate professor who knew not much of anything at that time, and the woman in which he was talking to had already dedicated herself to one sole idea.
"Why yes, I'm proposing to do hands on field research of the legendary Pokémon. There's a grant already in order for me to do research," She was determined and set forward in her goals. The woman with the incredibly lengthy brown hair and cerulean eyes walked with incredible determination.
He handed her back the document in his hands. "Right now all you have are theories; there's no fact to base any of this."
"This is why I need the grant. I can find facts to back up my theories." She argued- her eagerness never subsiding.
He placed his hand to his aged chin and rubbed it thoroughly feelings the stubbles from the morning shave come in. "Most grants will require you to get a research team. Really, your thesis shouldn't be so elaborate. Grants generally require facts to do research, but all you have are ideas. I'm not trying to shoot you down."
She clenched her teeth as they both stopped walking down the long corridor. They were right in front of his office door.
"I know of another student who is just as dedicated as you are to studying Suicune. His paper was also quite impressive. It's not a team, nor is it money for research, but perhaps you two can pool the money you have and spend your last remaining year doing field research. If you can agree to that, I will personally see that this be the only requirement for you both to graduate." He stuck his hand into his pocket and pulled out a piece of white scrap paper. With his other hand he clicked a pen and scribbled down a name and a number. "His name is Nos Crystalline. Get in contact with him by Friday and come and talk with me to get this done. The sooner you start the more information you can gather. You have less than a year to do this thesis; however, if what you have is astounding material you will find that you will receive that grant."
She took the paper from him and studied it. Working with another person bothered her. She liked to do this on her own and only saw this other person as an obstacle in her path. She frowned at the idea, but what choice did she have? The way her professor put it, she'd never receive that grant on her own. But she had dedicated her life to the research of Suicune, and she wasn't going to let such a small obstruction in her path stop her life goal.
"I'll see you Friday then," She said coolly as she placed the piece of scrap paper in her white coat's pocket. She then proceeded down the hall with her jacket and long brown hair flowing behind her.
"Yeah, I'll see you later." A redheaded man said as he waved to his friends. He put his key into the door of his room. After opening it, he wandered over to the fridge attempting to grab a beer.
"That is so unhealthy for you."
The unfamiliar voice startled the young man. He withdrew his hand from the cold beer and turned to the brunette woman standing behind him.
"How did you get in here? And who are you?" He wondered.
"Doctor Willow suggested you for some doctorate thesis work," She told him.
"So you broke into my room to talk to me?" He wondered scoffing at the situation. When he saw that she was serious he took to a chair, "Fine entertain me."
"My thesis is on the legendary Pokémon Suicune. Unlike Eusine, I plan on getting something actually accomplished; however, Dr. Willow doesn't think that I'll be able to get a grant on my own to do research, so he suggested you because you also have an interest in the Pokémon."
"I guess you could say that. I actually have an interest in all legendary Pokémon; not just one," He stated casually, "What exactly is the proposal?"
"I'm proposing field work. Dr. Willow said that if we agree to work together, he'll see that all we have to do is this 'proposal' per say to graduate," She spoke, "I have introduced theories on what I believe to be facts about Suicune. This is one step to your understanding of all legendary Pokémon. You do need to start somewhere."
"Let me see your proposal," He held out his hand.
She dug through her bag and pulled out the lengthy document and placed it in his hand. "You will find my research to be impeccable."
He quickly flipped through the document, "When does he want to know?"
"By Friday."
"I'll have it read by Thursday. Now may I know the name of the person that I may be working with?" He wondered.
"It's on the document. E-mail me by Thursday," She turned and walked out the door.
He sat there puzzled by the strange woman of which he had never seen prior. But he decided to brush it off. So then he determined that he really wanted that beer and got off the chair.
"Dr. Willow!" She yelled as she moved as quickly as possible to catch up with him.
"Oh Aurora. Did you get in contact with Crystalline?" He wondered so casually.
"I don't like being lied to, Dr. Willow," She stated angrily, "Nos Crystalline is not interested in studying Suicune."
They stood outside among smokers; Dr. Willow being one of them.
"Well he is interested in studying legendary Pokémon. Suicune is included." He inhaled deeply on his cigarette and then exhaled. "Would you not say?"
"My life is dedicated to studying just Suicune. He'll be distracted. I cannot tolerate that!"
He turned his aged face to her. "You will find that Crystalline does not lack dedication. He is one of my best students. I would not have recommended him if I felt that he imposed on your research."
She crossed her arms. "Still…"
"Perhaps you would like to read his proposal? I'm sure that it will help you make a decision."
"I'll be in contact with him on Thursday. I'll ask for it then."
"That only gives you matter of hours to read it."
"That's all I need," She smiled.
"Is beer all you drink?" She wondered as she sat down across from him on the sofa.
"Arceus dammit, how do you keep getting in here?" He wondered a bit startled, "And no it is not all I drink," He grabbed her proposal off the corner table and placed it down on his lap.
"What did you think?"
"I'm very interested in this. I'm in," He smiled.
She frowned as she grabbed it back from him. "I don't trust you nor do I know of your work ethic. You come highly recommend from Dr. Willow, so he obviously sees some potential in you, but I have yet to see you do more than just drink alcohol."
"Would my proposal make you feel more 'comforted'?" He wondered.
"I haven't decided yet, but I suppose it wouldn't hurt."
He dug through his drawer and then pulled out his document. "Here you are. You will see that I'm more interested in habitats and how the legendary Pokémon interact in those habitats and with each other. I think that I will be helpful for your project."
"We'll see," She stood up.
"I look forward to hearing from you Aurora Nightly."
She paused when he said that and then continued walking out his door.
He took a big gulp of his beer and sighed. She was going to be a tough one to crack.
"You have until the week before graduation to submit your final thesis to me. I'll make sure to review it over that time. You two only have to submit one to me and then I'll personally, depending upon how good the thesis is, bring it to the next convention for us Pokémon professors. If all goes well, they'll have you both hold your own talk and depending upon how well that goes you will find that the grant will come easier to you than submitting a fact-less proposal." Dr. Willow clasped his fingers before his face and he looked carefully over the two adults before him. They were his top prized students, and he knew that their research would be the best he'd ever seen, but he doubted their compatibility to work with each other. Nos was open minded as long as the person wasn't outrageously difficult. Aurora, on the other hand, was outrageously difficult to work with. Her problem area was working with others.
"I'm assuming that we need to furnish our own supplies," Nos said.
"We don't have money to give out to every eager student that wishes to do field work. Though if it makes you feel better you two are the only ones that I have agreed to let do field work for this thesis."
Nos and Aurora looked at each other with a mutual understanding, although neither of them knew how exactly they would work together. And when the weekend was over they were ready to head out on their mission.
"The Redwood family create advanced technology for us Pokémon professors. Generally we don't lend them out to trainees, as we like to call you, but this is a special case. These are straight from the top." Dr. Willow handed them two small, red cell phone looking objects.
They both examined them carefully.
"It's a tracker. Find a hair, dead skin, defecation, whatever, as long as it belongs to Suicune this will help you find it," He told them. "Now I'm sure you are both aware that Suicune doesn't take kindly to humans. It will run away from you. You'll be pursuing it for a year, so hopefully it'll get used to you. I hope you've accounted for this. This car here will take you to Slateport City there you will take a boat to Unova and journey to the last known location where Suicune was. Good luck to the both of you, and I look forward to your research."
Aurora crawled into the car and attempted to make herself comfortable. Nos got in a few minutes after.
"The last known location is a place called Rainbow Valley in the Unova region. I marked it here on the map. Apparently Suicune has been seen visiting here from time to time. Perhaps no other location has been visited by Suicune more than this one spot."
"Good place to start then," She closed her eyes.
"Though you might not get much for the research your looking for," He speculated while examining the map, "At any rate it'll take us a few days to get there."
"No flying Pokémon in your party?" She chuckled.
"Flying Pokémon can only fly to locations that they've been before, and I have never been to the Unova region."
"That didn't answer my question."
"No, I only have an Umbreon in my party." He stated. "I'm not much for training them."
She raised a brow when she heard this.
"How about you?"
"No flying Pokémon."
"What do you have in your party?" He wondered.
"An Espeon," She looked out the window.
He smiled, "How ironic."
"It's a four day trip once we reach the docks." Nos stated as he folded the newspaper he was reading and placed it on his lap. "Hope you don't get seasick."
She frowned, "Just because we're working together doesn't necessarily mean that I want to work with you. Quiet down and talk only when spoken to." She directed her cerulean eyes to the window.
Nos quietly picked up his black coffee mug and took a sip of his steaming drink. She was going to be a tough one to crack, and they were going to work together for a year so she should very well get used to at least talking with him. It didn't seem as though that was going to happen any time soon.
"Driver, how long until we get there?" She asked rather annoyed.
The driver in his black uniform and cab hat peered into the rectangular shaped rearview mirror and answered: "It's a full day trip to Slateport City."
"Sounds fun," Nos smiled.
"What did I say about talking?" She hissed.
He took a sip of his coffee. Placing the cup back into the holder, he looked cheerfully at the scowling brunette.
"We should get to know each other. I'll start."
She puffed her cheeks and let out a long exasperating sigh, "Are you ignoring me?"
"My parents never wanted me to go to college, but I went anyway. I'm rebellious, I know. When I graduated with my Bachelors, they didn't show. Same with my Masters and I'm sure it'll be the same with my Doctorate. They virtually stopped acknowledging my existence just because I wanted to go to college and do something with my life other than living paycheck to paycheck. My father is a construction worker and my mom stays at home and cleans. I don't have any siblings to speak of, so I really can't understand why they are behaving this way. It's not like I forced them to pay for college. I'm taking care of that on my own," He paused and looked at his hands. "Anyway what about you?"
She didn't acknowledge him.
"Hello? Pokémon World to Aurora!" He waved his hand in front of her face.
She swatted it away, "I have nothing to speak about. When we get to where we're going all we're going to speak about is research. Small talk is petty."
"Then I'll just talk about myself some more. Let's see… I'm 25 years old. Single. My birthday is in August. My favorite color is red. And I'm a great cook."
She rolled her eyes, "Are you good?"
"Hm?" He looked at her, "Did you say something?"
"If I tell you a little about myself will you leave me alone?"
"For a bit."
"Until Slateport City!"
"That's a long time."
"Deal with it."
"Fine, but then you have to speak with me until I'm satisfied."
She bit her bottom lip. "What if I want to sleep?"
"That's fine."
She coughed into her left fist, "Fine, I'll humor you for a bit."
He grinned stupidly, "Ok, so do you have any family?"
"Like?"
"Siblings? Parents? Grandparents? That sort."
She frowned and turned her pale head back to the transparent glass and sighed.
"I have an older and younger sister. Both my parents are alive and well; however, my grandparents have moved on."
"What are your sisters' names?" He looked at her utterly fascinated, and she found it to be brutally disgusting.
"Rosette and Kiara," She responded blandly. A bad taste arose in her mouth. It was distasteful speaking so informally with him. They didn't know each other at all.
"And what are they to you?"
"A nuisance, like you!" She gritted her teeth, but the man showed no reaction, "Why do you care?"
"Curious."
"Curiosity killed the Skitty."
"I'm not a Skitty."
She crossed her arms and slouched in her seat like a pouting five-year-old, "Why did you even agree to this expedition? There's no humanly way that we're ever going to get along."
"That's quite possibly true," He agreed while sipping on his coffee, "I figured it'd be better than whatever they'd have me do in a classroom all day. Realistically, we're as lucky as they come."
She raised a curious brow, "How do you suppose?"
"Dr. Willow says he never let's students do field work. I wouldn't miss out on this for the world."
"Well I hope you don't expect this to be some romantic excursion. There's no way in hell I'd fall for you."
"Never once crossed my mind. I believe I'd have a better chance finding a man sealed in ice, reviving him, and asking him to happily marry me before anything would ever happen between us."
"You'd best remember that too, Playboy," she remarked coldly.
"Ah seawater! Don't you just love the scent of the ocean?" Nos pondered, hands on the onyx car door.
Aurora didn't even respond to the question. She leaned her head out of the car first and then pushed her body out letting the wind captivate her long hair and trench coat.
"That's a very detesting look."
"I don't like this city…" She trailed off, keeping her eyes on the sea.
His wandering eyes looked around the Wingullbustling city. They then landed on the brunette.
"Why?"
"My sister lives here with her annoying boyfriend. I'd like to not see them if at all possible-"
"A woman with a sour look on her face. Must be Aurora." The snide remark came from a lumberjack-sized man wearing a plaid red and black shirt under jean overalls. The man had dark brown, scraggily hair. Following him was a Blaziken.
"Niles," Her eyes rolled.
"Pleasant as always," The man turned his head to look at the redhead, "Don't tell me this is your boyfriend!" He tilted his head back and laughed as hard and as loud as he could. "Never thought a man would be able to tolerate you!"
She frowned distastefully.
"I'm not her boyfriend," Nos replied noticing the resentment on Aurora's face.
"Smart man," Niles chuckled once again, "Well I'm guessing you're not here to visit your sister."
"I have no intentions of doing so," Aurora crossed her pale arms.
"I figured. You know, she'd really like to see you."
The woman sighed and turned away heading down the road- towards the city.
"I'm sorry, I'll go get her," Nos bowed.
"Don't worry about it. Blaziken and I will load your things on the boat. Do me a favor, don't tell her I'm taking you guys to Castelia City."
Nos nodded and headed after the woman who was walking very quickly, but still with her composure.
"Aurora!" Nos shouted running up to her.
"What do you want?" Her hands were firmly placed in the jacket's pocket as the wind blew her hair all over the place.
"How old is your sister?"
"What?
"Your sister, how old is she?"
"I heard what you said!"
He stared at her blankly.
"She's 19," She responded coolly. "Why are you prying? I refrain from interfering in your personal life."
"I'd say otherwise, but why don't you want to see your little sis?"
"It's nothing I want to talk with you about. Look just leave it be," She warned.
He decided to leave her be so he reached into his pocket and released his Umbreon. The Umbreon ran over to the water and began to splash in it.
"A shiny Umbreon? Astounding!" Aurora moved towards the creature and knelt before it.
He was actually surprised that she was taking interest in his Umbreon.
"The poor thing was abandoned by its pack two years back."
"That's how it works sometimes," She pet the wet Pokémon.
"His name is Blitz," Nos smiled as he knelt down next to her. "He's pretty good most of the time, but if I let him sit in the pokéball too long he'll rage worse than a pubescent teenage girl."
She chuckled though she didn't mean to and caught herself, "Well that's interesting."
He smiled, "Yeah, what about your Espeon? You should probably let it out once in a while."
She frowned, "Yeah, I guess." She reached into her pocket and pulled out her pokéball.
Espeon appeared out of the ball and ran into the water.
"Did you name it?" He wondered.
"Name what?"
"Your Espeon."
"No," She looked at the two Pokémon playing together, "Why bother?"
"It adds a level of intimacy between you and your Pokémon. It's how a trainer builds a stronger bond with their Pokémon."
"I'm not a trainer, I am a scientist," She boldly stated, "This is all I've ever wanted."
He watched her as she continued to pet his Pokémon. He knew nothing about her, and it seemed as though she wanted it that way. He couldn't understand why she was refusing to see her own flesh and blood. He would give anything to see his family again, but they refused to acknowledge his existence. Her decision was regrettable.
"Do you want kids?" He wondered.
The question took her by surprise, "Why would you ask that?"
He smiled, "I'm just trying to get a handle on the type of person you are. You seem to want nothing to do with other people, you even stray away from your own family. I don't know why you hold such resentment, but I'd figure that settling down and having a family is the last thing you'd ever strive for. Do you think that's healthy? Isolation might seem like the best option, for the time being, I guess I just don't want to see you regret your choices now later."
"What an astounding perspective," She joked, "You're right, I don't want a family, and I, honestly, cannot see me having children in the future. They'd only be interference. My life is dedicated to Suicune and Suicune only."
"I want a daughter," He said to her ignoring her really, "Most men want a son, but I'd love to have a little girl. Either way I'd love the kid."
She sighed, "Good for you."
He chuckled coyly, "What's your deal anyway? Why are you so…?"
"'So' what?" She glared into his green eyes.
"Socially awkward," He didn't mean to put it so bluntly, but he didn't feel like he had another option at that point.
She stood up casually, "Is the boat loaded?"
"Should be," He looked up at her.
"Then let's stop dawdling, we should be on the way to Unova as soon as possible," She was trying not to sound irritated, but she really couldn't help it. Though it was the obvious and blatant truth, it really hurt to hear from someone else that she was so socially awkward. Though it hurt, she had no intentions of changing herself.
He walked lazily behind her- watching their two Pokémon interact with each other. He didn't mean to be so rude to her, but how could he not? She wasn't making it pleasant for him to be with her at all. He looked at her Espeon and wondered if he should take the initiative to name it.
Boarding the boat went just as pleasant as Nos pictured it would. When Aurora found out that Niles would be their ferryman she flipped shit and decided that she didn't want to ride the boat after all. After spending nearly two hours trying to change her mind, she reluctantly agreed. And for three days of the trip she was as silent as possible.
"We're almost at Castelia City," Nos approached her at the bow of the ship.
She remained silent. All cozy in her long red sweater. Her arms rested on the railing.
"Ever been there before?"
"No, I hate cities. The sooner we land the sooner we get out of there. I just want to start our field work."
"Look, I'm sorry I called you anti-social," He was being sincere, but she never turned to look at him.
"That was three days ago, if that's really bothering you still then I think you should rethink being out here with me. I don't expect apologies from you and you should not expect any on my end. We're going to see each other every waking moment for the next year. We're going to hate each other often, and I'll live with that. You'd better get used to it now."
"And what if I don't want to?" he shouted, "You might be happy with that, but I am not. I like human interaction!"
"You're so whiny. Are you a man? Grow some balls," She snorted and walked off to the ship's cabin.
"This is going to be one long year," he said as he shoved his hands in his khaki pant pockets, exhaling deeply- leaving a stream of white smog.
"Well good luck to the both of you. Just do me a favor… don't get yourselves killed," Niles told them in all seriousness.
They were standing on one of the large docks that extended from Castelia City. The city was so big and bustling that the noise from chatter and traffic filled the air- even as far out as they were.
"Well thank you for the lift, Niles," Nos held out his hand and Niles gladly took it.
"Take care of my pain in the ass sister-in-law," His smile sincere.
Aurora had a surprised look on her face, "When did you marry my sister?"
"I personally sent you an invitation last year," He was surprised that she had not known. "I guess that explains why you never showed up."
The woman crossed her arms agitated, "Well congratulations. I'm sure my sister enjoys having the last name of Haverstine."
"Amusing…" He trailed off, "Anyway best of luck."
"Thanks," Nos smiled and the two scientists departed into the city with their supplies on their backs.
"Ugh!" Aurora groaned as loud as she possibly could while dropping her enormous backpack on the ground, "Why didn't we arrange for transportation to Rainbow Valley?" She was already sick of wandering around and it had only been two days.
Nos chuckled, "We're not going to be able to drive around while following Suicune. Just think, you're going to have very nice legs after a year."
She shot him a dirty glare, "I just want to do research, not trudge this shit from point A to point B and so on and so forth."
"Dr. Willow did say that it might take a long time before Suicune gets used to us following it around. You're going to have to become accustomed with that 'shit' as you so loving call it."
"You're intolerable!" She grimaced.
"Well you'll just have to get used to me too."
"This is like trying to find hay in a needle stack," Nos grimaced as he thrust backward with his hands firmly placed on the small of his back to stretch and break it.
The sun was beating on them vigorously as the two stood among the grassy land. Aurora was carefully and analytically going through the grass searching for any sign of Suicune's DNA. They were relieved to have reached Rainbow Valley after a few days of looking for it, but they were having a hard time finding anything.
"I believe the phrase is needle in a hay stack," She corrected brushing her pale fingers through the vibrant green grass.
"I know what the phrase is. Sifting through hay doesn't nearly describe the pain I am experiencing at this moment," He knelt back on the ground and sighed vigorously. They had been working for three days, only sleeping for a few hours at a time. He was tired and exhausted. His back was killing him and another smart remark from Aurora was going to send him plummeting into the nearby river.
"There has got to be some DNA around here somewhere," She stated as she stood up, formed fists and place the back of her hands on her hips.
The redheaded male reached into his pocket and pulled out his vibrating cell phone, "It's Dr. Willow."
"Probably calling to see how our research is coming. Not that we have any," She was mildly perturbed.
"Let me take this call. How about you start collecting water samples?" He suggested and then walked a bit away from her to answer the call.
"Well, I at least have to admit that the view is nice," She admitted while overlooking the river- deeper into the valley.
She picked up her water testing kit and looked off to find a path that would safely bring her to the riverbed. Screw jumping.
After a short amount of time, Nos returned and made his way over to Aurora, who had set up her own mini lab next to the water.
"Well I have some good news," He announced but she didn't respond. She was too busy studying the sample. He ignored it and continued, "Dr. Willow says there was a spotting of Suicune earlier this morning near Nimbasa City."
"Then we should get going," She stated as she moved away from the microscope.
"Well we should finish collecting samples here first then get moving. Before tomorrow."
She looked at him and sighed, "Fine, what is tomorrow?"
He blinked a couple times, "The Cottonee gathering."
"Right…" she turned back to the lab she had set up and began taking things apart and compiling them together. Nos joined her.
He continued to help until he came across a large grey book bound with woven string. He opened the cover and realized that there was nothing printed. So he flipped through a few more pages and noticed the same thing.
"Why don't you do something actually helpful?" She wondered as she stole the book from him.
"What is that for?"
She shoved the book in her grey bag that hung off her left shoulder and crossed her body.
"We need to keep notes somewhere, and I plan on using everything we discover now later after we graduate."
"Mhm…" He crossed his arms, "Do you really think I'll let you continue our research without me?"
She laughed, "You honestly think that we'll continue working after this year? What part of 'I work alone' don't you understand?"
"My entire graduate thesis will be on Suicune, what do you think it'll look like if I don't continue research?"
"You're interested in habitats of legendary Pokémon, they'll understand that you've moved on from one Pokémon."
"And what if I don't want to? What if I want to continue researching Suicune?"
"I'm not having this discussion now. Talk to me again when we get close to finishing this thesis," she was completely uninterested with being around him any longer than she needed to be. And technically when their thesis was finished they would no longer have any need to be together.
In the past few days, he had helped her with nothing. There was nothing that he had actually done that had benefitted any more than anything she was doing. She was sure that she was not going to need his help after this year was over.
"I'll go pack the tent. It's going to take us a day or so to get to Nimbasa. Oh and Dr. Willow says he's going to make arrangements for us to stay with the Hi family. Apparently they have a new pokéball they'd like us to test out since they heard about our research."
"I'll think about it. Though taking a proper shower does sound nice," Aurora pushed her hand through her hair.
"Well don't ponder it too long," Nos told her, "Unless you want to be constantly smacked in the face by hormonal Cottonee."
"Then let's leave now. I don't want to walk in the dark."
"Aurora, get down!" Nos called in a harsh whisper as he pushed against a nearby moss-covered log.
"Ugh…what are you doing?" She wondered disgustedly in a normal voice.
He snagged her arm and pulled her to the ground, "What part of 'get down' don't you understand?"
"You're intolerable! Let go of me!"
He placed his hand over he mouth, "Be quiet!" He turned his head to look over the log.
She pushed his hand away from her face, "Do that again and I will bite you," She whispered in a harsh tone and then turned herself so that she could also peer over the log.
There, only a few feet away, stood Suicune casually standing in the grass watching a mixture of Beautifly and Butterfree Pokémon flutter around.
"Ah!" She was completely taken aback by what her eyes were seeing. She quickly reached into her bag and pulled out her big grey bound book. "I need a pencil," She ordered.
He raised a brow, "And you think I have one?"
"My backpack, there's one in there."
He unzipped the bag and started digging through it ferociously. He knew that if he didn't find her pencil that he'd have to listen to her complain for hours on end about how she didn't get to take notes on what she saw. After what seemed like an hour he pulled out the pencil and handed it to her.
The woman started jotting down notes like she was a computer analyzing lines of code. Every line was incredibly specific. She described in great detail what Suicune looked like, what it was doing, how it interacted with the other Pokémon in the area, even right down to how the wind moved the fur on its back.
"Should I set up camp?" He wondered, not really wanting to bother her since she was so focused.
"Yes, hopefully if we don't disturb it it'll stay," She stated.
They were only an hour outside of Nimbasa City, and they didn't actually expect to see Suicune this time. He savored the thought of going to stay with the Hi family in their luxurious mansion, but Suicune was more important than their sanitation.
"This is simply remarkable!" Aurora said to herself.
Nos placed his baggage on the warm grassy ground and unzipped the largest pocket. When he did his pokéball rolled out and unleashed Blitz. The Pokémon was furious with its master for leaving it in the ball for so long and so it ran off towards the legendary Pokémon.
Aurora gasped and turned angrily towards her redheaded companion.
"Blitz!" Nos called but tried not to be too loud.
The shiny Umbreon completely ignored its trainer and kept running towards the legendary Pokémon. Suicune turned its canine head towards the tiny black and blue Pokémon and examined it. It then slightly raised its head and saw the two humans peering over the log.
"Go back to your trainer," It told the Pokémon through telekinesis and then fled.
Aurora turned and punched Nos in the shoulder.
"You fucking idiot! Because of you Suicune fled!"
He rubbed his shoulder and watched as Blitz came running back towards him, "It's not my fault he jumped out of the pokéball. Don't blame me!"
She gritted her teeth, "Well maybe if you let him out more to play then he wouldn't have performed in such an unruly manner!"
"Excuse me? I let Blitz out more often then you let your Espeon out, so don't speak to me like that!"
"My Espeon doesn't force itself out of its pokéball!"
"Probably because it's horrified of you!"
She stood up and threw her book angrily at the ground, "Ugh! No matter what, it's your fault. He's your Pokémon!"
He got right into her face, "You keep calling me the intolerable, but it is you who is intolerable!"
"Oh good comeback!"
"I'm so sick of dealing with your attitude! What the hell is wrong with you?"
"You!" She screamed, "I hate seeing you, and I hate the fact that I have to work with you! I want you to go away and never return! Arceus, the only reason why I even accepted you as a partner was because I was going to be shot down otherwise!"
"So everything that could possibly go wrong will be my fault?"
"Yes! I would never make the mistakes that you have and you will!" She picked up the book and placed it back in her bag.
"Fine, since we're both stuck out here until the end of the year, I'll work solely with what I want to do and you can study Suicune all you want. The only time we'll have to speak is when we ask for the book," He was sick of fighting with her and he just didn't want to be around her any more than he had to.
She pursed her lips and wrinkled her forehead, "What about the tent?"
"Alright, so we'll have to deal with each other then."
She sighed heavily, "Just don't make me have to also redo your research."
He crossed his arms.
"Welcome to our house!" A bubbly a dull, sandy blonde woman dressed in a long light blue gown greeted as she made her way to the two scientists standing in the grand lobby. "You must be Aurora Nightly and Nos Crystalline. Well welcome, Dr. Willow has told us so much about you two."
They had traveled the hour into Nimbasa City since they didn't have any other choice at that point. Suicune was long gone and off to who knows where and the two hadn't found even a slight DNA sample from it, so they were at a dead-end until they heard word from someone about another sighting. Aurora was still angry at Nos, but they were trying their best to act civilized in front of their new host.
But Nos had found something odd about their host and tried not to make it seem obvious that he was glancing at her in-between looks. She seemed so young, like she could only be a few years older than him at most. He had figured people who were as famous as the Hi family would be far older than she was.
The two stepped into the giant mansion. The place was larger than either of them had imagined. It was far too large for just two people to thrive in. And it was nicely decorated too. It didn't seem like anything was left unfurnished.
"Dr. Willow tells us that you have an experimental pokéball you'd like us to test out," Aurora crossed her arms a bit irritated with the woman who was constantly touching her arm.
"Oh yes, let me bring you to the lab. We try to work inside our home as much as possible."
Max, the Hi family butler, stood nearby holding the door for them.
They began to head down a corridor that went underneath an enormous white Doric balcony. The two scientists were intrigued with the house and all of the decorations. Still neither of them knew how a woman so young could have acquired so much money.
"You two are so quiet," Mrs. Hi said after a while during their long walk, "I'm not used to it."
"I have a question," Nos said suddenly.
"Yes?" The kind woman wondered.
"Do you have any kids? This place looks too big for just you and your husband."
She just smiled kindly, "No, we don't have any. Right now it's just my husband and I and the people that take care of this house living here."
"Oh…" Nos trailed off completely amazed that it was just them and their staff. The house seemed like barely anyone lived in it.
Aurora had nothing to say. She was strictly uninterested in everything that was going on. She could have cared less about the Hi family, or even about their house, their work, or Nos' blatant boring interest in them, even if it was for the time being.
"We plan on having kids one day if that makes you feel better."
He raised up his hands in a nervous defense, "Oh no, I didn't mean it like that."
She giggled openly, "Oh I don't mind. What about you two?"
"Excuse me?" Aurora hissed, "What in the world makes you think that I am at all interested in this guy right here?"
"I'm sorry, I just thought…"
"Well don't make assumptions," She barked, "Just because my colleague is an imbecile, does not mean you should stoop down to his pompous level."
"Aurora!" Nos raised his voice, "Excuse us for a minute."
Mrs. Hi nodded slightly confused by what was going on.
Nos pulled Aurora into one of the side rooms and closed the door.
"What is wrong with you? Do not insult the Hi family!"
She crossed her arms, "She's impudent. I can't stand her fake façade."
"I don't think it's fake at all. I think you're reading too far into people again. Relax and just take it in. Try not to insult our host."
"Her measly existence is of no use to me."
"And what if we gain valuable research from their prototype? Will you still think she's invaluable then?"
She rolled her eyes and sighed, "I have a feeling that she is not the brains behind their money. She's probably just mooching off her husband. Worthless wench."
"Would you stop? We don't need to hear your personal opinion all the time," He yelled.
"She's going to get suspicious if we stay in here."
"Oh now you care about her feelings?"
"No, I care about my reputation."
"I think she realizes that there's nothing going on between us. You made that as outstandingly obvious as a big red dot in the center of a black and white room."
Aurora walked over to the door and opened it revealing the dull, sandy blonde woman staring at one of the portraits on the wall. She turned to look at the two come out of the room.
"Shall we continue?" she wondered casually.
"So what exactly is this prototype?" Aurora asked rudely.
"It's a master ball; the strongest pokéball to ever exist. We've tested it on several Pokémon, and it has always had a 100% capture rate without even harming the creature. What we expect from your experiment is to test it on a Legendary so that we can be certain that this ball is unflawed."
Nos' eyes widened, "You want us to use this on Suicune?"
"Yes," She answered, "Think of all the valuable research you will gain. No one has ever captured a Legendary before. You will be breaking through ground that has been untouched for all of time."
Aurora smugly smiled at Nos; she was on board. Nos, however, was hesitant. Perhaps the invaluable scientific research gained would be absolute and make them more famous than any researchers past, but they were about to agree to step into uncharted territory where their decisions could lead to highly unfavorable results. He didn't know if he wanted to accept the consequences. It was true that no one had captured a Legendary prior and perhaps that was for a reason that he was unaware, but an unnerving feeling welled within his body, and he was losing the desire to continue working with the Hi family.
"You've captured my intent interest. I would like to see this master ball."
"Why certainly. I had hoped that you two would be willing," The dull, sandy blonde woman smiled kindly and then led them further into the house and down some nicely carpeted wooded stairs. They continued to descend for a while before they reached a cold cement floor and a large metallic door with a palm reader on it.
The dull, sandy blonde placed her delicate hand to the surface of the palm reader, letting it scan her hand with its green light. It then beeped twice and the metal door opened. A haze of smoke came out of the lab and it seemed as though the lab were covered in nothing but smog from dry ice. The two scientists casually looked around the giant lab as the lady led them over to a table.
"This is my husband," Mrs. Hi announced.
The man picked up his head from a microscope and smiled at the two.
"Why hello there, I have heard a great deal of you two from Dr. Willow. He's a good friend of ours," He held out his hand for Nos to shake.
Nos examined it a bit and then took it, "We're pleased to meet you as well. You guys are renowned for your inventions."
"Well the Master Ball is my baby, but all the other pokéballs are her father's work," He showcased his wife.
Aurora frowned as a wide smile grew across Nos' face. Aurora was wrong and he enjoyed that.
"But you see the Master Ball was her idea."
"My father always wanted to create the strongest pokéball to ever exist. The only problem was he couldn't quite get it right. Then he met my husband here and said that he would like him to take on the family business."
"Yes, I had to denounce my family name and take on the Hi name, but it is a decision I have yet to regret." He wrapped his arm around his wife and kissed her right temple. "Our future children will have a bright future with the name Hi."
"Anyway, we'd be pleased to learn everything we can from this experiment you are about to perform," Mrs. Hi smiled, "It'll be the decision between letting the Master Ball on the market or keeping it for ourselves."
"Really?" Aurora wondered. She would think that people as rich as them would be greedy no matter the circumstances.
"Of course, we cannot allow Legendaries to be captured. That would offset the balance of the world, and we cannot have that. If this pokéball is indeed strong enough to capture a Legendary then just knowing that we created the strongest pokéball is more than enough for us," Mr. Hi told them.
"Of course you will be rewarded for your research. We will gladly pay for your final year of college, all of your equipment to be updated, and a Pokémon press conference."
Aurora folded her arms, "And what exactly do you want from us?"
"A copy of your field notes from the moment you throw the Master Ball until you release Suicune back into the wild," Mr. Hi said as he walked over to a table where a large metal briefcase was resting and picked it up. He walked back over to the two scientists and set the box down on the table next to them carefully.
He pulled a metal key out of his pocket and gently placed it into the lock of the briefcase and turned it clockwise. He then undid the metal clips and revealed the Master Ball. The top cover was completely purple with two giant pink circles the extruded out on the top of it. In the lower center, next to the white button, was a capital M. The man shrunk the pokéball down to its smaller size and handed it off to Nos.
"Please take good care of it," Mrs. Hi said while entwining her fingers together. "As of right now it is the only one we have because we don't want them to go into production yet."
"Don't worry, we'll take great care," Nos assured them.
"I'm sure the research that all of us gain from this experiment will be invaluable," She smiled.
"Well we'd better get to work," Aurora mentioned and Nos agreed.
"Quick, while Suicune isn't paying attention!"
Nos stood up from where they were hiding and enlarged the pokéball in his right hand and threw it at the legendary Pokémon.
Suicune never saw it coming and was quickly consumed by the ball. Aurora stood to her nervous feet, wondering if the pokéball was a good as the Hi family made it out to be.
It rocked back and forth, back and forth. The two scientists just stood there incredibly nervous. If the pokéball didn't work then there was absolutely no chance that Suicune would ever let them near it. If it did work then they'd have some temporary control, at least until the Pokémon forcibly released itself from the ball and tried to run away.
Finally the ball stood still and locked.
"Oh my Arceus, did we just capture Suicune?" Aurora asked in utter surprise to her colleague.
Nos stood there speechless, never in all his life had he pictured that he would capture a Legendary. He had always figured that it was impossible.
"I have to write this down!" She bent down and began to dig through her bag. She was shaking uncontrollably from sheer excitement.
"I-I'm going to get the Master Ball," Nos said after a bit. He walked nervously over to the small pokéball that contained the legendary creature. He had never imagined that human kind would one day create such a powerful device.
Aurora looked up at Nos, "This is certainly a momentous occasion. We should treat ourselves tonight."
He looked at her a bit confused, "I thought you didn't drink."
"I feel as though this is certainly an appropriate time!" She cheered, feeling in such a way that was incredibly unfamiliar.
"Well I can agree to that!" He smiled.
"But remember to be hush hush. We can't let anyone know of our accomplishments, at least not yet. We have far too many tests to run. We should set some ground rules tonight."
He frowned, "Like what?"
"We certainly should remain in our right mind. All we need is one of use to blabber incoherently to some pompous fool about our achievement and then find the Master Ball to have vanished. No getting plastered is what I am saying." She was like a stern mother.
"I can agree to that."
"Well congratulations you two, I certainly knew that you were capable of pulling this off," Dr. Willow stated certainly impressed with their thesis. "And whose idea was it to keep daily records of yourselves?"
"That would be mine, Dr. Willow," Nos said casually. "I figured it would be an excellent way to keep track of how we were doing both physically and emotionally. I think it kept us both on track, for the most part."
"I was rather hesitant on the idea at first, but when I reread what I wrote, I understood some things that I would have clearly bypassed had I not been recording all this." Still after all this time, she hated to praise Nos. But his decision was a fair one and it had helped her out in more ways than one. Not that she'd ever admit that to him.
"Well I personally didn't think you'd get past that stump once you captured Suicune in that Master Ball. By the way the Hi family sent a note to the department on how your field research helped them out remarkably. I think you can consider them long time friends."
"Their cooperation with us was certainly admirable, I'd actually love to work with them again," Aurora stated and then took a sip of hot tea that was sitting in a clay cup on Dr. Willow's cherry wood desk.
The two males in the room were completely astounded by the words that came out her mouth. Aurora actually liked working with someone?
Nos chuckled, "Yes, they certainly were helpful. But getting past that stump wasn't far too difficult. Suicune hadn't yet decided to trust us, so when we released it we were no closer than we were before the capture."
"It seems so. Though your experiment did bring some stress to the world."
"Well we never intended for that to happen," Aurora placed her cup back on the desk and crossed her right leg over her left. "However, now we understand the importance of letting legendary Pokémon be free."
Dr. Willow leaned back in his creaky leather chair and placed an aged hand to his grey chin, "All of the purified water turning to pure pollution, well that was something that I never anticipated."
"Once we saw what was happening, we quickly released it. Our research was valuable, but no one would benefit from dying," Nos stated.
"Indeed, it seems as though the Legendaries truly do keep our world in perfect balance," Aurora said as she placed her hands casually on her long black shirt with a slit that went up the right side.
"Well you two certainly passed. I am rather pleased with the research you have done, and I hope that you two will continue to work together."
"At first, I would have told you that I would rather jump off Mt. Coronet then continue working with Aurora, but once you get past her perfectionist exterior, she isn't all that bad to work with," Nos stated honestly.
"And Nos may be a pompous fool, but I did require his help quite often, and I guess I'd like to continue working with him."
"Well I think you have more than enough proof to acquire that grant you wanted so desperately at the beginning of the year."
"I've already applied for it and am waiting to hear back," Aurora smiled.
"So what are your plans now?" Their professor wondered.
"We will continue doing research," Nos stated, happy with his decision.
Aurora turned her pale face to Nos' and nodded in agreement when his eyes met hers. It was strange, the fact that they still didn't like each other all that much, but there was enough mutual understanding between the two of them that they believed that they could continue to work with each other.
Dr. Willow leaned forward in his seat. He flipped through a few more pages in the giant grey book and then set his reading glasses down on the desk.
"Keep in touch."
"Of course," Nos said as he took to his feet.
Aurora also stood to hers and gathered her materials including the book before her professor's eyes.
So how was that? Nos and Aurora are a bit boring for me to write about, and so I have a hard time with them. If only they weren't needed for the plot! Anyway, Dr. Willow isn't important for now so just know that he's their Pokémon professor, later on he will serve an actual purpose. I hope to continue this story (in fact I'm currently working well into chapter two) so please, please, please let me know what you think. I try to do a bit of research for all the stories I write because I don't like writing in the dark, if you know what I mean. I couldn't find the names of people who had actually created the technology for Pokémon professors or trainers (besides the professors that did create some) so I invented the Redwood family. The same goes for the pokéballs and Pokémon brand clothing, which the Hi's are responsible for. Also Hi is pronounced he, they're of Japanese origin (if Japanese existed in this world).
Also, Nos is ginger... but we can all LOL about that later... jk
-An1n1ka.