The Gift of Family
A/N: Well, I'm coming out and going on with my next Shaiya story. This may be read with or without having read Bloodline, but I suggest you have at least read Cursed Blessing.
Also, as a side note, Mew-Man is currently penning a Mayto story. Go ahead and look him up if you get the chance.
Chapter 1:
Inner Turmoil
Ella slipped through the wall and morphed back into a human. Sneaking in and out was so much easier with her powers. She didn't know how the other kids did it.
"Freeze, young lady."
Suddenly her body locked up, halting her movement. She pushed every way she could, but a thin blue barrier of light kept her frozen in place. But she didn't need to turn her head to sense her mother sitting lightly on the sofa. How had she not seen her?
"Care to explain to me why you're out so late…again?"
Ella didn't open her mouth. She had no doubt her mother wasn't taking control of it, but she didn't really feel like talking.
So Sarah talked instead. "Your principal called me today."
Ella's eyes flared momentarily. She wished so much that she could use Pokemon abilities in human form like her mother, but she wasn't old enough.
"What do you have to say about that?"
"I'm not cheating in school, mom," she shot back.
"I didn't say you were."
Ella fumed silently. Her mother always did that. Sometimes she just wanted punch her!
"They had a video, Ella."
She'd punch the principal too.
"I'm going to let you go. But you are going to sit and tell me what's going on."
The light around Ella faded and she finished taking the step and froze.
Her mother stood up and turned around. Her face was straight and stern.
"Do you have any idea how hard it is to be me, mom?" she asked.
"A lot better than it was to be me, I'm sure," the woman answered. "You really don't know how good you've had it."
"Oh, yeah. All the "Everyone hated me" crap. I've heard it before."
"I'm trying to do what's best for you."
"And what is best for me?" Their voices were starting to rise in anger.
"A normal life. A normal school."
"I'm not normal, mom! Or haven't you figured that out yet?"
Sarah put a hand to the bridge of her nose. "I know you're special, Ella. But that is no excuse to be abusing your powers."
"Why not? You won't let me use them in any other way outside the house."
"Is that what this is about? You still won't forgive me for not letting you become a trainer? That was months ago, Ella."
"But I'm still feeling it. Why can't I do this? You did when you were young and from what I remember, you never regretted it."
"I know what kind of dangers are out there, Ella. I'm not going to let you go out there and risk ruining your life just so that you can prove something. I tried to do the same thing once and it almost got me killed!"
"Well that was your fault, wasn't it?"
Their voices began to change, shifting to varied forms of Pokespeach as they continued their heated argument. It was a weird habit they'd both formed.
An uneasy silence fell over the room at long last. Their eyes drilled into each other's, creating a heaviness in the air that became almost stifling.
"I'm out of here." Ella turned to leave.
"Oh no you aren't, young lady." She started to reach out with her mind.
But too late. In an instant, the girl morphed to an Abra and teleported away. Sarah did have to hand it to her daughter; she'd gotten extremely good with her morphing. Even better than she was.
Tired, Sarah flopped back down onto the sofa with a heavy sigh.
Light footfalls came down the stairs behind her. "Went that well, huh?"
Sarah gave a weak laugh as she rubbed her forehead. "I don't know what I'm going to do with her, Luke. I've tried to give her every outlet I can think of."
"Except for the one she wants."
Sarah shook her head. "I can't let her do that. But if I say no…she's just as likely to go off and do it anyway."
Luke laughed. "Like mother like daughter." He leaned down and wrapped his arms around her neck. "If I recall, your mother didn't really agree to you taking that pill of Oak's."
A smile lit Sarah's face. "So I didn't tell her."
"And then when she saw you all over the news?"
"She grounded me for a week," she said through a laugh that Luke shared with her.
"We have to do something, Sarah. Or God only knows what she'll do."
She patted his hand. "Let me think about it."
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Ella came out in a burst of light in the middle of a field. Before her feet even touched the ground, she was back in her human form. The sights and sounds of night came to her senses. She didn't really know why her mom was so paranoid. Whenever she came home late it was just because she was walking. But she wouldn't hear anything of it. "Who knows what kind of things can happen that late?!" she'd always say.
That was something she'd hated about her mother. The woman was overprotective to a whole new level.
But out here, such things weren't important. There was a chill in the air that felt great as a Houndour.
Just as she was about to change, she spotted some other teens sneaking through the trees. They were obviously trying not to be seen as they ran with their upper bodies lowered, eyes constantly scanning the horizon.
Ella shifted into a Houndour and leapt behind a tree. Where could they be going in such a hurry and with so much caution? With nothing better to do, she gave chase.
They traveled for about fifteen minutes and stopped at what looked like just a big pile of rocks. Ella jumped behind some nearby bushes just within hearing range. The man in front of the group reached up and struck the rock with a fist. But it made a strange metallic sound. He waited a few seconds, then struck the rock three more times. Another pause, and he struck it once, then fast twice.
The rock shifted. But it wasn't actually rock. A teen pushed out a large cloth that had been cleverly colored and laid over a metal frame to look like rocks. Inside appeared a bright light and a commotion that sounded to be far off. The group quickly went inside and the cover was put back in place.
Ella was now very curious. What was so secretive to have such an extreme disguise? Her adventurous side took over.
She stood up to her full human height and walked up to the "rock" wall. She repeated exactly what the other boy had done in the same spot. After she had, the teen inside swept open the cloth and ushered her inside. This must not have been some kind of private party.
There definitely was a commotion. Inside the rock cloth, the space lengthened into a tunnel. She walked for a few minutes before coming into a large cavern. The place was packed. She recognized dozens of her classmates as well as some from her neighborhood. But what drew most of her attention was down in the middle of the place.
The entire cavern had a light slope, creating a sort of arena. In the center of the space, a big section of raised rock had been flattened. Now, four beings were there, two human and two Pokemon. It was clearly a Pokemon battle, so Ella stopped to watch. A Nidorino was facing an Aipom. But it was terribly one sided. After only a few more hits, the Aipom fell to the floor.
Ella began to cheer on the victor. But then she froze when the match didn't stop. The Nidorino stepped forward and punched the Aipom on the back, causing it to shriek in pain. Ella watch in horror as the Ground Pokemon beat the other harder and harder. When it finally stopped, the little Aipom was completely motionless.
The crowd around her roared in excitement. A few men ran out and knelt by the little creature. It must have been still breathing, because they brought out a makeshift stretcher and took it off.
Ella couldn't believe what she'd stumbled upon. It looked like some sort of underground Pokemon fight club.
A smile grew across her mouth.
A/N: Uh-oh. This doesn't look good.
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