Reflections of a Raindrop

Just a Rookie

"Hello and welcome to Desiree's Diner, may I take your order?"

It was such a common variation of a repeated, mechanical phrase coming out of a uniformed youth in an automated voice. It was hard not to get used to hearing the commonplace greeting of a server in a dine-in restaurant. And after a while, it became easy to respond to their plastic smiles and pockmarked faces with calm indifference, perhaps even with arrogance. To them, I was just another customer, another tip. They had no reason to discern me from the rest of the people that poured into the diner. But that was perfectly fine with me; after all, I viewed them the same way.

Today, I was being served by a particularly chipper-seeming waitress, shown by the bouncing of her heels as she waited for my order. She had a slender figure complimented no doubt by the uniform she wore. Her soft red hair was bound up into a bun and hidden under a cap with the initials of the restaurant's name inscribed on it. She was looking down at her notepad intently, so I had no chance to observe her facial features, but I would've guessed it to be nothing of any remarkable beauty.

"Yes, I would like a ham and cheese omelette, two slices of buttered toast, and a cup of black coffee, please."

After some frantic scribbling on a notepad, she asked me, "Okay! Would you like anything else, sir?"

"No, thank you."

"Alrighty! Your order will be here shortly," she said, giving me a nod with her eyes still hidden behind her notepad.

For someone who seemed to be an energetic girl she was oddly shy to show her face. Even as she walked to the kitchen she kept her head down. Indeed, she struck to me a bit more mercurial than other waitresses I've had so far.

I tapped my fingers on the table. For some reason, something didn't feel quite right with me. I shouldn't have woken up so late; my appetite had turned sour. That was something my wife would berate me for once I got home. My thoughts drifted towards purely personal matters...

After ten or so minutes – it seemed to be a longer wait than usual – I spotted my redhead waitress exit out of the kitchen wheeling a small cart laden with what was presumably supposed to be my food. Sure enough, it was. She stopped next to my table and with her head still down, started placing some covered dishes onto my table.

"Here's your order, sir," said the waitress in her usual automated tone while she uncovered my plates of toast and omelette.

As I examined her appearance once again for any traces of abnormality – I wasn't expecting much – I noticed that she had no nametag. Such a case was uncustomary in restaurants typically to my belief. I asked for her name.

"Excuse me. I appreciate your service thus far, but may I ask for your name?"

My question seemed to have caught her off guard. She gave me a nervous glance as she hastened to reply. In doing so, she revealed to me her freckled face and a pair of vivid golden irises. As soon as she had noticed she had locked eyes with me, she snapped her head back to the cart. Nevertheless, she couldn't avoid answering my question now, and responded quietly:

"My name is L-Latianne."

She had finished putting the covers back onto the cart. Without a word and in a flash she disappeared from my table and vanished once more into the kitchen. I felt myself quirk my eyebrows as I took my knife and fork to dig into my omelette. I didn't even get a chance to give her my own name, I thought. But perhaps it wasn't needed.

Her eyes had such a unique color to them. They were contact lenses, I assumed. Colored contacts were all the rage these days in adolescents. Definitely she had put them on to offset the rigidity of her working attire.

Putting those thoughts aside, I began to analyze the other people in the diner. Off to a corner of the room I saw an old couple with a Pikachu in their lap eating and laughing with mirth. Some restaurants had a 'No Pokemon allowed out of their Pokeballs policy' but it was clear that Desiree's Diner was not one of them. I shifted my eyes towards a bespectacled businessman typing on a laptop with a frown creasing his face. Perhaps he had just experienced a drop in stocks or received a discomforting e-mail. Turning my head, I looked at the person sitting at the table across from me. It was inhabited by a single mother – whether or not she was indeed single I did not know – with her three children. Two of them were twins. Their Pokemon battles definitely consisted of a mix of single and double battles, I thought.

Before I knew it, in the midst of thinking about this imaginary household, I had finished my meal and found myself beckoning for the waitress. Luckily, the one that took my order was out and about, so once I had garnered her attention she came towards me with her wheeled cart albeit at a slower, less enthusiastic pace than before. She might still have had harbored a bit of apprehension for me after I asked her for her name earlier. I couldn't quite understand it. Perhaps she followed a strict course of privacy. I hoped I didn't intrude on it, but even so, it had already been done. There was no changing that now.

"Are you finished, sir?"

I nodded.

"Okay, let me clear your dishes and I'll give you your tab."

Once she had put the dirty dishes onto the cart she took out a small tray from a side pocket and her notebook she was so keen on hiding behind earlier. She crunched some numbers and scribbled some values onto the pad before ripping two sheets off, putting one into her pocket while the other one along with the billing tray was given to me. I looked at the tab. My total was $10.50, apparently. I immediately took out my wallet and gave her the exact change.

I didn't know what compelled me to do so just then, but suddenly I felt an urge to help out this young woman. Before putting my wallet away I took a ten thousand Pokedollar bill out of it and placed it onto the billing tray. The waitress' eyes widened at the sight of it.

In a hurried and hushed voice, she whispered into my ear, "A-Are you sure you aren't making a mistake, sir?"

"Please, it's not a problem. Just think of it as return for your fine service." I said reassuringly. I picked up my coat and began to make my departure.

"If you're thinking that I was disgruntled earlier, sir, that's not the case..."

I waved my hand at her feeble protest and gave her a wink. With a small smile, she hesitantly pushed the note into her pocket, watching me as I put my coat on.

"Thank you, sir." Shyly, she lifted her head to flash another smile and wink at me, showing me once more those vivid golden irises of hers. Really, those contacts must have been of the highest quality; the colors looked so genuine.

I discovered myself returning her smile, and exited the diner with a full stomach and mind.

What a waitress!

The sound of wheels rolling on some porcelain tiles entered the kitchen, bringing with it the arrival of Latianne, the waitress. As soon as she had put her notepad, pen, and cart back to their places she darted off towards the back of the kitchen, eying her surroundings suspiciously. Luckily, no one intercepted her as she made her way there. Giving a small mental sigh of relief, she exited through a back door and took out her tip notes.

Extraordinarily, she put the money into her mouth. Through it, she mumbled incoherently:

"I neber ged ughed do digh..."

With her actions being questionable as they were, nothing could have compared to what happened next. There was an inexplicable flash of bright light emanating from the waitress, and after the lingering light vanished it was revealed that the waitress wasn't human at all, much less a waitress.

In her place floated an enormous, avian-like creature. Its distinctive red markings on top of its white, glossy coat of glass-like down along with its golden irises gave away that it was a Latias. The blue triangular marking on her chest was a bit different from those of typical Latias'; instead of blue it was bright green.

While all of the waitress' clothes vanished mysteriously, the Pokedollar notes she placed in her mouth were still present. Immediately the Latias spit them out onto her stubby claw.

What a haul I got today, she thought. She lifted the ten thousand Pokedollar bill up into the air to examine if was a real note or not. A feeling of certain intensity welled up within her.

Ugh... I hate this feeling. I'm so disappointed with myself, and why? It's because I manipulated him to get the bank note I desired...

"But you didn't know for sure if that customer had a ten thousand Pokedollar bill or not. Just think if he only carried loose change, like quarters or dimes," a voice in her subconscious remarked. "You were just lucky that he carried so much money with him."

Still, that doesn't justify me using Psychic on him with those kinds of intentions. That's the first time I really prodded someone's brain. I can't believe I've resorted to this... What would Latios think?

The Latias crumpled up the notes. She made a motion as if she were going to throw them away, but after a moment of thought she reluctantly decided to put the notes under a protective part of her glassy coat, all the while biting her tongue and having a sour look on her expressive face. She began to disappear under the sunlight and soar up into the air before a sudden voice intruded her mind:

What would I think? Well, I'd think that you're a real fool, Latias.

Startled, Latias nearly stopped flapping her wings and threatened to drop out of the sky if she didn't catch herself in time. In a manner that made her eyes glow in a bluish hue, she extended her mind's telepathic range far enough so that she could pinpoint exactly where her companion was. Sure enough, he was flying right above her. He was invisible too, of course. It wouldn't be quite right if a pair of legendary Pokemon were able to be seen above a regular diner.

Latios! she called out to him telepathically. You heard what I was saying?

Well, yeah. I think any Psychic-type would be able to with how loud you were voicing your thoughts. For being a legendary Pokemon, you sure lack the expected amount of control over your powers. You're lucky that there weren't any psychic humans in the vicinity, responded the cool, calm voice in her head.

I guess I still can't hide anything from you.

Of course you can't. We're siblings, after all. There's always a connection forged between us, no matter how far apart we are. It's how I was able to find you. Anyways, why did you do it, Latias?

Why did I force that man to give money to me? I don't know... Something just came over me, just like how he must have felt something come over him.

I know how you feel, Latias. We need as much money as we can get. But don't forget that we're going to do this all as honestly as we can. We have our own code of ethics to abide.

It's not like what we're doing is honest work anyways. We're disguising ourselves as humans and are entering their workforce; we're stealing their salaries, for crying out loud! I don't think even the basis of what we're doing this for is very honest at all.

So you're having doubts? Keep in mind, Latias, that what we're doing is our only option to raise money. Don't let's make this worse.

I know, I know. There's no other choice.

The two of them floated next to each other for a few moments in quiet companionship before Latias, whose thoughtful expression would've been accentuated even further if she had eyebrows to furrow, spoke up.

I want to return this money if I can. But I don't know the man's name. How would I be able to return it to him?

He's a human. He can't have gone far. He's probably in a car or vehicle of some sort. What did he look like?

He was black haired, pretty tall as far as humans were concerned, and I think he was wearing just a striped turtleneck sweater and jeans. He looked pretty normal to me; a bit bland, to be honest. I don't think I'd be able to pick him out from a crowd. But it's not like I can really tell the difference between most Pokemon of the same species either...

Yeah, no one really can, said Latios with a chuckle.

Still, he can't have gone far, Latios repeated to her. Let's go look for him.

Alright.

Latias floated towards the direction her brother was heading for. Despite both of them being invisible, they could find each others' location by focusing on their psychic energy. Whenever they began to do so, a plasma-like silhouette would appear over any being, Pokemon or human, invisible or visible. It was like literally seeing with the mind's eye, in a sense. That or a pair of night or heat-vision goggles.

Do you know which direction he went? Latios asked.

No... But I think he went directly south from the diner. That's the main road where most of the customers come from.

Then let's follow the road there and see if we can find any clues. We don't have much time – or I don't have much time at least, since I need to be getting to a work shift soon.

Really...? I don't want to trouble you.

Knowing that she just said this in order to be polite, Latios smiled at her. Both of them knew that he was a stubborn one when it came to giving someone a helping hand.

We're family and friends, Latias. We're supposed to trouble each other.

And the same response, always. Latias smiled back at him in return.

Thanks, Latios.

It just so happened that Latios was right. His positivity turned out to not be for naught after all. The two of them had found the person they were looking for without much difficulty, since the main road that they were following all in all was sparsely populated with people and Pokemon alike, so anyone that they found on the road had a high chance of being the one they were looking for.

There he is, Latias remarked. I recognize that coat of his... Now how can we get him to stop?

One step at a time, Latios told her. Was he nice?

You mean without my psychic influence on him? I'm not sure. He was polite to me, of course, but that doesn't necessarily mean that he was nice. I guess he would be nice enough, though. Why do you ask?

It all goes into this little idea of mine. I think I may know how to get his attention.

Really? Well, just to tell you, he did ask for my name. That's something telling about him.

Yeah, but that's because all humans have names. I think so, at least. And I'll take my chances as to whether he really is nice or not. Now come, follow me.

With that, Latios dove headfirst, not towards the car, but rather at a distance quite far ahead of it, out of its driver's range of vision. Latias followed him silently. When they approached the ground, Latios turned to his smaller kin.

Alright. I'm going to need you to turn into that waitress you were earlier.

Latias didn't know what his intentions were in having her transform, but she trusted him and did as she was told. In a flash of bright light not unlike that of before when she turned back into her true Pokemon shape, out of nowhere appeared a red-haired teenager dressed in the waitress uniform of Desiree's Diner. She began to have an inkling of what Latios was trying to do.

Okay, now all you have to do is once you see the car come towards us from the horizon, wave your hands and signal him to stop.

So... you're trying to get me a hitchhike? said Latias telepathically, since even though she was currently a human it would've been rude not to respond in the same way, plus she liked to communicate telepathically anyways. No matter how many times she did it, speaking verbally through her mouth felt unnatural to her.

That's the idea. Can you think of any better ones?

Not really, especially since how you put your plan into action without even telling me in advance.

Even when invisible, it wasn't hard to tell that a tide of crimson rose up into Latios' cheeks. Latianne, the identity of the waitress, smirked at the thought of this.

Well, it's not like I could have come up with anything better. Latias told him. You're usually the brainier of us two. And I know that there's a lack of time to think of anything anyways, since we're in a hurry. Ah, I think I see him now.

Latianne began to wave her arms frantically into the air. Definitely in a desolate and uninhabited road like this the sight of someone needing a ride was rare and yet commonplace, for because it was precisely a vacant road that calling for local help would take hours to actually arrive.

As the car got closer, it looked as if it was gradually slowing down. Both of them noticed this, and Latianne waved her hands even more frantically. Then, suddenly, an startling idea popped into her head. She quickly contacted Latios.

Oh gosh, Latios!

What?

What do I tell him when he stops?

What do you mean?

Won't it seem odd that I somehow managed to get ahead of him on the road without the aid of a vehicle? He'd think that I'd still be at the diner if it weren't for this!

Crap, you're right! Argh, there's no time for us to do anything now. I can't alter my appearance to that of a car since he's already seen us – I mean you. Just... just make up something.

But what?

I don't know! Oh great, here he comes now...

Latias (Sapphire entry): Latias is highly intelligent and capable of understanding human speech. It is covered with a glass-like down. The Pokémon enfolds its body with its down and refracts light to alter its appearance.

Latios (Emerald entry): Even in hiding, it can detect the locations of others and sense their emotions since it has telepathy. Its intelligence allows it to understand human languages.

A/N: Here's a start to another story. Sorry for putting my other one on hiatus, but I have my reasons. Hope you enjoyed this chapter, stay tuned for more (Hopefully). Oh, and so sorry for the shift in tense/narration from first to third. I'm not sure how I want to word this story just yet.