Rogue: Alright everyone, here's the first chapter for my first Pokemon story, A Past Renewed.
Lance: Did you seriously have to make Katie's location in Florida? It's blooming hot down there!
Rogue: Quit your whining Lance! Seriously? Don't dragons living in volcanoes or something?
Lance: No, dragon-types don't just live in volcanoes! Dragon-type Pokemon can be found anywhere! In fact, most of them start off as water-types.
Rogue: Okay so changing the subject . . .
?: RogueMustangMare does NOT own Pokemon! All characters and Pokemon are the property of their owners. The only thing RogueMustangMare owns is the idea behind this story and the OC characters.
Rogue: What the . . . where did you come from?
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Summary
And that girl happens to be Katie, a young woman with a troubled past who not only wakes up being ten years old again . . . she wakes up in a world she had once thought of as only a video game! With nothing but a note telling her that everything will be explained once she reaches Viridian City, Katie sets off with two boys whom she's supposed to know, a cousin who's on probation with the Pokemon League, and a Pikachu who refuses to listen to her. But when Katie and her two "friends" find out why they've been brought here, Katie begins to regret that wish of hers and it will take all of her knowledge of this new world to keep them on the right track.
But between training her own Pokemon, competing in shows and taking the gym challenge, and trying to solve the mystery will Katie and the boys be able to pick through the memories and what they see with their own eyes?
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Chapter One
"Hey Katie, are you gonna do laundry tomorrow?"
I look up from where I was sorting through my laundry pile to see Chris standing at the entrance to my tent. In the early morning darkness, I could just make out his profile-average height, lanky, and dressed in blue jeans and a t-shirt with steel-toed boots on-all dressed up for a day at a construction site. But while he was dressed for work I could just see from the light of my lantern the tired expression on his face.
Course at five o'clock in the morning . . . anyone would be tired.
But if you wanted to earn money and had no choice but to work at the nearest day labor, you either woke up early to get a ticket, or you stood a good chance of not getting said ticket and earning that money.
"Yeah I'm hoping to have a good day today so that I can have some money leftover after tomorrow," I explained. "So if you like I can do your laundry as well."
"Thank you, I'll have my laundry packed up and give it to you tomorrow before I go to my other job," he said and walked out of the clearing we had chosen for our home.
"Wait up Chris!" yelled Taylor as he finished tying his boots on and closed his tent door.
"Well hurry it up then youngin! I don't got all day!" Chris yelled and I shook my head at the two's banter as I zipped my dufflebag closed and set it aside to pack up my backpack for the day.
"Haha! Very funny!" I heard Taylor's voice. Their voices slowly grew dimmer and dimmer as they moved away from the camp until finally I couldn't hear them anymore.
I heard someone groaning as I packed up all of my portable chargers, wallet, and laptop before putting a clean outfit and my hygiene products in as a well. Tammy's cafe was open today so that after I finished selling my palm art, I could head over to her place and get cleaned up and charge my electronics.
I looked up after zipping my backpack closed to see Will sitting up and Katlin slowly making her way to the entrance of the tent. They were both bleary-eyed with sleep and Will looked like he wasn't about to go to the Labor Ready just to get fifty bucks at the end of the day.
"Hey Will want to come out with me and make some roses?" I asked slipping both my pocket knife and my hunting knife (making sure it was in its sheath) into my backpack.
"I don't suppose we can have coffee first?" he asked groggily.
"Yes, I was going to buy myself some breakfast from the Marathon before heading out to where my favorite palm patch is," I replied.
"I'm in!" Katlin yelled suddenly wide awake as she went back into their tent to get dressed.
Will shook his head. "You need any help with tomorrow's order?" he asked.
I nodded. "Yep, it's the usual, three bouquets, two hearts, and five roses," I explained standing up and slipping my feet into my shoes. I closed the door to my tent and made sure that the plastic and tarp was covering my tent securely in case the weather decided to take a turn from clear and sunny, to dark and stormy. "Hey Katlin can you charge up my portables and laptop while you're at Tammy's today?" I asked her.
"No problem!" she called, her voice slightly muffled.
I sat down in one of the camp chairs and leaned my head back to look up at the sky. The stars were almost out and the sky had taken on an inky black that was only seen at this time of the morning. I then sat up and, after rummaging around in my backpack, I pulled out a composition notebook that we kept to keep track of what we needed to buy, and opened it.
We were a bit different than most homeless camps. While most homeless people relied on themselves and sometimes stole from each other, we didn't work that way. While Katlin went out to charge everyone's electronics Will, Taylor, Chris and I would go out and make money. Since I would make the most money I would join Katlin as soon as I was done.
We would then pool our money together and if there was anything we needed to buy we would write it down in the notebook, depending on how important it was, would either wait until Friday to buy it or buy it that day. For example if we needed to buy a new tent because someone, critters, or Mother Nature had destroyed it beyond repair, the owner of that tent would go and buy one while whoever was there would take their stuff out and tear the tent down. We also pooled our food stamps, mine and Chris' checks. Now this may seem sexist but it made sense to us which was the important thing.
Chris's request if I could do his laundry and I'm sure Taylor will ask sometime later when he got back from work, isn't unusual for me and Katlin since the boys usually worked whenever they could and it sometimes meant that they worked on the weekends. They would give me and Katlin ten bucks so as to help offset the costs and would leave their dirty laundry at the front of their tents so that it was easy for us to grab.
"Hey what's the weather going to be like today?" asked Katlin coming out of her tent dressed in shorts and a tank top.
I put the notebook away after seeing that nothing had been updated since last night, and looked at the weather app on my phone to check and groaned. "Aw man! Hey Will we have a bit of time frame for today!" I called to him.
"Oh? Why's that?" he asked coming out dressed in his usual baggy jeans and a button-up shirt.
I stood up and showed it to him.
He took the phone to look. "Wow, that's a pretty bad storm they're showing," he said. "Katlin make sure Chris and Taylor secured their tents while I secure ours," he adds and turned to check on their tent.
She nodded and walked over to Chris's tent. She shook her head. "Man he's lucky we love him," she said and I chuckled.
"He forgot to cover his tent again?" I asked checking on Taylor's before checking on mine. I was glad that I had checked the weather app since I usually left my windows open so that it wasn't so stuffy when I came back later that evening. Once everything was finished and secured, I locked my screen and slipped my phone into my pocket before turning to walk out of camp. Footfalls behind me told me that the other two were done with what they were doing and were following.
"Well at least payday is in three days so you don't have to worry about making such a big amount," said Katlin as we made our way through the trees.
I moaned. "Yeah I know but why can't it be today?" I whined. I hated having to wait until the first of the month. It always seemed to take forever to get here and the last few days/hours REALLY seemed to go slower than a snail.
"Yeah but it'll be quick," said Will as we reached the end of the trail and came out on the side of the railroad tracks.
Okay so the woods we had just come out weren't really what someone would call a "woods" but it was thick enough to hide our campsite but thin enough that we could easily walk in and out of. The trail we had just come out of had been made by the guys and kept clear so that we could easily come and go. But it was good enough for us and, for me, it was way better than my old home with my parents.
But sometimes, I wondered what my life would have been like if things had been different. If life with my parents had been more . . . loving . . . more I don't know . . . just different than what they are now. If Cora hadn't disappeared would she have convinced her parents to take me in when I was sixteen?
But that last part had been cut short when Cora had disappeared without a trace on her way to school and things with her parents had never been the same.
We kept going until we reached the path that cut from the railroad and onto a road that went past an auto shop on the right of it and an empty field blocked off by a fence on the left. The shop's lights were on and dark figures were walking around setting up their jobs for the day. They waved as we walked, having seen us pass by them each morning for the past three years.
They were also some of my best customers but unfortunately, their payday wasn't until tomorrow, otherwise I wouldn't have to go out today.
"Hey Katie, you still able to give us the usual order? My wife loves those hearts you make!" Nathaniel called out as we passed by the front entrance.
I smiled. "No problem Nate! I'll bring them over tomorrow," I said and got different replies in return.
"Man why couldn't they buy them today?" asked Will as we reached the corner of the street we were on and turned right to take a shortcut to get to the nearby Marathon.
I shrugged. "That's how life works I guess," I replied. "But at least after tomorrow we can do laundry. I don't know about you guys but when I take a shower, I'm on my last clean outfit."
"True that," said Katlin as we walk past the cafe which, while it was closed, I could see a few people sleeping in the small parking lot in the front.
I shook my head. "Man they're taking a risk sleeping there," I muttered.
"That's their problem," said Will shortly. "Miss Tammy warned them and they don't want to listen. So if they get caught and arrested it's no skin off my back."
That was Will for you. He was a no-nonsense kind of person who would tell you straight to your face of what he thought of you.
But I couldn't help it. Living on the streets was scary enough during my first night. If Katlin and I hadn't met that day in the library I don't know where I would be right now. They took me in and taught me everything they knew about being homeless, letting me stay with them, Chris, and Taylor in their tent until I got paid and could get settled in my own tent.
Reaching the corner of the property however, my thoughts were interrupted when I suddenly felt a sense of deja vu and the hairs on the back of my neck rose, sending chills up my spine. Something's not right I thought and stopped to turn around to see if I could hear or see anything out of the ordinary.
But there was nothing there.
"What is it Katie?" asked Katlin who must have realized that I wasn't with them and had stopped to see what I was doing.
"I thought I felt . . . something different . . . when I walked past this corner," I replied trying to see through the darkness.
"Really?" asked Will coming up to stand next to me. "I don't feel anything different."
But try as I might I couldn't shake the feeling that something wasn't right. It was like something out of a time-travel novel or a sci-fi book about multi-universes. It felt like someone had traveled between our world and some other world.
But then the feeling went away and all I was left seeing was the auto shop and hearing the usual early morning traffic from the nearby main street. I shook my head and started walking again. "I'm probably just tired," I said catching up to them and we continued on our way.
"Well if you didn't stay up all night watching Pokemon last night, you wouldn't be having that problem now would you?" Will scolded me lightly.
I chuckled nervously and scratched the back of my head. "Well . . . what can I say? I had just finished the last of the Hoenn seasons," I replied trying to make my defense. "I had to see them through."
He chuckled and shook his head. "Girl how many times have you watched those episodes?" he asked. "You should already know how it ends," he adds.
I groaned. He had a point there unfortunately.
He smiled. "See? I was right."
I made a face before sticking my tongue out at him as we came up to the Marathon, waving to several people who also frequented the store.
"Ooh I hope they have scrambled eggs and grits," said Katlin excitedly.
I shook my head while Will sighed tiredly.
"What is with you and that stuff?" asked Will.
"Well it tastes good," she replied as we entered the store.
"Well get whatever you want but at least get something different to go with the eggs and grits," I told her as I headed for the coolers to get some orange juice and milk. But even when I went to go order my breakfast, I couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't right. That something was going to happen. I scoffed at my own stupidity. Okay you need to take a break from Pokemon. Watch something else like YU-GI-OH!
"Don't you remember that you had just finished watching the series last week?"
My shoulders slumped. Okay, I need to stop watching anime all together I told myself sternly, grabbing my food and met with the others at the counter.
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"That had been close Lance. If it were not for Kira's quick thinking, we would have been spotted."
"I know, I made a miscalculation on my arrival," I said tersely. I sighed as we watched the group's retreating backs. "But it was not all in vain. That girl, Katie, is the one we want . . . the one Red said will help us in our investigation. And she proved it! She was the only one to sense our presence . . ."
"And if she had spotted us, she may have refused to come with us willingly," Mewtwo said sternly and I looked at him. "Lance this world is different than ours. In our world, Pokemon are like pets, but here . . . there are no Pokemon."
I had to agree with him but I didn't like it. The idea of growing up in a world without Pokemon as friends was hard to accept. But . . . "Perhaps it is better for them if our worlds were different. For though she knows about our world, she doesn't have the experience and it will give her a clear mind," I said. "In fact, she may even see this as a chance for a better life."
He sighed. "Perhaps, or she can reject the offer and ask to be returned home," he replied.
"Well that too." I had to agree with him on that. We humans were fickle about things and, with this girl's past . . . I wouldn't be too surprised if she decided that she would not help us. I looked behind us to look at the building.
It wasn't a very grand or imposing building, in fact, if it wasn't for the metallic words that were nailed onto the front entrance of the building I wouldn't even know what it was. It was a simple one-story building with a fenced-in area where a blue bus, clothes, shelves and containers were placed everywhere and kept. What looked like two couples were sleeping in the parking lot and I felt a sudden pang of pity for them.
"In this world this is a common sight Lance," said Mewtwo suddenly as I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. "And there's nothing you can do to end it. They can get off the streets but there will always be someone else coming out."
"I know but I can at least help out," I told him walking up to the two couples as silent as I can be and gently placed some bills in their shoes so that, when they woke up, they would see the money. Returning my wallet to my pocket, I sat down in a nearby chair, preparing myself for the wait, and took out the novel I'd found yesterday.
As I got comfortable and opened the book, I couldn't help but think, I sure hope you know what you're doing Red. For if this doesn't work we will lose all hope of ever getting them back.
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"Thank you ma'am! God bless!" I called to the woman as she handed me a fold of bills. I left her car and she drove off with the last of my palm art.
Keeping a strong hold on the bills she'd given me, I walked back to Will who sat with my backpack and the bottles of water we'd bought that morning. He had just gotten off from working for an hour selling the palm art and we'd switched places with him keeping an eye out for cops and holding on to the money.
That's how we worked. We both made the art and then we took turns walking up and down the line of traffic, trying to get the people's attention to buy the art. This morning had been great. We'd only been out here for two hours and already we'd sold out on everything and I ran out of the palm fronds to make the art.
"Hey so how much did we make?" I asked handing him the money I'd received and sat down on the grass next to him.
"Well we had four hundred and fifty dollars when I counted a few minutes ago," he said taking out the money from his pocket. As the roll got thicker we'd used a hair-tie I kept with me to keep it all together.
I nodded as he pulled the hair-tie off and, adding the new bills to the fold, he began counting it again.
While he counted, I took my hat off and pulled my bandana from my backpack to wipe the sweat off my face and neck. It was only early spring but already the heat and humidity was unbearable and made it feel like summer. But that was Florida for you. Being surrounded on three sides by the Atlantic on one side and the Gulf of Mexico on the other two, the weather can either be nice and cool or hot and unbearable.
"Man this sucks! I've been here for three years and I still wish Michigan's Spring would come visit us. This weather needs to go on vacation," I muttered.
"Twenty . . . forty . . . welcome to Florida, where you can swim in the Gulf all year round but you gotta deal with the hot humidity," he said before going back to counting the money.
I chuckled and shook my head at his crazy statement, but I left him alone. I didn't need to know the full amount to know that Katlin and my plans were made up for tomorrow. Since today was Friday I can spend the rest of the day at Tammy's before going back to the camp and waking up early to make the order for the guys at the auto shop. But that was only in the morning, after that, Katlin and I would be spending the rest of the day going back and forth from the camp to the laundromat doing clothes and then the bedding before getting ready for Tammy to pick us up for church.
"Alright, you ready to hear what we made today?" he asked suddenly.
I looked at him in confusion. "Really? We did that well?" I asked. With it being the end of the month and everyone waiting for their checks and all of their bills paid off, I was surprised to have made as much as we had.
But now I wondered just how well we did.
"Did you not just hear what I said? We had four hundred and fifty dollars before that woman bought your last heart and she gave us a hundred dollars," he explained folding the money up and wrapped the hair-tie around it. "Which means we just made five hundred and fifty dollars."
I gaped at him in astonishment. "You mean to tell me we made five hundred and fifty dollars in the span of two hours?" I asked.
"Yep! And if you don't mind, I'll go shopping for the camp while you go to Tammy's," he said, pulling out a hundred dollars from the roll and handed the roll to me.
I nodded and pulled out the notebook and exchanged it for the money roll, putting the money in the small pocket of my backpack.
"Tell Katlin I'll be back later and to stay out of trouble," he said.
I chuckled. "Don't worry I will," I replied picking up the trash and placed my hat back on my head.
Once the trash was picked up and thrown away, he walked to the nearby bus stop to head to the Walmart out on Lockwood and I cut across the road to the other side of the street.
"Hey Katie!"
I turned to see Mickey and his wife, Theresa, sitting on the side of the Marathon building, a brown paper bag with a can of beer sat next to Theresa. Both looked a bit buzzed and the smell coming from them supported it. But I kept my face neutral and smiled at them. "Hey Mickey, hey Theresa! How's your morning so far?" I asked.
"It'd be better if this damn weather would change already!" Theresa snapped at me but I didn't take it to heart. She was right, the weather lately has been staying between ninety and a hundred degrees.
But that didn't include the heat index and humidity which made the very air feel like a sauna.
"Theresa I did tell you to stay inside . . ." Mickey began to say but she cut him off before he could finish.
"And exactly where am I going to stay Mickey?" she asked angrily.
I left them to their argument, not wanting to hear their raised voices which might cause the owner of the store to come storming out and making them leave. In fact, when it comes to those two . . . it was best to leave them alone.
When I entered the store, the blast of cold air helped cool me off as I walked over to the cooler and grabbed two bottles of pepsi and mountain dew as well as a monster mean bean before grabbing an order of chicken tenders and French fries for Katlin and I to snack on while we wait for Tammy to open, and brought it all to the counter.
"You're here early," said Joe who was the owner of the store along with his family.
"Yeah we did good today," I explained as he rung up the items.
"Hey are those two arguing again?" he asked jerking his thumb in the direction that Mickey and Theresa were in.
I nodded. "Yeah same old argument," I replied handing him the money.
He groaned. "That's it, they're leaving now and they're not allowed back for a week!" he said angrily as he handed me my change and began getting ready to go outside.
I quickly put my change in my pocket and grabbed my purchases before walking ahead of him and head for the cafe. "Watch out owner's coming," I said quickly as I pass them.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Mickey but I didn't answer him.
When it comes to people being asked or forced to move I didn't want to hang around to witness it. For if they run my name there was a possibility that it would get back to my family and I didn't want them to find me.
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How in the name of Arceus can these people live outside in this awful heat?!
Lance was not having a good time. When he'd first traveled from his world to this one, he thought the weather would be the same-after all in both worlds it was supposedly Spring-so he had dressed in his usual attire: black jeans and long-sleeved black shirt. It was a mistake. While he could wear something like this back home . . . he was sweating like a stuffed Grumpig!
He'd been waiting for the cafe to open for over four hours and he'd already finished his first novel and was almost halfway through his second. He'd long-abandoned his long-sleeved shirt for a white t-shirt that one of the girls had gotten for him. The best part of the morning had been seeing the looks on everyone's faces when they had found the money in their shoes. They didn't know who had given it to them.
He remained silent and spent the morning wishing Katie would hurry up and arrive so that he could leave.
Mewtwo laughs silently from his perch in one of the nearby trees. "Oh? Is the Dragon Master . . . one of the Elite Four . . . uncomfortable in this heat?" he teased and chuckled at the look of annoyance on the trainer's face. "How are Blue and Red handling their charges?"
"Red told me that the boys have settled into their new lives and they both have been training their Ponytas up to level ten," Lance replied. "Though they do keep asking what they're even doing there and when they will be able to leave for their journeys." Lance sighed. "When I had gone looking for her, I hadn't thought it would have taken so long to find her; but the last time anyone had seen or heard from her was three years ago when she had graduated from high school. But she's been careful to hide her identity."
"With what I've seen of her parents I don't blame her for running away," said Mewtwo.
Lance sighed sadly. "Even though we're both from different worlds our parents are both the same type; people who only care about themselves and don't care how their actions affect their children . . ." he began when a voice broke through their conversation.
"Sissy!"
Lance flinched and looked up to see the woman from this morning jump up from where she'd been playing on her phone and run toward . . . he smiled. "Well it looks like she has arrived," he said and glanced at his partner. "Can you get a good aura sense about her?"
"It would be best if I stay here until she leaves," Mewtwo explained. "This way when she goes back to her camp I can track her aura and then teleport us directly there and wait until they're all asleep."
Lance nods and stands up. "Good, I will leave you to it then," he said and then looked stern. "Be sure to stay unseen though. Otherwise we will have a massive problem on our hands."
Mewtwo nodded. "Of course," he said.
As Lance made his way back toward the spot where they'd arrived that morning to update Red and Blue, his thoughts turned to the mission at hand. I just hope these three can work together and solve this mystery. Captain Hassebrock only gave us three more years to end our investigation and rescue them. If we don't . . . He sighed and had to stop to wipe his eyes to stop the wetness that had pooled in the corners of his eyes.
Even after three years the memories of the young girl he had first brought to the world he belonged to and how happy she had been and the young boy who had held so much promise as a Pokemon Master still hurt him like a knife to his heart. Please Arceus . . . please let this work! Please help them help us find the truth!
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"You guys made WHAT today?" asked Chris, his voice full of incredulous shock.
"I told you, in the span of two hours, Katie and I made five hundred and fifty dollars," answered Will for what felt like the tenth time that evening.
It was later that evening and, after spending a day at Tammy's for Katlin and I, Chris and Taylor working, and Will shopping at Walmart, we were all back at the camp hanging out until we fell asleep. Chris and Taylor had both gotten lucky and gone out on the same ticket so they were both able to come to Tammy's at the same time. But while Will and I had gotten lucky with what we made, the two guys only made fifty bucks a piece.
I smiled from where I lay on my bed, getting comfortable so that I could spend a couple hours watching Ash begin his adventures in the Sinnoh Region. "Yep, maybe you guys should come out with me one day and see just how much money we can make?" I suggested.
Taylor looked at me like I was crazy for suggesting it. "I don't think you want me out there trying to sell palm art, I need something to keep my mind occupied," he replied.
"Yeah . . . I might just try it out one of these days that I can't get a ticket," answered Chris sounding more optimistic than Taylor.
I chuckled and turned to Katlin. "So Katlin got everything you wanna wash packed up?" I called to where she and Will's tent was set up.
She let out a huff. "Yes finally," she replied. "Oh wait . . . no . . . cause I still gotta pack up the bedding," she adds looking at Will with an annoyed look on her face.
"Don't look at me, you can pack it up tomorrow but right now I am NOT sleeping on a bare mattress," he answered. "So you are out luck right now."
I rolled my eyes grateful that I had thought ahead and got up an hour early so that I can pack up and sort through everything so that I didn't have to worry about it when I came back. I'll be too busy tomorrow to have to worry about packing and sorting through it tomorrow morning. It may be tiring living like this but . . . it's a hell of a lot better than my old home I thought when suddenly Will let out a yell.
"What the hell was that?"
I instantly sit up in bed, reaching for the knife I kept hidden under my pillows, and looked out the side window of my tent to see what Will had seen.
But try as I might I couldn't see into the dark tunnel the trees created.
"What was that?" asked Chris moving closer to the entrance and stopped.
I swallowed hard. If it was the cops coming to chase us out than we were screwed out of a campsite. Even though there were cops that didn't mess with us, there were quite a few who wanted to earn their points but were too lazy to do any real work.
But as we all stayed quiet, nothing came. Not the sound of boots on the soft earth, the light of a flashlight, nothing.
"That was weird, must have been a . . ." Chris began to speak when I saw something.
And not just anything. But something . . . purple . . . flashed across my window. It was so fast that I didn't even have time to register what I had seen before I let out a gasp of surprise.
" . . . raccoon or something," Chris finished his sentence.
It was like he hadn't see what I'd seen or else . . . I was the only one who could see it.
I turned back around, thinking about that color purple. It was soft but pale something like . . . like an animated character would have.
I scoffed. Yeah right, anime isn't real, it's just something that the Japanese artists created in order to make money I scold myself, shaking my head. I placed my knife back under my pillow and laid back down to get comfortable again before pressing play. The familiar music of the Diamond and Pearl theme song filtering through my ears and erasing all thoughts of the purple thing.
Will had been right when he said that I've been watching the series and playing the video games ever since I was young but back then I could only catch the episodes when I was at my friend Cora's house and it wasn't like I could go out and by the videogames whenever I wanted. No. I had to wait until my parents were so drunk that they wouldn't think twice about my debit card missing.
But all that had changed when I turned ten and Cora had gone missing. We both had loved the Pokemon series but when she'd gone missing I only had the video games to help me get through life, my parents' addiction and Cora's parents anger at me for not being there to protect her. I hadn't seen Cora's parents ever since that day and I definitely didn't want to go back to Michigan, so when I turned eighteen and had graduated from high school, I took control of my SSI check and left, never looking back.
I've kept myself under the radar, working together with Katlin and Will who have helped me so much by putting everything in their names such as the phone bill and the storage where we put our things when a major storm was coming and where we store our winter supplies when we don't need it. The only person I've kept in contact with is the Social Security office. But since no one in my family has tried to get in contact with me, I figured I was safe from them.
As the night creatures began their evening song, I heard the others settling down for the night and, after watching the second episode, my eyes began to droop and itch. That's weird, usually I have to watch at least five episodes before I can fall asleep I thought tiredly as I shut down the internet box on my phone. But I just chalked it up to having a really good day.
I set the alarm on my phone for the next morning so that I could make the palm art order for the guys tomorrow before Katlin and I walked to the nearby laundromat.
As I stood up to close my door, I saw a falling star fly across the sky and Cora's voice filled my mind. "If you wish upon a falling star, your wish will come true."
Normally I didn't put much stock in such superstition-after all none of my wishes for Cora to be found alive ever came true-but I suddenly felt a strong desire to act like the little kid I had been.
I closed my eyes and made my wish. "I wish that I can make a difference in someone else's life."
Nothing happened. Lightning didn't strike, the wind didn't blow around and swept me along with it.
Cursing my moment of childish stupidity I closed my door and opened the window, rolling the flap up so that it wouldn't get tangled up when I had to wake up to use the restroom. Laying back on my bed, I let my thoughts drift off to Cora. Wherever Cora is, I only pray that she's safe and happy I thought before my eyes closed and I found myself fast asleep.
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Lance cursed for what like the tenth time as his boot hit yet another stump and he almost fell. "Damn it! I sure hope this girl accepts this gift because if she doesn't I'm gonna . . ." he began to say when Mewtwo's voice stopped him.
"Captain Hassebrock gave us only three years to end this investigation and Red said that these three people will be the ones to help us solve it," Mewtwo explained, gliding along next to him as he said it. "So you can deal with a bit of discomfort."
Lance groaned. Easy for him to say that. He can move the branches out of his way but he doesn't have to walk on the ground where it's difficult to see the stumps and vines that would break a person's leg or worse impale them.
But as they walked along, the smells of a campfire reached his nose and it became stronger and stronger until they came upon the camp. Lance was happy to see that everyone-especially the girl-were asleep.
When Mewtwo had followed the girl's aura trail, he had almost gotten caught when one of the men had seen him. But, thankfully, Mewtwo had been able to teleport out of there before they were able to see him fully.
Alright, here it goes he said to himself entering the camp, his footsteps light and soft on the ground. He stopped to peer into the first tent on the right and was happy to see Katie fast asleep on her bed. "Good, she's fast asleep," he said to Mewtwo and reached into his pocket.
"She's not a good sleeper, I checked her health, it would take her hours to fall into a deep sleep," Mewtwo explained as Lance pulled out a small pink glass ball. "And we don't exactly have a few hours."
Lance nodded and, closing his eyes, he poured his own aura into the glass, causing the glass ball to take on a soft pink glow which enveloped his hand and allow him to push his hand through the fabric of the tent until his hand was a few inches above the girl's body before pulling his hand out of the tent. He watched through the window as the glow spread over the girl until every inch of her body was encased in the light and she was lifted off the bed. A few seconds later, she disappeared with a soft pop!
As soon as the girl disappeared, the light spread itself over her bed and created a carbon copy in the girl's place.
Lance stood up and quietly left the camp. He came out onto the railroad tracks where two more figures stood. "It is done," he said simply.
"Good but she won't have time to settle in her new life but . . . she's a good girl, she'll be fine," said Red.
"Let's just hope she and the boys can get along," said Blue. "David's a good person but he and Digit have had time to actually get to know each other."
"Well we won't know until it begins," said Lance. "But we had to do something, we three are the only ones who want to see this investigation end in a good way."
Both of the men nodded. "We shall see then," said Red with an air of finality. "Come, we must go. We still have much to do and so little time left to complete it."
Lance and Blue both nod before they all disappeared.
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Back at the camp, a light breeze blew through the camp, lifting the leaves in the trees and making the tarps tied to the branches above the tents lift and flap. Nothing seemed different nor did it seemed changed in any way. In the morning, the carbon copy would look, act, and even remember everything that the original had. But the original would not know what is going on in her world. She would only take what she knows and her memories to start her journey.
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Rogue: And there you have it. Please post any reviews or comments in the box below. I don't know who or where that guy came from but if he comes back please let me know.
?: How do you not know who I am?
Rogue: UGH! Get back here! Runs after the person.
Lance: Okay, see you guys next time.