Hi guys. I haven't updated in a while, I know. But with exams and things . . . well, I was busy. But hopefully this will make things worth the wait!
Actually, today is my 16th birthday. So this is like a reverse birthday present. Apparently a lot of people think that I am younger than I am. This doesn't bode well for my friends; I'm the mature one in our group!
I don't own Pokémon
Chapter 1
The roads seemed to waver in the heat, the harsh sun beat down on it. So unforgiving was its grasp. The intense temperature dominated the region, challenging all to try to withstand it. One person took that challenge. She was not brave, nor was she courageous.
"So… do I take a left?" she asked herself.
She was lost. May had gotten off at the stop she had thought was hers, and had ended up in a strange, desolate place she has never seen before. Why would anyone build a train stop in the middle of an abyss? She had been sure that the fifth stop from the dock was Petalburg.
"This is hopeless! I need to get out of this heat before I bake to death," she groaned.
She glanced around for a tree or something; anything which could offer her refuge for a few short moments. In the distance, she spotted a sign. She walked slowly over to it, in an attempt to conserve energy. When she reached the sign, she gasped and dropped her rucksack. She had been right; Petalburg was the fifth stop. The once luscious and bountiful meadows that lay on the outskirts of Petalburg were now a murky brown. All the life that had thrived there was gone, shrivelled away like the flowers that had once bloomed. She looked up at the sun and the blistering heat increased. It was a warning: things were only going to get worse.
"It's too hot to work," Max groaned, fanning himself.
"Stop complaining Max. At least Professor Rowan trusts us to do this for him," the slightly older girl said. She tied her russet hair back and rolled up the sleeves of her purple-hooded top.
Max rolled his eyes. "We're in the middle of a heat wave Aurelia. Take the hoodie off," he said.
Aurelia shook her head and continued writing down her calculations.
Max came up behind her. "Take it off," he repeated.
"No," she said.
"I'm getting hot just looking at you! Take it off!"
"I'm getting nauseous looking at you! No one wants to see your pale flab! The sun will do you some good."
"Take it off."
"Make me."
"I will!"
Max toppled her off the sofa and on to the cream carpet. Aurelia gasped and giggled, trying to push him off. He held her hands above her head.
"Get off of me," she said.
"I'm getting this off you one way or the other!"
Aurelia's face whitened. She gasped and tried to push Max off her.
"Wait! Max, no, stop it! I don't-"
Max rolled his eyes. "I don't care what you want. This is my house and I say you need to take this top off!"
Aurelia tried fidgeting to throw him off, but he only held on to her tighter. He smirked and purposefully slid his hand to the hem of her cornflower blue top. She blushed madly and yelled at him.
"I HAVE NOTHING ON UNDER THIS!"
There was an awkward pause, Max's hand still not moving from its place. He then blushed and mumbled an apology.
"Sorry, I was just joking," he said.
"I know. Now . . . get off."
Suddenly the front door swung open.
"I'm home! Where are you g-?"
May stopped and stared at the spectacle before her. Her brother, her just-turned sixteen-years-old brother, was sprawled on top of a girl with his hand up her top. One thought crossed through all their minds.
'Shit.'
"What were you two doing? No- do I want to know what you two were doing?" May demanded.
"No! I mean yes, but . . . May this is Aurelia. She works with me as Professor Rowan's assistant," Max said.
May glared at Aurelia, contempt evident in her delicate features. "And what were you doing?" she asked.
"Trying to save my dignity . . . it didn't end well," Aurelia answered sheepishly.
"Don't blame her! I was the one trying to get her shirt off! She's always wearing it though! We were just having a bit of fun. . . . But not in that way," he added quickly.
Shockingly, May started to laugh. "You would never try something like that in Dad's house. Besides, I know how bad you are with girls" she said through giggles.
Max glared at his sister as Aurelia laughed and ruffled his hair. May calmed herself and smiled at Aurelia. Aurelia smiled back.
"Aurelia, this is my big sister. She's the one I warned you about," Max said.
May pouted. "And to think I was going to take you out for Dinner!" she said, hitting him playfully.
"Let me guess . . . its spaghetti night at Mario's."
"You know it!"
Mario's Italian Restaurant was part of a dying breed of shops that provided it's customer with home-made cooking. The family that owned the restaurant would rather go bankrupt than start selling mass-produced processed food.
Luckily for them, as long as the Maple family lived in Petalburg, they'd have a regular stream of customers. Gym leaders were fantastic advertisers.
The trio sat at a booth by the window. They ordered three servings of spaghetti and cola. Max turned to May.
"So May, how was Almia? Did you catch any pokémon? Did you win the Grand Festival? Was it fun?" Max asked.
Aurelia giggled. "He's missed you."
May smiled. "It was great! I saw lots of pokémon, but I didn't want to catch any. I didn't win -- I placed third. It was a lot of fun, though! I made tons of new friends and I got the cutest necklace from this stall in Boyleland! But I missed you guys so much."
May then turned to face Aurelia. "So, you're the famous Aurelia. Max has told me all about you in his letters. You two must be really close."
"I mentioned you once or twice," Max corrected.
"I know her life story at this point! Your name is Aurelia De Luca. You're seventeen and Professor Rowan's assistant. You love reading and specialize in-"
"The food's here, May!" Max said quickly, relief evident in his onyx eyes.
Aurelia laughed and smiled. "Don't hide it, Max: you know we're going to get married eventually. Let's face it: if I don't, you'll end up with some crazy girl with the intelligence of a teapot."
Max shook his head and bit in to a meatball the size of a pokéball.
"What happened to the meadow?" May asked.
Max sighed. He set his fork down and looked at this sister.
"I don't know what you know, but obviously we're in the middle of a heat wave. That, in turn, has caused a drought and various forest fires. Pokémon and people are suffering immensely because of it. That meadow is just one thing that has been affected," he explained.
"It also seems that it's just Hoenn that is being hit with this bizarre heat. Kanto is feeling some of the effects, but they're quite mild. Professor Rowan left us here to conduct research on this phenomenon while he conducts other experiments," Aurelia added.
May nodded and twisted the spaghetti around her fork.
"I hope it's OK that I've been staying in your room, May," said Aurelia. "I thought it would be disrespectful to stop in your parents' room."
"Of course; it's fine. Where are mom and dad?" she asked her brother.
"Mom is visiting grandma and grandpa in Johto. Dad joined Professor Rowan's field team," Max replied.
"Why? What's going on?"
"It's so exciting! Have you heard the legend of the Mirage Tower?" Aurelia asked.
"No."
"Well, they say that every so often a mysterious tower appears in the desert just north of Mauville. It doesn't appear in the same place and it hasn't been seen for years. But recently it appeared! So Professor Rowan assembled a team of Gym Leaders and pokémon Professors. So that's Professor Birch, your dad, Lance, Wallace, Steven . . . really powerful trainers! They're all going in to the Mirage Tower to investigate the mysteries. It's dangerous, because legend has it that many teams have tried to explore the tower, but none have ever returned. But think of all the things we could learn from it!" Aurelia gushed.
" . . . She's as excitable as you said she was," May remarked.
"Hush. That's my future wife you're talking about," Max said, rolling his eyes.
Back at the Maple residence, May was unpacking some stuff in her parent's room. Aurelia had said she'd stop on the couch, but Max refused to let her.
"You're a guest. Mom would kill us for letting a guest stay on the sofa. She has a reputation has a hospitable hostess to protect you know," Max said.
Aurelia laughed and turned her attention back to the calculations she had abandoned before the shirt incident. Max began making more notes on the temperature variables of the week. May joined them half an hour later in the dining room and laughed.
"All work and no play make Max a dull boy," May sang.
"All play and no work makes Max a fired boy," Max sang bank.
Aurelia looked up at the clock. It was nine already and the sun was beginning to sink. She removed her reading glasses and rubbed her eyes. "She's right though, Max. These glasses are giving me a headache. Let's call it a night on this. We've worked enough. Do you want some ice cream?"
"Max! I can't believe you're letting Aurelia serve you! She's our guest! What would mom say?" May scolded.
"Well, she bought it!" Max defended himself.
"I don't trust him in the kitchen," Aurelia said simply.
She disappeared in to the kitchen. Max began to pack away the books, notes and all the other study material. May skipped away merrily to answer the phone. After a brief, heart-warming conversation with her mother on the telephone, May wandered in to the living room and found Max and Aurelia sitting on the sofa happily shovelling strawberry ice cream in to their mouths. In the spirit of true researchers, they had the news on. May sat beside Max and grabbed her bowl.
"This is Jenna Nova with Channel Five News. Today, Professor Rowan and his field team entered the mysterious Mirage Tower. The professor had this to say . . ."
The shot cut to a pre-recorded interview from earlier that day. The professor stood in explorer gear and he was obviously irritated.
"What do you think you'll find in there?" the interviewer asked.
"If I knew that I wouldn't need such a varied team would I?" he replied.
The two assistants laughed at this; it was typical Professor Rowan.
"Do you believe the rumours that there are rare pokémon in there?"
"It's highly possible. We have no idea what the terrain is like within the tower. But that is not why we are exploring the tower."
"Then, why?"
There was a certain gleeful sparkle in Rowan's eyes.
"We're doing it for the sake of exploring and explaining. We're doing it for the answers we'll be granted and the new questions we'll be left to ponder. We're doing this for Science."
"And there we have it folks. Those were the wise words of a professor with a mission. This has been Jenna Nova with your breaking news. Now back to Chris Nelson with the weather."
"Thank you Jenna! Now obviously we've been feeling the heat, and as you can see--"
They changed the channel, still laughing.
"He uses the same speech every day," Max explained.
May laughed and finished off her ice cream. She stretched up and yawned.
"That's a beautiful necklace, May," Aurelia observed.
The necklace was a sliver pendant in the shape of a bird with a red glass in the middle. It was on a black string.
"Thank you. It's the one I got from Boyleland."
"Almia is famous for the rangers. Did you meet any?" Max asked.
"Of course I did! His name is Keith and he is so cool. He showed me how to do that . . . loopy thing!" May said.
"The capture ring," Max corrected.
"Yeah, that. And I saw this amazing band called the Go Rock Quads. Their music was so . . . deep, like they regretted something."
Aurelia blinked. "That's an interesting interpretation."
"I like music," she replied simply.
"I do too."
"Who do you like?"
"Three Days Grace and bands like that. Who do you like?"
"I like Lady Ga Ga."
"I like my bed. 'Night guys," Max said.
He left the living room and climbed the stairs to his room. Soon, the girls followed him on that climb. May lie down on her parents' bed and sighed softly. As soon as her head hit the plumped cream pillow, her eyelids felt heavy. Gradually they became heavier and heavier until sleep was inevitable.
The chants were growing louder. The flame that lit the cold stone room flickered as the procession marched by. A man stood before an Alter, talking in urgent whispers to an idol, his ceremonial robe slipping slowly off his shoulders. The flame flickered again, this time extinguishing, leaving the room dominated with darkness. When the light returned, the priests back was shown. Strange symbols were carved in to his flesh. The priest knelt before the idol and placed a bloodied knife before it. The doors swung open, and the procession entered, carrying a screaming child. The child was placed before the idol, tears streaming down his tan face. The priest caressed the child's cheek and reached for the knife. The flame flickered, again more violently. The priest raised the knife high. The child let out one last anguished cry. The priest brought the knife down-
The sunlight streamed through the window. The occupant of the room rook deep shaky breaths and sighed. The sticky sweat on their bed was either from the immense heat last night, or the nightmare they had just experienced. Either way, they needed to get out.
I hope you enjoyed it! Reviews would be nice.