Chapter One: Unforeseen Beginnings
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon. All rights belong to Satoshi Tajiri and Nintendo. All human characters are my creation and cannot be used without my permission. Thank you.
An alarm clock sounds in the small town of Sakura, a town known for its cherry blossom trees in the spring. Today is a very important day for the town. It's the day of the Cherry Blossom Festival. Everyone in town is up preparing for the festivities. Well, almost everyone.
Rina groans and turns over in her sleep as her alarm starts blaring. She pulls her pillow over her head. The ringing keeps sounding and is starting to severely annoy her.
"Oh, shut up!" She throws her pillow at the clock making it fall to the floor and the alarm to turn off. She smiles and lies back down snuggling up to her other pillow.
"Kon kon." There is a soft noise and a scratch at the door as Vulpix comes into Rina's room through the small doorway made for her. She jumps onto the bed and walks on top of Rina up to her face. The little Vulpix paws at her face a few times. Rina groans and pushes her face further into her pillow away from Vulpix's paws. The Vulpix starts to get upset and uses a small amount of Ember on Rina. Rina jumps up quickly and puts the small fire on her shirt out.
"Okay. Okay. I'm up. I'm up." She looks down at the small hole now in her old t-shirt. She sighs. "This is why I don't wear my nice pajamas to bed anymore." She says as she looks at the Vulpix with a slightly annoyed look.
The small Vulpix smiles and jumps off the bed beckoning for the teenager to follow her downstairs. Rina pushes the covers off of her and stands up stretching followed by yawning. She looks in the vanity mirror across from her bed. Her blue hair is a tangled mess. The Vulpix keeps beckoning for her to follow.
"I will be downstairs soon, Vixy-chan. Why don't you go wake up the others? We have a lot to do today. Oh and don't go easy on them."
Vixy turns and runs out of the small Pokémon door made for her. She makes it down the stairs and out of the house quickly. She sprints to one of the neighbor's houses. She paws at the door almost as if knocking. She barks and a woman in her late thirties answers the door. Her medium length brown hair is pulled back into a bun keeping it out of her face. Her apron is slightly dirty from cooking. She smiles at Vixy.
"Well, ohayo, Vixy-chan. Are you here for Seiji-kun and Daisuke-kun?" The Vulpix nods and barks. "Well, my sons are still asleep but feel free to head upstairs after them."
Vixy heads upstairs and scratches at the door. She barks and sticks her paw and muzzle in the door pulling the cracked door open. She walks into the room looking around. She sees a sleeping Eevee at the foot of the bed. She grabs the blankets with her teeth and pulls them down pulling the Eevee to the floor. Eevee jumps up on her feet before hitting the floor. She barks angrily at the Vulpix who seems to snicker a bit before jumping onto the bed. Vixy turns to face the now grounded Eevee.
The Eevee sits down and licks her paws making sure she didn't harm them in the fall. Vixy looks at her and starts barking at her to go wake up Seiji from the other room. The Eevee barks back angrily about being rudely awakened. Vixy apologizes and the Eevee nods leaving the room. She runs down the hallway heading into Seiji's room.
Vixy smiles and turns around facing Daisuke. Daisuke is lying there sprawled out on his back snoring. She hops on top of his stomach and starts jumping. Daisuke groans and turns over onto his stomach knocking the Vulpix off of his back. Vulpix lets out a quiet growl. She jumps onto his back and starts barking right in his ear. Daisuke jolts awake and sits up quickly. He looks around the room, his vision clearing. He rubs his eyes and looks down.
"Ohayo, Vixy-chan." He says drowsily. "Did you already wake up Seiji-kun?"
She shakes her head and a loud yell echoes through the hall from Seiji's room. Daisuke looks out the door to see his Eevee prance through the hall back into his room. She hops onto the bed and nuzzles up to Daisuke making happy noises. Vixy hops off of the bed and barks at them to hurry up. She leaves the room and heads back downstairs as a drowsy Seiji follows. She hops onto the couch and curls up getting comfortable.
The older woman looks down at the Vulpix and then up at her son. She holds back a giggle as she finishes setting the table for breakfast. Seiji stumbles down the stairs, yawns, and sits down at the table with an irritated look on his face.
Daisuke brushes his hair even though there isn't much hair to brush. He puts on a pair of black cargo shorts and a black t-shirt with a Pokéball on it. He looks all over his room through the pile of clothes to find a pair of socks. After a few minutes of searching, he manages to find a pair that are relatively clean. He slips them on and slips on a pair of sneakers. Eevee hops up on his shoulders and nuzzles his cheek. He heads downstairs and sits at the table next to his brother. He looks over and starts laughing.
Seiji looks at his brother and gives him a cross look. "Oh, shut up, Daisuke."
Daisuke tries to stop laughing but ends up laughing harder. "Looks like Trixie-chan got you good this time."
Seiji groans and turns away his face that is thoroughly scratched up. He hears his Scyther coming downstairs. He turns around in his chair to see that his Scyther shares the same facial marking that he does.
Daisuke laughs even harder when he sees the Scyther. "You two match! Hahahahahaha!"
Seiji and Scyther both glare at Daisuke. Their mother finishes setting food on the table and looks over at Daisuke. "Please stop laughing at your brother. Be thankful that it wasn't you." She says as she sits down in her seat. "Make sure you eat everything. We have a big day today. You're going to be very busy." She picks up her chopsticks and starts eating. The two brothers look away from each other and start eating their rice.
They all hear a knock at the front door. Seiji and Daisuke's mom pushes her chair back and stands up to answer the door. She opens the door and smiles. "Ohayo, Rina-chan! How are you this morning?" She hugs Rina. "Please, come in. You're just in time for breakfast."
"Thank you, Watanabe-san." She looks at Daisuke and Seiji. "Ohayo, Daisuke-kun. Ohayo, Seiji-kun." She sits down at the table taking off her bag and grabs the pair of chopsticks sitting in from of her.
They both tell her good morning and continue eating. Minutes pass in silence and then she looks up at them. "Are you both excited for today?"
They just shrug their shoulders and continue eating.
"What's wrong with you two?" She looks them over and starts giggling when she sees Seiji's face. "Oh. I see. Bad wake up call? Don't feel bad. Vixy put another hole in my shirt." The Scyther comes up to her and nuzzles her. "Oh! You got scratched up too!" She reaches in her bag and pulls out some medicine to put on it. "There you go." She pets him on the head and gives him a Pokémon treat. "Good boy."
The rest of the breakfast is quiet as Rina hurriedly finishes her food. She picks up her empty bowl and plate and takes them to the sink. She sets them down softly as they make a soft clank. She walks back into the dining room and looks at the two males still slowly eating.
"Come on, guys. Hurry up. We have a lot to do today. You two remind me of Slakoths." They ignore her comment and she sighs. "Fine. I will go ahead of you then. Vixy-chan and I have a routine to practice one last time."
"Thank you for breakfast, Watanabe-san!" She says as she grabs her bag and puts it on across her body.
"Anytime dear. Tell your mother that I said hi." She says in a sweet tone.
"I will!" She says as she waves. "Come on, Vixy-chan." She bends to down to pick up the Vulpix.
Vixy stands up and jumps into Rina's arms. Rina opens the door and leave the house. She walks past the trees and into the courtyard. People are seen all over the town moving, setting up booths and attractions, and cooking food. The rich smell of sweets and grilled fills the air.
"Mmm. That all smells good. We're going to eat a lot this year again, aren't we Vixy-chan?" The Vulpix nods and barks happily in response. "Well, lets go practice our routine one last time."
'I hope we do well this year.' She thinks to herself as they head to the corner of town where there practicing area is.
~Back at Seiji and Daisuke's house~
Seiji and Daisuke finish eating minutes after Rina leaves. They have finally cooled down about being upset with each other. Their mom picks up their dishes and carries them to the kitchen. She sets them in the sink and walks back into the living room. The boys have moved to the couch watching a news program on the television about Team Rocket.
"Shouldn't you boys be helping Rina-chan?" Their mother asks as she turns off the television.
"She's just practicing some routine for the festival. She doesn't need our help until later." Daisuke says.
Their mother gives them a stern look. "You two should be ashamed of yourselves. She has been working on this routine for months. Did it ever occur to you that maybe she wanted to show you two her routine? To get her friends' opinions?"
"Oh. I never thought of it like that." Seiji replies.
"See?" Their mother says. "Now, go find her. I don't like the idea of her being alone. There are going to be a lot of people from out of town here this weekend. You never know who could pop up."
The both nod and stand up. The walk to the door to leave when Ms. Watanabe stops them. "Are you showing off your pajamas today, Seiji-kun?"
Seiji looks down and realizes that he hasn't even gotten dressed yet. He rushes upstairs to change clothes. He changes into a t-shirt with a Scyther on it and a pair of black cargo shorts similar to his brother's. He slips on a pair of socks out of his top dresser drawer and slips on a pair of black sneakers. He looks in the mirror making sure his hair is behaving today as he brushes it out. He sets the brush down and grabs his bag heading downstairs.
They both tell their mother good-bye then leave followed by Eevee and Scyther. Eevee barks to be picked up. Daisuke picks her up, and she sits on his shoulder content. They wander around town for a few minutes watching everyone around working. Daisuke looks up at Trixie petting her. She starts growling as a couple of people shove past them almost knocking him down.
"Watch it!" The person says as he turns to look at Daisuke.
Daisuke turns to face him, Trixie still growling at the man and woman pair staring back at them. The man standing in front of them has medium length dark brown hair pulled back by a hair band. He is tall and slender with a handsome face. He has a smirk on his face and drops his sunglasses to look at them better showing off his bright green eyes. He is wearing black pants and a white sleeveless t-shirt.
"Yeah, you twerp. Watch where you're going next time." The woman next to him says as she eyes him. The woman has long black hair flowing down her back. Her dark brown eyes, that if it wasn't for the sunlight would look black, pierce into him. She is dressed in a black shirt and a white tank top that hugs her bust.
Seiji puts his hand on Daisuke's shoulder to stop him before he could even speak. "We're sorry. We'll be sure to watch where we're going next time. Come on, Daisuke-kun, lets go."
"But-" Daisuke starts.
"Lets go, Rina-chan is waiting on us." He says trying to pull his brother away from the confrontation.
"Fine." He says as he walks off.
Seiji follows behind him. The couple watches them for a while and then continues going the way they were heading before. Seiji and Daisuke move out of earshot of the couple and start talking again.
"Why did you stop me?" Daisuke asks.
"Because," Seiji says, "we don't need to cause any trouble right now. Not today. Today is a very important day for the town. You know that. An incident like this would make the news and our festival might get shut down. Besides, you don't need to stoop down to their level anyway. People like that just do stuff like that to rile you up anyway."
Daisuke thinks and then finally replies after a couple of minutes of silence. "I guess you're right."
They continue walking towards the north area of town. They begin to hear music and voices.
"Alright, Vixy-chan, are you ready to begin?" Rina says as she fixes Vixy's costume. "This will be your first time trying this in the actual costume. Mine isn't quite done yet but Morimoto-san said she would be done with it soon." The Vulpix nods.
Seiji and Daisuke walk through the trees on the outskirts of town and see Rina and Vixy. They stop and Seiji holds his finger up to his lips to tell the others to be quiet. They crouch down behind the bushes where they can't be seen.
"Why are we hiding?" Daisuke whispers.
"Because, we don't want to interrupt her right now. We may mess her up. We'll just watch this way." Seiji whispers back.
Rina picks up her radio and sets it up on a tree branch propped up against the trunk. The music starts playing and Rina stands next to Vulpix. They start dancing and twirling beautiful, multicolor ribbons that shine in the light of the sun through the trees. They go through their first routine flawlessly. The song ends and Rina smiles. She takes the ribbon from Vixy's mouth and pauses the music.
"Okay, now for the real trick. Vixy-chan can you-" She stops abruptly when she hears a twig break. "What was that?"
Vixy growls sniffing the air. She stops growling after she catches a scent and rushes into the bushes. After a few second a yelp was heard. Seiji and Daisuke jump up. Daisuke still yelping. Rina looks them over and gives out a sigh of relief.
"Oh, guys. It's just you. Don't scare me like that." She looks at their knees covered in dirt. "Why were you guys crouching in the dirt like that?"
"We-" Seiji starts.
Daisuke cuts him off, "We weren't doing anything weird or creepy or anything like that."
She looks down at Vixy who runs back towards her and raises her eyebrow. "Riiiiiiight. Well, umm, I don't know what to say to that." She leans down and picks up Vixy whispering to her, "They sure are weird." The Vulpix nods in response.
~Hours later~
Seiji and Daisuke watch people pass by their mother's booth. The crowds are bigger this year than they were any previous year. They both sigh with boredom. They had been sitting her selling food for a couple of hours now. They decided to take the first shift that way their mother could enjoy part of the festival.
"I wonder how Rina-chan is doing?" Daisuke asks. "She has to be having more fun than us."
"You're telling me. She's lucky. She doesn't have to worry about booths. She just gets to do a little dance. We didn't even get to finish watching it. She shooed us away." Seiji says and he props his head up on his hands watching the families walk by.
Their mother shows back up a few minutes later, her arms full. She sets them down behind them and motions for them to stand up.
"You two can go now," she says. "I did more than enough shopping. Rina-chan's performance starts in a few minutes, you two should go watch her."
They both stand up and stretch.
"That sounds great. Better than sitting here watching everyone else enjoy the festivities." Daisuke says.
"Then go enjoy them. I'll man the booth the rest of the night." She says as she pushes them out of the booth. "Now, go. I don't want to see you two until the festival is over."
"Okay." They both say as they leave and push their way through the crowds towards the clearing where Rina was setting up.
Rina finishes setting up her area making sure the safety rope was set up firmly. A crowd starts to form around her. She sees Daisuke and Seiji walk towards her area and waves to them. She stretches and makes sure her kimono is straight. The wind blows a nice breeze hitting her face that had a couple of beads of sweat from the humidity. A few strands of hair stick to her. She pushes them back behind her ear, the rest of her hair pinned back out of her face.
The crowd continues to form as the clock hits 9:00. The mayor comes out of the darkness with a microphone in hand. He stands next to Rina at about the same height. He is a short man standing at a mere 5 foot 5 inches. His short, slicked back hair turning a salt and pepper color. That is the only thing that gives away his age though. His face is still bright and young. He curls his mustache in his fingers and clears his throat tapping the microphone.
"Good evening, everyone! Thank you for joining us for another Cherry Blossom Festival. This marks the twenty-fifth one under my leadership."
The crowd applauds and cheers. Rina looks into the crowd and sees a few familiar faces and a plethora of unfamiliar faces. She swallows trying to not be nervous. 'You've been practicing this for months now. Don't get nervous now. You can do this. You have Vixy-chan with you.' She thinks to herself as the mayor continues his speech.
"And now, without further ado, the whole reason you have gathered here. Please give a round of applause for the town of Sakura's very own, Hana Rina!" The mayor steps out of the circle as the crowd claps their hands and applauds.
Rina and Vixy stand side by side and the music starts playing. The first few chords play and they stand still. The music picks up and they both start moving to the music. Their bodies move gracefully to the music flowing in complete unison. The ribbons in Rina's hands and Vixy's teeth shine brightly in the lights of the fires around them. The crowd stares in awe as the music continues on drowning out the sound of the cameras clicking.
Seiji and Daisuke watch her carefully. Her body movements are mesmerizing. The melody from the song soothes them all with its soft sound. The song ends and the crowd applauds. Rina and Vixy bow. Rina reaches down and Vixy drops the ribbon into her hand. She walks over to the mayor and grabs the microphone from him. She turns back to the crowd and smiles brightly.
"Thank you everyone. Now, next we have a routine that we have practiced thoroughly. It is quite dangerous so please, stand back."
She walks back over to the mayor handing him the microphone. She takes off her kimono placing it on the pile of props on the ground. Underneath, she has on a tight bodysuit similar to that of a gymnast. She reaches down and switches ribbons. She holds up three rainbow batons with black ribbons on the ends. She holds them out as Vixy uses Ember on them lighting the ribbons on the ends on fire. She gives the smaller one to Vixy and holds the other two in her hands. The crowd looks in awe and some of them let out gasps.
The music begins again. This time the music is very pumped and upbeat unlike the melodic music before. Vixy flips her baton up and jumps up to catch it between her teeth again. She continues to do this as she dances. Rina twirls hers around. She throws them up in the air catching them behind her back as they fall back down. The crowd starts applaud as they continue the routine. They dance around each other flipping, throwing, and twirling their batons. The music comes to the last few seconds.
Rina throws her batons in the air as Vixy jumps into her hands using them as a springboard to somersault upwards. Her batons come down. The crowd holds their breath as she catches the first one blowing the fire out. The second one come down at the same time as Vixy. Rina holds out both hands. She catches Vixy in her left hand and the second baton in her right hand blowing out the fire. The song ends and the crowd cheers. Rina blows out the fire on Vixy's baton. Rina and Vixy bow again smiling brightly and high-fiving/pawing each other.
She walks back over to get the microphone again when the lights go out all around the festival. Some screams of surprise are heard all around the festival. Everyone squints their eyes trying to adjust to darkness. Seiji and Daisuke try to move forward in the crowd as their Pokémon both start to make noises that something isn't right. The crowd is too thick for them to move far before they start getting pushed back by the people stumbling to move.
Vixy starts to growl as her fur stands on end. Rina holds onto her tightly as the faint shadow of what looks like a person forms in front of her. The person steps over the safety rope and applauds.
"My, my. What a wonderful performance. Very nice. You would make a great addition to our group." He says as he laughs and smiles a menacingly smile that she could make out in the moonlight.
"Who are you?" She says as she steps back bracing herself.
He walks up to her and grabs her arm smiling even bigger. "Don't worry. You'll find out soon enough."