(a/n: I do not own Pokemon or whatever, or Nintendo Gamecube (although I am in possession of a gamecube and a nintendo 64. So sue me! Sheesh!) And Xifa helped write this story. She is Aera, Megumi, Brock, Cameron, Dennis, Edwin, and Frankie. I am everyone else. So please read and review!)
Iris
By: Xifa and Sefie Lynne Tilmitt
Chapter 1
Three. Two. One. I smiled as there was a blinding flash of light, flames licking the building, the explosion surely attracting attention. And I knew my goal was right ahead. I ran as fast as I could, into the Experiments room. I grabbed the p.s.machine and hooked it up, detonator still in my hand.
"STORM!" one of the Team Snagem members screamed, and I allowed myself the luxury of a small smirk.
I had done it. I had outsmarted (That didn't take much) and backstabbed Team Snagem under their noses. I hopped onto my 'motorcycle', the peice of junk I used for transportation, and my Espeon and Umbreon were there, waiting as patiently as always. I looked back, and Team Snagem members were chasing me. I smiled, held up the detonator again, and pushed the button with a flourish.
Call me a jerk if you wanted, at least I was a jerk with style. I watched as the second explosion of the building knocked the members off their feet, and I pushed the gas hard. I was going way too fast, but who was going to stop me? The police were gonna be too busy arresting my 'comrades' and 'friends' and 'partners'. I pulled into an almost abandoned gas station, seeing a suspicious looking vehicle with a bag in the back. And the bag was squirming. Never a good sign.
Two people came out of the gas station, and I made sure to be on guard, mentally checking to make sure that Espeon and Umbreon were ready. They were, as always, constantly vigilant. But just when I was about to challenge them for whatever was in the bag (I was not concerned, but curious and a little... well... greedy, I guess, 'cause if it was, y'know, a wild pokemon I'd be glad to take it off their hands...), they got in the car and drove off. I cursed under my breath. I had lost my chance. I went inside the gas station, then stared at the newslady on the screen.
"Breaking news. The police have discovered the Team Snagem hideout only because of explosions with unknown causes. They are researching on the cause of the explosions as we speak. The hideout is abandoned currently, but we hope to discover and arrest some of the members."
I smiled. So I was an unknown cause, eh? I walked in, just out of boredom and curiosity. A hotshot, arrogant trainer, who's name appeared to be Willie, challenged me, but I didn't have time to waste on amatures like him. I didn't answer him, figuring that when I turned and walked away he would figure out that I didn't want to battle a weakling like him. I got on my 'motorcycle' again, driving to the next city. Maybe there would be people worth my time there.
The two creeps from the gas station were there, the sack on the ground. I glared at them, but they didn't even notice me. All the better to eavesdrop, my friend. I listened instently, cautious and suspicious of these weirdo morons. Just what did they think they were doing? Blah, blah, blah, and then I heard it.
"Mwehfeh...get...me...out!!!" the bag shrieked, wiggling.
"Aw, the tape around your mouth didn't shut you up!" whined one of the creeps, then turned around, and saw me with a start as if I had only just arrived. "That little punk just heard that, didn't he?"
"Who're you calling a little punk?" I muttered. They didn't recognize me? Champion and Archenemy of Team Snagem? Well, they would have to learn the hard way.
"Sorry, kid, but we can't risk you telling anyone about this."
The creep sent out two pokemon. Whishmer. WHISHMER! Why did I waste my time? Miss Bag over there could save herself, and she was obviously more trouble than she was worth. But I decided that it might be fun to stomp the creep's ego into the ground. Y'know, crush his spirit. Then he would learn who to call a little punk. I wasn't going to put up with his crap, and he was asking for it. I called out my Espeon and Umbreon.
They were my only real friends, Espeon and Umbreon, seeing as everyone I had either betrayed or I had been betrayed by. I could always rely on my pokemon, though. They weren't just pokemon, they were a part of me. And no matter how cold, how bitter I was on the outside, they could always see past that. They knew me and accepted me. I had never found anyone else who did.
I ordered Espeon to do confusion, not shouting like the hero goody-goodies did, but more like an auto-command. I wasn't one of those stupid little kids with a dream to become a master. I just wanted to survive in the world I grew up in; the world of the underground, of theives and fiends and traitors. Ironic, wasn't it? I ordered Umbreon to use bite. Both Whishmer were down for the count in one hit. The two creeps, shaking their boots, ran off. I smiled down at the bag. Not yet. Not quite yet. I picked the bag up, tossing it over my shoulder and walking towards the fountain.
"...curses...can't anyone beat these goons?!" came the bag's muffled voice.
"I did." I said calmly. "I just don't quite think you deserve to come outta there yet."
"W-what?! You're...joking, right? Please let me out of here! Please?"
I kind of pitied her, but... "Let me think about it. um.... no."
"Do you know what the word suffication means?! Haven't you seen the warnings on those stupid Poke-mart bags? Keep out of reach of children? That's because little kids are stupid enough to put bags over their heads, and know what happens when a bag gets over your head? Kiss the O2 goodbye, man! I'm gonna DIE in here!"
"Not my issue, now is it? I'm just gonna dump you in the nearest pokecenter and be on my way. You can wait till then. You're not gonna die."
"The nearest...what if those guys find me again?!"
"I'm not your baby sitter. You can find your own way out of it next time, now can't you? I'm not one of those goody-goody hero types, all 'let's-save-the-damsel-in-distress'. To me, you're just another nameless faceless damsel in distress, and the only reason I saved you was cause I those jerks were being crude and obnoxious, and I never, ever miss a chance to beat someone to a pulp."
"I'm not a nameless, faceless damsel-in-distress..." she mumbled dejectedly. "I've got a name, and a face which you could easily see if you'd untie that knot, and the only reason I'm in distress is because I can't fight that well in a bag."
I laughed. "I just don't want to put up with your attitude problem -outside- the bag, damsel."
"Aren't you just hilarious...you wouldn't have to put up with my attitude problem if I could just get out of the bag. Or y'know what? Just put the bag down. I'd rather fight against a bunch of brainless thugs then put up with you. Just drop me."
"Fine." the bag fell with a thump to the ground. "See ya later, damsel."
"Whatever," she mumbled, trying her hardest to untie the knot from the inside of a bag, an idea that was probably doomed before it was ever thought up.
"This is absolutely pathetic. But you better not get in my way, you got that, damsel?" I grumbled, getting my knife and cutting the top of the bag. "There. Shoo. Be on your way, oh damsel-not-in-distress."
She stood up, shaking her head.
"I can breathe," she beamed. "Thank you very much, sir. Now I'll just walk my way to the next part of civilization and hope I'm heading in the correct general direction. Pleasure being in your company," she walked off towards nothing inparticular.
"If you think," I rolled my eyes, "That you can just -walk- and get anywhere before you -die-, then you're just tough out of luck. This is desert territory. Usually I have a no damsel policy, but you don't quite deserve to die. Yet. So hop in." I got on my 'motorcycle'. "You have five seconds or I'm leaving."
"Thank you very much!" she hopped in beside me. "Wow, what is this thing?"
"My own personal piece of junk. I guess it can be called a motorcycle. But appearances can be decieving, neh? Hold on tight, and I'll show you what I mean." I drove as fast as I could, my goggles on, the wind whipping at me. This may have been a peice of junk, but it was a -fast- peice of junk.
"Oh, I like it! Goes back to the entire 'don't-judge-things-on-the-outside' rule," she grinned. "Useful!"
"Yep." I replied, scowling.
Because of her, my Espeon was in a pokeball. Thanks, damsel. Now my pokemon will be picked off at me. You took it's seat. I wonder if I could, per say, strap you to the back instead....
"You look mad at me again...what'd I do this time?"
"Nothing." I said shortly. "What's your name, anyway, damsel?"
"What's it matter for? I'm just another nameless person, remember?"
"You're far to annoying to be another nameless person. If you think about it, everyone in the world is nameless, and faceless, too, because they aren't of any real importance to certain people. Like to some one walking randomly on the street, they don't know or care anyhting about me, cause they don't know me. D'you see what I mean?"
"...my name is Aera. Aera Rose. What's your name?"
"Storm."
"No last name? Oooh, I get it. When you ditch me by the side of the road, you don't want me to be able to find you to come back for revenge, right?"
"More like I don't have parents. I never knew where I came from." You're touching a raw nerve, damsel. The memories are there, all right. Just to far out of reach.
"Quite the enigma, aren't you? Well, maybe you'll find them some day," she nodded.
"I know what happened to them. I just don't know who they are. I do have a few memories, y'know."
"Sheesh, sorry," she stared at the ground. "Didn't mean to insult you or whatever."
"You didn't. It's just a raw nerve." A sixteen year old raw nerve, I s'pose.
"I solemnly swear never to mention it purposefully again. If I say something that makes you think of something that makes you think of something that reminds you of it, well, that's your fault. I'll just do my part, mkay?"
"Whatever."
"You're one odd duck," she laughed. "That's okay, though. It's cool."
"Thanks. I think." I slammed on the breaks, sending us to a screeching, spinning stop.
"Gah...need...seatbelts..."
"Sorry. No seatbelts included. There's a price for speed, and that price is safety. Well, I guess I'll be seeing ya, Damsel Aera."
"You too, I guess," she nodded hesitantly, starting to slowly walk off.
"What's wrong?" I called after her, slightly annoyed.
"What do you care?"
"Maybe I'm an 'enigma' or whatever you called me, and I've even been called a jerk, but I'm not rude enough to leave a troubled lady like yourself stranded in a dinky little town like this."
"Aw, really? I didn't expect that, coming from you and all..."
"Just get on and I'll drive you to your home town. Don't push your luck, Damsel Aera."
She laughed happily.
"We're close to it?! Finally! I live in Lavendar Town! Are we almost there?!"
"Oh my God!" I yelled. "I am NOT buying you a ticket home on the S.S. whatever! Sorry to burst your bubble, damsel, but it'd take us a year, even on my 'motorcycle' to get there. We're in Orre. Between Orre and Kanto is Jhoto and some other stupid place of no meaning."
"I'm sorry. I didn't recognize the setting, and when you offered to drive me back, I just assumed we were close to Lavendar," she smiled sheepishly. "Orre, eh? Wow...I wound up quite a distance away..."
I put my head in my hand and shook it, putting my goggles back down so she couldn't see my eyes. I didn't want her knowing I had memories in Lavendar. It was none of her business anyways. Right? So what could I do, then?!
"Well. I guess I could let you tag along with me to the edge of Orre. But you'd better take care of your self and not get in my way, Damsel Aera. So just get in. If you want a ride with me, then you're gonna hafta make some other stops with me, too."
"Sounds like fun!" she grinned. "Hey, are we almost close to that city with all the fountains? I've always wanted to go there!"
I hopped off, guestured with my hand. "Welcome to Phenac City." I popped my goggles off again, my eyes now as sharp and unrevealing as ever.
"Oh! It really is pretty! This is where those people were talking about taking me..." she frowned. "I kinda wanted to see what exactly they...hey...is that...them...?"
"Hey, I'm not gonna rescue you again, so just stay in the side seat and keep low. I'm gonna go teach them not to mess with us." I started to walk over to them, but she grabbed my arm and stopped me.
"Hey...um...that might not be such a good idea!" she said quickly.
"Why not?"
"What if that pokemon attacks you?"
"Okay, I've obviously missed something." I sighed, sitting back down. "Explain, if you would, Damsel Aera."
"Would you get rid of the damsel? That's not part of my name. Even if it was, I would have got my birth certificate and a bottle of white-out before I let that last for long..." she frowned a little, still preoccupied with what she'd said earlier. "That...pokemon. Do you see the black aura around it? That's why those guys got me...because I saw the black aura and knew that something was wrong with their pokemon. But, I mean...it's obvious! LOOK at it! How can you not miss something like that?" she shook her head.
"Are you sure you didn't, ah, hit your head when I dropped you?"
She reached over and slapped me.
"Shut up! Go out there and fight it, and when it attacks your sorry arse, you'll see what I mean!"
"No. Y'know what? I'm driving you straight to the edge of Orre so I can get rid of you! You've been nothing but trouble, I -knew- I shouldn't have let you out!" I got up, key to the motorcycle in my hand. "Or, if you're so bent and determined to continue in your little escapade, find your own way, Ms. Rose."
I walked off.
She stood up and walked over to the fountain, sitting down on the edge of it and carefully watching the pokemon she claimed was 'so obviously glowing black'. I stared at her disdainfully for a minute, taking the scene in. Unusual, she was. Unusually pretty. I forced that horrid thought out of my mind, sitting down in the dust to think. How had she unnerved me so easilly? She was a little dork with orange pigtails and big blue eyes. There was absolutely nothing about her that I liked. She had even stirred memories I had managed to bury far at the back of my mind, about my parents and Lavender town and--...
Espeon nudged me a little, and I draped my arm around it. My one true friend that would never abandon me. I looked at it, it's deep purple eyes shining and boring into me. As if trying to tell me I'd made a mistake. Trying to tell me I shouldn't have yelled at Ms. Rose like that.
"What?!" I cried, and it continued to give me 'the look'. I swear this pokemon knew to much for it's own good! I ran a gloved hand across it, and I stood up. "You ready to take on those jerks? I'm getting rid of them because they called me a little punk, not becasue Ms. Rose wanted me too, so don't look at me like that." I rolled my eyes, walking over to them.
"Hey, Miror B.! That's the little punk that beat us and took the girl!"
I looked to Ms. Rose urgently to get her to duck, hoping she would get the point.
"I," I growled, "am not a little punk." I grabbed him by the shirt collar, hoisted him off the ground. I made him meet my amber eyes. "Do you understand?"
"What kinda freak are you?"
"A strong one. Now," I smiled through gritted teeth, "You'll not mess with me or my friend again. do you understand?"
"You're Team Snag--"
"Teem Snagem's worst enemy." I finished warningly. I noticed fear flash in his eyes. Just a little.
"Yeah, yeah, sure. Just lemme go."
"I will when you swear on your life that you won't mess with the girl again. Do I make myself clear?"
"Yessir. Wait! You have the sna--"
"Shutup!" I threw him to the ground.
"Yessir."
"That's right. If you -ever- mess with her again, you can be sure.... I'll be back." I walked away, reluctantly searching out Ms. Rose to see if she was alright. And no more. Then I would leave her butt in the town and she could find her own way home, if she was oh-so-intellegent.
She was standing in front of a TV in a Pokemon Center, frowning slightly as she watched the same boring newsclip run over and over again. She held a newspaper in her hand and would occasionally glance from it to the TV screen, as if trying to solve whatever this week's mystery was.
"The creeps are gone." I said from behind her.
I couldn't help but think she would look almost.... human... if she took her pigtails out.
"Congraudlations on winning! Did you save the pokemon?"
"Not quite. Don't have any pokeballs to change--... to catch it in. Besides, it's not normal to steal people's pokemon. I would kill if someone stole mine."
"Yours aren't possessed by darkness or whatever was wrong with that poor thing," she shook her head, then glanced back at the TV. "Hmm..." she glanced down at the newspaper, frowning, then glanced at my arm. "Hey, what's that thing?"
"Nothing." I slid it off my arm and into my pack. "It's just something I picked up. Y'know, a peice of junk." And that as the honest truth.
"No, it looks fancy! Can I look at it? Please?"
"Sorry. It's just, er, junk. Just junk, no matter how 'fancy' it looks, okay?"
"Well, I have a junk fettish. Can I see it?"
"No. Sorry, Ms. Rose. I... don't think I can let this go."
"My name is Aera. And you don't have to let it go...I just wanna look at it. For one second. Just one. Well, maybe one and a half..."
"Why?"
"I think it's the snatchit machine," she whispered.
"Snatch Machine," I found myself correcting her uner my breath. "It's nothing, okay?!"
"Yes, it is! That's the portable snatchiem machine that the newslady said was missing! And you have it! And that means...a fight broke out within the hideout...one of the team members blew up the place...you! You bombed the place!"
I smiled bitterly, holding up the useless detonator. "Smart, aren't you." I turned away, started to walk out, sliding my goggles over my eyes again.
"Not yet!" she grabbed my arm and yanked me back. "That means you're part of Team Snatchem, right?"
"No." I sighed. "No, no, -no-. I, Ms. Rose, am Team Snatchem's worst enemy. I wormed in with them, you see, and they gladly let me. No one else had skills like I did. I was the best there, and no one was stupid enough to get in my way. I took my time, earned their trust, then...." I gestured towards the TV. "Well, you see what I did to the rotten little snakes."
"Ah, but you were a member of the team."
"I was a double agent. No strings attached. And PLEASE don't talk so loud. Do you want me to leave you here and for me to be on the run again?"
"Double agent? Ah, look, if you're embarassed to admit you really were part of them," she grinned evilly, "You know I won't care. I mean, you're my knight in shining armor! You saved me from the bag! ...well, sort of..."
"Sorry. If it's a knight you're looking for, then keep on looking, Ms. Rose." I turned away. "This knight is on a mission and can't have any ammunition to be thrown at him."
"Can't you even accept a compliment?" she smacked her forehead. "Cripes. What am I getting myself into..."
"You don't have to be getting into anything. I'll just take you to the edge of Orre, pay for your boat ticket, and you'll be home free and won't ever have to think of this again."
"You don't have to pay for my ticket. It's not like you owe me anything anyway. Maybe I should just stay here anyway...no need for me to go to the edge of Orre. I'm not exactly...well, nevermind..."
I didn't say anything, an odd feeling rushing up inside of me. memories, memories, everywhere I turned. Memories I didn't want. Painful, sad, horrible memories. Machines and closed doors, I was drowning in the great wrong of it all, spinnning, spinning in the nostalgia I didn't welcome, and I was there again, hooked up to so many machines and I was an
-experiment-, not a person, a nameless faceless experiment, and maybe that's where I got my theory.... I grabbed at the pokeball machine that restored pokemon to stop my knees from buckling under the sheer agony of it all.
"Whoa, did I say something that made you think of something that made you think of something that picked you off?" she frowned a little, but not out of anger...it seemed to be more out of concern. "Hey, what's wrong?"
"I'm... fine. I'm fine." I whispered, gaining control. "I was just... remembering something... something in my past...." I put my head in my hand again, glad my goggles were on and she couldn't see the fear and the pain flashing so obviously. "Nothing. It's nothing, everything's fine."
She reached out and pulled my goggles away from my eyes, peering up into them. I tried to pull back, horrified.
"Well, whatever the problem may be...chocolate ice-cream fixes everything! Well, temporarily. How about I go getcha some?"
I quickly covered my eyes. "Please don't do that.... I'll go get it. What flavor do you want?"
"HEY! I'M trying to be nice! Besides, trying to be nice and going to get ice cream is not gonna take away the fact that you were gonna leave me there to suffocate anyways! Besides...why can't I?" she pulled my hand away. "Are you gonna go blind without 'em? ...no, that can't be, I've seen you without 'em...maybe I get some sort of psycho fun out of looking at your eyes, eh?"
"Please?" I tried to force all the emotions down so she couldn't read my eyes. "I guess it's a paranoia, but.... I don't like people to know what I'm feeling very well.... I dunno..."
"How am I supposed to be able to tell what you're feeling?" she rolled her eyes. "I'm not good enough with people to figure that much out. I just like the color, hehe!"
I sighed, thankful. "Alright then. I know some people who can just -look- at your eyes and tell you every feeling and every thought inside your head. Not a pleasurable expereince."
"You're sad. That's all I can tell."
It goes so much deeper. So, so much deeper and.... if she saw.... then that meant... no! Stupid, stupid storm! I took a step back.
"I had better be going, I just remembered something and I gotta check on it and.... yeah...."
I didn't have the upper hand this time. No, not at all. Not something I was used to. But I had no doubt she knew, and I couldn't take that. Not after sixteen years of dedicating myself to hiding it.
"...." she released my goggles as they snapped back into place, and my hand that I'd been covering my eyes with. "By all means, then, go check on it." She nodded. "See you around, hopefully," she nodded, looking at the pokemon-machine-thingy sadly and walking out.