The scene is a quaint seaside market, nestled in the centre of Slateport City. People come and go, exchanging glances, money and goods with each other, before parting ways for the rest of the day. I couldn't even recount the amount of times I'd been here, but my partner loved the place, and in all honesty, so did I. There was always a friendly face, and everyone always seemed to genuinely take an interest in what you had to say, even if it wasn't much. I had even begun to remember some of the merchants by name - Zack the vitamin seller, Jacob who ran the lemonade stand and Steven from the pharmacy to name a few. There were always new faces every time we came here, though. Kind, hurried, frustrated; even an angry pair arguing over the cost of fresh water. I'll admit that it was overwhelming the first time we came, with all the bustle and rush, everyone with their own agenda (most of them not even noting you were there), but now, I like it. It's like the ocean, almost. The tides of people washing forward and back. Their combined intention washing you about like waves. I've never been swimming in the ocean myself, but according to Steph, that's just what it's like.
She hadn't told me why we had come here, but I knew the moment she left the house that there was something different from just a grocery run planned. I try not to read her whenever possible, she said it was considered impolite to do so without asking, but her mood was so different from normal that I knew something was off. It wasn't like I would be able to just ask her how she was feeling though...
"Hey, what's wrong Sari? You look like you're thinking hard about something."
I suddenly looked up at her, surprised, and changed my expression to a smile, shaking my head, which eased her worries. She smiled too, and carried on walking, me following behind. It took a bit of crowd sifting and sidling before we finally got to where Steph wanted to get to. It was another market stall, but I did not recognize the stand at all, let alone the person manning it. I wasn't sure who was acting more oddly, the slender man who owned the stand, or his Croagunk who was perching on the table, grinning like an idiot. I had to stop myself from giggling at the silliness of the navy blue frog's expression, though Steph looked like she couldn't take her eyes off it either. The slender man gave the oddest cackle that only served to further put me off him. Steph chuckled back uncomfortably, glancing about at the crowds before turning back to the merchant.
"I'm, uh... Stephanie? I ordered the-"
With a nod and a wave, the merchant silenced her, turning back to the pile of small cardboard boxes inside the stall. "Yes, I remember you." He mumbled to himself, nodding rapidly. "You wanted the... Ah! Here they are." Spinning back around, he held out a package smaller than his fist. "This is yours. Take it."
His strange speech patterns were obviously worrying Steph, her anxiety manifesting as a deep, burning ache in my chest. To my relief, she pulled out a handful of coins, handing them to the merchant and backing away quickly. As she backpedaled, she lifted the lid of the box, then turned to me with a grin, relief and joy washing out and over me, cleansing the ache in my chest. "Look at this here, Sari!" Turning to show me, she pulled out a long, silvery necklace with a locket at the base.
I glanced at her to make sure it was alright, then took the locket in my hands, carefully sliding the latch out of place and letting the front swing open. Contained within was a vibrant red sliver, long and narrow like a needle. As my eyes fell upon it, I instantly felt a buzzing, a slight vibration flowing through my body, originating from the horn in my chest of the same color and composition. I glanced up at Steph, looking at her quizzically. She nodded in return. "That's a little sliver of a Gardevoir's horn, Sari. I figured that, since we were so close, I could maybe wear something to show it. Do you... Do you like it?"
I nodded at her, it was a very pretty locket, though I did wonder where the sliver itself had come from, I decided to pay it no attention and closed the locket swiftly, giving it back to Steph. She looked really happy to have it, and if that was the case, I was happy for her. In a bizarre way, I actually did feel closer to her in that moment. She thought the world of me, and I of her. I wouldn't trade her for any other trainer in the whole world.
"Well, looks like someone's happy!" Steph quipped, clearing picking up on my feelings. I felt a bit shy at this for some reason, but I smiled regardless, and decided to give her a hug, to which she hugged me back. Some people thought it was weird, a trainer hugging their Pokémon, but neither of us really cared. The horn on my chest picked up on Steph's elation, and it made me feel elated as well; the feeling still lingered after I let go and for the rest of the journey home.
It was a fairly long walk back. She didn't like living out in the middle of things with other people, and so lived out on the outskirts of town, along the coast. It was a nice home. Out in the quiet wild, away from the bustle of the city. I'd always wondered whether she chose to live here because I was so overwhelmed by people before, but she seemed to find the environment as relaxing as I. We didn't mind the distance, either. For me, it was a time to think, and simply enjoy the presence of her emotions, to watch the slow steam of people trickle past us along the road. She talked to me sometimes, about things she had seen or done while I was off elsewhere, but she was never bored, and rarely unhappy.
Today, though, she was strangely silent. She wasn't feeling moody, or unhappy. Rather, it seemed she was trying to pay more attention to the things that interested me. Glancing over to other people as they passed by us, rather than keeping her eyes focused on the path ahead. I knew that this was normal. That humans looked at each other as they passed, but somehow, something about her emotion felt off at the moment. I rested a hand on her shoulder, and glanced at her curiously, hoping that she would correctly read my quizzical intent.
"What is it, Sari? You look like you're confused."
I nodded, but I wasn't really sure how to get across to her what exactly I was wondering about. I tried gesturing to her eyes, and then to the other people walking by us. That supposedly did the trick.
"Oh, you're wondering why I'm looking around at everyone? I really dunno why, it's not something I normally feel like doing. I just suddenly found myself curious as to the goings on around me more. Don't you ever wonder what everyone's really up to behind their public facade?"
"Yeah..." I thought to myself. "...all the time."
Steph had never liked keeping me in a Pokeball. I didn't mind it when she did have to, but it there was just something about it that she detested with all her will. For that reason, most of the time that Steph was out doing something without me, I would stay at her house and enjoy myself with human diversions. I had garnered somewhat of an ability to read human language from the books that Steph loved so much - as a Ralts I would sit on her shoulder and look at whatever adventure she was embarking on next, and she would offer to read aloud so that I could understand what the weird symbols that she understood to be text actually meant. Eventually, I began to associate the symbols with her voice sounds, and before long I was able to read them for myself. Today, I found myself peering into a copy of "The Very Hungry Caterpie". It was only after reading the first few pages that I realized this was actually intended as a Children's book, but I carried on regardless, feeling happy for the Caterpie when it evolved into a Butterfree at the end. I decided it would probably be a good idea to put the book down and go look for something else to do.
As I began to scan through the walls of books in the house, I found myself wondering about Steph. She had been acting a little out of the ordinary earlier, and I found myself a little worried about it. Something was going on, I was sure of it, and yet, she seemed perfectly happy, and emotionally sound. If anything, she was seeming better than usual. Still, I couldn't shake the feeling that there was something going on that she wasn't telling me about. Maybe it was something ordinary for humans that she just didn't feel was important enough to mention. I smiled softly to myself as I pulled a large red tome out of the bookshelf, settling into the large wing chair in the study. That had happened once before. She had been heading out, talking to strange people, leaving to places we had never been at odd hours. It wasn't until she realized my worry that she explained that it was part of her schooling.
I slowly lifted the cover of the book, placing my hand to hold it steady as I closed my eyes, spreading my awareness of the nearby area. Once I was satisfied that no one was listening, I looked down at the page, and began reciting from what Steph called the dictionary.
"Aaarbaarcaa... Aa... Abaacus. Abacus." I nodded to myself, slowly moving along the page, tense with concentration. It had been too long since I had had an opportunity to practice. For some reason, I felt a sense of embarrassment doing this, trying to speak words as a human would, but I was determined to learn. Every time that I tried, it became a little easier, the sounds came a little more naturally. I still sounded rather foolish, but I knew that soon, I would be able to speak directly to humans, rather than having to mime and lead them toward my intent.
Suddenly, I felt a tingling in my thoughts, feeling someone approach the home. Steph! Something must have happened that caused her to come home early. I snapped the dictionary closed, sliding it back into the bookcase and heading over to the door to greet her. As I approached, I felt a pounding in my heart as I began to feel her emotions. Something bad happened there, as she was wracked with tense anxiety. As I pulled open the door, I gave her a look of concern, showing my worry for her.
"Oh, don't worry about me Sari, what about you? I don't like it when you look concerned." she replied, now looking almost as concerned I was. Considering how tense she had looked just moments ago, it was weird to see such a sudden change in expression, and I suddenly felt rather confused.
"Huh? Why do you look so confused all of a sudden?" She said, also clearly feeling quite confused. I wasn't sure how to respond to this, I could see plainly now that her emotions were going all over the place, let alone what I was actually picking up on the subconscious emotional level. It was all just a bit overwhelming, I wasn't sure what to make of it.
"You know what Sari, this is too much... I'm going to step outside." she uttered, before stepping out of the door and shutting it, much to my surprise. I stepped back a bit and wondered what on earth could have caused her to act the way she did. She hadn't even told me what had happened that had caused her to feel distressed in the first place. I wanted to find out what was on her mind, so I decided to slowly open the door and peer outside to see where she was. I eventually found her stood outside, looking out to the sea and watching the tide roll in. I watched from a distance for but a few fleeting moments, and then slowly, but surely, made my way over to her.
She looked up at me, and seemed to be a bit calmer. She smiled, sighing. "Sorry. You must've got worried 'cause I was freaking out like that. I went down to the theater, and, well... I had a bit of a panic attack. I don't know... I've never felt nervous in crowds before, but today, I just felt so overwhelmed."
I nodded to her in sympathy. I knew how easy it was for me to feel that way, to be pulled under my the tides of people. She smiled up at me faintly. "Thanks for understanding, Sari." She said as she wrapped her arms around me. I smiled back, feeling her emotions return to level of contentedness as mine mirrored hers. She shivered as she looked back over the ocean, and I noticed that she was looking a bit pale. As I was about to try and draw her attention to it, she sighed. "I'm not looking well, am I? I'm going to head back in and make some soup... You want some, Sari?"
I smiled and nodded, opening the door for her to head back in. I winced a little as she shivered past me. I didn't know much about human illness, but I was worried that she might be sick. That would certainly explain her emotional volatility, but this paleness had set on so quickly, I wasn't sure if it was something minor, or something potentially dangerous. I watched her carefully as she put the soup on the stove, nodding to myself as she stepped away for a moment, then cutting in front of her, gesturing in an attempt to show that I was going to make the soup for her, and she could get some rest.
She smiled faintly back at me. "I'm fine, Sari. I just feel a little off, but I'll be better soon." I wasn't going to be so quickly deterred, though, miming a cough as I tilted my head, speaking a quick word in a quizzical tone. She looked slightly irritated at my insistence, but I could tell that a seed of doubt was growing in her. Despite that, though, she still insisted that she was alright. "I'm not sick! Just trust me, Sari. Let me take care of myself, alright?" I sighed, stepping out of the way, but kept an eye on her as she continued work on our food. I should have known that she would be this stubborn, it's not like I didn't get to know her over six years.
That number went through my mind again. Six years. "Wow, has it really been that long?" I thought to myself, recalling the day that I had met her. Like near enough all Ralts from the moment they come into the world, I remember being terrified of humans, perhaps even more so than was normal. My mother and father, as happy a Gardevoir and Gallade as you could ever ask for, grew to worry that I'd have this phobia even when I evolved.
But Steph... she changed all that.
Six years ago...
Where am I? What is this place, it doesn't look like home. Mother, father? Where are you? Maybe if I call out for help...
"Hello? Can anyone hear me!? He-"
Oh no, I mustn't! Then one of the humans could take me! I don't want to be a slave in one of their entrapment devices... oh why does this have to happen to me? I want them so much right now. Why did I have to insist on trying to prove that I could take care of myself?
I couldn't help myself in that moment. I started bawling my eyes out, like the child I was. My tears blended into the rain that started falling. The rain was so cold; I couldn't help but start shivering - I was so small it didn't take long for the cold to hit me. Then, all of a sudden, as if by magic, the rain stopped, and a shadow formed over me.
Ahh! It's one of the humans! They've got me! I'll never get to see my parents again, I...
"Hey, are you OK?"
That voice, who is that? She sounds like mother, but I'm sure it's not her. I better turn around and see.
...but it can't be. It's a human girl, but she hasn't tried to capture me. She's the one covering me from the rain. Does she actually... want to help me?
"Poor thing, you look so cold. Are you lost? You can't be out here all on your own just because!"
I nodded at the girl. I didn't understand it at the time, I never thought that humans could be so nice, for some reason I had just assumed that they all had malicious intent. But this one seemed so pure and honest, I could sense it with my mind.
Maybe not all humans are so bad after all...
"Do you want to come with me? I can help you find your mom and dad, how does that sound?"
On any other day, I would have just run away there, but having warmed up to this human, and not really seeing any other way to get back home, I shyly hopped into her open hand, the one she wasn't using to cover me from the rain, and held me gently, making sure not to squeeze too tightly. Her palm was really warm, and I welcome the feeling after getting hit by the rain so much. Slowly, she set off to try and find where my parents were.
Eventually, she did find my parents, looking very upset that I had gone missing. They were of course a bit angry that I had ran off, but they were mostly just happy that I hadn't gotten captured by some random trainer, and then the first human who HAD encountered me actually decided to try and help me, they were really thankful to the girl. That girl was of course Steph, who was now no longer a twelve year old girl but an eighteen year old late-teenager. She had become attached to me and decided to visit every now and then, which my parents always welcomed. When I finally evolved into a Kirlia, I decided I wanted to go with her, my parents were of course more than happy to see me go with a girl like her rather than anyone else. We still go to see them every now and then, in fact, they're always fascinated with my stories about the human world! But alas, that was how I met her on that rainy evening. Seeing her shivering now like I was then brought it all back, and it made me want to return the favour.
I rested my hand on her shoulder as she stirred the soup. She glanced up at me, still with that faint smile on her face. "Thanks for caring about me. Funny thing. I was just thinking about the day we met. It's been a while, hasn't it." I nodded back. We had been thinking of the same things a lot today. It did seem odd how close she was trying to be, but, as I looked at her emotions, it seemed that she didn't realize how out of the ordinary she was acting. Her emotions seemed more, reflective, than any thing else, like she couldn't decide what she wanted to feel herself, and so was just mimicking what others around her felt. I chuckled quietly to myself. I had felt like that when I first traveled with her to a human city. I didn't know what to think, so I just let everyone else's emotions wash over me, seep through my horn, and into my body.
Suddenly, a thought occurred to me. I reached my hand out, sliding the amulet around to face me, looking at it carefully. Steph chuckled at me over her shoulder. "Feel free to take a look at it!" She called out. "Let me know if you like it!" I smiled faintly, flicking it open, and examining the sliver within. I set my hand carefully upon it, trying to tell if there was any sort of empathic aura around it. I couldn't tell, of course, but I decided to try something. With a grimace, I did my best to focus my emotion into my hand, letting it sit close to the amulet. I waited, feeling the ambient emotion in the air.
The sliver in the amulet seemed to respond to that, and buzzed with a sensation I could only liken to getting thundershocked by a Pachirisu. I quickly drew my hand away, trying to shake away the mild pain.
"Wha? What happened Sari?"
I shook my head, trying to say it was nothing. That incident had partially confirmed my initial suspicion, the horn was indeed still active to some extent, it had to be to respond like it did then. Whether this was what was affecting Steph or not, I wasn't sure, but even if that was the case, I didn't have the faintest clue how to go about explaining it to her. To this end, I decided to ignore it for now, and help Steph serve out the soup which had just finished cooking. Human food was also something that I very much liked, and soup was no exception.
I smiled as she served the pair of us, carefully holding the spoon, one of a set of utensils that we had modified to be easier to hold with my non-human limbs. We ate slowly, as I mused over whether or not I should explain what I thought was happening with the horn. Even if I should, though, how would I explain? It was hard enough to communicate simple concepts with pantomime, but something more challenging, like empathy, would be close to impossible to communicate.
Suddenly, an idea sprung into my mind. I walked into the study, pulling the dictionary from the shelf.I couldn't quite speak in human language, but I could copy the human symbols, at least. Clumsily taking a pencil in my hand, I slowly began to flip through the dictionary, doing my best to write my belief as Steph finished cleaning the kitchen. As she finished, I slid the book back into its shelf, walking to meet her in the doorway as I handed the paper over to her. I blushed slightly as she looked it over. She knew that I read often, but this was the first time she had ever seen my shaky attempts to write.
"Sari, are you trying to write something? Oh wow, that's incredible!" Sari looked very impressed and was visibly excited; it resonated with me and made my writing even more shaky than it was before, but after much deliberation I finally managed to scrawl out something vaguely resembling a message, I picked it up and waved it in front of Steph, who then proceeded to try and make out what I had written. She verbally sounded out the words slowly, picking it up between her index and middle fingers like a pair of pliers to examine it closer.
"The... amulet... is... still active? Is what you meant?" I nodded confirming her guess, but at this, she just looked even more confused.
"What do you mean, it's still active? You mean like..."
I interrupted her by pointing to my own chest horn, and then to her. She stopped for a while, looking like she was in thought, when finally the burst of realization came.
"You mean that sliver is still responding to emotions?"
I nodded again, finally managing to get my message across completely. She opened the amulet and looked at the sliver that was held within, fascinated that it could still contain such power even after being removed from its source. Pacing around the room for a while, she eventually closed it up again and let it fall back to her chest, looking satisfied somehow.
"Oh well, so what if it still has some power left in it? That just makes it even cooler than it already was, it shows our friendship even better in fact. Don't you agree?"
I did agree to some extent, but I still had my uncertainties as to whether the power was harmless or not, I reluctantly nodded in agreement, finishing up my soup which I had left untouched for a few moments now, thankfully it hadn't gotten cold. Steph did the same, and took the two finished bowls away, leaving me to ponder the mysteries of the amulet.
I knew that my worries weren't entirely unjustified. Her emotions had been terribly volatile ever since she had bought the trinket, and there was always the possibility she would do something regrettable before she became accustomed to its effects. Then again, it was true that it could be something amazing. I knew that I couldn't imagine what it was like to not be able to feel others emotions, and maybe this way, we could understand each other better. I slowly stepped over toward her, resolving to keep a closer eye on her for a few days, just in case.
She smiled at me briefly before stepping back to the study, sitting down in the chair while breathing deeply. I had been paying so much attention to the amulet, that I had barely noticed her condition. She looked even paler than before, and a little green around the edges of her face. She put a hand on her chest, wincing as she glanced up at me. "I guess I must look pretty ill, by the look on your face..." I nodded in response, joining her grimace. "You think I should get some medicine? It's starting to sound pretty good to me..." Nodding to her in response, I helped her to her feet.
Thankfully, the local pharmacy wasn't that far of a walk. Much closer than the Slateport market. As we walked, she found herself stumbling often, and I found myself having to help her stand intermittently. "Sorry, Sari... I just feel kind of light-headed right now. Thanks for the help, though." As we entered the pharmacy, the storekeeper looked up at us, chuckling. "Look at you two... I've heard that trainers often style themselves after Pokémon, but..." A irritated glower from the pair of us silenced him, causing him to duck back awkwardly toward the shelves in back. "I'll, uh... I'll just get you some Potions and antibiotics, then."
That night, I decided to head out. I told Steph I wouldn't be back until later, and she assured me that she could take care of herself and that she would take it easy. I decided to pay a visit to an old friend of mine, someone who I hadn't seen in months. I wasn't one hundred percent sure of where he would be, but I had an inkling about his location. He knew a lot about the occult and mysterious happenings in general, he might be able to explain what was going on with the sliver in that amulet. I asked Steph if I could take it with me but she refused, saying she was worried that I might accidentally drop it. How I would do that was beyond me, but I paid it no notice and left without it.
After exiting the house, I took the route the led north out of Slateport City. My destination was Mauville city, which thankfully wasn't too far away, especially as I was able to teleport half of the distance there. Teleporting tires me out though, so I couldn't do the whole journey just in one like that. There wasn't a massive walk left to cover after the teleport, as I had already walked a quarter of the distance, so before long, I had hit the border of Mauville. I knew I was close now. This friend of mine lived in a woodland near the city, so all I had to do was walk around the outskirts and I knew I'd find him. I eventually found the woodland hidden away behind an abandoned power plant, I took in the somewhat refreshing mist that had surrounded the area and started looking for my old friend. I didn't think there would be anyone else in the area, so if I picked up on any emotional resonance, I knew I'd be in business.
I eventually noted something - a calm cheerful aura, very nearby. I knew this had to be him, and this was confirmed when I came upon a Chimecho wrapped around a tree branch, taking a little nap. I wasn't expecting him to be asleep, so I wasn't exactly sure how to go about waking him up without being incredibly rude. He gently swung about as a small breeze blew past, and the bell upon his tiny head started ringing. I tentatively approached him with the lightest step possible, but as soon as I was near him, he began moving. I thought I had woken him up, but oddly, his eyes were still closed. He unwrapped himself from the tree, floated over to me and wrapped himself around my neck like a scarf, then opening his with his face in front of mine.
"Boo!"
"AH!"
Not expecting something like that, I stumbled back and fell over, which he found hilarious. I quickly picked myself back up and tickled him so he'd get off, slightly annoyed, but seeing the joke as well.
"I never knew you were such a prankster!"
"What can I say? That's what you get for not seeing me in ages!" he said with a chuckle, clearly he meant that light heartedly. We finally greeted each other properly and told each other about what had been going on in each other's lives.
As I approached the end of my stories, he began to bob slowly in the air. "You came to see me because you were worried, didn't you? And here I was, thinking you just wanted to see me!" He chuckled "Only joking, but still... It does sound like nothing I've ever seen before." I nodded in response, frowning glumly. "Do you think it's because of the amulet that she's sick?" I asked worriedly.
He hovered there for a few moments, musing over my words. "I think... Maybe she's not sick at all. Maybe its just stress from the power of the amulet."
"But-!" I shouted out, interrupting him. "She's pale, and weak, and... I don't think you can just say that's all from stress!"
He continued bobbing in the air, floating about in small circles as he spoke slowly. "Maybe it's you rubbing off on her, Sari. I mean... Look at yourself. You're pretty pale, wouldn't you think?"
"But..."
"You said that she's trying to show her friendship with you, didn't you? And even the person you saw a few hours ago said you looked similar."
"But she..."
"I think it'd be best to just ask her directly. If she's doing something to try to make herself look more like you."
I nodded slowly. It would kind of make sense. She did say that she was feeling fine when we first noticed it, and didn't want me to worry. But why would she keep something like that a secret from me? It didn't make sense.
"Just be honest about your concerns, Sari. She can tell when you're sincere."
I slowly nodded. "Thanks for the advice, old friend. I'm sorry I couldn't stay longer, but..."
"I understand." His smile brightened suddenly as he floated around me rapidly. "But you have to come back and visit properly within the week, deal?"
His cheerfulness helped brighten my spirits, as I smiled back to him. "Deal. I'll see you soon."
By the time I got back, it was near enough midnight. Nothing much happened on the journey home, apart from a few encounters with wild Pokémon that didn't really do much apart from stare at me. I silently approached the front door and not wanting to make a noise with the door opening, teleported into the living room, however, not being able to see my destination directly, I ended up teleporting about a meter above the ground, and gravity decided to slap me in the face by bringing me down with a loud thud, ruining my "silent entrance" plan. However, when I looked up from the floor, I saw Steph was still awake anyway, reading a book on the sofa using a small table lamp.
"Oh Sari you silly thing, why didn't you just open the door?"
"Because that would be boring, of course!" I thought quizzically, wishing I could say it aloud.
"Hehe, I guess you're right, it would be a little boring wouldn't it?" She said in reply, which at first didn't register with me properly, but almost on cue in about five seconds we both stared at each other in disbelief.
"Did you just... hear what I was thinking?" I thought again, seeing if she had actually picked up on what I had thought last time or just guessed what I was thinking.
"Yes, I did! I can hear you in my head like you were speaking in English!" she proclaimed, with the oddest mixture of confusion and excitement in her expression.
For a moment, I stared, dumbfounded. I didn't know what to think. Maybe she was mastering the abilities that the amulet granted her, or maybe she had just had an unknown talent awakened in her. All I knew is that, at long last, we could properly talk to each other. I flung myself forward, wrapping my arms around her happily.
"You can understand me! We can talk!" My mind was filled pure joy, an emotion that resonated between the pair of us. It flowed from my mind into her amulet, through her, and back into my horn. The pair of us laughed with glee, before I stepped back, grinning wildly.
"So... Is there anything you want to talk about? Anything at all?" My worries about the amulet and her illness had been washed away. All I cared about right now was finally being able to speak properly with one of my oldest friends.
"I-I'm not... Ahhh. There are so many things I want to talk about! I can't pick what I want to ask you first!" She laughed, pacing about rapidly."Let me think for a moment... How about this. You're able to tell what being a human is like, from being around me, aren't you? Well... I've always wanted to know what it's like to be a Gardevoir."
I nodded slowly, musing to myself what I would say in response. "I don't think I can really just... explain it. With words, I mean. But, since you can sense my thoughts and emotions, I guess I could... Show you?" I looked at her quizzically, stretching out my hand to her.
"Show me?" suddenly she seemed a bit afraid, but at the same time, curious. She tentatively reached out her hand towards mine, and when they finally touched, another resonance occurred, this time much bigger, and I felt my emotions course into hers.
I summoned up every experience, every little bit of how I existed at that moment, and let it flow into her. My hand shimmered brightly with psychic energy as my thoughts, my emotions, my feeling, the very core of my being as a Gardevoir was summoned into it, flowing through the spot where we touched, letting the resonance build up, burning and shimmering visibly through the air. I could feel the Gardevoir existence burning throughout er, as she flinched backward, lifting her hand away and placing it on her chest, shielding the light from the amulet, which shimmered with psychic energy. Despite her distance, the resonance still burned between us, lessened now, but I could still sense that deep inside the heart of a Gardevoir burned inside her as much as her human one.
"Bloody hell Sari, that was... intense. I'm not sure I feel too good." She barely squeaked, putting a hand to her forehead and kneeling down, resting her other hand on the nearby coffee table and looking down.
"Are you alright, Steph? I'm not sure if this is a good time to tell you this but your heart... I can sense it's becoming more and more like mine."
"More and more like mine? What do you mean by th- ARGH!" she suddenly exclaimed, when a psychic aura started glowing around her. Her hair started changing to a shade of green and changed to look more like one piece, almost looking exactly like mine. My heart sank as I realized what was happening, and I entered into a mild panic as I tried to find some way to stop what was happening. How on earth could she be suddenly shifting like this!?
"Steph! Say something, anything! What's going on!?"
She remained silent as the change progressed, her already paler than usual skin turning full white and her clothes merging into her body, changing to look more like a ballroom dress. Her arms, however, instead turned green, and her digits became less and less pronounced as they merged into three on the end of her arm. I knelt down by her side, gripping her changed hands in mine.
"Steph! Please! Talk to me!"
She looked up at me, her eyes a deep red and obscured by much of her hair. "S-sar...i?" She looked confused, trying to struggle to her feet as er body grew thin, the green of her arms reaching down into a band across her torso. "I-I guess that I am starting to be more like you..."
"Sari, I'm so sorry... I didn't mean to-"
She cut me off, shaking her head as I helped her to her feet, or rather legs; her feet had vanished into the long, spindly white of her legs, mostly obscured behind her gown. She gasped for breath as she spoke, her words coming slowly, and slightly accented, like my own were when I practiced human speech.."It's... It's okay. I don't mind... I guess... I guess that It's something I kind of wanted." She smiled to me weakly as she tried to stand on her own, stepping back gingerly as she released my hands. "You know... Thinking about it, all the things that were happening over the last few days, I was mostly a Gardevoir anyway... AH!" With a yell she dropped to her knees, clutching at her chest as the amulet still dangling from her neck began to shimmer brightly. She gingerly lifted her hands away as a vibrant red horn slid outward, glowing brightly with the violet light of psychic power. She gasped in amazement, looking around the room as she felt pure emotion flowing through her directly, no longer needing the amulet as an intermediary.
Almost as a sign of this paradigm shift, the amulet slipped off her neck and onto the floor. We both stared at it for a while, not really knowing what to say. I felt terrible for having put her through this, and I knew that she'd be picking up on that now, which would make her feel worse and create a vicious cycle of negativity, which I could feel creeping in almost immediately.
To my surprise, though, she shook her head, and I could feel her struggling to project her own emotions, rather than being tossed about in my own. I could feel excitement, wonder, amazement, thankfulness... All these feelings pouring out from her, helping to lift my spirits somewhat. I looked at her as she smiled at me, and for the first time, spoke to her in my natural voice.
"You... You're alright?"
"Sari..." she spoke softly, her voice barely changed from how it was before, and still speaking with her human language, which I could understand, it's not like she'd be comfortable with speaking like a Pokémon straight away. "I'm better than fine. I'm not bothered by this at all. We've also been so close, you and I. Sometimes I wondered if this is how people saw me anyway." She chuckled, pulling me in for an unexpected hug.
"But, what about your family, your friends? Aren't you worried about what they'll think?"
She paused for a moment, thinking long and hard about her answer. Eventually, she came out with something that surprised me.
"You know what, I've read a lot of books in my time where the main character has had something like this happen to them and they just decide to leave behind their previous life and start all over again from square one. But why should that have to be the case? Yeah... it'll be scary revealing something like this to them... but I know that they'll still accept me as me, regardless of what I look like. And besides..." she stopped, and looked into my eyes "...I couldn't have chosen a better Pokémon to turn into!"
I smiled to her, holding her close.. "I agree... Maybe I'm biased, but I can't think of something more fitting for you to be." We stepped back, as we took each other's hands, and I saw a spark of an idea in her eyes.
"Perhaps we can go and talk to my friends and family later, but..." She smiled awkwardly to me and blushed slightly as she spoke "I was wondering if maybe, you'd like to dance."
I smiled back, not needing to respond, as we began to step together, circling the room in a slow, elegant dance. Our smiles reflected in each others faces as our happiness built in a quiet resonance between us.
6 months later
The same market in Slateport city. It had been six months since we'd come here last and Steph bought that amulet from the strange man with the laughing Croagunk. Not a lot had changed since then though, we still saw the same familiar faces, Steph has in fact become quite famous around these parts - the teenage girl from Slateport who became a Pokémon overnight. Strangely, as Steph and I had discovered a few months after it happened, this hadn't actually been the first reported incident of this happening to a human being, or at least the doctors said as much. Normally the incidents were tied to supernatural phenomena like that of the amulet, and the doctors said they were still working on a way to reverse the process, though Steph didn't even flinch when they said that reversal might not even be possible.
Yes, it was true... some decided to resort to insults and fear-mongering. Normally a double glare from the both of us did the trick to scare them off. I guess it's hard for them to understand if they haven't had it happen to them. It was nice to know that generally speaking though, most of the people around here seemed to accept Steph just like the way she was before, which made her really happy. She was happy in general, in fact. She seemed to approach her new form more with wonder than anything else. Joy and excitement from the possibilities that came with it. I was glad to be her friend through this.
Walking around the crowd, we eventually found a familiar looking tent on the other side of a group of people, and a familiar toxic frog cackling at the passers by. We made our way over and called out to the strange man, hoping he'd emerge from the tent so we could see him. He glanced out for a moment and looked about wildly before noticing us, stepping out with a subtle smile on his face.
"Pleased with your purchase then?"
Steph nodded emphatically, her broad grin showing that there was no need for words. his smile broadened back to her.
"I've not been wrong in picking a customer yet. Got something of a knack for picking out people who'll appreciate my wares." He paused for a moment, glancing down at her horn. "Looks like it's a little chipped, there. Don't mind if I...?"
She shook her head, letting him kneel down and tap free a tiny sliver of her horn that had become dislodged somehow, gently holding it as he pulled a small, empty, silver locket from his pocket. The Croagunk cackled loudly as he placed the small sliver within the locket, gingerly closing it and handing it back to the frog.
"Don't worry about that little chip. It'll smooth over in no time, and your horn'll be as good as new."
Steph nodded, smiling to him as she managed to mumble a quiet "Thanks" before stepping back and away. She was still smiling, though, and he returned the smile with that odd laugh of his, waving us farewell as he ducked back into the tent. As soon as we turned around, we saw a little boy, aged around ten or so from his looks, looking up at us with stars in his eyes.
"Oh wow, you're the lady who turned into a Pokémon, right? That's so cool!"
With a grin, she knelt down, nodding emphatically. "That's me!" The two of them began to talk, the boy eagerly asking about his apparent idol.
We arrived back at home some time later, her face locked in a giddy grin. She was always so happy to be out, among other people and the tides of their emotions. She turned to me with a twirl, smiling happily. "Ready to start practicing?"
I nodded, pulling the dictionary from the bookshelf as she carefully, slowly, levitated a chair over to me. Both of us trying to explore the other's world. She smiled to me as the human words rolled off of my tongue easier than before, practicing her psychic abilities by turning the pages for me. As I glanced up at her, a smile crept across her face. "I've been thinking. I'm still a registered trainer, and, well... Do you think you might want to try out for some Contests? I've always been curious how well we could perform in one and now, we can perform together!"
I smiled back up at her, nodding. Carefully, I spoke to her in her native language. "I would like to try that, Steph." I grimaced for a moment. That sounded a bit awkward. I still had a ways to go. Instead, I just let my enthusiasm wash through me, standing up and giving my dear friend a hug. "I'm glad we're friends, Steph."
"Me too."