Chapter 4
"Dad why can't I come with you? I have been doing well in my studies with Para, Bastion, and the others."
"You're still too young to accompany me Jack and it is too dangerous for you right now. When you get older and can prove to me you are capable , I will let you come with me, but for right now you will have to stay with Para until I return."
"But I want to be with you dad," Jack said as he started to cry.
"There's no reason to cry son. I won't be gone for long and when I get back we will have plenty of time to spend together," Jack's father said with a smile as he wiped Jack's tears away from his face.
"Can I have a hug before you leave dad?" Jack said.
"Sure," Jack's father said as he kneeled. The two hugged for a few minutes before being interrupted by Bastion.
"I am sorry to interrupt you two, but as you requested it is time to start Jack's tutoring."
The sun had nearly reached its peak. The young man sat patiently in the room looking out the window. As he was staring out the window the door to the room opened. He did not respond as a nurse audino entered the room. "Good afternoon, my name is Mira and I came to see how are you feeling?" the audino said. The young man turned his head towards the audino. "I am feeling fine," he said in a bored tone. "Lunch will be served soon. I came to ask if you would like me to bring it to you here or would you like me to bring you to the dining area?" the Mira said. The young man glanced out the window and back at the audino. "Do I want to go to the dining area or eat in this room? That is a hard choice. On one hand, I could stay here and enjoy the view from this room or I could ask you to help me to the dining area and see if it has such a nice view," the young man said. The young man continued to think as the audino patiently waited for him to make his decision. The young man looked out the window and then back towards the audino. "I think today I will have my lunch in this room today and by any chance do you have a chess board and a backgammon board?" The young said. "I will have to go check to see if we have a backgammon board, but I am pretty sure we have a chess board somewhere. I will go bring you some food before I go look for the boards," The Mira said in a happy tone. The audino slowly closed the door as she left the room to go get the young man some food.
The young man laid in the bed for a few minutes staring up at the ceiling. He started to lose himself in his own thoughts. "I wonder where Para and Bastion are. I know they are always nearby but I can't seem to sense their presence. Were they always this good at hiding their presence and have they been hiding this from me? What of the others? Maybe if I were to meditate like Blue taught me, I could be able to sense their presence. They can handle themselves but I should be more worried on getting my suit back. I do not want them stumbling upon my personal belongings. By now I would assume that they found my medical supplies and possibly the cesium. If they found the cesium they might get the wrong idea about me. Then again it would be kind of funny if they thought I would be using the cesium for some dastardly plan only to find out it is leftovers from a failed engine experiment. What of the female arcanine? Does she plan to adopt me? If so what does she plan to do with me? Should I run back into hiding? Her aura though, it was so warm and soothing just like Para's, yet her aura has its slight differences and reminds me of my mother's aracnine. Could she be his offspring? If he is still alive what would he think of what I have become? Would he be proud of me for the achievements I have made or in terror for those achievements? What would my mother think? What would my father think?"
The door to the room opened with the audino walking in carrying a tray of food. The young man continued to stare at the ceiling as he was lost in his thoughts. "I was not sure if you had any preferences in food so I brought a variety," the Mira said with a happy tone. The young man sat up and looked at the food. He took the tray from the audino, put it on his lap, picked up the plastic spoon and fork, and started to eat the food slowly. "How do you like it?" the Mira asked. The young man stopped eating to reply, "The food is not as bad as I thought it would be. Plus, with the food I have had to eat over the years it is a welcoming sight to see a meal like this." The Mira smiled and said, "I am glad you are enjoying it. Once you are finished with the food would you kindly place the tray on the table." The young man continued to eat for a few minutes as the audino stood watching. He stopped for a moment to ask, "Is something wrong? You have been watching me for while I am eating." The Mira replied, "I do not mean to make you nervous, but I would not want you to choke on the food and have no one nearby to assist you." The young man smiled slightly and said, "Thank you." He then proceeded to finish the food while the audino watched him. After he was finished with the food he placed the tray on the table next to the cup of water and the audino picked up the tray. "I will be back with the chess board you asked for right after I put this tray where it belongs," the Mira said as she walked towards the door. She opened the door and shut it slowly behind her.
The lucario who had talked to the young man earlier in the day was making his way to talk to his teacher. He walked into the alakazam's office. The alakazam was busy inspecting the craftsmanship of the device the young man had worn when he was brought in. The alakazam turned to his pupil and asked, "How is the young man doing? Did he reveal anything about this device?" The lucario replied, "He is doing well and he is currently concerned about getting this suit back. One thing that I believe is important to note is he understands us fluently and he has not even taken the pills to adjust his hearing." The alakazam was surprised. "Are you sure he has not taken the pills? If he has learned to understand pokemon it could mean that he is a pokeliguist, a researcher of some sort, or has an extremely loyal pokemon translating for him with telepathic abilities. I doubt he naturally learned to understand pokemon. The suit as the young man refers to it is very interesting. You can tell a lot of effort went into it." the alakazam said. "There is also another reason I came to talk to you. The young man made me an offer that might interest you," The lucario said. The alakzam was intrigued with what the offer could be and asked, "What is the offer?" The lucario took a deep breath and said. "He said that he wants me to play a game and if he wins he gets his suit back but should I win he will answer one question within limits. He also told me to take my time and think it over with someone. I came to you because I am not sure if I should take the young man on for his offer or if I should reject it. Before I left the room, the young man made a gesture that magicians use. Do you know what that could possible mean?" The alakazam thought to himself for a moment. "I think that taking the young man's offer might be a poor decision unless we can have him follow an agreement that if he wins he will not try to escape with the suit. Ultimately the decision lies with you. Well the magician gesture I have no idea what it could mean. It could mean he knows some magic tricks," The alakazam said. The lucario thanked his teacher on his input on the situation and left the room.
The lucario started to walk around the center to make his final decision. As the lucario was passing the room the young man was in he saw one of the nurses an audino carrying what looked to be an old wooden case. The outside of the case looked to be a chess board that was hand crafted with lots of care, but one of the metal latches that kept the case shut had not aged as well. The hinges on the case had be replaced with newer ones and the other latch had been replaced with a newer latch. The case was four inches thick, twenty-one inches long, and fourteen inches wide. The lucario waved towards the nurse. "Good afternoon Mira, what is that you have there?" The lucario said with a curious tone. "Good afternoon Adam, the case is a chess and backgammon board. It opens as a chessboard on the outside and a backgammon board on the inside. I had to ask nurse Grace if we had a backgammon board to begin with and she found this under most of the other boards games," Mira replied with a smile. "By the way, why are you carrying that case?" Adam asked. "The young man asked for me to bring him a chess board and a backgammon board," Mira replied. The Adam started to stare as he stood still and started to wonder if the young man's offer pertained to one of the games. "Adam, are you ok?" Mira asked concerned. "Sorry I zoned out. I have got a lot on my mind," Adam replied. "Is it something I can help you with? Mira asked. "It's nothing that I can't handle," Adam replied with a smile and started to continue walking. "If there is anything that I can do to assist you do not hesitate to ask," Mira said as the Adam walked off and she continued with the board to the room the young man was in.
Mira arrived at the door and placed the case down carefully and knocked on the door softly before opening the door. She opened the door slightly then picked the case up and continued to open the door slowly. Inside the young man was sitting on the side of the bed staring out the window when Mira knocked. As the door opened the young man turned to the door as Mira entered. His eyes first looked at the Mira's face and then darted towards the case she was carrying. The young man smiled slightly while his eyes gave a surprised look on his face. "I did not expect to see such a nice hand-crafted case," the young man said with a minor amount of excitement he was clearly trying to hide. "Is there somewhere specific you would like me to set the case?" Mira asked with a smile on her face. The young man patted with his left arm on the bed. Mira walked over and placed the case softly on the bed.
The young man moved his hand slowly across the case admiring the amount of effort went into the case. He slowly opened the case. Within it were a full set of chess pieces all hand carved from two different types of wood that had a two-inch diameter base, a complete set of backgammon pieces made from the same two types of wood and two pairs of dice one brown pair brown while the other was white. The young man picked up each chess piece individually studying each closely as he moved the pieces one by one onto the table next to the bed. The young man quickly noticed that the set of the pieces were not only different in color but in their carving. The darker pieces had all the pieces looking up while the lighter pieces were all looking down. The pawns were carvings of a boy with a growlithe. The darker pieces had a blind fold on the boy while the lighter pieces had a blindfold on the growlithe. The rooks were of a regigigas and a girl. The darker set had the regigigas protecting the girl from something from the sky while the lighter set had the regigigas holding the girl above its head to keep her above something. The knights were men who wore armor that resembled different pokemon and carried a two-handed halberd both pointing upwards on their backs. The darker set's armor resembled an aggron with the man looking up to the horizon while carrying a potted plant, the lighter set's armor resembled a tyranitar with the man looking on what is before him, a withered plant. The bishops were all ninetails each set had one that had a sinister grin and one that had a sincere smile. The pieces followed the same positioning of the set they were in. The young man stopped for a moment and stared at the four ninetails for a few minutes before moving on. The last four pieces were the king and queen of each set. Both queens were a gardevoir that had their heads turn towards the king. The king of the lighter set was a man on a thrown who looked miserable with shackles binding him to the thrown while the darker set was a man sitting under a tree looking happily up at the branches.
After all the chess pieces were placed on the table the young man looked at the backgammon pieces. Each of them followed the same design of a man and a beast, that did not resemble any living creature, on each side. Each piece had the man with a different emotion and the beast with the same emotion. After looking at all the pieces the young man stacked the backgammon pieces on the table next to the chess pieces. He then turned towards Mira. "Would you be interested in playing a match of backgammon?" the young man asked. "I am sorry but I will have to decline your offer for now. I need to check up on a few things and see if anyone else needs help, but once that is done I should have some free time in the evening if you are still willing to play," Mira replied. "Before you head out could you tell the lucario who was here earlier to come see me. I would like to talk to him about something," The young man asked. "If I see him I will inform him of your request," Mira said. Mira then walked out of the room and closed the door behind her softly.
"Para, Jack has not left the room he was placed in since he woke up. He looks like he is fine but I am unsure how comfortable he is feeling. I am surprised that he recovered from the burns so quickly, but I am worried about how he is holding up mentally. You know him better than I do and it is for that reason I must ask you why we must keep our distance from him and watch from afar?"
"I wish I could explain it to you Bastion. The simplest way I guess is that I keep having a nightmare with Jack in peril and we lack the ability to save him."
"Can you elaborate on it or is the dream too vague?"
"I can only remember the peril Jack was in but nothing else. There is another reason, I am worried what will become of Jack once we die. I do not want him to feel abandoned or alone after we are gone and It frightens me to think of what will happen to Jack once that happens."
"I can understand how you feel, but is that not more of a reason to spend the limited time we have left? If you do not mind when Jack sets up that chess board I am going to play him for a few matches."
"That should be fine just do not get seen by anyone."
After Mira had left the young began to setup the chess board. After all the pieces were in place he moved one of the pieces forward. Then after a few minutes of waiting a piece on the other side moved in response. The young man smiled and proceeded to move his next piece. "it's nice to know Bastion is nearby. If only I could find out where Bastion is so that I could talk to Para again. I can sense him moving the piece but not his location," the young man thought. After a minute another piece moved. The young man then moved his piece and another piece on the other side moved again. The match lasted five minutes before the young man was checkmated. "again?" the young man said quietly. The pieces were reset without the young man needing to touch them. The young man proceeded to play a few matches of chess that lasted for almost an hour before the young man got tired of playing. Then the pieces stopped moving and the door to the room opened.
Adam walked in and said, "Mira informed me that you would like to talk with me." The young man turned towards Adam and said, "The offer I made you. Have you made your decision or is there something you are afraid of by accepting the offer?" the young man asked. "I was wondering what will you do with the suit once you get it back, and will you attempt to run if you were to get your suit back?" Adam said in a concerned tone. The young man looked up for a second then looked back at Adam. "I don't really have any plans of going anywhere at the moment but getting my suit back would bring me some peace of mind.," the young man said. "I do not mean to be rude but how do I know you will keep your promise. I have only known you for less than a day," Adam replied. "That is true that you do not have a reason to trust me, but have I given you a reason not to trust me? Plus, I can't really go anywhere very far with this cast on my leg," the young man said while pointing to the cast and started to laugh afterwards. "What is so funny?" Adam asked. "You are. Even after what I just said, you act so on guard as if I could attack you at any time. Adam froze from what the young man said. "I can tell that you are extremely cautious and it is nice to know that. I would like to know what your decision is soon so that we may play," the young man said with a smile. Adam thought about what the young man said for a few minutes and then said, "I will take your offer on the condition that you make me that promise that you will not leave unless something urgent happens and that if something urgent happens come to me so that I can decide if I can permit you to leave. Is that arrangement okay with you?" The young man nodded. After the young man had agreed to the arrangement Adam informed him that he would return shortly and they could begin the game the young man wanted to play.
Adam made his way back to his teacher's office to inform him on the decision he has made. Adam walked in seeing his instructor busy with paper work. The young man's suit was standing on its own in the corner behind the alakazam. The alakazam's eyes were scanning quickly through the paperwork at immense speeds every so often stopping to fill sections out. "Sorry to interrupt you while you are busy but I have made my decision about the young man and wanted to inform you," Adam said. "And what have you chosen to do?" the alakazam replied while continuing to work through the papers, his speed slowing while talking. "I have decided to accept his offer and was able to make him accept some terms so that he will not run off. I have also learned that the young man values that suit a lot, but I am unsure as to why he values it so much. He was very perceptive to how cautious I was during the conversation and thanked me for it. Lastly, the young man does not seem to be interested in running away while he has that cast on," Adam said in a slight happy tone. The alakazam looked up at Adam. "You seem to take quiet an interest in this young man. Why don't you take the rest of the day off and focus on the game. It has been rather quiet the past couple of days here so I thought you could enjoy some down time for your being such a hard-working apprentice. I will call for you only if I need your assistance," the alakazam replied. Adam was surprised and bowed for a bit before raising his head. "Thank you, sir. I will make the most of the time you have given me," Adam immediately replied upon raising his head. Adam stood for a few seconds before walking out of the room and heading back to the room the young man was in.
Adam stood before the door, the room the young man was in, and took a deep breath before opening the door. Adam walked in to the room and closed the door behind him. The young man turned to Adam. "So, what is the game you want to play for our wager?" Adam asked. The young man smiled and moved the chess pieces off the case gently. Then the young man flipped the case over to the backgammon side and started setting up the game slowly. "The game will be backgammon. If you do not know how to play, I can teach you," the young man said. "No, I know how to play, but I am interested in why you chose backgammon for the game?" Adam replied. "It is a game I hold dear to me from my childhood and I thought it would be good to let our wager come down to chance. Also, I thought it would be a good choice for the game to have a level playing field," the young man said with a smile on his face. The young man started to pick up the pace of setting up the game. After setting up the game, the young man had an excited grin on his face. He picked up the dice and gave one die to Adam. "Would you like us to roll at the same time or one after the other?' the young man asked with excitement. Adam thought about it for a few seconds before responding, "It does not matter to me. I will let you decide." The young mad nodded. "Ok, we will roll at the count of three," the young man said. The young man counted to three and both of them threw their dice simultaneously. The young man rolled a one while Adam rolled a six. "Looks like you go first. I am interested to see how you play. Good luck and may the best player win," the young man said.
The match started, and the room became silent. As the match went on the silence was broken when the young man started to chuckle. "What is so funny?" Adam asked in a confused tone. "The both of us right now. It reminds me of when I use to play this game with my family. Those were some good times… though I rarely had much time to play. The way you play reminds me of Blue. He was always focused on the task at hand and was such a hard worker. You remind me with your play style and the energy you give off," the young man said. Adam could sense the young man's aura give a clash of emotions. Adam could tell from the young man's aura that he was conflicted. "Are you ok?" Adam asked concerned. The young man stared at Adam chest. "Yeah… I'm fine… just that… I haven't thought about those memories in a long time," the young man replied while nodding his head slightly while still looking at the game. The young man looked up at adam and asked, "I know this may be rude of me to ask, but it has been on my mind since I saw you here. Why have you chosen to work here in a center when you could do other jobs that would clearly allow you to excel?" Adam was surprised slightly from the question but smiled as he replied with joy. "I know a lot of people and Pokemon find it weird of me to choose to work in a center, but I believe that I could find a way to use my power of aura to help others. I know I could use that same power to excel in other careers such as a police officer or martial arts instructor, but I don't feel like they would ever give me the same joy as helping others." The young man just smiled as he watched how enthusiastic Adam was as he spoke. The two continued to play the game and talk for a couple of minutes until the young man had won. Both went quiet looking at one another before the Adam spoke. "Looks like you won, so as promised I will bring your suit to you," The young man nodded as Adam got up and just before he left the room the young man said, "It was a pleasure playing with you. I am truly thankful for the match and look forward to playing against you in the future." Adam turned around nodded towards the young man with a smile before exiting the room.