Many hours have passed since I rested. When I woke up, I quickly put my dress on, grabbed my pad and pen and my make-up pouch and went out the door, ready to begin my quest to become a stronger Pokemon. Many thought were running through my mind as I was walking to my first destination. I often wondered what kind of advice I was going to get and how I would use that to my advantage. I wanted to make sure that I listen to what everyone has to tell me and I look over the notes carefully.
I soon arrive at my first destination: Latios' house. When I rang the doorbell, so many thoughts were running through my mind. I wondered if Latios would even consider talking to me. Dialga's words kept repeating itself in my head: Latios doesn't think highly of girls. I was honestly afraid that he would not tell me how I could become as strong. Not only was he three years older than me and was a foot and six inches taller than me, but he was also five times powerful than I am.
This was part of the reason as to why I told Dialga not to come with me. Because for this particular visit, I wanted to show Latios that I could take him on by myself; that I could handle his opinions without Dialga always jumping to my rescue. I just want this guy to actually respect me instead of seeing me as just another fragile female Pokemon who's weaker. Plus, I wanted to take this journey myself. I wanted to find the path of strength on my own, since this was about finding what makes ME strong.
As I stood outside the door, it finally opened. At the door, stood a young, fragile little girl with long pinkish-reddish hair and an old school styled dress that was red, had a white sash and had puffy sleeves with blue triangles on them. This happened to be a little girl that I really did not like. However, I had to be nice to her since she and Dialga and the rest of our group are good friends.
"Hey, Latias, is Latios here?" I asked politely while trying to hide my dislike for this girl.
"Yes, but I cannot get him to the door," she whispered. "You see, I'm grounded, and I can't let Latios know that I'm out of my room."
"But can't Latios hear the doorbell from here?" I asked.
After I asked that question, she looked down at the ground with such shame. I sensed that in her mind, she knew that Latios could hear the doorbell ringing, and with her at the door, it would give it away that she was disobeying him, again. This was pretty much the reason why I disliked Latias. It was because I found her to be rude, disrespectful and she thinks she's all that and a bag of chips. Dialga thinks she's an angel however, based on what happened with us on the beach, I see differently.
"… and what do we have here?" a familiar male voice said from the background.
Through the door, I could see him coming towards us. He was a very tall guy, indeed. His blue hair was cut short, he was as tan as a wooden table, he had a dark blue sweatshirt with an red triangle in the middle and his light blue pants made him not only taller, but leaner. He glared at Latias as she turned to him and froze. She was so busted.
"Go to the kitchen," he ordered with not a lot of emotion in his voice.
Latias started to walk to the kitchen. As she was doing that, he slowly walked over to the doorway. From that moment, I was shaking in my boots. He gave me a smirk and narrowed his eyes at me. I was, in a way, afraid of him. When he stood at the doorway, I felt as if he was staring me down. I really didn't want to look him in the eye, but since I am here to ask him some questions but out of respect for him, I managed to look him in his dark red eyes.
"What do you need?" he asked in a voice that sounds as if he was annoyed. "If you're here to play with Latias, then you came at the wrong time. She's grounded."
"Actually Latios, I came to talk with you," I said while trying to hide that I was shaking.
Latios raised an eyebrow when he heard that I was here to talk to him. With his eyes, he double-took twice. "Hm…"
"Talk about what?" Latios asked.
"I want to talk with you about strength. About what could I do to make myself stronger," I replied while avoiding giving him a long story. "Basically, I need your advice."
He then stood up taller as he crossed his arms and let out a light chuckle. I was pretty sure that he was laughing at the idea of me wanting to seek his advice on how to be strong, especially from what after Dialga told me about him. If a dainty girl such as myself came up to someone who was respected because of their place on the list, then I would be laughing as well. I don't blame Latios for laughing.
"Oh that's cute! You want to seek my advice, huh?" Latios asked while still chuckling lightly. "Okay, girl, I can do that, but know that I have strong opinions and I never hold back."
"First off, my name is Palkia and second, I'm strong enough to hear your opinions. Plus it will only make me stronger," I said in an annoyed tone.
Sorry, but I just hate it when he doesn't remember my name. Calling me 'girl' was pretty much taking away my identity; a blow to my self-confidence. Plus, from our first encounter and now that he talks to Dialga somewhat, he should know my name. I am strong enough to hear what he says to me. I promised myself that I would not cry if he says something I didn't like. Like I said before, this was part of the reason why I told Dialga not to come. Because in this situation, him defending me would make me look bad in Latios' eyes.
"Very well then, Palkia, come in and sit at the table," Latios rolled his eyes as he lead me into the house and into the kitchen.
After closing the door behind me, I followed him through the rather small living area and into the decent sized kitchen. The kitchen had a bar-like table in the front. From there, Latios pointed to the table as a motion for me to sit there. I went over and grabbed a stool and sat down at the table, with my pen and pad ready to take his notes. Latios went around the bar table and looked straight at his little sister, who was standing there waiting for him. I guess that he wants to have a talk with Latias first before talking to me.
"Alright Latias, you were grounded for what?" Latios asked while crossing his arms.
"For drawing on the walls," she answered in her normal soft tone.
"… and what do you do?" he said in a stern tone. "You disobeyed my orders. I told you to stay in your room."
Latios just stood there, glaring at his little sister. I looked to my left and I saw where the young girl had made her marks. The wall had all kinds of crayon marks all over it. There were also some faded marks as well, so this might not be the first time she's done this. There was also a pail of water right by it. I was assuming that he was getting ready to scrub the walls until either I came or he went off somewhere and now he had to deal with me. Either way, Latios looked like he was extremely stressed out.
"Go to your room," he ordered.
However, this time, she actually did what she was ordered to do without hesitation or back talk. She walked, with her nose up in the air, to her room and slammed the door. I know that if Dialga were here, she would be defiant about the whole thing, but since he's not here to protect her, it's a whole different story. All I was doing at the moment was just letting Latios' accent flow in my ears. He then turned to me and began to lean on the bar table.
"Okay, what do you want to ask me?" he asked as he stared at me.
"I need you to give me advice on how to become as strong as you all," I said as I readied my pen.
"Here it goes. You can become strong, Palkia. However, you can never become as strong as Dialga, or me," Latios said. "I don't think you'll even be top ten worthy."
I could never become as strong as Latios or Dialga? Why not? This was a question that was racing through my head as soon as I heard him say that. If I'm not at least as strong as those two respected guys or the guys in the top ten, then I'm not strong at all and still in the bottom with most of the girls that I did not like. Some of the girls there were strong, but then some of them were very annoying to me.
"Why do you say that?" I said in my neutral voice.
"Well, Palkia it's simple. Biologically, men are stronger than women when it comes to combat. We have more, say experience when it comes to battle and strength," Latios explained. "You go to the legendary school right? When you do the history course, they tell you about all those men who give their lives for Unova to become how it was. Same with the region, I originally came from. In Johto, they teach us the same thing."
He's right; most of the Pokemon and humans I have seen in ancient battles have been men. I knew that from last year's Men's History assignment I had to do. Most of the Pokemon listed in the top ten are male. However, there were females at the top as well. Giratina was number ten and then we got Gothitelle and Gothorita, a seven year old girl, who were number two and three. Remarkable huh? A girl, same age as Latias and two inches shorter than her, could beat out, comparatively, a big and powerful guy such as Dialga and an intelligent and powerful guy such as Latios. Those girls ARE strong. Especially, Gothitelle; man that woman can kick butt, and after my meeting here, I would love to just know how she got to be so strong.
"There is truth to what you are saying, however, why are girls like Gothitelle and her kid stronger than most of the males? The only male that beats them is Arceus. If they could strong, can't I be strong?" I asked as I wrote that all down. "Giratina is also number ten on the list and her kid is only a notch below her. I know there can be hope for me. Is there any advice as to how I, can be stronger?"
Latios paused for a moment at my question. When I looked at him, it appeared as if he couldn't find an explanation as to why those girls are strong.
"Yes there is. You need to become strong as a person first. You, Palkia aren't very strong as a person. I can tell from when you rely on Dialga for everything. Even for him to protect you from what I say to you. My point is that you need to stop being reliant on men to do your work and do it yourself," he explained.
As I wrote that down, I got to thinking; he's right. I do rely on Dialga for a lot of things, even for powers that I can use to mask my own. I never really thought of it as making him do my work though.
"Are you saying that I rely on him too much?" I asked.
"Yes, and you need to learn how to do things for yourself. This is the reason why I don't like you; it's because you're one of those girls who cling to a man and make them do all the work. You want Dialga to be the one who jumps in to protect you from every little thing. I remember when we were on the beach, you know. You need to learn how to suck it up, Palkia," Latios said. "Believe it or not, Palkia, women CAN think for themselves."
After I wrote that all down I closed my pad and stood up from the bar table. "Thanks, Latios, for taking the time to answer my questions," I said.
"Welcome. I just want to tell you this, and this is something I hardly tell a girl unless they are worthy of me telling them. You have potential, Palkia. You really do, and I can see it in you. If you are strong enough, I'd like to challenge you to battle me. How does that sound?" He asked as he flashed a smile.
A light blush spread across my face as I tried not to look at him. Me? Have potential? Coming from a guy who doesn't think highly of girls? That was a HUGE compliment, at least to me. I couldn't help but smile. I think he's said this to a few girls but to think I, Palkia, could be one of those girls was a rewarding feeling.
"Yes, I'd love to. Thank you for the complement," I said as I was avoiding becoming emotional.
As I stared to walk out the door on to my next destination, I heard him call out to me one last time.
"Palkia, is your next stop going to be Gothitelle's laboratory?" Latios asked.
"Yes, how come?" I asked him.
"I'll be coming by there so you might run into me again," he chuckled.