THE FOREVER TRILOGY: THE RESTORED FILES
~NEVERMORE~
Chapter 7: Training Begins
TOPAZ
Tuesday, October 22nd, 4998.
Today, our training would begin.
Yesterday, after being registered into the Resistance, we had been given uniforms and dog tags. My uniforms had only come this morning because they had to make ones in my size. It was kind of embarrassing... but either way, I was all set now.
The uniform was light gray, and came in combat and formal forms. For training, we would wear the combat form, of course. It consisted of a white tank top that went underneath a light gray long sleeved shirt made of sturdy material that opened up in the front, with buttons that secured it to the right. I made sure I put on my dog tags before I put that on. There were also gray khaki shorts, but they were shorter than typical khaki shorts, ending halfway down my thigh, with folded cuffs. We had also been issued socks and combat boots, so I put those on and tightly laced up my boots.
"Are you done yet?" Raiden grumbled from where he sat on my twin-sized bed.
"Yes," I retorted. "Jeez, you need to chill."
"I'm fuckin' starvin'!" he huffed, his cheeks crackling with residual electricity.
I went over to the mirror to do my hair, pulling it up into a high ponytail. I brushed my bangs away from my orange eyes, trying to ignore the fact that the spiky part of my hair was being more obnoxious than usual.
"You don't needta primp," Raiden muttered.
"I'm not primping!" I exclaimed with exasperation. "Excuse me for wanting to make myself presentable! Damn, you're cranky today. " I sighed. "All right, I'm ready. Let's go."
"'Bout damn time!" the pikachu exclaimed, leaping down off my bed, and scampering up to me, jumping up onto my shoulder. "I'm ready to start kickin' some ass!"
I rolled my eyes at him, walked up to the door, opened it, and stepped outside.
"There you are!"
Viola, Jade, and Sapph had been waiting for me, all dressed in their uniforms. Pinkie, Jade's jigglypuff, was out, as our pokémon didn't have poké balls yet. I saw that Sapph had a belt on, and on that belt were three poké balls.
"Okay, we're all here," Sapph said, crossing her arms over her chest. "I'm in charge of all the new girls, and Gold is in charge of the boys. Though honestly, that's kinda stupid. Gold's always up to no good."
"So we've noticed," Viola deadpanned.
Jade giggled, covering her mouth with her hand. "I think he's funny."
Sapph made a face. "He's a dumbass who can't keep it in his fucking pants and now he's paying for it. Let's go get breakfast."
She headed off, leaving us to hurry after her after exchanging confused looks. Sapph led us to the elevator—there were several, but she took us to the nearest—and we all got in. Luckily, we were the only ones inside.
"There's a whole floor dedicated to the cafeteria," Sapph told us, punching a button that said, Café. "Since there's so many of us, there has to be."
"That makes sense," Viola said.
The elevator descended several floors before stopping. The doors chimed, and then slid open, revealing a massive room that stretched out before us. It was filled with tables and chairs, along with several different serving lines. The whole cafeteria was bustling with activity. I even saw people dressed in civilian clothing, and families, too. Pokémon were moving about freely. There was a whole civilization living here!
"Wow!" Jade gasped, her eyes wide. "This is amazing!"
Sapph shrugged. "I guess so. C'mon. Follow me."
She led us through the cafeteria, winding through the tables. I was very aware of the looks we got. I mean, I was wearing a uniform and looked like a little kid. I wondered how much shit I would have to put up with when it came to my appearance. Dammit. People could be such asses. And when it came to my pikachu, pokémon could be too.
At least the high ups weren't continuing to question my age. I was grateful for that.
Sapph stopped at a table where all her friends were sitting—Chase, Am, Safaia, Scarlet, and Gold. They all already had their food, and were chatting as they ate.
"Hey!" Sapph snapped. "The High Commander wants us to watch these guys, remember? Or are you too fucking wrapped up in your personal lives to give a shit?"
All of them—except for Amethyst, but he didn't seem the type to be fazed by anything—flinched.
"Aw, c'mon, Sapph," Gold drawled, leaning back in his chair. "My personal life involves them!"
"You wish," I muttered.
Scarlet snorted a laugh, and grinned. "She's got your number, Jin."
"Hey!" he cried. "Cut me some slack!"
Safaia sighed. "For the love of Arceus..."
Sapph crossed her arms over her chest, giving the troublemaker a flat look. "I thought you were supposed to take care of the guys, Gold?"
The boy paled. "Oh, shit, you're right!" He pushed back his chair, jumping up. "Dammit, I'll be right back!"
We watched him as he hurried away. Nobody said anything for a few moments. Wow, he really was a loser, wasn't he?
"He's such a fucking idiot," Sapph groaned. "Whatever. C'mon, let's get breakfast."
"I feel so spiffy in my new uniform," Rubin gushed, his blue eyes bright. "It makes me feel like a real soldier!"
"We're only cadets right now," Plato reminded him. "Don't get too excited."
Breakfast had ended, and we were cleaning up. Before we joined our training regiment, we had to visit Professor Pine, the pokémon professor of the Resistance. It wouldn't be the first time I had seen him; Chase and I had both met him five years ago. That was when Chase got Viper, his snivy, and went off to join the Resistance, leaving me behind. I wondered why we had to meet up with him first, though.
"But this is exciting!" Jade exclaimed. "We're pokémon trainers now!"
Viola sighed, putting her hands on her hips. "Let's just go, okay?"
"I'll take you there," Chase offered, walking up to us. "I need to ask the professor something anyway."
"Thanks, Chase," I said, giving him a smile.
He laughed, rubbing the back of his head. "Hey, it's nothing. Come on!"
Chase took us to an elevator, and pressed the button that said, Lab. Raiden dug his claws into my shoulder, like he was eagerly anticipating whatever awaited us. He was probably getting worked up for nothing. I mean, we were just going to a laboratory. That wasn't very exciting.
The doors slid open, and we all stepped out of the elevator.
Professor Pine's lab was vast—and I mean fucking vast. The place stretched out for as far as the eye could see. There was so much equipment. I had no idea what half of it was. Scientists were all busy working on different things—or, well, I assumed they were scientists. I wasn't the smartest person in the world, so I had no idea what the hell they were doing. Chase led us through to the left side of the laboratory, where there seemed to be the main base of operations. Flat screen monitors surrounded a research area. There was a table lined with poké balls and strange rectangular devices that were only red.
"Hey, Professor!" Chase exclaimed. "Sam! Mirica! Alizarin!"
Professor Pine hadn't changed much from the last time I saw him. He was an older, middle aged man with graying brown hair, and warm, friendly brown eyes. He was wearing a white lab coat over his green dress shirt and black slacks. But the professor wasn't alone. There were three others with him.
The first was a woman who had to be in her late teens or early twenties. She had pale blonde hair that fell down to her waist, with half of it pulled back into a perfect bun, and light green eyes. Her lips were full, and she had a beauty mark near the corner of her left eye. She was wearing a white high collared mini dress that clung to her slim figure underneath a lab coat, and white stilettos of all things that made her even taller. Girls like her were why I have self esteem issues.
The second was another woman around the same age as the blonde, but might as well have been her exact opposite. She was short and curvy, perhaps even a little plump, but it was hard to tell since she was also wearing a lab coat. She had jet black hair streaked with hot pink that went down to her shoulders, and gray eyes. Underneath her lab coat, she was wearing a black tank top, ripped black skinny jeans, and black combat boots. She also had quite a few piercings.
The third was a little boy. He was slightly taller than me, probably around ten or so. He had neatly cut black hair, and brilliant green eyes. He was pretty cute, as little kids were. He was wearing a red sweater, jeans, and sneakers, with no lab coat. Though I wondered what he was doing here.
"Ah, hello, Chase," the professor greeted him. "I see you've brought the new cadets! It's good to see you again, Topaz."
I smiled. "Hi, Professor! Same here."
"You know the professor?" Rubin asked me in surprise.
"Yeah," I replied, nodding. "Chase and I met him a few years ago."
"That's right," my friend agreed. "That's when I first joined the Resistance! Though I couldn't become a cadet until I turned fifteen."
Professor Pine chuckled. "It's been a while. But first, let me introduce you to my assistants. This is Samantha Balsamine. She's been working with me for what, eight years now?"
The blonde woman smiled and nodded. "Something like that. Please, call me Sam. I help the professor study Ultra Wormholes and other various dimensions."
Ultra Wormholes... Balsamine... Why did I feel like I had heard both of those things somewhere before this? But I couldn't place where or when. It just sounded... familiar. Arceus, this was going to bother me now.
"This is Mirica Guzman," the professor introduced. "She's been working with me for about five years now, yes?"
"Six years, actually," the punk girl corrected, crossing her arms over her chest. "I work with pokémon moves and battle strategies. We help keep everyone safe that way."
Guzman... that was also vaguely familiar, but it wasn't as strong as before. I would just have to take note of this.
"And this is Alizarin Chrise," Professor Pine said. "He's more of my personal assistant than the girls are."
The boy, unlike the girls, remained silent, so he continued on.
"Now, onto why I called all of you here," he said. "I will be giving you rare, special pokémon, and pokedéxes."
"Pokédexes?" Jade gasped, her eyes widening.
"Yes, pokédexes," Alizarin said, sounding all matter-of-fact. "The professor has been working on them for years after he discovered the blueprints of the original ones created by Professor Oak."
"You talk really seriously for a little kid," Viola snorted.
I swore his eye twitched. "I'm not a little kid," he snapped. "I'm thirteen!"
...Oh.
Well, I felt his pain. It was so annoying when no one ever got your age right.
"...Jeez," Viola sighed, grimacing slightly.
"Anyways," Professor Pine said. "I have enough pokédexes for all but one of you. I apologize."
"I don't need a pokédex, Professor," Viola said. "Or one of your special pokémon. I would rather work for you. I'm Viola Murasaki."
Professor Pine's eyes widened. "Murasaki? You're not related to Professor Murasaki by any chance?"
The purple-haired girl stiffened. "Yes. He's my father."
He frowned. "I see... You must take after your mother. Your father and I worked together once, a very long time ago. It would be a pleasure to have you work for me, Viola."
Alizarin's eyes widened. "You can't be serious, Professor!"
"We could always use some more personal help around here," Professor Pine told him sternly. "Besides, you have a little sister to care for. You won't be able to assist me every day, and Sam and Mirica have their own work to attend to. This is for the best, really."
Viola grinned. "Thank you, Professor! I won't let you down!"
"Now, you all have been chosen to participate in a project—a project to catalog every pokémon in the world, and perhaps discover new ones. But, it is also to be used to catalog any secret weapon that the Government may throw out against us."
"Secret weapon?" I asked, confused.
"Correct," the professor replied. "There is a slight chance that the Government has some sort of secret weapon—but we have no intelligence to inform us of what that might be. That is the mission of the squad you're joining. The Training Corps is led by Commander Magnus Pyrrhus, and your squad leader is Ross Faith."
"Magnus and Ross are really cool," Chase said, leaning up against a desk. "They can both be kinda scary, but they're nicer than they look. I'm in the Training Corps, too. So are the rest of my friends, except for Am and Safaia. They've already graduated."
"But why us?" Jade asked, just as confused as I was. "I mean... we don't know much about pokémon at all!"
"You must learn," Professor Pine chuckled. "That is the purpose. Have some confidence, children. Now, Alizarin, please hand out the pokédexes."
Alizarin proceeded to give each of us a pokédex, except for Chase and Viola. It was strange, getting my own pokédex, just like my ancestors. It was cool to the touch, having never been used. Raiden looked down at it, his ears twitching.
"Is that thing even fuckin' useful?" he grumbled. "It's just a piece of scrap metal."
I sighed. This pikachu was going to fucking drive me up a wall.
Rubin looked over at us. "What's he saying?"
"...You don't want to know," I muttered.
"Now, you may choose your pokémon," the professor told us. "Ladies first, of course. Jade and Topaz, you may pick."
"Yay!" Jade cheered, scampering up to the table with the poké balls before I could even breathe. "Ooooh, I think I'll pick this one!"
"That's a chikorita," Alizarin told her. "It's female."
"Even better!" Jade giggled. "I'll name her... Beryl!"
Raiden tightened his grip on my shoulder, his claws digging into my shoulder. I fought back a sigh, and walked up to the table as Jade stepped back. I looked over the poké balls. Just like with Raiden's, I could see the pokémon inside through the red lid. Thankfully, I could somewhat recognize them. But one certain pokémon caught my eye, so I reached over and picked up its poké ball.
"It's a bulbasaur," Alizarin informed me. "It's also female."
The pokémon looked up at me through the red top. I knew that this bulbasaur was the one to join my team. It just felt right.
"I choose bulbasaur," I said. "Her name's... Demeter."
It was the boys' turn now. I walked back to stand with Jade and Viola, pokédex and poké ball in hand. Viola crossed her arms over her chest, looking a bit impatient. Once the boys had chosen their pokémon, we would go join the rest of the Training Corps.
"Oh, this is a mudkip, isn't it?" Rubin exclaimed excitedly, picking up a poké ball. "I want this one!"
"It's male," Alizarin told him.
"I'll... call him Sir, then!" Rubin said, smiling brightly.
Damn, he was so fucking cute.
...Forget I said that.
"Hmmm..." Plato was still looking over the poké balls. "I suppose I'll go with this one."
"That's a chimchar," Alizarin said. "And it's male as well."
"...Charro," he said after a moment of thought.
"Yay!" Jade cheered again, grinning. "This is so exciting! I'm so ready to get training!"
Chase laughed. "That's the spirit! Okay, let's go!"
All right, I would be lying if I said I wasn't nervous about meeting the squad we were assigned to. Though Chase had said the leaders were nice, he also said they were kind of scary... I wondered what exactly that was supposed to mean. Well, I was going to find out.
"Here we are," Chase said as the elevator stopped and the doors slid open. "We're in the 100th Training Corps, though the cadets are split up into squads."
"The Resistance has been around for a century, hasn't it?" Plato asked. "That's why this is the one hundredth group of cadets?"
Chase nodded as we all stepped out of the elevator. "Yup. It's been a really long time..."
It had been two hundred years since the Government took over... and one hundred years since the Resistance began. Nobody knew the full story. I definitely did not trust what I learned in school. Synis had been the president for the whole time, I was pretty sure. That wasn't fucking natural... Something was very wrong with the whole thing—and I didn't even have to count what happened in Twinleaf Town. There was what we learned from the High Commander and the Generals, too.
"You're not the only new cadets, either," my best friend continued. "So you're not alone!"
"There are other new cadets?" Jade asked excitedly.
"Yeah, two girls," Chase replied with a laugh. "I dunno what their names are. Anyways, here we are!"
He opened the door in front of us, and led the way into a room. I figured it was where we did our training? It was half the size of the cafeteria, with various equipment strewn about the room. I wondered if our pokémon had to work out too... Anyways, cadets were all lined up, boys and girls alike. A guy in a blue soldier's uniform was standing in front of them.
Not saying a word, Chase joined the line, so so did we. Everyone was standing at attention, stiff and upright. I did my best to mimic their stance.
The man in the front had to be Ross Faith—but he was surprisingly young. He had to be at least only a few years older than me. He had shaggy but neat dark brown hair, tanned skin, and green eyes. He wasn't that bad looking, if you asked me.
"For those of you that are new here, my name is Ross Faith and I am your squad leader. Typically, pokémon are not allowed out of their poké balls outside of training... but I will let it slide this time."
That was definitely aimed at me. Raiden tensed on my shoulder, and let out a low growl. I tried not to get annoyed at the little bastard.
"Let's introduce our new comrades," Faith said, stepping forward and beginning to walk down the line.
He stopped in front of a girl. She was short, though taller than me—hell, everyone was fucking taller than me—by several inches. She had long, smooth pink hair, some freckles of the same color, and slightly darker pink eyes. She was really pretty.
"What's your name, cadet?"
"Pink Mazenta," she replied, her voice bright and bubbly—more so than Jade's.
"Where are you from, Mazenta?"
"Goldenrod City, Johto, sir."
"What made you want to join the Resistance?"
"I want to be with pokémon and help reunite them with humans."
Still... she seemed to not be the type to join an army. I wondered if there was more to it than what she was saying. Either way, Faith moved onto the next person, another girl who was standing right next to Pink.
...Well, I think this person was a girl. She was slightly taller than Rubin, with deep emerald green hair that went down a little past her shoulders, some of it pulled back in a half ponytail. Her bright eyes were the same shade of green. Her shoulders were kind of broader than most girls, and she was flat-chested, which was why I wasn't so sure; but she was wearing the girl's uniform, so...
"Name?" Faith asked, looking down at her.
I couldn't see very well from where I stood, but I swore her cheeks got a little pink. "Vera Aoao, sir!"
Her voice was lower than most girls' too... but hey, that was okay. Everyone was different. I mean, Rubin had a bit of a girly voice, and there was nothing wrong with that.
"Where are you from, Aoao?"
"Fortree City, Hoenn, sir."
"And why did you join the Resistance?"
Vera seemed to hesitate, looking nervous. "I just want to help reunite people and pokémon... to help fix the world..."
She looked down, as if the question troubled her. Faith frowned, but said nothing else, moving on. And when he stopped in front of me I realized I was next.
"Name, cadet?"
"Topaz King," I replied.
"Where are you from, King?"
"Goldenrod City, Johto."
"Why did you join the Resistance?"
"I..." I steeled myself. "I want to destroy the Government and kick the President's sorry ass back into hell where he belongs."
There were gasps. Rubin looked horrified. What? That was the fucking truth. That bastard wasn't going to get away with shit if I had anything to do with it.
Faith snorted, and actually smiled. "You've got spunk, kid. With that attitude, you'll go far."
First thing on the training agenda was running. I had never been so grateful about being in shape before in my life. Our pokémon had to run with us too. Raiden had no problem, but Demeter struggled a little. I wasn't quite sure how the others did, but once we stopped for a break...
"Holy Groudon," Rubin groaned, plopping down up against the wall. "Maybe I'm not cut out for this..."
"Don't be such a sissy," Sapph grumbled, eyeing her brother. "Jeez..."
"There's a water cooler over there," I said. "I'll go get you some, Rubin."
He blinked. "Huh? Y-You don't have to do that-"
I waved him off. "It's fine. I want some myself, anyways."
"Hey, I'll go with you," Gold said, a playful smirk on his face. "Can't have you getting lost now."
"...He must really wanna fuck you," Raiden grumbled.
Demeter made a scandalized noise.
"S-Shut up, Raiden!" I snapped, my cheeks burning. "I don't need you to fucking come with me, Gold. I'm not a helpless little kid."
I started walking away after returning my bulbsaur to her poké ball, but he started following me anyways. That boy really didn't know when to fucking stop, Arceus dammit. At this rate, I was going to end up beating the living shit out of him.
"Aw, c'mon, don't be like that!" he whined, having caught up with me. "I just wanna get to know you."
"Yeah right," Raiden scoffed, glaring at the boy. "Get to know her in bed! I've got your number, asshole! You ain't touchin' my trainer!"
Actually, maybe I would beat the living shit out of my pikachu first.
Gold blinked. "What's he sayin'?"
"...You don't wanna know," I grumbled. "Look, Gold-"
"Please tell me you're not harassing her again."
I cut myself off, looking up to see Scarlet. She was eyeing us, her arms crossed over her chest. I was surprised to see another pikachu sitting at her feet.
"Uh, hey, Scarlet," Gold greeted her sheepishly. "Naw, I'm not bugging you, am I, Topaz?"
I gave him a blank look. "Are you fucking serious? You're annoying the shit out of me."
Scarlet scowled. "Lay off, will you? Nobody wants your damn crabs."
...What.
"Scarlet!" Gold hissed, his face flushing bright red. "Shut up! Nobody needs to know that!"
He... had...
"...I'm getting water," I deadpanned, proceeding to walk away from them.
"Told you he just wants to fuck you," Raiden grumbled.
"Shut up."
I reached the water cooler, but I wasn't the only one there. The two other new cadets—Pink and Vera—were getting drinks as well.
"Oh, hi!" the green-haired girl exclaimed. "You're Topaz, right?"
"Yeah, that's me," I said, grabbing two water bottles out of the ice.
"Aren't you a little young to be in the military?" Pink asked, a slightly snide edge to her voice.
...How many times a day was I going to have to deal with this?
"...I'm fifteen, for the love of Arceus," I snapped. "You think I would be here if I wasn't old enough? Have some damn common sense."
Vera let out a strained laugh. "See, I told you, Pink!"
Pink scowled, flipping her hair behind her back. "There's no need to be a bitch."
"There's no need to be an dumbass," I retorted. "Nice meeting you."
Raiden snickered a little as I turned around, and walked away. I returned to my friends, giving Rubin one of the bottles of water.
"Thanks," he said, opening it up and taking a nice long drink.
I decided to sit down next to him, opening up my own water bottle. The others stayed standing or leaned up against the wall. It was a peaceful moment, though Gold looked insanely awkward; considering what Scarlet had said, I didn't blame him.
"I wonder what else we'll be doing," Jade mused. "I hope we get to battle! I'm so excited for that!"
"Probably," Viola said, brushing her hair back behind her ear. "Though I don't have a pokémon yet..."
"That's what you get for not accepting a pokémon from Professor Pine," Plato muttered.
Viola rolled her eyes. "Excuse me for wanting to specialize in bug-types."
Rubin's eyes widened and he shuddered. "Bugs are gross..."
She shrugged. "I think they're cool. Besides, my ancestor used them. If I didn't want to become a scientist, then I'd want to become a Gym leader some day—just like Bugsy."
"Jeez, you guys make me feel lame," Gold groaned. "I have no real motivation in life..."
"You don't say?" Sapph snorted, rolling her eyes. "Someone always has to make sure you're not doing anything stupid!"
He winced. "You don't have to remind me..."
"Be nice guys..." Jade said quietly.
"Yeah," Rubin agreed, frowning a little. "It's okay not to know what you're going for... We're just kids right now."
"Heh." Gold laughed, smiling. "That's true... Thanks, dude."
The whistle blew. "All right, break's over!"
Rubin winced. "Great... I'm so not cut out for this..."
"Hey, yes you are!" I exclaimed. "This is just the first day, Rubes. You'll be in shape in no time! Just don't give up. You've got all of us supporting you."
He blinked, his cheeks tinting pink, but then he smiled. "Yeah, you're right... Sorry. I'm not giving up!"
I grinned. "That's the spirit! Now c'mon!"
I grabbed him by his hand and pulled him with me up onto our feet. It was time to get back to training, and I was undoubtedly ready to do some practice battling. This was our new life now. I was eager to get started.
Because just like I told Faith—I wanted to make Synis pay for all the shit he'd done. Plus, I wanted to know what he wanted with me. But that would come in due time.
A very long time...
Hello everyone! First of all I would like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, and Happy Holidays!
Second of all, I would like to share some news.
For several years now, I have been working on a high fantasy novel called The Dragon's Ichor, which is part of a series I've named A Tale of Dragons & Thunder. It's been my passion and dream to finish it someday get it published. Unfortunately, life has prevented me from focusing on it. I'm only able to update FTA so frequently because I have chapters already done, for example.
So I have recently started a Patron and a Ko-fi, both under the name Lunnaire, in hopes of getting enough income to support myself without any help from family or friends. If you'd like to support my writing, whether for my fanfics here or my original writing, please consider donating on Ko-fi or pledging on Patron! Any help would be greatly appreciated. You can also follow my novel's tumblr at ataleofdragonsandthunder!
Anyway, thank you for reading and I hope you're enjoying FTA!
