I have returned. Here's another quick posted chapter and...oh just read it.
Chapter 7: Reminiscence
The Effra Park was known to be one of the peaceful route ever existed in Santera. No wild pokemons and rough enviroments, just peaceful path full of tourists and man-made multi-colored pavements surrounding abtracts and fountains. Underneath the lofty clouds and blistful skies, the five trainers were walking through the mosaic path, through the bridge and grassy field. Heather looked around, feeling like it was the first time seeing such place.
"This place," She whispered, "looks nice."
"Heather," Ingrid called her. "Do you have any other pokemons besides your Rotom and Larvatar?"
"Let me check." Heather looked through her Prada bag and looked through her belongings which she could not remember ever having. Unlike her bracelet however, none of these materials were able to trigger her memories from returning. She inspected the unknown from her own bag and saw several pokeballs were in it. Three of them in fact. Heather recognize the two of them since she used them earlier this morning.
"My, you got three pokemons already." Ingrid said. "God wonders how you have spend your life before the one you found with your amnesia."
"So what's your third pokemon?" Amy asked.
"Let's find out." Heather took out the pokeball and spawned a pokemon out of it. The pokemon was short, blue-colored, and looked like a jackal.
"Rio!" Cried the pokemon.
Rebecca crouched close to the pokemon and adjusted her glasses. "Wow, a Riolu. You don't see this pokemon very much around this region. Heck, you can't even find a Rotom or Larvatar anywhere in Santera. I wonder how Heather obtained these pokemons in the first place."
Eric joined the conversation. "There is one way to obtained them. Auction. Rich people pay large amount of money to receive pokemons transfered through shipping from faraway region. Then they bet them with rising high biddings and obtained them if they bid high enough. I assume Heather is from a rich family of sorts."
The girls looked at Heather, amazed. "You certain she's from a rich family?" Amy asked.
"It's highly possible." Eric was sure. "She wears cachmere dress, an expensive high-heels, and I know that only rich people can afford prada bags these days."
"Well," Rebecca stared at her once more. "We might be able to confirm it if she had any ID cards, like a trainers card."
"I checked my bag already, I had nothing that looked like a card in them." Heather assured.
"Weird," Rebecca said. "almost every trainers contains ID card, especially if they are rich."
"Maybe legally." Eric said.
"What do you mean?" Amy asked.
"In Santera," Eric started. "Legal age to receive a trainer's card is 15. Same age as Amy. And from the way I see it, Heather looks a lot younger than her."
"I guess that's true." Rebecca said. "But if she has no card, how could she carry pokemons? She also looked like she's had experience with battling."
"That's another mystery in her hands." Eric said. "Perhaps she'll have her answers once her memory returns. In the meantime, she should learn to get the hang of her battling skills. Let's start by teaching her the basics, there's a chance that she'll some assistance due to her loss of memory."
"I'll watch over her then." Ingrid went an grabbed Heather. "Let me teach you how to capture a pokemon. It' a good opportunity to make use of your Riolu. What do you say little sis?"
Heather nodded, interested.
"Okay!" Ingrid spoke in an excited voice. "Let us go to a nearby grass patch where wild pokemons might be in."
"C'mon Riolu, let's go." Heather called to it.
"Rio!" Riolu cried and followed the two girls.
"Well it looks like those two decided on their plans for today." Rebecca said. "Hey, maybe we should also think about finding wild pokemons around here too. It might help with filling in our pokedexes."
"Good idea. I'll also go look around for sight seeing." Eric decided. "What will you do Amy?"
"I think I'll also go look for wild pokemons." Amy said.
"Okay then." Rebecca said. "We'll split up for a while, we'll regroup later. Oh and watch out for any Pandora guards while you are at it."
The three also went to their own seperate directions and ventured around the park.
Amy passed by other tourists as she walked around the peaceful mosaic path. Her surroundings consisted of lakes, grassy fields and of course, bunch of wild pokemons. Pidoves were flying around, wild Flebebe were dancing around the meadows, and several Feebases were swimming in the lake. Several guys walked by and saw Amy walking and blushed by their sight of her, apparently she was beautiful enough to attract their attentions. She finally entered a field that didn't connect to park path. She began to see among the wild pokemons within the area, she didn't found any of them interesting.
"Hmmm," Amy still looked around. "I was hoping for pokemons that seems fun, all I've seen are boring. *sigh* Maybe I should have joined Ingrid and Heather, at least I get to see Heather learning. Or even Eric, who tells me interesting tidbits. I wonder-" Amy stopped short when she heard a noise somewhere.
"Ro!" It was a cry of a pokemon.
"What's that sound?" Curious, Amy went to the source of the noise. She went around the flowery patch by the lake and found oout what was all the ruckus, and saw an unpleasing sight.
"Ral!" A pokemon was crying, surrounded by a bunch of Ekans harassing it.
"Oh crap!" Amy took out a pokeball from her bag.
"Go Togetic!" She threw it.
"Piyo!" The Togetic cried.
"Togetic! Save that Ralts from those Ekans! Use Return!" Amy directed it.
"Piyo!" The Togetic glowed and charged right towards the Ekans and then put the hurt on them.
The snake pokemons scattered and were now focused on her Togetic. The Ekans retaliated with Slam attack.
"Togetic! Dodge their attacks and use Metronome!"
At her signal, Togetic performed its usual metronome-styled hand signs and used a random move. The Togetic used the move, Water Shuriken, it gathered a blast of waters on its hand and threw a shardd of spinning water blades at them. The move landed on the Ekans.
"Hissa!" The Ekans felt overpowered and began to retreat back into the bushes.
Amy and Togetic moved towards the injured Ralts by the bush.
"Oh my god, are you alright?" Amy questioned. She began observing the pokemon to see where it was hurt. To her surprise, it didn't looked like it was in pain at all. But the pokemon looked frightened. Amy tried making contact with it as careflly as she could.
"Hau!" The frightened Ralts crouched in fear, looking away from her in shivering.
But Amy did not turned away from it, she wanted to help the pokemon no matter what. "It's okay. You have nothing to fear." Amy assured. "Let me help you, please."
The Ralts slowly turned to her, unsure of what she was doing. It realized that she wasn't trying to hurt it but rather help it. The Ralts was shaking, but it found enough courage to reach out for her hand. As it made contact, the Ralts no longer felt frightened. It then got closer to her as Amy crouched towards it and she picked it up.
"There there, it's gonna be alright." Amy assured in her soft voice.
"Hmm." The Ralts hummed under the softness from Amy's kindness.
"You are safe now." Amy said. "How about I take you back to your family?"
There was a sudden silence from the Ralts. Amy wondered what was wrong with it and decided to check on it. She noticed that it was crying.
"What's wrong?" Amy asked to it. She thought about it for a while and came up with a conclusion. "You lost your family, didn't you?"
The Ralts nodded. Amy began to understand, the Ralts had faced the same thing she did; a loss of a family member. Amy remembered the last time she saw her father; he looked right into her in her eyes and told her to be strong. And then, what happened afterwards was a horrific image of a dark figure behind him grabbing his head and have slashed his neck. Thankfully, her Scizor got her out of her there to save her from the sight of him getting burned later.
Amy's mind returned to reality when her Togetic poked her out of her trance.
"Huh?" Amy said.
"Piyo piyo." Her Togetic pointed at the Ralts, showing her that it was resting on her laps.
"Hmmm, I wonder." Amy picked up the Ralts closer to her head. The Ralts stared back at her, looking tired.
"Say Ralts." Amy said. "How about you join me on a quest?"
Her unexpected offer made Ralts tilt its head sideway in question. "Oh?"
"I can offer you comfort, foods, and the best part is you won't even have to be alone. You will never be alone because you'll be accompanied by my other pokemons among my parties. We may not be related, but we can still be a family. What do you say?"
Amy's Togetic came next to Ralts and gave it a pet on the head. It was pleased to see its new friend.
"Piyo!" Togetic cried.
"So, will you come?" Amy asked once more.
Ralts stood still for a while. And then, it grabbed tightly to Amy, tellig her that it would be glad to come with her.
"Okay! Welcome aboard!" Amy stood up while holding onto the Ralts up in the air. She celebrated and they all went back to rejoin with her group.
Back on the park plaza, Heather was speaking with her new pokemon she catched thanks to Ingrid's help. Her new pokemon was not singular but rather divided with multiple head/bodies shaped like bunch of eggs.
"Egegeg." The pokemon cried in unison.
"Wow," Rebecca stared at it with amazement. "Not bad for your first try Heather. Exeggute is one of the few pokemons out there with unique type combination."
Heather, Ingrid, and Rebecca were talking about Heather's accomplishment; while Eric was just leaning on a lampost nearby while watching them in silence. After a while, Amy came into view; she was waving at them.
"Hey guys! Hey~!" Amy approached the group with bright emotions. The group stared towards her after hearing her cheery voice.
Amy finally reached them and joined up. "Hey guys, I want to show you guys something." Amy noticed the Exeggute right beneath Heather. "Oh wow, Heather did you catch that pokemon? That's great!"
"Thanks." Heather said.
"That's really great, in fact I caught a pokemon too, and I didn't even have to battle to catch it because it willingly joined me after I saved it." Amy looked towards her left feet and called to it. "It's alright, you can come out now."
At that moment, her newly caught Ralts appeared by her left ankle. It stayed hidden while it took a peak up front.
"Hi..." The Ralts spoke in its soft voice, apparently it was extremly timid.
"Don't worry, it's shy." Amy faced them now. "What do you guys think? Pretty good huh? I never even thought I would find a Ralts anywhere around here, in fact anywhere in this region. Let alone have it to join my party without battling it, impressive right? I bet you that not many trainers in this region even have a Ralts and-"
Eric approached the group and took out one of his pokeballs and spawned a pokemon out of it. As it got spawned, Amy took notice of it right away and also noticed how it look very familiar.
"-and...and you have one too." Amy said with a bit of disappointment.
The pokemon Eric just took out was none other than the exact same pokemon as the one Amy have caught only 3 minutes ago. Amy now realized that Eric has never revealed his 'fourth' pokemon, until now. Eric's Ralts was standing in right front of her Ralts, facing them.
"Ralts aren't that hard to find." Eric said. "In fact almost every region contains Ralts in a grass patch. It's just that finding one is a challenge because they hide very well. And also, there were many cases when a pokemon joins a trainer simply by bonding with it and without having to battle." Eric tucked his hands in his pocket. "But I agress. Good work with having it joining you."
"How did you catch yours?" Amy asked.
"It was a gift from the professor when I did him a favor." Eric answered.
Eric's Ralts stared at Amy's Ralts and walked close to it.
"Hi~." Male Ralts greeted the other one with a wave.
"He!" The female Ralts backed up and hid itself behind Amy's leg again.
Amy was amused. "*giggled*, it's okay Ralts, it just wants to be kind to you."
The male Ralts got closer to it and reached out its arms, wanting the female one to join him. It took a while, but the girl Ralts managed to let the boy Ralts grab it and take it to somewhere.
"Say, where is it taking her?" Amy wondered.
"I believe it simply wants to play." Eric said. "All kids loves to play with one another, same could be said for pokemon infants."
The two trainers watched their respective Ralts heading towards the open grassy field at the center of the plaza.
"We should go where we can keep an eye on them. We are technically their guardians after all." Eric pointed out.
"Oh, okay." Amy was thinking the same.
"I wish to join you," Ingrid said, "but I want to use this chance to talk to Heather about our ESP, if you know what I mean. Right Heather?"
Heather nodded.
"Okay, let's find a perfect place where there are no distraction." Ingrid grabbed Heather's hand and thetwo girls took off.
"I think I'm going to look into the net for a bit." Rebeccca said. "I'll stay here and wait for you guys to rejoin back on this area. You two have fun babysitting." Rebecca took out her laptop and logged on right away. Eric and Amy decided to listen and leave her.
The two trainers managed to catch up to their two Ralts, who were playing round the grassy field. The girl Ralts tripped a lot, so the boy Ralts had to support it by helping it stand up and then they continued their fun and games. Eric and Amy sat on the bench by the fence on the edge of the park space. They sat where they could see their Ralts playing with each other. Amy watched and giggle as they played happily; while Eric simply watched them without making any expression. Amy slowly turned to face Eric, and realized that the two were alone. She only took a brief look at him to keep herself from blushing over his attractive face. Eric decided to use this moment to start a conversation.
"Lovely view isn't it?" He asked.
"Uh, yeah." Amy flustered.
Eric took out his coin and began toying with it. "We are like two parents watching over a couple of kids playing in the park."
"It sure does." Amy agreed. She decided to use this chance to ask him something that was making her wonder for a long time. "Say, what happened to your eye anyway? The one you covered with the eye patch."
"An experience which I do not wish to expose, at least for now." Eric looked down. "Perhaps I'll share it with you some day." Eric proposed. "May I ask you something as well?"
"Hm?" Amy didn't expect the all-knowing Eric to suddenly ask her something.
"What inspired you to become a trainer?" Eric kept hold of his coin and faced Amy.
Amy took a while before answering, the answer was something she wanted to share for a long time but never had the courage to reveal it to. She then began to put faith in Eric, thinking that he could just be the one she might be able to trust. "I...I wanted to follow my father's footstep."
"Really." Eric said. "Was he a trainer?"
"Yeah, he was the greatest." Amy said as she looked up to the sky. She remembered the image of her father. He was a tall Norwegian gentleman with long dirty blonde hair and had beard all over his jaw. "Whenever I was sad or feeling distraught, my dad helped me feel better. He was always busy, but he always found time to spend time with me and my mom. He did everything he could to make me happy. I loved him so much." Amy watched her Ralts playing with Eric's Ralts, they were picking up flowers. "When I lost him though, things weren't quite the same. My mom and I had a hard time without his support, we always had to push a lot harder and we end up getting hurt too. Miraculously, my mom and I managed to live through it without him and struggled to forget about him and move on. Soon my mom adapted to his loss, but I still remember him; after all, it was because of him that I found a path I wanted to walk on." Tears started coming out of her eyes, just as soon as she realized that it really was thanks to him that she was still here, Amy didn't reveal it; but she had a life or death situation which concluded with the sacrifice of her father, the moment which she would never forget.
"I'm sorry." Eric said. "I guess I shouldn't have brought out this conversation."
"It's okay." Amy assured. "To be honest, I always wanted to mention it to someone for a very long time. I never thought that it would be you." Amy paused. "I guess I was only proving that I was too weak to express myself."
"You aren't weak Amy. No trainer is. Only those who follows a path without reason is weak. Trust the word from a wise one." Eric continued to play with his gold/silver coin. "May I ask what happened?"
Amy did not wanted to bring back the past, it always haunted her for many years after her father's death. But Amy found enough courage and simply decided to have faith and trust Eric. "It happened on an early falls, eight years back. My dad wanted to take me to the mountain near our house. Recently he took a break from work and decided to use that time to take me for a hike. Mom stayed a home to watch over the house, so it was just me and dad who went out. I was so happy and excited, because it was a moment whch I looked forward to for months." Amy wiped her tears with her arm and contnued. "Dad brought his pokemons and I carried food for the trip. We had so many conversations along the way, about pokemons; about battling; even about breeding."
"I bet he was a great father." Eric thought.
"He was." Amy replied. "That day, we roamed around the mountain for a whole day, talking and meeting other pokemons. Dad even told me stories, such as how he met my mom and how he became a trainer. Little by little I listened and soon, I became admired to become just like him." At that moment, her expression became sullen and became full of melancholy. Eric could sense the tragic part coming up. Amy paused for a long time and then continued. "When I told him what I decided to be, he was astonished. He began telling me tips and stuff. That conversation was the last discussion I've ever had with him."
Mount Panara: 8 years ago
A man was standing at the peak of the mountain hill with a little girl sitting on top of his shoulders. The two were talking and shared laughs under the night sky. After a while, the girl began talking.
"Daddy?" Said the little girl.
"Yes?" The man replied.
"When I become a trainer like you, will I be able to become really strong?"
The man paused for a while and then put down his daughter in front of him.
"Amy," he said. "becoming brave and strong, it isn't something that you should think about."
"What do you mean?" The girl asked.
"Trainers are strong because they are certain that they can. They have absolute faith in their capabilities; that's what makes them strong. If you ask whether you can be strong, that means you have no faith in yourself. If you are unsure of your faith, then who will?"
The man saw the depression in his daughter's face, he place his hands on her shoulders and spoke once more. "Amy. Only you can control your own strength and only you can create th future you want. I knew I would marry your mother, and that's why I ended up with her, and I knew I would have a beautiful child and look how that ended up; you were born, do you get it?"
"Yeah!" The girl spoke happily.
"So are you certain that you'll become a trainer?"
"Yes!"
"Will you be great?"
"Yes!"
"Better than many?"
"I will be a lot stronger! I'll even surpass you dad!" The girl now full of determinations.
The man took out his hand and stick his pinkie.
"You have sworn with your words." He said softly. "Promise me Amy, promise me that you won't forget what you just swore to me."
Little Amy took out her own pinkie and hooked it with her dad's. "I promise daddy. I promise."
The two gave each other a hug. The hug lasted almost a long time. The moment did not last long however when a flock of Murkrows suddenly flew off of the tree branches and towards the sky. The man releassed his daughter and took out his pokeball.
"Daddy? What's wrong?" The girl wondered.
"Amy," His tone was serious for some reason. "I want you to stay here. No matter what happens, you are not to move away from this spot. Understand?"
All the girl could do was nod, she was little frightened to speak at the moment.
"Good. Scyther come out!" He summoned a Scyther from his pokeball.
"Scy!" Cried the pokemon.
"Let's go!" The man said.
"Scy!" The two went into the woods, leaving behind the confused Amy.
Long time has passed and Amy was sitting alone at the hill top. Amy was beginning to worry about what was taking him so long? Amy considered going after him, but she knew she had to obey her dad's request like a good little girl. Her loyalty to him was strong...until she heard something.
"Huh?!" Amy turned around and heard noises, like the sound of a battle going on.
"Daddy?" Amy's concern for her father was growing, and her chain of promise with him was beginning to break when the rock of concern became heavier. When the chain finally broke, Amy ran into the woods.
Amy ran and ran, despite the deficit scrubs and the darkness she ran right towards the direction her father went into. Amy wasn't sure where she was but she didn't care, she wanted to see her father again. Amy thought she was blind until she saw something up ahead. It was becoming brighter as she got closer to it. Amy heard her father's voice up ahead.
"Daddy!" Amy cried to him and then ran towards the brightened horizon up ahead. As soon as she got there, she saw him. As she thought, there was a battle going on. The brightness was due to the fire spreading around the battlefield. Amy witnessed her father, giving commands to his Scyther that was battling a strange pokemon. The pokemon was covered in dark aura so Amy could not tell what it was. Whatever it was, it head flaming talons and long legs capable of breaking bones. Scyther was fighting desperately but it was unable to keep up with its opponents inhuman dexterity.
"Hang in there Scyther!" But the man knew his pokemon couldn't keep up. He noticed that it has reached its limits. The dark pokemon began taunting, telling Scyther to keep trying.
"You asked for it! Scyther, Razor Wind!"
The Scyther gathered enough energy to conjure up a powerful attack. It then unleashed its gusty air blade and blasted it right towards the dark pokemon. But the pokemon managed to block the attack with its flaming claws.
"What the-" Man said in disbelief.
The pokemon got into its fighting stance and was prepared to fight once more.
"Daddy!" Amy cried, forcing the man to turn to her direction.
"Amy! What are you doing here?! I thought I told you not to come!" The man shouted, unable to believe that the girl came to him. He now had additional thing to worry about.
The dark pokemon gazed its attention at Amy, it now had intention to eliminate another target. The man noticed the pokemon's intention, to his horror.
"Oh no."
The pokemon was about to unleash a strange attack, it gathered up a black-colored flames to its hands and prepared to launch it. The father realized this and was conflicted with choices, to stop the pokemon or save his daughter. The time was extremely short and then the pokemon unleashed its powerful attack, the man made the decision right away.
"Scyther! Get my daughter out of there!"
"Scy!" The scyther got out of the battlefield and went to grab Amy away from the pokemon's range of attack. It released its dark fire blast and ended up blasting towards Amy's father. Scyther managed to save Amy, but what became of her father?
"Daddy!" Amy cried. To her horror, her father became fatally wounded from the attack, he was lying on the ground; she was unsure whether he was alive or not but bloods were spilling. Amy crawled to her father slowly, to check upon him.
"...no...Amy..."
"Daddy?" Amy was half relieved. Her father was alive but was in critical condition. Scyther kept her from approaching him any closer.
"I'm sorry...Amy..." he spoke with weak voice. "...it was my fault...I should never have brought you here..."
"No daddy..." Amy was starting to cry.
"Daddy always thought...he was strong enough to protect you...he was sure that...I could protect you forever..." He was not starting to shed his own tears. "...but I was wrong...my will wasn't strong enough to make it happen..."
"...no...dad..."
"...I have to pay the price for my foolishness...but you..." He was coughing up more blood. "You still have the chance to make things right..."
"Daddy no!...I can't be strong...not without you..." Her voice was starting to get messed up by her weakened vocal cord, effected from her crying endlessly.
"...no..." he said, "You can...you said you'll surpass me...right...?"
Amy remembered.
"You must follow the path you swore you'll make...I only wish that I could...be there to see you make it..."
"No daddy, NO!"
The dark pokemon was coming towards them, its flaming claws flaming hotter than before.
"...Scyther...please protect Amy at all cost...I place my ownership of you into her hands now..."
"Scy..." Scyther nodded once.
"Daddy no!" Amy was crying harder than ever.
"Good bye Amy...stay strong..."
"DADDY!"
"Get her out of here!" He ordered.
"Scy!" Scyther picked her up and prepared to escape.
"No!" Amy struggled but could not fight Scyther's strength. "NO! Let me go! LET ME GO! I won't leave him! Daddy! DADDY!"
"...stay strong...stay strong..."
The two of them go away as far as they could. Amy however, was forced to see the rear view and saw the pokemon grabbing her father by his head. The pokemon raised its flaming claws, and used it to slash his throat, killing him. It then scorched his body with its flames coming from its arms. Just as the man died, the Metal Coat which the Scyther was wearing around its neck glowed. As it ran while hilding onto Amy, its body glowed with glimmering light. From that instant, its exoskeleton body change from green to red. It as no longer Scyther, it has became a Scizor. Specifically, Amy's Scizor; its ownership has moved to her now. As they moved through the woods, she saw a giant blimp with a logo that looked like a box with a hidden letter P. It was the Pandora Zeppelin. Back at where the man was killed, another figure approached the dark pokemon, it was the masked man believed to have controlled the pokemon within the shadows.
"Target eliminated. Burn the woods to make sure there is no trace left behind indicating us."
The dark pokemon used its powers to blast its fire all over the woods.
Back at Panara town, people were witnessing the nearby mountain getting burned by a massive fire. There kept their distances, except for one woman who was about to head in there until someon stopped her.
"Whoa lady! Are you nuts?! There's a fire over that way!"
"Let me go! My husband and my daughter are on that mountain! I have to make sure-"
"And then what?! Will you be joining them to get burned with them?! There's little which you could do. Let the authorities handle it."
"By the time they arrive, it might be too late! NOW LET ME GO OR-"
"Look!" Someone pointed towards something that was coming their way. It was a Scizor holding onto a little girl.
"AMY!" The woman went towards the two and crouched to see her daughter, who was covered with sweats and tears.
The woman looked at the Scizor, she recognized the Necklace it was wearing. "Are you...Kyle's..."
The scizor nodded, and it gave Amy back to her. The woman hugged her child right away.
"But what about Kyle..." she faced her daughter. "Amy where's your father? What happened to him?" The mother demanded, fear growing inside her.
"Daddy...he..." Amy cried, unable to complete her sentence. The mother glanced at the Scizor, who shook its head. She then understood.
"No..." She too was shedding tears. "NO! Oh my God...KYLE! NO!"
The woman cried as she hugged tightly to her daughter. Amy no longer made any expression, yet tears kept falling out of her eyes. Amy was emtionally distraugh, unable to handle the loss of someone she deeply cared about. The night scarred her, she was never the same ever since.
Back at present time: Effra Park
As Amy finished her story, Eric remained staring at her. It was all too much to take. Nothing made sense. It was always within pokemons to be docile, no matter what they never brought upon themselves to kill a human. But what Amy told him seems very much true, why else would she be crying?
"You," Eric started. "Have my sympathy."
"And so from that day on, I decided to stay strong, no matter what. But the problem is, my dad was also sure yet for once he was wrong." Amy was gripping tightly now. "Now, I'm not sure what to believe. Everything he's done was because he predicted it, but he couldn't follow his faith that time. How can I now know whether I can believe in myself anymore." Her tone was half-angry, she was confused. She always believed in her father because he told her to simply believe in herself, but whenhe tried ollowing his own advice, there was a contradiction. "What can I do?" Amy questioned.
"Do you still love him?" Eric asked.
"I..." Amy hesitated before answering. "Of course I do!"
"Then keep believing in him." He spoke softly. "If you hope to become the trainer you promised him that you would, then you would listen to your heart. What does your heart tell you?"
"To believe in him, but my mind-"
"Amy." Eric interfered. "Dreams aren't something you should rely on your brain, but rather your heart. Mind frequently can keep you from making decisions by forcing you to think of the possibility of failure and later you might end up reconsidering. It is as your father said, faith depends on what you believe in, not on what you think. Stop thinking, and just believe."
"You are odd." Amy said. "Suggesting such advise from a guy who uses his brain all the time."
"Only because the path I chose requires the brain's support."
"Oh yeah, you wanted to become a teacher." Amy recalled.
Eric chuckled. "That's right."
"Hey," Amy pointed. "You laughed! I never thought I would see you be filled with laughter."
"Of course I laugh, did you thought I was some kind of a machine?"
"Well you always keep your emotions in check so."
Eric paused, feeling offended.
"Um," She said. "was it something I said?"
"No," Eric said. "I was thinking about the last time I was happy. I haven't smiled for a really long time. It was when my mother was still alive."
Amy was surprised to hear. "You, lost a family member too?"
"Yes." Eric said. "And I also lost someone that was just as close to me as my mother was." Eric paused. "I blamed myself, I should have been the one that died. But instead-" Eric unsleeved his right arm and revealed a massive scar across his forearm.
"What..." Amy was startled by the scar. "How did you..."
"It is the testamen revered after I exposed my guilt of my asinine conscience. I was foolish." Eric hid the scar under his sleeve again.
Amy stared at him. "I don't think so." Amy assured. "You are the smartest guy I've met."
Eric also looked at her. "And you are stubborn, fast-paced, hard-headed, reckless, and lacks consideration of possible risks simply by acting on guts rather than instincts which undoubtably proves your need to improve your sentinal mind linked with your genetic code operated inside your cuddly little grey matter."
Amy stared at him for a long time. Unsure whether she felt offended or dizzy.
"Yet you wield potential, promise, and blissful confidence. And I am glad you are with us."
"Do you mean that?"
"I am hardly the joking type."
"Ha ha! True."
The two of them looked at each other, knowing that they were having a great time. Amy stared at Eric for a long time as did Eric who was staring at Amy. Amy could not see it before, but she has looked at Eric very closely and realized how good-looking he was. His face was ruined because of the scar across his patched-up left eye and there were black bags underneath his other one. Because of those features, it was hard to notice his looks. Eric also saw that Amy was wielding an attractive face as well. The two stared at each other for a very long time, until they realized the awkwardness they were starting to feel between them. They both blushed from the realization and turned away quicky as they could.
"Um..uh..." Amy was too embarrassed to say anything. Whatever words she wanted to say didn't seem to make any sense.
"Well uh..." Eric was as confused as she was. "I uh...I guess the moment was tender as it is. No need to make it bizarre."
"I agree." Amy said it all too quickly.
The two looked at the front and remembered that their Ralts were still playing with each other. The boy Ralts was pinning small flowers on the girl Ralt's head, which please it very much.
"Aww, that's so sweet." Amy said after witnessing the bond between them.
"They met only today and they already grew intimate with each other." Eric thought. "Nature works mysteriously."
"Yeah." Amy agreed.
"GUYS!" a distinct voice was calling towards them. Eric andAmy turned to see that it was Rebecca who called them, and she was running right towards them in unusual haste. She finally reached them and she began breathing hard.
"Rebecca? What's the matter? You act like there is a fire going on somewhere." Eric said.
"No it's not a fire." Rebecca assured. "It's much much worst in fact."
"What can be worst than a fire?" Amy asked.
"Just...see for yourselves!" And then Rebecca ran off.
The two returned their Ralts back to their pokeballs and wnt after her.
As they reached her, the rest of the group was standing in front of a billboard of sorts.
"What's wrong?" Eric asked.
"That!" Rebecca pointed at the bill board.
Puzzled, Eric and Amy looked at what she was pointing at. And then they saw it, a shock on their faces.
"They posted a search warrant for us!" Rebecca was pointing at the poster, it had a large picture of the five of them with a sign that says 'Wanted', on the bottom it writes the specific reasons for their need for capture.
"Look what it says." Ingrid began reading. "'Charged for abducting, harassing a Pandora guard, and conspiring with the group of criminals', Those Pandoras twisted their words and blatantly gave us a bounty on our heads! Some of these weren't even what we did!"
"They think you abducted me?" Heather said. "Did I belong to a powerful family?"
"This isn't good." Eric said. "Our faces are made to public and there's no doubt that these posters are already posted all over the region. People will think we are felons and may definitely report on us as soon as they see us."
"They took our pictures when they surrounded us back at the battleground with the thugs?" Amy said.
"We need to get to the next town and find some way of concealing ourselves." Rebecca sid.
"But how?" Ingrid asked. "Once we take a step towards Effegerie Town, what makes you think they won't recognize us right away?"
"We'll use these." Rebecca took several surgical masks out of her supply kit.
"Why were you carrying those around?" Amy asked.
"In case of emergencies, what else?" Rebecca said. "Look, these may not be the best disguise by far, but its the only kind we've got. Once we get to the town, we'll be getting ourselves some better methods of disguises."
"Okay then, we've made up our minds." Eric said. "Now let's hurry before anybody notices us."
They put on their masks and made their way out of the Effra Park. How will they get out of their sudden crisis now? What will they be doing from now on? Will the future be holding the answers? Patience is a virtue.
I have posted this and the last two chapters at really late hour, so be grateful. It appears that the story have moved on to a bit of a drama here huh? Yeah, I've played games that contained a lot of tragedies such as Mother 3, Final Fantasy IV, Final Fantasy V, Persona 3, Skyward Sword, Fire Emblem, and even Pokemon games. By the way, the 'Dark Pokemon' I've described is actually a Blaziken, in case you guys were wondering.
Oh and I am going to post sketches of the characters of this fanfiction on LakeValor. If you guys want to see them, then read this chapter there. I admit that it isn't my best sketch, but I might be able to post more in the future. The next chapter might take longer so don't expect it to be posted anytime soon. Don't worry, I will post it once I can. Until then, so long fellas!