Author's note: Finally... Finally we're finally up to chapter 7! 'cries' I'm so happy! Finally proper plotline! Plus the mystery of Wolf, as well as Raven's origins shall be solved! ...Ok, not really, but there will be at least some clues and hints now.
I've also finally decided on the pairings. However, due to the fact I would like this fic to be as similar to an actual book as I possibly can make it, I'm not telling anyone what they are. Hopefully none of you will hate me for it later but I'm willing to take that chance.
(And for those few of you out there who do know a bit of what I'm planning please try to keep it under wraps, ok? *winks*)
I AM NO LONGER ACCEPTING OCS! Thanks to all those who sent them in. It may take me a while to introduce them all (some are introduced as late as Ecruteak) but all OCs I have accepted will be major characters in the story~ Sorry to those of you who missed out; if I ever get the chance I'll accept your OCs in another fic sometime.
Disclaimer: I do not own rights to Pokémon. If I did, I'd hire fanfiction writers to make their stories part of the franchise. ...Seriously though, with some of the great original stories here on (like reborn fics or Kayasuri-n's Sword&Shield fics, or lupyne's 'I am Lucario'), why aren't Nintendo asking around for help? The Pokémon franchise would probably double in size if they did. Oh well~ Too bad for them.
Now, on with the fic!
Chapter 7: Randomness, Rivals and Accidents.
(Warning: This chapter will contain at least one graphically violent scene that may be considered M. The chapter will also be extra long.)
Chi POV.
Well, despite managing to completely humiliate Silver in public, it seemed I was still alive.
Silver had said nothing at all about my sudden laughing and screaming fit (and was probably trying to tell himself it never happened) while Scarlet had been flashing me menacing looks right up until the point Silver had returned her to her pokeball. The only one who had even tried questioning me about it was Raven, who had ended up being vine whipped in the face because I wasn't in the mood to talk.
I sighed, still curled up on the edge of the bed. Beside me, Silver and Raven slept; Silver snuggled warmly under the blankets and Raven curled up right next to him, just below the pillow. I smiled wearily at the sight before glancing up at the digital clock on the desk nearby.
'5 AM... I know it's good that I'm awake now, but I wish I had gotten at least some sleep tonight...' Feeling my muscles creak as I did so, I picked myself up and hopped off the bed, careful to not to make any sound, and tiptoed across the room, using my vines to open the door before sneaking outside.
The incident earlier had been embarrassing, but that wasn't going to deter me from the plan I'd hatched. My eyes darted around warily as I made my way through the empty pokemon center corridor towards the lobby. Just a few steps away from my goal I paused, hearing footsteps behind me. Turning, I blinked with surprise when I saw a very sleepy-looking Raven behind me.
"Raven? What are you doing..?" Realising that he had been spotted, Raven dashed across the wooden floor to my side and flashed me a beaming smile.
"A noise woke me up and I saw you leaving the room, so I decided to follow you. So... what are you doing? Something interesting?" I frowned as he wagged his tail, annoyed that my 'flawless' exit hadn't been as silent as I had thought.
"I thought of something I wanted to try out. It's nothing too interesting though so you should probably go back to sleep." The Totodile just smiled before wondering into the lobby ahead of me.
"I'm not really all that tired, and I am curious about what you're doing. Besides everything is more fun with company!"
I opened my mouth to argue then closed it again. It wasn't like there was any real reason why Raven couldn't come with me, and arguing would only waste time. I sighed and trudged forward. "Fine, you can come. Just try to be quiet, ok?" Raven nodded as the both of us made our way to the computer section, ignoring the curious glances of the nurses on night duty.
Finally reaching the nearest computer table, I used my vines to lift Raven and then myself onto one of the chairs (which is very difficult, let me tell you) then flicked on the power button. As the machine loaded (public computers are always slow) Raven began to drum his claws on the table nervously before clearing his throat.
"So... what are we doing, Miss Chi? It's not like I doubt it's a good thing, I'm just curious, that's all." I grinned, actually glad now that I had an audience to show off my little scheme to.
"Well, I'm going be using this computer here to send an e-mail to Silver." As Raven cocked his to the side in confusion, I sighed and flicked my head leaf back with annoyance. "Basically it's a letter which only he can read, that he can't trace back to me." The Totodile's face lit up with comprehension before it flashed me a curious expression.
"That's amazing and all, but why wouldn't you want Silver to know you sent it? Doesn't that ruin the point of sending a letter in the first place?" I paused, surprised that he'd thought of something like that.
"No, not really. All I really want to tell him is that- Oh damn! Why do these stupid things always have passwords!?" I swore as the login screen came up on the computer. Groaning loudly I turned and was about to give up on my little plan when I realised a Nurse Joy had been standing behind us the whole time.
I gulped as the Nurse frowned down at us, and before she could say anything, I taped "CAN I USE INTERNET PLEASE?" into the username box as fast as I could. The Joy's eyes widened and I stared up at her unblinkingly, hoping like mad that this Joy was as weak as I was against puppy-dog eyes. Immediately the Joy surrendered, flashing me a helpless expression.
"Fine, I'll let you use this computer and I'll put in the password for you. ...Just promise me that the next time you want to go on you'll come into the Tech-centre during the day-time..? And to not damage the machines while you're in here? Or else the Head nurse will be cross with me; everything out here is supposed to be turned off after 11:30." I nodded and waited patiently as she typed in the passwords needed and logged us in. "I know you Pokémon are always smarter than people think you are but using the internet..? Ok, well, I've logged you in now, so do what you have to do and go back to your trainer alright? Good night then." The Joy walked off cheerfully and I grinned, relieved that she hadn't thrown us off on first sight. Raven looked to me in a mix of bewilderment and honest curiosity.
"Wow, you controlled that lady like Silver controls us! But what did she mean by 'logged in?' Does that mean she's going to use Grass attack?" I raised my vine to whack Raven for his stupidly bad pun when I suddenly realised that he had no way of knowing what that term meant.
He was just being honest about his ignorance and actually wanted to remedy that; a trait a lot more people could do with, and here I was being an arrogant bastard and treating him like an idiot...
I sighed and lowered my vines back to the keyboard before glancing back at him. Seeing his clueless, happy expression hadn't changed in the slightest I felt a rush of relief that he hadn't noticed my jerk-ness and hurriedly tried to explain. "Umm, basically what it means is that the computer here has 'logged' or recorded the fact I'm using it. Only people allowed to use it should be able to log in and that Nurse Joy did it for us because we weren't allowed and she's a really good person, so be grateful, ok?" Raven nodded in understanding before flashing a happy smile.
"Oh. It was really nice of her to help us like that. Thanks for explaining it for me." I blushed slightly before fixing my eyes onto the screen and rushing to do what I wanted to do. Eventually, after a few minutes struggling with the mouse (those things really aren't made for vines or paws) and tapping at the keys like a madman I finally managed to get onto my e-mail account.
Typing Silver's e-mail address into the SEND bar, I then paused to think about what exactly to write before typing like a madman again. Raven waited patiently as I jotted in the message, though he gave me a look of curiosity when I paused again, horror on my face as I realised, in all my plotting and planning, I had forgotten one tiny, little important detail.
I grabbed Raven with my vines, my eyes wide. "What should I call myself?! I forgot what to do about my name!" Raven blinked at me blankly before placing a claw on my forehead.
"Miss Chi..? Are you alright..?" I grimaced and sighed. Of course he wouldn't get it straight away...
"Look, I want to send Silver a message but I don't want him to know I was the one that sent it, OK? So I need to use a fake name, an alias, so he can reply to me while still not knowing it's me!" Raven's eyes were wide by the time I finished my panicked rant. After a few more seconds of me freaking out, Raven finally beamed. I glared at him impatiently.
"You thought of something?"
Raven nodded. "How about a colour name? Maybe... green?" I paused, considering the idea.
"Why green? There are plenty of other colours out there to choose from." Raven's face flushed crimson as Scarlet's feathers as he quickly flicked his tail over the front of his nose.
"Well... Green's a nice colour and your leaf and skin are green so..." Raven paused more thoughtfully as he looked me over. "If you don't like green, then how about blue? Your eyes are a really pretty light blue. They sort of remind me of the sky, when it's cloudy and about to rain."
I blushed awkwardly at the comment but nodded. Blue was my favourite colour and I had been called Skye because of them once so...
"I like Blue as a name. Thanks Raven, that really helped me out~" As the Totodile hid his snout behind his paws modestly I grinned and sent my message. Once that was done I glanced to the clock on the computer to see it was almost six. I smirked, happy that I hadn't taken too long then switched the computer off and hopped down from my chair.
Raven followed suit, and seeing that I was still in a really good mood, I made a dumb suggestion.
"Hey... Raven, do you want me to try and teach you a little bit of writing when we get back to Silver's room?" Raven nodded ecstatically before jumping up and giving me a hug.
"Of course I do! Thank you, I swear I'll be the best student you've ever had!" I shrugged and grinned, pretty sure that it would be the case as I'd never tried to teach anyone how to write before.
It was dumb, and I was definitely losing the one last chance of sleep I could've had that whole morning but right then and there I was too happy to give a damn.
...
Two and a half hours later, I was seriously giving a damn.
I got no sleep. None at all. No, instead I had taught a Totodile his ABC's up until Silver had woken up, returned Raven to his pokeball and glared at me for making too much noise too early in the morning. ...Which in turn, reminded me that I'd had no sleep and that despite the fact neither Raven or Silver seemed to notice it, I was very, very tired.
Oh, and Silver was still kind of mad at me. I could understand why and all but it was disheartening to see him glare at me every time I made a noise... Then again, maybe he was just annoyed from being woken up? He did strike me a little as being a grouchy-riser, seeing how he was glaring at everyone except the nurse who'd given us breakfast, and even then he'd still grumbled a little under his breath.
Finally, after Silver had finished his meal, we thanked the nearest nurse before stepping out of the centre and into the morning sunlight.
I purred as my leaf began to fuel me with energy then smiled at how ironic this was for me. When I'd been human, I'd hated hot, sunny days with a passion as I always seemed to get sunburnt in only a few short minutes. But now as a plant, sunlight was one of the nicest things around and days like today were perfect. The sunlight was just so soothing; all my exhaustion from earlier was disappearing as I'd never gotten tired at all.
Next to me, Silver winced before shielding his eyes with a gloved hand.
"...I hate sunny mornings... They're only good for joggers and plants..." I giggled at that and Silver looked down at me with a wry smile. "That being said, I guess it's perfect weather for you." I nodded and gave a happy 'Chi!' of reply before glancing over at the huge pagoda tower to the north. As if reading my thoughts Silver also glanced at the tower before narrowing his eyes at it.
"Sprout tower. Built in the last decade of the Edo period for the sole purpose of training. If we manage to get to the top today, I'll challenge this city's Gym before we leave town tomorrow; if not then we just move on. We've probably stayed here too long as it is." I blinked up at him, finding it a little strange that any trainer would put a travel schedule over a Gym badge.
I then shrugged when it occurred to me that Silver might not be interested in going to the Pokémon league this year. After all, not all trainers are out there just for fame and money. Who knew, maybe Silver was training to be a police officer?
I chuckled a little as Silver and I began walking towards our destination. 'Somehow I doubt Silver is trying to become a cop. Doesn't really seem the type; he'd probably manage being a detective though, with those piercing eyes of his.' I glanced up and finally took note of his expression and frowned slightly. 'Why so grim-looking? All we're doing is going to train. It's not like it's a life or death thing, so why is he getting all tense?' I paused, wondering whether or not I should wave a bit of Sweet Scent at him to help him calm down when a voice called out to us from behind.
"Hey Silver, it's been a while. I was wondering when I'd run into you again." I spun around, my eyes wide as I recognised the speaker.
"Gold?!" I stared up at my cousin (should it be ex-cousin?) and felt a grin on my face.
It was definitely him. Black shorts, a gold and black hat and jacket, golden eyes tinged brown and those big three stupid bangs of black hair covering that boyish face. Gold's look hadn't changed a bit. Immediately, I bolted over, yelling "GOLD!" at the top of my lungs.
Of course all he and Silver would have heard was "CHIKORI!" but I was too excited, relieved and happy to care.
Despite his surprise at being charged at by a crazy Chikorita, Gold swiftly caught me when I leapt up to try and give him a hug. Placing a hand just around the base of my head-leaf, probably to try and calm me down (which failed miserably as I was still thrashing around trying to hug him like a maniac), Gold chuckled and carefully placed me back onto the ground.
"Whoa! Hello there. You're a friendly little Pokémon, aren't you? Mind if I have a little chat with your trainer..?" Gold's tone was cheerful but the lack of familiarity in his voice made me freeze, a sudden stab of realisation pounding its way through my thick skull.
'He doesn't recognise me. The me he knew was Skye Royall, a tall girl with brown-blonde hair and an obsessive love for Pokémon and otaku culture; not a foot tall Chikorita called Chi. I can't even talk to him because I'm a Pokémon and I don't speak human, and the human me is dead! Even if he could understand me, who would ever believe that I had just come back to life like that? If someone told me they were the reincarnation of my dead loved one, I'd probably hate them for it! He might hate me if I told him!'
My mouth grew dry as I looked up at him noticing details I had overlooked before, such as the new frown lines on his forehead and how guarded his smile looked. And his golden eyes which I had thought were focused on me were glaring at Silver with such intensity I felt myself pale.
'His eyes... The only time Gold ever looks like that is when he's angry-No, when he's so angry he's about to lose it! Why would he be looking at Silver like that? Silver's no saint but Gold never loses his temper like this for no reason...' Involuntarily I took a step back. Suddenly I felt the tension that I hadn't been able to sense before, and looked back to Silver, who gestured for me to come back without taking his own fierce glare off of Gold.
I hesitated for a split second and Silver shot me an enraged look before ordering me with in such an icy tone that I couldn't help shivering.
"Chi. Here. Now."
Instantly I ran to his side before sitting at his feet, eyes wide with shock. At any other time, I would have been ecstatic that he had used my nickname but right now my head was spinning so much I couldn't even think straight. About the only thoughts that made any sense seemed to consist of mostly 'Why is Gold angry with Silver?', 'I don't get it...' and 'I don't want anyone to get hurt'. Basically, I was running on auto-pilot.
Behind me, I dimly registered Gold letting out an almost-sarcastic sounding chuckle.
"Chi huh? That's a cute name... but considering that you probably got her illegally, I guess you aren't the one who named her. So... Tell me, how's life as a thief treating you these days? Steal any more Totodiles? Come on Silver, you can tell me." Silver remained mostly impassive at these comments, though his face flushed a little red and his clenched fists shook a little. I was gasping, my mind boggling further at this information.
'Silver, a Pokémon thief?!' It seemed unbelievable but it made sense when I tried to think about it rationally. All of Silver's Pokémon, including myself were rare and powerful ones that grew quickly; he owned a minisizer but hadn't bothered to stock up on enough medicine for more than one Pokémon, and he wanted to leave town by tomorrow regardless of whether or not he won a badge from the city's gym. Individually, these things didn't mean anything but adding them all together... Not to mention it explained Gold's anger towards him but...
'No! Silver is a good person and I'm not going to doubt him! This is all a big misunderstanding!' My loyal Pokémon-mentality screamed at my logical self for even thinking of the possibility. My logical self then countered with a severe wave of doubt, crushing my poor innocent Pokémon loyalty into the ground. 'Yes, he might have been nice but Gold said he's a thief and he doesn't lie or exaggerate about stuff like this. You don't doubt Gold do you?'
'No, but..!'
'We need to think! Find out a way to know for sure then act on it before things get out of hand.'
Before my Pokémon-mentality could argue back, I cut off that wave of thought (as well as thoughts of why I had suddenly developed multiple personalities) and forced my mind back to the present, trying to focus on what I could do.
Judging by the way Gold and Silver were staring each other down I didn't have much time before either a battle or a fist fight broke out; I had to somehow find out a way to confirm what Gold had said but how..?!
Time for thinking then seemed to run out as both boys quickly reached for their respective pokeballs. Panicking, I did the only thing I could think off with such short notice.
I restrained Silver using my vine whips around his arms and waist.
"What the..?! Chi, what are you doing?" Silver shot me a look with so much betrayed outrage and shocked hurt that I felt myself almost wilt on the spot. Luckily I managed to steel myself just enough to keep my grip on him as my mind raced for an idea.
"Ohcrapohcrapohcrap... I am so going to die this time! But, I couldn't think of anything else and-What the hell am I thinking about?! I need to think of some way to work this out before Silver kills me himself this time! I need help though; something to help me think... I wonder if Raven would help me-Wait, that's it!" Quickly throwing out a third vine and carefully moving it around the two I had used as ropes, (controlling two vines at a time is fine but controlling a third is really tiring, and really difficult even when you aren't holding someone thrashing around madly and giving you looks of hurt you can't bare) I pulled Raven's pokeball out of Silver's hand before clicking it open.
There was a flash of light and Raven appeared, blinking his eyes continuously to adjust to the change in lighting. However, before I could relax, Gold began walking up to us, a confident smirk on his face.
"What's this, an argument? Thanks, little Chikorita. Last time I came this close to catching him, your trainer just attacked and ran like a dog." Gold's expression suddenly turned harsh. "Silver, I don't really care about getting you arrested but if you willingly hand over the Totodile's pokeball and tell me everything you remember about July 21 this year, I'll give you a three-day start before I tell Officer Jenny where I found you."
Silver's answer to Gold's offer was a stubborn shake of the head. Gold's eyes flashed with suppressed anger and before I could think it through properly I swung a razor leaf at his feet before growling in my lowest possible tone. "There's no way I'm letting you come closer when you're this angry. Back off, Gold."
Gold froze to the spot and both Silver and I visibly relaxed. Just as I began wondering why Silver was relieved, Raven whose eyes had finally adjusted, charged over to us with a horrified look on his face.
"What are you doing Miss Chi?! Let him go right now!" Before I had time to react, Raven had rushed over to Silver's feet and was trying to pull my vines off of him; realising I wasn't going to budge, he then seemed to panic for a moment before ripping into them with an ice fang.
I stifled my shriek by biting my lip and waited for the sharp pain in my vines to recede. There was a brief wait before the pain dulled down ever-so-slightly; enough for me to speak anyway, but the second it did so I gave Raven a fierce look. Well... it would have been fierce if I wasn't reduced to tear-inducing, pure, icy, tooth-based agony.
"I'm not letting go until-Agh! Stuff proper speech! Raven-Did Silver steal you?! And-can you let go of my vine now please because I am in extreme pain right now and it really really hurts and I might accidently hurt Silver if my vines tense up the wrong waY!" I yelped the last part as Raven released his toothy grip on my plant limbs, gave me only a short glance before turning and paling at the sight of Gold, before his expression fused into a strange mix of fear and determination.
"Oh no... They sent someone after us, didn't they..? I don't want to go back to Elm's lab... Silver is the only trainer I need! I don't care if it was considered stealing; I'm not going back to a place where no one wants me for being me! I'm not going to be abandoned again, you hear!" Raven wailed and shook violently, his desperation to be heard ignored as Gold slowly started reaching for his pokeballs again. As I watched them tensely, my eyes widened as something in Raven's statement started to sound familiar.
Wait. Elm's lab... a Totodile with a friendly nature...bad history with trainers...Elm asking me if I wanted a second Pokémon when I started my journey... Of course! It all makes sense now. I can't believe I didn't remember sooner. I'm such an idiot.
Slowly so as not to let Silver realise it right away, I started unwinding my vines, trying to ignore the now familiar waves of guilt rushing over me. I then glanced up at the red head's face. He had stopped struggling from my grip and was watching Raven with a resigned look on his face, almost as if he knew what was going to happen and he could do nothing to stop it.
Realising I was watching him, Silver glared at me again but unlike last time, I knew what I was going to do.
My Chikorita side was right. This was a misunderstanding.
"Thanks Raven. You just helped me figure things out. Ok Silver, time to... RUN FOR IT!" I suddenly unwound my vines all at once before pushing Silver towards the tower. As Silver stumbled forward, shocked and probably more than a little stiff from my tight grip, there was the distinctive flash from a pokeball from where Gold was.
Immediately I swung another razor leaf, only for it to be blown back into my face by a gust of wind. I yelped and jumped back, just managing to spot a flash of red and blue with my blurred eyesight before Raven blasted the 'what-ever-it-was' out of the air with a water gun. I swung out a plume of Sleeping powder and the two of us turned and ran after our trainer; not taking a single look back.
...
As it had turned out, getting away from my cousin was just as difficult as trying to catch him after he'd played a prank, and we ended up having to run, back-track and all the rest of it through the centre of town several times before we finally figured out hiding and waiting for him to dash past us was the only way to throw him off.
Making sure that we weren't seen, Silver carefully checked each area we went through before Raven and I followed, and slowly but surely, we made our way to Sprout tower; eventually collapsing within a small cluster of trees near it.
Still panting, I glanced over to Silver leaning tiredly against a tree with Raven slumped onto the ground next to him, and smiled before letting out a sigh.
Stupid and impulsive or not, it looked like I'd chosen the red-haired boy's side for now, but even I could tell this was going to bring up problems for me later.
Gold was hunting down Silver, someone he believed was a Pokémon thief. Silver actually was a thief, but hadn't stolen Raven for money... Well ok, I still wasn't exactly sure of that, but I certainly didn't regret helping a Pokémon stay with the person he considered his real trainer.
The major problem for me was that, regardless of how long we ran or how much we outwitted him, Gold was going to catch us, and I didn't want another fight like the last one to break out.
To understand just why I was so sure Gold would catch us, I will have to insert a random bit of back story here.
Once, about three or four years ago, when Gold and I were only about 13 and visiting my Dad at the library in Cherrygrove City; a guy managed to hold the pokemart across the street hostage with a gun, screaming about wanting all the money all the money in town or he'd shoot everyone in the store.
To this day, no one knows how that maniac got a gun.
Not only are guns of any type other than tranquilizers illegal, but not even the black market will supply them without being payed hundreds, if not thousands first. The reason? Pokémon hate guns. If one single Pokémon in an area so much as smells one, it'll send the rest berserk in a matter of moments.
That's not to say criminals don't carry them; there are still gangland shootings in big cities like Goldenrod and Veilstone about every month. It's just simply that to carry a gun around in an area like NewBark Town or Cherrygrove City where there are more wild Pokémon than people is just begging to be attacked. But back to my story.
Shortly after all his screaming about killing people, the man was soon swarmed by a huge mass of outraged wild Pokémon (naturally) which quickly made him drop his gun and run for the hills. Gold however, ignoring all the startled shouts and warnings people yelled out to him, raced after the guy with his mum's Aipom, Ataro on his shoulder. Nutmeg and I also joined in the chase, but after about half an hour or so my legs gave out, and we were forced to head back.
But Gold didn't quit. In fact it was eight days later that he finally called us to say that 'he'd run the guy all the way to Ecruteak and had just finished giving his statement to the police, so he was dead tired and could we pick him up please?'.
From that point on, Gold had often been called in by our local Officer Jenny if they ever needed to tail someone in the area, and boy, was he good at it. His stubborn and reckless personality mixed with his endurance made him incredibly useful; not to mention that being a civilian, Gold was often able to get away with things that no police officer would have been allowed to think of, such as making deals with petty crooks to get info. His naturally acting ability (aka: Lying with a straight face) and cheerful nature helped a lot as well.
...Not to mention, Gold really developed a hatred for people who did stupid things that hurt others, after Ataro was crippled a year ago from getting hit by a stupid drink-driver. Criminals who hurt Pokémon were always on the top of his 'most wanted' list.
Gold catching us wasn't in question at all. We were too obvious a group to be ignored and he was never going to stop chasing Silver now that he had decided he was an enemy. So all I could do to stop Gold from tearing Raven and Silver apart was to somehow convince him that the two had gotten attached and separating them would be cruel.
Something that wasn't going to be too easy since I couldn't talk human anymore.
"Chikorita, come here." Silver had finally recovered his breath and watched cautiously as I slowly picked myself up and trudged to where he was pointing.
Plonking myself down, I closed my eyes shut and braced myself for the outburst I knew was coming. 'After all, it was my fault that Silver almost gotten caught back there. If I had been my trainer and something like this had happened, I would have been screaming at my Pokémon already. It would be totally understandable if he ran to the nearest Pokémon centre demanding me to be traded; I mean... I TIED HIM UP! With a vine whip attack! One wrong twitch of my vines and I could have broken his ribs! ...But he isn't making a sound... He's not so mad he's speechless, is he?' I gulped before slowly opening an eyelid.
Silver glowered down at me, his eyes flashing as if they were lit with silvery flames. But instead of being just being angry, something in me (probably my Chikorita side again) told me he was mostly confused. It didn't change the fact he was watching me as if he expected me to try and bite him any minute though.
Really feeling the guilt now, I flashed him a mournful look. 'He really doesn't trust me anymore; no surprise there. I just wish... I could explain myself somehow. It makes me feel twice as guilty not being able to tell him why I did all that.' I grimaced as Raven also flashed me a confused look before smiling weakly. 'At least I can explain to Raven. He'll understand. ...At least, I hope he will.'
There was complete silence as Silver continued to watch me, before the teen let out a heavy sigh and started trudging out of the bushes towards Sprout Tower. Unsure as to whether to follow him or not, I paused, until Silver turned around and gave me a blank look. "Look, if you want to go back to being wild then go already; I don't need a pokemon that won't follow me. But if you like being human owned then hurry up. That goes for you too, Raven."
Both Raven and I jumped with surprise at the comment, glanced at each other for a split second before wordlessly running over to Silver's heels and following after him as he made his way to Sprout Tower.
...
"You couldn't find any trace of him at all?"
Gold let out a groan as both Explotaro and Nutmeg shook their head respectively. Slumping onto a bench, the black-haired boy sighed with frustration before pulling out and drinking from a bottle of water he'd hidden in his jacket pocket. Seeing the murderous looks both of his Pokémon were giving him, he quickly pulled a bowl out of his bag and emptied the last of the bottle's liquid into it from before groaning again.
"So close! We were this close to catching him that time! ...Maybe it's for the best though... It's obvious that Totodile is pretty loyal to him and I know it's gonna suck pulling them apart... But I can't afford to let him go, he's the only lead we have in this!" Gold grit his teeth before glancing down at the two Pokémon that were staring up at him strangely. "Yeah... Ok, I get it. Announcing my problems to the world isn't going to help us any, but still. It's frustrating, you know?" Explotaro nodded fiercely and Gold smiled sheepishly, patting the small fire mouse on the head.
"Sorry Explotaro; I forgot how much more tough it must be for you, seeing as that guy has your buddy with him. ...Looks like we'll just have to wait for Wolf to come back and hope she managed to spot them. Oh...Speak of the devil." Gold grinned as his Taillow (he learnt the species name when he'd rung Elm about his strange new Pokémon) swooped down from the air and onto his shoulder. Before he could even ask if she had seen their target Wolf, in the most human of gestures possible, pointed towards Sprout Tower looming nearby with a wing tip and rolled her eyes at him as if to say 'Duh!'.
A look of disbelief passed over Gold's face as he pulled out an oran berry for the annoyed-looking bird, then his brow tightened in contemplation.
"Why's he going there? Doesn't he realise how easily I can corner him in there? ...Training. He's gotta be going there for the training, probably for that Chikorita of his, considering how crazy it was acting earlier." Suddenly pausing in his speech, Gold shook his head amused at his own idiocy. "...Why do I even care anyway? All that matters is that he won't be able to escape. I decide on what to do with him when I catch him. Come on guys, let's go already!"
Wolf let out an surprised squawk as her trainer bolted, throwing her off his shoulder by accident, as both Explotaro and Nutmeg merely shrugged and dashed after him, not surprised or upset in the least. Seeing that her break was going to be a short one, the Taillow let out an irritated groan and glided after them.
"Just why I am doing this again..?"
...
Chi POV.
It was now about lunch time and a full three hours after running from Gold that finally saw us making it to the 3rd floor of Sprout Tower, collapsing yet again with exhaustion. Most of you who know anything about Sprout Tower are probably laughing at the fact we took so long to get that far or that we were so tired, but you have no idea how many people we had to battle!
Apparently today had been one of the famous Pokémon Academy's annual trips to the tower and as such, the place was packed.
Not only with students and parents all itching to battle, but also curious on-lookers and twice the normal amount of monks, and ALL of them had Pokémon! What's more, it seemed a good third of the children we had totalled yesterday were from the Academy, and the very instant word got around that the 'super-tough scary red-headed guy' was taking on the tower, everyone there wanted a battle. And we couldn't refuse. After all, training is what Sprout Tower is for.
True, most of the battles were ridiculously easy, probably due to how overleveled we were, but it was the sheer number of them that was starting to really hurt. None of us were spared; Scarlet, Raven and myself had all been used equal amounts of times, usually in rotation (though Scarlet was always sent back to her pokeball to rest, unlike Raven and me) and even Silver who, being the trainer didn't have to do anything other than stand and command us, was starting to look like death warmed over.
And then, after all the little kids and their parents had run off to go train against someone weaker, the good trainers started coming. Surprisingly Chip and Kip were in this group, though this time with Silver guiding me I did much better that last time (ie, no over-kill move or Stun Spore needed) and with our no-loss tally growing through the roof, we were even challenged by Earl, the headmaster of the Academy himself. Luckily, Earl had noticed the condition all of us were in and given us some healing items to make the fight 'fair' but seriously; potions only heal wounds, people! In our case, food would have been preferred.
...We still won that round though, with Scarlet, Raven and I all working tag-team to beat that snobbish Lickylicky of Earl's into the dirt.
As a reward for beating everyone on the floor we were presented with a special 'Earl's Academy Badge of Extra-Ordinary Effort' which supposedly like a degree saying we'd surpassed the Academy completely, but I don't think any of us cared; we just wanted to get through this bloody tower of hell and collapse already. Or at least, I know I did.
Too stubborn to see reason though, Silver returned Scarlet (who for the first time since I'd met her was looking tired), forced us to march through the 2nd floor which was (thankfully) deserted, and now we were wordlessly eating the lunch Silver had made for us; which looked and tasted suspiciously like sandwiches with instant chicken-noodles thrown in the middle. I still enjoyed it though.
Finally, after scoffing my sandwich down as if my life depended on it, and I was starting to get the feeling it might, I finally felt I had enough energy to bring up a conversation.
"Hey Raven... You're that funny little Totodile that kept winding back up at the lab, weren't you?" Raven froze half-way his through his meal before looking at me with wide-eyes. Knowing I had his attention, I continued. "I finally recognise you... You were the one who kept getting sent back to the lab by all the trainers who started with you; the first time because that girl trainer you had quit training and couldn't handle you as a pet, the second time you came back on your own after that horrible brat broke your ribs and abandoned you just because you were too smart to take an electric attack on his order..."
Raven's face began to pale as I frantically rambled on, realising I'd said too much to take any of it back.
"You were always doing hilarious, crazy things like drinking the professor's chemical mixtures and egging on that pyro-maniac Cynderquil to set things on fire. But you were a good Pokémon and Elm was really fond of you. ...It's just that by then that stupid rumour about you being 'untrainable and savage' got around and people refused to take you as their starter. ...Is that why you went with Silver even though he stole you?"
Raven, now looking at me as if he'd seen a ghost, slowly gulped down the last of his food before taking a deep breath and smiling sheepishly. "Yeah, that was me. Silver stole me from the lab and I was scared at first because I know thieves are bad and stuff," Raven's eyes began to develop the same sparkle they had when I was first captured. "But then Silver said he'd found out about me by hacking into pewter and finding records on me there. Which would have been really tough because I know that pewter is a really tough rock, even tougher than slate." I chuckled a little when I realised Raven thought Silver had meant a rock rather than a computer, then wisely shut up as he continued.
"And then he said the most amazing thing ever! He said that I was the only Pokémon he'd ever take from the lab. Me! A useless, disobedient Totodile who's so dumb he bites the cords with electricity in them! He's the only person who ever liked me for being me! He said he wanted me because I was independent and unique! Do you know what it's like having something like that happen to you for the very first time?!"
"Ummm...no. Not really." I answered bluntly before thinking about it, and felt my gut twist with self-loathing as Raven sagged, his bubble of hope popped instantly.
"Yeah. I should have figured that one... I'm not really like most other Pokémon... I'm sorry for being such a freak... I'll try not to do that again." Seeing the little Totodile sink to the ground with depression was too much for my new-found Chikorita conscience. Cue, yet another wave of guilt.
Gee, I really need to stop guilt-tripping all the time.
"I didn't mean it like that!" Raven jumped back startled as I shrieked unintentionally high; which attracted Silver's attention for a second before he realised it was just me being weird again and went back to trying to recover his stamina. Embarrassed, I flushed brightly before flicking my headleaf in front of my face and shooting Raven an apologetic look.
"I wasn't saying you were weird for feeling that way or anything, I just meant I've never been in that situation. Besides, if anyone's not like a Pokémon, it's me! I mean, most of my memories are human ones so I'm probably not like a proper Pokémon at all..." I trailed off as I realised I had just given away the whole 'I was human once' thing.
It wasn't really like I was trying to hide it or anything, it just... didn't feel like the sort of thing to say to people unless you wanted them to think you were crazy.
'But then why is my heart pounding in terror? Is not revealing one's nature an instinctive thing when you're a reborn? It isn't like there's any real reason I'm freaking out, right?!'
"Ummm... Miss Chi what are you talking about? I'm kind of confused by what you meant. Could you please explain?" Breaking though my temporary panic to see the look of complete bewilderment on Raven's face, I knew I had spent too long spacing out to cover up my mistake.
Forcing back any awkward feelings I had about it, I decided that this was the perfect opportunity to confide in someone; even if I did have to simplify things a little for him to understand me.
"Well... It's sorta... like I have someone else's memories floating around in my head; like there's another me out there. And this me is human... and thanks to that me's memories I know how to do all sorts of stuff most other Pokémon don't, like how to work computers or how to read and write human words and..." I sighed as I saw Raven's jaw drop. "...and you probably think I'm crazy now. I figured as much... Sorry I ever brought it up."
Jolted out of his awe by my apparent lack of faith in him, Raven gave me a confused look before shaking his head.
"No. Why would I doubt you? Everything you said makes sense and besides it explains a lot. It's just kind of incredible is all. ...Is that how you know about me?"
I nodded and smiled, a warm fuzzy feeling spreading through me when I realised Raven honestly did believe me. "Yeah. It's also how I know Gold, the guy who was trying to catch us earlier..." Raven froze and I bit my lip, continuing a bit more cautiously. "The reason I tied up Silver earlier is because I know Gold's a really good person and he often chases after crooks. Elm probably told him that you were stolen so now he's trying to rescue you from Silver, who he thinks is a bad guy. It confusing for me to have someone I care about hunting after my new trainer, and I don't see how I can stop them from fighting with each other! It's frustrating you know?"
Raven opened his mouth to reply, when Silver interrupted, his voice sounding only a little less exhausted than it had when we first sat down. "Come on, we've relaxed long enough. Let's finish this."
I was really tempted to flash Silver a glare for his rotten timing, but sighed and quietly walked after him, feeling slightly angry at myself for being unreasonable. 'After all, it isn't Silver's fault that he can't understand what us Pokémon are talking about, and at least he didn't try returning us while we were talking either. I've always hated people doing that, even back when I was human.'
Raven, who had been caught off guard by the sudden interruption, stood frozen for a moment before flailing around pointlessly then dashing after us. I laughed at his frantic expression; it wasn't like we were more than a few metres away. He was already nervous we'd leave him behind? In a way it was kind of cute.
...And it was that moment I realised Raven could have been my starter Pokémon.
Now, this thought may not seem all that incredible to anyone else, but to me the implications were mind-blowing. I could have owned the Pokémon that was rapidly turning into my best friend. No... not could have, would have. Despite the fact I loved Chikorita to bits, one look on 'choose your starter day' and I would have instantly fallen for the Totodile with the sad, lonely eyes. But that wasn't really the thing that over-whelmed me.
The real question that boggled my mind is whether or not Raven would have been happier that way. What if I was an awful trainer? I mean, the only Pokémon I'd ever really raised was Nutmeg, my family's Glameow, and the major reason we really got along was because I tended to let her do whatever she wanted and we both liked showing off our skill in battles. Just talking to him now I could tell Raven was a lot more sensitive than Nutmeg ever was; how on earth would he have been able to put up with me as human with all my bluntness?
But even as I thought over those concerns, I was felt something hot and nasty boiling away in my gut.
I was jealous. Completely and utterly jealous of Silver.
'Why does Silver get to run around with a Sneasel and Raven as his first Pokémon and not me?' Something in me wailed as I fought to suppress it, 'It isn't fair! Scratch that; it isn't fair I died, full stop. Why couldn't he have been the one to-' I immediately cut that trail of thought from my mind just as Raven finally caught up with us, and tried to hide my shuddering. 'That was weird... It's so unlike me to get that jealous. And I don't dislike being a Pokémon or anything, so why am I getting all worked up and angry? Is this a Chikorita-hormone thing? I mean, I do remember Prof. Elm saying something about emotional problems in Grass Pokémon caused by chemical imbalances, but I didn't think it would affect my thinking all that much. Ok, note to self: No wishing for people to die out of spite. It's not a good thing to think about, so... No thinking about it! . . . Not thinking about it...Not thinking about it...Really not thinking about it...'
"Miss Chi? What are you chanting to yourself? Does this have anything to do with last night?" I jumped before giving Raven a relieved grin. 'Thank god, a distraction!'
"No... I was just thinking about something stupid and trying to distract myself from it. Why do you ask-Oh..." My question was answered as the corridor opened up into a large empty room with only an old monk in it; meditating quietly in between two Bellsprout statues and looking for all the world like the elder of the Tower.
The fact he was dressed in slightly more flashy clothes than the rest of the monks and had a beard trailing all the way down to the ground only supported this image in my mind.
Spotting us, the monk stood and bowed his head slightly before letting his Bellsprout out of it's pokeball. He then looked at Silver and smiled.
"So good of you to come here, young trainer! Sprout Tower is a place of training built almost one hundred years ago for people and pokémon to test their bonds and help them build a bright future together. My name is Li and I am the elder of this tower. Please allow me to check the ties between you and your Pokémon. This will be your final test at the tower."
Looking significantly cheered up by the fact his opponent wasn't one of the endless mob from downstairs and hopefully the last person we'd have to battle today, Silver actually gave one of his rare smiles and gestured for me to take to the field.
I bounded over, only too happy to battle and get this over and done with. Before I could make it to the field however, Raven grabbed my headleaf and pulled slightly. I slowed to a halt and shot him a murderous look. "Raven, what are doing? That hurts." Raven blinked, as if he hadn't realised what he'd done but quickly let go of my leaf, looking at his claws as they'd moved by themselves.
I frowned, still a little angry but completely forgot about it as my opponent, Elder Li's Bellsprout leered, his strange hissy voice making me pale. "It's been a long time ssince anyone'ss been ssstupid enough to fight with a Chikorita here... Ssssay cutey, how about a date if I win? I know a really good placcce where we could be alone together~"
I glared at him, more than a little weirded-out that one of the honoured Bellsprouts of Sprout Tower could be so creepy. Behind me I heard Raven gasp in outrage, but before I could say anything about it the match began.
"Bell-sen, use acid." The Elder at least was true to his principals as the Bellsprout spat out gunks of purple liquid. Not needing Silver's orders to dodge such a predictable attack, I leapt to the side, just avoiding the poisonous splatter then paused as Silver's voice rang out.
"Use Sweet scent followed by Tackle. But be prepared to close your eyes and use Synthesis as soon as I tell you to drop." I blinked, a little confused by the strange commands but released the Sweet scent anyway; I was still on shaky ground with Silver right now and I wasn't going to risk upsetting him any further.
Before I could run and tackle him however, Li's Bellsprout snickered just as his Vine Whip smashed me right across the eyes. Temporally blinded, the loss of even blurry sight sent me into a complete panic and I started running around in circles slinging Razor leaves in every direction I could. I was so freaked I even ignored shouts and yelps as people almost got hit by my attacks.
I have no idea how long I stayed like that as I was kinda not thinking straight at the time; but next thing I knew I suddenly heard Silver's voice over all the chaos.
"Chi quit it! Stop wasting your energy like an idiot and listen to me already you crazy Pokémon!" I froze on the spot as Silver's angry shouting snapped me out of my panicked state. There were sighs of relief from all around me but most of these were blocked from my hearing as I heard the sound of another Pokémon being released from its pokeball.
I bit my lip to stop myself from panicking again.
"Shouldn't you return your Pokémon? It looks rather tired." Elder Li's voice sounded concerned and I could hear his second Pokémon, a female Bellsprout I think, murmuring something along the same lines. I wondered briefly for a moment what had happened to the first Bellsprout then sagged with relief. 'Who cares what happened to him? At least I'm not fending off that pervert blind. Not that it really matters as Silver's probably going to order me back soon-'
"I'm not returning her." Even blinded I could picture the glare Silver was giving the Elder as he replied. "She's only a little tired. Any Pokémon of mine could win this battle with you by itself. Understood?"
I gulped as I sensed the determination in Silver's voice as well as the thinly-veiled challenge to me. Reluctantly, I Chi-ed in agreement and that seemed to be the cue for the second round.
"Use Acid, Bell-ko." I smiled slightly as the Elder ordered the same attack as he had before... Until I realised I couldn't see it.
Cue second round of panicked running.
"Again? What's the matter-Reflect now!" Silver's confused murmuring instantly changed into an order as the acid attack began to rain down on me. Luckily I was still thinking well enough to listen and raise up a barrier.
...Only to find I'd put it up in the wrong direction.
I let out a loud shriek of pain as spots of the poisonous liquid started raining down on my unprotected back; instinctively I dashed forward to try to escape, only to slam my head hard against the Reflect I had just put up.
For a moment my head spun then, much to my surprise, I suddenly felt my energy coming back to me in a surge. Feeling more than a little disorientated though, I staggered a little and forced my eyes open slowly. Instantly the pain made me shut them again but at least I had managed to get a mostly blurred view of my surroundings. Then I heard the words I really didn't want hear.
"Bell-ko another Acid to finish it off. We shouldn't prolong it's suffering any more than we have to."
Well, that was enough to set me right off again. Lunging in direction I thought I'd managed to make the Bellsprout out, I was rewarded when I heard the other Pokémon yelp as she scuttled away. Unable to do anything else at this point, I desperately tried running after the much-faster Bellsprout, hoping like hell Silver would finally figure out why the hell I couldn't see and do something about it.
"Chi, use Magical Leaf continuously until you can't anymore." I felt my spirits soar as Silver ordered my attack. 'Yes! That's it! Magical Leaf will hit regardless of whether or not I can see! Silver, you're awesome!' I briefly considered running over to give Silver a teary hug but remembered just in time I couldn't tell where he was anyway.
Of course, it was just then the Bellsprout decided to get smart and spat a clump of Acid-filled-agony straight into my face.
I shrieked again, this time a lot more desperately as acid started burning my already blistering eyes, then choked back a sob as I dropped onto my front knees. I knew that technically, I was still actually considered ok for battle but I really didn't feel it. This match was really starting to kill any desire I had for ever battling again.
After a moment though, I slowly pulled myself back up and grit my teeth, before snarling vaguely in the Bellsprout's direction. "For Mew's sake, can't you give me a break?! I've had enough! One more acid attack from you and I swear, someone today is gonna die! Horribly! And I'll take great pleasure in it!" With that said I tossed the most powerful Magical leaf attack I could manage forward and grinned as I heard the wonderful shuddering 'thwump' of a Bellsprout being slammed into a wooden wall. ...Honestly, I really hadn't expected my attack to hit the poor Bellsprout quite that hard but considering how long she'd had free reign over the battle, I felt I'd done rather well.
I then pondered just how over levelled I was.
Evidently Silver thought I'd done a good job as well, as I heard the flash of a pokeball from behind me, and heard Scarlet's usual hiss in my direction.
"Good job Chi. Follow my voice until you walk into Raven; you've done enough." I grinned as Silver's voice softened slightly, and nodded, carefully trotting in his direction until I felt Raven press a claw against my forehead.
"Wow... you really got beat up back there Miss Chi. Are you ok? You aren't feeling sick or anything are you? No poisoning right?" I grinned at Raven's concern before wincing slightly, the adrenalin that was holding back the pain finally beginning to wear off.
"Yeah, I'm ok... Just a little blinded at the moment. ...Is there a potion around here I could use? On the area around my eyes? I really don't mind the pain so much... but it's really scary not being able to see." Raven must have heard the slight whimper in my voice, because he gasped rather loudly and dashed off somewhere only to rush right back, my headleaf weakly sensing that he was holding something cold in his claws.*
"Just hold still Miss Chi, I'll get this done. Just hold still, ok?" There was a moment or two of squeaking plastic before a loud 'POP' sound signalled that Raven had managed to pull the potion's lid off. There was then a silent pause and distantly I registered Scarlet was hissing at something that was flapping around and screaming "DON'T EAT ME!" a lot, but decided that the issue of the potion was more important.
"Raven..."I sighed as the crocodile Pokémon in front of me 'hmmm'ed' rather loudly. "...You squash the funny looking white bit down to make it spray. ...But make sure the little hole on the side of it is pointing where you want to spray it or else you might end up spraying it on yourself."
Immediately there was a shuffling sound and potion sprayed onto my face. Waiting a moment for the potion to work its magic, I bit my lip nervously then slowly opened my eyes to make out the blurry (but pain-free!) image of the Totodile's curious face. Celebrating this small miracle, I couldn't help but grin my head off.
"Oh thank god! I can see again! I never ever want to get hit on the eyes again. Ever. Thanks Raven. I really don't think I would have been able to handle that much longer." My headleaf shook slightly as I looked at the blurred area around me with a greater appreciation than I ever would at any other time in my life. Well... At least until my vision cleared and I saw the blood and acid stains I'd managed to leave all over the wooden floor. That just left me feeling a little grossed out.
"You're more than welcome Miss Chi!" Raven's beaming face quickly changed to a more concerned expression as he glanced at the rest of me. "Are you really sure you're alright though..? You look kind of... bruised. Aren't you even tired?" I paused and nodded a little, but before I could a word in edge-wise, there was tremendous screech from the battle field and I turned only just in time to see Scarlet slam a frigidly cold Ice Punch straight into the beak of Elder Li's last Pokémon, a terrified looking Hoothoot.
It didn't take a genius to know who won that round, though I did wince in sympathy for the Hoothoot as it crumpled to the ground and was returned to it's pokeball.
More than aware she'd won the whole battle, Scarlet smirked in triumph for a moment before her bright crimson eyes fixed on me... and widened almost comically large. Half expecting her to laugh at how beat up I was, I was completely dumbfounded when she shot over and placed a claw on my forehead, her face pale with worry and barely contained rage.
"What happened here!? Why are you in such bad condition?! Talk! Who had the nerve to hurt one of Silver's Pokémon?! I swear to Articuno I'll make them regret this!" Seeing Scarlet's face flicker between murderous intent and concern at this close a range was too much for me and I laughed weakly, too overwhelmed by the surreal-ness to really register anything other than the fact Scarlet was practically acting like an outraged mother.
"A Bellsprout. Two actually. But... I beat them already so... it's ok right? I'm not really that messed up though, am I? You looking at me as if you actually care is starting to really make me worried. It's creepy." I was rewarded for this comment with a glare and weak Icy Wind to the face, but as Scarlet wasn't trying to slash my face off I knew I'd gotten off lightly. Before I could question her sudden swap in personality though, Elder Li's voice grabbed my attention.
"You showed us what you've got and it's indeed good... Take this Technical Machine Flash. However... you should care more about your Pokémon. The way you treat your Pokémon is too harsh. Remember young man, Pokémon are not tools of war. Forcing them to battle when they are injured will only hurt you in the end and harsh words do naught but break the spirit." The Elder's face was sad as he looked down on Silver and the rest of us with what could only be referred to as pity.
Silver turned his head away, seemingly ignoring his words. But I felt myself shake with indignation. Galloping over and taking a defensive stance in front of my slandered trainer, I let out a defensive growl.
"How dare you say that! Silver's a great trainer!" I yelled at the Elder, ignoring the fact he couldn't understand me. "Sure, he made a few errors in judgement and he insulted me earlier but was those were mistakes or things he said to try to snap out of my confusion! If I thought Silver was a bad trainer I would have left already, so you don't need to be all mean about it!" I yelped the last sentence extra loudly to get my point across before running back and hiding behind Silver's legs, my eyes all watery as I gave the Elder a hurt look.
'Honestly, it wasn't fair of him to say that to us! Silver didn't realise I couldn't see. It wasn't his fault or mine! What was he said was just rude; I shouldn't feel at all guilty for setting him straight!' I felt my indignant anger begin to trickle away as the monk looked down at me in surprise. '...I do anyway, though... Maybe I shouldn't have yelled at him... It doesn't seem like he meant to upset us... Maybe I'm over reacting again...' Suddenly feeling anxious, I glanced up at Silver to see him looking down at me with another of his weird half-annoyed half-happy expressions. Before I had time to work out whether or not that expression was a good thing, Elder Li's light-hearted chuckle filled the room.
"It seems I was a little hasty in my judgement; it's not too often I see a Pokémon willing to defend its trainer's honour. Chikorita, know I have been properly chastised and I shall strive not the same mistake again." I grinned and wagged my stump of a tail as Silver let out a slight cough. Glancing up back at him again, I paused, fascinated by the red blush now spreading all over his face.
'Wait... Is he embarrassed? Maybe he's not used to being apologised to... But he looks so cute~ His face matches his hair!' I giggled, then ducked as Scarlet's claws slashed over my headleaf.
Thank Arceus she was predictable.
"What are you laughing at, Chikorita? Speak up before I have to cut you into ribbons-" Scarlet's annoyed tone was cut off as Raven snuck up behind her and cupped his claws over her mouth. Seeing Scarlet almost livid with rage but unable to attack me, I full out laughed, this strange turn of events too funny for me to keep my mouth shut.
Raven on the other hand, looked slightly frustrated as he pulled irate Sneasel back. "That's enough Scarlet. Miss Chi is a genius and she's bound to see the world differently than we do. Besides if you keep attacking her like this, Silver might get angry with you." Scarlet froze as though the idea of Silver being upset with her was the equivalent of the apocalypse. Raven released her and sighed as she dropped to the ground, her horrified expression still frozen on her face. I blinked, bewildered by what had just occurred in front of me.
"Hey Raven... What the heck just happened?" Raven jumped and blinked as he turned to face me, a slight touch of guilt on his face.
"What? Oh. Umm... Scarlet is pretty sensitive when it comes to Silver, so I kinda used that against her. She drops like a stone every time." Seeing my now, very evil grin, Raven shot me a serious look. "Don't even think about using it unless you really have to, Miss Chi. If Scarlet ever picks up that you're lying or that you're just trying to get your own way, she'll kill you. Scarlet doesn't like people who lie much."
I gulped and Raven breathed a sigh of relief that I understood; inwardly though, I was cackling. Finally! I had a Defence against Scarlet's psycho-ness!
"Oi!" We all looked up as Silver called out to us, a bemused expression on his face. "Finish up chatting and hurry up. If you want you can socialise later, after I get you all healed up."
Instantly Scarlet recovered from her emotional paralysis and dashed forward, leaping ever so gracefully onto Silver's shoulder. I felt my second stab of jealousy for the day at Scarlet being able to move so smoothly but thankfully I was able to silently murder the green eyed monster before it made me think of wishing for people's deaths, and trotted over calmly. Raven took a bit longer to head over as he was waving goodbye to Elder Li for the rest of us but quickly ran over once he saw the impatient look in Silver's eyes.
As we took the path back towards the 2nd floor together, I suddenly started feeling unbelievably happy. Unable to stop myself, I started humming some random tune as happy, dumb thoughts started flooding my little head. 'Finally, we've conquered Sprout Tower! After all those tough battles and all the horrible confusion earlier, it's finally finished and we can go back to the Pokémon centre and heal up! Who knows, maybe I can try talking with Raven and Scarlet about how to stop Gold and Silver from fighting when they saw each other next. It couldn't hurt all that much, could it? ...Ok, sure, Scarlet is likely to start cutting at me again, but now I have a weapon to use against her! We could all work together and stop my cousin from being an idiot. It's almost too perfect!'
...It was too perfect. Just as I had been thinking this Gold, who had been waiting patiently for us to return, blocked the stairs and threw a pokeball out at us. Instantly everything went chaotic.
Scarlet reacted, lunging with claws drawn and before I could even register what happened, there was a yowling sound and Scarlet was thrown backwards, landing in front of us with her claws held out defensively.
Her opponent, also thrown back by the clash, snarled before letting out a confident purr, her long beautiful tail flicking forward. "So, I see you've sharpened your claws since the last time we fought. Good, I was getting sick of all the easy wins. Then again, with your trainer being the coward he is, I suppose this win will last no longer than any of the others. 'T's a shame really..." Scarlet tensed behind me and Raven seemed to suddenly disappear from view as I stopped dead in my tracks at the realisation of who was talking.
"Nutmeg!? Is that you?" I didn't even need her answer. It was Nutmeg. The beautiful little Glameow I had played with ever since Gold's mother had bought her as a gift for my mother when I was three years old, was right there in front of me. Everything about her, her sleek black and grey fur with the odd brown patch, eyes that flickered between emerald green and gold, and even her habit of looking down on other Pokémon like they were nothing was unchanged.
'But... why is she here with Gold now? Nutmeg always disliked Gold, or at least really liked mauling and scratching him. Had they somehow bonded and become a team after my death? What did Mom and Dad think about this? Do they even know where Nutmeg is right now? Gold is horrible at warning people when he does impulse things... Oh god. ...I just realised; I haven't thought about how my death would have affected my family's Pokémon... I wonder if they're all ok. I hope somebody got them dinner after I got stabbed... Wait. Why am I worried about them missing one meal?! For all I know they may be staving themselves from grief!' As I continued to send myself into another panic thinking about useless things, Nutmeg gave me a cold look before asking one of the most horrible questions I'd ever hear in either of my lifetimes.
"Do I know you?"
It wasn't cruelly intended and I knew Nutmeg was simply asking me a normal question but for the second time that day my world stopped as she gave me the degrading look she reserved for battle opponents, her eyes narrowed as she calmly looked me over. "No... I've never met a furred Chikorita before. How odd. Tell me, how 'tis it you know my name?"
"Wha? How do I know what..?" I verbally floundered as Nutmeg's ears flicked back with irritation.
How could I answer that? I wanted to just say "I'm your human, silly" and run over to give her a hug but my heart was hiding in my throat again. There was no way I'd make any sort of sense if I tried talking now... But I had to say something didn't I? If only I could find the right words...
"The Chikorita is my spy, and you will not be asking anymore questions of her, Glameow!" Scarlet snapped, jolting me back into the real world once more. Taking a few aggressive steps forward, the Sneasel let out a savage snarl and extended her claws far longer than I'd ever seen her do before. "You call my master a coward, when you don't even acknowledge your own?! What does that say about yours? That he's so stupid, you'd rather just fight on your own? How pitiful."
Nutmeg's ears flattened back, Scarlet hissed again and an instant later the two were rolling around, slashing at each other like crazy.
Too sensible to try getting involved in a cat fight, (not at all because I was too terrified to stop them because they were the fiercest Pokémon I knew and both prone to attacking me) I glanced over at Gold and suddenly realised that behind Nutmeg he'd already released his second Pokémon, a frustrated looking Cyndaquil who was giving Raven a look of complete disbelief as he tried to drag the bigger and much heavier water Pokémon back to where Gold was standing.
"Listen Toto, that guy's a complete crook! Why the heck are you being so stubborn about this? Did he brainwash you?! Just let go already!" The Cyndaquil was shouting as Raven dug his claws into the floorboards and wailed so loudly I was sure Scarlet and Nutmeg should have been blocking their ears.
"NEVERNEVERNEVER! ITOLDYOU, SILVER'SMYTRAINER AND I'MNEVERLETTINGGO! SCARLET! MISS CHI! HEELPP MEEEEE!" There was a screech as Raven's claws were pulled slightly through the wood, then more confused yelling from the Cyndaquil as Raven's Aqua Tail smashed him in the face. I winced but decided not run over. By the look of it, things over there were going well, and besides any second now Silver was going to need help.
"Dammit. Chi! Get over here!" Silver called out, his voice barely audible over the chaos, and I ran over to him, grinning smugly for my accurate prediction. When I arrived there was a slight pause as a conflicted look passed over Silver's face, but almost instantly it disappeared and the red head shot Gold a wary glare.
"Stun spore the area and make sure it's strong enough to knock him out. I don't want this guy following us back to Pokémon centre before I can heal you Pokémon. We're getting too much attention here in Violet as it is..." As Silver bit his lip obviously worried about something else other than the current fight, I froze at the order, then as slowly and deliberately as I could, shook my head to say 'no'. Silver, realising I wasn't attacking, gave me one of his enraged glares, but despite wanting to wilt I resisted and shook my head again, this time a bit more fiercely.
Pokémon battles were fine, and I wouldn't have minded restraining Gold with a vine whip, but there was no way I was going to use my pollen attacks on my cousin. Not when it could set off his asthma and kill him.
...Of course, there was no way of telling Silver about that, so once again I was feeling pretty helpless. Luckily at that moment, Gold noticed I was out there and sent out his last Pokémon in a flash.
"Wolf, blow that Chikorita away!"
Reacting purely on instinct, I swung out a Razor Leaf and instantly, a strong gust of wind blew it right back at me just like in my previous encounter with one of Gold's Pokémon. Surprisingly I managed to smack the leaf away with my headlead before it slammed into my face, and even managed to tack a little angry sounding 'Chi!' on the end of it, but the gust of wind seemed of drain me of my energy. My legs trembled as I forced myself to keep standing, and not exactly sure why, I turned back to Silver to give him my very best 'I told you' look.
Before I could get a good look at his expression though, I flicked my gaze back to my opponent Wolf, to see a small blue and red feathered bird, swearing her head off at Gold for 'throwing her out in the middle of a bunch of #%$ ing lunatics'. Suddenly realising that her opponent 'lunatic' was watching her, the Taillow turned to glare at me, her feathers puffed up angrily as-
-the girl pulled herself across the dirt painfully, her arms twisted back and useless while her legs were bound. Fearfully she glanced up at the shadow lit up from the next room, and felt her terror increase so much it completely overrode the pain that crippled her. Hurriedly she glanced around.
Nothing. There was nothing she could hurt him with even if she was in a fit state to attack him; she couldn't bear to look at her hands after what he'd done to them.
There was a rattle of a door handle, and the girl knew she was running out of time. Desperately she fixed her gaze on the broken glass near the man's chair, and with a tiny gulp, wriggled towards it, her skin being scratched and bruised by the sharp rocks hidden just under the dirt. Finally getting so close to the glass she could hold a piece of it with her lips, the girl began to tremble violently.
This was really it. There was no rescue; no last minute miracle that would somehow save her life. She had tried to avoid the reality but regardless, today was the day she really was going to die. But better this than him doing it. She'd end it herself and ruin his fun. The only real pity was that she wouldn't be around when the bastard finally got what he deserved. But hopefully god would let her watch as he plunged him straight back to hell!
Having made up her mind the girl grabbed the closest shards of glass with her mouth and forced herself to swallow as the door to the dark room was opened. Immediately the shards sliced open her throat and thick metallic blood began spilling into her airways and mouth.
Enraged, her captor lifted her off the ground and yelled at her, slapping her in the face; but the girl just smiled sadistically before spitting a clump of blood at his face. He dropped her and roared, but the lack of air made everything fuzzy; sort of black stained with red that she couldn't see through. Fear filled her only and she tried to breath only for her lungs to fill with liquid and-
...I dashed to the end of the field and hurled up the contents of my stomach before feeling my knees buckle underneath me.
Both Gold and Silver let out startled shouts as I dropped to the ground but I couldn't hear them. I shivered horribly as the Taillow's memories swirled in my memory.
'She... She killed herself! What on earth could have happened to her to make her do that to herself?! And she was so scared and angry...' I felt my stomach rebel again and after throwing up a second time, I tried using Aromatherapy to calm my shattered nerves.
Never in my short reborn life had any of my memory-flashes been so strong that I had felt what the other person was feeling at the time of their death, but with that Taillow, Wolf... I shuddered and forced myself to glance back at her.
The Taillow herself looked rather dizzy, but rather than the horror and repulsion I had had, Wolf's eyes looked haunted, the vision of my death probably making her remember her own. Instantly I started guilt-tripping about it and, being the kind of person I am, I wandered over and placed a vine over her forehead.
"Ummm... Are you ok?" The reaction was instant. Flapping her wings madly, the Taillow jumped back and fixed me with a horrified glare before blinking rapidly, looking all around in confusion.
"What the..? What the fuck just happened?!If this is some psychic's sick idea of a joke, I swear I'm gonna pull off his head and shove it right up his ass and then I'll-" As the profanity got even worse, I stared, astounded by her temper, then quickly interrupted her mid-rant.
"Wolf, was it? Ummm... Are you... by any chance a reborn?"
Instantly the Taillow froze, before looking at me with wide eyes. "How did you..?"
I chuckled, feeling slightly flustered. "I'm kind of one too. My human name was Skye Royall, but I'm called Chi now."
Wolf nodded and smiled weakly, suddenly seeming a lot calmer than before. "Well, that's... cool I guess. I've never met another reborn before... Heard rumours about them from my stupid ex-flock, but never met another one. Umm... Did you just see something weird..? I'm not sure but..." Her eyes glazed slightly and I winced, aware that her current state was probably my fault.
"I'm guessing you saw a girl get stabbed, right?" I gulped as Wolf's eyes lit up with shock. "That girl was actually me; I got stabbed in the back while on my way to pick up groceries." I blushed for a moment when I realised how un-epic my demise had actually been, then blinked as Wolf shot me a harsh look.
"Why the heck would I have a vision of you biting the dust? I'm not a fucking psychic!" Wolf's narrowed eyes glinted with suspicion, "Explain all this shit right now!"
I gulped nervously and nodded, backing away slightly. "Ummm... Well you see, earlier, we locked eyes, and apparently whenever two reborns lock eyes they swap the memories of how they died with the other person. It's sort of like a way for us reborns to find each other more quickly..." I trailed off as Wolf glared at me in mix of horror and rage, the feathers on her head and neck bristling so much they made her look twice the size she actually was.
"You saw my memories?!" Sensing I'd just crossed the line, I started backing away in earnest.
"Yes, but it wasn't on purpose or anything-AHH!" I shrieked as Wolf swooped over peaking and raking at me with her beak and talons.
"YOU LITTLE-?! Forget it! FORGET EVERYTHING YOU JUST SAW! Now! I don't want anyone to know what happened back then! GIVE MY MEMORIES BACK! Now! Now! Now! Now! Now!" Each shout of 'Now!' was punctuated with a sharp peck to my head, which were all unbelievably painful.
Desperate to avoid being pecked to death, I dashed away and shot the mad bird a helpless expression. "Look! I'm sorry, ok? I didn't mean to see your memories or anything, and it's not like I can just forget about what I saw on purpose-" Wolf interrupted with a loud shrill bird call and immediately the area was bathed in a bright sharp light.
"I'LL MAKE YOU FORGET IT THEN!" A voice much deeper than the one I heard seconds before rang out as the light expanded then disappeared, revealing Wolf in all her new Swellow glory.
"...oh crud buckets..."
...
Notes: *Chikorita have the ability to sense changes of temperature with their head leaves.
...
Yay! I've finished the chapter!
But things are getting interesting, huh? Chi's sending e-mails under the name of 'Blue', Wolf's a reborn AND she's evolved already, Raven's an ex-mistreated lab starter, and Gold does way too much for an average 16 year old. ^^;
...Truth is, I was actually planning on adding more to this chapter, but this seemed like a good place to end it.
But anyhow, there'll be a gym battle next chapter. Any guesses on how this battle between Gold and Silver will end? Also, can you guess which character/s from previous chapters will show up? I have more of those invisible cookies for correct answers~
Again, a big thank you to all those who donated or tried to donate OCs, and Special thanks to ShadoWolfDemon who donated/inspired Wolf. Please look up her fanfics; they deserve more love.
Anyway, that's all I can really think of so, Please R&R and I'll get onto starting chapter 8 right away!
Lil'Raven signing out~ X3