Infinitos Aeterna: Sedecim Partis

The plane ascended into the sky as the world shrunk into nothing. The moment was eerily similar the sad instant five years ago on when I ascended away forever from Sabrina and Erika. Nothing is forever, not even friendship. But neither is separation, also.

I remember the day Sabrina's gym became the official gym of Saffron city. I was even there to see it; I was right in the front row, sitting right next to Erika. She just blew away those poor fighting types, who stood not a chance against her awesome psychic abilities. September 24, 2002 was the day, the day we psychic types proved ourselves to the world. And what a glorious day it was!

But alas, it had its price. Sabrina was never the same after that day. She used to always be willing to talk; she used to be very warm. But after that day, our friendship became very shaky. She was either hot or cold. Some days she would dedicate all her time to developing her psychic powers that I was so envious of. On those days she felt no emotion and was cold as stone. But other days, she was the way she used to be.

Sabrina had known about her psychic powers since she was young, and it soon became apparent she had more than what her father had, and from time to time she would work on developing them. But she always left time for human interactions. But after the victory, she found she had even more psychic powers than she thought and grew obsessed with honing them. The psychic pokémon she got closer and closer to helped hone her psychic powers. The psychic type effect strengthened her powers.

As the months went on, the "cold" days became increasingly common as her thirst for power grew. By the time the Lieutenant Surge incident happened in October 2003, our friendship barely held on with whatever little emotion she had left.

I always prayed to God to keep our friendship alive, and even if He couldn't do that, at least protect my bond with Erika. Sabrina used the last remains of her emotions to wave her last goodbye to me. Her emotions were like water flowing from a tap. After her gym became official, the full, rushing stream of water began to be turned off until in the end, you are left with little but a leaky faucet.

As Sabrina's emotions rotted away, so did my will to stay in Kanto. Though there was also Erika, it just wouldn't be the same without Sabrina. It's always more fun to have three than two. What's the point of staying in Kanto if you don't have your best friend anymore? Though pokémon would have helped to fill the void, there's always the human aspect to it. Always.

And so, I left Kanto, as it just wouldn't have been the same without the old Sabrina. I remember even Erika was feeling that she was in danger of losing our friendship, that our wonderful triangle of friendship would dismantle and blow away.

The seat belt sign came off. I decided to remove my seat belt and walk around a bit. Chris was asleep in his chair, listening to his I pod and Cynthia was out and about. Lucian had apparently gone to the bathroom, as he was nowhere to be seen. I may as well let Alakazam out.

"Go, Alakazam!"

I called out Alakazam

We walked around together. I saw the lady walking around. It was just her, with no pokémon. She didn't seem lonely at all. I looked at my pokétch. 11:09. Four more hours left. I asked her if she had any pokémon, and she said no. But this is Pokéland! Why would someone have no pokémon? Unless, of course, she comes from outside Pokéland, as I don't recall seeing any pokémon in America. Maybe she's someone from America I haven't seen in a long time?

Lucian had returned to his seat now and he was a reading a book, "Secrets of the Psychics", by Uri Geller. Cynthia was reading a magazine, titled "The Secrets to a Happy Pokémon". Chris, now awake, was playing his DS. I called back Alakazam, sat down and took out a Rubik's cube and began to solve it. Meanwhile, the lady in front of me was talking on her cell phone again.

I guess playing on my DS wouldn't be a bad idea. We were experiencing turbulence now and the seatbelt sign was on again.

The lady spoke to me,

"I see. You're going to Kanto 'cause you're tagging along with Lucian n' Cynthia, I'm correct?"

"Yeah, how d'you know?"

"Saw you with them. I just figured."

"How 'bout you? Why are you going?"

"I'm going for a few weeks. I'd rather not talk about it. I will be staying at Maison Saffron. My floor number will be Maylene's floor number + Lucian's floor number and my room number will be Gardenia's room number times Volkner's room number divided three. "

"Okay."

I closed my eyes, and soon the world dissolved…

"Ay, caramba!"

Chris's voice boomed

"What?"

I sleepily asked

"This guy looks just like Lucian!"

Said Chris

He was watching Bleach on his portable DVD player. He showed me his DVD player, and there was a pink haired man with shoulder length hair and white glasses. He was tall, shirtless, and quite handsome…

"Oh my freaking god… he does! Except with pink hair instead of purple!"

I responded

"Who looks just like me?"

Lucian came and stood beside Chris.

"This guy,"

Chris pointed to the pink haired man,

"You're right, he does!"

Said Lucian, slightly shocked by this

"What's his name?"

"Szayel Apporo Grantz, the eighth espada, you know, Bleach?"

I responded to Lucian

"Oh, yes."

He responded

"Hey, Sayo, is that why you're blushing? 'Cause he looks like Lucian and he's shirtless?"

Said Chris, raising his eyebrows. Wow, I didn't see that one comin'!

My face did feel rather warm, and the lady was looking at us, smiling. I didn't know what to say!

"Uhh...no…"

I sheepishly smiled. Just then the seatbelt sign came on. Chris turned off the DVD player and Lucian returned to his seat. The PA came on.

"Good afternoon and thank you for flying Air Pokéland,"

Said a cool woman's voice, with the air of a computer

"We are now landing in Saffron city, Kanto. The temperature is 25 degrees Celsius, and the time is 2:46 pm. Please fasten your seatbelts and return to your seats. Pokémon must be back inside their pokéballs while the seatbelt sign is lit and cell phones must be off. Once again, thank you for flying Air Pokéland."

The seatbelt sign was lit. I soon felt the plane beginning to descend. I fastened my seatbelt. Alakazam was safely inside her pokéball, which was now inside my carry on bag. We began to dive in the sea of clouds into an ocean of blue sky, warmly lit by a softly glowing pearl. I figured I should marvel at heaven one last time, before I descend back onto Earth. The clouds touched against my windows, and they appeared soft enough to sit on, even thought they were little but gargantuan puffs of steam.

I gradually began to feel us getting lower and lower. The people, pokémon and cars that were the size of miniatures gradually began to grow as if we were shrinking. It was astounding. Then, as if my ears were stuffed with some plugs of air, all became silent to me. I took some gum out and chewed it. The sound returned.

Eventually, we were speeding on the ground. We had arrived. The plane slowed to a taxi and soon stopped. We all clapped.

"Ladies and gentlemen, we have landed in Saffron city, Kanto, Pokéland. The time is 3:00 pm. Please, exit the plane with all carry ons! Thank you for flying Air Pokéland!"

I got up and got my carry ons from the cabin as everyone else around me did the same. After he got his carry ons, Lucian came up to me.

"Sayo, I heard there's a surprise for you at the terminal,"

He said

"What?'

"It's a secret!"

I wondered what that surprise could be.

Soon, we were all off the plane.

The baggage carrousels were crowed as heck. Scrambling for their bags, a mob raced against time to get their bags before they were late for whatever. Finally, Chris and I found a spot to wait for our bags. The lady was right next to us. She had just received her bags when she turned around to look at me.

"Oh, one last thing. Stay away from A…"

She said

What did she mean? A what? Could she possibly mean the green haired guy? But he should be in Hoenn and Naomi's in Sinnoh! He should be and he had better be!

Soon, all four of us had our bags as we headed to arrival terminal.

"Sayo, close your eyes!"

Said Cynthia

I was led somewhere in the terminal.

"Open,"

Said Chris

When I opened my eyes, a great feeling of happiness filled me. It was almost as if I was fourteen or fifteen again, living here in Kanto. How could this be?

"Impossible… Sabrina…Erika…Mr. Saiki?"

I said, bewildered beyond my senses. Standing before me were my old friends. My old friends that I hadn't seen in five years nor did I ever think I would see again, at least not very soon. This was too good to be true, as it was just…impossible!

"Sayo!"

Erika came and hugged me. I hugged her back as tears flowed from both of our eyes. Not tears of sadness, tears of joy.

"Erika, it's been five years! How are you?"

I asked

"The moment I heard you would be coming back, even for just ten days, my heart began to race. I must be there, I thought,"

Said Erika

"My gosh, it's really you, Sayo! I never thought I'd ever see you again!"

Said Sabrina

There was something about her voice that was so warm, just like the old Sabrina I used to know!

"Sabrina!"

I cried overwhelmed with joy

"And wait, there's more!"

Said Lucian.

Erika and Sabina moved to the side, and lo and behold, there stood Fantina, Roark, his father Byron, Flint, Volkner, Aaron, Candice and even Bertha, Palmer and Buck. How is one to feel and what is one to say, when all friends, past and present, old and new, are standing right beforth them? Nothing could make this day any better. No, nothing.

But just as that thought crossed my head, along came my old friends, Will, Bugsy, Tate and Liza, my old friends from the times of Sabrina and Erika. Something just did make the day a little better. And no Andrew Whiteman, Naomi Watanabe, or Harley Erickson to ruin it all. At least, not as far as I could see, and that was all that mattered right now. Though my plane had landed, I was still in heaven.

"Yo, what's cookin'? Flint in the house!"

Said Flint

"Quite frankly, I'm speechless…"

"Vous aimez le surprise?"

Asked Fantina

"Oui, Oui!"

I said

"Ve vill be staying in ze five star 'otel, Maison Saffron. C'est fantastique!"

Said Fantina

"Let's a go to the hotel!"

Said Chris

And the twenty or so of us left the terminal and boarded a bus to the hotel.

"Mr. Saiki,"

I asked Sabrina's dad

"Pardon me, but I just want know. At this very same airport five years ago, Sabrina waved goodbye to me with the last bit of emotion from a heart that was becoming colder and colder because she wanted more power. What happened? She's just like the warm Sabrina I used to know again!"

"Ah,"

Responded Mr. Saiki

"She was very cold, even bordering on insanity after you left. Sabrina had shut off her feeling completely by a month after your departure. So, the old Sabrina, the one you were friends with, in other words her emotions, became manifested in a puppet. The old Sabrina became a slave of the new one. She was like that for quite some time. She turned people, even her own mother, into dolls and did all sorts of cruel things. And she felt no mercy."

"That's awful,"

I responded,

"But what happened?"

"So one or two years ago, this very nice boy came by asking to challenge her. But he had such a hard time defeating her, due to the psychic link between her and her kadabra. So the boy just happened to come across me, thinking I was Sabrina's neighbor or photographer. He asked me how to defeat Sabrina.

Well, I suggested he use a ghost type pokémon. And that young lad went and got the funniest haunter there is and challenged my daughter to a rematch. So she agreed, and my, that haunter delighted her so much, the puppet of the old Sabrina and the new Sabrina merged back into one.

She could not contain her emotions any longer and became the girl that just wants to have fun again, the one you used to know. The lad won the match as Sabrina and her psychically linked pokémon were unable to battle."

Mr. Saiki responded

"Wow, that's wonderful! I wish I was there to see it!"

I said, excited. I really wish I was.

Soon enough, I saw myself staring at the familiar landscapes of Saffron city. It made me feel all too nostalgic. I decided it was time to call Tsubaki, as the last time I called was last night. Or should I wait until I'm at the hotel, because it's just two minutes away.

Sure enough, the hotel reared into sight. Before long, the luggage was being unloaded. I made sure I had everything before I went into the lobby, where Gardenia and Maylene were.

"Alright, everybody, Erika will be in Celadon city and Sabrina will be back at the gym with her father, so there's no need to accommodate them in the hotel. As for the remaining twenty one of us, we will have to check into rooms with a roommate of the same gender. There are only eight girls and thirteen boys, so we will form four female parings, five male parings and one male group of three, thus requiring ten rooms."

Cynthia explained to everyone. Immediately pairings were made.

I ended up with Cynthia and Chris decided to go with Lucian.

So:

Roark went with Byron

Gardenia with Fantina

Maylene with Candice

Wake with Tate

Volkner with Flint

Aaron with Will and Bugsy

Buck with Palmer

And that left Bertha with Liza

We all checked in and got our room keys. Cynthia and I were on floor 10, room 10 or 1010. All the boys got rooms on floor 5 and the rest of the girls on floor 7. Cynthia and I were the only girls and the only pairing to begin with who got floor 10.

"Lucian, what room are you?"

I asked

"I'm in 511 with Chris. You?"

"1010 with Cynthia."

The elevators were so crowded that some of the boys had to resort to going up the stairs, which of course, was no problem for Wake. Fortunately, the four of us managed to get an elevator. Just for emergencies, we each received a list of rooms, which told us where everyone was.

Soon enough, Cynthia and I were in room 1010. Our four bags were resting beside our two queen size beds. I looked the list.

Room List

Key: 101= floor 1, room 1

Male

Adam Volkner and Michael Flint: 504

Jordan Wakeman and Tate Talis: 506

Aaron Jubinson, Bernard Magdallen and William Visoria: 507

Buck Flint and Joel Palmer: 508

Roark Rokman and Byron Rokman: 509

Lucian Spencer and Chris Gelardi: 511

Female

Gardenia Di Florio and Fantina Lamorte: 706

Bertha Finnigan and Liza Talis: 708

Maylene Crest and Candice Parker: 709

Sayo Tanaka and Cynthia Gould: 1010

Directress Amore Diamante: 1208

The phone rang.

"I'll get it!"

I said

"Joe's crematorium you kill 'em we grill 'em. How may I help you?"

I answered

"Sayo?"

"Oh, hey Chris. Wassup?"

"Just to let you know, we're having dinner at Mama Mia's at 7"

"Gelardi cut the Mario,"

"No seriously the place is called Mama Mia's."

"Cool! Grazia, Ciao!"

"Ciao!"

It was already six thirty and Cynthia and I scrambled to get ready. Oh, and I forgot, I have to call Tsubaki!

I did my hair in two large rings and changed into more formal wear. When I was done I looked in the mirror and saw a young woman with dark blue hair in extravagant rings, wearing a white scarf, jeans, high heels and a black, shiny jacket over a black tee looking back at me.

Cynthia had dressed wonderful, too. She was now in a long black dress streaked with white. Her earrings seemed to match that, and her blonde hair seemed to glow in the setting sun, enhancing the shine of her familiar lucairo-ear shaped hair pins.

I picked up the phone and dialed a collect call to Tsubaki, as I couldn't find my calling card at the moment.

"Hello and welcome to the mental heath hotline,"

"Oh, hello, Tsubasa,"

I knew my older brother when I heard him. He lived two blocks away from Tsubaki back in America, though he sometimes visited her.

"Can I have Tsubaki?"

"She's not here right now; she just left for Midori's house. I'm just here taking care of Kyodo for her."

"Can you tell her I've arrived safely in Kanto?"

"Sure. No prob."

"See ya,"

"Bye,"

Cynthia and I headed to the door and we went down to the lobby. Flint, Volkner, Lucian and Chris were waiting for us. Volkner wore his usual blue and yellow jacket, while flint wore a black shirt with flames on it. Chris still looked causal, with his ripped jeans and Mario shirt. Lucian, Cynthia and I were the only ones dressed formally, as Lucian wore a black suit with a napkin the lapel as he does at the Elite Four.

It turned out the restaurant was just down the street. We went in and sat down. There were two floors at the restaurant, one higher level one and one lower level. We went to the higher level and sat down at the table closest to the stairways. It was an extravagant Italian themed restaurant, with Italian themed stained glass murals and lights hanging everywhere. There was a stained glass portrait of The Virgin Mary holding the newborn Jesus Christ on one of the walls. All off a sudden, I heard a voice in my head. A soft, female, comforting voice.

"Sayo? Sayo? Look to the west! The west! Look west?"

West? Why west? I looked to the west.

'Oh god no! I knew today was too good to be true! Something was afoot!'

I thought to myself.

There he was, that kid. That little green haired thing called Andrew Whiteman. HIM. The most vile, hated creature known to set foot on this soil. A demon sent by Satan himself to ruin what was supposed to be the best day of my life. And there he was looking at me with those beady little green eyes and smiling a cheeky little smile, knowing that I noticed him. And beside him was the greatest traitor of us all, Naomi Watanabe. She smiled and winked at me.

"Sayo, I see you!"

Mouthed Whiteman. I could read his lips loud and clear. What the hell were they doing here in Kanto?

"Sayo? What is the matter? It appears to me as if you just a saw a demon back there!"

Asked Lucian, concerned.

"I did. And his name is Andrew Whiteman. And his traitor girlfriend Naomi Watanabe."

"I see,"

Lucian said

I looked at the portrait of The Virgin Mary again.

The soft voice spoke once more in my head.

"I told you so. Speak to Amore if you don't like it."

Who's Amore?

"Go to the hotel directories and ask for Amore Diamante."

***Later, after dinner***

When we were back in our room at 8:00 pm, I decided to find out who this Amore woman was.

"Cynthia, I'm going to the lobby to see someone. Do you want to come with?"

I asked to Cynthia, who was watching a documentary on wild pokémon.

"No thanks,"

She responded.

I headed down to the extravagant lobby and went to the reception desk.

"May I help you?"

Said the secretary

"Can you get me the room number of Amore Diamante?"

"She's in 1208."

"Thank you."

I took the elevator to the twelfth floor.

"1208, 1208, 1208."

I said to myself.

"Aha, here."

I knocked on the door.

"Yes?"

Answered Amore.

That moment something struck me like a freight train. Amore Diamante was the lady from the plane!

"Oh, it's you!"

I said

"Yes and I recognize you too, Sayo! What can I get you?"

"Can I come inside?"

"Sure!"

I walked into a well kept room, with one or two open suitcases beside the one queen sized bed. The television was on and what appeared to be a drama series in another language was showing.

"There's something I must ask of you, Ms Diamante,"

"Please, just call me Amore. Ms Diamante is a little formal,"

"Um, I've been having problems with Drew and Naomi here. I don't like the thought of them hanging around, ready to ruin it for me. They already nearly made me throw up a dinner! I have a bad feeling about this. I hope I'm not being paranoid. It's just that someone told me to speak to you about it"

"Ah, I understand. I'll see what I can do about it,"

She seemed to know what was going on. But as I spoke Drew's name, a streak of discomfort flashed in her eyes.

"Anyways, how are you, Amore?"

"It seems as if they have forgiven me, so I'm ready to go back home. Sometimes you just have to get out of town for a night, you know,"

Amore smiled. WHAT had she done, anyways?

"That's wonderful!"

"I'll be leaving for home tomorrow morning. Say, since you may not see me for a little while, would you like to stay over for tea?"

I agreed. I was tired, and I needed a cup of tea to settle me down.

"Great!"

Amore went to the kettle on the counter near the door. I saw it was not one of those old style kettles that you put on a stove; it was the kind that you fill with water and put on a radiator.

"It should be a few minutes. Would you like chai or green tea?"

"Green, please."

I responded.

"I'll have chai."

Said Amore.

Soon a white puff of smoke billowed out of the kettle, and Amore poured it into two cups, one for me and one for herself. She then put two tea bags in each cup.

Just then, the phone rang.

"Must be Cynthia, wondering where I am!"

I thought

I picked up

"Hello?"

"Hello, can you please get Amore?"

Said a male voice. The call was for Amore, not me.

"Amore, phone!"

"Coming!"

Even though it was rude, I listed to what Amore was saying.

"Oh, hi Lawson. What's up?"

So it was another one of her friends back home. His name was apparently Lawson.

"Good, good. And you?"

As Lawson responded, Amore's face changed to a shocked expression. It looked like bad news.

"WHAT? They're still mad? I thought we were cool, now? What happened?"

She responded a bit disheartened. As Lawson explained the next part to Amore, her face soon became outraged.

"WHAT?!! HOW DARE THEY SAY THAT ABOUT ME AND HIM! I THOUGHT THAT WAS OVER WITH!"

Amore had defiantly heard some bad news. And it seemed that Lawson had some even worse news, judging by Amore's next response.

"HOW DARE HE!!! I THOUGHT HE WAS COOL NOW! HOW DARE HE SAY THAT ABOUT ME! HOW DARE HE LIE ABOUT THAT!! HOW DARE HE HOW DARE HE HOW DARE HE!"

Amore was suddenly calmer.

"Yeah, Lawson. Ethan's right. I think I should stay here another day."

"We'll see. Call me tomorrow and tell me if things improve or not. We'll see if he keeps his mouth shut. See ya."

Amore hung up. Who was she talking about? What was going on? I waited until we were sitting in front to the TV to ask.

"Amore, what happened? What did they say? What did HE say? Whoever HE is."

Amore sighed.

"They said some not so nice things about me. I thought they were off my trail? And I thought HE was my friend!"

"Who's HE? Is he the guy you were talking to Patricia earlier at the airport?"

"Yes, he is."

"What's his name? What exactly did he do to you?"

"I don't want to say. He swore at me today. I thought we were cool. Now and I could go home. But, unless I hear good news from Lawson tomorrow afternoon, it looks like I'm staying another day,"

"Will you call me when you find out?"

"No problem? What's your cell, Sayo?"

Amore pulled out her blackberry and prepared to add me to her contacts list.

"Okay…812- 496-0315,"

I said.

"Good, good."

Said Amore, putting away her blackberry.

We finished our tea and watched the show. It seemed to be about some girl who was taken from her family and sold to these bad people under the guise of marriage. I didn't quite understand it, but Amore explained it to me.

When the show was over I looked at the time, 9:00 pm.

"Uh-oh! It's getting late, and Cynthia must be worried! Oh, and that was wonderful tea!"

I said.

"Thank you! See you soon, I hope! What room are you in?"

Said Amore.

"1010"

I responded

"Ah, ok. Goodnight now!'

Said Amore.

I took the elevator back to floor 10, where my room was.

I put the room key into the slot. With three beeps and a green light it opened my door.

"What took you so long; you were gone for an hour!"

Said Cynthia.

"I was visiting someone. You don't know her."

"Right, right. We need to catch up on our sleep, so we should get to bed soon."

"Yeah."

I was very tired. I sleepily changed my clothes and brushed my teeth. Cynthia and I got into our queen sized beds. I took the bed to the right. I wanted to watch TV, but my eyes were too droopy. It was 9:30 pm. The lights were out, and my eyelids got heavier and heavier and heavier…

***Finis Partis Sedecim***