Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon.
Chapter 8
Some Like It Hot
"I owe one to Red Eyes," Blue Eyes said distantly. The two were traveling around in the confusing Daybreak Ruins. Pichu hung to her shoulder, ready to shock her if she tried to bail. "You know it's really flattering that you think I'm going to escape, but I'm really not. You can call off Pichu."
Ben didn't respond to her. That simply wasn't true. Several Pokemon Pinchers attempted to take Blue Eyes by force. Ben assumed that would be so, so he left no mercy for them.
"Not a talker? That didn't seem to stop you earlier," Blue Eyes grumbled. "Let's pretend that all of those… discrepancies didn't happen."
Ben sighed and looked back at her. It wasn't an exactly emotional look, but Blue Eyes got the hint. Ben wasn't trying to be mean to her at all. It was hard to be nice when all of the Pinchers attacked him relentlessly earlier.
Ben felt kind of like an explorer, holding a torch and navigating ancient ruins. He looked pretty rough with that stone-cold face and his bandaged arm. He assumed he looked pretty cool.
They had rescued two of Pichu's pals earlier. See the Pokemon together made Blue Eyes look a little sad.
"What's your real name?" Ben asked randomly.
Blue Eyes snorted. "So, now you wanna talk? This whole time, you've been as responsive as a rock, and now you ask something as trivial as a name. My name is Blue Eyes, and that's that."
"Where are you from, Blue Eyes?"
"What's with the personal questions?!" Blue Eyes shouted, annoyed by the questions and the dirty nature of the temple. "You're starting to creep me out!"
"Sorry."
Blue Eyes relaxed. "Ranger… Ben… Don't worry about it. If I were in your shoes, I'd be curious too. I'm really sorry about my subordinates. They were just trying to make me proud. Young ones are so sweet. Well… no time for getting mushy." She paused for a moment. "You don't really seem like the Ranger type. Why'd you chose to be a Ranger?"
Ben cracked the slightest of smiles. "You're starting to creep me out."
"Oh, nevermind," she growled.
"I'm not really sure myself," Ben started softly. "It was just a feeling I guess."
Blue Eyes rolled her eyes. "You're so cliche."
They had reached the end of the ruins, an open plaza with ancient symbols of Pokemon and people working together. The only problem was that no one was there.
"What?" Blue Eyes barked. "Red Eyes isn't even here!" she turned around and gasped. She stared at an old Monument. "That has an Involith! I can't believe there is one in a place like this…"
She reached to touch it and the temperature spiked at least twenty degrees. There was a menacing roar. Entei crashed through the rocks, spike the temperature another ten degrees.
"Entei!" Blue Eyes yelped. "You scared me by suddenly appearing like that. We have an important negotiation to attend to. You are not a part of it." Entei roared again and Blue eyes jumped back. "What? Wanna fight?'
"Blue Eyes," Ben stammered, fear controlling him. "Don't provoke Entei."
"If you want a piece of me, I'll take you on with my Control Gauntlet…"
Ben pushed Blue Eyes out of the way of a fireball. Ben started to capture Entei, but Entei enveloped itself in a fire. It charged at Ben, setting his bandages on fire. Ben frantically put out the fire. Entei roared and charged at him again, but this time Ben dodged. Entei swiped him down, knocking the wind from his lungs.
Entei shot a fireball at Ben which exploded right in front of him, covering him in a black coat of ash except near his eye area. Pichu played music for Entei as the Styler spun around. Then Ben saw the light again. He felt warmth in his soul as a figure appeared in the sky. He recorded it as Entei fled.
"Thank you very much for saving me from a dangerous spot," Blue Eyes told him. "You deprived me of a chance to show my stuff though. You look like a burnt crisp."
Red Eyes flew in. "I'm impressed, Ranger!" When they landed, Red Eyes pushed Summer forward.
"Ben!" she cried.
"S-Summer," Ben said in disbelief.
"You got Entei to leave, and that works out very well for us," Red Eyes said with a smile. "I give you my thanks because I wouldn't want to look the way you do right now." He snapped his fingers at one of the goons behind him. "Go get that Emblem." He turned to Ben. "Well now, why don't we do the hostage exchange we've all been waiting for? On my signal, we will release both hostages at the same time."
"No funny business," Ben said seriously.
"3, 2, 1, Go!"
Summer rushed to Ben's side as Blue Eyes did the same to Red Eyes. She frowned at Ben. "Sorry to be so much trouble… I'll repay you for this..."
"Summer… I'm so glad to have you back," Ben told her.
Summer was surprised to see the look on Ben's face. It was so… kind. She had only seen him with that emotionless face. He looked so different from the last time she had seen him. He looked more determined, less scared. Ben looked stronger and tougher. Summer had never noticed how tall he was until to stood there, gently holding her shoulders as if she would fly away.
"Red Eyes…" Blue Eyes started. "I caused a lot of trouble, didn't I? I'm sorry."
He smiled confidently. "Don't worry about it. It wasn't a big deal." He turned to Ben. "The swap went as planned. We got the emblem. Time to leave! So long!"
Several Electrode appeared around Ben and Summer. It was too late to escape the explosion. By the time the smoke cleared, the Pinchers were gone.
Summer glared and coughed. "That Red Eyes is terrible!" She paused and turned to Ben who was struggling to get smoke out of his burning eyes. "When we were flying above Oblivia…" Ben stopped wiping his eyes and looked into Summer's blue eyes. "You protected me from Red Eyes' Plasma Cannon. Thank you…"
"It was really nothing… You would have done the same for me," Ben said quietly. "I don't regret it for a second."
Summer looked shocked and then her face softened. "When I heard the Pinchers talking about you being okay after falling into the ocean, I was relieved. I was so scared that you would have… You know, Professor Hastings told me to keep an eye on you, but it seems the situation has flipped. Ben… Thank you so much…"
Pichu rushed up and jumped on Summer, playing a song for her. She giggled as Pichu hopped around, twangs of the ukulele following.
"Wow, what a cutie!" She looked up at Ben. "Why does this Pichu have a ukulele?"
"Pichu likes to play music by shocking the strings," Ben told her.
Summer became quiet. "You've been through a lot, haven't you? Don't lie to me because I can see it in your eyes."
"I-I… Um…" Ben felt his ears get hot. Ben suddenly felt awkward again. "D-Did they hurt you?"
Summer snorted. "As if! I'm too tough to be pushed around by those goons, but they still have my Partner Pokemon, Staraptor!" She had a fire in her eyes that shocked Ben. Summer really was an incredible person. Summer smiled radiantly. "Well, I wasn't just sitting there waiting to be rescued. I was blindfolded, so I don't know where it was, but I attached a homing device to their hideout. I can pick up the beacon on my Styler."
"We can rescue your Staraptor."
"The problem is that they broke my Styler. I need to get it fixed."
Ben smirked. "I know just the place. The Area Ranger, Rand, has a daughter. She is profound in fixing things. She fixed my Styler when it was broken."
"Great, let's go, but the explosion blocked the exit," Summer told him. "We could climb the side of the ruins, but it's too unpredictable."
"I have a better idea," Ben told her. "You have to promise not to freak out though."
Ben traced the figure of Entei and Entei appeared. Summer looked as if she was going to pass out.
"You can summon Entei?!" she shouted.
"And Raikou."
"And Raikou?!" she repeated. "You sound like the Hero of Oblivia!"
"I'm no hero," Ben explained to her.
Summer paused. "I mean… You're a hero to me if that counts." Summer had said it so offhandedly that she didn't notice what she was implying. "W-Wait! You know what I meant." She glanced at Ben, who was mounted on Entei. She got a little flustered looking at him. Ben was so different from what she had remembered.
Summer remembered Ben from Ranger School. He was always so quiet around people, never uttering a single word. He would hide from teachers in the library. He would skip class and pull pranks on people he didn't like. Summer remembered she thought he was simply someone who would get along doing to a bare minimum. Here he was, riding Entei like a valiant hero.
Ben was incredible from what she had heard from the Pinchers at the hideout. Summer more and more excited to see him again. The string-bean coward she remembered was no more. Ben was strong and built. His soft facial figures became rigid and sharp. His eyes were piercing, no longer avoiding eye contact. Summer could even see small scars on his hands.
Ben reached his hand down to her. "Take my hand. Entei will help us get out." Summer took his hand as he pulled her up. Entei's coat was warm and soft, quite welcoming. She wrapped her arms around his chest."Hold on, Entei likes to go fast."
Ran lifted his eyes from the newspaper to a horrid burnt smell. That smell was Ben walking in with Summer and Murph behind him. Nema and Leanne turned from whatever book they were reading.
"Welcome back, Ben," Rand started. "You look extra… burnt today."
Ben winced. He knew that he reeked of fire and sweat. Entei did not go easy with the fire. Ben tried to wipe some of the smog off, but it only smeared with his sweat.
"I know Murph, but this must be the famous Summer," Rand said while standing up.
"The famous Summer?" she laughed.
"Well, Ben spoke of you in such high regard, we assumed you might as well be famous," Nema explained.
"Is that so?" she said with a smile.
"We're very glad you're okay?" Leanne told her, giving her a big hug.
"It's nice to meet you!" said Summer. "I'm sorry for getting here so late."
"I'm Rand. This is my wife, Leanne. And my daughter, Nema," said Rand with an uncharacteristic smile on his face.
Ben looked around and scowled a little. They all looked entranced by Summer. He couldn't blame them because that was simply the effect Summer had on people. He guessed that's what happens when you're attractive. Ben was a little jealous.
"Nema, I've been told by Ben that you could fix my Styler," Summer told her.
Nema got a gleam in her eyes. "You can leave your Styler maintenance to me! I can even upgrade it if you'd like. It'll be done in a blink of an eye."
Murph stood in awe. "Wow, Nema, could you fix the broken washing machine at my house?"
Summer laughed, lightly punching Murph. "Nema, forget about the washing machine. Murph can do it himself." She took off her Styler and handed it to Nema. "If you can fix my Styler, we can track the Pokemon Pinchers' hideout."
"What do you mean?" said Rand. He got an excited look in his eyes.
Summer smirked. "I was blindfolded, so I couldn't tell where we were, but… I secretly attached a homing device."
Rand rushed over and patted her on the back. "That's great work, Ranger! That's the type of work we need around here."
"They didn't cover my ears, so I was able to hear a little of the conversations next door. The voices made it sound like we were in some kind of tightly closed space."
Rand's eyebrows rose. "That's… impressive sensory."
Summer got a little embarrassed. "Well… My mom's an Operator, so she trained me to be able to handle situations like that. My mom always told me that a Ranger needs to be in top sensory form to be in the field."
"Your mother isn't just some Operator," Rand chuckled. "Rhythmi is the best you can get. I bet it doesn't hurt to have Kellyn for a dad either. Say, has he mentioned me before? We're old pals."
"Yes, actually. My dad has talked about you before," said Summer.
Leanne chimed in. "What were they talking about?"
"Oh, yes," said Summer as she got back on topic. "It was something about… Preparations for seizing Moltres are proceeding…"
"The Pinchers are trying to pinch the legendary Pokemon Moltres?!" Rand shouted, slamming his hand on the table. Everyone flinched except Ben. He knew that temper would come out eventually.
Leanne had her hands over her hear. "What for?"
Summer shook her head. "I didn't hear. If we can figure out the location of their hideout, we can stop their plans! We can also rescue my partner Pokemon…"
Leanne placed the book that she and Nema were reading on the table. Summer turned to examine the book, obviously intrigued. "I think the old book Ben brought may be related to their plan. I've managed to decode a little bit of it. According to the research I've already done in the field of archeology… mysterious Emblems called Involiths are left behind on Monuments. Apparently, these are the keys for opening the Ancient Gate."
"Where is this Ancient Gate?" asked Rand.
"Unfortunately, there was nothing written about its location," Leanne said, exasperated.
Summer held the book in her hands. "If the Pinchers are interested in opening this gates, how are Moltres or any of the legendary Pokemon they've been after related? What will happen if the gate is opened? Probably nothing good."
"Well, let's get that Styler fixed up," said Nema in a cheerful tone. "You guys have been through a lot. I mean, look at Ben… He looks more cranky than usual. You all should get some rest while I put together your Styler, Summer."
"I'm not cranky…" Ben grumbled.
Howdy
I'm going back to school tomorrow, so my power week of updates has come to an end. Everything will be coming much slower now. I promise to get stuff done as fast as possible.
Please review!
Peace (*...*)-{
