Author Note – So this is an extremely short chapter, only about 1,500 words. I'm hoping to introduce a new character in the next chapter, but I can't promise anything.
Chapter Seven
"That was really… simple," said Cole.
I shrugged. "You do have a fire-type Pokemon," I informed him with a smirk. He gave me a sideways glance as we turned the corner and spotted a PokeMart. We made a beeline for it, knowing that after that episode, we had to stock up on some berry concoctions so that we can help our Pokemon with any problem.
We stared at the shelves, trying to pick out the most inexpensive items and trying to find the best deals. Even though we had money, we didn't want to go wasting it on the first week of our journey. After about ten minutes, we each had three bottles of rocidem juice and a bottle of every type of status-healing potion.
When we went to pay, Cole surprised me by saying something to the cashier. "Do you have the recipes for these potions? I'll give you three dollars for each recipe."
The cashier, a short and stout man, swiveled his eyes and then pulled out a piece of paper and a pen. He quickly wrote down the ingredients to rocidem juice, poison antidote, paralysis antidote, and sleep antidote. Cole paid for his things and slipped him twelve extra dollars for the ingredients. I paid for my things, slipped the list in my pocket, and we left the store.
"There's a telephone booth…," said Cole; "we should probably call Lark now."
"Yeah, you're right."
Cole and I crossed over to the telephone booth and flipped through the ratty phonebook. Finally we came across Lark's name (his first name was Gordon – who knew) and I pushed some coins into the machine, typing in the phone number. The phone rang for a few seconds before a secretary picked up. After a little bit of a heated discussion, Lark answered at last.
"Axel, Cole?" he asked. "What's wrong?"
"Professor, listen, there's been some… things that happened," Cole said into the receiver. We had it between our two heads.
There was a pause, and right before I was about to say something, Lark replied in a serious tone. "Axel, does it have anything to do with those men in the black coats?"
"Yeah, Professor, it actually does," I answered quickly. "Cole and I were at the PokeCenter and we just finished training when this guy with an Iusum attacked us. He said something about… not caring about orders anymore? Idunno, but the Iusum nearly killed me. Then this kid and his Pokemon – what was it named? Exendia? – Exendia came and the Iusum and the guy just disappeared into thin air. I'm not kidding."
There was another pause, and I felt my heart rise to my throat. As I went over what I said again, it sounded impossible. How could someone just disappear? It was impossible. I almost spoke up again to say that I was just kidding around, but he spoke again. "I believe you, Axel. These people are true Shadows, true followers of Leonardo Mortis. They are telepaths. Don't worry about it for now. If another Shadow attacks you, just attack. Don't worry about laws or anything like that – aim to knock them out. They're aim is to kill you. I don't know why yet, but…
"Don't be a stranger, alright? Keep in touch. If things get too out of hand with these Shadows, you may have to come home."
"What?" I hollered, and tried to compose myself. "But… Professor, I… I'll be fine; I don't need to go… back."
I heard him sigh. "Axel, calm down," he muttered. "Keep your friends close. You'll need as many friends as you can get."
"Uh… yeah, okay," I said quietly. "Uh… I guess I'll talk to you later then?"
And he hung up without saying anything else. Cole and I exchanged a glance and sighed. We exited the booth and looked around, deciding that it was time to get lunch and take a rest. Naro was still aggravated that he wasn't able to get at Laro more. While I was in the room waiting for Cole to get done, the woman and I had used a security camera to find out what really happened. It turned out that Serra and gotten in the way of the way of Leraro's attack and for some reason Navi evolved.
We went back to the room first, though. We both reeked of earth and mud, and both of us needed to wash off the stench. Once we got into the PokeCenter, the attending person at the front desk wrinkled her nose at us as we passed by. We ran up the stairs to our room and opened the door. Of course, Cole managed to call the bathroom before me, so I was left to sit on the bed and stare at the ceiling.
I let Naro and Serra out of their PokeBalls, and they stared at each other for a moment before Serra got on the flying-Pokemon's back and they both fell asleep. Naro took up about half the bed now and Serra seemed to be about a quarter of his size. I smiled faintly at them and proceeded to turn on the television.
"Leonardo Mortis is still abroad, the theory of him seeming to summoning spirits in the Pine Barron dismissed," said the reporter. I stared for a second at the picture of Mortis, which immediately switched to another infamous face – Darren Burns. "Burns is also abroad. He has somehow managed to escape from the high-security prison, the guard having been attacked by his notorious Voltrao that was able to appear and disappear without a trace."
I sighed and flicked off the television, not wanting to see anymore. These people, Leonardo Mortis's people, wanted to kill me for some reason. I suddenly wondered if one day I would make the nine o`clock news, and whether or not I would be alive or not. My stomach lurched and I stared at the ceiling once more. Rain started to pummel down against the windows even though there wasn't a cloud in the sky while we were walking back. The shower faucets creaked on, and suddenly the ceiling turned to darkness and I was enveloped by sleep.
"Your son is a telepath too, you know," said a voice that I recognized. The last time I had heard it I had been dreaming also… yet I couldn't pin down the person. The room that I was in was fuzzy and all of the colors seemed to blend together, and I couldn't make out any faces, only two silhouettes.
The other man gave a sigh and said barely audibly, "Is he, now? How might you have found that out, Burns?"
"Nott told me, actually," said Burns. "He had an encounter with the boy, in fact. His aura is similar to yours, of course. He said that his Iusum was hooked on tight with the help of his own telepathy, but the boy was able to… pull the Pokemon off."
"Pokemon are not reliable… yet again," said the unnamed man. "That is why we must create a race of new Pokemon – perfect Pokemon. These Grotesques that we are creating are merely temporary… that is why you are not included in the process. Your father is currently researching that, correct?"
Through the blur, I could see Burns' face change shape, as if he were smiling. "Yes, sir," he whispered. "My sister is also researching the Pokemon in the western area of America. Hopefully she will… stumble upon something."
"And they still have no knowledge of yours and my connection?"
Burns' head shook. "No, sir," he answered bluntly. "They believe that I'm in Cuba…."
The other man laughed darkly before walking towards the other side of the room where I assumed the door was. Right before he was about to push the door open, he paused, his body stiff. Burns stared at the man, but didn't say anything. Finally, the man twisted the knob to the door and turned with what appeared to be a smirk on his face.
"I wish you to pay my son a visit," he said. "Change your appearance, of course."
"Of course," he said coolly.
"Good. Then I bid you farewell."
"Axel," Cole said loudly, shaking me. "Axel!"
I shot bolt up, almost smacking Cole in the forehead. I could feel the cool sweat dripping from me, and I started to shiver – or was I already shivering? Cole gave me a desperate expression to which I shrugged.
"God, Axel, you wouldn't wake up," he said softly.
"Sorry about that," I said through clattering teeth, getting up. "Must've been a nightmare…. Well, I'm gonna go shower now. Then we'll go get lunch or something…"
"Axel. It's five o`clock."
"What?" I asked. Unbelievable – I had been asleep for five hours!
"Yeah," he said. "At first I just let you sleep, and pretty soon I fell asleep, too. When I woke up it was three-thirty, so I ordered room service and had a quick lunch. I fed your Pokemon, too. And I've been trying to wake you up for the past five minutes."
I stared at him for a second, and then looked away, pulling my arms into my shirt to get warm. "Sorry," I said again. "I guess we'll get dinner and then figure out a way to get to Boston? I don't think Naro is strong enough yet to carry two people, let alone one."
"Take a shower first," he said, worry still gleaming in his eyes. "You smell, still. Earth and sweat isn't a good mixture."
I gave him a weak smile before heading into the bathroom, thinking my dream over, toppling it again and again in my head. There had been two people in the room – Burns and some other guy. But where was the room? And is this really just a dream? I sighed and looked into the mirror, looking at my sullen eyes. I thought about calling Lark again, thinking about how I failed to mention my first dream.
