Interlude
Memory Lane
"We rest here for now."
The group of three girls and one guy had stopped. Night was beginning to fall, and they'd made a decent trek. Not far from where they were, they could see specks of ash flying down through the air.
"oh good, I'm beat." Sabrina said, dropping on her pack. "damn, you three are certainly in better shape than I am."
"You're a psychic trainer, Sabri. All you have to do is sit on your ass while your Pokémon do all the work." Zero quipped.
Sabrina grumbled a bit at that.
"Actually, I'm more surprised you're here May. Especially with the way I left."
The brunette looked down at the ground, before taking off her bandanna and shaking out her hair. She hated sleeping with it on.
"I know…look, I'm really sorry. I said…stuff I shouldn't have."
Zero just looked at her.
"Wait, what happened between you two?" Dawn asked.
"She said she hated me, and wished my step father had at least taken an eye out before he went."
Dawn's head immediately snapped to the brunette, eyes suddenly lighting up with rage.
"WHAT?!"
Ok, that look? I never want that directed at me again. May leaned back, scared out of her wits. The midnight blue haired girl was glaring at her in a way that promised immense pain.
"I was pissed ok?! All I knew was that he was blaming my father for his sister being dead! My dad was in the hospital for months after that, recovering from having both his arms crushed! For a while they thought he wouldn't ever be able to move his arms again…"
Sensing Dawn's slowly gathering psychic energy, Sabrina interjected. "Ok, wait. Start at the beginning."
"My mother set things up with a man named Norman. May's father, Norman knew her growing up so he owed her a couple favors. My step-father, who turned out to be a mass murderer, had been tracking us down for a couple years. She pulled some strings and got us a boat to Hoenn. Before…before we got there though…he showed up. Kohaku and I got on the boat, and my mother had the captain take off…but…he killed her. Blew her brains out on the side of the boat."
May had tears in her eyes. She knew the story, told it from her father. The guilt of what she'd said to Zero before he left had been eating at her for years now. Dawn gasped, and Sabrina looked a combination between pissed and sick to her stomach.
"We got to Hoenn, and moved into a house in Littleroot. A couple days later, I met May and Professor Birch. Kohaku…pushed me into going on a trainer's quest, saying that it was a good opportunity. I didn't want to…but…she had a way of getting you to do stuff. That's when I got Akiha. After that I did all the stuff you've heard about, dealing with Aqua and Magma, beating and calming Kyogre, Groudon and summoning Rayquaza…and when I finally came home…"
Immediately Hisui came out of her ball, as did Akiha, Alma and Chihiro. Chihiro and Hisui wrapped their arms around him, while Alma sat in his lap, pulling his arms around her. Akiha just slipped behind, kneeling, her arms around his neck. Sabrina almost gasped. She could literally sense the love and sadness coming off of those four Pokémon, the strand of memories linking them together.
She could feel the pain within him, and it made her want to cry, vomit and scream all at the same time. If this…is just a fragment…jeez…even in my emotionless state back in the day…even when I was in pain…it was nothing…compared to this…how the hell is he still functional?!
"It was a sunny day. I remember it because I'd just spent the night riding back from the league. I was full of energy. I still had little interest in the status I'd attained, but not everyone can say they went from having practically no money or interest in Pokémon, to being pretty well off, and Champion of an entire region.
I get home…Hisui next to me…and Kohaku was on the ground…clothes torn…covered in stab wounds…dead. And I saw the man who did it, he came out from behind the kitchen counter, still holding the bloody knife. I…lost it. I just remember feeling…so…angry. It felt like my head was going to explode. I remember yelling…and feeling Hisui next to me. Not seeing her, not touching her but…perceiving her, in a way I never had before. And I could feel she was angry too. Next thing I know…half the furniture is shredded, his clothes are in tatters, and just…globs of red all over the walls.
A couple days later, we buried Kohaku behind the house, and I had Akiha burn the place to the ground. I left all my games, all my toys, all my clothes except for the ones I was wearing. I wanted nothing to do with that place. Some people tried to stop us, but we just blew them all away. I wanted to leave. To leave Hoenn, forever. So I decided to go. I didn't know or care where. I called up the guy who'd been trailing me, Scott, told him that he had a choice. He could get me a way out of Hoenn, or I'd get Rayquaza to blow the Battle Frontier off the face of the planet.
He'd seen what I was capable of, so he didn't think I was bluffing. He said he could get me a ticket to Johto, half price, to leave in the next three days. I took his offer, and headed for Slateport."
"It was there…" May took over, voice hollow. "That we all ran into him. Me, my dad, my mother and my little brother. About an hour's walk from Petalburg, we crossed paths…and when my dad called out to him…I should have known to just have him run…because a tree not too far from Zero and Hisui, exploded. I had my own Blaziken out at the time, because Max wanted to check something on my Pokédex. I knew something was wrong when she just started shivering suddenly. It wasn't even cold.
But…Zero took one look at my dad…and he stopped moving. I was horrified. My dad was starting to float in the air, struggling against some sort of invisible hold. Zero started accusing him of failing him and his sister, saying that it was my dad's fault Kohaku was dead, that it was my dad's responsibility to have watched the house, like he promised to. I remember yelling at Zero, telling him to stop, not that I even knew what was going on.
I…heard my dad start to scream. His arms had been bent backward in a way they aren't supposed to be. I remember calling for Bella to stop Zero…and watching as she tried. Her flames were snuffed in seconds, and Hisui just flung out an arm. Next thing I knew, Bella was being clubbed in the head by a tree. When she dropped to the ground, I thought she was dead…I was so scared. My dad dropped next to her. I ran to both of them, putting Bella back in her ball, and trying to keep my dad conscious. I screamed at Zero, and he looked at me…and…I thought I was going to die there. His…your eyes…they looked so…dead…and hateful…I really thought you were going to just kill me there. But…then you just left. He turned…and walked away.
A few months after you left, when my dad woke up, I told him I hated you. He said if he could move his arms, he would have slapped me upside the head for that. He told me…you were right to be angry with him…that he did fail you and your sister. He told me the arrangement your mother made with him, how he'd find you all a place to stay, hidden away from your step-father…how after your mother died, he promised you and your sister he'd have someone nearby at all times, just in case. He said…that was the one day, he didn't get the chance to go himself, because he couldn't find anyone to head out for the day. The guy on day shift said his kid was sick…but my dad had a bunch of trainers ready to challenge him, and I was taking the long way back from the League, after seeing you there. So he said he left things alone, and that he was going to head out as soon as he could…but by that time…it was too late.
I felt…horrible. After he told me how your sister was killed…all the crap you'd been through…it all linked up with the stuff you had to deal with while you were traveling. You saved the world Zero, a world that had done nothing so far but give you crap for luck. You did stuff, no kid our age should have had to. And what was your reward? Your sister being killed, your stepfather's blood being on your hands, and…"
She looked at him, tears streaming down her cheeks.
"And your only friend…your only human friend…screaming at you and calling you horrible things! When…when I learned…that all you really had coming here, were a few toys, and your sister…and now you were gone, with nothing meaningful left…the guilt…it's been eating at me for years! After I found that out…I knew…I knew I just had to find you. I had to make things right. I'd been following your trail for the past few years Zero. Every time I heard of you doing something, I raced for that location, only for you to have been gone for days, if not weeks. I'd always run to the last spot you were seen, the last place you'd touched…and I'd always be too far behind.
But then…when that Aurora appeared in the sky, and the news said it originated from Sinnoh, I knew I found you. I knew you were still here. I blew almost my entire account getting an express ticket to Jubilife city. I remember blacking out on the way…but when I woke up, we'd landed. And then I ran into Dawn and the others…and I got scared again. I didn't know…how you'd react…to seeing me again. And then…and then…when you said…you felt someone that you hadn't seen in a long time…I just…I almost bolted. I was so…so messed up…I couldn't think right. And the first thing out of my mouth was practically an insult! But…you just smiled at me. You smiled the smile I…missed…all those years…"
She burst into tears, before stumbling and jumping into his arms, screaming her apologies the entire time.
"…your life's just been shitstorm after shitstorm huh kid…?" Sabrina spoke quietly.
"Pretty much…"
"Well, that's going to change!" Dawn declared. Everyone looked at her, even the Pokémon. Zero rose an eyebrow.
"Well, you're champion of four different regions. You've lived through hell and back, you've saved the planet at least ten times over, you managed to combine efforts with three godlike Pokémon to merge two realities together, you saved my life and purity, you've got gym leaders, ex-champions and even government authorities in your debt." She began.
"You've got your Pokémon family, of whom you're occasionally adding new members to, you've got a god-class Pokémon who can turn into a total sex queen in your debt, and you've got us." She finished proudly.
"Us?" Zero questioned. "Don't you mean me. And by me I mean you?"
"Nope. Us."
"Ok…enlighten me."
"What, you think May is outside of your charms?" The brunette in question began to stutter.
"Wh-what? I-I don't-
"Zero, let me tell you something about us girls. You really think she would have flown off the handle like that back then, if she didn't have at least a small crush on you?"
Zero pondered that for a moment.
"And to top it off, she spent the rest of her life, even if it was only a few years, searching for you, for the sake of apology. No matter how bad we feel, a girl won't just up and do that unless we have a thing for someone." Dawn spoke smugly.
"…May?" Zero looked at the girl in his arms. Her cheeks flared red and she began smiling nervously. "Is this information accurate?" May just nodded, ever so slightly.
Then they all turned to Sabrina.
"What?"
"Well?" Dawn spoke.
"Well what?!" Sabrina's hackles began raising.
"Are you going to admit it as well?"
"There's nothing to admit!" Unlike the brunette, Sabrina had years of psychic training behind her. Her will was iron clad.
At least…that's what she thought.
"Right, and you didn't practically declare to the world you wanted to jump his bones after you saw what he did to Giratina."
A slight widening of the eyes was the only response. Now Sabrina was getting flustered. "Wh-what?"
Dawn rolled her eyes. "Oh come on. You were broadcasting so damn loud I'm surprised his girls didn't hear you."
"I…alright…fine, I admit…I've been interested in him for a while. But not like that!"
"Oh stop lying! You want him and you know it! I know what I felt from you Sabrina. Remember who got him laid here!"
"I-you-what?!"
"The threesome with Cecilia? All my idea. If it wasn't for me he wouldn't have known he was making the girl's panties wet just by talking at her!"
While Dawn and Sabrina battled wills, Zero and May were just watching the two, slightly surprised.
"Is that true?" May whispered to Zero. "Huh?" "That it was Dawn's idea?"
"Oh…yeah. Blasted girl tricked me. I was kinda…preoccupied with what was gonna happen soon, the whole uniting two alternate realities thing. Cecilia's major turn-on is intellectuals. Dawn trapped me in a word loop, tricking me into going into description mode, and explaining some of my tactics, methods and theories. Next thing I know, I hear the two implicating something suspect, and then Dawn out and says she wants to screw me. Combine surprise with another word loop, and Cecilia's practically ripping my clothes off while Dawn holds me down."
May, flushing at the thought of involving herself that way with her crush, wanted to know more about his exploits…all of them.
After all, she had a lot of time to make up for.
"Why were you interested in him, Sabrina?" She asked, cutting into the other two's argument. Alma was just watching everything, small smile on her face, while Hisui and Chihiro were both blushing slightly at the complete confirmation that their trainer had been involved in a three-way. Akiha was lost in thought, remembering the fight against the Psychic leader.
"…he beat me with two Pokémon. Akiha and Hisui."
"That was a fun fight."
"Fun?! You had me on the damn ropes the entire battle! It wasn't fun! It was stressful!" The psychic girl barked out.
"Not my fault you were still thinking around the box."
She just huffed. "Explain dear?" Dawn asked.
"I'd spent a day letting everyone recover from trouncing Team Rocket at Silph Co. Then I visited the Fighting Dojo, for some tips on hand to hand combat. I impressed them with some of my theories, and some of the things I'd practiced myself, and taught my team. They said that they wanted to become a real gym, but because Sabrina's gym kept trouncing them, they couldn't. I mentioned I'd encountered a fighting type gym in Hoenn, where there was also a psychic type gym, just not in the same city. I also mentioned that the psychic gym was run by twins."
"Tate and Liza, right? Yeah, those two were pretty good." May added.
"Yeah well…back then I had Lucied and Hisui shut them down something fierce. Palom and Porom weren't too happy then."
"Palom…and…Porom? I thought you said their names were Tate and Liza." Dawn was confused.
"Final Fantasy Four reference…" Sabrina muttered. Everyone looked at her.
"What?!" They kept staring. "For at least seven years my head was so fucked up from psychic overload I'd split my personalities. I played a lot of video games and shit during those years, so sue me!"
"Just surprised is all, Sabri. Not many played four on this side of the pond till the remakes came out. But yeah, anyway, after telling them that, they asked if they could come and watch me take on Sabrina. So I did."
"God you were such an annoying little ASS! I'm used to people getting flustered and confused at my tactics, but you just brushed them off like they were nothing! You kept hitting my Abra whenever she teleported! Every. Single. TIME!"
"Well…I did have Akiha face off against Hisui every now and then. With Psychics and Ghosts being two of her major weaknesses, I had Hisui keep warping around so Akiha would have to pick up the pace, and learn to anticipate. Honestly Sabri, your Abra wasn't too much of a challenge considering they warped similarly. Since Abra didn't move on her own, and Hisui would randomly move when teleporting, it was a similar tactic."
"HOW?! How the hell did you do it?!"
"Energy discharge."
"Zero…please…tell me." She was begging. After her defeat at Zero's hands, even though she kept knocking them down, she was treated as somewhat of a Joke by the gym next to hers.
"Psychics change the world Sabri. They form a command, and extend their power to make it real. That level of reality distortion always leaves some form of mark, even if it fades quickly. Hisui helped me understand this, and together we helped all my other Pokémon learn how to sense these discharges of power. The rips in reality left behind by a teleporting Pokémon all have the same feel to them. All I had to do was have Akiha master what these rips felt like, and she could sense not only where someone was, but also, where they were going to be. Not to mention, you fucked up."
"How?!" She was desperate, and it was reflecting in her voice.
"You didn't fully synchronize until your Alakazam came out, and by then, it was too late."
Her eyes widened. "…no…"
"Yeah. Because you didn't link entirely with them, you weakened Abra and Kadabra. With Abra, the weakness manifested as her being unable to react upon re-entry into the physical plane from her teleports, which is why after the first five evasions, Akiha was able to not only predict where she would appear, but strike her because you weren't boosting her."
"…and Kadabra?"
"Well, since I called Akiha back so she'd be ready for anything else, Hisui took the field. Kadabra has a stronger base pool of mental energy to draw from, and after a few almost even clashes between us, I knew how to handle him. See, the Abra line has absolute shit for taking physical damage. Hell most psychic Pokémon do. Which is why they use Barrier and Reflect to reduce attacks efficiencies. But the Abra line is known for it. So what I did, was have Hisui start bombarding Kadabra with mental assaults, then divert her attention to the Gym itself."
"What do you mean?" May asked. She hadn't seen any of his gym fights, and when they battled, it was at a time before he started applying his personal touch to his Pokémon.
"He started tearing apart my gym. Hisui would grab lamps, chunks of walls, slabs of the ground, glass, even the metal rafters. The worst bit is that there is no rule against using the gym itself as a weapon. So Kadabra dropped pretty quickly…"
"So what happened with the Alakazam?" Dawn asked.
Sabrina just lowered her head, rubbing her temples. "Hell."
"She'd caught on to my plan, and finally Synched up with her Pokémon. So now, Alakazam was able to fend off the mental and physical strikes Hisui was throwing at it. So I came up with a different plan."
"He kept swapping Pokémon. Akiha would dash around, taking potshots with small fireballs whenever she could, generally trying to get an opening to land a straight hit. Even with me being an extra set of eyes and directives, Alakazam couldn't land a strike. She was just too fast. So I had him fan his field out, and when that happened, Zero called Akiha back, and sent in Hisui. Hisui would nullify Alakazam's field with her own, while creating small pocket fields to try to crush him, and at the same time, lashing out with whatever objects she could find. I'd have him reign his field in, and start taking single blasts at Hisui, but then Zero would swap, and Akiha would be back, and it'd begin all over again."
"The game of tag was wearing her down, but not fast enough. So I figured that I'd have to up the ante a bit. I had Akiha sidestep a pulse, and retaliate with a single stream of fire. Sabri had her Alakazam pull up a barrier to block the flames, but that's what I wanted in the first place. I had Akiha switch to one good fireball, then I swapped Hisui in. Hisui pushed everything she had, and made a small dome around the fire, that would basically be a wall of compressed air. This wall would keep the flames around the Alakazam, kinda like a modified Fire Spin. I swapped back to Akiha, and had her launch another flamethrower, right in a very small space in the compressed air wall."
"I couldn't have Alakazam teleport out, because we were focusing on keeping the flames at bay. The problem was, the compressed air acted as a heat trap."
"Oh…wooooow…" May realized what happened next.
"Yeah. Since even Alakazam isn't powerful enough to control concepts, the heat started getting to him, and since Sabrina was synched with him, it started getting to her too. The plan was to keep up the firewall until Alakazam dropped."
"Problem was, I hadn't fully synchronized with a Pokémon in years. Not only that, but I felt the heat as if I were right in the flames."
"I must say, for a person who doesn't get out much, you have a very nice body."
A slight tint of red caressed Sabrina's cheeks. "Wait, you mean she-
"Started taking off my clothes. Anything to try to keep cool so I could hold up the barrier. I mean, I figured Akiha had to be getting tired at this point."
"She would have been, if I wasn't refreshing her."
"WHAT?!"
"Yeah, I have a small psychic link with all of my Pokémon. It's just strong enough for me to give them some of my physical energy should I need to. It wouldn't be until I met Shiranui did I realize I was tapping into the power of Aura to do it."
Sabrina just shook her head, continuing the story. "…eventually it got to the point where I was starting to see spots. I knew I couldn't take it anymore, my throat was dry, my head was pounding, and I was covered in sweat. I felt gross beyond belief."
"I'm gonna cut in here for a small second and say, even if it was sweat, you looked damn good soaked like that." Zero said.
Sabrina just blushed a bit more, held her head high, and continued her story.
"Anyway…I withdrew from the link between Alakazam and I."
"That's when I saw him flinch, and when I saw that, I knew I'd won. See, when a psychic is fully synchronized, and they break the link between them and whoever they're connected to, the one on the other end gets hit with psychic backlash. Alakazam was stunned, so I had Akiha head right in, and deck the fucker. Shin-Shouryuken to the chin. Alakazam was out like a light."
Sabrina nodded. "Seeing all that, I levitated the Marsh Badge to him, proclaimed him winner and essentially wanted to learn more about him and his tactics. Unfortunately, as soon as he left, I puked all over the place, and fell unconscious."
"Wait what?" Zero was concerned.
"Apparently I'd taxed both my mind and my body to the point where I made myself sick. I was nauseous for a few days, had an almost eternal headache, and I think I got a heat stroke too. I spent the next few days hovering over the toilet, and sleeping in a little kiddie pool we set up in the bigger bathroom for me. That, was not fun. But on the other hand, during the moments of clarity of my mind, just before I'd fall asleep for a small nap before the inevitable heaving of my stomach began again, I found myself thinking back to that fight, and how incredible it was, to meet someone who could decimate me like that.
I mean, I've been beaten before, by Ghost users, and Dark users, even psychic users. But the losses were few, and far between. And then you come along, using two Pokémon I'd only heard about and seen pictures of, and you completely wipe the floor with me. Your tactics, your style…the way you just swapped ideas on the fly, it was incredible. And I couldn't wait to hear about you winning the league…I wanted to issue a challenge to you, but since you left so quickly I couldn't get any personal information to you…"
"…I made you sick?"
Sabrina sighed. "It was years ago, Zee. It taught me a lesson of my own limits."
"I made you sick though."
"No, I made myself sick, when I didn't obey my senses and body's instincts and just pull my mind away before it was too late. I…was indignant. And that is what made me sick, not you."
Zero frowned, not happy with the explanation.
"So…you fell for him because he kicked your ass?" Dawn mused.
"I-what-I never said I fell for him!" Sabrina was back to being indignant. "He interests me! That's all!"
Dawn just stared at the older girl. Sabrina locked eyes with the younger teen, and twitched as Dawn's eyes glowed for a second. Sabrina gasped as her consciousness was overloaded by an unknown feeling.
But whatever it was…it felt damn good.
"That…what?"
Dawn just smiled.
"You…I…you feel…that?"
"Every time."
"Holy shit…"
"Don't you want that for yourself?"
Sabrina started to nod. "But…no. he's got you…and maybe May now. I'm not even-
"Oh stop trying to convince yourself. You're interested in him. You're interested in more than just what he's capable of with his mind. I heard you, Sabrina. You like him like that, and you know it. Age doesn't matter here, only feelings. It's not as strong as what I, or even May feels for him, but you feel similarly for him the way we do. I'm fine with sharing, mostly because he's worth it, and also because he tends to find himself in situations where he has to fight alone…and having someone who understands the worry I feel in those times, is always a good thing.
May feels both too much guilt, and too much love for him to care about anything but him. Just give it a shot. If it works it works, if it doesn't, it doesn't. He's not the type to make things awkward if things go south."
"I…Zero?"
"I'm…a bit overwhelmed right now, really."
"Just think about it hun." Dawn spoke softly. "I'm not going to be at your level any time soon. If ever. Hell I really doubt my own psychic abilities will even get halfway to as strong as you two are. And May has absolutely none at all. You need someone outside of your Pokémon to synch with at the level you can reach. You need someone you can hold and connect to. Someone you can resonate and make love with at that level. I mean, I guess you could do that with the girls-
"But I wouldn't want to. They're sisters to me."
"Exactly, plus interspecies stuff…weird."
Zero just stared at her, muttering something about not being a furry.
"Look, just…give it a try? You said it yourself, you liked how she looked wet and nearly naked. Might as well go for the whole package right? I mean, you're living every guy's dream right now. Two cute girls and one hot woman all want you and are willing to share. Outside of your sometimes insufferable honor, can you really say no to that kind of setup? May knows you from childhood, but has a massive gap in knowledge because of distance and events. I'm close to you from you saving my life and me forging that mental link with you, and the connection made from having sex. And Sabrina is one of the few people who have faced your mental onslaught and lived to tell the tale. She can match your power, and help calm it if your girls can't. Alma told me you almost broke down when you woke up on Sandgem beach not being able to feel Hisui and the others, so mental stability assistance is definitely a plus."
"…May?"
"I like you. A lot. I can't say I love you…yet…there's too much…bad air between us still. I want to clear that…and then…I'll be able to say with certainty how I really feel. But right now I know I want to be around you as much as possible. I never really knew how much I missed you until yesterday."
He turned to Sabrina.
"…" She said nothing at first, cheeks flushed, before locking eyes with Zero and practically throwing a series of images and sensations into his mind. He blinked rapidly as he processed it, confused as all hell.
"Wait…you what?!"
"Don't…say it. Please…just not out loud. I'm not ready for…that kind of information to be common knowledge."
"…seriously?"
She scrunched up her face at him. "You really think I'd make up something like that?"
"No…but…it's…surprising really."
Dawn just smirked, having a faint idea of what was contained in that information dump.
"The attraction is there. I'll admit, you're younger than I'd like, but…that just means more time for you to get even better looking. You've got some emotional baggage but honestly…we all do. And…there is the bonus of being able to claim you as mine among the Gym Leaders. Though…I'm pretty sure Jasmine will be pissed at me."
"Jasmine?" Zero said, bewildered.
"Oh yeah. Girl's got it bad for you, ever since you helped her Ampharos. She's just too shy to out and say it."
"She…was…around here recently…" Dawn's face lit up at this.
"No. Bad Kari. No more girls."
"What, you want a guy then?" She asked, a bit too sweetly.
"Would you- NO! just…ugh…I'm barely sure I can handle three girls. I mean…I'm really not all that speci-OWW! Dammit Hisui!" The psychic maiden had slapped Zero upside the head.
"I told you not to insult yourself like that. Obviously, regardless of what you think, you are special to these girls."
"She's right." Dawn said. "All I want is for you to finally be happy…we can't…give you your past back…but…"
"We want to make your future, a good one." May added.
"I say go for it." Alma quipped.
"This coming from the girl who was more than happy to jump in the bed with a naked me, Kari and Cecilia."
Dawn blinked. "Wait she did what?"
Alma stuck out her tongue. "We've been sharing a bed since I hatched. I wasn't about to let some orgy stop that."
"WHAT?!" Four voices yelled out.
"EARS WOMEN! They can only handle so much loud!"
"Master what's she talking about?!" Chihiro shouted, glasses sliding down the bridge of her nose.
"She sleeps in bed next to me at night. That's it. She was the only mental anchor I had when I woke up in that alternate universe. Her presence made it easier for me to fall asleep, and mine kept the nightmares of the day she died away."
The four girls calmed down. Dawn had no reaction, she already knew of their sleeping arrangements, however…
"Wait, nightmares?"
"When Zefie…"
"Actually no." Hisui blinked at that.
"Alma is the combination of Zefie's egg, and the soul of Miranda, a little girl who died just off of Sandgem Beach. From what I gathered from the mind-link we forged, Miranda's soul was there when Nyx dropped me on the beach. She reached out to the egg, and the remnants of Zefie's spirit called out to her. The two of them merged, and became Alma."
"What's the difference?" May asked.
"She has Zefie's memories, just above her base power level, and Miranda's personality. She's got a better manifestation skill than Zefie, but it's limited to only Alma herself."
"Eh?" Sabrina was confused.
"Zefie had the ability to turn into a human form. A manifestation of her appearance when she died as a human."
"While I was traveling through Sinnoh the first time, I met a girl named Lynn. She was a trainer too, but she was like Dawn, focusing on contests more. She designed her own outfits, and had the dream of going into fashion design. Zefie took a shine to her clothing ideas, and started manifesting them."
"I suck at making clothes." Alma admitted.
"yeah, but you can do something Zefie couldn't." Zero added.
"Eh? What's that?" Chihiro was interested. As far as ghosts went, Zefie was one of the most powerful ghost Pokémon she'd encountered. Even Giratina wasn't as crazy skilled as Zefie.
Zero just nodded at Alma, who stood up and closed her eyes. Her form seemed to blur slightly, as it stretched upward. When the blur faded, she was standing before everyone, naked…older. She smiled brightly at their stunned faces, as everyone took in every curve of her body.
"Daaaaamn…" Sabrina absently mused. For a dead girl, Alma looked hot.
"Boobs are bigger than mine…" May muttered morosely, which drew an even wider smile from the ghost girl. She blurred again and returned to her normal form, sundress included.
"I'm about Nineteen in that form. I don't know how, but whenever I thought of me, older, when I was Miranda, I could transform. Not when I was alive of course, but after I died. Can't go any farther than I actually would be if I was alive though."
Zero nodded. "Where Zefie could manifest clothing for herself, Alma can manifest herself. Both just visibly, and almost entirely physically."
"Holding my older forms takes a lot out of me though, so I just stick with this one."
Zero looked at his watch. "Damn…getting late. What say I whip us up some soup, we turn in for the night, and then hit the mountain tomorrow?"
Nods all around. He got up and headed to grab some wood for a fire from the nearby trees.
"Hey." Sabrina's voice called to him. He suddenly found himself unable to move. Uhh…Movement…impared…
"yeah. That's kinda the point." She slipped in front of him, grabbed his face, and brought her lips to his.
"Oh Goddammit!" May pouted.
Dawn smiled.
"Everyone gets a piece of him but me! I saw him first…"
The smile turned into a smirk. "Wanna practice?" May's head whirled around. "Huh?"
"Might as well. Give him something to think about. You wanna knock his socks off right?"
May just stared at the girl. "…you're enjoying this way too much."
Dawn just shrugged. "Probably. I figure when I was fixing my head and mentally claiming him, I might have accidentally grabbed part of his mentality and merged it with my own. Don't really care, life's more fun this way."
"…is it really?" May asked, uncertain.
Dawn put an arm around the girl's shoulders.
"Look at it this way. And believe me, it took me almost getting raped to figure this out." May gasped at that. She didn't know much of the details behind Dawn's sudden interest in her old friend.
"We live in a world populated by creatures that can bend the very fundamentals of existence at will. They can breathe fire, spit water, throw lightning, eat light, invade dreams, and even move entire sections of the planet. We puny weak humans have sublimated and captured most of these creatures for our own pleasure, but we're dealing with somehow naturally born members of the planet. They horribly outnumber us, and some of the stronger ones can cause damage and devastation equal to any manner of explosive. They can be as precise as a surgeon, or as wide as a waterfall.
We don't know where they came from, who came first, or why the majority of them tolerate, even seem to love us after we stuff them into tiny little balls and have them fight each other for our entertainment. The way I see it, and I'm sure he sees it too, which is probably why I see it, is that at any time, any of these creatures can turn around and kill us in a moment's notice. We're playing with loaded guns, that happen to be capable of independent thought. That said, our lives are potentially shorter than they already are, so why not enjoy them while we can? Especially since in the pursuit of power, people are more than willing to piss off the wrong Pokémon. Just look at what Zero had to deal with when he was younger. Not only a deranged psychopath that ended up murdering his entire family, but idiots who kept doing foolish things for their own gain, and pissing off the very embodiments of nature in the process.
I can safely say I love him. The type of love where I just want him to be happy. And if that means sharing him with two other decent looking girls, becoming a bisexual and joining him in crazy adventures to save the world, I'm all for it. I talked to my mother about this, before the merge, and she told me this type of love is rare, even for adults. And that if it's really as true as I feel it is, I should cling to it, because it's the most amazing and painful feeling in the world."
"But…we're still-
"Something…Zero said…he said it kinda absently, before I gave myself to him. My mother said it too, she had the same faraway look in her eyes that he did…they said…Age…doesn't matter. Love…true love…nothing can stop it. Age, religion, sex, race, hell sometimes even species doesn't matter. If that level of love is there…it should be held, and cherished. I'm not saying you should rip your clothes off and jump him right here, not if you're not ready. He's…disturbingly honorable, even though the world…Fate…took so much from him. He won't force it on you. If you're not ready for him, then he can wait. That's the type of mentality…I'm aware that most people don't have."
"Yeah…but…I just…"
"You hurt him. You hurt him, but you did so because to you, he hurt you first. And he understands that. He does now, and he did then. If he didn't, you wouldn't be alive. Honestly May, you don't have as much to work through as you think. Understand and accept the past, and the shackles that weaken your will can be broken."
"…like you did?"
"He saved my life…he tore an entire building full of people to bloody shreds, just him, a small sword, and pure emotion driven speed. He didn't even like me like that when he did it. He did it out of care for a friend. The trauma of almost being raped…of seeing all those people just suddenly burst into bloody chunks…of being drenched in their blood and scraps of flesh…it broke me."
May was staring in horror at the girl next to her.
"But he…he did what nobody else would have even thought to do in that situation. He took charge, had Alma bind my memories of everything before me getting caught, kept me asleep for a couple days, dreamless, and then on the third night, told me the truth. I broke when I got my memories back, and while I was broken, I understood him. I'll admit, I had a crush on his image, who he was as the media saw him. And then I actually met him, and he was always straight and on the level with me. From day one, when I met him in Sandgem, Alma on his head like a goofy hat, he was almost entirely honest with me. He never really lied, just twisted the truth a bit, because he knew how I would react if he said everything straight.
He told me about Team Galactic, and then even offered to teach me a bit of his special brand of training, to even my chances. Whenever I was in a bind on my way, he'd pop up and help. And when I got myself captured, he saved me, and did more for me than anyone else would have, even if they could. That's when I knew, I loved him. Not for his image, but for who he really was. I mean, a guy who's willing to put his neck on the line for you, and wipe out a building full of people because they were going to rape you, is a guy you want having your back. And in my case, in your pants."
May snorted at that.
"You knew him when he was still confused, lonely and scared, May. Get to know him again now, and tell me it doesn't just make you want him more."
"I will…Dawn…thank you."
"Anytime. Believe me, when I saw that first distortion in the sky, when he was fighting Nyx, I could feel him. I could feel when he got pissed, and I could feel when the battle ended. And when the worlds were going to merge, I could feel his fear and uncertainty. And when I woke up, both memory sets were struggling for dominance, but then I thought about him, and everything slid into place. Just don't hurt him like that again."
"I know…you'll beat the crap out of me."
"Pfft, anything I did would be nothing compared to what she would do."
"Who…Sabrina?" "Nope." "Hisui?" "Uh-uh."
"…then who?"
"Alma."
"The little one?"
"That girl can be vicious Candace told me how Zero beat her. Alma one-shotted Candace's Frosslass, and did it happily. She loves him even more than I do. And you know how I feel. I'm willing to bet she loves him even more than Hisui does."
"Seriously?" May glanced at the little girl, who was cheerfully helping Zero stir the pot of soup.
"That girl exists solely for him. She said it herself. He's the reason why she continues to exist. He is her life. I'm pretty sure if Mewtwo showed up again, intending to start something, Alma would have him begging for mercy in no time flat."
"But…Giratina took her out easily."
"Giratina also didn't actively do anything to harm Zero. She forced him into another dimension, yes. She invaded his mind to paralyze him for said movement, yes. But she didn't directly intentionally harm him, until after she'd blasted Alma away. And it was the act of defending against Alma's attack, that triggered it. Believe me when I say that especially now after seeing that little aging trick she pulled? I think Alma was destined to be a powerful psychic when she was Miranda, and merging souls with Zefie just made that power grow. Only now she has access to underworldly abilities too. She's quite possibly become one of the most powerful Pokémon on this planet, and it's all because of Zero. And her genome isn't even that strong. It's all because she can think like he does."
"I see…"
"Come on then. I guess practice will have to wait."
"I-what?" May was confused again.
"Food. Afterwards, I'll tell you some of his more sensitive spots. Where to strike if you wanna really make him yours. Believe me he's pretty good about covering his weaknesses, but he opens up around people he cares about. You'll wanna capitalize on that, if you're gonna make a move. Don't wanna be outdone by a girl who originally just wanted to pick his brain do you?"
May shook her head, and the two girls headed for dinner and more lessons.
Tomorrow, a new day would bring new revelations…
A/N: so, I wrote all this in the span of a few hours. It's shorter than what's become my new norm, and plenty wordy, but we get some more back-story as to why Zero is the way he is, and his past relationship with May. Plus, a slight look into Dawn's persona, now that not only has she fully integrated with the changes brought by her psyche shattering, but the merge of two lives as well.
For May and Sabrina, the merge wasn't much different, except that Sabrina in the alternate universe, was a lot colder, due to having to recover her mind on her own.
And as you can see, Zero's starting to get just a tad uncomfortable, with so many girls after him. As time passes, it'll be shown why. Dawn's loyalty to him is borderline fanatical, but as nuts as she can get…well…she said it herself, Alma is even worse.
Hunter1: yeah, world ended for a little bit. We get a look at how it affected others at the time in here. Ar Tonelico is god. The series is insane, and I love Hymmnos, both the songs, and the language itself.
As for your guess…well, you'll see.
D&SMaster: a little bit of perverse comedy for this one. Plenty of back-story and raging emotions too. This one was supposed to be the Team Galactic confrontation, but…I'll save that for next time.
