Chapter 9

"What in the Nine Hells was that?!" My scream was loud enough to scare off the nearby Pidgey. Shuichi gave me this blank look as he and Sora were tending to Kenichi's wounds, as well as my own. Surprisingly, we were mostly unharmed. Don't get me wrong, I hurt like a bitch on steroids, but there was little actual damage. Just some scrapes and bruises.

"Care to say that again? I don't think they quite heard you all the way in Sinnoh." was his deadpanned retort. And just where does he get off, all smart mouthed like that? This guy has got some nerve! Son I told him exactly what I meant.

"You know damn well what I am talking about! Not only do you scare a guy we could not put a dent in, but apparently, you have some influence with his boss! What the fuck gives?!?" I screamed in his face. Don't look at me like that. I was wounded both physically(the bruises) and emotionally(my pride). I have a right to be grouchy. He sighed, pulling out some disinfectant for a scrape.

"Where to begin? Ah, I know. I am a genius, both mentally and physically. I believe I have mentioned having studied under the great professors of the world. And I have gained the awe and respect of many because of these facts. One such person, in particular, was a Mister Seiichirou Tyrant, the leader of Void Inc." I gave him a funny look at the mention of the name. I mean, that was the guys real name? Seriously? He looked at me with a stern expression. "Don't make that face. Yes, that is his name. The man is of foreign decent. I don't know from where, so don't ask." he paused to finish with the bandages.

"One day, this man approached me. Offered me a position in his organization. Obviously I turned him down, so don't worry about that. He wasn't the first to try and scout me, nor was he the last. I have received offers from many an organization, legal or otherwise. Anyway, he offered all the funding and research material regarding the Lost Continent, Mu, that I would ever need. At the time, and even now, I doubt even they knew all there is to know about Mu. So of course they came for me. I am the authority on it, after all. Regardless, in return, I was to swear fealty to him." He sighed in reminiscence. There was a flash of blue that reflected off my glasses.

*Flash back: 6 years ago*

I found myself in this doujo, all of the sudden. Before me, performing some sort of Kata, was a young boy. He was a little taller than Kenichi, so he couldn't have been that old. He wore a blue training gi, and a black belt. His hair was a blue of a familiar shade. It was braided and went as far as the base of his neck. On his head were some disturbingly familiar goggles that were clearly to big for him. Oh, shit! Shuichi?! This was Shuichi, only, younger! What the hell?

Then came footsteps from behind me. I spun on my heels to face the intruder. Oh, that's a laugh. Aren't I an intruder? I mean where am I? When am I? Anyway, the man was fairly tall. He had a build that showed he was clearly in shape. His shoulders were broad and his arms thick. His hair was blond and a large nose. He wore a white business suit. Was this Tyrant? Not too shabby. He waited until Shuichi was finished with his exercise before speaking.

"I trust I am not interrupting anything, Mr. Saotome." he said in a tone that showed his sophistication and an undertone of his power. It made me shiver a bit.

"Not at all, sir. I was just finishing up. Can I help you?" Shuichi replied. The man gave a light bow and introduced himself.

"My name is Seiichirou. Seiichirou Tyrant. I am the head of a company that takes the old and makes it new. We are a historical organization, of a sorts. Our main order of business involves your research. You see, I have heard talk of your accomplishments in the field of Mu. My organization could very much use your expertise."

"Ah," Shuichi said, with a intrigued look. "While I was expecting the pitch, you have my interest. Why should I join with your people when others would have me?" Tyrant smiled.

"We at Mu have a goal. You see, according to what we have uncovered on out own, Mu will reappear again in a few years." This caught Shuichi's excitement. His eyes got wide and his smile spread wide. "We would like your help in preparing for our plans. You would, of course, have all the funding and materials you would need that wouldn't be available otherwise. We are the main research facility of the Lost Continent, and you are the authority in the field outside of us. You alone have discovered things we have been simply unable to solve. Together, we could solve every mystery of Mu! What do you say, my boy?" Shuichi was practically drooling at the thought of all the work he could get down with such resources. But then he blinked at something.

"Every thing has a price, Mr. Tyrant. What's yours?" He asked. Smart move, too. Tyrant nodded, conceding to the point.

"You need only to swear yourself to our cause. Your loyalty to me." He made a face." But you must understand, what we are doing could destroy us if it got out too early. It is necessary." Shuichi looked conflicted. Like you had just asked him to chose between his parents. "I'll let you think about it. I look forward to a positive answer from you, young man." He turned to leave, with Shuichi sitting down to meditate. There was another flash of blue.

*End Flash back*

I was a little disoriented. I look at Kenichi for answers. He nodded, understanding the unspoken question.

~Temporal Trance.~ He said. ~ It is an ability our people developed from moving in and out of this plane of Existence. We are capable of repeating actions in combat, something I will demonstrate later, and in your case, see a persons past. I would keep quiet about it, though. It is considered quite rude by some.~ I nodded, getting the idea. But I wonder how the battle thing could work in our advantage?

By this time Shuichi had come out of his daze. "You have no idea just how tempted I was to except that offer." I wouldn't say that, I thought. "It was truly a dream come true, at the time, and I may have said yes." We both stood up just as Sora decided to resume her Pokémon form. We started walking and I absolutely had to ask the question that he was probably expecting. "So what made you decide against the idea of accepting?" And why should I continue to trust you after hearing that, though that part was left unsaid.

"I met a merchant that sold eggs. I always had the tendency to check such things out for unusual finds. And at that time, I found one. An egg wrapped in marks of flames, and a nearly invisible, very easily missed unless you were looking for it, rune at the top of the egg. One I had recognized from my research. The very same rune that rests upon Sora's crest." My eye's widened a little at that as I glanced towards Sora. "It means 'flame of a billion suns', so you can imagine my surprise when I did not get a fire type." I took notice of Sora's rune glowing. What ever she just said to Shuichi made him laugh. When I asked what was so funny, he waved me off, saying I wouldn't get it. Oh well.

"Anyway, I thought that with the egg, I had the best research material I could get without being tied down to any one company. So when I met with Tyrant next, I turned him down, much to the mans disappointment. He, of course took it in a very mature manner. I.e. he had his goons gang up on me to take me by force. Go figure. Some time during the ensuing brawl, I must have really impressed the man. Gained his respect, as it were, cause he called it off. It was then that he made me an offer of a different sort." I look at him in curiosity. "It was this. 'One favor.' he had said. 'One favor from me at the insurance that you never directly involve yourself in our affairs.' That was the offer. I agreed." I blinked a few times. I guess I was so caught up in that story that I didn't notice when we got into town. But I suppose I can still trust him. But wait…

"But aren't you getting directly involved now?" I asked him. He gave me this confused look that I just didn't buy.

"Why, whatever are you talking about?" he asked in a mock innocence voice. "All I have done is in the interest of my own research! I would never get involved in a dispute otherwise. All I did, after all, was use the man who just happened to be attacking you as a messenger. I mean, sure I bought you some time, but that was a complete coincidence, I assure you." he finished with a wink. Right. And I am the boogie man. But I'll let it slide. Sneaky bastard. Hold on…

"What about what you told me on the boat? You said you only had her egg for a year!" He lied! He sighed, scratched the back of his head. "Well, I lost her." Excuse me? "Well, she was stolen by that merchant when he found out how valuable that egg really was. It took me a while to find her and reclaim her."

"It took her that long to hatch?" I asked. Sora's rune glowed a bit, and he answered for her. "She had already imprinted on me and wouldn't come out till she was back with me." He shrugged. "Go figure."

We stopped by the Pokémon center for lunch and headed for the forest. On the way, Kenichi began explaining in detail, how the Temporal Trance worked. I didn't get most of the mechanics of it, but here is what it boiled down to. 1) I can watch someone's past by looking at them as they recall it. Kenichi, and according to him most others, cannot do this. Something to do with my title as the Mistress of Souls. 2) In a fight, when performing a move that looks especially cool(like, say, a rising punch), an observer would see it happening three times from three different angles. Where as if it experienced by the one attacking, it will just do triple the damage. 3) And most importantly, it is completely random. No control over it what-so-ever. We can't. Only Pokémon like Dialga would be able to it at will. Well, I suppose that isn't completely true. I guess one with a great deal of experience with it could conceivably set a move up so that it would trigger the Trance, but that is really difficult. Though, Kenichi did mention that the Fang was particularly skilled at it, but the memory was foggy, so who is to say?

My musing was interrupted by a noise from my computer. We had just reached to edge of town when it went off. It kind of spooked Kenichi, as he went on the defensive, Sora snickering at him from above. It was kind of funny. It was at times like this that one remembers that Kenichi is really unfamiliar with today's world, though he hides it pretty well. I looked at the computer strapped across my shoulder.

"An E-mail?" Funny, I haven't given anyone my new E-mail address. Come to think of it, I haven't even set it up yet. I whipped out the laptop and started typing in commands instantly, as the others looked on in curiosity. Or in Kenichi's case, embarrassment. Shuichi appeared to be mildly impressed with my speed. Kenichi started looking agitated, like he could sense something, but couldn't tell from where. At least, that was the impression I got. I looked back to the screen, noticing the lack of any information on the file that had been mysteriously sent to my computer. I highlighted it to be sure.

"Whoa." I couldn't stop the word from escaping my lips as Suichi whistled. The cause? The E-mail, while seemingly empty, took up 10 gigabytes of space. Not enough to cause problems, but that is still pretty damn big. It was far too big for any known virus, and I was pretty well versed with most of them, but still… I had to find out what it was. So I opened it. I know, real intelligent. An unknown file appears on your computer and you open it?!? But hey, I had to know.

The screen burst in a flash of light as something completely unexpected happened. While Kenichi was in front of me the second the light burst forth, something materialized in front of the computer. We all stared in shock at what we saw. First an out line. Then shade. Finally, color. What hovered before us was a Porygon. A Porygon that had just come out of my computer! My computer! And as soon as it appeared, it collapsed on to the ground, wounded.

Now, I… am a computer geek. No question. And computer geeks, as a generalization, have two things set as highly valuable. The first would be their computer, obviously. The second, would be the living computer program that is the Pokémon known as Porygon. The very sight of one before me made me drool a little bit. So, naturally, I do the first thing that came to my mind.

Faster than I would later think was physically possible for me, 120 mph, according the Kenichi, I threw a Pokéball at the wounded Pokémon. Now, little known fact about Porygon. As a living computer program, it could mess with the function of the Pokéball and break free without breaking a sweat. This makes capturing one really difficult. A similar problem happens with Psychic and ghost types, but that's off topic. The only way to capture a Porygon is either 1) knock it completely unconscious, which is rather unethical, or 2) for it to want you to capture it. Considering the state this particular one was in, I would say both requirements were being fulfilled. I'll have Kenichi and Sora get an explanation out of it later. Any way, yeah, I caught it. With out much resistance, at that.

More calmly then I felt at the moment, I slowly walked over to the capture zone. I picked up the ball and did something that will forever haunt me. To my greatest shame, I struck a goody-two-shoes pose(raising the right leg backwards while putting both of the fists close to the chin) and squealed. Now, let us make something perfectly clear. I do notsqueal. Under any circumstances. It is just wrong. Giddy? Yes. An occasional giggle? Sure. But squealing? I feel dirty, now.

I turned, stricken with shame, towards my companions. They were all kind of looking at me with wide eyes and Shuichi was even snickering a bit. So I shot them my Glare From Hell(the one where ones head seems to grow in size and the eyes seem to become red) with the female Aura of the Oni(the one where you see a demon head behind the person) for good measure. That is some scary shit, you know?

"You. Saw. NOTHING!" I growled at them. "Clear?" There were no objections, as they all look like they were about to soil themselves. Well, Sora kind of did, but you get the point. "Lets get back to the Pokémon Center. Can't let this little guy stay like this for to long, right?" I said as I headed back into town.

So sorry this took so long. It was a combination of me be a slacker and both my sister and I drawing blanks. I'll try to fix that. Now I know some of the dialog was suckish. I tried to fix that, too, but couldn't come up with anything. You also have my apologize for that. Anyway, it shouldn't be quite that long till the next chapter, so bare with me here. Oh, yeah. Some guy made a comment about lord Tyranny's name, so I hope this clears up my reasoning for that. It's just messing with his actual name. One of which I have actually heard before. Just saying.