Chapter 9:
Ceres nodded sharply, unmindful of the sudden terror of Lucas and his Pokemon.
"Shelly," she ordered, "Bubblebeam."
Her Prinplup turned her head towards Ceres a bit, giving her a strange look, sure that her trainer wasn't serious. Her gawk was met with nothing but impartial seriousness.
"Plup!" she protested.
Lucas couldn't understand what Shelly was saying at all, but took advantage of the Pokemon's seeming unwillingness to attack by turning around and dashing into Mount Coronet, his footsteps loud and disruptive against the relative silence of the mountainside cave.
Cyrus stared after him for a moment, before saying quietly, "Ceres…he is disrupting the peace of the mountain."
"Mount Coronet is a sacred place…" Ceres replied softly again. A dazed look appeared suddenly in her eyes, and then vanished as quickly as it had appeared. She ran quietly after Lucas, careful not to disturb so much as a pebble as she darted through the cave.
Shelly watched her leave for a moment, and then ran after her, not nearly as gracefully, nor as carefully.
Ceres didn't notice. She was utterly absorbed with finding Lucas, and stopping the atrocious disruption of the mountain's usual serenity.
Lucas' footsteps abruptly stopped, and in the faint glow of his Monferno's tail, it was obvious why. He had somehow come to a dead end. He spun around quickly, hoping to take another route, but found his path blocked by the faint silhouette of the strange girl he had met oh-so-long ago in Sandgem.
He took a fraction of a step backwards, the heel of his shoe pressing against the cold, stone wall behind him. He had nowhere to run now.
Blaze, also noticing that he had been cornered, began to prepare for a fight. Their situation looked rather bleak however, as his opponent was a water type. He considered the alternatives. Going with the girl would certainly end in their death.
Reasonably, there were no options.
"Monferno!" he shouted, challenging the Prinplup who had arrived alongside the girl.
The water type Pokemon looked doubtful, and glanced up at her trainer for a moment, before looking at Lucas, and finally back at Blaze. "Plup," she muttered, conflicted.
"Blaze, use Mach Punch!" Lucas ordered suddenly, his voice rather shrill with fear.
Blaze began to ready his attack, but was stopped by an almost immediate cry from Ceres. "No!" she shouted sharply, the single word resounding repeatedly throughout the no-longer-silent mountain.
"There should not be any fighting here," Ceres said softly, "This is a place of peace. It should always be at peace. It will always be at peace."
The last, faint echo of her previous cry resonated pitifully.
Lucas didn't hesitate for an instant. "Blaze, use the−"
A sudden, blinding white light stunned him momentarily, and when it had faded, he seemed less sure of his previous orders. In fact, he was outright contradicting himself.
"Blaze, don't attack!" he shouted urgently, and in the faint orange glow of the fire type's tail, his expression looked confused. "We have to stay here!" he said, and then he shook his head, "We have to go with her!" he pointed at Ceres. He then looked baffled. "We have to….we have to…" he trailed off.
His Pokemon shot him a bemused glare. What was he up to? What was he thinking? They couldn't just give up! He proceeded to tell his trainer so, but like most humans; Lucas understood not a word of what his Pokemon was saying.
"We should…go with her…" Lucas said, finally seeming to decide that that was the correct answer.
Ceres nodded, and began to walk away, Shelly at her side, and Lucas following obediently behind. Blaze just stood there, watching them, baffled as to what had happened. He ran after them, trying in vain to change his trainer's mind. He screeched at the boy to no avail. Lucas refused to listen.
Soon they had reached the cave's exit once more. Cyrus was waiting for them, his expression perfectly composed, easily concealing his true impatience.
"Everything's calm again," Ceres stated quietly.
Lucas nodded with a strange enthusiasm, and then, too late, Blaze realized why. Hovering just inside the cave, utterly silent except for the slight fluttering of wings, was a Golbat. The bat Pokemon was watching Lucas closely, and every time their eyes met, the boy seemed a bit more dazed.
Blaze turned to his trainer, trying frantically to explain. Not a single one of his words seemed to reach Lucas' ears. The boy looked contently into the eyes of the Golbat, not realizing the danger he was in.
"Careful now Monferno," Cyrus interrupted, "You'll disturb the mountain."
"Yeah Blaze," Lucas mumbled dreamily, "Quiet…it's so peaceful here."
Blaze kept shouting disbelievingly. It was all the Golbat's fault! Lucas had to realize that! They had to get away!
Suddenly, unthinkingly, the fire type lunged unthinkingly at the bat Pokemon, aiming a Mach Punch at one of its wings. The attack barely grazed it. Blaze aimed another Mach Punch at the Golbat's face. The attack collided with another wing instead, doing no visible damage.
"Shelly," Ceres muttered, "he's hurting Marrow." She paused to let her words sink in. "He's hurting your friend Shelly."
The Prinplup glared at Blaze.
"He should be punished for hurting your friend Shelly," Ceres continued, "He's hurting her Shelly."
Shelly looked doubtfully at Marrow, whose gaze had not wavered from Lucas' for an instant. Just then however, Blaze gave up on attacking with Mach Punch, and spat an Ember at the bat Pokemon. The Golbat wobbled visibly in flight, her wing smoking a bit where the tiny flame had burnt it. Sensing an advantage, the Monferno aimed another Mach Punch at her, aiming to knock her out of the air.
"He hurt her Shelly, and she's going to get hurt again," Ceres whispered.
Just as Blaze's attack landed, a stream of bubbles hit him, sending him flying away from his target, who recovered from the weakened attack, and continued to stare into Lucas' eyes.
Blaze got weakly to his feet and called to Lucas one last time, trying to snap his trainer out of confusion. His words had no effect on Lucas, and finally the exhausted Monferno, the tip of his tail barely flaming now, ran away into Mount Coronet.
Lucas didn't notice, and continued staring distantly into Marrow's eyes.
Ceres walked over to him, standing directly between him and Marrow. Before the Confuse Ray could fade, and before the boy could finally snap out of confusion, Ceres pushed him lightly, and he toppled off the ledge on which they were standing, falling a long way before he finally hit the water with a rather loud splash.
Ceres stood there for a moment, staring at the rushing river below, and then turned to face Cyrus.
"He won't disturb the sacred mountain anymore," she said softly.
Cyrus hid the faintest of smiles. "Very good Commander Ceres. Now, we must speak of your next assignment…"
Shelly watched as the man led her trainer away. Her mind failed to comprehend what had just happened.
She considered for a moment that perhaps the boy would be okay, and Ceres knew that he would, but looking down at the river, she doubted it.
She wondered if Marrow's injury had caused Ceres to act in such a way. Pokemon hurt other Pokemon all the time though, and a Pokemon Center healed them, and nobody stayed hurt for long. Not like the trainer who Ceres had pushed into the river likely would.
Then she looked back at the mountain, and it made sense. Ceres had said that this was a sacred place. The trainer had been disturbing a holy place. Ceres couldn't allow that, could she? That couldn't be forgiven.
Shelly shook her head, and looked in awe at the mountain in front of her. She understood now.
Ceres returned soon. She silently recalled Marrow into her pokeball, and began to walk away from the mountain. Shelly followed as quietly as she could, careful now in her new revelation.