Rita hauled her way up the stairs, tired. Smoke was outside with Gabite, the Pokemon they had rescued. When Rita arrived at the top of the steps, she sighed sadly. It was still raining, and Plasma, Moon, Jet, and Vapor still hadn't returned, though, many teams still had not returned. Only two other teams, Team Light and Team Rose, had returned the previous night.
I guess the ramen got cold... Rita thought to herself, laughing slightly, then she was worried. I hope they are okay... I don't know what I'd do without them... Rita breathed a heavy sigh, then looked at the ceiling. Everything was going dark. Rita felt her knees buckle, as she dropped to the floor, unable to control her body. What's happening? She felt darkness cloud her vision, as she heard someone call her name. She tried to call back, but she couldn't speak. Her vision finally clouded, and soon her whole world was black.
Rita sat up. "What happened?" she asked out loud.
Nobody answered.
"Hello?" Rita called.
Nobody answered.
Rita then got up, and looked around. Darkness surrounded her. She searched desperatley for any sign of life, but failed. Suddenly, a dark figure appeared in front of her.
"Hello, Rita," it said.
"Hello..." Rita answered, as she squinted her eys at the figure. That's the figure we saw while we were on Floor 23! Rita gasped, and stared at the figure.
"Do you know why your here?" it asked her.
"Who are you?" Rita asked, ignoring the question.
The figure made a laughing motion. "I'm your guardian," it seemed to smile as it said those words. "Do you remember me? From the twenty third floor?" It giggled in a girlish tone.
"Yes... I do..." Rita answered, trying to figure out who the figure was.
"Anyway, back to the question," the Figure started. "Do you know why your here?"
Rita shook her head.
"Your here to complete your duty!" the Figure said, spinning around.
"What's my duty?" Rita asked, noticing the figure was fading away. "I need to know! And who are you?"
The Figure giggled. "That's classified!" it said, spinning around, the disappeared.
Rita sighed, then she thought she heard her name.
"Rita?" it asked.
"Huh?" Rita looked around.
"Rita! Wake up!" the voice said. She recgonized the voice.
Rita shot her head up, breathing heavily.
"Rita! What happened?"
Rita looked over. It was Jet.
"Huh? Jet!" she yelled happily, then attacked him with a hug. "You guys took so long! And Plasma and Moon aren't back, and I saved ramen but it's cold-"
"Quiet down!" Jet whispered. "I'm not aloud to talk to you, remember?"
Rita sat back. "Oh... yeah..."
"Now, what happened, Rita?"
Rita looked over to see Vapor staring at her with a worried expression.
Rita looked up, trying to recall the strange dream. "I think I passed out, and then a figure appeared... and told me it was my guardian and... um... that I'm here to complete a duty..." Rita finished.
Vapor and Jet looked at eachother with puzzled faces.
Rita looked around. "Am I in your room...?" she asked.
"Yeah," Jet replied. "Welcome to our kingdom." He grinned. "And your guardian, eh? Who was it?"
"It sounded like a girl," Rita started. "And it giggled alot."
"Any kind of shape or form?" Vapor asked. "Does she remind you of anyone?"
So many questions... "She, looks like she had some sort of dress on, but it was blurry," Rita said, recalling the dream. "I don't know of anyone, alot of people giggle..."
Jet and Vapor were silent.
"I see..." Vapor finally said.
Rita looked at them both. "So how was your... mission?" she asked.
Jet spoke. "Stupid Golbat gave us an ultra rank mission. It was at a place called Past Valley," he said.
"Yeah," Vapor continued. "And it's haunted!" she exclaimed.
Jet shushed her. "Keep your stupid voice down! We'll get in trouble if we're seen with them!"
Vapor pouted. "Pushy..."
"Anyway," Jet said, ignoring her comment, "it was real chilly... but it turned out okay. Wingull is safe," he finished, then looked at Rita. "How about you? Did you get into trouble?" he asked.
"It went well," Rita said. "We helped Lilligant, and Whimsicott took her back to Light Town," she said, then sighed. "But Plasma and Moon aren't back yet... I miss them..."
"What was their mission?" Vapor asked.
"Isolated Island."
"Team Shade really is terrible..." Jet looked at Rita. "They'll be fine, though. Atleast try to trust me."
Rita smiled, then nodded.
Jet's face turned slightly red. "And, I've been wanting to tell you, but Team Shade's made it difficult for me..." he said, sighing.
"What is it?" Rita asked.
"Well, you know how you had five of your friends on a boat, the night you turned into a Pokemon?" Jet asked.
"Yeah, why?" Rita asked. Does he know something?
"Victoria was one of them, and the other three are still unown to you, correct?" he asked again.
"Yes."
"Well... I should have told you sooner. I'm one of them... my real name is-" Jet was cut off as Golbat flew in the room.
"Sneaking around, trying to talk again, are we?" he asked, smirking, then looked at both Jet and Rita. "Ya like her, ay Jet?" Golbat asked, laughing.
Jet's face turned bright red. "N-No! She's just a friend!" He turned his head away and stalked out of the room.
"Jet!" Vapor yelled, the followed him out.
"Wow," Golbat said, chuckling. "How cute." He looked at Rita. "Is Plasma's team back yet?" he asked.
"No," Rita grunted unhappily. "Why?"
"W-Well.. it's been almost two days and t-the other teams are all back..." he stuttered. "I think we might have gone to far with giving them that hard a mission..." Golbat sighed. "It was Mightyena's idea, not mine!" he yelled. "And you should stop sneaking off with Jet," he laughed.
"I wasn't sneaking off!" Rita snapped. "I was passed out and they brought me up here. Anyway, where is Smoke?"
"Downstairs looking for you," Golbat replied.
Rita padded out of the room and into the elevator. Jet and Vapor were gone. Then what Jet had said hit her. He was one of my friends? He was a human too? All this time, and he didn't tell me! Rita felt her face turn hot. Which friend is he? Jetson? She blushed at the thought of him, and then she violently pushed the Floor 3 button. The elevator quickle shot down, letting Rita out on the third floor.
Smoke jumped when he saw her. "Rita!" he called, sounding worried. "Are you alright? I heard you'd passed out!" He ran up to her. "Please dont disappear on me..." he asked her.
"Im sorry, Smoke," Rita said. "Jet and Vapor took me to their room- they got back, I think it was because Jet needed to talk to me..." she said, then lowered her voice into a whisper. "He says he was one of my friends with me on the boat..." she finished.
"What? Jet's a human?" Smoke asked, surprised, then he chuckled. "No wonder he's so attached to you."
Rita blushed again. "That's not the point- the point is that he's one of us, and I need to tell Vicky! Where is she?" Rita asked.
"She's in the cafeteria with Flower and Chance," Smoke told her. "And Plasma and Moon still haven't got back..." he sighed.
I miss them alot... I'll have to tell them everything when they get back, and give them the ramen I saved. Rita smiled at the thought of the ramen sitting in her room. She then walked towards the staircase, climbing down the stairs to where the cafeteria was. Smoke followed behind her. Rita walked into the cafeteria to see Victoria and her team, all sitting at a small glass table in the center of the cafeteria. Rita padded up to her.
Victoria looked up at Rita. "Why hewwo there, Ritaaaaa!" Victoria greeted, looking dazed.
"Jet's a human!" Rita blurted out.
Victoria's glazed eyes returned to normal. "For real?" she asked, surprised.
"Wow!" Chance and Flower both exclaimed in excitement.
"Yes!" Rita nodded her head. "He told me about ten minutes ago..."
"Wait," Victoria cut in. "Aren't you not supposed to be conversing with Team Water Pulse?" she asked.
"Long story, but he says he's human," Rita stated again.
Smoke padded next to her, listening to the conversation.
"Jet's that shiny Floatzel, right?" Victoria asked.
"Yeah."
"Ohhh okay! Did he tell you his real name?" Victoria asked. "Even if my memory was washed away by the ocean, I don't recall having a friend named Jet."
"No he couldn't..." Rita sighed. "Golbat came in. I think he was spying on us."
Chance laughed. "Stalker, Golbat!" she said, grinning.
Should I tell her about my dream...? "Hey... and I also had a dream-like vision," Rita said.
"I'm listening," Victoria replied.
"A figure appeared... and told me I had a duty... and that it was my guardian. Then it disappeared..." Rita told her.
Victoria's eyes widened. "Y-You had that dream too?" she asked
"Wait, when did you get it?" Rita asked, startled.
"Rita, you didn't tell me this!" Smoke whined, clearly hurt.
"Last night..." Victoria started. "The figure acted girlish and weird..." she said.
"Same..." Rita sighed.
"Vicky!" Rita heard Chance complain, "you never told us this!"
"Yeah we deserve to know!" Flower whined.
Victoria ignored them. "Where's Plasma and Moon, anyways?" she asked. "They still haven't gotten back."
"I know..." Rita sighed. Everytime her friends were brought up she missed them even more. "I hope they come back..." she said sadly.
"Why don't we wait for them, outside?" Smoke suggested. "I'm pretty sure they'll be back soon..."
"Maybe..." Rita sighed again, then was brightened up by the thought of greeting them when they returned. "Okay, lets go wait!"
The sun was setting as Rita stepped outside on to the soft grass. She yawned, picturing Plasma and Moon receiving her ramen. For some reason, she was upsessed with the thought of ramen.
"Now.. we wait..." Smoke yawned.
Victoria, Chance, and Flower had decided to stay in and eat dinner, but Rita wanted to make sure she was there to greet Plasma and Moon when they got back.
After about twenty minutes, three small figures appeared in the distance, on top of the green hills. "Hey!" Rita exclaimed. "Is that them?"
"I dunno..." Smoke yawned again. "Can't see."
Rita sooned recgonized two of the figures as an Emolga and Clefairy. "It is them!" she exclaimed. "Hey!" she called to the Pokemon.
The Emolga picked it's head up. It was Plasma. "Ritaaaa! Smooooke!" she called, her sad face turning happy.
Moon looked up and smiled, looking exhausted.
The third Pokemon didn't show any expression.
Plasma gave Rita and Smoke a hug. "It was TERRIBLE!" she complained. "All Moon did was complain," she said, narrowing her eyes at the pink Clefairy.
Moon just sighed.
"Oh!" Plasma exclaimed. "And this is Rici!" she said, gesturning towards the third Pokemon with her. "He's a Riolu! We rescued him from that terrible Isolated Island!"
"Hello," Rici said, bowing his head, then he looked at Plasma and Moon. "Thank you once again... I know you went through alot of trouble..." he murmered, looking at a bandage on Moon's arm.
I hadn't noticed that... "Moon, what happened?" Rita asked, still very happy to see her friends.
"We'll tell you later," Moon said, sounding tired. "Is there dinner?"
"Around this time... I'm pretty sure dinner is over. We were waiting for you," Smoke said, chuckling.
"Really?" Moon asked.
Rita giggled. "Yes, but I saved you two some ramen from last night..." she said.
"For real? Ramen?" Plasma asked bouncing around. "Let's go inside! I wanna prove to Team Shade that we can do anything!" she cheered, then bounded towards the entrance. "C'mon, Rici! We also need to let everyon know your okay!" she said, then disappeared up the stairs.
Smoke glanced at Moon. "Why is she so cheery...? And your so... depressed...?" he asked.
Moon sighed. "I'm not depressed... just tired. And Plasma is trying to hide it by acting hyper..." she sighed again. "Lets go inside." Moon also walked towards the steps. Rici followeed her.
It hurt Rita to see her friends sad, but they needed to get inside. She walked up the stairs, Smoke behind her.
Plasma was already on the second floor, Moon, Rita, Smoke, and Rici soon following behind her.
Golbat noticed them, and flew towards them. "So your back? I thought you'd died," he mocked sarcastically.
"Team Attract dosent die!" Plasma argued, then pointed towards Rici. "We rescued Rici, see?" she said.
"Yes, thank you..." Rici said again.
"It was easy!" Plasma lied.
Moon glanced at her, knowing she was lying.
"Easy? Then why did you take so long?" Golbat asked. "You are the last team to finish... and I really did think you died."
"Meh? How rude," Plasma answered, a smug look on her face.
"Whatever... you guys get alot of points anyway..." Golbat glanced at Rici. "So what are we to do with you, hm? Where do you come from?" he asked.
Rici looked down. "I... I don't know..." he stuttered.
"Quite quiet, aren't you?" Golbat teased.
"Leave him alone, Golbat," Moon said. "He says he dosent remember anything about his past."
Dosent remember anything...? Could Rici possibly be human? The name Rici sounds somewhat familiar but...
"Well, he needs somewhere to stay," Golbat started. "Why don't you hang here untill Lady Pidgeot gets back?" he suggested, then glanced at Plasma. "You can stick with them."
"See, Rici? Nothing to worry about! You have us with you!" Plasma assured him.
Rici smiled.
"I'll let Mightyena and Night know..." Golbat said. "And... I guess you did a good job," he finished, then flew towards the elevator.
"Well, Rici..." Moon started, then pointed at Smoke and Rita. "These are our friends, Team Meteor."
Rici nodded.
"That's Smoke," Moon said, pointing to Smoke. "And that's Rita." Moon pointed to Rita.
Something flashed through Rici's eyes, then disappeared. "Nice to meet you both..." he said, bowing.
Rita smiled. "Nice to meet you too... Rici."
Smoke grunted a hello.
Rita then turned to Moon and Plasma. "Do you want that ramen? Then I need to tell you some stuff," she said, looking at them both.
"Alright!" they both said.
•
Slurping sounds filled the room as Plasma and Moon devoured the ramen.
"So, what did you wanna tell us?" Moon asked, seeming to be in a better mood.
Rici was sitting on the cotton bed, quiet.
"Jet's apparently a human," Smoke blurted out.
Rita saw Rici's eyes widen, but he didn't say anything.
"Whaaat?" Plasma asked. "When did you find this out? Arent we like, banned from talking with him and Vapor?"
"It was earlier today..." Rita started, then explained the story.
"So what happened in the dream?" Moon asked.
Rita explained her dream, not leaving out any detail.
Moon and Plasma were both silent. Rici glanced at Rita. "Rita?" he asked.
Rita looked at him. "Yeah?"
"Are you, are human aswell as this Pokemon called Jet?" Rici asked.
Whoops... Rita thought, forgetting that Rici was in the room. She sighed. "Yes... but please dont tell anyone else! I dont want rumors flying around."
Rici's eyes widened. "You may not believe me, but I'm a human too..." he looked at the ground. "I was with some friends... I cant remember their names... and there was a storm, and before I knew it I was on some island..." He let out a sigh. "I found a bottle and put a note in it, and then I realized I was a Riolu..."
Another human? Vicky really should have stayed with us when we offered to wait...
"Your a human, and you didn't tell us?" Moon asked.
"I'm sorry... you might have not believed me..." Rici answered, looking to the floor.
"Feel ashamed!" Plasma scolded.
"Plasma, be nice!"
Rita turned to see Victoria stading in the doorway. "It's nice to see your back!" She said, then looked at Rici. "So, we have our own little human club now, dont we?"
"What do you mean?" Rici asked.
"I also happen to be human. The name's Victoria, but call me Vicky," Victoria answered, walking in. "Who're you, again?"
"I'm Rici..."
"Ah, sounds familiar." Victoria looked at Rita. "Well! Number four! We need to find our last friend now..." She giggled. "And, you should also tell Jet."
"I'm not aloud to talk with him..." Rita sighed.
"You find your ways," Victoria answered. "And he dosent know I know, so it would be awkward for him."
Rita looked at the floor.
"Who is Jet, anyway?" Rici asked.
"Jet is a shiny Floatzel...and apparently one of our old friends, and yours too, it seems," Victoria explained.
"And a Lady Pidgeot was mentioned earlier..." Rici said.
"Lady Pidgeot is our camp leader," Smoke said, then explained rescue teams, and that Lady Pidgeot was with Exploud looking for a Dewott named Dew.
Rici nodded.
"We better get to bed," Plasma yawned, then looked at Rici. "You can sleep in our room. Lady Pidgeot is most likely coming back tomorrow."
Rici nodded again, then looked at the others. "Have a good night..."
Victoria smiled, and then left. Rita and Smoke said their goodnights, then headed to their room down the hallway. Smoke layed down on the cotton bed.
"I'm glad they finally returned!" he laughed, then looked at Rita. "And.. Rici, was it? Do you recgonize him, in any way?" he asked.
"The name sounds familiar..." Rita replied, trying to think back. I think... I had a little brother... his name was Rici...
"Don't think to hard. Just remember little by little." Smoke smiled. "I'm glad your my partner," he said, yawning. "I'm going to get some sleep... you should do the same." Smoke smiled again, then closed his eyes, and eventually fell asleep.
Rita looked at the window. There was no rain, for once, so the room was in a complete silence. Rita wasn't tired. She walked into the hallway, feeling a slight draft rub against her skin. She stopped in front of Plasma and Moon's room, and peered inside. Moon and Plasma seemed to be asleep, but Rici was sitting on the edge of the corron bed, staring at the floor. He looked up as he noticed Rita.
"Hi..." he muttered quietly.
Could Rici really be my brother? Rita asked herself. Only one way to find out, I suppose... "Can we talk?" she asked him in a small whisper.
Rici nodded, and got up, walking towards Rita. The two went back into the hallway.
"Do you remeber your family, Rici?" Rita asked.
"I... a little bit..." Rici slowly started. "I know I had a father... and I think I had a sister." He looked down. "I can't exactly remember her name... I-I think it began with an R..." He looked at Rita. "I think her name was Rita."
"Do you think you might be my brother?" Rita asked Rici softly.
"I-I'm not sure..." he stuttered. "Do you have a brother named Rici?"
"I might have," Rita sighed. "But I can't seem to remember anyone's names'..."
"Same with me. Except, when I heard your name, and Victoria's... I sorta recgonized it..." Rici replied. "But I didn't recgonize this Jet you speak of..."
"That's because that's not my name."
Rita turned around to see the silver Floatzel Jet.
"Who might you be?" Jet asked, looking at Rici.
Rici bowed his head. "I'm Rici..."
"He's a human, too," Rita told Jet.
"Interesting, so we found another one of our group of five..." Jet smiled lightly. "Anyway, I never got a chance to tell you my real name."
"Real name?" Rici asked. "Are you this Jet guy?"
"Yeah," Rita answered, smiling. "This is Jet. Apparently he's a human too," Rita said to Rici.
"Nice to meet you..." Rici bowed. "I think I might be... Rita's brother..."
"Really? Rita, you have a brother?" Jet asked.
"I cant remember much... but I think so," Rita answered.
"Alright," Jet huffed. "Anyways, my name is actually Jetson," Jet finally said.
Jetson?
"But please continue to call me Jet... I like that name better."
Jet is Jetson?