Author's Note: School has reopened. Sigh… If only the holidays could've lasted longer, otherwise I would be updating theses stories a lot. Nevertheless, I have to compromise. I've made it a point to take down reminders to update in my school diary so that I would never forget to update. Anyway, this chapter will be very short and there won't be any Pokémon battles. Gomenasai…
Oh yes, I've forgotten to put in the translation for the Japanese word koei in the previous chapter. It means 'scary'.
Disclaimer: Read previous chapters. You know what I own and what I don't own anyway.
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Chapter 11 – Family Secrets (Past)
10 years ago…
Tora held onto one of the PokéBalls tightly. It contained the Shadow Makuhita he had Snagged earlier on. As Tora lied down on his bed with a paw supporting his head, he raised the PokéBall up high as it blocked the setting sun's glaring light beaming brightly. Tora sighed and got up from his bed. He went to pull the curtains to totally block the light from entering and plopped back down on his bed, continuing to stare hard at the PokéBall.
'What am I going to do with you?' Tora thought as he put the PokéBall aside for a while. 'I don't even know how what Shadow Pokémon truly are. How can I save you from your shadowy state if I don't even know how myself?' His chain of thoughts was interrupted by a few knocks on his door and Tora jumped over the edge of his bed and rushed to the door to open it.
"Oh, it's you, Siberia."
"Hey, what do you mean by 'it's just you'? Am I such a sore sight to see recently?"
"Frankly, you've been bothering me right from the start. So… yeah." Tora got a hard knock on his head from Siberia as a reply.
"That should teach you a lesson." Tora rubbed his head and was groaning painfully but Siberia paid no attention to Tora's swollen head. "Anyway, I came to see that Shadow Pokémon. Where did you place the Ball?" Tora pointed to the Makuhita's PokéBall and said nothing. Siberia walked towards it and picked it up gently.
"What the heck are we going to do with that… that… thing?" Tora should've wished he never asked that.
A few minutes later…
"OW! OW! OW!!! What the heck did you do that for?! Have you lost your mind?!" Tora exclaimed at the top of his voice. His arm was all red, sore and swollen, thanks to Siberia's hard bashing up.
"I did that to warn you to never call a Pokémon a 'thing', especially Shadow Pokémon. And no, I have not lost my mind. I am a completely sane hamster," Siberia replied coolly as she rubbed the Shadow Makuhita's PokéBall with a wet towel meant for rubbing Tora's arm.
"Well, you could've told me nicely."
"Well, you could've asked me nicely," Siberia countered back. Realising that Tora had no other way to counter back, she grinned widely. "What in the name of crap made you call a Pokémon a 'thing'? I know you by now, Tora, you would never do that."
"Didn't you notice that that Makuhita nearly made me lose my sight back there?! I mean, when it attacked Lunarina with its blinding attack, the impact nearly caused me to go blind!!! That shadowy flash because of the impact was so blinding! Didn't you feel that?"
Siberia didn't reply. Her pupils dilated as she stared at Tora, dropping the PokéBall as she did so.
"Siberia?"
Nothing.
"Yoooohooooooooo…! SIBERIA!! QUIT STARING AT ME LIKE AS IF I'VE GROWN 2 HEADS!"
That shook Siberia back to her senses, though it seemed that she had lost one of her senses temporarily because of Tora's delusional shouting, and that was her sense of hearing. Siberia covered her ears and shut her eyes tightly.
"All right! All right! Enough already!! You almost made me deaf!" Siberia rubbed her ears. "So, you say that the flash almost made you blind?"
Tora nodded.
"And it was because of the Makuhita's Shadow Rush?"
Tora nodded.
"And the shadowy aura from the attack was very glaring for you?"
Tora nodded.
"Tora…" Siberia dragged Tora closer to her by pulling his intact arm. Tora felt something hot creep up on his face as he was dragged closer to Siberia. They were so close they could've been locked in for a kiss. Tora felt his face burning. "Tora, tell me the truth. Do your eyes hurt now?"
Tora shook his head slowly, the blush still evident on his face.
"Did they hurt after the battle then?"
Tora shook his head, the blush not disappearing, not even a bit.
"Do they hurt whenever they see me?"
"Eeto…" Tora smirked smugly. "Not really…" Siberia hit his swollen arm.
"What do you mean by that?!"
"OK, OK, gomenasai… Just stop hitting me already." Tora could feel that his face had become a lot cooler as the blush faded away slowly. He thought about something to ask Siberia to divert his attention away from his sudden blush earlier on. And speaking of a burning sensation, Tora had a lot of burning questions to ask Siberia. "Hey, Siberia-chan, why are you asking so many questions?" Tora blinked, waiting for a reply, but he didn't get any. He smirked smugly and leaned in closer to Siberia's ear. The action caused both of them to blush heavily. "Or…"
Siberia anticipated the moment. Was he going to confess to her that he liked her? Or was there something up his sleeve? Or was he just doing it for fun? Whatever it was, Siberia felt the burning sensation get warmer.
"Or… maybe… are you interested in me?" Tora asked playfully, only to get another hard knock on the head as an answer.
"W-w-what are you talking about? H-how can I be i-i-i-i-interested in a guy l-like y-you?" Siberia stuttered as she looked away, trying to hide the humongous blush creeping up on her face.
"Oh……reeeeaaallly…?" Tora asked skeptically. "Then why are you stuttering, hm? And why are you looking away, Siberia-chan?"
"N-no apparent reason!" Siberia shouted back as she turned to face him. The blush was gone from Tora's face but it was still evident on Siberia's. Siberia shook her head, trying to shake the blush away but it simply refused to go away. "S-so anyway, I think I might know why you were almost blinded by the light…"
"You do? Tell me," Tora requested seriously. He seemed to have gotten over his childishness.
"E-even if I tell you, you would never believe me…" Tora grabbed both of Siberia's paws with his own and pulled her closer to him like how Siberia pulled him closer to her earlier on. Siberia felt the burning sensation get even warmer every second and she was sweating profusely. Her heart was beating like a sledgehammer and she was unwilling to pull away from Tora's grasp. Tora, however, was not blushing even thought he felt like it. All he wanted, though, was an answer.
"Siberia, tell me. I'll try to believe you."
"Demo…"
"Onegaishimasu, Siberia-chan."
"…" Siberia looked down. "H-h-h-hai, Tora-kun… You see… Remember the time when I told you that I suspected that you were a Purifier…?"
Tora nodded, remembering that incident.
"I think my suspicions are confirmed to be true…"
"Na…nani…?"
"You almost became blind because of the light, didn't you? That's a trait all Purifiers share. Whenever they catch sight of a shadowy aura or even a Shadow Pokémon attacking with a Shadow move, the shadowy aura is blinding to them. It only applies to those Purifiers who do not put on safety protection goggles or sunglasses. Tell me, Tora, didn't you wear your goggles right after the Makuhita hit Lunarina?"
"……" Tora recollected the battle he had hours before. It was true; he did wear his goggles right after the impact of the Makuhita's Shadow Rush on Lunarina. And after that, his eyes were alright.
"I take your silence as a yes, Tora-kun. I, too, wear shades to protect my eyes from the glaring aura. And that's also because I am a Purifier myself, even if I do not have access to all other Pure Powers. If I have to wear them, and you have to wear them, then… aren't we of the same kind: Purifiers?"
Tora stared at Siberia, not believing what he was hearing. And they spent the entire evening like that, staring at each other, until Tora looked away.
"I… I can't believe this… How… how can it be true…? I was born into a normal family… That's what I remember… So how is it possible that I…?"
"Tora…"
"I'm sorry, Siberia, but you were right. I would never believe you." Tora wiped a few tears from his eyes and walked out of the room, leaving Siberia to look after him as she waited for Tora to return and listen to the rest of her explanation.
'Tora…' Siberia thought. 'Why won't you wait till I've finished explaining…? I know you won't believe me… but you can never distort the truth. This has been my family's secret for a very long time. I wish I could share the secret with you, Tora… But it just seems that you don't have the strength to believe me yet. But I will wait for the day util you will believe me. I'll share the family secrets with you someday… Tora the Master Purifier...'
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A/N: Gomenasai for a chapter with tons and tons of thoughts and dialogue. It was necessary, as you can see, since there're a lot of questions and answers needed to be spoken here. It seems awfully confusing, and gomenasai for that once more…
Next chapter: The Ham-Hams arrive in Orre and mistake Kaminko's lab as the Pokémon HQ Lab as soon as they get there! And what's worse, Chobin has mistaken them for a whole bunch of burglars! How will they handle a Pokémon battle without Pokémon? Can Stan clear up all misunderstandings without divulging his and his family's greatest secret?
(That was one long summary…)
Hint no. 3: Without the prophecy, Stan will never be born at all, for he was born to fulfill the prophecy. (This is one of the most revealing hints ever!)
I've decided to change the Action/Adventure genre to something else, so tell me if it's suitable. Onegaishimasu, minna-san!
Gomenasai: I'm sorry (a polite way of saying 'sorry')
Eeto…: Um… well… (pronounced 'ehhtoe', not 'eeetooo')
Onegaishimasu: Please (the complete and MAYBE the most polite way of saying it)
Minna-san: Everyone
(just in case) Demo: But
(just in case) Hai: Yes
(just in case) Nani?: What?