I AM NOT DEAD! JUST SO YOU KNOW I HAVE NOT BEEN TAKEN TO THE GREAT BEYOND BY DUSKNOIR'S AND MY SOUL EATEN BY SPIRITOMB'S! Anyway, I hope none of you are too angry at me. As I said, I was taking a break… for reason's, mostly stress of how I can make the story move forward, which made me lose passion for all of it, and for my other story. But I've found my, as so called by a friend of mine, 'MOXI' again and this time I won't let myself down, because I know that let's y'all readers down!
Okay, it's been a while since I've said this but, finally, ON WITH MY TWISTED TALE! XD
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon, but this story; I do, and forevermore will!
"Eeeee! Touko we're so glad you're safe!" Belle exclaimed as she full-on glomped onto the cerulean eyed brunette once they landed in Nacrene on the museum's rooftop.
"Yeah, a two-whole week of not knowing if you were alright or not was a real stress maker for four-eyes over here!" Black teased as he wrapped his hold around Cheren's shoulders and probed his finger into his friends' cheek. To which Cheren struggled but managed to relinquish himself and push Black away with a grunt.
"That was you, you overly prideful son of a gun! Just admit it!" He hollered.
Touko giggled. It was a big relief to see her friends still so energetic. "This way everyone, let's head down into the museum and put this skull back where it belongs. Afterwards, I say we celebrate all our hard work at the Nacrene café!" Lenora called out as she twisted open the door on the rooftop doorway and started her way down the stairs, well at least they were getting some real food out of this, Touko thought the National Police Data could wait a few more hours.
Once they arrived to the exhibit they noticed Hawes trying to bring a later to the Dragonite skeleton and stumbling from side-to-side, about ready to either fall over and have the equipment crush him or break another exhibit. "Whoa- ho- wah!" The clumsy man cried out just as he lost his balance and started to fall over.
"Oh, holy!" Black gasped and he started to sprint for the man, Touko following and shouting, "Look out!" in sync with her friend as they caught the latter by the other side and pushed forward.
This forcing Hawes back onto his feet, "Th-thank you…" He nervously sighed out, Lenora's laughter heard in the background as she started her way to the exhibit, Belle and Cheren following embarrassedly. Eventually they placed the skull a top its rightful place and now Lenora was putting the finishing touches of screwing in the last bolt that would hold the skull onto its neck and body.
"Phew, finally! Alright everyone, we can stop holding our breaths, the skull back home!" Lenora called from the top of the latter, everyone below starting to cheer and wave their hands about in the air.
"Woo-hoo! Free food for us!" Black called out with his fists high in the air.
Lenora came down from the latter and turned to everyone, actually more to the point her husband, "Hawes did you review over and upgrade the security systems dear?" She asked.
"Yes I did! After the past events two weeks ago I searched high and low and finally I found a new security system that will make sure something like this will never happen again." He answered with pride; it actually intimidated the children at the fierceness in his voice.
"Excellent, now then we must lock up for the rest of the day. We have some hungry kids we need to gratefully repay for helping us!" She exclaimed with a large smile and a slap to her husband's shoulders, knocking him down to the ground. Well her tenacity was one of many reasons he fell for his beautiful,-'exotic' as he put it in his mind often though he would never say it aloud- wife.
The museum was locked, bolted, and barricaded by the new security system, impressing and scaring the children slightly, well most of them. It had been a while since she had seen a brand of security usage made by Silph Co. in the region, been a while since she last hacked into Silph Co. too. And all because she was bored and thought it was a good time to try some of Simon's computer techniques she learned from watching him at home… well techniques that acted now as a base to her techniques, just the foundation of her abilities with a key board and a mouse. She wondered if the U.N.P.D had upgraded as well like Silph when she first broke in, ah her youth was one of great discovery and excitement when a challenge came now and again! Now everything was just predictable and boring.
"Touko, you there?!" Black asked while waving a hand in her face and breaking her from dreamland.
"Huh?! Oh yeah, sorry, I was daydreaming that's all!" She admitted. True she was daydreaming, but it was not what Black or the others would ever be able to think of, everyone else, even her brother's, mostly thought it was something about boys or Pokémon. The poor, unsuspecting suckers. Where was she again? Oh right, the café…
"What are you going to order Touko?" Hawes asked. "Eat as much as you'd like this afternoon, everything is on Lenora and myself!" He smiled happily. Poor guy, he does not know how much Black can pack down can he? Then again Touko could load on quite a bit herself if she wanted to, but greediness/ gluttony was not good habit, and she did not intend on acting upon either anytime soon. Nevertheless, she ordered a large bacon burger with a boatload of fries and a Nanab Split afterwards, god she was going to feast out and she hoped she would not scare anyone.
They were outside on the deck, like she was with Black that one time, and the manager of the restaurant even allowed Cheren, Belle, Black, and herself to let their Pokémon run around the place; the entire restaurant was rented out by the exact two people who were graciously thanking them. She gazed around to look at all the Pokémon around her. Cheren's Pokémon: Dewott, Purrloin, Pansear, and a Pidove. Belle's team was her recently evolved Servine, her Panpour, a new addition being a cute Lillipup, and the Munna from the Dream Yard. It seemed the little one's bruises had finally healed completely, it relieved Touko.
Then there was Black's team; Rufflet, a given, Tepig, also predictable, and the new addition of the final 'Pan-Primate' species, Pansage. At the end of it all were Touko's four, everyone accounted for, and ready for their next gym battle! Or were they…? Hm… Burgh actually left once the helicopter came, sure he escorted her and Lenora to the chopper but he said he would go back Castelia to prepare his gym for her and her friends. So what could he be preparing? Then it came to Touko, just ask Lenora, duh!
"Hey Lenora?" She questioned, catching the attention of the normal-type user. "What kind of Pokémon exactly does Burgh use?" This caught the rest of everyone's eye.
"Burgh is a Bug-type user, which as you can guess are weak to fire types and a few others. But believe me when I say he knows his way around those disadvantages and can turn them against you, you and your friends are going to want to train ecstatically if you want to have a chance against him!" She answered with pride and warning filling in her voice simultaneously, he must be a very tough guy. Hm… well if they had to start training-!
"Hey guys!" Touko cried out while swiftly rising from her seat, "Since our orders won't be here for a while and Lenora said we should really put our backs into it if we want to beat Burgh, how about we battle one another?!" She cheered, her statement catching the attention of all the Pokémon around her. Well, their screams and calls of determination were all her friends needed to know they could not refuse, seeing as their Pokémon were as well gathering around all of their ankles.
"Haha! Well they all seem okay with it and it'd be a great way to pass the time! Plus we can see how we've improved since we started traveling!" Belle cheered as Munna bounced on her head and started to float round and round her huge hat.
"So how are we going to group this? One-on-one or two-on-two?!" Cheren nearly exclaimed, seemed like the excitement was getting to him too and as well as seeing that he rose from his seat with a slam of his palms onto the table. Black was whooping the background, his Pokémon flying and running around with as much fervor around him.
Lenora spoke as she took herself from her seat and placed her hands on her hips, "How about one-on-one, that way two of you can watch the other two. That way the other two can learn something new from the others and then apply their new knowledge on their battlefield when it's their turn." She explained and it had a lot of sense to it.
"So then who's the first two?!" Black hollered as he came back to the table with stars in his eyes.
"Well someone is rather excited, well then how about we make it you, Black, aaaannnd…." Lenora looked in between Cheren, Touko, and Belle, a finger half-risen in contemplation with her swaying head before she extended her finger towards Belle. "You!" She chose. Belle gasped and squealed, not out of excitement but shock. Belle against Black?! Just the thought of having to go up against someone with Black's out-going, pig-headed, impulsively dangerous personality was frightening enough! But to make it the actual Black Chroma was like telling the poor girl to pack up her bags and go home, she was not good enough to travel and see Unova; this battle would be nothing but a self-esteem crusher!
"H-hold on a second!" Cheren halted as he placed his hands on the blondes' shoulders and stared at Lenora cautiously. "B-Belle is strong but Black's battle style is too rough for her! I'm not saying she's weak but she'd get too overwhelmed going against him, let me go instead!" He offered. Belle turned her sight to his face, it looked like what he said was true, he really did mean it when he said he thought she was not weak. It was… a sweet thing to hear.
Belle relinquished herself from Cheren's grip by merely stepping away, at first it confused the boy, and he thought he said something wrong but… when Belle looked up to him, her green eyes smiling with her up-turned lips, he knew what she was thinking. "Don't you worry about me Cher-Cher! I'll fight Black and show you and everyone that I've grown too!" She exclaimed and threw a fist into the air, "And I promise you it will be my best!" She reassured by bringing down her lifted fist and propping up her index and middle finger to shape a 'V' for victory and throwing it in his face.
Cheren was stunned he never thought Belle could be… could be so…so… assertive. It was kind of cute. 'Wait, what did I just think?!' He screeched in his mind as he turned away just in time before his blush fully crept upon his cheeks. Needless to say, and unfortunately for him, a certain pair of professionally trained sapphire blue eyes caught his expression and color coding just right. Touko snickered with a devious grin pulling at the corners of her own lips; she would definitely have to tease him later on about this new tiny source of entertainment. But at a later time or date.
"I will take on the role of referee!" Hawes volunteered; he usually did the reffing at the gym anyways, so he was experienced enough. With that the battle started!
Time passed with the battle, Belle showed exactly what she was aiming for, her newfound strength, even though it was not too much. Yet still, her growth was noticed just the same with how she guided and commanded her Pokémon with much less anxiety and timidness and more gusto and experience! Her Lillipup and Munna did a number to Black's strategy, all by having her Munna use Hypnosis and then Dream Eater, an then switching out and having her little pup tackle or bite the opposing Pokémon. Unfortunately Black was not as much as an idiot as he showed himself to be most of the time he found a way around her strategy and broke through her defenses, and then dealing the final blow to each of her Pokémon. Servine was the last, but definitely not the least valiant, team member to succumb to the brunettes' unyielding stubbornness.
"I-I lost..?" Belle squeaked out as she slid to knees, her face growing pale, and her body seeming to shrivel and become hollow with her soul lifting up and away from her mouth. Yep, she was losing it…
"C-C'mon Belle, you did great!" Black tried to console a bit frantically as he knelt on one knee, grabbed her shoulders and gave her a few gentle shakes to snap her out of her depressed state. Her soul came back… and unfortunately, so did the emotions caused by the comeback. Now there was a sobbing blonde flailing her arms about, "Why?! Waah! Whycan'tIgetanystrongertoactuallybe atoneofyouguys?! I'msopathetic!" She cried in one huge slur as she grew more frustrated with herself.
Touko and Cheren walked over and kneelt alongside Black on either side of Belle, smiles of patience and encouragement with the same intensity shown in their eyes looked Belle's way. Through her teary eyes she understood their silent words, "Thanks guys…" She sniffled.
"Belle you're such a cry baby, haa… but we love you anyways!" Touko sighed as she hugged Belle while dragging her to her feet at the same time. Then the sound of the waitress who took the large groups order came from the café deck, saying that their order of food was ready.
"Whoo! Okay then, food first, and then, Touko and Cheren, we're all going to see how you've both grown!" Black called out from the distance he was already making as he ran headlong to the deck. Of course he was not a complete fool to actually just go to the table and sit there, no, he helped the waitress- and an extra waiter who was requested to assist in bringing out the large order- place the plates of food all around the table. It seemed the male waiter had also brought out a few bowls of Pokémon food as well, he would definitely be getting a rather large tip, the children thought.
"Oh wow!" Belle cheered as she scarfed down a bit more of her Pecha berry ice cream swirl, her being the only to order desert first before the meal, "This is amazing! I can't wait to taste the actual meal!"
"This is great." Cheren complied as he stabbed his fork into a cheesy, bacony, and sour cream stuffed baked potato. "Black, Touko, how is your food?!" He huffed after the large bite he had to choke down because he did completely chew it fully.
"This is awesome!" They hollered simultaneously for a moment, taking their faces away from their burgers, but soon returning to sniveling down their food. Lenora and Hawes had actually skidded back in their seats to avoid being trampled by the hungry teens, well at least now things had slightly calmed down now that the kids had found an eating pace that was not barbaric but was not graceful either.
"My, kids these days. Right honey?" Hawes questioned as he sorted out his sides and his main dish in front of him. Only, as he turned, he saw that his beloved wife was hunched over her own meal of prime ribs. Hawes snorted, "Hahaha! Well at least I know where our daughter gets her eating habits from!" He chuckled.
"What?!" Belle gasped. "Daughter?!"
"Whoa, you two have child?! That's so cute! How old is she?!" Touko clasped her hands together, with how young Hawes and Lenora were, their daughter must be a little cutie. Probably about eight or seven years old right now!
"Our little Iris is twelve years old!" They cheered in unison. What?
"TWELVE?!" The group of four screeched at the adults in utter shock.
"Wh-wha-?! How old are you two?!" Black shouted but then he tuned it down once he realized the words that slipped through his lips. "W-w-well, if-if you don't mind our asking!" He stuttered as he flopped himself back into his seat and lowered his gaze to his plate. Hawes and Lenora giggled and sniggered at Blacks sudden shyness, who knew such an energetic boy had a quiet side?
"Heh, people often mistake us to be in our early thirties or late-twenties." Lenora said, "But Hawes and I, truthfully, are just entering our late-thirties! We had Iris when we were twenty-four, so that makes us thirty-six." She admitted not only her age but being the same age as her husband. The kids thought that maybe Lenora was older by a year or two!
"I can't believe it." Belle huffed out her face still wide-eyed. "So where is your daugh- I mean, Iris?" She finally managed to ask.
"Iris doesn't live here with us actually." Hawes told them and immediately the confusion set in. "Haha, let me explain. You see when Iris was about four Lenora and I went to Opelucid to check out a few books we were thinking of entering into our museum and our library. While we were there we stayed with my father." He was about to go on until Cheren questioned who Hawes's father was. "My father? Well, though this may seem highly unbelievable, my father is Drayden, Opelucid city's Dragon-type Gym leader." He admitted.
"What the-?!" Black and Cheren nearly choked onto the air that caught in their throats. How was this man, this scrawny, height-stunted, noodly limbed man the son of someone with a stature like Drayden's?! Drayden was recorded to be six-foot three, weighing in at two hundred and thirty pounds! Plus, the man is known widely for his cold and unyielding demeanor! It took the two boys a moment to realize that they had explained the statistics of the gym leader and the man before them aloud.
Both of them froze in sheer astonishment and fear. They were screwed, they thought, they would not be forgiven, never, not in a-! "Hahaha!" Hawes cackled, he had to grab his stomach to ease himself if he did not want to get a cramp. "Yeah, I know!" He chuckled out, "You can try to guess and ask if I take after my mother, but sadly even that is not the truth, my mother as well was built like a brick house!" Hawes explained as he brought his arm behind his head.
"Then how-?" Cheren started utterly frightened at his mental image of the man's mother in her youth…
"I'm what you call 'the runt of the litter', out of four boys I was obviously the smallest." The small man admitted bashfully. "But let's not dwell on that shall we? You wanted to know as to why our daughter doesn't live with us." He restated and the four of them nodded their heads in sync with their movement of compacting together and hovering over the table in curiosity. "Well the answer is quite simple, she chose to stay their!" Hawes exclaimed matter-if-factly.
"Iris became so indulged in the culture and history of Opelucid city she would throw a fit whenever we had to leave, even when she was baby." He smiled full-heartedly at the memory of his daughter's cute frustrated face when it had tears streaming down it during the times he or his wife had told Iris it was time to leave for Nacrene. Lenora had been listening in the entire conversation with an amused smile full of reminiscing memories, get Hawes to start talking about history or fossils and it could take hours, talk to him about his family and one would be up all through the night listening to him babble on cheerily. One of many reason's Lenora fell for this sweet man.
"So one summer we spent a few weeks in Opelucid researching, buying, and documenting books from all over the towns' knowledge rich resources. An exhibit here a library book there, it was all very relaxing, even for work, and Iris would often spend her afternoons with her grandfather at the gym with all the dragon-type Pokémon." The word 'grandfather' hit the kids with a force so great it made them lose focus on the subject for a second, a tiny four year old girl spending her days leisurely amongst powerful raging reptiles? How is it she was alive today?!
"Eventually she came into close terms with a young Axew a female Haxorous had recently birthed and they grew very attached to one another, inseparable. Lenora tried to console her, saying that she could take Axew with her home, but this time she threw one of the biggest fits we'd ever seen her get into." He said. "She screamed at us saying she wanted to stay in Opelucid with grandpa and the dragon pokémon but, before she could even let Lenora and I think over what she said, she ran out of the gym full throttle with the Axew tightly in her clutches. We spent the rest of the afternoon looking for her until I found her just a few miles outside of town in the forest sobbing away." He smiled embarrassedly at the memory of him, a scrawny shrimp like him, running head-long into a forest with no Pokémon on him and getting scraped, bruised, and disheveled beyond recognition to find her alright. It was most definitely worth it.
"Once she was safe and sound back in Opelucid and she calmed down, she spewed everything about her feelings for the city and the dragon pokémon that lived in the area, begging us to let her live with grandpa." Hawes stated. Lenora decided it was her time to take over on the story; her husband looked a bit winded.
"We stayed for another day to discuss the ups and downs; Hawes and I were so scared for little Iris, but pops-in-law settled our disputes and worries. He promised on his late wife's and his own grave that he would watch over Iris as he looked for Hawes and his brothers when they were children. Of course that worried Hawes considering the type of man pops is, but the old man has his soft-spots." She giggled at the looks of Touko and her friends as they tried to imagine the Spartan Mayor being all willy-nilly. They shuddered and another laugh escaped Lenora's lips.
"We took Iris home one last time to pack her things and to pull out medical documents, legal guardianship papers, the whole shebang. And a few weeks later Iris moved into pop's home and has lived there since. She often comes down for holidays or breaks, or on the rare occasion, just to see how we're doing and because she misses us. It's been a good ride so far and Iris has learned so much with being surrounded by people in a city where the buildings and culture stay imprinted like a fossil but the ways of the newer generations are still moving in, living in sync with the old ways." She explained with pride for her daughter and intuition knowing she was just fine.
Touko felt her heart skip a beat at the look both Lenora and Hawes held on their faces in regard for their child, a look of pride and love, something she wanted desperately to see on her parent's faces if they were alive today. "Iris… is a very lucky girl." Touko nodded her head in approval of what she just said, "Mm-hm, very lucky. Hey, don't either of you dare give up on her wish to explore new possibilities for herself, just keep giving her that same smile you wear now, and then she will be able to overcome any obstacles in her path." She said with determination. "To a kid, our parent's approval and encouragement is one of the most important things we need to move forwards with our dreams of discovering new truths we can hold as our own knowledge." She said this not only thinking of what her parents might be thinking of her, but also taking in Belle's situation with her father as well.
"Of course, when the parent's ideals get a little hectic, it is I kids job to prove them wrong!" She smiled smugly as she crossed her arms and lifted her chin high, her Snivy appearing onto her shoulder from the pokémon group and following the same motion. "Sni, Snivy!" The she-serpent called out in agreement.
"Well, it looks like we're about done with the main course, and desert isn't coming for just a bit longer. How about we have that battle Touko?!" Cheren asked with an excited sparkle to his eyes. Well, deprive the boy any longer and he might explode… hm… no the girl was caught in between saving her friend of spontaneously exploding or getting a video camera and filming it with great hilarity. Meh, if he did explode she would not be able to entertain herself by teasing him and Belle about their unblooming love.
"Alright, I'm in. Bring it four-eyes!" She hollered with mischievousness laced in each drop and rise of her voice.
"Hey that just means I have twenty-twenty four times around!" The raven head commented back.
"Or 16/11 vision. Whatever, your pick Zubat boy." Ouch. Cheren was fuming now, with an aggravated grunt the boy stormed off the porch to the empty road in wait of his opponent, his pokémon following on his six. "Hah, always such a drama queen with that temper of his. Sometimes I wonder if that small cow-lick of his is actually a fuse to the stick of dynamite that is his mind." She described as she called to her team and they followed tout de suite!
"You know I heard you!" Cheren shouted from across the road.
"I know, just getting you pumped up, that's all." Touko input slyly. "Wouldn't want you to not be on your toes if we're going to be fighting now would we?" She explained with a coy and forewarning upwards slant of the corners of her lips. Her taunting skills were almost as persuasive as Kurai's when a fight came into the subject, a set of bad-ass combat skills and some power mastering abilities were not all her brothers taught her. Oh no, they just had to give her a toxic tongue as well.
No worries, there will be more soon my readers. Yes, very soon. Mwahahaha!
Touko: Bunny, you make me look like menace…
Me: That's because you are, she-devil. *Touko smirks deviously*