A/N (Phantom SunsSong): What's this? A new chapter? I know. Shocking. Anyway, I've had this chapter written for some time, but I just finally got around to going through and editing it (like that place where it said 'insert Floatzel description here'). The good news? I'm putting up another chapter just for you guys here in a bit. ;D
And while I'm at it, I'd like to give everyone who commented, favored, alerted, or even just read this during my hiatus my undying gratitude. I really write this for you guys as much as I write it for myself, and I'm really happy to see that people really like my work. It makes me feel all warm and fuzzy inside. I hope you guys enjoy these new chapters, because I'm going to be trying to pour them out while I can before school starts. I'm going into my senior year in high school, and I have a feeling I won't have much time for writing, because I'm sure not taking the blow-off classes this year. x.x In fact, the only 'easy' classes I'm going to have are Band and Short Stories/Mythology (semester of each). The rest is stuff like Physics, Calculus, and Genetics. Fun.
Chapter Thirteen
She hadn't wanted to care for the egg.
Even as Ari wrapped her long tail more tightly around the delicate sphere, holding it closer to her body to keep it warm, she wondered if she was doing the right thing. She should have tried to let it die, leave it to the cold. She wasn't sure if she could live with herself, knowing she had helped bring an innocent baby into the life she was cursed to lead.
Not that it would have made a difference. If she gave it up, she would simply have been thrown back into her old cage, and the humans would have chosen another Pokémon to take her place. It was going to hatch, with or without her help.
She didn't know why they were making such a fuss over it. She had been moved to a clear enclosure in a bright room, full of humans, always watching her. That was the worst of it-there were so many of them, always hanging around. She was fed better than before, and she was warmer, and with more light, but it seemed to be hardly a compensation. No, she was there for the egg.
Her deep purple eyes lingered over it, marveling at the beautiful swirls of bright cerulean and luscious orange. It was truly a delight to look at. She felt a pang in her heart for the poor mother that had lost it.
Even now, under better care, she knew that she was no pretty sight. She was an espeon, and she was supposed to be graceful, elegant, but she was neither. Oh, once she had been, long ago when she'd had a true trainer, before these other humans had killed the girl she loved so much and taken Ari with them. Now, her lavender fur was ragged, her red gem dulled by the black metal collar kept tightly around her neck to subdue her psychic abilities. She had gained a little weight, but she knew she still looked more skeletal than sleek. She was a ghost of her former self, of her former vitality. So often any more, she was just so tired of living...
Her front claws slid out, gripping at the soft cloth bedding she had here with the egg. Her mind had been wandering again. It did that sometimes, always leading to the question of her existence alone in this lair of humans. She couldn't give up hope that she could find freedom; that she could escape. It was all she had anymore. That, and now her egg.
And then, to her surprise, it jerked. It had been doing that more and more often lately, and every time it shocked her. She kept from jumping this time, at least. She looked up and out through her glass cage.
Humans were there, but only two, less than usual. Neither seemed very interested in her or the egg at the moment, seeing as they were talking, each with a mug of the brown liquid they seemed to drink all the time. As she looked, though, the egg shook again. Then, she heard a faint crack.
She jolted, and her attention was immediately on the egg. A tiny crack had formed, just on the top, though as the egg wriggled, it grew larger and larger. She climbed to her feet, moving away to watch it expectantly. She couldn't help it, that much she knew. She had to let it hatch on its own-
She yelped as the door to her cage opened. She squeezed into the back corner, hissing as the fur rose on her back. Large hands and arms reached in, and for a terrifying moment, she thought they were grabbing for her. When they grasped the egg, however, her terror turned to fury. Like purple lightning, she attacked the hand, hissing and yowling as best she could as she ferociously clawed and bit the human trying to take the egg. With satisfaction, she tasted blood in her mouth, and the hand was pulled out as fast as possible.
"Damn thing, it won't give up the egg!" The human that had foolishly reached into her cage exclaimed, cradling a scratched and bitten arm.
"We weren't expecting it to struggle," the other, a more feminine voice, replied. Ari watched her take something off her belt, a baton she knew all too well. It delivered an electric shock to Pokémon that fought back, but she didn't care. They weren't going to get her egg!
The second moved to strike her, but she was faster. Even in the small confines of the cage, she slipped around the baton and lashed out at the arm holding it. The woman yelled and batted at her, this time connecting. She felt electricity course through her, a burning, wriggling feeling from her nose to the tip of her tail. She collapsed, paralyzed, as the human took her precious egg.
"We need to get it out," the human said, carrying the egg to her partner. "Hurry, get the tools." The other, with one arm unmoving at his side, left her sight, only to come back with a large metal contraption. Her mind just barely grasping what they were doing, she watched them pry the egg open to reveal an orange weasel creature, a buizel, before the blackness swallowed her vision and pulled her into unconsciousness.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Elina was relatively sure she was probably going into shock. She was sitting on the ground (and in all truthfulness, she couldn't really remember how she had gotten there), in among the leaves and dirt, ignoring the cold that came with the damp ground, thanks to the rain the night before. She had her back against a tree trunk, and her legs were folded up in front of her, her arms wrapped around them almost protectively. Her breathing was getting more even now, though her cerulean eyes were still red from all the crying she had been doing less than five minutes before.
Daryn was gone. And without him, she felt like a part of her was missing. She supposed it might be a twin thing. She'd heard and read about similar occurrences, especially when the two siblings in question were close. As she thought about it, she realized that they had never been more than twenty miles apart before, and there was no telling what had happened to him in that lightning, or even if he was still alive.
No. She stopped that train of thought immediately by turning her attention to a strand of grass next to her right shoe. She couldn't even consider the possibility that he might be dead. She'd just start crying again. But what was she going to do? Could she go home and tell her parents what had happened? That they'd been attacked by a freaking zangoose that wasn't even supposed to be here, and that it and Daryn had been spirited away by some weird blue lightning? And that she had just watched as it looked like he was broken apart, piece by piece, and simply disappeared?
"It simply disappeared..."
"Dammit," she croaked to herself, feeling the hot tears threatening again. She laid her left cheek on her knees. "It's the damn egg all over again..." As if losing her egg, the Pokémon she was supposed to train and take care of as her own, wasn't enough, she had to lose her brother, too.
She didn't really notice the strange sound of metal on metal at first, and when she did, she thought it was simply in her imagination. When she finally realized it wasn't, that the sound was something moving in front of her, her head shot up immediately. What caught her gaze was as unbelievable as a zangoose in a forest in Sinnoh, if not more so.
It was a suit of armor. And it was staring at her.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
I woke slowly, almost carefully, to the slow movements of Al walking. I didn't remember going to sleep, to be truthful. It was strange. That wasn't the only strange thing, either. I was still in Al's armor, too, and the air smelled so vaguely familiar. I blinked my amber eyes sleepily, trying to grasp at what I could remember.
We were going to confront Isorfold, with Al going first, and then, Al yelled at Ed to stay back...
My breath caught in my throat. Everything, me still in Al's armor, the events leading up to that moment, and most importantly, the smell, fell into place, like a puzzle coming together. It was an impossible thought, but I knew it was true nonetheless.
We were in my world.
The smell was fresh, clean, forest air, mixed with the scent of trees and plants and life. I could hardly believe how much I had missed that, in the three days I had been away.
Al yelled that warning to Ed because he knew what was happening, that he was being carried away by Isorfold in exchange for more hapless Pokémon.
And I didn't remember going to sleep because I had somehow been knocked out during the transfer. That didn't make a whole lot of sense, considering I had been awake the first time I had crossed over, but it wasn't something I really felt like dwelling on. There was really no way of telling.
"Al," I hissed quietly, but the noise was drowned out by a strangled cry from outside of the armor. It was human, and female, from the sound. Young, too, possibly even younger than Al or Ed either one.
"Please, I'm not going to hurt you, Miss," Al said in his quietest, least-threatening voice.
"Wh-who are you?" The human girl stuttered.
"My name is Alphonse," Al replied.
"Why are you wearing armor?" She asked, rather than giving her own name. She sounded somewhat calmer, at least, but still scared. "You looked like you're ready to face a charizard!" She laughed nervously.
"Er, something like that," Al replied hesitantly. Poor Al, I knew he had no idea what a charizard was. "But, uh, Miss, why have you been crying?" There was a long pause, only to be broken by the sound of sobs.
"I-I'm sorry-!" Al started, obviously upset that he'd caused her to start crying again.
"I-it's n-not your f-fault," she hiccupped through her crying. "I-I just-t..." Then she started up again.
"Al," I whispered as loudly as I dared. "Al, let me out!" I heard the gentle clank as he started a bit from the noise. He turned away from the girl as she cried and then, carefully and quietly, opened up the front of his armor. He pulled me out of his foot and set me on the ground while he quickly closed his chest. I, meanwhile, peeked around him at the girl.
She was sitting on the ground, her back up against a tree, with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her arms were crossed on top of them, and her face was hidden in her arms, though I could still see her jet black hair, falling around her heaving form. She was slight, for a human, and small. She was certainly younger than Ed, even if she was just a bit smaller. Al I couldn't be sure about, with his body being metal as it was.
"shinx," Al said quietly, once he had his chest closed again. "shinx, how can you talk now?" I started at that. What did he mean, how could I talk now?
"What-" I began, but then cut myself off, shaking my head. He couldn't understand me anyway, so what did it matter?
"You just said 'what'," he replied. A strange shiver of what might have been a mixture of fear and excitement crept down my spine. Could he...?
"You understand," I whispered carefully, "everything I am saying?" He nodded. "Can you repeat it?" He nodded again.
"You understand everything I am saying," he said.
"Holy Arceus," I managed to gasp. This was insane. It went against everything I'd ever known. Regardless of the fact it was Al I was talking about that could speak to me, could understand everything I said, regardless of how much it might help us in the long run, it was impossible. I had never heard of a human who could understand pokémon speech word for word. Sure, some could instinctually get the gist of what we were saying, but that could usually only be gained when a trainer spent years with pokémon. This, though, was just phenomenal.
It had to have something to do with us coming here. Perhaps it had something to do with the transmutation circle Isorfold had used. If its original purpose had been to send only one thing through the Gate, by sending two, we could have merged somehow, temporarily, during the transport, and split back apart when we were set back in my old world, but not completely. We could have somehow shared memories, or knowledge, giving Al the ability to understand Pokémon speech-
I stopped thinking, realizing exactly what I had been thinking. Where did all that come from? I could understand it, but I wouldn't have been able to before coming back to my world. Whatever the cause for it all, I was getting really confused.
"A shinx!" I started at the surprised human voice, and turned back to the girl that had been sobbing moments before. Her bright blue eyes were red and puffy, her cheeks still wet, but she looked happy to see me, or, about as happy as a distraught young human could look. Taking pity on her, and deciding I needed a distraction from our new mystery, I padded over to her with purpose. She seemed surprised by my approach, and as I got closer, she reached out a hand. I stood still, and gently, she patted the soft fur on my head. I stiffened a little, but gradually relaxed, and it seemed to help her, too. That was what mattered. Al didn't seem to exactly be good at comforting people in hysterics.
"Does she have a name?" The girl asked after a few moments.
"Tasha," I said quickly before he could reply. He was quiet for a moment, before he said, "Tasha," sounding almost obedient.
"That's an interesting name," the girl replied, though her expression didn't change from her look of brief happiness. "I'm Elina," she said, after several moments. She withdrew her hand and looked up at Al.
"I'm sorry," she said quietly. "I'm just...confused."
"Me too." I could hear the wry smile in Al's voice. "I'm honestly lost. Do you know where we are?" Elina looked slightly puzzled.
"Uh, we're in Sinnoh," she told him. "Near Sandgem."
"Is Sinnoh a country?" He asked. She just started looking more confused.
"A country? What's that? Sinnoh is a region, y'know, like Kanto? Hoenn?"
"I'm sorry, I haven't-" He started to say, and then stopped. "Oh, r-right," he said instead. "Hoenn. Kanto. I just got confused for a moment." He laughed hesitantly. If Elina thought his behavior was strange, she didn't say anything.
"Where are you from?" She asked instead. Her attention had turned back to me, and I allowed her to gently rub behind my ears. "And Tasha is yours, I suppose?"
"Mine?" He asked back, and I noticed that he had sidestepped the first question. Elina looked up with another curious expression.
"Uh, yeah, yours. Y'know, like, you're a trainer? She's you're Pokémon?" She smiled. "She's really cute. If I had a shinx, I'd want one like her."
"Just say yes," I said to Al. "It'll be the safest way for us to go. Wild Pokémon never follow humans around."
"Yes," Al complied. "She's, she's my only one."
"So you're a beginner too!" Elina sounded excited at that. "I was going to... Going to get..." She suddenly faltered, and her face darkened. "But... But my brother..." It seemed as if those tears were threatening again, and her hand dropped to her side. Hoping to get a positive reaction, I nudged it with my nose, to no avail.
"What happened?" Al asked, sounding consoling and maybe even a bit fearful of her answer.
"He... You won't believe me." She shook her head, wiping away yet more moisture from her eyes. "I don't believe me. It's impossible."
"What's impossible?" Al pressed, bending down to her level. Elina held for just a moment longer before the dam, already leaking, totally gave way.
"He d-disappeared," she sobbed, not even bothering to hide her face this time as the tears streamed down her cheeks. "A flash of b-blue lightning and he was gone, vanishing before my eyes, and I couldn't do anything..." I cast a glance at Al and saw that he understood. The boy, Elina's brother, had been taken as a trade for us.
"A-and now," the girl started up again. "I don't-I don't even know if he's still alive!"
"I'm sure he's still alive, Elina!" Al said quickly. "He's fine. It'll all be oka-"
"How can you say that?!" She all but shrieked. "How can you know anything? Why am I even telling you this-you're just some random person that passed by!" Al was obviously going to answer, though he never did. He was cut off by another shout from someone else entirely.
"Floatzel, Water Gun!" A torrent of water, seemingly coming from nowhere, pelted the suit of armor from behind. Elina gasped, but didn't have time to move as the force of the attack sent Al barreling into her. I, though, got past with nothing more than a little water on my fur. I darted around them and got my first look at our attackers.
It was a human trainer. That much was obvious, considering the fact that at his side was a Pokémon. It had a long orange snout and a lithe body, with a crest of fur on the back of its head. Around its shoulders was what appeared to be some kind of yellow flotation device, and on its forelegs, for it stood on its hind two, were identical blue fins. It certainly was a floatzel, looking very smug about its direct hit. The human was a male, an older one, certainly older than Ed or Al, though not ancient. He had an air of utter confidence about him, one that didn't seem entirely warranted in my eyes. His bronzy brown hair was cut much shorter than Ed's, though it lengthened around his forehead and a little ponytail at the back of his neck. He wore strange clothing, mostly black and bearing a large red letter R. His eyes were a glittering blue, though there was a predatory glint there that I didn't like. He didn't pay any attention to me, but he was looking directly at Al.
The floatzel gave me a look of contempt, and I hissed in response. I could already feel the electricity building in my limbs, in my fur. I wanted to zap that smirk right off the Pokémon's face. Behind me, I heard Al climbing to his feet, apologizing the whole way, and as he spoke, the human's expression turned to one of disbelief and then swiftly to slight irritation.
"And here I thought I might bag an Aggron," he said nonchalantly, and I realized what he must have mistaken Al for. "Fine. I suppose I'll have to make do with whatever you have on you."
"Who are you?" Al asked, though from the rebellious tone in his voice, I knew he realized the gravity of the situation. "What do you want?" He asked again. The man laughed, though it wasn't pleasant. His voice had been fairly high for a human male to begin with, but his laugh was like an ululating screech. I gritted my teeth.
"You're just a boy, aren't you? In that ferocious-looking armor, I thought for sure you'd be a man. And you don't even know what I am. How quaint." Al took a clinking step forward, and I chanced a glance back. Elina, staying well behind Al, had gone very pale. Her hands were trembling.
"Please, Alphonse, we need to run-!"
"Oh, I'm afraid there won't be any running," the man cut her off suavely. And as if it was a signal, more humans and Pokémon stepped into the clearing. We were closed in. Al glanced around them, but I knew the human was right. We weren't escaping, not three, if you could even count Elina, against eight.
"Your pokémon, and you, are now property of Team Rocket," the man said, a wicked smile splitting his face. "You can resist if you want. Makes no difference to us." And with that, the fighting started.
The floatzel lunged for me, eyes gleaming in anticipation of a fight. I snarled back, but it lost me precious time. I tried to move out of the way of the Quick Attack, but not quickly enough. Its claws raked my side. I bit back the cry of pain, then latched onto its tail in a vicious Bite attack instead, clamping down hard. The extra weight brought the floatzel to a quick stop, and it howled. It swatted at me, but I kept just out of reach, all the while charging electricity. At the last second, I let go, leaped backwards, and, while I was in the air, released a powerful Discharge. The brilliant bolts of electricity didn't miss.
The floatzel twitched and convulsed as lightning coursed through its body in a flash of light. A low moan emanated from its mouth, but eventually the attack ceased. I fell to the ground, suddenly winded. I hadn't realized how tired I was. I forgot that it hadn't been long since the battle with Boro, and then the run to Isorfold's hideout. I wasn't in the shape to fight an evolved pokémon. And the floatzel, now through my attack, knew that. It smirked this time, in a way that reminded me far too much of its trainer, and took a deep breath.
Rather than a regular Water Gun, where it kept its distance, the floatzel lunged forward. I didn't have time to move before it launched a blast of water, an Aqua Jet. I cried out in pain on impact, but it wasn't over yet. Through the water, claws and paws struck me, and the breath was knocked out of me. Suddenly, I was airborne, and I thought I heard Al shout, but I couldn't be sure. Blackness swallowed my vision before I even hit the ground, and I knew no more.