Chapter 21: Lovestruck
After teaching Venus how to surf, I released her in the water and I proceeded to ride her back. The sensation of moving across the water was amazing; there are no words to describe how it feels… I was having a lot of fun and so did Venus. Being a water type, it was clear that she enjoyed being in her natural environment, even if it just was the surface of the sea.
We were in Route 118. About fifteen minutes passed until we saw land again.
"Well Venus that was an amazing ride. Thank you!" I said patting Venus's head before returning her to her pokéball.
After just a few steps, I recognized a familiar figure. I approached a bit more and I realized it was Steven. I messaged him the day before about my victory against Flannery, so I thought that it would be an amazing moment to talk to him about my new gym badge!
"Hey!" I exclaimed in a friendly manner.
"Why, hello Emily! How is it going?"
"Very, very well! I come from defeating Norman, look!" I said while showing him the case where I keep my badges.
"Congratulations! It's good to see that your journey is going well. You know, Emily…" Ah, he was going to deliver a speech! "…in this vast world, there are many kinds of pokémon. They come in many types. Should you raise different types? Or will you raise pokémon of a certain type you like? I wonder what you think, as a pokémon trainer?"
"Well, I'm not focusing on a concrete type. I just catch those pokémon with whom I sense a special connection from the first time I see them. That's what happened with all of the pokémon in my team." I explained to him.
"That's great, and I think your pokémon must feel a strong bond with you too. But what I asked is not like it's anything I should be concerning myself with… But somehow I find myself wanting to know what you think."
"It's okay, it's completely normal I think." And I also thought that we could get to know each other better talking about subjects like that.
"Oh, good. Well Emily, I wish we could talk more but I think I should be going. I hope to see you again!"
I said goodbye and he couldn't even make a step when something… better said, someone, stopped him dead in his tracks.
"Tioooos!" A non-human voice echoed.
"Latios!" Steven exclaimed.
"What." I said in a flat tone, trying to process what unfolded before my eyes.
Latios, a pokémon I only knew from stories and legends was now there, before my own eyes! I never imagined I would witness something like that, what they call… a legendary pokémon. And if a legendary pokémon decided to show up before two mere mortals, it meant that some serious business was going on!
"Do you want us to soar somewhere with you?" Steven asked Latios maintaining his calm demeanor at all times.
"Tiooos!" The white and blue pokémon responded.
"Emily, come with me. Latios… I believe that it sought us out for help. If that's the case, let's go! And Emily, hold on tight to me, or you might fall!" He warned.
"Fine!" I exclaimed while I encircled his waist with my arms.
And in that exact moment, something vibrated inside me… To this day, I still can't describe whit exact words what I felt. Let's see… It felt like if thousands of fireworks exploded inside me and no, it wasn't because of riding Latios. It was more because of the person I was holding on to… But of course I felt special riding a legendary pokémon! It's just that a more powerful feeling was getting in the middle.
When Latios took flight, I couldn't contain a horrified shriek. I didn't expect him to be so fast!
"That's what I told you to hold me tight!" Steven spoke loudly, trying to be heard. The sound of the wind was almost deafening. We were flying at a terrific speed!
"I see…" I said, still trying to decode what I was feeling.
The strange sensation didn't disappear, it was even more intense. I pulled him a bit closer to me, but not enough for him to notice. It's just that suddenly I needed to have him close, very close. I could even feel his smell, Steven smelt of expensive cologne and it was really pleasing for me.
I wondered how much the ride would last because… I wanted it to last forever. I could see the whole region of Hoenn, I swear! I saw Petalburg City, the top of Mount Chimney and even some sort of island with what it looked like a huge red building... I saw everything! It was amazing! And plus, I had Steven near me. At that moment, I had no idea why I had that sensation, but I would find out that night. But now, let's talk about another subject, shall we?
After a while, the crazy trip finished. Latios landed in an island that looked like it came straight from a fairytale.
"We've arrived. Thank you, Latios." Steven said goodbye to the legendary pokémon.
"Thank you!" I thanked Latios too.
Once Latios left, I noticed a weird sensation in the environment. It wasn't for Steven's presence, no. I mean that I felt like if there was somebody in the island in need of help.
"Can you feel that, Steven?" I asked, aware that he was sensing something strange too.
"Yes… I don't know what it is… Not quite unease, not quite fear… But there's something… unsettling… it is an odd feeling, as though I'm walking in a dream."
"True! There's something special about this place and I cannot tell exactly what it is." I exposed while I approached him a bit more, which I did almost without realizing.
"Yes… I once heard an odd fable. It's said that the two pokémon that live on this island guard some secret about the great form of evolution: mega evolution."
"Oh yes! I think heard it before. And it looks like Latios is one of those two pokémon. But what is going on?"
"I don't know… could it be that some dangerous element is here because of that… Come, we should be going." After Steven finished his sentence, I promptly followed him. Yes, I still had that odd sensation of wanting him near…
There was some sort of entrance made out off of trees. It was clear that something was hiding behind, something like a forest.
"It looks like we are about to discover what is happening. Let's enter together." Steven proposed. I accepted quite eagerly.
When we were about to enter I suddenly heard a voice inside my head.
"Those whose memories fade seek to carve them in their hearts."
I didn't know what the sentence had to do with the mystery surrounding the island or where did that voice come from, but I kept walking. What I saw next amazed me almost as much as Latios did…
…and it was a pokémon very similar to Latios... It was Latias. She looked sad; maybe this pokémon was causing that uneasy feeling in the island. It was clear that the poor pokémon needed help!
Steven and I approached the also legendary pokémon. Latios and Latias are brother and sister, they always appear together in the stories that I've been hearing since I was a little girl.
"Latias… It's beautiful." Steven started to speak.
"She sure is!" I really think Latias is an adorable pokémon.
"If I were to describe such beauty in terms of a stone, it would be a sun stone. No… it goes beyond that… isn't her brilliance like that of a dawn stone?" I smiled. Steven is always talking about stones!
I was staring amazed at the grace of the pokémon before me… although I must say that I couldn't help but take a quick gaze at Steven every now and then. Back to the subject, I really wanted to know what caused her despair, but that's something I discovered very soon.
"Huhn?! What's this?! You?!" A male voice boomed all over the forest.
Steven and I turned around and we saw two members of Team Aqua. One of them was a female grunt and the other, a very tall and muscular man with the logo of Team Aqua tattooed on his chest.
"Oh ho! I have no time to worry about that!" The tanned man continued. "The name is Matt! That's Team Aqua Administrator Matt to you! What I want from you is that Latias behind you there." Perfect, another bad guy…
"Hm? Team Aqua, is it? So Latias noticed their coming, and that's why it called on us." Steven already heard of Team Aqua, but he never encountered them face to face.
"But that mega stone…" Matt continued "We of Team Aqua are definitely gonna need the transcendent power of mega evolution to achieve our ambitions. How 'bout it? If you get out of our way, we won't rough you up!"
"NEVER!" I screamed "I won't allow a bunch of criminals like you to approach this pokémon!"
"That's right. Full points for the correct answer!" Steven cheered. And that made me feel a bit dizzy…
"Oh ho! If you're really that stupid, then I have no choice but to squash you!" Go…!"
"Wait!" Steven interrupted Matt "I'll take part in this battle as well." Then he looked at me "Let's protect Latias from these beasts together. We cannot allow Latias or even a mega stone to fall into the hands of such villains!"
"Fine, let's do this together, but let me take care of Matt!" I said with my hand on Trevor's pokéball.
"All right! Go, Metang!" Steven sent out to the battle a very powerful looking pokémon. This battle would be ours, for sure!
I proceeded to release my pokémon as well, so did Matt and the soldier. Matt had a Sharpedo and his partner, a Grimer.
"Metang, use bullet punch!" Steven commanded to his pokémon. Metang's right arm glowed red and it span on his side, hitting Grimer repeatedly.
"Trevor, use leaf blade!" My starter pokémon moved quickly towards his rival and attacked him with the sharp leaves on his wrists. The type matchups were of a great help on this battle.
"Sharpedo, use scary face!" The attack is exactly what it says on the tin, Sharpedo made an ugly, scary face, which intimidated Trevor for a while. But that didn't prevent him to keep fighting.
I ordered Trevor to use leaf blade once again and almost at the same time, Matt told his Sharpedo to go and use ice fang. The two pokémon attacked at the same time, and they were equally hurt from the clash. I took a quick glance at Steven and I saw how he told his Metang to use zen headbutt against Grimer. The way he told his pokémon to fight was pretty admirable to say the least!
"Trevor, use megadrain!" He raised his hands and a beam of light went from Sharpedo to him, helping Trevor to recover part of the energy he lost from the ice fang.
"Sharpedo, use ice fang again!"
"No Trevor, dodge it and use fury cutter, full power!" Trevor quickly moved aside from Sharpedo's direction and slashed him with the leaves on his wrists, which were glowing red.
"Oh ho, this can't be! Sharpedo, use slash now!" Sharpedo's head denticles glowed white and he slashed at Trevor with them. But either way, this battle was about to end. I quickly looked at Steven to see how was he doing and Grimer was very close to fainting, just like Sharpedo.
"Okay Trevor, use megadrain!" And as I predicted, that was enough to defeat our enemy! Shortly after that, Steven also defeated his opponent.
"Oh ho! Strong, ain'tcha? You're an interesting punk, too. I'll give you that!" Then he quickly turned around to face Steven. "I love interesting, strong dudes! That's why I love my bro, Archie! And that's why I'm gonna start loving you from now one, too!" Then Matt addressed both of us "Next time I see you, I'll smash you up real good, ok? Let's get outta here, you dull grunt!" After scolding his partner, they left, much for our relief.
"Hah… Good work, Emily." Steven congratulated me.
"Thank you… you did a really good job too." I said as my cheeks began to burn all of sudden "But I think our pokémon need…"
"Ah, that's right. We should first heal up the pokémon that fought on our behalf, shouldn't be?"
I offered to heal his Metang as he healed my Trevor. The robotic pokémon stared at me with curiosity while I healed it, since it never saw me. As for Trevor, he didn't seem to have a problem with being healed by another person he didn't know either. After we finished, Steven kept talking to me.
"You performed spectacularly. We were able to protect both this wondrous pokémon and her mega stone, thanks to you."
"Oh! I… I…" I didn't know what to say. His compliments made me feel unexplainably happy and plus, I just saved a legendary pokémon! Then I felt something poking my back. It was Latias!
"And it looks as though Latias may have also recognized you as a trainer worthy of her trust." And as if she wanted to reaffirm Steven's words, Latias began to nuzzle my left cheek, which made me giggle "Look, it's trying to offer you her allegiance. I believe she's trying to show that she wants to go with you on your journey. Go on. Hold your hand to it." Obeying Steven's words, I reached my hand to hers, closing the pact.
Then I proceeded to throw a regular pokéball at her, since I knew she wouldn't struggle. And indeed, she left herself get caught! I just couldn't believe it… I needed time to process what happened… A legendary pokémon wanted to come with me… ME! AND I JUST CAUGHT IT!
"You should take this from me…" Steven made me snap out of my thoughts by giving me a bracelet, with put me in an even greater WTF state until he explained me what it was "With the mega bracelet that I just gave you and the mega stone that a pokémon may hold, your pokémon will be able to achieve mega evolution."
"And Latias is holding a mega stone, which means…"
"…that you can give mega evolution a try whenever you want." Steven said completing my sentence. "If that settles that… Should we be heading back? Together with Latios, waiting so patiently for us there…"
"Of course!" I exclaimed eagerly. That meant I had to ride Latios again. And riding Latios again meant that I had to hold Steven tight again… and I liked the idea.
The trip felt extremely short. As I held Steven, I tightened my embrace a little bit every now and then. I still had that intense sensation running inside me… It was annoyingly pleasing and I didn't want it to end. What I didn't know was that said sensation wouldn't leave me!
Once Latios landed back at Route 118 and we got off of him, Steven addressed to me "Thank you for your help, Emily."
"No problem, Steven. I would do anything for a pokémon in trouble… and for you." The last part I said it lowering my voice.
"Tioooos!" Latios exclaimed cheerfully while looking at me.
"Perhaps it's trying to tell you to take good care of Latias."
"I sure will!" I smiled at the legendary pokémon. After that, he took flight and left us behind.
"In the end, you were a far greater help than I expected you might be. I expect that you and your team will be able to best both Route 119 ahead and even the Fortree Gym beyond that."
"Actually…" I told to Steven "…I have planned to go and visit my parents for a day, since my home it's not too far away."
"That's good! I'm pretty sure they will be very happy to see you. I'll be curious to see how much stronger you might grow by the next time we meet. Until then, Emily!"
"See you!" I said waving goodbye like a fool.
I spent the night in Petalburg City; I would go to Oldale Town the next morning. And that night, sleeping was very hard. I could stop thinking about Steven… No, I couldn't! Instead of thinking of how awesome it was the fact that now I had a legendary pokémon in my team, I was thinking about that young man I already considered my friend… and I felt so good while doing so! I couldn't stop asking myself if he was fine, what was he possibly doing now, how long it would take to see him again… Then suddenly a realization hit me like a train: a realization that made me get up from my bed, exit the hostel on my pajamas and run around Petalburg City yelling:
"I'M IN LOVE!"