Oh hey, I'm back! ^-^ Sorry I'm so late…
Sparkyflame101: Thank you so much! ^-^ Glad you like it, but why would you think I wouldn't keep updating? I'm going to stick with this FanFic until the bitter end! Updates may be uncertain, but I will never leave you guys in the lurch… ^-^
And sorry, caring16 and RyuNoRainbow… Didn't mean to flaunt my game, guess I was just a bit excited… D;
Um, chapter is… suggestive? T time! And updates will come out weekly on Mondays from now on (Yes, I know it's not a Monday)!
As expected, Janis was put in The Box… not only to clear up space, but also because everyone was utterly furious with him for the sobbing scene. Luffy hadn't minded it, though, and it was only through the power of twelve Razz Berries that he was able to be talked into depositing Janis' little capsule into the machine. Still getting used to the whole concept of electrical devices, the idea of leaving a nakama in a PC for an indefinite period of time was hard for the rubber boy to take.
He soon turned out to be the one in the right, though, for as soon as the Ralts had been deposited in the PC box of the Cherrygrove City PokeCenter, the power went out.
"JANIIIS! Can you hear me, buddy?! Can you get out? Answer me!" Luffy had pounded on the computer hysterically. It had taken James the Absol and the entire population of Cherrygrove City to drag the boy out of the building. N had led him away, but the rubber hands had clung to the device for a long stretch* of Route 29.
Now back in New Bark Town, the ex-Rocket grunt explained electricity to his friend; "We can't do anything when the power's out."
"I'll make some more power, then," Luffy grumbled. His grip on the PC had been lost, but that didn't mean he had given up on his nakama.
"It doesn't work that way. It has to be electrical power, keeping the PC running. Only a battery can keep one going for a while…" N snorted at that. "And we can't use batteries with those pieces of junk because they're completely outdated! Heck, they could break any second…"
That did it. "We have to get him out of there! Hurry, hurry! Someone make the eclecticity work again before my pokeman disappears!" Luffy tore around the house, stomping on the tied-up Giovanni with each lap he made.
The lady of the house who had been in cahoots with Giovanni finally spoke up. "I bet Gold could repair the system up there. He was always so good with machines…"
"Gold?! You know him? Yeah, well, I guess you live in his house, so you must be his mother…" Furrowing his brow, N recalled why he and Luffy had ventured to New Bark Town in the first place. "What about a kid with long red hair… by the name of Silver? Have you heard of or seen a redhead lately?"
The woman grinned nervously, looking down to Giovanni for assistance. "Um, I guess…"
There was a crash from upstairs; Luffy had infiltrated and ascended the forbidden staircase. During the frantic sounds of pillaging that ensued, Giovanni took on a very ticked-off expression, both from being tied up and because of his feeble accomplice. "Did you hide the goods?!" He hissed through clenched teeth, "For heaven's sake, woman, that kid is going to find them!"
"I'm sorry," she whispered, panic-stricken. Suddenly a realization dawned on her and she whispered, "Wait… the goods goods?! I, I think I just left them in the…" She paled and darted for the staircase, nearly tripping on the carpet in her haste.
Giovanni grumbled angrily from his position on the floor. "What did she think I meant? All the money she's been stealing from that boy with the use of a special PokeGear app chip she shouldn't even have?!" Noticing N staring at him, the boss rolled over and began muttering, in a softer tone. "But those are some creepy kids… acting like people who talk to themselves are weirdos or something! They ought to know their place, and that place is not in the stupid closet she insisted on putting them in!"
That was enough for N. He took off after the woman, hopping steps two at a time in contrast to James' four. "So you heard that, too, huh? Well, let's go get them!" He and his Absol burst into the room, and were momentarily startled by the state they found it in.
Luffy was gripping a woman tightly with rubbery arms locked at the elbows while trying to flip over a small blue bed in a corner with his feet. A large TV stood against the other side of the room, currently shattered and yet still managing to play a Wii game that looked like a terribly advanced Mario sequel. A door that could only be the closet door was shaking, as were four familiar-looking pokeballs on the wooden floor nearby. And right in front of the door, doing most of the shaking, was Gold's new Metapod.
"Stay back, ma'am. James, you know what to do…" Waving away the flailing woman, N directed his Absol to the jammed closet door. Flapper hopped back to watch as James readied his Slash, disregarding the earlier shaking of the door that had seemed to result from a strong force pushing against it…
The Absol rushed at the closet suddenly, just as Luffy lost his grip on the woman. She rushed forward desperately, only to see the door explode into thousands of sharp little fragments from all the pressure inflicted on it from both sides. Two figures tumbled out of the wreckage, carried forward by their own momentum from straining against the blockade that was no longer in place.
The first boy crashed right into the woman, and they must certainly would have been able to stay standing like that, with the woman supporting the boy. Unfortunately, a certain redhead was caught off guard by the sudden release as well, and flew into both of them from behind.
The woman found herself lying on the ground with a young boy's face pressed into her chest. Realizing his awkward position at once, he flushed and tried in vain to pull himself off of her, but there was another boy sprawled out on top of himthat prevented both of them from doing anything. "G-g-g… GET OFF OF ME!"
"Yeah, stop it, guys! That's rude!" Luffy made a disgusted face as he yanked his friends from the lady. "Hiding in her closet and jumping out on her… I thought you were better than that!"
N shook his head in amusement. Luffy was unlucky enough to be the witness of the wildest misunderstandings… "Just help the poor woman up. I'm sure she can give us valuable information about Team Rocket once she's more comfortable downstairs."
"N… you sound like a Rocket executive," Silver groaned, pulling himself into a sitting position against the bed. "…Specifically one that hits on the ladies!" He managed a small grin, gazing around at his nakama. "Everyone's here… are these our pokeballs?" He picked up the capsules next to the closet, giving Gold and his victim an odd look.
The first boy was moaning, holding his throbbing head where the woman had whacked him with the nearby table lamp. As he recovered, he noticed that the woman was attempting to bore a hole in his face with her stare. "What… What are you doing, Mom?!"
"MOM?!" Silver cried, immediately regretting his Team Rocket joke.
The woman stood up, flustered by the three boys in the room. "Of course I'm his mother! Who did you think I was, wandering around what is clearly the Gold residence?"
"Wait, wait… Your family name is 'Gold'?" Luffy scratched his head thoughtfully. "I thought Gold was just called Gold, and his mom was called something that sounded like a mom name. But if you're his mom and your family name is Gold, then… you guys are all called Gold?!"
A large Quilava, fresh from his pokeball, tackled the rubber boy from the side to silence him before he exploded everyone's minds. Silver finally sat back on the bed next to N and his friend whose name had been sorely overused. "Luffy… this is called Gold's house, even though he doesn't own it. It's one of the weird quirks about this town and Pallet Town…"
"Well, why didn't you say so, Silver?! Hi, lady! What's your name, then?" Luffy stuck out a hand to the mother.
"…Gold. Goldeen, really, but I'm called Gold for short."
Silver blanched. "You were named after a pokemon?!"
Goldeen shot a cold glare at him. "Yes. And what were you named after; a cheap metal?"
"Silver is not cheap! It can be worth three hundred beli per ounce, lady, and don't you forget it!"
N stared at his teacher. "Beli? What's that?"
The room was silent for a long moment, with only the ringing echoes of Giovanni's extremely profane exclamations from downstairs as he struggled with his bonds.
"Beli was the form of currency used in ancient times, by the people of the Golden Age of the Pirates. Few bills have been found, but the legendary money's value and history has been recorded in numerous ancient texts," Kim recited, flapping her short black wings.
Luffy smiled warmly at his bird, long past being surprised by her incredible knowledge. "That's right… Wait, no it's not…" He began fishing around underneath his hat until his fingers found the hidden fabric pocket where he kept his milk money. "These are beli!"
N fingered the small stack of bills wonderingly, and said in awe, "Wow! I've read about these, but this paper currency is in perfect condition and they certainly look real! Where did you get such incredible artifacts?"
His teacher inched away uncomfortably. "Um, I borrowed it? From the street gang in my hometown…?"
"I knew it! Untrustworthy little rascal, you! Stealing priceless currency like that, you ought to be ashamed of yourself!" Goldeen made a grab for Luffy's hands and Gold and Silver went into hyper-face-palm mode in the background. At at least twenty slaps per second, they seemed intent on turning their faces completely red before someone won the beli battle.
As it turned out, the champion was Babs. Appearing out of nowhere, the Marill streaked past the other combatants in a blur of speed and had the bills in her fist before Luffy could even blink. "Ba~bs!" She tilted her head, looking around for the Ralts she had been showing off for. "Jan is whar?"
"Shut it, ya crazy water-type! We were using those toys and we need them, so you'd better give them back without so much as a peep," Gold's mother growled, holding out a hand to the Marill on the bed. Gold and Silver instinctively stood up and crossed to the other side of the room to avoid the wrath of either of the two dangerous parties.
…Or the third party. Luffy lowered his fists to bypass the ancient law of not hitting girls and kicked the woman in the shins. "Hey, Babs knows what money is, and you can't threaten my nakama or my stuff! I'm a pirate, and pirates don't stand for this kind of thing!"
"Oh, yeah? Well aren't you the little rebel? It's not nice to kick the ladies, though," Goldeen hissed, her voice frighteningly sinister. Her cold eyes glared at Gold and Silver, who were pressed against the wall as far back as they could manage. "What are you staring at, little boys? And Gold, don't think I'll let you off the hook for disrespecting Giovanni and me just because you're my son!"
Luffy stepped up to her and clapped loudly right next to her ears.
"What was that for?!"
N snickered from the TV corner with James. "You said he couldn't hit or kick you, so now he's going for your sensitive eardrums, instead! Good going, Luffy!"
"Huh? Oh, no; I was just congratulating her for using discipline on her kid." Luffy grinned.
Gold had to protest. "Hey, it's me she's chewing out, and there's no good reason! I've been locked in my own closet this whole time! How on earth is her 'discipline' worthy of congratulations?!"
His only reply was a confused stare. "I dunno… does sarcasm still exist?"
There was no way Gold was going to admit he hadn't picked up on the sarcasm -which seemed extremely out of character for Luffy- so he turned to N instead. "Can you please do something about this?!"
"Eh. James, use Yawn."
"Ja~mes!"
…
Silver finally managed to get a word in in his friends' conversation after Goldeen was asleep. "N… we forgot to tell you, didn't we? Luffy is from the past… He was brought to our time period by a legendary pokemon called Cebi."
"Celebi, actually," Gold put in. "Cebi was the nickname Luffy gave her… it?"
N nodded thoughtfully, glancing at the cash in Babs' hands. "So those are real beli. I don't suppose you would care to elaborate on why you took them from other kids in your neighborhood?"
"I didn't take them!" Luffy folded his arms and added after a brief pause, "I just asked the guys for a little money for food, and then they sort of just gave me the money… And I just told them I was hungry!" He shrugged. "They're nice guys, really. They know being hungry is no fun… But they gave me too many beli, so I kept that change after a few meat pies to save it for later."
His nakama could only stare at him. Luffy had never told them this before! Silver was especially bewildered. The friendly ball of rubber who had a personality of pure gold… had been a poor beggar in his hometown?! "Luffy, did you have a house?"
"Of course! Well, sort of… But I thought we were going to fix the blackout in Cherrygrove City. Why are we sitting around and talking about me?"
Gold shrugged "I'm not sure what's going on here, what with the closet thing. But anything that has to do with-"
"Wait, buddy! Why were you in that closet with Silver, at your own house? That's just really suspicious…" Luffy frowned, circling his friend as he stroked Hypo on his shoulder. "I mean, not that I care what you do, but…"
"Goodness, Luffy, it's not like that at all! Are you insane?! We got kidnapped!" Silver waved his arms about, gesturing at the sleeping Goldeen and the ropes in the closet. Luffy peered in at them with an almost comical expression of doubt.
"You sure?"
Gold sighed. "I'm positive. Now, are we going to Cherrygrove, or not?"
N shook his head in amusement. "You know that's not even a question for Luffy. Look, he's already gone!
…
Cebi huddled in the small corner of her prison. Spacious as it was, there was no way of escape; no chance of traveling through time to escape. She understood it was punishment for her misbehavior, but something felt off about it all. Luffy and his nakama got along well, even though Dialga had always said that humans would end up neglecting their pokemon. There was no chance of the boy in the straw hat leaving her in the dust; she just knew it. And if he ever accepted her, she knew she would never leave him again. Not for Dialga, not for anybody! The boy in the straw hat with the powers of a legendary pokemon… he could be cursed by Darkrai for all Cebi cared, yet she run would still stay by his side until his dying day!
If only she could get out of this cell… Dialga had said two weeks, and then she would be free. Not that the time mattered to her; she could revisit Luffy in the lost time once she got out, so long as she didn't change history. She only worried… what if he forgot about her in that time span? He'd seemed so happy with those other pokemon. Would he even care about her anymore? They hadn't known each other for very long at all, so it certainly was possible he would turn her down… Feeling completely hopeless all of a sudden, Cebi wrung her antenna and buried her head in her small dainty hands, finally falling asleep with tears pooling in her eyes…
*No pun intended
Thanks for waiting, you guys… ^-^