Okay...the feed back on the first person narrative has been both hot and cold. The main complaint was that you were finding it hard to figure out who was narrating. Although I thought I had enough clues at the beginning of each change in narrator, I didn't realise that you might not like hunting through a paragraph to figure out who is narrating. There are three more segments in this chapter that will be in first person, and then you won't be seeing it for some time. Hopefully they'll be better.
Disclaimer: It is impossible to have read this disclaimer. Currently, you are reading, and thus have not read this disclaimer. However, if you have supposedly 'finished' reading this disclaimer, you are lying to yourself, seeing as you are still reading it. Therefore, it is impossible to have read (i.e. past tense 'read') this disclaimer.
Stakeout.
Needless to say, Neither Rob nor Kova were enjoying their stay in Eterna at the moment. Kova continued turning up to watch trainer after trainer get clobbered by Gardenia and walk away happily after she gave most of them her badge anyway.
It was depressing.
Meanwhile, as the Eterna Gym wasn't built for an audience, Rob had to make do with a vantage point from outside the huge greenhouse. After doing a few circuits of the greenhouse, Rob had to make do with a park bench about twenty metres from the greenhouse, behind where Kova sat.
Rob let out his pokemon, seeing as he had nothing better to do, but he kept his gaze centred firmly on his target.
Although he didn't really want to, Kova had asked Giovanni for another person to help him track down the charmander. He realised that he couldn't be sure where the trainer who owned the charmander would go after reaching Eterna City, because while most trainers headed towards Veilstone City for their third badge, a handful headed towards the harder Hearthome city before going through Pastoria City before getting the Veilstone Gym's badge fifth. If, for some reason, he missed his target in Eterna City, he wanted the option of sending a person down both possible paths.
Unfortunately, Giovanni had taken it into his head that he wanted to reinforce his alliance with Team Galactic, and had phoned Saturn to get a Team Galactic grunt to help him.
Hello...today isn't my turn to be in control, so Alexa's taken charge of our body-
Uh huh. I was actually woken up in a conventional manner today, with Steven nudging me awake as Aron stretched his muscles beside us. I still felt oddly energised-
From when we breathed out that blue fire..
I know, right? It was weird. Soon after roasting that bidoof, everything seemed to become sharper, brighter, like I was on a sugar high...I kinda expected it to go away, but-
It didn't. Hey, Steven's speaking to you. Pay attention!
"Hello? Earth to Firael calling..." The taillow was waving his wings below at my face, jumping up and down to get my attention.
Hmph. He only got it cause I was paying attention...
Shaddup. I jerked my head and laughed. "Go away! Let's see how Makybe's doing." I was more interested in the ponyta than Steven and the others, mainly because she was another fire type. I mean, Steven, Rush and Vendel-
Sort of. Vendel's not a flying type, but-
But he's a bird, okay? Anyway, I wanted to get to know Makybe a little better. We walked (well, Steven flew) over to where Rush and Makybe were sleeping. Vendel, who was awake, walked over to us and waved a flipper as a greeting.
"Hey guys...wanna help me wake Rush and Makybe up?"
OOH OOOH! LET ME DO IT!
No.
Aww...c'mon...just for a minute? You know you want to...
Fine...I imagined my self falling away from my eyes, into the back of
my head, as I felt Firael push forwards and take the reins.
Thanks Alexa...now, to Rush. "Steven, you go wake Makybe up...I've got Rush...I still haven't gotten him back for what he said a few days ago."
Steven turned away-
Bet you he's rolling his eyes.
He better not be. I sneaked up to Rush, who was sleeping on his front, which ruined what I had planned to do. I wondered if there was something else I could do, and realised that it didn't matter, as long as I was fast enough.
I quickly tipped Rush over and grabbed his legs, before swinging him over my back. I was still feeling pumped from whatever happened the day before.
He's a bit heavier than he looks, isn't he?
Whatever. Now that I had done so, I expected Rush to wake up and start yelling at me, you know, to put him down. Instead he-
What the-?
Started thrashing violently, pecking at my back while yelling aloud all the time.
"NO! Don't take her! I don't wan- Where're you going...NO! I WON'T I-"
I winced as his pecking started to take its toll, and dropped him on the ground, where he convulsed as I stared on. Aron, Isrea and Myu came running over.
"Woah Firael, what did you do this time? Don't you think that's going a little far?" I spun around to see Vendel staring at Rush with a look of concern on his face.
"But I hadn't started yet! You sure he's not faking?"
You mad? Anyone can see that he isn't.
Fine, but what did I do?
Haven't got a clue.
Real useful. I tried to approach Rush, but he could hear everyone's footfalls, and screeched when anyone came within a metre or so of him.
"Here boy...it's going to be okay..." Then Myu stepped in. Surprisingly, Rush actually seemed to calm down, and didn't even start when he was picked up by Myu.
Okay...how did she do that? He didn't even let Isrea near him...
You're right. Myu was now stroking Rush, who still seemed to be asleep. How can someone sleep through that? He was even making all the noise himself!
Err...Sleeptalking?
Yeah, real slick. Sleeptalking. More like sleepfits or something.
Sleepfits. Your knowledge of the English vocabulary never ceases to amaze.
Well, it was the best I could come up with! Myu set Rush down, before speaking. As she opened her mouth, I noticed some mumbling to my left.
"...mubgnflgnnggn Myu mbftzzl showoff...powers...sdfiensome sort of joke..." He stalked off.
Right...what's his problem?
"It just seems like a bad dream. See? He's still asleep. Your charmander didn't do anything." Myu had been talking to Aron and Isrea while I watched Steven slouch off.
"But...how did you get him to calm down? He wasn't letting anyone near him, and you just waltzed in and picked him up! I don't understand..." Aron trailed off, before throwing his hands up in the air in frustration when the only response he received was a grin.
"Does this happen often?" I jumped. Huh?
It's Makybe, you idiot.
I turned around to face Makybe, then I looked up. Man, she's tall. She's over triple Steven's height!
Yeah, well, when we're both fully evolved we'll be about the same height.
Yeah, but it's just weird, you know? I mean, we used to be the tallest pokemon here. I shrugged at Makybe.
"Not really. It's the first time something like this has happened. You sleep well?"
"Yeah...we slept all right." Yeah, no dreams this time...
Uh huh- HEY! I'm supposed to be in control! Your turn was yesterday!
Wha- Oh yeah...I'll just be
letting you...oh. That was quick.
Whatever. Makybe was looking at me with confusion. "Did you say 'we'? Don't you mean 'I'?"
Hahaha...It's your turn today, so you've got to explain this to her.
Shaddup. I gave a shaky grin back. "Err...no. I meant 'we'. It's kinda long story. How about we talk about it tonight?"
She gave me a reproachful look. "What's with everyone and long stories? Steven still hasn't told me why the humans call him Scout, and now you've got some weird identity crisis! What's next?"
I snorted. "Well, Rush actually comes from a line of legendary staraptor and he's running away from an abusive family."
"No way."
"Nah, I was just joking. It was probably a bad dream or something- Woah!" I stumbled and nearly fell as a black shape blasted past me and darted upwards into a nearby tree, but ended up falling against. Rush.
Oh, I'll get him for that.
Just...not now! Makybe nudged me back into a standing position.
Had he heard me?
Sonya put a hand in front of her eyes, brushing away a few tattered strands of hair, to shield them from the light that they were now so unaccustomed to.
"Come on now, pretty, Saturn's been waiting for ya." A gruff voice sounded out from behind her hand.
"Saturn? So I wasn't kidnapped by Team Rocket then...but what would Team Galactic want to do with me? It's not like they knew what we were doing. Or did they know? Have they found out?"
Sonya's deliberations were bought to a halt as she was led into an opulent office. Saturn sat at his desk, staring at her with oddly gleaming eyes. Eyes that hungered for something...
"Sit down."
Sonya did so.
Folding his hands, Saturn leaned over towards her, before speaking. "Now, Sonya Tanem, you may be wondering why you have been invited over to Veilstone City. The main reason for that is because you have something we want. We know where it is, but only you can give it to us." He chuckled. "Well, not only you, but it is by far the easiest option. I do have a large variety of psychic pokemon at my disposal as well, should the need arise."
Sonya could feel a sense of dread descending upon her. She was certain, by now, that they knew about her research. "W-What do you want? Where is-is it?"
Saturn leered at her, before tapping his head with one finger. "Knowledge, Sonya. That is all I seek from you."
It was cool and cloudy at Faraway Island, and Lucas had, with the help of most of his pokemon (Lear was probably the most helpful, the gallade, having a humanoid shape, could easily handle all of Lucas' gear) managed to pack all of his gear up. He gave Faraway Island one last look, gazing out past the grassy plateau that they stood on, over the dull grey sea.
Thunder boomed overhead.
"I guess this is it...where I find out just what Rowan and Mew have gotten me into..."
Sighing, Lucas extended a small pink arm outwards towards his pokemon, who put a hand, pincer or wing on it.
They teleported away as the first drops of rain began to fall.
Rynade's phone rung. Groaning as he got out of his couch (ESPeoN sports had a really good game of tennis up. Nafael Radal and his ambipom were 6-5 up in the final set of the Antitican Open, one of the three major slams against Foger Rederer and his bulbasaur.)
"Hello?"
"It's Titan. You are to track down the human-charmander. A Team Rocket member is currently stationed In Eterna Ctiy, and you are to help him track down the pokemon in question. His name is Kova."
"Sir."
You know, this is probably starting to get monotonous.
You're right. Frying budew after budew loses it's charm after about the fifth time you've done so. I thought as I discharged another particularly strong flamethrower at the poor leaf...thing that thought she could beat me.
My attacks have been a lot more powerful than usual, and, while extra oomph behind my attacks is welcome, it was still slightly worrying. What if I suddenly burnt out?
Ohh...I see what you did there.
Go stick your head in a bucket.
"Nice work Firael. You're lucky your typing's really helping you out." Aron said.
"Yeah. Lucky you...I think I'm next, aren't I? Ugh..." Vendel muttered, rubbing his shoulder where he had received a particularly bad cut from a razor leaf.
We continued on our way, battling any wild pokemon that decided that he or she wanted to challenge us, before my turn to fight came around again. Steven had just managed to defeat a kricketot within half a minute by bombarding it with the wing attacks he had learnt a few hours ago, and had challenged me to beat the next pokemon that we came across in a faster time, which would turn out to be a...
"Buiz!"
...
...great. I'm going to have my work cut out here just beating this buizel. I walked up towards the buizel, eying him warily, while trying to decide on a particular strategy.
You have very good options.
Shut up. I have two attacking moves: Flamethrower (Ember is out of the question, seeing as it's just a weak Flamethrower)-
YES! USE THAT. It is the best option!
Scratch,
No...no...Ember is better.
Die in a hole. Or I could use that weird purple fire stuff... I don't know what typing it is, but it's got to be better than anything els-
My musings were cut short as a water gun slammed into my stomach. I have been hit with water attacks before, but I still haven't gotten over...wait...I've never been hit with a water attack before...that was Firael who has- oh crap!
"Watch out!" Aron yelled as I was just fast enough to dive out of the way of the buizel's second water gun, but I had been seriously winded by the first one. It was so cold...
"Is that all you can take, fire lizard?" I looked up. Ok, now he's asking for it.
I ran up towards him, rolling to the side to avoid another water gun, before attempting a flamethrower. However, instead of trying to breathe fire, I simply tried to breathe out air from where my inner fire-
You suck at explaining.
Whatever. From where my inner fire lay. Luckily, I got the result I wanted, expelling a torrent of purplish 'flames' at the buizel, who staggered backwards, clutching at his head.
"What was that? That wasn't fire! My head..." he mumbled.
The fire had done a huge amount of damage to him, which allowed me to walk up and cuff him once around the head, and he went down easily.
"Ha. So much for a water type." I was feeling great. I had just taken down a water type without too much hassle and...
Wow...what's happening?
A white glow started enveloping around my body as my sight blanked out.
Lucas and his pokemon materialised at Spear Pillar, startling Victini, who had just been walking past.
"Hey, Mew! It's great to see you...long time no see, yeah?" He said, spinning round mid-stride and giving Lucas a playful punch.
"Erm...yeah, it's been a few years, hasn't it?" Lucas nervously replied. He hadn't prepared himself for the fact that none of the other legendaries (bar Palkia and Celebi, and they didn't count anyway at the moment) know who he actually was, and worse, that Mew seemed to be on good terms with all of them.
"Why couldn't I have been one of the more reclusive pokemon, like...who was that one Cynthia told me about? G...Giratina! Yeah..."
Meanwhile, Victini had begun speaking again. "A few years? You've really lost track of time, man. It's been about three hundred years! Feel like coming over soon sometime next decade?"
"Three hundred years?"
"Look...I...can we wait until after the meeting? Everything's going to be easier to explain after that."
"Whatever...we used to find these meetings so boring! What happened to you? Or..." His eyes narrowed in mock suspicion. "What have you done?" His ears (which nearly doubled his height) perked up. "Surely this isn't because you changed gender again, is it?"
"...Mew is a transvestite. What." Lucas knew he wasn't the only one shocked by such a revelation. He could sense the turmoil in the minds of all his pokemon as they tried to come to grips with a pokemon who changed gender whenever (s)he felt like doing so. In his peripheral vision, he saw, or rather 'felt' his pokemon start chatting to Lugia, who had been flying past, and psychically told them that they could do what they liked here.
"Hello?" Lucas blinked. He decided to try explaining to Victini that he wasn't Mew without explicitly saying so.
"Woah...sorry...drifted off there. Look, Victini, this meeting is about something Mew did but-"
"Speaking of yourself in third person now, huh? I thought only scyther and scizor did that." Victini interrupted him. "Have you been spending some time as one...oh no...you had babies! You didn't..." He finished with a smirk.
"What? Wait...WHAT? No! Yeeugh...just let me finish, okay?" Lucas shouted, waving his arms frantically at the grinning victini.
"Keep it down, ya furball! How can you still be so childish?" Lucas spun around frantically to find himself face to face with Cobalion, who had stalked over as Terrakion finished yelling at Lucas.
"I uh...Victini was jus-" Lucas started before being cut off.
"I couldn't care less! Just go somewhere else and for god's sake, stay quiet!" Cobalion yelled.
"Legendaries, the meeting is about to begin. If you would find somewhere to sit or stand." Arceus' voice came booming out over the background chatter that had permeated throughout Spear Pillar, instantly silencing it as everyone moved to find someplace to sit or stand. Lucas noted that the legendaries didn't follow an exact seating plan; indeed, they seemed to be organised rather haphazardly. It was only after some careful observation that he noticed a method to the madness. Some obvious groups sat close together, like the lati twins, the Musketeer Trio (actually a quartet), the legendary beasts and the Kami trio (they floated). However, there were some groups that surprised Lucas like Mewtwo, Darkrai and Dialga who seemed to be close, and placed as far away from Giratina, who sat on her (Lucas guessed it was a she) own.
As everyone settled down, Arceus began to speak.
"It would be foolish of me to inform you of who Mew is. The purpose of this meeting, however, concerns her-"
"Her? You haven't told Arceus you've changed gender yet?" Victini hissed to Lucas.
"Just listen!"
"and why she is not present at this meeting."
"I know you're going to say something, but just listen! Questions after and all that." Lucas held up his paw (how pitifully small it was) and silenced Victini as he was about to speak. Lucas could sense the confusion of some of the other pokemon who had noticed Lucas' presence, such as Keldeo, Lugia and Cobalion, but they refrained from speaking.
"You see, Mew has seen fit to take a short...holiday, and she has left Lucas here", Arceus nodded at Lucas, which made every other head turn towards him as well, "to handle any tasks that would otherwise have to be undertaken by her. We all know what happened the last time such an occurrence took place."
"What occurrence? He never said anything about this...but he did hint at the possibility that she wouldn't come back...oh no."
"This would normally be of no consequence, as the replacement would, like last time, become permanent. However, Mew chose her substitute without asking him whether he actually wanted to perform her role, which presents us with a dilemma.
Do we go against Mew's judgement and help Lucas choose another pokemon...or a human, or do we vote to keep Lucas in his current role, against his will? Please take into account the morality of your choices, but also the practicality of your decision. After all, Mew did choose Lucas as her replacement."
Victini turned to Lucas, eyes wide in astonishment. "You're a human?"
"Oh yeah...because humans totally have pink fur, weird ears and probably the most useless arms in the entire world after serperior's ones. In fact, isn't the fact that I'm not a human the main problem here?" Lucas sarcastically thought, but refrained from giving Victini a grilling for stating the blatantly obvious.
"I don't understand. Mew's holiday isn't going to be for very long. At the most, she'll be away for a few centuries or so. Why can't he just wait?" Dialga spoke up.
Lucas exploded (not literally, you idiot. That's not in his moveset). "What?"
"What?" Dialga replied cooly.
"A few centuries is ages! Everyone I know will be dead, you do realise that, don't you? And what's going to happen when, after everyone realises I've disappeared, or when, in a few centuries, I reappear, looking exactly like a pokemon champion who had vanished a few hundred years ago, with no means of identification? Don't you think that would raise questions?"
"Do not speak to Dialga like that, human!" Darkrai shouted back, the words eerily bouncing around in Lucas' mind.
"Darkrai, do not address Lucas like that. Right now, he is a legendary, and should be treated like one."
"Only if he starts acting like one."
"Start acting like one? So you want me to just start running all over the place, asking to play with people, and randomly ditch my form on someone else? Is that how legendaries act? Because, from what I've heard and seen of Mew, that's all she does!"
"Ha! He's got a point, you know." Shaymin interjected, eyes glinting with amusement.
"Lucas has already proved himself. He did so when he saved Celebi's life. We must move on to the root of the problem. What do we do?"
"It would seem fruitless to pursue any further course of action before we know what Mew's plans are. Does she want to come back? If so, it would complicate things further." All eyes turned to the far corner of Spear Pillar, where Genesect sat.
"Genesect is right. We should send someone to ask her. However, it would be prudent to decide upon two courses of action, one which is to be implemented if Mew is to return, and one which is to be implemented if Mew is to retire soon." Thundurus thundered.
"I'll go ask Mew. Groudon and Kyogre, at the moment, aren't trying to kill each other over some petty argument." Rayquaza said.
"Thundurus is correct. So, you have had enough time to think this over. What should Lucas do? We are assuming that Mew will be away for a moderate amount of time...about a century. Rayquaza, you're probably the pokemon with the least to do at the moment, so you are probably the best pokemon for the job. Since we don't know where Mew is, you should probably just go somewhere in the middle of Sinnoh. Possibly somewhere between Route 210 and Route 215 would allow you to scan the most area, and it is a bottleneck that all trainers cross eventually. You should be able to sense Mew if she enters Route 210 from Solaceon or Celestic, or if she approaches from Veilstone."
"This meeting is just getting better and better..." Lucas thought.
Dialga was the first to speak. "I believe that if this state of affairs is temporary that Lucas should stay in his position. After all, we all know that Mew isn't stupid, and would have picked Lucas for a reason."
There was a murmur of agreement as most of the pokemon nodded their heads in response to Dialga's logic.
"It seems as if we have reached a consensus. And what if Mew intends for the current state of affairs to become permanent?"
"While this must be reasonably traumatic for Lucas, and I must admit that my grasp on the current situation is still a little shaky, I do believe that he should become a mew permanently if Mew decides she doesn't want to return. It would be imprudent for us to drag a third-party, one not chosen by Mew herself — and remember that those of us that have retired have always chosen our own successors — and force him or her into a slot intended by Mew to be occupied by Lucas." Lugia spoke up.
"But, regardless of how smart Mew's choice may be, if Lucas doesn't want to perform his job, it would be obvious that he wouldn't perform in it very well." Shaymin joined the debate on Lucas' side once more.
"Regardless, Lucas is only claiming a dislike for the position left to him by Mew out of a desire to return to the previous status quo. He hasn't spent a long amount of time as mew. Lucas," Lugia then turned to Lucas, "can't you at least try and see how this works out? Spend a year as a mew, and if by then, you'd rather still stay human, then, against my better judgment, we could get you to find another replacement."
"Me? But..." Lucas drifted off, realising that if he was going to be mew indefinitely, it would mean that he had inherited the right to choose his successor. "Fine. But, regardless of what happens, you guys must let me reconvene with the Elite Four and attend the Millenium festival, because after that I have a long stint where I can sort everything out...and if the need arises..."
He sighed.
"I'll have to fake my death."
Our pokemon are doing really well, and Aron is whining again about the long trek. I mean, it's not that bad...I actually find it quite relaxing, especially on a day like this.
We had been slogging through Route 205, and it was good weather for it. I mean, it wasn't overly sunny because it was heavily overcast, but at the same time, it hadn't rained. All in all, we were in good spirits, because Makybe, Steven and Rush had had a field day with all the grass-types that lived there (Firael didn't get to do much because she was much better than everyone else and had already evolved).
I hadn't said so, but judging by Firael's evolution, and the rough amount of time that Aron and I had been training Rush and Vendel, that they were due to evolve soon. Vendel wasn't having too much fun with all the grass pokemon, but was managing relatively well. I don't think he'll be too useful, however, against Gardenia. Oh well...
It was still good weather, and it was with high spirits that we headed into Eterna Forest. Hopefully both Rush and Vendel are going to evolve soon...
It would be good for us to be able to get the next badge within just over a week of getting the last, but we'll just have to see how everything goes. We should get to Eterna by tomorrow night.
Morgan squinted at the blinds which she had just open.
"God it's bright! I can barely see!" Closing the blinds again, she plumped down onto her bed, placing a hand on her head. "Ugh...my head..."
Sonata tilted his head sideways slightly. "But it's cloudy outside...how can she be-"
"Quiet!" Adele shushed up the chatot. "The more sleep she gets, the faster she'll recover, and that's a good thing right?" The ninetales' eyes glinted strangely in the dim light of the bedroom, daring the chatot to say otherwise.
I tuned out, absent-mindedly digging my hooves against the soft loamy ground as currently both Rush and Vendel were telling Steven and I how it felt to evolve. Don't they realise that I might not want to know? I mean, I won't evolve for a long time, and Steven's not going to do so for a bit as well. Sure, it might be cool for them, but...
Anyway, Rush actually looks like he might be able to do some damage, instead of just being some little black puffball, and Vendel looks...grownup. He actually looks older than all of us, even though he is the youngest person among us.
It's weird, but with all the commotion going on with everyone evolving, I still haven't found out what was up with Firael and Steven. All in good time, I guess...
It was with these thoughts on my mind that I was lulled to sleep by the sounds of the city nightlife ebbing further and further away...
What will Myu say? Will she decide to retire? I've just realised that there were five lines in a row that all started with the letter 'I'.
I liked how Firael/Alexa's part turned out, and it seemed like something different. So tell me what you thought about that, and how I tried to signpost the beginnings of each first person narrative better. However, I'm going back to third person for a while. First person is a chore to write.
While not much seems to have occurred, a lot of events have been set in place. Good luck figuring that all out!
Pichufan: I guess, but I wanted the first person narrative to do that, because it's a little closer. Anyway, I'm going back to third person, so the point is rather redundant now.
thewookie1: But then he can't kill. You can't attack when you drink BONK.
leygose: Well, hope you liked the signposting in this chapter better.
Tsaukpaetra: It was rather convinent, wasn't it? However, any connections you're trying to make between the two are definitely wrong. Just trust me. Heh heh heh...And you double posted on the same chapter...O.o
Ryu Dragonclaw: But you will...oh yes...
Cyberfire22: Yes, it was Dragon Rage, but I'm surprised no one noted that that meant that Firael, and by association, Rush and Vendel, were about to evolve. I actually did a few calculations to make sure the buizel would be nearly knocked out after one Dragon Rage...just to be sure.
azure blue espeon: Well, again, I hope this chapter did the signposting better.
ej92: But I like confusing disclaimers! And Isrea does have secret mind-reading powers. Loljk.
Teraunce: But...aww...XD.
Rush: Oh yeah, uh huh...
Steven: What?
Makybe: Oh no, not this again...
Rush: Look at me...I'm actually big!
Makybe: That's nice to know.
Steven: Yeah, but Firael's still bigger, and I believe she still has some unfinished business. Firael!
Firael: Hmm?
Steven: Rush is here!
Vendel: Here we go again...
Alexa: I need to see this.