Four Months have Passed Since "Riding Solo"
I was locked in my tenth battle of the day.
"Aurora! Use Body Slam! Monty, use Faint Attack!"
The tag battle was going in my favour. The other trainer's Pokemon, a Combusken and a Linoone were a decent tag battling combination, but the trainer simply couldn't devote his attention to both Pokemon at once. I can't really blame him, he was young, inexperienced, all too eager to take on too much at once.
Dodging the Linoone's Headbutt attack by easily rolling out of the way, Aurora launched herself straight at it, squashing it with the full force of her ample body weight. The Linoone, dazed from the attack, stumbled backwards. It was down, but not out. A quick Ice Ball to the stomach quickly took care of that.
Monty executed Faint Attack, his now signature move, with practised ease. Dodging to the right hand side of the Combusken, he paused for just a split second. The Combusken, thinking he had found an opening lunged for him with a Double Kick, but then suddenly Monty disappeared! I heard the appreciative gasps from the crowd, a sound I could never get tired of hearing. A split second later, Monty appeared right next to Combusken, but on the opposite side! The trainer barely had time to react before Monty nailed the Combusken hard with the attack. It didn't cause that much damage, but it was fine, because I knew Combusken to be partially resistant to Dark type moves and I had already planned ahead.
"Aurora! Use Water Pulse!"
Monty easily leapt aside using his long lithe limbs like a springboard whilst Aurora let loose a powerful torrent of water from her mouth that hit the weakened Combusken straight on, sending him flying back into a wall. I grinned with triumph as the other trainer blinked in surprise and then dejectedly recalled his Pokemon, knowing he was defeated.
I walked up to him to collect my prize money. "It was a good battle," I grinned encouragingly at the little kid. "You have some really tough Pokemon."
The kid just shot me a glare and I had to stop myself from chuckling. I couldn't help but be reminded of my early days when I looked at that little kid so full of pride, so hurt by his loss. I flashed him another grin and turned away. Monty and Aurora were there waiting for me. Aurora was rolling around and clapping her fins together, doing her best impression of a trained seal, whilst Monty looked on disdainfully, licking his paws. I had to admit, they made a pretty good tag team even though the two of them didn't really get on outside of a battlefield…
"Excellent work, you two!" I grinned, kneeling down to their level and feeding them some Pokemon treats as reward.
Aurora practically inhaled the ones offered to her, whilst Monty took one sniff at them, decided they weren't to his standards and turned his nose up at them. Instead he began washing his paws again. I hung my head and tossed them to Aurora instead. Once she had swallowed them down, I recalled them to their Pokeballs and set out to explore a bit more.
The uneasy motion of the ferry made me feel a little nauseous as I walked, but I had taken so many ferry rides lately I had (sort of) become accustomed to it. I still didn't like it; I hated it, as always. I hated seeing the swirling black waters so deep you could never see the bottom no matter how hard you tried. A lot of things can change in four months, but that kind of fear sticks with you for a lifetime.
"Attention passengers," the captain's voice rang over the intercom. "We are now approaching Lilycove City. We expect the boat to be docking in the harbour in ten to fifteen minutes. Thank you and enjoy the rest of your voyage."
"Finally…" I mumbled darkly.
You're probably wondering what's going on, huh? Well long story short, I decided to pursue my mother in Sootopolis instead of hanging around near Lavaridge, in the vague hope my dad would come back (which I seriously doubted considering how badly he was chewed up by the Groudon)…
So what the hell are you doing in Lilycove then, I hear you shout. Let me explain a little better.
I had arrived in Sootopolis well over three months ago and after realising that nothing had happened there or looked likely to be happening there, it became clear that I couldn't exactly risk staying in the same place all the time. Sootopolis was a small, remote city and people very quickly noticed strangers. I have to admit, it was nothing short of a miracle I hadn't been found yet. I knew in my heart that Jasmine and Nikki wouldn't have just let me go without question. So I made numerous trips to the mainland, especially Lilycove, which was such a big city I could blend in easily without the risk of being seen. I hated doing it, because I was terrified that as soon as I left Sootopolis something bad would happen! But it never did. The city seemed to be at a standstill. Not a breeze of activity, not even a hint of strange goings on. I hadn't seen anyone I knew…not my mum, not my dad, not anybody. But at least…at least I had found enough out to come up with an interesting little theory…
I reached in my bag for the book I had bought in Sootopolis City Pokemon Mart when I had first arrived there. It was a kind of like an encyclopaedia, documenting the various sights and attractions of the city. Most of it was designed for tourists, but there was one little bit that caught my interest…
Apparently Sootopolis City had its own little legend, very similar to that of Lavaridge Town. Whilst Lavaridge was said to have housed Groudon in Mt Chimney (but whether or not the Groudon was still there after his home was almost destroyed and he was almost captured by a gang of power hungry Pokemon thieves, I didn't know), Sootopolis was supposed to be very heavily involved with the legend of Kyogre, the counterpart legend to Groudon. It didn't take me long at all after finding that book to think that if my dad was going to go anywhere after the failure of Groudon, reason told me it would be after Kyogre. It didn't take a genius to figure out that's probably why Mum was going there too…
But that assumption brought with it a whole other load of questions. If what that old woman had told me way back in Lavaridge was true and Mum really had been in that same shop just a few hours ahead of me, it seemed to me like she knew about this whole thing too. Somehow she knew about what Dad was doing. At least that was the impression I got.
The old woman had told me that mum seemed to be travelling with a group and that they were to "reconvene" in Sootopolis once "everything calmed down" because "they weren't going to try again for a while". What did that mean, exactly? Who were they? Was it mum and her group? Or were they referencing Dad? If they were, like I suspected, that meant that Mum and whatever group she was with knew about Dad and his organization trying to capture Groudon! Had they suspected before I did that they would try for Kyogre instead of wasting their time on Groudon again? I didn't know, and I hated that I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to be waiting there for them if both of them really did end up on Sootopolis. I wasn't exactly unprepared. Four months on the road by yourself meant you had a lot of time for training.
You're probably wondering what I've been doing the past four months, eh? Well, the answer to that is just travelling and training. Oh yeah, and keeping a low profile. I had run away from Nikki and Jasmine for a reason and if they had come after me like I suspected they probably would have, I couldn't allow myself to be seen. Being seen meant the possibility of being found. So I never stayed in one place too long. Sacrifices had to be made too. For the past four months I never saw the inside of a Pokemon Centre unless there was a serious emergency. That meant for the whole four months, I camped outside instead of staying in a Pokemon Centre room.
Of course, that meant I didn't have much clue as to what was going on in the outside world. I knew that there hadn't been any new attempts in Lavaridge to go after Groudon, but I only knew that because people didn't talk about anything like that. I never heard anyone talking, like they did just after the earthquakes in Lavaridge subsided, even in big cities like Lilycove. Even what little I did catch on the television on my rare trips in to the Pokemon Centres all the more reinforced my theories. There was nothing about any "natural disasters" or anything that would even give a hint to any suspicious happenings.
As I said, with little to no access to television or any technology, I didn't know if Jasmine and Nikki had reported my disappearance to the authorities (I prayed to God they hadn't), how Elliot had fared in the Elite Four challenge (I felt a pang of sadness at this one) and I hadn't called home in that four months…maybe for all I knew my mum had come home. I doubted that highly though.
So for me, those four months were a blur of training, battling and making a living on the bare minimum. They were tough, maddening times; sometimes we didn't know where our next meal was coming from, how we would make it to the next city without fainting from exhaustion…we crawled through mud, hacked our way through tall grass and weeds, endured the coldest rainstorms and the hottest temperatures…It was often infuriating, tiring, exhausting and with every step I took I cursed every decision I had ever made, wished I had never even become a Pokemon trainer, wished I'd just stayed at home instead of getting myself mixed up in all this strife and conflict. It was a hideous, exasperating, harsh time out there on my own and me, and my Pokemon, hated every minute of it.
But it made us strong.
That was the only reason I endured it. Put up with it. Carried on when anyone else would have quit. I needed to get strong, make my Pokemon tough. How else was I going to defeat my father? I had been too blind when I first started out, caring more about friends and meeting new people than what I had sworn to do…perhaps if I'd taken everything more seriously at first, we wouldn't be in the mess we were in now. My guilt burned incessantly, fuelled with every dark thought that entered my head…
So I pushed myself and my Pokemon through rigorous training sessions, working all the time on increasing speed, strength, endurance, perfecting old moves and learning new ones. Even though my team still stood at three Pokemon, they were tough, experienced and veterans of numerous battles, all strong in their own rights. It had been a long, hard road to get them trained up, and we endured many many losses by the hands of elite trainers, but it had all been worth it. My team was stronger than I could have ever hoped for. I felt I could take on anyone and win.
"Attention passengers, we are now docking in Lilycove Harbour. Thank you for sailing with us today."
With that, as the ferry chugged into Lilycove Harbour, I stood up, ready to disembark.
An earlier thought I had had on the ferry returned to me as I clambered down the gangplank into Lilycove Harbour. I knew it was doubtful but…what if my mother really had gone home? What if, in the time it took for "things to calm down", she had gone home to see me? It was a thought I couldn't shake and by the time I reached the centre of the city, I gave in.
Faced with the video phones in the Pokemon Centre, I found myself fraught with nerves. I couldn't face dialling my own number, so instead I found myself calling Professor Oak.
He answered on the first ring to my total surprise. He looked flustered at first when he answered, but his face broke out into a smile when he saw me.
"Oh my! Sienna! It's been a long time!"
"Yeah…hi, Professor…" I mumbled shyly. "Listen, I was wondering if—"
Professor Oak turned pale. He seemed to know exactly what I was going to say and cut in quickly. "If your mother's been home?"
"Yeah…Has she?"
"No. I'm afraid not."
"Oh…" I said, feeling somewhat disappointed. I decided not to take it to heart and instead take the opportunity now to quiz him on a few other things I had ticking around my brain. "Listen, I know this is a bit of a strange question…but you didn't see me on the news, did you?"
"Oh, yes…" Professor Oak said gravely and my heart sunk. "You were mixed up with that volcanic eruption at Lavaridge, weren't you? You even got captured by people who where there, didn't you? Are you okay?"
A wondrous feeling of relief swept over me instead as he said that. "Yeah, I'm okay! Really! But um… I was wondering…aside from that whole thing with Mt Chimney, I haven't been on the news recently, have I? Like within the past couple of months…?"
"No, my dear…" Oak said, puzzled. "Why would you be?"
I sighed. "You better sit down, Professor. This is a long story."
I relayed the whole thing to Professor Oak in a hushed voice. I felt comfortable talking to him about it, like I was talking to my grandfather or a close family friend. He oohed and aahed at the appropriate times at first, but his face twisted into a frown when I started telling him about Groudon. Then it downright fell when I told him how I was convinced it was my father who had headed the whole thing and also my theories about them maybe trying for Kyogre next. He nodded his head in understanding when I suggested to him that maybe my mother knew what was going on about my father too. Why else would she have been there at Lavaridge right after me?
Although obviously just as concerned about the wellbeing of the legendary Pokemon, Professor Oak attempted to assure me that there was no way mere Pokemon trainers could ever realistically hope to capture Pokemon like Groudon and Kyogre. Especially not Groudon, considering the fact Mt Chimney was almost inaccessible now after the steps Groudon had taken to protect itself and its home. I still wasn't so sure and I told him so. He promised me he'd "look into it", whatever that meant…
He seemed to be intrigued at the idea of my mother travelling with one group all dressed in blue and my father another all dressed in black. He wondered, could we be facing a revival of Teams Aqua and Magma? I had no idea what they were, but before I could ask, he steamed ahead with his monologue. He assured me again that there was no way anyone could ever hope to capture Groudon and Kyogre, but just to be sure, he was going to "call in some favours" to ensure the Legendary Pokemons' safety. I didn't know what that entailed, but I sensed I could trust him and at least it made me feel a little better. I still had an imposing feeling that it wouldn't make much difference no matter how much protection was given to the Legendaries…My dad was determined and strong…if he wanted Kyogre or Groudon he would stop at nothing until he got them.
Eventually when he was satisfied with his monologue, he started lecturing me on my safety. Turns out he had seen me on the news too when Meloi had blown up the gym. Adding that on to being abducted and held underground, he wasn't such a big fan of me insisting I was going to stick around Sootopolis and wait and see if my mum did appear, especially if what we had surmised was true and that dad really was after Kyogre. I won him over eventually, telling him I had to see if my theories proved true.
Speaking of which, I knew all my theories were based off coincidences and assumptions, but they were all I had. Call me crazy, but I had a feeling dad would appear in Sootopolis, but even if he didn't I still wanted to be there when my mum eventually showed up. Stopping Dad was important, but with no solid idea where he was going to turn up, I had to stick with what I knew for definite. Mum was going to be in Sootopolis at some point. I had to go with that.
I had the idea in my head that Iwould join her and whatever group she was involved in and, if they already weren't doing so already, try and convince them to go after Dad. It seemed to me though that all the evidence pointed to the idea that they too were after Dad and whatever schemes he was attempting to pull off. I mean, how much more "incident in Hoenn concerning my father" could Dad blowing up a volcano and trying to capture Groudon be? No, I was convinced Mum and whoever was with her were trying to stop Dad, same as I was. It made sense too that they would probably have more information and intelligence than I had, already knowing that after the failure with Groudon Dad would probably try somewhere else. I had the feeling Mum and her people wouldn't have even mentioned going to Sootopolis unless that's where Dad was going to try next.
The situation infuriated me as well as confused me greatly as I got bogged down in finer details and thread thin theories. I was basing every idea I had, every reason I had on the assumption Dad would have just left Groudon be after he wasn't successful the first time. What if I was wrong…? I had no way of knowing.
But still…something inside me, my gut feeling, which had never really been wrong, told me that I was right. I had a creeping feeling Dad was going to come to Sootopolis; he was going to try and find Kyogre, wherever it may be; and Mum and her people were after him, somehow knowing already of his intentions and trying to get ahead of him…
I would just have to wait and see, wouldn't I?
"Umm, Sienna…?" Professor Oak ventured after we got the theories and his monologue about my safety out of the way. "Listen, I have a bit of a request for you?"
"Oh really? What?" I asked warily.
He looked a little sheepish. "Do you remember your Mum's Growlithe?"
"How could I forget…?" I said darkly.
"Yes, quite...well, you see, whilst a girl called Cathy, another trainer I know, was staying with me for a while, your mother's Growlithe ended up getting quite…friendly with Cathy's Growlithe FiFi.
"Fifi! What the hell kind of name is that?" I thought to myself in disgust.
"Of course you would have guessed Cathy's Growlithe was a female…"
"Uh-huh…" I said slowly, not really liking where this conversation was going.
"Well, long story short, the two Growlithe ended up…producing an egg…"
"An Egg?" I frowned. "How in the name of HELL can two freakin' dogs produce an Egg?"
"Yeah…and well, Cathy, the girl who owns the female Growlithe couldn't take it with her…her team was already full. So, I kept it here and it eventually hatched…into quite a feisty little thing really."
"Yeah…" I said, wishing he would just get to his point.
"Only thing is, I can't really look after him as well as your mother's Growlithe. The baby needs to be out with a trainer, working off some energy. He's not suited for the life of a house pet. I was going to see if any other trainers would like to adopt him, but after Cathy gave up ownership, he really is your Mum's Growlithe now… and I wanted to know if you would take him? "
"Me?" I said in surprised. "Are you sure I should take him?"
"I understand that it is a big ask, raising a baby Pokemon…but if your team is already full, then it's quite all right. I just thought you would take him since you are the only rightful owner remaining…considering we can't find your mum and the girl who owned his mother doesn't want him…"
"Why doesn't she want him?" I found myself asking.
"Well, to put it bluntly, he's a bit of a troublemaker…shall we say…he's a little…"
"Spirited?" I ventured, chuckling.
Professor Oak laughed delightedly. "Yes, that is one word to describe him. He's very loud and energetic…he would be, he's a puppy after all… I know it's a big ask, and I know you probably have a full team already, but would you take him? Please?"
It didn't take me long to decide on an answer. I felt a strange amount of pity for that poor unwanted Growlithe. It wasn't his fault the person who owned its mother didn't want to know, he didn't deserve to be confined and kept in one place all the time. It would be cruel. Besides, my team was already full of misfits, what difference would one more make?
"Of course I'll take him, Professor. Believe me, I'm used to baby Pokemon and I only have a team of three, so yeah…of course I'll take him."
"You will? Really! Oh, that's excellent! I'll send him over at once!"
And with that, Professor Oak instructed me on how to use the strange machines that were somehow able to transport Pokemon like data from one Pokemon Centre to another. As Professor Oak set things up on his end, I waited with bated breath. I almost jumped with surprise when the machine started whirring and making strange noises all on its own until eventually a gleaming red Pokeball just materialized in front of me. I picked up the unfamiliar red ball, turning it over and over in my hands. I found it hard to believe it contained a new Pokemon to add to my team… I had become so used to only a three Pokemon team for so long…what would it be like with a fourth addition? How would the other three take it?
I said goodbye to Professor Oak, thanking him for the Growlithe (which I supposed technically was mine anyway) and he wished me good luck, telling me to be careful. I assured him I would be, thanked him again and put the phone down, sighing. I then looked at the Pokeball in my hand.
I had never gotten along really with my mum's Growlithe. He was a massive energetic ball of fur, forever playfully snapping at my heels and growling and barking…and he was a fully grown Growlithe! How bad was that Growlithe's puppy going to be? He would be nothing but a manic, excitable, fire breathing bundle of energy! Could I really handle that?
But then again, when I thought about it, I had raised difficult Pokemon before. I had raised Meloi, the shock-everything-in-sight disobedient electric sheep, Aurora the baby Spheal with the attention span of a toaster and Monty the high class, high maintenance stuck up Persian…and I'd like to think they turned out pretty well. If I could handle them, I should be able to handle anything. Shouldn't I?
Still looking at the Pokeball containing my new Growlithe rather disbelievingly, I decided that before I even started to worry about how to raise a new baby Pokemon, I should probably let the poor little thing out so I could see it before I jumped to any conclusions. I mean, I had promised I would take him since no-one else wanted him…I couldn't back out now no matter what kind of personality he had.
So I tossed the Pokeball to the floor and a moment later, a tiny Growlithe appeared in a flash of white light. I had to admit, he was cute. He blinked in the strange new surroundings, his tongue slipped lazily out of his mouth and then his eyes stopped on me.
"Hi!" I grinned, perhaps too cheerily in my nervousness. "I'm Sienna! I'm your new trainer! You're going to be coming with me from now on!"
The Growlithe cocked his head at me. For a moment I totally expected the worst and I prepared to duck from an incoming Fire attack, but instead the Growlithe stretched its mouth into what anyone would have said was a grin.
"Growl!" he yipped happily, his tail beginning to waggle.
Next thing I knew, the Growlithe had launched itself at me and knocked me to the ground. I squealed at first, thinking that he was going to do a Monty and attack and bite and scratch me, but instead, I felt a thick, sloppy tongue slap on my face. He was licking me!
"Ewwww…" I squealed feeling thick globs of cold slobber on my face. I tried to fend the manic ball of fluff off, but he proved a lot stronger than I expected. "Get off!"
"Well this is interesting…" I thought as I eventually managed to prise off the yipping excited puppy. "This over affectionate licking monster should be a fine addition to my "spirited" team…"
Author's Note
Well...hopefully this chapter didn't confuse you too much. I hope this settles any scares you all had about Sienna leaving without her Pokemon and even RELEASING Meloi! :O
And Sienna has a new Pokemon! At last! Her mother's Growlithe's son! :D Nothing like keeping it in the family.
I'm afraid you'll have to expect some filler for a while before the story picks up again! Sorry...but on the plus side, expect Sienna finally PROPERLY catching a Pokemon by herself instead of being given one or catching it accidentally. Also, Elliot will be making an appearance soon.
Thanks to all my lovely readers and reviewers! :D Thank you all for your guesses about Cal and Suzanne, and I have to say that your theories on Team Aqua/Magma are close to being right, but not quite. Not telling you anything else, you'll just have to wait and see!
KyogrePerson: I'm afraid I can't answer...sorry! It would spoil the story...
AmpharosLover666: Your review made me laugh so hard! Don't worry, Sienna hasn't released Meloi. She'll be back in the next chapter! ;) And she'll be a little different!
xPikachu-Princessx: Aww, I love first time reviewers! :D Thank you so much for your lovely review! I'm so happy you think the story "rocks"! :D
Hikaru-pichu: Again, I'm really sorry, but I can't reveal anything about the plot! :( Yeah, I think Sienna's been very toughened up. She's had a complete personality shift now that you'll see more of soon.
Winter's Wrath: Eeek, I feel so bad I can't say anything about the plot! You're all nearly right, you're in the neighbourhood at least! Yes, Wallace might be making a tiny little appearance... ;) I had him written in anyway, so yeah! :D
Chalcodes: Love you too, Chal! :D Hopefully the story will get exciting again soon! :D
ParamoreDecoy: Don't panic! No-one's releasing anyone, I assure you! Haha! And Elliot will be showing up soon, I really miss him too... and yeah, Nikki and Jasmine ARE going after Sienna, but they're not doing very well at the moment, so she's got nothing to worry about.
Anonymous: Eeek, I don't know when the story will end...I don't have a fixed number of chapters in my head... Maybe 50 chapters at the most? I don't know! :( Thank you so much for your awesome review and I'll try to update as fast as I can for you.
Anonymous: Don't worry about not giving monumental reviews, I don't mind at all. Emm, what do you mean "Ask Digital Skitty why Sienna went to Sunyshore"? I'm so confused...
Please R & R if you can!
