A/N: Hey everyone! And, wow, everyone thought Lord Persian was hilarious, lolz! Hope you enjoy this chapter, too!
AmaltheaLuchiaAizen: (Taps Author) Tag! You're it!
Author: ... (Gives her bland stare) If you think I'm chasing you then (Tackles her unexpectedly) MWAHAHAHAHA! NINJANESS! xD And no tag backs!
AmaltheaLuchiaAizen: (hits the ground) Ouch! ok then.. Rage..You're it!
Rage: Damn... (Hits Wizard with her salmon) YOUR IT NO TAG BACKS!
Wizard: WH-at? Wait! Damn it! (Runs and smacks Harry)
Harry: Ow! ... (Gives her narrow-eyed look) Oh, you are so gonna get it now.
Wizard: There are no tag backs
Harry: Does it matter? DAD! WIZARD HIT ME!
Giovanni: (Uber-massive-Demonicness-of-over-protectiveness) RAWR!
Wizard: OH SHIT! (Runs away)RAGE MADE ME DO IT!
Rage: Wait, what? NOOOOO! (Flees after Wizard)
Giovanni: (Chases)
Harry: (Smug)
Authors: ... O_o o_O
CHALLENGE:
Review Tag!
The rules are you are to "tag" ONE other Author (by their User Name please!) when you Review! The Author who gets Tagged the most will get an Honorable Mention in the next Authors Note!
…I'm bored, people, and I'll probably go and check out their stories, so, yeah, go for it! And no voting for yourself! ~_~
ONWARD TO THE FIC~!
"Talking"
"Pokémon Talking"
Thinking
"PokéDex Talking"
"PokéGaze Talking"
"Egg-Reader Info"
Chapter Thirty-Six
"GAH!" Davis' shout woke the rest of the Tricksters, and set several of the baby Pokémon to crying. Harry jerked up abruptly, blinking rapidly in the chair he'd commandeered after his late-night adventure, and blurrily looked around to find the oldest member of the Tricksters, idly rubbing the grumpily crying Pokémon in his lap on the back. He found Davis hopping around on one leg, looking ridiculous, trying to get Yuna off his other leg, where she was, once again, doing something most inappropriate. Harry grimaced and popped his neck, wincing at the crick that made itself known, and staggered to his feet to stumble into the bedroom area to calm the other baby Pokémon down and (hopefully) get them back to sleep. It was an effort he saw would be totally wasted when he found Donner and Jamie wide awake and trying to calm Cyndie, while Del was attempting to gather the courage needed to make the jump from the bed to the floor. Harry sighed mournfully, listening with half an ear to Davis' struggles and shouts, Melantha's laughs, and the grumbles and snickers of the rest of their group.
"Let's get you all something to eat, shall we?" he asked, and was almost immediately scrambled upon by all of the babies, making the one in his arms startle and begin crying again, when she had just begun to calm. This, of course, brought her to the other babies' attention.
"Pa-Ma?" Donner asked uncertainly, frowning, and Harry gave him a gentle smile.
"Don't worry, Donner," he told the Oddish kindly, "I'm thinking Lyn needs a baby to take care of, don't you think so?" Donner blinked, then laughed and nodded, bouncing around happily. Harry looked down, and smiled comfortingly at the baby Pokémon, whom he'd found out was a Sunkern after he'd returned last night and located his PokéDex. She sniffled, large eyes wet and wobbly as they stared up at him, and he cooed at her gently, before settling her on the bed with the other babies to get them all acquainted. Minx leapt up to nuzzle her and watch over the young ones while the eleven-year-old moved around after getting his bag, mixing up some soft food for the five little ones and a bowl of nutrient-rich PokéFood for the Meowth.
"Oh!" Lyn's voice exclaimed from a little ways away as Harry sat on the bed and began carefully feeding Sunkern. The girl's eyes were huge and sparkly as she looked at the small Pokémon. "Harry, where'd that Sunkern come from? It's so cute!" Sunkern whimpered and shifted so that the food dish hid her face, and Harry gave her a reassuring smile.
"Minx ran off in the middle of the night, so I went and followed her," Harry told his friend. "Only to find that she ran off in order to feed this little cutie! So, of course I brought her back with us, and I was wondering if you'd mind a baby Pokémon to take care of?" Lyn turned huge eyes on him, and he turned his reassuring smile on her. "I'm positive you'll be a great parental figure to her, Lyn." She hesitantly moved forward, and Harry gave her his place on the bed, so she could cautiously attempt to feed the shy Pokémon herself. Sunkern was reluctant, but then began to eat, looking up at the girl with nervous eyes every few minutes.
"She's cute," Melantha said, padding into the room with Ric and most of the Pokémon, with the exception of Davis and Yuna (the photographer had gotten the Shiny Umbreon off his leg, but was now being chased around the room while she attempted to regain the position, and he didn't know it, but she was saying some very inappropriate things about his body, which Harry pointedly ignored in favor of a thing called repression and denial.). Harry gave the redhead a warm smile, and sent Ric an amused look as the boy staggered over to the bed, yawning hugely, and fell on it face-down, allowing Cyndie to crawl onto his head and nuzzle his hair with happy coo's.
"She's what Minx was always stealing food for," he told the sketch-artist. "And now she's Lyn's." The female twin looked up, suddenly looking worried.
"What should I name her?" She asked. "I don't want her to have an average name, I want it to be special…" Harry and Melantha shared a look, before the boy shrugged and gestured at the other. She pursed her lips and struck a thoughtful pose.
"Well, there are lots of names to choose from," she said idly, tapping a finger on her chin. "But how about… Evanthe? It means fair flower." Lyn blinked, thought over the name, and then beamed.
"Awesomeness," she said simply, turned to the newly named Evanthe, and crooned to the Pokémon as she continued to feed her. Harry shook his head and moved away to begin making the rest of their Pokémon's food, handing out bowls or setting them down where they could be easily reached, humming slightly as he did so, Melantha helping him by passing out water and cleaning up the baby Pokémon from their meals. Yuna finally got tired of chasing Davis and entered the room to eagerly eat her own bowl of food, though she did slant her eyes towards her trainer in a very suggestive way when the photographer moved towards the shower. Harry shuddered with a slight grimace.
Repression and denial, repression and denial, repression and denial!
As the Tricksters took turns in the shower, Harry grabbed his Perfume Kit, and gathered a bit from Davis' and Melantha's Pokémon, as well as Minx and Evanthe. He got a baby tooth from Jamie the baby Charmander, some blue fur and some black fur from Lewis the Lucario, claw clippings from Lee the Hitmonlee, and fur from Yuna. All went into little baggies, labeled and dated with Davis' name on them as well since he was their Trainer. Next, he took fur from Calypso the Umbreon and Yasahiro the Espeon, and petals willingly handed over from Anthea the Bellossom. Melantha willingly signed the three bags. Minx gave both fur and a tooth that was falling out anyways, and Evanthe gave a single, loose leaf. Pleased, Harry put the many little baggies away in his bag, before he went to take his own shower while his friends had breakfast ordered up.
He spent a long time just relaxing under the scalding spray, before sighing and beginning to wash, mind going over the plans for the rest of the day. They needed to find the Gym (an easy enough problem to solve, when all they had to do was call a cab and tell them where to go), he really needed to contact the rest of his racers today, they were running low on berries so a stop at the local store would be needed, and then they had they traditional souvenir/gift shopping spree that needed to be done. So much to do, he thought with a sigh. I can feel my feet hurting already… Finishing his shower, Harry got out and got dressed, before moving out into the hotel room, pausing as he watched his friends eat.
"You know," he said, amused, "when we leave, we're going to be ruined for a couple of days, spoiled as we are on all this good food and the beds and such." They all nodded with sighs.
"But it's so nice," Lyn said with a blissful expression. "Especially the baths!" Melantha nodded rapidly in agreement, as did Pirate, who was stroking his thick, clean fur with a delighted expression, cooing. Harry snorted with amusement, rolled his eyes, and sat down at the makeshift picnic the other Tricksters had going on, on the living room floor. He grabbed himself a plate of waffles, some strawberries, some whip cream, and finally the syrup, and sat back to enjoy breakfast.
Half an Hour Later…"Thank you!" Harry said to the two cabbies as he paid them for the ride to the Gym, smiling at them. They grinned, tipped their hats, and got back into their cars to drive away. Harry stretched with a happy sigh, and then quickly joined his friends on the curb before the Gym. Davis was preparing his large camera, and Melantha was getting her video camera ready, both of them bickering over which would be more useful for what in a live-action battle like this. Harry met the eyes of each of the others, shrugged, and then led the way in, the Twins grabbing a wrist of the older Tricksters to drag them along, still bickering.
"Whoa," All of them said simply, staring down from the platform they ended up on. A staircase led down to the main floor, which is what actually caught their attention. It was a maze of flower-covered bushes, shaped like a Pokémon…
"It's a Clefairy!" Melantha gasped, eyes huge; Harry found himself wondering if he could ask for some samples of the flowers, which were giving off a rather pleasing smell even at this distance. A throat clearing caught their attention and, as one, they turned to find themselves meeting the amused brown eyes of an old man with a really bad toupee, who was sitting in a chair off to the side of the staircase, with a book. He cleared his voice again, stood with the help of his cane, and took a deep breath…
"Welcome Trainers!" He greeted enthusiastically. "This is the Goldenrod Gym, run by the incredibly pretty Whitney! Alas, you cannot just walk up to such a pretty girl and challenge her to a battle, oh no, that would be impolite! In amongst this maze before you are five challenges you must face. One is a battle, three are riddles, and one is a question which you must answer truthfully, unless you wish to end up at the beginning again! Should you get anything wrong, or lose your battle, then you will be transported here by my Kadabra, Zinc!" There was a low buzzing sound, and, with a soft pop, the strangely cat-like Pokémon appeared, and saluted them with his spoon. "My name is Forrester, and I am the Introductory Officer! Know that you cannot cut throw the hedges, nor harm them in any way, else you will be banned from the Gym for one month! Do you have any questions?" Ric warily lifted his hand, and Forrester nodded at him, beaming.
"Er, where's Whitney?" The man beamed.
"Ah, Miss Whitney will be at the very center of the Maze, awaiting your arrival! Please, enjoy your stay~!" He then sat back down, humming, and began to read his book, which the Trickster's noted was on gardening. They sweat-dropped, before sharing a look.
"Shall we go and face this maze-thing?" Harry asked, voice amused; they shrugged or nodded depending, and the six of them padded down the stairs and entered the maze. They walked for about ten minutes, and hit two dead ends, before they met their first 'challenge'. It turned out to be a beautiful young woman dressed in a bikini and large sunglasses, reclining in a lawn chair that blocked their way, with a pokeball at her hip, holding one of those sun-reflecting sheets towards her face (how that would work, considering they were inside, Harry didn't know, but, oh well…). Harry gave a soft cough and pretended not to notice when Melantha elbowed Davis in the side and started a silent glaring contest/conversation with him over his wandering eyes. Bikini-Lady turned her head and lowered her glasses, letting her bright blond hair fall over her shoulder as her dark blue eyes gazed at them.
"Hmph," she said, obviously unimpressed. "It seems they'll let just anyone be Trainer's these days." She sighed and set her reflector down, and reached to her other side, plucking up another pokeball. "So, which one of you am I fighting, hmm?" She arched a brow, and Harry, the Twins, and Thad all stepped forward. She stared at them, and then gave a deep sigh, shaking her head. "Of for-. Didn't Old Man Forrester explain things to you?" the four of them shared looked, while Melantha and Davis continued their silent conversation/argument in the background, now including violent movement and gestures.
"He told us we'd have five challenges, have to go through the maze, and that Whitney would be in the middle," Thad said warily; Bikini-Lady gave a long-suffering sigh and pinched her nose.
"Whitney is a very sore loser," she told them calmly. "So sore, in fact, that she's been known to throw temper tantrums whenever she loses, and refuse to give up her badge for a good few hours after losing. It's gotten to the point that Trainers are given handicaps so that her uncle, Forrester up there, can avoid having to deal with the brat."
"But that's-"
"Not fair!" Ric and Lyn started and finished respectively; Bikini-Lady gave them a droll look over her sunglasses.
"Yes well, life often isn't, midgets," she said snidely. "Anyways, these challenges, this maze, are a few handicaps. Another," she continued. "Is that only one person can challenge Whitney or the challenges at a time."
"What!?" The Tricksters all exclaimed, Melantha and Davis re-entering the conversation on that bit of bad news; Bikini-Lady nodded and crossed her arms under her rather large bosom.
"And if you're in a group of two or more, then the one who takes the first challenge, can't take the next challenge, but has to wait for the third," she informed them.
"Bullshi-!" Davis started, only for Melantha to smack a hand over his mouth with a stern look as Evanthe peeked sleepily out of Lyn's bag at all the yelling. The photographer continued to growl what had to be curses behind the sketch-artists small hand, glowering at Bikini-Lady, who shrugged nonchalantly.
"I don't make the rules," she told him unsympathetically. "I just enforce them. I'm the Battle Challenge. After me, there are still the three Riddle Challenges and the Truth Challenge. So, who will deal with this one?" She held up her two pokeballs, one in each hand, and arched a delicate brow.
"I'll take you on!" Thad declared, stepping forward and straightening his hat sharply. Bikini-Lady gave a small, delicate sneer as she looked him up and down.
"Very well," she agreed, and the rest of the Trickster's moved quickly out of the way.
"Let's Battle!" The two combatants said; each threw a pokeball.
"Go, Meowth!" Bikini-Lady exclaimed.
"Go, Chiggy!" Thad cried; the two Pokémon appeared and got into battle stances, glaring at one another.
"Meowth, use Scratch!" Bikini-Lady ordered; Meowth darted forward.
"Chiggy, use Vinewhip!" The Chikorita's attack sent the cat-Pokémon rolling across the ground, only to climb to its feet with an angry hiss, and lunge again with another attempt at the aborted attack. "Again!" Thad ordered; and again, the Meowth was struck, and again, and again, forced to keep a good distance from the Chikorita as Chiggy beat it about the head ruthlessly. Bikini-Lady bared her teeth furiously, hands clenched at her sides, as her Meowth finally fell, unconscious, and the Chikorita stopped his assault.
"Meowth, return!" She snapped; with a flash of red, it obeyed, and she angrily tossed her next pokeball. "Go, Eevee!" She ordered; the small fox-like Pokémon appeared with a haughty toss of its fluffy tail.
"Chiggy," Thad started, but the Chikorita took a step forward, and launched a Razor-Leaf at the Normal-Type, making the small Pokémon leap about crazily as it desperately tried to avoid the nasty leaves. Thad blinked, then shrugged. "Alright then, you can continue," he said, bemused. "Use another Razor-Leaf, and then a Vinewhip on that Eevee!" He cried, and Chiggy tossed his leaf-blade, which made his tie sway, and sent his attack lunging towards the smaller Pokémon, who again danced about, trying to avoid being hit.
"Look out!" Bikini-Lady cried; Eevee jerked its head up in time to get hit with a vicious Vinewhip, sending it to crash harshly into the ground at Bikini-Lady's feet. It tried to get up, managed, growled, took a single step towards Chiggy…
And fell down, unconscious.
"Eevee, return," Bikini-Lady sighed angrily; in another flash of red, the unconscious Pokémon disappeared back into its ball, and the gorgeous, scantily-clad woman eyed them narrowly over her sunglasses for a few moments, before huffing and laying back down on her lawn chair. "I'm done with you pipsqueaks," she announced, snapping her reflector open again and getting comfortable. "Have fun figuring out the riddles, and answering the Truth Challenge," she told them calmly, and then proceeded to ignore their existence. Harry shared a look with his friends, before they all shrugged and edged around the strange woman and continued on.
Four more dead ends later, they ran into their next Challenge, a pretty teenage girl who was dressed up as a schoolgirl, giggling as she nibbled on a large lollipop.
"Halt!" She ordered, beaming at them when they did. "I am Riddle the First, easiest by far, get past me and you'll go far! Step forward challenger, but give care to your answer before, else wise you'll have to start all over, beginning right at the door!" She grinned at them as they sweat-dropped. "Who shall my victim be today? Which of you is willing to play?" Lyn rolled her eyes slightly and stepped forward.
"I've got this one," she said; Schoolgirl giggled and clapped her hands in delight, hopping to her feet off of the Psyduck-shaped chair she'd been sitting in.
"Excellent!" She declared. "Listen closely, dear, for I'll say it only once, after that, answer correctly or you'll have to go, go, go!" Lyn nodded, a tad impatiently. "Only one color, but not one size. Stuck at the bottom, yet easily flies! Present in sun, but not in rain. Doing no harm, and feeling no pain. What is it?" She bounced again and once more began nibbling on her brightly swirled treat, humming to herself. Lyn frowned, hummed, and murmured the riddle to herself a few times, then stared thoughtfully at her feet. Finally, she lifted her head and cocked it to the side.
"A shadow," she answered; Schoolgirl pouted, but nodded and moved her chair from the middle of the path.
"Passed this challenge have you six, but the next three are far from as easy as Pick-Up-Sticks!" she called after them; Harry shook his head and rubbed his forehead.
"Right," he muttered, and they moved on. It only took two dead ends and one entire circle of the Clefairy Maze to reach the next Challenge. It was a cute girl wearing shorts that were far to short and a half-shirt, twirling her long purple pigtail around a finger as she blew bubbles with bubblegum, popping them annoyingly.
"Yo," she greeted lazily. "Like, I'm Riddle the Second, and you gotta answer my riddle to get to Riddle the Third and the Truth Challenge, then to Miss Whitney. That cool?" She asked, leaning back in her chair and crossing one leg over the other, twirling a flip-flop covered foot idly. Harry nodded. "Cool, so, like, who's gonna try and answer?" Melantha stepped forward, and Bubblegum bobbed her head and straightened up, putting both feet on the ground, and resting her elbows on her knees, her chin in her hands.
"Okay, so, like, here's the riddle," she said, popping another bubblegum bubble. "I cannot be felt, seen or touched, yet I can be found in everybody. My existence is always in debate, yet I have my own style of music. What am I?" She popped another bubble as Melantha blinked.
"The music style made it really easy," she said simply. "You're a soul." Bubblegum bobbed her head and popped yet another bubble.
"Got it in, like, one, girlfriend!" She grinned, and jerked a thumb over her shoulder. "Now you gotta go find Riddle the Third and, like, that creepy Truth chick, and then fight Miss Whitney, and you're good! Have fun!" Another popped bubble, and the Tricksters moved on. Lots of twists and turns, one dead end, and they found the next Challenge. She was an attractive girl, sitting at a school-desk, black hair in a long braid, small glasses perched on her nose as she read a book, with a Caterpie perched on her shoulder. She lifted bright green eyes, and Harry had the strangest sense that, if he'd been a girl, he might have looked something like this, and that was just plain creepy. The girl blinked, smiled sheepishly, and closed her book, setting it aside.
"Hello," she greeted them softly. "I'm Riddle the Third, but you can call my Henrietta. This is Charlotte," she added, stroking the head of the Caterpie, who cooed happily and nuzzled her cheek. "Anyways, I'm the second-to-last Challenge before you fight Miss Whitney. Who would like to take on my riddle?"
"Me!" Davis blurted stepping forward. The Tricksters gave him weird looks. "I've been wanting to answer a riddle this entire time, but noooo, you all have to answer them first!" He complained, sulking, and Henrietta giggled softly, getting his attention back to her.
"Alright, are you ready?" she asked; the oldest Trickster nodded eagerly. "Here it is: A woman shoots her husband. Then holds him under water for over five minutes. Finally, she hangs him. But, five minutes later, they both go out together and enjoy a wonderful dinner. How can this be?" Davis stared at her.
"That would be insanely morbid," he informed her, and smirked, "if the woman wasn't a photographer. She shot a picture of her husband, developed it, and then hung it up to dry." Henrietta grinned at him.
"Well done," she told him, and gestured behind her. "The Truth Challenge is somewhere behind me. I'll give you a hint: Don't go left at the first crossroad, you'll end up back at the beginning of the maze and will have to fight Miss Veronica again, as per the rules." They thanked her, though her and Harry had a strange amount of eye-contact without blinking for a while, both feeling creeped out, before the Tricksters went on their way. Taking Henrietta's advice, they took the right turn at the first crossroad, and carefully wound their way about, hit only one dead end, before finally running into a pretty girl with dark green hair and pair blue eyes, which were glowing brightly with psychic power as she made a pokeball float before her, and created a blue force-field over the path behind her, which they could just barely see led to the center of the maze.
"I am Truth," she said in a quiet whispering way. "The one who answers my question shall go forth and face Whitney. You have two chances to answer, before you alone are sent to the very beginning to start again. The Riddles First through Third have changed their riddles for new ones, and The Battler has gotten her new Pokémon. Know, that this question will not be easy, and has been known to cause pain. If you still wish to go forward, then step up now, and answer my Challenge." The Tricksters eyed her warily, before Harry took a slow breath and walked forward.
He was a Giovanni, and Giovanni's did not shirk their duties.
Those pale, pale blue eyes, nearly colorless, nearly blind in appearance, focused on him intensely, and Harry had the uncomfortable sensation of having his mind and soul looked over and judged for every imperfection, seeking to find the hardest question for him to answer.
"Answer my Challenge, then, Harry James Potter Morsinger Giovanni," Truth intoned; Harry sucked in a sharp breath. "If you had to choose between saving the life of your beloved Donner, and saving the life of your cousin Mary, which would you choose to save?" Harry's mind went blank and cold, his heart stuttering as all the blood in his face drained, leaving him gray and ill looking.
"I-I don't know," he whispered; Truth gave him a silent, cool look.
"Incorrect answer," she said calmly; his head jerked up. "You do know, but you fear that knowledge. Answer my question, Harry James Potter Morsinger Giovanni, or start this challenge anew, only to be asked again, it matters not. Whitney awaits you." Harry closed his eyes, bile rising in the back of his throat as the answer floated to the top of his numb mind. He knew it, and he knew that, in knowing it, in acknowledging it, as Truth wanted him to do, he would hate himself after this…
"Donner," he finally whispered, a tear slipping down his cheek as he bowed his head under the weight of his self-loathing. "I would save Donner." Truth stared at him with those damnable, knowing eyes.
"Correct answer," she announced. "You may proceed." Harry didn't move for a moment, staring at her, and then he slowly reached up and scrubbed the tears from his face, before straightening and moving towards the blue field of psychic energy. It parted before him like a curtain, and closed behind him with the finality of a coffin, and Harry tiredly continued forward in a bit of a daze, unheeding of the beautiful flowers and scents wafting around him as he walked towards the older teen that was waiting for him with a confident look on her face.
"I'm Whitney, the Goldenrod Gym Leader!" She declared, tossing short, pigtail-holding pink hair, paler pink eyes flashing out of her pale, pretty face. She was an older teen, maybe twenty at the oldest, and was wearing a white, button-up shirt that had short sleeves, and a thick ribbon of red down the buttoned center, across the top of her shoulders, and along the rims of those sleeves. Her shoes were also red and white, bit her socks (which went half-way up her calves) were a thick-striped blue and gray, fitting well with her short blue-jean shorts. She was holding a pokeball confidently, two more attached to a gray belt that wrapped around her narrow hips, and gave Harry a smirk.
"You've passed my tests, but you'll lose here," she declared; Harry gave her a blank, dead look, mind still flinching from what Truth had forced him to acknowledge in order to get here, to face this, this… Brat.
"Shut up," he said coldly, pulling out a pokeball. Whitney huffed, insulted.
"Well then!" She sniffed. "Let's just get this party started! The faster you lose, the faster I can get back to watching TV!" The two battlers shifted into fighting stances, and Harry pulled down his Go-Goggles.
Like hell would he lose to this brat.
A/N: And stopping there. I know you all hate me, but I TRIED to write the fight-scene in here and…yeah. Didn't work. Sorry for the long wait, I hope you enjoy this!
R&R~!