Me (pokeninja6600): Hello all the humans, aliens and possibly monsters reading this fanfiction! I hope you enjoy this latest installment in Roma's Story! Thank you for-
Roma: *shakes head* You. Need. To. STAAAAAAHPPPPPP!
Rictor: It is getting to be quite annoying, author.
Me: *sulks* Fiiiine...Okay, this'll be about Ricky-
Rictor: IT'S RICTOR!
Me: -'s interview/possible-seal-of-approval meeting with Ghetsis.
Roma: We can't call him Snuggie man anymore...*sadface* Oh well, you guys can read now and a happy End Of Grade testing week and MSL week to you! Or at least to most of the people here in the US, depending on time zoning and-
Me: HEY SPOILER ALERT! It'll also include some Roma narration.
Roma: *punches air* YES!
Rictor's POV
The assistant's thoughts were thoroughly frightening and this man standing in front of me with practically an army behind him fulfilled all the boy's thoughts and more. He reminded me almost of Giovanni, my own adopted father. He walked with purpose and an air of complete confidence. It was frightening. If this was the man I grew up with as a grandfather, I would've run away as well.
"So, where's this boy?" the giant green haired man spat, his one visible red eye strafing through our crowd of six. His eye landed on me and I bit the inside of my cheek. I am tall and thin for my age and I probably about matched this man in height (it was hard to tell, as he was holding a cane and leaning on it) but he seemed to tower over everyone there. He had a red eyepiece over one of his eyes (which I assumed was either missing or scarred) and that made this imposing man even more intimidating.
I hesitated. "I believe I am the one you seek, sir," I bowed a little. "My name is Rictor." I said, straightening and looking him in the eye. His visible eye narrowed slightly and his posture stiffened slightly as well. I knew then that I had a made a mistake looking him in the eye, but I didn't drop my gaze. We remained that way for what seemed to be hours before he looked at our helicopter pilot and said, "Follow. Bring the boy." He then whirled around and walked towards one of the narrower alleyways.
I looked back at the group and Roma sent a faint reassuring smile in my direction but her eyes held worry. Cress sent a taunting glance my way and Eva, Chili and Cilan all looked nervous. Eva tightened her grip on Deino and sent me a warning look. I nodded and turned around, following after the giant crowd of bandit-looking Plasmanites.
We soon entered a building. It was bright and looked like a regular lobby. The man ordered that we be left alone and we headed up the stairs to another room. This room had a red desk, which he sat at and several other chairs. I didn't sit immediately, paranoia being my default setting.
"So, I've heard you've interfered with my plans to rule Unova, boy." the man said, lacing his fingers together and setting his elbows on the rather large dark red desk in the middle of the room. I tilted my head to one side a bit before interpreting his question.
"Correct me if I'm misinformed, sir. You wish lover boy- Cress, as you may know him- and my Roma to be wed so that she will be Queen. Am I correct so far?" He nodded, sitting back slightly and motioned for me to continue.
"You know that Cress is afraid of you and know that you can control him. He, in some ways, has a bit of power over Roma and is quite a tame boy. So, you wish them to be, in essence, figureheads. For them to appear on screens and such and you to be behind the scenes, almost as a puppet master. In that way, yes sir, I am interfering with your plans." I said. He nodded again.
"You are well informed, boy. It took me months to come up with that. Did the princessa tell you?" he inquired, looking at me oddly. I smiled slightly and shook my head.
"No sir. I grew up with Giovanni. I know the inner workings of most people's minds for more reasons than one." I answered. I shook some hair out of my face and returned my gaze to this man. He was staring at me coldly, calculatingly. It was almost like he could read my mind, ironically. Then he nodded and a ghost of a smile appeared on his face.
"Sit, boy. We have much to discuss."
Eve's POV
"Hate to tell you Roma, but we're not going to get anywhere with you pacing around a coffee shop," Chili commented, loosely pointing a styrofoam cup at her. Stormer and I were sitting on the table, to our server's displeasure, and all the humans were sitting around a circular, metallic looking table. Except Roma. Roma was pacing in a perfect square around four other circular tables. They couldn't hear it, but she was also muttering something to herself.
"Hey Roma," Eva suddenly piped up. Roma stopped pacing and looked up at her.
"So, how did you guys meet anyways? You and Rictor," she asked. Roma's seriousness melted away and she smiled. She looked over at Stormer and me. I nodded and leaped down to the cushy bench thing and laid down.
"You'll wanna listen. This story is very interesting." I said, looking up at Stormer. He smiled wolfishly at me and jumped down next to me. He laid down next to me, so close I could feel his body heat. Roma came over and sat down next to Cress. He didn't object; instead, smiling at her.
"Um, it was near the end of April and the beginning of May. I remember that much because it was five days after I'd turned eleven. Eve and I were headed to Kanto via boat and we knew we wouldn't know anyone there. We were newcomers, coming from Unova, a desolate region then. I was lucky to find a way to Kanto at all. I didn't want Eve to be trampled, so I held her in my arms, close to my chest." I remembered that. She had a death grip on me; no one could have touched me if they'd wanted to.
"I tried to blend into the crowd. It was getting dark out, the daylight already fading by the time I made it off the boat. During the journey, I had tied up my hair under a hat. Silver hair's pretty uncommon, if ya know what I mean. Plus, it stands out in dark backgrounds." she said, gesturing to her hair, which was in a single, thick braid down her back.
"Anyways, I was unrecognizable to anyone who wasn't looking for me. But he was looking for me. I stepped onto the platform, my eyes flickering around, making sure no one was following me. I walked off, as if I had to be somewhere. But I kept an eye on one boy. He had jet hair and what seemed to be gray eyes the color of steel. But, of course not, I was just being paranoid, I told myself.
"I wasn't being tailed; it was impossible. But I kept hearing a rustle in the trees above me. Eventually, once I was out of busy territory, I stopped and looked up. 'Who are you?' I called into the trees. No answer. I opened my mouth to call out again but then a boy's face appeared out of the dark, upside down and just a few inches from my face." I smiled and laid my head on my paws. I remembered this like it was yesterday.
"Deja vu-ish, eh?" Cilan said. Roma nodded.
"He loved doing that. Actually, anything with trees. Rictor loves flying types and he'd scale trees and throw himself from branch to branch, literally flying through the night sky, laughing like a maniac. Aerial tricks were his favorite things to show me. He'd be constantly observant of Scyther (Scizor was still a Scyther at the time) and always learning new tricks from him. Although, it was from one of these "tricks" that Rictor got his fear of hospitals," she paused, giggling. Roma looked at me.
"Remember that?" she asked, glee dancing in her eyes as she relived their meeting. I nodded.
"You betcha." I responded. She laughed and looked at the other guys. The boys and Eva were entranced by the story. It was almost funny. I glanced over at Stormer. He had a childish look of eagerness in his eyes and his tail was swishing loosely back and forth.
"Keep going Mistress!" he whined. She smiled and continued.
"He put a finger to his lips. He was hanging from a branch with just his knees and his eyes were level with mine. I got a good look at him and his eyes were, in fact, steel-gray. He was hanging upside down so his hair was flowing, waterfall-like, down towards the ground. It held a stark contrast to the beautiful background. This odd boy's face was streaked with dust and dirt but his eyes were bright, active and alert, almost cocky. I was distracted and he stole my hat. I screamed and put my hands on top of my head. He flipped himself right back up into the tree and put my hat on. He smiled at me, showing bright white teeth. He only spoke to me once until we formally met. It was right then. He said,"
"Catch me if you can, darling." a smooth, dark voice purred. We all looked behind us to see a gray eyed, black-haired mind reader we'd just heard about. Rictor. The background was exactly like the night we all met for the first time. It was autumy outside and the trees around were shifting shades of purple, red, orange and yellow. He smiled, showing those white teeth I'd seen so often during our travels. "If I remember right, that is." He sauntered over to our table, windswept hair falling slightly into his face.
"You left out a part, sweetheart." he said, gesturing slightly to his feet. Roma made a face, remembering.
"That's right. He wasn't wearing shoes. It amazed me. He leapt nimbly from tree to tree, no shoes on, laughing freely, for over an hour. Then we made it to a Poke Center and he stopped. I made it to the door and he was standing right there, not looking exhausted in the least, and still wearing my hat." Roma's eyes held amusement but still a bit of anger. He looked at her.
"My turn, hm sweetheart?" he asked, brushing some locks out of his face. Roma nodded and sat back, leaning against Cress and closing her eyes. A pained look crossed Rictor's face before he pulled up a chair from another table and sat down on the end of the table opposite my princess. Sitting down backwards in it, he laid his arms on the table and crossed them.
"She glared at me. She held out her hand for her hat. I shook my head. I had obtained a marvelous blue and white flower near the sea. At that moment, I held it behind my back. I bit my tongue, hoping against hope that she would like it. I held it out to her, the stem between my fingers and the actual flower cupped in my palm. I looked at the ground, not willing to see her reaction, if it was good or bad. She plucked it gently from my hand and put it in her hair. I looked up at her, daring to hope. She smiled at me." he paused, coughing slightly.
"She told me her name. I swore I'd remember that name forever. I did. I never forgot her name. I traveled with and battled countless people and I have long since forgotten them, how they spoke, what they looked like, what Pokemon they used. But all throughout my travels, I never once forgot her name." he said quietly, looking down at his fingers.
"Only because I constantly reminded you, you dork." Roma mumbled without opening her eyes. His gaze shifted up to look at her and I saw a young boy once again, not frightened of anything in the world except hurting his girl's feelings. He hurt himself too many times for her entertainment. Many, many nights we would sit together in mutual silence, watching Roma sleep. On the nights she had nightmares, he would hold her close and sing softly to her until the dreams were either peaceful or nonexistent. He loved her; there was no room for any other girl in his mind. She was, is, his entire world.
But he got hurt, for real. And she said we had to leave, she couldn't stand having him hurt anymore. That was his second trip to the hospital. That's the real reason he hates them. Because she left and he's afraid if he lets her out of his sight ever again, she'll never come back; he'll never be able to find her again. How do I know this? Well, getting to know him helped. Then there's the fact that Eevees are incredibly sensitive.
Me: HEEEEYY! Ricky does have a heart!
Rictor: *stares unrelentingly at Eve* How...How did you...could you...I-
Me: Well, only a filler, but MAN, I LOVE THIS FLUFF! I WILL DROWN YOU IN IT! I WILL DROWN YOU IN DA FLUFFS! BYYYYEEEEEEE!