Utopia's POV
Well, the Greenes certainly know how to make a slightly unpleasant meeting with my family more bearable. Mrs. Greene was a pleasant and loving woman that usually gave hugs to everyone (and I mean everyone). And in a small town of Lacunosa, that was ok. Mr. Greene was also pleasant in his own way. I don't really know how to describe him other than he had his own personal charm. Jaya was a happy and hyper young girl that could ask nothing other than about my Pokémon. She had dreamed up her team and had even asked Ouri to catch her one or two for her journey. And of course Ouri was very agreeable and nice to talk with, though I didn't think he liked the idea of catching a Pokémon for Jaya.
With this overwhelmingly happy atmosphere, I made it through dinner (home-made cheesy casserole, some veggies, and bread) without getting emotional over my parents being so secretive. I was being asked about my Pokémon journey and how the challenge was going, so I didn't want to break the atmosphere.
"So what's your favorite Pokémon?" Jaya asked, her deep green eyes positively glowing.
I smiled and said, "Well I think my Palpitoad Len is the best Pokémon. Palpitoads in general are good too."
Jaya frowned a little and said, "They are ok Pokémon I guess. But I really really like Emolgas and Dwebbles and Sewaddles. Aren't they the best Pokémon ever? I want my starter Pokémon to be one of those, and then I'll have the best journey ever!"
"But isn't it popular to get your first Pokémon from a professor?" Ouri smiled at his little sister.
"I don't want a Snivy, Tepig, or Oshawott, I want a Dwebble or Sewaddle or Emolga." She pouted immaturely.
"And what do you want to be other than a trainer?" I asked with a hint of sadness. Did she have a dream to shoot for?
"Yeah, I'll be the best Pokémon trainer and have the best Pokémon around. I'll go to the league and become the champion. I'll be known everywhere!"
I inwardly sighed. She had the typical dream every young trainer had. But did she have the skills to go all the way and become a champion? Was she afraid of dragon Pokémon like I was? Would she shy away from the Opelucid Gym?
Ouri gave me a searching look and said with a smile, "Do you know that I want to do as a trainer?"
I shook my head and waited for him to answer. Something about his look made me know that his goal was different and very, very important to him. I wondered why he wanted to talk about it other than it seemed like the right time to. And why hadn't I asked him before?
"You see, living in this town has given me a goal… We've been living in fear of our dragon in the Giant Cavern. It's time that we stopped living in fear." He clenched his fist and said with more passion. "My team is based around defeating a dragon-ice Pokémon, and I plan to either destroy Kyurem or drive it away. Just anything to make us no long afraid to stay outside at night!"
I stared at my friend with admiration. Yes, that was a good goal. He wanted to help the people here and was fed up with being scared. And as a trainer he would do something about it. If only I could see my fear like that. I was unwilling to change my fears or remedy them, but Ouri was much stronger than I was…
My father gave me a meaningful look while my mom glared at him and acted strangely. I still don't know what's wrong with them…everything seems to irritate mom.
Ouri's mom frowned a little. "And how soon are you planning to do this? You've only been on your Pokémon journey for around a year. You can't think of attacking the ice dragon until you have gotten much more practice. Experienced trainers have failed against Kyurem." She paused and added, "Even the great trainer Black doesn't go near that cave…"
"But I'll be different. I've already been training and planning for something to do against it." Ouri sent me a wide grin.
"You can't be thinking that Utopia would help in your scheme?" My mom shot in quickly.
Both Ouri and I answered a quick 'No!' to that. There was no way I was going to help with his brave plan. Tim was still trying to get me past dragons if not the big daddy dragon himself. I would be hopeless against Kyurem and I knew it. I still was helpless and weak.
"Good!" My mom huffed, clearly hiding something. I wanted to ask her what was upsetting her, but I held back.
Mrs. Greene frowned and said soflty to her son, "I still think that you should at least have some Pokémon League experience before you try to look into that dream of yours, Ouri. I don't want the worst to happen to you… Please promise me that you'll be careful and ready before setting foot in the Giant Chasm."
"Ok, mom," Ouri conceded, "I promise."
This pleased Mrs. Greene and she fell quiet. Mr. Greene looked at me and said, "And what do you want to do as a trainer, Utopia? It's rude for my kids to talk about their dreams without listening to yours."
For some reason my mind flashed to the Dimitris and the loss of Nessa and Luke. I could almost picture the Greenes if they had lost Ouri and Jaya and were depending on me to carry on the family dream. I gulped as I felt myself sympathizing with Tim once again.
I snapped out of my comparison and felt depressed again. "Well, I'm not sure…" Oh uncertain past and future… that still hadn't changed.
"That's ok, honey," my dad consoled me. "The journey is the path to the destination." Oh, did I mention that my dad loved to spit out little teaching lessons? He loved me and all, but sometimes he relied on little wise sayings to get a point across and ended up coming across as preachy.
"Don't you want to go to the Elite Four?" Jaya asked, her green eyes wide with confusion.
I shrugged and admitted, "Well, I'm not the best battler. I've met some brilliant and strong people out there and I don't have a chance against them."
"You thinking of anyone in particular?" Ouri grinned a little playfully.
I saw this as an opportunity to show off that I had met and made some friends. "Tim is very smart and so is Gregor. And Malcolm has some of the strongest Pokémon I've ever seen." I paused and was about to say something to Ouri's credit, but I hadn't seen him battle. "I haven't seen you battle yet, so I don't know your fighting style."
"Who are these guys?" Jaya asked with an exaggerated wink. "And when did you travel with so many guy-friends?"
I flushed a little. I was expecting people to be proud of so many friends that I had, but now Jaya was seeing it as if I was way too associated with guys. "They are in the challenge at Skyla's gym. And I don't normally have so many friends but Malcolm's so nice and Tim's stuck with me and…"
"Malcolm Kwester is quite dashing, isn't he?" Ouri gave me a weighted look, as if already guessing that we were soul mates or something.
"Hey!"
Jaya jumped up and exclaimed, "You know a Kwester? How is he related to Eugene?"
My mom didn't like this news. "You are spending time with celebrities?"
"He's a cousin and what's wrong with hanging out with a near celebrity?" I retorted, trying to fight to be hear over the flood of questions. Sheesh, it wasn't like I was dating anyone or anything. Why couldn't anyone understand that?
"Nothing good can come of a person in the public eye, especially with that Eugene person taking up ownership of Reshiram for Black." Mom said with conviction. She had watched the same news channel that I had seen I suppose.
Or maybe that was a bigger deal than I was making it out to be. It was just a meeting of dragons in Icirrus. Just because Malcolm was a cousin to Eugene didn't mean anything to me. Well, ok that was a lie of sorts. Malcolm had some fame from his cousin, but that didn't make him any more likeable because of the fact, he simply got more attention.
"What's up with you?" I asked, bringing the issues of her state of mind to play. Something wasn't sitting well with her and she wasn't hiding it. "Why are you uptight mom?"
My dad answered for her. "We are simply concerned for you, Utopia."
"What are you protecting me from?" I snapped. There I went. I had said what I wanted to ask in private. Thank you evil big mouth of mine. Landorus, this will be slightly awkward for Ouri's family.
But I didn't want to visually back down even though my mind was much less sure. I wanted to finally get this solved. They were trying to protect me from something and were getting antsy as if I was getting close to the boundary. I narrowed my eyes and stared my mom down.
Mom became flustered and looked away from my gaze. Dad seemed to try to calm things down. Ouri and his family were surprised and not sure how to respond. I was left glaring at the two people who had raised me all of my life.
My rage hit the boiling point and I snapped, "While we are on this subject, why didn't you tell me that we're from Sinnoh?" I put my napkin on the table and exited the room quickly.
I couldn't bear the atmosphere I had just caused anymore and I couldn't keep my nerve. I had pretty much said everything that was on my mind in front of my friend's family and my own. I embarrassed myself and my parents. I need to find a happy place. If I was Tim, I would find a cave. But I wasn't him. Where was a happy place for me?
I nodded to myself and walked to my old house. This was Lacunosa and I was sure if I asked to look around a little the family wouldn't mind. People were accommodating here. Sometimes if a person got drunk at a bar a friend or random passerby would drive the drunk to their home or a motel. Lacunosa was simply friendly. Why didn't any of that rub off on me like it had on Ouri? Even though I was still bitter at my family for their behavior, I wanted to see the old house and remember the good ol' days, when everything in the world seemed right.
I walked up to the familiar house and rang the doorbell. My heart pounded as I remembered so many things about the house: the nooks where I stored my toys, the places where I would play or watch TV, The back yard… The door opened and a fisherman opened it. "Uh, hello?" He asked.
"Oh, hi." I introduced myself lamely, "I'm Utopia Fletcher and I used to live here. I haven't been back here for a while so would you mind if I look around?"
"Oh, I guess not," the fisherman said and opened the door wider. "Just be sure to get inside somewhere else before sunset, ok little miss?"
"I know." I said kindly and stepped inside. What can I say, Lacunosa is a trusting place. In Castelia this would be seen as very dangerous, but this is a small northern town. I looked around the house and sighed happily. Sure the place was completely decorated differently, but I could still tell that I had lived here. I half-wondered if the marker stains on the wall were still in the bathroom or if they had been painted over.
The fisherman let me wander around without a word, though I could tell he was curious. I visited the main rooms, took a gander at my old room, checked to see if the markers were still on the bathroom (which they weren't), and finished the tour with a long gaze at where I would play with my toys the most: the living room. Everything seemed so small now that I had seen it again for the first time in six years.
I asked to go to the backyard, and then I promised to be off and stop bugging him. The fisherman allowed me to go and insisted that I wasn't doing any harm. The backyard was changed from what I remembered: the bushes that held the berries the birds ate in the winter were gone and the grass was replaced by rocks. There were a few statues decorating the back, but the porch was still there. I sat down on one of the chairs and stared. I simply stared and let memories return to me.
Maybe I should do this more often. I mused. This is very refreshing to do…
I heard a doorbell ring and the fisherman went to the door, probably wondering why he was so popular today. I tuned out the conversation until I heard the voice of Ouri calling out my name. So he had come to find me. I turned around in the chair and saw the green-haired teen waving to me through the house.
"Utopia, I think you and I need to talk. Then your parents want to talk to you as well, but all in good time."
I sighed and slowly got up from the seat. I didn't really want to interrupt my own nostalgia, but I did probably owe Ouri an explanation. I thanked the fisherman for his time and apologized before following Ouri out the door. I glanced back to the house a little more before looking at my friend.
He gave me a strange and searching look. "So what was that all about earlier?"
I sighed, letting my shoulders sink. "My family isn't as perfect as yours… I'm convinced they've been lying to me about something…" I mumbled. I didn't want to talk about it all that much, despite the fact that Ouri was supporting and simply there to hear me.
Ouri hooked my arm in his and started walking. "Let's go to that park to talk about it."
"Whatever…" I didn't fight his lead. "Say, how did you know I was at my old home?"
"Easy, I know you." He grinned.
I sighed and didn't say anything until we reached the park. It was only three blocks away and a familiar path. My mind wandered, as it usually did, to things about my family life, the nostalgic past, and the fact that Ouri and I were arm in arm. He was a great friend even though he and I hadn't stayed in contact a whole lot. I felt undeserving of such a great friend. He knew me? He actually thought he knew me well enough to know where I was hiding? But we hadn't been in contact in years. What motivated him to keep up our friendship?
We reached the park and sat down on the swings. I remembered when I was young that I was so excited to swing on these instead of the baby ones that functioned almost like diapers attached to chains to swing back and forth on. I didn't swing back and forth now though; I was still in an emotional mess. Then again, when had I been free of one of those in a day since starting the gym challenge? The swing was a good enough chair. Other children were on the playground, calling and giggling to themselves. It was still afternoon and some people hadn't had their lunch like we had.
"So, what happened?" Ouri asked on his swing.
I sighed and summed up my problems briefly even though I hadn't wanted to talk earlier. I don't know, I simply needed to unload. "Well, I'm sure that my family is hiding something from me and it might have something to do with this weird power that I might or might not have. They won't tell me the truth about our heritage and it took a stranger for me to look up my past."
"O-o-ok… I wasn't excepting that." Ouri laughed lightly to ease the tension. "So what's this thing about a power?"
I shook my head. "I think I dreamed it up though… I don't know… I can't stand this secrecy anymore."
He nodded and left off in thoughtful silence for a little. He finally concluded, "Then I'm afraid that I can't really help you then. Only you and your parents can work this out."
I shrugged. "They probably won't talk to me after what I said at the table. I wanted to ask them in private, but it just came out…" And I was trashing myself in front of Ouri. Usually girls do this either when the feel down, or when they want someone to contradict (or reaffirm) them to make them feel better. I simply was down.
"If you're sixteen and don't know about your family history or a possible power, I think you should have a right to know. I mean, we can travel our region at the age of fifteen, why can't you ask about other and more important things?" Ouri concluded and got off the swing. He crossed his arms and said, "I'd help you more, but I need to run my errands before it gets dark. You know the drill here." He smiled. "You can do it, Utopia."
"Maybe…" I trailed off mournfully. I wanted a little more help than that, but if he needed to run, he needed to run. Yes, I still was relying on others to get through things instead of being strong and doing things myself.
"You can do it." my friend repeated as he turned around and walked off to what I guessed the store. Well, I guess I felt a little more confident after that, but not terribly. I still couldn't make myself face my parents with fearing them.
After sitting on the swing for some minutes, I forced myself to stand and trudge back to Ouri's house to talk to the parents. I had to act assertive and not accept no as an answer. I had to think like an optimist. Ok, I will finally get the answers and I can be less insecure about myself by knowing my past. I will find out what is scaring my parents and make sure that I don't end up scaring them. And I can do it with confidence! I was totally kidding myself, but I could try.
I rang the doorbell and the Greene family welcomed me back enthusiastically. I was then shown to my parents, who seemed to put on a happy face for my sake.
My mom was still a little flustered if not agitated and my dad was just as calm as ever. Maybe their contrast was what kept them together. They weren't a similar couple and I couldn't think of a time when they seemed terribly romantic to each other. I could guess that Dad could calm Mom down when things got tough.
"Utopia, sweetie, I'm sorry that we haven't been honest with you." My father stared, instantly smoothing out the waters of a possible tsunami of a conversation.
The Greene family then left us three to talk in the family room, respecting our privacy. I sighed and continued to look at my dad. He seemed more willing to talk and speak kindly. "Yeah, you could say that." I muttered.
"I know your mother doesn't want me to talk about this, but I think that since you are old enough, you should know."
"Like heck I don't!" Mom snapped. "We've tried to protect her all this time and you think that a little talk will cure everything? She's in danger and the less she knows the better!"
Dad took a deep breath in and out and addressed mom, "Utopia is mature enough to hear about the family line of Damos. If she doesn't then she could be in even more danger."
My eyes bugged and all of my coping methods of thinking that last night was a dream were falling apart. So, Damos really was in the equasion… and I was in danger? Since when and how long?
Dad said in his soothing voice, "We moved to Unova because we were afraid. This was before the coup that is happening now, but we were still afraid. You see, a person with my blood can connect to the hearts of Pokémon." My father paused to see if I was still listening or if my head had exploded yet.
I blinked slowly and clarified, "So what were you afraid of? And you can really use powers to connect to Pokémon hearts? If that's so, why didn't you ever have a Pokémon on you? And did you chant 'transcend the confines of space and time'?"
I had evidently surprised my parents at these questions because they took a long time to answer me. Even cool and collected dad was astounded that I even mentioned the little chant. I decided to stop deceiving myself and accepted that I had in fact had some sort of weird heart-power. Luke was right all along… But was it a good thing? Did it cause danger to myself just for being like this? What if I was somehow a curse to society and would be hunted down for my differences? Now my mind was really spinning from over-reactive imagination.
I sighed to myself. Maybe this whole gift of connecting to Pokémon hearts was the reason we went to Anville Town and why I never was allowed to have a pet Pokémon. Did my parents even own Pokémon? Did only dad have the heart connecting ability and my mom simply was over reactive about it? What was the extent of my powers –if I could even cope with considering myself 'gifted'?
"Well, I can see that you've figured out some things on your own already." My dad said after a pause.
"No thanks to you two." I grumbled.
"We were protecting you and now you don't seem to care about your own safety!" Mom interjected, still on the matter of safety from some invisible enemy. It was starting to get on my nerves.
My dad stood up and held out his hand. He gave me a deep smile and said, "I think this way I can explain things a little better."
I stared at him for a continuation of his supposed speech, but he simply stood there and seemed to want me to shake his hand. "Uh… how will that help?" I eyed him carefully.
"Just take my hand." He said disarmingly.
I stood up and hesitantly took his hand. I mean, what could go wrong?
I couldn't explain what exactly happened as our hands met, but I could feel that weird heart-reaching resurface. I could feel my dad's heart and his intentions seemed clear. A simple handshake could somehow tell me all this? I could read his heart (if you wanted to call it that) and see that he and mom were worried about powerful legendary Pokémon. The history of people like us always ended up somehow with a legendary Pokémon and possible danger. The heart reading was a gift and Pokémon could almost tell if the person had that gift. We were prized for our ability to reason with Pokémon and it went all the way back to Damos, if not further. Dad didn't want me to be in that sort of danger or manipulation and secrecy seemed to be the best way, and living in Anville town as well.
Mom and he had moved to Unova because they thought Unova had less legendary Pokémon to worry about and that I would be safe, but there were as many legendary Pokémon in Sinnoh as Unova. They had little to no money and simply decided to live with it. And furthermore, they didn't want to tell me of my heritage because I would obviously ask questions as to why and they didn't want me to know of my powers until I was older just in case of misuse. But they were scared to tell me as I grew up and simply couldn't bring themselves to speak. Until now, that is.
And yes, I could use my heart-reaching by saying the chant, or simply by willing it after I got used to the feeling.
How did I know all that just from a handshake? I guess our heart-reaching abilities could reach each other and we could understand each other like this. Our hearts connected? Sappy sounding, I know, but there was no other way to credit it. That would explain why I never really hugged dad and he didn't want to be hugged in the past…
We let go of each other's hands and stared at each other. My dad's face sank a little. "I'm sorry that it distressed you so much…"
"But now I understand your perspective… somehow. You think that since I have heart-reaching powers that legendary Pokémon will target me?" I paused and shook my head. "I still have to accept this whole new concept of this inherited power…" I paused and frowned. "Wait, how did I know your perspective?"
"When two people with our gifts touch, our hearts connect." He said, back in wise saying mode it seemed.
"Well, now you're in trouble. Legendary Pokémon will try to test you and see what they can get away with and people who know will try to manipulate you. Don't blame me if your life goes downhill because you were too curious!" Mom raged and seemed nearly ready to stomp away.
I wanted to try to calm her, but I didn't know what to say. I hardly had a dream or goal to aim for in life, how was it going to get worse?
Dad came to my rescue. "Honey, Utopia is strong and mature enough to figure it out. She's not a child anymore, she's a full-grown Pokémon trainer."
Mom had had enough and left the room fuming.
I looked down at the ground and felt honored that dad had faith in me. I wasn't too surprised that mom had left the conversation; she left a conversation when she couldn't stand it anymore. I still had to ask so much more from my dad about my heritage and about the perks that came with it. "I was wondering… If I can connect with the hearts of Pokémon and other people of my descent, then can I learn a little from you how to work this? I mean, I have a Larvesta that doesn't like me and I don't know how or where to start with this whole thing… I can still barely accept that I have this sort of power." I admitted. "And can I connect with the hearts of regular people too?"
"You can't connect with regular people, but I can help you with your Pokémon." My dad smiled.
Well, that conflict got over quite quickly. I guess there's less misunderstanding with the whole heart connect thing. And now I can sort of understand my dad's view on the issue as well. Sure I still had questions about Sinnoh and why I had to wait until I was ten to move to Anville, but they could wait. My fire bug was going to defend me from Kyurem when it came with her dragon-powered hidden power. Things would be looking up!
A/N: Fun Fact, if you visit Lacunosa Town on Black or White in the night, you can find the fisherman and what I chose as Utopia's old house. :)
