Chapter 53

Mom and Dad were up before Steven and I. We had taken turns taking a shower, him the night before and me in the morning, so when we came out of the room, we were both ready and fit to travel. Me especially in the clothes Mom had given me the day before. She clapped her hands when she saw my cute outfit: a sort of frilly light pink top and striped mini skirt. I tied my hair up into pigtails, which my dad didn't understand until Steven started adjusting them. He was dressed in a suit that his dad had created to match the one mom had got me. It was still black, but the blue stripe had been replaced by light pink. If anything, we looked more like a couple than ever. Steven adjusted his rings so I could better hold his hand. We approached Mom and Dad.

"Where's Brendan?" Mom asked.

"He's back in LittleRoot. I'm not sure what he's going to do from there." Steven saved me there. I had totally forgotten that Red said he was going to let the real Brendan come out of hiding. He must've made sure it was true otherwise he wouldn't have said it. I probably should've thought of that when I talked to Flannery. Well, no fixing it now.

"Oh, taking a break, then?" Dad asked. "Seems odd of him. But if it feels right, I guess there's no better choice." He held out his hand to Steven. Steven took it and almost willingly let Norm lift him into the air. I was about to intervene, but Mom waved me down. Dad lifted him enough to meet eyes. "Break her heart and I'll break your face. Got it?" Steven nodded, unphased.

"Of course," he replied. Then Dad dropped him. Steven landed just fine, adjusted his suit, and looked back towards me. Like on cue, I walked forward and held my parents in loving embrace. They pat me on the back. Mom started sniffling.

"You always were a softie," Norm said to her over my shoulder.

"Oh shush." Mom held me tighter. Dad followed. "We're so proud of you, Mew. Be sure to take care of yourself and your pokemon. Don't stray too far from the road and always get enough to eat, alright?"

"I will." We separated. They followed Steven and I out into the open, where the champion revealed his skarmory. It was far too early for anyone to look on and stare, so as Steven and I boarded the bird pokemon, Mom and Dad remained the only ones out in the open. Mom was crying when I looked back at her. I waved at her. "I love you guys! I'll be back sooner than you know!" Mom was too choked up to reply, so she just raised her hand. Dad held a thumbs up.

"Rub some salt on every wound you get, you hear?" His words were just as frail as moms tears.

"I promise I will!" Skarmory's wings started flapping. As soon as we took to the air, they both hugged onto each other and waved goodbye. Skarmory did a dizzying turn to the NorthEast and blasted off in that direction. We were just out of earshot when Mom had an epiphany.

"Norm, we forgot to tell her about her heritage!" Norm smiled at her.

"What? The whole thing about having Mew's genepool?"

"Yes, that! She'll need to know that if she becomes champion." Mom pulled out her phone, but Dad took it from her. "Hey, she needs to know!" He gave it back to her after he had powered it down.

"I have a feeling she already knows, sweetheart." He looked to the sky. "I have a feeling she already knows."

Steven's skarmory, unlike the other times I had confronted it, didn't try to attack me. The steel type pokemon was actually trying to be somewhat kind to me by letting me stroke her metallic sides. We were high up in the sky by the time she reached her ideal altitude. The wind was cold and water droplets gathered on my clothes, but with Steven holding me from behind, I wasn't afraid. It was breath-taking to see the Hoenn Region from this far up like I had when I rode the Eon Duo. I wondered where they were now.

I reached into my bag. The egg that I had placed among a series of warm blankets and clean articles of clothing was warm to the touch, radiating heat. I didn't know how long it took eggs to hatch, but this one seemed to be getting ready to break, and soon. I repositioned some of the blankets and rested it on its' side.

After that I dug a little deeper and saw that the Eon Flute that they had given me was still on my person. I could call them, but not now. They had told me not to be greedy about calling them and I was going to be sure to keep that promise. As I dug deeper, I found the tail feather Steven had given me to defend myself when we had first met. He had seen how terrible pokemon had treated me and I had used it possibly a few times in self defence, but now that I had pokemon powers of my own, I didn't use it much anymore. I kept it there, however. It was my first real gift from Steven.

Gift. Oh, that's right. Steven's birthday was in a few days. I looked back at him. He had his eyes closed, arms around me, letting the wind rush through his hair. I smiled. He was cute. What could I get him for his birthday that his rich father hadn't got him already? I'm sure half of Hoenn had already given him gifts the past sixteen years. It had to be something homemade, something with a lot of meaning. It was right then and there I drew a blank. Well, I still had some time. I could think about it later.

The ride on skarmory was supposed to take us to Fortree, but she tired quicker than we expected. The headwinds were strong for her and the cold was freezing us solid. We had to land halfway between Fortree and Mauville. By the time we landed, we were soaked to the skin by the rain. It was heavy and the lightning was bright. I considered stopping by that old woman's shack that offered rest for any travelers, but Steven assured me that the rain never stopped on this route. We would just have to tough it out.

I pulled up the hood on the thick jacket Mom had bought for me. It was surprisingly waterproof and warm on the inside. Steven's father had likewise gotten him a jacket, though his was custom made, made of better materials, and probably costed half of the price of my house. It, too had a pink stripe on it, matching the coat I had brought.

We were stepping up the path that led north to Fortree when Steven stopped me.

"What?" I asked.

"There's usually trainers around here," he said, his voice nearly drowned out by the thunder and pouring rain. I looked around. He was right. There were no trainers in sight. I thought it was because the weather was terrible, but if what Steven said was true and it always sucked this bad, then they should still be there. I was thinking of a possible conclusion was he grabbed me and darted into some ridiculously tall grass. I was close enough to hold his hand, but I couldn't see him.

He tapped the back of my hand and pulled apart the grass. Maxie, leader of Team Magma, was dead ahead. He was standing in front of a building that had metal gear and other foreign doohickeys attached to the outside of it. He, too, was soaked to the bone. But he had neglected to get himself a jacket, so he was holding up a larger Magma admin uniform above him to lessen the weight of water on him. He looked angry.

"Tabitha!" he shouted into his PokeNav. I was surprised it hadn't stopped working, it was drenched. "Where are you? I can't do this without your help!" The admin started speaking from the phone, but it was too faint for Steven and I to hear. From the looks of it, Maxie was having trouble hearing it, too. "What? What?!" I leaned forward to try and make out more of the conversation but Steven pulled me back again. Where we had once stood shuffled. Three people dressed in blue Aqua uniforms passed us. As soon as they were out in the open, a few Aqua grunts followed them. I could hear Archie groaning.

"Not you again."

"Get out of here!" Shelly nearly shouted over the pounding rain. She seemed to be enjoying herself because she wasn't wearing anything over her uniform. Her hair, nearly stiff from hair spray, stuck in place. Matt stood with his arms crossed, purposely clenching his fists so his muscles bulged. "Whatever you want with the weather institute can wait, we need to talk to the guy in charge."

"You're speaking to the guy in charge," Maxie said. "We're in control of it now." Archie stared at him, contemplating his words.

"You're kidding."

"Nope, got grunts in there already." Maxie said it like it was true, but when Matt stepped forward, the Magma leader stood in front of the door, arms out to the side defensively. Team Aqua narrowed their eyes. "I don't want you sea freaks interrupting! Get out!" He had barely spoken the last word when Tabitha, followed by Courtney and a few grunts, stepped out of the tall grass to our right. Steven pulled me again, this time nearly revealing us when I tripped over his shoe. We made quite the commotion, but the grunts were making enough of their own so we went unnoticed.

"Oh…" Courtney said robotically. "We're… late?"

"There's my coat!" Tabitha ripped the heavy admin outfit from his leaders hands and slipped it on before the black shirt he wore underneath became too wet. Archie lifted an eyebrow.

"Can't take a little rain?" he said with a hint of snottiness in his voice. "You're a terrible excuse for a leader."

"Oh yeah?" Maxie pulled out a pokeball. "Why don't we have a battle? I'll knock out your wimpy water pokemon like the magikarps they are!" Archie smirked.

"I'm sure your fire and ground pokemon will do just great in this weather."

"Say that to their face!"

"They're not even out yet! Bring 'em out! C'mon!"

Steven looked towards me. He whispered, "My pokemon aren't too good in water. Do you think your spheal can handle this?" I nodded and pulled out my pokeball. I called her out quietly and she emerged, her face in ecstasy. She loved the rain. Her tongue lapped to get a good taste or two of it before she turned to me, blinking.

"Salamandar, do you think you can stop those guys?" I pulled the grass apart sligtly so she could get a good look at the people we were dealing with. Her eyes rolled over them before she leapt backwards, squealing in sudden terror. Steven managed to grab her and cover her mouth, but just being held by the champion freaked her out more. I fumbled for her ball and returned her to it, where she trembled. The two leaders and their four admins looked towards us. I felt my heart catch in my throat. Steven put a hand on his hip, ready to send out a pokemon until an earsplitting whistle drew everyone's attention away from us.

Standing on top of the weather station was a girl. I could see much of her without being blinded by rain, but I knew she was wearing a torn cape of some sort. That and her voice was stronger and bolder than most of the women I knew.

"Team Aqua and Team Magma, you are not welcome here!" She spread her arms and a bolt of lightning struck between the two quibbling men. They both leapt away, surprised. The only ones who didn't move were Courtney and Shelly, who had both been glaring at each other since the beginning of the gathering. They eventually backed away when the grass caught fire. It burned for a few seconds before the rain quenched it. "You've been warned! Will you leave now, or will I have to make you?" Her voice was even louder now.

"She some sort of thunder goddess?" Matt asked. "I don't see any pokemon with her."

"Bro," Archie said, rolling his eyes. "There's no such thing as thunder goddess." He turned to her. "Hey, you might want to get down from there before you hurt yourself! I'm all for rain, but the lightning can get you easier up there!" Tabitha, who was quivered under the entryway to the weather station, waved his hands at the Aqua leader.

"Y-you better n-not tick her o-o-off! Sh-she sounds serious!" He tugged on the back of Maxie's robe. "L-l-let's leave before we really make her an-angry, b-b-boss…" He squeaked and flinched when the woman shouted again, this time through clenched teeth.

"This is your last warning! Begone or be struck!"

"Show us your rage," Maxie challenged. Tabitha started pulling on his robe repeatedly. Maxie tugged it away. "Whoever you are, if you are some sort of 'thunder goddess,'" he said the word like it was a curse, "then make us leave!"

The sky was suddenly filled with light. Instead of just flashing and returning to darkness like lightning often did, it stayed illuminated to the point of blinding us. I grabbed onto Steven, trembling as the sky ripped open three times. A jagged face with red eyes and a black smile stared down at us, laughing in a bold and powerful voice. Tabitha was the first one to freak out by throwing his arms in the air, waving his hands, then running back down the path he had come from. Matt grabbed onto Archie and Shelly and picked them up over his shoulder, running the opposite way with Archie frozen stiff like a board and Shelly half unconscious. Maxie had taken off right when the sky illuminated. The grunts had scattered about the entire while the wretched face began laughing and took off after their leaders, hollering and shouting. Courtney was the only one left standing. She popped the bubble she had been blowing, swallowed the gum, then proceeded back where she had come from like a robot.

I wanted to run just as badly as the others, but when the goons had left, the sky cleared. The rain stopped, the face vanished, and a bright and beautiful broke through the clouds. Bright blue soared across the horizon, leaving a gorgeous and thick rainbow. Steven and I walked out into it, skin suddenly warm by the blinding sunlight. It was… breathtaking.

"You two." We barely had time to look up before the thunder goddess jumped from her perch and landed in front of us. I stumbled backwards into Steven, who held me upright to meet the girl head on. "You've gotten in a lot of trouble, haven't you?"

She was taller than me yet shorter than Steven. Her dark brown hair was cut at different lengths all around the edges. The rest at a slightly more manageable length, was tied back in a ponytail. She wore a cloak that was burned so badly in the back that it was just a strip of cloth near the end. Her shorts were held up by a red rope and her socks were knee-high. She looked pretty awesome.

Maybe she was a thunder goddess?

Thunder Goddess Used Scary Face!

Magma And Aqua Goons Are Paralyzed!

Magma And Aqua Goons Fled!

Saving Game…

Game Saved!