Chapter 14: Mysteries of the World
A/N: Not else much to say save for thanks for reading/reviewing. Review Replies:
GarionRiva: Makes sense. I sort of gave him Gliscor on a whim. And then I regretted it. Thanks!
ThalTair: I hope to make the Hoenn Arc (I honestly don't know how long it will be, but sure, let's call it an arc. It may well be a ridiculously long one) just as enjoyable! Thanks!
Follow, favorite review, whatever you like. Enjoy, Alfa19
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Ethan stared out the front of the Nautilus, the dark of the ocean's depths sending chills down his spine. Nothing much was visible to him out the window for the most part, except the rock faces of the trenches the maneuvered through when they came close enough and occasionally the massive serpentine body of Blake's Milotic. His mind drifted to the passage he had read about his father.
Nicolas Photon, (1972-2009), was born to James and Maeve Photon in New Bark Town, Johto. He started his journey as a trainer in January 1991, traveling across all of Indigo twice, including the Sevii Islands, and was known as one of the few people in history who managed to scale Mount Silver, and was in fact known for training there. Photon took part in the Indigo Conference in December 1992, skipping the Silver Conference altogether. Storming the conference, Photon swept the opposition to wind up second in the conference to Quintin Marks (see next entry). Photon spent his year training out of region as a rookie ace trainer in Unova, under Andrew Grace, before returning to Johto and rising up the ranks of the Indigo Corps. As a Rank 5, Photon trained Steven Stone of Hoenn. Photon lost his life in 2009, defending Johto against The Monarch's Guard (Kalos). Pokemon listed below:
Typhlosion Kingdra Dragonite Samurott Haxorus Steelix Golurk
Ethan turned his neck a bit to look at the back of Steven's head. It was Steven's turn piloting the craft, and he steered it expertly through the waters around Mossdeep, something Ethan had no doubt he had done before, and around to a small cove with an overhang where he pulled it in and docked it. Ethan was partially glad that they had surfaced once inside the cove, just because it was day and with the Nautilus's soft lighting, it would have stung a bit. Steven walked out to the hatch, motioning for Ethan to unscrew it with him.
It took a minute, but they got it open and heaved all the things out. Ethan stared at his things, the pack with all his traveling things and his small bag. Sitting some 7000 miles away from home, traveling with nothing but what he kept on his back and his Pokemon put everything in perspective, and with a grimace, he thought of the condition in Johto.
He helped Blake out and carried what things they had through a passage into a small modern house with plenty of sunlight. The floors were wood paneled with a foot of glass running through the center, revealing water flowing underneath. The main lounge's walls were two and a half window walls, and lined up against one of the sturdier walls was a collection of gems and stones.
"Welcome to my humble abode… Steven gestured around with his arms, placing the book on Indigo's guards, rank fives and league members on a shelf. Ethan had finished it with time to spare.
Blake walked straight out the door with a wave and a smile, her bag slung over her shoulder. Ethan watched as she walked out to a car parked in the driveway and got in, driving out. It hit him then that he didn't actually know her age until now. He had thought she was sixteen but she had to be at least eighteen to drive in Hoenn. He shook his head and turned back to Steven, who was making himself a cup of coffee.
"Anything to drink? Coffee, tea, water, orange juice?" He questioned, opening his fridge.
"Actually, I could use some orange juice if you don't mind." He replied, accepting a glass from Steven and drinking.
"Time to plan things out. Considering I've just arrived back in Hoenn and there's work to be done, I'm going to return to Ever Grande in a day. You, I expect to go about a normal journey and travel. I will find you myself once I have this mess down. I'll probably just text or call you. It gives you some extra time to temper yourself if you wish to and to adjust to the time zone. Once I'm ready, training begins. Considering we're in Hoenn and I'm far more familiar with the lay of the land, it won't be what we had planned for Johto, which was traveling and training. No. You'll travel for sure. When I find you though, I'll take you somewhere I can train you, and it'll be nothing short of working you to the bone, if leniently." Steven grinned devilishly, his eyes sparkling.
"Feel free to bed down in one of the spare rooms if you plan on staying in Mossdeep for the night, or leave. Do what you will, but come back in the evening around seven if you're free. We'll take a look at your Scyther, since I have more than I few metal coats lying about here from whenever Aggron's plating changes."
"I think I'm going to go to the Pokemon center, get back in the feel of traveling as much as I can. I'll definitely stop by if I'm free though. I probably will be."
Steven shrugged, bringing his cup to his mouth again. "Your call, I'm going to go meet someone. I do urge you though, take a few days off before you start, and even when you're traveling, enjoy Hoenn. There's a lot to see."
"I'll make sure to do that." Ethan replied, putting his empty glass in the sink and rinsing it out. "See you sometime."
Ethan hefted his pack over his shoulder and picked up his bag. Using the clock on the wall, he fixed the time on his watch and his phone, and walked out with a backwards wave. It was twelve in the afternoon in Hoenn, and the sun was shining high in the sky, bathing Mossdeep city in a warmth that wouldn't be found anywhere in Indigo except Cinnibar, and even that was different. Cinnibar had a searing heat, with ash and dust in the air, but here it was more of a comfortable warmth. Ethan was glad he'd acted on Blake's advice and left the Nautilus wearing khaki shorts and a navy V-neck.
He looked around the island city, and spotting the red roof of the Pokemon center glinting in the sunlight, he proceeded to walk there. It took him about half an hour to reach the Pokemon Center, near the west coast of the island, on higher ground. Its roof seemed lower than that of the ones in Johto and it had a few balconies at the edge of the high ground upon which it was built, overlooking the ocean. Ethan had learnt from their journey in the Nautilus that Hoenn's oceans were at least twice as deep as those elsewhere for the most part, not counting the western straits, and had trenches which doubled even that depth all over the eastern end, between Ever Grande and the mainland.
He pulled his phone out, checking his messages and replying to a few from his mother and Lucy, before checking one from Blake.
Drop by the Mossdeep Space Center (You can't miss it. Large glass and steel building, private property behind it, rocket parked off the coast) later today if you're free. Maybe around two. My sisters want to meet you. We can go out to lunch or something, show you around what we call home a bit. See you. Ask for Blake Wilson.
Ethan smiled, sending back a quick confirmation and then walked up to the reception counter, waiting his turn to be greeted by a stern looking woman in her fifties with brown hair under a cap wearing a full nurse's uniform.
"Hi, could I get a room?" He asked, smiling as he pulled his tag out from around his neck. The thin metal card with the two chips embossed in the left side of the Indigo Crest raised an eyebrow as she ran it through the scanner, typing away furiously.
"Mr. Photon is it? From Johto?" She asked, confirming what she was reading off of the screen.
"Yep."
"Room one zero eight. Down the hall to the left. You ought to have a nice view of the beach." She handed a key without another word, and he walked off down the corridor with a quick word of thanks. He opened the door to the room, finding something quite different from what he had been expecting. Instead of an outside wall, there was a terrace like protrusion from the narrow room, all wood, matching the floor, with a thick membrane like curtain sealed around it, letting in no wind, noise or light. Ethan set his things down and tugged it open halfway around, revealing a view of the Mossdeep's sands through a cluster of trees.
He stared out the window for a moment, looking at the scenery and then he let go of the curtain like membranes, sitting down on the bed. It was a single room, small but he didn't have to share it with anyone, which was nice considering he was planning on staying in Mossdeep a few days, getting adjusted to the time zone and examining Hoennian maps, not to mention taking on the local gym and then relaxing.
He looked around and then walked right back out of the room, locking it behind him. He made his way down to the main hall of the Pokemon center and picked up a map from the stack on the receptionist's counter, heading to the training room nearby so that his Pokemon could stretch their legs, even if it wasn't outside. He grinned as it occurred to him that his Pokemon would stick out like a sore thumb when they were outside. Most people here probably hadn't seen Johtan Pokemon, or Unovan Pokemon either for that matter.
Scanning his key, he went into an empty training room and closed the door behind him. It was maybe thirty feet one each side, pretty plain. The floor was damage and fire-resistant wood, and one wall was a massive window, glazed from the outside so that not too much was visible looking into the room, but light still streamed in, and Ethan could see the city outside. He reached for his belt and one by one released his Pokemon into the room. Soon he stood facing his Pokemon. Some of them had had a chance to see the inside of the Nautilus, being able to fit in it comfortably and without incident, like Typhlosion, Riolu and Specter, but even those three couldn't get a decent stretch in inside the Nautilus. He leaned against the wall of the room and looked at all of his Pokemon. Each was tense and ready to release the pent-up energy from spending some number of days without activity or in their pokeballs. Ethan frowned for a second, losing his train of thought.
Ethan felt slightly dizzy, for reasons he couldn't understand, and despite the fact that the window was supposed to be soundproof, he felt like he could hear some sort of sound. He couldn't quite put his finger on it, until it grew louder and louder. The roar of a waterfall was audible, albeit somewhat muted, and Ethan found out why. On the window itself, a spinning ring of flying silver sparks formed, about four feet in radius, through which was visible what seemed to be water…. He could see underwater through the ring.
Immediately assuming it was a lake due to the sound of the waterfall in the background, Ethan stepped closer to it, standing about six feet away from it. His Pokemon scattered themselves about the room uneasily. Ethan's squinted, seeing a shadowy form about three feet long approaching the ring, and not of its own volition. Ethan stepped back cautiously, as in a cascade of water, a blue humanoid Pokemon with whiskers and a shell attached to each of its legs was flung out of the gateway.
Ethan whipped out his phone as the sparks died out and the ring disappeared slowly, leaving him with the Pokemon and a centimeter of water spread about most of the floor. Pointing it at the Pokemon, seemingly a water type, which was regaining its bearings, he scanned it quickly, hoping it would be one of the commonly known Pokemon of a region that wasn't fully documented in Brendan's database, or from a region he did know. It would be terribly awkward to have to go to the nurse and ask what the Pokemon he had was.
It took the machine a few minutes, but finally the scan returned results. It was a Dewott. A Unovian Pokemon, and the second stage of the water type starter in the region. The pre-evolution of Samurott. Ethan stared at in it in shock, still unable to swallow what had just happened.
The Pokemon had regained its bearings and seemed equally confused, looking around the room without a clue of what had just happened. As far as Ethan could guess, it had just been swimming in a lake, and now it was here, presumably some 5000 miles away if it had come from Unova.
Ethan stared at it, relaxing his posture. His own Pokemon seemed to be in various states off shock as well, unable to process entirely what had just happened.
Dewott looked around the room, still confused. Ethan relaxed and recalled his Pokemon one by one, each removal making the Pokemon seem a bit less hostile. Finally, he was left with just Typhlosion standing by his side and Dewott sitting opposite him, having decided not to react hostilely. The puddle had soaked into the floor, so Ethan mimicked it and sat down, waiting for it to do something. Ethan slowly reached for Riolu's ultra-ball and released the Pokemon into the room, drawing no reaction from Dewott.
"If you could talk to our friend over there that would be great. Sort of try and figure out what happened?" Ethan asked, scratching the cub behind its ears.
With a quick nod, Riolu jumped over to where Dewott was sitting and started interacting with it. For some time, they sat and communicated, and then they broke out into a game of tag, running all around the room whilst Typhlosion and Ethan watched amusedly. For maybe five minutes the two Pokemon ran about joyfully, then they finally stopped, Dewott sitting down nearer to Ethan than before, maybe five feet from him.
Riolu approached him and looked him in the eye, pushing out thoughts using aura.
'He says that he chanced upon a lake after a few days in a forest it didn't know, and so he dove in to swim, and after a little while, a light appeared and he was pulled towards it and then he arrived here.' Riolu explained, turning to Ethan. 'It's asking to come with you since I explained how far away we are from Unova and it has no way home nor anywhere to go here.'
"New members are always welcome in this family." Ethan smiled and looked at the Pokemon, pulling the last ultra-ball off of his belt. "I'm going to press this button and try and catch you now."
With that warning he waited a second and then pressed the button. Immediately Dewott disappeared in a flash of light, and with a few slight shakes, was registered to Ethan's ID. Ethan released all of his Pokemon again, one by one, and sat them down as best as he could in a circle. It was nearing one in the afternoon at this point.
"So, guys. Another new friend. Boy this group is fluctuating." Ethan sighed, gesturing with his arms. "Meet Dewott, who has no idea how he got here from Unova. In any case, we'll take fifteen or twenty minutes to recover from those days doing nothing, and then we'll see about it in the evening. For now, everybody do what you want in a part of the room without affecting anyone else. Dewott, you and Riolu will come with me. So, we can figure out as best as we can what you know how to do."
His Pokemon dispersed, taking up places about the room, and Dewott and Riolu followed him to a corner of the room near the window, where he promptly reached up to the wall and pulled down a folding seat built into the wall, some five feet up. Clambering onto it, he looked down at Riolu and Dewott.
"Okay, one by one, every move you know, right at the wall." Ethan instructed it, Riolu jumping the five feet up to the platform like seat.
Dewott shrugged and looked at the wall, starting off with a simple water gun and then switching to a water pulse, before moving on to what Ethan thought was aqua jet, then using brine, and lastly, finishing up with Fury Cutter and then a move Ethan didn't recognize where it detached the shells on its legs, made blades out of them and slashed the wall.
Ethan frowned and looked them move up, finding that it was Razor Shell, a move exclusive to the Samurott line. Ethan thought for a minute, checking his watch again to see he still had ten minutes before he needed to retreat to his room, take a shower and head out to meet Blake.
"Okay. I think we'll wrap this up for now and start actual rigorous training tomorrow or this evening maybe, but right now I want to have the time to take my time with my shower before I go to meet some friends." He started. "Hey guys! Round it all up!" He called out, recalling each of them as they approached him.
Climbing down from the seat he closed it and exited the room, checking out and heading back to his own. Moving quickly, he picked up a towel from the set provided and went to shower.
He found the showers empty and picked a stall at random, showering and getting out at a decent pace. He made his way back to his room and got his clothes, taking them to the laundry room dressed in a random shirt and a pair of sweatpants, and ironed them, going back to his room to don the navy V-neck and the khaki shorts once more.
Checking the time to see he had fifteen minutes to spare, he clipped his minimized ultra-balls onto his belt, not easily noticeable, and then walked out of the Pokemon center, looking for the Space Center. He could see it easily. Dominating the right side of the island, on higher ground, was a massive steel and glass building with large docks extending out behind it, and an actual Rocket visible some distance out, far enough that the sound from its launch wouldn't destroy human ears.
Ethan started walking towards it around quarter to two and it took him all of ten minutes to cross the distance of around half a mile given the upwards trek. Ethan presumed that they had chosen the higher ground so that there was more space for underground sites and storage.
He walked up to the doors of the massive building, a set of glass doors with the Mossdeep Space Center logo frosted onto them, a crescent with a very narrow ellipse cutting through the center. He stepped through them as they slid open right before him, into a small entryway with black carpeting. Passing through another such door he entered what seemed to be another world. Workstations were visible all around, with a main reception counter on one side and a few guards keeping an eye on the stations and the visitors to relieve the frazzled genii while they worked. Ethan could see a railing overlooking an open pit of sorts which extended up to through to the roof of the building, and down at least another floor.
To the right on the back wall was a staircase which made up its own corridor, and a passage beyond it to a second viewing platform on the other side of the pit. Ethan walked up to the reception counter and waited patiently until someone got to him, putting away some papers.
"Hi, where can I find Blake Wilson?" He asked with a smile, leaning forward slightly.
"Blake Wilson… She ought to be somewhere on the second floor, either at her workstation or near the viewing gallery." The man behind the counter replied, gesturing at the staircase.
"Thanks." With a nod in reply, Ethan walked across the room to the staircase, and up to the second floor. He emerged right next to the side of the viewing gallery on the second floor. Taking a look around he didn't see Blake standing there and so he looked around the workstations. Each workstation relatively open. It was shaped like a square with a wide slit cut into one side, desks built into the other two, and the remaining side being shared with the next workstation, which like the side with the entrance was a frosted glass wall.
It took him a minute but he found Blake sitting in a workstation with things that were probably hers strewn across one desk and papers across the other. She was sitting in one of three swivel chairs there with her back turned to him, facing a girl who made Ethan's heart stop beating for a moment.
Everything else went silent in his ears, the only things audible to him were his own heartbeat and her laughter at something Blake mentioned. Her blond hair was tied back in a ponytail behind a heart shaped face with serene blue eyes and a smile decorating it. She was curled up a bit on her chair, and seemed to be shorter than Ethan for sure, maybe five six or five seven, and was lithe.
As much as Ethan's heart stopped for a moment, the second she saw him her cheeks heated up, though Ethan didn't register it until Blake turned around and saw him. He managed to recover quickly, smiling with a small wave.
"Ethan, come on over! This is my younger sister, Victoria. She's sixteen." Blake introduced her, gesturing towards her. "Our older sister isn't here right now; I think she's with Steven. Both of them wanted to meet Steven's protégé, and to meet you after I described you to them over the phone."
"Hi." Ethan responded, sitting down in the third empty chair opposite Victoria. She was wearing shorts and a blue tank top which accentuated her figure. Blake reached over and pulled a sliding door over, closing the cubicle and leaned back in her chair.
"So… What's Steven having you do?" She asked, looking at him. "And what's that thing you have strapped to your leg? I've been meaning to ask you for a while."
"Well, for now he's told me to travel and go about a 'normal' journey through Hoenn, and once he's cleaned up the political mess, he'll find me and boot camp begins." Ethan replied with a wry smile, putting a hand on his forehead. "As for the thing, as you called it, it's my father's staff."
Ethan pulled it out of its holster and stood up, unlocking it, and immediately it collapsed outwards into a full five and a half foot staff, with ends textured to be abrasive when they were whirring alongside the gears beneath them, and a current switch which could release charges through them. Ethan himself didn't understand exactly how I worked, but he knew it had something to do with the compartmentalization scheme pokeballs used.
Collapsing it again, he fixed it back in its place and sat down once more.
"I should properly introduce myself shouldn't I…?" Ethan mused aloud, "Ethan Photon, at your service."
"Victoria Wilson." The younger of the two siblings replied with a smile. "Nice to meet you."
"So… um… interact… get to know each other… I don't know." Blake deadpanned, turning to her desk.
"So…. I'm a trainer from New Bark Town, apparently Steven trained under my father, and I've been journeying Johto to take on the silver and Indigo Leagues, and right now I have six badges, and six Pokemon." Ethan explained, gesturing at his belt.
"I'm from right here in Mossdeep City, and I'm in love with music. I play the guitar, cello, violin, saxophone and piano amongst other things, and I have one Pokemon that I'm raising, a Vibrava. I performed at my old school, and while I do want to attend an arts school now that I'm done with high school, I want to travel around Hoenn as well."
"That's amazing. I play the guitar but I don't think I could ever play that many instruments." Ethan smiled, leaning back.
"That's just the tip of the iceberg. I happen to know for a fact that she plays bass, drums and the harp as well. There's probably more that I don't know about." Blake winked at him with a smile, turning back to her desk almost immediately.
"Blake!" Victoria blushed embarrassedly, turning back to him. "Thank you! And I highly doubt I'd be able to get six badges."
"Thank you very much. What do you like to do in your free time? Apart from music that is." Ethan asked.
"Well, I like to visit Mossdeep's beaches. I know them like the back of my hand. What about you. Apart from traveling and training your Pokemon."
"Basketball. The guitar. Photography. Or rather I used to like photography. I haven't really taken any pictures on my whole journey." Ethan grimaced, looking at a wall.
"Oh shoot. Pun intended" Blake smiled for a second before it turned into a frown, looking at the pair. "I've been saddled with a bunch of work because of how long I've been away for…. Don't let me ruin your day. Victoria, why don't you take Ethan around; show him Mossdeep. We can all meet up at Steven's later, around seven. He's asked me to bring you two along with me as well for dinner."
"Sure." Victoria replied with a small smile of her own, her eyes sparkling as she turned nervously to Ethan. "Shall we head out?"
"After you." Ethan rose, sliding open the cubicle door, Blake oblivious to them as she immersed herself in her work.
Victoria led him out of the Space Center and out into the open air once more. A quick glance at his watch revealed it was one thirty.
"Up for some lunch?" She asked, turning towards him.
"Sure." Ethan found it harder to speak. He couldn't not look at her, and with every passing moment, he liked her even more.
"Do you want to see Mossdeep's trainer center? It's sort of like an outlet specialized for trainers. It's more like a square shaped building with a courtyard in the middle and some restaurants." She suggested, pointing in the direction of a complex some ways away.
"That actually sounds great." Ethan grinned, following the girl on the five-minute walk down to the complex. Mossdeep's ground was separated in large swathes by heights. There was no gradual slope or anything, rather there were a few three to four-foot-high rises towards the eastern side of the island, upon which the space center had been built. The city seemed to have for the most part wide pedestrian and bike paths instead of actual roads, with grass on either side, making small parks. They made their way to the southern side of the city, where they entered the outlet style center. Walking in, he found himself surrounded by all sorts of stores. Making a mental note to come back to stock up properly, he decided it would be best if he only actually wasted any time in one of the stores, one that seemed useful.
"Good choice. Lancaster's is the best and most reasonably priced gear around, and they've got some pretty innovative things from what I know. You might want to check out their traveling packs." She suggested, following him into the store. It was arranged like any outdoors store, or sporting goods store with one story. The front wall was glass, facing the courtyard, and the shop was a large rectangle, longer than it was wide. Ethan weaved through the shelves, picking out a folding knife recommended for trainers to keep on them by the Ever Grande Corps, and going to the pack section.
He stopped dead center in the aisle with black displays on either side, only holding what looked like backpacks.
"Where are the traveling packs?" Ethan asked, confused as Victoria smiled mischievously.
"Compartmentalized packs. Each of them has a maximum volume they can store, and a maximum mass. So, you could carry everything you needed in this one backpack, and take it out when you needed it. The only thing it doesn't do is change the weight of what you're carrying, so while you won't have much to carry, you'll still be carrying the same weight." An aid explained, walking down the aisle towards him. "One of our more Spartan models might interest you if you're travelling with enough luggage for you to carry on your own."
"This is the voyager. Two cubic meters of storage space, which because of the compartmentalization technology in it, doesn't let you worry about the shape of the object. So, you could quite literally store a cello, a basketball, a tennis racket and a bunch of other things in here and not worry about anything. The only hitch with that is it brings capacity down to about 1.7 to 1.5 meters cubed. It's about 50 bucks if you're looking to buy it and we have various color schemes."
"That's actually pretty nifty." Ethan remarked, picking up a black and grey one and walking to the checkout counter.
Paying for the bag, he put his knife in it and slung it over his shoulder, walking out of the store with Victoria by his side and a grin plastered on his face.
"Let's get some lunch. The sushi place is really good." Victoria suggested, leading him to one of the restaurants, where they got themselves some food and sat down at a table near the fountain in the courtyard, under the sun.
Ethan zoned out for a second, staring at her as she sat fixed her hair, her deft hands flying through the blond strands as she fixed back into the same ponytail she had had previously, lying over her shoulder. Her blue eyes looked up and caught his, and she blushed immediately, smiling shyly. Lunch passed for the most part in conversation, each getting to know the other.
"So… What do you want to do once we've eaten? Head down to the beach maybe?" She suggested.
"Why not. If you think that's something I should see in Mossdeep then definitely."
"I think that anyone who comes to Mossdeep ought to see the beaches, and I think that you should see them with me because I know all the places that won't be swamped with people, and some that won't have any, and how to get there." Victoria smiled, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms.
"Then that it is. If we're passing by the Pokemon center though would you mind terribly if I left this there?" he asked, gesturing at his backpack.
"Not at all." Victoria smiled sweetly, leading him back out and to the Pokemon center once they were done with their food.
She walked into the building with him and to his room where he left his bag and checked to make sure his staff was still on his leg. Once he had confirmed that it was still there, and hadn't moved an inch, they departed.
"So Mossdeep's beaches are sectioned into pieces in some places by trees, and while they're all accessible, most people don't like walking over a few rocks, or the seclusion of such spots. But they're the perfect place to just sit, relax, hang out, and watch the sunset. There's one that I don't think anyone else knows about where Blake, our eldest sister, Clara, Steven and I come when we want to spend time on the beach. We've strung up a few hammocks and left some things there." Victoria explained happily, hiking up a small ledge with trees at the edge. "Come through this way. There's a really easy path to take down here to our personal little section of the beach."
Ethan followed her up the rocks and to the edge of the trees, slipping through a gap wide enough for a person and a bag, and followed her down to a dirt path with led down a grassy slope to a roughly square section of beach between thick group of trees on either side. It was fairly sized, about some six or seven hundred square feet and secluded from the rest of the beaches. Ethan noticed three hammocks strung up in various places between the trees and an ice box under one of them, along with a large, flat case.
"I knew I forgot it here!" Victoria leaped at the case, taking it out and opening it to reveal a thin, hollow bodied electric guitar with a black back and a lovely blue on the front, rimmed by black. "I couldn't find it last night. We left here in a hurry, hence the forgotten ice box, and this."
"Well, at least you found it." Ethan smiled, sitting down on one of the hammocks.
"Catch." She plucked two cans out of the ice box and tossed one over to him, sitting down on a nearby hammock opposite him with her guitar. He snatched it out of the air deftly, popping it open and drinking.
Balancing herself on the hammock, Victoria fixed the tuning on the guitar, and pulling a pick out of her phone's case, she began to play.
Ethan grinned, recognizing the tune to his favorite song and sat back, listening. He waited until the right moment and then started singing when the point came about, surprising Victoria. She looked up at him, but kept on playing, a genuine happy smile on her face. A few minutes passed as they went through the song, wrapping it up.
"You have a good singing voice." She remarked, fooling around with her pick.
"And you're a great musician, but my voice only works with that one song." Ethan shrugged, leaning back in the hammock. He felt happy that there had been a real connection for those few moments where they were working in tandem, and he was so much gladder that he had met Victoria, even if there was a high chance he wouldn't see much of her after he left.
"Look out." He called out suddenly as she was setting the guitar down.
He leapt from the hammock and into the air, his hand already reaching for his pokeballs, picking Typhlosion's off and maximizing it in a flash. He released the Pokemon into the air, the white light coalescing into its sleek body.
"Brick Break!" He shouted, watching the aquatic Pokemon – almost as tall as he was with its large fins, glistening white underbelly, coarse navy hide and massive snout open wide displaying rows of teeth filed to points – shoot out of the wake and towards them, jaws open and water forming in its mouth.
Before it could attack however, Typhlosion took care of it by slamming its paw into the water type's underbelly and sending it straight back out to sea, resulting in the water gun hitting the waves uselessly.
"Follow up with focus blast and solar beam!" He called out, noting how effective the fighting type move seemed to be on the Pokemon.
Typhlosion charged its attack as it plummeted back down, landing on all fours and firing a rust colored glowing sphere into the ocean, cutting a small wave apart and hitting the Pokemon square in its snout. Typhlosion followed up by taking advantage of the sunny day and firing off a pre-emptive solar beam so as to give the Pokemon one last warning.
The injured and (in spirit) defeated Pokemon sank back into the ocean, its shadow visible as it loitered for a moment before it returned to lurking in the depths of the ocean.
Ethan didn't even register that he had his staff in his hand, fully expanded and ends whirring and sparking, poised to fight. With a start he collapsed it, clipping it back onto his leg.
He turned around towards Victoria, from whose face a look of mild shock was disappearing. She stepped up to him before he knew what happened and wrapped her arms around him, squeezing him. Ethan started for a moment again, returning the gesture.
"Thank you. I don't know what to say except you were amazing, reacting like that. I guess you're my hero now." She smiled, biting her lip as she stepped back.
"It's my honor." Ethan replied, looking her in the eye and then at her left foot – she had kicked off her shoes a while back – which was bleeding. "You cut yourself on something. That's probably what it smelt. Let me."
Ethan sat her down, and taking a bit of cold water from a bottle and a handkerchief from his pocket, cleaned away the little bit of blood on her foot for her.
"Thank you." She replied once he was done. "You didn't have to do that. I could have done it on my own."
"Don't worry about it" Ethan replied, wrapping her heel in it so that neither her sock nor any dirt on it would bother the cut. "By the way. This is my first Pokemon. Typhlosion, meet Victoria. She's a new friend of mine."
"His coat's so sleek on one hand, and then he's just outright strong on the other!" She smiled, running a hand down Typhlosion's back as the fire type lay down next to her.
"That he is. We've been friends for a long time now, since he was a little Cyndaquil, and we've come a long way from there." Ethan remarked, scratching he fire type's back as it lay down in the sand near them.
Typhlosion made a sort of growling noise in agreement, coming back to Ethan.
"What, you don't like the sea?" He laughed, recalling Typhlosion as it turned to the waves and then back to him, frowning.
"What's it like?" Victoria asked suddenly, leaning forward in her hammock as Ethan sat down once more. "Traveling?"
Ethan looked up with a start, his eyes moving from the sand to meet Victoria's.
"It depends on what you're doing, I guess. For me, as someone who's always wanted to be a trainer, traveling Johto has been the best time of my life so far; meeting new people on occasion, traveling with my Pokemon and learning more about them as the days go by – and more about myself for that matter – is something that appeals to me. I don't mind roughing it, going on foot despite the fact that I have a bike. It really depends on you I guess, and what you want to do."
"While I'm happy here, I've always wanted to see the rest of Hoenn from a traveler's perspective rather than a tourist's perspective. To actually walk the land and see Hoenn itself rather than just go to say Slateport, see the tourist hotspots and return – mind you I wouldn't mind that either." She added, leaning back in the hammock and staring at the leaves above.
"The thing about traveling on foot it's not really safe without Pokemon." Ethan admitted, "Almost all paths to travel and see the region itself as you say would go through wilderness inhabited by nothing but wild Pokemon."
"And there's the problem. I don't have any Pokemon of my own." She sighed.
The next few hours passed in a flash; discussions, jokes, songs, hopes. Ethan rose out of the hammock at around five in the evening, wanting to take a shower before they headed to Steven's place once more.
"I can't say I've had the chance to unwind for long since I was in New Bark, excluding the Nautilus, and this has been a lot of fun. I think I'll head back to the Pokemon center, clean up and rest for a bit until dinner. I'll see you there?"
"See you then." She replied, picking up her guitar and case and walking with him out of the area to the streets, where they parted.
Ethan walked back to the Pokemon center, cleaning up and making his way back to Steven's house afterwards. He didn't know for sure who all was going to be there apart from Victoria's older sisters, and of course Steven, or if there was going to be anyone other than those three over there.
Ethan found himself back at the north western edge of the island, standing at the wooden door of Steven's house. The door was set into a verandah, with the driveway going under the building next to them. Parked in it was a sleek silver Lexus, – the one Blake had driven away in – a gleaming red spoiler less Pagani Huayra and Steven's bicycle. Ethan stepped up to the wooden door with its small sections of stained glass and looked around. Not seeing a bell, he lifted the knocker and hit it against the door twice. Instead of the sound of metal on wood, he heard what sounded akin to a bell.
The door opened a few moments later, to Steven standing behind it in blue dress shirt, black trousers and dress shoes. Suddenly Ethan was glad he had though to dress up a bit before he left, looking down for a second at his own outfit: pale-yellow shirt and black trousers.
"I hope you enjoyed your first day in Mossdeep. The city has much to offer." Steven smiled, leading him in. "Including a gym."
"I do believe I saw it, even if I haven't challenged it. I actually spent the day with Blake's younger sister."
"So, you saw the Mossdeep Space Institute then?
"Yep. It's an interesting place to say the least." Ethan remarked, walking into the lounge, where seated on various couches were Blake, Victoria, and an older sibling to the duo, with green eyes, whom Ethan didn't recognize.
"Clara, I believe you're the only one who hasn't met Ethan?" Steven looked around to an affirmative nod, at which Ethan stepped forward.
"Ethan Photon, Newbark Town in Johto. I'm a trainer on a journey who got dragged here by yours truly," Ethan began, gesturing to Steven, "When Kalos attacked us. But let's ignore that for now."
"Clara Wilson. I'm Blake and Victoria's older sister, and the man next to you is my fiancée." The oldest girl shifted in her seat, a glittering diamond ring visible on her finger. "I so wanted to meet Steven's protégée. It's nice to put a face to the name."
"Thank you very much. Despite the fact that I have no idea how long you've been engaged to Steven, I'll say congratulations to the both of you." Ethan looked down for a second then found and place and sat down, Steven next to Clara.
"Let's eat dinner first, and discuss the plan for evolving your Scyther, if we're still doing that."
"For sure." Ethan contemplated discussing Dewott, but decided to refrain from branching off onto unstable ground for the time being as they shifted to a dining room with three glass walls, overlooking the ocean. Dinner passed fairly quickly, with general conversation, and the discussion of the evolution technique.
"So one thing that people don't really pay attention to when triggering a metal coat evolution is that the metal coat isn't the shape of the body of the Pokemon, which can hinder it's development later on, so what we're going to do is have Metagross put a psychic shell around Scyther, remove Scyther, and then basically fill in the melted metal of the metal coat to make a form fitting coat which allows a full range of motion, so that when the evolution is triggered, nothing is restraining it." Steven explained, putting the tips of his fingers together.
"Let's do it." Ethan replied, picking up his plate and putting it in the sink with the others.
With a nod, Steven led the group outside, releasing Metagross. The supercomputer of a Pokemon summoned a mesh of metal plates, something that looked like it was cast off of an Aggron, and then set it down. Ethan reached for his belt and released Scyther, staring at Metagross.
"So Scyther… It's finally time to evolve… Are you ready for this?" Ethan asked, looking the bug Pokemon in the eye. Without a moment's hesitation, it nodded. "Then let Metagross do what it's doing and we'll get on with it."
Scyther moved away a few feet and stiffened in its stance, apparently communicating with Metagross. It changed position, moving a few times as Metagross analyzed it, before it stopped in a certain position. Ethan noticed the glimmer of a psychic barrier, forming a tight shell around Scyther. A second later Scyther was out of the shell, and Metagross was working with it presumably.
The metal rose into the air above where the shell would be and started to bubble, boiling slowly until it melted and poured into an invisible mold, taking on the shape of a slightly larger Scyther, and then immediately started to let off steam as Metagross cooled it down.
Ethan stood there, facing the ocean, the house behind him and the stars above him. Metagross simply let the shell cool for a few minutes, before Scyther disappeared and reappeared inside of the shell, blinking rapidly for a moment before it tried to move. Lo and behold, it could.
"What's going to happen now is that instead of trying to battle, which is the traditional method of triggering an evolutionary reaction, because it doesn't work, we'll try pumping energy into Scyther until the energy either expels itself as an attack or triggers the evolution." Steven explained, looking at Scyther as its eyes began to glow, next to Metagross. "We still haven't figured out exactly why that works though. It's one of those mysteries of the world."
'Like the silver ring and Dewott.' Ethan thought, nodding, as a few minutes passed. Then it started. Slowly, the metal began to heat up again, the air around Scyther shimmering as the metal began to glow white, instead of red hot, until the glow enveloped the bug.
Ethan shielded his eyes until the glow died down, and left in place of the metal coated Scyther a gleaming red Pokemon with yellow eyes, a narrow waist, large abdomen and poised legs with a single silver spike toe at the bottom of each. Its wings were different too, now much thinner, split in two, and off white instead of cream, despite the fact that they were pretty close to transparent. The biggest changes were that in place of its blades were two massive pincers with yellow eye like patterns on either side which made them look like heads.
Ethan stepped up to his Pokemon, placing a hand on its shoulder and looked it in the eye.
"We've come a long way buddy. From home, and from where we started. And I sincerely hope you stay with me the rest of the way." He smiled, getting a sense of recognition from Scizor as the bug type nodded silently, looking out to the stars with him. They had indeed come a long way, and they had some ways yet to go.