A Pallet Pair #7:
The Abra Incident
A great deal of thanks to Cara W. and Jeff A., for their help in the writing of this Pallet Pair. Without them, it would have looked much, much different.
Route Five proved to be closed, as Daisy had thought, because a large section of it was being re-paved. Ivonar and Remmy, along with Manx, Chia, the Eevees, and all their other Pokémon, were forced to take a wide detour, and headed east down Route Nine.
Two days after leaving Cerulean City, Ivonar suddenly frowned. "Hang on," she told Remmy as she knelt on one knee, her left foot ahead of her. She began to untie her shoelaces. Sweetie jumped off her pack. "I think I have a rock in my shoe."
"Okay." Remmy shifted his backpack higher onto his shoulders. Drake trilled softly in its sleep, stirred by the movement. "How much farther do you think we have to go until we get to the rock tunnel to Lavender Town?"
"A few days," Ivonar replied. "Why are you asking me? You're the one who can read the map."
Remmy frowned a little. "This map makes Route Nine look like a straight line from Cerulean to the Tunnel. The only thing that breaks the monotony is the turn-off to Route Nine-A."
"Nine-A?" Ivonar echoed. She flopped backwards, sitting down to pull off her shoe. She turned it upside-down and began hitting the back of it. "What's on Route Nine-A?"
"It's a dead-end," he replied. "Stops at 'Tier Canyon.'" He frowned. "That's funny."
"What is?"
"Wait - okay, I get it now." Remmy sat down beside her, holding the map out so they both could look. Ivonar put her shoe in her lap, giving Remmy her full attention. Chia stood behind them, looking curiously over their shoulders. "It's here," he said, pointing to a place about a quarter of the way down Route Nine from Cerulean City. It showed a short road headed south. "At my guess, we're maybe an hour from it." Ivonar nodded. "It goes down this way…" he continued, tracing his finger along the dull green line, "…and ends here." His finger rested in a yellow area, vaguely diamond-shaped with a small triangle attached to the upper-right side. "That's Tier Canyon. But look at this." He pointed to the left of the "canyon," where a town name was written in thin red italics.
Ivonar squinted at the map, her shoe momentarily forgotten. Static tried climbing in her lap, but she didn't let him. Instead, she rubbed his head distractedly. "'Periwin'?" she read aloud. "What's 'Periwin'?"
"That's what I thought was funny, but look." Remmy pointed to the other side of the canyon. "'kle City,'" he read aloud, pointing to the writing.
Ivonar frowned. "I don't get it."
Remmy grinned. "Whoever made this map has a sense of humor," he told her. "Read both of those places' names together."
"Periwin…kle- Periwinkle City!" Ivonar cried. Then she frowned. "Why'd they do that?"
Remmy shrugged. "Maybe the city is built around the canyon," he suggested. "If it's built on both sides of the canyon, that does make sense… but you have to think about it."
"I hate thinking sometimes," Ivonar grumbled. She gave Static's head one last rub, then started to put her shoe back on. Remmy leaned forward, getting on his hands and knees to make it easier to stand up. Drake fell off his pack as he leaned forward; it squeaked as it hit the ground, then gave him an annoyed glare before returning to its pokéball for a more restful nap. Once Remmy was up he started folding the map.
"Er… Remmy?"
He took a moment to finish with the map, then looked down at Ivonar as he shoved it back into his pocket. "Yeah?"
"How about a hand up?" She reached up. "I'm stuck. Stupid backpack." Chia giggled at her. Sweetie jumped back onto the pack just before Remmy helped Ivonar back up. Ivonar brushed off the back of her jeans as she started walking again. "So, are we going to Periwinkle City? It's what, a couple days out of the way?" She frowned again. "Bad enough we're stuck going the long way to Saffron. Can't we make it a little more worthwhile?"
Remmy sighed. "We don't really have anything that can fight ghost Pokémon, do we?" he asked her seriously. "I mean, I know Saurus has a resistance to poison attacks, but…"
"Special attacks don't do much against ghost Pokémon," Ivonar retorted, "but normal ones do, if you can catch the ghost while it's solid."
"That's the trick, isn't it?" Remmy frowned.
"Hey, Fairie'd probably be great against ghost Pokémon," Ivonar said, brightening. "I mean, she can Sing. Put them to sleep, then Double Slap them so they don't have a chance of waking up!"
Remmy rolled his eyes a little. "Okay…" he said slowly, "… but what about you?"
"Huh?"
"I could use Saurus and Fairie. What could you use?" He held out one hand ahead of him, ticking off her Pokémon on his fingers. "Char, Nuisance, Manx, Poe, Ro, The Kakuna. Char, Manx, Poe, and Ro have no advantages at all."
"Or disadvantages," Ivonar insisted.
"Nuisance's psychic abilities would have to be pretty strong to affect ghost Pokémon-" Remmy continued.
"-which they are-" Ivonar interjected.
"- and The Kakuna has a weakness to poison attacks."
"Sheesh." Ivonar blew her bangs off her forehead for a moment. "You're as studied on strengths and weaknesses as I am."
Remmy sighed. "My parents were both trainers," he replied. "That's why they were so set on me being one."
"Really?" Ivonar was surprised. "About the closest my parents were to being trainers was that my mom trained Manx by bringing him to Professor Oak twice a week. That was it."
"She brought him to Professor Oak?"
Ivonar nodded. "On Tuesdays and Saturdays, she'd bring him to Professor Oak to challenge the Pokémon that Professor Oak was taking care of for trainers who sent them to him. There were always a few that were restless and felt like battling, to hone their skills. That's how Manx got so much experience without my mom really training."
Remmy nodded. "My parents were training when they were my age. That was how they met. I've always had Pokémon in my life, you know? Especially with my dad. He's been petitioning for years for a gym to be built back home, but the League thinks Pallet Town is too small and too close to Viridian City."
"It's not that close to Viridian -- how many days did it take us to bike there?"
"One."
"Exactly. How can that be 'too close'? Periwinkle City has to be closer to Cerulean City than Pallet Town is to Viridian City."
"I'm not sure. I think it's about twice the distance."
"That's not really saying much."
Remmy sighed. "Maybe that's why you wanted to train so much more than I did."
Ivonar gave him a curious look. "What do you mean?"
Remmy looked up at the sky. Heavy, cottonball clouds floated leisurely from horizon to horizon. "Ever since I can remember, my life has revolved around Pokémon. My parents met at the Pokémon League games fifteen years ago. At home, we have a greenhouse full of my parents' grass Pokémon. You had two Pokémon at home. Me?" He paused for a moment. "In the greenhouse alone, we had two Vileplumes, a Gloom, five Oddish, four Bellsprouts, two Weepinbells, Mom's Victreebel, eight Exeggcute, and four Magikarp and Dad's Seadra in the pond."
Ivonar whistled softly. "Yikes."
Remmy nodded. "The only Pokémon allowed in the house are my mom's Growlithe, Fireburst, and my dad's Caterpie, Stu." Remmy chuckled a little. "Stu's allowed in the house because he never leaves Dad's shoulder."
Ivonar giggled. "Stu?"
"Short for 'stubborn'." Remmy chuckled again. "Stu has to be the oldest Caterpie alive. He utterly refuses to evolve." He sighed again, looking disturbed. "All my life, I've been literally surrounded by Pokémon. None of them battle anymore -- most of them are twenty years old, at least. I guess that's why I don't like the idea of battling Pokémon much. When you grow up in a Pokémon retirement home, it's hard to get used to the idea of them beating each other up."
Ivonar frowned a little. "We got Manx about four years ago. He was a couple months old, at the most. Barely old enough to be away from his mother, who we never found." She rubbed the Persian's head as she walked. Manx lay his ears back, frowning sharply, but his pained expression had nothing to do with her touch. "And Toby gave me Nuisance last year. We think he was hiding him in his room for maybe a week. I think… I'm not sure, but I think, a long time ago, we had a Growlithe, or something. I vaguely remember us having something that used to lick my face a lot." She shrugged a little. "Or maybe it belonged to one of my relatives. I was really little -- I don't remember it clearly." She paused. "That's… it." She twisted, reaching into one of the outside pockets of her pack. "Here…" She pulled out her wallet. Opening it, she pulled out the clear credit card holder. Instead of credit cards, she had pocket-size photos in them. She showed Remmy the first one -- a portrait of her family, done in a very professional manner. Her father stood in the back on the left, while her mother sat near the middle. Manx sat proudly between Mrs. Marain and a standing, bored-looking Toby in a tie. Sitting on the other side of Mrs. Marain, Ivonar sat with Nuisance in her lap, both of them looking somewhat glum. Ivonar had her hair tied back formally, and her left leg in a cast.
Ivonar grimaced a little. "Ever since my tenth birthday, my mom insisted we get professional pictures done of the family so she'd 'have something to look at while I was gone.' This is last year's. This year's hadn't come in the mail yet." She wrinkled her nose for a moment, then flipped to the next picture, before continuing. "And this is from two years ago." The picture was mostly the same, except that a younger Ivonar, her hair in a ponytail and her nose puffy and red, stood behind Mrs. Marain, and Nuisance wasn't there. "Before I turned ten," Ivonar continued, "we got the pictures anyway. Pokémon training just gave my mom an excuse besides, 'because I say so.'" She turned to the next picture: now, it was as if Manx had disappeared. Instead, a grumpy-looking, tailless Meowth sat in Mrs. Marain's lap. Ivonar giggled as she turned to the next picture. "And the year before that. Look at Manx." Remmy looked; yet again, everyone was in the same position. Toby, being four, actually looked happy to be dressed up, and Ivonar's hair was too short to pull back. Mrs. Marain had a strained smile on her face, and a smaller, scowling Meowth hugged to her chest. It was quite obvious that the Meowth had been struggling violently when the picture was taken. By squinting, Remmy saw that the Meowth's back end was bandaged. It was hard to tell at a glance, because the paleness of the Meowth's fur made the white bandages hard to see. "That was soon after we got Manx," Ivonar explained. "His tail -- or where it had been, anyway -- hadn't healed yet." She bit her lip as she turned to the last picture in the case. "And this is the earliest one I carry." Now, instead of a squirming Meowth, Mrs. Marain was holding an obviously equally-squirming three-year-old boy in her lap. Seven-year-old Ivonar was held in her father's arms, looking half-asleep.
Remmy took the case from Ivonar, and flipped back to the first, most recent, picture. "Your hair looks nice back like that."
"You kidding?" Ivonar rolled her eyes. "It hurt like crazy. It was pulled back way too tight."
Remmy grinned as he handed the pictures back. "You sure it was your hair that hurt, or your leg?"
Ivonar chuckled as she put the pictures away and put her wallet back into the pocket in her pack. "I was pretty sure all of me was hurting. Remember, I broke my leg falling down stairs. I was pretty banged up." She tapped her right temple. "I had a beauty of a bruise right here. You couldn't see it in the picture because the photographer had me hold my head at a funny angle so it didn't show. That's what hurt the most -- where it pulled there. My leg was pretty numb that day, actually." Remmy nodded. Suddenly, Ivonar frowned. "Hey, what's that?"
Remmy looked at her for a moment, confused, then realized she wasn't looking at him like he'd thought -- she was looking passed him. He turned to look, too. Something the color of clay was just visible beneath a bush. "I don't know," he replied. "Looks kind of like a foot."
"Let's check," Ivonar said eagerly, slipping her pack off. Manx grunted, rolling his ears slightly back; he wasn't keen on the idea of checking out something unidentifiable. He put a firm paw in front of Fluffball, keeping her from approaching the mostly-hidden creature. He snorted softly, warning her and her equally curious brothers to remain where they were, then, crouching low, followed his trainer. Remmy and Chia stayed back with the Eevees.
Ivonar crouched down next to the bush, just as the clay-colored thing pulled quickly into the bush, out of sight. Frowning a little, she pushed several branches aside, and gasped.
It was small, completely clay in color. It had ridges down its back, and a short tail. Its head had two, very short horns on the back.
She couldn't see its eyes or face, because it was too busy ramming itself repeatedly into the trunk of the bush.
"Hey!" she muttered, grabbing it around the waist. "Stop that!" She dragged the creature backwards, out of the bush.
"Q!" it yelled, kicking and waving its arms and tail. "Q! Q! Q!"
Ivonar sat back on her heels, resting the small creature on her knee. She frowned. "Remmy…?" she called softly, her frown deepening. "Could you come here?"
"Q!" the creature continued to yell, its long eyes squeezed shut as it continued to wave its arms, legs, and tail, as if to fight off something ahead of it.
Remmy came over, and crouched down. He frowned, too. "What is it?"
"I was hoping you'd know!" Ivonar grimaced as one flailing arm hit her in the back of the wrist. "You have your Pokédex? Mine's buried in my pack somewhere."
"Hang on, I'll get it." He hurried back to his pack, getting the small device, then brought it back. He opened it, pointing the scanning eye toward the creature.
A perfect still-shot of Ivonar's hands and the flailing creature appeared on the screen. "This Pokémon is of an unknown type. No matches found," the machine chimed.
Ivonar and Remmy traded surprised looks. Remmy looked down at the Pokédex. "Any suggestions?" he asked it.
There was a pause, and the picture changed. It showed a clay-colored creature with a skull completely hiding its head. "Unknown Pokémon bears some resemblance to Cubone, the Lonely Pokémon."
"What's the information on Cubone?"
"Cubone, the Lonely Pokémon. Because it never removes its skull helmet, no one has ever seen this Pokémon's real face," the Pokédex replied.
"Q!" the Pokémon wailed, still thrashing away. "Q, q-q q q!"
"Do you think it's a Cubone without a helmet?" Ivonar asked him.
She looked astonished, almost scared. He didn't blame her. "Whatever it is, it looks confused out of its mind," he replied. "You're holding it from behind, but it's trying to defend it's front."
"It looks like it's frightened of something ahead of it, but how could it?" Ivonar murmured. "It's got its eyes closed!"
"Maybe it got into a fight with a psychic Pokémon," Remmy suggested. "That would explain why it's trying to fight something that isn't there, too."
"Then that psychic Pokémon must still be close!" Ivonar stood up, cradling the Pokémon in her arms, doing her best to ignore when it hit her arms or chest as it continued flailing. Her eyes narrowed dangerously. "How could anything be so mean?"
"Q!" the Pokémon wailed. Its cries were getting softer, farther apart, as if it was drifting to sleep. Its thrashing was slowing. It sounded like it was having trouble breathing. "Q!"
"Wait a minute." Ivonar's scowl deepened even farther. "Wait! It's not trying to defend itself at all!" She fell to her knees, and, putting the crying creature on the ground, held it on its back. She started to shake it. "Hey! Snap out of it!"
"What?" Remmy stared down at her, understandably worried by her actions. "What are you doing?"
"Look at it! It's kicking and screaming and having trouble breathing, and if it's a Cubone, it's a ground Pokémon!" She shook it harder, hitting its shoulders against the hard road. "What does a ground Pokémon fear most?"
"…Water?…" Remmy answered slowly, before understanding.
Ivonar nodded. "It thinks it's drowning!" Grimacing heavily, she drew back her hand, slapping the creature across the face. "Snap out of it!" she shouted again. "Come on!"
The creature squealed at the strike, pausing in its thrashing to draw its short arms towards its face. It cringed, drawing its legs towards its chest. It clenched its eyes shut even tighter. But, finally, it stopped thrashing about, and just lay there, cowering.
Ivonar sat back, panting, and rubbed at her throat. It hurt from shouting, which was all she'd been doing since realizing what was wrong. Remmy knelt down, picking the Pokémon up, and held it upright. "I think its okay," he said quietly. "How about you?"
Ivonar scowled, standing up again. "I'm going to see if I can find whoever's responsible for this," she replied, her voice harsh from both emotion and her sore throat. "That is just horrible. Who would do such a thing as make a ground Pokémon think it's drowning? That's… that's like throwing somebody into a tank of sharks! That's like throwing a person into a volcano! That… that is just not forgivable!" She stormed down the road, eyeing the bushes warily for any sign of movement. Manx, his ears laid back against his skull, a silent snarl set on his lips, trod silently beside her. He had the right to be angry with anyone who would take advantage of a weaker Pokémon -- a right earned by the pinched scar hidden by his fur, the only remaining sign he had ever had a tail at all.
They had gone about a hundred feet when Manx stopped short, his ears finding a way to hug his skull even tighter. His nostrils flared, and he glared to the right, his teeth bared. "There?" Ivonar breathed. Manx's reply was to unsheathe his claws. With a deadly scowl of her own, Ivonar headed straight toward where he stared.
Her march for justice was cut short by something appearing in thin air right in front of her. She screamed in surprise, putting her hands out -- and caught something that was pretty heavy. Before she could try to get a good grip on it, it disappeared again, only to reappear right in the same place. She tried to grab it again, but again it disappeared. "Hey, knock it off!" she snapped, as the heavy object continued to appear and disappear a foot ahead of where she stood, too quickly for her to get a good look at it. She tried turning away, but still it appeared just ahead of her. Her anger was building -- what kind of freak played such a cruel trick on a ground Pokémon, then did something so stupid as to do… whatever this was? "Knock…it…off!" Ivonar snapped again, slamming her hand forward, her fingers curled back. The heel of her palm connected solidly with the thing she couldn't get a clear look at, knocking it backwards. It squealed even as it somersaulted backwards several feet before coming to a stop, sitting upright and whimpering.
It wasn't overly big -- a little over two feet tall, at Ivonar's guess. It was a yellower color than the odd Pokémon Remmy was holding, with the vaguest of resemblances to it, except that it was more than a foot bigger, and had a brown chest and brown sections on its arms and legs. It whimpered as it looked up at Ivonar, its expression fearful.
"Don't hurt me," someone whispered.
Ivonar jerked in surprise. She looked around, but saw no one. It couldn't have been Remmy; he was too far away for her to hear him whisper, and besides, the voice hadn't sounded anything like his. Manx's attention was completely on the Pokémon sitting in the middle of the road, whimpering fearfully. He bared his teeth even farther, snarling.
The Pokémon squealed again, disappearing -- only to appear right in front of Manx. The Persian leaped backwards in surprise.
Ivonar frowned. She knew quite well what Pokémon sat in the road, shivering with fear as Manx sniffed it suspiciously. It disappeared in what seemed a half-hearted way, only to appear, yet again, right in front of Manx.
Manx growled in annoyance. He was surprised when Ivonar touched him lightly on his back. "I don't think it meant to, Manx," she murmured. She crouched down beside him, reaching slowly toward the Pokémon. It disappeared again, but only for a moment, and Ivonar wasn't at all surprised when it reappeared in the same exact place. "I think our unknown Pokémon is just a side effect," she told the Persian. "I think we found the real victim." She reached out, gripping the Pokémon under its armpits. It disappeared again. Ivonar held still. Sure enough, the Pokémon reappeared in the same place, and her hands were still in the same place. She braced herself, grunting as she picked it up. It was at least as heavy as Nuisance was, and, now that she saw it with its legs beneath it instead of it sitting down, she saw that it was actually a bit taller, closer to three feet in height than two. She paused a moment when the creature disappeared again, waiting for it to return to her arms before she cradled it in the same way Remmy was cradling the unknown Pokémon. Looking down at it, she sang softly, her voice a little off-key:
"Stay, little Abra, don't you fear,
You disappear when danger's near.
But something's wrong, instead you stay:
You go to it, instead of away.
Be calm, little Abra, stay right here,
Because here you have nothing to fear."
The Pokémon continued to tremble, making it a little hard to keep hold of it, but it stopped trying to teleport away. Its whimpering softened. Its eyes closed slowly as she continued to sing.
"You must be confused, you poor little thing,
Now you just rest and let me sing.
I won't hurt you, I promise, I swear,
You are safe, you're in my care.
Now sleep, little Abra, do be good,
You'll get better -- at least, you should."
Ivonar chuckled at the last line, but the Abra seemed to have listened to her -- its eyes were closed, and it wasn't trembling or whimpering anymore. It looked asleep.
Ivonar smiled slightly to herself as she lugged the sleeping Pokémon back toward Remmy. He stood up, the unidentified Pokémon still in his arms. "The problem?" he asked her softly, nodding toward the Pokémon she held.
She nodded. "How's that one?"
"Asleep, I think." Remmy looked down at the creature he held in his arms. It had its head rested against his chest, and was breathing softly. Its cheek was a little reddened where Ivonar had hit it.
Ivonar frowned a little. "I'm not sure why, but this seems to make sense," she murmured. "The Abra got confused, and its powers went a little haywire. It became scared, but when it tried teleporting away from what made it scared, it instead teleported to it." She jerked her head back toward where she had found the Abra. "That was what was going on back there. It sensed that I was angry at it, so it tried to flee -- and instead kept appearing right in front of me. When Manx threatened it, it stopped trying to run from me and instead kept appearing in front of him."
"But what about this little guy?" Remmy asked softly. He gestured to the Pokémon he held by moving his arms up slightly. The Pokémon sighed, curling one small arm under its chin, but otherwise didn't respond. "Why did it think it was drowning?"
"And why did it fall asleep when the Abra did?" Ivonar added, looking down at the Pokémon she was holding. Then she blinked rapidly. "When… when did it fall asleep?"
"Just a couple minutes ago." Remmy frowned. "Why?"
"When… the Abra did," Ivonar repeated, but she sounded disturbed.
"What's wrong?"
She regarded him seriously. "How did I know that?" He didn't answer. She frowned, looking down at the Abra again. "When… when I first saw the Abra, I heard somebody say, in the softest whisper, 'Don't hurt me.' And…" She grimaced. "Remmy, I nearly failed my the poetry unit in my English class because I couldn't rhyme for my life."
Remmy frowned. "So?"
"I couldn't rhyme. And I got kicked out of Chorus because I'm monstrously off-key."
Remmy shook his head. "It didn't sound so bad a minute ago. I couldn't hear what you were singing, but it sounded like 'Hush Little Baby.'"
"Um… same tune. I used different words, though." Ivonar bit her lip. "Something just doesn't seem right…"
"Everything's okay now."
Ivonar frowned, looking at Remmy again. "What do you mean?"
He frowned right back at her. "What?"
"What do mean, everything's okay?"
His eyebrows drew downward in confusion. "Did I say everything's okay?"
Ivonar bit her lip again. She glanced to the sides of the road. "Somebody did."
"Wasn't me."
"I swear, somebody said, 'everything's okay now.'"
"Was it the same person who said 'don't hurt me' before?"
"I…" She paused. "I… think…" She frowned; she hadn't really noticed. "Maybe."
Remmy frowned a little more, looking at the Abra for a moment before looking at the creature he was holding. "I think we're closer to Periwinkle City than Cerulean City," he said. "Let's see if we can get these guys to a Pokécenter or something. Maybe there's somebody we can talk to there who will know what this is," he lifted the Pokémon in his arms a little higher again, "…and get that Abra some help."
Ivonar smiled faintly. "Think it'll let me keep it?"
Remmy frowned. "Ivonar, how much do you know about psychic Pokémon?"
She pouted. "I know they have a weakness against ghost Pokémon, and advantages over most anything else -- especially fighting Pokémon." She grinned. "And that Nuisance is pretty strong, as far as psychic Pokémon go."
Remmy's frown deepened. "Nuisance isn't really a psychic Pokémon -- he's a water Pokémon capable of learning psychic attacks, just as a Beedrill is a bug Pokémon capable of learning poison attacks. Primarily psychic Pokémon, like Abras, are among the hardest Pokémon to train, because it takes severe mental discipline."
"What do you mean?"
"When people train psychic Pokémon like Abra or any of its evolutions, a bond is formed between the trainer and the Pokémon -- a psychic bond. Lots of times, it's simply impossible to train them unless the bond is made -- and only the Pokémon can do it, unless the trainer has some psychic abilities of their own."
"In other words," Ivonar translated coldly, "you don't think I can do it."
Remmy sighed. "Not that I can stop you from trying," he added tolerantly.
Ivonar rolled her eyes. "Let's just get going." She looked down at her backpack with despair. "How am I going to carry this guy, and my stuff? He's at least as heavy as Nuisance, and Nuisance weighs forty pounds. There's no way I can carry him that long. He's just too heavy."
Even as Ivonar spoke, the Abra's eyes opened, just slightly. It peered at her silently, then closed its eyes again. It reached up with its arms, wrapping them around Ivonar's neck, then wrapped its legs around her waist, like a child holding its mother.
Ivonar felt a great weight lift from her arms as the Abra hugged itself to her. Letting go, she was surprised to find the Abra firmly attached -- and that now that she wasn't holding it, it seemed to weigh nothing at all. She grinned at Remmy. "What's that about mental discipline?" she asked him. "Looks like he likes me just fine."
Remmy frowned, his expression dark. "Ivonar?"
"Yeah?"
"How do you know it's a he?"
"Huh?"
"A while ago, you stopped calling it 'it' and started calling it 'he.'"
"I did?" She looked at the Abra. He -- yes, she was thinking of it as a 'he,' all of a sudden! -- had his head rested against her shoulder, looking as if he was peacefully asleep. "I… I guess I did." She shrugged a little. "So what?" Leaning down, she gripped one of the straps of her pack, and swung it back onto her back, though she was careful not to crush the Abra's feet beneath it. "You okay carrying that one?"
Remmy nodded. "It doesn't weigh that much -- maybe a couple pounds more than the Eevees." He put it down gently so he could put his own pack back on. It woke up, its eyes fluttering open. It looked around groggily.
"You know," Ivonar said, looking down at it, "it's kind of cute."
"Yeah." Remmy adjusted one of the straps on his pack, and picked up the Pokémon in one hand. In the other, he picked up Sweetie. "Forgetting someone?" he asked Ivonar.
She looked blankly at the Eevee, then smiled. "Of course not." She took Sweetie and held her up so she could climb back on top of her backpack. "We set? Let's go."
*
They started making camp on the side of Route Nine-A soon after dark. They cleared a wide area, then set out their sleeping bags. While Remmy started the fire, Ivonar rummaged through her gear for something they could eat for dinner. The unidentified Pokémon sat beside Remmy, watching intently as he set the sticks in the little hole he'd dug for the fire's ashes to go into. The Abra slept silently in Ivonar's sleeping bag, under the warily watchful eyes of Manx and Chia. The Eevees played a pouncing game, seeing who could catch Chia's gently waving tail most often. Chia didn't even flinch whenever one of them caught her tail, or even when it was playfully nipped.
"That guy sleeps an awful lot," Ivonar joked.
"Abras sleep about eighteen hours a day," Remmy said. He gave the clay-colored Pokémon a pat on the head as he sat back to check his handiwork. Then he took a couple of fork-shaped sticks he'd set aside, dug holes in the dirt with his fingers, and stuck them on either side of the pile of sticks, burying them a little so they stood upright.
"I know. I was kidding." She pulled out a can of soup, and her mess kit. The mess kit was something her mother had given her; it was a small, metal thing that, when closed, looked oddly like a toy flying saucer with a bar across the top. The bar was held on by a screw and a wingnut on each end. If she removed one of the two screws holding the bar in place, the bar could rotate on the other screw to form the handle on a frying pan, while the other half of the "flying saucer" was an upside-down, low-sided bowl. Inside was a set of silverware and a small cup. Ivonar wasn't sure why it was called a "mess kit"-- she just knew it made finding what she was going to eat on, and with, easier. She had to rummage a little more before she found the pot she wanted to cook the soup in. "Um… Remmy, do you have the can opener?"
"Yeah. I'll get it." The fire was going, if barely; he blew softly on it until it looked safe to leave it to catch on its own. He gave the unknown Pokémon another pat as he got up. "You know what's driving me nuts?" he asked Ivonar as he went to his own backpack. "The Pokémon we found today -- and I'm not talking about the Abra. Not knowing what it is. Thinking about it as 'the unknown Pokémon' is giving me a headache."
"Q!" the Pokémon called, smiling slightly. It looked curiously at Ivonar's mess kit. It climbed to its feet to get a closer look. "Q?"
Ivonar smiled at it. She put the pot down, and opened the mess kit.
The Pokémon jerked backwards a little, surprised that the thing opened up, and that it had stuff inside, almost like a nut. Was it a nut? It smelled like metal. It frowned, perplexed. It took hold of the frying pan's handle, lifting it. It waved it around a little. A slow smile came over its face. "Q?" It peered at the screw holding the handle onto the frying pan; with a small, delicate claw, it slowly twisted the screw out. The pan hit the ground with a clatter. The Pokémon leaped backwards, startled, and slashed the air in front of it with the handle it still held. "Q!" It looked suspiciously at the pan, then looked at the handle it held with extreme interest. It swung its arm a little, back and forth, and smiled. "Q!"
Remmy grinned. "Looks like your mess kit's not going to work anymore," he told Ivonar. "I think it likes the handle a bit much."
"Q!" Emboldened by its new toy, the Pokémon looked at the other parts of the mess kit, then dismissed them as uninteresting. It stuck its short snout in the empty pot, then picked it up in its free hand. "Q?"
Ivonar giggled. "Bold little thing, isn't it?"
"Q!" The Pokémon turned the pot over, putting it on its head, letting the handle go under its chin. The sides of the pot fell over its eyes. "Q?!" It waved around blindly. "Q?" Ivonar burst out laughing. The Pokémon pushed the pot back, so that it could see her. It smiled faintly. "Q?"
Ivonar covered her mouth, trying to get a hold of herself. "Looks like we lose the pot, too," she giggled. She picked up her knife, and tapped the dull side first on the Pokémon's right shoulder, then its left. "I dub thee, for lack of a better name, Q!"
The Pokémon thrust the pan handle into the air. "Q!" it cried cheerfully.
Remmy laughed. "Looks like your gift for naming Pokémon pulls through again. Q it is."
Ivonar gave Q a quick tickle under the chin before returning to her pack to find something else to cook the soup in. Q didn't look like it had any intention of taking the pot off of its head any time soon. "I think I'm going to call the Abra 'Con.'"
"Con?"
"Well, your dad has a Caterpie he named Stu, for 'stubborn.' When we found the Abra, he was confused."
Remmy rolled his eyes. "Eevee, don't you remember a certain incident with a certain Poliwhirl? Your ability to name Pokémon isn't foolproof."
"He doesn't mind."
"How do you know? Did you ask him?"
Ivonar was about to retort, when she paused to think. How did she know? How could she be so certain the Abra had no problem with being named Con?
For that matter, how was she so sure the Abra was a 'he'?
Why was she so sure?
"R… Remmy?"
"Yeah?"
"Um… about psychic Pokémon. You said… earlier, something about a bond?"
"So?"
"Do you… know… anything about it?"
He came over to her side of the fire, handing her the can opener. He was the one of them who could read the map; she was the one of them who could work the can opener. He sat next to her. "One of the Pokémon my dad caught was a Jynx." He paused. "My house has this one room. It used to be a bedroom, or a study, or something, but now it has shelves. Every wall is covered in shelves, and there's a bunch of bookcases. And covering every one of those shelves and bookcases are pokéballs. Each one is labeled. That's where all the Pokémon my mom and dad caught while they were trainers, other than Fireburst and Stu, are kept, usually. The greenhouse is where they let the grass Pokémon out in sometimes, and the pond is where the water Pokémon get a little bit of swimming done, and the others can get some exercise in the backyard… you get the idea." He frowned a little. "I've only seen my dad's Jynx twice - once when I was four, I think, and once last year. He only lets it out every five years."
"Once every five years?" Ivonar frowned as she used her spoon to flip the lid of the soup can open. "That seems kind of… I don't know, cruel."
"The Jynx doesn't seem to mind." Remmy paused, looking at something only he could see. "Dad said that it's impossible to explain how it feels to be linked to a psychic Pokémon. It's something you have to experience to understand." He paused again. "He said it's like having a second conscience, like some part of yourself is working on its own. Sometimes it's easy to shrug it off as nothing, but sometimes - according to him, anyway - things can seem to be happening twice. People you know can look like complete strangers, or complete strangers can look familiar. You can feel happy, or sad, or angry, and not know why." Ivonar grimaced, biting her lip. "You might do something you used to think was hard without thinking about it, like spell a word you have trouble with-"
"-or rhyme?" she interrupted him. He looked at her, frowning slightly. "Remmy…" She bit her lip, and looked toward her sleeping bag. "I don't understand," she whispered. "The Abra was afraid of me. Why would it try to… to bond with me, if it was afraid?"
Remmy frowned, thinking about it. "Wait." He looked over at Q, who was wielding the pan handle like a sword at Fluffball. She crouched low, ready to pounce the moment she saw an opening. Obviously, Fluffball had gotten tired of the tail game. "The Abra was confused. It was doing things it wouldn't normally do -- like teleport to things it was scared of, instead of away."
"Yeah…"
Remmy's frown turned into a scowl. "What if… what if it tried creating a bond with Q?"
"With Q? Q's a Pokémon, Remmy. Abras don't make bonds with other Pokémon… do they?"
"Do Abras teleport to things they're scared of?"
"Remmy, I'm starting to doubt Q's problem is anything more than a simple case of amnesia." She pointed to it. It was wrestling with Fluffball, the pan handle lying on the ground beside it. Fluffball knocked her head into Q's chin, knocking the pot handle off the Pokémon's chin. The pot slipped off its head. With a frantic urgency, Q pushed Fluffball off of itself, grabbed the pot, and put it back on its head. Then it picked up the pan handle, looking at it oddly, as if it had been certain the handle had once been something else. "I mean, look at it. It has the pot on its head like a skull, and holds the handle the same way a Cubone does a bone. I admit, it seems extremely strange that it wouldn't have its skull on, but…" She frowned. "Maybe, when it thought it was drowning, it took off its skull to try to make itself lighter. I know if I found myself in the middle of a lake or something, I'd kick off my shoes to make my feet lighter."
"Amnesia from where?" Remmy shook his head. "Ivonar, no matter how much you insist this makes sense, it doesn't. The only thing that makes sense is that the Abra - Con - would teleport to you and Manx because it was confused."
"Con's not the problem," Ivonar said firmly. "It's Q. Nothing about Q makes sense."
"Con is a problem," Remmy disagreed.
"How can you say that?" Ivonar demanded. "What has he done wrong, huh? All he did all day was sleep. Tell me -- what's his crime?"
Remmy frowned. "Ivonar," he said seriously, "I want to drop the subject-"
"No!" she snapped, glaring at him. "What do you have against Con?"
Remmy's frown became an unreadable expression. "Ivonar," he said again, more slowly, "I am going to drop the subject, because I don't want to get in a fight with you. I just want to remind you that training psychic Pokémon takes extreme mental discipline, which you don't have. You'll have to trust me on this, but… for the next few days, whenever you get an urge to do something, think about it first. Please. Promise me that."
"Promise what?" She grinned. "That I'll think before I act?"
"Yes," he replied seriously. "Promise me, Ivonar. And whatever you do, don't break that promise."
She frowned. "Why?"
His own frown returned. "Like I said," he replied vaguely, "you'll have to trust me."
She sighed, pausing for a long moment. Remmy showed no signs of backing off -- he stared right at her, expectantly. "Okay," she said finally. "I promise."
*
Dinner was eaten in silence, after which Remmy immediately got into his sleeping bag. Ivonar double-checked to make sure everything was put away and secure from curious wild Pokémon, before crawling into her own bag.
As usual, Fluffball crawled into the sleeping bag, curling up somewhere by Ivonar's feet, and Static climbed on top of her to sleep on her side. Cole was lying on Chia, who was dozing on Remmy's bag. Manx lay not far away, licking at his right forepaw, while Q sat near him.
Sweetie wailed softly when she found her own usual spot taken.
Ivonar smiled at her sympathetically. "I'm sorry," she apologized. "But don't worry, Sweets. After we bring Con to the Periwinkle City Pokécenter, I think I'm going to set him free. Like Remmy said, training a psychic Pokémon is probably over my head. You can have your spot back in a couple days, okay?" She pulled open the top of the sleeping bag wider. "Why don't you sleep with Fluffball for now?"
Sweetie lay her ears back, whimpering softly, but crawled into the sleeping bag.
Ivonar wrapped her arm around Con's shoulders as she snuggled deeper into her sleeping bag. She heard Nuisance come out of his pokéball, and felt him lie gently on her feet. "'Night, everybody," she murmured, closing her eyes.
*
Late that night, as the moon started to set, Con opened his eyes. Slowly, he looked down toward the bottom of the sleeping bag. His eyes closed a soft red.
For the first time since she was seven, Ivonar kicked in her sleep. Nuisance rolled off, and there was a squeal from the sleeping bag as one of the Eevees was rolled on. Nuisance jumped to his feet, startled. He looked around, confused. Huh? He looked down at his side; for some reason, it hurt nearly as much as his head did. What had just happened? He looked around. Where were they?
Con closed his eyes again, looking asleep.
Sweetie crawled out of the bag, whimpering. She shook out her back leg, looking mournfully at Nuisance.
The Psyduck frowned a little. He clenched his eyes shut for a moment, trying to make the unceasing pain in his head retreat a little so he could think a bit more clearly, then waddled to the head of the sleeping bag and putting a comforting hand on the little Eevee's back. What's wrong? he asked, then looked at his sleeping trainer. He frowned a little. Who is that?
Sweetie sniffed. Mommy and the other human found it today, she replied quietly.
Manx lifted his head with a yawn. Keep it down, he growled softly, giving Sweetie a strict look. Most of us are trying to sleep.
Sweetie cringed sheepishly. Sorry, Papa, she murmured softly.
Manx grunted softly, accepting her apology. Then he turned to look at the Psyduck, his stern expression melting into muted surprise. And what anomaly managed to wake you up at this hour? he asked snidely.
Nuisance frowned, looking at the sleeping bag he had, not so long ago, been sleeping on. She… she kicked me off, he answered.
Manx rolled his eyes, then lay his head back down. She does that all the time, he scoffed. Never woke you up before.
Nuisance regarded the Persian seriously. She's never kicked me that hard before, he replied darkly.
Sweetie sniffed. She went to Manx, sitting down beside him. He raised his head, frowning; she rested her head on his shoulder and sniffed again. I want Mommy to hug me, like she always does, she whimpered.
Manx sighed. Sweetie was the only one of the Eevees who insisted that Ivonar was their mother, same as Cole had stopped considering him a father figure soon after meeting Chia. She can't tonight, he replied, laying his head back down. You can lie with me, he offered.
Sweetie bit her lip softly, looking back at the silent lump that was Ivonar. But I want Mommy to hug me, she murmured, tears stinging her eyes.
Why isn't Ivonar hugging Sweetie? Nuisance asked Manx as firmly as he could. He knew the Persian didn't think much of him. It had seemed like the best way for them to live under the same roof, but now he regretted living under the cat's paw for so long. It was very difficult to get him to take him seriously. He approached slowly. Then he looked at the other form near them with startled surprise. Who are you?
The stranger regarded him from beneath the pot it wore on its head. Well, these humans are calling me 'Q,' it replied. Never liked my other name, so it's as good as any. That cursed Abra got me fantastically confused -- had me thinking I was drowning! -- 'till the female human slapped some sense back into me. It backfired though. The clay-colored Pokémon smiled unpleasantly. Abra got itself confused, too. Served it right, too! Made me lose my companion. A frown creased its face. The pot slipped over its eyes as it bowed its head sadly. Poor Eevee. I hope I can find her soon.
Manx and Nuisance traded a glance. Far too many things are called 'Eevee,' Manx muttered.
The unknown Pokémon pushed the pot back off its eyes. What do you mean?
Our master -- the female -- is also called Eevee sometimes, Nuisance replied quickly. What of your companion? And what of the Abra? Why is it beside her?
My companion was like me, though she wasn't the same kind of Pokémon, it replied, answering nothing. And as for your master, she's quite a pushover. The little monster's been playing her all night.
Nuisance turned to face the Abra. He clenched his eyes shut, trying to concentrate: it didn't work. He grimaced. He needed… he needed to think, really think, and he couldn't - not while the headache distracted him every time he tried to focus. Q, he said, may I borrow that bar for a moment?
My bar? Q looked at the metal bar in its hand, then shrugged a little. I guess. It gave it to the Psyduck. What for?
I need to think.
You need a bar to think?
It helps. With that, Nuisance whacked himself as hard as he could in the forehead.
What the-! Q cried.
Keep it quiet! Manx hissed at it.
He's going to bend my bar! Q whined.
I'll bend you in half if you don't keep it down, Manx snapped. Sweetie may be awake, but there are three other children who need their sleep! He looked at the Psyduck. If you need help, he said, his sneer returning, I'd be glad to smack you across the clearing.
Nuisance didn't reply. His head swam with the blow; the pain in his head was excruciating, but, unfortunately, not painful enough. K… Q… he managed to stammer, holding out the bar to the other Pokémon. Wha… what I did?
You smacked yourself in the head, you loon! Q snapped, snatching the bar back.
Yeah… yes… what I did… ?
I just told you what you did!
I … do it again?
Yo- what?
Manx frowned. You obviously don't have much experience with Psyducks, he murmured tolerantly, as if his experience with Nuisance made him an expert on all Psyducks. They're a looney lot. Bang him in the head again if he enjoys it so much.
But-
Do it! Nuisance snapped. Please!
Q grimaced, then scowled, but it took the bar in both hands and, wielding it like a bat, it smacked Nuisance square in the forehead.
YAH- The Psyduck's cry of pain was cut short as his eyes lit up in a fierce blue haze. Q leaped backwards in surprise. Thank you, he murmured, his voice unnaturally quiet.
He focused now, very easily: when the pain was at a certain level, he'd found, it stopped being pain, and became energy. Certainly, afterward, he'd have an even larger headache than normal, but that wasn't his concern at the moment.
Abra, he hissed. You don't fool me. Get up.
The Pokémon lying beside Ivonar opened his eyes, just slightly. What do you want, water fowl? it sneered softly.
What I want is my master, Nuisance replied.
The Abra chuckled softly. This thing? Her mental capabilities are laughable. Not even the dimmest glimmer of telekinetic potential. She doesn't even realize we're bonded, anymore than her companion does.
Nuisance's beak fell open. He almost lost his concentration, but managed to catch it before the headache pummeled him from within. Bonded? he echoed. Why would you choose to bond yourself to someone you despise?
The Abra sat up slowly. It regarded the Persian with a sneer. You don't have to worry about any of your precise little hairballs waking. If I wished, you would be asleep as well, but since this could be amusing, I'll let you remain awake.
Manx's lip curled slightly. He shifted his left front paw so that Sweetie was between his forepaws before unsheathing his claws threateningly. I thought your smell was foul, he snarled softly.
The Abra laughed softly, keeping most of his attention on the Psyduck. I will admit, I bonded to her under the influence of confusion, he replied slowly, as if he didn't expect them to possibly understand, but it wasn't a full bond, of course. Bonding completely with a human requires complete concentration, which is impossible when one is confused. He sneered at the Psyduck. Which you would know a lot about, wouldn't you, Migraine Mallard?
Nuisance kept his focus. What do you want with her, Abra? he demanded, his voice soft and toneless.
The Abra chuckled. I've always wanted a pet, he murmured, his tone dry. It is somewhat difficult to get around when you're asleep most of the day. Her legs, mostly. He laughed. Her food is also quite welcome. Scrounging for one's self can be difficult when, as I said, most of the day is spent asleep.
Sweetie looked at Manx, her chin wobbling. Papa, she whispered softly, he's scaring me.
'Papa'? The Abra laughed harshly. An immature, weak little Eevee calling a full-grown Persian 'Papa'? He hugged his sides as he laughed. You call yourself a Persian, tailless one?
I call myself ' I ', Manx snarled, starting to rise. He leaned forward as he got up, so that Sweetie was sheltered beneath him. And I will call you 'dinner,' if you even look like you are going to hint-
Save me the speech, you posturing cripple, the Abra snapped. Ivonar stirred. The Abra blinked, pausing.
Nuisance was fighting to keep his concentration. The blows to his head were wearing off: he had to keep focused, or else he'd…
Focus.
Cripple, is he? he snapped, marching up to the Abra. What about you, you savage little ingrate? The Abra looked up at him; from his sitting position, he could do no less in order to look at the Psyduck in complete surprise. My master helps you regain your focus, and you thank her by making her a puppet? How would you like it?
The Abra sneered. Are you going to show me, waterbird? he laughed.
My master named you Con, because you were confused when she found you, Nuisance snapped. But the name fits even now, you scamming con artist! Leave her alone! Get away from here… from us… from her… His focus returned, his eyes flaring anew. … or I will show you.
Slowly, the Abra floated upward, getting itself onto its feet. Will you, now, water Pokémon.
I am not just a water Pokémon, you pathetic excuse for living matter, Nuisance snapped.
All you are is a bird with telekinetic potential, Con sneered, leaning down to look the Psyduck in the eye. You have no chance against a full psychic Pokémon.
Do I, now? The unearthly light in Nuisance's eyes glowed so darkly, they seemed solid, his pupils having long faded from view. Care to back that up?
The Abra really burst out laughing. It held its sides as tears stung its eyes, it laughed so hard. You… challenge… me?! he cried.
No, Nuisance replied coldly. I don't want to challenge you. But what you suggest for my master is nothing short of humiliation. He lifted one arm casually. That is what I want.
Con stared at him. Wha…
Pure, and complete, humiliation. The psychic fire flared brightly in the Psyduck's eyes as he jerked his raised arm viciously.
Con screamed in shock as he found himself flying through the air. He barely managed to cushion himself before he smacked harshly into a tree. You… are strong, he murmured in surprise. For a fowl, he added quickly.
A grim smile crossed Nuisance's beak. You claim you have the advantage, as the full psychic here, he murmured softly. But you're wrong.
Con sneered. Your reason for believing this being…?
You have no training, Con artist, Nuisance replied coldly, and I have only the best. He slammed his hand forward, the fire in his eyes again blazing strong. The Abra, caught off-guard, slammed into the tree he had managed to avoid a moment earlier. Something you learn quickly, when you've been trained, Nuisance continued, is that abilities honed by training, no matter how innate those abilities should be, will beat natural ability every… he slammed the Abra into another tree, …single… then back into the first, … time. Roughly, he let him go. This is your second warning, he said coldly. Leave us in peace, and leave my master alone.
Con picked himself up, trying to hide the fact that his back hurt quite painfully. You can't break the hold I have on your master, he snapped. Nothing can do that besides me. Until I say, I will be the master of your master! A snarl curled the deceptively harmless-looking Pokémon's lip.
Nuisance paused. He stood up straight. You're right, he murmured softly. Con sneered. Your partial bond gives you the upper hand. In full bonds, it is will that rules, but when the bond is incomplete, what bond there is is controlled by the more powerful psychic.
You're smart for something that looks so stupid, Con snorted.
You're evil for something that looks so harmless! Q snapped.
Didn't I teach you a lesson before? Con snarled.
Yeah, and you obviously didn't learn a thing from it! Q sneered. Whoever heard of an Abra so sloppy that it gets itself confused?
Shut up! Con shouted, his eyes glowing a fiery red. Q gasped as it began to wobble upward.
No!
Q fell back to the ground. It hadn't floated up far, but still it stumbled when it landed, in surprise.
Con glared hatefully at Nuisance. How dare you?
Nuisance just looked at him for a long time. His eyes smoldered strongly, the energy swirling upon itself. You flaunt the fact that you are going to hurt that which means more to me than anything else, he replied, his voice so soft as to be barely a whisper, and you ask how I dare?
Con looked toward Ivonar's still-prone form. That… thing?
That… thing, Nuisance continued, his voice still at the same barely-audible level, but more poisonous than the most potent Victreebel's acid, was the first thing, ever, to care the slightest bit about me. Not about the power you mock, not about the form you ridicule. That thing does not own me, anymore than I own her. He walked forward, coming face to face with the other Pokémon. That thing, he breathed, is why I dare.
You… you can't do anything, Con said, barely managing to keep his voice steady. You cannot break the bond.
I can't break the bond, Nuisance agreed. He reached forward, his fingertips ever-so-lightly resting against the Abra's forehead. But I certainly can do something. He closed his furiously glowing eyes.
Con tried to pull away, but found he couldn't. You can't do anything! he cried hysterically. You can't!
When the bond is complete, it is a matter of will, not power, Nuisance replied coldly.
Co… com… you can't! Con would have been trembling if he could, but he couldn't even do that much. Somehow, the Psyduck was too powerful! How could such a thing be happening?! You can't!
For a psychic Pokémon and a human to be bonded together, Nuisance said, his voice dead, all it requires is psychic power. The source is irrelevant.
N- no!
You wanted a puppet, Con artist? the Psyduck breathed, opening his eyes again. His fury turned the energy glowing in his eyes almost black. He lifted one hand slightly; the Abra floated a few inches up, but was powerless to do anything about it. Next time, be your own puppet.
N… no… Con whispered.
Ivonar stirred, mumbling in her sleep. Chia's eyes fluttered open. She sat up quickly when she saw the Abra in the air. What in the-
Shut up! Manx snarled at her. Don't distract him!
Nuisance moved his other arm, just slightly. There was a soft rustle from Ivonar's pack, a slight clink, and something small and spherical flew out, into the Psyduck's small hand. He pressed the button on it, making it larger. You wanted to capture a slave, Con artist. He held the sphere forward, against the Abra's chest. Ironic that you should be captured instead. He pressed the button against the Abra's chest. The sphere flew open.
NO! Con screamed, as he felt himself breaking down. NO! NO! N- His screams were cut short as he disappeared into the pokéball.
Remmy sat up suddenly, throwing his sleeping bag open and turning to stare. Ivonar remained still.
Nuisance dropped the pokéball to the ground, staring at it as it wobbled for a few moments… then stopped. A moment later, in a brief flare of light, it vanished.
Again, he felt his focus slipping. He tried letting go slowly, but the adrenaline and extreme emotions raging through him were too much: all at once, the energy drained from him, and the pain exploded, tenfold, between his temples. He literally fell off his feet from the sheer power of it. Weakly, he reached for his head, as if to physically press the headache into a smaller place, when it exploded again, overwhelming him.
Without another sound, Nuisance fell into painless oblivion.
The last thing he heard was Ivonar starting to scream.
*
Remmy stared, his jaw hanging open, as the Abra disappeared into the pokéball Nuisance held in his small hand. The Psyduck dropped the ball, watching it as it wobbled, until finally it held still, then disappeared. The Pokémon stood there for only a moment more, before swaying, then falling over. Before he could get up, Nuisance's head lolled loosely onto the ground.
Sweetie squealed, running to the Psyduck. She put her front paws on his side, trying to rock him, but the Psyduck weighed four times as much as she did: he didn't move a muscle, much less an inch.
"Ivonar!" Remmy snapped, jumping up. "Something's wrong! Wake up!" Frantically, Remmy tried to figure out what happened: whatever it had been, how could he have slept through it?! Sweetie, last he looked, had been in Ivonar's sleeping bag, the Abra in Sweetie's usual spot, Nuisance on his trainer's feet as always. Now none of them were in the same place. Manx had his claws completely bared, his ears laid back. Chia looked terrified. Two hideously dark bruises were forming on Nuisance's forehead, as if he'd been pummeled in the head with a blunt object. "Ivonar!" he snapped even louder. How could she still be asleep? One of the things he'd quickly learned about Ivonar was that she was a pretty light sleeper. There was no way something that woke him up wouldn't wake her up. He knelt down next to her, shoving her shoulder. "Ivonar!"
She sat up so suddenly, her head nearly smashed into his chin. "NO!" she screamed, her eyes flying open. "NO! NO!" She gripped her forehead. "No, I'm sorry, don't-" Suddenly, she blinked rapidly. Then she did it again. She looked at Remmy blankly for a moment. "What… what happened? The… Abra… Con…" She shuddered. "Oh no… oh, no…"
"What?"
Ivonar brushed her bangs off her forehead. "He… Con… he… oh…" She sobbed, then covered her mouth. Then, she snapped herself back together. "Nuisance?" She scrambled out of her sleeping bag. "Nuisance!" She leaned over him. "Nuisance?" she whispered, brushing her fingertips against the bruises on his forehead. He didn't respond. "Oh, Nuisance…"
"Eevee!" Remmy crouched next to her, his expression heavy with worry. "What happened?"
She sobbed softly as she took Nuisance in her arms, cradling him gently. "It's… it's not completely clear," she whispered. "Con… he'd been confused, and almost bonded to me, but… and then he thought that I could carry him around, protect him… he… he wanted…" She shuddered. "He wanted to train me!" She hugged Nuisance tightly to herself. "Bu… but Nuisance… he… he finished the bond Con started, then totally Disabled… and… and Paralyzed… and…" She sobbed. "How does Nuisance know so many attacks?" She fell silent, her head pressed to Nuisance's chest. Her expression melted away.
"Nuisance caught Con," Remmy finished for her. "In more ways than one."
Ivonar nodded slightly. She stood up, taking Nuisance with her to her pack. She pulled out her pokéball belt, taking out his pokéball, and put him back in. A cold look settled over her face, as she went back to her sleeping bag, and started rolling it back up.
"Come on," she told him, her voice as expressionless as her face. "We have to get to Periwinkle City."
Remmy returned to his bag, and began rolling it. Chia hurried to help him. "Why?" he asked softly.
"Nuisance," she replied tonelessly. "I think he's dying."