Star in the Storm, Chapter 3

Lody- "Riddles in the Night"

Amulet's soft breezing beside me provided a constant rhythm to the murmur of the night air. As I lay in bed, I tried to sort out all the hurried events of the last few days.

So much time had been spent preparing for the special day one week ago. Mother had told me many times of Kayley Mindstar, the spirited Pokémon trainer she and Dad had befriended as children. Kayley had made a sacred promise, a promise for which she had ultimately exchanged her fate. When a freak accident had left her in the body of an Eevee, her life was changed forever.

My parent and all the others who had aided Kayley's mission were the only source of strength Kayley had had left. But something horribly unexpected had happened at that last meeting at the Coliseum, something none of the grownups would reveal to us.

I twisted around to lie on my stomach. Then there was that boy Father had brought home. Shane, he said his name was; Shane, with the strange last name of Rising. Peculiar as it might be, I would accept that for now, though every instinct I possessed protested.

Shane, the teacher's pet, I thought angrily. Father had so many students, of which I had been only one. It was stupid of me to think I was the best of them, though I had done so for many years. Shane Rising's been here for barely a week, and already Father spends more time with him than he ever has with me and Amulet. Shane, the boy genius and Pokémon expert; twelve years old and already headed for college.

I punched a pillow beside me. Nothing I've ever done compares with Shane, does it? Does it matter I almost beat up a seasoned trainer today? Shane's probably beaten hordes of them. He's probably started his Pokémon journey long ago, when I've never had a chance to go. Does my father even think I'm good enough to do anything anymore?

I had run back towards the laboratory after checking the morning mail. Scores from the Kanto Region Exams had just come through, and after opening the envelope, I couldn't wait to show my father.

"Dad!" I yelled, racing up the steps to the laboratory. "Dad, guess what!"

My father appeared in the doorway, and I almost crashed into him. "Whoa, slow down, little Lody!" he cried. "You're rather energetic today."

I held the envelope in his face and let loose a rare smile. "Dad, I'm in 99th percentile! For all of Kanto!"

"That's nice, Lody," he replied. "Who was in the 100th percentile?"

"Dad!"

At that moment, Shane came up behind my father. "Professor Koreyu?" he said urgently.

"Oh, yes, Shane. Lody, would you excuse us?" Turning away, he closed the door, leaving me standing there with the envelope in my hand.

Running around the building and peering through the window, I saw Shane and my father standing in the hall. The boy was showing Father something on his shirt, that was all I had time to see before they went into a room and shut the door.

Something suspicious was going on, that I knew for sure. Sneaking back in through the door, I had strained to hear their conversation. All I had time to hear before Roary had come barging in, were the words "Kayley Mindstar" and "running out of time."

I turned around to lie on my back again. Roary was always sticking her nose where it didn't belong. I grinned to think that at least we had in common. I had often regarded Roary as my complete opposite.

"But Roary is a clever strategist," Amulet pointed out. "Judging from the way that match turned out today."

I stroked her head affectionately. "Hey, if you had beaten the Pichu up, I would have felt more like a loser than I do now. We don't pick fights with the innocent."

Now, in the quiet of midnight, those words felt fraudulent and futile. I twisted around and buried my face in my pillow. One of my first battles ever…lost, because I was too sanctimonious to hurt a baby Pokémon. Roary had pinpointed my weakness and used it to her full advantage, and she'd be sure not to forget it anytime soon. If I ever faced her in the Pokémon League, it would mean total elimination.

Sitting up in bed, I thought angrily, It may have been the "right" thing to do, but where does doing the right thing ever get you in life? No one plays by the rules; not anymore.

I shook my head to rid it of these thoughts. What was Shane Rising or one trivial Pokémon battle compared to the shadowed mystery of Kayley Mindstar? I had met Mindstar only moments before she disappeared, moments before the adults had covered the whole affair in an unexplained secrecy.

They, Mindstar's old friends, didn't want us to know the truth.

But they weren't her only friends.

Compelled by a strong curiosity to discover exactly what was being so carefully concealed from us, I crept out of bed and started down the stairs, going very slowly as to not make the tiniest sound. As I neared the kitchen, a faint crunching sound neared my ears. Opening the door, I was greeted by a startled shout and a shower of potato chips.

"Whirt in the worlt irre you doing here irt this time of nirght, young lady?"

I put up a hand in confusion. As I had expected, Ripple was up late once again, raiding the larder. As with all our Pokémon, Mother taught Ripple how to speak Human, and this Squirtle did so with a strong Chelonian (the PokéDialect shared by Squirtle and their evolved forms) accent that I sometimes had trouble understanding.

"Sorry to disturb you, Ripple," I said politely. "I just remembered something I'd like to ask you."

The Squirtle shrugged. "Firre irway," it replied, stuffing another handful of potato chips into its mouth.

I frowned. "I thought Dad had you on a diet, again."

"Your Mother took me off it," Ripple grinned, mouth stuffed full with food.

I shrugged and smiled. Ripple, I had decided earlier, would be the ideal individual to ask about Kayley. As a Pokémon belonging to my father as a child, Ripple had probably seen Kayley Mindstar many, many times. "Do you remember a trainer called Kayley Mindstar from when Dad was a kid about my age?" I asked now.

"Sure," Ripple answered, chewing busily. "Who coult forget Kiryley? Real feisty trainer, thirt Kiryley. Remirnds me of your frient, Roirry."

My head filled with a multitude of questions, questions that rushed out my mouth so fast that the words tumbled over one another and tangled together. "What kind of Pokémon did she train? How long did she travel with my parents? What was the sacrifice she made all those years back…?"

Ripple held up a paw. "Slow down, Mirss Lody. Birck then, I wirs just your daddy's Pokémon, irnd I didn't know her irs well irs thirt. If you wirnt the full story on Kiryley Mintstirr, yir shoult rirlly tirlk to Chirrm."

"I should talk to Chirrm? You mean that Charmander who used to live here when I was little? Wait, wasn't their name Charm, though?"

"Thirt's whirt I sirt. Chirrm."

"Right. Where can I find Charm, now?"

Ripple scratched its head musingly. "Chirrm went off to live with its pal, Stray, irt Chiricific Virlley ir few yers birck. I'm not so sure whir thirt is, irnymore. They tirke special care to concirl the Virlley from pirchers, yir see. Lirgest Chirizard hirven in the entire worlt, yir know."

I snatched a potato chip from Ripple's bag when it wasn't looking and munched in thought. "Does anyone know where Charicific Valley is, then? Surely someone must?"

Ripple shrugged again, pausing its chewing momentarily as it thought. "Pikir mirght," it replied finally.

"Pikir? Oh, Pika."

"I sirt Pikir!" Ripple said in annoyance. "Why do yir keep on repirtin' whirt I sir?"

"Sorry, Ripple," I said. "You mean Mr. Ketchum's Pikachu when you say 'Pika', right?"

"Thirt's the one," Ripple answered, satisfied. "Pikir irnd Chirrm're thick irs thieves, them two. Pikir wirs irwful hirtbroken when Chirrm left."

"So, if I want to find out more about Kayley, I have to find Charm?" I sighed. "Great, that seems a really inefficient way of doing it."

Ripple eyed me curiously. "If yir wirnt, I coult irsk yir pirrents…"

"No," I interrupted curtly. "I really don't think that will be necessary."

As I passed the laboratory on my way back upstairs, a frantic typing reached my ears. The door was closed, but a faint crack of light shone out from under. Who was staying up this late? Was it my father, for some reason unbeknownst to me?

I was almost to the foot of the stairs when a muttering voice drifted towards me. It was definitely not my father's. Backtracking towards the door, I edged it slightly open and peered inside.

Shane was crouched nervously over a keyboard, fingers flying across the panel in a blurred frenzy. I squinted at his screen suspiciously; surely this wasn't Father's idea of a homework assignment?

"Is that right, Gauntal?" he whispered to his Umbreon, who was poised on the chair beside him. "It's just like the keyboard at school, so I couldn't have had too much difficulty."

"E'on!" Gauntal yipped back. From what little Mother had taught me of Eonic (PokéDialect of Eevee and evolved forms), I could translate this loosely as "Let's do it!"

Sighing, Shane straightened, hitting Enter. The screen filled with a strange diagram, and lines and lines of small type. As Shane scrolled downward, I leaned in to get a closer look.

"Lody?"

I jumped. Shane hastily hit X-ed out of the window. Yawning loudly, he stretched his arms out wide. "I didn't know you'd still be up," he said casually.

"The surprise is mutual," I replied coldly, folding my arms. Shane shrugged but remained seated, still yawning.

"Aren't you going to bed now?" I asked finally.

He shrugged. "Aren't you?"

I unfolded my arms and eyed him one last time before exiting the room. He didn't want me to see what he was doing, that much was clear. As I started up the stairs, the sound of furious typing resumed, echoing strangely in the silence of the night.

Amulet was waiting for me when I got back upstairs. Ears twitching, she watched silently as I took a seat by my bedroom window and fixed my gaze on the night sky.

"The stars aren't nearly as bright here," she said dreamily, jumping up to join me. "If you want to see the stars in their full glory, there's no better place to view them than at the Coliseum. Remember the Coliseum, Lody? Where your parents and all the other adults went to visit Kayley. It used to be a battle stadium in ancient times, but was later abandoned in favor of the more modern buildings. A pity –just imagine what it would be like to battle in a Coliseum like that!"

"We might someday," I said quietly, not tearing my gaze away from the window. "If I become a Pokémon master."

Amulet's dark eyes glinted as she looked up at me. "For some people, that would be enough," she said quietly. "But for you, Lody, is it?"

I opened my mouth to reply, but found I had no words which to use. There were so many things I'd thought I wanted to be, but in reality, there was only one.

Like an age-old mantra, bits and pieces of certain phrases cavorted through my head, taunting me.

I want to be the very best, like no one ever was.

It was stupid of me, of course, stupid and naïve. I was never born a winner, or had a destiny to be the very best. Shane Rising had proven that to me painfully enough.

But in some twisted way, I actually thanked him. Without Shane, I could have lived my life without any notion of true greatness, wrapped in false illusions of my own petty glories. What was a some perfect test paper, a Pokémon battle here and there, or a trophy from the Pokémon League? To some people, like Roary, it was the whole world. To myself, it was just another vision of glory I was tired of and frustrated with.

So long had I been searching for a purpose, a chance to do something grand and important. Something that would make everyone, including myself, proud of who I was.

But what could I do, then, to make my mark? Of course I still yearned to, as foolish as it was. An idea had already begun to form in my mind.

Kayley Mindstar was the key. If I could unravel the secret of Kayley's sacrifice and the meaning of her strange request, that would definitely be worth something.

I had to start somewhere. And I would make sure to, tomorrow anyway.

"Who are you looking for?" Roary demanded again, leaning across the doorframe of the Ketchum residence. I couldn't help but notice the way her ponytail flicked back forth as she talked, looking like an extremely angry black snake as it caught the light.

I ground my teeth softly and replied, with as much patience as I could muster, "Pika, please. I'm looking for Pika."

"Pi?" Picassy squeaked, peeking out from behind Roary's leg. It waved, giggling happily, at Amulet, who hid behind my foot embarrassedly. The little pigtail on the top of its head bounced up and down as Picassy toddled forward.

"Pika who?" Roary asked, raising her eyebrows and grabbing Picassy from the ground. It batted its paws at her playfully.

"Pika, just plain Pika!"

"What about me?"

I turned around, almost tripping over Amulet. Looking up at me questioningly was a bright-eyed Pikachu watering a line of tulips at the base of the house, along with a disgruntled Meganium holding a bag of fertilizer in its mouth.

The Pikachu put its watering can down and grinned at me. "Hey, I know you! You're the new Professor's kid, aren't you?"

I gaped. "You can talk? Human language?" I tacked the last part on rather hastily. Some Pokémon would get very offended if you didn't consider their specialized languages, aka PokéDialects, as "talking."

The Pikachu's grin widened. "Rowan, your mom, taught me, remember?" It brushed off its paws and cocked its head. "I'm Pika, alright; what's your name?"

"Lody." We shook paw-to-hand.

"Listen," I started. "I need to send a message to a place called Charicific Valley, and I was told you might be able to help me."

Pika's brow furrowed. "Charicific Valley? Whatever for?"

I bent down to whisper, praying that Roary wouldn't overhear. "I need to find this Charmander, Charm's the name. But, you remember Charm, right?"

"Charm?" There was a muffled crash as the bag of fertilizer dropped from the Meganium's mouth, sending a huge blue cloud drifting into the air. "You're going to see Charm?" the Meganium repeated, stepping forward eagerly as I coughed, eyes watering.

Pika fanned away a puff of fertilizer, trying to clear its throat. "That's Bryar," it choked out. "Its crush on Charm is long-standing."

"I do not have a crush on Charm!" the Meganium snapped.

"Do too!" Pika retorted. "Ever since you figured out Ash wasn't available."

"I do not!" Bryar.

"Do too!" Pika.

"Do not!" Bryar again.

"Do not!" Pika shouted.

"Do too!" Bryar yelled, flushing red as it realized the words that had slipped from its mouth. "I'll get you for this, Pikapal!" it snapped, vine whips flailing.

Pika folded its arms smugly. "Sure, Lody; I can send for Charm and get 'em over here faster than you can recite all 351 of the Pokémon! Just a second; we're supposed to be tending the garden."

As I straightened, I noticed Roary eyeing me suspiciously. "Just what are you up to, Chimera?" she demanded. "Do your parents…?"

"Pichu! Ooo!" Picassy cried suddenly, running forward. I looked down to see Amulet trying unsuccessfully to bat away the tiny Pichu.

"Careful, Amulet!" I called. "We wouldn't want to step on the little one, now would we?"

Pika turned its head back to me with a grin. "That 'little one' is my niece, by the way. No one messes with Picassy!"

"Pi! Pi!" Picassy giggled distractingly, jumping up and pulling Pika by the ear.

"Whoa! Watch it, Cass!" Pika cried, slipping wildly. Its watering can went flying into the air, hitting Amulet in the side and spraying both me and Roary thoroughly. Roary sputtered indignantly, her wet ponytail swishing violently from side to side. It whipped me painfully in the face as I stood up.

"Hey, Lody!" someone was calling frantically.

I watched calmly as Shane came rushing forward, half-dragged by his Umbreon. He bent over for a brief breath before facing me. "What were you doing downstairs last night?" he demanded, arms folded.

"I was talking to Ripple," I replied sharply. "Not against the law, is it?"

Shane scowled, mouth tightening. "After that?" he asked, pacing back and forth across the Ketchum's lawn as Gauntal eyed me suspiciously.

I shrugged. "Why are you so interested, anyway?"

The boy put a hand against his forehead, as it my obstinacy was too much to bear. "I'm not especially so," he said finally, removing his hand and looking back up at me. "But your father is."

My father?

"It's a question of trust, Lody. Ripple was saying you were planning to go to Charicific Valley, and that you didn't want your father to know."

I stared at Shane furiously, not able to believe what I was hearing. Of course; I should have realized anyone could bribe Ripple to talk simply by holding a milk chocolate bar over its head, but of all the people Ripple could've told, why did it have to tell Shane?

"Lody, you don't realize how dangerous that would be," Shane said, truly sounding concerned. "You don't have enough experience to make it out there on your own. Now, you and Amulet had better come back to the Lab with me and explain everything you were talking to Ripple about last night. And I mean everything, Lody."

With every word that came forth from Shane's mouth, I felt my face grow redder and my fists clench tighter. I hadn't actually been planning to go to Charicific Valley myself, but Shane's accusing, yet condescending words were more than enough to send me over the edge. "I am not a complete novice!" I argued heatedly. "And what I do is no business of yours!"

"Lody, I'm sorry." Shane's voice was gentle, almost patronizing. "I didn't mean to say you were a bad trainer. You're just not ready to go so far from home as Charicific Valley. I'm just trying to look out for you; your parents would want that, I'm sure."

What do you know of my parents? What do you know of my ability as a trainer? I and I alone will decide whether I am ready or not! I wanted to scream. Instead, I kept my lips pinched tight and glared at Shane with all the undiluted venom I could muster. People often became uncomfortable when I glared at them; they would turn away, drop the subject, and cease to bother me again. Not so with Shane Rising.

Shane knew perfectly well he had hit a vein of mine. Even Gauntal's bright red gaze seemed to flicker and avert itself from my face. But instead of abandoning the matter, Shane pursued it readily. "Think about your parents, Lody." he continued in that same concerned voice. "They'd be so worried if you just left. Ripple and I haven't told the Professor about your conversation last night, but it's really our responsibility to do so, if you don't tell me what you were trying to do. I'd hate to do that, Lody, knowing how strained the relationship between you and your parents is."

"What?" I spat disbelievingly.

"You've never wondered why your parents kept you back from your Pokémon journey all these years?" Shane asked, sounded surprised.

"What are you talking about?" I snapped, glaring with all my might. "It's to continue my education, obviously."

Shane shrugged. "If that's what they've told you," the boy said, turning away. "It's not my place to say otherwise. But believe me, Lody, you're in no position to test your parents' trust. Or else…" He paused, waiting for me to speak.

So it's true. I'm really not worthy of their trust. Especially not next to Shane's shining example…

Something within me exploded violently. Strangely, as if in a daze, I felt myself walking back towards the Lab, Roary, Picassy, and the rest watching me curiously. Amulet trotted up to match my steps, gazing at me questioningly. Once back inside, I obtained a backpack, along with a sleeping bag and such other necessities. Stuffing them all into my pack (it was a tight fit), I stormed down the steps and came face to face with my father at the door.

He raised his eyebrows. "Just what is the meaning of this?"

I slung my pack over my shoulder. "I'm leaving," I answered coolly. "To begin my Pokémon journey."

My father put a hand on my shoulder. "But I thought next year…"

"What else do I have left to learn here?" I challenged. "You took on Shane; you should teach him now, not me." As if anybody could teach Shane anything anymore.

My father's eyes darkened behind his glasses. "Lody, if Shane's bothering you…"

"There are many reasons to start a Pokémon journey," I interrupted, pushing past him and out the door. "I need your trust. Please just give it to me this one time."

He was silent as I turned my back. With Amulet at my side, I started down the road.