Star in the Storm, Chapter 5

Lody- "Journey to Charicific Valley"

"We're on the right track!" Pika called over the rush of wind around us. "Just remember to follow the stream below!" Bright-eyed and with the wind ruffling its fur in all directions, the Pikachu looked enthusiastic enough for all of us. Amulet, on the other hand, was looking sick to her stomach.

"Are we almost there yet?" she asked weakly, putting her paws over her nose.

"We won't get to the Valley until evening," Pika called back to her, leaning exhilarated over the edge of the hovercraft and letting the wind blow through its fur. "Not unless we get some good winds on our way in."

"You sure you don't want to go back into your PokéCap, Ami?" I asked her. "You really don't look so great."

"No, I'm okay. It's just that…I don't have a head for heights."

Pika grinned, slapping the Espeon heartily on the back. "Hey, neither did I for a while!" it admitted. "But after flying around with Stray all the time, I got used to them."

"Stray?" I repeated.

"Ash's old Charizard," Pika answered. "Now that was one stubborn Pokémon! Didn't like one bit the fact that it was being reduced to a private jetliner. 'Course, Stray would do anything for Charm."

"From what I've heard, it sounds like a lot of people would," I replied wryly. "I don't know, it reminds me kind of…oh, never mind."

Pika's eyes were bright with curiosity. "Charm's not what you'd call a people Pokémon," the Pikachu grinned. "But it makes its friends for keeps."

We rode most of the trip in silence, despite Pika's frequent attempts at conversation. Amulet was busy struggling not to throw up and I was growing expert at putting off the energetic Pikachu with a shrug or quick nod. Eventually, it too lapsed into quiet and concentrated solely on the steering of the hovercraft. I contented myself with watching the scenery passing below us.

A few hours later, Amulet was dozing and my neck was growing cramped from staring down all the time. Looking up, I saw Pika pinch its cheek pouch in an attempt to keep itself from nodding off.

"Tired?" I said finally, breaking the silence that had hung between us.

Pika looked over its shoulder and grinned. "I'll hold out," it told me confidently. "It just seems such a long time since breakfast."

Reaching into my pack, I dug out the two apples I had packed for Amulet and myself. Glancing at my sleeping Espeon, I placed one apple beside her and took a bite of the other one, savoring the sweet juice.

Pika pinched itself again, and I thought I saw a tiny spark of electricity leap out from under its paw.

"Here," I said gruffly, shoving an energy bar in Pika's direction. "Eat something."

"Thanks a lot," Pika replied, unwrapping the bar and chewing gratefully. "You're a good kid, Lody, and I wouldn't expect anything less."

"You're not crashing this craft with me and Amulet on it," I answered stiffly, taking another bite from my apple. "So don't bother thanking me."

"Touchy!" Pika quipped. "What, can't you admit you were doing something nice for a poor li'l Pikachu?" It made a face. "Oh no, don't tell me! Are you one of those anti-Pikachu people that go around burning Pikachu stuffed animals? Nah, I don't think that's you, Lody."

I folded my arms and stared out over the horizon, not bothering to reply. Something at the edge of the sky caught my eye and I squinted for a closer look.

"Somebody's following us," I said, pointing to the brightly-colored hot air balloon behind the hovercraft. "I think there's some kind of flying Pokémon pulling them along…" Reaching into my backpack, I produced a pair of binoculars and brought them to my eyes. My earlier observation had been correct; it was a Pokémon pulling the balloon along, a Dragonite to be exact. And on the back of the Dragonite, with his silvery-blond hair and dark green jacket, was none other than Shane Rising.

I groaned, not even bothering to check the contents of the balloon basket. "Pika, can you lose that hot air balloon back there?" I asked the Pikachu pilot. "Quickly, please?"

The Pikachu craned its neck around, peering curiously into the sky behind us. "Who is it?" it questioned me, swerving about just in time to avoid a particular tall pine tree.

I shook my head impatiently. "Never mind that!" I said through clenched teeth. "I just really don't want them following us."

"If you say so…" Pika shrugged before putting on speed. The Pikachu led a winding chase through the treetops, ducking so low that I was almost hit by a rogue branch. "They can't follow us down here," it called to me, flinching as a twig snapped above its ear. "But it's gonna be slow going for a while."

I sighed and sat back, folding my arms over my stomach. Why couldn't Shane stay in Pallet where everybody loved him, instead of stalking me? He was gone for now, at least, but that didn't mean I could let my guard down.

Shane and his balloon were nowhere in sight when we finally broke out of the forest. I gave Pika the rest of my energy bars in a silent thank-you.

The afternoon soon darkened into evening. As the last hues of red and purple slipped from the sky, Pika turned back to me and the sleeping Amulet with a satisfied smile. "We're almost there!" it proclaimed, pointing. "Charicific Valley, straight ahead!""

Leaning over the edge of the hovercraft, I caught sight of a wide gorge, sheltered on one side by a thick expanse of forest. High cliffs came up to meet us as we flew on, and even Pika was having trouble steering past them in the increasingly dim light. A wave of exhilaration washed over me as I feasted my eyes upon the ancient chasms, weathered long ago by wind and water. I had rarely left my hometown of Pallet before this. Even now, the experience seemed fantastic and unreal, like something one would read about in a storybook.

"Amulet, wake up," I whispered, nudging my Espeon awake. "Come and look at this!"

"Are we there already?" The Espeon started to her feet, took one look over the edge of the hovercraft, and collapsed back down in relief. "At last," she sighed. Yawning and stretching like a drowsy cat, Amulet turned to our Pikachu pilot. "Pika?" she said. Then more loudly –"Pika?"

"What's up, Amulet?" Pika called, eyes fixated on the cliffs.

"I was just curious…it's getting a bit dark now. Where are we going to land?"

The Pikachu's face went through a whole series of contortions as it slowed the hovercraft. "That would be a good question," the Pikachu admitted worriedly. "Frankly, I was expecting to get here before it got so dark."

I folded my arms, avoiding Pika's eyes. "I'm sorry." My insistence to avoid Shane was undoubtedly the cause for our delay.

"Forget it." Pika pointed into the dark gorge, and I strained to follow the Pikachu's line of sight. "There's a stream down there somewhere, and I was planning for the water to cushion our landing," Pika continued as we hung suspended in the air above the gorge. "I'm going to try to go in anyway. I doubt we have enough fuel to stay up here the entire night."

I squinted once more at the pitch-black chasm. "You sure that's our only option?"

"Mmmph," my Espeon replied, hiding her face from the sight of the gorge. "Do we happen to have another Plan B, Pika?"

"Give me a second here," the Pikachu said, stalling the hovercraft and leaning over the edge. "Hello!" it yelled, cupping its paws around its mouth. "Anybody down there?"

There…theerrree…theeerrreee….Pika's shrill cry resounded off the steep canyon walls, throwing a series of echoes into the night air.

"We need some help up here!" Pika called again. "We are traveling by hovercraft and need to land! Is anyone down there! Can you hear us?"

Us…us…us…the echo came. It ran all along the length of the gorge before fading away into the darkness.

Pika's long ears twitched and it turned to me and Amulet. "Do you hear anything?" it whispered.

Amulet shook her head. "Only echoes."

Shaking its head, Pika returned to its position at the edge of the hovercraft. It was bracing itself for another shout when both of its ears twitched again and stood straight up into the air.

"What is it?" I asked.

Putting a paw to its lips, Pika gestured down the canyon below. "Listen!" it whispered urgently.

As she bent forward, Amulet's ears perked up as well. "Can you hear it, Lody?" she asked me eagerly.

Straining for the third time, I clenched my jaw and turned the side of my head to the darkness below. And this time, faint but sure, came the sweet sound of a harmonica. Quick and bright, the song of the harmonica darted up through the canyon, like some kind of guiding star cloaked in the guise of sound.

Without a word, Pika slowly lowered the hovercraft into the gorge, ears twitching in time to the song.

"What are you doing?" I hissed. "That harmonica could be coming from any number of directions! You know how the echoes in this Valley are!"

"It's no echo, Lody," Amulet said softly. "Now hush. Pika has to listen."

Following the song of the harmonica, Pika carefully maneuvered the hovercraft deeper and deeper into the canyon. Though the sky had now grown pitch black, making it impossible to even see the walls of the canyons anymore, Pika kept on lowering the craft. The harmonica kept on playing, growing steadily louder as we went on.

Listening closely, I found the tune was one that I recognized. And try as I might, the closer we came to the source of the song, the less able I was to restrain myself from humming a few bars of it to myself.

Brow etched in concentration, Pika clenched its jaw and gently dropped the hovercraft several more yards. With a splash that sent a spray of water up on all sides of the craft, we landed at long last. The propellers slowed with a whir, stilling the air around us.

"You did it, Pika!" Amulet cried gratefully, running up and bowing to the Pikachu in thanks. "We owe our lives to you!"

Pika rubbed the back of its head sheepishly. "Don't thank me," it said. "Thank our mystery musician. They're the one who really got us through back there."

And I'm the one who got us into that situation in the first place. Couldn't I do anything right for a change?

"We'll have to thank 'em later, though," Pika said with a yawn, curling up on its side. "I'm too tired to even set up camp."

I could do that at least. After rolling out sleeping bags for me, myself, and Pika, I lay down and put my arms behind my head. And though I didn't mean to, I fell asleep almost instantly, humming the tune of the harmonica quietly to myself.

I was too tired to think much of it at the time, but there was something else behind the harmonica's song and the whisperings of the wind. As my mind slipped away into unconsciousness, I thought I could hear someone laughing, a laugh that echoed over the valley and faded away long after I fell asleep.

Notes:

Just on the side, I don't think anybody besides Lody and Roary is going to get to talk in first-person for any of this story. I admire the kind of people who are able to handle multiple viewpoints without getting too confusing, but sadly, I'm not one of them. Other characters (Amulet, Shane, etc.) might get to narrate in short stories though, where the focus is mainly on them.