Star in the Storm, Chapter 20
One Moment in Time
Silver Star's Room, inside the Team Rocket HQ...
Roary Ketchum was restless. All of the children were, but Roary was by far the worst. Biting savagely on her fingernails, the girl trainer paced back and forth around Silver Star's hospital bed. Picassy clung timidly to her head, far from its usual rambunctious self.
Looking down at Silver Star's feverish face and small body, Roary bit her lip until she could taste the salty tang of blood. The Espeon girl's breath alone seemed to take more force than her weak frame could muster. With each ragged rise and fall of Silver Star's sweat-soaked chest, Roary's heart felt like some invisible hand was clenching it tighter and tighter.
How could this have happened to an innocent girl and her Pokémon? Roary wondered. And Ash Ketchum, her father, how could he not understand what would surely follow if he did not hold back the attack?
Oh, Roary had thought she knew her duty as a Pokémon trainer. As a trainer, she had sworn to defend and uphold the world both she and her father before her had so cherished. But doing so for Ash, Roary thought ruefully, had always been so easy when he was a trainer. Things and people were changing, and she was too confused to tell whether it was for better or worse.
As Dissembler bent over to wipe Silver Star's burning forehead, Roary held back, trying her best to efface herself against the wall. These people, these Rockets, had every right to hate her. But as Lody had confessed already, it was impossible to hate them back.
Feeling a small tug on her arm, Roary looked down into the wide, purple eyes of Ruki's little brother, Chip. His Eevee had draped its furry body around Chip's neck like a puffy scarf, quivering as the boy approached Roary. "Please, Miss Roary," Chip begged, pulling on her arm again. "Miss Roary, Ruki's been gone for a very long time. Do you think she's okay?"
"Ee'vee!" his Pokémon mewed, curling itself up even tighter.
Roary put a shaking hand on the little boy's shoulder. "I'm sure she's fine," Roary lied. "I doubt anybody could hurt that girl. She's some fighter."
"She wouldn't stand a chance otherwise," the boy in the wheelchair commented bitingly. "None of us would, you know. And things are just going to get tougher for us. You should know that, Roary Ketchum."
"Oh, Reb!" Dissembler exclaimed. "This isn't the time."
Reb put up both hands. "I'm not saying anything!" he insisted, making a wry face at Dissembler as soon as she had her back turned. "Actually," he said suddenly, cocking his head in Roary's direction. "You aren't half as bad as I thought the daughter of Ash Ketchum would be."
"Me?" Dumbfounded, Roary pointed at herself.
Reb grinned that same wry grin. "Ash Ketchum was Team Rocket's number one enemy back in the good old days," he explained to her tersely. "At least you're not trying to kill us. Yet. Your father never showed an inkling of mercy towards us, Roary Ketchum. I don't expect he's changed in that."
"I suppose he hasn't," Roary muttered, bowing her face towards the ground.
A loud explosion rocked the small room, sending Roary and the other children running for cover. Coughing in the cloud of dust that ensued immediately afterwards, Roary warily forced her watery eyes open and peered about.
To her amazement, a squadron of young Pokémon trainers was standing behind a gaping hole in the wall, along with a team of their Pokémon. A burnt and bruised Electrode lay unconscious in front of them. Evidently, it had used an Explosion attack, sacrificing itself in order to break into the room.
"Lugia above!" one of the trainers breathed, stepping through the dust cloud. "It's Roary Ketchum!"
"You're safe now, Roary," another trainer, a girl with curly blue hair, called. "We've come to rescue you!"
Roary choked, batting a hand at the debris around her. "What in the region gives you the right to just barge in here and blow the place up?" she demanded crossly. "There's a very sick little girl in that bed over there! You'll be lucky if you haven't woken her up!"
Pushing past Roary, the lead trainer stepped towards Silver Star, adjusting his bright red cap and matching jacket. Roary yelled at him indignantly, but he paid no mind.
"That's no little girl!" the red trainer exclaimed disgustedly, catching sight of Silver Star's fevered body and stumbling backwards. "What is that thing?"
"That thing's our friend!" Dissembler yelled at him, stepping in front of Silver Star's bed and holding up her arms.
"And she isn't in the mood for visitors," Reb added, moving to Dissembler's side.
"It's the Merger, Silver Star!" the blue-haired trainer gasped in realization. Around her, similar expressions of surprise and triumph were echoing up from the other trainers.
The red-clad trainer laughed long and deridingly. "This is what the great big evil Neo Team Rocket sends to guard their scientific secrets?" he sneered at the two TRC members. "Goldilocks and a cripple? Move aside, Rocket kiddies! Playtime's over!"
"You're not taking Silvie away!" Chip screamed, running from Roary's side to Silver Star's. "Ruki and Shane and everybody said so! They told me to protect Silvie if I had to! I'm not letting you take her, not in a million years!"
"And a Rocket baby," the red trainer added contemptuously, turning to his huge, lumbering Fire Pokémon. "Typhlosion, take 'em down!"
Grunting in acknowledgment, the Typhlosion trudged forward, a fiery ruff flaring up about its neck as it prepared to deliver an attack.
Roary couldn't believe her eyes as a simmering fireball began to form in the Typhlosion's wide jaws. Still Dissembler, Reb, and Chip refused to move. They were going to be fried to a crisp if they didn't!
A muffled murmuring noise was coming from Silver Star's bed. "They can't take us away, they can't, they can't!" Silver Star was saying, voice growing from a hoarse whisper to a wild scream. Roary gasped as the Merger flung out at her sheets, body glowing with a visible aura of psychic purple light.
Silver Star was having another seizure. Her first had nearly killed her.
"They can't take us!" Silver Star was shrieking over and over again. The very words seemed to burn themselves into Roary's head at the same time, as if Silver Star's Espeon side had reawakened and was crying out psychically. Eyes flaring with some kind of fevered fire, Silver Star looked directly at the Typhlosion and its trainer. "Leave our friends alone!" she screamed, lashing out with her paws.
A hand of psychic light whipped out from around Silver Star's body, sending the red trainer and his Pokémon crashing into the wall. Silver Star fell back onto her bed, body limp and eyes unseeing.
"Silvie!" Roary heard Dissembler shriek. Confused shouts were coming up from the crowd of trainers. Roary could only catch a glimpse of silver, black, and red uniforms, rushing through the now open door. Team Rocket reinforcements had arrived, and were now battling their way towards Dissembler, Reb, Chip, and Silver Star.
Rising to its feet with a thunderous crash, the red trainer's Typhlosion let loose an enormous bellow at the sight of its unmoving trainer. Thrusting its chest forward, the Pokémon blasted a steaming Flamethrower right in Silver Star's direction.
"Stop it!" Roary cried, running forward with her arms flailing. "Stop!"
She had only a moment before the streaming Flamethrower engulfed her entire vision.
In back of the HQ building...
Ruki failed to notice the oncoming crowd of trainers at first. She was blinded and deafened by her own anger, a violent, raging hate of the brat of a boy before her. Again and again she swung, again and again the boy evaded. Ruki wanted so badly to knock that jeer off his smug little face, and as she lashed out, she grew increasingly irritated.
Then something unbearably unmistakable slashed through the curtain of rage that she had woven around herself. Propellers beating the air into a miniature whirlwind above the ravaged Team Rocket HQ, a black helicopter launched itself into the sky.
It was the TR-16, and with their faces plastered against the windows, Reb, Dissembler, and Chip gazed mournfully out the back. Seeing Ruki standing down there in disbelief, Chip banged on the window, yelling as the helicopter carried him out of his sister's sight.
Ruki's scream never even made it out of her throat. She could only stare, neck craned so far back that her shoulders started to ache. The wind blew at her long auburn hair, whipping it into her face as she stood there, stunned and frozen in place.
It was then that she saw the trainers. They were arguing amongst themselves, unaware that Ruki was just one ridge beyond. She had to run, but her mind was too numb with shock.
She couldn't go back to the HQ building. Someone had set it on fire, and now long flames were licking the roof and walls. Her only hope were the thick woods that surrounded the building, woods that she had never successfully navigated on her own. Not that she had a choice. But for some reason, Ruki could not urge herself to move forward.
It's all over, she thought in panic. They left me behind. Oh, Chip! So long I've tried to watch over and make sure nothing bad happened to you. Now, I failed.
The trainers would find her and drag her away to the Johto court. There, she'd be tried as an adult for all the crimes of Team Rocket, condemned to some merciless sentence and unable to see her brother ever again.
There was a small pressure on her arm. Ruki hadn't noticed it before, but looking down, she saw the fiery-haired Magby of a boy standing there. What was he doing now? Pushing her, nudging her on? Ruki stared incredulously at the boy's face. It would be so easy for her to reach out a clawed hand and slash him into shreds.
Didn't he realize that? Didn't he care?
Ruki looked for something in the boy's dark brown eyes. Scorn maybe, or even pity. What she saw there surprised her most of all.
"They'll catch you if you don't run," the boy said, averting his eyes guiltily. When Ruki still didn't respond, he clasped a hand into her gloved one, avoiding the claws carefully. "Come on," he said, starting forward.
Pulling herself together at last, Ruki ran with him. Time itself seemed to blur as she stumbled on, ducking past tree branches and bushes, vines and fallen logs. A jagged rock caught her foot and she tripped on the slippery bank of the swollen river that fed into the Lake of Rage.
"Don't let go!" the boy yelled, clutching at her hand and trying to pull her back onto safe ground. But Ruki was already falling, falling and dragging the boy down with her.
With a splash, both children lost their balance and tumbled into the freezing river. Roaring ferociously, the water engulfed them completely in one loud rush.
Silver Star's Room, again...
When Roary opened her eyes, she still had her arms over her head. The heat of the Flamethrower was gone, but looking up, she saw the enormous blast of fire hanging suspended in the air, inches from her face. Just beyond it was the Typhlosion, eyes narrowed and face frozen in an expression of fury.
Trainers and Rockets alike had been petrified into stricken poses. Even a chunk of ceiling hovered inches from the crack where it had fallen, far above the ground on which it should have crashed.
"Hey? What's wrong with you?" Roary called, stepping forward and prodding a motionless Dissembler in the shoulder. The girl had been frozen in place while leaning over Silver Star, tears stuck in mid-roll down the side of her cheek. "What's going on?" Roary demanded.
"Pichi'pichi?" Picassy called, cupping its paws around its mouth.
Reaching a hand towards Silver Star's limp body, Roary tentatively felt the Merger's clammy neck. Try as she might, she could feel no pulse.
"Oh no," she breathed in realization, trying to convince herself that it was simply a result of the frozen time, and nothing more. "No!"
A strange green light was brightening at the edge of Roary's vision. She thought she heard a child's laugh, but turning around, she saw nothing there.
"This is so weird," she shivered, swerving about and staring around anxiously. "Hello!" she yelled. "Is anyone else still normal besides me?"
"That depends on how you define normal," a wry voice came from behind.
Swerving about, Roary met face to face with a boy no older than she, dressed in a faded jacket and T-shirt. Wisps of brown hair stuck out over the boy's ears and forehead, and as he studied her, his dark eyes lit up and glittered, illuminating his entire body with a ghostly green aura.
Looking down, Roary gasped. The boy's feet weren't even on the ground –they were a good foot above it!
"Are you the one who did this?" she demanded, gesturing to the frozen crowd inside the building. " 'Cause if you are, you need to change everyone back right away! Silver Star…we have to help her as soon as possible or…or…"
The boy held up a hand, causing his aura to dim considerably. "And this is my thanks?" he laughed. "Didn't I hear somebody yelling 'Stop!' a moment ago? Well, here we are. Time itself has stopped, momentarily at least."
Extending a hand, the boy cocked his head at Roary. "You can call me Kay. If you ever get around to thanking me, that is."
"You did do this?" Roary could practically feel her jaw dropping to her knees in amazement. Atop her head, she could feel Picassy's little claws tighten around her scalp.
"Me and my friend here," Kay said, pointing a glowing green finger into the air above. In a flutter of gauzy wings, a small green pixie-like Pokémon sprang forward from out of nowhere, sky-blue eyes sparkling at Roary's dumfounded expression.
"Her name is Celebi," Kay said as the fairy Pokémon came to perch on his shoulder. "Time is her specialty. It's mine, too." He flashed Roary and Picassy a quick smile before going on. "You picked up a small trinket on your Pokémon journey in Goldenrod, didn't you, Roary?"
"What?"
"Nothing of concern," Kay went on. "Just a little golden badge, nothing more. I think they call it the Goldenglow Emblem. Am I right?"
Roary's hand found its way into her pocket, and over the small, hard object inside. "How would you know?" she challenged, backing away from the strange boy.
Kay laughed again, and this time Roary was sure it had been his laugh she'd heard before. "Tell you what," Kay said, lowering himself to Roary's eye level with a snap of his fingers. "I challenge you to a Pokémon match, Roary Ketchum. If you win, I'll set time back the way it was before. If I win, you give me the Goldenglow Emblem."
"And if I say no?" Roary demanded.
"A real Pokémon master never turns down a challenge," Kay retorted, smiling knowingly as Roary gaped back at him. "And no just forking over the Emblem, Roary. Something like that has to be won."
Head racing hastily through her choices, Roary grit her teeth, reaching into her pocket for a PokéBall. It's simple, she told herself mentally. It's no worse than the Pokémon League, and I've lived through that twice. But at the Pokémon League, Roary had never had to battle an opponent who could stop time. And she'd never had to battle for such high stakes. If she lost, would Kay keep time like this forever?
"Bring it on!" Roary cried, swinging her PokéBall out and whipping her ponytail over her shoulder. With a yipping battle cry, Picassy leapt down from Roary's head and assumed a battle stance in front of its trainer. Sparks jumped back and forth between the Pichu's bristling fur and the surrounding air.
Dark eyes glittering in amusement, Kay raised his hand and snapped his fingers. For a mere instant, Roary felt a disorienting lurch, as if an invisible hand had picked her up and set her down again without much care. She managed to stay on her feet, but just barely.
To Roary's surprise, the room around her had dissolved into a grassy field, complete with a chilling wind that raced breakneck across her face, making her shiver. Expansive hills bordered the misty horizon, providing a looming barrier around the valley.
Smiling at Roary's wide-eyed stare of recognition, Kay snapped his fingers once more. Again Roary felt that sickening lurching sensation. This time, her flailing hands met cold stone. Tall, weathered pillars surrounded the edges of Kay's new battlefield.
Roary had arrived in the Coliseum again, but for a much different purpose than before.
Extending his palm forward nonchalantly, Kay waited as a glowing ball of light materialized into his hand. As the light dimmed, Roary could see he was now holding a PokéBall, one seemingly made from solid gold.
"We shall have a three-on-three match," Kay stated, backing up to the foot of a nearby pillar.
"Fine with me!" Roary yelled back, thrusting her PokéBall into the air. In a flash of red light, her Vaporeon sprang out, landing nimbly on all fours.
Eyes narrowing slyly, Kay drew back his golden PokéBall, not even bothering to lob it onto the battlefield. Immediately, a laser-stream of red light issued forth from the PokéBall's interior, materializing into a petite, furry Pokémon in the middle of the Coliseum floor.
Roary's Vaporeon drew back a dainty paw, hissing at its new opponent. Kay's Pokémon, a slight Eevee with large, liquid golden eyes, made a faint mewing sound. It shook its luxurious white neck ruff and assumed a battle stance.
He sends out an Eevee against my Vaporeon? Roary thought incredulously. Doesn't he even take me seriously? But she didn't have the luxury of musing over this much longer. "Vaporeon, Quick Attack!" she yelled, clenching her fists. Her Pokémon obeyed in a dazzling burst of speed. But it wasn't quite fast enough.
"Substitute," Kay commanded casually. As Vaporeon plowed through the spot Kay's Eevee had been moments before, Roary heard a metallic clang ring through the air.
The Eevee had vanished, leaving another Eevee made of solid gold in its place. Vaporeon's Quick Attack bounced harmlessly off the metal decoy, and as the finned Pokémon swerved about for another attack, a blur of brown fur shot out from behind a nearby pillar.
"What?!" Roary yelped as the golden-eyed Eevee took down her Vaporeon in a single, devastating Double Edge. "But that's not possible!"
Golden eyes luminous, the Eevee dashed up to stand by Kay's side. The boy's grin widened as he patted his victorious Pokémon on the head. "Many trainers perceive Eevee as weak," he said. "But with the right training, you see, Eevee is indubitably more powerful than any of its evolved forms. So, what's your next Pokémon, Roary Ketchum?"
Gritting her teeth until her jaw ached, Roary recalled Vaporeon and flung another PokéBall onto the field. This time, a wild-maned Ponyta emerged, rearing on its slender back legs. Dark eyes just as scorching as its fiery mane and tail, the fire horse Pokémon ran an iron-hot hoof across the stone floor of the Coliseum.
Watching Roary's Ponyta casually out of the corner of his eyes, Kay extended his hand to the sky once more. This time, a glowing ball of pale greenish-yellow light appeared, releasing its squat occupant shortly into the arena.
Once again, Roary could not believe the Pokémon Kay had chosen. Chirping musically and inclining its round head to one side was a glossy-feathered Natu. Its black eyes flickered in the direction of Roary's Ponyta, who was stamping its hooves impatiently against the stone floor.
Next to Ponyta, Natu looked remarkably like a feathered beach ball.
"Take it out with a Fire Blast!" Roary yelled to her Pokémon.
"Teleport," Kay countered calmly. Without so much as a blink, Natu disappeared from its original position, evading Ponyta's powerful attack. It reappeared in the air above Ponyta's head moments later, slamming the Pokémon into a pillar with a swift Psychic. Roary's Ponyta fainted before it hit the ground.
"You rely too much on the conventionally powerful," Kay said, shaking his head as Natu flapped up onto his extended arm. "I expected far more of you, Roary Ketchum. Well, let's see how you manage my last Pokémon."
As both his Eevee and Natu looked on, a glimmering blue PokéBall took shape in Kay's palm. Before Roary's eyes, the color in the ball began to shift and waver, like ripples on the surface of a turbulent lake.
"Picassy!" she cried to her Pichu, ponytail whipping against the side of her neck. "Picassy, you're my last chance! We've trained and trained, and I know you can do this!"
"Pi!" the Pichu called back, bounding forward without hesitation. Mouth unhinging as far as it would go, the Pichu screamed out a rapid succession of Fulgent Rodentia at Kay and his Pokémon.
The boy merely let out another laugh, a sound Roary had already become thoroughly sick of. Beside him, the golden-eyed Eevee and round little Natu looked placidly on. On Kay's shoulder, though, Celebi giggled, wings fluttering.
"We shall see about that," Kay informed the enraged Picassy, dark eyes glittering.
Sweat rolled down Roary's body in sticky waves, blinding her eyes and matting her hair to the back of her neck. Breath coming in sharp, gasping pants, Roary and Picassy waited impatiently for Kay to send out his last Pokémon.
In the dazzling flash of light that followed, Roary was forced to put up her hands. Squinting through her fingers, she just glimpsed the outline of something colossal, something so truly wondrous and strange all at once that she fell to her knees in awe.
When she looked again, Picassy's unconscious body skid before her feet.
The match was over.
All Roary could see for a moment was Kay's triumphant face, his snapping fingers, and the glittering Goldenglow Emblem rising magically out of her pocket. The Emblem made a beeline for the victorious boy, falling into Kay's outstretched palm.
And standing behind the boy, framed against the massive pillars of the Coliseum arena, was a Pokémon Roary had never seen before, a Pokémon of such utter majesty and immense power that she was unable to move, even to help Picassy.
"You have no idea how long it's taken to get my hands on one of these," Kay said, holding the Goldenglow Emblem so that it caught the light. "Oh well, one down and five to go. Excellent match, by the way, Roary. You're quite the Pokémon trainer."
All of time seemed to slow for Roary as the boy and his Pokémon began to walk away, leaving both her and Picassy trembling on the stone floor of the empty Coliseum. Forcing words out of her throat, and her arms into the air, Roary shouted after Kay's retreating figure. "Waaaiiiitt!" she cried, so agonizingly slowly. "Waaaaiiiitttt…"
And in a snap of blinding light, Roary felt rough grass under her palms, where there had been only stone before. Picassy was up and looking about inquisitively, chattering in fright and bounding behind Roary's head as soon as it saw where they were.
Stumbling to her feet, Roary gave a yelp of surprise and flung her arms up. She was being faced by a long line of Pokémon, all of which had their eyes, teeth, and claws pointed straight in her direction!
Behind the Viridian City Gym...
The Ariados had been busy eating a moment before, but its many bandaged legs became a blur as it struggled violently against the girl who restrained it. Sweat matting down her short brown hair, Dian Oak bent forward and rested a calming hand on the Ariados's horned head.
"Easy," she said soothingly, ignoring the scattered food pellets and overturned water bowl. The powerful Bug Pokémon gave a shudder, its long banded legs flailing, before scuttling behind Dian and tensing warily.
"Wuh-oop oop! Wooper!" crowed one of Dian's other wild Pokémon wards, a Wooper with its tail in a splint.
Glancing over at the Wooper, Dian rose from her crouch and stretched her cramped legs. Training her eyes on the closed back door of the Viridian Gym, the girl waited, body stiffening in the same way as the Ariados's. She was greeted seconds later by a panting Jolteon, who raced past the boy flinging open the door and limped to Dian's side.
"They're gonna blow it up! They're gonna blow it up!" the boy screamed, waving his PokéGear radio in the air. "The report just came in! Ketchum is kicking some serious Rocket…"
"Robbie, you're scaring the Ariados," Dian said, indicating the now quivering Pokémon behind her. "Please don't yell; they startle easily, and I just bandaged its legs a few days ago."
Robbie snorted dismissively at this. "A bug, big deal!" he retorted. "Seriously, cuz, for someone who didn't even become a trainer, you're sure obsessed with taking care of these wild Pokémon!"
"And for someone who's not even a trainer yet," Dian teased gently, "you've sure got a lot of airs."
"Wuh'oooooop!" the Wooper chortled, hopping forward and making a funny face at the two of them.
"Next month!" Robbie called over his shoulder, before rushing back inside. "Next month, I'll be ten! Then I'll show you! Hey, Uncle Gary! Did you hear, did you hear? Ketchum broke into the Rocket HQ, right by the Lake of Rage in Mahogany, and the Rockets were no match whatsoever! Ketchum's assembled this group of Pokémon, and they're gonna blow up the entire place! Oh, I wish I could've gone, too!"
Dian waited until Robbie had slammed the door shut before falling back against the ground. The grass, and dirt beneath it, felt cool under her hands. Picking up the Ariados's spilled food pellets one by one, she slipped them back into the bowl and headed on inside. Her limping Jolteon followed, still wheezing to catch its breath.
The Viridian Gym was empty, of course. Only Robbie hadn't seen through Gary Oak's pretense of wanting to keep the Gym running for challengers.
There were no challengers, and there would be no challengers while Ash Ketchum's attack on the Rocket HQ was still in full-swing. All the trainers were either participating in the attack themselves, or, like Robbie, intently watching its progress.
All the trainers, except Dian's father, the Viridian City Gym Leader. Gary Oak had insisted on staying behind and running his Gym while all the other trainers and Gym Leaders went off to fight with Ash Ketchum.
At least, Dian thought, there won't be any matches for a while. Dian had never liked Pokémon matches, but ever since turning down her Pokémon license three years ago, she couldn't even watch her father battle without feeling self-inflicted guilt shoved down her throat.
Not that her father had ever screamed at or hit her. That wasn't Gary Oak's style. But all the hopes he had held for Dian's Pokémon training career, and all the tips and pride and praise that had gone along with it, had been shifted to her younger cousin, Robbie.
Robbie had become the Pokémaster aspirant, the one to carry on the family tradition of Pokémon mastery. Dian, on the other hand, had turned into a mere ghost floating around the Gym, irrelevant and ignored.
Gary Oak didn't forget. And, as with Ash Ketchum, it took him a long time to forgive.
Tossing the soiled pellets into a garbage receptacle and pouring new ones into the food bowl, Dian felt the nose of her Jolteon bump into her leg. "What is it, Demi?" she asked, bending down.
The spiked mane about the Jolteon's neck rose into the air. "J'olt j'olt! Eee-on!" Demi yipped, thrusting its nose in an upward direction.
Straightening and dashing to the back of the Gym, Dian caught a brief glimpse of a child's small face peeking through the window. Demi at her heels, she threw open the door and raced to the back of the building.
There was no one there. But swerving about, Dian let out a cry of surprise.
"Wuh-oop?" Dian's little Wooper patient said, cocking its head curiously. It hopped forward, tail waving behind it.
Laughing, Dian knelt and examined the Wooper's tail. "This healed pretty nicely," she smiled, undoing the splint's bindings. "Tomorrow, Demi and I'll take you back to the pond in the Viridian Park."
"That's thoughtful of you, but it really won't be necessary."
Turning back, Dian bolted up with a start. A boy was standing by the window, one elbow propped up against the side of the building. He wore faded, old-looking clothes, along with a crooked smile.
"Woop woop!" the Wooper cried merrily, bounding forward to the boy's side.
Scooping the Wooper into his arms, the boy dug into the pocket of his old jacket and flipped a small, golden object into the air. It hit the ground, glinting in the grass inches away from Dian's feet.
"Thanks for taking care of my Pokémon," the boy grinned, dark eyes glittering as brightly as the golden object he had thrown. "I hope this little Wooper didn't give you too much trouble."
"Your Pokémon? But, I thought that Wooper was wild!"
The boy shrugged, still smiling. "Then that's all the better. By the way…" His eyes roved about, settling on the glitter of gold by Dian's sneaker toes. "Go on, pick it up already. It won't burn your hand off, or anything like that."
Confused as she was, Dian reached forward and obeyed.
"Tell me, have you ever seen something like that before, around this Gym?" the boy queried. "Anything, absolutely anything, that resembles it in the slightest?"
"I…I don't think I can help you there," Dian said, examining the strange spiral engraving on the object's surface. "It looks…kind of like a badge, to me. Maybe you should ask my father, the Gym Leader. He knows more about the different League badges that are given out than I do."
The boy repeated these words to himself, underneath his breath. "Of course," he said at last, snapping his fingers.
Dian gasped as the golden badge flew out of her fingers and shot back into the boy's waiting hand. "Well, it's been a pleasure," the boy said, shifting the Wooper onto his shoulder. "Maybe I'll see you again, Dian Oak. But for now, I've got to disappear."
Demi yelped, and Dian blinked. One moment, the boy and the Wooper had been standing right in front of her. The next, they were gone, without so much as a poof! of air.
Shaking her head, Dian looked down at the food bowl in her hands and headed back around the Gym. The Ariados was getting hungry, and hungry Pokémon were even harder to handle than spooked ones.
Notes:
Thanks for commenting chapter by chapter, too, Sapphire Prince. Personally, I do like to know what you think of each part, and that's the kind of thing I really appreciate.
For that matter, thanks to everybody who made it this far. I was hoping to finish this by the end of the summer, so, heh, I guess I'll save the plot twists for Part 2. The next chapter will most likely be the epilogue for "Star in the Storm."
Dian is the protagonist of "The Garden," one of my other Pokémon stories.