Dreams of the Broken
Special Guest Star in this story - Arielle White (Gold Vaporeon).
Once back at base, we sat down and discussed ideas whilst I wrapped bandages about my injured hands. Florion was very concerned, coming over to me and nuzzling me desperately. I scratched him behind the ear and brought out Flora, feeding her some of the milk formula. She was getting quite big now, although she'd never be as big nor as strong as her siblings.
"Where to now?" I asked Fenrill.
The little Mew twirled through the air and placed one paw on the large map we had spread out on the floor. "There," she said.
Kameron and I leaned over it and frowned. "Its just some ancient bluff," I pointed out.
"It doesn't matter what it is, that's where my sister is."
"Very well then." I peered at it more closely, "what's it called?"
"Charizard Ridge," Kameron, who was obviously better sighted then me, replied. "Its probably just a name given by the shape of it."
"Give me a few hours to clean up and pack some stuff and then we'd better set off," I said, "can you take us that far, Fenrill?"
"I am getting a little tired," she replied, "however, a few hours rest, some chocolate and sugar and I'll be ready to teleport you to Siberia if you so desire."
"I don't think we really want to go there!" I replied.
"Oh I dunno," Kameron interjected, "could be fun, besides, I hear the skiings good."
I threw a pillow at him. He caught it mid flight and came at me, hitting me with it. I fended off his horrific blows as best I could, but eventually fell beneath them, giggling. Florion, thinking this was the greatest game ever, dived in and attacked the pillow with vigour, and then Maki, who had been nibbling an enormous apple, decided that if they were playing, he should do.
After that it sort of doesn't bear talking about.
"Oh for goodness sake, children!" Fenrill rolled her blue eyes as we picked ourselves apart amidst a downpour of feathers. "And you're the ones who are saving the world?"
That sobered us up immensely. "Loki's got the power of Fire," I pointed out, "we're going to need the power of water to fight him, do you think Ozmos will help us out here?"
"Flori, florion!" Florion scolded us for even considering the idea.
"We've got Marrill," Kameron reminded me, "and Fenrill, you know water attacks, don't you?"
The Mew nodded.
"Therefore we should be right with those two. But Chiko, Maki, Kiki, Dancer, Shrubslash and Florion, we should leave them behind."
"Makiki!" Maki did not agree with that plan.
"Well, Chiko, Dancer, Shrubslash and Florion anyway!" Kameron quickly said. "Since we don't want them getting hurt. So, Dragosi, do you think he'll tear himself away from his flame-friend for an adventure?"
"I can ask," I replied, and moved over to the window, opening it and whistling. We waited. Nothing happened. We waited some more.
Dragosi came whirring down and grabbed onto the windowsill with his forearms.
"You want to go on an adventure?"
The Dragon-fly Pokemon pondered this for a moment, then nodded, "si!"
"Okay, good on ya! Come inside." He squeezed through the opening and sat on the bed.
"Dragosi, Fenrill, Maki, Marrill, Shadeon, Azriel, do you think that's enough?" I asked. "And do you think it is really wise to bring Shadeon?"
"I can't leave her," Kameron pointed out, "she's bonded to her Pokeball, remember?"
I sighed. "Oh, and you think you're smart," I quipped, "you can leave the Pokeball behind you know! Besides, it'll be nightfall by the time we leave, so she'll be fine, just because Shadow Pokemon are weak against Fire…"
"Eevee eev!" Azriel viciously pounced on the bedspread, that was hanging almost to the floor. A little Florion-Vaporeon hybrid sprang out at him, and he pinned it neatly with one paw.
"Floreevee!" It called.
Oh yes, that was another thing, the offspring of Ozmos and Florion seemed to refer to themselves as Florevee or Vaporevee, obviously strange juveniles or some such thing!
"Azriel, come here, we need to rest!"
"Eevee eve eveevee!"
I laughed, "he says you may need to rest but he doesn't!" I replied. "Anyway, we've got our plan of attack worked out, yes? So let's get some rest." I folded up the mat, noticing that Fenrill had already curled up and fallen asleep on my spare bed. I glanced around at the Pokemon - Maki and Kiki were raiding the fruit bowl, Chiko was watching television, the colours seemed to fascinate her, Shrubslash sat beside her, slashing the air in training which seemed to consist of knocking things off the shelves and catching them in his vine whips. Marrill was sleeping in her Pokeball, Ozmos and her pups were asleep in their basket, or most of them were anyway, Florion had already returned to them now. Shadeon was lurking under the bed, so that only her glowing red eyes could be seen. Dragosi moved off the bed, chosing to return to his Pokeball to sleep. I threw myself on the bed. I was really lucky I had a room to myself, or else my roommate would have to put up with Pokemon everywhere! They raided the fruit bowls, the refridgerator (those that could open it), maliciously attacked my pillows (I was already onto my twelveth this year), chewed on my books, yep, Pokemon were the worst type of roommates, but I wouldn't be without them!
Kameron clambered onto the spare bed. He didn't live here, of course, but he knew better then to leave his Pokemon alone in his room. He curled up beside the Mew and fell asleep. I attempted the same, but the burning in my arms, mixed with the burning in my mind was too much. Sensing this, Shadeon jumped on the bed. Of all the Pokemon we had, she was the only one I felt sorry for. I reached out and ruffled her head plume.
"What's up girl?" I said to her.
She licked my hand. Her tongue was cold, almost like being licked by an ice-cube. She certainly was a sorrowful creature, her true body stolen from her so that she now had this half living, half dead thing that lacked heat and sometimes substance. She had lived her entire life in a mansion, spending part of it tormenting the scientist that had made her the way she was and the other part haunting the house after he had died. She had never known love, or even friendship, until recently, and it was obvious that she just wanted to please us, sometimes with dire consequences. It had been her that had jumped into battle and devolved the opponent's Flareon, which had angered him and caused him to practically throw the now Eevee into the arms of Team Rocket. That Eevee was Azriel, still an Eevee and seemingly content with it all. Perhaps due to her guilt at devolving him, Shadeon had taken an almost motherly approach to the little Pokemon, but her cold fur and semi-insubstantial nature tended to scare him away. It scared a lot of Pokemon. Currently, she was only about the same size as Florion, her size changed according to the light levels, in bright sunlight, she was no bigger than Azriel. In darkness, however, she could be twice the size of a standard Eon. I knew all this because the two of us had been friends for some time. I also knew what was wrong with her now.
"You're lonely, aren't you?" I asked, stroking her long fur. I didn't have empathy like Kameron did, but I did know my Pokemon, and his (I'd been with him so long we hardly kept track of who technically owned her anyway, not that I considered the Pokemon anything less then friends, friends that stayed with me by their choice, not mine).
She nodded, her red eyes flaring for a moment. I knew why she was paying attention to Azriel, he was the closest thing we had to the same species as her. However, he was little more than a kitten, in behaviour anyway. It would be cruel to force him into evolution. "Shaaaa, shaa deeeeeoooooonnnnnnnn," she hissed.
I continued stroking her, "you're a wonderful Pokemon," I said to her, "anyone would be happy to have your company, I'm sure."
She shook her head in disbelief. I wrapped my arms around her and we lay there for a moment, the dark furred Pokemon cold in my arms, glad of my warmth.
Chiko squealed as Azriel made an effort on attacking her head plume, again. The Eevee seemed all but obsessed with that adornment and spent hours stalking it, much to Chiko's chagrin and the amusement of the rest of us.
Shadeon sighed and nuzzled my ear. I knew it must embarrass her, how the only prospective partner in my whole crowd of Poke-friends had the maturity and attention span of a kitten.
Eventually I too, dozed off.
* * *
Something was pulling my hair. I plied open my eyes and saw Fenrill standing there, her short hands tugging my locks. I wondered why she had not resorted to more conventional means, like spurting me with water or psychically assaulting me.
"Chocolate," she said urgently.
I dragged myself out of bed, disturbing Shadeon and retrieved a cake of chocolate from the fridge. I hid it there because very few of my Pokemon were capable of opening the heavy door. It was untouched, thankfully. I handed the entire block to Fenrill, who demolished it in about a minute, the whole cake. Azriel, who seemed to need no sleep at all, licked up the crumbs, all of them. Great, I thought to myself, just what we need, a hyperactive Azriel…
Fenrill wiped chocolate from her mouth. "Okay," she said, "I'm done, are you all ready to go?"
"As ready as I'll ever be," I replied, I shook Kameron. "Wake up! Time to go."
"Figures," he muttered as he pushed away sleep. "Shadeon, Azriel, get in your balls please!" He strapped his Pokeballs to his belt and put his trench coat on. Kiki jumped in his pocket and Maki jumped on my shoulder.
I picked up Dragosi's ball. "I hope we've got enough Pokemon," I replied. "Are you sure we shouldn't drag Susan along?"
"Nah," Kameron replied, "we work best as a team, we don't want her to get hurt do we? Besides, her Mew isn't doing very well."
"Poor Sunstar," Fenrill replied, "my sister of the hot areas, it should not have happened to her. It should not happen to the rest of my siblings."
"It won't," I replied, "we shall save them."
I wished I could feel more secure in that knowledge.
Throwing some necessities (like chocolate) into our knapsacks, Kameron and I stood near the Mew, and she reached out, touching both of our hands with her own. There was a *zap* and we were gone.
And found ourselves in a tiny village.
"Oops," the Mew replied, "I must've been off a few kilometres." The problem with teleporting was that despite the fact that she could teleport us anywhere, and going just by knowing the vague area, was that unless she'd been there before, her aiming was not too precise. Hence the reason why we couldn't just teleport to the end of the tunnel – we had no idea where it ended and might have wound up sealed in rock, falling into molten lava or something even worse (although I can't imagine what that could be!). She could teleport us across a room, because she could see where she was going. But every effort drained her energy, hence the chocolate.
"A walk won't hurt us," I replied.
Kameron grinned, "it could" he replied, "how's your ankle?"
"Fine now," I replied, "it was just a little strain, nothing serious." It did hurt, but I didn't want to tell him that, a little discomfort in exchange for an energetic Mew, seemed like a good thing.
He furrowed his brow at me in confusion, and shook his head. I'd forgotten he could feel the fact I was lying. But he decided not to speak of it. For some reason this annoyed me.
"Anyway, let's get going."
"Maki makimurrr!" Maki affirmated.
As we were leaving the village, it was approaching late evening and we were forced to stop at a cafe and ask for directions.
"You want to go to Charizard Ridge?" The proprietor, a pretty woman with pigtails, queried, she looked rather puzzled. "Nobody's gone up there for ages, they say it's haunted and everything. Strange going's on in the old Ridge House."
"Really…" Kameron sat down at the bar. "Tell me more."
She smiled at him, a little too flirtaeously for my tastes, given he was sixteen and she had to be in her twenties at least. The café was quiet and therefore she seemed more then willing to talk. "There's a big old house on the ridge," she said, "made by a man and his wife, as a place to raise their three children. Only problem was, when the influenza epidemic hit the area some twenty years ago, all their kids caught it and died. Terrible thing, place was too secluded – couldn't get to help in time.
The couple became very distraught, and the wife, she killed herself. That left the husband all alone. He became something of a hermit, having groceries sent up to the place, never leaving it. The local store used to leave a box by the gate, he never let noone in, noone at all.
They say he died five years ago – or at least, that's when he stopped collecting the food parcels, they just went there to drop off the new one and the old one was still there. Poor kid, was too scared to go and knock on the doorstep himself, so he came back down here and told the police. They went up to investigate of course, but well, that's when things got really odd.
You see, two policemen went up there, a man and woman team, Constable Jeremy and Officer Jenny I believe, they went up there, and went in. Apparently the place was really odd, you ever see that movie "The Haunting"?"
Kameron shrugged, "yeah," he said, "it screened last year, the one with the real creepy house?"
"That's the one. Apparently it was a bit like that only weirder." She paused for a moment whilst we let the weight of this statement sink in.
"Weirder?" I asked.
She nodded, and then glanced up as the bell above the door rang and a young woman walked in. A pretty girl with short, thick, brown hair.
Just what we need, I thought, another pretty girl. I glanced at Kameron, but he seemed entranced by the story. It seemed silly to me to be experiencing all these jealous feelings now, I mean, why should I be automatically suspicious of any female who talks to my boyfriend? What I didn't realise then was that this is a fairly typical problem that most people in a relationship face sooner or later.
"Excuse me a moment," the Proprietor said, scooting over to serve the young lady a hot chocolate.
"Um, I'd better have one of those two," Kameron declared as soon as she'd returned. She made the drinks, plopped some baby marshmallows in them, and returned to us.
"Okay, where was I?"
"You were describing the house," I replied.
"Oh yes, right. Anyway, it's a real big house, the Ridge Mansion, huge, way too big for five people. Apparently as they approached the house, they noticed there were these two great Gryphons by the front stairs. Do you know what a Gryphon is?"
"A legendary Pokemon, please continue!" Kameron was extremely interested in the story.
Fenrill stole the marshmallows from his mug and starting licking the foam. He pushed her away with one hand. She frowned at him, narrowing her vibrant eyes.
"Mew!" She scolded.
He sipped the drink regardless.
"Well, as soon as they touched the front doors, the Gyphons attacked them."
"What? Were they just Pokemon that were resting?"
She shook her head. "Nope, apparently they looked and felt like rock. They later sent a brave soul up to collect a scraping, and when testing, it was just common rock. But wait, it gets weirder."
"I don't see what this has to do with saving my sister," Fenrill insisted.
"Shhh!" We (and the newcomer) hissed in unison, all three of us drawn into the story.
Fenrill rose her chin in the air and hovered up to the chandelair to sulk.
"And this is not a common Pokemon trick I take it?" I asked.
"Not for any Pokemon that look like Gryphons," she replied.
"What about Ditto?" Kameron had obviously been doing his reading.
However, having told this story many times, the woman had obviously faced this question before, because she answered without pausing, "a transformed Ditto is fairly obvious," she said, "no, these were not Dittos, the rock did come to life."
"Okay," I said, still not believing her.
Even Maki was engrosed in the story.
"To get past the gryphons, they ran up the stairs and into the house. The front hall has been described as being amazing. Apparently its overgrown with vines and weird black flowers, flowers that try to eat the unwary traveller."
"Victribells!" Kameron and I said in unison. You could see our lectures were starting to pay off.
"Perhaps," the woman replied, "but a very strange breed indeed, and how did they get there?"
It was then I noticed that the girl had brought in a Pokemon with her. It was a large Vaporeon, but unusual in that its fur was a rich, irrediscient gold. I found my eyes drawn to the creature and had to pull them back to the story. I could ask her about the Vaporeon later, but for now…
"Anyway," the proprietor continued, "as they crossed the main hall, they got this distinctive feeling that they were being watched, and then suddenly this enormous moth, composed entirely of light, swooped down on them. One of the Officers ran back through the door, the other one froze and the creature descended on her.
She was never seen again."
Kameron grinned. "Yeah right," he said.
The woman blushed, she looked down. Kameron grinned.
"I know you're fibbing," he said, "call it a curse."
"Very well," she said, "he was seen again, but he was much disturbed about it and never spoke of what had happened, except to say that it was the most terrifying thing that had ever happened to him!"
Kameron glanced at me, his eyes gleaming and I knew exactly what he was thinking.
"You want to go there, don't you?" I asked.
"Of course," he replied, "its probably just a bunch of wild Pokemon like at Shadeon's place, no such thing as ghosts. Besides, it's on the ridge, Fenrill's sister might be there!"
The Mew came looping back and tilted her head at us. "My sister might be in this house?" She asked, "Then why are we talking and wasting time, let's go!"
"One thing first," I replied, and turned to the girl who was with us. "Where did you get that wonderful Vaporeon?"
She looked at me a bit startled and the gold Vaporeon came over and nuzzled my hands in greeting. I scratched her behind the ear, wishing I had my Vaporeon to met her. Certainly Ozmos was not this unusual, but she was different.
"My name's Kameron," Kameron leaned over my shoulder and butted in.
The girl grinned at him. "I'm Arielle,' she replied, "and this is Splash."
"Vapor!" Splash said, recognising her name.
Maki immediately bounded over to investigate. He landed on the gold Vaporeon's head and started playing with her head fins. She hissed, "eon!" at him, making his jump away.
"I'm Kataryna," I scooped Maki up in my arms, "and this little rogue is Maki."
"This is all very nice and all," Fenrill said, "but we have to save my sister!"
Arielle glanced at her. "Is that," she paused, looking startled, "is that really a Mew?"
"Mew, mew mew meuuw!" Fenrill stated firmly.
I chuckled, because what she'd just said was, "what do you think I am? A Meowth?"
"This," I informed Arielle, "is Fenrill, whom we are helping at the moment."
"You're going to that haunted house, aren't you?" She asked, displaying insightfulness, "I want to come with you."
"Hrm, why?" I asked, taking unawares by her statement.
"I've been waiting in this town for a week," she said, "because the main road out of here is blocked and, well, quite frankly, I'm bored, my Pokemon are bored and we love a ghost story as much as the next person, right Splash?"
"Va por reon!" Splash appeared to agree whole-heartedly.
"I suppose a few more wouldn't hurt," Kameron decided, "we may be running into trouble."
"Yeah?"
"Fenrill is wanting to help her sister, whom is somewhere on Charizard Ridge, and we suspect the old Manor house. However, a nasty ex-Rocket is also after them and he has managed to get himself the power of Fire."
"Sounds scary!" She did not sound particularly scared at all.
"Yeah, that's why we'd like you to come along," Kameron said, looking pointedly at me, "because you've got a fine water Pokemon there, and we've just got a Marrill and Fenrill here."
Even the Mew was looking interested now. "Come on," I said, "we've got to get going, we'll explain everything on the way!"
And so, armed with our trusty flashlights and with hot chocolate in our bellies, we set off on our next great adventure.
* * *
The fence was nearly as formidable as that we had faced earlier, when approaching the condemned town. This one had points on the top, threaded with barbed wire. However, the huge cast iron gates were slightly open, and we squeezed in easily. Since it was nightfall, Kameron released Shadeon and the dark shadow Pokemon danced across the lawn, always staying close to the young man. The garden was overgrown, unkempt, weeds choked the rose gardens that lined the path, and even attempted the life of the path itself. Everything was quiet. The cracked and weed strewn driveway lead through an alley of ancient oak trees, their branches groaning ominously in the darkness.
"She is here," Fenrill replied, "I can feel her, in the grass, the trees, even the air. My sister, my darling sister!"
I stroked her on the head. "And Loki, he is not here yet?"
She scented the air, "I think not," she replied, "but I may be mistaken."
Arielle had leaned over and was looking at Shadeon carefully. "That's an unusual Eeveelution," she said softly, so as not to disturb the Hoho hooting in the trees above.
"She's a Shadow Pokemon," Kameron replied, "she can turn into shadow when she likes."
"Cool!" The woman actually did sound interested, "I've got some unusual Eons of my own."
"Aside from Splash?" I asked.
"Yep, aside from her." She drew out her Pokeballs and released four Pokemon, all Eons from the looks of them.
A purple cat-like creature with large ears and a split tail materialised first, and immediately threw itself into Arielle's arms, nuzzling her happily. The second was as black as the darkness, aside from its glowing red eyes and a golden halo on its forehead, legs, ears and tail. It stretched vainly and paced around in a semi-circle, eyeing us suspiciously. The third was more unusual, being a greenish colour with various adornments. As thought something we did not, Azriel immediately bounded over and hurtled into it. It yelped in alarm, or so I suspected, until I reached forward to grab the Eevee off it and it barrelled into him.
"That's May," Arielle explained, "she loves to play!"
"What is she?" Kameron asked. I knew he still had that book of Doctor Krakenstein's and had been reading it quietly, in his spare time. "No wait, don't tell me! Its one of the birthstone Pokemon?"
Arielle looked surprised, "how did you know? Not many people know about the Gem stone's effect on Eevees."
He shrugged, "what can I say, I read a lot," he replied.
"Then you might recognise this fellow too," she said, releasing her last Pokemon. It was a golden coloured pokemon with white ruff and jewelled tail. "This is November," she said, "he's a Topezeon."
November sat down and gazed at her with big, dark eyes. She reached down and scratched his ruff.
"So," she said, "that's my gang, how about yours?"
The dark Pokemon, which I recognised as an Umbreon from my lessons, began deliberately stalking Maki. Maki turned and glared at it, his golden eyes glowing for a moment and it sat on its haunches and scratched its head in confusion. The Makimur grinned and began grooming his tail.
Shadeon shook herself and wandered towards the Umbreon, her ruff almost standing on end. She held her head down submissively and whimpered. I knew immediately what was going on. She had seen the Dark Pokemon and recognised it for what it was – a beast of the night, like herself.
"You've got to watch Mors," Arielle cautioned, as our eyes all turned towards the two night Pokemon.
Mors suddenly stood on his hindpaws and hit Shadeon across the side. She was so surprised she tumbled over in the dirt, clambering to his feet and staring at him. Her red eyes flared for a moment.
"Shadeon!" Kameron snapped, "don't do it girl!"
"Shhaaaaa?" She asked, tilting her head at him.
Arielle sighed. "If you guys are not going to get along, I'm going to have to put you away Mors."
Mors growled, he didn't agree with that treatment at all.
"As for my other Pokemon," I added, "I have Dragosi and that's it. That's a Psychic Dragon type," I answered her questioning look with. "And little Flora." I took the baby from her Pokeball and held her out for Arielle to see. She yawned and whimpered, rolling over and going back to sleep.
"Oooooh," Arielle replied, "she's gorgeous, what is she?"
"A female Grass Eevee pup," I replied, probably confusing her, "and Kameron has Azriel there, a Marrill, Shadeon and Kiki, that's the other Makimur."
"Come on!" Fenrill insisted.
"Okay, okay, keep your tail on, we need to make a plan of attack," I replied, earning a confused look from the girl, who couldn't understand the Mew, "we can't just march right in there, can we?"
"Why not?" Kameron asked. "We've got two Pokemon that are good at night time, provided they don't maul each other, and we've just got to get past those Gryphons."
"If you believe the Gryphons were real and not just some silly folklore," I muttered.
"They were real," Kameron insisted, "she believed."
"Water's good against stone," Arielle interjected.
"Yes, for Pokemon perhaps, but are these statues Pokemon or something more?"
"One way to find out!"
Our Pokemon trailing behind us, we walked down the pathway, under the gloom of the oak trees.
The garden seemed shrouded in dark roiling shadows, a little bit like mist. I noticed Shadeon loping over and investigating them, a shake racking over her body.
"Shaaa," she said nervously.
I reached out and tousled her fur. "I know there's something strange going on," I replied, "that's why we're here."
Mors, Arielle's Umbreon stalked back and glared at her, obviously seeing her for the match she would be. The two spent a lengthy period of time eyeballing one another.
"No fighting!" Arielle instructed, and Mors stuck his head in the air haughtily and huffed loudly.
We continued further, Maki and Kiki staying unusually close to us, behaviour obviously influenced by the atmosphere. And then we saw the house, lit by moonlight.
It was huge, with turrets and towers and even a clock, with hands like gnarled claws forever stuck at ten past twelve. It might be a mansion, but to me it also resembled a castle.
"Wow!" Kameron whispered, "what a great place!"
I nodded. "You'd love to live here, wouldn't you?"
He grinned broadly, "you bet!" From his pocket he drew the Pokedex. Not only had we had it repaired, we had also had it upgraded, so it now recognised every single Pokemon known to man, was programmable with those not yet known and also it identified non-Pokemon life forms, minerals and plants. It was a pretty efficient device. He pointed it at Mors.
"Umbreon," it intoned, "the Night Evolution of Eevee. When excited, Umbreon exudes poison."
"Oh, ick!" He exclaimed, and pointed it at Shadeon.
"Shadeon, the Shadow Evolution of Eevee. This Pokemon is an unnatural creation and able to turn to mist at will."
"What are you doing?" Arielle hissed, I think the atmosphere was getting to her.
"Making sure it works," Kameron replied, "we have to use it to identify the stone Gryphons."
And then we were close enough to see the stone gryphons. They sat opposite each other at the foot of a wide stone staircase, their stone eyes locked forever in a competition of wits. The weather had not been overly kind to them, chunks of rock were missing and they had a smooth, worn look.
Kameron pointed the Pokedex at them.
"Object identified," it said after a lengthy pause, "material: mineral, sentience: absent."
"They're rock, and they're not alive," he translated. "Nor have ever been. I think those cops must have been on something."
Suddenly Azriel, who had been wandering off, as he was inclined to, sneezed and fell over backwards, his legs twitching. I rushed to his side, scooping him up. He fitted a bit in my arms, whimpered and then appeared to come right, nuzzling me in the cheek. I looked at what he had been investigating. It was some bright red toadstools, clustered about the foot of an oak tree.
"Kameron check this out," I hissed, motioning him over. He glanced at them and pointed the machine at it.
"Devil's Knob Toadstool;" it identified, "the spoors from this toadstool can cause hallucinations and even death when they are released in early autumn."
"Thank you Az," I patted the Eevee on the head. "I think we've found out culprit! Good thing its nearly winter, otherwise things could have more unpleasant."
"Eevee!" Azriel agreed, nuzzling me. I placed him on the ground and he tottered a few paces, before bumping into a rock and falling over.
"Poor wee mite," I replied, picking him up again. "I think this place must be quite unpleasant, but at least we have nothing to worry about now, obviously those officers were here in early autumn and inhaled the spores!"
Kameron nodded in agreement. Arielle was busy rounding her Pokemon up, and trying to keep them away from the spores. Luckily they seemed more obedient then the little Eevee.
The young man walked up to the right hand gryphon and leaned on it. "See," he said happily, "nothing but stone, plain stone, the lady in the café must've been having us on."
"Shaaaaa!!" Shadeon shrieked, leaping forward and knocking Kameron out of the way and into the stone step. He whimpered and crawled to his feet.
"What did you do that for?" He asked the Shadow Pokemon.
"Sshaa de oooon," she insisted.
"It never moved," he replied, and we all turned to stare at the immobile statue. "It's rock see." He tapped on it. "Nothing to be afraid of, you really are highly strung, aren't you girl? That hurt!"
Shadeon hung her head, looking quite abashed. She whimpered.
"It's okay," Kameron replied, "you were just trying to help."
Arielle sighed. I could tell she was impressed by our Pokemon's calm presence of mind. We had been with her a few hours and already she had seen one sniff a poisonous toadstool and the other attack its Trainer.
There was a grinding noise, such as rock grinding on rock. Both of our eyes turned to the Gryphon. Which was not moving, although I had thought it had been holding the podium with two claws, not one, but it was dark and I may have been mistaken.
"No point in hanging around," Fenrill insisted. Kameron nodded and walked up the steps, Arielle following him. I brought up the rear, having to turn around and make sure all of my rogues were following. Maki crouched on my shoulder, obviously terrified. That seemed unusual, most unusual.
Then that grinding noise again. I whirled around and saw that the Gryphon was now standing rampant, its wings spread and both fore talons in the air.
It had certainly not been in that pose before. There was a grinding to the other side and the other Gryphon moved, in front of my eyes, into the same pose.
"Um, guys…" I whimpered as with a scream of rock on rock, the gryphon slashed at me.
"Ma KI!" Maki screamed, hitting it with a beam of light that had no affect whatsoever.
I tried to dodge aside, but the stone talon slashed into my arm. It was stone, and therefore a blunt instrument, not sharp enough to break skin, but it was hard enough to send an explosion of pain up my arm and knock me off my feet.
The other Gryphon shrieked and flapped into the air.
And we sprang into action.
"Splash, use water against it!" Arielle shrieked. "December, earthquake!"
Kameron, who was at the door, grabbed the handle and swung it open. Or tried to, it was firmly locked.
"Maki," he called, "you're up little fellow!"
"Maki makimur!" The little lemur jumped from my shoulder and ran over to my boyfriend. I whistled, "Dragosi!"
"Go siiiiii!" The purple Dragon Fly pokemon, which had been hovering after us, swooped down, intercepting one of the stone beasts. Because of the medium they were made of, it seemed to have immense problems moving, with much creaking and grinding of rock against rock. The psychic Dragon intercepted it with a screech that set our teeth on edge. Kameron drew out his Pokeballs.
"Go Marrill!" He shouted. The little blue ball leapt out and waved its arms about, a torrent of water pouring from its mouth.
The Gryphon that wasn't fighting Dragosi swooped at us, its wings creaking and groaning and grinding. It was solid rock, and airborne, therefore not the world's most pleasant adversary, especially not when flying at you. Splash sprayed a torrent of water at it, knocking it off balance and sending it crashing into the pedestal it had been built on. The ground split open as December stamped one foot on the ground. Suddenly the gryphon was rock again.
Dragosi howled as a rock claw bashed him across the side of his head. He lurched low in the air, his eyes flaring white. But psychic attacks do not work on something that is not alive, and has never been alive. With a final grinding noise, the Gryphon flung him aside, where he tumbled to the ground in a purple heap.
Fenrill turned on it, a purple bubble appearing in front of it and bursting, showering it with water. When this had little effect, she did something bizarre.
A purple glow surrounded her, as though she were evolving, and suddenly a Poliwrath materialised on the steps, one with a distinctive pink sheen to it. A torrent of water erupted from its stomach, forcing the stone creature backwards and sending it tumbling into an oak tree, splintering its trunk with an almighty crack.
Somewhere nearby an ominous howl started.
I drew up Dragosi's Pokeball and recalled him, wishing I had the time to inspect the damage done by the claws and the fall. But there was no time.
The second Gryphon reappeared on the steps, in the initial pose.
"That was no hallucination," Arielle cautioned, "remember what that lady said lurked inside?"
"Strange black Victribells and a glowing moth," Kameron replied. There was a click. Maki had picked the lock.
"I really wish I knew how he did that," I muttered. "And how he learned it in the first place."
"Gary?" Kameron ventured.
Arielle's eyes lit up. "You know Gary?" She asked.
"Maki maki!" Maki agreed.
"Unfortunately so," I replied, "we met him once a while back, had the pleasure of sharing transport with him."
The young woman smiled and I knew she was lost. "He's so cute!" She said.
"Matter of taste," I replied. "I suppose he's a good Trainer." I added this merely so as not to annoy her, I did not regard Gary as a good Trainer, the same way I did not regard Ash a particularly good Trainer. They were not good Trainers specifically because they were Trainers. This seemed contradictory, but don't argue with the way my brain works!
She smiled. "I'd like to meet him one day."
"He found Maki," Kameron pointed out, "and then Kat wound up with him cos Gary couldn't cope with it."
Arielle seemed to find this a bit hard to grasp. She stared at me, the clumsy Trainer and shrugged. How could I tame something Gary failed to? I suppose it was all a matter of viewpoint.
Kameron reached up and opened the door.
The entrance hall was amazing, it was huge, with elaborate carvings about the walls – unicorns, dragons, gryphons and other mystical beasts (which I prayed were not in a similar situation to the Gryphons on the door).
But what was more amazing was the flora. Vines, thick dark green vines with dark purple-black flowers covered everything. I could see now why the lady had said they were not Victribells, they looked absolutely nothing like the pictures I had seen of the Plant Pokemon. Kameron immediately pulled out the Pokedex.
"Object identified; plant," it intoned, "sometimes called the Locust flower. Further details unknown."
"Locust flower?" I stared at them. "Aren't locusts gold and black?"
Kameron nodded. "At least they are just plants." We glanced around the room, searching for a pathway.
"It's times like this I wish I had a fire Pokemon," I muttered.
"Top topazeon!" November insisted, rubbing his head against Arielle's side and staring at her with huge eyes. "To!" He nodded at what seemed to be a path, of a sort, or at least a place relatively lacking in the ugly flowers. Unfortunately, it also happened to involve climbing over a particularly impressive looking statue of a dragon.
"Well, looks like it's the only way," Arielle stated, "unless you fancy touching those things?"
"No way!" Kameron exclaimed, "they're probably poisonous or something!"
"I expect no less," I replied. "This place is crazy! But what happens if…"
"Don't even think about it!" Kameron snapped. "I'll go first, you girls follow if its safe, ok?"
"Throwing yourself into danger for us then?" Arielle asked. "You shouldn't do that."
"Um, who was the one attacked by the Gryphons?" I pointed out, rubbing my arm, which was numb from pain.
"Um, yeah…" Kameron muttered. "Do you want me to bring up the rear?"
"For the love of the Mews, just move!" Fenrill grumped.
"Oh, very well." Kameron started easing his way around the wall. He had managed to make about halfway when we heard a buzzing sound.
"What's that?" Arielle paused. Shadeon jumped onto the floor, glancing about, her red eyes gleaming.
"Just keep moving!" I hissed urgently.
Kameron scrambled cautiously over the dragon statue. One of the flowers began twitching. Something large and insectile, banded in gold and black crawled out.
"Hurry!" I shrieked.
The dragon began to move, that same grinding noise. Kameron literally leapt over it as locusts began pouring out of one of the flowers. The air was filled with the buzzing of insects.
Arielle was next. Her Pokemon sprang easily over the dragon, or clambered around it and she struggled over as the things tail twitched. Kameron grabbed the tail, restraining it as I reached it, placing my hands on it. It was cold, like rock, but I could feel it rippling beneath me. Suddenly the tail jerked free, sending Kameron crashing into one of the black flowers and me tumbling to the floor. The dragon tried to rear on its hindlegs, but its fore feet were attached firmly to the floor. It appeared to be pulling itself free. Arielle immediately reacted. "Splash, help them!" She shrieked as locusts descended on us. Her Gem Pokemon sprang up, crunching the insects in their jaws. Mors, always spoiling for some action, barrelled into the stone dragon and bounced off, whimpering. There was not much a Night Pokemon could do versus rock either, about the other thing that might affect it was water. Splash stamped her feet and water suddenly erupted from the floors and walls. I glanced at Kameron.
"Hydropump!" He shrieked joyously. "You rock Arielle! And Splash!"
I felt a little jealous. But no time for that now.
"Hey, I could do that too," Fenrill sounded almost hurt by the implication that the Vaporeon was better then her.
The dragon lurched as water surrounded its feet. It appeared to be trying to drag itself out of the water, but since part of it was still firmly embedded, it stopped and froze back to normal.
"The stairs!" Arielle directed, pointing.
Our head was surrounded by swarms of insects. I could feel them biting at my hair, nibbling at my skin. Biting me. The pain was unbearable. I squashed a few of them as I hurried away, glancing at my hands to see that they were covered in blood.
"Oh no," I whispered, staring at my Pokemon. They were faring little better. The locusts were stripping us free of fur and skin, and clothing. Arielle had already made it to the stairs. Shadeon was half-dragging Azriel across the floor. They were covered in the insects, the little Eevee howling in pain. Fenrill tried to cast her purple bubble of protection over us – I saw it appear, but nothing happened, the biting continued. I could feel blood trickling down my cheeks, and my hair was coming away in my hands. All I could see was blurs of gold and black and flashes, and then I stumbled, I had reached the stairs. I felt them and pulled myself up, noticing that the backs of my hands were raw and bleeding and the locusts were everywhere, biting and eating.
The top of the stairs seemed an eternity away. I realised someone was beside me, Kameron was dragging himself up the steps too, his hands were bleeding, raw and his beautiful long hair was patchy and his scalp bleeding.
This place was too much for us, not even the Mew could help.
And then, suddenly, the buzzing ceased.
Silence.
I paused, suddenly realising that my face no longer felt sticky. I glanced down at my hands, they were whole, normal. Risking a glance sideways, I saw that Kameron too looked normal and I threw my arms around him.
"You're okay," he whispered, squeezing me.
"So are you," I replied, my face now wet with tears of relief.
At the top of the stairs, Arielle sat, her arms wrapped around her knees, sobbing quietly. "My skin, my hair, my Pokemon," she whispered.
"We're okay!" I shouted and she looked up.
"We are? We are!" She grabbed Splash who was sitting beside her and squeezed the gold Vaporeon.
"What is going on here?" Kameron asked, staring pointedly at Fenrill.
"I, I don't know," the Mew whispered, "my sister, she's here but, my powers no longer work. It's awful, this place it just…so wrong…."
I squeezed her. "We'll find her." I said. I glanced down at the room, it was as it had first appeared.
"At least we know now why they're called Locust Flowers," Kameron muttered.
I shuddered, "don't remind me!"
Fenrill led us down the hallway. Even Mors looked subdued, he had long stopped stalking Shadeon and trying to goad her into a fight. Instead he turned his attention to Nemesis, Arielle's Espeon, the purple Day Eeveelution. He rubbed up against her as if to see if she was alright and she purred softly and licked his head.
"Oh, how cute," I remarked and Mors turned to scowl at me. "Sorry," I rose my hands in declaration of innocence.
Now we were upstairs Maki seemed to have overcome his fear of leaving my side and he scampered along the bannister, investigating. The place upstairs was bizarre, to say the least, paintings hung from the walls, if they were family portraits, pale skin and frightened eyes seemed to feature highly in the genetic pool.
One of the paintings featured a particularly ugly woman, with what almost appeared to be golden-green eyes. I could have sworn they were following us.
"This place sure is creepy!" Arielle remarked.
"That would have to be the understatement of the day," Kameron muttered as somewhere in the distance we heard the sounds of children laughing. Azriel leapt into my arms. We glanced around us nervously.
"Ghosts," I stated, squeezing the Eevee. "Or haunted memories."
Suddenly the Emeraldeon, who had bounded ahead, came running back, her fur on end. Something large and golden whizzed after her. The giant moth perhaps? Mors, who had been waiting for action, sprang forward, possibly trying to impress the Espeon. He flung himself into the air, vanishing as Night Pokemon can and reappearing to barrel into it. And went flying straight through, rebounding off the wall at the far end. He whimpered and dragged himself to his feet.
"Use Darkness!" Kameron shouted and Shadeon sprang forward, turning to shadow. The shadow surrounded the light in a shroud and I could almost feel them fighting. Shadow may be weak against light, but light was also weak against shadow. The light faded somewhat, dimming. And suddenly Shadeon tumbled to the floor. The light had vanished, and the Shadow Pokemon lay there unmoving.
Mors darted over, sniffing at her cautiously, as though expecting her to wake up and hit him. Arielle hurried to his side, as did Nemesis and they all seemed keen on seeing what damage his tumbled had caused him. He seemed okay, a little bruised, but other wise fine.
Shadeon on the other hand did not fare so well. The light had made her shrink so now she was no larger then the Eevee. Azriel whimpered and looked at me, as though imploring me to help. I put my hands on her, but Arielle reacted first.
"Nemesis," she said, "use your powers to heal her."
"Espe!" The purple Eeveelution agreed and jumped forward, placing her large paws on the injured Pokemon. Purple light swirled around her paws and Shadeon began moving. It worked, it worked well. The Shadow Pokemon stumbled to her feet and shook herself.
"Shhaaa!" She hissed happily, almost bowling the Day Eeveelution over in her excitement.
Mors frowned jealously.
Azriel bounded over to sit beside the Umbreon and quirked his head on one side. "Eevee? Eve vee eevee?"
"Umbre bre bre," Mors replied.
"What are they on about?" Kameron asked.
Arielle paused and smiled, "I think the Eevee is asking about evolving," she replied.
I tried to listen, but was too far away to make out exactly what was happening, but I gathered that was the gist of it. I did not know if Shadeon had healed through the psychic Pokemon's effort or merely because Psychic powers made her stronger. It did not matter.
"We are close," Fenrill replied.
"We are? Then let's keep moving, please!" I coaxed. We continued around the landing.
We entered a room and came upon a series of doors, each of them marked with an eye. The eyes moved, tracking us as we circled the room. It was perfectly round.
"Now which one?" I asked.
Somewhere, strange tinny music, almost like water music, began playing. A child laughed, then screamed. A thin blood curdling scream. Azriel hid beneath Kameron's trenchcoat. And the eyes began to blink.
"Can we please get out of here?" There was a tremor to Arielle's voice. We were all scared at what the world would throw at us next.
Another scream sounded from downstairs this time. It had a reedy quality to it, as though it were not exactly real.
"Fenrill, pick a damned door!" Kameron shrieked.
Fenrill circled the middle of the room, sniffing the air, then suddenly hurtled towards one, bouncing off it. The eye was black, as black as night.
Kameron immediately reached out to grab the handle, opening it, but it swung open anyway.
Behind us another scream sounded closer this time.
And we dashed into the room, slamming the door behind us.
This room was also circular, and smelt musty, almost like old paper. As our eyes adjusted to the fact that there was light here, I found myself stepping towards Kameron in horror. Arielle also gasped, stepping closer to us. Her Pokemon clustered about her feet, except for Mors, who bravely stepped forward. Shadeon, fully recovered, followed him across the floor. They stood at the foot of an old oak chair. It was not empty, and had not been empty for the last five years. There was a man sitting in it, or what had once been a man.
The room must have been shut away, and warm, because decomposition had not taken its normal course. The man in the chair was still identifiable as a man, even though his skin was parchment thin and clung to his bones like a shroud. His eyes were nothing but dried husks, and his hands, now gnarled like claws, were wrapped about a tarnished cage. In the cage was…
"My sister!" Fenrill shrieked, leaping forward and staring down at the pathetic bundle of pink fur and feathers. The poor beast must have been trapped in the cage for years, and probably dead for nearly as long, although it was in a much better state then the man. "Open it, please!" Fenrill begged. I swallowed back my repulsion at the mummified man and stepped forward.
The latch was old and rusted, but eventually I forced it open, with a screeching noise not unlike that of a tortured cat. The Mew literally fell out into my arms. It was warm, alive, but in a most alarming state. Mews must be immortal, for this one had surely not had food nor water in the last half decade.
"I'll take that," came a voice behind me as the door slammed open, hitting the wall with a splintering crash.
At the unexpected voice, we all turned and gazed into the manic blue eyes of Loki, the self-proclaimed God of Fire. His eyes now burned, with flecks of gold in the blue, and flames still caressed his bald scalp gently.
"No!" I declared loudly, cradling the injured Mew. I glanced about. "Arielle, look after her!" I handed the badly disturbed beast to the girl and whirled to face Loki once more. "We've bet you before Loki," I replied, "and we can do it again!"
He threw back his head and cackled. "Oh, such bold words!" Bringing his hands together the flames leapt along his limbs, moulding themselves into a ball of fire.
"Duck!" Kameron bellowed and we leapt aside as the fireball scorched a furrow across the floor, turning the dry and mummified corpse to ash.
The smell was sickening.
"Go Marrill!" Kameron shouted.
"Yeah, and you Splash!"
"Fenrill? Fenrill!" I added.
The three Pokemon with water powers leapt into action. The Marrill sent a torrent of water, the Vaporeon used hydropump again and the Mew sent a flurry of bubbles exploding in the man's face.
Loki hit the ground, rolling aside, leaving a black scar on the floor and barrelled straight into Arielle's legs. She stumbled backwards, against the wall, her grip on the Mew loosening. Loki snatched it from her, just as Splash sent him tumbling backwards with another water attack.
He staggered to his feet, holding the broken Mew above him. "By the powers of the night and day, fire and ice, I call upon you, sister of the air to join with me!" He shouted. Purple light surrounded them and the water reverberated off, almost knocking us over. I stumbled and fell, catching my injured arm on the table. The pain exploded through me again. Shadeon leapt forward.
Glowing circlets of light suddenly arose around Loki's shoulders and he doubled over as though in great pain, his lithe body racked with agony. Feathered wings, seemingly composed of light exploded from his back, the skin peeling away around them, leaving openings. Shadeon hit him, turning herself to shadows, but there was suddenly an explosion of light and she hurtled backwards, knocking Kameron over.
"Um bre!" Mors bellowed, leaping across the water-drenched floor at the evolving man. He vanished and reappeared, hitting Loki in the head and sending him tumbling backwards. The broken Mew was flung aside, and Nemesis somehow managed to catch it.
"Eevee vee!" Azriel added his impressive battle cry to the melee, throwing himself whole-heartedly into it.
Loki cackled. "Not only the God of Fire, but the God of the heavens as well!" He shrieked, and drew his hands together.
A crack of thunder reverberated around the room and a bright flash sent all of us staggering. Azriel lunged, grabbing for the most delicate part of Loki's rather exposed anatomy. The smell of singing fur filled the air as the flames that harmlessly licked the man's body ignited his fur.
Loki threw back his head and howled. With one flaming hand he bashed the little Pokemon aside, and Azriel bounced off the wall and did not move.
"You still have your weakness!" I replied. "Go, all of you!"
"Not enough weaknesses!" He replied and suddenly a bolt of lightning arced across the floor, shooting through the water. Loki leapt over us and threw himself through the window, flying upwards and away.
The lightning bolt was not strong, but the water made it worse. It felt like we were burning inside. The force blasted each of us against the walls and then it died. And we were lying in water. My limbs spasmed weakly from the shock.
"He got the power," Kameron muttered, recovering quickly. "If we don't stop him soon, we never will."
Arielle dragged herself to her feet. "That was Loki?" She asked. "He was terrible." She shuddered. November stood on his hindlegs and hugged her leg. He seemed none the worst for wear. In fact, nearly all of us seemed fine, with two exceptions. The broken Mew, which lay across Nemesis's back, although its injuries were old and not to do with the current encounter, and Azriel, who lay in a crumpled, scorched heap against the wall. He had hit it head first and had probably broken his neck. Shadeon darted over there, glancing him over and whimpering sadly. I scooped down and picked him up. His head seemed to feel lose somehow, like his neck was weaker. He did not move.
"Oh, Azriel," I whispered, stroking his brown fur. "You poor wee mite, so brave and yet so foolish. You died bravely."
"Not necessarily," Arielle said sternly, putting her hand on my shoulder. "Set him on the table."
Curious, I put the broken Eevee on the table that rested against the wall, brushing away the glass from the shattered window first.
"Nemesis!" She called and the Espeon sprang agily onto the table. "And you too, Mew, you can heal right?"
"Mew," Fenrill nodded.
"Well, heal him!"
I understood what she was doing and stepped forward. "Let me help."
We all placed out paws or hands on the broken Eevee and I closed my eyes calling forth that familiar electricity feeling.
Pain exploded inside my head, little fragments leaping about it and I held on for as long as I could, until dizziness overwhelmed me and I collapsed into Kameron's arms.
"Something weird is happening," he said softly as I pried open my heavy eyelids.
Nemesis had staggered aside, and was being cradled in one arm my Arielle (who was cradling the flying Mew in the other), so that only Fenrill stood on the table. A purple-white light surrounded the both of them. Then the Mew let out a frightened cry and fell off the table. I picked her up, holding her close.
"Something strange is taking place," she informed me.
And indeed it was. Azriel seemed to be growing, his scorched fur turning darker, the colour of the night, safe for glowing golden circlets on his extremities and forehead. Then the purple-white light cleared and the midnight black Eon stood there, shaking his head groggily.
Arielle smiled. "Looks like Mors has some competition," she said.
"I think, all in all, it's time to go home," I replied. "Fenrill?"
The Mew was only to happy to oblige.
Epilogue
The Winged Mew was left in the capable hands of Arielle, who was somewhat shaken by the whole experience, but took it all in good grace. When you looked at the poor Mew, kept in a cage for five years, no food, no water, a mummifying corpse for companionship, you could understand why her dreams were having such an adverse effect on the world in general. She made a slow recovery, helped by such vital foods as chocolate and candy.
Kameron and I returned to the University to continue our tracking down of the four missing sisters.
Now, some of you will be wondering what was happening with Flora and Freyja. I would like to point out, Freyja had been given lodgings on campus, for a short period of time and Flora I was keeping with me constantly because she needed close companionship. Consequently, despite being smaller then her siblings, she was a lot more frisky now, and extremely affectionate, but more on her, and Freyja, and all of us, later!