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Part 5: Supersensible Luck...

Adrian awoke from his slumber at the dawn of a new day. Ollie was still sleeping next to him, silently purring away. Adrian rose and got out of the bed. Something spiked him in the hip when he stood up. He reached in his pocket and withdrew a small, square card. 'Must be from the dream.... But how?' He didn't think too much of it, so he placed it on top of his dresser and walked out of the room. His mother was at the kitchen table, drinking her morning cup of coffee and reading the newspaper.
"Morning Honey!" she said when she heard the door to the fridge open. He was getting his morning drink: milk and tangy orange juice. After he shook off the sleepiness, he went and sat on the couch in front of TV, got the remote, and turned it on. Most channels had 'American' style cartoons showing in the morning and only a couple had 'Animé'. He watched one of the 'Animé' cartoons and was thrilled with the story-line! The new 'American' ones just couldn't cut it like they used to; the old ones were filled with gags and humor. The 'Animé' one he was watching had a good mix of humor and story, so it kept him watching until the episode ended. His mother had already left and he had the house to himself again.
He got up from the couch and walked outside. Lucy was out there practicing her agility and thunder abilities. She stopped right in front of him, using all her speed to just appear out of nowhere.

"Waaaaaaaaazzzzzuuuuuuuuupp!"

She shouted the instant she was in front of Adrian. He jumped and landed on the ground in an uncomfortable manner.
"I should have seen it comin'!" he yelled at himself after he landed. He got himself together and stood again. "So, what'cha up to?"
"Practicin'! I don't wanna become flabby from not movin' around for a while. Hmm..., seems you could benefit too," she said, poking the little gut Adrian was forming from laying around, having weird dreams, and eating raw meat.
"Hey hey! Stop that!" he said as she tickled.
"Well, Alen's out here absorbing my thunder so that I can build up my electricity again. He's such a good sport; of course none of my bolts can really hurt him." She and Adrian walked over to Alen. He looked at Adrian and smirked.
"Aah..., so this boy inherits us? Hmm.. I can't say I've ever gotten to know you. I'm Alen, an alakazam. I have helped most of the pokémon here learn how to talk to humans. It will be a good story for you." Alen already knew the trend Adrian was starting with stories. After another thunder bolt from Lucy, he said that he had enough and that he wanted to talk. Lucy went inside the house and into her pokéball. Alen stayed outside with Adrian. "I have been to many places; I choose not to count. I have been passed down for many hundreds of your generations, each to the one offspring of the family. I have lived well over six thousand years because of a skill I learned: I stopped my own aging when I was several hundred years old. I am old, but not the oldest. The time I have spent training my mind farther has made my powers strong, but I am not the most powerful psychic. Hmmm... from what I can tell, I cannot look into your mind. Duckman told me this when he tried to look into your dream and was slammed out of it. Please, sit down, I would like to try something." Adrian sat and Alen took out his spoons. He concentrated and his spoons began to glow. The grass around Adrian began to stand and parts of the ground began to rise, but Adrian was not lifted into the air. After a few seconds the grass went normal. Alen was still concentrating, but nothing seemed to happen. All of a sudden a large orb of psychic energy was thrown at Adrian from Alen's spoons. Adrian put his arms up to block; the ball seemed to smack him dead on. After the dust settled, Adrian remained exactly where he was sitting. The ball never fazed him, or touched him for that matter. Alen looked on in shock. "How did you sit through my most powerful technique?! Nothing could have come from a hit like that and still just sit there! Hmmm... something's not right. What a weird feeling, not knowing something of this nature. Well, I suppose you want to know how it all started, right? I cannot look into your mind, so I have to guess!"
"Yeah, I would like to know, but first, what was it that you sent at me?"
"Psychic Blast: a very destructive attack that can harm others physically and mentally. I have only used it twice before. On both accounts, the recipients didn't know where, who, or what they were for a whole week. Nothing happened to you, so you are somehow immune to my abilities, and that of Charla and Lucy. Hmmmm... Well, let me get started on that story."

"When we are born, we are alone; we don't have family. The first thing I learned was how to teleport. All abra must know how to teleport. While in the abra state, we cannot really learn new skills, or attack others. We just teleport to safety and that's that. Some abra, however, spend their time learning non-psychic things, like how to defend themselves with Fighting type attacks. The number of abra that do this is incredibly small, so consider yourself lucky; I was one of those abra that fought back early on. Humans were not really a threat back then like some are now, so I was free to go anywhere I wanted and to practice fighting against others. All I met liked the fact that a usually lonesome individual was having fun with others. I took many in my teleporting ways to lakes or the tops of large mountains so they could see the world I could see. It made me happy to see others' eyes brighten with knowledge of the sights. I learned how to be caring, something abra do not learn early on. I found various machop and spared with them for a while, becoming stronger and faster. Those exposed to my psychic aura long enough began to benefit with mind enhancing skills. One machop I spared with grew with mental power and began to evolve while fighting with me. I had to look up to the new machoke; he was twice my size. He looked himself over then looked at me. He knelt down and hugged me; I had caused him to grow. He was now ready for the new challenge of exploring the world... for a new challenge, I could only go so far with him and he didn't want to teleport around. 'I wish to scale the mountains, swim the seas, walk the earth,' were his words, and he left. He was my best friend. I didn't grow until about sixty years from that day; it didn't seem that long at the time. I had so many skills when the time came that I didn't really consider myself a psychic. It was another hundred years before I met a human for the first time. His name was Thorn. He was, in my opinion at the time, one who seemed to have bad luck. I found him on the side of a small river with a big backpack. He was hiking alone in a nearby mountain when he slipped and fell a long way into the river before ending up on the side. I can't say his luck was all bad; he did survive and he did meet me. I helped him from his state of unconscienceness and he was happy for the help. He told me about himself and how his life was one big goof after another. I decided to go with him because I couldn't believe just how one person could have so many accidents happen without doing much to provoke them. It turned out to be true when we walked down a well worn path: he slipped on some loose gravel and fell on his face! I helped him up and he patted himself off. Heh, at the time, I couldn't believe the mental strength this man had towards these kinds of strange occurrences; he just shrugged them off and continued on his way. I could not do that; this sort of thing would cause me to have headaches and migraines just waiting for the next one to happen to take action; a certain sense of paranoia would envelope me and make me not do anything and fear doing things. He just kept walking as if nothing happened! It was just something hard for me to comprehend back then. I decided to stay with him, to try and learn how he was just shrugging it off. This was a fruitless effort though; all I learned was that the human mind learned to deal with things quicker than most because it responds differently to different things. sigh..... I stayed just to watch how many accidents this man would have and it turns out he had one every one to four hours, except when sleeping: nothing ever happened. I did not really need sleep then, so I was able to watch him sleep and monitor some of his activities. Back then, humans didn't know much about pokémon, or at least nothing was written on the subject." Alen looked at Adrian, who was still sitting and looking at a fixed point in space. Adrian looked up at Alen when he noticed the pause.
"Wow, someone with seemingly horrible luck. I suppose even those cursed with bad luck can have good days, he met you!"
"Yes, I would say his bad luck came into his favor when another event happened: he stumbled into a small saloon one time and fell flat on his face in front of a woman. He did not make the mistake of looking up at the woman from where he was, although I don't think he saw who was in front of him. When he got up, the woman looked him up and down, then she looked at me. 'Is that your poky-mon? I ain't neva seen a poky-mon like dat befoe.' She had pale blue eyes and was wearing a tight fitting purple dress with a small shade-umbrella. Her hair was in curls and was slightly blondish - more brown than blonde. Heh... my kind do not forget things easily. Anyway, he introduced himself and me. I was his friend, not underling, was the way he put it. She seemed intrigued; something like me was rare, and the fact that I chose to stay with him was more rare. He tried to order a drink, but the bartender thought what he said was an insult, so he was thrown out. She heard what he said: it was a drink, not an insult. She ordered that drink and brought it to him, outside the place. The woman fell in love with his bad luck. This also struck me as... strange. Another thing that would make one of my kind completely tuned out, but she was attracted to him. There was no doubt about it, she loved him after a few more unexplainable accidents. Years pass, and Thorn married that woman. I suppose another odd thing was that she did not have any living family; they all died while she was young. Well, he was late for his wedding, and his pants dropped while he was saying his vows. Everyone had a good laugh, including Thorn, and the party afterward was a big one with live musicians and him falling on the giant cake that was prepared for the guests. They soon found a good, stable region and built a small house. I helped build it also. He only got his toe stubbed when a plank dropped from the ceiling during the construction of that house. After another year I noticed his wife beginning to get a little big in the belly. I wasn't familiar with the mating trends of humans then, so I was told by her that she was pregnant when I asked her about the growth. Finally the day happened when she would give birth; I used my powers to try to ease her pain, but it was more than I could handle, and I couldn't hang on to her mind... She died while giving birth, the pain destroyed her just as the infant left her. Thorn named the newborn boy Lucky, because he truly was lucky. Thorn told me to handle the boy for a little while because he wanted to dig his lost wife's grave. I thought this also strange. We just disintegrate the dead, but he wanted to bury what was her. I watched him as he toiled for hours with his shovel. No accident ever happened to him during that time of about six hours. He wanted it to be deep and to make sure a wooden coffin would fit. It was during this time that he wept. It seemed to give him strength and determination. When he was done, he went to work on the wooden box. I offered my help, but he turned it down. No accident happened during this time either. Through all the construction and sweat, I could see that he was slowing his pace. He then stopped as he was nailing the frame together. He looked at her. She almost seemed to say something to him, because he turned back around and worked harder and faster. It was finally completed, and he placed her in the coffin, and covered it. He cried as he nailed the lid shut. He then took the coffin and very carefully dragged it outside to the grave. He finally asked for my help. 'I can't just drop her in there. Can you please lower her into the grave nice and easy?' I performed it for him, since I knew there was no possible way then for one man to do it. I also felt obligated. She fell in love with him, not me, and I was worth a lot of money if captured. She was never like that. I felt a sadness I had never felt before. The coffin was resting on the bottom as he slowly covered the grave. The baby was asleep during all of this. I wasn't sure just how I was supposed to take care of a human child when he handed him to me, so I just used my psychic abilities and gave him a happy dream of big clouds and soft grass. When Thorn came in and sat down, I told him what I did with his son and he was surprised. 'You can do that?!!' he almost shouted, looking at his son sleeping soundly on a pillow. He then asked me to give him a little dream, and I did. He needed it, working so hard and nonstop."

"Well, time passes... Thorn's luck almost seemed to stop being so bad, he only had an accident every other day or so. The boy grew up so fast in front of my eyes. The boy was educated by me, since I am naturally educated in many arts. To please his mind, Thorn would tell him about his life, how he managed, and who his mother was. Sadly, Thorn's luck finally hit at full strength: we were traveling on a boat when a huge storm hit. I tried to use my powers to stop the waves from toppling the boat, but I wasn't strong enough to keep them from coming aboard. I cannot teleport during such clashes of nature. The waves fell over the deck and swept his son overboard. He was out of my power's reach, so Thorn leapt overboard, instinctively. He rescued his son by shoving him within my reach, but Thorn never made it back. His son was horrified, but the storm stopped just as his father died; he didn't drown, his luck took him by stopping his heart. I felt his mind shutdown a minute before the storm suddenly stopped. It was meant to happen, he was supposed to be taken from the living that day. Lucky finally realized that I was powerless to prevent such an event, and that he truly was lucky to have been the son of the man of bad luck. I used my power to get the ship back on course, but then I felt a sharp snap in my mind: a prediction. This now parentless boy would be the ancestor to a great savior several thousand years into the future! A prediction like this was not possible, we can only feel vibes of what could happen up to a week in the future, but thousands of years?! In my mind I felt the strange foreshadowing, but I couldn't place it in any exact time, just that it was past my lifetime. I stayed with Lucky until he found a nice, small town where he settled in and found a good hearted woman. He could not stand to live in the old house because his father would not be there to comfort him. I needed to be in a different place so I could get the vibe again. Somewhere far and high in the sky: a mountain. I teleported to several mountains, but I received nothing. It was somewhere I hadn't visited yet. It took hundreds of years trying to find that place, and in those travels I received the psychic power to stop aging. I was taught this knowledge from a very refined and ancient pokémon.... For some reason I cannot remember who he was. I do not even remember how I met him, all I remember was that he taught me something that would help me live to see that savior. I finally returned to that family I had left. I remember that event because that family couldn't believe that I remembered their 'crazy' ancestors Lucky and Thorn. I was able to track them down by their memories; humans have easy minds to probe, and I could probe hundreds in just hours worth of time. It seemed that Lucky's family line each had just one child, either a boy or girl. Those people carried with them the stories told to them by Lucky: stories of Thorn, his luck, and a kadabra named Alen. A man named Will was in Thorn's bloodline at the time, and he had a wife named Iris and a daughter named Rose." Alen looked at Adrian, who was sitting like a rock- not moving or breathing heavy. Adrian was concentrating on the story, absorbing each word and imaging each event. Alen took out a spoon and waved it in front of Adrian. Adrian stared at the spoon for a second then looked at Alen. He chuckled. "Heh... That was hypnosis, and it just went right over you. I couldn't help not to try, since you seemed to already be in a trance." Snap, something suddenly occurs in Alen's mind, a vibe! "No! You can't be the one, can you?!" Alen concentrated, then he opened his eyes again, suddenly. Adrian remained silent. "You are the one!! You are that savior I had felt! But, what is it you are the savior of?" Adrian looked up at Alen.
"I have had dreams saying that I was to save the world from a great disaster caused by humans and pokémon. I just thought it was my imagination working on overdrive, but now you seem to think that I'm 'The One.' I don't think I'm this person, though."
"Well, I just felt a strange vibe coming from you while you were sitting there. It was something I have never felt before, so I must have just jumped to a conclusion too soon. I cannot trust all vibes I sense."
"So, how was it that you became an alakazam?"
"Heh, I have been alive three times longer than Charla, so time just took its toll. I became alakazam a few hundred years before Charla was born, and in all that time I grew attached to that human family line. That is why I am here and not anywhere else. My presence was enjoyed by all, since I sometimes took the family of the time to different locations so they could see the world I loved so much. I even took them on a boat to the spot where Thorn died at sea, and every time we went a small storm would brew and puff itself out over the exact location of his death. It is magical, the earth knows that I have come to remember him and pass on the memory of the man of bad luck. He was taken from life by his luck, and so his luck created a small storm over that location that would dump its rain and die out every few days. Perhaps I should take everyone to the site sometime, so you can see the sea as it was so long ago. The area is still intact; it was never settled and will never be settled because of the frequent storms and unpredictable waters." Adrian stood up, stretching his legs.
"Well, that would be good; getting everyone together to go on a nice little trip to see a natural land mark. Although I don't think Charla, Dasher, or the marowak would like the water much, I do think they might enjoy the trip."
"Good. I'll get the others and you can go at your mother's discretion." Alen walked inside the house and brought out all the pokéballs. He tapped each one and each opened a second later. All the pokémon popped out and saw the sun on its way to the horizon. Alen psychically told all of them what they might be doing in the following day or two. Charla shivered at the thought of water, but she said she would go. Dasher also wanted to go, but wanted to keep as far away from the water as possible. The others also thought Alen's plan was a good one, and they wanted to go as well. Adrian's mother walked outside from getting home to see all the pokémon talking and agreeing on something.
"What did I miss?" she asked. Alen looked at her and spoke.
"I have a plan; we can all go see one of the last remaining places on this earth that is not touched by human industrialization. The spot where my first human friend's luck took him. Will you join us and-or allow Adrian to come with us?"
"Of course! I wouldn't pass up on that kind of offer! But, just hold on a minute; I have to tell my boss that I'll be gone for a few days on family business. You guys are the last family I have, ya know." Alen nodded, and she went back inside. He then turned to Adrian.
"You had better get your things together; I cannot teleport us there directly. I still have working ownership of a large boat that we will use to get to that spot. It will be a nice, long, quiet voyage I hope." He then turned to Charla. "The place where the boat is has a large mountain range and forest that is -AHEM- 'needin' a weedin',' if you know what I mean." Charla smiled and gave a thumb's up. Adrian walked over to the house. He looked over his shoulder and saw the few pokémon left that hadn't told him anything about themselves. He had never truly met those pokémon: dragonair, marowak, and gengar. He didn't even know what their names were. He continued to walk inside and went into his room. He located a big suitcase and began to stuff it with clothes. The card on top of his dresser shimmered when he glanced at it. It took hold of his eyes and he continued the glance. 'The card from my dream? But how did it ever come out of my dream?' He took the card and put it in the large front pocket of his suitcase. Maybe the others might know something about it, he thought. All would have one last snooze before they would go on the trip.
Adrian couldn't sleep; maybe it was the excitement, or was it the card? He walked out of his room and to the fridge for something to drink. He got a glass and filled it with milk. He was about to put it back when Alen walked up to him.
"Can't sleep?"
"Yeah... I just can't sleep."
"I wish my abilities would work on you so you could sleep. I know sleep is important to your kind. Alakazams do not sleep; we are awake one-hundred percent of the time." Adrian looked at him, then put the milk back. He drank the glass in one quick motion and placed it in the kitchen sink. Alen walked outside, and Adrian decided to follow. He looked up at the night sky as he walked through the back door. The sky was filled with bright dots: some yellow, blue, red, even white. Alen looked up as well.
"Sometimes I wonder if I could have saved Thorn. I could feel the current under us building, and it was just a matter of time before it would happen. So many years I have had to wonder, to think about the time then. I still think of my machop friend who grew because of me. I wonder where he went, what he faced, who he fought. He had such grand dreams of his future: '...scale the mountains, swim the seas, walk the earth...' I wonder if he succeeded in his dreams, although I doubt he is actually alive today, I last saw him when he left on his journey, which was over five thousand years ago." Adrian was standing and listening while looking at the stars. He then looked at the ground, then at his hands. His hands seemed almost to be worn, like his mother's, from hard work. Slender hands with a precise grip, short but sharp nails, a few little scars from playful scratches by Ollie. He then looked back up at the sky.
"Sometimes I wonder why I am here, why I am me. I wonder how my life came to be, why certain things are. In science class at school we learned that elements make up everything. Water is H2O, so how does the element have a certain feeling when I run my hand through it? I see a liquid substance that flows around when I move my hand in it, I don't see 'water.' I wonder why it doesn't just come into my hand as I move it. It's a silly thing, wondering about things that do not occur or are not so important..... Sometimes I have all the answers for just a brief moment, and then I'm left wondering where the answers went when I thought of them. I have read many books that are for the mind; books with stories within stories. I remember one that had people at an inn tell stories about how they came to be there when a strange storm hit, so they can pass the time. Each is from a different time period in a certain history, and each has a different perspective on the strange events. These sort of things I have read, as well as how a man with power beyond imagination gives them up because he was tired of being what he had become. Such things in books I have read early on, thinking of these stories during free time in class. I'm always in search of a good story, and I have learned how to take the story in my mind and see it happening. Another story told of a girl becoming niched with small dragon-like creatures that many couldn't come close to. Another told of how a group of children who were sucked into a strange world where everything of legend was real and it was being controlled by an evil witch. They succeed in defeating her and become rulers of the land. They make it a place where everything can live in peace, or so they thought. Another told of a long adventure with wizards and knights and magical things. So many stories that stimulate the mind, and.. and none of the other children even wanted to read them! I guess I am just the black sheep amidst all the little white ones, the one that thinks differently. I could never make any real friends out of all the people, only the adults shared some of my views and I didn't really want to associate with some of them. I am glad that you guys are here in this family so that I don't feel completely out of place....." Alen stared at Adrian when he stopped. "You are the first one I have told a little about me. Mom doesn't even know that I am like this, so don't tell her, okay? I don't want to worry her with something of not much importance." Alen looks away for a second.
"I am glad you told me about yourself. It would have been hard for me to try and figure out because I can't look into your mind. I can see why you seem to be in trance when you are listening, you know how to listen and make a mental picture. Those stories you spoke of, do you still have them? If they captivated you, perhaps I should read them. It just might teach me something I don't know."
"Yes, I do have them. I'll pack them into my suitcase and you can read them during the boat trip."
"Good, but do you mind if I read one now? It is still quite early and I read fast."
"Sure, I'll go get one for you." Adrian walked back inside and into his room. Looking through the various small crates he had of books. He found one that would be a good one for Alen to read first. It was a book entitled The Hobbit. He walked back outside and handed Alen the book. "I am sure you will like this story, although it is a longer tale than most. It is part one in a trilogy of books by the author, J. R. R. Tolkien. I'll also take the others if you finish this one." Alen looks at the book's cover. He then takes out a spoon and makes it glow like a reading lamp. He sits on the ground and suspends the book in front of himself.
"Thank you Adrian. I will read it." He opens the book with his mind and begins reading. Adrian walks back inside and into his room. He looks for books and begins to put them in his suitcase. When it finally became full he sat on his bed. Ollie was on his pillow, so Adrian put his head under Ollie's belly. The cat purred softly and got comfy next to Adrian's head as he began to sleep.... and dream....

He opened his eyes and saw that he was in a large, gray cube. There were no doors or windows. A figure stood in front of him. The figure was one he had seen before.
"Mewtwo, you wish to speak with me?"
"Yes, something I didn't tell you about Mew: she has been gone for decades. I can come in contact with her at anytime, but she hasn't been answering me. I think she has found you, but she will not say anything. I was able to feel your Alen's mind, but I cannot teleport. I need Mew in order to teleport. Hmm... I will meet you Adrian, soon. Hopefully you will train under me as my student, so your powers can be tamed. I also felt Alen figuring you out, but he dismissed it." Adrian looks around, then back at Mewtwo.
"Something I need to know: how did I take something out of a dream?"
"What?!"
"Yes, somehow I was able to take this weird card out my dream and into reality. It has strange markings on it and-"
"It has begun! Your powers are starting to develop! Please, try not to do anything like that until you are with me, so I can help you control such things."
"So... what do I do with the card?"
"Keep it and don't show anyone! I should be the first to gaze on this feat of your power."
"Also, what exactly is this ability I possess? You keep referring to it as some sort of power, what is it?"
"It's the power in which all abilities come from..." Mewtwo's figure began to fade. He looks at himself, then back to Adrian. "You are waking! On your.. trip... I....." He completely disappears, and Adrian is alone. He begins to think. Why is he so interested in teaching me how to control... whatever it is he thinks I have? What is he going to do about the trip; how did he know about the trip? What is this power he thinks I possess? The cube begins to fade, and Adrian awakes.

He opens his eyes and looks at his window: light is shining through. Ollie was still cradled to Adrian's head, so Adrian had to move slowly to get out of his grip. He walked out and into the restroom, more to splash water on his face than to relieve some built up pressure. He finished his business and walked out into the kitchen. His mother was there drinking coffee and reading the newspaper, as usual. He did his usual morning routine and walked outside. Alen was still reading.
"Yes, you were right; this is good writing. I can't wait to read the next one!" Alen continued reading. Adrian's mother walked outside.
"So, when are we going on this trip?" Alen looks up from the book.
"When everyone is ready. I can teleport all of us to the boat, so just give me the word when everyone's ready." He went back to reading. In the distance Charla was flapping her wings carrying her latest kill. It seemed that the pokémon around the area were learning how to evade her, because she only had one nidorina. When she came into better view it seemed she had a fight in order to get it: there were slashes all over the nido's body. She finally landed and flopped the body of her kill next to Alen.
"Want some before we leave?" Alen shook his head, no. Charla then looked over at Adrian. "I know you want some, but let me cook it for you first!" She ripped a limb and waved it over her tail flame. She then handed Adrian the chunk of beef when it was dark on the outside. Adrian ate and felt the goodness of tender, cooked meat....

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