Chapter Five
Power
Misty woke as the sunlight streamed through her window onto her face. Birds were singing outside, the sky was clear and blue, and there was the slightest breeze, just enough to be refreshing in the warmth of the morning. Misty sat up, blinking as her sleepy eyes adjusted to the light, and stretched. She smiled to herself as she remembered where she was. Simon, she thought, remembering him with happiness. The expression on her face became brighter still as she thought of that name. He was so sweet. Then a frown crossed her face. There was something else…Something important. What was it? A person…No, two people. I know them. Or knew them. They're far away…I need to find them. Misty struggled to remember. Names…Their names…Tall, brown hair…Shorter, with black hair. What was his name? 'A'. It began with an…'A'… Misty screwed up her nose in concentration. Finally she remembered. Ash! That was it!
Having remembered the name, she was satisfied that she'd thought about everything she'd wanted to, and got up. "Now I can think about more important things! After all, it's time to explore this place properly!"
The grass in the garden still glinted with dew, which dripped in little sparkling showers as Misty walked through it. She smiled as she walked, looking all around at the lovely plants and flowers in the gorgeous morning light. The blue sky stretched on forever, not a cloud in sight. The trees slowly passed her, and then disappeared behind. She'd reached a clearing. A familiar clearing. There was the sound of breaking waves. And mist lay all around. It was so familiar... A memory flicked through her mind. And feelings. Pain. Loneliness. Darkness, and a stranger.
The flashback was gone before Misty could even blink. She wondered if it had ever happened, and was about to forget about it when she felt something else. The hairs on the back of her neck prickled. Shivers ran up and down her spine. She knew that feeling. She was being watched.
She turned warily around, but there was no one there. When she had managed to convince herself she was being silly, and that there was nobody nearby, she turned back to the sound of the waves. And a person was standing within a foot of her.
Misty jumped, and cried out in fright, lashing out at the person. Her wrist was caught in a firm but gentle grasp.
"Hey, Misty, it's me, Simon!"
"Huh? Oh, Simon!" she cried, going from a frightened pale to an embarrassed red. "I didn't recognize you…"
"Obviously not." His eyes sparkled. Is that just the sunlight, or are his eyes sparkling with laughter? No, it must be the light. He doesn't feel happiness. He doesn't feel anything.
"I want to show you something. I need to explain… some things," he went on.
"What things? Weren't we going to do something this morning? Something…important?" Misty asked. She was prompting Simon to give her the answer she couldn't quite remember.
Simon looked at her. Is she ready yet? He seemed to make a decision. "Yes." He breathed in slowly, then his eyes fixed in some resolution. "I was going to show you my laboratory."
"I thought we were going to…look for something? Or someone?" Misty struggled to remember.
"I'm not sure I understand. We decided to look at my lab, last night, at dinner?" Simon's expression asked if Misty was confused about something.
She frowned. "Yeah, I'm sorry. You're right. The lab. Let's go," she mumbled, following Simon through the trees, her brow furrowed in thought. It began with an 'A'…
The laboratory was immense, with many other doors leading to testing rooms, storerooms, and such like. The tables were littered with test tubes, only they were all in order, all had clip boards with them, obviously each some part of a particular experiment. It was all out of Misty's league. As Simon lead her around the room, she tried to follow what he was saying.
"This is my lab. It's where I spend most of my time, conducting experiments with my equipment that I've acquired over the years. Each experiment is recorded and filed for future reference. I keep my files in that room," he pointed out, as they walked past a door with 'Filing Room' on its little sign.
"Is it just you? You don't have anyone who helps you?" asked Misty, trying to take in all the information.
"Yes and no. Aside from the servants, who are hardly companions, I have only my sister for company. However, she is rarely here, as I mentioned before, and has very little notion or understanding of science." Simon stopped in his tracks. He was stood in front of a wall, blank and empty except for a photograph that hung in a frame. It was in black and white. A family of four was in it. A pretty lady was sat with a little girl on her lap. The father stood behind the boy, a hand on his shoulder. The boy looked familiar to Misty. Then her attention was caught back to Simon.
"I must now reveal a great secret to you, and you must understand I give it to you in confidence. I wished to show you my lab," a glimmer of pride came into his voice and face. "However, I feel we must visit my chambers for this discussion. This is information I wish for you, and you only, to hear."
Simon led her from the lab, up the stairs, and along the hall to his room. They entered quietly, and Simon closed the door softly behind them, locking it equally silently. Misty looked at him questioningly when he did that.
"It is necessary, unfortunately. I can't risk another person, or Pokemon, for that matter, hearing in on us.
"Well, now to tell you this secret.
"You are aware that my tests and experiments are related to Pokemon, tests that I hope will one day discover how to contain and enhance the power that Pokemon hold within themselves, power that most Pokemon are utterly unaware that they have. I believe I am the only human, now that my father has died, who knows of it. I am certainly the only human currently conducting experiments connected with this information.
"Last year, I came very close to discovering and solving this great mystery. I had, in my possession, four Pokemon: a Zapdos, an Articuno, a Moltres and an Arcanine."
"Those are the rarest Pokemon there are! How did you catch them all?" exclaimed Misty.
"I had the help of my sister at that time, though she no longer assists me in my work. So, these four Pokemon had a great deal of this power I speak of, as their roots go back to the very beginning of time. However, my experiments proved that their power could neither be obtained nor enhanced. I realised that I needed a yet more powerful Pokemon, so that I could discover the method, and once discovered, I could refine it so as to be able to draw out the shallower power of other Pokemon."
"But there's no Pokemon more powerful than any of the ones you had," said Misty.
"I am afraid I must correct you. There is a Pokemon that has more of the power than all of those Pokemon put together.
"After my failures of last year, I realised this, and set to researching in old books and texts, and that was when I discovered the information I needed." Simon stepped over to a nearby bookcase. He ran his finger along the spines of the books, until he reached the one he searched for, and lifted it from its place.
"You may guess that, being a scientist, I am very skeptical of things along the lines of prophecies, ancient scriptural writings and strange, perhaps magical powers. However, I was forced to accept one ancient writing." He crossed the room, and placed the book, open, on the desk that stood there. Misty stepped across to stand over the old, yellowed pages, her eyes flicking over the paragraphs and diagrams scrawled there, words of a language she had no hope of understanding. Simon continued to tell his story, his voice just over Misty's shoulder. "It talked of an ancient Pokemon, perhaps the first Pokemon to have ever lived and breathed. The writings told of a great power that the Pokemon possessed, a power that could be controlled and used. That is exactly what I wished to do, so I was forced to take the manuscript seriously." Misty turned the page, and a picture on the new side grabbed her attention. It was of a triangle. At the top, there was a strange creature, one that Misty didn't recognize at all. Two wavy lines linked it to two circles, which were linked by another wavy line. One of the circles had a swirl inside it. The other had three jagged lines, one long, with two short ones on either side of it. As Misty bent her head to look closer, Simon continued.
"It mentioned that, as humans are meant to live in harmony with all Pokemon, they are needed to draw out this power. Balance is also essential for the process; hence both a male and a female are necessary. That's what those two circles represent," he added, pointing at the diagram Misty was looking at. He didn't pause in his tale.
"I thought my sister would serve adequately as the female element, but it became apparent that she had only the faintest glimmer of this power within her, and no notion of how to use it. When I reexamined the book, I found enclosed a jewel-encrusted pendant. However, the pendant was broken in half, and each half was affixed to it's own chain. One chain was thick, heavily made. The other was thin and dainty. That was when it became apparent that they represented the male and female elements."
A chilling tingle ran up and down Misty's spine. My necklace that I found… She touched it, twisting it between her fingers without even realising that she was doing it.
"Yes!" cried Simon, seeing her reflexive action. "Yes! That is one of the necklaces!" He smiled for a while, and then became businesslike again. "I know this all sounds fantastical and strange, but please, try to be open-minded." He paused, and Misty felt his eyes boring into her back. He suddenly continued. "A note written beside the chains said, 'If a human wears the necklace appropriate to their gender, they are more readily able to use their power. A pendant will never fail to find the one destined to wear it. Only the joining of the Desti and Destae will enable the use of the power."
"Desti? Destae?" asked Misty, desperately trying to understand everything Simon was telling her, especially after he'd said he knew how weird it all was. She didn't want to seem foolish.
"It is the language of the ancient civilization that wrote the book. Desti means 'Son of Destiny'."
"And Destae?" She turned her head to Simon, whose face was inches from her own.
" 'Daughter of Destiny'."
Misty sank down onto the corner of the bed. Her head was spinning. What is he talking about? I can't…I don't…I won't… Why is he telling me all of this? I don't understand! Misty looked up at Simon, a pleading expression on her face. He reached to his collar, and drew a silver chain from underneath. He kept his gaze fixed firmly on Misty's eyes.
"No, no…No, Simon. No. This is too weird. This isn't happening. It's like a dream or a story, not real life," she said, shaking her head, denying it all, the necklaces, and everything Simon had said. Simon stepped away a little, bringing a little space between them.
"It was destined to happen, Misty. You can't deny destiny. You may run, but you cannot hide. Whatever you do, wherever you go, you will not escape from it. You can't. Sooner or later, it will catch up with you. That is the role of Destiny itself." Misty mentally balked at this leap of faith, from a scientist of all people, and one she hardly knew. But there was something in his voice, and in his face… He reached out and lifted the pendant that hung around Misty's neck, so that there was a pendant in each of his palms. It made them a circuit: the chain around Misty's neck was connected to Simon's hand, which connected to his body, so touched his chain. His eyes flicked from Misty to the pendants, and back again. He was asking for something. Permission. Misty's permission. Misty paused for a second, then nodded, wondering if she was crazy to be even taking any of it seriously. Simon took a deep breath, and steadied his hands, so that they were on a level. He took another breath, his gaze flicking between each of the little clusters of opal and crystal. Then, slowly, so achingly slowly, Simon drew his hands together. Misty saw everything in slow motion. The broken edges getting closer together, glinting, shimmering, closer, closer…
Sparks suddenly flew from the pendants. Purple, pink, gold, white, blue sparks, tiny ones, darting from the broken edges, as they got within an inch of each other. Simon held them there for a moment, before they finally met. The opals and crystals fitted together perfectly, the halves finally made whole.
Misty gasped. A strange feeling had swept over her. She looked around the room, but everything was as it had been moments before. She just felt so strange…
Are you alright? A voice spoke. Simon's voice. Misty stared at him. His lips hadn't moved, but she could swear that he'd spoken…
This is the first time this has happened to you. It will feel a little strange. After a while, your mind and body will get used to it.
What? What do you- Misty stopped short, cutting herself off with a gasp. Neither her words nor her gasp had come from her throat or mouth. She was afraid to speak again. But it wasn't speech. That was the thing. Her thoughts just came out loud… My thoughts! You can hear my thoughts?
Yes. That is one of the skills that the power gives you. Telepathy! We are connected. It's a gift, Misty, and incredible gift! Don't be afraid of it. Use it! Simon moved closer. There was an almost sickening urgency in his mind that raced into hers, and she felt as if she was stood inches from a flood of desperation. She shied away.
This is too weird, Simon. I'm dreaming. I must be!
It's not a dream, Misty. It's a reality! Simon's earnest enthusiasm caught at Misty, and she didn't know whether to fight it or feel it.
It's a dream. It is. It's all a dream. This is too weird, too far away from anything that's normal. I was a normal person with a normal life, just a couple of days ago! This isn't happening. It's a dream! Why can't I wake up? Simon, why can't I wake up? I want to wake up! I want to get out of here! Misty began to panic. Let me out, let me go! Simon! SIMON!
You can't wake up, Misty. This is your destiny. He stated it as a fact, gently but firmly. He was inhumanly calm, unbelievably assured.
What do you mean? This isn't my destiny. I choose! It's my choice! How can I be so special, Simon? Tell me. How can I be so special? What makes me SPECIAL? The undercurrent of her thoughts flowed around her words: it's not real, it's not real, it's not real, it's not real.
Simon halted, and he gazed at her. And there was something in his gaze.
Just look at yourself, Misty! Simon's thoughts became rapt in wonder and some strange satisfaction. He looked into Misty's eyes, and they were blue, as usual, but the blue was now a light, beams glowing and reflecting inside her irises, glimmering, shining, beaming with an incredible energy that was beyond light itself. Simon approached her further, fascinated by her eyes, unable to look away from those unearthly oceans of sapphire.
As they got closer, Misty's entire body began to glow faintly, and as she suddenly lost the strength to stand, and fell against Simon, he put his arms around her. She had to close her eyes against the light, which then began glowing from Simon as well. She stood, afraid and exhilarated at the same time. He pulled her closer, until they were as close as they could be, and they stood, in the relative shadow of the Simon's room, an intolerable light, two halves joined as a brilliant whole, an aura of light reaching out all around them. When Misty finally opened her eyes, and looked into Simon's, she could see the colour. At last, the colour of those eyes was revealed to her, and in seeing it, she could see him, his entire being. His hidden emotions, which he'd smothered with the passive, cold logic of a scientist. The pain and sorrow that filled and drenched him. And the overwhelming determination and triumph at seeing her, Misty, there with him. She finally understood, in that moment, she understood it all. Their gaze was fixed on each other, into each other's eyes, into each other's beings, beyond all sense, reality and reason. Simon's eyes flashed and sparkled, and the light from them joined hers, and she saw, in that glorious moment, that they were a fierce and brilliant gold.