Yui's Journey – The Tokko Adventures
Chapter 9 – Into the Wild Blue
Teal's eyes lit up at the words Falkner was saying. "You have to be kidding me," she said. "There's no way that a city can just… float above the ground!!"
Falkner smiled to himself, and laughed lightly at his friend's excitement. "Well, you're right about that," he said softly. "Sky Town is called the 'floating city' because, from a distance, it does appear to be floating in mid-air… But it's really held up by support pillars that are hidden in the city below it."
"That sounds really cool…" Teal sighed. "How far are we from there?"
"Not far," Falkner replied. "Actually…" He looked forward, scanning the horizon; "We should be able to see the city just a little further up the path."
As if on cue, a little shout of surprise came from the pathway in front of them. Yui was jumping up and down excitedly, trying to get Morty to look up at whatever she was seeing. She turned around, motioning to her other two friends as well.
"You guys!! Come quick, you have to see this! It's so cool!!" she shouted. Teal ran up as fast as she could, with Falkner right behind her on every step. As she reached Yui's side, she stared up into the sky… and almost fainted in shock.
There was Sky Town…Suspended in the middle of the cool afternoon sky. It actually looked like a huge chunk of land just floating there, complete with buildings and small houses on its surface. It was fairly large, and incredibly beautiful.
"Whoa…" Teal gasped. "Fal, you were right. It does look like it's floating."
"Told ya," he said with a smile. "But look there… If you look really closely at the bottom there, you'll see the little pillars connected to the bottom… That's what holds it up there."
Yui squinted her eyes. "I see them," she said in a whispering tone. "That's so weird. I wonder how they did that."
"I don't know that much about it," Falkner started, "but I do know a little bit of the story."
"So, inform us," said Morty, still staring up at the city in disbelief.
"Sky Town started off as a place like Lighting City," began Falkner, "a city on top of a mountain. The mountain was high and steep, so it was really difficult to reach the city. They say that most of the mountain's base was somehow destroyed; they secured the city in the air by creating pillars from what was left of the mountain."
As Falkner finished his sentence, a strong gust of wind brushed over the heads of the group. Falkner looked up to see the form of a huge Pidgeot; it spun around and landed swiftly on the ground beside them. Now, they could clearly see the color of the Pidgeot's coat; its feathers were a light baby pink, and the ribbon-like feathers on its head were colored with blended shades of light violet and red. A girl was sitting on the Pokemon's back; she patted the feathers on its head gently, and it lowered its head. She easily slid down and walked up to Falkner, smiling.
"It seems you've missed out on the key parts to that story, Falkner," she said with a slight wink. "But you're right… at least, in the details you did cover."
"Er… Sorry. I guess I missed out on the rest of it," Falkner said shyly.
Teal stared from Falkner to the strange girl. "Who's this?" she questioned, eyeing her strangely. The girl had long light brown hair, and a bright sky-blue T-shirt. She wore long, flared pants that were an almost-white creamy-blue color, and beige boots with shimmering sky-blue gems stuck on the front. A silver bangle hung from each of her wrists.
"Teal… All of you," Falkner started, motioning to the girl, "I'd like you to meet my best friend, Tori."
The girl smiled strongly, and waved. "Hello," she said. "Nice to meet you all."
"Yeah… Nice to meet you too," said Teal, her face drooping. She slowly gave her name, followed by Yui and Morty. Just as she was going to say 'see you later' to the new girl and ask her friends to keep moving, Yui spoke up;
"So, do you know the rest of the Sky Town story?"
"Sure do," Tori said, seating herself cross-legged on a patch of grass by the pathway. Her Pidgeot curled up next to her, placing its head down next to his owner's lap so she could pet its feathers. "I'm guessing you want to hear it."
"Definitely!" Yui exclaimed, jumping to sit right in front of Tori. Morty settled next to Yui, and Falkner jumped to take the spot on Tori's other side. Teal squeezed uneasily between Falkner and Yui, trying not to make eye contact with anybody.
"All right," Tori said. "Falkner was correct; the city used to rest on a mountain. It was the highest mountain in all of Tokko; possibly in all of the regions put together. The air pressure in incredibly high up there; at one point, hardly any humans lived up there. Only a few that could handle that kind of pressure stayed up there, building homes for themselves and all the Flying-type Pokemon that lived there."
"Sounds interesting," Teal commented. "But what about now? How is it that so many people can live there now?"
"I'm getting to that," Tori said. "When the city was first built, it was said to be the roosting spot of many legendary Pokemon… Beautiful birds, such as the legendary Articuno, Zapdos, and Moltres, were said to come to the city for no apparent reason.
Because of these legends, people came from all over to see the city, hoping to see one of the legendary Pokemon. But not all of them were good people… As the story goes, a band of villains came to destroy the city, and steal the legendary Pokemon. They destroyed most of the mountain before they were taken care of. The city was safe from intruders… but it was almost completely ruined."
"That sounds a lot like the story of the Burnt Tower in Ecruteak," Morty said.
"Yes, I've heard about that," Tori said, her head hanging down. "It's terrible what people will do to get their hands on the legendary Pokemon…"
Tori stopped, letting her words sink in. Her shoulders slumped, and she sighed; Falkner let out a deep breath as well, watching his friend, and Teal stared aimlessly at the ground. Yui was staring up at the city, her eyes glazed over with a sorrowful look, almost as if she was witnessing the terrible events that had taken place there. Morty watched her, partly shocked; he remembered clearly how she kept talking about some "pretty Pokemon" that she supposedly kept seeing. If she could see a strange Pokemon that nobody else could… who's to say she couldn't see other things as well?
"So…" Yui spoke, making Morty jump; "what happened next?"
"They used what remained of the mountain, and constructed pillars to hold the city up," Tori said. "They worked for nearly a year on them, making sure they were strong enough…"
"And the air pressure?" Yui continued. "Teal's right… If there was too much pressure, there's no way people could be living there now!"
Tori extended her arm to the city, pointing. "Look closely at the air around the city," she said. "Can you see anything strange?"
"Of course," Falkner said when nobody else answered. "I've been there enough to know… There's a glass dome over it."
Yui, Morty and Teal turned to him, eyes wide in surprise. "What?" Teal exclaimed. "What kind of a glass dome?"
"It was built over the city after the time of tragedy," Tori answered. "It keeps the air pressure out, and has some sort of device installed to keep fresh air circulating in the city. And it's thick glass, so the pressure can't shatter it."
"Whee…" Yui said in a frighteningly hyper voice. "Just like Sandy's underwater dome on SpongeBob!!"
There were four crashes as four people fell to the ground, anime sweatdrops forming on their foreheads. "Gah… You could say that," Morty groaned.
"Actually, it is a decent comparison," Tori said, sitting up. "There's even a similar double-door system for entering and exiting the city."
Yui's eyes lit up, but not because of the information she'd just received; "You've watched that show?" she cried.
"Sure!" Tori said. "Who hasn't?"
"SpongeBob frightens me," Teal spoke up, looking from side to side nervously.
"But it's the best!!" Yui protested. "SpongeBob is so cute…"
"Er, I hate to interrupt a great argument here, but don't you think we should get to that city?" Morty cut in.
"Hehe… It might be a good idea," Teal replied, getting to her feet. "Come on, Falkner, let's go!!"
He nodded and stood up, as did the others. "Tori, would you care to join us?" he asked. "You know the route to the city better than anyone."
Teal scowled at that compliment. "Sure!" Tori responded; at that, Teal growled under her breath and turned away, pretending to look up at the city. She was feeling not only furious, but hurt… "So much for what Yui said about him liking me," she thought. "Apparently he's already found someone else."
"All right, Pidgeot, come on out!" Falkner called. His Pidgeot emerged from his PokeBall, landing next to Tori's pink one; he slowly climbed up and mounted his Pokemon's back. "Ready to go, guys?"
"You mean we're flying there?" Morty questioned.
"Sure!" Tori said. "How do you expect to get up there; jump?"
"Er…" Yui stared from the two trainers and their Pidgeots to the city in the sky, and back again, "Call me crazy… But I don't think all five of us are going to fit on two Pidgeots."
Tori sweatdropped again; "You mean to say you don't have any Flying-type Pokemon?"
"Not any that'd be strong enough to carry us," Teal said.
"Oh," Tori said, "well, that's no problem!!"
She smiled, and pulled a silver whistle out of one of the pockets on her pants. The four other trainers watched intently as she put the whistle to her lips and let out a single, long breath. The shrill sound cut through the sky… but was answered with silence.
"What's that supposed to-" Teal began, but she stopped when she heard another sound echoing in the air. She looked up toward the city… and saw the huge flock of Pidgeotto, Fearow, Noctowl, and various other Flying-type Pokemon heading in their direction.
"Ooh… Cool!!" Yui sighed as the birds descended and landed all around them. "Do we get to ride to the city on these?"
"Sure do," Tori replied. "They won't mind… They're all close friends of mine."
"So we see," Morty said, stroking the wing of a large Noctowl. "Hey, I think she likes me!"
"Wow," Teal sighed in awe, picking out one of the only Pidgeot in the flock. "He's beautiful… I wish I could keep him…"
"So I see you two have picked… Yui? How about you?" Tori asked. But Yui didn't seem to hear… She was off in her own little world, staring at one Pokemon; there was only one of them in the whole group, and it looked fairly unfamiliar…
"What is this?" she asked, staring at the Pokemon. It was a blue bird that appeared to be surrounded by clouds… All that was visible was its head, and several long feathers that protruded from below the clouds.
"That's a newly discovered Pokemon," Tori said. "It's called Altaria."
"It's so pretty," Yui said, running her fingers through the cloud. It was cold and thick, like a fog surrounding the Pokemon's body. "Will you take me to Sky Town, Altaria?"
"Aahl!" The Pokemon's cry sounded like a delicate whistle. It nodded its head, and allowed Yui to sit on its back.
"Heehee!" Yui laughed. "It's cold!"
"All right, everyone," Tori said, lifting the whistle again to her lips, "To Sky Town!!"
At the sound of the whistle, all the birds took off in complete unison. They ascended above the clouds, flying full-speed toward their home town.
"EEK! This is so much fun!" Yui cried, holding on to Altaria's neck. "Whee!!!"
"It is really relaxing," Teal commented. "And Sky Town is right up ahead!!"
The flock of birds slowed to an eventual stop right above a small platform. Tori and Falkner both recalled their Pokemon and jumped down to the ground, while the other three Pokemon had to land and let their riders slide down carefully.
"Thanks, guys," Tori said, blowing the whistle once lightly. "You can go wherever you like now!!"
A mess of bird calls and fluttering feathers sounded off as the Pokemon scattered in all directions. Only o few Pokemon stayed behind; one of them was Altaria. Yui petted its head softly, and nodded her head in recognition.
"Thanks a lot for bringing me here," she said. "You've helped me a lot. I can't thank you enough."
"Aahl…" it chirped, smiling slightly. It nuzzled Yui's cheek once, and then took off into the sky, looking back down at the ground every so often.
"He liked you a lot," Falkner said.
"I'm surprised," Tori said. "Altaria usually doesn't like anyone… It has somewhat of a temper toward new people. I guess that's what comes out of being part-Dragon…"
"Wha?" Yui questioned. "That bird was part Dragon?"
"Sure! Altaria is a Dragon/Flying type," Tori told her. "It usually has a bad attitude, like some mythical dragon that thinks it's higher than everyone else… but it was different today, especially around you."
Yui looked up into the sky; the disappearing figure of Altaria slowly faded into the clouds. She smiled, thinking to herself, "So I do have the same talent that Daddy has. I can control Dragons…Though I don't think in this situation, I'd call this controlling. I'd say this was developing a friendship…"
"Hey Yui, are you coming?" Morty was standing by the door to the city, while the others were already inside a small glass tunnel. Tori was waiting to open the second door.
"Oh… Yeah, I am!" she said, realizing at that second that the air pressure surrounding her was pressing at her head. She ran toward Morty and pulled him inside, shutting the thick glass door behind her. He laughed somewhat at her, and walked with her across the tunnel as Tori opened the door, admitting them into the city.
"You really liked that Pokemon, huh?" he asked.
Yui nodded excitedly. "It was so pretty," she said. "I wish I could train a Pokemon like that…"
~*~*~
After separating with Tori, Yui and her friends had found their way to the Pokemon Center to spend the night. The next morning, Yui was naturally one of the first ones up, and she took the liberty of awakening all of her friends before getting ready to go to the Sky Town Pokemon Gym.
"Ugh… Yui, it's so early," Teal said, watching her insane friend bounce around the room while trying to pull her socks on.
"It's only 10:00 in the morning!" Yui said in reply, grabbing a brush from Morty's hand and running to find a mirror.
"Uh…" Morty dropped his arm to his lap; Yui had taken the brush when he was in mid-stroke, and half of his hair was still left in tangles. "I take it she's a bit hyper today."
"Today?" Falkner questioned, pulling on his light blue jacket. "Name a day when she wasn't hyper."
Silence filled the room at that moment; "I thought so," Falkner smirked. Yui ran back in, threw the brush back to Morty, and grabbed her backpack.
"You guys are always so slow!" she cried. "Why am I always the first one ready to go?"
"Because you're the only one who gets to be excited about collecting badges," Morty laughed. "Well, I'm ready to go."
"Go where?" another voice from the doorway chimed in. Everyone turned to the door to see Tori entering the Pokemon Center.
"We're going to the gym," Yui said.
"I should have known that that's why you were coming to the city," Tori laughed. "Would you like me to take you there?"
"Sure!" Yui exclaimed.
"You know where it is?" Teal asked? "Do you know the gym leader there?"
Tori giggled at that, as did Falkner. "I should hope so," she said. "I'm the gym leader there."
~To Be Continued…~
A/N: Yay! ^-^ Chapter 9 is finally here!! Hehe… Do you notice it usually takes me forever to write just one chapter? Hmm, do I have comments on this chapter? Uh… Well, I do like it… It seems a bit rushed, but I like it.. ^-^ I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I'll have 10 up as soon as I can! Ooh… So close to the ever-awaited Chapter 11... ^_~ Confused? You'll find out soon enough…
~Yui-chan~ ^-^