*************************************************************************
The young girl raced down the stairs, her half combed, shoulder length
black hair waving behind her. She jumped the last few stairs, almost
upsetting the potted plant. Her socked feet made no noise on the
carpet. She tore around the corner and ran straight into her father's
arms.
"You're home!" she cried as he dropped his briefcase to embrace his
daughter.
"Yes, Tasha, I am home," he replied, "I have missed you so much."
"Are you staying this time?" Tasha asked.
"I have some good news," he said dodging the question, "But first let
me rest and unpack. I can tell you everything at dinner." Tasha
nodded and ran to the kitchen. She wanted to make the best welcome
home dinner ever, one worthy of her father's good news. Tasha was
only twelve, but she had been able to cook since she was eight. Her
father was gone a lot, working, so Tasha took care of herself. The
widow across the street would check on her, but Tasha was too
responsible to need a full time baby-sitter.
"So what is your good news?" Tasha asked when they sat down to eat.
"Well," her father began, running his hand through his brown hair.
"Because of what happened to Professor Hale, the other archaeologists
decided to let us take our families with us to the Ruins of Alph,
providing of course they aren't to much trouble."
"What?" asked Tasha a little confused. A month ago one of her dad's
colleagues, Professor Hale had disappeared in the Ruins of Alph. A
strange force had attacked his home and home town. Tasha had seen
that on the news but wasn't able to make any sense of it. Professor
Hale had been found, claiming he had seen some very rare pokemon; the
Unown. It was all too weird for her.
"What I mean is you can come with me to Egypt! We can be together
again!" her dad exclaimed.
"But, what about the house?" asked Tasha, still completely shocked.
"The neighbors can take care of it. The important thing is we can be
together, as a family," replied her dad. Tasha could feel a lump in
her throat. Her mother had died a couple of years ago, and Tasha had
been on her own a lot.
"Sure it sounds great," she replied. She couldn't say no, her dad was
to excited. Tasha swallowed her apprehension and they made plans to
travel.
Within a week Tasha was packed and ready to leave. She had a duffel
bag with her things and her Oddish walked by her feet. Oddish was her
only real friend, she didn't have any human friends. Oddish was her
first and only pokemon. Tasha never went on her own pokemon journey,
she just never wanted to. One day she had caught Oddish in the garden
and they had been friends ever since.
Tasha looked back at the house, and they climbed into the taxi that
would take them to the airport. Tasha had never flown before, so she
was nervous.
"Tasha, I brought something back for you," said her dad when they were
3000 feet up. He reached into his pocket and held out a necklace.
The cord was black and the charm was a two inch by one inch square.
On it was a strange symbol. It was a circle with a dot in the middle.
Out of the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast corners
were tiny lines. Had these lines continued through the circle they
would have met at the dot.
"It is a part of the Ruins of Alph. We think it is connected with the
Unown, but we do not know. I want you to have it," said her father as
he slipped it over her head.
"Thanks!" Tasha exclaimed as she gave him a kiss. Soon they had
landed and were setting up camp on the outside of the Ruins of Alph.
Tasha had never seen anything like it. The ruins were big, and half
crumbling. The inner part seemed to be three stories. People were
everywhere. Some were taking pictures, others were digging. A few
were cooking dinner.
"Come on Tasha, let's find a place to camp," said her dad. Within the
hour they had pitched the tent, inflated their air mattresses, and
unpacked their bags. Tasha ate one of the worst meals of her life
before she went to sleep.
"Oddish, I know you are nocturnal," said Tasha with a yawn as she
climbed on her air mattress, "But don't keep me awake. If I
oversleep, you can wake me up, though."
"Od-Oddish!" agreed Oddish. Tasha turned over and was fast asleep.
The traveling and jet lag had taken its toll on her.
The next day the sun was high over head before Tasha stirred.
"What time is it?" she asked, "Oh no! I'm late! Dad wanted to show
me the ruins today!" She exclaimed as she raced to her feet and began
to grab at her change of clothes.
"Oddish you were supposed to wake me!" She gently scolded the
sleeping plant type.
"I tried, you wouldn't move," Oddish replied as she stood up. Tasha
froze.
"What did you say?" she asked, "I thought I understood you." But that
was impossible, no human could understand poke-speak.
"Tasha, come on," said her dad from outside of the tent.
"Coming!" she exclaimed as her and Oddish raced outside of the tent.
"Oversleep," her dad teased when he saw them racing his way.
"Uh, yeah," she said, "So what do you want to show me."
"Come on," said her dad and the three went into the ruins. Her dad
led her down a labyrinth of passages, before stopping at one where
three other people were working.
"Professor Hale, Professor Maple, and Dr. Hemlock I want you to meet
my daughter
Tasha," her dad introduced them.
"You are the one who saw the Unown," said Tasha to Professor Hale.
"Yes, but no one believes me," he replied. It was obviously true, the
other archaeologists were laughing. They all turned their back to
Tasha and got to work.
"Tasha come here. I want to show you what I do," said her dad. Tasha
walked over and her dad began a lecture about brushes and ancient
times as he dusted and photographed the walls. Tasha let her mind
wander. She noticed Oddish had fallen asleep. Tasha felt the same
way.
"Uh, dad what do these walls say?" she asked, interrupting his
comparison of brushes.
"No one knows. We take lots of pictures and examine them, but no one
has been able to crack the code," replied her dad.
"My daughter did," muttered Professor Hale, but no on but Tasha heard
him. Her dad was back to his lecture.
"This is boring," thought Tasha as the day wore on. All her dad did
was dust walls.
"Somehow I thought his job was more exciting."
"Is your daughter coming?" asked her dad to Professor Hale. He must
have sensed he lost Tasha's attention.
"Yeah, Molly will be coming at the end of the month," replied
Professor Hale without turning around. The archaeologists continued
their work in silence. Tasha looked up, edge towards the door and
snuck out. She raced outside, Oddish close behind.
"I don't ever want to do that again!" she exclaimed as they entered
the bright sunlight. The camp wasn't so busy now. Most people were
hiding in the midday heat.
"I agree, and I was sleeping," said Oddish as they entered their tent.
Tasha whipped her head around.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"I said that I was asleep," answered Oddish.
"This is too weird. I can understand what you are saying," said
Tasha.
"Weird! I can understand you too," said Oddish, "It was so hard
before."
"Why? What is happening?" asked Tasha.
"I don't know," replied Oddish.
"What do you mean it was so hard before?" asked Tasha.
"Understanding you," replied Oddish, "Humans speak so funny." They
talked the rest of the afternoon. Tasha and Oddish were still
perplexed at this, but actually enjoyed being able to understand each
other. The sun was setting when her dad returned.
"So being in the desert doesn't bother you that much?" asked Tasha to
Oddish as her dad walked in.
"No, I like the sunlight," replied Oddish.
"I remember when I used to imagine I could understand pokemon,"
interrupted her dad.
"But I do understand Oddish," replied Tasha.
"You only imagined it honey," said her dad, "They are serving dinner
now. Let's eat." He exited the tent.
"Why doesn't he believe me?" asked Tasha.
"I don't know, but I think you are going to have a hard time
convincing anyone," replied Oddish, "I'm hungry, let's eat."
"Sounds good to me," said Tasha and they left the tent together.
The next morning Tasha woke up on time.
"Tasha, if you don't want to watch me work, you don't have to," said
her dad. "You can roam around, as long as you stay in sight of
someone. Remember, the ruins haven't been completely explored."
"OK, dad," agreed Tasha as he left.
"What do you want to do, Oddish?" she asked her pokemon.
"Sleep," replied Oddish, who had her eyes closed.
"Well, I am going for a walk," said Tasha. She left Oddish and
started exploring. The campsite was boring. People were studying
pictures and stones. There was nothing there to interest a twelve
year old.
Tasha then wandered into the ruins. She slipped into the first room.
The archaeologists had already finished with it. Tasha ran her
fingers over the chiseled letters. It seemed so mysterious. She
suppressed the urge to giggle. If she would have looked at the
necklace her dad had given her, she would have seen that it was
glowing with a black aura. Tasha scanned the writings.
"Our words shall remain here for the ages," she read out-loud.
"What!" Tasha double checked, "Our words shall remain here for the
ages." She traced each letter with her finger. "Dad said no one
could read this." She started to back up. "But Professor Hale said
his daughter could. This is getting weird." Tasha turned and quickly
walked out of the ruins. It was time for lunch, so she ate, then
spent the rest of the day at the tent.
"What is wrong? Something is bothering you?" asked Oddish.
"Just....just another bizarre thing," replied Tasha, "It's nothing."
"What is nothing?" asked Oddish.
"Just, I thought I could have read the writing in the ruins. Isn't
that silly?" answered
Tasha.
"No sillier than understanding pokemon," replied Oddish. "You
probably really did read it."
"No way! Dad said no one could," exclaimed Tasha.
"Didn't your dad say no one understands pokemon?" asked Oddish.
"Yes....but," stuttered Tasha.
"You should go back and try to read it," suggested Oddish, "Do it at
night, like any sane creature."
"I will if you go with me," replied Tasha.
"Fine! I was hoping you'd ask," answered Oddish. They heard
footsteps approaching.
"Hey, Tasha, did you enjoy your day?" asked her dad as he walked into
the tent.
"Uh, yeah. Dad is it really true that no one can read the ruins?"
asked Tasha.
"Right now it is, but we have people who are trying to translate
them," answered her
father. "Ready for dinner?"
"Sure," Tasha replied and they went out.
"Don't forget! We are going to read the ruins tonight," chimed Oddish
as they left the tent. Tasha nodded.
**************************************************************************
The young girl raced down the stairs, her half combed, shoulder length
black hair waving behind her. She jumped the last few stairs, almost
upsetting the potted plant. Her socked feet made no noise on the
carpet. She tore around the corner and ran straight into her father's
arms.
"You're home!" she cried as he dropped his briefcase to embrace his
daughter.
"Yes, Tasha, I am home," he replied, "I have missed you so much."
"Are you staying this time?" Tasha asked.
"I have some good news," he said dodging the question, "But first let
me rest and unpack. I can tell you everything at dinner." Tasha
nodded and ran to the kitchen. She wanted to make the best welcome
home dinner ever, one worthy of her father's good news. Tasha was
only twelve, but she had been able to cook since she was eight. Her
father was gone a lot, working, so Tasha took care of herself. The
widow across the street would check on her, but Tasha was too
responsible to need a full time baby-sitter.
"So what is your good news?" Tasha asked when they sat down to eat.
"Well," her father began, running his hand through his brown hair.
"Because of what happened to Professor Hale, the other archaeologists
decided to let us take our families with us to the Ruins of Alph,
providing of course they aren't to much trouble."
"What?" asked Tasha a little confused. A month ago one of her dad's
colleagues, Professor Hale had disappeared in the Ruins of Alph. A
strange force had attacked his home and home town. Tasha had seen
that on the news but wasn't able to make any sense of it. Professor
Hale had been found, claiming he had seen some very rare pokemon; the
Unown. It was all too weird for her.
"What I mean is you can come with me to Egypt! We can be together
again!" her dad exclaimed.
"But, what about the house?" asked Tasha, still completely shocked.
"The neighbors can take care of it. The important thing is we can be
together, as a family," replied her dad. Tasha could feel a lump in
her throat. Her mother had died a couple of years ago, and Tasha had
been on her own a lot.
"Sure it sounds great," she replied. She couldn't say no, her dad was
to excited. Tasha swallowed her apprehension and they made plans to
travel.
Within a week Tasha was packed and ready to leave. She had a duffel
bag with her things and her Oddish walked by her feet. Oddish was her
only real friend, she didn't have any human friends. Oddish was her
first and only pokemon. Tasha never went on her own pokemon journey,
she just never wanted to. One day she had caught Oddish in the garden
and they had been friends ever since.
Tasha looked back at the house, and they climbed into the taxi that
would take them to the airport. Tasha had never flown before, so she
was nervous.
"Tasha, I brought something back for you," said her dad when they were
3000 feet up. He reached into his pocket and held out a necklace.
The cord was black and the charm was a two inch by one inch square.
On it was a strange symbol. It was a circle with a dot in the middle.
Out of the northwest, northeast, southwest, and southeast corners
were tiny lines. Had these lines continued through the circle they
would have met at the dot.
"It is a part of the Ruins of Alph. We think it is connected with the
Unown, but we do not know. I want you to have it," said her father as
he slipped it over her head.
"Thanks!" Tasha exclaimed as she gave him a kiss. Soon they had
landed and were setting up camp on the outside of the Ruins of Alph.
Tasha had never seen anything like it. The ruins were big, and half
crumbling. The inner part seemed to be three stories. People were
everywhere. Some were taking pictures, others were digging. A few
were cooking dinner.
"Come on Tasha, let's find a place to camp," said her dad. Within the
hour they had pitched the tent, inflated their air mattresses, and
unpacked their bags. Tasha ate one of the worst meals of her life
before she went to sleep.
"Oddish, I know you are nocturnal," said Tasha with a yawn as she
climbed on her air mattress, "But don't keep me awake. If I
oversleep, you can wake me up, though."
"Od-Oddish!" agreed Oddish. Tasha turned over and was fast asleep.
The traveling and jet lag had taken its toll on her.
The next day the sun was high over head before Tasha stirred.
"What time is it?" she asked, "Oh no! I'm late! Dad wanted to show
me the ruins today!" She exclaimed as she raced to her feet and began
to grab at her change of clothes.
"Oddish you were supposed to wake me!" She gently scolded the
sleeping plant type.
"I tried, you wouldn't move," Oddish replied as she stood up. Tasha
froze.
"What did you say?" she asked, "I thought I understood you." But that
was impossible, no human could understand poke-speak.
"Tasha, come on," said her dad from outside of the tent.
"Coming!" she exclaimed as her and Oddish raced outside of the tent.
"Oversleep," her dad teased when he saw them racing his way.
"Uh, yeah," she said, "So what do you want to show me."
"Come on," said her dad and the three went into the ruins. Her dad
led her down a labyrinth of passages, before stopping at one where
three other people were working.
"Professor Hale, Professor Maple, and Dr. Hemlock I want you to meet
my daughter
Tasha," her dad introduced them.
"You are the one who saw the Unown," said Tasha to Professor Hale.
"Yes, but no one believes me," he replied. It was obviously true, the
other archaeologists were laughing. They all turned their back to
Tasha and got to work.
"Tasha come here. I want to show you what I do," said her dad. Tasha
walked over and her dad began a lecture about brushes and ancient
times as he dusted and photographed the walls. Tasha let her mind
wander. She noticed Oddish had fallen asleep. Tasha felt the same
way.
"Uh, dad what do these walls say?" she asked, interrupting his
comparison of brushes.
"No one knows. We take lots of pictures and examine them, but no one
has been able to crack the code," replied her dad.
"My daughter did," muttered Professor Hale, but no on but Tasha heard
him. Her dad was back to his lecture.
"This is boring," thought Tasha as the day wore on. All her dad did
was dust walls.
"Somehow I thought his job was more exciting."
"Is your daughter coming?" asked her dad to Professor Hale. He must
have sensed he lost Tasha's attention.
"Yeah, Molly will be coming at the end of the month," replied
Professor Hale without turning around. The archaeologists continued
their work in silence. Tasha looked up, edge towards the door and
snuck out. She raced outside, Oddish close behind.
"I don't ever want to do that again!" she exclaimed as they entered
the bright sunlight. The camp wasn't so busy now. Most people were
hiding in the midday heat.
"I agree, and I was sleeping," said Oddish as they entered their tent.
Tasha whipped her head around.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"I said that I was asleep," answered Oddish.
"This is too weird. I can understand what you are saying," said
Tasha.
"Weird! I can understand you too," said Oddish, "It was so hard
before."
"Why? What is happening?" asked Tasha.
"I don't know," replied Oddish.
"What do you mean it was so hard before?" asked Tasha.
"Understanding you," replied Oddish, "Humans speak so funny." They
talked the rest of the afternoon. Tasha and Oddish were still
perplexed at this, but actually enjoyed being able to understand each
other. The sun was setting when her dad returned.
"So being in the desert doesn't bother you that much?" asked Tasha to
Oddish as her dad walked in.
"No, I like the sunlight," replied Oddish.
"I remember when I used to imagine I could understand pokemon,"
interrupted her dad.
"But I do understand Oddish," replied Tasha.
"You only imagined it honey," said her dad, "They are serving dinner
now. Let's eat." He exited the tent.
"Why doesn't he believe me?" asked Tasha.
"I don't know, but I think you are going to have a hard time
convincing anyone," replied Oddish, "I'm hungry, let's eat."
"Sounds good to me," said Tasha and they left the tent together.
The next morning Tasha woke up on time.
"Tasha, if you don't want to watch me work, you don't have to," said
her dad. "You can roam around, as long as you stay in sight of
someone. Remember, the ruins haven't been completely explored."
"OK, dad," agreed Tasha as he left.
"What do you want to do, Oddish?" she asked her pokemon.
"Sleep," replied Oddish, who had her eyes closed.
"Well, I am going for a walk," said Tasha. She left Oddish and
started exploring. The campsite was boring. People were studying
pictures and stones. There was nothing there to interest a twelve
year old.
Tasha then wandered into the ruins. She slipped into the first room.
The archaeologists had already finished with it. Tasha ran her
fingers over the chiseled letters. It seemed so mysterious. She
suppressed the urge to giggle. If she would have looked at the
necklace her dad had given her, she would have seen that it was
glowing with a black aura. Tasha scanned the writings.
"Our words shall remain here for the ages," she read out-loud.
"What!" Tasha double checked, "Our words shall remain here for the
ages." She traced each letter with her finger. "Dad said no one
could read this." She started to back up. "But Professor Hale said
his daughter could. This is getting weird." Tasha turned and quickly
walked out of the ruins. It was time for lunch, so she ate, then
spent the rest of the day at the tent.
"What is wrong? Something is bothering you?" asked Oddish.
"Just....just another bizarre thing," replied Tasha, "It's nothing."
"What is nothing?" asked Oddish.
"Just, I thought I could have read the writing in the ruins. Isn't
that silly?" answered
Tasha.
"No sillier than understanding pokemon," replied Oddish. "You
probably really did read it."
"No way! Dad said no one could," exclaimed Tasha.
"Didn't your dad say no one understands pokemon?" asked Oddish.
"Yes....but," stuttered Tasha.
"You should go back and try to read it," suggested Oddish, "Do it at
night, like any sane creature."
"I will if you go with me," replied Tasha.
"Fine! I was hoping you'd ask," answered Oddish. They heard
footsteps approaching.
"Hey, Tasha, did you enjoy your day?" asked her dad as he walked into
the tent.
"Uh, yeah. Dad is it really true that no one can read the ruins?"
asked Tasha.
"Right now it is, but we have people who are trying to translate
them," answered her
father. "Ready for dinner?"
"Sure," Tasha replied and they went out.
"Don't forget! We are going to read the ruins tonight," chimed Oddish
as they left the tent. Tasha nodded.
**************************************************************************