Ahh.. finally. My mind is clearing up and I believe I can finally write
*the pivotal 13th chapter in Dominic's Quest for Glory*.. well that sounds
a little too important. But its chapter thirteen. So here we go.. I've
rambled far too long. Hope you like it! I'm so glad I finally got through
to writing it! R & R!
------- ------- ------- -------
"Alright, barboach!"
Dominic stood at the foot of a huge rock formation, fists clenched, smiling towards his new pokemon.
"Damnit.. I was sure that my golbat would win!" said a rotund older man wearing hiker's boots and holding a pick. "Ah, well.. I came here to scale these cliffs, not battle pokemon.."
Dominic shrugged and nodded. The hiker recalled his fainted golbat and handed Dom a few wrinkled bills. Dominic stood and watched as the man strided off back towards the center of town.
"Well, barboach, I think you're doing pretty great for your first battle.."
"Boach!"
The small blue pokemon lay partially submersed in a small puddle, most likely the cause of rain. Dominic had thought it over and knew that barboach would be almost useless without the ability to swim around, and he had been particularly lucky to find the small puddle at the base of Granite Mountain.
He now looked around at the large mountain to his left, flickers of light coming from inside, but just as quickly fading. So many trainers were trying to teach their pokemon the flash technique..
To his right was a path leading down through a leafy forest, back to the outskirts of Dewford Town. It hadn't seemed like a long walk as Dom made his way up to the mountain, but now he felt as if it would take hours to get back to his room in the pokecenter..
It had been the day's plan to explore Granite Cave, but to Dominic's disappointment he had found that nothing could be seen in the cave - much like inside the Dewford Gym. For a fleeting moment Dom remembered how much fun it had been to travel with Cara, her constant cheerfulness, her surskit lighting the way through darkness..
Now that he thought of it, Dom felt bad for forgetting about Cara. She probably felt scared, all alone in Rustboro..
"Hello, sir."
Cara's image was erased from Dom's mind as he turned to notice a tall man with silver hair facing him. He wore a black suit, a blue undercoat.. and from what Dom could tell a purple tie. It was hard to tell in the fading sunlight..
"I presume you are a Mr. Dominic Jenkins?"
"Yeah.."
Dominic was sure he had a look of pure confusion on his face, but.. who was this man?
"My name is Steven, I have no time to answer questions. What I need is for you to take this," the man shoved a small red package into Dominic's hands, "and to get out of Dewford Town as soon as possible. Take it to Slateport, you'll know what to do with it when you get there."
Dominic stared at Steven, mouth agape. A breeze began to blow from the south, and Dominic felt an odd sense of horror.
This complete stranger put his hand on the small package, squinted his eyes, and frowned. He turned around swiftly and ran off into a clump of trees.
"But.."
"Boach!"
Dominic glanced down and quickly realized he had never recalled barboach.
"C'mon back.."
The eel flashed into red light and was flung into it's pokeball. Dominic shook his head in uncertainty and walked over to the same clump of trees that Steven had ran into, but there was no sign of the mystery man. Dominic looked off to the ocean in the distance, forward at the forest in front of him, and suddenly wished he were safe in his pokecenter room.
* * * * * * * * * *
After an hour of uneasy walking, Dom was locked into his room, safe from whatever it was that was scaring him. That Steven.. what was it about him? His displacement in the surroundings.. his tone..
Dom shivered and fell back onto his bed. Picking up the Phone TV, he dialed the number for room service.
The screen was blank, ringing for a few moments, and suddenly flickered on.
"Hello.. er.. Dominic Jenkins! How may I help you?"
The assistant wore a white nurse's hat and a smile, although she obviously had had to look up Dominic's name.
"Hi. Can I have a.. um.. large pepperoni pizza?"
"Of course. That will be 2.99.. anything else?"
"Wow.. good price.. um.. that's it.. Oh! Can I have two aspirin?"
"Of course, Mr. Jenkins! Your food and aspirin will arrive in fifteen minutes or less.. if that punk ass server is over there over that time limit your food is free.. damn server.."
Dominic looked at the nurse, confused by her sudden violent streak, but hung up the phone quietly and watched the image of the nurse slowly disappear.
He walked over to the window and leaned against it, his head pressing against the cold glass. From his room he could see the crimson sun dying beneath the waves that led into the southern ocean.. around the pokecenter lights began filling windows of stores and homes, and soon the town of Dewford was consumed in darkness.
Dom stared out that window longer then even he could recall, until he was snapped out of his daydream by the sound of a doorbell
* * * * * * * * * *
It was well past midnight when Dominic devoured the last piece of pizza. He speedily gulped down his two aspirin and dropped his pizza tray on the floor besides his bed. Without realizing his own fatigue, Dominic stuffed his head into a pillow and fell asleep.
* * * * * * * * * *
Dominic woke up well before the sun appeared over the mountains. His bag was packed, his pokemon healed.. he was ready to leave.
Remembering Steven's warnings (what HAD they been?) Dominic checked out of the pokecenter and walked hurriedly to the docks. He reached the boat haven and quickly realized something.
Dom couldn't believe how stupid he had been. Two days had passed since Rilee had left, and he hadn't once thought that she would be taking the boat they rented. Now, as he stood upon the dock where their boat had once been parked, Dominic smacked himself in the head. He was stuck at least a hundred miles from home without a boat or a friend.
Dominic sat at the end of the dock and looked out at the ocean. It appeared that some pokemon were moving in a group, some four miles out. Although Dominic couldn't make out what they were, he reached for his pokedex and aimed it at the moving blue lumps.
(Wailmer. Baby Whale Pokemon. These small whales always travel in pods and are very rarely seen without others. Although they are still young, these pokemon have powerful water attacks and are known for their yearly migration from Ice Island to the eastern ocean. They are somewhat attracted to telekinesis and mind power, although they have no psychic abilities.)
"Wow.. I wish I could catch one.." muttered Dom. Suddenly his pokedex chimed in again, as if mocking him.
(For a trainer to catch a wailmer, they must have incredibly strong pokemon that can resist many water attacks.)
"Damnit.."
Dominic sat and watched as the large pokemon shot spires of water into the air, playing and yelling. Their voices sounded like muffled cries, and it made Dominic think of someone being strangled.
This thought brought on the image of Steven against the setting sun, and once again Dominic shivered. What WAS it with him?
Just as he thought he would go ask the receptionist at the pokecenter about renting another boat, he had an idea. Remembering what his pokedex had said, he reached onto his belt for spoink's pokeball. Perhaps.. the wailmer might be attracted to spoink and Dom could somehow catch a ride.. They were heading east, just where Dom wanted to go..
"Spoinky, c'mon out.."
Dominic tapped spoink's pokeball on the dock and it popped open, the small pig materializing in front of him.
"Okay, spoink, we're going to try to get out of here without having to pay a load for another boat.. so can I have you, um.. psywave off in that direction?" Dominic pointed toward the wailmer. "Is that alright?"
"Spoink! Oink!" Spoink yelled and emitted the familiar purple wave from it's head. It flew off for a mile or two before fading. For a while Dominic sat and watched for any sign of the wailmer moving towards him, but nothing happened. He had spoink shoot some more psybeams and waves out in their direction before eventually giving up.. he would have to check in at the pokecenter again..
Dominic stood up and scooped spoink in his arms, prepared to return to a small room, when he heard a noise behind him.
"WAAAAIIII.."
Quickly spinning around, Dominic accidentally dropped spoink, who bounced down the dock and into the water.
"SPOINK!"
Dominic ran full speed to the end of the dock and dove into the water after his pokemon, unable to think of anything but spoink's ability to swim.
After a few panicked minutes, Dom still hadn't found spoink. The small thing HAD to float.. he was so light!
All of a sudden, from beneath Dominic, the figure of a purple pig appeared.
"Spoink! Are you okay?" Dom screamed. The figure was now rising rapidly and it became apparent that spoink wasn't moving this fast by himself..
"WAAAAIIII.."
Dominic was suddenly lifted into the air as a huge blue pokemon floated up from under him, spoink on it's back. Dominic was on a wailmer..
"Spoi.."
Dominic's pokemon lay still on the whale's back, spitting water out of it's mouth.
"Spoink, I'm so sorry! I.. what is going on?"
Dominic and spoink were moving swiftly across the water, and to his horror Dom realized the wailmer was carrying them off toward Slateport.
"Spoink, please return!" Dominic said, holding out spoink's pokeball. The small pig materialized into it and left Dom to think about what was happening.
Dom's feet dragged in the water, one foot on each side of the whale's back. The wailmer was just the right size for Dominic to ride on, his large stomach made it possible for him to bob on the ocean surface. In the near distance Dom noticed the rest of the pod waiting for this wailmer to return.
"WAAAAIIII.."
So this was it. He would ride this wailmer as long as it would cooperate..
"You know where I want to go?" Dom said, patting the wailmer between the eyes.
"WAAAAIIII!"
"Alright then!"
Dominic tried to lay back, but quickly realized it wasn't possible. He laughed at himself and sat back up, catching his balance. By now he and his wailmer friend had reached the rest of the pod. For a few awkward moments the wailmer moaned to each other, and with one sudden swoop, all but the one Dominic was riding dove under the water.
All was quiet for the next half-hour. Dominic assumed the rest of the pod had decided to travel underwater, while his wailmer rode on top for Dominic's safety. Dom found it amazing how the wailmer understood what Dom wanted, having not captured it and all. Having plenty of time to think, Dom eventually figured that because of spoink's psychic waves, the whale might be in a happier mood than the other whales. It sure seemed true. Every five or ten minutes the other wailmer would surface, shooting spouts of water at Dominic.
It was late afternoon when they swam past the sunken ship that Dom had heard so many stories about. It looked particularly eerie with the setting sun a background, and for a few seconds Dominic thought he saw a pokemon floating in and out of the ship's broken wooden walls. He quickly shot his pokedex out of his pocket and aimed it toward the ghostly creature.
(Mi.. ah.. ergh!)
Dominic looked intensely at the screen to see an odd mixture of text and scrambled images. His pokedex must be malfunctioning..
"Oh, great!" he muttered, whacking it against his knee.
(Ugh, mah.. wes.. kal!)
Dom had just about lost hope when the familiar robotic voice sounded.
(This pokemon is not on record. It is either not yet on file or not a pokemon at all.)
Dominic scratched his black spikes and snapped the pokedex shut, slipping it back in his pocket. He looked back up at the ghost-like thing. It was now practically gone, but a strange blue tail floated through the walls that Dom could see.
"Damn strange, it is.." said Dom. "Have you ever seen one of those, wailmer?"
The blue whale rolled its eyes up at Dom and moaned.
"I take that as a no.."
After awhile the sunken ship was merely a silhouette against the now blood red son. Reminding him of Steven, Dom felt in his pack for the small red package. It was still there..
What was he going to do with it?
"You'll know when you get there.."
The words floated in and out of Dom's mind as the wailmer carried him off in the direction of the lighted city.
It was only a matter of minutes.. in about a half-hour he would be in Slateport.. and he would.. he would..
Without realizing what was happening, Dom fell asleep on the wailmer's back, and was still snoring when they reached the shores.
------- ------- ------- -------
"Alright, barboach!"
Dominic stood at the foot of a huge rock formation, fists clenched, smiling towards his new pokemon.
"Damnit.. I was sure that my golbat would win!" said a rotund older man wearing hiker's boots and holding a pick. "Ah, well.. I came here to scale these cliffs, not battle pokemon.."
Dominic shrugged and nodded. The hiker recalled his fainted golbat and handed Dom a few wrinkled bills. Dominic stood and watched as the man strided off back towards the center of town.
"Well, barboach, I think you're doing pretty great for your first battle.."
"Boach!"
The small blue pokemon lay partially submersed in a small puddle, most likely the cause of rain. Dominic had thought it over and knew that barboach would be almost useless without the ability to swim around, and he had been particularly lucky to find the small puddle at the base of Granite Mountain.
He now looked around at the large mountain to his left, flickers of light coming from inside, but just as quickly fading. So many trainers were trying to teach their pokemon the flash technique..
To his right was a path leading down through a leafy forest, back to the outskirts of Dewford Town. It hadn't seemed like a long walk as Dom made his way up to the mountain, but now he felt as if it would take hours to get back to his room in the pokecenter..
It had been the day's plan to explore Granite Cave, but to Dominic's disappointment he had found that nothing could be seen in the cave - much like inside the Dewford Gym. For a fleeting moment Dom remembered how much fun it had been to travel with Cara, her constant cheerfulness, her surskit lighting the way through darkness..
Now that he thought of it, Dom felt bad for forgetting about Cara. She probably felt scared, all alone in Rustboro..
"Hello, sir."
Cara's image was erased from Dom's mind as he turned to notice a tall man with silver hair facing him. He wore a black suit, a blue undercoat.. and from what Dom could tell a purple tie. It was hard to tell in the fading sunlight..
"I presume you are a Mr. Dominic Jenkins?"
"Yeah.."
Dominic was sure he had a look of pure confusion on his face, but.. who was this man?
"My name is Steven, I have no time to answer questions. What I need is for you to take this," the man shoved a small red package into Dominic's hands, "and to get out of Dewford Town as soon as possible. Take it to Slateport, you'll know what to do with it when you get there."
Dominic stared at Steven, mouth agape. A breeze began to blow from the south, and Dominic felt an odd sense of horror.
This complete stranger put his hand on the small package, squinted his eyes, and frowned. He turned around swiftly and ran off into a clump of trees.
"But.."
"Boach!"
Dominic glanced down and quickly realized he had never recalled barboach.
"C'mon back.."
The eel flashed into red light and was flung into it's pokeball. Dominic shook his head in uncertainty and walked over to the same clump of trees that Steven had ran into, but there was no sign of the mystery man. Dominic looked off to the ocean in the distance, forward at the forest in front of him, and suddenly wished he were safe in his pokecenter room.
* * * * * * * * * *
After an hour of uneasy walking, Dom was locked into his room, safe from whatever it was that was scaring him. That Steven.. what was it about him? His displacement in the surroundings.. his tone..
Dom shivered and fell back onto his bed. Picking up the Phone TV, he dialed the number for room service.
The screen was blank, ringing for a few moments, and suddenly flickered on.
"Hello.. er.. Dominic Jenkins! How may I help you?"
The assistant wore a white nurse's hat and a smile, although she obviously had had to look up Dominic's name.
"Hi. Can I have a.. um.. large pepperoni pizza?"
"Of course. That will be 2.99.. anything else?"
"Wow.. good price.. um.. that's it.. Oh! Can I have two aspirin?"
"Of course, Mr. Jenkins! Your food and aspirin will arrive in fifteen minutes or less.. if that punk ass server is over there over that time limit your food is free.. damn server.."
Dominic looked at the nurse, confused by her sudden violent streak, but hung up the phone quietly and watched the image of the nurse slowly disappear.
He walked over to the window and leaned against it, his head pressing against the cold glass. From his room he could see the crimson sun dying beneath the waves that led into the southern ocean.. around the pokecenter lights began filling windows of stores and homes, and soon the town of Dewford was consumed in darkness.
Dom stared out that window longer then even he could recall, until he was snapped out of his daydream by the sound of a doorbell
* * * * * * * * * *
It was well past midnight when Dominic devoured the last piece of pizza. He speedily gulped down his two aspirin and dropped his pizza tray on the floor besides his bed. Without realizing his own fatigue, Dominic stuffed his head into a pillow and fell asleep.
* * * * * * * * * *
Dominic woke up well before the sun appeared over the mountains. His bag was packed, his pokemon healed.. he was ready to leave.
Remembering Steven's warnings (what HAD they been?) Dominic checked out of the pokecenter and walked hurriedly to the docks. He reached the boat haven and quickly realized something.
Dom couldn't believe how stupid he had been. Two days had passed since Rilee had left, and he hadn't once thought that she would be taking the boat they rented. Now, as he stood upon the dock where their boat had once been parked, Dominic smacked himself in the head. He was stuck at least a hundred miles from home without a boat or a friend.
Dominic sat at the end of the dock and looked out at the ocean. It appeared that some pokemon were moving in a group, some four miles out. Although Dominic couldn't make out what they were, he reached for his pokedex and aimed it at the moving blue lumps.
(Wailmer. Baby Whale Pokemon. These small whales always travel in pods and are very rarely seen without others. Although they are still young, these pokemon have powerful water attacks and are known for their yearly migration from Ice Island to the eastern ocean. They are somewhat attracted to telekinesis and mind power, although they have no psychic abilities.)
"Wow.. I wish I could catch one.." muttered Dom. Suddenly his pokedex chimed in again, as if mocking him.
(For a trainer to catch a wailmer, they must have incredibly strong pokemon that can resist many water attacks.)
"Damnit.."
Dominic sat and watched as the large pokemon shot spires of water into the air, playing and yelling. Their voices sounded like muffled cries, and it made Dominic think of someone being strangled.
This thought brought on the image of Steven against the setting sun, and once again Dominic shivered. What WAS it with him?
Just as he thought he would go ask the receptionist at the pokecenter about renting another boat, he had an idea. Remembering what his pokedex had said, he reached onto his belt for spoink's pokeball. Perhaps.. the wailmer might be attracted to spoink and Dom could somehow catch a ride.. They were heading east, just where Dom wanted to go..
"Spoinky, c'mon out.."
Dominic tapped spoink's pokeball on the dock and it popped open, the small pig materializing in front of him.
"Okay, spoink, we're going to try to get out of here without having to pay a load for another boat.. so can I have you, um.. psywave off in that direction?" Dominic pointed toward the wailmer. "Is that alright?"
"Spoink! Oink!" Spoink yelled and emitted the familiar purple wave from it's head. It flew off for a mile or two before fading. For a while Dominic sat and watched for any sign of the wailmer moving towards him, but nothing happened. He had spoink shoot some more psybeams and waves out in their direction before eventually giving up.. he would have to check in at the pokecenter again..
Dominic stood up and scooped spoink in his arms, prepared to return to a small room, when he heard a noise behind him.
"WAAAAIIII.."
Quickly spinning around, Dominic accidentally dropped spoink, who bounced down the dock and into the water.
"SPOINK!"
Dominic ran full speed to the end of the dock and dove into the water after his pokemon, unable to think of anything but spoink's ability to swim.
After a few panicked minutes, Dom still hadn't found spoink. The small thing HAD to float.. he was so light!
All of a sudden, from beneath Dominic, the figure of a purple pig appeared.
"Spoink! Are you okay?" Dom screamed. The figure was now rising rapidly and it became apparent that spoink wasn't moving this fast by himself..
"WAAAAIIII.."
Dominic was suddenly lifted into the air as a huge blue pokemon floated up from under him, spoink on it's back. Dominic was on a wailmer..
"Spoi.."
Dominic's pokemon lay still on the whale's back, spitting water out of it's mouth.
"Spoink, I'm so sorry! I.. what is going on?"
Dominic and spoink were moving swiftly across the water, and to his horror Dom realized the wailmer was carrying them off toward Slateport.
"Spoink, please return!" Dominic said, holding out spoink's pokeball. The small pig materialized into it and left Dom to think about what was happening.
Dom's feet dragged in the water, one foot on each side of the whale's back. The wailmer was just the right size for Dominic to ride on, his large stomach made it possible for him to bob on the ocean surface. In the near distance Dom noticed the rest of the pod waiting for this wailmer to return.
"WAAAAIIII.."
So this was it. He would ride this wailmer as long as it would cooperate..
"You know where I want to go?" Dom said, patting the wailmer between the eyes.
"WAAAAIIII!"
"Alright then!"
Dominic tried to lay back, but quickly realized it wasn't possible. He laughed at himself and sat back up, catching his balance. By now he and his wailmer friend had reached the rest of the pod. For a few awkward moments the wailmer moaned to each other, and with one sudden swoop, all but the one Dominic was riding dove under the water.
All was quiet for the next half-hour. Dominic assumed the rest of the pod had decided to travel underwater, while his wailmer rode on top for Dominic's safety. Dom found it amazing how the wailmer understood what Dom wanted, having not captured it and all. Having plenty of time to think, Dom eventually figured that because of spoink's psychic waves, the whale might be in a happier mood than the other whales. It sure seemed true. Every five or ten minutes the other wailmer would surface, shooting spouts of water at Dominic.
It was late afternoon when they swam past the sunken ship that Dom had heard so many stories about. It looked particularly eerie with the setting sun a background, and for a few seconds Dominic thought he saw a pokemon floating in and out of the ship's broken wooden walls. He quickly shot his pokedex out of his pocket and aimed it toward the ghostly creature.
(Mi.. ah.. ergh!)
Dominic looked intensely at the screen to see an odd mixture of text and scrambled images. His pokedex must be malfunctioning..
"Oh, great!" he muttered, whacking it against his knee.
(Ugh, mah.. wes.. kal!)
Dom had just about lost hope when the familiar robotic voice sounded.
(This pokemon is not on record. It is either not yet on file or not a pokemon at all.)
Dominic scratched his black spikes and snapped the pokedex shut, slipping it back in his pocket. He looked back up at the ghost-like thing. It was now practically gone, but a strange blue tail floated through the walls that Dom could see.
"Damn strange, it is.." said Dom. "Have you ever seen one of those, wailmer?"
The blue whale rolled its eyes up at Dom and moaned.
"I take that as a no.."
After awhile the sunken ship was merely a silhouette against the now blood red son. Reminding him of Steven, Dom felt in his pack for the small red package. It was still there..
What was he going to do with it?
"You'll know when you get there.."
The words floated in and out of Dom's mind as the wailmer carried him off in the direction of the lighted city.
It was only a matter of minutes.. in about a half-hour he would be in Slateport.. and he would.. he would..
Without realizing what was happening, Dom fell asleep on the wailmer's back, and was still snoring when they reached the shores.
