By Nyassa Kaiba
Chapter 4- Parting CompanyFera
The next morning I woke to the usual pile of small and medium sized pokemon. Baby Suicune, Baby Entei, Celebi and Akela were curled up around me on the bed. Baby Aerodactyl was curled in a tight ball by my head and baby Articuno had her head tucked under her wing. The baby legendary was perched on the other side of my head. In addition, my muscles were cramped from the less than comfortable mattress. Normally I move around in my sleep, but normally I'm not pinned by six pokemon.
I lay there, wondering when they would wake up and get off, probably when breakfast was ready.
Suddenly, there was a knock on my door. FeraFeraFera! It was Rootbeer, the Bulbasaur belonging to Joy, daughter of Joy.
I groaned groggily. What is it? I demanded.
Brock says hurry. Your ride is here and you're having breakfast early!
Our ride? I asked.
Yup! And whatever it is, it's BIG! Rootbeer replied.
"Right." I started shaking the pokemon one by one. "Come on everybody. Time to get up. Or you'll miss breakfast."
They woke, one by one, and shook themselves out. Celebi slipped off the bed and hovered in the air to check her fall to the floor. Articuno creeled in annoyance and flitted over to the desk. Baby Aerodactyl launched himself over to the chair by the desk, where my clothes were laid out for the day.
I stood and dressed. I held out Akela's collar. The Mightyena slipped into it. Can you smell what the Brock is cooking for a mon who cannot smell? He joked.
"Not funny 'Kela." I told him.
What makes you think it's not funny?" Asked Akela.
"The fact that nobody is laughing." I replied.
I leaned over to pull on my jeans when Akela cracked his second stupid joke of the day. Oh my gods, Celebi look at her butt, it is soooo big. She looks like one of those rocket boy's girlfriends. But, you know, who understands those Rocket Guys, they only talk to her because she looks like a total prostitute...
That was about the time I snapped. "AKELA! You know that I'm a Lezzie. If I hear you call me a prostitute one more time you won't get any pokeblocks for a WEEK!"
Aw, I was just having fun! I like big butts and I cannot lie! I grabbed him by the collar and opened the door.
OUT! Tell Brock that I'll be there in FIVE MINUTES! I slammed the door.
Celebi stared. What did he mean? Your butt's not big.
"He was quoting a rather obscene song by Sir Mix-A-Lot. It's inappropriate to repeat around the younglings."
Okay.
I finished dressing and pulled on the suede vest that Agatha had given me. It was just like Brock's only blue, not green. I stuffed my few belongings into my backpack or my pockets. "Right. Let's go."
Everybody was gathered down at the cafeteria. The pokemon were already starting in on their meal. Brock had set out heaping helpings of Cheri berry pancakes and bacon. "There you are. Why'd you send Akela ahead of you?" Brock asked.
"He wouldn't stop cracking bad jokes. When he started in on the Sir Mix-A-Lot routine I felt obliged to throw him out, before he corrupted the babies."
Brock coughed back laughter. "Take the seat between Professor Oak and Misty. I'll be over once I've gotten the dishes into the sink."
I sat down and waited politely for Brock to join us before eating. "Professor, I think I ought to warn you, I caught a LOT of pokemon yesterday, and some of them were rather large."
"Don't worry, we'll be back at the lab by evening." The Professor replied.
That was when a woman in riding boots and red leather with her hair back in a high ponytail came striding in, flanked by a pair of Charizards and Carola. "Hi there Ash."
"LISA!" Ash cried in surprise. "Come on, sit down."
"I've eaten already. But I think that Charla could use something to eat." Lisa said with a nod to one of the Charizards. I noticed that this one was decorated with pink ribbons around her horns.
Brock came in with a couple more bowls of pokemon food. "Hi there Lisa." He flushed, and I knew that he had had trouble with this Lisa in the past. If she was flanked by Charizards, there was only one place she could have come from, the Characific Valley. This was, then, the same Lisa who guarded the Valley and trained the wild charizards within it's walls.
"Lisa, I'd like to introduce you to Fera and Gary Oak." Ash indicated herself and Gary.
"Pleased to meet you! I LOOOVEEE charizards! They're so cool!" I sighed. "I'd love a charmander to train into a Charizard, but I haven't run into a wild one yet."
"That's okay. I'm sure you'll get one someday." She said with a smile.
Gary chuckled. "If you can tame one that is."
"HEY!" I protested. "I can speak pokemon don't you forget. Remember how I charmed Darkstar?" Dark Star was a black and blue Rapidash, and my second most powerful pokemon. My most powerful was a white Dragonite. I hadn't come up with a name for the Dragonite though. Names are hard to come by. I wanted one to fit my Dragonite just right.
"Darkstar?" Lisa asked.
"Darkstar is my Rapidash." I explained. "I call it Darkstar because it's black with a blue flame. When I caught her she was scared of me. Then I sang to her and she stopped being afraid."
You sing? Ash's Charizard asked. Sing me something PLEASE!!
"Uh, Ash, I didn't know your Charizard liked music."
"How do you..." He looked at Charizard, confused. Charizard winked and Ash said... "OOOOHHH..."
"He asked me to sing for him." I explained.
"Okay." Ash said with a shrug.
"Go ahead Fera." Carola said with a wink. "I'll sing with you."
"Breathe, by Melissa Etheridge?" I asked.
"Right on."
I started in on the melody. "I, played the fool today, and I just dream of vanishing into the crowd, heading for home again, but home, was a feeling I buried in you... I'm alright I'm alright. It only hurts when I breathe." The pokemon listened happily, eyes fixed on my face. Charizard and Charla swayed back and forth to the music.
The music finally faded and Charizard smiled. That was cool! I've never heard that song before. I started in on my food.
"I have business in Pallet Town." Lisa was explaining. "So I offered to take Professor Oak home. Since you still need Pryce's, and Claire's badges I could take you and your friends home to visit and then bring you to Mahogany Town."
"That would be fine thank you." Ash said, with a sad sigh. "Mom probably misses me a lot."
"And I'm coming to visit too. But Fera, I brought a gift for you."Carola spoke up. Shehanded both me and Ash a pokeball. "This one is for Fera, and this one's for you Ash. I thought that you could use it as a messenger when you're on your journey."
"Okay, can I open them now?" Ash asked, stuffing the last of the bacon into his mouth.
"Sure." Carola grinned wickedly.
I held out the pokeball. "Come on out." Ash and I chorused as we pressed the button.
When the glow faded, I saw a strange pokemon that looked like a seed pod with an open end on legs. Ash's pokemon looked like a dragonfly, about an arm's length. Hi, I'm Shelgon! My pokemon said cheerfully.
And I'm Vibrava! Ash's new pokemon exclaimed. I'm pleased to meet you!
"OH WOW! I got a Shelgon!" I cried.
"What kind of pokemon is this Carola?" Ash asked, looking up at his sister curiously.
"It's a Vibrava. They're native to the Hoen Region, so you wouldn't have met one yet. I would have caught a Salamence and a Flygon, their evolved forms for you. But I wasn't sure if they would respond to your orders in battle and I think it's more fun if you raise pokemon from their unevolved forms first." Carola explained.
"Another bug." Misty sighed, dejectedly.
"It's my bug, not yours, so why are you even worrying about it?" Ash asked, as Vibrava landed on his shoulder.
"Because I. HATE. BUG. POKEMON!" Misty growled. "I like Shelgon better. It's cuter."
Me? Cute, call me that one more time and I knock you down! Shelgon growled.
"Shelgon says not to call it cute." I told her. "And Vibrava is a dragon type, not a bug."
And proud of it. Vibrava said, turning up her nose at Misty. She nuzzled Ash's cheek with her head. Carola told me about you Ash. She said you're really nice.
Ash chuckled. "Nice to meet you too Vibrava."
"Come back for the ride Shelgon." I called him back, along with the younger legendaries. "Can you fly Aerodactyl?" I asked.
Sure I can, Aerodactyl replied. I could fly forever mommy!
"Good to hear that." I said, scratching the baby behind the ears.
We put away our dirty dishes and followed Lisa out to the airfield. She had two Charizard drawn balloons anchored to the runway. "Right. Charizard, Charla, hook up."
Carola pulled out a pokeball. "Salamence! I choose you!"
Mewtwo swept his cloak in close around his body and shouldered his backpack.
"You're coming with us Carola?" Asked Ash.
"To meet my mom? Sure are you dense or something?" Carola asked, playfully tapping the side of Ash's head.
"Just asking." He replied as she mounted to Salamence's back. Lisa, Misty, Brock and I were in one balloon, and Ash, Gary, Tracy and the Professor were in the other.
Welcome to Charizard Airways, I will be your flight attendant for the duration of the flight, so sit down and enjoy the... wo-oa-oah! Akela cried as Charizard and Charla took a running start from the runway.
Sunset saw us circling in over a quaint little town. If it hadn't been for the windmill in the laboratory up on the hill I wouldn't have recognized it for Pallet. We circled down in front of a house on the edge of town. The lights were off except for the kitchen. Ash went out to knock on the door.
"Who's there?" A woman's voice asked. The door opened on a woman with long brown hair pulled back in a ponytail. She wore brown and green and had an apron on. The apron was smeared with brownie batter. I smelled something good inside. "ASH!" The woman cried, running out to embrace Ash.
"MOM!" Ash cried. He returned the hug.
Hi Mrs. Ketchum! Pikachu said happily. How's Mimey?
That was when a Mr. Mime came running out with a broom in her hands. Oh! It's Ash! Welcome home!
That was when Mrs. Ketchem saw the crowd that had gathered. "Who are all of these people?"
Carola dismounted from Salamence and walked over to her, shyly. "Mrs. Ketchem, my name is Carola..."
"MY BABY GIRL!" Mrs. Ketchem cried, throwing her arms around Carola. "You came back to me!" Tears in her eyes.
"I came back mom! I came back to stay!" She sobbed. "This is Salamence, the first pokemon I ever caught. My others are in their pokeballs." She explained, tears still running down her face.
Welcome Carola! Welcome Salamence! Mr. Mime grinned.
"And who are your other friends?" Mrs. Ketchem asked.
"My name is Fera Mrs. Ketchem. Professor Oak adopted me. And this is my first pokemon, Akela the Mightyena." I said, stepping forward. "And this is Lisa, who rides Charla, the Charizard with the ribbons over there." I indicated Charla.
"Pleased to meet you Mrs. Ketchem. I offered to bring Ash home to visit for a few days before bringing him to Mahogany Town for one of his last two badges." She explained. "And Carola's hardly at Crator Gym these days, she's in charge of capturing new pokemon for the apprentices at Crator Gym."
"You're a gymleader?" Mrs. Ketchem demanded.
"One of three." Carola said with a smile.
"Oh, I'm so proud of you! What gym?"
"Crator Gym." Grinned Carola.
"Well that's rather ironic. It was during a fire at Crator Gym that you and Ash were separated. I thought you were dead! But my little girl's come back to me at last!" Mrs. Ketchem burst into tears and threw her arms around Carola.
"Mom, chill." Carola grinned. "I wanted to come see you. I wanted to know where you were! It was Ash who told me where to look for you."
"Ash, you do know that Carola is your sister, right?" Mrs. Ketchem asked.
"Yeah, Giovanni told me. It was quite a shock." Ash commented.
Hey, you've got a WHAT? Charizard demanded. Since when did you have a sister?
I laughed and told him about what had happened.
"What did you just say?" Mrs. Ketchem asked, looking over at me.
"I just brought Charizard up to date." I explained. "I can speak pokemon. It's kind of easy actually."
Delia Ketchem just gaped. "You speak POKEMON?" She demanded.
"Yup." I turned to Mr. Mime. Mimey, don't you have anything to sweep?
Nope, we were just sitting down to dinner. Mimey replied.
"What did you just say?" Delia asked, eyes sparkling.
"I asked if I was interrupting anything." I replied.
"Nothing at all. Why don't you ALL come in?" Mrs. Ketchem asked. "Mimey, please go set up the guest room. We were sitting down to dinner, but there's enough for everyone."
"We'd be glad to come Mrs. Ketchem." Professor Oak answered.
Dinner was baked Chicken, green beans and roasted potatoes. "This is delicious!" I cried, after just one bite of chicken.
"Glad you think so." Delia Ketchem replied.
"It's just chicken." Ash rolled his eyes.
"You should publish your recipe." Carola suggested. "I mean, this is hea-ven-ly!"
Pikachu and the other pokemon were gathered around a heaping bowl of pokemon food, but Mr. Mime and Mewtwo actually sat at the table and ate human food with the others. So Mimey, how come you don't eat pokechow with the other pokemon? I asked. I tried feeding Akela human food and he didn't care for it that much.
I prefer human food. Mr. Mime replied. It's a lot better than normal pokemon food.
Don't knock it till you've tried it. Akela shot back with his mouth full.
Don't start a fight you two. I told them. And Akela, don't chew with your mouth open or talk with your mouth full. I scolded.
Yes ma'am sir ma'am! Akela rolled his eyes and licked the crumbs from his lips.
Ash finished his plate and set his plate down. He'd literally been shoveling his food in. "That was delicious mom."
"I'm glad you liked it sweetie."
"Thanks for the food mom." Carola echoed.
"You're quite welcome."
All too soon, we had to leave. By that time, the clock said 11:00 P.M. It was dark out. Professor Oak lead myself, Gary, Tracy and Lisa to his lab on the hill. I know it wasn't far, but every step made my legs feel more and more like lead. Akela sighed. I don't know when my stomach has felt so full.
Nor mine I told him. Mrs. Ketchem is a wonderful cook. And I know that she and Carola have some catching up to do.
They'll do fine. Me, I'm wondering whether or not there are any dark type pokemon at Professor Oak's lab. And I hope that the Onix didn't smash up Professor Oak's lab space. Because then he'd make us clean it up. The wolf pokemon sighed.
"Almost home Fera." Professor Oak said with a hand on her shoulder. He steered her through the gate, up the stairs and across the walkway. Professor Oak fumbled with his keys and finally found the right one. Then he opened the door.
Moonlight shown through the windows and lit their way up the stairs. Fera was so tired. She needed to sleep. "Let me show you your room." Professor Oak said, again in that gentle tone. Fera, Celebi, Mewtwo and Akela followed her up the stairs. "There's a cot in the den Mewtwo. It will have to do for tonight." Professor Oak opened the door for the Psychic Cat pokemon. "Celebi, old friend, do you want to sleep with Fera tonight?"
Celebi shook her head and disappeared, Teleporting away. I'll be back tomorrow, Fera. She said encouragingly. You need rest. The baby Aerodactyl, Suicune, Entei and Articuno climbed the stairs, or fluttered up them, after her.
"Celebi went to sleep somewhere. She'll be back in the morning." Fera muttered.
"You need sleep too. Ah, here we are." The professor opened the door to the bonus room at the far end of the upstairs level. Fera would look around tomorrow. Right now all she wanted to notice was the bed. She only took the time to loosen her belt and kick off her sneakers before falling asleep.