Chapter Four.
The Egg.
Cyril typed in the number Lawrence had given him. He asked for a link, and the proprietor asked "Have you been here before? You don't look familiar."
"No, I'm just visiting. First time in my life." Cyril replied.
"Okay, one Visitor's Link coming up. Do you want some sauce?
I can get the shop to send some."
Cyril remembered what Lawrence had said, and said "No thanks. A friend is bringing me some sauce."
"O.K, it'll be with you in about fifteen minutes. It's polite to tip the kid who delivers it, and ensures they'll run errands for you again. They don't ask for much, but they appreciate any amount given."
Cyril signed off, and checked his finances with dismay. As his friend had taken the lion's share of his allowance, Cyril would have to either ask his sister for an advance on next month's allowance, or only stay one week at the guest house instead of the three he had planned on staying. There was no guarantee his sister would allow him the advance anyway, so he might have to stay in his machine for 2 weeks. Oh well, with the Lugia and the Lugia-girl in his lair, it might not be as bad as he thought it might be. Speaking of which, he should check on them. They'd seemed a little agitated that morning.
Cyril went in, and reached out a gentle hand as he entered the lair. It touched warm feathers, which flinched away from his touch. He couldn't see a thing. "Illumination, 30"
he commanded his computer. As the lights came up, he was thankful he'd had voice-response programmed into the computer. He could now see the lair enough to see its two occupants huddled together. They were still agitated.
"Hey, shh, it's okay." Cyril said in a gentle voice. The Lugia was rustling her wings nervously, and Cyril caught a glance of something underneath it. "Hey girl, what's that? Let's see." he said, trying to lean forward for a better look. Mrs Lugia thrust forward
her head to bar his way, eyes narrowed, mouth open, bearing her four largest sharp teeth.
It was the first threatening gesture he'd seen her use, and his brain noted the warning and he drew back. She instantly shut her mouth, and cringed back. She began to shake, and what sounded like a whimper came from her. She was scared, and Cyril didn't know why. All he knew was that he wanted to ease her distress. At this point, the Lugia-girl threw herself on her knees by his feet, and took one of his hands in both of hers (which he'd discovered she possessed halfway down her wings on the underside) and looked up as him pleadingly.
Cyril realised that she, too, was frightened. One thing at a time, he decided. He turned his attention away from the Lugia-girl to address the Lugia.
"Easy girl, I'm not going to hurt you or your friend here. I promise you, I won't hurt you, or steal whatever you've got under there." A thought struck him, which he voiced out loud.
"It's an egg, isn't it. You're just defending it, right, like any mother would protect her child. Don't worry, I'm not going to hold it against you, and I'm not going to steal your egg, girl. I'd love a look at it, though." He didn't really expect her to understand him, but hoped his gentle tone of voice would reassure her. It seemed to work, for she stopped whimpering and shaking. Then she lifted her wing for long enough to see that what she was hiding was indeed an egg. Other than it's size, it looked to Cyril like any other Pokémon egg. Then the wing was again lowered protectively over it, though she seemed less agitated.
He looked down as he felt an unexpected kiss on the hand being held. It was the Lugia-girl. He used his other hand to ruffle her hair affectionately (he'd washed off the white gunk earlier.) "Why thank you!" he said, having to resist the urge to return the kiss, and on the lips at that. He was rather glad when the door chimed. "Let him in." Cyril instructed the computer. "Stay here, it's just the sausages being delivered." he told the Lugia-girl. "Perhaps I'll cook you a couple. I'll be back in a minute. Do you want anything?" The Lugia-girl looked up, and then pointed at Cyril's watch.
"Hey, you can't have my watch, but I'll get you a clock and bring it in when I return." he said. He went out, and met the boy with the sausages, who was regarding the machine and the Pokémon enclosures with an expression of wonderment on his face. That's when Cyril had his idea.
"Come in for a bit." he said, taking the sausages from the boy. "I'd like to show you some of my Pokémon." The boy eagerly followed, and after stowing the sausages safely in the fridge, he showed him his Pikachu environment, his fire-type environment, his water-type environment, and his plant-type environment (which had rather a lot of Bellsprouts, born of his pair of Victreebels.) The boy made interested sounds at each enclosure. Cyril spoke to the boy after showing him the Pikachu environment again.
"Would you like a Pokemon instead of your usual tip? You see, I'm a bit short, and though I could tip you, it wouldn't be much. I'm able to pay for the sausages of course." he said, giving the boy the payment.
"A Pokémon? I can have a Pokémon?" the boy asked, his eyes lighting up.
"I can't give you an Ivysaur or Venusaur, or a Wartortle or Blastoise, or a Charmeleon or Charizard. It would be similarly unwise to give you a Raichu. What would you like." Cyril asked.
"C'n I have a Pichu?" the boy asked eagerly.
"Pichu?" asked Cyril.
"Yeah, one of them black-eared thingys with pink cheeks and a tiny tail." he said, pointing at one who, in it's curiosity, had it's little nose pressed to the glass of the Pikachu enclosure, and was staring at them. "They evolve into Pikachu when they're happy, so if I evolve one up, it'll love me as much as the Chosen One's Pikachu loves him!"
"Pika?" interjected Cyril's most recent Pikachu, the one his friend had sold him. Cyril wondered what had prompted that response. For just a moment, it seemed to have perked up. He turned back to the boy who was saying "Can I have a Pichu? Please?"
Feeling ignorant, Cyril said "Sure! Come in and choose one." He unlocked the door into the Pikachu environment, and they entered.
The boy, as a stranger, was immediately the focus of attention for several curious Pichu, who clustered around him.
"Pi, Pichu!" one cried up at him. It grabbed one of his bare legs, and hugged it.
"I'll take this one, please!" the boy said. Cyril nodded, and the boy scooped up his Pichu, and followed Cyril out. As Cyril went to close the door, another Pichu slipped out. It hugged Cyril's leg, looked up hopefully, and said "Pichu?"
Cyril laughed. "Hey, okay, you can come with me." he told it. He turned to the boy again, trying to ignore the scrabbling paws of the Pichu as it climbed up. Upon reaching its goal of getting onto Cyril's shoulder, it flopped over it, exhausted.
"Truth be told, I'll be handing out Pokémon on a first-come first-served basis, so as you've done me a favour, you can have one more. I'd suggest one of the three starters-Charmander, Bulbasaur, or Squirtle."
"Squirtle please!" the boy said. From the look on his face, he must have thought Christmas and his birthday had both come early and on the same day. Cyril let the boy choose his Squirtle, and gave him a couple of suitable TM's (Thunderpunch and Rain Dance), plus 2 each of potion, super potion, hyper potion, antidote, awakening, paralyz heal and full heal. He also gave him 2 poké balls to put his two new Pokémon in, and six Great Balls, so hew could catch some more if he so desired.
"Please look after them: I won't give Pokémon to anyone with a history of Pokémon abuse. Tell your friends that." He accessed his computer, and got it to print out a basic care of Pokémon leaflet. He handed it to the boy, along with two small bags of Pokéchow, the good stuff, Brock's Water type and Brock's Electric-type. The boy left, quite happy with his new friends.
Cyril picked up a clock with luminous figures and hands, and looked up towards the Lugia enclosure. He was in two minds going back in. Not that he disliked his Lugia or his Lugia-girl. On the contrary: the problem was that he liked the Lugia-girl a little too much.
His friend had definitely given him the impression that she was some kind of new Pokémon. As new Pokémon were being discovered all the time, this was not just possible, but likely. The problem was that she was disconcertingly human. At the same time, most of her actions and behaviour was that of a Pokémon. He could see intelligence in her eyes-but then the same intelligence was visible in Mrs Lugia's eyes, as he would expect in a legendary Pokémon. The Lugia-girl had human-type hands-but so did Jynx and Mr Mime. She had a human face, and despite her wings and breastbone, a womanly shape. However, again, Jynx had these characteristics too. The big difference was that he was feeling attracted to his Lugia-girl, more attracted than he should be to a Pokémon. It was something he would have to talk to his sister about: there was nothing natural about falling in love with a Pokémon! Perhaps Lawrence would be able to help him. He sighed: he had promised he would return. Then he had an idea: he could sketch her, and the Lugia. He got out a bundle of pencils and some paper.
He entered the lair, and handed her the clock. The Lugia-girl made a pleased sound, and put the clock where she could see it. "Hello." he said. "Do you mind if I sketch you?" She nodded in agreement, and moved aside to give him room to sit down. He did so, and she stretched, lying back. Cyril began to sketch, but found the position she was lying in rather distracting. After five minutes, he abandoned his sketch, placing the pencils and paper to one side. He stretched out beside her, and she lay a wing over him, looking up at his face with a smile on her lips. 'Oh, to hell with it!' thought Cyril. 'There's no harm in cuddling!' He put an arm under her head, and she responded by cuddling her head into his shoulder. He bent his hand back up to stroke her hair, and she sighed, closing her eyes. He responded by bringing his other arm up around to hug her.
Her hand tightened on his waist, and she raised her head, and kissed him on the cheek. She looked at him, and smiled. He moved his hand in a caressing motion, and she sighed in pleasure. Then, she raised her head, and, taking him by surprise, she kissed him full on the lips.
Without any hesitation, he reciprocated the kiss. He then began to kiss her on the hollow of her neck. She threw her head back in pleasure.
The door chimed. Cyril broke off, looked up, went rather red, and said "I'd better answer that. It's probably Lawrence."
He went to the door, and found it wasn't Lawrence, but the boy he'd given Pokémon to.
"This is to say thanks." said the boy. "It's Tobias' special brew." Cyril, having heard from Lawrence just how lethal Tobias' special brew was, took the small bottle gingerly, as though it was some unknown but dangerous-looking Pokémon.
"Uh-thanks!" he said. The boy bid farewell, warning him "It's strong, so dilute it!" as he left.
When the boy had gone, Cyril shook his head. He had been close to getting too friendly with one of his Pokémon! What had he been thinking? He looked at the small bottle of Moltres' Fury. He could just about do with a stiff drink right now! He got out a shot glass and, forgetting the boy's advice, filled it to the brim and knocked back the whole glass of neat Moltres' Fury in one mouthful.
For a moment, nothing seemed to happen. Then Cyril felt pleasantly light-headed. This was quickly replaced by an unpleasant spinning sensation. The next thing Cyril knew, he was lying on the floor with a distinctly queasy stomach. He wasn't sure how long he was lying there for, but he was roused by his door chime.
Cyril got to his feet. "Hold on, Laurie!" he called, for he was expecting no-one else. He staggered over to the Lugia enclosure, crawled over to the entrance of the lair, and peered in. "When I call you, can you both swim out?" he asked. The Lugia-girl nodded. Cyril came out, and instructed the computer to lower the lift. When it came back up, Lawrence was there, accompanied by a boy, and what appeared to be Articuno! Cyril did a double-take, and then noticed how her face was more human than bird. Lawrence appeared to have an Articuno-girl, the same as he had a Lugia-girl.
"Lawrence!" he called. "It's good to see you!"
"Cyril, you're drunk!" said Lawrence, giving a pointed look at the bottle of Moltres' Fury Cyril had dropped on the floor. Fortunately, the stopper had been replaced, and the fall hadn't broken the bottle. "How much have you had?" Cyril picked up his shot glass.
"Only this much." he said.
"Diluted, I hope." said Lawrence. Cyril began to shake his head, but that made the room start to spin again, so he aborted the shake, settling for "No, neat." instead.
"Cyril! Weren't you warned to dilute it first?" Lawrence asked.
"Yes." said Cyril miserably. "But I forgot."
"We'll have to get some of Adele's hangover cure for you!" said Lawrence. "I've got a good mind to let you suffer, maybe it'd teach you to follow instructions, but I'm not that cruel."
"Well, to change the subject, look and see what my friend gave me!" he said. He turned to the Lugia-environment and shouted "Come out, both of you!" Cyril directed Lawrence's gaze with a pointing hand, as Rachel and Mrs Lugia both swam out.
The effect on Lawrence was immediate and dramatic. His mouth dropped open, and he let out an inarticulate cry. He blanched as white as the proverbial sheet, just before he collapsed in a faint. Cyril staggered over, as that was not the sort of reaction he had expected. The Articuno-girl reached him first.
"Laurie! Are you okay?" she cried. Her voice, at least, sounded human, Cyril noticed. Cyril reached Lawrence's side at about the same time as the boy did. The boy also seemed concerned. Cyril noticed the boy seemed to be wearing part of a Pikachu costume.
Lawrence came around. He was still pale, and looked fearfully over at where the two Lugia-types were peering out through the glass.
"Let them go, Cyril!" Lawrence said. "The world's in danger!"
Mrs Lugia, in the meantime, had seen Lawrence's collapse, and sensed his distress. The world is in no peril as a result of my capture, but the world is slightly out of balance. she told him. Do not panic.
How come? he asked, slipping easily into mind-speak. You seem different from last year. Are you a different Lugia?
I cannot, dare not, say! she responded, and the distress in her thought-voice brought tears to Lawrence's eyes. What, he wondered, could distress a Guardian so? He looked up at Cyril.
"Thanks to you, I'm going to need a change of underwear, and trousers. Can I borrow something of yours long enough for me to nip back to my machine for my own stuff?" Cyril went red, and had the good grace to look abashed.
"Okay, I'll find you something." he said.
When he did, Lawrence was very glad he was going back to his own machine to change. The only underpants big enough to fit were a startling pink-purple, and the only comfortable trousers were of an orange-red so violent that he risked severe G.B.H. of the eyeballs just by looking at them. Sighing, he put them on.
"I'm going to go back and change." Lawrence told Cyril. "While I'm out, please try and work out what's up with Lugia. It's very upset. The other isn't a Lugia. It's the wrong shape, and too small. See if you can find out what it is. You're going to have to let Lugia go, Cyril! It spoke into my mind. It wouldn't tell me what the problem is, it seemed scared to death of something. It's also desperately unhappy. Something's very wrong here! See if you can find out what's up."
"I'll try, Laurie." Cyril said. "Neither has spoken to me, however, and you know how bad I am at psychic communication!" Lawrence nodded.
"Just do your best." he said. Then, he went out.
