The day had gone well and Erin was in a much lighter mood than that morning, and she had a right to be, concerning the circumstances and the turn of the day's events. The group had followed the street near the shop down toward the ocean, or what they had thought would be the ocean. As it turned out, the wharf was on a bay. On the horizon the land could be seen on either side, coming together to meet, yet falling a few miles short. Beyond that break in the land that circled the bay was the ocean. The difference in names didn't concern Erin however, for it was the same water as far as she was concerned. Toward the end of the day, the workers and tourists left to return home, but Erin had no home to return to, so she stayed. Normally, she would have searched the town to find a hotel to sleep in, but this was not her plan tonight. Across the water she could see a forest. It was away from any city and appeared moderately healthy, so Erin decided that they would camp out under the stars. Well, at least the stars that were bright enough to shine through the haze of pollution that covered the atmosphere. She would have Abadon fly them over there when the sun was almost down.
At the moment, Abadon was enjoying the water. He was flying low over the waves so that a wake would emerge behind him, spraying up water in a line. He was quite a sight, and caught the attention of the few remaining people at the beach. Erin didn't like that wherever they went heads always turned and gossip began, simply because of her pokemon. Occasionally she thought that it would simply be easier to put them in pokeballs, like the feebas, but she would never do such a thing unless they were all right with it, which they weren't.
Chasm did not seem to be too fond of the water, as well as the air, so she sat by Erin's side. Erin sat at edge of the dock with her feet dangling in the open air above the water below. At the moment she was talking to Professor Chronal, who was more excited than ever at her journey. He had said that he had indeed brushed up on his Pokemon Speech and wished once more to talk to the 'What's-his-name-the-Charmeleon' and apologize for their earlier conversation. Erin had to explain that not calling him by his name, which was Abadon, would insult him even more, and that he was no longer a charmeleon, but a charizard. Because of this, she had to explain, not in detail of course, the way they met Chasm, and then introduce her. Abadon forgave him, Chasm lost her interest, and so Erin was able to tell him about the feebas. Finally though, they said their goodbyes and then signed off. Erin did not put the pokedex away however, instead she switched over to the database and looked up the information on feebas. She didn't know much about the pokemon, for it was one that was often looked over by professors and scientists who deemed it dull and unimportant.
Erin reached into her bag and took out the pokeball containing her newest addition to the team. She pointed it toward the water and pressed the button on the front. A red light shot out and reached the salty ocean below, retracting and leaving a feebas in its place. "Are you my new trainer?" she asked Erin, eyes unblinking.
"Uh, yes, I am," Erin replied. "But if you don't want me to be, I'll take you back to Mr. Kline." She noticed Chasm eying the feebas hungrily and shooed her away.
"No, he gave me to you. Therefore, you are my new owner."
Erin was slightly uncomfortable being referred to as the pokemon's owner and told her so. "Let's just refer to each other as friends instead, okay?"
This seemed to confuse the feebas; she had had an owner for as long as she could remember, but she wanted to make Erin happy, for she was her owner now, so she agreed. Erin now pointed the pokedex at the feebas. "Because of its shoddy appearance, this pokemon is largely ignored.While feebas' body is in tatters, it has a hardy and tenacious life force that enables it to live anywhere. However, this pokemon is also slow and dimwitted, making it an easy catch."
"I'm not sure, but I think that machine wasn't being all that nice," the feebas said with a tilt of her head.
Erin laughed nervously. "It's all right; the others didn't like what it said about them either." She then accessed the data that the pokedex had on Milotic, feebas' evolution.
"Milotic is said to be the most beautiful of all the pokemon. It has the power to becalm such emotions as anger and hostility and to quell bitter feuding.Milotic live at the bottom of large lakes. When this pokemon's body glows a vivid pink, it releases a pulsing wave of energy that brings soothing calm to restless spirits."
The feebas nodded. "That seemed nicer. I forgive the machine."
"That's good to know," said Erin. "But what do I call you? Mr. Kline just called you feebas; what's your name?"
The fish pokemon tilted her head the other way. "I don't have a name. I didn't think I was allowed to have one. The man just called all of us Feebas."
"Well, the other two have names, so it wouldn't be fair if you didn't have one. Do you have any ideas?" The feebas just stared back and didn't reply, seemingly not understanding. "O…k… Well," thought Erin, looking toward the sky (and away from the feebas' unblinking eyes), as if the answer would come from heaven. "How about Celeste? It doesn't seem to fit you now, but once you evolve, I think it'll be great." Erin smiled at the water pokemon, happy about her choice and hoping the feebas felt the same, only to see that she had not moved and continued to stare at her new 'trainer'. "Right, so, Celeste it is then."
"Is that your pokemon?" came a voice from behind Erin.
She had not heard anyone approaching her, and even though she had been in conversation with 'Celeste', she took it as an insult to her martial arts training. It was not this person's fault however, and mentally told herself to be more aware. She turned to look behind her and saw an exceptionally handsome young man who looked a few years older than her with dark brown hair and a small goatee of the same color standing behind her with his hands in his pockets. Erin blushed and smiled. Realizing that she had just been asked a question, she answered uncomfortably. "Uh, yes. Yeah, she is. Heh."
"A feebas, huh? That's pretty cool. They aren't too much to look at until they evolve, but they can still get pretty strong. Wanna battle?"
The question had come so unexpectedly that Erin was taken off guard. She looked around, but neither Abadon nor Chasm were in sight. "With Celeste?" she asked, starting to lift herself off the wooden boards of the dock so she could better have a conversation with this new kid.
He reached down to help and Erin smiled feebly. "Well yeah, unless you have another pokemon."
"Actually, I do, they're just not around right now. Celeste is the only water pokemon I have though."
"That's great. A water pokemon would be best to battle against anyway," he said, taking out a pokeball from a pocket in his pants. "You said you have other pokemon? That's awesome! Did you catch them?"
He seemed genuinely interested in what Erin had to say, and this made her feel comfortable around him. "Sort of."
"Geyser, come on out!" he said, raising the arm holding the pokeball. A corphish appeared in front of him. "This is my only pokemon, but he's strong. Did you know that corphish aren't originally from this region? They were brought here as pets but then some got loose and mass populated. This one's Geyser. I was surprised to find someone else who names their pokemon."
"Uh, yeah, I did. I learned it in my Water Pokemon class at the Academy," Erin answered.
The boy glanced in her direction. "You went to an Academy? That's cool; so did I. I was on the swim team, so when I graduated, I got Geyser here. I've been battling him a lot lately, 'cause I think he'll evolve soon. That would be so cool to have a Crawdaunt." He paused and there was an awkward silence. "Well, let's get to it. Geyser! That feebas is your opponent!" Then he turned to Erin. "Ready?" She nodded in reply. "All right. Geyser! Vicegrip!"
The corphish dove in the water after Celeste and had her between his claws before Erin could even react. The feebas did nothing but squirm.
"Celeste! Harden!" called Erin, and immediately a polish was seen over the fish pokemon. Geyser's claws could do no more damage. He released and waited for his trainer's next instruction.
"Crabhammer!" Erin's opponent yelled. The corphish darted for Celeste, claws raised.
'Wow,' thought Erin. 'He's fast.' "Water pulse!" she called in return. Geyser was thrown back by the force of the water pounding at him from beneath the waves. Erin had been lucky so far, but she didn't know how much Mr. Kline had taught his feebas. How many more attacks would she call before there was one that Celeste didn't know? She could only cross her fingers and hope.
"Geyser, try Crabhammer again!"
"Celeste, do Hydro Pump!" The fish pokemon opened her mouth to let loose a giant gush of water… yet nothing happened. "Aw, shit," said Erin as Celeste was thrown from the water. It seemed as though this was an attack that she did not know.
The boy looked at her sideways, his respect for her as an opponent deteriorating. "How could you not know what attacks you've taught your pokemon?"
Erin didn't look at him, but watched as Celeste fell back down toward the sea. "She wasn't mine until today. She was given to me as a gift."
"Oh," he said, respect returning. "Then you must be a good trainer to be able to battle her this well this early." Erin blushed.
"Thanks," she said meekly. "Wait, what's that?" She pointed to the corphish, who was turning a lighter shade, almost as if he was beginning to glow. She had seen this before…
"He's evolving!" yelled the brown haired boy. Of course, that's where she had seen it before. Abadon had glowed like that right before he evolved into a charizard. Wow, this was awesome! Wait, no it wasn't. Celeste was having a tough time against a corphish; she wouldn't stand a chance against a Crawdaunt. Crap.
Celeste had now regained her senses, but Geyser's trainer wouldn't let that last for long. "Geyser!" he called, looking overjoyed. "Icebeam!"
"Celeste! Agility!" But it was too late. Geyser was simply too fast for the feebas, and before she could move, he had released a bright blue beam from within his claws that shot directly for Celeste. She was caught in the beam and was pushed backward from force and downward from weight as the ice from the beam surrounded her. Eventually, the feebas was too far down to see, for the ocean floor was dark, and night was setting over the land. The battle was lost.
Geyser rose to the surface and seemed incredibly pleased with himself. "Wow, that was great." The boy said, turning to Erin and smiling. "Oh, by the way, my name is Ryan; nice to meet you. I hope your feebas will be all right. Celeste, was it?"
"My name's Erin," she said, shaking his hand and blushing again. "I'm sure she'll be fine, and yes, it is Celeste, thanks."
At that moment Geyser splashed to get the attention of the two humans and said, "Hey boss, I think something's happening." He glanced down into the water where Celeste had fallen and the others followed his gaze. Yes, something was indeed happening. In the depths below the water's surface was emerging a single point of light. At least, that's what it was in the beginning. It quickly grew to fill the whole shore and was so bright it appeared to be high noon on the docks once more. The waves thrashed and Geyser backed away as best he could. Something large was coming toward the surface, and he didn't want to be in its way. The light died down and the surface broke to a giant head that was connected to a long, snakelike body. Celeste had evolved.
Ryan's eyes widened and his jaw fell open. "Holy crap."
"You're tellin' me," replied Erin. "That certainly didn't take long." The two of them stood gaping at the giant milotic as the milotic simply gazed back. Finally, Erin snapped out of it. "Celeste! Hail!" Celeste lowered her head and closed her majestic eyes. The sky quickly darkened and she let out an eerie, yet somehow beautiful, wail as she turned her head skyward. Soon, too soon for Ryan or Geyser to do anything about it, giant rocks of frozen water fell from the clouds over the makeshift battle field. They never touched Celeste, but Geyser could not escape their onslaught. This time, the battle was over for good.
Ryan recalled his pokemon into its pokeball and turned toward Erin once more. "That battle was awesome! Both our pokemon evolved! I can't think of a time that's ever happened before. I'll remember this day for as long as I live." Erin hoped he would.
"Me too; it was great." Just then a large orange and black lizard landed on the dock behind Erin.
"Whoa," said Ryan, taken off guard. He stepped back out of surprise and tripped over a break in the wood. He flailed his arms and was in the process of falling over the edge into the water when Abadon reached out his hand to grab Ryan's.
"I know I'm frightening, but I didn't think I was that intimidating," he said, helping the human to his feet with as sly grin. Erin nudged the Char with her elbow.
Chasm chose this moment to make an appearance as well. "Can we leave now?" she asked, slinking along the ground toward the group.
"Wow, you have two other pokemon? No wonder you're such a great trainer." For about the tenth time that afternoon, Erin blushed and looked anywhere but at Ryan. "It was nice to meet you Erin, and I hope our paths cross again." He walked back from the way he had come.
Erin smiled and sighed. "Me too."
"Hey Erin," said Abadon, giving her a shove. "Are we going to leave yet or not? There was so much action over here that no one could help but notice, and I don't want to be in the middle of a gaping crowd." Chasm, for once, agreed with him. Erin nodded, seeing the sense in this and called Celeste over to where they were standing. She asked the milotic if she would carry them (-them- being Erin and Chasm, for the Char could fly) across the water to the site she had noticed earlier so they could make camp and go to sleep.
"Well of course," Celeste replied. "You are my trainer. I will do whatever you bid me." At some point in the near future, not now of course for Erin was too tired, but sometime soon, she would have to explain to Celeste about free will.
Chasm declined the offer Erin made about riding that close to the water, and then the offer Abadon made of flying too far away from the water. She said that she would walk around and meet up with them sometime in the night. Erin knew better than to argue. And so, they were off: each in their own way: Chasm walking, Abadon flying, Celeste swimming, and Erin riding. They reached the opposite shore and Erin set up camp, allowing the milotic to be out of her pokeball for the night, until they would have to travel over land the next day. The three were soon fast asleep, all dreaming sweet dreams. Chasm did indeed join them sometime in the night, for when Erin awoke the umbreon was asleep nearby.
A/N – Well, that was fast. Another chapter already. is pleased I hope you enjoy my story and will continue to read it. And most importantly, review. For it is the reviews from which I feed. It is those that give me the strength and the inspiration to keep writing. Either that, or they just make me feel good. Yea, probably that one.
Anyway, my good pal Keleri has begun a new fic called Gods and Demons and it's really really good, so all of you need to go read it. And review it. Because us authors like reviews. Myep.