A/N:
Rayle: The guy who hid in plain sight is Chris. He's from Celadon Flight, the same joker who appeared in the song image sequence at Besaid (the trainer with the Espeon). No comment on the Mew / Mewtwo question, you'll find out in a few chapters. And thanks for the compliment... :)
OCAdam: Legendary frog? Huh? Materia in the story... well, that'll be interesting. Maybe give one of them the Master Summon Materia? That'd be funny... and how would a normal person manage to swing Cloud's Buster Sword around? If I remember right, that's broad, as long as a person is tall, and HEAVY.
Gathering Weapons: Spirit Lance, Onion Knight:
The trip back wasn't a big deal. Wakka kept on trying out new tricks with his new blitzball (ironically named World Champion), even giving it to Tidus to kick when he used Blitz Ace. Somehow, the explosion never damaged the thing.
&&&&&
"Where to next?"
I glanced down at Suicune, and she gave an audible sigh. An abandoned island temple. Psymachine managed to translate it to Baaj Temple. That mean anything to anyone?
Rikku nodded. "Tidus… you and I were there before. We met there. That place is really creepy."
Tidus blinked, and said in an amused tone, "yea, we met. And then you knocked me out…"
Rikku blushed, and quickly said, "Sorry."
Suicune walked over to the map, and then eyed me. I was listening to Rikku and Tidus explain what had happened (again, Wakka must have fallen asleep during Tidus's explanation), but I caught her mild sigh. I don't have any fingers, so you'll have to enter the point where it is.
"Yo! Cid! This thing touch sensitive?"
Cid gave me an amused look. "Sure kid. Good luck finding that temple, the only reason our salvage crews found it was because they got blown off course by a storm."
I let Suicune guide my finger, then pressed a point. It read X 15, Y 60. Cid sighed, and turned to Brother. "Risun res, mad'c ku drana." (Humor him, let's go there) Rikku stopped mid explanation to glare at her father. I guess I'm really corrupting her, she usually acts so childish… "Vydran..." (Father…)
Brother nodded, and pressed a few keys.
&&&&&
I said softly "told ya so…" We were hovering over a destroyed temple. Tidus and Rikku said it looked familiar, and Suicune insisted this was the place. I wasn't arguing, they were – with Cid. He's really taking a disliking to me, for some reason. Can't say for the life of me why… oh, Rikku. That's it… damn fatherly crap.
&&&&&
Tidus clenched his fist as we walked the narrow path of stone bridges above a lagoon of water. Yuna asked him (keeping her eyes on her feet) "Tidus? What's wrong?"
I looked up, catching a grin on Tidus's face. "The first time I was here, there was this giant fish that tried to eat me here. It nearly killed me, so I'm going to return the favor."
We reached a ledge, and Tidus turned to us. "The fish is down there. Wakka, Luin, and I will take care of it."
Rikku jumped in, then turned to us. "Hey, don't forget me!"
I laughed, and called "Rikku, no one could forget you." She smiled happily, and then waved to us again.
I jumped in. "Cannonball…"
&&&&&
The giant fish that Tidus mentioned showed up shortly after everyone was underwater. I was already powered up (Kyogre's symbol thingies were all over me), and Suicune was walking on the surface of the water, ready to spawn whirlpools if needed.
Tidus struck first with Blitz Ace, and the rest of us blitzed (not the sport) the thing, not giving it a chance to react. It was kinda messy (the damn thing refused to die, and trapped Wakka in its ribcage prison), so I'm not going into details.
&&&&&
After it FINALLY died, Tidus surfaced, and waved to everyone else. "It's dead! You can jump in now…"
Suicune walked over to a point, and blasted the wall with water. The rock flew away from the pressurized blast, and a chest appeared. I tossed the mirror to Tidus, glad I still had pockets. "You hold onto that. I don't want to lose it."
Tidus fielded it, and unlocked the chest. He took one look at what was inside (I was still floating in the water), and then called out "Lulu! This looks like one of your dolls…"
Lulu swam over to him (dunno HOW, that dress looks heavy), and took the doll. Like the other weapons, it glowed when she touched it.
Strange weapon though. Basically a doll with an onion head, small sword that looked like a toy (the whole thing looked like a toy, but still…), and a small shield.
I looked back at the ledge, but Suicune raced over to me, then shook her head. That's not all we're here for. Yuna, I've grown sensitive to the energies that the Fayth emit… there's one here.
Yuna looked at Suicune in shock. "Really? I've never heard of one here… Sir Auron?"
Auron looked at the entrance, then shook his head. "Braska never ventured here. This place I've never seen before."
Tidus swam over to us, then said "then I'll lead the way." He drew in a breath, and dove under. I looked over at Suicune, and she rolled her eyes. A bubble of air surrounded the head of everyone except myself (we worked together to manage that), and then we swam leisurely towards the underwater entrance. Suicune sort of paddled underwater, I don't know how.
&&&&&
Yuna looked at the six statues, then touched the gem in one's hands. It glimmered for a moment, and then began to glow.
She did the same to another statue, but nothing happened. Everyone else tried to wake it, but nothing happened. I sighed, and resisted the urge to smash the damn thing – that would be counter-productive. "Anyone have a clue what this is about?"
Auron pointed to the glyph on the wall. "The emblem of destruction. Each temple has a destruction sphere, I've seen the kid use it to blast open walls to get hidden treasures. But we missed one temple."
Tidus looked thoughtful, as he said "Bevelle. But I never saw a Destruction Sphere there. And I looked for it, some of the treasures are worth the wait."
I sighed. "Well, Bevelle it is. But we'll stop at the Thunder Plains first. Wonder who gets the next weapon, I've already got mine…"
Rikku looked thoughtfully at the weapon at my side. "Uhm… is that different now?"
I held it out (unsheathed), and then nodded. "Uh-huh. It changed again. Dunno why. Looks like a Master Ball, except made into a sword. Guess this is my 'ultimate weapon'." I snorted. "Not like that it'll be much use."
Yuna looked at the sword curiously. "Uhm, where did you get that?"
I shrugged. "The rest stop at the Calm Lands. I'd just been sent here. Suicune told me to buy it; I guess the Fayth told her to expect help or something."
Something like that. You were out of it then.
Yuna looked disturbed, and said slowly (with a note of concern in her voice) "I've read about a sword that shifts its shape. I never noticed with your sword, I thought you'd brought it with you. But… can I hold it for a moment?"
I held it out for her to take, and she examined it closely. Eventually, she smiled at me and said in a releaved tone, "Never mind. It's not what I thought."
I shrugged, took the sword back from her, sheathed it, and said "Well… Lulu, forget it about that charge right now. The pokemon I have back home wouldn't help too much."
Auron shot me a questioning gaze, and I elaborated, "my pokemon… they're my team. I've caught others, but I never raised them to battle like my six. Vib… I lend out some of my pokemon, so beginners can get a feel for some pokemon. So Vib's seen some combat, if not a lot. The ones I have remaining… I doubt they'd help. Just hinder, unless they get a lot of training in maybe two days."
Lulu seemed to think it over, and nodded. "I understand. But… I'll see if I can recharge it when we have time."
I nodded, and said gratefully, "Thanks. And… now to the Thunder Plains."
Rikku shuddered, and leaned against me. I grinned slightly – she wasn't terrified, and that's something I'd take.
&&&&&
Cid set us down at the entrance of Guadosalam. Kinda understandable why, the thunderstorms there are rather nasty. I glared at the massive tree/city, and followed everyone else inside.
&&&&&
Tromell showed up as we walked inside. He sort of seemed to be in a trance, as he watched us walk by.
I heard him moan, "Without Lord Seymour…"
The rest of the town seemed the same way – in shock. We didn't get attacked, but no one seemed to be in their right minds.
I looked up towards the Farplane, but shook my head. There wasn't time… and I'd said goodbye.
&&&&&
Once we were at the edge of cover, Rikku nearly forgot herself. She jumped when lightning struck nearby, and groaned. "Oh…"
I punched her lightly on the shoulder. "Vib, remember?" She blinked, and then smiled embarrassedly at me, releasing her Flygon. "Vib… take care of this lightning… please?"
I tossed out Balrog and Sunseeker's balls as well as Erastrani's. I turned to the grass and dark/fire types, and whispered to them "can you use Sunny Day to suppress the lighting here? Break up the cloud cover?"
The two looked at me thoughtfully, and then raised their heads in unison, staring intently at the clouds. I motioned for everyone to wait, and looked up at the clouds myself.
Eventually the dark sky lightened, and the thunder became only sporadic at worst. I guess that was all we were going to get… at least the rain stopped. I said gladly to the two "thanks. Take a break, weather manipulation isn't easy," and returned them into their balls.
Rikku, who had been watching in fascination, seemed to realize something. "Hey… hey! Why didn't you do that last time?"
I shrugged. "I didn't think it would work… and weather manipulation isn't easy for any pokemon except Groudon, and Kyogre. Trust me, you don't want them meddling with the weather. One would flood the planet, the other would dry it up."
After I said that, I got a bunch of doubting looks that faded when they looked up at the vaguely calm sky – just cloudy, with the occasional lightning burst, nothing more.
And it had been a bad downpour before… complete with thunder every two seconds or so.
Rikku still looked pissed, and I sighed. "Look… sorry. I also didn't want to wear them out, I didn't know if something REALLY dangerous was around the bend or not."
&&&&&
We must have spent an hour wandering the Thunder Plains, trying to figure it out. Eventually, Yuna went up to a stone with something that looked like a Cacturne, and did a prayer-like motion.
It glowed, and Yuna gasped. "Everyone… look for more of these stones! They glow when you do the prayer… it's got to involve where the weapon is!"
I don't know how she linked the two together, but everyone ran around like madmen (and madwomen) activating stones. As Tidus activated the last one, a ghostly thing that looked like a tiny Cacturne (minus the hat), raced off.
Tidus chased it, as did everyone else, myself included (I was kinda grinning like a kid at this point). When we caught up to it, it bounced around, and a lightning bolt struck where it had been, exposing a long, and thin chest.
Tidus gave me a questioning look, and I tossed up Psymachine's ball. Psymachine popped out, and then looked directly at the chest. It glowed purple, and levitated out of the ground.
I grinned at Psymachine. "Thanks." I flipped the ball at him, and he returned into it, disappearing with a red flash.
Tidus was in the process of giving Kimahri a new spear, which had a gold spearpoint. I couldn't really figure how this was special, but I guess it was.
&&&&&
Rikku walked over to me, and said into her collar "Uh, dad? Luin made it so the Thunder Plains aren't thundering for awhile… could you pick us up?"
"Rikku, are you sure?"
"Yup! Now hurry up, I don't want to walk!"
I gave Rikku a questioning glance, and she grinned. "It's something we call a comlink."
"I'd call it a radio."
&&&&&
"Bevelle? AGAIN? Are you kids nuts or something?"
I sighed. "If we go back there, Yuna gets another Aeon, the one from Baaj. Or do you want your niece to go into battle with less help?" Besides, the last time we hadn't gotten shot at, they'd just tried to impound the airship. And Rikku's threats with Vib seemed to work…
Cid looked like I'd punched him in the gut. He mouthed wordlessly for a moment, then walked over to Brother.
Rikku said softly "Luin, please… stop. Dad might be stupid sometimes, but…"
I grinned, and kissed her nose. "Sorry Rikku, I…"
Luin: Legendary frog... I wonder... Sandstone, could you create a legendary frog pokemon?
Sandstone: (Shudder) I hate creating pokemon, it ain't going to happen. There's over 360 pokemon for me to draw on, I'll be content with that.
Stupid1058: I'm bored!
Sandstone & Luin: Shut up!
Stupid1058: (Chibified) But...
Sandstone: I'll summon Stabby after you, if I have to... so shut up. Go bug Blunt and Shooter.
Stupid1058: (Walks off) Fine.
Luin: Uhm, I'm going off to find Rikku now.
Sandstone: Keep it QUIET this time!
Luin: Yeah, yeah.
