A/N: Dear pie, this series is dragging on a tad. Still, I'm very pleased with the response it has received – it's one of the very few trainer fanfics out there that actually has a vaguely normal trainer. By "normal", I mean "unspecial", you know – not Ash Ketchum, not on a mission to save the world, not falling in love, not with a string of legendaries after her blood or so on. Which I'm proud of – long live the boring trainers! Whee!
Dedication: To David, for fixing our computer! IloveyouIloveyouIloveyou! I'll ignore the fact you're married, have children and would never in a million years read Pokémon fanfics. Meh.
Disclaimer: Hey, Nintendo, here's the deal: I'll quit claiming to own Pokémon if you actually put effort into making Colosseum 2? How does that sound?
Sianne's StoryBy Dannichu
Chapter 7
"Get a load of that!" exclaimed Souriee, pointing at a huge stone statue of an Articuno. Luke, Russell and I came over to look.
"It says here that it was made at about five-hundred AD!" said Russell, pointing at the description.
"That means it's nearly two thousand years old!" breathed Luke.
"I didn't know they'd even invented Articuno then!" said Souriee in awe, but unable to keep the perpetual grin off his face.
"The legendary Pokémon are the ones told of most often in ancient tales; the prehistoric people were fascinated by them." explained Terra. "If they saw a rare or large or graceful Pokémon that they liked, some would even hail it was a god."
"So that explains why there are pictures of Regirock and Rayquaza on those cave walls and such?" asked Russell, very interested.
"Sure. In Hoenn the favorites are the ones depicting the great battle between Kyogre and Groudon, but in Kanto, the legendary birds are more common, especially since they had control over the seasons, bringing about winter, spring and the weather. And, of course, In Johto it's the legendary cat trio."
"Cats? They're dogs!" interrupted Sarah.
"Dogs? They're so OBVIOUSLY cats!" Souriee countered while Russell and Terra just looked at each other.
"But they're DOGS! Everyone calls them that!"
"Look at Raikou! Have you ever seen a dog like that?"
"Heck, have you ever seen a CAT like it?"
"Will you two stop it?" Luke said quietly but with an easily detectable tone of urgency in his voice. "Look!" he indicated to where a large number of the other museum visitors were looking angry, and the few staff that were ion the vicinity running over.
"They can't understand Pokémon!" I said quickly and quietly. "They'll think you're about to battle!"
"Oh." said Sarah, looking up. "Whoops."
After I had been given a lecture from the museum manager about how "Priceless these works of art are!", Terra continued.
"But they were misled about some Pokémon. For example, Aerodactyl was used a lot, and most dragons were also thought of as gods. It's not uncommon to see on an ancient cave a painting of a Salamence or Dragonite or," she paused, "Flygon."
"What about Marshtomp?"
"Sorry Sarah. Very few Marshtomp pictures. Lots of Milotic, though."
"That's so cool…" breathed Russell.
"Yeah." I agreed. "How'd you know all this?"
"Me?" Terra asked, pointing at herself. "I was born and raised in a desert; one that contains an ancient sealed-away tomb! If there aren't cave paintings there, they won't be anywhere!"
"Of course…" I said, feeling a little silly.
"Get a load of these pictures!" shouted Souriee, as we walked into the next exhibit, one displaying the contest-winning Pokémon. "They're so cool!"
"They really show the qualities of the Pokémon." Luke remarked, looking at one of an Aron, "You can really tell what contest they won."
"I bet you anything this Delcatty won the Cute one!" shouted Sarah excitedly, pointing vigorously at a painting depicting a very cute Pokémon, but it was also the most deformed thing I had ever seen.
"They must enhance these or something…" I muttered, gazing at the Delcatty's huge eyes and small body, with legs much smaller than that of any real Delcatty.
"Hm?" Russell murmured, walking over. "Yeah, this one is baaad. They 'improve' the Beauty and Tough ones a little too."
I looked over and saw one that was of a Tough Contest champion, a Mightyena with muscles so huge it looked like it would take down an Aggron in one hit.
"This one's really nice!" called over Sianne. We all hurried over to see the Cool Contest winners. "Look at that Manectric!"
"Yeah…" I breathed. "And that Skarmory is just amazing!"
"Hm. They didn't do such a good job of that Minun there." said Russell, putting his head to one side to look at it from a different perspective. "It looks like it's from a cute contest."
"Lookie!" shouted Souriee, "A Raichu! A really cool one at that!" I looked at the picture and it truly was amazing. It looked natural and yet so powerful at the same time.
"I think there are some more though here as well!" called Terra, pointing towards another door of the museum.
We spent about three hours looking through the entirety of the museum. It was so interesting, with things from modern art to exhibitions on the prevention of pollution to fossils from ancient eras, when Pokémon like Aerodayctl and Kabutops ruled the land. It was fascinating, and I think everyone got something out of it.
"That was just…" I breathed after we had come out.
"Amazing?" offered Terra, perched on my shoulder.
"Yeah, I mean, that Helix Fossil was, what, about three million years old!"
"And I never knew how much the sea suffers from humans… " said Souriee sadly. It was odd to see him look downcast; he was normally so happy.
"But with exhibitions like that, it's sure to raise awareness of things like that." Sianne pointed out.
"Yeah," I agreed, "And the Oceanic Museum in Slateport! You'd love to go and see that!"
"Yeah!" Souriee shouted happily, imagining it.
"So what was your absolutely favorite bit?" I asked.
"Those fossils, I think," said Terra, "I mean, we had lots in the desert, but nothing that size!"
"I love that Raichu picture! It was amazing!" grinned Souriee.
"Yeah, a lot of those Contest pictures were exceptionally well drawn." Luke agreed.
"I just loved those ancient artifacts," said Russell. "They were just so cool! And most of them were found around here!"
"Yes, but you have to remember that Lilycove is the closest landmass to Sootopolis, the epicenter of the great battle between the Pokémon of the land and those of the sea, so it would be natural for many ancient things to be discovered here." Terra reminded us. "There were loads of old fossils and so on found in the desert by humans once."
"Really?" asked Russell, intrigued.
"Sure. It was, millions of years ago, part of the sea, so it's full of fossils and stuff today. It would just be so hard to find any of them, since they'd all be buried and so on."
"Wow…" Russell breathed.
After our chat about the museum, we decided, since it was such a nice day, that we could stroll down to the beach and walk around there, maybe taking a look at the lighthouse. Souriee was ecstatic, so our group made its way over the confusing ledges that occurred naturally around Lilycove and onto the beach.
During our swim at the beach yesterday, I noticed that there weren't all that many people, but I passed that off since it was getting to be autumn, it had been late for going to the beach, and the tide was all the way in, leaving little space for walking along. But today there still weren't all that many people, which was astonishing since it was a perfect day for going for a walk, and the beach itself looked stunning. The sand, which in some parts was totally flat, but in others made up some small dunes, was golden and fine, without any littler, driftwood or even seaweed marring its near-perfect appearance. In fact, the only thing that to tell me that it wasn't a mirage was that there were many footprints going this way and that, footprints of humans, of Pokémon and even some bike tracks. The sea glittered in the early afternoon sun, as if someone had tipped glitter all over it so it would twinkle back little fragments of sunlight into the eyes of those mesmerized by its beauty.
"Russell, where are you going?" Terra called, as the Linoone darted off happily over the sand dunes.
"Looking for stuff!" he shouted back before disappearing from sight. Terra made a "tch" noise.
"What is it?" asked Sianne.
It's just that… he always darts off looking for stuff, with his eyes glued to the ground, his nose alert to nothing but the smell of discarded and lost objects." she said in her typical hurried manner, as if there was so much to tell and there simply wasn't enough time in the world for everything she needed to say.
"What's so bad about that?" Luke asked.
"Nothing. It's just that… that he's missing out on so much." she said from her position on my shoulder.
"He is?" Sarah and I chorused.
"Well… in my eyes, yes. There are so many amazing things in this world, so many beautiful, wonderful things that just make you, well, they make me at least, want to say thank you for creation. Look around at the sea today. What could be more prefect than that huge expanse of water, that home to so many, that source of life to all? But he doesn't see that. All he sees, and it's his own choice to do so, is the small part of ground in front of him, and disregarding it if it doesn't contain some kind of lost object." Terra looked up to see us all staring at her intently. She looked a little embarrassed, but continued. "It's such a pity when there are so many other things worth looking for, worth nothing materialistically, but worth everything in the world at that moment when you're just captivated by it, the essence of nature and the beauty of the planet. That's why I think he's missing out."
"I agree." said Luke. "I really do. It's such a shame he doesn't see things the way you do."
"You think so?" asked Sianne, "I don't think it is. It's the way he views things, the way he wants to see the world. While you, Terra, see the world as a masterpiece, the ultimate work of art, Russell sees it as one huge treasure hunt, where he can spend his time having fun looking at the past though the things he finds. Everyone sees the world differently, some see it as a funhouse, and others see it as the small pointless journey between the points of birth and death. Some view it as a whole planetful of people who you could, with enough power, enslave for your own selfish needs, while others view it as a paradise. Sure, not all of these beliefs are good ones, but I think that the way you see the planet is one of the most important things that determines who you are."
I nodded, "Yeah, I agree with Sianne, she made a very good point. But it would be nice if Russell took the time to just look at some of the things around him."
We began talking about this for a while, getting very deep and philosophical. Well, Terra, Souriee, Luke and I did. Sarah and Souriee were a bit confused by what we were nattering on about, not through lack of intelligence, of course. The only Pokémon I've ever met who was intellectually cleverer than Sarah was Hlî, my Charizard (and possibly Onett, my friend Sarah's Espeon), but Sarah takes everything for what it is, seldom looking for a deeper meaning to things. Again, I admire that, and it's part of her personality. And I was guessing Souriee was the same.
A/N: Oh dear pie, I'm turning into Terra. :slaps self: enough with the philosophy! Anyways, I'll try and get the next chapter up as soon as possible and try and speed things along.
Oh yeah - a HUGE thanks to everyone who's reviewed so far! You make everyhting worthwhile! Thank you so much!
By the way - I reckon they're dogs