Chapter 12: I Can Take Care of My Pokemon!
Eduardo Innocenti sat at his desk, writing on some important papers. A beautiful night sky, cut in a square, came through his window, with the stars shining brightly, just like usual. After what seemed to be hours, he put his pen down and straightened the papers out by tapping them on the desk. "That should do it," He looked over to a family photo. A mahogany frame held together a picture of himself, Rocio, and a ten year old Perrine standing on a balcony, overlooking a beautiful, sparkling ocean.
A smile pushed the corners of his mouth upward. How was Perrine doing, he wondered. She had left for her journey just this afternoon, after they finally managed to work things out. For the first time in what seemed to be forever, he finally felt at peace. With both himself and the demons he tried so hard to push away. The dread he used to feel had finally decided to leave. Then again, it was he who finally pushed it out. But there was still one thing he needed to do.
Mao. He looked at a framed picture on his wall. It showed a woman in her thirties wearing blue overalls over a white shirt, brown boots, and a pink hat on her head, surrounded by pokemon, holding a large trophy with a tearful smile. Multicolored confetti was flying all over the place. Even the pokemon had jovial smiles on their faces. Eduardo smiled at the picture. Normally, he would look upon it with disgust. Now, those days were gone.
Still...he couldn't help but yearn for the chance to talk with Mao again. Any time they did talk, all they did was argue and fight, no matter the situation. In his heart, he knew Mao didn't deserve that. No more running away this time. He picked up the phone, punched in some numbers, and held it up to his ear. Three rings echoed in his ear before a female voice answered the phone. "Hello. This is Mao Borgia."
"Big sister? It's your little brother, Eduardo."
"Eduardo?!" Mao screamed so loud he had to pull himself away from the phone. After a brief period of silence, she calmed down. "You never call me," She replied, her voice adopting a slightly scornful tone. "What do you want? Make it quick, because cross-region calls are a dollar a minute."
"Mao...I...I want to apologize."
"For what?"
"Everything. From that day. For...blaming you for it. Everything I've done to you since then. I...I should never have been so stupid."
"Yeah, you were kinda stupid," Eduardo flinched at the comment. As much as he appreciated Mao's honesty, he wished she wasn't so blunt sometimes. But then again, she was never one to hide her true feelings, unlike him. In a way, he liked that about her. She was upfront, and always straight with people.
"You never deserved the treatment I gave you. You're not a bad influence. Everything I said to you…" Eduardo paused for a brief moment, letting his remorse do the talking. "...it describes me more than anything."
Silence. Then… "Ed. I...I don't know what to say…"
"You have every right to hate me. I've been absolutely terrible to you. I should have respected your decisions. Also…" For the first time in a long while, pride enveloped his being. "I'm proud of you. For having been the champion."
Another silence, until, "Thanks, Ed. I...I appreciate it."
"You're a wonderful sister."
"You're a good little brother, even if you can be more stubborn than a ponyta on speed."
Eduardo couldn't hold back a chuckle. "That's true."
"How's Perrine?"
"She's doing well. In fact...she went on a pokemon journey."
"Really?!" Mao exclaimed, her voice adopting a jovial tone to it. "That's wonderful! Wait, you actually let her go on one?"
Eduardo explained everything to Mao. It took about ten minutes to fully tell the whole story, but Mao listened like the good sister she was. "I wish you had told me this stuff sooner, Ed!"
"I know. I'm sorry."
"Well, I'm glad to know she's alright, and...thanks for being a dad to her for once. I'm sure she really appreciates that."
"She does. I was selfish to hold her back for so long. Also...Mao?"
"Hm?"
"I know this sounds sudden, and you're probably busy, but...would you...like to come visit Johto sometime? We could go out to lunch together and catch up on old times. I'm sure...the boys wouldn't want us to be angry forever."
Once again, silence. This time, it was a good silence. "I'd love to, Ed! My schedule's kinda tight right now, but I'll see what I can do. There's no way I can reject that offer. I can't wait to see you again. Hey, maybe I'll run into Perrine and see how she's doing! Where is she now?"
"I heard she's heading to Ecruteak. If you want, I can give you her PokeGear number."
"That'd be wonderful. Thanks, little bro."
Finally, he was at peace. For real, this time. The last of his demons was finally kicked into oblivion.
Caiseal lay down on a grassy meadow, watching a gloomy grey sky loom down on everything with interested eyes. Then again, it wasn't really the sky, as the big clouds had completely blocked it off. Not even the tiniest little sunbeam could break through those thick clouds. A gentle breeze made the grass blades dance and sway, pushing some of his blonde hair into his face. The merry sounds of pokemon laughter livened the gloomy atmosphere around him, not that he really noticed.
On the other hand, he did notice something during his time with Perrine and Julia: traveling with company was different than traveling alone. Well, he didn't travel with kids his own age, just with pokemon. Still, it was an odd experience. He hadn't known them very long, but other the few short days he spent with them, he had already learned a lot about them. One such thing being Perrine coming from a rich family, her intense love of ninjas, her aunt being the former champion of Johto, and wanting to be a champion like her. Smiling at the thought of Perrine being a champion one day, he silently wished her luck. He had many friends during his school days, but none of them were rich or had famous relatives. Still, Perrine herself was her own person, being outspoken yet polite, kind to everyone, though quick to scold him when he said something about Julia.
Julia...the boy wasn't sure what to make of her. He looked over at the girl in question. "There you go, Saoirse! You got it!" She had left Aqua with her parents and exchanged her for her new friend, Saoirse the snubbull. Said snubbull rubbed herself against Julia's cheek happily. "That tickles! You like to snuggle, don't you?" Julia said with a merry laugh.
Not even Caiseal could prevent a smile from tickling his face. He wondered if he was wrong for constantly putting her down, even for stupid things like the way she held her utensils. He could see from the way she interacted with her pokemon that she was kind to them, treating them like family.
"Cubone?" Mallow's concerned voice drew Caiseal out of his reverie. He sat up and stroke his friend's skull gently.
"Hey there, Mallow. You doin' okay?"
"Cyndaquil!" Apollo rolled on the grass, right toward Caiseal, uncurling as soon as they made contact. Caiseal cradled Apollo into his arms and nuzzled him.
"Be careful, little guy. I don't want you getting hurt," He told the little anteater kindly.
"You got him from Professor Elm's lab, right?" Julia's voice suddenly made him turn his head around. Saoirse, Hikaru, and Tokiko all looked at him with curious eyes.
"Yeah, I did," Caiseal replied sheepishly. "Do you...want to hold him?"
"Is that okay?"
"Sure," Apollo crawled over to Julia and sniffed her hands to see if she was safe. Soon, Julia cradled the warm, fluffy cyndaquil in her arms. Little Apollo squealed happily at Julia's warm touch before the girl made her fingers dance across his belly. "Ooooh. I didn't know you were ticklish, Apollo!" Julia crooned as Apollo giggled uncontrollably. Hikaru found herself laughing at the adorable sight. Tokiko just found herself approaching Mallow with a bright smile and a little wave. Mallow sheepishly returned the gesture by waving right back.
Soon enough, Julia could tell Apollo had enough and set him back down. "Aren't you just the cutest thing!" She ruffled Apollo's head with one hand. The anteater smiled, silently basking in the girl's affectionate touch.
"So...how long have you been a trainer?" Caiseal asked as Apollo sat on his lap. Mallow had put his bone down to hoist a happy Tokiko in the air, like a parent would do for their child.
"For a short while, I guess. I think...about a month? I haven't really counted," Julia replied as Saoirse hopped on her lap, begging for pets. The girl caved in and stroke the pink bulldog's fur with one hand back and forth. "What about you, Caiseal?"
Caiseal looked over at Mallow, who happily rolled on the grass with Tokiko. "I've had Mallow since I was nine. But I guess you could say I became an official trainer for about two months," He replied in a soft voice. "I notice you don't have one of the Johto starters. Why is that?"
"It's kinda a weird story," Julia began right as Blossom waddled over. "I wanted to get a chikorita, but Perrine got to the lab before I did and took it. But then I found Hikaru near death, and my mom and I took her to the lab to get healed," The memory was strong in her mind. She couldn't help but wonder if fate had brought her and Hikaru together. Hikaru let out a "Chupi!" at Julia's recounting of the tale. "She just got attached to me...and we've been inseparable ever since," She picked Hikaru up and nuzzled her cheek against her friend's tiny red one. "She's my adorable friend! Then again, all of my pokemon are!"
"Pichuuu!"
"Oddish?" Blossom cooed for Julia's attention.
"What's wrong, Blossom?" Julia turned around, wondering what was up. Blossom held up one of her feet, which was red on the front. "Oh, did you hurt your leg? Hang on. I think I have a potion in my bag," Julia gently put Saoirse down on the grass, dug through her bag, and pulled out a potion. "This'll sting a little, but it'll make your foot all better," She sprayed the potion on the wound. The plant pokemon squeezed its eyes shut and let out a small cry, as the spraying substance felt as though she was being stung by beedrill stingers. "There! All better!"
When Blossom opened her eyes, she looked down at her foot. The injury was completely gone. "Oddish!"
"You're welcome, sweetie," Julia stroke the big leaves on her friend's head kindly.
Caiseal smiled. "You really do love your pokemon, don't you?"
"Of course! I've lived with them my whole life!" It was here that Flippy laid down on the grass, letting out a long yawn. Saoirse and Hikaru jumped onto Flippy's belly to try and sleep on her. Since Flippy's skin was slick and oily, they fell right down as soon as they got on. "You love your pokemon too, right?"
"Heck yeah!" Caiseal suddenly exclaimed. Julia put a hand over her ear to muffle the sound, but she could tell he was serious. It wasn't as though he was yelling, especially not angrily. "By the way," He said in a lower voice. "Where's Perrine at? She's been gone for a while."
Julia scratched her hair with one hand. "Didn't she say she was gonna investigate some weird tree blocking the roads?" As soon as she said that, an odd voice echoed through the air.
"Sudowoodoooooooo!" Something resembling a human sized tree suddenly ran right past them. It suddenly ripped on a rock and fell on the grass, face down. The pokemon was a tall, brown thing with small yellow spots dotting its body, with stick-like arms with large, round, green fingers at the tips. Protruding from its head was a Y-shaped forked branch, and it stood back on its forelegs. It had two small eyes and a mouth, both of which were consumed with fear.
"Whoa! What's that pokemon?" Caiseal was quick to pull out his PokeDex and examine it.
"Sudowoodo, the imitation pokemon. Although it camouflages itself as a tree in order to avoid being attacked, its body is actually more like a rock than like a plant, and because the forelegs remain green throughout the year, the Pokémon is easily identified as a fake during the winter. It hates water and disappears whenever it rains," A blue male sign flashed in the PokeDex.
"Chiko!" A green vine shot out of Florian's neck, wrapping right around the frightened sudowoodo. Perrine came flying out from some bushes with a pokeball in hand.
"Use Razor Leaf to weaken it!" Perrine commanded. With a swing of its leaf, Florian threw three large leaves at the rocky tree. The leaves managed to leave two dents on the sudowoodo's hard skin. The rocky tree smacked the vine coiling around its body to break free, but they were flexible, and Florian wasn't intent on letting it go.
Then an idea hatched in its head. The sudowoodo used one of its legs to sweep at Florian, kicking him across the face. The force was so strong that Florian fell to the ground, and the vine was forced to release it. With that, the sudowoodo took the opportunity to escape. The kids stood up to try and grab it themselves, but the sudowoodo was too fast for them, having disappeared into the horizon.
"Awwww, man!" Perrine fell to her knees, gasping for breath. "I was so close to catching it, too!"
"Chiko!" ("You said it!") Florian shared Perrine's sentiment.
"What was that all about?" Julia asked.
"I wanted to catch that sudowoodo," Perrine explained once she caught her breath. She even had a PokeBall in her hand ready to catch it.
"Chikori…" ("I'm sorry…") Florian looked down at the grass with a rueful expression. Perrine stroke the leaf on Florian's head. "It's okay, little guy. He was probably too strong for us anyway. We can catch one next time."
"I guess we should have helped you," Caiseal said.
"No no. It's okay," Perrine interjected.
Although Perrine didn't catch that sudowoodo, it wasn't the end of the world. Florian seemed to understand, and was happy that Perrine wasn't angry with him. After this, Florian went off to play with the other pokemon. Julia did the same, leaving Caiseal and Perrine alone together. The two couldn't help but notice that Julia looked absolutely radiant when she was among the pokemon. Rolling with them on the grass, playing with them, hoisting them in the air, tickling them...the smile on her face was as bright as a sunflora's golden foliage. Seeing this made Caiseal smile as well.
He looked over to Perrine. "Ummm...can I ask you something?"
"Sure. Go ahead. What is it?"
"Back at your mansion," Caiseal began. "You said...that Julia was...autistic or something," The word sounded so alien to him. So unfamiliar. He felt he needed answers. "Exactly...what does that mean?"
Perrine gave him a quizzical look. "You really want to know?"
"Yeah. Is that okay?"
It must be confessed that Perrine wasn't sure if she could trust him with this information. Considering how he had treated her since they met, the orange haired girl wondered whether he deserved to know. Even if she did explain it to him, it could go three ways: he would be willing to understand and work with her quirks, completely forget about it and go back to treating her like she usually did, or take it up a notch and be even worse. But maybe, just maybe, he was genuine in his curiosity. Maybe he wanted to understand? Maybe he wants to be friends?
The orange haired girl shrugged. Oh well. She might as well explain it to him. "Julia has something called autism. I don't really know how to explain it, but I will tell you this," Caiseal could hear the no-nonsense tone in her voice, like she wanted him to keep this information in his mind and take it seriously. "It's not a problem. It's not like it's something that needs to be cured. Her brain just works a little differently from ours. That's all," She told him in the most direct manner possible.
"So...is she, like...really super good at math? Or counting cards?" Caiseal asked.
"No. Not that I can see. I'll have to ask her later. I hear people say those are stereotypes, though," Perrine answered. "I know she hates it when people yell," She turned her gaze to Caiseal. In no uncertain terms, she told him, "You've done plenty of it."
The shame that overtook him upon hearing that comment was instantaneous. He looked down at his shoes. "She's not stupid, nor is she doing stuff to embarrass people or annoy you. My aunt is autistic...my aunt the former champion of Johto."
"Whoa! Seriously?!" He yelped. He had known that Perrine's aunt was a former Johto League champion. She had told him and Julia that. But he had no idea she was autistic. "That's...awesome…"
"Cubone!" Mallow agreed with a nod.
Perrine wasn't done yet. "If you want to travel with us, that's fine. But if we're going to be friends, you're going to have to respect the decisions we make or the people we hang out with, Julia included. I mean it when she says she hates yelling. It won't help her learn stuff. Trust me, I've been there. If you do anything skeevy, bully her, call her names, say she's in the way, or do anything to her, you're hitting the road," She stared right into his eyes. "Got it, buster?"
Caiseal nodded in agreement.
"Good. She's been nothing but nice to me since we met, and I don't appreciate people dissing my friends. Would you like it if someone dissed you or your friends?"
"Nope nope nope," Caiseal shook his head to empathize his answer.
Loud music suddenly pulled them out of their conversation. It was Julia's PokeGear, playing loud rock music. "Whoops! Sorry!" She was quick to press the button that turned the volume down.
"What the heck was that?" Caiseal asked.
"Sorry!" Julia apologized again. "I just wanted to try out the radio function on here, and it started playing this loud rock music…" Once the volume was down, Caiseal and Perrine found themselves at ease, their initial shock disappearing. The kids could make out the lyrics easier with the volume down. Guitar riffs and roaring drum beats crackled through the PokeGear's speaker.
"The cruel sun shines down on me,
With its piercing, burning light,
It's the worst kind of stigma,
The misery is too overwhelming for me to bear…
This barren world, reduced to ruins,
On its surface I tread with my calloused feet,
It's all too much, I can't see anything anymore…
Withering...Smoldering…
Oh God, please save me from this cruel world!
Please give me even the tiniest beam of light!"
"Who's singing this?" Caiseal asked, staring down at the PokeGear with a confused, almost disinterested expression.
"I don't know. But I have to admit, it sounds cool!" Julia added. One of her feet was tapping up and down in time to the beats. Not even she could control it, not that she cared.
"Eh, to me it sounds kinda depressing…" Perrine mused.
As the kids were absorbed in the music, Saoirse sat on the grass, straightening out the red ribbons on her ears. Julia had bought them for her recently, and Saoirse fell in love with them as soon as they were put on. However, she happened to notice Tokiko walking off. None of the other pokemon noticed, as they were too busy playing by themselves to notice.
A shiver of worry ran through the bulldog pokemon's body. What if something were to happen? She had to get Tokiko back. She couldn't risk something happening to her. With a grunt, she stood up and ran after the waddling egg pokemon. "Snubbull snubull!" ("Tokiko! Wait! Please come back!") She called out. But Tokiko was out of sight.
"Dangit!" A woman stomped through some thick grass, inadvertently scaring off some small pidgey. A round black hat concealed the rest of her pale brown hair, and her eyes were gleaming with irritation, with some bags holding them down. She was wearing a long sleeved black dress going down to her thighs with a bold, crimson red R emblazoned on the breast, tall grey boots, and matching gloves. "We've been stuck in this forest for three days now! When am I ever gonna get a shower?!" Some bush leaves got caught in her hair. With a whine, she yanked them out.
"You know what the boss said, Margeaux," A man exclaimed, using a machete to swipe at some trees. He was dressed in a different uniform, consisting of a pure white jumper with the same red R on the shirt, light grey boots and gloves, a white hat, and a silver belt with some PokeBalls and a whip attached to it. The man's spiky jet black hair protruded out from underneath his hat, and his brown eyes were devoid of any kind of compassion. "If we don't find any rare pokemon, we'll be kicked out of Team Rocket!"
"I get that, Yannick!" Margeaux snapped before running her hands through her scraggly hair. "Uuuuugh! Good God, are we EVER gonna find anything worth stealing and selling?!"
The white clad man cracked his whip. "If we don't, I bet some naive trainers would give my beautiful whip great pleasure…" He sneered with a smirk curling upward in a skeevy, lustful manner. A shiver ran through Margeaux's spine.
Margeaux pulled out some shiny black binoculars and looked through them. "I am so done with this…" She groaned, seeing nothing so far. First, it was some pidgey eating some berries. Then it was a caterpie climbing up a tree. Some metapod sitting around waiting for evolution, a stantler running across the plains, a togepi and a snubbull running around.
Wait…
"Hey! Yannick! Check this out!"
"Hm?" Yannick crawled over to the woman as she handed him the binoculars. He looked inside to find himself gazing at a lone togepi, happy as can be, just waddling around without a care in the world. A snubbull with red ribbons on its ears gave chase.
"A togepi and a snubbull…" Yannick mused to himself. "They're fairy types, right?"
"Yeah!" For the first time in a while, a smile appeared on Margeaux's face, lighting it up like it had never been lit before. "They're the new type that's hot on the news! I know togepi are really really rare pokemon, too!" Excitement peppered her screechy voice. To Yannick, it was just white noise. "If we sell them to J, she might consider raising our salaries!"
Yannick's gaze locked onto the two fairy type pokemon. Yet another lustful smirk painted over his face. The ribbons indicated that the snubbull belonged to a trainer, not that he cared. No, Team Rocket didn't care if pokemon had trainers. They didn't even see pokemon as...well, pokemon. He was already seeing dollar signs that just screamed "Ka-ching!"
"Eeeeyep. Boss J is going to love this indeed," Yannick mused to himself.
Speaking of said togepi and snubbull, Tokiko stopped in the middle of a meadow to look around. All she saw were grass and trees going on for miles. Some large bird pokemon soared overhead, taking their sweet time in floating on the gentle breeze. "Choki!" ("There they are!") A bouquet of soft pink flowers caught the spike ball's attention. Apple shaped flowers, complete with cotton candy pink foliage spread outward as though they were welcoming the sun's warm rays, stood out from beneath a large oak tree.
With a chirp, Tokiko waddled over to the flowers. She was sure her friends were going to love them. It helped that they smelled nice, too. She wasn't sure how else to describe the lofty scent that caressed her non-existent nostrils. Before she could pluck one of the flowers off, Saoirse came running. "Snubbull snubbull snuuuub!" ("Tokiko! There you are! What are you doing here?")
Tokiko turned around, tilting her head to one side. "See-See? What'cha doin'?" See-See was Tokiko's new nickname for Saoirse.
"Looking for you, of course!" Saoirse exclaimed before kneeling down to the innocent togepi's level. "You shouldn't wander off by yourself. There's lots of dangerous pokemon around here."
"I just wanted to get these flowers for everyone," Tokiko told her. "They're so pretty. I think Hikaru would like them. Julia and Perrine, too!"
Saoirse crossed her arms, giving Tokiko a stern expression. "I know, and that's nice, but you need to be careful. Who knows what pokemon or people could be lurking around."
"Sowwy…"
The pink bulldog stroke the spike ball's head gently with her stubby hand. "It's okay. Get the flowers and let's go back. We don't want Julia to be worried. She might cry if she finds out we're gone," Saoirse told her. Tokiko would have grabbed the flowers and left right away, had she not seen a large net looming right over them.
"LOOK OUT!" Tokiko screeched in a piercing voice before her eyes glowed in a purple light. The grey net suddenly froze in the air. Saoirse found herself shocked at the sight of the net. It was large enough to cover them both. Once Tokiko felt the coast was clear, the purple energy around the net disappeared, and it plopped onto the floor.
Unfortunately, they weren't out of the woods. As soon as Tokiko put the net down, a steel cube came rolling toward them. Saoirse grabbed Tokiko by the hand and tried to pull her away, but blue energy came shooting out, trapping them both inside a glowing cube. "We got'em!" Yannick rejoiced with enthusiasm peppering his voice.
"Oh no...what do we do?" Tokiko chirruped.
Saoirse held Tokiko close. "I don't know...but Julia will find us…"
"Think it's time to hit the road?" Perrine asked as she put her pokemon back in their pokeballs. "We might be able to get to Ecruteak if we hurry."
"Good idea," Caiseal agreed, having already put his pokemon away. Julia agreed as well, and put her pokemon away as well...except she noticed two were missing. Right then and there, a shiver of fear ran through her body.
"Saoirse? Tokiko? Where are you?" Julia cried, cupping her hands over the sides of her mouth.
"They're not here?" Perrine asked.
"That's strange...they were just here a minute ago…" The beast called worry was growing in size. Although she was calm right now, already she felt the need to flap her hands, which she did. It didn't calm her down one bit. In fact, it only provided the beast with more fuel to consume her.
"I'll go look over there," Caiseal said.
"Saoirseeee! Tokikooooo!" Julia shouted loud enough for her voice to echo in the wind. Perrine searched underneath bushes, around trees, and even asked some passing trainers. No sign of Tokiko and Saoirse anywhere.
"This is so weird," Perrine said. "They couldn't have gone far-" As soon as she turned around, she saw something that rendered her silent. Julia was flapping her hands up and down wildly, pacing around, looking past the meadows with huge tears streaming right down her eyes.
"TOKIKO! SAOIRSE!" The girl screamed far louder this time, her voice almost bordering on hysterical.
"Jule!" Perrine slammed both hands on her friend's shoulders. "Don't cry! It'll be okay! We'll find them!" None of what she said consoled her friend one bit. "I'm sure they're alright-"
"NO!" With a scream, she pushed both of Perrine's arms off. Even the orange haired girl found herself aghast, taking two steps back to get out of her personal space. This was quite unlike her. Now, Julia was outright glaring at her friend with her green eyes a distorted combination of both sadness and rage. "How do you know, huh?! How do you know Tokiko and Saoirse are alright?! Oh, that's right? YOU DON'T! That's what! They're not even YOUR pokemon!" Perrine took yet another step back, her eyes widening in fright. What had come over her? "Don't you dare say you're sure about something when it's undoubtedly and categorically clear that you don't know a thing!"
"Hey! Calm down, will you?!" This time, Caiseal threw himself in between them. "Screaming at the top of your lungs isn't going to do anything! Take a deep breath."
A light shot out of one of Julia's pokeballs. Out came a very determined Tsubasa, who looked right up at Julia with sharp eyes. "Coo coo coo coo!" ("Stop your crying! We gotta find them, pronto!") She pointed her wings at Julia, then at the sky, to empathize her point.
She had to admit, both Caiseal and Tsubasa were right. As much as she wanted to cry, Julia knew this wasn't going to do anything. Her pokemon came first. In her mind, a good trainer would take action. Reluctantly, she wiped her tears away. "Tsubasa," She began in a shaky, trembling voice. "Can you fly around and see if you can find Tokiko and Saoirse from the air?"
"Coo coo!" ("Way ahead of you!") Tsubasa had already ascended into the sky by the time Julia finished her order. Caiseal and Perrine looked at each other before nodding and threw pokeballs into the air. Both Fukuro and Ravenclaw came flying right out.
"Hoothoot!"
"Murkrow!"
"You guys! Go and look for Tokiko and Saoirse!" Caiseal exclaimed. "As soon as you find anything, let us know right away!" With nods, the two birds went in different directions, hopefully to cover more ground.
"We should keep looking, too," Julia suggested.
With this, the kids split up looking for the two fairies. Despite keeping herself calm for her pokemon's sake, it was hard to bottle up all of those emotions. Fear, sadness, despair, hysteria, and the urge to just scream. When she was like this, even walking was painful for her. Her heart raced a million miles a minute, like it was going to explode into pieces. She stayed with Caiseal and let Hikaru out so the pokemon could try and smell her scent. Most pokemon had a stronger sense of smell than humans.
Caiseal could tell Julia was struggling to keep herself together. He remembered Perrine telling her about autism, and that Julia had it. It didn't necessarily change his opinion of her, but it did explain a lot of things to him. Even he was bothered by her hand flapping and worry for her friends, he felt it was justified this time. He wanted so badly to scold her for letting her pokemon wander off, but refrained from doing so, knowing it wouldn't do any good for either of them.
"Pi?" Hikaru's nose crinkled up and down. "Pichu! Pichu pi!"
"What's up, Hikaru?"
The yellow mouse hopped over to a set of footprints. One set of them was small, shaped like two large grains of rice. The other set of footprints was bigger and more circular, with three round toes. "Footprints!" Julia kneeled down to Hikaru's level to examine them closer. They faced Julia's direction, facing east. No doubt about it. "These are Saoirse and Tokiko's footprints!"
"Pichu pichu!" ("Their scent is strong! They went that way!") Hikaru pointed toward a dirt path.
"Let's go and take a look," Caiseal said. Julia nodded in agreement.
As for the birds, they soared all over the place with their wings outstretched, looking everywhere for the two fairies. So far, they saw nothing. But something caught Tsubasa's eye. She perched down on a tree and saw a set of houses made of stone. Years of exposure to nature left nicks and cracks on the stone walls. Some weeds and grass grew from some cracks. Two people, both wearing Team Rocket uniforms, were dragging a glowing box behind them. Saoirse and Toki were inside.
"Step on it, Yannick! We can catch some rare pokemon in here, too!" Margeaux shouted. The glowing box shook as Tokiko repeatedly rammed herself against the glowing walls. None of it left so much as a dent, but the tiny egg pokemon continued to slam the walls with every ounce of energy she had. Not even a crack from Yannick's whip was able to make her stop.
"Cease your defiance, stupid fairy!" Yannick roared as he cracked the whip at the glowing box. All Tokiko did was glare at him with a look that said, "I'm not afraid of you!" All Saoirse did was cover her eyes with her stubby hands. "You're lucky we're making a pit stop here at the Ruins of Alph. When we're done here, you're gonna be sold off to J in no time!"
Tsubasa heard every word. Her feathers ruffled with rage, right as Fukuro and Ravenclaw descended next to her. "Murkrow murkrow!" ("Did you find them?")
"Coo coo!" ("Yeah! They're over there! Those people caught them!") Tsubasa pointed her wing at the glowing box. Yannick stared down at the captive pokemon with a stern glare, not taking his eyes off of them one bit.
"Hoothoot hoothoot!" ("I'll go and let the kids know!") Fukuro pointed his wing at himself before wagging it in front of the other two birds. "You girls stay here and make sure Saoirse and Tokiko don't get seriously hurt. Watch their every move!" She told them.
Tsubasa stretched her wings out. "Good, because I want to kick their behinds so hard they'll go flying on Arceus's doorstep!" Tsubasa cooed loudly before Fukuro took off.
Exasperated by her boasting, Ravenclaw simply shook her head. "I swear, you're the only pidgey I know who's this arrogant."
Julia and Caiseal followed the footprints, but found that they stopped at a certain point. "Aw man. They stop here," Caiseal said. Out from the bushes came Perrine, whose hair was covered in leaves.
"Did you find them?"
The younger girl shook her head. "No," Julia could tell from the way Perrine looked down that she didn't have any luck on her end either. The dreadful feeling she thought she had pushed out of her body came creeping back in, morphing straight into guilt. "This is my fault. I...I should have put them in their pokeballs…" The tears came back this time.
"Hoothooooot!" Fukuro cooed as he flapped right in front of the kids.
"Did you find them?!" Perrine yelped.
Fukuro gave a nod and gestured for them to follow him. The kids swallowed their guilt and followed the young owl. They had to sift through some bushes before arriving at the stone houses. "What is this place?" Julia asked. The scent of aging stone and fresh grass wafted through the air, and it had a sort of mysterious feeling to it, like there was something here. But they couldn't figure out what. But all the kids knew was that this was where Fukuro led them, and Saoirse and Tokiko were sure to be here.
"Hey! I know this place!" Caiseal exclaimed. "These are the Ruins of Alph!"
Perrine gave the scraggly haired boy a quizzical look. "Ruins of Alph?"
"I read about them in a book once," He explained as the kids stopped at the entrance of one stone house. Julia touched one of the stone walls to feel its texture. Like normal rocks, they were hard and bumpy, with her fingers catching some of the gravel. "These ruins have been around for thousands of years, probably since the Earth was created," Tsubasa and Ravenclaw returned to their trainers as they arrived. Caiseal sent out Apollo to light up the inside of the stone house.
As they went inside, the corridor stretched farther than they could see, even with Apollo's flame lighting it up. Perrine found herself trembling. "These ruins...they're kinda creepy…"
"Really? I think they're kinda cool," Julia replied matter-of-factly. All of a sudden, she and Hikaru stopped. The yellow mouse's ears twitched. "Guys. Wait. Do you hear that?"
At first, Perrine and Caiseal didn't hear anything. After taking a few more steps, faint human voices echoed in the corridor. On one of the walls, a large hieroglyph glowed in a soft purple light before a black and white pokemon popped off.
"This is great! This is so great! Margeaux, do you know how happy J will be if we take these to her?!" A man's voice exclaimed.
"I know, Yannick! We'll get a raise for sure!"
"Chokiiiiiii!"
Julia heard the cry. It was Tokiko for sure. Caiseal donned a serious expression. "We're not wasting any time. Apollo, use Ember!"
"Quiiiil!" Running down the corridor, Apollo shot forth a barrage of tiny orange flames. Margeaux and Yannick were quick to evade the attack. One of the flames managed to hit the box trapping Saoirse and Tokiko, particularly the grey one. The flame broke it into pieces, and the glowing walls trapping Saoirse and Tokiko inside disappeared into thin air. Seeing the kids before them was enough to make the two fairies run right toward them.
"Saoirse! Tokiko!" The fairies leaped into Julia's arms, and she laughed and cried, embracing her two friends like she had been separated from them for centuries. "You're okay! Thank Arceus!"
"Hey! Those are our property!" Yannick roared with a crack of his whip.
Property. The word made nothing but rage run through the kids' veins. Team Rocket. Of course they thought pokemon were their property. Even so, thinking of them like that was just too cruel. Degrading, even. What gave them the right to think pokemon were property? To talk about them like they were inanimate objects with no feelings?
"You'd better stay out of our way!" Margeaux threw a pokeball, and out came a teal pokemon that looked like an oversized pine cone. Yannick threw a pokeball and out came a humanoid pokemon with grey skin, red eyes, and three tan horns on its head.
"Machop! Use Karate Chop!"
"Pineco! Use Tackle!"
"Tokiko, knock them all out with Dazzling Gleam!"
"Apollo, use Ember again!"
Apollo began the fight by shooting tiny flames at the pokemon like before. The pine cone, Pineco, dodged them all by rolling all over the place before hitting the fiery anteater with its body. Machop swiped at little Tokiko with one hand, trying desperately to land even the smallest hit on her. Since Tokiko was small and agile, however, she successfully evaded every attack by hopping around one one foot like an experienced ballet dancer. Once Machop stopped to catch his breath, Tokiko's body glowed in a radiant pink light that blinded him and the Team Rocket goons.
More black and white pokemon began peeling off of the walls, not that anyone paid any attention. "You kids messed with the wrong crooks!" Yannick roared. "Machop, use Low Kick!"
"Maaaachop!" Once Apollo stopped bombarding Margeaux and pineco with Ember, machop knocked Apollo off his feet with one kick. Tokiko tried to headbutt the grey creature, but pineco headbutted her right back, sending her flying. Tsubasa lost her patience as she flew over to the Team Rocket goons and pecked their faces over and over. Tsubasa even went as far as to pull on their cheeks with her beak.
"YEOOOOOWCH! Scram, you pesky bird!" Yannick cracked his whip at the little pidgey, who evaded it like it was as easy as sliding on the ice.
Normally, Julia would scold Tsubasa for this, as she had done so before. In this case, however, she didn't say a word. In fact, she smiled gleefully as she watched Tsubasa torture the Team Rocket goons. In her mind, anyone who dared to refer to her precious pokemon as property deserved Tsubasa's wrath. Despite being adults, they weren't people who deserved any kind of respect from her.
"Quiiiiiil!" Apollo let out a shrill cry, scaring the pineco and machop into covering their ears. Julia did the same. However, Yannick was not deterred. He loomed over the fiery anteater, his whip raised in the air, ready for lashing.
A shiver of fear ran through Caiseal's body. If that white clad man lashed his pokemon...No! He couldn't let Apollo get hurt, or even die! "APOLLO!" The blonde boy leaped in between the whip and the anteater. Yannick didn't even hold back. Julia could only fall to her knees with her hands over her ears as Yannick's whip lashed Caiseal's back.
"Caiseal!" Perrine yelled.
The whip sliced the back of Caiseal's shirt open. The boy laid on top of the frightened Apollo as the burning sensation ran through his back. Margeaux found herself frozen in place, eyes wide with fear and jaw open, unable to breathe. Yannick stared down at the boy with an icy stare. "You made a mistake in getting in my way, you stupid child," Yannick whispered with a growl as he made the whip descend down on the boy three more times. Each time, Caiseal let out pained cries.
"STOP HURTING HIM!" Julia wailed. Margeaux looked away, disgusted by the sight.
All Apollo could do was stare at Caiseal with fright. Caiseal was letting himself be hurt for Apollo's sake. Already, the anteater's mind went back to that fateful day, when Caiseal came into Professor Elm's lab. He didn't even look at totodile or chikorita. The first thing the two saw was each other. Caiseal didn't even so much as glance at anyone else.
Caiseal had held his hand out for Apollo to sniff. "Hey there, little guy. Would you like to be my friend?"
The anteater thought his ears were playing tricks on him. Every time a trainer came by, the anteater had hoped they would pick him. But they always picked either the jolly totodile or the gentle chikorita, and it wounded his heart every time. Every night, Apollo would cry himself to sleep. Nobody picked him. He was sure nobody wanted him, a mousy, timid little cyndaquil, and yet...here Caiseal was, choosing him like it was the most normal thing in the world. Apollo didn't hesitate, and leaped into Caiseal's arms without a second thought.
"Can I give you a name? It'll make you feel more...individual, y'know? How about Apollo? Like the ancient God of the sun?"
God of the sun. Apollo. He took to it within seconds. Apollo was absolutely perfect. That was when he vowed to become strong. To shine bright like the flames on his back. Like the sun, even. Shine a light on the darkness and make everyone happy, especially Caiseal.
Fear morphed into anger. Blazing flames, like the sun, his namesake. How dare this evil man beat his trainer? Apollo's rage made his body glow in a white light. He crawled out from underneath Caiseal and slammed right into Yannick, sending the whip right out of his hand. But the light didn't stop shining. Apollo's body grew longer, stopping at Caiseal's waist. His arms and legs increased in length, and the light dissipated. Apollo still looked like...well, Apollo, but his eyes were open. Fiery red eyes shined like the flames on his neck and rear end. He still had his yellow and dark blue fur, but he gained longer arms, legs, and a set of pointed ears. Yannick took two steps back as the flames on Apollo's back blazed.
"Lavaaaaaa!" Apollo hissed.
Even Julia was pulled out of her fright. Caiseal stammered as he got back on his feet with a bright smile on his face. "Apollo! You evolved, buddy!"
Perrine pulled out her PokeDex. "Quilava, the volcano pokemon," Julia couldn't help but think Apollo looked absolutely nothing like a volcano. Volcanoes were large mountains that spewed fire, and Apollo was not a volcano. To her, Apollo looked more like a large gopher. Who classified a quilava as a volcano, anyway? "Its body is covered with fire-proof fur and can withstand any Fire-type attack. Quilava keeps its foes at bay with the intensity of its flames and gusts of superheated air. This Pokémon applies its outstanding nimbleness to dodge attacks even while scorching the foes with flames."
Before long, Apollo's body became consumed by red hot flames. The giant gopher rolled toward Margeaux and Yannick, sending a trail of fire their way. Yannick and Margeaux were quick to dodge it, but pineco and machop weren't so lucky. Apollo came so fast, the two were unable to dodge. Both machop and pineco were thrown against the hieroglyphed walls.
"Awesome! You learned Flame Wheel!" Caiseal cheered as Apollo returned to his side.
"Quila!"
"Don't think you've woooon!" Yannick roared, pulling out his whip once more. Julia flung her arms around Perrine. Tokiko and Apollo adopted battle stances once more.
Then it happened. Yannick's body froze. A purple light surrounded him, Margeaux, and their pokemon. "Unoooooooown…" High pitched voices drew the kids to the walls around them. Black pokemon with huge white eyes surrounded the two Team Rocket grunts, their irises glowing in purple lights.
"What's...going on…?!" Yannick croaked.
"It's...these pokemon!" Margeaux hissed.
"Machop!"
"Pineco pineco!"
Neither of them stood a chance. All of them were consumed by light before they disappeared. With this, the battle was over. Julia looked up to get a better looked at the pokemon that came to their rescue. They didn't look like anything special. They looked more like oversized letters with one eye. There were six of them shaped like the following letters: A, O, D, W, I, and P.
"Did you...save us?" Julia asked. The A shaped pokemon nodded before squeaking, "Unown!"
Caiseal pulled out his PokeDex to examine them. "Unown, the symbol pokemon. Unown have the power to perceive the feelings of other creatures, including human beings. Because of their very timid and careful character, Unown do not want to go out to the external world. This Pokémon is shaped like ancient writing. It is a mystery as to which came first, the ancient writings or the various Unown. Research into this topic is ongoing but nothing is known," The PokeDex didn't display any gender sign.
"Thanks for helping us out," Perrine said as the O-shaped unown floated into her arms. "You're so cute!"
"Unoown!" The D shaped unown squeaked.
"This one says they don't like it when people come in to capture them or mess with the ruins," Julia explained.
"Wait, what?" Caiseal raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"
"Just go with it," Perrine advised.
The unowns floated around and squeaked in high pitched voices, as though they were telling them something. Julia listened intently, without interruption. "They want us to leave the ruins and not tell anyone about them. They don't like dealing with people," Julia bowed before them. "We apologize for trespassing. We'll leave you guys alone, we promise."
With this, the letter shaped pokemon returned to their places on the walls. Caiseal kneeled down to Apollo's level and stroke his head gently. The gopher smiled, basking in his trainer's affection. "Thanks, buddy. You're the best."
"Caiseal!" Julia looked at the welts on his back. "You might need a doctor. Those look painful."
"Nah. This is nothing."
"I'm serious! You might bleed out!"
Julia dragged them out of the ruins, as per Unown's wishes, and looked around to see if any hospitals were nearby. "Julia. I'm fine. It's not as bad as it looks," Caiseal said. "And what was that earlier? You acted like you knew what the Unown were saying."
"That's because I can understand what pokemon say!"
"Huuuh?"
Perrine whispered, "I'll explain later," Even so, the fact that Saoirse and Tokiko were safe was good enough for them. Still, questions lingered in Caiseal's mind.
So...you know how in the old games when you'd talk to Bill in Goldenrod and he'd give you an Eevee? I'm thinking about making Eevee appear in some upcoming chapters, but I don't know. With this, I posted a new poll! Should I give Julia an Eevee or not?
Random fact: Caiseal is named after Caiseal Mor, an Australian/Irish fantasy novel writer and musician, who happens to be autistic. The name Caiseal is Gaelic for "great stone fort." (And yes, I am rearranging their parties so as to make them easier to read down below)
Julia's Party:
Hikaru (Shiny Pichu, Female, Jolly Nature)
Ability: Static
Attacks: Thundershock, Disarming Voice, Sweet Kiss, Tail Whip
Tokiko (Togepi, Female, Hardy Nature)
Ability: Serene Grace
Attacks: Extrasensory, Headbutt, Dazzling Gleam, Protect
Tsubasa (Pidgey, Female, Naughty Nature)
Ability: Keen Eye
Attacks: Gust, Sand Attack, Wing Attack, Tackle
Saoirse (Snubbull, Female, Gentle Nature)
Ability: Intimidate
Attacks: Ice Fang, Bite, Lick, and Scary Face
Ladybug (Ledyba, Female, Timid Nature)
Ability: Early Bird
Attacks: Tackle, Comet Punch, Flash, and Safeguard
Blossom (Oddish, Female, Docile Nature)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Attacks: Acid, Poison Powder, Stun Spore, and Mega Drain
Perrine's Party:
Kitsune (Vulpix, Female, Quiet Nature)
Ability: Flash Fire
Attacks: Flamethrower, Extrasensory, Confuse Ray, and Faint Attack
Florian (Chikorita, Male, Gentle Nature)
Ability: Overgrow
Attacks: Razor Leaf, Tackle, Growl, and Poison Powder
Fuwari (Skiploom, Female, Relaxed Nature)
Ability: Leaf Guard
Attacks: Tackle, Fairy Wind, Bullet Seed, and Sleep Powder
Chirin (Mareep, Male, Adamant Nature)
Ability: Static
Attacks: Thundershock, Charge, Cotton Spore, and Tackle
Baloo (Jigglypuff, Female, Docile Nature)
Ability: Cute Charm
Attacks: Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Disarming Voice, and Round
Fukuro (Hoothoot, Male, Sassy Nature)
Ability: Tinted Lens
Attacks: Confusion, Peck, Hypnosis, and Echoed Voice
Caiseal's Party:
Mallow (Cubone, Male, Lax Nature)
Ability: Lightning Rod
Attacks: Bonemerang, Bone Club, Headbutt, Growl
Apollo (Quilava, Male, Bold Nature)
Ability: Blaze
Attacks: Flame Wheel, Tackle, Quick Attack, and Smokescreen
Flippy (Quagsire, Female, Jolly Nature)
Ability: Damp
Attacks: Water Gun, Mud Bomb, Mud Slap, and Slam)
Ravenclaw (Murkrow, Female, Hardy Nature)
Ability: Super Luck
Attacks: Wing Attack, Night Shade, Dark Pulse, and Haze
Viole (Oddish, Male, Quirky Nature)
Ability: Chlorophyll
Attacks: Acid, Stun Spore, Sleep Powder, and Sweet Scent
Geo (Geodude, Male, Brave Nature)
Ability: Sturdy
Attacks: Tackle, Rock Throw, Rock Polish, and Defense Curl