Voyage / Lost Between Two Horizons / Eaten By the Distance
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"I can't… no… it's not possible… everything… it was… oh hell…" a man, who looked rather ludicrous, with his jelled back chestnut hair and fancy attire, was pacing frantically around the corner, barely visible through the thicket of trees. Xyza rubbed her forehead & steadied herself up to see there was no shrine in sight. Had she dreamt it all? Xyza shook her head and span around in a befuddled manner.
"What in the…"
The man butted in front of her, oblivious to everything, continuing to talk to himself. "I can't believe… they can't steal my… I have to… to hide… why now… why…" He tripped over a thick stick between them on the ground, flailing recklessly into Xyza.
"WHA-OW!" She cried, startled, as the man's burly body crashed into hers.
Xyza wasn't exactly paying attention, for her mind was rather jumbled with thoughts; where was she to find Brendan, & how, & what exactly had happened to her earlier, was it all a dream or not? Nevertheless, they went tumbling over each other. Xyza pushed the man off and scrambled a few inches away as he grunted.
"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU PERV!" The man just glanced at her blandly. His formerly jelled back mane was hanging dejectedly over his overwrought face.
"It… was… an accident… you see…" He began to crawl upwards but a shiny, onyx boot, with acute spikes on the side, crushed him down. Xyza looked up at the owner of the boot, to see a man clothed in a black and blue robe. His face was covered with a hood from the robe as well, but what she could make out of his face had pure consternation; he did not look friendly at all. He frowned forebodingly & kicked the ludicrous man over, placing the heavy boot on his skinny, pale neck.
"You have something I want."
The first man gulped. "No… no… you don't understand… someone else has tried to take… take it from me…"
The other, vile, one pressed his boot deeper into the first man's throat.
"Tell me were it is. Tell me where the Devon Goods are, Talon."
"How… how do you know my…"
He threw his head up in a menacing laugh. "Do you know who I am? Maybe that would hint you… or hinder." His boorish voice deepened smugly.
"Well maybe if you lifted up that stupid hood up over your face he could." Xyza blurted out. She had had enough of this guy. He kept his position on the unfortunate Talon, yet he still zipped his livid expression towards her.
"Who are you exactly? One of Magma's fiends?"
Xyza blinked. "What's a Magma? Is it like a Poochyena?"
He laughed cruelly again, stomping over to her. "No, no, that's not right. You're much too young… and stupid…" He suspended. "Unless… unless, you are a decoy in disguise…" He seemed to ignore that thought & proceeded on with his task.
"Little girl, see that man?" He growled at her seriously, pointing at Talon.
"Yep, of course I do, you dumbshit. I knew you were there when we toppled over each other… at least… I'm pretty sure you were, since people like you just don't decide to pop out of nowhere, you wait in the dark and all… but yeah, more precisely if I think about it, Talon… if that's his name… toppled over me first… I was just looking for my friend… and um… um…"
Xyza guzzled and tried to give her nicest smile as the man held a sword up to her throat. She could see up his sleeve, his skinny arm had surprisingly bulky muscles protruding from his skin, which scared her half to death.
"Um… excuse… me… man… sir… uh… could you please… uh… take the sword away from my throat… those happen to be vital organs you know… ok… please…" Xyza flailed her hands in the air, but he didn't move a muscle. "Well… um… could you… just… leave that dude and me alone? We're just regular people… please… we don't have anything you need… want…"
"Listen here, little girl. You better quit being a smart ass with me. I have a mission that will benefit many others & myself, possibly including you. I will kill you if you stand in my way, you don't matter a thing to me. Got it?"
Normally Xyza was stubborn about her own way, but she wasn't going to get murdered over it. She narrowed her brows at him. "Fine."
He poked the weapon a bit deeper into her flesh with the tip, and then strode away, back to Talon.
"I…" he opened up his cape, revealing a Zubat hidden under his robe, and then closed it back up. He whipped his sword around lethally in the air, jeering with grand pride. "….I am Avalos, from Team Aqua." He pointed his blade at Xyza and lowered his eyes. "I summon you to a battle."
"TEAM AQUA!" Talon opened his mouth in surprise, and scrambled towards Xyza. "What… what could you possibly want from that girl… from… me? Why the Devon Goods? Why…" He scoffed. "…you're just a grunt. What is your business with the Devon Corporation?"
Avalos scowled and gritted his teeth. "That matter is not important. Archie, the master of the glorious, all vigorous Team Aqua, sent me on a mission, and it is my job to fulfill it. As of the girl…" he eyed her suspiciously. "She obviously means something to you. If I can destroy her, you can surrender to me."
Talon laughed nervously. "Oh no, no, I don't even know her. You can have the girl, I don't care." Xyza gave Talon a defiant stare, and Avalos smiled cunningly.
"Well, then, that makes things much easier. I can just kill you, since this girl doesn't know you, or care, either, I presume." Talon wheezed at the same time Xyza snorted. "If you want the whatever-it-is Goods so badly, why didn't you just kill him in the first place instead of waiting until now?"
Avalos smirked and dug his sword into the dirt, with his two hands placed superciliously over the golden handle. "Well now, what kind of gentleman wouldn't introduce himself before killing his prey?"
Talon's eyes widened & he fell flat on his back, even though he was already crouched up on the forest floor. Xyza wanted him to have a taste of his own medicine, but she was sure that this Team Aqua, whoever they were, had bad intentions. She brought out her Mudkip and sighed.
"Last time I checked, gentleman didn't kill people… oh damnit. I'll battle you, Avalos. Bring it on!" She had no idea how to battle, but it was worth a shot. Xyza strongly despised people that had major ego trips, like Brendan, which reminded her…
Avalos had a smug look on his face as he sent his Zubat forth. "Well, well. What a nice pokemon. I bet it's rare." His Zubat began spitting poison darts at Mudkip, and Mudkip tried her best to dodge them.
"You sure say well a lot…" She stepped back a bit from the pokemon battle. "Anyways, what do you mean it's rare?" Xyza questioned as Mudkip spewed muck at the bat creature. "I know, yeah, there's only one of it, as far as Brendan told me, but rare? It's so small!" Avalos laughed. "My girl, small it may be, but when it grows… hmm, yes. Child, if there is only one like it, it is rare. Do you not know the definition of rare?" Zubat sent some sort of supersonic wave at Mudkip, but it missed. Avalos sneered. "You must be more stupid than I thought."
Mudkip raced up to the Zubat and scratched it up fairly well, and after a matter of moments, the bat creature fell to it's fate, thin lines of wet blood seeping from the little scars Xyza's pokemon had made. Avalos didn't seem devastated. He simply called back his pokemon and bowed.
"You have beat me. Well done."
Talon stood up by Xyza and clung to her like a ravenous leech. She shoved him off and murmured to him coarsely. "Cut it out! You're older than me! Stop being such a big baby!"
Xyza stepped towards Avalos and snapped her fingers "Boo-Yah Avalos!" He nodded swiftly and walked over to Talon, grabbing him by the shirt collar.
"We aren't through with you yet." Avalos whispered vigorously in his ear. Xyza meanwhile, picked up her pokemon and held her up in the air for a few seconds (AN: –lion king moment- hahaha) before putting her on the ground and patting her on the head.
"Nice job, Mudkip."
Avalos stood there in the distance, watching as Talon clutched his chest gratefully, relieved (for now) and glanced at Xyza who was putting her Mudkip back in its ball. He cowered his brow. "Until our next meet…" Avalos turned around, facing the exit of the forest.
"You shall not recognize me."
X
"Um… ok… you're welcome?" Xyza replied a tad too late, and spun around in circles.
"Oh, crap. How the hell am I supposed to get out of here?" Xyza looked for a sign or some sort of exit somewhere, but she couldn't seem to find anything other than dirt and weeds.
"Gah I hate being lost… AHHHH! OHMYRAYQUAZAOHMYRAYQUAZA WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING? YIEEEEEE!" A worm like pokemon with yellow spores and an orange and white body slinked up her leg, leaving a gooey, stringy substance behind it, much like a slug. She tried kicking it off, but it seemed to take a liking to her.
"MUDKIPMUDKIP!" Xyza cried as she struggled to find its pokeball. She found it, and brought her only pokemon out, cringing in fear and disgust.
"Okay girl, get this weird… slug thing away from me…PRONTO!" A passer by in a yellow shirt, tacky teal shorts, and a straw hat carrying a bug net laughed and stood in front of her.
"Hello. I'm James." He smiled and saw the confused Mudkip standing by Xyza's side, most likely thinking her trainer was only in need of some company. James scratched his chin. "You must be new to pokemon, huh?" Xyza just looked at him strange as the bug pokemon clung to her thigh.
"You are. I can tell." He paused and bent over to take a good look at the bug. Xyza flinched, hardly thinking if he was looking up her skirt or not, she was more concerned about the bug; bugs were her on her top ten weaknesses.
"Ah, a Wurmple!" James tried to poke it, but Xyza bolted her knee at his wrist.
"Ouch! Alright, alright, I'll leave it alone…" He kept examining it even so.
"You better man, you better." If that guy tries to get fresh again, I'll kick his nose off instead. Xyza smiled at the thought.
"Interesting pokemon, Wurmples are, yes." He stood up and grinned immensely. "They really aren't that feeble of a creature either, at least, once they evolve!" James erupted into laughter. Xyza raised an eyebrow in question, as she couldn't find anything funny about a pokemon that evolves, since most of them did anyway. He reached behind his back and grabbed something. He then held out his bug net like he expected Xyza to jump in it.
"Mind if I take this fellow from you? I collect bug pokemon, and since this little guy looks friendly, I'd appreciate if you let me take him off your hands. I'd hate to hurt another one I may find in order to catch it." Xyza squinted at him. "Oh no, you are NOT touching my legs!" James looked surprised for a second and then laughed again. "Oh my, what an expression!" Xyza blinked and relaxed her face, rubbing her cheeks with her hands to try to soften up the muscles.
"Thurfs nufling wrung wif mufh fdace…" Xyza told James while still massaging her cheeks, making it sound like she had either lost all her teeth or was chewing something.
"No, of course not." He smiled, yet again, and she stopped massaging her cheeks. "Um…ok...?" James sighed. "Don't worry, I'm not going to touch you or anything like that, but my net might. Just let me have the Wurmple crawl into this cradle here, and I'll be on my way. Sound good to you?" She squinted her eyes again.
"Sure, but only if you can show me out of this god-awful forest, and into Rustboro, before you go 'on your way' or whatever you said." James put his net on her thigh as it started to move again, thankfully into his net.
"Gotchya!" He grinned and pulled out a pokeball, which zapped the Wurmple immediately. Xyza rubbed her forehead.
"Um… ok… so… are you going to…" "This way." James mentioned his hand forward and began walking north. Xyza followed him, her Mudkip trailing at her ankles, drooping a bit.
"I really need to rest once I get into the city…" Xyza mumbled to herself, trying to steady her posture as she picked up Mudkip, clutching the pokemon to her chest with both arms.
"Hey James, Rustburo is a big city right?" James glimpsed at her with wide eyes. "Oh yes, one of the biggest in all of Hoenn, aside from perhaps Lilycove and Slateport, but you are far from either of those places." Xyza groaned. "Gah. I hope I can find a place to stay…" "I'm fairly sure you can find a place to stay at." Xyza groaned again. James gave her a concerned look as she swayed around, trying to walk straight.
"You ok? You look worn out to the bone." Xyza shook her head. "No. My life has gotten freaky-crazy in the past few days, ever since I moved here…" She trailed off and they walked the rest of the way in silence.
X
"Welcome to Rustburo!" A man wearing a maroon suit, similar to Talon's royal blue one, opened up the front gates. He smiled at Xyza and James, just a bit too cheerily, his pearl white teeth shining in the bright sunlight.
"Hey!" Xyza perked up and bopped her head around, peering into the man's mouth. "I can see myself in your teeth!" He closed his mouth and backed up a bit. "Err, yes, very well. Come on in." He put his arm around her waist and ushered her into the city. Xyza turned around, smiling, and waved appreciatively at James; he returned the favor. She watched as the iron gate shut behind her, and James, most likely, walked back to where he was in the first place. The man wearing the maroon suit cleared his throat.
"Might this perhaps be your first visit to Rustburo?"
Xyza pushed him away tentatively. "Um, yes, but I'm only here for a short while. I'm actually looking for someone." He was about to conduct her to the pokemon center at seeing her bruised Mudkip, when someone who looked vaguely familiar ran by and pushed the escort away, panting heavily.
"HEY! YOUNG GIRL!" He ran up to Xyza and started shaking her shoulders violently and screaming in her face. It was Talon. Big surprise. The escort just flinched, watching Talon throw a bitch fit.
"THEY STOLE IT! THEY STOLE IT! OH NO, OH NO…" He kept hold on her shoulders, but flopped his head down and made crying sounds.
"Wow. Um, I'm sorry?" He shot his head back up and started shaking Xyza again. "What the hell am I supposed to do about it? Huh? I don't have a pokemon! I can't battle that man in the blue robe! WHAT AM I SUPPOSED TO DO?" Xyza puffed her cheeks in, rather annoyed.
"Ok, first of all… SHUT THE HELL UP!" Xyza screeched and pushed him off of her. He stood there somewhat depressed-like. "Second of all, what did this man steal? Was it the same dude as before? What's his face, um, Avanto? Avaton? Afrelon? Afeeros?" Talon shook his head.
"Oh, I don't know. He was wearing the same thing, but he was a bit shorter… kind of… chubbier…" He sighed deeply. "He stole what that other man was looking for earlier. It's crucial, so crucial, you have no idea…" Talon grimaced, but then sprung up quickly in excitement, an enormous grin spreading from ear to ear.
"I KNOW!" He cheered and began shaking Xyza again, who was becoming rather dizzy. "YOU CAN GO GET IT FOR ME!" He stopped once more, and Xyza cringed, up-tightly, as the escort scooted away subtly from the drama scene.
"Huh? Why should I do that? You can do it yourself, for Rayquazas-sakes." Talon ignored her statement and pointed farther north.
"Just keep going up that way until the black gate ends, and the marble turns into grass, and then turn eastward towards the Rusturf Tunnel. That man couldn't have got too far, there are too many workers and he looks suspicious enough. Would you do this for me… for the Devon Corporation, please?" She blinked.
"Um, if there are workers there, can't they do it?" Talon glowered.
"Just, please, do it. It's very important that we have that package and that it gets delivered. If someone potentially evil has it, what could possibly happen?" Xyza sighed, rolled her eyes, and buried her face into her palms.
"Gah. Ok, ok, I'll do it. What kind of package is it?" Talon turned his gaze westward, toward the Devon Corporation building. "Hurry up. There isn't alot of time left." Xyza growled to herself. She really disliked this Talon guy, but he seemed pretty desperate; so, she decided to be saintly and help him.
"Here I come, Rusturf Tunnel. Hope you're ready."
X
A man with a white bandana and spiky red hair carrying a yellow drill walked by Xyza and halted in front of her.
"Excuse me, darling, but this site is off limits to civilians. You see, we are trying to build a passageway here to Vanderturf, but there have been a few disturbances… lately… anyhow, can I help you?" He grunted as he handed off the drill to another worker.
"Um… yes… can you tell me where Rusturf Tunnel is? I'm supposed to get something from a guy in a blue robe… did you see anyone like that pass through here?" The worker laughed, throwing his head back. He wiped the bridge of his nose with a sweaty bronze palm.
"No, I haven't. He must've taken the high road. Sneaky little bastard." He began to laugh again, until a cat like pokemon started prancing around his feet.
"Oh shit! A wild pokemon on the construction site!" He started spinning his head in all sorts of directions. Mudkip jumped out of Xyza's arms and went to sniff the little creature. Xyza bit her lip.
"Is that a problem or something? I mean dude, what do you expect… those things are like everywhere and stuff…" He held his fist up inches away from her face. "Listen you, if you can get that pokemon away from here, I'll let you pass through to Rusturf Tunnel. I'd rather have you go to an off-limit site then see a little harmless Skitty get crushed." Xyza stood still for a moment, and then turned to face her Mudkip and the Skitty playing around together. Xyza picked up Mudkip again, even as it struggled, and tried to shoo the peach colored cat creature away.
"Go on, nice Skitty… bye-bye now… HEY! MUDKIP! OUCH! THAT HURT DAMNIT!" Xyza nurtured her throbbing arm that Mudkip had bitten as Mudkip jumped out of her grasp once more. She continued to play with the Skitty as Xyza, clutching her turnip red limb, snarled.
"Fine, little pokemon, if you don't want to go nicely, I'll have to get rid of you another way." She brought out a pokeball and slammed it at the Skitty. The sphere rotated and glowed for a few minutes, and finally stopped. She had another companion with her.
"Yeesh, thank Rayquaza that worked." She turned around to see the worker observing her. "Um…"
"Alright. You and your Mudkip can go through. Hurry up though," he shouted at her as she skipped to the cave, "or else you could get hurt!"
Xyza heeded his warning and traveled into the dark, mysterious Rusturf Tunnel without any concern except to find that package for Talon, and to get her ass out of Rustboro.
X
"What kind of weird place is this?"
"Rusturf Tunnel, if you must know. I'm sure you came from Rustboro, you couldn't have just dropped out of thin air, even someone as beautiful as you." Xyza spun around to see a Brendan grinning roguishly with a hand through his hair, as usual. Xyza gritted her teeth and spoon-fed a mouthful of questions at him.
"BRENDAN BIRCH! YOU COULDN'T TELL IT WAS ME FROM THE BACK? GODAMN IDIOT, AND WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU? YOU RAN AWAY FROM ME AND I GOT LOST! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE ANYWAYS? IT'S OFF LIMITS!" Brendan's cheeks turned red and he almost toppled over, tripping backwards as she shouted directly in his face, inching closer with every question.
"Xyza?" He waddled to her once she backed off, and he regained his balance. Brendan blinked, in a confused yet smug manner. "What do you mean, what am I doing here? What are you doing here?" Xyza huffed and crossed her arms.
"I happen to be looking for some… guy… yea… in a blue robe who claims he's part of Team Aqua. He stole something important from the Devon Corporation, and the task was handed over to me to take care of." Brendan looked at her like she just came back from a roundtrip to Mars.
"Wait… did you say… Team Aqua…"
"Yep."
"Devon Corporation…wants…"
"Uh-huh."
"Important… mission…you?"
"Yo, man, do I need to speak in another language? Coma Estas? Bien? Ok, Brendan el-retard-o. Si. Importante. Yes, I'm serious; I was given an important mission to take care of. What's your deal?" Xyza bit her tongue, and Brendan scoffed, running his hand through his hair another time.
"No way. That can't be. Why would someone from such an eminent corporation want your help? You're nothing but… a novice. What's so great about you?" Xyza slammed her right fist into her left palm.
"Like hell I'm a novice! So are you, mister Birch. If you had stuck with me, and not ran away like the bastard you are, maybe you could understand why I have to do this. It's not like I wanted to or anything. Rayquaza, I'd probably let you do it, but the guy this mysterious person stole from keeps breathing down my neck just because I saved him once from another Team Aqua dude in the Petalburg Woods, and…"
"Hold it, hold it, hold it. Let me comprehend your blabber. You said… you fought a member of Team Aqua?"
Xyza nodded and Brendan frowned for a spilt second.
"How in Rayquaza…"
A man in a blue robe jumped lock on in front of the two quarreling teens.
"HIYAH!" He was holding a minor switchblade in his left hand, and had a pokemon, a Grimer to be exact, by his other. He grumbled. "Excuse me, I happen to believe you two are in my… way." The guy lifted his hood, revealing a brown, receding hairline; he was rather pale, and the same height as Xyza, who was tall for a girl, but short for a full grown man such as this. He squinted at the pair.
"Step aside, young trainers… or I shall have to deal with you otherwise. It won't be pleasant." Xyza snorted as Brendan took the honor of going up to the mysterious male and protecting Xyza, holding her behind him. Xyza, however, tried to bite him numerous times, as this was her task, and she didn't need this doofus screwing it up. Brendan just ignored her coolly.
"What's your name, shorty?" The man gave him an offensive glare and growled. "That is none of your business. Besides, I wouldn't be calling me names if I were you, pussy." Brendan was about to pursue more questions, and probably fist this guy, when Xyza punched him in the middle of his spine. She was finally able to take care of her own business.
"Thanks Brendan, how noble of you." She smiled sadistically as he stifled his back in anguish. "I can really take care of myself you know, though, so you just relax and take care of yourself, ok? Right." Xyza stopped grinning and turned to face the Team Aqua member.
"Um, ok, hi. Uh…"
"Hi." He mocked her. "What do you want? I can crush you and your friend in a second, if you two aren't able to abide by my request." He paused to grimace and mumble spitefully. "Get out of my way, please." He struggled to say the last part, obviously why he was in a scheming team as it were. Xyza clenched her jaw and marched closer to him.
"Nuh-uh, buddy, it's not going to work that way. You have something that I need back…so, um, I think, that since it doesn't belong to you, you should give it back… like I just said…um…and why do you really need it anyways? It's not like it's a billion dollars or something…"
He doubled over, cackling. "You must be joking. Why would I give it to you? My… pardon, Team Aqua's business with the Devon Goods is not of your concern, nor is it wise of you to meddle…"
Xyza brought out her Skitty and had it shoot little beams resembling stars at his face. He bended backwards in distress, eyes broad with ire.
"Goddamn!" He snarled and regained his posture. "GRIMER!" The smelly, gooey pokemon slinked its way towards him. "Use mud-slap on that Skitty, there, now!" Grimer and Skitty engaged in a tough battle as Xyza started to attack this man for the Goods.
"Are you a –grunt- member of Team Magma, -grunt- perhaps?" He pushed Xyza off him and attempted to throw his switchblade in her throat, but she dodged it. Brendan picked it up as they continued to fight, they being rather unaware of his own plan.
"Someone –ugh- had already asked me that –heave- before…" She rolled under his grasp and stabilized herself behind a rock. She huffed a hefty scoop of air; fighting took up plenty of energy.
"I don't even know what the hell Team Magma is!" He jumped over the boulder and grabbed her throat; Xyza gurgled, gasping for air.
"Don't lie to me, and I'll let you go." She said nothing. He tightened his grip. "So, now you want to put up a fight? Hah, you must be a member of Team Magma… otherwise, you wouldn't bother trying to take this from me! Why don't you be a good little girl and leave me alone, yes? It won't count against you, I promise." Xyza tried to kick his crotch, but he dodged and pinned her flat against the cavern wall.
His wrinkled, tense face pressed into hers as he hissed, bolting her in a position where she couldn't move. She was able to glance at her Skitty and the Grimer; both looked in fairly bad shape. She tried to scream out to Brendan, wherever the hell he was, probably ran away again, but the Team Aqua grunt pressed his palm over her lips, his right hand still locking her to the wall.
"I'll say it again… tell me who…where…ugh…ah…" His grip tightened immensely for a split second, only to fall apart limply, his black, coldhearted eyes rolling back into his head. The man, with an opened, drooling mouth, receded into the mud and rock, dead. Xyza saw dark blood seeping onto the floor, flowing like a little river in drought. She dared not to look up, but couldn't stop herself from finding out who had saved her this time. James, again? One of the workers, or that wacko guide in Rustboro? Perhaps, but what would see, she could never believe that person was her savior.
Brendan Birch.