Pokémon: Mewtwo and the Mysteries of Life
Chapter Five: A New Family
Seeing my island, even from a distance, as we took a sharp turn past it and towards the east to the small port of what was really known as Stone Town (not Stone City), it made me feel strange despite being away from it for almost a year. It was almost like its own landmark, a definite feeling I would somehow meet, again, in the definite future, a memory where it all began – at least for me. Forgetting it for now, I enjoyed the feel of the waves on my face as we sped over the water at a safe enough speed. Riding against the tide, It took most of the morning to sail over the stretch of ocean that separated the two islands and into the main lands of Kanto, but even Mr. Matsui was happy for the change of view as he made that clear from before. Looking over the waves and the incoming shores, I realized one thing – there was a lot of my region I never really got the chance to see before, and I couldn't wait to experience it.
"Careful stepping off the gangplank when we get to the dock," Mr. Matsui said, hauling out the rope from under the seat and unwrapping it as he looked up at me, seeing that I was watching him out of curiosity. Twirling it a bit in his hands as he made a loop, he lassoed it and expertly grab ahold of a post that was nearby and pulled it tight as a couple of younger men came over to help steady the small speed boat as it came to a smooth stop along the pier.
With Flasho letting me hold onto his side for balance, I took my first step out of the boat and found that I was a little wobbly when I stepped onto the plank that was to get across. Helping to steady me by gently taking ahold of my other hand and my side, Mr. Matsui then said, "Whoa there, take it nice and slow. There's no hurry. Just one step at a time. There you go."
Making it across and onto the dock, Nari came down from where she was holding onto my right shoulder and shook herself dry from the sea spray that we got from the ride here. 'Eev, Ee-vey!' Nari complained, shaking a bit from side to side, completely soaked, spraying droplets all over Flasho as he only shook his head and walked ahead to gingerly avoid any more water. Giggling at his expression, Nari calmed down only for her neck fur to puff out in the wind. Laughing and a bit amused myself, I smirked at the sight of Nari's poofy fur as I only lowered myself down to meet her at her level and to help smooth them down for a second.
Looking up, I saw a lady with long green hair, which was tied back in a long yet cascading tail that looked like it was held up by a golden knot tie, and that was dressed in a pink knee-length outfit scan the crowd. Seeing us, she waved and started to make her way over to us, a Venonat at her side keeping pace with her as they came closer.
"Mr. Matsui, who's that?" I asked, seeing him smile and wave back at her. "She's coming over this way."
"That's my wife, Aya. Trust me, you'll like her," he said, blushing as she kissed him on the cheek in greeting. "Hi dear."
Turning her head, she looked down at me, too, with a smile as she bent down to greet me at my level and offered her hand, to which I took in a small handshake. "Hello," she said in reply, but her gaze stayed on me as she studied my shyness a bit out of curiosity. "Is this her?"
Looking at him for the meaning of the question, I wondered at the possibility of just how much she knew when Mr. Matsui only sat his hand on my shoulder and said, "It is. This is Akira."
"Hello, Mrs. Matsui," I said, quite respectfully, shocked to only hear her chuckle as she moved some of my bangs out of my eyes to look on me fully.
"True, that is my name," she said, standing up a bit as Venonat came over to look up at me, too, trilling a bit as it tilted its head. "But to you … You can call me Aya. That's what everyone calls me, well … except for one."
"Speaking of that one," Mr. Matsui said, looking behind her a bit to where someone could have been standing but was not. "Where is our little Kitsune?"
'Kitsune?' I asked out loud in my head, getting Venonat's attention immediately as it agreed with Flasho. 'Yes, Kitsune is my trainer's nickname for their daughter, Kimiko,' I heard him say as he said, "Nine, nin-nin tails." Looking straight at me, I only smiled as I showed understanding, saying, "Then, I can't wait to meet her." Wincing, I looked over see the shock in Venonat's eyes as it shrilled at a super high pitch that surprisingly went unheeded by its trainer as she and Mr. Matsui smiled at the other in reunion.
"Veno! Venooo-nat?!" ('What?! She can understand us?'), it had said, to which Flasho only affirmed to at my chuckle.
"She's waiting for us to come home," Aya said, taking his hand as they lead me forward with them, our partners at our backs. "She was playing with Janine when I left the dojo to come meet you here. Koga's keeping an eye on them."
"Koga's your town's gym leader, right? I heard Dad say so once," I said, surprisingly at ease with them as Nari chose that moment to want to jump up my arm, again, to hold onto my shoulder as we walked, a sight that drew a small crowd as we entered into Stone Town to reach the other side of the stretch where Aya said she had parked the car.
"She knows her gym leaders," Aya said, impressed as she noticed that a few of the kids were eyeing my Eevee, also noticing a few of them following.
"Only just a few," I said, knowing that was true. Except for Blaine and maybe him or Dad mentioning a couple of more that were well known throughout Kanto, I knew next to nothing about gym battles, especially for my age.
"Hey, kid!" One of the boys yelled from behind us as Mr. Matsui and Aya turned with me to see them all stop just as fast as we did, the six of us standing on the edge of the middle of the street, which was next to a dry clearing that showed the foot of what was known as Evolution Mountain. "Where'd you get that Eevee?"
"Yeah, so cool!" the second one of them said, who sported a shaved-yet loose cut of blue.
"Hey, you know Eevee can evolve, right?" the third kid with a tuff of red hair that looked a bit like a flame said, earning a look from the others as all three of them laughed.
"I've heard of that happening," I said, earning a look from Nari as she looked at me with an innocent assurance of that being true.
"Who are you boys?" Mr. Matsui asked, earning a jubilant cry from all three of them at once.
"Rainer!"
"Pyro!"
"Sparky!"
"Our parents got us all an Eevee to train, so we're all three pretty big fans of Eevee," Rainer said, revealing his as he turned and revealed his partner waiting patiently behind him.
"And, what it can evolve into," Pryo said, brushing up his red tuff as his Eevee stepped into view from behind his heel with a passionate squeal.
"So, have you ever given a thought to making your Eevee evolve?" the one called Sparky said, his electrified style of orange hair sticking out like a Jolteon's electrified mane.
Looking up to see Irwin and Aya glancing down at me in patience and possibly wondering what I was going to say to that, I only looked at Nari as she said, 'Ee-Eevee, vee.' Nodding my head in an agreement with her, I only looked back at them to say, "If Nari ever wanted to evolve, I would let her choose and when."
"What?" Rainer cried, a tad shocked at my answer as the other two just groaned.
"Evolution can make a Pokemon stronger!" Pyro said, looking at his brother as Sparky got an idea.
"Hey, you want to have a battle? Come on, it'll be fun!" Sparky said, wanting to see what I could do.
"I've never had a battle before," I said, looking back see what Irwin and Aya might say about it.
"It's up to you," Aya said, all with an encouraging nod. "This is your decision."
"Does she have time?" He asked, earning a nod from Aya as she and he guided me over to the side for a second. Taking out a device, a quick scan of Eevee allowed the gadget to speak as it said, "Eevee: The Evolution Pokémon. Eevee's code is said to be irregular and is made of unstable genes that allow it to evolve into a variety of mutations. It is hypothesized that Eevee's genes are but one of the keys to the mysteries of Pokémon evolution." Taking a second for me to absorb what I heard from his device, Mr. Matsui then said, "As you probably already know, Eevee is a very special Pokémon."
"Irwin tells me that your Eevee already knows a very special move that might serve you well," she said, emphasizing how the brothers were lining up in a triangle line of three, almost in a diametric arc-like attack formation. Looking at Nari's present moves on his Pokedex device, as it was called, I got her suggestion enough to know which move to keep in mind as I looked at how they were raring to go. "Go ahead, and just trust yourselves. See what the both of you can do together."
Taking my place in front of them, they all three waited for the call as someone from the other side of the street said, "The battle ends when one of the opposing team's single Pokémon is knocked out. Begin!"
"Three on one? That's not fair!" one of the other kids that looked on at the scene said as the battle just got started.
"Eevee, tackle!" all three of them saying and calling out at the same time, their respective Eevees hurling themselves forward toward Nari in a blinding charge that almost intercepted their paths into one.
Replaying a familiar scene in my head from the lab, I waited until they were no further away than a couple of feet before I called out to Nari, who was already ready when I said, "Quick Nari, Reflect!"
"Ee-Vee!" Nari cried, activating her wall of light, that shimmered for only a second, as the trio didn't see that coming, watching in shock as all three of their Eevees bounced off the barrier with a hard thump that sent them rolling.
"What?!" Sparky cried.
"Awesome!" Rainer shouted.
"When did your Eevee learn that?" Pyro asked, impressed.
Seeing them get to their feet, Nari only lifted her tail in a ready stance as she watched their next moves carefully. Noticing something else as well, though, we both just watched all three of their Eevees stumble but stand strong as they got to their feet.
"Wow, not bad for early training," Aya complimented them, only to turn back to me as she waited. "Well, what's your next move?"
"If you're not going to call, we'll volunteer," Sparky said, letting his Eevee loose with another well-aimed Tackle attack, the other two following as they followed suit with the same call, again.
They're focused on attack moves! Connecting my gaze with Nari's, who was still protected partly by Reflect, I then said, "Try and dodge their attacks, Nari. Use your Quick Attack!"
Dodging past Sparky's Eevee with a speed that even made him impressed, Nari managed to dodge to the side and past Rainer's Eevee's lunge, skidding to a stop. Still charged, Nari then zipped past them both, only to make a sudden flip-turn back towards them as she used the last bit of speed she had built up to slam into them from the right flank, sending them both into the other. Hearing Pyro's Eevee coming from the left, Nari only looked up with enough of a pause as a sudden jolt of his Eevee's tackle sent her rolling back over towards me, completely dazed and exhausted from the exertion from before.
"Nari!" I cried, running over to lay a hand on her side, both of us looking up as we heard a big whistle for all four of us to stop.
"Alright, that's enough," an older gentleman said, clapping his hands and coming out of the big gate nearby. "I'd say all four you have a lot of passion. Boys, please come inside, training can wait until after your lessons." Waiting until all three of them gathered up their partners and rushed inside, the older gentleman showed that he recognized Aya, no doubt, as he said, "I feel the need to apologize for my Sons keeping you here while you're obviously trying to get back to Fuchsia City, Ms. Aya. My boys are competitive, but they are training to one day follow into our family's legacy as Knights of the E Stone. They show great promise."
"If that's what they want to do, then I wish them luck," Aya said, looking at me as I gently held Nari in my arms, gently just underneath her front paws as she relaxed in my arms with a smile, her excitement looking up to connect with my eyes as she read my gaze, too.
"Why, thank you," He said, cordially chuckling a bit as he felt a nervous hand pull on his cuff as he looked down at his younger son, who also sported a white tee like his brothers, but more reserved as he shyly hid behind his Dad's arm, looking to be no bigger than two or three. "I'm hoping that Mikey here follows into their footsteps one day. He's not sure what to think of all of this yet."
"He's got all the time in the world to learn that," Mr. Matsui said, scooping me up into his arms to rest a bit as he could also sense I was still a bit exhilarated at what we just experienced. "Oh?"
At his question, I saw Pyro come running out with a small bag in his hands as he caught up with us past his father. Holding it up for me to take, he only said, "Hey, thanks for the battle. These are from me and my brothers. They're to help if you ever decide to let Eevee evolve."
Accepting the gift for me, Mr. Matsui passed it to Aya I nodded and thanked him for the gift. Looking into the bag later, I found three stones – a Fire Stone, a Water Stone, and a Thunder Stone, as Mr. Matsui later explained to me. However, it wasn't long after that we found where Aya had parked their car at. Once the both of them got done placing my bags in the trunk, they buckled me and Nari into the car, Flasho and Venonat cautiously sitting down beside me as well. We then drove the small distance into Fuchsia City, where I would then be introduced to the rest of my new family and soon meet their own little daughter, who would reveal to have a few little secrets of her own as well.
Arriving at a home just off one of the main roads, that entered the woods around Fuchsia City, Mr. Matsui got out of the car to grab my two suitcases as Aya helped me to get out of the car. "I'll just take these inside for later. Where did you say Kimi was?" He asked her, stopping just inside the door, just in case someone was going to come running out of it any minute. "Sorry, I'm just used to her tackling me any time I open a door or come home," he said, seeing my questioning gaze, with a chuckle.
"Like I said, she was playing with Janine at the Gym when I left," Aya said, holding the keys and stretching a bit, Venonat jumping up and down at her feet, too. "That's probably where you'll find her. I told her we would pick her up after I came to get you. Koga's wanting to have a word for you, too."
"Uh oh," Mr. Matsui said, chuckling a bit as I noticed Nari watch Venonat running into the woods behind the house. "What is it about this time?"
"Uh, your Ven-o-nat … uh … went that way," I said, catching Aya's eye as she saw her partner jump into a bush behind the house.
"Oh, that's Venonat for you," Aya said, pocketing the keys and shouldering a pack of some sorts as she suddenly shot out a series of ninja discs at a nearby target, jumping up and then somersaulting up on a branch to peer into the distance. "Quite literally, it acts as our regular scout of the area. Venonat lets me know if anyone passes through the vicinity on the way to the gym, as you'll probably see pretty often."
'Veno! Veno-veno-veno, Venonat!' we both heard it shriek as we saw a younger girl dressed in black and a pink scarf run off past us. Skidding to a slight stall, seeing Aya's expression change from surprised to serious, the little girl did not stop her trek, jumping off the drive and sprinting straight into town.
"Janine! Wait right there! Where are you going, young lady? Get back here," Aya called, running to catch up with her, leaving me alone as Mr. Matsui had yet to return from inside the little house.
Sniffing the ground, Nari caught my attention as her ears picked up on a call I barely heard, too, in the distance. "Nari, what's wrong?"
'Ee-vey, Vee!' Nari called out, taking off after the sound, knowing that I wouldn't be too far from behind her. Following her through the brush, Aya's Venonat revealed that it was keeping an eye on us, too, as we pushed our way through the brush and a small field of trees and wild grass. "What is it, Nari? Do you hear someone?" I asked, taking into heed what Aya had said as I noticed something in the distance that looked like it was jutted out to rest on one of the cliffs that stood nearby.
Entering the clearing, I saw something that looked like a building past some trees, but it was too shady to tell for sure. An old house? Before I got the chance, though, to go any further, a tiny yellow Pokémon poked its head out of the bush ahead of me and froze, seeing me back up a step as Nari stopped in her tracks, too. With those specific black markings on its ears matching the ones I saw in one of my books, I took by my guess that it was a Pichu.
"Come on, Janine! This isn't funny. Zap?" I heard a younger voice say, echoing a bit off of the trunks as we literally just stopped breathing, hearing something behind us as someone backed up into me, coming up on me from just through the brush. "Where did you go, too? Huh?"
Turning around at the same time, we both jumped in surprise as I stumbled back against a tree and she fell backwards into the brush, her foot tripping on a stone just below her.
Hearing a weird metallic click-like snap and an annoyed groan come from her, I pulled myself up against the heavy trunk as I walked over to see her look up at me with a mild stare. "You're not Janine," she said, quickly trying to pull herself out of the brush. Faltering a bit on her left knee, to which was concealed in the grass, she felt my hand grab hers to help pull her out.
"Hang on, I'll help you," I said, sensing from her a small sense of resentment as she just shut her eyes and nodded. Helping her stand, I watched her as she released whatever was in her other hand before she then used it to help push herself out of the brush and back up into a standing position. Seeing her stand, I stood shocked and a bit surprised to see her only stand on one leg. Watching her gently bending down and holding onto the tree for support, after she had quickly let go of my hand so she could, she picked up whatever she had dropped before and looked straight up at me.
"Thanks," was all she said, as she then took a moment to turn away to click whatever it was back into place and stomped it on the ground to test it. Holding her forearm in thought, she stayed that way as I took a chance to observe her. "What?"
"You're Kimiko, aren't you?" I asked, seeing her expression change from annoyance to slight embarrassment. Seeing her turn fully towards me, I took notice of her short yet wavy mild sapphire hair, a trait that she no doubt got from Mr. Matsui, as his curled short hair shared the same hue. Unlike Aya's mild-blue eyes, hers were intense and a sharp emerald green.
"Kimi, please," she then said with a sigh, pulling down her black pant garb a bit to hide where her fake leg was firmly clicked into place. "Only my Mom mainly calls me that, and really only when I'm in trouble or being lectured." Looking up at me with a look that says that she was wondering something, she then asked, "So, who are you? You don't look like the average trainer that comes this way to challenge my Uncle's gym."
Seeing the little Pichu come out the bush fully now, we both watched as the blue-scarfed Pichu and Nari interacted playfully and started to chase each other in the bushes, giggling all the while. 'Friends already,' I thought inwardly, giggling a bit before I looked up to see that even Kimi had cracked a smile as she then just looked at me carefully.
"You're not from around here, are you?" She asked, catching my eye as I just shook my head for an answer. "Then, who are you? You still haven't answered my question."
"Ah, there you two are," we both heard her Dad say, looking up to see Kimi's expression change to one of joy as she broke away from where she stood in front of me and leapt up into her Father's arms. "And, I see you met my Kimi." Touching her nose with hers, he sat her down to face her. "Kimi, please let me introduce you. This is Akira. She's going to be staying here for a while, and I would like you two to get along if that's alright."
Looking at me, I could tell Kimi could read something else that her Father wasn't saying, because her expression changed from excitement to expectant and observing. Seeing my shy smile, Kimi returned it after a short moment, after I asked, "Were you looking for us?"
"Well, Aya did manage to get Janine to mention that she left you alone looking for her in the woods," Irwin said, walking us both out and back towards the house, and not towards the Gym yet I noticed, where everyone was, Nari and Zap following us from behind as she let him climb on her back for a quick ride. "Then, I heard both of your voices back on the path behind the house. Koga's got a Challenger, so he'll be a bit later."
"Janine didn't want to watch, so that's how we ended up playing hide and seek and … you probably know the rest," Kimi said, earning a chuckle from her Dad as we walked up to the house, seeing Aya drill her niece in a tiring sprint around two trees. Giggling out loud, Kimi almost fell to her knees laughing, seeing the look Janine sent her way in annoyance.
"Oh, ha-ha, very funny," Janine said, huffing a bit from the sights of sweat on her brow. Looking at Aya pleadingly, she said, "Come on, Aunt Aya. Dad just made finish two hours of lessons. Can I stop now?" Seeing her shake her head and saying something we couldn't hear, Janine was made to continue for a good solid ten minutes before her Dad then showed up and nodded towards Aya to stop, to which Janine did as she collapsed and tiredly pushed herself up from off the ground.
Here's Chapter Five where we meet a new OC, just like I promised. Introducing Kimiko "Kimi" Matsui, the daughter of Aya and Irwin (Mr.) Matsui. Credit to her goes to writergirl142. More info about her situation coming in later chapters definitely.
If you recognize the three brothers, you can tell I took inspiration from those three Eevee Battling Brothers from the episode with the same name. Credit to those three goes to Pokémon. Enjoy!
