~ Chapter 35 ~

Secrets

"We spent the next few days after Jeremy's release walking longer days than ever in order to make up for lost time. We didn't really have a time limit on travelling, I guess, but we were aiming for less than eight months. Everyone agreed, if my grandfather could do it in eight, we could do it in less than that. Of course, the longer we walked, the more time my mind could wrap itself around what was going on in my life currently. I know when people go through puberty their bodies change, but what was happening with me was ridiculous. We discussed it a few nights before leaving the Pokémon Centre, and ever since then, that scene had been replaying in my head for weeks to come. It never really left, although the topic in itself died down completely. But what was weirder, after making that bet with Niya, nothing weird did happen again. It was like fate was trying to put my life back towards normal once more."

"Already, huh?" asked Palmer as he sipped his coffee. He stared down hard at the ground, bouncing his leg up and down nervously.

"It would appear so," said Professor Rowan, scratching his forehead.

"He's this close…" said Nancy slowly, staring out the window.

Linda sat beside her, patting her arm.

"It's rather soon, don't you think?" asked Palmer.

Rowan shook his head again. "He was even younger," he sighed, "Though, I believe that this incident was caused by that, and not directly by him."

"Naturally," said Nancy focusing back on the conversation, "He's not trained yet, and therefore the power is unfocused. I'd be surprised if any of this is of his own doing."

"Nancy's right," said Professor Rowan, "He is simply a conduit at this point. It's that which is allowing him to use these powers."

"He's a conduit for a power he cannot control?" Palmer half stated, half asked, "Don't you think that's a bit dangerous? It means he's volatile, and it also means that once these things start happening more often he and everyone else around him will start asking questions."

"It's not exactly like that," said Professor Rowan defensively, but Nancy interrupted.

"No, Palmer's right," she sighed, "We gave it to him in order to prevent him from being discoverable. But what we forgot was that they are going to try to save his life when it's in danger—by any means necessary."

"And if it's not them, it's going to be the other thing," said Palmer, "Shouldn't we just tell him?"

"He's not ready!" said Professor Rowan adamantly, "He's just a boy; barely even enjoyed life and its mysteries left. Aurelio specifically said that he must be told when he is old enough."

"Well, I think sixteen is a pretty fine age, don't you?" argued Palmer as he took another sip of his coffee.

"Nancy's not getting any younger, and they aren't becoming any less discreet. You know as well as I that as soon as she dies, there's going to be—"

"I know!" shouted Professor Rowan, leaving time for a pause before he continued, "I know…but we need to respect Aurelio's wishes."

Palmer sighed heavily as he sat back down at the table. "I wish he were still alive," he said, "He'd know what to do."

"Palmer, if he were still alive, none of this would be a problem," retorted Professor Rowan.

"No," said Nancy stoically, "No, these problems started long before Aurelio. They were his to inherit, but not his from the start. I'm not so sure we'd be any better off if Aurelio were alive; if anything, we'd be in the same position. He was not as strong as he once was—I needn't tell you both that. You saw him in his later years, you saw how much energy and strength he put into protecting the only hope we have of finishing him off."

Professor Rowan nodded. "Aye," he said quietly.

The room remained silent, and Linda, who had quietly observed the conversation for now, finally spoke up. "I understand the delicacy of this topic," she said gently, "But being new to all of this…I don't know why we can't just use the proper names for things?"

Nancy chuckled. "Linda, my dear," she said patting her arm, "There are still many secrets that I have up my sleeve, even at my age. We speak this way because we understand the gravity these secrets have, and we also understand that these secrets need to remain secret if we are to succeed. I sense that presence; he is here…and so nothing we say is safe. We are also subject to spying, and therefore secrets must remain just that—lest power and knowledge fall into the wrong hands. I appreciate your understanding and patience in this situation, my apologies for being so secret."

Linda nodded. "It's all right. I understand now," she said smiling, "I was just curious. I wouldn't dare ask you to break vows of silence just on my account—the risks are just too great."

Rowan turned back to Nancy, and Palmer faced her as well. "Well then what can we do about this in the meantime?" asked the old Professor, "They can't be as free with their power as in the old days, when Aurelio still possessed it."

"And telling him is out of the question, apparently," grumbled Palmer as he placed his mug down on the table and pushed it away from him, "What options are we left with?"

Nancy remained silent and thought quietly as she stared at the floor. After several minutes, she finally spoke. "I shall commune with them; mine is connected to his," she stated boldly, "I will tell them to be more selective and discreet in how they choose to use their power. If it works, we should not have to worry about something like this happening again—not for a long time."

"So, he'll be completely cut off from them, then?" asked Palmer.

Nancy shook her head. "No, he will still have access to them, but not as often, and only in situations that will end his life—if anything, what they do to defend him will be more secretive and discreet than before. Hopefully more explainable as well."

"What about his other abilities?" asked Professor Rowan, stroking his beard.

"The ones that cannot be involuntarily used shall be suppressed," explained Nancy, "Those that none can control, the ones that do not cease, they shall remain active…but they shall, for the most part, be explainable."

Nancy stood up from her chair as she finished speaking, and silence filled the room once more, as she walked towards the stairs she paused and turned back to Linda. "Are you coming dear?" she asked kindly, "I may need some help with this."

Linda nodded and quickly rushed after the old woman, ascending the stairs with her, leaving Professor Rowan and Palmer behind.

"Do you think it will work?" asked Palmer.

Rowan shrugged. "I'm not sure," he said, "But it will have to—we can't let this secret out too soon. If he were to find out…"

Palmer nodded and walked over to the sink, placing his mug inside of it. "In the meantime, I suppose we should go about our normal lives."

"That would be best," agreed the Professor, walking over to the door, and grabbed his briefcase and coat.

"You going out?" asked Palmer.

Rowan nodded. "I must engage in some field studies with my intern," explained the old Professor.

Palmer smiled. "The one that stutters all the time?"

Rowan turned on his heel without answering, knowing it was more of a playful jab than a question, and exited the house without another word.

Palmer chuckled as he watched Professor Rowan leave. "Same old Rowan," he laughed, "Just like the glory days."

Palmer looked up at the ceiling, knowing Nancy was currently upstairs right now doing everything she could to keep things together, just as she always had.

This made him smile, to think that things hadn't entirely changed. Some things would be, always, the same as they had been for years.

Palmer then turned to look at the pictures that adorned the mantelpiece of the fireplace. There were pictures of Sam as a child, ones of Aurelio and Nancy from their youth, but the one he was most proud of, the one that always brought a tear to his eye, was from Sam's third birthday.

He was standing in front of the house; by his side were his friends, Alyssandra, Niya, and Jeremy. Sam and Jeremy were smiling into the camera, their eyes squinted and their teeth showing. Alyssandra who smiled cutely at the camera, and Niya who had her arms slung around the boys' shoulders.

Valentina stood there behind her sister, a simple smile on her face—he couldn't believe she was Champion now. Aurelio and Nancy stood behind Sam, Aurelio's arm around his wife's waist.

Linda was beside Nancy, smiling kindly as she always did. Beside her stood Niya and Alyssandra's parents, with the latter holding a baby Enzo in their arms.

The children looked so much younger…so much more alive. And then there was Palmer, to the left of Aurelio, he wasn't looking at the camera, but instead down at Sam and his friends—specifically at Sam though—and all Palmer could remember thinking at that moment was something he thought every time he saw Sam take another big step in life.

"You'll be okay, kid. You're going to do fine, I know it. Everyone's rooting for you."

Sam walked down the wooded path with his friends beside him. He wasn't paying attention to where he was going or what he was doing. The only thing on his mind was Professor Alexios' betrayal, and what had happened.

The images of that night played back in his head, over and over again, and he could remember afterwards, sitting down with Jeremy, Alyssandra and Niya and explaining what he had seen.

Sam had been walked down to the infirmary where Jeremy lay recuperating from his broken leg.

He remembered being sat down on the end of Jeremy's bed while everyone stared at him. Sam just sat there for the longest time, letting the silence do the talking.

It wasn't until Niya prodded him with a "Well?" that he finally began to explain.

"It was weird," started Sam, "The whole thing was surreal. As soon as I touched his hand, the world around me started to pause, and it was like…you know those movies where people stop time? And everyone around you is frozen except for you and the person in front of you? He cringed as soon as the world froze…the whole thing was hazy, and lucid…just like a dream."

"It was like a dream, that's all I can describe it as; a waking dream. He cringed, he was in pain—I don't know why, but touching me hurt him. And then I spoke, but it…it wasn't my voice. It was like a thousand other voices speaking for me. It said, 'You lied to us, and I don't know why you came here…I don't know who you work for…but your mal intent…I feel it now.' And you know, I could feel it…I could feel his bad intentions…for some reason."

"You mean he was here to hurt us?" asked Alyssandra, her hand over her mouth.

She too was still getting over the shock of this. Sam could only imagine how Jeremy must've felt. It was bad enough being trapped in a hospital bed through the whole thing, but to hear the story retold by a bunch of people who were just as confused as he was mustn't have helped.

He must've been so frustrated that he wasn't there himself as well. Jeremy would've been the first to jump at the opportunity to chase off a liar like Alexios.

"So, did you figure out who he worked for in this state?" asked Niya.

Sam shook his head, and Jeremy came in with another question. "This, the way you're feeling," he said motioning to the way Sam was leaning against the baseboard of the bed, "I've seen you this weak before, remember? When you had that waking dream at the breakfast table and passed out."

Niya nodded. "Jeremy's right," she said surprised, "I didn't think about that. What you explained, how weak you looked and felt after, and the experience itself…it's similar. There's no doubt about it."

"So, what are you saying I can walk through dreams?" asked Sam sarcastically, though also partly seriously.

"Well, I'm reading this book right now," Alyssandra exclaimed with a glimmer in her eyes, "It's called Dreamwalker! This young boy is given the amazing power to walk through people's dreams! He can enter a 'dream world' at will, and is able to warp through people's dreams, and use it to do anything, even see their deepest darkest secrets."

"Why would anyone want to do that?" asked Jeremy, "Let alone a teenage boy."

"Well, you see," explained Alyssandra, enthused, "A group of criminals who were hired by the government kidnapped the girl he loved, so they could pressure him into explaining the secret behind his powers and let them replicate it for their own use. So now to find this girl, he travels across the country, infiltrating government facilities in order to read the dreams of anyone who might know where they are keeping the girl. It's so romantic! And he travels with his best friend—"

"Can we focus?" asked Niya, with a small smirk on her face, "Good literature is not the current issue at hand right now. Our big problem is figuring out what's wrong with Sam, and why these dream-like problems seem to be afflicting him."

"Well, I like to think it's the Dreamwalker theory," smiled Alyssandra.

"I'd hate to agree with the love-struck pile of hormones over here," smirked Jeremy, "But that does seem like the most viable option at this point."

"Why?" asked Niya, "What if Sam's just a schizophrenic with delusions? Hell, it could even just be seizures."

"Well, I'm glad my sanity isn't questionable to you guys," muttered Sam as his friends continued to argue, "Besides you're both missing one recurring theme in my dreams that play a huge part in the weird goings on."

"What's that?" asked Jeremy.

"Dragons," said Sam simply, "Remember the dream was about a dragon. Every dream had a dragon, and do you remember when I was passed out? Dragons were in every vision, and it was a hooded figure with dragons that appeared before me right before I woke up."

"Were there dragons in this most recent dream-like state?" Niya asked plainly, though she knew the answer, and Sam did as well.

There weren't, and that shot Sam's theory right out of the water.

"Well, what else do you think it is?" asked Sam, "You don't seriously think I'm nuts do you?"

"I think this whole thing is nuts," said Niya plainly, "I don't understand why any of this could be happening—and personally I'd rather just pretend that it's not, it's a lot easier."

The room remained silent. No one said anything after Niya paused mid speech, but when it was clear no one was going to speak up against her—signaling they all felt the same way—she continued.

"However, there is no ignoring something like this, as much as we'd like to," said Niya, "But for now, until we can come up with an explanation, we need to—"

"Professor Rowan," said Sam quietly.

Everyone turned back to him, and Sam looked up, repeating himself, this time a smile on his face. "Professor Rowan," said Sam again, as if all the answers were in that one phrase, "Professor Rowan was the one who told me shake his hand—he knows something. He has to."

"Then we should ask him," said Jeremy promptly, "Ask him to tell us what's going on. If he knows what's going, then he can explain to us what's—"

"He won't," said Alyssandra simply, "I've tried asking about the whole Garchomp incident—I thought it was odd. He couldn't provide any answers. If he knows something, he won't tell…but from the sincerity in his voice…I don't think he knew a thing about the Garchomp incident."

"So, what are we supposed to do then?" asked Jeremy, "Just let this keep happening?"

"Why is this suddenly a problem that needs to be fixed?" asked Sam, somewhat affronted.

"It's not, Sam," said Niya desperately, trying to make him understand their views, "We're just concerned because of the obviously negative effects its having on your health."

"Niya's right," said Alyssandra gently, sitting herself next to Sam, "We don't care that you can walk through these dreams or make weird things happen. We just don't like how it weakens you every time you do—you can't even control it."

"So, then why are you worried?" asked Sam, "I can't control it, and it's only happened once."

"But that time—" started Jeremy, but Sam cut him off.

"That time could've just been a fever," said Sam, "Brought on by exhaustion. It was just a weird dream filled with delusions—there is no reason that has to be supernatural. And this time, well, I don't even know if I saw what I saw."

"Sam, where is this coming from all of a sudden?" asked Alyssandra, gently placing her hand on Sam's shoulder.

"I don't want to think that the people I care about, my grandparents, or Professor Rowan, have been lying to me my whole life," explained Sam, "If they know, it means that they have been hiding things from me. But…I just can't see them doing that. There are perfectly logical explanations for the Garchomp, I was wearing my Necklace, and Garchomp tend to like shiny objects—most Pokémon do in fact. As for being unconscious and the recurring dream, it's just that, a recurring dream and the unconscious fever was a product of exhaustion from travel; and the thing with Alexios…who knows what I even imagined, okay? The handshake could have been coincidental—for all we know, it could have been because Alexios couldn't bear to look us in the eyes knowing he lied to us."

"Professor Rowan said he was mad, and he said shake his hand and all of a sudden something like that happens," started Niya, but she knew it was no good.

"Professor Rowan could have damn well been right," said Sam, his voice rising slightly, "But he could have just been biased towards a man like Alexios. Remember, he was part of the community that cast him out? Maybe he had good reason to think he was mad, but that doesn't mean it's true. Alexios leaving could have been a byproduct of his guilt for lying to us, his students. All of this science fiction, these weird explanations, they're just too good to be true. Nothing like that happens in real life, that's why it doesn't happen more often, or really at all."

Silence filled the room once more as the group mulled over what Sam had just said. There was no arguing; Sam's normal explanations to everything seemed the most logical when explained. The chances that it was a supernatural occurrence were long off, and very much a false possibility.

"I mean, I guess it is kind of wishful thinking to say that this is some kind of dream walking ability," said Alyssandra slowly.

Though she still had her doubts, she couldn't help but see some sense in what Sam was saying. "All right," Niya said, "Let's just agree to drop it then?"

"I agree," said Jeremy and Alyssandra in unison.

"You made a good point Sam," said Niya calmly, "And I understand your worries. But, if this happens again I'm going to those who I think know something about this, understand?"

Sam nodded.

"It has to have some unexplainable background to it," negotiated Sam, "And it has to be beyond a reasonable doubt. Deal?" Niya nodded and held out her hand.

"Deal," affirmed Sam.

He raised his hand slowly; part of him knew what Niya was doing. She was trying to lure out whatever it was that confronted Alexios the other night. Sam was somewhat afraid that she would be right, and something would happen—for all they knew this was triggered by a handshake.

Sam's hand met Niya's, and they shook, with a firm grasp, and looked each other in the eye. Sam let out a smile of relief as he looked into Niya's eye, knowing that he had just won that argument the moment nothing happened.

Niya chuckled and smiled back. "Can't blame me for trying, right?" she joked.

Sam shook his head and he stood up, looking back at Jeremy. "How many more days until you're ready to go?" he asked.

Jeremy shrugged. "Nurse Joy says another few days," replied Jeremy, "It wasn't a bad sprain; in fact, it was pretty minor. She said Niya's splint helped a bit and helped to reduce more damage during our walk back to Cycling Road. I'll be here until I'm perfectly healed though."

Sam nodded. "Well, rest up and heal fast," smiled Sam, "I'd like to ship out sooner than later—I won't be disappointed if you need more time though. You do need to worry about your health."

Jeremy nodded. "Just do me a favor?" he asked, causing Sam to ask with a nod, "Visit me often, all right? I'm going to go nuts alone over here."

Sam laughed. "All right, I will," he said, "I'll bring the girls with me too. Let's face it; they need something to do during the day as well. They can't sit around gossiping all the time."

Jeremy laughed, and the two friends bid goodnight to each other.

That entire scene still ran through Sam's head as he walked towards the groups' next goal. They hadn't spoken about it since, and Sam was surprised that they kept their promised.

He wasn't complaining, but he was surprised.

Sam stopped suddenly, and the rest of the group paused with him.

"Are we here?" asked Alyssandra with a smile on her face.

"Yup," said Sam, excitement welling up in him.

"I can't believe we're finally here!" exclaimed Jeremy, "I'm looking forward to this stop."

Niya remained silent but smiled down at the large plot of land in the valley below.

It took a long time, and there were a lot of ups and downs along the way, but they had finally reached Sam's goal for the past few days.

"Let's go," said Sam, "The Accardi Pokémon Ranch awaits us."