Random Moment

Sometimes, I look at my past diary entries and I know readers will wonder why I was so stupid. Like, the time Petrel gave me the key to rescue the Director at the subway. I actually went down there without any fear that it was a trap and I would get kidnapped myself!

Yeah.


...Back to the Story

I remembered hearing about the Dragon's Den from somewhere—Lorcan must have mentioned it at one point. It was nighttime again, and under the comforting darkness I surfed at the back of the Gym. This was where I found the entrance to the Dragon's Den, sitting on a small patch of land that led to that infamous cave.

"If Clair allows it, her grandfather—our Master—will also," said the elder by the entrance. "You may enter."

How I wished I couldn't.

Even as I thought that, I could feel Lorcan vibrating in his Poké Ball, excited. He had wanted to come here for a very long time. It occurred to me that I didn't know where Lorcan came from.

He could have been bred there from generations of prize Dratini, or he could have been caught here at the Dragon's Den. For all I knew, Lorcan could've come from Unova. I held his Poké Ball in my hand and wished he could tell me. Maybe, once my journey comes to an end, I'll go back to that Game Corner and ask.

The cave had a huge underwater lake in it that I had to surf on with Lorcan. He lacked his usual steadiness, and participated in more flips than usual in the water. We swam until we came to the shrine. I read the sign:

Dragon Shrine

A shrine revering the Dragon Pokémon said to have lived in Dragon's Den.

"Does that include you, Lorcan?" I said. "Did you used to live here?"

Lorcan merely looked at me, and said nothing. I knew he would act impish.

As it turned out, I was at the wrong side of the shrine, and there was no backdoor to the little goddamn hut. So I had to go back on Lorcan and try to get in the other way. I got a call from a guy named Vance at this time. He wanted to battle, back at where he met me. Well, I'd get back to him later. I had a badge to earn.

I entered the shrine. The room I came into had Gyarados carvings artistically placed on two walls opposite of each other, and the floor was dark and wooden, small torches throughout the room providing its minimal light. There were three elders, but the one in purple was clearly our royal.

"Welcome," he said as I approached him. "No need to explain why you came. Clair sent you here, didn't she?"

"I imagine she does this a lot."

"Oh yes, she does. That girl is a handful..."

He sighed. "I am sorry, but I must test you. Not to worry, you are to answer only a few questions. Ready?"

"Sure."

"What are Pokémon to you?"

I started. "Are all the questions going to be like this?" This was going to be awkward and philosophical.

"Very much, yes. So again, what are Pokémon to you?"

"Allies," I said slowly.

"Oh, I understand..." the man said, eyeing my Lorcan behind me. "What helps you to win battles?"

I wanted to say strategy, but realized that I never use any, so I said training instead.

"What kind of Trainer do you wish to battle?"

"Anyone can take me on."

"What is the most important for raising Pokémon?"

"Knowledge."

"Strong Pokémon. Weak Pokémon. Which is more important?"

"Uh...both?" I was conflicted at this question. It really depends, relatively, whether a Pokémon is strong or weak. A weak Pokémon can be a Pokémon that will one day be strong, or it could just be a Pokémon with the wrong genetics for fighting, or...

"Hm... I see... You care deeply for Pokémon. That is very commendable."

"Thank you." Shut up, I thought. Me being a wonderful person has nothing to do whether I deserve the badge or not. The point of the badge is that it shows I won.

"Your conviction is very important. Lyra, don't lose that belief. It will see you through at the Pokémon League."

"My name..."

He smiled. "Lyra's not a very common name, is it?"

"Probably not."

"Didn't think so. Well, Lyra, I've heard of you around. How about that?"

I immediately became nervous, because it never occurred to me that Lance was badmouthing me all over town, which he probably was doing. At least his grandfather seemed to like me. Maybe his grandfather had poor hearing and assumed Lance was speaking good of me, or something.

At that moment Clair bursted in. She came in, all swagger, cape and ponytail swinging. I half expected everything to just fall off of her.

"So?" she demanded. "How did it go?"

She glanced between me and the elder, then said, "I guess there's no point in asking. You did fail?"

"No," I said bluntly. "I passed."

"What?" Clair shifted her feet, all casual. "You passed?"

"Yeah," I said.

Bite me, I thought to that blue haired weirdo.

She looked from me to her grandfather, and the red blush of fury appeared on her face as she backed away. In a few moments, she went from calm to fucking shrieking around the whole place. "THAT CAN'T BE!" she screamed shrilly like a weirdo, jumping with her feet like a ballerina, and Lorcan gave her a bothersome look as her shaking voice echoed around the shrine.

Clair's teeth gritted against each other as she backed further into the wall. "You're lying!" she snarled. "Even I hadn't been approved!""

"Clair!" her grandfather yelled. "This child is impeccable, in skill and spirit. Admit defeat and confer the Rising badge."

"You don't understand," Clair said. "She spammed Ice Beam the entire match."

"Well, at least it was super effective," her grandfather responded. "Do you want me to inform Lance of this?"

At the name of Lance I froze.

"If you inform Lance I will sue," Clair said.

"For what?" her grandfather asked.

"For sexual discrimination." I looked at Clair, and she was dead calm.

"What?"

"For sexual discrimination," she repeated. "I'm going to quit my job. Don't lie about the discrimination, I know everything. I know about the secret training sessions you had with Lance since he could walk and talk at the same time, the favoritism, everything. It was staring at me in the face. Ever since he's been born, I've been kicked to the curb."

I couldn't tell if I respected Clair more or less after this.

"Clair, you were born after him."

"Exactly. I've always been kicked to the curb. Which is exactly why I want to stand up now, because Lance is evil and hardly better than me yet you all act like he's the next Jesus."

Whoa. Deep shit.

Her grandfather laughed nervously. "Sweetheart, I can't telling if you're joking or not."

"No, I'm serious," Clair said. "I want to be as free as a bird. I want to go to college and study math or something weird like that. I'm going to leave you and the rest of my family forever, and you guys can just go ahead and cheer on Lance for eternity. That's what you always wanted, anyway. Someone else can be the Gym leader—I suggest Terrance. He's lazy and needs to learn what having a job feels like."

"What are you saying—" her grandfather started.

She turned to me. "Lyra, here's the Rising badge. And here's the TM for Dragon Pulse. The description of the TM is self explanatory, so I'm not going to read it to you like you're in preschool."

She turned back to her grandfather. "I'm leaving now. If you want to contact me, do it by letter. Put on the 'send to' part the address of the nearest dumpster."

Clair walked out.

Her grandfather looked at me, looking wary. Weirdly enough, there was no concern on his face, even though his granddaughter just ditched him and went off to God knows where.

"Don't tell the tabloids about this."

I became very interested. "What will you give me if I don't tell?"

"A Dratini with Extreme Speed."

"Deal."

It was a female Dratini that I named Twister. I don't know, it just seemed like a good name at the time.


To distract me more from my apparent interest to inform the media (?) Clair's grandfather told me how to get Lugia. He said that in between Olivine and Cianwood were the Whirl Island, and that there's a huge waterfall deep in the cave there where Lugia rests, in the deep end of the waterfall basin. I need a silver wing to reach that place, which is just great, 'cause I have that. I left the Dragon's Den further convinced of the corruptness of the world.

Wondering if I could teach this new move to Lorcan, I opened the case for Dragon Pulse and found a scrap of paper on the inside.

It said the following:

If you're headed to the League, go to New Bark Town and surf along Route 27. Your face is telling me you have some unfinished business...

What the fuck?

I think Clair wants to get me murdered.


Professor Elm called me.

"Hello, Lyra? How's it going?"

"Fine," I said. It was not going fine. I needed to leave the country; this country is too lame.

"I've gotten hold of something neat. Swing by my lab and pick it up!"

"Okay," I said. "Bye."

"See you later!" He hanged up. You would've thought he would have said more to my rudeness, but nope, just "see ya later."

I flew to New Bark Town and entered his lab. Ethan came to me almost immediately.

"Lyra, did you already collect eight badges?"

I nodded warily, but there was no Marill around.

"That's so cool," Ethan gushed. I've forgotten how annoying Ethan was. "The professor is waiting for you."

I walked over to Elm, Ethan by my side.

"Hi, Lyra! You never cease to amaze me," Elm said.

"Um...thanks?" I said.

"Thanks to you, my research is going great!" Elm said.

"Oh."

"Take this as a token of my appreciation," he said.

I stared at what he gave me—the Master Ball.

"You would think it would look a lot more professional than this," I said, innately screaming at the ugly, garish colors of dark purple and bright pink that made up the Master Ball.

"I'm sure you already know what the Master Ball is used for," Elm said, ignoring me as always. "It's the ultimate Poké Ball and will catch any Pokémon without fail. It's given only to noted Pokémon researchers, but I think you can make much better use of it than I can."

"Thanks," I said lamely. I felt like I was saying that too much lately, and I'm just not a "thanks" person.

"By the way," he said, "We just had a group of beautiful kimono girls looking for you."

I froze.

I was thinking of two things.

One was ew, get your male gaze out of this, Professor Elm.

The other was, oh my God, the stalkers are bringing this fucking shebang home.

"Lyra, people are talking about you!" Ethan squealed, cutting off my thoughts. "I heard you helped the kimono girls?"

"Umm..."

"You've been helping all these people!" Ethan squealed some more. "You make me proud to be your friend."

Ethan ran out without ceremony, probably to gossip all of this with Marill.

"The kimono girls are waiting for you at the Ecruteak Dance Theater," Elm said.

"Nice to know," I said.

I studied the table behind Elm, observing the detailed lines of the wood, staring at where the jar on the table met the surface and created harsh shadows. Elm waited in silence for a few moments, then sighed.

"Lyra. If there's anything you need, just tell me. I wish I could do more for you."

"Get me out of this bloody region," I said. "I will think of you for life." Then I added, "I want to go somewhere cool, like Kanto."

"Kanto?" His face wrinkled.

"Forget it," I said. "I was just joking."

I ran out after that, to avoid the chances of seeing somebody else annoying come in.


I wanted to go to that water source Clair spoke of earlier. I've never been on the news for being murdered before, so I thought that would be pretty exciting. Because I'm a sane, logical person, I went to my room and placed on my computer the note Clair kept inside the Dragon Pulse case. I took the brightest, most eye-catching orange index card I could find, then placed it right next to the note, and drew a huge arrow on the index card that led to the note, with the friendly comment "IF I GO MISSING/MURDERED" scribbled at the top of the card.

As an afterthought, I added that the note was written by Clair, the former Gym leader.

Ethan was standing nearby with Marill, though Ethan seemed considerably less annoying than he was two minutes ago and Marill was busy eating peanut butter.

"I wonder what a kimono girl wants from you..." Ethan mused.

"Don't say it like that," I said. "You just make it sound worse."

Ethan shrugged and turned back to Marill.

I turned towards the water, the breeze blowing my hair around.

"Wait, Lyra!"

I turned.

"Where do you think you're going, Lyra?"

"What does it matter, where I'm going?"

"Don't do that," Ethan said weakly. "You scared me."

"What are you talking about?" I said, walking to him. He was probably scared that I was like Orion and could walk on water. It would make him feel self-conscious about himself.

Ethan's eyes widened. "Lyra...I'm not playing around." He sounded like a character from a horrible horror movie or whatever, and the dried ketchup on his face made him look like one too.

"Well, I'm not, either," I said. "Tell me what's up."

Ethan gaped at me. "You don't remember? When you tried to..."

I waited, but Ethan kept gaping at me instead of finishing his sentence. Distaste submerged me.

"I don't understand. What did I try? Ethan, tell me."

Ethan shook his head, looking at my house, looking at Marill.

"Tell me, Ethan. What did I try to do?"

"Nothing," he said hurriedly. "Just don't go near that place."

I shrugged and walked away. Solving mysteries is not part of my job description, either as a Pokémon Trainer or a failing high school student.


I ended up going back to my mother, because, you know, I was feeling guilty and all that shit. I was missing her annoying phone calls, so I allowed her to save my money up again.

After a night at my mother's place, I headed out to Ecruteak the following afternoon. My Pokémon didn't need me to attend to them, so except for Miranda, everyone stayed in my bag. I looked back at Miranda, and she was holding something in her mouth.

"Ah? Let me see it, sweetheart..."

Miranda happily handed it over. It was pretty yellow flower, large and bright. I placed it carefully in my fashion case and continued my way towards the Ecruteak Dance Theater. It was a dreary, gray sort of day, but the windows of the theater still shone with light.

I was entering the theater when I was bumped right into Pikachu Boy. He had cuts all over his face. His clothes were wrinkled and soiled with all kinds of random stains, and his face had a wild look to it. I reasoned that his Pokémon probably tried to kill him.

He looked at me for a split second, then he turned towards the theater. "How...? How is this possible? How can I lose to mere kimono girls...?"

"The better question is, how can they lose to you?"

Pikachu Boy's head spun around. "You were watching me, Lyra..."

"I didn't watch the battles, if that's what you're wondering. But I would've reckoned you lost, anyway."

"Yeah, that's right!" he said, his fists clenching his shirt. "I lost! I never thought defeating five kimono girls would be so hard. I got beaten to a pulp..."

"You probably didn't train hard enough, orange."

"I guess." He studied me, up and down. "You must have come here for the same reason, right?"

"I have no idea. They sent for me."

"Maybe they wanted to battle you, too. Don't get cocky just because you defeated Team Rocket. They're insanely strong."

He suddenly laughed, a cruel, sharp one. He stepped back and waved me towards the door. "Go ahead! See if you can defeat them. But I'm not going back. I don't want to see you win."

"Can I at least battle you?"

"I don't want to see that, either."

He pushed me away, then walked slowly aside. Pikachu Boy stood there wallowing in his own teenage angst, then broke into a run into the other side of the street. He almost got hit by a car, but I guess it was worth it.

When I came inside the theater, all the cushions were empty. The five kimono girls stood at the stage facing me. Slowly, I walked to the stage.

"What is this?" I asked. "Judgement day?"

"Welcome," said the leading woman. They weren't girls; they were women. "My name is Zuki. I met you previously in Violet City."

"Hi, Zuki," I said. "What is this for?"

I stood the closest to the steps so in case they decided to kill me, I had a head start to the door. I knew the cops wouldn't care if I got killed, so I was on my own.

"In order to bring back Lugia, we needed someone with the right bond with Pokémon."

"So basically, the strongest."

She slowly nodded.

"We asked Mr. Pokémon to give this mystery egg to whoever showed true potential. The egg was eventually handed from Mr. Pokémon to Professor Elm, and then to you. However, being pure alone will not be sufficient to face the power of this Pokémon. I must test you."

"I understand," I said. "But why did you battle Pikachu Boy before me?" I have to admit, being compared to him even indirectly kind of stung.

"Pikachu Boy?"

"The boy before me."

"Oh. Silver? It was a first generation kind of thing. First generation to not get involved in the streets and become evil. Unfortunately, he failed both the purity test and the battle test, so he is completely out of the running for Lugia. But are you ready? It's your turn now."

It was like the college acceptance process, only weirder and without paperwork.

"Sure," I said.

She spun around in a half circle. "I will test how closely you've bonded with your Pokémon."


Zuki took out an Umbreon. Sweet and cute looking as it was, I couldn't let it win. I took out Cinder, and Cinder scorched it with flames and shit, and we were doing all right.

"I don't have any Pokémon left," Zuki realized when that Umbreon was gone.

She looked quite heartbroken at the revelation.

"You are quite strong," a second woman said. "You helped me in the Ilex Forest. Or at least your Pokémon did. My name is Naoko, and I'm the one that's not so good at directions."

"Did you ever get a compass?"

"I did, but I lost it because of my sense of directions."

"Ah."

She continued, "My eyes witnessed you defeating Team Rocket when Kurt was in trouble at the Slowpoke Well."

"Then where the hell were you when I called the police? Where were you when I fought the grunts? Obviously, you have Pokémon, so you have literally no excuse. The least you could have done was bring pillows to Kurt."

Naoko paled. "Uh...um..."

"You are brave, Lyra, and cannot understand cowardice," Zuki cut in. "Understand this trait is lacking in others."

"Yes," Naoko said, who was bitting her lip. "Now allow me to challenge you and your Pokémon."

"No," I said.

"Shut the eff up," Naoko said.

She took out an Espeon. That battle went by fast with less remark.

"How unfortunate for you," I said. "And you were so willing to battle, too."

"I didn't have my full team," Naoko said. "If I did, I would've beat you—"

"Just quiet down, both of you," Zuki said.

Once that was over with, there was another woman to battle, of course.

"You are quite the Trainer," this one said. "I remember you chasing off that Team Rocket grunt from right here. I must thank you for that."

She looked at me expectantly, as though waiting for me to argue, but I didn't say anything.

"Although, I am actually a Trainer myself, and I was just testing you at the time. She who knows the most speaks the least. I am Miki!"

"Hey, Miki," I said. "How did Pika—er, Silver, fail the purity test?"

"He called his Pokémon a piece of shit."

"Oh," I said, nodding.

...I feel super ass lazy and don't want to write anymore, so to be continued, I guess.