Chapter 19 – Fear and Family

Emotions were a funny thing. Their range boggled the mind as it attempted to grapple with the idea that just one single person could feel all that they could in a single instant. Emotion was the reason behind many different actions too. Icarium was contemplating this idea as he looked around the small room. He was known to humans as the emotion Pokemon as he was able to sense what those around him were feeling. Jill seemed keen to use this ability to their advantage once he was pressed into battle.

He was still nervous about that. Everyone else here had grown up being strong. Being able to fight with the best of them. Icarium wasn't. He grew up in a wild place where the small were quickly passed over or fought as prey. He had avoided a worse fate, but he still wasn't at the same level as those Jill had surrounded herself with. Yet her confidence in his ability was unshakable. At least that's what he perceived. Now however, he was unsure. The young woman lay in her bed tossing and turning, seemingly trapped in a nightmare, one not even Icarium could break her out of. So much for being a help when he was in tune with his trainer's emotions. Fear and helplessness were welling up inside of him.

Suddenly the young woman bolted upright, sheathed in a cold sweat the look of lose and fear bright in her emerald eyes. Icarium watched as her hammering heart slowed to a regular beat, but it took minutes before his trainer was aware of where she was. Tears began swimming in her eyes. Icarium could feel the warring emotions of relief, anxiety, fear, helplessness and grief. It was remarkable that this young woman was suffering all of this in silence. She wasn't trying to wake any of them the psychic type realized. His heart ached at her suffering. Quietly he watched as she eased out of the bed being careful not to wake Urim and Chase who were both nestled by her. Soft footfalls broke the silence as she padded to the door of the room. Icarium followed.

She was only wearing shorts and a loose t-shirt and her hair came around her face like curtains. Icarium watched in silence as she stepped to the wall, head in her hands and slide down, tears falling freely. Silently he walked forward and laid a hand on her bare arm. The touch made the young woman jump.

"Oh Icarium! I'm so sorry!" Jill said quietly. She was ashamed of herself for some reason. Icarium couldn't understand why.

"Jill what's wrong?" the psychic type asked.

"It's nothing nothing at all…" Jill replied while wiping her eyes.

"I can tell something is wrong but I'm not able to figure it out. Was it a nightmare?" he asked. Jill let out a small chuckle and the briefest of smiles.

"I should have known nothing could get by you." She pulled him into a hug, which he returned instantly. She seemed to take strength from it. "It wasn't a proper nightmare Icarium. This felt much more real. And far worse" the young woman whispered. They remained in contact for some time, just sitting there.

"I haven't been around long yet, but you have a strong team" Icarium said, hoping this would cheer her up.

"I don't think of us as just a team though Icarium. We're family now, like it or not. I love each and every one of you, but this dream… You were all gone. I don't know why, or how, or even what I'd do without you all." Fresh tears started falling from the young woman. Icarium suddenly realized in this instant that he would do whatever it took to protect this young woman. He would devote his entire being to the idea of her goals. He had never had a family. Ever. He teared up thinking about this young woman. She was someone worth following to the ends of the world. For her to care so much…

"We'll never leave you Jill. I promise."

Caladan could sense something was amiss the next moring. Jill wasn't as perky as she was after her last two gym victories. The grass type wasn't good with words though. He was more the strong silent type, or so he liked to believe. But now, when he needed to say something, he couldn't. He was left distraught, for as this teams leader, he could do nothing to help this amazing young woman who tried so hard to do right by them. Three times as they were preparing in the morning he'd opened his mouth to say something, anything. Yet nothing arrived. Finally, Icarium happened by his side. The grove Pokemon grunted as the psychic type stood watching.

"I'm sorry if I am overstepping Caladan, but I sense despair coming from you" Icarium said.

"You're right" Cal whispered. "Something's wrong. I should be saying something. She's not her usual self, but I don't know what to do."

"Just being here is all." Caladan looked up at the newest member of the team. Jill had said something about his abilities to pick up emotions surrounding him and how his psychic powers would be very helpful in battle. But truth be told, they really didn't know much about Icarium. He had a desire to get stronger, something they all shared. But he didn't speak much, like Caladan. However, Icarium did not have the same link as Cal did to everyone else. Cal had been here since the beginning. So how did Icarium know this?

"How do you know?"

"She had a dream last night." Icarium looked shaken and suddenly Caladan knew. This wasn't the first time something had reached out to Jill. It had happened near the beginning of their journey too.

"I understand." This time it was Icarium who looked down in confusion. Caladan's despair was gone in an instant, replaced with that solid calm which Icarium had come to associate with the head of this family.

"How?" the psychic type asked.

"Something is reaching out to her. I don't know what or why. But when I do find out, I'm going to do whatever it takes to stop it from hurting her." There was an underlying threat, but no… not a threat but something more. Caladan wasn't a violent Pokemon. Well not outside of battle. Not like Sphryna and to a lesser extent Chase. No he was as solid as the earth they walked on. Unchanging. Icarium believed he simply wanted whatever was affecting Jill to leave her alone. If that meant however, that he had to battle whatever 'it' was, he would.

"She called us a family last night. She saw us… dying…" Icarium still had a hard time at that. Caladan noticed as he looked up, and nudged the smaller Pokemon. Icarium looked down.

"She's right. We are a family. But we ain't dying." Icarium believed him. Caladan grunted softly. Jill was looking around at everyone as she was hesitant to return them to their Pokeballs while she left the city behind. Now that Caladan knew why, he walked forward through everyone and pressed his forehead against her thigh. She sniffed and knelt down, hugging him.

"Your family isn't going nowhere" Caladan said quietly. It was all that needed to be said.

It was a long trek to make it to Solaceon town. Jill had avoided much to stay hidden. The dream had scared her more than she cared to admit. She bet that Arthur didn't succumb to stupid dreams. Even if they did feel alarmingly real. She was just being foolish. Yet this wasn't the first time that demon had appeared. What could it possibly be? she wondered.

A weeks travel through the wilderness had brought the young woman back to normal however. Other mysteries were still out there as well, such as Team Galactic. They hadn't been spotted recently so maybe they weren't really as active as Jill first thought. The travel was also a great way to train her team some more. Everyone was growing more and more powerful with each passing battle.

The most interesting part of this leg of their journey however came at Solaceon town. It was here that Jill had been rather interested in visiting since their departure from Hearthome. It was said the ruins here were built by an ancient civilization, one which understood Pokemon of the past in far greater detail than they knew now. So perhaps there would be something worth exploring and discovering after all.

"This wasn't randomly built" the younger man said.

"Of course it wasn't. The older races did nothing randomly. There was always some type of reason behind their actions" the gravely voice replied.

"So what was this place for?" The older adventurer ran a gloved hand across the glyphs in the ruins. These ancient glyphs had stood the test of time, partly because of the lack of light. The younger man was taking pictures and checking on his laptop.

"It wasn't a place of living, but rather of worship. At least of a sort."

"A temple?" The older man nodded. "For what?"

"The legends of this region." The younger scientist was shocked.

"What are we doing in a temple dedicated to legends which have never been seen?"

"Looking for answers."

"Do you think what he pro…" the young man cut himself off as another entered the same chamber they were currently studying.

"Oh I'm sorry" the young woman said. She was clearly surprised at seeing another set of people studying the ruins. The old adventurer turned at her voice and studied the young woman. He was shocked. There was something there. Something he couldn't quite place. Then she turned and faced him. It was in her eyes. They were the same eyes as that young man a year ago. A different colour true, but the same look.

"Not at all young lady. A trainer?" she nodded to the elder. "Not many take a notice of legends and myths on their journeys."

"To be honest I wasn't aware that this was a place devoted to them" she said. "I just had a feeling that there might be something worth learning within."

"You're not wrong. These glyphs here tell amazing stories of the past. They also tell of powers almost beyond comprehension" the old adventurer said looking back around the room. The young scientist was staring intently at his partner. Why is he giving so much information to this girl? The young man wondered.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"The stories here tell of Palkia and Dialga the rulers of space and time."

"So the legends about them are true then?" the young lady asked.

"They seem to be yes" the adventurer said.

"Is that what you are both doing here?"

"I've been travelling for years, searching out legends and myths to gain a better understanding of ancient Pokemon. You could call it a passion of mine." The older man walked past the young trainer to a simple sack on the floor. The other man in the chamber was already packed up. The young woman watched the two men leave, somewhat confused.

As soon as the two men exited the ruins, the elder was grabbing a phone from the jeep they had with them. He dialed the number and waited.

"You have an update?" the voice on the other end of the line asked.

"Of sorts. I believe there may be another player in all this."

"Which side?"

"Unknown" replied the graveled voice.

"And what of the status in Sinnoh?" said the smooth voice.

"Whatever that business deal you made, I say we let it play out here. Accessing the realms would be too difficult and attract to much attention."

"Having the powers of space and time on our side would be most beneficial…" the voice mused.

"Accessing them will be next to impossible. We would have to draw them out, and if that research is right, then there really isn't much of a chance."

"I see. So you are advising we move on?"

"Best course of action yes."

"In that case, come and meet me in Castelia. New plans are in motion." The line went dead.

"We have our next destination." The scientist nodded and loaded up. It was time to keep moving.

Jill wondered at the weird encounter. She had expected to see people here in the ruins but instead she had only come across those two men. Whatever they had been studying, Jill couldn't help but feel as though it wasn't the entire story. At least they didn't give here the same vibe as those Team Galactic goons. She spent the day wandering the ruins even coming across some evolution stones.

There was one chamber though with seemed to call from the young woman however. Following her nose, Jill wandered through the ever darkening chambers until she came to a dead end of sorts. There was a picture painted upon the walls of something few had ever seen. In fact, this chamber wasn't normally even open. It hadn't been opened since it had been created, but this was a fact that none knew. This chamber was dedicated to another legend whom almost none knew of. Least of all the young woman who had unknowingly walked into said chamber. The room was strangely glossed, almost as if it was completely created in mirrors. Jill kept looking around, having a feeling as though someone, or something, was watching her.

In the centre of the room sat three pedestals, supporting a stone on each one. She slowly walked forward, weirded out as if she was walking on another plane of existence. It was disconcerting. She stepped forward and stared at the three stones. Each seemed to shine with a different light or substance. There was an essence attributed to each Jill realized. Or was that the right word?

One was almost hexagonal in shape, a deep, deep blue. There was a silver sheen to it as well. The second was completely round, a purple/pink smoke-like vapour swirling in the depths. The third was more pyramidal, yellow or a deep golden colour. It seemed completely solid unlike the other two. When Jill went to touch the first one however, it disappeared, replaced instead with another stone, one which shone like the morning sun was instead trapped within. Looking at the other two stones, Jill saw that they too had been replaced. Two more evolutionary stones were sitting on top of the pedestals.

Finally, the young woman looked at the last wall. Inky blackness beckoned an invitation, one Jill was both willing but far to nervous and scared to accept. Within that image was the symbol Jill had seen in old history books. One speaking of the legends who created the Sinnoh region. At the bottom though was a different looking drawing. One of a more serpentine creature with coal red eyes. Eye's that burned through to Jill's very core. All just like that it was gone.

Jillian's Pokemon:
Caladan (Grotle) - level 25, ability: Overgrow, nature: Bashful
Chase (Luxio) - level 24, ability: Intimidate, nature: Impish
Epona (Ponyta) - level 25, ability: Run Away, nature: Naughty
Urim (Togepi) - level 18, ability: Serene Grace, nature: Brave
Sphryna (Gabite) - level 24 ability: Sand Veil, nature: Naive
Icarium (Kirlia) - level 20, ability: Trace, nature: Lonely