Chapter 32 – Growing Closer
Spray from the surf hiting the hull bounced up, freckling the young woman's face every so often. The salty tang in the air was a relaxing scent as the small boat danced across the waves. Jill stared at the rising spire of rock coming every closer. Byron had spoken with the islands owner, Riley, and had gotten the Jill some time to spend training on the island. As for Riley himself, well he was rather mysterious. Jill didn't know of him, and all Byron would tell her is that he had bought the island years back to help the native Pokemon adjust to the mines below the earth.
Somehow, the young woman wasn't nervous. In fact, if anything, this would prove a nice reprieve from the hard travelling in weeks past. Out here, she could forget about terrorist cells, champions callings, or even the dangers of travelling on foot to the next town. It would just be her and her Pokemon. Byron's words after their battle had struck a cord. A chance to really reconnect, one on one with her team would be invaluable.
It wasn't long before the dock came into view. It was definitely too large for the small vessel that had carried Jill over, and she wondered how she would get onto the island when this port was clearly designed for larger ships. That was until they circled around the main dock to a smaller, personal one. And standing there to greet the young woman must have been Riley. Jill appraised the man as the two-man crew on the boat docked the vessel. He was wearing simple blue jeans over a pair of hiking boots and a black sweater. Riley's normally messy raven black hair was kept under control today by an old school ranger hat. Jill smiled at the touch. He seemed a man out of place in today's world of ultra modern looks and fetishes. It wasn't until Jill stepped off the boat and onto the dock did the young woman notice that Riley had piercing sky blue eyes. Something about them held her attention like nothing else.
"Hello, you must be Jill" Riley said softly. His voice was quiet, measured. Jill took his outstretched hand to shake, noticing the firm grip. She just nodded her head, not trusting herself to speak just yet. She had no idea why her emotions were all over the place with this man suddenly.
"Welcome to Iron Island. Byron told me you were interested in doing some training here." Again, Jill nodded. Riley beckoned her to follow, which she did.
"Byron is a good man. A little head strong at times. Very absorbed in his work. But he allowed me to drastically cut back the ore mining that was going on here as the Pokemon native to this island were having trouble adjusting. He also informed me that you defeated him in a gym match."
"I did" Jill finally said. Riley was leading her up a rocky path towards a small bluff which hosted a modest house. "He told me that you live here?" Riley smiled pointing at the structure ahead.
"It seems rather isolated" Jill noted.
"I like it that way. A while ago I too was a trainer. In fact, Byron asked me to take over the Orebourgh gym when he left it to run the Canalave gym." Riley's eyes were clearly not seeing his house, but rather past memories as he spoke. "However, there was his son to consider. And that was not my path in life." As they came upon the hosue, Jill was shocked to see the array of Pokemon about.
A Lucario detached itself from the group, but there was an astounding level to the power that was amassed. Jill noticed a Salamence, Ursaring, Heracross, Metagross and Gallade. These weren't low leveled Pokemon, or even common Pokemon!
"Are those… Are they all yours?" She asked, disbelieving. Riley still held his warm smile.
"They are yes. My family here." Jill was stunned. Such Pokemon could only travel with a truly proven and powerful trainer.
"They look like a champion's team…" Jill said under her breath.
"I once wanted to challenge for the mantel." Jill could only nod along. With a team like that, one must have only had one goal.
"What happened? I'm sorry but I've never heard your name among the champion lists" Jill added the last part sheepishly.
"First, lunch. Then I'll give you my story. I think you'll see why Byron said you should come."
Saturn watched as the crates were loaded onto the transports. His teams had been trained well. Everything was almost in place to begin the final stages of his boss's plan. Capturing the three lake guardians. Jupiter and Charon said they were necessary. He didn't bother finding out the details as to why, he was simply in charge of the coordinated strike. They would have to move through the shadows as every law enforcement agency in the region was trying to sniff Team Galactic out.
The head scientist himself came out to watch the loading of the final crate. Saturn was keen on the man being there, seeing as this next stage was the most likely to open the administration up to being caught, but there was no stopping the fool.
"Ah new dawn rises!" Charon said lowly, a grin plastered on the alabaster skin. Saturn simply nodded. There was no need to mark this occasion. It was another couple of minutes, while grunts and the specialist teams strapped the final crate into place on the truck. Then they closed the doors and locked it.
"Sir, we're all loaded" a man told Saturn.
"Make sure the teams are ready to move out. We leave in ten minutes." The grunt saluted and walked away, organizing the stragglers into the other SUV's which would transport the required men to their assigned places.
"Why are we waiting?" Charon asked.
"No need to get ahead of ourselves. This must be done delicately and precisely. I would have thought a scientist such as yourself would understand that" Saturn replied, not bothering to hide his disgust for the shorter man.
"Of course, I'm aware of the need for precision boy. Why are you not leaving now? We're out in the open here." Saturn frowned, but kept his cool, as Cyrus always does.
"Mars and Jupiter are coming with the teams as well. We'll have the lake trio to you by the end of the week. And we're not out in the open. This warehouse isn't listed under any Galactic property. Even if the IP did track us here, they'll be too late." Charon frowned slightly but left the remark alone. He didn't have to like everyone he worked with here.
"Oh Saturn, there you are. Are we all ready to leave?" Jupiter said with a devilish grin as she walked into the warehouse. She had restyled the suits Charon had designed for them. Each suit was supposed to help ward off the effects of the gods they were supposedly attempting to summon. However, Jupiter had taken to showing off more skin than was completely necessary in Saturn's opinion.
"Once Mars arrives yes. You'll be taking the team on the far end to Lake Acuity."
"I know the plan" Jupiter retorted. She took her bag and loaded it into the specified vehicle. Semi trucks began roaring to life, drowning out much other noise around the crews. Saturn stood, hands still clasped behind his back. Mars wasn't far behind Jupiter in reporting in. She too was wearing a suit from Charon. Saturn alone wasn't wearing his suit as he knew that it would not be needed yet.
"Remember, check in is in three days time at ten hundred hours" Saturn finally told the assembled commanders once everyone was loaded.
"Saturn we've been over this" Mars said rolling her eyes. "We're not going to set off the fucking things early alright?" Saturn was tight lipped.
"Once you've captured the guardians, you must bring them back to the lab immediately. It is of the utmost importance. I will have everything in place and ready to create the final item needed" Charon reiterated.
"And remember as well, do not touch the guardians" Juptier added.
"You know it might be easier to just kill them" Mars threw out.
"No!" Charon said loudly. "We must keep them intact until they arrive at the lab."
"Which also means do not touch them, whatever you do" Jupiter explained. "They could release what we need from them on to you and become useless." The others nodded along. They of course already knew all of this, but it is always moments like these, right before the major important steps needed to be taken, that a team of individuals must go over things once more.
"Alright, then let's move out" Saturn said. Charon watch the three commanders get into their vehicles and everything pull away. Not until they were all out of sight and Charon was the only person left in the warehouse, did he turn on his heel and walk away, headed back to that underground facility where part of his destiny awaited him.
Flint wandered around Veilstone at a complete loss as to what to do. Cops had been scouring the Galatic buildings for over a week and found nothing that could point him in a direction. He was a man of action, not waiting around. And with an entire terrorist cell disappearing without a trace, well that was major.
The fire type master wasn't the only person troubled by this. Maylene had left Veilstone for a time to train with Candice up north, but also to be on hand and closer to Lake Acuity. Cynthia had a feeling that the lakes were being targeted, which Flint had passed along to a few of the gym leaders. They were going to need all the help they could get on this one. Flint looked down as his phone began ringing.
"Aaron hey dude. Anything?" the fire type trainer asked.
"Nothing. Whoever they recruited down here, they're gone now. But they certainly scrubbed clean the underground" the other Elite said.
"You let Cynthia and Looker in on this?"
"Yeah. They're just as lost on this I feel. And Lucian and Bertha are their usual forthcoming selves."
"We're all lost on this one dude. Can't figure it out." Both elites sighed. Unfortunately, they would have to wait until more information was had before they could make another move.
"Alright well I'm going to head back to the league. Can't really do much more down here" Aaron said.
"Yeah alright. I'm going to stick around Veilstone a while longer. Especially with Maylene up north" Flint replied. The red-haired man watched as a troop of vehicles moved down the road, followed by three semis.
Jill had spent the last three nights at Riley's house, learning from the man training to become aware of aura. That afternoon on her first day, Riley explained what had happened in his life. He had spent much of his younger years training in strength. His Lucario was proof of that. But Riley explained that he hadn't truly understood his Pokemon. He focused on one thing, and one thing only. Sheer physical power. Sure, his team had other traits that Riley had utilized in battle. But mostly, he just wanted to overwhelm his opponent. That was, until he challenged the league.
Most people had assumed that he was a shoe in to win. A powerful team, such as the one he had assembled, how could he lose? By not fully understanding what his Pokemon were capable of was his downfall Riley said. He had managed to get past the first of the Elites. But the battles were becoming tougher. Then the champion of the time came along. And a Metagross that knew to do things that Riley couldn't even imagine.
After his battle, the champion had explained what Riley was doing and why it prevented him from being better than he was. So, Riley had hidden away, spending time with only his Pokemon to understand what he was lacking. It was his oldest friend, his Lucario, that showed him what it was that he wanted. Afterwards, Riley spent some time travelling around other regions until he finally decided that Iron Island was the perfect place to bring harmony and understand what aura was all about.
Thus, Jill's true training had begun. Riley pitted his team against hers, testing her in ways that the gym leaders simply couldn't. The variety and sheer strength Riley threw at Jill astounded her. She lost a majority of their matches, but this was okay as she could feel what the older trainer was trying to teach her. He showed her ways of looking at things that she hadn't thought of before. Through their training, Riley also took Jill down into the mines. It was here that she saw wild Steelix, a phenomenon that only happened on this island. She and her team trained against the wild Pokemon here. Those battles in the massive tunnels carved out by the serpents, were so much more predictable, yet scarier too. Wild Pokemon didn't know that they needed to pull back at the end of a battle. This was the reason every so often travelling trainers never made it home again.
Those thoughts didn't occur to Jill anymore though. She was getting close with both her Pokemon, but also with Riley. He wasn't too much older than her, and there was just something about him that she found attractive. An air of mystery. Admittedly, he was also free with the compliments, even if she didn't really understand what the strength of her aura really meant. Each person had their own gifts though. Today was Jill's last day however. And there was still one more thing she wanted to accomplish before leaving the island to resume her journey.
Dim yellow lights flashed by as the lift descended into the bowels of the earth. Chains clattered above as the young woman leaned against the wall of the cage and looked down. While she wasn't claustrophobic, Jill also wasn't the biggest fan of diving down into the dark abyss.
She had told Riley to stay up top. This last task was something she needed to do with only her team. Finally, the screech of the brakes on the lift snapped the young woman out of her reprieve and she opened the door. Reaching down, Jill released her team around her. Everyone looked around, with Epona and Urim not looking overly thrilled to be back down below ground.
"Alright guys, I know these past couple of days have been really good, but there's one more thing I want to find. Byron said that somewhere on the lowest levels of the mines, they used to find shiny stones" Jill explained to the arrayed family.
"And we need this because….?" Chase said, already using his enhanced night vision to make out the moving shadows.
"That stone would allow Urim to evolve into a Togekiss." Everyone looked at Jill when she proclaimed that.
"I could evolve again?" Urim asked in awe.
"Only if you wanted to" Jill said quickly. She hadn't meant for it to sound like Urim needed to evolve once more, as she loved him just as he was.
"I do!" the flying type said excitedly. Jill smiled.
"Alright then let's go find us a stone!"
The search was easier said than done. Riley had warned that the mines had seen lower productions in recent years, but that had not deterred the young woman. She wanted what was best for her family. And if that meant getting an item needed for Urim to grow stronger by his choosing, then she would find that. Wild Pokemon down here were much larger and much more defensive however, and so her family was fighting much more fierce battles on this level than they did further up.
Dirt covered her face, and her hair was a complete disaster. Everyone was beginning to tire as the day worn on. Jill however, was determined. She couldn't leave yet. But she had no idea where to keep looking for the precious stone. She consulted the crudely drawn map once more, attempting to figure out where they had already looked.
"Hey blue…" Chase said quietly and suddenly. Everyone stopped and looked at the lynx. He was facing something Jill couldn't see.
"See something?" she asked.
"What does this stone look like?" the electric type asked.
"It looks like a really glassy white. Really bright sheen to it." Jill, Chase and Urim walked forward until the young woman saw what Chase had seen from down the tunnel.
"Wow Chase, I'm impressed with your eyesight! This is it!" Elation filled everyone as they stared at the precious stone.
"Well what are you waiting for?" Sphyrna asked of Urim. The little flyer was suddenly nervous. He flew into Jill who wrapped him in a hug.
"I'm not sure I want to now" he said into Jill's chest. Tears immediately sprang up in the young trainer's eyes.
"Oh Urim, you don't have to evolve ever if you don't want to!" she said quietly to him. The team gathered around to console the frightened Pokemon. "I just wanted to collect the stone in case some day you do decide that you want to evolve" Jill explained further. Urim nodded but didn't break his hold of Jill. "I'm sorry…" Everyone gathered around and waited while Urim calmed down. Finally, the tiny Pokemon looked around, his glow brighter than ever, even though he was upset.
"You all don't mind if…" he began.
"You evolve when you're ready" came the strong gravel voice of Caladan. Sphyrna crouched down and nuzzled Urim.
"Cal is right. We don't decide when you're ready. You do. We're always going to be here for you" she said. Jill was touched by how delicate the dragon was around the fairy type. She wasn't sure that those types would get along but it seemed that they were inseparable.
When they were all ready, Jill picked up the stone and pocketed it. Slowly the group made their way back to the lift to the surface. Riley was waiting for them, alongside his Lucario. When Jill got back up to the surface, he led her down to the area where he checked on his own Pokemon. Jill's entire team was given a good rest after their wounds had been tended too. Riley then made Jill some lunch, which the two ate down by the water. Waves lapped at the shore, whispering in an unknown language. Part of Jill looked upon this and didn't want to leave. Riley must have sensed this as well.
"You're always welcome to come back, any time" the aura user said. Jill blushed. "I'll admit, it was nice having some company around. But this island isn't your goal." The young woman nodded. Riley was right. Her goal was still out there.
"Thank you for everything" Jill said as she put her belongings on the boat that would take her back to Canalave.
"You're more than welcome. I look forward to seeing you against Cynthia. That will be a battle for the ages." Jill smiled and looked down, not entirely sure how to say goodbye. She felt a delicate touch on her chin, and her face was lifted to Riley's. The kiss was soft and caring, but one that Jill wouldn't soon forget.
"Until next time."