=Chapter 24, Warming Up=
(Jacob's PoV)
"What is going on here?" Karen asked incredulously as she and Jacob looked around the end of Route 112 where they should have been boarding the cable car up the slope of Mt. Chimney, but weren't because they were in shock of what they were seeing.
"What in the name of…" Jacob said as well as he and Sara had the same thought crossing their minds as the chilling wind blew at them from all sides.
(Jacob, this isn't normal is it?) Sara asked him as she shivered in his arms, holding herself to try and stay warm.
It was indeed not normal, the temperature was nearly forty degrees Fahrenheit, and according to the thermometer that was hanging from a nearby sign outside of a large building that read 'Pokemon Adoption Center', it was getting colder.
"No Sara this is not normal!" Jacob said as he looked around and saw all the snow falling and piling up ever slowly around them. "This isn't right, were near Mt. Chimney, it should be extremely warm here, how can it be freezing near a Volcano that isn't active yet isn't inactive?"
"I don't know…" Karen shouted as she trudged toward the Pokemon Adoption Center. "B…but… I th...th…think we should get somewhere w…w…warm!"
"I agree…" Jacob said as he followed behind her.
They hurried as fast as they could toward the large one story building and through its double doors and into the warmth of the building's inner heating.
Karen cursed loudly as she shifted around on her feet constantly to warm them back up after being in the cold. "By all the natural laws, what is wrong with this picture?" She shouted to Jacob. "We're in the middle of spring, SPRING! It doesn't even get this cold here in Hoenn during the winter! That doesn't even include being cold enough so that it SNOWS right next to a VOLCANO!"
"Tell me about it." Jacob said as Sara shivered in his arms, absorbing as much warmth as his body allowed by curling into as tight a ball as she could. "What is going on around here, this isn't normal weather by any means for Hoenn. How could it suddenly snow near a Volcano?"
"Hey there!" A voice called out from behind them, causing them to turn around in the middle of warming themselves up.
In their rush to get somewhere warm they had neglected to remember what they had entered, only now that they were did they take a good look at their surroundings.
The Pokemon Adoption Center was a fairly wide, one story building that, instead of having normal floor tiles like other buildings did, instead used the natural grass of the field around as it's floor. There were even several berry trees and natural shrubs in patches around a small pond inside the building for Pokemon and humans. All of this behind a large counter that was stationed near to the door, where a young man was sitting wearing overalls and a hat with the Adoption Center's logo on it.
"What are you trainers doing out there; don't you pay attention to the HNN news?" He asked incredulously as he took a pot of hot chocolate and poured a few cups for them, inviting them over with a hand gesture.
"We did but we've been on the road for a couple of weeks, and we don't have a PokeNav on us." Karen said with a thankful nod, as well as eyeing the young man as he handed Jacob and Sara their cups.
"Well if you did you would have known that Route 112 and other routes have been experiencing this strange 'cold' weather season." He said with a sigh. "According to them they have told all trainers to avoid traveling around Mt. Chimney until an explanation can be discerned. That means nobody should be traveling along these roads for any reason, what you two were doing out there is beyond me."
"That explains why we haven't encountered any other trainers for nearly a week while on the road." Jacob said as he helped Sara with her hot chocolate, which she enjoyed quite a bit. "Oh, I'm Jacob and this is Karen my friend, and this is Sara my Kirlia."
"Well welcome Jacob and Karen, you're the first trainers to visit this Center for nearly a week." He said with a chuckle as he walked back over to where he was sitting. "Which is 'nice' as well as 'not so nice', it's nice because we're still open for business and not so nice because we only have two Pokemon here up for adoption if you are interested."
"Up for adoption, why would there be Pokemon up for adoption?" Karen asked, apparently forgetting the sign outside that was above the thermometer.
Jacob however knew why, and it was a sad truth about the relation between Pokemon and Humans, especially trainers.
It was a lesson Arky went over with him, but only during his last year while in Littleroot. Arky told him that some trainers choose a profession called Breeders, and their sole purpose is to 'breed' Pokemon for various reasons, reasons that Arky refused to describe. He didn't explain what 'breeding' entailed but he could hear the bitterness in his teacher's tone as he talked about the subject.
He said that despite how many Pokemon a Trainer may have or keep with them on their journey; there are some that are unlucky enough to be abandoned by those trainers for whatever reason. Sometimes they are abandoned because they are too weak, sometimes because they failed their trainer's expectations, or simply because some trainers can't handle the responsibility of raising so many Pokemon on their own. No matter the reason, thousands of Pokemon are abandoned and left to fend for themselves in the wild, in the streets of cities, in the seas near the land, wherever they happened to have been released by said trainers. Some of these Pokemon are so young that they can't care for themselves on their own or in some cases they become so accustomed that they refuse to live anywhere near the wild where others of their species dwelled, and in recent years these 'Adoption Centers' started popping up along various routes and outside of some cities as a way to solve this problem.
The Pokemon Adoption Centers were all similar in appearance, though he had never seen one in person before today. These special Centers were created to find homes for those Pokemon incapable of surviving on their own, or have grown too accustomed to Humans and city life that they cannot live in the wild anymore. Ever since these Centers were created, trainers and non-trainers have found adopting Pokemon over catching them by battling in the wild to be more enjoyable, as well as easy.
According to Arky, a Pokemon Adoption Center could be seen in two lights no matter what. On one side of the room, it was a place where Pokemon found homes, where trainers could meet their new friends and companions on a personal level that they couldn't get without traveling. It was somewhere that sheltered helpless Pokemon until they found that special person to adopt and take care of them, and it was where they found the first spark of happiness and friendship that would forge into the great 'bond' that he always talked about. On the other side however, it was the very symbol of something he clearly despised, a place where Pokemon that have trusted Humans so much, go to because they are 'useless' or 'unwanted'. It was a place where Pokemon were abandoned by their trainers, left to let the winds of fate to decide their destiny, or simply because they didn't want to deal with the issues they were responsible for.
"Oh, what kind of Pokemon do you have here?" Karen asked excitedly as the prospect of seeing new Pokemon got to her.
"Well we have two here that have been waiting to be adopted for a while now, both of them weren't native to this region a few decades ago, but in recent years have grown in numbers, or at least one of them." The young man said as he sipped the last of his hot chocolate. "Oh yea before I forget, my name is Levan, and I'm the only guy working here until that 'No Travel' advisory is lifted."
(Why does he work here if people aren't allowed to travel?) Sara asked as she handed Jacob her empty cup.
"Why do you work here Levan if people aren't allowed to travel?" Jacob asked for Sara.
"Well you see you two, somebody has to take care of this place when there are Pokemon in our care." He said with a small chuckle as he stood up and stretched. "So we all drew straws to decide who would remain here until the advisory goes away, and well I picked the short one. I don't necessarily mind but by the stars am I bored here with no television. I can only watch the news on my PokeNav and read old magazines out here for entertainment when I'm not looking after the Pokemon here. In any case, enough about little old me, how about you two follow me if either of you are interested in adopting."
"Sure I wouldn't mind, no harm in at least looking right?" Karen said as she followed in step enthusiastically.
Jacob however looked to Sara, as though asking her opinion about the idea of adopting a new Pokemon onto their team. "Should we?" He asked hesitantly.
Sara smiled and nodded in agreement. (I don't see why not, you are a good person, I'm sure whoever they have here would love to be adopted by you!)
Nodding acceptance Jacob followed behind Karen and Levan into the main part of the Center where the majority of all the bushes and shrubs were. While they walked Levan talked about the two Pokemon in his care. "They're polar opposites of each other, one of them, a Riolu, is really outspoken and headstrong, always wanting to prove how brave he is." He explained as they neared the small pond and bushes. "The Riolu I've been taking care of for several months now has been waiting to be adopted, it's not that trainers don't want him but he's a wild one to control. Speaking of whom, he should have appeared by now, he never misses an opportunity to try and ambush me when he thinks he might get food out of it."
"Ambush you, why would he…" Karen asked interestedly when a small blue blur rushed out from the bushes and jumped at Levan, causing him to almost fall backward.
Apparently though he had been expecting this, and easily kept his stance and held up the small struggling Pokemon as it tried to show him how 'tough' it was while it tried to smack him as hard as it could. "Rioooo!" It called out boldly, to which Sara unconsciously translated to, "I almost had you!"
"This is Riolu." Levan said as he finally managed to control the small Pokemon enough to hold it still enough for them to see. "And these are some Trainers that might be looking to adopt you."
Riolu, a small, blue, canine Pokemon that stood about two feet tall, about as tall as Sara stood, turned to look over at them excitedly, completely forgetting Levan and his earlier attempt to ambush the caretaker. "Rio Riolu?" It asked, "Trainers, you mean I'm finally being adopted?"
"Assuming you don't drive them crazy like you did to the last few trainers who tried to." He said with a nervous smile. "Anyway, this is Karen and Jacob, and Sara, so go ahead and say hi and try not to scare them away."
"Rioooooooooo!" Riolu shouted as he jumped into Karen's arm and caused her to fall over.
Jacob expected Karen to be a little surprised at the fact that a little Pokemon was so bold and so enthusiastic at first meeting them. But Karen was laughing as she sat up with the Riolu in her arms, matching the laughter of the little Pokemon with her own mirth. "Oh can I keep him please, please, pleeeeeeeease!" She said through her laugh. "I promise to take care of him, he's so cool and cute and so awesome, can I pleeeeease keep him?"
"That's strange; normally he's so aggressive tries to prove how tough he is to every trainer and Pokemon that walks through those doors." Levan said with a confused look.
Jacob however smiled and knew why the Riolu was acting differently. He remembered from his lessons how some Pokemon, such as Riolu and its adult form Lucario, can sense the auras of nearby creatures and can determine how they are feeling and what they are like. It was similar to Sara's and his psychic connection in that she can sense what he is feeling or thinking. Karen's personality and bold nature probably felt so familiar that he instantly connected to her and felt no need to be so aggressive.
Either that or he just was really happy to have a visitor and possibly be adopted that he forgot to act that way.
"Well I think Riolu and Karen are going to be great friends." Jacob said to Levan as Riolu started nuzzling her cheek and making her laugh.
"I guess so; I'm actually going to miss the little guy now that he's actually going to be leaving." Levan said with a small laugh. "Now where's the other one, she should be nearby if Riolu is here?"
"Who?" Jacob asked as Sara too looked in confusion at Levan.
However before Levan could respond, Jacob spotted who the 'she' that Levan was talking about. Hiding as best she could in the bushes, but unable to hide the flames that was her mane, was a fire type Pokemon that Jacob only heard about that could usually be found in grasslands or near areas such as Hoenn's Mt. Chimney. But the coloring was odd, instead of the usual red and orange that he was familiar with, the flames he saw were bluish.
Still there was no way he could ignore that it was a Ponyta, and upon being discovered the nervous equine Pokemon tried to hide deeper into the bushes. Unfortunately it was too tall to hide completely and the flames easily gave its position away.
"That would be our Ponyta, she's extremely shy and every time someone comes in she tends to hide." Levan said with a small sigh. "She's a very gentle Ponyta, I've never met a gentler one before, but she's extremely shy around strangers. Heck she even hides away from me from time to time, even when I have food sometimes."
"Uh, hello there." Jacob said nervously, putting Sara down so she could walk around on her own. "You can come out; I won't hurt you I promise."
The Ponyta didn't move however and simply tried to hide herself better upon being addressed to personally. "This is how she is; after a trainer left her egg here she's been afraid of strangers since she hatched." Levan said with a small sigh. "No matter whom they are or how friendly people are to her, she just hides away and tries to avoid all contact. I can't just let her out into the wild because she's so dependent on humans for her food now that she doesn't know how to fend for herself. She's been here for over two years, but nobody's adopted her. I've tried to find someone to adopt her, but she doesn't trust anyone."
"Kirlia… Kirlia Kirl Kirl!" Sara said. (It's okay… you can trust him, he's a good human!)
Very nervously and very slowly, the Ponyta poked forward and slowly got closer to Jacob and Sara. It stood as a normal Ponyta did, about three feet in height, with a cream colored body and flames for a mane and tail, but the flame coloring were wrong from what he knew of. Most fire type flames were red and orange, this Ponyta's flames were blue.
"Pbbpt…" It neighed nervously, clearly wanting to edge back into the bushes.
Jacob nodded and decided to try a new approach, or at least he hoped it was a new approach. He slowly lowered his bag and opened it, reaching into it and fishing around for one of the last remaining bags of the Sanctuary's fruit he had left. After finding it he pulled it out and opened it, revealing the last fruit he had left that Arky had provided him when he left Littleroot.
The Sanctuary's fruits didn't spoil for nearly half a year, and it was time to eat it or else it would go to waste. So as gently and calmly as he could, he offered the Ponyta the fruit, hoping to get closer to the Pokemon. "Come on, I promise I won't bite." He said soothingly, offering the fruit. "You can have it if you want."
The Ponyta took a tentative step back after seeing the fruit offered, but after a second's hesitation stepped forward to sniff the fruit. He guessed it probably smelled alright, because it bit into the fruit and started eating it. "Does she have a name?" Jacob asked Levan as the Ponyta ate into the fruit.
"No, I just refer to her as Ponyta because can't come up with one." He said. "She never lets me near her long enough to name her or even trust me enough to let me talk to her. So no she has no name."
"Why are her mane and tail blue instead of the usual orange and red?" He asked.
"I have no clue; I believe many trainers refer to these oddly colored Pokemon as 'Shinys' or so. But I have no clue about why she looks differently than what I'm familiar with. You'd have to ask a professor or some scientist to explain why they are this way."
Jacob nodded and turned to watch the Ponyta as she finished eating the fruit, he was sure she was still extremely nervous around him, but at least this gesture showed that he was a nice person and could at least be somewhat trusted.
While he fed the Ponyta, Karen was busy introducing the Riolu to her team, Ziggles, Shrew, Laura and Nora, all of whom were pleased to meet a new member of Karen's team. After some time Jacob also released his team so that they could stretch and get some much needed fresh air after being in their balls for as long as they have been. The Ponyta became extremely nervous again and backed up a bit at seeing Coral's huge form, as well as being a water type.
Levan told them that for Karen to adopt Riolu she had to do some paperwork before he could leave with them, and so Karen asked Jacob to help since she wasn't the best at such things.
"Alright you guys, try to play nice and relax while we're here!" Jacob told his team as he, Karen, Levan and Riolu were going toward the desk they were at earlier. "This shouldn't take too long!"
"Grooovyle!" Harold replied as he turned to leave.
(Sara's PoV)
Sara watched Jacob leave and turned to look over at the Ponyta who was still nervously eyeing the rest of Jacob's team from the safety of the shrubs now. "What's wrong, why are you so afraid of us?"
"I'm just not sure if I want an owner right now…" She replied.
"But Jacob is a good human; he's nice and really friendly!" Sara said confidently. "I promise you that he'll take good care of you!"
Ponyta however still looked unsure as she eyed the trainers near the desk. "Is he going to adopt me right now?"
Sara shook her head as she still felt Jacob's thoughts from across the room. "No, he's not adopting you right now; he won't adopt you unless you want to be adopted."
Ponyta looked a little surprised at this revelation, and her response was full of just as much surprise. "He doesn't want to adopt me, but every other trainer that's seen me has tried to adopt me the instant they see me!" She said. "They all see my fire and try to adopt me, but every time I hide and stay away from them!"
While Sara and the Ponyta talked, Harold and the others were looking around and enjoying the chance to stretch their muscles. Coral, noticing Sara's conversation and overhearing some of what was happening, slithered over to the two, causing the Ponyta to try and hide herself in the shrubs again at the sight of the Milotic. "Are you two talking about Jacob?" She asked gently.
"Yea, Ponyta is afraid of being adopted by Jacob!" Sara said to the giant Sea Pokemon, whom only was three times her height because she kept herself coiled up when not moving.
Coral turned to look at the Ponyta and, using whatever it was that allowed Milotics to soothe and calm the emotions of Pokemon, soothed the worries of the Ponyta enough to not be afraid of the water type. "There is nothing to fear Fire Runner, Jacob is the absolute best trainer I have ever met, and I know if you'd give him a chance you'll find he is just as kind as we say he is." She said with a smile. "No matter what fears you may have of trainers in the past, Jacob is one you should not have any of now. He would never make you do anything you wouldn't want to, and he cares for each of us as though we were family to him."
Ponyta looked between Sara and Coral, and then over at the rest of Jacob's team, who were busy watching Ziggles and Shrew, once again having a Sumo match to see who was stronger. "Will he… make me have to battle?" She asked nervously, watching as Shrew got shoved onto his back before wearily standing back up. "I don't like fighting very much…"
Sara shook her head with another smile. "Jacob doesn't force us to battle unless we feel ready to battle or want to battle." She replied, herself living proof of this. "I'm a wild Kirlia technically; I don't have a Pokeball like the others do. Since I'm still 'wild' Jacob can't really tell me what to do unless I give him permission, which I gladly do because I want to help him!"
"Even if we weren't in Pokeballs, we'd still listen to Jacob because of how nice he is and what we've done together." Coral said with a smile. "I myself have saved his life from drowning, and that's also how I evolved from a Feebas. Before everyone thought I was weak and useless, not to mention called ugly every day. Yet Jacob saw the potential in me, believed in me, and that's why I will always think of the best in Jacob before I'll ever see the worst in him."
"Yea, he's really nice and…" Sara was saying, before she felt another presence enter the radius of her psychic senses.
The new presence was then joined by more, at least three or four more, one of them was very familiar, but that wasn't what was bothering her, it was the first one she felt that was causing her such a strange sensation she hadn't felt before.
"Sara?" Coral asked, but her words went unheard to Sara.
Sara was still trying to cope with this sudden sensation coursing through her mind and now her body. It was fear, total, ruthless, uncontrollable fear. It was as though one moment she was the happiest Pokemon in the world, and the next she felt her mind suddenly curl up into a ball of despair and pure terror at what she was feeling. She could feel these new minds in her own, unconsciously touching them to learn what they were like, as she often did because she couldn't really control her powers to their fullest, and because she's always in contact with Jacob's mind.
"Sara, are you alright?" Coral asked again, but still the Kirlia didn't hear the words entirely, sounding more like an echo next to this feeling in her mind.
The mind that she had touched was nothing like what she normally felt from Jacob's. Her Jacob's mind felt warm and welcoming, soothing and relaxing, made her think of happy thoughts and calmed her feelings. She only had to touch his mind, even the faintest edges of it, and she would feel all of her worry and fears melt into the deepest recesses of her mind, all but vanishing from existence.
This mind however, was nothing like Jacob's. It felt cold and desolate, dark and unforgiving, made all of her deepest fears and worries bubble to the surface of her mind in such uncontrolled bursts that all she could think of was how cruel the world was. She had merely touched the tiniest edge of this mind, and already she could tell that it was the absolute polar opposite of her trainer's mind. Jacob's mind was a beacon of light and hope; this mind seemed to have been formed in the Distortion Dimension by Giratina!
"Sara, snap out of it!" Coral said nervously, but once again her voice was just an echo to the Kirlia.
Then out of instinct, or sheer ignorance, her psychic probe attempted to understand the mind she had touched. She took one single attempt before instantly pulling back; the mind she had attempted to feel was nothing, absolutely nothing like Jacob's.
If she had to describe the two, it was like comparing fire to water. Jacob's mind was smooth and cool to her mental probes; this one was insanely hot and violently sharp to the touch. One mere touch and already she was practically shivering in terror!
While Coral and now the rest of the team surrounded her, trying to get her to snap out of her silence, all she knew was that this was something she did NOT like. All she wanted to do was run, hide, to find the deepest hole she could and cover herself in all the dirt in the world to stay hidden from whoever this mind belonged to.
(Jacob's PoV)
"So you sign here and state your occupation." Jacob said at long last to Karen after reading over the adoption papers just in case he had to fill out his own to adopt the Ponyta if she wanted to be adopted.
"Let's see… name, Karen Underhound… occupation, Pokemon Trainer. Secondary occupation soon-to-be master trainer after I kick Jacob's butt!" Karen whispered, writing everything except the last part on the paper.
"Yea right." Jacob joked as she continued to write.
"GROVYLE!" Harold suddenly shouted from across the room.
Jacob looked up instinctively and saw what Harold was yelling about. Coral, Ivan, Roran, and Harold were all around Sara as she sat holding her head. Ponyta was looking on at it with a mixture of fear and worry on her face, while Karen's team were all looking in confusion. "Sara?" Jacob shouted as he sprang up and ran over to his team, causing Karen and Levan to join as well with Riolu.
Jacob's team let him through and he saw Sara shivering violently, holding her head with both hands and eyes wide. "What happened guys?" He asked instantly as he bent down to check on Sara's physical condition.
"Gro… vyle!" Harold said, with a shrug of his arms, telling him he doesn't know.
"Milotic… Milo!" Coral said as well, shaking her head and waving her tail in confusion.
"Sara, Sara!" Jacob shouted, picking Sara up and shaking her gently to try and get her attention.
Sara suddenly snapped out of whatever was wrong with her, and instantly curled up in his arms, sobbing and shaking in fear. (Jacob…) She whispered silently in his mind.
"It's okay Sara, you're safe and sound!" He whispered to her gently as he stroked her green hair to calm her down.
"What happened to Sara?" Karen asked worriedly as she watched the scene in front of her.
"What's wrong Sara, why did you freeze up like that?" He asked the Kirlia who was still frightened in his arms.
Sara however was more interested in crying into his shirt and gripping him tightly before speaking up. (It's horrible… I felt… I felt…) She said to him in his mind, sounding terrified as she did. (A… horrible mind… it's so terrifying! I felt like I was in a nightmare just by sensing it!)
"Who's mind?" Jacob asked, wondering who could possibly cause his Kirlia to break down the way she did.
(I don't know… but they're horrible!) She said to him. (It felt like I was nothing compared to it, like I was nothing but dirt, trash, the worst possible Muk that could ever exist! I couldn't even breathe… it felt like nothing but an absolute horror could live there!)
Jacob continued to comfort Sara as she shivered in terror in his arms. This was the first time she had ever been this shaken to the degree she was showing. "Sara was spooked badly by someone's mind." He told everyone. "I don't know who it was but they really spooked her badly."
That was a drastic understatement, if what Sara said to him was true, and what the Pokedex has told him about how Kirlia's feel and judge people by their feelings, whoever this person was seriously was not someone he wanted to meet.