Disclaimer: I do not own Pokémon or its characters.
Author's Notes: Hey guys, this one will be a shorter chapter so I can ask something to you all.
Since next chapter is a cornerstone, the end of a phase. Would you guys prefer some more character and world building with more slow paced and concentrated chapters or should I just rush to the point and keep straight with the plot?
Please let me know in the comments.
Holding a pair of dark grey long-legged male boots, Zinnia stood hiding against a tree. She eyed 'Brendan' with unease, scowling as she glared at him.
'Who the hell are you?!' She screamed inside her own head, her fingers twitching uncomfortably. Holding every intention of chocking the answer out of this man, she stepped out of her hiding spot and walked in plain sight. "HEY… you." She started in the right track, her voice roaring loudly and menacing, but it quickly faded out to a tamed tone.
"Hey, you." Brendan replied with a wide grin. He turned around, facing the tanned-skin girl, showing the same Linoone from before, now sitting on his lap.
Zinnia once again melted in front of his eyes, she wrapped her arms around the boots and lowered her head in shame. "Who… are you?" Still avoiding his gaze, she asked the question but in a totally different manner than what she intended.
"Me?" He tilted his head to the side, giving the girl a questioning gaze. "I am Brendan, why?" He smiled as if she was playing a fun game with him. "Who are you?" Brendan asked the same question, but in a rhetorical tone.
A defeated sigh escaped her lips. Any ill intention Zinnia had against this Brendan, quickly vanished away, as quickly as his smiled appeared after he saw her. With a gentle swing of her arm, she threw the boots at him, which landed close to him, at his right side.
"What happened?" She pointed to the Linoone with a nod of her head. "Weren't you guys fighting just minutes ago?"
"He came back." Brendan responded with a gleam. He nuzzled the little Pokémon in a friendly way, taking something akin to a purr out of him. "And guess what? He is taking me over to the place where he saw my ball."
Following the trainer's words, Linoone looked upwards and then onto Zinnia. He nodded quiet energetic, jumping out of his cozy spot between his new friend's legs. Running fast enough to make a dust line follow after him, the furred Pokémon began to circle around Brendan. And Brendan, tired of having his feet pinching with the grass promptly began to put his new pair of shoes, that fitted his size surprisingly well.
"So… you keep talking about this ball and that this little guy knows where it is." She eyed the duo with confused eyes, something clicking inside her head. "It almost sounds like you two were having a normal conversation…"
"That was anything but normal." Brendan crossed his arms and frowned. With a quick glance to the now cooperative Linoone, he sighed. "For some reason, he told me about the ball and then refused to tell where it was… that was so annoying."
Zinnia hesitated at the first moment; this person is already odd enough at it is. However, despite her initial hesitation, she spoke up her doubts. "Eh… Brendan… Can you understand him?"
"Of course I can… Can't you?" He eyes her with a confusion of his own. As if talking with a Pokémon normally is the norm and she is the strange one for not doing so.
She was taken aback with his simple reply. That reaction of his settled the matter; this one is not Brendan. In multiple occasions, Brendan sounded his frustration of not being able to understand what Pokémon have in their minds, and this Brendan, by his own words, can fully understand them.
Without realizing Zinnia has already, backtracked a couple of steps backward, her backside hitting and pressing against the large trunk of a tree. "Brendan… did you remember hitting me?"
This question came out of nowhere and a truly alien concept to Brendan. He cannot see himself bringing any harm to this person, not in a million years. "No. I don't remember that." He frowned in frustration with the thought of touching her in any manner that is not lovingly. "What happened in that town? Ever since you came back, you're acting pretty weird."
"No… nothing happened." Something vibrates in one of her pockets, making Zinnia yelp in surprise. This serving only to make Brendan even more suspicious. She reached over to the pocket and pulled out her PokéNav. Bright blue letters are flashing at the screen, the name made by them sending a slight chill down her spine. 'Brendan?' Zinnia looked over to her device in apparent panic.
"What's the problem?" Brendan asked, making a move to stand up. "Someone is calling you?" He threatened to move over to her side, which forced her to turn off the device and put it back on her pocket.
"No… it's nothing." She gave him a weak smile in reply. "Don't worry; it was just a message from a friend."
"So weird…" He stared at her eyes with deadly cold eyes. Blue and Red gazing at her as if they were looking directly into her soul. "Pfft… Ahahaha, you're really acting weird. So funny." To Zinnia's surprise, Brendan laughed it off.
To make him completely dismiss her behavior, she laughed together with him, a fake and weak one. "Oh, didn't you guys made peace to treasure hunt something?" The draconid woman pointed to the feisty Linoone, already at his wit's end on the sideline.
"Something like that." Brendan looked over to the brown fur ball.
"You sounded very serious about this ball of yours. Why don't you two go find it before you miss this chance?" She gave the idea with a heavy feeling inside her chest, and noticed the disheartened look she received from her 'lover'. "Don't worry. I too have something I need to do. When we are both done, I will come to find you. Okay?"
Brendan still had trouble accepting this deal. He eyed her with puppy eyes, begging without words for her to come with him.
Venting her indecisiveness out of her system, Zinnia walked forward and grabbed Brendan's face with both hands. She ran her right hand upwards, grazing slowly against his long side bangs; ignoring her voice of reason, she leaned forward and planted a kiss on his cheek. "Trust me, as I trust you, okay?"
"Okay." He smiled in response, nodding away like an obedient son. "I guess… this is a farewell for now, huh?" He raised one hand onto her face, passionately caressing her cheek. "Thank you for being here for me." Giving away one last bright smile, Brendan turned around and began to march over to the other side of the woods. "Let's go little guy. Treasure hunt it is."
With an exciting long jump, Linooned instantly landed off by Brendan side and walking together with him, the two of them quickly disappeared behind the tall grass and long trees.
Zinnia who remained waving one hand at his direction; fell to her knees as soon as Brendan got out of her sight. "What do I do now…" She held her head with both hands, scratching her nape furiously in frustration.
"That was not lover-boy, was it?" A very familiar voice sounded from behind the tree line at her back.
Zinnia jumped straight to her feet and glared over to the area where a silhouette appeared. "For how long have you been there?" She spat out her question, scowling as she did.
Max stepped out of his hiding spot, holding a troubled expression in his features. "For long enough. Again, that was not him… was it?" He insisted, this time looking at his partner in her eyes.
"No… that was not Brendan." Zinnia bit her lips, finally speaking loudly what she had concluded not long ago.
The unusual investigator looked over to the clean area behind her, trying to see the place where this 'Brendan' has gone. "And you let him leave?" He eyed her sternly, almost judging her decision. He waited for a response but got none as Zinnia shifted her gaze to the grass and remained quiet doing just that. "I take he is not the same person that attacked you in TV Mauville."
She finally responded, giving a weak nod of her head.
"A third one?" Max let out a loud whistle, rubbing his forehead with two fingers in an attempt to shoo away the forming headache. "Again… Why did you let him leave?"
"I don't know… I just don't, okay?!" She vented out, almost raising her voice loud enough to get out of this little clearing. "His eyes… and the way he talks… It was just like…"
"A child." Max cut her off, slightly changing the end of her sentence.
With her mouth open and nothing good to reply, Zinnia stared at her partner in shock. "Oh goodness… That is it." Again, she fell on her knees a new dreaded feeling taking over her. "He reacted just like Brendan… of seven years ago."
"Hm… you said that he is not lover-boy. Yet, claims that he acts just like him." Fiddling around with a little notepad, Max eyed the tanned girl with inquiring eyes. "Wait a minute… did you mistake this variable here with the real one?" Max's eyes widened, a tiny little troublesome scenario popped in his head. 'This scenery, such secluded place… with your loved one…' "Zinnia… what exactly did you do with him?"
She shook her head from one side to the other, digging her nails inside her sun-gleaming black hair "We… slept together…."
"Oh… fuck." Max words resumed pretty well the situation. "I will not comment or judge you in this mistake, but… I suggest you come clean with the real Brendan fairly quick."
"Wha- why?" She pulled her face out of her hands and glanced over to Max.
"Something big happened over in Sinnoh, so the boss himself will come over to Hoenn to deal with the source of the noise." A tired sigh escaped Max. Scratching the back of his head, he raised his sight to the sight and wondered how much things will change. "You know how Looker is. Once he gets here, he will go directly to Brendan and lay everything on top of him. Therefore, I suggest you talk about this… Brendan situation with lover-boy, before you lose your chance."
"This couldn't get any worse… Max, what do I do?" She asked with pleading eyes.
"Dunno." He shrugged nonchalantly. "Never slept with a doppelganger of my wife behind her back." His words despite being true, not for being the truth, stung like a hot iron on Zinnia's back, the shame of her actions hurting more than any other injury she had ever suffered before. "But if you respect him in any way, you should come clean about this stuff, ugly part included. Imagine how worse would be if he ever learns about this from another source."
"Brendan…" Closing her eyes, Zinnia picture the last time she saw Brendan. How agitated he was, how… affected by Groudon he was. Dumping this on him could just as well break him for good. "I hope you can forgive me."
"Over that ledge?" Brendan pointed over to the other side of the heavy forest. "Do we really need to make this long turn?"
Linoone jumped a bit more assertive, angrily crying out at the trainer's complaints.
"Aggressive Pokémon? Aren't you a wild Pokémon as well?" Taking down his blue and red eyes to the small furball, the trainer frowned. "Quit being such a worrywart." He ignored Linoone's advice and marched forward towards their destination, venturing even further inside the thick grass.
Hissing loudly, Linoone dashed after the stubborn man. The little adventure knows very well why this place is dangerous, himself being a victim of the furious beast that lies ahead.
"Still complaining?" Brendan rolled his eyes, as the small Pokémon bit the side of his pants, trying to drag him back. "The sooner we cross this place, the sooner we will be out." He continued as normal, pushing the grass away with both arms.
From the within the dark woods, a ferocious growl stormed out. The sound of this angered cry, made Linoone crawl sacredly on the ground, hiding his eyes behind his small claws. Even Brendan who was bravely exploring the unknown, jumped backward, startled by the loud enrage voice.
"What the hell is that?" He eyed his sides frantically, the hairs in his arms standing up with so the sudden rise of tension all over his body. "There!" He jolted his head to the left, the stomping sounds alerting him to a massive creature running their way.
From behind the sea of dark green, a flash of blue jumped in front of Brendan. Darkened sharp claws cut from left to right, launching large pouches of grass in the air. Linoone ran away as fast as he could at the sight of the frightening Armaldo. The Wild blue bug flinched to the spot where Linoone where, but seeing that he was long gone, changed his attention to the trainer in front of him.
"Hey… no need to be so angry." Brendan raised both hands, smiling weakly to the angry Armaldo.
In response, the enrage Pokémon jumped forward, lunging one claw towards the trainer. His attacked scrapped the silk of Brendan's shirt, making a long cross lined cut.
"Cut it out, man!" Brendan yelled out. Ducking and dodging, he continued to evade Armaldo's onslaught, which only served to drive the creature even more insane with rage. In this dance of dark claws cutting anything in its path, an unnatural clearing began to form around them; any tall grass and small trees on the way of Armaldo's claw met the same sharp fate.
In an unfortunate turn of his luck, Brendan did a false step with his right foot, slipping over the wet grass below him. Out of balance, he went straight down with his face to the ground, falling with his back turned to Armaldo. The blue angered bug, raised both claws ready to cut the man down without pity.
However, before the decisive blow, a brave low cry sounded from the side. Linoone jumped from the shadow of the trees, landing a solid bite at the blue Pokémon's tail. A cry of pain and a cry of anger echoed inside the deep forest. Armaldo completely changed his focus from Brendan to Linoone, his eyes burning with all intent to slay the annoying little fur ball.
With his agile little legs, Linoone tried to dash away after his stealthy attack, but his small back met the backside of a black sharp claw, sending him forcefully against the trunk of a tree. A pained whimper came from the little guy, he tried to stand up, but his legs gave up from the pain running all over him. Without any option, he only raised his eyes, trembling as he looked to the towering monster in front of him.
"Stand down!" Brendan's voice echoed furiously from behind.
His voice made Armaldo turn back, and glare at the trainer. His claws shining with a dangerous feeling onto them.
"I said… STAND DOWN!" He shouted even louder. Blue and red, began to glow with a furious light. Brendan's eyes flared up with a fit of anger far greater than the wild Pokémon.
In front of those burning eyes, Armaldo stepped back. His huge blue body began to shiver with irrational fear. Terrified of this person, he retracted his claws back and sat down with his face pointing to the ground.
"Ah… ah… For the troubles, you have caused us. You're mine now." Brendan said with a cold voice, a direct command that drove directly onto the Pokémon's mind.
With no Poké-Ball involved, Armaldo felt compelled to obey. The big blue armored bug laid his claws on the ground and bowed his head, completely taken over by Brendan's eyes.
"Good. Now let's go." Brendan took Linoone in his hands and turned his gaze over to the edge of a mountain at the back scenery. "We have something to take back."
"Figures she wouldn't want to speak with me." He tossed his PokéNav over the table in front of him and sighed deeply. "Zinnia…"
After seeing his best friend off to his own journey, the champion went looking for a little solace at the shambles of his once peaceful life; Brendan flew all the way over Ever Grande City, going to the same restaurant he always went at every morning.
The huge smile on granny Gin's face was unparalleled to anything he has ever seeing coming from her before. Doting on her favorite young trainer, she quickly prepared a whole teapot of his favorite bitter green tea. Of course, she went on a huge rant over the conflicting news about him going on for the past week, also wrapping him tightly on her arms making sure he is unharmed.
Now alone with his thoughts at his favorite hidden corner of the shop, the young champion is taking the privilege of having time to sulk on his own failures.
He dialed over her ID numbers one more time, sadly for him it went straight to an automatic message as if she has turned off her PokéNav or simple blocked him altogether. "If I could go back in time… I would never hurt you." He whispered the words he wanted to tell her, taking them out only to not choke on them.
With a pained expression, Brendan gulped all the tea left in his mug with one go, treating it as some sort of alcohol surrogate. Then, he pulled the teapot over and filled his mug all the way to the top once again, faint steam flying out of the white small mug.
"Having a tough day?" A sweet voice sounded over from the side. Standing next to the table is a cute girl with a small frame and long pink twin-ponytail.
With a shrug of disinterest, Brendan glanced over to her and mustered a little grunt in response.
"Mind if I join you?" The girl clapped her hands together, giving him imploring puppy eyes.
A heavy sigh escaped him, not an annoyed one more like a tired one. "If you want to, go right ahead." He responded with the same tone of disinterest from before, barely batting an eye to her charming looks. "Though, I'm a very boring person to make you company."
The girl giggled, an angelic sound coming out of her mouth, as she took a seat across the table. "A Pokémon Champion at such a young age and with that good-looking face." She rested one hand at her left cheek and eyed him oddly. "You're anything but boring."
"You know who I am?" Brendan gave her a proper look, taking his eyes and studying her face features.
"With your face showing on the TV every day is hard to not know you." She gave him a snarky grin. "Name is Violet, nice to meet you."
"Aa, nice to meet you too, Violet." He reached out with his right hand and properly greeted the curious looking girl.
"So, mister big news. What are you doing over here all by yourself in this secluded corner of a small restaurant?" Violet gave him a playful little chuckle. "You are a hero! Shouldn't you be celebrating at the biggest and fanciest place on Rustboro or something like that?"
"Some people take joy at the attention of others; while some people, like me, prefer to have time alone with their own thoughts." He cleared his throat and took a long sip of his mug. "No offense for those who like attention, of course."
"Quite the contradiction isn't it?" She pulled a clean cup that was upside down next to the teapot and poured some for herself with her own permission. "After making so much noises in Hoenn, is quite hard to believe you're really this shy. Aren't you just playing hard to get?"
Another sigh came from Brendan. This girl in this little timeframe of a conversation managed to exhaust him more than an entire day of training with his Pokémon. "I guess for a stranger I may sound full of it. But that is the reality." Brendan took on his head the little spoon laying on top of the light blue tea saucer and began to stir around inside his mug. "I will do anything for Hoenn, but I have little interest in the fame that it may bring."
"Wow… you have me all shivering over here." Biting her lower lip and wrapping her arms around her small chest, Violet closed her eyes and made a very suggestive humming noise. "I guess you really are the guy I took it to be. That is perfect."
Her choice of words made Brendan raise an eyebrow, getting even more wary of this stranger.
"Actually, I'm a huuuuuge fan of yours. I always had this wish to meet you face-to-face." Violet reverted to her innocent cute little smile from before. "I'm sorry for being so intrusive and ruining your leisure time, heh." She fiddled inside a little purse she was carrying at her left side, taking a little time in her search before taking out a small blue card-like object, probably some sort of memory disk. "I worked very hard last night to make something veeeery special to you. Pretty please, take it." She slid over the desk and eyed Brendan with pleading puppy eyes again.
"Sure… If this means so much to you, I'll gladly take it." Despite his initial suspicions over the girl, she seems like any normal overly excited young lady. In fact, seeing someone so bright pouring her heart into a gift moved the young champion, bringing an honest smile over his lips. "Thank you."
"Yayy! Brendan received my heart-filled gift. I'm so happy!" With a small hop, Violet jumped out of her seat and bowed her head happily in front of the famous trainer. "By the way, this is a video. You can watch it with any device that takes a memory disk like that, like a PokéNav." She did a way to energetic spin, her brightly colored dress making wind all over the place. "With my mission over, I should let you enjoy your peace again. Bye-bye Brendan. Thanks for being so nice to me."
"Bye Violet, I will make sure to watch your video." Brendan nodded, waving the little disk in his hand.
"Please do." She turned around and happily skipped her way to the exit. A happy, easy-going girl that appeared out of nowhere to shake is day up, a strange occurrence if Brendan has ever seen one. However, what he cannot see now that she has her back turned to him is the wicked evil smile tainting her once innocent cute face. 'One prompt to go down, heh. Just one more.'
With the noisy girl out and away, Brendan took his time eying the little disk in his hands. "What in the world she made a video about?" He pondered heavily to no avail, truly evade his grasp anything that could be relevant for him that she knows about, well, anything other than his battles as a champion. 'I hope is not too embarrassing…' He cringed at the thought of this being an entire compilation of him appearing in public or worse, his blunders in his past interviews and contest shows.
To dwindle too much in prepositions would be folly, so Brendan just pulled his PokéNav out and opened up a little lid to slide the disk over.
A heavy hand fell on top of the table and two persons sat unceremoniously in front of Brendan. "Brendan, I'm right?" Said a man with raven hairs and golden eyes, he let out a long breath and rest a cast arm wrapped with heavy white bandages on top of the table.
"Hm… yeah?" Brendan looked over to this person and then to the scarlet-haired pale man at his side. Way too startled to continue any thought process; Brendan put his PokéNav back in his pocket and laid the little disk at the table.
"Great! Name's Ethan." The young golden-eyed man pointed to himself. "This one right here is Silver." Then to the man at his side. "Nice to meet ya and all that." He smiled quite cockily, showing a strange intimacy with Brendan.
In response, Brendan just nodded and continue to watch the duo, growing even more wary of them that the girl from before.
"Well, let's cut this directly to the point, shall we?" Ethan rubbed the tip of his nose and leaned against his chair. "Brendan, we need to talk."
If you are liking the story so far, please leave a review. :)
Reviews:
Mallory S Nocturne chapter 18 . Jun 30 – Oh, but he will. He is a variable that not even Giovanni has accounted for. Imagine a Brendan without restrain and loose on the world… The things he can do…
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Mr MogiGaming chapter 18 . Jul 1- Well, yeah. Imagine learning that you just, you know, with a doppelganger of your lover. I would freak out. But it's funny to see her reaction either way.
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DOOT76 chapter 18 . Jul 2 – I hadn't even thought about that, since I want to keep this story inside Hoenn, even if other stuff is happening around the world. But your suggestion sure sounds interesting. Like keeping the focus on this one and not going way too overboard with other stuff. We will see what happens ^^.
Oh, and yeah. That Linoone guy messing over with everyone's mind… cunning little fella.
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Anon chapter 18 . Jul 4 – Well, Deoxys is 'human' now. A perfect copy of Brendan in every aspect. So I don't think that tag is usable in this case.