Sorrow: hey all! So, thanks to Pokeevee57 and my newest reviewer, KZJester, for being so nice to me.
Cyrus: not that you need to be so nice, really. This wimp can take any negative criticism you give him.
Sorrow: sighs I wish people would stop doing that…where is Dawn? She was supposed to be with me on this one, dang it!
Dawn: Sorry! Was a little late, is all. walks in, panting a little
Sorrow: what happened to you? You look a little winded there.
Dawn: well, I was on my way here, and got attacked by those stupid Disney Maniacs! They wanted me to leave Nintendo and join them.
Cyrus: seriously? Wow. Just…wow.
Sorrow: well, if you'd like to do the finale here, I'll go see what I can do about that. walks off, pulling out a rocket launcher
Dawn & Cyrus: blinking in surprise um…Pokémon is owned by Nintendo, and Kingdom Hearts is owned by Disney. Here's Chapter 7!
Chapter 7: A New Day, And a New Foe?
Dawn woke earlier then she usually did. She looked around, seeing that she and Niji, who had stuck close to her since her encounter with Sora, were sleeping in one of the spare rooms at the Jubilife Pokecenter. What am I awake for? She thought, looking over at the bedside table, where her new Poketech, which she, Niji, and Sora had all gotten soon after Dawn had found Sora in that alley. She couldn't help but notice that he seemed more…spirited, after she found him. He hadn't said what had happened, but did say it was a good thing.
"Maybe I just need to get something to eat…" she said, and the soft rumbling of her stomach seemed to agree with her. As she got up, Piplup popped out of his pokeball, landing beside her.
"Pip!" he said, looking up at his trainer. She smiled, and picked him up, cuddling him happily. The two hadn't been together long, about two weeks before that night Sora had landed in the front lawn, but the two, who had a rocky start at first, were great friends. She wondered what her life would be like if she hadn't chosen the water type starter, but shook her head. There was no way she wouldn't have chosen him.
"What do you think, Piplup? Waffles or Pancakes?" she asked him. Recently, she learned that while he had a preference for both of the breakfast foods. Piplup smiled, and pantomimed the form of waffles, which he seemed to enjoy greatly. As the two walked into the cafeteria, they could see only a couple of other early risers in the room, eating their own food, while their Pokémon ate as well. She could see a couple Ariados (which she and Piplup made sure to stay well away from) and what looked to be a large boulder with arms. She even saw a Shiny Pidgey, which was rare enough in Sinnoh as a regular Pokémon.
"Hello, what can I get you?" asked the chef, who was a portly old lady with smiling eyes, a big grin on her face, and a classic chef garb. She held a spatula in one hand, and a skillet in the other.
"Oh, can I have two plates of waffles, one with Oran berries, and the other with chocolate chips?" Asked Dawn, smiling back at her. The portly woman nodded, and began to cook, whistling a merry tune. As she waited for the food, Dawn took a seat at a nearby table, letting Piplup sit beside her. The water penguin Pokémon looked around, letting out a post waking yawn. After all, they weren't exactly morning people, or Pokémon.
"Piplup!" said the small starter, looking around. He didn't know most of the Pokémon around him, except those beastly spider Pokémon, but he was interested in a couple.
Piplup, must you be so noisy? I could hear you from upstairs in my pokeball. Thought Paine suddenly, jumping up beside them, and surprising the heck out of the two. She smiled, and waved hello to Dawn happily, who smiled back.
"Hey Paine. Sora up yet?" she asked, to which Paine shook her head. Dawn sighed, then looked up as the portly lady reappeared, carrying three plates of food. She set two down, both plates of waffles, one Oran berry, the other chocolate chip, in front of Dawn and Piplup, who cried out happily, before starting to eat with gusto. The third plate, consisting of a pair of twin omelets, topped with a sliced chives and oozing cheese, was set down in front of Paine, who smiled. It smelled wonderful, and it made both Piplup and Dawn's mouths water.
"What is that?" the blue haired female asked the chef, who chuckled.
"Just a simple omelet, with some Miltank cheese and a few chopped chives for flavor. Nothing special really." She said modestly, seeing the look on their faces "would you two like one as well?" she asked. Both nodded immediately, and she laughed, heading back into the kitchen to make a couple more. As she left, Paine picked it up, plate and all, and started walking off, back upstairs.
"Pip?" asked Piplup "what are you doing with that Paine?" he asked her. She didn't respond in words, but the mental image of Niji flashed through his head, and he realized she was just the delivery girl for the obviously shy human trainer upstairs. He let the subject drop, turning to finish his waffles, just as Dawn was finishing her own plate. By the time they had gotten even half way through their omelets, Sora, Paine, and Cyrus had come down to join them, all three eating like none the two had ever seen. Fighting Heartless must work up quite an appetite? Dawn thought to herself, watching them. Soon enough, Niji had come down as well, sitting beside Dawn as she hugged Destiny, the Shiny Eevee drawing a lot of attention, especially from two figures who had just entered. The first was male, wearing a white jacket with a black neck and sides, and black pants. His arms were covered by a long sleeve shirt that almost looked like armor, stopping just below the palms of his hands. He also wore white boots that stopped just below his knees, with similar armor like socks reaching up to his pants. On the chest of his jacket rested a large yellowish gold "G", which looked like a logo. His partner, a female, was similarly dressed, but in a dress instead of shirt and pants. Both had aquamarine hair and eyes, with faces that looked like stone.
"Do you see what I see?" asked the male, turning his head ever so slightly to look at his partner. She nodded, glancing at him as well.
"I do. What do you plan to do about it?" she asked him. He smiled, tapping the single pokeball on his belt as she watched him. They'd been looking for something like this to come up, and here there were three of them.
"What we do best, my fellow grunt…what we do best. Follow them for a while, will you? I'll get some back up." He said, then left in a hurry, bumping into, of all people, an over excited Barry, who quickly apologized to him, then ran in.
"Oh, Dawn!" he called out, skidding right by her, and falling to the floor on his back. As he tried to get up, Chimchar popped out of his pokeball, and landed on the table with a cry of greeting. This was met well by Piplup and Paine, who greeted him in return. Destiny too said hello in her own way, giving him a cry of "Vee!" as she sat on her trainers lap happily. Sora smiled, and waved hello to both Chimchar and Barry, who had taken a seat next to Niji, who seemed even shyer from his loud self.
"what are you two up to?" he asked, not even realizing that Niji was there at first, though another cry of Destiny caused him to turn "oh, and hello! Who are you?" he asked in his excited manner. She didn't say anything, but shyly looked at him.
"That's Niji, Barry." Dawn said "We met her last night. And that's her starter, Destiny." She said, motioning to the frantically waving Eevee, who had been trying to get his attention. As he looked at her, she stuck out her tongue playfully, causing him to smile and return the gesture. This caused Sora and Dawn to laugh, as well as their pokemon, and even brought a smile to Niji's lips.
"Well, what are you guys doing here? Diamond and I have been to Oreburgh City and back already! We even have our first badges!" he said, showing them the first Gym badge of the region, which looked like brown pokeballs surrounded in silver, with a flat bottom. Dawn gasped in amazement, while Niji and Sora looked at it in confusion.
"Gym Badge?" asked Sora. While Dawn had taught him loads, she hadn't mentioned anything about badges.
"oh, right! Sora, in regions like Sinnoh, in addition to Contests, Some regions have a League. In order to participate, you need to collect eight gym badges from gyms all over the region, proving your power when you try to enter. If you win, you can even challenge the Elite Four for a chance to fight the Champion to be the best!" she said. Barry seemed more excited about it then she did, he noticed, but said nothing. Soon enough Barry bolted again, Chimchar hanging from his arms as they left to, as Barry called it "Train to be the best Trainer ever!"
"welp, guess we should get going, right Dawn?" Sora asked her, standing up. He returned Cyrus to his pokeball, while Paine preferred to be held, much like Piplup did. This didn't bother Sora, as he loved to hang with her, seeing as they all could communicate telepathically anyways.
I have a feeling something is going to happen today, Sora. And soon. She thought to him. he nodded, having been getting the same feeling all day. Before he had come downstairs, he had messed with the keychains of his blade, adjusting them and moving them as he had seen fit. He felt ready, and held her close as all three departed. It had been decided last night that Niji was going to travel with them, as it seemed she wanted to do contests herself. She had warmed up a bit to the two, and even spoke to them without being as quiet as she did originally.
"So, where are we heading?" she asked, petting Destiny gently, much to the Eevee's pleasure. They had stopped in the center of the City, taking a short stop to get their plan together.
"Well, the next Contest isn't for a week…and its here in Jubilife…" Dawn said, thinking "Maybe we could go see Oreburgh City? Could be interesting for a mining town. And Sora, you could win a badge there." She said. After explaining the League to him, Sora had displayed a keen interest for the thrill of battle, and competition. He nodded at her suggestion, both he and Paine grinning.
"I like it!" he said "its just the kind of thing to help me be closer with Paine and Cyrus!" he smiled. It was then that Paine nudged him.
Is it me, or is it way to quiet for the city? She asked him, which caused him to look around. The three were standing alone in the street, with not a soul elsewhere..or where there? Off to the left, Sora could see what looked like a person, but completely white, with a really flat head…and it was walking really funny, like it was drunk. It had points for hands and feet, no finger or toes, and its head split in half to reveal a mouth of really sharp looking…zipper teeth things?
As he looked at it, both Niji and Dawn, seeing him distracted, turned to look. As one, they screamed in fear, and hid behind him. Destiny started growling at the thing, and it stopped for a second, before looking around as three more appeared, surrounding them. Sora blinked, then summoned out a new keyblade then the first two Dawn had seen. It was long and black, like the first, but the handle was smaller, like bat wings, and had the picture of a strange skeleton on it. The shaft was different as well, with the teeth of the key looking like a bat with wings and then a pair of smaller wings, with claws underneath. Sora held the blade firm, the appearance of it causing Niji, who was new to the sight of it, pass out in fear and surprise. Dawn caught her before she hit the ground, then looked up.
"What are those things?!" she asked him in fear, seeing that the symbol on them was different then the Heartless she had seen before "and why are they moving like that?!" she added. Sora could only watch as the four surrounded them, dangerously close.
"i…I don't know." He said to her "I've never seen them before." He admitted. Just as he was getting ready to attack, the four stopped, then backed away as a cloaked figure walked up silently.
The two groups looked at each other for nearly five minutes, then with a flick of his wrist, the black clade figure and the four creatures disappeared, while Sora was left holding a single playing card in his fingers. he looked at it, then nearly dropped it in surprise.
For it was a King of Hearts...with himself as the king, holding the exact same keyblade he was holding in reality.