attached
a Pokémon/Persona Crossover fanfiction
By ThreeBlackNoises
Chapter 2
"This is taking for ever!" Trey said as he and Hope stood next to Bianca at one of the many PC terminals in Aspertia's Pokémon center.
"Most trainers don't have to, or even want to, do this Pokémon reservation thing. That and, I've never done this before."
She was scrolling down a vary busy application form.
"We're waiting for Michael's trainer ID number" Her Xtransceiver beeped, "Oh, that'll be it." She said as she took it out, read a text message and then pocketed the device once again.
She used the PC's touch pad to navigate to a blank text field and entered the appropriate number.
"That should do it. Now you can't be caught by any other trainers; you officially belong to Michael... as far as Pokémon trainer law is concerned. As for actually 'belonging' to him, that's for you and him to work out." she said after the PC beeped.
"I don't have a flying Pokémon on me so we have to go to Virbank and from there to Castelia. We can check up on Michael wile we're at it as long as he doesn't see... Umm hear us. The bond between a trainer and his or her first Pokémon is vary important so I want... to... make... ..." Bianca trailed off as Trey's attention wandered.
Trey? Is something wrong?" Hope asked.
"I since Darkness where we sent Michael."
"Oh that's just the Purrloin living on route 19, but any Pokémon at Sarah's level should be able to take out a level 2 or 3 Pokémon without much difficulty." Bianca replied.
She said all of this as a series of prompts ran across the PC's screen; finally culminating in a list of Trey's stats along with several flags.
Pokémon species; Wigglytuff
Nickname: None
Gender: Mail
Type: Normal
Ability: Frisk
Height: 3 Feet 5 Inches
Weight: 25 £
Nature: Jolly
Stats
Level 80
Hit-points: 444
Attack: 215
Defense: 40 (Blue Flag)
Special Attack: 216
Special Defense: 180
Speed: 220 (Red Flag)
Next
"Your defense is 40? Ouch!" Exclaimed Bianca, "That's really low for your kind. Heck that's only about 20 points above a Blissey."
"I am sorry." Trey said.
"it's probably not your fault. Besides, aside from that and your really high speed, everything else checks out on this screen. Okay, next." She clicked the corresponding button.
Available Moves
Charm, Attract, Defense Curl, Teleport, Disable, Sweet Kiss, Flash, Fake Tears, Captivate,
Reflect, Copycat, Magic Coat, Scary Face, Mimic, Double Team, Protect, Wish, Substitute,
Role Play, Sunny Day, Rain Dance, Fling, Endure, Gravity, Rest, Snore, Sleep Talk, Pound,
DoubleSlap, Mud-Slap, Dizzy Punch, Drain Punch, Brick Break, Mega Punch, Strength, DynamicPunch,
Rollout, Dig, Facade, Body Slam, Double-Edge, Seismic Toss, Submission, Retribution, Mega Kick,
Take Down, Psych Up, Frustration, Snatch, Headbutt, Rage, Skull Bash, Work Up, Giga Impact, Bide,
Focus Punch, Counter, Swagger, Sing, Wake-Up Slap, Round, Echoed Voice, Perish Song, Detect,
Metronome, Curse, Covet, Natural Gift, Hidden Power, Secret Power, Present, Bounce
Number of moves remaining: 46.
No illegal moves detected
Verdict: Move-set is slightly above average for a Pokémon at this level
Back Submit
"You know a lot of moves!" Bianca exclaimed.
"Yes, but I still have a lot to learn." Trey said."
"Well Trey... oh, I forgot to put that in! Hang on a second."
She clicked Back and entered "Trey" into the nickname field. then she clicked "Next" then "Submit".
"Now we see if this actually works." Bianca said as "Please Wait appeared on the screen.
"So, about this darkness." Bianca probed.
"It just feels, well... wrong!" Trey exclaimed; groping for the right words.
"I could just be over reacting, seeing as my psychic powers are vary week, but I do not think so."
"okay, it must be vary strong darkness if your week psychic powers are able to pick it up, so once this finishes, we'll go check out route 19.
The screen now showed "awaiting verification", and a blinking caret.
Just then, Hope tapped Bianca on the leg.
"I can go to route 19 and check on Sarah now if you'll let me."
"I don't see why that'd be a problem, seeing as you should be able to take care of anything on that route without any difficulties at all." Bianca replied.
with that, hope left the Pokémon center; leaving Trey alone with Bianca.
"You're right; This is taking forever." she conceded; pointing at the PC after a minute or so had passed, and then she began to grope around for something to talk about.
"Umm, how did you learn to talk? Is that okay for me to ask?"
"Yes, I was in training to be a sort of diplomat if our village ever came under attack by humans. and, no, not all Wigglytuff; in fact, not all Pokémon can talk either, and some are better at it than others; especially if they learn to do so of there own free will, rather than being forced to do so for another being's convenience."
The PC beeped and showed a vary crude graphic of a Wigglytuff along with Trey's stats in a small window at the top of the screen.
The rest of the display was taken up with the seals of the various leagues; all encircling the much larger ceal of the national champion's league, and the message "Specimen approved".
Below this rather glorified banner were two other indicaters.
The first was an image of what appeared to be three badges of some kind.
The other; linked to the first by an arrow; was an image of a scull, a clock and the words "30 hours remaining for cool-down"
Trey took in a breath that inflated himself several inches, then he used his hands to pull himself up to look at the screen before screwing his face up in concentration.
He then eased himself down, thought really hard, deflated himself, then said; vary slowly, "Thirty what?"
Bianca was astounded. "You can read to?"
"As far as human language goes, I can only read numbers at this time. The rest of my training will have to wait until I return home." Trey explained wistfully.
"That means even if Michael caught a third-stager rite now, you'd still have to wait until late tomorrow night before you could battle. And those badges mean that because of your high level, Michael would need three gym badges before he could use you in battle. And not even my boss can get around that restriction, jus so you know."
She clicked the X in the top right of the screen, and the PC shut down with a low mellow beep.
She then turned to leave, and Trey followed her out into the city as they headed for route 19.
As they reached the gate-house however, Bianca flushed in realization and ran back toward the Pokémon center saying "Oh Crud! I forgot to give him any Poké Balls! This will only take a second."
About Five Minutes Earlier...
Michael's POV
I walked into the gate house and was greeted by a receptionist who gave me a spray bottle of potion.
She Complemented me on being bold enough to train Pokémon with my disability, and I thanked her.
She then showed me how to use the potion, and told me to use it if my Pokémon got hurt.
I thanked her, she wished me luck, and Sarah and I headed onto route 19.
As we moved down the sloping road, Sarah and I noticed how quiet things were.
"This feels wrong." sarah quietly observed.
I agreed as we kept walking. I suddenly heard a quick flash of movement, and my danger sence began firing on overdrive.
I didn't know what could be wrong, but my first priority as a trainer was to think of my new Pokémon friend Sarah before myself.
So I bent down to pick her up.
Hay Sarah?" I began quietly as I got into position.
"Maybe we should"
but that was as far as I got, because Sarah screamed as a quick body blow of some kind sent both of us to the ground. In the process, I dropped the potion on the ground where it broke open, but that was the least of my worries.
A quick tearing sound accompanied by a gasp from Sarah saw the unidentified creature heading back the way we'd come.
As a small sidenote, I did mannage; through no fault of my own; to thwack the creature pretty good with my cane as I went down.
I only know this because the creature gave a loud yowll of pain as it ran off.
"Oh that's just great!" I sarcastically said as I found my feet and sarah crawled into the mess that had been the potion.
"My front is ok, but my back." she said.
"I could put you in the Poké Ball, and then" "No!" Sarah said, and then seemed to amend with "I mean, that could make it worse, couldn't it?"
"I don't know, Is the wound vary deep?" I asked.
"Sort of, he got several inches of skin, maybe some meet, and I know I lost some blood."
I knelt beside her, but had no idea what to do.
"I guess I'll have to carry you to" something ran into me from the side. "If you carry her, that wound will never heel properly, seeing as it covers most of her back."
I started, at first, but then realized It was just Hope.
"Hope? What are you" Sarah began.
The Clefairy put her hands on either side of Sarah's wound and proceeded to blow what sounded like air around it. When she was done, she ordered Sarah to stand. Somehow;, amazingly, the wound held closed.
"What did you do to me?" sarah asked.
"I'll tell you a little later. Now, in your ball, hurry." Hope said.
She took something from behind her as I placed sarah's Poké Ball on the ground in front of her. sarah protested, but eventually complied; disappearing with a loud poof.
"Okay" Hope said; turning to me, "Now it's your turn to listen to me."
She handed me something resembling a large grapefruit.
"It's primed. Now, when I tell you, catch me. Once I'm in the ball, call Sarah out and keep her still. Everything else will take care of itself."
"What did you do?" I prodded.
"I blew a sheet of molecular paste onto her wound. It came from inside of me because it's part of me and my unique... ability. Once the healing process is complete, the sheet will essentially replace Sarah's meat, skin, down and blood. If I'm lucky this will only take about an hour off my natural life span... Okay, ready?"
She said all of this really fast in only one breath. She then leaned against me on my right side, and I nodded yes; not sure what else to do.
"You have to be fast." she said before bowing her head as if in prayer.
Suddenly, a strange sound filled the air as she raised her head and said "Now! Go Go Go!"
I lobbed the grapefruit-sized Poké Ball at her.
It connected and sucked her inside with the same loud poof as if it were calling an existing creature back; though it did so in a somewhat unusual way. It shook violently as it drew her inside of itself before shaking on the ground for about nine seconds. it then made a loud snapping sound.
Taking that as my cue to continue, I released Sarah from her ball into my arms.
"Pip Luuuuup." she said as I held her.
"If you're saying that it hurts, then I know, but Hope says something's supposed to happen and that you are to stay still."
"Pip Pip Lup Pup Lip plup, Pup.." she said.
I didn't really understand her language, but it almost sounded like she wanted me to put her down.
I complied, and we waited for something to happen.
A few moments later, it did.
Sarah began complaining of an itch in her back as a strange simmering sound filled the air along with a strangely ethereal sound like the idea of distant music.
At the same time a vary unpleasant smell reached me. It was like someone had crossed burnt rubber and wet dog.
Mixed in with the "music", I began to hear something that distressingly reminded me of curdling milk.
I was grossed out, but the sounds died away rather quickly, and the wind soon blew the smell away as well.
Hope popped out of her ball and showed signs of being a little worn out.
"First time, replacing skin and meat, wasn't to bad." She said before addressing Sarah.
"How do you feel?"
Sarah was overjoyed. "I feel fine! And No scars at all!" she exclaimed.
"Not exactly. Welcome to being partially pink." Hope said to Sarah. She then felt the need to add,"The area where your wound was will be pink for about half an hour."
"I can deal with that. Are you okay Hope?"
"Just a little tired. Aside from that, I feel fine. And before you ask, the whole getting tired thing will stop once I get used to the process and these healing stunts don't take as much of my energy." Hope explained.
"I can't believe you had to blow that paste onto Sarah's back." I said.
Hope explained that the normal procedure is to use an elemental attack the target is strong against to deliver the reagent.
Given Hope's low level and Magical Leaf subsequently being her only elemental attack; which would have injured Sarah even more; her only recourse was to deliver the reagent at close range using an extremely primitive method. She told me that more experienced healers could use their hands to deliver the reagent, but at her level the paste; a derivative of the transform attack; could just as well make her hands have the same wounds as Sarah's back, become something unrecognizable or; in the worst-case scenario; take them away forever.
I told her it was still gross, and she agreed saying that if I wanted to know more, she would be glad to talk about it later.
remarkably, sarah kept pace with us as we started along the route
"So how'd you know we needed help?" I asked Hope as we walked.
"You have Trey to thank for that. His week psychic powers detected something on this route, and I agreed to come check it out." Hope explained.
We then talked about what to do regarding Sarah's unknown attacker, and we eventually decided to report it at a Pokémon center.
Just as we reached Floccesy town, we ran in to Alder; the Unova Pokémon league champion;and told him about the thing that gave Sarah her injury.
He told us that trainers could submit reports of unusually strong Pokémon using a Pokédex or a Pokémon center.
I then asked him if Floccesy had a Pokémon Center, and he pointed me and my Pokémon in its direction.
Upon arrival, we were greeted by someone calling himself Cedric.
He apparently was the daughter of Professor Juniper, and he worked on advances in Pokédex technology.
"It's your Pokédex." he said, handing me a somewhat bulky device that resembled a king-sized Nintendo DS.
"NOW, normally I'm not vary persistent that trainers try out their new Pokédexes right away, but seeing as this particular model has never been used before,"
As he spoke, I opened the device and saw why he was curious about its workability. It had four lines of ten Braille cells serving as the device's screen. I read:
Pokédex V 5.8 ready!
To use, point the Pokédex at a Pokémon.
For advanced features, use the Braille keyboard to navigate the menus.
For help, press F1 located above dot 1.
I marveled at the care that went into this Pokédex, and decided to test it out immediately.
"Hay Sarah, come here a second please."
As she stood in front of me, I crouched down and ran the Pokédex over her.
"Hay! Not so close."
"Sorry." I said as the Pokédex gave a ping sound before saying
"Piplup, the penguin Pokémon
Piplup live along shores in northern countries, so their thick down guards them against the cold weather.
As they are skilled swimmers, they can dive for over 10 minutes to hunt.
Because they are very proud creatures, Piplup hate accepting food from people. Do to being poor walkers, they often fall down. However, a Piplup's strong pride will make it puff up its chest without a care.
Piplup can be difficult to bond with since they don't always listen to their Trainer."
I saw this same information on the Braille display along with other info such as physical measurements, moves learned, future moves and a lot of other details."Well, I don't have to baby you at all!" Cedric exclaimed, "This makes my job easier."
I also checked Sarah's level, and I was amazed to see that her tussle with Liepard gave her enough experience to raze her to level 8.
The staff had there hands full taking care of all of the injured Pokémon from that day, so I returned my Pokémon to their balls and placed them in a cue for healing.
About that time, a nurse finally came out of the back rooms and noticed us.
"Sorry to keep you waiting, may I help... Oh hey Cedric. Showing another new trainer the ropes?"
"No, not really. This one knows what he's doing, and if you're free now, I can leave him in your capable hands."
"I'm finally on desk duty, so sure."
The nurse checked her e-mail , and Cedric said good by and left.
While she had her E-mail client open, I told her about the unusual Pokémon we'd encountered on route 19.
The nurse told me that said unknown attacker had already been reported by Bianca, identified as a Liepard, and captured by Bianca; with the help of a vary strong Wiggltuff; as it entered Aspertia.
The nurse also told me that she'd received another E-mail regarding Hope, and that the Clefairy would be returned to Bianca when she stopped by later, and sarah would be returned to me once her wounds were healed.
as she scanned my Pokédex, I told her that was fine as I wished to do things the proper way and; if it was possible; actually have a battle with Hope and earn the rite to catch her.
After confirming my identity, she told me I had a balance of $3,000 .
I learned that all trainers had their own personal debit account, and all monetary transactions were handled with a trainer's Pokédex so that money couldn't be destroyed if a Pokémon attacked a trainer, and also so that a trainer couldn't demand more money than was customarily allotted for winning a battle.
She asked me if I wanted to buy anything; seeing as she was both nurse and cashier, and I told her I'd most likely buy some stuff before I left in the morning.
I learned that; being a beginning trainer; I was entitled to one free nights stay, and If I wished to challenge the gym in Aspertia, I could stay one more night for free in either this center or Aspertia's. If I still needed more time to train, I could stay in either center for one more night at half price.
I asked about tonight's rooming arrangements and was told that one empty spot remained.
I decided to take it; not like I had a choice, and was told I'd be staying in a room with a person named Liz.
The nurse told me how to get to the room in question, and I showed myself to it.
Liz turned out to be a petite lady, judging by the height of her voice as she asked, "So am I correct in assuming you're trainer Michael?"
"More like beginning trainer Michael," I answered.
"I'm Liz, and you shouldn't stand in the doorway like that. Come in, and take a load off."
"Don't mind if I do. You have no idea what kind of day I've had." I said walking into the room and closing the door behind me.
The room was basically split down the middle with a bed on either side.
I sat on the right-most bed and placed my few possessions under it.
"Eventful? Liz asked as she came to stand in front of me and waited there as if looking me over.
I nodded at her as I tried to figure out if I should even ask what she looked like, or if I could look at her with my hands the way she was obviously doing with her eyes.
"He's not much to look at," came a voice slightly higher than where Liz's had come from.
"Still, he's easy enough on the eyes."
"Basically, that means Christopher likes you." Liz explained.
"But Christopher sounds to stuffy, so I like to be called Chris." He said.
"And you are?" I prompted.
"You can touch me, go ahead, I want to see if you can guess what I am."
"Liz?" I asked; not knowing if she'd be as okay with the arrangement as Chris apparently was.
"It's okay. After all, chris and I stood here and looked you over for almost a minute. Your hands are your eyes, so go ahead and use them to look at us if you want."
I couldn't believe I was sitting here, with a woman in front of me, telling me it was okay to touch her.
So I started with her arms; which were covered by something resembling crushed velvet; and worked my way upward.
By the time I got to her shoulders; aside from realizing she was really skinny; I saw that the velvet thing was actually some kind of dress.
I paused at her face; unsure if I should continue any farther, but; seeing as she made no objections; I moved my hands up her face toward her ears.
I stopped their, as I discovered some kind of spiky cartilage that turned out to be her ears.
Liz gave a rather protracted sigh at this, but didn't say anything yet.
So I next ran my hands down her front; being extremely careful not to touch her breasts as I did so.
before I got to them however, I encountered what felt like a spike of somekind sticking out of her chest.
Now I knew what she was. Not a human at all, but a Pokémon called Gardevoir.
In the games, Gardevoir were touted as being extremely loyal to those humans they chose to designate as friends.
They were also psychic types, and that meant they could define threats faster than any human protecter ever could.
as an ordinary blind human now in the Pokémon world, it was vary possible that lots of sighted people with mean intentions would want to mess with me in unsavery ways, and having a Gardevoir on my side would be a giant help.
I also couldn't escape the irony that a Gardevoir had been the first Pokémon on my in-game team back in the real world, and that I was now being given the chance to have one here as well.
I opted however, to let events unfold as they wished, and even if this Gardevoir wasn't with me in the morning, at least she'd spoken to me for one night.
Chris suddenly began to snicker, and I realized; with a start; that I'd been touching Liz's chest spike way longer than was permitted.
"It doesn't work on hands, Liz." he said pointedly.
What doesn't?" I asked; gently removing my hands from Liz's spike, but also forgetting to look at Chris.
Liz sat down beside me on the bed before saying, "the illusion." After pausing for about twenty seconds she said, "I happen to be a Gardevoir."
"And yet you pose as a trainer?" I asked; not missing a beet, but also trying to decide weather or not to tell her I was actually from another world.
"You're not surprised?" she asked; sounding vary slightly amazed.
She had such an easy-going manner that I decided to just be open with her.
That, and, on reflection; as far as I knew anyway; psychic Pokémon could always tell if a person wasn't telling the truth.
"Liz, after being dumped from my world into a game I was playing, getting gibberish blasted at me by a Ralts, holding said Ralts, a Clefairy named Hope and a Piplup named sarah, getting Sarah as my starter Pokémon, having a Liepard literally rip Sarah's back open and having Hope heal sarah with molecular paste, and that's mostly the normal stuff.
If you throw in the time I spent in the Wigglytuff village then no, I'm pretty much surprised out today."
Liz's mouth was hanging open.
"Wow!" Chris exclaimed, "You did have an eventful day.
"If you were to be my chosen trainer, life wouldn't be vary dull." Liz said.
"That's an understatement, but how does a Gardevoir find out if a person is there chosen trainer?" I asked.
"Depending on the ethics and scruples of the Gardevoir in question, several methods exist, ranging from the three second mind attack that can easily kill a human, to the several year-long befriending approach. What I'd like to try is something in between. You mentioned that you had 'gibberish blasted at you by a Ralts' today, well I'd like to try the same thing."
"No offence, but it would be kind of weird for us to be seen sitting in each other's laps." I said finally looking at Chris.
"Not to mention your Pikachu? might find it a little unsettling to watch."
"I am. Good guess." Chris said.
"No. Despite the fact that our feeling spikes are located on our chests and back,all that is required here is a hug, or something vary much like one." Liz explained with a tiny laugh.
"That, I feel comfortable with." I said as someone knocked at the door.
Opening it, I was greeted by a high-pitched voice saying "Room service?"
"Trey?" I asked.
"Yes, in the flesh, so to speak. Our friend Bianca is currently occupied with the issue of who Hope now belongs to, so I asked her if I could deliver these to you. That, and I wanted to see you one last time before heading to Juniper's lab."
As he was saying that, I heard Liz get Paged to answer a phone call. I thought that a bit odd, but decided to let it pass unnoticed for now.
Trey gave me a package he was holding and exchanged introductions with Liz and Chris as they left. Opening the package, I found ten Poké Balls.
"Those are what Bianca was supposed to have given you when you left Aspertia, but; sadly; she did not have any more packages like that one on her after the other two trainers got there share." Trey said stepping into the room and shutting the door and standing before me as I sat back down on the bed.
"I really have not had a chance to tell you this." he began. "but, even though we were thrown together through happenstance, I really, really want to be the best friend I can be to you. Not because I have to for my people's sake, but because I want to for my own sake as well. I cannot get any stronger than I am right now unless I travel the world, partnered with a trainer with good morals and of good character. Unfortunately, I cannot do that with you unless you"
"I know, catch or evolve a third-stager." I said dejectedly.
"Or have a second-stager and earn two badges. With three badges, you could use me even without a third-stager." Trey finished as someone else knocked on the door.
"It's open." I said. Bianca walked in and gave me two Poké Balls.
"Well, you're now Hope's owner." she said. "She joined you of her own free will, and besides, her Healing Wish technique wouldn't have Saved Sarah unless you caught her properly. So, I guess you're stuck with Hope, weather the two of you want each other or not."
"You sound like you're ready to get rid of her."
"More like, I'm ready for her to have a more competent trainer. You see, I'm not that good at it, though I'm not bad at it either, but I'm definitely not anywhere near champion material or anything remotely close to that."
"Where did Hope come from?" asked Trey.
"The Giant chasm. As strange as it sounds, some trainer dropped her off at the lab because they didn't want the extra burden of having a rare Pokémon with them. They either caught Hope because they felt sorry for her being born in an area that gave her little chance of survival, or they just felt Duty-bound to save her. You see, most trainers think it's a requirement that they save helpless Pokémon, but it's really just strongly encouraged.
Either way, you're the first person she's actually volunteered to help."
"and Where did sarah come from?" I asked.
"I'd tell you, but she, really needs to talk about this with someone and get past it. I think, she, might, tell you and your friends, more than she'll tell Juniper and I. It's actually kind of, sad." she paused to take a breath, then said, "but it's part of the world we live in." in a more up-beat way.
She paused a moment before saying that she had to be on her way, and that Trey would be waiting for me at Juniper's lab, and all I had to do to summon him was log in to Juniper's PC from any Pokémon Center and request him to be transferred over to me.
I promised Trey I'd try to retrieve him ASAP, but I was going to take my time training Sarah and Hope first.
He said that was a good idea and wished me luck before bidding me good by as he and Bianca started to take there leave.
"Hay Bianca?" I asked before the door could close.
I heard her turn back to face me, though she didn't acknowledge me out loud.
"What's to become of the Liepard?" I asked.
"That's up to the Pokémon rangers now. why?" she said calmly.
"I was wondering if it could be assimilated into a Liepard habitat or something."
"They'll probably fly Liepard's Pokéball over one such habitat and release it their." she responded.
"That's ok then. That's all I wanted. good night you two." I said before her and Trey bid me the same and left for real this time.
Liz and Chris returned a short time later, and Liz told me that Thomas; her trainer; had contacted her. She told me that if the two of us didn't match up as chosen trainer and Gardevoir that he'd be here to pick her up in two or three days.
"do the two of you not work out or something?" I asked sitting back on the bed as Liz did the same.
"We're okay, as battle partners, but we'll never be anything more, seeing as he's not into being all touchy-feely and stuff. And if you and I do match up, we could work so much better together than he and I ever can, do to the added mental bond you and I would share"
"So what do we do?" I asked as Chris climbed off her head.
"Put your arm around me and lean in like your going to be told a secret. After that, we wait and see what happens." she explained.
I did as instructed and leaned in close enough to feel the rise and fall of her chest as she breathed in and out, and was also close enough to actually hear her exhales of breath directly in my ear; though I chose to not be turned on by it.
"I don't know what you'll hear, as the part of my brain that does this is still in Ralts mode so, just be ready for anything." she whispered into my ear.
"Now, I'm going to close my eyes, and then we wait."
She must have done so, because her breathing slowed slightly.
Liz, Chris and I then waited to see what would happen next.
It wasn't words, but feelings. Extreme hatred, profound sadness, and a strong since of longing.
"What do you hate?" I asked.
"Mostly people who think Pokémon are tools." Liz answered.
"Why are you sad?"
"Because, as Gardevoir, we're sort of made to require companionship, and, unlike some Gardevoir, I really long for it.
That, and until now, I had no idea what that felt like."
"That explains the feelings, but I thought their would be a"
(Life can suck sometimes.) I heard in my head in a younger voice than Liz had used in person, to which I replied with a laugh, "Sometimes it can."
"You heard it!" she said, then almost as an afterthought she added, "Chris, it's happening."
We didn't get anymore of an explanation, as Liz promptly passed out on the bed.
"What does she mean?" I asked after we had settled her in.
In short, it means she finally found her chosen trainer, and she's going to spend the rest of the night going through a mind reconfiguration." Chris answered after a brief pause.
"So the part of her mind that was in Ralts mode is being made usable?"
"Sort of. It's more like that part is being made compatible with the rest of her mind."
He made a long slow Kaahh sound.
"Something wrong?"
"Just nerves I guess." he said; pausing a bit before continuing.
"To be blunt, a part of her just died."
I must have looked crest-fallen, because Chris climbed into my lap and hugged me as good as he was able to.
"Hay, it's okay. In this case, it's a good kind of death." he said; putting his arms as far around me as they would go.
"That's funny, because the only good death I've ever known is when something is suffering so much that death would be doing it a favor." I said.
Chris took his arms off me from the hug and put them on each of my shoulders as he stood up
to his full height in my lap; putting us almost face to face.
"As far as I understand it, Gardevoir don't fully mature until they find their chosen trainer, so, in a way, I guess you could say she was suffering."
He awkwardly patted me with his paws, then sighed in a sort of discontented way.
"I'm not good at this, comforting thing, am i?"
"How often have you done it?"
"Umm, this is my first try comforting someone I really want to care for." he said shyly.
"Not that I don't care about everyone I try to help and comfort!" He said; back-pedaling furiously.
"In other words," I said with a slight chuckle, "I'm the first person you want to make a permanent part of your life? After Liz I mean?"
"Yes!." he said with relief evident in his voice.
"For your first try at really comforting someone, your not doing to bad. Don't worry, you'll get better with practice." I said encouragingly.
"It's a good thing you didn't get to know Liz vary well, seeing as she'll be changed somewhat after she wakes up."
"What do you mean?" I asked, somewhat perplexed.
"Well, the Ralts part of her did effect her personality in mostly small ways, but there is always the chance that something major was effected as well. When Gardevoir fully awaken, they go into a sort of trance and reevaluate their life up to that point from an objective perspective and make any changes to their outlook and personality they see fit to improve their over-all quality of life."
"So she adulted, and when she wakes tomorrow, she could be a totally different person, Hence, your nervousness, right?"
"Yes. right now, she's my only friend Michael."
I began to pet chris on his back as I asked, "So, since she found her chosen trainer, does that mean we're going to be bonded soon?"
"Not necessarily. I mean, not that you are or anything but," He said; obviously nervous, "What if you were a criminal or something?"
"I see where this is going. What if a Gardevoir's chosen trainer turns out to be a total scum bag, They could just not bond with that person, right?"
"I like a quick thinker! And, yes, you're right. Tell you what, Let's not worry to much about Liz until tomorrow. Let's just sleep on this and see what tomorrow holds."
"Now that, is a good idea." I said.
I explained that I'd been up for almost 20 ours and needed to get sleep. I expressed my concern that Chris no longer had a place to sleep and was told he'd sleep near me but not with me.
I decided to leave my Pokémon in their balls for the night and work with them once I had a clear head in the morning.
As we bedded down, I reached for Chris' paw and smacked it saying, "To the unknown, right?"
"He gave a good-natured laugh before saying, "That's one way of putting it. Well good night."
I wished him the same before laying down and; almost instantly; falling into a deep sleep.
Morning came quickly as I had no dreams to disturb my slumber.
I awoke to find Liz already awake and pacing back and forth across the tiny room.
"It's Chris." she said without preamble; trying with great effort to keep her voice calm.
"What's wrong with him?" I asked.
"He evolved in his sleep." she answered.
"And that's bad because," I said, not understanding the situation.
She stopped right in front of me and, I could have sworn she looked me directly in the eyes when she said
"He may not have his memories anymore, and I didn't ask him enough about his life to be able to help him restore his memories if something like this happened."
"How could he lose his memories just by evolving in his sleep?" I asked, somewhat perplexed.
"It's called dream walking. Effectively, the act of dreaming during evolution erases the victim's memories of there passed life." Liz explained.
I cupped Liz's face in my hands. "Don't beet yourself up over it. It's not like you could have known something like this would happen."
"But I should have prepped for something like this, he is my friend after all. He started out as a prop so I could pose as a trainer, but I've really come to care for him now. That, and, he needs my help, just as I need his."
She started to breathe heavy and rhythmically, and I felt a tier slide down her cheek.
"I promised myself I wouldn't cry in front of someone," she said, her voice shaking with the effort of keeping it calm.
"But I feel like I've let him down because, he's, not, normal."
"Don't hold back your tears, you can cry in front of me if you want. Besides, what's done can't be undone in this case. If he's lost his memories, then that'll be that. We'll just have to take things one little thing at a time together." I said.
Now Liz really did cry, completely and openly. She didn't wale or even really sob , but tears definitely flowed unbidden.
"That's cute, the way you're so selfless." she said trying to control her tears.
"That's just who I am. Besides which, I like you and Chris, even if he no longer remembers his life, I want to help him become who he now wants to be."
"And you don't even know us that well yet." Liz said with a small laugh, leaning in even closer than before.
"Though I'd like to, and I thought Gardevoir didn't cry."
"Only when we're very moved, or when we feel like we've let ourselves, or those we care about down."
I began to wipe the tears from her face as I said, "I kind of feel responsible for what happened to Chris as we slept near each other last night."
"I guess we'll just share that responsibility then." she said calming somewhat.
"Just being in the same room with him could have done it, but I have my doubts about that. It probably just, happened." she said somewhat distractedly.
"It doesn't matter now, it's done. But what were you saying about him not being normal?" I asked.
"He's not like any raichu I've ever seen." She explained.
"Regardless of what he is now, he'll have the two of us to help him." I said with finalitty.
"What about the two of us?" she asked after a moment's pause.
"I guess you can call your other trainer, because I'm sticking with you." I said.
"I'm to involved now to just walk away. Your Ralts mind is gone and Chris is now some kind of Raichu; not to mention possibly an amnesiac. Sarah now has a strange scar from a weird healing spell Hope used on her because of my inexperience as a trainer, so yes, I'll be sticking around for a good while."
"Um, what time is it anyway?" I asked after a brief pause.
"Just half passed six." Liz answered without checking a clock, or at least she didn't turn her head to do so.
We sat their for a few minutes, enjoying each others company. I reached up and put my hands on her face before asking; somewhat nervously, "So Liz, how do you feel about being trained by a blind man?"
She gave a slight chuckle as she said that it was a "novel idea." and that life would be "without any dull moments for the foreseeable future."
I said I'd been told the same thing in more words by people since I arrived.
"Ok, you asked a question, now it's my turn." Liz said with a child like tone as she cracked a grin, "Am I going to be a big part of your team?"
"After I bond with the others. I really want to get to know Sarah and Hope first, and, Trey, to."
"Your Wigglytuff, right." Liz said under her breath.
"So, yes, you and Chris will be a big part, but, for the moment, you and he won't be joining in any battles on my behalf, to answer your question directly."
"I can live with that for now." Liz said before lapsing into silence for a time.
Feeling her face carefully, I noticed that Liz was in deep thought.
"You know," she said at length, "We could go ahead and complete the bond we started last night if you want."
She leaned in close to my ear and whispered, "We would both know if we were really meant to be with each other."
She drew back before continuing.
"What do you say. All we have to do is try to kiss, on the lips, don't worry, I'll be gentle, and you won't actually be kissing me, if you're worried about that sort of thing."
"This is the first time I ever tried to kiss a girl, oh well, better now then never." I said as I felt her face in order to line up my lips with hers. I was about to lean forward to kiss her when the better part of caution whispered in the back of my mind.
"This is kind of sudden, isn't it?" I asked.
Liz took a moment to answer. "How much did Chris tell you about our awakening process?"
"He told me that you basically look back at your hole life."
"Well, yeah," she paused, "He didn't tell you that we also sort of look to the future, did he?"
"He just told me what he knew. He said as much."
"I see. Well we can't choose what or how much we see, we just see a few things, still images mainly." she paused again.
"I didn't want to scare Chris with a lot of information about our awakening process." she said abruptly.
"That's understandable, but he was worried for you last night, so hopefully he'll still be worried when he wakes up this morning."
A thought seized me. "How come you're not worried about him?"
"when the time comes to worry, I'll worry, but for now we first have to see how damaged he is. If you wake a walker to early you can do some, a lot of damage to their personality."
"Are you sure he's a walker?" I asked; wanting to make sure no other possibilities existed.
"It's the only possibility I know about, though this will be the first occurrence I've witnessed." she explained carefully.
"So we have a little time to kill?"
"Just a little." she answered.
"So, what did you see about, us?" I asked, not wanting to know, but still curious.
"The two of us, happy together. Not like, in love as in a boy and girl couple relationship, but happy as really, really good friends, maybe even a little more than friends.
That's how I know this bond will be a good one."
"Anything else?"
"Yes, but," she seemed like she didn't want to reveal what else she'd seen, and I didn't feel the need to press her.
I figured if Liz wasn't saying anything, it was probably for the best.
"This bonding thing won't hurt, will it?" I asked; feeling kind of nervous.
"It shouldn't." she said, moving her face down just a little bit.
"If this doesn't work, we'll just share an unusual, experience." she said as I moved awkwardly into position; trying to line up my mouth with her smaller one.
"One thing first." I said, "Even if this doesn't work, I want you to be more to me then just another battle partner."
"I wouldn't have let you stay the night with me if I thought you were a bad person." she said before sighing long and deeply.
"Nervous?" I asked; feeling that way myself.
"Just releasing pent up psychic power in a non-destructive way."
"So, what's a destructive way?" I asked; my curiosity peaked.
"Oh, I don't know, something like Thunderbolt or maybe shadowball."
"What? You just change your psychic energy into something else?" I asked.
"Pretty much." She answered.
"You said you knew this bond would work, and yet you're still nervous?"
"You tend to get that way when you realize that, in a few short seconds you could be complete, but psychic power can do so much more then cause pain however. Hmm, let me think."
She thought for a few seconds before humming a perfect middle F that stopped coming from her mouth after about two seconds and surrounded her; seeming to last forever.
This represents the psychic field that always surrounds most psychic types." She explained as the sound reverberated around her." If we aren't meant to be linked together this field will simply collapse when we try to kiss, as you'll be attempting to pearce it with your presence. Otherwise; well, we will both know pretty fast either way." she said in a shaky voice.
"So this is like the sound version of what sighted people see?" I asked as I gestured to the air around Liz; intrigued by what I was being told.
"Kind of, though most people only see the area around the field, so it looks like we're floating above the ground. The sound will change to reflect the strength of the field and how much it harmonizes when we touch. that's the real reason I caused it to manifest. Oh and, only you can hear it." she explained.
"But you're not floating right now." I pointed out.
"It just wastes psychic energy, so I keep my powers off most of the time. And I'm not full of myself like most of my kind." Liz responded like it didn't matter at the moment, and I suppose it really didn't.
As I tried to press my lips against her's, I noticed that the sound got louder as our lips actually met.
secretly relishing the contact, I heard the pitch of the field change from F to a perfect G that sounded so happy to be a G.
If this wasn't a perfect psychic match, I had no idea what one would sound like.
I suddenly felt like I was falling into Liz's enter-most being as I heard the psychic field... well, pop before everything went black; that is to say, I went to sleep again.
Liz's POV
I was caught off garde by how sudden, strong and different the bond was. As Michael passed out on the bed again I could feel his mental presents joining mine.
I wasn't privy to every thought and emotion he had, but I somehow knew that if either of us were ever in any kind of danger, the other would know at once.
I decided to make use of the situation and contact my previous trainer while everyone was still sleeping. As I headed for the door, one of Michael's Poké balls popped open, releasing a Clefairy that I assumed was Hope.
"You could have let one of us know before you bonded with our friend." she said with a big grinn.
`I'm awfully sorry, but one thing led to another and, well, you know, right?" I said as I turned to face her.
"Could you watch Michael? The bond was successful so he'll be out for a wile, but if he wakes up while I'm gone he will probably be a little woozy."
"Sure! I'd love to." she answered with good cheer.
I opened the door, but as I turned to leave, a thought occurred to me.
"Hope? Do you need me to release Sarah from her ball so you won't be board?"
`No thank you. If I want to talk to her, I'm perfectly capable of letting her out myself. What do I do about the sleeping Raichu-looking thing?"
"That's Chris. He, um, evolved in his sleep so,"
"We have a possible dream walker here, gocha."
"You know about them? Dream walkers I mean?"
"rumors. You tend to hear those a little when you're stuck at a lab for a few months. Besides, we Clefairy can also dream walk as well."
"I see. Well this one is true, so can you please, just, kind of, gently probe to see how much Chris remembers if he wakes up? It would be a big help to me."
"Gocha covered, Liz."
"Yes I believe you do, and, thank you."
"You are very welcome Liz."
(What a nice Clefairy.) I thought as I closed the door.
Almost nobody was around at this early hour, so my path to the lobby was unobstructed.
I still had a few coins left, so I inserted two of them into one of the pay-phones and input my soon-to-be previous trainer's number.
A few rings passed before I heard, "...better not be that other Gardevoir because HELLO?"
"I might have the wrong number?" I said by way of a coded introduction.
"Oh Liz, please tell me you didn't bond with that other trainer because, I could really use an out right now."
"Sorry, but we match, and I just completed the final bonding steps about five minutes ago. Why?"
"You know how, when we parted, we joked about me ending up being matched with a Gardevoir that was selfish and manipulative?"
"Yes, very vividly. Let me guess, it happened didn't it."
"Yes. The match is one hundred percent perfect, and let me tell you, it's only been fifteen hours since we met, and she's been a nightmare from the start. She okoed my entire team which pretty much qualifies her as a legitimate protector, and since I had no Pokémon to defend me she just came in and took over as my team's leader. She's running the entire show, and I've never felt more like a third wheel than now."
He whispered all of this in a rush, and when he took a breather I said "Look Thomas, everything happened so fast, and before I knew it Michael and I were bonded. I'm sorry! I should have checked with you first. Heck, I never should have left! But all that aside, you're her trainer, so just put her back in her ball."
"I would if I could, but she has her ball right now and I doubt she's ever going to let me have it. Listen liz, I have my hands full here so."
The phone was yanked away, and a new voice came on the line.
"Elizabeth, you have my word as a fellow Gardevoir that I will not let anything happen to Thomas. I promise to protect him from physical, mortal and emotional harm forever. It wouldn't have mattered if you stayed or not, the outcome would still be the same. I'm stronger than you are; I know because I used his Pokédex to check your current stats. Now he and I have some, acquainting, to do, so, good day to you."
Thomas groaned in a very high voice that betrayed his status as a virgin, and then the line went dead.
I couldn't help feeling for him, but I also knew that something like this could happen anyway; as my people as a hole have a tendency to be selfish and
over-protective if the person they're protecting is judged to be beneath them in the intelligence category. Though I was quite flummoxed by the idea of a Gardevoir being a trainer .
I didn't want to leave Thomas with that monster of a Gardevoir for to much longer, but I also had a really wicked way to take her out, though it would only work if some time passed. I also knew that the oath the Gardevoir had just given me pretty much made it so she couldn't harm Thomas even if she wanted to, so I could let a trap lay itself, and spring it once Michael and I got to know each other a little better.
Something hitting me in the leg from behind jolted me from my thoughts.
It was Sarah; out of breath and incredibly flustered.
I knelt down and gathered her into my arms.
"First calm down." I said and waited for her to catch her breath.
"Now, what's wrong?" I asked, fearing the worst.
"It's Chris. he's, well, like a um, well, you tell him to do something and he does it.
No questions asked or anything. It's really scary. I don't know what to do for him."
"I don't know either, at the moment, but we'll think of something." I said as I ran back to the room; carrying Sarah in my arms.
Trey's POV
"I felt hands gently shaking me as I rose from a fitful slumber.
"Trey, come on, get up."
It was Juniper.
"Trey, it's urgent."
"Is Michael okay?" I asked; still sleepy.
"He's fine, but, he ran into a Gardevoir last night; she's on the phone now; they match, but" she paused for a moment, "Liz and I think we're dealing with a blank walker."
Sleep vanished instantly as my training kicked in.
"Name, age and gender of the Pokémon."
"Raichu, we think, About four years, male." she said as she lead me to her office.
"The walking happened sometime in the early morning hours, and the blanking was noticed immediately after Chris awoke about five minutes ago."
She explained this as we arrived in her office, a somewhat spacious room with lots of small contraptions.
One of these showed an extremely anxious-looking Gardevoir in a strange dress for her kind.
"Probably an over abundance of energy from a surplus of evo stone fragments." I said as I aproached the display feeturing the Gardevoir.
"Oh, you must be Trey." she said as I came in range of the device.
"Liz?" I asked and received a nod in reply.
"Is there any hope for my friend?" Liz asked; her eyes lighting up with the hope she apparently felt inside of her.
"A rather large amount of it, but we have to act quickly, and I need to be there in person to perform the procedure properly." I said; hoping that Juniper would recognize this as the emergency it was and grant me permission to transport without my trainer's authorization.
She seemed to be thinking something along the same lines, because she picked up a Pokéball saying, "I'll put in a good word for you, but you need to try really hard to save him, otherwise it'll be my head going to the league tonight on a big silver platter."
"This should be a relatively simple process, so please do not worry." I said before stepping into the ball to be transported.
I came out at the other end to find Liz waiting for me.
"You look prettier in person." I complemented.
"I'M glad to hear that from you trey. I should let you know that I'm not a vain Gardevoir like the one my previous trainer ended up with."
Liz began to guide me toward the back of the establishment we were in.
"I am sorry for him."
"Me to. I never should have left, but what's done is done. Besides which, I now have Chris to worry about. Speaking of which, how high do you rate our chances of recovering him?"
"Chances are in the high ninety percent range, I have done this procedure before on fellow Wigglytuff. Nine times out of ten, they retain all of their past memories, so I have high hopes things will be the same here."
We arrived in the room, and I saw a sort of Raichu sitting on a bed against the right wall. Michael slept on a similar bed on the left of the room.
"Hello Chris." I said cheerfully. He looked at me, but he did not respond.
"Chris, respond please." Liz said.
"Good day to you Wigglytuff." Chris said flatly with no change in his facial expression before looking back at the wall.
"That bad?" I asked.
"Can we still save him?" asked Sarah who was at Michael's feet.
"We need to do this quickly." I began, "Liz could you please put him to sleep?"
She did not say anything, but she began to use something like an eye-gaze technique which made him pass out very fast.
"Somewhat of a signature move." she said by way of an explanation. "Ok, he's out like a light, now what?"
"I need you to watch both his life energy as well as his mind. I am now going to use dream eater to extract enough excess energy to force his mind to reactivate properly, and it's state should revert back to the way it was last night before he went to bed."
"That's just the result we want!" Liz said before going into some kind of trance.
"Okay, we are almost ready to go, but before we begin, I need someone to be a receiver for the extra energy I am going to be putting off. I cannot use Liz for this because she could blank Chris' memory completely by reflecting his current state back at him multiple times. That kind of exposure will cause permanent brain damage, and we do not want that."
Hope jumped up. "I'll do it! I want to be helpful."
"That is a good idea." I said. "Stand next to me Hope and hold my left hand."
"One more thing. Liz, if chris' mental patterns revert before the procedure finishes, please brake the circle. That should make everything turn out right for all of us."
She did as I asked and I took hold of Liz's left hand, and she held Chris' right hand.
"I guess I take Chris' left hand?"
"Yes that is correct Hope, but none of you need to think about anything related to your personal lives during this. The idea is to revert his mind, not to impose our own ideals onto him." I explained.
"O, one final thing. Do, Not, try to bounce energy between each other, you can kick off any extra energy later. Just concentrate on your specific tasks, as I shall."
I paused to collect myself, "Okay, are we all ready?"
Sarah cleared her throat. "Can I help at all? I don't want to be useless when everyone else is doing something."
I thought for a moment, and I had the perfect idea.
"You can keep Michael from getting involved if he wakes up. Keep him calm, and keep him still. Can you do that?"
Sarah puffed up her chest and began moving up toward Michael's face.
"I will do this! I will keep him over here for you!"
"Let's do this thing!" Liz and Hope said.
I nodded, and began charging up Dream Eater.
Michael's POV
This time when I slept, I did have a dream, and it was weird; all things considered.
I was sitting in the back seat of a somewhat rickety car that was driving down a washboard road and ascending a rather steep hill; the engine growling as the car ate up the road at a frantic pace.
The radio was playing a strange song. It was a remix of the song "Aria of the Sole" from the Persona video game series that was played in the Velvet Room, but it had some rather unique properties.
For starters, the tecnoe synths were mostly replaced with heavy metal, and the drums were replaced with a more symphonic drum set.
On top of all of that, the passages in between Haruko Komiya's opera vocals were filled with sampled Pokémon cries
from the games with a few animé sound-bites mixed in for good measure.
Driving this strange arrangement was a disco back-beat straight out of the 70's that could have been written by someone like Meco. It slammed into my back thanks to the two sub-woofers that I estimated to be in the twelve-inch range.
"Welcome to the Velvet Room!" said a voice to my left; yelling to be heard over the music and the road noise.
"You're kidding, right?" I asked; not believing what my respective since's were telling me.
"No, I am most certainly not. My name is Igor, and I am delighted to make your acquaintance."
Now, I knew I was dreaming.
"Like-wise. I'm Michael, and I can't believe I'm here."
"And I cannot believe we have a blind guest, but do not be alarmed, for I have summoned you here within your dreams.
"But I haven't signed a contract to be here." I said; recalling my knowledge of the Persona games.
"Do not worry about that, for you shall enter into one in the coming days. This space represents your life as it has been up to this point."
The car screeched to a stop with a suddenness that caused both of us to slam back into our seats.
"Your life, will improve for the better while you are in this new world, it shall, however take a rather circuitous root to reach its intended destination." Igor said; his voice lowering somewhat to match the quieter atmosphere.
"In the coming days, you will forge bonds which you must cultivate in order to reach your destination and retrieve something you lost while transporting to this new world you find yourself in."
He handed me a strange antique key.
"Hold on to this. When we next meet to discuss the finer details, you will come here of your own accord.
He shifted a little to his left, moving toward the driver side door.
"A situation has arisen that requires your attention, so, until we meet again, fair well."
The vocals in the music suddenly changed. In a tecnoe style of choppy sound-bites I heard the following.
"No! this is bad!" Trey's voice.
"Hold on!" Hope's voice
"Save me!" An unknown voice.
"Brake the link!" Liz; louder than the rest.
the screech of an old dial-up modem was heard before I abruptly regained consciousness.
I awoke to find Sarah laying on my face.
"Sarah? Is something going on?"
"Pip Pip! lup! Pup pupup lulilup. Lip Pip?"
"Sorry, I didn't coppy that. Let me lift you away from me enough to understand you." I said gently as I did just that.
"It sure is! But you need to stay still and let the others work though. Understand?" She asked.
"I have to help them." I said as I tried to push myself up off of the bed. "I can't explain it but."
"NO!" Sarah said, slamming her full weight against me which forced me back down on to the bed.
"Your pretty strong for a little, um, girl bird." I grunted; impressed despite the situation.
"Never underestimate a Piplup with a mission! I won't fail my friends! That and, I'm a little over-weight." she said; moving to keep me down as I tried to rise again.
"I understand," I began, "But I just have this feeling that."
"It's falling apart!" I heard Liz say.
"No! This is bad!" Trey said.
I knew what was coming next. I gently moved Sarah off me and put her next to me on the bed as I sat up.
"Sorry Sarah." I said in her direction.
"Hold on." Hope said as I aimed myself at the voices.
"Save me!" The unknown voice said.
I lunged at the source of the unknown voice as Liz said "Brake the!"
She broke off with a gasp as I felt my hand connect with something furry.
"NO!" everyone screamed as I heard the same new voice ask, "What gives doood?"
I felt very strange as an explosion sent all of us to the different cardinal directions of the room.
I was leaning against the bed Sarah was on with something heavy; breathing just as heavy; sitting in my lap.
After feeling it, I realized it was a bigger version of Chris.
"You probably just saved all our lives." Liz said; sitting across from me.
Climbing down from the bed, Sarah blew out a breath before saying, "I am really useless, heck, I've pretty much been that way since I hatched."
She wasn't paying attention to what she was doing, but as she was blowing she passed her bill in front of my face, her breath causing me to recall sunny spring days just after a rain storm.
"Oh sorry. but that Pretty much says how I'm feeling right now since I failed in my mission." She said; turning away from me after seeing what she did.
"It's fine," I began, "But you can't expect to be able to do everything just after hatching." I said.
"You don't understand anything! Because I couldn't do a simple thing like keep you out of the way during an important, um, operation, that Raichu you're holding might be a permanent puppet." Sarah said; almost bursting into tears.
"Wowe kill those waterworks Sarah." Chris said, startling us all.
"Huh? Chris? Is that you? How much do you remember?"
Sarah asked all of these questions first, but some of the others joined in on different questions; Liz being the one most interested in Chris' memories.
"chris is, like, the name I answer to, so, yes it is me, and," here he paused in thought.
"Well let's see, I remember our first meeting Liz," Liz let out a very quick low sigh as if a huge weight had been lifted off of her.
"Okay," she said in an almost ethereal voice, "So what else?"
"Well, almost everything from that point forward is fine, but everything before that point is gone, except for, I left my home for some embarrassing reason that I cannot recall, and, apparently, I'm in something like permanent exile until I do, something."
"Okay, things could be worse, you only lost about six months of your life, and maybe a few weeks or so as well." Liz said somewhat relieved. "The reason you can't go home should make itself apparent in a day or two, so don't worry about it until then."
"Okay I'll chillax and just live for three days, but, if the reason hasn't revealed itself by then, could you please tell me what said reason is?"
"That's a fair deal." Liz agreed.
I waited for a few seconds to see if the air was clear before asking, "So sarah, what did you mean when you said you've been useless from the time you hatched?"
"I was referring, partly, to my attempt to keep you from interfering with the others."
"Sorry little gal, I didn't mean to make you feel frustrated or anything."
"It's not just this morning." she said distractedly before asking the strangest question I ever heard anything intelligent enough to speak ask.
"Did my breath smell like water at all?"
"Well, Yes it did." I said with a small laugh.
"I can feel the water in my body. But, I've tried for somewhere around three months, Hope can attest to that, but no matter how hard I try, nothing ever comes out but breath that smells like water, or so Hope says." Sarah said dejectedly.
"I wander if? Hay Sarah, come here please?"
She wasn't far, but she faced me none the less as Chris moved out of my lap so Sarah could take his place.
"Where are you trying to pull the water from?" I asked.
She used her flippers and my own hands to indicate a spot beneath her bill, almost where a human chin would be. I felt down her body from that point until I found her tubby, downy chest.
"I wonder. You have to take in a lot of air in order to use your water attacks right?" I asked.
"Piplup?" Sarah answered, which I took as, "Ahuh?"
"So, I'm betting you took in more air than you need, and now it's stuck somewhere down here holding up your water." I said; patting her chest.
Something seemed to pop, Sarah made a gurgling sound from way back in her throat, and then a blast of cold water splashed against my chest; causing both of us to be a little startled.
"I knew it! Air bubbles." I said to myself, then had an idea.
After insuring that Sarah was calm, I said, "Now, use Bubble on me. Remember where the water came from and try to make that feeling happen again. When you feel you have enough water ready, try to aim it at me as much as you can. Okay, go!"
sarah centered herself and took a controlled breath. Without warning, a blast of water hit me more or less in the chest.
"That's what I've been trying to do for a long time." sarah said ecstatically over clapping and cheers from the rest of the group.
"I couldn't keep you from joining the circle, so I thought I was a failure because I couldn't do anything right.
"Are you angry now?" I asked.
"Yes, a little bit, because you still could have damaged Chris beyond repair. We are all just very lucky you helped him instead of hurt him"
"Yes, but Michael, why did you join the circle?" asked Liz; somewhat perplexed.
"It wasn't a split-second decision, someone kind of told me to do so." I said, wondering if anyone in the room would believe me if I told them the truth.
A storm of questions followed my explanation of the dream I had; questions like "What's a car?", "What's a radio?", "Who's Igor?", and; from Liz, "What does he represent?"
"This doesn't really count seeing as we were both in our balls," Hope began, "But you and I sarah rode in a car on our way back to the lab for the first time; you know, because not everyone happens to have a flying Pokémon with them at all times."
"A radio,"Trey began, "I believe, is something that plays music. It is, kind of like what they use in the Pokémon centers to tell us things, but it gets music from somewhere called, I think, a, station."
"Oh, I do know what that is." sarah said slowly.
Trey seemed apologetic as he said, "Sorry if my human knowledge seems kind of skewed, but we get it from something like fourth-party sources."
"Igor, Chris," I started in, "Is a character from a video game series called Persona that I played in my, past, and Liz, as for what he represents? I really couldn't tell you. At least Chris can ask questions that can be answered. I, just, hope I can be a worthy trainer to you all."
"Do not look for problems, just deal with each one as it arises and you will do just fine. You will soon have three experienced Pokémon with you. We will help you through the tight spots together, so calm down and try to relax and enjoy the journey."
"That's really nice Trey," I said before realizing that I hadn't asked for him to be here!
"How did you get here anyway?"
"The emergency situation allowed me to come here to help, but I guess I should be heading back now?"
"I'd really like you with me, but, you're probably right. We should at least ask Juniper what she thinks first." I said; trying to keep my spirits up as we all headed for the door.
"If he does have to go," Hope began, "At least we got something good out of his stay, as Chris can now remember things again."
I noticed that the center was already up and bustling at the early hour of seven, but that didn't
really surprise me as we headed for the communication terminals.
"Well look who it is, the blind trainer who's already a prodigy." Juniper said after the connection was made.
"What do you mean?" I asked, somewhat flustered.
"You already have a Wigglytuff, Gardevoir, Raichu, Piplup and Clefairy, and you haven't even had your first battle yet. How is Raichu, by the way?"
"Except for missing the first six months of my life, I'm fine!" he said, moving in front of the monitor so Juniper could see him.
"That's good. I'm glad to see my faith in you all hasn't been misplaced." Juniper said as Chris and Trey switched places.
"So, um, I guess I have to go back now?"
"What do you think should happen?" Juniper asked.
"I understand why the rules are their," Trey said; sounding a bit taller than before, "But if anything, I want to be their for Chris' first gym battle. Would that be okay? Ms. Juniper?"
"That would be fine with me." she said after a moments pause."
Trey let out a breath that sounded more like someone opening the lid of a soda bottle.
"Does that hurt?" Juniper asked; sounding concerned.
"What, inflation and deflation? No, not really. Why? does it look painful?"
"Somewhat." she said after a moment of reflection.
"It is not any different than someone standing a little taller than they usually do and then returning to their normal height. At any rate, I like to look at the person I am addressing."
"That's always a good thing Trey. Now Michael, I must make you aware of a few things. First is the cool-down period that comes with all Pokémon at a higher evolutionary stage than what you can currently wield. Basically, after receiving a Pokémon of this type, and meating all the qualifications , you have to wait thirty hours before you can use them in battle.
While the Pokémon league and myself understand that a Pokémon isn't just a mindless machine that follows commands blindly, we also understand how tempting it is for a trainer to use powerfull Pokémon to rapidly obtain whatever goals they have in life. And that's why we make it so you can't, um, 'control' high-level Pokémon before reaching a cirtain point in your journey.
This is to insure that you, as a trainer, don't come to rely on only one strong Pokémon and forsake your other team-mates. This restriction, by its very definition, also applies to Chris and Liz as well."
She paused before continuing.
"Second, I want you to understand how lucky you are to have such Pokémon friends at this point in your journey. Gardevoir, in particular, don't usually befriend trainers just starting out. In fact, most Gardevoir who don't have a trainer at this point in their lives usually stay loners forever."
"Or they become like the one that got ahold of Thomas." Liz put in.
"Oh, your previous trainer. Yeah, he now has some interesting posts on trainerjournal concerning his new life-style." Juniper said.
Trey began to climb into his ball as Juniper continued. "I'm glad everything worked out for all concerned, but duty calls, as they say. Good journey, and, call me every now and then." Trey's ball disappeared into the machine as she spoke. "I shall be most interested in hearing from you."
"Do not be a stranger!" Trey said from the other side before the connection went dead.
"I suppose that's one way of letting someone know you got their safely." Chris observed as we all went to get some food.
"So you want to train me yourself? How is that going to work?" Sarah asked after we had returned to our room.
"If we work together, we can both discover your secrets at the same time." I answered.
"Besides which, I doubt Liz, Hope, or Chris know anything about water moves." I added after a short pause.
"Not that we don't know anything about said moves, but Chris and I will abstain from being involved in this particular assignment." Liz said.
"Tell you what." Liz began presently, "We will all go to find a place for you to train and then we'll hold back to give you time to bond. How does that sound?"
Sarah seemed to think before responding. "That would be okay with me, so long as both of you stay close by in case we need you."
The training wasn't what you'd call a resounding success, but it wasn't a dismal failure either.
The objective was to help Sarah advance her knowledge, but I found mine advancing more than her's.
To be more accurate, my preconceptions of what Pokémon could and couldn't do had to be dashed before I could be an effective teacher.
During the training session I discovered that Liz, Chris and Hope had a shared attribute; that of being incredibly observant.
Through them; mainly Hope in this case; Sarah and I found a way to strengthen her bubble attack and even started the process of focusing the wide-ranged attack into a beam.
The attack still took ages to be launched, and the aim was far from what you'd call perfect, but progress was made so I was feeling like I might be able to do this training thing after all.
We were training just north of the town, and we were starting to head back for the night when Sarah surprised all of us by abruptly asking Hope to hit her with Magical Leaf.
"But Sarah!" Chris began, "You're like really week to that attack. It will hurt you a lot! You do know that, right?"
"I guess I better get used to pain now rather than later. This way, I won't have to"
She never got to finish her sentence as Hope launched the attack without any warning what-so-ever.
Sarah's reaction was not what any of us expected.
she started to cry, but that only lasted about half a second before it turned into a growl several octaves lower than her normal voice.
She had started to slump forward, but she puffed up her chest and stood erect once more as she used the pain; or anger; to launch a Bubble Beam directly at Hope who spluttered as it made contact with; I presume; her chest, or was it her face or possibly both? I don't know which it was more of, I just know it was a hit hard enough to almost send Hope to the ground.
They both stood still to catch their breath, but; apparently; we had been noticed.
