Attached

A Pokémon Persona Crossover Fanfiction

by Three Black Noises

Chapter 12

Michael's POV

"I'm not feeling anything at all." Sora reported; having leaned against Liz's body for a full minute.

"Then her power really is gone. Maria replied; being the one who suggested the idea in the first place.

"Rotom, can you tell how far down she is?" Tina asked.

Rotom sighed before answering.

"Sorry, but no. The only thing I can get is that she's, as far out of it as it's possible to be."

"And her status has remained exactly the same for the last five minutes or so?" Robin asked.

"That's correct sir." was Rotom's simple reply.

"Huh." Christina said before walking over and taking the keys off of the counter where Liz had dropped them.

"Let's go. I've got special access privileges to the car. Liz was in it when all this went down. It's possible a recording exists that can help us understand her situation."

So I followed her, along with Rotom, who thought his interfacing abilities might be of use.

Velma and Robin tagged along; for some reason, and so did Maria, in case her access privileges could get at things Christina and Rotom couldn't.

Five minutes yielded no results, until Christina requested a psychic telegraph.

Maria; who was sitting behind the wheel, blew out her breath after seeing what ever was displayed.

"I thought you were psychic Maria." Christina chided.

"I am, but I can't understand, this." She tapped at something on the screen.

Rotom?" She offered.

Rotom was sitting in Maria's lap, but he didn't seem to understand what Maria had indicated any more than she did.

"Move you two." Velma commanded as she got out of the back and opened the front door.

"Please?" she amended when nothing happened.

after the switch was complete, Velma tapped around on the screen for a few minutes.

"Huh. Rotom, can you act as a pass for brain communication?" she finally asked.

"I don't know, why?"

"I'm looking at a map of Liz's brain activity, so it might contain what we need.

The only problem is, I can't get at it unless a being with either spirit or psychic powers can convert it for me.

You're basically a computer yes? So, interface and convert, please?" Velma finally requested.

"I'd be happy to madam, but this thing doesn't have any ports or any kind of interface for me to use." Rotom said in a low voice.

"If I export to the web, could"

"I won't, hack, web sites." Rotom declared.

This gave Velma pause. After some consideration, she activated her own psychic powers, which put me on edge.

"Rotom, can you interface with these?" she asked.

"I've never done anything like this before, but I'll try." he said.

After some time he exclaimed, "Ah, bluetuth 5.0 works, but what are we doing?

"Can you get at the file I'm currently viewing?" Velma asked.

"Sure, but what do you want me to do with it. Store it?"

"Do that to, but try to transmit it through me. I'm going to see if I can turn it into audio." Velma said thoughtfully.

The attempt failed, but Robin was making strange sounds from his place in the back.

"What's up?" Maria asked.

"I don't know if this will work, but do you think mirror move could boost the power?"

"Robin, that's a good idea, but that technique is only used for offensive moves." Maria replied.

"Couldn't do any harm to try." I suggested.

The setup for the attempt took some time, as Velma asked Robin to move up front and sit next to me, while Rotom sat in her lap.

"Ok, I'm looking at the file. Now Robin, I'm sending you some power. Try to send it back." Velma suggested.

After a small bit of time, Velma wanted her and Robin to switch places.

"Your mirror powers are incredible." Velma explained during the switch.

"So what do you want me to do now?" Robin asked after he was sitting behind the wheel.

"Ok, you see that graphic on the screen?" Velma asked.

"Sure I do. Are those the brain readings?" Robin asked.

"They are. Now I want you to fix that image in your mind, then use mirror move on Rotom. Rotom? At the same time, try transmitting the file to Robin."

Suddenly, Liz's voice filled the space.

"You can't do this to me for asking a question!"

"To far forward." I said.

Somehow, Robin backed up the, recording?

"You do understand that you can't tell people about the future, correct?" A deep voice asked.

"I didn't though." Liz's voice replied.

"You almost did, that's why you're being issued a friendly warning." the deep voice said.

"I understand, but before you go"

At this point, Robin began to squawk in pain, but he held on, and we heard the next part of the exchange.

"Tell me if Michael's meant for me or not." Liz said.

That made Maria and I draw in a quick breath.

Velma added in her psychic powers to take the strain off of Robin.

"Tell you! TELL YOU?" the deep voice raged.

This was to much even for Velma, and we lost the conversation.

Suddenly, Hope yanked open the driver's door and gasped.

"Oh no." she said as she leaned in.

Robin got out along with Velma, but they both seemed like they couldn't stand vary well.

Somehow, they both managed to make it to the house with Rotom's help, and, once they were safely inside, Hope got behind the wheel and shut the door.

she tapped on the screen for a few minutes, blowing out a vary long breath about half way through.

"You understand this stuff? I asked.

"I understand enough to know you shouldn't have let them mess around with this." Hope said.

"Are they okay?" Maria asked.

"Yes, and no." Hope said

"Should we have just used the file stored in Rotom's brain?" Christina asked.

"No that's the last thing you should have done." Hope replied.

Crystal opened the door, looked in, then said, "I'll handle this. Everybody out, except Michael."

"I'm sorry Mom." Christina said on her way out.

"You didn't do anything wrong. Go look after the others okay?"

"I will." Christina said before leaving.

Crystal tapped on the screen for about half a minute, then shut everything off.

She sat their for over a minute, then turned everything back on again.

She seemed to be deep in thought about something; possibly even nervous, and I didn't know if I should say something or not.

I slid over next to her and put my hand on her shoulder instead.

She didn't say anything for quite some time, and I began to get worried about her.

"Well, Sarah's screwed up now." she finally said as the, hard drive? in the car started loading something.

"How bad?" I asked.

"Let's just say that Hope and Sarah look vary cute together."

Crystal drew in a deep breath and blew it out vary slowly.

"Look," she began, "It's vary possible that I might become your official support during your globe trotting expedition. Do you trust me enough for that, or should we find someone else."

"I trust you, more than I'd trust a human in that position. I responded with confidence.

Crystal took a moment to consider my words before saying, "I'm really glad you trust me that much. Thank you."

"So am i." I said just before my door was opened and a creature flew into the car and almost into my lap.

"Test me! Test me! before I change my mind." It said; well, yelled really.

"Sarah, you can't just" Crystal began

"Rotom already made the appointment. We need to be there in twenty-five minutes."

Sarah was speaking perfect English, and that bothered me.

Feeling her, I noticed that she still looked; mostly; like her old self, just taller.

Not quite as tall as Hope, but almost.

As I felt her, she spun to face me.

"Yes, I talk now. And I have Clefairy hands." she explained.

Feeling the offered hands, I could see that they were like hopes hands, in that they only had two fingers and an opposable thumb, but they were thinner; more bird-like.

"Sarah you" I began.

"These things wouldn't ever let me fly any way. As long as I can still swim, then I can change them a bit and help Hope to." Sarah said.

Needless to say, I was left dumb struck.

"So, let's go Crystal, I"

Sarah had been climbing over me to get to Crystal when one of her flipper hands struck something, and she stopped in her tracks; as it were.

"Pip Luup!" She said in amazement.

"Ahuh? Things feel different now that you have truly functional hands?" crystal asked.

"They do." Sarah said; feeling Crystal a bit before feeling of me.

As she was doing this, Norma walked up to the open door and stopped.

I could tell it was her because of her strange but not unlikable smell.

"Hay Michael? Liz just woke up, so you probably need to get in there." She said before offering me her hand.

I took it, and she helped me out.

"As for me, I'm going with these fine ladies to get tested." she explained before taking my spot next to Sarah, who began feeling of her.

Norma began to laugh before the door was closed

"Wait Crystal?" I asked as it was closing.

I heard Crystal's window come down before she answered me.

"What is it?"

"Aren't you going to let your transfer finish?"

"No worries. There are wireless access points all over the city. The smart uploader will pause the upload until a new access point is found with a strong enough signal.

"Pika Pika ka cha." Norma laughed.

Pip lip pup." Sarah laughed back.

"What?" You laughing at me?" I asked.

Norma got out of the car and came to stand next to me.

I heard Sarah sigh as this was happening.

"Michael." Norma began as she put one of her paws on my shoulder.

"I get that you're probably a bit spoiled by having so many talking Pokémon, and a strange translation thing in your head that insures you never miss a word.

That's to be expected, but you can't take offence every time one of us decides to speak in our native language. we do deserve the right to talk to one another after all."

"I know. I just thought you were laughing at me worrying about Crystal's tech." I explained.

"No. We were laughing about me." Sarah explained.

"And how goofy she looks now." norma finished.

"I'm getting nervous." Sarah said as I heard the keys jingle.

"Can you work those without Klefki?" I asked.

"Klefki?" Norma and crystal asked.

"Yeah, I have one." I said before leaning in to whisper in Crystal's ear.

"He's how I've been getting to and from the velvet room."

"I thought Klefki nothing but a myth." Norma said

Same here." Crystal agreed as Norma climbed back in to the car.

"We should be back in a few hours at most." Crystal said before rolling her window up.

They didn't seem to be in any hurry to leave, as I stood there, willing to see them off before going inside.

"Strange machine." Tina said, surprising me just a little.

"You're vary quiet." I observed.

"That is vary true." she agreed.

"You really need to get in here." Tina said a moment later.

"I want to see them off first. Sarah's a bit nervous.

"Speaking of..." Tina said after standing in front of me.

"What?" I asked.

"Sarah, seems to be attempting, something... Oh. She is attempting to activate this car."

"What all can you see from where you stand." I asked; curious to find out how good her vision was, but also to get an idea of what a person could deduce from visual information.

"I see, crystal, sitting behind the controls, looking kind of smug.

I see, Norma, looking, worried.

And of course I see cute little Sarah, looking vary nervous, but holding the keys in her flipper hand.

Oh, Norma just sighed, or blew out her breath. I cannot tell witch."

"You can see her breath coming out?" I asked.

"No, but I did see her chest rise, then fall, but she opened her mouth as her chest fell, so her breath came out of her mouth."

The car made several small clicks, then I heard the same quiet humming sound as on the first day I'd ridden in Crystals; strangely futuristic; car.

"Oh! Sarah smiled." Tina observed.

Tina and I stood in silence, waiting for Sarah to start the engine.

"Crystal just grinned at Sarah, and took the keys out?" Tina asked.

"Weird. I bet she's trying to see how far she can push Sarah's flippers. I laughed.

"Sarah cannot" Tina began.

"Crystal wants Sarah to activate the car?" Tina asked in amazement.

A few quiet clicks and a hum later, the engine started, and they were all gone.

"I guess so." Tina finished.

"She did it?" I asked in bewilderment.

"She did." Tina confirmed before standing in front of me.

Taking one of my hands in hers, she placed one on her chest, and the other on her face.

Having done that, she sighed dramatically several times.

"See?" She asked.

"I do, Thanks for that."

'Not a problem." Tina said as she offered me her arm.

I didn't need her help to get back to the house, but I took it anyway; to be polite more than any thing else.

Upon entering said house, I could tell immediately that something was wrong.

Nobody was talking, or moving much for that matter.

Tina lead me past everyone on the way to Liz.

Maria put her hand on my shoulder as I passed, and the birds made small noises of recognition as I moved within each's range.

Eventually, Tina got me to Liz, who put her hands all over me before hugging me vary tightly.

Tina laughed something in her own language, and Liz seemed taken aback.

What?" She asked vary softly.

To her credit, Tina repeated what she'd said; laughter and all, without complaint.

"Liz still didn't react, and I got a vary bad feeling as I cupped her face in my hands.

Being sure to stand where my translation, umm, powers, could pick it up, Sora asked Liz if she could understand him at all, but Liz didn't respond.

"You can't understand me?" He asked ten seconds later, and Liz's face fell.

"What are you asking." She breathed.

Sora then climbed into Liz's lap, took her hands; somehow, and put them on himself.

"Sun flora?" He asked, then put Liz's right hand on her ear.

"Oh, can I understand you!" Liz finally exclaimed.

"No, sorry." she added.

"That's offal." Bethany observed.

Everyone walked up to Liz and gave her a reassuring pat.

"We're all here for you." Rotom said afterwards.

Liz blew out a long breath as she rose.

"Right now, I just want to be alone with my thoughts." she said as she turned and started walking.

"Liz watch!" several voices cried at once.

But it was; as is mostly true with these kind of things; already to late, as Liz kicked something; causing a huge crash.

"Out," they all finished lamely.

She stood their in shock for a few seconds, before letting out something in between a groan and a scream.

"It's okay Liz, nothing's broken." Christina assured her.

Liz was still shaken up, but knelt down to survey the results of her actions all the same.

From the sounds of it, she'd knocked over a box that held several metal containers, and was now looking through them.

"Huh, what's in this one?" she asked.

"Hay Liz? That's probably not" Velma began, but Liz popped open the container, unzipped a bag inside, and gagged as something soft and wet sounding; and horrible-smelling; fell into her hands.

"What in the world." she retched.

Velma walked over, levitated the object out of Liz's hands and put everything back where it was before.

"You 'wunna be thankful for your vision loss right now and not ask after that thing." Velma replied.

Hope helped Liz to her feet. "Come on, let's get that smell off of your hands." she suggested.

Liz didn't argue; a fact I was glad about, as I wanted to know what she'd unearthed.

Before I could ask, Rotom floated over, unloaded into a trash can, and gagged at the odor he'd created.

"I'm going to get my mouth cleaned. He said; floating in the direction Hope and Liz had gone, while Velma walked over and teleported his sick into the outside trash can.

None of us did anything for a few minutes, except listen to Rotom get cleaned up.

After he did, he rejoined us; carrying something ahead of him.

"Is that? Chris asked.

Maria walked smartly over to a wall and turned the air conditioner up to full blast.

"Give it here." she commanded.

She took off her ice jacket thing, and something else to.

By this point, I had a pretty good idea where this was going.

"Someone please turn off the lights and pull the blinds?" she asked.

Velma did the blinds, while Robin; somehow; took care of the lights.

Several relieved sighs from the group followed.

It still works." Maria breathed.

"Thank goodness for that." feara added.

"But why can't it work" Bethany began.

"Oh, right." she added; answering her own question.

"It's pretty, and you look vary pretty in it." Sora observed.

Maria walked up to me and stood their.

Feeling her, I could tell that she was wearing Liz's velvet dress.

"It still glows in the dark." she explained.

"What's going! Oh, my, goodness." Hope had returned.

"We're just testing Liz's dress." I explained.

"You're doing more than that." Hope said under her breath.

"Oh, would you like to try it on?" Maria asked.

"I doubt it'll fit me." Hope said modestly.

"Only one way to find out."

"Maria I doooooh kay? How'd you do that?" Hope asked.

"Simple. My ice clothes are made using psychic powers. I just made some of them as I took off the dress." Maria explained.

I heard Hope put on the dress, then gasp.

"Wow! It really does feel nice." She breathed.

A small bit of time passed before Hope asked me if I wanted to feel her while she was wearing the dress.

She didn't fill out the dress as much as Liz did, but it still looked good on her from where I stood.

"Okay, I should go get her now." Hope said before leaving; still in the dress.

She guided Liz out to where we were all gathered a few minutes later and sat her down next to me.

We all tried to lift Liz's spirits in our own ways, but it didn't seem like we succeeded vary well.

Eventually, Liz once again requested to be alone for a while, but was wise enough to ask for help.

Tina answered the call and took Liz aside, and they didn't return.

I attempted to follow, but in short order, I heard Crystal's office door close and lock behind them.

Maria took me gently by the elbow and sat me back down where we'd been up to that point.

"She needs time." Was all she said as she took a seat on my right, and Hope came and sat on my left.

I nodded, then tried to think of something; anything; to say, but came up empty.

Hope suddenly threw up her hands, then sighed long and soft.

I heard fur rubbing against fur, and reached over to find Hope ringing her hands.

I tried to feel her face, and she resisted at first, but then sighed in resignation and let me do it.

She had a worried expression on her face, but I didn't get to ask why, as she let out a strangled sound that had many emotions rapped up in it.

"So, you had a look at Sarah?" she asked at length.

"Yeah. When she jumped into my lap and begged Crystal to take her to get tested." I replied.

"She's bigger, and doesn't smell as fishy." I added.

"Yeah? And did it ever come to anyone's mind that I didn't want this for her?" Hope asked.

"As far as I understand, she asked for this." I assured as best I could.

"No she didn't. All she wanted was to remain herself, and, they"

Hope broke down into tears, and I hugged her to me and let her cry.

"Why do people cry?" Velma asked.

I'd been so caught up in Hope's emotions that I hadn't noticed Velma come up beside me.

"That's useless. get on your feet now." Velma ordered.

And Hope did get on her feet, and right up in Velma's face.

"Crying isn't useless you uncaring"

The door bell rang, stopping Hope.

"We'll deal with this later." She growled before heading for the door.

"Stupid weapon thing." She mumbled as she left.

"I'm not stupid, but I was a 'weapon thing,' so I do have a lot to learn about the world. Velma said softly.

"She's going through a lot right now, so she probably said things she didn't mean." Maria explained.

"She's right though. I am bad at caring about others." Velma said.

"It's,a learned behavior." I said as someone other than Hope took her seat.

Something was odd about this stranger, and I couldn't figure out what.

"My apologies sir, and madams, but does Elizabeth gardevoir reside here?

The voice was female, but other than that, completely devoid of anything identifying race or dialect.

"That's my friend, but she's going through a lot right now, and might not be in a fit state to entertain an audience." I replied; suddenly finding it a good idea to be formal.

"I am Cresselia, and her suffering is my fault, as much as it is that of my wayward, and soon to be destroyed, charge."

"Cresselia. don't you mind darkrai?"" Sora asked.

This surprised me, as matters like this didn't seem like the type that would concern a plant like him.

"You're correct sunflora. Each Cresselia is tasked with minding her assigned Darkrai and insuring that the nightmares created by said Darkrai are Balanced out with peaceful dreams so the person doesn't get discouraged by the nightmares so as not to live life, while also allowing personal fears to express themselves and be concord."

Cresselia's explanation seem to ring true, and it lined up with the lore from the games from my world.

"That would mean that Darkrai blinded Liz." I said.

"I have less than an hour before I'm do to be recycled, so I need to see Liz now, please."

"I'll get her." Velma said before leaving to do just that.

I wasn't sure if Velma was able to be understanding of Liz's plight, but let her go anyway, reasoning that she could get Liz out faster if the need arose.

Thankfully, that wasn't the case, as she and Liz were back within a minute.

"So, where's my visitor?" She asked.

Tina directed Liz to where Cresselia was sitting, but Liz felt around for me, then proceeded to sit in my lap.

"Oh, you two are bonded?" Cresselia asked.

"Yes. Is that a problem?" Liz asked.

"It might be, if we don't act quickly."

"What do you mean." I asked; fearing the worst for my friend.

"If her powers are inactive for to long, her bond will deactivate.

"She's correct." Liz said vary quietly.

Cresselia got up and moved to stand in front of us.

"I can't let that happen." She said; placing her, wings? Paws? on either side of Liz's head.

"What are you doing!" Hope asked.

"My ultimate healing technique, Lunar Dance. It'll recycle me at this point, making my mass usable for another life form, probably another version of what I am now, but so be it.

I have to, at least try to correct my mistake on your part Liz." Cresselia explained.

"Wait, what? Mass usable?" Liz and I asked.

"Yes. Every life form cannot exceed the mass they're allocated at birth."

This caught us all completely by surprise.

"That's not true. Bella and I, and our, umm, siblings, weren't created, so, where did our mass come from?" Velma asked.

"I'm not the one to ask, but that's because I don't have the answer to your question." Cresselia admitted.

"What about Norma and others like her, and me?" Bethany asked.

We explained the size issues faced by most of my friends, and Cresselia got vary thoughtful before letting out a long dissenting whistle.

"The allocated mass of your friends hasn't been exceeded, so all's well." she finally explained.

"No it's not. I'm still small." Bethany almost yelled.

"Your life, took a path that didn't require all of your mass." was Cresselia's simple explanation.

"Cresselia?" I asked before my nerves got the better of me.

"before you do your dance, can I feel of you?"

Cresselia laughed at my question.

"Allow me to answer your question with one of my own. Can you dance?"

"No I can't." I replied; my cheeks getting hot.

"What, you never had a girl friend back home? Feara asked.

"Sorry, but no."

"Oh. then you'll be feeling me a lot, as I have to teach you both the dance, so we can increase its effect by doing it together." Cresselia explained.

So Cresselia showed Maria the dance, then we partnered off.

Maria worked with Liz, while I got the honor of having Cresselia personally teach me how to dance.

For a snake/dragon, thing, Cresselia danced vary well, and I found the process rather enjoyable.

Hope seemed to cling to me, or at the vary least, stay vary near me.

At one point, I invited her to join in.

Cresselia seemed to like the idea, but mainly because it offered Liz a better chance at recovery.

Hope proved that she had some pretty good dance moves herself, and within fifteen minutes, we'd all learned the dance steps to Cresselia's satisfaction.

"I think we're ready." Cresselia announced after doing her whistling thing.

"We get one shot at this. Everybody in position, and Rotom, please insure that Crystal and the others aren't coming in any time soon?" She asked.

"I've already done it. Crystal's the last one to be tested, and she was just about to go in to get that done."

"Good. Okay, if we all know what to do, let's do this dance!" Cresselia exclaimed.

So we did, and it went off without a hitch.

The only problem seemed to be that it didn't work.

"Give it a few months Liz. Healing takes much longer to do than the damage that caused healing to be required in the first place."

Cresselia said all this as she fell to the floor.

"Are you okay?" Hope asked as she and Christina knelt beside her.

"I'm fine enough considering all things. Can somebody get Pidove? I need to attempt something on all three birds before I depart this world." Cresselia said as she struggled to her feet.

getting Pidove inside without damaging it more was tricky, but Hope managed to get it done vary quickly.

Pidove said something to Cresselia, and everyone else laughed.

"Flora sun fun?" Sora asked.

The conversation continued, but I couldn't join in, as I'd just realized that the translation bug; as Liz and I called it; was no longer performing it's assigned task.

I said as much, and Liz came over to me.

She didn't sit in my lap this time, but rather stood directly in front of me and waited.

I eventually reached up to feel her face, and saw that it was long, to use the expression.

"I think." she began, and took a vary long time to continue.

"I... ... might, have, accidently, kept it going, past its, expiration date."

When I didn't say anything, Liz groped around until she found my face and tried to figure out the expression I wore.

She held my face and felt around for a short while before giving up with a long sigh

"How can you be so calm about this?" she finally asked.

"easy. I knew it would go away eventually."

"Okay, I suppose that's a logical assumption, but, what now?"

"We'll figure out a system. It's just Sora and Pidove, if he or she decides to join us."

"Sun suna Funa lora?" Sora asked.

"Huh?" Liz replied.

Sora didn't say anything back, but after a few seconds, he blew out his breath.

"Oh! Right." Liz laughed before sitting in my lap.

Sora climbed into her lap with an almost suppressed sigh, then repeated his message with exaggerated slowness; taking care to move his leaves in a way that Liz could follow.

Oh. I see. You want to know if I can teach you to talk, yes?"

Sora sighed while moving his head up and down.

"Yes, this is hard for both of us, but I'm willing to at least see if you can speak." Liz replied.

For the next few minutes, Liz asked Sora to run through all of the sounds he could make that comprised his language.

Once that was done, she asked if he could make any more sounds, to which he blew out his breath in response.

"That's not exactly what I meant." she laughed.

Can you speak anything else?" Liz asked after her laughter subsided.

Sora, couldn't, but I felt I needed to step in.

"Say, none." Rotom and I said together.

It took Sora a few minutes, but he finally got his voice to work.

Once he got the word out, he sang it several times before quieting down.

"More!" Pidove said; surprising all of us.

Sora repeated the word, with considerable difficulty arising from the M sound.

He tried to make other sounds, but couldn't seem to.

Bethany came up to us then, and stood silently for a few minutes before speaking.

"Sora? You can come with me if you want a quiet place to play with your voice, and a friend who won't judge you." she offered.

"Not that any of us would." I added quickly.

Sora gave a long speech we couldn't understand, but Bethany translated that Sora knew none of us judged him, and that he was going with her all the same.

They headed to the back yard soon after, and I decided now was as good of a time as any to take a look at the newest additions to my growing family.

"Pidove?" I called softly.

After it was in my arms, I decided to see if it could remember what caused it so much pain.

Asking gently however, seemed to cause it an extreme amount of discomfort.

"What's wrong? I eventually asked, after Pidove, sort of, screamed for half a minute.

"She forgot something important." Rotom explained in a bored way.

"It's nothing to get that upset about." I consoled.

"For her it is! They're, vary forgetful."

"I know Rotom but, screaming, isn't going to make her remember any quicker." I explained.

Pidove started, talking to herself at this point; vary fast and frantic.

Liz put a hand on my shoulder, but took it off quickly with a vary frustrated sigh.

She made some other hand motions that caused Rotom to climb into her lap.

After a bit of moving around, the whispering started.

Soon, Liz stood up so Rotom could climb into my lap and stand facing me.

Tentatively, he place his hands on my shoulders, and just stood there.

"You getting anything?" He whispered.

I shook my head, and he vacated my lap with a soft moan.

"It was, worth a try." Liz said shakily.

"I see what you're trying to do." Maria said before standing next to me.

Liz didn't seem to mind, though she still stood facing me all the same.

Maria put her hand on my right shoulder and waited.

I began to hear, words from Pidove, but they were so soft I couldn't make them out.

I said as much, and Maria took the bird from me before asking, "May I?"

I thought the question was directed at me, and was trying to find a polite way to tell Maria that I had no idea what she was asking.

"Sure." Liz answered before I got anything out.

Maria sat in my lap, then asked me to place my hands on her shoulders.

I did so, and heard, nothing special.

"Pidove did speak an English word. That seems to invalidate the translation bug." I explained.

"That isn't an issue, as I'm trying to rout your ability through my psychic powers." Maria explained.

"Maybe Pidove's not saying anything that translates?" Norma offered.

"Not possible. I can understand her just fine." Tina countered.

"So can I." Chris and Christina said together.

"Ladies? Please move?" Velma asked.

They started to comply as she continued.

"Maria, you don't have a bond with him like Liz does. I don't either, but I might know how to activate something related to psychic powers in general that could solve this problem."

Velma was now directly in front of me, and she used this position to lean in and "kiss" me.

At least, as well as a, strange, unnatural creature, with no proper face, can.

Liz didn't seem to care all that much, even though she did blow out an angry-sounding breath in Velma's direction once Rotom informed her of what was going on.

"Huh." Was Velma's only reaction once her kiss ended.

She headed for the back door at this point, as Hope approached Liz.

They went off to the side as Velma brought Sora in; seemingly by force.

"Look, I know you want to learn to speak, but before you get to far with that, I need you for a small test." Velma was explaining.

She put him in my lap, then began, doing, something, to him.

"Okay, it's done. Try telling him something please?" Velma asked in short order.

Sora sighed in frustration, but said something in his language.

Velma had placed him in such a way that he had no choice but to speak almost directly in my face, but not quite.

I only heard his language, but, somehow, I knew he'd asked if Pidove had managed to find out anything yet.

"I think she's given up on that idea." I responded.

Sora let out a relieved sigh, then told me he no longer needed to learn to speak.

"Seems like it, but how are you, I mean." I began.

"How can you understand him." Velma stated.

"Yes." I replied, dumb founded.

"Easy. Bella and I have powers that, aren't recognized by science."

"You mean a new type." I proposed.

"We're not sure what it is, exactly." Velma admitted as she started doing something to Liz.

"Velma?" Liz asked.

"Okay, it's, done. Now blow in Michael's face." Velma commanded.

"What! Why?" Liz asked.

"Just do it. Please?"

"Velma I have no idea what you're playing at, but fine!" Liz said all this as she approached me.

It took her a small amount of time to find my face.

Once she did, she cupped it in her hands, leaned forward, and blew a hard breath directly up my nose.

"There. That better make you happy Velma." Liz declared as she tried to face the object of her anger.

"It does. The bond should be good for a week or more." Velma said matter-of-factly.

"I have to do this every week!" Liz exploded.

"Until your powers come back, yes." Velma responded curtly.

"It's no big deal Liz. I have to do that a lot." Hope added.

"Yeah? But you're a healer" Liz stopped as something occurred to her.

"Velma, come here please." Hope said quietly.

"Do you think..." Velma began after reaching Hope's side.

"What?" she asked in short order.

"Oh no. Velma, where did you come from again?" Hope asked quietly.

"I'm not sure. Why?" Velma replied; voice muffled for some reason.

"Oh man." I said as I caught where this might be going.

"If you're like me..." Hope began.

"That's, impossible. Only one healer can exist at a time." Cresselia explained.

Maria said a four-letter word before Hope commanded Velma to blow in her face.

Velma complied, and Hope said several four-letter words.

"Language!" I exclaimed.

"Michael? I'm fifty-five years old. And, as such, can say whatever I damn well want." Maria said.

Hope sighed before addressing me.

"You're right. I should watch what I say, but do you realize what this means?"

"That my creators killed a healer." Velma stated.

"Can Corsola become healers?" I asked; a feeling of dread filling my gut.

"Any Pokémon can, depending on how the random selection works out." Cresselia informed us.

"Sorry Cresselia, we got a bit off track. The birds are all here now, so what did you want to do?" I asked.

"In light of vary recent events, I need to let Sarah in on this to. I feel it's my fault you're in this mess, and I would like to share what's left of my power between all of you." She explained.

"We'd like your power, but would love your company more." feara said.

Cresselia laughed along with Liz and I before addressing Feara directly.

"I, wouldn't object to being in this wonderful company, however, I'm do to disappear vary soon."

"So you'd come with us if you could." I confirmed.

"Michael no!" Rotom exclaimed.

"It's his choice." Liz interrupted.

I pulled out a vary hot persona card that had appeared in my pocket and offered it to Cresselia.

I explained what it was, and did, and why it would be perfect for her.

"So, I can heal you guys all the time, and can't be stolen and used for evil? Count me in!" Cresselia said; dancing a bit in spite of her pending, uh, death.

I offered the card to her, and she took it greedily.

"Michael are you sure about this?" Maria asked as the card did its thing.

"Of course I'm sure. She'll be a vary kind healer if we ever, run out of money." I told her.

"We aren't going to be that bad off right?" Chris asked.

"I don't look forward to that day, but if it comes well..." I offered.

"Better safe than sorry right?" Christina added softly.

The card dropped to the floor a few silent minutes later, and Velma sighed again.

She'd been filling the silence with them.

"What Velma? You've been steeling glances at me while letting out those long sighs. What's up?" Hope asked.

"I feel responsible for your situation. As such, I'm coming with you instead of Sarah."

Hope thought about this, then excepted the offer; claiming that she'd finally found an out for Sarah.

While she was talking, Liz walked over and got up in her face.

"You can't do that! Right now, Sarah's off getting tested, so she can Protect, You! If you do this you'll brake her little heart."

Liz started crying near the end, but Hope hugged her.

"Look Liz, Sarah, doesn't understand what she's signing up for. One, maybe two failures on my part, and she'll mentally self-destruct. Believe me."

"I get that hope. But she'll"

Liz stopped talking as the front door opened and Crystal came in with the others.

Suddenly, a fuzzy bundle of life jumped; fell really; into my lap.

"I did it! I did it! Hope's got a cute protector!" Sarah sang into my face.

"About that." Hope began.

"Hope! Don't you start in with that again!" Sarah was off of me and rounding on Hope.

"I just went through"

Suddenly, Velma got between them and blew in Sarah's face.

"what, the hell?" Sarah asked.

"I, am, was, made, from parts of the last healer, I think, or the one before that." Velma quietly explained.

Sarah took some time to process this news.

"We just found out a few minutes ago." Hope informed her.

"I see. So, she feels, obligated to do the work that healer couldn't. And the both of you can protect each other, provide twice the healing, and twice the research data to." Sarah reasoned before blowing out a long breath.

"I've been around Hope long enough to know how her healing powers feel, and Velma checks out there. I get it Hope. You've always wanted an out for me, and it looks like you finally found one, You win." Sarah said before turning back to me.

She started to come over to me before Liz intercepted her.

"Listen, Sarah. I know how much you want to be there for Hope, but I also have seen my share of bad things in my life.

If things go bad with one of Hopes cases, you'll be changed for the worse.

She loves you the way you are, and only wants the best for you.

That's why she's doing this, so you can develop the way you need to."

"But I just got tested so I could protect her." Sarah sobbed.

"You can protect me." Liz said quietly, then let out a protracted sigh.

"Liz?" Sarah asked; her voice shaking.

"Sarah, I'm, out of it, for a while. I don't know for how long.

But while I'm, basically a regular human, I need someone, vary special, and trust worthy to take my place on the team.

Someone who's kind and honest, and who will be there for Michael, no matter what.

Can you do that, for me?"

Sarah thought for about three seconds, before hugging Liz tightly.

"Liz, I'd be honored to do that."

"And once I'm back on the team, I'll most likely be week for some time, so"

"I'll help, okay? count on it." Sarah vowed.

The hug broke up, just as crystal walked in.

"Oh you did not!" She exclaimed at Cresselia's presence.

"I, invited myself in, and attempted to fix problems brought on by my negligence."

Cresselia got the others up to speed, and they took everything rather well, all things considered.

During the explanation, Klefki spoke inside my, head, spirit?

what ever it was, Klefki told me that he had an idea that might help Liz heal faster.

Rotom said he'd record anything else that came up and allowed me to leave with Liz.

Klefki directed us to enter the velvet room, so we did.

Once there, we headed for the house after informing Margaret of what transpired with Liz.

I also let Margaret record Cresselia in her book, and she awarded more spirit points as a result.

As soon as we arrived at the house, Klefki informed us that Hope's healing powers were most likely a result of the same powers that enabled his magic.

"I can bind Liz's bond to me so it won't weaken, but You'll have to stay here Liz."

"This place does slow time, so you'll appear to heal faster as far as the outside world is concerned." I added.

"A few days here are all you'll need, so the sooner we get started, the better."

Klefki had Liz and I sit across from each other in two chairs provided by the velvet room.

He seemed to charge up for a time, then instructed Liz to blow in my face as Velma had instructed earlier.

She had to do it several times in fact.

Once as she leaned toward me and hugged me, and lots of times while we each held Klefki in our arms.

He then pronounced that he'd identified the source of the power, and confirmed that it was the same as his

Holding Clefki between us, Liz expelled one final breath into my face as Klefki used his powers.

They resulted in all of us shaking quite a lot, but once all was said and done, Klefki informed us that he'd done it.

As long as Liz staid put, he could act as a sort of go-between and interface with her bond, that it might endure the trials placed on it.

Liz agreed to stay, so we left her in the house.

I stopped by the library to see if any braille teaching books existed so Liz could at least learn to read during her stay.

To my surprise, Lavenza was there, looking for the same thing I was.

I informed her of Liz's plight, and Lavenza seemed overjoyed to help Liz learn Braille.

I asked Lavenza to let me know if they ran into any problems, and was told I'd be the first to know about any small thing that arose.

Having accomplished my tasks, I headed for the exit, but I ran into Sarah half way there.

She didn't say anything, just took my hand in her flipper hand and started walking.

Soon enough, we arrived at the car.

Sarah pushed me in on the driver's side, then sat in my lap and closed the door.

She put some keys in the ignition, turned them, then began carelessly rummaging through the console, throwing Cds aside with reckless abandon.

She blew out a disgusted breath every now and then, and after she did that six times, I asked what was going on.

"You! And Velma." She spat.

"What about me?" I asked.

With a scream, Sarah stomped the accelerator petal in anger.

"You Trusted My Best friend To A!

Sarah blew out the rest of her breath before taking another.

"What ever Velma is." She finished much quieter.

She stopped looking in the console and just, sat in my lap.

"How long did it take you to gain the trust of your friends back home?" She finally asked.

"I never had friends 'till I met all of you." I admitted.

"That can't be true. A Nice guy like you never had anyone come up and ask to be your friend?" She asked; sounding vary scared.

"Several people did, but politics, money mostly, and political image; always came between me and anyone else." I explained.

"Selfish Idiots." Sarah growled.

"Yes. The world's got more of them than I'd like to admit." I agreed.

Sarah resumed her search, but took her time looking through what turned out to be an endless supply of CDs.

"This is pointless.: She finally said after almost an hour.

She kept looking for a few minutes before giving up and shutting the car off.

Holding the keys in her hand, she started to put them back as well before letting out a slow breath and inserting them again.

She left everything on for a few minutes, before blowing out another breath and turning on the radio.

It took her a few minutes of pressing buttons before she finally found a channel devoted to Velma.

The audio didn't say much at first, except for the fact that Velma was alone.

Silence mostly governed the audio, save for an occasional sigh.

"You and me both." Sarah agreed.

"She doesn't trust me." Velma finally said.

"I wouldn't either, if I were her." She continued.

Velma sighed again before rising and walking through a door.

"Velma?" hope asked.

Velma didn't say anything, but I heard Pidove cooing happily shortly later.

Soon, the same faint musical sound I'd heard during Sarah's healing filled the car.

Sarah took notice as well.

"Is Velma doing that?" She asked.

"It seems so." I replied; praying I was right.

"You did it." Hope breathed.

"Damn straight." Velma replied.

"If only Sarah could have seen it. where'd she go anyway?" Hope observed.

Sarah turned off the radio and got out of the car with a slow breath.

"Okay, I'll let your offence slide this once, but now you know, right?" she asked.

I nodded, and she took my hand in hers.

"Things will work out, you'll see." She said before, trying, to plant a kiss on my forehead.

"I'm 'gunna go talk to Velma now." She said before closing the door on me.

I wondered why she'd leave me in the car, but I didn't have to wait long.

I slowly opened the door, and found Hope standing there.

"So, you talk with Sarah?" she asked.

"I did, and she's going to talk with Velma now." I informed her as she leaned past me.

She blew out a breath as she sat in my lap, then began picking up the CDs Sarah had thrown all over the car.

"I see she made a huge mess. Angry much?"

"She was looking for dirt on Velma. Didn't find any though." I allowed.

"Maybe she should just"

Hope was interrupted by the sound of a door bursting open; issuing from the radio speakers.

"Velma? We need to talk." Sarah declared.

"what about." Velma asked aggressively.

Sarah's breath caught in her throat, and I feared she'd run off.

Hope tensed up, and I knew she was thinking the same thing.

"About you." Sarah said; a bit to loud.

"What about me?" Velma growled after seeming to get up in Sarah's face.

Sarah panted for a time, and Hope started softly cheering for her.

"You're not leaving with Hope until I get some answers from you!" Sarah almost screamed.

"Okay." Velma agreed.

Some time passed before Velma spoke again.

"Well? I won't read your mind. ask away.

"First question." Sarah began before Hope shut the radio off.

"It's not something we need to hear." She said.

"I'm glad she's gotten over some of her fears though." Hope said after a relieved sigh.

"me to. You think Velma can please her?"

"At this point, who knows." Hope replied.

We enjoyed each other's company in silence for a time.

I must have been absent-mindedly petting her, because she suddenly asked, "You must like how I feel."

"I, do." I admitted; my face growing hot.

"That's fine. It feels, good, actually, so pet away." She invited.

We sat a few minutes longer, before she spoke again.

"You know, we are alone in here, so, anything you want to ask or talk about away from the others?" She asked.

I, really tried, to think of anything I wanted to ask, and came up empty.

I said as much to Hope, and she excepted my response without comment.

After more time passed, Hope got out of the car on a protracted sigh, then put her right arm across my back and leaned in close.

"Going once..." She whispered.

I touched her face before she could, go twice.

"Yes?" She offered.

"I have an idea."

"Go on..." She prompted.

"I really can't think of anything to ask you at the moment, but sitting here with you and Sarah makes me want to give the others a chance to speak with me alone."

Hope thought about this, but not for vary long.

"Okay. It's a really good suggestion, and one that I approve of."

Hope still stood over me for a time; not saying anything else.

I ran my hands over different parts of her body; making sure to stay above anywhere she'd consider private.

"You really haven't felt all of me after my change." She observed.

She let me feel of her for a time, then directed me to feel her face again.

As I did, she asked if parts felt different.

She then explained that small parts of her face were different colors.

They didn't feel any different to me, so she explained what parts were different; using my hands to feel them in detail.

After she was done, she suggested that I talk to Rotom about adding a physical description to the Pokédex.

I turned to face her as I agreed to her idea, and we enjoyed each other's company for a while.

She started feeling me for some reason, and I let her without protest.

"huh. I just feel what I see." She finally said.

"That's how it is. But imagine that what you're feeling of right now is all you know about someone. Could you turn that knowledge into a description others could use?" I proposed.

"Probably not." Hope responded thoughtfully.

"Food for thought." She said quietly.

I was still trying to think of anything I wanted to ask her, when I came to a sort of compromise.

"Hope? Tell me something random about yourself, or your people." I offered.

"Something random huh?" she asked; leaning in vary close to me, so our faces were almost touching.

I took note of the fact that most Pokémon; unlike people; didn't seem to have personal boundaries.

I didn't have a problem with any of my current Pokémon friends getting as close as they wished, so I didn't stop her.

Presently, Hope blew a vary long; thoughtful; breath, directly into my face.

And another.

She was gearing up for a third that mostly exploded out before ending in an, "I know.

"Don't take this the wrong way, but we; as a people, hate Wigglytuff. Not for the fact that they are Wigglytuff, but for the fact that they can inbreed with us and create, mixed, offspring."

"I get it, but don't you learn the same move and such?" I asked.

"We do, and my family group doesn't hold stock in that belief. I'm telling you this because, you've befriended a member of both species, and carry our sent on you.

So, if by chance, you encounter a member of either species in the wild, and they seem, vary up for traveling with you to the point of following you endlessly, they're probably an inbred, and shunned by all family members.

Have Rotom scan them and see if they are male. If so, make every effort to either introduce them back into a family group, or give them a good home."

Hope's explanation chilled me a lot, but I promised her I'd do what I could, should that situation arise.

"Okay, that got, a little heavy." Hope said soon after she'd extracted my promise.

She let out a quick breath. "So, who should I get?" She asked.

"Surprise me. That'll go for the others to." I offered.

"Huh. No way to pick favorites." She murmured.

"I like it!" She agreed as she turned me to face forward again.

"Okay. I'm going to get your next visitor now." Hope sang before closing the door.

She kept singing as she walked away, and I couldn't help wondering how the line up of my friends would shake out regarding the order in witch I'd be conversing with them.

Author's note:

Two things:

First, These past few chapters have focused on character development, and the next one will to, before things pick up considerably.

Life's been hard these passed few months, but I still managed to get this chapter out.

secondly; I'm also publishing a novelization of Bella, a project I did within an alpha of an RPG maker program for the visually impaired.

More details can be found in the author's note of the first chapter of Bella, now also up on .