*Hey Everyone! I thank you all for being so patient! I've been real busy these past two months, but I'm still writing know matter what! This chapter is extra long and I'm writing the next chapter! Enjoy!*
...
The wee hours of dawn welcomed a beautiful spread of clouds that were touched by the color of lavender, rose and a fiery orange. It was chilly considering where I was, but in a refreshing way. Beside me, Pelipper flapper her wings in excitement.
Right after Professor Sycamore left me to my own devices, I immediately gathered my things together. The balance badge pinned on my ruined shirt was quickly removed and set it in the reserved space of my badge case. After that was done, I traded my night wear for traveling ones. Okay, now to get my shoes.
Not wanting to confront the professor a second time, I told Mightyena to acquire them. With a low gruff, she disappeared downstairs with the distant sound of paws lightly tapping on the floor. Only a few minutes passed when the wolf-like creature came back with Sycamore's pair of shoes. No, no, no: Not what I wanted!
I told Mightyena once again, that it was MY shoes that I needed her to get and sent her back. This time, Mightyena returned with his watch. OKAY, NO! Shoes! Give me my shoes! The dark-type was stone-faced throughout the command. Finally, I put the item back in her jaws and sent Mightyena back. This time, it took her longer than the last two times. Good, she got the message.
The moment my Pokémon came back up, she dropped a bunched up article of clothing at my feet before sitting down and wagging her tail. The second I held it up and registered the smell of cologne, I realized that I was holding Sycamore's shirt.
"Really?! You can take his shirt, but not my shoes?! That's it! I'm getting Pelipper to do it!"
It only took her just as many tries to do the same.
When I was able to acquire my footwear, I grabbed a bag, put the remains of Lappie in and escaped through the bedroom window. For the sake of common sense and safety, Chirpie was sent out ahead so he could catch me when I jumped out. Thankfully, he considered me as a light weight in comparison to his tall form. Everything else went smooth after that. My party traveled to Oldale Town and found out through the locals about a river route named RT. 103. It traveled from this town to 110. Fortunately, traveling on water was no longer an issue.
After I obtained the Balance badge, I had been able to teach my Pokémon surf; Pelipper being the only one qualified to learn it. With this ability, she would be able to balance her buoyancy to where I could hold onto her without worry. A fitting pay back to all those times she used me as a seat. Thus in no time, we were off: Taking the total travel time of an hour and forty-five minutes to reach the land route of 110.
Eventually, we made our way back to Mauville once more and quickly passed by everything that would have presented itself as a temptation. The last thing I wanted to do is get into the city's glamour again. Plus, it might be the first place Sycamore would look.
The sun was high in the sky by the time I reached RT. 118. It started off as a lush, grassy hill with wildflowers scattered all around. Near the end of it had been golden sand that would be occasionally washed over by sea green waves. My nose was pleasantly tickled by the smell of the ocean. I figured that this would be the perfect spot to give Lappie a memorial.
With the help of everyone, we dug a hole, put his body (and head) inside, made a memorial service and buried him. I shed a few tears during the service before quickly wiping them away. When it was over, it was internally decided to resume my master quest.
Once everyone but Pelipper was inside the ball, the blue and white bird flew over to the water and sat on the service to wait. The next part of my path was just across the oceany stream; nothing left to do now but go forward.
...
I arrived on the other side with little scruples...actually, there were alot of scruples. Call me an over-reactor, but it was a little bit surprising to find out that the route we were passing through was infested with sharpedos. Pelipper wasn't bothered by them. Whenever one got too close, she forced them away with a spray of water. Unfortunately, I couldn't say the same for me. Why? Maybe because I was JUST A PERSON!
When I noticed a sharpedo straying towards us, I would constantly call it to her attention and tried turning her head to make the bird see. At one point, she got fed up with my anxieties and threw me off. I was now wet and afraid.
"AAH! Pelipper, how could you?! I thought you loved me?!"
"Guuuah!"
"GOOD ARCEUS! One just touched my leg! MY LEG! I want back on!"
"GUUUAH! Guuah,"
"I'm gonna die! Death by neglect and sharpedos! I'm gonna come back and haunt you for the rest of your life-OOF!"
Suddenly, I got swept away by a wave and tumbled onto the cool, wet sand. Then, another wave crashed into me; pushing my small self further on the shore. When the realization of being safe registered, I rolled onto my back with breathing being heavy and the anxiety slowly coming down. I'm alive! I can be free to eat junk food for another day! Sure my clothes and hair were now soaking wet, but it was nothing that the hot Hoenn sun couldn't fix.
Pelipper waddled on the shore, and walked over to the strewn out body that made me up. She looked down on my face with an expression that was easily interpreted as annoyance. Hey, even Pokémon had their limits to how much patience they have. I let out an awkward laugh in hopes that she wouldn't be too mad with my previous agitations.
"We're uh...we're cool right?"
"..."
"...did I mention how fluffy you look today?"
My compliment did nothing to change the water bird's look on her face. She did what I usually do in return: REVEEEEEEENGE!
In seconds, Pelipper sprayed my face with water as a reprimand before digging into my belt, accessing her ball and putting herself inside. I sat up and rubbed my face to wipe away the excess water. Rightfully, any trainer would get upset from such a rebellious act. However, I was the one who wronged her. Instead of trusting that we would cross safely, doubt caused me to not only question her abilities as a strong pokémon, but my capabilities as a trainer! I should apologize to her when she calms down.
For now though, I got up from the sand to clean myself off and reach for the map that was still hard to translate no matter how hard I stared at it-"Miss Maaaay! Over here!" Good arceus; please tell me it's not who I think it is. Reluctantly, I turned my head to see a man no younger than his late twenties come running towards me. Dam, it is him. You may be wondering why I don't like him a whole lot. Well...
The young man caught up with me quickly; stopping to catch his breath for a second. When he was composed, that's when it started: The elegant flashiness. Got a hint yet?
"To think that I'd meet you out here in this place! How has your journey treated you? Did you find any interesting artifacts or Pokémon so far? Knowing you though, such things must always come your way!"
Figure it out now?
The young man with me took up my hand with his to plant a kiss on top of it. If anyone hasn't grasped at least a clue by now, then allow me to say it in the words of Brendan from a few months ago:
"Yeah, that guy reminds me of Professor Sycamore,"
Ever since then, the comparison got stuck in my head and was cursed with the knowledge of how similar the two acted. I kinda felt guilty in the long run because he really wasn't that bad of a guy. Steven Stone overshadowed me by a few inches. His light steel blue spiked hair greatly differed from Sycamore's black wavy locks. The young man's matching colored light steel blue eyes were full of bright curiosity and energy rather than an ocean blue of hidden, dark agendas. He wore an onyx and midnight purple colored suit jacket with an equally midnight purple vest and onyx black pants. What gave a nice relief from that borderline goth palette scheme had been his scarlet neckerchief with a white collar. Pinned on the neckerchief was a small rainbow-colored stone.
And while Steven acted like Sycamore, it was out of GENUINE chivalry. No hidden glares or planned tricks; just an overall honest guy. Still, I couldn't help but be reminded of the professor.
Very quickly I pulled my hand back with despise to put both arms behind my back. "Not really. I just got the Balance badge and plan to get the sixth one soon," I replied rather blandly. Of course, stale responses never stopped Steven Stone. "Really Miss May? I'd have to extend my congratulations; though I think only getting a badge from Norman Maple would be too poor of a reward," he said in a joking tone. Yeah, that was something we could both agree on.
After that comment, my brain began thinking of ways of excusing myself from Steven's presence. Several feet behind him, there looked to be a jungle-like path I could tread on. "Hey, it was great seeing ya and all, but I gotta-AH!"
Suddenly, I was trapped. On the turn of a *péni, Steven's arms were on either side of me with my back against the rocky cliffs of the beach. His face was uncomfortably close and began to breath pretty heavy. What the hell?! Wasn't he acting (to a degree) normal just a second ago?! I knew nice-acting guys were too good to be true! I take back all the nice things I said about him!
The organ in my chest that pumped blood throughout my body began to beat faster. I could feel myself turn an uncomfortable shade of red while trying to figure a way out of his imprisonment. This is where things turned extra weird.
"Miss May...please don't move too much...I promise I'll be quick,"
"Be quick with what?! Get away from me!"
"Such an enchanting gem..."
"I'm warning you!"
"So very beautiful..."
"Are you even listening?! I said-AAH!"
My anxiety appropriately shot up to extreme levels as I tried to repel the advancing Steven. Unfortunately, he was waaaay too close for me to punch him in the stomach. In the end, there was nothing I could do but stare in horror as his arm came towards and passed right by me...
"...Aaaand there. Thought you could escape my eye, did you?"
All that nervousness I felt instantly vanished as my eyes focused back on the young man himself; holding a light pink gem between his fingers. While I was relieved that he wasn't being indecent towards me, it was still pretty strange to see someone so obsessed with rocks. He really creeped me out. I should get away from him as far as possible now.
"Uh, yeah...I'm gonna go; got to train for the next gym and all...so uh...bye,"
"But wait! There's so much more I wanted to talk with you about! Let me come along at least!"
"You shouldn't! It's uh...important that I train by myself!"
My insistency for being alone was failing as Steven kept trying to follow me. Seriously, he's really not getting the message. At least this day can't get any worse. But right as I thought those words, a large shadow suddenly loomed over the two of us. Of course, we immediately took action and quickly broke into a run. Although I ran fast (from practicing for obvious reasons), Steven had been more swift on his feet and managed to take ahold of my hand before dragging me with him. Fortunately, the beach had many places for us to hide; many rock formations jutted out from the sandy shore. We jumped behind one without any hesitation.
Once we felt secure enough, I grabbed Metang's ball and readied myself. A quick glance to my side revealed my temporary party member rummaging through his bag, but for what? An interesting question to ask, but there were bigger problems on our hands; like that thing we were hiding from. Cautiously, I poked my head out before scanning the area and saw that it was clear.
"Okay, we're good. It was probably a trainer and their Pokémon or something,"
"Um, I don't quite think so,"
Before I could why, something started rubbing against my back. The action freaked me out and my fist was already clenched tightly to punch (probably Steven) whoever was behind me. When I turned around however, my face was suddenly being nuzzled against by a large creature. Its soft, fuzzy head instantly pacified my violence through rubbing it on my cheek. My body fell back on the rock and I now saw the thing that was messing with me.
It was a creature that had the height and weight of both of us combined. The Pokémon was a cream color that co-dominated with a scarlet red along with a robin blue triangle on its chest. Another prominent feature to capture my attention were the strange arm it had and long, stiff wings. The Pokémon pulled back for a second to give me a once over with curious, golden eyes.
...CATCH IT!CATCH IT!CATCH IT!CATCH IT!
Already a pokeball was in my hand and locked onto the creature with intent to capture it. The second my arm was raised however, Steven quickly seized my limb. "Wait, Miss May! Please hold on for just a moment; we can't just capture it!
"Uh, why not?"
"Because, it may be trying to tell us something. Think about it: A Pokémon usually tries to hide from people to avoid getting caught, yet this one came to us. Why do you think that is?"
"Seriously? That's stupid. Why doesn't it go find the police or something?"
"Maybe...we're the only convenient people around; or maybe...we might be the only humans who are pure of heart! There can't be any other explanation!"
Yeah, I was gonna go for the former. There wasn't a doubt in my mind about Steven stone being blameless; weird, but blameless. As far as I knew, he was the cleanest guy on the planet. Me on the other hand, not so much. A few of my crimes during childhood of breaking things disqualified me from achieving such a level. But even if that wasn't the case, that jerk professor of mine stole my never-to-be-used first kiss and corrupted my thoughts with his imaginary presence. I was plenty far away from that schemer now. Maybe I should humor Steven a bit and hopefully forget about Sycamore enough to finish my journey.
"Uh...I guess. What does it want anyway? If it wanted to find people, then it's probably something bad,"
"You're right; dear majestic creature of the sky, we beseech you: Why have you come in search for us?"
The Pokémon in question stared at us for a moment as if it was almost unsure it made a bad decision in choosing us. But then it gave out a soft coo and lowered its body. Please tell me it's not doing what I think it's doing. Unfortunately, the excited gasp that came from my party member confirmed what I was dreading. "Miss May! This Pokémon! It wants us to get on its back! It may be taking us on an important quest! We have to go!" Steven said excitedly as he gracefully ran over to the Pokémon and hopped on.
While he was completely on board with the decision, I wasn't. There were so many things wrong with this picture: Namely, the possible scenario of it dropping us in midflight. It might even belong to another trainer who could turn out to be a robber. My hesitation must have been easily written on my face, because Steven said:
"There's nothing to fear Miss May. I'll be sure to protect you if trouble comes our way!"
Ugh, the way he sounded tempted me to gag. Still, I made no effort to move. Steven himself was unsure now of what to say since his words did little to sway me. His shoulders sagged with a disappointed look on his face. "I see: The uncertainty is too great for any assurance. I completely understand; although it is admittingly upsetting. Even the one in distress can't help but look *crestfallen about the lack of assistance-"
"Alright, already! Shut up and make room! I'm getting on!"
His tactic of guilt-tripping worked like a charm as I gave in and went over to the two. When I was about to, he on behind Steven, he suddenly interrupted me. "Actually, I recommend to sit in the front. You can get a better grip on its neck and not fall off so easily,"
Hm, that did make more sense. Instantly, I followed Steven's suggestion and sat in front to wrap my arms around the Pokémon's neck. Thankfully, it didn't become uncomfortable and try to throw me off. Okay, we were ready for lift o-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!
In a flash, the creature flew into the air and rocketed through the empty space towards our destination. The force of the wind came straight at my face and was swearing every second that my head would be torn off. Did this Pokémon think that people were just as sturdy as them?! Good arceus, that's what it felt like! My arms gripped fiercely to its neck, but it felt like I was sliding back. There was some sort of pressure on my hips, but I was too scared to open my eyes to look back and check. The heart-stopping terror was endured for several more minutes before coming into an abrupt halt.
By this time, Steven and I were shaking violently from the experience. Slowly, I managed to open my eyes to see us hovering over an island. It was small in size that was surrounded by endless ocean. Thank arceus, land!
The strange Pokémon lowered us in a surprisingly slow manner to where we could slide off like butter. Fortunately, the two of us landed on soft, lush grass that generously blanketed the ground. We laid on it for several minutes before I realized that Steven's hands were firmly attached to my waist. Naturally, I reacted by spastically slapping them away shortly before rolling flat on my face. Ugh, my limbs feel like noodles; all I wanna do now is just lay here forever.
Unfortunately, the Pokémon wasn't going to let me do that. Insistently, I began to nudge at my sides with no mercy. You stupid thing: Don't you know how miserable I feel right now?! It's your fault I'm like this in the first place! Eventually, my body recovered enough for me to push its head away and sit up. My face was fixed into a tired frown.
"...I'm taking Pelipper back to the mainland when this is all over,"
"Miss May, I'm sure that it meant no harm. It must not be around humans enough to know what they're like,"
I turned my head to Steven already on his feet; although he was still trembling while dusting himself off. Seeing as how the man was giving off a friendlier disposition, the Pokémon left me and hovered over to him. He let graced it with a charming smile and petted its head. It only stared back at him with an unsure expression of how to respond to his affection. Meanwhile, I showed a sneer while forcing myself up to stand. Yeah, I was grumpy, but who wouldn't be after something like that?!
"Okay, we're here. So now what?" I asked with sights directed at the Pokémon upon hearing my tone, Steven's petting was interrupted when the creature turned its head to look at me. It gave out a soft coo and gestured its body to follow. Finally, time to get down to business. It hovered quietly into the island with Steven and I in tow.
Coming to the conclusion from the intense humid climate, I figured that we were about not too far off south from the mainland of the Hoenn region; and so I rightfully dubbed it 'Southern Island'. Either that, or 'The island from hell'; take your pick. And while there were no traces of human civilization around, I wasn't the least bit bothered by it. Just like the route from the house to Petalburg, there was this serene peace in the air as large leaved trees spread their generous branches towards the vivid blue sky. Scattered sounds of bug Pokémon filled my ears as if summer was at its ripest. Light green grass softly crunched under my feet yielded many wildflowers that were certainly tempting to pick. When our party passed a clearing, we would be able to see enormous, roaring waterfalls that cascaded into busy streams and traveled to the vast ocean. It was all very interesting things to see, but Steven also found a few things that piqued his interest.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw him break off a dark blue-colored gem from a rock that we passed by. He went back by my side as if he was a little kid who found the coolest thing on the planet. His eyes glittered excitedly.
"Look at this! It has such a marvelous shape! Even the color of the gem is so rich!"
"Um, okay...what is it?"
"You mean you don't know what this is?!"
"Not really,"
Steven suddenly gave me a look as if I was locked in a loony bin, rolling around with a straight-jacks on. Yeah, like he has any right to do that. "Miss May! This gorgeous thing is known in the gem world as a Lapis Lazuli. While it's a beautiful stone, one can't help but notice how sad it looks. As if it has been through so much hardship,"
"Steven...you know it's just a rock right?"
"Just a rock?! For shame, Miss May! Everything has a story; who they are, where they came from and what they've experienced. I shouldn't be so hard on you, but as a blossoming trainer, you must learn to not form such narrow conclusions. Otherwise, your journey will be harder than you expect,"
Hm, it really felt like he was blowing it out of proportion. I mean, it's a rock. Now if it was a rock-type, then that's a different story. Sides, like this guy can ever be hard on me. Nobody can beat dad in that department.
"...DOOOOOOOODGE!"
Still, I agreed with him for the sake of him not giving me any more of those speeches. The small apology was enough to brighten his face and prompted him to fish in the bag he carried with him. A few minutes of rummaging around brought up three more gemstones in his hands. One was a brownish-red color, another had been a dark purple, while the third was clearly a pearl. Oh great, more non-Pokémon rock talk.
"Take these three for example. I found this stoic Garnet around the boiling lakes of lava in Mt. Chimney. Not an easy feat for sure. And Amethyst here, I happened to stumble across this beauty in Reflection Cave. Took me a few hours to break her off a boulder. Pearl was the easiest of the three. I found her on the shores of Vermilion City. Then there's -"STEVEN!"
I suddenly yanked him back by his fancy suit and pulled him into some nearby bushes as the odd Pokémon with us quickly went up into a tree to take refuge in the leaves. Before Steven could try to utter anything, I clapped my hand on his mouth to silence him. The timing couldn't have been more close (or better for that matter), as the sound of footsteps were starting to ring in our ears. It wasn't in so much of a mess; but sounded organized I unison. If I learned anything during my travels, it's that those steps belonged to a marching band! Is that what the danger was? A marching band? Did the Pokémon have a traumatizing fear of marching bands and wanted us to get rid of them? That's so dumb!
My head poked out; getting ready to jump out and confront them. The second my gaze focused on where the noise had been however, my eyes widened with surprise and shot back down. By this time, Steven was free from my hold and spoke in a quiet voice.
"What is it, Miss May? What did you see?"
"...Not a marching band...definitely not a marching band..."
Confused by the statement, he decided to look for himself. Cautiously, Steven peered through the leaves to see five Team Magma grunts marching ahead to where we were supposed to go. He turned to me with a serious look on his face. "Team Magma; I should have guessed that those criminals would be the reason that beautiful Pokémon requested our aid. What evils are they trying to commit here? Miss May, we must stop them before they cause any atrocities!"
My already shocked face turned a sick green from hearing what the young man was suggesting. "I don't think that's such a good idea,"
"Why not? It is clear that we are not here by coincidence, but fate. Not many people stand up to villains like them anymore. We as trainers, have an obligation fight for those who can't fight for themselves,"
"Why don't we call the police? I mean, they handle stuff like this. I don't think its a good idea to tangle ourselves up with thugs,"
From previous accounts, one could tell that I'm not even the slightest bit afraid of those nerds. But I was more afraid of my dad; angry at him or not. The promise I made to him held me back from so much as giving those losers a dirty look. I didn't feel inclined to go back on it. You know how moms sorta have this strange intuition that lets them virtually know what their kid is doing all hours of the day? My dad has something like that times ten. It was like whenever I did something wrong, and when he caught even the slightest wind of it, did I feel his imaginary gaze of disapproval burning the back of my neck.
Steven sighed with disappointment, but didn't try guilt-tripping me this time. "I see...I can understand the fear of doing the right thing; the path is uncertain and always full of danger. But by no means am I calling you a coward. Leave this to me, Miss May,"
He then jumped out of the bushes to make himself known to everybody and their mother. The way he did it was so flashy and embarrassing; I'm glad I stayed where I was.
"Stop right there, Team Magma! My name is Steven Stone and I'm here to save the day from the influences of your evil. And if you don't think I can, then be warned: I'll always find a way!"
Yep, I'm pretty dam glad he show-boated that alone. His catch phrases were so corny.
The five grunts stared at him, then at each other before taking out their pokeballs and sending out their Pokémon. Two of them were numels while one was a poochyena and the other two had been zubats. With an exaggerated flair, Steven gracefully took out his ball and threw it. "Go skarmory! Show them the might of steel!" He declared while holding out his hand. The ball opened up to reveal a bird that was entirely encased in metal. Its surface was shiny and reflected everything like a polished mirror. In the underside of its wings, it looked like...red razor blades. Okay, that was pretty cool. It's probably just the feathers, but you can't sit there and tell me that razor blade feathers don't sound awesome. Its mustard-colored eyes surveyed the five threats before it while standing at five feet and seven inches.
"Skarmory, attack with all your heart and soul! The fate of the innocent hang in the balance!"
Prompted or not from the cheesy line, the bird let out a shrieking cry and spread its long wings. In an instant, skarmory flew towards its opponents all the other Pokémon against it charged toward to meet each other. Unfortunately for them, it struck first.
Stretching out curved, sharp talons, it slashed one zubat coming at it with open fangs. The poison-type took the hit and flew back in shock. At the same time, the poochyena latched on to skarmory's leg with its maw. Seeing as how it was made of steel, Steven's battle partner wasn't very affected. Skarmory kinda waddled a little from the small weight. It pretty much looked like a scene of an annoyed adult trying to bring troubling kids under control. But that quickly changed when the zubat returned for another attack.
This time, it let out a screeching wave that shot point blank into the steel-type's face. Uh-oh, that wasn't good. Steven instantly picked up on the new danger and quickly began to dig in his bag. The two numels who were previously standing by, now went into battle. Immediately, they shot out short sparks of flame that struck its shiny surface. Since the poor bird was made out of metal, their fire-based assaults really did a number on it.
"Hold on skarmory!"
In the safety of the bushes, I could hear the anxiety in Steven's voice. Okay, it's fine. Probably just a minor setback. I'm sure I don't need to get involved.
Meanwhile, skarmory was horribly confused by the supersonic waves that zubat screamed in its ears. While the poochyena had been a minor irritant, the numels were proving otherwise. They kept on pelting the fire until their foe got wobbly. Skarmory was about to get its bearings back, but at too little, too late. This was bad! At this rate, it was gonna lose! What kind of trainer was he anyway?! His Pokémon were incredibly weak! I can't believe he was so soft!
My eyes squeezed tightly shut in a vain attempt to block out the battle. Dad demanded me to not get involved with them again; he said there would be consequences if I disobeyed him! I shouldn't have trusted Steven to let him drag me here! This was all HIS fault!
After many beatings, the skarmory gave out a weak cry and collapsed to the ground. Evidently, five against one wasn't a kind of battle it had been trained for. Steven tried to run towards his injured friend, but was stopped as he tripped over one of the grunt's foot from purposely sticking it out. Two of then seized him by the arms and began to tie him up. Already, I could here Steven's grunts and struggles fill my ears. AUGH! Fine! I'll fucking do it!
"GO METANG!"
In an instant, the hovering metal being was summoned and flew into view with me leaping out of my cover. Steven's eyes suddenly got starry-eyed while the grunts were startled by my entrance. I'm so sorry dad, I hope you'll forgive me eventually!
"Alright Magma dorks, put down the fancy nerd! My name's May Maple and I'm gonna beat the shit outta ya!"
My Metang hummed in agreement as it built up its esp energy. Of course, the five only stared at me with mocking expressions and arrogant laughs. Clearly they only thought of me as a meddling kid. Still, they concluded that I needed to be disposed of, and two of them barked a command. The poochyena who was still holding fast on the fainted skarmory unlatched itself and started running towards the both of us. If metang could talk, it would have let out a laugh instead. That little dark-type was nothing compared to what it faced! "Alright Metang, use your confusion!" I commanded while pointing towards its targets. The metal being put its stubbed hands together to create a bright purple wave of energy. It quickly overwhelmed the small dog and forced it off land. Luckily for the pooch, it landed in a tree.
Now realizing that the two of us were a bigger threat, the other four Team Magma members turned their Pokémon's attention attention on us. Obviously the chubby numels were gonna be a problem, but taking out the zubats would be like hitting a whiffle ball with a bat...a really strong metal bat. Metang must have read my thoughts, because as soon as the zubats got close enough, the steel/esper-type swung its mighty arm and let it crash into both of their bodies. And just like those small balls, they sailed up high in the air until just bright, brief twinkles in the sky indicated their departure from the battle.
Metang didn't use any time to stare back at them, but shifted its sight to the biggest threats of the group, the numels. It immediately went straight for them. The two fire/ground-types reacted swiftly by launching hot embers. Several of them hit my battle partner, but it swatted the rest away with a wave of esp energy. No doubt the fire hurt, but Metang rolled with the punches (so to speak) and lunged for its foes.
To its left, the metal being thrusted out its head; smacking the numel fiercely in its skull. The camel-like creature let out a pained grunt from its massive injury and fell on its side. Very quickly, Metang swiped out another wave of visible energy at the second enemy. Unfortunately for it, the creature was too slow to move out of the way; paying for the lack of speed with a blow to its entire body. It flipped in the air like a doll before landing in a fainted thud on the ground.
My Pokémon sound out a hum of triumph while holding out its arms in victory. The grunts that tied up Steven had a look of dreaded surprise on their faces. They quickly called back their remaining Pokémon and fled before I could act on beating them and take their wallets. Megan went over to the injured skarmory while I scurried over to my human companion.
"Steven, are you okay-"
"Oh my goodness! You were so magnificent! Your battling was certainly breath-taking! And your Pokémon! It was so...so amazing a-and beautiful!"
Steven was suddenly upon Metang and Skarmory like a kid at a petting zoo. The injured bird blinked and shook its head bitterly. It either did that because of the loss it sustained...or was embarrassed by his partner's odd shift in behavior. The strange Pokémon hiding in the tree finally came down just in time to see a very weird scene unfold.
At first, it seemed innocent enough; Steven inching closer to my Metang for a closer look. Then his face became flushed and started touching its shiny surface. "Miss May! This Metang is so...so very beautiful!" He said excitedly while continuing his now obvious harassment on my steel/esper-type. Metang began to feel awkward and quickly hovered over to me for security. For a moment when Steven turned his head, he looked like a hungry predator ready to attack any obstacle that was in the way of his desire (namely me). Fortunately, he snapped back from...whatever he was in upon seeing Metang nuzzling me while letting out frightening hums. Steven straightened his clothes and cleared his throat.
"*Ahem* Forgive me. I got...caught up in the moment. Let's continue shall we?"
"Uh...yeah,"
...
Currently, the party consisted of that odd Pokémon, Steven Stone, Metang and myself. Skarmory preferred to be sent back in its ball to rest up as much as possible. There were a few more times where we did encounter more Team Magma grunts, but not as dramatic as five at once. Each time however, the odd creature went straight into hiding. We didn't mind that though, because anything could happen during battles. A good alternative for protection if you couldn't defend yourself. After each battle, it would come back down to resume traveling with us while being at Steven's side. However, after the last one, things to took a turn for the weirder.
"Beautiful Pokémon of pure-heartedness; are you alright?! The battle is over and we've emerged victorious! You can come down!"
"Steven, you don't have to say all that. Hey Pokémon! Time's a wastin'! You want us to help you or what?!"
The leaves of the tree she took refuge in shook from its movement; some of the leaves falling gently to the ground. Suddenly, a figure abruptly fell from the tree and landed into the bushes. What the hell? Steven looked just as confused as I did. Together, we both investigated the strange event by moving towards the vegetation. When the two of us got closer, Steven and I did what any logical person would do: Stick our faces close to the foreign thing. What came next was truly terrifying.
Out of the bushes, a head poked out; a head that looked exactly like mine. "AAAH! DEMON!" I fell over in heart-stopping shock. Steven on the other hand looked more astounded.
"Oh! So you even have the power to shift-shape? No wonder you need our help,"
Meanwhile, my heart felt like it shot out of my chest from the disturbing likeness; even more so when the Pokémon's mimicked state came into full view. From the top of...'her' head to the soles of 'her' shoes, that Pokémon copied my exact image with one disgusting difference.
"Just look at her! She's so cute! So you're a girl, huh? I should have picked that right away! Miss May! Are you seeing this? I didn't know you can make shy faces like that!"
"YES STEVEN! I see her RUINING my hardcore reputation! Hey pokémon, stop doing that! If you're gonna look like me, then you better stop making those faces. And I better not get anymore unwanted attention because of you either!"
The confused creature only at us with a blank expression that STILL made it look too dam adorable. When no attempt to fix it was made, I stomped over there and roughly grabbed her cheeks. No sound came out of it while I squeezed them like the tormentor I was, but it made those painful, terrified expressions. "Miss May, please! I'm sure that this beautiful pokémon of pure-heartedness means no harm! In fact, it might be a better idea if she stayed this way anyhow; like a twin sister look-alike," he reasoned while pulling the Pokémon away from my grasp to take up an arm.
"I don't want one of those,"
"Come on, what's not to like? Just look at her cute, innocent face!"
She immediately peeked her head out from Steven's shoulder to look at me with teary eyes. ERH; I was gonna hurl. Steven smiled warmly at her. "I'm quite sorry for my companion's behavior, Miss May has a hard time admitting how adorable she is. Maybe it's because her boyfriend doesn't tell her that enough,"
"BOYFRIEND?! I don't have or need any of those!"
"What about that young man you were with? Surely you two are 'going steady'?"
"BRENDAN'S MY FRIEND! JUST A FRIEND!"
"Oh, is that so? Well then, let's be off!"
My face was burning a cherry red and pressed into a scowl. Unbothered by my anger, Steven walked ahead of Metang and I with the pokémon clinging strangely to his limb. I narrowed my eyes in realization that they looked like a romantic couple; exactly how the movies I watched portrayed. Stupid pokémon! Didn't it see enough human girls to turn into one that wasn't me?! And Steven: Going along with it like it's funny or something!
Very quickly, I grabbed my battle partner by the arm and dragged him along to catch up.
...
The sun was an hour away from setting and the four of us were still walking. I was bitter at the moment while latching on to Metang's metal body. The steel/esper-type didn't mind it though; it gave out affectionate hums while nuzzling back. Steven and that strange Pokémon (who turned into me) were having a great time. He went on about his rock collection while she silently listened. Whenever he said something that piqued her interest, the Pokémon's eyes that imitated mine would sparkle. Even more so, she would make those cute, girlish smiles or vulnerable-looking faces. Meanwhile, mine consisted of displeased frowns and hard pressed brows of annoyance. What really bothered me though, was how close they were to each other. From the time the Pokémon stuck onto him til now, she had pressed her side against his. If that wasn't bad enough, the next part was worse.
Suddenly, the two stopped and the young man pulled out his phone. "Miss May, could you come here for a moment?" He asked. I was a little puzzled, but went towards him. When I got close enough, he dropped the phone in my hands. "Could you take a picture of us?"
"What?! No way!"
"Why not?"
"It looks exactly like me! What if someone sees it?! That could ruin me!"
"Come now, this is a rare opportunity! Besides, I have a lock on my phone; not anybody can just unlock it. I'll make sure they stay a secret from prying eyes,"
Oh suuuuure! You say it like you know the future or something! Who knows what could happen between then and now-"Hey, stop that!"
In the middle of making a very obvious decision, the shape-shifting Pokémon started to blankly stare at me. The now vivid blue of its irises imitated the feeling of making me uncomfortable. Steven was unaffected due to her gaze being concentrated on me. Meanwhile, the creepiness was beginning to be too much to take and I moved my head to the side. She did the same. I moved my head to the other side; she followed the movement. This time, I held up Metang up to my face. Not only could I still feel the awkward stare, but so could my Pokémon since it was held up in front. Finally, I gave in.
"ALRIGHT! I'll take the dam picture,"
"You will? I knew you'd come through!"
"But nobody better see this! If there's so much as a peek that's not coming from you, I'll hunt you down!"
"Of course! It's only fair,"
With audible grumbles originally intended for myself, I pointed the back of the phone at the two. They only had moments before my thumb hit the camera icon. It snapped a picture of Steven smiling vividly with the doppelganger of myself staring at him with a curious face. I wanted to be done with the affair, but the human travel companion insisted for at least two more pictures.
The second one had been the pokémon pushing Steven's cheeks together for some estranged enjoyment. The third (Being the most disturbing) was Steven giving the she creature a kiss on the cheek. She turned a cherry color like I would. There was no way I was gonna keep quiet about it.
"HEY! What the hell man?!"
"Sorry, sorry...I couldn't help but want to see what you look like when you're bashful; it's a pretty tempting opportunity considering the situation,"
"I'm gonna be tempted to beat you with a metal bat the next time you do that!"
"But of course! I wouldn't dare to continuously invoke your wrath. Do you not agree, beautiful pokémon of pureheartedness?"
The both of us turned our heads to wait for the estranged being to give us a response. However it's attention had suddenly been absorbed by something else. Her whole body shifted to meet the direction where the cause of the disturbance was. It was a good thing she could pick it up, because Steven and I couldn't.
Just as we were about to ask, the disguised creature grabbed Steven's arm and pulled him towards the source of discomfort; a large tunnel being the gateway to it. Once again, Metang and I chased after them.
...
As the four of us walked through this darkened tunnel, I could feel the cool breeze relieve us of the heat we endured outside. The cool drips of water was all that previously broke the silence along with our footsteps until we neared the end of the route. It started off faint, but we were beginning to hear the sounds of angry cooing fill our ears. It sounded just like hers! Did she have family here too?! She could have tried to say (maybe gesture) something about that sooner! Although, I also faintly made out noises of human speech mixed in. Looks like I gotta break my promise again. Eventually my party reached the end of the eerie tunnel where the light revealed an unsettling scene.
It was a treeless space that was blanketed with many colorful flora on the ground. Around it, was a busy river that acted like a defensive moat. The natural creation was fueled by many large waterfalls spilling it's clear, refreshing water into it. In the middle was a silver column with a dish seated on top. The contents of that dish held a sky blue orb that was as big as a baseball. Unfortunately, that's not all we saw.
The sacred-looking space was invaded by a handful of Team Magma grunts. We recognized all but one from earlier.
This person was a woman who looked as old as Tabitha. Her lavender-colored hair was short and curled inwardly to hug her head. Her eyes that also had the same hue reflected a blank, empty expression. Thankfully, the outfit she wore helped offset the creepiness.
At first glance, it was mistaken for standard grunt garments. A double take however, revealed the horns stitched on her open hoodie were taller and yellow. The outfit in its entirety would have looked more like a business suit if it hadn't been same color and fabric as the rest of the organization's uniforms.
While the grunts were bustling around, she just stood there doing absolutely nothing but looking down on the ground. Although it was an odd behavior, I instantly picked up on what this woman was really up to. A few times, I caught Professor Sycamore with that same stare. She had been off in her own little world thinking up of only arceus knows what. Essentially a disturbing realization that she might be one of those cruel, introverting types.
Next to the woman was a heavy cage with a pokémon trapped inside. I nearly gasped upon realizing that it looked nearly the same as the other pokémon who was with us; though it had some obvious differences.
One of them being a robin blue color with a crimson triangle on its chest. Also, unlike our party member, this one outsized her by a foot and glared angrily at its captors with a scarlet red gaze. Now I could definitely relate to a pokémon like him! I hope it's a him. "This situation looks grim indeed," said Steven in a careful whisper while hiding in the darkness of the tunnel's mouth. The pokémon that mimicked me nodded in agreement. "We must think of a way to chase them off-"
"Maple style! Dramatically violent entrance PUUUUUUUUNCH!"
Without even trying to listen, I busted into view and hit the grunt closest to me. The unlucky minion's face connected to my fist and fell to the ground from the force of my power. It was certainly attention worthy, for immediately everyone stopped what they were doing and pointed their gazes towards me. Even the dazed woman boredly casted a glance to see what was amiss. Sweet! Now to say my awesome line.
"Alright Magma nerds! Prepared to get Maple'd in the name of justice!"
There was only silence as a reply, and I could have sworn that my ears picked up the sound of a hand slapping a forehead behind me. Hmmm, this wasn't really how I thought it would go. A good thirty seconds passed before I got any kind of reaction. It came from one of the grunts.
"M-mistress Courtney! It's that girl! She's the one who stopped us from getting the Devon parts!"
"That's right! And if you know what's good for ya, you'll-"
"And she's the one who kept us from taking the ship parts in Slateport!"
"Yeah...now that everyone knows I'm awesome, you all can-"
"Hey you stupid brat! I want my wallet back! My membership card to The Lilycove City department store was in the-"
"SHUT UP!"
Out of annoyance, I took off one of my shoes and threw it at the complaining grunt. The footwear hit the young adult smack dab in the middle of his features. Naturally, he got knocked unconscious.
Now that the interruption was quelled, I was free to speak. "Okay Magma losers, here's what's gonna happen: You're all gonna give yourselves up to the cops after I haul each and every one of you back on land! But not before I take all of your wallets!"
Of course, nobody who breaks the law for a living would agree to any condition like that. Even more so if it's coming from a teenager. But nobody stepped forward to challenge me either. Hah! What a bunch of losers! Assured of my victory, I turned to the direction of Steven and the doppelganger.
"See guys? This was a piece of cake. And you guys wanted to waste time forming a plan,"
"I like chocolate...because it's delicious,"
Woah! What the actual fuck?!
My heart nearly jolted out of its bone cavity that made up my ribcage when a whispering, eerie voice spoke into my ear like it was a secret. As quickly as possible, I spun around to find the woman creeepily standing only inches from my face. Her unfeeling sight locked onto me as if I was an uninteresting, bland object, but couldn't tear her eyes away for the sake of odd curiousity.
Her thickly gloved hand grabbed my shirt, but another force suddenly tore me from her grip. It pulled me back to where Metang was; the obvious cause of my rescue. The metal being let out an angry hum to prepare itself.
Courtney just stood there in that stone daze with her hand now clutching the air. A few seconds passed before she finally retracted her arm; although she now turned her palm to look at it. "...your shirt..." Courtney said while putting her eyes back on me. This was just like that pokémon who was with us, only much more unsettling.
"..."
"...okay, what about it?"
"..."
"Uh, I'm gonna kick your ass now,"
" ..."
At the very least, the young woman was able to comprehend what I declared, because she reached for her belt and grabbed her pokéball. A grunt came beside her with his ball already drawn. I was annoyed that he suddenly jumped in the fight, but they were thugs; cheating was to be expected. It didn't matter anyway: they could cheat all they want, but I'm the one who's gonna win every time.
Although I was okay with going it alone, fate had other plans. "Just a moment if you will!" said a voice that had me mildly surprised. Steven was already at my side before I had time to turn around. His flashy mode activated and now held skarmory's ball in front of him. "I refuse to let a lady fight unaided! It's simply...not my style," he announced with the swish of his hair. I am literally always in the company of very strange people. His entrance hadn't gone unnoticed by every else either. Some of the grunts began to whisper amongst each other. My ears caught words like 'very familiar', 'contest star?' and 'overly stylish'.
No matter how fashionably dressed my companion had been through, they weren't gonna go easy on us. In fact, no sooner had the commotion died down, the grunt by Courtney threw his ball and let out a koffing; how original. Were koffings some sort of thing going on? I don't get it. The admin however, summoned an angry-looking camerupt. It had only been seconds since it was let out, and already it stomped its legs with fury; the volcanoes it carried had thick smoke billowing from its top. I could swear that lava was threatening to pour out at any second.
Time to battle.
"Come on Metang! Show them why Team Maple is the best!" I shouted with a fist pumped high in the air. My battle partner let out a mighty hum and hovered forward to face our enemies. Steven Stone threw his spherical device with elegance while was outstretched in the air. "Go skarmory! Let the gracefulness of our power be unleashed!" he exclaimed as a determined look shadowed his face.
Once again, the fearless metal bird made his proud entrance and landed next to my pokémon. It looked at Steven's bird, but only briefly before switching its baze back to our foes.
"...Metang, let's do this!"
It didn't wait for me to give any orders; the steel/esper-type picked the most dangerous target of the two and slammed its heavy forehead against the skull of the camerupt. Quite obviously, Metang's assault caused a raging retaliation. Courtney's fire/ground-type erupted the two volcanoes it had growing on its back; spewing the lava into the air and landing everywhere. Everyone quickly jumped back to avoid touching the molten substance. Flowers and grass burned instantly to reveal bare earth upon impact. Some even landed on the koffing; causing the toxic gas to ignite and explode. Both Steven and I fell back with unexpected force.
Several moments passed when I recovered enough from the fall to stand on my feet. But it was also that same moment I realized how much of an unpredictable enemy we were dealing with. An enemy who couldn't even hold the capacity to care about their allies! In the darkest corners of my head, I had been reminded of another group of people who adopted such a lack of empathy.
Dust eventually settled enough for everyone to see the grunt's koffing on the ground in defeat with skarmory standing in a wary position. But that was the least of my worries when we also took in the sight of Metang holding its arms out like a shield. Its appendages dripped with the hot substance; which caused them to glow brightly. If there had been that escaped me, it was type match-ups. Steel was 100% weak against fire! Why do I forget important things like that?! My eyes stole a glance at Steven. He looked angry, but I suspect for the same reasons as mine. What's worse for him is that he only had one pokémon. Despite the terrible luck, he remained adamant about continuing.
"Skarmory! It may be a fire-type, but it's also part ground! Don't get discouraged! Use your steel wings!"
The bird gave out a metallic cry and flew at the foe. skarmory's wings glowed brightly with each inch growing closer to its target. But in a split second, the camerupt turned it's great head and bit down on skarmory's wing. Steven nearly exclaimed his heart-stopping surpise; he was sure skarmory wouldn't have failed.
Sadly, we could only watch as smoke started rising from the small volcanoes again. They billowed and bubbled more fiercely with a barely hidden intent to make it hot enough to melt it. More worse was seeing Team Magma grunts slowly begin surrounding us. I had plenty of pokémon left, but they were trying to ensure the possibility of never seeing me use them. I saw the poor blue creature still trapped in the cage. We utterly failed! Hopefully, the other one could at least have some sense to escape before it was too late!
On top of camerupt's back, it's dangerous humps began to leak lava and rumble. As we expected the worst, Metang decided to act first. In a bold act, it swiftly hovered into the air and abruptly plugged camerupt's humps using its own arms. Everyone (including me) was surprised by this borderline idiotic attempt. Somehow though, it did the trick. Courtney's pokémon became irritated by the blockage. The beast tried moving around to shake it loose, but Metang continues to painfully keep its hold. While my pokémon had no facial expressions, it still has its way of outwardly showing how much it hurt.
"Camerupt...get rid of it,"
The cruel admin's voice didn't ring out loudly like mine, but it was still sharp and precise akin to Kalos' reeeeeeeeally old death creation: The guillotine. Her eyes surveyed me in a robotic fashion; looking as if she was going to attack us herself at the drop of a hat. Given how her pokémon functioned, I wouldn't be shocked if that were to happen.
Upon command, her pokémon starts giving out frustrated grunting sounds. In the midst of it's concentration however, Skarmory was able to set itself free. Scorching steam shot out of the strange camel's back. An even harsher rumbling caused people to stand back until they ran out of space.
And then...BLAM!
Two fiery streams of melted rock bursted out from it's back like a champagne from a bottle. It rose high into the sky along with my unfortunate pokémon who was launched because of it. In just mere moments, there was only a twinkle left above to indicate my friend's departure.
"METANG!" I screamed with shock; nerves shot up along with my heart rate and blood pressure. Steven too couldn't believe what he just witnessed. My Metang! What did I just sentence him to?! It was a brave act, but I couldn't help but place the blame on me. If Pelipper had been in battle, then things would have been much different!
Tears stung my eyes, and if it wasn't for a Team Magma grunt suddenly tackling me to the ground, then I would have undoubtedly cried. Steven jumped back to avoid my fate; though now had to be mindful of his surroundings every passing second. Skarmory went in for another attack, but one kick of the camerupt's mighty foot hurtled it back to knock against the captured pokémon's cage. Steven glared at the battle with angry defeat. But what came next marked another horrifying experience of my life.
"The girl...hold her in front of the camerupt,"
At first, nobody comprehended what the admin said. I mean, we honestly all thought something cliché like 'tie up the prisoner'. But when the words finally sunk in, not even her grunts could believe what she was suggesting. No one dared to move so much as an inch. The guy who tackled me instantly regretted his decision because he was now tasked with a morbid chore. "You..." she stated evenly with her eyes staring intensely at us.
"Put her...in front of the camerupt,"
"B-but Courtney! The great leader Maxie-"
"The Great Leader Maxie is not here...and this girl...she has disrupted his plans for the last time. Now..."
Courtney bent down to yank me up by the short part of my hair. Not being used to this kind of pain, I was forced to stand lest she try to behead me through physical strength. Steven tried to interfere, but a step in the wrong place got himself seized by the grunts closest to him.
Meanwhile, the cruel woman dragged me closer towards her terrifying beast; lava carelessly dripping down its back and dripping on the now naked earth. "Please turn extra crispy..." she requested in a polite, empty voice. Yeah right! Like there was any choice in the matter! I hafta do something before this creepy psychopath kills me-"HYUUUUUUUHN!"
Huh?
A familiar sound caused my head to look up skyward; followed by everyone else. Suddenly, a bright twinkle flashes in the atmosphere before taking form of a circular sentient being of metal with two arms. It's Metang! He is okay! I'm so...actually it was coming in pretty fast. Maybe now would be a great time to move out of the way.
Maxie's henchwoman seemed to think so too, because she quickly abandoned the plot for prioritizing her safety. I swiftly followed suit in a different direction just as camerupt got slammed by several tons of metal.
Everything shook with piles of earth being kicked up; giving all of the witnesses a healthy coating of fresh dirt.
It all fell silent then; silent and on edge. When the battlefield was finally clear, the current occupiers of the area gazes upon the mottled chunks that once made the ground flat. Of course, there had been something much more significant to capture our attention.
Sitting smack dab in the middle was a felled camerupt. Its volcanic humps were cracked and breaking off. On top of the creature was Metang. My battle partner gave out a shout to get my attention and shortly waved. Without thinking, I ran towards it with relieved tears welling up on my dirty face. The two of us met up with each other, and I threw glad arms around my friend.
My cheeks rubbed harshly against Metang's shiny metal surface; smearing dirt on it. But when I was ready to let go, something happened.
Metang gave out a cry, started to glow brightly and change shape. The surprise of it left me unsure of what to do, so I just kept hanging on. Everyone spectated the event with stuck curiosity. It lasted only a moment, but the end result left me astonished.
Surpassing my height by a whole foot and several inches, was a large, four-legged beast. Its body was bigger than it's previous form, but looked down at me with the same red eyes. A large 'x' in the color of light gold was in the middle of its face. My changed battle partner, Metagross, now looked like a robot spider; awesome!
At this point, tears were sucessfully suppressed from the sense of pride now taking place in my chest. Of course, there was still a present issue to deal with, so our tender moment had to be put on hold. I turned to look at the people (and pokémon) who watched us.
"Alright Magma dorks!" I stated with a finger pointed at Courtney. "Get outta here before Team Maple puts another beat down on ya! And don't even think about coming back, cause I'm gonna start checking up here from time-to-time now on!"
In those few minutes, not a single person moved so much as a muscle. Team Magma may be thugs, but they still had their pride. It wasn't until the Magma admin finally took out her ball and withdrew her pokémon, did they show signs of retreat. Although, her piercing lavender eyes that glared at me promised revenge terrible enough to destroy my existence.
"...bye..."
Courtney swiftly turned on her heels to leave in a military march fashion. This was when the doppleganging pokémon decided to come out of hiding. She wisely stepped out of the violent woman's way, though the two made eye contact. It had been brief with dislike and frustration. Everyone who wasn't in my party left with their 'boss'.
...
Everything went relatively well after that; Steven, skarmory, Metagross and I helped the other pokémon break out of its metal prison. When it regained its freedom, he immediately went over to what I could assume was his kin (because I refuse to believe that of that snuggling going on earlier was anything but innocent). She thankfully poofed back into her normal form and let out an excited coo.
"Such magnificent, majestic creatures," Steven observed with a finally relaxed gaze. He was stuck on 'flamboyantly eccentric' mode half the day. Trust me, you would get annoyed with someone very fast if they constantly activated that persona.
"They're almost as amazing as steel-types; speaking of which: Your Metagross! It was so beautiful! Such a beautiful, rare specimen!"
"Yeah, you said that about a million times. What's so special about it anyway?"
The steel/esper-type that had been previously consumed with observing its additional limbs, now moved its body up and down next to me for height comparisons. But the second it heard Steven talking about itself, Metagross quickly backed away from us to join the other two pokémon. The red and white one happily welcomed my battle partner's presence since it knew there was no danger. However, its kin was still wary from its unfortunate confrontation with humans.
"Well Miss May, normal beldum, metang and metagross are usually a dark blue and silver color; but yours is white and gold. In instances like this, mutations affecting the pokémon's appearance makes them what we call 'shiny pokémon',"
"Shiny?" I repeated while giving a glance over my shoulder to look back at Metagross. The metal pokémon confronted the formerly captured creature in an attempt to display kindness, but after flashing his pair of crimson eyes, he rebuked the care with a crying shout. Metagross decidedly made some distance between each other.
"Well...Brendan's dad is a pokémon professor who studies their habitats and stuff. He also told me that his dad was looking for special pokémon. Maybe that's what he was talking about?"
"Perhaps. Although pokémon professors don't get into the habit of searching for them unless their profession calls for it,"
Hm, I never thought about that. Usually a contract trainers have with their professors entailed collecting data from as many pokémon they were able to capture. A professor who's doing their job to study their behaviors and habitats shouldn't be looking for something like that. It sounds a bit over-reaching, but it felt a little shady.
Steven was about to something more when that blue and white pokémon suddenly shoved it's head close to my face with a perplexed expression. Naturally, I was caught off guard and nearly fell to create some space between us. Steven was bewildered and stumbled away from the unexpected encounter. Meanwhile, the creature's eyes started illuminating a bright crimson. I...I feel so strange-
"DADDY! OUR HOUSE IS ON FIRE! PLEASE DON'T LET IT BURN DOWN! PLEEEEASE!"
"...I'm sorry May..."
"Miss May! Are you alright!"
The young trainer's voice suddenly tore me from the experience of an old, unpleasant memory that additionally left a stabbing pain in my chest. Tears stung my eyes again, but they were quickly subdued. It felt violating.
Rightfully, I got furious with the responsible party and angrily attempted pushing its head away. "Hey! Don't go invading people's heads like it's some scavenger hunt!" I said with brows tensing in growing hate. Though I put alot of effort in pushing him back, it was to no avail as the blue and white pokémon now turned his head and oval-shaped paws to my pack. This was getting annoying now.
Decidedly, I raised my fist to give him a hearty knock on the side, when the creature looked back at me with a pokéball in it's hold. At first, I had no idea what it was doing. But when he took of my hands to put the device in, the message clicked. Steven looked astounded by the gesture; which to be fair was appropriate. I mean: what kind of pokémon wants to be captured?
"Amazing! This pokémon...it wants to form an alliance with you!"
"Uh, hold the phone. You sure you wanna be caught? I mean you ARE a pretty rare pokémon and it's more than likely that I'll go mad with power and abuse it for my own personal benefit,"
"..."
"You too huh? Geez, all the silent types are weirdoes,"
With his consent (and before he could have any second thoughts) I gripped the ball and threw it at the target. He merely floated in the way so the ball could open up and turn him into light matter. Once transformed, it quickly got sucked into the device before falling on the soft grass. The ball rolled weakly around for several seconds before stopping with a click. Now captured, all of us moved towards the ball and I picked it up. That's when my pokédex went off with a notification. It was trying to tell me that there was a new entry. Alright, let's see what it says.
"Latios: The Eon pokémon. Latios has the ability to make others see an image of what it has seen or imagines in its head. This pokémon is intelligent and understands human speech...so where's the part about him screwing around in people's heads? Who writes this stuff anyways?!"
"Miss May you shouldn't act so harsh. Like you said: He's an intelligent pokémon. I'm sure he had his reasons,"
"Yeah and so are pokémon professors. And yet there's one I know that willingly doesn't want to prepare for the outdoors. That's blatant stupidity...and so's pissing me off,"
I wasn't gonna explain to Steven how that memory in the back burner had hurt me; we barely knew each other along with the fact that he couldn't relate. The red and white creature sensed my raw nerves, but respectfully didn't try to intervene. However, she hovered by Metagross to give it hintful nudges about attempting to tone down the tense atmosphere. Eventually, it got the message and tried to pet my head.
"Metagross! Cut it out!" I angrily demanded while slapping his great arm. That ended up hurting my hand instead. The sentient metal was taken aback by the rejection and quickly retreated back to the creature's side.
"I'm...the party's too full. I'm sending Latios to the p.c."
Ignoring the awkward moment, I pressed the button in front of the pokéball and held it down for it to be transported. But while I waited, my thoughts now inevitably turned back to that traumatic moment. Frame by frame, the scene kept playing in a torturous loop. I was forcing myself to think of something else, but it was an impossible feat. However, just as I thought my misery would never leave, a heavy but gentle touch gave me a rub on the head. There wasn't much of a mystery as to who it was.
Sure enough, Metagross was close again with it's arm ruffling my hair. This time it looked determined to cheer me up. While images of 'that day' still lingered, Metagross' effort motivated a hand to run across it's muscular, metal arm. I stared up at the steel/esper-type with new eyes. No matter how many times it was being pushed away, Metagross wouldn't leave me alone while I felt this way.
That's when it hit me.
I moved my head to see Latios' kin. There was no denying how horrible that part of life had been, but at least I wasn't alone. I had people with me. Some of them making me who I am today: My parents. Now it was Team Maple who's helping my dream come closer to reality. Somebodies to depend on. Latios simply revealed what kind of person he was dealing with; guess I did pass that purehearted test thing...I think. Now he was going to repay the debt of saving his family by surrendering his freedom. I'll be dammed if that's gonna happen!
My finger holding the button down on Latios' ball let go. "Okay Latios, get outta the ball!" I shouted and held it out. It opened up to release my new esper/dragon-type, who was also now in the state of confusion. Very quickly, I marched up to him with an accusing finger. "Alright pokémon! You're treading on some pretty thin ice here! Don't go thinking that you owe me your life or something just because I rescued the both of you! In fact, Steven's the one who manipulated me to go! But since you're part of my team now, I'll make you a deal..."
Once again, my finger pushed down on the button of the pokéball. "Take care of your family so that nothing bad happens to her. It's not like you can get captured by anyone else now anyway. "And this..." I held up the ball for everyone to see. "...This can stay in the p.c."
The timing couldn't have been more perfect, for when I finished my sentence, it disappeared in a flash as if it was never there. They all looked shocked seeing such a thing. Honestly, there was alot of uncertainty about the device being able to transport empty; but you know what they say: There's always a first time for everything.
"Miss May...how could you do that?"
"Who says I can't? Sides, I'm sure that there's already somebody else who thought of this. Now back to the topic,"
...
My proposal to Latios had been agreed upon with the group. I let the pokémon stay with his kin and he would help me if a day for assistance was needed. As of now, there wasn't any real way to contact them, but I was sure that something would come up. That or just making regular stops to the island.
After that, Steven and I were returned to where we started. The red and white pokémon (that we came to find was called 'Latias' because I stopped being lazy and checked the pokédex) got us there and waved us goodbye before leaving. It wasn't long before we prepared to go our separate ways as well.
"Miss May, today has certainly been an interesting quest; and thanks to your efforts, peace has been restored,"
"Yeah, it was nothing. I mean, Team Magma's outta shape anyway-what are you doing?"
The moment had been normal up til Steven suddenly fell to one knee; taking ahold of my left hand in the process. Uuuh...this is getting pretty weird right now. Not to mention, most fairy tales I read always had assumed a position similar to his. It was only when they wanted to gallantly ask 'that' life-changing question. The man's features were calmly flamboyant in exaggeration to the nth degree. Mine was completely in terror with wide cerulean eyes and a mouth pulled down to the farthest a frown could possibly go. Additionally, sweat began drenching my face while the hand got uncomfortably clammy.
"Miss May, you have certainly caught my interest from the moment we met. I believe that one day, you'll shape the world for generations to come. So May...I would forever be a blessed man if- what are you doing?"
In a panic, my captured hand desperately struggled for freedom; even going so far as trying to yank it back with the free limb. Steven was to say the least, pretty puzzled.
"Miss May-"
"No way pal! I barely know you! Go find someone else to marry!"
"...*snicker*..."
We were still in our positions with his hand still clasping mine, but Steven looked like he was about to laugh. Now it was my turn to have a confused expression. What's so funny about refusing to marry?! Was it a restricted evil laugh that indicated resistance was futile?! Thankfully he was prepared to explain.
"Pardon the confusion, but that wasn't what I wanted to ask. I would like to know if you would be willing to accept a token of my appreciation,"
"Oh..."
I was flushed from the embarrassment of assumption and quickly threw a hand over my face. I planned on keeping the appendage stuck like that for eternity, but suddenly, a cold, metallic object slid onto my wrist. The feeling of this mysterious token of gratitude prompted curiosity to clear out the obstruction of vision to see a pretty looking accessory.
Sitting on my wrist was a bracelet. Normally (with the painful exception of contest spectaculars) jewelry wasn't something I indulged in, but something about it raised an interest. It was a silver bracelet etched with complex designs. The thing felt heavy on my arm. But the most intriguing feature was a familiar blueish-green stone set in the middle. It was bigger than the other stones of that color I've come across. It was then that I realized how more amazing it looked in the sunlight. The thing flashed its rainbow brilliance.
" I don't know if you recognize it or not, but this stone is called a 'mega stone'. Not much is known about this stone, but it is essential link to an even more powerful transformation for a few select pokémon. I'm sure that a courageous, responsible trainer like yourself will be able to unlock its secrets,"
"Uh, thanks. I feel kinda bad that I don't have anything to give you,"
"It's alright. If you continue on your path to becoming champion, we will surely meet again. You can return the favor then,"
"Okay then, I'll be sure to," I replied with hope in my smile. Aside from his weird tendencies and overly dramatic flair, Steven Stone was a decent guy. Hopefully, we could meet up again under better circumstances. But seriously, this guy really needed to work on his training skills! I mean, Wally's got more on him, and he just started!
Eventually, Steven bid me goodbye and went on his way. Something about more rock collecting. I stood there to wave at the young man's departure until he disappeared into the green ahead. Once gone, my gaze looked back at the bracelet with pride and wonder. This was more than just some trinket, this wa-"AUGH! Good arceus!"
Suddenly, pain shot into every part of my body; and it made me twitch with unpleasantness. All that adrenaline that ran through me from battling Team Magma wore off. Without warning, all the scuffs, bruises and cuts radiated feverently for my attention. Ugh, everything hurts. Okay, I think there was a house on the right of the route I needed to travel on. Better go there first.
*Continued in chapter 27*
*Péni: This story's regional currency; Pokémon + Yen + Zenni= Péni
