Chapter 46
For Cara and Alex to eat lunch together, it took a total of four tables and ten chairs to seat the humans and their seven-to-nine human Pokémon. Dozer, Alex's Snorlax, neglected a chair entirely and sprawled himself out on the ground along the head of their makeshift table. Next to him sat Sparks and the Dugtrio triplets, who sat in their usual formation. On the opposite end of the table, the two humans sat across from each other. At Alex's suggestion, Serenade and Ebony formed a small barrier in between the two of them and the crowd of Pokémon people. That way, the two wouldn't have to worry about Cascade and Coraline constantly vying for his attention. If they were lucky, they might actually be able to hold a conversation.
"New glasses?" Alex asked.
"What?!" Cara half-shouted over the chattering human Pokémon. From what she could gather, Sparks was trying to hit on Cascade while Ebony and Serenade mocked him, as usual.
"I asked about your glasses!" Alex tried again and pointed for emphasis.
"Oh!" Cara realized the pointing helped a lot, "yeah, I lost one of my contacts when I got to the island!"
"They look nice!"
"What?!"
"They look nice!"
"SHUT UP FOR A FEW MINUTES!" Cara screamed down the length of the table and all but Dozer turned to stare at her, "thank you."
"Was there something you wanted to talk to me about?" Alex took advantage of the temporary silence.
"Actually, there was," Cara started, "were you at this morning's match?"
"Can't say I was," Alex shook his head, "why?"
"Well…" Cara thought about the best way to explain it, "there was this weird guy competing in the match. He's…I don't know how to describe it…"
"Evil? Insane? Creepy?" Alex suggested.
"Hmm…creepy, I guess," Cara decided, "we saw him at one of our shows before. He said that he never saw a human Pokémon before. But then we saw him again at that match…"
"Okay…" Alex rubbed his chin and considered where she was going with this.
"Doesn't that seem weird to you?" She asked.
"Kinda…" Alex mentally sorted out the pieces she had given him, "why would he pretend like he didn't know if he really did?"
"Exactly!" Cara exclaimed, pleased that Alex saw her point, "and he used these really weird human Pokémon too."
"Wait, what?"
"Oh, right," Cara then realized that she should have brought up that part first, "his human Pokémon, he didn't give them any orders for the entire fight."
"That's not that weird," Alex shrugged. It was a little more common for human Pokémon to fight without orders than normal Pokémon. Issuing orders usually made their attacks stronger, but they weren't necessary. Alex had been to Aurum's first match of the tournament and it wasn't the first time he had seen one of the Four claim victory without uttering a word.
"Well, it gets weirder," Cara had no idea why she had so much trouble talking to Alex. They had known each other for almost two years now, but it made little difference. "They were a lot stronger than what they should be and they didn't say anything either."
"Hmm…" Alex was still missing something. He was beginning to suspect that it was one of those times where 'you just had to be there.'
"They were exactly like a transitional stage Pokémon," Serenade clarified.
"Ohh," Alex nodded as everything snapped together, "now I get it."
"Sorry…" Cara apologized.
"Nah, it's okay," Alex waved away Cara's concerns and she immediately felt better, "I think I'm just worried about my match, is all," he looked down at the table and bit his lip before continuing, "anyway, that does sound kinda suspicious."
"It does?!" Cara was glad to hear that she wasn't crazy.
"Well, yeah," Alex began, "you ever hear of somebody using transitional Pokémon that wasn't dangerous?"
"No," admittedly, aside from the man the announcer called Richard Edwards; Cara had never known anyone who used transitional Pokémon at all.
"Exactly," Alex said with conviction, "and if he's pretending to be somebody he's not, then something strange is going on."
"Right!" Cara nodded, eager to agree with him, "but you don't know anything about him?"
"Sorry," Alex shook his head, "I can ask around, though. I'm sure somebody will know something about him."
"Alright, Alex," Cara smiled, "thanks."
"No problem," he leaned back, glad to be of service.
Cara had come to the right person. If anyone would know anything about the man in the lavender suit, it would be Alex.
Alex was one of those people that knew everyone. Whenever Cara had the great fortune of meeting someone with a human Pokémon, chances were they knew Alex as well. Even outside of the tournament, Alex's social circle was huge. Sometimes it was even eerie how everyone she met had met him first. He had friends everywhere and Cara always wanted to be like that.
"So…about your match…" Cara tried to change subjects. She didn't know what else to talk about but she wanted the conversation to keep going.
"Yeah, it's tonight," Alex checked his watch, "six hours away, to be precise."
"Right…" Cara continued, "You're against PureBlueSky…right?"
Alex nodded. Round One and he was fighting last year's champion. Leading up to a match like that, there was a strange mix of emotions working through him. He didn't believe he could win, but at the same time he hadn't come to the tournament looking for victory.
Suddenly, he could feel the weight of Whisper's Pokéball at his belt. As if it had suddenly gained ten pounds.
"Do you think you can…?" Cara left the question unfinished.
"No," Alex grinned as he shook his head, "no, I can't win. I'll be lucky to get one or two, to be honest."
"You're okay with that?"
"Yeah," he nodded, "besides," he lowered his voice, and it became difficult to hear him again over the re-bounding chatter of the human Pokémon around them, "I'm just here to let him roam free."
"Right…" Cara had known Alex long enough to know about Whisper. She had never seen Alex's fourth human Pokémon, but she had heard plenty of stories about the bloodthirsty companion that was Alex's strongest ally. If one could really call a monster like Whisper an ally.
"So, you're doing it tonight?" Cara also began to whisper. The two of them instinctively feared Whisper. In fact, so did the rest of Alex's human Pokémon. Even the enormous Dozer shied away from him.
"It has to be tonight," Alex explained, "there's no better opponent. If anybody can…help, it'll be PureBlueSky."
"I hope so," Cara looked away and tried to think of something more pleasant to talk about, "oh, hey!" She suddenly had an idea, "did you hear? I'm fighting RiverofTears next round!"
"Oh…" Alex was caught off guard by the sudden shift, "that's cool."
"Yeah, it's…kinda funny, isn't it?" Cara wanted to call it destiny, but she couldn't do that in front of Alex, "you're fighting PureBlueSky and I'm fighting RiverofTears."
"Oh, yeah," Alex nodded, "I guess that is kinda weird."
"Have you heard the rumors about them?" Cara had to focus to keep herself from trembling, she had almost said it!
"What rumors?" Alex had seen this situation many times before and he knew where it was going. What to do? He liked Cara, but…
"About how they're…you know…" Cara explained, mildly blushing now.
Up to this point, Coraline, Alex's human Banette, had been following the entire conversation. She was bored. And talking with Serenade and Ebony did little to help pass the time. Instead, she had turned her attention to Cara and Alex. She didn't like the way that the girl looked at him.
Sensing danger, she did the first thing that came to mind. Using Shadow Sneak, she melted into the ground and materialized behind Sparks. She kicked him in the back of the head, launching him face-first into the table.
Chaos followed.
It took the two trainers twenty minutes to end the raging battle between the two opposing sides of human Pokémon. Jets of ice and water sprayed back and forth, mixed with waves of dark energy that Ebony fired, along with the triplets tossing boulders and Coraline fading in out of existence, fighting in a hit and run style. Through it all, Dozer continued to snooze at the far end of the table.
"THAT IS ENOUGH!" Cara screamed at the group as an Ice Beam, whether it was Cascade's or Serenade's was hard to tell, came within an inch of her head. The human Pokémon backed away guiltily, and then the table collapsed entirely.
Alex looked at the carnage and couldn't help but laugh. Apparently Whisper wasn't the only one who was ready for a fight against PureBlueSky.
Despite the large number of human Pokémon trainers that Alex knew, he had never met PureBlueSky. He wondered what he was like.
The sun was too hot. It was too bright, as well. He should've worn lighter colored clothing. Not to mention, there were too many people on the streets. All in all, PureBlueSky was in misery as he followed Tempest, Flurry and the small boy that had convinced him to come to this cursed island.
Sky trailed behind the others, his hands jammed firmly into his pockets. His eyes darted back and forth and up and down the street, hoping that no one would recognize him. Or worse, that he would see RiverofTears.
To comfort himself, he played out a small fantasy in his head at times like these. His favorite variation was the one where River came up on him from behind and tackled him, put her hands over his eyes, or something of that nature. In some cases, he whirled on her and stopped in the middle of attacking her. This one seemed like the most realistic option, largely because he evaluated himself as an easily startled person that would respond to such physical affection very poorly.
He was right about one thing, at least.
"Sky?"
Tempest didn't try to startle him, but at the same time she couldn't help but smirk when he jumped.
"Shut up," Sky half-scowled, half-smiled back at the Salamence-woman. It was rare to see her smile and he often couldn't stop himself from smiling back. Even if it was at his expense.
"Are you okay?" she asked. Getting Sky to go outside was a challenge and she was very thoroughly enjoying her second successful attempt at it. The first time, it had been just herself and Sky. He had tolerated it well enough. At least, as well as could be expected from a shut-in.
But for the second trip, he was much quieter. Tempest had gradually learned that rule about Sky. He talked little to begin with, but the less he talked the less he was actually having a good time. The difference, however, was slight and Tempest was positive that she was the only one that noticed.
Still, knowing the symptom didn't tell her the root cause of Sky's withdrawal into himself.
"Yeah, I'm fine," Sky evaded Tempest's question.
"Liar," she said firmly before heading back to walk beside Flurry and Ian. If he wasn't going to talk to her, what was the point in trying?
Sky thought about calling her back, but he decided that he deserved that. Instead, he went back to worrying about how uncomfortable he felt.
A small group of teenagers consisting of three human girls and two human Pokémon boys walked past. The taller boy, a human Sceptile, whispered something to the group. The girls then burst out into frantic giggling from just a foot behind Sky.
In his current self-conscious state, bordering on paranoia, Sky began obsessing over what they had started to laugh at. Was it him? Had they recognized him? He must look awkward, dressed mostly in black in the late spring heat and trailing at least three yards behind his friends. Suddenly, everything about him felt wrong and needed to be fixed. His gaudy hotel room felt more inviting by the second.
"Sky?"
Tempest was back again and Sky was startled even worse this time. However, Tempest didn't smirk this time. Once was enough, now it was sad.
"What?" Sky's voice had a slight edge to it.
"Nothing," Tempest shrugged, but Sky still looked at her, awaiting the answer he knew was coming, "you know, if you're really this uncomfortable, we can go back."
"I'm fine," Sky countered, "why are we out here, anyway?"
"We're showing Ian the island," Tempest explained.
"It's been four days and he still hasn't seen the whole thing?" Sky asked.
"No," Tempest replied.
"And you call me a liar," Sky sighed.
Tempest closed her eyes and exhaled slowly. Taking Sky outside was like pulling teeth. He hated it and didn't see any value in it. What was there to do outside anyway? Everything Sky wanted to do required being inside.
True, she had lied about Ian. The boy had seen everything on the island, probably twice. Everything that they could show him, at least. Ian was, more or less, an excuse to make Sky leave the hotel room.
The two of them alone had been a success. Sky hadn't complained and had been less self-critical before. Tempest had to admit, that made her happy, but it was a feeling that would have to wait. There were more important things for her to worry about.
"Where are we anyway?" Sky stopped and looked around, suddenly recognizing his surroundings and returning to reality. "Oh, no," Sky breathed. A moment later, he turned on his heel to start walking away.
"No, you don't," Tempest grabbed his arm and pulled him backwards as if she were disciplining a four-year-old.
"Why did you bring me here?" Sky tried to be angry, but there was too much panic in his voice. He couldn't be here. It was too soon. He wasn't ready.
"Because if you don't do it, you're only going to get worse," Tempest held her anger. She had been lucky that they had come this far before Sky realized her true intentions.
"And how do you know that?!" Sky snapped, "And what difference would it make anyway?!"
"Just do it already!" Tempest scowled, "we're already here, you might as well. It's not like she's going to kill you." But I might if you don't, she added to herself.
Ian and Flurry had stopped to watch the spectacle of Sky attempting to flee the area. Tempest still held his arm, but there was something very cartoonish about the way that Sky was trying to squirm out of her grasp.
"What's with him?" Ian asked Flurry.
"I think he's realized what we were planning," Flurry shrugged.
"What plan?" this was the first time that Ian had heard the true reason for making Sky leave the hotel room. Tempest had worried that Ian might spoil it well before they managed to get Sky even this close to their goal.
"Do you recognize where we are?" Flurry responded to the small boy.
"I think so…" Ian looked around, but he still didn't understand. There was one small, yet important, part of the tour that Flurry had left out.
"Do you see that house down there?" Flurry pointed to a large house on a street corner, one block farther down the road. The house was larger than Sky's home in Sinnoh, making it into a small mansion. Two families of four could live in it comfortably. Two families of four or one trainer and six human Pokémon.
"RiverofTears lives there," Flurry finished.
"You can't make me!" Sky protested.
"You're going, dammit!" Tempest cursed her trainer. She could force Sky over there. It would take little effort for her to unceremoniously hoist the returning champion over her shoulder and march him directly to River's front door, but that would accomplish nothing. Sky had to do it himself.
"Let go of me," Sky said stubbornly, still trying to pull away from the much stronger human Salamence.
"You're pathetic!" Tempest yelled, "and what if she sees you right now?! What would she think then?!"
That got his attention.
Sky stopped his futile efforts to escape from Tempest and turned back to look at the house. He had been inside many times before, when he was younger. Each time he had gone inside with River, Edge and Aurum. It had become something of a meeting place for the Four. Sky would've called it a clubhouse except that, since they were teenagers and Aurum was only a slightly younger old man, they all felt too old to call it that.
River had grown up on Himitsu Island and it was because of River that Sky and Edge had decided to stay. In the years that followed, Himitsu Island became the site of the origin of human Pokémon. After that, the entire island had advanced by leaps and bounds thanks to Silph and the popularity of the Four. But River's house remained unchanged.
Sky looked away from it.
"I'm sorry, Tempest," he closed his eyes, "but I can't."
Tempest began to scowl at Sky, but then she recognized something new in his voice. He wasn't trying to run, nor was there any more of that childish fear. There was genuine pain in his voice this time. Then she realized that he wasn't ready for this. Something deep inside of PureBlueSky still needed to heal. Her scowl softened.
"There's nothing here anymore." Sky began to walk away in slow, thoughtful steps.
Tempest watched him go, feeling useless and helpless. She didn't know whether to cry or hit something. She had never cried in her life, but if she was going to, she imagined it would be because of Sky.
"It was worth a try," Flurry placed a hand on Tempest's shoulder.
The dragon-lady straightened.
"Flurry," Tempest began, "I promise you. When we leave this island, Sky will be stronger. With or without River, he will move on."
"Okay," Flurry said, though she didn't believe it.
Tempest sighed deeply and thought. There was nothing she could do. She would have to accept this as a loss. But there was still time. Himitsu Island could change people. She knew that better than anyone.
"I need to be alone, right now," she said at last. She unfolded her magnificent wings out to their full length. She crouched low to the ground to get as much air underneath them as possible. "I'll see you tonight," she finished. With one, powerful flap of her wings, Tempest shot skyward, climbing high into the blue skies above their heads.
Flurry peered into the sky to watch as Tempest climbed out of sight. It took only a few seconds for her to become little more than a pair of wings, then a dot. When she lowered her gaze back to street level, she noticed that Sky had stopped and was also watching Tempest fly away. She watched him as he shrugged, shook his head and started walking back to the hotel.
AN: in some ways I sorta think of PureBlueSky as an alternate main character. His plotline is pretty complicated and by the end of the story, he's probably going to have grown just as much as Mark. We'll just have to see what happens when the two meet each other…
Thanks for reading!