I didn't die. I know, I know, I'm surprised too.
Sorry for my hiatus. As explained on my other recently posted fic and on my profile, things have eased up and I have the ability to write freely again.
I won't take too much more of your time. Enjoy the next chapter.
I will say this: I have but one goal, and that is to finish this story. I can see the ending from here, and know how to reach it and what the inbetweens will be.
"Keep in mind good world that poaching is a crime punishable by prison."
Yeah. Right.
There's an old saying, "The less the public knows about the making of laws and sausage, the better."
This right here is a violation of both. Double whammy.
Elesa sighed at the intolerable sight in front of her.
The girl with lemon hair had just been boisterous with energy. Kids at 13 typically were built enough to have the strength to second all that childish energy leftover from grade school days. She had been climbing the political ladder in Nimbasa recently, and she basically had the power and voice of the mayor at this point, because she was such a popular idol. The concept usually ends up working a lot better than how it sounds; ya know, considering hearing that someone at just 13 years had the power of a mayor in a major city because she could command intelligent creatures to beat up other creatures better than anyone else, and she had the body of a gorgeous 16 year-old would usually not sound like a recipe for success. This usually ends up being the case in many cities actually, although Nimbasa was a grossly exaggerated example of this.
"The less the public knows about the making of laws" and all.
Her flashlight-like eyes were actually proving to shine far better than anyone could have predicted. The milky white sclera was infused with passion and the chilling cyan irises were injected with determination. She had a plan, and Arceusdammit she would go through with it.
Nimbasa was a little bit…off. Things were getting better under her wing, but a lot of industrial smog still lingered over the city to where clouds sort of blended in with the sky, even in the middle of the day. There were some rundown warehouses leftover on the outskirts that she was clearing up. Other issues existed too, such as the amusement park falling behind on technology and the lack of attractions the city had overall. It was just a bad city, and if not for the somewhat updated technology and Pokemon gym, few would ever bother to show up.
Today was just another day for Elesa. Actually it was just another LAST day for her. This was the last day of warehouse inspection on her list, where she would decide what the heck Nimbasa could do with the rundown, wasted buildings.
And inside the poor place was a little Blitzle shackled to a moldy and deteriorated pole. It was kneeling next to a severely injured Zebstrika in the middle. There was a dark spot next to it… Most 13-year olds freak out at the sight of it, especially girls. If they're around company, they condemn the inanimate object, as if it makes them any less fearful of it (honestly, it makes you look like a complete idiot). Elesa?
"Oh. Blood."
Her limber legs carried her forward to the poor creature. Electric Pokemon were common in Nimbasa, but sometimes that made it a little too compelling for poachers to invade the place and capture valuable Electric-types and sell them off for who knows what. This poor guy had what was basically a giant syringe stuck in his leg, forcefully de-electrifying the Thunderbolt Pokemon.
Elesa sighed, "Seriously, this technology is so old and barbaric. You're just going to end up hurting the poor creature too much and lower his value on the market anyway." She ripped out the syringe and covered the small but open wound with some of the cloth she brought that demarcates the warehouse.
Behind her she heard someone shout to her from the entrance she just came in with a crude and commandeering voice:
"Hey little prissy, back away from the goods if you know what's good for ya!"
Elesa stood up and turned to face the perpetrator. He had a giant Mandibuzz right behind him that looked just as ruffian and cruel as he did.
The teenager just rolled her eyes and huffed out a puff of laughter.
"Really? Really? Are you seriously threatening me with an overgrown vulture? Did you even do a little research as to who I am?"
Five minutes and one fried poacher later, Elesa was leaving the crime scene with the Blitzle limping, but still walking, right behind her. She had the Zebstrika on her shoulders, carrying it to the nearest Pokemon center.
Yeah. She was carrying a full grown Zebstrika on her shoulders. I swear I was not lying when I said she was 13. If you haven't picked up that she is an incredibly weird person, you need to learn how to pay attention.
As she was escorting the injured zebra, she was trying to assess the damage to the Pokemon to lighten the load off of Nurse Joy's diagnosis so she could just go straight to the medical treatment. From what she could tell, it seemed like a lacerated muscle, an infected wound, and severe loss-of-electricity poisoning.
After she arrived she debriefed Joy and dropped off the Blitzle as well. Blitzle was supposed to just have some minor leg issues, it seemed to be taking care of itself just fine.
But then half an hour passed. Then one hour. Then two. Then half the day had gone by. Elesa refused to leave until she heard the word on the two. She was pretty much finished with her daily duties anyway.
Shortly after, Joy turned off the light from the emergency room she was working on. One of the others was still lit that one of the other Joys was working on.
"Zebstrika is hurt badly, but if it stays here for another day and a half it should be fine." Joy smiled.
Elesa let out an initial sigh of relief, but then remembered Blitzle.
"What about Blitzle?"
"…"
Elesa squirmed a little. She mustered out, "Uh…Joy…Blitzle should have been fine for the most part, right?"
The Nurse sighed and knew holding back from Nimbasa's pride and joy would be in vain and just delay the news she was going to learn eventually anyway.
"Blitzle's leg is fine…a little busted, but overall fine. It actually had been playing tough. It had taken the blunt of attacks from the poacher while Zebstrika was barely able to defend itself. I'm guessing the only reason the poacher backed off was because he wanted to let the wounds sink in to render both unable to move. He was no idiot in this line of business."
Elesa scratched her head. Then why did he use such ancient technology?
Joy continued, "Even the needle dart he used on the Zebstrika was pretty sophisticated stuff. De-electrification can be very difficult using mobile methods and even one slip up in the process can have drastic backfire."
…
Seriously? Even someone in such a technologically advanced line of work such as Pokemon nursing in what is supposed to be the best city in terms of technology doesn't know exactly what the highest-end tech there is out there? I'll need to work on that for the future of this city.
Joy finally let out the bad news. "Ultimately it will be a while before I know exactly what the extent of the injuries are. I will be transferring it to a better facility for Electric-types."
Elesa was a little shocked by that, and her smooth skin shivered at the thought of that. For some reason it really bothered her that Nimbasa, the city of electricity, couldn't even take care of its own local Electric Pokemon.
I'll fix that in the future.
A year later Blitzle had finally been released from a dedicated Pokemon Hospital under the care of a Dr. Praxtyl all the way in Mauville City in Hoenn. They had the best tools to care for and make a full and complete recovery for the Blitzle.
At this point, Elesa had done some research. Blitzle was the calf of the Zebstrika and his mate. She found out a while ago they actually had been running ever since that very poacher had invaded a small farm and claimed the ranch in a complete hostile takeover, and already done loads of damage to both the Pokemon he trampled through to find the Thunderbolt Pokemon and to the poor family who worked the farm. It forced them to rely on their vegetative crops and start the ranch from a point that was even further back form when they first started. The Zebstrika had coaxed his mate to hide in a hole and ran off to defend his Blitzle which the poacher was chasing. After a while, they ended up a few miles away, cornered in the warehouse.
In other words, the poacher was a complete douchenozzle.
Elesa had visited the farm and given her reward money from catching the criminal to the family. When they thanked her with a rather thick country accent, the girl with lemon hair was caught a bit off guard.
"Where are you all from? I like your accent~," she inquired.
They responded in a very warm way:
"Well hun, this here family dun came down from all da way out in good ole' backcountry Flocessy Town. A bit on da outskurts. We like wut you, baby, were doin' here in Nimbawseh so we moved up here to enjoy dis here evolotion of a city and its folks wit' ya."
The family treated her to some nice iced tea before giving her some berries when she left.
"Fanks again fo' takin' care of Zeb, da ol' dog!"
The whole experience with Blitzle had shaken something inside of Elesa. Beyond just the clear and cut pain of witnessing what happened to an innocent family, she noticed how crudely behind the town was when it came to knowing what technologically sophisticated even meant. Not only that, but she had a rekindled passion for moving Nimbasa ahead of any other town. She had the knowhow, the citizens had the means, and the Pokemon had the power.
By the time Blitzle had returned, Elesa had already captured a Zebstrika and names him "Zeb" in honor of the hospitality the broken farm had graciously gifted her.
Little Blitzle came back to the family and soon evolved into a Zebstrika, which just helped the ranch get back up to speed quickly.
It didn't take long for things to go wrong again.
Apparently the poacher didn't take enough philosophy/ethics/humanities/here's-how-to-NOT-be-a-dumbass classes in his life. He could have left gotten out on good behavior from prison, went on to use his specialized skills in Pokemon capture for the better (like a Ranger) for the better. But no, he had to use all his connections and resources to bust out of prison illegally just to try and seek revenge on the person that put him here.
But apparently someone tipped him off the wrong information, since he went straight to the ranch to carry out this revenge. He also didn't observe his previous 'prey' well enough, since he attacked the only Blitzle he saw because he didn't think that the other had evolved yet.
I could explain to you how this Blitzle was saved in a long, epic battle scene. Or I can just say Elesa is awesome and did that thing where she uses her awesome to out-awesome those who are not awesome. So let's go with that.
Blitzle went under some basic Pokemon Center treatment initially, but most of its recuperation involved basic and consistent exercise around lots of other Electric Pokemon. So our favorite supermodel took it under her wing to help its recovery.
"So that's what happened to Blitzle."
"Poor guy. That's why he seems so weak around his knees."
"Yeah. I almost felt bad for the poacher," mused Elesa.
Ash scrunched his eyebrows in confusion. "Feel bad for the bad guy? Why?"
"I mean, if he was about 30% less idiot he wouldn't have put himself in that situation."
"30%? Is that an exact statistic, or did you round up because you think I wouldn't get it?"
Elesa held back laughter. "No, silly. I didn't do that."
Ash breathed a sigh of relief. "Okay, good. I don't like it when people do that."
"I rounded down because I didn't think you could get it."
"Alright tha— wait what?"
Elesa kept restraining herself. "You heard me~."
Ash frowned a little. "I just said I don't like that."
"But I didn't do that. You said you don't like it when people round up."
"Hey, that's playing unfair."
Her beautiful laughter started seeping into every other word. "Don't worry, it's something only Pokemon trainers would get."
"Huh?"
Elesa started to snicker out loud at this point. After a moment, Ash realized what she said and started pouting.
"What, I'm a Pokemon trainer!"
"Uh-huh. Sure."
"I even beat you to win a badge! I can prove it right here!" He reached into his jacket to pull out badge case to prove it.
"Oh yeah there was something about that my twin sister told me. Some guy named Smash Ketchup beat her or somewhere along those lines."
"His name was Ash Ketchum."
"Yeah, yeah, whatever."
"Look, right here is the Bolt badge! Along with the Trio Badge, and the Bug badge, and—wait twin sister?"
"Her name is Elesa."
"Oh shoot, I think I have the wrong girl…"
Elesa couldn't take it anymore. She scrunched up and let her volumed yet soothing laughter fill the air as she spilled onto Ash's standoffish shoulder.
People walking by the park bench just shook their heads and laughed too. Elesa always was a happy and free spirit, but she seemed even more happy and lovely lately than usual. Except one teenage guy, who glared at the two and booed Ash rather rudely as he walked by.
Not one strand of Ash's raven hair cared. He was busy being a bit too self-conscious and preoccupied with, you know, the supermodel that was leaning up against him. I don't know about you, but that's not something that happens everyday.
And if does happen everyday to you, I hate you.
Elesa wiped the tears from her eyes after a while and stood up.
Laughing in between words, she offered, "Look Ash, pff-let's walk some morhehehe."
Ash rolled his chocolate eyes. "Fine, whatever."
"You can stop trying to be hurt now."
He blushed a little at that.
Elesa laughed some more.
Ash couldn't help but start to join in now. "You are so not helping."
Now it was Elesa's turn to roll her eyes. When they landed, they connected with Ash's for a moment and she blushed a little.
Not that you could tell. Models around here were good at covering that kind of thing up, to a point.
She turned her head before that point came, and Ash walked up next to her. They continued to walk through the park that afternoon, smiling and laughing. And teasing. A lot of teasing, mostly in Ash's direction of course.
The two arrived at Elesa's home shortly after. As they were saying goodbye, Ash remarked:
"I'm glad Pikachu had a little adventure today."
Elesa giggled, "Me too. I had a lot of fun today."
Ash nodded politely. "Honestly, I'm really happy I'm spending most of my days here with you."
Woah. Sucker punch.
Elesa suddenly found the grass incredibly interesting. Not the grass towards Ash, though, the stuff away from him. The stuff facing Ash were a bunch of meanies that said bad words like 'stupid' and 'crud'.
"Me too Ash. Me too."
Ash blinked a couple times at her curious move, but he knew her enough to know there was probably a reason that she was picking at dirt.
"Thank you for telling me that story about Blitzle. I'm glad to know you trust me enough to tell a rather personal and difficult story like that."
Elesa paused.
"…I trust you enough to tell you far more than that."
Ash perked his head to the side.
"How so?"
Elesa stood up. Well, more like she melted up, if that makes any sense. Just imagine how a supermodel would go from kneeling on her toes to standing up.
"I'll tell you one day. I promise."
"Sounds like a plan. You just gotta tell me in the next couple days or I'll be already on my way to Driftveil."
Elesa's glowing skin, glowed a little less there. Her bright face, brightened a little less as her smile fell.
He just had to say it…
She exhaled her frustration in a gentle puff. Unrecognizable to anyone, of cour-
"What's wrong?"
…
Elesa pivoted to face Ash again.
"uhwuha…?" she managed.
"You seemed upset when I mentioned the bridge. Are you disappointed that it stopped me on my journey or something? Was there trouble repairing it? If so don't worry, I don't care at all."
Elesa stared for a second or two. Then she lightened up a little more.
"Don't worry, it isn't anything too big."
The boy with chocolate eyes shrugged. "Whatever you say."
He turned around with Pikachu perched on his shoulder.
"I'll see you tomorrow. Probably my last day, right? Let's have fun again."
Elesa smiled again. "Yes, let's. I'll catch you later."
She waved him off until he turned the corner and disappeared from view. She held her hand in the air a second longer, then dropped it and dipped her head back to look at the sky.
The stars really are gorgeous, aren't they? I'm really glad he came now, not a year or two years ago.
…
Well, he was smart enough to see I was upset, but too dense to see why.
She chuckled, but with a little bit of conceding nervousness mixed in.
That's just another aspect of the character of him I guess.
Dinner that night, tasted a little more bitter than last's.
"Heyyyy."
"…"
"Heyy Pidove-for-brainss-"
"…"
"HEY ASH!"
That startled him out of his thoughts and made him slam his left hand onto the underside of the table and bonk his glass of water over, which drained out straight onto his tan skin and slipped around his muscles to give him a bit more definition.
He sighed and started wiping himself off. "What is it Iris?"
"You were stabbing nothing with your fork for a while."
Ash apologized, "Sorry, I was lost in thought a bit."
"Well duhh. You're such a kid."
"Yeah I suppose."
"No I am no—…did you just agree with me?"
Without responding, he got up and excused himself from the dinner table to head up to their room, leaving a rather baffled Iris and Cilan.
On his way back up Pikachu pushed him softly in the head. He turned while continuing to walk to see what was up.
"Piiika, pikachu, chu?"
"Yeah, I know. It's just that…Elesa…"
"Cha?"
"She isn't telling me something. And it involves something about me leaving. I don't know what it is though. And that's surprisingly frustrating."
Hope you enjoyed it.
Can I just say one thing about the anime right now...well two things. One, I am calling it an anime again. It had been reduced to a cartoon after Battle Frontier (with brief moments of good showness surfacing during the Sinnoh League and Sinnoh Ribbon Cup, and during his battles against Elesa and Skyla...which also by the way, WHY did they get rid of contests again?), but XY has been surprisingly fun and good. More than that, it's actually become a better show than a lot of the other things I'm watching this season.
Other thing is that because this show is doing such a good job, Amour and Shalourshipping have shot way up my list of favorite ships. Hence the profile update.
I was actually a bit crestfallen and sad when I saw the final air of the second OP of Corni/Korrina running with open arms to the group. I had hoped she would have traveled with them. I loved her character and her dynamic with Ash.
Oh well. Shows how good the show is if nothing else.
R&R. Read and Relax.