Distractions are distracting. Especially weddings. They can last for hours. Still, good to know that families were formed. That, and I got to play Marvel vs. Capcom at the reception. Lost about ten dollars to that machine. (P.S. I'm gonna try to reply more to reviews now, seeing as their numbers have dropped significantly)
Chapter 19: That One Feeling
Ziggy listened with wide eyes as Rocky recounted the epic tale of how he met me and Ember. "Just as the Mudkip was about to attack me, Jonathan dove out of the tree and tackled her to the ground! Then Ember came and started scratching like crazy!"
"Wooooow," that Pichu sure had an imagination. Just as he was about to say how we were throwing nuts the size of Tamato Berries, we heard a tapping coming from the window. I went to answer it and was pounced upon in another Hobbes-like manner by Ember.
"Hello guys and Ziggy!" he said, "Whatcha doing?"
"Rocky was telling me how you and Jonathan were fighting off that trainer with his help!"
"Did he tell you about the battle yet?" he asked.
"I was just getting to that part!" Rocky said, "Once we made it to the city, we met the trainer and his Mudkip again! He was almost gonna catch Jonathan when Ember's trainer appeared and was challenged-" I tuned him out of my mind when I noticed Ember had something around his neck.
"Hey, Ember, what's that around your neck?" I asked.
A proud smile appeared on his face when I asked this. "This thing? Only something no fire type should be without!" he said holding it up for all to see. "My dad gave it to me before he left with Mark's dad. It's a piece of charcoal that boost the fire that I use, tied to a string to form a convenient necklace! This way, my hands are free to have something else to hold!"
"So why didn't you wear it before?" I asked.
Ember's face grew even more proud, "Because I earned it! My dad told me to wear it once I learned my first fire attack, which I did a lot earlier than I expected!" My horn felt very, very proud.
As soon as Rocky finished his tale of wonder, Ziggy got up from where she was laying down. "I've got to go now," she said, looking at the clock, "Sam said we were going to the park when the short stick on the clock pointed to the right."
"Alright then, see ya later," I said.
"I'll tell you more about the battle next time!" Rocky called as she jumped out the open window.
"Um, Ember, may you please get offa me?"
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A lone Pachirisu of Rodent Fields was jumping from tree to tree when a rock almost hit him in the head. The group of kids were playing 'throw a rock as far as you can' didn't notice that a pokemon was up in the trees.
In an attempt to dodge the incoming projectiles, the Pachirisu jumped into thin air. Thankfully for him, he landed on a cart full of non-pokemon fish (Pokemon don't taste good) that was brought over from the port.
The moment the Pachirisu landed on the fish kart, it toppled over and all the fish fell onto the street. The moment this happened, a car rode over one of the fish and skidded off road, crashing into a tree and exploding (Don't worry, the driver jumped out of the car in time Hollywood-style).
One of the pieces of debris flew through the air and straight through Jenny's apartment window. The debris hit a frying pan's handle causing it to fall off the oven and send its contents flying through the air. I turned around just in time to get hit in the face by uncooked hamburger patties.
"Nutty!" I heard Rocky cry out.
"What's Nutty?" I asked, still blinded by the patties. I took them off to find a Pachirisu had jumped through the window, "And who are you?"
"I'm Nutty. Pleased to make your acquaintance," he turned to Rocky, "Excuse me, young Lord, but Lady Lema has requested me to come and escort you home, seeing as it's getting dark."
"Awww, can't mom let me stay just a little while longer?"
"I am sorry, but she asked me to bring you home right away. If not, I was given permission to thunder wave you and bring you back home."
Rocky winced a bit before he agreed to return with him. "Your friends may come to say goodbye if they wish to," Nutty added. Both Ember and I decided to follow.
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"See ya tomorrow, Rocky!" we yelled out to him as he left. He waved goodbye before following Nutty back into the trees.
"So what now?" Ember asked.
"Park's close by. Why don't we go join Ziggy?"
"Ok. It's better than watching TV."
As we walked to the park, Ember decided to start a conversation. "Hey, Jonathan, don't you think that Pachirisu's name was funny?"
"You mean Nutty…? Now that you mention it, that is a weird name." That Pachirisu was definitely a wild pokemon, so he should've had a more natural name. Ziggy, for instance, was named by a five year old, so it was natural that she had such a name as that. Nutty, however… I really doubt his parents went 'I know! Why don't we call our son Nutty?' "Let's try to ask him next time we see him."
As mentioned before, the park was close by, so we only managed to have one conversation on the way there. It didn't matter much to Ember, who scurried off in glee leaving me to run after him.
Strangely, as I was following Ember in search of Ziggy, my horn began to act up again. One feeling I felt was a mix of anger and frustration, while he other felt agressive and… I couldn't quite put my finger on that one feeling.
Running ahead to see what was causing such negative emotions, I found the anger coming from someone who I already knew. Ziggy close to crying in frustration as a bully was annoying her. Of course, who else could this bully be but Howler.
As I approached, I was interrupted when razor sharp leaves imbedded themselves into the ground before me shuriken-style. I was about to see where the shot came from, when I began to smell a sweet scent. It smelled nice. I was snapped back into reality when another leaf nicked my shoulder.
Looking around, I noticed nothing but a lone weed in the field, which I was quick to ignore. As I turned to go help out Ziggy, I didn't notice the weed rise out of the ground.
I heard a scream and turned around to find Leaf the Oddish rolling around the ground putting out the fire. Ember wasn't too far off. "Thanks, Ember," I said.
"Ambush successful! Go lend support to Private Ziggy!" He yelled towards me, going back into military mode.
"Uh, ok..." I turned to help Ziggy just as Ember was countering Powder's sneak attack.
"And your trainer's a wimp! I could take him with my eyes closed!" Howler boasted.
"Nuh-uh! He can kick really hard!" Ziggy responded.
"Ahem," I interrupted, "What's going on here?"
"Oh, it's you," Howler said.
"Jonathan!" Ziggy whined, "Howler's picking on me!"
"Now now, Howler, play nice," I said, earning a growl from the Poochyena.
"You can't tell me what to do!" he said as he leaped forward to bite me. I picked up a nearby stick and used it to block his attack. It was rather hard to push him off, seeing as he pinned me to the ground. A horn between the eyes later and the canine was off.
Holding him back had proved to be exhausting due to the fact that Ralts were not designed for physical labor. This knowledge hit me right in the face as I realized that this was my first time in my Ralts body that I had actually blocked an attack instead of just dodging it, and it was pretty exhausting.
Unfortunately, I had to do it again as Howler went for a tackle. More unfortunate for me, the stick snapped and I was thrown backwards. As he went for another tackle, I kicked my legs at him, hitting him square in the jaw. Even though I had a weak body, that attack did more damage than it should have. I'd worry about that later.
As Howler howled in anger, I took the chance to get another stick, this one thicker than the last. I braced myself for impact, but it never came. Opening my eyes, I saw Leaf and Powder yelling at Howler, saying that they couldn't hold back the Charmander any longer.
"Well, nobody told you to fight him, you jumpy, battle-ready Oddish!"
"Sorry," Leaf said. It was then I noticed that Leaf had a feminine voice. It's hard to tell the gender between Oddishes.
"Seriously though, can we go now? I wanna find some Rawst Berries to treat these burns!" Powder exclaimed. He was definitely male.
"Grrrr, alright! Count yourself lucky, Ralts!" he yelled as he ran away.
I still couldn't put my finger on that feeling, but it felt familiar.
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"Thanks again!" Ziggy said.
"Your welcome, now get offa me!" I said. It seems Ziggy was just as pouncy as Ember. "See ya tomorrow, Ziggy," I said as we left the park as the sun set the sky.
On the way home, me and Ember began another conversation. "Hey, Ember, I think there may be more to Howler than we think."
"Really? He seems like a plain ol' jerk to me."
"There's something about him that I can't put my finger on. I can barely sense the emotion coming from him, but I'm sure there's one there. I'm not sure what that emotion is, however."
"You probably can't sense it because he's a dark type. They can block anything psychic thrown at them."
"That would explain why it's hard to sense it." We had arrived home, "G'night, Ember."
"See ya tomorrow, Jonathan!"
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That night, as I slept in my poke ball, I had a strange dream. Nothing big happened, but it was strange nonetheless.
I was floating in what appeared to be an incredibly dense fog. My horn was aching with sadness coming from all directions. Other than that, nothing but a cloudy white abyss.
I woke up feeling sad myself.