Chapter Sixteen: Pieces
And Everything Came Crashing Down
The shock of having a possessed rock with me hit hard, I was basically pleading for insane, unnatural peace. My heart rate increased immensely. The shadow figure coming out of the tunnel grew larger and larger. It was unlike any Pokémon I had seen before, that frightened me.
"Stand guard!" Brush yelled. That brought me back to the moment. The transparent circle had floated above the tunnel and was levitating back to the ground. Once the circle hit the ground, green orbs joined the purple Pokémon.
Two green dots appeared on it and a green zigzag line. Then I realized: The dots and line matched the one on the rock, those were symbolic eyes and mouth. But now this thing was real, and we needed to fight.
"We need to fight!" I yelled, echoing my thoughts.
"It's too dangerous!" Brush yelled back.
It might be too dangerous for them, but it isn't for me. I grabbed the Pokéball from my belt loop and released the Pokémon. "Noctowl, use Peck!" My bird flapped his great wings and soared to the foe. He pecked the Ghost Type hard, it screeched an ear-piercing cry.
"Geodude, fight good!" I recognized Ellena's voice. "Rock Throw." The Geodude hurled rock at the circle, every time it hit the rival would screech and become more and more angry.
The Ghost Type melted down to a shadow puddle and zoomed over to Geodude. The spirit appeared behind Geodude and wailed on him hard with a ghostly fist. He flew across the air and headed straight towards the water nearby.
"Noctowl grab him!" My Pokémon flew over to Geodude and grabbed his rock body with his talons. "Nice job." I praised.
"Mr. Mime, use Magical Leaf!" Tag had joined us. His Mr. Mime made green and yellow leaves swirl around his hands. They shot over to the foe and hit it hard. It screamed and created a gust of black wind that shot towards my Pokémon. "Protect!" Mr. Mime made a clear blue shield that protected my Noctowl from the attack.
"Noctowl Peck." I commanded. Noctowl flew to the rival and pecked it hard, it winced and fell backwards.
"Tackle, now." Ellena yelled. Geodude tackled the fallen Pokémon. It screeched in pain and my instincts kicked in. I reached in my bag and grabbed an empty Pokéball. I tossed it at the Ghost Type. It opened and sucked the purple Pokémon in.
"What are you doing?!" Kedah shouted. The ball shook.
"Trying to catch it, it wouldn't be safe to let it wonder the town!" The ball shook more.
The ball popped open. The purple shadow popped out, its eyes blazing red. It screeched and screamed.
"Psybeam!" Tag commanded. Mr. Mime sent psychic waves out to the foe, but nothing happened. It was immune to psychic attacks. That just made it angrier. It slinked over to Mr. Mime and punched him with a shadowy fist. Mr. Mime was knocked to the ground.
"Peck again." I shouted. Noctowl swooped into the air and stated pecking the Ghost Type.
"Rock Throw." Ellena commanded. Geodude threw rocks at the foe while my Pokémon was pecking it, we double teamed the thing. I grabbed another Pokéball and tossed it. The foe was sucked in again.
This time there was no shaking, the light blinked rapidly. Everyone was in uproar. There was a huge group hug where everyone piled around me, including Carrick.
"You did it you did it!" They cheered. Yes, it was nice being cheered for. Especially when they weren't Golden's. We returned our Pokémon and gathered out things. Then it was back to the hut.
We all sat in the room under the hut. Hilbert met up with us again. Brush explained to him what happened with the tunnel. Everyone agreed to let me keep the Ghost Type. I thought that was unnecessary but I accepted. Hilbert told us that Lea shut down the Day Care. He received a note that said Pokémon weren't that important. So now Hilbert and Hilda were going into bankruptcy. Solaceon's Center stopped being funded by the League. That resulted in extra-extra taxes being taken by the citizens. Solaceon was turning into Oreburgh.
Shortly we all left off for Oreburgh. Once we got out of Solaceon I decided to tell everyone that I couldn't stay with them and that I would go back to Hearthrome and leave for the next gym.
"Everyone, I have something I need to get straight." They all stopped walking and turned towards me. I pulled my hood down so they could see my face. "I can't stay in Oreburgh with you all. I have battling. I could help you every once in a while, but not full-time."
Brush nodded. "We understood that when we wanted you to join us. We never intended you to quit battles. Whenever we need you, trust me, we'll find you."
"Yeah, you don't need to quit being a trainer. That's why we wanted you. You're powerful. Probably tougher than all of us put together, including Tag and his Mr. Mime." Ellena said.
I smirked. "Thanks. Now, I'm going to head back to Hearthrome and to Veilstone for the next gym. When's the next attack?"
Ellena shrugged. "Hopefully there won't be one. Lea will think we let out a spook, apparently a very evil spook since Legendary Pokémon sealed it away, and he'll be so scared of the things under his bed that he won't bother fighting back."
"You can't seriously think that's going to stop him, he has guards. You of all people should know that." I said.
"Cynthia, we know what we're doing. We're trying to warn him and stop him."
"Stop him from what exactly? He won't just say 'Oh, the rebels won, I'm defeated, I'll retire and let someone else take over.' No. He doesn't work like that. He craves power. He lives the highlife up at the League, whatever goes on down here isn't his problem. It's only his problem when Golden's start getting involved, and that won't happen because they don't let anyone into the Golden Cities. Especially Hearthrome, that's the heart. I hardly got in! I only got in because of stupidity and because I'm from a small town no one cares about."
Everyone thought for a moment. Brush scratched his chin. "We're stopping him from taxing towns and making all our lives like a bunch of crap. Every town, eventually, is going to turn out like ours unless someone stops him. That's what we're doing, we're trying to scare him enough to get the point across. Don't you understand?" He asked.
I nodded. I did understand, but something was missing from the whole thing. It was like the picture was put together and only one piece was out. Some people would ignore the piece and focus only on what they had. While others would search for the piece until they find it and place it with the rest of the picture, making it whole. This was that time. I was afraid the rebels were looking on only what they had while I was the only one worried about this missing piece. And Lea was conniving, he probably had every piece and then some. We needed to be whole, one-hundred percent. Ninety-nine percent wouldn't cut it.
I had a right mind to bring this up to them right then, but I didn't because I knew I needed to find that missing piece. Once I did I would tell them and we would tackle it together, as a team.
"Alright then." Ellena said. "I guess this is where we go different ways. Good luck and I'll see you later."
I nodded. "Goodbye all." I smiled and walked towards my next destination.
The sun was setting when I reached Solaceon again. I checked my map and estimated another few hours to Veilstone. I decided to stay the night with Hilda and Hilbert if they were willing. I walked to the Day Care and entered. The first room, the lobby, was lit by a single lamp on the desk. I walked into the next room which was their living area. Hilbert sat on the couch, fixated on the television.
"Hello." I greeted. He looked at me.
"Howdy girl! Nice t' see ya again. What can I do for ya?"
"I was wondering if I could stay the night tonight, it's getting a bit late to travel on."
"Why of course you can stay, dear." Hilda walked into the room. "Carolina's grandkid is welcomed anytime."
"Thank you Hilda." I smiled. I loved them, they were like my grandparents. "How's Grandmother doing?"
"She's doin' fine. She was here just the other day buyin' some supplies and such." The mention of my grandmother made my heart do a flip-flop. I missed her so much.
The night went on. I ate some soup and took a quick shower. Then I went into the insanely pink room and lay in bed. The weight of the day covered me; it lulled me to sleep instantly.
Rain poured down on me hard. I was on Route 215 and caught in a rainstorm. I was soaked. I could see Veilstone in the distance. There was a huge skyscraper, I assumed that was the new mall. My pace quickened. I was sprinting through the downpour and splashing through the puddles that collected on the ground. The muddy ground turned to pavement under my feet. Great. A Golden City in the making or a rich city.
I ran into the city limits, luckily there wasn't a white building I had to go through. I stopped sprinting and looked around. There were three skyscrapers standing next to each other. Two of them had 'Golden Enterprises' above the door, the other said 'Bullion Mall.' I ran to that one.
The doors slid open automatically, much like an elevator door. I walked in and my mouth fell open. It was huge. In the middle of the room there was a staircase that moved. The steps moved upwards on one, and down on the other. That place was a technological nightmare. Large TV screens filled the walls, they were all for sale. Other indescribable machinery was being sold there.
I couldn't take being there much longer. Another city was turning into a Golden City. Another city was becoming manipulated by Lea. Another city was causing others into destruction… I couldn't take it. I know it would be a matter of time before Celestic turned into Oreburgh. Why hasn't it? I wondered. All other cities are connected to Lea somehow… How come Celestic isn't? Has he forgotten it exists? Impossible. Then a weird thought hit. …What if it's because I live there? This didn't make sense, however, because Oreburgh was in poverty before I ever came into the picture. But the fact Lea knew anything about me made my skin crawl.
I left the mall, the rain had lightened. I looked for another public place. I found a Center. I healed up my Pokémon and got a room. This Center wasn't huge, it was much like Floaroma's. One story with a few overnight rooms. At least that wasn't Golden.
"Could you tell me what Pokémon this is?" I picked up my Level Two Pokéball. Level Two or Great Ball just means it seals better against Pokémon. My Level Two is what I used to catch my Ghost Type.
The nurse said yes and sat the ball on the screen. "It says it's a Spiritomb. Very rare, if you ask me. You have a girl, level range is twenty-five to thirty, and she's a Ghost Type."
"Thank you." I said. I walked to my room and slipped in. I had a lot of thinking to do. The plan was to wait until the rain stopped and then I would need to find a good place to train.
Immediately I thought of my Pokémon. I had no idea what the next gym would lead to, but I knew I had to get my Pokémon stronger. Gible would be my priority, she needed a good training session. My new Pokémon would have to be trained. Surprisingly I wasn't scared of her. I started to think that if I should be scared the presence would tell me. Yes, I was becoming addicted to the overall peace and clarity.
Now was for the hard decision: Who would I get rid of for Spiritomb? It was illegal to have more than six Pokémon in your possession. That was one, and maybe the only, rule left untouched through the years.
I started unpacking my bag. The letter from Jamie haunted me again. I hoped Ember had gone back to Celestic. The thought of him out there getting involved in the Golden Cities made me scared, honestly. I cared about Ember.
"Oh, Ember. Why do you have to be so hotheaded?" I sighed.
The day went on. I unpacked and repacked my bag as I waited for the rain to stop. It did. I went out to town and sent a letter to Grandmother and Jamie, I asked them to write back soon about Ember. I walked into the woods and found a small field. I decided that would do for training.
I began training with Gible. She started by being stubborn, but gradually started getting some work done. She was huge, I knew she was close to evolving.
"Alright Gible, Sandstorm." Gible growled at me. "What, now you don't want to train?" She flopped down on her stomach. "Gible!" I swore at the Pokémon. "Get up and do what you're told!" She growled again. "You don't scare me." Then she leapt up and roared. It was a real Dragon roar. I was impressed. I sighed. "Listen Snorlax, you're about to evolve. We need to keep training! You should have evolved a few levels ago, why are you acting this way?!"
She showed her sharp teeth and growled. Wasn't my Pokémon just lovely? "I could just get rid of you and replace you with Spiritomb. Want that? Then you would never have to train again, is that what you want?" I yelled.
She rolled on her back and closed her eyes. "Gible!" A moment went by, and then she was snoring.
Authors Note: A short chapter, I have been shortening my chapters since the beginning. I want to know if you guys like my older long chapters or if these shorter chapters work. Also, how do you guys like the plot? What do you think is going to happen?
Thanks for reading!