Hidden Journey
Part Eight
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Unwelcome Discovery
"Take your shirt off
Swish it 'round yo head
Spin it like a helicopter."
"Raise Up" by Petey Pablo
Eye-catching lyrics, I know. It's my song of the week. Please, kids, listen to it with the bass up. Resist the treble movement.
***
~Blackthorn, Johto Region~
After a quick clean up in their separate rooms at the small hotel, Brock and Lia went to see Claire. When I had made a move to follow, Brock stood between me and the door, and told me I was to stay behind. The door closed softly behind him and I heard the click of the lock. I was torn between being desperately angry and dejected. I had to be with Brock at all times; that was my mission! The whole purpose of me being here was to practically become his shadow! You can't lock your shadow in your hotel room, and I had no intention of staying here.
So I padded around the room, looking for a way out. Of course, when you're like two feet tall, everything is an obstacle. I pounced on the queen-sized bed for a better look around my surroundings. Dresser, wardrobe, tv, bathroom, closet, nasty pink curtains, window, air-conditioning unit, nightstands…Waitasec, the window was open!
Darting over, I stood on my hind legs to see that the window was indeed swung wide out, and better yet it didn't have a screen. I would've grinned if I could've, but I settled for a quick, low-volume yip of happiness. Then I noticed that I was two floors above the ground. A wind blew suddenly and the window shivered on its hinges.
No problem, really. It's not like I hadn't done this before. Okay, so I had Ponyta waiting for me below, but you know, there are shrubs and stuff. I'm sure one of those will cushion my fall. There was a tall tree near the window, conveniently extending long branches towards the hotel's windows.
A convenience that is scarily convenient. I thought to myself as I leapt onto the windowsill. But I'm not gonna be choosy. After all, beggars that are choosers have a hard time selling their glass houses.
It was mid-afternoon, and people were around, doing their things: Shopping, milling about, some doing the tourist thing. There was one woman that had two young boys by her side. I noticed they were twins that were identical right down to the clothes on their backs and the Pichu's by their side. They were also being difficult for their mother.
Luckily, no one had the presence of mind to pay attention to a Vulpix that was about to leap onto a thick tree branch in an attempt to escape confinement. And leap I did, like a cat, onto the relative safety of the aforementioned thick tree branch. I cheered my braveness and sat on the branch to scratch an itch on the back of my neck with one long hind leg. It was then that I noticed, being two feet tall, just how far down things looked.
The wind that had been unnoticed when I was in the room, made itself noticed as I was on the tree branch. It was stiff and a bit cold, and ruffled my fur. I looked to the distance, where the ice caves were, and wondered if Articuno made his summer home up there.
A sudden sharp gust of wind had me squinting my eyes shut against flying dirt and leaves, and my heart sank when I heard the slam of a window. I opened my eyes to see that the window to Brock's room was closed. The edge of one pink curtain was jutting out and fluttering in the wind like a trapped butterfree.
Um, crap. I thought with a scowl. Now what was I supposed to do? I looked down at the various, yet thinner, branches and decided I had two options. First would be to wait for Brock and Lia to return and rescue me, and hope that they would return soon. Second would be to jump down into the shrubs and/or jump from branch to branch to the ground.
Neither option looked any good, but I really had no choice. I'd have to take my chances and try to make it to the ground in one fully functional piece. Sigh.
***
~ Blaine Residence, Viridian City, Kanto Region ~
"I can't believe you were so rude!" Matt sighed. "Even if he's someone you don't like, can you please try to like him?"
"No," Vulpix said flatly. "If I don't like him, why should I pretend to like him?"
Matt and Vulpix-in-Cirrus'-body were sitting in the living room, watching the tv. An older episode of Trading Spaces was on, and dinner was nearly ready. Matt could hear A Mime is a Terrible Thing to Waste, fondly known as Mime-ster, bustling around in the kitchen.
"What is the clown preparing for dinner?" Vulpix asked, not taking her eyes off the tv.
Matt shook his head. It would take time to get used to this presence. "Some bacon cheddar casserole thing. It's Cirrus' favorite."
"How considerate."
There was a pause between them, broken only by the sounds of arguing from the show. From the corner of his eye, Matt looked over at his sister's form. It was hard to believe that Cirrus had changed places with a pokemon, and that the pokemon in question was currently residing in his sisters' body.
"What's it like?" He finally asked.
"It looks like puce," Vulpix said, cringing at the sight of the paint chosen to be slathed over the fireplace on tv. "I'd sue."
"No," Matt said, chosing his next words carefully. "What is it like…being a pokemon?"
She looked over at him, "What's it like…being a human?"
"Do you have to answer a question with a question?"
"Do you have to ask such stupid questions?"
"Okay, I'm sorry." Matt relented, "It's just that I never thought it would be possible to be talking to a fire breathing fox."
"Well you're not." Vulpix said. "You're talking to the spirit of a fire fox, who is currently living in your sisters body."
"Boy, you're snappy."
"It's not like I'm happy!" Vulpix shot back. "My Trainer, who I've known for years after my original Trainer gave me to him, is in mortal danger, and I'm sitting on a couch watching television! I don't have my powers, I'm miserable, I have to pretend an obnoxious jerk is my mate, and to top it off, I can't protect my Trainer!"
"If it makes you feel any better, I don't think you have to worry about Gary that much," Matt said. "He said he was going to go to be in Pallet for a few days to help out his Grandfather with some research."
Vulpix didn't say anything and, after a few minutes, Matt decided to go outside and leave the displaced Pokemon alone. It was warm out, and the sun was still pretty high up in the sky. Taking a seat on the wide steps of the front porch, Matt sat and thought on the past few days. After the Ursaring episode, Gary had told Vulpix that he told Matt what was going on. A shared look had been exchanged between Gary and Vulpix that made Matt think there was something that he hadn't been told.
What he had been told was this: His sister had, by a mysterious lab experiment of Professor Oak's that had gone awry, switched places with Vulpix. The only way to switch back would be to find Bill, some pokemon expert and genius scientist, who happened to be vacationing in Blackthorne. In the meanwhile, Matt and Gary were to coach Vulpix on how to be Cirrus, and watch out for her general well being. If it got out into the public about what happened, it could be disastrous for Professor Oak.
And so, things seemed to smooth over. Vulpix settled down a bit, Gary relented on the boyfriend/girlfriend part, and Matt finally had a clue as to what was going on. He was glad he'd stayed behind for his little sister, and he was even happier that the Oak boy was held at bay. Due to some feeling about Gary, Matt wasn't too fond of him as a boyfriend for his little baby sister. Unfortunately, Cirrus was probably going to be pretty angry when she got back in her own body.
It wasn't the belly piercing, which would have been nominal. It was the hair that Cirrus might flip out about. Not that it was curled, because it wasn't. It was straight again, and still blond (Vulpix had wanted to dye it firefox red), but it was its length that Cirrus would not be pleased about. Thanks to a random Ursaring hyper beam attack, the right portion of the long hair had been singed to just below the shoulder. As such, the hair had to be evened out, and that meant that Cirrus now had considerably shorter hair.
And to put the icing on the cake was the vid-phone call from Hades. Vulpix and Cirrus both were clueless about that, but Matt wasn't. It had been his girlfriend, Celerity. Her news hadn't been good, at least not for Matt. She had called to break up with him! Even if Cirrus was here, Matt knew she wouldn't be broken up about her big brother being dumped. Cirrus liked Celerity as much as Matt liked Gary.
"Matt?" The word was tentatively spoken.
He turned around to face the speaker. It was Vulpix. "Yah?"
"The, ah, casserole is done. The clown said to come in and eat before it gets cold." Vulpix shrugged. "I don't know why you humans insist on cooking everything."
"Because we like not being sick from improperly prepared foods?"
Vulpix made a face. "It ruins the flavor."
Matt shook his head. "Whatever. Let's go eat." He opened the screen door for Vulpix, who stepped inside the house. "Say, do you mean to tell me you can understand what Mime-ster says?"
"What did I tell you about stupid questions?"
~Blackthorn, Johto Region~
I didn't do it. I couldn't do it! How could I even come up with an idea like jumping down into a shrub? It was stupid! Geeze…and now I'm stuck up in a stupid tree, and it's freaking cold, and I'm hungry! Plus I was getting tired of sitting carefully on this tree branch. Not to mean tired like I'm bored tired, but tired as in getting weary tired. I decided to sing a little song, to help me think.
"Oh, what would that clone Mewtwo do, if he were here today? He'd fly his behind to the ground really fast and be safe and not harmed in any way, that's what that clone Mewtwo would do…" I nodded, pleased with the lyrics. Sure the song was a definate sign that I'd seen the South Park movie too many times, but I'm freakin' cold right here.
"So maybe you'd like to have a lift down to floor level?" The melodious telepathic voice sounded very much amused.
"MEWTWO!!!" I shrieked out, looking all around. Unfortunately, I lost my balance and began to fall. I yelped in surprise as I was 'caught' in a barely noticeable blue bubble of telekinetic energy. I was gently lowered to the ground and landed on all fours.
"Mommie, mommie!" A little girl tugged at the hem of her mother's dress. "That Vulpix just flew! Buy it for me, pwease!"
The mother rolled her eyes and led her little girl away. The little girl pouted, but waved to me as she was led away.
Suddenly I was tugged by an invisible force into a small thicket that lay just beside my escape tree. Mewtwo was hovering in the middle of the little clearing, sitting with his legs tucked beneath him. He looked down at me with a calm gaze and shook his head. "Cirrus, what have you been doing? Or should I ask, not doing?"
"What do you mean by that?" I asked back. "I'm doing the best I can to get to Brock and keep him safe. I almost got walked on by that huge woman on the train, and just now I fell out of that tree. It's not my fault I can't reach the doorknob. I doubt I could have opened the door even if I could reach the stupid knob."
"That song was most infuriating." Mewtwo just stared down and frowned when I shrugged. "At any rate, things are about to take the turn towards the future we want to avoid."
"What? How?"
"Please, give me a second to explain! You have very little time to waste." He paused and the continued. "Brock wasn't supposed to meet Lia, but he did thanks to you. Claire was supposed to have all her Pokemon stolen from her, but didn't thanks to Lia. Now Brock is supposed to meet an unsavory character, one who could keep the future we want to prevent from happening to happen."
"What is this…unsavory character…supposed to do?" This was all precious information I desperately needed. "Does he shoot Brock, kidnap him, or something?"
"He forces Brock into a battle."
I frowned. "I…that doesn't make sense. Why force him into a match? Does he know Brock is a gym leader? Did he face Brock for the Boulder Badge and lose?"
"Simply because Brock accidentally walks into him." Mewtwo said. "It would have happened even if Brock didn't meet Lia, or if Claire's Pokemon were stolen. It is an unalterable part of any future that may have happened. A scenario, if you will, that could be cataclysmic."
"I need to find Brock." I thought for a second. "Do I need to keep Brock from fighting or what?"
"That's what we do not know."
"And where is he?"
Mewtwo closed his eyes, then opened them. "He is three blocks down, nearing the Pokemart. Move fast because the catalyst is nearby as well."
With a word of thanks, I sped from the shrubs and into the streets. Following Mewtwo's directions made finding Brock a lot easier than me trying to do it by myself. Rounding a corner, I saw Brock standing in front of Lia, and gesturing to a scrawny guy that looked as if he hadn't bathed in weeks. The closer I got, the worse the guy looked. His scraggly brown hair was grimy looking, his cheeks were sunken in, and he just had this aura of darkness around him.
When I got behind Brock, I was blown away by the guys' stench. How could Brock have not smelled him? I looked up at Lia, who was turned to the side to hold a hand to her mouth, and I brushed up against her. She looked down, a look of surprise on her face, and smiled. Then she gestured with her eyes to the smelly guy.
Looking up, I saw his eyes were reddened messes that could have been a brilliant green at one time. His voice was a complete contrast to his appearance. It was a light voice, one that could have been quite pleasant if the guy didn't look like a homicidal maniac. "You think you can just apologize for almost knocking me to the ground? What kind of an idiot do you think I am? You wanted to knock me over! You had it in for me!!"
"No, please," Brock pleaded. "I just came around the corner and…"
"I challenge you!" The man said, "I challenge you to a battle!"
"Brock!" Lia gasped, "You can't fight him!"
"Aww, being protected by your girlfriend? You are weak, man!" The man laughed, then clutched his head with both hands and growled in pain. He dug in his pants pockets and brought out a small white bag. He reached in and took out something that was a pale purple color, and popped it in his mouth. A moment later, he laughed and put the bag back in his pocket. "You ready to fight or not!"
"Not!" A new voice suddenly called out. A woman stepped from the doorway of a building, handcuffs glinting in the sunlight. "You are under arrest!"
The man shrieked and ran off, only to be stopped by three policemen. Officer Jenny ran over to the captured man and snapped the handcuffs around his wrists. Then she dug into the pocket with the bag and pulled the bag out. Turning it over in her hands, she pointed to two small red letters. A T and an R. "This is an illegal substance, and all the proof I need to have you sent to Cianwood Rehab. But first you'll be doing some jail time for trying to battle a gym leader outside of his league." She nodded to her subordinates and they walked him to a waiting police car.
Brock paled when Officer Jenny turned to him. "I wasn't going to fight him, and I certainly wouldn't have presented a badge to him and…"
Officer Jenny simply smiled. "Don't worry, I wouldn't place you under arrest! I was watching the three of you and only waited until he did what he did. I've been waiting for an opportunity like this to come around."
It was then that Brock seemed to forget Lia's presence and he launched directly into "Pretty Girl Mode." His eyes glazed over and he said, "I've been waiting for a girl like you to come around for a long time…"
Unfortunately, there was no Misty to drag him away by his ear. I noticed Lia looking a bit bemused, and I decided to end this current PGM with a simple nip to his ankle. I stepped back as he jerked away with an exclamation that won't be repeated here, and looked up at him with a gaze of innocence. Brock just laughed and shook his head.
Lia had more intelligent things to say to Officer Jenny. "What opportunity was that, Officer?"
Officer Jenny's gaze turned serious, she had been laughing at Brock's 'antics,' and she said, "There has been a case of an illegal substance going around Blackthorne for about a month now. I needed to catch someone in the act of using it, and to therefore get a physical sample of the substance." She showed them the bag. "And these initials might also mean something."
Yah, like Team Rocket. I thought to myself.
"Could that stand for Team Rocket?" Brock asked, mirroring my thoughts. "That could be something they would do."
Officer Jenny nodded. "That's true. First things first, I have to get this analyzed." She walked away with a wave of thanks.
What could that strange substance be? What's going to happen next? One thing's for sure, Brock hasn't gone beyond having Pretty Girl Moments.