Chapter Two: Discovery

As Twikk predicted, the rain came around six o'clock that afternoon in a quick thunderstorm. An hour later the heavy part of the storm had let up and all that was left was a light trickle that ran down the sliding glass doors that lead to their hotel room's balcony.

Cassie and Twikk lay facing each other on one of the hotel beds. The TV was turned on to some local news station reporting on the Hoenn stock market, but neither was paying attention to it. The card game at hand was holding their interest more strongly.

Twikk rolled over onto his back and hummed thoughtfully, holding his hand of cards up to his face. "Got any threes?" he inquired.

Cassie had her head perched on the palm of her hand and was staring blankly at the wall. She snapped out of her daydream only when Twikk's spiny ear slapped her on the side of the head.

"Hey," he repeated impatiently. "Do you have any threes?"

Cassie sighed and glanced at her hand of cards. "I think you're laying on it."

Twikk slapped his cards down in the scattered fishing pile for their incredibly boring game of go fish. "Cassie," he whined, "Go fish is no fun if your opponent doesn't answer you. What's up with you?"

It was probably nothing, but she was feeling a vague sense that something was out of place. The hotel room wasn't usually empty when they returned home. "It's six o'clock," she stated.

Twikk was much more vocal about the oddity. "Yeah, where are Dad and Isaac with the Chinese food? They said they'd be back from the lab an hour earlier with it. I'm starving!"

Cassie shrugged it off and stood up stretching. She walked over to the glass door to look out over the ocean view. The sky was dull grey from the horizon to the bustling beachside section of Thorset Island they were staying in. The Professor, whom even Twikk affectionately referred to as Dad, and his young assistant Isaac hadn't had as much time to enjoy the city as Twikk and she had. They'd come to the city to do some research at the Thorset Satellite Center and were busy for the past few days they'd been here, whereas she and Twikk had come along for the sightseeing. It had been nice getting out of the cramped lab in Sevenstar for a while, but the two researchers had been staying out at the lab later and later every night.

"Maybe they decided to stop by the satellite center before everyone left for the night," Cassie suggested. Her eyes strayed to the beach where several surfers were taking advantage of the waves the storm had blown in. Further down, there appeared to be a small Pokemon battle taking place. Cassie could have sworn she'd seen a sign that forbade battling on the beach.

Twikk lay back on the bed, tapping the remote control with his claws. "The center was closes at 4," he corrected, displaying his capacity for habitual memory. "Whatever it is, I hope they hurry up. I can't wait to dig into a carton of chop suey!"

"Of course you'd be worried about your stomach," Cassie mumbled. "They're grown adults and can take care of themselves just fine. It's probably just taking them awhile to make it back through the city."

"That's right. Now shuffle this deck of cards. I want to play poker," he said nonchalantly. The cards were slipping through his claws sending the deck scattering across the bed. "Er…maybe 52 pickup instead?"

Cassie didn't expect Twikk to be worried. He was always so easygoing when he felt nothing was wrong. But Cassie on the other hand had a much more uptight and worrisome attitude about her. Simply shaking the nagging feeling that something might have gone wrong wasn't as easy for her. She twirled her hair between her fingers, and looked nervously at the room door. "I'm going to take a shower," she announced. "If they aren't back by the time I get out, we'll assume something's wrong. Okay?"

Twikk simply nodded giving up on the mess of cards and engrossing himself in an old black and white movie he'd found playing on TV.

But by the time Cassie had gotten out of the shower her tenseness and worries evaporated with the steam. She could smell food and hear the voices of Isaac and the professor talking like nothing was wrong. Quickly, she dried off, put on some sweats and a light tank top, and wrapped the towel around her wet hair.

She opened the door to see Professor Lemuria sitting at the hotel room's desk, sipping some egg drop soup straight from the container. He saw Cassie come out from the bathroom and set the soup container down. His glasses were fogged up from the steaming food.

"Cassie! At least I think that's you," he said, lowering his glasses to get a better view. "Ah, of course it is you. Haha. Here, have some lo mein. I had to save you some otherwise your sweet and selfless Pokemon would have eaten it all."

Twikk was seated on the bed with his face tucked inside a cardboard container full of chop suey. "Sorry," he murmured through a mouthful of bean sprouts. "Hungry."

Cassie smiled and shrugged. "Thanks, Dad," she said grabbing a pair of chopsticks and the foam container that held her portion of food. Sitting next to Twikk, she took a bite and asked what had been the hold up.

The young man sitting on the edge of the bed opposite them was the one to answer. "The story is quite fascinating actually," Isaac said brushing his long curly hair out of his eyes. His face was conquered by an impressive amount of acne, but it was far from making him an unattractive person.

The professor nodded. "Isaac's very excited about this. It could be his first real discovery while researching in the Mantu region. And I'll admit, it's still pretty exciting for me, too," he added with a wink.

Cassie felt herself sharing the same excitement as Isaac. She always got this way when her adoptive father talked about his scientific breakthroughs. To anyone else it would seem geeky, but she'd grown up with these people for eleven years and they were more than used to sharing the same interests among each other.

"So what is it? A new discovery for sure? A new Pokemon species? Another planet?" She rattled off everything she imagined could be creating such a buzz between the two scientists.

Isaac shook his head. "Nope. Probably even better. You see, for the past few days we've been at the satellite center studying mainly the oceans through satellite images. I worked for a semester at the Hoenn Weather Institution when I was in college, so the scientists were glad to call your dad and I over here to give a second opinion. They weren't going to release it to the press or embark on any marine studies unless it was true, but they thought they spotted a massive pod of Wailmer traveling from Hoenn toward the waters of Thorset Island. And they suspected that if this was true, then weather patterns may have been causing the mass migration."

Twikk's eyes widened. "Why on Earth would they come here all the way from Hoenn?"

"We had the same reaction," the professor said leaning back in his chair and folding his hands. "We phoned researchers from the Slateport Oceanography Museum in Hoenn to see if they'd noticed anything unusual with their Wailmer pods, but they said everything was fine. The Wailmer who resided off the coast there were happy with their environment, evolving, and even breeding. Despite Slateport being an oceanside city, the waters are in pristine condition. Slateport has strict regulations on its water cleanliness. All weather conditions were normal as well.

"Well, since that was to no avail, some of us continued calling all the coastal cities in Hoenn while others in the satellite center began searching the ocean slightly beyond where the Wailmer pod was first sighted."

Cassie chewed her lo mein in thought. "What's so special about a Wailmer pod anyways?"

"Wailmer are mammalian Pokemon and they breathe air, just like land Pokemon and even humans. This is the family of Pokemon we are most similar to in our own genetic design, if you can imagine that. Because of this similarity, if a Wailmer pod begins a mass migration, then that is a major warning sign that something in the area could be just as dangerous to humans as well, such as rapid climate change or potentially dangerous water conditions in an area," Isaac explained. "So it's only natural we were rushing to find out where the reported pod had migrated from. And after we'd gotten fruitless calls over three days from all the Hoenn oceanographers, we'd given up hope that the pod had even existed at all."

"Maybe they all died," Twikk suggested. Cassie smacked him across the snout and glared. "Well it could have happened!" She winced a bit and rubbed her hand from smacking her spiky Pokemon, but her interest was at its peak. Was something bad happening somewhere?

"Twikk's actually right," Isaac said. He stood up and started pacing the length of the bed slowly. "Which brings us to tonight. We had left another day at the center disappointed and hopeless. But I was forming some theories in my head. What if it wasn't a Wailmer pod they had seen?"

The professor chuckled. "You should have seen him pacing like a madman in the Chinese restaurant. He was scaring the other customers."

Isaac cleared his throat. "Yes, well the idea hit me as we were leaving and I told the professor I wanted to go back to the lab and take a look at the image they'd shot of the pod. We had a spare key so it was fairly easy to get in and look at what we needed to…"

"And?" Cassie urged as Isaac trailed off obviously to build suspense.

"I discovered that it wasn't a pod of Wailmer at all," he said grinning from ear to ear. He was obviously bursting to say this. "It's a landmass!"

Cassie tried not to show the disappointment on her face. She hoped it would be a more earth-shattering discovery, but Isaac was thrilled, so she faked a smile. "That's great! But how did you spend three days searching without finding it again or figuring out it was really an island?"

The professor shrugged. "It didn't resemble what we thought we were looking for. Even scientists can make stupid mistakes."

"Although," Isaac added smugly, "we did manage to track the major pods of Wailmer in and around Thorset Island and the rest of Stormpoint bay and it seems that in the past few days several of the pods have made quite a bit of headway out of the bay. So I've come up with another theory. Perhaps this landmass is where the Wailmer rest before heading north to Hoenn. I have a feeling that most of the pods in our seas right now are not native to Mantu."

The professor tossed his empty container into the trashcan and leaned back in his chair, satisfied. "Ah, yes. But the current hype is truly over this unexplored island, naturally, as it's been untouched by humans. And of course Isaac is getting the credit for the discovery." The two scientists were absolutely glowing with pride and Cassie laughed as they high-fived like teenage boys.

She turned to Twikk to joke with him about the professors, but he appeared lost in thought, an unreadable expression on his face. Cassie could see it wasn't the time to disturb him.

"Does that mean we're going to stay here longer while you discuss it with the other researchers?" she asked. "I don't mind," she added quickly as the professor opened his mouth no doubt to apologize about the delay. "I'm really excited about the discovery. I like Thorset Island. There's a lot to do here and at least you come back to the hotel at night."

Isaac laid a hand on Cassie's shoulder. "That's not quite the case," he began. "We've already contacted the researchers. They figure it's better they continue satellite work on this themselves now that they know what they're really looking for. The center was getting kind of crowded with all of us researchers running around."

"So we're going back home to the lab?" she asked figuring that her suggestion wasn't the case either. The professor shook his head.

"The satellite lab paid us a generous amount for our help and," he took a deep breath, "they've arranged an expedition to the island to scout the area and research what's there."

"That's great!" Cassie exclaimed leaping up. She gave a great bear hug to Isaac, thrilled at the prospect of adventure to come. "When do we leave? I'll start packing up as soon as you say."

Both scientists were silent. The rain spattering the windows was all she could hear. Cassie could sense something wasn't right with this seemingly perfect situation. "What?" she asked cautiously.

Professor Lemuria stood from his chair and sighed. "Cassie, can I have a word with you out in the hall?" She stood also and followed the professor out into the hall, a ball of dread forming in her stomach.

The professor ran a hand through his short gray hair after he'd closed their room's door. He looked nervous and lost for words, two things the professor never was.

"Cassandra," he said calling her by her full name, "your eighteenth birthday is only a few weeks away. I had a feeling this talk would come up soon enough." Cassie felt an uneasy tenseness between them that she'd never felt before. "You have proven to me and the entire world over that you are a more than capable young lady. I've always been proud to call you my daughter."

Cassie felt her throat tighten. Ever since she'd started living with the professor, she'd hardly ever thought of her real parents. Yet at this emotional moment between her and the man she'd viewed as a father for so long, she could see their faces forming clearly in her mind.

"Many young people these days choose to follow their parents' footsteps in life. Your parents, as I'm sure you knew, were both great people in society. Your mother was a great nurse whom I had had the pleasure of meeting after I'd broken my leg on the job. And your father," he said with an almost wistful note in his voice. "Was a rising star among the world of Pokemon trainers."

She stared at the ground as her dad's face burned bright in her brain. "He was on his way to the Pokemon league he told us."

"Indeed he was," echoed Professor Lemuria. "Cassie, I'll understand if you want to follow in his footsteps. The life of a Pokemon trainer is rugged, tough, and grueling, but it appeals to most young people. Every trainer I've met tells me the hard work pays off in the end." He smiled, but Cassie could see it was empty. "You're a very intelligent girl. I know you'll succeed at whatever you try. I'd like to see you happy, no matter what you choose to do."

She caught the point of the confrontation now. Cassie knew so little about the life of a trainer except that it involved fighting. She'd always wanted to do something she knew she could succeed in. The professor obviously thought that she'd want to begin the path of a trainer and in doing so, leave him, the lab, Isaac, and everything she knew behind to follow her father's path. Maybe it would even mean leaving behind Twikk…

"Dad…" she began, searching for the words she wanted to say. "I just want to say that I am proud of what my parents did in their life, but I know only one thing in this world now. And that's that I want to know everything about it." She felt tears threatening to leak out of her eyes. "I want to be like you and Isaac. I want to learn to be a scientst."

Without warning the professor exclaimed his excitement laughing and grabbing Cassie in a bone crushing hug. She too joined in the laughing and hugged him back.

"I could see you wanted to do this ever since you taught Twikk how to speak," he sobbed. "You have a gift, Cassie. You are incredibly smart. I'd hate to see you waste it in any way."

"So can I come with you on your trip?" Cassie asked eagerly. "There's no better way to get started!"

The professor shook his head. "Listen, Cassie. I'm giving you and Twikk the pay from the work at the satellite center. I want you to stay here. Pay for your stay at the hotel, food, anything else you need. It should be enough for two weeks."

"Two weeks?" Cassie blurted, her happiness fading. "You want me to stay here for two weeks? Alone?"

"Maybe not that long. But I just don't think you should come with us on this exploration. I know you're eager, Cassie, but we don't know what's on this island. It could be dangerous." The professor took Cassie's hand. "I don't want anything to happen to you."

She felt numb. What could she say? She couldn't argue with him. Not after what they'd just talked about.

"Okay," she said mechanically. "But what if something happens to you?

"Don't worry about me," he said with a smile. "When it comes to dangerous situations, I've handled a lifetime's worth. It's Isaac I'll need to worry about. He studied rocks before he met me. Rocks!" He opened the door with his room key and slipped back inside chuckling. Cassie indicated she would remain in the hall for a few minutes longer and was left alone in the quiet passage way.

For some reason, Cassie didn't feel as disappointed as she thought she should have. Maybe it was because she was twirling her hair and thinking. She knew she couldn't just take no for an answer. Not after the conversation they'd just had and not when this was the perfect chance to start studying new things. This was a once in a lifetime chance and she wasn't going to let the professor tell her she couldn't experience it. In the next four minutes, she formed a plan and couldn't wipe the smile off her face. Cassandra Lemuria was going to stow away!

So here's the second chapter! I apologize if anything is getting confusing or hard to follow. I understand that stories involving new regions and Pokemon can be annoying and that Pokemon that can talk are an overdone cliche, but I'm not promising that this will be all that different or unique. I would just say give it a chance. You'll get used to it. If you need some help visualizing the characters or regions, I have a few links to drawings of the Pokemon that will be appearing and a full map of the region available.

Thanks for reading if you did! And I would like some feedback on how I'm doing. Some questions to answer: Is the region believable? Are the characters personalities developing well? Is the plot moving too slow or too fast? Let me know what you think and I promise it will help me improve your story-going experience overall.