As we emerged from the underground Alphist hideout, I was covered in a cold, uneasy sweat that made me shiver. Eve put a hand on my shoulder, and I looked over at her.
"Flight. Relax. Just because we know you're Helio's son, doesn't mean you're suddenly super evil. We aren't gonna suddenly think you're Dempha incarnate." Eve smiled at me, and I felt a bit of the malice towards me stop. Her choice of words made me shudder… Dempha, the Pokemon formed of pure hatred and anger, the demon that slept below the land, with the power to tear you, and any memory and trace of you, from this realm of existence and banish you to the darkest, most horrible parts of hell, where only the light of Arkega could save you. Arkega is the angel Pokemon, the counterpart to Dempha, and the two have been at odds since before time began. The power in those two Pokemon is greater than the rest of them put together. I stepped out into the cool night air and looked back at Eve.
"Still… Maylee's still looking at me funny. I'm sure she suspects something of me, now that we know my real parentage." I shook my head sadly, and I could sense Eve's sadness at my current conflict. She held my hand as we walked back to the hotel, and that small gesture from her made me feel a little happier. Back at the hotel room, Jun clicked the lock on the door, and pushed it open. Our group streamed gratefully into the room, and slumped down onto whatever object we could put ourselves on. Jun stood up and addressed the group.
"Well, team, it's time we take a load off. We've been working ourselves to the bone, and we could use a couple days' rest before we set off to Central. Let's just take a day or two and enjoy Shinesky, maybe do some shopping or challenge the Gym. Meeting dismissed." Jun waved his hand in dismissal, and we all started doing various tasks. Igneo booked it to the bathroom, Maylee started reading a magazine, and Eve pulled out her X-Pad and, wordlessly, Luca got up and turned on the TV. Eve pulled out a cable and a small electronic box, and hooked it up to the TV. She pressed a button on the front, and the little button changed from red to blue, and the TV flashed to life. Luca sat down next to her, and appeared to be using his X-Pad to control the TV.
"Eve. What are you two doing?" I asked.
"Luca brought with him an old video game console, and at a store, he bought an old game for it that was on sale. We're playing it right now." when I looked back up, the screen had changed to reveal a bunch of characters, only a handful I recognized. There were some Pokemon in the center that appeared to be playable characters, and I recognized Lucario, Pikachu, and Charizard. Eve scrolled over and selected a girl with blue hair, wielding a sword, and Luca scrolled down and right, and opened up a different menu with another set of characters, and selected a gold-and-red sword-wielding character. Another menu opened, and Luca scrolled over and selected what I assumed to be the stage. It was called "Battlefield." The screen opened to the fighting field, and after a three-second countdown, the two character rushed each other, leaping up into the air and using sword attacks. Eve and Luca's hands were all over their X-Pads, inputting rapid controls with high precision. I watched as the two characters moved across the battlefield, getting hit after hit, until Luca's character wound up for an overhand strike and sent Eve's character flying away. Eve dropped her controller and smiled. "Good game, Luca. You always win, somehow." Luca shrugged and laughed.
"Call it more training. You surpass me in the raw talent category, but I've just practiced more. Again, tomorrow?"
"Of course." Luca turned off the mysterious console and put it back in his backpack. After Luca had won, the name of the character had popped up on the screen. "Roy", it read. I'm guessing the gold-and-red sword-wielder's name was Roy. After about an hour of reading news on my X-Pad and talking to Eve, I turned and looked at her.
"Hey, Eve. There's been something I've been meaning to ask you." Eve turned her head over and looked at me.
"Uh huh? What is it?" I scratched the back of my head and looked around nervously before responding.
"Um… sometime tomorrow… perhaps late in the day… do you want to go to dinner with me?" I looked down nervously.
"Are you… asking me out?" Eve asked, looking at me.
"I guess I am, yeah… I just kinda want to..."
"Of course I'll go! It'll be lots of fun!" she smiled at me and hugged me, and then reached up and clicked off the lamp before resting her head on my chest. It wasn't long before we fell asleep. Many hours later, I opened my eyes to a light, shining into the room. I put my jacket over Eve's eyes as to not wake her, and she made a "Mmmm" sound, and turned over. I was about to fall back asleep when the light hit me again, and I angrily resigned myself to sitting, waiting for people to wake up. Some of the group had already cleared out. Luca and Maylee were nowhere to be found, neither were Jun or Dakota. I assumed they had all gone out as a group. Igneo was passed out in a chair. Mayva was sleeping on a bean-bag, and Zekara was lying awkwardly next to her. The way those two were sharing the bean-bag was the way a married couple would share a bed. I laughed a bit, and Eve raised her head and looked at me drowsily. "Flight… I didn't have a good dream." I looked down at her and spoke.
"Well, what was it about?" Eve looked up, then started to speak.
"I was looking at a destroyed, deserted land… long forgone by generations. There were three people, a boy with brown hair, wearing torn clothes, another, taller boy, wearing tattered robe's looking like Luca's, and a girl with snow-white hair, wearing a pink trenchcoat and leggings. They were walking through the barren place, looking like they were searching for… something. What, I don't know." Eve stood up and shook herself off. About the same time, Igneo stood up and rubbed his eyes.
"Flight… where are we off to today?" Igneo looked over at me, and I shrugged.
"I don't know. Let's just wander around. Maybe look for a restaurant for tonight." I looked over at Eve, and she smiled at me. I opened the door and waved Eve out of it, and followed behind. I stopped and waited while Igneo locked up. The three of us set off, walking down whichever street we pleased.
"Oh! Flight, a stone store! I'll just be a minute." Igneo dashed inside the stone store, and I could see him going from case to case looking at all the brightly colored, and probably expensive stones, and I cringed as I saw him pick up several and run to go pay for them. He walked back out and held out the stones. "Aren't they awesome?" he asked, and smiled.
"Igneo… how much did those cost…?" I looked at him apprehensively, and he replied "2000P, or so." I breathed a sigh of relief and waved for us to continue walking. I rounded a corner, and Eve's eyes lit up.
"X-Pad accessory store! I'll be riiiiight back!" she pushed open the store door, and started looking at all the stuff on the shelves. I watched her pick up item after item, and eventually walked over and paid for them, then walked back out. "Want to see what I got?"
"Yeah, sure, I guess." Eve held open the bag, and started taking out each item individually.
"This one is a cute case with flowers." I watched as Eve took out her X-Pad and snapped on the case. It fit perfectly, no surprise. She reached into the bag and pulled out a black box that I recognized from the night before. "This is a Nplayer. Why it's called that, I dunno. You plug it in to your TV and connect your X-Pad to it, and you can play all sorts of old video games on it. You know, the ones released several decades ago?" she handed me the box, and I turned it over in my hands. "They've reformatted all the old games to work on these things. I bought three." she reached into the bag and pulled out three small game cases. I read the titles aloud.
"The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, Super Mario Galaxy, and EarthBound. Why those three?" I handed her back the three games.
"The store guy said they were really good, and all were on sale. I can't wait to get back and play them. Also, there's this last thing." Eve pulled out a small case that looked similar to the other three, yet way different. The title read "Smogon: The Ultimate Pokemon." I handed the case back to her. "It's an interactive program based on a long-dead Pokemon training thing. It's supposed to help you train your Pokemon to their full potential." she stuffed everything back into the bag, and we resumed walking. I didn't even want to ask her how much those had cost. There was no way she even remotely knew what the concept of money management was. I remember, when we were about eight years old, after spending the entire day holding hands for some reason, someone had lightheartedly teased up about one day being married. Later that day, Eve had taken an expensive ring from a jewelry store and told me we were gonna be married that day. The shopkeeper had demanded a refund, and an irate Juliana had to fork over her entire bank account. Eve got to keep the ring, so that was a bit of a plus. We hadn't taken more than a few steps when I heard a voice.
"Hey. I need your help." I turned and my hand instinctively dropped to my katana before I saw who it was. It was a girl, about my age, wearing tattered, torn clothes. There was no way she was able to live a comfortable life.
"You… need our help? Why us?" I asked.
"You're new around here. I don't recognize you. Everyone who lives around here has already refused us help." the girl shook her head sadly, and I couldn't help but feel pity for her.
"Well… can I get your name, at least?"
"My name is Julu. I live over that way." Julu pointed down an alley. As I looked, I saw a place that even if I was paid, I wouldn't want to walk down… that girl lived there?! I was appalled… but I reluctantly agreed to follow her in. Eve cringed as Julu opened the rusted gate, and waved the three of us in. As we were walking, Igneo tapped my shoulder. I turned my head and looked at him.
"What is it, dude?" he laughed a bit, then whispered.
"She's cute, Flight." stunned, I took a look at Julu, and I was surprised to see that he was right. Julu was actually really cute. I had a bit of a different view about this girl as she lead the three of us through the dark alley, over boxes and sewage water. Eventually, she led us to a rotting door, and pushed it open. We followed her inside. The stench of sickness was real and immediate, and it almost made me want to throw up, but I held my throat and followed her in. I could see Eve looking nauseous, and Igneo wasn't looking too awesome either.
"Well, this is where I live. I'm aware it's disgusting, but I… really need your help. My mother and brother have fallen ill, and my father's long hours away from home don't help any either. Anything you have… would be very much appreciated." Julu looked at our group, and, no surprise, Igneo was the first to start rummaging through his pockets. He pulled out a fat wad of cash and handed it to her. Her eyes widened as she counted. "Thanks. I really appreciate the effort. By the way, I didn't catch your names."
"I'm Flight," I responded. "This is Eve, and this here is Igneo." Igneo gave a small wave, and Eve just sorta held her nose and smiled.
"Thanks for the help, uh… Igneo," Julu said. "Is there anything I can do in return for you? I don't have much..." she frowned and looked down.
"I guess there is one thing you can do for me," Igneo replied, and smiled a bit.
"Oh? What would that be?" Julu asked, and folded her hands.
"Um… come with us as we travel the region?" he asked quickly, and Eve looked at him like he had grown a second head.
"Are you crazy? There's already nine of us!" Eve shook her head, but I took a few second to think of an answer.
"I don't see why not. After all, the more the merrier. I say we let her come." Julu looked at me.
"So… I'm just going to travel the region with you three?" she asked, and looked at me oddly.
"Nope. There are nine of us. You'll make ten. Do you want to come?" I asked.
"Well… I guess so. But let me ask my parents, and I'll need to help them before I go." Julu walked into another room and walked back out a few minutes later. "They agree. However, I need to help them before I leave." Julu walked back into the room and then walked back out several minutes later without the wad of cash in her hand. "Where do we go first…?" she asked, and looked at us.
"Well, right now, we're just walking around the city." I gestured outside, and without words, the four of us walked out. "Eve. Take some of the money you have and go buy Julu some clothes, would you? I don't want her walking around Islaa half-clothed." Eve nodded her head. "However, all of us, stay together." As I finished speaking, I started hearing noises, like a woman's scream. My hand dropped to my belt, holding Searline's Pokeball, and I followed the noises. "Get behind me, everyone." I waved the rest of the group behind me, and turned a corner to see a man in a silver uniform and a Pokemon harassing a woman as she was crouching on the ground, holding out what looking like a purse.
"Team Corona… I should have guessed. Flight, you handle this." Eve nodded at me, and I rounded the corner.
"I advise you get away from that woman." I used my most intimidating voice, but with a Druddigon staring me down. The man turned and looked at me, and laughed.
"Are you here to rescue this woman? Give me a break, you can't be older than sixteen."
"I'm fifteen, and yes, I am. If you don't get away from her, I will have no reason not to end your life here." I picked Searline's Pokeball into my hand and tossed it on the ground. With a roar, Searline landed on the ground and glared at the Druddigon. "Searline, Crunch!" I pointed at Druddigon, and Searline leaped into the air, clamping his fangs around Druddigon. With a howl, Druddigon flung Searline off.
"Druddigon. Dragon Claw." Druddigon's claws gleamed blue and red as they slashed across Searline, causing him to roar in pain.
"Searline, hit him with another Crunch!" As I issued the command, Searline clamped his fangs around Druddigon, caused it to crumple to the ground and lie there, still. Searline hopped back to me and bared its fangs again, and the man tossed the woman's purse to the ground and started to run away. I made no motion to stop him, as he had called back his Druddigon. I walked over to the woman and helped her up.
"My thanks. I don't know what would have happened if you wouldnt've showed up. Can I do anything for you in return?" I thought for a second, then responded.
"Get us directions to the Gym, if it isn't too much to ask. It'd be mighty helpful." I smiled, and she nodded her head.
"Follow me." the woman led us through streets, bustling with people, more than I had ever seen. Eventually, after hours of waling, we reached a bright building with giant feathers on it. "This is the Shinesky Gym. It's Flying-type, so if any of your Pokemon know Ice-, Electric-, or Rock-type moves, you'll do fine. The leader, Lisia, is in there. Good luck against her." I smiled and waved the woman goodbye. It was already getting dark- so much for taking Eve out to dinner.
"Well, I'm sorry this didn't turn out quite how I had planned..." I looked over at her and was surprised to find her smiling.
"It was still fun! And honestly, sitting at a table for an hour isn't really my thing. This was far more fun." Eve leaned in next to me and gave me a kiss on the cheek, and I could sense half of the people on the street turning and looking at us. Still bright red in the face, I turned back to the Gym, pushed open the door, and walked inside.