VulpixTrainer: First off, sorry about the slight gap between chapters, but let's just say that my summer has been a busy one and I've had massive writers block. So now that that is done, on with the disclaimer.
Shadow Moon: VT owns the plot, as well as character development. The template of Pokemon, however, belongs to Nintendo and Game Freaks, INC.
Aftermath
Matt was standing in the front entry, tapping his left foot as he looked at his watch again. Where is Kite? Dad said that he would pay for the disruption by sending me to Celadon City directly, and when dad gets an idea he won't take no for an answer. Matt just smiled at the memory of his Dad's failed attempt at helping the Sparks get rid of the silly spearow that makes his nest in their attic.
"Okay, Matt, I am ready to go," a voice rang out from the upstairs. Matt, hearing this, just froze and closed his eyes as his mother came down the stairs wearing a Flower dress with a straw hat on her head, but when she came in front of him she said something that put him somewhat at ease. "So you don't mind if I hitch a ride to go shopping in Celadon?" Matt only shook his head no. She smiled and looked around for Tim. "Now where did he go? Also, before you go I want to check your temperature, just to see that it's gone down. After all, you are up and about now as well and not complaining about chills, so…"
At that moment a puff of smoke appeared in the front entry hallway, followed by laughter that turned to coughing. Both mother and son, getting over the shock, just began to laugh, and they laughed even harder as the smoke cleared to reveal Timothy Vixen dressed as a magician and standing next to his Alakazam.
"Tim, you are not going out and doing magic tricks in front of the Department store… Wait, it's the tenth, so you are doing your show for the children's hospital, aren't you? How soon I forget." She then laughed at how foolish she had been
"Dad, where are Becky and Ethan?" Matt asked, looking around the room for them. In the sudden moment he had forgotten that Dad was to pick them up from some last minute shopping, seeing as Matt was not allowed out of his mom's sight after she found out he had a one hundred and three temperature. In Ninetales terms this was a little low, but still it was high for a normal human.
"They should be around here somewhere… now…" At this, Alakazam lifted both spoons, which glowed blue, and they phased into being, first looking like ghost and then becoming more and more solid. Both were grinning as they came into focus.
"BOO!" they both shouted when the teleport was complete and they had fully appeared in front of the group. Eve was standing next to Ethan and the expression on her face was one of boredom as Ethan yelled out his greeting. Ruth was perched on Becky's head, sparking her checks in an ominous way.
Matt only rolled his eyes, but Matt and Firestorm were both laughing their heads off at the antics that the threesome had pulled off.
Suddenly, Matt felt a jolt, and then the room around him disappeared. To him it looked as if it became multicolored clay and then began to melt around him.
As Matt watched the mix of colors and changes, he laughed at how a friend had said that to him it had felt like a thousand small needles poking him and that he had traveled through darkness. Everyone was different when teleported; some could handle it, while others avoided it at all costs because it upset their stomachs. By this time the landscape had begun to change again, becoming more solid, and soon he could see a building take shape. Soon it had the telltale pokeball on the roof and sliding doors that lead into the interior of the center. Matt, as soon as he could, looked around him and sighed in relief at not seeing anything to jump him. Smiling, he then walked into the center, cool as a Seel.
Mr. and Mrs. Vixen looked at each other and the sudden movement of their son, and then his cool walk into the center as if the first part never happened. They could tell that something else was a little wrong, for Becky and Ethan seemed to walk in his shadow and every once in a while look this way or that, almost looking like they were scouting out the area. The parents had some type of instinct that let them know that something was wrong with the kids' actions.
Ethan was the first to the counter, and he handed over his Pokemon, suddenly remembering a question that he wanted to ask the nurse. "Uh, Nurse Joy, how late is the Gym open today?" Ethan asked as he received his team back, Kyle staying in his pokeball, but only in cities. Eve was also in her pokeball, so as to not draw attention to her trainer and companions.
"I'm sorry, but the Gym is closed today due to a perfume testing that is being held inside. It will be open to normal battles around noon tomorrow, however." The nurse then turned to attend to Matt and Becky's Pokemon. Smiling to himself, Ethan turned to the booths to scout out a spot for them to eat an early lunch before Mom went out for her shopping trip. Suddenly he stopped, blinking a few times to make sure he was not seeing things. When he looked again he saw nothing to be worried about. Just my imagination. For a second I swore I saw someone in a red bandana. He then glanced at the clock. The time was quarter to ten. Great, so a perfume convention is being held at the Gym. At least we will have a day to train longer than before, but with all the T.R. attacks I think I can take on the Elite Four.
He picked a booth that overlooked a nice little park for Pokemon to relax in along with their trainers. After all, Pokemon battles were only a small part of the duties of a Pokemon Trainer. They were also responsible for their team's well-being, so it would not be uncommon to see trainers setting up games for them to play.
"So," Matthew asked the small group, "what are we going to do today? After all, there is a perfume testing going on in the Gym today." Everyone had finished a light lunch, Ethan having finished off a fifth glass of milk due to a mix-up between two meals. Mr. Vixen was chuckling at the scene.
"Next time we make sure we order something different, okay? That way we don't get each other's meals," Mr. Vixen said as he patted his mouth with a paper napkin. He was a lover of spicy food, along with hot sauce.
"Well," Mrs. Vixen said as she started into the conversation, "I would like to see what is happening at this perfume testing. What do you say?"
"No thank you, I have that magic show to do, remember?" Mr. Vixen said in a causal tone of voice.
"I think I will go with dad. After all, we may find some lost book that needs a home," Matt said, thinking of the prospect of looking for a secondhand bookstore.
"I think I will go with dad. I am not a perfume person," Ethan replied in a hasty voice, conveying his feelings clearly in his voice.
"I'll go with you, Mrs. Vixen. I won't mind being around perfume," Becky said, a look of wonder in her eyes. She had never been to a perfume testing.
"Okay, so I guess we have this all planed. How about we meet back at that park over there?" Matt said, pointing to the park outside the window. "Say around five? After we meet up the three of us will do some training in the training area of town. Well, let's get moving."
As they got up and left they failed to notice that someone had been eavesdropping on their conversation. The person then got up and followed after them after a small moment, careful to finish stuffing a red bandana into their side backpack pocket.
(Cerulean Children's Hospital)
"Now, Matthew, I hope it's all right if I take you away from watching your father perform for the children?" Doctor Green asked as he walked away from Matt, who was lying down on a bed. Matt then got up and put his shirt back on. He had been asked to have his eco done today. An eco was where they did an ultrasound of the heart to look at it and see how it was functioning and if it needed work on it. They had decided to do one since Doctor Green and Matt was in the same area today. Besides, Matt was due for one anyway.
Doctor Green had now turned back to Matt after washing his hands in a sink that was in the examination room. He looked first at the chart and then at Matt. The look he gave Matt stopped the teen from getting off the bed. Matthew and Firestorm were on the floor near the bed, looking at the doctor as well.
"Matt," Doctor Green began as he faced Matthew Vixen on the table, "I have some grave news." He paused to take a breath. "You are… healthy as a Ponyta." He then broke his serious look with a smile and a grin, making Matt groan at the way he had been egging him on.
"Doctor," Matt whined as he slid off the table to stand in front of him, "you know how much I dislike you doing this false and over-the-top suspense, and you know why I fall for it every time. I can't afford not to."
"Anyway, off you go, and try and catch some more Pokemon, will you? One year already and still only five," Doctor Green yelled after the retreating teen before taking the file back to his office, Withers having already left for a lunch break. He just leaned back in his chair and soon became lost in his thoughts of maybe taking a Saturday off to battle with some old friends of his.
Ethan was waiting outside in the corridor for Matt to finish with his checkup and heart check. "So, how did it go?" he asked as he fell into step beside his older brother.
"He still doesn't expect a thing. To him I am still a kid who has a boring heart and nothing to worry about but the next gym match, which I can say will be the easiest one since we all have at least one fire type each." Matt then, after his little speech, just smirked as they continued down the hall to a row of elevators.
(Outside Celadon Children's Hospital)
"So, Matt, I take it your checkup was okay and nothing was wrong?" Mr. Vixen said as they left the front doors and began to walk down the street in the direction of the main shopping district.
"Yep, everything went a-okay; in fact, I am feeling hungry. Do you think we can stop somewhere to eat?" Matt responded to his dad's question.
"Sure. If I recall correctly, there is a diner somewhere south of the Pokemon Center," Mr. Vixen responded to his son's question about lunch. Soon Matt was in front of everyone due to the fast walk he had developed during his trips to and from the training meadow and around town.
(Mt. Moon Diner)
Matt and Ethan had taken their seats at a table. Timothy had left the two so that he could attend to Renard, seeing as how she wanted him to see which perfume would do the best with her. So Matt and Ethan were at the diner alone and enjoying their meal when, suddenly, someone walked up to the table and sat down without being asked to.
"Well now, how are you doing, Experiments five six six and six one three? I hope you have your strength after all; I don't like seeing my babies as weaklings."
Matt and Ethan just stared wide-eyed at the man sitting across from them, a man wearing a lab coat. He was skinny and a little pale, but his eyes showed something sinister as well as something wrong.
Matt and Firestorm, however, jumped up to an attack position; ready to engage the human if he dared to even try something.
"Please, before you ask any questions, call off your pack members," the scientist commanded in a calm tone, almost bored but with an undercurrent of real power.
Matt looked at him, not trusting him at all, but at the same time had a feeling that he should at least hear the man out. "Very well. Matt, Firestorm, stand down, but if he or anyone else pulls something you are free to your own thoughts." Matt then turned to the man. "Well, speak, or I will get up and leave." Ethan, however, was just holding his hands under the table, but in his hands were two Pokeballs containing Pokemon.
"I am here to tell you that I plan to take you with me. If you don't come, your mom and dad will take your place as hybrids, Ninetales, to be truthful. After all, the Boss only needs two Ninetales Hybrids to complete his goal," the man responded as he leaned back in his chair.
Matt only laughed as he leaned forward, lowering his voice. "You are lying. You want me because of who I became." He then paused before letting out something he had thought about. "I think if I was something like an Umbreon or a Charizard you would not care, but I am a Ninetales, and I take it that Becky and I are your only two, so I can tell you this: touch my family and you will feel a thousand-year curse within a year at most, so leave me alone." Matt then acted like he would get up.
"Oh, I am so sorry that you think that way. You see, I, too, have a surprise." With that the scientist, with lighting-quick speed, threw a Dark Ball right at Ethan and, to Matt's horror, his brother was sucked right into it. The Pokeball that Ethan had been holding dropping to the floor and released Eve. "That Dark Ball myth that you were safe since you had yourself in Ultra Balls was false, something to make…" He never finished, for the ball began to spark and shudder. "What? But this is impossible! I made…" The ball blew up and an angry Umbreon was standing a few paces away, growling with rage and anger. The Umbreon opened his jaws and soon a ball of dark matter began to grow within them.
"Ethan, stop this now," Matt whispered harshly to his brother, but he wouldn't listen to him. Eve stepped up and rubbed her head against Ethan's own, making soothing sounds, but Ethan just shook his head. By this time the ball had reached critical mass and shot forward, only to destroy the chair that the scientist was in. The scientist then appeared on the other side of the diner. A moment later the Scientist got hit over the head by a metal pizza pan. He then went rigid and then slumped forward. Behind the Scientist was someone that Matt had dreaded running into concerning his problem, his mother.
Ethan, on the other hand, had begun to stagger left and right before falling onto his side, breathing shallowly, and Eve began to cry out of fear.
"Mom, keep him occupied while I take this Umbreon to the Center… Where is Dad, anyway?"
"Taking care of Doctor M's henchmen that are standing outside, you'd better get Ethan to the Center now. Kite will take you." At this the Alakazam appeared and took a befuddled Matt, who was staring wide-eyed at his mother and how she knew about it seemed everything.
When he was gone, his mom took a walkie-talkie off her belt and spoke into it. "The secret is safe and sound. Also, we got Daddy sleeping like a baby."
A male voice, not Tim, came back to her. "Roger that, Gold Tail. I'll see you at the den."
"Roger that, Alpha. I hope that Ho-oh looks after all of us now more then ever." She then put the walkie-talkie back on her belt before pulling up the now transformed Dr. M, which gave Mrs. Vixen a start. He even turned himself into a hybrid. This is just great. She then began dragging the Alakazam Hybrid away; making sure that he was still out like a light. Also on her way out she picked up Ethan's Pokebelt, with two Pokeballs still attached to their clips.
VT: I hope you have enjoyed this chapter. I had a hard time trying to decide what to do with it.
Kyle: Sheesh, do I have to keep doing this? I mean, I think they get the point now.