VulpixTrainer: Well here I am again, and with another chapter, number thirty-four. I hope you all like it.
Sir Thief: VT does not own Pokemon; you already know who owns it, so on with my story.
VT: Sir Thief, this is our entire story. You should really stop when you are ahead.
A Rainbow event
Matt, as soon as his eyes adjusted to the indoor light, saw that there was someone sitting behind the counter of the reception desk, something he had never really seen before. Already Ethan was in front of the desk signing in. Matt, at Matthew's heels, followed his alpha to stand behind Ethan. Soon he could sense that Becky had taken up the space behind him, and mom and dad seemed to have discreetly slipped away for the moment. Before Matthew could muse over this, Ethan put down the pen in a way that told Matt, Firestorm, and Matthew that he was upset. Ethan then walked to some of the couches that were behind the small group and plopped down a little bit more roughly than normal for Ethan.
"Next," the young lady called out, looking a little bored and more interested in filing her nails. She then looked at the clock on the desk and muttered, "Just two more minutes and I can get out of this stupid internship for the day. College, who needs it?" She then paused before continuing, "I do."
Matthew just waited patiently for her to stop her whining, and when she didn't look up Matthew then tapped lightly the small desk bell next to a sign that read, Please Ring if no one is at the desk. The lady jumped at the noise and only groaned, "Not another one… two trainers."
"Uh," Matthew grunted in a confused tone, "can you please repeat that?" Matthew said that in a polite voice so as to not sound overbearing or scare the lady.
"I said, Welcome to the Rainbow Badge, Challenger," she replied, putting fake enthusiasm into her voice. "Now please read the note at the top, fill out your name and the pokemon you will use and you will be set to battle Erika." She then thrust the same pen at Matt with a look that said, Be fast about it.
"Vulpix Vul vul pix ix?" (Where did they find this lady, anyway?) Firestorm complained, her ears laid back in annoyance at the woman's attitude.
"That's nice, Firestorm," Matthew said as if the Pokemon had said something nice instead of complaining about someone again. Matthew then turned to read the note and then had to reread it just so that he could understand that he read it correctly.
"We inform our challengers that due to the drought this season I must inform all that no fire-types will be allowed to battle for fear of causing a fire within the greenhouse. We apologize for any inconvenience this has put you in. Enjoy the battle, Erika"
Matthew only grimaced before putting down his two Pokemon, Sir Thief and Stripes, as the others were fire-types.
He then put down his pen in regret, having hoped to use Flare in this gym, it being the safest area to have a good battle, but now he guessed he could always get involved in some sort of street battle.
He then sat down next to Ethan and looked at him, neither one of them saying a thing as they both gazed down at their feet, downtrodden that they could not use their most feisty teammates for a nice, easy battle. Basically, everyone felt that they needed a break and a time to just unwind a little bit, but so far every time they tried that, Team Rocket or some other disaster would strike them then and there. So now they had another hard battle ahead due to a stupid drought.
Soon Becky joined the two stewing kids, her face also showing the shock of this small roadblock, but when she spoke she sounded a little bit more encouraging. "So, who are you going to use? I am going to use Ruth and Flyer. I find it a challenge to have to use Pokemon that would not have the same advantage as fire against grass. Just see it as another challenge to overcome." Her voice sounded happy but also hollow. After last night an air of depression had hung over their heads and this had only made it worse.
"Becky," Matthew said with pain in his voice, "do you think we want to face another hard challenge? I feel burned out, almost ready to throw in the towel and crawl to the briar patch in the National Forest." Matt and Firestorm were both shocked at what their trainer, their alpha, had just said, his voice showing no jokes, no lighthearted way of getting off the pressure. They had hit it: a place that could lead two ways, neither one known, but one was good and one was bad.
Becky only smiled faintly before continuing, "I thought so, I hope you're glad with this, but I have signed up for later times so as to give us time to just gather our thoughts and maybe just relax." Her voice at this sounded almost strained at trying to keep up the cheery mood, but due to them being part Pokemon they could tell when something was faked, even with each other.
"Thanks, Becky, but we may not be ready to battle today. You may want to change our time to tomorrow." He then leaned backwards, his mood still grumpy and just worn out. Soon all three were asleep, snoozing a little. The female at the desk only shook her head and quietly took the sheet with the three's names and threw it away, disgusted at how people were still battling. She then, seeing that she was one minute over, got up and walked out even though no one else had come to relieve her.
Matthew looked around himself. He felt disordered and slightly woozy. His eyesight was blurry for a moment, but when it cleared he was even more shocked. It seemed that he was in the back of some sort of lecture hall looking down rows of desks sloping down to a floor space that had a dry-erase board and someone dressed in his Sunday best: black pants, a white shirt with a black vest over the white shirt and a gold chain that shimmered in the light produced from the overhead lights.
"So, how are you feeling today?" a female voice whispered in his right ear, completely scaring him out of his skin. Whipping around, he stared at what he hoped to be some kind of dream. There, leaning against the wall, was the Rainbow Lady, smiling coyly. "So what do you think about this setting?"
"This is a dream; I am asleep in the Celadon Gym waiting for Erika. This cannot be real," Matthew muttered to himself, hoping that when he opened his eyes he would be in the Celadon Gym Lobby. He opened his eyes and he was in the same spot and place.
"Now may I continue?" She didn't wait for him to say anything before rushing into what she wanted to say, "Yes, this is kind of a dream. You see, you are at a crossroad and what you decide today will shape the future. So far as you can see later you are on the right track, but I fear that without this lesson all will be lost. I don't like doing this, but Clarence tells me it is imperative for me to show you this scene."
At that moment people began to walk into the room. There had been no bell or any other sound to mark a class to begin. It was soon after that Matthew realized that this was a college classroom. What shocked him even more was the fifth person to walk into the room. It was a male, but he had Pikachu ears sticking up with his face covered in a fuzzy yellow fur, his checks were red-colored pouches for storing the electricity, and finally he had a yellow zigzag tail coming from jeans that seemed to be made for him. Soon even more people came pouring into the room. It soon became apparent to Matthew that the Pikachu hybrid was not a rare case; there were many others, including a young female Vulpix hybrid with glasses making her look brainy, a Raichu hybrid, a Flareon hybrid, and then the last one to walk into the room and even take a seat right in front of him was a Mightynea hybrid. Matthew instinctively bristled for an attack but nothing happened.
A hand fell on Matthew's shoulder and, turning, he saw the Rainbow Lady, as he calls her, look over the audience, a look in her eyes that he noticed had that piercing gaze of a bird of prey, but they had a kind of emotion almost like pride on seeing the sight. Soon the room quieted down and Wolfie, as Matthew nicknamed him, put his head down and fell asleep. Matthew was right then and there tempted to tweak the dark-type's ear to wake him up but restrained himself.
"Go ahead, wake him up. I think this lesson he should listen to as well as you." The rainbow lady removed her hand from his shoulder and Matthew, smiling like a fox about to pull a great prank on his hunters, went up and gently tweaked the Mightyena's ear. He darted up and looked around, but he was the only one at that section of table, so he was about to put his head down when the professor at the bottom of the lecture hall called out to the newly awakened Pokemon hybrid.
"So good of you to join us today, Spike. Now, can you tell me what today's lesson is on?" He had now turned around, having finished writing whatever he was writing on the board, but Matthew couldn't make out what it said.
Spike just made a snort before calling out to the professor, "Some dead famous human, of course." His voice had a growl in it. "I mean, why we would be all together?"
"Well, you are correct that he is famous, but no, he is not human. In fact, he helped show that you can be here as well, and not be kept as status symbols." This caused some of the Pokemon to bristle at his comment, but nothing else happened. "Care to try again, Spike?" The professor was showing no signs of letting Spike off now that he had gotten an answer out of him.
"Bah, why should I care? He's long dead. I don't see why we must learn of dead people. We should learn more on our attacks and bloodlines." He was smirking now at what he was saying.
Matthew was now really bristling at how this young adult was tossing around history like it was some chew toy. Matthew was so mad that he didn't even correct himself on his comparisons between canine things and human things.
"No, believe it or not, the one we are to talk about in this two-hour class is still alive." His voice had a hidden twinkle to it that only the Pokemon could read. Even the Mightyena perked up at the tone shift.
"What?" Spike called out. "Then why is he in history? Especially during the Human era?" He would have gone on, by the looks of things, but the professor only shushed him before talking again.
"You had your chance, Spike, but I will let someone else have a crack at the question now. But I think you will find it interesting to hear of who he is. Anyone else care to answer who we are talking about?"
About five hands went up, all of them either a paw or a wing. The professor called on the wing of a Fearow hybrid who had a flowing dress so as to have the sleeve space for her wing feathers.
"Today we are talking of the sly and downright trickster of a disgrace to hybrids who denied who he was for almost half of his human career to try his best to fit into a world that he could have conquered." Her voice was hard and cold, almost seething like a breath of Articuno.
"Now, as I hope you have read from last week, he had no intention to do such things. All he wanted to do was keep low, and for good reason." The professor then walked to face away from the class and to the board "You see, unlike today, the only documented hybrids were in the service of Team Rocket." At this the class, or at least the hybrid part, stiffened as if he had said a dirty word. The professor only smiled. "I can see that those words still have a sting to them, as they should always have, but time dulls the sting of such names. But no matter, he had good reason to keep hidden. Of course even then there was a movement to shut down Team Rocket, but of course it wouldn't happen till the war…" during his speech Matthew found it harder and harder to hear, and now the room seemed to blur and fade away, all but the Rainbow Lady.
"It is enough; I feel there are enough clues in there for you to understand what you need to do, but be careful. It is what happens these next few weeks that decides what happens, if it will be this future or another one that not even Clarence can tell." At this she, too, began to fade, and before Matthew could even say anything he felt himself being shaken awake.
Matthew slowly opened his eyes and had to squint in the light of the setting sun. Soon he could tell that a shadow was standing over him and then the shadow took shape. It was Erika in jeans and a old shirt, mud on both articles of clothing, a garden spade in one hand and the other one had withdrawn from a shaking Matthew, her eyes showing concern.
"Are you here for a battle, kid?" She asked in a concerned voice, as Matthew looked around and saw Becky and Ethan already up and stretching. Eve had finished stretching and had hopped up next to Ethan and was butting her head in an attempt to get him to stand up.
"Yes, yes I was, but it looks like I missed my chance," Matthew said, looking at his feet before pulling himself up, only to have two angry cries as Matt and Firestorm tumbled to the floor in a heap. They both got up and looked at Matthew with bleary, angry eyes. Matthew looked down at the two Vulpix. "Sorry, I forgot that you were on my lap, so sorry about that."
"Vulpix," (That's okay,) they both said at the same time. They then looked at each other before laughing and rolling on their backs.
"No, not at all. It seems that my receptionist found a crumpled sheet with your times on it, so I will stay extra late so as to accommodate you, but remember, no fire-types," she said with a laugh and exited through two sliding glass doors leading into the garden area of the gym.
Matthew then turned around to face his other two friends with his old fire in his eyes his voice sounding younger than earlier that day. His actions quickly spread through the other two like wildfire and they, too, were raring to go and compete for their fourth gym badge. Matthew, as he walked towards the glass doors, tried to remember what he dreamt about but he drew a blank. He just shook it off, thinking that he just needed that long nap to recharge, not knowing that he was making history as he stepped through the doors, whether good or bad, only time would tell. Time would tell.