DB: Oh the things I get dragged into...
CJ: Hey, I let you skip over this chapter. You said no.
DB: I said I'd improve every chapter of this story you write and that means every chapter...no matter how embarrassing some parts are.
CJ: Fine whatever.
DB: You mind handling the intro? I've got...well...my own takes on these characters to attend to.
CJ: Yea, yea, go on. Well, as you might've guessed from our discussion; there are some parts of this chapter that are really getting close to the rating limits. It shouldn't be exceeding them, but its still a warning; anyone not a teenager should skip from the first line break to the fifth.
(Stops to think)
CJ: Oh yea, just to get in the habit of this; neither Darkblur nor I own Pokemon or any related trademarks, they are all property of Nintendo/Game Freak. Darkblur owns part of the literary copyrights to this story, and I own the rest as well the OC's Ray, Kara, Blaze, and any others. That's done; go ahead and read.
~!~
Chapter 5 An Eventful Interlude
A small figure cracks open an eye as the rising sun bathes him in light. He scowls and moves into the shade created by a nearby chimmney, anxious to stay out of the bright light. "Damn sun...and I was napping so nicely," he grunts to himself.
Some soft chirping draws his attention away from the star, pulling it to a small flock of Pidgey across from him, chirping and rustling themselves as they wake up.
The figure growls before releasing a small lightning-bolt at the birds, getting them to scatter.
He smirks to himself, revealing a single, pointed fang. "Now I feel better."
A crackling on his radio draws his attention, and he quickly flips it open while hissing "What?!"
His eyes quickly widen, "N-Number 01! My apologies."
He listens intently for about a minute before nodding, "Understood. You can count on me. Over and out." He clicks the radio off before quickly glaring at it. "Pompous bitch." he adds before leaping away to a nearby roof.
"She may have frightened everyone else, but I'm not as easily rattled."
~!~
Ray woke up with a yawn, craning his Lati head left and right to look around. He grunts upon remembering that he was in his Altomareian apartment. The bed truly was comfortable, both him and Kara fell right to sleep upon hitting the sheets.
He rubs at his eyes with a claw before looking over to see Kara's ear twitch in her sleep. He gently tosses the sheets away, finding that she forgot to remove her vest; but she still seemed to have slept peacefully. The Latios sighs before twisting his neck both ways, getting several loud cracks to ring out.
"That's disgusting..." groans Kara's voice as she rolls over, hiding her face from the sun in the window.
Ray smirks before licking the side of her face. "Good morning," he hums, getting her to smile and giggle into the pillow.
The Latios levitates out of the bed and floats out towards the bathroom for a refreshing morning shower, shutting the door behind him, but not noticing that it didn't latch.
Kara's lips curl into a devious smile when her ears don't hear a lock clicking, and the Lucario slips out of bed and sneaks up to the bathroom; quietly slipping in and shutting the door behind her.
Through the frosted glass of the shower door, she could see the silhouette of a Latios leaning forward to turn on the water, completely unaware of his guest.
She blissfully grins upon noticing that the shower was plenty big enough for them both. Kara silently removes her vest and lets it drop to the floor while walking up to the shower. The yellow fur covered her chest, but then she puts her hands on her hips and gently exhales. The blue fur all around her thighs and hips suddenly compresses; clinging tightly to her shapely legs and becoming just as streamlined as the fur on her arms.
Kara quietly slides open the shower door, steps in behind Ray, and shuts the door with her tail...but pulled a little too hard and accidentally slammed it.
Hearing the loud noise spooked Ray as his hand was on the cold water knob, getting him to twist to a full on blast. The figid cold water erupts out of the tap and all over the Dragon-type pokemon, getting him to yelp, leap into the air, and flatten against the roof.
Kara can't help but laugh at her fiance, his adversion to the cold was worse than her aversion to the heat. "Don't think I've seen you move that fast!" she exclaims.
"Kara!" Ray exclaims, both out of shock and embarrassment at seeing her (essentially) nude.
The Lucario chuckles at seeing his face light up red before reaching over and turning down the cold water; reverting the spray to a comfortable pressure and temperature. "Come on down," She says before purring out, "The water's fine..."
Ray gently descends back into the shower, smiling at the warm water washing over him and working through his downy fluff. He's blushing even more furiously when Kara sits down on a small ledge and winks at him.
"So who's going to get clean first?"
~!~
"I think this is the place," Josh says as he and Lucy land on the balcony of Kara and Ray's place while camouflaged. Josh hooks a claw around the handle of the sliding glass door and gives a quick tug to see if it was open. Sure enough, the door slides right out of the way.
Lucy psychically shuts the door behind them while they materialize, a plate of food in the paws; one in each, all holding various breakfast foods.
"It sure was nice for Bianca to make breakfast for them," Lucy smiles.
"I guesh sho,"Josh says through his second bite of bacon, shrugging in the process.
"Big Brother!" Lucy scolds, giving her brother a smack with her wing.
"What?" Josh innocently asks, the end of the bacon strip hanging out of his mouth. He braces for Lucy's lecture about how the food was for their relatives and everything, sighing through his nose
"You've eaten enough of the bacon! Give me some of it!" Lucy exclaims, trying to reach for the bacon plate without dropping the plate of waffles.
Josh pulls the bacon from his mouth before shushing his sister. "Stay quiet! They might still be sleeping."
Right as Lucy turns to check the hallway, Josh pops the rest of his bacon into his mouth. Lucy playfully shoves her brother, but he just triumphantly sticks out his tongue. The two set the plates of food down on the table before floating to the bedroom.
"Uncle Ray?" Lucy softly asks, looking around the corner into the bedroom. It was empty. She raises an eyebrow. "Where'd they..."
She's interrupted by a faint moan from one of the rooms down the hall.
"Are they in here?" Josh asks, slowly opening the bathroom door and poking his head in. Lucy's head come around the corner just above her brother's. Their eyes widen and while their mouths open to scream, Lucy's paw flies out to cover Josh's mouth while his paw does the same to Lucy's. Lying on the floor was a blue vest, and through the frosted glass the two could see the outline of the Latios and Lucario...very close to one another.
Josh and Lucy turn around and quickly hurry back out of the apartment, camouflaging themselves as they fly away; not even bothering to close the sliding glass door.
"Holy..." Josh mutters, speechless. He dives down into one of the canals, hoping the water would help.
Lucy kept flying towards the garden, feeling as if the red was visible through her camouflage. "What in the world...?" Lucy says to herself, before gasping and shaking her head, trying to get rid of the image burned into her mind.
~!~
"What a way to start a day," Kara sighs, watching Ray lower himself enough for her to lie down on his back (She had her leg fur puffed up again and her vest back on by the way).
He deviously smiles, "What a great way to start a day," he corrects in a chuckle.
Kara slides herself down Ray's back, making him shiver.
"Where did you get the idea to do that in the morning?" Ray asks, chewing at the last of his pancake.
"I dunno, just got the idea. Besides, you owed me anyway." Kara giggles, and then looks up at the balcony door, raising an eyebrow and tilting her head. "Did we leave that door open last night?"
~!~
When Ray flew into the garden with Kara, he didn't expect to find Josh dunking his head into the waters of the Soul Dew fountain.
"Uh...Josh? You alright?" Ray asks while Kara hops off his back and walks over to Bianca and Lucy.
"Good morning you two," Kara says giving them a toothy grin.
"Good morning," Bianca replies, giving the pokemon a sly smile. Lucy remains silent, trying to hide the red tint on her face with a claw. It takes the Lucario a few seconds to realize while Lucy was redder than normal, but once she does; she seems to shrink as her face goes beet red too.
"Oh...uhhh..." Kara points towards Blaze, who was lying on his back in a shady area and snoring away. "I'm gonna wake him up." She finishes while speeding away.
Bianca starts giggling while Lucy, out of embarrassment, turns invisible again.
Once beside the overturned Typhlosion, Kara takes a few deep breaths while waving a little air in her face. After settling down, she gives Blaze a nudge (which to a person would feel more like a weak punch) to wake him up.
The Typhlosion snorts before sitting up. "Huh what?" he asks before yawning and revealing all of his large teeth, "It mornin' already?"
Back at the Soul Dew fountain, Ray took a quick peek into Josh's mind, chuckles at what was waiting for him and turns a little red also. "Hoo boy...looks like I've got some explaining to do with today's lesson." he admits, resting a paw over his face.
Pikachu was witness to these strange events, observing the whole ordeal from up on a branch. He tilts his head curiously before leaping down and scurrying away into the workshop; planning on avoiding the awkward moments he was sure would come.
"Alright, no sense in delaying it," Ray announces, "Kara, take the girls and I'll take the guys. We'll go in there." Ray directs motioning to the empty room that was Cyphrus' while he was here. Kara nods at the older Latios, understanding what he was talking about.
"Come on you," Ray says, grabbing Josh by the wing and pulling him into the room; Blaze following after them.
Kara looks at the other girls and gives a 'follow-me' wave, leading them towards another empty room. The two doors shut simultaneously.
"Alright, lets get real here." Ray says, speaking in English to avoid the risk of his telepathy leaking into the girl's room. "You seem to know what mating is, so I don't have to explain the Pidgeots and Beedrills right?" Josh nods.
Blaze turns a little crimson, realizing what he wandered into.
…
"...And that's what sex is," Bianca says to Lucy. The Latias nods.
"Um...in there...was that sex?" Lucy asks.
"Well, sort of," Kara replies, rubbing at the back of her head with a blush spreading over her muzzle.
…
"What do you mean 'sort of'?" Josh asks.
"Lets just say that we hit base three and leave it at that." Ray replies.
"Now, these are the bases..." Blaze starts.
…
"Wait...what's oral?" Lucy asks the two. Bianca leans over and whispers the answer to her ear.
"Isn't that disgusting?" She asks, innocence still present in her words.
Bianca and Kara glance at each other before sighing.
...
"So you two hit base three?" Josh asks, putting up three claws.
Ray shrugs, "Yeah. But hey, you better mate with somebody you're sure you're going to spend the rest of your life with," Ray answers, giving his nephew a hard, serious stare, "And don't have sex before marriage."
…
"Why?" Lucy asks, still speaking out of curiousity. Bianca glances at the Lucario.
"It's not smart," Kara replies, crossing her arms, "Sex is a very powerful thing, it's supposed to strengthen the relationship between two lovers. But the thing is... when done wrong or without care, it can also tear people apart."
"Think of it this way. The two people are like two sheets of paper, and sex is like gluing them together. If you try to tear them apart, they don't split cleanly do they?" Bianca explains, "They always carry pieces of the other when taken apart."
"Wait...but didn't you...do it, before you two got married?" Lucy asks.
…
"Well, we're pokemon, not human. I'm talking human terms for some reason," Ray says, knocking himself on the forehead.
"When we mate, it's a symbol of marriage. That's why you got to mate with the right person buddy," Blaze adds, giving Josh a playful flick on his forehead. Josh's tint of red disappears as he realizes how serious of a matter mating really is.
"Once you're married or surely mated, you can do whatever you want with your mate...with her permission of course. Kara and I are going to publicly and lawfully wed someday," Ray finishes; Josh watched Ray's gold eyes sparkle with excitement.
"How do you know when you find the right person?" Josh asks, getting his uncle to smile.
…
Kara smiles at Lucy, who seemed to have a sheepish smile on her face.
"You just know. You can tell if you two truly love and are meant for each other," Kara wisely replies, "But it isn't all about the physical stuff."
…
"It...isn't?" Josh asks, tilting his head in confusion. He never felt deep feelings for anyone else before, so he didn't quite understand.
"Love is stereotyped too much," Blaze grumbles, shaking his head.
Ray nods in agreement, "Love is when you're willing to spend the rest of your time with her, comfort her when she's down, have fun with her, be close to her as a friend instead of a spouse, and especially when you're willing to put your life on the line for her sake."
…
"Don't ever base a relationship on something as pathetic as wealth or physical appearance. Sure, it's fine to..." Kara shakes her head before smiling, "You'll just know, okay?"
Bianca smiles too, looking at her friend.
"I know you still like that Ash boy, so if you're ever going to be mates with him, marry him first and then seal it with the sign of mating," Kara adds.
Lucy nods, dreaming of Ash. She blushes as her mind fantasizes about their marriage and life together, then her expression pulls a one-eighty as her head droops. "I want him to come back," She says, heartbroken, "I need to tell him how I really feel..."
…
"Should I marry a human, or just be mates with a pokemon?" Josh asks.
Ray and Blaze shrug. "I have no idea, that's all based a bit on what you think." Ray pauses to point at Josh's heart, "And a lot on what that tells ya. Use your own judgment, you'll be good at that." He finishes with a grin. "Now that should about wrap up our talk, time to get back to practice!"
The older Latios gets up and leads the others out of the room.
…
Ray's group finished up just as Kara and the girls finished as well. The two groups meet in the middle of the garden, with Ray smiling at his relatives. "Alright you two, go do some flying exercises over the ocean, we'll be there in a minute. Try the things I taught you yesterday!"
Josh and Lucy nod before flying into the air and vanishing from sight. Blaze stretches before stomping off to go get food, leaving Ray and Kara alone in the garden.
"How'd it go?" Ray asks, transforming into a human.
"She took it well, I kept an eye on her aura and she was more curious than embarrassed. Josh?" Kara replies with her trademark toothy grin.
Ray smirks. "He took it a lot better than I thought; he's really mature about this. Whoever marries him is gonna be lucky girl." Ray's smile suddenly drops as he reaches into his pocket and produces the standard-issue LANCE communicator. He read the text aloud so Kara could hear:
Thugs doing well. Good progress. Nine thugs with houndour at base, other Houndour given lodgings until compatible human matches found. Will keep you informed.
-Lloyd
~!~
"Geez, what up with the uniforms?" JT asks, his Houndour walking proudly beside him. The two are walking down a bright white hallway with white polished tiles. He was wearing a black shirt, slacks, belt, and a gold handkerchief tied loosely around his neck.
"He doesn't take a lot of recruits, especially now. We prefer to be a small organization anyway. You're gonna be the first one out of your group to talk with him," Lloyd says, ignoring the question.
The two reach a set of doors, which open when Lloyd swipes an ID card through the lock. "Good luck."
The door silently closes after JT and the Houndour enter. The room was a bit dark, but there was enough light to illuminate a man with his hand together, chin resting on top.
"You must be that one JT boy that Ray suggested to me," The man says. The room gradually brightens, revealing the man and the eye-patch over his right eye. He had a small beard and moustache, and looked like a very kind person with the small smile present and his eyes closed.
Spread across his desk are an assortment of pens and papers, while on the wall behind him is a sheathed saber that seemed to be large enough for a Machoke. Two windows, one on each side of the ornament, are letting the light enter the room.
"Please, sit." The man says, waving his hand to gesture at the chair in front of his desk. "Your Houndour too."
JT walks forward and sits in the red cushy chair, his Houndour seating herself on a small mat. With a faint whir, a platform beneath the mat lifts the small pokemon up to JT's eye level.
"Well, no need for fancy language. Do you think you have what it takes to be a part of LANCE?" The man asks, opening his eye to reveal a pitch black orb.
"Well, to be honest sir, I just came here because Ray told me to," JT replies. The Houndour seems to laugh. The man turns to the Houndour.
"And this is?"
JT remains silent.
"You don't ever know your partner's name?" the man asks, raising an eyebrow.
JT shakes his head, "We just met."
The man chuckles. "Her name is Iris. Now let me see your hand for a brief second."
JT slowly raised his fist and shows off the scar with a surprised expression.
"Hmm, this isn't bad." The man says, stroking his beard. "And you two just met?"
The Houndour barks, getting him to chuckle again.
"This is very rare, be glad for it."
JT smirks. "I am, so...Iris was it?" The teen asks, turning his head to look at the Houndour. The dog barks to say yes.
"Yes, well...when I look at you two..." The man starts, his smile disappearing. JT looks back at him while his smirk goes away.
"You two don't have what it takes yet. Go back to where you came from, and-" He suddenly stops in mid-sentence and raises his head, as if listening to someone.
"Actually...welcome to the syndicate. I'm pretty sure you will be fine," The man says.
JT blinks, "Oh, well...Thank you!" He gets up and politely bows.
JT turns to leave as Iris hops down from the mat, but both jump backward when they see two Zangoose beside the door, their arms crossed and eyes trained on them. The four eyes watch them leave the room, and they don't look back to the man until they hear receding footsteps.
Once the door shuts, the one of the left speaks up. "You are letting that weak human in?" she asks in a feminine voice.
"I wasn't going to let that street rat in, but looks like the mastermind has different opinions," The man replies.
The Zangoose on the right uncrosses his arms and steps forward, letting the light reflect of his shiny blue fur.
"What did he say?" he asks in a hoarse male voice.
The man gets up, puts his hands behind his back, and turns to look at the window.
"Sir?" The female, also a shiny-colored, asks.
"He says that they have potential, the whole group of them. We're just going to have to trust him."
"Of course you three have to trust me." An icy voice says to the three of them, getting the fur of the Zangoose to crawl.
The male sighs, "I hate when he does that."
~!~
"Well, they're in good shape." Ray remarks, smirking as he watches his relatives fly around over the ocean's surface. He was floating just above the surface, with Kara laying stomach-down on his back and only the warm sun on her back.
"That's good," Kara yawns, slightly drowsy from her soft bed and the warm sun. Ray, using his psychic powers, closely watches the determined faces of his niece and nephew. It seemed as if the little talk didn't have any effect on how close the two were, like they never even had it in the first place.
"Hey! You two! Did you guys stretch first?" Ray yells out in his native tongue. Lucy and Josh stop dead in their tracks, and from down at the water, Ray can see the scared faces of both fledglings.
"Oh boy," Ray says with a smirk, "Get over here!" He rockets towards the two, dropping Kara in the process. She's only saved a free bath by forming a quick aura bubble beneath her.
After sighing at the near-plunge, she looks up at the sky to see Lucy and Josh flying away from Ray, who seemed quite focused on rounding up the two. To be honest, it was quite amusing to see the two smaller Latis flying away from the larger one; who always seemed to be just a claw's length away from catching them.
Finally Ray catches his relatives, holding each one in a firm headlock as he drags them back towards Altomare.
"No no no no no!" Lucy cries, trying to wiggle out of Ray's firm grip. Josh, having quickly discovered that it was futile, just sighs and lets his uncle pull him along.
"Come on Kara, we got to teach these two how important stretching is!" Ray cackles, towing his relatives towards Altomare and activating his camouflage in the process; removing all three from view. Kara can only sigh before following with Extremespeed.
The Lucario rushes along through a canal before leaping up onto a bridge, and then to the rooftops. What she didn't notice, however, was a FUZE agent nearby who saw her leap away. The agent's cloak rustled in the wind caused by Kara, but the person continues on his original path.
However, he also flips open a small communicator and holds it to his ear. "Shadohm? Yes, I've got a lead on one of your targets. Saw it heading west on-" he stops to check a street-sign. "West on Coro-Coro street. Careful, she's on the rooftops."
He nods before clicking off the communicator and putting it away.
~!~
"Now what did I tell you?" Ray asks with an evil look on his face.
"Stretch before practice?" Lucy replies with a whimper.
"Bingo!" Ray exclaims, before noogying both of them with his claws. Both start flailing around in Ray's headlock before being freed. Ray triumphantly laughs before adding, "Come on you two, stretch!"
"Hey Ray," Blaze grunts; getting the Latios to turn around.
"Oh hey, what's up?" he asks.
Just as Blaze was about to speak, he takes notice of Josh and Lucy bending their limbs and bodies into awkward positions. "Are...they supposed to do that?" Blaze asks, sweatdropping.
"Yeah, of course." Ray smiles.
Blaze shakes his head. "Just don't get me to do that...anyway, looks like Sparks found himself a girlfriend." he says, ending with a cheeky smile. Lucy turns her head in interest.
"Sparks?" Ray questions.
"The Pikachu? The one that helped you and Kara move in yesterday?"
"Didn't realize that was his name."
"That's what I call him, lots better than just 'Pikachu'." Blaze grumbles. "Anyway, he's in the workshop with a girl Pikachu named...uh...Amy, was it?"
Ray nods, "So I suppose that's why he wasn't here for our little talk."
Blaze shrugs. "Still can't believe I blundered into helping you with that..."
"Josh and Lucy caught a glimpse of what Kara and I did this morning...so we had to explain it before something bad happened." Ray laughs, getting the Typhlosion to sweatdrop again. "That reminds me...who's the lucky lady?" Ray asks, nudging Blaze with an elbow.
"Her name's Sara..." Blaze admits, sheepishly smiling.
Ray's eyes widen, "Another Typhlosion?"
Blaze nods. "Yep. We were secretly dating, and then became mates right before you two left on your break," Blaze says, smirking a little.
Ray cackles, "You may have won Kara, but you're still not getting chocolate!"
Kara, who had arrived just after Ray and Blaze started talking and was supervising the fledglings, "humph"s while crossing her arms and mumbling something about her precious chocolate.
"Seriously?" Blaze asks, giving Ray an unimpressed look. "You two bet on my relationship?"
Ray claws at his nose like a human would with his thumb. At a faint noise, he and Blaze turn to see Sparks leading Amy into the garden; paw-in-paw. Amy's brown eyes, deeper even than Sparks', widened and sparkled at the sheer size of the place.
"Oh my gosh, when was this here?" Amy asks, referencing the garden and not the three Latis.
Ray glares golden daggers at Sparks, but the male Pikachu just ignores and leads Amy towards them.
"I don't know when it was built, but you can't tell a single person about this place, okay?" Sparks says more than asks.
Amy turns and winks at him, "It's okay. I'm good at keeping secrets," she says, giving him a quick lick on the cheek. If Sparks blushed, the natural red spots hid it well.
Then the two mice look up at the much larger pokemon. Blaze was watching with a smirk while Ray was shaking his head back-and-forth. He gives the two mice another cautious look before turning and chirping at his niece and nephew; telling them that they can stop.
"Amy!" Lucy chirps as the other three pokemon come over.
Amy closed her eyes and looks back up at the Latias. "I recognize that voice! No way! Is it really you?" Lucy smiles and nods.
"You going to introduce her?" Kara asks.
"Oh, right!" Sparks' ears perk up. "Guys, this is Amy." She squeaks a hi, which is returned by everyone; even Ray. His suspicion disappeared when Lucy addressed Amy as a friend.
"So you're Amy. Nice to meet you," Ray says, giving the small pokemon (she was a little smaller than Sparks) a smile and extending a clawed hand towards her. Amy returns the smile before grabbing a single claw and shaking.
"Nice to meet you sir."
"Just call me Ray," He replies before introducing the rest, including Lucy.
"So that's your real name, huh?" Amy's ears droop a little while Sparks' remain up.
"It is now!" Lucy smiles, shapeshifting into a Pikachu. She looks identical to Amy, but her fur has a pinkish tint to it. Her eyes are also a bright gold instead of the normal brown. The three Pikachu quickly bound away with Josh (who remains as a Latios) to start playing.
"Hmm..." Kara mumbles, resting a paw to her chin.
Ray chuckles, "Looks like there's love everywhere." Kara smiles before turning to Blaze, same as Ray.
The Typhlosion takes one look at their devious grins and starts backing away.
"Where do you think you're going, Mr. 'I'm-too-cool-to-share-my-love-life-with-my-best-friends?'" Kara laughs.
Ray joins in before adding, "Come on, let's talk," and resting a paw on Blaze's shoulder. Blaze sweats a little while watching his friends box him against the wall. In the end, Blaze gives in with a sigh.
"Fine. What do you want to know?"
"Is she pregnant?" Ray immediately asks. Kara and Blaze both turn to him with faces redder than Magikarp.
"RAY!" The two simultaneously shout, causing Ray to laugh out loud at their reactions.
After a long pause, Blaze takes a deep breath before nodding; "Yeah..."
Ray and Kara's ears perk up, Ray's laughing stops short, and both turn to him with wide eyes.
"Wait...seriously?" Ray asks, "I was just kidding around!"
"Well...she was. Already laid the egg, it should hatch in another month or so." Blaze admits.
Ray blinks before lighting up with a smile. "Congrats!" He exclaims, patting his buddy on the shoulder. "What're you going to name him?"
"No idea..." Blaze says, "Sara doesn't know of a name either."
"I can't wait until I see that tiny Cyndaquil!" Kara gushes, her tail eagerly swishing about. "Oh! How about Cole?" She suggests.
Blaze turns the name over a few times before nodding. "Not bad."
"How about..." Ray pauses to put a claw to his chin...
"Shawn."
"Shawn?" Blaze asks. Kara looks at Ray with a sad smile. Blaze sighs before pushing his friend's hands away and motions at the grave on the far side of the garden. "Shawn..." he repeats, "You guys saw what was in the boots, right?"
His two friends look at the Typhlosion, whose fists were starting to clench. "N-no, what was in it?" Kara asks, her smile disappearing.
"Never mind..." Blaze almost growls; puffing out a ring of smoke. The other give the Typhlosion a little space... his species is known to cause explosions when angered, but it's mostly to avoid the smoke.
"Poor guy, but I'll look into the name." Blaze smirks, stopping the smoke. Ray returns the smirk before offering a clenched paw for Blaze to hit his into. Blaze solidly hits it before chuckling "Thanks guys. Now, what do we do?"
The Typhlosion lies down, or more aptly falls, backwards into the grass, looking up at the semi-overcast sky through the leaves.
"I dunno. Lucy and the others are having so much fun, it seems mean to make them stop for practice; we might as well look around Altomare and get a feel for the place while they're having fun." Ray admits, turning to watch the three Pikachu leap between Josh and a tree in some version of tag.
"It's shady and cool, pleasant breeze. I'm in." Kara admits, stretching and yawning.
Blaze grunts while throwing himself back to his feet, landing with a good thud. "Sounds good, let's go."
~!~
"Scar right?" DJ asks, speaking to the Houndour sitting at his feet. Not only did the dog have a scar on his right ear, but also one on the eyelids of his right eye, which went unnoticed in the dim lights of the boat.
The Houndour barks a yes, barely glancing over his shoulder. He sat with an erect, distinguished posture, unlike Iris who was partially leaning against JT's legs. The two are still in the formal uniforms and are sitting on a bench, waiting for the rest of their gang to get appraised. DJ is leaning back with his hands behind his head while JT was leaning forward, resting head in hands and elbows on knees.
"Yeah, Scar. That's what that guy said anyway right?" JT asks. To save time, after DJ's meeting, the rest of the gang went in all at once.
"Yeah, guess so," DJ admits, before laughing, "That scar makes you look badass." The Houndour almost seems to laugh at his partner's comment.
"I wonder if we'll be able to actually learn their language, that'll be kinda cool don't you think?" JT asks, watching as Iris yawns before lying down.
"I don't even think that's possible."
"Don't they have a TM for that? I heard a rumor about a TM that teaches a pokemon the Human language," JT says, looking at his friend out of the corner of his eye.
"That's crazy. Can't we have some telepathic dude to help us communicate with them?"
"Like that Ray dude?" JT asks, putting emphasis on 'Ray'.
"Yeah, like that guy. I mean, we could hear everything in our heads. I heard telepathics could speak to pokemon."
"I dunno, we'll see." JT says, bowing his head and grunting. "I miss that bed they gave us, they were ridiculously comfortable."
"Best bed I ever slept in," DJ comments, crossing his legs. After a minute of silence, the Houndour start nodding off; drooping their heads and ears before snapping them upright for a second, then drooping again.
Out of nowhere, JT ruffles his own hair with hands and gives a little shout in frustration. "Why does it have to be so damn boring in this room?!?"
The Houndour snap their eyes open at the human's outburst. Right when he said that, they hear a door slide open and the sound of dress shoes on the white tile floor. JT and DJ get up and see the rest of the gang walking towards them, their Houndour just behind them.
"Well?" DJ asks.
"We're all in!" The first one exclaims, smirking. The same expression is on his Houndour while he walks towards Scar, the two conversing in their own language of low barks.
"Alright all of you, we're going to give you and your pokemon standard medical exams. Get into the elevator and the Mastermind will do the rest," Lloyd says, one hand in his pocket and the other pointing towards the wall with the elevators. One of them opens up on its own, revealing a large, luxurious elevator.
The Houndour and humans give each other strange looks before walking together into the large compartment, plenty big enough to fit a dozen Golem.
"What floor is it?" JT asks, giving a small wave towards the waving Lloyd.
"Don't worry about it." he smirks as the doors close.
"Now what?" DJ asks. Almost to answer him, the second floor button presses itself and the elevator begins descending.
"Welcome to LANCE, I'm very pleased to meet you and your counterparts." Every occupant starts looking around, trying to figure out where the sound was coming from.
"Why, you all look confused," The voice seems to chuckle, "But don't worry, It's natural to be puzzled at the sound of a voice in your hand. You can call me the Mastermind, I am the main leader of the LANCE Syndicate, using my telepathic powers and cutting edge technology to communicate to every member of LANCE. I'm glad to have you onboard."
JT shifts his feet and pets Iris, who was softly growling.
"LANCE was formed not too long ago, and is currently growing in number to a global level already. You will be given exams on your physical and mental health along with your pokemon (or human) counterpart. I'll tell you about how everything works later. Thank you for you cooperation."
"Jeez, sounds like one of those voices you hear about big companies while you're on a tour or something," One gang member says, getting the rest to chuckle a little.
The elevator stops and the doors open, revealing what was probably the most state-of-the-art medical room in the whole world. Doctors and nurses bustled around, carrying clipboards or small bozes of supplies. Surprisingly, very few Chansey were actually visible. Out of the pokemon visible, most of them were Gardevoir, Hypno, and Roselia.
A few rather cute and buxom female nurses walk up to the group along with a Kirlia. "We're here to give you all your exams. Kristine here will take care of your Houndour." One of the nurses says.
The Kirlia nods at the Houndour and leads the dogs in one direction while the women lead the humans in the other direction.
"I have a bad feeling about this," One of the members says, crossing his arms.
"Why?" JT asks, turning to look at him.
He shudders, "Needles..."
~!~
Ray is in his human, smiling as he walks between his two pokemon friends. It was quite abnormal to see a Typhlosion and a Lucario following what appeared to be their trainer, and already some people were asking how he got them.
"I just became friends with them; you'd be surprised at what befriending a pokemon can do." Is Ray's answer to the questions.
It was quite nice today, with a gentle breeze blowing through the streets along with some shade kept Kara and Ray nice and cool. Blaze, however, had his fire going at eighth strength so he was warm and comfortable.
"Floating city huh?" Blaze asks.
"Yeah, also the city of thieves. There's a ton of thieves around Altomare, but they're all just about gone nowadays," Ray says, sticking his hands in his pockets, semi-listening to his footsteps on the stone pavers.
"I can see why, there's a lot of escape tunnels and water canals that can help with a good getaway," Kara says, constantly craning her neck around, noticing every little detail as they walked.
"Raphael was the best thief out there, when we were living off of scraps back then. But then again, being invisible is a nice plus," Ray corrects himself.
Blaze just scoffs. "Easy for you to say, all I see over here is water." Blaze could cut off the fire on his back, but having water around always made the Fire-type a little uncomfortable at times.
"No better for me," Kara shrugs, her steel skeleton more than capable of dragging her down to the ocean floor in seconds.
"We all have our disadvantages," Ray says, leading the way around the corner. He suddenly stops and slaps his forehead. "Shoot!"
Kara and Blaze turn to him immediately. "What's wrong?" They simultaneously ask.
"I forgot to report all this to the Mastermind..."
Kara and Blaze's mouths drop open. "It's been almost three days!" Kara exclaims, grabbing onto Ray's shoulders and shaking him, "Didn't Lloyd tell the Mastermind about the garden and the Soul Dew and the DMA and everything?!?"
Ray puts his hands in surrender and sweat-drops. "No, I'll just report to him after our little walk, don't worry too much!" Ray says, sighing.
Blaze shakes his head, "Knowing him, he's probably going to give you the silent treatment or something. That's ever scarier than a guy who's blatantly angry, with a silent guy, you just don't know when or how he's gonna attack you with his fury," Blaze shuddered..
"Speaking of Mastermind, weren't you guys surprised when you found out who it really was?" Ray asks. Kara and Blaze immediately plaster smiles on their faces.
"Oh yeah, but it was pretty cool though."
"Who would've thought that the Mastermind was-" Ray and Blaze quickly cover up Kara's mouth.
"We can't say his name, remember?!" Blaze hisses.
She lets out a muffled 'yes' and the two let go. Kara guiltily laughs, "Sorry."
Ray sighs, "It's alright. I wonder how the world's going to react once they see who's really behind LANCE."
Two eyes underneath the hood of a cloaked figure narrow as they watch the group wander through the streets; always keeping them in view from their perch atop a nearby roof. The figure silently jumps to the next rooftop, shadowing them the same it had been for the past ten minutes.
Unlike most of the other cloaked FUZE agents, this one's cloak had no sleeves and a decorative bronze clip holding the neck area closed.
Ray looks down at the stone pavement, keeping himself occupied by trying to avoid stepping on a crack between stones.
"Probably with fear, after all those incidents with Rocket and all."
Right as Blaze says this, the three pokemon stop. Kara's ears perk up, Blaze's nose sniffs twice, and Ray raises his head out of instinct. The three turn their heads to the rooftop behind them, but only see the clouds and a Spearow flying by.
"I smelled something," Blaze says, "It definitely wasn't normal."
"And I know I heard something there; want me to check it out?" Kara said, also sniffing.
Ray gives her a single nod, prompting Kara into lowering her head, shutting her eyes, and opening aura sight. After a few seconds she tilts her head a little, then suddenly gasps and snaps her eyes open.
"What is it?" Ray asks, putting a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
She looks at him with a serious expression. "I saw a figure...a single figure, but multiple aura signatures!"
Meanwhile...
"Looks like I got found, but no matter. They can't track or catch me that easily," The cloaked figure mumbles to himself, already on a rooftop two blocks from Ray and still fleeing.
"This is Shadohm, my tailing was compromised due to a wind shift and I have to return to base." The cloaked figure says aloud, making sure the smaller communicator in his ear picked him up.
"Roger that, we're looking into LANCE as we speak. It looks like there are no confirmed files on LANCE; they are a syndicate after all. Our first true mission is going to be soon. RTB authorized." The transmission ends with a click.
"Damn Typhlosion, didn't realize that thing could smell so well...I'm just glad the Lucario didn't come after me, no telling how I'd shake her." Shadohm says to himself. "At least, not without blowing what I am..."
~!~
JT walks out of one of the examination rooms (that kept the plain white color choice), grumbling along with his friends. Each one had been poked at, stabbed, pricked, and ordered around. Underneath his uniform were enough bandages to make a decent mummy costume.
The humans gather in front of the elevators just as their Houndour come trotting back down the hallway, growling at all of the procedures. An elevator opens and all of them get shoved in. Like before, the doors shut, a button presses itself, and the elevator begins to move.
"I see that you didn't really enjoy the medical checkups, no matter. No one really likes them anyway... I hate them too to be honest. As I was saying, you will be put wherever I think you go best depending on how you and your team-mate work together. First, we're going to train you all. Since you are all recruits, you'll be given a tiny amount of slack, but I still want you to show what you've got!"
The door opens to reveal an enormous combat area in the basement; big enough to comfortably fit a dozen Steelix. From their vantage point up on the catwalks, they could see pokemon and humans training in all manner of styles. In one area are a few cubicles, each of which holds a pokemon and a human; practicing hand-to-hand combat against each other. Next to that is a shooting range, where a human and a Breloom were taking turns blasting at targets; the human with what looked like a small rifle and the Breloom with Bullet Seed.
Opposite those two is a large area that seemed empty, but a closer look would reveal several devices springing out of the ground, firing off some kind of elemental attack at the trainees, then darting back into the floor. Beside the elemental field is an obstacle course, as well as a running track, and more traditional equipment like punching bags and a set of weight tables.
Scattered in between are s many odd little training areas that nobody could count them all, and some just couldn't be understood at a glance.
"They ain't got a lot of people for a place this big," One of the thugs comments.
"This way guys!" Lloyd practically shouts from the other end of the catwalk.
Once all of the gang gather around Lloyd he swings an arm around to gesture at the gigantic room. "This is the battle area, yadda yadda yadda, I'm sure you get the picture. You dudes will be in the holo-room over there." He says, gesturing to a large, enclosed cube in the corner.
After leading the troops over to the room, he opens the door and reveals a blank white room. They walk in, hearing their own footsteps and the pats of the pokemon echo on the walls.
"Holo-room?"
Lloyd just smiled. "Good luck!"
The door shuts and traps the eighteen occupants in a room of white.
"Stupid human..."
JT blinks before turning to Scar and the other Houndour. The dog blinked back.
"Why do you look at me with such surprise? Are you not happy I can speak your language?"
"I'm...not dreaming..." JT mumbles, pointing at the dog. "R-right?"
Scar glares at him, obviously fuming. "You infidel! Of course you are awake!"
"Scar, please. They are just humans after all." Everyone turned to Iris, who spoke with a softer, higher voice compared to Scar's gravelly, low voice. "We have been given what you humans call technical machines. They are what permit us to speak the same language you do."
"That's fucking badass." DJ laughs.
"You are not here to socialize." Snaps a voice through the intercom that was hidden somewhere in the room. "We're going to run a simple simulation and see how you punks do in combat."
"Oh yea, almost forgot about these." The voice adds after a second, while a whole wall of pistols materializes in front of them.
All of them, humans and pokemon alike, jump at the shock of such a massive object showing up from thin air.
"Take what you want; this is going to be a light combat run. You'll be fighting eighteen opponents, nine humans and nine pokemon. There is going to be a variety of pokemon types and the other humans will have the same weaponry you do. Good luck."
JT takes two of the pistols and checks them, finding that they didn't look like normal firearms.
"These are special weapons designed to take down the holographic opponents. Instead of bullets, they fire a quick laser pulse. This is only so you don't accidentally kill one another in reality. If one of you is shot by an opponent or a friendly, you'll only feel a harsh zap, but you will be counted as 'killed' and removed from the simulation.
"Those weapons still behave like the firearms they are designed after. There will be recoil, a cocking requirement between shots, and a clip size. To reload, just hold the button at the bottom of the handle for three seconds...the weapon will beep when reloaded. A word of warning, each clip only has seven shots and you've only got two clips each; counting the one in the gun. You can't give a spare clip to any of your friends, so if ya run out of ammo...well...take cover and figure out some other way of fighting back.
"Enough with the talking, time to start the combat sequence!"
The empty wall vanishes, replaced with a small circle of digital-green light on the floor. The circle quickly expands and begins to devour all of the white. As the circle continues to grow, a hole appears in the center and begins growing along with it.
It only took the circle about two seconds to engulf the room and move away, but when its gone, the whole gang is in the middle of a rural-street, with the sun out and no passerby.
"Dang, this looks pretty real for a hologram." One of the thugs says, switching his 'gun's' safety off. Like he said, there were leaves falling from the trees, a couple plastic bags blowing around, even a calming breeze blowing from behind them. Cars sat abandoned on the road and the houses and stores were all empty... it was more unsettling than anything else.
"If a zombie hoard comes from around the corner, I'm going to freak," another member comments.
That's when they hear an odd noise...it sounded a little like a high-pitched drone. They turn and see two Ariados standing on the roof of a nearby motor-home, and have just enough time to scatter and dodge a spray of Poison Sting.
Some of the members fire a few shots at the spiders while the Houndour release a spray of Ember. The bugs quickly fire a webbed string to a nearby building, draw themselves out of reach, and scuttle out of view.
"Come on," DJ orders, "We're too exposed out here, lets find some cover."
"Over there." Scar adds, pointing to a small store with the door hanging open. The eighteen of them regroup and hurry into the store, keeping an eye out for anymore of the hostile enemies.
The store seems like a typical corner general store, and after a thorough searching no enemies are found inside. One of the gang members and his Houndour stay on look-out at the front door while another pair guards the back.
"Alright, we almost got owned by a pair of bugs. That isn't good." DJ says.
"No really?" Scar remarks sarcastically.
After giving his dog a slight glare, DJ continues, "Now, I'm not saying go charging after the two. They likely fled to some of their friends. But from now on, everyone cover an angle, alright?"
"DJ!" The front lookout man yells. "We got trouble!"
Everyone turns to see a new enemy outside, this was another pokemon, but one they'd never seen before. It kinda looked like a UFO, and had a small yellow antennae on its head as well as a single, big red eye. Attached to both sides is what almost looks like a Magnemite, only each one had a single magnet underneath it and both of them had a smaller, black eye looking around. Encircling the creature at its midsection is a metal ring, and hanging off the back is a third magnet.
While they didn't know what it was, they did know that it saw them.
The thing utters a mechanical growl before firing a large lightning-bolt at the store, completely blowing the door off its hinges and missing the sentry by inches.
"Oh shit!" He yells, following the others into the back of the store.
The UFO-pokemon slams itself through the window and blows the counter apart with another Thunderbolt. The UFO sees the gangsters rushing out the back-door and gives chase; slamming its way through both doorways.
"Run!" JT yells, leading the gang down the alley.
"Zo-o-one." it drones, forming a sphere of electricity beneath it. It seems to yell before releasing the ball at the gang.
Despite their best efforts, the Zap Cannon attack explodes on the group, 'killing' every human and all of the Houndour.
All eighteen of them feel a really strange sensation course through their bodies. There was the harsh zap that the voice mentioned, but it only lasted a second. After that is the feeling like...like they were buried in a pile of fluff. There was a weird fuzzy sensation on both the outside and inside of their skin.
The "fuzziness" lasts maybe three seconds. Then their eyes, that were viewing an endless expanse of blue, see a weird lab-like room.
They see an array of computer stations, each manned by a Metagross that were somehow interfacing with the computers without touching them. On the opposite side of the room is a group of about thirty pokemon, ten Porygon, ten Porygon-2, and ten Porygon-Z, all floating around and laughing.
At the lead computer station, probably because of its separation from the others, is a larger-than-normal, shiny-colored silver Metagross. Standing beside the massive pokemon is a large man in a lab coat, viewing with his partner a replay of the 'battle'.
On the front wall of the room are at least fifteen different screens, each one showing the simulation from a different angle.
DJ and the others start grumbling in frustration at their pathetic attempt.
"Sloppy. No... Completely pathetic." The man says, "Look at you guys, that was a terrible execution there." Despite the pristine lab coat and the clipboard in his hands, he looks like a thug himself with his slick black hair and dark black eyes. He was also plenty big enough to give a Machoke a run for his money in an arm wrestling contest.
"All of you guys got killed and not even one of the enemies got a scratch! If this was a real battle, you all would've been destroyed. You guys need to understand that you should only run when you're outmatched, and combine your talents with those of your pokemon."
"Well if we knew what the hell that thing was." one of the thugs countered.
"Magnezone." Replies the shiny-Metagross, using a voice so deep the room seems to vibrate. "An evolution of Magneton that is very rare and native to the Sinnoh region. Like its pre-evolution form, it's an Electric-Steel hybrid." The large pokemon shifts an eye to the gangsters. "I figured you Houndour could've at least beaten that."
"When the thing comes smashing in through a window and blows apart a store without blinking, well..." One of the Houndour trails off.
"I don't know what Mastermind was thinking, but it's gonna be fun teaching you street rats." The man almost chuckles, tossing his lab coat aside. Underneath he wore a tight black shirt that showed off his muscles along with a pair of camo-cargo pants.
"Oh great, learning," DJ remarks, rolling his eyes. The rest of his group laughs.
"We're going to run the simulation again; hopefully you guys aren't going to get demoted to Magikarp-level." The man replies, getting the Porygon crowd and the Metagross to snigger.
"Magikarp-level?"
"Yea," one of the Porygon yells. "It's a level where the enemies are so weak, only Magikarp can't beat 'em!"
"You guys are one total-defeat away from falling to that." The man adds. "Kill at least one enemy, and you're safe from Magikarp-level. But, if I still think you fools aren't good enough, its right back to the streets where you belong."
JT gulps...that meant they would be easy prey for FUZE.
"Now, shall we try again?" The shiny-Metagross says as the door re-opens.
~!~
"So you're flying back to HQ?" Kara asked Ray. Ray, as a Latios, nods. They were in the garden and already the sky was starting to darken.
"Yeah. Might as well. I need to file a report and talk with M. Take care, okay?" Ray smiles before giving Kara a kiss. He starts levitating away, getting higher and higher into the air.
"See you soon!" Kara smiles.
Ray waves back, "See you soon!" The Latios turns invisible and starts flying away. Below him he could see Altomare begin to light up as the sky got darker and darker.
'Good day, got some things done,' Ray thought to himself, flying above the clouds. He meets the moon with a chuckle, admires the view for a second, and then explodes away; rocketing off towards HQ.
Back in the garden, Kara was walking up to Blaze, who was idling picking at his teeth with a small twig.
"Miss him already?" Blaze laughs.
Kara giggles, "Do you miss Sara?"
Blaze's eyes narrow and he spits out the twig. "That was low."
Kara laughs, "Come on, its time to go to sleep big boy."
Blaze scoffs, "Whatever mom." Just as finished, a large yawn wrenches itself free. The Typhlosion shrugs and stretches, then wanders off to a nice shady spot under a tree. He curls himself into a small hill and quickly begins snoring.
Kara smiles, swishing her tail back and forth, looking around before spotting Bianca on a branch sketching something. The Lucario silently leaps into the tree and sits beside the human. "Can I take a look at what you're drawing?" Kara asks.
Bianca was concentrating, but her face quickly relaxes with a smile while she turns to her new friend.
"Sure," She says, handing over the sketchbook to Kara, who laughs at the sight of a napping Typhlosion, lying as if he just fell out of the sky.
"That's definitely Blaze!" Kara laughs, her's blending with Bianca's.
"That's really good; I wish I could draw like that. I can't draw for my life!" Kara giggles, handing the sketchbook back.
"I've been drawing for my whole life; I guess you're pretty good at whatever you do for a long time. If you want, I can teach you some things," Bianca offers.
"I'd like that, we can try that someday." Kara watches as Bianca closes up the book before looking up into the blackening sky. The first few brave stars peer back from the otherwise endless black.
"It's beautiful," Kara sighs.
Bianca nods. "I'm so glad I get to be here with these two, I can see this every night if I wanted to," she says, starting to swing her legs back-and-forth while Kara's tail begins to swish.
"Poor Lucy, she always loves looking at the stars," Bianca laughs. Lucy was already asleep in another tree, same as her brother.
"I can see why. It's really nice here..." Kara says, letting a cool breeze blow through her fur and receptors.
Bianca takes off her beret and sighs. "You two should live here," Bianca says, "That way; Ray can be with his nephew and niece. It's great here; there are a lot of nice people in Altomare."
Kara closes her eyes, "We should." A moment of peace was between the two before Kara elbows Bianca. "So...any guy you like?" Kara asks, giggling.
Bianca laughs herself, "Not yet, I'm still waiting for the right guy. I've been through a couple people myself," Bianca answers.
Kara eyes widen, "Oh really?"
Bianca nods, "They were all good, but not great you know?"
"I know what you mean; I've been through other pokemon too."
Bianca looks over at the Lucario. "Why choose Ray?"
Kara laughs, "I didn't even know he was a Latios for a while. I went out with other guys to try and make him jealous since I had a huge crush on him."
"Looks like it worked!" Bianca says. Kara's tail continues to move back-and-forth, not even making a sound or missing a beat as she shifts into a more comfortable position.
"They were all great guys, don't get me wrong. It's just that I always had something for Ray."
"What other pokemon were they?"
"There was just two, a Gallade and a Gabite. The Gabite was actually pretty sweet for being a large shark, and the small jewels he'd give me every now and then weren't bad either. The Gallade knew I wanted Ray, so he helped by planning a date between me and Ray without either of us knowing it."
"Creative, and I assume his plan worked?"
Kara laughs, "I wouldn't be with Ray today if it wasn't for him. I was so shy back then; I never would've worked up the courage to ask Ray myself."
"How come?" Bianca asks. Kara's smile quickly disappears.
"Oh...well...I don't know. I just was." Kara smiles again.
Bianca could tell that this one was fake, and she looks back into the stars. "If you don't want to tell me, that's okay."
Kara's smile fades again. "Is it really that obvious?" she asks, her ears drooping.
"I'm just good at figuring people out, don't worry," Bianca replies. She watches the stars in silence before hearing a few mumbles from Kara.
"What?" she asks, turning to the pokemon. Kara lifts her head to look at Bianca, her face so pained that if Ray saw it from afar, he would come right back and kiss her to make it better.
"I'm an orphan. My mom was a Lucario while my dad was a human... that's why I have hair-like aura receptors and... well..." she pauses to gesture at her chest. "A group of people that hated pokemon/human relationships killed them and forced me onto the streets. I lived off scraps and stole for three years before I found Ray that one fateful day."
Kara's eyes shut as the memories come flooding back.
~!~
The rain came down harsh, so harsh that it drastically dimmed the street lights. The downpour washed through the streets of the night, even filling the alleys with small rivers. A single pokemon was huddled under a garbage bag, shivering in the blistering cold. Hail even began to fall, slamming into the pokemon's small head under the bag.
Within the seconds the blanket became cold and wet, but it didn't matter. The pokemon knew its place; it was going to die soon. A gunshot rang out and shouts were heard. It was enough to attract the attention of the Riolu, but it didn't even turn its head.
"God...damnit!" A boy about sixteen exclaims as he staggers into the alley, grasping his arm and gritting his teeth. He was wearing a black sleeveless shirt with black cargo pants. Blood was flowing from the wounds on his arm, but he didn't seem to notice as he slides to the ground and watches as some members from Team Magma run away.
The boy slams his head on the wall and lets out a stream of curses that are washed away in the noise of the rain. The Riolu was nearby, watching the boy take out a medical kit and start to bandage himself in the cold.
"If only...shit," The boy grumbles to himself. He puts the kit away and raises his healthy arm and his golden dagger. The boy was about to get back up, but then he noticed the shivering garbage bag in front of him. He leans forward and uses his dagger to open the bag. The street lights barely lit up the pokemon, but he could manage with what he saw.
The girl Riolu was slightly large than the norm for her species, but horror swept onto his face as he noticed how malnourished she was.
"You look miserable," he says. The Riolu didn't even flinch at the sight of the dagger. The boy pokes his head out of the alley to make sure Team Magma was gone before going back to the Riolu. He examines the pokemon, realizing that she was covered in infected cuts and nasty bruises. He couldn't help but shake his head at the sight.
"You seriously look like you're ready to die," the boy said, moving closer to the small pokemon. Her dull red eyes stared into his golden ones, but otherwise she showed no interest. The boy shook his head and takes out his medical kit.
"Here, try not to shiver a lot. I'm gonna patch you up and it won't do if I mess up, right?" He asks before gripping the dagger in his teeth and softly taking her hand first, cleaning and bandaging the wounds on her arm. He continued to work under the bag, his hands starting to shiver... it isn't long before his whole body begins to shiver and his teeth loudly chatter against his dagger..
"You're.. .helping... me?" The Riolu softly asks, barely loud enough for Ray to hear.
"W-what do you want m-me to do, l-leave you?" Ray sniffs. He grits his teeth while chucking away the empty kit in frustration. He rubs his arms in an attempt to warm himself. "I don't have enough stuff to get all your wounds healed. Sorry," he says, looking out of the alley again out of paranoia.
"Listen...I can help you if you want, but you have to come with me. Is that alright?" he asks. The Riolu was silent in the dim light, but the boy can see a pair of tears falling down her face.
"You helped me..." she repeated.
"Yeah, but you're not helping yourself, sitting down like this. Here, I can get you help. Can you move?" The Riolu didn't even respond, she just kept crying.
The boy sighs, looking around and finding a piece of brown cloth nearby. It seemed clean enough and was actually repelling some of the water. He takes it and cuts a slit for his head, the quickly puts the improvised poncho on.
"Come on, let's go." The boy says, picking up the Riolu and hiding her under the fabric. Her hands slowly grasp onto Ray's shirt as he stands up.
"My name's Ray, what's yours?" The boy asks as he starts running. The Riolu was looking up at the boy as he ran, oblivious to the rain and hail hitting him in the face.
"Ka...Kara."
"Kara? I like the name. Listen; just don't fall asleep on me, okay? Just stay awake, alright?" Ray asks.
The Riolu remains silent, staring at Ray with her dull red eyes.
"Why?..." Kara asks.
Ray didn't hear her, just ahead is a Pokemonc Center; his destination. He hurries past the doors and skids to a stop at the front desk, quickly explaining everything to Nurse Joy. In a matter of seconds, Kara is in the emergency room.
"Don't you worry sweetie, you'll be all better. Are you okay hun?" A Chansey asks.
The Riolu started to cry again. "Tell Ray to stay...I don't want him to go." The Chansey nods and runs out of the room to get the boy.
Kara slowly closes her eyes and whimpers...her wounds were starting to hurt. For the first time in a long time, she could feel her emotions again...
...then she let out a long, miserable, relieved howl.
~!~
"I'm so sorry," Bianca whispers, looking away.
Tears began to roll away from Kara's eyes. "Right when I decided to give up on living... he came and saved me." She says, looking at her friend. "You can be surprised at what a simple act of kindness can do... just look at me; I'm a result of that. I'm now mates with my savior... I'm the happiest I could ever be." Kara finishes, quickly wiping away her tears; a bit ashamed of them.
Bianca arms quickly go around Kara. "If it wasn't for people like Ray, Ray wouldn't be here either," she says, "My dad saved Raphael, and now he has Lucy and Josh. There's always light in the darkness." She adds, beginning to cry too.
Kara understood why and put her own arms around the girl... it was really sad, so many orphans lost in the world...
Meanwhile, Josh actually had an eye half-open. He was still awake and heard the whole conversation. He closed his eyes again, clenching his paws as tight as he could. He silently goes back to his own business and looks down at the paper in his paws; ignoring the creases that its previous folding had caused. It read:
Dear Blood Relative,
Whoever you are, I'm glad that this letter got to you. I knew in my head I was going to die one day; so I asked my friend Cyphrus if he could deliver this note to you despite him telling me that I wasn't going to die. Mom, Dad, Uncle, Aunt, Grandpa, Grandma, Sister, Brother, Cousin, whoever you are, remember me. If you get this, I'm probably dead. I died for a good cause, you might have never been proud of me since I ended up in that orphanage. Even so, just keep me in your head. I tried to find you, but I guess I never did 'cause of the restrictions of this god-forsaken war. If Cyphrus is still there when you read this letter, ask him if he found his sister. Give him a hug for me; telling him everything's going to be okay and to keep looking if his sister is still missing. Well, my name is Shawn Bennueto, soldier of the Wardog Elite Youth Division of Aeonia. God bless you, whoever you are.
Josh sighs while folding the paper back up and hiding it in his fur. He shuts his eyes as the memory of how the boy valiantly gave up his life to protect him. Somehow, despite his fitful mind, he managed to fall asleep.
~!~
Lucy's gold eyes look around, but all she can see around her is a white void; stretching onward into infinity. Yet, at the same time, it looked as though the whiteness was closer than that. Even weirder is that these white expanses almost looked as though they were undulating and pulsing... it was a little creepy.
'Where am I? What happened to the garden?'
"Latias?"
Lucy spins around to the look at where the voice came from, finding a teen boy sitting down. He wore green futuristic armor, but was scratched up and dirty. His helmet hid his hair, but Lucy immediately knew who he was.
"Ash?!?" She exclaims, flying over to look at him. She was beyond happy first, but quickly became horrified at the sight of blood on his armor. What also seemed to appear from nowhere is the sniper rifle in his hand's death grip.
Lucy stopped for a second, but hurries over with tears in her face. "What happened?!?"
"Latias, I'm so tired." Ash groans, seemingly oblivious to her words. "I don't want to be here." From his pose it looked as if he was sitting up against a wall.
Lucy floats a little closer before hugging the boy. Once they separate, the pure white on her chest is stained crimson.
"Ash, you look..."
"Terrible. I know. I've been fighting for the whole day," Ash finishes. Lucy shakes her head,
"No...your eyes..." Ash looks up at Lucy with hollow black eyes, the bags underneath contributing to the eerie look.
"This? Ha...you're looking at the eyes of a killer now Latias." Ash then turns away, prompting Latias to come closer.
"Don't, please. I can't look at you." Ash adds, tears forming in his own eyes. He just couldn't stand the teary face looking back at him.
"Ash, its me, Latias. Please, I want to see you." She softly coos, resting a claw to Ash's cheek and turning him back to her. He turns and looks in the other direction.
"I killed so many people already. I'm nothing but a murderer. I don't even know why anymore..." Ash's mumblings trail off while his grip on the firearm gets tighter.
"Ash, let it go. Please." Latias begs as she puts a paw on his hand. Ash releases the sniper and turns his death grip on Lucy with a hug.
Lucy quickly returns it, holding onto him just as tightly and wiping her tears on his cheek.
"Ash, why'd you leave?" Lucy asks. Ash lets go and leans back to look her in the face.
"I have to get stronger; I need to be stronger so that I can protect the people I care about."
"Then get stronger and come back home...come back to Altomare."
Ash sighs, "Okay."
"No. Don't just say 'okay.' Come home safe, promise?" Lucy asks as she extended her smallest claw. Ash smiles at her before extending his pinky. His finger was larger than her claws, but he wraps it around hers anyway.
"I promise. Latias, I have to go okay? Pray for me," Ash says, giving a faint smile.
Lucy watches in fright as Ash starts to fade away. "Wait Ash!" she exclaims trying to grab hold of him, but her paws just go through empty air. Her tears poured out of her eyes, this was too familiar for her.
"Good-bye Latias." Then he disappears. Latias stares in disbelief before beginning to cry her heart out.
"NO! ASH! Don't leave! Please! NO! Ash, I love you! Come back!" she yells, before biting onto her lip. Then she rears her head back with shut eyes and screams out to the heavens, "ASH! COME BACK!"
"Latias!" a new voice exclaims, getting her to open her eyes.
~!~
"Lucy! LATIAS!" Josh yells, shaking his sister.
She wakes up with a scream, her down soaked in tears. She was surrounded by everyone minus Blaze, all giving her a worried look. She was hyperventilating, staring at everybody before closing her eyes and whimpering.
"I'm sorry..."
"Lucy, are you okay?" Josh asks, floating a little closer.
She takes a deep breath before replying. "It was just a nightmare," Lucy sniffles, opening her eyes, "I'll be okay, thanks."
"Are you sure?!? There's blood all over you!"
~!~
The two Zangoose glance at the door when it knocks, keeping their arms crossed.
"Come in," The man absently grunts.
Ray steps in, occupying his human form. He stops and salutes. "Hey Bradley."
The man, Bradley, stops polishing his gold name-stand. He smiles at the boy while putting it back on his desk. "Always the informal, straight-type of guy." Bradley chuckles, "Welcome Ray."
Ray stops his salute and walks forward, shifting back into a Latios.
"How's the honeymoon?" He asks, getting Ray to gulp.
"You knew?"
Bradley laughs. "Mastermind did."
Ray smiles. "Cut that mastermind crap you pervert," Ray jokes, speaking human despite being a large dragon.
"He told me the two of you are mates now, when's the marriage?" Bradley asks.
The two Zangoose smirk to one another, they were going to get plenty of mileage out of this. "Can we come?" One of them says, giving the Latios a toothy grin.
Ray turns around and smiles, "Sure, you two look the same, as always." He turns back to the human. "Does 'M' know about...?" Ray trails off, waiting for Bradley to reply.
He nods. "Yes, he knows everything the minute you stepped in this room."
Ray gives Bradley a scowl, "I hate it when he does that; normally you can feel when someone's intruding on your mind. How is he?"
"I'm doing fine Ray, just a bit bored." Mastermind's voice says, echoing inside Ray's head. "Do try to get your reports turned in on-time from now on."
Ray smiles. "I missed that voice. Well, should probably go make the report..." he turns and heads for the door. Just as he reaches it, he stops and says, "Hey...by any chance would you know of someone named... uhh... Ash Ketchum?"
"Ash Ketchum?!" Mastermind's voice booms, getting the other four to jump. "It... rings a few bells. Finish your report and I'll tell you about him." he finishes, back to his normal, calm tone.
"Is he a good kid?"
"...a bit dense, rash, and stubborn as a Rhyhorn; but yes, he's a good kid."
"That's all I really needed." Ray replies, leaving.
Once the door shuts, Bradley says aloud, "Never heard you that distressed."
"Never thought I'd hear that name again."
~!~
CJ: Umm...DB's still off with his stories, so I guess I'll have to handle the farewells. So, who exactly is Mastermind? Or this equally mysterious Shadohm? To find out, you'll have to-
(cut off as a weird flaming projectile flies by overhead)
CJ: Umm...
DB: Shesh, alright alright! Settle down!
CJ: You okay? Your hair's on fire.
DB: It happens when you work with some as volatile as Blaze. Eh, not your Blaze-
CJ: The feline one?
(DB nods, patting out the fire)
CJ: Got'cha. You want to do the honors?
DB: Sure...so, to answer those mysteries and many others, you'll just have to wait and read the next chapters! 'Till then!