Well, howdy. Sorry I haven't written in 6 months, but I fell out of pokemon for a time. Drakengard 2 and Kingdom Hearts 2 demanded my attention for a good long while, but now I'm back. Huzzah. I started playing Pokemon XD about three days ago and, once again, was hypnotized by its strange addictiveness. I don't know why, but all of my spare time was devoted to playing XD. It was kinda strange. Even now, though I have finished the game -kinda-, I have a need to pummel people with my pokemon. The obsession has started again.

Anywho, the fic.

Price for Freedom

Chapter 30

An Almost Confession

"AND MISS KYRESON WINS AGAIN! This is her fourth win, folks! There's only two more: the semi-finals and the finals! And with her arsenal of powerful pokemon, there's no doubt in my mind that she'll make it! What wonderful battles!"

Tai strode around the battlefield triumphantly. His last opponent, a flygon, lay unconscious beside the gloating jolteon. Tai had won by using a series of bite and extremespeed attacks whilst trying to avoid the many earthquakes the flygon had released. Though a couple did manage to hit the jolteon, Tai somehow managed to win. I had been watching the battle from the podium with Shayla, just in case that Tai needed rescuing. As we, being Tai, Shayla and I, made our way to the lobby, Illauna, human Kuvai, Kaiyou and Yasille joined us, Yasille's and Kaiyou's faces beaming with pride. Kuvai, on the other hand, didn't really show any expression.

It had been a week since the whole Arden ordeal, and everything and everyone were back to the way they used to be. Kazu was happy, Kaiyou was happy, Tai was stupid, Amburna seemed happy, Yasille liked to smell the flowers, Illauna glared at everyone and Kuvai was enigmatic and creepy as always. Kiya, the aggron, had a bit of trouble in the last battle, so she was back in Pallet town, and Shoko replaced her. Though he couldn't be used in a League battle, he could still be in the team.

Yasille took Shayla's hand with both of hers and nearly took off my trainer's arm from what could be called shaking it up and down enthusiastically. "Wow, that battle was MAGNIFICENT!" she cried as she continued to vigorously yank Shayla's arm up and down. "I never thought a jolteon could battle that way!" As Tai's pride bubble began to inflate, she paused and turned to said jolteon. "Wait… so I should be congratulating you…" Shayla took the slight pause in Yasille's ever wavering attention span to reclaim her sore arm.

I waved off the sentence with my paw. "Don't. His psyche's already as big as this room. It doesn't need further encouragement."

Tai gave me a stale look. "If she wants to give congratulations to me, then she should. There's nothing wrong with that."

I cocked an eyebrow and then scooted a foot away from Tai. "Fine then, just let me make room for your ego."

"Now, now, kids, let's be nice," Kaiyou said as he held up his hands in front of him trying to placate us, "This isn't a place for bickering."

Kuvai half-glared at my Lord and replied, "You, of all people, couldn't have just said that. That sentence just made you the biggest hypocrite known to this world." Kaiyou glared at the undead creature, but didn't respond. Kuvai let a sarcastic smirk dawn onto his pale face. "What, no comeback?"

My trainer put a sore hand between the two. "Now come on, guys, enough of that. The next round doesn't start until tomorrow for sure, so we have the rest of the day to ourselves. What do we want to do?"

Tai bounced up and down and cried, "Let's go eat! I'm starving!"

I hit him on the back of the head with my paw. "You're always starving."

My Lord snapped his fingers as an idea came to him. "Why don't we-"

Before Kaiyou could finish his sentence, Kuvai clamped a pale hand over my Lord's mouth. "Before you share this idea with us," the undead creature began slowly, "think it over. Would we deem it appropriate? Better yet, is it breaking any laws?"

Kaiyou pushed his friend's hand away from his mouth. "Kuvai, please. Why would any of my ideas involve breaking stupid laws that are obsolete in the first place?" Kuvai's answer was a stale glare. "Besides, like I said, those laws that I may have 'broken' in the past were all ridiculous. They were begging to be disobeyed."

Kuvai's glare didn't waver. "You wrote 'Buganti hearts Yasille' in bright red paint on my cave."

At first, Kaiyou began to protest, but a light of recognition alighted in his eyes. "Oh yeah…" He began to laugh and Kuvai promptly slapped my Lord upside the head. "Ow!"

Shayla sighed. "I guess we should just head back to the hotel room, then. If no one can think of a way to kill time until the next battle results are in."

"No, listen!" Kaiyou said as he grabbed my trainer's arm. "I really do have an idea!" Then, he turned his head towards Kuvai and added with a bit of sarcasm in his voice, "and NO, it isn't breaking any laws." He paused for a bit. "I think."

"Well, what is it?" Shayla asked.

Kaiyou's smile grew even larger. "There's a carnival in Pallet right now, and I think we should go. We could travel through the Void and be back here in time for supper. Plus, small town carnivals are always really fun; Yasille and I used to sneak into them when we were younger."

Shayla smacked her forehead. "Of course! The annual Fall Harvest festival! I completely forgot about it!"

At this, my Lord cocked his head and let his hand fall from Shayla's arm. "…You… know what I'm talking about?"

Shayla grinned and began to laugh. "Of course; I grew up in Pallet! Let's go, let's go!" She ran out of the lobby and into the streets, leaving the rest of us to eat her dust. Kuvai sighed, defeated, and ran a pale hand through his matted black hair.

"Well, I guess a carnival could be entertaining. Lead on, Kaiyou." My Lord nodded in return and ran after my trainer, transforming into his true form as he did. Tai and I followed, then Illauna, and behind her were Yasille and Kuvai, the both of them transforming into their pokemon forms as well. Without a care as to who saw us, Kaiyou opened a portal and we all rushed inside and out into Pallet Town's busy square.

I took a look around me; the trees were friendly and turning with their fall colors, the sea crashed against the beach happily, the sun warmed the grass and sky gently… I sucked in a breath of fresh, clean country air. I could really like this place. Tai bumped against my side. "Come on, Xena!" he shouted happily. "The party's over there!"

He ran off in the direction of the middle of the town, where various game booths were placed, carousel rides spun around and a large, blinking Ferris wheel lethargically rotated. I ran after him and caught up with the others. Shayla had let everyone out and were out meandering among the many game booths, one of which Shoko and Amburna were playing a game of bulls-eye. Unfortunately for the game's vendor, he didn't prepare the little structure for the might of Shoko's flamethrower. A few yards ahead of me, Tai ran up to Kazu and tackled him, earning a grunt from the espeon.

"Hey, Kazu," I heard Tai ask as I came closer to the two. "Wanna go see Mom?"

Kazu's eyes sparkled. "Oh, yeah! You think she's in her usual place?"

Tai let a smirk grow. "Of course. Come on, let's go and get her!" Tai got off of Kazu and they began to dash towards the outskirts of the town when Tai saw me in the corner of his eye. "You wanna come, Xena? I'm sure she'd like to meet you. She's really nice!"

I nodded slowly and trotted after them. They made their way to a large hill overlooking the town and its festivities, where a few scattered trees and thick bushes dotted the slopes. In the distance behind the hill was a medium-sized house with white walls, pale red roof and a large oak in the front- a friendly, welcoming home, though it was the only one located behind the hill. I assumed that said house belonged to Shayla and her family, since the Eevee brothers' mother seemed to haunt the lone hilltop.

We crouched behind a throng of trees behind a vaporeon. From what I could see of her, her back fringe was scathed and her head fin had cuts and gashes in it. Her tail had a massive tear marring its otherwise beautiful color, which probably limited her swimming skills. We were to her southwest, so whenever she turned her head, I could see a little of her face: weary and alone. She looked so sad…

Tai nudged me and asked in a soft whisper, "That's our mom. What do you think?"

Hesitating for a moment, I tried to put it as nicely as I could. "She looks… sad…"

Kazu's face fell a bit. "She's always been like that ever since Dad died. But maybe our little visit will cheer her up." He looked to his older brother and when their eyes met, they nodded simultaneously. Confused, I merely sat back on my haunches and watched. What were they going to do?

As if by silent countdown, the two rushed out at the same time from behind the trees and pounced on the elderly vaporeon, earning a yelp of surprise from her. I almost ran out to help her, but I heard low, feminine laughter after a moment. I stayed in the shadows, nervous, and watched as sons and mother were reunited.

She stood slowly as the two brothers licked her face. "Oh, boys! When did… Why are you here? I thought you were all in Evergrand…" She turned to Tai and licked him, and said proudly, "You beat that flygon magnificently, son. I was worried, but you did pull through…" She then turned to Kazu and licked his face and asked, "Who are those new pokemon? I've never met the absol, much less seen the big black one before."

Tai beamed at his mother. "Well, the absol's right over there, Mom." He nodded in my direction, to which I flinched, and his mother's expression softened. "Her name's…" he paused for a moment, "well, she has lots of names, but I call her Xena because she's a Warrior Princess and she kicks lots of people's butts. Everyone else calls her 'Demi' or 'Ayako'."

His mother cocked her head slightly and called, "Well, don't be shy. I don't bite."

Tai leaned over to Kazu's ear and snickered, "Yeah, when she's asleep, maybe." The two laughed a little more and their mother promptly slapped them with her scarred tail.

I smiled and slowly walked to the old vaporeon, nervous under her motherly, scrutinizing gaze. When I was only about a foot away, she cleared the rest of the distance. "Well, Miss Ayako," she began softly, "I hope my boy hasn't irritated you too much. He seems to have that effect on pokemon." Tai gave a little indignant snort, but his mother -nor I, for that matter- paid attention to it.

"No, actually," I replied. "He's not that bad once you know where to hit him."

She chuckled softly as Tai's fur began to turn into spikes. "I'm standing right here, you know…" he growled out. His mother waved off his warning with her paw.

"Yes, we're aware, Honey…" She looked me over a couple of times and then smiled. "Yes, very good. You will do nicely."

After a few moments of me blinking awkwardly, I cleared my throat and asked, "Um… I'll… do nicely for what…?" But she didn't answer; only smiled. She stood slowly from her sitting position and went back to the peak of the hilltop.

"Now, what are you all doing back here?" she asked as she gazed over the festivities below. "Weren't you in Evergrand just now?"

Tai smiled as he walked up to his mother and gently knocked her with his shoulder. "Cool, isn't it? We came here through this thing called the 'Void'. It's really creepy the first few times when you go in there, but after that, all of the funky purpley black things aren't that bad."

His mother looked him over as if he were clinically insane. "What are you talking about?"

Kazu took a step forward. "It's the center of Darkness, where all the shadows link together. It's… a little hard to explain, but Dark pokemon can access it from any shadow and transport themselves to any other shadow that they wish. That's how we got here so fast."

Their mother's eyes widened and turned to me. "And you can access it too?"

"Um…" I stuttered, "Yeah, I can." Her cerulean eyes smiled at me; apparently, my ability to enter the Void pleased her. Any Dark could do it, why was it so special in her eyes?

Tai bounced beside his mother. "You're damn straight she can!" At his cursing, his mother smacked him hard on the back of the head. After yelping, he cried indignantly, "What was that for?"

The jolteon sank back on his haunches as his mother growled and snarled. "Don't you use that language around me! You may be a Pokemon League Champion, but you are still my son and you will NOT use that foul, vulgar language around your mother! You understand me?" At her son's immediate and very enthusiastic nodding, she slowly lay back down. "My own son, cursing like a sailor's pokemon…"

Tai shook off the pain and jumped excitedly. "Hey Mom! You know that big black pokemon you were asking about?" At this, she turned her head, intrigued. "He's really the Dark Legendary."

His mother's eyes widened in shock, but to my own surprise, in fear as well. "…What…?"

However, being the oblivious jolteon that he was, Tai didn't notice the twinge of fear in his mother's turquoise eyes. "Yeah! I thought he was a douche bag at first, but he turned out to be all right." He paused for a moment as he looked up to the dusk sky in thought. "It IS kind of a bad thing that he looks so much like an umbreon… but oh well." He then looked at his mother, who was shaking violently. "Mom?" he asked softly.

I took a step forward. "What's wrong?"

The Eevee brothers' mother shook her head and backed away from her sons and me a few feet. "I…" she began, her voice a quivering whisper, "I'm… all right… I just… need some water." She looked at all of us, a silent apology in her eyes, and trotted towards the house in the distance behind us. Kazu turned towards me, as confused as Tai and I were.

"I'm sorry, Ayako…" he began slowly, "I… really don't know what that was about. Let me go and try to calm her down." I nodded and the espeon ran after the now fading blue vaporeon. Tai turned to me, embarrassment written all over his yellow face.

"I'm… sorry…" he stated, his eyes looking now at the ever-interesting ground.

I turned my head back to Kazu's fading form. "What's wrong with her?"

Tai clawed the lush green grass, subdued. "She… heard about what had happened to Kazu… and knew it was because of Kaiyou. She didn't take it too well." He looked back up to me, his chocolate brown eyes full of sorrow. Had the situation not been so serious, I would have laughed since the expression was so out of character. "Sorry…"

I tried to smile. "What are you sorry for? She has good reason to be scared of him, especially since she doesn't know him." Tai cocked his head, the sorrow almost completely gone and replaced with confusion.

"But…"

I walked towards his mother's spot on the hilltop. "Don't worry about it, Tai," I stated calmly. "It's okay. I'm used to it by now."

As I turned back to Tai, his face fell again, this time his ears drooped as well. "But you shouldn't have to be…" he replied, his voice so soft I could barely hear it. "You shouldn't have to be used to it…"

As I stared at him, I had never found him -or any other pokemon for that matter- as… to put it bluntly… adorable. His head was hung, his big, yellow Dumbo ears were drooping to his sides, and his big, brown, puppy dog eyes were off to the side, afraid to make contact with my own. He looked like one of the abandoned puppies one sees on TV commercials. I sighed as I made my way back to him.

"It's not your fault, Tai," I consoled as I nudged my head into his. "It's not like you treat me like that. And besides, your mom has a very good-"

"NO!" Tai barked. I took a couple of steps away, shocked. "NO! He's your LORD! Aren't you mad that pokemon look down upon your god when they revere all the other ones, even though they may not worship them?" He began to pace, while I could only stand there in a stunned stupor. What had gotten into him? "Everyone reveres Lugia and, and Mew!" he continued. "Even though the pokemon might not be a Psychic, they would still bow if they ran into them! Or, or, if Suicune or Entei, or Raquayza came! The regular pokemon might not be the same type as the god, but they would still pay respect! But not to yours! Pokemon, outside of the Darks, don't revere him, they fear and hate him!"

I reached out with my paw to try and calm him down. "Tai…"

"I've even done it!" he cried, his fury blocking all other trains of thought. "I've looked down on Darklings, and I did when I first met you! I did it with Kaiyou and that stupid Easter Egg umbreon-"

"Eclipse," I corrected.

"WHATEVER!" he screamed as he turned to face me. "It doesn't matter what the hell his stupid name is, the fact remains that I still hate him for what he is! An Umbreon! A Dark! I'm as prejudiced as all the other assholes out there, and I only just now realized it when Mom got so bloody scared by the mere mention of Kaiyou's name!" He sighed and plopped down on the grass facing the carnival below. "Have I always been this oblivious…?"

I couldn't help but feel a little bad for him, but I was still confused as to how he was so worked up. I saw no problem in his mother being scared of Kaiyou; he did -albeit accidentally- almost kill one of her sons. I bore no grudge against her, or Tai for that matter. But was that because I was already jaded against it? Heaving a weary sigh myself, I sat next to him on the lush grass.

"Tai…" I began slowly, "You've always been oblivious."

He glared at me from the corner of his eyes. "You know, surprisingly enough, that doesn't help me."

I chuckled. "I know, but let me finish. You're oblivious because, for one thing, you're a guy. That's just a part of you. Secondly, I know that… well…" I sighed as I tried to put it into the right words. Usually, it wasn't that difficult, but with Tai, it was a bit more challenging. "You just… don't pay attention to detail. And that's fine."

Tai sighed and dropped his head down on his paws. "I'm an asshole."

I nudged his side with my snout. "Not as often as you think you are."

"Thanks," he replied as he glared back at me. "You've been real uplifting."

Frowning, I hit him lightly with my black paw. "I still don't understand where this came from. So you're mom's scared of Kaiyou. Big freaking whoop. He DID almost kill Kazu, or did you forget about that?" He glared down at the festivities below. "I don't hold a grudge against her, and neither should you. What's wrong with you, all of a sudden?"

He heaved a sigh, and then muttered something incoherent under his breath. Before I could ask him to repeat that at an audible volume, he sat up and sighed again. "I… don't know… It's just that… It… ticked me off when she did that…"

I cocked my head. There was seriously something wrong with this jolteon. "Why?"

"I don't know!" he barked. He stood back up and began to pace again. "I… I just don't know! Ever since that Arson absol-"

"Arden," I interjected automatically.

"-Arden absol screwed you over, I've just been… really irritable when it comes to you." He paused as I tried to mentally interpret what he had just said. "I mean… The way he just completely threw you to Team Rocket… and I wasn't there…" his voice softened at that, "…It just made me so mad! I just… can't stand it whenever someone treats you badly…"

My head cocked a little more to the side. Since when was he protective of me?

"And since I can't figure out why I get so pissed off, it pisses me off even more! And then, I get even pissier and pissier, and it's just this giant, evil death cycle of pissiness!" He collapsed, defeated, back onto the lush green grass. "I've talked to Kazu about it, but it didn't really help. He didn't say anything to help me figure out what the hell is wrong." A pause, and then he added, "Well, he mentioned one possibility… but… I don't think it's possible."

I looked at him for a moment, trying to figure out what he was trying to tell me. He didn't have the gift of gab, in fact, his communication skills sucked. Kazu's apparent solution had tipped Tai off of the edge of his mental balance, which meant it was probably right. But why wouldn't he tell me what it was? Was it really that bad? I slowly went to his side and asked softly, "Well? What was it? What did Kazu suggest?"

He took in a deep, long breath to ready himself. "He thinks… I think… that I'm… in lo-"

"HEY, GUYS!" Shoko roared overhead, "HOW'S IT GOIN'!"

As I looked up Tai's fur began to bristle and spike threateningly. "Do you mind, Ass-face!" the jolteon cried as Shoko began to land a yard away. "Or do you not understand the concept of 'privacy'?"

The charizard giggled happily as he swayed dangerously on his hindquarters. "Aww, are you two having a little moment?" He hicked and giggled again, and then almost fell over. I trotted over to him, curious as to what the hell was wrong with him.

"Shoko…?" I asked tentatively, "Why are you… like this?"

Tai narrowed his gaze into a glare. "You're drunk, aren't you?"

I turned back to the charizard in surprise. "What?" I asked, incredulous. "But how?"

"Pff!" Shoko replied, "Nonsense! I -hic- I'm n-not DRUNK! I just found this barrel full of funny tasting water… I was really thirsty, and the game vendor told me that I couldn't drink out of the ponyta trough… and I found the barrel…" Tai and I exchanged glances. "At first I really didn't -hic- like it, but then, I was -hic- I was just like, 'This stuff is great!' and I started flying -hic- around and a pidgeotto was very rude to me, and then I saw you guys and I was -hic- like, 'HEY GUYS! HOW'S IT GOIN'?' And you were very rude -hic- Tai, and then-"

"All right, Shoko, we get it…" Tai grumbled. "Now, were there any markings on this barrel or 'water'?"

Shoko paused as he thought on this. "Yeah… -hic- There was this name on it… -hic- Somethin' like 'Jackie Daniel' or… or somethin'… I -hic- didn't really think it meant anythin', so I -hic- drank it." Suddenly, his eyes got wide and his head darted around. "I hope -hic- that a human named Jackie Daniel doesn't -hic- exist, because it might be his water! Hic!"

Sighing, I sat on the grass beneath me. Shoko had drunk an entire barrel full of Jack Daniels beer? Wonderful. Tai came to the inebriated charizard's side and said, "Fortunately for you, he's dead. I think. Now why don't you go and pass out in the back yard? Come on, I'll lead you there and make sure you don't fall on your ass or something. Mom can sober you up real nice."

As Tai led Shoko away, the charizard protested, "But… but I'm not drunk! Hic!"

I sighed as I watched the two staggered into the distance towards the house. What was Tai about to tell me? I shrugged off the thought and trotted back to the carnival. Whatever it was, he could tell me after Shoko wasn't a stinking drunk anymore. Besides, I thought, It couldn't have been that important. This is Tai; he's probably just upset about some random pokemon I locked eyes with or something. I snickered at the thought. No, it couldn't be that important at all.

…………

WOW! I finished… and… DUN DUN DUN DUN! IT SUCKS! YAAAAAY! BEHOLD MY CAPS LOCK!

Yeah… I haven't gotten back into the swing of first person yet… I've been writing my Drakengard fic in omnipotent third, and it's much, much different than first. My GOD, how it is different. I already had some stuff on this chapter before I started revising it, and to tell you the truth, it sucks even more hardcore than this version. But I didn't want to keep it from you guys when you've been waiting for six bloody months. I'm not that evil. Well, hopefully, the next chapter will be more fulfilling.

Ja!