Kariann-chan: Hey everyone! I finally finished the next chapter! Sorry for the super long wait but I have like 6 other stories that I'm juggling along with getting into college so please don't kill me for the overly long wait! And guess what? We've got a super long chapter too!
Natsuki's POV
As usual camera crews surrounded me the minute I left the building. Light's flashed and mike's were shoved in my face. Eevee cuddled further into my dress attempting to hide away from the people. As usual I walked my way through the crowd got into the car, sat down, and then we drove away. We finally arrived back to our house…well mansion where a crowd at least 3 times larger than the one at the lab awaited our arrival. Mom had been cooing and awing Eevee who didn't mind the attention but could do with out all the poking and pulling mom was doing to him. We got out of the car and were quickly surrounded by camera crews again.
"Ms. Masaru! What pokemon did you pick?" said a reporter.
"Ms. Masaru! How are you feeling about joining your family in the great tradition that has been held for several years?" said another.
"Ms. Masaru…" and "Ms. Masaru!..." and more "Ms. Masaru!..." thankfully the guard at the gate knocked back the crowd leaving and open space for us to get through. When we finally made it I let Eevee down so he could get a good look around. The house was a large three story structure painted a bright white. The front steps had roman columns supporting the ceiling and the next two floors above. Like every other person who sees this place for the first time, Eevee held a wide gaping look amazed at the grand building before it. I began walking up the steps calling after it to follow.
"Come on Eevee! Don't sit there all day, we've got to get ready for tomorrow!" I called out. Eevee looked to me and patted after, it's little tail swishing back and forth in an eased manor. 'At least he's comfortable here.' I thought. I walked to the stairs and began to walk up when mom said,
"Oh sweetie, don't forget about the party we are throwing for you tonight! We want you to look your best, so go and get into the outfit I picked out for you!" She squealed before walking off to attend to setting up the party. I sighed and then turned walking up the stairs and into my room. I quickly pulled out a light blue backpack, which was filled with some stuff for my travels. I wasn't fully packed because I still needed to get some good travel clothes, a sleeping bag and food for the road. Eevee watched me with great interest as I scurried around looking for my piggy bank that held all of my money for the trip. Finding it I placed all the money into a pocket of my bag along with my pokecard. (A pokecard is like a credit card but for battles so when you win a battle you get more points and thus more money for traveling.) I then remembered that the bag had a compartment that held the sleeping bag at the bottom so I didn't worry. Suddenly Kaito showed up at my door, I quickly shoved my bag back down under the bed and pretended to be looking for something.
"Hey, you ready yet?" He said in a bored monotone. With one quick glance at her he said, "Guess not…Hurry up mom's about ready to blow. Would hate to clean up the mess so stop dilly dallying okay?" And with that he left. I sighed. He had changed so much these past few years, that I am beginning to wonder where my brother went. Shaking it off I went and stood up, heading for the dress laid out for me. It was a beautiful blue strapless dress, it gave a Victorian style to the bodice and skirt. The bodice was decorated in shining jewels and designs. (Look on my profile for a link to see the dress). The skirt reached to my ankles and flared out in a ball gown way. I prepared to take my pink dress off when I looked to Eevee, who was covering his face with an old green bandana on my bed. Knowing he'd wait for me to change, I got out of my dress quickly and put on the other one. I turned to Eevee.
"Well what do you think?" I asked. He cautiously looked up to see if I was dressed, seeing I was nodded approvingly. I curled my hair quickly and put the jeweled head band in. I slipped on light blue strappy high heels and the blue lace gloves. Looking at myself in the mirror, I sighed. I looked like some sort of princess. Not that I minded it too much, it's just that I feel like I'm stuck in some sort of fairy tale! The world is perfect and the princess has a wonderful life but I'd rather be the pauper than the princess. Kaito arrives at my door again,
"You finally ready?" He asks. I turn to him and nod. I turn to Eevee and pick him up placing him on the ground. We them walk out of my room and to the stair case where we wait until my mother says,
"Okay you two just like usual, first it's me and your father together, then Kaito you go, and you'll go last Natsuki!" she then cooed and awed over me, "You look so grown up already! All pretty in your dress with your Pokémon besides you! Oh!" She then gave me a hug and then walked down stairs with my father. Kaito then went next, several female squeals erupted from down stairs. I nervously sucked in a breath and let it out, I looked to Eevee.
"You ready?" It nodded and with that we both headed down stairs. The murmuring crowd bellow fell silent as I began to walk down stairs, their gazes falling on me and Eevee as we continued to walk down. When we had reached the bottom my father gave a speech.
"My friends please enjoy your selves here as we celebrate my daughter's 10th birthday! Dinner is ready!" And we then walked into the dinning room where our long and giant table was set up with all kinds of food and drinks. My father sat at the head of the table, he raised his glass and said,
"To my daughter Natsuki, the next top coordinater of Hoenn!" everyone cheered and clapped, and my heart sank. Everyone expected me to be this great coordinater like my mom! Why? Why must I be expected to do this? I wanted to be a pokemon master! How would I tell them now? Giving a fake smile I decided I'd tell them later.
Dinner finished soon after and we all walked out to the back yard which was used as a ball room during the warmer seasons. Music began playing and people began to dance to the lively music. A boy about my age came up to me,
"May I ask the birthday girl to a dance?" I rolled my eyes.
"Tamaki for the last time no! I know what you try to pull whenever you dance with a girl!" I said. Mom came up and said,
"Oh Tamaki! How nice to see you! Would you like to dance with Natsuki?" I looked at my mom shocked and shook my head no, but nope she went along and pushed us both together, literally! "There you two! Now go and have fun!" Tamaki smiled and took me to the center of the ball room where we began to waltz.
"You know," Tamaki began, "Well both be going on our journeys tomorrow. I was wondering if you would join me? Your parents wouldn't have to worry about you and you would know someone without feeling so alone! Doesn't that sound great?" he asked. I let out a small laugh. This is so typical!
"Let me guess, my father put you up to this so no matter what I say you'll just follow me around all night and pester me until I consent right?" I stated. His smiled faltered, realizing he'd been caught. "If you continue to try convincing me I'll tell your father what I caught you doing during spring." I threatened. He paled, and nodded looking away. I had caught him in a coordinater contest in a disguise. (the tradition of boy's being trainers and girls being coordinaters applies to a lot of rich families including his.) I felt bad about using that against him, but I needed to make sure that he wasn't following me.
The party continued for three more hours, it was 11:55 pm when my father went up and called for attention. Guests, cameras, and pokemon looked to him as my mother pulled me up to the front. My mother kept telling me about how proud she was that I was following in her foot steps, and my father kept boasting of my perfect scores in school and how I was already catching up to my mom. I could feel my anger swelling up, I wanted to be a trainer! I had told them many times as a kid that I wanted to be one, but they either laughed it off as a joke or thought it was because I missed my brother! I looked to Eevee and nodded, he then slipped away into the crowd going to where I had told him to go earlier in case I had to go with plan B. My mother then pulled me up on stage where she then gave me the mike, telling me to make a speech to my guests. I complied but with a bit of reluctance. I had hoped to make this a quiet discussion but life has away of making it loud. Looking to every body out in front of me I cleared my voice and began,
"Hi everyone! I'd like to thank you for coming to my party and wishing me luck. As you all know I am turning 10 today, and tomorrow I begin my pokemon journey!" people clapped and my mother cheered. "I am very excited to start and I know how important and strict it is for every girl in the family to be a coordinater, it's been going on for 5 generations now. Yet I have been thinking very hard now for 7 years and have finally come to a conclusion about something that will affect my journey and where I'll be heading…" my parents looked to me, my father a strict, serious, warning look, and my mother one of worry, while everyone looked plain confused so I continued, "Why should boys be the only ones in my family to be trainers? There are many great female trainers that have inspired me to become…" everyone leaned in holding baited breath, cameras rolling like crazy, "A Pokemon Master!" I said the last part confidently. The large bell in our house rang signaling that it was midnight, it's large brass bell ringing loudly throught the house. The crowd gasped and began either muttering about what a shame I was or yelling at me in protest, camera crews were yelling for more tape. My father approached me, crossing the stage.
I suddenly put my fingers between my lips and whistled loudly. A person from the crowd shouted, "Look!" and pointed to the balcony above me. Looking up I saw Eevee jump from it and land in my out stretched arms holding my backpack in its mouth. With out a second thought I ran throwing my backpack over my shoulder and kept Eevee in my arms. Someone screamed, "After her!" and then a huge wave of people ran after me shouting and cameras still rolling. I had to make larger strides as I ran seeing that most of the people were adults who had longer legs than me. After about 10 minutes I saw the cities forest ahead. Pumping energy into my tired legs I ran straight in not stopping until half an hour later. Even then I only slowed down to a fast walk not stopping for what seemed like hours. When I was positive that I was safe, I stopped to take a break. It was now probably about 3:00 or 4:00 in the morning. Sitting down on a fallen log I placed Eevee onto my lap where he looked at me curiously,
"Lets sleep for a bit. We'll need our energy for later." I said. He nodded and curled up falling asleep as well. After another 30 minutes I finally fell into a light sleep. I woke up about, 2 hours later when the sun began to rise. Putting on my jacket, I picked up my backpack and Eevee, walking towards the direction I had been heading for. Within 30 minutes of walking I arrived at a road. Looking to one side I saw nothing except the long expanse of road. On the other side I saw the outline of a town. I walked again for a while and finally came to the first buildings. There were people outside, not many but I wasn't taking chances. I pulled my hood over my head concealing my face. Walking deeper into the town, I noticed more shops and more people coming out. Glancing into a shop I looked at a clock and was surprised to see that it was 8:25. I then realized that I was hungry and began to look for a shop. As I was searching, I walked by a TV store showing the news.
"…And that is how the squirtle saved the little boy from Team Rocket! On later news, Natsuki Masaru revealed a shocking statement late last night during her 10th birthday party when she was called up to give her guests a speech." The video played to a video feed of her walking up to the stage and making her speech. " 'I want to be a pokemon master!'" the video then went and fast forwarded to when I disappeared into the forest, "She still has not been found and is presumed to still be in the forest. Several rangers are looking for her as we speak." Many people were now crowded around the shop whispering and gossiping.
"My goodness, what a child! Her mother must be ashamed of her!" Said Nosy Nancy 1.
"I would never raise my little girl to be that way!" Said Nosy Nancy 2.
"So selfish! What a terrible thing she did!" said Nosy Nancy 3. As all three women were agreeing with each other, the announcer suddenly said,
"And to anyone who finds the young girl and returns her to her home, will be paid 10,000 dollars!" everyone was silenced for a minute before,
"I need to get my nets!" said Nosy Nancy 1,
"Out of my way I need to get my bear traps!" said Nosy Nancy 2,
"Bear traps? Ha you'll just break her legs! I'm gonna trap her with a hole I'll dig in the ground!" said Nosy Nancy 3. I paled at the rabid frenzy, and tried to get away before anyone recognized me. Someone ended up ramming into me and knocking me flat on my butt, causing my hood to fly off. Then once again came that silence…Crap!
Mystery POV
How did I get into this mess? I thought to my self as I pulled this girl along. Oh yeah that's right!
About 15 minutes earlier…
"Big brother? Where are we going?" My little sister Yuki asked, as I held her hand.
"We're going to the market to by some food for lunch." I said. She nodded her head and said,
"Oooohhh!...Okay!" she then thought and looked back up to me. "Can I have some candy too?" I smiled.
"Maybe, if we have enough money left. Mom only gave us 20 dollars…" I started,
"But that is a lot of money!" she said, I sighed.
"Yeah but your 7, and the number 20 is big to you!" I pointed out, she nodded her head again. We walked in silence for a few more minutes until…
"Hey big brother look! Doesn't that girl look like a princess?" she squealed. I rolled my eyes, since she always did this when she saw a girl in a dress. "Look big brother look!" she whined. I obeyed and looked over to where she was pointing. To my surprise I saw a girl that was about my age, walking down the street with an Eevee. But that's not what surprised me, it was how she was dressed. She wore a blue ruffled dress that extended to her ankles, the top though covered by a light blue jacket, was most likely form fitting and she had a deep green pendant hanging around her neck. Her hood was pulled up over her head, hiding her face but some blonde locks were hanging out, and with her very straight posture she gave off the air of a princess! All I could say was,
"Wow…"
"See? I told you!" Yuki said. Since she was heading in the same direction of the market that we were, I continued to stare curious about the girl under the hood. Who was she? Eventually we stopped so that Yuki could talk to her friend Mao. We were near the TV station and so I decided to listen to the news. I saw the mystery girl look at the TV. A young girl was on it apparently celebrating her 10th birthday. It surprised me when the cameras showed her running away.
"And to anyone who finds the young girl and returns her to her home, will be paid 10,000 dollars!" everyone was silenced for a minute before, then the crowd began to leave in a frenzy to catch the girl on TV. The mystery girl was knocked over by a man running out of the crowd, only to reveal that it was the girl on TV. The whole crowd froze seeing at the sight of her. She had a look of horror across her face as she stood up slowly. Suddenly someone fro the crowd screamed,
"Get her!" and then the madness ensued. The girl had some how woven her self out of the crowd and took off on foot her Eevee right beside her. I then took Yuki away from the market place seeing as the crowd began to grow wilder with each passing second. As we were going back home, I heard a noise. Thinking nothing of it I continued down the smaller road to our house. Suddenly the girl from before ran right into us, well more like me! She looked into my eyes and said pleadingly,
"Please you have to help hide me!" As I got up is heard the crowd grow closer their yells louder. Before I knew what I was doing I had picked up Yuki holding her close to my side, grabbed the girls had and said,
"Come on!" She nodded and her Eevee hoped into her arms. We ran and ran finally making it to our house. Quickly opening the door I brought her inside and closed the door shut gasping for breath. The girl sat down on the floor trying to catch her breath. When we relaxed enough she said to me,
"Thank you for your help! You really got me out of that mess there." Yuki who I had put down came up to her and said,
"Are you a princess?" I face palmed, she always did this! The girl smiled.
"No sorry to disappoint you. My name is…" but was interrupted by my mom.
"Natsuki Masaru!" The girl nodded her head looking at the woman who stood behind her.
"Yes that's me!" she stood and gave her a warm smile. "Your son saved me from those people who were chasing me! He is very kind!" my mom gave me and approving look and then said,
"He can sure be a gentleman at times." Natsuki nodded when suddenly her stomach growled. Mom smiled, "Well seeing that my son got so busy being a knight in shining armor to get groceries I had to make stew for lunch. Would you like some?" Natsuki smiled gratefully,
"I would love some!" mom nodded, told us to wash up and then went back to the stew. As Yuki left Natsuki sat back down and took off her shoes. I winced as I saw the blisters and cuts that covered her feet. Had she run in those high heels all night? She looked up and saw my look.
"Don't worry about me, it just looks worse than it is." She said. I decided to leave it and took her to the bathroom so she could wash her hands. When she was done I washed mine and we headed for the table.
As we ate my mom and sister asked Natsuki tons of questions and she answered most of them, but when it came to why she ran away she just sat there quietly.
"So Natsuki," she looked up to my mom, "Are you going to travel in that dress? I mean while yes it is fashionable it won't help with the thicker more brambly forests." Natsuki responded with,
"Oh I was planning to buy an outfit at a shop later and sell this to one of the stores for some more money! I'll be needing it for my travels." Mom nodded approvingly while my sister slipped Natsuki's Eevee her carrots. My mom thought for a second, then said,
"Well we can't have you shopping in that dress either! You'll be too noticeable…Ah! Ryuu! Go upstairs and grab some clothes! Oh don't give me that look! Just grab the smallest pair of clothes you have! We're going disguise her!" I went up stairs and sifted around for the smallest clothes I had. After a minute or two I found a pair of cargo pants and a t-shirt that said 'So I heard you like mudkips?' and took them down stairs to Natsuki. She took them and went into a bathroom coming out a few minutes later. I had to hold back a laugh as I watched try to support the pants that hung loosely around her hips, the t-shirt fit but she still needed a belt. Mom then sent me back up to get one and soon she was ready. Mom then said,
"Hm, we still need a way to hide you're face so no one recognizes you though…Aha!" she went into the closet and pulled out an old hat. It was a limited edition pokemon trainer hat she'd gotten back when she and dad we're first married. It meant nothing much to her but she still kept it around because mom never got rid of anything. Placing it on Natsuki's head she nodded with satisfaction and then sent us on our way Natsuki carrying a bag that held her dress. As we were walking she asked me,
"So what do your parents do for a living?" I looked to her and said,
"Well here my dad is the Little Root Towns doctor. He takes care of people and my mom owns a Pokémon barber shop." I said, "My parents are very well known throughout the town and are very respected." Natsuki nodded her head in understanding. She then looked to me again with another question,
"So what do you want to do?" This question took me by surprise but I still answered,
"Well I'm going to be a doctor like my father." She looked like she didn't believe me. But how could she possibly understand? We finally got to the store and we walked in.
Natsuki's POV
We eventually got to the clothes shop. I was a bit surprised at it's size, and then I remembered that I was in Little Root Town where everything was….little. Walking in I exchanged my dress for more poke points (remember that poke points are equal to money). I wasn't surprised that I got a lot of money from it. Yeah you might think I'm being selfish but there are plenty of good reasons to do this. One, it's better to travel in pants than a fancy getup like that. Two, there is no way I am going back to that house just to return it! And three, it's better for me to just have the money than carry that huge thing around in my bag. I then began to sift through the racks of clothes, hoping to find something good to wear.
After a couple of minutes I had an arm full of clothes and went into the dressing room, Ryuu and Eevee waited out side. I tried on the first outfit. Walking out I showed them. It was a dark blue sleeveless hoodie with blue washout jeans and a pair of red sneakers. They both nodded but the stores owner said,
"Oh dear! No, I think you should try on a different shirt the blue is too dark!" I looked at it shrugged my shoulders and walked back in trying on the next one. I came out with the same pants and shoes but this time the shirt was a sleeveless light blue shirt with black trimming on the bottom and straps. Everyone looked at it before Ryuu pointed out,
"You look a bit bare with just that…go try on a vest with it!" I sighed and then placed it on. They then looked at each other and then shook their heads.
"What now…" I whined.
"Why there's too much black." The woman said. I sighed, was I ever going to find something good? After several more outfits I was about done with looking. I was currently in a pink and white skirt with a pink ruffled shirt. I had high stockings and bright pink shoes along with a pink bandana wrapped around my head. (like May's)
"Can we stop for now please? I swear if I put on one more pink thing I will let the Beedrill take me…" I whined. Ryuu was currently sleeping while Eevee played with its tail in a very bored manner. The manager sighed,
"Hmmm alright…Just one more and you can go for the day we can try again tomorrow…" I sighed but agreed. Waking Ryuu she whispers into his ear. With a nod he gets up and digs through the shirts. She then whispered to Eevee and it nodded and shuffled through the hats and accessories. The woman went off and a few minutes later brought shoes. Looking to me she said,
"You pick some shorts out and we'll see what our choices create!" I picked out a pair I liked and after a moment Ryuu came back with some clothes as did Eevee with some accessories. The manager gave me the shoes and then pushed me into the dressing room one final time. Putting the clothes on I decided not to looked and just see what they thought. They all looked with interest. Looking in the mirror I was surprised by the way it looked. I wore a light blue bandana with designs dancing across it, a short black vest and a sleeveless green half shirt, washed out torn up shorts, and finally light blue Pokecon high-tops. (Those shoes May wears) I looked to everyone and they nodded approvingly. With a satisfied smile I took out my card and paid for the clothes along with a pair of pj's for the road. Finally Ryuu and I walked out of the store. He looked to the horizon, I glanced in the same direction.
"Hm…" he said, "The suns going down… it will be dark soon. Would you like to stay at my place tonight? Mom's making beef sukiyaki." He offered. I grinned.
"Of course! I love sukiyaki!" I said. He smiled and we walked to his house. We spent our time after wards helping Ryuu's mom with chores. Chores! And I had fun! I never got to those sort of things before so this was a great experience! Finally dinner was ready and boy did it smell good! As we ate I asked Ryuu,
"So Ryuu," He looked to me, "Why haven't you started your pokemon journey yet?" He paused in his eating. He began to worry me when he said,
"I'm studying to be a doctor…like dad." He said it so proudly yet his eyes looked so sad. I knew I had to find out before I went, and I only had tonight so I'd have to try really hard.
Later that night after Ryuu's mom put Yuki to bed we watched a movie in his room where I lay upon an inflated mattress. (Oh for goodess sake's their 10!) After the movie finished Ryuu turned off the TV and walked to his bed. As he sat down I asked,
"Ryuu…" He looked to me, "Do you really want to become a doctor?" He gave me a funny look,
"O-Of course I do! What would make you think that?" he said. I looked at him.
"Because, at dinner you didn't look very happy about it when you said it." I pointed out, he looked down. "Ryuu I just want you to do what's you want to do! If you're…" but he cut me off.
"Look Natsuki! You don't know a thing about it so just butt out!" He yelled,
"But Ryuu…" I started.
"No! This isn't any of your business so just stay out of it!" I was taken aback by this. I looked down,
"I-I see I upset you…I'm sorry…" I tried to apologize; he just looked at me and said,
"Just go to bed." He turned over with his back to me and closed his eyes. I looked at his back and felt once again that I'd lost the only outside connection from my world, I curled up in my futon and closed my eyes, blinking tears away. Eevee curled up in my arms and fell asleep. I laid there and wondered if it had been the right choice to do what I did.
Mystery POV
Two shadowy figures from a strangely familiar balloon hovered across the quiet town.
"Ooooo!" Said mysterious figure 1, "So this is where the little princess was said to have been spotted!"
"Such a quiet town." Said mysterious figure 2, "I can't wait to make some noise!" The two then laughed in evil yet familiar voices. A third figure quite smaller in sized joined them as it said,
"Oh the boss is gonna be happy about this!" mysterious figure 3 said.
Can you guess who?
So how was it? Good? Bad? Eh? Let me know by reviewing!