Ah, ignore anything I have prior written about upcoming chapters. I've changed this story so much that it is generally the same, but far different from what I had originally imagined, which is ok. I believe the story is more compelling this way. Anyway, I had this chapter done like a month or two ago, but then I said screw it and decided to mostly re-write it and include things that were going to be in the next chapter (that no longer exists). Anyway, we meet the new characters :D Enjoy!
~.::Tale of Two Friends and A Stranger::.~
"Kurt?" A puzzled 6' spiky, dull, sandy blonde teenager wondered in a dry tone. The teenager rarely ever showed emotion unless he felt it was absolutely necessary or taken off guard.
The person in question was standing outside the police station holding up his middle fingers walking backwards from the glass doors. He was wearing a grey sweater vest with orange and beige argyle. Underneath were a white, short sleeved, dress-up shirt and a black tie. He finished off the look with tan khaki pants and brown business shoes.
"Well, if it isn't Ryu. What you been up to, fucker?" Kurt, a black haired 6'5" male, smiled and put his friend in a headlock giving him a noogie.
Ryu groaned as he forcefully shoved the older man off of him. He then spent a considerate amount of time fixing his hair.
"Dude, that thing is gelled stiff. I think you're fine," chuckled Kurt as he slapped the blonde on the back in cheerful delight. "Ah, what's this?" He wondered as he forcibly grabbed the blonde's ear.
"Stop!" Ryu hissed as he swatted his friend's hand away.
"When did you get your ear pierced?" obviously ignoring the younger male.
"You were there when I got it done," The sandy blonde shoved his hands in his grey baggy pants' pockets looking dissatisfied at the older male. Meeting up with Kurt was regrettable.
"Really now? So did you hear I got a tattoo?" He didn't give his young friend a chance to respond, "I found a few Pokémon that have these weird tattoo like marks on them, you know, from the pollution incident that happened 27 years ago. So, I decided that I wanted to collect them and so they'd fit in, I got this!" He rose up his left sleeve revealing a black, tribal sun tattoo.
The blonde found it very strange that Kurt had enough interest in these Pokémon that he would try to make them fit in. Kurt never tried to make anyone feel like they belonged. The only exception for this was women that he found sexually appealing.
"That's great…" Ryu strayed off briefly recalling the incident that happened 27 years ago. Obviously he wasn't alive to actually recall the event, but he had heard enough about it from his parents that it had felt like he was actually there.
From the time Ryu was a young boy his parents made sure to introduce him to every type of pokéball that existed- including the Master Ball. The Hi's called it their greatest treasure, but made sure that Ryu knew the repercussions of the item. The child knew the pokéball like the back of his hand, part of his parents intention. As the heir to the multi-trillion-dollar fortune, Ryu was required to know every aspect of the family business.
"So what are you doing here?" Kurt asked freeing the blonde from his reverie.
The blonde just stared into the distance with his blank caramel eyes and then eyed the police station to his right.
"Why are you here?" Ryu wondered not meaning to ask a question over the other question, but it was quite curious to find Kurt standing outside a police station.
The black haired male shrugged his shoulders and raised his hands up in defeat.
"I don't know, and I don't care." It was common for Kurt to do stupid things, even regrettable things, but it generally wasn't common for him to black out and wake up in prison. "So anyway what are you doing now that you've graduated from the 'prestigious Pokémon Academy' or whatever?" The black haired man wondered while waving to some skimpily dressed blonde girl and her brunette friend.
Ryu sighed and blew off the waves from the girls mostly because they were partly for Kurt, but also because he didn't care.
"I'm going to be the champion of the Pokémon World," The blonde's calm yet arrogant remark jolted the black haired male back to the conversation.
"You're kidding, right?" Kurt practically scoffed at Ryu's words.
"I'm here to face Burgh."
The two males began to walk and talk while on their way south, towards the docks. It had been a while since Ryu was last in Castelia City. His journey had begun a month prior and that was the last time that he had seen the city. He felt amazed by the surroundings, but was far from being tourist like. It had also been a while since he had last seen Kurt Redwood, heir to the famous Redwood fortune, as well. It was hard to say that the two had grown together, Kurt being seven years older than Ryu, but the two were found together as often as they could be. They grew up as neighbors, and that led to their eventual friendship even though the two weren't very similar.
"Ah, that bug type gym leader?"
The younger male nodded his head as he looked around the city.
"His bugs will burn."
"Smartass, and what happens if you lose?"
"Ember and I won't," Ryu looked down at his canine partner. The orange dog like creature followed the two males with his red tongue sticking out, panting. He barked when his companion looked at him.
"One of these days you're going to lose," Kurt said with a big smile on his face. Oh yes, Ryu was going to lose one day, he was sure of it, and Kurt was going to enjoy every second of it.
"You'll be the first to know," Ryu smiled, it was a rare occasion to see him do so unless he was being arrogant or an asshole.
"So, you found yourself a girlfriend yet?" Kurt mocked knowing that it was more than likely that he hadn't. Ryu was very picky about the type of people he associated himself with.
The sandy blonde gave Kurt a dull stare when he asked. Ryu had no reason to associate himself with women. Sure he was incredibly attractive; he had the whole surfer look going for him, but he loathed fan girls. And though he attracted others, he grouped them all together.
"We should stop by Casteliacone," Ryu said, after a bit, totally brushing Kurt's comment off.
Casteliacone was a local ice cream shop that stood open one day a week. People from all over Pokémon World would jump in line in hopes of getting a taste of their delicious ice cream. However, the line was always incredibly long and they would run out of ice cream before everyone would get served.
"You're an idiot. The line is a mile long, literally!"
"So?" The blonde looked at Kurt with dull amusement, "It's something to do."
"I can find plenty of other things I'd rather do."
Ryu blinked slowly as he waited for Kurt to suggest something, but when that didn't happen he asked: "Like?"
Kurt snapped out of his reverie and directed his sea blue eyes at the blonde, "I'm sorry, what?"
He wasn't even surprised.
It Kurt a few seconds to collect himself. He then turned to younger male.
"So did you hear that Red just got inducted into the Grand Elite Four?" He asked purposely knowing that it would piss Ryu off.
However, Ryu acted in an opposing manner. The blonde kept facing forward looking collected as he always did.
"Yeah, I heard…"
"And?"
"And what?"
Kurt just shook his head in disapproval. His layered black hair then fell neatly against his head as if he had never shook his head to begin with. However, he did have to brush his bangs from his face.
"So, you're really going to try to get inducted?"
Ryu paused for a second and then replied: "Of course."
The older male sighed. The Grand Elite Four had formed into existence in the last ten years. Champions, of all regions, from the past came together and fought to be the first inducted. The four champions that made up the Grand Elite Four were undefeated until Red came along, being the first outsider to join them. Now, Ryu had a dream of being the second inducted.
Ryu's family never understood why he would want to be a world champion. Ryu, who was lucky enough to be born into the richest family in all of Pokémon World, had his path already laid at his feet. But he wanted nothing to do with it. Ryu didn't want to take over the family business; he had no interest in it. However, being the eldest son of the Hi's, he didn't have much of a choice. By birthright, he was the heir.
"Have you ever even thought about taking over your family business?" Kurt wondered as the three came to a halt where the pavement met sand from the beach.
"No."
He sighed, "You're foolish."
"How about you?"
Kurt shoved his hands into his pockets as he watched the people at the beach run around, swim, bathe in the sunlight, and things of that sort.
"Considering that I just graduated from the Pokémon Professor Academy, I'd say no."
Ryu raised a brow.
"Hey, don't give me that look! My parents gave me a choice, yours didn't."
The younger male sat down on the ledge that overlooked the sandy beach and rested his head on his left, propped knee.
"If I could give away my family's fortune, I would in a heartbeat."
"I don't believe you!"
Ryu rolled his head to the left and directed his caramel eyes at the older male.
"Money has never meant much to me."
"I can't believe I'm hearing this. Ryu Hi, son of the richest family in all of Pokémon World, could care less about money?" Kurt was laughing so hard that he practically lost his balance.
Ember, Ryu's Growlithe, began to bark at Kurt, but he ceased to halt his laughter. He continued laughing until a very clumsy brunette female brought him to the sandy ground. Kurt ruthlessly shoved the young girl off of him and stood to his feet. Ryu and Ember jumped down from the ledge and over to the girl who had managed to get herself to a crawling position. Ryu held out his black glove covered hand to the female and helped her to her feet.
She dusted herself off, standing 5'6", and looked up at the male who had helped her.
"Ryu?" The girl said wide-eyed and in shock.
He looked at her curiously, "Do I know you?"
She seemed as though she were going to answer when a chubby man came into their line of view panting.
"THIEF!" He shouted and then bent over in exhaustion.
An Umbreon came running over to the girl.
"My apologies!" She bowed and then took off along the beach.
"STOP HER!" The chubby, balding man shouted one last time before collapsing to the ground.
"Should we go after her?" Kurt wondered, though he honestly didn't care.
Ryu shrugged, "I'll just pay him whatever she owes."
He began to walk past Kurt, when he laid a hand on Ryu's shoulder.
"Do you know her?"
Without even taking the time to consider it, Ryu responded: "No."
He then hoisted himself over the brick wall and handed the chubby vender the money for the stolen food. The vender thanked him numerous times and then walked off. Kurt joined Ryu back on the main road as the sun began to set.
The two males and the Growlithe started down the darkening streets towards their respective hotel rooms. Kurt contemplated heading to a club for the night while Ryu thought about the strange encounter from earlier. He must have looked like it too because Kurt slapped him on the back and then asked:
"Are you sure you don't know her?"
Ryu wasn't quite sure if it was an honest question or if Kurt was trying to imply something by it.
"It's not like I'm not recognizable," Ryu said as he determined that to be the proper conclusion. "I'm sure most people, here, know what I look like."
"Whatever…" Kurt then looked around the once bustling streets that were now suddenly more silent. "I'm thinking about heading to the club tonight. Do you want to come?"
"No."
"You want to think about that?"
"No."
"Come on, I could hook you up with someone nice!"
"No."
"Maybe you could finally lose your V-card!"
Ryu sighed, "I'm going to my hotel."
"Figured, you're so boring," Kurt sighed and then took off a bit down the street waving to his friend. "I'll see you later, I suppose."
"Wait… Kurt?" Ryu asked hesitantly.
The elder male stopped and turned back to his young friend, "What's up?"
"Did she look familiar to you?"
Kurt rubbed his stubbly chin and thought, "Nope."
Ryu's eyes held a bit of disappointment, but he wasn't quite sure why.
"Never mind, I'll see you tomorrow." And with that the two males went their separate ways.
Early the next morning, Ryu made his way down to the beach along with Ember; the two were practically inseparable. He wasn't really sure what brought him all the way down there so early in the morning, but the dawn ocean air felt good against his skin. He took a deep breath and inhaled his surroundings, closing his eyes.
"It's quite early," said a soft female voice.
He opened his eyes and looked towards the startling voice.
"Who are you?" He asked noticing that it was the girl from the prior evening.
She thought for a second before responding, "I appreciate your benevolence."
He jumped off the ledge and walked over to her.
"How do you know me?"
"Are you not Ryu Hi, heir to the Hi fortune? You're easily recognizable," She was walking along the water line kicking up muddy dirt with her worn out work boots.
He could see her bear feet through the holes. In fact, her boots reflected her entire outfit. The red woven sweater in which she wore had the sleeves torn off and had begun to unravel in select areas. Her pants were black and torn in various places. In fact, she didn't look like someone well off at all.
"I paid that man off."
"I'm aware," she continued on her path and then halted with him a few feet behind, "You don't recall me, do you?"
He stared at her without recollection. Should he have known her?
"…to be expected…" she looked briefly disappointed, but then returned to her casual look.
He remained quiet and then looked at her with a change in tone.
"Have you eaten?"
His question took her by surprise, which caused her to stop in her tracks and pause. And then she thought about it and shook her head.
"Let's go," he motioned for her to follow him.
She took two steps towards him and then stopped.
"Wait, I…I can't," she held her hand close to her body, withdrawn.
He sighed with a smile, "Don't worry about it, I'll feed your Umbreon too."
"Growl-Growlithe!" Barked Ember as if to agree.
The brunette looked down at her Umbreon who looked at her. Free food after all was free food.
"Alright, I have time constraints though," she was worried by her own words.
He motioned her to follow him, again.
She nodded reluctantly and followed a few feet behind him and his partner with her Umbreon trailing. They walked for a bit like that until he found a small restaurant located off the pier and sat down outside at a small white table meant for two. He sat there casually staring at the simple white menu while she sat there uncomfortably rubbing her arms as if she were freezing. He looked up from his menu and glanced at her.
"Are you ok?"
She jumped a little, not expecting him to speak to her.
"I'm exceptional!" she raised her hands in a nervous defense.
"Uh huh…" his eyes returned to the menu.
Shortly after, a waiter came over and took their drink orders and then left. The female continued to sit there uncomfortably while the male chose to ignore it. It wasn't worth it to pry because she wasn't going to tell him.
"Anything appealing?" She asked after a bit.
"Depends on what you like," he responded though that only made her looked more uncomfortable. He wasn't really sure what was wrong with her. "You can get whatever you like."
"O-ok…" she directed her attention to the menu before her, "So…uh… can I call you Ryu?"
He blinked a couple times, "Yeah, sure."
This took her by surprise. She then smiled, "My name is Raine Crystalline."
He was slightly confused, "That sounds familiar."
"Oh, um, we were introduced ages ago, but it was mutual," she was embarrassed for no apparent reason. Her Umbreon rubbed up against her leg causing her to pet him. "My father was Nos Crystalline."
She bit her lower lip in hopes that he would recall her father.
"He was my parents' best friend," he said and then paused when the waiter gave them their drinks and then took their meal orders.
Her face lit up, "Yes, and my moth- and Aurora Nightly, I mean."
"I know about Mr. Crystalline and Miss Nightly," he spoke casually. It was no big secret to anyone in his family.
She began to fidget her fingers, "My apologies!"
He looked at her, once again, confused, "Why are you so fidgety?"
"I'm… tense around you."
"Why?"
"I can't… enlighten you," she reserved herself. If he didn't know, there was no reason to bring it up.
"Alright…" confused still. He then reached into his pocket and pulled out his vibrating cell phone, "Hello?"
The waiter, once again, came over and this time delivered their food, even making sure to give their Pokémon something. Raine waited a bit before digging into her food. She didn't want to seem rude, but Ryu was taking a particularly long time on the phone, even though he was barely saying anything. He then hung up his phone and picked up his fork.
"A friend will be joining us."
Raine dropped some of her omelet in her Umbreon's dish. Ryu pulled out a small grey cell phone looking pokédex with a red pokéball symbol on the bottom and held it up to the Umbreon.
It read: "Umbreon, the Moonlight Pokémon, and an evolved form of Eevee. The rings on Umbreon's body glow faintly when exposed to the moon's aura and it gains a mysterious power."
"His name is Sora," she said as she put down her fork.
He looked at her and then down to the Umbreon.
"Um…"
He turned his attention to her before speaking, "I want to ask you something."
It took her by surprise, "…y-yes?"
"Where are you staying? Do you live around here?"
"Oh…" she stared longingly at her food. She couldn't recall the last time she had a meal like this.
Realizing that he was beating a dead horse, he decided to ask: "Are you a trainer?"
Continuing to look at her food, she shook her head, "I'm a researcher."
"Would you like-"
"Ah, man, it only took me forever to find this place. I mean could you have picked a restaurant in a more touristy location?" Intruded Kurt. He placed a chair facing away from the table and sat backwards upon it. He then stole a piece of toast off of Ryu's plate and began to munch on it, "You should have came with me last night. I found a few girls looking for a young virgin."
Ryu's face went back to its bland boredom that he commonly had when he was around Kurt. Raine's face turned bright red.
Mouth full of toast, Kurt looked over at the unknown female and asked, "Ryu, who's this?"
"Raine Crystalline," Ryu introduced with sheer boredom.
The black haired male leaned towards the blonde one and said: "She's pretty cute, when did you meet her?"
"You're an idiot," Ryu remarked, "This is the daughter of Nos Crystalline."
Kurt leaned back in his chair and examined the girl, "Seriously? What's with her hair?"
"I'm sorry, but I must go!" She suddenly stood up gaining the two men's attention.
"Ignore him," Ryu told her.
"My apologies, but I did declare I was on a time constraint."
"Are you sure? At least take the food."
"I appreciate what you've done for me, but I really am obligated go."
"If she wants to go just let her," Kurt chuckled.
She took a good look at the food and decided that she really was hungry so she sat back down. However, she really didn't want to talk about her hair.
"So what's with your hair?" Kurt pressed once again.
She nervously pushed her hair behind her ear. As much as she wish she could have, it was hard to try and hide it.
"Leave her alone," Ryu casually said seeing how awkward she was being about it.
"She your girlfriend?" Kurt chuckled thinking himself clever.
Ryu just shot him a death glare and then turned back to the young girl.
"Where are you going?"
"I can't stay here," she replied while stroking her off colored hair.
He took another bite of his food and thought.
"…Do you live anywhere?"
It was foolish for her to think that they hadn't noticed her slummy appeal, but still, it hurt to hear him bring it up.
"What are you cooking up in that strange little head of yours?" Kurt wondered while shoving his hand into the blonde's hair and trying to mess it up with little success.
Ryu retaliated by pushing Kurt so hard that he almost fell off his chair.
"Your parents were researchers as well."
"Yes…"
"Are you continuing their research?"
She was taken a bit by surprise; she hadn't actually thought that anyone would suggest she was whom she said.
Kurt began to laugh, "You actually think she's Raine Crystalline? The girl died almost seven years ago."
"She went missing."
"And was never found!"
"Please stop!" Raine intruded, "You don't need to believe me, um… what's your name?"
"He's Kurt Redwood."
"Doctor Kurt Redwood," The elder male added.
Ryu brushed the comment off. It was easy to tell of the two males bond.
"Did you study under Dr. Willow, Dr. Redwood?" She wondered as she continued to fidget, this time with her bag.
"Yeah…" Kurt looked at her puzzled. Why did it matter?
"May I acquisition what your field of study was?"
His fingers entwined before his lips as he stared at the table.
"I'm in the trial stages of becoming a Professor of Legendary Pokémon. I have to do five years of research on all Pokémon, and if all goes well I'll be working alongside Professor Oak. Why?"
"Oh… well, as you know, my parents studied under Dr. Willow, and well I have something that he needs to see, but I don't know where he's located…" She trailed off. He didn't even believe that she was whom she said, so why would he help her?
"It's a little bit outside Rustboro City. There's already a Pokémon Academy in that city, but this one is exclusive to Pokémon professors."
She twiddle her fingers coyly, "Um… where's that?"
"Are you serious?" Kurt turned to Ryu, "There's no fucking way she's Raine. That girl was a fucking genius!"
"I am a genius!" She shouted, frustrated but not in anger, "I just don't know locations…"
"Pfft, whatever," he rolled his eyes.
"It's in the Hoenn Region," Ryu responded since it was obvious that Kurt wasn't going to.
"Alright, then I really need to go. Thank you for the food!" She stood up in a hurry knocking herself off balance and then bowed causing her bag to empty out its contents on the ground.
Startled by it, she quickly knelt down and started picking everything up. The two males came over and helped her.
"Here," Ryu handed her a couple of black spiral bound journals as well as a black picture album.
She took them from him and shoved them in the bag; however, she was anxiously looking for something else. Upon further inspection, Kurt sat there holding a bound grey journal. He was flipping through some of the pages with interest as the color drained from Raine's face.
"Give that back to her," Ryu scolded noticing the worried look on the girl's face.
"This is the field journal on Suicune," Kurt said completely astounded, "This holds all the information known to man about the Legendary."
"Kurt!" He shouted.
The black haired male contemplated not handing it over, but he reluctantly closed the giant book and stiffly passed it over. She quickly captured it within her grasp and tightly hugged the book to her body.
"Is that what you want to give to Dr. Willow?" Kurt said in a pouting manner. Anyone of his rank would have died to get their hands on that book.
"…to read," she responded while placing it gently within her bag.
"What a waste," Kurt groaned as he stood to his feet. The journal of Suicune was a highly renowned item wanted by almost everyone. The research that it held was impeccable.
Raine made a move to stand to her feet when Ryu placed his hand on her shoulder.
"You know, I'm a trainer," he said casually, "Eventually my journey will take me to Dr. Willow, so…"
"Are you asking me to stay?" she had certainly not expected this turn of events.
He looked away and muttered: "I don't really know how you're living now, but what I'm offering…"
A smile crept across her face, "You're too nice, Ryu. But why?"
He looked at her perplexed. He didn't actually know why he wanted her to stay other than the fact that he didn't want her to continue living the way she was.
"Let me think on it," she said in bewilderment, "Tomorrow, I will meet you where we met this morning, with an answer."
He nodded his head.
"Now, I really must go... see you tomorrow, Ryu. Good day, Dr. Redwood," she stood to her feet, bowed, then took off down the street.
"You're an idiot," Kurt remarked while pushing his hand through his fine hair. "You are drawn to the strangest of people."
Ryu just directed his eyes to the blabbering male and then left cash on the table before walking off.
"Suicune!" The young girl cheered while quickly making her way over to the Legendary and nuzzling her face against its.
"I was worried when you didn't come back immediately," The Legendary said to her telekinetically.
"I ran into an old friend and got caught up in conversation. He wants me to join him," she looked worried and Suicune returned the look.
"The winds have changed, it's time for me to move on."
"Ah! No, please wait until tomorrow, I need time to think this through!" She pressed herself against the blue beast with a crushed heart.
"You know I cannot…"
The girl's eyes filled with sorrow. Suicune had taken care of her since her parents' death, how could she leave the Legendary now?
"Then let's go…" she heaved a heavy sigh.
The beast wanted to agree with her, but it felt digression. Raine had lived her whole life with Pokémon, and Suicune had been feeling that she needed to learn what it was like to interact with others of her kind. Grief filled its eyes as it pick up its large head in sorrow and looked at the almost 17-year-old girl.
"You know I care for you, but I believe that you are destined to venture with your friend," Suicune told her, "Since your parents' death I have been your foundation, but now it is time you interact with your own kind. The chance that I have been able to provide for you this entire time has been surprising, but another human could care for you in more ways than I can."
"Don't speak like that!" Her body began to quaver with emotion. "You've been my guardian for almost seven years, I barely know that guy, I'd rather stay with you!"
"Raine… it is time for you and Sora to write your own adventure free of my legend."
She broke down in tears and fell to her knees. The beast moved to wrap its neck around her in a loving embrace.
"I will always be there for you. Our bond is strong and we are connected in more ways than one."
"Then why does this feel like a 'goodbye'?" She wiped her eyes.
"It temporarily is…" it said, "But do not fret."
She slowly nodded her head as she stood to her feet. It was time for Suicune to go.
Ryu wandered the morning beach in fatigue. He wasn't sure if she would show up, and frankly, he still couldn't understand why he had asked her to stay. He looked over at Ember who ran into the shallow ocean water and started rolling around until the Growlithe heard light footsteps. He then ran gleefully over to the cause of the sound. Ryu looked at the drained girl as she walked towards him. She was wearing a tight black mid-sleeved shirt with a rounded opening, revealing part of her upper chest, along with dark grey shorts that went over her shirt, and the torn boots from the prior day. Her eyes were slightly puffy with dark circles under them, and her cheeks and nose were slightly stained red from crying. She walked towards him as he stood there and watched her.
"I…um…"
He held out his hand towards her, which caused her to look at him curiously until she realized that he wanted to place something within hers. She held out her pale hands to have a pink flip phone dropped into them.
"I had a feeling that you would choose to stay," he said not even waiting for her to give him official confirmation.
She flipped the phone open and looked through the contacts noticing that Ryu's and Kurt's were already inputted. She then smiled and closed it.
"Figured it'd be easier to keep in contact."
Her smile transformed into a giggle. Ryu was truly a strange person in her eyes.
"So where are we off to?" She wondered wiping her tear lain face.
"Well that only took an excruciatingly long time!" Kurt said, grumpily, as he stood there, cross-armed, with two black brief cases on either side of him.
"My apologies!" Raine said abruptly and attempted to bow.
"Don't worry about it," Ryu told her as he held out his arm to interrupt her bow, "Kurt gets annoyed when he could be partying."
"I already did, fucker!"
"Anyway," Ryu rolled his eyes, "We have to stop off at my parents' store before we can head home."
Kurt groaned, "Is that even necessary?"
Ryu just looked at him as if to say that it was, without any further explanation, and then started towards the tallest skyscraper in Castelia City. The building had 58 floors and ignoring the top 10, which were all offices, the remaining 48 were stocked full of clothing. They stopped outside the door and Ryu turned to his female companion.
"Get whatever you're going to need for two days."
She fixated her eyes upon him and began to slowly nod her head. She understood why he had said that they needed to go to his parents' store. They did, after all, own the Pokémon Clothing brand. The best part of all of this was that Ryu wasn't expected to pay for any clothing he got from his parents' store.
"Ember return!" Ryu's partner Pokémon turned into a red ball and was absorbed by the black and yellow Ultra Ball in his glove covered hand. "They don't like Pokémon wandering around in the store."
She nodded her head before reaching into her grey bag and pulled out a small pink ball with white swirls and a blue center. He was actually a bit surprised to see that she had a pokéball considering her run down appearance. Of course, he didn't know her relationship with her Pokémon, so he had no way of knowing if Sora would have stayed with her without the pokéball or what. Seeing that she let the Pokémon wander about freely, their bond was possibly very strong.
"If you ever need a pokéball don't be afraid to ask."
She called for her partner to return and then held the Heal Ball for a bit before smiling, "Yes, I'm quite aware of your family business." Referring to the other side that made pokéballs.
"Yeah…as exciting as this is, let's go in," Kurt grumbled.
Ryu led the way into the enormous skyscraper and she followed. Kurt sighed and reluctantly followed behind them. They eventually made their way through the busy lobby over to the elevator. When they filed in, Raine stood in the back and stayed as silent as possible.
"Are you going to get anything?" Ryu wondered casually directing his question to Kurt.
"No, I'm good," He responded in the same manner.
They then stood there awkwardly in silence. Raine felt like a sore thumb. She didn't really know these two people at all, and yet Ryu was treating her with such kindness that she was certain she didn't deserve. How could he just willingly accept her into his life?
The ding of elevator door snapped her back into reality and it opened before them as they stood on a pink-lit floor. Ryu had brought them to the lingerie floor in hopes to get this out of the way.
"Get whatever you need, I won't look," Ryu told her.
"I will," Kurt laughed causing Ryu to punch him in the stomach.
Raine blushed, getting used to these two was going to be harder than it seemed…
"So tell me something about you, Ryu," Raine said as she grabbed a bra off the rack and checked the size and feel.
He noticed that she seemed to be calming down. Ryu just sat on a bench, with his back to her, staring lazily into the rest of the store floor.
"What do you want to know?"
"You're a year older than me right?" She already knew the answer, but she wanted to see what he remembered about her.
"I suppose."
"So you're 17 then."
"Yeah…" he responded watching women of all shapes, sizes, and age wander through the store.
"And your birthday is June 3rd; ah, that's in a few days! Oh, and your brother is 16 like me… at least for the time being," She said shaking slightly from nervousness deciding on the bra in hand and then looked around for another one.
"You seem to know quite a bit about me already," his response was rather bland.
"Not really. I met you long ago and Papa would also tell me stories of you and your brother."
Kurt wandered over, intruding upon their conversation, holding a black silk lace bra and matching panties for Raine to take.
"These should be the right size."
Raine's face turned bright red, "Doc-Doctor Redwood!"
Ryu stood up and walked over to Kurt, "Stop being such a pervert!"
"I'm not! I'm helping speed this up," Kurt sighed, "I get annoyed of shopping."
"She obviously doesn't want them!" Ryu shouted.
"What's wrong with you? You act like she's your girlfriend or something!"
"Stop fucking saying that!" Ryu's temper rose drastically.
"Please don't fight!" Raine grabbed onto Ryu's arm, "I think it's thoughtful, and I'll take them."
"See?" Kurt handed the items over to Raine, "You need to relax."
Ryu glared at Kurt, "Whatever…"
Kurt crossed his arms, scowling at the younger teen. Ryu just shoved his hands in his pockets and turned his head to the side.
"I'm going downstairs," the sandy blonde grumbled and then made his way to the elevator.
Raine stood by Kurt's side and sighed.
"Did I do something wrong?"
Kurt's lips curved into a frown before directing his eyes to her, "No, he's just moody. Plus if he doesn't walk away he'll just start a fight and we don't need that right now."
"He wasn't like this earlier…"
"Yeah…he's a pain in the ass. I really can't understand him sometimes."
Raine looked towards the elevator; Ryu was long gone. She sighed, was it right for her to be traveling with two men she barely knew? While it was true that she had met Ryu a long time ago, she hardly knew anything about him.
Kurt placed his hand on top of her head startling her.
"Wanna go bikini shopping? I'm excellent at picking out these type of things," his mouth widened in a cocky smile.
"Sure, I suppose…" her mind was elsewhere.
"Doctor Redwood?" Raine said after a while of them being completely silent while perusing through the bikini section. She had so far declined ever decision Kurt had made.
"Yeah?" He questioned while rubbing his stubbly chin. He couldn't quite grasp what type of bathing suit she'd prefer.
"How did you and Ryu meet?"
He turned his head to her, maintaining the same position, and pondered what she had asked.
"I've known him since he was just a little kid. Damn stubborn bastard has always been like this. But, I don't know, guess I was the only person he could tolerate. I mean, I was his only friend for the longest time, and I didn't even like him all that much."
"So then why do you stick with him?"
"Why are you so damn curious? We just met and you're asking me all these ridiculous questions!" If Ryu was there, he would have told her to ignore Kurt because he was just being himself, but Ryu wasn't there and Raine didn't know nearly enough about Kurt to recognize that.
"My apologies…"
He sighed quickly realizing that Raine didn't understand what he meant, "As much of a pain in the ass as Ryu is, I like the kid, and he's helped me out of some sticky situations."
She had pulled a takini top off one of the racks and was examining it while he spoke. She turned to the older male and smiled. The two males heavily relied on each other whether they realized it or not, but this made her wonder if she would ever have that kind of connection with either of them, or if she would forever just be some sort baggage.
"That's a takini top," Kurt mentioned a bit surprised that she would go for that type of bathing suit.
The top was solid black except for the sides which were a bright blue-ish green, more so blue than green. She had found a matching bottom to go with it.
"I like this."
Kurt pursed his lips in disagreement. He could tell just by looking at her that she was physically fit and so there was no need for her to hide her body from the eyes of onlookers, well that was just his personal opinion.
"If that's really what you want…"
She just nodded her head.
Ryu stood leant against the main counter in the Lobby. His arms were crossed tightly against his torso and he was scowling not at anything in particular, but customers felt like he was glaring at them. The employees wanted desperately to say something to him, but all of them knew whom he was and pissing off their boss' son didn't sound like a genuinely smart idea.
Finally, Kurt and Raine made their way out of the elevator and over to the unpleasant blonde. He turned to them and sighed.
"Heya, you little shit!" Kurt greeted of so lovingly. He shoved his right hand into the blonde's stiff hair and shoved him backwards. This just made Ryu even more unpleasant.
"Um… I'm all set!" Raine announced as she cut in front of Kurt trying to deter a possible fight.
Ryu just stared at her as he calmed himself down. From what Raine could tell, it seemed that Kurt just hung around to piss off Ryu. Of course, that didn't seem too hard considering Ryu's short temper.
"Put them on the counter," he said while staring at her with his cold caramel eyes.
She did as she was told. The cashier came over almost immediately and started scanning the several items that the brunette girl had placed on the counter. Ryu walked over and dropped his store card on the counter. The cashier looked at it carefully before scanning it as well. The total came up to P0. The female cashier then handed Raine several paper bags with their printed logo and a shirtless male model on it.
The three then walked outside. Kurt placed his right hand above his eyes, as visor of sorts, to block the sunlight before turning to the younger two and asking what time it was.
Ryu took out his cell phone, wondering why Kurt hadn't done that in the first place, and showed him the time. Kurt was astounded when he saw that it was already 4PM.
"Damn, we were in there practically all day!" This made him thoroughly unhappy.
"I don't want to travel through the desert at night," Ryu stated, the sun would set within the hour.
"Well fine then, if you don't want to travel tonight then you're paying for the hotel room," Kurt declared mostly because he liked to exploit Ryu's money when he could.
Raine's stomach then grumbled rather loudly causing her face to turn bright red. Both males began to chuckle.
Ryu turned to Kurt, "Food first."
They then proceeded to a casual diner before heading off to the hotel room.
When they entered the room Raine stood there astounded.
"Do you always bathe yourself in such fine luxury?" Kurt wondered as he looked around the beautifully decorated red and white suite.
"Not generally," Ryu responded carrying one of the bags that Raine had from the store and his backpack from the other room he was staying in.
"This is beautiful!" Raine said in amazement as Sora ran over and jumped on one of the white sofas. "There's even a fireplace!"
"The bedroom to the left is Raine's and the room to the right is for you, Kurt."
"And where are you going to sleep?" Kurt wondered making his way over to the room that Ryu had chosen for him.
"Sofa," Ryu watched as Raine made her way, with her things, to the room on the left.
The girl opened the sliding glass door draped with silk curtains. Inside sat a queen sized bed with a red comforter, a flat screen tv, and some other luxuries. The room was covered in white roses in vases set out by the hotel staff.
"This room is mine?" She wondered as the two males came up behind her.
Ryu nodded.
"Yeah, it sure beats sleeping in a sleeping bag," Kurt joked unknown to him how Raine was living prior.
"I've never slept in anything other than a sleeping bag," she said and then entered the room.
The two males looked at each other baffled. Sora then jumped up on the bed and walked around in a circle before calling that spot his own. Raine sat her things down at the edge of the bed and wandered over to the window to see the magnificent view of Castelia City at night.
"So are you going out tonight?" Ryu wondered leaving Raine's doorway and watching Ember lay down in front of the fire.
"Nah," Kurt replied, "I'm going to get into the complimentary wine though!"
"You're paying for that then," Ryu shoved his hands into his pocket and wandered back over to the sofa.
Kurt complained journeying into his designated bedroom and shutting the door. Ryu walked over to the television and turned it on—noticing that there was a gaming system hooked to it. He snagged the controller and scanned the game collection. Finally deciding upon one, he popped the game into the system and took a cozy seat upon the sofa. Raine came out of her room a few minutes later wearing a pair of teal shorts and a tight grey T-shirt. In her hands was one of the black journals he had picked up for her the other day.
She looked to see what he was doing and wondered if it would be ok to sit on the other side of the sofa. He didn't even make a move to acknowledge her there, so she sat down opposite to him. She waited a bit to see if he was going to make conversation, but when that didn't happen she decided to say something.
"Is the Ultra Ball your favorite?" she wondered.
"Yeah, why?"
"Your piercing is an Ultra Ball."
"You're observant," He quickly glanced at her, but then turned his attention back to the game.
"Why not the Master Ball?"
"It's purple and pink."
She giggled at his bluntness, "I guess that's a good reason."
Realizing that the conversation was going nowhere, she leaned back on the sofa, opened a black spiral ringed journal, and flipped through it until she found where she had left off.
"What's that?" He wondered noticing it in his peripheral.
"Papa's journal. I read it every night; I must've read through it a hundred times," she smiled though she looked like she was holding back tears.
He paused the game and with his left hand he took the journal from her, once he realized that she was ok with it, and briefly looked at the page.
"If it makes you upset, why do you continue to read it?"
She lowered her eyes, "It temporarily makes me feel like he's still here with me."
He handed it back to her, "What about your mother's journal?"
"I haven't read it…"
"Why?"
"…because…" she sighed, "Aurora wasn't a mother. She was a dictator."
"Aren't all parents?" He joked without a change in tone, but when he saw that her facial expression had not changed he subsided.
"I don't think she ever loved me…"
It was surprising to hear that, but he was sure she was making it up, "I'm sure she did."
"No, you don't understand!" She shouted and then started crying.
He was shocked and sat there feeling guilty.
"Please don't cry," He held out his hand as if to touch her but curled in his glove-covered fingers and withdrew his hand. Perhaps it was best to leave her be.
"My apologies…" She wiped her eyes with the back of her right hand, "I could never bring myself to hate her no matter what she did to me, but she never once loved me, and that's why I don't want to read her journal. I'm sure the information she wrote is invaluable, but what she had to say about my existence terrifies me."
"I shouldn't have said anything."
She shook her head, "Don't worry about it."
"So…" he wanted so badly to change the subject or perhaps start playing his game again, but he felt like that would be inconsiderate, "tomorrow we're going to make our way to Nimbasa City. You'll stay at my house until we get going again. If that's ok."
She looked over at him.
"Hopefully Lloyd won't be there, but he probably will. You let me know if he bothers you."
She smiled, "I recall going over to your house once a long time ago."
"You have?" He wondered.
"You don't recall?"
He shook his head.
"We were kids…" she looked at the tv and then pulled out her pokéball. "You gave this to me for my eighth birthday."
He held out his hand and she carefully placed it within it. He then withdrew it to his body making sure to examine the thing. It was certainly showing its age, but was still in particularly good condition. He had no recollection of giving it to her, but as he stared at it, he thought back to when he was eight.
"She has strange hair," He looked back at her with the same gaze.
He blinked a couple times wondering where that memory had come from. He couldn't quite recall the context.
Raine stood up and disappeared into her room before returning with a black picture album. She sat back down and started sifting through the pictures before stopping on a particular page. She passed the black, hard cover album to him and pointed out a specific picture.
He examined it noticing himself when he was younger. There was young Ryu with his arms crossed and a characteristic scowl upon his eight-year-old face. In the middle stood worried looking Raine and next to her was beaten and bloody Lloyd, Ryu's younger brother.
"Raine, why don't you go and enjoy your time with Ryu and Lloyd?" Nos looked down at his seven-year-old daughter who was hugging his leg. He had never seen her so shy.
Before them stood Mr. and Mrs. Hi and in front of them were Ryu, who was making a sour face like he really didn't want to be there, and Lloyd, who had snot running out his bright red nose.
"My you're a cute girl," Mrs. Hi said crouching behind her eldest son, "Now you two be nice to Raine, she's never been around other kids before."
This made Ryu stare at her with his piercing caramel eyes. Lloyd, on the other hand, just wiped his snot covered upper lip with his hand.
"Papa, his eyes are making me feel uncomfortable…" Raine tugged on her father's blue jeans.
Mrs. Hi overheard her and grabbed Ryu's attention, "It's impolite to stare."
"She has strange hair," He looked back at her with the same gaze.
"Try and get along with him," Nos told her.
He then removed her from his leg and pushed her towards the young males.
Ryu crossed his arms and then turned to all the toys laid out for them. Lloyd had already made his way over and started stacking some blocks while sucking on his left thumb. Raine slowly made her way over as if they were scary monsters that were going to attack her at anytime, and she was trying to leave them undisturbed.
She sat down a bit away from the brothers and swirled her finger around on the carpet before she noticed little feet in her line of view. The tiny brunette raised her head and peered at the figure with her green eyes. Ryu stood there holding out a toy boat. He had a dissatisfied look upon his child face and he wasn't looking at her.
Her face lit up as she took the white and blue toy boat from the boy's hands.
"I appreciate it," She smiled kindly.
"…" He turned away from her and when he realized that she wasn't following him, he motioned for her to come over.
The little girl examined the toy boat thoroughly, she had never played with a toy before and the entire sensation was perplexing. Rotating it around in her hand, she couldn't quite grasp an understanding of something made from plastic. She looked up at the boy who was just a year older than her. He watched as she investigated the toy curiously. She then stood to her child feet and wandered over to where he had set up a small town with a dock.
Mrs. Hi smiled diligently, "It seems like they are getting along now."
Nos turned his attention to his daughter who seemed confused as to the purpose of pretending. She looked very out of place and Ryu was attempting to help her figure it all out. After a couple minutes she just started pushing the boat around, with her index finger, without any true intent.
"Seems so, but what's with Lloyd?" Nos wondered looking over at the snot-covered boy playing with blocks.
Mrs. Hi sighed, "Lloyd and Ryu don't get along, so it's probably best that they play separately."
Aurora took a sip of the steaming cup of green tea in her hands. The aroma was very relaxing, and she was enjoying the feeling of sitting on such luxurious furniture. The room in which they were sitting was grand; it had a few pieces of furniture over by the entrance, of which the adults were sitting, and the rest of the room lay barren, so that the children could play in the empty space. The orange sunlight pierced the wall of ceiling to floor glass windows and a cool breeze had captivated the curtains.
"So, Ryu will one day take over the family business, right?" Nos speculated.
Mr. Hi frowned, "That was the original intention, but I fear that Ryu will have no interest in such things."
"He's taken a particular interest in Pokémon; I'm certain he'll be a great trainer one day. His people skills are, however, lacking… to say in the least," Mrs. Hi said very displeased with a bit of worry.
"Well he is only eight," Nos chuckled, but it was not returned.
Mr. Hi shook his head, "The boy is rather arrogant, not saying that he doesn't deserve to be, but he is overly arrogant. He's also quite aggressive-"
And as he said that, they all turned to the children because of a scream. Ryu was on top of Lloyd in a sitting position and punching him repeatedly. All of the adults, excluding Aurora, jumped to their feet and ran over to the children.
Mr. Hi pulled Ryu off of Lloyd and Mrs. Hi tended to the bleeding child. Nos knelt before Raine to find out what had happened.
"What have I told you about beating up your brother?" Mr. Hi's tone was quite drastically angry.
"…"
"Papa, Ryu did that to give me back this-" Raine held up a tiny plastic boat, "Lloyd took it."
Nos turned to Mr. Hi who was paying attention to what the young girl had said.
"Is this true?" He asked his son.
"He pushed her over and forced it from her hands," The blonde child replied.
Mr. Hi sighed, it was easy to tell that he was a bit conflicted with whatever thoughts he was thinking.
"Ryu, you did the right thing; however, beating of your brother is strictly prohibited and you know this!" He rubbed his aged forehead, "I'm sorry, but I'm going to have to ground you."
"Papa!" Raine wholeheartedly objected.
"There's nothing we can do about it, Raine," Nos interceded.
Raine then wandered over to Ryu and smiled, "You have my gratitude."
Ryu stared at her puzzled as to what she meant, but returned her smile. Mr. Hi then grabbed him by the hand and began to lead him away when Nos remembered something.
"Can I actually get a picture of Raine with the boys?" Nos wondered, "You see, I promised her that I'd put together a photo album of all the places she visits and all the people she meets."
Mr. Hi turned to Mrs. Hi who then smiled, "Let me clean Lloyd up and then certainly."
She looked at him to see if he happened to recall anything, but he was hard to read. He passed the album back to her and watched as she closed it.
"It was you…"
She didn't quite know what he meant. Was he referring to the fact that it was she in the image or something else?
He scratched the top of his head with his left hand and then positioned his body towards her—his right leg propped on the sofa and his right arm leant against the back of it.
"I'm engaged," he told her which took her by surprise.
She raised her hands in a nervous defense, "I'm not hitting on you if that's what you think!"
He shook his head, "That's not what I meant."
She relaxed and placed her hands on her lap, "Then what did you-"
"I hate her!"
The change in tone was harsh and rather startling. Ember stood up and wandered over to Ryu's feet. He cleared his lap signaling to his partner that it was all right to jump up, and so the small Pokémon did and made himself comfortable on his human. Ryu began to pet him.
"When I was 15, I was informed that I was engaged prior to my current one. However, the engagement was never publically announced because something had happened to her. And then I thought about it, how was it that I was engaged to someone without ever knowing it?" He stared at her quizzically.
"You were never informed of it?" She wondered.
He shrugged while looking down at his partner again.
"Only explanation I can come up with."
She hesitated wanting to say the words on her lips, but, at the same time, she wanted him to finish what he was saying.
"Max said, 'she was a sweet girl, you would have really liked her. Your engagement was supposed to be announced when you were 12, but…she went missing'."
Raine began to giggle which made him stare at her funny. He then leaned forward and placed his left hand on top of her head.
"I still think you're strange," he smiled, the first time she had seen him do so.
"Back then, I didn't fully understand what they meant. It was after your father had sent you to your room and Lloyd had gone down for a name. When Aurora had proposed to your parents marriage well it was really all her idea. Papa practically choked on his drink. Anyway, your mother said it wouldn't be announced until you had turned 12, so Papa agreed for the time being. And that's all I know about it," Raine said casually as Ryu watched her. That explained why he never knew. She found it a bit funny.
"You knew this the entire time?"
She nodded her head.
"And you didn't say anything."
She frowned, "How would it sound if I said, 'Hi, I'm Raine Crystalline, we were engaged once'?"
He narrowed his eyes at her and then moved so his back was against the sofa and propped his head on the back.
"Weird…"
"Perhaps," she said with an immense amount of sarcasm.
"So I have a question for you," He turned his head to face her. "Where did you get Sora?"
It took her a second to adjust to the new conversation. "I didn't steal him if that's what you mean."
"No, I didn't think you had. He'd certainly wouldn't stick with you if you did."
"My parents' had an Umbreon named Blitz and an Espeon. After they died, I took them with me and five years ago they had Sora. Two years later, they both died and now Sora is all I have left." She touched the cover of the journal while thinking of her father who she had not seen in a while and of Suicune who had left her the night prior.
She recalled the death of Blitz and the Espeon. They had come down with some sort of disease that needed special medication, but she couldn't afford it, so she had to watch them die. It was heart wrenching, but she was grateful to Sora for keeping her company.
"When your parents died why didn't you come seek shelter at my house? My parents would have taken you in."
"I wasn't thinking… They had just died and I freaked out," she looked at him for a response but none was there, "Anyway, I'm sleepy. I'll see you in the morning."
"Night."
"Goodnight."
"Wow, when you said desert I didn't actually think you meant a desert!" Raine held up her left hand to stop her hair from flying into her face. "Is there any bodies of water around here?"
The desert was unusually windy that day and sand was flying all around them.
Ryu and Kurt stared at each other confused by Raine's question.
"It's a desert, of course their isn't any water around here!" Kurt shouted as if she were stupid.
Ryu groaned. He hated Route 4, but what he hated even more was the fact that he was going to have to fight every trainer they came across, which were all of lower rank than him. Though he knew that it would be excellent training.
"Well, shall we trudge through this shit and get home?" Kurt wondered as he put on his sunglasses still hung-over from the prior night.
"But…um…what about Rainbow Valley? It's not to far from here. We could certainly make our way through there," She proposed.
Kurt shook his head, "That would take us out of the way and we can't reach Nimbasa City through there."
She fiddled with her fingers looking a bit antsy. It was clear that something was bothering her, but Kurt didn't care enough to ask, and Ryu didn't want to bring up anymore of her bad memories, so he also decided not to ask.
When she realized that the conversation was going nowhere, she curiously pointed to a little red Pokémon that was wandering around in front of them.
"What's that?" She wondered.
"That's a Darumaka," Ryu said noticing the Pokémon as she had. He walked over to her and held out his pokédex. "Here."
She took it from him and held it up to the tiny Pokémon.
It read: "Darumaka, the Zen Charm Pokémon. When asleep, even when pushed or pulled, it cannot be knocked over."
It waddled its way over to them and held out its hand to Kurt. The tall male crossed his arms and looked up.
"I'm not going to feed it!"
Raine crouched down and held her fingerless glove covered hand out. The Darumaka walked over and bit her index finger.
"Ow!" She shouted as her finger began to bleed.
Sora began to growl at the little Darumaka as it brought its arms and legs into its body.
"I want it!" Ryu smiled arrogantly as he pulled out an Ultra Ball and enlarged it.
"Sora, use Bite!" Raine shouted certainly displeased by the Pokémon's actions.
The Umbreon launched itself off its two hind legs and attacked the wobbling egg shaped Darumaka.
Ryu threw the pokéball at the unsuspecting Darumaka and waited as it rocked back and forth.
"Don't you think using an Ultra Ball is a bit of an overkill?" Kurt wondered.
"If you have it, use it," Ryu remarked.
The pokéball sat still on the ground and he picked it up.
"Well, let's get going. Are you going to be ok, Raine?" Kurt wondered as the girl stood up with her finger in her mouth.
"Yeah, I'll be fine…"
"Welcome home, Master Ryu," greeted the butler with a thin boney face and a thick grey mustache that covered his mouth. He had squinty eyes.
"Max?" Raine said as she made her way into the mansion. She instantly recognized the elder man.
"My word! Raine Crystalline is that really you?" The butler circled the girl in question. "It really is you!"
"Have you been well?" Raine wondered as Max embraced her.
"Certainly, but the question is how have you been?" Max was truly astounded by the fact that she was alive. "My word! Where did you ever find Ms. Crystalline?"
"Castelia," Ryu adjusted his bag and headed for the stairs.
"Will you be staying here?"
"For a bit, yes!" She was incredibly happy to see such a familiar face. Max had often babysat her when she was a child.
"Well go get yourself settled in, then come see me and we'll speak."
"Certainly!"
And there you go. I changed a couple things in the last two chapters, nothing too major.
-Aninika