Hey guys! Advanced Faith here bringing you guys chapter 4 of "Crawling!" Hope you enjoy!
"I can't believe the nerve of that guy!"
The thought of one important man from the Hoenn Region, however the growl of one powerful and angered man from the Kanto Region.
Norman couldn't believe that a mere teenager had spoken to him with such disrespect and… fearlessness! He was the King of Hoenn for Arceus sake!
Shadow on the other hand, was fuming, sat in a booth in a tavern, not far from his home, Pikachu looking at him curiously from the table.
"The King of Hoenn comes marching in to Kanto and making demands of me?" Shadow growled, "How did he even get that information?"
Pikachu shrugged, but continued to watch Shadow's movement, feeling that this meeting with the King had sparked something within the teen Aura Guardian.
"So what if the Kanto and Johto forces killed my father, why would that mean I would want to help him?" Shadow practically spat, lowering his head as he grinded his teeth in anger.
The images played in his head, the screaming, the burning, the blood and the bodies.
The Aura War had played and danced on Shadow's doorstep, killing his father and practically destroying his mother.
Aah, his mother.
Shadow's lip formed into a look of hatred, and Pikachu was about to take action and summon Lucario, before Shadow abruptly stood up.
"Come on, Pi, we're going to Hoenn," Shadow said emotionlessly, a blank expression on his face.
Pikachu tilted his head in confusion, hoping for an answer from his lifelong companion.
Shadow left the tavern, Pikachu on his shoulder, the blank expression never once faltering; once outside, he whistled loudly, and moments later, his Rapidash stood proudly before him in the Kanto night.
"Rapidash, to Hoenn,"
The horse whinnied in response, and darted off into the distance.
"I mean, he spoke to me as if I was nothing!"
Brock flinched as he imagined the scene.
"How could a mere teenage boy have such resolve that he can brush off a King threatening him with execution!" Norman ranted, pacing back and forth.
Once again, he and Brock were in the meeting room, discussing the steps Norman could take to protect his Kingdom, but this time, Caroline was also present.
"I don't know, Norman, he is Kanto born… even if he had accepted, how would we be certain he wasn't a spy?" she asked nervously, feeling very worried about the mess her husband may have gotten into with this mysterious character.
On returning to Petalburg Castle, Norman had swiftly returned the Rapidash he had taken to Kanto, and rounded up his wife and Brock, needing their advice on the action to take with regards to their, seemingly, "last hope."
Norman ran his hand through his hair, before rubbing his eyes wearily.
"Brock, do you think there'll be any convincing him, based on what I've said?" Norman asked, his eyes pleading with Brock for some good news.
"Well, based on the information you've given me, he's going to at least think about it, so surely he'll come back with a response?" Brock suggested, knowing full well that the conversation Norman had had with Shadow, would have been playing heavily on the latter's mind.
They couldn't discuss the problem any further, as they were disrupted by the doors flinging wide open, and May rushing in.
"May, dear, is this important? Your father, Brock and I are discussing something of great significance," Caroline asked as her brunette daughter approached.
"Yes, mother, I'm sorry to disrupt, but there is a strange bird flying around the castle, with something attached to its leg, I think it's a letter!" May exclaimed, this caught Brock's attention, he had a feeling that he was about to have a reunion with a Pokémon he had not seen for a very long time.
"A bird? Like a Taillow? Please, May, this is a very important discussion," Norman replied, in an exasperated tone.
May noted the tone, but refused to let it bother her.
"No, father, this bird is much larger than a Taillow, and even a Swellow! I dare say it could rival a Pelipper!" May exclaimed.
Now Brock was really interested.
"Your majesty, I'll go with May to investigate, and we can continue discussing when I return?" Brock suggested, trying to conceal the smirk that was threatening to cross his face.
Norman frowned momentarily, before making a gesture with his right arm, giving Brock permission to follow May out to the front of the Castle, where Brock's suspicions were confirmed.
"Do you know what it is, Brock?" May asked, as the duo looked up at the large bird circling the Castle, the bird could complete a whole rotation of the Castle with one powerful swing of its majestic wings.
"It's a Pidgeot, a bird Pokémon native to Kanto…" Brock mumbled, still staring up at the Pokémon, May looked up at Brock in confusion.
"What is a Kanto Pokémon doing here? I know we get quite a few over here, but I've never heard, or seen, a Pidgeot before!" May questioned, looking at Brock intently, waiting for an answer.
"Well, a lot of the time they are used as messengers, people will attach notes to the wings or legs, and send letters across Regions, as Pidgeots are incredibly powerful fliers, often covering whole Regions in a few hours," Brock explained, not once taking his eyes of the circling bird above him.
Before May could respond, Brock put his fingers to his mouth and released a short, sharp but loud whistle, the Pidgeot instantly stopped it's circling, and descended rapidly towards the duo.
It came to an abrupt halt in front of them, startling May, making her physically flinch, but Brock stood tall, and bowed slightly to the Pidgeot, who reciprocated the gesture, allowing Brock to stroke his head.
May watched in awe as Brock then closed the gap, and collected the note that was indeed attached to the large bird's leg.
"Thank you, Pidgeot, return to your trainer," Brock thanked, slipping the Pidgeot an unnoticed wink. Pidgeot nodded slightly, before shooting up into the air, and then, with a sharp burst of speed, disappeared into the darkening sky.
"Pidgeots are friendly, but feisty creatures, show them respect, and they'll return it," Brock explained briefly, noticing May's astounded look, before turning sharply on his heel, and returning to the Castle – May following shortly after.
As Brock walked, he opened the note, and scanned over the writing, the message was short, but the intention was obvious to see.
It didn't say who it was addressed to, or who it was from, but Brock knew the moment he looked at it.
Brock walked swiftly back into the meeting room, where Norman and Caroline still sat, seemingly just having finished some sort of discussion, Norman rubbing his eyes tiredly, and Caroline slowly sipping a glass of wine.
"Norman, there is a note for you," Brock called, as he strode purposefully across the room, snapping Norman out of his daze.
"Brock, is everything alright?" Norman asked, apparently not actually taking in what Brock had said.
"Yes, the bird was a Pidgeot, bringing a note for you," Brock summarized, handing over the note to Norman, who carried a look of confusion.
Norman slowly opened the note and took his time reading it, before a look of hope slowly drifted onto his features.
"You don't think…?" Norman mumbled, looking up at Brock with eyes wide open.
"Perhaps he's reconsidered?" Brock finished, "we can only hope."
Caroline looked between the two in confusion.
"Is this about the Kanto boy? The Aura Guardian?" She questioned, glancing between Norman and Brock, it was the former who answered.
"Yes, here, have a read."
Caroline took the note, and took not much longer than a second to read it, the note simply said.
"Petalburg Inn, tonight, come alone."
"How do you know this is from him?" Caroline asked the first of the serious of questions that had formed in her head.
"Look closely at the writing, it's been done out of Aura," Brock said, making Caroline look more intensely at the bit of paper, and sure enough, the writing was glowing ever-so-slightly blue.
"How do you know that this is for Norman?" Caroline asked, satisfied with the answer she had received on her first question.
"Well, it's been done by an Aura Guardian, there is only one left, and it so happened that I met him earlier, offering… well, threatening him to take a position here, which he said he'd consider," Norman explained, again, this answer satisfied Caroline, but she felt she wasn't going to be as satisfied with the answer she was about to receive.
"You aren't seriously going, are you?"
Norman felt severely out of place.
Everyone in the tavern was staring at him, not an unusual experience for the King, but it was the way they were staring at him, as if they were sorry for him.
That confused him the most.
As agreed… well, as forced upon him by the note, Norman was sat alone in the Petalburg Inn, anxiously waiting the arrival of the Aura Guardian.
Just as that thought crossed his mind, the doors swung open, and in strode the aforementioned Aura Guardian, once again dressed in his traditional dark blue hooded tunic and boots, grey trousers, and hat with the light blue lightning bolt, with the yellow circle and crescent moon, his Pikachu perched on his shoulder.
Shadow smirked as the entire tavern shuddered to a severe silence.
"Hoenn knows me, I'm flattered," Shadow thought, his eyes then shifting to Norman, who was the only person brave, or naïve, enough to look directly at the teenager.
"So, you came…" Norman said, as Shadow glided across the floor and into the chair, Pikachu jumping onto the table and curling up.
Shadow held one finger up towards the bar, not even looking to see if he had been acknowledged, before responding.
"Of course, I sent the note, why wouldn't I?" Shadow growled, sending shivers down Norman's spine.
This kid was fearless.
"Well, admitted, not many people manage to get an audience with a King, let alone in a place of their choosing," Norman commented, glancing around at the people staring at them.
Shadow chuckled quietly.
"Something funny?" Norman questioned, trying his hardest to sound intimidating.
"You came to me, with… interesting background information on me, yet expect me to play into your hands?" Shadow queried, raising an eyebrow under his hood; even though Norman couldn't see his face, he somehow knew that Shadow had made that facial expression.
Norman thought about it for a while. What had he expected from Shadow?
"First of all, one thing stands out for me," Shadow said, a dangerous edge creeping into his voice, which alerted even his Pikachu on the table.
"How the hell do you know about my father?" he growled, leaning forward and resting his chin on his gloved hands, allowing Norman to see, for the first time, his sharp and fierce auburn eyes.
Norman found that his throat was dry, and he gulped nervously.
"Well… my… my daughter has a book on Aura Guardians… and she made a conclusion that Sir Aaron's son… was you…" Norman stammered, absolutely astounded by the ferocity and intensity of the teenagers eyes.
The King was absolutely terrified of a teenage boy, and he could not control it.
At this point a nervous barmaid shuffled over with Shadow's drink, and putting it on the table, before scurrying off, without Shadow even paying.
Shadow still glared at Norman, as if analyzing the information Norman had given him.
"You expect me to betray my home Region, why?" Shadow asked, still only allowing his eyes to be visible to Norman.
Again, Norman found himself struggling to form words in his throat.
"Well… as I said in our previous encounter… I thought you'd want to…" Shadow cut him off.
"Avenge my father? Take revenge on the people who broke my mother?" Shadow finished Norman's sentence, again sending a shot of fear down Norman's spine, "Yes, I know you visited my mother."
Norman felt paralyzed; the kid could read him like a book.
"Though admittedly, she's in no state to be a mother," Shadow scoffed, leaning back in his seat and folding his arms, still glaring across at Norman.
"So, let me summarize," Shadow said, "you expect me, based on information you've received on me from your daughter's book, that I'd be willing to betray my home Region to work for you, who tried to threaten me?" Shadow queried, not once breaking eye contact with Norman.
Norman realized that Shadow had completely ripped apart his theories, and hopes, no one would've expected what happened next.
"I have conditions before I accept," Shadow said, still staring across at the King, seemingly transporting a message across the eye contact.
You accept my terms, or no deal.
"At all times, I will be treated as an equal," this surprised Norman, who had expected a financial package to be involved, or some sort of royal treatment, "You may think your powerful and…precious," Shadow spat out the last word, "But to me, your just an ordinary person… a client," he added, smirking dangerously.
Norman felt himself nodding, but was again paralyzed by the teen's powerful and commanding demeanour.
"Good, secondly, under no circumstances is anyone to bring up my past or my family," Shadow growled, even Norman managed to pick up the pained edge in his voice.
Again, Norman found himself nodding.
"We're getting somewhere, see how easy it is when you don't go around making empty threats?" Shadow questioned, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
Norman gulped once more, remembering his rash and empty threat of execution.
"So, finally, I want to keep my true identity secret, no questions, no sly tricks," Shadow finalized, carefully watching Norman's facial expressions.
"Consider it done," Norman forced out, still feeling fear gripping at his insides, like a caged animal desperate to get out, "One question I would like to ask though…"
"Go on," Shadow said briefly, intrigued at what the King could be asking him.
"Will you reside in the Castle?" This threw Shadow off, he hadn't even thought about living arrangements, he could always use his Aura to travel quickly from Kanto to Hoenn, but that would take a lot out of him.
"As long as my Pokémon come too," Shadow replied, and Norman nodded swiftly, keen to get the uncomfortable meeting to a close.
"Will you return with me now, to meet my family and get settled in?" Norman asked, still feeling in fear and awe of the Aura Guardian sat across from him.
Shadow pondered it for a moment, before having a telepathic conversation with Pikachu.
"What do you think, Pi? Shall we get all the introductions over and done with?" Shadow asked, looking at the electric mouse who was curled up happily on the table.
"I'd quite like to see what it's like to stay in a Castle rather than a shack…"Pikachu replied, a small smirk creeping onto his face.
Shadow glared at Pikachu, clearly unimpressed by his response.
"Yes, I will," Shadow replied, turning his gaze onto Norman, "I will retrieve my Pokémon first, then meet you outside the Castle when I am done."
Norman didn't have a chance to respond, the boy had vanished, along with his Pikachu, just disappeared into thin air, leaving the King astounded, but not for long.
Norman had things to do.
She was wandering around the gardens, admiring the beautiful flowers and lively Pokémon.
May wasn't a huge fan of Pokémon, but she enjoy their beauty nonetheless, the only Pokémon she felt comfortable with was her own Eevee, that was perched on her shoulder.
The princess spent most of her time walking through the gardens, when she wasn't gossiping with Dawn, or watching her brother, Max, train with the other knights, or getting her daily tutorage lessons from Brock or other of her father's advisors.
Her routine was fairly boring; there was never any excitement.
Little did she know, that a whole load of excitement was just about to shimmer into her life.
Quite literally.
As she wandered the gardens, the air seemed to take on a blue hue, which made both May and Eevee freeze in confusion and fear.
"Wha-What's going on?" she asked out loud, even though there was no one to answer her question. The began to shimmer, and the blue hue became strong and strong, and eventually, began to take some shape, and then that mass split into individual shapes, all different sizes.
May stepped back from the blue hue, and watched with eyes wide open and a shaky hand over her mouth.
Out of the blue hue, a green bulb appeared, followed by a head, and then a body, the thing blinked a couple of times, before letting out a "Bulba!"
That was all May needed; she let out a long, sharp scream as she ran through the gardens, straight into the Castle, where she lent onto a wall, before sliding down onto her backside, practically hyperventilating.
Eevee, almost equally as stunned, slipped from May's shoulder and onto her lap, both trainer and Pokémon sharing a shocked expression.
She was so shocked that she didn't hear the footsteps heading towards her, and jumped again when Brock placed his hand on her shoulder.
"What's wrong, May? I heard a scream?" Brock asked softly, noticing the paleness and the shocked expression on the Princess' face.
"I-I wa-was in the ga-garden," May gulped, "A-And there was thi-this blu-blue… thing! And then-"
"Then things started coming out of the blue hue?" Brock finished, shooting a knowing look at the eighteen year old.
May's shocked expression intensified.
"It would appear our guest has arrived, May, if you're feeling okay, please get Max and your mother and meet us out the front of the Castle," Brock requested, standing up, dusting himself off, and then walking away, just like that.
It took May a moment to take in what had just happened, but still followed through with Brock's request, and just a few minutes later, all four of the Maple's and Brock, stood at the main entrance to the Castle, looking out into the distance, the twilight sky darkening slowly.
"Dad, what exactly is going on here?" Max asked, folding his arms in frustration, having not been given any explanation by his sister, mother or father.
"Well, son, we're expecting a guest, we're not sure when he's arriving, but according to Brock, his arrival should be imminent," Norman replied, not breaking the staring contest he was having with the horizon.
"I must warn you kids, he's an… Interesting character," Brock said simply, mimicking Norman's actions.
Before anyone had a chance to respond, a figure became clear in the distance – distinctly male, a top a Rapidash, heading towards the five at an incredible speed, the Rapidash's flames lighting up the way, and illuminating the person riding to the Maple children.
He looked, from what May was able to see, tall and rather muscular, but not over the top, he was wearing dark grey trousers, with dark blue boots and an identical coloured tunic, she could see the hood covering his face, and a hat atop his head, his black cape billowing in the wind.
It wasn't until the Rapidash came to a canter, slowing its approach as it got closer, that she saw the gloves he was wearing, and the peculiar, yet all too familiar to her, symbol of the Aura Guardian.
It was then her heart skipped a beat.
This was Sir Aaron's son. It had to be, everything added up.
The last of the Aura Guardian's was perched on top of a Rapidash right in front of her, it wasn't until he hopped off the Pokémon that she realised she'd been holding her breath.
A yellow blur leapt from the back of the Rapidash, and landed onto the mans shoulder as he strode purposefully towards the group gathered to welcome him.
He stopped a couple of feet away from him, and it was then that May felt something that she had never felt in her life before, and it was coming from her left.
Her father was trembling.
Ever so slightly, but he was.
May couldn't focus onto it long, as her mother stepped forward, and extending her hand.
"You must be Shadow, it's a pleasure to meet you," Caroline said, her voice not wavering once, she stood tall, strong and proud, hand firmly extended.
Shadow glanced down at the hand, and seemed to flinch, extremely subtly, but May picked up on it.
He swiftly shook Caroline's hand, so swiftly that if you blinked you would have missed it.
"Pleasure is mine," he said, it seemed genuine, but it sounded forced.
May was incredibly intrigued by the young man in front of her, and took her mother's lead, almost bouncing forward.
"Hi! I'm May!" She said enthusiastically, and this time, Shadow took a more noticeable flinch, making the girl frown, thinking she'd done something wrong.
"Hello, May, I'm Shadow," he said, quietly but firmly, shaking May's hand – again, extremely quickly.
May managed to catch his gaze momentarily – which was a challenge due to his hood – and she was amazed at the vibrant hazel eyes that stood out, making her wonder why he hid his face.
But just like that, the moment passed and Max introduced himself, and May noted that Shadow didn't flinch, or quickly withdraw his hand, the same thing happened when he addressed Norman, no physical flinching or quick handshakes.
However the most interesting conversation happened between Shadow and Brock.
Brock stepped forward and seemed to have some sort of staring contest, which looked incredibly easy for the pair, as the matched each other for height, standing at almost the exact same level.
"Brock, it's been a while," Shadow said briefly, maintaining eye contact with the head advisor.
"It certainly has been, I was very surprised that you showed up," Brock replied, "Interesting arrival, though, sending the Pokémon first, before scouting out yourself?" Brock added, the inflection making it seem like a question more than a statement.
"I had the area scouted, how do you think they arrived in the correct position?" Shadow replied, the eye contact not once wavering.
"Of course, how silly of me," Brock replied, a hint of a joke in his voice.
Then, unexpectedly, the two broke eye contact and shared a brief hug.
Before anyone could ask any questions however, Shadow requested that he be shown to his room, so that he could get settled, claiming the journey with his Pokémon had been a tough one for him.
After the Maple's and Brock showed Shadow to his room, they all parted, and went off to their own rooms, to get some rest for themselves.
Except for May.
May headed straight for Dawn's room, needing some advice on what she had seen.
EOC
I must apologize for the delay in this chapter. I've had a really rough start to 2014 (Advanced Faith), and haven't felt up for writing, but hopefully I'm all over it now and am looking forward to the progress of this story!
Please leave a review, they are all appreciated and taken on board.
~AF~