WARNING!
This chapter contains small spoilers for the episode 'A Family Holiday', so you're NOT allowed to flame if you see them and don't like it. If you do, I will blatantly point out who you are in the next chapter, and brutally remind you that this warning was at the top. So ... not to order anyone around or somehun', but maybe you should watch the episode? Or enjoy the spoiler, whatever you like. xD
You've been warned. [/rant]
This... was unintentional. Chapter 6 being from Six's view. oO So sorry for being inactive! Thanks to anyone who's following. I feel so alone. At least I have three reviews now! XD Two Worlds was waaaaay overused so... I needed to be creative :) Also, The Pokémon world is now called Aera. It's better than 'The Pokémon world', with no official name. SO THERE. XD
~SK
I opened my eyes.
...Why the hell was I in a different bed to the one I'd lain down in?
Trying to stay calm, I surveyed the room.
All my possessions were in their proper places, exactly as I'd last left them, except they were on different furniture. The drawers were stone-grey, the walls were stone-grey, the even the bedclothes were stone-grey. It looked quite miserable.
Leaping out of the bed, I checked the room for bugs and surveillance devices, but found none. On the other hand, I did find one of my numerous suits in a tiny closet, my katanas, my hoverboard, and a backpack, which appeared to have been thrown carelessly into the corner. Picking it up, a flash of blue and yellow caught my eye. Taking the vibrantly coloured object out, it revealed itself to be a small hand-held computer, with the words "TOWN MAP" etched into its plastic surface. Flicking the device open, I pressed the 'power' button and the two screens flickered to life. The said words 'Town Map' faded in and out in capitals, and a map of Hokkaido – no, scratch that – Sinnoh filled the screen. A small sand-timer icon flipped itself over for a few seconds, before the handheld computer's view zoomed towards the eastern shore where, once hovering, the word 'Veilstone' appeared on the bottom screen, accompanied by a message: 'Veilstone City is home to the four DNA Meteors, dubbed after the Legendary Hoennian Pokémon Deoxys. Another, more well-known, hotspot is the Veilstone Gym, owned by Maylene – the 'Fighting Girl'. A third and more sinister attraction is the Warehouse, formerly the Head of Operations for Team Galactic, disbanded after the aptly named Disbanding.'
...Why should the word Pokémon mean anything?
Shrugging it off, I flicked the GPS shut and put it away, pulling out a small pouch which, on opening, revealed a multitude of small... what appeared to be fruits. A flash of white alerted me, and I grabbed a small piece of paper, no which bore the message: "These berries are Oran (blue) and Pecha (pink).The Oran berries will give you energy and the juice will speed up the healing of cuts and bruises. The Pecha berries will cure any kind of poisoning you may get. Make haste towards Sandgem Town." Huh. Oran. Pecha. Didn't sound too special. ...Wait. Sandgem. I remembered something...
"Why are you here?" I demanded.
-To give you directions-
"...Directions?"
-Look for Dusk in Sandgem-
"Dusk?"
-Dusk, yes, Dusk-
That... telepathy.
Whipping out the Town Map again, I punched 'Sandgem' into the search option. It immediately zoomed to the opposite side of the island. Hooray. A small message appeared: "Sandgem Town – next to the sea, this town is not only a hotspot for vacationers, but the home of the famous Rowan Pokémon lab." Maybe Dusk was an assistant...? Punching in Dusk, the only option that came up was for Route 213: "Route 213 is primarily an attraction because of the Lakeside Hotel complex, situated on easily accessible 'cliffs' in the hill's face. Its seaside setting is extremely pleasant, and many opt to watch the oncoming dusk in the evenings." Okay. I entered both 'Sandgem Dusk' and 'Dusk Sandgem' to no avail.
Putting all these objects away, I picked up the light backpack and left the room.
The building, on closer inspection, seemed to be a hospital-slash-accommodation building of sorts. Nurses were running around everywhere. Once I thought I saw an EVO, except when I followed, it disappeared into a different room. I decided not to give chase.
Finding the waiting room, it was unoccupied except for one teenager. His hair was a dark grey with an orange highlight, and his features were angular. He had heterochromia, with one brown eye and one hazel eye. He wore black jeans and a dark orange t-shirt under a black zip-up hoodie. Black converses completed the outfit. Emo kid. I started to walk past until he said "Hey."
I didn't stop.
"Hey."
I kept walking.
"...Hey. Providence dude."
Now that was unexpected. I whipped around, one katana to his throat. "What the hell do you want?" I hissed.
The kid backed up. "Whoa, whoa. Calm down." He lowered his voice. "Did you just wake up here just now?"
I kept the sword at his throat. "Yes."
He smiled, despite his predicament. "Well, so did I. Except a couple years ago. I know this land now."
He knew something? I lowered the sword, but did not retract it. "What about it?"
He smiled again. "It's called Sinnoh. It's the fourth region of the Pokémon world, Aera. The most spiritual one, too. Deities and all."
O-kay. This was interesting.
"Right now, we are in Veilstone city, the Fighting city. Maylene runs the Gym here, and uses Fighting-"
"I gathered that from the Town Map."
The boy faltered. "Oh... that makes sense. So you know to travel through the rainy Route 215, south along Route 210, pass Solaceon, West through Route 209, Hearthome City, Route 208, Mt Coronet, Route 207, Oreburgh, Route 203, then head south at Jubilife, through Route 202 and you'll end up in Sandgem?"
I just stood there.
He laughed. "Oh, it's not that bad. Bike?" He said, holding out a small red sphere.
I frowned and leaned back a little. "Aah... no thanks."
He pocketed the sphere and shrugged. "Meh, whatever. Just remember, avoid all trainers (basically everyone) on the routes, because you have no Pokémon. That should be easy, seeing as you are Agent Six of Providence..."
Whoa. Back up... no... yes... all of this made... little or no sense.
"And tell Professor Rowan that Dusk saw you."
Before this could sink in, he had run out the door into the small crowds outside.
I berated myself. I had seen Dusk! Talked to him! And now he'd gone!
Stepping outside, the first thing I noticed was the violently orange building I'd stepped out of. The sign attached over the door read 'Pokémon Center' and it was a less extreme shade of orange then the building itself. The second thing was the smell. It was completely free of pollution and coupled with a sharp scent of pine sap and the salty tang of the sea. It reminded me of One's island...
Jumping off a ledge on my left, I ran into the pinewood forest, leapt onto the hoverboard and started circling the city, searching for one of those sheltered walkthroughs that joined routes and cities. They were fairly obvious on the electronic Map.
Peering into the canopy, the sun's rays informed me that I was going the longer way around to the longer path to Sandgem, so I turned on a dime and headed the opposite way.
"Aaaaaaaar-rrreeeeOOOOOW!"
The violent animal cry was followed by a grey blur leaping out of the darkness. Dodging only just in time, I saw, very clearly, a red eye, white fur, black claws and a black horn protruding from its head. Biowulf!
Bringing the board to a halt, I leapt off, the Magna blades came out and I prepared to fight him-
I blinked at the small wolf-slash-cat creature. It was completely covered in a white-grey pelt with a mane-like explosion of fur at its neck. Its claws were very stubby but sharp, and the fur on the tail grew in such a way so it looked like another blade. Its head had one scythe-like horn curving over its skull; a long point of fur hung down over the left side of its face, and red irises glowed in its ravaged eyes. A dark, shiny patch of bone showed on its forehead. A dark aura emanated from it, and I shuddered. Its expression changed to... disbelief? It gave a small woof-meow, and I blinked. It snorted and waved... no... signalled with a paw, pointing to me, then to itself, and then drawing a circle with a line through it into the dirt. It looked pointedly at me and raised what would be an eyebrow.
Unbidden, a thought of a red-and-white capsule with a black stripe dividing the two colours flickered through my head. The hell?
Sensing a breakthrough, the furred animal took a couple of tentative steps closer. I tensed and it flinched, but resolutely lifted a paw and touched my belt one, two... six times, equidistant along the circumference, before stepping back. Was this supposed to mean something? Guessing my name? If so, it was uncannily correct.
An incredulous look shadowed its face as my expression remained blank. Its eyes narrowed, and then it sprang into a fighting stance, teeth bared, claws extended. Then shadows seemed to gather at its horn. In a flash, is cried out and whipped its head downwards, the energy flying off and heading towards me. Oh crap.
I turned tail and fled – flew away. I kept surprisingly quiet, seeing as I was making a path of destruction through the tree branches with my swords, fleeing from an EVO that would certainly be Level 1, not even counting the near-human level intelligence.
I couldn't have been happier and more downhearted to streak past the westernmost exit out of the city.
The Absol's View
I waited in the bushes. No-one as of yet to ambush.
Ever since I'd chosen this spot to wait at, I'd had the ghost of a feeling that no-one or nothing would show up. It had proved correct, reducing me to doodling in the rocky soil with a claw. First other Pokémon in the area, then an Absol, then some random phrases 'I AM BORED', 'ABSOL', 'SOMETHING HAPPEN', 'VEILSTONE'. It didn't do much help.
I must be mad, I thought, to have stopped in this random place.
...Mad!
I remembered meeting a mad Chimecho once. He'd hauled me by my head into a cardboard box he lived in, and showed me a 'technique', or so he called it, in a roundabout way: "This special thing I might will teach you might will improve your tepelathy... your tepelathy, I sense, is not good... let me show you this tepelathy..." Yep, he said tepelathy, not telepathy. Mad guy.
I cleared a space through the Unown lettering of VEILSTONE so it read a crude VL-IO-F. I them whipped down a small pentagon inside a circle, crossed by three horizontal lines and two rounded brackets closing the whole thing off. I then placed my paw to it and muttered, "Lords of the universe, Arceus, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, show me anyone near me throughout time and sp-"
An image flashed through my head – human, green, flying, weapons–
I was flung back a small way, and promptly threw up into the soil. The vision was not a satisfying experience. But... the Creators had contacted me! I felt a sudden rush of respect for the mad Chimecho, wishing him luck. The Creators...!
I doggedly buried the previous contents of my stomach and dragged myself away from them, back to my hiding place. I waited a few minutes... the faintest droning reached my ears. I instantly readied myself. As the droning got louder, I peeked out from behind a tree.
Over there – no, closer – closer still – now!
I leapt with the speed I had naturally as an Absol, yelling a wordless cry as I aimed for whatever-it-was' head.
My target was a human, entirely clad in green, riding on... something that was not another Pokémon. The thing I'd seen!
As I flew towards – him? – he ducked out of the way. And at the speed I was going, that was not an easy feat. I saw sunglasses, brown hair. He looked to formal to be a normal trainer... businessman? Gym Leader?
He stopped the hovering flat board of metal, and – wh-what? Swords just... just... like a Gallade! They grew from his arms!
I quickly sobered up as he leapt off the board towards me, ready to attack. I leapt straight upwards, hit the ground running, and skidded to a stop as the human went into a fighting stance. I called out to him. "Hey! Trainer!" He just stood there, as wary as he was a moment ago. "You're supposed to battle me...?" My voice trailed off.
He kept still. I snorted; maybe he was deaf. I pointed to him, them to me, and drew a crude Pokéball into the soil – a circle with a line through it. I completed the movement with an eyebrow raise.
Instantly, his head gave the smallest jerk, then he frowned. A breakthrough, thank Arceus!
I took a couple of tentative steps closer, silent except for the soft pat pat of my feet on the ground. When I was within clawing distance and raised a paw, he tightened his grip on those strange swords. I flinched, but resolutely touched his belt... there were no Pokéballs. Not one. I took a step back, mind reeling. How could a human know nothing? Absolutely nothing? Growing up around Pokémon, how...?
Not deaf, not blind, one small breakthrough. ...Maybe he hit his head pretty hard? I decided to jog it.
I took a couple of steps backwards, anchored my paws, bared my teeth and readied a Night Slash attack. It was the most recognisable one of my moves, the others being Slash, Crunch and Take Down. The familiar darkness clouded my horn, darkening its hue and making heat-wave style eddies in the air. Charging up the power, I let out a "Night Slash!" and swung the sickle downwards on the second word. The attack slid smoothly off the blade and hissed through the air at the person.
He leapt out of the way, dodging and landing on the board in one movement. Not normal for a human. In an instant, he was gone. Flown away. A few tree branches lay scattered on the ground, sliced cleanly off.
In a half-daze, I walked, without looking where I was going, towards a very small clearing nearby. Once there, I curled up and waited. Five minutes... ten... I sunk into a torpor, thinking about the events. Twenty... thirty...
A snapping twig jolted me out of the reverie, and I turned to look at the orange streak bobbing through the trees. The black-clad teenager looked at me and smiled, brushing off his garments. "Hey, Snowshadow," he said, scratching me behind the ear. He didn't hurt and shun me, unlike some other trainers. I leant into the scratch.
"Hello, master." I purred, eyes closed.
"Snow!" he exclaimed. "Why so formal? Lighten up, girl!" He tossed me a Sweet-Dry Poffin. Delicious. I nibbled on it as we exchanged news of the morning's events. I was shocked to hear he'd met the same guy in the Pokémon Center. His eyes lit up when I explained, and he said "That's the elite! What was his name... er... me being from part of a small suburb on Earth and in Sinnoh for two years, I don't know!" He chuckled. "Either way, he must've come by dimension travel. No other way."
I frowned. Dimension travel!
"Well, Snow, I think that if anyone can help me, it's him... and others, maybe." His expression turned dark. "And all six of you will come. You, Gerant, Thorse, Lode, Rent. And Kiera."
Not... Surely not Kiera! He interrupted me as I opened my mouth. "I'm taking Kiera. I have plan, dear Snowshadow, I have a plan."
His dark grin widened a little too much.
Things! 1) Dusk is NOT a young Van Kleiss, so STOP FANGIRLING. 2) His whole team – guess them all right – and you will win a solid gold virtual cookie, chapter list and bragging rights! This is open until they are revealed in later chapters. 3) Hooray, updates! xD
I have seen 'A Family Holiday', but I started this before I'd seen it, so little things like 'Rebecca Holiday' and Six's swords being called 'Magna blades' I will use, but things like Beverly being cured I will not.
...Do you think I should change Holiday's name? Because now I know, so... should I? Also in chapter 1 where Rex says 'anatomically' and chapter 4 'semi-conscious'. They don't seem like the sort of things he would say; should I change those too?
~SK