Star was awakened to the smell of bacon. She licked her lips anxiously. Delicious, succulent, steamy bacon…she hadn't had that in a long time. As she walked down the stairs and toward the inn's kitchen, she saw a tiny bug on the counter. In a chair pulled up to it, Sora sat…talking to the bug?
"So Jiminy…We've been training her for a few days, but I don't know how much we can do for her. I think the only real way to get a taste for battle is to actually immerse oneself INTO a battle."
"Well, Sora," said the tiny bug in a surprisingly loud voice, "I have my ways of getting around, if you need me to find her a transport."
"Would you? That'd be great!"
Riku started to interrupt. "Sora, she needs allies. There's no way she can do this alone."
"I have confidence in her."
"She's just a child, Sora. Alone, she'd be crushed."
Star was a little upset by this. She cleared her throat. "Now, what's all this about me being crushed? I do have ears, you know."
Riku looked a little embarrassed, but Sora wasn't shaken. "Riku here is a little worried about you combating the Heartless on your own. He thinks you need help."
"I'm not alone here, guys."
Sora raised an eyebrow. "Just what do you mean by that?"
Star pulled the three Pokeballs off her belt, and stepped outside. "Come on out, guys, meet my new friends!"
Her Pokemon came out and all made noises that were apparently greetings.
Star smiled. "Sora, Riku, Kairi…Meet Arcanine, Milotic, and Onix. These are my Pokemon."
Riku was shocked. "What are those?"
"Those are Pokemon. They're like partners to humans."
"But how do you get them into those tiny balls?"
"You know, I'm not entirely sure. It's some kinda high tech contraptiony…thing."
Riku rolled his eyes. "How specific and detailed."
"Hey, I'm no tech expert, Riku."
Sora looked confused. "You call them your partners, yet you viciously trap them in tiny balls and let them out to do your bidding?"
"I suppose if you put it that way it sounds barbaric…but trust me, it's not like that. Once you've captured a Pokemon, you bond with it. You become friends, like you're…connected. When you send a Pokemon into battle, you use that connection to overcome your opponents through a mix of strategy, brute force, and overall fighting skill."
"Interesting," said Sora. "So, these Pokemon are your companions then?"
"Yes, they are. They each have special powers."
She pointed to each Pokemon as she spoke.
"Arcanine here's a Fire type. He can use powerful fire attacks, and also has a deadly Extremespeed attack, which he uses to go faster than the eye can see and pounce, slash, and destroy his enemies."
"Sounds brutal," commented Kairi.
"Oh, I wouldn't know. Like I said, he moves too fast to see. He seemed pretty efficient at taking out those little Heartless though."
"Anyways," she continued, "This here, is Milotic. She's a Water type. She can use powerful water attacks, as well as ice attacks. She's also a huge asset when it comes to defense."
"Lastly, we have Onix. A Rock type, who can wrap enemies to death, or can crush them under his own weight."
"You seem to know an awful lot about these Pokemon…"
"Yeah. I wasn't supposed to know about Pokemon or how to use them, but behind my dad's back I always studied them because I wanted to be a trainer."
Jiminy Cricket jumped out the doorway. "I'm very sorry to interrupt, but we really should get going if we're going to the next world in danger."
Sora snapped his fingers. "Of course! I'd almost forgotten! Star, being the Keeper of the Keyblade, it's your responsibility to save worlds in danger from the Heartless. Now that we know that you have companions, I'm sure that we've put aside any fears. Right, Riku?"
Riku sighed. "Right, Sora."
"Good. Now, you'll need supplies."
Star recalled her Pokemon. "Oh, I have supplies, they're right here in…my pack? What happened to my pack? Have you guys seen my pack?"
"No, when you arrived here, you didn't have a pack."
Star looked down at the ground. "Great. I can only hope that Brandon has it…he doesn't have a sword like me…who knows what kind of trouble he could be in? If he has the pack, it'd put me at ease."
Jiminy jumped up. "How very rude of me!" He jumped on Star's hand and shook her index finger profusely. "Pleased to meet you! Jiminy Cricket's the name! I know just about everyone and everything in almost all the worlds in our system…or, at least, I used to. I traveled with the last Keeper and chronicled his journey. I suppose my information would be outdated by now…Oh well. So you're Star, then, eh?"
Star flinched slightly in confusion. She wasn't used to talking bugs. "Um…Nice to meet you too, Mr. Cricket."
The joyful little bug did a backflip and landed on Star's head. "Please, 'Mr. Cricket' is so formal! Call me Jiminy!"
Sora rolled his eyes. "Trust me. Call him Jiminy or you'll regret it for the rest of your life. Now, you two had better be off." Sora handed her a pack, which she graciously slung over her shoulders.
"Thank you, Sora."
"No problem, Star. Just remember, you don't have an unlimited number of supplies in there. If you ever run low, you should look for new ones. You may find shops along the way as well, but without the currency used in each world, you can't really buy anything."
Star wasn't discouraged. "No problem. I'll just have to be careful. See you guys later!"
Sora, Riku, and Kairi waved goodbye as Star walked away. Riku smiled. "A little overzealous, but I think she can pull it off."
Sora laughed. "If I didn't think she could pull it off, I wouldn't have sent her to a dangerous, Heartless-infested world."
Riku laughed as well. "No, I suppose you wouldn't have."
"So, Jiminy…" asked Star tentatively, "how exactly are we supposed to get to another world?"
"Well," said Jiminy, "a friend of mine's been working hard on a special spaceship. One that can even break the boundaries between worlds. He just calls it 'The Ship'."
"Hm. You'd think if he was smart enough to invent a ship that cool, he'd come up with a better name."
"I'd be careful who you insult around here, if I were you," said a voice.
Star turned around to see a young man, perhaps slightly older than her, about six feet tall with short brown hair. "Who are you?"
The man stuck out his hand, offering it to her to shake. "Name's Larry. And you?"
Star shook his hand. "My name's Star. Larry, huh? That's an interesting name."
Jiminy smiled. "Long time no see, Larry. You got that ship done yet?"
Larry laughed. "Of course I got it done. I had it done months ago. It's been tested and is officially ready for whatever we'd use it for. But I don't quite know what we'd use it for."
Jiminy jumped down from Star's head. "Sorry, Larry, but I do. The Heartless are back."
Larry's eyes widened in fear. "The Heartless? I haven't heard of them since that day, eight years ago when they tried to take over my old home, Traverse Town."
"Yes, and they were defeated…or so we thought. But now, they're back. Someone new is commanding them."
"So, Jiminy…who's the poor sap that got dragged into this mess today?"
Jiminy cleared his throat.
Confused, Larry looked at Jiminy for a second then looked back up at Star, who appeared nervous.
"Oh."
"Don't worry about it," said Jiminy reassuringly to Star, "you'll be fine."
Larry smiled. "Jiminy hasn't been wrong yet! Follow me, guys, I'll show you to your ship."
Larry led them away from the open brick street to a small garage in the outskirts of the town. He lifted the door a small amount, careful not to let anyone on the street see what was inside. He ushered them into the garage and slammed the door. As he turned on a light, Jiminy and Star were able to see the ship.
"That's it?" asked Star, unimpressed.
Indeed, the little ship didn't seem like much. It looked like it could only fit three people. It was a nice shiny chrome, and resembled a stealth fighter, but the size put Star off.
Larry laughed heartily. "I know it doesn't look like much, but trust me. When you get in, and pilot it, you'll love it."
Star scratched her head. "I don't know how to fly a spaceship!"
"You don't have to know how. It flies itself. I put in a sensor that senses large groups of Heartless."
Jiminy raised an eyebrow. "Why did you do that when it seemed like the Heartless were gone for good?"
Larry sighed heavily. "I didn't want to at first; I didn't want to believe they could come back. But I had a hunch."
"I understand. Your hunches are usually right."
"Darn right, they are. Now you two go on and get in. It'll take a little while for you to get there anyway, so there's no sense in wasting time. I'll be waiting here if you get back."
They stepped into the ship, and the door closed and sealed itself. Star suddenly had a chill run down her spine. "If?"
The roof opened up, and the ship took off, blinking away in the distance like the disappearing stars.
