Chapter 18:The Haunting Past Returns
I groaned as I awoke, the morning sun stinging at my eyes. Was I outside? I couldn't remember what happened. I reached up to my forehead to pull my goggles over my eyes, only to realize I was in my armor.
"What the-?"I mumbled, sitting up and looking around.
"Ken, are you okay?"I heard a gentle voice asked me. I looked over my shoulder to see Serenity standing there, watching me curiously.
"Serenity?"I asked groggily, my head still swimming."What happened? Where are we?"
"You don't remember?"she asked, sitting down next to me.
I clenched my eyes shut, trying to think."Ah, that's right. I used up a lot of my strength making that massive water wall."I focused for a moment, causing my armor to disappear, then put my goggles on, relieving my eyes of the sun's glare. I sighed deeply."Much better."
"How are you feeling?"she asked.
"Like my head's been dunked in a puddle of mud,"I muttered."Flaming mud."She snorted and cracked a smile, sounding like she was holding back a laugh.
"How is it that you manage to be so humorous even when you're in discomfort?"she asked me.
I brought a hand to my chin, pretending to think."Natural talent, I guess."I shrugged nonchalantly, which made her giggle a bit. I was really starting to enjoy hearing her laugh.
"Hey, boss!"a familiar voice shouted. We looked over our shoulders to see Zapperton running over to us, carrying his surprisingly large loot bag. Once he reached us, he set the bag on the sand and we stood up."Boss, I got the score of the century from that sub, see? Take a gander at this!"As soon as he opened the bag, my jaw dropped a mile. There was a LOT of gold in that bag!
"Holy..."I mumbled, unable to say more.
"I knew you'd be happy!"Zapperton said, grinning widely.
"Well, yeah, I'm happy!"I said, smiling as well."You seriously got all this gold from that sub?"
"Yeah, boss!"Zaps said."But this wasn't all of it, see? There was tons of it EVERYWHERE! I couldn't even take it all!"
"Wow,"I said."This'll keep us supplied for months! Awesome job, Zaps!"His grin widened even more, though I wasn't entirely sure why.
"So, where's everyone else?"I asked.
"Beats me, boss,"Zaps said with a shrug, holding his bag over his shoulder.
"Want me to see if I can sense if they're nearby?"Serenity asked.
"No need,"I said, noticing some familiar figures approaching us. The other two looked in the same direction to see the rest of the team, Jirachi, and the Legendary birds.
"Hey, Ken!"Anubis said as they approached us."How you feeling?"Jokingly, I motioned towards Serenity with both hands.
She giggled and said "Like his head's been dunked in flaming mud."Many of them chuckled.
"Which basically means you're fine,"Psyche said humorously.
"Can we get back to Hoenn, now?"I asked Jirachi."We should be getting back there soon. We've got 3 months before the Hoenn championship starts, and we've only got two badges so far."
The Wishmaker nodded."Sure thing!"
XXXX
After saying our good byes to the Legendary Birds (and Lugia), Jirachi had teleported us right in the middle of Route 110, just south of the waterway, route 103. After he had disappeared, we started heading north to Mauville City. It was relatively quiet until we had run into a young trainer who, surprisingly, didn't know who I was.
"Look, kid, I'm kind of in a hurry,"I told him. Not to sound cold or insensitive, but I really didn't want to waste time with some overzealous kid.
"Too bad! I'm the best trainer in the world!"he said. Cocky. I didn't like that."You're gonna battle me and you're gonna lose, loser!"I was annoyed by his attitude, to say the least, but I wasn't going to let a kid get to me. I walked past him silently, motioning for the others to follow."What's the matter? Afraid you're gonna lose?"I said nothing, and I could sense he was getting angry, but I didn't even look at him.
There was a thump.
"Ow!"I heard Serenity shout. I immediately spun on my heel to see her lying on the ground, the boy standing over her, smirking. Resisting the urge to snarl, I stomped past the others and back over to them, pulling my goggles to my forehead, and then helped Serenity to her feet.
"Aww, your weak little poke-"The kid shut up the instant I grabbed him by the shirt with one hand and hauled him up to my eye level.
"Listen to me, you pathetic brat,"I growled, glaring into his eyes."I don't have time to waste on a stupid little kid who obviously wasn't raised right and doesn't deserve to be a trainer."The boy's eyes widened to the size of plates."Get. Out. Of. My. Sight."I dropped him to the ground, and he frantically scrambled away. Taking a deep breath, I asked "You alright, Serenity?"I looked over my shoulder at her, seeing her nod, though her eyes were wide.
"Y-yeah, thank you, Ken,"she said."But why did you get so mad? He was just a child."
"Nobody mistreats you guys when I'm around,"I said, turning to face them."It's as simple as that."
"But I'm not really part of your team,"she said, blushing slightly.
"How do you figure that?"I asked as we started walking again.
"Well, I don't battle like the rest of you,"she said."I can't even help with your fights against the Chrome Syndicate."I just smiled at her.
"Serenity, you travel with us, you eat with us, and you sleep with us,"I told her."You're just as much a part of this team as anyone else here."
"Besides, if you weren't around, it'd be just us guys, see?"Zaps said.
"Yes, I must say, the ratio is just terrible,"Psyche remarked.
"You all do realize that nearly half of our being consists of female spirits, correct?"Wrath asked. We all looked at them.
"Seriously?"I asked.
"Of course,"Wrath said."You didn't all think that every single one of us was male, did you?"
"It...never really occured to me."
"Yeah."
"Didn't really care, see?"
"Pretty much."
"I had my assumptions."
"Chocolate shower curtains!"
"I actually thought as much."
"I really hoped not."
"Hmm,"Wrath mumbled, sounding mollified.
"Too bad Mew can't travel with us,"Anubis mumbled wistfully.
Fang rolled his eyes."If Mew was travelling with us, we wouldn't be able to sleep at night."Anubis glared daggers at the Gliscor.
"She is NOT hyper!"he said angrily.
"That's not what I'm talking about,"Fang said. Anubis blinked.
"Wait, what?"he asked.
"The Delcatty was let out of the bag a while ago, Anubis,"I said with a smile."Mew's bragged about it to Celebi. And you know how big her mouth is."
He started to blush slightly."Y-you mean...?"
"Yes, Anubis, we all know of your intimate time with Mew,"COREM said rather bluntly, causing Anubis to blush deeper.
"Whatchoo guys talkin' 'bout?"Zephyr asked. We all hesitated, remembering that Zephyr had never heard of 'The Starly and the Combee,' being inorganic, insane, and, well, a child. I scratched my head nervously.
"Uhh, COREM, I think it's time you had 'the talk' with Zephyr,"I muttered, making air quotes with my fingers.
"Huh?"Zephyr asked.
"Err, well, Zephyr, it's like this,"COREM started, then they went completely silent for a moment, their eyes flashing back and forth rapidly, which meant they were communicating mentally."And that's how it works."
"...Oh,"Zephyr said."Okay."We all looked at them, eyebrows raised.
"That's it?"I asked."That's all you've got to say?"
"Whaddaya mean?"Zephyr asked."It sounds really icky, but it's simple."He shrugged. We stared at him for a moment.
"Wow,"I finally said."You took that better than I did when I first heard it."
Anubis shook his head."Just when I think the little guy can't top himself."The rest of the trip was quiet, and we reached Mauville by 3:00. We walked into the pokemon center and up to Nurse Joy, who gasped at us.
"Oh, hello there!"she said with a smile."You're Ken Woods, right?"
"Yes, we'd like to rest here for a while, get the team a health check, you know?"I asked.
"Of course, right this way,"she said, motioning to a doorway. They all walked towards the door as I made my way to a table near the wall, sitting down and relaxing. About a minute later, Serenity came walking back out the door and towards me.
"That was fast,"I said.
"The nurse decided to check me first, since I'm the only female,"she replied, sitting down next to me."She says I'm pretty healthy, aside from that bruise I had when that boy pushed me down."I couldn't help but frown at that."Don't worry. She gave me one of those potion things and fixed it up."We heard the door slide open, then turned our heads to see a bad looking teen walk in, a cold expression on his face. He wore a dark green shirt under a black leather jacket with a set of three small spikes on each shoulder. He also wore a pair of black jeans and sneakers. He had black hair and dark brown eyes. Something about the guy was very creepy and unsettling, and it wasn't just his appearance. I heard Serenity gasp and looked down at her, seeing an absolutely terrified look on her face as she stared at him.
"What's wrong, Serenity?"I asked quietly.
"I-I-I-It's h-h-h-h-him!"she cried out, backing into me as much as she could. The boy turned his head to look at us, and Serenity cringed with fear. Who the hell was...wait a minute...
"Well, well, if it isn't the little weakling,"he said, his voice cold and hateful. He walked over to us, eyes narrowed. Serenity trembled violently as she held me in a death grip. The boy and I stared at each other for a moment."You're Ken Woods."
"Yes I am."
"What the hell are you doing with that pathetic thing?"he asked, glaring at Serenity. Her grip tightetened as I realized who this was.
He was Serenity's old trainer.
XXXX
End of Chapter
Cliffhanger! C'mon, you all saw it coming. I had to introduce this guy eventually.