Perryapsis
Chapter 6 - The Veil of Jupiter
According to Roman mythology, Juno was Jupiter's wife, and also the only being that could see past Jupiter's veil. However, it's not only Jupiter who wants their actions concealed. It's time to start laying the foundations.
Thanks to Wubking97 for reviewing!
Disclaimer: Pokémon ain't mine.
Perry, April, Sam and Lucy chatted for a while as they waited and April started to learn new things about her newfound friends. Perry had finally opened himself up, and was even talking to somebody he had only met in the last hour. He seemed to be a much friendlier guy, but still, something was off in his behaviour. He still seemed nervous, and very jumpy. But he apparently had a good sense of humour, so their conversation wasn't boring. April wondered if Perry himself realised he was different. Every so often, the nurse would come in with some more Sitrus juice and apply some Potion to his skin.
"Cool! So, Perry, what kinda stuff are you into?" said Lucy inquisitively.
"Well, I like space, and playing various simulators... I don't have much of an interest in films," Perry replied.
"Not even sci-fi? Do you like Staryu Wars?"
"Sci-fi means science fiction," Perry said with an imperceptible frown.
"Well, have you heard about the new MASA moon station thing?" she asked. As if someone had flicked a switch behind one of Perry's ears, he went full fanboy. His obsession - April still called it that - was kicking in.
"Oh, yeah, that's awesome! Only two months to go! I researched all the technical data regarding the station, and I even downloaded some raw parameters from MASA's database!" He reached over the side of his bed towards his bag, but winced slightly and couldn't reach.
"Er, here," said April with a crooked smile as she lifted Perry's bag onto his bed. He sat up and tried to cross his legs, but quickly gave up. He then withdrew what seemed to be a toilet-roll's worth of printed data.
"So where do we begin?" He unwound the entire roll of paper and draped it over the head of his bed. He ran it though his paws with incredible efficiency until he found the section he was looking for. "After its final positioning burn, the station will have an orbit as close to eccentricity zero as possible..." he rambled, making his companions sweat-drop.
However, Perry's interesting... speech was interrupted by the Blissey nurse: "Okay, then, seeing as you're able to sit up, I think you're fine to go..." She looked at the mess of technical data sheets. "... once you've cleared that up."
"Er," Perry looked around him, "Right, of course. Thanks, Nurse Bliss."
"Yeah, thanks for taking care of him," said April, making Lucy raise and 'eyebrow'. Perry frantically rolled up his exciting pieces of paper and secured them with a rubber band and carefully dropped everything in his bag. "Okay, we're good to go," he said with a breath of satisfaction. The four of them strode out of the medical centre, and out of the impressive arena building.
"Oh no, it's five-past seven! My dad'll be wondering where I am," said Perry, a little panicked.
"No, I'm sure it'll be fine. We're at a point now where it's obvious you're with somebody, and a few minutes isn't going to make much of a difference," said Lucy logically, "and I'd like to meet your dad and mum." As she said this, Perry clenched his fists and looked at the ground. His demeanour instantly changed with only one sentence. And it dawned on April; she had been trying to figure out what had happened to Perry to make him so depressed, and she had her answer. "Oh my Arceus, I'm so sorry," apologised Lucy, placing a paw on his shoulder. Perry immediately brushed it off with quite some force, startling Lucy. That really shouldn't have made him that emotional, right?
"D-don't be... I can never control it..." muttered Perry, "I best get going." He quickly broke away from the group and ran ahead, opening the distance between them rapidly.
When Perry reached home, without using Extreme Speed due to his fatigue, he found his father was still not home. He pulled his key out from his bag and unlocked the door, and confirmed this. With a mental shrug he dragged himself upstairs and buried his head in his pillow.
Before the remaining threesome parted ways, they decided to head to the Sandgem Labs to hang out, like the previous day.
"I genuinely had no idea," said Lucy with a frown.
"Neither did I, but I knew something was up," said April to make Lucy feel better.
"Well, I've known for a while, but I never felt it was a good topic to approach," Sam said, giving his own input, "but I guess someone needs to sort it out."
"Yeah, tomorrow I'll see if I can have a chat with him about it. I just want to help him out," said April, "Anyways, Lucy, what form are you in?"
"Me? B2. Aren't you in C2?"
"Yeah, C2," said Sam, "So our form rooms are quite close."
"That makes it easier to hang out, before school and between lessons," said Lucy, the mood finally lightening, "And, I get to see you more often." She prodded Sam in the chest. April giggled as Sam's cheeks flared up, making him look as if he had some type of hemorrhaging.
"Hi, Sam!" exclaimed a deep voice from somewhere behind the group. They all turned around to see a tall Lucario who shared almost all of Perry's defining features. He had a rolled up lab coat over one arm, a large clipboard in his opposite hand.
"Oh, hello Mr Salyut," greeted Sam.
"I keep telling you, call me Lucas. And who are your friends?"
"Er, this is-"
"Hi, my name is April! I recently moved to the area!" said April with a wide grin.
"Ah, yes, Perry told me about you. And you?" Lucas asked.
"I'm Lucy, Sam's-"
"-most recent acquaintance." finished Sam hurriedly, as Lucy gave him an evil smirk.
"Ah, I see. Anyways, I thought Perry was with you," said Lucas with a frown.
"Well, I think it was my fault..." explained Lucy, "I said it would be nice to meet you and your wife, and then he got really upset and, er, we kinda figured out why."
"I hope he didn't have... an outburst, or anything."
"No, no, it wasn't like that," said April.
"Oh, good. He just has some tendencies..." he began, before stopping midway through a breath; "I'd like to have a chat with you guys. You know, Sam, until now, you were Perry's only friend. As in, he refused to socialize with anyone else. And I thank you for all your efforts in changing his personality." Sam nodded and gave a , and Lucas continued. "He's gonna be a handful, and I want you to understand he needs help. Help that a father can't give alone, and now he has a group to turn to, I just hope he has who he needs to become a likeable person. So, please take care of him, be as harsh as you must, but don't control him... Essentially, be friends." Lucas looked down at the floor, and his gaze hardened a little. "His mother would've hated to see him like this. So far you may have only seen him in quite a subdued state. He's never violent, unless, of course, he's battling, but he's not overly careful." There was a short period of silence, during which everyone was thinking deeply.
"Excuse me, how did you know we were with Perry earlier?" asked April.
"I can read auras, as you know, and I'm pretty good at it. I could sense you had been in contact with Perry."
"Ah, right."
"Okay, please, please, remember what I've said today. I think it'd be great if you guys could come round for dinner one night, and maybe he'd have a chance to invest you in his hobbies," said Lucas, lips almost curled into a smile at the last statement.
"I think that'd be great!" exclaimed April.
"Yeah, it's been a while," said Sam.
"I'm in," said Lucy simply.
"Great! It won't be too hard to find you, I suppose," said Lucas.
"Nah, I've got Perry's number," said Sam, "though in hindsight, it probably won't be of much use."
"Well, we can sort it some other time. It's getting late. Great to meet you!" said Lucas, waving. And with that, he walked to the Salyut residence.
"He was nice, but he seemed like..." began Lucy, but she couldn't find last word.
"He seemed affected, albeit to a lesser extent," finished April with a slight sigh, "Alright then, I guess I'll head off, and leave you two to... be friendly."
Sam inadvertently coughed loudly, most likely due to the small embers and puffs of smoke that were rising from April's back. It helped hide the mad blush that formed on his cheeks at April's knowing smile.
"Bye then!" she said, waving.
"See you around!" said the other two in unison.
"So, how about coming to my place? We got plenty of food," said Lucy in a sing-song voice once April had gone.
"Er, no, it's okay. Also, I've got some chores to do."
"Aww, really? Come on... You know you want to," she said, almost purring.
"No, it's fine. Maybe tomorrow."
"Well, fine," she chuckled, before she leant into Sam's ear and whispered; "Well, make sure you get to school early."
Lucas made the short jaunt from the lab to his house quite rapidly. He serially slid his key into the keyhole, and turned it as tacitly as he possible could. Perry was either wearing his headset -playing some simulator- or asleep. Even though both activities tend to suppress most sound to the listener, Perry always seemed to notice. He was incredibly sensitive to noise, and Lucas didn't want to wake him up if Perry was sleeping, or he would take a while to strike a conversation with. Lucas tip-toed up the stairs to the bedrooms and silently pushed open Perry's door. He was lying under his covers, only his face exposed, and he was staring straight at the ceiling, apparently oblivious to his father's entry. His eyes were slightly wet, but that contrasted with his expression; the tears were like liquid lethargy bleeding from his eyes.
"Hey, Perry," whispered Lucas softly, like a mother. Perry mumbled something imperceptible.
"How are you? Hungry?"
"No," he grunted bluntly.
"So, what's up?"
"Nothin'."
"You are a terrible liar. Additionally, I can read your aura like a book."
"You don't need to worry about it," he said, turning his small head to the side.
"Come on, I'm your dad."
"It's just... Well... I was with some new acquaintances today, but I doubt they still acquaint with me..."
"Go on," said Lucas encouragingly, even though he essentially knew the story.
"One of them said they wanted to meet my father and mother," Lucas didn't approve of how Perry said 'father' instead of 'you', "and I kind of broke down, and ran off."
"Well, that's not the best way to stay 'acquainted' with somebody, is it?," Lucas said, and Perry nodded, "But your friends (Perry tensed at the word) seemed okay with it."
"But I have no-"
"Oh, come on. Admit that Sam is your friend, at least," said Lucas sternly.
"Wait, you met them?!"
"Yeah, I saw Sam chatting with two girls, including April, and decided to talk to them."
"But how did you know they'd been with me?"
"Don't ask silly questions," Lucas chuckled.
"Oh, right," Perry sighed. His mood seemed to have settled somewhat; "Oh, what about that food?"
"What food?"
"You asked if I was hungry."
"Okay, then, I'll cook again. Quick or tasty?"
"Both," said Perry with a cheeky grin.
"Twenty minutes." Lucas was glad to see that Perry had already 'recovered' from his state. Lucas started heading back downstairs, but just as he was about to step off of the landing, he remembered something he needed to ask. He popped his head back in Perry's room.
"One more thing. How were the try-outs?"
Perry appeared startled for a moment. "But-"
"Oh, come on. I was expecting you to go, even if I told you otherwise. Mr Shank phoned in and told me about your encounter this morning." Lucas gestured to a shallow mark on Perry's left arm.
"Um, I beat my first opponent, a Toxicroak, quite easily and nearly beat my second."
"How many seconds did it take to beat the first?"
"Er, nineteen-and-a-half."
"And who was your other opponent?"
"Mmm..."
"I know you remember his name, and you're anxious."
"Cane... Ferdinand Cane," Perry sputtered somewhat shakily.
"What?! Did he do anything to you?"
"Outside the game? No, but he was a bit dirty in his victory."
Lucas gave his son a worried look; "What do you mean?"
"Well, he pretended to be knocked out then hit me with a Blast Burn."
"Really? Have you still got any burns?"
"No, no, the medics had plenty of berries and Potions."
"Good. Just make sure you don't get into a fight with that primate again." warned Lucas with an assertive tone. Perry gave a mumble of concurrence.
April pulled out her house key and unlocked the door, only to be met by her mother, Tora, just about to leave.
"Oh, my, April! Where have you been? I was just about to go searching!" cried the tall Delphox.
"Oh, I'm so sorry, I was hanging out with some new friends," said April apologetically.
"Well, it's great to hear you've found some friends already! Come on in, and tell me about them." April's mother led her daughter inside, and her Cyndaquil younger brother, Miles, was ecstatic to see her.
"Hiya April!" he greeted loudly.
"Hi, Miles, shouldn't you be in bed by now?" April inquired.
"Oh, you rotten do-badder!" he moaned, using some made-up language.
"Yes, Miles, your sister is right. Go on, clean your teeth and get to bed," instructed Tora with a motherly sternness. When he had made it upstairs, April decided to initiate conversation.
"Where does he get all this weird language anyway?"
"He's been watching too much Noibatman."
"Oh, I loved Noibatman when I was a kid!"
"You still are a kid, April."
"Ah, of course."
"Anyways, lets hear about your new friends."
April gazed up at the ceiling for a few moments.
"Okay, there's Sam, a Dewott who's cool and an impressive battler, there's Lucy, a Luxray, also a good battler, who has an interest in cinematography, and there's..." April began to drift off.
"Go on."
"Well, there's Perry, who's a bit strange. There's something up with him, and I really want to help him..."
Tora was giving her undivided attention, as well as a funny look.
"He's rude, dismissive and quite obsessive, or at least he was when I first met him yesterday."
"Sound's like hard work to me," spoke another voice, and April turned around to see Typho, her Typhlosion father, who had just came out from the kitchen.
"Hi, dad. Yeah, and I see where you're coming from. Except, I don't think it's his fault. Something major happened in his life." Both her parents were listening intently. "I ran into his father today, with Sam and Lucy. I didn't really press, but I know his mother's gone. Most likely dead, and under mysterious circumstances."
"Pretty depressing, huh," said Typho, stating the obvious.
"Yeah... I just want to help him, and I managed to catch a glimpse of a happy, content, and quite humorous side to him, before Lucy said she wanted to meet his mother and father, which made him have some sort of a break down."
"Sounds like you already care for this guy."
"Of course I want to help- oh, come on, not like that."
"Ya know, those kinds of thoughts are the ones that develop."
"Yeah, well, at the moment I don't see him as some handsome boy, I see him as a child lacking help, support, and..." April paused. "Lacking friends. Perhaps he is , in fact, skilled, strong, and smart. But that doesn't mean he's fine up here." She tapped on her forehead indicating Perry's mind. Her parents could tell she was quite passionate about the situation, as the red spots on her back were kindling; a betraying characteristic of Quilava.
"Well, I don't know what to say until I get a chance to meet this Perry fellow, so just do what you do best," said Tora, and Typho nodded in agreement.
On the opposite side of the world, a Beheeyem with blue eyes surveyed a vast army of Pokemon from a platform high up, in some sort of huge hangar. He appeared to exude a fearful aura to those around him, even to a huge Garchomp. The army of Pokemon in the hangar seemed to be made of primarily Grottle which stood purposefully in rows of about eighty. After about thirty or so rows, there were three rows of Torterra, then five rows of Blastoise that were pumping their cannons. Behind them were various well trained looking Pokemon, such as Bisharp, Weavile, Gigalith and Electivire. There were huge, overgrown Avalugg which seemed to be acting as aircraft carriers, with various Pokemon and equipment on their backs, such as Noivern. On the flanks of the huge army were large pools of water containing rows of Sharpedo and Seismitoad.
"Sir, is our progress adequate?" spoke up the Garchomp, carefully surveying the Beheeyem.
"Report," it said with an authoritative and synthesized, yet unstimulating voice.
"An additional twenty platoons of Grottle in the last week, along with various black ops squads."
"Yes, the size of the assault force, given our current date, is within acceptable parameters. Per contra, I believe we would benefit from supplemental artillery Blastoise, Colonel Gnawson," stated the Beheeyem, as if it had an internal thesaurus, "and I am nigh certain my master would concur."
"Of course, sir," said Colonel Gnawson, "but Blastoise are difficult to find, let alone recruit."
"The descriptor you used was 'difficult', not impossible," said the Beheeyem with a robotic scowl.
"Right away, sir," said the Garchomp, turning around and beckoning a Genesect to him; "We need another battalion of Blastoise. Get them as quickly as possible. The date of the attack is only-"
"And, I believe the primary battalions could be scaled up by a factor of one-and-a-half. Out task is not to be trivialized." interjected the Beheeyem.
"As you wish," growled Gnawson, suppressing the drawn out exhalation that followed.