Vryheid - First of all, thank you for the review! Your remarks were very interesting and truthful- this is what I want in a review, so once again thanks. As for the plot of the story, all I can say is find out yourself and read it. I can't spoil too much for you now. Her "name" will be shown in this chapter. I've noticed that some of my sentences might sound weird, though I do read it two times or even three to be sure. I might need a beta-reader, but that takes centuries to find one. I've changed the story to T for now, but later in the story it might be upgraded to M.
Anyways, I like your profile name- in Dutch (Belgium) it means freedom. Thanks for the review and enjoy!
Outer Body
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By Angelbloodlover
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~ "The only thing more frustrating than slanderers is those foolish enough to listen to them."
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Criss Jami, Killosophy
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Chapter 4: Peculiar Friendship
After running for a long time and following Chi's directions, she had been quite spent. Her muscles ached and her tired bones were screaming at her. Stopping for a moment to catch her breath, she leaned down, hands on her knees as she gulped in sweet air. When she looked up, her eyes bulged out comically.
Shocked, worried crystal-blue eyes met twinkling ruby-red.
"So, have you come to apologise for your rude behaviour?"
She glowered at his remark, trying to refrain from saying more hurtful words. "What did you do to Flareon?"
He chuckled lightly, spreading his arms widely, "What can I say- some people or Pokémon crave my attention."
"Stop being such a damned brat." She fumed angrily, trying to keep her anger in check, but it was getting difficult with each word coming from the young man's lips.
"Flareon came up to me and decided to sleep on my lap. What did you expect me to do? Kick him away?"
She took a involuntarily step backwards at his icy tone, sending shivers up her spine. This person was much more dangerous that he showed. Huffing in defeat, she crossed her arms, "No, what kind of dumb answer is that?"
"Then, don't ask dumb questions, girl," came his retort.
Don't kill him. Don't kill him. Anger management sure was good for the mind; inhale, exhale and repeat until calmed down.
"Fine, fine, I apologise for being rude." She spat out in annoyance, wanting to get it over with. Though ignoring his slightly smug look was hard, especially the satisfaction that glinted in his eyes. She crouched down in front of the young man, avoiding his penetrating gaze as she checked her friend over. Mew-Flareon seemed overly alright, as far as her observations went.
Her lips twitched at the adorable sight and she caressed the soft fur, admiring the smoothness of it.
"You look different when you smile instead of your usual scowl."
...there went her good mood. Couldn't he have been quiet for a few more seconds?
"You must be very popular with the ladies," she spoke dryly, eyeing him in disinterest.
He sputtered in mortification, ignoring his Pikachu's loud snickers. "Same could be said about you."
"I'm not into women."
His cheeks flushed brightly, "That's not what I meant!" His loud screech woke up Mew-Flareon, earning another scowl from the blue-eyed woman.
"Way to go, Casanova..." She grumbled angrily, moving her attention to her friend, "You're a troublemaker, did you know that?"
"Flareon!"
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Red observed the strange group, consisting of the peculiar woman, Flareon and a hidden Pokémon. He had been unable to discover the name of it, only the quiet chirps of "Chi". That wasn't enough for him to deduce the sort of Pokémon it could be and taking a guess was no solution. Another mystery among the many others that shrouded the group.
Thankfully, this time, he had introduced himself to the young woman, for which he had been made fun of. If there was a thing that he hated with a passion, it was to people mocking his name. His parents had named and he didn't stand for such ignorant behaviour. He was sure that she wouldn't try something like that again after showing her how much it displeased him.
Raine. What a strange name, but still fitting for her persona.
"Red, I can follow you to the Pokémon Center, I don't have a trainer ID..."
He furrowed his brows at that, "Normally you receive it when you leave home."
She looked to the side, cheeks flushed red from embarrassment. "Well, I didn't."
"Then, we'll head to the hotel. I'll pay for you, no worries," he added quickly, after seeing her with a saddened expression. How did this girl even survive without any form of money or ID?
Raine shook her head, about to protest that she didn't want to be treated like charity but the stubborn young man (teenager?) refused to budge. He was already leading her towards a youth hostel for travellers like them. He knew the owner from his exploring days in Kanto.
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Raine. Raine Toussaint. What a strange name that she had picked out. She didn't know why she just didn't blurt out her real name. But something inside of her wanted it to remain secret, for now.
Glancing nervously to the black-haired Red, she felt uncomfortable and suspicious of his real intent. After all these days in the wilderness, she had learnt to take care of herself. Then, he came out of nowhere and started spending his money on her. A total stranger who he had met today. Even she wasn't that gullible. Unfortunately, the only thing that stopped her from running, was Mew's intuition. It seemed that Mew quite liked the boy, to the point where it became ridiculous.
She didn't know why. Could it be that the two had met each other before?
...hopefully not.
"We're here," Red voice snapped her back to reality. "It's a decent place that I had visited during my younger years with Pikachu here."
"Pi-ka-pi!"
Raine looked up and observed the hotel, going by the name of PokéHotel- so not original... Continuing with her observation, she noticed that it was built with white stones, reaching three storeys high. The windows were square-like with potted, blooming plants on the windowsills. Shimmering, blue curtains were draped to hide the sunlight. Ivy plants were crawling over most of the walls, orange flowers spread everywhere. On the front porch, there were more rosebushes, a simple path leading to the giant, oaken door.
It looked more like a cottage one would see in a dream. Yet, here she was experiencing it with her own eyes.
She was in awe at the beautiful, cosy hotel, already feeling at home. "This place is not decent, it's absolutely breath-taking!" Raine spoke up heatedly, feeling overly passionate for this well-built hotel that resembled more art than building.
Red grinned widely, nudging her in the side, "So you're more into houses than men it seems."
Shooting him a deadpanned look, "Was that supposed to be funny? I sincerely hope not."
He pouted childishly and decided to get inside since everyone seemed to be too tired to be coherent at this time of the day. It was nearing one am in the morning. Pikachu was dozing off, Flareon was being held by Raine, along with her, still remaining mystery Pokémon. When Red saw the owner of the hotel, he smiled widely, tiredness forgotten in the face of an old friend, "Ah, John! How good to see you!"
Raine stood on the side, on the verge of dropping on the ground and sleeping there. Her eyes drooped constantly and she was holding Mew-Flareon, which wasn't an easy feat at all. Blinking her drowsiness away, she forced her attention back to Red. Hopefully, they wouldn't reminisce too much because she didn't know how long she had before she'd get knocked out. The snores of her two friends weren't helping matter either, jealousy rearing its ugly head at that. They were so lucky that they were sleeping without a care in the world.
"So, this is Raine!"
She jerked her head in shock at that booming sound, almost toppling over if it weren't for Red's steady hands.
"Apologies for startling you," The bearded man spoke in a less active manner, "Nice to meet another friend of Red. It's a pleasure, young lady!"
"Likewise John," came her sleepy response.
He chuckled at that and handed Red a smell, silver key with a tag, the number seven inscribed in it. "Here, it seems that your little group are dead on their feet." Then, turning mischievous, he smirked knowingly, eyebrows moving up and down suggestively, "Red, you know our policy. Always stay safe when you do it." With another wink, he left the group, leaving Red sputtering and bumbling nonsense with flamed cheeks.
Raine could care less about that, wanting nothing but sleep. But when he still didn't move, she got quite angry at his dazed expression, "Come on, what are you? A virgin? Let's get moving."
In a robotic way, Red led the way, his body going on auto-pilot as he tried to remain stoic.
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Raine opened her eyes and stretched out her arms, hearing the satisfied pop from her shoulders. Looking to her side, she saw Chi snuggled up to her chest, satisfied snores reaching her ears. Mew-Flareon was laid out on her bed, curled up in a ball and still in the land of dreams. A soft smile lit up her face at the sight of her friends, they really were the only two people in this world that had rescued her from insanity.
She pulled Chi closer to her and closed her eyes, enjoying the relaxing atmosphere. It was overtly quiet, save for the occasional stampede of the people who were walking downwards to grab some breakfast. Tilting her her head in Red's direction, she noticed that he was also in dreamland. Pikachu cuddled next to him.
The two seemed to have a strong bond together, just by the way they acted around each other.
Though, something about the two seemed oddly familiar but she didn't know what...
"...chi?"
Her amused, blue eyes flickered to her yawning friend, its adorable act earning him another firm snuggle against her average-developed size. "Why are you so cute?"
"Chi!" He shouted in indignation at being suffocated by her strange balls, tackling her with his yellow comet trails.
Unfortunately for the star-shaped Pokémon, Raine only giggled quietly, feeling overly giddy today. She couldn't help it, it had been such a long time ago that she had slept in a bed instead of the hard, rocky grounds. Her mood had skyrocketed and she was excited for today's events. Nothing could dampen her joyful mood. Before she could pepper the Pokémon with lots of kisses, Chi slipped out of her grasp.
Chi floated in the air, an angry pout evident on his face as he chirped in annoyance.
Leaning on her elbows, she settled her chin on her hand palms, eyeing the yellow oddball fondly, "I can't help it that you're too adorable."
Chi's answer was another slap with its, sudden, lengthened drapes.
She raised her eyebrow incredulously, "Did you just bitch-slap me?" Her incredulity increased when Chi nodded smugly,
Their playful banter was interrupted by a sudden robotic voice, scaring Chi back to her side. Raine turned her head to the owner of that voice and found Red awake with large, comical eyes as it stared down at his Pokédex. She frowned at his rudeness but perked up in interest when the Pokédex started summing up the information about Chi.
"Jirachi, the Steel/Psychic type Pokémon. Legend states that Jirachi will make true any wish that people desire when it awakens. Jirachi will only awaken from its sleep of a thousand years during the Millennium Comet that comes every thousand years or when it is sung to in a voice of purity. While it sleeps, a tough crystalline shell envelops the body to protect it from enemies. If this Pokémon senses danger, it will fight without awakening."
Raine shifted her curious eyes back to Jirachi, cocking her head to the side, "So, your real name is Jirachi?"
Jirachi bopped its head enthusiastically, "Ji!"
"Wait, so you want to tell me that you didn't know the name of your Pokémon?" Red's voice spoke in disbelief.
She narrowed her eyes in slits, trying to keep her temped her in check since he had been generous enough by spending money on her. "First of all, that was rude of you to aim your Pokédex on Chi without its consent. Secondly, if you ever tell another soul of my friend's existence I will hang, drawn and quarter you. Understood?" Her voice was icy, to the point that it could freeze over an entire ocean. But no one could deny the amount of love Raine had for Jirachi.
Red gulped in fear, "Of c-ourse. I've noticed that Jirachi is quite the shy Pokémon." He turned his attention back to Jirachi, observing the little wish Pokémon curiously, "My apologies for startling you. I was just interested since I had never encountered a Pokémon of your specie."
To his amazement, Jirachi gave him a little bop of its head, signalling that he was forgiven. Thankfully for him, this meant that Raine's scary persona vanished with it. He had always known that women could be scary, but Raine gave it a whole new meaning with her eerie, chilling voice. He certainly didn't want to invoke her anger. His eyes flitted back to her- his- clothes and his cheeks flamed up again. The thought that this woman was wearing his clothes was strangely arousing. Even when she wasn't wearing anything revealing, in fact, he could hardly see some skin, save for her tanned arms. She had borrowed a shirt and long pants, freshly washed. He was not some caveman, having no ounce of decency. He liked being clean.
Shaking his thoughts away, he shook Pikachu awake, scratching its red, electrical pouch gently. It earned him a purr of contentment, sending tiny shocks of lightning through his nerves.
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Jirachi smiled widely, black eyes shining in happiness as it floated around the room. The nice trainer, Red, had given him a Togepi costume that fit him snugly. Giggles escaped its lips when he avoided Raine's hands, chirping in mischievousness.
"Chi, we really need to go now, we can play later." Dubious eyes regarded her with unbelief, "I promise."
With a pleased nod, Chi settled back in Raine's warm hands, enjoying the way she had Raine wrapped up around her finger.
Mew-Flareon looked with longing at Jirachi's comfortable spot, wishing that he could also drop its transformation but a promise was a promise.
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After walking out of Vermillion City, Raine had decided to accompany Red to Pallet Town. She sincerely hoped that no Team Rocket would appear. Surely, for such a short amount of time no problem would arise... right?
Why did she feel as if shit was about to hit the fan?
"Red, are you sure that Team Rocket didn't attack you for the following week?"
Said trained settled his uncomfortable ruby orbs on her, "Positive. Don't worry, I'm sure they won't appear. What are the chances of that?" He guffawed in amusement, even if she didn't find anything funny about that. "Now, we'll take the Diglett's Cave back to Pewter City and from there on, we'll use the short-cuts to get back to Pallet Town. It shouldn't take us more than four days to reach professor Oak."
She nodded at that, satisfied that she had to survive four more days with him. Not that she disliked the boy, after knowing him she found him kind and outgoing, willing to help a stranger even when she had been nothing but rude to him. Someone like him was one of a kind person and she felt disappointed that at one point, they'd have to split up. It was for the best, the more time she spend with him, the harder it would be to walk away. Besides, Mew was getting annoyed at its lack of freedom and she felt guilty for that. Getting away from Red, meant that Mew could transform back and be its old, playful self.
"That's good," she spoke quietly, patting Chi's costumed Togepi with slight amusement. It had been rather thoughtful of Red to spend money on Chi. But one that she appreciated immensely. She wished that she could repay his kindness but she was penniless and had nothing of value, except for her magical amulet but that was not something she would give away easily.
Red cleared his throat, "May I ask why you want to speak to professor Oak? You don't have to answer if you don't want to..."
"It's something that I can't discuss. I don't feel comfortable talking about it." She looked away, staring forward as her mind swirled back to her traumatising days in her Mew-transformation.
"Oh," He spoke again, "That's alright. Everyone has his or her share of secrets. I'll respect your choice and won't pry any further."
That sounded like a promise. Raine eyed Red with confused eyes, wondering how such a fine young man existed in this world. His parents sure did an amazing job with raising him. She approved. "Thank you. I appreciate that, Red." Sending him a warm smile, she ignored his flushed look and stared at their path on route eleven. "And thank you for spending money on Jirachi. I'll promise that one day I'll pay you back for everything."
Red blinked his eyes at that sudden promise, noticing that she was quite serious about it. "You really don't have to, Raine. I'm glad I could help you out and seeing Jirachi so happy with such a small gift is the only payment I need."
Raine shook her head at that statement, "You are a strange person, Red. No person would spend money freely on a stranger."
"Then I'd rather be a strange person."
Chuckling softly, she dropped the conversation and trudged forward, enjoying Red's company, along with their Pokémon. Even Mew-Flareon looked happy with Red's treat, happily munching on it.
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"Flareon, how are you feeling?"
She had noticed that its bubbly persona was diminishing by the second. The snacks that Red had given to Mew-Flareon had only brightened its mood temporarily. Her heart went out to her friend and she struggled with her choice, guilt eating her out from the inside. Turning to Red with blazing eyes, she gritted out angrily, "Red, I'll show you something that no one can know about it. Promise me that you won't tell a soul about Flareon's true appearance, just like you promised not to tell anyone about Chi."
Red became serious once he noticed the tense atmosphere, narrowed eyes observing the saddened Flareon. Its shiny fur had deteriorated to a murky orange, the majestic glow around the Pokémon having vanished completely. Knowing that the Pokémon was hurting, he nodded, "I promise not to tell a soul."
For some strange reason, Raine believed him.
Pleased with the promise, she crouched in front of Flareon, "Alright, you can transform back. I'm sorry for forcing you to remain like that. It wasn't my intention to hurt you, only to protect you from evil people."
Bright, pink light engulfed Mew-Flareon, rendering everyone blind.
Raine sighed out in relief when the light vanished, taking away Flareon's presence and replacing it with the more lively Mew. It flew around happily, chirping in joy at the feeling of freedom until it landed on Raine's shoulder. Nuzzling against her neck, she giggled in fondness, "It's good to see you as well." Looking back at Red, she chuckled mirthfully at his slack-jawed expression, eyes bulged out at the sight Mew.
"...wh-at...in...Arceus..name?" His mind was boggled out, brain fizzled out as he looked at the black-haired woman with not one, but two Legendary Pokémon. Like it was a normal occurrence.
Pinching the bridge of her nose with one hand, while keeping a firm grip on Chi with her other, she explained, "I met Mew when I was walking around the forested areas nears Fuchsia City. I befriended the little chipmunk and from then on Mew had decided to accompany me. Nothing special."
Red face-palmed at her last statement, "Nothing special..." Groaning in slight jealousy, he eyed Raine incredulously, "Having a Mew as your Pokémon is not what I would call normal, Raine. In fact, many people, myself included, would die to capture one."
Her hackles rose at the word 'capture', Raine exploded in fury, "Mew is my friend! I didn't capture anything! It's free to do what it wants to do!"
Involuntarily, the ruby-eyed trained took a step backward at her full-blown out rage. But there was a small part of him that admired Raine's passionate way of treating her Pokémon. "I apologise, I didn't mean anything untoward towards Mew, only that many people would like to capture one as well. It's how everything works in this world. Not that I would treat it badly or take away its freedom." He motioned towards the edgy Pikachu, sparks shooting from its cheeks, "Look at Pikachu. I haven't locked my friend up in a Pokéball, knowing that it didn't like being in there."
This made Raine calm down, but she kept wary, careful eyes on him, "Fine. But if you dare capturing either of my friends, I'll make you pay." Her eyes turned dark and there was hidden power buried within those crystal-blue eyes, "And believe me, I will."
He shivered in unease, trying to keep his cool, "...I promise." Scooping the tense Pikachu in his arms, he tried calming down his friend, "C'me on, let's get moving." Before he could take a step, he stopped and turned back to the still-stiff Raine, "But first, we need to find something to hide Mew. The consequences of it would be horrendous." He set Pikachu down on the ground and placed his backpack on the ground, fumbling through his belongings and trying to find something to hide Mew's appearances.
Raine couldn't help the slight twitch of her lips, scratching Mew behind its cat-like ear as her little bubblegum friend floated next to her. She let out a chuckle when Red turned around with a small, blue cloak with a hood on it.
"It's not much but for now it will be enough until we reach professor Oak." He walked towards Mew and waited for its permission before he adorned the Legendary Pokémon with the cloak, a slight chuckle leaving his lips at the adorable sight.
"Mew looks like Superman," came Raine's strange comment.
Frowning in confusion, he turned his attention back to the mystery woman in question, "Who is Superman?"
Her eyes widened at his sharp words, "Euh, a hero who rescues innocents while wearing a cape?"
Why did she even sound unsure of herself. "...okay? Never heard of it." He dropped the subject, but didn't miss her sigh of relief at that. There really was something otherworldly about this woman, like she didn't belong here. He couldn't pinpoint it, nor could he question her after his promise but his gut was telling him that she just didn't belong. Pushing away his speculations about Raine, he stood up, backpack strapped on his back as they continued their journey back to Pallet Town.
Red was sure that they must look like a strange group. Mew certainly didn't help matters by floating around, cloak swirling behind itself as its loud chirps echoed around them.