The night we saved Golurk, I dreamed I was a peasant.
There was a king on a wheel, revolving above me. As a threat, he opened the wheel and showed me the night sky– the clearest I'd ever seen it before.
"Without truth, how would you wander through all that endlessness?" he asked. "How would you ever reach perfection?"
"Ideals," I said with certainty. "As long as I can dream, perfect things will live inside of me. Let's abandon the truth, so we may live happily in the ideal of dreams. Forget the sadness brought by the truth of reality."
But the king grew sullen and resolute.
"Go on, then," he said, sending me up; "and wander. May you never find true happiness."
Sitting high atop Golurk's shoulder, Bianca kicked her legs, gazing down at her pokedex. Reservedly, she marveled its glossy, colorful screen.
"I know Professor Juniper gave us these for pokemon research and all," she began; "but do you think they're maybe powerful enough to run games? Don't tell Cheren about this, please."
"Yes, sis. I had the same thought last night," White said, leaning against Alphonse's spiked epaulet. "So I patched up a few emulators and roms for mine. They run great, so I can give you copies if you'd like. Cheren never has to know."
"Really?" Bianca clutched her pokedex ecstatically. "That's great! Usually we need Cheren's help with these kinda things, but... have you noticed how scary he's been about his pokedex, lately?"
"Have I ever," White exclaimed, sitting up straight. "Did you see how he carries the thing? In a sock. He told me 'I suggest you do the same, since you treat your stuff so poorly!' Then I showed him the scratch on my screen. He shat bricks."
Bianca erupted into loud, frenetic laughter, bringing a crooked grin to White's face.
"I actually put it there myself," she mentioned. "Just to see what he'd do."
"White! That's horrible..."
"Yeah! It's horrible, isn't it? But it was worth it. His expressions are so exaggerated and funny. I love seeing them."
Bianca pulled Oshawott close, looking down at the ground.
"I do... too."
"Hm... Well," White said, glancing knowingly at Bianca. "I guess we'd better get going! Hup–"
Sliding down Golurk's arm, White landed, stomped, and wobbled backwards. Holding her arms out, she invited Snivy to follow suit.
"Come on, I'll catch you," she offered.
She would've never, had she known that Snivy would dive straight into her ribs. Yelling out, she set the pokemon down and doubled over– falling to her knees and twitching like an insect on a truck grill.
"W-what's wrong?" Bianca jumped down, grabbing her friend's shoulders. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?"
"I'm fine, I'm fine!" White stood up. "My ribs ache, is all. Professor Juniper said I'd be fine though. Remember?"
"Yes..." Bianca recalled a few nights ago– when Alphonse, the Golurk, had lost control and nearly crushed White in his hand.
"I would've been pulverized if it weren't for you," White said, nearly laughing. "You drew and shot your gun– without any hesitation. It was impossibly cool."
Bianca pulled her cap down over her face, staring down at the ground.
"No. It was impossibly thoughtless," she said. "I was scared and... reached for the only strength I had. In this way, I think Cheren's right. I can't solve every problem by shooting at it. I could've messed up that night, and... what then?"
"What then, whatever. You didn't mess up. You saved me, remember? Confidence itself is a strength, so... Make it yours. You know. I think you're strong enough to become a bodyguard, just like your dad, if that says anything."
"You think so?" Bianca smiled, albeit unhappily. "But he doesn't think so. He thinks I'm too weak to live. I feel... so useless."
"Not so useless! You want to travel with us, right?" White grabbed Bianca's hand. "That's what you're worrying about, right? Being allowed to go with us. So let's go and... convince your dad right now!"
"White–" Bianca stumbled along, being led by the arm. The two of them ran off, leaving their pokemon to play outside.
White stood in Bianca's living room, right between the girl and her dad.
"Sir, we need to talk to you about something," White began, gazing up at the grumpy and thick-bodied man. She yawned slightly, knowing fully well what had to be done. It certainly was going to be painful.
"This again? I know what you're going to say," he grumbled, his voice raising with every syllable. "I suggest that you forget about it, before you get hurt."
"I don't think you really know what I'm about to say–"
"–Oh I do. You want me to release Bianca, my only daughter, out into this dangerous world?" He stretched his tree trunk of a neck. "No, no, a thousand times no!" His roar blasted over them like a psionic wind storm, whipping their hair back and freezing them to the bone.
The bored expression finally fell from White's face. Taking a step forward, she grabbed Bianca's hand and pulled her behind.
"You'll be surprised to know," White began; "that I have something far different to say. That is, Bianca and I want your blessings."
"Uh?" Bianca emitted. Well that's an odd way to put it...
The man grumbled, tilting his head, confused and momentarily lapsing into silence. Facing him, as if pledging some backwards allegiance, White swept her left hand over her heart and held it there– peering right into his eyes.
"That's right!" she exclaimed. "Without any experience or knowledge of the world, Bianca and I fell in love."
"EEH?" Bianca expelled, too freaked out say any more. Searching White's face, she couldn't tell if the girl was joking or not. It was always impossible to tell; White had been a magnificent liar since childhood.
"That's right! So let us both marry." White threw her head back, delivering each ridiculous line without break. "Think about the advantage. You'll never again have to worry about any man ever taking her away– for it will be a woman instead!"
Bianca's father had already frozen halfway through the speech; his mouth gaped and his eyes burned murderously. His blood, peeking beneath his skin, was finally reaching a roiling boil, allowing every vein on his body to pop.
"–I swear to keep your daughter happy, safe and loved," White continued on, hiding her rampant fear behind a ridiculously smug countenance. This man was going to crush her, worse than any Golurk ever could.
"What... What did you just say?" he roared, his wife sobbing noisily at the nearby kitchen sink.
"I told you– look what you've done to our daughter," the woman cried. "Now we'll never have any grandchildren!"
"Wait! How is this MY fault?"
"You repressed her so much... Look what you've done!"
"No, this, I–" breathing hysterically, the man looked back at White. Taking one look at her wildly grinning face, he lost control. "You... You– Impish little–"
He lashed his arm, connecting it against her face and throwing her cheek clear over her shoulder. Neck popping and skin smacking, the room fell silent, and remorseful guilt drained everyone's face of color.
"You done?" White mumbled, holding her stinging cheek. Looking up, she saw the man's mortified expression and stilled hand. There was no way he could peacefully explain this to her parents.
"Heh. Well... April Fools," she finally said. "I was hoping that you'd laugh instead of smacking me one, though."
With a grunt, the man's face turned pale in shock. It was as if a bag of thunderbolts had been dropped on his head. He had forgotten the date on today's calendar.
"Don't worry. No big deal. I've got tons of bruises already," White said, lifting her shirt to show her black and blue sides. Bianca's mother gasped when she saw them.
"So... we'll be leaving now. We've got a date with Cheren, see." Grabbing the stunned and voiceless girl, White pulled her out the front door. "Later!"
Except for the large crater along the way, Route 1 was back to normal. Wild grass had sprung back faster than the fire that had razed it and even sharper than the new month's frost. In Unova, anything was possible– even the beginning of Winter in April.
Wrapping a duct tape roll around Alphonse's pokeball, White tore it free with her teeth. Taking a moment to observe the ball's smothered, lop-sided shape, she clipped it alongside Snivy's and beamed proudly– bruised smack marks and all.
"Saying that to her father," Cheren spat. "Did you want to die?" Searching his bag for an ice pack, he unzipped a side pocket and felt around.
"Come on now. Admit that I've made things easier for Bianca's future boyfriend," White warbled, waiving her arms around like noodles. "And besides, I wanted this year's joke to be spectacular. Yes. I think it was even better than last year's fire cracker wash basin barrage."
"Well congratulations. You're a spectacular idiot," he conceded, unzipping his bag's middle pocket.
Hissing loudly, a predator leapt out at him– a serpent escaping from his bag. Making itself known, it jumped into the air and dove, alarming Cheren so much that he emitted a short scream and fell.
Bouncing to the ground, the predator revealed itself to be paper cut-out of Serperior tapped around a giant spring. White threw back her head and guffawed deliriously, slapping her thighs all the while.
"You sociopath!" Cheren blasted, jabbing a flustered finger at her. "When will you put your brain to more mature uses? Your pranks have gone too far!"
"I got you good, though," she chortled, wiping a tear from her eye.
"How can you treat your friends like this? It's unforgivable! Just look at Bianca's face, she's still stupefied from your bizarre marriage proposal!"
White glanced at the girl and indeed found her still stunned and voiceless– as if her soul was hanging by a thread from her mouth.
"She looks OK to me," White lied.
"You...!"
"You mad?"
He grabbed her by her vest, ready to throttle her. Thankfully, Bianca snapped awake just in time to stop him. She waived her arms frantically between the two.
"Wait a minute!" she yelled. "Hey, listen! White, Cheren, I just thought of something fun!"
Cheren turned aside, letting go and pretending as if he were always calm. Pushing up his glasses, they gleamed impressively in the sunlight.
"There's no time for all this nonsense," he scolded after mild contemplation. "Today's the day we start our journey. In occasion of this, the professor is waiting for us ahead, so–"
Bianca grabbed his arm, and then White's, pulling them close and darting her eyes at the road ahead.
"I know. But if we're starting a journey together," she insisted; "we should at least step down the first road together... at the same time!"
Huffing, Cheren pulled his mouth taut and obliged. "Fine... OK." Though he agreed reluctantly, it was clear that he was somewhat touched by her sentiment.
White nodded her head. "Here we go, then–"
Following the road, the three friends charged ahead. Skipping suddenly, the girls began singing, haphazardly dragging Cheren along.
"You said nothing about a musical," he protested, red-faced and burdened.
In the wake of this noise and partying, a Lillipup jumped from the grass, trotting and barking close behind. Recognizing them, she followed them all the way to Accumula Town– though her heart was focused on only one trainer.
"So, let's wrap this up." Juniper slammed her hand down on the shop counter, startling the pokecenter employees. "I've given you the basics of being a trainer!"
White and Bianca stood, respectfully, nodding their heads at every instructive word the professor emitted. Being too smart to stick around, Cheren had wandered off behind their backs, possibly to go check out the upland town as well.
"So then. If you don't have any more questions, I'm going to head back to Nuvema Town now." Professor Juniper saluted. "But one final thing... When you get to Striaton City, go and meet an inventor named Fennel."
"An inventor?" Bianca muttered. "Um... Do you know her?"
The professor turned and urgently glanced at the automatic doors, distracted by something.
"Yes. She's a friend of mine from long ago," she said, turning her back. "She's researching other things these days, but she might be able to help you with Alphonse's missing seal, or anything else for that matter."
"Right," White nodded. It's still as mystery as to who removed it and why...
Juniper walked for the automatic doors. Holding her arm up high she waived it twice, not bothering to turn around. "Best of luck, girls," she said. "I hope that your journeys prove to be the adventure of a lifetime!"
The doors slid shut. After loading them with instructions, she had expected that both girls would become absorbed by meditation. They, however, became absorbed by shopping.
"Ooh! What should I buy?" Bianca gasped, struggling to see behind the shop counter. "Potions and pokeballs are definitely important–"
"–Definitely not potions. They're overpriced and overrated," White hissed, hovering over her shoulder like a very annoying Basculin. "Vending machines have all you'll ever need. Fresh Water, Lemonade... Soda Pop."
"You and your Soda Pop political agenda," Bianca huffed. "Um, hello? I'll take five pokeballs. And three potions. Er, maybe four." She leaned over the counter to get away.
Feeling ignored and unloved, White plodded outside, leaving Bianca to sort out her purchases. Stomping along the way, White stopped and wandered back when she noticed a Lillipup by the curb, panting ecstatically with its tongue hanging out.
"Wish I could be so eager about breathing!" White grumped stupidly, shaking away and wandering on. A cacophony of voices alerted her.
"Sounds like something's going on in the plaza!" a man exclaimed over the collective roar. White turned her head and looked. If she didn't have any purposeful direction, she did now.
In the distance she saw a line of knights standing with their chins held high. Their presence, demanding greater attention than any show or circus, drew droves of townspeople from all around. It was some kind of gathering, or exhibition.
"Live action role-players?" White murmured, standing on her tip-toes to see better. "But they got no boffers or beanbags." Baffled by this contradiction, she wandered even closer, her curiosity and excitement propelling her. As an added bonus, she found Cheren, standing amongst the crowd and straining to look over it as well. She rushed to accost him.
"Cheren! You knew about this, didn't you?" White accused, snagging him from behind. "That's why you ran off! How could you hold out on me? Especially when you know how I feel about LARP or organized violence in general."
"White," Cheren uttered, hooking his arm around her neck. "Come here for a sec." He pulled her face close.
"Huh?"
"Does the REALLY look like LARP-ing to you?" he growled.
"Nerds dressed up in medieval garb, about to engage in fantasy sword fights?" White muttered. "Yes."
Letting go of her, he pushed up his glasses. "Your feeble grasp on reality is truly astonishing."
"Hm... In sooth, bro."
"Make another verbal anachronism, and I'll toast you."
Ignoring his threat, White suddenly whooped at the knights, wildly flailing her arms: "Thunderbolt! Thunderbolt! Thunderbolt–"
Scrambling, Cheren grabbed and muffled her mouth, effectively shutting her up.
"My name is Ghetsis." An aging man walked forward: the general of the knights. "I am here representing Team Plasma."
Becoming entranced by the man's impressive appearance, White stopped struggling and Cheren loosened his grasp on her mouth. This Ghetsis, with his colorful mantle and castle-shaped epaulets, awed them into silence.
"Today, ladies and gentlemen," he broadcasted. "I would like to talk to you about Pokemon liberation."
The crowd gasped together with stupefied horror, almost as if they were a single organism.
"Hm, Pokemon Liberation. Are they advertising a new game story line?" White murmured, still believing this was a LARP demonstration.
"No," Cheren said, holding his chin. "Stop paying attention to what you're hearing and seeing, and take a moment to think."
The night my paladins located the Light Stone– I had a dream I was standing on the gateway of inexhaustibility.
Below me, there was a simple peasant carrying a torch and a spear. She was stubborn and nothing could convince her of the truth– my truth. There was nothing I could do, but send her away.
Is this vision... the future?
The young man pulled the brim of his trucker hat down, gazing ahead at the knights. In order to begin traveling the path of the hero, he had to blend in with the crowd around him. His recollections disturbed him, but the moaning from all these commoners proved even more upsetting:
"These guys are nuts."
"Look at their stupid outfits." From all angles, voices came and criticized the young man's paladins. Eyes rolled, tongues clicked, and uppity attitudes abounded.
"What a bunch of weirdoes."
So many shallow commoners! The young man graciously shook his head. They think they have all the answers. They honestly believe they know everything... Humans– they'll aggressively attack anything beyond their understanding and enslave everything else.
The impressive orator known as Ghetsis paced back and forth before the young man and crowd, shuffling his heavy mantle and armor. Sweeping his arms dramatically, he caught the attention of the commoners and again baffled them into silence.
"Pokemon are subject to the selfish commands of trainers..." he said. "They get pushed around when they are our 'partners' at work. They get overworked until they faint... Think about it. Not even humans are forced to work in such dire conditions. Can anyone say with confidence that there is no truth in what I'm saying?"
For a moment, the commoners exploded and argued, overwhelmed by this truth. The young man, however, looked up at Ghetsis and smiled, proud to hear these words.
"N, my lord," a gentleman whispered from behind, hiding in the crowd with him. "Do you feel his words? Your father developed his charisma and leadership abilities through his many travels. He gathered followers by swaying their hearts, just like this. In a similar way, you must travel and become the Hero of Unova."
"I understand," the young man spoke. "Don't speak any louder, or these humans may overhear us."
"That is very responsible of you, my lord."
Deep and shrill voices mixed together, echoing in N's ears and driving him to uncomfortable silence. There were too many humans making too many demands. All of them wanted to be heard, savagely fighting by raising their voices over one another.
He allowed himself to look up– once– and his eyes caught sight of that simple, stubborn peasant.
~To be continued...~
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o_o *stares*