Sorry, a bit late. You can blame stupid SAT testing. XD I'm pretty sure I failed the chem portion, but at least world history was pretty good. Soo... anyways. Chapter 5. It's pretty short, but meh. Also, this is where the T rating starts to show, so... yeah.
Enjoy! XD
After a few hours of walking, the trio finally arrived at Mauville. Signs of the thief's presence were everywhere; bright posters and flyers with a picture of a shadow were found on every possible inch of flat surface—and even draped on nonflat surfaces—and the newspaper headlines screamed of a stolen badge.
What was even more surprising, however, was that almost as soon as they stepped onto the city streets, a mob of strangely dressed people almost knocked Touko and Bianca over as they ran to huddle around N. After a few seconds, Touko blinked and realized that they were all wearing Team Plasma uniforms.
"Oh, my King! You are here to guide us again!" One of the grunts said, almost on the verge of tears.
"Erm, no, actually... I broke my ties with Team Plasma," N explained cautiously, expecting some sort of violence.
Instead, the grunts only gave a horrified cry and begged, "Oh, you musn't! We've been waiting for you for all this time! We overthrew Ghetsis and waited for your arrival to lead us into the light!"
"You overthrew Ghetsis?" N asked, blinking.
"Oh, yes," one of the grunts nodded vigorously. "As soon as you left, he began reversing all of your hard work and making everyone prepare to take over the world. Most of us joined to save Pokemon... we couldn't possibly condone that. There were some grunts that were power-hungry, but we expelled them from the group."
"Then... who's running Plasma now?" N asked, confused. "And why are you here, in Hoenn?"
"The other sages fled before Ghetsis took over, so right now Anthea and Concordia are keeping things going, and they ordered us to come and aid you in whatever you were going to do, as well as save any Pokemon that needed help. Things have been going well. But, my King, without you, Plasma has no goal, no vision! Please, come back!"
"I..." He hesitated and glanced at Touko. "I don't have a vision myself anymore," he admitted. "I need time to find a new dream. Give me time to find my purpose in life, a purpose that's good for all. Trust in me and listen to Anthea and Concordia for now."
The grunts bowed. "Very well. We shall trust that whatever your Majesty decides will be good for all Pokemon. If you ever need assistance, there are Plasma members in each city and town. Although..." the grunt frowned. "Watch out for Team Rocket. They have recently been increasing here as well, and they have been very hostile to Plasma members."
"Thank you," N said gratefully. "I will remember that and never let your faith be in vain." He nodded at the grunts, and, after another bow, they turned and left.
There was silence for a while before Touko said wryly, "Looks like you're king of Plasma again."
"Yes..." N ran his fingers through his hair. "It felt so free while I wasn't, but I think that this is my place, my destiny. The burden is somehow 'mine,' and I intend to keep it."
Touko shrugged ruefully, "Whether I like it or not, it fits you. I just hope that we'll be on the same side this time."
N nodded. "I do as well." Without thinking, his hand reached for hers, and their fingertips brushed. Alarmed, he withdrew his hand hastily and began to apologize, but, even more surprisingly, she caught his hand and grasped it tightly.
Neither of them said anything for a moment, but when N dared to glance at Touko, he saw that she was staring at her feet, her cheeks bright red.
Bianca, who had gone off wandering when no one was looking, had started to run back with several flyers in hand, and Touko quickly snatched her hand back.
"Look at this!" Bianca said, waving her flyer triumphantly. "Details about the break in last night!"
Touko took one and started reading. "Break-in at Mauville gym... Extremely strong Pokemon, some from faraway Unova region... Gym leader impressed..." she muttered as she skimmed through the text. Her eyes stopped and rested at one line in particular. "Thief hinted at a break-in in nearby Lavaridge soon..." Out of habit, her eyes widened and she snapped her head up to look at Bianca.
"Do you want to go?" The blonde asked quietly. N frowned. He felt that tingling in his gut again, as if something bad was going to happen.
Touko opened her mouth to speak, but a confused look suddenly flashed on her face. "I... I don't know."
"The trip wouldn't take long," Bianca told her.
The conflicted brunette just stood there for a long time and then sighed. "I think I want to end this, Bianca. It's ridiculous. I'm tired. I want to look at the future."
Bianca grinned hugely and hugged her friend to the point of almost choking her. "Let's leave, then!"
"Already?" Touko asked blankly.
"Oh, yes! I heard that Lavaridge has amazing sights!" Bianca gushed. "And a hot spring!"
N frowned. He wanted to stop them, but he thought that perhaps the nagging feeling in his stomach was pure paranoia. After all, if Touko had decided to end things, what could happen? A bit reluctantly, he brought out his Archeops while Touko called her Mandibuzz.
They flew steadily over the rocky terrain, and as they began to near the volcano, a fluffy gray substance began to fall lightly. "Ash!" Touko exclaimed delightedly, holding her hand out. "It's so soft!"
"I heard you can make all sorts of things with collected ash," N remarked, but he was also busy grabbing at the ash flakes in childish amazement, laughing in delight as a speck landed on his nose.
"Look! Lavaridge!" Bianca pointed at a small town below. "We're already there!" As usual, she clung to Mandibuzz's neck as the Pokemon began to descend rapidly. Touko only laughed and then sneezed as her face was bombarded with the fluffy ash.
They touched down softly and slid off of their Pokemon before wandering off to explore. The most curious place they saw was a small shop selling Pokemon herbs, so they headed in its direction.
Touko was the first one to enter, and she pushed the door open carefully, looking around the small, dark, dusty room. There were boxes and shelves everywhere, and they were crammed with dried plants and powders.
At the sound of their footsteps, an old man hobbled out of a small, inconspicuous door in the corner behind the counter. He looked at the three, and his eyes widened when he looked at Touko; but then, his eyes were so small anyways that it could have been a trick of the light. The old man waved at them to wait for a second before picking up a phone and muttering something into it. After a couple of nods, he put the phone back down and looked up at the Pokemon trainers.
"So," he wheezed, rubbing his hands excitedly, "What brings such young folk like you here?"
"We're just touring," N told him with a bit of a frown on his face. For some reason, he thought he didn't trust the man; his shifty eyes seemed to hide some gleeful secret. Mentally, N scolded himself as he realized that he was just judging the man based on his looks.
"What kind of herbs to you sell?" Bianca asked excitedly. "Anything that we don't have in Unova?"
The man grinned toothlessly and turned to his shelves before picking out a few packages. "Energy Powder, Revival Herb, Heal Powder... take your pick."
Bianca sighed. "You can get those at Driftveil, though."
The old man furrowed his eyebrows and huffed, then hobbled back into the back room. Moments later, he returned with a box and began unloading it on the counter. "Fine then, if you insist... here are some of my rarest wares. Sleep Powder and Stun Spore, collected from various grass Pokemon. The Parasect type is the strongest, and it was imported specially from Kanto. There's also Attract and Captivate essence, made from crushed Luvdisc scales and various herbs. Of course, my greatest invention and treasure..." he shivered with pride, his eyes bulging, as his shaky, knobbly fingers pulled out a small red pouch. "Ghostwater."
As he slowly pulled out a small vial full of a clear, violet liquid, Touko shuddered and felt a chill go down her spine. "What is that?" She asked, at once repulsed by its aura and frightened by the power she felt emanating from it.
"It's made by liquifying, distilling, and refining the gaseous aura of Ghost Pokemon," the old man said, a hysterical edge to his awed whisper. "My usual batches are made from regular Ghastlys and such, but this particular batch is made from the aura of the legendary Giratina." He wrinkled his nose suddenly. "I had another one, but a rather unpleasant man bought it."
"Hmm..." Touko laughed nervously and backed away slowly.
"Wait! Young miss, you look very pretty," he cackled, holding out the crystalline vial, which was carved with an intricate design and suspended on a golden chain. Aside from the strange liquid in it, it was very beautiful and looked rather expensive. "I feel that you have a, eh, certain darkness about you... Wouldn't you be perfect for this?"
"Well, I don't really need..." Touko's voice began to shake and dwindle, and her head spun. Though her instincts screamed at her not to accept the vial, her hand slowly reached for the chain and lowered it over her head, letting the necklace clink before settling into place.
The moment the crystal touched her skin, her screaming senses went silent. Touko leaned on the counter for a moment in dizziness, but soon she got up, feeling completely normal, if a bit drained. She shook her head and said in a dazed voice, "Thank you... It's lovely."
"Touko? Are you okay?" N asked, concern in his voice.
She smiled at him widely, her expression wooden like a doll's. "Now, why wouldn't I be okay?" She laughed, but her laugh was nothing but a sound, a prerecorded voice.
N looked like he wanted to say more, and he glanced at the old man, but a voice outside interrupted him.
"Break-in at the gym!" A trainer hollered, running up the slope. "The thief has appeared!"
Quick as a flash, Touko grabbed N's hand and ran with him in the direction of the gym, with Bianca in close pursuit. They reached it before the rest of the crowd, though they were already several police officers.
The shadow of the thief could be seen on the rooftop of the gym. There were no trees nearby buildings that the thief could jump onto, and the gym was completely surrounded. Despite the fact that it seemed as if there was no way for the thief to escape, the thief did not seem worried at all; indeed, the shadowy figure did not even move.
When Touko arrived, however, the figure's head moved to look at her. Nimbly, the thief jumped onto the ledge of the gym's roof so that Touko could see the figure clearly. The shadowy figure's eyes seemed to bore into hers for a moment before the thief ripped off her mask in one swift moment.
There was silence and a flurry of whispers. A violet-haired girl looked down coldly at the crowd. The bottom of her face was still obscured, so it was impossible to tell who she was, but it was clear that the girl was not Touya. As Touko stared, frozen, her mouth agape, the thief reached for a Pokeball and released a Crobat. Before the police had realized what she was about to do, she grabbed on to the Crobat's feet and disappeared, and the belated cry of "Halt!" simply hung uselessly in the warm mountain air before being blown away by a cold breeze.
Bursting with renewed life, the crowd began to disperse, vigorous whispers and excited chatter while Touko simply stood there, her eyes still wide.
"Did you see that girl? And everyone said it was a boy all this time!"
"Doesn't she look a bit like Janine from the Fuschia gym?"
"Silly, what would a gym leader do with stolen gym badges?"
"How strange, the thief didn't use her Hydreigon this time? I wanted to see a Pokemon from a different region..."
"Wow, I've never heard of the thief coming so early in the evening, though. It only just got dark a while ago."
The snippets of chatter floated right past Touko's deaf ears, as disappointment froze her mind. She had thought that Touya had to be the thief...
"Are you okay, Touko?" Bianca asked, concerned. "That must have been a shock..."
Touko sighed and shook her head, still dizzy. "I'm fine. I wanted to see Touya to tell him I wanted to end things, anyways. I don't mind that much that it wasn't him, it's just... I want so much to know how he's doing. If he's even alive. Where is he? Why did he leave me?"
She signed again. "I suppose we just weren't meant to meet again."
"I'm glad you're back to normal, though," N commented in relief. "You were acting strange back at the herb shop..."
"Oh... Well, yes... I'm sorry, I just got too superstitious," Touko laughed, this time for real. "I feel perfectly normal now, although I am a bit tired from all this excitement.
"Oh, that's perfect!" Bianca exclaimed excitedly. "Lavaridge's Pokemon Center has a hot spring for us humans to rest in."
"Really?" Touko grinned in anticipation. "I haven't been to one of those in ages! I can't wait!"
"You go first," Bianca told her. "I want to go look at the shops a bit more first. I wonder where those famous cookies are...?" She sighed wistfully and wandered off.
"I'll go get rooms, then," N offered, and Touko nodded. As he turned to leave, however, she grabbed his hand. "Do you need anything?" He asked quizzically, surprised and a bit happy for some reason.
"Oh, n-no... Not really." She fidgeted and loosened her grip, waiting for him to shake her off. When he didn't, she just shrugged with her other shoulder and said vaguely, "I, um... Just wondered... If you knew where the, uh, those... things..."
"The Pokemart?" N asked, confused.
"No! Oh, um, yes, right. The Pokemart. I... might need some things..." She was still fiddling with the hem of her shirt with one hand, the fingers on her other hand laced around N's.
Even more confused now, he pointed at a blue sign nearby. She began drawing circles with her foot in the red dirt and cleared her throat. After a few moments of silence, she looked up to meet his puzzled eyes of warm green - of sunlit grass in a gentle breeze. Her own eyes were lost, confused, so vulnerable, and in a split second, some part of him told him to embrace her, surround her, shield her, protect her.
Caught in a sudden tight hug, Touko blinked rapidly and blushed, stammering. N quickly pulled back, afraid of overstepping, and she felt lost again. Without thinking, she leaned into him and lifted her face, and he stroked her hair softly. Their lips were inches apart, and his warm breath was reassuring and safe. It was life, kindness, the shelter from the storm.
But then confusion and worry flashed on his face, and he sighed, pulling himself up. Touko looked up, her dreamy state broken, and shook her head to clear her thoughts.
"Then we'll meet up later," she said, coughing and hiding her burning face. Tiredly, she made her way to the Pokemon center, ducking through the bamboo blinds to the springs outside.
There were two changing room, and Touko entered the women's room, quickly shedding her clothes and dumping them unceremoniously in a locker before grabbing a towel and wrapping it around her slender body. She smiled as she felt her smooth skin, glad that it had not dried up on the journey. It was probably because of the huge amounts of cake that she ate. Cake had milk in it, didn't it? It was a miracle that she was still so thin, she thought wryly.
Carefully stepping so as not to slip on the wet rocks, she sunk into the blissfully warm water in relief. The steam had a sharp, bitter smell, but it was faint, and it was probably due to the natural chemicals in the spring water. She sighed and inhaled deeply, feeling her head spin from the steam and warmth. Her body tingled slightly.
Strangely enough, there was no one else in the springs. That was good, because it was a coed pool, and Touko didn't think she had the nerve to bathe with old men, or even young ones, for that matter. Her face turned bright pink as she imagined N coming with her, and she shook her head furiously to dislodge the thought. N wouldn't even notice the fact that they were both fully unclothed. Or maybe he would; he had held her hand tightly and hugged her... but holding hands and other th-things were different. Why else would he have refused to kiss, then? But she chased away those thoughts.
Slowly, Touko felt her muscles relax, even the ones that she hadn't thought could be tense. The bitter steam was getting to her head now, and her body was so loose that she could barely move, not that she wanted to. It felt heavenly. If only it wasn't making her feel so sleepy...
She frowned, jarred out of her blissful state. Why was she feeling sleepy? She was tired, she supposed, but nonetheless, she felt a bit paranoid. Cautiously, she tried moving her arm. It didn't budge. It wasn't just that her body was loosening, she was loosing control over her body. If it weren't for the grogginess that covered her thoughts, she would have been alarmed, but she couldn't feel anything at the moment.
Her thoughts were slipping, slipping... She struggled as darkness began clouding her field of vision, but it was no use. Hot springs weren't supposed to smell bitter, she realized. That smell was the smell of herbs.
Her last conscious thought before she lost consciousness was, N is going to worry now...
"Touko?" N frowned, looking around the spring. There was no reply, but that much would have been obvious, as there was no one in the pool. Had she left already? It hadn't even been a full hour yet, and it usually took her at least forty-five minutes to even take a regular bath.
Flipping open his Xtranceiver, he decided to call Bianca and waited impatiently as the phone rang several times, remembering that the klutzy teen often forgot to answer it.
To his relief, she finally did. "Hello? N?" Her voice sounded through the speaker of the small device although her face was obscured by the darkness.
"Have you seen Touko?" He asked worriedly.
"No." There was a pause. "Is she gone?"
"Yes." N knit his eyebrows in concern.
He waited, and Bianca's voice sounded again. "I can't reach her Xtranceiver, but Musharna says she can hear Touko's voice faintly. That means she's dreaming."
Dreaming? He sighed and hung up after a good-bye, checking the lobby and the cafeteria of the Pokemon center. There was no Touko there, either. Frowning, he looked outside and even in their rooms, just in case she had somehow psychically found out their room numbers. Or she could have asked an office worker, he supposed.
His search still produced no results, and, worried, he headed back towards the spring. A nurse had brought out a bundle of clothes, and she spotted him.
"Do you know who these belong to? I thought someone might have forgotten them, since there's no one in the pool right now."
His heart nearly stopped. "Those are Touko's," he realized, his eyes wide.
"Oh, good! Can you return them to her?" the nurse asked cheerfully.
N stared dumbly at the pile. "I hope..." he whispered, unwrapping it.
In the middle was a doll. He fingered the fluffy fur of the familiar plush toy with a rising feeling of dread. It was Touko's Torchic doll.
And so that's that. XD Touko gets kidnapped! Ghostwater doesn't actually exist, btw. I was originally gonna go with something like crushed Ghost plates (you know, those things that Arceus holds) but then I decided... where the hell would he get that? So, not anymore. Well, anyways, please review! And see you next week. XD