FOREVERMORE

~Part Three Of The Forever Trilogy~

Chapter 14

Learning To Trust

August 12, 5000.

(Jewel's POV)

I couldn't believe Topaz actually trusted me enough to give me the Pokemon egg. I was so thrilled to have little Storm. I couldn't wait to introduce the baby Pichu to the rest of my team. But I knew we had to get moving. Father would be looking for me.

And I wanted to stay here, with them.

I followed Topaz to where everyone else had gathered. There were about twenty survivors, not including us. Most of them were critically injured—a lot had died last night, too. Those who could walk would help transport the victims. But there was still no way we could get all of them to Unova like this.

"Apollo can carry more things," Topaz announced once everyone turned to look at us. "And the egg hatched!"

Rubin's Pikachu, who was out along with his Mightyena, let out a happy cry, and dashed up to us. Raiden joined her, and Storm squirmed out of my arms to get to his parents. The little family had a group hug. It was so adorable!

"That's awesome!" exclaimed Rubin, heading over to join us.

"I've decided to let Jewel have him, if you don't mind," she told him.

"I think that's perfect," he said, agreeing.

"Thank you so much!" I said, bowing. "You can trust me!"

Everyone made last minute adjustments to packing, and then we headed out. The injured were either on stretchers or being carried by what few Pokemon we had that could help. It was going to take us months for us to reach Unova at this rate. But right now our goal was to get to Johto.

"Our first stop will be New Bark Town," said Grey. "We should get there at about noon."

"Sweet!" said Gold. "I have family there!"

"Will we be able to stay with them?" asked Topaz.

"Yeah! My folks are pro-Resistance all the way," said Gold, grinning. "They, like, have a mansion!"

"Jeez, what are you, rich or something?" demanded Sapph.

"Yep! Man, I can't wait to see my folks! It's been four years!"

"Oh, so you left when you were thirteen?" Jade asked.

Gold nodded. "Yeah! Sapph did, too. We were cadets on the same squadron!"

"Yeah, and he always had us work together! We were always getting in trouble because he was such a lazy smartass," said Sapph. "You think he's bad now, you should have seen him then! He's actually matured!"

Gold laughed, and winked at her. "You know you love me!"

"Oh, shut up," she growled, blushing.

Huh? Usually she would deny she liked him, right? Why didn't she do that this time? Was something going on between them? Should I be surprised? Practically everyone here was in a relationship. Who was next?

Anyways, it was time to get moving. We all headed out of Tohjo Falls. Not far from the massive cave that separated Kanto and Johto was a massive stretch of water. How in the world were we supposed to get across that with so many injured people? It seemed impossible!

"Oh my gosh! How are we going to cross this?" Esmeralda exclaimed, her eyes wide.

Without a word, Topaz and Rubin took out Poke Balls. Topaz released a Gyarados, and Rubin sent out a Milotic. The two sea serpents appeared in the water. I realized what they were going to do. I took out my own Milotic's Poke Ball, and released her. That caught them by surprise.

"Mirage can help too!" I said.

First we got the injured on the three Pokemon. It took several trips, but we managed to get them all across. Then it was our turn. I climbed onto Mirage's back, and moved all the way up, to behind her head. I patted her on top of her head, and she hummed in pleasure. Then, with the survivors who could move freely on the Gyarados and two Milotic, we swam across. It was actually pretty nice.

Once we reached the shore, we all got off, and returned our Pokemon—every single last one of them. Cyan, Jasper, and Esmeralda volunteered to stay with the survivors while the rest of us went to see Gold's family. The walk to New Bark Town was not very long. The town itself was rather small for the vast empire my father controlled. We stood out in the crowd, too.

Gold lead us deep into the town. We eventually reached a gigantic house—it really was a mansion. There was a super-long driveway filled with expensive cars even my father doesn't have. The bushes were sculpted into shapes of Pokemon—wait, wasn't that illegal? Anways, it was a Victorian style house with four floors. It had to be pretty old; houses weren't made like that anymore.

Gold grinned at us, and walked up to the fancy double doors. We followed him slowly. He knocked on one of the doors. A few minutes later, they opened, revealing a silver-haired man in a tuxedo. He looked genuinely surprised to see Gold in the doorway.

"Master Gold!" the man exclaimed. "You are alive!"

"Of course I am, Harold!" said Gold, crossing his arms over his chest. "It takes a lot more than an exploding mountain to get rid of me!"

Sapph snorted and rolled her eyes.

Harold chuckled, amused by his words. "I see. You haven't changed one bit since the last time I saw you." He paused, and looked to see the rest of us. "Are you all coming inside?"

"Oh, there's more," said Gold. "A lot more."

"I see. Well, I shall go inform your parents. Take your time getting the others."

...

Grey sent Plato and Jade to get everyone else, and the rest of us went inside. Harold showed each of us to the room we would be staying in. It was a relief to see a nice, comfy bed, and a bathroom with a working toilet and running shower. The first thing I did was take a shower to rid myself of all the dirt, sweat, and grime.

I was surprised to find clean clothing waiting for me when I got out. I changed into the t-shirt and jeans, and then I towel dried my hair, keeping it down. I released Cookie from her Poke Ball, and then proceeded to look for everyone else. When I stepped out of the room, I hear loud, excited exclamations.

"Big bro, you're back!"

"Dude, we missed you a lot!"

I heard a guy laugh; it sounded like Gold. "Ha ha, I missed you kids too!"

"You better stay with us for a while, bro!"

"Yeah, dude!"

I walked to the edge of the balcony inside the house where the bedrooms were. Yep, there was Gold, already cleaned up, talking with two boys who had to be twins. They looked about thirteen or so, with sloppy brown hair, and dark gold eyes. They looked like trouble with a capital T.

"Jewel!"

I flinched, caught by surprise. I turned around, and immediately relaxed. It was only Cyan. He must have just finished cleaning up as well because his brown hair was damp, and the spikes were drooping. I felt my face heat up for some reason. I wondered why.

"Oh, hi Cyan," I said, pretty sure my face was still red. "You startled me."

He laughed. "Sorry. Isn't this place awesome? I can't believe Gold of all people grew up here."

"I know, right?" I said with a laugh of my own.

He grinned his familiar cocky smirk—it reminded me of Flax in a way, but in a more friendly way. I had to admit, Cyan was a handsome boy. He was one of the few who actually talked to me. I mean, I didn't blame them. I was the daughter of the evil, tyrannical president. I wouldn't want to talk to me either.

"Yeah. Chase says we'll be staying here for a few days," he said. "It'll be nice to live in luxury for a while."

I nodded, agreeing. "But don't we have to find a couple of people? Um, what are their names again?"

"Oh, you mean Viola and Alizarin," he said. "Yeah, I think Gold's gonna send his Pidgeot to find them with a letter or something."

"I see," I said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind my ear. "That should work, then."

"Jewel! Cyan, too!"

I looked behind Cyan, who was in front of me, in the way of my view of the approaching person, and he turned around. It was Topaz. He straightened his stance, standing up straight as a board, a very militaristic fashion. He then saluted her, and I remembered she was his commander—and well, now general. She saluted him back, a smile on her pretty face.

"At ease, soldier," she said. "You know you're a soldier now, right?"

Cyan relaxed, and I moved to stand next to him.

"Oh really?" he said. "Nobody told me that."

She nodded. "Am agree to your promotion, along with Jasper's and Esmeralda's. We need all the soldiers we can get now."

I frowned, and bit my bottom lip. I felt so responsible for what happened, even though I had nothing to do with it. It was all my father. I had always hated that man, but now he was just going too far. What point was he trying to make?

Cyan nodded. "Yeah. I hope we can find more recruits in Unova."

"You and me both, Cyan, you and me both," sighed Topaz. "C'mon, let's get something to eat."

...

That evening, we all gathered in this massive dining hall. Gold introduced his parents and his younger twin brothers, Ethan and Evan, to us. They were just as bad as their older brother—they hit on both Topaz and Esmeralda because they thought both girls were their own age. It was really awkward for us all. Gold burst out laughing; he thought it was so hilarious. I though the looks on everyone's faces were priceless, though.

After that, dinner was pretty awkward. The two boys had a hard time believing that Topaz and Esmeralda were older than them. It was funny, I admit. In general, Gold's adoptive parents were very nice and pretty decent people. It made me wonder how he got so messed up.

But, for some reason, that night, I could not sleep. So I crawled out of bed, changed back into my clothes, and decided to explore the mansion. I released Cookie, and we began to wander together. It was nice and quiet, and pretty dark.

Suddenly, a few minutes later, I heard a loud hiss. I looked down at Cookie. She was baring her fangs, and her fur was standing on end. I frowned, and looked back up, and saw what appeared to be floating crimson flames. I immediately freaked out.

"Whoa whoa whoaaaa! Jeez, Jewel, chillax, it's just me!"

A flashlight clicked on, revealing Cyan, and his Charmeleon—wait, it wasn't a Charmeleon anymore. The Pokemon had evolved into Charizard. I relaxed, and took a deep breath. Cookie sighed at my feet. I felt so stupid.

"What are you doing here?" I asked.

"I was about to ask you the same thing."

"Um, er, I couldn't sleep..."

"So you decided to go exploring?"

"Um, yeah..."

"Hah, so did I! C'mon, we can check this place out together."

"U-um, okay."

His Charizard rumbled a greeting to us, and then we set off to explore the mansion.

HEY GUYS I HAVE A LOT OF ANNOUNCEMENTS!

First of all, my birthday was on Sunday! :D So that's why this update was so late! And thank you those who participated in the writing contest! I enjoyed reading your oneshots!

Second... STARRI DREW MORE PICTURES FOR US! I'll have the links up on my profile sometime soon.

Third... I usually don't promote other stories, but I think you guys will like this one. It's called Momentum, it's coming soon, and it's a White nuzlocke.

This, my friends, is the beginning of Aquamarineshipping! Expect some fluffiness next chapter! There won't be any more death and despair for a while.

Oh, yeah, ANYONE CAN DIE. Heck, TOPAZ can die if I want her to. So don't think just because they're a main character they'll survive. Several main characters will die in the future.

BUT WHAT ABOUT EVERMORE, ICEY? ;) It's a secret, I can't tell you.

REVIEEEEEW!