Just a warning, the language gets a little fierce in here, but nothing like in Evermore so nothing's censored.
FOREVERMORE
~Part Three Of The Forever Trilogy~
Chapter 21
Welcome To Unova
January 5, 5001.
(Topaz's POV)
"Just don't stand there like a idiot," came the voice of Grey, snapping me out of my daze. "Go after him."
I glanced behind me to look at my friend. I nodded, and quickly ran out of the room. I rushed down the stairs, and burst into the lowest floor of Dragonspiral Tower. Everyone turned to look at me. I ignored them, rushing up to Rubin instead.
"Rubin!" I exclaimed, putting my hand on his arm. "Please, let me explain!"
He turned around to face me. He truly, truly looked furious. Rubin never got angry. Anger just wasn't something he experienced. I couldn't remember a single time of him being livid. And his eyes told me everything I needed to know. He felt betrayed; he felt like I cheated on him.
"It's not what you think," I insisted, removing my hand from his arm.
"Guys, what's going on?" Jade asked, a concerned look on her face as she walked up to us.
Rubin squeezed his eyes shut, looking pained, and when he opened them, he glared at me something fierce almost making me flinch.
"She kissed Grey, that's what," he said icily.
"It was accident, I swear!" I exclaimed. "I was trying to heal his cheek!"
"Oh, so your Viridian healing powers involve kissing now?" he snapped.
"It was a accident."
I looked over to see Grey walking down the stairs in the room. He looked like he was starting to get ticked off, which wasn't much of a surprise. These days, nothing caught me by surprise.
Except for this.
"Of course you'd say that!" Rubin retorted. "You're defending her!"
I took a deep breath, and my hands clenched into fists. I could stay calm. I could do this. I could make him understand. This would be over soon. There was no need to worry.
"Grey, stay out of this," I said as firmly as I could. "You too, Jade."
"But-" she began to protest.
"Come on, Jade," Plato said, taking her by the arm. "You'll only make it worse."
She sighed, lowering her head in defeat. "Fine..."
Everyone let us alone, then. Grey walked over to Fiori, who looked confused. I turned back to face my silently seething boyfriend. It pained me to see him like this.
"I'm not lying," I said. "I have not, and never will, lied to you ever, Rubin."
"I know what I saw, Topaz," he said darkly, his blue eyes fierce. "I'm not blind."
"How many times do I have to tell you it was a accident?" I exclaimed, getting frustrated.
"A kiss can't be accident," he snapped. "It's impossible."
"No it's not! Raiden and Lady made us kiss, remember?"
"Yeah, but no one was there to push you, Topaz!"
"I fell-" I began to explain to full detail.
"Shut up!" he yelled, interrupting me, his eyes flashing with fury. "No more lame excuses! We're through. I'm done."
"It's not an ex-" I cut myself off, my eyes widening with horror when his words finally sunk in. "Wait, what?"
"You heard me," he snapped viciously. "We're over. I'm breaking up with you."
No. I was just imagining things. He didn't just say that. I was just tired from all the traveling we'd been doing; I was having a bad daydream or something. Rubin wasn't dumping me. That was impossible. He'd never do that. He loves me.
Who was I kidding?
"No," I breathed. "No! Rubin, please-"
"Shut up!" he snapped. "Leave me alone. I'm done with you. The admins were right. You are a whore."
I stood there, speechless, tears filling my eyes as he walked away. Everyone was staring at him in shock. My brain was still trying to process what had just happened. My head was spinning, and my stomach churned, making me feel sick.
Rubin just broke up with me.
Oh, Arceus no.
My knees gave way, and I fell. But someone caught me—Crimson.
"Topaz! What the hell just happened? Are you okay? Did he just call you a whore?"
I couldn't speak. I could barely breathe. I was so shocked, so surprised. I felt like my heart had been ripped out of my chest, stomped on, and burned. I shook my head slowly, just having to acknowledge something to keep my grip on reality firm. But then I choked on a sob, and burst into tears.
I thought he loved me. Why didn't he understand? Why wouldn't he listen? Did anger really cloud people's judgement like that?
I was clinging to my brother, hugging him, crying into his shirt. He had to pry my fingers off of him to hand me over to someone else—Indigo, who had followed him over to me. I pulled away from the tall girl, sitting myself down on a block instead. I hacked a couple of times, snotting on myself, and then wiped my face on my sleeve, trying to calm myself down. Crying would change nothing. As a general, I had to be a example, and blubbering about my boyfriend breaking up with me would not make myself look good.
I wiped my eyes again, and looked up to see my brother. Crimson looked furious. I could see it; it was almost like the anger was radiating off of him. He looked ready to hurt something—more like someone, in this case—and to make someone pay. My brother was not someone to mess with.
"RUBIN SENRI!" he yelled, his hands clenching into fists. "How DARE you hurt my sister! Look, you made her CRY! She LOVES you and THIS is how you repay her?"
"She doesn't love me," Rubin snapped, turning back around to face him. "She cheated on me."
"My sister is NOT a whore," Crimson growled. "She is NOT a cheater, you bastard. You hurt her, so I'll hurt you." He took out a Poke Ball, and tossed it. "Go, Fiero!"
The Charizard appeared in a flash of light, letting loose a fierce roar, baring his fangs. Perla and Hyacinth screamed. Aqua started crying, wailing loudly. In all the chaos, I heard my friends yelling at them to stop and act reasonably. Rubin quickly sent out Sir to defend himself.
I gasped, feeling a surge of power. Indigo whipped out a Pokedex—wow, I didn't know she had one—and turned it on. Fiero, who was at level seventy-eight, had suddenly spiked to level ninety-nine. He would absolutely destroy Sir, no matter what the typing was.
Indigo swore loudly. "Oh no, it's happening again!"
"What is?" Jade exclaimed frantically; everyone was freaking out.
"Whenever Crimson gets very angry, his Pokemon's levels spike," said Argent, his silver eyes very serious. "He almost killed someone one time."
"And this time he probably will," Indigo said, looking frightened. "Arceus, we've got to stop him!"
I staggered onto my feet. Fiero and Sir were grappling, and the Charizard and slowly overpowering the Swampert in their wrestling match. I wiped my face with my sleeve again; I had to stay calm. Indigo was yelling at Crimson, trying to talk some sense into him as she pulled him back by the arm. I took a Poke Ball off my belt rather shakily.
"Raiden, Thunder," I said, my voice surprisingly firm.
The Pikachu appeared in a flash of light. His red cheek pouches crackled with electricity, along with his tail, as dark clouds formed at the ceiling. He pointed to the Charizard, and a wicked lightning bolt came crashing down. Fiero roared in pain before collapsing, knocked out in one hit. Crimson whirled around to face me, startled.
"Leave him alone," I said evenly. "Fighting about it changes nothing. What's done is done. Leave it be."
I retired to my tent after that; I didn't want to see or talk to anyone.
I cried myself to sleep that night.
...
January 6, 5001.
When I got up the next morning, I felt numb. Everything just felt mechanical as I prepared for more traveling. I had no idea what to do anymore. My heart had been stolen, ripped right out of my chest.
Well, they do say all is fair in love and war.
Kane joined back up with us, alone, without his ninjas. We didn't ask any questions. We just walked across the frozen lake. It was frozen solid enough for us to walk on without breaking the ice.
And the next thing we knew, we were in Icirrus.
And people were walking around. With Pokemon. I swear I even saw a couple people battling. Everyone here looked so happy, even though it was freezing cold outside. All the action was keeping them warm. We all froze, and stared in awe.
"What is this?" asked Plato.
"Uh, Unova's free," Alizarin said sheepishly. "It broke away from Synis somehow. Sorry... for not telling you..."
"You had your reasons," said Grey. "Let's find the Pokemon Center, then."
...
I decided to do some exploring.
I was still amazed that Unova was free and full of trainers, that I could walk around with Raiden perched on my shoulder. It helped my depressed mood.
Rubin... Why did he have to be such a jerk? Why couldn't he just understand? Why was he so stubborn?
No no, I couldn't think about that. I'd start tearing up.
I was walking along, alone, with Raiden perched on my shoulder, enjoying the scenery. It had been awkward in the Pokemon Center, so I left to get some fresh air. It helped being away from Rubin. It hurt just looking at him.
Raiden suddenly stiffened, and I stopped walking, and was about to ask him what was wrong when a guy ran up to us.
He was tall—but, heck, everyone was tall to me. He had light blue hair that was tousled, and spiky, reaching about to his neck, bangs parted off to the side. His eyes were a startling shade of blue, like the ocean. He was wearing a winter jacket, a blue scarf that covered his mouth. He also had black slacks and hiking boots of the same color. His left ear was pierced with a blue stub. He had a PDA out. He had to be about eighteen.
"Excuse me, have you seen a guy about eighteen, around six foot two, looks kind of girly, and carrying a red guitar around? He might even have a Jolteon on his tail, I'm not sure." He sighed and looked back down at me. "Can you help me out here? I'm getting desperate."
Raiden shot him a glare, as he did with all strangers and people he didn't like.
"Um, no, sorry," I said, sweatdropping. "But I can help you look for him, if you want." Raiden growled, and I turned my head to shoot him a look before returning the attention to the guy. "I'm Topaz, and this is my partner Raiden."
"Really? Thanks, Topaz," he said, and I wondered if he was trying to sound grateful. He checked his PDA again. "He should still be in the area. Arceus, this guy is killing me." He stashed the PDA away in his pocket, turning back to me.
"The name's Alan. Alan Vin," he said with a nod. "Your help is appreciated," he told me, looking around the snowy city. "He's just how I explained him, and he's also pretty lightly dressed for the weather, so it might stick out."
"No problem," I said, looking around. Nope, saw nobody. Raiden ditched my shoulder to leap up onto my head, probably so he could get a better look.
I stuffed my gloved hands into the pockets of my winter coat. This was going to get nowhere if it was just the two—er, three—of us looking.
"Shouldn't we send another pokemon to help look?" I asked. "Or have you already done that?"
"Vex is out," he told me, turning to me slightly. "My Emogla. You might see him flying around, he's-"
As if on cue, a cute flying rodent took the stage, gliding through the freezing air like it was nothing. The Emolga took residence on his head, sitting to rest up. It looked over at me.
"...him," Alan finished, pointing up to the yellow-eared Pokemon. "He's gonna want to battle, but don't let him. I'm trying to discipline him. He's the reason we're doing this in the first place." He sighed, and Vex laughed, and then sighed along with him when he realized he wasn't battling.
Raiden eyed the Emolga, and then smirked at him tauntingly. I ignored the Pikachu, staring at the flying electric rodent; I had never seen one before. He was a cute little thing, but I was sure he could pack a punch just like my own electric rodent.
"Oh, it's okay," I said. "But if he loves battling so much, you should let him battle more. Raiden loves to battle, too."
Raiden smirked, still taunting Vex. I was pretty sure he just made his cheeks crackle, so I sighed, and said, "Knock it off. We're not here to battle."
The pikachu huffed.
Vex gripped Alan's hair, sparking slightly with ambition. His trainer sighed, "Hey, I said no. We'll do that once you're off your grounding. Now you can go check the northern area. We'll eat when we find him."
With an exasperated sigh, Vex flew off to the northern parts of town.
He sighed again. "Sorry about him riling up your Pikachu. He does it to every Pokemon he meets." He groaned, and looked around once more. He looked downtown. "We should probably check in Southern Icirrus. I'm pretty sure he's not going past Twist Mountain, and if he goes east then he'll just be heading back to..."
He trailed off.
"It's okay," I told him. "Raiden wasn't helping either."
He sighed once more. "Well, let's get going. Are you traveling with anyone else? Surely someone as young as you wouldn't go venturing out on your own like this."
His next comment stopped me dead in my tracks.
I scowled, and I felt Raiden tense on top of my head, sensing the change in my demeanor. Of course. My hands clenched into fists, and I had to keep myself calm.
"I'm seventeen," I said curtly, my voice icy. "I can take care of myself perfectly fine, but yes, I am traveling with a group of friends."
Arceus. When would I ever grow to look my age? This was so humiliating.
He paused for a moment, looking back at me. He had walked a little bit ahead when I had suddenly stopped, and my next statement obviously made him freeze. He looked at me, up and down.
"W-Wha..." He blinked. "O-Oh Arceus! I'm sorry, it's just... Crap, sorry, sorry, sorry... I should have known... I've seen quite a few trainers with your, um, features... Arceus, I'm REALLY sorry about this..."
I sighed, and rubbed my forehead, messing up my bangs. "It's fine, it's fine. Really."
Raiden snickered from his perch, and I smacked him.
"Anyways, where were we?" I sighed.
"Oh... Well, I wanted to know if there were any other trainers with you. We don't get a lot of outsiders here in Unova. Everyone hates us because we keep 'filthy monsters' or whatever out and about. A proper greeting may be necessary once we find my friend," he told me.
"Oh. Well, I'm with all my friends. I'm from Kanto." That wasn't far from true. "We're all around the same age. Grey, Fiori, Gold, and Argent are from Johto." Well, I couldn't say he was from Unova, could I? "Plato, Viola, Jasper, and Perla are from Sinnoh. Jade, Cyan, Jewel, Indigo, my twin sister Cerise, and my little brother Crimson are also from Kanto. Sapph, Esmeralda, and... Rubin are from Hoenn. Alizarin's from Unova. We're the only trainers in the group."
Since Cerise was the same age as me, we had to masquerade as twins. There was no other way without blowing our cover.
"There's a war going on, you know," I said. "Over Pokemon. Have you heard of Mount Silver's Resistance? Well, my friends and I were part of it. And pretty high in rank too, not to brag."
"A resistance? I should have expected something like this. I suppose you all are here due to the recent bombing, am I right?" he asked, a little surprised by my statement.
"Yeah, exactly," I said with a nod. "I think we're the only ones left."
"...Hm, this is pretty important." He seemed to think for another moment. "Topaz, do you think that my friend and I could meet your group? This is pretty big news."
Raiden sighed unhappily, but I ignored him; this was more important.
"Yeah, that's fine. Our leader, Amethyst, is already in Unova, along with his wife Diamonda. They came here on their honeymoon. Am replaced our old leader, Tibbs, who died in the bombing. He appointed my friend Grey and me as his generals, so we're as high as you can get to meeting the leaders until we meet up with Am. We need lots of help."
That was a understatement.
"We're sorry for your losses," he said with a sympathetic look. "But I'm glad you're tending to well it despite so. You've made it this far, so I might as well..."
He trailed off; something had caught his attention.
"Just a moment," he told me, putting a hand up, not taking his eyes off whatever he saw.
He readied himself, taking off his pack, and then sprinted forward across the snow. He leaped forward and used all of his force to tackle to a guy down before he could get away. I rushed after him.
"Ow! Ow! Ow! For the love of Giratina, Alan! What the hell was that for?" the guy said.
Alan locked his arms behind his back and helped him up off the snow. The guy spat some snow out that Alan's tackle had forced into his mouth.
"It was necessary," Alan told the guy, keeping his arms in a tight lock.
He was slightly taller than Alan, but only by about two or three centimeters. He had black hair and blue eyes. He was wearing a white scarf and a temperature-defying short-sleeved dress shirt and black vest. He had his bangs clipped back, which was a bit girly.
The guy gave Alan a look, and he released his arms and took a hold of his collar before he could even be relieved.
"Uh, this is who you're looking for?" I asked, feeling even shorter already.
Just then my Pokedex let out a loud beep. I sighed, took it out of my bag, and flipped it open.
Sapph: WHERE THE HELL R U?
I quickly typed in a reply message.
Topaz: hang on just 1 sec. i found some trainers who might help us. where are you?
Sapph: OUTSIDE THE POKE CENTER! GET UR ASS UP HERE CUZ GREY WANTS 2 GET MOVIN!
Topaz: okay i'm on my way
I flipped the Pokedex shut. "My friends are meeting up at the Pokemon Center. We should go there if you want to meet them. Otherwise, I have to go." I paused. "Oh, I'm Topaz, by the way." My last statement was meant for the guy Alan had a grip on.
"Oh, really? Hey, k-" the guy began.
Before he could even complete his sentence, Alan pinched the back of his neck so hard it must have stung because he yelped in pain. He turned to Alan and he gave him some sort of signal and mouthed something to him.
He turned back to me after a moment.
"The name's Shirou, young missus! Shirou Kazuo. Nice to meet you!" Shirou greeted me with a wave and a wide grin in what must have been a naturally friendly manner. He then turned to Alan. "Why is she with-"
"Helping me look for you, thank you very much," Alan growled at him in a business-like way. He turned back to me. "Thanks a lot."
I couldn't help but laugh a little. It was nice to meet a friendly person. "It's nice to meet you too." I turned to Alan. "No problem."
We then started heading towards the Pokemon Center. Great, I had to go back there.
"Where are we going, this isn't the way to the-" Shirou began.
"Pokemon Center, Mount Silver Resistance immigrated in. Your job, remember?" Alan told him with a nagging glare, and he sighed and nodded.
I frowned. What was that supposed to mean?
"All right, all right, you can let go of my collar, then," he told Alan, and he reluctantly released his grip on Shirou's collar. He fixed it and caught his breath as he rubbed his neck and loosened his tie.
Once the Pokemon Center came into view, Raiden leaped off my head, and bounded off, probably to go meet Joy. Ugh, this was going to be fun.
"I swear to Arceus, if Topaz doesn't show up now I'm gonna-"
"I'm here, Sapph," I said dryly when we reached them.
There they were, all my friends, and my siblings. Luckily, Rubin wasn't with them; I wondered where he was. Cerise was gone also. Great.
"We need to get moving if we're going to get to Nuvema Town," said Grey.
"Hold up," I said. "These guys are going to help us-"
The door to the center opened, and out walked the two missing members.
"Oh, Topaz, you're back!" Cerise exclaimed, happy to see me.
"Yeah, Cerise," I said. "Rubin." I said my ex's name stiffly.
"Topaz." He glared and scowled at me, his own words curt.
Gold let out a pained laugh, trying to lighten the atmosphere, and Sapph smacked him.
Alan cleared his throat and looked over at Shirou.
"Hey! Welcome to Unova!" Shirou greeted in a friendlier manner, lightening up the mood a bit. "We don't get outsiders a lot, so it's great to see some new people." He let out a small chuckle.
"Nice to meet you," Alan said with a business smile, and then put back on a serious face.
"Aw, thanks!" my sister exclaimed. "I'm Cerise! This is Rubin, as you heard Topaz say, he's my best friend! And this is our little bro, Crimson!" She ruffled his hair, and he glared at her, and Indigo laughed.
"We didn't even know Unova was free," said Grey. "The name's Grey."
Everyone else introduced themselves to Alan and Shirou.
"Great!" Shirou nodded, and crossed his arms. "The name's Shirou Kazuo." As he said his name, a small, golden head popped out of his pack. "And this is Liore, my partner." He presented a Jolteon, who pushed itself out of the pack and into the snowy ground below, trotting around his feet. He then pointed to his Alan, "And this is Ale-"
"Alan." He interrupted Shirou. "Alan Vin, I'm his manager. This is Vex, an Emolga." He introduced the electric rodent. "Since you are seeking Unova's help, it would be best if you met us."
"OMG A JOLTEON!" Cerise screeched. "So cool! Oh my Arceus, I wish I had a Eeveelution!"
"Cerise, stop yelling," Rubin sighed. "You'll bust someone's eardrums."
"I express myself with loudness," she said with a pout.
"We know!" I snapped. "Just can it so they can talk!"
I was irritated now. Great.
"Unova's a big place, but no one knows it as well as us. We practically run the place," Shirou told us after the little banter ended.
"No, you're supposed to run the place, but I end up doing all of the paperwork because you're too lazy to do it yourself," Alan told him with a glare, and he gave out a nervous laugh.
"Run the place?" asked Crimson after shooting us looks.
"One of you must be the Champion, then," said Indigo.
Raiden returned, and leaped on my shoulder, shooting smirks at both Vex and Liore. Arceus, he was in a battling mood today.
I was really curious now.
"Me," Shriou said with a grin, and Liore barked an excited cry.
Oh my Arceus, we were so lucky! But Shirou was the Champion? It was kind of surprising.
"Oh my Arceus!" exclaimed Cerise. "So cool, Shirou!"
"Or he's supposed to. He was just running from his duty before we caught him," Alan said, giving him a glare.
"Alene is my manager, but he's pretty uptight about this kind of stuff," Shirou said.
ALENE? What kind of name was that for a guy? I felt bad for him. That was just as bad as Ruby and Pearl. Arceus. Sapph snickered at Alan's real name. Even Gold laughed a little.
"Shut up, Shiu," Alan growled at him.
"Yes, Miss Vin," He said mockingly, and Alan five-starred him on the back, making him topple over in pain.
Alan cleared his throat. "Anyways, we're here to help you settle in. We'll get you registered, set up, and support in any way possible."
"Unovan pride," Shirou said, straightening up and grinning. "We're known to be a peaceful region, or as the other regions call us, a 'hippie' region. Not exactly the best of nicknames, but we're all friendly here. We're even the only region left with gyms." He pointed to the gym in the background.
"Sounds good to me!" exclaimed Gold. "Dude, imagine battling gyms!"
"I know, right?" Sapph grinned. "Synis is so going down now!"
Raiden let out a growl, and released a little jolt of electricity at Liore.
Liore flashstepped the bolt, and looked up at the shiny Pikachu. It wasn't really an angry glare, but more of a challenging, like "I'll see you on the battlefield" kind of glare. Vex began to get excited on Alan's head.
"No," Alan told him, and he pouted.
"Quit it, Raiden," I told my own Pokemon. "We can't battle the Champion until we have all the Gym badges."
The pikachu slumped, defeated. Being so high leveled was giving him a bad attitude. Great. Another problem to add to the list.
"So you'll help us?" Grey asked.
"Of course," Shirou said with a friendly smile. "We'll get you everything you need. Just head over to Numeva Town. That's where Professor Willow lives. She's in charge of everything like registering trainers and introducing them to the new world."
Professor Willow, huh? Was she Unova's Professor Juniper like Professor Pine was Kanto's Professor Oak? This was great! Unova was really set up. But I couldn't help but wonder what happened to Professor Pine in all the chaos...
"She does it the best, it's part of her job, because most trainers start out in Numeva anyway," Alan told us, fixing his scarf. "Sorry, but it's going to be a long trip on foot. It's nearly on the other side of the Unova. We could tell you where it is if you would like to go by flight."
"HOLY GROUNDON, I SWEAR TO ARCEUS IF I HAVE TO WALK ANYWHERE ELSE I'M GONNA KILL SOMETHING!" yelled Sapph, clenching her hands into fists.
"Yeah, we better fly there," said Rubin, sweatdropping at his sister.
"Professor Willow sounds like our Professor Pine," noted Viola. "Alizarin and I work for him. He's out there somewhere..." Rin nodded to back her up.
"We'll lead the way, if you all would like," Alan told us. "Numeva's the smallest town in Unova, but it's a pretty peaceful place. They're very welcoming with new trainers over there. They like feeling the nolgastic, it reminds them of when their own children were sent off."
"We'd like to go have a chat with Professor Willow, ourselves, actually. You know, discuss the matter before us," Shirou said, looking around the group of us.
"Yeah, that sounds good," I said, nodding. "Lead the way, then."
"Lets get moving," Alan said with a nod.
He reached into his pack and pulled out a Poke Ball. Next to him, Shirou pulled out his own Poke Ball. We all followed suit; Zeus would enjoy getting the chance to stretch his wings.
Alan walked over to the broken bridge near the cliff and released a Braviary. It came out with a squawk and a happily flew over to him. I only recognized it since Black had one. Shirou followed up releasing the Poke Ball down the cliff and jumping off. After he disappeared from view, he reappeared on a Archeops with a grin. Once again, I only recognized it because Professor Pine taught me about all the prehistoric Pokemon since we revived Zeus.
"Wow, did you see that?" Cerise gasped, clasping her hands together. "I could never do what he just did!"
"Hah, I do that all the time," snorted Sapph. "It's so fun!"
Alan turned back to the us, walking over to his Braviary's side. "I'm assuming you all have Pokemon to ride? Or to share?"
"Yeah, we're all good," I said, releasing my Aerodactyl.
Zeus appeared in the air, letting out a happy growl. He flew back over to me, latching his claws into my shoulders. Raiden jumped onto my shoulder, and then onto Zeus's back. We were all set, then.
"Showtime, boys and girls," Shirou cheered, and Alan leapt onto his Braviary's back. With that, we all took off.
Flying was a good way to calm down and relax, which I really needed as of late. Zeus cawed as he took off into the air. Everyone else followed suit. We followed Alan and Shirou.
It wasn't the fastest of trips, but sooner or later, we arrived in Numeva. We returned our respective pokemon, and then turned to face each other.
"Willow's lab is just over there. It's not the biggest of all labs, but it's very effective. We wouldn't want to crowd up the place, so it wouldn't be a good idea for everyone to go in at once," Shirou explained.
"She's an easygoing person, you'll like her," Alan said, and led them up to the lab door, opening it for us.
"So who's going in?" I asked.
"You and me, of course," said Grey. "Let's see... Gold and Sapph. Fiori. Crimson. I think that's good for now."
Thank Arceus he didn't choose Rubin.
We entered the lab, stepping into the technology-savvy room. Computers and contraptions were everywhere, with a room on the side leading to another room. It was like Professor Pine's lab back at Mount Silver, but then it wasn't. There was some tech I didn't recognize.
"Welcome to Willow's lab," Alan said.
"Man, I remember when I began my journey here. Good times..." Shirou said, throwing his hands behind his head and looking around the lab in remembrance, his eyes lighting up at all of the old and new equipment.
It must have been nice to have nostalgia.
"Oh, Shirou, Alan, welcome!" A young woman stepped out of the other room. "What brings you here? Who're your friends?"
Professor Willow was younger than I thought any professor would be; she had to be at least twenty years old. She had wavy light brown hair pulled back into a high ponytail, and twinkling blue eyes. She wasn't dressed like a professor either, with very fashionable clothing that would make Jade squeal, except for the lab coat.
"Dang, she's-" Gold began to say until Sapph hit him.
"Hey Liz!" Shirou greeted her jollyily, waving.
"Good to see you," Alan greeted her.
"I'm here for my guitar, actually. Are you done with it?" Shirou asked.
Oh yeah. Alan said he had a guitar; I'd forgotten about that. He hadn't had it with him when we met him.
Willow laughed. "Yeah, I just finished working on it last night. Perfect timing!"
"Guitar later, Shiu," Alan told him, giving him a smack on the shoulder.
"Ow! Jeez..." Shirou rubbed his arm, and then turned back to Willow. "Oh! Guys, this is Liz, or as she goes by, Professor Willow. She's going to be in charge of registering you and introducing you all to Unova!"
"Willow, this is the Mount Silver resistance. You must have heard about the bombings recently, haven't you?" Alan told her. "They're here to become a part of Unova. They want our help."
"I see. Mount Silver... Wow, it's a miracle you survived!" said Willow. "Don't worry, we'll get the process started right away!"
One minute she was friendly and ready to start up a nice conversation, and then she got business mode on. That was good to see.
"Okay, who's first?" she asked.
I looked over at Grey. Even though we technically had the same power as generals, he was better at making decisions than me.
"I'll go," he said, and walked over to where Professor Willow was standing.
Alan and Shirou brought in some extra chairs by the desks for the everyone to sit at and watch. Shirou went over to the other room to grab refreshments and other things for the rest of us since we've been traveling for a while and to grab his guitar, which made Alan a little angry. Anyways, Alan stayed inside and pulled over a chair by us. I gladly sat down in one of the chairs that they brought in. Raiden hopped down onto my lap. Since we were inside now, we all decided to take off our winter garments. I undid my scarf, shrugged off my coat, and took off my hat. I hung my coat on the chair, and put the scarf and hat back in my bag, along with my gloves.
Crimson snickered at me, and pointed to the top of my head; I sighed. I guess my stupid hair spikes were messed up. I quickly ran a hand through my hair and took out my hair tie to put it back up. I felt much better after that.
"Jeez, how long is this gonna take?" Gold whined.
"Shut up and be freaking patient," Sapph snapped at him.
I ignored them, and turned to Alan. "So how exactly does this registration work?"
"See over there?" Alan pointed to a small machine and computer that Grey and Willow were at. Willow was talking to Grey, and Grey appeared to be answering with simple, one word phrases. "Right now, Willow is taking simple information from Grey. Name, age, blood type, all that. You're going to have to be honest with her. Don't worry, we can't even hear them from here. Next to them," he pointed over to a smaller panel beside them, "is where she'll take your fingerprints and a DNA sample. At this point, you yourself would be registered completely." He then moved on to a circular machine on the other side of the room. "Over there, she'll register all of your Pokemon, and over at that computer by the break room is where she'll give you everything you need, identification cards, travel equipment, and possibly something more for you and Grey, since you're leading the group. There are some assistants outside already taking information, so this process will actually be faster than you expect."
"Ah. That's very similar to how we used to register new soldiers," I noted. There were some differences, of course, but that helped me understand.
Raiden let out a bored sigh and slumped in my lap. I scratched behind of his ears, and this time he let out a content sigh. I smiled to myself, and then looked back up at Alan.
"I'm curious; what do you know about the anti-Pokemon government?"I asked.
If Unova was to help us, we would have to educate them on what they didn't know. And to do that I had to find out what they did know.
Alan ran a head through his hair, appearing to think for a moment.
"Well, I figured you guys already existed, but it's not like we get a lot of information from outside Unova here," he said with a sigh. "People hate us, so they don't come here, and they don't really like sharing information with us. So we don't know a lot. But I do have some ties, considering my job."
"Your leaders are quite young, including you yourself, for a leader, that is. So I'm imagining that you two were not appointed too long ago, maybe lost the previous ones in the blast or they retired. You mentioned earlier that your High Commander is on his honeymoon. I don't think he would go out on a honeymoon, nevertheless get married if he was the leader of such a large and important organization, so I'm assuming the same for him. You've traveled a long ways to come here, so it wouldn't be very considerate of us to turn you away, especially the situation you all are in."
I looked back down at Raiden, who was satisfied with the scratching, listening to Alan's words.
He was right about everything, of course. Yeah, I had told him a bit, but he was right about everything.
"You're right," I said softly. "Our old High Commander was killed in the bombing, while our new one was away on his honeymoon. I was a normal Commander at the time, as was Grey. It was revealed to us that Am had been chosen as the replacement, so we contacted him through our Pokedexes to update him, and he appointed Grey and me as his generals. We decided to come here to join him. We're just about the only ones who survived who can fight." I paused. "We didn't know Unova was free. We thought it was just another part of the empire."
"Hm... Well, you're right about that, and you're lucky you are. You're going to be Unovans soon, the homestead of Pokemon trainers," he said with a small grin, and then quickly took it off his face.
What was him and not smiling? Seriously, was it that bad to smile?
"Yeah, it's going to be nice," I said to his first comment, nodding.
"You know... Shiu and I never liked it. Well, nobody here in Unova likes the laws. But, Shiu's a music critic, well, that was his job before he was Champ. Loves it. He hates not being able to leave the region, because he's sure there's more music than what's in here. It's not surprise he's so excited you guys came along. Try not to get offended if he accidentally insults you, he doesn't mean it, he's just a little too honest," Alan said with a sigh.
"Oh, it's okay," I said with a light laugh. "It's nice to meet someone so honest."
He put on a smile, trying to be friendly. "Plus, it's nice to see a hard working girl amongst the ranks that I'll be working with."
What he said caught me by surprise. I felt my face heat up a little as he tried to cover himself and gave up.
"Wait, I didn't mean it like that. I just... forget it, just ignore me," he said with a groan.
"Um, thanks," I said, embarrassed. "We're all hard workers, though. But I guess I have to do more than the others."
Raiden snickered on my lap. Ugh, I didn't want to deal with this already so soon. He was probably just trying to be nice, but still. Not after I just broke up with Rubin... Not so soon... Not when I still loved him... But I could always use some new friends.
"I'm sorry... It's... nevermind..." He weakly attempted at covering himself up again, but failed. "I-It's not like it's a lie, though. I wouldn't want some ignorant prissy girl to work with."
I laughed a little this time, feeling better. "Very true. I don't blame you."
He cleared his throat. "Back to business... Since the Resistance is going to be working here, could you tell me anything I should know about you guys? Anything important?"
I thought for a moment. What should I say?
"Well, most of us are in relationships, so they will most likely want to work with their respective girlfriends and boyfriends. It's probably obvious who's with who, but I can tell you if you want to be sure."
"Gold here, I have to warn you, is a pervert. He can be stupid at times, but he's a good kid deep down inside... I think. I'll tell you, he does have a girlfriend, Sapph, who's been keeping him in line so he's been getting better. Just be careful around him; he can get really suggestive."
Really suggestive. Let's not go there. I didn't want to remember his birthday present to me last year. Arceus, what would he give me this year? Did I want to know?
"Grey is probably the toughest trainer out of all of us, besides Am. He's been a trainer the longest. He's a bit quiet and serious, so if you want to talk to someone else besides me about business, it'd be him."
"What else... Viola and Alizarin don't get along. Perla's hyperactive. Jade likes to set people up, as in relationships, but she's the one to go to for the social news about our crew. Plato, Viola, and Alizarin are the geniuses. Rubin..." I paused. What was I going to say about him? "...We don't get along. He's Sapph's twin brother. He's a good guy, but I swear he just so stubborn." That was all he was getting. "Crimson and Cerise are my siblings. Crimson's another good trainer to talk to, just don't get him angry. It will end really bad. Cerise... can be annoying, but she's a sweetheart. Indigo's a good strategist. Um... I think that's all. There's a lot of drama going on with us, so try not to get caught up in it, okay?"
That was a understatement.
"I'll try my best," he told me. "Thanks a lot." He smiled thankfully, nodding.
"No problem," I said as Raiden sat up and let out a bored growl.
He looked up at Professor Willow. "Oh, looks like Willow's nearly done with Grey."
Moments later, Grey walked back over to our gathering.
"You should go next," he told me.
I nodded. "All right. Be right back, then. Yo, Crim, watch Raiden for me."
I stood up and picked the orange electric rodent up and put him on my little brother's baseball cap before walking over to where Professor Willow was waiting.
DANG THIS WAS LONG.
Because of the long-ness, the Macbeth parody is postponed again.
I like this chapter. If I ignore the beginning.
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Yeah, Kummern has broken up. BUT REMEMBER EVERMORE. REMEMBER. EVERMORE. BEFORE YOU. SCREAM AND RANT. YOUR FRUSTRATION AND ANGER. AT. ME.
Poor Grey.
Anyways, I absolutely ADORE Shirou and Alan! If you pay attention to the kids bios on my form, you'll notice Cerise's daughter's last name. ;) They're awesome, I'll tell you. I love Shirou, he's so cute, I wish I could cuddle him. Alan's pretty cool too, just a bit too much of a workaholic.
Meet Professor Willow! She's awesome! And don't worry about Professor Pine, he's fine. HEY LOOK I'M RHYMING NOW.
Now you know about Rubin's temper. And Crimson's.
AND CRIMSON'S. He is one guy you do not want to mess with. I love him. He's my mini-Red. I LOVE RED, OKAY?
Yes, people, UNOVA IS FREE. Get ready for a awesome action-packed Gym challenge arc! Then we'll get to the actual war, when Unova declares war on Synis's empire. Expect it to begin with death. And end with death. AND BE FILLED WITH DEATH. Sorry, but this is war.
Let's see. What else... Uh... Oh yeah! We're almost to 200 reviews, people! Let's get there, okay? Before chapter 25!
REMEMBER EVERMORE AS YOU REVIEW.