writer's note, 'I do scientific research, too.'
For all of you guys who enjoy a good mystery, what's more mysterious than the Unown ruins? (No pun intended... okay, yes, it was totally intentional, and I have no shame). I'm one of those authoresses who researches for hours prior to writing any of my work. I feel it's the only way to have a true feeling for the characters and their situations. However, I've found myself in a 'toughie' concerning just where the Ruins of Alph are, and what they really look like. In the Pokemon Movie 3, Spencer Hale is abducted by unown in a mysterious set of ruins, that I personally believe to be based off of Macchu Picchu, the famous Incan ruins in Peru; the main difference between them is that the Unown ruins are set in the middle of a vast, Arabesque desert of violent sand dunes. The actual location where Prof. Hale had been researching is not disclosed, but was generally assumed to be the Ruins of Alph -- that is, until the Johto episode of "Fossil Fools!" in which the ruins of Alph appears to be in a set of mountainous canyons. The ruins themselves seem to take after, I would say, the Mayan Ruins of Tulum. Further reason to believe that it's based of off the ruins of Tulum is due to the "Ruins of Alph Sweepstakes" that Nintendo put on in 2001, with the release of Pokemon Crystal. The winner of the sweepstakes won a trip to the Mayan ruins of Tulum - but now, here's the frustrating part - around one thousand other winners got a copy of the 3rd Pokemon Movie, in which we see a set of ruins that clearly is not the same Ruins of Alph seen in the series. One would assume that these two locations aren't the same. But... Why would there be multiple Unown ruins shown in the same Pokemon arc? Like the Unown themselves, I don't think we're supposed to have all of our questions answered... So for my purposes, I have decided that both of the images we've seen are actually the Ruins of Alph. Since we know that there are caves and chambers underneath it, my deduction is that there are several entrances to the ruins, seperated from each other by the desert. And we'll learn more about that very same desert as the plot thickens in In Ruins!
I'd love to hear your opinions on the topic discussed in my freaking huge paragraph. Oh, and reviews -- You know that those are going to be well recieved! And, as always, I'll be quick to reply to your questions and your comments. That's it for now. Thanks for reading! Now -- enjoy!
chapter four
Satoshi didn't know what he'd been expecting, but he couldn't hide his surprise upon entering the bird pokemon sanctuary. At the end of a steep path, a natural rock platform of sorts gave just enough space for the rock and thatch building. On the exterior, it looked both the same and unsame from the ones in the city above, albeit without windows. Curiously, this building had a weather-beaten wooden door inside of the doorframe. Satoshi was reminded of visiting a farm as a child. This 'Perch' looked like a glorified Pidgey-hut.
"Is this really it?" asked Satoshi flatly.
Masato scowled at him and swung the door open.
A change came over Satoshi's features immediately. "Wow!" he exclaimed.
This place wasn't much to look out on the outside, that was true; while the city had small, thin windows interspersed, the exterior of this place had no windows at all. But once Masato opened the door, it was apparent that, besides the wall separating the human village from the pokemon sanctuary, the building had no walls at all. Instead, open windows stretched like canvas between the stone corner-supports and wooden support beams, and at the edges of the room and through the 'windows', the ground gave way to a sharp descent of empty air - presumably for some hundreds of feet, Satoshi guesed, because he could see the ocean stretching into the horizon far beyond and below them. The roof was predictably made of thick dried hay, tied down with rope on the vaulted ceiling. And although the floor was dirt, Satoshi definitely let the thought cross his mind that the bird pokemon here were enjoying a better lifestyle than some of the villagers in the city.
"It's beautiful, isn't it?" asked Haruka from beside him. Satoshi turned and nodded at her.
"I didn't expect it," he admitted.
"Hey! You two!" Masato interrupted from across the room. He was unfolding something encased in a few folds of old leather. "Haruka, I'm going to call Altaria. Can you see if that guy can go back on his own? I don't see any other pokemon here."
Satoshi only then realized consciously that Masato was right: although there were plenty of nests, most appearing to be recently in use, there weren't any bird pokemon in sight. He then frowned as he went over Masato's words. 'That guy'?!
"I have a name, you know," Satoshi pointed out, folding his arms. Masato barely glanced at him from the leather encasing and the knots that he was meticulously untying.
"I'll ask you about that when I care, all right? So don't get your hopes up."
Haruka let out a huff and Satoshi immediately recognized her to be livid.
"Masato!" Haruka stormed across the room, the hems of her off-white tunic dragging behind her feet. "Will you try to be less obstinate-"
As soon as she stood in front of them, both of the siblings' voices dropped to a loud whisper (or perhaps, that of a dull roar) with words that Satoshi couldn't make out. He couldn't miss, however, several over-exaggerated hand motions and the very shrill noise that came from a decorative bone-flute.
"What's that?" asked Satoshi, moving towards the pair for a better look.
"It's how we call Altaria," explained Haruka, replacing the flute inside of the leather. "If you're very lucky, maybe another bird pokemon will come as well. Otherwise, I don't think you can come with us to see the-"
"Well, what's wrong with that one in the corner?" Satoshi pointed. Both Haruka and Masato shared a glance before letting out a shared sigh.
"His disposition is not very friendly," said Haruka.
"He's possessed" said Masato.
Satoshi squinted at the bird sitting haughtily in the corner. "Well, what is he here for then?"
"He supposedly wants to let someone ride him," Masato explained, "...Eventually. He's been flying in here sporadically for almost two years and roosts in that corner. "
It was like all those years ago - the way the blood suddenly rushed through his veins. Satoshi didn't even pause a moment to think over why he was doing what he was doing; all that mattered was getting across the room. He'd never met a pokemon that he couldn't train - eventually - so was it really surprising that he stepped forward, and let his nostrils fill with the scent of flight?
Of course, this Haruka and this Masato didn't know him; they didn't understand that their shouts of dismay would only propel him further. Satoshi wasn't one to back down to such a direct challenge.
The Staraptor, no longer a huddled shadow in the corner, gave him an appraising stare, its eyes sharp and its' feathers poised. It was huge; the biggest one he'd ever seen.
Satoshi wasn't scared. Really, that was the last thing he had on his mind. Somehow, he couldn't explain it - he felt heady with euphoria. He didn't have to think twice about approaching the Staraptor and placing his hand on the side of its' massive neck. He couldn't have really thought if he'd wanted to. He just looked at the powerfl bird pokemon firmly in the eyes, his brown meeting yellow.
"I'd like to ride you," he'd said. "That's okay, right?"
And then, it was decided - just like that.
Shigeru liked to think of himself as rugged, adventurous, and strong. But the truth was that he hadn't been able to scramble up more than 50 feet of sheet rock before he found that the rocky platform - which he'd seen from below - definitely did not lead to a mountain path. What it did lead him to, however, was the frustrating conclusion that he couldn't climb up any further. He scuffed the toe of his shoe on the dusty ground, snarling under his breath. What the hell kind of a day was this? And really, didn't he deserve a break?
Leaning back on the rock wall, he swiped his brow with the back of his hand. It was just as hot as ever, but there were only weak shadows. What time did that make it...?
He looked up at the sun, squinting, as white stars popped around the edges of his vision.
And he saw something moving about in the sky, circling and growing larger. A bird pokemon - that's what it was - in fact, he could make out a second one, albeit it was more distant, and didn't seem to be approaching with the same reckless speed.
Whatever it was -- he didn't know what to think. The anticipation grew and he felt his heart choking his breath inside of his chest. It was a pokemon, and some sort of incredibly large one, too. And if he didn't know better, it was carrying something on its' back. Satoshi furrowed his brow. Was it using the Fly technique? And anyway, who would be on it? And who would want to spurn his pokemon on towards him? Because there was no question, the pokemon was approaching him. And on the pokemon, he could almost make out a face - features, besides black hair - like wild eyes and an outfit familiar. He felt the wall press against his back more firmly.
And suddenly, Shigeru found the creature was flapping its' wings in the air not three meters away from him. Fuzzy static traveled across his chest as he determined the identity of the rider. It was the person he wanted to see more than anything else, and wanted to admit to it less than anything else. But now wasn't the time for that; he was rejoicing.
It was heaven and hell in a pair of bright brown eyes.
"Satoshi!" he cried out. He was saved and didn't that sound pathetic?
"C'mon, Shigeru," laughed the boy, reaching out his hand. "There's room for one more."
It's not so bad anymore. That's all he could think as he stretched out his hand and felt the calluses of Satoshi's smaller grip. He looked up at Satoshi's trusting smile, and felt it echoed in his own.
He wasn't alone anymore.
He didn't know where he was or why he had gotten here, but there was Satoshi's hand.
Shigeru took it and let Satoshi lead him on.
They sat inside the same room where Satoshi had woken up. It appeared to be Haruka and Masato's living room, for all function. The mat that Satoshi had slept on was rolled up and stored on a hook on the wall. A roughly-hewn pot filled with water and crushed spices - a crude tea - sat upon the central fire, and the two boys sat satellite to it. Their hosts' cushions laid empty beside them; several apparently influential people had taken much of their attention since Shigeru and Satoshi had reunited and returned to the village on Staraptor's back.
They were left to tell their stories to each other, as much as they could.
"It doesn't answer anything," Shigeru managed at last. "Why was I on a beach, for example? Have you seen a beach anywhere near the Ruins of Alph? But this place- this place is obviously the same, just, lived in. I know every single house, every room. I had to - it was part of my job of leading the research team."
"I don't remember it looking like this," Satoshi pointed out.
"Well, it wouldn't. There were some places where only the foundations were left of buildings, so you couldn't actually see that they had existed unless you did a dig and analyzed the ground, and..."
Shigeru trailed off, obviously figuring that Satoshi didn't have the capacity to understand. When Satoshi folded his hands behind his head, it rather confirmed his assumption. "It was just a question. Sorry."
"You just really don't know anything," Shigeru whined.
"Look, I'm sorry, I just woke up here, okay?"
"But it's impossible," he contested. After a heavy sigh, he adopted the universal pensive pose that all researchers seemed to have, with his thumb beneath his chin and narrowed, hazy eyes. Satoshi stared, fascinated; he didn't often see Shigeru like this. Usually, when he saw Shigeru, there were sparks of anger or something unfathomable and equally dark. But this wasn't emotion; ths was just thought. And it was mezmorising, and Shigeru continued to speak with half-awareness.
"There was just an earthquake. Earthquakes are caused by faults and rifts in the earth. Physical, but not multi-dimensional. So the earthquake itself couldn't have transported us - was it a symptom? And if it did, in fact, transport us, then, it wasn't merely horizontal - so where? Is this a new dimension?! Is it the past? There's nothing that can do that... and even if there was, it just wouldn't happen on its' own Something happened! Something was changed! Some one - did - something!"
Satoshi took a moment to recover, and reconnect to his vision, and realize that Shigeru was now staring directly at him. He squirmed under the intensity of the gaze.
"You," Shigeru spoke with all the malice of a beast circling its prey. "Did you do something?"
"NO!" Satoshi threw down his teacup. "I told you, I was minding my own business!"
Shigeru folded his legs as he considered. "You're always wrapped up in these things, so..."
"Yeah, but I don't lie! I told you everything that happened!"
Shigeru raised his eyebrow as if he were considering this.
"I'm not a liar!" Satoshi repeated, and bit down at the bottom of his lip as he scowled.
"Then why do I feel like there's something you're not telling me?"
Satoshi flushed and wondered if his eyes were still red from crying, only hours ago, though it felt like a completely different lifetime. He wondered if it was.
"Look, even if there was something I wasn't telling you, and I'm not saying that there is, I wasn't touching anything! I wasn't battling my pokemon or looking around in the ruins! I was just sitting alone on the edge of a freaking dusty mountain!"
"Well excuse me if I don't believe you!" Shigeru sneered.
"Well it's not my fault, you stupid jerk!"
"It might as well be, you brat!" Shigeru shouted. "You weren't even supposed to be at the ruins! You should've been home! But no, you had to go find an adventure! I hope you're happy, Satoshi!"
Satoshi scrambled to his feet, trying not to remember the elation he had felt when he'd gotten on Staraptor's back.
"How can you expect me to be happy when I don't even know where I am, and I'm stuck with someone who I thought was my friend but obviously hates me?!"
"Is that what you think?" Shigeru pulled himself up and leaned forward onto the table. "You think I could be friends with someone as immature and stupid as you!?"
Satoshi's hands curled into fists. "I'm not being immature!"
"Then why are you being so reckless, Satoshi? You jump on some random pokemon's back to go looking around for some person who could have been responsible for getting you in this mess, and wanted to hurt you! And how were you going to protect yourself? Or what if that pokemon wasn't trustworthy - and before you say it, Satoshi, there are such a thing as genuinely bad pokemon, even if you haven't met them - just like genuinely bad people. And what were you thinking, just trusting two people because they looked like people you knew? That could kill you, Satoshi. Do you not care about your life? Do you want to die? Is that it? Or -"
"It's not like that!" Satoshi protested. "You don't even know what you're talking about!"
Shigeru smirked, the word 'victory' not even needing to be spoken, because Satoshi knew, and all that he could do was run, run out of the room, run out into the cooling, open air, where he could feel the wind whip against the tears that had swollen at the edge of his eyes, which were still raw from earlier, after all.
Haruka found him only a couple of roads away, along a side-street from the fountain and quieter because of it. There were long shadows and he sat on a stoop with his head in his hands. Her eyes softened as she approached him, her previous worry over where he was becoming replaced with a worry about how he was. And then she spoke as if to tell him the exact thing she really wanted to tell herself.
"Don't worry about him," Haruka murmured, touching Satoshi on the shoulder lightly. "Somehow, I think he's just dealing with it different than you are. He doesn't know who to blame about the situation that he's in. He's frightened, not angry, and he's probably embarassed to admit it."
"So what," Satoshi grumbled. " 'doesn't explain why he has to blame me."
"No, it doesn't," Haruka agreed. "But you need to go and talk to him. Even if he's upset, aren't you both important to each other?"
Satoshi scowled, so Haruka delicately tried to redirect that last question. "After all, now that you're here, all you have is each other..?"
If anything, his frown deepened, and Haruka felt despondent beyond all words at her obvious failure. She rubbed her arm casually, trying to come up with an idea of something to say, when Satoshi began to speak.
"Yeah, well you don't understand. He-" Satoshi said 'he' as if it were some euphemism for a criminal, "- doesn't even like me. He would rather anyone be here but me."
Aha. Inferiority issues, at least, she knew how to deal with. Wherever this person came from, he was just as human as she was. Haruka sighed with both relief and empathy as she moved softly from Satoshi's front and sat down beside him, sweeping the white of her tunic beneath her legs.
"Satoshi... do you truly believe that?" she asked. "Do you think that anyone is better?"
"Well," Satoshi twisted up his nose, "I am better than Team Rocket..." He realized Haruka's blank, uncomprehensive stare, and flushed slightly. "They're a gang of thieves," he supplied, and dropped his head again. From the edge of his eye, he could see Haruka's lips tug at the edges, unable to keep back the pity, though he didn't recognize the slight amusement at Satoshi's naivette: one moment, and Satoshi was talking about his friend as if he were a criminal, and then saying that he esteemed himself better than criminals, and yet all the while feeling inferior to his friend. She pondered these things.
Haruka's silence made Satoshi uncomfortable, so he looked out at the twilight rushing across the stone city, and lost himself in the motions of a life lived as if the world was normal. The pace of the city rose and fell with breaks and pauses and held notes like the end of a song. The vermillion, the tans, the salt of the walls lost the edges of sunlight and slipped into a field of grey. He exhaled carefully and let his feelings do the same.
Haruka spoke.
"Though I really don't know about it, I think there might be something else."
Satoshi turned back to her. "...Yeah?"
"If your friend barely liked you more than a group of thieves, I don't think he'd get so mad at you as he did today," she said, slowly. "You can only get hurt by someone who you trust or care about. A person who doesn't think you matter won't go to the effort to hurt you. And you can't get disappointed in a person who you don't think could have done better. Whether or not he likes you at the moment, your friend obviously thinks that you matter..."
Satoshi blinked and looked Haruka's face more clearly. Her brow was knitted somewhat and her gaze was sincere and imploring.
And it did just what it had always done: it rushed his heart out of his chest.
"Shigeru and I used to be best friends when we were little and, uh, not just normal friends, but better, somehow. We did everything together, right? Up until the age ten and he was twelve, and just like that he started to hate me for no reason, always angry at me and pushing me away. He would go out of his way to make me mad and prove how much better he was than me. A couple of years later, he got over it -- just long enough for us to become kind-of friends again. I was so excited. But..."
He had to take a deep breath.
"But something happened. I don't know what it was, but he ended up in the hospital. And ever since then, he has hated me just like before. And it's really bad this time. It's not a childish hate. It's a real one. He really hates me. He knows every single thing that can hurt me most and he attacks them, mercilessly. Whenever he's around me he gets so angry. But it doesn't matter, 'cuz, I've never been able to hate him back, you know? He's... he's still my best friend.
"He was kind of right," admitted Satoshi, slowly. "When he was talking to me today in your house. Not about all of it, because I really don't know why I'm here, I was just minding my own business for once. But he was right that I thought that this - getting thrown into your world - was kind of exciting." Scary, his mind added. "... But that doesn't mean I wanted it to happen."
"Maybe it needed to happen," said Haruka.
And that was exactly what he wanted to tell Shigeru, but couldn't find the words.
Instead, he just stared at his feet and kicked the dust of the door frame and said, "I'm sorry," and waited for the dam to burst.