Author's Note:
It's the summer finale guys!
Sorry it took so long! This is exactly why I only upload in the summer! The school year is just too unpredictable. I wasn't expecting the back to school party with all my game dev buddies that ultimately kept me from updating this on time. Not that that was a bad thing. Since then, I was alerted of a major flaw in my story, especially in the previous chapter. I've gone back and modified a scene near the end of the chapter to help resolve that issue, and any information lost in that process I added back in this chapter. Of course this is only the band-aid before surgery.
Deerhunter: Welcome! I'm glad you enjoy it! However, Melody does know that Kieren is an Umbreon, but she doesn't know what an Umbreon is. This was back in chapter 24 if you want to check.
AveragePichu: You know you screwed up when a plot based on a true story gets called "unrealistic". But seriously, thank you for pointing out this flaw! What I was originally going for with Melody being directly told and not catching on would have been explained by some background I now realize I never actually added to the story. Whoops! However, I came up with a better way to handle that scene which I like more and fits better with this chapter.
This is exactly why I have the bonus chapter policies that I have. As a writer, I sometimes forget what I have and have not established in my story, and as such have no way to know by myself if I am actually telling the story correctly. That is why I treat ramblings of your favorite characters and moments as criticism, and why I value your attempts at predicting future events. They let me get a glimpse of the reader's thought processes and catch potential issues. That's also why submissions are important. Even though the main plot is laid out, how I get from point to point is only worked out a few chapters ahead of what I've written. So I use submissions as a way to force myself to check if I have everything established correctly. Event submissions will be really helpful for the upcoming chapters, so please send those in!
Anyways, my point is that I now realize I'm missing a lot of Melody's background, as well as a bunch of body language details that would help explain the characters' mental states. This goes back quite a few chapters, so I'll be revising many of them. However, I'll still be applying my update policy to those revised chapters (if you don't know how that works, I will review it down below). I'll for sure be updating Chapter 26 on the site before I upload Chapter 28, but the rest are up to you! Some well-spaced event submissions are a solid option!
I actually rewrote much of this chapter. I prefer the new direction, but it is still missing a lot of details. That's saying something for a 5k+ chapter! Anyways, season recap is at the end of the chapter. Enjoy!
Today is 9/7/2016 and this chapter is 5000+ words.
Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, just dream it.
Chapter 27: Too Many Secrets
"Yeah. I must say I was indeed quite frightened."
"How'd you find out?"
"Well, at first she interrupted me, telling me not to talk about it. But then she mentioned something about being tense, so I figured it was just good intuition."
"That makes sense. Violet always does that to me. They start to pick up on those things a lot younger than we do."
"Yes. Yes they do. However, I then made a comment about how it didn't matter since I didn't really understand the situation anyways. But then, not only did she respond directly to my statement, but she even went on to answer the question I was about to ask before she had cut me off."
"What did she say?"
"I don't remember exactly. I was a bit in shock."
The conversation was cryptic to the umbreon. He had only begun listening because he thought he heard his name mentioned, but now he wasn't sure what to make of it. His mind was still full of letters, the actual names of sounds that made words, and the secret origin of all nonsensical abbreviations. Not having the necessary brain energy to decipher the dialogue, he let it fade into the depths of his dreams when sleep took hold of him.
The sun's first rays had crossed over the horizon, and immediately began pounding on Kieren's hotel windows, hoping the umbreon would open up. Fortunately for them, the umbreon did not need much convincing as he stirred out of bed with a catchy tune already flowing through his waking consciousness. He grabbed hold of the chain by the windows and yanked the curtains apart. The sun rays delightedly infiltrated the room, raiding every corner and greedily consuming all the darkness they could find. Kieren basked in their presence as he resumed his morning routine of relieving himself, rinsing out his fur, wrapping up in the towels, and catching the weather.
"With my two little darlings and a third on the way, I don't have time to jump through bank loopholes just to keep my money for baby food and diapers. But then I found Naturus. They make baking simple, straightforward, and hassle free, so I can focus on being Mom. Even better, they're totally pokemon friendly, so now my luxray can do our grocery shopping worry-free! He's a huge help, though I kinda feel bad for making him run my errands."
"Waaaaaaaaaaa!"
"Naturus. Safe, natural, banking."
"Sky 9 News is brought to you by, Pebbits. See the world, taste the world. And by Naturus. Safe, natural, banking."
"Welcome back to Sky 9 news. I'm Sharon Kapenski. It's Friday! Yay! That probably doesn't mean much anyway with the tournament going on. We've got lots of news on that, along with reports of a veteran thief making rounds near the Eon Metro area. More on that later, but first, here's your morning forecast. Turning it over to you Todd."
"Thanks Sharon. You mentioned the Eon Invitational Tournament that is on its second day today. If you wanted to see the tournament this weekend, I recommend you get out there now. Right now the temperature is sixty-seven in the city with partly cloudy skies, similar to what we had yesterday. However, at two o'clock, that all starts to change. A wave of warm air from the southwest is expected to move in between two o'clock and six o'clock with temperatures jumping from seventy-five to eighty-four degrees and one hundred percent humidity. Kinda makes you wish the splat park construction was finished. You can see the temperatures for the area all somewhere between eighty and eighty-six degrees this afternoon, and as we move into the night, those high temperatures are going to linger around, with mid to high seventies as your lows. You may want to consider keeping the air conditioning on through the night rather than opening the windows. Tomorrow early morning will be hot and sticky, with a dew point of sixty-eight. However, that all quickly changes as we have some cold air coming in from the northeast. That cold air is going to cool all the hot humid air, and of course that means rain is your Saturday morning forecast, beginning around eight-thirty. Some of that rain might even develop into severe thunderstorms in the later afternoon. And if you look at the temperatures, you'll notice we're back down into the sixties. That's going to all clear up Saturday night, and Sunday we'll be seeing low to mid-seventies and blue skies for the final round of the invitational. Right now it is sixty-five in Sprint County. Sixty-four on the lake front. Sixty-eight in Tyron and Carnary, and sixty-six in Eon City. I'm Todd Anderwisch with your forecast from Sky 9 News. Back to you Sharon."
"Thanks Todd. I'm Sharon Wakenski, and with me is Mike Grael. Todd mentioned the splat park that is currently under construction. However, the city is planning on setting up some oceansplat obstacle courses on the downtown streets this afternoon. It'll be a fun way to get a little taste of the region's culture while staying cool."
"I presume they're just using the thin stuff, right?"
"They're actually having both."
"Really! What is the benefit of having the thicker stuff? Is it just to please the hard-core in the region? I assumed they would just stick to the thin stuff to make it tourist friendly."
"There is a benefit to the thicker stuff in that it stays cool about five or six times longer. However, I still wouldn't recommend it if it's your first time, as it can be a bit overwhelming. But if you can get used to it, it's nice because then you can stay cool for several straight hours of shopping."
"Interesting. I always thought it would get warmer quicker since it's heavier."
"No. No. It can absorb a lot more heat, and at a more comfortable rate too."
"Wow. I might have to tell my daughter that one and see what she does. She's not normally a fan except for when it gets really hot and humid, then she's all for it."
"Is that Emily?"
"Yes. Amy's a little too timid yet."
"Really? Isn't Amy your little spitfire?"
"Usually."
"Just not with splatterfruit?"
"Nope. She covers up her mouth like this and shies away."
"Cute! Anyways, I suppose we should get started with our main news story for today. It is the second day of the tournament, and this year's been really special with the first pokemon participating!"
"His name is Kieren Bluestripe, and not only is he the first pokemon to enter a CSG Major, but he's in the lead! He started the day with a clever tee off, skipping the ball through the longer grass and onto the fairway behind the sand trap. He birdied that hole starting him at one under. Then on the fifth, he had this second shot from the fairway. It bounces off the fairway and… off the flagpole! Later he made this twenty-two foot put on the eighth. He was caught off guard on the thirteenth when his ball skipped past the hole into the sand, but he had this amazing recovery, after which he tapped it in to save par. He nearly hit a hole-in-one on the sixteenth. Then on the seventeenth, he caught this amazing bounce off the root and all…the…way…down the hill! On his second shot he came just shy of the green, but on his third shot, he hits it to the right of the hole, but it goes left… going left… going left… and it's in the hole! You can see him celebrating, jumping around and tossing his club in the air. He certainly had a reason to celebrate, earning an eagle on that hole and putting him at six under for the day."
"He's very fun to watch! I'm always left wondering what goes through his head. You know the other thing I noticed that's different about him is that he doesn't take very long to play his ball. You know most golfers spend some time taking practice swings trying to get things right before they actually hit the ball. But the umbreon just goes right up and hits it."
"I know. It baffles me how he is able to spin with such precision the way he does. One thing that is worth noting is that despite leading the tournament, Kieren and his playing partner Aurelein Cindevelli play several groups in front of the other bigger names on the leaderboard to help spread out the crowd. Aurelein is minus three as well, only three strokes behind Kieren."
"Best of luck to all the golfers participating."
"And best of luck to everyone who will be fighting the heat this afternoon."
"Our next story is a follow-up on a teenage boy who collapsed out on the course yesterday after consuming keviar cherries. Thanks to the Eon Valley…pft"
Kieren was back to humming his catchy tune as he tossed the towels aside, grabbed his bag, and set out for another adventure. His mind was fascinated by what he had just seen. He was on the black box thing! He wasn't sure what to make of that, whether he should have enjoyed seeing himself (a brand new experience) or felt awkward about seeing how he acted. But ultimately, the clips were too short for him to make a proper judgement. The crew that made that compilation deserved a lot of credit though. They captured yesterday's highlights quite well! Regardless, Kieren was hyped! Yesterday had been a total blast, and he was confident today would go just as well!
The elevator beeped, signaling it had arrived on the cafeteria floor. Kieren quickly located the breakfast buffet and put together his favorite breakfast combo. Carefully balancing his tray on top of his head, he scanned the seats for a familiar ninetails. His gaze caught his target across the room in a secluded corner. He approached the reddish yellow creature only to immediately notice the deep bags underneath the creature's eyes.
"Morning Kieren," the ninetails greeted in a tired, monotone voice.
"Morning Mason," Kieren responded, lowering his breakfast down on the table. "May I dare ask what happened? You look and sound exhausted!"
"Just a puking child yesterday," Mason confessed with a slump of his head. "Nothing you should be concerned about. Thank you anyways."
"Yuck," Kieren sympathized. "You have my best wishes."
"Again, don't concern yourself with it. I must go now. You remember the route to get to the course?" Mason asked.
"I believe so," Kieren answered, nodding his head. Mason nodded back, before slowly getting up and lethargically walking away, tails drooped noticeably lower than usual, almost parallel with the floor. Kieren watched in slight astonishment at the normally tall and proud ninetails being so reserved and worn down. He hoped it was just a one-day thing. Fortunately, his thoughts were interrupted the moment he noticed the catchy tune he had stuck in his head all morning was playing over the speakers. He hummed along merrily by himself as he consumed his meal.
Across the city streets, down a grass hill, and inside a lake forest clearing, two flareon were leading a group of eevee in warmup stretch exercises. Their hind legs were outstretched, as their front paws were crossed, while their heads reached against the flow of their body. Breaking the glistening water of the morning sun was a lapras, chanting along to the stretch count and occasionally shooting a small, non-destructive dose of water gun at any of the eevee slacking off. A large pile of white fruity fluff separated the group of eevee and flareon from the overhanging cliff, under which, another eevee was emerging. She picked up a small stone and skipped it at the lapras, catching his attention. She signaled back behind her with her head, before returning back into the cave.
"Trent?" Drake called for attention.
"Yes?" Trent answered between counts.
"I need to go talk with someone quickly. I'll be back in a little bit."
"That's fine," Trent whispered back, having moved closer to the water. "It'll be a little bit yet before we get to the games." Drake nodded and withdrew under the water's surface.
It only took the counts seven, eight, and nine for Trent to deduce Kat had returned. Kat had left in the hopes of catching Melody before the vulpix ran off to the city for the big event that was going on. Oddly, Melody never returned that night to discuss what she had found out. It was very unusual of her to forget a meeting. Then again, she had been in an absolute panic yesterday morning. According to Caleb, it had something to do with a human passing out and the city hospitals running out of medicine based on emergency report that came in later that day from Melody's father. That didn't really match up with what he had heard Melody screaming yesterday morning, but Caleb swore he had helped her get the emergency request in.
"One! Two! Three! Four…" the eevee began chanting again based on a new stretch Trent had subconsciously executed. It was muscle memory for him at this point, as it was for many of the recently evolved. He resumed focus on the new class, taking charge of the next stretch and leading the count.
After several more stretches, the group migrated to warm-up activities, which involved "snaking" and "teeter-tottering" to name a couple. Group by group, the eevee crossed the grassy beach with hops, skips, spins, and summersaults. However, since this was the youngest group of developing eevee, they struggled. But slowly and surely, Trent and Andy finally got them through the stretches and basic warmups. However, that didn't mean they were at the end of things. Next up was the infamous lake run. Circling the lake three times was something Trent and Andy could do in ten minutes casually, but it would take the young eevee over an hour. Trent was explaining the task to the naïve eevee when he was interrupted by a lapras from the lake.
"Trent! When you have a moment, I need to speak with you in private!" Drake yelled, his tone nothing but seriousness.
"Ummm…"Trent stalled. "Shoot!"
"Don't worry, Trent! I gotcha covered!" a jolteon shouted.
"Solano?" Trent asked, astonished.
"Heck yeah! You didn't think I'd miss the big return, did you?" the jolteon referenced enthusiastically.
"Wait, you know who it is, right?" Trent quizzed.
"Of course! I found out years before all of you!"
"Ok. Cool. I appreciate it," Trent answered. He turned around hesitantly, still uncertain whether he was making the right choice, before seeing the nod of the lapras. He leaped up onto Drake's back, making very sure he didn't overshoot into the lake. He took his time to steady himself before Drake departed into the middle of the lake. "So what's up?" he asked the lapras quietly.
"It's Melody," Drake answered.
"Melody?"
"She suffered a panic attack yesterday and made herself sick," Drake explained. "She's been taking Kieren's exile extra hard."
"That's not good," Trent worried.
"She's not allowed to leave the reserve today, and it is suggested we don't talk about him, even if she brings it up."
"Wait! So she's in the reserve? Like right now?" Trent asked alarmed.
"She hasn't woken up yet. That's why I'm telling you this now."
"I see…" Trent trailed in thought. "And so what should we do?"
"Simply reassure her we have a plan, but first priority is OASIS. She doesn't know about that, right?"
"She'll have all the clues as soon as she hears the name, but I doubt she'll catch on immediately."
"You think so?" Drake asked uncertain.
"We never discussed that part that night. She was too wrapped up with you being involved to begin with. She might not even remember it all."
"Interesting…" Drake mused.
"Do we know anything about Kieren?" Trent asked.
"We know he's been spotted occasionally crossing through Eon Park Square according to Melody," Drake suggested. "However, there's a twist to this story, and everything I'm about to say remains top secret!"
"Oh?" Trent staggered slightly.
"According to her parents, Melody has full knowledge of Kieren's whereabouts. When she says she can't find him, it's likely a cover for whatever she is hiding."
"Wait, seriously?" Trent asked, shocked.
"That's what they told Kat. They think whatever she is hiding is causing her panic spells."
"So they don't know what she is hiding?"
"No. Otherwise they wouldn't have told Kat anything. They specifically asked that the four of us, Caleb being the fourth, to keep an eye out for any clues. But we have to pretend we were never told any of this. All we know is that she suffered a panic spell and has to stay in the valley for the day."
"Right," Trent acknowledged. He took a moment to mull things over, gazing across the shoreline around the lake. "Hey you there!" he shouted, breaking the quiet of the lake. "Do I see you slacking? Get moving, or you'll still be running while we all do the fun stuff!" Drake laughed as Trent sat back down again.
"So you said you don't think Melody will know anything about OASIS?" Drake asked.
"I don't think so, though after that revelation I'm more uncertain," Trent admitted.
"Sure. Though now that I think about it, it doesn't affect the plan much anyways…" Drake rambled.
"Which is?" Trent beckoned.
"Give Melody the same OASIS story as we're giving the rest of the tribe. If she knows, fine. If she gets tense, blame it on a panic attack and rush her out."
"And if she has no clue and starts wondering what happened to everything else?" Trent inquired.
"We tell her OAI is dead if she brings up that name, but also that we have a plan. And then we use OASIS's story to distract her into the games."
"I see..." Trent murmured. "It's a lot to remember, but I think I can manage."
"Sure. Just remember to be extra cheery and into the games!" Drake responded. "Speaking of which, want to go chase those slackers?"
"Heck yeah!" Trent bellowed, triggering the lapras into high gear as they neared the shore, threatening any slacking eevee with a drenching wave.
Kieren had only two goals: entertain the crowd, and beat Aurelein as badly as possible. Like many of the other golfers, Aurelein received his fair share of jokes about losing to a pokemon. But Aurelein was not afraid to throw the jokes back at Kieren, and this started a friendly banter war. Neither of them minded. It was pushing their games to their limits, while simultaneously further entertaining the crowd. They were on the sixth hole, and Aurelein was only a stroke behind Kieren for the round, despite Kieren being a stroke ahead of yesterday's performance up to the current hole.
Currently, he was balancing a lemonade bottle on his head, waiting for Aurelein to finish his myriad of practice swings. Occasionally, he'd flip the bottle and catch it upright on his forehead, earning an applause from the crowd.
"Oh, they'll be clapping when you hit the ball into the sand," Aurelein sneered.
"Assuming you hit the ball today," Kieren retorted back. He began counting the seconds with his tail as a metronome, allowing the crowd to catch onto his jest.
"Hey! You can't rush perfection!" Aurelein countered. "You watching this shot?"
To Kieren's surprise, Aurelein was actually getting ready to hit the ball! That was record time for the slowking! Aurelein adjusted his footing, glanced down the fairway from the tee box, and locked himself in place. He lifted his club over his back shoulder, and then with a sudden aggression, blasted the club through the ball. The ball rocketed straight down the left branch of the fairway and stopped perfectly lined up towards the hole. Aurelein flipped his club in the air before catching it by the handle, mocking one of Kieren's newly developed antics.
"See? Perfection!" Aurelein taunted. Kieren simply rolled his eyes as he picked out a tee and ball from his bag and grabbed the heaviest club he could find. He set himself up and with no more than zero practice swings, swung his club in a circle, and fired the ball into the horizon. Unlike Aurelein's, his hooked right onto the right branch of the fairway where the angle to the flag was less appealing. At least that's what Aurelein was likely thinking, as Aurelein started boasting about perfection. Kieren answered with the evilest of grins he could muster, which was pretty dang evil in his opinion. He spent the next fifteen minutes playing games with the crowd and stamping his paw on some weird pieces of paper children would bring to him. The green was very narrow, aligned straight with the left branch of the fairway. A sand trap sat right behind the green. Yesterday Aurelein just barely missed the fairway, and his second shot went right of the green. Kieren knew exactly what Aurelein was going to do today.
Aurelein didn't take long to hit the ball. He lifted it high into the air, letting the ball soar towards the flag, before dropping ten feet in front of it. However, on impact, the ball caught the forward downslope of the green and gained significant forward momentum, flying past the flag and into the sand. It was exactly as Kieren predicted, and he nearly fell over laughing.
"You can laugh after your shot," Aurelein quipped.
Aurelein didn't have to wait long. Kieren pulled out one of his heavier clubs from his bag and stared down past the green. He spun his club in a circle and made contact with his ball. The ball soared with furious velocity, sailing past the flag to the left of the sand, where it made contact with a sloped cliff. It ricocheted back towards the green, bouncing once in the tall grass before landing and rolling back fifteen feet in front of the hole on the green. Aurelein just stared at the umbreon, who flipped his club in the air, balanced the handle on his tail, then flipped it back.
"Luck," Aurelein muttered. Kieren simply ignored him, instead advancing towards the green in the hopes of sinking what would be a tricky fifteen foot putt. Of course he wouldn't attempt that put until after he'd taunt Aurelein by pretend-burying the professional's ball with more sand.
"Alright crew! I would like to introduce you to this giant pile of white behind me!" Trent addressed the eevee who were all lined up in front of him. Some were still exhausted from the run, and others were giggling over the previous round's challenge which involved dodging Drake's small water gun blasts into the air. "We call this mess behind me 'The Blob'!"
"The challenge is simple," Solano continued. "Cross through, and you win."
"But there's a catch," Trent added. "Who here's heard of the Blob Monster?"
"There's no such thing as a blob monster!" a young female eevee shouted back. "Watch me!" She closed her eyes, and marched into the pillar of white. But before her tail even disappeared, she was swept off her feet and pulled inside. Two seconds later, she exploded out from the top of the pillar and drifted towards the lake where she collapsed with a pity splash. Drake dove under the water, and seconds later emerged with the soaked eevee laying on his head. "I was wrong," she confessed disappointedly, earning laughs from the evolved pokemon and gasps of shock from the class of young eevee.
"There are two things you need to know about the Blob Monster," Solano began. "First, she is a she, and second, she likes throwing eevee into the lake."
"Anyone who makes it through is safe for the next two rounds of the competition!" Trent announced. "Who's next?"
One by one, the eevee slowly lined up, and eventually mustered up the courage to challenge the Blob Monster. The first couple eevee tried charging head-on, but were quickly tossed into the lake. A couple eevee tried jumping into 'the Blob', but ended up in the lake as well.
"Everyone, be quiet!" the next eevee in line announced, earning the silence he hoped for. "One! Two!" Before he shouted out 'three', he jumped in.
Three seconds later, a splash was heard in the lake.
"Good try," Solano complemented, internally laughing at the innocent attempt of deception.
"What is going on?" a female voice emerged from the forest.
"Melody?" Trent recognized. "Good morning!"
"Seriously, what is going on here? First I hear someone counting, and then all of a sudden I see an eevee flying out of a pile of splatterfruit into the lake!" Drake, Andy, Trent, and Solano all chuckled at her statement.
"It's a training game," Trent explained. "Today's game day. Wanna help?"
"We're trying to get past the Blob Monster!" an eevee exclaimed. Silence ensued as Trent awaited the vulpix's answer.
"I can't!" Melody cried just before breaking into tears, immediately prompting Trent to come to her aid. "I can't find him!" she wept. "I can't find him anywhere!"
"Melody. Please. Relax," Trent coaxed. "We heard about your panic attack yesterday. You need to take a break and let it go."
"…Fine," Melody conceded, stifling the tears. She picked up her head and opened her eyes back to world. "Drake! Is she there?" Melody asked, motioning towards the cliff.
"Kat?" Drake guessed.
"Yeah."
"Nope."
"Shoot! Do you know where she is then?" Melody asked, walking towards the lake with Trent by her side.
"Yeah! She hiding!"
"Hiding?"
"Yep!"
"From what?"
"Us!"
"Wait why?"
"For fun."
"Kat doesn't just do things 'for fun'!" Melody ranted. "Why is she hiding?"
"Fine…" Drake gave in. "It's for Project OASIS."
"Oasis?"
"Yeah. It's what we're doing right now."
"Right now?"
"Yep."
"As in right here, right now?"
"Correct."
"With this blob monster thing whatever you call it?"
"Exactly!"
"Ugh!" Melody groaned.
"What's wrong?" Trent asked concernedly.
"What's wrong? There's too many secrets!" Melody roared. "Seriously! Everyone keeps hiding stuff from me, and then expects me to know what they're talking about! I'm so confused right now I can't even keep my head screwed on straight!"
"Melody, we're not trying to hide anything from you," Trent lyingly persuaded the fire type. "One at a time, what don't you understand?"
"…Alright," Melody exhaled, trying to calm herself and clear her mind of emotions. "…First…who is this Blob Monster that keeps throwing the eevee out of this giant blob of spatterfruit?" Melody asked after witnessing another eevee tossed into the lake. The older pokemon simply laughed again.
"Alright," Drake began. "Do you remember the waterfall from two days ago?"
Melody nodded.
"So the Blob Monster was there."
"Ok?" Melody slurred confusingly.
"The Blob Monster is a she, and she is the she you know better."
Melody recited the clues in her head again, silently naming off everyone who had been there in Kat's hideout that day. Suddenly, it hit her how obvious it was!
"Blast from the past?" she recited.
"Yes! That's exactly it!" Drake confirmed excitedly.
"Ok," she beamed. "And that paradise thing you were talking about?"
"OASIS," Drake clarified.
"What's oasis?" an eevee asked.
"An oasis is a paradise in a desert," Solano answered slowly.
"What's a paradise?" the eevee asked again.
"A very magical place of happiness and awesomeness," Solano answered again. Trent laughed as the juvenile eevee's eyes opened wide in awe.
"So what's Project OASIS?" Melody asked. "I get that's what you're doing, but what's the significance?"
"It's to celebrate our generation and the childhood we shared, even as we've taken our separate paths and may continue to do so," Solano answered, much to everyone's surprise. "It's also our way of making life for the next generation even better."
"He's right," Trent reassured Melody after she glanced back at him with uncertainty.
"…Oh," Melody breathed.
"Any more secrets?" Drake asked.
"The one I was looking for?" Melody hinted.
"No news yet," Trent answered. "Just try not to think about him."
"If what you told us about the locals in Eon Park Square is true, then he's doing alright," Drake added. "No need to worry."
"Thanks Drake," Melody sighed. She took several slow breaths, contemplating what other secrets the group could possibly answer. "The rest of the secrets are city things," she finally admitted.
"Is it just the people working for the tournament?" Solano asked.
"Umm… I think so?" Melody answered. "Why?"
"It helps me sympathize," Solano answered. "Trust me. I've been through my fair share of parental secrets. I'm sure we all have. It's frustrating and confusing!"
"Oh…" Melody stuttered, surprised by Solano's accuracy despite the limited information he had. "Thanks," she offered again, not knowing what else to say.
"Wow." Drake mouthed almost silently. An awkward silence followed, as everyone contemplated the truth Solano spoke with. It took an eevee to break the silence.
"Miss Vulpix?"
"Yes?" Melody responded, quickly looking up only to have to look down again at the cute brown-eyed eevee staring up at her.
"Who were you looking for?" the eevee girl asked bluntly.
Melody frowned. She had no idea how to answer the question without giving a taboo answer.
"She was looking for Kieren," Solano answered for her, catching everyone by surprise. The older pokemon stared at him in shock by what he revealed, while the younger eevee were all whispering rumors.
"Is Kieren the one who was exiled because he was cursed," another eevee asked loud enough for Solano to hear.
"I don't believe in curses!" Solano shouted over all the eevee. "Kieren was exiled for other reasons! I need to go run an errand. You all should get back to the games. It's almost lunch time, and no one's beaten Miss Blob Monster yet!" The jolteon left abruptly after finishing, leaving the older pokemon dazed and the horde of eevee amped.
"Well that's another secret," Melody snorted.
"Leave that to Trent and I to crack!" Drake offered merrily, slapping his right fin as close to his stomach as his joint could reach.
"In the meantime," Trent added, "do you want to help us run these games now? It's a great way to let loose and not worry about everything else."
Melody paused for a second. She took a deep breath, inhaling, exhaling, and finally allowed her face to light up in a warm fiery grin.
"Sure."
Author's Note:
And it is that time when I officially announce the end of new chapters for several months. That doesn't mean I won't be writing. I still have a lot of work to do!
Here's some stats for this summer! These numbers are awesome!
Chapters: 10
Words: 35,000+
Average words per chapter: 3,500+
Total words: 62,000+
Total average words per chapter: 2,300+
Reviews: 21
Total reviews: 42
Followers: 14
Total followers: 28
Favorites: 9
Total favorites: 15
Bonus chapters: 1
Total bonus chapters: 6
Anyways, my off-season policies are simple (and greatly improved over last year). Provide feedback in the form of criticism, predictions, or submissions, and I will re-upload a chapter of your choice. You can even choose whether I upload it as soon as I have time, or wait until May just before the summer uploads. Heck, you can even request it for Christmas Break if you want!
For submissions, I'm still accepting event submissions. All you have to do is name some kind of event or issue that crops up somewhere in the story. You can name the location, and even create your own OCs and backstories if you want (no guarantees I'll use them). Only two rules. The first rule is that you can't base the event or issue on how a main character interacts with someone or something. For example, Melody can't get in a fight with an aipom, but Melody can meet an aipom, and that aipom can be fighting with a mankey. The second rule is that you can't determine the outcome. That's my job! You can find more examples on my profile page with a suggested format.
Worst comes to worst, I can throw out whatever doesn't work and fill in any missing details, so if the rules confuse you, then don't worry about them and just submit something!
Also, every Christmas Break, I update my other story - Eon Undercover Hacked Archives: The Visions. It's the back story behind Moon on the Water, and provides some foreshadowing for the story much further from now.
And lastly, have an awesome school year (or normal work year if you are beyond your school days)! Feel free to ask me any questions story or otherwise, and definitely give me some feedback so I can keep improving this fic! Thanks for an awesome summer! Until next time!
~Dreaming I'm Latios