"Thoughts"
"A pokemon speaking through telepathy"
"(Pokemon speaking to each other)"
Flashback
Chapter 29: The Curtains Rise pt. 2
"These ruins are much larger than I thought they would be!" Ash exclaimed.
"I know." Brock chuckled, " The guidebook says they've been here for a long time, and yet it's been preserved so well!"
"Pika!" Pikachu exclaimed as he and his trainer examined the ruins.
Brock took a few steps forward, eye's darting between the ruins and his guidebook. The two trainers and Pikachu had separated from Dawn a few hours ago to see what the town had to offer. He and Ash now were at the Solaceon Ruins just on the outskirts of town,
"According to the guidebook, the entrance should be nearby. Do you want to explore inside?"
"Yeah!" Ash nodded, "Let's go back to town first and see if Dawn wants to come with us."
"Right!"
Mel couldn't help but smirk as she heard Paul let out a low growl towards her,
"Aw, what's wrong with the little kitty?"
Paul's growls grew louder at hearing the nickname,
"The fact that a lizard is here…"
Mel's smirk turned into a smile as she silently chuckled. Dawn, who had quietly watched the exchanged, was confused at the choice of nicknames,
"Kitty? Lizard? What kind of nicknames are those?"
"Don't worry about it!" Mel chuckled as she gave Dawn a pat on the head, her smile widening, "It's an inside thing."
"An inside thing?" Dawn glanced back and forth between Paul and Mel, before her eyes landed on Paul. Dawn pouted,
"Paul! How come we don't have nicknames for each other?"
"W-What?" A blush fought its way across Paul's face, "What are you talking about, troublesome girl?"
Mel's right hand flew to her mouth as she struggled to keep in her laughter. Paul spared a glance at Mel to send a glare, but quickly returned his attention to his girlfriend, who was slowly approaching,
"Come on, Paul! We've been dating for how long and we don't have nicknames for each other! Meanwhile you and Mel just met two months ago and you already have nicknames for each other! Hm…"
Though Paul stood firm in his position, his blush intensified as Dawn sent him a shy smile and leaned forward slightly, almost too innocently,
"Should I be jealous?"
As soon as the question left Dawn's lips, Mel bursts out in laughter, leaning on a nearby table for support. Paul's face grew red as his palm reached up to hide his face from Dawn. Dawn looked on, not sure if Paul was red from anger or embarrassment. The coordinator straightened and gave Paul a smile.
"Dawn, you just made my day!" Mel said between giggles.
Paul grunted,
"Shut it, lizard!"
"Well? Did someone find it?" a girl yelled impatiently from her sitting position on a boulder.
The girl had red hair styled in an odd fashion; it spiked out from the back, away from her hair, and from the front, spiked up towards the sky. The clothes she wore were slightly similar to Saturn's, except the shirt extended out to look like a skirt. On her chest was the letter "G". The trainers accompanying her were black and white clothes that held the same "G" on their chests. They were currently deep inside the Solaceon Ruins, searching for something,
"No, not yet Commander Mars." a trainer replied.
The girl, Mars, growled and snapped at the grunts,
"Then move faster!"
"Be patient, Mars." A voice chuckled from behind.
Mars turned her head to see who the owner of the voice was, upon seeing who it was, she turned her attention back to watching the grunts work,
"You're done with research at Lake Valor? So, what'd you find out, Saturn?"
Saturn let out a sigh as he moved towards Mars and leaned against the boulder, positioning himself beside Mars,
"Master Cyrus was right…"
"Hm?" Mars gave Saturn a bewildered look, "About what?"
"That girl…" Saturn crossed his arms over his chest and closed his eyes, "While I was at Lake Valor I ran into Azelf and that girl connected to Uxie, but before I could capture them, two of Mel's pokemon helped them escape… She can't be trusted."
"Oh…" Mars let out in understanding, "Well, duh! Master Cyrus said that the only reason Mel is following his order is because we already have 11 Plates! When Master Cyrus gives her an order, she only follows it as loosely as she can!"
Saturn smirked as he opened his eyes,
"That's right. Master Cyrus said that 3 Plates could be found here… The Draco Plate, Iron Plate, and Splash Plate. With those 3 we'll have 14 Plates altogether."
"Then once we find those last two, we can make the world that Master Cyrus always wanted." Mars finished.
Paul grunted as he stomped out of the Pokemon Center. He had reluctantly left Mel and Dawn to their own accords after much insisting from Dawn that they'd be fine.
"Why the heck is she here?" Paul mumbled to himself, "Isn't she supposed to be doing something for that stupid Team Galactic right now?"
Paul suddenly heard laughter behind him,
"And just what are you mumbling about?"
Paul sighed, as he knew the voice speaking out,
"Nothing. So why are you here?" Paul turned his body to see who it was he was speaking to, "The Council sent you here or something?"
Zoey chuckled softly at his obvious annoyance. She and Yori, who was perched on her shoulder with his tail moving side to side, had arrived into town not to long ago,
"Actually, yeah." Zoey's light laughter left and was replaced with a serious tone that Paul immediately picked up, "Mel's disappeared."
The tension that entered Paul's body left as soon as it came,
"I wish…" Paul sighed out
"Huh?"
Paul raised an eyebrow as she glanced at Zoey,
"She's not gone. She's with Dawn right now. More specifically, they went to the Day Care Center since Dawn wanted to see it."
"… I see." Zoey whispered as she did her best to remain calm.
"So, Mel was here the entire time? I worried for nothing!"
Paul gave another sigh,
"I thought you already knew that, after all her monkey is with you." Paul said as he pointed at Yori, "What make's you think she disappeared? You two are constantly together."
Zoey blushed lightly before replying,
"Y-Yeah, that's true… T-The Council just wants us to keep an eye on her and stuff…"
Paul smirked inwardly as he listened to Zoey stammering,
"Right… let's go."
Mel let out a sigh as she leaned against the tree on Daichi's back and watched as Dawn and their pokemon run around the small playground provided by the Day Care. Dawn, Piplup, and Akira were playing with the young pokemon; Buizel and Buneary were cuddling in the shade a nearby tree; Houndoom laid peacefully asleep near the couple, a few pokemon coming near and joining the sleeping pokemon; Nanami was in the small pound playing with the water pokemon; and Kenji and Neji were training with a few pokemon. Mel turned her head slightly when she felt a presence approach her.
"Oh, Gardevoir," Mel said as Dawn's pokemon came closer, "what do you need?"
"My vision…" Gardevoir whispered, "You were the one in my vision…"
Mel kept a steady eye on the psychic pokemon as she sat up,
"That's right. You Gardevoirs have the power to read the future."
"That's correct." Gardevoir replied, "But we can't fully predict it, only bits and pieces."
"I see. So then, what was this vision you had of me about?"
"I don't know…" Gardevoir replied.
The embrace pokemon came closer and sat beside Mel,
"I had the vision sometime ago, but all I remember is that it was a scary one."
"Oh?" Mel raised an eyebrow.
"Yes. But I do remember you being there. When I found out about Master Paul having the ability to transform into a pokemon, I thought that maybe you have that same ability."
Mel chuckled lightly as she turned her attention back to Dawn and the pokemon,
"Why do you think that?"
"Because when Master Paul transforms, he lets off this energy, like the ones that the members of the Council of Legends give off. You too, let off this energy. As if given to you from the Legend of Council like Master Paul, so I figured that you too would have the ability to transform into that of a pokemon."
Mel smiled softly when Dawn let out a squeal as Piplup had sprayed her and the other pokemon with a light Bubblebeam,
"I should've known you'd figure it out. Psychic-type pokemon are sensitive to changes in the energy level around them… Is there any other psychic pokemon among you?"
"Yes, one more. My lover, a Gallade, who serves Master Paul. He does sense the energy you give off, but he's not as sensitive to it as I am, so he doesn't give it much thought." Gardevoir replied
"That's understandable."
Mel's body suddenly tensed before relaxing a second later. Gardevoir, having noticed this, commented on it,
"Is something wrong?"
"No." Mel answered as she got to her feet, "This scent… it's Zoey's. What's she doing here?"
Mel's nose had picked up Zoey's scent on the wind, and Mel could tell that Zoey, along with Paul, was approaching the Day Care,
"This isn't good. If Zoey is here, does that mean the council knows about Team Galactic being here? If these guys get caught up in things, worst case scenario I'll have to go through with kidnapping Dawn…"
AN: Finally done with this chapter! I seriously forgot I was even writing a story here n.n;; If any of you are wondering what vision Gardevoir was talking about... go allll the way back to chapter 6... Yeah that vision XD
Credit for editing goes to CityGal45 and Hikaru-pichu!
DGMSilverAirHead03: Noooo D: where are you lost?