The sun had just started rising when Tamao opened her eyes. She could not quite remember her dream, but she felt like she would have bathed in flames, and her heart ached. She didn't need to be a genius to know what event had repeated itself in her dreams that night. However, she felt weird somehow. She couldn't quite put her finger to it, but her head felt heavy somehow. As she tried to figure it out, the feeling became more distant. But it was still there.
Oh well. As she got up, she noticed that Glacia was still sleeping, but Leafia was awake. Had he been up the whole night? Tamao felt a sting in her heart when she thought that.
Leafia's eyes were dim, probably due to him being tired, but he seemed to be happy to see that Tamao was awake.
" Morning…" Tamao muttered, and Leafia nodded at her.
Tamao put her feet to the floor, and tried to get up. However, an instant sting in her forehead caused her to fall over again. As she held her head, she suddenly noticed that the room was engulfed in a shadow.
" That's odd…" she thought to herself. In the morning, the sun usually shone in from the window… She could see some glimmering of the morning light in the corner of her bed, but what blocked most of the sunlight?
Getting up was hard, as her head felt dizzy and her feet were trembling, but she managed to stay up. Leafia looked at her with worried eyes, but she ignored him for now. She kept her hand on her forehead, but turned to look at the window.
For a while, she couldn't recognize anything from outside the window. Just pure white. Then, her eyes caught a shape of some sort, of another colour… Blue, maybe… Or was it…?
Before Tamao managed to make anything out from it, the window suddenly burst open, and a powerful gust of wind blew her backwards. Tamao hit the door of her room harshly, and gasped in pain. She held her head, but then she suddenly figured out what had happened.
Still wearing her pyjamas, Tamao jumped up, yanked the door open, and ran through the hall, all the way to the back door. She managed to open it with her trembling hands, and stumbled outside. That was when her head was hit by a sharp pain, and she fell over.
" Agh…" Tamao whined on the ground, but then quickly looked up. It was hardly visible, but there was definitely something flying away, to the southeast of the city.
The shape was dark, because it was far away. From it looking so big, even from such a distant, Tamao understood that the creature had to be huge. However, huge or not, it was so far away the only shape she could figure out from it were the wings. She couldn't see any details.
Tamao stared to the sky, as the being disappeared into the far away sky. Only the blue sky, covered by some small, dark clouds remained. The dizziness in her head started feeling better, and her legs had stopped trembling. She still had a headache though.
She didn't really know what to think. As the dizziness and pain faded slowly, she tried to figure out the odd feeling she had, and that weird being appearing behind her window. Nothing came to her, but when she really tried, a sentence rose to her mind.
" Is this really where you want to be?" A strange voice echoed in her head.
Tamao took a sharp breath. She didn't understand what was going on. She wasn't even sure if someone had really told that to her, or if her mind had just come up that strange sentence and voice. Why did this have to happen now, now that she had so much to think about?
That brought something else to her mind. Tamao gasped, and jumped up again. Her feet were working normally now. Ignoring her confused state of mind, she ran up to the door. Leafia was already there. He yelped when he saw Tamao running, and ran to her, circling her feet nervously.
" Sorry… I didn't mean to scare you", Tamao sighed. Leafia had panicked quite hard this time.
Without saying anything more, Tamao returned inside. It was only in the warmth of the house that she noticed how cold the morning had been. The wind was echoing on the high roof of the house, and could even be heard downstairs. Not the best day to leave on a journey; it might even be freezing outside, if the wind would get any harder.
Once she returned to the room, Tamao noticed that Glacia's clear eyes were set on her and Leafia coming from behind. When Leafia noticed this, he made a relieved gasp, and ran up to the bed, jumped up, and started rubbing his nose to Glacia's cheeks. Tamao smiled, but she doubted she looked happy.
" Are you okay?" she asked, and Glacia nodded energetically. It seemed like last night would have been just a nightmare.
Speaking of which… what had happened just now? The huge flying bird had not been Ho-oh, and besides, why wouldn't she remember if she had chatted with Ho-oh in her dreams? Because that was what it was; no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't remember anything about her dream last night, she was just left with a confused feeling. And she knew that weird pokemon just now had something to do with it. She just knew.
Tamao stared down, with her two pokemon making worried glances at her. But before they managed to do anything, footsteps could be heard from behind the open door. Tamao turned her head, and saw Koume on the doorway, with a basket in her hands. Her long, curly hair was not tied on a bun, which was a rare sight.
" Good morning. I washed your clothes for you…" Koume greeted her gladly, and Tamao sighed. Was it a bit too heavily? Hopefully not. Even though she did suspect Koume's behaviour a little, she didn't want to risk it that she might start asking Morty why Tamao seemed so troubled.
" You know, it's really creepy when you do that", Tamao muttered, but Koume just smiled.
" We all have a little something that someone might consider weird. Sure, doing laundry at night might be very bizarre, but it calms me down just enough so I can see nice dreams", Koume answered, smiling a blossoming smile while handing Tamao her shirt and socks. She started looking for the rest of the clothes; there were laundry from the other sisters as well in the basket.
Tamao thought after a little.
" Come to think of it, do you ever have nightmares? Even when you sleepwalk, you don't seem scared or anything", she asked, but continued in her mind.
" Even when you sleep, you always have that happy smile. Are you really that happy, always?"
Koume laughed. She took up the rest of Tamao's clothes, and gave them to her.
" I guess you could say I usually really do have 'sweet dreams'. When I sleepwalk, I usually follow something nice in my dreams."
" That's… lucky, I guess."
" Do you think so? I think it's just thanks to the laundry I do at night."
Tamao looked down, and muttered to herself;
" You're weird…"
Koume just smiled her ever so happy smile.
" Are you the only one awake?" Tamao asked, after glancing Koume a few times, trying to find a trace of any expression but that smile.
" No. Satsuki seems to have been awake for hours… She's fully dressed in her kimono, already, even though it's this early in the morning."
" Oh…" Tamao muttered.
" I wonder if she saw… No, she most likely did see me running out of the house. But did she see the pokemon? I don't think I can really ask about that; it seems that Satsuki has realized that something is going on, but she might not know the whole truth. And I don't want to tell it to her. I don't want to tell it to anyone."
Koume smiled politely, and left the room. Tamao just thought after things for a while, but then shook her head wildly. Now was time to get going, not get stuck on thinking. Things wouldn't become any simpler, no matter how she thought about them. She'd just have to wait for the answers to come to her, or ask them from someone, if she ever had the chance to. If she'd never find out… then that was something she'd have to worry about in the future. Now was the time to explain, lie, and take off. Not a very nice mission, but it had to be done.
A strange voice visited Tamao's mind for a brief second, but she managed to chase it away before really starting to think about it.
" Is this really where you want to be?"
" Of course not," Tamao answered it angrily in her head, and forgot about the whole thing.
She walked up to Glacia, and checked she was alright. As Leafia was starting to get anxious, she had to wonder if she'd have the guts to tell the story. Last night still bothered her so much, how could she talk about it?
Glacia turned her head quietly, and suddenly made a little groan. Tamao looked at her in surprise. The pokemon nodded her head, and smiled in a way just a pokemon would. Tamao didn't even try to smile; she knew they'd understand her anyway.
She sat on her bed. Leafia came to sit between her and Glacia. He looked at Glacia, then Tamao. Tamao took a deep breath, looked Leafia into his eyes, and talked. She talked about everything that had happened last night, save from a few things she felt were unimportant, such as her own struggling. Glacia didn't fill in either.
A few times, Tamao was interrupted by a sister, such as Sumomo saying good morning in an energetic tone. She had talked so quietly that no-one heard her, though. She knew how to be careful, especially after having a sister secretly listening to her every now and then when she was young.
Once finished, Tamao took another deep breath, and the room went silent. Glacia was looking down, and Leafia seemed scared, since he quickly jumped down from the bed and started walking in circles. Then, before Tamao could respond to this, he raised his head, and made a nod. Tamao wasn't sure what it meant, but she felt relieved. She was about to answer, just say something, anything, when she heard Sakura call for her.
" I'm coming!" she shouted back. She glanced at Leafia, who turned away. Glacia had closed her eyes.
With that, Tamao changed to the clothes Koume had brought her. They were excellent for a traveller; they didn't get in your way, and didn't look half bad. While putting on her long socks, Tamao remembered that she still had to clean her boots from the dirt. There was no way she was using any other shoes; those boots were great for walking long distances. That's why she had bought them in the first place.
After that, closely followed by Leafia and Glacia, she left her room. All of her sisters were around that small table again, Satsuki indeed fully dressed in her kimono, while the others were wearing more casual clothes.
As she began to eat the breakfast Sumomo had apparently made, her sisters, mainly Sakura and Sumomo, started discussing her about the journey ahead of her.
" The things we packed will last for a week. After that, you'll just have to come back to get more things. Is that okay with you?"
" Sure…"
" We do want to you to call as often as you can. After all, this isn't just about you."
" I understand."
" Also, if you start travelling with someone, please do let us know exactly who it is. We won't let just anyone go around travelling with our little sister!"
" I think I'm the best judge on who should travel with me…I know that the certain someone I have been told to follow wouldn't pass your test. In fact, he wouldn't even be allowed to try!" Tamao groaned in her smile, but answered calmly.
" Yes, yes. I'll keep that in mind."
Sakura and Sumomo smiled happily, and Koume did too. Satsuki wasn't ignoring them like she usually did, but she wasn't smiling. She just looked at Tamao. Even though no emotion could be recognized from her eyes, Tamao felt calm. Whatever she knew, she understood that Tamao had her reasons to do as she did. That was good, at the very least. Behind her stern face and sometimes cold eyes, Satsuki really did possess amazing skills of empathy. No matter what a person did, she still understood them, and their reasons. Of course, this was all how Tamao saw it, but she was sure she was right.
Sakura looked at the clock.
" My, my! It's getting late!" she gasped, and made a cheerful grin.
Sumomo added in her own grin.
" Yes, yes! It's already nine o'clock! Isn't that just terrifying?"
" …?" Tamao couldn't help but to express her confusion.
" You wouldn't want to start this day by slacking off! A journey starts early in the morning, after all!" Sakura giggled, and Tamao looked at the bowl in her hand.
" But I haven't finished ea-" she started, but Sumomo nicked the bowl from her.
" It's okay! To start your journey with a full potential, you need be a little hungry!" she laughed.
" What kind of a logic is that?" Tamao muttered, but she didn't manage to say anything more before her sisters drew her up, placed a backpack in her bag, and pushed her towards the door.
" Umm… I'm not really sure about…" she tried to tell them, but they were both too excited to listen to her.
Soon, she found herself standing in front of the door, with her four sisters in front of her. Sumomo was waving her hand slightly.
" Well then! Have a safe trip, and come back soon, so we can finally all dance together!" Sakura smiled as she talked.
" I'm not going to…" Tamao muttered, but was ignored.
" We'll be waiting in front of the phone for your call. Don't you dare to forget us!" Sumomo giggled.
" Somehow… I feel like a ten-year-old leaving for New Bark town to get a starter. This is pretty ridiculous", Tamao thought, but kept quiet.
" Morty asked that you would go to visit him before you leave, so please respect his wishes", Koume said gently, and Tamao had to struggle to keep her jaw from dropping. Was Koume giving her an excuse to walk to the gym, without having to hide from her other sisters? Did she know something? How much? Morty… Had he told her something?! Oh wait… she had been there when Tamao had told him she'd come over. Tamao held back a sigh. Since when had she become this paranoid?
" Oooh…?" Sumomo exclaimed eerily, and Tamao started feeling irritated.
" Okay, I'll go see him then. But don't get any funny ideas, Sumomo!" she snapped, and turned her back to her sisters. She started marching away angrily, with Leafia and Glacia, who had been quiet for the whole morning, following her.
" Bye, bye!" Tamao could hear the voices of her sisters, save from Satsuki, from behind her back. She just snorted, and heard Sumomo and Sakura giggle behind her back. This cheered her up a little. Their carefreeness was quite refreshing, even though it did usually annoy her.
Leafia and Glacia seemed to sense that she was starting to get on a better mood, and started growling playfully at each other. Soon, they were more running around than walking with Tamao.
" Seriously, where do you get that energy from?" Tamao sighed, but she was feeling good. She had almost totally forgotten about the mystery that had kept her mind troubled in the morning.
Soon enough, the Ecruteak was once again in front of her. As she walked to the door, she suddenly heard a loud scream from inside the gym. Eusine was shouting, using no words. This got Tamao on her guard, and she quickly moved away from the door. It proved to be a good thing she did; because right after she had sidestepped, the door banged open, and Eusine basically flew to the ground. Tamao stared, as he held his shoulder and laughed like crazy.
" I did it!" he laughed. He then noticed Tamao, and tried to greet her, but didn't quite get the words out.
" Exactly what were you doing?" Tamao asked, loudly enough for the laughing Eusine to hear.
" I tried to break the door. It seems that only the locks gave up, but I still reached my goal, no?"
Tamao looked at the door, which was wide open with the broken locks hanging from it, and then at Eusine.
" And why would you want to break Morty's door? You'll have to pay for it, you know!" She felt like she'd be lecturing Eusine.
" But it was Morty who locked us in! Even the key I st -the key he gave to me- wouldn't open the doors! And it's nine thirty already, I just had to get going!" Eusine had stopped laughing, but still looked highly amused.
" What's with this 'nine thirty already?'? Is there really a written rule that one must leave early, if going on some sort of a journey? I wonder if Eusine has had any breakfast… I thought it was just Sumomo's strange logic, but you never know…" Tamao wondered, as she watched Eusine stand up, and remove a straw of grass from his sleeve.
After he was satisfied with his appearance, he did add to his sentence, though:
" I didn't think I'd actually manage to break anything on that door… I guess I've underestimated my powers."
Tamao sighed, and looked at the door again. Crystal was now standing there, looking angrily at Eusine.
" I'm not the one who's going to pay for that you know! Oh, hi there, Tamao", she shouted, and reverted to polite in an amazing speed when she saw Tamao standing with Eusine.
" Hiya", Tamao answered her. Leafia and Glacia seemed to be highly amused by Eusine's little stunt, since they were both looking at him admiringly.
It was then Morty appeared from the gym, and started examining the door and the locks. He sighed harshly, so harshly everyone knew he wasn't very serious.
" Now you've done it! Have you got any idea how hard it was to make this door creak? And those locks cost me a bunch! I don't think I'll have enough money to pay for them all over again…"
" No worries! I'm sure Crystal will easily get the money by bat…" Eusine said cheerfully, only to be interrupted by Crystal's snort.
" You broke, you pay. I'm not going to waste my time for paying off your stupid pranks. Actually, I might as well cut all of my ties to you!"
" Ah, please don't! How will I survive if the lady is not by my side?!" Eusine gasped ever so playfully, and Crystal sighed. She didn't seem to be on the mood to play games with Eusine. Too bad he always had something going on.
Morty called out for a sage inside, who came out, looking sleepy. Morty asked him to call someone to repair the door, and the sage nodded, glared at Eusine muttering something, and returned inside.
" Whoa, that was cold!" Eusine whined. Apparently, he had heard what the sage had said.
" You deserved it…" Crystal muttered, and Eusine glanced at her, amused.
Morty smiled cheerfully at Tamao, and she sighed to answer him. Morty would understand what she meant with it. He knew she wasn't that good with smiling.
" Hey, Tamao? Why do you have a backpack? Are you going somewhere?" Crystal suddenly asked, apparently hoping that they'd get serious again. She looked tired. She seemed to be recovering from a bad night. Had Eusine kept her awake?
" Ah…" Tamao gasped, and Eusine grimaced. Tamao held back the urge to snap at him, and simply glared. She then looked at Crystal.
" I'm coming with you", Tamao said simply.
Eusine smiled eerily, almost knowingly, and Crystal looked stunned. They both started talking at the same time.
" Why?" Crystal asked.
" Why not?" Eusine said, as if knowing Crystal's question in forehand, and starting to answer it at the same time she started saying it.
Crystal stared at him. He made a grin, and winked at Tamao. Somehow, this made Tamao really nervous. What was he up to?
" Buh… We're not walking around for fun! It's, oh come on, Eusine, it's a serious matter! And I wouldn't think you want to…" Crystal spoke out, but Tamao interrupted her.
" I need to get out of the city for a while. And I'm sick of Eusine; maybe he'll stop being annoying once he gets Suicune. Because that is something we all desire, I'm eager to help you with the chasing and catching." She had planned what she would say on her way to the gym.
Eusine laughed, and Crystal seemed to have to struggle to stay dead serious.
" But…" she muttered, sounding a lot more cheerful now though.
" Oh come on – what's wrong with that? Even though I disagree with me being annoying, I will not deny one from wanting to help me to achieve my dream! And it is only for… how long?" Eusine started, and then shot a glance at Tamao.
Tamao looked to the sky. She had no clue how long she'd take to… do what she must.
" I don't know. A few weeks maybe", she answered and gained an approving smile from Eusine.
" Well, I don't see anything wrong with that. Do you, milady?" Eusine asked Crystal, but it was obvious he wasn't really going to listen to her opinion.
" Well, I…" Crystal started anyway, but Eusine had already zoomed to Tamao and grabbed her arm.
" Excellent, excellent! Now, let's get going! Bye, Morty!" He shouted, grabbed Crystal's arm too, and started dragging them towards the east of the city.
" Buh-!" Tamao and Crystal both gasped, and were too surprised to fight back.
" Have a safe trip!" Morty shouted from behind them. Tamao turned to him, hoping for a little help, but was only greeted by a sad expression on Morty's face.
" What's with him?" Tamao thought, and turned forward. She had more important things to do, right now. No time to wonder about Morty's expressions.
Tamao drew her hand back from Eusine, so harshly he almost fell. Crystal saw her chance, and drew her hand back too, very quickly.
" My… You're already working as a team! How sweet!" Eusine laughed, but stopped when he realized that both of the girls were glaring at him. His stupid grin remained, though.
Tamao, and Crystal apparently too, just settled into walking quietly towards Route 42. Eusine started whistling, but Crystal told him to stop. He, luckily, did as told.
Tamao had her suspicions that Crystal wasn't quite happy with her explanation of why she wanted to come with them, but she seemed to leave it at that for now. She might ask later, though; right now, Eusine was just being so bothersome she wouldn't manage even is she tried. Tamao hoped she'd remember to come up with a good excuse later, so that Crystal wouldn't get suspicious.
The guard in the post did seem to recognize the trio. After all, Eusine and Crystal were both famous in their own ways, and everyone in Ecruteak knew who Tamao was. However, the guard didn't say anything. Crystal glaring at Eusine, and Tamao's wondersome face (which tended to look angry) probably made him think it was better not to. Eusine's cheerful attitude while being with two seemingly angry girls probably scared him a bit too. Anyone would get a little creeped out, if they weren't used to Eusine's idiotic behaviour. One might start questioning his sanity.
Route 42 opened before them. The water was glittering in the sunlight. The trees were making a lot of sound as they shook in the harsh and cold wind. A few Heracross glared at them, and escaped into the trees. Tamao stared after them, feeling happy that they didn't want to fight. Glacia was still a little tired, and Leafia would only get nervous. The two were now chatting with each other, who knew what about. Sometimes Tamao wondered why no-one had come up with a way to understand pokemon language; there was so much that couldn't be said without having both parties understand the words.
" I wonder if we should fly or surf?" Eusine interrupted her thinking.
" Flying would be faster, but since it's really cold today, we'd just freeze in the air. I say we surf from here, and walk the rest of the way", Crystal answered, and Eusine nodded, agreeing.
Tamao realized something that made her very stupid.
" Uh… where are we going?" she asked. That's right; she had no idea.
" The lake of rage… We heard that someone had seen a peculiar pokemon there", Eusine answered simply.
" And what makes you think that peculiar pokemon is Suicune?" Tamao asked.
Crystal sighed.
" Nothing really. But he insisted on having a look at the place… Because there's water there, and Suicune is water type. That's as far as I could make out from his logic."
" But the pokemon could be that… what was it now…? I heard someone saw a red Gyarados there around five years ago, it could be…" Tamao started, but Crystal smiled at her.
" It's not. I caught that Gyarados. He's in my box right now, taking care of my Magikarp", she told her. Tamao stared, and she laughed a little.
" Shall we get going?" Eusine asked, smiling. He still looked weird to Tamao when he did that.
" Sure, sure…" Crystal mumbled, and took up a pokeball. She held the ball gently in her hand for a while, and then pressed the small button on it. A red light flashed, and a huge, impressive looking Feraligatr appeared before the three.
" There, there! We need you to carry us around for a bit", Crystal told the Feraligatr, and the pokemon roared happily. Crystal smiled at the Feraligatr, and petted the huge red spikes on his head.
Eusine leaned towards Tamao.
" He's her starter", he whispered, with an odd tone in his voice. Tamao didn't answer; she didn't need to.
Tamao watched, as Crystal gently tapped the Feraligatr in the back. The pokemon tried to playfully bite her hand, and Crystal laughed full heartedly. She looked like a perfectly normal, happy trainer. Definitely not a person who hunted for a legendary pokemon. It was amazing how wrong things could go. Now that Tamao thought about it, it all seemed very twisted. And cruel.
The Feraligatr jumped into the water, splashing water so hardly that even Tamao got several drops in her hair. Eusine covered his head, and Crystal mocked him about it, before climbing to the back of her pokemon. She stood up and Feraligatr started swimming in a circle. Crystal didn't need to concentrate; she worked so well with her pokemon, she obviously didn't need to fear falling down.
It was just then Tamao saw a green shadow flash by her eyes. As she blinked, she suddenly heard Feraligatr roar and Crystal make a little surprised scream. She opened her eyes, and saw Crystal holding her hand by her feet. She had just managed to keep her balance.
The secret behind the green flash was revealed, when Tamao looked at the arm Feraligatr was holding in front of Crystal. He had obviously raised it to protect her. On the arm, three huge sharp leaves were sticking out.
Razor leaf. Someone had attacked them.
Figuring this out only took Tamao a second, and in the next instant, she could hear a loud scream, in the voice of a boy.
" You lucked out this time!"
Suddenly, an impressive Meganium appeared from behind them. As far as Tamao knew, Meganium usually looked cute and sweet, but this one looked angry, and sort of scary, as she stared at Feraligatr with eyes burning of a strong emotion. Was it will to battle? Probably.
From behind the Meganium, a boy suddenly emerged. He was tall, way taller than Tamao was, maybe even taller than Eusine. He was obviously around Tamao's age, and had dark, angry eyes. Tamao saw chains hanging from his black belt, and his clothes were ideal for "the bad guy" in modern movies. He looked very impressive, somehow, looking at Crystal with a similar expression as his Meganium.
However, his clothes, height or the burn in his eyes were not the reason why Tamao couldn't get her eyes off him. The reason was rather his long hair, tied on a ponytail. It was red in colour, blood red, and it shone in the pale light of the sun. Tamao had never seen anything so… purely red. Redder than a sunrise.
Tamao stared at the boy with the crimson hair, and felt more impressed than she had ever felt after just seeing a person. The boy noticed her looking, and turned his head towards her. The burning in his eyes disappeared when he looked at Tamao, and instead, for just a moment, a bit confused look visited his face. He then quickly adapted a stern look, and stared back at Tamao. Drops of water started running down Tamao's short black hair, as the boy turned back to Crystal. A devilish smile took over his face.
" Crystal from New Bark Town… I've finally found you", the boy said in a strange, anxious tone.
Tamao heard Crystal sigh. She looked at her, and saw a sad look on the girls' face. She had gotten down from Feraligatr's back, and they were now both standing on the ground. Feraligatr stared intensively at Meganium, but Crystal looked down.
The boy seemed to be irritated by this, and started talking again. Or shouting, rather.
" Prepare yourself!" his voice echoed in the air, and several bird pokemon left the trees around them. A few Heracross did too.
As an answer to the boy shouting, the Meganium that obviously belonged to him, made an excited yell. Sunlight started getting attracted to the huge flower on the neck of the pokemon. She was preparing a solarbeam, and was clearly aiming towards Feraligatr.
Crystal sighed again. Simply and slowly, she took up a pokeball, and withdrew Feraligatr. The boy made an angry groan.
" I'm not battling you", Crystal said in a blank tone, and turned away.
Tamao felt confused, and looked at the boy. He looked annoyed, but Tamao could guess that he had seen it coming.
Eusine, not unlike Tamao, had just quietly followed the situation. From his expression, Tamao could guess that he knew exactly who the boy was, what was going on, and how it would end. He had a bored look on his face, and his hands were placed behind his neck.
The boy with the red hair looked furious. His Meganium hissed from behind her teeth, and the boy moved restlessly on his place. His face was pale, but his eyes were burning again, with a different emotion than before.
" WHY?!" he shouted furiously. There were no bird pokemon, or even Heracross, left in the trees after that.
Crystal looked down, so that a shadow took over her face.
" I've told you before; I don't want to", she said coldly.
" And why is that?!" The boy screamed.
" None of your business", Crystal said, and turned away.
Tamao watched as the boy nearly boiled in front of her eyes. He wasn't afraid of expressing his anger.
" You and that arrogant attitude of yours! I tell you, there's absolutely no reason for you to despise me! I am not weak, not anymore! I would beat you in a battle with my hands and eyes tied!" he screamed. Tamao started feeling a little uneasy about the attitudes of both the boy and Crystal.
" Good for you."
Now the boy was getting furious, even more than before. His face was still as pale as before, but his hands were gripping so harshly Tamao feared they might break. His Meganium was stomping the ground with her legs.
" What's with y -!" he started shouting, but a huge crack echoed in the wind so harshly he couldn't finish his sentence.
It was now that Tamao realized that the wind had gotten stronger. A lot stronger. The wind was blowing so harshly, Glacia seemed to have a hard time on staying still. If the wind would increase any more, the wind would blow her away!
Tamao took up two pokeballs, and withdrew both Leafia and Glacia. The wind got a little stronger again; it was starting to become dangerous for a human, let alone a small pokemon.
" Oh…?" The boy muttered, and looked at a tree near them. There was a huge branch on the ground by the tree; the crack had come from the branch breaking and falling down.
Crystal was silent, but Eusine talked at long at last.
" This looks bad. I suggest that we continue this another time." He directed his sentence at the boy.
The boy snorted, but withdrew his Meganium.
" Listen - " he started, but the wind made a long, weeping squeal so that his voice was once again drowned there. The waves on the ale in front of them were getting high, as if it were a sea. Tamao started wondering how her sisters hadn't mentioned anything about a storm, when she suddenly started thinking the storm might not be…
A wave hit the ground in front of them so harshly it sent sand flying. Tamao got some into her eyes, and started wiping them as fast as she could. When she opened her eyes, she saw that leaves from the trees were flying around like crazy. She felt a striking pain in her wrist; a leaf had cut a little wound there.
The red-haired boy suddenly gasped. Tamao looked at him in surprise, as he fell over in the wind. He held his head, and snorted out:
" This isn't a storm! It's more like a tornado!"
Luckily, no tornadoes were at sight. Tamao looked at the boy who had gotten up again. He was looking around, as if searching.
" Suspicious…" He muttered.
" Indeed!" Eusine said cheerfully. Tamao stared at him. He was indeed smiling. How stupid was he really? Or was he really insane?
" We should return to the gym", Crystal said quietly. She glared at the boy, as if telling him he was not welcome.
" I've been searching for you for ages! No way I'm not letting you run away like a Rattata!" The boy told her angrily, and Crystal sighed.
" We'll see what you can do about it."
" Why you -!" the boy started, but Eusine raised his hand to make him quiet down.
" It is starting to get very unsafe here, so I tell you; leave her alone for now. Also, lady Crystal, the gym is very far away; we will not make it if we start heading there now, we'll just end up hurt. I suggest we search safety from Mt. Mortar", he said calmly. Whoa… Eusine was taking charge.
" And how is a cave crawling with wild pokemon safe?" Crystal asked coolly. Just the presence of the red-haired boy seemed to annoy her.
" Well, I'll rather be fighting low-levelled wild pokemon than fear for my life in here", Eusine said simply, and started walking towards the entrance of a cave. Tamao had feared that cave when little, but even now, she was still used to it. She had only visited the cave a few times, but she wasn't really afraid.
Unwillingly, Crystal followed Eusine, and Tamao started following them too. To her surprise, the red-haired boy came too. He probably thought it didn't matter if he was unwanted company, as long as he himself felt safe.
It was really dark in the cave, darker than Tamao remembered it would be. She felt nervous, since she couldn't see in front of her at all. She heard Eusine and Crystal talking about something ahead of her, but since she only concentrated on following their voices, she didn't really know what.
She did see the boy though, since he was walking close enough to her. Not well, but she could see his shape, and the red shade in the darkness, which would be his hair. The boy was silent, and Tamao didn't feel like starting a conversation with a stranger who had attacked them.
The extreme darkness was very weird. It was dead quiet too, not even the wild pokemon were making any sounds. Actually, it was like they would have been the only ones in the cave. The footsteps seemed to be getting quieter too.
As Tamao walked, she suddenly couldn't hear the steps of the boy near her. By an instinct, she turned back, and saw that the boy had stopped, and was looking down.
Tamao could hardly follow his gaze in the darkness, but once she saw what the boy was looking at, she flinched. Because on the ground, there was a small Marill. It was small for it's species, but that wasn't what scared Tamao. The fact that it had fainted, and there was a suffering expression on the face of the small pokemon, that was what really made her feel uneasy. She had seen that expression before.
Tamao raised her hand in front of her eyes. She could see black swirling around it. The darkness in the cave was not natural. The silence was not a coincidence. It was just as she feared; she, the boy, the whole cave… They were all engulfed in a black mist.
Umbreon was here. The cave was dark because of the mist dwelling there, and all the pokemon had fainted, just like in the forest before.
Tamao also realized why the steps had gotten quieter; she had only heard the steps of two people for a while now. Eusine and Crystal were nowhere around. She was alone with the red-haired boy.
Tamao looked at the boy, feeling her panic rising. The boy looked at her, with a barely visible, but definitely interested expression in his eyes.
Tamao shivered. What was going on? Eusine and Crystal had probably fainted from the mist, just like before… but what about the boy? He didn't look dizzy, and was definitely standing. Now that she looked at him, he didn't even look scared. He looked… bored?
The boy suddenly spoke.
" Now this is a mess. It doesn't seem like it's any safer here than outside", he said, oddly calmly. He was looking at the Marill as he spoke.
It seemed that the boy wasn't aware exactly what was going on, but base don the fainted Marill, realized it was nothing good. Tamao hoped it was so. Right now, she had to trust it was, too. She didn't have the time to start questioning the boy.
She turned her gaze away from the boy, and saw that it was getting darker ahead of them. Umbreon was probably there. She started walking towards the darkness. The boy made a questioning sound, but followed her without saying anything. Tamao didn't care, and let him follow her.
He had lasted long, but he'd faint soon enough. He had to. There was no doubt he would. Or was there?