Sup lovelies!
I bet you guys didn't expect an update at such a random time!
Okay. So the time isn't really random as it is liberating.
Exams are over and I'm taking the few days of vacation to not draw and to actually work on this story! Woohoo!
I've also gotten a good plot twist while playing Pokemon and Super Mario Sunshine, so I'm really excited to be writing about it soon! I'm sure most of you will get it when it comes down to it, so you don't really have to think much about it yet~
Oh yeah, did anyone else notice that we've haven't even reached the mid-way point of this story? If you subtract the chapters of OCs written from the total of OCs (which is around 32) and then compare, you'll see that there are still a whole bunch of chapters left before this is over! And then you also have to add a few extras and fun holiday events!
...oh man. That is sounding kinda long. Not that I'm complaining. I love this story and I love writing it!
I'm also trying to write a one-shot OC fluff story for Valentines Day, though with the way I've been fussing over my words on it during the time I've barely worked on it, its making it really hard for me to get some actual work done. So it'll most probably be late for the event. Not that it really matters, since I'm pretty sure I've published the Halloween chapter of Stars during December. I guess I'm bad with self-deadlines? :D
Well, enough of me ranting for one night.
READ ON, as Marcel The Shell With Shoes On so cutely put it.
CEDRIC'S CHAPTER
"LET GO OF HER!" I barely recognized my own voice as I cried out, running towards the grunts that were progressively getting farther away from my reach. Damn it, I hate running around! It makes me all sweaty and flimsy and it makes my legs all week!
"Neh-neh!" One of them turned to stick their tongue out at me.
I literally growled at them in anger. Stupid cocky bastards!
I considered getting out my Pokémon to help me knock them out, but I had to catch up to them first. I can't stop and let my Pokémon out; those bad guys would get away way at the chance!
"Hey, what the—oof!" The one holding the hostage fell to his knees holding his gut. My eyes roamed her body shamelessly, making sure she was fine—she had a few scratches here and there and her hair was dishevelled, but otherwise she still looked pretty—as she backed away from the second grunt. She looked determined enough to get away by herself or even severely hurt them, and I can tell by the pose that her body naturally fell into that she was ready to fight.
My steps echoed on asphalt. She glanced at me as I neared.
Bad move.
The grunt punched her in the face.
"Shit! Maikee!" I instantly swore and sprinted closer, moving on adrenaline only as I barely registered myself tossing out a Pokéball. "Taly, Arial Ace!"
"BAWK!" My obedient little bird squawked as it exited the ball, looking around to get its bearings straight. I zoomed past, not waiting for her to attack before I neared Maikee. She could be severely hurt for all I knew!
Taly dashed past me not a second later, her whole body glowing white with energy and speed as it aimed for the grunt. He only had time to take a step back before Taly got him in the side, not deep enough to be fatal, but still a good strike that could have him in pain for a while.
"Maikee!" I called again, reaching for her. I was sooo close to have her in my hands!
"Oh no, you don't!" I heard the voice too late. "This'll teach ya!"
Searing pain exploded on my skull and the world blurred with red and black spots. I collapsed on my hands, feeling suddenly nauseated, disoriented, and in severe pain. I heard my fellow STAR gasping in shock, hands muffling the sound, and Taly squawking faintly in the background again. Ringing started in my ears and I felt like throwing up and fainting at the same time.
Taly's squawking grew louder and I felt the guy who-had-knocked-me-over-the-head-with-whatever-that-thing-was shift a few times before the sound of feathers flapping reached my ears. I instantly knew Taly was going to try to keep the foe away from me.
"Guhhh—get off me—stupid bird!" The grunt cried desperately, and I could hear from his voice that he was straining to keep her away. I could distinctly hear my girl in the background, shuffling around, hesitant in knowing how to help.
"Go Venusaur!" She finally called and I heard the sound of the Pokéball popping open and close. The large grass type roared in greeting and I looked up in time to spot the vines headed for me. I leaned back in shock but had no time to react as they wrapped around me and lifted me in the air. I didn't bother to struggle against it, even if it wasn't an inch comfy, and waited patiently as I was literally brought in front of Maikee's face.
"Are you okay?" She asked softly, grabbing my face with her dainty hands and feeling my head for the injury. When her finger accidently skimmed on a sensitive spot near the back of my head full of smexy blond locks, I winced and she jerked back. "Sorry!"
I looked away in embarrassment, feeling way less manly than usual, "I'm fine."
She smiled in a cute disbelieving way, hands on her hips, "Clearly."
I glanced back at her, a small pout on my lips. I was going to keep teasing her—she's seriously way too cute for her own good—but I was brought down back to earth by the vines. I stumbled to get my balance back and patted the Venusaur a thanks before looking around for my Taly.
There she was!
"Block your ears!" I let the warning hang in the air, getting anxious as the second grunt—the one that got Arial Ace-d earlier—started to get back up. I made sure the others had their fingers—or vines, in the Venusaur's case—in their ears before doing the same. "Taly, use SING!"
"Bawk!" It cried before flying higher in the air and belting out a sweet lullaby. I could faintly hear the song through my fingers and forced myself to ignore it in fear of falling asleep. The grunts' eyes started to droop, the hateful expressions loosened, and they dropped like bags of dead potatoes on the ground, done in dreamland.
Taly proudly swooped over and sat on my head, chest puffed up and all queen-like. I reached a hand up and petted her wings the way she liked and she rubbed her head against it in order to snuggle with it. Taly loved to snuggle.
"Thanks for saving me," Maikee beamed to me, holding her Pokéball as if she was going to return her Venusaur. After thinking a bit, she changed her mind and put her Pokéball back in her bag.
"No problem," I smirked, "But why didn't you call out your Pokémon sooner?"
She scuffed her foot sheepishly on the gravel, "They took my bag before I could do anything, but thanks to you, I got it back! Thank you so much! I have no idea what I would've done if I lost my Venusaur and Vaporeon." She scratched the ears of her large plant creature, and it leaned its head closer for a better scratch, expression in full contentment. Such a lucky Pokémon he was. I want to be scratched behind the ears too!
"Like I said, it's wasn't a problem," I smiled.
"Over there!" I heard a voice yell from behind us. I quickly turned around and spotted more grunts turning the corner to make their way to us, enraged expressions on their faces, "They took down two of our members!"
I automatically slid into a fighting stance, even if I wasn't the one doing most of the fighting, waiting for them to make the first move before I'd send Taly out. As expected, a large amount of Pokéballs were thrown in the air when they reached a decent distance.
"Climb on, Cedric!"
I turned in time to spot Maikee settling on the back of her large Pokémon—practically sitting on its head since she didn't go on the flower—, arm extended to me. I leapt and caught the hand, quickly climbing on behind her as Taly squawked and fluttered around my head after falling off. I gave her a sheepish look. She returned to her spot on my head, even if she didn't look too happy about it.
"Hold on," Maikee warned before holding onto her Pokémon's leaves, "Earthquake!"
The Venusaur lifted itself on its hind legs, nearly throwing all of us off, before slamming its paws back down on the ground. Large crevices grew from the impact, spreading in every direction. Most of the Pokémon in the multitude newly-released fell, the others hovering or flying about with uncertainty since their owners also fell.
"Let's move!" Holding the leaves like reins, she hauled her Pokémon around to get away from the mess. But by its large size and weight, it was hard for her to do so as our new enemies were already getting back on their feet. A wave of long rage attacks went for us, most of them fire or ice, and I felt powerless as I watched them spank the tusshie of the helpless grass type I was on. I couldn't take the torture.
"This isn't working," I told my partner, slipping off her Pokémon before we got surrounded. "If you want to fight them all, we'll fight. If you want to run, call back your Venusaur and we'll run. I'm sorry but it's too large to keep up with us."
"Yeah," She smiled softly before following me off, fetching back her Pokéball from her brown messenger bag, "Understood."
"So we're running?" I asked her, keeping my eyes on the pouncing group of Houndours, Wheezings, Nidoran evolutions, and etc. Taly was unfortunately caught in all of it, flying high in the sky as she worked her little Chatot body to dodge everything left and right. I was ready to call out Momo when Maikee interrupted my thoughts.
"Yes, we're running." She stated with a nod to herself, calling out her Vaporeon to help out Taly.
And then she grabbed my hand and dragged me away.
LIKE A BAWS.
-LINEBIATCH-
"You guys!" Sam's hysteric cry cut through our thoughts as we flew down an intersection. We literally froze in our steps and jogged backwards to spot the girl heading for us. Her brown eyes were scared but determined to survive through this weird event, and her long brown hair was held back by a black hat seated upon it. For some odd reason, she was disguised in black clothing with a big red R on the front. "I need to tell—" She took a double take and blinked in surprise before she smirked teasingly, "Well, what's going on here?"
I peeked at Maikee as she flushed and glanced down at our joint hands uncertainly. "N-nothi—!" She attempted to say, but she stopped when I caught her fleeing hand back. She gave me an alarmed look, but I ignored it and smirked smexily back at her. She stared, confused, before quickly looking away with that cute blush still adorning her cheeks.
"Nothing~" I chimed with a grin, implying the opposite.
"Mhmm..." Sam smirked back and wiggled her eyebrows.
I wiggled my own eyebrows in response.
Maikee looked embarrassed to even know us.
"Anyways," She cut in, giving me a look, before turning to the other girl, "You needed us for something, Sam?"
"Yes!" Sam snapped back to attention, face back to serious, "I need to tell as many Stars as possible to take down all the grunts they see!"
"Why?" I tilted my head—very slightly unnoticeably in Maikee's direction—in confusion.
"I'm not exactly sure, my disguise didn't let me in on much of the information—" Ah, that explains that, "—but we did understand that someone's going to the top of the tower here for some reason. And that they need the grunts to keep everyone under control—basically snatch their Pokemon, knock them out unconscious and then drag them away, from what I could tell."
I glanced at Maikee, wondering if that's what they did to her. She looked away in response.
I'll take that as a yes.
Insert super angry face here.
"Obviously, they're up to no good." I concluded easily. The girls nodded back to me with determined looks. "Did anyone contact Boss Lance yet?"
Sam shook her head sadly, "I honestly have no idea."
"Let me try then," I took initiative and fished out my phone from my pocket, flipping it open and pressing a bunch of buttons. It started to ring the second I lifted it to my ear.
Ring ring ring...
Ring ring ring...
Ring ring chicken wing...
Ring ring ring...
"This is Lance. I'm currently busy saving the world from evil, so leave a message if you can actually help me."
"He's not picking up," I snapped my phone shut and smiled to myself, "Cool voicemail message though."
"That sucks," Maikee put a hand on her hip as she furrowed her brows cutely in concentration, "But since it rang, we know that his phone worked but that it was either away from him or that he couldn't hear it."
"That's not really good news," Sam frowned, "He could be in trouble for all we knew."
"Sucks."
"Tell me about it."
"Yeah..."
"Oh crap," Sam quickly spotted a grunt from the back, so she would be in big trouble if that person noticed that she wasn't terrorizing us like she should be doing, "I have to go, bye!"
And then she called out her Zangoose and left us there all lonely and stuff.
Now it's just Maikee and I.
"ACHOOOOO!" The grunt yelled and I quickly pulled Maikee to hide with me behind a corner. The man started grumbling to himself about allergies and left to go find another grunt. Probably for some Kleenexes. I'm just guessing.
"I don't understand…" I heard Maikee whisper. "I thought they were after the Latioses and Latias?"
"Me too," I whispered back, "But there's probably something here that they need for some reason."
I felt her hair shift on my arm in a nod of agreement. I peeked around the corner.
"I…" She started shakily, but then covered it with a forced smile when I turned to her, "W-what should we do next?"
She was shaking. She was probably afraid and scared of everything that's going on. I felt the strong urge to hug her but held myself back. This was not the time. It wasn't the right moment. I could hug her forever later! Right now, we needed to be strong.
"I think," I said, slouching against the wall, "We should head for the tower."
She nodded almost as if she read my mind for the reason, "Right! We should stop them!"
I nodded back but made no move to get off the wall, "…Maikee?"
She was already heading towards the giant looming towers ahead so I was glad when she paused to look at me, "Yeah?"
I leaned forward and reached over to pat her head, "You're such a good girl."
I caught her blush before she quickly hid her face, "S-shut up. Let's get going!"
"Okay," I smirked and kicked off the wall, following behind her just as Taly landed on my head. "We better hurry too!" I scratched her feathers and spotted Maikee's Vaporeon as it reached us, "They're catching up to us!"
She glanced back at me before leaning down to pet her Pokémon. "Should we take the long way there?"
"Nah," I kept glancing around but still managed to grin at her, "Race you there?"
She brightened up, "You're on!"
-LINEBIATCH-
That was the most stupid decision I ever made. I have four ways to prove it too.
One. I didn't like running. When I finally arrived at our destination, I was wheezing and panting and literally dying on the front steps. I could do a fast walk or a slow run, but sprinting full steam ahead as if a roaring Rayquaza was chasing after me ready to eat my guts? Nuh-uh. No way. I'm staying away from that.
Two. Maikee won are supposed "race". I'm not a sore loser or anything, but I'm just saying, she won. And to keep up and not lose sight of her, I had to run like I never ran before! And like mentioned before, I died. Like, twice.
Three. We didn't manage to lose the grunts that were chasing from behind us. I didn't even know how they managed to keep up with the speed we were going, but we saw their Pokémon before they arrived and it was hard to defend myself when I'm dying.
Four. There was even more grunts in front of us. They didn't sick their Pokémon on us, but they did send us looks that meant that if we tried to get closer, we were doomed. We were really outnumbered too.
You know what that meant?
We were surrounded.
"Taly, sing!" I called, slapping my hands over my ears without warning.
"Oh no you don't!" One the grunts cut in, "Loudred, uproar!"
"Holy mother of Arceus…" I swore pressing my hands harder on my ears to block the loud yells the beast was throwing at us, "…my ears are going to bleed after this. I know it."
"What?" Maikee yelled over the noise, her own hands over her ears. I could barely hear anything happening, and her even less. I've been so busy trying to ignored the noise and to try and hear Maikee and to think of a way out that I couldn't do anything as the Loudred jumped up and grabbed Taly within its jaws.
"T-TALY!" I screeched, fully stopping what I was doing to stare at her in horror. My mind had gone blank and I couldn't think of any kind of way to get her free other than me going over there and punching the creature in the face.
One good news? With Taly in its mouth, the noise will be subsided until she's free.
"Um…um…" I started running my hands through my hair and pulling at it as Taly cried out in pain. I couldn't handle hearing her in pain, even if it wasn't the first time, but she was going to be eaten! She'd die! I… but… OOH!
"Taly, Fury Attack!" The attack came as an idea but I finally realized how good it would be for me—no, for Taly.
With a squeak, she turned around—and quite painfully, might I add—in the teeth of the creature. I spotted the blood seeping and held a hand to my mouth to stop myself from hyperventilating, really hoping that it was nothing fatal. Please let her be okay! It's a scratch! Just a scratch! She was shook around, dark red drops flying as she cried out in pain.
Her beak finally landed in the Loudred's eye. Her wings stretched and flapped in her moment of freedom and she tried to fly away but I could tell it was too hard for her. I quickly forgot about everything else and lunged for my baby, catching her as she started her descend to the ground. I cradled her like a baby in my arms, and I knew for a fact that she hated that. So why wasn't she resisting? W-why was she letting me hold her in the way I knew she disliked?
Her blood was on my fingers.
She was lying still, eyes barely open.
Her breath was dim.
She… she…!
"Squawk…." She uttered barely, "I love you…. Squawk."
Her cute little black eyes fluttered to a close.
Her chest stopped moving.
She…she was… gone…
"N-NO!" I barely felt myself fall to my knees and my hands were shaking as I tried to pet Taly awake, "Taly-please! No! Don't play this joke on me! Taly! T-taly… Taly please! TALY! N-NO!"
She wasn't answering me. In some way, I knew she wouldn't, but I refused to believe it. I promised I would take care of her, but I couldn't even do that! I grew too attached! I have no right to even consider calling myself a trainer if I allowed a Pokémon I didn't even catch myself to die in my hands… I should've been able to avoid this… If we hadn't gone to the tower… If only we'd have stayed away… Why did it have to be Taly?
Something butted my arm and placed itself on my knee. I turned my eyes to Momo in surprise, guessing she let herself out of her ball when she felt my emotions grow to hysterics. She whined sadly and huddled closer for a hug. I wrapped one arm around her and let my face hide in her soft fur as she silently comforted me. Momo… I can't bear to lose her too…
"Vaporeon, Ice Beam! Venusaur, Vine Whip!" The yell split through my mind and brought me back to reality. I lifted my head and watched in horror as Maikee fought relentlessly with both her Pokémon out to keep the grunts at bay. She was in the middle of it all, punching the few weak-looking solid Pokémon (there were ghosts in the fray) into subconscious to help.
I could tell her group was tiring. Fast.
And I was just sitting here, lost and suffering in my own world.
"M-momo…" I really didn't want to do this, but I couldn't lose Maikee too, "Let's help them out!" Momo jumped up with me, eyes a darker shade of remorse, "Faint Attack!"
She vanished from my side. I quickly sprinted to Maikee and got back-to-back with her, getting a few hits on some Pokémon too. It was really weird having to concentrate on your own battle while your Pokémon were around you waiting for your orders, though most of the time they didn't need orders. It was also really weird going up against Pokémon, but I guess that's what we had to do to survive.
"I don't want to be mean," Maikee spoke up from behind me hesitantly, "But you need to put Taly down."
"I-I can't!" I hesitated while trying to dodge an iron tail. It half-missed and scratched my cheek, drawing blood. I reeled back and resisted to turn on Maikee. That would leave me defenceless! "I can't just ditch her here in this mess!"
"You don't have to ditch her," She growled as I heard her land a hit on something. It was really hard to talk and fight at a time like this. "Just… put her in your bag or something… We'll bury her later."
"She's not dead!" I hissed, refusing to admit to the truth as I landed a good uppercut on the very Ekans that had just cut me a few seconds ago. "She's resting!"
"You keep believing that!"
"Besides," I grabbed the Pokémon's tail and tried to twist in the opposite direction, but that was kind of hard to do with only one hand. "I'm kinda in a tough spot here!" The tail slithered out of my hands and whipped me in the face. I groaned and rubbed my face with my free hand to make sure nothing was broken before straightening up again.
"WHOA!" A grunt suddenly yelled very loudly in awe, "WHAT'S THAT?"
And good thing for us, he was pointing up at something in the skies.
"What's what?" Maikee asked no one as the battles stilled and everyone—even the Pokémon!—started looking around in confusion. I glanced up at the sky, following the grunt's index finger up to the shadows flying in our direction or, to be more precise, the tower's direction.
I squinted at it, wondering what the heck it was, before more shadows appeared from behind it. Something glinted in my eyes and made me blink and look away for a few seconds. I quickly looked back and practically gaped as I recognized the blue, red and orange blurs coming this way. And to make things worse, there were people on the Pokémons' backs!
"Wait…." Maikee stepped back so that she accidently bumped into me. She didn't bother moving away or acknowledging me. "That guy looks familiar…"
I kept searching the skies. In front of the huge obvious Dragonite with Lance on its back and the tiny red Latias with Bianca was a white and green creature. It was a Xatu! And suspended in mid air holding onto its feet was a person. Man, that looks really dangerous to do! But who did that person look like… He was so familiar…
"I got it!" Maikee exclaimed with a snap of her fingers before pointing up to the skies like the grunt, "That's Jace!"
Jace? Who the heck is Jace?
…wait. The idiotic-cheater-on-my-sister's-team Jace?
Something glinted and hit my eyes again. I was forced to look away for a quick second and squint back at it to know what the annoying object was. I gaped as I spotted it. I mean, I first I had no idea what it was and why he was holding it protectively in his arm. But then it finally it me when I linked it to the images I googled after the book in the library got stolen.
That was the Soul Dew.
And Lance, Bianca, Miss Barlow, and Roth were after him to get it back.
That just means one thing.
He isn't just a cheater.
He's in cahoots with the bad guys.
Well fuck.
Well yep. I don't know if any of you thought about Jace much and what would happen to him after Kayla destroyed his not-so-smexy face, but I made sure that he would be of good use to me ;D
I'm also sorry that only four STARS popped up in this chapter, but that only proved a point that they are all scattered around cluelessly looking for a way to stop the bad guys. Most of them are with a partner though~ It's the buddy system~~
Also, keep in mind that Taly was out for a long while battling the foe Pokemon, it was only a matter of time until she got tired and got caught.
I want to ask questions, but I can't. I have almost no more time left. Our dad is removing the internet for a week since we're having too many issues with it. Welp, I'll see you guys around then?
But still, REVIEW? :'D
It'll make me really happy~?
~MARMAR