Okay, that was a LONG wait, but I got writer's block again AND my power was out for almost a week! -shot- Okay, no more excuses. Anyway, I hope you all enjoy the chapter and I'm sorry if it seems shortish!
Disclaimer: I do not own pokemon. Nor do I own any other copyrighted thing that I happen to mention.
"Come on, Pulse! Try to catch the big, blue kitty!" Rachel said with a laugh as she zigged and zagged through the forest, her best friend in hot pursuit but slowly loosing ground.
"I will catch you, Rachel! I've been practicing and I'm not nearly as clumsy as you think I am!" he called back with a grin and a look of determination in his bright blue eyes before doing a barrel roll to avoid smacking into a tree branch. "See?! I told you, Rachey!"
Rachel looked back just in time to see him finish the roll and again focus on catching her, They locked gazes and Pulse smirked, obviously seeing the slight surprise in her eyes.
"My dad taught me that move!" he told her as he worked to catch up on lost ground, still smirking as he did so.
Rachel smiled at him and picked up her speed. 'He is getting better, but he's still not gonna catch me,' she thought to herself as she weaved through the branches and trunks of trees. 'Or maybe,' she considered with a smirk. 'I'll LET him catch me.'She closed her eyes in concentration before teleporting right in front of the phantom.
Pulse let out a yelp of surprise before colliding with the feline. They plummeted to the ground, hitting several branches on the way down. Finally, they hit the ground, the impact causing them to moan in pain as the air was forced from their lungs.
"What the heck was THAT about?" Pulse exclaimed as he sat up, rubbing his sore head and ribs and breathing deeply to replenish his lost air supply.
"I decided to let you catch me for once," Rachel replied with a sheepish smile. "Yeah. Not exactly my best idea."
"I'll say. And don't just let me catch ya, Rachel! When I finally DO catch you, I want it to be on my own," Pulse said before a groan from nearby caught their attention.
They looked around, but didn't see anyone. They exchanged a puzzled look before hearing another groan, causing them to look down and discover the source. They were sitting on a small Lucario. They immediately sprang into the air, each giving a yelp of surprise.
"I'm sooo sorry for landing on you! Are you okay?" Rachel said in a worried voice as Pulse helped him up.
"Yeah, I'm alright. A little sore, but I'll live," he replied before smiling and extending a paw. "My name's Mark, by the way."
"Nice to meet ya, Mark! I'm Pulse!" the phantom introduced himself enthusiastically as he reached out and grabbed the Lucario's paw, only to pull it back a second later with a little yelp of pain.
"Oops. Sorry 'bout that. I forgot about that stupid spike," Mark said with a sheepish smile before turning to face Rachel. "And what might your name be?"
She switched her gaze from Pulse to Mark. "Oh, my name's Rachel," she told him with a smile.
"Rachel, huh? I like it. A pretty name for a pretty girl," Mark said with a smile, causing the feline to blush as she stuttered out a thank you.
"Sorry again about falling on you!" Pulse interrupted as he flew closer to them. "Me and Rachel were playing a game of chase and it got a little out of control!"
"It's 'Rachel and I'," Mark replied, correcting the dark type's grammer with a smirk before turning back to the feline girl. "Speaking of which, I was wondering if you'd be so kind as to accompany me on a walk through the woods. Just the two of us."
"But we were going to watch v..." Pulse began before being interrupted when Rachel lifted a paw to silence him.
She turned to face the Lucario with a smile as well as a small blush on her face. "I'd love to. It's the lease I could do." She turned back to face Pulse. "Do you think you could just go back to your island? I'll come and get you when I'm done hanging out with Mark."
"Sure," he replied with a sigh, his shoulders sagging a little.
"Thanks, Pulse! I owe ya one!" she said happily as she pulled her dark type friend into an Ursaring hug. She then turned to Mark and smiled before following him into the woods.
Pulse watched them go, briefly considering following whether or not to follow them before deciding not to. 'I don't trust that guy, but I told Rachel I'd go home, so I'm going home. Besides, Rachel can take care of herself. She's tough!' he thought to himself as he rose into the air. He turned to face the direction of his island before zooming off in that direction. 'I just wish I knew what it is about that guy that makes me feel so mad at him.'
-ooo-
Jirachi fidgeted nervously and took another look around to make sure everything was perfect. In front of him was a very large, beautiful garden made up of many different flowers. Their colors ranged from baby blue to sunny yellow to cotton-candy pinks, with many other colors in between. He had taken special care to spread them out, so that the colors looked blended instead of clumped. The aroma of many different, yet all wonderful, perfumes was heavy in the air.
The wish granter smiled in satisfaction before turning his attention back to the sky. He was waiting for Celebi to arrive.
Then, he spotted the familiar speck of green against the background of blue.
His heart began to beat faster and he could feel his palms starting to sweat. He took a deep breath and tried to calm down a little, but it was no use. He was just too nervous to be calm. He flew up into the air to greet her.
"Jirachi! Look at all the flowers!" she squealed happily, grabbing his hands in her own as she continued to stare at the garden in amazement. "Aren't they beautiful?!"
The wish fairy felt his face heat up and he was grateful that she was too distracted by the flowers to notice how sweaty his palms were. "Yes, Celebi. They are. I planted them just for you. I'm glad you like them."
The forest fairy turned her head to stare at him with wide, baby blue eyes. "You planted all those?!" she asked in a shocked voice. "Just for me?!"
"Yeah. I had some help from Groudon to make the soil nice and fertile and I got the seeds from Shaymin, but I planted and watered them all myself," he replied with a pink-tinted face.
"Wow, Jira! That's amazing!" she commented as she let go of his hands and flew lower to smell and look at the flowers more closely.
"Yeah. I thought that you deserved a present as beautiful and amazing as you, but this was as close as I could get," he said, his blush getting bigger and bigger with every word he said.
Celebi blushed too and smiled bashfully. "Do you really mean that, Jirachi?"
He nodded. "Yes, Celebi. You're amazing and that's why I love you."
The guardian of the forest gasped and her eyes widened. She locked her gaze with his and saw that he was telling the truth. She grinned and tackled him with a squeal of delight. "I love you too! I really, truely do!" she cried happily as she embraced the other fairy.
Jirachi beamed, his face still pink as a Pecha berry as he hugged her back. All the while still floating above the beautiful garden of flowers.
-ooo-
The fire lion dashed across the grassy plain, panting a little from the effort of going at this speed for so long. He stole a glance to his side and mentally cursed when he saw that more and more of the Arcanine running at his side was coming into view, meaning that she was beginning to pull ahead of him.
The large wolf saw him grimace and laughed. "What? Can't a big, strong legendary like you beat and regular pokemon like me in a simple race?"
Entei growled a little and began to push harder on his limbs, commanding them to move faster. "Ordinarily, yes. But you're not like other normal pokemon and you know it! You're almost as powerful as a legendary and your speed is a force to be reckoned with!" he wheezed with a chuckle as he worked to make up for any lost ground.
"Ya really think so? Well, flattery is nice but it isn't gonna win you this race!" she said with a grin as she worked to increase her speed as well.
They continued their race across the plain, both determined and unwilling to admit defeat. They ran until their bodies screamed in agony for them to stop, but they continued running anyway. Their destination was Mount Coronet and they were almost there. They poured all of what was left of their energy into a final, all out sprint to the mountain. They were concentrating so hard on beating each other that they lost track of their surroundings. Then, they collided with the side of the mountain and blacked out.
Entei was the first to regain consciousness. He moaned from the throbbing pain in his head and lifted a sore paw to rub it. He turned his head and saw his friend nearby, still out cold. "Ember! Are you okay? Wake up!" he exclaimed in an anxious voice as he struggled to his feet and walked over to investigate.
She heard him through her groggy state and stirred with a groan. She opened her eyes and saw Entei standing in front of her, watching her with concern in his chestnut eyes. "Entei?"
"Yeah. Are you alright? Do you need to go to the hospital section in the Hall of Origin?" he inquired, his tone urgent and worried.
"Um, yeah. My head hurts and I'm a bit dizzy, but other than that I think I'm okay," she replied, her voice sounding a bit disoriented.
"Are you sure? I think we should take you to the medical wing anyway, just to be sure you're okay," he said, still obviously concerned.
She smiled and climbed to her feet. She walked forward a few steps and nuzzled the volcano lion. "Entei, I'm fine! It's sweet that you care so much about my well-being, but I can take care of myself. I'm a big girl you know!" she told him with a small laugh before pulling away, looking him in the eyes and giving him a big smile to reassure him of her good health.
He couldn't help but blush a little at this. He looked at the ground before locking his gaze with hers once again. He gave her an inquiring look when he noticed a smirk on her snout. "What?"
"Oh, I just realized that I hit the mountain first, which means that I won the race!" she told him with a grin of victory.
His eyes narrowed slightly before he grinned back. "I'll race ya back to the cave."
"You're on!" she said with a laugh before they began running back in the direction of their secret paradise.
Yeah, I love Ember's character so I found a way to work her into this chapter! I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Now, hit the indigo button and review! Only an evil underground shrew-person would dare not leave a review!