Chapter Eighteen
"Oh shut up Ellis! I was telling the story," Amanda laughed stroking the newly found friend, Eevee that was stretched out in a slumber on her lap.
They were all sitting in the middle of the forest at dusk, a little past where they had found the two new Pokémon. Ellis's Charmander, Charlie, had made them a toasty fire from the couple logs Josh and Colby had gathered earlier.
Colby rolled her eyes at Ellis who was making weird faces at Josh (who was turned around, looking the opposite way. If he did turn around, Ellis would be a dead man) and lay back against the tree that she was leaning on.
"Not trying to interrupt your story Amanda, but Charlie the Charmander is very original Ellis," Colby laughed, pushing the blonde hair out of her eyes.
Ellis stopped mocking Josh and sent some faces her way. He could be so immature sometimes.
"Why thank you," Ellis said, looking smug and accepting her compliment.
Speaking of Charlie, he seemed to be having fun chasing Citrus around the fire… Colby didn't even know for how long now. Certainly the little Pokémon had to be getting dizzy…shouldn't they? Colby shrugged at her own thoughts and tried not to disturb Nicksy and Mara who were yet again crashed on her lap, sawing logs like there was no tomorrow.
"Is it okay if I finish my story now, Ellis?" Amanda asked, giving him a glare.
"Of course your bossiness!" Ellis snickered, trying to grab Charlie's tale as he went around in circles, still failing to catch Citrus.
Amanda cleared her throat, "Thank you your greenness. As I was saying, Rain here," Amanda motioned toward the Eevee on her lap, "was just sitting on a rock looking down at Charlie. Actually, Ellis found Charlie first then Charlie found Rain. The poor girl was just sitting there, looking gloomy and holding this," Amanda finished, holding out an aqua blue stone of some type.
It almost looked like bubbles were solidified inside of the stone. Could it be a water stone? Evolutionary stones are usually pretty rare, or they were in Hecate. Rain was holding the water stone? Was that a sign that she wanted to evolve into a Vaporeon? Or was it just by accident? That it was merely an accident didn't seem very probable to Colby…but who knows.
"So you're going to evolve her into a Vaporeon?" Josh asked, turning back around to face everyone.
He was sitting on his cloak and wearing the usual black Guns 'N' Roses t-shirt along with his black jeans. Mr. Mime was out of his Poke Ball and sat rigidly beside his owner, but not to close. At least Josh wasn't ignoring them anymore…or being as rude. Every once in a while though, he would snap at one of them or growl at Ellis (thank the Stellar Spirits not literally…because that would just be weird) but not as often as before.
Maybe, just maybe, he was beginning to soften up. Hopefully his friends had started to grow on him and he'd realized they weren't there to put his tough guy image to shame…though Ellis was a bit of a sissy some times. Colby couldn't ever see him being a big fuzz ball…but maybe a bit nicer and a bit less distant.
"Yeah, I suppose… I mean if that's what she wants. I won't do it now though. Give the girl some time to get used to me first-"
As if right on cue, the Eevee arose from her slumber and looked Amanda directly in the eyes. Glancing directly at the water stone Rain gave Amanda's hand a nudge and stood up. Colby hadn't seen this kind of behavior in a Pokémon…but then again she'd never had an Eevee or a Pokémon that needed an evolutionary stone to evolve. Maybe it was normal behavior, maybe not. Rain could be just a smart Pokémon that knew when it needed to evolve.
"I think she's had enough time," Josh commented, also watching the behavior with as much interest as he could manage…this being a little more than his usual unsmiling, emotionless, and blank expression.
Amanda looked down at the Eevee through her glasses and they seemed to connect.
"Are you ready to evolve, girl?" Amanda whispered.
As if the Pokémon had understood, she bobbed her head.
"I'll take that as a yes," Ellis chuckled, recalling Charlie who was now walking like a drunk from all these circles Citrus was running around him.
Citrus started towards Josh again with a bright look on his face.
"Oh Great Stellar Spirits, no…not again," Josh growled.
Citrus stopped, giving him a huffy look and shot his nose up in the air, turning back towards Amanda with a noise of irritation. Colby suppressed a laugh and turned her attention back to Amanda and Rain.
Amanda had now set the stone down in front of Rain, keeping careful watch on her as she nudged it attentively with her nose. Closing her eyes slowly, nose pressed to the stone, Rain relaxed.
Suddenly, as if someone had tazed her, Rain's body was overcome by a huge shock. Her eyes widened and her form began to shimmer as the change was taking place. Slowly Rain's body began to change and she squeezed her eyes shut as her body morphed into the shape of her evolved form, Vaporeon.
Everyone seemed to hold their breath as the shimmering stopped, and Rain appeared as a sleek Vaporeon. Her skin had now changed from fluffy brown to a sleek, aquamarine blue fur. Her head was now framed in a white ring with fishlike webbing on its ears. Blue ridges ran along her back and all the way down to her tail fin. Rain looked elated and immediately charged into Amanda's arms, almost knocking the poor girl over.
"Oh Rain! You're beautiful!" Amanda praised, glowing with pride.
Josh stood up along with Mr. Mime, giving Amanda and Rain a glance (Colby could tell he was almost smiling. He would have to crack one day!). "Not bad," Josh said simply. He gave Ellis a frown and Colby a nod before disappearing into the dark night with Mr. Mime bringing up the rear. Amanda seemed to be beaming from head to toe and was hugging Rain with all her might. "Wonderful job Amanda! You handled that just like a pro," Ellis congratulated, giving her a warm smile.
"Thanks! You really think so?" Amanda gushed, smiling.
"Yeah! You did awesome!" Colby added, giving her a small smile.
"Thanks you guys, that really means a lot," Amanda smiled.
Colby nudged Ellis to the left of her.
"What?" He asked, confusion clouding his blue eyes.
"Nothing…just wondering if you wanted to bring Emmera out to meet Rain…after all, they are both Eeveelutions," Colby suggested.
"Oh! Sure," he replied, digging through his button covered knapsack for her Poke Ball.
Finding it, after digging to the bottom, he tossed it up in the air. Out came Emmera, landing gracefully and in her full Leafeon smoothness. Emmera almost immediately noticed Rain and padded over to investigate this new edition to the party. Sniffing each other with curiosity, they seemed to get along well for the first meeting.
"Glad no fights have broken out at this point in the journey. Thank the Stellar Spirits everyone has gotten along," Ellis pointed out.
In that instance they were very fortunate. Colby had heard stories of trainers that had Pokémon on their team that didn't get along well. One thing lead to another and the trainer couldn't keep a handle on it. That person was then forced to disband his or her team because of the internal conflict. They were truly lucky in that retrospect.
"That's for sure. The gang gets along well," Amanda grinned, watching Emmera and Rain with curiosity from the other side of Colby.
Ellis yawned and looked a bit sleepy, "Well, I'm bushed everyone. I'm going to hit the sack."
Colby gave him a nod, "Actually, I'm a bit tired to Amanda. I'm with Ellis, let's get some sleep."
Amanda looked around, "What about Josh?"
"Who cares," Ellis muttered, rolling over in his sleeping back.
Colby nudged him with her foot.
"He'll eventually come back. I wouldn't worry," Colby assured her, crawling into her warm, dark blue sleeping bag.
Amanda nodded, calling Rain into her Poke Ball and crawling down into her lime green sleeping bag. Colby curled up inside her sleeping bag and closed her eyes; sleep almost instantly came over her in a wave of soothing darkness…
For the third (or was it fourth?) time, the salt smell filled Colby's nostrils. Just like the last few times, she was laying on her back on a huge grassy escarpment which was facing an endless, aquamarine ocean. Standing up, she brushed herself off and floated there, looking around. Faye was nowhere to be seen and nor was Giratina…how strange.
"Behind you child," a weak, whispery voice said.
Colby turned around and came face to face with an almost fully transparent Faye. The transparency was much more noticeable than last time and she physically looked weaker. Her eyes seemed to have circles under them and her hair didn't have its usual shine. Colby set her jaw and looked her straight in the eyes. She had to know what was going on.
"Faye, what's wrong? I have to know…" Colby said firmly.
Faye shot her eyes to the ground and seemed uncomfortable at the question. Sighing deeply, she shook her head slowly.
"I'm dying," she bluntly said.
The answer startled Colby…could Stellar Spirits die? She hadn't ever heard of it…
"Yes, Stellar Spirits can die, though it is much more complicated than human death. We don't just simply die and leave our body. We get faded…and faded until eventually we just disappear forever," she explained grimly.
Faye couldn't die! Well…she could, but then who was going to fight Scar? Who was going to permanently defeat him?
"But, before I fade, I have more to tell you. Though this time it's not in the form of a vision in the Distortion World because I am too weak to conjure that. That's also a part of dying, our energy gets sapped. When we use the energy for things such as this it isn't regenerated by our bodies like it was when we weren't to the end of our life cycle," Faye told her.
"Oh," Colby answered simply.
This could potentially be very bad…she just had an odd feeling about what was coming next.
"Anyway, I've showed you The Great Battle, the split between the dimensions, and the legendaries version of The Great Battle. That is all the history for now, so let's move onto the future so to speak," Faye said.
Colby nodded and tried to listen carefully…since her voice was a bit raspy.
"As you know, I am weakening and could fade at any time. There is so much I would like to tell you, but for time's sake I will just cut to the basics. There is a prophecy…well, not exactly a prophecy, but an implication of future events kind of like a fortune teller. I don't know if you remember but when you were on the Nighthawk you had a dream. It was about reoccurring history, which is what I see is going to happen. But for this Great Battle…I will not be there to fight," Faye explained.
What did she mean she wouldn't be there to fight? If she couldn't, who would? Was she suggesting that Colby fight Scar?
"If you can't, who can?" Colby asked.
Faye looked up at her, "That is one of your responsibilities now. You must find the correct one to fight. Try and remember that dream you had, the opponent of Scar. What did they look like? What was their nature? You have to make that decision and I know you will find the correct person," Faye answered.
Colby merely nodded, to stunned at her new task to speak. Or one of them that is…
"Now, you can't do this alone. Remember when I said I took one last aim at Scar? Exhuming most of my energy? That energy turned into a small ball and solidified. If you can find this…then you will have the power that I once had and will be able to defeat Scar once and for all. I am unsure where it got off to but I know it's somewhere in crater that was once Aysgarth."
Colby's head was spinning about a thousand miles an hour. She was supposed to do all this? By herself? It was almost too much… Faye had more faith in her than she had in herself.
"If the correct person touches that orb, the power will be given to them and they can defeat my nemesis once and for all," she concluded. "Is Scar weakening to?" Colby asked.
Faye shook her head, "No…he has gotten his power back, though it was through the help of one of great evil. That is all I can tell you on that matter because some things you need to experience and learn for yourself," Faye whispered.
Colby nodded and got ready for the next part of her explanation.
Taking a deep breath, Faye continued, "As I said…I have a feeling that history is going to repeat itself. The destruction will once again come upon Aurora but this time there could be no one to stop the eternal darkness that will come over the land. Scar will rule and Giratina will merge the dimensions again. This time, permanently, unless you can stop him. I know this seems like a lot to ask but you are greater than you think Colby. Dark times are coming, but I believe if you can find the right person and can hold your ground that Aurora will be safe for many millenniums to come," Faye told her, a serious look in her eyes.
Colby's mouth almost dropped to the ground. Could she really be that special? Did the fate of Aurora now rest on her shoulders?
"It will be a while before the next vision…I am weakening fast," Faye told her, looking tired.
"Farewell child, and remember you are going to be great. You are going to save the region from eternal darkness."
Just like that, Colby's vision faded to black and a fitful sleep consumed her.
Surprisingly Colby slept soundly the rest of the night and was the last one up which was very rare. She opened her eyes to the sounds of everyone packing their stuff, probably getting ready to go. Sitting up in her sleeping bag she rubbed her eyes.
"Good morning sleepy head!" Ellis grinned, helping Amanda roll up her lime green sleeping bag.
She gave Ellis a half smile, "Yep! A rare occurrence, but I did sleep in today. Normally you're the one sleeping till noon Ellis."
Amanda laughed, "Him and his late night parties!"
Ellis chuckled, "That's me. Late night parties all the time."
Climbing out of the sleeping bag, Colby tried to keep the vision from last night at bay… She wanted to have a good day today and that stress wasn't helping. She would deal with it tonight. Ellis moved over to Colby and helped her roll up her sleeping bag (since it was usually a two person job). Muttering her thanks to him, Colby finished cleaning up her stuff and tossed Nicksy's Poke Ball in the air.
He gracefully landed with a murr and sat down to eat the Pokémon food that Amanda was feeding everyone's Pokémon now. Except for Josh's because he was still nowhere to be seen, but that wasn't a surprise. Well…they just hoped he didn't get kidnapped or something. Colby couldn't imagine Josh being kidnapped though since he would kick the crap out of everyone who would try. Maybe just glare at them…
Sitting down beside Amanda and Ellis, Colby watched the Pokémon chew on the little brown pellets that Amanda had put out for them. The whole gang was here eating together and seemed to be very content with each other's company.
"Do you think we'll reach Sanville today?" Amanda asked, pushing her glasses up since they were always being pesky, falling down on her nose.
Ellis shrugged, "Well if we don't get going pretty soon Josh is going to be going to Sanville on the back of his Wailord."
"I am going nowhere on the back of that Wailord," Josh said, leaning against a tree to their right.
Speaking of the devil! With his usual blank expression, Josh starred at them as if wondering what they do next.
"When did you get here?" Amanda asked, surprised that he magically appeared.
Josh pulled his black and green cloak around him, looking at her.
"Just now. Why?"
"We were just wondering if you got eaten by an Ivysaur or something," Colby told him, smirking.
Josh shot her a look and sighed, "No…I was just having my alone time."
"Oh I'll bet you were," Ellis retorted.
"I'll bet he was plotting with Riley," Ellis then whispered in her ear.
Colby rolled her eyes and petted Nicksy. Ellis was so paranoid sometimes, honestly.
"Are we ready to go now? Or does snot brain need to graze?" Josh sneered.
Ellis was about to open his mouth for what would surely be a failure of a retort, but Colby silenced him.
"Can we please have a day where everyone is nice to everyone? Just one day? Amanda and I are being mentally worn out by all your pointless bickering! Have I not explained this before? We are supposed to be friends that support and help each other. Not criticize and insult each other," Colby told them in a firm voice.
Josh just turned away, not listening to her as usual and Ellis just looked irritated.
"Let's just get going before they kill each other," Amanda sighed, picking up the empty bowls and setting Citrus on her shoulder like he loved.
Rain yawned and rubbed her tail against Amanda's leg lovingly, ready to go. Colby picked up Mara, holding her in her arms while Nicksy insisted on riding on Colby's knapsack. Good thing he wasn't too heavy since her backpack was already a thousand pounds.
Zero trotted ahead of Amanda as she began walking with Rain in the rear. Ellis recalled Charlie and let Emmera trot beside him since she seemed eager for some fresh air.
As usual, Josh's Pokémon were put up and he followed beside Amanda and Colby wordlessly with his hands deep in the pockets of his trench coat like cloak.
They continued on their way with the tree's seeming to thin as the jungle began to fade into flat, grass dotted land. They made small conversation, but Josh mostly kept to himself. By the middle of the afternoon everyone needed a break (since the temperature seemed to sky rocket in just a few miles) when Ellis pointed out a dot on the horizon.
"Hey guys! Look! It's Sanville!"
A/N: Sorry guys that I haven't posted a chapter in what seems like FOREVER. I've been pretty busy lately and so yeah xD I know that isn't an excuse. Well don't worry, I'm back now and am ready for some gym battle action, what about you? :) That's what I thought! Until next time!
Please leave your comments in a review! I would love to hear from you!
W-what's that Riley…? … Oh! Riley told me to add if you're a single girl he would love to date you! (Have fun with that O.O) ha ha XD See ya guys!
