"All I can say is that my life is pretty plain. I like watching the puddles gather rain. And all I can do is just pour some tea for two, and speak my point of view but it's not sane." -Blind Melon "No Rain"
3 I'm On A Boat
Pikachu was the first one off the boat. He scampered down the plank connecting us to the dock and greeted the Corsola standing at the feet of a tall, skinny man. His glasses were too big for his face, giving the impression of a large fly, and the white lab coat he wore simply accentuated his nerd aura.
"Hi Ash!" Professor Elm greeted cheerfully. "Misty, Brock, and look at all the faces I've never seen before! Oh, wait, I've met you and you," he said, pointing to May and Drew. "Let's see…" He trailed off, deep in thought. "You have grass hair, grass grows in dirt, dirt starts with a 'D', 'D' is for Drew!" he exclaimed happily. "And you… you used to wear a red bandana, right? Yes. Red… red flowers bloom after April showers… you're April!" he cried.
May grimaced. "No," she said. She stomped on Drew's foot when he snorted with laughter.
"No?" Elm said, crestfallen. "I was sure it was a month."
"It's May," I told him.
"May! Oh, I was so close!" Elm exclaimed. "I knew that one was too short to work properly. Anyways, how've you all been?" He didn't wait for an answer, instead he smacked himself promptly on the forehead. "I completely forgot! I was supposed to put that egg in the incubator! Corsola, you were supposed to remind me!" he scolded the Pokemon.
"He talks more than you, Troublesome," Paul said to Dawn.
I could practically see the steam shooting out beneath her navy hair, but she didn't retort. It was amazing how nice she was to Paul, and he still had to piss her off.
Drew pushed May playfully. "He didn't remember your name!" he teased.
"Shut up, grass head," she countered. "Remember, you grow in dirt."
"Oh ouch," Drew mocked, fanning himself. "I really felt the burn on that one."
May went at him with her fist but Misty held her back. "Now May, do you really want to disfigure that beautiful, smirking face of his?" she soothed.
"YES!" May screamed.
Misty winked at me. "Okay," and she let her go.
"That ought to shut him up for a while," I congratulated. Drew and May were a cloud of dust and flying fists behind us.
Max grinned. "Remember May," he called. "You only hurt the ones you love!"
The brawl stopped mid fight, both parties panting. However, their glares were no longer on each other, but on Max. Suddenly, Max turned tail and sprinted down the road with Drew and May in hot pursuit. "Get back here you little nerd!" Drew screamed.
"Don't call him that," May snapped at him. "But yeah, get your behind over here, Max!"
Brock was grinning after them. "You know that used to be you two, right?" he said to Misty and me.
"Do you want to break the hundred meter sprint record?" Misty growled.
He chuckled. "You two will chase me a lot farther than just a hundred meters," he teased.
Misty and I exchanged a knowing look. "On three?" she murmured.
"One… two… three," I replied.
We spun around and charged after the already sprinting Brock, and chased him all the way to Elm's lab.
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Dawn examined the speckled egg curiously. "What kind of Pokemon is this?" she asked the bustling professor.
He shrugged in return. "Won't know till it hatches."
Paul nudged her when she reached out a hand to stroke the egg. "Don't touch, Troublesome," he said.
Dawn flamed up instantly. "I am not troublesome!" she snapped.
Elm was tapping something on his keyboard. I watched with mild interest (his fingers could go fast). Suddenly something shone out of the projector, the beam of light going straight up and forming a hologram.
Misty was instantly entranced. "It's so pretty," she breathed.
I scowled. Misty wasn't the kind of girl to go for that kind of stuff.
May, finally recovered from her mad dash after her brother, reached out a timid hand.
"Don't touch," Elm told her, and she withdrew immediately.
Brock stared at it. "Is that Yacaeli?"
Elm shrugged again. "What we think, anyways." He pointed with his pen. "We took what we had from the legends and then some actual human sightings, and put them together to get this."
"Wait, people have actually seen this thing?" I asked, taken aback. A small ounce of disappointment settled in my chest. I wanted to be the first to see this legendary creature. However, I wasn't so selfish that I was going to let it get me down. That would be just plain jerky.
"Uh huh," Elm said, though he seemed distant. He gestured with one of the many pens from his protected pocket. "Note the markings that go up her legs. Her body structure resembles an Espeon, but those wings are quite frankly a genetic impossibility. And for the marks I mentioned earlier, we are at a complete loss. I believe it was Birch who suggested that she painted them on herself."
"It looks like a Lugia," Drew began, "had sex with a Persian, and the result got stuck with a tattoo artist that had way too much flourish."
May gaped at him. "Does anything intelligent ever come out of your mouth?" she asked.
I looked at Brock. "Well, you're the breeder among us. Tell us how such an abomination is possible."
Misty punched me playfully. "I didn't know you knew such a big word!" she congratulated sarcastically. I ignored the jibe; despite how much I liked fighting with her, I'd been getting better and better at not fighting, and I hoped she would see it as a sign of maturity.
Brock watched the hologram with his narrow eyes, pondering. After a few moments of us watching him expectantly, he sighed. "It's like Drew said: a Lugia had sex with a—."
"Okay, thanks!" May cried, clamping her hands over Max's ears.
"So what's the point of showing us this?" Paul asked, his voice dripping with boredom.
Elm raised his eyebrows. "To show you what you're looking for, and to assess what moves and abilities Yacaeli may have." Under his breath I heard him mutter, "If such a beast exists."
I wasn't the only one who heard. Misty narrowed her eyes and folded her arms, skeptical. "You think this is a waste of time, don't you?" she asked acidly.
The professor had turned back to his keyboard tapping and hadn't heard her. "Hm?"
Misty pursed her lips. "You don't think we should go find this thing, huh?"
Elm suddenly looked very, very nervous. He pulled a kerchief out of one of his pockets and dabbed at his bald forehead. "I simply think that it is a dangerous thing for a group of teens to be doing on their own. Especially in the Anumic Islands."
Dawn's face turned frightened. "What's wrong with the Anumic Islands?" she asked in a quivering voice.
"N-nothing," Elm replied hastily. "It's just… a lot of undocumented stuff over there. Stuff that relies entirely on the supernatural. They've never even heard of science."
May was interested. "Like?" she prompted.
The young professor sighed and rubbed his eyes beneath his glasses. "Like they believe the seasons change when the flowers are depressed, and they sacrifice stuff to the 'Great Creator' and primitive blah blah blah," he said in a very, very unenthusiastic tone.
I arched an eyebrow. There were still people like that in this world? I had a few other questions to ask, but they were forgotten the instant my stomach growled. Everyone turned to me with antagonized expressions, and I grinned with embarrassment. "Guess I'm hungry," I admitted shyly.
As expected, Misty rolled her eyes and Pikachu sweat dropped comically.
Drew ignored my stomach's needs and clapped his hands enthusiastically. "So when do we leave?" he questioned.
Elm looked uncomfortable, but he handed me an envelope. "Your boat leaves tomorrow at noon," he informed us. "You all know where the Pokemon Center is." With that, he practically ushered us out the door.
"One more thing," he said hastily, grabbing me by the shoulder. His eyes were pained. "If you should reconsider, and decide not to go on this inane voyage, all you have to do is miss the boat."
I tore away from him with disgust. "I'm no coward," I snarled.
"No, but you're an idiot," Elm replied angrily. "Just like Cináed." And he slammed the door in my face.
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Unbeknownst to our heroes, three fumbling foes had been watching them through the skylights in the roof of Elm's lab. One was a woman, with a long curve of magenta hair; the second was a man, skinny and scared, with a perfectly groomed head of soft blue hair; and the third was a cat Pokemon, his claws raised as if ready to attack. A golden coin glinted on his forehead.
"So that's the thing that's making all the Pokemon go crazy?" said the girl, whose name was Jessie.
The boy quaked with fear. "It looks like a giant cat," James whined.
Outraged, the cat raked his claws across James' face. "Grr, and what's wrong wit dat, huh?" growled Meowth in a distinct New York accent.
Jessie gazed down as the twerps left. The professor ran a hand through his nonexistent hair in exasperation. He fumbled over to a microphone that stuck out of the hologram machine. "Terminate 'Project Yacaeli'," he said into it.
"Project Yacaeli," Jessie repeated slyly. Suddenly she grabbed James by the wrist. "We have got to get on that boat with the twerps. This may be our chance to prove ourselves to the boss!"
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The boat trip was short, and involved Misty, May, and Dawn lounging about the deck in shirts they had tied to expertly cover only their breasts and extremely short shorts to expose their long, lanky legs. I ogled over Misty whenever I hoped she wasn't looking (it was difficult what with her wearing those sunglasses), while Drew would never admit he enjoyed watching May.
Paul was impossible. Despite the heat he stayed zipped up in his blue jacket and long pants, with his arms folded menacingly across his chest. He glared at any girl that came near him, and didn't even acknowledge the guys. Brock, of course, went and flirted with every single woman on the boat, and came back with his face so red it was like a hot dog. He had one small, oozing cut on his left cheek from a girl that'd been wearing a ring.
"Pika pika!" Pikachu exclaimed, pointing one little yellow paw out to the sea. He was perched next to me on the railing, and my hand hovered near his tail in case he decided to go for a swim.
"What is it, buddy?" I inquired. My eyes followed his little yellow fingers.
A pod of Lapras made their way across the water, chirping to each other happily. I looked up and saw a flock of Wingulls riding on the breeze. But Pikachu was pointing towards the horizon, focused on nothing but the approaching shadow of land that was Oupavos, the biggest of the Anumic Islands.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
I jumped. Misty had crept up beside me, and I hadn't noticed her. She leaned against the railing, her chest peeking down at such an enticing angle. I almost agreed with her. Almost. "Yep," I said sarcastically. "Kinda like the landfill at Oreburg."
Misty lowered her sunglasses to reveal deadly eyes. "You would dare insult the water? In front of mio?" she said in a low voice. "Oh, Ash, it is on."
I couldn't suppress a grin. "Just like old times, huh, Mist?" I snickered.
She smiled sadistically. "Yeah, and, just like old times, I'll win."
"Is that a challenge?" I played. "Something you want to put money on?"
Her grin only grew more genuinely evil. "No, I won't rob you. Your mom would kill me."
I arched an eyebrow. "Then how about a service?"
She gave me a sideways glare. "Since when did you become such a sly dog?"
I shrugged. "Words just come to me," I told her, smirking. "Casanova was loved for a reason, you know."
"Do you even know what he was famous for?" Misty replied, shocked.
"Yeah, he got all the girls, right?" I guessed.
Misty shook her head, spilling gorgeous red hair over her shoulders. "He was a womanizer, Ash." When I looked confused, she elaborated, "Brock on steroids."
"Oh," was all I could think to say.
"Still wanna be Casanova?" she giggled.
"No, no, I'm good." I gave her one last smile, and she slunk back to her seat.
We hadn't fought. I'd tried to start an all-out argument but she hadn't risen to the bait. She'd taken an insult and turned it back against me as playful banter, when I'd wanted an argument so very badly.
"Well Pikachu," I sighed, "you want to fight with me?"
The mouse folded his arms and said something along the lines of "That's what a girlfriend's for," and scampered away.
I felt my cheeks heat up at the remark, and glared at the water instead. The Anumic Islands drew ever closer. I could see some trees a few yards away from the shore, and what looked like a town off to the left. But the most impressive sight of the island was the majestic mountain that loomed behind everything else, a formidable foe. Its summit was obscured by clouds, casting the entire mountain in shadow. The mountain's imposing form was enough to get my heart pumping a little faster.
If Yacaeli was there, I assumed she would be at the top, closer to her precious moon.
There was an almighty crash behind me. I whipped around to see what was wrong, and a spark of terror shot through me. Followed by a tremendous Thunderbolt that left me on my back, smoking slightly.
*AN: GASP! What attacked Ash? What's going on? Just who IS Cináed? Good thing I read through this chapter again, because I'd completely forgotten about Team Rocket being in this story. Well, it's one AM, I'm kinda tired, kinda not. Think I'm more hungry than anything. I had my birthday party today and it was sooo much fun. Tomorrow (actually, it's more like today, huh?), I'm going to do ALL my homework, which includes precalc, physics, and engineering. Wee, fun, can't wait.
I really have nothing else to say, except that here's your subliminal message for the day: HaRry PottEr saVed wIzard-kind, Enduring With his friends. With a please at the end. :D*