Okay, I've been itching to update this lately, and we're close to a hundred reviews!
Amy47101 does not own pokémon. Only Vale.
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The Adventure Saga
Enlightening the Soul
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"Oh my Arceus, that was amazing!"
"Are you guys sure she's never been in a contest before?"
"Holy Ho-oh, if that's what I'm facing, I don't stand a chance!"
Krystal sat silently, fiddling with the pokéball in her hand as she listened to the comments of the contestant around her. Almost everyone was amazed by the display of eerie beauty displayed by the Froslass that Tani had in her party. Now everyone was wondering if this was the only foreign pokémon the dark ballerina had in on her.
Cheers erupted from behind her, and she looked over her shoulder, seeing several coordinators cheering as Tani walked in the room. Other sneered in jealousy as she walked by, but Krystal noticed that she was calm and composed. Of course, that was expected. She just guaranteed her place in the second round.
Tani walked over and sat down next to her. Krystal glanced at her from the corner of her eye, but quickly averted her gaze. A couple performances passed by, people getting called out, one-by-one by their contest number, given at complete random. Of course, she had to get the last slot in the performance.
"You nervous?" Krystal turned her full attention to Tani, seeing that the masked girl had her attention focused solely on the next contestant on screen. Krystal returned her attention to the pokéball in her hand.
"Perhaps."
"First contest?"
"Yes..." Krystal responded. Tani smiled.
"Same here."
"What?!" exclaimed Krystal in shock, snapping her head in her direction. "No way! You were so good!"
"Really? To be honest, I didn't have much in the terms of plans for this contest. I only found out I was entering about two days ago, so I didn't get much time to practice." Tani turned to her and smiled. "And to find out that I had to perform first, I nearly had a coronary!"
"So all that was on the whim?!"
"Just about."
"That's insane." Krystal said, shaking her head. "All of that, simply on the whim?"
"Exacatly. Which is why you'll do fine. You seem to be the kind of girl with a game plan. If I did so well without even trying, I'm sure you'll get a perfect score."
"Will contestant number thirty-two please report to the main stage for the appeal round. Contestant number thirty-two, please!" Krystal jumped slight at the announcement. Had time really passed so quickly?
"Last slot?" Tani asked.
"Yes." Krystal responded. Tani laughed slightly, but quickly ducked her head down to hide the laughter, though her shoulders still shook. Krystal raised an eyebrow.
"What?" she asked.
"No, it's just that I was complaining about being first, and here you are, probably freaking out over everything! Sorry!"
"Uh, well... It's fine." Krystal said. Tani calmed herself a little, and smiled.
"Well, break a leg! I'll be watching!" Krystal glanced at her, then nodded with a small smile. She turned, walking down the hallway, seeing a trainer pass by with a somewhat dejected look on his face. Seems his performance didn't go exactly as he planned. She stopped at the curtain, knowing that the minute that curtain opened she'd have to put on a performance that surpasses Tani. It would be difficult to even match her score, let alone her talent.
She took a deep breath, calming herself, then looking up as the curtain opened. Cheers erupted as she stepped into the spotlight, praying that her plan worked out alright.
o.0.o.0.o
"Oh, there's Krys!" exclaimed Lyra as she jumped up and pointed down on the stage. Silver was surprised to see the seemingly tomboyish girl in a yukata. It was blue at the bottom, the blue trailing up the white. A blue obi wound around her waist and her hair was down around her shoulders. Silver turned his gaze to look at Lyra and Ethan. Lyra was cheering like crazy and Ethan was sitting there, mouth agape. Silver smirked, leaning behind Lyra.
"You should take a picture." he said to Ethan with a smirk. Ethan shut his mouth, turning to look at him. Silver tried not to laugh at his pathetic glare becoming even more pathetic at the red that tinted his cheeks.
"Shut up, you ass." he responded. Silver smirked, settling back into his seat, satisfied with his successful attempt to annoy Ethan. Lyra sat in back in her seat, though the her chatter began almost immediately.
"Oh, I wonder what pokémon she's going to use!" she said, bouncing excitedly in her seat. "What do you think, Ethan?"
"I dunno! I didn't even know she would be dressing up like that!" Ethan said, beaming. Lyra giggled.
"Isn't perfect? I choose it out for her, just like I choose Silver's costume!" She bounced excitedly again. "I think she's about to start!" All eyes fell on the stage as Krystal held up a pokéball, then tossed it in the air. Silver narrowed his eyes as a Vulpix popped out.
"Vulpix, Whil-O-Wisp!" Krystal ordered. Small balls of ghostly fire surrounded Vulpix, and they flew into the air, surrounding the arena. "Imprison!" A globe of purple psychic energy formed around the arena, the Whil-O-Wisp trying to desperately get out. Silver narrowed his eyes.
"What's she going at?" Lyra wondered aloud, as if reading his thoughts. Silver stared forward, watching as Krystal commanded the final attack.
"Roar!" with a mighty shout, Vulpix snapped its head back and roared a loud, terrifying, bellow, almost unlike something a tiny little Vulpix could muster up. The Imprison attack shattered, the Whil-O-Wisp bursting with them. As the tiny flames and sparkles rained down, Vulpix and Krystal stood proudly at their performance. The crowd cheered as she walked off the stage.
"Well, that was unexpected." Ethan said as the final judging was being made. "She somehow brought out the tough side of a cute little Vulpix."
"That was great! She was amazing!" Lyra said, once again jumping around, her Snorunt somewhat annoyed with this.
"Lyra, I think you're making your Snorunt sick." Ethan laughed. Lyra blinked, looking at the ice type.
"Wah! Snorunt, I'm sorry! Here, lemme put you in your pokéball!" a sigh of relief escaped the ice type, as Lyra bent down to dig through her bag for her pokéballs. Ethan smirked at Silver, and Silver scoffed. Did that moron honestly believe that he had the upper hand?
"Here!" Lyra exclaimed, jumping up as she brought out her Eevee, who began hopping around excitedly at the sight of all the people. Silver saw Ethan laugh as it hopped onto his lap and licked his cheek.
"Is Snorunt female?" Silver said. Lyra blinked, turning to him, holding her Eevee.
"Huh?"
"You asked how to evolve Snorunt into a Froslass earlier, remember? I didn't get to answer because the contest started and you kept chattering on and on about the performances. Well," Silver crossed his arms. "Your Snorunt needs to be female. Is it a she or a he?"
"Oh, Snorunts a she! Definitely! The pokédex said so." Lyra grinned.
"Then you need a Dawn Stone." he said.
"A Dawn Stone?" Lyra asked curiously.
"You might get lucky and find one in a cave or the Ruins of Alph, when you get there." he said. Silver grunted in annoyance as it hopped over to his lap, then back to Lyra's lap, then to his. At this, he grabbed the thing by the scruff of its neck and held it out to her. "Control this thing, okay?" he demanded, dropping Eevee onto her lap. Lyra blinked, then grabbed his hands
"Please, please, please help me find a Dawn Stone!" she begged. Silver blinked, jerking his hands back slightly at the sudden contact. She didn't let go.
"Wh-What?! Why would I want to help you out?!" he asked. Lyra looked up at him, eyes pleading.
"Pweaseeee..." she drew out the word, but Silver decided to hold his ground.
"I told you, the answer is n-" he glanced over Lyra's head, seeing Ethan practically fuming at her display. Silver's lips curled into a smirk. "Actually, I think I will help you. Besides, my pokémon could really take advantage of all those Unknown there. We need the extra training."
"Yay!" Lyra beamed as her fist flew in the air, dropping his hands. "Thank you, Silver!" Silver cast a sideways glance at Ethan, smirking as he fell back in his seat, flabbergasted. Silver settled back into his seat, satisfied with outdoing the boy. Why he was so obsessed with out matching him in front of Lyra, he wasn't exactly sure, but he knew that it was a satisfying feeling to know that Lyra preferred his help over Ethans.
"Victory," he decided. "Is oh so sweet."
o.0.o.0.o
"Hello everyone! You have all watched some amazing performances given to us by coordinators, but sadly, eight of them will not make it onto the second round." the announcer said after some time. "The judges, after some deliberation, decided on the twenty-four contestants will be heading to the dance round!" she gestured enthusiastically towards the electronic scoreboard. "Pay attention to the board and lets see who's moving on!"
Pictures began to pop up, one by one. First picture was, of course, Tani, but that was expected.
"There's Krys!" Lyra exclaimed, jumping up and pointing up at the board. Indeed, Krystal's picture was there, the last one in the first row. Lyra bounced excitedly again, grabbing Silver's arm as she turned to look at him. "She made it! She made it!" she exclaimed, before raising both their hands in the air. "Go Krys!" she exclaimed. Silver blinked, wrenching his arm away.
"You're acting like a moron." he said with a huff. Lyra just beamed.
"Now," the announcer continued. "We have our coordinators for the second round! This is the dance round. There are twenty-four coordinators who will be separated and put into eight groups. The three per a group will be chosen at based on your scores from the first yound, and the order of performance will be determined at complete random. The coordinators must dance in perfect sync with their pokémon, and the music will be chosen at complete random. After all the coordinators and pokémon have danced, the judges will choose one coordinator from each group that will be eliminated! Now lets shuffle the coordinators, and see who's with who!"
On the screen, the pictures flipped over, and travelled to the center. They shuffled like a deck of cards, then separated into eight groups of three. The cards flipped over, revealing the groups. Krystal was in the middle of Tani and another coordinator. The would be the fifth group to perform.
"Wow! Krys must've scored close to Tani." Ethan exclaimed, glancing at the two pictures.
"I'll bet she'll do just as well in the dance round!" Lyra said, clenching her fists determinedly for her friend. Silver sat back, watching as the first round of coordinators appeared on stage.
He found the dance round rather boring and uneventful. He was, in fact, having trouble understanding why it was relevant to have pokémon and trainers prance around, so eventually, he settled on the simple fact that it must be a big humorous joke to the judges to watch coordinators whom expected slower music get a faster paced rock song.
Lyra, of course, was having a blast and Ethan was having a blast right alongside her. It was like they were in the contest instead of their friend. Tani had used the same Froslass from the first round, even though she could've switched pokémon. Was Froslass the only pokémon she had? Krystal used a Misdrevous in this round.
Silver took one glance at Tani, Krystal, and the other trainer, and by just a few steps, already knew that the unknown coordinator was going to go. He was already flat on his face from tripping over his pokémon. Bored as ever as the fifth round of dancers continued on, glanced around to find another form of entertainment.
He looked around at all the people wearing ridiculous costumes. Some were decent, he supposed, but otherwise everyone looked like total clowns. One guy in particular caught his attention. He didn't seem to be wearing any sort of costume at all. Rather, he was in jeans and a hoodie, the hood pulled up over his head, hiding his hair and eyes. On top of that, he was standing alone, hands shoved in his pockets, a Ratatta on his right shoulder.
Silver took a quick glance around at the other people. Mostly everyone was together in groups with friends, dressed in blatantly obvious costumes. Hell, even he was in a blatantly obvious costume with... people he knew but only because he owed one of them a favor. This guy was completely alone, with no costume, and stood in the back. It was almost like he didn't want to be noticed. Silver narrowed his eyes, then got up abruptly. Something in the back of his mind was telling him to talk to the strange young man.
"Silver?" Lyra asked, wondering. Silver cast a glance at her. He really didn't need to answer her...
"I-I've got to use the bathroom." he was surprised as his voice cracked slightly. Usually, lies rolled so easily off his tongue. Was he sick?
"Alright! Hurry up, the battle round is coming up soon! I'm sure you're really looking forward to that!" she said, completely trusting him. Silver nodded, getting up and walking towards the tall, hooded person. He stood next to him for a moment, and heard him muttering. Silver raised an eyebrow. Okaaaaaay...
"Hey, you." Silver said. The young man jumped slightly, then turned to look at him. "You look really out of place here. Did you sneak in?"
"No. I got a ticket. I wanted to watch my... friend." his voice was quick, so quick that Silver almost didn't catch what he was saying. He seemed uneasy about his word choice, though finally settling on the word friend.
"Who's your friend?" Silver asked. He looked slightly taken aback that he was still talking to him. Silver tilted his head up to see if he could get a good look at the males features. Judging by his voice, he couldn't be much older than him, maybe fifteen or sixteen. His height, though, was astounding. This guy towered over Silver, and Silver was not in any way short.
"V- Tani." Silver raised an eyebrow as he corrected himself. "Tani." he said again, as if he didn't hear.
"I see." Silver said. Turning his attention to the dark ballerina on stage.
"I don't know her that well." he continued. "I only ran into her once or twice. Usually in secret or by accident, you see. But her pokémon fascinate me."
"Huh." Silver said, leaning back and listening.
"I don't like contests much. I feel it's abusive and cruel to force your pokémon into dancing and performing like that." There he went, talking at that crazy breakneck speed again. "And if my Father found out I snuck out to come here, he'd be angry. But I heard through the grapevine that Tani would be performing, and well..." Silver saw him smile, though he didn't lift his head to show his eyes. "Here I am! I came, and I'm watching from afar." Silver blinked in questioning. Cruel and abusive? Pokémon contests? Sure, Silver thought the concept of pokémon contests were stupid, but cruel and abusive was kinda stretching it. Silver suddenly felt the second half of what he said sink in.
"Are you stalking her?" he asked. The young man jumped back, startled.
"Stalking?!" he exclaimed.
"You know, following around all creepy-like, staring at her twenty-four-seven, not leaving her alone..." Silver tailed off, letting the words take effect.
"I know what stalking is, and no, I'm not stalking her." he said. "Besides, I have a ticket, so I have a right to be here."
"You just contradicted yourself." Silver said. "You stated earlier that you thought contests were pointless and abusive." The young man didn't respond, though Silver felt him glance at him, up and down, as if studying him. Silver scowled at this.
"What is it?" he asked. The young man, lowered his head.
"You should treat your pokémon better. They are not tools of war."
"What?!" he asked. He just met the guy! How would he know how he trained his pokémon, and who was he to preach him on it?!
"Your pokémon... They're crying..." he said before muttering to himself again. Silver blinked, then backed away, going back to his seat. Obviously, this guy was crazy. He never met him before, or ever saw him train, and besides, how would he even know if his pokémon were crying or not? He was just some crazy whom wanted to mess with someone. He shouldn't have even talked to him in the first place.
"The guy's a weirdo," Silver said as he sat back into his seat, much to the annoying joy of Lyra. "Case closed."
o.0.o.0.o
It was strange, seeing the biggest city in Johto completely vacant. Newspapers fluttered across his path, and he was quick to pick them up and place them in the trashcan. What if a pokémon ate that and choked on it? A pointless and meaningless death avoided if that person had only held onto their trash until they reached a trash bin.
He turned, the paper bag he was holding crinkling with each and every movement. He looked around cautiously, knowing full well that his father was searching for him by now.
"Just a few more minutes." he muttered. "There's one more thing I need to do." He looked around, then hurried off into the underground areas. He sat down and waited, suddenly hearing the scuffle of pokémon come out to observe the newcomer. He reached a hand out, placing an apple on the ground, watching as the starving creatures nearly tore each other apart for the food.
"Now, now," he murmured slightly, bringing out more berries and apples, setting them on the ground. "There's plenty more where that came from, I promise." he tossed out more fruit, the pokémon happily eating it up. He smiled slightly as a Rattata nuzzled his foot in thanks.
"Are you done, yet?" he stiffened in fear as he recognized the voice. He whipped around, and sure enough, saw a man with a cloak around his frame, hiding his true features from the young man. He saw the unusual mask that he always wore on his face.
"A-Ah... I can explain..."
"You snuck out without permission." the young man swallowed nervously. The accusation was true, obviously, and he was not afraid of punishment... but the very thought of knowing that he disappointed his father made his insides turn in disgust with himself.
"I-"
"Do not lie." he was silent for a few moments.
"Yes, Father." he said.
"We are going back." his father said, turning away.
"But-" he stopped, a chilling silence filling the air as the young man dared to utter a word in defiance.
"Why did you stop? Continue." his father said, awaiting his next words.
"I-I wanted to see the rest of the contest." a long, uncomfortable silence.
"Why?"
"What do you-"
"I already told you not to lie. Why did you want to see the contest?"
"Because... Because I-"
"I already know what you think of contests and battles. How they're abusive to pokémon and how they are forced into them. Perhaps," he turned around to look at him. "You've snuck out before? Without my permission?"
"No, I-"
"Perhaps you made a friend?" he placed his hands on the young mans shoulders, squeezing tightly. "And she's competing in the contest?" The young mans eyes flashed nervously. He couldn't reveal that he knew Vale, for he wasn't even supposed to leave 'his' part of the base. His mind flashed with ideas and images, and remembered Vale telling him once of a red-haired boy whom ran away from his father.
"No! I'm telling you! I-I remember hearing some grunts talking of a red-haired boy whom ran away from your kindness and open arms. I also heard rumors that a red haired boy had going around the city, challenging the gym and such... I was informed by some pokémon that he was going to the contest! I wanted to talk to him, ask him why he would leave such a safe haven with you..."
"I see." his father said, lowering his hands. "Which grunts told you this?"
"I can not tell you. I did not recognize their voices."
"Did you see him?"
"Yes. Red hair, silver eyes..." the young man sighed in relief that his father bought the excuse, though he did feel a little bad for the redhead he used as an excuse.
"Tell me, how old did he appear?"
"Hm? Maybe fifteen or sixteen. Somewhere in his mid-teens." the young man shifted his weight. "Though looks can be deceiving. People think I'm older than fifteen because I'm 5'11"..."
"Yes, but he fits the general description." mused his father as he walked away. "We're going back to the base. I'm going to send some grunts to look into this redheaded teen you saw."
"Okay..." he said, following behind him.
"And one more thing," his father continued as they entered the streets of Goldenrod. "Don't disobey me again."
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I'M SAYING RIGHT NOW THE HOODED YOUNG MAN AND THE MASKED MAN ARE NOT OCS. But I'm really having fun knowing the ending of the story. Plus there are very, very, VERY subtle hints in the chapter on who the hooded young man is. I wonder if anyone can guess?
Amy47101 signing off! ^.^