Pokémon
Hello again, folks. I'm due for an update so here it is. Actually, with luck the update after this should be quite quick concidering it's over half done already. But that is besides the point for now. And I am happy to announce that I have a fairly non-stressful looking school schedule this year so that should mean more time for writing! Now piano work...is going to be hard, but I promise that I will do my best. Thank you all the people reading. My great supporters :) Here's your new chapter.
Chapter # 17 – Step in a New Direction
Grim took Storms place, enlarging a black, green-spotted and red-trimmed dusk ball. "Alright, now it's time for a true battle. Are you ready?"
"Do I have a choice?" Shadow moaned from her hunched over position.
"No." Grim replied with finality. Her dusk ball flew into the air to free her chosen pokemon. "This will also be a one-on-one battle, but this time I'd like you to use that eevee of yours.
Eevee became more animate in the girl's embrace, having hateful, demonic images of revenge against the girl that held her captive. She eagerly hopped out of Shadow's arms and galloped to her designated area. The black fur on her back stood on end as she let out a long hiss.
Her opponent floated onto the field. It was a pale gray, crescent moon rock with a beak shaped nose in the inner curve and two large, crimson eyes. "You may have the honor of the first attack." Grim offered.
"Well gee thanks." Shadow muttered in response. "Let's start off with a shadow ball!" Even before the words left her mouth, eevee was already charging up dark energy in her mouth. As the crackling orb got as big as its head, Rebel shot it at the moon-looking pokemon.
"Harden." Lunatone's rock form glossed over just as the attack hit. It did a backward somersault before straightening out. The attack didn't appear to inflect too much damage, as it recovered itself almost instantly.
"Okay, so that didn't work. Charge up, Rebel." Eevee glowed with light power, gathering the light in its charcoal fur.
"Harden, again." Repeating the process, lunatone made its stone body even denser.
All the while, little eevee was absorbing power, storing it in her fur until she looked like a living light bulb instead of a tiny monster from the dark. "Release the energy, Rebel. Use solar beam!" Every bit of light was ejected through her mouth with an overwhelming ray of light. It was a massive attack and often dealt quite a bit of damage for such a petit fox, but constrained her movement until she recharged. Her pink tongue dangled out of her mouth as she panted.
"Harden." Again, a glare washed over the rock just as the discharge engulfed it, and once again it toppled backward only to return to its position like it was nothing but a tickle.
"What is the matter with that thing? It doesn't look injured at all!" Shadow shouted in frustration. "Okay then Rebel, let's try a different tactic. Dig and double team combination." As soon as the fox was able to, she burrowed deep unto the dirt field under their feet.
"Once more, use harden."
"Now Rebel, jump up and use shadow ball!" A complete circle of eevees pounced out of the ground, surrounding the lunatone. There was a fury of purple as each shot a violet sphere at the pokemon.
The pokemon blinked in confusion. It could have been the slightest of flinches from a dozen orbs raining down to explode upon the numerous protective barriers shrouding its body, but it wasn't probable. It was more like, "What is this little runt trying to do?" Either way, the effect was minimal. "Now lunatone, finish this with stone edge." A dozen hunks of rocks were summoned around lunatone's structure and pierced through the air to devastatingly strike the black fox.
Eevee howled as the boulder's hurled into her small body and sandwiched her in the bright stadium wall. She rolled down the indent the rock had made to be cushioned in her trainer's arms. The battle was declared as over.
Shadow cuddled the distressed and enervated fox to her chest to protect her from any more harm. "I'm so sorry, Rebel. You were outstanding, as always." She whispered to her half-conscious pokemon as she glared at the unscratched rock and freakishly placid trainer. "So what does this mean? I didn't pass the test, so what happens now?"
The Reaper was silent and pensive for several seconds before making her way to the younger girl in her gliding manner. "How do you figure this, my Shadow?"
"What, that I didn't pass your test? You said I had to beat both Storm and yourself in battle and you just won."
"No, my dear Shadow, you need to work on your listening skills." The ghostly voice lectured. "I said if you wished to challenge me, then you had to defeat Storm. At no point did I utter the words "Defeat me". Why, by doing so you would have become the leader of the House of Phantoms."
"So, just to make sure, I didn't fail the test by not winning this battle?" The hood of the leader's cloak rustled as her head shook no in response to the question. "Damn, well in that case…" But Shadow could no longer continue, since the day's events had taken their toll on her body until it finally just shut down. It was quite impressive she even lasted that long, not that it was much of an accomplishment.
The leader was just within distance to catch the girl and her fainted pokemon before they could give themselves a concussion "My ghosts, please teleport her back to her room. And make sure her pokemon get taken care of, especially this one."
At their master's hiss, a pack of ghosts did as she requested. A small shiver ran down Grim's spine, but thankfully none of her subordinates were there for her momentary crack of emotion. "They're so young." Reaper whispered. She thought maybe somebody already sensed the miniscule change in her behavior lately, so now was no time to show weakness. She had rightfully received her title too many years ago to let it slip away so easily.
The cloudy weather and soppy, mushy grass met the two boys as they once again passed through Pastoria's borders. No words passed between them, although Gary muttered to his umbreon every once in a while. The little black dog was on lookout duty on the unlikely occurrence Alex was still wandering on the route between Hearthome and Pastoria City. No such luck.
Paul was acutely aware of anything around him, but despite usually keeping quiet, he felt the need to talk. Sometimes Alex would randomly start ask an out of the blue question, comment randomly on something, mutter profanities (only when she was in a horrible mood though), or have a conversation with one of her pokemon, which frankly he couldn't fathom. This Gary character had a lot of oddly similar qualities as Alex.
They may have relaxed a bit as they walked, but if there wasn't that tinge of tension lingering around them it would have almost been like she was the one beside him. Although Alex didn't make a point of stretching out his name like she was mocking him. "So, how do you know Alex?" Paul finally managed to spit out with a minor bruise of his pride.
The brunette turned away from his dog to flash another cocky smirk at the boy, who had avoided it by walking with his eyes closed and hands stuffed in his pocket to give him a mask of uncaring. Gary rolled his eyes, "Why, Paul? Are you…jealous?" He gasped with fake shock.
Paul turned his face away dismissively. "That's ridiculous. I just realized that neither of us knew more than each other's names and that we have a single, missing person in common, yet we're traveling together."
"Sure, sure, whatever. My little Lexi and I go way back to when we were about three; that's when she moved to Pallet Town. She and I are best buds, really close while we were growing up. And I guess you already know her half-brother Ryan since he was at your brother's house." Gary prattled boastfully.
'Pallet Town?' Paul thought, finally cluing in to the fact that Alex and that pathetic loser Ash had probably grown up together too. He'd have to keep that as a mental note in case they turned out to be, he shuddered at the thought, friends. 'Wait, did he say half-brother?' "Wait, Alex moved to Pallet and her and Ryan are only half siblings?"
"Hm, she never told you that? Not a big surprise, she hardly ever brings it up. I don't think Lexi would want me telling you much, but yes, they have different biological mothers. But they have a striking resemblance, eh? If you want to know more, ask her." He trailed of to ponder aloud, "Which reminds me, her brother must have made it back to Pallet by now. And gramps should be back at the lab."
The pokemon center doors opened for the two, welcoming them in its white and pink glory. Gary made a beeline for the phones, once again making a bizarre call to Ryan. "I've called this dork more times this year than any other time in my whole life." He muttered to himself, ashamed he had to actually resort to talking to the boy.
"Y-ello! You've reached the Summers' Pokémon Daycare Center here in the homely area of Pallet Town. Sorry, but I am currently taking a vacation and am out of the region. The exact date of my return is uncertain at the moment, but if you leave me a message I assure you that I will receive it when I return. I apologize for the inconvenience… To leave a message, please press-"
Gary slammed the receiver back on the hook in an annoyed huff. "That. Idiot. Lied. To. Me!" He growled through gritted teeth. Ruling out that option, he then proceeded to type the number to his grandfather's lab.
"Hello? Oh, Gary, it's you! Where are you? I thought you were heading back to the lab once you had finished your work. It surely didn't take you that long." The professor's voice chimed over the speakers.
"Gramps! Where are Alex and Ryan?" Gary urgently demanded while ignoring all questions aimed at him.
The professor looked bewildered, "They're both over there in Sinnoh. I thought you knew that. After all, it was your planning that helped Alex get over there and your idea for Ryan to take a nice, long vacation so he would stop 'biting your ear off'."
Now, usually he wouldn't be, the Professor was getting a bit senile after all, but Gary was worried by the confusion of his grandfather. "So you're saying that Lexi hasn't called you recently and Ryan isn't back home?" He double-checked.
"No, Ryan, as far as I know, is still in Veilstone City. As for dear Alex…now that you mention it I do believe she called me about a week ago asking me to send a folder of papers out of the house to her brother. Quite strange if I might say, but she always did do things her own way. That makes me think of a-"
"A poem? Yeah, I don't have time to hear it. What was on those papers?"
"Well, I don't know. I never looked at them if that's what you're insinuating. May I ask why are you so curious all of a sudden?"
"Alex has disappeared. I was with her and she just magically vanished." He used his hand movements to make the statement more dramatic
The wise professor rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I see. Well maybe you cannot find her because she does not want to be found. It would be unlikely that she was abducted. She's a strong girl, she can take care of herself."
"I suppose… Thanks gramps, I'm taking some time off lab work. Smell ya later!" He disconnected before the man could retaliate. Alex was strong, that was undeniably true, but it was also a fact that trouble seemed to be sneaking behind her everywhere she went.
It wasn't a second later before Paul took hold of his sleeve and lugged him outside. "Come on, we're leaving." He said gruffly. With Gary in tow, he ventured outside Pastoria again, but in the opposite direction than the other times. "We followed your gut the last time and we got nowhere. Now, we're following mine." They ventured out to the nearby beach where a huge white cruise ship was docked. It appeared to be readying its departure. So with haste, the two boys made the final whistle as the ship set sail.
Would this cruise ship lead them to Alex? In fact, where was it this boat made berth anyway?
Thunder rolled in the sky. Rain pattered against the white material of a small umbrella. A crying young girl held the end of the shelter loosely, a boy resembling her at her side. Their eyes gushed tears of sorrow as they gazed at two large, mahogany boxes; two coffins. Other people stood in the background, unnoticed by the grieving siblings.
But suddenly, it all vanished as lightning struck nearby. The falling water accumulated and created a wall between the two children. The earth trembled. A crevice formed in the waterlogged ground, swallowing the coffins in a gaping, black hole.
"Sis!" The girl heard from behind the liquid barricade. She was too focused on the endless abyss that opened in the ground. "Mommy! Daddy!" She peered down, inching closer and closer to the edge.
There was more cackling, but this time it wasn't from resounding thunder. It was the same evil laughter all the time. A tall, fit man stood behind her, vibrating with a hearty laugh. A black umbrella decorated with silver feathers obscured his face. "You're daddy's not here anymore." Another flash of lightning, but it was strange. Instead of a glow of white, it struck with a bolt of red and seemed to cover the entire atmosphere.
"Aren't you going to try and save them?" He asked, pointing past her and down at the darkness.
"I…" Her eyes fearfully shot from the man, to the hole and to the sky and back again. The raindrops around her amplified the strange colored lightning so it was like they were swimming in a sea of blood.
The man opened his mouth again, the obstacle blocking her view of the man slowly slipping from his grasp. "CODE RED!"
…Wait, what? That didn't seem right at all.
The ground opened under her feet before she could begin to contemplate. It was just as the man's face was revealed that her view was cut off. The world twisted around the young girl as the darkness also brightened to a livid crimson. Her stomach wedged itself into her chest. Right before she thought she was to hit the bottom…
Shadow shot up, but seeing as how the awkward bed was placed at such an angle that was almost as if you slept standing up, instead of just sitting up gravity kept pulling her foreword until she face planted into the clammy, concrete floor she had come to be rather acquainted with.
"CODE RED! ALERT, ALERT! CODE RED!" Sang the blaring voice of the security system. The entire building danced with a flood of scarlet. The sirens hollered in warning of an intruder.
Four doors cracked open to a bewildered face, shocked, groggy and… well, nobody could see Grim's face so it was hard to tell. They stepped into the unusually bright hallway into a sort of huddle.
"I-is this part of the test?" Shadow stuttered. She inquisitively looked to the others for guidance, not knowing what to do in this situation. "Is it possible that somebody else found the mansion?"
"No, people sometimes come up here exploring, but they never get close to the border because we get an alert once they step foot into our territory and somebody will go scare the intruder away before they can see us. But somebody's gotten past the gates without tripping the other alarm." Bones whispered across from Shadow, eyeing their leader.
The Grim Reaper's face turned red under her hood, and not just because of the lights. "Bull, go shut off the security system. I'll handle this." She slid out of the room immediately as the order left her lips.
Bull rubbed the sleep out of his eyes with a grunt, following out after the leader.
Shadow and Bones both yawned, glaring up at the source of all the noise and light. It eventually shut off, cutting off the flashing red and putting them in the dark. The torches then kicked in and glowed their faded black energy.
Bull dragged his feet back towards them, eyes closed like he was sleepwalking. "Next one o' yeh ta wake me up s'gonna be in f'r a world a pain." He slurred, slamming his bedroom door behind him.
Bones grinned wickedly. "Want to go see who broke in?"
"You mean spy on Grim?" Shadow asked with a raised brow.
"Well, I mean, if your scared of getting caught or something I'll just go alone…"
"Are you kidding? That the best idea I've heard since I've been here!" Shadow said excitedly, turning and starting to walk away.
"Eh, Shadow? Wrong way."
"Yeah, I'm still a little tired so maybe you should lead." Shadow sheepishly rubbed her neck.
"Shut yer yaps!" Bull's muffled voice shouted from behind his door.
The girls laughed and ran down the dull hallways with the redhead taking the front. They slowed down to a tiptoe as Bones held a finger to her lips, signaling for quiet. Their backs pressed against the rough wall on either side of a large, black door designed with dozens of ghost pokemon chalk drawings.
"What do you mean? I haven't even tested her yet!"
"Well that's not my problem. You have had more than enough time. What have you been doing, sitting around gossiping and doing each other's nails?"
"It's not your job to monitor what we do. And by the way, there is a much easier way to enter my mansion then crashing through my security gates! Why do you want her now, anyway?"
"Let's just say we have the perfect mission for her. Look, if she's not cut out for our line of work then we'll send her back here. Now calm yourself, Reaper."
'Who are they talking about?' Shadow mouthed over to Bones, only to be answered with a shrug. They pressed their ears harder against the door.
"…so if you just show me where she is, I can be on my way."
There was I few seconds of silence, no doubt used by The Reaper to regain her composure, since she was at the point where her monotonous voice had escalated into angry shouting. "If you think you're taking my Shadow away from me after just three days you're sadly mistaking. The agreement was at least a week." She seethed.
Shadow gaped at the door. 'Me?' On the other hand, Bones donned a look of realization.
"My, my, Grim Reaper, it sounds as though you've grown rather attached to our newest member. She must be a keeper after all. She'll be perfect for the job."
"I don' t think so, you snake."
Suddenly, Shadow wasn't a statue staring at the creepy looking door anymore. She was hoisted up and thrown over a muscular shoulder, still in a shocked, unmoving state.
"No!" Her spying companion protested in a hushed shout at the culprit as they pushed the door open and strode in.
"'ere, take 'er, ya bunch o' loud mouths." Bull let go of the girl, making her do a face dive into the floor.
"Bull! You idiot!" Grim and Bones shrieked at the man.
"Sorry Grim, but y'all gotta shut yer bloody girly, screamin' yaps." Bull apologized, not the slightest remorseful.
"Bull, you giant, clumsy lummox, that wasn't very courteous of you." A man stepped over to the limp girl, who hadn't bothered standing up since this was about her third exciting trip to the floor that day. At least they were relatively clean… "Here, let me help you up. You may call me Dimentio." He picked her up with ease and placed her on her feet, brushing her dress off before circling her like a hawk. "And you must be the lovely Shadow. Quite an honor it is to meet you, it is." He stopped once again in front of her and gave her a bright, toothy smile. "Indeed, you are perfect…with a little bit of tweaking, that is."
"My Shadow, don't listen to him. He's an evil, lying, manipulative snake." Grim leered at the male under her cape.
Shadow finally shook herself free from her daze, frowning at Dimentio. He was a pretty young looking man, and was actually considerably handsome. His ebony hair was styled short in the back with long bangs falling in layers to his chin. Emerald eyes sparkled with specks of silver as they confidently remained on hers. He wore a dressy attire of a classy, black suit with a double-tailed, knee length jacket, a white button-up underneath, sleek dress shoes and a pair of white gloves. When he turned slightly to eye the Reaper, she could just make out a snake-like, entwined SS embroidered with dark green thread mid-way down the back of his blazer. He wasn't as chalky colored as most of the inhabitants in the House of Phantoms, but he also didn't appear as tanned as Bull. By the way he was able to lift her in a simple, swift motion, he was obviously strong, but his muscles weren't as defined as Bull's and were hidden by the slimming, black jacket. In short, he was like a dark Prince charming.
"Um, thank you, I guess…" She muttered in a zoned-out tone. "Wait…tweaking? Perfect for what? I think I was complimented and insulted all at once. How rude. Wait, what's going on, the last thing I remember was being in some arena, battling. And having an insane dream. Why are my hands bandaged? And I'm hungry! Where's my Rebel?" Shadow babbled randomly, discerning that she was drawing a whole lot of blanks and her head was pounding…maybe she hit her head a few too many times.
"Oh, I would never insult such a lovely, young lady such as yourself. Now tell me, I bet you haven't gotten outside at all since you've been here, have you? We, at the House of Chaos, can give you more freedom then they'll ever give you here. You see, we have got a special mission, and you are the best candidate to complete it. And if it doesn't work out, then we'll bring you straight back, what do you say? Will you please help us?" He looked up at her through his long lashes.
"I, eh…" She stuttered oh-so intelligently. She glanced at the others in the room. Bull couldn't have looked happier; all signs of sleep had disappeared as he nodded his head at her to accept. Bones looked the exact opposite; she looked disappointed and depressed, but gave her a small, sad smile of encouragement. And the words that the leader had uttered before was proof enough she completely disapproved of the idea. 'This could be you're best chance.' Her inner voice whispered.
'I thought I got rid of you!' She sighed. "Okay, I'll do it." She accepted.
Bull had a strange, giddy look on his face. "Really? I'll go fetch yer stuff f'r ya!" The bulky man practically skipped with joy as he exited the room, humming I'm Walking on Sunshine as he went.
Shadow stuck to her previous thoughts: These people were insane, out of their minds, bonkers, all of the above. Dimentio was like an angel standing in front of her.
"Shadow, you don't have to do this." Grim said, once again to her impassive self.
Shadow had backed herself up and leant against the Reaper's desk. "No, I want to."
"You better take care of her, pretty boy." Bones warned the man, shaking her fist. "Or your flawless face will meet my right hook!"
"And Bones, it's lovely to see you again. I assure you I shall keep a watchful eye on her while she's in my care." He replied with a flip of his bangs.
Bull was back in a jiffy, holding her backpack in one of his large hands. He grinned wildly at her as he set it in her hands. "Nice knowin' ya! Don't le' da door 'it ya on yer way out." He patted her arm a bit to enthusiastically, as she flinched at the contact.
"Bull, watch yourself! But I must agree we are making wonderful time. Let us be on our way, shall we, Shadow?" He gently lifted the bag from her injured hands and offered her an arm.
She took it with a small blush, giving Bones, perhaps the least crazy in the house, a wave as the man escorted her out of the room. She laughed as she thought of the last time she had been escorted by one of the society members. She had almost suffocated in a tiny room with no help from her so-called coworkers.
"May I inquire as to what you find so amusing, Shadow?" The man asked.
"Nothing. You're not leading me to my doom, are you? Although, I doubt you would tell me if you were, anyway." She chuckled.
Dimentio shook his head seriously, "Of course not, dear Shadow, for I do believe you are more valuable to us alive than dead."
"Good to know." She remarked.
The afternoon rays of sun crept through the forest to greet them, causing Shadow to cower behind the taller man. She noted that Dimentio had whipped out a pair of shades when they hit the outdoors and guided her along to a huge, glossy aircraft with tinted windows and presently parked where one of the four electric gate walls had once been. It now laid as crumbled debris, crushed under the jet's weight.
Like the gentleman he was, Dimentio assisted her up on the high-class piece of technology and got her settled. "Welcome to the Night Rider, Ms. Shadow. We will be taking off momentarily." He flashed her another smile.
As he said, the large aircraft soon came to life. A high-powered engine purred almost soundlessly. They slowly hovered in the air for a few seconds, but then the rockets kicked in high gear and they soared into the sky. The speed of the take off made Shadow stumble a bit. The pressure in her ears began to build as they gradually gained more and more altitude.
And so, that is how Shadow was freed from the ghostly haunted Phantom House and its kooky residents. Would the other members of the Soul Salvation be just as batty? And what will happen when she arrives at the island? Stay tuned to find out.
And that's that. Thanks for reading, and comments are muchly appreciated. Just saying. Anyway, hopefully a new chapter soon. Messaging me might be a real motivator. Again, just saying.
