Pokémon
Well, that was relatively quick, right? I'm not sure why but I'm on a writing streak. The next chapter is already half written again. Although I was feeling lazy about checking it over again so I'm very sorry if there are mistakes. Okay, well that's about all I have to say. Onward!
Chapter # 18 - Shadow's Mission
The night-colored aircraft sliced through the air at an incredible speed. Dimentio ushered Shadow over to a plush, white sofa, steadying her as she tripped quite a bit. Her bag was placed elsewhere as he sat next to her, slightly at an angle so he could converse with her. "I am most glad you decided to come with me, Shadow. And as promised I will inform you as to our plans for you." He received a simple nod from the girl. "We believe there is some valuable information on an uncharted island in the middle of the sea, rationally named Middle-of-Nowhere Island. It's not a part of the waters that locals or tourists visit often, not many sailors are capable of navigating through, and not many people have heard of it. They hold an annual competition around this time of year for trainers lucky enough to be in the right place as the ferry arrives. We had planned on sending a more experienced member, but alas, he is…far too busy. This is where you come in."
Shadow noticed the slight hesitation when speaking of this person's alibi, but said nothing of it. "You want me to go in this person's place…why? Why can't it be anybody else? I mean you personally flew all the way out to the House of Phantoms for me." Shadow analytically questioned.
Dimentio laughed as though he was told a joke. "Well, my dear, you are a sharp one, aren't you? I have heard from the Reaper that you are quite the pokemon trainer. If she says you are talented, then you are. You and Chaos are the ones most suited for this. And with Chaos gone, we're counting on you."
"I see…" Shadow replied. 'Chaos, I've heard that name before…'
"So, we'll need to change your whole image. Oh don't give me that look; it's not nice on such a pretty face. And after that, you will need to pick out a team of pokemon we have in stock from the storage; think of it as collateral, being new, untrained and not tested for trustworthiness. You'll also need an alias and a character for yourself. I mean we wouldn't want anybody to recognize you down there, now would we? It is mandatory that we protect both your identity and the one of the Soul Salvation." Dimentio explained, signaling for some maids to hurry over.
Both maids had off-white hair pulled back in short pig-tails and were drabbed in frilly, indigo maid's outfits with white belts clipped with rhinestone SS's. Their glinting eyes shone hot pink as the pair scampered over in their heels.
With no chance of refusal, Shadow once again nodded, incapable of doing much else since the maids had started poking and prodding at her hair, face, clothes, etc, before she was hauled up and out of the room.
"Have fun, Shadow!" Dimentio laughed, fully satisfied with himself.
"What are you… hey…!" Shadow shouted before she was rudely cut off with a towel being draped atop her head.
The two had shoved her into a chair and began tugging random strands of Shadow's ebony hair. There was a splat and the scraping of some concoction being stirred with a strange scent. The towel covering her sight was tossed away and the concoction, which was discovered to be hair dye, was plastered into black locks. Heat was added from above and she finally had a chance to breathe as the two maids disappeared through a door. They returned with two bags each, one of them containing a variety of make-up products.
"Um, sorry, but I'm not much of a make-up kind of person, so if you don't mind…"
The two turned with a glare that was worse than a raging charizard, and made Shadow regret opening her mouth and aggravating the unimaginably scary maids. "But on the other hand it's never too late to start, right?" She laughed nervously.
The evil maids grinned, their eyes glinting. They trotted back over to the girl, one of them chirping, "Good choice. It's either you sit through it like a good little girl or we'll do it by force."
"Just set us do our thing and we'll all get through this in one piece." The other sang, not very well either. How could two maids be so evil?
Shadow's head was dunked under scalding water, shampooed, conditioned, rinsed, and then brought back up. She gasped in a lungful of air before the ladies working in hyper speed ran a fluffy towel through her damp, who-knows-what-color hair and tugged a brush through the tangled knots. She decided to tune the rest of everything out and just let the girls do whatever they wanted while she came up with this alias of hers. She needed a personality, birthplace…
"Holy fudge!" Shadow shouted, gazing with horror at the stranger in the mirror. They were right, nobody would recognize her now; she couldn't even recognize herself! The reflective surface showed a teen sporting silvery-blue hair with small sections braided and tied with tiny black bows. It still reached mid-back and her bangs still parted to the right, slightly flopping over her now dark teal eyes, thanks to the help of contacts. A black beret sat atop her newly colored hair, held in place by various bobby pins puncturing her scalp uncomfortably. Despite her worry about the makeup, the girls went easy on her and only applied some sparkly, silver eyeliner and nude lip-gloss.
Without her realizing, the two devil maids had changed Shadow's outfit. How they managed that is beyond her. She was now drabbed in a bright ensemble of white skinny jeans and a light teal spaghetti-strap top layered under a white midriff jacket. Around her middle rested a black leather belt able to hold her six pokemon, matched with leather gloves kindly provided to hide the injuries she sustained at the House of Phantoms, and well-fit teal riding boots.
"That is not me!" She exclaimed, pointing an accusatory finger at the mirror, wide-eyed.
"Excuse me, but we are fast approaching our destination." The intercom stated.
Dimentio smirked in complacency. "But it is, dear Shadow. Now be a good girl and chose your pokemon from that back room. I shall meet you back in the sitting room in 10. Ciao."
'I am going to go crazy in this place! Hopefully this island they're sending me to will be like a vacation.' Shadow prayed.
She entered a room filled with aisles upon aisles of pokeballs. 'I hope mypokemon will fare okay in my absence. Oh God, I'm starting to talk like him!' She picked five sufficient pokeballs off of the shelves, using her pokedex to determine what lay inside. The sixth one somewhat chose her. It fell from the top shelf, too high for her to reach, and hit her smack in the forehead, yet again. "Hey!" She hissed, plucking the offender off of the tiled floor. According to her pokedex, it was empty.
There was a sharp tug at one of her braids, making Shadow yelp and spin around, holding the tender spot gingerly. The culprit gave a high-pitched, shrill laugh, floating around her head giddily.
"Hey, I remember you. You're that misdreavus from the Phantom House. Did you follow me?" It nodded at her question, gesturing to the pokeball. Shadow gasped as she identified the branding on the ball. She smiled sadly. "So that's why you've been following me. Do you want to come with me?" In response, the ghost prodded the ball with its nose, getting pulled in by the red beam. "I'll take that as a yes."
She found Dimentio on the couch, looking bored as his emerald orbs fixed out the window at the endless blue sea. As he heard the approaching footsteps, he peered over to the bluette. Another charming smile flashed her way and he was at her side in an instant.
"Ah, absolutely stunning. Are all the preparations complete? Wonderful, right on schedule! Here, take this." He slipped the straps of a backpack over her shoulders. "Now I want you to stay in character at all times, that is vital. You're mission is to collect as much information from this island as you can. I suspect the owner would be the best person to target. Don't get yourself killed, Shadow darling. Oh, and we've put a communicator in your bag in case we need to contact you or vice versa, so don't forget that either. We'll see you! Ciao!"
Face clouded with confusion, Shadow switched gazes from her usual backpack that was placed in her gloved hands to the straps draped over her shoulders. The door of the sleek aircraft opened not to show the ground, but the island way, way, way, way below them. And without time for a question, the dark man gave her the slightest push and out the plane she went. She screamed a line of profanities at the stupid, manipulative man as she plummeted to the ground faster a bolt of lightning. A cord met the grasp of her frantic hand. She gave it a sharp pull.
Suddenly, the ground wasn't coming up as fast as it had been. She felt like a feather softly floating on the wind while experiencing the feeling you get as you freefall. But, not knowing how to steer her life-saving parachute, she managed drift her way all the way into a tree. One of the ragged branches nicked her cheek. She swore it was mocking her. With her arms crossed, she dangled like the pieces of ripe fruit hanging in the tree.
Shadow sighed; she squirmed out of the constraining backpack straps and miraculously didn't fall on her face for what would have been about the fifth time that day. Her normal backpack replaced the tricked out one…unless they tampered with hers too. She sat on the sturdy branch directly below her, swiping a plump pecha berry on the rest of the way down the trunk.
With another stroke of luck, she had landed right in front of a towering building that looked inviting enough. She shrugged and entered anyway. But as soon as her feet passed through the entrance, she no longer was Shadow. She was yet again playing somebody she was not.
'Remember, stay in character.' "Excuse me." The teal-haired girl asked, getting the attention of the nurse on the other side of the desk.
Nurse Joy was somewhat surprised, looking at the clock on the wall. "Hm, you're early! Well, no matter. Smile!" The energetic Joy exclaimed as a flash went off.
"Wow, that was bright." The girl muttered, blinking away the spot of light in her vision. She plastered a happy-go-lucky smile back on her face, mimicking the Nurse Joy's.
"Name please?" Joy requested, turning to a glaring computer screen
"Eh…" 'How in the hell did I manage to forget a name?' "Um, R-oxy…Monroe?" She said with unintentional heavy emphasis on the "R". "Yeah, Roxy Monroe. That works." She muttered to herself.
The Joy overlooked the strange mumbling and proceeded with her questions. "Age? Home town?"
"15…Pastoria City."
"Mhm, mhm, I see." She typed on her keyboard for a few minutes. Whatever she wrote, she reread and gave an approving nod. A printer started up and within seconds, the girl was handed a card with her picture and info on it. "That is yours to keep. While you're here, it will serve as your entrance card, so be careful not to lose it. I imagine the rest of them should be arriving soon, so you may take a seat over there."
She gestured her hand over to a large living room area filled with four giant coaches, a couple of armchairs, a mahogany coffee table lined with newspapers, magazines and books, a television and a brick fireplace. The walls were painted a light bluish/gray with navy and white furniture and dark hardwood floors. A full wall length rectangular window showed a breath taking view of a berry orchard, one tree of which "Roxy" had haphazardly landed in. It now drooped with a few crooked branches, but the parachute appeared to have gotten a ride on the wind and disappeared. Beyond the trees bloomed a garden of flowers in a rainbow of colors.
Just as Joy finished explaining, a murmur of voices buzzed through the air and a crowd of trainers flowed into the building. There was about fifty of the new arrivals. They chattered avidly as they marched along and awed at the scenery. In the distance a low horn of a ship sounded its departure.
"I would like to welcome you all to Middle-of-Nowhere Island. Now, nobody is to leave the building until everybody is registered. Please form an orderly line in front of one of us and proceed to the foyer to wait for further information. Thank you." One of the three Joys at the desk announced through the bullhorn over the rowdy bunch.
Immediately, a large portion of enthusiastic trainers elbowed and stampeded their way to the front of the lines. Some of the more patient, timid or uncaring people lagged behind, letting the crowds begin to diminish.
Roxy had wandered over to a super comfortable couch and plopped herself languidly down, but continued to watch her competition from the corner of her eye. She soon found her thoughts wandering to what she needed to accomplish while she was here, then found she didn't even know how long she was stranded on this island…In the middle of nowhere. It didn't sound very reassuring.
The cushion beside her sank down as weight was added to it, snapping Roxy from her train of thought. A girl sat there, looking to be about the same age as Roxy, despite being a couple of inches shorter. Her forest green eyes lit up with excitement from under her short, orange, wispy bangs. The layered, orange hair tickled her shoulder as she bounced on the edge of her seat.
She wore a knee length, gray skirt with a sunny yellow top with subtle frills on the hems. A pair of yellow sandals also adorned her feet. She held out a beautified hand, complete with orange nail-polished long nails and a half a dozen yellow bracelets lining her wrist, jingling with the movement. "Hiya! I'm Holly!"
Roxy was stunned by the brightness for a moment before smiling. "Roxy." She went to shake the girls hand, but the girl moved it suddenly to Roxy's hair.
Holly pulled a green leaf from Roxy's teal hair, tossed away and fixed her cap all in a fluid movement. "Sorry, that's better. It was going to really bug me. Anyway, it's nice to meet you." She shook the still outstretched hand happily.
"Oh, uh, thanks." Roxy casually pulled her fingers through her long hair and smoothed out the slight tangles. Regardless, the two continued conversing, although it was more talking on Holly's part. It wasn't until Nurse Joy interrupted the noisy group that the room fell silent.
"Okay, now that that's over with, we can move right along. The first task will begin immediately: getting to know the island. You will be paired up with a fellow trainer, and you will be completing a scavenger hunt. You're map will explain you're instructions, and a tent will be provided for each team since this task will take you more than these few hours left of sunlight, maybe ever more than a full day. I would advise you to set up camp before it gets too dark and before you get too far out. And I ask that you please refrain from attempting to catch the wild pokemon. I assure you it will not work. Once you find you're partner, you can receive your map and tent and you may begin. Now, please refer to the TV screen for your matches. And good luck to you all." The pink-haired nurse bowed, finishing her speech.
Roxy and Holly read through the names until they spotted their own. "Aw, too bad we're not together. Good luck to you though!" Holly said as she blended into the crowd.
Roxy was left on her own. She decided that sitting there wasn't going to accomplish anything, so instead she hopped up and shouted, "Xena Verboom! Over here! Xena!"
"Why are you yelling? I'm right here!" Bellowed a voice extremely close to her ear. With a high-pitched shriek, she turned around to come face-to-face with a snickering purple-haired girl. The girl looked about two years older than Roxy, only about an inch taller. She had a face with high cheekbones and her lips that seemed to always be in a smile. Her long, lavender hair went down mid-back in small waves, tied in a low ponytail.
She wore a black, half jacket that had lavender on the underside of her arms and the sides of her waist, as well as the cuffs and hem of the bottom and the high collar. A long scarf wound around her neck, also purple, and trailed down to her mid back. Under the coat she wore a sleeveless black turtleneck with had a lavender design of flames and a small golden dragon woven through it. Covering her legs was a pair of lavender skinny jeans and tall combat boots with buckles and reached mid-calf. They were leather and had purple laces and another gold dragon winding up the outside of them. Both hands were clothed in purple and black horizontally striped, fingerless gloves.
Roxy chuckled, although to her it sounded forced. "Sorry. I'm Roxy." She introduced, giving what she hoped was a friendly smile while massaging her throbbing eardrum.
"I'm Xena! And we need to leave right now 'cause we're going to win this!" She exclaimed, fierceness flickering in her golden eyes. She dragged the inattentive girl to the Joys, greedily snatching the items. She didn't stop but raced out the door with Roxy in tow, kicking up dust as they ran. They hadn't gotten far before the purplenette unexpectedly stopped, her poor partner to run smack into her.
"What's wrong?" Asked a dizzy Roxy.
Xena turned around with a sweat drop. "Eh, I don't know where I'm supposed to go."
Roxy slapped her palm to her forehead. They had stopped at the edge of all the beautiful flowers, which turned out to be a maze. For an island, it seemed to cover a huge amount of space. She could see for miles in any direction. She turned back to the map that the nurse had given them. "Well, I suppose we should look at the map. Nurse Joy said it had the directions on it."
"Oh yeah. Here." Xena shoved the folded paper into Roxy's hands and once again pulled her along the road. "Read it while we run. That way we won't lose time."
With great difficulty, Roxy managed to open the information section of the package and quickly scanned through it before the two got too lost. "Uh, apparently we have to identify all the designations marked at each blank location on this map and get a pokemon's footprint to signify that we have reached each site. The closest one to us is at one of the entrances to the flower maze."
"I see it!" Exclaimed Xena, thus causing her to speed up her run to a full out sprint. She pulled on her brakes to skid right in front of a great arch bearing the sign Central Park.
A roselia - a small pokemon with a light green body consisting of a leaf skirt, leaves extending from its shoulders like epaulettes, rose-flowered hands, red on the right and blue on the left, three thorns on top of its head, and a pointed streak of yellow extending from its neck down the forefront of its leaf skirt - twirled out of a patch of yellow daffodils. It curtsied to the two girls before straightening out and glancing at them through its tiny black eyes. It pressed a rose budded hand to the circle in the very center of the map, marking it with the flowery print.
"Xena, what's wrong?" Roxy looked at her fidgeting partner.
Xena's golden eye twitched as her glare washed over the green, grass pokemon. She looked resistant, like she was fighting with herself. "G-grass pokemon. Must burn it…" Her hand twitched along with her eye, crawling toward her pokeballs.
Roselia, now wide-eyed with horror, lunged back into the bush of dense daffodil leaves. After the poor petrified pokemon had split, the crazed look in Xena's face faded.
"Yes! We got our first destination down. How many more is there, Roxy?" Asked Xena excitedly to the girl in possession of the large paper.
Doing a quick count in her head, the slightly younger girl announced, "According to the number of blank spots, nine," as she jotted the words Central Park across the top of roselia's signature.
"Seriously, only nine? Easy peasy. We'll finish this and be back just in time for bed. You can navigate using the map and I'll take out anything in the way. We're an awesome team! Oh, and my trusty sidekick, Feugo!" Xena opened the pokeball in her hand so the pokemon could be released.
Feugo stood at a greater than usual height, given its species. Feugo was a hefty houndoom with short black fur, vehement crimson eyes, polished silver horns and bands around his ankles. He conceitedly held his snout to the sky, eyeing the girl beside his trainer with hostility. He leaned into Xena's hand as she reached out to pet him.
"Feugo can help with the tracking too, it's one of his specialties. You should let out one of your pokemon too."
"Okay." Roxy inattentively agreed, releasing the ghost pokemon, misdreavus. Misdreaves floated around the girls' heads, pointedly yanking Xena's lavender ponytail. Hearing she painful 'ouchie!' from the girl and houndoom snap its fangs savagely at it. Roxy reassured them by saying, "Don't worry, that usually means she likes you. If she didn't then she would've pulled until you felt like your hair has been separated from your skull," in an indifferent tone while she studied the topographical depiction. "And anyway, I'm not so sure this is as easy as your thinking. Have you looked around? This place is huge! I'm guessing that these places are widely spaced out. We might be lucky if we can find another one or two before midnight."
"We'll see, now point us in the direction of the next closest location!" Xena was adamant that she would complete this before the night was over.
"It's, uh…" She rotated a complete 360 degrees, finally coming to a decision. "That way." Roxy pointed in an eastwardly route, eyes still glued to the map.
"Great, let's go!" Xena zoomed away with Roxy's wrist held firmly in her purple, fingerless-gloved hand. Feugo ambled on their heels, while the small ghost managed to hitch a ride on Roxy's cap. "Wow, you have really tiny wrists." Xena remarked.
"Oh-kay?" Roxy muttered, not too sure what to say.
The surroundings lost their green-ness the further they ran. The grass came to be speckled with teensy particles of tan. A sort of worn out path was beat down for the group to follow. The breeze was noticeably at least five degrees warmer than at the Central Park. The tiny particles turned out to be grains of fine sand, and an exquisite golden pink sunset's glow was perfectly displayed over the cerulean waves. It had taken them a while, but the sign came into view. Sunny-day Beach.
"Sweet. Number two!" Xena cheered as they pulled in front of the gorgeous white sand and gently lapping waves, everybody out of breath.
A shuffling of sand made them to switch their gaze downwards. A tan head with two large nostrils popped out in front of the post. A rather small earth-colored bosy followed from the burrow. It let out a large yawn, showing its large mouth and big teeth. With short stubby steps, it wobbled on all fours to Roxy, who was holding the map and set it down, and stamped its muddy-brown foot on the space. It yawned again, sinking back into its hole.
Daylight was escaping fast. The sky had already begun to darken over the island. It was the last few rays of sun left in the atmosphere. Roxy mulled over these facts as her finger trailed over the different roads left. "As I thought, we probably have time to reach only one more place before it will be too dark to continue. This beach can lead us to one of two places. The closest seems to be Southeast through the beach. Should we pursue this destination next?"
"Yeah, I guess." Xena sighed, glaring at the retreating sun. Her houndoom barked in agreement. She started off at a jog down the sand, houdoom lagging behind her obediently.
Roxy had started behind, but instantly stopped, seeing a suspicious man clad in a full black suit, tinted shades and an earpiece. He was just disappearing in the opposite direction. 'Well, that was weird. Why would there be a guard on an isolated island with no way off?' She shrugged. "Let's go find Xena before she gets lost while she's sulking, okay misdreavus? It tugged a piece of hair as its approval.
The beach was such a serene area; the waves delicately crashed on the shore, wingull squawked as they flew overhead, the fading sun blending appealing colors into the heavens. Roxy had taken the heavy boots off to enjoy the warm sand squishing between her toes. Her partner was sluggishly jogging a few feet ahead with her dog pokemon. She and Roxy both felt the humid air too much and had shrugged out of their long sleeved jackets.
Now left in her open-backed turtleneck, Xena's upper back was uncovered enough for Roxy to see two small, purple and gold dragon wings tattooed between her shoulder blades. She snuck up quickly behind the girl. "Nice tattoos. Dragons are amazing creatures." She complimented.
Xena looked startled out of a daze, but soon smiled brightly. "Thanks, aren't they cool?" She flipped her lavender ponytail over her shoulder and tried looking back at the wings without much luck. She rather resembled a dog chasing its tail. "I got them a couple of years ago. I just love dragon-type pokemon, and dog-like ones too. You have any tats?"
Roxy laughed a little, "Uh, no. My brother would kill me." Misdreavus, from atop her head, jerked one of her braids once again in warning. Roxy flinched, mentally slapping herself for the slip-up.
"Oh, so you have a brother? Me too! That is so cool! We have so much in common. Where are you guys from?" Xena gushed.
'Too late to deny it now.' Roxy sighed. "Yeah, we're from Pa-storia City." She shook her head again. 'Why is this so hard? That's almost the second time. It's like I can't lie to her!' She glanced over to the purplenette, who was giving her the strangest look.
"You don't sound too sure about that." She stated seriously.
Roxy tittered nervously, "I'm sure. The heat's getting to me, I think. I really wish it was raining."
Xena's mood changed once again, "Me too! I hate the sun, well not really hate it, but it's just so hot and bright! Rather ironic though since I live in Sunyshore City. I mean it's like the sunniest place in Sinnoh! But rain-"
"Xena?"
"-So much better than sun. Maybe I should move to Pastoria, it's supposed-"
"Xena?"
"-Rain isn't it? You should know since you live-"
SMACK!
Xena sat up in the cushiony material under her bottom. Her gaze lifted up to her attacker; a sign. "Hey, look! I found the sign!" She exclaimed delightedly. She threw Roxy a bright grin, to see her a bit behind her, arms crossed, a raised brow and a slight sweat-drop. "Arg, how do you do that?"
Roxy cocked her head to the side, like a confused puppy. "Do what?"
"The whole eyebrow thing. It's like ones like this and this…" She demonstrated by using her index fingers to push her one brow up and the other down. "It's impossible!" She screwed her face up, trying to do it without her hands.
Roxy broke out in the largest grin, transforming into howling laughter as the girl continued. She fell to the sand beside her partner, her giggles beginning to die down. "I have a feeling this will be an interesting week."
Feugo, the houdoom, shook its head sadly, while misdreavus took the map from Roxy to let the chosen pokemon to mark it. It turned out to be a vibrava, a relatively small, bug-looking pokemon. It resembled a dragonfly with its pale yellow body, green rhombus-shaped wings bordered with brown, and four twig-like legs. Its eyes were large and green, and its tiny antennas twitched as it approached the group.
"Thanks misdreavus." Roxy took the map back from the ghost, looking up so she could copy the name off the sign. It read Sandpit Desert.
The sun had disappeared altogether, becoming increasingly dark. The girls decided that it would be in their best interest to start a fire with the branches of nearby palm trees and set up camp. The tent they were provided with was fairly spacious, as far as tents go, and a solid tan color. The evening drew on, and Xena had pulled out a jar of peanut butter and a loaf of bread from her purple backpack, which her houndoom had graciously carried for her.
"What, no jam?" Roxy joked.
"Ew, of course not." Xena curled her nose in disgust. She spread a generous amount of creamy peanut butter on four slices of bread, smashing two together and offering it to the bluette.
"Thanks." She said appreciatively, noting it was a while since she had decently ate.
"Yummm." Xena bit into her own sandwhich.
They made small talk in front of the glowing fire, which again, houndoom had started. Roxy pulled out the map and discussed what routes they would cover the next day. They joked around a lot until a crescent moon gleamed high in the sky. It was pitch black outside of their circle.
Xena rose to her feet after a period of quiet. "Well I'm going to bed. You coming?"
"No, I'm going to stay out here a bit longer." Roxy said, watching the fire cackle and pop, its orange flames licking upward. She heard the girl and her dog slip into the tent and shuffle a bit as Xena got comfortable. Her misdreavus wandered over to settle in her lap, keeping her company. "Did you notice anything weird around here, Mis?" Roxy inquired in a hushed whisper. The ghost nodded. "I thought so." She sighed.
Soft snores now came from the shared tent. Picking up the pokemon, Roxy stood as well, but headed away from the tent. She couldn't go too far because of the lack of light. When she thought she distanced herself enough, she stopped. Her hands enclosed around the other five pokeballs she carried and enlarged them all. New pokemon of a variety of sizes awoke with large yawns and stretches.
Misdreavus joined the group so they were all in a line facing the blue-haired trainer.
After misdreavus was a tall, cream-colored horse with a fiery mane, back, tail and ankles. A unicorn horn stood on its forehead right above its small, red eyes. By the looks of its slender body and strong, long legs, it was fast. Really fast. It stomped the sand and gave its head a good shake, a few sparks of fire floating off. It was a rapidash.
The earth-colored, mid-sized dog beside it yelped, jumping away as the flames hit it. Its short hair was almost the same shade as the sand, its paws, eyes and inner ears a milk chocolate tone. Its ears and tail were leaf-like and green, as well as grass blades on its chest and ankles. It looked elated to be released and to be in a nature environment. Its tiny nose sniffed the warm air of the night. It was an eeveelution; a leafeon.
The next pokemon was only a smidge smaller, standing on two short legs. It was a golden yellow with a cream underbelly and snout and darker gold spikes covering its entire back. From each yellow paw protruded lengthy, sword-like claws, and a stubby tail showed from under its spiked armor. It looked tired, its black with white iris eyes drooping. It was known as a sandslash.
Another taller pokemon of a baby blue color, also bipedal, stood. It kind of had a dinosaur look; strong arms, legs, tail, tan skin on its jaw, chest plates and a pouch looking patch in the lower part of its tummy. Its feet each had three small claws, as well as little blue horn-like scales lining its head, back, shoulders and large, mouse-like ears. It looked at its bearings with small black eyes. This one was nidoqueen.
The last pokemon in the line was bigger still, standing maybe a foot above the girl. It was a penguin-like pokemon with slippery, navy blue skin. Its feet actually appeared to have webbing on them. Its wings were tipped with blue metal and had three golden claws sticking out at the bottom. It had a short, blue, metal fin sticking out of its back and another fin that was on the front of its body that extended to where its chin would be, then split to form some sort of collar. It had a tie like fin in the middle of its belly, and the collar coming off it. There was a lace-like pattern of white coloration on its front, and it had two gold-colored spots on its upper-back. Its most prominent feature was the three-horned trident-like crest that extended from its beak. It silently stood with a bored looking face. She knew it to be called empoleon.
Roxy explained the situation to her temporary team. They mostly seemed pretty understanding and willing to help the girl. She sat with them for about a half an hour, just so they would get used to her presence and know she was their friend. If this was going to work, they were going to have to have at least a little trust in her, and her in them.
Still seated with the group, Roxy sifted through the contents in her bag, giving the pokemon each a handful of poffins before setting them aside to continue the search. "Blast it, Dimentio messed my whole bag up." She muttered. Finally, she found the object that did not belong. It was a palm-sized device, of course black in color. There were half a dozen buttons, but the one she pressed was call. 'No service' flashed across the screen.
"Excuse me? No service? How am I supposed to contact people if this place doesn't get service?" She swore at the thing. "Hey rapidash, could I climb on your back for a moment?" The horse nodded, standing. Even with the higher elevation, the message still said the same thing. With another curse, Roxy massaged her temples. "I'll figure this out in the morning. Get some sleep guys." She called back all of her pokemon and walked back to the tent.
Her partner was in a deep sleep. She followed her example and lay down to shut her eyes, hoping for once she would have an undisturbed rest.
Xena does not belong to piano-girl9989. Xena is the creation of Crimson. light. of. Death. All credit goes to her. :)
Thanks for reading. Hope you liked it. There will be more of, ahm, Shadow/Roxy/? & Xena next time. Plus a new character! That's for you, you know who you are. ;)
Until next time. Ciao!
