Chapter 39 - Final Preparations
"I can't really do anything with this," Green remarked, looking over the device Joshua had thrown together.
"Why not?" Khrista asked, frowning.
"Because I would need both of the communicators in order to upgrade one of them." The Kanto Trainer gave the device back to Khrista, who put it back in her left ear. "You're probably going to have to take a communicator from down here with you when you head back up."
Khrista sighed. "Great. I was really hoping to have to carry less. Is there anything that's available that I won't have to carry with my hands?"
Green thought for a moment, then dug into the satchel she was carrying. "This'll probably do," she remarked, handing Khrista an object.
Khrista lifted up the object, revealing that it was a Mew-shaped pendant on a chain. "This is something I can communicate with?"
"It's something I made some time ago," the Kanto Trainer explained. "It lets the user set up a psychic link with whoever has the other necklace." Green pulled an identical necklace from her bag. "I know you're part Pokemon and all that, but I think it would be good if you had something to channel the power."
"I guess it could be of some use," Khrista admitted. "I can't help but wonder, though - what did you use to make this?"
"I used a couple spoons of destiny that I managed to get away from Red and Yellow," Green explained. "Then, I got Mew to mess around with the silverware's psychic power, and I got them molded."
"You got Aurora to help you?"
The Kanto Trainer nodded. "It wanted to do something like that, anyway - find out whether or not humans actually have the capabilities of telepathy." She smirked. "Now, are you going to put it on or not?"
Khrista gave the pendant another look, running her fingers along the metalwork. "I don't know if this is even going to work. I mean, I basically have the abilities of Pokemon, and this is meant for humans, not Pokemon." She was about to give it back, only to pause. "You know, Joshua probably could have a use for this."
"That's your cousin, right?" Green guessed.
Khrista nodded. "He's pretty much normal as far as I know."
The Kanto Trainer frowned slightly. "Seeing as you aren't exactly normal, that might not work, either." She snatched the pendant from Khrista's hand and replaced it with a device that looked a lot like what Joshua had built, only a bit more high tech. "This guy is already set to a private channel that I run down here." She tapped her left ear, most likely where her communicator was located. "You're going to have to take out the other one, though. Two in one ear isn't recommended."
"Yeah," Khrista agreed, removing Joshua's invention. "No room in there." She placed the thrown-together device in a jeans pocket, then put Green's device in her left ear. "So, is there anything in particular that I need to do in order to use this?"
"You'll get to listen in on us automatically," Green responded. "If you want to talk to me, just press your ear." She looked Khrista over. "So, do you have everything you need?"
"I'm pretty sure that I do," Khrista responded. "I'm going to have to get a few items, just in case Raichu and the others get hurt for one reason or another. You have any idea as to where I might find stuff like that?"
"I think you'll find what you need in that Guild the Pokemon have been running." Green pointed in the directness of the stone huts. "They're somewhere over there."
"O.K., then. Do you have any idea of what I'm going to be looking for?"
The Kanto Trainer shook her head. "Humans don't really spend too much time there for one reason or another. Most of the Pokemon appreciate the privacy, because they're trying to raise families down here.
"I guess that makes sense," Khrista admitted. "Thanks for the tips, Green."
"No problem," Green responded with a smile. "Now, you'd better get going if your going to get everything you need."
"Right," Khrista agreed. She turned and trotted out of the Square, heading into the rows of stone huts the Pokemon called home.
As Khrista slowed to a walk, she decided to have a look around the huts. The small streets between the stone buildings were empty, but there were no doors on them, allowing a passerby to glance inside. As she passed by, Khrista could see different families of Pokemon gathered around, conversing quietly, the younger Pokemon's eyes wide with anticipation and fear. Other huts were empty, the Pokemon that inhabited them spending time elsewhere.
"Hey, Khrista!"
The teen turned her head in the direction of the voice, catching sight of Eliza and Grace running toward her.
"Hey, guys," the teen greeted.
"What are you doing around here?" Grace inquired.
"I'm trying to get to the Pokemon Exploration Guild, but I'm not exactly sure of where I'm going," Khrista admitted.
"I know where it is," Eliza responded. "The Guildmaster showed me around not long after it was built." She bounded over to an intersection. "It's right over here - come on!"
Khrista and Grace followed the Espeon around the corner, looking in surprise at the arch that appeared in front of them.
Khrista let out a whistle. "Quite the setup they've got here," she noted.
"It has to be, what with all the Teams we've got up and running," Grace remarked. "Come on - maybe me of the shops has what you're looking for."
The three walked through the arch and into Treasure Town, Khrista taking in all the sights and smells that came out of some of the market booths. She also took note of the looks she was getting from the Pokemon that were passing by. The teen glanced down at her shirt - which had changed back to the plain red with the Master Ball graphic - then realized that it probably wasn't the shirt they were staring at. It was the fact that she was a human, walking through Treasure Town like she was a Pokemon herself.
"Kanga or the Keckleon brothers probably have what you're looking for," Grace remarked, leading Khrista over to a gigantic kangaroo-shaped booth. "Kanga! Are you there?"
A Khangaskhan looked up from behind the counter, a joey in her pouch. "Why, hello, Eliza and Grace. What brings you here?"
"We need a few items for Khrista," Eliza explained, motioning to the human beside her.
Kanga looked surprised. "Items for a human? I'm afraid I don't store those."
"Technically, they're for my Pokemon," Khrista responded. "I'm going to be heading out tomorrow. And I won't have access to any Pokemon Centers of PokeMarts."
"Ah...I see." Kanga let out a sigh. "I probably won't be able to help you in that instance, either. Unless you happen to have a storage space here already - which I highly doubt since you arrived here in human form."
Khrista frowned, then nodded. "Yeah. I did kind of mess around with this stuff, but I wasn't really all that into it."
"Momma, do you think we could help her from White's store?" the joey piped up, looking up at Kanga. "I don't think she would mind helping her out."
Kanga looked down at the little purple Pokemon. "What makes you think that the co-founder of the Guild would even consider it?"
"But she was always helping everybody, Momma. Big brother always told me that she'd give stuff to Pokemon without even considering how it might have helped her in the long run. I don't think she'd mind."
"She wouldn't."
The trio turned their heads and looked towards the Pikachu head in the center of the area. Standing on the road that led towards said building was a Pikachu wearing a red scarf and a Pokemon Explorer Badge that definitely didn't look like one Khrista had seen before.
"And you are?" Khrista asked, cocking her head out of curiosity.
"My name'a Pika," the Pikachu replied. He must have seen something in the teen's blue eyes, because he held up a paw and stated, "I know, it's a common name among Pikachu, but I'm not about to change it just because of a Trainer's partner." The Electric-Mouse looked up at Khrista with a serious expression. "What is it that you're planning on doing when you have the supplied you need from here?"
"I'm going to be heading up there soon," Khrista replied, pointing upward. "The Professors want me to scout around and get everything ready for when the attack happens - whenever that is."
"You're the one who was up there before," Kanga noted.
Khrista looked over at the Normal-Type and gave a nod. "Yeah. There are a couple others up there, though." She looked up at the cave ceiling. "And I want to be able to talk to the two of them before I end up doing anything that could get me caught."
"And you came here rather than the humans' PokeMart for supplies because..." Pika prompted.
"Because Eliza and Grace suggested I come here...and I don't exactly know where the PokeMart is," Khrista admitted. She gave a sheepish grin. "And...I don't think I've got any cash at this point."
"You'd be surprised at how much Avatars can have in storage," Pika replied. He nodded to Kanga. "Go ahead and pull out White's. This human is going to need all the help she can get, if she's going back up to the citadel."
Kanga frowned, then gave a nod and turned around. As she started to shift through the yellow boxes piled up at the back of the booth, she asked, "What is it that you think you're going to need?"
"Um..." Khrista frowned as she tried to think through what she remembered of the Exploration/Rescue Team games. "Considering that Linoone and Raichu are at their highest level...and maybe Sparkler, too...let's go with six Oran Berries, two Sitrus berries...four Heal Seeds...and six Reviver Seeds, just in case."
Kanga nodded as she reached a particularly big box and started to shift through its contents before pulling out the requested items. "All right...and there you go." She arranged the items on the counter. "Maybe White will be glad to have more room, but I'm not exactly sure what she will think of a human making use of her built-up storage."
"She was a human herself once, and she became human after our run-in with that Ranger," Pika replied. "She'll be fine with an Avatar making use of it."
"Thanks, guys," Khrista stated. She slipped the red backpack off her shoulder and slid the items into a medium-sized, open pocket, which she promptly zipped shut.
"It's the least we could do," Pika responded. "Good luck up there - you'd going to need it."
Kanga took the box and put it back in its place. "You kids had better get going - all of Treasure Town is buzzing with excitement, and I'm probably going to get swamped with returning Teams who want me to store almost everything they've found today."
Khrsita nodded. "I'd probably be doing the same, if I were in their situation - they're no use being unprepared. Again, thanks for the help."
"It's what I do."
As Khrista and the Eevee and Espeon left Treasure Town, Grace asked, "Who are you taking with you?"
"Raichu, Linoone, and Sparkler," Khrista responded. She let out a sigh. "I was planning on taking only Raichu, but Sparkler insisted that I bring everybody else."
"You're Sparkler's Trainer?" Eliza asked, frowning.
The brown-haired teen shook her head. "No. Mist is his Trainer, and she's up there. He insisted on coming because he wanted to see her or something."
"Could you take me?" Grace asked hopefully.
"No," Eliza and Khrista replied together. The Espeon and the human then exchanged glances of surprise upon finding that they had spoken in unison.
Grace frowned. "Why not?"
"I don't know which games you placed, but you're not going to be ready for what's up there," Khrista replied. "Shoot, I don't feel like I'm ready to go up there, but I have to. You don't."
Grace scowled at the idea. Eliza, seeing the look on her younger sister's face, decided to change the subject a little.
"If you can decide on what your final form is going to be, you can come up with everybody else." Eliza stated calmly. "But you have to decided soon, if you really want to come up with the rest of us."
Grace looked at her sister in surprise. "Really? You'd let me come up if I figured out what I wanted to evolve into?"
The Espeon gave a nod. "I'm going to go to the Marowak Dojo. If you've made your decision, come and find me." With that, Eliza turned and bounded off.
Grace watched her sister go, then turned and looked up at Khrista. "Can you help me? Please?"
"Uh...sure, I wouldn't mind," Khrista replied. She got down into a crouching position to look the Eevee in the eye. "What have you narrowed it down to?"
"I've got it narrowed down to Vaproeon, Espeon, and Glaceon, but I can't decide between those three. And then there's Umbreon, but that doesn't look all that cool, even though it has the fewest weaknesses of the eight."
"Well, you're big sister is an Espeon."
Grace nodded. "That's right. Eliza always liked the whole 'moving stuff with your mind' thing."
What Grace said struck Khrista with an idea. "What do you like to do, though?"
"What do I like to do?" Grace repeated, confused.
"Maybe I should reword that... What do you want to be able to do?"
Grace frowned as she tried to gather her thoughts together. "I would like to be able to fly be myself," she finally admitted. "It gets to be annoying when you have to rely on other Pokemon to travel from place to place." The Eevee let out a sigh. "But there isn't an Eeveelution that focuses on the Flying-Type."
"There might be," Khrista pointed out. "The professors just haven't discovered it yet."
"You really think so?"
"Eevee are known to be capable of adapting to each and every situation thrown at them," the teen reminded the Pokemon. "I'd find it highly possible that an Eevee could sprout wings and fly."
Grace became excited. "All right!" She started to jump about excitedly, only to frown. "But, what are the conditions I've got to meet?"
Khrista frowned, as well. "Well, friendship in any instance won't work so it'll have to be a trade or maybe one of the stones... A Dawn or a Shiny Stone would be my best guess."
"How would I do a trade?"
"Exploration Teams have a special item for it. I think it's called a Cable Box... Your sister would know about this sort of thing better than I would."
Grace nodded. "Yeah. I'll go ask her about it. Thanks, Khrista!"
"It wasn't a problem."
As the Eevee took off for the Marowak Dojo, Khrista got to her feet and started for the Square, searching for something else that she could do. Upon finding nothing of interest - and no one to talk to - she walked over to an empty picnic table and sat down, taking off her backpack and putting it on the table. The teen then allowed her thoughts to wander, wondering what she was going to do once she was inside Cyrus' tower.
Obviously, because she had managed to escape, security was going to be a lot tighter than it had been when she was in there. One wrong move, and she could be worse than dead with a snap of her fingers. And then there was the problem of finding her way around. Team Galactic didn't very well hand out maps to intruders - like in the games, she had to find her way around on her own.
"Hey, Khrista!"
The teen's eyes shot over to the center of the Square, widening in surprise upon seeing who it was that had called her name.
"Victini?" she asked, getting up from the picnic table as the little Legendary approached.
"That's me!" the Fire/Psychic-Type confirmed. He grinned hugely. "I've really wanted to meet you for a while, Khrista."
"You have?" Khrista couldn't help but feel a little bewildered at this.
Victini nodded. "A human Legendary like you truly is one-of-a-kind. I doubt that even Arceus saw it coming."
"I think that he probably could, actually..."
Victini shrugged, then started to hover around the teen. "Can you do two Types at once?"
Khrista shook her head. "I don't know if I can, or even if it's a good idea. If I can, I won't be able to figure it out until after Cyrus has been taken out."
"Yeah...you don't have much time left, do you?"
"No; I think the Professors are hoping that I leave tonight. Personally, I agree - the sooner we get this done, the better."
Victini nodded in agreement. "Yeah - this place really is starting to get dull and boring - I wouldn't mind being able to see the sun again."
The determined look on Khrista's face faltered slightly. "Yeah...it had been a while..." She let out a sigh. "I can't help but wonder what my parents are doing right now. They're probably worried sick about me."
Victini looked concerned. "Aren't you old enough to live by yourself?"
"I'm 16, Victini. I'll be able to leave my home and live on my own legally in two years." Khrista let out another sigh. "I'm the only kid in my family, too, so they can't really worry about anyone else."
Victini cocked his head to one side, a curious look on his face that Khrista couldn't help but smile at. The little Legendary looked absolutely adorable. "Hmmm... Maybe Merlin can put something together to send you guys home. I wouldn't out it past him to be able to cook something up like that."
Khrista perked up like this. "You think so?"
Victini nodded. "He wouldn't just toss a challenge like that."
"There you are!"
Khrista's and Victini's heads turned, catching sight of Raichu, Sparkler, and Linoone as they approached.
"I was starting to wonder if you'd left already," Raichu remarked as they reached the picnic table.
"No way was I going to leave without you guys," Khrista responded with a quick smile. "Are you guys ready to go?" She grabbed her backpack and threw a strap over one shoulder.
"Not quite," Sparkler answered. "We should let the professors know we're heading out first."
The teen nodded. "Yeah; you're right. Come on; let's go tell them before anyone else finds out and tries to get us to stay any longer than we should." She started to make her way over to the lab, the Pokemon in pursuit. Upon reaching the building, Khrista exchanged glances with the Pokemon, then opened the door.
"Professor Birch?" she called out as the group stepped into the lab.
The Hoenn Professor looked up from a binder that looked like it was full of photos. "Hello, Khrista. Is anything the matter?"
"Nothing's wrong," the teen responded. "Just popped by to get you know that we're ready to go."
"Really?" Birch came over. "In that case, I've got a message from the Lake Sprits for you."
"Why couldn't they tell us themselves?" Raichu asked, frowning.
"They said they needed to iron things out with Ho-Oh and probably wouldn't be back until after you'd left," the Hoenn Professor explained.
"Ah," Khrista stated, nodding. "So, what did that want to tell us?"
"It concerns Cyrus," Birch explained. "For the past few days, the Trio have been sensing a lot of Dark-Type tinted nightmares from the top of the tower. They think that Darkrai might be having a bit too much fun driving Cyrus insane."
"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Khrista asked. " 'Cause I'm thinking that the less stability he has, the less stability the rest of the place has."
"It's doing nothing to help or hinder them. The only thing that really slowed them down is when he affected one other person - a scientist. Uxie wants you to, when you head n there, hunt down Darkrai and get him to start affecting everybody else."
Khrista nodded. "Right. I'll find him."
"And another thing." Birch moved over to a corner of the lab and returned a moment later with a red device. "You're going to need this."
Khrista accepted the device and looked it over. "Is this a PokeDex?"
"Not just and PokeDex," Birch replied with a twinkle in his eye. "It's the same one you received from me at the start of your journey, albeit a little...upgraded."
Khrista flipped open the device and fumbled around from the "on" switch, after which she discovered that, much to her delight, all of the Pokemon she had caught were recorded there.
The teen grinned. "Awesome."
"You can use it to keep an eye on your Pokemon's health and ability to use certain moves," the Hoenn professor explained. "Make sure that it doesn't leave your sight, either. Team Galactic doesn't know as much as we do about Pokemon species, and I'm pretty certain that there are some we still don't know about, either."
Khrista nodded. "Yeah - I was just talking with Grace about the undiscovered Flying-Type Eeveelution. I haven't seen it, but I'm pretty sure that Grace could find it, if she really wants to become one."
"She wants to fly that badly, huh?"
"I should think so." Khrista slipped the PokeDex into her backpack. "So, are you going to make sure that everyone else knows where I've gone?"
"Only those who really should know," the Hoenn professor responded. "Any Pokemon in particular?"
"Swamp and Chaos," Linoone stated. "They'll get the news to everybody else."
"They're probably on Mt. Coronet, helping other Pokemon train," Raichu added.
Birch nodded. "Right. Now get going! I don't want to hold you up for any longer than you've stayed."
Khrista smiled in agreement. "I'll be seeing you and everybody else later, then, make sure everybody's ready to kick Team Galactic into next week."
"I think Rayquaza's gonna knock them into the next decade," Raichu stated with a smirk.
"Well, we'll leave something for him, then," Khrista remarked. The teen nodded to Victini. "You'd better keep everybody's energy up - if we're to win this, everybody on our side has got to be fired up."
Victini grinned. "Not even the Snorlax will sleep because of the energy they feel!" He gave the Trainer a mock salute, then flew out the still-open door.
Khrista then nodded to the three Pokemon present. "All right, guys. I don't want to get too much attention when we head in there."
The Pokemon nodded in agreement, then retreated into their respective PokeBalls, which were still on Khrista's belt. After a quick nod to Prof. Birch in farewell, the teen stepped out of the building...
...and almost bumped into a woman.
Khrista blinked in surprise, stopping her movement before she could bump into the figure accidentally. The teen's eyes quickly scanned the woman as the stranger did the same to Khrista.
"Mrs. Ketchum?" Khrista guessed softly after taking note of the woman's appearance.
The woman looked at her sharply, brown eyes filled its surprise and suspicion. "How do you know who I am?"
"I'm from that other world," Khrista explained. "You didn't show up all that often in the TV show from what I've heard, but I'd know who you are anywhere anyway."
Mrs. Ketchum was flattered by this, then frowned. "You came from that other world?" Upon seeing Khrsita nod in confirmation, she asked, "You wouldn't happen to be the child who came from...up there, would you?"
Khrista nodded a second time. "My name's Khrista. My cousin Joshua's Pokemon, Alak, got me out of there right under the Galactics' noses."
Mrs. K took ahold of Khrista's shoulders. "Tell me - have you seen my son?" Upon seeing Khrista nod again, she demanded, "Is there any hope if him being rescued?"
Khrista was a little startled by this question, but she shook it off and answered, "Ash is doing well, considering his situation. And yes, there is a possibility that he can be rescued. The Red Chain had been built to enslave Pokemon, not humans - it doesn't work completely on Ash."
Mrs. K's eyes widened. "It doesn't?"
Khrista shook her head. "At night, he can travel into other people's dreams - give them nightmares, scare them into doing different things, etc. I actually met him officially that way - him being forced to hunt me down after I got here doesn't count." The teen smirked. "Plus, if you say his name often enough in a day, the chain breaks its hold on him for a little bit."
Mrs. K gave Khrista a nervous smile. "Do you think that will rescue him?"
"I'm not completely sure... Rayquaza did rescue Giratine from his bonds by accidentally slashing it, so we could do the same with Ash. It's going to be tricky, though - Giratina, from what I've gathered, was entrapped in a copy of the real deal, which Ash is stuck in. An attack that's much more powerful than a basic attack from a Dragon is probably what's needed..."
"Please, figure it out," Mrs. K begged. "I want my son back."
"And we will get him back," Khrista promised. "But we're going to need all the help we can get. If you could help out in any way, I'm sure it'll be greatly appreciated."
Mrs. K's eyes went up the front of the Professors' lab, the uncertain look on her face becoming one of determination. "All right; I'll do it. For Ash."
"That's the spirit!" Khrista encouraged. "Professor Birch is just inside; he can tell you where you can help out the most."
"Thank you, Khrista." Mrs. K walked over to the door as the teen stepped to one side. "Next time you see my son up there, tell him I said hello."
The statement startled Khrista. "How did you -"
"I know a person dressed for travel when I see one." The woman's eyes twinkled with mischief. "You'd better get going."
The teen nodded. "Right." She turned and jogged off, leaving the human and Pokemon-built buildings behind.
Next chapter...we infiltrate Cyrus' "humble" abode!