Chapter 8
Japanese Names:
Matsuba = Morty
Disclaimer:We don't own pokemon in any shape or form. Pokemon belongs to its creators and has many fanfics written about them for entertainment and enjoyment such as this one. OCs and plot belongs to us, game characters' personalities are loosely based off of their game counterparts. Enjoy the fanfic.
"Are you okay?" Chiharu asked the next morning. She and Mirei were sitting at the Pokemon Center's cafeteria for breakfast. When Chiharu returned to the Pokemon Center last night, she found Mirei already asleep under her bed covers with her pokemon sleeping beside her.
The brunette girl mumbled a few words in response to the catcher's question. Chiharu woke up before her and had to nudge her to get out of bed. An unusual gesture as Mirei is normally the first to wake up out of the two. Mirei dragged herself to the cafeteria and was nitpicking her food on her plate, pushing her food from side to side with her plastic fork. Another odd behavior from the battler, who normally ate more at breakfast than for any other meal.
"How was training yesterday?" The bluenette was desperate to get information out of her friend. "Did you get much done?" She watched Mirei flinch at the word 'training' and turned away from her.
"A little..." Mirei said quietly.
Chiharu looked over at Mirei's pokemon, who were all out of their pokeballs. Nidorina wore a timid expression and looked at her trainer nervously as if she was to break down at any moment. Pidgeotto sat on an empty seat beside Mirei and tried to comfort the trainer with his wing on her back. Alakazam had finished his meal and was meditating in the corner of the Pokemon Center, ignoring the attention he was attracting from new trainers who have never seen the fully evolved pokemon before.
"Mirei?" Chiharu did a quick head count for Mirei and her team, but something was off. "Where's Leo?" She looked for the small normal type pokemon, who would usually be sitting at Mirei's feet eating his meal while chatting to the other pokemon.
"Leafeon!" Here I am! A big yellow canine leaped at Chiharu's knees. The grass type pokemon yelped, "Leaf, leaf, eon?" Did someone call my name? Leafeon shook his leafy tail excitedly at the mention of his name.
"Is that...Leo?" Chiharu was speechless. Eevee evolved yesterday?
After giving Leo a small pokeblock, the Leafeon jumped back on his fours and ran back to the pokemon. Chiharu wiped the moss Leo has left on her knees and thought, Huh, never thought he would evolve so soon. She always thought that Leo would evolve into an Espeon or a Vaporeon instead. The sudden appearance of the grass type made Chiharu almost knock down her plate of food beside her.
"Leo ran off yesterday," Mirei said. "We battled this trainer and Leo evolved." She cringed at the memory of the angry trainer yelling at her for her training method. Did her pokemon really hated training that much? They did seem reluctant to leave the Pokemon Center yesterday to train... What does he know? The girl tried to justify her actions.
"Did this trainer say something to you?" Chiharu carefully chose her words, noticing how uncomfortable the girl was, careful not to seem too curious. She knew that Mirei was still mad at her from yesterday for talking about Satsuki. She was walking on eggshells at the moment. Her Espeon walked over to her brother and looked at him curiously.
"No," she shortly replied.
"Espi, espeon?" You evolved? Asahi poked her brother on the forehead with her paw. The psychic pokemon levitated a poffin from Leafeon's bowl and brought it to her mouth before saying, "Espi, esp, espeon, eon, eon." It's going to be hard to get used to seeing you covered in moss. Leo always took great care of his glossy fur before he evolved.
"Leafeon!" Hey that's mine! Leo ran after his poffin and waved his paw towards the floating pastry. "Leaf, leaf!" Give it back! Asahi was always good at sneaking in some food when he wasn't looking, but this was something else! The grass type pokemon caught his sister smiling at her newfound powers.
"Esp," Fine, the Espeon said and moved the poffin above her brother's bowl. The blue pastry fell on Leafeon's head. "Espeon," Sorry, the psychic pokemon chuckled.
"Leafeon..." You're going to abuse your psychic powers, aren't you? The verdant pokemon rubbed his head but happily ate the dry poffin. "Leaf, leaf?" How did you evolve?
"I battled Matsuba yesterday," Chiharu said. She took a bite of scrambled eggs that was topped with ketchup and hash browns. The other girl instantly dropped her fork.
"You what?" She couldn't believe it.
"Asahi evolved from defeating his last pokemon," the blue haired girl said. "I had to, he has some information about Satsuki!" She looked at Mirei, "That prophecy he said yesterday...it's about Ho-Oh. He said that the-"
"You still believe in that?" She interrupted rudely. "I thought you wanted to be a pokemon professor!" Mirei snorted, "You believe in stuff like prophecies and fate?"
"It's better than having nothing to follow," Chiharu gritted her teeth. "You may think it's stupid, but I am running out of ideas. I know that you don't believe me what I said, when I know, I saw Satsuki that night. If you're not going to help me, then I'm going to investigate myself. Let me do things my way once in awhile, is that too much to ask?"
The shorter brunette was about to open her mouth to counter her friend's statement when suddenly a voice cried out, (Please stop fighting!) The two girls froze in the middle of their argument. Mirei was standing midway from her seat inches away from Chiharu, who was angrily trying to control her temper.
"Leaf?" Was that you little sis? The grass type cocked his head to his left, staring at his younger sibling with sharp interest.
Chiharu's eyes widened and said childishly, "Asahi?" The voice was young and feminine and echoed in her mind.
(Is there something wrong?) The little Espeon wondered to herself as she looked at each of the trainers' faces. (Why are they staring at me?) She flicked her tail innocently.
"You can talk!" Her trainer whispered. She lowered her voice to avoid attracting attention from the other people in the building. "Is that you, Asahi?" Chiharu bent over so that she was sitting at eye contact level as the sun pokemon.
"Espi?" Is what me?
"Eon on, leaf, leafeon..." You're talking Asahi, like, telepathy talking...
"Espeon!" That's ridiculous!
"Lea, fe le leaf?" Hey, can you tell Mirei that she makes us train too much?
(That's just rude! Of course she trains you too much, but I can't tell her that! Telepathy or not, idiot brother!) Asahi squeaked when she saw the brunette trainer stare at the psychic type like she had grown two heads. (Did I say that out loud?) Mirei could have sworn that the pokemon's face had turned into a light shade of pink from embarrassment.
"How can you talk?" Asahi's trainer was still talking in a low voice, struggling to keep her voice down at a whisper level. "I heard of a few cases like this, but why you?" Chiharu almost forgotten about the argument. Was this the same Eevee she picked from Glaceon's litter all those years ago?
"Leaf..." That was really rude... Leo stated.
"Peon!" Shut up Leo! Espeon snapped, using Psychic to steal one of his uneaten poffins. The feline pokemon ignored her older brother whining and ate the poffin very zealously. The sun pokemon stuck out her tongue. Bleh... It was an orange puffin; it was a too spicy for her liking. Asahi had a preference for the green bitter poffins. The bitter, the better.
"Alakazam, kazam, zam, alakazam." She can use telepathy because she's close to her trainer, Mirei's Alakazam teleported in the middle of their conversation. He was now sitting between the two eeveelutions. "Alakazam, zam, zam, alakazam." Psychic types usually limit their thoughts to their trainers.
"Psyduck, duck?" All psychics can do that? Chiharu's Psyduck waddled by. The water type pokemon looked like a big yellow duck with a wide beak and a shocked expression.
Alakazam sighed and nodded, "Alakazam, alakazam, kazam, zam, kazam." Yes, but most prefer to keep their thoughts to themselves. Mirei and Chiharu's pokemon were now listening to every word he said. The psi pokemon wasn't used to such unwanted listeners.
"Golbat, bat?" Then why can Asahi be heard? The bat-like pokemon asked the Alakazam, "Bat, bat, bat?" Since when did you know about this?
The tall psychic pokemon said, "Alakazam, ka." When psychic pokemon have a close bond with their trainers, "Zam, zam, zam, alakazam." They can share their thoughts. They can understand Asahi because she wanted to be heard.
"Pidgey, pidgey?" Mirei's Pidgeotto asked, So only her trainer can hear her?
"Kazam." Or those she is close to, Alakazam answered the bird pokemon's question. "Alakazam, zam, alakazam." It's easier for us psychics to connect to those we share similarity to.
"Leafeon, eon." You don't talk to Mirei, Leo stated. He glared at the psychic pokemon, "Leaf, leaf, eon!" You could have told her that we hated training! He felt betrayed. The grass pokemon never knew that psychic pokemon were capable of communicating that way!
"Alakazam, zam, ka, zam." Asahi has grown up acting as Chiharu's translator, he argued. "Alakazam." Sharing her thoughts to her trainer is easier for her.
The account of trainers being able to communicate with their psychic pokemon was rather limited. Most psychic types were aloof in nature; forming close relations to psychic pokemon is difficult for that reason. If the psychic pokemon was caught young and stayed with its trainer long enough, they may become close enough for the psychic type to choose to begin communicating. The later the psychic pokemon is obtained in its lifetime, the harder it is for it to have motivation to communicate. Sharing thoughts with a trainer ranges from sharing emotions to sharing ideas and concepts as Asahi did.
"Nidorina?" You mean not all psychics can actually talk?
"Zam. Alakazam, zam, kazam, alakazam." He shook his head slowly in response to Kisaki's question. No. Only if they are close to their trainer, and I suppose the way they are raised as well as the pokemon itself.
"What's Kazama saying?" Mirei asked. She had never seen her Alakazam talk so much; the psi pokemon was repeating his name almost constantly in one breath. It was a rare occasion to see her and Chiharu's pokemon to pay attention to the normally asleep pokemon.
(So nothing I actually think about is private? Then I can't go around thinking about how I steal Leo's and Helios' food when they aren't lo- Oh crap) Asahi thought out loud, despite trying to keep it quiet.
"So Helios actually doesn't eat all that much...?" Chiharu stared at the feline pokemon. "Huh," The blue haired girl was feeling guilty for accusing the fire dog pokemon the other night for getting too heavy. She glanced over to the Growlithe sitting at her feet and mumbled, "Sorry Helios..."
"Growl, lithe!" It's okay! The Growlithe pat his trainer's knee with one paw. "Growl, ruff, ruff!" You didn't know! He jumped on his hind legs to give his trainer a slobbering lick in the face.
"Nido, do, rina!" But Mirei heard Asahi! The poison pin pokemon said.
"Kazam?" Hope that she didn't realize that it was regarding her? The drowsy psychic type suggested. All of the brunette's pokemon snuck a glance at their trainer, who stared back. Completely confused.
"Leafeon?" So, why is it that little sis can talk and not control it?
"Kazam, alakazam. Alakazam, zam, zam, zam. Alakazam, kazam, kazam." I think it's because she was originally a normal type. She's still getting used to her new typing. I don't think she knows how to turn it off yet. A rare smile formed on the usually sleeping pokemon. It was clear that this was amusing for him.
(Asshole...) Asahi moped. Kazama laughed out loud.
"I still can't believe you defeated Matsuba," Mirei mirrored Asahi and moped in the corner. She muttered to herself, words that was unheard by her friend's ears, "How did you beat him when I couldn't? You don't train as much as I do!"
"Would you like to come with me to the Ecruteak Dance Hall?" Her friend asked her, "I was told that the Kimono girls might know a thing or two about Ho-Oh..." She said the last few words softly. Chiharu turned to look at her friend, who was still shouting at her. She heard a few unintelligible words coming out of her mouth, but chose to ignore it.
"No, I'm going to go back to that creepy gym leader, and pummel his ass into the floor," she gritted as she returned her pokemon back besides her Pidgeotto. She left the table without saying good bye, and quickly stormed out of the building, leaving Chiharu alone and hurt.
Ecruteak Dance Hall
"So much of my money gone..." the blue haired catcher said to herself. Those tickets aren't cheap. Ecruteak City milked as much money as they could out of their tourists and had no mercy for poor high school students. After watching the one o'clock show, which featured a few kabuki stars and the kimono girls themselves, Chiharu was never so eager to stand up from her seat.
But that wasn't why she was complaining.
The moment Chiharu asked the Kimono Girls about the legendary pokemon and prophecies; they immediately challenged her to battle. Not only was she ill prepared, her own pokemon was at least five or seven levels higher than her strongest pokemon. Caring more for her pokemon's welfare and survival rate than of actually trying to talk her way out of battle, she used X item after X item. And they are not at all cheap.
"Shion, come here so I can give you this X Special Defense!" she cried out into the battlefield. Her other pokemon were stowed in their pokeballs, even her Espeon. Each had already fainted.
"Psyduck, psy?" Another one? Psyduck tilted his head at his trainer, but came over anyway. "Duck, duck, psy..." I don't think I'm good enough... The yellow duck looked at his opponent nervously. "Psyduck, psy!" I'm not strong enough! The water pokemon had an inferiority complex that was comparable to a certain trainer's Feebas.
"You have used so many items already, "the Kimono Girl, Tamao, noted as her Umbreon gracefully stood on her four black legs. The calm dark type simply gazed at the little yellow duck as it waddled back into the field. The kimono girl wore a colorful kimono of red and green with ornaments decorated in her hair. She had a light layer of makeup powdered on her face for the previous show.
"My pokemon are obviously much lower leveled than of yours and your sisters," Chiharu explained as she desperately tried to think up her next plan of action.
She knew how defensive an Umbreon can become. Psyduck had already used Disable on Umbreon's Faint Attack and the dark type pokemon was no longer using Confuse Ray. Umbreon was now relying on Pursuit and Quick Attack, which was both slowing down the yellow duck as well as slowly lowering his health. Poor Shion was hardly doing any damage to the dark fox like pokemon with his short range of attacks. The water pokemon would clumsily move across the theater like a fish out of water and attempt to attack it. The theater's floor was soaked with water from Shion's Surf attack from earlier. Psyduck couldn't use psychic moves on Umbreon because it was a dark type...
"Your pokemon doesn't seem to have much confidence. Is it of his trainer or of himself?" Tamao asked as her pokemon sprinted to towards Shion to use Quick Attack. The yellow water type bounced off the ground from impact.
"Shion was like that when I found him!" The trainer said, "He was lost from his group when I found him." Chiharu found him lying in the flowerbeds in the rain with a sorrowful look in his eyes.
"Of all Psyducks, why him?" The kimono girl was still examining the clumsy duck as he tripped from Umbreon's attack. "It seems you obviously know your pokemon well to be able to effectively fight with them. Without a doubt, you are definitely a trainer that does not catch the first pokemon she meets."
"I had a friend that oddly did not like Psyducks..." Chiharu chuckled slightly, recalling how Satsuki would constantly try to plug her ears whenever she passed the village lake, which was filled with Psyducks. "But she let me choose this little guy," she gave her Psyduck a fond look. "He was different from the others. He didn't run away from me when I approached him like his group did." Even though she promised the duck that she would help him find his group, she woke up the next morning with Psyduck waiting for her at her front porch.
"A pokemon chosen by a friend? But why did you keep him with you if he obviously has confidence issues?"
"Satsuki must have seen something different in this particular Psyduck. And no matter how I tried to get him back to his fellow Psyducks, he would just follow me home. Besides," she paused. "Shion is a sweet pokemon. He always tries to help me around my home. He's the most caring pokemon I've ever had. It wouldn't be right not to have him around."
She finished with a smile as the duck like pokemon charged at the dark type with Surf. Psyduck would often waddle behind her back home, often trying to offer help, only to trip on himself. This gave her grandfather an excuse to take a bunch of pictures of it and show off to the villagers, who have to suffer through listening to the same tale on repeats.
"Umbreon, stop." Tamao held her arm forward to halt the attacking moonlight pokemon. "I believe that one more attack would cause the pokemon to faint, but we already found proof of what we are looking for."
"Eh?" Chiharu asked, startled by the sudden conclusion. "Wait, why?" She was clearly going to lose the match. "Shion, are you alright?" The catcher squatted down to Psyduck's level. The poor duck had scratches on his body and looked like he was ready to fall down. Her opponent was right; one more attack would have made him faint.
"Psy, duck!" I couldn't defeat Umbreon for you! Psyduck said sadly.
"If I defeat your Psyduck, you would blackout and we would be unable to speak with you for at least several hours." The Kimono Girl stated with a matter-of-fact tone.
"Blackout? What are you talking about?" Chiharu blinked, unsure of what the Kimono Girl was trying to say.
Tamao sighed, her head tilted downwards slightly. "They always deny it." Seeing confusion on the girl's face, she shook her head and proceeds to the next topic, "So you wanted to know about Ho-Oh? I'm guessing Matsuba told you?" Chiharu showed her the Fog Badge she had obtained from Matsuba.
"Do a lot of trainers ask you about this?" The tired trainer asked.
The Kimono Girl shook her head, "No, I believe most trainers don't even believe in Ho-Oh's existence. We often check those who ask just in case." She then said, "Matsuba's predictions tend to be correct. He told you about the prophecy, right?"
"Yes," Chiharu slowly replied. "He said that a trainer met Ho-Oh five years ago after he challenged the five of you." She gazed at the Kimono Girls, who were all difficult opponents in their own different ways.
"A trainer came here five years ago," another Kimono Girl, Sakura, said. "He battled us when we saw that he had the Clear Bell with him. He also had the Rainbow Wing under his possession."
"By the way, what do you mean by 'check'?" Chiharu asked.
"We wanted to make sure you were not after the legendary pokemon for ill purposes. But there is no need to fear. You are clearly a kind and thoughtful trainer. Your pokemon must love you." Tamao explained.
"After we battle that trainer," Sakura continued. "The whole city shook. It wasn't an earthquake. We were alerted that Ho-Oh has returned. We quickly went to the Bell Tower to see that the rainbow hued pokemon was indeed coming back."
"We performed a dancing ritual we have been practicing for years," Tamao added. "Ho-Oh then flew and landed on top of the Bell Tower. It was waiting for that trainer who defeated us." The rainbow pokemon spread its huge wings with a fierce look in its eyes. It didn't take notice of the Kimono Girls, who were there as witnesses. Its only focus was on the young trainer in front of it.
"What did Ho-Oh do?" Chiharu whispered. She felt like she was five again and was asking her grandfather to tell her more of what happened to the characters from his old tales. She leaned over to catch every word.
"They battled for a long period of time," Tamao said. "I thought the fire attacks would attract the media, but it seems that the quality of the evidence was all but a blur. It lasted for an hour before Ho-Oh was finally caught."
"Someone caught Ho-Oh?" She said.
"Ho-Oh was under the trainer's possession for some time," Kimono Girl Komomo added. "Sometime after, the trainer came back a few months later and told us that Ho-Oh was released. The trainer felt that there was too much responsibility to have a legendary pokemon under his ownership. It was best for Ho-Oh to live in peace in the wild than avoiding public attention as a trainer' pokemon."
"Matsuba said that I and a friend of mine were in that prophecy about Ho-Oh," the blue haired trainer said. "What does that mean?"
"After traveling around, my sisters have noticed a number of legendary pokemon disappearing," The Kimono Girl Koume said. "There may be some sort of connection between you and the legendaries. How, we are not quite sure.
"We were told by Matsuba that someone is after Ho-Oh, but he doesn't know who," Kimono Girl Sakura finished her sister's sentence. "He told us that he saw six trainers looking up at the legendary, one other trainer reaching for it, and another in the shadows. He could not tell what that final shadowed trainer was doing."
"What about my missing friend?"
"Did Matsuba ever mention how many friends of yours were involved in this prophecy?" Chiharu went silent when Kimono Girl Koume asked her that. "You can try to work alone all you want, but those around you will always be affected by your actions in some way."
"Also, have faith in your friend." Kimono Girl Satsuki added her voice soft and sure. "She will soon fall, and when she does, she will need you to recover. Things may not be good now, but it will only get better."
Chiharu swallowed hard and nodded at the Flareon's trainer. "What can I do then?" Where was she to go? Mirei wanted to collect all the badges, but asides from that she had no idea where to search for Satsuki next. They have been searching for years with little to no evidence for their next destination.
"That girl you are looking for... Is much closer than you think she is," Kimono Girl Sakura said with a sad tone. "Watch out for the people around you. They are not always who they seem to be. Some cannot be believed at first sight."
"There is a tower beyond the mountains," Kimono Girl Komomo said. "There is some disturbance in its aura. The tower is where the land, sea, and sky meet. It is located at a port of crashing waves."
A port of crashing waves... Chiharu thought. Where has she heard that before? There were two port cities in Johto: Olivine City and Cianwood City. Beyond the mountains? Olivine had some mountains, but they have been set aside for that Pokemon Tower decades ago. The only thing you saw there were tourists and trainers eagerly waiting for challenging battles. The Kimono Girl mentioned a tower, but something told Chiharu that the Pokemon Tower wasn't what she meant. Cianwood had the Safari Zone after going through several caves and wildlife. Did she mean...?
"Cianwood City?" The girl asked. "What tower?"
"That's for you to find out, because we don't have a clue!" Kimono Girl Satsuki teased, though her words were true. "Even prophecies won't tell you everything!" She said loudly, "The future isn't all set in stone. Only you can shape your own fate!"
When Chiharu left the theater, she checked her blue Pokegear and saw its digital numbers reading four o'clock in the afternoon.
"That was a rough battle," Chiharu said and turned to her Psyduck, who was struggling to keep up with her. "I'm sorry Shion, it was stupid of me to have you fight them." She thought of her team who had to put up with the harsh battle. The blue haired trainer was grateful for Kimono Girl Tamao to halt the battle.
"Psy...duck." No...it's my fault. Shion denied his trainer taking the guilt. "Psy, duck, psy, yai." I just wasn't good enough. He looked down with a sad expression.
His trainer saw his lack of confidence and said, "No, you did fine. I'm surprised we lasted so long against them!" She pats the duck on the head, "We didn't know they were going to be so strong!"
Once Psyduck and the other pokemon were healed at the Pokemon Center, Psyduck was back in Mirei and Chiharu's room and stared at the ceiling. His trainer was going out to get more food for them. Her pokemon had a tiring day because of the match and she felt that all of them needed some peace to eat and rest. After that battle with Umbreon, the yellow duck felt strange. Like he was going through an enlightenment of some sort. Like his body was warning him that something was about to change. He felt stronger than usual and his light headache has not bothered him lately.
"Psy...duck?" I'm...going to evolve? Shion looked at its small claws with uncertainty.
Pokemon Center
Chiharu came back with more food for the pokemon and placed it on the floor. Many of her pokemon automatically came at the sight of food and started consuming it in no time. The catcher stood by the bed with a smile on her face when Mirei stomped into the room with a wide, triumphant smile chiseled into her face. Chiharu perked up to see her friend stride over and flop onto the bed.
"I suppose you won?" The blue haired catcher asked cautiously.
"Of course I did! I knocked his pokemon into Sinnoh!" She giggled gleefully. All the doubts that she had after the first battle and with the Environmental Hipster had slipped out of her mind.
"Did... Did you learn anything...?" Chiharu was still carefully choosing her words, afraid of tripping a berserk button from the enthusiastic battler.
"Yep! His victory was just a fluke. All I needed was a day of training to warm up, and the chance of him winning was zero! ZERO, HAHAHA!"
Her friend simply stared, wondering if she lost her mind. She then shook her head, understanding that Mirei didn't learn anything. Who was that trainer yesterday that made Mirei cringe at the word 'training'? Chiharu had the impression that Mirei would mope to the gym unmotivated because of yesterday until she found out about Chiharu's victory against Matsuba. Whatever the trainer did, it seemed to have little to no effect on her.
"Leafeon, leaf!" She didn't use me in battle! Leo pouted as he took a bite of his dinner. "Leafeon, eon!" She used Sora instead!
"Nidorina?" How was your day? Kisaki asked Asahi, who was quietly resting on a cushion laid on the floor.
(It was tiring,) she said with wariness. (Those Kimono Girls were no cake walk.)
"Cake?" Chiharu looked up from where she was resting. The dinner she ate felt like heaven after that long pokemon battle. Cake sounded good right now; the girl drooled at the thought of having a strawberry cheesecake.
(...Never mind.) The Espeon sighed at the timing of her telepathy.
Espeon had already sprouted random thoughts today during her battle with one of the Kimono Girls. Chiharu gave the psychic pokemon odd looks while one of the Kimono Girls chuckled at Asahi's statement. The sun pokemon groaned at the thought that everyone could hear her thoughts if she wasn't careful. She was still having trouble learning to control her psychic powers and has been practicing by stealing Leo's food, much to the grass pokemon's discontent.
"Let's go to Olivine!" Mirei suddenly leaped out of bed.
"Now?" The catcher asked, looking at her Pokegear. It was already five thirty... She wasn't looking forward to traveling at night, where the pokemon were always more aggressive. It was also hard to see in the dark and trainers enjoyed sneaking up on each other for night battles.
"I'm pumped! It's alright if we travel tonight, we won't be running into Spinaraks on these route. I feel like I can take on the world!"
"Alakazam..." Beating that gym leader was probably a bad idea for her... The psychic type shook his head.
"We should go to Cianwood," Chiharu said to Mirei. "I hear it's easier to defeat the gym leader with Sora, Kazama, and Leo. They could use some more training before taking on Olivine's gym leader!" She pumped her arms in the air in false enthusiasm. The catcher mentally begged for her friend to fall for the bait. Wait for it...! She thought.
"We'll go there, after Olivine! It'll only be a day later, and my pokemon are ready for whatever the gym leaders have to throw at them!"
"You're that confident, huh?"
"Let's head out to route 38 after dinner!" Mirei cheered. Chiharu could only respond with a groan. She was impossible to convince once her mind was set to it. Mirei's Alakazam seemed to be thinking among the same lines and sighed in unison with the blue haired girl.
Ecruteak City Gym
Matsuba rubbed his temple with an annoyed expression on his face.
"I can't believe it." He mumbled to himself. "She beat me, using pure blunt force. She didn't learn anything at all!"
She had her Pidgeotto use Gust a few times to take down his first few pokemon before switching out with her Nidorina to make Gengar faint with Bite. The match was finished fairly quickly with little to no resistance from his pokemon. The gym leader was at the front of the gym's interior. He was about to close the gym for the day and get dinner for his pokemon.
The soft clicking of boots entered the room, quietly making its way towards the battle stage. Matsuba spun around, completely taken by surprise by the trainer's lack of presence.
"Ah, hello! Did you defeat all my junior trainers already..?" He asked the trainer. His challenger dressed in black and dark shades of grey, an odd combination for this time of the year. The sun was out and ready to burn and bake anyone who wasn't prepared for it.
The stranger didn't reply. He looked a bit awkward in clothing that was quite loose, though nowadays, it's a style. He is probably feeling a bit nervous or shy, the gym leader thought.
"Wait right here, let me go fetch the referee before we begin, okay?" He smiled as he turned his back to go into the break room.
Suddenly, a pain pulsed through his head, everything before him looked like it was in grayscale. He saw himself, down on the ground with a massive burn covering from the right side of his back, to his shoulders and chest area. The blond man cringed at the pain. The burn cut through his thin skin, impatient and demanding. A shadowed trainer stood next to a large fire pokemon who was blurred, but still recognizable. A pokemon that shouldn't be in the hands of a trainer. The legendary volcano pokemon.
Matsuba snapped his body around to see a red flash release the magnificent beast. One eye saw reality, and the other was still portraying the prophecy as the trainer's mouth move silently. The adrenaline already spiked in his own body, making everything move slowly than it really was.
"Fire Blast," the gym leader read the quiet trainer's lips as the room heated up and suddenly grew extremely bright. The sudden flame made the gym leader cough from the lack of oxygen in his system. The ghost trainer was still mouthing the last bits of the prophecy before he lost consciousness and plunged into darkness.
Ecruteak City Border from Route 37
"Here's Ecruteak!" Keigo announced later that night when Red and Green arrived to the historical city. They were standing at the city's entrance where the arc wrote, 'Ecruteak City - the historical city'. Lights were gleaming from the traditional roofed buildings. "I thought we would never make it because of you being a bunch of old men!"
"Why you..." Green gritted his teeth. After chasing that Gengar in the forest for hours, they have finally retrieved Red's Pikachu. The reunion between pokemon and trainer would have been heartwarming, if it wasn't for the fact that they were delaying their arrival to Ecruteak City.
"What can I say?" The young teenage boy said, "It's not my fault you guys are so-"
Keigo was interrupted midway his sentence when someone's Pokegear rang in the tune of some television show. The gym leader automatically took out the green Pokegear from his bag and answered, "Hello?"
"The Ecruteak gym leader!" A man said frantically, "Matsuba! He's been found badly burned by an attacker!"
"What?" Green froze. It couldn't be. "Who are you?" The gym leader demanded to know. The call was from Matsuba's Pokegear, but he didn't recognize the voice.
"This is Matsuba's referee!" The man shouted. "The burns reached his shoulder and continued onto his back and chest. He's in the Ecruteak Hospital right now. Here's the address with the room number where he's resting!"
Green took out a piece and paper and pen to write down the information. It took the Viridian gym leader a few minutes to calm down the anxious referee to hear his words correctly. The phone call ended with the referee apologizing to the two Kanto trainers for wasting their time before hanging up.
"Whoa..."Keigo finally said, after hearing all of that. "Shit just got real... A gym leader was attacked?" He turned to the other two. "Doesn't that mean that the attacker is still here? Would he target you two?" His voice was shaking from worry. Keigo's Flareon looked up to his trainer and tried to comfort the teen by nudging him with its forehead. He remembered how his sister was rushed to the hospital that one night, covered in cuts, bruises and burns.
"He probably is, but there is no way Red and I are going down without a fight," Green answered with determined eyes. He put a firm hand on the teenager's shoulders and said, "Go rest up in the Pokemon Center tonight and go home first thing in the morning. Red and I will handle this."
"I can't go home!" The teen cried, "I need to go to Goldenrod City (1) for class tomorrow!"
"...that sounds troublesome," Red groaned. It has been years since he went to school. While he was in Mt. Silver, Blue and Green would bring books with them to try to help him catch up in his academics. He wasn't so bad in reading, it's just that learning history and math never had much importance to him.
"Here kid," Green said, pulling out some money and handing it to the teen. "The train (2) should still be running right now. Take the one for Goldenrod City and rest at their Pokemon Center."
Keigo stared at the paper money in Green's hands. They just met yesterday. Was this gym leader really going to give him money? Keigo shook his head and said, "It's okay. I already have money." His Flareon nodded and cried its name.
"Then as thanks, and if you must pay me back, then do it after I find out what happened to your friend." He smirked, putting a smile on the kid's face.
"Hey, if you meet my sister, tell her that her stupid Gengar ran away from home again!" The teenage boy stuck out his tongue. Green fought the urge to roll his eyes at the childish behavior.
"Maybe not," he called out as Keigo rushed towards the train station that was located at the lower left side of the city near the pokemon gym. He turned to the Kanto champion and said, "We should head to the hospital right now."
"Right," Red said with Pikachu by his side.
Ecruteak Hospital
"I didn't expect it at all," the Ecruteak gym leader stated when they came in.
After staying in the hospital's waiting room for nearly an hour, a nurse finally called Red and Green in and led them to Matsuba's room. The room was white and had curtains at the window to hide the beautiful night scenery of the city. The usual curtain that was used to separate the two sides of the room was gone with only one inhabitant in his bed with bandages wrapped over his back and shoulders. According to the nurse, he had just woken up when they came in.
"What happened?" Red asked the ghost trainer.
"I was leaving the gym for the day when this trainer appeared," Matsuba said. "He was dressed like a punk, all black. I thought he was there for a gym battle, so I turned my back to go get my referee and then..."
The gym leader groaned slightly as he got a little too worked up and tried to get up. He hissed a breath, trying to keep it all in. He said, "Sorry, I refused a good portion of the pain meds they wanted me to have. I can't talk to anyone if I'm drugged up though..."
Red and Green glanced at each other. A punk trainer? The ghost trainer paused at the last line with a look of uncertainty in his eyes. His eyes froze and Matsuba mumbled a few words to himself with the two Kanto trainers waiting patiently for him to finish his statement. Although the ghost gym leader was now under bandages and medicine, he had a sleepy expression and didn't seem to be fully aware of his surrounding, despite declining a fairly large portion. Any more, then his mind would surely have been in space doing who knows what. His focus was all over the place. From anxiety or from the medicine?
"He attacked me with a pokemon," he continued. "But that pokemon...it shouldn't be under control of any trainer." Matsuba placed a hand on his forehead.
"Which pokemon was it?" Green asked quietly, eying the security camera placed unsubtle at the corner of the ceiling. He noticed that Matsuba had said all of this in a low tone as he provided them information about his thief. Was Matsuba talking like that out of nervousness or out of awareness that they were on camera? The recorder didn't record conversations, but they could see every action of the patient. It made the Viridian gym leader anxious.
"Do you remember?" Red asked when Matsuba's pause was a little longer than it should have been.
"Entei," he mouthed the legendary pokemon's name.
"Wait, wha-" Green began when a nurse walked into the room.
"Matsuba, sir, I know that you don't want any more medication, but if we don't have you relaxed or remotely trying to recover, I am going to have to sedate you," she said in a sweet, terrible voice. She turned her gaze to the other two trainers and said, "I'm afraid that you have to leave now. Visitor's hours are over."
"But-!" Red tried to continue when suddenly the nurse loomed over them.
The happy expression on her face poorly masked the malicious aura that she only barely suppressed. Without another word, the two waved good bye to the injured gym leader and fled the scene.
Extra Notes:
Goldenrod City (1) = Sacred Heart Village doesn't have any schools that are officially acknowledged by the government. All village children are required to attend schools outside of the village, so the villagers aren't totally isolated. They normally commute to schools from cities around them like Violet City. When a villager fills out official information, they often list themselves as Goldenrod citizens due to the city's large population and that Sacred Heart children are commonly born in Goldenrod City's hospital. It is common for villagers to share an address of a relative who lives in Johto for official papers. Sacred Heart villagers usually commute to their jobs in big cities like Goldenrod and Ecruteak.
train (2) = Okay, so the games don't have trains, but Johto has to have some form of transportation like most places do in real life, especially for students who have to commute to school from different cities. The regions in the story have buses, trains, subway trains, the Magnet Train, cars, bikes, etc.
Author Notes: Shion finally makes his cameo! Our original story had a scene of Mirei refighting Matsuba, but I'm sure reading the same pokemon battle three times would be tiring. Question of the chapter: What is your favorite Eeveelution and why? Leave a comment and review in the box below. Until next time, see you later!
"RainSonata": Psyduck is so cute! He has three strands of hair! ^^;
"LunarAbyss": … I'll be honest, even when I played Pokemon Blue as a child, I really did not like Psyducks. Dunno why though.
"MikaStoryInc": I should pack some quackers for tomorrow since I have class.