Chapter 13
Disclaimer: We don't own pokemon. We don't own the sky. We don't own the universe. Enjoy.
"Vee?" Satsuki? Eevee perked up his head to look at his trainer. The moon was high in the night sky, its dim white light shining down through the trees within the forest just outside the port city of Olivine City. "Vee, vee, eve?" Are you okay Satsuki?
The young teen was sitting with her back against a tree, her knees bent and pressed against her chest as she wrapped her arms around her legs and gripped at her arms. Despite the pain from the cut she received while chasing down Celebi, she only continued to grip harder as the skin threatened to split open once again. Her body shivered as her eyes were pooling tears that refused to fall.
"I'm alright," she bit her lip, as if trying to convince herself of that statement. "It was only a dream."
"Vul..." Didn't look like just a dream... Her fire fox like pokemon whined. The Vulpix stood up and stretched before going over to paw her trainer.
Due to the additional injuries that only seem to accumulate, Satsuki had to ditch her short sleeved clothing and wear something that would be able to hide her bruised or cut skin. After properly addressing her wounds, after having not only Elliot and Entei chastise her but her entire team, she chose a white long sleeved dress shirt that she tailored to her size with a black hooded trench coat of sorts. The coat itself fell down to the mid section of her calves while a dark grey pair of denim jeans covered her legs. They were scrunched up and tucked into her high belted black boots, heels making her about an inch taller.
"Eevee?" What's it about?
"A forest," Satsuki murmured. "And a fire... Blood staining the grass and..."
"Pi," Oh, that dream. The fire type interrupted to prevent her trainer from having to relive the memory yet again.
"Vee, ee ee eve!" Satsuki, this may be a bad time to bring it up, but I want to train! Her Eevee bounced up from a small pile of leaves he had gathered for himself and the Vulpix. "Eevee, eevee vee vee ee." If we trained and become stronger, than we wouldn't have to run away before getting what you need.
"I already said that I don't want to involve more pokemon than it's worth," Satsuki snapped, her eyes flashed towards the two small pokemon. The normal type gave a stubborn glare as the fox pokemon tilted her head with concern.
"Vul, vulpix pii." We all agreed that it would be more helpful to you. The orange fox pokemon went over to rub her fuzzy head against the girl's arm.
Despite that it has been five years since they left, Satsuki's pokemon were barely used in fights and almost never trained. Their trainer more concern with making sure they were fed and that they were happy, considering their current situation. They occasionally helped her in small tasks like Feebas helping her get out of the lake in Ilex Forest, but besides that, they were not capable of fighting against strong trainers. Entei was Satsuki's main pokemon for important tasks and was the only one who was able to take multiple hits.
"Sci, zor." We want to fight, Conroy said. Scizor was resting underneath a tree when he woke up from his trainer's screams. "Scizor, zor." We are pokemon. Fighting makes us stronger. He sharpened his red pincers together to emphasize his point.
"Rall, ral alt ralts." And we'll help you get to your goal faster. The feeling pokemon poked her head from behind the bug pokemon.
"Feebas, bass." What will happen when this is all over anyways?
"Deino, deino?" Can I get more Rare Candy? The dark dragon type pokemon poked his head up from his slumber with a tired face. There was drool hanging from his chin. He was probably dreaming of eating a mountain of food; there was grass hanging from the edge of his mouth.
"It doesn't matter how this plays out," Satsuki said with an odd dark glint in her eyes, like she knows something that no one else does. "If this ends well or badly, it doesn't matter. I'll be saying 'hello, I'm home' to everyone dear to me. I just wonder if it will be with or without a struggle."
Route 41
"You saw Satsuki?" Chiharu said with shock. It took five years for her to learn that from her own best friend. Her trust within the brunette was already sinking, and this only made it plummet down further. She grasped Gyarados' tough fin with one hand in frustration.
"It wasn't her!" Mirei snapped back, "She didn't look like she did. Her eyes were wide like she was shocked. Why would you look surprised if you did it on purpose? I know it wasn't her!" Red's Pikachu covered his ears with his short paws as the two girls started arguing back and forth between two water pokemon.
"Is that why you refuse to believe everything that has happened so far is real?" She snapped back. "Can you really be that delusional?"
"What kind of person has that look when they burn down a forest?" She cried, "Why are you so cynical of everything?"
"Who's Ariados was that?" The catcher practically screamed, "Those pokeballs broke because it belonged to somebody. Who else had a chance to catch a horrendous pokemon like that? No one else in the village has one! You can't even find it roaming in the forest after that night!"
"She only sai-!"
"She only said that she met one. Did she mention that she probably caught it? You can't find evolved pokemon like that in the wild, so of course she would have caught it, wouldn't you think?"
"He had other pokemon too!" Mirei shrieked, "You saw them! He had more than one pokeball in his belt!"
"All I know is that he had a Larvitar. That's. It." She emphasized.
He even took out the pokemon out of its pokeball to show it as proof to the villagers. He claimed that he got the pokemon from a friend of a friend. The small rock type pokemon had a stone eyed look when it came out. It was always bawling and had to be fed rocks and dirt every day as it was always hungry. When it wasn't crying, it was giving its trainer evil looks full of loathe and distrust.
"It doesn't take much effort to evolve a Spinarak." The brunette girl said with equal stubbornness. All bug pokemon grew quickly in short time. It wasn't uncommon to see a Caterpie to become a Butterfree within a day. Ariados were said to appear in harsh areas, but Ilex Forest wasn't one of the areas.
"No one can evolve one without training like crazy in these areas!"
"Satsuki barely trains her own pokemon!" Mirei shouted back.
"Exactly. The more reason why catching a fully evolved pokemon would be more useful!" Chiharu spat. Her hands curled into fists as she tried to contain her anger from becoming physical. "With her ability to befriend everything, there is no doubt that she could have caught that thing without having to really lift a finger. Can we really continue believing that she isn't really running and fighting against her own will?"
The trainer didn't answer; instead she whipped her head down to just stare at the rocky shell of the Lapras she rode upon. The Kanto champion and gym leader, unable to bring themselves to stop the fight, ended up giving each other concerned glances and frustrated sighs. The two weren't expecting a verbal battle immediately upon the ending flashback. Green sighed; they asked the girls for their side of the story, but only to meet more questions and confusion. Chiharu wasn't the one catching the legendary pokemon. All of the evidence pointed to the missing girl. The two girls from Matsuba's prophecy turned out to have their own problems where both of them refused to change their views of the situation. Chiharu's mom made it sound like Satsuki ran away while the girls' version of the story made it sound like she was kidnapped. But then how was she at the village just days before? Was there a second person in this mystery?
Cianwood City shone when they arrived. The city by the ocean had many buildings scattered with lights shining through the dark night. They have somehow made it to the city within a day. It helped that chasing two trainers had them gain some distance before they spent the rest of the day floating through the waters of route 41 on Lapras and Gyarados. The two water pokemon were swimming slowly in the cool water with their heads stretched out to the city.
"We're here," Red said quietly.
Mirei and Chiharu have both fallen asleep from exhaustion of the chase. After their argument, the girls stared at the ocean for a while before slowly drifting away to sleep. The gym leader felt odd having a girl he just met fall asleep while hugging his waist. When the girls told their stories, their expression of anger and confusion had been replaced with a haunting look of bitterness. Their argument piled more information in the Kanto trainers' minds, giving them more questions than answers.
"What now?" Green stared at the dark ocean below. The girls' stories were still in his mind. The missing girl disappearing into the woods with pokemon, the blue haired girl bounded by the bug pokemon, the brunette girl struggling to get out of the PICU. Their past haunted his mind when Red interrupted his thoughts.
"We rest," the Kanto champion pointed to the Pokemon Center that was at the edge of the beach. "We will find that tower."
The tower was said to be near Cianwood, according to the prophecy. When the group swam through the Whirl Islands, there was no tower to be seen. Perhaps the tower was inside one of the islands? Red looked at the empty caves when they swam by them in route 41, but saw nothing. The islands were low leveled and probably stretched down below the ocean surface. But the prophecy said that the tower allowed the sea, land, and sky to meet. The tower would have to be open to the sky to do so. The tower couldn't be in the Whirl Islands, it was somewhere else.
"How can we find a tower when we don't even know where it is or what it looks like?" Red shrugged to the gym leader's question and gently pats Lapras on the back to signal that they have arrived to their destination. He looked into the dark summer sky and spots a shooting star race by with its bright tail.
Cianwood City
Green sighed as he and Chiharu were walking up north of Cianwood City the next day. They have rested at the Pokemon Center the night before; it was now Saturday morning with the flying pokemon high in the sky and the pokemon out and about to roam on the sandy beaches. He spied a Krabby crawling on the sparkling sand with its pincers out. The orange crab found a rice ball a tourist must have dropped and was holding the snack in its claws with a cheery smile. A larger Krabby crawled out of a rock and went to the first water pokemon on its sides. The bigger Krabby snatched the rice ball from the smaller crab and stuffed the rice ball in its foaming mouth. It was clear cloudless day, perfect for searching for a rumored mountain with a seriously annoyed trainer that seems to only snap at anything that disrupted her thinking.
"Wasn't it harsh of you to get mad at her?" The gym leader asked carefully, eying the girl with caution.
"She's blinded by her faith," Chiharu said. "She never accepts the truth, even if it was spelled out for her."
"You didn't have to be so blunt about it," the green eyed trainer reminded her.
"If I wasn't blunt about it, she would never have noticed that she ignores warnings." The blue haired girl replied back. "It's better to know the truth so that when the worse happens, you won't be as disappointed."
She said the last word with bitterness. It looked like she was ready to cry soon. She had a hazy look in her eyes and gritted her teeth occasionally, as if she had come upon an unpleasant thought. Her Gloom was out of her pokeball and gave the girl a worried look. The plant pokemon's flower would have made any ordinary trainer's nose stiffen at first impression, but Gloom was odorless at the moment. Although Glooms were known for their smelly stench, the smell was only obvious after the pokemon uses its spore attacks or when surprised.
"What warnings?" Green looked at the girl with wonder. "What do you mean?"
The trainer gazed at the distant waves washing over the sandy beaches. It was a hot humid summer. They were in the area of the beach far from the tourists. There was only an old couple walking down the edge of the waters exchanging small talk. There were a few water pokemon swimming near the shore of Cianwood City, a couple of Tentacool, probably waiting for its easy meal to come to it. A couple of Shuckle were sleeping peacefully behind the sand dunes of the beach. Green turned his head around and saw a cave opening to the left side of the city. The tower was supposed to be west of the Safari Zone. That must be the Safari Zone's entrance.
"When Satsuki disappeared," Chiharu whispered. She bent over to pick up a small shell. It was a spiral shell with stripes that pointed outward from the center. "Mirei and I were in the hospital. When Mirei went back home, she locked herself in her room for a week."
No matter how often the blue haired girl went to Mirei's house to offer her notes from class or to hang out in the forest, the brunette girl refused to come out. Despite her begging, Chiharu's requests and questions were answered with silence from her friend. Chiharu noticed that all of Mirei's pokemon were nowhere to be seen at the front of the house at their usual spots. The berry bushes that were usually sprouting in front of her house were slightly wilted from the lack of attention and care. Mirei's aunt loudly proclaimed to Chiharu that Mirei insisted on being home schooled again. She had a pleading look, as if waiting for Chiharu to object to her insistence. She slammed the door almost as soon as Chiharu turned away from the door.
"One day," she slowly continued. "I went to her house again and told her 'The adults can't find her. Why don't we go find her ourselves?'" Small tears fell down her face, but her voice was still even. "We somehow made it to this one city with our low leveled team and saw a gym. After Mirei defeated her first gym, I said, 'Hey, why don't we go collect the gym badges too? We can be stronger for Satsuki so we can rescue her when we find her!'"
"What...does that have to do with the warnings?" Green asked carefully, unsure of what direction the girl was going to.
"This trainer told Mirei that she didn't understand her pokemon," Chiharu said. "Matsuba did too." She looked at Green with a sad smile, "I told her that we were looking for Satsuki so she could come out. The gym badges were there as another excuse to get her out. If it wasn't for that, she would still be locking herself out from the world."
The gym leader watched as the teenager, who just the day before had screamed at his face and shoved him off his own pokemon, had her hands clinging to her face and hair as her usual proud dark brown eyes wavered. Her cheeks turned into the similar shade of pink her eyes held; she must have cried last night when no one was around to witness it. Her usual neat braid was tied into a sloppy ponytail, too rushed this morning to get out of the Pokemon Center, away from Mirei. Her emotions flowed out, like a dam that had just broke open. Green could see the desperate child from years ago within the catcher.
"It's my fault that she became like this," she started to cry, unable to hold in any longer. "Her pokemon don't like to train. All she can think of now is training and getting stronger than anything. All those trainers warned Mirei many times, but she ignores them. It's like she can't even register it in her ears. She refuses to understand."
'It's my fault.' Those three words. How much he hated those words. Those words that has haunted him for some time. That familiar phrase. He had heard it so many times. Blue taking the blame for Red's isolation. Himself for destroying the friendship between his childhood friends. He wasn't smart enough to tell who were his true friends. Those friends he chose over them...they were the popular kids. It was all for show and tell. So were those girls he dated throughout middle and high school. They have all left him once high school was over. They never stuck around like Blue or Red did. They gave him their contacts with a 'hope we stay in contact' but they never did. At least Red didn't actively try to leave him alone. Maybe his relation with Blue wasn't the greatest since she still threw in snarky comments at times, but at least they were comfortable enough that they could hold a decent personal conversation for long periods of time. After all, he was one of the few trainers who could call Blue by her real name without risking getting hit outside of school and business.
"I didn't think she would still believe by now that we could find Satsuki on our own. If the adults can't find her, how can we?" Chiharu looked at the shell carefully before throwing it into the ocean with a plop. "Then I ran into Satsuki. She didn't talk to me but she was there. I told Mirei, but she didn't believe me. She won't believe in anything that doesn't match her standards."
"You ran into her?" Green asked cautiously.
They have now entered the Safari Zone entrance west of Cianwood City. The entrance was the inside of a cave with manmade stairs leading to the upper part of the hollowed out cave. Green and Chiharu started climbing up the long pair of stairs. The steps were small enough and manageable, but it was still troublesome to put the effort. Chiharu worked her way up the stairs, taking each step slow and steady as she continued on with the talk.
"She caught something, I don't know what, but she had just caught a pokemon," Chiharu answered quietly. "She looked frozen in place. Like she couldn't move. Her eyes were the only thing moving, noticing that I was there and that she didn't expect me at all. Her arm, she was hurt. Blood was running down her arm and openly dripping onto the forest floor, but it was like she didn't realize it. She only looked at me. She wouldn't talk at me. She didn't even try to stop and apply pressure to her injury. She just stared at me, stared with dull, blank, tired eyes."
"And then she ran?" Green wiped his brow from the heat.
"Something came," Chiharu said. "It flew over my head. I think it was near her the whole time. There's no way she can run with those injuries."
"It's not your fault that she ran," the Kanto trainer sighed, noticing how the teen was slowly drowning in her despair. He knew how little words would do in a situation that had been thrown at one's face, and if it kept tossing more shit to deal with (1). He also recognized how easy it was to be swallowed by one's past and regrets. He hoped that Chiharu can hear them though as he continued, "It's extremely unreasonable for someone who hasn't seen a friend in five years to trust the person immediately. She's probably been fighting all those years, and didn't expect to meet a person she knew..."
"If I told the villagers that I suspected that man before that happened, maybe Satsuki would still be here," she said. "I should have told them the truth. I should have stayed with her, instead of letting her deal with him by herself. I should have never left her alone."
"You can't change the past," Green said softly. "You can only move forward, and avoid making the same mistakes. And do what you can, to fix what is broken." They finally reached the top of the stairs and stepped outside to meet the cool ocean breeze. Green knew that it would take half a day at minimum to reach to the Safari Zone because there were at least two short land routes and one cave to go through before reaching the Safari Zone. Chiharu had a determined expression that looked like she wanted to prove otherwise.
"I'm not mad at you anymore," Chiharu said. This surprised the gym leader, who threw her a questioned look. "I can't stay mad at you. How can I blame you for going after us? It was only your job to find the person who took those legendaries and the clues pointed at us. What you two did was nothing compared to him."
"Well, we don't even know if it's his fault. He may just be as innocent as the next person." He replied. "Hey, what would you do, if she is catching legendaries for her own gain? What can she possibly want from gathering them?"
"I remember my mom telling me a story when I was a kid." Her eyebrows scrunched up. Chiharu eagerly attempted to recall a memory, as if frantic to find something to replace the bitter past with a fictional tale. She took a step back and put one hand under her chin in thought, "It went something like this:
Twenty one or twenty two are in need,
To create a new world for one to lead.
A world where anything can come true,
But a dream that only is believed by few.
The winner becomes king,
It all starts with a ring.
Life, death, and beginning.
Led by the past, present, and futuristic viewing.
Change, rebirth and purity,
Led by peace and conflict in harmony.
The sea, the sky, and the land,
United by the wishes of woman and man.
Under time, space, and being,
Are connected by a god singing.
Singing the song of the lonely creator,
Inspired by the legends' savior."
Green stared at the girl while she finished reciting the lengthy nursery rhyme. It was a rhyme most children were raised with and sang in the playgrounds without knowing its true meaning. It was supposed to describe how the world and universe was created. A story meant to be told to young children before entering school. The gym leader was surprised that Chiharu still knew it by heart. Most children quickly dismissed nursery rhymes and legendary pokemon once they grew older and attended school.
"Wait, do you think she is trying to recreate what had happened in the nursery rhyme?" His eyes grew wide, "Why twenty one or twenty two?" Why the uncertainty in the numbering?
"She still remembers them," Chiharu didn't answer his question directly and looked at her Gloom instead, who was walking beside them. They were walking through the narrow mountain path. Gloom wobbled through the narrow path with carefulness. "She never says it, but she misses them. She's not the kind of person to share her personal thoughts and secrets with anyone. I'm only close to her because our moms knew each other. She probably doesn't remember me."
"If she didn't, she wouldn't have just stared at you, don't you think?"
"Maybe," she paused to look at the waterfall pouring down the mountainside. It was truly breathtaking. "If she wanted to bring them back, I can't blame her. I would have done the same if something happened to Keigo or mom and dad..."
"But it's only a myth." Green tried to argue, so desperate to be told by someone that the chase was foolish and meaningless.
He was getting scared of how serious she was taking the tale. Was it even normal for teenage girls her age to take things so seriously? The gym leader thought briefly of the high school girls who would giggle in the corner. They would gossip and backstab each other, shortening their skirts in attempt to impress the boys while texting on their Pokegears. Their faked high pitch voices annoyed him, but he smiled on as he dated some of those girls in his second year of high school. That Mirei girl wasn't too similar to those high school girls either. She had the clothes for it, but her personality sure didn't match it.
"Every legend starts with some truth, or else it wouldn't have become one. That's probably what she is hoping... How many legendaries had she caught already..?" Chiharu didn't seem to notice the gym leader's concern look on her maturity level.
"I don't know. I don't think anyone knows." He shook his head. Green checked his Pokegear for any messages, but the device signaled nothing. He was genuinely shocked that he did not receive any calls from Blue yet, especially with a certain youngster trainer running around Viridian City.
"Mister Green?" She looked worried, "Something wrong?"
"No..." He said flatly. "And please, just Green. We'll be traveling for awhile. The mister isn't necessary." He examined his green Pokegear. The hard plastic shell failed to show any signs of problems despite it being soaked by water yesterday while they were surfing. The Pokegear was dropped multiple times from dangerous tasks but was still working and running.
"Ah..." She didn't know how to respond. Chiharu then said, "Can I call you my senior then?"
"What?" Green fell to the ground, "I'm barely three years older than you!" He rubbed his head from the impact of hitting the dry ground on his side. He noticed that the ground was a rusty mahogany color.
"Um, boss? (2)" She suggested.
"Ugh, just call me Green. Gu-rii-n." The brunette man stretched out his name for emphasis. "What's with the formality?"
Was this her attempt of trying to make amends for blowing up on him yesterday? The Kanto trainer cringed at the memory of her pushing him into the ocean after he dragged her unwillingly into Gyarados' back. The sudden shift in formality threw him off. Green sometimes had a hate for the formality the schools hammered into their students. In the world of trainers, formality was mainly set aside unless the trainer was strong or well known. He felt strange for being called Mister by a person that was nearly the same age as him.
"You said you wanted to get to the Safari Zone, didn't you?" The gym leader pointed to the cave up ahead, "We better keep walking if we want to make it there today."
"Right..."
Cianwood City
"I don't understand why she keeps trying to convince me," Mirei clenched her fists. "Satsuki isn't at fault." Her Pidgeot was out of his pokeball and was flying above the two trainers, scanning through the big crowd of people. Pikachu sat rather comfortably on the bird's back and took in the ocean's breeze.
Red awkwardly followed her around as she tries to find her way around the city for the gym. Ever since the Safari Zone moved to Johto, more tourists and trainers have flocked to Cianwood City. It was summer, the peak of the sea city's prime in tourism. It was hard for the Kanto champion not to walk into bright color clad tourists with cameras and sunglasses at hand. Red pushed through a couple and saw a medicine shop on his left as he passed by.
"What would you do if she is right?" The Kanto champion asked as he had to pick up pace to keep up with the short brunette's stride. The girl promptly left the Pokemon Center in the opposite direction of Chiharu. Mirei had her hair in her usual side ponytail along with her typical traveling clothes. He noticed that the two pokemon above them were exchanging tired looks.
"She isn't like that, don't start trying to tell me otherwise too!" She snapped, suddenly stopping to spin around and point at Red. He quickly slid to a stop to avoid having her finger stab his nose.
"Pikachu?" Is she always like that? Red's pokemon asked the bird pokemon, who had caught sight of the familiar rooftop all gyms had. The gym had a rounded brown roof with windows peeking out.
"Pi, geot..." Unfortunately, yes... Pidgeot said warily. "Pidgeot, geot, to!" Mirei, the gym's over there! He cried to his trainer, unsure if she would understand him at all. He pointed at the rounded roof top with the tip of his head.
"I'm just saying 'if'. It's kind of unreasonable for you to stubbornly believe otherwise. I mean, there is that possibility..." He replied. He took a step back to prevent himself from going cross-eyed.
"Of course I know there is a possibility! But Satsuki isn't like that. She wouldn't use Keigo as hostage! She loves that kid too much. Like her own little brother. And then there is no way she can even catch a legendary, she doesn't train her pokemon at all. She never did."
"A second person?" Red adjusted his cap to wipe a sweat off his forehead. He wanted to take off his hat all together, but he also preferred avoiding sunburns from the blazing sun above them. Although he left Mt. Silver a year ago, Sinnoh wasn't as hot or humid as Johto was. He ignored the weird looks tourists gave him because of the inch thick layer of sunscreen he applied to himself.
"Uh, duh. I don't know who you're chasing, but whoever you met before isn't Satsuki." She nodded.
But it is her, we even have witnesses... the Kanto champion thought to himself, recalling how Keigo nearly drowned himself in depression only days before. They saw it themselves. Satsuki keeping Chiharu's brother hostage, the gym leader being burned by a punk dressed trainer, and a similar sighting of a trainer seen in Johto attempting to steal an important item. It was too coincidental for it to happen. Unless there was someone behind the whole thing... But there was no evidence of that either besides from the girls' memories.
"I was told you like to battle," the raven haired trainer said as he checked his Pokegear again. The red device told him that they were getting closer to the city's gym. The Pokegear's screen was hard to read under the shiny sun. By the time he and Green arrived to Cianwood City, his Pokegear was dead of energy and had to switch to backup solar power energy. After a night's worth of recharging, the communication device was good as new and was flashing lights as he played with the Pokegear in his hands.
"Training, not battling," the teen corrected. "I want my pokemon to become stronger, stronger than anyone else so I can stop anyone who threatens to hurts my friends ever again."
"Even if your pokemon hate it?" He gave a side glance to Pidgeot. The bird pokemon seemed to realize the attention he was receiving from the champion and threw his head into the air with a cry.
"Pidgeot, geot, geot!" Crap, they're talking about me! Pidgeot's wings grew stiff from the sudden gaze of Red. Pikachu saw his discomfort and tried to pat the flying type lightly on the neck with reassurance.
"Pika, pika?" What's wrong with that? Pikachu stroked Pidgeot's head crest, a poor attempt of emulating a back massage he once saw on television. His paws were too small to properly give the bird pokemon a back massage. He turned his head around and checked to make sure his body didn't paralyze Pidgeot by mistake.
"They don't hate it. They want to be strong too!"
"Really..." He exhaled a breath of annoyance.
This morning, when the group had a quiet and awkward breakfast, the Kanto trainer caught sight of Mirei's team talking frantically to each other. Red saw Chiharu's Espeon saying calming words to the team, only to be interrupted by Mirei's flamboyant Leafeon. The grass pokemon ran around the Pokemon Center yelling out something. He was unsure what, but it sounded like the poor pokemon was whining along with the rest of Mirei's team. It was clear that her pokemon are grudgingly following their trainer. Even pokemon can only deal with something for so long.
"What else am I supposed to believe..?" She asked with a quiet voice. Red almost didn't hear her. "If I can't be strong, how can I stop whoever is hurting Satsuki? How can I save her? She is still the same girl I know, or else why did she scream for our sake?"
"Eh?"
"How can people say all those horrible things about her? There is no way she would do any of that. If she really is different, what am I supposed to do? What can I actually believe to be true?" She felt her shoes digging into the soft white sand. Her Pidgeot cried out his name several times, but his trainer didn't seem to notice. Pikachu chirped a few times before giving up.
"There isn't much you can do, but to accept it," Red sighed. Back when he was still battling as the active champion, the staff constantly spoke about him behind his back. None of the gossip can be considered beneficial or of praise. They all wondered when he would finally be beaten and that he didn't earn or even deserve to be called the champion. "Just endure it, and survive. Find a new reason to continue on."
"My pokemon want to be strong too," Mirei repeated. "We have to be strong. If I can't be strong, what else is there to do? It's the only goal I have." She thought of the times she ditched class to run away with Chiharu in another attempt to find Satsuki. After Satsuki introduced her to the forest, she found herself trying to get away from her house more often. It became harder for her to push herself into visiting the elderly because the forest had something the village didn't: freedom. "I'm not that smart like Chiharu. I can't try that hard like Keigo. I can't connect to pokemon like Satsuki can. I don't even know what I want to do after we find Satsuki."
"I suppose it will just come to you when you do meet her," he shrugged.
"I guess," she said quietly. "Chiharu said you fought Green when you were eleven..." She remembered her friend's excitement that day. The blue haired girl gushed about how close the Kanto trainer was to his pokemon and how hard they battled. The only thing Mirei actually remembered was how much effort he and his team worked to get that far. She thought that she too could reach to the top if she and her pokemon worked hard enough. If they trained enough.
"Yeah... I can't say that was the highlight of my life though." He turned away to face the ground.
"What do you mean?" Mirei demanded to know, "Isn't it great to finally become the strongest trainer in the world? You can have anything. Money, work, love…" The brunette girl counted with her fingers.
"Winning that battle had little meaning. It was only another battle, and I lost more than I had gained that day."
Red had money, he had a job as the champion, and he didn't have time to meet anyone. He hardly even had time to leave the Indigo Plateau. He clearly remembered each time he had to call home to tell his mother that he won't be able to visit home that weekend, or for the next five weekends after that. Once he left the Indigo Plateau to go back to school, the same faces of excitement and awe greeted him in every corner. He hated it. The champion could no longer stand the expectations everyone had for him. He couldn't stand seeing the disappointment in Blue and Green when he couldn't find the right words to say to them. Facing the real world was asking too much. It was only when the world needed him most did he reluctantly come out of his isolation.
"If I get stronger," the teenage girl said. "I can finally be strong enough to defeat that creep for taking Satsuki! He'll be too weak to fight back! That will teach him for messing with us!" Mirei threw her fist into the air for emphasis on each sentence. Her Pidgeot flew in the air slowly with a sad smile, as if he had heard this speech before.
"Just remember this," the champion said in a low tone. "Being strong doesn't necessarily mean fighting with blunt strength. Winning doesn't always mean a happy ending. There's never an easy answer to everything." Red gave her a curt nod.
"Huh?" She didn't get it.
"Your Pidgeot wants your attention," Red pointed at the big osprey pokemon. The bird pokemon pointed his body towards the west of where they were standing.
"Oh." She turned pink in embarrassment. Mirei saw the gym up ahead and realized that her pokemon was trying to tell her that he saw it earlier. She hollered, "Thanks Sora! I didn't see it there!"
"Pidgeot," Finally! The bird wiped his forehead as if he had sweat. "Pidgeot, pidgeot!" This gym should be easy! Pidgeot beat his wings to show his strength.
Cianwood City Gym
"I, Black Belt Fumihito, challenge you to a match!" A well built man wearing white robes with a black belt posed at the new challenger. His pokemon posed along with his trainer with a gleam in its eyes. The pokemon had its fists forward in a fighting stance and wore red boxing gloves and a purple outfit. It was brown colored and had stocky legs.
"Is this a fighting type gym?" Red asked aloud, staring at the shirtless gym leader steadily holding his ground underneath a crashing waterfall. "I would have thought it was a water type gym if it wasn't for all these martial artists."
"Where's the gym leader?' Mirei asked, looking around at the other black belts training by the waterfall. Many of them were practicing their moves and fighting against each other and their pokemon. Where could be the gym leader be? She didn't see him among the crowd of men.
"He's in the waterfall..." the Kanto champion answered. His Pikachu sat on his trainer's shoulder with a bored look.
"Pika, pi, pikachu." Wish he could let me cool down with that, Pikachu pointed at the artificial waterfall running down the shirtless man. "Pikachu." It's hot, the electric rat plopped down on his stomach and stuck out his tongue.
"Defeat me in a battle and I'll give you the answer!" Fumihito cried, "Hiya!" He jumped in front of the girl and shouted, "Let our fists do the fightin'!"
"But my friend just told me where he was," she said with a confused expression. Red's voice was definitely loud enough to be heard by the junior gym trainer.
"All this talking is pointless!" He roared, "Are you here to win a badge or not?"
"Of course I'm here to win a badge!" Mirei roared back. She pointed at the pokemon, "Sora, go use Wing Attack on that pokemon!" Pidgeot, who was flying beside Mirei, soared towards the fighting type pokemon.
"Pid, geot!" Dinner time! Pidgeot sang, "Pidgeot, geot, pid!" No fighting type is safe from me! The flying pokemon bragged as it hurled itself towards the quiet pokemon.
"Hitmonchan, wait for that Pidgeot to get closer!" Hitmonchan's trainer shouted. The punch pokemon stood patiently on its guard as Pidgeot zoomed toward its direction. The bird pokemon nearly touched Hitmonchan when the Black Belt commanded, "Now, Ice Punch!"
"Hitmon, chan?" Where do you think you're going? The fighting pokemon got ready and gathered its energy to its fist. "Chan, chan, hitmonchan?" Didn't anyone tell you that patience is a virtue?
Hitmonchan leaned over with its right fist glowing faintly blue. Mirei heard ice forming with a crinkling noise as the punching pokemon struck Pidgeot in the chest with Ice Punch. Too late to slow down, Pidgeot took the punch and shrieked at the icy cold sensation piercing through his chest. The bird pokemon gasped from the super effective attack, barely staying conscious from the critical hit. Pidgeot collapsed on the ground and struggled to stand up with wobbly talons.
"Hitmon, chan, hit, mon." Aw, maybe next time cause I'm not becoming anyone's meal.
"Pid-..." I-... The bird gasped for breath, feeling rather faint.
"Have Pidgeot speed down again," Red called over to the flying type's trainer. "If he makes Hitmonchan use Ice Punch or something, then tell Pidgeot to dodge using Quick Attack before using Wing Attack again."
"Sora, come over here." Mirei called back her pokemon. She took out a small spray bottle and applied it to the bird's chest. "It's Super Potion. You feeling better now?" Pidgeot cooed in reply to his trainer's question before she said, "Let's go kick that Hitmonchan's butt!"
"Pidgeot, geot." Thank Arceus you bought all those potions, the bird pokemon thanked Mirei. The cold effect of Ice Punch was already fading away because of the summer heat. "Geot, geot." I thought I was a goner there.
"Chan? Chan?" Potions? Really? The pokemon with the boxing gloves cocked his head to the side, "Hitmonchan, chan, hitmonchan!" Only real men fight without potions! Hitmonchan had his fists on his hips in the manliest way possible.
"Pidgeot?" But you're a pokemon? Pidgeot nearly sweat dropped at the random comment from the fighting pokemon.
"Only if you can counter my Hitmonchan's speed," the Black Belt said. "Hitmonchan, hit Pidgeot with Thunderpunch!" The punching pokemon clashed its fists together before properly stancing itself to attack. Its fist glowed yellowish white with sparks flying out.
"Avoid using Quick Attack!" Pidgeot quickly flew out of Hitmonchan's reach and appeared behind it. The flying pokemon darted at the back and sank his talons into its flesh, causing Hitmonchan to give out a short cry. "Now, Wing Attack!"
"Gi!" Take this! Pidgeot thrilled as his wing glowed and sliced down the fighting pokemon. The pressure of the flying attack forced Hitmonchan to slam against the wall with Psyducks flying around his head.
"Chaaan chan mon?" Why did you use a potion if you had this much power? It asked the flying type as its eyes spun around and round. "Hitmonchan, chaaan!" I spent months training with a Macho Braaace! The fighting pokemon extended the last word and sank from the wall, unable to stand up. He glared at Pidgeot before falling unconscious and fainted from the super effective attack.
"My Hitmonchan!" The Black Belt trainer groaned. He recalled his pokemon back into its pokeball, "You're one of the most manly flying type pokemon I have ever seen! Well, now that you beat me, I have to go back to training!" He gave a short bow to Mirei's Pidgeot and handed the girl a few poke-yen bills.
"Pidgeot, geot?" Am I supposed to be happy for being called manly? The bird pokemon looked confused at the compliment.
"Pika, pikachu." Just accept it, Red's Pikachu yawned. "Pikachu, pika, pi." Most fighting pokemon are like that.
"Thanks for the advice," She smiled before adding, "How are we supposed to get to him?" Mirei spotted the gym leader underneath the waterfall, surrounded by several other gym trainers. "Are we really going to fight all of them?" All of the trainers were Black Belts. Not a single female trainer was found in the building.
"Probably, though it's 'you', not 'we'." Red corrected, holding his hands up in the air. "I'm not battling anyone."
The red eyed trainer took out a water canteen and a small bowl. He poured water into the bowl halfway through and put it down for his Pikachu. The yellow pokemon eagerly hopped to the bowl and took a long sip of water, too happy to be cooled down from July's summer. Pikachu stopped after a long sip and pushed the water bowl to Pidgeot. The bird pokemon took a few short sips, tipping his head down towards the water bowl. Both pokemon had a small chat in between taking a drink and some Pokemon food Red brought along for snacks.
"Right..." She groaned as she counted how many heads were left in the gym. Please don't tell me all of the trainers in here are obsessed with their masculinity... The brunette trainer mentally begged after thinking about the Black Belt trainer's odd compliment to her Pidgeot.
Extra Notes:
He knew how little words would do in a situation (1) = This is pretty true, as cliché as it sounds. Depression is no exaggeration...
Mr., senior, boss (2) = If you're curious, those title are referring to the Japanese honorifics "san, senpai, and sama". Chiharu here is going to the extremes with "sama", which is pretty silly because Green isn't her boss, although he is higher ranking because he's a gym leader. Calling a gym leader "sama" is still pretty extreme in our opinion.
Author's Notes: What a pretty rhyme. It didn't take long to write at all, hahaha. Chapter 13 was hell not because of the contents, but more of because the timing. One of the authors started summer session and the other one had personal problems for awhile. Hm, it's been awhile since we had a proper pokemon battle scene. I believe that was back in chapter 9? Read and review!
"RainSonata": You wouldn't believe how long it took me to recover from emotional problems back in 2011 IRL. It was an era I prefer to forget about. Even after recovery, it still comes back every now and then. It never seems to disappear entirely. However, that doesn't mean it's hopeless. Things WILL get better. It takes time and effort to fix things.
"LunarAbyss": Though everyone has their own way of dealing with depression, the ideas and thought processes are very similar. It's not the same, but the sense of hopelessness is definitely there. And it never truly leaves. If you're in a rut, talk it out or confide in someone, even if it's a random person on FanFiction via PM. It's much easier to survive when someone is there with you; friend, family, stranger, anyone.