Secrets of the Night
DISCLAIMER: I Do NOT own Pokemon!
Chapter 58: Scuffle of Legends Part 5: Journeys Intertwine
The tournament continued smoothly from then on. After watching Arc take on Ariann and emerge triumphant, Neo and his companions left early so that they could rest from the day's excitement. As much as they wanted to support Kaye and Skadi fight that blonde trainer, Neo needed the breather.
The sky was already turning purplish when they stepped out of the tournament venue, the amber glow of the twilight lingering in the west horizon. Spectators and tourists still roamed the streets of Saffron City, giving life to the lazy ambiance that was accompanied by a cool breeze that heralded the coming evening.
Neo, exhausted and weary from the day's events, mounted on Emperor while the others traveled on foot towards the hotel. Although he never rode a Manectric before, Emperor was very capable of adjusting his pace to suit the young noble. Neo held on to the saddle and did his best not to fall asleep. Kashu and Arana were keeping a close eye on him while Chase and Gertrud led upfront.
By the time they arrived at their luxury suite, Neo fell asleep on the bed, still clad in his travel clothes. Chase let him be, understanding how tired he was after three battles in a single day. At the thought, he sighed and gazed in amazement that his friend didn't pass out midway.
The door knocked suddenly.
Surprised, Chase went to answer while Kashu and Arana tended to Neo, helping take his shoes off and sliding a pillow under his head before laying a soft blanket over him. At the corner of the room, Gertrud sat on a the velvet couch, observing quietly.
"Yes?" Chase opened the door, assuming it was room service but the person who stood before him made his eyes widen and his face lose color. "G-Gremio…"
"Sir Graceland," The veteran butler acknowledged the young teen for a mere moment before brushing past Chase and coming inside. His emerald eyes scanned the room before focusing on the bed where a boy with black hair slept. He exhaled deeply and sat by his bedside, Kashu and Arana making way for him.
Chase stood by the door, watching in fascination as Gremio ran a hand through Neo's hair. He could see Neo shift slightly as an almost inaudible moan escaped from his lips. His friend seemed like a child whenever Gremio was around, further proving the bond the two shared was more than just master and servant.
"Are you two ever going cease such reckless acts?" Gremio suddenly asked, making Chase flinch.
"I-I… uhm… We…" he stammered, scratching his head sheepishly.
Gremio gave a short sigh and stood up. He strode towards the teen and stared him down. "I've already pre-ordered dinner for you and the others." He cast a quick glance at Arana, Kashu and Gertrud who all met his gaze with anticipation. Returning his attention to Chase, he motioned to the door. "If you would…"
Chase immediately took the hint and left the room with Arana, Gertrud and Kashu hurriedly following suit, leaving Gremio alone with Neo. The well-dressed elder waited for the footsteps to vanish before he turned around and walked back to Neo's bedside. His gaze lingered on the slumbering form of his precious charge.
"If only your parents could see you now…"
After dinner, Chase, Arana, Gertrud, Kashu as well as Chase's own pokemon trio waited downstairs, not wanting to disturb Neo and Gremio. They passed time doing various activities. Chase was on his phone , chatting to his dad in Sinnoh while his Gardevoir, Gallade and Grovyle were raiding the pokemon dessert table, more like Vince and Percival were fighting over the last chocolate macaron to give to Faith who had wandered off and found herself some chocolate cake.
Arana and Gertrud were back to telepathy lessons in one corner and Kashu was keeping an eye on Emperor, Genbu, Scourge and Novus who were still eating in another room. The Manectric stayed in a secluded corner, eating his fill and avoiding the tense atmosphere that grew amongst the three battle partners, especially concerning the shiny Drapion and the Wartortle. But the two knew better than to attempt something with Novus watching them.
A while later, Neo and Gremio came down. And much to everyone's surprise, Neo was dressed in a more formal attire, not the businessman type with a blazer and tie, but a white long sleeve shirt with the sleeved rolled up to his elbows. He wore it beneath a navy blue vest accented with gold trim, white pants and black shoes.
"What's the occasion?" Chase eyed his friend from head to toe.
"No occasion," Gremio answered, coming up from behind and placing a hand on Neo's shoulder. "Seeing as he chose to be the center of attention, one might as well look presentable. He is using the prestigious Takamoto name."
Neo gave a half smile as if to say he didn't have a choice in the matter.
"I say it's fine," Chase commented, saving his friend from the awkward atmosphere. "It isn't as eye-catching as a full blown tuxedo and its more formal than your usual travel clothes."
"I think it suits Neo." Gertrud added, coming over and inspecting Neo's new look. "It's a good cross between his noble personae and casual personality."
"Neo… Handsome," complimented Arana, earning stares from Chase and Gertrud and a mild flushed look from her trainer. Gremio chuckled under his breath and smiled at the bewildered Chandelure.
"That's enough for now," he interrupted and motioned Neo to a vacant table. "You have a long day tomorrow, young master. You need to eat and keep up your strength."
"Yessir."
Shortly after, Neo left the hotel to pay a visit to the pokemon center. He wanted to have his team go through a full health examination to make sure they were in peak condition for tomorrow, especially when he was going to fight Kiba.
Chase stayed behind after some trouble with his Gardevoir regarding a certain chocolate cake. Gremio, who argued at first, remained as well to help sort out the issue. Neo took his six pokemon with him as well as Emperor who served as his mount to conserve energy. Plus, Gremio insisted that he'd accompany him. He didn't like the idea of Neo walking around Saffron City at night even with all his pokemon.
Dismounting the Manectric, Neo patted his snout and the Manectric settled down on the ground like a Sphinx once more. The raven-haired noble wondered if he should take him out in the back or inside the pokemon center but Emperor didn't seem to care either way. He just looked straight ahead like a statue.
"We'll see you later, Emperor?" Neo inquired, hoping a protest or something but all he got was a monotone bark of acknowledgement.
Sighing, he exchanged looks with Gertrud, Arana and Kashu who stayed out of their pokeballs. The Wigglytuff walked up to the Manectric, pulled out a thick sheet from one of the bags and draped it across the electric-type's back. Neo smiled at that and at the small display of interest that flickered in Emperor's stoic eyes.
"Take care now. We'll be back soon" Neo waved goodbye and entered the pokemon center along with his pokemon trio.
Inside, they were met with groups of pokemon and trainers. It was definitely more crowded than normal but there was still plenty of space to move around. Scanning the room, Neo caught a glimpse of a familiar girl with long brown pigtails and dressed in a green cocktail dress. And it seemed that the girl had taken notice of him too.
With a wave and a smile, Lily greeted him, "Hi Neo. Long time no see."
"Hello to you too, Lily." Neo walked over to her just as Arana came zooming past and flew circles around the girl.
"Friend…"
The Chandelure called out in her soft and airy mental voice, surprising Lily and the younger guy next to her who seemed to be a friend of hers in Neo's perspective, recognizing him as the person sitting next to Lily in the stands during the tournament.
"The heck was that?" The guy with the Lugia crest-styled hair, clad in an orange and teal long sleeve shirt with a stylized black T exclaimed as he frantically looked around.
Lily was frozen for a moment until her eyes came to rest on Arana. Looking at her with wide eyes, she stammered. "She can talk now? I don't remember her doing that the last time we saw you Neo."
Neo smiled and was about answer when Gertrud stepped up and flashed a proud grin. "That only goes to show that Arana is a fast learner," she proclaimed, much to Neo's dismay. He knew that adding another telepath to the mix was going to make things more confusing.
"Oh great… and now the walking bouquet is talking." The younger trainer put a hand on his forehead and leaned against a brown two-legged dinosaur for balance. Neo recognized it as a Tyrunt from a Kalos region encyclopedia but that didn't concern Neo at the moment. He was more focused on what the guys just said to Gertrud.
With a vein popping, Gertrud narrowed her eyes pointed one of her rose arms at the source of the insult. "If you're going to start calling me names too, I won't hesitate to throw a macaron at your face like we did the last guy."
Thinking back on what they did to Kiba, Arana nodded in agreement, curling her arms like balled fists to emphasize the threat. "Splat."
Lily immediately grabbed the guy by his hair and slammed him on the ground and put a foot on his side to hold him there much to his pokemon's amusement as well as Neo and his company's. "Don't mind him. He's got a mouth that we can't seem to keep shut."
Neo chuckled it off and placed a hand on either of the two telepaths. "It's fine. These two are hard to quiet down, too."
Lily then looked around and raised her eyebrow at Neo. "Where are your other two companions?"
"Chase is back at the hotel," Neo answered and took a moment to recall the other person Lily meant. It hit him when he remembered their first encounter. "And Naomi went back to Cinnabar Island, the day after we arrived in Fuschia City… Speaking of companions, who's your friend?" He motioned to the trainer who was still pinned under the girl's foot.
Lily finally let him up so he could introduce himself properly.
"The name is Thorn… You must be Neo. Arc and Lily have told me a lot about you."
"Pleasure to meet you, Thorn." The raven-haired teen gave a curt nod. "Like Arc and Lily said, my name is Neo and this is..." Gertrud huffed before Neo motioned to her and the rest of his pokemon in turn. "This is Gertrud. She's a gifted telepath who's staying with me for the time being... Arana, my Chandelure… and Kashu, my Wigglytuff who acts like my nurse." The latter two let out short cries of acknowledgement.
"Well nice to meet you all and sorry about that Gertrud… I was just surprised by Arana's and yours abilities." Thorn nodded back at the group before facing Neo again. "I have to say… I've never seen anyone get Arc riled up like you did today. That was an excellent battle you two had."
"Thank you very much." Neo smiled in his direction before casting a searching glance at their surroundings. "Hmmm… where is Arc?"
No sooner did he ask his question, a series of squeals and braying coming from the back courtyard filled their ears followed by a resounding thud that sounded like it hurt. After the commotion, a familiar voice started swearing. "Dammit Mimzy, if you would just hold still and not fuss, this would be a lot easier and faster for the both of us!"
Lily sighed and pointed towards the back door. "He's out there caring for Mimzy, Earthshaker, and Neeko along with the rest of his Pokemon."
"I might as well meet up with him. My battling team needs a health check after their battle," Neo informed. Lily and Thorn agreed to go with him as well as the rest of their pokemon.
The group stepped outside into the wide open well-lit backyard only to find Arc trying to give Mimzy a bath. She was tied to a hitching post and Arc was attempting to run water up the side of her legs. It was a strange sight seeing a trainer purposely apply water to a fire-type, not to mention a bad idea. The two identical hoofprints on Arc's white coat was proof of that.
"Arc… why do you insist on doing this?" Lily put her hands on her hips. "She is a fire-type… you know she doesn't like water."
"Look babe. As much as I would love to debate this with you, I'm a little tied up at the moment." Arc tried to touch her with the water again. "You know I like to keep her looking clean." He smiled at her, failing to notice Neo and his pokemon.
"Friend." Arana zoomed overhead of the group and floated in front of Arc, her flames flickering with glee.
"Oh hey, Arana. How are- you can talk?" Arc immediately dropped the hose and stared at the levitating chandelier. "When did she learn to do that?"
Arana wailed happily at the teen's reaction before floating towards Neo who was already walking towards him with Gertrud and Kashu on either side. "Around today. She's just getting the hang of telepathy." He waved a hand and greeted his friend.
"Interesting." Arc picked the hose back up and managed to get the water on Mimzy, creating a massive wall of steam. "So whats new buddy? We haven't spoken since our match."
"Well, other the fact that he just came here to have Genbu, Scourge and Novus checked, we met your friend, Thorn who nearly found a macaron to the face," Gertrud answered again in Neo's behalf.
Arc looked down at her with a similar shocked expression like that of Thorn and Lily. "And now the rose bush is talking… Mimzy must've hit me a lot harder than I thought." Mimzy put her head down and sniffed the Grass type, wondering what to make of it.
Neo felt the chance to introduce his friend to Gertrud and vice versa just went downhill.
"Okay. That's it!" The rose-themed grass type stepped back and fumed, her eyes glowing gold as the hose that Arc was holding glowed in a similar fashion. The water suddenly stopped running. And as soon as pressure built up at its peak, the water burst out, drenching the wielder and his fiery steed. Lily and Thorn doubled over with laughter as Arc was soaked by the flailing hose.
"Gertrud!" Neo scolded as Arana floated down, facing her with a sad wail.
"They started it!" Gertrud pointed at Thorn and Arc in turn before she crossed her rose arms in defiance.
Neo sighed and turned to his Wigglytuff, handing her his three pokeballs. "Kashu, would you mind handing them to Nurse Joy? I believe this'll take a while to clear out." The Wigglytuff nodded and bounded away, leaving the rest to deal with the heated atmosphere.
Mimzy as well as Arc's Amaura and Butterfree who had been watching from a distance glowered at the small Grass Type Pokemon, and started making an intimidating advance on it.
"Mimzy… you're already wet so you have no reason to get mad. And you two… back off." He put an arm out to stop them from coming any closer. "Gertrud was only defending herself."
"I already had enough of trainers making fun of me. One was bad enough." Gertrud shook her head and lowered her arms to her sides. "But I guess I should still apologize…" She added, glancing at Neo and Arana who both gave nods of encouragement. Glancing at Arc and the rest of his pokemon, Gertrud bowed her head slightly. "I'm sorry."
"No harm done, Gertrud." Arc smiled and wringed out his labcoat. "You actually helped me finish off what I needed to do for the evening." He untied Mimzy from the post and put the hose away.
Neo gave a half smile at that and took a gander at Arc's pokemon, his eyes focused on the ice-blue dinosaur with colorful wing-like fins above her round blue eyes. "Is this the pokemon you were referring to before?" He inquired, recalling the one pokemon in Arc's team he had yet to meet.
"Yes, she is." Arc put a hand on his Amaura's head just as Neo took out his pokedex and looked up the pokemon. "I bet even you haven't laid eyes on a Pokemon like her before."
Amaura
The Tundra Pokemon
This calm ancient Pokémon lived in a cold land where there were no violent predators like Tyrantrum. It was restored from part of its body that had been frozen in ice for over 100 million years.
"I've been to a museum in Kalos before and saw photos and displays of fossils. But you're right. I've never personally met a living Amaura before," Neo informed and closed his pokedex before slowly extending a hand to greet the ancient pokemon.
But much to his surprise, the Amaura didn't even bother sniffing Neo and bounded over to meet him, rubbing her cold body against him. "Amarga loves people since she was raised in the Pewter City Museum and spent most of her life with people."
Neo smiled warmly at the friendly pokemon as he ran a hand along her long cold neck. The cool sensation started to seep through his skin and regretfully, he retracted his hand. "She's quite the ice-type. When Genbu gets back from Nurse Joy, I'm sure he'd like to meet her."
And as if on cue, Neo's trio along with Kashu made their way to the gathered group. Genbu ran up front, Kashu bounding over beside him and the two giants, Novus and Scourge lagged behind.
"Warr!" Genbu let out an enthusiastic cry as he came up to Neo and stood beside him, eyes glancing at the Amaura. "Wartortle?"
"Genbu, this is Amarga, Arc's pokemon." Neo introduced the ice blue dinosaur to his Wartortle before he did the same to the Amaura. "Amarga, this Genbu…"
"Warr," Genbu gave an uncharacteristically shy cry as he continued to look at the other pokemon. The Amaura looked at him back and immediately the Wartortle shrank behind Neo's leg, much to Neo's surprise.
"Well… Might as well give our teams full introductions." Arc whistled loudly, calling the rest of his pokemon over. And one by one, they came and filed into a single line for a more organized introduction.
"I know you already know more than half of my team, but since your pokemon don't, I am going to give each of them a proper introduction." Arc smiled before standing next to the Charizard. "First, I want to introduce Neeko, my Charizard. He's been my partner since the very beginning." He placed a hand on Neeko's shoulder.
"Next we have Snow Storm. I caught her within the hour of starting my journey. Believe it or not, Even though Neeko was my first Pokemon, I've known Snow Storm longer." The Orange Island Butterfree took off from his shoulder and landed on Neeko's head while Arc moved on to the his other pokemon.
"Next, I would like to introduce Mimzy. I found her as a Ponyta, abandoned on a cruiseliner headed for Fuchsia City." He scratched her muzzle of his Rapidash before moving on to the giant blue mudfish pokemon. "While Lily and I were at the Safari Zone I encountered Earthshaker here and caught him after he tried to kidnap Lily." He winked at her causing Lily to blush.
At that point, Neo was starting conclude that the two were officially together. He heard Arc call Lily Babe and the way they kept looking and smiling at each other was pretty obvious. Fortunately for them, Chase wasn't around to tease them for it and Neo wasn't going to bring that up. It wasn't his place to stuck his nose into other people's personal affairs.
"Next, I want to introduce the newest member of my team… Amarga, my Amaura. She was a gift from my mother who so happens to work at the Pewter City Fossil Labs." Arc pat her chilled body and she gave a cheerful cry.
"And finally we have Dino… Dino?" Arc looked around for his pokemon. "Where did he go?"
"Um… Arc. He's over there." Thorn pointed towards the trees that lined the fence of the courtyard.
They all turned and saw a Salamence pestering a group of wild Aipom that were up in a tree, the trunk of which was busily being chewed by the blue and red dragon. Every time he would put his weight on the tree it would sway back and forth, threatening to snap. Arc put his hand on his face and sighed as he marched over there.
"Well… as much fun as this has been, I'm exhausted." Thorn stretched his arms out with a yawn. "Good night." He then left without a backwards glance.
"It was nice meeting you," Neo said up as the younger trainer passed him, Arana and Gertrud wordlessly watching him leave while the others continued to focus on Arc's team.
Lily waved him off and refocused on Arc who was dragging Dino over to the rest of his Pokemon by one of his head spikes.
"Honestly… Do we have to do this every time Dino?" He sighed.
Neo smiled at the sight and recalled the playful dragon pokemon. "He's quite the handful."
"You have no idea." Arc huffed after putting Dino back in line. "But… I wouldn't trade him for the world." He smiled and scratched his Salamence's head. "So finally we have Dino, my Salamence. I captured him while training up in the mountains in preparation for my third badge. He was terrorizing an old veteran who resided in a mountainside cabin."
Neo took a moment to gander at Arc's team. He had a good variety; two fire-types, an ice/rock-type, a water/ground type, a dragon-type and a bug-type. And other than Snow Storm, the rest were titans especially Neeko, Earthshaker and Dino.
Glancing at his own team, the six nodded and arranged themselves to face Arc's pokemon more properly. The two ghost-types were the first to find their respective spots, followed by the Wartortle and Wigglytuff. The grass type just stood below the Chandelure. Scourge was the last one to find a place, having little experience in such social activities. Fortunately, Neo saw through that and led him to the place beside the bulky ghost cyclops.
With each of them settled, he began to introduce his pokemon with a slight gesture of his hand. Neo started off with his Wartortle. "This is Genbu. He's the first pokemon I've caught when I started my journey. He's from the Icefall Cave in Floe Island in the Sevii Archipelago." Genbu flashed his white snowflake printed shell with pride. "Hence, the birthmark."
Neo took a step and motioned to the pink bunny-like pokemon. "This is Kashu. She was given to me to act as my personal nurse and she does a wonderful job at it." The Wigglytuff beamed at the praise and twitched her ears cutely.
"Then, we have Arana…" Neo motioned to the Chandelure who flickered her blue flames and then to his Dusknoir. "And Novus. They've been with me ever since I was a child... Actually, Novus has been around even before I born. He was my father's pokemon before…" He trailed off suddenly.
"If it's tough to talk about, don't bring it up." Lily spoke up for the both of them.
Neo smiled at that and put up a strong front. "It's fine. I've gotten used to the fact. Novus was my father's pokemon before he died when I was six. He acts as my guardian, other than Gremio, my family's long time butler." He didn't wait for a reaction and moved on to the grass type. "This is…"
"I'm Gertrud," Blaze's Roserade cut in. "And for your information, I'm a Roserade. I'm not a talking bouquet or a telepathic rose bush. Also, I'm not Neo's pokemon. I'm temporarily in his care to help teach Arana telepathy while filling in for his Gengar, Nero who is currently in my trainer's care."
"Teacher," Arana confirmed with gleeful wail, making Gertrud smile.
Neo patted their heads and moved on to the final member of the team. "And this is Scourge. He joined my team not too long ago after I had a confrontation with his previous trainer." The shiny Drapion screeched lowly in acknowledgement.
"You never did tell me who his previous trainer was. You even said I knew who it was." Arc remembered their conversation earlier that day.
Neo exchanged looks with the crimson Drapion before he looked at Arc. "This... might not be a good time. I don't want to ruin the whole evening."
"Wiggly?" Kashu suddenly spoke up and Gertrud translated for her.
"She's asking about Emperor."
Neo nodded and faced Arc once more. "There's also another pokemon with me but he's not mine nor Chase's…" He considered it for a moment and decided to go and get him. "I'll be right back." With that, Neo left his team to get acquainted with Arc and his pokemon.
Neo stepped outside and found Emperor in the exact same position they left him. Walking up to him, he placed a hand on his muzzle. "Hello again, Emperor." The Manectric's eyes turned towards him and stood up as if guessing they were leaving. "Please wait. I want to introduce you to some friends. Would you come in? It must be pretty lonely out here."
Emperor blinked blankly. Neo didn't know if he was considering it or if he didn't care. Finally, Emperor pulled off the blanket from his back and spread it on the ground before folding it neatly and tucking it back into one of the bags of his saddle. It amazed Neo to see how capable Emperor was but he wouldn't expect nothing less from Gremio's pokemon. After that, the Manectric stepped forward as if he decided to with Neo.
With a nod, Neo led Emperor inside and then towards the backyard where he found Arc sitting on his Salamence while Lily was standing nearby. The rest of their pokemon were scattered once again in the wide yard, either bonding or keeping to themselves.
Neo led the pokemon over to Arc and Lily and patted him on the side. "This is Emperor." A monotone bark answered in acknowledgement. "He functions as my mount so I won't overexert myself while travelling."
"He's magnificent looking." Lily put out a hand for him to sniff but the electric-type barely gave a notice. "Hey… is that a Mega Stone?" She saw a rather fancy looking collar around his neck with a stone set in it.
Arc's attention was immediately drawn to the Manectric after Lily's question, curious to see if there was indeed a Mega Stone on his Pokemon mount. The red and blue symbol in the yellow sphere flickered in the lighting.
"That's right," Neo confirmed. "It's a Manectite." He then pulled out a an amulet hidden behind his vest and showed it to Arc and Lily. "I also have a Key Stone but I don't have the ability to make him mega evolve. He's not my pokemon and he doesn't see me as his trainer." The Manectric barked solemnly.
"It's still interesting nonetheless. We always get excited when we see new Pokemon with the ability to Mega Evolve." Arc elbowed Lily softly. " What have we seen Mega Evolve so far?"
"We've seen Steelix, Gyarados, Altaria, Aerodactyl, Absol, and Charizard if I am not mistaken." She smiled back at him.
"I've seen a Mawile and of course, a Charizard and Manectric." Neo looked back at Emperor before he continued, "Chase can Mega evolve his Gardevoir and Gallade, but has yet to try it. We hear that they can go berserk at times."
"That is true… Lily's Altaria has lost control before after Mega Evolution. It's like the raw power takes over their minds and they go into a more primal state."
Just then, during their mid-conversation, a familiar looking trainer clad in blue entered the wide grassy yard. Her coffee brown eyes and stray blonde locks shone under the dim light of the surrounding posts as well as that of the luminescent moonlight. Ariann looked at the group with a confused face, seemingly recognizing some of the trainers from the event.
Arc turned and saw the familiar trainer from his second round today. Wanting to get to know the trainer a little more, he waved her down. "Hi there! want to join us?"
The blonde girl gave him a hesitant look, her gaze switching from the group of trainers to the door, as if she was waiting for someone. She frowned, visibly disappointed over something and gave a long and quiet sigh.
"Come on… I'm not going to bite you or anything," Arc teased, earning a sharp glare from the blonde trainer who assessed them for a few seconds before heading their way.
"I'm not afraid of you." She huffed, though she kept her distance.
"Arc, be nice," Neo chastised his friend before turning towards the girl. "We mean you no harm. We just wish to be acquainted."
"I was being nice… You should see me when I am mean." Arc joked as he shrugged, Lily gave him a nasty glare.
Ariann just stared at Neo, knowing what his presence implied in this place. She looked around until her gaze landed on the trainer's Chandelure who was floating around a glowing lamppost. But what drew her gaze more was the large bulky cyclops with a menacing red eye that hovered nearby.
"W-Why...Why do you even have two ghost-type pokemon?!" She squeaked, taking a couple of steps back for safety measures. Her hand flew to her hoodie's pockets, taking out a pokeball in case any of the ghosts decided to gang up on her.
Arc jolted at her act. "Take it easy… They're not going to hurt you."
Thinking quickly, Neo stepped in Ariann's line of sight, raising his arms and calmly attempting to block her view of his two ghost pokemon who didn't seem to take notice of the situation. "Let's not start a fight here. This a pokemon center."
Ariann stared at Neo warily, before pocketing her pokeball tentatively. Groaning, she ran a hand across her face tiredly. "You're right... I'm sorry, you just keep scary-I mean, startling me! B-Because I'm not scared..." She grumbled under her breath, a blush slowly rising to her cheeks at the small slip.
"It's perfectly fine. Many people aren't very fond of ghost pokemon." Neo smiled in relief before seizing the chance to strike up the conversation. "May I ask where are you from, miss Roman?"
She looked at him weirdly at the honorific. "You can call me Ari, you know. Anyways, I'm from the Sinnoh Region. Sandgem Town, to be exact."
"Sinnoh. I have a few friends from there as well," Neo commented with a friendly smile.
"It seems a lot of the trainers in this competition are from Sinnoh," Lily added before bringing up the subject of the tournament. "Hey… You did well against Arc, Ari." She winked at her.
Ariann smiled slightly. "Thanks, Arc is an awesome trainer."
Arc bowed slightly out of respect. "Your Gyarados was quite the formidable challenge."
Ariann smirked at him slightly. "As was your Charizard. I've never battled one, so that was one hell of a first time." She chuckled before stopping, realizing that she was getting too friendly with the trainers.
"I'm looking forward to facing you tomorrow," Neo followed up, feeling a tinge of anticipation.
Ariann stared at him and bluntly replied, "I'm not."
Lily was dumbfounded by what she was hearing. Here was a trainer that almost seemed afraid of both Arc and Neo, not even having the courtesy or gumption to come close and talk. "Something is off here…"
"If it's any help, I'm only using one ghost-type," Neo informed, sensing the growing wariness of the young blonde.
"I'll be facing one nevertheless. I was actually hoping you wouldn't use either, but it seems my luck is as crappy as ever." She groaned once again.
Lily covered her face, having a hard time hearing what this trainer was saying.
Neo thought for a moment before suggesting, "Why not meet him? It'll help you get used to the idea of facing-"
Before Neo even finished his sentence, Ariann shook her head wildly. "No, thanks. I'll cross that bridge when I get there." She crossed her arms in front of her. "Besides, I don't plan on getting cursed early in this tournament."
Arc and Lily looked at each other confused. "Cursed?" They said unanimously and looked back at Ari.
"Look Ari… I refuse to ever step foot back in Lavender Town because of something that happened to me a long time ago, but curses…? You've gotta be kidding me." Arc tried to reason with her.
"It happens! I've seen it before!" She growled at the split-toned hair boy dressed in a long white coat.
Neo stared at Ari and Arc with a surprised look. He never knew about Arc's past with Lavender Town nor did he hear anything about that before. He had the urge to bring it up, along with the curses but didn't know how without possibly scaring the two or coming out rude. "I… uhm…"
"Neo… What is it?" Lily put a hand on his shoulder.
"Well." He hesitated as he glanced at his two pokemon behind him. "I've lived in Lavender Town most of my life. It's a tad gloomy at times but it's not all bad." He began. "I know a lot about ghosts and curses… but pokemon don't cause them without reason," he added the last part quickly.
"The curses still happen... Some ghosts are mischievous in that aspect..." Ariann muttered, apparently not bothered that Neo came from Lavender Town, much to the raven-haired trainer's relief but he was still very much disappointed at Ari's opinion of ghost pokemon.
Just then, a blue glow approached from behind Neo and a bluish flamed chandelier with eerie yellow button eyes hovered above his shoulder.
"Play?" A soft and airy voice echoed in the minds of each trainer.
Ari shook her head quickly, trying to avert the ghost's attention to someone else. "N-N-No t-t-thanks... W-Why don't y-you p-play with the other p-pokemon?" She took a couple of cautious steps back from Neo and Arana, gaining what she considered a safe distance between them.
The Chandelure gave a disappointed wail and glanced at the rest. Neo gently patted her on the side and motioned her to the others who were still wandering about in the yard. "Why don't you go ask the other pokemon, Arana? Or you can introduce the others to Emperor."
"Okay." Arana nodded sadly before floating away with the Manectric following behind her. But just before she left, he turned and waved a curled arm at Ari. "Bye."
"By-bye..." The blonde answered weakly, not daring to move in case the ghost-type pokemon decided to change her mind.
As the Chandelure left, Arc was struck by an idea and he started grinning devilishly. "Ari…"
The blonde jumped at the sound of his voice and turned around, glaring at him. "What?!" She spat.
"Look behind you." He pointed towards her left shoulder.
A hot breath brushed against her neck, causing her to freeze. Gulping, Slowly, she turned, meeting rows of sharp looking teeth right in front of her face. Yelping, she scrambled backwards, stumbling against Neo for the second time since their meeting.
Neo nearly faltered at the abrupt collision but fortunately, he fell against his bulky ghost-type's front as two large arms supported both his shoulders. Looking up, he met the sole eye of his Dusknoir staring back at him. "Thank you, Novus.
Ari jolted at the realization and sudden notice of the cold air. Looking upwards, gazing at the sight of the huge ghost-type with the single crimson eye, her own eyes widened as blood drained for her face. In an instant, she frantically scrambled away from them, trembling like a leaf.
At this point, Arc was doubling over with mirth. While he planned on playing a small joke at Ari's expense he didn't expect the domino effect that would follow it. Lily, however, glared at him for being so cold before doing the most unlady like thing ever. Seething with anger, she grabbed Arc by the prong of his hair and threw him over her shoulder into Neeko who was standing behind them.
Neo flinched at the feat, half-amazed by Lily's strength, half-thankful he wasn't in Arc's shoes.
"That was a real jackass move, Arc!" She roared at him as he gasped for air. "I outta kick your ass for pulling a stunt like that, especially on a young lady who is obviously intimidated by men!" She kicked him in the side before walking over to Ari. "I apologize for my boyfriend's rude behavior. Dino is too kind to hurt anyone… not even a Yanma."
Ariann's body was shaking noticeably as she curled into a small ball, burying her face in her arms. Her breathing was harsh and labored as she tried to regain control of her body. Neo felt really sorry and wanted to comfort her but he understood his presence would only make it worse. So he left that task to the only person who had the ability to do so.
Lily sat down next to the petrified girl and wrapped her arms around her. Ari's small frame continued to tremble but the gesture was gradually calming her down.
By that point, Arc's Salamence came over. Dino felt bad about what happened and wanted to show his apology. He slowly laid down next to the two of them, nuzzling his head against Lily's side in a small act of docility.
"See…? He won't hurt you." Lily rubbed the spikes on the dragon's head.
When Ari managed to control her breathing and calm down a little, she peeked at the dragon curiously but cautiously. She took a deep breath before slowly reaching a shaky hand towards him. Lily then took the initiative and grabbed Ari's hand, placing it on Dino's smooth head.
"Totally harmless." She smiled.
At this point, Arc managed to get back up on his feet, breathing heavily. "Guess I deserved that…" He smiled weakly, holding his gut.
Neo motioned his Dusknoir to stay back and stepped towards Arc, lightly placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "You alright?"
He coughed as air returned to his abused lungs. "Never better." He smiled and straightened up. "It's not a regular day for me unless something knocks me to the ground. Usually its Dino or Neeko who does it and not her though."
Suddenly out of nowhere, a white two-legged pokemon almost-silently descended unto the grassy field, drawing everyone's gazes. It landed on a half-knee crouch, it's split ivory cape with sky blue interior billowing behind it.
A stunned yet calm quietness flooded the yard as it stood to its full height and surveyed the area. By the looks of it, it was a Gallade but with a full white body, broader and more pronounced arm blades with new red plating and lastly a more accented teal crest on its head.
All of Neo, Arc and Lily's Pokemon looked at the newcomer with an edge of caution. They were not afraid of the Pokemon, but just wary of its approach. Neeko let out a low growl, but it was obviously not hindered by his warning. The others stood by their teammates, ready to assist each other if a battle were to ensue.
"Hey… That looks like a Gallade, but there is something different about it." Lily eyed up the strange-looking blade pokemon with fascination.
"It couldn't be a Mega Gallade, could it?" Neo theorized, seeing as there wasn't another possible explanation for it.
"Well that certainly isn't normal looking, so… it must be a Mega Gallade." Arc scanned it with his Pokedex, comparing the pokemon in front of them and a normal Gallade.
"It looks so awesome..." Ariann whispered, awed at the mega evolved pokemon before her.
The Mega Gallade calmly lowered his arms, ignoring the attracted attention as he proceeded to accomplish his intentions. Looking over each trainer in turn, his eyes stopped on one and wordlessly began to make his way over.
The mega evolved pokemon stood in front of Neo and lightly bowed his head. "Young master, you are highly required to return to the hotel."
Neo flinched slightly upon recognition of the honorific. His first thought if ever it was a Mega Gallade, it could be Chase's, but Vince is a shy pokemon and is not experienced with mega evolving. The blade pokemon before him called him young master and had an unnaturally calm and dignified aura. One answer remained. It was Gremio's. "Caesar?"
The Mega Gallade bobbed his head slightly as confirmation. "The night runs late. I am tasked to be your escort."
By that time, Neo's pokemon had gathered around him, along with the Manectric who exchanged silent looks with the mega evolved blade pokemon. The two seemed to know each other but shared only brief moments of acknowledgement.
"I'm sorry. Looks like I have to leave now." Neo turned to Arc and the others and bowed lightly.
The rest of his pokemon followed suit by bidding their farewells and good nights to the three trainers as well as Arc and Lily's pokemon. Neo recalled Scourge first, followed by Kashu, then Genbu after he waved at Amarga with a shy grin. Gertrud mentally said her pleasantries and returned promptly. Neo's two ghost-types lingered a while to say their apologies to Ari.
Novus and Arana kept a bit of distance as they bobbed their heads in her direction. The Dusknoir let out a low groan while the Chandelure wailed and told her in telepathy, "Sorry..."
Ari, still feeling scared, replied by nodding their way wordlessly, focusing once again on Lily and the Salamence.
"I'll see you all tomorrow." Neo recalled his last two pokemon and waved at the three trainers. He then mounted on his Manectric and left as Caesar leaped on top of the pokemon center roof and soon disappeared in the darkness of the night.
"Caesar?" Neo called out in a soft voice as he rode through the streets.
"Yes, young master?" A voice replied in his head.
"Was it necessary to come in mega evolved form?" Neo asked, eyes scanning the rooftops but failing to see the Mega Gallade.
There was a pause, leading Neo to think Caesar didn't hear him but before he could speak up again, the pokemon answered, "It is."
The voice was sterner than usual, meaning the purpose was of great importance. It made Neo go on alert as he inquired further. "Can you explain?"
"My apologies. It is not my place," Caesar responded with his usual formal yet calm tone. "You may ask my human partner but I am uncertain he would answer."
Neo sighed in the cool evening. He'd have to postpone that issue. He didn't need another conundrum to worsen the headaches. Gremio would deal with it as he saw fit. Tomorrow was going to be a hectic day. Neo had a two battles ahead, one of which was Kiba.
At the recollection, he looked up the starless sky and steeled his resolve, hoping that he and his pokemon will pull through and teach Kiba a lesson he would never forget. That, and the nightmarish scenario won't repeat itself.
End of Chapter 58
A chapter featuring Arc and Ari who have their own fanfic stories. :D
Full version of the battle will be on Arc's story. ^_^
Arc from "Pokemon: The Untold Story of Arc" and Ariann from "Team Epic"
You can check theirs out~ :D
Read and Review! Thanks ever so much. xD
Here's Neo's New Look along with his entire team (Nero included)
ht$tp:/$/fav.$me/d91vuvj