The suspense is building. Sorry for the slower updates but I'll try to post on Mondays or Fridays or both. This story's almost over, the climax is approaching. Don't worry though, I'm planning on a sequel and a collection of one shots for our dysfunctional family. Thanks for the reviews; it keeps my motivated.
Mercury happily reclaims the three pokeballs and snaps them back on her waist. Her team wiggles in comfort at being back on their trainer's hip and the child bows to Saturn before leaving the computer room. The automatic doors announce her entrance to the grunts littering the halls and they all turn to watch the prodigy meander down the corridor as she made her way back to her living quarters. When she stands before the black door she raises a hand to the scanner. A blue light resonates and a line runs across the screen before the device beeps and the lock clicks open, leaving the door slightly ajar.
The child walks calmly through the door and nudges the release button on Calamity's pokeball. The black sphere separates itself and the guardian materialises beside her trainer. She sits on her haunches to watch her master shed the ridiculous space uniform and dig through her backpack to look for a more comfortable outfit. Her violet eyes narrow in confusion and pulls out a garment she didn't remember having packed in her duffle.
The large sweatshirt unravels itself and a twitch of her nostrils immediately forces the perfume lingering on the fabric to assault her nose. Calamity tromps overs to the child and nudges her slightly trembling hands to examine the clothing. Cynthia's perfume filters through her nose and the pokemon cries slightly when the girl sheds her Mercury persona and hugs the sweatshirt to her body. The oversized clothing falls over Angel like a curtain and she pulls back the sheets on her oversized bed. The dark gray sheets are tossed aside and the six-year-old curls into a ball on the mattress. Calamity jumps onto the bed with her girl and lays beside her; attempting to make up for the empty space. Her red head rests on her master's side as the body starts to shake with sobs and the soft fur attempts to substitute Cynthia's gentle caress.
The pokeballs on her waist break open and the concerned pokemon try to counsel the young child, but the tears don't ebb and the heaving, gaspy hiccups continue to torture her. Glameow meows in sympathy as she lays a paw on Angel, remembering her own trainer. Houndour licks at her face, he never liked it when his real trainer cried. Destin mushes itself under her head to serve as a cushion as it murmured words of reassurance in her ear. Diadem and Mystic stood at the side of the bed, too large to fit on the now full bed and just bow their heads so they're staring at the ground, motionless, listening to the sobs helplessly.
Calamity raises her head when the child finally silences and huffs at the dragon. Said dragon protests with a quiet roar and shakes his three heads. The others soon gang up on the poor creature, all five crying and roaring. Mystic shrinks from the sound and motions with his smaller heads for them to quiet down before he waves them in defeat and snatches his own pokeball off his trainers belt. The rest watch as the black creature flies out the door and into the expanse, heading east.
…
Cynthia groans as her stiff joints voice their discomfort and lifts her head from the cluttered desk. A glance outside shows that it's just past daybreak. Warm orange hues flicker across her office and glint off the untouched plate of food. The weather's attempt at a happy greeting is met with a scowl, as if it could control time, and she was tempted to close her blinds so it wouldn't seem as if another day passed with the champion getting nowhere.
The blonde drops her exhausted head back into her arms and lets some comfort embrace her with the ray's warmth. Cynthia turns a open eye back to her window when the heat is disrupted by a shadow and her gray eyes stare in shock at the figure. They blink before her brain registers the hydreigon flailing at her window with a dusk ball grasped in its main mouth.
The champion springs up to let Mystic through her window; a tight squeeze for the dragon. Mystic drops his pokeball into Cynthia hands before heavily panting from its long trip.
"Mystic? What are you doing here?" The blonde asks, not really caring that she won't understand the answer as she runs her hands to check for sprained or twisted limbs.
The brutal pokemon floats over to the window and points at the large mountain in the distance. Cynthia turns her slate eyes to Mt. Cornet and stands, half expecting an explosion or portal to rift the area around the land mass.
"There isn't much time is there?"
The dragon nods and stares at the new day sun. If only he was able to tell the mother that the sand was starting to propel a tad too close to empty. Only a few sunrises remain...
With an invisible light bulb above his head, Mystic motions to the sun and circles one of its smaller head across the horizon two times.
"Two days huh?" Cynthia grabs the water glass on the table and wets her parched throat. She places the empty glass back onto the desk and grabs her jacket. "Come on. I need to get the others."
…
The ensemble gathered in Professor Rowan's lab would probably make any common citizen stare, and fanatics could easily faint at the sight of so many legends in one town. Father-son gym leader duo Byron and Roark wait impatiently for answers. Candice twisted her jacket around her waist, sweating from being out of her polar icecap hometown, and Maylene attempts to crack a joke about ice for her best friend's amusement. Volkner sulks in a corner as Flint pesters him and Fantina shouts some sort of nonsense to Gardenia, who is examining a turtwig for Rowan. Crasher Wake tears into a protein bar that he didn't need.
"How long do we have?" Rowan asks the distraught mother, eyeing the irritated garchomp and the flinchy hydreigon.
"Two days."
"We should just force our way in!" Byron yells, "That what men do when they want things done!" The steel master is immediately hammered into the ground by the glares from his fellow female gym circuit leaders.
"Dad…" Roark groans as he hides his face with his hands.
"We can't just use brute force. Team Galactic have three willing legendary pokemon in their arsenal and an overpowered six year old." Lucian started.
Everyone silents for a moment as they think. Fingers tap in the air, hands grasp temples, and chins are stroked in consideration. Surprisingly, the blond in the corner speaks up.
"That last part seems easy enough to eliminate," Volkner vocalizes from his corner as he pulls Flint away by his hair. The fire type master panics as he re-sphereizes his perm.
"You are not hurting my Angel," Cynthia growled as she straightened from her laid back position leaning against a table.
"Seems like the easiest way to me. Get rid of the kid, get rid of the lake guardians, prevent the portal, call it a day." The electric type huffs out as he looks at his champion blankly.
"I am champion for a reason and have no problem showing off why I earned that title if you so much as…"
"Now, now, settle down you two." Rowan intervenes before his lab goes kaboom due to an angry, overprotective mother. "Cynthia he has a point," the professor is quick to explain when the two dragons inch forward, "now I'm not saying we harm her, but we need to get her away from Team Galactic. By Hypnosis or persuasion, Team Galactic doesn't get her. You get Angel back," Rowan directs his eyes at the distraught blonde, "and we stop Team Galactic. Win, win, yes?"
Mystic seemed to have doubts as he murmured his concerns to Garchomp, only for the older pokemon to roar at him angrily and flail her fins around. The dragon raises his three heads to further vocalize when he notices Cynthia withdraw his pokeball.
"Don't worry Mystic, this will work." The champion returns the pocket monster into his pokeball and gave it an affectionate squeeze before placing the ball back in her jacket.
"If this is going to happen," Cynthia begins, "I get to confront her. She is my responsibility."
…
Mercury notices her shortage of pokemon, but doesn't make a comment to her other companions as she untangles herself from the horde of pokemon surrounding her. She strips the sweater off and neatly folds it before bringing it to her nose to inhale what remains of the scent. It is carefully placed into her backpack and she shuffles over to the metal dresser to pull out a clean uniform. The top resembled Mars and Jupiter, with a dark gray neck and a white bodice. Instead of a skirt or leggings she wore the dark gray shorts. A white band encased her lower thigh and high gray boots were pulled over her feet. She pulled her hair over to one side and held it up with a hair band so that it fell over half of her body.
She opened her door and picked up the plate of food a grunt had left outside and placed it on the ground for her pokemon. Calamity barks at her.
"I'm not hungry." The red pokemon scolds her with a growl. "Don't get your fur into knots, I ate yesterday. Come on, let's go. We start preparations."