I deserve to be shot for this, I really do. The world turns from crazy, to just plain creepy. And Flame has to choose between the two.
Episode 135: Hate to Love
"Flame?" Mew asked as he glanced across at me, "I'm going to find that Celebi and beat him to a pulp for that."
"I was planning on doing the same," I replied.
"You don't get it, I have to leave here and beat him in the real world. It could be the only way of getting you out of here."
"But you'd have to leave," I added, knowing what was bothering him, "don't worry. I've smartened up, just kill stuff untill I get sent back here. No worries."
"Just be careful," Mew sighed, "he'll try anything to get you to crack."
Mew vanished, leaving me alone in the endless whiteness. I looked around, waiting for the next illusion to form. Nothing seemed to happen.
"Maybe he's fallen asleep," I muttered to myself, "well, let's have a look around. There has to be something else here apart from white."
I took a step forward and, exactly where my foot landed, a patch of grass formed. It rapidly grew and I found myself back on the mountain clearing. But now things had changed a lot. The grass had grown a lot and an apple tree, that had only been a sapling when I was a kit, was in full bloom. The sun was just beginning to rise. I glanced around, seeing no sign of anyone. This made sense, seeing as I couldn't be in the past so there wouldn't be Nina or Flametooth here. I stepped towards the clearing's hedge, looking down on the valleys and plains at the bottom of the mountain when a yawn from behind caused me to spin around.
"Flame? What are you doing up so early?" Another Charmander asked after finishing the yawn. I almost ran away when I recognized the Pokémon in front of me.
"Scarlet?" I blurted out, "What are you doing here? Am I about to get my arse kicked?"
She laughed, before yawning again, "You must have hit your head in the night, again. Honestly, you are such a klutz sometimes."
"What are you talking about?" I asked, feeling a little awkward now and scratching the back of my head in confusion.
"You are kinda cute when you are confused and paranoid," she replied with another laugh, which just made me more confused, "we live together, remember?"
My eyes widened in shock and all I could do was stare. I defiantly had not seen that one coming. The look made her laugh again, which snapped me back to reality.
"You truly are an idiot," she chuckled, taking a step closer, "although I wouldn't have it any other way."
"Meep," was all that I could think to say as she got closer.
"After all," she continued as she closed the distance, "where is the fun of having a normal partner?"
We were practically nose to nose right then, and my legs didn't want to work so I couldn't run. Luckily, just before anything could happen, my stomach rumbled and Scarlet stared at it.
"Why does your stomach always ruin the moment?" She sighed, turning away to the apple tree, "well, might as well get something to eat."
'Thank you,' I mentally told my stomach, which made a noisy 'you are welcome' in reply.
I watched as Scarlet climbed up the apple tree and managed to grab hold of two apples. When she had gotten them, she looked down at me and frowned.
"Are you going to stand there all day or are you going to catch me?" She called down.
"What? Oh, sorry," I replied, moving closer to the tree. I wasn't entirely sure what I was doing, but I decided to go with the flow. Untill I could get away from Scarlet without risking a Dragonbreath to the face.
"Better," she laughed before jumping off of the branch and plummeting to the ground. I was a little slow and was unable to get out of the way, which ended up with Scarlet knocking me to the floor as she used me as a cushion.
"Fuck, that hurt," I muttered as she got off of me, laughing.
"You really are out of it today; the idea is to use your arms to catch me. Not your back," she chuckled as she handed me an apple.
"Are you going to stare at that or eat it?" She asked five minutes later, I had been sitting there lost in thought the whole time.
"Sorry," I replied, taking a bite out of the apple.
"You thinking about Blacky again?" She asked, getting me to look strait at her. I had been wondering what had happened to the others, "don't worry. I'm sure he'll come visit the moment his kits are big enough to make the journey up the mountain."
I almost fainted at those words. Blacky with kits? This timeline really was weird. Then I almost dropped the apple when a shiver boomed throughout me, but it wasn't a cold shiver. Her tail had touched mine.
"You need to relax a little, take every day at a time," she muttered as the touch continued. Something inside me prevent me from moving away, and our two tail flames touched. As I moved to look over my shoulder at the fires, she moved closer and kissed me.
My heart nearly exploded as it sped up drastically. I was torn between pulling away and continuing. Her eyes locked onto mine and I decided, right there and then, that I actually liked the feelings and allowed the kiss to deepen. I don't know how long it lasted, but when we finally broke apart it didn't seem long enough.
"Feeling better?" She asked, still looking me right in the eyes.
"Yep," I laughed, finally realising how hungry I was and chowing down on the apple that I had dropped during the event that had just occurred.
When I had finished, I threw the core into the air and launched a fireball at it. It was incinerated in the blast, which caused me to chuckle.
"You're back to normal," Scarlet laughed, "well as normal as you can get."
"Damn strait," I joined in the laughing.
When we had both quieted down, we both locked eyes again. I felt my heart rate soar again, knowing what was about to happen.
But it was not meant to be, she vanished just as she was getting closer. The whole world returned to the blank white state.
"Hey, I was enjoying that!" I complained, getting to my feet and looking around.
"Terribly sorry," came the reply from behind and I spun around to see a small hole in the whiteness. Mew stood on the other side, and I could make out the insides of Lavender Tower.
"Hurry, I can get you out of here!" He called, reaching through the portal with his paw.
"Or you can stay," came another voice and Celebi appeared to my side, "that world can return if I want it to, but you have to leave your world behind."
"Don't listen," Mew called through the portal, "now hurry up. I won't be able to hold this thing open forever."
"Let Flame make his own choice," Celebi said, "he can go back to where he suffers pain and constant fights or he can return to the world where he can live in peace, with someone that he loves."
I kept looking at Mew, then Celebi before returning my eyes to Mew. I was torn between the two. My ties to Moron's gang and the feelings from back in that clearing where fighting each other.
"Do you follow your head? Or do you follow your heart?" Celebi asked, which allowed me to make my final decision.
"My heart wins, paws down," I said, which caused Celebi to grin untill I turned and walked away from him and towards the portal, "I would rather earn that affection, than have it given to me."
Celebi yelled out something as I grabbed hold of Mew's paw and a bright flash of blue light blinded me for a few seconds. When my vision returned, I was back in the tower. Mew hugged me, grinning.
"You are not the idiot I thought you were after all," he laughed, when he finally released me. I spotted the sun rise through the tower window and smiled to myself.
"Hey, Blacky had kits there. I didn't want to risk him being with a freak. At least here, I can step in should things get out of hand," I said, getting another smile from Mew.
"Parental instincts beat love, that's what I like about you. You get your priorities right."
As we both turned and started to head down the stairs, I glanced across at the grinning Mew.
"If I had been there any longer, then I probably would not have left," I admitted.
"Then it was good timing on my part," Mew replied, "don't worry about it. Just enjoy the memories."
I actually felt my cheek scales turn red as I asked, "you saw that then?"
"Yep," he laughed, "I promise I won't tell Pika about it."
"So, when are you going after Celebi?" I asked, changing the subject. I got a wink from the feline for that, he wasn't fooled.
"I'll wait a while, so he lets his guard down. The moment he does, then I'll get him," Mew replied, allowing me a little dignity and letting the conversation change topic, "let us just say that it is his destiny."
"Wait," I interrupted, "Celebi said that there are millions of futures, so how can destiny exist?"
"Destiny is what you do while you are alive. It is your choice. That is what decides which future, which fate, you will end up with. That is why Celebi is such a prat; he does not understand that everything can change the future. Not just one Pokémon, but every single being has an effect on the universe. Luck has something to do with it too, although it is mainly there just to piss off oracles and prophets."
"That made no sense," I sighed.
"It will when the time comes," came the ever so cryptic reply, "which reminds me, there is someone that you really have to see."