Good afternoon readers, I would like to say thanks for 30,000 views! Again, I hope everyone is having a great summer! Well here is the next installment to my flagship story, enjoy!
Chapter thirty-one: Ingleis, Part 1
Most of the storm passes by within a matter of minutes, yet I have a relentless urge to follow it. I am relieved and full of energy after the storm, and I feel as though I can win any fight against any Pokémon! For some strange reason, I am now able to control the movement of my tail. I smile as I move it which gets the attention of my friend, Orion. He laughs, "Never seen you do that before!"
"I know it's weird!" I say.
"Just means you're happy, very happy." Orion explains.
We look back at the retreating storm as I sigh, "There it goes…hope another passes by again soon."
"Yea, they're a good way to help you stay calm and reenergize" Suddenly, Orion's ears rise all the way up, "Oh! I forgot! We needa get back!"
Orion ushers me back to the yard. The rain dwindles until it eventually becomes just a drizzle. The sound of thunder is now faint and calmness returns to the neighborhood. Orion and I, quickly and silently, make our way back to the shed before George returns. The window is close to the ground but it is not within reach to climb. Orion puts his back against the wall and gestures me to come, "Get on my shoulders, quick." He says.
I shake my head, "Don't you think I should be the one-"
"Can you just come here?" Orion retorts, "My dad could come back and at any minute now!"
I roll my eyes. I quickly wipe droplets of rain off my face before I do what he says. I hop on his shoulders and he seems to not feel any weight on top of him at all. Once I am in reach of the window I grab the frame and pull myself up. Once I am on the frame, I look down at Orion.
"Here, grab my hand." I extend my hand to him but he shakes his head, "I'm fine, get inside." He instructs as I do so. I end up back inside the shed before I hear the Pikachu jump and grab the frame outside. He pulls himself up easily and hops into the shed effortlessly. Since we are both drenched from the storm, drops of water are falling down from our fur onto the floor.
"Oh no, I don't see any towels!" Orion says nervously as I begin helping him search the shed, "How could I forget!? I really hope it's Rigel who comes and get us out." He continues.
Nothing, no towels, so the evidence would be clear to his 'dad', and we can't really shake the water off us either because it would just make a mess.
"Well, nothing we can do." Orion sits down on the floor and waits before I do the same.
"Why doesn't he let you roam free outside the shed?" I ask him and he turns and says, "He's afraid I'll get too close to the house during a storm. Again, it's just a precaution." He informs me.
A few minutes pass and we both hear the door unlock on the other side. We hold our breaths and hope for the best.
"Hey you two."
Much to our relief, it's Rigel. He closes an umbrella which he is holding. He crouches down next to us, "Out in the rain again Orion, and this time you took Lucas with you? You're lucky dad sent me here." He has something in his hand, "I forgot to put towels in here for you Orion, but we left the house weeks ago for our Pokémon journey, so I didn't bother before. Sorry about that."
Orion says, "It's okay."
"Here Lucas." He gives me a white towel. I take it and immediately begin to dry myself with it. My fur sticks out embarrassingly during the whole process. Meanwhile, Rigel reaches for his Pikachu with another towel and wipes water off his body. He then wipes the mouse's face, making the both of them smile and then laugh almost simultaneously with each other. He then comes toward me and says, "Here, let me help." He dries the rest of my body with the towel and fixes the parts of my fur that stick out. I can hear Orion giggling to himself as he watches this.
"That should do it." He turns off the lights in the shed and opens his umbrella once he is at the door, "Come on guys, hop on my shoulders." Orion and I do so and hang on as he takes us outside. He locks the shed and we all then head back to the house.
…
Once we get back inside we hang out around the living room for a while. Then we say goodnight to Rigel's parents and head to Rigel's bedroom. There, Orion and Rigel decide to watch some cartoons on the boy's computer while I begin reading the book his father gave to me. With it I practice to myself the pronunciations I hope to relearn in order to improve my speech patterns.
Sometime later, I look over to Orion and I ask, "Orion, want to join? I found some good words for you to learn." However, he shakes his head and says, "Tomorrow Lucas, right now I'd rather watch The Adventures of Johnny Boy and his Charm."
"Alright." I shrug before continuing to study by myself as the Pikachu looks back at the screen and continues to watch the cartoon show.
Two hours pass by and the duo eventually fall asleep on the bed, forcing me to stop reading since the room is dark now. I cannot sleep, however, since I woke up so late, so I decide to just stare up at the ceiling and think.
Suddenly, I hear a gasp in the darkness which startles me. I sit up and look toward the direction of the sound: it was Rigel. He turns on his lamp and looks around in fear as if to make sure he's safe. He makes a deep sigh as he sits up with cold sweat, panting. Orion, who was also woken up by the gasp, looks at him with concern as well.
"It's fine…I'm okay…really." He says between breaths, "Just a bad dream." He goes to hug Orion, "I thought they took you away again, I was so scared." All the Pikachu could do was hug him back.
The boy gets out of his bed and looks back at us, "I'm going to get some water. I'll be right back." He heads out the door. Orion closes his eyes and curls back into a ball to sleep. Instead of following his example, something gets me to follow Rigel downstairs. By the time I reach the darkness of the living room I see him coming towards me, but he doesn't notice my presence until he's a few feet away.
"Oh, Lucas, what's wrong?" He asks.
"B…ad…dre…ams…abo...ut...ba...se?" I retort and he tilts his head in confusion, yet he then understands what I meant to say, "Oh yes, I've been having bad dreams about the forest and Team Rocket."
He sighs softly, "…Lucas…I've been meaning to ask you…did you really belong to that Team Rocket Grunt? Were you apart of Team Rocket before I met you?"
I shake my head, "N…no."
"But you were in one of his Poké balls…I saw him take you out of one inside the prison. Did he catch you?" He asks, I look down and I simply nod instead.
"And you ran away afterwards, before you ran into me at Verdigris?" He asks yet another question before I nod.
"I just wanted to make sure…thanks Lucas. Come on, let's head back." He tells me as I follow him back to his bedroom. While on the way, I feel nervousness overtake me. Does he suspect that I am a spy? Does he suspect that I am going to betray him? No, he can't, he must know I woulden't do such a thing.
None of this is my fault Rigel…I didn't want to belong to Cy…please believe me.
Once we arrive, I lie on the bean bed and try to sleep…but all I can do is to stare up at the ceiling and think.
…
The next morning…
I awake to the sound of shouting. Startled, I sit up to investigate. Everything looks normal and Orion is next to Rigel, waking up. I am relieved to find that it's just George who is shouting and it's more of a call to come downstairs rather than a shout of distress, "Rigel! Your mother and I are going to the city. Would you like to tag along?"
Rigel, still half-asleep, grumbles quietly as Orion sits up and tries to shake him awake. I stretch my arms and legs and then stand up from the bed: I look toward Rigel, who's still sleeping. Orion places a paw on his forehead in frustration before he lightly taps Rigel's shoulder: he zaps the boy softly. The teenager awakes and looks down at the perpetrator responsible, "Orion! What was that for!?" All Orion does afterward is give an amusing grumpy expression, pointing toward the door at the same time as he does this, "Okay, okay, I heard him! I'm out of bed!" He stands up and goes to the door, "How long can you guys wait? I need to get ready." He shouts.
George shouts back, "Not long, hurry up."
Rigel goes to his bathroom and showers and then gets dressed, all of which is done within a few minutes. Orion and I talk in the meantime. Once we're ready, we all head downstairs to meet with George and Rigel's mother.
She looks down at Rigel and sighs, "Where's your jacket? You're not going out like that."
George turns toward her, "May, get the car ready please. I need to talk to Rigel." She nods as he kneels down toward us, "Listen, all of you: I want you guys to be extremely careful while walking through the streets today. I don't want you running off like you usually do Rigel…or you Orion. And you, Lucas, don't go talking in public; make sure you keep that mouth closed until we're not around other people, Understood?" He gives a serious expression as they nod; my nod follows soon after, "Please go get your jacket Rigel."
Rigel heads back upstairs as George leads Orion and I to the garage. He opens the door and we enter: there we see a black luxury-looking car and another similar car next to it. George opens the car door and lets us hop inside. Once Rigel, now wearing a jacket, arrives and sits between us, George closes the door and heads to the front seat. Rigel's mother May, or Maybelline, which is her full name, drives out of the garage and stops near the gate. Once the gate opens, the car leaves the neighborhood and travels down a small hill toward the main road. As we travel, I feel relaxed: the seats are comfortable, the outside view is stunning, and I feel safe. I stare outside and see some rolling hills, and on top of them are nice houses. Mountains can be seen far off in the distance.
I then feel nostalgic inside: for some reason I feel like a kid again. It feels strange to be inside a car with these people, it reminds me of when I was with my family years ago: having people drive me from place to place, being talked to as if I was a child, and living dependently as well. I mean, I had gotten used to taking care of myself that I had forgotten about that way of life.
I shake myself out of my self-thought and turn toward the front of the car: there I see the skyline of Viridian City once again and it's getting bigger the closer we get. We pass the tall buildings as we drive down the expressway. Rigel, Orion and I watch out the window on each side with interest. The car gets out of the expressway and arrives near the center of downtown Viridian City. The trip to get here only took about ten minutes.
"We're going to the department store first." May says as we all look at a tall building, a mall to be exact, which is about ten stories high, in front of us. The name of the mall is Ingleis as indicated by a large sign at its entrance.
She drives the car inside a parking garage adjacent to the mall, and then parks the car. We all exit the vehicle and then follow George and his wife through the parking lot. We eventually reach a door that leads to the department store inside the mall.
The sign above us reads, Welcome to Ingleis.
The department store has a wooden floor, mannequins, a diverse array of items to purchase, and many signs that read Buy one get one 50% off! We also see Pokémon with their trainers and owners walking around the store just as we are.
Rigel's mother leads us to the women's section and buys several clothes for herself before George takes us to the men's section to buy new shoes. After a brief talk with Rigel, the parents decide to buy clothes for him also: since his old ones are now ruined. We all head to the kid's section and they have the teenager try on different sets of clothes. After finding the right set for the boy, they pay for it and everybody's ready to leave the store…well, almost everybody. I look at all the clothes that are on the racks all around me and sigh softly to myself.
I do miss wearing clothes.
"Oh, do you?" Orion, obviously hearing me, raises an eyebrow and asks sarcastically.
"Well of course I do; you think I like walking around without pants on?" I retort.
"Well technically your fur is your clothes." He says with the same amount of sarcasm.
"Seriously though, I would like to wear clothes again." I say softly.
"Then follow me." He says. Rigel and his parents look back to see their Pikachu and me running toward an escalator.
"Orion, where are you going?" Rigel shouts before giving chase. Orion gets on the steps of the escalator and hops down each one contentedly as I try to follow as fast and as close by as possible.
"Hold up, you're going too fast!" I say as I pass by people on the escalator; they shout back at us in response and Rigel only infuriates them even more as he passes through them to reach us. Soon we reach the first floor and Orion makes a left toward another section of the store. He suddenly stops and turns to me, his smile never fading. I stop just a few feet away, "Oh…I see!" I say in response after looking at a sign above him; I read the sign: Pokémon. From here, I can see numerous toys, gadgets, and clothes for almost all kinds of Pokémon.
Rigel arrives, panting slightly from exhaustion. His parents soon arrive behind him, "Mom, dad…it looks like Orion wants to get something before we leave." He tells them.
"As always." George shakes his head as he puts his hands near his hips, "Alright, lead the way Orion."
Orion jumps happily before gesturing me to come to him, "This way Lucas!" He leads me to the clothes section. There, I find a large collection of items to buy for Pokémon, similar to the ones found at a Pokémon Center: only here, there are a lot more variety of clothes to buy. Since winter is coming, this would be a great time to make an excuse to buy clothes. I point to a small shirt hanging from a rack and Rigel proceeds to give it to me. I show it to the family, all the while gesturing to them.
"Well it looks like Lucas wants some clothes for himself." George says as I nod repeatedly.
"I don't care how the shirt looks as long as I can wear something." I say softly.
"Hey, try this on." Rigel calls for me, brandishing a red jacket before I take it. Orion takes the other shirt from me before I walk to a mirror. Orion and the rest of his family surround me; our reflections stare back at us. As I put on the jacket I sigh softly while giving a big smile: it fits.
I begin to hear background music playing here just like upstairs, but the song playing is The Platters – Enchanted. I relax even more as I look at my reflection.
"Oh, try this on too!" May gives me small black pants. I try them on too and much to my happiness they fit as well. Now I am wearing a red jacket and black pants and I jump up and down with glee, "Please, buy them!" I say before taking them off to give to Rigel.
"Looks like he likes 'em!" Rigel takes the clothes before looking up at his parents.
"Alright. Orion did you get what you wanted?" George asks and the Pikachu nods. He holds a small toy up to the human. George and May take my clothes and head over to a counter nearby to pay while Rigel spots something on display on top of a table from a nearby section. I look over to see him walking toward it. The accessory shines brightly and is bluish in color. It's a pair of blue goggles. The boy takes it and comes over to Orion and me; he kneels down, and gives it to me, "One last thing." He says to me.
I turn to face the mirror and I place the item on my head: it does not move as I look from different perspectives.
"How do I look?" I turn around and ask the duo.
"Like a menace!" The Pikachu says, impressed by my look.
"Wow! That looks awesome on you Lucas!" Rigel says with similar excitement.
"Want to try it on Orion?" I take them off but he shakes his head, "No, put them on again, I want you to try something!"
"Okay." I put them back on, "What do you want?"
"Make a pose: put your paws on your hips and look mean!" He commands me to do before I look back at the mirror and do as he instructs.
"Like this?" I ask, looking back.
"Yea but with more confidence and hurry up!" He retorts. I make the pose again, "Yea! Just like that!"
"That can be a look for you Lucas." Rigel says, taking the goggles off my head, "Should I get them for you?" I think about it and it doesn't take long for me to nod.
"Okay, let's hurry to pay for this." The human says, gesturing us to follow.
Before we leave the section I stop the mouse from moving any further, "Orion."
"Yea Lucas?"
"Thanks, I really appreciate you and your family doing this for me." I say.
"No problem, now come on!" He says before I follow him, my smile never goes away.
…
Hey guys! After heavy thought I have decided to have Lucas wear blue goggles similar to the ones Pikachu wears from Super Smash Brothers. It's a small nod to the style and I hope you like the inclusion! The pose that Lucas makes was inspired by a drawing from Orlando Fox 19.
