Outsiders (ZnT/Pokémon Reverse Summon)
Season 1, Episode 8, Chapter 1
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Louise woke up to a steady beeping sound. Light shone through the window blinds, thankfully avoiding her eyes and preventing her from being blinded. With a yawn, she sat up and stretched, feeling her joints pop and a wave of relief wash over her.
"Aaah…" she sighed in relief and smacked her lips. Her eyes still droopy, Louise stepped off her couch and walked to the restroom, scratching her back as she went and only stopping to grab her bag.
"Morning, Louise," Derflinger called out from the corner of the room. Louise halfheartedly grunted in response as she closed the restroom behind her. Soon after, the muffled sound of running water could be heard emanating from the restroom, along with the sound of classical music.
"Hmm, nice taste," he noted as Saito's door creaked open. The boy stepped out while rubbing his eyes, bandages still wrapped around his arms.
"Morning, Derf," Saito greeted through a yawn.
"Morning, Saito." Derflinger nodded. "Surprised you're up so early without Pinky kicking you awake."
"Blame Louise. New habits die hard apparently." Saito shrugged then yawned. Behind him, still perched on the bedside table, Derflinger could see the steel-grey and red egg inside its container along with the other Pokémon resting either on the bed or, in Maindo's case, on a nearby chair. Groggy, Saito shuffled to his bag and hefted it to his shoulder before suddenly dropping it, wincing at the sudden pain.
"What was that?!" Louise shouted through the door, the water halting immediately.
"Nothing!" Saito insisted as he rubbed his sore shoulder.
"That did not sound like nothing!" Louise replied as the music shut off, followed by wet footsteps splashing against the tile floor. Saito groaned as a wet Louise, hastily wearing her red and pink spotted pajamas, stomped out of the restroom over to him.
"Louise…" Saito whined as Louise moved closer, stopping only a few feet away.
"Sit," she ordered, accompanied with a commanding stare and finger pointed down. With a sigh, Saito complied and allowed the rosette to inspect him. Gingerly, she touched his shoulder, only to sharply pull back when Saito hissed as sharp pain shot through his body.
"You're hurt," she noted, a regretful tone to her voice while Saito merely shook his head.
"It's just a bruise. I'm fine, really," he insisted, faintly smiling. "There's no need to make a big deal out of it."
"Yes, there is," Louise shot back before turning to the bed, where her Pokémon still slept. "Espirit, wake up please."
At once, Espirit's eyes shot open as she sat upright. She blinked a few times, rubbing her eyes and yawning, then stared expectantly at Louise and Saito.
'Yes, Louise?' Espirit asked, causing Louise to faintly smile. She still couldn't get over how nice it was to finally understand her Pokémon, even if the first time it happened was admittedly startling.
"Please use Heal Pulse on Saito's shoulder."
'Alright.' Espirit hopped off the couch and walked over to the annoyed boy, who turned his head to glare at the rosette. Rather than get annoyed, she merely rolled her eyes.
"Oh, quit being such a baby," she said as a warm light filled the room. Saito sighed in relief as the Heal Pulse worked its magic.
"I'm not being a baby," Saito muttered, but Louise didn't respond. Instead, she merely continued to stare at the bruises covering Saito's body, shame and regret creeping into her.
"Louise?"
"What?" Louise shot back at the mention of her name. Saito and Espirit were now staring at her in slight concern, while an embarrassed blush crossed the noble's face. After a moment, an understanding look crossed Saito's face.
"Louise, what happened at the Daycare wasn't your fault."
"I know that!" Louise insisted while Saito shook his head.
"Let me clarify: what happened to me and Elizabeth was not your fault." Louise moved to retort, but the words caught in her throat and she looked down. Seeing this, Saito sighed and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her.
"Louise, you know you can talk to me, right?" Saito asked, his voice soft and comforting. After a moment of contemplation, Louise sighed and sat down next to the boy.
"It's just…" Louise paused and swallowed a lump in her throat. "We were only there because of me. Don't get me wrong, I am proud of what we did, stopping Team Flare in their tracks. But…"
Louise sighed. "You got hurt, Elizabeth even worse. Both of you were only there because I wanted to be there."
"To be fair, Elizabeth was trying to find you purposefully," Saito pointed out, trying to calm his friend's nerves.
"That's not the point!" Louise suddenly shouted, sending Saito aback. "You got hurt because of me! If we weren't there, then we wouldn't be in here, waiting in a hospital room for a doctor to give us the all clear! Elizabeth would have simply been beaten in a Pokémon Battle, not by a psychotic Gallade and sent to the hospital had I chosen to continue down Riviere Walk! It's my fault you-!"
"Louise," Saito cut into Louise's ranting. "Before you start blaming yourself, let me ask you this. Were you the one who beat up Elizabeth?"
The girl looked confused. "No, of course not."
"Were you the one who took me hostage?"
"No."
"Were you the one who tried to steal the eggs?"
"No!" She was started to grow irritated, and it showed. "What is the point of-?"
"The point is, Louise," Saito cut in again, this time much more insistently, "you did none those things. Were we there because you wanted to? Yes, but you had no idea something bad was going to happen when you made that decision. Even when the Absol was spotted, there was no reason to believe the disaster was going to be a terrorist cell attacking the place.
"Besides, you're forgetting that we chose to stay with you, despite knowing there was a possibility of something bad happening," Saito noted. "Both of us had hours to simply walk away, whether it was due to actual belief or otherwise, but we didn't. Deep down, we both knew the risks of staying, but we stayed anyway. So please, stop taking responsibility for other's actions. You can only control you, not what other people do." Saito smiled as he finished speaking, and after a moment, Louise did the same.
"Thank you, Saito," Louise said, and Saito nodded.
"No problem, Louise." The two teenagers smiled at each other in silence, each comfortable in not saying anything.
"Oh, just kiss already!" Derflinger suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence and directing everyone's attention to him. "What? Everyone's thinking it."
The others all stared at the Honedge in silence while Saito and Louise started to turn a shade of red. Saito merely looked embarrassed, but judging by the twitch in Louise's eye, she was looking for something to throw at him.
"Ah, come on girl, you need to loosen up a little! You know the best way to do that? Having a nice—" Derflinger was cut off when Louise finally decided on an object and threw a couch cushion at him. It impacted with a muffled 'thump' and a low growl echoed from the now boiling rosette.
'Derf, now might be a good time to excuse yourself,' Espirit dryly remarked, causing Derflinger to chuckle as he peeled the cushion off his face.
"No respect for your elders nowadays." Derflinger gave an over-dramatic sigh and slowly floated away. "Fine, fine. I'm going grab to some grub. I wonder if they still serve hardtack or that awful salted jerky…"
Louise and Saito stared at the departing form of Derflinger for several moments as he used his sash to open the door and gently close it behind him. The two continued to stare at the door, before a faint chuckle escaped Saito's lips.
"You know, sometimes I forget he's six-thousand years old," he noted while Louise merely rolled her eyes.
"A filthy minded six-thousand year old sword." She then stood back up and walked back to the restroom. "I'm going to finish my shower now. Make sure you replace those bandages after yours."
"Yes, mom," Saito joked with a smile, "just as you make sure not to use up all the hot water."
"That only happened one time!"
It was during Saito's shower that Derflinger finally returned with the food he promised to find, grumbling about finding something worse than hardtack. The smell of the food was, however, enough to rouse Aile from her slumber, and the others soon followed lest she be allowed to gorge herself on everyone's offerings.
"How can you guys stand this stuff?" Derflinger asked as he gave the small pellets a suspicious look, rolling one of them around on his sash.
Tanuki shrugged. "Eh, it's not that bad. Sure, berries are better, but you get used to it."
"They have a nice texture to them, in my opinion," Aile pointed out. "Plus, its free food that I don't have to go out and find, so I ain't complaining."
'Of course the one thing on your mind is easy food,' Maindo dryly said as he nibbled on a pellet.
"And your point is?" Aile asked, to which Maindo merely grumbled. The others faintly chuckled at the Ralt's antics before Espirit walked back to their room's table, the egg hovering beside her.
'So, first things first. The egg is still fine-'
'Haven't you been checking on that thing practically every hour since we got it?' Maindo asked. Espirit glared at him, to which he merely shrugged. 'Just saying, it's not going to break if you stop looking at it for a few hours and you're just running yourself ragged.' A retort bubbled up in Espirit's mind, but she stopped herself, knowing that parents were a sore subject for the Ralts. Biting her tongue, she continued.
'Anyway, the egg is fine and so far, I can't determine any developmental problems. The baby still can't grasp the world beyond its egg, and it is nowhere close to hatching. If I had to guess, its only a few days old.'
"Any idea what it is?" Ronin asked as he dampened his scalchop to wipe away some crumbs from the corner of his mouth.
Espirit shook her head. 'No, unfortunately. The sex won't be determined until later on, anyway, and even if I could, I'm not strong enough. If either me or Maindo were Gardevoirs, maybe, but until then, that isn't happening. We won't find out until it hatches.'
"Can't you guys, like, simply combine your minds together or something?" Brennaraki asked, her mouth full of pellets that made her cheek puff out.
'It doesn't work like that,' Maindo clarified. 'Were I to even try, which I won't because frankly I don't really care to look into it, the power wouldn't be enough to figure out anything. It would be turning a pitch-black room into a slightly lighter shade of black, making it pointless to try.'
"Well, aren't you a buzzkill," Derflinger snorted as he flicked the food pellet off to the side. "Still, can't help but wonder what it'll be. Pokémon Eggs were always fascinating to me, but never really quite got the hang of telling what would hatch out of one."
"Yeah, I remember when I first hatched." Brennaraki sighed contently. "At first, it was terrifying, but then I grew excited about it. A whole new world for me to see, to expand my horizons. I was the first one out of my entire batch, although I was the smallest one out of all of them."
'Aren't runts usually the last out?' Maindo asked, no hint of malice in his voice but merely curiosity.
"Try telling me that." Brennaraki smiled. Then, the shower shut off and they could hear the sound of Saito stepping out.
"Louise?" he called out from behind the door. "Where's the towels?"
"They're on the shelf above the toilet!" Louise shouted back over the sounds of the tv.
"Thank you." More sounds could be heard as Saito continued to ready himself. A few minutes later, he stepped out of the restroom, fresh bandages wrapped around his arm and his hair still slightly wet. He walked over to Louise and sat down on a chair next to hers. "What cha' watching?"
"Documentary on the moon landing," Louise revealed as the screen showed footage of a rocket taking off. "It's been fascinating. My people only recently discovered the planets, while here you've actually landed on them."
"Yeah, the moon landings are pretty cool," Saito admitted. By now, all of the Pokémon were watching the screen in silent interest. The peace lasted for several minutes, until a knock at the door brought all of their attention.
"Saito," a feminine voice sounded from behind the door. Espirit's eyes glowed and the door handle turned, opening the door and allowing a dark-skinned doctor to reveal herself.
"Doctor," Saito greeted, and the woman smiled back.
"If you will come with me, please, and we can do the final checkup." She moved the side of the door and extended her arm outward in invitation. Nodding and returning his Pokémon, Saito stood up and walked out, leaving Louise behind.
"You going to go after him?" Derflinger asked with a raised eyelid, but Louise shook her head.
"As much as I want to, I can't. Last thing they need is me getting in the way." She then turned off the tv and pulled out her Pokédex, activating the map function. "Besides, I have to plan out the rest of the trip to Cyllage."
"I imagine without distractions this time?" Louise didn't deign to acknowledge Derflinger with a response as she began mapping out the route in question. More specifically, she was focused on the what lay at the end of Riviere Walk, Connecting Cave.
The guide said it was hallowed out over the centuries by Rock and Ground-types, and now was a common thoroughfare for traveling trainers. The cave itself was filled with a wide array of Pokémon that filled the miles of underground passageways, which made it mildly dangerous to traverse, albeit no more dangerous than most forests. It was, however, the fastest route to Cyllage, which is why she and Saito decided on it in the first place. Admittedly, she was nervous, as she'd never been cave-diving before. The more primitive part of her brain told her that scary things lurked in the dark, things that she didn't want to have to come across under any circumstances.
That fear was quickly squashed by the rest of her. She reminded herself that Louise Francoise le Blanc de la Valliere did not back down from a challenge, and she wasn't about to let this cave defeat her. Expanding the map of Connecting Cave, she saw that it housed multiple routes to various different cities and towns along Kalos' western coastline, Cyllage and Ambrette chief among them.
"Oh, no…" Louise groaned, causing Derflinger to look over her shoulder.
"What is it?" he asked, and Louise pointed to the Cyllage entrance on the map.
"There's been a small cave in at the Cyllage City entrance inside Connecting Cave. It says that it's going to take weeks to clear it," she revealed with an angry expression.
"Well that sucks," Derflinger noted then focused on the map. "Can't you take another entrance?"
"That's what I'm trying to figure out," she replied. "From what I can tell, the closest entrance is on the Muraille Coast that leads to a mountain path. The path itself takes us to Ambrette Town, which means we'll have to go there first. The original plan was to get to Cyllage in about a week, but given what we know now…" Louise hummed and tapped her chin. "I would have to guess that it'll take two weeks to arrive in Cyllage, barring any unexpected events."
"Well, that's not too bad," Derflinger noted with a nod. Louise nodded back then closed her Pokédex, stood up, and returned her Pokémon.
"I'm going to the PokéMart, get us the supplies we need," Louise said as she walked out of the room, the egg cannister tucked underneath her arm. "Tell Saito where I am if he gets back before me."
"Will do!" Derflinger shouted back as Louise closed the door behind her, leaving him all alone. After a moment, he turned to the tv and turned it back on, still showing the documentary from before. "Fascinating."
"Alright, Mr. Hiraga. I can safely say that you are good to go," the doctor stated. "I would recommend taking it easy for the next few days, and avoid strenuous activity, like trying to take on criminals."
"Thank you, Doctor Josephine," Saito responded with a smile. "I'll be sure to avoid any criminals for a while."
"Please do." Doctor Josephine smiled before typing into her tablet. "Any plans for what you and your girlfriend are doing next?"
"Who?" Saito asked with a raised eyebrow and confused expression. After Doctor Josephine looked at him with a knowing expression, Saito's face flashed with realization. "Oh, Louise? No, we aren't like that. Just good friends traveling together."
"Really?" Doctor Josephine cocked her head. "I could have sworn…never mind. Regardless, what are you two doing next?"
"We're on our way to Cyllage City to do the gym challenge, actually." Saito revealed while feeling his Pokédex vibrate in his pocket. "Hold on a sec…ah, crap."
"Something wrong?"
"Nah, more of a mild inconvenience. We're going to have to take a longer route to Cyllage through Connecting Cave. Louise is off getting two weeks of supplies, rather than the week we were originally expecting."
"Ah, I see. That is certainly an annoyance." The doctor finished typing into her tablet and walked to the door. "You are free to go, Saito. Please see the receptionist on your way out."
Saito nodded and walked out of the room. His thoughts were wild, focusing on both what happened before as well as what was to come. Truth be told, he had been putting on a brave face for everyone's sake. The attack on the daycare shook him to his very core. Saito was under no delusion that he very well could have died the day before, that his Pokémon could have died, that Louise could have died. The thought of any of those things occurring terrified him. Yet, he wouldn't have changed anything. He was proud of stopping them, and he would do so again in a heartbeat.
That didn't mean that he was going to let something like that happen again. Ideas on new training regimes, both for him and his Pokémon, swirled in his head as his thoughts turned to the upcoming Gym Leader. From what he read, the Gym Leader of Cyllage was a young man named Grant Lino. Before he became Gym Leader, he was a rock climber, one that traversed the deepest caves and highest peaks of the Kalos region before finally settling down. His specialty, then and now, was in Rock-type Pokémon. What exactly they were, Saito couldn't tell. That didn't mean he couldn't plan accordingly. Off the bat, Saito knew he had an inherent advantage. Two of his Pokémon had type advantage against any of Grant's presumable Pokémon, but he wasn't going to rely on that. Louise, on the other hand, had the opposite situation. Two of her Pokémon were weak to Rock-types, which meant that she would either have to catch a Pokémon strong against Rock-types or teach her current Pokémon more appropriate moves. Which route she would take, he didn't know.
When Saito finally reached the main lobby, Louise and Derflinger already there, his Pokédex buzzed once more. Bringing it to his face, his smiled faintly as he read the name on the caller ID. Opening it, he brought it to his ear.
"Hi, Mom. Hi, Dad."
Louise watched as Saito conversed with his parents, choosing not to eavesdrop. Faintly, snippets of what he was saying reached her ears, mostly on how he was doing fine and that he was happy, with a few mentions of her name now and then. The sight of his conversation brought a smile to her face
At the same time, it brought of pang of sadness through her, reminding the rosette of her situation. Unlike her companion, she could not talk to her family like he could. She was trapped in another world, and although the experience was proving to be rewarding and she had met friends she wouldn't give up for the world, she was still very far from home, cut off from her family.
'Do they even know that I'm gone?' Louise wondered and pursed her lips. It wouldn't surprise her if the Academy had suppressed any knowledge of what she started calling a Reverse Summoning. After all, losing a student in such a manner would have been a scandal of near biblical proportions, with the church likely getting involved and investigating matters on its own, not to mention the damage to the academy's reputation. But, Louise doubted that the Tristainian Academy of Magic could have suppressed her disappearance from her family for very long, especially not after nearly two months. The real question was, did they care she was gone?
"Hey, you're moping again," Derflinger cut into her thoughts, causing Louise to jump slightly in surprise. The Honedge was looking at her closely, studying her features before turning to face Saito then back at her. "Feelin' homesick?"
"…yeah," Louise quietly admitted and Derflinger nodded in reply.
"Sometimes, so do I. But, after six-thousand years, one learns to adapt."
"I highly doubt I'll live to be six-thousand."
"Hah, I hope not. You know how hard it is to keep this figure at my age?" Derflinger flex his sash to emphasize his body, causing a light chuckle to escape Louise's lips. "Ah ha! I got you to laugh!"
"No, no you didn't!" Louise retorted, quickly slapping a hand over her mouth to cover her smile. "I did no such thing! It was just a quick release of air."
"It counts!" Derflinger laughed, causing Louise to smile and shake her head. The Honedge then calmed himself and looked at her again. "Trust me, Louise. You'll get home soon, and when you do, your family will be ecstatic to see their little girl again, proud of who she's become."
"You think so?" Louise asked, and Derflinger nodded.
"I know so." The two then turned to face Saito as he walked over to them, placing his Pokédex in his pocket.
"Sorry about that, my parents were checking in on me." Saito shrugged before adopting a more serious expression. "They also gave me an update on Elizabeth."
"What they say?" Louise asked, her voice turning serious.
"Well, her parents got in touch with mine to tell them to thank me for helping their daughter," Saito revealed. "They also told my parents that Elizabeth is recovering, but isn't expected to be released for a few weeks. But, they did insist that she was fine."
"Oh, thank the Founder." Louise breathed a sigh of relief. "Do you think we should go see her in the hospital?"
"That was another thing, actually. Although they are grateful for us saving her life, and, uh, speaking of which, they are forwarding you a reward for donating your blood—"
"So that's where all that money came from!"
"—which you've already seen and I presumably spent some of on the supplies we need. In any case, they aren't letting anyone see her at the moment. They're saying it's a security precaution. Frankly, I can see why. Elizabeth is, after all, the daughter of the richest family in Kalos. She's a prime target for kidnapping and ransom, especially in her current condition."
"Something tells me that Flare didn't exactly know who she was before, otherwise I doubt they would have allowed that Gallade to go as far as he did," Louise noted with a grimace. Ransoming of nobility was something that occurred sometimes in Tristain, although for higher ranking families like hers, the attempts usually ended with the royal guards rescuing the hostage and killing the kidnappers.
"I thought so, too. While it sucks, I can't help but agree with their decision. In any case, going back to Lumiose would be a waste of time, so we're better off continuing on to Ambrette Town."
"Then straight to Cyllage," Louise said after a few moments. Saito nodded back, and together they walked out of the hospital and into the bright light of day. They had a long road ahead of them, a road that now seemed a touch harder than just a few days before, but one that remained unchanged.
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Hello, everyone! Here is the latest chapter of Outsiders. Not much happened here, but we did get to see some neat character interactions between the characters, feel the repercussions of what happened before, and the start of there journey to Connecting Cave. What lays in wait will be revealed in due time.
Now, onto the Q&A:
Zander2212: The egg was never planned to come back. I myself based it off of a generic Ice-type Egg concept/fan art, so it is an Ice-type. What it is we don't know.
Drewd00d: Once again, thank you for your review. I enjoy seeing these longer ones.
Team Flare winning something was something that we decided on. It was done to show that Team Flare is a legitimate threat, not something that our heroes can easily bowl through. As for Agent Smith, you'll have to wait and see what his plans for our heroes are.
Louise's pride is a very important character trait of hers. Much of what she does is motivated by it, for good or ill. As with many things, it can lead to both good and bad things. Too much pride is indeed a sin, while you can be proud and use it to do good.
Now for the blood transfusion, magic does not work like that. Elizabeth will not be getting magic from the transfusion. Funnily enough, we had discussed something similar, but for a separate character that has yet to be introduced. Either way, only Louise will have magical powers. We feel that giving other characters powers cheapens Louise's powers. For example, we almost gave Saito Aura, which we obviously decided to drop like a hot brick once we realized how stupid and unneeded it was.
As for the brick, you'll have to wait and see! Trust me, you guys will like it.
Well, that's it for this chapter! I hope you guys enjoy it!
