LOL!
And chapter 10 for your in/convenience:
I opened my eyes.
Through sleep-drugged, fuzzy vision, I could make out I was back in my room at the Rebel Base. The flat-screen was there, Bobo's usual perch... I sighed. That Pokémon stint was all a bad dream... a very bad dream.
I sighed and sat up in bed to stretch. Still waking up, I could see Bobo just sitting there. But why was he flickering...
He was on fire!
"AAAAAAAAAAAARGH!"
My screams made Bobo scream and –
Oh god no, I was still in Sinnoh. I ducked to avoid the fireball and the flaming monkey dashed out of the room, expertly opening and closing the door.
My pulse took a few minutes to calm down. I was disappointed by my location, but I'd finally gotten to see a Fire-type Pokémon!
Taking a closer look at the 'flat-screen', it was actually a medical screen, showing my pulse, breath rate and other things. A nurse frantically opened the door to check on me. "Did something happen? Your pulse skyrocketed a moment ago and Lucas Nakamura's Monferno sprinted past." I could only assume she was talking my beret-wearing acquaintance.
"I startled the Pokémon, that's all." I reassured the nurse. She nodded her head, covered in hair a shade of pink to rival Five's, and left the room. I got up, pulled on my jacket, and left too, but ran into the Professor outside the door.
"Professor Rowan! Where –"
He explained "You're in the hospital section of the Pokémon Center, Rex. You healed Lucas' Garchomp, which is incredible enough on its own, but you've been unconscious for two days." I recoiled. Two days?
I must've said it out loud, because he crossed his arms. "Yes, that's what I said, and I've been paying for your accommodation since you and your comrades don't seem to have any of our currency. Dawn and Lucas have also filled Agent Six in on the goings-on."
I nodded in thanks and followed him back to the lab. Halfway there, he smiled secretively.
A bright sun, hanging in a clear sky, shone crisp rays of sunlight onto the field where I'd fought the Garchomp a couple of days before. Holiday and Six were already waiting there, with Dawn and Lucas standing side-by-side with a briefcase sitting between them. The expressions on their faces could only be described as ecstatic.
Holiday rushed over and pulled me into a hug. I hugged her back and went to stand with her and Six in front of the two other teenagers. The Professor, now with his assistants, bent to pick up the briefcase and laid it on a small tree stump beside him.
Professor Rowan started speaking. "Rex. My assistants and I have spoken to Doctor Holiday and Agent Six while you were in the hospital and deciding that, with your current predicament, the best way to survive out here would be if you –"
Dawn uttered a high-pitched squeak. Lucas gripped her hand and his eyes shot daggers at her, but they were sparkling with excitement, too. Holiday rolled her eyes.
"...As I was saying," the Professor continued, if you want to survive out here... you will need a Pokémon."
My jaw dropped. I ran the phrase through my head again, and did a quick airpunch to celebrate the truth behind the words. We were going to get our own Pokémon!
The professor opened the briefcase and handed two Pokéballs each to Dawn and Lucas, holding two himself. I almost missed his next words in my excitement. "My assistants and I could not find any of the usual starters – Turtwig, Piplup, and Chimchar – in the wild, so we had to choose those that we thought fit you instead."
"Don't you have the starters' 'evolutions'?" Six cut in.
Professor Rowan nodded. "That is entirely true. However, if we were to breed them, the resulting Pokémon would need to be hand-trained and not know any of the basic skills the mother would have taught them in the wild. Another, more crucial thing, is that these Stage 2 evolutions have been trained for high statistics, and the baby Pokémon would have much higher statistics than are normally found, anyway." I was barely listening now. "C'mon, c'mon, hurry up!" I muttered.
"Dawn thought it would be a 'brilliant joke' if she chose one for Doctor Holiday" – a nod in her direction – "but she covered it up by saying you'd need some sort of transportation anyway."
Stepping back, the Professor nodded to Dawn and Lucas, and they threw the Pokéballs into the air. The six bolts of plasmid light caused me to blink – that blink was enough time for the Pokémon to materialize.
I'd already spoken to Holiday about keeping my awkward nightmares a secret – and it was a good thing I did.
Standing in front of me was a somewhat humanoid red bug with oversized pincers, an extremely thin 'waist' and legs that ended in conical feet. Three spines extended up and back from its head. The other one was... very ugly. It was like a humanoid chicken thing with flame patterns across its belly and a tubular mouth that blew smoke with every breath. Its arms were covered in spiky frills and its tail had a flame on the end. Is this a joke? I thought. These things match me?
In front of Holiday was a brilliant joke. The blue loch ness monster lay on the ground, its shell covered in spikes. It curved its neck around to meet Holiday with grey-brown eyes. Holiday could only stare at the wave-like spirals that sat on the sides of its head, perfectly matching her bun. She leaned around the Pokémon and shot Dawn a look. Dawn grinned and pointed to the other one, which was a small cat. Its tail split into two at the end, and tufts of its mauve fur stuck out of its ears, which were huge. They were lined with a dark turquoise fur the same colour as its eyes – the pupils were white. A red gemstone sat on its forehead. It looked up at Holiday and purred.
Six was staring at his choices of Pokémon. There was a beautiful black bird, whose stomach was white and its face was red, its tail splitting off in two directions, like a swallow. Its eyes were sharp and it was practically having a staring contest with him. The other one was avoiding his gaze entirely. It was staring off to the side, its Spartan-like head blade curving down to its neck. Its arms and torso were green, and its white legs got wider – like a cone – until they reached the ground. Its ears were pointed. Red eyes focussed on nothing and everything.
The Professor gestured broadly to the Pokémon. "Rex. In front of you, you have the option between Scizor" – point to the bug – "and Magmar." Point to ugly. "Doctor Holiday, you have Lapras" – he glanced at Dawn – "and Espeon. Agent Six, you have the choices between Swellow and Gallade. Just stand there and pick one."
I glanced at the Magmar, which pouted, and then at the Scizor. I could've sworn its eyes lit up. "So, big bug dude. What can you do?"
-I, the big red bug, can pretend I have three heads using my claws, bash stuff up with them, cut stuff up, kick stuff around, fly, and use moves like Flash Cannon, firing them from my claws.-
Professor Rowan hurriedly added "They can all use telepathy because Espeon and Gallade are in the area – they are Psychic type, and any Pokémon near one may use telepathy with their –"
I didn't care. That bug was my Smack Hands, BFS, Punk Busters, Boogie Pack and Slam Cannon all rolled into one. I jabbed a finger at the Scizor. "Can I have that one?" I interrupted him. The Magmar actually looked relieved.
He cleared his throat. "Yes Rex, you may choose one. Take the Scizor." I reached out to knucklebump its claw. Its eyes smiled.
Holiday was actually faced with some indecision. She kept glancing from the Lapras to the Espeon. She finally reached out to touch the Lapras on the neck. It smiled, and so too the Espeon seemed to smile, like it was happy that she chose, but didn't mind that it wasn't chosen.
Six looked between his choices. He studied the bird, but glanced away, like he saw nothing other than the fact that it was a bird. His studies of the Gallade were a little more sceptical – but you wouldn't be able to tell if you didn't know him. I could tell that he was studying the tiny knobs on its elbows.
-Take out your swords.-
Six glanced at the Gallade's face. It was obvious that it had spoken... thought. He warily slid out the katanas and waited.
The Gallade took the three steps necessary to reach Six, and touched the blades, even though its head just cleared Six's chest. It stepped back and cocked its head to the side.
-Think fast.-
There was a shriek of metal on bone, and in the space of a second the Gallade had leapt up above Six's head, and was striking down onto the sword which had leapt up to defend. What was most incredible were its elbows – the knobs had extended into full blades! They were making direct eye contact - must have stayed like that, Gallade hovering, Six defending, for about three seconds – but it felt like three hours. Suddenly, the Gallade nodded and dropped to the ground. Its elbows magically shrank again, leaving only a memory of the event.
-Congratulations, trainer.-
It held out a hand and Six shook it, very, very carefully. The only word for that was... unbelievable.
Professor Rowan, as stunned as all of us, gave us some time to familiarize ourselves with our Pokémon, and he, Dawn and Lucas retreated to the lab.
"Scizor," I enunciated. "Is that your –"
"No." I recoiled. It had spoken out loud! It tapped my shoulder with a clawed hand. "It's not my name, man. Slizer to you - we can speak normally. What your friends are hearing now is simply a repeated use of the word 'Scizor' coming from my mouth. They will hear you talking plain Uno – or, as I heard Doctor Holiday over there saying, 'English'. It's a thing we Pokémon have. Very useful." I nodded. "So, your name is?"
"I'm Rex." Quickly telling him about my builds, Slizer grinned. "That explains it. Mag didn't want to be your Pokémon anyway – she was quite relieved." She? It looked like a... she-male. Slizer laughed. "That's the best joke I've ever heard!"
I hadn't spoken yet.
He looped an arm around my shoulder. "See the Gallade over there with Six? He's called Tangent. Quite matches your numerical friend, neh? He's a Psychic Type. Like Professor Rowan tried to explain before you picked me just now, if a Psychic Pokémon is around, our thoughts get broadcast between trainer and Pokémon. We don't even need to talk aloud."
Really? I thought.
It's true, Slizer 'broadcast'. My eyes widened. That confirmed it - telepathy did exist!
I glanced at Mag. "You sure you don't want to be my Pokémon?"
It nodded frantically and kind of slurred "I wanna be Doooooren's Pokémon." It took me a moment to figure out it meant Dawn. I nodded and let it leave - half-scuttle, half-shuffle back to its trainer.
"I find it easier to talk with you like this than telepathy," Slizer stated. "It's more natural." I agreed out loud. I looked at Holiday, who was exchanging words with the Lapras while the Espeon sat watching, its tail flicking lightly, looking content. Six was stuck in another staring contest with the Swellow. Tangent was watching indifferently on the side. Suddenly, Lucas dashed out and threw a Pokéball at the bird, which got sucked up in an instant. My mentor turned to face him, brows furrowed. Lucas held up his hands. "Uh... u-uh... That Swellow is really aggressive, and if you'd have broken eye contact with it, it would've run you through with a Drill Peck attack... uh... eh... Sorry..." He sprinted back inside. Six just looked confused and a little relieved. He suddenly turned to Tangent, who was no doubt using some kind of private telepathy with him. Six nodded and began walking back to me and Holiday.
The Lapras turned its calculating gaze on me. So did the Espeon, and I wondered why it was still there – and like it'd heard my thoughts (which it probably did) it silently got up and padded back to the building behind us, nudging its head against Holiday's leg as it passed her. Just like a normal cat. I stared back into the Lapras' eyes, and it actually pulled the corners of its mouth into a smile. Tangent nodded at me.
Holiday patted her Pokémon's neck. "She says her name's Lazuli. Like the stone." I introduced Slizer and almost on cue Professor Rowan sauntered over, minus his assistants. He was holding two Great Balls and an Ultra Ball.
"These are your Pokémon's capsules. They will lock onto the DNA of your Pokémon when thrown in their direction. Keep them –" The ground suddenly shook. I generated the Boogie Pack, but was instantly broken by... something. The tremors kept on as Professor Rowan ran back to the lab, Holiday and Six crouched on the ground. I tried to focus on something, but everything was out of focus. I felt trippy... Lighter... I was floating?
We were all roughly a metre off the ground, kept up by nothing except a pale blue haze surrounding our bodies. My eyes were drawn to the thickest haze around Tangent, and he seemed to be the one keeping us up.
I looked around at the landscape. Things were shaking. Everything seemed to get infinitesimally greyer and then more colourful with each second, as far as I could tell through the haze. Suddenly everything stopped and we were lowered to the ground. Holiday threw up and Six immediately put a hand on her shoulder, looking slightly worried. I couldn't blame her – I felt like hurling too.
Dawn and Lucas rushed out. Professor Rowan was not with them. They each frantically grabbed our wrists and started dragging us inside. Lazuli skirted around what previously was her new trainer's stomach contents to join Slizer and Tangent and follow us people inside.
Once we were seated (or slumped against the Lapras with an Alka-Seltzer) Lucas explained the quake.
"Dawn has obtained a special mechanism of sorts from an old acquaintance. It accurately measures the stability of Space, Time and Reality by picking up certain wavelengths from the four dimensions of Arceus, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina. We thought Dialga's Time wavelenths have been changing in the few days before your arrival until now, but they suddenly spiked and dropped. This would have caused certain side effects, like the minor 'earthquake'... and maybe..." he paused. "Maybe the land went grey a little."
That was it. Someone needed to explain why I was getting prophetic dreams. I could tell Six felt something by the way he suddenly stopped all natural twitching and was as still as a statue.
Holiday took another sip of her fizzing drink and swirled the cup around thoughtfully, as if searching for an answer in its transparent depths.
Dawn breathed in heavily through her nose. "I said before to you and you" – point to Holiday and Six – " that I think you were brought here for a reason. By Dialga, Palkia, Giratina – or all three. This seems to confirm it. You'll have to go to Mount Coronet and figure out why this is happening. I'm also afraid to say that Rex's jetpack won't be any use – the blizzard winds of over two hundred kilometres per hour are just going to completely obliterate you. People will react if they see the builds. Tangent can't teleport – you're going to have to make the journey on foot, just like any other trainer." I just. No. Way.
"On foot?" I cried.
Lucas nodded. "I'm afraid so, guys." He shrugged. "Stick to the Town Maps and you'll be fine."
Six crossed his arms. "I don't trust GPS."
Dawn crossed hers. "These systems have been perfected over twenty years and the maps are always perfectly up to date."
I stood up with Slizer. "Then let's go!" I exclaimed.
Holiday drained the last of her fizzy Alka-Seltzer and frowned.
-Surely it can't be that easy...- I heard Tangent think.
Slizer bro-fisted the Psychic's shoulder. "Heck no bud, it'll be fine! Right, Rex?"
I nodded. "Yeah, It'll definitely be fine!"
Boy, was I wrong.
I can't believe that I, being a total literary geek and lover of Shakespeare, never made that connection...
aen, i'm Kaleidocat on ao3! im in a personal branding crisis rn haha
Nov 27, 2021 0:16:13 GMT -5
aen, i'm Kaleidocat on ao3! im in a personal branding crisis rn haha
Nov 27, 2021 0:16:13 GMT -5
And I did eventually finish my thesis, if anyone was wondering
Jan 11, 2022 6:43:10 GMT -5
And I did eventually finish my thesis, if anyone was wondering
Jan 11, 2022 6:43:10 GMT -5