lol, sorry for the wait you all! Not that it was that long. But here's Chapter Four!
Chapter Four
Story Time with an Elder
“Raichu,” April and I growled. And there he was, standing at the entrance to the grove. “Don’t you ever let up? April all ready said that she doesn’t like you. And she never will!” I was yelling at this point. Power was slowly accumulating inside of me, but I didn’t need it cackling right now, so I suppressed it.
“Go away Raichu. Don’t make me call on the elder, because I will do it.” April had her paws clenched, and she was about as angry as me.
“The elder? He’s a wuss. A coward. He’ll never do anything to me, nobody can beat me!” As Raichu started to gather electricity in his own cheeks, a small voice interrupted him. The voice itself didn’t seem to originate from anywhere.
“Call me a coward again….I…DARE…you.” The voice seemed young, but it also had wisdom behind it.
“About time you spoke up. Ya, I’ll say it! Coward! You still haven’t shown yourself!”
“You want me to show myself? Very well, approach the water’s edge, if you think your man enough,” the voice sneered. This time the sound was centered above the lake.
“Man enough? I’ll show you man enough!” Raichu approached the pond, and stood on the shore. The pond itself was no more than a foot deep, and it was clear and calm. But then the water began to bubble. Raichu looked on and awaited the elder. April then took a step closer to me, and motioned for me to back up to the tree line.
“You may want to cover your eyes and ears,” she whispered softly to me.
“What? Why?”
“Just trust me. I guess you can watch if you want, but don’t say anything!”
I was now anxiously waiting for what was going to happen. Raichu was still staring at the water when suddenly, a huge, fifteen-foot tall, jet black monster sprang from the shallow pond! It had menacing red eyes, and huge wings with spiky tips that matched its eye color. And it made the most awful screech that seemed to pierce your very soul. I would have screamed in terror, but April had clamped her paw on my mouth. Raichu was paralyzed by fear. He stared at it, completely numb for nearly ten seconds. Then he took a step back, turned around, and ran out of the grove screaming. I would have made a similar reaction, but April’s nonchalance about the whole thing seemed to reassure me.
The screeching stopped as Raichu left, and the monster began to shrink. It then turned golden, and slowly assumed a spherical shape. When the sphere was about a foot tall, it stopped shrinking. It grew two dolphin gray tails with small rubies in them and, as if it were some sort of Sandshrew, it uncurled itself. Its body was mostly a gray-blue tone. On its head was a golden part that looked much like hair. It wore a larger red ruby on its forehead, over the gold piece. Its eyes were completely shut.
“And you call me the coward,” the small creature said in a bitter tone. Then he saw us and smiled. “April! Glad to see you again! I hope I didn’t scare you!”
“Nah, I knew what you were doing. You pulled the same thing on me once! But, uh, I think you may have given my friend here a heart attack, tee hee!” April then slowly let me go. My heart was racing and my eyes were still wide.
“What…in Arceus’s name…WAS THAT?” I yelled, perhaps a tad too loudly.
“That, friend, was my representation of the Renegade Pokemon, Giratina. It’s pretty useful for scaring unwanted visitors,” the being replied.
“It scared me all right. That was awful! I thought I would have died just from how scared I was! Puts a whole new spin on ‘being scared to death’…But anyways, you’re the elder aren’t you?” I had to put that whole event behind me. I just hoped it wouldn’t haunt my nightmares.
“Oh! Yes, I completely forgot to introduce you! Sparky, this is Uxie, elder of Salvage Spring, and also the spirit of wisdom.” April interjected.
“Much obliged, Shane,” Uxie said with a small bow and a smirk.
“But wait, how did you know my name? April called me Sparky like all ways, and I didn’t tell you…”
“Haha, I’m Uxie, being of wisdom! I know everything! It’s my job to.”
“Which is why we need to talk to you about something. I don’t know if you’d know the answer or not, but I thought it’d be worth a shot.” April started to explain. “So take a look at Sparky here. He looks like a totally normal Pachirisu right? He’s got the tail, the buck teeth, the electric pouches, the whole nine yards, right? Well get this, he’s a human! How is this even possible, Uxie?”
“Hmm. I knew that Shane had been a human. But I have no idea how he became a Pachirisu. It hurts to admit this, but the reason is outside my knowledge.”
“But I though you said you knew everything. How could you not know?” I wondered.
“I know what I said. But the knowledge is being kept from me. Someone of higher power isn’t letting me find the answer.”
“But who could that be?” I was getting impatient
“I know of one, but that isn’t important.”
“But has this sort of thing ever happened before? A human turning into a Pokemon?” April asked.
“Actually, there has. Twice, by my knowledge.”
“Really? How? What happened? Tell us!” I was elated at the fact that we might be getting somewhere.
“Well, it was quite a long time ago, before this town was even here. But I’ll tell you of the first event…” Uxie then began his tale.
The Elder Recounts the Day of the Meteor
“A long time ago, a disaster loomed on the horizon. This disaster had sparked smaller calamities around the globe, and caused many Pokemon to go feral, much like they have now. A shooting start was crashing to the planet. One day a Pokemon had woken up in the middle of the woods. It was disoriented, and rightly so, as he had been a human who turned into a Pokemon, like you. It soon met a partner Pokemon, and together they rescued a lost Caterpie. Until they could find out why the transformation had occurred, they formed a Rescue Team together. On their journey, they saved the lives of hundreds of Pokemon whose lives had been changed by the impending meteor.
“They sought many different Pokemon, thinking that they could find the answer to their puzzle. They found a Xatu, who stares unblinkingly into the sun in order to see all things. But he turned them away. He didn’t have the answers they sought. They talked to their own town elder, a kind Whiscash. But he didn’t know either. However, he told them of a Ninetales that had the power to curse people who touched her tails by turning them into Pokemon. This would also bring disaster to the world. But when they thought they had good standing in their village, a cruel Gengar had revealed to the whole town that the ex-human had not always been a Pokemon, as they had kept that a secret, and that that transformation would destroy the world. The two partners had to flee the town as fugitives. In the dead of night, they escaped and went on a journey to find this Ninetales.
“After many hours and long nights, they reached a place that knew no life, only harsh snow and ice. But in the middle of the frozen wasteland, they found a mountain. In this mountain was a hollow. They went inside in search of Ninetales. But instead, they were cornered by one of the best teams in the world that had been tracking them. And just when they thought it was over, Ninetales revealed herself. She said that the hero was not the human of the myth. That Pokemon was elsewhere. Regrettably, Ninetales did not know the reason of this one’s transformation. But at least now they could return to town. They disproved all the rumors, and revealed Gengar as being a fraud.
“The answer to the hero’s dilemma came to him in his recurring dreams. A Gardevoir that had appeared to him in those dreams told him that he was turned into a Pokemon to save the world from a coming disaster. She neglected to tell him what that was exactly. Xatu had provided that answer. He revealed that a star was falling to the planet. The smartest Pokemon in the region, an Alakazam, had told them that they had to go to Rayquaza, and ask him to destroy it. With the combined powers of Xatu, Alakazam, and another unknown Pokemon, they created a gem that sent the team to Sky Tower, Rayquaza’s home. After climbing the structure, and defeating the mighty beast in battle, he destroyed the meteor. With his quest complete, the hero began to fade. He was to return to his home land. But he didn’t want to. By using his sheer will power, he commanded to be brought back to his partner. The cosmos agreed, and he was taken to his friend. And together, they became the best Rescue Team known to Pokemon…”
“Wow, what a happy ending, tee hee!”
“It was quite a story, wasn’t it?” Uxie said, tired from his long tale.
After a few minutes to digest the information, I spoke up. “So, do you think that the world is in danger, and I’ve been sent here to save it? That’s a lot of responsibility!”
“Maybe, maybe not. The other story was a little different. The hero in that one wasn’t sent by divine power, and the whole thing was a big accident. But I’m much too tired after that tale, and I don’t want to bore you to death with another long speech.”
“It wasn’t boring. It was a good story. But if you don’t want to tell us the second one today, we’ll come back later,” April, stretching. “Besides, I have things I want to discuss with Sparky here.”
“Thank you and I appreciate your time. Feel free to visit again someday!” And with that, Uxie vanished. April motioned for me to start walking back with her.
“So, what did you think of the story, Sparky?”
“Well, it was both troubling and exciting. First, it could be that I was sent here like this for a specific purpose. And last night, I had this weird dream. I felt like someone was watching. It was strange. But one of the biggest things was, was that if I was sent here for a reason, then after I do what I’m supposed to do, I’ll get to go back! Simple as that.”
“Woah there, Sparky! Those are some big ‘If’s, and if you’re supposed to stop some big calamity or something, how on earth do you propose do that? You can barely knock out a Beedrill!”
“Well, you don’t have to be so negative about it. I was just saying…”
“I know. But we have to think rationally about this. And that’s not all I wanted to talk to you about. Remember how I said that I’ve always wanted to be in a Salvaging Team? Well, going alone isn’t very safe anymore, and I think that--what I mean is--do you think that--Oh bother, would you like to start a team together?” April finally managed to spit out.
“Oh! A Salvaging Team? Uh-” Just as I was about to answer, I heard a large commotion in some trees to my right. “What is that, April?”
“I dunno. Wanna check it out?” And so we walked over to where we heard the noise. It was some Mankey. It seemed like they were arguing over a small golden object. They were trying to steal it from each other, and then hide it from the others. They noticed us watching. They didn’t like that.
“Why are they mad at us?” I asked,
“I don’t think these are in control of themselves. I think they’re like the Beedrill!”
“Which means we’re gonna have to fight them, right?”
“Yup. So get ready! It’s two on three!” And with that, April shocked a Mankey. However unlike the Beedrill, it didn’t fall. The blast hurt, but now the Mankey was even angrier! It jumped down from the tree, along with the others. The angriest one charged at April, its fists glowing. April tried to jump out of the way, but the pig-monkey was too fast. Mankey’s Karate Chop hit April hard in the side. She went flying back a couple feet. But she got back on her feet in no time. “You’re gonna pay that!” She yelled.
As the other two Mankey joined the fight, I did as well. I charged electricity around me, and delivered a powerful Spark attack to the closet one. But like April’s attack, it didn’t knock it out. I noticed that with April fighting one Mankey already, I had to fend off two of them at once. As soon as I dodged one attack, I tried to unleash mine, but the other had already recovered and was in the battle again. April finally knocked her opponent out. Now the battle was evened out, two on two. But both April and I were tired, and only one of the remaining Mankey showed signs of injury. As I charged another Spark attack, and April readied hers, the two Mankey all of a sudden tackled April full-force at the same time. She moaned, and tried to get up, but then she lost consciousness.
What happened next was a bit of a blur. I remember that I got really angry. Power had built up inside of me, and then harsh blue lightning fired from my body, shocking both Mankey at once. They dropped the object they had been keeping, and ran off. The first Mankey woke up and did the same. After stowing the object in my bag, I walked over to April, but she wouldn’t awaken. Knowing exactly what to do, I picked her up over my shoulder, and started to run into town. I was so worried that I could barely feel her weight.
Thankfully it wasn’t too much farther into town square. Upon reaching the Audino there, I set April in front of her and laid some of April’s Poke on the counter.
“Oh my, what happened?” Audino asked.
“Some Mankey, just outside of town to the south. We beat them, but they knocked out April,” I explained. “Can you revive her?”
“Yes., just stand back.” When I was far enough away, Audino’s palms glowed pink. “All right, here we go! Heal Pulse!” A soft ray of pink light came from her paws and into April. When the light faded, April stirred.
“What, what happened? Sparky, did I let those pig monkeys beat me?” she said, as soon as she could sit up.
“Yes. But you’re okay now. Audino helped you.”
“Thanks, Audino!”
“Don’t thank me. Thank your friend here. He carried you all the way from the outskirts of town with you on his back.” Audino replied, waving it off.
“Really, Sparky? You did that for me?”
“It was nothing, really. Now come on, it’s getting late and we both need rest.” I said, helping April to her feet. The sky was red-orange now. It would be night soon. “Thanks again, Audino!” I called back.
“Anytime!” Audino waved goodbye as we walked back home. The trip was quiet for the most part. Every time I looked at April and our eyes met, she looked away with a tiny smile. It wasn’t normal for April to be shy. I wonder what’s gotten into her.
You don’t suppose…you don’t suppose she likes me? Like, in that way? Nah, that’s crazy talk. It isn’t like her. And what on earth am I doing thinking these thoughts again? I shook the ponderings away. When we arrived at April’s house, I stopped her as well we were about to walk inside.
“April? Right before we were attacked by the Mankey, you had asked me a question. You wanted to know if I would like to form a Salvaging Team with you. Well, I think that would be a wonderful idea!”
April’s face lit up with a big grin.
~~~~Meawhile, at the Elder Pond~~~~
Uxie was deep in thought as he floated above the water.
It’s strange that I really couldn’t help them. I was truthful for the most part. But I had all ready known that Shane was human. But April knew his secret, and so I did as well. But someone on this planet HAS to know the reason for his transformation. Hmm. I know who to ask then. It’s Him that knows. But I don’t, because His knowledge is shielded from my power. And I can’t touch the knowledge of a select few others, including Shane himself. The One's will must be doing it. And if that’s true, then there’s nothing I can do for the poor kid…
~~~~~~~~
So, how was that? Nice opening, a little dry with the elder (but come on, what town elder isnt a little dull at story time?), good battle scene, tiny bit more into the romance that'll be in the background for the most part, and mysterious ponderings of the elder. And mods, this IS all one chapter. the story has its own Sub heading is all. Just wanted to clear that up in case trouble brews...
Originally Posted by saphirapwns
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