Communication (PG-13)

[Pinecone Tortoise]

Kelly, even her name, bugged me. As I'm fairly sure you intended? So congratulations. I'm surprised, though, that Solonn evolved so soon. I had thought he'd continue as a Snorunt for the majority of the story. It did seem a little rushed, but that's just my opinion. Just how big is he? I'd always thought of Glalie as being half a human in height or something thereabouts. You know what? This fic needs fanart. To show the proportions and everything. Wouldn't mind seeing one of Solonn in Morgan's room. Or Sei and her mags. (Incidentally, I liked her little role in this chapter. "I didn't mean to read your mind". Suuuuure. She can just keep saying that. We all know she's too much of a busybody not to. ^^ She seems so much like a secretary.)

So that's it. A few of the colloquialisms annoy me, but that's personal preference.

Piney.

[Dark Latios]

Got done reading chap 5 yesterday. ^^

I loved this chapter! I thought the rare candy wasn't going to work on Solonn, but I'm so glad it did! The contests are much more interesting now that he's a Glalie. I wonder what his mom will think of him once he goes back. o.o

The thing with Kelly was.. Scary.. But very realistic I'd have to say.

Saw about two or three typos, but I think everyone else already pointed them out..

Anyways, very nice description in this chap. Way better than the others. My head was spinning just reading it.

Can't wait until chap 6! =D

~Dark Latios

[Brian Powell]

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again… wa! That’s Chinese for ‘wow!’

I loved the way you described Solonn’s evolution. For some reason, I found it… breathtaking. I’ve seen pokemon evolved in the anime, the games, and in other fanfics but yours, so far, is the best one I’ve seen yet.

And his feeling’s towards Kelly when she used Attract on him. You have got to love that ‘ga-ga’ part. lol

Despite MS Word’s error spotting, I didn’t see any. Although, I don’t know if cyrokinetic is a proper word or made up.

I’m now going to sum it up in two words. Loved it. *Winks*

Overall score: 5/5

[Sike Saner]

Wes: I knew that part would get a response. You know, I just had to have that happen. I had to have attract used, because I knew that that could yield some weirdness. The very idea of that move makes me laugh; it's just so ridiculous. Falling in love with your opponent... it's just ever so silly. Fwee...

xXSaberXx:

I've been listening to WAY too much J-pop recently, it reminded me of a sad little song by BoA.

You will give me the name of that song NOW! =D

It was effing hilariouA*SS when Solonn fell in love with La madam Kelly.

...That is her official name from now on. X3

kaizer63: You know, that Sei quote was actually not in the original, so there's a reason for you to be glad that I didn't present this story "as is". (One of many reasons... X_x; )

But, yeah. Silly Sei and her lying lies... XP Actually, it's not so much breaking her word as it is lapsing into a naughty little habit of hers in spite of herself. She really does strive to respect others' privacy.

*notices typo* o.o Yes. There were moths. Two of them. XD *sprays insecticide on typos*

SigCMugen: O_O

Fwee, new reviewer!!! *does new reviewer dance*

^^ Glad to see you approve thus far, and I hope the rest of the story will be to your liking, too.

~*Commander Blizzard*~: :O It's you! Awesome. ^^

*notices typo* Yes, that's the last time I rely exclusively on a spellchecker rather than proofread it myself. Fie on technology. *fixes*

I'm glad that you approve of the description of the pokémon. Looking on some of my past work, I feel that there are times when I could have done somewhat better in that department.

Klaus: ^^ I had the feeling that you'd appreciate that part. Thanks for the Maxie cookies... although I'm inclined not to entirely trust that Elm cupcake... X3 *takes it anyway*

Pinecone Tortoise: Kelly was named after a real-life Kelly who is even more obnoxious than the golduck version. So, yeah. That came across exactly as was intended. XP

The thing about Solonn is, he was captured at a rather older age than most snorunt are. The typical capture age is closer to the 7 - 10 age range, which is the range Solonn was in the first time he found himself up in that particular cavern. They usually get caught up there as lost or exploring children. There is a loose connection in this species between age and "levels". At the age when snorunt are usually caught, they still have quite a bit of elemental power to develop before evolution can become a possibility.

IIRC, the pokédex lists Glalie as typically being somwhere between 4' - 5', weighing between 500 - 600 lbs (I don't recall the exact statistics). Solonn is 6'10''; as to how much he would weigh, no clue. Maybe someone who, unlike me, does not suck at math could calculate that. X3

Fanart? Sure, but not from me. My art skills = poop. X3; Plus the only scanner I have access to is at my cousin's house, and I can rarely get over there.

Secretary Sei. XD I love it!

Dark Latios:

The thing with Kelly was.. Scary.. But very realistic I'd have to say.

XD Scary, indeed. Imagine if he'd never snapped out of it, even after the battle. o_0

I'm glad you're feeling the description in that chapter. ^^ Hmm, maybe I should ought to listen to Tool and Coheed and Cambria every time I write or revise a chapter. My brain seems to like that music. ^^

Brian Powell: The evolution scene remains one of my favorites in the entire series so far. Glad you like it, too. ^^

[Saffire Persian]

Awesome chapter, as always Sike.. too bad I'm too slow at reviewing, as much of what I think has already been said. I was disappointed last chapter when Solonn didn't evolve, as I was SURE you would do it, but now it happens! And I like the idea of him as a Glalie.

Sei is as amusing as ever, one line striking me in particular.

< – You didn’t mean to,> Sei finished. <The subconscious of a cryokinetic can sometimes manifest itself in a visible display, especially when his, her, or its abilities first awaken. And I did not mean to read your mind there,> Sei added.

My thoughts: Uh huh. She totally enjoys her mind reading abilities, I know it.

The Contest scenes were amazing, particularly the Attract episode with Kelly.. that giggling made me annoyed, as I imagined a very girlish giggle of a girl that thinks she's better then you. But seeing Solonn become Attracted to the gal was too dang amusing.

She digs you not, but it made one heck of a scene.. Now, just imagine Madeline...

*runs away*

Post the next chapter soon!

[Typhlogirl]

I'M SORRY SIKE!!! *hits self for being late, as usual*

Okay, lovely chapter. I truly found the part with the ice sculpting beautiful, and could imagine it in my mind. I must give you extra points for that battle, truly FANTASTIC!!! OMFG!!

Quotes!

Azvida had also tried to assure him that the process usually did not hurt, which was no real comfort, especially not with the presence of that nasty little “usually”.

Like the 'nasty little usually' line. Excellent.

Basically the entire evoulution scene should be quoted, and the battle too. But that would take up too much space. ^_^

Omg, the Attraction was awesome. I loved the humour you mixed in there, and I was yelling in my mind, "SNAP OUT OF SOLONN! OMFG SHE DOESN'T LOVE YOU!!" ^_^;;

I wonder what significance there is in Solonn being bigger than most Glalie? We'll have to wait and see! Cuz i'm sure curious..

All in all, a very worthwhile addition to this lovely fic. I bow to you Sike! *bows*

Awaiting Chapter Six!

-

[Brian Powell]

And yes, "cryokinetic" is, to the extent of my knowledge, an original word.

I only mentioned that because that word's not in my dictionary... which is quite old. ^^'

EDIT: The MS Word on my computer spotted it as a spelling error.

[Sike Saner]

Saffire Persian:

But seeing Solonn become Attracted to the gal was too dang amusing.

She digs you not, but it made one heck of a scene.. Now, just imagine Madeline...

*imagines*

._.

Wehhhhhhhhhh... X3;

Kelly just had to be giggly. She just had to. X3 Partly because it is just so very obnoxious, and partly because I just really like the word "giggle". x3

Typhlogirl:

Like the 'nasty little usually' line. Excellent.

Fwee, I was hoping someone would single that out. ^^

and I was yelling in my mind, "SNAP OUT OF SOLONN! OMFG SHE DOESN'T LOVE YOU!!" ^_^;;

ROFLMAO... I should have had Morgan say that exactly. XD

I wonder what significance there is in Solonn being bigger than most Glalie?

Time may tell...

Brian Powell: MS Word cited it as the same type of error on my cousin's computer. It suggested that maybe I really meant "cry kinetic". o_0 Yeah. That's precisely what I meant: cry kinetic. "KINETIC!" XD

Technology. Fwee... X3

[Kaizer]

While cryokinetic doesn't ever appear in any dictionaries, I've heard it used before this story. Websters really needs to stay up-to-date with their words. Just because they add slang or something doesn't mean they shouldn't add something with an agreed upon definition, agreed upon spelling, and agreed upon usage. Stupid Websters...

[metal_chimaera]

Bonjour/Guten Tag/Buengiorno(or whatever)
Just came back from a 4 days trip to Switzerland and after being stuck a whole day in that car, reading this fic was the thing to do (I guess going to sleep was also an option).
The reason? Well, as many other people pointed it out, it was hilarious! A few things snapped me out of my awe though:

Solonn made a small, dismissive noise. "It’s fine. You and I both know(...)”

(dunno, it just bothered me momentarily) and other things that have already been mentioned...
And then again... the Attract thing was really... bizarre. I mean, in the midst of all the ice and cryokinetic, to have the opponent wave and flirt with him is way out of place IMO. But I guess that's just the thing with that move, as well as with the "Tickle" move and a few others...
I loved the part with Solonns Solo round, (and incidentally, the moment I started to read about that song that inspired Solonn so much, I knew there had to be a "real life" song to it, as it's always assured that songs are intertwined with your fics) and the end of his battle (anything where cryokinetic was involved actually). I was sure that Solonn would start to make funny shapes with the ice cell, like a diamond, hollow sculptures etc, just to annoy "La Madame Kelly" and probably get a few extra points.
See you and take care
metal_chimaera

[Sike Saner]

kaizer63: So, you've seen that word before? Awesome. ^^ Where, pray tell? I'm curious now.

metal_chimaera: *sees typo* How in the world did I miss that? *kicks spellchecker* Human proofreaders > spellchecking machines. X3

XD Uh-oh... now, you know I'm going to have to find an occasion sometime in the distant future to have tickle used (that...sounded kind of wrong o_0 ). X3 I just love moves like attract in fiction, though, seriously. They're just so wonderfully ridiculous. X3

Progress: Right now, we're looking at a release date for Chapter 6 sometime early next week.

[Kiyohime]

Spellchecker's always missing things. T_T Like with "solider-soldier" in my fanfiction. *sets spellchecker on fire* 8D

[Kaizer]

http://www.psipog.net/qna.php

Right there. You can check under the subject Kinesis or just read the description.

And yes, I'm very interested in psionics.

[Sike Saner]

Scrap: And again I say, human proofreaders > computer spellcheckers. XD Mine missed "lanuguage - language" in mine, among other things. At least I got it to stop demanding that I cry, "Kinetic!", though. XP

kaizer63: *clicks link* Ah, neat stuff. ^^


Oh, and I thought I'd mention that I'm compiling a soundtrack for this. You can look over the track listing for both this story's soundtrack and the one I've been putting together for The Origin of Storms via this link (or you could just go to the Soundtracks thread in the Authors' Cafe ). Mind you, both are still works-in-progress; I add songs to both lists every now and again, so you might want to check back with it from time to time.

[Flying Tropius]

I liked your story it is very good!

[Sike Saner]

Flying Tropius: Thanks. ^_^

Well everyone, I'm afraid I've got some news you might not like...

While working on the final draft of Chapter 6, I discovered... *shudders* significant lapses in quality. Looking at the original incarnation of the chapter, I can't believe I ever thought the material to be viable. (Seriously. The old version was that bad.) But even following the most recent battery of revisions, I am still displeased with it. I still look upon it and say, "You can do better than that."

I imagine it'll take no small effort to get Chapter 6 up to speed. So, of course, this means that yes, there is going to be something of a delay in its release. It shouldn't be a terribly long wait, but the delay is, I'm afraid, a necessary evil. I refuse to inflict a rushed, unworthy chapter upon any of you.

Well, I'll be offering the new chapter once it's fit for human consumption. Hopefully, that won't be too long from now. Still, I regret the delay, even though I do believe it will ultimately be for the best.

Sincere apologies,
Sike Saner

[SnoringFrog]

Take your time, we can wait for a higher quality chapter. And I finally got around to reading the last two chapters today! They were both quite interesting. Now, I have the urge to be cryokinetic, it sounds like so much fun! *Tries to control the ice in his water and fails* crap. Doesn't work.

[Infinite Master Sceptile]

This is a highly addictive and fascinating fic. Solonn is cool. *Is whacked in the head with a plank by the Bad Pun Police*
You have incredible skill as a writer.
In fact, comparing your prose with that of popular authors, I find that you put them to shame. If there were two people on this forum destined to be famous writers, it would be you and Scrap. When I found Origin of Storms in the Completed Fic section, it completely blew me away. Sublime perfection, it was. And so is this.
Do you have a PM list? If so, could you put me on it?

[Sike Saner]

SnoringFrog: Well, you know how it goes: You can do it fast, or you can do it right. Be grateful, everyone, that I chose not to inflict what I'd had at the end of the prior week on you. X3 (Who knew I could be so merciful? )

And yeah, I'd advise you to just get your ice from the freezer. X3

Infinite Master Sceptile: Don't worry; anyone who is at all into ice must pretty much resign themselves to the puns. Ice is just one of those things that draws puns like carrion draws flies. Ice, death, and cats, actually.

And yes, you are now on the list. ^^


Chapter Progress: Like 95&#37;. Seriously. It's probably coming out today.

[Sike Saner]

Oy. This chapter did not want to let me revise it, let me tell you… But I ultimately whipped it into submission.

…That sounded kind of wrong. XP

Whatever. Here’s Chapter 6 for you and yours. ^^

_________________________

Chapter 6 – The Sought-For Matter

Having earned the beauty ribbon in the normal rank, Solonn’s next goal was to obtain a ribbon in the super rank. The next super rank contest was slated for the fourteenth of November. Solonn lamented the long span of time that separated him from the opportunity to gain his next ribbon, but he also recognized its value. He would have even more time to rehearse than he’d had prior to his last contest, time that he was sure he would need in order to sufficiently prepare him to compete to the higher standard now demanded by his higher rank.

Though Solonn would have more time to prepare for the upcoming contest than he’d had for the previous one, he would have less time to train with his coordinator. It was now early September, and a new school year had begun, leaving Morgan with less time to spend at home.

Morgan wasn’t the only one who was being drawn away from home; Eliza was a second-grade teacher at one of the local elementary schools. With both of the Yorkes away during much of the daytime, Solonn now found himself left home alone for several hours on end nearly every day. Even Morgan’s other pokémon were not around to keep him company; most of them preferred to remain in their capture balls at nearly all times. Sei was an exception, but she seemed to prefer to go out into the city (doing gods only knew what; she never spoke of what her excursions entailed) while the humans were away.

Not that Solonn exactly minded the solitude, though. He readily made use of the quiet time afforded by the absence of the others in order to meditate upon his connection to the element of ice, which in turn aided him in conceiving and practicing new ice displays. Solonn quickly grew to treasure these hours alone, time that belonged strictly to himself and his element. The only thing he could think of that would make him enjoy those sessions more was if he were able to operate Morgan’s stereo and thus enrich them with music.

One Tuesday morning, Solonn was preparing to begin another of these sessions, initiating a ritual he had devised that now preceded each period of solitary rehearsal. He was about to enter the meditative state that would allow him to more quickly achieve a very strong and deep connection with his element when he heard a peculiar sound: a sort of scrabbling noise coming from just outside the backyard’s fence. Solonn would normally have dismissed such a sound, but the noise that immediately followed it—distinctly a vocalization of some sort, and one that sounded rather puzzled—made it hard to ignore. Solonn listened closely to the scrabbling noise, noting a change in its quality as its source transferred whatever action it was that was making that sound onto another type of surface.

There’s something on the fence… Solonn knew at once, but could not even begin to guess what that something could be. A second later, however, the mystery solved itself when six clawed, purple fingers appeared atop the fence, closely followed by the rest of their owner’s body.

Solonn was now staring into the huge, crystalline eyes of a sableye who now sat atop the fence. He cocked his head at Solonn, his face holding a quizzical expression.

“Who’re you?” the sableye asked in a perky, slightly rasping voice.

Solonn gave the sableye a bemused look. “I could ask you the same.”

The sableye chuckled weirdly, giving no other response to Solonn’s retort. He then sprang from the fence and onto the trunk of the sitrus tree in the backyard, clinging to the bark with sprawled limbs. He scrabbled up the tree and sat down upon one of its branches, letting his short legs dangle off the side.

Solonn could not even begin to figure out what in the world the little creature was doing, but he quickly decided that he had better things to do than to bother with the sableye. He closed his eyes and commenced his meditation, determined to ignore the presence perched above him. He might have succeeded in this endeavor if it weren’t for the overripe sitrus berry that burst against the top of his head a second later.

Solonn turned a flat, annoyed glare upward. The sableye above him was grinning, showing an incredible number of tiny, pointed teeth. “What do you want, exactly?” Solonn demanded of him.

The sableye stared down at Solonn for several moments with his brow furrowed, feigning deep thought. “I think I want to throw more fruit at you,” he replied finally. With a faint whoosh, the sableye seemed to turn into smoke and shadows, then vanished in a faint attack. There was a split-second’s worth of the sound of rustling amidst the branches before the sableye reappeared on the branch above Solonn, both arms laden with more sitrus berries. He proceeded at once to throw them at Solonn, but they collided in vain with the glalie’s deep blue protect aura.

“You’re no fun,” the sableye pouted. He clambered down the tree trunk and sat down next to Solonn, drumming his fingers on the ground for a brief while. Then he began poking Solonn in the side, prodding at the gaps in the glalie’s armor.

With an exasperated sigh, Solonn turned to face him. “Could you leave me alone, please?”

The sableye left Solonn alone—for about five seconds. Then he emitted a massive groan of boredom. A second later, he climbed back up the tree. He hung upside-down from a branch for a moment and then dropped down right onto the glalie’s head.

Growling deep in his throat, Solonn tried very hard to ignore the sableye, who was now dancing atop his head. There is definitely something wrong with that creature’s mind, he determined with absolute certainty. As far as he was aware, sane, normal people typically did not just enter someone’s personal space and begin pestering them with no reason or explanation.

“Is there any reason why you need to be doing this to me?” Solonn asked, somehow managing to keep most of his impatience out of his tone.

“Hm? No, not really,” the sableye answered airily. He continued to skitter around upon Solonn’s head for a few moments more, then crawled headfirst down the glalie’s forehead and lowered his face between Solonn’s eyes, grinning. “Hi.”

“Go away, please,” Solonn said through gritted teeth.

The sableye shook his head solemnly, continuing to stare right into the glalie’s eyes. Suddenly, he recoiled, pulling his head back as though something had just taken a swipe at it. His faceted eyes flashed; he’d have been blinking in surprise if he had possessed eyelids.

“Hmmm…” the sableye said as he brought his face even closer to Solonn’s.

“What in the name of all gods are you doing now?” Solonn demanded.

“I’m seeing you in a whole new way…” the sableye said in a voice that suggested that he was trying to sound mystical. “Hmmm… very interesting. Very interesting, indeed…”

“Are you quite finished bothering me?” Solonn said, at the very limit of his patience.

The sableye seemed to take a moment to consider the question. “Almost,” he responded. Then he planted a very juicy kiss right on the diamond-shaped patch of bare hide in the middle of Solonn’s forehead. With that, he sprang off of the glalie’s head and onto the lawn, then turned and gave Solonn a Cheshire grin. “Buh-bye!” he said cheerfully, then scampered off across the lawn, scaled the fence, and disappeared over the side.

Supremely baffled by what had just transpired, Solonn breathed a sigh of relief now that the sableye had left the scene. Don’t try to make sense of that, Solonn advised himself, you’ll only end up with a headache for it. Giving the sableye no further thought, Solonn gratefully sent himself into the sweet serenity of his meditation.

* * *

The sableye scampered through the alleyways of Lilycove, anxious to get home as quickly as possible—he had made quite the discovery while pestering that oversized glalie. The sableye’s eyes held an peculiar sort of sight; if he looked hard enough, it showed him things beyond a person’s appearance—including secrets. Among the glalie’s secrets, there was one in particular that was quite remarkable, and the sableye knew that he wasn’t the only one who would take interest in it.

In no time at all, he arrived at a modest brick house, a place that he had called home for only a few days. He hurried up the walkway, pausing before the front door. Summoning his faint attack technique, he felt a momentary tingling of dark-type energy throughout his body before it swept him into a quick transformation. His solid form changed into shadowy wisps of black vapor before disappearing altogether. He then reappeared inside the house, returning to his previous form once more on the other side of the door.

Once indoors, the sableye began screeching excitedly to inform another resident of the house of his arrival. In short order, a male human picked his way swiftly but carefully through an adjacent hallway and into the living room, dodging scattered cardboard boxes that were filled with the things that he still had yet to unpack. The human had apparently just emerged from the shower; his collarbone-length, auburn hair was still sopping wet, and he had only bothered to throw on a pair of boxers before going to greet his pokémon.

“Hey, Xi,” he greeted the sableye. “Back kind of early today, aren’t you? Are you feeling all right?”

<I’m okay, Daron!> Xi cheerfully assured the human, employing the telepathic skills that he had inherited from his gastly father. He chuckled effervescently, his multitude of pointed teeth flashing in another of his enormous grins. <I just found something really neat, and I just couldn’t wait to tell you about it! Oh, you won’t believe it!>

“Is that right?” Daron said with a small laugh as he crossed the living room to the front door and scooped his pokémon up into his arms. He carried Xi over to the sofa and sat down. “So, what’d you find, hmm?”

Xi chuckled again. <You might not believe me if I just told you… I have to show you instead…> Xi told Daron, gesticulating dramatically and using the telepathic equivalent of his “mystical” voice.

Daron sighed. “Ah, that’s never pleasant… but, if you insist…” He lifted Xi up to eye-level. The sableye beamed at him, then pressed his palms against Daron’s temples. Daron braced himself for an experience that he knew would not be any less unpleasant than it had ever been before, forcing himself to stare unwaveringly right into Xi’s crystalline eyes. Those eyes lit up from within, and a sudden, painful jolt lanced into Daron’s head as Xi’s most recent memories rushed into his brain.

Almost as soon as the memory transfer had been initiated, the task was finished. Xi let go of his trainer’s head, and Daron produced a sound halfway between a sigh and a groan as he set the sableye down on the sofa cushion beside him, grateful that the process was such a quick one.

Xi looked up at his human companion with a grin. Daron was returning the sableye’s gaze with a positively awestruck expression, his brown eyes wide and staring.

“You did it…” Daron said. “I don’t believe it… less than a week on the job, and you hit pay dirt!” He let out a short laugh of sheer amazement and pride. “Great work, Xi!”

Xi gave a squeal of delight. <I knew you would like it!> he exclaimed while cheerfully applauding himself for his discovery.

“Oh, I’m not the only one who’ll like it,” Daron said. “I’m gonna go call him right now,” he added. He rose from the sofa and made his way into the kitchen, retrieving the cell phone that he’d left on the counter and immediately placing the call that he’d thought he would never get to make.

“Mr. Saller?” a kindly-sounding, elderly man’s voice said through the receiver a second later. “What a pleasant surprise to hear from you, my boy! Have you quite settled in to your new home yet?”

“Getting there,” Daron replied. “I’ve still got a bit of unpacking to do, I’ll admit, but I’ve gotten pretty accustomed to this place already. Xi and Cleo love it here,” he added.

“Oh good, good!” the voice on the phone responded. “So, tell me, my boy. What’s the occasion for this conversation, hmm?”

Daron smiled. “You might want to make sure you’re sitting down, sir.” He took a deep breath, then announced, “We’ve found it.”

Not a word issued from the receiver for a long moment. “…You’re quite certain?” the old man finally asked.

“One hundred percent,” Daron said confidently. “Xi’s eyes don’t lie, and he showed me exactly what they showed him.”

“Well, he’ll need to show me, as well. Can’t be certain any other way, after all, and we mustn’t move ahead until we are indeed certain,” the old man said. “You can transfer him here from the pokémon center.”

“Will do, sir,” Daron assured him.

“Good, good…” The old man gave a sigh of happiness. “It’s a wondrous thing, my boy, to see our goals coming to fruition so soon…”

“It sure is,” Daron concurred, nodding.

“Well, then,” the old man then said crisply, “once I have had my consultation with Mr. Xi, we’ll discuss our further course of action. Be on standby, my boy.”

“No problem, sir… And the authorities?”

“A non-issue, as I stated during our first meeting,” the voice on the phone told Daron in an assuring manner. “You need only concern yourself with the task at hand. See to it that everything is carried out without a hitch, and both you and your partners will be handsomely rewarded.”

“You can count on us,” Daron said coolly, and then the old man on the phone terminated the connection.

* * *

Eight days had passed since the appearance of the bothersome sableye. Much to Solonn’s appreciation, the sableye had not returned since, leaving Solonn free to practice his art without any disturbances.

At his summons, twin spires of ice extended toward the heavens, catching the sun’s rays with a brilliant sparkle. They began a sinuous dance while their choreographer watched them with an expression of deep serenity playing over his features.

“That’s very pretty,” said an unexpected, monotone voice from above.

Surprised, Solonn turned toward the source of the voice. Overhead, a venomoth hovered, scattering a small quantity of fine powder into the air with every flap of her wings.

Another unexpected guest, Solonn thought, his expression somewhat wary as he looked upon her. He could only hope that this visitor would not give him the same sort of company that the previous one had. “Er… thank you,” he said a bit awkwardly. He moved out from beneath the venomoth; the powder that was falling from her wings was beginning to irritate his eyes.

“Sorry to interrupt your performance,” the venomoth said, “but I was sent to give you something.”

The venomoth gave no further explanation for her next actions. Her wings suddenly made a dramatic shift from lavender to baby blue, and with a single, powerful flap, they tossed a cloud of pale blue sleep powder on a swift gust of wind at Solonn.

Taken by surprise, Solonn failed to do anything to avoid the attack and inhaled some of its dust before he could stop himself. He tried to retaliate at once, but his ice beam missed its mark, for his eyelids had closed irresistibly before he could aim it. He dropped to the ground, swallowed up in a profoundly deep sleep.

There was a faint rushing sound, and a mass of black vapors formed out of thin air just outside the back door. They solidified into the form of Xi, who clutched a great ball in his hands. His faceted eyes found the sleeping glalie, and he broke into a grin. “You did it, Cleo!” he congratulated, happily scampering across the lawn to join the venomoth.

Cleo’s pale blue eyes traveled downward toward the capture ball that Xi held. “Are you sure that’s the right one?” she asked.

“Uh-huh. I checked them all. This is the one!” the sableye answered with confidence, having scanned each of the capture balls and thereby having found the signature which designated the great ball as belonging to the glalie.

“And are you sure you know how to use that?”

“Uh, yeah,” Xi said a little crossly. With a exaggeratedly demonstrative air, he aimed the capture ball’s lens at the sleeping glalie and recalled him into the device. “See? I told you I could do it,” the sableye said triumphantly. Cleo merely rolled her eyes at him, eliciting a chuckle from her partner.

“Okay! We got what we came for,” Xi then said. “Let’s go!” With the great ball clutched tightly in his hand, he quickly scampered up and over the fence and departed the scene in gleeful haste, with Cleo winging her way close behind him.

* * *

Roughly three hours later, Solonn at last awakened from the sleep that had ambushed him, his eyes opening with something of a delay. Almost immediately, they registered the sight before them as unfamiliar. He found himself in the middle of a somewhat large, high-ceilinged, and presently rather dark room. The place was quite bare; there were no furnishings around him, and only a couple of scattered, human-made objects strewn about suggested that this place actually belonged to anyone. As far as Solonn could tell, he was presently alone.

He didn’t know what this place was or why he had been taken here, but he was quite sure that he didn’t want to stay to find out. He promptly ascended from the ground, the last traces of drowsiness from his induced sleep gone entirely in the face of his urge to get out of wherever he presently was as soon as possible. His gaze swept the room in search of an exit and found one in the form of a door in the wall to his left, near the back of the room. It was plainly too narrow to admit him, but Solonn wasn’t going to let that stop him. He was prepared to smash right through that door.

Without a second’s hesitation, he lowered his massive, horned head, ready to ram the door down and burst through its frame. With a surge of speed, he charged toward the exit—but unexpectedly, violently, he was caught short by some unseen barrier, one that arrested him smartly and sent him reeling harshly back. Partly stunned and taken utterly by surprise by the recoil from his thwarted charge, he wildly overcompensated to regain control of himself. He lost hold of his equilibrium entirely and ended up crashing face-first into the wooden floor, the boards beneath him splitting on his impact.

Solonn hissed and snarled in pain as red and white flashes played across the inner surfaces of his eyes and a shrill whine rang within his ears. He lay face down for a moment, wondering what in the world had just happened. Ignoring the throbbing in his head and the dizziness that came along with it, he lifted himself back up from the floor. He stared hard into the empty air before him as if trying to will the unseen barrier that had caught him there moments ago into visibility, but neither the force that had halted him nor anything that could have been its source would let him see them no matter how hard he tried.

Solonn was baffled by this phenomenon, but he was also determined to figure it out. He knew that his escape from this place, from the ones who had brought him here, and from whatever their intentions for him might be required him to overcome this obstacle. He approached the invisible barrier slowly and carefully, mindful of the recoil that it had given him when he’d charged it at full speed. He soon found it and felt it firmly resisting him as he pushed against it.

Closing his eyes in determination, he began to slowly increase the pressure that he placed on the repulsion field. He gradually entrusted every ounce of his considerable weight to the barrier, exerting it upon the obstacle before him with all his strength. No matter how he pressed against it, however, the barrier would not yield to him. Still, he tried, despite how the pressure of his forehead against the invisible wall aggravated the pain from his recent fall.

Then, all of a sudden, the force that held Solonn at bay ceased resisting him altogether, causing him to pitch forward and fall onto his face for a second time. He exclaimed a muffled oath into the floorboards as the intensity of the pain in his head spiked sharply.

He heard a sound then and recognized it as that of quickly-approaching, human-sounding footsteps moving toward him from behind. He suspected that this signified the arrival of someone who was somehow involved with his abduction and detainment, probably coming to subdue him after hearing the commotion caused by his attempts to escape. Quite certain that he couldn’t get away from whomever was approaching, he prepared himself to fight his captor off. Growling a warning deep in his throat, he rose and turned to face—and to strike—whomever had just arrived.

But Solonn caught himself short of attacking as his eyes fell upon the newly-arrived human, and he let the elemental energy that he had gathered for his intended ice beam dissipate harmlessly. Standing there a couple of yards before him was none other than Morgan, breathing hard and casting furtive glances about herself every few seconds. Solonn noted at once how badly disheveled she looked: her skin was pale and drenched with sweat, her hair was mussed, and her eyes were swollen and bloodshot as if she had just spent an hour or two crying. Her right hand gripped the handle of a hammer that wobbled as her shoulders heaved; it looked ready to drop to the floor at any second.

“Oh, thank God I found you…” Morgan said almost voicelessly. “Now try to move toward me.”

Still quite dumbfounded, Solonn did as Morgan requested. He found as he moved forward that the repulsion field was indeed gone completely, allowing him to go unimpeded to her.

“It’s gone,” he noted aloud as he came to hover before her. “Some kind of invisible barrier was holding me here—you stopped it somehow, didn’t you?” Solonn asked. Morgan nodded. “Do you know what it was, exactly?” he asked.

“It was the mean look technique,” Morgan said hoarsely. “I found a sableye right out there.” She indicated the thick, maroon curtain hanging at the front of the room; Solonn had assumed it to be another wall, but now recognized it as something through which someone could pass by simply pushing it out of the way. “He was using that technique to keep you within a certain distance of him—until I hit him in the head with this.” She raised the hammer, then let it fall to the floor. “He’s out cold now.”

A sableye… Solonn had told Morgan of the creature who had paid him a visit eight days ago, and she had told him the name of his visitor’s species. The image of the sableye flashed within Solonn’s mind… and was closely followed by that of the venomoth who had paid him a visit that very morning and drugged him with sleep powder—another unexpected guest within such a short frame of time. It seemed to Solonn like an awfully unlikely coincidence…

“Did you find anyone else here?” he asked Morgan. “A flying, purple pokémon, perhaps?”

Morgan shook her head. “No. I searched this whole place over. No one else here except that sableye… I didn’t find the rest of you here, either,” she added, her voice quieting considerably on those last nine words.

Solonn’s brow furrowed in sudden, troubled confusion. “The rest of… what? Morgan, what are you talking about?” he asked worriedly.

Morgan’s eyes closed, and she turned away. She opened her mouth to speak, but a strangled gasp was all that could emerge as whatever words she’d had prepared caught in her throat. “I’ll explain soon,” she finally managed in a constrained voice, then turned again to face Solonn. Her eyes were brimming with tears. “Let’s just get you out of here.”

Solonn nodded, then made for the curtain.

“No,” Morgan said, halting him. “That way just leads into another part of the building. We’ll go out that way.” She pointed toward the exit that Solonn had previously spotted. “That’ll take us outside.”

Solonn made his way over to the exit, and Morgan followed. “You’re gonna have to smash the door down,” the human told him as they reached the exit. Having already figured such, Solonn was already backing up for a charge as she spoke. Once he’d put sufficient distance between himself and the door for a full-velocity charge, he lowered his head (resigning himself to the certainty that this would reawaken the pain there), then hurtled forward in a headbutt attack. The door exploded from its hinges as he crashed into it, its frame bursting apart as he emerged violently into the sunlight.

Morgan quickly joined him outside. “Sit down just for a second,” she instructed him at once. “You’re much faster than I am—we can get out of here a lot quicker if you give me a ride.”

Solonn complied at once. As soon as he set himself down upon the grass, he felt Morgan clambering onto his back, using the gaps in his armor as handholds and footholds to climb up onto the top of his head.

Morgan situated herself there upon the glalie, sitting with her legs extended forward and her hands clutching his horns. She began at once to shiver quite severely in such close proximity to the chill of his body; noting this, Solonn took on a more conscious effort to focus his elemental power and keep his coldness to himself.

“Okay,” Morgan said, “okay. I’m going to tell you which way to go… you just concentrate on moving as fast as you can. Now, go! Hurry!”

Solonn set off in an instant, achieving his maximum velocity quickly. He worried that the human he was carrying might fall off of him due to his moving as fast as he presently was, but she seemed to hang onto him capably enough. While he’d expected her to have him hurry toward her house, she instead steered him into unknown territory, guiding him through a maze of alleyways barely wide enough to admit him.

Her directions eventually led Solonn out of those alleyways—and then, unbeknownst to him, out of the city itself. He had been rushing along at top speed for minutes now and was tiring. Had he been one of those creatures that moved by the power of their limbs and muscles, he would have been far wearier still. Morgan urged him to keep going, and he figured that she probably had a good reason to have him go so far from the scene that they had fled. Preferring to be safe rather than sorry, he reckoned that he’d do best to trust that notion, and so he continued on, ignoring the rising complaints of his body.

Solonn and Morgan were now swiftly making their way westward along a scenic, grassy route. Delicate-looking metal fences lined the path on either side. Some distance beyond the fence on the right, a large, flat building stood. The fence on the left provided the sole barrier between the road and a treacherous drop off of a sheer cliff toward a sparkling expanse of water. Even though only able to see the scene to the south through his peripheral vision, Solonn found himself in awe of what he could glimpse of the waters and the mountain that they embraced.

At length, this route gave way to a place teeming with trees and vast patches of tall grass. By this point, Solonn simply could not go any further. It’s far enough… he figured, it has to be… Groaning, he allowed himself to sink to the ground, managing with something of an effort to keep from obeying his body’s desire to roll over onto his back so as to avoid casting Morgan off and possibly crushing her.

Morgan climbed off of him somewhat awkwardly. She sat down in the grass in front of him and promptly buried her face in her hands.

For a very long moment, Solonn sat silently, trying to catch his breath and to ignore the fact that he ached everywhere. “What’s happened?” he asked finally, still practically wheezing.

Several seconds passed before Morgan made any sort of response. Her face remained buried in her palms, her fingers knitting themselves fretfully into the hair that framed it.

“They’re gone,” she finally croaked in barely more than a whisper.

“…What’s gone, Morgan?” Solonn asked softly, the edges of his voice frayed by the sense of dread building rapidly within him.

“Not ‘what’, Solonn,” Morgan corrected him, her voice breaking. “Who.” Her shoulders started to shake uncontrollably, and then she gave a wrenching sob. “My other pokémon are gone. Stolen. All of them.”

“What?!” Solonn could have sworn that his heart had just stopped at the news he had just received. “Oh good gods… When did you find out?” he demanded.

“A couple of hours ago,” Morgan answered miserably, still hiding her face. Tears were now streaming through her fingers. “I wasn’t feeling so good at school… really, really nauseous… and they excused me early. I came home, and you were gone, and all the others, too… they took the balls they were in and everything,” she sobbed.

The news struck Solonn like a hammer. Oth… Raze… Sei… Aaron… Brett… all those people who had come to be good friends of his were now gone, taken gods only knew where. As he thought about the others, he became brutally aware of just how helpless they had been, contained within their capture balls—small, portable devices, easily carried away.

But not all of them had been in that vulnerable position… ”What about Sei?” Solonn asked. “She was out of the house, wasn’t she?” The possibility of Sei still being free offered a ray of hope for the others—her psychic abilities could certainly aid in locating them, Solonn was sure.

Morgan shook her head. “No, she wasn’t. Before I left, she said she was staying home… some marathon on TV…”

Solonn gave a low, sorrowful hiss. He hadn’t even noticed that Sei had been home the whole morning; he supposed that he must have been too engrossed in his practice to be aware of her. “My gods…” he muttered. He almost feared to imagine what sort of abductors could have successfully subdued such a powerful psychic as an alakazam—he realized that he had been beyond fortunate to have safely escaped from what were certainly very dangerous captors. The others, however, had not been so lucky… A sickening feeling ran through his veins as an unbidden parade of the grim scenarios that might have befallen his friends played within his mind.

“How did you manage to find me?” Solonn then asked.

Morgan took a very deep, shuddering breath, her body trying in vain to calm itself. She finally took her hands from her face, revealing her still-bloodshot eyes and tear-streaked cheeks. “When I found you all gone,” she started, having to pause to catch her breath in between sobs, “I called the police… they came and talked with me for a while…

“After that… I don’t know. I just started wandering—when I’m sad, I’ll just do that, just go for a walk—and then I saw this place with this sign in front…” Her face contorted into what was unmistakably a grimace of disgust. “‘See the Amazing Talking Glalie!’, it said.”

Solonn’s eyes widened dramatically, the light within them blazing with outrage. He hissed again, not a low lamentation this time but rather a vehement, explosive outburst. “That’s what they took me for? Some kind of freak to show off?” he asked. Morgan nodded regretfully. “How… how could they have possibly found out?” he demanded.

“I don’t know!” Morgan blurted. “I sure didn’t tell anyone!”

Solonn winced. “Sorry… I wasn’t trying to accuse you…”

“Oh God…” Morgan’s tears began to fall even harder in a fresh surge. “No, I’m… I’m sure you weren’t…”

Solonn gave a long sigh. “It’s all right…” he muttered. With no small measure of difficulty, he lifted himself from the ground, setting himself back down closer to Morgan. Burying her face in her hands once more, she leaned into him at once, her side against his—he wished at once that she hadn’t. He barely had any strength to keep his element at bay, and the human was shaking enough without his chill right up against her. Ultimately, though, Solonn just didn’t have the heart to try and persuade her to move.

For seconds on end, they just sat there beside one another, neither saying a word. Nothing disturbed the silence save for the faint calls of distant seabirds. Even Morgan’s sobs had grown quiet, though they remained just as violent.

“Did you say that you called for help… for people who could possibly help find the others?” Solonn finally asked in the softest, most soothing tone he could manage at the moment, trying despite his own terrible worry to provide a calming, consoling presence for his distraught friend.

“Mmm-hmm,” Morgan responded weakly.

“They might still set things right,” Solonn said in as much an attempt to reassure himself as to reassure Morgan. “They might still find out who did this… they might still find the others.”

“God, I hope so… Do you know anything about the ones who took you?” Morgan then asked. “Anything that might help the police find them?”

“Not really,” Solonn answered with a sigh. “Some sort of winged pokémon came and threw some kind of strange dust on me, and then I fell asleep. When I woke up, I was where you found me. I have no idea what happened in between—I know that creature couldn’t have worked alone, though. We know that that sableye was involved, but there had to be others. I’m so sorry; I wish I knew more…”

“It’s okay,” Morgan muttered. “It’s not your fault. If anything… it’s probably mine.”

“What? Gods, no, you know better than that!” Solonn responded incredulously at once.

“Solonn, think about it. They probably came for you. Somehow, they found out about you, and then they took you so they could make money showing you off—and all the others were just in the wrong place at the wrong time…” Morgan turned her gaze briefly to the east, then closed her eyes. “I should have let you go when you first asked. Then none of this would be happening.”

Solonn closed his eyes. “Please, Morgan… don’t blame yourself. Please.” He opened his eyes once more and turned them upon her, their light dimmed by sorrow and weariness. “Besides,” he added, “I’m the one who told you not to take me back right away, remember? It was my idea.”

But Solonn’s words seemed useless; the look in Morgan’s eyes told all too clearly that she was not consoled and not convinced. “Doesn’t matter,” she said, almost whispering. She tried once again to steady herself with a deep breath, but to no avail. “I shouldn’t have kept you here. I guess there’s just no safe place for someone like you among humans. Solonn… I’m letting you go now.”

Solonn stared at her, dumbfounded. A part of his mind returned to the last time that Morgan had offered to release him from her custody, that night when he had revealed his talents to her. Though he had come to know her quite well and knew that she was not nor certainly was she ever the sort to treat him as a possession, somehow he was still amazed by the notion that she, the very creature who had taken him from his home, would so willingly relinquish him. Twice, he thought to respond, but neither time did he have any clue what to say.

“Listen.” Morgan rose shakily to her feet, casting another glance eastward, then turned to face Solonn once more. With an obvious effort, she kept her gaze locked firmly into his eyes. “Since… since the others are gone…” she said with difficulty, “…well, I can’t have you teleported home, and there’s an ocean between here and there, so…” She swallowed hard, running a hand fretfully through her hair. “What you’re gonna have to do is just lie low for a while. I’m… I’m kind of scared for you to go back to Lilycove right now; the people who took you are still out there for now, and when they find out you got away… If they find you again, God knows what they’ll do. Just stay away from Lilycove for a week or two, just to be safe, and in the meantime, I’ll try to get a hold of someone who can get you home. I promise. Maybe… maybe the others will be found by then… then Sei or Ominous could take you. But if you find some way to get home on your own… go ahead and take it. Please. Don’t wait for me if you don’t have to.”

Still in disbelief, Solonn remained silent for several moments more before responding. “If you’re sure this is what you really want…” he began with uncertainty. Morgan nodded almost imperceptibly. Solonn sighed in acquiescence. “All right,” he said quietly. “I’ll return to Lilycove after a few days. Until then,” he said with a solemn look straight into her eyes, “I want you to take care of yourself. You’re a good person, Morgan. You really are. I wouldn’t want to see anything happen to you.”

Morgan nodded again. “Okay,” she whispered, wiping the tears from her eyes as well as she could. She wrapped her arms around the glalie as far as they would go and gave him a long embrace, then let go and took several steps back from him. “Guess I’ll see you again soon, but if I don’t…” She shrugged feebly. “Goodbye, Solonn.”

“Goodbye,” Solonn echoed. He rose from the ground, ignoring his body’s protests, and bowed deeply, inclining his great face toward the ground.

“Stay safe,” Morgan said. With that, she turned and set off for the city in the east.

“You, too,” Solonn called after her, allowing himself to sink back into the grass as he watched her go. He worried for Morgan, who had been parted from so many dear friends in the blink of an eye. He feared even more for her other pokémon, whose fates remained unknown. There was no way of telling if things would be set right again for them. He could only hope that they would be.

* * *

Morgan returned to her home, listlessly casting the light jacket she was wearing onto a nearby chair as she passed through the living room. Her mind was somewhat distant after such a long, difficult day. Out of habit, she made her way straight to the back door, to the backyard where she had shared so many hours with the glalie who had become one of her best friends. A sickening pang struck her at once as the door opened upon the empty space near the sitrus tree where he should have been.

“Oh my God… Where is he?!”

_________________________

A free cookie to anyone who knows from whence I got the title of this chapter. :3

Next time: Solonn is offered a place to lie low for a while, but what might await him there? See you then!

- Sike Saner