Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Endless ❯ Chapter 2
[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
By: MikariStar 
Anime/Manga: Pokemon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 5 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 655 | Status: Completed
Anime/Manga: Pokemon Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance | Type: Other | Uploaded On: 07.23.2012 | Pages: 5 | Words: 9.2K | Visits: 655 | Status: Completed
Endless
Journey 04: Preparations
(Comet and Pixel get ready for a mission in Unova.)
"Unova!" The loud voice disturbed all of the Viridian Rocket base infirmary's patients.
"With how excited you are, anyone would guess you're the one who's going." Comet voiced, watching as Laiki started to hand out the plastic plates and spoons, ready to cut the cakes. Peachy had a whole cake to herself, since she was such an adorable little glutton.
"I do wish I could go, I heard Unova men are quite handsome." Laiki grinned mischievously, possibly imagining a hot fling she would have if she were there. "You two better bring me a souvenir!"
"It would be a bit troublesome if we kidnapped someone." Pixel teased, knowing full well that by souvenir, Laiki was wishing for the delivery of a gift wrapped handsome man.
"Oh fine, something expensive and not living will have to do," Laiki conceded. "After all, I'm taking care of dropping off your pokemon at that resort you booked for them."
xoxox xox xoxox
After Comet and Pixel left for Unova, Laiki set off to deliver their pokemon to the Valhalla Pokemon Resort, where they would vacation while their trainers blended in on a secret mission in the distant region. It was because of that secrecy that pokemon not native to the region could not be present along with the Rockets. "Here we are," Laiki got off the car that she didn't remember which past boyfriend she had stolen it from. It didn't matter, she dumped him anyway. The smaller pokemon such as Purry, Peachy and Meteor were riding in the bright yellow car with her, while the larger ones were transported in their pokeballs.
The pokemon resort was quite large and expensive looking. It was a place that stroke Laiki as being odd in the sense that humans served pokemon instead of the other way around. She entered the large gates behind the tall brick fence that encompassed a considerably large terrain. The glimpses at the amusement park style attractions she saw beyond the elegant reception building fashioned as a medieval castle, looked quite amusing indeed, but they were open only to pokemon. The roller coasters and variety of rides were available in various sizes to accommodate all types of pokemon comfortably.
"This place looks pricey," Laiki whistled.
"I'm sure it is not that way for Lord and Lady Ragnarok," Laiki was caught by surprise and turned quickly, retrieving her gun from its holster strapped to her leg under her showy maid outfit.
Realizing what she had done, the undercover Rocket laughed sweetly as the employee who had greeted her, wearing a tuxedo with the resort's insignia, turned pale in shock, his golden eyes wide. "My deepest apologies for that; I'm not only a maid for the honorable Lord and Lady Ragnarok, but also part of their security personnel." She put away her gun as if she was never an inch away from shooting someone a second ago.
"Ah yes, I understand," the employee, straightened his stance and brushed the non-existent dirt off his uniform in an automatic motion.
Laiki observed the insignia on the left side of his tuxedo, it was a Mew encased in a circle formed by its tail, its fur a shade of light blue. It was the symbol of the resort as if to say the place was good enough for a Mew, should anyone ever decide to bring one over, not that they expected something like that to actually happen. "You work here," she stated, "so this means I can leave the Ragnarok pokemon with you? How did you know it was us, anyway?"
"Of course it had to be the Ragnarok pokemon, their fine pedigree precedes them," the employee complimented hypocritically as he had been trained to do. "Plus, what else could the red R in the collars around their necks signify, if not the fact that they are members of the proud Ragnarok family."
Laiki grinned, "of course." She would have loved to be there when Comet and Pixel came to make the reservation playing the part of a snobbish young couple of millionaires, who had supposedly just inherited the Ragnarok fortune; a fortune which was in fact only a product of their imagination along with their fictional family history.
The collars with the red Rs were a parting gift from Comet and Pixel to their pokemon. A way to let them know they were still a team that would one day be reunited when the business in Unova had been properly taken care of. All of Comet and Pixel's pokemon had those collars symbolizing Team Rocket, but to the Valhalla Pokemon Resort staff, it was a symbol to identify them as being better than other pokemon because they belonged to the rich Ragnarok family.
Laiki followed the employee, musing about how a single strand of platinum hair standing out of place on his otherwise perfectly brushed head reminded her of someone. She couldn't precise who, possibly a past boyfriend. After the pokemon were checked in as per the previous arrangement with Lord and Lady Ragnarok, Laiki took care of her own agenda. "So..." she looked at the name tag on the right side of his tuxedo opposite to the blue Mew insignia, "Odin, when do you get off work?" She winked.
xoxox xox xoxox
Sometime later, after the Unova mission's conclusion... "Excuse me Sir and Madame, a bill has arrived which requires a signature." The family's long time butler approached the couple with a piece of paper and a golden pen, both items placed upon a silver platter. The bill represented quite a steep charge with a multitude of digits, thanks to all the chaos destruction the feisty Ragnarok pokemon caused at the Valhalla Pokemon Resort. "Curiously, the bill is-"
"A bill is a bill, just something to sign and forget about. It does not matter, do not fret over it." The husband took the pen and signed the bill without a second thought, not realizing that though it requested permission to draw the payment from his bank account number, it was for the purpose of paying the expenses inquired by a Mr. and Mrs. Ragnarok that he had never heard of. Once again, he joined his wife in the quaint little table with the luxurious tea set, drinking fancy tea that tasted terrible, but gave them an air of grandeur due to its expense. "As I was saying, my dear, I do wonder where that delinquent son of ours might be."
"I cannot imagine," the wife replied after taking a sip of her tea with her pinky finger properly raised as she delicately held her cup. "Our mischievous little James could be anywhere, perhaps even in a distant city across the ocean..."
xoxox xox xoxox
Back in the present, far away from Kanto, in a region known by the name of Unova... "They sure do love bridges in this place." Comet observed, "Not that I'm complaining, bridges provide a nice shaded place to hide out." Comet and Pixel were currently taking a lunch break after a long day of traveling, before it was time to move on to their special mission.
"The pizza here is really good too," Pixel happily took another bite of her pizza slice. "Tepig and Pinap, yum!"
"And the cheeseburgers are good too, even if I can't taste much of a difference between Taurus and Bouffalant," Comet observed.
"I'm going to have a look around, since I won't have time to do much running around once the mission gets to its next stage, and I still don't have a pokemon." Pixel started up the hill towards the top of the bridge. "I'll have dessert later, don't you dare open my box of mint filling gourmet chocolates in my absence."
"A thief who steals from a thief..." Comet grinned mischievously, but stopped, seeing Pixel's rare sadistic expression. "I think Peachy rubbed off on you. Anyway, I need to go pokemon hunting too, it'll be interesting to catch a pokemon without having one of my own," Comet mused. There was a moment of silence as their eyes met in the form of a challenge, then Pixel took off in a run. "You sure you want to fight off a ferocious Unova Pokemon alone?"
"You sure you want to try to interfere?" Pixel called back from several feet away above the hill.
"I would rather not get in the way of your sadistic moments." Comet admitted as he watched Pixel disappear from his line of sight, her footsteps passing over the bridge above.
xoxox xox xoxox
A relatively short distance away from the Skyarrow Bridge, which was the unspoken rendezvous point for Comet and Pixel, the blue haired girl approached a group of Pokemon just off the road near Route Three. She had taken a brief look at some Unova pokemon information and identified the black and white Ponyta style creatures as being Blitzle. "An electric type, just what I need."
Pixel considered her options, though she took some basic training as part of being a Rocket, her primary function was that of a hacker, thus she wasn't as well trained for the front lines as Comet, but she was determined to catch a pokemon on her own. At her disposal she had empty pokeballs, a vital tool for her current objective and no real weaponry unless she counted her gloves and boots for punching and kicking. The smoke bomb she also carried on her belt wasn't exactly a weapon, but it could be useful nonetheless.
The gloves had a metal strip atop the knuckles to serve as a sort of ground similar to the concept of an electric rod, complimenting the resistance against electricity of the material in case she had to deal with overloaded equipment or emergency hardware modifications. Similarly, the boots were a matching set with metal tips over noiseless electricity resistant soles and material, good for sneaking around unnoticed and to serve as an additional form of protection to electric charges.
"Prepare to be captured!" Pixel charged at the nearest Blitzle, a female who gave the unusual human an odd look before unleashing a blast of electricity in the form of a Discharge attack. The electricity was attracted to the specially designed gloves and boots and was not enough to stop Pixel's rampage as she got close enough to the wild pokemon to kick.
Taken by surprise, the Blitzle took the hit directly and stumbled back in shock. Upset at the human who had come to disturb the peace, she called for help and the cries were heard by the leader of their little group, a male of a similar structure as the others, but identifiable as being the evolved form of their species, Zebstrika. The creature let out a stronger Discharge attack, making Pixel cringe in spite of her protective gear.
"Not bad, maybe I should catch you instead." The surrounding Blitzle backed off to leave room for a duel between the invading human and their fearless leader. The angry Zebstrika dashed forward in a Wild Charge attack that Pixel knew she better get out of the way. She threw the smoke bomb down and ran for her life.
When the smoke cleared, the confused pokemon looked around for the human who seemed to have vanished into thin air. Up on a tree, Pixel sat on a branch thankful that she was able to get up there. At least the pokemon wouldn't be able to trample her if she wasn't on the ground, but she was still kind of trapped. What could she do next? Watch for an opportunity to sneak away and retreat? Never! Rockets don't retreat! Maybe she could tire out that Zebstrika somehow.
"Hey Zebstrika! I'm up here! Come and get me you coward!" Pixel let her legs hand off the branch, sitting on it as if riding a Ponyta. The Zebstrika took the bait and angrily stomped over, showing off for the group of Blitzle. He let out an angry Shockwave, followed by another Discharge, but the electricity seemed to be lost on Pixel's boots. "Nice try," she mocked.
Zebstrika rammed into the tree repeatedly in frustration. All the shaking made the branch Pixel was on finally break under her weight and the Rocket hacker plummeted to the pokemon below.
Landing on Zebstrika with a pained "owff," Pixel scrambled to hold on as the pokemon recovered from the fallen branch that landed on his head and tried to throw her off. Since his electric attacks were ineffective before and he was getting tired, Zebstrika focused his remaining energy in jumping around to throw the girl off his back like something out of a Taurus and Bouffalant rodeo contest.
Pixel held on as tightly as she could, putting every ounce of strength provided by her state of high adrenaline into her grip. Her eyes were closed for the most part, until she noticed that her wild ride was slowing down. Finally, the defeated Zebstrika fell over with a somewhat blueish hue on his face. It was then that Pixel noticed she was holding on so tightly, she was strangling the creature. "I win!" She hopped off the exhausted pokemon and threw a pokeball at him, capturing him with ease.
The remaining group of Blitzle had surrounded the combatants watching with great expectation. They stared at Pixel with unreadable expressions for a moment as she faced them. 'I'm in trouble...' she thought for a second, there was no way she could defend against such numbers, there must have been about a dozen Blitzle. Like a Rocket, she glared defiantly as if she was in possession of some kind of amazing deadly weapon the likes of which her enemies could not even begin to comprehend. Then the Blitzle stampeded away frightened by the defeat of their now ex-leader. Pixel grinned and contemplated the pokeball in her hand, mission accomplished.
xoxox xox xoxox
After Pixel's departure, Comet was taking his sweet time finishing his meal, when an unexpected creature appeared in the area. A pokemon identifiable as a Krookodile seemed to be sniffing around the water's edge possibly in hopes of sinking its teeth into one of those Luvdisc look-alikes, Alomomola. He seemed to pick up a more interesting scent originating from the bags of food near Comet in a comfortably shaded spot at the water's edge under Skyarrow Bridge. It looked like the perfect picnic to steal; it was occasions like this which made him leave his desert home to venture into areas closer to the human populations.
Confidently, Krookodile stomped his way over to the red haired human and stood imposing, waiting for him to run away in terror and leave his food behind. The pokemon was disappointed when instead he received a solid hit right in the nose from a pokeball that bounced off back into the hand of the thrower, its red beam fading before it could begin to form. "I guess I'll have to rough you up before I catch you, it wouldn't be any good to catch you if you were so easily caught anyway."
This human was challenging him? The nerve! Stomping his feet and growling loudly, Krookodile waited for the human to toss out a pokeball that wasn't empty. He was hoping for a delicious Pidove to sink his teeth into, but nothing came. Instead the human took a fighting stance as if he meant to battle himself. Krookodile huffed in indignation until his sore nose was further abused by a punch to the face, which made him stumbled back.
With a low angry growl, Krookodile went on the attack with Bite. Comet ducked out of the way avoiding decapitation by a hair. "Your breath smells like Rattata road kill, or is it Minccino?" Needless to say, Comet's commentary was not welcomed by the already angry Krookodile, who stomped around enraged.
Krookodile's claws ripped off the patches of grass that grew on the edge of the land beyond the sidewalk near the bridge above, gaining access to the dirt below and lifting it in a thicker version of a Sand Tomb attack. His odd stomping dance continued towards the edge of the water where the dirt he dug out with his claws mixed with the liquid and turned into a Mud Slap attack.
After making a big mess, Krookodile stopped and observed his handy work. An angry looking filthy human stood glaring daggers at him, covered in dirt and mud. "Now you're going to get it!" Before Krookodile could react, Comet launched at him in an all out fury of hits, narrowly avoiding the deadly jaws on several occasions.
"Had enough?" Comet questioned nearly out of breath a while later, his clothes ripped and his whole body covered in dirt and mud. Krookodile growled defiantly, he wasn't going to let a human beat him. The large beast once again went on the attack, his powerful jaws literally trying to bite Comet's head off.
Comet dodged once more and with everything he had, he tackled his opponent into the water near by. Tired from the battle and exposed to his weakness to the water element, Krookodile finally had enough and could no longer fight back. At last victorious, Comet tossed a pokeball at the Krookodile, which he captured. "That was quite a workout..."
Examining his muddy state, Comet thought he should rid himself of the dirty civilian clothes and get cleaned up in the water under the bridge before changing into his Rocket uniform. Pixel should be back soon, as they would need to be on their way to finish the last preparations of their coming mission. He let Krookodile out again for a while to try to get to know the pokemon as well as he could in the short time available in hopes of being able to better guide him in battle.
Comet picked up Pixel's priced box of mint filling gourmet chocolates. She told him not to touch them, but he had a good reason. The strong scent of mint invaded Comet's senses as he opened the box, the aroma catching the attention of Krookodile as well, who thought that maybe getting caught wasn't so bad if he was well fed. "Try some of this." Comet tossed a chocolate at Krookodile, which he happily ate.
The large pokemon opened his mouth wide and for a moment Comet thought he was on the attack again, but Krookodile stayed still with his expectant jaws apart. As if to emphasize his request, Krookodile pointed to his open mouth.
"Okay, one more, but that's it, or you won't be the only one trying to bite my head off today." Krookodile accepted the next chocolate and in a sudden motion snatched away the box, devouring the rest of the chocolates box and all. "No! You're almost as gluttonous as Peachy." Then again, almost really did make a difference.
Comet could imagine Krookodile trying to steal Peachy's food. Then Peachy would go all out with her electric attacks in an attempt to cook Krookodile and devour him in revenge. Purry did try to force Comet to eat Shenron that one time, maybe that's what they meant when they said Team Rocket could have an eat or be eaten atmosphere.
"I guess I'll have to figure out a way to earn Pix's mercy when she gets back." Guessing that he would have a better chance of that if he was clean, Comet followed through with his plans to get cleaned up and changed before Pixel got there, with the exception of the fact that he didn't have enough time.
Comet was in the middle of swimming under the bridge when Pixel returned. "I do hope you're not skinny dipping," she joked, though it was obvious he wasn't as the waters were clear.
Comet chuckled, "you wish."
After a moment's pause during which her eyes scanned the area and took in the presence of a Krookodile lounging under the bridge's shade, she inquired. "Are my chocolates safe?" She searched for them among their things but didn't find them. "Comet..."
"Well... you see... Krookodile really needed a breath mint and since the chocolates had a mint filling..." Comet began to explain, giving Pixel his most convincing look of innocence and a radiant smile, which could work wonders on anyone but Pixel and her stubborn resolution not to be influenced.
"You caught a pokemon, that's good," Pixel gave Comet a sly smile, suspiciously changing the subject in the middle of her accusing conversation. "I caught a pokemon too," she released Zebstrika from his pokeball, "and he's all rested up after taking a nap in his pokeball..."
Comet suddenly had the sinking feeling that he should really get out of the water...
"Shock Wave!"
End of Journey 04
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 05: Always Watching
(Two different timelines meet, as do a father and daugther.)
"Ow! The stupid force field won't let me in!"
Kair's day was just getting started and it had so far been boring. Giovanni wanted her to report to the gym for whatever reason. When she got there, Delia informed her he was out, off to an unplanned meeting in Johto. It made her wonder who would be the one to pay for that. With nothing planned for the day, Kair was walking out of the gym when she saw a teenage boy walk right into the glass double doors at the entrance.
The boy glared bloody murder at the glass doors, his expression disturbingly similar to a pissed off Giovanni. His hair was brown, with a golden line in the middle, spiked up. He rubbed his pained nose and picked up his red hat that fell off on impact. He was dressed in a similar way to Ash. Kair stared, no, it couldn't be, she couldn't have another little brother. His resemblance had to be an odd coincidence.
The boy looked as if he remembered something important exclaiming, "Oh yeah!" Then pushed the door open effortlessly, allowing his two pokemon to walk into the gym with him. The boy looked at the Persian and Vulpix that followed him. "Be careful you two, today we are going to challenge the great Giovanni for a gym battle." His eyes shone with admiration.
It was too bad for the boy, Giovanni wasn't in today. As the boy went on his way to request a gym battle, Kair silently let him go, let someone else break the news to him. He was odd, like a strange combination between Giovanni and Ash. The boy's Persian stopped and looked at Kair with piercing eyes. He was bigger than an average Persian and well built. For a moment she felt as if she was under her father's scrutinizing glare. His eyes seemed to compel a request, no, an order, for her to stay out of trouble.
"Let's go!" The boy called out for his strong looking Persian. The Vulpix that stood beside him had a look of pure sugary sweetness. What a strange trio.
As the Persian left to catch up with his trainer, Kair continued on her way. She really needed a vacation if she actually thought Giovanni was watching her through that Persian's eyes. The Vulpix reminded her of Delia. As for the boy, she saw Giovanni, Ash and something unknown in him, but he felt like a whole different person. It was the presence of the two pokemon that felt strangely similar to Giovanni and Delia. Kair decided that maybe she should go for a drive to clear her mind.
"What do you mean he's not here?" The boy's voice echoed; he had received the news. He grumbled under his breath as he headed out of the gym once again, passing next to Kair.
Kair was focused on her own thoughts. She was picturing the open highway passing by at an alarming speed as she pushed one of her father's cars to the limit. The look in her face spoke volumes to those who knew how to read it. Her father could certainly read her expression.
A loud hiss pushed Kair out of her thoughts. The boy's Persian was giving her a scolding look. It was as of he could read her face like a book. "Alright, alright, I'll stay out of trouble," she conceded and the Persian finally left her alone to follow his trainer away into the city. Kair shook her head, perhaps it really would do her some good if she spent the day resting.
End of Journey 05
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 06: Duel
(Different timelines collide again, in an epic duel of Ash versus Lance.)
The following week passed by quickly as Ash prepared for the most challenging Indigo League competition ever to be held. Using his influence in the Pokemon League, Giovanni arranged it for invitations to be sent to all the top ranked trainers in every known region, even some of the gym leaders participated. Ash saw many familiar faces as he was reunited with many of his past traveling companions and people he met during his travels, all of them there to test their skills in the ultimate tournament.
One round after another ended as only the best trainers prevailed. Ash easily went through the first few rounds, finding more of a challenge later into the tournament, but still winning with ease. The time came to face the elite and Ash fought through with unbreakable determination until he reached Lance. By then his pokemon were understandably exhausted. The Indigo League was seen by many as the impossible challenge that skilled trainers couldn't help it but to pursue against all odds. Who could defeat al the elite trainers one after another when they each had an entire new team of Pokemon ready to battle and the challenger had to count on the same team for all the battles. No healing items were allowed between rounds as per the new tournament rules, turning the competition into a true search for a legendary master.
Ash had decided not to switch pokemon, though it was allowed to give them the chance to rest in their pokeballs. He explained to his carefully chosen team that this was necessary to establish a 'clear victory' as it was his goal. Pikachu, Charizard, Serperior, Feraligatr, Swellow and Snorlax understood and were willing to try their best and follow their trainer to victory.
By the time Ash reached Lance he had only Pikachu and Charizard able to battle, but was determined to win. The battle progressed strongly with vast skill and power being displayed on both sides, until finally; Lance was down to his last pokemon, Dragonite. The exhausted Charizard had fainted along with Aerodactyl, which left Pikachu as the last opponent.
"You look confident," Lance observed. He pulled a tiny remote control from his sleeve and pressed a button. The device was not captured by the cameras transmitting the epic duel within the Indigo League chambers to the spectators at the stadium and countless people in front of their TVs. "You've fought admirably so far, but this is more than just a Pokemon League battle, this will be a real duel!"
"What do you mean?" Ash wondered if Lance found his behavior suspicious, not switching pokemon and fighting more aggressively then usual, yet somehow also with more precision. Yet there was no way he could know if his connections with Team Rocket, could he? "What did you just do?"
"They're no longer watching us due to technical difficulties," Lance explained, of course, that was just an excuse. "The public might be disappointed to miss the end of this battle, but it's necessary. I know of your connection with Team Rocket, though the full story is a mystery to me. I suspected ever since I heard about your mother and Giovanni. I know what he's trying to do, he gathered everyone here to test their power and perhaps more so to test yours. I don't know what kind of agreement or relationship you hold with Giovanni, but this is to me a challenge from Team Rocket."
Ash decided it was best not to reveal too much and instead tried to present the better side of the situation. "Team Rocket is really not so bad. Just give the situation some time and you'll see that."
"Team Rocket wants to take over the world," Lance stated as a matter of fact, his face serious.
"They might take good care of it then; they will take good care of it. Mom and I will make sure of it and Dad is starting to see our point in his own way," Ash insisted.
Lance closed in eyes in thought. "Even if many words are exchanged, pokemon masters end to communicate better through battle. If you can defeat me, I'll be open to believing what you said, but I won't be easily convinced." To call him a master was an acknowledgement of Ash having reached a point where he was nearly impossible to beat. "This will be a true duel, not only between our pokemon, but also between us! Dragonite, take my power and use it as your own!" with a defying roar, the dragon pokemon began to glow. "This is something that only a select few can do, I give my power as the dragon master to Dragonite. With my energy in him, we fight as one!"
Dragonite's power was so overwhelming, it was almost tangible. Ash could feel the pulsations of energy running through the dragon pokemon's body. It looked as if he was invincible. "Pikachu!" It was Pikachu's voice that snapped Ash out of his awe.
"You're right Pikachu, we've come this far and we're not going to give up now!" If Lance was revealing his true power, Ash knew he had to answer in the same way to be able to battle against him. He focused his aura power; Ash's energy flowed smoothly into Pikachu, who because of their bond, had no trouble receiving it. The two trainers and their pokemon continued to glow as they lost the sense of their surroundings and felt as if they were floating in an endless nothingness where only their imposing power existed.
"Attack!" They called out in unison as their pokemon dashed forward surrounded by light and collided with abundant electricity and beams of energy similar to hyper beams but at the same time different. The effort put into the attack and the pain that came from the collision of the two strong pokemon was felt not only by the combating creatures, but by the trainers just as clearly. The connection between them was not broken as the pokemon continued to release their energy into each other in a brilliant flash of light that prevented anything from being clearly visible. They didn't need to watch the battle to know what was happening; both pokemon masters felt it all too clearly.
Many thoughts began to surface in Ash's mind as a result of the energy he was releasing. He remembered the most significant events of his life both joyful and harsh. The start of his journey, his many adventures, his family, friends, allies and loved ones. Was this the right thing to do? Could he trust Team Rocket to build a bright future out of the darkness that it had become? As the seed of doubt invaded Ash, his power began to diminish and both he and Pikachu felt the consequences. Ash pushed his energy to protect his dear companion, receiving the larger effect of Lance and Dragonite's combined power.
Ash knew he wouldn't last long that way. He couldn't doubt himself, he needed to be sure of what he was doing or he would lose. Then he remembered his promise to Mewtwo. He remembered how he had been in difficult situations before and managed to overcome them. He remembered how out of the trial of life, good rewards could come. Whatever the future brought, he would face it and those precious to him would be there to face it with him. As long as he had hope and determination, everything would work out. The details could wait until later, for now, all that Ash needed to do was trust.
With that trust, hope and understanding, his doubts evaporated, because he truly believed that a bright future was to come. For some reason, he remembered Skye and his mysterious pokemon. For him, for Mewtwo, for Misty, for his parents, for his friends, for his pokemon, for everyone, he would win and earn the power to help shape the future. The pain faded away and the building's roof and walls were reduced to dust being blown away in every direction with one last burst of power. The light dimmed, the energies calmed and a pokemon and trainer rested in a deep slumber from which they wouldn't wake until several hours later. There stood Ash, the victorious pokemon master, alongside his long time companion, Pikachu.
End of Journey 06
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 07: Loyalty From Beyond
(The origen of the "Loyalty" timeline, explained within the "Don't Give Me Diamonds" timeline.)
"Where am I?" Rather than a voice, it was a stream of psychic thoughts, a mental voice. He had no physical form, but existed as a collection of energy. "Did I... die?"
"You've passed on," a female psychic voice answered gently.
"Isn't that the same thing?" The male asked with some amount of annoyance. He always had a temper. "Team Rocket was left in ruins, but at least it brought the world down with it."
"Was that your wish?" The silhouette of a Gardevoir started to slowly become clearer.
The soul paused, then replied, "no. Everything fell apart after she died, it was that which made my son and I turn against each other..."
"Do you wish to change that?" The figure of the Gardevoir was clear now.
"To change history..." the soul mused. "If I wasn't a soul floating endlessly, while talking to some kind of pokemon angel, I wouldn't believe that to be possible. I want to change it... That time when she left, I'll go after her then, if Delia remains in Team Rocket, everything will be different, she'll live and Ash will be on my side." The soul of Giovanni glowed brightly as if wanting to break free of the stream of energy that guided him.
"Stop this! You will get a second chance. The opportunity to guide your descendant into amending history, but not at such an early point. You will recover her." Gardevoir tried to contain the energy coming from the strong soul.
"Recover her? I would rather never lose her in the first place!" A tare of light appeared in the endless stream of energy between worlds. There Giovanni saw himself with Delia's letter in his hands. She had left and he had not chased after her. "Go after her!"
The Giovanni of the past heard his own voice echoing in his head. He felt what his future self felt and knew he had to find Delia. She must have gone to Pallet Town. If that was true, then it wasn't much of a hiding place. She must want to be found, but what pushed her to leave in the first place? What secret worried her? He would find out.
"Stop this!" Gardevoir closed the tare in time. "Destiny already dictated that you would change history in the company of your descendant, his family would take measures to stop a paradox from occurring. By changing history at such an early point without precautions you have created a paradox. How can you regret not going after Delia if you did go after her? This timeline... I will separate it from the main one to prevent further consequences. When both timelines reach a point where they are at last the same, they will unite again. Yet, I fear that point in time is far away. Not even I know how long it will take for destiny to mend. Now go, go to the place of waiting."
The Gardevoir emitted a bright light, which pushed Giovanni out of the stream of many colors, causing him to loose consciousness in the process. When he woke up, he was in that mysterious place again, a place where he would stay until it was time to be reborn.
End of Journey 07
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 08: Double
"Right, tug your bangs into the hat and keep it pulled down. That's it, keep your face in the shadows." Laiki nodded in approval. All three women were in the medical area of the Viridian Rocket HQ where Laiki worked. It was the place to go for gossip. Being the lover of love scandals Laiki was, she would happily fuel as many as she could, braving the risks that came with that. "Okay, so Pixel here will take your place in our little Rocket party. Since you had an argument with the boss recently it's understandable that you avoid him, right?"
"Yes, I don't think he'll need to talk to me, just see that I'm there from afar." If Kair was in the little party, then it meant that she couldn't be off somewhere she shouldn't be, in company she shouldn't have. Teleporting mastery aside, it would be next to impossible to repeatedly go back and forth between considerable distances every few minutes for four or five hours without passing out of exhaustion. Even so, Kair had to point out the obvious, "this isn't going to work. Your face is too innocent, even in the shadows from a distance."
"The only direct similarity is the color of our hair," and it wasn't even the exact same shade. "This really isn't going to work," Kair concluded. Pixel agreed, though Laiki was still optimistic, maybe a different style of uniform or...
"C'mon Pixel, work with us here," Laiki encouraged. "Show us that predatory sadistic expression. Just pretend there's a naked Comet standing right in front of you!"
"I'm not predatory!" Pixel argued, "you know I'm always shy around guys and barely speak to them. It takes me forever to get comfortable enough to be friendly."
"Yeah, it's probably better for their health that you remain shy," Laiki teased.
Pixel pouted, "I don't like Comet. I already told you I like older men."
"Oh no, you're in love with the new mainframe hardware. When the covers were off for the circuitry to be adjusted, you were staring!" Laiki teased.
"This is getting weird," Kair mused aloud.
"It's nothing weird!" Pixel chirped, "it's kind of like when you see a really attractive car."
That was something Kair could somewhat relate to. Seeing that the two other women had apparently reached an understanding, Laiki commented, "my preference is for human males only. My Orange Islands boyfriend is coming to see me soon. It's going to be so much fun when he gets here. He's a Rocket too, so I can sneak him into my room at HQ. Well actually, I don't have to sneak him in. I'm taking him shopping so he can spoil me, then when we come back..."
"We don't need to know," Kair and Pixel chorused, surprising each other.
"It must be the night of synchronization for blue haired women," Laiki joked.
"Then it must be the night of trouble for red haired men," Kair added, whether she had a double or not, she still fully intended to kidnap Lance tonight.
End of Journey 08
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 09: Dreams
With their mission completed they waited for the right moment to move, in a little cabin in the middle of no where. The place was small, not furnished and falling apart, but it provided enough cover. When the coast was clear they would make their get away back to headquarters. To their dismay, Proton insisted that they wait for a while to ensure they weren't seen. It was ridiculous and Kair was sure he was just being annoying. None the less, they listened for the sake of being able to rest for a while.
Kair, Comet and Pixel, sat on the floor with most of their pokemon in their pokeballs. Pixel had closed her eyes, falling asleep after a long period of insomnia, which was normal for her and thus didn't really bother her. Comet never needed much sleep so he sat perfectly still even after Pixel unconsciously leaned on him as if trying to get more comfortable. A few minutes passed and she started to laugh in her sleep.
Kair raised an eyebrow, then curiously looked at Comet for a possible answer. "She sometimes laughs in her sleep, but she never talks." He stated to indicate that it was nothing unusual, "who knows what kind of dreams she's having."
Kair could come up with a number of theories, but had no clue about which one was true, "do we even want to know?"
"Given the fact that she practically laughs her head off at horror movies, I think it's best if her dreams remain private," Comet concluded.
Pixel's unconscious laughter continued softly. She moved her legs scratching against the old wood with an unpleasant sound loud enough to bother the conscious, but not loud enough to wake her. "Make her stop," Kair leaned back against the wall in the corner to the right from Comet and Pixel, she could use a short nap, it was clear they were in no danger to be discovered. Besides, they would hear the Growlithe coming and if not be alerted by their pokemon look out, Purry, who sat on the little cabin's roof.
However, Kair found she couldn't get to sleep, she was tired, but not in the mood for sleep, even if it sounded like a contradiction. Her mind wandered in random thoughts and she noticed that though they were in no way a couple out of a cheesy soap opera, a fact that she was glad for, Comet and Pixel must have been together after all. It seemed obvious upon seeing the calm in their closeness and the casual certainty with which Comet explained that Pixel sometimes laughed in her sleep.
Though Kair had been with them on a mission before, she had not noticed such signs, or maybe they had not been present while they were working and focusing on the mission. Her mind shifted to Lance and she found herself wondering where that came from, then realized that it wasn't simply because there was another couple near by, but rather because the couple in question was composed of a red haired man and a blue haired woman. Though Lance's hair was a deeper red tonality than Comet's red-orange, the basic colors of red and blue was what stood out to her. Except those two were both Rockets.
Comet tried to hold Pixel's legs still to stop the scratching noise. She responded by coiling up into a little ball with her knees against her chest. Then suddenly her eyes shot open and she sat up reaching for the tiny cell phone on her belt next to her pokeballs. She opened it up and looked at it. She rolled her eyes at the message; it was just Laiki in one of her nonsensical ramblings about one of her boyfriends forgetting the monthaversary of some random thing. Pixel never cared for monthaversaries, or anniversaries or fluffy stuff.
"Did I just see little sparks from your cell?" Comet inquired.
"I sleep like a rock so I modified it to give me a little shock," Pixel shrugged and put her phone back on her belt, no longer in the mood to nap.
"What was your funny dream about?" Kair decided to try to satisfy her curiosity after all.
"It was silly really," Pixel confessed. "There was this new criminal organization, Team Music or something. They were disguised as a record label and we had to infiltrate them. You were on vocals and played the bass, Comet played the guitar and I was the director and manager. The guitar and bass had some sort of laser weapons in them, like something out of a sci-fi movie. The stage equipment hid a lot of heavy artillery that I would use to watch your backs while you performed on stage and caught the attention of Team Music's leader to gain more access in the organization." It was no easy task for Pixel's dream self, despite being blessed with reality bending abilities that no living creature outside of dreams could hope to possess. She had to watch their backs, manage the special effects and do some hacking on the side, all the while not getting distracted by the music show or the noise of the crowd.
"I think the worse part is I can actually picture that," Kair commented. After seeing Team Magma, Aqua and Galaxy, she didn't doubt that something as ridiculous as Team Music could exist.
"You're not really telling us the whole story," Comet observed.
Pixel grinned, "it was the outfits. Petrel designed them along with the band's image. You were called the Rockin' Rockets because it was apparently so obvious that no one would ever suspect it involved Team Rocket. The outfits were completely ridiculous fan service. They were made of some sort of shiny black plastic-like fabric with more zippers and belts that anyone could be comfortable with. It was no wonder you had to be armed and needed backup, it would be impossible to run, let alone kick in those pants."
Pixel fell into a fit of laughter and Kair curiously scooted over. She had a feeling she would regret this. She placed both index fingers on the sides of Pixel's head and began to focus. Catching where this was going, having previously become aware of Kair's abilities, Pixel threw the image to the front of her mind. Pictures filled Kair's mind and she had to back away and shake her head. "Never ever describe any of that to Petrel!" Pixel was amused by the outburst, but showed a knowing look that promised she would keep quiet about it. "Was Lance the drummer?" Kair asked.
"Yeah, our drummer mysteriously disappeared and he had to step in," Pixel confirmed.
"How come his outfit wasn't as... detailed as Comet's," despite the initial shock of having the image thrown into her mind when Pixel focused on it, catching a glimpse of Lance in a similarly ridiculous outfit in the background was still amusing.
"My subconscious has less imagery to work with," Pixel logically explained.
Her statement made Comet shift uncomfortably, "what in the world did you show her?"
"It wasn't anything too bad..." Pixel never stopped looking amused.
Kair massaged her temples, "what was that other thing you threw at me?"
"Other thing?" Pixel honestly didn't seem to know what it was.
"What else were you thinking of?" Kair elaborated. "It looked complicated."
"Oh that," Pixel remembered that in her dream she was also hacking. "Codes, I was dreaming about computer codes too and they must have gotten stuck to the dream's images."
Kair tried to shake the codes out of her head, they were headache inducing. "You were right," she finally told Comet, "it's best if her dreams stay private."
End of Journey 09
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 10: Dark Light
Kair:
I feel the pulse of legacy,
On my shoulders heavily,
A challenge of tenacity,
A test of my intensity.
The lines blur, how to know?
Who is it that is my foe?
I could never let this go,
Let the truth finally show.
Lance:
Everything I thought I knew,
Has been shattered by you.
New realities beyond broken glass,
I never knew would come to pass.
Many secrets deep within,
Of hidden places where we've been.
The feeling courses through my skin,
Out of control my world spins.
Kair and Lance:
In a journey we'll embark,
Chasing after a bright spark,
Don't forget this, my remark,
Dark is light and light is dark.
Secret flame that burns bright,
Show the way, pierce the night,
Let destiny be realized,
Light is dark and dark is light.
Always go with all your might,
For all the battles that we fight,
Hidden powers leave their mark,
Dark is light and light is dark.
End of Journey 10
Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. Only Comet, Pixel and Laiki are mine, minus the Team Rocket concepts, which belong to Nintendo. Kair belongs to Nafatali and so do the concepts from her story related to Kair and Lance's background from "The Inheritance" series.
Journey 04: This story is based on Nafatali's Inheritance series, specifically Volume 7: Black and White. It takes place before Comet and Pixel's appearance there. Comet and Pixel's fake identity as Lord and Lady Ragnarok is a reference to Norse Mythology, as is the name of the vacation spot, Valhalla Pokemon Resort and the employee's name, Odin. The yellow car wasn't a reference to anyone specifically, but the observation about Odin's hair was a reference to Rex, one of Laiki's ex's who appears in Don't Give Me Diamonds. Pixel is eating the Unova equivalent to a ham and pineapple pizza. The scene where Purry attempts to make Comet swallow his Gyarados is also in Diamonds.
Journey 05 and Journey 06: Two little crossovers between my "Don't Give Me Diamonds" and Nafatali's "The Inheritance" series. "Always Watching" takes place during the time Skye (Vandel) spent in the present time. "Duel" takes place at the end of "Don't Give Me Diamonds". Both stories integrate aspects of "The Inheritance" into the "Don't Give Me Diamonds" timeline.
Journey 10: This one isn't really a crossover like some of the other stories in this collection. This poem is based fully on Nafatali's Inheritance series. Warning! This explamation has heavy spoilers! Don't read it unless you've already finished the Inheritance series! Team Rocket is "dark" as it is a criminal organization. The champion and G-man would be "light." Yet ironically it is Lance who is associated with the "dark" pokemon element and Kair with psychic which is like "light". The first verse refers to Kair's discovery of her true identity. The second verse is about her struggle caught between being Lance's lover and enemy. The third verse is about how Kair kept taking Lance by surprise. The forth verse refers to how he ended up digging out a past that he thought he could leave behind and they discovered how closely linked they were after all. What they thought they knew (light) is full of secrets (dark) and what may appear as very different (light and dark), might be similar after all. "Chasing after a bright spark," is sort of a "moth to a flame" kind of saying, something that's too intense to ignore even if there are consequences. Discoveries are made, trials are faced and every event leaves its mark in their lives.
Journey 04: Preparations
(Comet and Pixel get ready for a mission in Unova.)
"Unova!" The loud voice disturbed all of the Viridian Rocket base infirmary's patients.
"With how excited you are, anyone would guess you're the one who's going." Comet voiced, watching as Laiki started to hand out the plastic plates and spoons, ready to cut the cakes. Peachy had a whole cake to herself, since she was such an adorable little glutton.
"I do wish I could go, I heard Unova men are quite handsome." Laiki grinned mischievously, possibly imagining a hot fling she would have if she were there. "You two better bring me a souvenir!"
"It would be a bit troublesome if we kidnapped someone." Pixel teased, knowing full well that by souvenir, Laiki was wishing for the delivery of a gift wrapped handsome man.
"Oh fine, something expensive and not living will have to do," Laiki conceded. "After all, I'm taking care of dropping off your pokemon at that resort you booked for them."
xoxox xox xoxox
After Comet and Pixel left for Unova, Laiki set off to deliver their pokemon to the Valhalla Pokemon Resort, where they would vacation while their trainers blended in on a secret mission in the distant region. It was because of that secrecy that pokemon not native to the region could not be present along with the Rockets. "Here we are," Laiki got off the car that she didn't remember which past boyfriend she had stolen it from. It didn't matter, she dumped him anyway. The smaller pokemon such as Purry, Peachy and Meteor were riding in the bright yellow car with her, while the larger ones were transported in their pokeballs.
The pokemon resort was quite large and expensive looking. It was a place that stroke Laiki as being odd in the sense that humans served pokemon instead of the other way around. She entered the large gates behind the tall brick fence that encompassed a considerably large terrain. The glimpses at the amusement park style attractions she saw beyond the elegant reception building fashioned as a medieval castle, looked quite amusing indeed, but they were open only to pokemon. The roller coasters and variety of rides were available in various sizes to accommodate all types of pokemon comfortably.
"This place looks pricey," Laiki whistled.
"I'm sure it is not that way for Lord and Lady Ragnarok," Laiki was caught by surprise and turned quickly, retrieving her gun from its holster strapped to her leg under her showy maid outfit.
Realizing what she had done, the undercover Rocket laughed sweetly as the employee who had greeted her, wearing a tuxedo with the resort's insignia, turned pale in shock, his golden eyes wide. "My deepest apologies for that; I'm not only a maid for the honorable Lord and Lady Ragnarok, but also part of their security personnel." She put away her gun as if she was never an inch away from shooting someone a second ago.
"Ah yes, I understand," the employee, straightened his stance and brushed the non-existent dirt off his uniform in an automatic motion.
Laiki observed the insignia on the left side of his tuxedo, it was a Mew encased in a circle formed by its tail, its fur a shade of light blue. It was the symbol of the resort as if to say the place was good enough for a Mew, should anyone ever decide to bring one over, not that they expected something like that to actually happen. "You work here," she stated, "so this means I can leave the Ragnarok pokemon with you? How did you know it was us, anyway?"
"Of course it had to be the Ragnarok pokemon, their fine pedigree precedes them," the employee complimented hypocritically as he had been trained to do. "Plus, what else could the red R in the collars around their necks signify, if not the fact that they are members of the proud Ragnarok family."
Laiki grinned, "of course." She would have loved to be there when Comet and Pixel came to make the reservation playing the part of a snobbish young couple of millionaires, who had supposedly just inherited the Ragnarok fortune; a fortune which was in fact only a product of their imagination along with their fictional family history.
The collars with the red Rs were a parting gift from Comet and Pixel to their pokemon. A way to let them know they were still a team that would one day be reunited when the business in Unova had been properly taken care of. All of Comet and Pixel's pokemon had those collars symbolizing Team Rocket, but to the Valhalla Pokemon Resort staff, it was a symbol to identify them as being better than other pokemon because they belonged to the rich Ragnarok family.
Laiki followed the employee, musing about how a single strand of platinum hair standing out of place on his otherwise perfectly brushed head reminded her of someone. She couldn't precise who, possibly a past boyfriend. After the pokemon were checked in as per the previous arrangement with Lord and Lady Ragnarok, Laiki took care of her own agenda. "So..." she looked at the name tag on the right side of his tuxedo opposite to the blue Mew insignia, "Odin, when do you get off work?" She winked.
xoxox xox xoxox
Sometime later, after the Unova mission's conclusion... "Excuse me Sir and Madame, a bill has arrived which requires a signature." The family's long time butler approached the couple with a piece of paper and a golden pen, both items placed upon a silver platter. The bill represented quite a steep charge with a multitude of digits, thanks to all the chaos destruction the feisty Ragnarok pokemon caused at the Valhalla Pokemon Resort. "Curiously, the bill is-"
"A bill is a bill, just something to sign and forget about. It does not matter, do not fret over it." The husband took the pen and signed the bill without a second thought, not realizing that though it requested permission to draw the payment from his bank account number, it was for the purpose of paying the expenses inquired by a Mr. and Mrs. Ragnarok that he had never heard of. Once again, he joined his wife in the quaint little table with the luxurious tea set, drinking fancy tea that tasted terrible, but gave them an air of grandeur due to its expense. "As I was saying, my dear, I do wonder where that delinquent son of ours might be."
"I cannot imagine," the wife replied after taking a sip of her tea with her pinky finger properly raised as she delicately held her cup. "Our mischievous little James could be anywhere, perhaps even in a distant city across the ocean..."
xoxox xox xoxox
Back in the present, far away from Kanto, in a region known by the name of Unova... "They sure do love bridges in this place." Comet observed, "Not that I'm complaining, bridges provide a nice shaded place to hide out." Comet and Pixel were currently taking a lunch break after a long day of traveling, before it was time to move on to their special mission.
"The pizza here is really good too," Pixel happily took another bite of her pizza slice. "Tepig and Pinap, yum!"
"And the cheeseburgers are good too, even if I can't taste much of a difference between Taurus and Bouffalant," Comet observed.
"I'm going to have a look around, since I won't have time to do much running around once the mission gets to its next stage, and I still don't have a pokemon." Pixel started up the hill towards the top of the bridge. "I'll have dessert later, don't you dare open my box of mint filling gourmet chocolates in my absence."
"A thief who steals from a thief..." Comet grinned mischievously, but stopped, seeing Pixel's rare sadistic expression. "I think Peachy rubbed off on you. Anyway, I need to go pokemon hunting too, it'll be interesting to catch a pokemon without having one of my own," Comet mused. There was a moment of silence as their eyes met in the form of a challenge, then Pixel took off in a run. "You sure you want to fight off a ferocious Unova Pokemon alone?"
"You sure you want to try to interfere?" Pixel called back from several feet away above the hill.
"I would rather not get in the way of your sadistic moments." Comet admitted as he watched Pixel disappear from his line of sight, her footsteps passing over the bridge above.
xoxox xox xoxox
A relatively short distance away from the Skyarrow Bridge, which was the unspoken rendezvous point for Comet and Pixel, the blue haired girl approached a group of Pokemon just off the road near Route Three. She had taken a brief look at some Unova pokemon information and identified the black and white Ponyta style creatures as being Blitzle. "An electric type, just what I need."
Pixel considered her options, though she took some basic training as part of being a Rocket, her primary function was that of a hacker, thus she wasn't as well trained for the front lines as Comet, but she was determined to catch a pokemon on her own. At her disposal she had empty pokeballs, a vital tool for her current objective and no real weaponry unless she counted her gloves and boots for punching and kicking. The smoke bomb she also carried on her belt wasn't exactly a weapon, but it could be useful nonetheless.
The gloves had a metal strip atop the knuckles to serve as a sort of ground similar to the concept of an electric rod, complimenting the resistance against electricity of the material in case she had to deal with overloaded equipment or emergency hardware modifications. Similarly, the boots were a matching set with metal tips over noiseless electricity resistant soles and material, good for sneaking around unnoticed and to serve as an additional form of protection to electric charges.
"Prepare to be captured!" Pixel charged at the nearest Blitzle, a female who gave the unusual human an odd look before unleashing a blast of electricity in the form of a Discharge attack. The electricity was attracted to the specially designed gloves and boots and was not enough to stop Pixel's rampage as she got close enough to the wild pokemon to kick.
Taken by surprise, the Blitzle took the hit directly and stumbled back in shock. Upset at the human who had come to disturb the peace, she called for help and the cries were heard by the leader of their little group, a male of a similar structure as the others, but identifiable as being the evolved form of their species, Zebstrika. The creature let out a stronger Discharge attack, making Pixel cringe in spite of her protective gear.
"Not bad, maybe I should catch you instead." The surrounding Blitzle backed off to leave room for a duel between the invading human and their fearless leader. The angry Zebstrika dashed forward in a Wild Charge attack that Pixel knew she better get out of the way. She threw the smoke bomb down and ran for her life.
When the smoke cleared, the confused pokemon looked around for the human who seemed to have vanished into thin air. Up on a tree, Pixel sat on a branch thankful that she was able to get up there. At least the pokemon wouldn't be able to trample her if she wasn't on the ground, but she was still kind of trapped. What could she do next? Watch for an opportunity to sneak away and retreat? Never! Rockets don't retreat! Maybe she could tire out that Zebstrika somehow.
"Hey Zebstrika! I'm up here! Come and get me you coward!" Pixel let her legs hand off the branch, sitting on it as if riding a Ponyta. The Zebstrika took the bait and angrily stomped over, showing off for the group of Blitzle. He let out an angry Shockwave, followed by another Discharge, but the electricity seemed to be lost on Pixel's boots. "Nice try," she mocked.
Zebstrika rammed into the tree repeatedly in frustration. All the shaking made the branch Pixel was on finally break under her weight and the Rocket hacker plummeted to the pokemon below.
Landing on Zebstrika with a pained "owff," Pixel scrambled to hold on as the pokemon recovered from the fallen branch that landed on his head and tried to throw her off. Since his electric attacks were ineffective before and he was getting tired, Zebstrika focused his remaining energy in jumping around to throw the girl off his back like something out of a Taurus and Bouffalant rodeo contest.
Pixel held on as tightly as she could, putting every ounce of strength provided by her state of high adrenaline into her grip. Her eyes were closed for the most part, until she noticed that her wild ride was slowing down. Finally, the defeated Zebstrika fell over with a somewhat blueish hue on his face. It was then that Pixel noticed she was holding on so tightly, she was strangling the creature. "I win!" She hopped off the exhausted pokemon and threw a pokeball at him, capturing him with ease.
The remaining group of Blitzle had surrounded the combatants watching with great expectation. They stared at Pixel with unreadable expressions for a moment as she faced them. 'I'm in trouble...' she thought for a second, there was no way she could defend against such numbers, there must have been about a dozen Blitzle. Like a Rocket, she glared defiantly as if she was in possession of some kind of amazing deadly weapon the likes of which her enemies could not even begin to comprehend. Then the Blitzle stampeded away frightened by the defeat of their now ex-leader. Pixel grinned and contemplated the pokeball in her hand, mission accomplished.
xoxox xox xoxox
After Pixel's departure, Comet was taking his sweet time finishing his meal, when an unexpected creature appeared in the area. A pokemon identifiable as a Krookodile seemed to be sniffing around the water's edge possibly in hopes of sinking its teeth into one of those Luvdisc look-alikes, Alomomola. He seemed to pick up a more interesting scent originating from the bags of food near Comet in a comfortably shaded spot at the water's edge under Skyarrow Bridge. It looked like the perfect picnic to steal; it was occasions like this which made him leave his desert home to venture into areas closer to the human populations.
Confidently, Krookodile stomped his way over to the red haired human and stood imposing, waiting for him to run away in terror and leave his food behind. The pokemon was disappointed when instead he received a solid hit right in the nose from a pokeball that bounced off back into the hand of the thrower, its red beam fading before it could begin to form. "I guess I'll have to rough you up before I catch you, it wouldn't be any good to catch you if you were so easily caught anyway."
This human was challenging him? The nerve! Stomping his feet and growling loudly, Krookodile waited for the human to toss out a pokeball that wasn't empty. He was hoping for a delicious Pidove to sink his teeth into, but nothing came. Instead the human took a fighting stance as if he meant to battle himself. Krookodile huffed in indignation until his sore nose was further abused by a punch to the face, which made him stumbled back.
With a low angry growl, Krookodile went on the attack with Bite. Comet ducked out of the way avoiding decapitation by a hair. "Your breath smells like Rattata road kill, or is it Minccino?" Needless to say, Comet's commentary was not welcomed by the already angry Krookodile, who stomped around enraged.
Krookodile's claws ripped off the patches of grass that grew on the edge of the land beyond the sidewalk near the bridge above, gaining access to the dirt below and lifting it in a thicker version of a Sand Tomb attack. His odd stomping dance continued towards the edge of the water where the dirt he dug out with his claws mixed with the liquid and turned into a Mud Slap attack.
After making a big mess, Krookodile stopped and observed his handy work. An angry looking filthy human stood glaring daggers at him, covered in dirt and mud. "Now you're going to get it!" Before Krookodile could react, Comet launched at him in an all out fury of hits, narrowly avoiding the deadly jaws on several occasions.
"Had enough?" Comet questioned nearly out of breath a while later, his clothes ripped and his whole body covered in dirt and mud. Krookodile growled defiantly, he wasn't going to let a human beat him. The large beast once again went on the attack, his powerful jaws literally trying to bite Comet's head off.
Comet dodged once more and with everything he had, he tackled his opponent into the water near by. Tired from the battle and exposed to his weakness to the water element, Krookodile finally had enough and could no longer fight back. At last victorious, Comet tossed a pokeball at the Krookodile, which he captured. "That was quite a workout..."
Examining his muddy state, Comet thought he should rid himself of the dirty civilian clothes and get cleaned up in the water under the bridge before changing into his Rocket uniform. Pixel should be back soon, as they would need to be on their way to finish the last preparations of their coming mission. He let Krookodile out again for a while to try to get to know the pokemon as well as he could in the short time available in hopes of being able to better guide him in battle.
Comet picked up Pixel's priced box of mint filling gourmet chocolates. She told him not to touch them, but he had a good reason. The strong scent of mint invaded Comet's senses as he opened the box, the aroma catching the attention of Krookodile as well, who thought that maybe getting caught wasn't so bad if he was well fed. "Try some of this." Comet tossed a chocolate at Krookodile, which he happily ate.
The large pokemon opened his mouth wide and for a moment Comet thought he was on the attack again, but Krookodile stayed still with his expectant jaws apart. As if to emphasize his request, Krookodile pointed to his open mouth.
"Okay, one more, but that's it, or you won't be the only one trying to bite my head off today." Krookodile accepted the next chocolate and in a sudden motion snatched away the box, devouring the rest of the chocolates box and all. "No! You're almost as gluttonous as Peachy." Then again, almost really did make a difference.
Comet could imagine Krookodile trying to steal Peachy's food. Then Peachy would go all out with her electric attacks in an attempt to cook Krookodile and devour him in revenge. Purry did try to force Comet to eat Shenron that one time, maybe that's what they meant when they said Team Rocket could have an eat or be eaten atmosphere.
"I guess I'll have to figure out a way to earn Pix's mercy when she gets back." Guessing that he would have a better chance of that if he was clean, Comet followed through with his plans to get cleaned up and changed before Pixel got there, with the exception of the fact that he didn't have enough time.
Comet was in the middle of swimming under the bridge when Pixel returned. "I do hope you're not skinny dipping," she joked, though it was obvious he wasn't as the waters were clear.
Comet chuckled, "you wish."
After a moment's pause during which her eyes scanned the area and took in the presence of a Krookodile lounging under the bridge's shade, she inquired. "Are my chocolates safe?" She searched for them among their things but didn't find them. "Comet..."
"Well... you see... Krookodile really needed a breath mint and since the chocolates had a mint filling..." Comet began to explain, giving Pixel his most convincing look of innocence and a radiant smile, which could work wonders on anyone but Pixel and her stubborn resolution not to be influenced.
"You caught a pokemon, that's good," Pixel gave Comet a sly smile, suspiciously changing the subject in the middle of her accusing conversation. "I caught a pokemon too," she released Zebstrika from his pokeball, "and he's all rested up after taking a nap in his pokeball..."
Comet suddenly had the sinking feeling that he should really get out of the water...
"Shock Wave!"
End of Journey 04
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 05: Always Watching
(Two different timelines meet, as do a father and daugther.)
"Ow! The stupid force field won't let me in!"
Kair's day was just getting started and it had so far been boring. Giovanni wanted her to report to the gym for whatever reason. When she got there, Delia informed her he was out, off to an unplanned meeting in Johto. It made her wonder who would be the one to pay for that. With nothing planned for the day, Kair was walking out of the gym when she saw a teenage boy walk right into the glass double doors at the entrance.
The boy glared bloody murder at the glass doors, his expression disturbingly similar to a pissed off Giovanni. His hair was brown, with a golden line in the middle, spiked up. He rubbed his pained nose and picked up his red hat that fell off on impact. He was dressed in a similar way to Ash. Kair stared, no, it couldn't be, she couldn't have another little brother. His resemblance had to be an odd coincidence.
The boy looked as if he remembered something important exclaiming, "Oh yeah!" Then pushed the door open effortlessly, allowing his two pokemon to walk into the gym with him. The boy looked at the Persian and Vulpix that followed him. "Be careful you two, today we are going to challenge the great Giovanni for a gym battle." His eyes shone with admiration.
It was too bad for the boy, Giovanni wasn't in today. As the boy went on his way to request a gym battle, Kair silently let him go, let someone else break the news to him. He was odd, like a strange combination between Giovanni and Ash. The boy's Persian stopped and looked at Kair with piercing eyes. He was bigger than an average Persian and well built. For a moment she felt as if she was under her father's scrutinizing glare. His eyes seemed to compel a request, no, an order, for her to stay out of trouble.
"Let's go!" The boy called out for his strong looking Persian. The Vulpix that stood beside him had a look of pure sugary sweetness. What a strange trio.
As the Persian left to catch up with his trainer, Kair continued on her way. She really needed a vacation if she actually thought Giovanni was watching her through that Persian's eyes. The Vulpix reminded her of Delia. As for the boy, she saw Giovanni, Ash and something unknown in him, but he felt like a whole different person. It was the presence of the two pokemon that felt strangely similar to Giovanni and Delia. Kair decided that maybe she should go for a drive to clear her mind.
"What do you mean he's not here?" The boy's voice echoed; he had received the news. He grumbled under his breath as he headed out of the gym once again, passing next to Kair.
Kair was focused on her own thoughts. She was picturing the open highway passing by at an alarming speed as she pushed one of her father's cars to the limit. The look in her face spoke volumes to those who knew how to read it. Her father could certainly read her expression.
A loud hiss pushed Kair out of her thoughts. The boy's Persian was giving her a scolding look. It was as of he could read her face like a book. "Alright, alright, I'll stay out of trouble," she conceded and the Persian finally left her alone to follow his trainer away into the city. Kair shook her head, perhaps it really would do her some good if she spent the day resting.
End of Journey 05
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 06: Duel
(Different timelines collide again, in an epic duel of Ash versus Lance.)
The following week passed by quickly as Ash prepared for the most challenging Indigo League competition ever to be held. Using his influence in the Pokemon League, Giovanni arranged it for invitations to be sent to all the top ranked trainers in every known region, even some of the gym leaders participated. Ash saw many familiar faces as he was reunited with many of his past traveling companions and people he met during his travels, all of them there to test their skills in the ultimate tournament.
One round after another ended as only the best trainers prevailed. Ash easily went through the first few rounds, finding more of a challenge later into the tournament, but still winning with ease. The time came to face the elite and Ash fought through with unbreakable determination until he reached Lance. By then his pokemon were understandably exhausted. The Indigo League was seen by many as the impossible challenge that skilled trainers couldn't help it but to pursue against all odds. Who could defeat al the elite trainers one after another when they each had an entire new team of Pokemon ready to battle and the challenger had to count on the same team for all the battles. No healing items were allowed between rounds as per the new tournament rules, turning the competition into a true search for a legendary master.
Ash had decided not to switch pokemon, though it was allowed to give them the chance to rest in their pokeballs. He explained to his carefully chosen team that this was necessary to establish a 'clear victory' as it was his goal. Pikachu, Charizard, Serperior, Feraligatr, Swellow and Snorlax understood and were willing to try their best and follow their trainer to victory.
By the time Ash reached Lance he had only Pikachu and Charizard able to battle, but was determined to win. The battle progressed strongly with vast skill and power being displayed on both sides, until finally; Lance was down to his last pokemon, Dragonite. The exhausted Charizard had fainted along with Aerodactyl, which left Pikachu as the last opponent.
"You look confident," Lance observed. He pulled a tiny remote control from his sleeve and pressed a button. The device was not captured by the cameras transmitting the epic duel within the Indigo League chambers to the spectators at the stadium and countless people in front of their TVs. "You've fought admirably so far, but this is more than just a Pokemon League battle, this will be a real duel!"
"What do you mean?" Ash wondered if Lance found his behavior suspicious, not switching pokemon and fighting more aggressively then usual, yet somehow also with more precision. Yet there was no way he could know if his connections with Team Rocket, could he? "What did you just do?"
"They're no longer watching us due to technical difficulties," Lance explained, of course, that was just an excuse. "The public might be disappointed to miss the end of this battle, but it's necessary. I know of your connection with Team Rocket, though the full story is a mystery to me. I suspected ever since I heard about your mother and Giovanni. I know what he's trying to do, he gathered everyone here to test their power and perhaps more so to test yours. I don't know what kind of agreement or relationship you hold with Giovanni, but this is to me a challenge from Team Rocket."
Ash decided it was best not to reveal too much and instead tried to present the better side of the situation. "Team Rocket is really not so bad. Just give the situation some time and you'll see that."
"Team Rocket wants to take over the world," Lance stated as a matter of fact, his face serious.
"They might take good care of it then; they will take good care of it. Mom and I will make sure of it and Dad is starting to see our point in his own way," Ash insisted.
Lance closed in eyes in thought. "Even if many words are exchanged, pokemon masters end to communicate better through battle. If you can defeat me, I'll be open to believing what you said, but I won't be easily convinced." To call him a master was an acknowledgement of Ash having reached a point where he was nearly impossible to beat. "This will be a true duel, not only between our pokemon, but also between us! Dragonite, take my power and use it as your own!" with a defying roar, the dragon pokemon began to glow. "This is something that only a select few can do, I give my power as the dragon master to Dragonite. With my energy in him, we fight as one!"
Dragonite's power was so overwhelming, it was almost tangible. Ash could feel the pulsations of energy running through the dragon pokemon's body. It looked as if he was invincible. "Pikachu!" It was Pikachu's voice that snapped Ash out of his awe.
"You're right Pikachu, we've come this far and we're not going to give up now!" If Lance was revealing his true power, Ash knew he had to answer in the same way to be able to battle against him. He focused his aura power; Ash's energy flowed smoothly into Pikachu, who because of their bond, had no trouble receiving it. The two trainers and their pokemon continued to glow as they lost the sense of their surroundings and felt as if they were floating in an endless nothingness where only their imposing power existed.
"Attack!" They called out in unison as their pokemon dashed forward surrounded by light and collided with abundant electricity and beams of energy similar to hyper beams but at the same time different. The effort put into the attack and the pain that came from the collision of the two strong pokemon was felt not only by the combating creatures, but by the trainers just as clearly. The connection between them was not broken as the pokemon continued to release their energy into each other in a brilliant flash of light that prevented anything from being clearly visible. They didn't need to watch the battle to know what was happening; both pokemon masters felt it all too clearly.
Many thoughts began to surface in Ash's mind as a result of the energy he was releasing. He remembered the most significant events of his life both joyful and harsh. The start of his journey, his many adventures, his family, friends, allies and loved ones. Was this the right thing to do? Could he trust Team Rocket to build a bright future out of the darkness that it had become? As the seed of doubt invaded Ash, his power began to diminish and both he and Pikachu felt the consequences. Ash pushed his energy to protect his dear companion, receiving the larger effect of Lance and Dragonite's combined power.
Ash knew he wouldn't last long that way. He couldn't doubt himself, he needed to be sure of what he was doing or he would lose. Then he remembered his promise to Mewtwo. He remembered how he had been in difficult situations before and managed to overcome them. He remembered how out of the trial of life, good rewards could come. Whatever the future brought, he would face it and those precious to him would be there to face it with him. As long as he had hope and determination, everything would work out. The details could wait until later, for now, all that Ash needed to do was trust.
With that trust, hope and understanding, his doubts evaporated, because he truly believed that a bright future was to come. For some reason, he remembered Skye and his mysterious pokemon. For him, for Mewtwo, for Misty, for his parents, for his friends, for his pokemon, for everyone, he would win and earn the power to help shape the future. The pain faded away and the building's roof and walls were reduced to dust being blown away in every direction with one last burst of power. The light dimmed, the energies calmed and a pokemon and trainer rested in a deep slumber from which they wouldn't wake until several hours later. There stood Ash, the victorious pokemon master, alongside his long time companion, Pikachu.
End of Journey 06
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 07: Loyalty From Beyond
(The origen of the "Loyalty" timeline, explained within the "Don't Give Me Diamonds" timeline.)
"Where am I?" Rather than a voice, it was a stream of psychic thoughts, a mental voice. He had no physical form, but existed as a collection of energy. "Did I... die?"
"You've passed on," a female psychic voice answered gently.
"Isn't that the same thing?" The male asked with some amount of annoyance. He always had a temper. "Team Rocket was left in ruins, but at least it brought the world down with it."
"Was that your wish?" The silhouette of a Gardevoir started to slowly become clearer.
The soul paused, then replied, "no. Everything fell apart after she died, it was that which made my son and I turn against each other..."
"Do you wish to change that?" The figure of the Gardevoir was clear now.
"To change history..." the soul mused. "If I wasn't a soul floating endlessly, while talking to some kind of pokemon angel, I wouldn't believe that to be possible. I want to change it... That time when she left, I'll go after her then, if Delia remains in Team Rocket, everything will be different, she'll live and Ash will be on my side." The soul of Giovanni glowed brightly as if wanting to break free of the stream of energy that guided him.
"Stop this! You will get a second chance. The opportunity to guide your descendant into amending history, but not at such an early point. You will recover her." Gardevoir tried to contain the energy coming from the strong soul.
"Recover her? I would rather never lose her in the first place!" A tare of light appeared in the endless stream of energy between worlds. There Giovanni saw himself with Delia's letter in his hands. She had left and he had not chased after her. "Go after her!"
The Giovanni of the past heard his own voice echoing in his head. He felt what his future self felt and knew he had to find Delia. She must have gone to Pallet Town. If that was true, then it wasn't much of a hiding place. She must want to be found, but what pushed her to leave in the first place? What secret worried her? He would find out.
"Stop this!" Gardevoir closed the tare in time. "Destiny already dictated that you would change history in the company of your descendant, his family would take measures to stop a paradox from occurring. By changing history at such an early point without precautions you have created a paradox. How can you regret not going after Delia if you did go after her? This timeline... I will separate it from the main one to prevent further consequences. When both timelines reach a point where they are at last the same, they will unite again. Yet, I fear that point in time is far away. Not even I know how long it will take for destiny to mend. Now go, go to the place of waiting."
The Gardevoir emitted a bright light, which pushed Giovanni out of the stream of many colors, causing him to loose consciousness in the process. When he woke up, he was in that mysterious place again, a place where he would stay until it was time to be reborn.
End of Journey 07
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 08: Double
"Right, tug your bangs into the hat and keep it pulled down. That's it, keep your face in the shadows." Laiki nodded in approval. All three women were in the medical area of the Viridian Rocket HQ where Laiki worked. It was the place to go for gossip. Being the lover of love scandals Laiki was, she would happily fuel as many as she could, braving the risks that came with that. "Okay, so Pixel here will take your place in our little Rocket party. Since you had an argument with the boss recently it's understandable that you avoid him, right?"
"Yes, I don't think he'll need to talk to me, just see that I'm there from afar." If Kair was in the little party, then it meant that she couldn't be off somewhere she shouldn't be, in company she shouldn't have. Teleporting mastery aside, it would be next to impossible to repeatedly go back and forth between considerable distances every few minutes for four or five hours without passing out of exhaustion. Even so, Kair had to point out the obvious, "this isn't going to work. Your face is too innocent, even in the shadows from a distance."
"The only direct similarity is the color of our hair," and it wasn't even the exact same shade. "This really isn't going to work," Kair concluded. Pixel agreed, though Laiki was still optimistic, maybe a different style of uniform or...
"C'mon Pixel, work with us here," Laiki encouraged. "Show us that predatory sadistic expression. Just pretend there's a naked Comet standing right in front of you!"
"I'm not predatory!" Pixel argued, "you know I'm always shy around guys and barely speak to them. It takes me forever to get comfortable enough to be friendly."
"Yeah, it's probably better for their health that you remain shy," Laiki teased.
Pixel pouted, "I don't like Comet. I already told you I like older men."
"Oh no, you're in love with the new mainframe hardware. When the covers were off for the circuitry to be adjusted, you were staring!" Laiki teased.
"This is getting weird," Kair mused aloud.
"It's nothing weird!" Pixel chirped, "it's kind of like when you see a really attractive car."
That was something Kair could somewhat relate to. Seeing that the two other women had apparently reached an understanding, Laiki commented, "my preference is for human males only. My Orange Islands boyfriend is coming to see me soon. It's going to be so much fun when he gets here. He's a Rocket too, so I can sneak him into my room at HQ. Well actually, I don't have to sneak him in. I'm taking him shopping so he can spoil me, then when we come back..."
"We don't need to know," Kair and Pixel chorused, surprising each other.
"It must be the night of synchronization for blue haired women," Laiki joked.
"Then it must be the night of trouble for red haired men," Kair added, whether she had a double or not, she still fully intended to kidnap Lance tonight.
End of Journey 08
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 09: Dreams
With their mission completed they waited for the right moment to move, in a little cabin in the middle of no where. The place was small, not furnished and falling apart, but it provided enough cover. When the coast was clear they would make their get away back to headquarters. To their dismay, Proton insisted that they wait for a while to ensure they weren't seen. It was ridiculous and Kair was sure he was just being annoying. None the less, they listened for the sake of being able to rest for a while.
Kair, Comet and Pixel, sat on the floor with most of their pokemon in their pokeballs. Pixel had closed her eyes, falling asleep after a long period of insomnia, which was normal for her and thus didn't really bother her. Comet never needed much sleep so he sat perfectly still even after Pixel unconsciously leaned on him as if trying to get more comfortable. A few minutes passed and she started to laugh in her sleep.
Kair raised an eyebrow, then curiously looked at Comet for a possible answer. "She sometimes laughs in her sleep, but she never talks." He stated to indicate that it was nothing unusual, "who knows what kind of dreams she's having."
Kair could come up with a number of theories, but had no clue about which one was true, "do we even want to know?"
"Given the fact that she practically laughs her head off at horror movies, I think it's best if her dreams remain private," Comet concluded.
Pixel's unconscious laughter continued softly. She moved her legs scratching against the old wood with an unpleasant sound loud enough to bother the conscious, but not loud enough to wake her. "Make her stop," Kair leaned back against the wall in the corner to the right from Comet and Pixel, she could use a short nap, it was clear they were in no danger to be discovered. Besides, they would hear the Growlithe coming and if not be alerted by their pokemon look out, Purry, who sat on the little cabin's roof.
However, Kair found she couldn't get to sleep, she was tired, but not in the mood for sleep, even if it sounded like a contradiction. Her mind wandered in random thoughts and she noticed that though they were in no way a couple out of a cheesy soap opera, a fact that she was glad for, Comet and Pixel must have been together after all. It seemed obvious upon seeing the calm in their closeness and the casual certainty with which Comet explained that Pixel sometimes laughed in her sleep.
Though Kair had been with them on a mission before, she had not noticed such signs, or maybe they had not been present while they were working and focusing on the mission. Her mind shifted to Lance and she found herself wondering where that came from, then realized that it wasn't simply because there was another couple near by, but rather because the couple in question was composed of a red haired man and a blue haired woman. Though Lance's hair was a deeper red tonality than Comet's red-orange, the basic colors of red and blue was what stood out to her. Except those two were both Rockets.
Comet tried to hold Pixel's legs still to stop the scratching noise. She responded by coiling up into a little ball with her knees against her chest. Then suddenly her eyes shot open and she sat up reaching for the tiny cell phone on her belt next to her pokeballs. She opened it up and looked at it. She rolled her eyes at the message; it was just Laiki in one of her nonsensical ramblings about one of her boyfriends forgetting the monthaversary of some random thing. Pixel never cared for monthaversaries, or anniversaries or fluffy stuff.
"Did I just see little sparks from your cell?" Comet inquired.
"I sleep like a rock so I modified it to give me a little shock," Pixel shrugged and put her phone back on her belt, no longer in the mood to nap.
"What was your funny dream about?" Kair decided to try to satisfy her curiosity after all.
"It was silly really," Pixel confessed. "There was this new criminal organization, Team Music or something. They were disguised as a record label and we had to infiltrate them. You were on vocals and played the bass, Comet played the guitar and I was the director and manager. The guitar and bass had some sort of laser weapons in them, like something out of a sci-fi movie. The stage equipment hid a lot of heavy artillery that I would use to watch your backs while you performed on stage and caught the attention of Team Music's leader to gain more access in the organization." It was no easy task for Pixel's dream self, despite being blessed with reality bending abilities that no living creature outside of dreams could hope to possess. She had to watch their backs, manage the special effects and do some hacking on the side, all the while not getting distracted by the music show or the noise of the crowd.
"I think the worse part is I can actually picture that," Kair commented. After seeing Team Magma, Aqua and Galaxy, she didn't doubt that something as ridiculous as Team Music could exist.
"You're not really telling us the whole story," Comet observed.
Pixel grinned, "it was the outfits. Petrel designed them along with the band's image. You were called the Rockin' Rockets because it was apparently so obvious that no one would ever suspect it involved Team Rocket. The outfits were completely ridiculous fan service. They were made of some sort of shiny black plastic-like fabric with more zippers and belts that anyone could be comfortable with. It was no wonder you had to be armed and needed backup, it would be impossible to run, let alone kick in those pants."
Pixel fell into a fit of laughter and Kair curiously scooted over. She had a feeling she would regret this. She placed both index fingers on the sides of Pixel's head and began to focus. Catching where this was going, having previously become aware of Kair's abilities, Pixel threw the image to the front of her mind. Pictures filled Kair's mind and she had to back away and shake her head. "Never ever describe any of that to Petrel!" Pixel was amused by the outburst, but showed a knowing look that promised she would keep quiet about it. "Was Lance the drummer?" Kair asked.
"Yeah, our drummer mysteriously disappeared and he had to step in," Pixel confirmed.
"How come his outfit wasn't as... detailed as Comet's," despite the initial shock of having the image thrown into her mind when Pixel focused on it, catching a glimpse of Lance in a similarly ridiculous outfit in the background was still amusing.
"My subconscious has less imagery to work with," Pixel logically explained.
Her statement made Comet shift uncomfortably, "what in the world did you show her?"
"It wasn't anything too bad..." Pixel never stopped looking amused.
Kair massaged her temples, "what was that other thing you threw at me?"
"Other thing?" Pixel honestly didn't seem to know what it was.
"What else were you thinking of?" Kair elaborated. "It looked complicated."
"Oh that," Pixel remembered that in her dream she was also hacking. "Codes, I was dreaming about computer codes too and they must have gotten stuck to the dream's images."
Kair tried to shake the codes out of her head, they were headache inducing. "You were right," she finally told Comet, "it's best if her dreams stay private."
End of Journey 09
xoxox xox xoxox
Endless
Journey 10: Dark Light
Kair:
I feel the pulse of legacy,
On my shoulders heavily,
A challenge of tenacity,
A test of my intensity.
The lines blur, how to know?
Who is it that is my foe?
I could never let this go,
Let the truth finally show.
Lance:
Everything I thought I knew,
Has been shattered by you.
New realities beyond broken glass,
I never knew would come to pass.
Many secrets deep within,
Of hidden places where we've been.
The feeling courses through my skin,
Out of control my world spins.
Kair and Lance:
In a journey we'll embark,
Chasing after a bright spark,
Don't forget this, my remark,
Dark is light and light is dark.
Secret flame that burns bright,
Show the way, pierce the night,
Let destiny be realized,
Light is dark and dark is light.
Always go with all your might,
For all the battles that we fight,
Hidden powers leave their mark,
Dark is light and light is dark.
End of Journey 10
Disclaimer, I don't own Pokemon. Only Comet, Pixel and Laiki are mine, minus the Team Rocket concepts, which belong to Nintendo. Kair belongs to Nafatali and so do the concepts from her story related to Kair and Lance's background from "The Inheritance" series.
Journey 04: This story is based on Nafatali's Inheritance series, specifically Volume 7: Black and White. It takes place before Comet and Pixel's appearance there. Comet and Pixel's fake identity as Lord and Lady Ragnarok is a reference to Norse Mythology, as is the name of the vacation spot, Valhalla Pokemon Resort and the employee's name, Odin. The yellow car wasn't a reference to anyone specifically, but the observation about Odin's hair was a reference to Rex, one of Laiki's ex's who appears in Don't Give Me Diamonds. Pixel is eating the Unova equivalent to a ham and pineapple pizza. The scene where Purry attempts to make Comet swallow his Gyarados is also in Diamonds.
Journey 05 and Journey 06: Two little crossovers between my "Don't Give Me Diamonds" and Nafatali's "The Inheritance" series. "Always Watching" takes place during the time Skye (Vandel) spent in the present time. "Duel" takes place at the end of "Don't Give Me Diamonds". Both stories integrate aspects of "The Inheritance" into the "Don't Give Me Diamonds" timeline.
Journey 10: This one isn't really a crossover like some of the other stories in this collection. This poem is based fully on Nafatali's Inheritance series. Warning! This explamation has heavy spoilers! Don't read it unless you've already finished the Inheritance series! Team Rocket is "dark" as it is a criminal organization. The champion and G-man would be "light." Yet ironically it is Lance who is associated with the "dark" pokemon element and Kair with psychic which is like "light". The first verse refers to Kair's discovery of her true identity. The second verse is about her struggle caught between being Lance's lover and enemy. The third verse is about how Kair kept taking Lance by surprise. The forth verse refers to how he ended up digging out a past that he thought he could leave behind and they discovered how closely linked they were after all. What they thought they knew (light) is full of secrets (dark) and what may appear as very different (light and dark), might be similar after all. "Chasing after a bright spark," is sort of a "moth to a flame" kind of saying, something that's too intense to ignore even if there are consequences. Discoveries are made, trials are faced and every event leaves its mark in their lives.