Pokemon Fan Fiction ❯ Iron Royalty ❯ Chapter 1: Something Wicked ( Chapter 1 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]
---Riley---

He was drying out the towels from the recent wash with Carolina when Lucario came racing out like he was on fire. He grabbed both of them and dragged them inside.

Riley looked down and then up. The sofa they’d put the girl on was empty and the Espeon was snoozing. At first, they weren’t sure what was happening, until they heard someone from under the coffee table set up.

“Ow.” The girl sat up. She reached up and touched her face. Because she had her back to them, she looked like a normal person. But when she looked around at them, her gray eyes seemed to be familiar. “Wha?!” She jumped up. Her night dress fluttered around her.

Riley looked around and realized Carolina had left the two “youngsters” alone and now Riley was going to have to tell all.

“How did you undress me?! Where am I? Am I dreaming?”

Riley sighed and put his hand on her shoulder. Despite the table being between them, Riley tried to portray calm into her. “It’s okay. You’re safe. You’re on Iron Island.” He was trying to avoid telling her that Carolina had changed her while Riley stood outside with Lucario and Espeon.

She gently took Riley’s hands off her shoulders. “Um, that’s nice and all, but why am I here? I was training and--” She stopped, looking over his shoulder. “Am I on a scientist’s site? Or is this some kind of ‘stranger’s place’?”

Riley dropped his head. She was impossible! She kept asking too many questions. “Slow down, let me answer one question at a time.”

“Okay, then answer this; who are you?”

“My name is Riley. This is my partner, Lucario. I’m a trainer and a trainee of Aura, miss. So, what’s your name?”

“Um.” She looked at Espeon and then sat down beside it. “My name is Reina, and this is my best friend, Espeon. Um, I’m a coordinator and a breeder.” She crossed her arms and looked thoughtful. “You wouldn’t happen to be a Riley that met Dawn from Twinleaf Town, would you?”

Riley sat on the coffee table, facing Reina. “Yes, I met Dawn, and Ash. Have you met them before?”

Reina shrugged. “I’ve met too many people to remember them all. Anyways, on the up and up of this conversation, you’re quite mellow, you know that?”

Riley felt heat on his ears and quickly looked down. Her knees were still raw from where she’d fallen. He gathered his courage and smiled again. “How’d you get down to that crater anyways?”

Reina sighed and shrugged. “Who knows how I got down there. All I know is I was trying to get Espeon, who’d been lodged between two rocks. When I got down to her, a light went off and I was blown back. Next thing I know, I’m lying on your floor.” She shrugged. “Hard to understand how I’d gotten there in the first place.”

Riley was about to ask something else when Espeon and Lucario perked up and looked out the tent’s flaps at something. Espeon jumped into Reina’s lap, it’s ears back, growling. The hair on Espeon’s back was rising. Lucario’s teeth were bared and his aura was growing.

Something was coming. Reina could feel that much and quickly stood up, holding Espeon in her arms. She ran to the back of the sofa, fear evident in her eyes. Her raw knees buckled and her pupils shrank, as if she were afraid of what Espeon sensed.

Riley stood up, too, and faced the entrance. His instincts told him Lucario could sense something his senses couldn’t quite pick up yet. Standing ready, Riley watched.