A/N: Well, looks like you couldn't hold me to the promise I made last chapter after all… hopefully this will be worth the wait.
Chapter 37
"Okay guys, let's go see the nutty professor herself," Sara said as she took the first steps into the laboratory with confidence. Her mouth was open to call out when a sudden noise from close by, a scratchy 'oh!', stopped her.
A petite, older woman shuffled up to her, full-moon glasses slightly askew. Her hair was an untamed cloud of gray, making her appear taller than she actually was. "Darling! I've been waiting ages for you! Come now, you're first Pokemon is waiting—"
Sandsinger had poked her head into the lab and blinked in confusion. Tarragon looked into the lab above her, Star came to perch on his head. The rest walked into the lab through the other door, the Swellow flew in as well when she was swatted at. "Sara isn't a beginning trainer," Star growled in annoyance. Of course Professor Appawich didn't understand her, but she still looked up.
"I'm Sara," the blonde girl said.
"Yes, Sora, I've been expecting you," the Professor continued, unperturbed, grabbing Sara's hand and pulling her a ways into the lab. Rena followed them with a shrug, while Rika make herself comfortable on a swivel chair.
Sara managed to get away from her finally, saying, "Really, my name's Sara Wellington, not Sora…"
"What's that?"
Rena sighed, "If you can hear me, Professor, say: 'Amber rocks.'"
Professor Appawich blinked at her. "She can't hear us," the Pokemorph said to Sara.
"Karen could help," Rika made them both jump. The silver Espeon was sitting sedately on the chair that appeared behind the psychic.
"I'll never get used to her," Sara sighed.
Sundav was led to the conference room; in which sat the one she had to talk to. She had to duck to avoid her head hitting the wall, but the display of her massive, colorful body was still imposing. "I would like an explanation," she murmured. The man sitting at the far end of the room laughed.
"An explanation?" He choked out. "Surely it's obvious."
Sundav said nothing. "You went back on your side of the deal, so I did, too."
"Groudon was right in front of you."
"It got away. No Groudon, no deal, Sundav."
The Ho-oh's wings spread out as far as the small room would allow, "I need your people on my side. You can benefit in other ways."
"Groudon is the only thing I want from you," he stated, steepling his fingers.
She sighed, "I get you it, you…?"
"I will help you again once its power is mine."
"Fine," she growled. "There really is no arguing with you, is there?"
He just grinned. "Dominus will have Kyogre under his control soon," she continued.
"Well then, you'd better get going," he muttered. Sundav took that as a dismissal and disappeared from the room.
The wind whipped Elvina's blue hair into her face. As she brushed it away, she said to the Absol sitting next to her, "I'm sure this beach is very beautiful when it's not always about to rain." She'd brought a blanket to sit on, but fine grains of sand still blew onto her clothes. Everyone else had gone back into the Pokemon Center by then to wait out the storm. But Elvina had a reason to stay, which were the white flashes she kept seeing out in the ocean. Foam had made friends of his own kind, and was very reluctant to come back.
Solorite's only response to her comment was a thoughtful 'hmm.' "Great Blue One!" Exclaimed a tiny voice. A single Frozic rolled onto the blanket, "You're still here!"
They hadn't seen many Frozic around, since the Pokemon were afraid of water. This one was no different, as it ducked under Elvina's knee. She heard it say, slightly muffled, "You're a very pretty blue…"
Solorite made a choking sound. "Can you imagine having a Frozic for one of your Pokemon?" He asked her, "Sounds like one would be very… loyal."
"Oh, be—"
"May I be your Pokemon, Great Blue One?" Squealed the Frozic. It rolled off the blanket and gave Elvina the most innocent look it could.
Elvina's eyebrow twitched. She glanced at Solorite, who seemed to be grinning. A very sharp gust of wind blew past them, sending the Frozic flying into a pile of sand. It whimpered as the first drops of rain came sprinkling down. The rain was freezing, and Elvina shivered. Even though she'd brought a jacket to wear, she couldn't just sit out in the rain. Foam must've known that as well, as his white form was returning to the shore.
The Frozic was visibly shaking when it returned to her. She returned Foam as it stared. "Great Blue One, please?"
She sighed. Finally giving in, she reached into her backpack and drew out her last Pokeball. Her hand was shaking when she tossed it at the ice ball.
The wind blew again, knocking the ball up just barely above their heads. Rain shoved it downwards again and more off-course. It did hit a Pokemon, though it was the wrong one. Solorite seemed to sigh when it rebounded off his pelt and sucked him in with a flash of red light. The Pokeball hardly twitched before it fell still.
Elvina stared. She realized that she was wasting time—her hair was already soaked and sticking to her face and neck. The Frozic whimpered again, Elvina scooped it up in one hand while she carried the blanket and filled Pokeball awkwardly in the other. She returned to the Pokemon Center dripping wet. She'd taken a few steps into the commons room before she sneezed explosively and sniffed.
Sundav reappeared over an island obscured by a thick fog. She had to open her wings, as they had been closed initially. The downward spiral she took was very slow until a certain point, in which the air seemed to shift around her. She was paused for a moment, but it passed. The trees seemed to rattle as she set down with a slight whoosh.
Almost immediately a tinkling laugh came from one of the trees. "Aunt Sundav," exclaimed a glowing point that floated around Sundav's head a couple of times. It rested finally on the tip of her beak. Behind a milky white shield the Celebi crossed its arms. "It's about time you came to visit me."
"Timetra," Sundav huffed, "I'm here to see your mother."
"Going to tell her what you've been doing?" Timetra giggled. "I've got to admit, pretty genius. You'll have the world destroyed. But at least Dominus will be with it, riiiiight?"
"That's not it at all," the Ho-oh shook her head. "You wouldn't understand."
"Mother trusts you, she hasn't looked to see what you've been doing, but I have. I could tell her…"
Sundav turned away from the Celebi. "Just because I'm in punishment doesn't mean you can ignore me," she hissed, following. "What's wrong with you Sundav? You used to be cool."
"Things change."
No answer came to that, though Timetra leered after the Ho-oh. She followed at a distance, her expression changing as she considered something. "I could help you," she said.
"That would require Mew to pardon your crimes," Sundav murmured.
"You could too."
"It would be an act of insubordination. Mew's judgment is more important than mine."
"Pah. Forget mother."
They had emerged into a clearing of sorts; grass and small wildflowers grew in a wide circle around an immense tree. Its thick, arm-like branches and dainty leaves wove to form a dense canopy, a scarf of fog twined with the uppermost portion. Another, much larger, Celebi slept on a low branch. The great Mew herself lifted away from her perch and came to Sundav. "Something wrong, Sundav?" Mew's voice was high-pitched, but serious. She glanced at Timetra, who began floating away dejectedly.
"I've come to seek… advice."
Professor Appawich was completely clueless as to what Sara was talking about. Who was this Katie Wellington? Why would she have a clue to her disappearance?
It was midday when Sundav finally returned. Sara, Rika, and Rena, along with a couple of their Pokemon, were waiting for her on a hill overlooking part of the neighborhood in Brittle Branch Town. "Have a nice trip, Sundav?" Sandsinger asked pleasantly.
"You could say that…" the Ho-oh's gaze was distant. She blinked a couple of times before asking, "Lady Sara, are you ready to move on?"
"Where would we be 'moving on' to?" Rena cut in.
"Rejoining the rest of our little group, in Accalem City."
Sara murmured, "…But what about my mom?"
Sundav hesitated, "The police can handle it. Hey, psychic, how about you foresee something about Mrs. Wellington?"
"She's tied up somewhere," Rika said, shrugging. "That's about all I know. Not very important. I'll mention anything else I see later."
It took a little more to convince Sara that they shouldn't be staying in Brittle Branch Town. She finally agreed after Sundav made a deal with her, that the Ho-oh would teleport back and check on things every other day. Sundav gathered her energy and teleported the three trainers, Tarragon, and Hoppity, directly into a rainstorm.
The rain was coming down in thick sheets, each fat drop as cold as ice. Mercifully, they were close to the Pokemon Center, but were still drenched by the time they burst in. Tarragon shook the water off his body like a wet Growlithe, while a very innocent-looking Solonfree floated over Rena's head. Sara shuddered as she picked out Pocky's back near the fireplace, along with several unfamiliar people, probably there to get out of the rain.
Tracking water, the three trainers received a glare from the nurse on duty. "Another three," said a man standing near the desk. The Torkoal beside him snorted out a cloud of white smoke. "Hey girls, my Torkoal can dry you off."
It was nice of the guy to offer his Pokemon like that. Sure, the trainer's motto was, 'help others in need.' But it was lost after another slogan came out, a rap with the main line as 'gotta catch 'em all!' The Torkoal's smoke smelled of sulfur, but it was refreshingly warm. Sara breathed through her mouth for a while after, though. Another non-nurse was picking up cups of hot cocoa from a table and handing them out. Sara was surprised to see that it was Drake, who pushed a cup into her hand and said, "That one got extra marshmallows."
"Drake, why are you…?" She asked.
He just grinned. "I'm not really manning this station, just jumped up here when I saw you."
The curly-haired boy offered Rika a cup, which she denied. Rena took it instead. He led them over to the fireplace. A large space had been set aside for Elvina, who was shivering under several layers of blue blankets. An ice ball with eyes was rolling around one section of the blanket, chirping in its own language, and Solorite was watching it, though his whole body was tense. Blaze, Elvina's Growlithe, was draped across her lap, half asleep. Skitty batted at the dog's tail, while Huan rested directly in front of the fireplace. Foam was not in sight.
Elvina sneezed, jerking forward. Blaze stirred and swept his tail neatly under his belly before closing his eyes again. "Elvina! What happened?" Sara had to push her way past several people to get to her friend.
The bluette sniffled. "I got caught in the rain."
"Not only that," Solorite added. "But she captured me."
Sara blinked at him, "You know, Pokeball hits Pokemon, Pokemon gets sucked in, Pokeball goes 'ding'…?"
"You captured him?" She finally asked.
Elvina sniffed again and nodded, "It was an accident."
Sara sat down at a distance, but the little ice ball still must've felt she was too close. It rolled up and attempted to bite her finger, which she snatched away quickly. It chirped, "She's a friend, Icicle," Elvina said, and the ice ball blinked up at Sara. Her blue jeans caught its attention, and it grinned, displaying two sharp fangs. "Icicle is a—"
She cut herself off when she saw that the blonde girl already had her Pokedex in hand. "Frozic, the ice ball Pokemon. Frozic are found in cold, dry areas. They live in small family groups and are highly attracted to the color blue."
Sara grinned, "Did you capture it too?"
"No, just…" she motioned to Solorite. "Only one Pokeball."
Sundav fluttered over to the Absol. "Ironic, don't you think?"
"Yes, very," he said. Looking over to Elvina, he sighed, "But I've decided being a trained Pokemon again might not be so bad. That Pokeball is comfy."
The Solonfree shook her head. Mumbling something incoherent, she fluttered over to where Devon was sitting. Elvina coughed, "You know, Sara, there's a gym in this city," she stated. "Though knowing Accalem City, you'd better get ready for hand-to-hand combat."
"What?"
"Accalem City is backwards," Solorite supplemented. "If you want something, you have to ask for the opposite."
"Why's that?"
"Some legendary's joke," the Absol gave his best shrug. "I guess."
A few minutes later, the man with the Torkoal announced, "Storm's clear!" Several members of the group got up and walked off nonchalantly, as if holing up in the Center and getting free cocoa was a normal part of their day. It probably was. Drake appeared beside Sara again, his eyes asking the question for him.
"We should probably eat lunch first," Sara burst his bubble.
A good hour later, Sara and Drake were off, with their friends trailing behind them. Elvina carried her favorite blanket, folded up, a blue one with several fish Pokemon swimming around on it. Rena had put Pocky between herself and Devon, while Rika was the only one who had stayed behind at the Center, with Tarragon and Hoppity. Solorite had returned to his Pokeball.
It was easy to get turned around in Accalem City, as many of the buildings were possibly the size of a gym. They were originally puzzled on how to ask for directions, because if they wanted the gym, did they ask where not to find it…? The real gym was a couple blocks away from the Pokemon Center, larger than the ones that they'd been to before—it looked around three stories high. Three extinguished torches were placed around the heavy double doors, but there were no armor-wearing guards at the entrance. Perhaps their armor had rusted.
It took both Devon and Drake to push open one of the doors. Inside was a waiting room, which seemed very small. Behind a desk sat a teen with her brown hair in a tight bun and a computer in front of her. "Challengers?" She asked, voice heavy with boredom. "State your names…"
When Sara had supplied her with both their names, the teen typed away at her keyboard and nodded. "Taking the gym challenge out of order? Accalem City is ranked number eight, and you've both stopped at the rank five gym in Cobalt Strip," she sat up straighter as she said this, regaining some sort of interest.
"Yes, we are," Sara said. She glanced at Drake, who shrugged. 'We can take 'em,' he mouthed.
"Right, well then, I'm sorry to say this, but only challengers are allowed onward from this point," she was looking at the other four trainers. "I can give you instructions to the Pokemon Center if you would like, because the wait for a pair of challengers to come back out can be up to five hours."
Elvina flinched, "We know where the Pokemon Center is," she glanced at the others. Rena was grimacing.
"Well, good luck guys," Devon said. "We'll see you at the Center. Maybe we'll even save you dinner."
When their friends had left, Sara and Drake turned back to the teen, who had gotten to her feet. She offered Drake an unlit lantern. "Before you battle the gym leaders, you first must go through the first and second level, which have no light in them. This lantern is the only light you're furnished with, and if you have any flashlights, don't use them. There will be a set of Kadabra watching you, if you use a flashlight, it's automatic disqualification. Likewise, if for any reason either of you must depart from the gym, the Kadabra will teleport you out."
She dug around behind her desk and came up with a set of matches. "The first and second level have a few Pokemon in them. If they find you, then you must battle and defeat them to move on. Any questions?"
"How long will this lantern stay lit?" Drake asked.
"It varies," the teen smiled. "Different amounts of oil are placed in each one. But it will last for at least fifteen minutes, that's the minimum."
She lit the match and set the lantern's flame going. "Good luck," she said, opening the door leading into the gym for them. Blackness waited beyond the doorframe.
"I don't like how they set this gym up," Sara whispered to Drake.
He shifted the lantern to his left hand, holding it away from them. "Me neither," he whispered back. "Can we make a deal? I'll hold the lantern for the first level and you can hold it on the second one."
"Alright. Do you think we should have one of our Pokemon out for battle?"
"It's a good idea. And you're the one with more Pokemon…"
Sara nodded. He was right, so she picked out the Pokeball that held Star and tossed it upwards. In a flash of light that illuminated the surrounding area for a moment, the Swellow appeared. "Hey! Who turned out the lights?" she exclaimed. Both trainers flinched, and flinched even more when a cry went out from a Spoink that had appeared around one wall.
"Star, use peck," Sara said. The Swellow hesitated for a moment before she picked out the bouncing pig and swooped at it. She pecked at him twice before a psychic aura surrounded her and blew her back into the wall. Star's squawk of pain turned to outrage, and she flew back at him to peck some more. The Spoink was very weak when it bounced away.
"And don't come back!" Star yelled after it.
They winced again, "Star, keep your voice down," Sara murmured.
"Why?" the Swellow landed on her trainer's forearm.
Sara had to explain all the rules of the gym to her Pokemon while Drake led them around one wall. There weren't any splits in the path, so she guessed the gym was just winding back and forth. If that were true, any Pokemon that was in the maze would eventually catch up with them.
"Why did you pick Star?" Drake murmured when she was done whispering to the bird.
"Because I'm awesome."
"Because she's awe—I mean, because… she's strong enough to take out opponents quickly," she shrugged, but he couldn't see it. It was a lie and he could probably tell, but at that moment a Ghastly appeared, successfully diverting attention. Star won quickly against it, too. The next couple of Pokemon that they encountered were weak like that, but the Drowzee left Star panting before it was defeated. It left them to guess that they would be encountering stronger Pokemon the more they got into the gym.
After what seemed like an eternity, another Drowzee appeared. It blew a cloud of purple smoke in Star's face as her wing came around to smack it. She coughed and used another wing attack, which was more powerful than the first. It knocked it down for a few seconds, before it got back up and retreated. When Star returned to Sara's shoulder, her breathing had an odd wheeze. "I think… that was a poison gas attack…"
Sara took the lantern from Drake as he rummaged in his backpack and came out with a purple bottle and a few potions. The contents of the antidote were to go down Star's throat, while Sara held onto the potions, for later. If Star took any more of a beating, she'd need them too.
Star was not happy after she had to drink the antidote. "Don't get poisoned again," was Sara's advice, which got her a sharp reply.
The lantern's light was beginning to fade by then. It got them to quicken their pace, though it seemed to do little good. The end of the level was nowhere in sight, but a Haunter was. Star ended up using gust to attack it at a distance, which drove it through the wall. Another couple of turns, and a glow was visible at the end of the path. When they came closer, they saw a large floor tile that was teal with a blue diamond cut into it. "What do you think that is?" Drake asked.
"I dunno, but it's the only thing left on this level. Why don't you step on it?"
"No, you step on it."
"No, you."
"You."
"No, you."
"Why don't you both step on it at the same time?" Star said.
"Why don't we have Star step on it?"
"No, that's not what I said—" The Swellow was promptly plopped down on the tile, and disappeared.
"It's a teleport tile."
"No duh. You go first."
Sara rolled her eyes and stepped on the tile after her Pokemon. For a second, everything was pitch black, before Drake and the lantern appeared behind her. Star was not a little bit ruffled when she returned to her trainer's shoulder.
Sara took the lantern from her partner and led the way forward. The path turned at a ninety-degree angle, and after walking a while, it turned again. They were heading in a spiral this time. The Pokemon on the second level were a lot harder to defeat than on the first, Star went through several potions to sustain herself for a while longer. Drake was running out of healing items…
They seemed to be close to the center of the level when the lantern finally gave out with one last puff of flame. "Oh bother," said Star.
"What is it?"
"I can't see in the dark. At all," the Swellow admitted, sounding quite embarrassed.
"We're close to the end, I think," Sara responded, refusing to return the bird to her Pokeball. She felt along the side of the inside wall to see when it turned and heard Drake's shoes scraping behind her. They went a while like this, without encountering any Pokemon—or just not seeing them—until Sara reached one turn in the path and was suddenly grasping a ghostly paw and looking into two glowing eyes…
She screamed, a long, high-pitched 'eeeee…!' Drake sounded startled, while the ghost cackled. Star leapt off of her trainer perch and created a gale with her wings that blew the ghost back and it shut its eyes upon making contact with the wall. It was either too big or too solid to phase through the wall. Blindly, Star continued to flap her wings and generating the wind, before an exclamation of: 'Gengar,' stopped her.
"Just a Gengar," said Star smugly. "I can handle them without my sight!"
Sara was very close to hyperventilating, "That… scared… me…" she panted once she'd finally returned to normal.
"No kidding," Drake said dryly. He gave her a gentle push in the dark, "C'mon, now that you've woken up the Kadabra watching us…"
Sara nodded, then realized he couldn't see it, "Alright," she replied. As she continued to walk, she could swear there was a very distant sound behind her, which sounded vaguely like laughter. Great, the Kadabra were laughing at her.
Another couple turns, and another glowing tile was ahead, brighter now that the lantern was dead. Sara walked eagerly onto it, and was suddenly blinded by bright lights. "Welcome, challengers," said a male voice whose owner she couldn't see.
Her eyes eventually adjusted, revealing two men standing on the other side of an arena from her and Drake. The seating around them was completely empty, and other than the gym leaders, there was only a referee dressed in the traditional black and white stripes. Two Kadabra appeared behind the gym leaders, and one tilted its head to one side towards the shorter, thinner leader. He seemed to nod, and spoke up, "This gym requires us all to use three Pokemon each within a specific time limit. Are you two ready to begin?"
"Can I return to my Pokeball now?" Star complained.
"Sure. Great job, Star…" the Swellow disappeared back into her ball. Sara placed the lantern to one side and nodded.
The referee held up two flags, one white and one purple. "May the match between the two challengers and gym leaders Jeremy and Aaron begin!" He crossed the flags, and a screen lit up over one side of the seating, showing six unfilled boxes on both sides and a clock that read '30:00.' Sara swallowed. Thirty minutes for a gym match? That seemed like an impossible time limit to reach.
The two Kadabra teleported onto the field without their trainers saying anything. Two pictures of Kadabra appeared on the leader's side of the board, one on top and one on bottom. Drake threw a Pokeball, calling, "Go, Mellow!" The yellow-plumed bird burst out of his ball with a deep caw. Sara released Althea from her Pokeball. Althea shook out her tails and stretched.
Upon orders, Mellow dove at one Kadabra while Althea ran at the other. At the last second, a psychic shock sent the bird flying back from his target, but that didn't deter him from trying the dive again, and being blasted back again. Althea bounced off a blue-tinted shield that the other Kadabra put around his body. Without Sara's orders, she flamed the psychic and the shield didn't protect him from that attack. The Kadabra was badly scorched when it raised its spoon and psychically bent it. A cry of pain went up from Althea as she crouched and tried to cover her ears with her paws.
Mellow was attempting something different with his opponent that was working better; the Kadabra's reflexes weren't good enough to stop his quick attack. Several sharp pecks to the head later, Mellow took another psychic shock that blew him directly into the stadium seating. The Swellow flopped onto his belly and lay motionless. He had fainted.
Seadra took his teammate's place, and was at an even worse tactical disadvantage than Mellow had been. He could only move in short hops, so his attacks were all long-range, and all deflected.
Althea's ears had stopped ringing by that point, and she raised her head to flame her opponent again, just to see that he wasn't there. A shadow was cast over her from the tall Pokemon, and a psychic shock sent her tumbling away. She lifted her head as the Kadabra raised his spoon again, and let out an ember attack. It was enough to distract it, but not to knock it out. No, a water gun from Seadra took care of that, since he was having little luck with the other Kadabra.
Taking its place was a Xatu that took to the sky. It was even worse than the Kadabra, since it didn't remain stationary and could psychically deflect long-range attacks. It attacked Seadra while Althea worked on the other Kadabra. Althea collapsed after another psychic shock, and Sara returned her with a frown. She thought for a while before sending Sandsinger out and into the air to tango with the Xatu. Saladreth quickly followed, as Seadra fainted from one last peck attack.
Sara dared to take a peek at the scoreboard. They had roughly twelve minutes left, and the pictures of a Swellow, Vulpix, and Seadra on their side had grown dim. "Sandsinger, try to get closer before you attack!" She exclaimed to her Flygon.
Sandsinger drew her hand back as she came closer to the Xatu, ignoring a growing pain in her head that signaled the bird was using some sort of psychic attack against her. She slashed across one of its wings, which sent it falling heavily to the ground. As she was diving towards the Xatu, she suddenly couldn't move, suspended in midair by the bird's psychic. The mental energy forced her to fly into Saladreth's back, successfully knocking the finishing attack he had meant for the Kadabra into the sky.
Saladreth turned his head sharply and hissed at the Flygon. She buzzed back, and they were caught in a staring match for just long enough for their opponents to use another attack to knock their heads together. Sandsinger groaned and released a dragonbreath in roughly the Xatu's direction. Saladreth successfully knocked the Kadabra out with a swipe of his paw.
The skinnier gym leader released a Claydol, which Saladreth tried to capture in his jaws. He instead got a mouthful of psybeam. Sandsinger was back in the air, circling low over the Xatu, which had one of its wings stained red on the inside that wouldn't fold back onto its side. She dove at the bird again and her claws had barely touched its feathers when she was blasted back. She tried a dragonbreath, which the Xatu directed onto Saladreth. He once again hissed at Sandsinger, a nasty burned patch on his flank.
Saladreth fluttered his wings awkwardly at the Claydol, blowing its psybeam slightly askew. He used its moment of hesitation to clamp down on its body with a crunch attack. Its body was hard like dried clay, no blood seeped from the wounds that Saladreth's fangs made. He was forced to release it when its floating arms psybeamed him.
The Xatu was shuddering where it stood after another slash across its back. It finally collapsed, and was returned. Drake and Sara gave a cheer; the battle was even again, with five minutes left on the clock. The gym leader that released his next Pokemon didn't even flinch at the high squeal it made as a battle cry. A Pokemon they'd never seen before floated a few feet above the ground, dark tentacles waving to some wind only it felt. Two orange eyes leered at its opponents.
"Velespo, the manipulator Pokemon. Velespo are a very secretive species, not much is known about them." Sara's Pokedex chirped unhelpfully. At least it had given the ghost's name.
The Velespo raised one arm that had only a single claw at the end. It was pointing at Sandsinger, and its eyes flashed. A circle of blue shot out from the claw, almost too fast to be seen, and struck the Flygon. Her hovering ceased, as her eyes closed and she fell to the ground. Several tentacles wrapped around her body and squeezed. She didn't make a sound as they tightened, and Sara quickly returned the Flygon before she could take anymore damage.
There was only one Pokemon she could really send out, Karen. Meep was too young; she didn't trust the Velespo to take it easy on him after what it did to Sandsinger. And Star was probably snoozing in her Pokeball by then… Sara glanced at the clock. Only a minute left.
Karen didn't make a sound after she was released, just looked around. Saladreth was on even grounds with the Claydol still, and the Velespo was still glaring. She used a psybeam on the ghost, which forced it to flinch back a few feet. At first it appeared that the ghost was doing nothing after it spread its single-clawed arms, as its dark shade didn't reveal the black energy forming between its arms. Karen used another psybeam, which was the biggest mistake of the battle, as the Velespo's shadow ball cut straight through the psychic energy and hit her straight on. The silver Espeon crumpled and didn't get back up. A buzzer sounded, and Saladreth looked up as he released the Claydol from another crunch attack. A single zero on the clock showed they had run out of time.
Saladreth weakly slumped onto his side before Drake could return him. Apart from the dragonbreath burn, many of his scales had lost their luster from being hit by psybeams. Even without the clock, the battle would've still been over. Sara and Drake had lost. And during the battle, the gym leaders hadn't said a thing.
But for their benefit, after the referee declared the gym leaders as the winners, they spoke up. "Too bad. You both need to train your Pokemon hard before coming back here," the taller leader said.
Sara opened her mouth to speak, but the other leader cut her off, "Don't chat! Get your Pokemon to the Center!"
Empty-handed, they were, quite literally, shown the door. The sun was setting as they found their way back to the Pokemon Center, and not a word was spoken between them. Devon looked ready to pounce once they entered, but one look at Drake's face in particular stopped him. The nurse on duty passed their Pokeballs back to a Chansey, who ran into a different room. "Defeated by the gym, eh?" She asked, but not unkindly. The way they stated that the Pokemon would need care quickly gave that away.
As they turned away from the counter, a woman exclaimed in a back room. The red and white needle above the emergency room turned on.
Dinner was waiting for the two trainers, but not much of the soup made it in their mouths. "It was awful," Sara finally started. "We didn't stand a chance."
Drake just grunted and contributed with a nod. His gaze was distant.
Time passed, with Elvina and Pocky chatting together to try and fill the awkward stretches of silence. The ending of a gym match always ended in either elation or depression and a lot of scraped-up Pokemon. After a short period, Star and Meep were kicked out of the emergency room, since there was nothing wrong with the latter, and mostly potions and rest had healed the former.
Squee and Meep dashed around the commons room, providing some distraction. Star squawked when the next Pokemon to be released was Mellow, who had bandages around his head and belly. He went directly to her, chirruping.
Althea came out soon after, but the rest didn't, and late in the evening a new nurse called Sara and Drake over. "We're going to have to keep the Espeon, Flygon, Seadra, and Saladreth overnight. They're still in critical condition, so we can't allow any visitors…" she might've been addressing Tarragon's attempt to get into the room to see Sandsinger. Her face was hard as she continued, "The next time you challenge a gym, make sure your Pokemon are at its level. There's no excuse for letting them get into this condition…"
The nurse was right, even though her words stung. Sara fell asleep staring at that white needle on a red background…
For just a moment, Sara felt weightless. She seemed to just float into a very realistic scene of a forest, pale green grass at her feet and orange-leaved trees shaking to a slight breeze. The only Pokemon in sight was an Ariados hanging from a branch by a string of silk. "I thought you were going to wait…" Sara complained.
"Wait for what?" Blatos said. She didn't wait for an answer, "I am sorry about your gym match, but this is more important."
"Wait, how did you know about that…?"
"I was the referee," the spider's expressionless face gave away nothing, though there was a hint of amusement in her voice. "Are you good at singing, by the way? That high note you hit was just priceless."
Sara was staring. "Anyway, this time we're going to do something basic," Blatos continued. She looked up, and six Ledyba appeared over one of the trees. They circled around the girl, while she looked puzzled.
"What's this got to do with—" Her voice was cut off when the ladybugs created a hexagon-shaped shield around her. Each side was controlled by a single bug, interlocking so there were no gaps. Sara looked around, her eyes wide.
"Relax," said Blatos when the bugs pushed their shields closer. Sara was practically hyperventilating when the Ledyba were called to a stop and pulled away.
"I don't see… the point of that…" the girl gasped.
"Claustrophobia," the Ariados shook her head. "Of all the things you're afraid of, it has to be small spaces."
"Well, that didn't help…"
"I—" Blatos cut herself off, staring at a point over Sara's head. The girl turned to see that it was Sundav balanced on the top of a tree. "What are you doing here?"
"Amusement," it wasn't Sundav's voice that came from the Ho-oh's beak. It was deep and yet somehow shrill at the same time, and the laugh that accompanied it sent chills down Sara's spine. "I've come to claim the Lady from you."
The image of Sundav was melting away, warping into a smaller creature that had a ghost-like look to it. Its head was small and round, white smoke billowed from the top like hair, while two frosty-blue eyes were the only things visible on its face. A collar of red surrounded its head, and two long arms were brushed out in front of it. As Sara looked at it, the forest blurred away, leaving her and this creature alone in blackness.
Drake never did get to sleep that night. While he listened to assorted snoring noises, his eyes wandered around, trying to pick out something in the darkness. The only light came from the room that held his Seadra and Saladreth, and Sara's Karen and Sandsinger. Tarragon had managed to sneak in there a while back, and he hadn't been kicked out yet.
Getting to his feet without waking anyone else would be a problem. His pillow was resting on the couch that Pocky had claimed, while Elvina had commanded total attention from all the furry four-footed Pokemon they had—even Meep and Squee joined her, their paws tangled in her hair. There was also no telling if that watchdog she called a Frozic was awake or not. It had bit him twice before, and its little fangs were sharp.
He brushed his blankets to the other side, maybe hitting Devon a bit was a safer bet—the blonde-haired boy was snoring. Stepping over the other boy, Drake was free to tiptoe over to the plastic double doors that had the emergency room behind them. The lights were on dim in the room, showing the four Pokemon he recognized and a couple he didn't. A Chansey sat next to the bed that Karen rested on, she looked up at him and surprisingly didn't jump up and slap him around, instead she pointed to the other side of the room, where Tarragon sat on the edge of Sandsinger's bed, humming gently. The smaller Flygon's eyes were slowly closing.
When Drake hesitated, the Chansey got to her feet and took his hand, dragging him over to the water tank that Seadra was floating in. He was still awake, "Hey Drake," said the seahorse, tilting his head to one side. Some of the sharp scales on his belly had flaked away, exposing whitish skin. Several of the remaining scales were ruined; they would fall off in time.
"Chansey, chansey," said the pink Pokemon, pointing at Seadra some more.
"The pink blob says that I'm ready to leave," said Seadra, flapping his wing-like fins when she glared.
Drake nodded, taking the Pokeball balanced on top of the tank. "I'm sorry, Seastar," the boy stated.
Seadra's eyes narrowed. "You're not supposed to call me that," he said. He didn't comment on the rest of what Drake said, though he nodded slightly as the red glow took him back into his Pokeball.
"Can I take my Saladreth too?" Drake asked the Chansey. She glanced doubtfully at the dragon, who was watching Drake with one violet eye. She shook her head, but gave him a little push in the dragon's direction.
Drake sat down next to Saladreth's head while the Chansey took her post next to Karen again. The Espeon's legs were kicking, a bad dream, perhaps? Saladreth picked up his head and licked his trainer briefly on the cheek. "We need to take the gym circuit in order," he murmured.
Saladreth gave a big yawn, exposing all of his sharp teeth, and rested his head in Drake's lap. He was asleep in a few minutes.
Tarragon's humming had stopped; he had curled up at the foot of Sandsinger's bed and fallen asleep as well. The Chansey and Drake were the only ones awake in the room.
Sara woke in a cold sweat. She was shaking violently. Someone was hugging her from behind, awkwardly around her shoulders. It was Elvina's voice that whispered, "Bad dream, Sara?"
Something had landed on her lap, it was Star. "What do you really think all that crying was?" The Swellow snapped.
"I-I was crying?" Sara stammered.
"Very loudly," Pocky said. Oh no, had she woken everyone up?
"Wha' time is it…?" Devon's voice was slurred.
Elvina released her, and she had to catch herself from falling backwards. "I believe you were under a trance," Sundav stated. She seemed to be only talking to Sara, "Were you being talked to?"
"Y-yes… there was th-this thing in it… h-he called h-himself D-D-Darkrai…"
"Darkrai…" Sundav repeated. She had suddenly disappeared in a flash of gold sparkles.
Disclaimer: I don't own Pokemon, nor do I own several of the characters that appear in this fanfiction. Moonyasha created Elvina; Rio was created by Laputa9; Rena, Devon, Pocky, and all their Pokemon are from Digital Skitty's brilliant fanfiction, ReiShine. (If you haven't read ReiShine, you should. It's awesome.) They're all used with permission…
A/N: Just to clear this up, Velespo is a Pokemon of my creation… but Darkrai is definitely not. Darkrai is the first—and only—official dark-element legendary. If you want to see some information about it, I suggest you browse serebii-dot-net's Diamond and Pearl section.
Also, Sara's Quest has been at 149 reviews for a long time. I might do something for the 150 review mark… hmm, maybe create/maul some sort of cover for the story.